NX-01 Enterprise
Enroute to Gamma Bootis
March 22, 2154

Trip held a beam in place while an engineer welded it to the temporary bulkhead. He and his crew had been at it for hours and had only just gotten Deck C to hold an atmosphere.

Trip felt T'Pol approaching long before she presented herself, an aspect of their bond that he was only just getting used to. To Trip's amazement, T'Pol was leading Porthos, who stayed at her heel.

"Porthos is clear to walk?" Trip asked. "He's healed faster than even Phlox thought he would."

"Walking is necessary for his recovery." T'Pol said. "Three walks per twenty-four hours, by order of the doctor."

"I thought you hated the way he smelled."

"I've gotten used to it. In truth the human scent on this ship is more pervasive and I've long since gotten used to that."

"Thank goodness. I bet you couldn't get through a single neuropressure session otherwise."

"Speaking of which, you're late for our Wednesday night session."

"Sorry. As you can see, I've been pretty busy."

"Of course. We can postpone it if you prefer."

"No, no. Just let me get free here and I'll be right along. Your quarters or mine?"

"Yours. Porthos needs to rest and you have his bed."

"Sir," Said Kelby, who was welding the beam in place, "We've got it from here, if you have someplace to be."

"You sure, Kelby?" Trip asked

"Yes, sir. We've got it under control."

"Alright," Trip said. "Lead the way, T'Pol. You'll have to let me shower before we get started. I'm sure I'm pretty rank."

T'Pol took the lead to Deck E and the captain's quarters. There Porthos headed straight for his bed and plopped down with an audible sigh. Trip, on the other hand, headed straight to the shower to scrub himself thoroughly in preparation for the neuropressure session.

Then he emerged, he found T'Pol still standing in the center of the room where he'd left her.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing." T'Pol said. "I was just thinking…Trip, did you know there are behaviors that seem tame to your people but are forbidden to mine, save perhaps to family and bondmates?"

"What do you have in mind?" Trip asked.

"Dancing." T'Pol said. "I want to learn how to slow dance."

"Um…should I get dressed first?"

"That is not necessary. I plan to mate with you after the dance lesson."

"Uh…okay." Trip said. "I think I'll get dressed anyway."

"So." Trip said, once he was dressed. "First, you need someone to lead and someone to follow. I'll lead, you follow. The leader puts their right hand over the follower's left shoulder, with the right elbow up and pointing outward. Like this."

T'Pol moved closer and waited for Trip to position his hand on her shoulder, with his elbow out.

"Now, the follower places their right hand over the leader's right elbow," Trip continued. "Holding onto the bicep or shoulder."

T'Pol placed her right hand on Trip's bicep.

"So now we'll just do a simple two-step. Follow what I'm doing."

Trip took a step to the left, then drew his other foot together again. T'Pol followed only a moment behind. They continued this for a couple of minutes, until she got the hang of it.

Before she could, however, Porthos made himself known, jumping up on the two of them and emitting a quick howl every few seconds.

"Does he want to dance, too?" T'Pol asked, perplexed.

"No, it's just a dog thing." Trip said. "He thinks we're fighting and he's trying to get between us. Don't pay him any mind."

The two of them went back to the two-step. T'Pol was soon very comfortable with it.

"Guess what." Trip said. "You're dancing. Nothing to it."

"Thank you, Trip. I've wanted to learn this for a long time."

"My pleasure." Trip grinned. "So, you were saying something about making love after we dance?"

"Yes." She said, "You shouldn't have gotten dressed. Now you will have to take it all off again."

Trip just smirked, reaching up to pull down the zipper of his uniform…

"Bridge to Captain Tucker."

Trip sighed, then walked to the comm to answer.

"Tucker. Report."

"Sir, we're getting a transmission from the Animar mothership."

"I'll be right there."

Trip gave T'Pol a regretful look, then led the way to the bridge. Once there, T'Pol took over the science station from the gamma shift officer manning it. Trip likewise took over for Coolidge, the acting captain on gamma shift.

Onscreen the Admiral of the Animar fleet, Vorta, waited patiently for Trip to acknowledge him. The leaves on his head and chest were slightly tinged with brown, indicating an elder Animar.

"Admiral," Trip said, at last. "What can I do for you?"

"We have a problem." Vorta said. "One of our survey ships ran into some trouble in the Eta Bootis system nearby. A massive automated drone attacked and badly damaged their ship. Presently they are grounded on a moon in the system but the drone threatens attack if they leave the surface. They have enough redundant gear to effect full repairs but that takes time and time isn't something they have in abundance. Their life support was destroyed in the attack and they're surviving on emergency reserves. They have about two days before they run out of air."

"Eta Bootis is relatively near." Trip said. "We should be able to make it in a day. Then I can put teams to work with the survey ship's crew."

"That would be greatly appreciated. Do this and I can promise our support in any conflict with your Xindi fanatics."

"Consider it done, Admiral." Trip said.

"We have video of the drone in action, if you'd care to see it."

"Yes, very much so." Trip said, turning toward Martov at the operation station. "Get it on screen as soon as you can find a format that fits."

A few moments passed before Martov had the video on screen. The shot was entirely from a rear-facing camera focused along the survey ship's wake. There, impossibly large, the drone pursued the ship, firing orange beams of energy at it every few seconds. The survey ship fired back with its laser but there was no discernable damage to the drone.

Soon, the survey ship began making jumps that were severely degraded due to the multiple gravity wells in the system. The drone went to warp, matching speed and still firing.

This continued, with the two exchanging fire and no apparent damage being done to the drone, until the survey ship landed on the moon. Then the drone seemed to lose interest and drifted back the way it had come.

"Admiral," Trip said. "It doesn't look like we'll be able to handle this thing on our own. Any chance of backup from your end?"

"I'm afraid our survey ships are too spread out to assist, but my ship should arrive just after yours. I recommend we focus on getting to that moon and touching down before the drone takes interest in us. That seems to be the safest approach."

"Agreed." Said Trip. "Once we arrive we'll focus on restoring life support first."

"Excellent." Said the Admiral. "We'll see you there."

"See you there." Trip said, before turning to Travis. "Get us to Eta Bootis, warp five."