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"Borderline"
Rating: PG Bombs Away (4) Trip let out a short breath and quickly regretted it when his chest burned from frigid air entering on inhale. Trip pulled his cap down around his ears, looking down at T’Pol. “This is so stupid!” Trip snarled at her. T’Pol was kneeling in the snow, patiently waiting for the core drill to draw out the sample from the frozen terrain below the snow. She didn’t reply to his statement. Trip’s communicator beeped. Trip ignored it. Trip’s communicator beeped again. “You should reply,” T’Pol said. “Screw it!” Trip covered his cold nose with his gloved hands. T’Pol looked back at him. Trip glared at her, dropping his hands. “FINE!” Trip pulled off a glove, reached into his sleeve pocket, yanked his communicator out and flipped it open. “What’d’ya want!?” There was a pause. “Uhm…is everything going okay?” Archer asked hesitantly. “Oh, yeah. Great! Just swell!” Trip snarled at Archer. “Are you two about done?” “Are we about done?” Trip snapped at T’Pol. “Yes. The core has another point six five meters to go for extraction.” “Another point six five friggin’ meters,” Trip told Archer. “We’re headed in your direction.” “Are we leaving when she’s done?” “Yes. Are you okay?” “I AM FREEZING MY BALLS OFF! NO! I AM NOT OKAY!” Trip yelled into the communicator before snapping it shut and shoving it back in his sleeve pocket. He pulled his glove back on and tucked his hands under his armpits, muttering to himself. Trip looked at T’Pol finding her staring at him. “What!?” “You have never displayed such paroxysm before.” “T’Pol, I’M FREEZIN’! Maybe you enjoy traipsing across a frozen planet to collect core samples that no one even gives a damn about, but I don’t! And when I tried to talk my way out of this away mission, you pipe up saying how it could be beneficial in case there was any equipment failure due to the sub-zero temperatures that I was trying to get of going into IN THE FIRST PLACE! Oh, and let’s not even talk about this fuckin’ wind chill factor! I’m from the South. Snow is unheard of. Freezing temperatures are rare. I’m freezing my ass off WITH the thermal suit on! T’Pol…if I didn’t love you I’d really hate you right now!” T’Pol’s eyebrow lifted. She returned to monitoring the core extraction without a word. “Hey,” Archer said, walking up and stopping beside Trip. Ensign Novakovich stopped on Trip’s other side. Trip didn’t answer. “Are you okay?” Archer asked. “Shut up!” Trip snapped. “You agreed with her. I don’t wanna talk about it.” Archer was taken back by Trip’s rare and extremely bad mood. Trip pulled his arms closer to himself with a souring grimace. “You know, this isn’t any dif—” “I don’t wanna talk about it.” “Trip, I’m your command—” Trip glared at Archer. “Do you know where you can shove that commanding officer bullshit right now? This had not one damn thing to do with commanding officer bullshit. I had stuff I had to do back on the ship. You knew that. Lots’a stuff. But no, oh no! We have to go to a stupid frozen planet to get some damn core samples. And you agreed with her.” Trip motioned down at T’Pol. “Yes. Yes. Agree with T’Pol. She’s above me. Make an executive decision out of it! This whole thing is a monarchy, right? I mean, let’s see if we can’t make Charlie’s already shitty week any shittier, shall we? I am freezing my—” “TRIP! Breathe!” “Breathe?” Trip leaned toward Archer. “Do you know what happens when I breathe?” “Trip, down!” Archer ordered. “I am sorry I drug you down here. Is that what you wanted to hear?” Trip looked around when a movement caught his eye and watched Hoshi and Ensign Henrych come over the hill toward them. Hoshi stopped beside Ensign Novakovich. “Hi!” Hoshi quipped, smiling. “You know what I’m dreaming of right now?” “What?” Archer asked her; glad he wasn’t the focus of Trip’s tirade at the moment. “A nice big cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows in it.” “That does sound good,” Ensign Henrych smiled, “with a big bowl of chicken noodle soup.” Archer laughed. “Did you two understand the instructions I gave you on that last transmission, Hoshi?” “Yes, sir. Understood.” Hoshi looked at Ensign Henrych. “Did you understand them too?” “Crys-tal!” he smiled at Hoshi. “Is that thing about done yet?” Trip asked T’Pol. “Another eight centimeters,” T’Pol answered. Trip hopped a little, reminding Archer of Navta throwing a temper tantrum. Archer turned and walked away. He knelt down and began to roll together a loosely packed snowball. Archer walked a few more meters and turned to the side, looking at Trip. “Met’s down five in the sixth. Games’ up to Tucker’s killer batting arm. But so far this game Archer’s been shutting him down!” Trip turned, looking at Archer. Archer smiled at Trip’s smile. Trip turned, looking around for a makeshift bat. He settled on a used extraction rod and walked toward the imaginary home plate, swinging his ‘bat’ to get a feel of its weight. Hoshi ran over to ‘first base’ and made ready to run. Ensign Henrych ran over to stand as catcher behind Trip and prepared to catch the ‘ball’. Ensign Novakovich watched for a few seconds before heading to the imaginary second base behind Archer. “Hey batter, batter, batter!” Ensign Henrych called out to Trip. Trip got a grip on his ‘bat’ and turned to hit it. He nodded once. Archer wound up his pitch and threw it right at Trip’s ear. Snow splattered across Trip’s face but he laughed. “STRIKE ONE!” Ensign Henrych yelled. Archer turned and packed another ‘ball’. He turned, waiting for Trip’s signal to throw it. Trip finished wiping snow off his face and made ready to bat again. He nodded once. Archer threw the ball and Trip swung, splattering the ball with his bat. “RUN!” Trip yelled to Hoshi and Ensign Novakovich. The three made a lap around to the home plate and stopped. “My turn.” Hoshi grabbed the bat and got ready to bat. Trip and Ensign Novakovich stood back to watch. Archer turned and packed another ball. He stood up and waited. Hoshi turned her head so Trip couldn’t see her face and winked at Archer, then nodded once. Archer threw the snowball and Hoshi dropped, letting the snowball sail over her and splatter on Trip’s face. For a minute Trip stood still with snow on his face. He reached up and brushed it off, smiling evilly. “SNOWBALL FIGHT!” Hoshi yelled. She grabbed up some snow, packed it and threw it at Trip, starting the snowball fight. T’Pol collected the core samples and gathered the supplies together. She turned, watching the five for a few minutes. She looked down at the snow under her foot, pushing snow back and forth with the toe of her boot and then watched them. T’Pol crouched down, slowly packing a snowball together and patiently biding her time. Trip ran close and T’Pol stood. “Commander,” T’Pol said. Trip turned and was nailed in the face with a snowball. “OH!” Trip ran at T’Pol, tackling her into a snowdrift. T’Pol said nothing when he looked at her. “Was that revenge?” Trip asked her. “Vulcan’s do not seek revenge.” “Uh-huh.” Trip smiled at her. “Sorry for being so mean.” T’Pol reached down, grabbed a handful of snow and smashed it in Trip’s face. “T’POL!” Trip cried out, rolling to his knees. Trip wiped off the snow before looking up. T’Pol was standing over him throwing a snowball from one hand to the other, watching him without a hint of emotion. Trip grinned when it dawned on him that T’Pol was playing, something he had only seen when they were alone and even then it was rare. Trip slowly reached out to scoop up snow. T’Pol threw her snowball at him. Trip ducked and rolled away onto his fee. He scooped up snow, packed it and threw it at T’Pol. She ducked and it hit Hoshi. Hoshi turned, seeing a snowball in T’Pol’s hand and threw hers at T’Pol. T’Pol was suddenly pelted with four snowballs at once. She didn’t seem to mind. Instead she gathered up snow, packed another snowball and threw it at Archer, the closest person to her, continuing the snowball fight. |
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