|
"Fork in the Road" by A. Rhea King
Rating: PG
Dance the Night Away (2) Travis reached out and ripped the cloth covering off of a view screen. The screen was a quarter size of Enterprise’s bridge view screen. He stepped back next to Sista, pursing his lips a little. “And tell me again what we’re doing here?” Trip asked. Travis looked at Trip. He stood with hands on hips, staring at the view screen. “Take this and put it in quarters,” Vardee answered Trip frowned, shaking his head. “I dunno, Sista. We should ask the Cap’n.” “Why? What wrong with putting in quarters?” “Well...I mean...other people will want one.” “I’m giving to Malcolm for present for birthday. They want one, they find their own.” Trip looked at Travis, then Sista and back at the view screen. “Fine. How do you purpose we get it out of here.” “Transporter.” Travis and Trip looked at her. She grinned. “You said you didn’t know how we were going to get it there,” Travis said. “I lied. Had to get you two to help somehow.” “Vardee.” Trip sighed. “Someday. Someday you will be wrong.” “I wrong sometime. But not when important. K’pans cannot be wrong often, yes?” Trip rolled his eyes. “So...what is the plan, Captain Cracker Jack?” “Cracker Jack?” Sista asked him. Trip gave her a cool stare. Vardee rolled her eyes. “We take to room while Malcolm away and get set up. Want to use movies on it. And let him do his work at home.” Sista added in a whisper, “I jealous of all women he around in armory.” Sista chuckled. Travis and Trip both laughed. “He’ll work in the Armory just to get away from you, Sista.” Travis said. Sista laughed, patting Travis’ shoulder. “You make good husband someday. You understand things.” Sista waved her hand at Trip. “He never make good husband someday.” “I’m never marrying,” Trip replied. “Not after watching you two.” “So, what are we doing now?” Travis asked. “This isn’t how I planned on spending my day off, Vardee.” Trip said. Sista stepped around Travis, sidling up to Trip. “I have more than just that plan. We need to break view screen in, you see. You, Travis, T’Pol and Hoshi will be watching first movie on it with us.” “We are?” Travis asked. “T’Pol is?” Trip asked. “I convinced her and Hoshi to help connect to non-clearance databases while Malcolm away. Make surprise better.” “You...” Trip shook his finger at Sista. “You have this all planned, don’t you? I can’t believe I fell for those big eyes and begging help.” “That ‘cause you think I your friend!” Trip laughed. “You’re only getting two days. I’m not spending four days on this.” “Then make work right first time otherwise I bother you until it work right.” “And what am I supposed to do?” Travis asked. “Hold heavy end.” Sista said, walking over to the view monitor. “And transport with me to the room. Trip won’t do it.” “At least you have that right about me.” “And who said I would?” Travis whined. Sista looked at Travis, smiling. “Because you kind man and I tell you to.” Travis looked at Trip. Trip crossed his arms, smiling at Travis. “Well, Ensign?” Travis walked over to the view screen. Sista sat a combadge on the ridge of the monitor. “We lift up, get transport, then we wait for turtle to come.” “Turtle?” Travis asked. “Trip.” “I’m not a turtle.” Trip said. “Transporter faster than you.” “Transporter faster than anyone, Vardee.” Sista flashed him a grin. “Diedra, lock onto COM signal. Transport object and two life forms to E deck, Reed quarters.” There was a beep and the two started to disappear. “Turtle.” Sista jabbed as she disappeared. Trip laughed. # Archer walked into the mess hall and stopped, looking at all the faces in the room. He turned and walked to the recreation room. The door opened and he walked in, stopping to look around the room. He still didn’t see him. Archer turned and almost ran over a crewman. “Oh! Sorry, sir,” he said, stepping out of Archer’s way. “It’s okay. Have you seen Commander Tucker?” “He said he was going to be at Lieutenant Reed’s tonight.” “Thanks.” Archer left the room and headed to Lieutenant Reed’s quarters. Archer stopped outside and pushed the doorbell. The door slid open and he entered a very dimly lit room. “Lights. Fifty percent.” Malcolm said from somewhere in the darkness. When the lights came up, six faces were watching Archer. “I...uhm...” Archer wasn’t sure what to say since he wasn’t even sure what he had intruded on. “Can I help you, sir?” Malcolm asked, standing. Malcolm had been sitting on the couch with Sista and Trip. In plush chairs on either side of the couch T’Pol and Hoshi were curled up. Archer paused on T’Pol. He wasn’t used to seeing her with a group of any kind. Travis was laying on the floor with a pile of pillows propping up his head. Except for T’Pol, everyone had bowls of popcorn and drink glasses. “It can wait,” Archer said, backing toward the door. Sista reached out, tapping Malcolm’s wrist and saying something in Varlikon. Malcolm looked at her and then Trip. “I don’t mind,” Trip said. “I won’t either,” Hoshi said. “I do not have a problem with her suggestion,” T’Pol said. “I agree if they do, sir,” Travis smiled up at Malcolm. “Would you like to stay for the movie, sir?” Malcolm asked Archer. “We just sat down to watch it.” Malcolm smiled. “On my birthday present.” “Movie?” They all pointed to the wall in front of them. Archer turned, seeing a large view screen mounted on the wall of Malcolm and Vardee’s quarters. “We pirated it from the Diedra two days ago,” Trip explained. “It was the one that they used on the bridge before they had those holographic view screens. Sista said they don’t use it anymore so we hooked it into Enterprise’s communications and computer. We’re christening it tonight.” Archer looked at the six. “If you don’t mind...” “We don’t mind, sir.” Malcolm said. Archer walked over to the couch and sat down between Sista and Trip. “Popcorn?” Trip handed Archer a bowl. “Thank you.” Archer took the bowl. “Computer, dim lights and start movie,” Malcolm said as he sat back down. Archer was momentarily self-conscious when Sista moved close to her husband, curling up to his side. “If she starts purring,” Trip whispered to Archer, “Just tune it out.” Archer glanced at Trip and then at Sista and then the movie started playing. Archer sat back against the couch. “What are we watching?” Archer asked. “An old one. Mission to Mars, sir.” Malcolm answered. “Malcolm’s favorite,” Sista added. Archer looked at the two. Sista was smiling up at her husband. He looked down at her, kissing the tip of her nose. She laid her head against his shoulder, turning her attention back to the view screen. Archer turned his attention to the movie as it began. # Sista felt a hand on her shoulder and looked around. Malcolm smiled at her, sliding his hand down her arm into her hand. Sista squeezed his hand and smiled when he winked at her. Malcolm let go and turned back to the report he was working on. Sista looked back out the window at Enterprise. T’Pol was sitting in the co-pilot’s seat working on a report. “Archer to Enterprise,” Archer said. “We’re coming back.” Sista stretched her back, turning to watch her husband work. “You’re coming back now?” Trip asked. “Why didn’t you contact us before you left the surface, sir?” Malcolm and Sista both looked at Archer. “I didn’t realize I had to call ahead to let you know when I’m returning, Trip. Is there a problem?” Archer asked. “You know that power fluctuation you wanted me to fix in the pod bay sometime while we were stopped, sir?” “Yes?” “Well, I just assumed you’d be down there longer being an uncharted Menshara class planet and all, and, well, it turned out to be worse than I thought it was gonna be.” “And?” Archer asked. “We can get you in and there’s atmosphere...but the only thing working in there is the bay console and we had to turn off the gravity plating. You’ll be stuck in there until I can get power back on and the doors open.” Archer looked down at the power cell levels. “We can’t turn back, Trip. We’re running low on power.” “There aren’t any other bays open, sir.” “I understand. How long will it be before you can get the internal doors open?” “I’d say thirty minutes, or less. The entire section was completely powered down so we could work on it. I have to clear the people out of some areas before I can bring the power back online.” “Then we’ll just have to wait. Prepare for landing.” “Yes, sir.” Archer flew the shuttle pod under Enterprise to the open shuttle pod bay doors. The landing rod attached to the top of the shuttle pod and pulled them in. “As soon as the doors close we need to go out and tether the pod down,” Archer told the three. “Yes, sir,” T’Pol and Malcolm said. The bay doors closed and Malcolm opened the hatch door. Archer powered down the shuttle pod and the four started floating with the gravity plating powered off on the shuttle. They pushed out of the hatch and attached the tethers to the four hitches around the pod. Malcolm pushed off the pod and floated over to the console near the door. He entered the commands to reel in the tethers and turned, watching the pod be pulled down to the bay floor. Malcolm watched T’Pol and Archer go back in the shuttle. A movement above him made him look up and smile. His wife had floated up to a space between the four catwalks above and was playing in the weightlessness. She gently pushed off the railing and twisted so she sent herself spinning across the space to the other side. Then she caught herself on the railing and repeated the motion. Malcolm accessed an audio file. “Computer, play loaded song once.” Malcolm said. He turned, pushing off the console toward his wife floating above him. Archer stopped writing when a drum and guitar chord blasted over the communication speakers in the pod bay. Archer let the PADD go and pushed himself out of his seat toward the hatch. He grabbed the handle outside the door and pulled himself next to the shuttle pod. A movement above his head caught his attention and he looked up. Archer’s lips crept into a grin. T’Pol came out beside him and looked up. Above them Malcolm had pulled Sista to him and the two were dancing in the weightlessness. Archer heard the companel in the shuttle pod beep. He pulled his communicator out of the pocket on his sleeve, flipping it open. “Archer.” “We’re ready to turn the grid back on and bring power back up, Cap’n,” Trip said. “Hold off on that.” “Sir?” “There’s a dance lesson going on. Hold off.” # Confused by Archer’s reply, Trip reached across the console and patched the visual sensor in the pod bay onto one of the monitors at his console. Trip grinned, watching Malcolm twirl Sista around and dip her back. He brought her up and kissed her before twirling her away. “Is there something wrong, Commander?” Hoshi asked from her station across the bridge. “Not a thing.” Trip hit a button and turned. The visual sensor came up on the main view screen for the entire bridge to see. Sista had sent herself slowly twirling back toward Malcolm. He caught her, pulled her close and the two moved in a slow in a circle. “You don’t suppose they’re in love, do you?” Trip asked. No one had to answer his question. # Malcolm ran his hand down Sista’s face, resting it on the back of her neck. “Trip’s bringing the power and gravitation plating back online you two,” Archer informed them. Malcolm reached out, pulling the two of them over the railing of a catwalk. “We’re ready, Trip.” Archer said, still watching the two. They were dancing along the catwalk, lost in each other’s eyes. “Do all joined humans express affection so openly?” T’Pol asked Archer. “No. Not all,” Archer answered. “Why do Lieutenant Reed and Vardee?” Archer looked at T’Pol. “Love makes us do things we’d never do any other time. I guess Vulcan’s don’t fall in love like that?” T’Pol looked at him and then back up at the couple above them. “Vulcans do fall in love, but no, not like that.” “You just don’t show affection to each other?” “Not in public. And certainly not like this.” “Like how?” T’Pol didn’t answer. She couldn’t explain it. She didn’t understand why watching the two made her feel uneasy. She had seen them display affection toward each other thousands of times, but there was something different with this display. Perhaps it was the way Malcolm’s hands would occasionally gently caress Sista’s face or how Sista’s smile seemed like it would never fade. “Powering plates back on now.” Trip said. Gravity returned suddenly and the song stopped, but that didn’t stop the two from dancing. Archer turned and walked into the shuttle pod. He picked up the PADD he was working on and. walked out of the shuttle pod passing T’Pol. She was still watching the two move to music only they could hear. “See you in the morning, T’Pol,” Archer said. T’Pol watched Archer leave. T’Pol turned and collected a PADD and a small metal case from the shuttle pod. As she left she glanced up again. The two were still dancing, talking in whispers to each other. # Trip didn’t look away from the novel on his PADD when his doorbell rang. “Come in,” Trip said. The door opened and the person entered. “Shift ended an hour ago. I ain’t fixing it till morning,” Trip said without looking up. “I did not come to request repairs,” T’Pol said. Trip lowered the PADD, looking over the top at T’Pol. She was wearing traditional Vulcan clothing tonight, something she hardly ever wore outside of her quarters. “Hey, Honey.” Trip sat his novel on the bunk beside him. “What’s up?” T’Pol looked around Trip’s quarters. “Can I help you?” Trip asked, sitting up on the edge of his bunk. “I desire to learn to dance.” T’Pol looked at Trip. “Similar to how Lieutenant Reed and Vardee were dancing today.” “And...” Trip stood, laying one arm on cabinets above his bunk. “You want me to teach you to dance like that?” “Yes. We could use the song they were dancing to.” Trip shrugged with a slight discerned frown. “Sure. Computer, search the database for Van Halen, ‘Dance the Night Away’.” “You know the song that was playing?” “I should. I’ve watched ‘Mission to Mars’ enough times with Lieutenant Reed,” Trip laughed. “He could recite the entire movie line for line.” The computer beeped. “Play song,” Trip ordered. Trip walked out to the center of his quarters, holding out his hands. T’Pol walked up to him, looking at each of his hands. “Vulcans...they don’t really dance, do they?” Trip asked. “We have few occasions to,” T’Pol admitted. “Okay. Here.” Trip took her right hand and placed it on his side. “This one goes here. Mine goes here.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “Then these two go like this.” Trip wrapped his hand around her left hand. “Ready?” Trip asked. “I am ready.” “The guy always leads and try to stay off my feet,” Trip instructed and began moving. T’Pol moved with him, quickly picking up the moves. “Why did Lieutenant Reed and Vardee show affection like they did today?” “They’re in love.” “And why does this cause them to display public affection in the manner that they do?” “Wow! You’re asking some toughies tonight, T’Pol.” Trip said. “And why is that?” “There is no one single answer to why people in love behave like they do. We humans don’t even agree on the same answers ourselves. However, this is what my grandma told me once. She said that some humans believe that they have soul mates, people who they were joined with once or people they were meant to be joined with. When two people are as much in love as Malcolm and Vardee, it’s because they are soul mates. And if a human ever finds a soul mate, then the two will show affection like Malcolm and Vardee do.” T’Pol appeared to be thinking about what Trip had said so he simply continued leading the dance around the room. “Why did Lieutenant Reed and Vardee show their affection so openly like they did today?” “They’re in love.” “And why does this cause them to have public displays of affection?” “Wow! You just have all the toughies tonight, don’t you?” “I wish to understand. “There is no one single answer to why people in love behave the way they do. Humans don’t even agree on the same answer to that question. However, this is what my grandma told me once. She said that some humans believe they have soul mates, people they were joined with at the dawn of time and they are meant to be together through time. When two people are as much in love as Malcolm and Vardee, it’s because they are soul mates. And if a human ever finds their soul mate, then the two cannot hide their love from the world.” T’Pol thought about the question, letting Trip lead her in the dance. She simply could not comprehend such a love. “How do you feel about me?” T’Pol asked Trip. “I adore you.” “You do not love me, then?” Trip hesitated, trying to answer but clearly unable to answer. He looked away so she decided to drop the question. The song ended but he didn’t top moving. “The dance is over,” T’Pol told him. “If I told you I loved you, would you leave me?” Trip whispered. T’Pol looked into his eyes. She wasn’t even aware they were still dancing. “You love me?” she asked. Trip didn’t answer. He swallowed hard. She could see fear in his eyes. He really believed she would leave if he told her this. Had other women done that to him leaving her to bear the burden of the harm they’d caused? T’Pol didn’t know how to assure him he was safe in their relationship. She had never expressed love. So she did the only thing that seemed to calm him other times. She leaned up and kissed him. The silence pulled them closer and all else was the music in between. “Where words cease, music begins, and where music ceases, kissing begins.” --Norman Douglas (1996, The Romance of The Kiss) |
Like it? Hate it? Just want to point out a typo? Join the discussion now.
Disclaimer: Star Trek in all its various forms and its characters are the property of CBS/Paramount. No copyright infringement is intended by the authors of this site, which is solely for the purpose of entertainment and is not for profit. This site is owned by CX and was opened to the public in February 2008.