|
"Wallflowers" by A. Rhea King
Rating: PG CHAPTER 4 Trip pulled the last piece of pecan pie out of the cabinet and turned. He stared at the Ensign that was quietly waiting his acknowledgment. “Can I help you Ensign Burke?” “May I speak to you, Commander?” she asked. “Yeah. Let me jus--” “In private.” She said, glancing over her shoulder. “Uh...yeah...just a minute.” Trip turned and returned the pie back to the cabinet. He led the way to a secluded corner away from the mess hall. “What’s the problem Ensign?” “What does the Captain intend on doing with these children?” Trip decided to error on Archer’s side. “I don’t know. I suppose he’ll find ‘em a good home and set ‘em down there.” “Why?” she asked. “I don’t know. And I can’t say for sure that’s what he’ll do either, Ensign. I’m not the Captain. He hasn’t mentioned anything to me about his plans.” She smiled. “I just adore Brila.” “Brila?” “The girl living with me right now. She reminds me of my niece back home.” “Well...I guess that’s good. That you don’t mind her bunking with you that is.” “Did you know that the other day--” “Ensign, if that’s all you needed to talk about I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to catch me another time. I really need to get some dinner before I have to go back to work.” “Oh. Sorry. Yes. If you could maybe tell the captain...I wouldn’t mind Brila staying. I’d...well...that’s all.” She offered a weak smile and walked off. Trip started back toward the mess hall. “Commander,” a voice called. Trip turned. A tall dark skinned man was walking toward him. “Lieutenant Parser,” Trip addressed the man. “Do you have a moment Commander?” “Yeah,” Trip lied. “Do you know what Captain Archer plans on doing with the children?” Trip’s stomach growled at him. “No. I don’t.” “Well, I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned it to him, but there’s a couple of them that are very bright. They’ve picked up English quickly and have been helping me with some repairs. I’m surprised how anxious they are to help considering their ages, but I really think they should have some sort of structured activity like school. My sister’s best friend’s son goes to this private school in Austria that--” “I’ll be sure to mention it to the Captain,” Trip said. “If you’ll excuse me.” “Certainly. Thank you, sir.” Trip turned, walking back to the mess hall. He opened the cabinet and frowned. The piece of pecan pie was gone. Trip turned, finding two men standing behind him. “Let me guess. It’s about the kids,” Trip said. “Well, we were wondering--” “I don’t know what the Captain has planned for them,” Trip answered. “I was wondering if you could make some suggestions for me, Commander Tucker.” The second man said. He handed Trip a PADD. “Oh. Are you going to talk to the captain about the children, sir?” a woman asked, walking up. Trip sighed. “Seems that way, doesn’t it?” Trip forced a smile. “Would you like to add something? I have a PADD now.” Trip held up the PADD The three started talking at once. Slowly people began gathering around Trip, voicing their concern, comments, and suggestions about the children. # Archer slowly looked down at Navta. She was sitting beside his chair happily playing with some tools and other items she’d been given as toys, oblivious to the bridge crew that kept glancing at her when she occasionally spoke to her toys. She repeatedly hummed a song that had gotten on Archer’s nerves days ago. Archer sighed, looking back at the view monitor. He knew the crew was trying not to show amusement about his situation and that only made him more irritated by it. Archer looked at Hoshi. “I thought you were going to teach them English, Ensign,” Archer said. Hoshi looked up at him. “I am. On my off hours.” “Lots of English.” Navta said before returning to her humming. Archer looked down at Navta. “Wouldn’t you rather play with the other children?” “Eartik doing other things.” “Wouldn’t it be more fun to play with him or the others?” “Eartik sleeping. No other children to play with.” Navta looked up at Archer. “K’pan want to play?” “No,” Archer growled, leaning back in his chair. Navta went back to humming and playing. “Perhaps you should confine the child to her quarters if her presence displeases you Captain,” T’Pol suggested. Archer shot T’Pol a frown and glare. “What is ‘displease’ Jistak Hoshi?” Navta asked. “Don’t even,” Archer said to Hoshi as she opened her mouth to answer the child. “We’ll talk about it cintra,” Hoshi answered. “Okay.” Navta returned to her playing. “Captain, there is a planet five light years from our current position,” T’Pol said, looking at her view monitor. “Last Vulcan report was it was inhabited.” “Lay in a course,” Archer ordered. He looked down at Navta. Navta put her toys away and pulled out crayons and a pad of paper. She laid down on her stomach and began coloring. Archer sighed. How did he manage to inherit a seven-year-old humanoid alien attachment? Archer looked back at the view monitor. # Archer took another bite of his supper, looking from Trip to T’Pol and back. Trip was unusually quiet. T’Pol was eating slower than normal as though she was lost in thought. “I noticed we have an art gallery starting in the mess hall,” Archer commented. “Yeah. Eartik and Navta have some imagination,” Trip said, but with little enthusiasm. Archer frowned. He finished eating, sat his fork down and leaned over his plate “Okay. What is it Trip?” Archer asked. “Sir?” Trip asked, looking at him. “Stop siring me. What is it? You’ve been quiet for two days now. I haven’t seen you on the bridge and the most I’ve heard out of you was good morning and good night. Tonight’s the first night you’ve joined us for supper. What’s going on?” “We are so far behind in technology, sir,” Trip said with a long sigh. “You should see the schematics Sista’s drawn up. I’ve been pouring of ‘em for the last two days and the stuff that some of these alien races have are mind blowing!” “Sista...the alien woman, has been giving you schematics from alien races?” “Yes. And the--” “You haven’t made any modifications to my ship with these schematics, have you Commander?” “No, sir, but--” “And don’t,” Archer ordered. “Why?” “For one, they probably don’t even work. She’s a young woman, Trip. She can’t be older than twenty--” “Twenty-three years, sir,” T’Pol interjected. “Twenty-three,” Archer said, “so there is no way she’s gained enough knowledge about engineering to know what to do with what she may know. Second, I don’t want some alien race claiming we’ve stolen their technology when we meet them.” “Some of it the Vulcans have,” Trip offered, “like that tractor beam.” “All the more reason not to have it. The last thing we need is for them to say we’re stealing their technology.” “She knows what she’s doing, Cap’n. We’ve run simulations on some of the schematics. They work. The tractor beam--” “I said no.” “Okay, okay. I won’t change anything. But, Cap’n, everyone’s been talking to me about these kids. I really think--” “We’ll find them a home.” “Cap’n, I really don’t think--” “Trip, we cannot have children on this ship. We’re not a transporter. We don’t have any accommodations for children, let alone enough room. It just isn’t possible.” “We’re making room right now, Cap’n. And everyone--” “Trip, no. They aren’t staying on this ship.” “Then why don’t you just throw out on the next habitable planet we come across?” Trip suggested haughtily. “I’m not going to do that either. I want to find some people who can take care of them.” “You don’t want them on your ship, you don’t want to throw ‘em off but you do want to hand ‘em over to complete strangers. Well, glad to see you’re among the few that don’t want ‘em around. Too bad it’s not a good solution, isn’t it?” Archer was surprised by Trip’s outburst. Trip glared at his plate. “I didn’t say I didn’t want them here. I said having them on board isn’t possible.” “Why?” “We never know who we’re going to encounter or if they’re hostile. It’s too dangerous for children to be on a starship.” “And you think transporters are safe? Why don’t you go and ask Travis to tell you some of his horror stories?” “We are not a transporter, Trip. We are a Starfleet ship.” “So it’d be safer throwing ‘em off with complete strangers instead?” “They aren’t going to be complete strangers. Not when we leave them anyway.” “They’d be better off dumped on some damn planet alone!” “Then maybe that’s what I should do!” Archer snapped. “FINE! DO IT! YOU’RE THE CAP’N! IT’S YOUR GOD DAMNED SHIP! YOUR OPINION IS THE ONLY ONE THAT MATTERS, RIGHT!?” Trip snatched his napkin off his lap, tossed it on his plate “sometimes, jon, you CAN BE THE MOST bullheaded, UNREASAONABLE, THOUGHTLESS JERK I KNOW! GOOD NIght!” Trip stormed out of the dining room. Archer sat for several minutes, fighting back his temper. He looked up to find T’Pol had her eyes on her plate. “What’s going on with you, T’Pol?” T’Pol looked at Archer. “Sir?” “You’re not acting right either. What has Sista said to you?” “Nothing, sir.” “Then why are you eating like your in slow motion? Even for you.” “I too do not agree with your decision about how to handle this situation.” Archer stood, tossing his napkin on his plate, “Well I guess I’m just a bullheaded, unreasonable, insensitive bastard, T’Pol, what can you expect? Good-night!” “Good-night, Captain,” T’Pol said before he reached the door. “Sleep well.” Archer stopped, looking back at her. He wondered if she knew he hadn’t been sleeping well since the children had been discovered. Archer left without another word. T’Pol looked across the table at Trip’s setting, staring for a moment at the PADD sticking out from under his discarded napkin. She reached across and picked it up, scanning the seemingly endless list of suggestions and concerns regarding the children that the crew had been voicing to Trip for the last four days. T’Pol sat the PADD on top of hers and resumed eating. |
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.