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"Whips, Chains, and Plomeek Soup"
Rating: PG-13 Twelve The clanging of bells was Hoshi’s only warning. She threw herself to the side, rolling back up on her knees. She clawed her long black hair out of her face—how the hell can I do anything with my hair in my face? I’m a Starfleet officer, not a fashion model!—and spit strands out of her mouth. “Sorry, Hoshi,” Archer apologized sheepishly. “I haven’t gotten the hang of it yet.” “That’s all right, sir,” she replied as she got back onto her feet. She checked the katana strapped to her back and its smaller twin, the wakazashi, sheathed at her side. Her unexpected tumble had no lasting damage on either. She gave Archer a look of sympathy. “I can’t seem to get the hang of this,” he said, frustration lacing his voice. “The ahn-woon takes a lot of practice and T’Pol is a good teacher.” It took all of her control to keep from laughing at the Vulcan’s exasperated (as much as T’Pol allowed herself to look exasperated) expression. T’Pol retrieved her weapon from Archer and passed it to Hoshi. “Ensign, will you please demonstrate some techniques to the captain?” “Hoshi, I didn’t know you had any experience with Vulcan weapons,” Archer said with surprise. She chuckled and replied, “I’m not an expert, but I did spend some time on Vulcan when I was learning the language. I’ll try my best.” Not the best story, but it was sufficient for the moment. Hoshi swung it around her head, then snapped it outwards, making the chimes ring. After a few more experimental strikes, she handed it back to T’Pol. “Thank you.” “Your skills are quite good,” T’Pol said with a nod. Humor sparkled in her eyes at the ironic comment. Hoshi felt her own lips curve upwards in a smile. “Now, Captain, did you see how she angled her wrist—“ Hoshi moved to the other side of the shuttle bay, where Malcolm, Trip and Travis were preparing Shuttlepod One for the trip to Luran. Malcolm smiled at her approach and she moved to his side. “Here, Malcolm. I hope you take good care of these; I want them back in one piece.” “I shall, my lady,” he replied solemnly, as he accepted the katana and the wakazashi sword with a slight bow. He smiled in appreciation of the craftsmanship, of the clean lines and glow of the wooden lacquered scabbards. “They’re beautiful, Hoshi.” “Wow,” Travis agreed, his eyes widening. “I didn’t know you had those on board.” She nodded at him and said, “They’re heirlooms, Travis, part of my family for centuries.” Her counterpart kept them in the same place she did on her own ship, and Hoshi was glad of it. She gave Malcolm a sideways look. “You aren’t supposed to withdraw the swords all the way out of the scabbard unless you plan to use them.” “In other words, don’t flash the steel around unless you mean it,” Trip said, his voice muffled by the interior of the shuttlepod. He stuck his head out of the pod. “That makes it, what, five blades you’ve got? How many more do you need?” “Two more, but that shouldn’t be difficult to procure.” “Thought so. Here.” Trip pulled out a pair of sheathed knives and handed them to Malcolm. “Now these are Tucker heirlooms, so I want ‘em back too.” Malcolm sputtered, “Where the bloody hell—?” “Whoa,” Travis echoed, his eyes like saucers. “They’re Bowie knives. Got ‘em from my great-granddaddy,” Trip answered breezily. “I’ve never used ‘em, but they’re still in pretty good condition. Yeah, I know you’re the Armory officer, but like Hoshi, I got special clearance before we launched Enterprise.” “You’ve never struck me as a weapons collector, Trip,” Malcolm said. “I’m not, not really, but they’ve got a history, and Great-Grandad wanted me to take a piece of the family when I got into space.” “Then I shall take excellent care of them.” Malcolm’s tone was warm as he made the promise. Hoshi allowed a slight smile; Lieutenant Commander Trip Tucker had a similar pair of knives prominently displayed in his quarters on her ship. There was another loud jangle as Archer mistimed his aim and the heavy end of his ahn-woon dropped to the floor like a rock. T’Pol didn’t quite roll her eyes, but Trip winced in sympathy even as he choked back his laughter. Hoshi decided to make a graceful exit. “I think I’d better help the captain with his ahn-woon before he kills someone by accident.” “How are we going to get out of the mess we’re in?” Hoshi asked T’Pol. The two were in one of the Science Labs, in the pretense of doing last-minute adjustments to their protocols. It was one of the few places on the ship where T'Pol was sure they wouldn't be overheard. Neither of their quarters was safe and there were simply too many people in the places Hoshi had suggested. T’Pol looked up from her PADD. “We must be vigilant while we are on the planet, Hoshi. There are many similarities to this particular Away mission and our own. It will be imperative that the original members survive the mission.” A wince of pain went through Hoshi at the memory. She forced herself to ask the question that she dreaded knowing the answer to. “Malcolm...I mean, Doctor Reed, will he be alive if—when—we go back?” The Vulcan looked up at her with an unreadable expression, but sadness shone in her eyes. “I do not know, Hoshi. There is no predicting what will happen when our dimension is restored to normal.” She took a deep breath to keep her voice steady. “So we might go back to a completely changed world. He might still--” “The possibility exists,” T’Pol admitted. “I cannot say just how deep the changes will run.” Hoshi blinked back tears; she couldn't imagine her universe without him. It took a mix-up of dimensional proportions to make her realize that. Then she reminded herself: There is more at stake here than just your love life, Hoshi. How many more people are "gone" because the Lurans were successful? A whole universe, a whole dimension. Whatever happened, happened, and she should be prepared. She summoned up her "captain facade", even as her heart was breaking. “All right. So we have to make sure Jon, Malcolm and Trip get out of this alive. With Malcolm being the Armory Officer, that’ll make it more complicated.” “Yes, but I have observed that he is much less likely to stumble into a firefight.” “Like another Armory Officer we both know?” She smiled at the joke; their Trip never went looking for trouble, but it always seemed to find him. The smile vanished. “All right, how are we going to know when’s the right moment?” “We will know. That is all I can tell you.” T’Pol gave a small sigh, then stiffened. “Trip and Malcolm are looking for us. We have four hours until we cross into the system.” Hoshi sighed and rubbed her temples. “Can’t we just make an excuse? Or have Phlox tell them we're sick? Or run and hide?” “Unfortunately, that is not possible.” T’Pol tapped her own temple. “And I would not underestimate this Malcolm’s skills in tracking.” And Trip stuck his head into the doorway. “So, here’s where you two are hidin’.” “We were not ‘hiding’,” T’Pol objected coolly. “We were finalizing the adjustments to the protocols before we entered the system. There are many details that must be attended to, or we risk offending the Lurans. The consequences may not be pleasant.” Trip chuckled and took the PADD out of T’Pol’s hand. “Look, being paranoid is Malcolm’s job. I’m sure things’ll turn out just fine. Now, you’ve been working non-stop since we found out we were going to Luran in the first place. A workaholic Vulcan is a grumpy Vulcan. I bet you missed your last meditation session.” “Trip, my last meditation session was exactly seven point two hours ago.” He snorted and glanced at Malcolm, who leaned against the doorway.“Yeah, for about half an hour. No wonder you’re bein’ grumpy. C’mon, you need time to center yourself. I pulled out the mat and the candles for you, and I had Chef make some pok tar and plomeek soup, ‘cause I’m pretty sure you skipped eatin’ this afternoon too.” “You did not have to—“ The rest of T’Pol’s protest was cut off as he led her past Malcolm and out of the lab. The door hissed shut after them. Hoshi stared at the door. “He really cares for her, doesn’t he?” “He does,” Malcolm agreed quietly. “They are polar opposites, but they complement each other so well. Took them a long time to realize it, but I’m rather glad they did.” A lopsided grin appeared on his lips. “As I am glad that I realized the truth as well.” She smiled at him, but said nothing. He took a step towards her. “What is it, Hoshi? You’ve been withdrawn ever since Phlox found that imbalance in your brain. Are you sure you’re all right?” “I’m all right, it’s just—“ She sighed and decided to be truthful, for once. “I don’t want to lose you.” “Is that what’s bothering you?” He drew her into a gentle hug and didn’t let her go. “I’ll be with you as long as I’m able, luv. I promise.” “I know. I know you will.” She closed her eyes and gave in to the inevitable, just this once. |
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