A Fine Mess- Ch. 5

A Fine Mess

By Chianna

PG - Action/Adventure/Romance
Disclaimers in part one

Spoilers – Just a wee one for "Shuttlepod One"

Just a short one today. ‘Ya gotta love Dom Keating and the wonderful character he’s brought to life. Thanks! Hope ya’ll find it entertaining.

Chapter 5

'Ya Don't Say

The absurd is the essential concept and the first truth. – Albert Camus

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As Malcolm approached engineering, he spied Commander Tucker at one of the engineering stations. Tucker was muttering and shaking his head. As far as Malcolm could tell, the keys that Trip seemed to be hitting were rather random. The problem Tucker was chewing on, apparently, was not related to the screen in front to him.

"Don’t even ask Lieutenant."

Malcolm was impressed. I’ll have to remember that trick of seeing someone approaching in the reflection on a station screen. Excellent defensive maneuver, he thought.

And as contrary as a mule, Tucker launched right into the problem that he had just the moment before told Reed not to ask.

"Do you think that T’Pol goes out of her way to misunderstand everything that I say?" Malcolm opened his mouth as if to reply but should have realized that he had ventured into a soliloquy and not a dialogue.

"I actually try to say something nice for once and she manages to take the most negative interpretation of what I say. ‘Course once I said it, I knew... Aw hell, can’t she give a guy credit for trying?"

"It was the "bum" comment that I made when we were stranded on the shuttlepod, wasn’t it?" Malcolm was finally able to interject.

Trip’s head whipped around and he finally made eye contact. His mouth fell open, completely dumbfounded. Malcolm thought for a moment that the commander resembled a rather confused guppy.

"Right. Until I made my alcohol influenced observation, your feelings about Vulcans in general clouded your ability to see the sub-commander as an individual much less a female. How often have your eyes descended to some of the... ‘er, sub-commander’s let us just say... assets, lately?"

More fish impressions.

"Well you might have caught up with the sparks coming off you two like a Roman candle. However, no one has clued T’Pol in to your change of heart, so to speak." Malcolm hazarded a look at the commander and noted that his mouth had shut back up again like a bear trap. "Looks like you’ve just realized a few things yourself."

Malcolm did not often get the last word on the fast talking southerner, but Tucker was beginning to realize that whenever he did, it was normally a humdinger.

"Alright Lt. Reed." Tucker favored him with a sickly, rather strained smile. "Do you think that you could use you amazing powers of observation to help me tackle the phase canon’s power fluctuation?"

As Malcolm and the commander settled in to review the data spooling down the screen, Malcolm added, "Of course, just as with your Yank superheroes, I only use my powers for good."

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Continued in Chapter 6
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