Shore Leave
folder
Star Trek › Enterprise
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
7
Views:
4,170
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0
Recommended:
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Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Star Trek › Enterprise
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
7
Views:
4,170
Reviews:
0
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Star Trek: Enterprise, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter 3
See Chapter 1 for disclaimers, etc.
Title: Shore Leave
Author: Ginny Powell
Chapter 3
The ride up proved much more interesting than Trip had imagined, as it turned out that Charlie had never been out of the mesosphere. She seemed to find the experience exhilarating and scary at the same time and kept grabbing Trip’s leg. And when he put his arm around her, to make her feel more secure, she didn’t protest.
So Trip was in a much better mood when he returned to his ship than when he had left it. As the pair walked down the corridors toward Main Engineering, he pointed out various panels and sensors. Charlie seemed entranced. Trip had just gestured for her to proceed him onto the turbolift when Captain Archer came around the corner and spotted him.
“Commander Tucker! What in the hell are you doing back on-” Then Charlie leaned out of the turbolift to see what was going on, and the Captain’s entire manner changed. “Oh, hello. Miss…?”
“Cap’n Archer, this is Dr. Charlie Gamble. Charlie, Captain Jonathan Archer.”
“How nice to meet you, Dr. Gamble,” Archer said, smiling winningly as he took her hand.
“And you, Captain.”
“Dr. Gamble’s with the Warp Initiative Project,” Trip explained, subtly keeping himself between his two companions. “I’m givin’ her the tour.”
“Ah, the tour,” Archer repeated. “How…nice. Enjoy yourselves.”
“Thank you, sir,” Charlie said, and turned to reenter the turbolift. Trip turned to follow her, but not before he caught the conspiratory wink from his Captain.
Main Engineering was a hub of activity, and Trip took the opportunity to move a little closer to Charlie, guiding her with a hand on her lower back to the rail overlooking the Warp Reactor. He heard her breath catch in her throat as she caught sight of it.
“It’s so big,” she whispered. This made Trip inordinately proud for some reason. But his smile faded as she added, “We’ve been working on ways to reduce the size, streamline the whole process. May I see the running specs?”
“Uh, sure.” Trip helped her down the steep stairs and then back up the few steps to the operational panels at one end of the huge reactor. Motioning a crewman aside, he touched a screen to call up the reactor specs and both looked them over.
“98.3%,” Charlie observed one of the output variables. “You can maintain that?”
“Actually,” Trip answered, pride deepening his voice, “it’s usually at 99. We got one o’ the pipes open for maintenance, so it’s a little down right now.”
Charlie looked gratifyingly amazed. “That’s far above what the simulations showed. How do you achieve it?”
“Well, we’ve made a few modifications along the way.”
“Such as?”
The next hour was among the best of Trip’s life as he showed Charlie around the reactor, explaining all the improvements he and his crew had made. The looks she gave him began to border on worshipful, even though he was careful to give credit to T’Pol and his team where it was due. Well, most of the time.
“Hey, why don’t I get a picture o’ you up there,” Trip said with sudden inspiration. He urged her up the few steps to stand before the end of the reactor, as he reached into his bag for his camera. “I’ll send ya a copy,” he promised. That way, not only will I have a picture to keep, but you’ll have to give me your address. Congratulating himself on his cleverness, Trip held the camera up to his eye.
“I’d prefer a picture of both of us,” Charlie protested.
Trip lowered the camera and looked around, catching the eye of a nearby crewman. “Would ya mind…?”
“No problem, sir,” the crewman replied jovially. Like all Trip’s subordinates, he genuinely liked the Commander and was happy to see him having a good time with this pretty young lady, whoever she was. At least he wasn’t taking one of the too-few women on board out of circulation. “Smile!” he called when Trip had his arm firmly around the woman’s shoulders, and snapped the picture.
“Thank ya,” Trip drawled as he stepped down to take back the camera. He was checking how much space he had left on the picture disk when he heard the door open, but he paid it no attention until he heard a voice say “Charlie?” and Charlie answer “Malcolm?” He looked up to see Lieutenant Reed wrap his arms around Charlie, and she return the gesture.
“What are you doing here?” Malcolm asked, his pleasure at seeing her obvious on his face.
“Trip is giving me the tour,” Charlie answered, reaching out to just touch Trip’s arm.
“Oh,” Malcolm replied, his expression sobering a little as he noted the use of the Commander’s nickname. And how Trip’s smile wasn’t quite reaching his eyes.
“I was just going to find you to say ‘Hello’, and here you are,” Charlie said.
“Yes, here I am.” Malcolm forced a smile and waved feebly. “Hello!” Another glance at Trip’s face told him to wrap things up. “Well, I’ll tell my sister I saw you.”
“Thank you, Malcolm. So nice to see you.”
“You, too!” And Reed hurried off.
“So, how do you two know each other?” Trip asked, taking Charlie’s arm and heading in the opposite direction.
“Oh, I went to school with his big sister. I always thought he had a crush on me, but to me he was just her little brother. A bit of a pest, really.”
“Yeah, I can imagine,” Trip replied, smiling again, as they left Engineering. “So, wanna see some more o’ the ship?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to keep you. I’m sure you have work to do.”
“Actually, I was thinkin’ I’d head back down, grab some dinner at a little place I know on the waterfront. Whatta ya say? Will ya join me?”
“But I thought you said-”
“Changed my mind.”
Was it his imagination, or did Charlie look happier all of the sudden?
“Well then, I’d love to have dinner with you,” she said, and slipped her arm into his in a way that made him very glad he’d let Captain Archer win their battle of wills that morning.
Title: Shore Leave
Author: Ginny Powell
Chapter 3
The ride up proved much more interesting than Trip had imagined, as it turned out that Charlie had never been out of the mesosphere. She seemed to find the experience exhilarating and scary at the same time and kept grabbing Trip’s leg. And when he put his arm around her, to make her feel more secure, she didn’t protest.
So Trip was in a much better mood when he returned to his ship than when he had left it. As the pair walked down the corridors toward Main Engineering, he pointed out various panels and sensors. Charlie seemed entranced. Trip had just gestured for her to proceed him onto the turbolift when Captain Archer came around the corner and spotted him.
“Commander Tucker! What in the hell are you doing back on-” Then Charlie leaned out of the turbolift to see what was going on, and the Captain’s entire manner changed. “Oh, hello. Miss…?”
“Cap’n Archer, this is Dr. Charlie Gamble. Charlie, Captain Jonathan Archer.”
“How nice to meet you, Dr. Gamble,” Archer said, smiling winningly as he took her hand.
“And you, Captain.”
“Dr. Gamble’s with the Warp Initiative Project,” Trip explained, subtly keeping himself between his two companions. “I’m givin’ her the tour.”
“Ah, the tour,” Archer repeated. “How…nice. Enjoy yourselves.”
“Thank you, sir,” Charlie said, and turned to reenter the turbolift. Trip turned to follow her, but not before he caught the conspiratory wink from his Captain.
Main Engineering was a hub of activity, and Trip took the opportunity to move a little closer to Charlie, guiding her with a hand on her lower back to the rail overlooking the Warp Reactor. He heard her breath catch in her throat as she caught sight of it.
“It’s so big,” she whispered. This made Trip inordinately proud for some reason. But his smile faded as she added, “We’ve been working on ways to reduce the size, streamline the whole process. May I see the running specs?”
“Uh, sure.” Trip helped her down the steep stairs and then back up the few steps to the operational panels at one end of the huge reactor. Motioning a crewman aside, he touched a screen to call up the reactor specs and both looked them over.
“98.3%,” Charlie observed one of the output variables. “You can maintain that?”
“Actually,” Trip answered, pride deepening his voice, “it’s usually at 99. We got one o’ the pipes open for maintenance, so it’s a little down right now.”
Charlie looked gratifyingly amazed. “That’s far above what the simulations showed. How do you achieve it?”
“Well, we’ve made a few modifications along the way.”
“Such as?”
The next hour was among the best of Trip’s life as he showed Charlie around the reactor, explaining all the improvements he and his crew had made. The looks she gave him began to border on worshipful, even though he was careful to give credit to T’Pol and his team where it was due. Well, most of the time.
“Hey, why don’t I get a picture o’ you up there,” Trip said with sudden inspiration. He urged her up the few steps to stand before the end of the reactor, as he reached into his bag for his camera. “I’ll send ya a copy,” he promised. That way, not only will I have a picture to keep, but you’ll have to give me your address. Congratulating himself on his cleverness, Trip held the camera up to his eye.
“I’d prefer a picture of both of us,” Charlie protested.
Trip lowered the camera and looked around, catching the eye of a nearby crewman. “Would ya mind…?”
“No problem, sir,” the crewman replied jovially. Like all Trip’s subordinates, he genuinely liked the Commander and was happy to see him having a good time with this pretty young lady, whoever she was. At least he wasn’t taking one of the too-few women on board out of circulation. “Smile!” he called when Trip had his arm firmly around the woman’s shoulders, and snapped the picture.
“Thank ya,” Trip drawled as he stepped down to take back the camera. He was checking how much space he had left on the picture disk when he heard the door open, but he paid it no attention until he heard a voice say “Charlie?” and Charlie answer “Malcolm?” He looked up to see Lieutenant Reed wrap his arms around Charlie, and she return the gesture.
“What are you doing here?” Malcolm asked, his pleasure at seeing her obvious on his face.
“Trip is giving me the tour,” Charlie answered, reaching out to just touch Trip’s arm.
“Oh,” Malcolm replied, his expression sobering a little as he noted the use of the Commander’s nickname. And how Trip’s smile wasn’t quite reaching his eyes.
“I was just going to find you to say ‘Hello’, and here you are,” Charlie said.
“Yes, here I am.” Malcolm forced a smile and waved feebly. “Hello!” Another glance at Trip’s face told him to wrap things up. “Well, I’ll tell my sister I saw you.”
“Thank you, Malcolm. So nice to see you.”
“You, too!” And Reed hurried off.
“So, how do you two know each other?” Trip asked, taking Charlie’s arm and heading in the opposite direction.
“Oh, I went to school with his big sister. I always thought he had a crush on me, but to me he was just her little brother. A bit of a pest, really.”
“Yeah, I can imagine,” Trip replied, smiling again, as they left Engineering. “So, wanna see some more o’ the ship?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to keep you. I’m sure you have work to do.”
“Actually, I was thinkin’ I’d head back down, grab some dinner at a little place I know on the waterfront. Whatta ya say? Will ya join me?”
“But I thought you said-”
“Changed my mind.”
Was it his imagination, or did Charlie look happier all of the sudden?
“Well then, I’d love to have dinner with you,” she said, and slipped her arm into his in a way that made him very glad he’d let Captain Archer win their battle of wills that morning.