CHAPTER 17

Hoshi was concentrating so intently on the sound of air being pumped out of the airlock that at first she blocked out the metallic clang of hatches being mated.

When the dying echo of the reverberation from the other side of the airlock finally registered with her, she quickly checked the settings. A moment ago, the gauges had showed the air in the small chamber was almost gone, but to her stunned amazement, one of the indicators showed fresh air was now being pumped in from the opposite side.

That could only mean one thing: Another ship had docked with Enterprise.

"No!" she cried, hitting the bulkhead next to the control panel with her fist.

This wasn't fair. She'd planned so carefully and worked so hard. Rapidly punching some of the buttons on the panel, she tried to override the commands coming from the other side, but the failsafes to prevent such an occurrence kept her from doing so and she didn't know the code to circumvent the failsafes.

When Malcolm and T'Pol rounded the bend in the corridor at a run, Hoshi was kicking the door to the airlock in outrage.

"Make them stop!" Hoshi yelled. "They're ruining everything."

T'Pol held up a scanner in one hand as she and Malcolm reached the airlock. "Someone's in there," she said.

"It's got to be Trip," Malcolm said, grabbing Hoshi from behind and pulling her away from the hatch.

"Let me go!" Hoshi screamed, fighting against his grasp on her upper arms. "I was almost done!"

As T'Pol worked the controls to pump air into the airlock, Hoshi continued to strain against Malcolm's restraining hold.

"You don't understand," Hoshi called to T'Pol. "I have to kill him! It's the only way I can save Malcolm. Malcolm's more important than anything. I have to keep him safe."

She turned a beseeching gaze over her shoulder to Malcolm.

"Please," she pleaded. "I have to do this for you. The next time, Trip might have killed you. Then what would I do?"

She suddenly quit struggling and started sobbing uncontrollably. Malcolm carefully turned her around until she was facing him. With an anguished cry, she collapsed against his chest, her hands clenching the material of his uniform as she sobbed.

Both the interior airlock door and the exterior one opened. T'Pol stepped in and knelt by the unconscious engineer who was crumpled like a rag doll on the floor. Checking her scanner, she announced, "He's alive."

A movement across the airlock drew T'Pol's attention. Two humanoids dressed in powder blue coveralls stood in the doorway, taking in the tableau before them with wide unblinking eyes. Only their pronounced jowls and double eye ridges differentiated them from humans.

T'Pol stood, inclined her head toward them, and said, "We are grateful for your intervention."

The two beings dipped their heads in return. The taller of the two spoke, his translated voice coming from a box-like device he held out before him. "The madness is much farther advanced than we anticipated. The inoculations must be made as soon as possible."

T'Pol took the metal case the second humanoid held out. Balancing it on one arm, she opened it and took out one of the numerous hyposprays it contained. She glanced at the humanoids and raised the hypo to her neck.

"Sub-commander!" Malcolm said. "Is that wise? We need to analyze--"

He bit off his warning as she injected herself. Still holding Hoshi in a protective embrace, Malcolm watched as T'Pol closed her eyes briefly, then opened them to gaze at him clearly and steadily.

"We do not have time, Lieutenant," she said in a voice stronger and much less stressed than it had been in recent weeks. "Besides, as acting captain of this vessel, I cannot allow any treatment to be tried on crewmembers which I am not willing to undergo myself." She inhaled deeply. "It appears to be working."

She squatted down, put the hypospray against Trip's neck, and pushed the button to activate the injection. Malcolm could hear the hiss from where he was standing.

Held securely in Malcolm's grip, Hoshi whimpered when T'Pol approached her.

"She's going to kill me," Hoshi said in horror, struggling again against Malcolm's encircling arms as she strained away from the Vulcan's outstretched hand holding the hypospray. "I tried to kill her lover, and now she's going to kill me. Please, Malcolm! Don't let her--"

The last few words came out in a scream as T'Pol depressed the hypospray against Hoshi's neck. Hoshi struggled for a few more seconds, then stilled, a look of confusion on her face. She stared at T'Pol before her gaze shifted to the open airlock door and Trip's unconscious form.

"Oh no!" Hoshi whispered in shock. She would have fallen if it hadn't been for Malcolm's hold on her. "I tried to kill Trip!"

"It's OK, Hoshi," Malcolm reassured her as T'Pol inoculated him. "We were able to stop you in time. Trip should be OK."

Hoshi tore her gaze away from Trip to watch Malcolm's face as the medication took effect on him. The permanent squint to the set of his eyes she had become used to seeing was eased, and she could almost feel his tension melt away where his hands touched her. There was still a wariness about him, but not the high-level paranoia that had been his constant companion for so long. What's more, she didn't see any jealousy or resentment when he looked at Trip.

In a small, bewildered voice, Hoshi asked, "Would someone please explain what's going on?"

"As you can see, Ensign," T'Pol said as she closed the lid on the case of hyposprays, "the Blaniats have arrived ahead of their revised estimate. When they docked, they registered a life form in the airlock and notified us. They also informed us of their cure for the affliction affecting the crew."

The clatter of footsteps came from around the bend in the corridor, and Liz Cutler followed by two med tech crewmen came into view. T'Pol handed Liz the case.

"Begin inoculations immediately," T'Pol ordered her. "Inform me as soon as all the crew above-decks have been treated."

Liz nodded as one of the medical crewmen moved to check Trip's condition. "What about the crew below-decks?" she asked.

"We will devise a method of distributing the inoculations to them," T'Pol said. "All able-bodied crewmen should be treated first."

Turning her attention to Malcolm as Trip was carried off on a stretcher, T'Pol said, "Lieutenant, show our visitors to the engine room and make sure the engineering staff gives them any necessary assistance in the modifications."

Malcolm released his hold on Hoshi and nodded, gesturing for the two aliens to follow him. As he started to move away, Hoshi reached out and tentatively touched his arm. Malcolm smiled down at her, the first true smile she had seen on his face in a long, long time.

"Everything will be OK now," he said.

Hoshi seriously doubted it. She'd gone mad like so many others had. And in her insanity, she had tried to kill another person.

"Sub-commander," she croaked out as the others left.

"Yes?" T'Pol asked.

"I should be charged with something...relieved of my duties...locked up somewhere at the very least," Hoshi said unsteadily.

"For what reason?"

Hoshi gaped at her in disbelief. "You have to ask? I tried to kill Trip! If the Blaniats hadn't shown up early, I would have succeeded."

T'Pol considered her for a few moments before speaking. "Ensign, you were not responsible for your actions," she said. "The madness affecting sentient beings in this area of space dictated your actions. And it was not through your actions alone that Commander Tucker's life was endangered."

"What do you mean?" Hoshi asked, puzzled.

T'Pol looked as if she had bitten into something distasteful. Speaking rapidly in a soft tone, she said, "My actions, or rather, my lack of action, also endangered Commander Tucker. If I had reacted to your accusations in a more logical manner instead of refusing to deal with the situation, perhaps this incident could have been avoided. In addition, we did not know you were being influenced by the madness, and so I did not take that into account." She drew a deep breath before continuing. "By the same token, my reasoning may have been affected by the madness as well."

Having bared her conscience, T'Pol turned on her heel and walked off down the hall, leaving a stunned but relieved Hoshi staring after her.

ONE MONTH LATER...

Malcolm and Hoshi were sharing breakfast in the mess hall, talking about Enterprise's imminent departure from the area of space that had had them trapped for so long. It had taken the Blaniats two months to reach them, but due to continued improvements to the engine modifications, it wasn't taking Enterprise as long to get back out.

Today they would emerge from this dangerous region of space, and Trip and his crew would be able to convert the warp engine back to the way it was supposed to be.

The Blaniats' medicine had also worked, and so both the ship and the crew were in full working order again.

Captain Archer, restored to his position of authority, had come to the conclusion there was no sense in seeking immediate punitive redress. The current Blaniat regime wasn't responsible for what had happened to Enterprise. He'd leave the matter in the hands of Starfleet and Earth diplomats. They could hash out what -- if anything -- should be done about the whole tragic affair.

All the crewmembers who had been below-decks had been treated and pronounced sane. In some cases, they had to be stunned in order to be treated, but as Malcolm had told Hoshi, "Whatever works."

Doctor Phlox was still in stasis, but now that they were on their way home, there was hope that something could be done for him. Hoshi knew the captain was carrying a load of guilt about what he had done to Phlox, and she hoped for both their sakes that Phlox's condition could be corrected.

The sealed bulkhead doors had been left in place in case there were any relapses among the crew. But the inoculations had worked the way the Blaniats said they would, and not a single person experienced a recurrence. Today they would begin unsealing the doors as well as putting the turbolifts back in operation.

Everything was getting back to normal except for one major thing that Hoshi wouldn't change for the world. Malcolm had decided, and she had concurred, that they would continue to share her cabin. The madness had gone, but their love had remained.

"You're sure you can handle living in my quarters now that you have all your marbles back?" Hoshi teased Malcolm as she sipped her tea at their table in the mess hall.

Malcolm made a face at her. "It's not like I was missing a lot of them compared to some people," he retorted, but there was an affectionate glint in his eye that took the sting from his words. "We are going to have to have a talk, however, about how closet space is divided. You seem to have an inordinate amount of off-duty clothing."

She snickered. "You didn't complain last night when I put that silk outfit on before coming to bed."

"There wasn't enough material for it to be considered an entire outfit on its own," he shot back with a wicked grin.

"So what's the problem?" she asked. "Something that size can't take up much room in a closet."

The sound of a throat being cleared interrupted them. Trip stood by their table, holding a tray, clearly waiting for permission to join them.

"Have a seat, Trip," Malcolm said with a friendly smile.

"Thanks," the engineer said.

Hoshi wasn't as pleased as Malcolm to see Trip. Sure, she'd gotten over the incredible awkwardness she'd felt at first after she'd been "cured." It had been a strange, shameful experience to be around someone whom you had tried to kill -- even if you had been out of your mind at the time you tried to do it.

Luckily, Trip hadn't taken offense at what she'd done. He had confided that he felt the same about what he'd done to Malcolm, not to mention that he'd been hitting on her the whole time, which embarrassed him to no end. He said he expected that they'd all get back to the way their friendships used to be, but it was going to take some time.

But right now when she was enjoying some titillating repartee with Malcolm, she'd just as soon Trip wasn't here. He seemed to be barging in on them more and more often lately. Although Trip hadn't said anything, Hoshi privately thought it was because T'Pol had cut him loose.

She felt sorry for him, but still, his showing up and interrupting her and Malcolm at any given moment was annoying.

In fact, Trip coming to their table this morning reminded her of another time he had joined them for breakfast.

"So, Trip," Hoshi said as he began eating. "You never did tell me -- Did you put something in Malcolm's coffee that morning?"

The slightest hint of pink touched Trip's cheeks. "Ah, yeah. I did," he said sheepishly, reaching for his cup and looking at the liquid in it before taking a sip.

A small smile played around her lips as she continued to interrogate him. "What exactly did you put in it?"

"Hoshi!" Malcolm said, aware of Trip's discomfiture with the topic.

"I'm just curious. I didn't smell anything in the coffee," she said. "So what was it?"

Trip rolled his eyes and said, "I got it out of the quartermaster's stores. Some kind of stuff for pest control."

"Pest control," she repeated, fixing Trip with a thoughtful stare and tapping her fingers on the tabletop. "I really hate it when pests show up."

Malcolm suddenly pushed back from the table. "I've got to get started moving the armory equipment back down to F deck. Hoshi, could I talk to you a minute? In private?"

"Sure," she said, picking up her tray and following him.

They took their dishes to the galley and she followed him out into the corridor.

"What is it, Malcolm?" she asked. "I've got to get going, too. I'm supposed to catalog those diplomatic protocols from the Blaniats." She laughed. "Not that it really matters. Another year or two, they'll have yet another government and a new set of protocols."

"Hoshi," he said, then stopped. He looked up and down the corridor to make sure they were alone. "I really don't think it's a good idea to do that."

"Do what?" she asked.

"Tease Trip that way," he said. "It sounded like you were interested in using some of that poison on him."

Hoshi stared at him, her eyes going wide.

"Malcolm! Whatever gave you that idea?" she asked, shaking her head and chuckling. She patted his cheek. "You'd think by now you'd know me better."

Malcolm let out a relieved sigh as they began walking down the corridor. She'd had him going there for a bit. No one had had a relapse of the madness, and they were just about out of the area of its influence, but still...

She had just been teasing Trip after all. He wished she wouldn't joke about using poison to kill someone after what they'd all been through, though.

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as they came to an intersection of corridors. "See you later," he said.

She nodded, smiling as she watched him walk away.

"Poor Malcolm," she murmured. "What made you think I was teasing?"

THE END