Fic: Run of the Ship (5/8)

[fathomlessspite]

Title: Run of the Ship (Part 5 of 8)
Fandom: Star Trek Enterprise
Rating: PG
Character: Reed, bit of Travis, Kelly, Rostov and an OFC, with some of the main cast sprinkled over it to top it off
Category: General, Humour
Spoilers: None. Could be set in season one, or after return to earth from xindi mission.
Summary: Almost the entire crew are on shore leave, a team of alien engineers are doing repairs onboard & the ever security conscious Malcolm remains onboard to oversee them. It seems his current paranoia is not ungrounded when they highjack the ship.
A/N: Not a sequel to, but in the same universe as Target Practise which introduces the OFC Crewman Angela Robertson, who Malcolm has no particular affinity for :)

Click the image to catch up


And part five is behind the cut....

* * *

 

Malcolm took another bite of his toast and stared out of the window at the stars. All he had left to do from Robertson’s list of demands was to sleep.

 

“Bridge to Lieutenant Reed,” Travis’ voice came over the comm. Malcolm dropped his toast and made his way over to the comm.

 

“Reed.”

 

“We’re receiving a transmission sir,” Travis said.

 

“Who from?”

 

“The Vulcans.”

 

“On my way,” Malcolm replied, leaving the mess hall as he did so, his toast lying forgotten at the table.

 

* * *

 

Robertson was at communications when Malcolm entered the bridge. He walked up behind her and leant over her shoulder.

 

“I hear we’ve got a message,” he said glancing at Travis who nodded.

 

“Yeah, hang on,” she said and tapped a few buttons. “Were you-?”

 

“Eating.”

 

“Good,” she nodded. “Here we go,” she said and a typically calm Vulcan voice filled the room.

 

"Lieutenant Reed of the Enterprise, we received your distress call. A Vulcan starship will be at your co-ordinates within two days to provide any assistance you may need.”

“Is that it?” Malcolm asked. Ela nodded. “So we’ll have to fend of the Larackian marauders until then.”

 

“We did it once,” Travis said.

 

“They won’t come alone next time,” Robertson said.

 

“It’s likely they’ll bring backup if they have it,” Malcolm agreed. “Keep the phase pistols on you at all times and we’ll leave the phase canons hooked up to the impulse drive.” They nodded in acknowledgement. He started to walk to his station when Robertson spoke.

 

“Where are you going?” she asked, arms folded. He ground his teeth angrily. “Bed, Malcolm Reed. Now,” she said sternly, her eyes betraying her amusement. He rolled his eyes but stepped into the turbolift anyway.

 

“So are you coming?” he smirked.

 

“I’ll be there when I can sweetie,” she said saccharinely. He saw Travis’ eyes widen and had to hold in his laughter.

 

“Looking forward to it,” he said airily as the door closed.

 

* * *

 

The bridge was empty. Where Malcolm would usually find it peaceful it now seemed nothing but eerie to him. It was probably because practically the entire ship was the same way. What he wouldn’t give for a bit of noise right about now.

 

A few more silent minutes passed before the comm. beeped and Malcolm got up to look. Larackian. Maybe a bit of noise wasn’t what he should have wished for.

 

Analysing the data however, he found the hail was originating from a ship on course for them from Larackia, rather from the direction the marauders had been taking them. He quickly opened the channel and an image of a Larackian bridge appeared on the view-screen.

 

The Larackian who was presumably the captain, sat on a chair in the centre wearing the typical plain black coverall worn by the Larackian military with a rank insignia on the left sleeve. Captain Archer and Sub-Commander T’Pol stood on his right.

 

“Malcolm!” Archer exclaimed in relief.

 

“Captain, Sub-Commander,” Malcolm acknowledged, standing up and gravitating to the centre of the bridge; standing straight backed with his hands clasped behind him to compensate for his casual attire. “It’s good to see you sir,” he said.

 

“And you Malcolm. We were rather worried for a while back there,” the captain said smiling.

 

“We still are rather worried sir,” Malcolm said dryly. They looked at him enquiringly. “We are still in danger from an imminent attack,” he clarified.

 

“I’m truly sorry you’ve fallen victim to these criminals Lieutenant,” the Larackian captain spoke for the first time. “However, I am afraid that we are still two days away from your position.”

 

“Thank you.” Malcolm turned to address Archer. “The Vulcan’s are sending a ship.”

 

“You called the Vulcan’s?” the captain asked dubiously.

 

“Yes sir. At the time it seemed necessary to ensure Enterprise didn’t fall into enemy hands. It still is,” he added.

 

“I understand Malcolm,” he said, his expression then turned serious. “Where are the rest of the skeleton crew? Are they okay?” he asked.

 

“Fine sir,” Malcolm assured. “I just relieved Travis and Rostov. Kelly is manning engineering. Robertson however is resting, I relieved her from duty,” Malcolm explained. At the captain’s raised eyebrow he added, “After she sustained a minor head injury.”

 

“If she has a concussion Lieutenant-” T’Pol began.

 

“Don’t worry, I’m checking on her every half hour,” he said.

 

“Very well.”

 

“I think it’s time to catch us up on what’s been happening,” the captain said.

 

“With all due respect sir, I’m one of only two officers on duty at the moment, I think I should be concentrating on ensuring the safety of the ship,” he said. Admittedly at the moment that consisted of manning the sensors and double checking all the weapons systems, but he wanted to be ready for when the marauders returned.

 

“Understood. Contact us if you need to. If not we’ll hail you again in an hour to make sure everything’s okay.”

 

“Yes sir,” Malcolm said, and the picture disappeared from the screen. “Two days it is then,” he murmured as he got back to work.

* * *

 
 

Read on with PART 6