Chapter 23: Best Laid Plans

Anna had to bite her lip not to laugh out loud. It was just too cute listening to Trip's talk with T'Lara and his attempts at explaining the situation.

The young girl had pestered him with question after question on why he was sitting around a fire with two women of whom neither were her adoptive mother. Normally not lost for words at the worst of times, the chief had been positively squirming. He could hardly tell her what was planned, and the youngster was curious as to why only three people had been given shore leave and – more importantly – why he hadn't taken her with him. Looking to the side, Anna could see that even Pat's eyes were bugging out in her attempts not to snicker.

She knew they'd been a bit mean to poor Trip, as it was obvious that he had been uncomfortable for quite some time with their topless act – mainly because of Pat. He knew her own upper half all too well, but of course he'd never seen her significant other without a shirt. Pat's usually drab clothing style hid pretty well that, although she was quite slender, her sweetheart had all the right curves in all the right places. On top of that, the ship's botanist was living proof that 'expose thyne mammaries' had a profound effect on men despite the fact that Pat's boobs didn't exactly challenge Olympus Mons for size. Her much smaller breasts made up for that with their perfect shape and firmness. Several times Anna had had to fight down the desire to reach over and play with them. That would have to wait until the night.

For the moment, however, the poor chief was off the hook. Sitting around a campfire topless was a bit impractical as the light breeze produced quite a few flying sparks.

"She'll make a fine wife for someone one day," Anna quipped with a chuckle when Trip flipped the communicator shut. "She sure knows how to grill a guy thoroughly."

"Ha ha," Trip replied with some irony, as he stoked the fire with a branch.

"I apologize if I made you uncomfortable," she heard Pat say suddenly. It was just like her sweetie. It had barely been a few weeks since she had started to make friends among the crew and she obviously didn't want to risk that.

"Don' worry, Pat," he said. "Just took me by surprise. I was pretty sure Anna wouldn't wear much anyway. But you? I still remember you as the shy little ensign."

Anna smiled when Pat walked over to him and planted a small kiss on his cheek. "I'm getting better thanks to you and T'Pol."

"So I guess I'll be a witness to this beautiful spectacle the whole three days?" he asked them both, with a teasing note in his voice, and Anna saw a pronounced blush appear on Pat's face. She already knew that nobody except herself had ever called her sweetheart beautiful.

"Trip, we want to ask you a favor," Anna replied instead of giving the obvious answer. "This series of photos won't be only me. Pat and I want to pose together."

She could hear him take a deep breath.

"Anna, have you any idea what you're asking of Pat? There'll be, like, sixty or more people lookin' at those pictures."

"I'm a bit terrified," she heard Pat explain"But we want to send out the message about our relationship that way. Since the no-frats have been relaxed, Anna is approached by most of the men and some women. And even I've had advances made on me. I suppose some guys are really desperate."

Anna hid her mouth behind her hand, trying not to laugh at Trip's upset look. The chief didn't like it when pretty girls were talking themselves down, and her sweetie definitely qualified for that category.

"Pat, honey, those guys weren't desperate, they just have good taste. You're a stunningly beautiful girl," he told her firmly.

Anna nodded her agreement, causing the blush to deepen on her lover's features.

"So let's make sure I'm gettin' it right," Trip continued. "You want to produce a series that leaves no question about your relationship, so that guys will leave you alone?"

Anna nodded.

"Still, you know people will stare and grin at the both of you when this stuff is published."

"Trip, they stare and grin at me now, already," the young botanist said. "It might be a lot more of them for a while, but it will eventually die down and I don't plan any repeat performances. You are the only one I trust with it, and we'll never get a chance like this again where we're completely alone."

"Alright, girls, let's get that out of the way first thing tomorrow, okay?" he said with a little sigh. "I just hope you're really sure what you're gettin' yourselves into. I'd hate to see Pat gettin' hurt."

Anna grinned when her lover walked back over to him and whispered something in his ear. This time it was the ship's chief who blushed a hefty shade of crimson.

Hoshi looked down at the shuttle's floor, ashamed by her impulsive reaction. Granted, stunning one of the locals not even an hour after arriving was not the best way to say 'hello', but what else was she supposed to do? The woman had had an armed crossbow pointed at the captain and Malcolm.

Bless him, the Englishman had overcome his inherent reserve and put his hand soothingly over hers as they sat in the back of the shuttle, which was piloted by Mayumi Rao. The captain had stayed on the surface to make sure the incapacitated female got back home safely.

Since everyone was obliged to carry identification papers on this planet, it had not been difficult to establish that she had shot an apothecary, and there was a pharmacy close to the shop the captain and Malcolm had broken into.

She looked over at Malcolm and her heart skipped a beat when she saw his gentle half-smile. It wasn't often that she got to see that. Her worries melted away for a moment.

Jon sat back a bit when the woman woke up with a start. If it wasn't for the fact that they had shot her, he could have really enjoyed watching her beautiful face.

"What have you done to me?" she asked, her voice a mix of fear and anger.

"We haven't done anything, you collapsed," he answered, trying to put on his best 'soothing voice'. After all, they wanted to get some information rather than scaring the locals, an aim in which, at least in this case, they had failed miserably.

"That's the second lie you've told me. You are not very good at it," the woman said reproachfully and sat up. Jon helped her, as the stun blast had left her weakened. "Did Garos send you? Are you working for him? And why do you hide your face?"

That was quite a number of questions, and the captain knew he had to play his cards right – and that was not purely a professional feeling. Her dark brown eyes were beautiful, but at the moment they looked at him in anger.

"Garos?" he asked cautiously.

"You don't know what I'm talking about do you?" she accused him. "He's the owner of the shop you broke into."

"I'm not working for anyone," Jon said, shaking his head. "I just wanted to make sure you got home alright."

"If you don't work for him, what were you doing in there? And you still haven't told me why you hide your face."

She tried to reach for the veil, but the captain evaded her hand.

"There's something strange going on in that shop," he explained vaguely. "I don't know what, but I want to find out. I'm an investigator from a far away city. As for my face; where I come from it's taboo to speak to another person's face directly. Don't worry though, that taboo doesn't apply to you."

"Which city? Who sent you?"

"I can't tell you more than that, not right now." Jon evaded answering with another head-shake.

"I suppose telling me nothing is better than just another lie," she replied sarcastically, and his heart cramped, seeing her beautiful eyes still full of reproach, fear and anger.

But at least she hadn't pointed another weapon at him, though there was one lying on the table within reach. It was a start.

"My colleague is waiting for me," he explained, prying himself from looking into her eyes. "You said something about an illness. I want to come back tomorrow to talk about that. Will you be here?"

He saw her nod, and as slowly as possible he headed for the door, unable to take his eyes off her face.

"You haven't told me your name." She was watching him in what seemed equal fascination.

"Jon."

"Jon? Just how far away is this city?"

He didn't answer her. Instead he slid out of the door and headed for the woods, eager to contact his ship.

Trip was sitting on the beach, the remnants of the campfire still burning before him. He was drawing stick figures in the sand, when he heard footsteps approaching – it was Anna.

The noises from the bigger tent had been too faint to make sense of and he hadn't really listened in, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to work out that the occasional moans and squeals meant that his XO and her better half had had a good time. If nothing else, the fact that the approaching woman was stark naked gave away the 'secret'.

He saw her sit down next to him, but he continued his work.

"Did you make her do this photography thing?" he asked in a 'by-the-way' manner of speaking.

He felt her arm being wrapped around his shoulder.

"You are just too sweet, Trip," she said, and he felt a light kiss on his cheek. "Pat likes going topless as much as I do, but until a few weeks ago she'd never have done it. Not with anyone but me around. And she still only feels comfortable around a man because it's you. You totally made her day when you said she's a cutie."

"Well, she is," he insisted.

"I know," he heard her say with a mooning grin. "Since she became part of your crew she's changed. We meet up at Hoshi's from time to time for a three-girl topless card playing evening. You guys aren't the only ones who like Mattes and Kriegel's Skat tournaments. I bet you, Pat would whip the pants off some of the regulars in a competitive tournament. She's incredibly good at bluffing."