The executive staff assembled in the main conference room. "It's time to talk about working with the Xindi," the captain opened, as Lili served omelets to most of them and a bowl of steel-cut oats to T'Pol.
"I, uh," Tripp ventured, "I know you wanna trust 'em. And so far, they've been all right. But I have a lot of trouble gettin' past, well, things. I'm sure I don't have to tell you what any of those things are."
"Of course not," the captain acknowledged.
"One consideration," Phlox mused, "is that cooperating with the Xindi could help to even out the male to female ratio considerably."
"Taking the, the Xindi women as, as wives?" Malcolm asked as he cut a piece of pineapple on his plate.
"Well, yes," replied the doctor, "After all, they are humanoid."
"Yes, but, well, it's just, it's the differences," Malcolm stammered, "they're so very great."
"How many differences would be acceptable?" asked T'Pol.
He blinked a few times. "Uh, I don't know if I can answer that."
"Look," Jonathan stated, "we might not have the opportunity anyway. They might find us to be too clean-shaven, or something."
Jay smeared blueberry jam on some toast as he spoke. "The more we hang around with them, the deeper we get into potentially partnering with them. I can't tell if that's a good foundation for a friendship, or if we're being lulled into a false sense of security."
"I think," Hoshi opined, "if we start to get into some, well, relationships with them, it's going to become more difficult to keep things from them. Strategic things, I mean."
"Exactly," the captain agreed, "I want to cooperate with them, but I don't see that happening to the extent of marriages. Maybe my mind will change on that. I can't predict the future." Another wry, tight smile – he was doing that a lot lately.
There was a Communications chime. Travis answered it. "Yes?"
"We've got Insectoid and Reptilian ships, coming up fast," reported Aidan, who was in command.
"On our way," Jonathan nodded at Travis.
"We'll be right there. Mayweather out."
"I guess we'll finish later," Jonathan told Lili.
"I'll put everything away, sir," she told him.
Just then, the ship lurched, and she crashed into him. "Sorry, sir."
"Not a problem." He punched the wall communicator. "What the devil's going on, MacKenzie?!"
"They just fired at us, sir! No warning whatsoever!"
"Go to Tactical alert!" yelled Jonathan.
Hoshi grabbed a piece of toast as they all ran out.
Alone in the conference room, Lili began covering the plates as quickly as she could, and then double timed it to the kitchen.
=/\=
"Status!?" yelled Jonathan as he arrived at the Bridge. There were three Insectoid ships on the main viewer and two Reptilian vessels.
"Plasma is venting from E deck. We've engaged emergency bulkheads," Aidan reported as Malcolm relieved him, "Hull plating is at ninety-seven percent."
"Did they fire more than once?" Jonathan asked.
"No, not yet, sir. It's almost like they're waiting for something."
"Did they hail us?" the captain asked Maryam.
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Entanglements
FanfictionDuring the Xindi War, the Enterprise was thrown back in time, to 2037. It was a generational ship. Just how did the crew form couples? Starring Jonathan Archer, T'Pol, Tripp Tucker, Malcolm Reed, Jay Hayes, Hoshi Sato, Travis Mayweather, Dr. Phlox...