"Sir!" Lt. Malcolm Reed yelled from the tactical station. "The Klingons are coming round for another pass. The hull plating can't take much more of this."

Captain Jonathan Archer sat in the command chair, staring at the view screen. "Where's the shuttlepod?"

"They're at bearing four-six-three mark eight. They should be in grappling range in less the sixty seconds." Reed held his breath as he watched the pod on the tactical display performing evasive maneuvers. That last volley of torpedoes had come too close for comfort. "Their hull plating has failed sir, they couldn't survive an direct hit, sir."

"T'Pol," Archer began as he turned to face the science station, "where the hell are the transporters?"

"They are still off-line, captain. Engineering estimates another six minutes until they are operative."

"Mr. Reed, give them some cover fire." Digging his nails into the palms of his hands, Jon watched helplessly as the pod dodged another volley of Klingon disrupter fire. Normally in a situation like this he would have no trouble keeping his cool, but this was no ordinary situation. Commander Charles Tucker along with his helmsman, Ensign Travis Mayweather, were aboard that pod. For the last month, since his birthday, Jon and Trip had been involved in a very serious and steamy relationship. No one on the crew knew, so far, although he suspected that there were rumors going around.

The pod was also carrying several tons of dilitium crystals, which Enterprise desperately needed. They had been running off one crystal for several days now and the reserves wouldn't hold out much longer.

The entire bridge was silent as the crew's eyes were all fixed on the viewer, even T'Pol seemed on edge. Reed looked down at his station. "Sir, they're in grappling range."

Archer jumped out of his chair, standing behind the helm. "Engage grapplers."

"Aye, sir."

He looked down at the helm, now manned by Ensign Edwards. "Ensign, do we have enough power to go to warp?"

"Barely, sir. I might be able to hold warp two for three, maybe four minutes."

"As soon as the pod is aboard take us to warp two."

"Yes, sir."

Archer moved toward T'Pol who was busy studying her read-outs on the pod's condition. Their hull stress was at critical, even a low energy hit could fracture the pod's hull, blowing Mayweather and Tucker into the vacuum of space. "T'Pol, if I recall we passed a Mutura class nebula about point four light years from here a little while ago."

"That is correct, Captain."

"Would the nebula's gases block us from the Klingon's sensors?"

T'Pol nodded. "It would."

Archer smiled, maybe they'd get out of this in one piece after all. "Mr. Edwards, when you go to warp set a course for that nebula."

Reed kept his eyes on his read-outs. Enterprise was vulnerable. In order to bring the pod aboard, they would have to depolarize the hull platting and open the bay doors. If the Klingons hit Enterprise during that period, they were goners.

He breathed a sigh of relief when his computer singled clear. "Sir, the pod is aboard."

"Now, Mr. Edwards!" Archer yelled.

Enterprise jumped to warp two. After several moments she dropped out of warp entering the nebula.

T'Pol studied her sensor readings. "The Klingons appear to be breaking off their attack."

"Helm, hold us here until repairs are complete." His mind turned back to Trip. "T'Pol you've got the bridge. I'll be in the shuttle bay"

Archer headed for lift when Malcolm called out, "Captain, permission to come along."

Jon smiled. Over the last few months he, actually the entire crew, had noticed that Reed and Mayweather had been spending a lot of time together. They were seen sitting next to each other and sharing a bowl of popcorn on movie nights, enjoying target practice together, eating almost every meal together. In fact Trip had told him that he had caught the two officers looking rather flustered when exiting a turbolift the other day. "Permission granted." And with that they exited heading for what was sure to be an interesting reunion.

***

"Shit," Trip began as he got up from his seat, wiping sweat off his forehead. "That was too close."

"Tell me about it." Mayweather replied. He too was sweating more then normal. "I thought we were goners."

"We would have been if you weren't at the helm."

Travis smiled. "I'm not that good."

Trip patted the young man's back. "No Travis, you're the best."

The two officers exited the pod just as Archer and Reed entered. There was a moment of silence as they all stared at each other. Finally, Archer asked the question that was utmost on his and Malcolm's mind. "Are you two alright?"

"Well, we're here, ain't we, Cap'n." Trip said smiling at Jon.

Malcolm walked over to Travis, tears forming in his eyes. "I thought you were going to die out there." His voice cracking as he fought back the tears. Malcolm may appear to be a reserved Brit, but Travis knew that inside he was a big teddy bear. They stepped towards each other, forgetting that both the Captain and Trip were watching them. Malcolm grabbed the Travis pulling him close, allowing their lips to meet.

As Jon watched amused, Trip leaned towards him and whispered, "told ya. You owe me dinner."

"Remind me never to bet against you again." Jon cleared his throat loudly, but Malcolm and Travis were only aware of one another. "Gentlemen!" They jumped apart suddenly, remembering where they were. Reed's face began to turn a deep red. "You've got twenty minutes, then I want you back guys back on the bridge."

They both nodded and quickly left the bay. Jon looked back at the pod. "Well Trip, We'd better get this dilitium down to engineering and…" Before he could finish, Trip pounced, slamming him against the rear of the pod, pinning him there while kissing him passionately. Jon grabbed Trip's waist, returning his kiss fiercely.

The kiss went on for several minutes, until Jon pushed Trip away, gasping for air. Tucker licked his lips. "My quarters or yours?"

"Trip, we're on duty, and I've got back to the bridge."

"Oh, but Malcolm and Travis are allowed to go and have a good time."

"That's different, Trip. They don't have a ship to command." Truth be told, he would have loved nothing better then to ride Trip for the next one hundred years, but they weren't out of danger yet. Tucker meanwhile, began to kiss every inch of Jon's neck. Archer was losing his cool fast. "Trip, we don't have time for this."

Trip curved his hands around his lover's ass, pulling him in even closer. "We could always fuck right here." He moved his lips to Jon's ear and began to nibble, lick and run his tongue around its sensitive contours. Jon moaned softly, as he quickly surveyed the shuttle bay. No one was around and shouldn't be for at least a few more minutes, since most of the crew was concentrating on repairing Enterprise's battle damage.

Jon grabbed Trip, turning them both around, and slammed Trip up against the wall hard, kissing him so deeply that Trip thought that his whole face would be sucked up into Jon's mouth. Trip broke off the kiss, breathing heavily. "How long do you think have 'til someone comes to check up on us?"

Jon too was breathing hard. "Five, ten minutes?"

"That's enough time." Trip replied and began to unbutton Jon's uniform. Maybe it was the adrenaline from the attack, or the fact that they could get caught at any second, but Trip was harder then he had ever been, the crotch of his uniform was being stretched to the limit. "Computer." Trip said. "Lock doors." He finished the statement just as Jon's uniform fell to his ankles. "I'm going to fuck you so hard, you won't know what hit you, Cap'n."

Normally during sex Jon found that Trip addressing him by his rank rather then his name was a slight turn on, but this time it sent waves of pleasure through his body. "Talk is cheap, Trip!"

Trip grabbed Jon's erection and slowly pumped it. "Hold your horses Cap'n, good things come to he who waits." He then turned Jon around, nailing him up against the wall.

***

Enterprise hung motionless in the heart of the nebula. The Klingon ships were holding position waiting for Enterprise to emerge, in order to resume the battle.

Sub-Commander T'Pol sat in Archer's chair observing the bridge crew. She noted the tension in the air, but failed to understand it. Jonathan Archer was a resourceful captain, and Enterprise is a proven vessel, it would be logical to assume that they would be victorious in the battle that was undoubtedly going to take place. She turned to the communications station where Ensign Sato worked fiercely to break through the nebula's interference. "Ensign, anything?"

"No. The nebula keeps reflecting our signals back to us."

"Keep trying."

"Commander Tucker should be able to give me a hand."

"Agreed. Bridge to Commander Tucker." There was several seconds of silence then just static. T'Pol activated the inner sensors, scanning for Tucker's bio-signs. "He appears to be in the shuttle bay with the Captain. Sato, go down there and retrieve them."

"Yes ma'am."

***

Trip grabbed Jon's hips, thrusting himself inside his lover. Jon let out a massive moan that echoed through the entire bay. Trip just sat inside Jon, not thrusting or doing anything that might ease his erection. "Trip, I'm going to explode."

Tucker used his left hand to cover Archer's mouth. "Did I say you could talk, Cap'n?" He slowly began to thrust himself in and out of the Captain's hole. He removed his hand from Jon's mouth, and followed the trail of hair that led him down to Jon's erect cock, which was soaked with pre-cum. He began to pump it fast and hard keeping in time with the rhythm of his thrusting.

"Oh God!" Archer moaned as he neared the edge. He grabbed hold of a support beam sticking out of the wall to keep his balance as cum flew out of his prick, while shock wave after shock wave of pleasure coursed through his body. Watching his captain come, threw Trip over the edge and he too reached orgasm.

Jon turned to face Trip and kissed him lightly. They both stood staring at the other for several seconds. Trip moved his hand over Jon's forehead, wiping away the sweat. "Jon."

"Yeah."

"I think we'd better get out of here, before someone finds us with our uniforms around our ankles."

They quickly broke apart and began to zip up their uniforms. Just as they finished the bay door opened as Hoshi entered.

Hoshi studied her superior officers. They were both sweating, their uniforms were all wrinkled and they appeared to be very flustered. She held back from laughing. A week ago Crewman Cutler had told Hoshi that she had heard a rumor that the Captain and Tucker were involved. At first Hoshi didn't believe it, they were friends nothing more, but the evidence of a relationship was mounting. Crewman Kelly had seen Tucker leaving Archer's quarters at around oh- four-hundred with his uniform in his hands, and not on his body and the two officers were always dinning together, leaving movies early. Well that wasn't important at the moment. She cleared her throat. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything, sirs."

"No," Archer answered still breathing heavily. "We were just um…" He looked at Trip.

"Inspectin' the pod's damage.

Hoshi grinned. "I see. Anyway, Commander Tucker, I need some help. The comm can't break through the nebula's interference. I was hoping that you could take a look."

"Sure thing." Trip winked at Archer as he followed Hoshi to the communications chamber.

Jon breathed a sigh of relief; that was too close, but it hadn't been the first time. Over the last few weeks Trip had managed to "force", yeah that was it, him into having sex in the decontamination chamber, his ready room, sickbay, and his favorite, the zero-g chamber. If Jon had learned anything over the last month with Trip, it was that the rumors of southern men's libido were true…they couldn't get enough.

***

Hoshi stood in the small chamber looking down at Commander Tucker, who trying to re-attach several broken wires. She smiled to herself as she listened to Trip swearing and talking to Enterprise. "Everything alright, Commander?"

He quickly popped his head out from underneath the computer station. "Just swell." He said sarcastically. "I think I'm going to have to replace the entire sub-space emitter. It looks like the Klingons managed to overload the whole damn system, and some of the gases from the nebula have corroded the circuits." He got up back onto his feet, wiping off the dust that had gathered on his uniform. "I'll go down to the engine room and get another emitter."

"I'll go with you. I have nothing else to do."

"Sure."

They exited the room heading for the lift. Hoshi noted that there seemed to be a bounce in his step and he was humming to himself. "Are you alright, Commander?"

He smiled down at her. "Fine, why?"

"Nothing." She paused. "It's just you seem to be smiling a lot more then usual lately."

"Have I?" He rubbed his chin, trying to avoid eye contact with the younger officer. "I guess things have been goin' my way lately."

"I see." She smiled as they entered the lift. There was an awkward silence for several seconds as Trip continued to avoid eye contact with Hoshi. She was dying to ask him if he was getting some from the captain, but she managed to hold back. She grinned. "The captain seems to be a lot happier lately too."

"Oh really, that's interestin'." He smiled down at her, and then quickly looked elsewhere.

He was hiding something from her, but she had a pretty good idea what it was. She couldn't wait to tell Crewman Cutler that her suspicions seemed to be the truth. She was happy for Archer, as captain most of the crew was off limits to him, but he and Trip had been friends for many years and they obviously knew what made the other tick. At the same time, however, she was slightly jealous. She did have a brief fling on Risa a few months back, but she had to leave him and return to Enterprise, while Trip had someone on a full time basis. Granted her options on the ship were very limited. Travis was attractive, but showed more interest in Malcolm. T'Pol was a Vulcan and very cold to her, Crewman Cutler was attractive, but she was too busy falling for Dr. Phlox to notice her.

Hoshi was brought back to reality when the lift stopped and Trip began to exit. "You comin, Ensign?" He said looking back at her.

"Oh, sorry. I was lost in thought."

He laughed, patting her on the back. "Don't worry about it." They headed down the corridor toward the engine room. She looked up at him seeing a twinkle in his eye. He was in love. She couldn't wait to see Cutler; there was a lot to tell her about.

***

"Report." Archer walked onto the bridge, pulling at his shirt, trying to smooth out the wrinkles that had formed during his encounter with Trip.

"We have managed to modify the sensors to penetrate the nebula's interference." T'Pol paused, as she left the captain's chair heading for her own station. "Two Klingon battle cruisers are holding position at the edge of the nebula."

As Jon took his seat he noted that both Mayweather and Reed had returned to their stations. Travis looked at Archer, giving him a sheepish grin. Jon winked back at him trying not to gain the attention of the bridge crew. At least Travis didn't know about his encounter with Tucker. He rotated to face Reed, who was still somewhat flustered. "Repair status."

Reed studied the read-out. "Engineering's last estimate was six hours until main power is restored."

Archer rubbed his chin as he stared at the viewer. "Damn." He muttered. "Mr. Reed, I want all available crew members to assist Mr. Tucker with repairs. If the Klingons managed to modify their sensors as well, it won't be long before they come after us."

"Yes, sir."

***

"Got it!" Tucker plugged the last wire of the new sub-space emitter into the power conduit. The computers in the room activated automatically. Hoshi held back from jumping up and down. She held out her hand, helping Commander Tucker back to his feet. "It should be could as new, Hoshi."

She smiled and activated the comm. "Sato to Captain Archer."

"Archer here go ahead, Ensign."

"Sir, we've got sub-space radio back." "Good work. Report back to the bridge as soon as possible. Archer out."

Hoshi lead the way out of the comm chamber back into the corridor, which was full of crewmembers conducting repairs. She patted Tucker on the back as they headed back for the lift. "Well, that's one system repaired."

"And another fifty-five to go." Tucker chuckled, as he dodged a group of officers who were busy repairing a plasma relay. As they entered the lift, Trip couldn't help noticing that Hoshi was staring at him. At first he thought there was something on is face, but then he noted her eyes were moving up and down his body. Was she checking him out? "Is there a problem, Hoshi?"

She suddenly broke off her stare. "No sorry." She ran her hand through her hair. "Well there is something I've wanted to ask you all week."

Oh God he was right Hoshi was going to ask him out on a date. What the hell was he going to say? 'No sorry I'm too busy nailin' the Cap'n to go out with you'.

Before she could ask the question the ship suddenly lunged to port. Hoshi couldn't keep her balance, falling to the floor. Trip grabbed a hold of the wall. It felt like his stomach had moved up into his throat and it was then he realized that the lift was falling. He managed to press the emergency button, just as the lift increased speed and the gravity pinned him to the floor. If the lift didn't stop soon they would fall to their deaths.

Finally the breaks kicked in and lift came to a halt. As soon as Hoshi could move again, she tried to comm. "Sato to bridge." There was no answer. She noticed Trip still lying on the floor motionless. "Commander?" He didn't answer. "Commander! Trip!" She was relived when she heard him groan just as the lights blew, leaving them in total darkness.

***

Archer grabbed a hold of his seat as the ship was flung. Travis rolled out of his chair, hitting the deck, hard. "What the hell was that?" Archer moved to T'Pol as Ensign Edwards helped Mayweather back to his feet. "The Klingons?"

T'Pol checked the sensors. "I do not believe so, sir." She raised a brow. "We are picking up a small vessel on an intercept course. Their weapons are charged." Enterprise was hit again. The lights dimmed as Archer fell to the floor. Suddenly, an aft power relay blew sending three crewmen to the deck. The Bridge was now in total darkness.

Reed coughed as smoke entered his lungs. His head was spinning, thanks to the fact he had smashed it against his station during the last hit. He could hear fellow crewmen groaning as he activated the emergency lights. T'Pol and Travis were at their stations, but Reed couldn't see either Edwards or Archer. "Captain?"

T'Pol raised a brow. The captain was missing.