The Three of Us

Part 1 - Preparations

"Mister Shapiro," said Malcolm Reed, "I am here to give you the news."

Ethan Shapiro, a young crewman, had attempted suicide almost six months previously. He had been comatose, and had begun to awaken about six weeks ago. The man was still very weak, and could barely speak, but that is what happens when you're in an airlock without oxygen for a few minutes. Malcolm, his boss, had visited several times, and talked to Ethan, telling him the news of the ship.

A fluttering eyelid told Malcolm that Ethan was listening. "In any event, the news. The captain has said that, even though Earth is still plunged into a world war, we are going to try to do a few things that the people on the planet cannot. And one of those things is baseball."

He sipped a little water from a tumbler that Doctor Phlox had thoughtfully provided. The Denobulan had seen Malcolm coming in for a while, and the attention seemed to be working, so he left them as he tended to others, including Judy Kelly Rostov, who was due to deliver soon.

"Now, baseball. You see, I did not grow up as a fanatic or anything – and I'm not the only one – but the captain seems to feel that we can have a spot of fun and improve crew morale by staging a game. It will be the MACOs versus Starfleet. It shall be a dozen persons to a team, so there will be extras in case anyone is tired or injured. I shall not be playing. My sport is footy – and I shall stay here with you, as will the doctor."

"Why not go?" asked Phlox. "I can certainly hold down the fort here on my own."

"I know. It's just, sometimes it seems as if we're engaging in a little too much frivolity. We may have been tossed back to 2038 but we still have a job to do."

"Lieutenant, I suspect that most if not all of the single women will be there. Now, I know that you and a lot of the other unattached folk have not been attending the recent weddings. And I can understand that. It must be a bit of a reminder. But this game is; it's being played, in part, for the benefit of persons such as yourself. It is a means of socializing that isn't centered around someone's nuptials."

"Huh," Malcolm thought for a moment, "Long as they don't make me play."

"I think you'll be all right in that area," Phlox said, "Now, have you heard anything about the teams?"

"I have," Malcolm said, "and that is part of the news, Ethan. See, the MACOs – their team is as follows – Major Hayes is their leader of course, and he is catching. Susie Money is apparently their first baseman. Er, woman. Rex Ryan is playing second, and Frank Todd is at third. Julie McKenzie is at shortstop. Daniel Chang is in left field. Center field is Oscar Tiburón. He is apparently a rather fast runner. Right field is Eric Forbes. Walter Woods is pitching. Their three alternates are Nan Myers, Neil Kemper and Brad Moreno. Now, if you've been paying attention to all of my chatter about the women who are available, you'll note that their team contains two of the remaining thirteen – Nan and Susie."

Ethan moved his lips slightly. Malcolm bent over and heard him whisper, "Vid ... e ... o."

"That's a good idea," Malcolm said, "let's see if Hoshi and Chip can rig up a camera so that Ethan here can see a video of the game."

"I can sit you up for that," Phlox said.

"Then it's settled," Malcolm replied, "Now, our team. Our team captain isn't Captain Archer at all – it's Chip Masterson. The captain insisted, as he did not wish to be in charge of that, on top of everything else. Chip is also pitching. Hoshi is at first, we don't have a second baseman or a shortstop yet, and Captain Archer is at third. Left field is Andrew Miller. Center is Craig Willets. Then at right field is Joshua Rosen."