The Three of Us

Missing Part - Promise (takes place between parts 5 and 6)

"Julie, wait up!" Travis Mayweather called to the wiry blonde MACO, who was rushing down C Deck on the NX-01 Enterprise.

"Hmm?" She turned around and waited for him to catch up to her.

"What's the rush?"

"I always walk like this."

"I see," he commented as they began to walk again, although more slowly. Julie McKenzie looked like she was about to break into another run.

"You're, you're a live wire, it seems."

"I dunno," she mumbled.

"If you got somewhere you gotta be in a hurry," Travis said, "It's okay; I won't be offended."

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"Uh, sure."

"It's how I escape," Julie admitted, stopping in the corridor for a moment, but looking for all the world like she was about to bolt again.

"And leave all this?" His sweeping gesture encompassed the nearby turbolift.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, yeah, I suppose I do."

"Everybody else seems depressed, even the captain," Julie observed, "except for you, Travis."

"Me?"

"Yeah, really! Everybody else on board is either obsessed with finding a mate, or harping on the fact that we're stuck here, in the 2030s, when we should be in the 2150s."

"Yeah, that damned Kovaalan particle wake. But you said I was the exception."

"Yes," Julie confirmed, "you just seem to be cheerful all the time, despite everything."

"I got my moments. I'm not always happy, yanno."

"But you're not depressed though, right?"

"No, definitely not."

"Don't tell me you're in the tribe of people who are desperate to find a spouse." She eyed him cautiously. Such were typical issues on a generational ship, which had been the case ever since the Enterprise had been kicked back in time over a century. That Kovaalan particle wake had stranded them in the Delphic Expanse. Afraid of damaging the correct timeline, they had stayed in the Expanse. A ship of exploration and defense had turned into one that flew around a small area of space, over and over and over again. With no thoughts of space exploration, exploration had become internal.

"A little," Travis admitted, "I got my eye on someone."

"Oh? Starfleet or MACO?"

"MACO," he replied.

"Ah, hmm. There's Nan Myers, Susie Money, Amanda Cole, and Christina Parsons."

"It's none of them," Travis said. "And it's not one of the guys."

Julie stood there for a second and then turned on her heel and fled. "I'm not ready for this."

Travis stood alone for a second and blinked several times. "Well, that sucked," he muttered aloud to no one.

She avoided him for nearly a month. The ship was small, but their schedules rarely truly coincided. Julie volunteered for additional duties, and Major Hayes, her commanding officer, was more than happy to give her added responsibilities or workouts or arms training.

They were alone in the Armory, putting a pair of phase rifles away. "What's going on?" Hayes asked.

"Sir?"