Gigi Sinclair

#1: The William Tell Overture

"A souvenir, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, sir."

I smile, glad to learn something new about Malcolm. I imagine shopping for souvenirs with him. On our honeymoon.

This one's a weapon, a bow and arrow from the latest pre-industrial planet.

"Obsolete," I say.

Once again, it's the wrong thing.

"Dead is dead, sir." He pulls the bow, launches an arrow across the room, and pops a balloon I didn't know we had.

He looks at me, his intent obvious. I hope. "I always wanted to be an archer. Sir."

And here I thought he'd be too modern to change his name after marriage.

#2: Written in the Stars

Malcolm keeps a picture of the stars in his quarters.

I wish I'd discovered that lying in his bed, but I'd only come to collect a scanner he was repairing. At home. In his spare time.

That man needs a hobby. Like me.

"Don't you see enough through the window?"

"I've always liked that constellation."

I should recognize it, but I don't. "Sagittarius," he adds. Of course. The archer. The warrior in the sky.

"So, Lieutenant, what's your sign?" Hell, nothing else's worked.

He's surprised, but he answers. "Virgo."

"The virgin." Stupid thing to say.

But Malcolm smiles. "Hardly, sir."

#3: Feared by the Bad, Loved by the Good

"Bullshit, Malcolm." Trip laughs as I pass Engineering.

I should just keep going. It would be the intelligent thing to do.

Well, the Vulcans have never considered me intelligent. Who am I to argue?

"Malcolm's tryin' to tell me Robin Hood ain't a hero," Trip explains, as I arrive.

I guess they do talk about everything.

"He was a criminal." Malcolm looks at Trip. Gazes at him.

"Right. I don't wanna know what you think about Zorro." They laugh together.

I admit it, I'm jealous of their closeness. Even more so when I imagine Malcolm in tights and a mask.

#4: Achilles' Heel

The Kartezians are the Klingons' friends, but they have deuterium reserves. T'Pol says they're non-threatening, and their captain, who calls himself Apollo, wants to meet me. Alone.

Alien customs. I don't mind much, but Malcolm does.

I wish that's because it's me, but I know it's because I'm the captain.

"I'll be fine, Lieutenant."

"They are allied with the Klingons."

"With a name like Apollo, how can we go wrong?"

His education was more classical than mine. "Apollo guided Paris's arrow to Achilles' heel. Sir."

I wonder if Malcolm has an Achilles' heel. I wish I knew what it was.

#5: Bullseye

I should have listened to Malcolm.

Someday, that'll be my epitaph.

He still visits me, though. I'm elated. Or maybe that's just Phlox's painkillers.

"Achilles' heel," I say, remembering Malcolm's allusion. The Kartezians found ours, deuterium, and used it to lead the Klingons to us. To me. For the third time.

I think I'm developing a taste for targ.

"Apollo's a good archer," I smile.

"I know a better one. Jon."

Then Malcolm's kissing me, and I know it's not the painkillers. It feels too real.

I know a better archer, too. Cupid. He tolerates the blind, just like Malcolm.