SocaTrip

Rating: PG
Date: 20090107
Genre: Crackfic, January’09 Word Prompt
Archive: Triaxian Silk (Main Engineering), please. Other archives may request permission to archive or link to this story by email. (You’ll probably receive green light). Disclaimer: Paramount owns the characters and background setting from Enterprise. (Though I’m not sure who exactly owns T’Pau). The names and related intellectual property belongs to them. I just try to write an interesting story about them.
Summary: Hoshi discovers the Engineering crew get into the strangest festivities.

A/N: This was the first I thought of when I saw the word for January. Weird huh? The festival T’Pol mentions is the carnival, specifically as celebrated in the southern Netherlands, parts of Belgium and parts of Germany.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival#Netherlands

“Ensign, could I request of your assistance in solving a conundrum I am faced with?”

Hoshi glanced at T’Pol somewhat startled. She had been on her way to a clandestine meeting with her ruggedly handsome lover in the Armory when the Vulcan Science Officer had suddenly appeared next to her.

“I-I think so. What can I help you with, Commander?”

T’Pol kept quiet for a while as they walked side by side through the halls of Enterprise. Finally, the demure Vulcan spoke up.

“Lately, Commander Tucker has been exhibiting behaviour I find annoying more than fascinating, mostly because I understand neither the purpose of nor the reason for his activities.”

Now it was Hoshi’s turn to keep quiet for a while as she thought over what T’Pol could mean and how she could reply.

“I must confess that I don’t really understand what you mean, but my guess is that it will basically boil down to Commander Tucker being a human male. Men have often engaged in behaviour that is inexplicable for women on more than one front. My guess is it’s one of those ‘guy things’,” she said.

“That does not fit well with my observation. I have seen Engineering personnel from both sexes join him in this behaviour.”

Hoshi glanced sideways in surprise. She hadn’t expected something like this.

“Well, Engineers are notorious for being somewhat … weird,” she tried with a weak smile.

“According to Mr. Tucker,” T’Pol continued as if she had said nothing, “this is a practice which is commonplace in some countries in Western Europe around a period of time exactly seven weeks before an Earthen Christian holiday called Easter.”

Now Hoshi was truly baffled, and a touch intrigued as well if truth be told. She couldn’t for the life of her think of what activity T’Pol could be speaking of but was determined to find out.

“Perhaps I’ll go and have a look myself then,” she offered as much.

“Very well. I will accompany you to Engineering.”

As they got closer to the Engineering decks Hoshi thought her ears picked up something that sounded suspiciously like music, be it of the simple, rhythmic kind. She also could swear she could hear people yelling and screaming along in what started to sound suspiciously like a great party. When T’Pol opened the door to Engineering she was greeted with a sight she’d never thought she’d see on a starship like Enterprise.

Engineering was adorned with garlands in every colour. Hawaiian-style flower necklaces were hanging from basically every point that could support such a decoration and the floor was lined with confetti.

The crewmembers in Engineering had all dressed up in manners of clothing of every kind and specialty. Apparently, all that mattered was that it looked colourful, festive and nothing like what they were supposed to wear. She could see clowns, doctors, soldiers, pink and purple bunnies and all kinds of loud floral shirts like Commander Tucker liked to wear.

Right now the partygoers had formed a long, sinuous line by holding on to the shoulders of the person in front of them as Commander Tucker led them in a weird sort of dance around the reactor and over ramps and under overlying supports.

And over all of this she could hear loud music of a Latin-like composition as every crewmember sang, or rather yelled, along:

“… somebody, everybody, SCREAM! Follow the leader, leader, leader,…”

The End!