Go Fourth
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Title: Go Fourth
Author: Stephen
Series: ENT
Rating: [PG-13]
Codes: T/Tu
Summary: T'Pol has made a decision about something Trip left her.
...
It was not logical, that was one thing that T'Pol knew. Then again, any relationship with any human was not founded in logic. Humans were, as Ambassador Soval once told her, the anti-logic. A more irrational species, T'Pol had not come across. Given the ten years that she had spent exploring on the Enterprise NX-01 as Captain Archer's First and Science Officer, that was considered to be a well informed opinion.
Charles "Trip" Tucker III had been part of T'Pol's life since the day she came on board the Enterprise. It was Trip who had explained, rather forcefully what was behind the Captain's command. If it was not for him, T'Pol was sure she would have turned that ship around when they lost the Klingon, and the Galaxy would have been entirely different. Her one decision, based on his urging, would end up being a turning point in history.
T'Pol chided herself for that conceit. One might as well say that their first offspring, the short-lived, yet much loved, Elizabeth was a turning point. Then again, maybe she was. She certainly was the image of Terra Prime, and if it wasn't for that crisis, the Captain would not have become the unifying figure and spokesperson that became the driving force behind what was now the Coalition of Planets.
She had spoke to the Captain, when Trip's final bequest had arrived. He'd always be the Captain to her, and all of the crew of the Enterprise who had served under him all those years. They may have promoted him, but to them and to history, that was his title. His advice to her was simple, though she was sure that he was not going to like the results. He'd thought what Trip had wanted was obvious, and it was her decision as to if and when she did it.
If was a question whose answer was answered the moment she'd read it. When, well, she was certain that the Captain did not expect one of his Captains to chose to do this, just a few weeks before her ship, the CSS John Glenn, was about to depart for a one year mission on the edge of explored space.
She nodded at the doctor between her legs, and he began the process of implanting the fertilized ova. As T'Pol laid back, she let her mind drift back to that night following Elizabeth's death, the night that everything had changed
...
Trip had been crying over their dead daughter, the daughter which had never really had a chance to live, and they had not been asked to create. T'Pol had arrived, intending to initiate another session of neuropressure, but something about the way Trip was gazing out the portal changed her approach. He stood there, in just his underpants, not really dried from his just completed shower.
T'Pol could feel their connection, and his sorrow. Gently she approached him, molding herself instinctually to his back, sending comfort over the bond that they had inadvertently made. With her breasts pushed against his damp back, and her arms around him, Trip let his tears flow. She knew her bondmate needed this.
As she held him, through their bond, Trip shared his dreams. They were dreams of her. Dreams of Elizabeth. Dreams of family. The dreams showed her a life of gentle family life, one that she soon began to ache for. Neither noticed the time, nor the fact that they'd turned to face one another.
T'Pol found herself placing herself into those dreams, modifying them here and there to fit her Vulcan sensibilities and in the process teaching Trip about some of them. Together they built a future world in their minds. Only when they'd finished and pulled back, did they realize that they were laying together on Trip's bed, naked.
Neither would be able to tell who initiated that night's passion, their first. It washed away all their troubles, allowing them to forget the world as they sought the ultimate pleasure in their joining, and found it. The bond that resulted had only broken with his death.
They never spoke of that night, nor any other night were they sought comfort in each other. To the crew, it seemed as if Elizabeth's death had ended what they saw as a budding romance. They didn't know what went on over their bond, the bond that seemed to deepen every time, every night.
Physical intimacy, that they had avoided, some how. Not because it was unwanted, but because it was unnecessary. Their copopulating would not create children, that would require a lab, and through the bond, one could make the other feel every bit as good as each other's presence, something that Trip had delighted in doing to T'Pol at the most inopportune moments.
...
As soon as the doctors confirmed successful implantation, T'Pol called for her ship to beam her up. The Coalition of Planets Starship John Glenn, or the Glenn to her crew, had a year long exploration mission to attend to, and Vulcan was the last step before the Glenn left Coalition Space.
T'Pol was sure that Captain Archer was not going to like it when he found out what she had just done. She reflected on the Captain's likely reaction for a moment. T'Pol knew that it wouldn't take long for the Captain to order her relief. She would have to make sure that her crew was in on her plans. It would help that T'Pol had managed to score the entire Engineering section of the NX-01 for her crew, as well as Lieutenant Sato and her first officer, Commander Kelso. She hadn't been able to get Lieutenant Mayweather, Captain Sharn had him and Commander Reed on the Armstrong.
On the Armstrong Class Starships, the transporter actually had it's own room, not a large one, but sufficient for an operator and a waiting party. Commander Kelso and Lieutenant Sato were waiting for her.
"So, Captain, are you finished with everything you need to do on Vulcan?" Kelso asked after they'd exchanged greetings.
"I have, Commander," T'Pol responded as they walked towards the Bridge. "I believe it is time for us to depart. As soon as everyone is aboard, we'll depart with a full speed run. I want to test how the ship runs at high warp with an extended run before we leave Coalition Space."
"Yes sir," Kelso replied. "Everyone is aboard so we can go forth at any time."
T'Pol nodded, inwardly thinking that she had her own little fourth to go. It was time to begin her mission. She intended to finish it, even with the baby that had been implanted within her. The door opened onto the bridge. With a few long strides she moved to sit in the center seat. "Ladies, Gentlemen, as Captain Archer once said, it's time to begin our mission. Mister Sarok, set a course 10 mark 82, full impulse until we reach a safe distance, then warp 5. Commander Kelso. Let's go forth."
The John Glenn left orbit of Vulcan in such a hurry, that if there were Vulcan tabloids (which there are not) they would be talking about it for months. Even without the aid of the tabloids, the departure did make its way around Coalition Space, and eventually into Admiral Archer's ears. When learning of the departure, he only smiled, and remarked that Captain T'Pol was already preforming better than he expected.
...
Note: This story currently ends here. However I have serveral options for continuing that I've thought of for years.