"The Fairest One of All."
by Braycat.
Disclaimers: Paramount owns the rights to all of these characters. I'm just borrowing them for a little while. I promise to put them back when I'm done.
Author's note: This story takes place three weeks after Unexpected.
Many thanks to "TheGrrrl" who provided inspiration for this story.
_________________
CHAPTER ONE
Travis Mayweather wandered down the corridor in a daze. He didn't know where he was going and he didn't really care. He'd just gotten so restless sitting on his butt in his quarters that finally it was all too much. He had to move.
Not really paying attention to what he was doing, occasionally he would bump into someone coming the other way, but he knew that they'd take no offense. They were feeling just as restless as he was, and he saw the same pain reflected back from their eyes that he knew was clearly visible in his own. A pain that threatened to overwhelm all of them because they had lost the heart and soul of their ship. Commander Trip Tucker was dead.
Mayweather stopped short when it finally registered in his mind where his random wanderings had taken him. As his eyes locked onto the transporter pad Travis felt a surge of hatred for this inanimate object, this machine. His fury was so intense that he wanted to get an ax and smash it to pieces. Mayweather wanted to kill the transporter. To pay it back for killing his friend.
Three days before Tucker had been standing on the supposedly de-activated transport pad to perform some routine maintenance when suddenly the mechanism activated on it's own. Before Trip could react, the transporter engaged, beaming the commander...
Well... that was exactly the problem. Apparently Tucker was beamed to nowhere. The coordinates had been set for empty space. Captain Archer had no choice but to conclude that his best friend, Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker the Third was dead.
Mayweather clearly remembered guiding Enterprise through that region of space, hoping against hope to find the engineer's body at least, but Enterprise searched the location of the transport coordinates thoroughly and found nothing. Archer's voice cracked a little when he gave the order to abandon, and it was with a heavy heart that Mayweather returned Enterprise to it's former course of exploration.
The next few days passed in a daze in Mayweather's mind. There'd been a memorial service of course. Travis didn't remember much of it. He'd been hurting too much. He did recall that Captain Archer managed to make it through most of the eulogy before breaking down.
Ever since then, whenever you ran into the captain he either growled at you, or enveloped you in a big hug. That was one great thing about Captain Archer. He didn't even try to hide the way he was feeling. He let you in to share his grief and at the same time helped you deal with your own.
Mayweather looked at the transporter pad again. A piece of yellow tape crossed in front of the dais. A quiet warning to remind everyone not to step onto the platform, as if they could ever forget. Archer banned access to the pad immediately after the accident and he had T'Pol head up the investigation.
Since she didn't feel the same, devastating impact of Tucker's death as the rest of the crew, she could focus on the particulars of the mishap with her usual Vulcan detachment and efficiency. However, even though she wasn't as effected by the accident as the others, even Mayweather could see that she was shocked by the loss of the commander.
T'Pol worked tirelessly, but her investigation turned up exactly nothing. The transporter seemed to be in perfect working order. No anomalies were found. That was when Archer ordered the machine to be totally off limits. No one was going to set foot on that platform again until they thoroughly understood the cause of the accident, and from the way things stood now, Mayweather knew the transporter was going to be off-line for a very long time.
"Thinking of bashing the bloody thing to bits?" a British voice asked.
Mayweather blinked. He was so deep into his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed that Reed was standing right next to him. "How'd you know?"
Malcolm shot the transport mechanism a look of pure hate. "Because I've thought of nothing else for the last seventy two hours either."
"Yeah, well maybe after the investigation's complete Captain Archer will let us each take a shot at ripping it apart."
Reed smiled. A very wan smile. "That would be very therapeutic, wouldn't it?" Then the smile faded away and the armory officer looked Mayweather up and down with a critical eye. "When was the last time that you've eaten?"
The helmsman couldn't help but feel a flash of guilt, like a little kid who'd been caught doing something wrong. "I don't remember, exactly."
Reed had thought so. "Well, why don't you run along and get a bite now?"
"I really couldn't eat, Lieutenant." Mayweather protested, trying to get out of it. "I just don't have any appetite. I'd only wind up toying with my food, then throwing it away."
"I know." Reed had to force down his own breakfast that morning, thinking that he had to set a good example for the juniors. "Never the less, the captain's orders are quite clear. We're not to let ourselves become run down. So come on." The armory officer clapped Travis on the shoulder. "Let's go have us some lunch, eh?"
"Yes sir." Mayweather knew a lost cause when he saw it and allowed Reed to drag him toward the mess hall. They'd only taken a few steps when a loud click reverberated down the corridor. Both men froze, then turned back to face their killer machine.
"The transporter." Reed gasped.
"It's powering up on it's own." Mayweather shook off his shock and ran forward, intending to shut the device down .
"No!" Reed ordered. Reacting instantly, the armory officer pulled Mayweather's hand away from the controls. "Don't touch it!"
The alarm in the lieutenant's voice caused Mayweather to jump a little. He hadn't really realized the danger he could have just been in. "Yes, sir."
"Get away from the transporter." Reed ordered. When they had retreated to a safe distance, Malcolm tapped the Comm panel and hailed the captain.
Archer's tired voice came back over the speaker. "Go ahead."
"Sir." Reed said, his eyes glued to the pad. "The transporter's powering up again, all by itself."
The captain's voice suddenly sharpened as his reply came back. "Keep everyone away from the dais. I'll be right there."
"Aye, sir." Reed thumbed off the speaker. He and Mayweather just watched in amazement as the transporter completed it's power-up cycle. Then a familiar hum began to fill the hall.
"The transporter." Travis whispered. "It's engaging."
The shimmering veil of the matter stream fell across the platform. Then the mechanical hum intensified and "something" began to be seen behind the transport curtain. After several moments the "something" solidified into the shape of a man. Then the hum died away, leaving the man standing in it's wake.
A slightly bewildered man, wearing civilian clothes, stood gasping at the room around him. He looked around in amazement. He'd never seen this place, in quite this way before. Finally one word popped out. "Wow!"
Mayweather and Reed were just as stunned. Frozen in shock they just stood still and starred. Starred at the man who they had recently given up for dead, but was now miraculously alive. For standing before them was one Charles "Trip" Tucker.
Reed jolted himself out of his shock and started to move. "Commander Tucker!"
Charlie tuned at the sound of his name. When he saw the two men rushing toward him, he reacted instinctively and shank back away from them. "Stay away from me!" Tucker called out in desperation.
"Trip?" Reed asked. "Are you all right?"
Charlie's eyes filled with terror as Reed moved closer. "Stay back." The engineer pleaded, cradling his arm protectively across a bulge that protruded from under his shirt on his left side. He kept edging away until his back was against the transporter's wall. "Please don't hurt me?"
Instantly responding to the fear in Tucker's voice Reed stopped in his tracks. Why was Trip afraid of them? "I won't hurt you," the armory officer promised. Reed wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but the last thing that he wanted to do was frighten his friend. "Trip it's me, Malcolm. Don't you recognized me?"
"Malcolm?" Charlie looked puzzled, as if the sight of the lieutenant didn't entirely match up with the picture of the man that was all ready in his mind. "Not Malcolm Reed?"
To Mayweather, Trip's comment appeared to be a statement, but Malcolm took it to be a question and nodded in reply. "That's right."
"Malcolm Reed." Charlie whispered, not quite believing what he was seeing. Then he turned his attention to Mayweather. "And you're...?" Charlie peered closely and recognition lighted up his eyes. "Travis Mayweather?"
"That's me all right." Travis felt a little more at ease. Trip seemed so confused at first. Not recognizing Malcolm? At least Tucker seemed to know who he was.
"Wow." Charlie shook his head in disbelief. "You guys look so different."
Now that was an odd remark. As far as they both knew they looked like they always did. "How so, sir?" Mayweather asked.
"You're both so..." Charlie struggled to find the right word, then finally came up with it. "...clean."
Clean? What the hell did that mean?
They didn't get a chance to find out because at that moment Jonathan Archer ran into the hall. When he saw Trip standing on the pad, alive, his face lit up with joy. "Trip!" he cried out and moved forward to embrace his friend, but the look on Tucker's face stopped him cold. "Trip, are you all right."
Charlie instinctively cringed back against the bulkhead when he first saw Archer, but after a few moments passed and no attack occurred, Tucker forced himself to relax. Then the engineer stared intently at the captain. The man standing before him was so different from what he had expected. "Cap'n Archer?"
"Yes, Trip." Archer cautiously moved forward, aware that something was terribly wrong.
Charlie couldn't believe it when he saw friendly concern on Archer's face. "You're... you're actually happy to see me, aren't you?"
"Of course I'm happy to see you, Trip." The captain said carefully. Had something happened to Tucker's memory? Not taking his eyes off of his friend, Archer whispered an order to Mayweather to go fetch the doctor.
"Yes, sir." Mayweather slowly backed away and when he was out of Trip's sight he ran for the intercom.
Then the captain moved forward slightly. He didn't exactly know what was wrong, but it was obvious that something was, and he didn't want to alarm the engineer any further. "You know that you're my best friend, don't you?"
"Best friend." Trip repeated the phrase to himself over and over, like he'd never heard of such a thing before, but apparently the engineer began to believe it because he relaxed his defensive position a little and pushed away from the wall. He still cradled the bulge under his shirt carefully, as if to make sure that no harm came to it. "You really are my friend, aren't you?"
"Yes I am." Still confused, Archer forced himself to make his voice sound as positive as he could.
Charlie reacted to Archer's friendly attitude and allowed himself to feel a little more at ease. He even let a small smile slip onto his face. Then Phlox arrived and when Tucker caught sight of the doctor he reacted with surprise. "You're certainly a different lookin' species." He said. "I've never seen your kind before."
That stopped the doctor short. "You've never seen me before?"
"'Fraid not. What race are you?"
"I'm a Denobulan."
"Ah." The smile fell from Charlie's face and looked away from the doctor, as if he was embarrassed about something. "I'm sorry."
Sorry? Phlox was puzzled. "Why?"
Before Tucker could answer, T'Pol joined the little group and the engineer's eyes widened when he saw her. "A Vulcan. On this ship?"
"Yes." Archer confirmed. Although relieved that his friend was alive, now Archer was convinced that Trip had suffered some sort of brain damage. "She's my science officer. Her name is..."
"Wait." Charlie cut him off. "He told me about her. I remember now." Tucker looked straight into the Vulcan's eyes. "Your name is T'Pol, isn't it?"
"That's right." It didn't take T'Pol long to focus in on the most important part of Trip's last statement. "Who told you about me?"
Surprised at her demeanor, Charlie wasn't concentrating on what she said, but more on how she said it. "You're kinda calm for a Vulcan, aren't you?"
Calm? That rocked the captain. Since when was T'Pol anything but calm? There was something going on here. Something that Archer was missing and the captain knew that he had to find out what it was. "Why don't you answer her question, Trip?"
Still shocked at the sight of a poised and composed Vulcan, Charlie had to work to draw his attention back to the matter at hand. "What question was that, sir?"
"Who told you about T'Pol?"
"Ah." Charlie was now caught up, but he still hesitated before answering. Ever since he re-materialized Tucker knew that he would have tell Archer the truth, but it was gonna be hard. "I'm 'fraid that I'm not exactly who you think I am, Cap'n."
"Oh?" Archer didn't know what Trip was talking about, but he did know his best friend when he saw him. "Are you trying to tell me that you're not Trip Tucker?"
"No... I'm Trip Tucker all right." Now they were down to it. Charlie took a deep breath, then let everything out in a rush. "I'm just not your Trip Tucker."
Archer was taken totally aback. "Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Charlie hadn't been sure how he was gonna explain things to Archer when it came to this moment, so he just plunged in and did the best he could. "I guess you could say I come from another dimension."
To be continued.....
by Braycat.
Disclaimers: Paramount owns the rights to all of these characters. I'm just borrowing them for a little while. I promise to put them back when I'm done.
Author's note: This story takes place three weeks after Unexpected.
Many thanks to "TheGrrrl" who provided inspiration for this story.
_________________
CHAPTER ONE
Travis Mayweather wandered down the corridor in a daze. He didn't know where he was going and he didn't really care. He'd just gotten so restless sitting on his butt in his quarters that finally it was all too much. He had to move.
Not really paying attention to what he was doing, occasionally he would bump into someone coming the other way, but he knew that they'd take no offense. They were feeling just as restless as he was, and he saw the same pain reflected back from their eyes that he knew was clearly visible in his own. A pain that threatened to overwhelm all of them because they had lost the heart and soul of their ship. Commander Trip Tucker was dead.
Mayweather stopped short when it finally registered in his mind where his random wanderings had taken him. As his eyes locked onto the transporter pad Travis felt a surge of hatred for this inanimate object, this machine. His fury was so intense that he wanted to get an ax and smash it to pieces. Mayweather wanted to kill the transporter. To pay it back for killing his friend.
Three days before Tucker had been standing on the supposedly de-activated transport pad to perform some routine maintenance when suddenly the mechanism activated on it's own. Before Trip could react, the transporter engaged, beaming the commander...
Well... that was exactly the problem. Apparently Tucker was beamed to nowhere. The coordinates had been set for empty space. Captain Archer had no choice but to conclude that his best friend, Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker the Third was dead.
Mayweather clearly remembered guiding Enterprise through that region of space, hoping against hope to find the engineer's body at least, but Enterprise searched the location of the transport coordinates thoroughly and found nothing. Archer's voice cracked a little when he gave the order to abandon, and it was with a heavy heart that Mayweather returned Enterprise to it's former course of exploration.
The next few days passed in a daze in Mayweather's mind. There'd been a memorial service of course. Travis didn't remember much of it. He'd been hurting too much. He did recall that Captain Archer managed to make it through most of the eulogy before breaking down.
Ever since then, whenever you ran into the captain he either growled at you, or enveloped you in a big hug. That was one great thing about Captain Archer. He didn't even try to hide the way he was feeling. He let you in to share his grief and at the same time helped you deal with your own.
Mayweather looked at the transporter pad again. A piece of yellow tape crossed in front of the dais. A quiet warning to remind everyone not to step onto the platform, as if they could ever forget. Archer banned access to the pad immediately after the accident and he had T'Pol head up the investigation.
Since she didn't feel the same, devastating impact of Tucker's death as the rest of the crew, she could focus on the particulars of the mishap with her usual Vulcan detachment and efficiency. However, even though she wasn't as effected by the accident as the others, even Mayweather could see that she was shocked by the loss of the commander.
T'Pol worked tirelessly, but her investigation turned up exactly nothing. The transporter seemed to be in perfect working order. No anomalies were found. That was when Archer ordered the machine to be totally off limits. No one was going to set foot on that platform again until they thoroughly understood the cause of the accident, and from the way things stood now, Mayweather knew the transporter was going to be off-line for a very long time.
"Thinking of bashing the bloody thing to bits?" a British voice asked.
Mayweather blinked. He was so deep into his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed that Reed was standing right next to him. "How'd you know?"
Malcolm shot the transport mechanism a look of pure hate. "Because I've thought of nothing else for the last seventy two hours either."
"Yeah, well maybe after the investigation's complete Captain Archer will let us each take a shot at ripping it apart."
Reed smiled. A very wan smile. "That would be very therapeutic, wouldn't it?" Then the smile faded away and the armory officer looked Mayweather up and down with a critical eye. "When was the last time that you've eaten?"
The helmsman couldn't help but feel a flash of guilt, like a little kid who'd been caught doing something wrong. "I don't remember, exactly."
Reed had thought so. "Well, why don't you run along and get a bite now?"
"I really couldn't eat, Lieutenant." Mayweather protested, trying to get out of it. "I just don't have any appetite. I'd only wind up toying with my food, then throwing it away."
"I know." Reed had to force down his own breakfast that morning, thinking that he had to set a good example for the juniors. "Never the less, the captain's orders are quite clear. We're not to let ourselves become run down. So come on." The armory officer clapped Travis on the shoulder. "Let's go have us some lunch, eh?"
"Yes sir." Mayweather knew a lost cause when he saw it and allowed Reed to drag him toward the mess hall. They'd only taken a few steps when a loud click reverberated down the corridor. Both men froze, then turned back to face their killer machine.
"The transporter." Reed gasped.
"It's powering up on it's own." Mayweather shook off his shock and ran forward, intending to shut the device down .
"No!" Reed ordered. Reacting instantly, the armory officer pulled Mayweather's hand away from the controls. "Don't touch it!"
The alarm in the lieutenant's voice caused Mayweather to jump a little. He hadn't really realized the danger he could have just been in. "Yes, sir."
"Get away from the transporter." Reed ordered. When they had retreated to a safe distance, Malcolm tapped the Comm panel and hailed the captain.
Archer's tired voice came back over the speaker. "Go ahead."
"Sir." Reed said, his eyes glued to the pad. "The transporter's powering up again, all by itself."
The captain's voice suddenly sharpened as his reply came back. "Keep everyone away from the dais. I'll be right there."
"Aye, sir." Reed thumbed off the speaker. He and Mayweather just watched in amazement as the transporter completed it's power-up cycle. Then a familiar hum began to fill the hall.
"The transporter." Travis whispered. "It's engaging."
The shimmering veil of the matter stream fell across the platform. Then the mechanical hum intensified and "something" began to be seen behind the transport curtain. After several moments the "something" solidified into the shape of a man. Then the hum died away, leaving the man standing in it's wake.
A slightly bewildered man, wearing civilian clothes, stood gasping at the room around him. He looked around in amazement. He'd never seen this place, in quite this way before. Finally one word popped out. "Wow!"
Mayweather and Reed were just as stunned. Frozen in shock they just stood still and starred. Starred at the man who they had recently given up for dead, but was now miraculously alive. For standing before them was one Charles "Trip" Tucker.
Reed jolted himself out of his shock and started to move. "Commander Tucker!"
Charlie tuned at the sound of his name. When he saw the two men rushing toward him, he reacted instinctively and shank back away from them. "Stay away from me!" Tucker called out in desperation.
"Trip?" Reed asked. "Are you all right?"
Charlie's eyes filled with terror as Reed moved closer. "Stay back." The engineer pleaded, cradling his arm protectively across a bulge that protruded from under his shirt on his left side. He kept edging away until his back was against the transporter's wall. "Please don't hurt me?"
Instantly responding to the fear in Tucker's voice Reed stopped in his tracks. Why was Trip afraid of them? "I won't hurt you," the armory officer promised. Reed wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but the last thing that he wanted to do was frighten his friend. "Trip it's me, Malcolm. Don't you recognized me?"
"Malcolm?" Charlie looked puzzled, as if the sight of the lieutenant didn't entirely match up with the picture of the man that was all ready in his mind. "Not Malcolm Reed?"
To Mayweather, Trip's comment appeared to be a statement, but Malcolm took it to be a question and nodded in reply. "That's right."
"Malcolm Reed." Charlie whispered, not quite believing what he was seeing. Then he turned his attention to Mayweather. "And you're...?" Charlie peered closely and recognition lighted up his eyes. "Travis Mayweather?"
"That's me all right." Travis felt a little more at ease. Trip seemed so confused at first. Not recognizing Malcolm? At least Tucker seemed to know who he was.
"Wow." Charlie shook his head in disbelief. "You guys look so different."
Now that was an odd remark. As far as they both knew they looked like they always did. "How so, sir?" Mayweather asked.
"You're both so..." Charlie struggled to find the right word, then finally came up with it. "...clean."
Clean? What the hell did that mean?
They didn't get a chance to find out because at that moment Jonathan Archer ran into the hall. When he saw Trip standing on the pad, alive, his face lit up with joy. "Trip!" he cried out and moved forward to embrace his friend, but the look on Tucker's face stopped him cold. "Trip, are you all right."
Charlie instinctively cringed back against the bulkhead when he first saw Archer, but after a few moments passed and no attack occurred, Tucker forced himself to relax. Then the engineer stared intently at the captain. The man standing before him was so different from what he had expected. "Cap'n Archer?"
"Yes, Trip." Archer cautiously moved forward, aware that something was terribly wrong.
Charlie couldn't believe it when he saw friendly concern on Archer's face. "You're... you're actually happy to see me, aren't you?"
"Of course I'm happy to see you, Trip." The captain said carefully. Had something happened to Tucker's memory? Not taking his eyes off of his friend, Archer whispered an order to Mayweather to go fetch the doctor.
"Yes, sir." Mayweather slowly backed away and when he was out of Trip's sight he ran for the intercom.
Then the captain moved forward slightly. He didn't exactly know what was wrong, but it was obvious that something was, and he didn't want to alarm the engineer any further. "You know that you're my best friend, don't you?"
"Best friend." Trip repeated the phrase to himself over and over, like he'd never heard of such a thing before, but apparently the engineer began to believe it because he relaxed his defensive position a little and pushed away from the wall. He still cradled the bulge under his shirt carefully, as if to make sure that no harm came to it. "You really are my friend, aren't you?"
"Yes I am." Still confused, Archer forced himself to make his voice sound as positive as he could.
Charlie reacted to Archer's friendly attitude and allowed himself to feel a little more at ease. He even let a small smile slip onto his face. Then Phlox arrived and when Tucker caught sight of the doctor he reacted with surprise. "You're certainly a different lookin' species." He said. "I've never seen your kind before."
That stopped the doctor short. "You've never seen me before?"
"'Fraid not. What race are you?"
"I'm a Denobulan."
"Ah." The smile fell from Charlie's face and looked away from the doctor, as if he was embarrassed about something. "I'm sorry."
Sorry? Phlox was puzzled. "Why?"
Before Tucker could answer, T'Pol joined the little group and the engineer's eyes widened when he saw her. "A Vulcan. On this ship?"
"Yes." Archer confirmed. Although relieved that his friend was alive, now Archer was convinced that Trip had suffered some sort of brain damage. "She's my science officer. Her name is..."
"Wait." Charlie cut him off. "He told me about her. I remember now." Tucker looked straight into the Vulcan's eyes. "Your name is T'Pol, isn't it?"
"That's right." It didn't take T'Pol long to focus in on the most important part of Trip's last statement. "Who told you about me?"
Surprised at her demeanor, Charlie wasn't concentrating on what she said, but more on how she said it. "You're kinda calm for a Vulcan, aren't you?"
Calm? That rocked the captain. Since when was T'Pol anything but calm? There was something going on here. Something that Archer was missing and the captain knew that he had to find out what it was. "Why don't you answer her question, Trip?"
Still shocked at the sight of a poised and composed Vulcan, Charlie had to work to draw his attention back to the matter at hand. "What question was that, sir?"
"Who told you about T'Pol?"
"Ah." Charlie was now caught up, but he still hesitated before answering. Ever since he re-materialized Tucker knew that he would have tell Archer the truth, but it was gonna be hard. "I'm 'fraid that I'm not exactly who you think I am, Cap'n."
"Oh?" Archer didn't know what Trip was talking about, but he did know his best friend when he saw him. "Are you trying to tell me that you're not Trip Tucker?"
"No... I'm Trip Tucker all right." Now they were down to it. Charlie took a deep breath, then let everything out in a rush. "I'm just not your Trip Tucker."
Archer was taken totally aback. "Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Charlie hadn't been sure how he was gonna explain things to Archer when it came to this moment, so he just plunged in and did the best he could. "I guess you could say I come from another dimension."
To be continued.....