Consequences
By Hoshissis
Rating: PG
Genres: general, humour, missing scene, friendship
Disclaimer: Property of Paramount.
Authors Note: Its set just after the cogenitors death. This chapter is generally Trips thoughts on why he did what he did. It's basically a background chapter with behind the scenes on what could have happened to make Archer so mad at the end, with some fill in the blanks on how it all got out of hand. Later chapters are going to build up to Starfleet having a court marshall trial on Trips behavior.
A Huge thank you to my Beta Dinah for all her hard work, encouragement and advise.
Chapter One
"Humans can't refrain from drawing conclusions.
You should learn to objectify other cultures, so you know when to interfere and when not to."
Never had truer words been spoken, thought Trip, as he stood staring out of his quarter's window watching the stars fly quickly by. Why oh why hadn't he taken T'Pol's and Phlox's advice and left well enough alone. Instead he had gotten more deeply involved in trying to improve aspects of Charles's life and then before he knew it, events had just spiraled out of control to disastrous conclusions.
It was the humane thing to do he had thought. She/he was a sentient being and deserved to be treated as such. If she had to stay inside her quarters, why couldn't she be entertained, reading books, listening to music etc? Geez, even Porthos had his chew toys. What was there for Charles? Nothing. She was just left to sit like an unused piece of furniture, waiting to be pulled out when needed.
He had wanted to teach her to read, a small thing that she could build upon as she sat alone in her quarters. What he hadn't anticipated was her species ability to learn so fast. In a space of a few short hours she had gone from reading a few words, to reading whole texts. That should have been a sign for him to back off then, but seeing the sheer wonder in her eyes as she read each new book and watching her imagine it all in her mind made him want to carry on and show her that there was more she could do in her life than just sit and stare at four small walls.
After that, event's had just spiraled out of control. He had been banned from entering the Vissians's ship after they had tried and failed to find him the day before, while he was teaching Charles to read. They had been furious when they had found out where he was and didn't want to know or even understand his reasoning why. It had annoyed him when T'Pol had also displayed the same attitude, not wanting to know, understand or even care as to why he had been there and what he had hoped to achieve.
Since he hadn't come to the Cogenitor, she came to see him the next day, craving to spend more time in his company. He knew he might get into trouble, but seeing the hope in her eyes had torn right into his heart. It had taken a lot of courage for her to sneak over here and reach out to him, and he was damned sure he wasn't going to throw that away and send her running back to those four lonely, empty walls.
He gave her a tour of Enterprise and was amazed at how alive she'd become on seeing all the new technology, firing questions at him from all angles and wanting to know how everything worked. After, they had gone back to his quarters to watch one of his all time favorite science fiction movies and play a game of "go". While they were discussing the finer points of the movie, her species fast ability to learn had surprised him yet again when she beat him at "go" – the first time he'd lost in over four years.
On her return to the Vissian ship, events started to spiral out of control. The Vissian chief engineer, who Charles was placed with, was furious that she'd sneaked away. He had threatened to physically reprimand her and lock her in their quarters, while he accused Commander Tucker of trying to destabilize their society. As T'Pol tried to calm down the tension, Charles broke away again and gained access to Enterprise, where she went to Engineering and asked Commander Tucker for asylum. In her opinion, life was unlivable onboard the Vissian ship, as her rights as an individual were being ignored. Trip had told her that she was just as clever as them and had the same rights, so she was entitled to be treated like the other Vissians.
Both captains came back from their science trip to a stalemate: the Vissian's chief engineer was threatening hostilities if their property, the Cogenitor, wasn't returned to them immediately and the MACO's and security personnel had been placed on a ship wide alert to defend against any conflict that might take place. Captain Archer was livid that Trip had turned a successful peaceful first contact into a near open warzone. How could an officer of his rank act so inappropriately and then think that Archer would approve and agree with what Trip had done?
A meeting was called between the parties involved: the Vissian Engineer, his wife and their Captain, and Enterprise's Captain Archer in the hope that some sort of middle ground could be found. Captain Archer had taken back at first at how little they all regarded the rights that Charles had and what they viewed as her limited status onboard their ship, but he had to take this into context of how their society might be damaged if he agreed to Charles's asylum and also what action might result against them.
In the end Captain Archer had taken advice from T'Pol, whose people had vast diplomatic and negotiating experience, and wrestling over the problem throughout the night, he'd approached Trip's quarters the following morning where Charles was staying, to inform her of his decision. It wasn't easy informing both her and Trip that he had denied her request, but he saw no other way. He'd had to consider the disastrous consequences that could have happened to the Vissian society back onboard their ship and their home planet, and any resulting retaliation on Enterprise and Earth.
The mood had been somber and quiet when he and T'Pol walked Charles back through the ship to be handed over to Captain of the Vissian ship, their chief engineer and his wife. She had bid a quiet farewell to Trip, thanking him for his help which allowed her, just for a short time, to finally experience life. Wiping a tear from his eye, Trip watched in silence as she turned away with an air of dignity and followed the Captain, back to the solitude of those four lonely, empty walls.
A few hours later, Captain Archer had called for him to come to his ready room to inform him that the cogenitor had taken her own life. The realization of what he'd done had hit him hard, as he turned and slowly walked back to his quarters. He'd allowed her to experience a glimpse of a life she'd never even asked for, a life she could only have dreamed of, and certainly a life her culture would never, ever have allowed her to have.