—Chapter 02—
Later that day, Archer and T'Pol were on the Bridge, when Hoshi turned to Archer and said, "We're being hailed, Captain."
Archer nodded, and gave a slight wave to the Bridge monitor, and a moment later a StarFleet Lieutenant's face was displayed on the video display.
"I have orders for you, sir," said the Lieutenant, pressing a few buttons. "You are to proceed to the following coordinates at best speed, and rendezvous with the Vulcan ship, Tek'Marr."
"I have the coordinates, Captain," said Ensign Mayweather.
"What's this all about, Lieutenant?" said Archer.
"I don't know, Captain," said the Lieutenant. "Just passing orders along, sir."
"Understood," said Archer, and a moment later the video display went dark. "How long to get there at Warp 5, Travis?"
"Just over fourteen hours at Warp 5, Captain," said Travis.
Archer flipped a button on his captain's chair, and reached out to Engineering.
"Dillard here."
"I need Warp 5, Dillard," said Archer.
"You have it, sir," said Dillard. "All systems are go."
"Good," said Archer, and ended the conversation, then looked at Travis. "Let's get moving, Ensign Mayweather.
"Yes, sir," said Travis.
Once the ship was underway, Archer gestured to T'Pol, and the Vulcan followed the captain to his Ready Room, where Archer took his seat, while T'Pol stood at attention.
"Any idea what's going on?" said Archer, looking at T'Pol.
"No, Captain," said T'Pol.
"Can you find out somehow, before we meet with the Tek'Marr?" said Archer.
"I will try," said T'Pol. "In any case, we will have our answer soon enough, Captain."
"That's true," said Archer. "Ok, you have the conn, T'Pol. I'll try to contact Admiral Forrest, see if he can bring me up to speed."
"Yes, Captain," said T'Pol, and spun neatly on her heels to exit the Ready Room.
The Enterprise warped in at the given coordinates some fourteen hours later to find the Tek'Marr waiting for the Enterprise. The Vulcan ship was of the light cruiser class, and if the slender ship lacked the sheer mass of the larger battle cruisers, she was still almost twice the size of the Enterprise, and possessed of truly elegant lines. It was a beauty.
"Comm," said Archer. "Hail the Tek'Marr."
"Yes, Captain," said Hoshi.
A few moments later a Vulcan's face filled the Bridge monitor.
"Captain Archer," said the Vulcan. "I am Telek, captain of the Tek'Marr."
"A pleasure, Captain," said Archer. "You have an impressive ship. Now, perhaps you'd care to tell me why we're here?"
"I have just dispatched a shuttle for the Enterprise, along with one of your people and your orders from StarFleet, Captain," said Valik.
"Thank you, Captain Telek," said Archer.
The Vulcan nodded pleasantly enough to Archer, and then the Bridge monitor went black as the Tek'Marr severed the connection.
"T'Pol, meet the Vulcan shuttle at the Access Hatch, please," said Archer, "just in case some Vulcan dignitary or other wants to board the ship."
"Yes, Captain," said T'Pol.
She left the Bridge for the turbo-lift tube, and in due time T'Pol reached the Access Hatch, just as one of Lt. Reed's men opened the hatch to grant access to the Enterprise. A Human commander boarded the Enterprise and saluted T'Pol. T'Pol nodded back to the man, and looked inquisitively at him.
"Commander Tanaka, sir."
"Commander," said T'Pol. "I am certain that Captain Archer will wish to speak with you."
"Yes, sir," said Tanaka, "but I'm required to wait here for Commander Tucker. I have orders for him."
"Commander Tucker?" said T'Pol, puzzled now, then saw the man himself approaching the Access Hatch, a charcoal gray duffel bag thrown over his shoulder.
"You must be Commander Tucker," said Tanaka. "I am your replacement, Chief Engineer Tanaka."
Replacement?! What is this, thought T'Pol, agitated now.
"I've heard good things about you, Commander," said Trip, looking at Tanaka.
"Likewise, Commander Tucker," said Tanaka, then handed Trip a PADD(Personal Access Data Device) unit.
"Thank you," said Trip, and after nodding farewell to T'Pol, Trip moved to enter the Vulcan shuttle.
"A moment Commander Tucker," said T'Pol. "I wish to speak with you."
Trip stopped and looked at T'Pol, left brow raised in good imitation of T'Pol, then said, "I'm listening."
T'Pol was flustered now, though not a trace of it was apparent in her demeanor.
"I wish to speak with you in private, Commander Tucker," said T'Pol, then looked at Commander Tanaka. "I apologize for the delay, Commander Tanaka."
"No trouble at all," said Tanaka. "I wait at your convenience, sir."
"Follow me, Commander Tucker," said T'Pol.
Trip dropped his duffel bag, and T'Pol led the man some twenty feet away from Tanaka, which gave them some degree of privacy, even more when Tanaka tactfully faced away from them. T'Pol waited, patiently enough given the circumstances, yet Commander Tucker said nothing.
"Well, Commander?"
"Well what?"
"You clearly knew that you were to leave the Enterprise and board the Tek'Marr," said T'Pol, "and yet you said nothing of it to me."
"I wasn't aware that I had to notify you of anything, SubCommander," said Trip.
Unwilling to bring up the real reason for her displeasure, T'Pol said, "Personnel is my sphere, Commander Tucker. My duty requires me to be aware of the movements of personnel on and off this ship, and you know this to be true."
Trip smirked in appreciation for T'Pol's mental gymnastics, then said, "You know StarFleet procedures very well T'Pol, and you know that HQ was supposed to notify you of my departure, not me. Apparently, they dropped the ball."
"Do not play games with me, Commander Tucker," said T'Pol, crossly now. "Does the Captain know that you are departing his ship? I think not, or I am certain that he would have spoken of it to me."
"I assume HQ notified him of that fact as well, T'Pol," said Trip. "He probably didn't see any reason to mention it to you."
T'Pol doubted that last part, and studied the man, frustrated now. He was impossible to deal with when he was like this, and he'd been like this since their disagreement over her decision to test their homemade telepresence device not long past, when dealing with the Romulan drone.
"How long will you be gone?" said T'Pol, determined to have it out with the commander promptly upon his return.
"It's a permanent reassignment," said Trip. "The crew of the Tek'Marr wants a Human aboard their ship to show them how space exploration should truly be conducted."
"How long will you be gone, Commander Tucker?" said T'Pol, a hard undertone to her voice, for Commander Tucker's departure was upsetting, and she'd had just about enough of his bullshit for the day.
"I have no idea," said Trip, and left it at that.
"We will have a long discussion when you return, Commander Tucker," said T'Pol, "and I will promise you now that you will not enjoy our discussion."
"I'm not enjoying this one, T'Pol, and there's nothing to discuss on my return," said Trip. "I intend to transfer off the Enterprise at the conclusion of my tour with the Tek'Marr. Now, if you're finished with this interrogation, I have to go. So long, T'Pol."
While T'Pol deliberated her response at the unwelcome news, the man spun and walked away, and moments later boarded the Vulcan shuttle. Minutes later, the shuttle departed the Enterprise, and she'd delivered Tanaka to the Captain's Ready Room, where Archer called an Ensign to take Tanaka to his cabin, after relieving the man of the orders HQ had for him.
As Trip exited the Vulcan shuttle into the Tek'Marr's Shuttle Bay, he breathed a sigh of excitement at the sight of a well run crew of mechanics moving round the brightly lit Shuttle Bay - he could hardly wait to get into Engineering.
A junior officer stepped up to the shuttle, and said, "Welcome aboard the Tek'Marr, Commander Tucker. I am Ensign Tala."
"Thank you, Ensign," said Trip. "I can't wait to get to work."
"Let us get you settled in first, Commander Tucker," said Tala, "and then you are invited to dine at the captain's table."
"All right," said Trip, shifting his duffel bag to his left shoulder. "Lead the way, Ensign."
Five minutes later Tala led Trip to his quarters, gave him his key card and said, "Someone will come to guide you to the captain's table in two hours."
"I'll be ready, Ensign. Thank you."
Tala nodded and went her way, and Trip entered his quarters. They were quite nice, certainly a big step above his cabin aboard the Enterprise. These quarters were twice the size expected, sparsely but attractively decorated, well lit, and outfitted with a nice media center. Small kitchen, with a stasis box filled with beverages and snacks, a good sized bathroom with a deep tub, a shower, and a good sized video monitor mounted on the wall. Sweet!
I could get used to this, thought Trip, then stepped back into the main room, and took a seat at the desk. He activated the computer just out of curiosity, and was pleased to note that the computer was running an English language interface, and mixed in with the thousands of media entertainment files, there were also numerous Vulcan files spanning both culture and science. Well, he'd never be bored onboard the Tek'Marr, that much was certain. He chose a Vulcan music album at random, and began playback, quite pleased with himself.
I wonder if the Vulcans would accept my transfer request, thought Trip. This is the life!
"What the hell is going on?" said Jon looking out the port hole at the Tek'Marr, and then began flipping through his orders on the PADD unit Tanaka had handed over.
"Hopefully our orders will make that clear, Captain," said T'Pol, her eyes looking past Archer and out a porthole, fixed on the Tek'Marr, and moments later she saw the Vulcan ship warp out in the blink of an eye.
"When I get my hands on Trip, I'm going to beat the crap out of him, T'Pol," said Archer, looking angrily at T'Pol. "Just so you know."
T'Pol raised brow at that, and said, "Why tell me, Captain?"
Archer gave the Vulcan a skeptical look, and said, "You know why I'm telling you. This little dance you and Trip have been doing since you met is not going to save his ass this time, so don't make excuses for him. He knew that he was leaving the ship and didn't tell me, either as his friend, or his captain. He's gone too far this time, T'Pol, so don't try to stop me!"
"Stop you? Captain, I will hold him down as you administer a beating richly deserved, after which I will gladly deliver a few kicks to the commander's ribs for good measure," said T'Pol, still privately incensed over this whole thing, and certain now that Commander Tucker had not mentioned his plan to transfer to the Columbia on his return, to the captain. "It was not right of Commander Tucker to so willingly abandon… the Enterprise."
"I agree," said Archer, pleased to see that he and T'Pol were seeing eye to eye on this matter, then went back to reading his orders, and finally passed the PADD unit to T'Pol.
T'Pol was surprised. The Enterprise was to set course for Vulcan, where the ship would be fitted with Vulcan shield emitters, then Tellar, where the hull would be reinforced with some of the exotic metal alloys the Tellarites produced in such impressive quantity. T'Pol was aware that Vulcan's new government had decided to share technology freely, but the fact that they were sharing shield emitters, while the Tellarites were reinforcing hulls, meant that this little informal federation of allies, the Andorians, Vulcans, Tellarites and Humans, were expecting war with the Romulans, sooner or later.
Moreso, T'Pol was ambivalent about returning home to Vulcan. Her mother was now dead, her marriage to Koss mercifully dissolved, and the only other being she had a truly intimate bond with in the entire universe had just departed for parts unknown, and T'Pol feared that she'd been the cause of that, and she feared that she'd driven him away for good.
Wonderful, thought T'Pol. My life is officially a disaster.
Entering the Captain's Mess, Trip was greeted by Captain Telek, Chief Engineer Selet and the ship's doctor, Usek. The Vulcans turned out to be surprisingly good company, genuinely interested in the Enterprise's trials and tribulations in the Delphic Expanse and it was almost four hours before the captain concluded the meal and excused himself to attend to his meditation.
"You will be working with me tomorrow, Commander Tucker," said Selet, the Chief Engineer.
"Yes, Chief," said Trip.
"We will be tearing up one of the phase inverters tomorrow," said Selet. "You will find it instructive."
Trip nodded, and said, "That means we'll be replacing the static field emitters on the unit. I'll wager that's your problem. The rest of the unit is bullet proof."
"Yes," said Selet, appraising the Human anew. "But it will be a messy job."
"What say we knock it out now, Chief?" said Trip. "We can finish the job in three hours, and I'd love to get my hands dirty."
"Very well," said Selet, the hint of a smile on his face: true engineers were the same all over the universe, and now Selet had a feeling that Commander Tucker would fit in quite well here.