Connections

Chapter Four

Phlox was pleased to see T'Pol sitting alone at a table when he entered the Mess Hall. He had spent a taxing morning dealing with a disgruntled Chief Engineer who was unhappy about his enforced free time and he was looking forward to imparting a piece of good news which he hoped would put T'Pol's mind at rest.

"Would you mind if I joined you, Commander."

Looking up T'Pol nodded her agreement and motioned for him to take the seat across from her.

"You look busy I hope you won't be the next crew member I have to treat for exhaustion." Phlox commented while he looked at the four PADDs lined up in front of her.

"There is no need for you to be concerned about my stamina, Doctor. How is Commander Tucker?"

"Commander Tucker should be fit to return to duty in a week, that is if I can actually get him to rest." Phlox resisted the urge to add that the best treatment might be to recommence their neuropressure sessions. Instead he was pleased that their conversation had turned so easily to the very person about whom he wanted to pass on an important piece of information. Phlox knew that he could not be too obvious because he was breaking the rules relating to patient confidentiality by mentioning anything at all. He sensed that it was the best time to slip his hint into the conversation, "I'm pleased to say that he is not suffering from any conditions which would necessitate a longer period of treatment."

Phlox was keen to see if he had been correct about T'Pol being concerned that Trip might have been infected with Pa'nar syndrome and by implication that they had formed a relationship of some sort but he was disappointed to find he was could not to read her face which remained completely impassive. Although he did notice that she held his glance for just a little longer then he would normally have expected her to do.

As he was unable to be more direct Phlox decided to leave it at that and he then excused himself from the table and went to get a strong black tea from the drinks dispenser. Before he left the Mess Hall Phlox glanced over at T'Pol and he noted that she was once more engrossed in her work. He then left to return to the Sick Bay hopeful that he had achieved his primary object which was to reassure T'Pol that Trip had not been infected with the syndrome.

Reed was horrified by the vitriol and lies he read in Masaro's personal letters to his family which in turn fanned the hatred of all things alien in the replies from his father.

What on earth was Masaro doing on Enterprise when he and his family hated everything it stood for? Reed felt sick to his stomach as he realised he had put Trip and T'Pol at risk by not taking his orders to watch Masaro as seriously as he should have. There was no direct reference to the theft of the DNA samples although Masaro noted in a number of letters that he was looking forward to Commander Tucker being taught an important lesson. Also damming was a comment from Masaro senior in which he had commended his son for selecting the right individuals "to help them prove their point".

The final confirmation lay in the metal container which Reed found in Masaro's quarters. Inside the container were four pieces of specialist computer hacking equipment including a computer decoder similar to one Reed had. From his experience of bringing his own kit onto the ship these items were small enough to be easily hidden and the materials used in their construction did not register on Starfleet scanning devices. He was also aware that it was illegal for Terran civilians to own this sort of kit so obtaining them on the black market was extremely difficult and very expensive. It occurred to Reed that there could be a connection to the organisation he belonged to. The supplier might be a lone rogue element or of more concern to Reed, he may have been assigned by one faction to watch a member of an isolationist and xenophobic group within the organisation.

Reed had no intention of returning these items to Masaro. Masaro would have been able to tap into the Doctor's medical logs and obtain the codes for the commanders DNA samples. He could also have had access to and been able to tamper with all sorts of information; from the Captain's personal logs to Chef's menu plans. Reed had to think through his options and decide what to do next. First though Captain Archer would be expecting a report on his analysis of the data. Reed made his way to the bridge intending to advise the Captain that he had found a single discrepancy during the refit of Enterprise but that he considered it was nothing more than a system malfunction.

Trip had finally driven Phlox to allow him to leave the Sick Bay and return to his quarters where unable to sit still long enough to start to unwind he was virtually climbing the walls. Enforced rest was intensely unnerving for Trip as he had been keeping himself busy in order to stop unwanted thoughts and feelings from occupying his mind. His recent attempt to contact Engineering from his quarters for an update on the outstanding work had been a pointless exercise. Hess had brushed him off sweetly but firmly and Trip caught T'Pol's voice in the background reminding Hess that she and not Trip was currently in command.

Trip sat hunched over his desk, having just discovered that having his command status temporally suspended meant all access to ship systems had been disabled apart from the recreation menus.

Although Phlox preferred natural and sometimes bizarre treatments he had provided Trip with a sedative designed to knock him out for a straight twelve hours. However Trip wasn't ready to succumb to unconsciousness while his dream T'Pol continued to treat him nice, even though the real one was acting all officious in his domain. Trip therefore decided that a strenuous workout might lessen his nervous energy sufficiently for him to do without Phlox's medicine.

When Trip arrived in the recently reopened gym the only other person there was Travis. He nodded a greeting to the helmsman who was pounding away on a treadmill at a high level setting. Trip flung his towel onto the bars of the treadmill next to Travis and keyed in a lower setting suitable for a warm up. Then for ten minutes Trip worked at pushing his uncooperative body to do what in normal circumstances should be a gentle jog. Instead every step seemed to jar his body and his leg muscles ached from the effort.

"How's your R'n'R?" asked Travis, looking over at Trip without breaking his running rhythm.

"Just great…work… to do…instead…going…stir crazy." Trip managed to get out between each uneven gasp of air he was taking into his aching lungs. He assumed that Travis knew he had been forced to rest; it was a stupid time to take a holiday when only sheer will power was keeping Enterprise in one piece.

"You have to take a break sometime, I'm sure there'll still be plenty to do when you're back on duty."

"Travis, don't know…what's holding…Enterprise together…Need detailed check, condition…of outer hull…is T'Pol…considering...getting…inspection pod out there…anytime soon?"

"Trip, Trip," the younger man responded lifting his hand to waggle a finger at him, like a parent telling off a naughty child. "We're under strict instructions not to discuss work with you under any circumstances. How about I promise to mention it as a concern to Commander T'Pol?"

"Thanks," Trip said without any real conviction as he struggled to cope with the fact that he wasn't even allowed to talk about work. He then selected a higher speed and increased the slope on the treadmill to intensify his workout even though his warm up had been less than satisfactory.

He was not ready to give up on getting across the seriousness of the situation to Travis though, "No way…can see Enterprise…last…one month…never mind…one…hundred years."

"Well if it does, we won't be around to see it." Travis remarked as he reduced the level of his machine to begin to cool down. Then with a wide grin on his face as a thought occurred to him, Travis added, "Although one member of the crew might!"

Trip knew immediately who Travis was referring to; it wasn't difficult to deduce that T'Pol with a Vulcan life span of around two hundred years was the only possible candidate, "Don't know…how old T'Pol…but…she could…be around."

Travis continued to develop his idea, "I was thinking she might even get to see the other future Enterprise."

Trip lost any semblance of a running rhythm at that point. He slammed on the controls to make sure he did not fly off the end of the treadmill. The absurdity of the notion got to him as he slumped over the handlebars of the machine, his chest heaving and breathing ragged. He managed to get out, "…Could…even…meet…younger T'Pol…Wonder…what…they would …say…to each…other."

Then Trip started to chuckle in between breaths as he pictured old T'Pol explaining to her disbelieving younger self that time travel was indeed possible although not exactly logical.

Travis was also laughing at the idea of the two T'Pols, "I'm glad it can't happen to us, I really wouldn't want to be around long enough to meet a younger version of me."

Then Trip totally lost it, his dormant sense of humour enjoying the idiocy of time travel. He collapsed against the frame of the treadmill and started laughing out loud as he considered the implications, "Imagine Ambassador Soval's face…"

Travis took over as his friend continued to laugh hard, tears now streaming down his face, "Yes that would definitely be a difficult moment for the Ambassador."

Travis then shut off his treadmill and looked over at Trip who in response gave him a wide grin.

Feeling much more relaxed than he had for weeks Trip reached for his towel and wiped his tear stained face with it before getting back to his feet.

"Thanks Travis, I needed that more than a workout." Trip said as he restarted his treadmill, and began to jog again finding that this time the rhythm he needed came much more easily to him.

"No problem Trip, great to hear you laughing again." Travis remarked as he went to shower glad to have seen a glimmer of his friend's old self start to emerge.

Masaro had had a difficult shift and was looking forward to having a long shower and some quiet time in his quarters. He knew his roommate was pulling a double shift so he would be left in peace. He activated his door and went to put the main light on when a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Leave the light, close and then move away from the door."

Startled Masaro did as he was asked having identified the accent of the person straight away as that belonging to the Englishman, Lieutenant Reed. The only light in the quarters came from the low intensity safety lighting panel at floor level on the back wall. Through the eerie gloom he could just make out the outline of the Lieutenant who was sitting on the only chair while resting his right elbow on the desk. In Reed's hand was a metallic shape which Masaro took to be a phase pistol. It followed him as he moved to stand in front of one of the storage units. Reed then stood up and went to lock the door before turning to face Masaro.

"In case you're wondering it's on the kill setting." Reed volunteered.

Masaro contemplated the surreal nature of this situation; Reed was almost completely in shadow so it was impossible to read his intentions. He decided to play for time, "What do you want Lieutenant?"

"Answers..."

"Answers to what…?"

"Let's be clear, I know exactly what you've done, I just want to know why."

Masaro was made of stern stuff, he thought the Lieutenant was bluffing to try and get information from him. After all why hadn't he been hauled in front of Captain Archer if the Lieutenant knew what he'd done? Masaro was quite pleased at how calm he sounded when he answered, "I don't know what you're talking about Lieutenant, you're going to have to tell me what you think I've been up to."

"I've got your box of tricks," Reed responded clocking Masaro's involuntary glance towards his bunk and then briefly allowing himself to savour the satisfaction of being right with a half smile that said - got you. With the confidence that he had the upper hand, Reed added "The ones you used to obtain certain information. In order to identify items you then stole from Enterprise."

Masaro swallowed hard, the Lieutenant was not bluffing but that did not explain why he was not at that moment being marched to the brig.

"The Captain knows about this?"

Reed stepped closer to him so that the business end of the phase pistol touched Masaro's chest. Near to Reed seemed barely in control; his jaw muscles were tense and without blinking once he glared intensely at him. When he spoke Reed's voice was low and barbed with menace, "No the Captain doesn't know about this, I told you I just want to know what you did and why."

"Why does it matter now, Lieutenant?" asked Masaro who was beginning to sweat under the scrutiny of the phase pistol which was apparently set to kill. "Are you going to kill me? How would you explain that to your Captain?"

"MY CAPTAIN! He's your Captain too, Masaro, not that you've shown him or the rest of the crew any loyalty!" Reed snarled as he jabbed the pistol into Masaro's ribs, causing him to make an involuntary grab for the weapon. Reed jerked his arm up out of Masaro's reach and then brought pistol back down slamming it into the Ensign's face. There was a sickening sound as metal connected with and broke bone through skin and sinew. Masaro then sunk silently to his knees as he clutched his face.

"This is between you and me. I'll be watching you very closely from now on. If I find out you've stepped out of line just once, I will take this further. Believe me when I say that you have the most to lose from this coming to Captain Archer's attention."

Then Reed reached over and grabbed a towel which he handed to Masaro so that he could mop up the blood streaming from his broken nose. "You'd better let the Doctor take a look at that; that is if you don't mind some alien treating you. I'm sure you're bright enough to come up with a story to explain the injury."

When Masaro spoke his voice had a noticeable nasal twang and was muffled by the towel, "I don't have a problem with Doctor Phlox."

"Make sure you don't, I'll see myself out Ensign." Reed threatened as he unlocked the door and closed it after himself, leaving Masaro to nurse his pain.