Author's Note: When I started writing this, I had absolutely no intention of this being a romance fic. My muse has taken me in a different and unexpected direction. So I'm going to roll with it and see where we land. My consolation is that at the very least, my T&T shippers should be a little more at ease.
Many, many thanks to my awesome beta, Misplaced, without whom this would not have turned out as well as it did.
Finally, I do have a music selection for this chapter: Callie – "What Might Have Been" by Little Texas.
Chapter Five
Hoshi
"It's blue."
"Commander," Malcom said to Trip who was staring suspiciously at a mound of teal fruit sitting on his plate, "you really should try it. It's delicious."
"But it's blue," Trip insisted, as if that alone were reason enough to send it back to the kitchen.
"So are blueberries," Callie interjected, spooning a bite of the fruit into her mouth. "You eat those."
He shot her a dirty look, and she returned it with a smug smile. I hid a chuckle in my tea – or at least the Denobulan version of tea, a tad sweeter with a hint of fruity flavor. We arrived earlier that afternoon. There wasn't enough time to tour the city before the banquet.
The state dining hall was opulent, splashed with muted colors and gold trim. In many ways, it was similar to banquet rooms one might find on Earth. Several round tables had been scattered throughout the room and surrounded by high-backed chairs covered with a pale aqua fabric. The walls were a light taupe, and hung with tapestries swirled with shades of coral, aqua, and sand. Positioned on each table was a bright centerpiece of exotic, colorful plants and blooms.
I had a clear view of the head table where Captain Archer was in an animated conversation with Phlox's wife, Reesa. When the Denobulan woman leaned closer to the captain and rested a hand on his arm, I caught the lift of Callie's brow out of the corner of my eye. "Isn't that Phlox's wife?" she asked.
"Yes," I replied, sipping my tea. "Reesa, I believe."
"And is she—?" the counselor continued.
"Flirting?" Malcolm asked. "I believe so."
Callie blinked, her dark eyes lingering on the head table. "With Phlox sitting right there?"
Travis leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "Denobulans seem to have a totally different set of rules when it comes to marriage than we do."
Malcolm chuckled. "Just ask Commander Tucker." He flashed Travis a conspiratorial grin.
"I turned her down!" Trip protested, still shoving blue fruit around his plate.
Callie's snapped her gaze back to Trip. "One of his wives propositioned you?" Mirth began to sparkle in her eyes.
He glared at her, though his mouth twitched as he struggled to hide his amusement. "Shut up and eat your blue goop."
"You too," she shot back. "Quit pushing it around your plate."
"It would be impolite not to sample it," T'Pol spoke up for the first time during the meal." She captured the commander's gaze as she scooped up a small piece of the fruit with her spoon and slipped it into her mouth.
Trip watched her, an unreadable expression in his eyes. He scooped up a bite of the fruit, staring at it as if he didn't trust it.
"It sort of tastes like mango, Commander," Travis interjected.
The spoon paused midway to Trip's mouth, and he shot Travis a disbelieving glance. "Sure it does," he responded dryly.
"So, Commander," I said, inserting myself into the conversation, "have you had any luck figuring out the ship we brought aboard?"
He offered me a small grateful smile for the change of subject. "I haven't even been able to get the damned thing open," he admitted. "Whatever it's made of is almost impossible to break. It took Malcolm and me three days to come up with something that could cut through the seal on the hatch."
"What are you using?" I asked, taking a bite of the fruit.
"A phase pistol, set to kill," Malcolm replied with a grin.
"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Travis asked.
Trip shrugged. "Probably. But nothing else worked. Even the phase pistol is slow-going. We have an armory officer and an engineer trading off every few hours, but I think it's still going to be a couple days."
"I wonder where it came from," Callie mused, taking a sip of her water.
"I've completed an extensive search of the Vulcan database," T'Pol offered. "I have not found anything that even remotely matches the description of the craft."
"The most confusing part," Malcolm spoke up, "is that the ship seems to be more advanced than anything we've ever seen, yet quantum dating puts it at a hundred years old."
"A mystery," I said. "An impenetrable, dark ship floats into our path—"
"An impenetrable, dark, creepy ship," Trip interjected. And after almost twenty minutes of pushing the fruit around his plate with a spoon, he lifted a bite to his mouth and chewed it thoughtfully. "Huh. Tastes like mango."
Callie snorted and grinned at Travis. "Do you hear an echo in here?"
I shushed them as a Denobulan dignitary approached a podium situated in the middle of the room. As soon as he opened his mouth, we discovered that in some regards, humans and Denobulans were similar. Over the next hour we were treated to a variety of speeches from various dignitaries and ambassadors, including our own Captain Archer. He looked uncomfortable with the task, but covered very well and said several nice things about our Doctor Phlox.
Just as Malcolm was beginning to fidget and Trip was struggling not to doze off, the podium was removed and several elaborately-dressed Denobulans filed into the room. The group contained equal number of females and males, and they formed two circles—one inside of the other—and faced each other.
Lilting music filled the room, and the two groups began to move. In and out of one another, the two circles weaved with swirl of color as they swished the capes attached to their shoulders. The smoldering looks the women offered their partners added a sensual note to the dance. But even with all of the movement and passing back and forth between one another, not once did they touch. No brush of a hand or shoulder, even by accident. It was mesmerizing. As the dance progressed, the intensity of the music increased as did the pace of the dancers. Faster and faster they moved; spinning and twirling, bobbing and weaving until the music reached a powerful crescendo and the dancers echoed with a beautiful pinnacle of the spectacular performance.
After the dance, we were treated to one more speech, and then we were dismissed. I rose and stretched, my muscles a bit stiff after sitting for so long. "Are the rest of you staying on the planet to do some sightseeing?" I asked.
Trip shook his head. "Nah. I'm not feelin' real sociable. Besides, I'd like to get back up to Enterprise and see how things are goin' with that ship."
"I believe I'll be heading back too," Malcolm echoed, and glanced around. "Denobulans are a bit too gregarious for my tastes."
T'Pol, too, expressed a desire to return to the ship. Travis and Callie discussed their plans to see the city. While the three of us were comparing notes on points of interest Phlox had mentioned to us, the captain strode over to join us.
"Are you sure the rest of you don't want to stay?" he asked when he heard of our plans. Trip, Malcolm, and T'Pol all shook their heads. He nodded in understanding, and then signaled across the room. "Travis, if you could take them back to Enterprise, I'd appreciate it. But first, at least stay to meet Phlox's family."
I turned with a smile as Phlox approached with several Denobulans in tow. "I trust you all enjoyed the evening's entertainment," he said with a wide smile. He gestured towards the group surrounding him. "I'd like you all to meet my family," Phlox continued. "These are my wives: you've met Feezal, and this is Reesa and Janar." He went on to introduce his wives' other husbands, and their children in a flurry of names and faces that seemed to blur by faster than I could keep up with. Included was a young girl who was intently examining a small electronic toy—his granddaughter, Anaya. She appeared to be about six years old.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," I greeted them in Denobulan, please to show off the results of Phlox's patient tutelage. They exchanged surprised glances, and then began peppering me with questions.
"It won't work!" Anaya burst out, glaring at her toy in frustration.
"Anaya," Feezal chided. "We can fix it later."
"But—" the child protested.
"Later," Phlox replied, his tone gentle but firm.
"Let me take a look at it," Trip's familiar drawl broke into the conversation. He knelt in front of Anaya and held out a hand. "If I can fix a broken warp engine, I'm pretty sure I can fix a toy."
Trip chatted with the small girl as he withdrew a tool from his pocket and began to make adjustments. After a few minutes of conversation, the Denobulans began to take their leave and Trip handed the toy back to Anaya.
"All fixed," he said with a grin. "Let me know if it breaks again."
Anaya smiled at him. "Thank you very much, Mr. Trip," she replied politely, and then scampered off after her grandmother and the rest of the family.
Trip turned away as the little girl left, but not before I caught the pain in his eyes. It hit me it hadn't been Anaya he had seen. In his mind, he was imagining a little girl who would never reach the age of six. Toys he would never repair. A life that barely had a chance to start before it ended.
His daughter, Elizabeth.
As he stood, his gaze caught T'Pol's and their shared pain seemed to radiate in waves between them. I had to turn away. I felt as though I was intruding on the private grief of parents who hardly had the chance to love their baby girl before she was taken away.
Callie
The first time it truly hit me I was light-years away from home was when I looked into the Denobulan sky and realized none of the stars looked the same. I had spent our first full day planetside visiting the Denobulan Medical Institute, meeting colleagues in the psychiatry department. They had been wonderful and gracious, and provided me with Denobulan psychiatric texts I planned to devour once I was back on Enterprise.
Once I finished dinner, I made my way back to the suite I shared with Hoshi, Travis, and the captain. It had two spacious, comfortable rooms attached on either side of a sitting room which opened onto a terrace. Decoration was Spartan, with only a few pieces of abstract art hanging on the walls. The colors of the rooms soothed me, they reminded me of Florida – corals and aquas mixed with earth tones. The design of the rooms, however, was foreign. Where humans seemed to favor square or rectangular rooms with sharp corners, Denobulans prefer rounded shapes. The rooms were circular, smooth, and seamless. Even the doorways were round. Each bedroom contained two cozy beds, which made sleeping arrangements simple: Hoshi and I shared one while the captain and Travis bunked together in the other.
Tonight I was alone. The captain was having a late dinner with Phlox and his family, and Hoshi and Travis had gone out to explore the Denobulan nightlife. They'd invited me, but I'd begged off and returned to our rooms to relax after an exciting but taxing day. Tomorrow, I promised myself, I would forget about colleagues and work and spend the day exploring the city.
Phlox had told us the city was beginning to move into its warmer season, and during the day it was balmy with a warm breeze. The night, however, still held teasing reminders of the cold weather behind, and I grabbed a small blanket off of the back of a couch to wrap around my shoulders as I admired the view from the terrace.
The buildings seemed to climb endlessly into the sky. Population was pretty dense on Denobula, and space came at a premium. Since there was no room to expand out, they expanded upwards, creating skyscrapers that made those I'd seen on Earth seem tiny. The buildings shared the same curved design as our suite and were stacked together like the rounded pipes of an old organ reaching towards the sky. I smiled as I gazed up at them and thought about how much Liz would have enjoyed the architecture.
"What are you doing out here alone?" a familiar voice broke into my reverie.
I tightened the throw around me and glanced over my shoulder at Jon with a smile. "I was just enjoying the view. And having a bit of a holy-crap-I'm-on-an-alien-planet moment."
He laughed as he stepped over to stand next to me, folding his arms on the railing and leaning on them. "I'd tell you that you get used to it after a while, but I'd be lying. You never do."
"When I was a kid, my dad used to take my twin brother, Ari, and me into the back yard at night." A fond smile tugged on my lips. "We'd stretch out side-by-side on the ground and stare up at the sky. None of my other siblings were interested, but he made sure to teach Ari and me all of the constellations." I chuckled. "He used to say, 'shoot for the moon, and if you miss, then reach out and grab a star.'" I glanced up at Jon. "How fitting it's Ari and me who are serving on starships now."
"I guess you've decided you don't mind being on Enterprise?" Jon asked.
"I never said I didn't want to," I retorted. "I said it was a bad idea. Despite my professional misgivings, I'm enjoying myself."
He rested a hand on my back, turned me to the right and pointed up at the sky. "Do you see that blue star?" he asked, leaning towards me for a better angle.
To my dismay, warmth flooded through me and my cheeks flushed when he drew nearer. Damn. It had been six years since we had gone our separate ways and I still felt like a giddy schoolgirl whenever I was close to Jonathan Archer. "Yes," I replied slowly. "I see it."
"Right next to it is the most beautiful, untouched planet I've ever seen. We stopped there soon after we first launched." Jon stepped back and gave a short laugh. "Too bad the air was filled with a hallucinogen. Trip came pretty close to shooting T'Pol."
"Really?" I chuckled. "They didn't get off on a great foot, did they?"
"No." He laughed as he remembered. After a moment, he sobered. "Have you made any progress with Trip?"
I cast him a pointed look. "No. And pushing him kicking and screaming into my office isn't going to help."
He sighed, dropping his head. "I know, you're right. I'm worried about him and I want to help…" He trailed off.
"When he's ready, he'll open up," I said gently. "Give him time and space."
Silence hung between us, heavy with our mutual concern for Trip. "Is it hard working so closely with him?" Jon asked.
I blinked. "No," I replied, giving him a puzzled look. "Why would it be?"
He shrugged. "I just thought… You and Trip and, well, once upon a time." He shifted, uncomfortable.
I stared at him for several minutes before I understood what he meant. And when I did, I burst out laughing. "There hasn't been a 'Trip and me' in seventeen years," I said. "That ship sailed a long, long time ago."
"I just assumed," he murmured, flushing. "You two seem so close."
"We're friends," I replied, my tone firm. "I love Trip, and I always will. And I say that with every bit of feeling that I would say, 'I love Ari.' Or Alex, or Nick." I shrugged. "I love him, but I'm not in love with him."
He stared up at the stars for a long time as he seemed to digest this. I watched him, and then pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders as I, too, shifted my gaze to the sky.
"Do you remember why we broke up?" Jon asked, catching me completely by surprise.
"As I recall," I replied, "we were both at a point in our lives where we needed to focus on our careers." I turned to face him. "But you would know better than I would. It was your idea, not mine."
"You didn't protest," he countered.
"No, I didn't," I agreed. "You were gunning to be captain of the Enterprise. I knew if you got it and had to make a choice between me and her, I would lose. So why fight the inevitable?"
"I suppose it was inevitable…then."
I paused, twisting my head around to look at him. "What do you mean, 'then'?"
"Do you ever miss me?" he asked, leaning on the railing and gazing at me with small smile.
I opened my mouth to answer. It was on the tip of my tongue to say I did. Not a day went by that I didn't miss him, think about him, remember the feel of his arms or the taste of his lips. But damn it, he had been the one to walk away. So while my heart wanted to say yes, of course I've missed you, a little rebellious voice in my head refused to give him the satisfaction.
So I closed my mouth. I shifted my gaze to the moon, hanging huge over the impressive Denobulan capital city. I stood silent for several minutes and let him stew as I contemplated the safest answer.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't," I decided to say.
Jon reached out and laid his hands on my shoulders, turning me to face him. "Callie—" he began, but as soon as my name passed his lips he was cut off by the sound of Hoshi's voice calling through the suite.
"Captain!"
He pulled back like a teenager who'd been caught making out behind the school gymnasium. "Out here, Hoshi," he called back.
If she noticed his flushed cheeks when she stuck her head out the door, she didn't say so. "Captain, Commander T'Pol has been trying to reach you."
A chagrined look crossed Jon's face as he slid his hands over his pockets. "I must have left my communicator at Phlox's house earlier. What's going on?"
It was then I noticed Hoshi's pale face. Travis appeared behind her with a stricken expression of his own. "We need to return to the Enterprise," she said. "Crewmen Summerfield and Rostov were working on the alien craft, and there was some sort of accident." She paused, eyes wide. "Sir, Rostov is in sickbay. And Summerfield." Hoshi swallowed hard. "Summerfield is dead."
The color drained from Jon's face and a wave of shock washed over me. Instinctively, I took his arm to steady him.
"Travis, get the shuttlepod ready to return to the ship," Jon ordered as he broke my grip on his arm and strode past Hoshi and Travis. "We're leaving in fifteen minutes. Now move."