7. Fashion Statement
Update (June 2010): re-upload with minor cosmetic changes and corrections
X X X
"But she was so cute. I'll never forget that cute lil' face of 'er," Trip said in between sobs. He was crying hard.
"Outward appearance should not influence the value of a living being," T'Pol lectured with tears of her own running down her cheeks.
"You don' get it darlin'. Every parent thinks their child is cute. It's sort of a human reflex." Trip explained.
As soon as they had started their meditation, T'Pol had steered the conversation to a talk about Elizabeth. They had been discussing her and the upcoming funeral for over an hour now - both needed their emotions about the loss to be dealt with and doing it in their meditative mind was the most effective way. Less than 24 hours remained until the taxing task of burying their unlikely offspring.
"I hope I can hold out long enough tomorrow. I've got now problem cryin' in here, but I'd like to keep it to myself tomorrow. Don' wanna embarrass you or myself," Trip sobbed.
"You cannot embarrass me Trip. It is an honor for me to be your mate." she said softly and emphasized her words with a kiss.
"I love ya too darlin'" he returned, knowing that he'd probably never hear those exact words from her. He did know however, that this was, what her stilted vulcanese speak was trying to express.
"I was meaning to ask, Ashayam, why are you so willing to practice meditation? It must be most taxing to you."
"Well, sorta difficult to explain. In here you can cry and you can smile. Did you know that you look unbelievably gorgeous, when you smile? It's absolutely breathtaking."
"My expressing emotions is motivating you?"
"Yeah, I know you can't show it usually, but in here you do. This meditation thing is when I can look behind the stoic face o' yours."
"Would you prefer if I showed my emotions publicly?"
"No darlin'. Your species prohibits that. I don' wanna change your nature. Be the one you always were. In here I can see your emotions. I'm happy with that."
"Charles Tucker III," she announced. "You are more honorable than any person I know," she said with a breaking voice and kissed him with the white hot passion of a dozen suns.
X X X
"Wow, that's harder than I thought. How you do that for hours every day is beyond me," Trip winced after they broke their meditation. He sat on the meditation cushion, rubbing his sore legs.
"You are progressing well. The last session spanned 90 minutes already. A most commendable achievement for the first day," she praised. "Please disrobe and lie down on the bed. I will tend to your strained muscles."
"Disrobe, uh..." he chuckled and undressed before laying down on his front.
T'Pol had changed into her blue nighties,that he knew from their neuropressure sessions when she returned from the bathroom with a tube of gel. Squirting some of it on his legs, she started to rub it in while gently massaging his legs.
"Did the meditation have any impact on your mind?" she asked.
"Well, besides the fun of kissing you in that white room, I also feel quite relaxed, considering that some guy tried to fuck me up completely just a day ago."
"I would prefer, if you left out some of the more... colorful metaphors." she scolded lightly, "So I understand that you are more at ease?"
"I feel a whole lot better than a few hours ago, sorta more strong and collected. I cried like a child in there and it's not visible at all."
"Then the meditation was most successful. As the ceremony does not start until 1000, we should consider a meditation session in the morning for added strength." she proposed.
"I'm game. I can use any help I can get tomorrow." he said.
Slowly she continued the massage, including his behind in it, even though that wasn't exactly sore. Suddenly his whispered grunts of pleasure subsided and gave way to a calm steady breathing, as he had drifted to sleep. She removed her pajamas and crawled up to him equally naked and pulled the blanket over their entangled bodies.
Unlike the night before, Trip had slept like a log. Sensing the distinctive sensation of a naked Vulcan breast pressing into his back, he sighed slightly, taking in the sweet sensation of that very special touch. T'Pol awoke by a sudden wave of contentment and pleasure washing over her through the bond.
"It seems most pleasurable for you to sleep in that state of undress," she analyzed with a hint of teasing.
"Morning darlin'. Hell yeah, that's one way to wake up. You know, how important it is for me to feel your touch, and the touch of such delicious parts of you is, well it's the icing on the cake."
"I find it most difficult to understand that you refer to me or parts of me in food terms. I find the thought of being a food source very disagreeable."
Trip laughed. "Don' worry, darlin'. I'm not going to eat you, well not that way at least." he smirked. "When I talk about delicious, like here," he said, gently brushing her left breast, "then that means it's especially nice to look at or touch. And icing on the cake means, the best of the good. Its nice to feel ya hands on ma back, but feeling those on me, that is a whole lot nicer even. That understandable?"
"I believe I understand. So how many ...'delicious parts' do I possess?"
"I'll show you some day, just not today," he sniggered at her almost childlike cluelessness. "Best we get cracking at that meditation business."
"I am most impressed by your willingness to learn."
"Trust me darlin', I need all help I can get today."
X X X
"Archer to T'Pol."
"T'Pol here."
"Please come to the briefing room. It won't be long and please bring Trip with you." Archer added, exactly knowing where his chief engineer would be.
"On our way, Captain. T'Pol out."
X X X
"Morning," Trip drawled, as he and T'Pol, both in civilian clothing, entered the briefing room. As always, he helped her into her seat before taking his.
"T'Pol, did you do all this by meditation?" Archer asked in disbelief.
"What do you mean?"
"Yesterday his face was white as a wall and he looked like death warmed over, and now that?"
"The commander surprised me by a most unexpected patience in his practice, we progressed far more than planned."
Shaking his head Archer addressed the officers.
"I have a lot of news. First the bad news. The Commanders Tucker and T'Pol will leave Enterprise when we get to Vulcan. Both of them are currently relieved from assignment but retain their ranks and report to Admiral Gardner personally."
After the initial shock had subsided, Archer continued.
"This change is the result of a decision made by the Commanders and they both think that they would not be returning to Enterprise anyway, so they decided to get out on their own terms, rather than being booted off. I understand however that they may return at some point in the future, although we're probably talking a year or more."
"Bloody Hell!" came Malcolm's trademark return.
"Well, just so you guys get it right," Trip interjected. "We're not jumping ship just like that. The Vulcans will try to nail T'Pol's ass in that hearing. I've devised a way out, but even if it works, we'll have to get off the radar, so the Vulcans get back in line and stop threatening to leave the coalition. They only wanna make sure that T'Pol an' I aren't a pair. Elizabeth has been giving some of them a bad head ache. They have some damn xenophobes in that High Council, ya saw one of them yourselves."
"Do you think you can hold your own against that bloke this time?" Malcolm inquired with a bit of worry.
"Well if T'Pol's meditation mojo is going to help like it did yesterday, I'll probably be more calm than that guy." Trip chuckled.
"Well best of luck to you, we'll sure miss you," Travis sighed.
"Now for the other News." Archer took over. "I have your substitutions. Trip, I couldn't go with your proposal. Anna has not even half of the mandatory years of experience; Gardner turned me down flat. But you'll like his candidate. He's Vulcan. Actually he's Starfleet's second alien commission after T'Pol. His name is Kov."
"No idea how he ended up in Starfleet, but I'm sure as hell happy to hand him the keys. He's a great guy." Trip grinned.
"Isn't that one of those Vulcans we met in our first year?" Malcolm asked.
"Yeah, a Vulcan with a knack for emotions and one helluva engineer." Trip beamed.
"Well, then now for the big one." Archer smiled, "We also get the 3rd ever alien in Starfleet. He'll be our new first officer."
"Another from the Vulcans?" Hoshi asked.
"No. Andorian." Archer replied to much amazement, "It's one Commander... Shran."
"I'll be damned!" Trip chuckled, "How the hell did ya pull that one off?"
"Actually, the Andorians wanted to make him a General. Shran was having none of that. He resigned, rather than having a desk job. I helped him signing up with Starfleet. He'll have to put in some months as First Officer to get used to Starfleet's way of doing things, but as soon as Challenger is completed they'll plop him down in the captains chair, right away," Archer summarized.
"A very wise choice captain, I am honored to be replaced by a man of such profile." T'Pol approved sincerely.
"But still, I want you two back as soon as possible." Archer said, "Now, get out everybody and prepare for the ceremony."
"Actually, Cap'n can we have a word with you?" Trip turned to him after the others had left.
"Sure."
"We would like to ask to use Shuttlepod 2. We know you guys all get down there in Shuttlepod 1, but we would like to wait till the last possible minute, so we don't have to hang around and be cornered by all them media jerks or any Vulcans who might want to fuck up our minds."
"Trip, your language." T'Pol scolded, slipping up in front of the Captain again.
"Sorry. Anyways, we just don't wanna hang around for people to gawk at us."
"It's ok, Trip. I'll inform Admiral Gardner. He owes you one anyway. He'll stay away from the crew today, and he promised me to explain everything when you come back from Vulcan. He's truly sorry, but V'Lon had him tied up."
"It's ok, Cap'n, thanks." Trip said and he left with T'Pol, not realizing that they were holding hands like teenagers.
"Just friends my ass," Archer whispered with a smile when they were gone.
X X X
"Captain Archer, Commander Shran, reporting for duty."
"So Gardner swore you in?"
"Yes. My profile met his expectations, so we went through with the formalities. Good of them to give me a black uniform. Blue wouldn't have fit somehow."
"I see your point, Shran. We'll stand over there, let's go."
As Archer and Shran moved to their designated position, they were approached by Ambassador Soval.
"Captain Archer." Soval opened stoically.
"Ambassador."
"I can not see Elizabeth's parents."
"They'll arrive last minute. Both are trying to minimize the time they're down here because of all the media types and obviously they are not too eager to meet you folks as well."
"What do you mean?"
"Commander Tucker, especially, wants to stay away from Vulcans as far as possible, after one of them tried to mess him up two days ago. And as you may know, humans are vulnerable to emotions at a funeral, especially when they bury their own child. He doesn't want to be a convenient target again." Archer explained angrily.
"I can understand that. Minister V'Lon's behavior was most dishonorable. To my regret, I could not prevent it. I do wish however to accompany you to Vulcan if that is possible."
"Why do you want that?"
"The Commanders will need a supportive voice when they are questioned by the High Council. Unlike last time, Minister V'Lon will not have any authority over myself, when I appear as a legal council to the commanders."
"I'll forward your offer to them, I can't promise however, that they will take you up on it."
"They asked for it themselves, Captain." Soval nodded and turned to leave for his designated position, while a low humming noise indicated the arrival of Shuttlepod 2.
After the shuttle had landed and was shut down by its two occupants, the assembled audience of invited dignitaries, media representatives and the assembled crew of Enterprise turned to witness the arrival of the ceremony's most important attendants. The ceremony was about to begin as soon as the parents of the deceased Elizabeth T'Les Tucker would take their positions on the side of their former Captain, Jonathan Archer.
Vulcans do not gasp, but every collective eyebrow went north, when the petite frame of Commander T'Pol of Vulcan came into view, dressed in a long black human dress. She was followed by Commander Charles Tucker III clad in a traditional Vulcan robe. Both had decided to demonstrate the possibility of a Vulcan/human union by wearing the traditional attire of their respective counterpart, a point that was not lost on anyone.
"They don't do things the normal way, do they," Shran whispered in admiration.
"Not those two, no," Archer whispered back.
Hand in hand the parents of Elizabeth walked from their shuttle towards their places with the Enterprise crew.
"Never a dull moment with you two…" Archer whispered after they arrived.
"Agreed." T'Pol answered as the ceremony began.
Dor-tor etek nash-gad vokaya Elizabeth T'Les - ko-kan t'Charles heh t'T'Pol. Nam-tor ek'etek nelauk k'tevakh hi vesht tvidonik k'pen-ha'kiv t'oko-veh… Dor-tor etek nash-gad oko-veh - doran ko-kan - doran ko-kai - doran ko-bath - doran ko-kan-kan - doran ko-thrah. Noshau pen-ha'kiv t'oko-veh wuhkuh t'dan-fudaya eh t'dan-vam. dungi i'stariben mekhu - zahalan k'fan-vath-kanlar t'au s'keshtan-zek - kuv aitlu au fan-vel hau
Tiral, the resident priest of the Vulcan Embassy, a pupil of Vulcan's High Priest Torok, spoke the Vulcan rites. The parents of Elizabeth T'Les Tucker had requested a joint Vulcan and human ceremony. Since the child symbolized the union of a Vulcan with a human, they had asked to merge Vulcan with human customs during the ceremony.
"Today we honor the memory of Elizabeth T'Les, child of Charles and T'Pol. We are all diminished by her death but we were enriched by her short life...," Hoshi translated with tears in her eyes. Malcolm had taken her hand, when emotions started to overcome the petite communications officer. "Today we honor her: We honor the daughter, the friend. Her brief life is one to be held in the highest regard and esteem. The parents will now speak, followed by any other children, in birth order, if they want to add anything."
T'Pol could not speak. Her nostrils were flaring, a telltale sign of being near loss of emotional control. Unexpectedly, the emotional father of the child was the one to address the assembled crowd, a fact that most profoundly confused the Vulcan contingent. Trip had not prepared a speech, but in the last moment he decided to give the xenophobes on both worlds something to think about.
"My friends, we bury today the first child of a Human and a Vulcan," Trip started with a stunning absence of any drawl. "Elizabeth T'Les was created in an ill-mannered attempt to prove that Vulcans and humans do not fit together. The people, who committed this heinous crime, were too blinded by their own hatred to see the truth. When our mission started, four years ago, I was as skeptical of Vulcans as any other person on the ship. Now, one of them is standing beside me. And she's not any Vulcan. She's my mate. I do not care, who understands it and who doesn't. T'Pol and I are one and no one in this universe has the power to separate us." he finished with a breaking voice.
T'Pol was trembling from the overpowering onslaught of emotions that the ceremony and her mate's public declaration of love cast upon her. According to human traditions she bowed down, took a handful of sand and threw it on the little white coffin that had been lowered into the ground in front of them.
Hoshi threw her arms around Malcolm and started to cry in earnest. Malcolm, who had been moved to tears himself, gently embraced the trembling Ensign and tried to console her.
"We love ya, Elizabeth," Trip whispered as a single red rose released from his hand fell into her grave. "We'll never forget you, sweetheart."
X X X
"That wasn't merely a fashion statement." Gardner half asked, half stated after the ceremony had ended.
"Sure not." Archer answered. "By now even the Vulcan contingent should know that you don't tangle with these two. They are going to put up fight."
"The Vulcan contingent does know, Captain," Soval interjected from behind. "Unfortunately Minister V'Lon will take that as just another reason to target them," the Ambassador continued. "I had the chance to speak shortly to the Commanders before their rapid departure."
"They probably can use any help, they can get," Gardner answered, "Enterprise will take you to Vulcan if you wish, Ambassador."
"I do. Captain, if it is acceptable for you I wish to board your ship tomorrow 1000 in the morning. I need time to confer with the Commanders."
"Fine with me Ambassador, we'll see you there." Archer nodded as the three went their ways.
