CHAPTER TEN

After her shower, T'Pol felt revived. But she wasn't sure if it was the grime washing away or the knowledge that soon, Trip would be ringing her door bell.

She glanced around her room and suddenly felt grateful that the captain had been as generous as he had, forgiving her when she made mistakes and fouled. She was grateful now that the captain had pleaded all her cases, when she faced leaving Enterprise.

And all along, Trip had helped. Surely the captain would understand.

She had just finished buttoning her pajama top and wrapping her robe around her when someone rang the bell.

"Come in."

Trip entered, wearing a pair of rumpled pants and a blue shirt. T'Pol would have never admitted it, but she liked it the best. It made his brilliant blue eyes stand out.

"So," he said. "Finish that conversation, hmm?"

T'Pol nodded. She couldn't think of a better way to spend her evening than with him.

And at present, she began to speak.

On the alternate Enterprise, T'Pol had woken and surmised that he had hit her head on something. Lately she had been feeling clumsy, woozy, and now realized after reflecting on those terms that she had been married to Trip for too long.

She changed into night clothes but couldn't go to sleep. Something inside hurt – too much.

T'Pol selected another robe that wouldn't be considered as sensual. She went outside to the corridors and made her way to the turbolift, hoping that no one was inside.

Unfortunately, she noted in the first second as the door slid aside, someone was inside. Fortunately, it was Trip.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked as she stepped inside.

For the sake of listening ears, she said, "I'm not feeling well. I was just on my way to Sickbay."

"I'm on my way to Engineering. I'll walk you there."

"Your assistance is noted, Commander, but not needed."

Suddenly, she slipped to the floor of the turbolift.

Trip sunk down next to her. "Yeah, right. I'm helping you to Sickbay, whether you like it or not."

T'Pol nodded as he helped her back up.

The doors opened and they fortunately passed no one on their way to Sickbay. Inside, the female doctor, Dr. Coleman, looked at her. Besides Trip, she was the most sincere person on the ship.

"Commander Tucker. T'Pol. What seems to be the problem?"

"I believe that I've lost equilibrium."

"And she collapsed in the turbolift."

Coleman went over to get her medical scanner. Trip stood a reasonable distance away in case someone else came in. As she maneuvered it over T'Pol's torso and abdomen, her brown eyes widened. "This can't be."

Trip spoke first. "What?"

She shut her scanner, moved to put it away, and slowly approached. "I'm not sure how, but T'Pol, you're pregnant."

And then Trip exploded. "WHAT! How?"

T'Pol looked at him, not nearly as calm as she tried to be. "Calm down, Commander. The last time I visited Earth, a colleague of mine, a geneticist, was working on a way to combine Vulcan and human DNA. I volunteered to test the application, since I said I was not involved with anyone."

"But you can't hide this, T'Pol," Trip said groaning, moving closer. "The captain's gonna know that . . ."

Coleman raised her hand. "In case you two forgot, I'm the only one that knows."

"Sorry. But now the captain's gonna know that you're pregnant, and that one of the guys onboard is the father. And considering the stuff that Malcolm is working on, it won't take much for one of us to spill the beans."

"And if the captain gets wind of this," the doctor said.

"We're all dead," T'Pol interjected, "and so is our baby."