—Chapter 20—
Trip stood absolutely still, early the next morning by ship's time, as Phlox worked his laser scalpel over some of the nastiest of the scabs which covered his face. All of the small scabs had healed over, the medium sized sores were healing even now,and skin was growing back at an impressive rate, but an area of calloused tissue beneath his right cheekbone needed surgical attention to hear Phlox speak of it, and Trip knew better than to question the Denobulan in his own sphere.
"There," said Phlox some three minutes later, tossing a strip of skin that looked more like the hide of a warthog, than the skin of a man. "That should do it, Captain."
"I appreciate it, Doctor," said Trip, moving to touch the spot which Phlox had just worked on.
"No," said Phlox. "Don't touch it. Now, let me finish up here."
Another minute for Phlox to carefully apply an opaque bandage which went on wet, and dried quickly to a supple texture.
"That bandage will fall off on it's own in three or four days, Captain," said Phlox. "Don't pull on it until it starts peeling off on it's own."
"Got it," said Trip. "How's your research into the aging process going?"
"The files you've sent me are quite fascinating, Captain," said Phlox, "but I'm at least six months from beginning clinical trials. Nine months would be even more realistic."
"Take your time," said Trip. "I mean, that's what it's all about anyway, just know that as soon as you finish that I have even more exciting research for you to dig into."
"Looking forward to it," said Phlox.
"Breakfast?" said Trip. "Some of that French toast you like so much, with the caramelized bananas and the brandy & maple syrup?"
"Chef and I are on the outs currently," said Phlox, "due to the fact that I called him a baby. He wanted me to sedate him in order to remove an admittedly large splinter from his finger. But it was still a ridiculous request, which I denied, and he's cut me off the French toast as punishment."
"So I'll order it for me, and then we'll switch plates, Doctor," said Trip. "Now, what do you say?"
"I say yes, Captain," said Phlox, rubbing his hands together. "Let's go."
T'Pol woke at 7am, and found herself in captain Tucker's bed, alone. She grabbed hold of his pillow and buried her face in it for a bit, wishing that the man had possessed sense enough to still be here when she woke, for she was feeling a bit hot and bothered, even though she'd been well cared for the previous night. She briefly considered finding her own satisfaction, then decided against it: the fire would burn hotter this coming night, for not having been extinguished in the morning. She showered, dressed and made her way to the turbo-lift, en route for the Mess Hall, and ran into Crewman Ivers waiting on the lift as well.
"Good morning, T'Pol," said Ivers, and T'Pol nodded back to the crewman, her senses suddenly alert.
Crewman Sandra Ivers was a prize, with a great smile, pretty blue eyes, a lovely face and a great figure, all packed into her five foot, eight inch frame, all of which drew the attention, or jealousy, of much of the crew, but what really drew T'Pol's attention this morning was Ivers' scent. To Humans, who were nearly nose-blind compared to the Vulcans, who could read entire volumes in another's scent, Ivers' scent told a short story this morning: the musky scent spoke of aggression, the spiky, hot scent, told of an adrenalin rush, and the sickly-sweet scent spoke of murderous intent, and all together, they put T'Pol on edge, though not a trace of it showed on her face, which befit a former V'Shar operative.
"After you," said Ivers, when the turbo-lift door's opened, and T'Pol stepped through it quickly: whatever Ivers had in mind, better deal with it now, thought T'Pol, if it concerned her.
"So, are we dropping you off on Vulcan, T'Pol," said Ivers, "or do you continue with us?"
"I am a member of the Defiant's crew," said T'Pol. "I go with the ship."
"I see," said Ivers, fiddling with her uniform, which fit her curves quite well so far as T'Pol could see.
But then, Ivers swung her hand around with a stun gun in her fist, and aimed it for T'Pol's stomach. T'Pol was ready. She grabbed hold of Ivers' extended arm, with her own right hand, and easily twisted it clockwise given her strength advantage over the Human female. She unbalanced Ivers, and then immobilized her.
"Why?" said T'Pol.
"The female portion of the crew believes that Captain Tucker's star is rising," said Ivers through the pain, "and naturally, we all desire his favor. You are an obstacle to our aims. I took my shot and I lost T'Pol. You'll have no more trouble with me."
"That is true," said T'Pol, then applied a Vulcan nerve pinch, and Ivers went limp.
T'Pol allowed the Human to slip to the ground, then activated the turbo-lift's Comm console.
"T'Pol to Bridge."
"Yes, T'Pol," said Shran.
"Crewman Ivers attempted to use a stun gun on me just now," said T'Pol, "after which I suspect she intended to dump my body down a Jeffrey's tube."
"Where are you?" said Shran.
"Deck E, turbo-lift 2," said T'Pol.
"Remain there until a security team comes by to collect Ivers," said Shran.
"Yes, XO," said T'Pol, and minutes later two security men showed up and took charge of Ivers.
"Agony Booth?" said T'Pol, wondering what Shran had decreed as punishment for Ivers.
"Eight hours straight," said the Security officer.
T'Pol raised brow at that. That was a harsh sentence for a Human female, and could conceivably induce a heart attack in the young woman, although T'Pol wasn't about to shed any tears for Ivers. She had other matters with which to concern herself, and after a light breakfast, T'Pol made her way to the Bridge, where she found Shran holding the captain's chair, as the captain was locked in a private video conference call with the Zhael from his Ready Room.
A plus for this day though was the fact that a dozen Andorian rebel battlecruisers had thrown their lot in with the Defiant sometime during night watch, as soon as they drew close to view the Andorian fleet, and saw that the Zhael himself was part of this fleet.
The Empress Sato was in a shuttle now, accompanied by Commander Mayweather and Admiral Gardner, and she was focused now that the wait for Captain Tucker to make his move was over. Scouts had reported that the Defiant was en route to Earth now, accompanied by an Andorian fleet of some worth, but that made no difference to the Empress for she'd made her peace with the situation facing her, and she frankly found it far preferable to risk death in order to hold power, than run, and live her life out on some backwater planet as a relative nobody. As befit a true Empress, she would risk death with her fleet in battle, rather than wait safely on the planet below until someone or other came to notify her of her fate.
"We've rushed the Valley Forge out of space dock, Majesty," said Admiral Gardner, "so she's a bit short on finish and comfort, but she's in fighting shape, and she's the best we have."
The Empress waved Gardner's comment on finish and comfort as irrelevant, and the admiral was pleased by the Empress' mindset.
Far to the east, a RECON squadron of six cloaked Romulan ships drew close to Eridon-4, the furthest Human outpost from Earth, some five days past the colony on Alpha Centauri. Eridon-4 boasted a small shipyard, a StarFleet listening post, and some eight hundred military families on the planet below. Eridon-4's entire job here was to serve as a first warning line against aggressive action from the Romulan Empire, and perhaps in time it would indeed have been effective enough to be perform such a function, but for now it was completely surprised and overwhelmed when the RECON force closed in and opened fire on the men and women of Eridon-4. Firing their weapons dispelled the Romulan cloaks, but at that point, such things were irrelevant.
One Romulan ship lobbed an atomic weapon onto the planetary base which housed the families of the men and women working here, as well as most of the important facilities, and the all-essential command and communications structures. At the same time the other five Romulan ships took out the shipyard, and the four small destroyers which served mostly as a patrol force meant to deter Orion ships from the system.
One of the destroyers actually managed to get out a quick-burst compressed distress call out in the general direction of Alpha Centauri, but there was no guarantee that anyone would intercept the transmission, given that it was just roughly aimed a mere split second before the ship was destroyed.
Some thirty minutes after the destruction of Eridon-4, the combined Romulan/Klingon fleet passed the still smoking base at high warp speed, not that anyone aboard those ships noticed Eridon-4, nor would they have cared for the loss of Human life.
Both the Defiant and the Andorian fleet dropped out of warp for a bit, so that Captain Tucker might lunch with the Zhael, in order to show his trust in the Andorian, and after a few subtle tests the captain found that his bracelet worked just as well on Andorian technology, which was quite satisfying. Even better was finding that the Zhael had no treachery in store for Captain Tucker while the man was in his power, but then that was not surprising. A man who took the word Honor's Heart as his own, would not sully such a title with deceit. Three hours later, Trip returned to the Defiant and the fleet resumed warp speed for Earth, while Trip occupied himself with ship's business until Shran reached out to him.
"XO to the Captain."
"Yes, Shran," said Trip, speaking into one of Engineering's Comm consoles.
"Make your way to the Bridge if you're free, Captain," said Shran.
"On my way," said Trip.
Minutes later Trip made the Bridge and Shran slipped from the captain's chair to make room for Captain Tucker. Trip sat and noted the the tactical view of the sensor feed displayed fifty-five small red triangles on the Bridge monitor, as these ships, on an interception course, were too far out for the Defiant to get an optical view of that fleet.
"Vulcan energy signatures," said Shran. "We should notify the Zhael. Andorian sensors won't pick up that fleet up for another two hours or so."
"Do it," said Trip, and Shran stepped up to the Comm station and spoke briefly to a Bridge officer aboard the Tulludon, the Zhael's ship, then came back to the captain's side. "I'll be in the Weapons Bay, XO."
"All right," said Shran.
Trip spent the next five hours in Tactical working with Lt-Commander Reed to solve a few technical issues, until Shran called him back to the Bridge, and this time the Bridge's video monitor showed an optical composite of a Vulcan fleet approaching them all at their best speed.
"ETA?" said Trip.
"Seventeen minutes," said Shran, and the entire fleet waited for the two fleets to intercept each other.
"Tactical?" said Trip.
"Their shields are off line, as are their weapons," said Lee, who was manning the Tactical station.
That in itself was not surprising to Trip. Vulcans liked to straddle fences 'till the last minute, and open warfare had not yet broken up between the Empress Sato's forces, and his own. That fact in itself made the appearance of this Vulcan fleet suspicious. Their expected actions in this case should have been to stall for time and avoid any entanglements until a victor emerged, and then pledge eternal loyalty to the new head of the Terran Empire.
The Vulcans dropped out of warp first, and the Andorians followed their lead, dropping from warp and moving to gain tactical advantage without the need for orders, enveloping the Vulcan fleet in a new moon, crescent formation, in three dimensions, with some Andorian battlecruisers above, as well as below the Vulcans.
"We are being hailed, Captain," said the Defiant's Comm officer.
"Put it through," said Trip, "and share our comm stream with the Tulludon."
A moment later, the image of the Vulcan Admiral Tosek, transmitting from the Bridge of his flagship, the Mott-Kryak, a Suurok battlecruiser. Shran recognized the Vulcan, and whispered in the captain's ear.
"Captain Tucker," said Tosek, "I am Admiral Tosek."
Trip gave the Vulcan a brief nod, and said, "Your fame proceeds you, Admiral. How may I be of service to you?"
"We wish to join your fleet, Captain Tucker," said Tosek, "and support your bid for the crown."
"Really?" said Trip. "This is a bit early for Vulcans to take a stand, no?"
"Soval was quite persuasive in advocating his support of you," said Tosek, "and he made it clear that waiting until the last minute to show our support would mean nothing in your eyes, Captain Tucker."
Trip thought furiously. A fleet of fifty-five ships was nothing to casually dismiss, and it would bring his overall numbers to 138 ships versus the Empress' 200+ ships, but Trip still wasn't sure he wanted any ties with Vulcan when he took the crown.
"And what does the High Command expect in return for your participation in the upcoming battle for the crown?" said Trip.
"Nothing but fair treatment under your rule," said Tosek, having been warned not to try extracting any more than that from Captain Tucker.
"All right. I'll give you a chance to prove your loyalty, Admiral. Fall in on the right flank," said Trip, "and prepare to go to warp."
"Yes, Captain," said Tosek, and the video screen went black.
"Pull up the Zhael," said Trip, and the Comm officer quickly complied.
"You've heard everything, Zhael?"
"I did," said the Zhael. "You did well to accept their support. The Vulcans fight well enough when they finally get down to business."
"Take command of the fleet in my absence, Zhael," said Trip. "You and the Vulcans will set course for Earth at best speed, while the Defiant goes ahead and scouts the way. I will notify the Vulcans that they are to follow your orders until I return. I know I don't have to warn you to keep an eye on them, although they'd be stupid to pledge loyalty and then betray me: such betrayal would demand I make an example of Vulcan so that others will not mistake me for a fool in the future, and I think they know that."
The Zhael nodded his agreement with Captain Tucker's logic, and a few minutes later the Defiant shot ahead, while the fleet followed behind the Defiant at best speed.