21. Unexpected
I'm again borrowing a concept from someone else in this chapter. I've seen the idea of Amanda Cole working as a field-nurse in sickbay in someone else's story before, but I cannot remember which one of the thousands I read it was. If it was your idea, please contact me, so I can give proper credits where they're due.
The automated alarm went off in the still make-shift sickbay of Salem One and it took Phlox a moment to realize what it actually meant. One of Lieutenant Sato's changes and improvements to the stations communication and computer systems was to couple any critical alarms on the station to the systems in sickbay. Since the station was destined to become a repair facility and with the inherent dangers of engineering, it had been decided that any critical alarms in one of the workshops or any other engineering sections would automatically summon a medical team.
"Section C17, that's the cargo ship," Amanda said calmly and took one of the stretchers from the wall, which had been tied there for exactly such purposes.
Phlox fetched his med-kit from the office and hurried after Amanda and two other medical assistants. Not for the first time he felt a great gratitude that Amanda Cole was a trained MACO field medic. She hadn't really be used in that capacity – after all she had been promoted to the commanding officer of Enterprise's MACO detachment – but lacking any other tasks, she had handed over command of the soldiers to her XO and had recently taken to helping Phlox with the numerous injured people in the aftermath of the battle.
Phlox felt a certain sadness about the fact that she would return to her primary job when Enterprise would ship out again. Never since Liz Cutler had he had such an adept assistant.
=/\=
Trip could acutely feel how the water engulfed his head. Trying to gasp for air, he took a big swig of water instead and a violent coughing set in as the liquid went down the wrong pipe. Willing himself to keep calm, he furiously splashed around in the water with his feet in a bid to return to the surface, against the weight that was dragging him toward the ground.
After a few more seconds he felt a violent tug and returned to the surface. With a big gasp, he felt air rushing back into his lungs. He looked into Amanda Cole's face, who had dragged him out of the water with grim determination.
The first thing he registered was that he was on the cold floor of Engineering and slowly the the receding panic made room for his short-time memories. As soon as the life support systems had cleared the air of most of the toxic coolant the emergency bulkheads had been opened again. He hand not waited for them to open fully, but rather dove back in.
=/\=
By the time Phlox made it to Engineering on the old UEC ship, his medics and Travis and Paul Maywheather in tow, the bulkheads were fully open, but instead of rushing back in, the engineers were lining the walls left and right – effectively creating an access lane for Phlox and his medics.
While still wondering why especially the Vulcan engineers looked uncharacteristically unsettled, Phlox stopped dead in his tracks. What he saw shook him no less than the Vulcans. Commander Tucker, wearing a dirty and torn uniform knelt beside a Vulcan, who lay flat on his back and to Phlox's shock Commander Tucker seemed to be attempting a mind-meld. If he did, it wasn't overly successful, Phlox realized. The Chief was struggling, gasping for air and coughing violently.
Without a second thought, Phlox raced to the scene and yanked Commander Tucker back by the collar. With a loud thud the human landed on the cold floor.
Quickly hovering his scanner over him, Phlox realized that the Vulcan was deeply unconscious and his life probably hung by a string, but he was still alive. If that would be because or despite whatever Commander Tucker had attempted to do was still to be decided.
Signalling his team to stretcher away the Vulcan to sickbay, Phlox turned toward Commander Tucker, who was staring at him, clutching his neck, which confused Phlox as a quick scan revealed that Commander Tucker had no respiratory problems whatsoever. In fact except for some minor, rather unusual skin burns the Commander seemed remarkably uninjured. That certainly was not a common occurrence. Whenever something went wrong in Engineering, Commander Tucker had an unnerving talent to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Why did you attempt a mind meld?" Phlox asked sternly.
"No..., no mind meld," the human still struggled as if he had been choked. "Not telepathic enough."
"So what were you doing?" Phlox asked and waited for Commander Tucker to get his breathing under control.
"I tried to see if his mind is still working," he explained. "I think he put himself in a trance to save on oxygen, but he's having a bad time. Get one of the priests to him on the double!"
"Let me decide that," Phlox began, but to his shock Commander Tucker grabbed him by the collar.
"NOW!" the human demanded and Phlox realized that the angrily flaring nostrils of the human meant that he was not open to negotiation.
"I will summon the priest," a voice from the side said and when the Engineer seemed to recognize it, he thankfully let go of Phlox's collar.
Phlox took a step back.
"I believe you should accompany me to sickbay, Commander."
Surprisingly enough the Commander acquiesced without a word.
=/\=
When the door to sickbay opened and the doctor entered with a badly disheveled Commander Tucker in tow, T'Len was still watching the elder, who was performing a healing meld on Terval. The scene was watched by herself and the human woman, who had helped carrying him here.
All her life she had been told that humans were considerably weaker than Vulcans and that female humans were yet weaker than their males, but when she had taken one end of the stretcher from a struggling young human male, she had found it quite challenging to keep up with the pace of the human female on the other end of the primitive carrying device.
Whether that considerable feat meant that the female was just an extra-ordinarily strong specimen of her species was difficult to decide, especially since her whole experience with the humans had been the last few days on the station. But another theory started to build in her mind. The human female hovered near the biobed and watched the scene visibly upset. It appeared that the female was inappropriately attracted to the Vulcan they had carried here. That would provide an alternative explanation for her sudden physical prowess.
She willed herself away from these thoughts – after all such interest in another beings attraction was inappropriate itself. She came to full consciousness just in time to notice Commander Tucker coming to a stop in front of her.
"Thank you, T'Len," he said and indicated towards the biobed and the already busy priest as an answer to her inquisitively raised eyebrow.
She answered the redundant expression of gratitude with a nod, but to her surprise she found that, strangely, such acknowledgement of her actions was not at all disagreeable.
"When this is over," she heard the Commander still addressing her. "I want you to come to my office. I think it is time we talk about your place on the engineering team."
"Did I not fulfill my duties adequately?"
"Adequately?" the human said. "You're one of the best, T'Len. I don't wanna kick you out. I want to increase your responsibilities. But more on that later. Phlox and his pets are waiting."
The human walked away and T'Len left sickbay to return to engineering. There was a coolant leak to investigate.
=/\=
Phlox dimmed the lights of sickbay and put the privacy screens back into place.
"I think you should go to rest now, Ms. Cole," he said softly. "I'm sure Terval would appreciate your company, but it doesn't help if you succumb to exhaustion."
Nodding, the woman stood up from the chair at Terval's side - very reluctantly.
"You like him a lot, don't you?" Phlox asked.
She only nodded and blushed slightly, which to Phlox was rather amusing.
"Commander Tucker would probably say 'this comes out of left field'," Phlox said and offered her a cup of tea from his office. "I believe that is a sporting reference of some kind."
"Thanks, yes it is," Amanda answered and took the offered cup and took a seat.
"I do not wish to hurt you, Master Sergeant, but you should keep in mind that Terval is most likely betrothed to a Vulcan female and only few Vulcans are really amendable to enter an interspecies relationship."
"He isn't betrothed," Amanda said. "He was married, but his mate died during the bombardment of the Forge."
Phlox gasped slightly. "He told you that?"
Amanda nodded again. "We've been working for days to investigate the sleepers. We spent several days together and for a Vulcan he was quite interested in humans and me in particular. That's when it hit me," she admitted, blushing.
"Ah that is why the Captain kept me waiting until I could finally welcome you to our ranks," Phlox said with a knowing smile.
"We talked a lot, really. He's of the same clan as Trip and wants to know more about humans."
"Sharing such a delicate detail as the death of his mate is quite an intimate gesture, coming from a Vulcan," Phlox said. "I of course cannot tell if Terval returns your affection, but he appears to be quite comfortable around you."
"I think it's more than that," a voice from the door said and Phlox saw Commander Tucker approaching.
"I'm sorry to barge in like that," he said. "But you didn't really notice that I entered a couple moments ago already."
"It's ok," Amanda said, but Phlox did not necessarily agree. He did not like someone to intrude in his talks with other crew members.
Commander Tucker took a seat and looked at Amanda.
"When I tried to reach his mind, I found myself drowning in the sea. If I would be able to meld properly, I would have known what's going on, but I only could pick up stray thoughts and emotions – whatever was resonating from his last conscious minutes. During my telepathy training I learned to transform Vulcan emotions and thought pattern to images. That could only mean he had put himself into the trance to save on oxygen when he came close to asphyxiation."
"That's why you had breathing problems," Phlox pointed out.
"Exactly," the Commander said. "The most amazing thing though was that I got rescued and it had nothing to do with you yanking me away Phlox."
"What happened?" Amanda asked and to Phlox it appeared as if she was most fascinated by that insight into the Vulcan's mind.
"You, dragged me out of the water, Amanda," Commander Tucker said. "His last conscious thought was about you and trust me for a Vulcan that means a tad more than just being 'comfortable' around you."
Phlox watched the face of Amanda Cole turn to a deep red colour. No other species gave away so much about their emotions by changing the colour of their skin.
"In fact, I think we should try something," Commander Tucker said and stood up to walk over to the biobed, indicating Phlox and Amanda to follow.
"What do you have in mind?" Phlox asked and grabbed a scanner.
"That," he answered and pointed at the device in Phlox's hand. "Have his vital signs increased since T'Pol and I were in here this afternoon?"
"No," Phlox said sadly. "In fact his heart stopped two times. But with Ms. Cole always at his side we could at least react very soon. It will also take days to get all the toxins out of his blood."
"Now Amanda, take his hand," the Commander instructed and Phlox had to fight another monstrous smile about the enthusiasm with which she followed that order.
To Phlox's surprise she didn't merely grab the Vulcan's hand. She took it and put it on her cheek with a tenderness that Phlox thought was in stark contrast to the image of the battle-hardened MACO. He was sure that this was what she had wanted to do all day, but hadn't dared to, knowing that Vulcans were adverse to uninvited contact.
"Check the vitals, doc," Commander Tucker instructed.
"Fascinating," Phlox mused, double-checking his data. "It's not a drastic improvement, but his heart beat becomes more regular than any time he has been here. Why did you not tell me before?"
"Because I was too thick to make the connection. T'Pol worked out, what that scene with Amanda dragging me out of the water meant. His mind is not exactly working on all thrusters right now, but once he'll recognize Amanda the impact will be more pronounced."
"Then it is fortunate that Ms. Cole seems to relish this task," Phlox said in a low voice, watching the female gently tending to the Vulcan's hand.
"Help me with the biobed, Phlox?"
"I believe I know what you have in mind," Phlox huffed as he helped the Commander in positioning a second biobed right next to Terval's.
"King size biobed, ma'am," Commander Tucker announced. "The honeymoon suite is all yours."
"You're something else Trip," Amanda said and Phlox watched the short hug of the two humans with a broad smile.
"Jus' tak'n care 'o cousin Terv," the Commander said in what sounded like a deliberately exaggerated form of the Commanders native dialect.
Phlox put the privacy screen around the two biobeds, while Commander Tucker took his leave with a silent gesture of his hand.
Just as the human had done when he left, Phlox wore a big smile.
=/\=
Trip was sitting in his office, wading through the report that T'Len had produced in painstakingly complex detail. According to T'Len's investigation the Horizon had been running with too much coolant, but that problem was never detected, because – unbelievably – the old engines had never been taken completely offline for over six years.
Unfortunately the engines had finally given out and the pressure, building up over days, had finally ruptured one of the pipes. What he found even more unsettling were the calculations of how much coolant had escaped. The sheer amount of it would have killed him almost instantly, had Terval not – literally – decided to throw him out.
His thoughts were interrupted by the door chime. It couldn't be one of his engineers as they all knew that this was unnecessary if the unlocked indicator flashed on his door.
"Come," he said and to his surprise it was Captain Savok.
"Commander Tucker, I wish to speak with you."
"Have a seat Captain. What can I do for you?"
"It has come to my knowledge that you have appointed T'Len as the head of our engineering team. While Vulcans consider it illogical to appoint such a junior officer to such a position, I have come to realize that humans often think about options we do not see. I wished to inquire about the reason."
Trip smiled. Of all the Vulcans currently at the station, Savok was probably most interested in how the humans went about things. Ok, there was Terval, too, but his interest was more of a personal nature.
"I thought you'd wonder about that," Trip said. "Bear with me as I tell you a longer story."
The Vulcan raised an interested eyebrow.
"During the Vulcan crisis, after the bombing of the Embassy, we had Ambassador Soval on board. Since the Captain and T'Pol were down on the surface, I was ranking officer. I asked him, how a numbnut like V'Las could have been elected. He said that Vulcan society works based on merit, that V'Las had been appointed, because he had shown a talent for governing."
"Unfortunately his talent for subterfuge went unnoticed," Savok replied dryly.
"That, too," Trip agreed with a smile. "But that's where my decision was based on. She might be young, but T'Len has a talent for leading. That's why I made her the head of your engineering group. While we're at it. I never came round to thank you for appointing them to the station. They're a big help."
"It was the logical thing to do," Savok said. "I am however surprised about your assessment of T'Len. In fact my chief engineer often finds her work less than agreeable."
"Let me guess. He's not fond of her knack for doing things herself without asking beforehand."
"Her predilection for self-appointment is his most common grievance," Savok agreed.
"See, that's why she's so brilliant," Trip said with a satisfied smile. "Your engineers are all brilliant, but they wouldn't see the work if it pleasured them in the back of a shuttle pod."
Savok raised an eyebrow. "I do not understand."
"Look, your engineers can do just about everything and usually faster than any of my own engineers. But you have to tell them. Once they finished a task, they show up in here asking for a new one."
"Let me give you an example," Trip continued. "Since we're still trying to get this engine up to specs, injectors running out of sync is more or less a daily occurrence. Two days ago Somon came in here reporting that injector two and four were out of sync. He even reported the percentage to three decimal positions. I ordered him to correct it and he did. Yesterday T'Len came in here, reported that three and four had been out of sync and that she has corrected the problem. See what I mean?"
"You appear to value autonomy," Savok said.
"That's what you need in engineering," Trip said. "It might be ok to only act when ordered in quite times like now, but if we have an emergency or a battle situation, I need engineers that don't need instructions on everything."
"Would that not be dangerous?" Savok asked. "Someone may misinterpret data or autonomously take on a task too complex for his skills."
"That's a danger that certainly exists," Trip agreed. "But that's what separates a good engineer from a brilliant one. A brilliant engineer knows his limits. T'Len certainly does. Seriously, appointing her as head of the crew is the easiest decision I've made lately. If you weren't an ally, I would have no qualms to poach her and offer her a place on my team."
"That may just as well be a possibility," Savok said. "I do understand your logic now, but unfortunately we are not a very adaptable species. What you obviously value in her work, will still be seen as disruptive on my ship. Maybe some of the more 'flexible' of our people are better suited to service in Starfleet."
"That's something I didn't expect to hear from a Vulcan," Trip said with amazement. "Not even Soval – and he's a clansman of mine."
"Many of us – to my shame, myself included – have so far seen humans as an inferior species," Savok admitted. "Only now we start to learn just how much we have been misinformed. All it would have taken was a look at our own world to see the extent of our folly."
"I'm afraid I can't follow you," Trip said.
"One of the main preconceptions that marred our perception of your species where your unrestrained emotions and your lack of inhibition to express them. We were taught that this is disgusting. But so, in our culture is the thought of consuming the flesh of animals. While we do not consume meat, we have no inhibitions to feed it to our domesticated sehlats."
"Well, them being predators it is only logical," Trip offered.
"That is the point, Commander. We know that sehlats need meat to survive, but we didn't acknowledge that humans need to express their emotions to survive. There is no logic to that oversight."
"Don't beat yourself up over it," Trip said with an encouraging smile. "If it makes you feel better, we've done some much more stupid stuff in the past – and we've overcome it."
Savok looked at him questioningly.
"Do you know our helmsman, Travis Maywheather or his brother, the captain of the freighter?"
"I do know Lieutenant Maywheather. One of my pilots has spent a considerable amount of time in exchange of information about flying techniques with him."
"See, three hundred years ago, Travis would have been a slave – considered an inferior being."
"Why?" Savok asked.
"His skin colour," Trip said. "He's black."
"What importance has the colour of the skin? We have a southern province on Vulcan, where a dark toned skin is predominant, but they are in no way different from the rest of the population."
"Yeah, so aren't black people on our world. But still, three hundred years ago they were considered inferior, simply because their skin had a different colour. Maybe your misjudgement of humans doesn't seem so bad any more."
"Indeed," Savok agreed. "It appears both of our people had a lot to learn and still have."
=/\=
As every evening in the past week, Phlox had dimmed the lights, once the last assistant had left. With many of the injured released from sickbay, it was now a lot more quite in the Denobulans realm.
Amanda sat at the side of Terval's bed, gently stroking his hand and whispering to him. Once Phlox had learned of the mutual attraction that seemed to build between her and the Vulcan, he had practically relieved her of duty to give her the time to stay in contact with the still unconscious male.
Slowly she got out of her chair. She laid down on the second biobed, as she had done every night for days and rested her head on the muscular chest of the Vulcan, her arm slung around his waist. Within minutes she had fallen into a deep slumber.
=/\=
The light grew stronger and stronger, as did the strange noises in the background. They seemed to come from a congregation of various animals. Judging by the intensity of the sounds they did not seem to be agreeable to some circumstances of their existence.
What Terval most acutely noticed, however, was the light pressure on his chest. He had recognized the constant presence of foreign emotions in his mind and even in his trance, a condition hovering somewhere between death and life, he had identified the 'intruder' as the female, who had captivated him in just a few days of acquaintance – Amanda Cole.
He squinted his eyes as he slowly came to. The animal noises were still there, but now much more subdued and the glowing light was gone. Instead the lights were dimmed.
Casting his eyes down Terval assessed the situation. Amanda's head was resting on his chest and her arm was slung around his waist. This was unknown to him. Even his deceased wife would .never have sought such intimate proximity, but then he thought, they had only been married for two years and had lived through only a single pon farr. They never had had the chance to develop the deep connection with each other that married couples developed over the years. And now he found himself with an alien female wrapped around him and he found it to be an unsettlingly agreeable sensation.
Suddenly he noticed two eyes looking at him. Obviously she had woken up while he was distracted by his thoughts.
"Well, Hi there," she said and Terval answered with a raised eyebrow.
"I hope you're not angry. Trip thought it might help you," she said and to Terval's confusion her face discoloured. He had observed that effect several times in the latter days of their acquaintance, especially at times when their eyes had made contact. He made a mental note to ask krei T'Pol about the meaning of such effect.
"I do not at all find it disagreeable," he answered, which obviously amused her.
"That good, huh?" she asked with a smile and he found himself lost for an answer, so a raised eyebrow had to suffice. "How are you doing? Shall I get Phlox?"
"I think we can wait until the Doctor comes to check his readings," he answered. "You said this form of... therapy was krei Charles' idea?"
She nodded, something he had learned to mean 'yes'. He had been rather confused by that at first. Humans had developed several gestures to signal agreement – nodding their heads, raising their thumb. Illogically all those gestures took longer to perform than just speaking the word they were designed to signal. The only logical explanation he had come up with was that they were probably designed to be used in situations where the less acute human hearing made it impossible to hear each other, but strangely they used them even if such limitations didn't apply.
"When he found you in engineering, Trip sort of attempted a mind-meld. He says that he can't really meld, but managed to find out that you were in some sort of trance."
Terval raised the brow again. Obviously krei Charles had much better telepathic abilities than any other human.
"He said you last thought was about me and that contact might help you," she continued and he could see the changing face colour again. This time however, he had an unknown sensation of feeling heat building up in his face. Could that be the same that made the human face change colour?
"I find it hard to speak about such things," he answered.
"Was Trip right?"
Unable to find the right words, Terval did what he had recently learned – he nodded. Maybe that was another use for these gestures...
To his surprise Amanda was not offended. She even intensified the contact.
"Are you scared?" she asked.
"Why should I be frightened? You are hardly a danger to me."
"No, I mean, with your arranged marriages and stuff..."
He looked at her while she was trying to find the right words.
"I mean you Vulcans probably aren't supposed to suddenly find someone attractive. Hell, I'm scared by the fact that I fell for a Vulcan in a matter of days," she admitted.
"It is an unsettling sensation, but not at all disagreeable," he answered, eliciting another bright smile from the female. He realized that it was a most pleasing sight.
"The question is: What do we do about it?" she asked and Terval could hear genuine insecurity. The humans were so easy to read.
"I believe krei Charles mentioned a ritual called 'courtship' once. Would that be an agreeable reaction?"
She let out a giggle and Terval decided that the sound, which would be grossly inappropriate coming from a Vulcan, was even more agreeable than seeing her smile.
It had however alerted Phlox, too and the intimate moment came to an abrupt end.
=/\=
T'Pol opened her eyes. As many times before she had woken up five minutes before the alarm went off. That allowed her to mute it affording her mate a few additional minutes of peaceful slumber. After the hectic last days, he certainly could use the additional rest.
Even though krei Terval had been discharged from sickbay two days ago and returned to duty with a clean bill of health, Trip had not let him rejoin the engineering team, claiming that Amanda would 'have my butt in a sling', if something were to happen to Terval again. That's why she had integrated Terval into her science team.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the com chime and to her dismay it woke up Trip, too.
"T'Pol," she identified herself.
"Sorry to wake you so early," Hoshi said. "There's an incoming transmission for Commander Tucker."
"Who is it, Hoshi?" he asked sleepily.
"It's the Eldest Mother."
=/\=
Trip shot up from the bed and jumped into his uniform in record time.
"Patch her through Hoshi," he said while hastily trying to get his dishevelled hair under control.
The face of T'Para appeared on the screen.
Trip nodded in a regal manner. "Greetings Eldest. Please forgive my appearance. Your call came unexpected."
"Greetings, son of my clan. I have a question of importance to ask. I received a transmission from Terval. He asked my consent to 'court' a human female. Are you familiar with that?"
"Do you inquire about courtship or the fact that krei Terval plans to do so?"
Trip could feel the pride of T'Pol resonating in his mind and he guessed it had to do with his control of language. She probably knew, how difficult it was for him to speak in such a controlled manner.
"I do not understand the purpose of the activity," T'Para answered. "But since he asked by consent I surmise he seeks a betrothal."
"Something like that, Eldest," Trip agreed. "During the aftermath of the accident in Engineering it became obvious that krei Terval has developed an affection for Amanda and that this affection is mutual. I was not aware that they decided to enter a formal courtship. Basically it means that two people, who are attracted to each other spend time together – sharing meals, attending recreational activities together. That sort of thing."
"Does that include mating?" T'Para asked bluntly, causing Trip to cough in surprise and uneasiness.
"That question is difficult to answer, Eldest. There are couples, who decide to withhold the physical side of their relationship until after marriage. Others get to it before marriage. It mainly depends on the individuals involved, so I'm afraid I'm unable to answer your question conclusively."
"Do you know the female?"
"Yes, Eldest, I've known her for years. She is the commanding officer of our MACO detachment."
"Is she a worthy mate for a son of our clan?" came the blunt follow-up question.
"Not a shadow of a doubt, Eldest," he answered.
"Then he shall have my consent," T'Para decreed. "What will happen when your vessel ships out again. Does the separation not impede this 'courtship' ritual?"
"As we humans say, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Trip said. "Several of the Vulcans around here have expressed an interest in switching from service in the Vulcan fleet to service in Starfleet. We will soon lose our First Officer as he gets his own ship in about six months. Terval has the experience."
"Do you truly believe that Earth will allow two Vulcans to be the highest ranking officers on their first deep space vessel?" T'Para asked with a raised eyebrow. That was as much of a reaction Trip had seen from her so far.
"Times change, Eldest," Trip said. "There was reluctance to allow T'Pol take command of Enterprise. Now, nobody would dare to question that she has done a perfect job of it. A second ship is commanded by an Andorian and Enterprise is no longer the flagship."
A sudden jolt of arousal hit him square in his mind. Obviously the praise in front of the Eldest was having an effect on his dear wife, but Trip forced himself not to react to it.
"See to it that they are not separated if this 'courtship' is successful, son of our clan," T'Para demanded.
"As you wish, Eldest."
With that the connection abruptly went dark.
"Hung up on me again," Trip mumbled and looked over at T'Pol, who looked at him with a strange glance. To Trip it seemed to be... greedy.
"How did I do, darlin'?"
Instead of answering, he saw her slowly pull the blanket aside to reveal that she had removed her silk pyjamas, awaiting him stark naked. Obviously it had been more than just a short jolt of arousal and Trip took it to mean that he had indeed done well.
"At your service, ma'am," he said with a chuckle and hastily peeled the uniform off.