Trip looked down at the data on the PADD in his hands, closed his eyes and sighed, heavily. He knew this day was coming, he just hadn't expected so soon.
How the hell am I going to tell Jon about this, Lt. Tucker wondered resentfully, still working through his feelings. The three months while he was on Intrepid was hard, and that was before we were sleeping and living together. It's been nine months since I moved in, now I'm going to be stationed on the Pluto monitoring station for the next six. Not to mention the eight weeks transit time either way. Keeping our relationship on the right track has been hard enough with all the retrofitting and spending half my time off planet. These orders are not going to go down well.
"Something wrong, Lieutenant?" questioned Captain Jeffery's with a malicious grin. He'd never stopped riding the younger man, understanding this first posting would set the tone for Tucker's behaviour for the remainder of his career. Allowing Commander Wu to become Trip's friend, meant the Captain had to play the tyrant. A role he liked a little too well at times.
"No, Sir," Trip stated, holding back his emotions by a thread while handing off the PAD. "Looks like you're getting your heart's desire, Sir."
"I beg your pardon?" Jeffery's asked sharply, realising something was very wrong from the lack of vitality in those clear blue eyes.
"New orders," Trip stated, shocked. He'd suspected the grouchy old officer planned this. The outraged reaction on reading his orders stated Tucker had been in error. "I thought you'd arranged this posting to Pluto next week."
"I haven't authorised any changes in my teams' personnel," the Captain grumbled. Arron's rage soon became real when he realised where this posting originated. "I know I've been hard on you Lieutenant. My goal was to bring you into line with Starfleet rank and file after the academic life and rapid promotions. It was necessary you learn to follow orders if you want to go anywhere in this organization. This, this is a travesty and waste of talent. With me Tucker," he ordered, not hesitating for a heartbeat. They marched through the Complex, double time, arriving at Admiral Black's office without another word. Not waiting for the Personal Assistant to announce them, Jeffery's barged into the Complex's Commandant's inner sanctum. Fists slamming on the desk, his body vibrating with fury, the Captain demanded, "explain why you've ordered my staff around without my knowledge or consent."
Admiral Black glared back, his lips curing into a grim smirk. "Guess," he sneered, triumph radiating from his sparkling orbs.
"Vulcan's," Jeffery's parroted, shocked to his very core. Although with hind sight, he should have seen this coming. They'd been controlling the NX program and the Complex for years, he realised, through Admiral Black. Arron hadn't expected an individual to be targeted. It wasn't the Vulcan's usual modem operandi, although, with Lt. Tucker's history and the NX project moving into a new phase, he understood the reason.
"Laval," Trip spat, shaking his head as understanding finally dawned. "I should have guessed. This has his stench all over it. Sending me to Pluto is just getting me out of the way so I can't work on any more upgrades. Well, I have news for him and it's all bad."
Jeffery's gave his subordinate a quelling look. Understanding immediately, Tucker went off on another tangent. Admiral Black didn't need to know he'd trained Hess, Wang and King to retrofit the fleet, or that Trip had several modifications he wanted to incorporate into the NX prototypes, but needed to prove they'd work on current vessels.
"What was it this time, Admiral," Trip shook his head sadly, recalling other disputes with Ambassador Laval. "Are we moving too fast for those pointy eared devils?" Watching the Black's reaction, Tucker knew he had the right of it. "The retrofits, they're afraid we're going to reach warp 2 before we even get Henry Archer's engine off the drawing board. We managed to get an old point nine warp drive to one point two just by upgrading the components. Hell, Hypatia never moved so fast. I thought she'd shake apart on the trials. Then I managed to get Star Gazer cruising at one point eight and that's supposed to be her top speed. She almost made two on her test flight back to Earth last month."
"I believe," Admiral Yamamoto, seated on the couch, finally made his presence known, "you are correct in your suppositions, Lt. Tucker. However, I wouldn't discuss your theories with your colleagues just yet. Black, have Forest and Archer join us in my office at the Presidio and alert my shuttle pod crew to expect guests. I have something else in mind for Lt. Tucker, a training mission of sorts which will appease our Vulcan allies while enhancing our own interests."
"Perhaps the conference room," Admiral Black suggested. He didn't want to spend the better part of an hour on this matter, when his desk groaned under his workload. The Fleet Commander nodded after careful consideration, the arrangements made quickly and proficiently.
They moved into the larger room. An Ensign from the commissary entered to take drink orders. Admiral Yamamoto ordered for Commodore Forest, before indicating Lt. Tucker should confer Commander Archer's preference. Waiting had never been Trip's strong suit. When Jon arrived a few minutes later with Max at his side, Tucker relaxed the instant their eyes met. Both understood something monumental was about to occur.
Taking the delicate cup and saucer handed to him by a steward, Fleet Admiral Neoga Yamamoto moved towards the head of the table. Inviting the others in the room to sit, he continued standing before a picture window. Stirring his beverage twice, he knocked the rim of the cup once and placed the silver spoon on the ornate plate very deliberately. As if preforming an ancient ceremony, he looked to each of the men in the room, locking glances for a moment before moving on. Taking a sip, Neoga balancing the china in one hand and appeared to stare at it.
"Tea, taken in a mug does not taste the same," he announced easily, as if having a conversation with his friends or family. "The lip is wide, the handle unwieldly and the entire apparatus cumbersome. Bone china, while delicate and requiring considerable care, may give the illusion of weakness, but if treasured, will outlast any ordinary crockery."
"Sir," Black offered into the silence. He'd been subject to these parables for years.
Jonathan Archer's diplomacy training kicked in. He understood the reference, if not he context. Something major was about to happen and it had to do with the Engineering Core attached to the Complex. More specifically, the lowest ranked officer in the room if he didn't miss his guess. He'd never seen anyone able to upset the Vulcan's like Trip. That, however, did not account for his presence, which meant Fleet Admiral Yamamoto had to have at least an inkling of their personal relationship and his life was about to be turned upside down.
"There aren't any engines on Pluto, Sir," Trip offered with a slight smile, indicating he, also, understood where this was going. Catching Jon's eye, he attempted a conversation with a glance. It seemed his lover caught the premise but not the exact meaning. "An engineer without an engine to work on is like a Captain without a ship."
As if he knew the Lieutenant comprehended, Yamamoto nodded in agreement, "exactly, Mr. Tucker." Unlike other Starfleet flag officers, Neoga did not underestimate this young man. He'd spent a very valuable and insightful hour investigating the Tucker family when the young man first came to the organisations notice. The results had been astonishing, to say the least.
"Do Vulcan's use mugs, Sir," Archer asked, finally catching on. It seemed Trip had been ordered to Pluto station but did not want to go. Nor did Captain Jeffery's wish to release a member of his team, if the look on his face was anything to go by. Commodore Forest, seated to Jon's left had to hide his smirk behind a hand. "Or do they anticipate the finer things in life?"
"I have never seen a Vulcan enjoy the pleasure," holding up his elegant Royal Albert cup, Yamamoto took a deliberate sip and allowed a gratifying expression to cover his features, "or refinement of something so beautiful and completely useless in terms of filling its role. It is, perhaps, illogical to specify from which beaker one's tea is taken. Tea is, after all, served cold and spiced on Vulcan, but it is still tea."
"If the container is less important than the content," Jeffery's chimed in, "may I suggest an alternative to Tucker's posting."
"I am, as Lt. Tucker would say, all ears," Yamamoto kept his face straight but it was obvious the comment was both a dig at Trip's accent and a joke aimed at their Vulcan overlords.
"Al-Biruni will dock at Orbital in early January," Forest suggested. Both he and Archer had been in the dark, unsure why they'd been summonsed. It seemed Jon expected Trip to be posted anywhere but the Complex, in fact had been expecting it for some months. Archer briefly shared his thoughts as they rushed to the impromptu meeting. It seemed he'd been correct in his suspicions.
"Not quite what I had in mind, Commodore," Jeffery's offered with a frown.
"She's about to be scraped," Admiral Black stated, rolling his eyes in frustration, "with good reason. The ships out of date, they have limited cargo space and a fifteen-man crew…."
"Exactly," Yamamoto shook his head and took control of the meeting. Black could be obtuse sometimes and did not take the little details into consideration. He ignored many rumours at his peril. "I have already considered the options and agree this is a good compromise. Quarters will be tight, but I'm sure Commander Archer and Lt. Tucker will not mind sharing. Commander Dlamini and her husband have been co-habiting for quite some time I am told. Even before their marriage to get around the fraternisation regulations. They are reluctant to be reassigned without each other."
Sighing, Commodore Forest turned his glaze towards the Fleet Admiral. "You'd be surprised how often it occurs, Sir. We've lost a lot of good people because of that regulation."
"I believe I would not," Yamamoto demonstrated why he'd made his position with his sudden change in body language and tone. "It is an outdated rule that protects very few but the most junior and inexperience among our number. When Henry Archer's engine becomes a reality and we start on the five-year missions, there will be fraternisation between the crew, whether we like it or not. They will be beyond our sphere of influence. An island of humanity in a vast void of potentially hostile space. The Captain will have to make decisions based on immediate and pertinent facts, not rules and regulations made for an Earth-bound organisation hundreds, or thousands of light years distant. We will have to make it up as we go along, as have many explorers before us, with only our sense of morality and justice to guide us. More harm will come of supressing the crew's sexuality, than good. It is better we staff that first starship, especially the command crew, with committed couples, able to demonstrate their ability to work in close confines, under trying conditions and able to keep their personal lives out of their professional decisions. On Al-Biruni," turning towards Jon, Neoga ensured he had eye contact, "you will be given the opportunity to prove yourself, Commander. To prove you can work with your partner while he holds the lead Engineer's posting."
"Aye, Sir," Archer responded.
"And you," now facing Trip, the Admiral glared, "may play with her engines as you see fit, so long as Al-Biruni fulfils her orders. I am told necessity is the mother of invention. I do not want you to come back without something to show me. I wish not to 'keep my shirt on' as you would say."
"Yes, Sir," Tucker's delight shone through.
"However," Yamamoto warned, "Al-Biruni will travel between Earth and Pluto for the next eight months, that is two full circuits with her cargo hold filled so there can be no retribution, not a whisper of the real reason for continuing her service. Commander, you may choose your crew, however consideration should be given to those already serving. Not everyone will wish another assignment and they are good people who know their posts and duties. At the end of our tour, the vessel will be sent to the Jupiter shipyards. After which you will both return to the Complex and oversee the next phase of the NX program. Captain Jeffery's, I expect monthly reports on any new technology gained from this experiment."
"Aye, Sir," Arron nodded. "You're eyes only?"
"I see we understand one another. Gentleman, something this precious always travels with me," the Fleet admiral warned in dismissal. The steward came forward with white gloves and took the china before Neoga Yamamoto pivoted and left.
Huffing while sending Trip and Jon a dirty look, Black marched out. The angry scowl on his face demonstrating where is loyalties lay. Starfleet obviously was not his first alliance but he'd been effectively muzzled by Yamamoto. Yet, everyone knew the Vulcan's would find out eventually.
Jeffery's, feeling well over his head, stated Lt. Tucker could take the rest of the day off and report to his office tomorrow once he'd sort this out in his head. Walking away, Arron muttered something about being blindsided. Jon and Trip both felt Admiral Yamamoto planned this meeting and the ultimate outcome before Black sent Trip his new orders. Commodore Forest, coming to the same conclusion, indicated Archer should discreetly spent time with his partner and discuss this situation. That left Trip and Jon staring at each other across the table.
"I think this calls' for a drink," Trip stated, "even if it's still the morning."
"I got a better idea," Jon couldn't hold back his delight at the unexpected break. "Let's get changed into khaki's. There should be a shuttle leaving for Phoenix/Scottsdale in half an hour. We can catch a transport to the rangers' station in Tonto National Forest. We've been talking about hiking there for months but never gotten around to it."
A smile lighting his face, Trip agreed. Out in the wild, they could talk without fear of anyone over hearing them. With a little over two weeks before Al-Biruni docked at Orbital and the holiday season, which the Tucker's celebrated, in between, it wouldn't leave much time to pack up their life. "Only if we do the Tom's Thumb trail. It's about 20 kilometres if we go via Gateway and it's a difficult grade. I'm sure we can handle the rough terrain." Although the words came across more as an order than suggestion, Archer didn't have any real objection.
"Always wanting to push the limits, Babe," Jon teased. "It's not like we haven't faced some rough terrain in this room."
Slapping Archer on the back, Trip's smile widened. "I'll go to the Commissary and get lunch while you pack a rucksack. Meet you at the shuttle in twenty."
Nodding his agreement, the pair didn't talk much, or about anything significant until the most difficult part of the trail lay behind them. Before them lay Tom's Thumb and a magnificent vista over the valley below. Not another person chose to hike on this unseasonably cool day. Stopping to rest and eat lunch, Tucker and Archer were forced to put on their jackets.
"What do you think?" Jon asked, a hand resting on Trip's shoulder.
"The Vulcan's want me out of the way," Tucker answered, realising they could discuss their hopes and fear without carefully choosing their words. After all that's the reason they came to such an isolated area. "Sure as hell ain't going to take humanity two hundred years to reach warp five it I've got anything to say about it. I'm not sure what their long game is, though."
"I'm not sure Starfleet does either after today's meeting," Jon agreed, "besides slowing us down. I'm still wondering why we're even allowing them to direct our space program and people like Admiral Black are placing their bets in that direction. What are the Vulcan's really providing us? What do they have to gain from humanity?"
"I been asking myself those questions for years," Trip sighed.
"It seems to me," Jon responded, "the Vulcan's perceive us as impatient toddlers, wanting to run before we can walk. Yet, look at where their logic has gotten them. Not much further than humanity, but it took them significantly longer."
Looking up into the sky, Trip asked, "what do you think is out there? I mean the Vulcan's have been very reluctant to tell us anything about the space beyond our solar system. There has to be a reason."
"I don't know," Jon responded. "But I want to find out. I guess Al-Biruni is our first step in that process. At least we'll be doing this together. It's more than I expected."
"You know," Trip placed an arm around Archer's hips and pulled him close, "I didn't anticipate you to being on this posting with me but I'm glad we can share this, Jon. Going into this relationship, I knew we'd be spending a lot of time apart if we're going to be on that first ship out of Earth's home system. Hell, I didn't expect Admiral Yamamoto to know or care about the fact we're together. He shocked the shit out of me with our orders, as if he's had this all planned since the beginning, just to thwart Admiral Black."
"I think, before we start our next posting," Jon sounded his younger lover out, "we should make our relationship official."
"I know that's what the Admiral was hinting at, Jon, but," Trip paused, laying his head on Archer's shoulder and staring blankly at the scenery, "if we do, it has to be because we want it, not for Starfleet's convenience."
"Even if it improves our chances of being on the first starship powered by my father's engine?" Archer asked, his tone not giving away anything.
"Even then," Tucker responded with a sigh. "I told you, I don't march to the same beat as the rest of my family. I don't expect to be married before I turn twenty-five. When, if, I get hitched, it will because it's the right person at the right time and for the right reasons."
"And this doesn't meet your expectations," Jon couldn't help feel a little disappointed.
"I love you, Jon, don't ever think I don't, more than I ever thought I'd love anyone," Trip sighed and broke away. Pivoting to face his boyfriend, he added, "it's not the right time for us and serving on the same ship sure as hell isn't a good enough reason. We're at the start of this journey with a very long way to go. We have so much to get through and all of our lives to achieve it. Let's see how our relationship survives eight months living in quarters the size of a broom cupboard, with you in command and me trying to run an engine room with seven staff. The next eight months, from a logistical point of view isn't going to be easy, let alone from an emotional one."
"It's a test," Jon agreed. "At least we know going into it."
"We have to make up some ground rules, before we step aboard Al-Biruni," Trip sounded a little lost.
Sighing, Jon recalled their conversation that first day in the Australian desert. He'd laid down the law about their relationship, what to expect while in uniform. Those rules served them well for the last nine months. "I guess it's time to revisit our expectations," Jon conceded.
"I don't think it is," Trip finally smirked, "it's just going to be harder. You have to leave the commanding officer at the door to our quarters. There's going to be little enough room inside for us, let alone any issues we bring inside."
"So," Archer reiterated, "professional outside out quarters, no touching or calling each other Old Man and Babe, you're a Lieutenant and I'll expect you to obey my orders. All bets off once that door closes. That sound about right?"
"Yep," Trip responded, becoming serious once again. "Yamamoto's effectively dangled a carrot and you're reacting just the way he wants, Jon. We can have our hearts desire and be on the ship powered by your daddy's engine, but we have to prove we can work and live together, before I'm ready for that kind of commitment. Tucker's don't end a marriage so they're real careful about making life long promises."
"Come here, you," Jon cocked a finger. Pleased when Trip fell into his outstretched arms, they stood for several minutes, enjoying the feel of each other. "I'm kind of glad we had this talk."
"Me too," Trip pulled away. Taking off the rucksack, Tucker found a flat bit of ground and sat. When Jon joined him, he handed out their lunch. Silence descended as the consumed the sandwiches and fruit. "It's not that I don't think we'll stay together, or even get married one day, Jon," Trip commented. "I want you to know that."
"You just need to be sure," Archer responded, trying to hide his disappointed reaction. "I get that."
Turning his blue orbs on Jon, Trip's gaze was piecing. "I'm not sure you do. It's got nothing to do with what I want and everything to do with conforming to Admiral Yamamoto's orders. Hell, if I'm going against generations of ingrained Tucker expectation, I'm not going to roll over for Starfleet."
Absolutely shocked, Jon learnt a very valuable lesson. Trip really didn't like being forced into anything that went against his very strong, almost ridged moral compass. As his commanding officer, Archer could envision troubled waters ahead, especially as he would soon be the one giving those orders.
"That attitude could make our time on Al-Biruni difficult," Jon pointed out in the most even voice he could muster. "There are going to be times I have to rely on you to follow orders, even if you don't like or understand them. There might even come a time I have to discipline you or put a comment in your personnel file."
"Now you get it," Trip once again turned those baby blues on Archer. "One step at time, Jon."
AN: There are some interesting times a head for Jon and Trip.