A/N Disclaimer see chapter 1.

Note: In this story RU T'Pol is named Ko-Kai T'Pol and the MU T'Pol is just T'Pol. MU Tucker is named Charles and RU Tucker is Trip.

Meaning of words:

Bakka – Idiot, fool (Japanese)

Pok – Ready (Vulcan)

Abru-ha-zahl – Beam (me) up (Vulcan)

Many thanks to my beta Dinah.

5:20 AM. Pushing himself out of bed, Charles's mind was already thinking of his work this day – a repair on warp nacelles at his old ship. He started his morning routine: pushups, coffee and a hot shower. The pushups were a relic from his boarding school days. Later he had added the coffee and the hot shower to his early routine, coffee was not available in school and the showers in boarding school and the Academy had been lukewarm at best.

Brushing his teeth's, after his short shower, he looked in the mirror. He saw his disfigured face, his bad eye, the scars on his chest. Most of his scars at his body were from the accident. There were also some scars at his legs and arms, made by the bullies at his boarding school and from mishaps during his first year working in the engine room.

And since he was counting, there was that strangely shaped scar at the end of his back.

Shortly after his father's death, his family had stayed at the farm of a friend of his father's, Uncle John. He had liked Uncle John, with his long beard and curly hair beneath his hat. He had never seen Uncle John without a hat.

He had loved being outside, in the open air, walking and climbing in trees, away from the blanket of grief and sadness that surrounded his mother in the house. He smiled at the memory of that period. One day, he had played next to a barn, woodwork with barbwire placed neatly on the side of the wall. He had tripped and fallen into the woodwork. The barbwire had pierced through his shirt and trouser. He walked back to the farm, where Uncle John had responded to his cries. In the bathroom, Uncle John had taken care of his wounds.

"Why are you taking care of us?" he had asked the elderly man, after Uncle John cleaned the wounds and put the band aids on. "We are family of a traitor."

"Because I choose to be kind, Charley," Uncle John had said. "Strong is a man who can choose to be kind. It was not right that your father was charged with treason and killed. Helping your mother and your family is my way of making a bad situation a little bit better."

The period on the farm hadn't last long. Charles was drafted at the age of nine for the boarding school of talented kids, after the head of his primary school had convinced the Terran government he was a child genius. Uncle John had disappeared from his life. He believed the farm had been confiscated and Uncle John forced to work someplace else. He hadn't seen much of his family either in boarding school. He had felt alone and deserted at school, a feeling that never had left him when growing older.

As Charles dressed himself in his uniform, a sharp beep ended his train of thoughts. He looked at his PADD to see that Empress Sato had requested him and Trip for a meeting at 8:00 AM, in the conference room at Enterprise. No reply was possible, the Empress expected you to show up as told.

At 5:40 AM he left his quarters, heading for the mess hall for a quick breakfast and some more coffee. There, sitting behind one of the tables, his mind wandered off again to time past.

In boarding school, he had spent most of his time alone, but he had made a few friends. One of them – he could hardly believe it in this present time – had been 6-year-old Hoshi Sato. Hoshi had been a lovely girl with an unusual talent for languages. Her big brown eyes were filled with innocence. He was a fourteen-year-old adolescent, short-spoken, surly, but willing to help the younger ones at boarding school. Hoshi had been homesick for months in the school and he had tried to cheer her up. He had found out she liked swimming and he had accompanied her to the pool.

When he was sixteen, he had moved to the Empire Academy. Charles hadn't been in touch with Hoshi, until much later she had joined the science team at the third ship he served on. Hoshi had become his first girlfriend and for four months they had been dating. Until that day he had found out Hoshi had started a relationship with one of the senior officers behind his back.

He had confronted her and now, years later, he could still remember the disgust he had felt during their conversation.

"I found out about you and Forrest. If you want to break up with me, just say so. Don't sneak around behind my back," he had said.

Hoshi had shrugged. "I like you; I like Forrest. He is nice and good for my career. I thought I could see you and him at the same time."

He could not believe his ears and had given her an ultimatum: him or Forrest.

"Don't be such a prude," Hoshi had said, and a huge argument had started.

"It's over!" Hoshi cried out at the end. "You're not exactly helping my career; you should be glad I ever considered you boyfriend material."

"Fine! I don't care," Charles had said. He had walked away. First, he felt horrible about the breakup. Then he was glad. He didn't want to be in a relationship with a woman who felt it was normal to date another guy at the same time. He had loved sweet little Hoshi. But she was gone. Perhaps long before they had met again.

In the years ahead he had kept his distance to Sato. She had gained more power every day, culminating in her becoming Empress with the help of the Council.

Charles took a last sip of his coffee and went to the brig to collect Trip and Ko-Kai T'Pol. To his surprise, he found them talking to an awake T'Pol. She looked fragile, but he didn't want rumors of him being soft on T'Pol, so he assigned T'Pol together with Ko-Kai T'Pol to make an inventory of the ship's supplies. He had noticed that the ship was low on dilithium – due to their trip through the spatial interphase - and hoped to buy dilithium and supplies at the next commerce planet. "I used to work on the Enterprise before I was stationed on the Defiant. The engineering crew had some problems with the nacelles and asked me to have a look," he told Trip. With the inevitable guards in tow, they all went to work.

Enterprise

It felt good to be back on the Enterprise. The familiar sound of the warp core welcomed him. The repair on the nacelles went quickly. He checked the nacelles, and everything was in order. Furthermore, from force of habit, he scanned the consoles in the control room. The readings showed a faint divergent pattern than usual. Showing the result to Trip, his counterpart agreed. "Good catch, Charles, you need to check this. If there's really a problem, we'll have to shut down one or two systems."

"I know," he said. "The bridge is not going to be happy."

Trip grinned. "They never are."

He looked at the time. They had a meeting with Sato in 15 minutes. He knew Lieutenant Hess had been transferred to Enterprise; she had been one of his best engineers. He asked Hess if she could start with a complete scan of all the consoles in this area during the meeting.

They took the turbolift and five minutes before eight, Trip and he arrived at the conference room to meet Sato. However, the place was empty, except for ensign Larry Kolwaski, one of Sato's many assistants. Kolwaski told Trip and him to take a seat and wait for Sato's arrival. The guard who followed Trip at every step, stayed outside.

With nothing on their hands, they started talking. Mid-sentence in his story about a little tribble hiding in one of the consoles, Trip yawned.

"Am I boring you?" he asked.

Trip shook his head. "I didn't get much sleep last night. I think the T'Pol of this universe had a bad dream or something. She woke up screaming. Ko-Kai T'Pol as she is known here, went to her and tried to calm her. They had a long talk in Vulcan."

He didn't know how to respond. The image of T'Pol waking up screaming was another sign that the torture of Tolaris had a huge impact on her. But it was better not to care or to know much about T'Pol, despite that tiny bit of curiosity he felt over what the two Vulcan women had been talking about.

Trip leaned over to him. "I have heard T'Pol saved you during your accident. If that's true, she risked her own life to save you."

"Yes, she pulled me out, together with Hess," he said. Thinking of the accident, images of the flames and the overwhelming pain came to mind. He still hadn't figured out how T'Pol had managed to jimmy the closed doors to rescue him. Despite her petit frame, T'Pol had pulled an unconscious grown man out of the flames, an illustration of Vulcan strength.

"Did T'Pol say anything about me?" he blurted out, regretting his remark as soon as he spoke.

"'Yes, Ko-Kai T'Pol told me in short what they had been discussing, you included," Trip said. Trip hesitated. "I don't want to invade T'Pol's personal space or yours, and I know we only met a few days ago. But I realize that when Ko-Kai T'Pol and I were in troubled times, I wished someone would have told me about Ko-Kai T'Pol's background and thinking. It would have made a huge difference."

"I don't mind. I like to know what lies she is telling you and Ko-Kai T'Pol," he said.

Trip pulled a face. "I don't know if they are lies. That's up to you. According to Ko-Kai T'Pol, you and the other T'Pol shared a strange, but good friendship. You were a great team when you worked together. And the other T'Pol misses that."

"Isn't missing an illogical emotion?" he said. He couldn't believe T'Pol would have said she missed the old times. His head started to hurt, the beginning of a headache.

"You and I both know Vulcans have strong emotions, that's why they contain them using logic," Trip said. "Ko-Kai T'Pol said that the other T'Pol was deeply affected by a death of a close friend. And that you two drifted apart after that."

"Everyone who knew her, was affected by S'Vai's death," Charles said, getting angry at T'Pol. "T'Pol wanted nothing to do with me after her death. Did T'Pol mentioned her pon farr and how she seduced me, invaded my brain and left me to rot in the agony booth?"

Trip nodded. "She did, Charles, and from what I heard, she's deeply regrets her actions."

"I heard that one before," he said, wanting this painful conversation to end.

"Some wounds aren't going to heal easily," Trip said. He paused. "How is your relationship with Hoshi Sato?"

He was caught off guard with the sudden change of subject, but after all, they were waiting for the Empress to arrive.

"Empress Sato?" he said.

"Yes, here I am," Empress Sato said, as she walked into the conference room, taking up all the space. She was late. Sato was wearing a long flowery dress that clung to her body with a split on the side, imperial jewelry and shoes with diamond decoration. She was accompanied by a Vulcan with dark short hair, dressed in black and three personal guards. The Vulcan male exuded arrogance and pride. The guards stayed close to Sato, scanning the room with their eyes for potential danger.

The atmosphere changed at once. Trip seemed nervous, frowning at the sight of the Vulcan male, a frown that deepened when he heard the Empress introducing the man. "And this in one of my advisors, Tolaris."

Charles looked at the man that had scared T'Pol almost beyond repair and hatred welled up in him. Yes, he disliked T'Pol and hated what she had done to him, but this man was much worse. He had turned his back on his people and took pleasure in torturing and humiliating them. He was a cold sociopath and the fact that Sato had adopted him as one of her advisors didn't bode well.

"My Empress," Tolaris said, taking Sato's hand and bringing it to his lips for a kiss. Charles could feel Trip stiffen next to him.

"You are Commander Tucker," Tolaris said to Trip.

"Yes, I am. Of another universe," Trip said.

"You're a friend of Kov," Tolaris continued. "In that other universe of course. The Empress had given me permission to have limited access to the Terran database. I like to do a bit of research before I talk to someone."

Or to torture people better, Charles thought, feeling bitter.

"And the ugly guy, that's the Commander Tucker of this universe," Sato said with a sweet voice. "But we want to hear all about you, Trip. That's your name, isn't it?"

"Yes," Trip said stiffly. "It's a nickname."

"Sit down, Mister Trip," Sato said, smiling at him. "Would you like something to drink?"

Trip never got to answer her question. There was a huge bang – the ship shattered. A huge shock wave washed over Charles, and he fell hard on the floor. Charles felt the ship crack and moan under him. He tried to get up, as did Trip and the others who were scrambled on the floor. A second later a smaller bang was heard, then the wavering sound of the warp core shutting down. The humming of the warp core was gone. Enterprise was dead in the water. The guard who had been standing in front of the door rushed into the conference room, bewilderment of his face. "Explosion on the bridge!" he shouted.

"Sato to bridge, status rapport", the Empress said. There was no response.

"Communication is offline," Charles said. "Other systems may also be down."

"Give me your phaser," Sato said. She arranged the settings and gave it back to him. "Set to kill. Kill any stranger on the ship. You and Mister Trip," Sato pointed to him and Trip, "go to Engineering and fix the warp core. We will go to the bridge."

"Yes, ma'am," Charles said. The turbolifts were down as well, so he and Trip had to run all the way to Engineering. They arrived out of breath. The engineering crew was hard at work to get to warp core back. Chief Kelby was happy to see him. "Go to the control room," he shouted. As Charles and Trip entered, they saw the body of Hess in the corner. Her eyes were closed and her body still. A man operated one of the consoles. He was downloading data. He was Vulcan. Charles pointed his phaser at the Vulcan. "Step away from the console," he said. The Vulcan male looked up. It was a familiar face of one of his old co-workers.

"Korek!" Charles said. "What have you done with Hess?"

"Commander Tucker," Korek said. He was dead calm. "And Charles Tucker the Third, from the Starfleet universe. Lieutenant Hess is alive, only unconscious."

"How do you know my name," Trip asked.

"I know many things, Charles Tucker the Third," Korek said. "I also know the way to get you home."

As he spoke, the door of the control room opened, and an elderly woman walked in. She was dressed in Terran uniform. Her ears were concealed, her facial expression was bland and she strode purposefully, like a Vulcan woman, used to wearing robes, would do.

"Don't move," he said to the Vulcan woman, pointing his phaser at her. She stopped; her face impassive.

"T'Les?" he heard Trip say.

"Pok," the woman said. Korek tapped on his communicator. "Abru-ha-zahl," he said and before their eyes Korek and the woman were transported off the ship.

Charles switched his communicator on. "Bridge, two people have been transported off the ship, try to lock onto them." There was no response from the bridge.

"Who is T'Les?" he asked Trip.

"T'Pol's mother," Trip said.

"She and Korek are gone. We better concentrate on getting the warp core online and shields up, before more people escape," Charles said.

Working together, they worked double the speed and within fifteen minutes the warp drive sparked into life. Hess regained conscious and started working. Other than a huge bruise on her neck she seemed fine. The Engineering crew worked on the bridge to restore the shields and weapons and other necessary systems in record time.

At that time, Sato hailed him. "Empress Sato here. You and Mister Trip report to the bridge at once."

The bridge was a total mess. There was still smoke hanging in the air, bodies on the floor, burning consoles and metal and pieces everywhere.

In the middle of the chaos, the Empress was standing on the bridge, together with Tolaris and the three guards. Sato seemed not to have been affected at all by the events of today, other than some black smudges on her face and neck. The smug expression on Tolaris's face was gone. He looked smaller and less confident than before. "You Bakka!" Sato said, "We heard your communication to the bridge. There were Vulcan rebels at Engineering, and you let them escape. I gave you a direct order, kill first, never talk."

She kicked a man lying on the floor. Green blood was spattered on his face, a black hole at the side of his face. He was dressed in a Terran uniform. He'd been shot point blank. Next to him were two other dead Vulcans, also in Terran clothing; Charles recognized one of them from his time on Enterprise. "I shot him. This is how you handle the Vulcan resistance, you weak coward! In the agony booth with you both!"

There was no escape. He and Trip endured the excruciating pain of the electric shocks of the agony booth for what seemed to be hours. Sick, mentally drained and broken, they were finally released and were escorted to a shuttle that would bring them back to the Defiant. In the shuttle he slumped on a chair. He felt like he was going to throw up and dizzy. All he wanted is to close his eyes. He heard Trip stumbling toward another chair next to him.

"T'Les," Trip said in a broken soft voice, only for him Charles to hear. He could hear the shuttle taking off, the sound of the pilot and the guards talking.

Trip's breathing became more erratic. "Korek," he muttered. "Korek and T'Les. Vulcans know a way… a way to go home."

A way to go home. He didn't understand what Trip was saying and his mind was too exhausted to try. And so, as the shuttle moved forward and Trip became silent, oblivion came.