I don't own Star Trek Enterprise. If I did... oh, boy; what would I have changed, made better?
Please let me know what you think.
X
"You're Vulcan, never forget that!"
"These orders appear to be authentic," T'Pol absently swept a strand of her long hair out of her eyes; she wished she had been authorised and allowed by Forrest and his predecessor to cut her hair, but when they had found out, they had stopped her. Forrest had been sexually interested in her, and he had threatened if she changed any aspect of her appearance, her life would be forfeit. Like all Vulcans, T'Pol had learnt to obey the Terrans even if the disease they spread through the galaxy, a disease of war, backstabbing, intrigue, and ruthlessness spread throughout the subject races until each one would not be able to look at their fellows, and wonder if they had plans to kill them in public.
She kept one of her eyes on the new captain.
T'Pol was surprised Archer had made the move. She had originally assumed the man who seemed to be so ambitious would have made his move long ago against Forrest. Instead, he had languished in the shadows, but he had to be cunning, or else another of his barbaric kind would have tried to kill him.
Archer was a thug in her mind.
He was violent and vicious and cunning when it came to coming up with revenge against those whom he perceived wronged him. That made him dangerous enough, but there always seemed to be a streak she would have expected to see from a Klingon, savagery that made him lash out against everything and everyone around him. But beyond that, strangely enough, T'Pol had never expected him to take control of the ship from Forrest. And she was willing to suspect that Forrest hadn't seen it coming either.
He was currently standing in the Ready Room holding one of the historical weapons on the wall rack; as the flagship of the Terran Empire, all of the most legendary weapons which had served the empire were mounted here.
T'Pol had never understood the logic. She didn't understand why the Terrans felt the need to put their most valuable weapons on their ship, and then send them out where they could be lost?
"Appear? All I require from you is your loyalty. Do I have it?" Archer turned around, holding a large dark shotgun that T'Pol recognised.
T'Pol shrugged. "You are in command," she said simply.
Truthfully she didn't care who was in command of Enterprise. The Terrans moved through the ranks on a 'survival of the fittest' basis, going for those who they deemed weaker, although they would need to keep watch in case someone tried to kill them. Life on the ship was always volatile. The Terrans were forever setting up traps and spying on each other, and the alien crews were drawn into the fight. Some aliens had adapted better than most, of course, but they were not able to rise through ranks.
The Terrans thought they were trying to steal Terran positions.
In truth, the aliens just wanted to get better lives.
T'Pol didn't indulge in the barbaric custom, and she didn't care who was in command of Enterprise so long as she was left alone, and then she could live longer. She was more content to focus on her duties and pass the information on to the rebels and hope they could find a way of shaking off the Terran yoke.
Archer seemed to like the reply. "I'm glad we can agree on something. Do you recognise this?" He held up the gun, and T'Pol's eyes fell on it and she wished she could get away with throwing it into the waste disposal. "It belonged to Zefram Cochrane. He used it to kill the first Vulcan who stepped onto Terran soil."
T'Pol remained silent. She had often seen the weapon which had allowed the Terrans to board a Vulcan ship which had landed on Earth, the Terran homeworld. To her, it was a symbol of Terran oppression.
She could feel her anger boiling beneath the surface. T'Pol had always had problems controlling her emotions despite the training she had received. Much of it came from the years and years she had spent on Terran warships. The time she had spent trying to keep herself alive had taken its toll, and her emotional control had been worn down. It was a trait that was becoming increasingly common to Vulcans. For her, it was just another sign of what the Terrans had done to them.
At the same time, she felt her barely strained emotions gave her focus and an edge.
Unaware or uncaring about her feelings, Archer continued with his monologue while T'Pol tried to repress her emotions I wonder how history would have played out if Cochrane hadn't turned the tables on your invasion force. Humans might be your slaves instead of the other way around."
"I'm not a slave." The moment she had the words out of her mouth, T'Pol knew she had made a mistake. She only prayed her punishment was not harsh.
"You're Vulcan," Archer snarled. "Never forget that."
T'Pol had never been allowed to forget it, after everything the Terrans had taken from her and her people, they still continued to lie, cheat and steal. The Vulcans and the other races had all suffered from the crew of the T'Plana Hath's mistake of landing on Earth and unleashing the savagery of the Terran Empire on the galaxy.
Everyone had lost their freedom and identity with the rebels being the only ones who were still free, fighting to throw off the chains.
So no, she couldn't forget it.
Nor could anyone else.
"How long until we cross into Tholian space?" T'Pol had to shake herself out of her reverie to focus on what Archer had asked. He was standing by the viewport now, looking out at the stars. She wondered what he was seeing.
"It's likely we already have. They frequently annex systems outside their core territory," she added as an explanation.
Archer handed her a data card. "There's a warp signature encoded on this. Notify me the moment you find it."
T'Pol nodded and took the card, hoping she could leave now. "If there's nothing further…."
Archer stopped her. "There is. I'm promoting you to First Officer."
T'Pol turned to her in unhidden surprise, inwardly she was horrified. "Major Reed's next in line. He won't be pleased."
That was an understatement.
The Terran MACO major was sadistic, and he was not afraid to shoot anyone in the back. When he heard about what Archer had done, Reed would bide his time and go for either her or Archer himself. Personally, she hoped he went after Archer. She had gone to a lot of trouble to keep herself unnoticed, but it had been hard with the interest on her.
All for nothing.
"Reed is a capable soldier," Archer explained, briefly acknowledging Reed's place on the chain of command on the Enterprise, "but he has trouble following orders. And I know he has ambitions of his own."
T'Pol knew that was true. Reed had spent a long time scheming and giving the Empire new weapons, strategies, and technologies and he wanted to use them to gain more power. Starfleet could offer him a command of his own, but she doubted that would end it.
"You've made it clear you don't approve of Vulcans," T'Pol pointed out, wondering why he was doing this.
"Maybe this is my way of saying thank you to you and your people," Archer said in a way that suggested he was having to spit the words out through a twisted mouth as if he couldn't believe what he was saying. "Without Vulcan technology, the Empire wouldn't be where it is today. Dismissed."
T'Pol turned and made her way out. When she got out of the Ready Room, she leaned against the wall for a moment to regain her composure. T'Pol knew her new position on the ship was going to be extremely unpleasant from this point on. Promoting an alien to the first officer was going to anger many of the extremist xenocists on the ship, and many of them would likely try to kill her. For a moment she wondered if that was what Archer was aiming for, but she had a feeling he was putting her forward as a target to protect himself.
T'Pol knew she would need to be very careful from now on, or she would end up with a knife in the back.