What a Difference a Day Makes (part 4)
By: TLR55555 (:TLR from House of Tucker)
Aug 2022
Part 4 begins with our bonded couple starting to realize their connection. Trip finally got the nerve up to admit his love for T'Pol. Now they must work together as a team to survive long enough for Captain Archer and their shipmates to come to their aid. Like any new couple, there's a lot of adjustments they must make that will prove to be a lot of fun.
Enterprise is the property of paramount studios. I receive nothing in exchange for writing this story other than making fans like myself happy.
Trip was the first to awaken the next morning. He looked down and saw the sleeping figure of his bondmate curled about him. Her hair, now well down her back to her shoulder blades laid along the crook of her neck. The young man stayed there for several minutes just enjoying the feeling of serenity coming through their bond. Compared to the months and months of turmoil these two had been facing regarding their relationship, this was a most welcome change. He saw her eyes began to flutter and felt her hand slide up from his chest to around his neck. As T'Pol's head started to lift and her big doe eyes gazed at him sleepily, Trip sported a wide grin.
"Good Morning," He said in an energized tone. "Did you rest well?" His smile continued to shine down brightly upon her. T'Pol, feeling her mate's happiness, didn't question the reason for his cheshire grin. "Yes, and you?" She eased back down to enjoy the comfort of his chest against her cheek for a few minutes longer. "Like a baby. I don't know what it is about you, but every time we're together I sleep like a baby. Do you think the bond is responsible for that too?" Trip stroked up and down along T'Pol's back and felt waves of contentment enter his mind with every movement.
"When the bond is content it helps to reduce tension and allow the mind to rest." Her words were technical but her tone reflected the soothing gesture her mate was providing. After 10 minutes or so, mother nature called the young engineer away to take care of business in his makeshift bathroom, leaving the young Vulcan to get up and begin arranging the bedding in a more straightened fashion. She went over to the clothes they washed the night before and found they were still quite wet. She had laid them on the large flat rock that was on the living level in direct flow of a mild breeze that came from a nearby tunnel. T'Pol turned the clothes over hoping to give their underside a chance to begin to dry some. She made a mental note to discuss this with her mate after they finished today's activities. In making that mental note, Trip was clued into the problem while still on the throne. 'Right, need a clothes line' he made a mental note of his own that was not shared with his mate.
The bonded pair still had on their white isolation jumpsuits so there was no reason to take care of this first thing. Today was about getting the plants and seeds in and hoping this planet's crazy high speed time affect would work in their favor to get them food faster. As they started to collect the items they would need, Trip became frustrated with his now rather shaggy hair falling down in his face and covering his eyes. He repeatedly threw it back only to have it fall down yet again. "Damn it, I wish I'd brought my hair gel with me." On top of battling with his hair, Trip's beard once again was long enough to block his looking straight down at the front of his jumpsuit. "This is why I will never go anywhere without my razor" Trip took up the scissors and began his daily ritual of trimming off a couple of inches. He didn't even try to hide the fact that it itched him, scratching along his chin and cheeks on both sides.
T'Pol also had difficulty with her hair, for every time she looked down there was a wall of silky brown strands that encompassed her face like a hood. She looked through the medkit for something to tie it back. When she was unsuccessful with this, she tried tying the strands like a shoelace. Their lengths, a combination of strong and silky, continued to slide out of the knot and fall back down straight about her shoulders and back. Trip finishing up his whiskers, noted his mate's dilemma and offered her a trim. "If you want I can take a couple of inches off of that. I mean it won't be like Mr. Hahn, but at least it might get it out of your way a bit." He opened and closed the scissors a few times to demonstrate what he was offering.
T'Pol replied. "Thank you for the offer Trip, but Vulcan hair is very susceptible to damp climates. For that reason, when off world, Vulcans must have their hair sealed after any type of cosmetic alteration," Trip thought a moment then exclaimed."I got an idea." T'Pol wasn't sure what her mate was speaking about. He made his way over to his flight jacket and from the pocket pull the very small rubber band. The diameter of this accessory was clearly not large enough to encompass the volume of hair the young woman had at the base of her skull. She started to indicate this to her mate when he put up a finger and replied "just a minute." T'Pol halted her feedback and waited to see what Trip had in mind. He instructed her to sit down on a nearby rock and moved to stand behind her. He took all her hair and pulled it down behind her shoulders. Dividing it into three separate columns, Trip began to weave them in and out of each other creating a long rope braid down her back. "I used to do this for Lizzie when she was little. Got pretty good at it too. There, all tucked away so it won't bother ya" he stated placing the tiny rubber band at the much smaller end of the hairdo. T'Pol ran her hand down the braid and found it to be a very logical solution to her problem. "Thank you, this will make my work a lot easier. May I do the same to assist you?"
Trip chuckled, "Mine hasn't gotten that long enough to braid yet, but it sure is bugging me." he pushed it back once more out of his eyes. "I could cut it for you." T'Pol offered caringly. "Vulcan families often cut each other's hair to decrease people outside their bond from touching them." She reached her hand out for the scissors. Trip was nervous, on the one hand the hair on his head and face was driving him insane, on the other he wasn't sure he wanted a Vulcan military cut. He thought a moment then handed the scissors over to his mate. 'Hey, with the rate my hair is growing if she does get a little too close it'll be in my eyes by the end of the week.' Trip got a raised eyebrow from the woman holding a pair of large shears about to cut his hair. His nervousness was showing, and through their bond, T'Pol could tell he wasn't as sure about this decision as he seemed. She put down the shears and began running her fingers through his long floppy locks. While doing so T'Pol found the pressure points along his skull to bring her mate into a soothing mind meld. In his mind, Trip started to remember a favorite time when he and Jon went deep sea diving along the coast of Florida. The memory was so vivid it was like he was truly back there. The southern male marveled at all the colorful life and coral that was around him. He relived taking his friend to the cave where the giant eel, nickname the old man, popped out and surprised his senior officer. Trip sat still mesmerized by what he was reliving through the meld. When T'Pol finally released his mind from it, he opened his eyes to no hair in his face or under his chin.
Trip's hand went to his head first, noting the very familiar cut he always had Mr Hahn give him. 'Nice' he thought, then his hand went to his cheek and chin. His whole lower face had been clean shaven, with only the reddened areas from his scratches left. He looked up to address T'Pol about this only to find she was not there. Behind him, his mate was in her duffle locating a small blue jar with Vulcan symbols on it. She dabbed a very small amount of its contents on her finger and brought it over to the young man. "This should soothe the irritated areas on your face quickly as long as you don't continue to scratch them." The salve felt cool and refreshing against the irritated skin.
"What just happened?" Trip was very confused. "One minute I was deep sea diving with the Cap'n, and the next I had a full shave and haircut. How did you do that?" He felt a little guilt coming through the bond. "You seemed quite nervous and I needed you to be very still, so I simply assisted you to relax using the bond. If that was an inappropriate thing to do I apologize." She waited nervously for his response. Trip ran his hand through his hair, then over his face once more and decided she did the right thing. "No, actually that was very logical, thanks. If I had known it was that easy, I would have let you do it a lot sooner." A big grin reappeared as he got up and moved toward her. He placed a soft kiss upon her cheek and said "Thanks Hon, you're the greatest." Trip then went over to pick up his equipment to begin today's project.
They worked together on the adjustments to the floodlights taken from the pod. T'Pol giving her mate instructions on how to remodulate the light rays and Trip quickly converting the regular lanterns into high functioning UV botanical lights. With her assistance the two were able to wire them to the center of the cave, filling the dark spot with light equivalent to a cloud filled midwestern day. The lights were connected to one of the portable power cells situated just outside the mouth of the garden area. The dropping moisture that rained from the ceiling of the cave began to get our two botanists rather damp.
Back on Enterprise, a sheepish Lt Reed was due to report on the status of the ion storm that was encompassing the ice giant. He was nervous because he didn't have any good news to bring to the captain. The Brit had spent the last 45 minutes working on a backup plan to increase the output of the signal stabilizers to withstand winds of at least 90 kph. The problem was that at those gust levels there was no way to anchor the units to let them do their job. All the scenarios he ran through the computer, had the devices ripping off their tethers and being sucked away with the northeastern air current. He finally got up the nerve to press the button. As the buzzer sounded. Reed checked his uniform once more before he heard the Captain's voice say "Enter"
Stepping in to the ready room, the Brit stood at his best military at rest, staring straight ahead past his captain's face and out the portal behind him. "Lt report." To say Archer was becoming a little testy was an understatement. His friends have been gone for almost 3 hours now in conditions he feared would be too much for them. Malcolm's voice was a bit shaky as he started. "Captain, I have run continual scans of the planet and the weather has not changed. A second round of storms has blown in from the south making the wind shear factor greater than 100." The lieutenant noticed the frustrated look that came across his superior officer's face. Jon's fist hit the desk in front of him what a mild thud.
"Damn it Malcolm, they can't stay down there indefinitely. The surface temperature reading is 70 below. It only goes up to 30 below when in direct sun light. I don't know how long the battery in the shuttle pod can last trying to keep up in those kind of conditions." Archer stood up, turned and stared out his window at the icy world below them. "Tell me you have another plan." Jon leaned into the glass as if the seriousness of this mission was weighing heavily on his shoulders.
"I have been running simulations of Enterprise trying the rescue them during the storm, and while I can enhance the effectiveness of the signal stabilizers, keeping the units in place in this wind shear isn't possible. I'm sorry Captain, we can't attempt this type of rescue until the turbulence of the storm's velocity is down to 60 or 70 KPH." The Brit was as defeated as his news made Archer feel.
"Could we get Enterprise in close enough to get the grappler on the pod?" The senior officer was grasping at straws. "Sorry Sir, but the ionization of the field would disrupt the mag lock. And as it is, the magnetic pull of the planet has Travis taking us up another 200 Kilometers to avoid overloading the impulse engines." Malcolm tried to give the man some good news but had none to provide.
"What about the signal and the chemical signature?" Jon held onto hope. "Hoshi says the signal is still going strong though very fast. The chemical signature is unchanged as well. I think we can pinpoint the pod based on both of them,...of course when the weather eases enough to let us get down there." The Brit seemed pleased to report that at least.
"Keep me informed, I will be in sickbay." Archer turned from the window, moved around his desk, past the armory officer and out the door. He didn't stay long enough to hear the lieutenant, reply "Aye Sir".
In the garden cave, Trip and T'Pol were both on their knees putting in the plants that were brought along originally to test for any harmful effects of the ionization they came to study. The plants included two potato, two carrot, and three squash plants, all kept in stasis, so the amount of time it took to get them in didn't cause the vegetation any harm. The seeds were a variety of fruit and vegetable plants that if they rooted, would take much longer for them to bare edible nutrition. The twosome knew at their current use of supplies, it would most likely take longer for the garden to provide sustenance than they had meals ready to eat. Their habit of sharing one meal per day was a good rationing measure but their lack of dietary calories was starting to show on both of them. Each day was shorter, their ability to work was lessening. They would stop to take rest-bits, trying to conserve calories. They made a point of traveling to the stream area only once per day and limited their returning to the upper cavern for batteries replacements and to check on the solar panels to every other day.
Trip looked over to T'Pol who was head down digging into the soil with her bare hands. The braid he made her was laying over her right shoulder. "So we are bonded." he started. "What does that make me to you?" The engineer kept digging in the dirt and scooping out the hole for the plant as he looked over to his mate.
"Bondmates" She replied plainly, wondering what he didn't understand about what they discussed last night. Trip chuckled slightly, 'Well, that is really romantic." He thought at her through their bond. This got a questioning look from T'Pol as she stopped her digging. By her mate's smirk, it was obvious he was once more joking with her.
"I mean, what would you call me?" His soil covered hand came up and animated what he was saying a little. "You know around the house." T'Pol thought a moment and replied "Trip." Her mate's smirk only grew. He chuckled a bit more before explaining. "No, I mean pet names." This drew a more puzzled look from the Vulcan. "Why would I call you by our pet Selot's name?"
Now it was Trip's turn to be puzzled. "What is a Selot? His face scrunched and his eye brows furled. "A Selot is a popular family pet on Vulcan. They are very helpful with the children and work to protect the family and grounds from night time predators." T'Pol went back to digging and planting. Trip realized what she said and began to laugh harder. He dipped his head a bit and shook it side to side as if he couldn't believe the communication gap they were having. T'Pol felt she wasn't getting why he was so amused. "Did I say something in error?" Trip could feel her self consciousness coming through.
"I meant caring terms. Like I called you Hon." The Vulcan processed this info then replied. "You mean names that indicate endearment?." Her mate answered immediately. "Yah...,Yah, things like that." T'Pol thought a moment then stated, "Thy'll"
Trip was excited. "Great what does that mean?" She answered "My bondmate" With that Trip's face went to pure disbelief. "So your term of endearment is to call me what I am?" He continued to shake his head, sat back on his legs and chuckled. This got T;Pol's attention and she also straightened to look right at him.
"Trip, it is a term of endearment. It is not calling you what you are but indicating how important you are to me. Having a dedicated bondmate is a gift, not to be taken lightly. The term Thy'll refers to the contentment that the bond brings us and how important that is to our lives. It would be used similarly to your using the term Honey or Dear." Her explanation stopped the chuckling and made Trip see how her language wasn't so different from his. He thought a moment. "You told me that children are born into this bond, are they also called Thy..."
"Thy'll... and no, that is a term reserved for a bonded spouse. Children are called Mya'll." She paused a moment, anticipating his next question then said "My little one."
Her mate could see the endearment in that term easily. "Oh, that makes sense." They both went back to digging. It was only moments before Trip asked again. "Any other terms of endearment?" His mate answered back, "Ashy'am" "And that means...?" Trip prompted. T'Pol thought a moment, then replied "Sweet heart, darling, beloved." He stopped once again, and stared at her long and lovingly. He thought at her 'Now that is what Humans call a term of endearment. ' "Asham...Ashim", he tried it several times but didn't quite get it. "Ashy".
T'Pol hearing this term being butchered in every way possible, said "You can call me human terms of endearment as long as we are not in public. You may also use them through our bond at anytime. I will not be offended by them coming from you." Trip returned, "No I want to get it right.. How did you say it again?" The Vulcan spoke it phonetically for him... "A -shy -am." "A-shy-am" her mate repeated over and over again for future use.
Some moments later, the two were planting the last of the seeds across the back row of the room. Trip brushed the soil off his hands and rubbed them across the drenched surface of his less than white isolation jumpsuit. T'Pol was still tucking in her last batch of seeds, making sure the soil was packed tight to decrease the chance for erosion with all the moisture that was falling from the cave ceiling. "So if we are bonded, what does that make us?" The young engineer sounded like a broken record and the science officer thought a moment to test his memory for signs of head trauma.
"Didn't we just discuss this?" T'Pol looked surprised he would bring this subject up again. Trip quickly corrected, " No I mean does being bonded make us dating or engaged?" Again his hands came up, only slightly cleaner then before to help illustrate his meaning. "What are we to others?'
The Vulcan thought a moment. "Well if we were on Vulcan and were both Vulcan, proof of a bond is evidence of marriage." That answer floored the southern gentleman. He didn't realize it meant all that. "Marriage.?." he stated with a bit of a gulp.
"Yes, Trip…. The ceremony Vulcan couples go through isn't a marriage, not in the sense Human think of it anyway. This ceremony only gives them the right to live in the same house, take their meals together, begin blended meditation and attend functions as a protected pair." T'Pol was much neater with the cleaning of dirt off her hands. "It isn't until a bond forms, are the couple truly married." Trip chimed in, "but what if a bond doesn't form?'
"If after attempting a bond for at least 1 Vulcan year the couple can separate, the marriage is dissolved and both are free to try again choosing a new person to build a bond with." She finished with her clean up and sat with hands folded looking at her mate very sincerely. Trip's smile grew. "You had no intention of bonding with Koss, did you?" His question was irrelevant, because through their bond the young man knew she was his and only his. Her answer only cemented his faith in their connection. "No, the union was coerced and I wouldn't have allowed any contact, save that of the ceremony itself. I shunned any attempt Koss made to touch me. I felt only contempt for him when he tried." Trip could feel her reliving the hard emotions of that terrible day.
"Well that guy is long gone and good riddance. You're with me now." The southern gentleman got up and walked a few cautious steps over planted rows to his mate. Lending a hand, he helped her arise and navigate the seedlings and furrows. They stood back in the room's doorway and assessed the work they did this day. The room, still a wash in the low light, was fully seeded and planted, the plants placed closest to the opening, to reduce the tramping of the seeded areas as they would grow. Pleased with their work, each looked at the state of their clothes, hair and nails. "I think we need a bath, don't you?" T'Pol nodded her head in agreement. They walked the short distance to the flat rock where their clothes still lay moderately wet.
"Well at least our underwear is dry, that is something." Trip was looking at the bright side. He took hold of all their underthings, reached over and grabbed the hand soap, then turned to his mate. "Last one in is a rotten egg." With that Trip began down the sloped path to the water level of the cavern floor.
"Why would being the last one the water make anyone a spoiled poultry embryo?" She asked following him down the slope. The engineer just chuckled. "T'Pol. You really have to start coming back to movie night." He looked over his shoulder while still walking down the path. The puzzled look she gave him made the man answer. "It is just a dare. You know who can get there first." Her mate looked for a sign of comprehension. Instead he was met with "but with the slickness of the rocky surface and the moisture level of the cavern, isn't it a bit dangerous to race down the slope. Couldn't one of us be injured?"
Hiding his chuckle, Trip replied " You're right MOM, we shouldn't be trying to race down a slippery slope." He heard back through their bond 'I am not a mother. I am too young to give birth yet. I don't understand why you called me MOM.'
Reaching the water's edge, Trip placed the under garments in a dry area and removed his moist filthy jumpsuit in no time flat. His shyness gone, he slipped into the water. As T'Pol took off her isolation garb, he took it from her, laying it on the water's edge and lent a hand to help her enter the warm liquid with him.
Cleansing themselves, Trip offered to get his mate's back, but this time his hands slipped down also to encompass her highly muscled glutes. When T'Pol turned around to face him, she didn't wait for Trip to swivel, but instead began washing his chest, abs and further south. She then moved in to put her arms around lateral part of his rib cage and wash his back from the front side of her mate. In a tight embrace, his manhood was getting pretty happy. In this closeness, the Vulcan sent through their bond 'I sense you desire me.' Trip having very heightened feelings, thought back at her .'Yes I do.' The Vulcan began planting soft kisses along his collar bone and shoulders. She heard her mate's breath start to catch a bit. She sent another message through their bond. 'I sense you are in need of me.' The thought seemed erotic, if she had actually spoken the words, they would have been husky and sensuous. Trip gulped again, as he murmured. "Yessss." Her eyes came up to meet his. They burned with the passion he felt through their bond. After a moment's gaze, T'Pol reached up her lips and took his in a passionate, long lasting kiss. The antics continued to get hot and heavy, with several rounds of lust filled splashing about, until they went back to their sleep area to continue this little love fest. After about an hour, the two were completely spent. Their undergarments were carried up to the living space, but tossed to the side, as not needed items in the exploration they were doing. Content and exhausted, the two passed out without having their daily meal.
In Sickbay, Phlox was studying the last readings from the ship's wayward explorers. Though taken just after their rough landing, the vitals themselves didn't show any issues leading the doctor to think injury. When Archer entered sickbay, the jovial Denobulian could see at a moment's notice, the worry and fear the man was carrying.
"Any word yet Captain?" The doctor was hoping this man's worry time was going to end soon. The lack of answer told him that probably wasn't going to be the outcome.
"Doc, you got something for a tension headache?" Jon moved over to the exam table in the center of sickbay and sat down. Phlox ran a few scans and indeed found the headache the man spoke of.
"You know Captain, they will be fine." The alien offered while putting the hypo-spray up to Archer's neck. The hissing sound indicated the medication was delivered. "You think so…" Jon's tone was mocking, as if insinuating the doctor wasn't well versed in away missions.
"Yes, I do." Phlox put down the hypo-spray device and came back to look at Archer square in the face. "Commander Tucker is an excellent engineer. Commander T'Pol has had vast experience with survival training and away missions to very difficult environments. Between the two of them, they are highly skilled at making things work."
Jon's eye brow raised at this high level of confidence in the two commanders. "I wish I could have your confidence doctor. But the Pod seems to be powered down, and if that is the case, I don't know how long they will last."
Phlox looked at the scanner he was holding, then added. "You know Captain, the area you found the signal and chemical signature is very near a mountain range. Do you think perhaps they found a cave to seek shelter in?" Jon thought a moment and replied, "That would be nice but it doesn't take into account for the temperatures. Even in the cave, the wind chill has to be far below zero. They would have to drain all their phasers to keep warm enough." Moving to a nearby countertop, Phlox grabbed a container of animal food for his medical pets.
"But Captain, often caves have deeper chambers, usually over a heat source such as lava or steam. T'Pol, with her background in Geology would know this and I believe she would advise Commander Tucker that seeking that type of accommodation would be their best bet for survival." Phlox went about dropping larva into his bat's cage. The bars on the metal box shook and rattled with the creature's excitement over his dinner.
"All good, but you are forgetting one thing Doctor…. There may not be a warm place for them to be. They could be freezing to death, in misery right now and we are stuck up here at the mercy of an ion storm." With that the Captain got up and headed for the door. "Thanks Doc" was all he murmured as he walked through the automated portal.
When Trip awoke, he was as he nodded off, naked wrapped in a beautiful woman's torso, with a little packing material draped over them for warmth. His mate's body was relaxed, T'Pol being deeply asleep. The southern male lay there remembering their intimacies the night before. Filled with a renewed sense of happiness, he was too wired to fall back to sleep. When nature called, Trip left the unconscious Vulcan and headed, with underpants in hand for their makeshift bathroom. Once in there, he noted a slight odor coming from the case he had fashioned into a working commode. When he lifted the lid, the engineer realized that while the liquid was flowing into the hole, their limited amount of solid waste was lining the funnel shaped opening, creating this smell he was detecting. 'Boy, if I think this smells bad, T'Pol will really find it offensive.' He thought to himself. Trip pondered a moment, then like a light bulb going off, he moved back into the main living space, checked on his mate once more, then hurried to the far side of that level. He picked through some equipment and material scraps he salvaged from the pod and carried them back past the sleeping frame of his beloved.
Having something to do, made the young commander forget about the fact that he was making a hole in the rock a more functional toilet. He mentally noted the cotton wadding they used for tissue paper was running low too. 'Not like there is a ship's stores down here.' He smirked and set about laying more piping and tubing lines in and around the plastic textured case that served as the seat. After working for the better part of an hour, the engineer was very pleased at his ingenuity. He pulled the cord that was attached to the jug which was perched on a ledge just above and to the left of the toilet seat. The water flowed down from just below the seat and swirled around the funnel shaped rock face hole before disappearing into the aquafer below. 'Don't know anything about indoor plumbing my ass, Guess I showed you Malcolm.' Trip thought back to the catwalk and his friend's complaining about not having a decent toilet. 'I'd like to see you make a toilet out of a hole and a case shell on a remote ice planet."
Trip was very pleased at the alterations he worked on. Not only did he add the flush factor but was able to hook up two more improvements and couldn't wait to tell his mate about it. After he finished, he went back to the bedding area to see if T'Pol had awakened yet. He found her still sound asleep, but as he approached, it seemed to gently stimulate her from her slumber. "Hey there sleepy head, you okay?" Her mate came up and placed a soft kiss upon her lips. His smile was soft and warm. T'Pol just nodded, her eyes lids were heavy. "You look like you could use some more rest, you want me to wake you in a little while?" Trip's tone denoted some mild concern for her depleted appearance.
"No, I will be alright. I am probably just weak from our missing our meal last night." T'Pol sat up and was a bit dizzy. Trip stabilized her with his arm upon her shoulder. "Hey, let's eat our meal now. You are right, we haven't had any thing for a whole day." He bent forward to look into her downward turned face.
"I am fine. The more we can do to ration our food stores, the greater the chance our plants will begin to provide for our nourishment in time." The Vulcan didn't believe it, knowing the math did not add up even in the crazy fast pace of this world's chemistry. She reached over and took the canteen they kept by the bed. Trip helped her hold it as she took a long swig then wiped the traces of wetness from her lips. "You sure, it seems you're a bit weak, maybe we should eat something. I know, how about the mac and cheese? That has a lot of non animal protein you can have." Trip was trying to be mindful of her need to be a vegetarian.
"The cheese is from cow's milk." His mate pointed out as she began to rise, the packing material falling away from her body. She searched the area for her underclothes, and Trip handed them to her. "Here you go." She was a bit uneasy on her feet, and his hand came up about her waist to steady her. "You seem awfully weak. I am gonna make the Mac and cheese and we can split it. You ate the cheese pizza after the Xindi attack took out chef's galley, and that was cow's milk. I think you can make an exception this time too." T'Pol just nodded. Trip went off and put the packet into the resequencer.
The Vulcan got up, taking her under things into the bathroom. As she walked toward that small cave, Trip mentioned that he made a few improvements he thinks she will like. T'Pol noticed immediately the jug with several tubes that ran from it's bottom to beneath the seat, and another to a small hole in the rock face. 'What is the string for?' She shared through their bond. Trip answered back loudly "Pull it and see."
Doing as she was told, T'Pol pulled the long string and saw the water flowing into the toilet bowl shaped opening, rinsing the traces of waste away. 'Impressive' she returned him through their connection. "Yep, no more bad smells for my honey's keen sniffer." The Vulcan could hear the hint of a chuckle as he said that. He continued to yell, as he was answering from across the living area at the far end of the ledge. Trip was busy fashioning up a clothes line across the draft area, as he had in mind to do before the rather sexy bath and bed play distracted him. Once secured he draped the still damp uniforms and very wet isolation jumpsuits over it. They moved slightly in the flow of air which told the engineer they should take less time to dry now. For the present, it would remain under clothes attired today at least. T'Pol pulled the next string she found. Along the rock face, a small stream of water flowed from the tubing and fell about 6 inches into the corresponding hole. She sent a questioning thought to her mate, showing him what she saw. "It's a sink, a place to rinse our hands." Trip shouted as he went over to check if their entrée was done heating.
Once more impressed, T'Pol sat down on the toilet to use it and also put on her under garments. Her hand brushed past a third string hanging from the left side of the seat. Without question she pulled it and was immediately shocked by the sensation of tepid water spraying on her genitals. As if reflex she let go of the cord, stood up immediately and stared down at the area she was just sitting on. Her privates dripped water all over her dry under pants. Through their bond, Trip could sense her fright and left to check on her. Fearing she fell or was injured, he made short time of the distance across their sleep area and into the restroom. He spied her standing their and realized he hadn't told her about the bidet he installed to reduce their need for cotton wadding.
"What is the need for water to be sprayed in this manner? Is it supposed to come out at that angle?" T'Pol reached down and pulled up her dampened panties. Trip bit back a grin, and instead apologized to her for not warning her of this feature. "It's a bidet. It is meant to help wash your backside after you use the commode. It was considered a very posh feature in homes before the invention of sonic cleansers and sonic showers." He offered his underwear to replace hers but she declined, deciding to ignore the damp feeling until they dried. She simply replied "Creative use of the water." Both moved back to the main area and split the small container of mac and cheese. When they finished, T'Pol looked a bit more stable, though still less than her normal strong self. Trip showed her the clothes line he erected while she was testing out the indoor plumbing. His mate found it to be a very sensible invention, definitely more than the bidet, but she didn't allow him to know this. It was good to see her mate so involved in making their area more livable.
After a while, the commander's uniform was dry enough. Trip decided he would be the one that traveled to the upper cavern to switch out the portable power cell and inspect the solar panels. T'Pol went into the garden cave and checked the status on their crop. She went looking to see if anything was being washed away or eroded by the flow of rainlike moisture falling from the cave ceiling. When she saw things were doing well in the garden, she laid back down and waited for Trip to return with the fully charged power cell and status report on the solar collection equipment.
Trip, now in the upper cavern, noted the difference in temp from the nice cozy campground they now called home. He shivered a bit pulling his flight jacket tight around his neck. The engineer made quick work changing out the partial used power cell for the full one, hooking the used one up for recharging. Outside he could hear the howling winds, with gust factors he likened to a Florida hurricane.
'This can't be good' he thought but decided not to dwell on it lest his mate hear his concerns.
The engineer quickly checked the solar panels, expecting to have at least a few loose, but to his surprise the angle of the cave overhang prevented much of the wind from reaching their flattened surfaces. He did note that their power output was down slightly. This he contributed to the storm that was currently raging just beyond the mouth of the cave. But all the indicator lights were still showing a good shade of green, so he was confident they would hold in this squall. Looking briefly past the plastic tarp, Trip tried to see the shuttle pod in all the wind and swirling ionize particles. He was able to make out a large ice formation that looked as if the entire craft was encased in about a 20 inch layer of pure ice. 'T'Pol called this one too. Had we left anything in the pod, we couldn't get to it if we wanted to between the storm and the ice.' Trip made a few more checks, one on the status of the beacon and the other on the transfer capacity of the power storage unit. All worked well. The beacon was still putting out a very strong signal, all be it at a very very slow rate. Trip considered adjusting it, but thought better of it when he remembered that T'Pol had set it with a special message to get through this planet's strange time difference. The storage unit still had a strong connection to the charging cable which ran the width of the cave and hooked to the portable power cell along the area's back wall. Confident all was well, Trip picked up the full charged unit and began the trek back down into the lower levels of the tunnels.
Back onboard Enterprise, the bridge crew was due to change for next shift. Travis, Malcolm and Hoshi all refused to leave their post, their replacements standing at the back of the bridge waiting for their cue to come and relieve them. But the cue never came. Meal time came and went, Hoshi and Malcolm both not moving from their hunched over positions as they worked tirelessly to find a way to get to their friends. Archer, whose headache never really left, reported back to the bridge after feeding Porthos and dropping him off in sickbay with Phlox.
Secretly Archer blamed himself for taking such a risk for something so unimportant as a new power source. Had the reason been saving lives, then perhaps it would be worth it, but to have his two dearest friends freeze to death on an ice planet for such a trivial matter was eating him inside out. He paced from the armory station to communications, looking over the shoulder of both his officers to see if he could spot something to help with. He stopped off at T'Pol's station, now manned by a blond haired crewman who continued to run scan after scan of the planet, the surrounding space and even the possible energy source that started all this.
The captain called down to engineering several times to be sure the ionization that they were now surrounded by wasn't getting into their engines, possibly putting the ship at risk for the same fate as the pod's crew. But every time, Lt Kivers had it covered. She too didn't leave at the end of her shift, and she had standby repair crews at the ready just in case the ship or the other shuttle pod needed some repair or reinforcing for a rescue plan. Jon saw why Trip's choice of second in command in engineering was a good one. Feeling assured Enterprise was being covered, he turned his attention back to task at hand, getting his friends back.
"Everything above looks good." Trip added as he lowered the portable power cell down on the rigging. "The pod looks like a giant snow globe." As Trip looked up, he noticed that T'Pol was laying down again. He was worried about her health. Instead of calling to her, he decided to slide down the tether that was being held in place by the weight of its cargo. Unhooking the cell and carrying it to the upper level, he set it down beside the one being used and went over to his mate. "Are you okay?" Trip's concern for her health was palpable through their bond. She did her best to reassure him. "I am fine, Thy'll" She sat up again, as he came to kneel beside her.
"I am just a bit low on nutrition. Earth vegetables have less protein than Vulcan vegetation." She placed a soft hand on his cheek. This sent a pleasant feeling through his worried mind. Trip feared their night together, perhaps the exertion had harmed her. Before he could complete that thought, she reassured him. "Our working on our bond will not harm me. Our intimate activity has not caused this." Trip sat back on his legs, taking her hand in his.
"Vulcans can go for days without food or water, but with this planet's magnetic effect, I estimate we have only been sleeping and eating roughly every 7-8 of this planet's days. While we can fast, it is not recommended that we do so repeatedly." Trip brushed a stray bang from her face. "Well maybe you should eat some more, get your strength back." He was ready to go and get all the meal packs, open them and put enough vegetables together to constitute a real meal, but she halted him. "Trip we need to conserve. Even at our current rate, we will run out of our stores before the first harvest. I don't know exactly how long we will go without, but if we don't keep to our plan, it is highly unlikely we will survive long enough to see any vegetation."
"I don't want you to be ill. What can I do to help?" Trip was genuinely concerned, the water starting to well in his eyes. She took his face in her hands and turned his gaze to hers. "Your presence in the bond will sustain me. I can draw energy from it, if I get too weak." That seemed to help the human a bit. "Great, take all that you need. I love you and I cannot lose you now."
"You will need more nutrition too. In my pack, I have some pills that Vulcans use to supplement their protein intake when off world. I have been saving them for when our food stores run out, but they shouldn't be harmful to you." Trip hearing of the supplements, nixed the idea of waiting and refused to take any, instead saving them for his beloved. "T'Pol, where are they?" He stood up and went over to her pack. "You need to take some right now." She could feel his concern overriding his reasoning about their rationing plan. "Trip, I will take some when we no longer have stores. In the meantime, I think I found another source of protein, in a cave a bit deeper than this one. After you have rested, we can investigate this." With that, her bondmate eased up a bit. He returned to her on the bedding and laid down, both taking a well-deserved nap.
The sleep they got was short lived. Trip's worry about his mate's weakened state and T'Pol's concern over trying to keep the human alive long enough to get rescued had them lying there awake after only 20 minutes. Both were physically tired though, so neither suggested they get up to look for the protein source the Vulcan spoke about. After a few minutes of silence, Trip asked." How can you tell that each day for us is about 7-8 planet days?" He found it odd she could be so specific. T'Pol closed her eyes enjoying the nearness of his form and answered. " Many ways. The growth of your beard, my hair and nails. But mostly I have been monitoring the solar collection box activity through my tricorder. I notice when the energy increases and when it decreases, and that is relatively equal to one of this planet's days." Trip thought a moment and was amazed at how easily she came up with this. "So you mean when it increases, our area is coming into this planet's sunshine, and when it decreases or stops…" Trip didn't complete his point because his mate offered the rest. "When the energy collection stops, then it means our landing site has rotated out of the planet's direct line of sun. This equals one day cycle."
Trip stroked her back a bit mulling this over and over in his brain. "How come we don't feel it? Is it because we are unable to see the sun rise and set.?" He heard the thought coming through the bond 'Exactly…..Without seeing the sun rise and set, it has less effect on our circadian rhythm… but it is starting to affect us. Our bodies' metabolism is becoming more in line with this planet's time structure. That is the reason for our weakened state. Also why we cannot get much done during what should be a normal day timeframe.'
Looking up at the crystal formations of the large cavern, Trip asked." How much time has it been for the Enterprise?" He noted his mate stalled at that question. It took her a few minutes to compute, then replied "Perhaps 3-4 hrs. I am sure they are very concerned about us." Trip considered a moment, then said."Well the beacon is going strong, I just hope they can find it in all the ionization." He remembered the slowness of the signal, then asked, "Is there a reason the signal is going so slow? Won't that make it harder for them to hear?" The engineer hoped he hadn't left the beacon alone when he should have adjusted it back. T'Pol reassured him, "No, because of this planet's faster time frame, if we broadcast in normal speed, then the signal would be too fast for them to hear. By taking it to the slowest settings possible on the machine, they would be picking up a very fast, but readable message in their own time structure."
"Nice.. Glad I didn't change it." Trip was impressed at his mate's ability to reason and adjust to their situation so quickly. "At least they know what planet we are on, but I don't know with all the ionization they can pinpoint more than what hemisphere we are in." Trip was feeling reality setting in. "It may take days in the current storm to get even within 500 kilometers of our location." He was surprised by the admission coming from his beloved.
"Trip, they will be able to pinpoint us with much greater accuracy." That statement made the young man question her logic. "How so?" T'Pol took a long breath and continued. "Trip while you were disassembling things aboard the pod, I opened up the thruster coolant tanks and allowed one side to drain outside the craft's back end."
"You what…Why, what if we wanted to try and get her working again to get off this planet. Without the coolant, the thruster would burn up in a matter of minutes." His tone was not angry, just disbelief that she would sabotage their only source of escape in such a way. He felt from her the guilt she had about doing this without his knowledge. "Trip, the pod would not be able to escape the magnetic pull even if we could have fixed the damages that occurred from the landing. But the specific manufactured nature of the coolant's chemical signature would be easily differentiated from the background ionization. It was the one trail which could be distinguishable from high orbit. It is also the same type of coolant used in our phase cannons and torpedo launchers."
Trip's brain lit up with the answer hearing torpedo launchers. "Malcolm!" He looked down at her realizing just how much of a genius she was. "And the message is a Vulcan security code that I have been quizzing Hoshi on for 18 months." T'Pol added looking up at him with a knowing glance. "So between the signature and the beacon message, you have left clues for two of the finest detectives in Starfleet to find us. Geez, it's like giving them exact longitude and latitude. You are brilliant!." Trip's tone was that of complete joy. He kissed her head and pulled her into a big hug. With a renewed sense of hopefulness, her bondmate's mind relaxed quite a bit. It wasn't until T'Pol reminded him that the ion storm currently going on about the planet, could severely prolong their time to rescue, and that they shouldn't stray from their conservation plans at all.
Trip closed his arms lovingly about his mate and brushed his chin against the loose strands of hair that slipped from her braid. "Well, after we rest up, we will find that other protein source and perhaps it will help to keep us going till the plants come through." Trip placed another kiss upon her hair. T'Pol sent through their bond her agreement. 'I hope so, I don't want to lose you either Ashyam.'
Part 5 out soon.