The Cadet and the Commander
While restlessness was not an emotion, but rather a physiological response to an imbalance if energy and the expenditure of that energy, it was not a feeling that Sub-commander T'Pol enjoyed. Seated on the cold deck of the bridge made her very restless, especially as her thoughts drifted, much against her will, toward the events the concerned Commander Tucker and herself during their three days lost in the past. Part of her felt uneasy as she thought of Trip, but another part, smaller perhaps, would have been pleased to see him, not only because of the situation on the bridge, but also because she felt a peculiar fondness for the man. Of course, she would not have acknowledged that slight affection to him as she scarcely recognized it herself.
"T'Pol, you look like you have something on your mind." commented Archer as he watched her furrow her brow in thought.
"I was thinking about Commander Tucker." she told him coolly.
"Oh?" questioned the captain mildly surprised. He expected the latest calculation of the air supply remaining to them.
"Why does he show such resistance to being called by the rank of commander?" she inquired as it became obvious the he expected her to continue speaking.
"Do we have enough oxygen left for a long story, sub-commander?" he asked, chuckling.
"That is uncertain, captain." she replied.
"I suppose I'll risk it." said Archer, resisting the urge to take a deep breath.
"Very well."
The captain leaned back in his chair and told her, "Trip had some trouble with a commander when he was a cadet. He was aboard a training vessel under the authority of a Commander Alexander Takayama. Trip was acting as first officer of the ship while a younger cadet was appointed to the position of chief engineer. The training mission went very well by all accounts, but when they returned to earth and prepared to disembark, they encountered a problem. In those days shuttle bays were seldom kept pressurized because of the enormous power drain of a warp two engine on all systems.
"It so happened that when they were preparing to board the shuttlepods to return to the Academy, Trip had this suspicion that the launch bay had not been pressurized. Commander Takayama sent someone to check the gauge, but it indicated that the bay checked out for launch. So everyone, twenty-five cadets and the commanding officer, was standing in the airlock, ready to get on a pod and go home, and Trip continued to disagree. He had been a reliable and conscientious first officer up until this point, but for whatever reason, Takayama had a stick up his butt and wouldn't listen." narrated Archer.
"A stick, captain?" interrupted T'Pol.
"It's an expression." sighed Archer before he continued. "Well, Trip put himself between the commander and the hatch to the launch bay and demanded that everyone clear the airlock and they test whether it was pressurized or not. By all accounts Takayama insisted that he would not be questioned like that onboard his vessel, training ship that it might have been, and attempted to push past Cadet Tucker. In response, Trip knocked him cold and evacuated the airlock himself. This, naturally, led to a disciplinary hearing." Archer explained.
"I imagine so." agreed T'Pol. "Was the launch bay pressurized or not?"
"No, as it turns out, the gauge was faulty. Trip simply had very good instincts. He saved the entire crew of the training ship Kennedy from being blown out into space. Now, because he struck his commanding officer, he never received a commendation for his actions, but all charges were waived during the hearing." he answered.
"And Commander Takayama?"
"He still has command of the Kennedy, but he never apologized to Trip or recognized his error in any way. That sort of stuck in Trip's craw. And why wouldn't it? The man was a jack ass." shrugged Archer.
"Indeed." she agreed, raising an eyebrow. It seemed that Commander Tucker had always been bold and rather unpredictable, but sometimes with good results.
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