TITLE: Hidden Truths

SUMMARY: When a mission goes fatally wrong for one of the Enterprise crew, suspicions arise about Trip's true identity.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any characters from Enterprise or anything.

NOTES: Eek! No reviews? I'm hurt. Maybe it's cuz the sites down, maybe no-one liked it, oh well, here's the next part.

I've put a few hints in this chapter as to what the whole story is really about. Some are more obvious than others, but I hope it'll keep you guessing.

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Chapter Two

WISHING WELL

(NEVER DID ANYONE ANY GOOD)

Consciousness came abruptly after the unsettling dream Trip had experienced. I always thought you were s'posed to sit upright and be covered in sweat after bad dreams. He thought nonchalantly, before recalling the full impact of the last image. Trip knew better than to not take his dreams seriously. They had saved him on more than one occasion.

Looking over at the clock he realised that it wasn't long to his shift, and forced himself to get up and dressed. The only thing to do was forget the dream. It wasn't as if he could tell the others. They wouldn't comprehend the importance of the visions even if he did tell them, and anything to hint to his true identity was too big a risk.

The dream proved more difficult to shake than Trip had imagined. Eventually binding it to the depths of his memory, he was still left feeling on edge. No sooner had he left his quarters, Jonathon called his name. Trip was visibly startled.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Jon smiled.

"You didn't. I'm just a little edgy this mornin'." Trip asserted, regaining his composure.

"Any particular reason?" Jon inquired.

"Not that I'm aware of." Trip lied. He didn't like lying to the Captain but it was necessary sometimes, for his own protection.

"I was just heading to the mess hall now, care to join me?" Jon said changing the subject (Which Trip was internally grateful for.)

"Nah, I have a shift. We still on for dinner tonight though?"

"Duck in orange sauce." Jon replied with a grin.

"Sounds good. I can't wait." Trip matched his Captain's smirk before T'Pol's voice sounded from the com.

"T'Pol to Captain Archer."

Jon went over to the wall and pressed the com. "Yes T'Pol, what is it?"

"We are receiving a hail which originates from a nearby planet. It appears the native race is warp-capable and wishes to meet us."

The smile on Jon's face broadened even more. "Care to join me now?"

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When Trip and Jon arrived on the bridge there was a stir of excitement in the atmosphere. It was the norm for the Enterprise to be the ones contacting other species. To be hailed by one requesting a meeting was a pleasant surprise.

No-one noticed Trip staring a little longer than usual at Hoshi. Her face was illuminated with a bright cheerfulness and Trip's mind immediately reverted back to the dream. There Hoshi had been silent and still, bled dry of all life.

After the usual morning greetings T'Pol began the briefing and Trip came back to reality. "The planet is named Rigis Jata. Other than some relatively harmless gases present in the atmosphere, the planet will cater to our biological needs." T'Pol began. It was all very interesting but not what the others wanted to hear. The new species were of a much higher interest. Nevertheless, they humoured the Vulcan science officer while she went on about the planet. "Rigis Jata resides in the Ferra system. The system has two suns, Regis orbits the larger of the two. It has three moons - "

At that moment Trip lost control of his train of thought. Three moons. He tried to convince himself that it must be a coincidence. But trying to persuade yourself of something you knew to be untrue was intensely difficult. When Trip managed to tune back in to T'Pol's monotone voice she was talking about the native beings of Rigis Jata. "The race is named the Nistet. They are an advanced humanoid species and though they are warp-capable, they do not chose to utilize their technology a great deal." T'Pol began. It seems they prefer to talk to - "

"Passers-by?" Jon interjected playfully.

"Quite." T'Pol replied. She suspected the Captain was not so subtly informing her that it was time to cease talking. She was becoming far more aware of the human's often bizarre tendencies to side-step the true meaning of their words. It seemed like a pointless practice, to shy away from offending others. But then, offence boiled down to hurt feelings, something of which T'Pol knew little about.

"Hoshi, you go the language down?"

"Yes Sir, the Nistet dialect is relatively primitive. The translator really did most of the work for me."

She didn't say, but Archer guessed that Hoshi felt almost cheated. She prided herself in her work and unique abilities and she'd just been robbed of the opportunity of learning a difficult new language. Jon just smiled outwardly at his own thoughts and continued with the topic of discussion.

"Whaddaya say? Is it worth a minor course change?" Jon asked openly, and expected the same reply from everyone. (Every human anyhow.)

"Maybe we could swing by." Malcolm said.

"Alright then. Travis, set a course." Jon ordered. Hoshi returned to her post, as did Reed. "T'Pol, you said there some, uh, relatively harmless gases in the atmosphere?"

"The air on the surface contains Hytodrexin, a form of toxin that the Nistet have adapted to. It is sparse but we should not be affected if the landing party sees the Doctor for an injection.

"Thanks." Jon nodded and T'Pol left the bridge. "Ugh, jabs. I knew there had to be a down-side."

"Well let's hope jabs are the worst thing that happens." Trip replied sincerely and went to catch up to T'Pol.

"T'Pol." He called when he caught up. For someone quite short, she sure did walk fast.

"Yes, Commander." The Vulcan answered blandly.

"Uh...You said Rigis Jata has three moons?"

"That is correct. They are named - " T'Pol began before being swiftly cut short.

"That doesn't matter. From the surface, would they form any interesting shapes or patterns?" Trip asked as non-commitally as he could manage.

"Many." The Vulcan replied, unsure of what Trip was asking of her.

"Never mind." He dismissed, realising the questions he wanted to ask would raise more from her than it was worth. T'Pol raised her eyebrow. Trip was certain that if she were human, she would have said 'Whatever.' before walking away. Trip quickly went back to engineering to do a little research. After clearing up the minor jobs that had surfaced during his absence, Trip made his way over to a screen beside him. After tapping a few buttons speedily, the three moons of Rigis Jata (Ama, Tist and Tora-Maanet) appeared. After hitting a few more buttons Trip had created a basic simulation that showed the moons rotations over a short period of time, and what they would look like from the surface. It did not take long at all for a triangular shape to appear. Looking over at the date and time the shape would occur, Trip was not at all pleased to find that the same triangle pattern that had been so prominent in his earlier vision would be happening very soon. The twisted dream had indeed been a vision. The fear and panic, the people (Whom Trip now concluded to be Nistet) screaming in terror and the worst image of all - Hoshi, bordering on death - it would all come to pass unless Trip could somehow prevent it. But Trip knew better than anyone that time was not to be tampered with.

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End of Part Two

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