DISCLAIMER: Nope, still not mine.

NOTE: In the last chapter, I said the illness had started about ten years ago, and they died when they were 25. This doesn't add up - sorry, it was a stupid mistake. Oh well, it was very late!!!

NOSTARCASSA - Chapter Seven.

"What?" Archer asked, not sure if he'd heard Feignez correctly.

"I am sorry, it was an unfortunate.........."

"He can't be dead!" Malcolm protested. "If he's dead, how can you be in his body?"

"I am not." Feignez said, standing and looking at Malcolm. He closed his eyes and was surrounded by an intense glow. Before them stood, not Trip, but a tall, thin humanoid with a long oval face.

"What the hell!" Archer exclaimed, not believing what he was seeing, or hearing.

"I am a Suenari." Feignez stated.

"A What?" Malcolm asked.

"He is a shape-shifter." T'Pol said, very matter of fact.

"A shape shifter?" Archer asked. Feignez nodded. "Why are you here? And what the hell did you do to Trip?"

"My people required a substitute life coil which they could work from in order to create a cure. Your species has a life coil very similar to our own. We have tried many other species, but no have worked." He looked up at Archer. "Yours has, as far as we can tell, helped my people to form an antidote. Unfortunately, your friend was hurt worse in the accident than intended.................."

"What?" Malcolm asked. "Hurt worse than you intended? You mean you engineered it? You engineered the cash?" He stood and walked to the other end of the small room. "I don't believe this."

"We needed a legitimate reason to take on of you to the sick house." Feignez said defensively. "We shut down your crafts engines."

"So, you lured three of my crew to your planet, intentionally knowing you were going to kill one of them?" Archer asked, angrily.

"No!" Feignez said, "We did not intend for him to die." He said, looking at the floor.

"Well he did." Malcolm said bitterly, before leaving the room.

"You still have not told us why you are here." T'Pol, who had been sitting in silence for the majority of the conversation, asked.

"I was sent to study your species to further aid our research." He said, looking at T'Pol. "I was also hear to replace your friend, so you would not notice his absence and come looking for him. I was to leave once the experiments were finished, and your friend was to be returned to you."

"T'Pol?" Archer turned to his first officer. "Take him to the brig. He'll be held there until we reach Nostarcassa." He turned to Feignez. "Once we're there, you may go back to your people."

"Thank you." Feignez said, again nodding. "I am truly sorry."

Archer stood, nodded to T'Pol, and left.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It had taken five weeks at max warp to reach the planet. Archer had kept his promise, and returned Feignez to his village. He had hoped to collect Trip's body in order to hold a funeral for his friend. Piandre had, however, informed Archer that the body had been destroyed. So Enterprise had been forced to leave without the body of her Chief Engineer.

An announcement had been made to the crew over the internal comm system. Lieutenant Kelly Holdsworth had been promoted to Acting Chief Engineer until a permanent replacement could be found. A sombre mood had settled upon the Enterprise.

Archer sat in his quarters. He checked his clock. There was an hour until the memorial service. He moved over to his bed and lay down. Porthos was quick to jump up and lay beside his master.

Archer was still unable to believe that Trip was really dead. When he had heard, he didn't believe it. He had convinced himself that, upon arriving at Nostarcassa, he would find Trip, fit and well and waiting to be taken back to Enterprise. But he hadn't been. It wasn't until they had left the planet that Archer had realised his friend was gone. The memorial service was to be held on the bridge. Senior officers were to attend. The service was also to be broadcast over the internal comm.

Archer stood from his bed, patted his dog on the head, and walked to the bathroom to get ready to say good bye to his friend.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Archer Stood in the centre of the bridge. He looked over at Hoshi, who nodded confirmation that the comm was open.

"Good afternoon. We are here, today to celebrate the life of Charles Tucker, and to mourn his passing. Commander Tucker was, I'm sure you'll all agree, a fine engineer. He was also a wonderful man. I feel that, Enterprise has not only lost a Chief Engineer, but that we, each and every one of us, have lost a friend. I feel privileged to have known him, and know he'll be sorely missed. Good bye, Trip."

THE END.



A/N: OK, that wasn't originally the end, but it was gonna last forever, so I've decided to leave it there, and write the next part in the sequel. Yes! A sequel! So is Trip really dead? I'm not saying.

Hope you enjoyed it. Please don't hate me for killing Trip. I know this chapter was a bit short, and a bit crap, sorry. I just wanted to finish it 'cus it was starting to drag out. Oh well. LYL, Jen.