I met Dominic Keating.
He called me 'honey'.
…And 'love'…
Envy me!
Review, too.
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"I told you idiots not to come today!" Chase screamed at the screen in front of him. He had been settled into some spare quarters, one where he didn't have to deal with a roommate. He seemed to be talking to some race that looked alarmingly like a Vulcan. "Everything could have been ruined!"
"My first officer became too excited. I assure you, he is now dead. I will only attack the Enterprise when I was told to."
Chase drummed his fingers on the table, blue-gray eyes seeming unimpressed with the alien. "And when you board, you know who to attack?"
"Of course. Commander Charles Tucker the Third. I was told he looks alarmingly like you."
"And you have to act like you're Vulcans. Is this understood?" The bell on his door rang just after the alien nodded, bringing Chase to quickly close the computer and shove it under the table before shouting a "Come in."
The door opened, revealing, as the young man should have guessed, Trip Tucker. The engineer walked in, saying a quick 'hello' as he glanced around the bare room. "So, ah, T'Pol?"
Chase had known he was going to be asked this question. He had tried so hard to prepare himself for it. The only recent memories he had were so heart wrenching he could barely push them from his mind. "Yeah, T'Pol was my mom. You were married to her for…seventeen years, I think."
Trip whistled, pulling up a seat by his son. Disbelief shone in his eyes, and the younger man knew he would have to do some more convincing. "Seventeen years, huh? I'm surprised I didn't go nuts. How did that…come to be?"
"About a year and a half from now, T'Pol will come down with a disease rare in younger Vulcans that starts to degrade neural pathways. In order to cure it, you have to do a mindmeld with a family member, or in your case, friend." Chase glanced up, seeing the confusion in his father's eyes. "Y'see, a mindmeld joins two people's minds. You managed to cure T'Pol, but she wasn't used to the technique. All of the…chaos in your mind made her Vulcan ideals impossible to go back to, so she embraced a more human outlook on life. You were married six months later, and a year down the road came me."
A strange look crossed Trip's face as he nodded. "And seventeen years? Don't tell me I died. That'll put a real dampener on my next eighteen years."
"You didn't. She did."
"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know. Err.." Trip's eyes widened as he tried to apologize for his joke. He hadn't exactly expected to hit so close to the truth. "That must have been hard on you."
Chase nodded, staring at the flooring. You didn't give a shit, though. He thought to himself, bringing to life bitter memories. He couldn't believe he was talking to this bastard. Right now he seemed like his father, but seventeen years from now all of that would change. He'd never want to be called a Tucker again…
"So, you in Starfleet?" Of course, Chase grumbled in his mind as Trip asked a new question, change the subject. Typical Dad.
But he may as well humor the old man, "Yeah. I'm a lieutenant, junior grade. Being the son of Admiral Tucker helps you to rise up in the ranks."
A grin crossed the engineer's face at the mention of 'Admiral' Tucker. He stood up, starting to head towards the door. "Nice talking to you, Chase. I'll see you later, probably."
The door shut behind him and Chase brought his computer back out. He'd have to send another signal to piggyback on random interference as he talked to the mercenaries once again. Chase Tucker had a lot to do in order to teach his father a lesson.
((Shorter chapter. Ick. But…Little Chase is quite a bitter fellow, is he not? Heh.))