In Its Time and Place
Chapter 4

When Jonathan Archer arrived on the bridge the next morning, he noted that T'Pol was not at her station. Although he had been controlling his worry since her uncharacteristic behavior at lunch the day before, her silence throughout the night on the expected arrival of that ship had increased his tension. Now her absence heightened it.

He walked over to Hoshi and asked quietly, "Did T'Pol receive any messages or transmissions last night?"

Hoshi pulled up the communications logs and glanced over the lines of information. "She received a transmission, routed from Vulcan, about six hours ago."

"No transmission from any Vulcan ship in our vicinity?"

"There's nothing else recorded, sir. Just the transmission from Vulcan."

"Thank you."

He returned to the center seat, but remained standing. Obviously, the communication from Vulcan was related to whatever problem she was experiencing, but it might not have been specifically related to the location of this Vulcan ship they were going to meet up with. T'Pol could interpret his orders in the damnest ways at times.

The lift door slid open, and he turned his head to check on the identity of the passenger. When Dr. Phlox stepped out, his usually cheerful face dimmed, he greeted him with some surprise. "Good morning Doctor! What can we do for you?"

"Captain, may I speak with you privately?"

"Certainly. Ensign Mayweather, you have the bridge."

In his ready room, Archer settled into the chair behind his desk, and motioned for Phlox to sit. But he remained standing, pacing back and forth across the confines of the small room.

"Sub-commander T'Pol has not reported for duty this morning?" Phlox asked.

"No, she has not."

"Has she been behaving unusually over the past several days?"

Unusually might be an understatement. "She has been irritable, and sensitive to strange things. She informed me that she knew what the problem was, and was taking steps to help herself. Supposedly we're meeting with a Vulcan ship sometime soon."

"I received a data transmission from Vulcan last night. After I agreed not to enter any information provided to me into the Starfleet medical database, and not to discuss the information with anyone who did not have a need to know, they provided me with information on a Vulcan condition called pon farr."

Archer motioned for him to continue.

"If Vulcans believe that they have kept the interspecies medical community from knowing about this little 'problem' of theirs, they are deluding themselves. Although it can be difficult to keep information on it in the medical databases, there are enough rumors churning through the community that most of us have a pretty good idea of what it is. They are only harming themselves by keeping further information private."

Archer realized that Phlox was prepared to settle into a personal rant that he would probably find completely irrelevant to the issue at hand. To forestall it, he quickly asked "And how does this relate to T'Pol?"

"Starting sometime in their mid-adult life--between 50 and 75 years of age--Vulcans begin a seven-year reproductive cycle. Every seven years, mating is a requirement, not a choice. Hormone levels surge, and if a Vulcan does not mate, he or she may die. This is pon farr.

"It's somewhat humorous that the one race which embraces a religion of logic and suppressed emotionalism goes through a cycle of biological drives that are uncontrollable ... although, according to rumor, it far predates Surak and Vulcan's dedication to logic. Maybe it's one of the factors that causes them to so desire emotional control. Makes me wonder what type of environmental catastrophe would promote the evolution of such an odd biological drive ..."

"Is T'Pol undergoing pon farr?"

"According to the Vulcan doctor I spoke with, she contacted them about the issue and requested a brief transfer to a Vulcan ship to handle it. But we've apparently ventured outside the area of space in which Vulcan ships are regularly present, and are at least a week away from the nearest. He provided me with information about medical treatments they have developed to lessen the effects of pon farr on the body, but both he and the information he provided implied that these treatments are not as successful as one could hope. That the biological imperative is best treated by allowing it to follow its natural course."

Archer stared at him. "You mean ..."

"T'Pol needs to have sex with someone." Phlox's mouth quirked into a smile. "Since you're the ship's captain, I guess it's up to you to decide who."

"Doctor ..." Archer had his suspicions as to where this was headed, and he didn't need any further psycho-analyzing done by Phlox. The last experience, on a related topic, had been painful enough. "Are humans and Vulcans even compatible?"

"Oh, quite compatible. It's one of those wonders of the universe, that there are relatively few forms for sexual organs. Although the cultural mores surrounding sex differ quite wildly from species to species, the mechanics of the act itself tend to be extremely similar." He shrugged his shoulders. "Despite some pretty significant internal biological and chemical differences, the only real external difference between humans and Vulcans are those pointed ears and skin color."

Since Phlox had only confirmed some of the rumors that had always circulated about Vulcans, Archer found that he wasn't too surprised by the information. But given that information, he knew that there was only one choice that he could possibly make. He started towards the door. "Thank you, Doctor."

"Wait." Archer stopped. "Where are you going?"

"To T'Pol's quarters."

"That's what I suspected." Phlox lost the grin that he had been wearing through the latter part of their conversation, donning the serious face he wore in those situations when he stopped making light of things, stopped using his incessantly cheerful bedside manner. "Be careful, captain. Remember, she doesn't want you there, doesn't want you knowing about this. She's vulnerable. And Vulcans don't like to be seen as vulnerable. It goes against everything they're taught about themselves and other species."

"I've seen her vulnerable before." He could easily recall the times that she had opened herself to him, allowed him to see the complexity and the struggles that existed under that stolid Vulcan surface. The times that she had leaned upon him, let him see her weaknesses so that he could support her, help her be stronger than she was on her own. He knew what kind of trust that required, and hoped her trust in him would allow their relationship to come through what was about to occur intact. He wasn't going to deny that this could be the beginning of extreme tensions, but keeping her alive right now was the important aspect.

"You may have. But she's lost all her control. She's descended to a level that Vulcans want to deny exists, into a state that adult Vulcans apparently experience every seven years but they refuse to have detailed in medical databases. She's the most vulnerable she's probably ever going to be, and in a condition that embarrasses her culture to an extreme degree. She could hurt you and herself emotionally without even really understanding what she's doing."

"I think I understand that. But her life is on the line right now. And that's the important factor in this situation." He moved closer to the door, and it slid open. "See you later, Doc."