Chapter 3
T'pol sat the edge of her bed, staring at the door. She had already removed the cushions and candles from the floor. She then had arranged the small table in her quarters such that she and Trip would be able to sit across from each other during the meal - making it easier for her to interpret his response to the forthcoming conversation. But now, all she could do was wait.
Glancing at the chronometer on her bedside table, she realized that the commander had left over 45 minutes ago. What could have delayed him? Going to the comm., she sent out a general call. "T'pol to Commander Tucker."
Nothing.
"Subcommander T'pol to Commander Tucker."
Nothing.
T'pol was somewhat unsettled by his failure to respond.
Then the comm. cracked, signaling a response. But the voice belonged to the communications officer and not the chief engineer. "Subcommander? If you're looking for the Commander, I think he's in his quarters."
"Thank you Ensign." T'pol immediately headed out to find him.
*****************
T'pol stood outside his room, waiting for him to respond to the door chime. After a 20 second wait, she overrode the controls and entered uninvited. She found Trip sitting in his chair, in front of his computer. He was staring at the ceiling, apparently lost in thought.
Before she was able to see what was displayed on the screen, Trip noticed that she was there, and quickly turned off the monitor. "Oh, T'pol. What are you doing here?" He seemed very agitated, and avoided looking directly at her. He stood up and walked over to the window.
"Mr. Tucker, are you well?" Her voice cracked slightly, revealing her concern for him.
"I'm fine. Just remembered that I have other things to do right now, so I can't have dinner with you." He gazed out into the darkness of space. "I've got lots to do, so if you'll excuse me."
"If you wish. We could celebrate some other evening." T'pol stepped closer to him, trying to peer around him so that she could assess him closer.
"Sure, whenever. I'm just busy right now. Good night." His tone was curt, conveying his desire for her to leave.
T'pol hesitated in her reply. "Good night." She then backed away from him, towards the exit, and only taking her eyes off of him when the doors closed in front of her.
*****************
The next morning, T'pol stood at her station on the bridge for the first time in weeks. She busied herself with reviewing the logs of the previous 2 weeks, and the various reports that, as first officer, were her responsibility. However, she was distracted by the events of the last 14 hours. She had yet to see the Commander - he had called up to the bridge to say that he would not be able to attend the senior officers' meeting. The Captain did not seem to be concerned by what T'pol considered to be very odd behavior, even for Mr. Tucker.
Her contemplation was interrupted by Ensign Sato. "Captain, sir, we are being hailed by someone who claims to be the Chancellor of a planet called Byatt."
Archer turned around to ask T'pol if she knew of this planet. She anticipated his query. "Byatt is an M-class planet, approximately 3 days from our current position. They are not as technically advanced as we are, however do have warp capability. It is my understanding that its tropical climate has made it a place where many sojourn."
Archer looked pleased with her account. "Maybe they'll let us take a bit of shore leave. Ensign, put them on the viewscreen."
Almost immediately, the scene in front of them switched from the darkness of space to an image of a humanoid figure. His appearance was similar to themselves with no gross difference in frame. He had darkly tanned skin and dark hair with streaks of gold, and was wearing a canary yellow linen top. Behind him was a landscape of luscious green vegetation, punctuated with bright red and orange flowers.
He sent them a welcoming smile. "Greetings and good health! I am Andash, Chancellor of Byatt. I extend our hospitality and grace. You are Jonathon Archer, Captain of the Earth vessel Enterprise." His last sentence was not a question, merely a statement of fact.
Archer let out a quiet sigh of relief - 'maybe these aliens will not want to invade our bodies, take us hostage, or shoot at us'. "Chancellor, thank you for contacting us. We are on a mission of exploration, and would love to come meet you."
"We will be honored if you and your crew not only visit, but take advantage of the many activities that our planet can offer. I am certain that your crew could benefit from a little rest and relaxation." His tone remained cheerful, and sincere.
Archer scanned the faces of those on the bridge; all, save Malcolm and T'pol, seemed enthusiastic about this. "Thank you again. We accept your kind offer, and will be seeing you in approximately 3 days."
Andash nodded. "We will be the greatest of friends. Until then." And, with that, the transmission ended.
Before Archer could reflect on the exchange, Malcolm piped up. "Sir, how did they know we were coming? T'pol says that they are less technologically advanced than we, and yet we barely can detect them on our sensors at this distance."
Archer shook his head in disbelief. "Lieutenant, must you always think the worse?"
Malcolm retorted. "Sir, it is my job. I would like to send a security team to the surface to first explore before we allow unsupervised shore leave for the remaining crew."
"Sure, Malcolm. And you can get a head-start by reviewing the Vulcan database on the planet. Does that make you feel any better?" There was no point trying to change the skeptical nature of the ship's Tactical officer, so Archer placated his suspicions. Archer, for his part, was looking forward to this vacation, of sorts.
T'pol maintained her silence, observing what had taken place. She too shared Lieutenant Reed's concerns, but had learned that the Captain, once his mind was made up, would not waver from his decision - even with the most logical of arguments. Her only consolation was that the time away from the ship would allow for her and Commander Tucker to have the unavoidable conversation, and to develop a solution to what she was starting to deem to be a problem.
*****************
At the time when she would normally have been preparing for bed, T'pol found herself in the ship's gym. She was disturbed by many thoughts, and had failed to find solace in her meditation. Maybe a brisk work-out would help her clear her mind. She stepped on the tread mill and began a planned 5 kilometer run.
Despite her reservations about the visit to Byatt, her mind opted to focus on a certain engineer. She was disconcerted by the fact that for the first time in weeks, she had gone an entire day without seeing neither 'hide nor hair' of him (one of his colorful idioms). Twice she had looked for him in engineering, and was told that she had just missed him. She spent nearly a full hour in the mess-hall without his ever showing up. She had even visited his quarters, but he was not there either. Was he deliberately avoiding her? Was he afraid to face her? Maybe he did not want to upset her by refusing her. T'pol continued to attempt to rationalize his behavior. She also began to doubt her own desires. The union would be too difficult. She would not be able to provide him with the level of attachment that he seeks. He is too volatile. Their relationship would be doomed to fail - their working relationship would also suffer.
Finally she conceded that it would be best to not attempt it in the first place, thus evading the risks associated with it. Having seemingly come to the most logical conclusion, T'pol decided that she had sorted out the problem to her satisfaction and that she would now retire for the evening.
As she approached the exit to the gym, the doors opened and the source of her deliberations stepped in. He looked startled at finding her there, but quickly averted his eyes and walked past her briskly, saying in an impassive tone, "Good evening, Subcommander."
She turned to follow him, but paused. Had she not just decided that it would be best to not pursue the matter any further? Instead, she decided to only acknowledge his greeting. "Good night, Commander." As she turned again to leave, she secretly hoped that he would call out to her to wait - again she was disappointed.
*******************
It was now mid morning, and T'pol was sitting in the Captain's chair overseeing the day shift on the bridge. She was conferring with Ensign Sato about the upgrades to the UT's in preparation for their visit to Byatt. They were interrupted by a call from Engineering.
"Lieutenant Hess, to the bridge. Is Commander Tucker there?"
Hoshi and Travis looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders; they too had noticed that the Commander had made himself scarce recently, missing the 2nd senior officers' meeting in a row earlier that day.
T'pol noted the non-verbal exchange, and then answered the call. "No, lieutenant. We were under the impression that he was working on a problem with the warp drive. Perhaps he is taking an early lunch."
"I don't think so, Subcommander. We haven't seen him all day, and he isn't answering the comm." Lieutenant Hess countered, with definite trepidation in her voice. "And, the warp drive is working just fine. We just did an overhaul 2 days ago. Well, never mind about that, he'll turn up soon. Lieutenant Hess out."
T'pol was becoming frustrated with his recent conduct, as it appeared to be affecting his work performance. As chief engineer, he should be readily available at all times. Disregarding her decision to avoid confronting him, she decided, as first officer of this vessel, to locate him and demand to speak to him. His behavior had been intolerable. "Ensign Mayweather you have the bridge."
As the doors to the turbolift closed, Hoshi turned to Travis and quietly snickered. "Boy is someone ever in trouble now."
****************
After scouring his usual haunts on the ship, T'pol finally found him inside the launch-bay. She would not have thought to look for him there; however, as she passed the open launch bay doors, a series of expletives had revealed his presence. She now found him lying on the floor, frantically working on an open panel on the underside of a propped up shuttlepod. "Commander Tucker, I would speak to you for a moment."
She observed that he was startled by her presence, his legs jerking followed by "Ouch!", likely as a result of his hitting his head. He quickly slid out from under the pod, and stood to face her. He was covered with dust and grease, and his hair was disheveled. "What do you want?" There was no sign of cordiality in his voice, just impatience.
"Your staff in engineering has been looking for you all morning. And you have missed another meeting with the Captain. Commander, is this appropriate behavior for someone of your rank?"
Trip was angered by her reprimand. "Just so's you know, I've been busy making sure that the pods work fine for our little visit to this planet. You know the luck that we've had with these. Seems we hardly go a week without a malfunction or crash. I'm just trying to keep us all safe. So, why don't you just let me do my job, and go back to doing yours." Without waiting for her response, he lowered himself to the floor and slid back under the shuttlepod, resuming his work.
She hovered above his legs for at least a minute, in silence, before responding. "Well, Mr. Tucker, I would ask you to reconsider your current attitude. Apparently I was mistaken in my assessment of our. . . relationship." T'pol did not hide the disappointment in her voice. "I assume that you will be occupied for the remainder of the day. I will inform the Captain that you will not be joining us for dinner."
And, as quietly as she had entered the launchbay, she departed. Had she paused for a few seconds at the door, she may have heard Trip sadly mutter to himself, "Sorry T'pol."
To be continued. . .
A/N: Thank you so much for the words of encouragement. This is all that I have typed for now, but I do have a good idea of where things are going next. Hopefully I'll get to it over the weekend. Hope you enjoy, and please review (makes me happy!)
T'pol sat the edge of her bed, staring at the door. She had already removed the cushions and candles from the floor. She then had arranged the small table in her quarters such that she and Trip would be able to sit across from each other during the meal - making it easier for her to interpret his response to the forthcoming conversation. But now, all she could do was wait.
Glancing at the chronometer on her bedside table, she realized that the commander had left over 45 minutes ago. What could have delayed him? Going to the comm., she sent out a general call. "T'pol to Commander Tucker."
Nothing.
"Subcommander T'pol to Commander Tucker."
Nothing.
T'pol was somewhat unsettled by his failure to respond.
Then the comm. cracked, signaling a response. But the voice belonged to the communications officer and not the chief engineer. "Subcommander? If you're looking for the Commander, I think he's in his quarters."
"Thank you Ensign." T'pol immediately headed out to find him.
*****************
T'pol stood outside his room, waiting for him to respond to the door chime. After a 20 second wait, she overrode the controls and entered uninvited. She found Trip sitting in his chair, in front of his computer. He was staring at the ceiling, apparently lost in thought.
Before she was able to see what was displayed on the screen, Trip noticed that she was there, and quickly turned off the monitor. "Oh, T'pol. What are you doing here?" He seemed very agitated, and avoided looking directly at her. He stood up and walked over to the window.
"Mr. Tucker, are you well?" Her voice cracked slightly, revealing her concern for him.
"I'm fine. Just remembered that I have other things to do right now, so I can't have dinner with you." He gazed out into the darkness of space. "I've got lots to do, so if you'll excuse me."
"If you wish. We could celebrate some other evening." T'pol stepped closer to him, trying to peer around him so that she could assess him closer.
"Sure, whenever. I'm just busy right now. Good night." His tone was curt, conveying his desire for her to leave.
T'pol hesitated in her reply. "Good night." She then backed away from him, towards the exit, and only taking her eyes off of him when the doors closed in front of her.
*****************
The next morning, T'pol stood at her station on the bridge for the first time in weeks. She busied herself with reviewing the logs of the previous 2 weeks, and the various reports that, as first officer, were her responsibility. However, she was distracted by the events of the last 14 hours. She had yet to see the Commander - he had called up to the bridge to say that he would not be able to attend the senior officers' meeting. The Captain did not seem to be concerned by what T'pol considered to be very odd behavior, even for Mr. Tucker.
Her contemplation was interrupted by Ensign Sato. "Captain, sir, we are being hailed by someone who claims to be the Chancellor of a planet called Byatt."
Archer turned around to ask T'pol if she knew of this planet. She anticipated his query. "Byatt is an M-class planet, approximately 3 days from our current position. They are not as technically advanced as we are, however do have warp capability. It is my understanding that its tropical climate has made it a place where many sojourn."
Archer looked pleased with her account. "Maybe they'll let us take a bit of shore leave. Ensign, put them on the viewscreen."
Almost immediately, the scene in front of them switched from the darkness of space to an image of a humanoid figure. His appearance was similar to themselves with no gross difference in frame. He had darkly tanned skin and dark hair with streaks of gold, and was wearing a canary yellow linen top. Behind him was a landscape of luscious green vegetation, punctuated with bright red and orange flowers.
He sent them a welcoming smile. "Greetings and good health! I am Andash, Chancellor of Byatt. I extend our hospitality and grace. You are Jonathon Archer, Captain of the Earth vessel Enterprise." His last sentence was not a question, merely a statement of fact.
Archer let out a quiet sigh of relief - 'maybe these aliens will not want to invade our bodies, take us hostage, or shoot at us'. "Chancellor, thank you for contacting us. We are on a mission of exploration, and would love to come meet you."
"We will be honored if you and your crew not only visit, but take advantage of the many activities that our planet can offer. I am certain that your crew could benefit from a little rest and relaxation." His tone remained cheerful, and sincere.
Archer scanned the faces of those on the bridge; all, save Malcolm and T'pol, seemed enthusiastic about this. "Thank you again. We accept your kind offer, and will be seeing you in approximately 3 days."
Andash nodded. "We will be the greatest of friends. Until then." And, with that, the transmission ended.
Before Archer could reflect on the exchange, Malcolm piped up. "Sir, how did they know we were coming? T'pol says that they are less technologically advanced than we, and yet we barely can detect them on our sensors at this distance."
Archer shook his head in disbelief. "Lieutenant, must you always think the worse?"
Malcolm retorted. "Sir, it is my job. I would like to send a security team to the surface to first explore before we allow unsupervised shore leave for the remaining crew."
"Sure, Malcolm. And you can get a head-start by reviewing the Vulcan database on the planet. Does that make you feel any better?" There was no point trying to change the skeptical nature of the ship's Tactical officer, so Archer placated his suspicions. Archer, for his part, was looking forward to this vacation, of sorts.
T'pol maintained her silence, observing what had taken place. She too shared Lieutenant Reed's concerns, but had learned that the Captain, once his mind was made up, would not waver from his decision - even with the most logical of arguments. Her only consolation was that the time away from the ship would allow for her and Commander Tucker to have the unavoidable conversation, and to develop a solution to what she was starting to deem to be a problem.
*****************
At the time when she would normally have been preparing for bed, T'pol found herself in the ship's gym. She was disturbed by many thoughts, and had failed to find solace in her meditation. Maybe a brisk work-out would help her clear her mind. She stepped on the tread mill and began a planned 5 kilometer run.
Despite her reservations about the visit to Byatt, her mind opted to focus on a certain engineer. She was disconcerted by the fact that for the first time in weeks, she had gone an entire day without seeing neither 'hide nor hair' of him (one of his colorful idioms). Twice she had looked for him in engineering, and was told that she had just missed him. She spent nearly a full hour in the mess-hall without his ever showing up. She had even visited his quarters, but he was not there either. Was he deliberately avoiding her? Was he afraid to face her? Maybe he did not want to upset her by refusing her. T'pol continued to attempt to rationalize his behavior. She also began to doubt her own desires. The union would be too difficult. She would not be able to provide him with the level of attachment that he seeks. He is too volatile. Their relationship would be doomed to fail - their working relationship would also suffer.
Finally she conceded that it would be best to not attempt it in the first place, thus evading the risks associated with it. Having seemingly come to the most logical conclusion, T'pol decided that she had sorted out the problem to her satisfaction and that she would now retire for the evening.
As she approached the exit to the gym, the doors opened and the source of her deliberations stepped in. He looked startled at finding her there, but quickly averted his eyes and walked past her briskly, saying in an impassive tone, "Good evening, Subcommander."
She turned to follow him, but paused. Had she not just decided that it would be best to not pursue the matter any further? Instead, she decided to only acknowledge his greeting. "Good night, Commander." As she turned again to leave, she secretly hoped that he would call out to her to wait - again she was disappointed.
*******************
It was now mid morning, and T'pol was sitting in the Captain's chair overseeing the day shift on the bridge. She was conferring with Ensign Sato about the upgrades to the UT's in preparation for their visit to Byatt. They were interrupted by a call from Engineering.
"Lieutenant Hess, to the bridge. Is Commander Tucker there?"
Hoshi and Travis looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders; they too had noticed that the Commander had made himself scarce recently, missing the 2nd senior officers' meeting in a row earlier that day.
T'pol noted the non-verbal exchange, and then answered the call. "No, lieutenant. We were under the impression that he was working on a problem with the warp drive. Perhaps he is taking an early lunch."
"I don't think so, Subcommander. We haven't seen him all day, and he isn't answering the comm." Lieutenant Hess countered, with definite trepidation in her voice. "And, the warp drive is working just fine. We just did an overhaul 2 days ago. Well, never mind about that, he'll turn up soon. Lieutenant Hess out."
T'pol was becoming frustrated with his recent conduct, as it appeared to be affecting his work performance. As chief engineer, he should be readily available at all times. Disregarding her decision to avoid confronting him, she decided, as first officer of this vessel, to locate him and demand to speak to him. His behavior had been intolerable. "Ensign Mayweather you have the bridge."
As the doors to the turbolift closed, Hoshi turned to Travis and quietly snickered. "Boy is someone ever in trouble now."
****************
After scouring his usual haunts on the ship, T'pol finally found him inside the launch-bay. She would not have thought to look for him there; however, as she passed the open launch bay doors, a series of expletives had revealed his presence. She now found him lying on the floor, frantically working on an open panel on the underside of a propped up shuttlepod. "Commander Tucker, I would speak to you for a moment."
She observed that he was startled by her presence, his legs jerking followed by "Ouch!", likely as a result of his hitting his head. He quickly slid out from under the pod, and stood to face her. He was covered with dust and grease, and his hair was disheveled. "What do you want?" There was no sign of cordiality in his voice, just impatience.
"Your staff in engineering has been looking for you all morning. And you have missed another meeting with the Captain. Commander, is this appropriate behavior for someone of your rank?"
Trip was angered by her reprimand. "Just so's you know, I've been busy making sure that the pods work fine for our little visit to this planet. You know the luck that we've had with these. Seems we hardly go a week without a malfunction or crash. I'm just trying to keep us all safe. So, why don't you just let me do my job, and go back to doing yours." Without waiting for her response, he lowered himself to the floor and slid back under the shuttlepod, resuming his work.
She hovered above his legs for at least a minute, in silence, before responding. "Well, Mr. Tucker, I would ask you to reconsider your current attitude. Apparently I was mistaken in my assessment of our. . . relationship." T'pol did not hide the disappointment in her voice. "I assume that you will be occupied for the remainder of the day. I will inform the Captain that you will not be joining us for dinner."
And, as quietly as she had entered the launchbay, she departed. Had she paused for a few seconds at the door, she may have heard Trip sadly mutter to himself, "Sorry T'pol."
To be continued. . .
A/N: Thank you so much for the words of encouragement. This is all that I have typed for now, but I do have a good idea of where things are going next. Hopefully I'll get to it over the weekend. Hope you enjoy, and please review (makes me happy!)