"Out of the Loop" Chapter Four
Back on the ship life returned to normal, or as normal as it got for Tucker these days. While he had enjoyed his little getaway on the planet, it still was difficult being placed in a situation with strangers and not understanding a damn thing that was going on, so Trip breathed a relaxing sigh of relief when he found himself safely back in his quarters once more. Tucker never thought that it could be possible but he was actually content to continue on with his schematic. He must have been coming to terms with the circumstances of his new situation, on his subconscious level at least, so he was kind of disappointed when, after only a few more days work, the design for his creation was finished.
Working on this blueprint was the only thing that saved him from that eternal damnation known as "being totally bored out of your skull", but now that the schematic was finished, what to do?
An idea began to nibble at the backside of Trip's mind. The blueprint was finished, so why didn't he go and build the darn thing. Naw... Trip hesitated. He couldn't do that. Could he? Tucker examined his drawing again. They had all of the parts and equipment that he needed on board, and the actual construction wouldn't really be all that difficult, but Tucker knew that the real challenge wasn't going to be putting this thing together, but in asking the captain if he could do it in the first place.
Trip sighed, and stared at the padd in his hand. God, how he hated to write, but there was nothing else for it. Trip may have been resigned to his fate but his momma didn't raise no fool. He poured himself a cup of coffee and then got real comfortable, before settling down to the long, arduous task of writing his captain a note.
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Three days later, padd in hand, Trip Tucker set foot on the bridge. He wanted to avoid a fuss so he didn't arrive by turbolift, but slipped in via the situation room door. It was the first time he had visited Enterprise's nerve center since his accident so Tucker just stood silently in the back and took it all in. At first glance all appeared to be peaceful. The Alpha team was at their posts, but all of the activity seemed to be routine and Trip relaxed a little. The last thing he wanted to do was interrupt anything important with his personal project, but there seemed to be no risk of that at the moment so Tucker cautiously edged his way forward.
Reed, ever on the alert, was the first one to notice his presence. After his startled exclamation the others became aware of Tucker as well.
Archer was out of his seat and at Trip's side in an instant. At first he was afraid that Tucker was in pain or some other kind of dire distress, since the captain knew damn well that only something vitally important would entice Trip to invade that communication's nightmare that was the bridge, but Trip's smile instantly allayed all his fears. Tucker wasn't here because something was terribly wrong, but more because something was right. Trip handed Archer a padd and John's eyes misted over when he read it. It was a simple request, only a few lines along with a list of parts, but John knew it must have taken Trip days to write it. Archer saw that Trip was looking at him nervously, as if there was any way John could deny this modest proposal. Still, John saw that Trip wondered, so Archer smiled, instantly putting all of Tucker's concerns to rest, then he turned control of the bridge over to T'Pol before leading Trip to the turbolift.
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"Damn it." Hess muttered under her breath. Oh, how she hated doing schedules, heck she hated doing anything that didn't involve getting her hands dirty fixing some sort of broken system or another, but most of all she hated being "Acting Chief Engineer" especially the "acting" part. Sure, she might want a command of her own some day, but she didn't want it this way. Not at the expense of Commander Tucker, a man she not only admired but was proud to call friend. It broke her heart when the commander visited engineering right after his accident. She had wanted everything to be normal for him so badly, but even Enterprise's simplest system was far too difficult for him to comprehend in his current state and Trip knew it. Tucker hadn't set foot in the room since that day, that's why it surprised the heck out of her to see the captain arrive with the commander in tow. For a few seconds Hess wildly hoped that the Tucker had been cured and was coming back to work, but the commander still wasn't talking and only greeted her with a silent wave. What was going on? "Captain?" Hess asked while flashing the warmest smile she could to let Trip know how happy she was to see her former CO.
"Trip has a request." Archer replied, handing her the padd.
Hess was appalled. Her CO felt that he had to ask her if he could have some spare parts and some space on a bench so he could work on a project that he had come up with. Like Archer before her Hess had to fight back the tears and forced a professional air while she addressed them both. "Of course, Captain, I'll get the commander squared away immediately."
"Thanks, Lieutenant. I knew I could count on you." Then Archer turned to Trip and made a show of handing him over to her care. Tucker smiled his thanks, and as she led him off to his new work station so he could start building... whatever it was, Archer was assailed with a conflict of mixed emotions.
On the positive side he was glad that Trip had come out of his shell and was actually working on something that the engineer obviously enjoyed and the project had the bonus of getting Tucker outside of his quarters as well. At the same time John had been the recipient of some good news from the home front. Starfleet had been greatly encouraged with the lead, slim as it was, given to Archer from the Delemex, and Admiral Forrest, just that morning, authorized Archer to allow Tucker to remain on board Enterprise for as long as necessary. Confident that John was much more likely to find help for Trip out on the frontier, where Enterprise could meet up with another race or come across some new technology that could help Tucker, rather than return the crippled engineer back to Earth where medical technology, in this area at least, was extremely limited.
While bolstered with the support from Starfleet, John still was frustrated because he hadn't been able to find concrete help for his friend. There had been no news from Jatikka regarding the alien transmitter that got Trip into this mess in the first place, and despite the fact that practically everyone on the ship had volunteered to play guinea pig, Archer refused to authorize any more experiments with the actual device itself. He just couldn't risk anyone else getting hurt.
Sighing, John forced himself to be content with the fact that he had helped Trip today. That was going to have to be enough, for now. Shoving aside his frustrations for the moment the captain returned to something he did have control of. His duty on the bridge.
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Trip was assailed with an odd little feeling while worked on his invention, one he didn't recognize at first, and when he did figure it out he was surprised, mainly because Tucker never really expected to experience it again, but facts were facts and couldn't be denied. Trip was happy.
Sure he had some bad moments. That couldn't be helped, especially now that he was actually spending time in engineering and was actually able to see what he'd been missing first hand. The knowledge that others could do the work that he loved, the work that was light-years out of reach hurt Tucker, a lot, but when Trip was finally ready, he did realize that there was a bright side. For the first time in years Trip was relieved of all responsibilities and all of the worries that went with it. Now he was only accountable to himself and thereby free to do whatever he wanted, the gizmo stretched out on the counter before him a case in point. His prototype was due to be finished in a couple of days, and he was going to get a real boost if it worked the way he hoped. So much so, that it could almost make up for the life he had lost. Almost. Trip still had to force himself to find contentment in his new circumstances, because he knew that if he kept longing for the past, kept trying to do things that were impossible for him to do, he'd go insane within a week.
It also helped to know that his crew mates hadn't given up on him yet either. If he had any doubts on that score they were dispelled every night when he had dinner with Hoshi. The meals started shortly after their return from the planet. The ensign suddenly appeared at his table and started sprouting off at him, in between bites of pasta, in some sort of foreign lingo and Trip was sure that, even if he hadn't been effected by that alien device, he wouldn't have understood a word she said. So Trip just smiled and let her ramble on in one dialect or another, content in spending time in her company, even if having a conversation with her was out of the question.
Hoshi, however, wasn't taking the situation quite so calmly. When the captain told her that Tucker should be able to comprehend some sort of language, even if it wasn't English, a lot of things began to make sense. She had tried to teach sign language to the engineer shortly after he was first injured and the attempt was a dismal failure. He was fine with simple gestures and was able to sign a letter or two, but forming words was beyond him and at the time she could not understand why, but now all was clear. She was teaching him sign language in English and whether it was with speech, writing or with sign it was English that he couldn't understand, no matter what form of communication was tried.
So, the hell with English. Now that they knew that Tucker should be able to speak some other tongue, the linguist was convinced that out of the dozens of languages she knew, along with their hundreds of dialects and variations, she should be able to find one that would enable her to speak with the engineer. So Hoshi spent every night going through every language in her repertoire, looking for any reaction from him that would indicate that she was on the right track.
She thought she had gotten close once when Tucker actually looked up at her when she said something. Thinking that she had the right root language, Sato kept switching from dialect to dialect, hoping to hit on something that the commander could understand, but after minutes of fruitless effort she finally gave up, but only for the moment. Tucker understood a language, of that she was certain, and one of these days she was going to find it.
TBC...
Back on the ship life returned to normal, or as normal as it got for Tucker these days. While he had enjoyed his little getaway on the planet, it still was difficult being placed in a situation with strangers and not understanding a damn thing that was going on, so Trip breathed a relaxing sigh of relief when he found himself safely back in his quarters once more. Tucker never thought that it could be possible but he was actually content to continue on with his schematic. He must have been coming to terms with the circumstances of his new situation, on his subconscious level at least, so he was kind of disappointed when, after only a few more days work, the design for his creation was finished.
Working on this blueprint was the only thing that saved him from that eternal damnation known as "being totally bored out of your skull", but now that the schematic was finished, what to do?
An idea began to nibble at the backside of Trip's mind. The blueprint was finished, so why didn't he go and build the darn thing. Naw... Trip hesitated. He couldn't do that. Could he? Tucker examined his drawing again. They had all of the parts and equipment that he needed on board, and the actual construction wouldn't really be all that difficult, but Tucker knew that the real challenge wasn't going to be putting this thing together, but in asking the captain if he could do it in the first place.
Trip sighed, and stared at the padd in his hand. God, how he hated to write, but there was nothing else for it. Trip may have been resigned to his fate but his momma didn't raise no fool. He poured himself a cup of coffee and then got real comfortable, before settling down to the long, arduous task of writing his captain a note.
________________
Three days later, padd in hand, Trip Tucker set foot on the bridge. He wanted to avoid a fuss so he didn't arrive by turbolift, but slipped in via the situation room door. It was the first time he had visited Enterprise's nerve center since his accident so Tucker just stood silently in the back and took it all in. At first glance all appeared to be peaceful. The Alpha team was at their posts, but all of the activity seemed to be routine and Trip relaxed a little. The last thing he wanted to do was interrupt anything important with his personal project, but there seemed to be no risk of that at the moment so Tucker cautiously edged his way forward.
Reed, ever on the alert, was the first one to notice his presence. After his startled exclamation the others became aware of Tucker as well.
Archer was out of his seat and at Trip's side in an instant. At first he was afraid that Tucker was in pain or some other kind of dire distress, since the captain knew damn well that only something vitally important would entice Trip to invade that communication's nightmare that was the bridge, but Trip's smile instantly allayed all his fears. Tucker wasn't here because something was terribly wrong, but more because something was right. Trip handed Archer a padd and John's eyes misted over when he read it. It was a simple request, only a few lines along with a list of parts, but John knew it must have taken Trip days to write it. Archer saw that Trip was looking at him nervously, as if there was any way John could deny this modest proposal. Still, John saw that Trip wondered, so Archer smiled, instantly putting all of Tucker's concerns to rest, then he turned control of the bridge over to T'Pol before leading Trip to the turbolift.
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"Damn it." Hess muttered under her breath. Oh, how she hated doing schedules, heck she hated doing anything that didn't involve getting her hands dirty fixing some sort of broken system or another, but most of all she hated being "Acting Chief Engineer" especially the "acting" part. Sure, she might want a command of her own some day, but she didn't want it this way. Not at the expense of Commander Tucker, a man she not only admired but was proud to call friend. It broke her heart when the commander visited engineering right after his accident. She had wanted everything to be normal for him so badly, but even Enterprise's simplest system was far too difficult for him to comprehend in his current state and Trip knew it. Tucker hadn't set foot in the room since that day, that's why it surprised the heck out of her to see the captain arrive with the commander in tow. For a few seconds Hess wildly hoped that the Tucker had been cured and was coming back to work, but the commander still wasn't talking and only greeted her with a silent wave. What was going on? "Captain?" Hess asked while flashing the warmest smile she could to let Trip know how happy she was to see her former CO.
"Trip has a request." Archer replied, handing her the padd.
Hess was appalled. Her CO felt that he had to ask her if he could have some spare parts and some space on a bench so he could work on a project that he had come up with. Like Archer before her Hess had to fight back the tears and forced a professional air while she addressed them both. "Of course, Captain, I'll get the commander squared away immediately."
"Thanks, Lieutenant. I knew I could count on you." Then Archer turned to Trip and made a show of handing him over to her care. Tucker smiled his thanks, and as she led him off to his new work station so he could start building... whatever it was, Archer was assailed with a conflict of mixed emotions.
On the positive side he was glad that Trip had come out of his shell and was actually working on something that the engineer obviously enjoyed and the project had the bonus of getting Tucker outside of his quarters as well. At the same time John had been the recipient of some good news from the home front. Starfleet had been greatly encouraged with the lead, slim as it was, given to Archer from the Delemex, and Admiral Forrest, just that morning, authorized Archer to allow Tucker to remain on board Enterprise for as long as necessary. Confident that John was much more likely to find help for Trip out on the frontier, where Enterprise could meet up with another race or come across some new technology that could help Tucker, rather than return the crippled engineer back to Earth where medical technology, in this area at least, was extremely limited.
While bolstered with the support from Starfleet, John still was frustrated because he hadn't been able to find concrete help for his friend. There had been no news from Jatikka regarding the alien transmitter that got Trip into this mess in the first place, and despite the fact that practically everyone on the ship had volunteered to play guinea pig, Archer refused to authorize any more experiments with the actual device itself. He just couldn't risk anyone else getting hurt.
Sighing, John forced himself to be content with the fact that he had helped Trip today. That was going to have to be enough, for now. Shoving aside his frustrations for the moment the captain returned to something he did have control of. His duty on the bridge.
____________
Trip was assailed with an odd little feeling while worked on his invention, one he didn't recognize at first, and when he did figure it out he was surprised, mainly because Tucker never really expected to experience it again, but facts were facts and couldn't be denied. Trip was happy.
Sure he had some bad moments. That couldn't be helped, especially now that he was actually spending time in engineering and was actually able to see what he'd been missing first hand. The knowledge that others could do the work that he loved, the work that was light-years out of reach hurt Tucker, a lot, but when Trip was finally ready, he did realize that there was a bright side. For the first time in years Trip was relieved of all responsibilities and all of the worries that went with it. Now he was only accountable to himself and thereby free to do whatever he wanted, the gizmo stretched out on the counter before him a case in point. His prototype was due to be finished in a couple of days, and he was going to get a real boost if it worked the way he hoped. So much so, that it could almost make up for the life he had lost. Almost. Trip still had to force himself to find contentment in his new circumstances, because he knew that if he kept longing for the past, kept trying to do things that were impossible for him to do, he'd go insane within a week.
It also helped to know that his crew mates hadn't given up on him yet either. If he had any doubts on that score they were dispelled every night when he had dinner with Hoshi. The meals started shortly after their return from the planet. The ensign suddenly appeared at his table and started sprouting off at him, in between bites of pasta, in some sort of foreign lingo and Trip was sure that, even if he hadn't been effected by that alien device, he wouldn't have understood a word she said. So Trip just smiled and let her ramble on in one dialect or another, content in spending time in her company, even if having a conversation with her was out of the question.
Hoshi, however, wasn't taking the situation quite so calmly. When the captain told her that Tucker should be able to comprehend some sort of language, even if it wasn't English, a lot of things began to make sense. She had tried to teach sign language to the engineer shortly after he was first injured and the attempt was a dismal failure. He was fine with simple gestures and was able to sign a letter or two, but forming words was beyond him and at the time she could not understand why, but now all was clear. She was teaching him sign language in English and whether it was with speech, writing or with sign it was English that he couldn't understand, no matter what form of communication was tried.
So, the hell with English. Now that they knew that Tucker should be able to speak some other tongue, the linguist was convinced that out of the dozens of languages she knew, along with their hundreds of dialects and variations, she should be able to find one that would enable her to speak with the engineer. So Hoshi spent every night going through every language in her repertoire, looking for any reaction from him that would indicate that she was on the right track.
She thought she had gotten close once when Tucker actually looked up at her when she said something. Thinking that she had the right root language, Sato kept switching from dialect to dialect, hoping to hit on something that the commander could understand, but after minutes of fruitless effort she finally gave up, but only for the moment. Tucker understood a language, of that she was certain, and one of these days she was going to find it.
TBC...