Chapter 3
Hoshi sat at her station listening to the endless silence of space. When she signed up for this mission, she had known there would be boring days, but for the past couple of days, there hadn't been much going on, except for yesterday when they had watched the archaic shuttle leave the Vulcan-like planet. Other than that, zip, nadda, nothing.
She was so bored, and listening to the faint beeping of the people around her working in one ear, and the silent sounds of space in the other, were threatening to lull her to sleep. Squeezing her eyes shut, she blinked away any sleepiness. She looked down at her console and saw a light blinking. There was a transmission coming in. She clicked on the icon to bring it up. Noting the Urgent label and the recipient of the letter, she turned to look at T'Pol. "Sub-Commander, I'm getting a transmission coming in for you marked Urgent." She articulated, trying to make herself sound proper. She always felt a little shadowed by the Vulcan woman.
"Thank you Ensign." T'Pol said and turned to the captain. "If I may, can I have it transferred to your ready room and read it there?"
Archer nodded. "Sure. Take your time. Nothings going on out here anyway." He heaved a sigh.
T'Pol turned back to Hoshi. "If you will, Ensign." She said, and made her way to the captain's ready room.
Hoshi went through the appropriate motions and transferred it, as per T'Pol's request, absently wondering as she did so, what was so urgent?
T'Pol sat down at the captain's desk and moved to open the transmission. Her fingers hovered over the key and she trembled slightly. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, and pressed the button. A short beep and the screen flickered, bringing up the old Vulcan letters she had missed seeing.
She swallowed as she read the inscribed type, then sent a short reply thanking Koss' family for the quick response. What she had feared…no not feared, suspected, was true. Koss, her former bond mate, was going through the Pon Farr.
Archer looked up as T'Pol walked back onto the bridge. She cast a small glance his way, and he read in her eyes a thousand questions. His brow knit together in a silent question, but she just walked to her station, and sat down, and began running her scans again. He looked out into the vast expanse of space before them and then back to T'Pol. Standing he looked over at his science officer. "Sub-Commander, may I speak with you in private?" He gestured to the door of his ready room.
She stood, without saying a word, and walked into his office. He followed behind her.
When the door had closed and he was sure of their privacy he turned to look at her. "What's going on?"
"What are you speaking of?" Her eyebrows rose.
"You know damned well what I'm talking about." He said, and watched as her eyebrows inched higher into her bangs at his choice words. "You get a message marked Urgent, and come out and not say a word. What's going on T'Pol?" He stressed the use of her first name, and not her title. He watched as her eyes watered a little and her face strained. A normal person would probably not notice this about her, but he had gotten good at reading her in the past few years. He took a step closer to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "T'Pol?" He whispered.
Her face softened for a split second, and then he saw the dam break as fire flared in her eyes. "Don't touch me." She yelled and swatted his hand away.
He took a step back, startled by her sudden outburst. Under his gaze, she was able to bring her emotions back into check. "I'm sorry, Captain. I seem to be having trouble with my emotions. My ability to suppress them is…wearing thin." She said, sheepishly.
"It's alright. Do you know what's causing it?" He had never been on the receiving end of Vulcan anger, and he didn't like that Vulcan being his first officer. She was silent and was looking everywhere but at him. "You do. What's causing it?"
She stayed quiet.
"I need to know when my officers are going through something. I can't have someone running around that's not at their best. You obviously aren't. What's going on?"
She swallowed and pinned him with a gaze that, if he didn't know any better, was full of want, of desire.
He licked his lips and watched as her breathing became ragged. She couldn't possibly be…no…no way.
She took a step towards him, and emitted a soft growl as he took a step away. "T'Pol, what is going on?"
His voice seemed to snap her out of her reverie and she blinked.
"It's not something we are comfortable talking about with…others." She said and walked past him to look out the window.
Ah, the proverbial "We" as in, "We, Vulcans. Others, You." He sighed and took a step towards her.
"I need to know." He said.
"I know." She turned. "If I am to explain to you what is happening, you have to understand everything. It's very…personal." Her brow twitched.
He gestured to a chair. "Sit." He offered.
She took his suggestion and sat down. Pausing, she took a breath and, he realized, she was gathering her thoughts. "When Vulcan's are young, early childhood, most are bonded with a mate, telepathically. It is expected that as the children grow, the bond will strengthen and grow as well, until the two are ready to be bonded for forever, in a sense, a human wedding. Once the bond is strong, the Vulcan's can feel what their mate feels."
Archer nodded. "Okay." He said slowly, starting to worry about where this was headed.
"I was bonded. His name was Koss. I dissolved our bond when I decided to stay on Enterprise during our first year."
Archer let out a slight breath he had been holding. "Alright. I'm with you so far." He said, urging her on.
"Every seven years, a Vulcan goes through something called the Pon Farr. It is our mating cycle. When a bond mate enters pon farr, their mate, starts to feel the answering call to it, and begins to go through pon farr as well."
"Is that what you are going through? This pon farr? I thought you said you had dissolved the bond with Kess." Archer replied.
"Koss. His name is Koss. And, yes, I did dissolve it, but we are still…branded, into each other's mind. The transmission I received notified me that Koss is indeed, entering Pon Farr. I sent a transmission to his family last night and that was their reply."
"How did you know to send it to his family? How did you know that it wasn't you that was entering pon farr?" He asked.
"The last few nights, I have been having disturbing dreams. I was unable to understand them. Last night, Koss was there, and I suspected that to be the case. So I contacted his family to see." She took another breath.
"Okay. So now that we know the problem, we can find a solution. It shouldn't be too hard." Archer said, and placed his hand on her folded hands in her lap.
She looked down at his hand and then back up at him. "There is a problem, Captain. There is no solution. My situation is rather unique. I have no bond mate anymore, neither does Koss. I left him, and I knew this was going to happen. I wasn't sure it would be so soon, but I knew one day, one or both of us would enter the Pon Farr, but I decided to leave him and my responsibilities behind, choosing Enterprise over them." She cried, tears streaming down her face as her emotions overtook her.
Archer, not knowing what else to do, gathered her up into his arms. Her face buried itself into his neck as the sobs racked her body. "Shh…its okay. We'll find a cure." He rocked her, and whispered nonsense into her ear, trying to calm her.
Her muffled voice came from his chin, "There is no cure. The only sure way to relieve the pon farr is to mate."
He felt her move up and lay her head on his shoulder, her breath gently blowing against the tender skin of his neck and ear. Swallowing involuntarily, he felt her lips lightly dance over his neck. Pulling back, he looked her in the eye. "We can't do this, T'Pol."
"We have to. It's the only way. If I can't stop the pon farr, I will die." She said, fastening him with a smoldering gaze.
"What if Koss mates? Won't that stop your pon farr, since this isn't exactly yours, but just an offshoot of his?" Archer bumbled and bit his lip.
"I'm not sure. Like I said, this is a unique situation. I've never heard of anything about other dissolved bonds. As I said, we don't speak of this." She said and her fingers absently skimmed through the hair at the nape of his neck.
Archer swallowed again. What was he going to do?
Continued in Chapter 4
Hoshi sat at her station listening to the endless silence of space. When she signed up for this mission, she had known there would be boring days, but for the past couple of days, there hadn't been much going on, except for yesterday when they had watched the archaic shuttle leave the Vulcan-like planet. Other than that, zip, nadda, nothing.
She was so bored, and listening to the faint beeping of the people around her working in one ear, and the silent sounds of space in the other, were threatening to lull her to sleep. Squeezing her eyes shut, she blinked away any sleepiness. She looked down at her console and saw a light blinking. There was a transmission coming in. She clicked on the icon to bring it up. Noting the Urgent label and the recipient of the letter, she turned to look at T'Pol. "Sub-Commander, I'm getting a transmission coming in for you marked Urgent." She articulated, trying to make herself sound proper. She always felt a little shadowed by the Vulcan woman.
"Thank you Ensign." T'Pol said and turned to the captain. "If I may, can I have it transferred to your ready room and read it there?"
Archer nodded. "Sure. Take your time. Nothings going on out here anyway." He heaved a sigh.
T'Pol turned back to Hoshi. "If you will, Ensign." She said, and made her way to the captain's ready room.
Hoshi went through the appropriate motions and transferred it, as per T'Pol's request, absently wondering as she did so, what was so urgent?
T'Pol sat down at the captain's desk and moved to open the transmission. Her fingers hovered over the key and she trembled slightly. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, and pressed the button. A short beep and the screen flickered, bringing up the old Vulcan letters she had missed seeing.
She swallowed as she read the inscribed type, then sent a short reply thanking Koss' family for the quick response. What she had feared…no not feared, suspected, was true. Koss, her former bond mate, was going through the Pon Farr.
Archer looked up as T'Pol walked back onto the bridge. She cast a small glance his way, and he read in her eyes a thousand questions. His brow knit together in a silent question, but she just walked to her station, and sat down, and began running her scans again. He looked out into the vast expanse of space before them and then back to T'Pol. Standing he looked over at his science officer. "Sub-Commander, may I speak with you in private?" He gestured to the door of his ready room.
She stood, without saying a word, and walked into his office. He followed behind her.
When the door had closed and he was sure of their privacy he turned to look at her. "What's going on?"
"What are you speaking of?" Her eyebrows rose.
"You know damned well what I'm talking about." He said, and watched as her eyebrows inched higher into her bangs at his choice words. "You get a message marked Urgent, and come out and not say a word. What's going on T'Pol?" He stressed the use of her first name, and not her title. He watched as her eyes watered a little and her face strained. A normal person would probably not notice this about her, but he had gotten good at reading her in the past few years. He took a step closer to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "T'Pol?" He whispered.
Her face softened for a split second, and then he saw the dam break as fire flared in her eyes. "Don't touch me." She yelled and swatted his hand away.
He took a step back, startled by her sudden outburst. Under his gaze, she was able to bring her emotions back into check. "I'm sorry, Captain. I seem to be having trouble with my emotions. My ability to suppress them is…wearing thin." She said, sheepishly.
"It's alright. Do you know what's causing it?" He had never been on the receiving end of Vulcan anger, and he didn't like that Vulcan being his first officer. She was silent and was looking everywhere but at him. "You do. What's causing it?"
She stayed quiet.
"I need to know when my officers are going through something. I can't have someone running around that's not at their best. You obviously aren't. What's going on?"
She swallowed and pinned him with a gaze that, if he didn't know any better, was full of want, of desire.
He licked his lips and watched as her breathing became ragged. She couldn't possibly be…no…no way.
She took a step towards him, and emitted a soft growl as he took a step away. "T'Pol, what is going on?"
His voice seemed to snap her out of her reverie and she blinked.
"It's not something we are comfortable talking about with…others." She said and walked past him to look out the window.
Ah, the proverbial "We" as in, "We, Vulcans. Others, You." He sighed and took a step towards her.
"I need to know." He said.
"I know." She turned. "If I am to explain to you what is happening, you have to understand everything. It's very…personal." Her brow twitched.
He gestured to a chair. "Sit." He offered.
She took his suggestion and sat down. Pausing, she took a breath and, he realized, she was gathering her thoughts. "When Vulcan's are young, early childhood, most are bonded with a mate, telepathically. It is expected that as the children grow, the bond will strengthen and grow as well, until the two are ready to be bonded for forever, in a sense, a human wedding. Once the bond is strong, the Vulcan's can feel what their mate feels."
Archer nodded. "Okay." He said slowly, starting to worry about where this was headed.
"I was bonded. His name was Koss. I dissolved our bond when I decided to stay on Enterprise during our first year."
Archer let out a slight breath he had been holding. "Alright. I'm with you so far." He said, urging her on.
"Every seven years, a Vulcan goes through something called the Pon Farr. It is our mating cycle. When a bond mate enters pon farr, their mate, starts to feel the answering call to it, and begins to go through pon farr as well."
"Is that what you are going through? This pon farr? I thought you said you had dissolved the bond with Kess." Archer replied.
"Koss. His name is Koss. And, yes, I did dissolve it, but we are still…branded, into each other's mind. The transmission I received notified me that Koss is indeed, entering Pon Farr. I sent a transmission to his family last night and that was their reply."
"How did you know to send it to his family? How did you know that it wasn't you that was entering pon farr?" He asked.
"The last few nights, I have been having disturbing dreams. I was unable to understand them. Last night, Koss was there, and I suspected that to be the case. So I contacted his family to see." She took another breath.
"Okay. So now that we know the problem, we can find a solution. It shouldn't be too hard." Archer said, and placed his hand on her folded hands in her lap.
She looked down at his hand and then back up at him. "There is a problem, Captain. There is no solution. My situation is rather unique. I have no bond mate anymore, neither does Koss. I left him, and I knew this was going to happen. I wasn't sure it would be so soon, but I knew one day, one or both of us would enter the Pon Farr, but I decided to leave him and my responsibilities behind, choosing Enterprise over them." She cried, tears streaming down her face as her emotions overtook her.
Archer, not knowing what else to do, gathered her up into his arms. Her face buried itself into his neck as the sobs racked her body. "Shh…its okay. We'll find a cure." He rocked her, and whispered nonsense into her ear, trying to calm her.
Her muffled voice came from his chin, "There is no cure. The only sure way to relieve the pon farr is to mate."
He felt her move up and lay her head on his shoulder, her breath gently blowing against the tender skin of his neck and ear. Swallowing involuntarily, he felt her lips lightly dance over his neck. Pulling back, he looked her in the eye. "We can't do this, T'Pol."
"We have to. It's the only way. If I can't stop the pon farr, I will die." She said, fastening him with a smoldering gaze.
"What if Koss mates? Won't that stop your pon farr, since this isn't exactly yours, but just an offshoot of his?" Archer bumbled and bit his lip.
"I'm not sure. Like I said, this is a unique situation. I've never heard of anything about other dissolved bonds. As I said, we don't speak of this." She said and her fingers absently skimmed through the hair at the nape of his neck.
Archer swallowed again. What was he going to do?
Continued in Chapter 4
