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Chapter Eight

It took Archer a couple hours to assemble the balloon. His crew had sent down more containers with lots of individual parts and instructions as how to put them together. T'Pol had read through them, guiding Archer through it. He liked it how they worked together on this. It would've taken a lot longer if he were here alone, needing to do this by himself. I wonder what would have happened if I was the only survivor, Archer thought. Or what if T'Pol hadn't been in the pod with me? He stopped working for a moment, gazing over to her, sitting completely lost in the instructions, probably calculating how long it will take them to reach the necessary height. I could just stand here all day, looking at her… As if able to read his mind, she looked up and smiled at him. Archer was very relieved to see that she had opened herself up to him by now. She didn't hide her emotions anymore in front of him. I hope that this won't stop once we're back on Enterprise. I would miss her perfect smile.

"Jonathan?"

"Yes, my darling?"

He had started calling her darling which she enjoyed very much. She had grown very accustomed to earth customs by now. She managed not to forget her Vulcan heritage but to be open to new and different habits that Jonathan had showed her. And smiling was one human habit that was very appealing to Jonathan, she had found out. T'Pol smiled at him. "I am done calculating the proper time and place as where to take off so Enterprise will be able to beam us aboard."

"That is good news!" I think… he added in his thoughts. He had come to like the thought of staying here with her forever. She sensed that he was hiding something.

"Is something wrong, Jonathan?"

He went to sit next to her, gazing off into the sky. "I don't know, T'Pol, if someone would've told me that we would be rescued right after the crash I would be ever so happy to return to my ship and crew, to carry out my dream again. But now… I mean, you said that it wouldn't be different, but it will be. I will be your captain again, and you will be my science officer. I doubt it will be easy to handle."

She took his hand. "I never said it would be easy. For me it will be very difficult if my Vulcan superiors find out about it. They might even recall me from Enterprise." His hand firmly closed around hers. She whispered in his ear. "I won't let them, Jonathan. I won't leave you."

He couldn't help himself but to kiss her. If she could manage to keep up the relationship and stand up to her superiors, he would manage too. He just had to. "You can't imagine, what you do to me, darling," he whispered back.

There, another smile. I should've brought my camera… maybe she'll pose for a picture later, when we're back on the ship. He thought about his crew, about every single member. An image of his bridge popped into his mind, he was seeing himself sitting in the captains chair, Hoshi, Malcolm, Travis and T'Pol at their stations and knowing that Trip would be in engineering, taking care of his engines. Those people were his friends. And now he was determined to get back to them. He jumped up. "Let me finish this balloon quick. I am almost done. We'll be good to go in less than an hour."

Archer kept his promise. Fifty minutes later the two of them were looking at a perfectly constructed balloon, with a little basket with just enough room for the two of them, with a gas bottle and lots of sand sacks hanging over the edge of the basket, waiting to be cut loose to start the ascent of the balloon. Two respiratory masked were placed next to the gas bottle, so that Archer and T'Pol would be able to breath properly once they reached the height in which the oxygen level was too low. Over the basket there hung a huge sphere made of some light and very resistant blue-colored fabric, filled with gas. The writing "Enterprise – Shuttlepod 0" was written in huge black letters over the balloon. Archer grinned. He proudly showed his work to T'Pol. A couple hours earlier, all the individual parts had been stuffed into containers, dropped off the starship and sent on their way to the surface. Now those parts would help them get back up to the ship again. "I am very excited about this, T'Pol, I have never taken a balloon-ride."

"Me neither. This kind of transportation is not efficient enough for Vulcans. We don't travel in balloons."

Did he hear some kind of regret in her voice? If so, this was her chance to ride one and prove to her people that traveling in a balloon could be more efficient than taking a shuttle. At least under those circumstances.

"I will quickly fetch us some blankets, it might get cold up there," Archer said, pointing into the sky.

"That is a very good idea, but don't take too long, we will need to lift off in four minutes to get the best start possible," T'Pol answered. Archer nodded and hurried to the hut. He came back with two blankets, some water and food rations.

"Just in case you get hungry on the way up, darling!"

He tossed the things in the basket and rushed to T'Pol to pick her up. He kissed her on the cheek.

"Prepare for the ride of your lifetime!" he shouted as he brought her to the basket, carefully placing her next to the supplies. He jumped in as well and put a blanket around his girl. She felt very comfortable, knowing that he was by her side, to take care of her. Everything would be fine.

"Thank you for everything, Jonathan." Archer could barely hear so, so soft was her whisper. He smiled at her as he cut the sand sacks off.

"Ignition sequence start… 3… 2… 1…" Archer looked like a little kid who managed to build his first model of a starship, trying it out the first time. He was captain again, commanding a vessel. It felt damn good. He would miss this planet, would keep every memory of his stay here as a precious one in his heart, but now he went to get back to his destiny. He knew it was right.

The balloon slowly took off, rising up into the sky. A long trip lay ahead of them.