Disclaimer: I do not now nor have I ever owned Enterprise or anything
associated with it. These characters are used without permission of the
owner, who would gain nothing by suing me. Thanks to Deedee for her ideas
and for beta reading this for me.
Tel-tor Chapter 1
Captain Jonathon Archer stared at the far wall of sick bay as he tried to assimilate what his chief medical officer had just told him. Doctor Phlox waited for a response with a worried expression on his face. His worry was well founded, because despite the doctor's best efforts T'Pols condition was getting worse.
Three days ago, after Phlox had relived T'Pol of duty, Captain Archer had a long talk with him about the limits of Doctor patient confidentiality. About how it couldn't always apply to serious condition in as enclosed an environment as a starship. For the most part it was the same lecture that Archer had given the doctor when he learned that T'Pol had kept her P'nar syndrome secret for over a year. Now he almost wished he hadn't insisted. Learning that T'Pol had enter the Vulcan mating cycle, which she called the Pon Farr, and that it might kill her had left him at a loss for what to do.
The Doctor's most recent report was the least encouraging yet; it showed that it was only a matter of days before T'Pols condition would start to cause irreparable organ and brain damage. The nearest Vulcan cruiser was days away and the planet itself weeks. "I thought you said you could find a way to control this Doctor." The words came out as something between an accusation and a plea.
"If it were just hormone fluctuations I could synthesize an agent to stabilize her endocrine system, but now her neurotransmitters have begun to overproduce." Phlox said pointing to a screen that displayed T'Pols bio- scans. "As soon as I neutralize one another spikes. Also her metabolism has accelerated; it's giving her a fever of over eighty-two degrees. In a few more hours she'll become dehydrated and hypoglycemic, when that happens the decreased blood flow will stared to inhibit renal function-"
Here Captain Archer interrupted the lecture with a shout. "Can't you find a way to stop it?"
"Captain, I haven't even been able to ascertain what's causing it." Phlox replied, "This isn't a virus or bacteria that can be gotten rid of, it's a genetically programmed hormonal cycle." Phlox sighed and his voice became more hesitant. "I think it's time to except that there isn't a medical solution to this". Archer gaped in shock at this statement.
"Phlox, you can't be giving up, not when T'Pols life is on the line." "I'm not. I just think that it's time to consider other options. "What other options are there?" Captain Archer felt a sinking feeling in his stomach of what would come next.
"This Pon Farr is the Vulcan mating cycle, the most effective resolution would be for T'Pol to, well to mate with someone." Phlox seemed almost as reluctant to suggest this as Archer was to hear it.
Archer shook his head, a look of frustration covering his face. "We've already checked, the nearest Vulcan cruiser is over ten days away, and you say that T'Pol wont last that long."
"Captain, her partner needn't be Vulcan, a human should be just as able to fulfill her needs." Both of them paused, neither wanting to be the one to state the obvious fallow up to this statement.
Archer glanced up at Phlox. "Any human?"
"Anyone could satisfy the physical requirements, but it would be best if it were someone T'Pol trusts and respects. However she has made if clear that no one else should know about this condition. In fact she was very upset when she learned that I had told you."
This interested the Captain; his own efforts to speak to T'Pol had not been met with success. "When did you talk to her?"
"Yesterday. I tried to see her again today but she wouldn't let me in, not even to bring her lunch. I had to take these scans thru the bulkhead. Phlox gestured to the information displayed on the oversized medical pad. A silence hung in the air as Captain Archer considered what the doctor had said. "She's not in her right mind then, not able to give consent."
Phlox nodded "She's not capable of making a logical decision, you have to make it for her."
Over last three days Phlox had hinted several times that Archer might have to help T'Pol 'resolve' the Pon Farr but this was the first time he had said it outright. Now Jonathon wondered if this was why Phlox had told him what was wrong with T'Pol in the first place.
Could he go to T'Pol, make love to her knowing that she could not choose but to accept him? Knowing that in the morning she might resent him or worse thank him and return to being the cold Vulcan, that either way their friendship would be destroyed? "I need to think about it."
Phlox replied with one of his knowing smirks but said nothing as Captain Archer left sickbay.
* * *
The corridor seemed oddly quiet as Captain Archer made his way back to his own quarters. Even though it was twenty three hundred hours usually he would have seen or heard someone in the halls. Instead all he heard was Doctor Phlox's last words endlessly repeating inside his head. He had to make the decision for her, but could he.
Without realizing it Captain Archer had walked past his own door and turned down the corridor that lead to T'Pols room. As he stood less then two meters from her door he realized that with out any conscious thought, part of him had decided what to do. He would help T'Pol get thru this, because protecting T'Pol had become second nature to him, as automatic as breathing. Whatever happened afterward, should she resent his interference, he would deal with as it came. Jonathon simply knew that he could not lose her to this fever, even if it might mean possibly losing her in another way.
Stepping up to the door Archer considered ringing the chime, but decided not to bother. If T'Pol was no longer letting Phlox in even to bring her food she was not likely to let him in. Instead he entered his command code and thumb print to override the lock and entered.
The first sight of T'Pol stopped him in his tracks just inside the door. She stood in the middle of the room clad only in a tee shirt and panties. Her exposed skin was covered in a thin sheen of sweat that caught the dim light of her meditation candles and made her skin glow. She was poised on the balls of her feet, and tensed as if preparing to run, or to attack.
However it was T'Pols face that made Jonathon's knees go weak. Her cheeks were flushed a dark green, he lips were swollen and her eyes glittered with passion. What ever he had been about to say was lost. Jonathon's mind was suddenly blank except for desire for the woman in front of him.
Jonathon took one slow step forward, then another until he was almost but not quite touching her. T'Pol remained motionless her gaze fixed on his chest as if she wasn't sure what she was seeing. He reached out and with one hand on her jaw lifted T'Pols face of their eyes met.
In that moment both felt something indescribable pass from her to him, and the next instant they were in each other's arms, both caught up in the fire of the Pon Farr.
Tel-tor: according to the Vulcan Language Dictionary is 'to bond, the co- joining of minds as in a marriage (verb)'
Tel-tor Chapter 1
Captain Jonathon Archer stared at the far wall of sick bay as he tried to assimilate what his chief medical officer had just told him. Doctor Phlox waited for a response with a worried expression on his face. His worry was well founded, because despite the doctor's best efforts T'Pols condition was getting worse.
Three days ago, after Phlox had relived T'Pol of duty, Captain Archer had a long talk with him about the limits of Doctor patient confidentiality. About how it couldn't always apply to serious condition in as enclosed an environment as a starship. For the most part it was the same lecture that Archer had given the doctor when he learned that T'Pol had kept her P'nar syndrome secret for over a year. Now he almost wished he hadn't insisted. Learning that T'Pol had enter the Vulcan mating cycle, which she called the Pon Farr, and that it might kill her had left him at a loss for what to do.
The Doctor's most recent report was the least encouraging yet; it showed that it was only a matter of days before T'Pols condition would start to cause irreparable organ and brain damage. The nearest Vulcan cruiser was days away and the planet itself weeks. "I thought you said you could find a way to control this Doctor." The words came out as something between an accusation and a plea.
"If it were just hormone fluctuations I could synthesize an agent to stabilize her endocrine system, but now her neurotransmitters have begun to overproduce." Phlox said pointing to a screen that displayed T'Pols bio- scans. "As soon as I neutralize one another spikes. Also her metabolism has accelerated; it's giving her a fever of over eighty-two degrees. In a few more hours she'll become dehydrated and hypoglycemic, when that happens the decreased blood flow will stared to inhibit renal function-"
Here Captain Archer interrupted the lecture with a shout. "Can't you find a way to stop it?"
"Captain, I haven't even been able to ascertain what's causing it." Phlox replied, "This isn't a virus or bacteria that can be gotten rid of, it's a genetically programmed hormonal cycle." Phlox sighed and his voice became more hesitant. "I think it's time to except that there isn't a medical solution to this". Archer gaped in shock at this statement.
"Phlox, you can't be giving up, not when T'Pols life is on the line." "I'm not. I just think that it's time to consider other options. "What other options are there?" Captain Archer felt a sinking feeling in his stomach of what would come next.
"This Pon Farr is the Vulcan mating cycle, the most effective resolution would be for T'Pol to, well to mate with someone." Phlox seemed almost as reluctant to suggest this as Archer was to hear it.
Archer shook his head, a look of frustration covering his face. "We've already checked, the nearest Vulcan cruiser is over ten days away, and you say that T'Pol wont last that long."
"Captain, her partner needn't be Vulcan, a human should be just as able to fulfill her needs." Both of them paused, neither wanting to be the one to state the obvious fallow up to this statement.
Archer glanced up at Phlox. "Any human?"
"Anyone could satisfy the physical requirements, but it would be best if it were someone T'Pol trusts and respects. However she has made if clear that no one else should know about this condition. In fact she was very upset when she learned that I had told you."
This interested the Captain; his own efforts to speak to T'Pol had not been met with success. "When did you talk to her?"
"Yesterday. I tried to see her again today but she wouldn't let me in, not even to bring her lunch. I had to take these scans thru the bulkhead. Phlox gestured to the information displayed on the oversized medical pad. A silence hung in the air as Captain Archer considered what the doctor had said. "She's not in her right mind then, not able to give consent."
Phlox nodded "She's not capable of making a logical decision, you have to make it for her."
Over last three days Phlox had hinted several times that Archer might have to help T'Pol 'resolve' the Pon Farr but this was the first time he had said it outright. Now Jonathon wondered if this was why Phlox had told him what was wrong with T'Pol in the first place.
Could he go to T'Pol, make love to her knowing that she could not choose but to accept him? Knowing that in the morning she might resent him or worse thank him and return to being the cold Vulcan, that either way their friendship would be destroyed? "I need to think about it."
Phlox replied with one of his knowing smirks but said nothing as Captain Archer left sickbay.
* * *
The corridor seemed oddly quiet as Captain Archer made his way back to his own quarters. Even though it was twenty three hundred hours usually he would have seen or heard someone in the halls. Instead all he heard was Doctor Phlox's last words endlessly repeating inside his head. He had to make the decision for her, but could he.
Without realizing it Captain Archer had walked past his own door and turned down the corridor that lead to T'Pols room. As he stood less then two meters from her door he realized that with out any conscious thought, part of him had decided what to do. He would help T'Pol get thru this, because protecting T'Pol had become second nature to him, as automatic as breathing. Whatever happened afterward, should she resent his interference, he would deal with as it came. Jonathon simply knew that he could not lose her to this fever, even if it might mean possibly losing her in another way.
Stepping up to the door Archer considered ringing the chime, but decided not to bother. If T'Pol was no longer letting Phlox in even to bring her food she was not likely to let him in. Instead he entered his command code and thumb print to override the lock and entered.
The first sight of T'Pol stopped him in his tracks just inside the door. She stood in the middle of the room clad only in a tee shirt and panties. Her exposed skin was covered in a thin sheen of sweat that caught the dim light of her meditation candles and made her skin glow. She was poised on the balls of her feet, and tensed as if preparing to run, or to attack.
However it was T'Pols face that made Jonathon's knees go weak. Her cheeks were flushed a dark green, he lips were swollen and her eyes glittered with passion. What ever he had been about to say was lost. Jonathon's mind was suddenly blank except for desire for the woman in front of him.
Jonathon took one slow step forward, then another until he was almost but not quite touching her. T'Pol remained motionless her gaze fixed on his chest as if she wasn't sure what she was seeing. He reached out and with one hand on her jaw lifted T'Pols face of their eyes met.
In that moment both felt something indescribable pass from her to him, and the next instant they were in each other's arms, both caught up in the fire of the Pon Farr.
Tel-tor: according to the Vulcan Language Dictionary is 'to bond, the co- joining of minds as in a marriage (verb)'