He Who Fights With Monsters
By Thalia Drogna
*********************************************
When Trip woke up, he knew something was different. He tried to remember what had happened before he went to sleep but his memories were a jumble. There was something very important that he needed to remember but he couldn't quite grasp on to what it was. He attempted to open his eyes but they wouldn't move.
"Why does it feel like I'm awake but like I'm asleep at the same time?"
"Unknown," said the nanites in reply.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"We have been integrated into a new system," replied the nanites.
"Trip," said a voice.
"Shar Jen?" he asked.
"Yes, it's me. The conjoining was a success. You are now the core of the Rel Sevanne's computer," said Shar Jen.
"Why can't I see you?" he asked.
"You need to access the surveillance cameras. They are your eyes now. You'll be able to tap into any sensors across the ship," said Shar Jen. "Listen to the ship, it will talk to you. I know that you are used to separating out what the nanites say to you, just do that with the ship and you will be able to access any system that you want to."
Trip reached out and felt the ship. It was as if his body had suddenly extended. His skin was now the hull of the Rel Sevanne, he felt the internal warmth and the external cold of space. The internal temperature was correct, he knew instinctively. The nanites were working overtime, feeding him information from hundreds of different systems but somehow his brain was coping with the increased flow of data. He felt the warp engines pulsing as if they were his heart. He detected the Tien life signs inside the ship, thousands of them, and two humans and one Vulcan. He registered that the humans and the Vulcan were important but he couldn't work out why.
He accessed the cameras and saw Shar Jen standing in the computer room. In front of her was the black cylinder and Trip knew there was something about that which he was forgetting. "I can see you," said Trip. "This is amazing."
"Trip, there's something else you need to do," said Shar Jen. "There are invaders on the ship. We need to find them and remove them."
"I can see them," said Trip. "I think I know them."
"You do know them, but they are not Tien and should return to their own ship," said Shar Jen. "They don't belong here anymore. Tell Nils Fen where he can find them."
"I'm not sure I should tell you where they are. There's some reason that I shouldn't," said Trip.
"You are part of the Tien now Trip," said Shar Jen. "You must protect the Rel Sevanne and that means we must apprehend these aliens."
"Why can't I remember who they are? Why can't I remember what happened?" he asked urgently.
"Your memory will return as you become more alert. It is a side affect of the conjoining," said Shar Jen. She was monitoring Trip's vitals and had noticed an increase in his heart and breathing. "It's okay, Trip. Everything is going to be fine. Just relax and listen to the ship."
"It's just I don't think I should be here," said Trip. "Something is really wrong about this."
"Everything is fine. This is where you are meant to be. You are being looked after. Now tell me where the aliens are," said Shar Jen.
"Erm, okay. They're here," said Trip.
"Here?" asked Shar Jen.
"Yeah, they're waiting in the corridor. I don't think they like your guards very much. Malcolm just stunned one of them with his phase pistol. Hey, I know what he's called and the others are Captain Archer and T'Pol. Maybe my memory's coming back," said Trip.
"Call Nils Fen and tell him to send another security team," said Shar Jen.
"Yes, Ma'am," replied Trip. "You've got a rather one sided fire fight going on in your corridor." In the background he could hear his own voice asking Nils Fen to send security to their section. Another piece of memory returned to him, he knew that he was part of a computer, and with a flash he had visions of everything that had happened to him the past few days.
"Son of a bitch. You did it. Didn't you?" he asked Shar Jen. "You plugged me into your computer even when I told you I didn't want this."
"I'm sorry Trip, but we had no choice," said Shar Jen. "Now you have access to our databanks you can see for yourself why we had to do it."
"I don't care about your databanks, get me out of here!" said Trip.
"I can't. Ten En is dead. If we remove you from the computer, the Rel Sevanne will cease to function and we will all die," said Shar Jen. "You have the data, you know that I am telling you the truth. Search the databanks and see for yourself."
"Damn," said Trip, the nanites had returned the data Shar Jen had told him to look for. "You're right, if you disconnect me, you all die. Two thousand Tien, men, women and children." He knew he couldn't do it, no matter how much he wanted to go back to Enterprise he couldn't just let the Tien die.
"You're part of the Rel Sevanne now and part of the Tien. You're one of us now, Trip," said Shar Jen.
"I'm not one of you and I never will be. I didn't ask for this, you kidnapped me, drugged me and wired me in. I'm not going to stop until I've found a way out of this. I may be stuck here but I don't have to like it," said Trip.
"Denying your circumstances won't make them go away. This is your life now and the sooner you accept it, the sooner you will be happy here," said Shar Jen.
"I'm not denying anything. I know what's got to happen," said Trip. "But I can hope."
"Have the guards caught your friends yet?" asked Shar Jen.
"No, Malcolm is putting up quite a fight, he's got your guys pinned and a nice defensible position in a doorway." He put the image up on the view screen so that Shar Jen could see it too. "You are going to let me see them before you send them back to Enterprise, aren't you?" said Trip.
"I somehow doubt that we would have been able to persuade them to leave without seeing to you first," said Shar Jen. "It was never our intention to kill them, just keep them occupied until we had conjoined you."
"Yeah, I hoped that was what this was all about," said Trip. "I hoped that I hadn't been wrong about you. I think I could probably get Malcolm to put down his phase pistol, do you mind if I talk to them? Might save everyone a hell of a lot of trouble."
"Go ahead, you are the Patriarch, it is your prerogative to handle the situation as you see fit. Although the Senior Council will be watching you until we are happy that you have settled in," said Shar Jen.
"I understand, you just want to make sure the power's not going to my head. What are you going to do if I'm not up to it?" he asked.
"We can cut you out of the decision making process and confine your duties to running the ship's systems. There are also emergency manual overrides for most systems. If you were to refuse to co-operate completely we have ways to make you compliant, but so far we have never had to make use of those," said Shar Jen. "I doubt the Senior Council would have the courage except in the most desperate of circumstances."
"What sort of ways?" asked Trip, although he wasn't really sure he wanted her to answer.
"We can disable the higher brain functions of anyone who is conjoined if necessary. You would be reduced to the intellect of a child and would do everything that we told you to," said Shar Jen.
"I see. You just need my brain, you don't need me," said Trip.
"It is not that simple. There is a reason why our Patriarch is conjoined," said Shar Jen, "you have information easily accessible that we would take time to access in a crisis. You are the best informed person about the status of the ship and its people. That knowledge makes you the best placed person to lead us. We don't want to loose that if we can avoid it."
"I get the picture, you'd prefer it if I didn't give them reason to take my mind," said Trip.
"I have no doubt that you would prefer it that way too. When we chose you, we also hoped you would make a good Patriarch and not only a new component for our computer," said Shar Jen. "Talk to your friends, tell them to put down their weapons and the guards will bring them to the computer room."
"Okay," said Trip. He reached out into the ship and separated the system that he needed from the rest of the noise and opened the intercom channel to the corridor where Reed, Archer and T'Pol were holding off the Tien guards. "Malcolm, this is Commander Tucker, put your phase pistol down."
"Trip?" said Malcolm. He recognised the familiar southern accent but couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Yeah, it's me. You can stop blasting the hell out of the Tien now," said Trip. "Nils Fen, if you wouldn't mind escorting Lieutenant Reed, Captain Archer and Sub-commander T'Pol to the computer room."
"Hold it," said Archer. "Malcolm, don't do anything. Trip, what's going on? Are you okay?"
"I'm...erm...well I guess I'm okay. This is going to take some explaining, you'd best come to the computer room with Nils Fen and I'll tell you what this is all about."
"How do we even know that you are Trip?" asked Reed. "This could all just be a trick to get us to surrender."
"Typical Malcolm, always looking for the trap. Erm, let's see. Okay, I know that your favourite food is pineapple cake and I know that Jon's dog is called Porthos," said Trip.
"That isn't exactly top secret," said Reed.
"I know that T'Pol broke off her engagement to stay on Enterprise," said Trip.
"I can confirm that is Commander Tucker," said T'Pol.
"Engagement?" asked Archer, "I didn't even know that."
"It was a personal matter and Doctor Phlox suggested that I discuss it with someone that I trusted," said T'Pol. "Since the Commander had already opened a personal communication, he already knew the details and was the logical person to discuss it with."
"I'm sorry, T'Pol, I couldn't think of anything else that only you'd know about," said Trip. He knew that only a tiny part of his mind was on the conversation at all, the rest of it was occupied with ship's business and the various systems of the Rel Sevanne.
"That is quite alright, Commander. I believe the circumstances demanded it," replied T'Pol. Trip could tell that she wasn't exactly pleased with him though.
"If you would follow me," said Nils Fen to the three officers. Trip saw Reed holster his phase pistol and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He had no idea what his body was doing, he couldn't feel it anymore and curiously he wasn't bothered by that. He guessed that he had too much else on his mind, running a ship was taking up a lot of his mental energy. He watched as the guards ushered his friends towards the computer room.
"Hi Captain, Malcolm, T'Pol," said Trip.
"Trip, where are you? Shar Jen, what is going on? I want to see Trip now!" said Archer in angry tones.
"Show him, Shar Jen," said Trip, "There isn't any other way that he's going to believe this."
Shar Jen went to the black metal cylinder that dominated the room and pulled open the covering to reveal the human inside. Trip lay supported by a cradle of black material, covered in electronics with wires emerging from his body. His eyes were closed and his face peaceful. It was the first time that Trip had seen himself and it made him feel cold inside to see himself immobile and so lifeless looking.
"What the hell have you done to him!" shouted Archer at Shar Jen, she stood impassive not even flinching at his shout. "Get him out of there now, we're going back to Enterprise immediately." Beside him Trip noted that Malcolm had quickly hidden his look of utter surprise and was now reaching for his phase pistol and thinking about finding someone to shoot. T'Pol had, in true Vulcan fashion, pulled out her tri-corder and was taking scans.
"It's not quite that simple, Captain," said Trip. "You see I'm integrated into the Rel Sevanne's computer and if you remove me then a lot of Tien are going to die. As much as I'd like to come back to Enterprise with you, I can't with all these people depending on me."
"Trip, just start from the beginning. How did this happen?" said Archer, going up to the cylinder and looking into the unmoving face of his friend.
"Well, the Tien computer has an organic component. The previous guy to occupy this position was Ten En, you remember him?" said Trip.
"I didn't actually ever get to meet him," said Archer.
"That's because their Patriarch is part of their computer. He was part of a long line of Tien that were genetically engineered to be able to join with the Rel Sevanne's computer. The only problem is that Ten En didn't have any kids, so when Ten En died the Rel Sevanne would be dead in the water because the computer doesn't work without an organic component. So basically they needed a replacement part and when I came along they realised that was me," said Trip.
"You're saying that you did this willingly?" said Archer in disbelief.
"Well no, I was kind of dragged kicking and screaming, but now I'm here I'm sort of stuck with it," said Trip. He saw Archer start to get angry again.
"Why you?" asked Archer, his anger very nearly spilling over.
"Because of the nanites. They mean I can interface with the computer and ship's systems. I'm the only option that they had. They were pretty desperate, Captain. Ten En is dead. He was really old and died when he was removed from the computer. You must have seen the power failure when they took him out and before they plugged me in? The ship can't function without someone to act as the central processor for their computer."
"They forced you into this and you're defending them?" said Archer angrily.
"Well, maybe not defending them, but I guess I've developed a slightly different perspective on things now that I've got two thousand people depending on me," said Trip.
"I don't believe this," said Archer, turning on Shar Jen. "We offered you help and you kidnap my Chief Engineer to make him part of your computer."
"We are grateful for your help, Captain Archer," said Shar Jen, "but you have to understand we really did have no other choice. If we had not found Trip, we would all be dead. I didn't want to force him into this, it is against our ethical code but there was no other way to save our people."
"T'Pol, is what they're saying true?" he asked. "Will the Tien die if we remove Trip?"
"I believe that they are telling the truth," said T'Pol.
"Is he okay in there?" he asked her.
"His vitals are all strong. It seems as if there are a number of monitoring devices keeping track of his biosigns. They have connected him to a life support system, he should be able to survive indefinitely like this," said T'Pol.
"No more pecan pie though," said Trip, trying hard to lighten the mood, but it wasn't working. Archer couldn't get over the strangeness of hearing his friend's voice but not seeing his lips move. His face was still peaceful as if he was asleep.
"That's the least of our worries, Trip," said Reed. "What are we going to do, Captain? We can't leave him like this."
"I don't think we have much choice for the moment, Malcolm," said Archer. "T'Pol, I want you to take as many scans as you can and get to work on some way that we can get Trip out of here."
"It won't work," said Trip. "The Tien have already tried to find a way to stop the computer from depending on an organic central processor, they started their research when they realised the Ten En was the last of his line. I can give you the files, T'Pol, but it won't help."
"Nevertheless I will examine them before I come to a conclusion regarding whether it is possible or not," replied T'Pol.
"Captain, there's only one way this is going to play out," said Trip. "You've got to leave me here and continue with the mission."
"Trip, you're being ridiculous," said Reed. "We're not leaving you behind." Archer gave Reed a look which said it all, he wasn't sure that they weren't going to be leaving Trip behind.
"There isn't any other way, Malcolm," said Trip. Reed didn't know what to say so he decided not to say anything. "We could still use Enterprise's help finishing the repairs to the Rel Sevanne though, so we've got a couple of days to come up with something. If we've got nothing by then, well, we'll just have to go our separate ways."
"Trip, if we do that we don't know when or if we can get back to you. The Rel Sevanne could be anywhere by then and I know those engines do a lot more than warp five," said Archer.
"Yeah, they do more than warp five," said Trip. "I'm not expecting you to come back for me. I may not have wanted this, but it's happened, and I'm just going to have to make the best of it. I've got a whole race depending on me to look after them. I guess you'd better consider this my official resignation from Starfleet."
****
By Thalia Drogna
*********************************************
When Trip woke up, he knew something was different. He tried to remember what had happened before he went to sleep but his memories were a jumble. There was something very important that he needed to remember but he couldn't quite grasp on to what it was. He attempted to open his eyes but they wouldn't move.
"Why does it feel like I'm awake but like I'm asleep at the same time?"
"Unknown," said the nanites in reply.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"We have been integrated into a new system," replied the nanites.
"Trip," said a voice.
"Shar Jen?" he asked.
"Yes, it's me. The conjoining was a success. You are now the core of the Rel Sevanne's computer," said Shar Jen.
"Why can't I see you?" he asked.
"You need to access the surveillance cameras. They are your eyes now. You'll be able to tap into any sensors across the ship," said Shar Jen. "Listen to the ship, it will talk to you. I know that you are used to separating out what the nanites say to you, just do that with the ship and you will be able to access any system that you want to."
Trip reached out and felt the ship. It was as if his body had suddenly extended. His skin was now the hull of the Rel Sevanne, he felt the internal warmth and the external cold of space. The internal temperature was correct, he knew instinctively. The nanites were working overtime, feeding him information from hundreds of different systems but somehow his brain was coping with the increased flow of data. He felt the warp engines pulsing as if they were his heart. He detected the Tien life signs inside the ship, thousands of them, and two humans and one Vulcan. He registered that the humans and the Vulcan were important but he couldn't work out why.
He accessed the cameras and saw Shar Jen standing in the computer room. In front of her was the black cylinder and Trip knew there was something about that which he was forgetting. "I can see you," said Trip. "This is amazing."
"Trip, there's something else you need to do," said Shar Jen. "There are invaders on the ship. We need to find them and remove them."
"I can see them," said Trip. "I think I know them."
"You do know them, but they are not Tien and should return to their own ship," said Shar Jen. "They don't belong here anymore. Tell Nils Fen where he can find them."
"I'm not sure I should tell you where they are. There's some reason that I shouldn't," said Trip.
"You are part of the Tien now Trip," said Shar Jen. "You must protect the Rel Sevanne and that means we must apprehend these aliens."
"Why can't I remember who they are? Why can't I remember what happened?" he asked urgently.
"Your memory will return as you become more alert. It is a side affect of the conjoining," said Shar Jen. She was monitoring Trip's vitals and had noticed an increase in his heart and breathing. "It's okay, Trip. Everything is going to be fine. Just relax and listen to the ship."
"It's just I don't think I should be here," said Trip. "Something is really wrong about this."
"Everything is fine. This is where you are meant to be. You are being looked after. Now tell me where the aliens are," said Shar Jen.
"Erm, okay. They're here," said Trip.
"Here?" asked Shar Jen.
"Yeah, they're waiting in the corridor. I don't think they like your guards very much. Malcolm just stunned one of them with his phase pistol. Hey, I know what he's called and the others are Captain Archer and T'Pol. Maybe my memory's coming back," said Trip.
"Call Nils Fen and tell him to send another security team," said Shar Jen.
"Yes, Ma'am," replied Trip. "You've got a rather one sided fire fight going on in your corridor." In the background he could hear his own voice asking Nils Fen to send security to their section. Another piece of memory returned to him, he knew that he was part of a computer, and with a flash he had visions of everything that had happened to him the past few days.
"Son of a bitch. You did it. Didn't you?" he asked Shar Jen. "You plugged me into your computer even when I told you I didn't want this."
"I'm sorry Trip, but we had no choice," said Shar Jen. "Now you have access to our databanks you can see for yourself why we had to do it."
"I don't care about your databanks, get me out of here!" said Trip.
"I can't. Ten En is dead. If we remove you from the computer, the Rel Sevanne will cease to function and we will all die," said Shar Jen. "You have the data, you know that I am telling you the truth. Search the databanks and see for yourself."
"Damn," said Trip, the nanites had returned the data Shar Jen had told him to look for. "You're right, if you disconnect me, you all die. Two thousand Tien, men, women and children." He knew he couldn't do it, no matter how much he wanted to go back to Enterprise he couldn't just let the Tien die.
"You're part of the Rel Sevanne now and part of the Tien. You're one of us now, Trip," said Shar Jen.
"I'm not one of you and I never will be. I didn't ask for this, you kidnapped me, drugged me and wired me in. I'm not going to stop until I've found a way out of this. I may be stuck here but I don't have to like it," said Trip.
"Denying your circumstances won't make them go away. This is your life now and the sooner you accept it, the sooner you will be happy here," said Shar Jen.
"I'm not denying anything. I know what's got to happen," said Trip. "But I can hope."
"Have the guards caught your friends yet?" asked Shar Jen.
"No, Malcolm is putting up quite a fight, he's got your guys pinned and a nice defensible position in a doorway." He put the image up on the view screen so that Shar Jen could see it too. "You are going to let me see them before you send them back to Enterprise, aren't you?" said Trip.
"I somehow doubt that we would have been able to persuade them to leave without seeing to you first," said Shar Jen. "It was never our intention to kill them, just keep them occupied until we had conjoined you."
"Yeah, I hoped that was what this was all about," said Trip. "I hoped that I hadn't been wrong about you. I think I could probably get Malcolm to put down his phase pistol, do you mind if I talk to them? Might save everyone a hell of a lot of trouble."
"Go ahead, you are the Patriarch, it is your prerogative to handle the situation as you see fit. Although the Senior Council will be watching you until we are happy that you have settled in," said Shar Jen.
"I understand, you just want to make sure the power's not going to my head. What are you going to do if I'm not up to it?" he asked.
"We can cut you out of the decision making process and confine your duties to running the ship's systems. There are also emergency manual overrides for most systems. If you were to refuse to co-operate completely we have ways to make you compliant, but so far we have never had to make use of those," said Shar Jen. "I doubt the Senior Council would have the courage except in the most desperate of circumstances."
"What sort of ways?" asked Trip, although he wasn't really sure he wanted her to answer.
"We can disable the higher brain functions of anyone who is conjoined if necessary. You would be reduced to the intellect of a child and would do everything that we told you to," said Shar Jen.
"I see. You just need my brain, you don't need me," said Trip.
"It is not that simple. There is a reason why our Patriarch is conjoined," said Shar Jen, "you have information easily accessible that we would take time to access in a crisis. You are the best informed person about the status of the ship and its people. That knowledge makes you the best placed person to lead us. We don't want to loose that if we can avoid it."
"I get the picture, you'd prefer it if I didn't give them reason to take my mind," said Trip.
"I have no doubt that you would prefer it that way too. When we chose you, we also hoped you would make a good Patriarch and not only a new component for our computer," said Shar Jen. "Talk to your friends, tell them to put down their weapons and the guards will bring them to the computer room."
"Okay," said Trip. He reached out into the ship and separated the system that he needed from the rest of the noise and opened the intercom channel to the corridor where Reed, Archer and T'Pol were holding off the Tien guards. "Malcolm, this is Commander Tucker, put your phase pistol down."
"Trip?" said Malcolm. He recognised the familiar southern accent but couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Yeah, it's me. You can stop blasting the hell out of the Tien now," said Trip. "Nils Fen, if you wouldn't mind escorting Lieutenant Reed, Captain Archer and Sub-commander T'Pol to the computer room."
"Hold it," said Archer. "Malcolm, don't do anything. Trip, what's going on? Are you okay?"
"I'm...erm...well I guess I'm okay. This is going to take some explaining, you'd best come to the computer room with Nils Fen and I'll tell you what this is all about."
"How do we even know that you are Trip?" asked Reed. "This could all just be a trick to get us to surrender."
"Typical Malcolm, always looking for the trap. Erm, let's see. Okay, I know that your favourite food is pineapple cake and I know that Jon's dog is called Porthos," said Trip.
"That isn't exactly top secret," said Reed.
"I know that T'Pol broke off her engagement to stay on Enterprise," said Trip.
"I can confirm that is Commander Tucker," said T'Pol.
"Engagement?" asked Archer, "I didn't even know that."
"It was a personal matter and Doctor Phlox suggested that I discuss it with someone that I trusted," said T'Pol. "Since the Commander had already opened a personal communication, he already knew the details and was the logical person to discuss it with."
"I'm sorry, T'Pol, I couldn't think of anything else that only you'd know about," said Trip. He knew that only a tiny part of his mind was on the conversation at all, the rest of it was occupied with ship's business and the various systems of the Rel Sevanne.
"That is quite alright, Commander. I believe the circumstances demanded it," replied T'Pol. Trip could tell that she wasn't exactly pleased with him though.
"If you would follow me," said Nils Fen to the three officers. Trip saw Reed holster his phase pistol and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He had no idea what his body was doing, he couldn't feel it anymore and curiously he wasn't bothered by that. He guessed that he had too much else on his mind, running a ship was taking up a lot of his mental energy. He watched as the guards ushered his friends towards the computer room.
"Hi Captain, Malcolm, T'Pol," said Trip.
"Trip, where are you? Shar Jen, what is going on? I want to see Trip now!" said Archer in angry tones.
"Show him, Shar Jen," said Trip, "There isn't any other way that he's going to believe this."
Shar Jen went to the black metal cylinder that dominated the room and pulled open the covering to reveal the human inside. Trip lay supported by a cradle of black material, covered in electronics with wires emerging from his body. His eyes were closed and his face peaceful. It was the first time that Trip had seen himself and it made him feel cold inside to see himself immobile and so lifeless looking.
"What the hell have you done to him!" shouted Archer at Shar Jen, she stood impassive not even flinching at his shout. "Get him out of there now, we're going back to Enterprise immediately." Beside him Trip noted that Malcolm had quickly hidden his look of utter surprise and was now reaching for his phase pistol and thinking about finding someone to shoot. T'Pol had, in true Vulcan fashion, pulled out her tri-corder and was taking scans.
"It's not quite that simple, Captain," said Trip. "You see I'm integrated into the Rel Sevanne's computer and if you remove me then a lot of Tien are going to die. As much as I'd like to come back to Enterprise with you, I can't with all these people depending on me."
"Trip, just start from the beginning. How did this happen?" said Archer, going up to the cylinder and looking into the unmoving face of his friend.
"Well, the Tien computer has an organic component. The previous guy to occupy this position was Ten En, you remember him?" said Trip.
"I didn't actually ever get to meet him," said Archer.
"That's because their Patriarch is part of their computer. He was part of a long line of Tien that were genetically engineered to be able to join with the Rel Sevanne's computer. The only problem is that Ten En didn't have any kids, so when Ten En died the Rel Sevanne would be dead in the water because the computer doesn't work without an organic component. So basically they needed a replacement part and when I came along they realised that was me," said Trip.
"You're saying that you did this willingly?" said Archer in disbelief.
"Well no, I was kind of dragged kicking and screaming, but now I'm here I'm sort of stuck with it," said Trip. He saw Archer start to get angry again.
"Why you?" asked Archer, his anger very nearly spilling over.
"Because of the nanites. They mean I can interface with the computer and ship's systems. I'm the only option that they had. They were pretty desperate, Captain. Ten En is dead. He was really old and died when he was removed from the computer. You must have seen the power failure when they took him out and before they plugged me in? The ship can't function without someone to act as the central processor for their computer."
"They forced you into this and you're defending them?" said Archer angrily.
"Well, maybe not defending them, but I guess I've developed a slightly different perspective on things now that I've got two thousand people depending on me," said Trip.
"I don't believe this," said Archer, turning on Shar Jen. "We offered you help and you kidnap my Chief Engineer to make him part of your computer."
"We are grateful for your help, Captain Archer," said Shar Jen, "but you have to understand we really did have no other choice. If we had not found Trip, we would all be dead. I didn't want to force him into this, it is against our ethical code but there was no other way to save our people."
"T'Pol, is what they're saying true?" he asked. "Will the Tien die if we remove Trip?"
"I believe that they are telling the truth," said T'Pol.
"Is he okay in there?" he asked her.
"His vitals are all strong. It seems as if there are a number of monitoring devices keeping track of his biosigns. They have connected him to a life support system, he should be able to survive indefinitely like this," said T'Pol.
"No more pecan pie though," said Trip, trying hard to lighten the mood, but it wasn't working. Archer couldn't get over the strangeness of hearing his friend's voice but not seeing his lips move. His face was still peaceful as if he was asleep.
"That's the least of our worries, Trip," said Reed. "What are we going to do, Captain? We can't leave him like this."
"I don't think we have much choice for the moment, Malcolm," said Archer. "T'Pol, I want you to take as many scans as you can and get to work on some way that we can get Trip out of here."
"It won't work," said Trip. "The Tien have already tried to find a way to stop the computer from depending on an organic central processor, they started their research when they realised the Ten En was the last of his line. I can give you the files, T'Pol, but it won't help."
"Nevertheless I will examine them before I come to a conclusion regarding whether it is possible or not," replied T'Pol.
"Captain, there's only one way this is going to play out," said Trip. "You've got to leave me here and continue with the mission."
"Trip, you're being ridiculous," said Reed. "We're not leaving you behind." Archer gave Reed a look which said it all, he wasn't sure that they weren't going to be leaving Trip behind.
"There isn't any other way, Malcolm," said Trip. Reed didn't know what to say so he decided not to say anything. "We could still use Enterprise's help finishing the repairs to the Rel Sevanne though, so we've got a couple of days to come up with something. If we've got nothing by then, well, we'll just have to go our separate ways."
"Trip, if we do that we don't know when or if we can get back to you. The Rel Sevanne could be anywhere by then and I know those engines do a lot more than warp five," said Archer.
"Yeah, they do more than warp five," said Trip. "I'm not expecting you to come back for me. I may not have wanted this, but it's happened, and I'm just going to have to make the best of it. I've got a whole race depending on me to look after them. I guess you'd better consider this my official resignation from Starfleet."
****