Chapter Twelve - Epilogue

With a heavy aching head, Captain Archer slowly opened his eyes to a familiar scene - Enterprise's sickbay. Had they been rescued in time? The last thing he could remember was passing out from lack of oxygen. Trip he thought, as he looked around frantically for his friend.

"Don't worry, Captain," came a familiar female voice, "Ahh T'Pol, I see you are with us as well."

"Calla, what the hell is going on and where in hell's name did you appear from?" demanded Captain Archer, surprised to see Calla standing next to his bio bed.

"It's good to see you too, Captain Archer."

"Captain Archer has a point. Where have you been? Why can't anyone else see you and what have you done with Commander Tucker?" asked T'Pol, butting into the conversation.

"Straight to the point as usual, T'Pol. That's what I love about Vulcans," laughed Calla. "To answer your questions, I haven't been anywhere but here all the time. No one else can see me because I don't wish them to and I haven't done anything to Commander Tucker."

"What do you mean, you've been here all the time?" asked a curious T'Pol.

"It's a little hard to explain and beyond even your highly advanced Vulcan comprehension I'm afraid. Nevertheless I don't walk away from those who I help until my work has finished."

"Help?" shouted Archer, "How on earth can you call turning Trip into a man with a mind of a 4 year old, helping him?"

"I warned you that my methods were extreme, Captain, but as usual all things have worked out well. It brought you all closer and reconnected you again, didn't it? You learnt to value your friendship with others and T'Pol found that she could combine her Vulcan nature while serving with a human crew. Trip on the other hand wanted his friendship back with both of you. I would say everyone got what they wanted in the end."

"You had no right to meddle in other people's lives," replied Captain Archer angrily.

"Please don't compare me to those people, Captain. I find that quite insulting."

"Compare you to who?" asked Captain Archer, looking confused.

"Q….. we may be related, but that is as far as the similarities go. I believe in helping people with their problems, they're the ones who meddle."

"Q……. what the hell is a Q?" asked Captain Archer, as much to himself than anyone else.

"I believe that's a letter from your alphabet, if I'm not mistaken," came the voice of Doctor Phlox.

"Phlox!" cried Archer, as he and T'Pol looked up quickly to see Doctor Phlox walking through the sickbay door. "Where did you come from and where the hell did Calla disappear to?"

"I thought we'd discussed previously that there is no such person called Calla," said Phlox as he picked up his medical tricorder and walked up to the two of them.

"I think I need to lie down, I'm not feeling well.." replied Captain Archer, as he laid himself back down. "This is just too damn confusing…"

"You'll be okay Captain, you're just feeling some slight after effects of oxygen deprivation."

"Where is Commander Tucker?" asked T'Pol, who was also wearing a slight confused look on her face.

"He woke up a few hours earlier. I ordered him to go to the mess hall to get some food and drink, since he has refused to leave your sides all morning."

"And you left him there? What if he burns himself on a hot drink or food?" queried T'Pol.

"I'm sure Commander Tucker is quite old enough and capable of getting himself a hot drink and meal, Sub Commander."

"Doc, he has the mentality of a four year old," replied Captain Archer, sitting back up.

"Excuse me Captain, but I think you are mistaken. Apart from a slight headache, Commander Tucker is in the best of health."

"You mean he's fine?" asked T'Pol, in a relieved tone of voice.

"Yes," replied Phlox, curious as to why both T'Pol and Captain Archer thought there was something wrong with Commander Tucker. "Why would you think otherwise?" asked Phlox as he examined them again with his medical tricorder.

"Don't ask me, just add it to my 'what the hell is going on' list," replied Archer as he laid back down again.

"It sounds as if you were experiencing a hallucination brought on by the lack of oxygen you experienced," explained Phlox.

"That would seem a logical conclusion Doctor," replied T'Pol, "If both of us hadn't experienced the same hallucination. How do you explain that?"

"I'm sure I'll be able to come up with something…… eventually," smiled Doctor Phlox. "Why don't you two go and join Commander Tucker and get something to eat and drink? I'm sure he'll be glad to see you."

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"Do you believe it was a hallucination, Captain?" asked T'Pol as they walked towards the mess hall.

"I don't know what to think anymore. She seemed so real but how can it be when nothing happened?"

"Even though I have my doubts that a being would be capable of having powers like that, she was correct when she stated I had found a balance in my life that has been lacking recently."

"Yeah I know what you mean. I never realised how much I had missed my friendship with Trip until it was gone. We may lose each other eventually, it's a given since no one can predict what is going to happen tomorrow, next week or next year, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't make the most of what we have got now with each other," smiled captain Archer as they walked into the mess hall and spied Trip sitting quietly in the corner.

"Got any of that pie left?" asked Captain Archer as he walked up to Trip.

"Captain," smiled Trip, "It's great to see you looking back to normal."

"I think we both can say the same thing for you," replied Archer as he glanced at T'Pol, each sharing a look of gratitude about their friend.

"Do you remember what happened? My mind is a complete blank. I asked Malcolm and he muttered something about a breach in the launch bay while we were inside it. Though I can't figure out for the life of me what we were doing inside there, since there is no nearby planet or ship," remarked Trip, looking slightly puzzled. "I even asked Malcolm why we were in there, but he didn't seem to know."

"No we're still a little hazy on some details" replied Captain Archer as he and T'Pol sat down next to him.

Then after a few moments of silence, Trip pushed his plate to one side and stood up, "Well I think I should be going."

"Why don't we go back to my ready room for a beer and a movie? It's been a while since we had a laugh," offered Captain Archer, feeling the need to reach out to his friend.

"Ahhhh I don't know, Captain. I've got a lot of work to do."

"How about a game of pool?" asked Archer, not willing to give in.

"Not tonight, some other time maybe."

"Well that's it then. There's only one thing left to do."

"What?" replied Trip looking puzzled.

"Be irritating!" replied Captain Archer with an evil smile on his face. "There are 99 bottles of beer in my fridge, 99 bottles of beer."

"You can't be serious, Captain."

"You get one out and pass it around, 98 bottles of beer in my fridge."

"Captain!"

"98 bottles of beer in my fridge, 98 bottles of beer, you get one out and pass it around, 97 bottles of beer in my fridge. 97 bottles……"

"Commander….. I suggest you give in. It doesn't look like he is going to stop and I don't think my ears can take any more of this harsh treatment," pleaded T'Pol in a teasing voice

"All right you win. We'll grab one of those beers and watch a movie. Just please no more singing."

Captain Archer smiled as they all stood up to depart.

"And you," said Trip pointing to T'Pol, "Don't think you're getting away. You encouraged him so you're gonna join us as well."

"Vulcans don't drink beer, Commander."

"How about a compromise then, a glass of mint tea instead?"

"That would be acceptable, Commander. Although I will choose the movie," replied T'Pol as she walked out of the door.

Trip and Captain Archer each threw the other a look of horror God what have we let ourselves in for .

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