Wow! Thanks for all the reviews, everyone! I'm glad you're liking the story!
Caitlin: Sadly, my knowledge of chemisty is very limited; I've only started Chemistry 20 AP and I'm in French immersion, so I am quite regrettably going to have to resort to the old "pull some science words together and explain stuff" trick. That is, of course, if you would like to help me?
Commander Charles Tucker III was literally falling asleep at his post. He had barely got four hours of sleep when he had been abruptly woken up, placed in the command chair and left to wonder where the heck his Captain and fellow officers had gone. Since then, the rest of alpha shift had been replaced once more by delta shift, and he was just awaiting his Captain's orders to return to his comfy, cozy, warm be-
"Trip." a voice behind him shook Trip right out of his reverie and sent him scrambling to his feet. He turned to find Captain Archer sanding before him. "You're relieved. Go get some sleep."
"Can do!" the Southerner replied with relief, following his captain and friend into the turbolift. Once the doors had closed behind them, and the bridge disappeared from view, Trip felt the need to ask the questions that had been running through his mind since they had picked up that small escape pod.
"Was there anyone aboard that ship, Cap'n?" he asked.
A strange look came over his friend's face, and suddenly he reached out and hit the emergency stop button. The lift shuddered to a stop, and Trip shot an incredulous look towards Archer. "What are you doing?"
Archer sighed. "Look, Trip, the... persons aboard that ship concern you directly. So give me a few minutes and I'll explain it all to you."
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T'Pol was standing in her quarters, slowly rocking back and forth the small child in her arms, when the door chime sounded.
"Come in." she called out, as softly as she could.
Her heart jumped slightly when Commander Tucker walked into the room. He wore a strange expression, one of awe crossed with anger, as he strode forward and looked to the bundle in her arms.
"Is this..."
She nodded. "She is sleeping. Would you like to hold her?"
"Um... no, not right now. This is all still kind of weird to me."
"I understand." she replied, then turning and crossing over to the cradle that Dr. Phlox had constructed. She placed the sleeping child inside of it, then returned to where the seemingly pensive and awestruck commander was still standing.
"So..." he started, after a moment of silence, "What exactly is going to happen?"
"I will care for her, for the time being at least."
He looked slightly confused. "Is she staying here? Is there anyway that we can send her back?"
"Back to where?" T'Pol replied, tones of amusement creeping into her voice, "To the other universe? We have no means of doing so, Commander."
"Trip."
"What?"
His cheeks flushed softly, and his gaze shifted to the side for a moment. "You can call me Trip. I, uh, figure if we have a kid together you could at least call me by my first name."
An arched eyebrow met his statement. "It is our counterparts, not us, that have a 'kid' together, Comman-Trip."
"Yeah... I guess so. But, doesn't that pretty much her our daughter? I mean, it's not like we did 'it' or anything, well, we did but-"
"You are blabbering, Trip."
He smiled, embarrassed. "I know. I'm just... this is really quite a strange coincidence. I mean, first Lorian and now...?"
"She does not have a name, as far as I could determine. I was calling her Aisha for now."
"Aisha... that's nice." Trip ran the name over his tongue. "Does it mean anything specific?"
"Not really." she answered, evading intrusion into the delicate name she had decided to use. "Was there anything else, Comman..Trip?"
"Do you, uh, mind if I hold her now?"
"Not at all."
He crossed over to the other side of T'Pol's quarters, and peered down into the cradle that held his counterpart's child. Slowly, and deliberately he picked her up and lifted her into his arms. He watched with what T'Pol determined to be utter awe on his face as the baby nestled into the crook of his arm and snuggled her face into his front side. He gently took one finger and ran it down the tip of her ear, unaware that T'Pol had done almost the same thing only a few hours ago.
"She's beautiful." he whispered softly, to himself. He held her for another moment, then realized what exactly he was doing. He quickly placed her down into her cradle, and moved back towards the door.
"Um, thanks for this, T'Pol. I'm gonna go and get some sleep, but if you need any help, I'll be back in a flash, okay?"
"It is unlikely that I will require your help, but the offer is appreciated. Goodnight, Trip."
"Night, T'Pol... and Aisha." With the utterance of the last name, he smiled and left her quarters. T'Pol checked upon the young girl once more, then too decided to get some more sleep.