Disclaimer: Enterprise and her crew belong to Paramount, not me. Unfortunately.
Memory Lapse - Part 4
Jonathan Archer awoke to find himself confronted with the sight of a very tousled and sexy looking Trip Tucker. Clad in nothing put a pair of very old sweatpants, Trip was sat at his desk, apparently lost in thought, which allowed Archer ample opportunity to stare. Soon, however, the guilt kicked in, and Archer realised that he shouldn't be taking advantage of Trip's situation in such a way. Softly, he cleared his throat. Trip started and looked around.
"Sorry, Trip," Archer apologised. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"That's okay, Jon. I was off in a world of my own." He waved a padd to demonstrate. "I was just lookin' at some of my personal files, tryin' to get a handle on who I am, y'know?"
"That's a good idea," agreed Archer. "Anything coming back to you yet?"
"Not a thing," sighed Trip. "I mean, I'm readin' all this stuff about me – about my family, my career – and I believe that it's true, but I don't know that it's true. Do you understand what I'm sayin'?"
"It's completely understandable, Trip. It's okay to be confused. But hopefully all this information will jog something in your memory soon. And I'll help you in any way I can. Show you things; answer any questions you might have. Do you have any questions?"
Trip sighed again. "I have a hundred, Jon," he replied "There are so many I don't know where to start. Although…"
"Yes?" prompted Archer.
"Nah, you'll think it's stupid."
"Trip, I promise I won't think it's stupid."
"Well, I was just wonderin' why you call me Trip. I mean, in all my files I'm called Charles Tucker III. Where does 'Trip' come from?"
Archer chuckled. "It's short for 'Triple'," he said. But when Trip still looked blank, he continued: "Because you're Charles Tucker the third. Triple, see?"
"Oh," said Trip. He looked relieved. "I thought it was goin' to be because I'm always fallin' over, or somethin' like that."
Archer laughed again. "Don't worry. You're normally perfectly steady on your feet."
Trip narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, 'normally'?" he asked suspiciously.
"Well, you sometimes have a few problems when you're drunk," Archer explained. "I remember one time in San Francisco when…" But he was interrupted by the chirp of the comm.
"Phlox to Captain Archer."
"Archer here."
"How is our patient this morning, Captain?"
"He's okay, Doctor. There were no emergencies during the night."
"In any case, I'd like to check up on him. If you could bring him to sickbay, I'd be most grateful."
"No problem, Doctor. I'll drop him in on my way to the Bridge."
Closing the comm link, Archer noticed that Trip was grimacing. "What's the matter?" he asked
"Well, firstly, I can speak for myself, you know. And secondly, do I really have to go back to sickbay? That doctor gives me the creeps a little."
"Phlox is one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet, Trip. Plus, if he creeps you out, then you're never going to want to meet the Suliban. Or the Klingons. Or the…in fact, maybe you should just never leave your quarters."
"Maybe I should just never leave them anyway," muttered Trip. "It's obvious I don't have a clue what's goin' on out here. I mean, who are the Suliban? Or the Klingons? Maybe I should just stay in here where I can't cause any more trouble."
"Trip, don't be stupid," replied Archer. "You'll remember eventually. But not by staying in these quarters. Besides, this shade of grey has the ability to drive a man insane. You don't believe me? Try staring at it for more than five minutes. The monotony will send you crazy."
That elicited a smile. "Okay," said Trip. "I won't stay in here for ever. I am already starting to feel a little grey. But do I still have to go and see the doc?"
Archer assumed his sternest expression. "Yes."
Archer looked around the situation room at his senior staff, and wondered how what he was about to tell them would affect them. T'Pol, Malcolm, Hoshi and Travis were all there. They were only waiting for one more person to join them. But that person wasn't going be whom they were expecting. Archer was just beginning to wonder how much longer they would have to wait when Lieutenant Hess arrived.
"Sorry, Captain," she apologised. "There was a minor power outage on C-deck. It's all under control now, but it took a little longer to fix than I anticipated."
But Archer wasn't really listening to her. Instead he was watching for his officers' reactions. And he wasn't disappointed. Hoshi and Travis had exchanged looks, Malcolm looked like he was on the point of demanding an explanation, and one of T'Pol's eyebrows had arched so high it had almost disappeared into her hair. Clearly, they were all wondering where Trip was. Archer decided not to keep them waiting any longer.
"I've asked Lieutenant Hess to be here today because, until further notice, she is the acting Chief Engineer on Enterprise," he explained.
There was a round of shocked gasps, and then Malcolm demanded: "But where's Trip – I mean, Commander Tucker?"
"Commander Tucker is currently unable to perform his duties," said Archer. "The results of his accident yesterday were a little more severe than Doctor Phlox anticipated. He has amnesia."
This time there was a shocked silence. It was almost as if they were all waiting for the punch line. Archer hurried to fill the void.
"Physically, Trip is fine. But he can't remember anything about his life up to now, whether on Earth or on board the Enterprise. I've managed to gain his trust, but he's still very jumpy, obviously. I'm going to need all of your assistance to help him remember who he is. You can all tell him things about his life on Enterprise – fill him in on the facts, and so forth. But you can also just be there for him, as his friends. And what he needs most right now is friends. People to make him feel he's not alone."
More silence. Archer waited expectantly. And was surprised when T'Pol was the first to speak up.
"Commander Tucker and I have not always seen eye-to-eye," she said. "But he is a valuable member of this crew, and we will do all we can to help him recover."
There was a muted chorus of "here-heres" from everyone else. Obviously they were still in shock over the news.
"I'll try to re-introduce Trip to you all over the next couple of days," said Archer. "I don't think descending on him en-masse is the way to go here. A crowd of people would only make him more nervous. Dismissed."
As a procession of very shell-shocked looking officers filed out of the situation room, Archer drew T'Pol aside.
"Well, that wasn't really the reaction I was hoping for," he said.
"As I said, Captain, the Commander is invaluable to this ship," replied T'Pol. "Both in a professional and personal capacity. His loss will greatly affect everyone, but once they have dealt with their initial shock, rest assured that they will be only too happy to assist Commander Tucker. They will not desert their friend, even if he is not strictly their friend any more."
