Checkups 2

Trip had been updated by Ensign Smithley on the progress in getting the Warp Flux Capacitor back into shape while he was unconscious; and for the last half hour, he had made the progress that his officers had failed to make in three hours.

Aside from his mind numbing fear on what those Suliban scum had done to T'Pol, Trip had put his personal feelings on hold, so that he could work with the Captain efficiently.

As it turned out, nothing was jamming the Flux Capacitor; a Suliban shoe had been chucked at the Power Relay and had thrown it off course. No doubt that the person responsible for that was the 'shadow' Trip had almost encountered earlier. He hit his head with frustration. Still, it was an easy fix, which probably meant that the Suliban just wanted to slow Enterprise down, not stop it completely. Great, Trip thought, more unanswered questions to ponder.

After he'd given the 'A-OK' to the Captain, and the ship had gone to Warp 5 to pursue the Suliban ship, Trip hummed with anticipation to have T'Pol safely in his arms again. He was also aware of her concerns about these emotions and her Vulcan upbringing, so, to kill some time, he thought he'd drop by Sickbay to talk to Doctor Phlox. Trip knew that T'Pol had already seen the doctor, which probably meant he knew about the two of them, but if there really wasn't any other way to stop the emotions than to stop seeing Trip, he wanted to find out for himself.

"Hey Doc." Trip greeted as he walked through the doors.

"Be right with you Commander." The doctor replied as he finished feeding his very unusual alien pets. Trip had never actually seen one, but had heard them rattle in their cages, and he wondered if they were always that aggressive.

Reappearing from behind Doctor Phlox's private study, he looked at the Commander as if he was searching for the place where he might be in pain.

"Can I help you in some way?" The Denobulan asked.

"Well, yeah. I know T'Pol came in here yesterday, but I needed to come myself." Trip explained.

"I presume you are talking about her emotional imbalances?" Doctor Phlox said, matter-of-factly.

"Yes." Trip answered. Once again, Doctor Phlox lead Trip to a chair to explain it all.

"I hoped that you would come in. I think that you need to know what T'Pol is going through, perhaps more than anyone." The Doctor sighed and Trip clenched, preparing for the worst.

"Her condition is this; Vulcans count on their ability to… conceal their emotions, they feel it makes them able to think with a clear mind. Now that T'Pol is feeling these emotions, she thinks that her judgement may be clouded, and is losing her sense of logic. In a way, she fears that she's becoming more human." Trip listened intensely as the doctor explained.

"Could this evolve into some kinda illness?" Trip inquired, almost sitting on the edge of his chair.

"You don't understand, Commander. T'Pol thinks that this is the illness. She asked me if there was anyway to fix her." The doctor stressed. "I think that she's feeling the effects of an illness that isn't there."

Trip took this all in and had a concerned, but mostly worried, look on his face.

"What can we do?" Trip asked.

"There's nothing I can do. I took a scan of her yesterday, I haven't looked at it yet, as I suspect that there's nothing physically wrong with her. However, I think that you need to give the Sub-Commander a lot of support right now. You need to let her know that she can control these emotions if she wants to, but letting them burst out will not cause her any psychological damage to her Vulcan heritage." Doctor Phlox advised.

Before Trip could answer back, the intercom buzzed. "Captain Archer to Commander Tucker."

Trip walked over to the intercom system in Sickbay. "Tucker here, go ahead Capt'n."

"We're coming up to the Suliban ship, five light-years enclosing. I don't think they've sensed us coming yet."

"Yes sir" Trip hesitated to say more, but stopped.

"Was there something else?" The Captain voice came through the intercom.

"Not that I'm not thankful, but why are you telling me?" Trip asked.

"I thought you'd like to know, and I need you on the bridge." The Captain requested. Maybe there's hope for this friendship after all, Trip smiled.

"On my way, and thanks." Trip buzzed off.

"Thanks Doc, I appreciate it." Trip gave a short nod to Doctor Phlox and headed out to the bridge. Not knowing what the Suliban ship had done to T'Pol had given him new fears and concerns. It seemed that every hour a new thing was added to his list to worry about.