Tucker peaked around the corner, opened an access panel and then waved T'Pol through into the Jeffreys tube nexus, closing it behind them. "This ought ta throw 'em off." He saw her hobbling and frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Sato found it highly amusing to kick me when I was unable to stand." She rubbed at her torso. "I have many bruises."

Tucker nodded. Sato was that kind. "I've got some 23rd century medical gadgets stashed in auxiliary control. When we get there I'll knit those up for you in two shakes."

"Did Sato attempt to seduce you?" T'Pol's voice was absolutely flat.

Tucker laughed. "Not since she got into Forrest's bed." He shrugged at his poor taste. "I was a little bit desperate back then, T'Pol. I never felt any interest in her once you came aboard." He snorted bitterly. "I preferred the workin' girls to Sato. Some a them actually like men. Sato likes men like a cat likes mice."

T'Pol looked at him, narrow eyed. "The bond precludes any possibility of extramarital affairs."

Tucker snorted. "My face pretty much precludes them too." He frowned. "Extramarital? Where'd that come from?"

"The condition of your face is irrelevant. On Vulcan, the presence of the mating bond constitutes a legally valid marriage." She focused on him. "Vulcan law is valid except where superceded by Imperial fiat. We are in fact married under both Vulcan and Imperial law."

Trip didn't reply. He was watching the numbers on the frames. "Turn here."

T'Pol was somewhat vexed by his non-acknowledgement of their status. "The bond cannot be instituted without consent at the deepest levels of both parties."

He glared at her. "Are you sayin' that I agreed to be programmed?"

T'Pol shook her head. "I abused your trust. You agreed to trust me and I played you false. I hope that someday you will come to trust me again."

Tucker looked down at his feet, remembering how easily Ruby had played him against Archer and Sorenson. "Ah'm always makin' that same stupid mistake."

T'Pol took his hand. "My regret grows."

He held on, voice husky and his accent almost unintelligibly thick. "I fell for ya all the way, T'Pol. I fell for ya like a child. I'm willin' to betray the empire, the service and my whole lousy race for ya. I have to. There's no goin' back for me. I guess I'll just have ta take whatever I can get. All I ask is that you make sure I never see it comin' if ya ever do decide against me."

T'Pol followed him down another cross corridor, feeling such anguish over her betrayal that she almost blacked out.

He smiled crookedly at her. "Now don't take on so. Everything'll be okay. Ya make me happy just by bein' with me, T'Pol. I was walkin' dead before ya came along. I never much cared what happened to me and after Liz died I didn't care about anyone else, either. I just liked warp engines an' lookin' around in space. Only now that I've got you ta fight for, all the limits are gone. I'll be Emperor, but you'll be Empress long after I'm dead, even if I gotta fill up every last graveyard with every last disagreeable sonofabitch in this whole god-damned empire."

T'Pol looked at him. "Love has killed far more than hate."

"That's right, Darlin. I love you. And the empire is in our way, so woe to them. I want ta desert, forget about the dammed empire, go off to Arcadia and rusticate with ya. We could live just like we want-

Someone started clapping.

They stopped dead at the lip of the intersection.

The hatches had been removed and Mayweather was waiting with three of his MACO's. He had them cold.

Sato stepped out from behind her bodyguards, still clapping, smiling widely. Idly running her finger along Mayweather's jaw in passing, she spoke in a tone suitable to an innocent child, "Oh, my! This is just so cute! 'Dogface' Tucker and his little subhuman girlfriend, running away to be together forever." She sighed, ostentatiously. "It's really too bad that I can't spare you, Tucker. I might have let you and yourpet go just for the romance factor of it all."

The coldly murderous light in her eyes as they flickered to T'Pol gave her the lie.

Deliberately, Tucker stepped in front of T'Pol, narrowing his eyes. If they shot her they would have to do it through him.

The three MACO's moved apart in a choreographed motion, to better cover the two fugitives without giving them the slightest opportunity to resist.

Mayweather relieved Trip of his phase pistol, searched him, ran his hands over T'Pol and then stepped back. There was no chance of resistance.

Sato giggled at their grim, frightened expressions, stepping forward to stroke Tucker's ruined face. Maybe she would fix him up and force him to perform as a lover, just to anger the Vulcan. It would be fun. "Oh, don't worry, Charlie. I won't hurt your precious little bondmate. Not if you cooperate like a good boy." She shot T'Pol a spiteful smirk and said in Vulcan, "You forget who I am, T'Pol. I know everything about the bond."

Tucker took a deep breath, trying to calm his shaking. "I'll work for you. Just let her be and I'll work harder than you'd ever believe," he begged. Tucker had no pride where the Vulcan was concerned. If Sato wanted him on his knees, on his belly or skinning babies he would do it to save T'Pol.

"I know you will, sweetie. You can't really do anything else. She's got you by the cortex, doesn't she?" She turned to Mayweather, smirking. "See? It's just like I told you. He belongs to her and now she belongs to us. We have it all! Now collect the bitch and-

In almost instantaneous succession, Mayweather and his stalwarts were blown back against the jeffry tube walls by lethally precise pistol shots. Sato had time to begin her terrified lunge away from the massacre when half of her head exploded, splashing the adjacent bulkhead red with blood and scraps of brain.

The thunder died away and Tucker spun around, ears ringing, grabbing T'Pol and thrusting her behind him. His eyes widened when the tattered figure of MACO Colonel Malcolm Reed lurched to a halt behind them, a smoking slug pistol in his hand.

Reed managed a ghastly grin at the two. "I do hope that this means you'll forgive me that little agony booth incident, Commander."

Tucker blinked, shrugged and then nodded. "Archer was the prick that ordered it. He's dead, so it's over. What the hell happened to you, Reed?"

Reed abruptly leaned against the wall, swaying. "Mayweather shot me in the back, but the fool didn't bother to make sure of me. Me! Then he compounded his error by delegating the task of getting rid of my supposed corpse. An asinine mistake. He deserved to die. I trained him better than that. Unfortunately for the late Empress, I found an emergency suit stored in the airlock, got it on before they cycled me out, made my way around the ship by handhold and came back aboard through the escape lock near my quarters." He gestured with the magnum. "I got myself a gun, visited sickbay to close up the worst of my wounds and then went out for a spot of hunting."

Tucker nodded carefully. Of course Reed had a hideout weapon that energy scans wouldn't detect. "Now that you've had your revenge, what are your plans?"

Reed slid his pistol back into its holster, smiled brightly and then saluted. "Whatever you should order, Captain. Or dare I say, Your Majesty?" His eyes took in T'Pol's proprietary grip on him. "Oh, do excuse me. Your Majesties." He bowed, with perfect form.

Tucker relaxed slightly and then picked up his phaser pistol. Retrieving another from Sato's corpse, he handed it to T'Pol. "I'm gonna make a lot of changes, Reed. There isn't gonna be any more conquest. We got too many enemies already and there just isn't any limit to how many are out there. All that stupid bullshit is over. I don't want you behind me if you can't live with it."

Reed waved the argument away. "A reformer. Excellent! There will be plenty of work for me." He smiled at T'Pol, a smile that lit his entire face. On anyone else that happy, knowing smile would have been attractive. On Reed, it was absolutely satanic. "That's all that really matters to me, Captain. The work."

Tucker nearly gave in to his impulse and shot him on the spot, but T'Pol grabbed his arm.

"Thy'ala. We need him." She looked at the smiling monster that had just pledged his loyalty and managed not to shudder.

Trip nodded. "We need to get to auxiliary control. Do you think that you can make it?"

Malcolm's smile widened. "Of course! I brought a flesh knitter and a few other useful devices with me from sickbay." He gestured at T'Pol's sliced face and numerous bruises. "If you wish, I can heal those wounds like they never happened, Empress. If you would then condescend to run this device over my back where I can't reach, we'll be fixed up Bristol fashion and ready for the big do!"

Tucker regarded him, and then nodded. Picking up a fallen phase pistol, he stuck it in his belt and handed the sleek 23rd century weapon to Reed. Reed could use it better than anyone that Tucker had ever heard of. "I'll need you to cover me, Reed. We'll collect the rest of the MACO's later."

Reed's pleased smile as he took the weapon suddenly turned cold. "Oh, don't worry about them, Captain. They'll be eager to obey me, once they hear that I'm alive." He would slaughter a few of the useless ones to put the rest into a proper state of mind.

Trip paced back and forth along the catwalk making eye contact with as many of his crewmen as he could while he addressed his engineering division. They were drawn up at attention in the shuttlebay.

"I'm not goin' along with Sato's little rebellion. She's crazy, mean as cat piss and wouldn't be worth a damn as empress. She'd be playin' grab ass games right up until the enemy fleet scoured earth bare. I got no need to end up as a Romulan or Klingon slave and I wouldn't want to see our folks livin' under an alien boot."

He paused to let them think that one over. They all looked nervously at the vid pickups. "It don't signify anyway, on account of the fact that she's dead. So's Mayweather and the rest of those god dammed traitors of his. That leaves me as senior Imperial officer aboard and as such I'm assumin' command. Anyone want ta dispute that fact?"

Tucker waited, but there was nothing but a general relaxation. His hand was the only part of him that relaxed, moving casually from where it had been hanging next to his phase pistol.

"Ah'm appointin' Commander T'Pol as my second officer. Some of you don't like Vulcans. Well, tough shit. Some Vulcan's don't like you, either. What matters is that she's loyal to me and any orders that she gives you are my orders. Keep that in mind. If you do your duty and follow her orders, you and me won't have any problem."

He surveyed them, feeling a surge of confidence. His people had always been loyal. He could pull it off. "We got a hard row to hoe, people. Archer and Sato stirred things up back home, big time. His Majesty and half of the Admiralty are dead. Seems like all the vipers came out from under their rocks and bit at once when Sato offered them her 'leadership.' Now there's riots everywhere, cities burnin,' fleet units firin' on each other and enemies watchin' the whole thing, lookin' to move in on us. Archer and his bitch crippled Earth good."

He surveyed them, seeing interest and in a few cases, comprehension and dawning awareness.

"Things are bad, ladies and gents. The Lords are mostly hidin' out like the worthless scum they are. Well, they can stay hid for all I care. Far as I'm concerned, every last one a them is a deserter. The only good news is that the loyal units of the fleet took up a defensive position around the Solar System. Too bad there aren't enough of them. If Earth got jumped now, only Defiant could save the day. It's all up to us to pull this out. The government is in pieces and no one else is steppin' up to fix it." Tucker narrowed his eyes. "So I'm gonna be assumin' command of the whole shebang as of right now."

There was an interested murmur and some excited shifting of feet. It wasn't every day that you got an opportunity like this.

"This is the deal, boys. I'm settin' up for Emperor. You all know that I'm an easy goin' boss and that I'm not too greedy or full of beans. I'm given' you all the chance to keep on workin' for me and for yourselves. Keep things together on Defiant, follow T'Pol's orders and all will be well. Any man that stands with me here and now to help save the Empire will earn himself a hell of a lot of glory as well as nice fat share of the profits." These crewmen would be prime recipients of the loot that he squeezed out of the Lords when he broke them for desertion and abolished the institution.

"The Emperor is dead! Long live the Emperor! Hail the Emperor! Hail Emperor Tucker!" Cortina's excited voice was the first and loudest, but by no means the last. Tucker was hard as nails, but not cold. You could actually talk to the man. As officers went he was reasonable and best of all, everyone there knew that he would reward them with unimaginable wealth as Emperor.

The cry spread, each trying to show maximum enthusiasm. "Death to the traitors! Hail the Emperor!"

Charles Tucker the Third smiled. Engineering was his, as it had always been. The plan could work.

T'Pol had demanded that these particular Vulcans be shuttled to Defiant from the various ships and stations of the Imperial Terran naval forces remaining in the Solar System. There had been no resistance. None of the local commanders had wanted to test Defiant's patience or her enormous phaser banks.

Each Vulcan was well known to her, a member of the illicit meditation groups that Vulcans serving in the fleet maintained in the face of overwhelming Human apathy.

"It would be more logical to seize Defiant and enforce these proposed reforms on the Humans at cannon point." Soran managed to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but the rest of the Vulcans could tell.

Sonol shook his head. "I do not believe that this vessel could hold down the Humans indefinitely. To carry out that plan, we would eventually be forced to eradicate life on Earth. Human ships would be quick to retaliate in kind againstour worlds."

"You have lost your perspective, Soran." T'Pol paused, using a Human rhetorical technique to increase their tension. "Have you forgotten how and why our people became a political subdivision of the Terran Empire?"

"We were betrayed." Soran narrowed his eyes. "The Humans lied."

"Betrayed? Lied?" T'Pol raised an eyebrow. "It was we who attacked the Andorans, our false logic prompting us to take advantage of their perceived weakness. The Humans did not compel us, nor did they mislead us as to the price of their assistance when the full extent of our folly became clear. Twenty percent of the Vulcan biosphere ceased to exist in the first Andoran counterstroke. We lost seventy percent of our colonial holdings and virtually all of our orbital industrial capacity within the first ten days of the war."

"Our remaining worlds have survived largely untouched, but the Humans have treated our people contemptuously." T'Rir stated it as a fact.

"The High Command acted contemptibly." Sonal was a great one for stating the obvious. "The Humans conquered Andor with ease. They do not respect our military capability."

"The Humans took advantage of previous Vulcan military achievement as well as our technology retrofits to gain their victory." Soran was obstinate. "We have no obligation toward them."

"They adapt quickly. Their adaptability saved the Andoran and Vulcan species from their suicidal folly and from later annihilation at the hands of the Klingon conquest fleet. That fleet still exists, waiting. They will attack the instant that they sense weakness." T'Pol fixed each Vulcan with a stare. "We cannot defeat our enemies without the Humans. You have each begun to study the kirshara. Do you accept its precepts?"

"I do." Soron closed his eyes, centering himself. "I am afraid. My fear drives me to embrace violence. The Humans are a terrifying species."

Lesu stood. "We must cast out our fear. The Humans are indeed formidable, but by no means invulnerable." He looked closely at T'Pol. "I have had positive experience with many individual Humans. Captain McGregor is a fine captain, an honorable man and an inspiring leader. If their governmental systems were reformed to allow such men to advance then there would be little to find objectionable. If our people were guaranteed full civil status, adequate governmental representation and equity in law with the Humans then I would see no viable alternative to continuing the Vulcan association with the Terran Empire."

T'Prin stood. "Have you bonded Commander Tucker, T'Pol?" Her voice was a whip-crack.

There was dead silence as the Vulcans fixed T'Pol with empty, calculating eyes. T'Pol would be the true Imperial power if that was the case.

T'Pol avoided the cold emptiness that her former training inspired, instead casting out her fear of rejection and apprehending the emotional content of her thinking without letting it color her logic. "I have. He is aware of that fact."

T'Prin continued her interrogation. "Will the Humans object to their Emperor having an alien consort? Their revenge could be terrible."

T'Pol clasped her hands behind her back. "The fleet will be taught a new discipline. The Human populations will object only if they are misruled. The status of our bond is irrelevant to this discussion." She raised her chin, fixing T'Prin with her eyes. "My proper title among the Humans shall be 'Empress."

There was a long moment of shocked silence.

T'Prin dropped to one knee, switching to Old High Golic. "I offer thee loyalty and the allegiance of my clan, Revered Matriarch."

The others hurried to swear. After the century long interregnum that had followed the usurpation by the former High Command, Vulcan had a Matriarch again.