Let the Dead Bury the Living
By Thalia Drogna
AN: Thanks for the reviews. Sorry this update has taken some time, I'll try and get the next one up a bit quicker.
Archer had been shocked when he returned to Enterprise and found Trip in sick bay. The Engineer had had it tough the past few months and he'd still managed to hold the ship together. Well, as much as was possible when it was being attacked by the Xindi and when he wasn't fighting his own personal demons. Luckily a combination of Phlox's counselling sessions, T'Pol's neuropressure and the support of his friends had brought Trip back to them slowly. He'd been getting much better these past few weeks. Which made it even more unfair that he was once again sick and under Phlox's care.
He had just begun his official letter of protest at the proposed plans for removing Trip from Enterprise when the door buzzer of his Ready Room sounded. It was T'Pol.
"T'Pol, I'm sorry, I meant to brief you on my visit to Starfleet headquarters," he asked. He had been so caught up with everything that was happening to Trip, he'd forgotten that T'Pol didn't know what was going on.
"Lieutenant Reed informed me of the basic facts," said T'Pol.
Archer filled T'Pol in on the full story of what had happened during his visit to Earth. She simply stood calmly while Archer explained how Starfleet planned to take Trip away from them.
"I will attempt to do everything I can to accelerate the process of finding a way of disposing of the nanites," said T'Pol.
"Thanks T'Pol," said Archer. "Anyway, you came to see me, what was it you wanted?" For the first time since T'Pol had walked into the room he realised that she looked almost worried. T'Pol still didn't give much of her emotions away but he was getting far better at reading the small signs that she did let slip.
"I have been summoned to Dohn Zhu," said T'Pol as if the statement would explain everything.
"Dohn Zhu?" asked Archer.
"It is a Vulcan tribunal," said T'Pol.
"What is this tribunal for?" asked Archer.
"To explain my actions in going with Enterprise into the Expanse," said T'Pol.
"I thought you resigned your commission?" said Archer.
"I did. However even as a private citizen I am expected to uphold Vulcan laws. By disobeying Soval I have contravened a number of Vulcan statutes which govern our interaction with other species. I understood that this might be a consequence of my actions when I came with you into the Expanse," said T'Pol.
"What are the possible outcomes of this tribunal?" asked Archer.
"The most likely outcome is that they will order me to return to Vulcan and I will not be allowed to leave it for an extended period of time," said T'Pol. "After my return to Vulcan there will undoubtedly be further charges for me to face."
"Can they do that?" asked Archer.
"It is a part of Vulcan law. And, as you are already aware, Vulcans have considerable influence within your government," said T'Pol.
"Let me talk to Admiral Forrest, he may be able to help. Perhaps we could offer you some type of political asylum," said Archer.
"I doubt my government would allow you to do so," said T'Pol. "It would set a precedent that they are unwilling to create."
"You're being very calm about this, T'Pol," said Archer.
"Being emotional will not change the situation," said T'Pol. "However I would suggest that you do not inform Commander Tucker given his current state of health. I would expect him to have an emotional reaction to this and that could negatively effect his condition."
"I think you might have a point there. Trip has enough to deal with at the moment and he needs to focus on getting well. I'll pass the word that he's not to be told. Meanwhile I'll contact the Admiral and see if there is anything that we can do."
Trip lay in sick bay. Sick bay, again. Or was it still. He couldn't believe his bad luck. Fate, or whatever it was that governed these things, definitely had it in for him.
He'd been pleased to see the Captain but less pleased to hear the news that he'd brought. Although it wasn't unexpected, he'd always known that the nanites would cause problems when they returned to Earth. It was one thing carrying them around when he was out in space, millions of miles away from anything, it was quite another thing when he was about to visit inhabited planets.
He had been due to go home next week, that was obviously out of the question now when he wasn't even allowed to leave Enterprise. He had wanted to go and visit the memorial that had been erected to all those who had died in the Xindi attack. When they'd first arrived at Earth after the attack he hadn't been ready to confront Lizzie's death, but he had managed to come to terms with it eventually. It was like a slap in the face now to be told that he couldn't go and pay his respects or visit his family. They undoubtedly wouldn't let his folks come and visit him either. So here he was back at Earth for the first time in months and he couldn't even set foot on the planet.
He had to admit that even he didn't know everything that the nanites were capable of and he was the one who had them swimming about inside him. Equally though he was sure that the nanites wouldn't harm anyone. It was hardwired into their programming and even Ven Dath hadn't been able to circumvent that, he'd had to create a completely new variety of nanite to accomplish his plan. Luckily Malcolm had destroyed the only red nanites that Ven Dath had created when he blew up the research station where they had been created.
Phlox intended to try to suppress Trip's immune system to allow his body time to recover while they tried to find a more permanent solution. According to the doctor that could take a couple of days while he tried out different drugs and combinations. The doctor had also warned him that the drugs he was going to give Trip were very powerful and could have some nasty side effects. Trip really didn't like the sound of that.
He had eventually persuaded Malcolm to leave and go on duty, but it had taken a considerable amount of argument before Trip made it clear that he would be okay on his own. He knew that Malcolm was worried because it wasn't that long ago that Trip had been unable to enter sick bay without having a panic attack. Having Malcolm with him did help keep the shadows of the Xindi at bay but he couldn't keep Malcolm from his duties. The Armoury was in just as much a mess as Engineering was and it needed all of Malcolm's attention at the moment, he shouldn't have to be sitting by Trip, holding his hand while Phlox did his tests.
Phlox was being strict on the point of visitors anyway, Trip was going to be in for a rough ride while Phlox stabilised his immune system and he didn't need people bothering him while he went through the worst of it. So visits were to be limited to an hour each evening, subject to how well Trip was. Trip was quite glad of that really he wasn't sure that he wanted people to see him when he was ill.
He was still coming to terms with the fact that the nanites had finally turned on him, admittedly it wasn't exactly their fault that his body was conspiring against him. In many ways, he was more surprised that something like this hadn't happened sooner. He'd sort of grown used to the nanites and they'd helped him out of a few scrapes, although they'd caused a few scrapes too. He really wasn't sure that he actually wanted to get rid of the nanites.
"How are you doing today?" he asked internally.
"Operations are below optimum standards," replied the nanites. Their voices seemed to be quieter than usual as they chattered to him in their normal way.
"No kidding. Don't worry, Phlox will find a way to sort it out," thought Trip. He knew that he wasn't fooling the nanites, they knew his mind as well as he did and he certainly wasn't very confident that this problem could be solved. But then did the nanites even worry?
"We have already begun our analysis of options to resolve this situation," said the nanites. "Die off rate is above acceptable levels. Attempting to increase re-absorption and replacement rates to compensate."
"Don't I know it," replied Trip. As Phlox had explained it, if this continued then the nanites would slowly poison him by cluttering up his system with defunct nanites. "Just don't drain too much juice while you're at it." Which was the other problem, the nanites took their power from his body and if they drew too much then it made him firstly tired and then sick.
"We will attempt to comply," replied the nanites. Usually they would have simply replied "affirmative" but this was much less definite than their usual answers.
"How about running those warp field simulations again for me with the updated parameters?" said Trip. He was bored and needed something to do. Thinking about the engine upgrades would get his mind off things, he worried that if he thought too much about his situation he'd descend into depression and hopelessness. Not only that but after his encounted with the Rel Sevanne he'd ended up with a chunk of alien engineering knowledge in his head and he'd been trying to adapt it for Enterprise's systems ever since.
"Energy unavailable for secondary tasks," said the nanites. That was their equivalent reply to "too busy". Trip had just been given the brush off. That in itself was worrying, it meant that the nanites were too embroiled in their battle with his immune system to do anything else. He sighed and tried to get comfortable on the biobed.
Trip realised that his bones were aching and it felt as if someone was messing about with the environmental controls in sick bay. One moment he was too hot, the next he was too cold. He really should ask one of his staff to have a look at it when they had a moment.
Archer was determined that Trip wouldn't have to worry about what had been decided about the nanites. He'd told Trip that he would deal with the bureaucrats and now he had to keep that promise. He was damned if he would let them take Trip and imprison him after everything that he'd been through. He had hoped at least to be able to enlist the help of the Xindi in solving Trip's problems but given the hostility of his own government to that idea, it didn't seem to be an option.
There had to be something that he could do. He'd just saved the world, and he sure as hell wasn't going to have that spoilt by Trip being taken from them. Yes, the attack had been an atrocity, but it was in the past now. It was now time to mourn the dead and move on. Contacting the Xindi might save Trip's life and yet they were letting prejudice stop Archer from doing what he needed to. He felt completely powerless and was at a loss as to what to do next.
He wished that he could be as calm as T'Pol. After they had finished their conversation about her impending tribunal, she had asked when she could visit Trip, and then gone off to examine the Xindi database that they had downloaded from the research station. It had contained enough information for her to reprogram the nanites so that the original Xindi programming was erased, she was hoping that it would also contain enough information to get rid of the nanites. Even whilst they were in the Expanse she had been working on getting rid of the nanites but had had very little time to concentrate on the problem with everything else that was going on around them. Keeping the ship from being destroyed by the Xindi was foremost in their minds at that point.
Archer worried about T'Pol almost as much as he worried about Trip. She believed strongly that she had her own battles to fight with the Vulcan High Command and no one should have to fight them for her, but Archer had made it clear that T'Pol did not have to stand alone. He desperately wanted to keep T'Pol on Enterprise but he knew that if the Vulcans brought their full diplomatic weight to bear on the problem then Earth would cave in.
He didn't need this problem on top of everything that he was already dealing with. Enterprise was in enough of a state after its return from the Expanse, and the repairs alone would have been enough to keep him occupied for the next few weeks. Archer of course had his own reports to file and justifications to make for his actions. He was confident that the Admiral would support everything that he had done to protect Earth, but there were some things that still pricked his conscience. He might receive vindication of his actions from his superiors but he wasn't so sure that he would ever be able to forgive himself for the moral lines that he had crossed. He knew deep down that without Trip and T'Pol he would never have made it through the Expanse.
He couldn't think of anything worse than losing both his First Officer and Chief Engineer, and that was from a purely logistical point of view. It would be like gutting the ship. Crew morale would also be a problem if two senior officers were to leave, especially given the circumstances of their departure. One would be going to become a lab rat in Starfleet Medical, the other no doubt to face charges on her home-world.
He pressed the com button on his desk. "Hoshi, get me Admiral Forrest at Starfleet Head Quarters," said Archer.
"Yes, sir," replied his efficient com officer.
"Jonathan, I was just about to call you," said the Admiral when the connection was made. "You're getting some visitors."
"Visitors?" asked Archer.
"Starfleet Security officers, four of them. Their orders are to guard Commander Tucker," said Forrest.
"What?" said Archer with rather more force than he meant. "Commander Tucker is currently in sick bay. The nanites are causing him a few health problems. He isn't going anywhere, and even if he was well enough to leave sick bay he wouldn't be want to leave Enterprise."
"They've read the reports, Jon. They know what the nanites are capable of, it would be easy for him to steal a shuttlepod and make a break for Earth. You may trust the Commander not to attempt to go down to Earth, but while the nanites are in his body, I have no choice but to comply with this order. And you will extend them every courtesy. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir," said Archer. "I don't understand why we have to have four security officers fly up from Earth though. Especially to guard one sick man."
"Again, they've read the reports. They know that you're a close knit crew and they don't trust your Security Officer's impartiality when it comes to guarding Commander Tucker," said Forrest.
"Lieutenant Reed would be quite put out by that comment, Admiral," said Archer.
"I'm sure he would but the order still stands. They arrive tomorrow. You had something to ask me?" said Forrest.
"T'Pol is facing a Vulcan tribunal for coming with us into the Expanse," said Archer. "There must be something that we can do to help her. She's saved our lives more times than I care to count and we owe her. She didn't have to come with us."
"It's a matter for the Vulcans, there isn't much I can do," said the Admiral.
"Admiral, she's a member of my crew just as much as anyone," said Archer.
"But she's still a Vulcan and no matter how long she stays on Enterprise, that won't change," said Forrest. "You know what's at stake here, Jon. The whole Vulcan alliance."
"And what exactly is that worth to us?" asked Archer. "The only Vulcan who helped us against the Xindi was T'Pol. They did nothing but hold us back during the warp five programme. The Andorians did more for us and according to the Vulcans they're a violent, dangerous species that we shouldn't even talk to."
"Just because Shran saved your ass once, doesn't mean he'd do it again. Besides, you know that the Vulcan cruiser Takurek was on its way to defend Earth," said the Admiral.
"Yes, and if we'd waited for the Vulcans to pull our asses out of the fire, Earth would have been destroyed by the Xindi," said Archer.
"Don't you think I know that?" said Forrest. "But it doesn't make it any easier for me to take on the whole Vulcan consulate, or our own government. There is no political will to defend T'Pol, she's not human therefore they don't want to know, and with Commander Tucker's condition making everyone paranoid about out involvement in outer-space, it's going to be harder than ever."
"We have to do something, I refuse to win the fight against the Xindi, and come home to find that two of my best officers are being taken from me. I lost a third of my crew in the Expanse. All of them good people, the best that Starfleet had to offer. T'Pol was there with us through it all, she even risked her health for us," said Archer.
"I know, I know," said Forrest. "It isn't fair or right. I'm just not sure if there's anything that we can do about it. I have a friend in the Judge Advocate's office maybe they can give us some directions to go in, but I can't promise you anything."
"At least we're doing something. I'm not losing her, Admiral. Not to some Vulcan tribunal."