Chapter 2 – Revelation

Captain Jonathan Archer was chafing at the bit to get back out into space. Sitting around, waiting for his new ship to come off of the assembly line was irritating in the extreme. Nearly everyday he was at the orbital engineering platform, monitoring systems checks and intermix ratios. He'd been granted time off by Starfleet Command, but it gave him too much time to think about the events of the last six months. He'd thought that when he got his new ship, Trip would be there with him, prepping her for her maiden voyage. Every time he went over the specs of the warp 7 engines, he saw something that Trip had recommended be installed. There were even components that he had designed himself to squeeze that little extra bit of speed from Enterprise's old warp 5 engines incorporated into the new engine's design. It wasn't fair, and Archer still felt a welling of anger and sorrow at the senselessness of what happened.

He'd been given an office at Starfleet Command, but he spent little time there, preferring to be where the action was, the orbital engineering platform. As fate would have it, he'd stopped by the office to pick up some papers he'd left on his desk the day before. He was perusing them when the chime of his office door sounded.

"Come," he said as he studied the papers in his hand. He turned to greet the newcomer. "T'Pol!" He set the papers down on the desk and went toward her, stopping just short of arm's length. "It's great to see you. You're looking well."

"Thank you, Captain," she replied, nodding. "You also look well."

"Have a seat." He indicated the chair to his left. Sitting on the corner of his desk, he asked, "Is this a social call?" This was the first time he'd seen her since his speech before the new United Federation of Planets delegations. He knew that she had gone to Mississippi to meet Trip's parents and give them his things from his quarters, but other than a call from Trip's dad letting him know that she'd done so, he had heard little from her. He knew that she was working with the Vulcan delegation as a Federation liaison, but that was all. He, himself, had made no attempt to contact her either. The wounds from Trip's death had left both of them raw.

"No, Captain," she replied, ignoring the chair he'd indicated and standing at attention with her hands behind her back. Her eyes flickered around his office. "Could we take a walk? The weather is very good today."

Obviously, she had something she wanted to talk to him about, and she wanted to make sure of their privacy. "Sure, T'Pol. That's fine." Indicating that she should lead the way, he followed her out of the office, into the elevator, and, finally, out of the building. Once outside, she slowed her pace and finally spoke. What she said shocked him.

"Captain, I have reason to believe that Commander Tucker is alive." She lifted her chin, almost as if she were ready to do battle to get him to believe her. "I have definitive proof."

"T'Pol, I know that at one time you and Trip were very close, but Trip died." He looked at her sympathetically. "We buried him."

"Someone or something was buried, but it was not Trip." This was spoken as vehemently, for a Vulcan that is, as anything he had ever heard her say. "Trip is alive."

Archer sighed. "You said you had definitive proof." He led the way over to a bench that was on the grass in front of Starfleet Medical. He motioned for her to sit, then joined her.

T'Pol paused for a moment as if getting her thoughts together. "Commander Tucker and I had formed a psychic bond."

"A psychic bond?" Archer looked confused. "You mean, like a mating bond?" He remembered it from his brief contact with the katra of Surak. "Only Vulcans can form those."

"No, captain, that's not true. Trip and I formed a mating bond seven years ago, while in the expanse." She looked Archer in the eye. "That bond lets me know that he's still alive. I have been in contact with him."

Archer sat there staring stupidly at her, trying to wrap his brain around what she'd just told him. "Trip never mentioned it. He would have told me."

"I don't think he was ever completely comfortable with our bond. He learned to suppress it, just as I did." She glanced over her shoulder at the building behind them. "I suggest we speak with Phlox. He can confirm what I'm telling you about the bond."

"I think we'd better." Archer rose, indicating for T'Pol to precede him into the building. They took the lift to the xenobiology department where Phlox's lab and consulting rooms were located.

"Captain Archer!" Phlox greeted him warmly. "It's good to see you again!" He shot a surprised look at T'Pol. "Commander, I didn't expect to see you again so soon, but, no matter! Welcome!"

"It's good to see you, too, Phlox." Archer indicated the chairs before Phlox's desk. "May we sit down? T'Pol says that you can confirm some information that she has just given me."

"Why, of course, Captain! I'll be glad to tell you anything you need to know, provided T'Pol agrees." He indicated the chairs, and the three of them sat. "Now, what do you need to confirm."

"I wish you to confirm to Captain Archer that Commander Tucker and I did indeed share a mating bond." T'Pol raised her chin and sat very straight in her chair as she spoke.

Phlox raised his eyebrows, curious as to why T'Pol had finally decided to reveal this information to the Captain. "Yes, Captain, Commander Tucker and Commander T'Pol did indeed share a mating bond. It began while the Enterprise was in the Delphic Expanse."

Archer was surprised, not that Tucker and T'Pol shared something special, but he was surprised at the way it had manifested itself. "A human and a Vulcan shared a mating bond. I can't believe it! It shouldn't be possible. . ." Archer paused, then continued, "Should it?"

"It may only depend on the individuals involved, but it is possible that humans and Vulcans are more compatible than any of us realized." Phlox shrugged his shoulders, something he had picked up from his human crewmates. "On the other hand, according to Commander Tucker's psychological evaluations, he had a very high empathy rating."

"Empathy. That's being sensitive to the feelings and thoughts of others, isn't it?" Archer asked.

"Yes, Captain," T'Pol answered. "It could be one explanation as to why we bonded."

"So, on the basis of this bond, you've determined that Trip is still alive?" Archer asked.

"Commander T'Pol, I thought I explained why you were experiencing these visions of Commander Tucker during your meditations." Phlox looked at her with concern.

"Dr. Phlox, I have continued to have incursions from Commander Tucker into my meditations," She stated. "I have even learned the name he is currently using, Thomas Clark." She looked from Phlox to Archer. "It is my belief that he is suffering from amnesia."

"T'Pol," Archer said kindly, "I know how you felt about Trip-" he stopped when he saw her raised eyebrow, then continued, "Neither one of you hid it very well." He reached out as if to take her hand, then pulled back, thinking better of it. "Trip is dead."

"Who made the pronouncement of death?" She asked. "I know that Phlox did not. He was on earth being debriefed by Starfleet Command."

"Dr. Rayburn, the physician sent by Starfleet to assist when I was at my debriefing, made the official pronouncement of death." Phlox reached over to his computer terminal and entered Trip's name. A copy of his death certificate came up. "Oh, my, this is incorrect."

"What's wrong, doctor?" Archer asked. He rose and went to look over Phlox's shoulder.

"According to the commander's death certificate, I made the pronouncement of death." Phlox looked from Archer to T'Pol. "This document has been falsified. I was not on Enterprise when Commander Tucker died."

"Obviously, Commander Tucker's death has been fabricated for some purpose." T'Pol took a deep breath, then continued. "Thomas Clark is employed by Sonocorp, an engineering firm in their research and development department. That's all the information I was able to find."

"Sonocorp is making components for the new warp 7 ships and the scuttlebutt is that they're also researching ways to increase warp speeds exponentially," Archer informed her. "Whatever information is available should be readily accessed by someone with your security clearance."

"All Sonocorp employee data files have been encrypted using an extremely sophisticated code. Even a Vulcan would have difficulty breaking the code," she informed him.

Archer paused, thinking. A sense of anger filled him, strangely mingled with joy. Trip, not dead as they had all believed, but not knowing who he was. They had to get to the bottom of this, and quickly.

"I think we all know who would be best suited to decrypting these files," he said. "I'll get in touch with Hoshi in Brazil. She should be able to help us find the answers we need." I'll also get in touch with Malcolm Reed, he thought. Some of his 'friends' may be able to shed a little light on this subject, too. "We'll get to the bottom of this, one way or another."