A Thousand Years
By Drogna
Trip found himself being wheeled on a gurney back to his room in Starfleet Medical. Phlox had scheduled another full body scan so that he could check how Trip's lungs were healing. He had explained to Trip that he needed more in-depth information than he could get from a hand scanner, so regular full body scans were part of his weekly routine at the moment. It worried Trip that he looked forward to his excursions from the ward up to the scanning room, but he couldn't deny the fact that he was bored and any change of scene was interesting. The orderlies wheeled him back into his room and carefully transferred him back to his bed, wires, monitors, tubes and all.
T'Pol stood just inside the room waiting for him.
"Hey, T'Pol," said Trip, as brightly as he could manage. He wanted to be happy to see her, but her shields were still raised and he had no idea what she was thinking. He suspected her shields were up because she had bad news for him and didn't want him to find out before she told him.
"I felt your earlier episode today. Are you sufficiently recovered to speak with me?" asked T'Pol.
"I'm fine. I'm sorry for scaring you like that," replied Trip.
"I was not scared, I was concerned for your welfare," stated T'Pol.
"T'Pol, whatever you've come here to say, just get it out. This waiting is killing me."
T'Pol raised an eyebrow but decided not to comment on Trip's inaccurate use of language. She had learned that he did not appreciate his grammar being corrected.
"I spoke with Admiral Gardner today about my next posting," said T'Pol. "He made it clear that it was unlikely that I will be posted to Earth."
"Even given that the Captain told us that Enterprise's crew could pick their next assignments?"
"I am one of only fifteen non-human officers within Starfleet. I am expected to remain on active deep space duty."
"I guessed that this would happen," said Trip.
"I offered to resign my commission."
"T'Pol, you shouldn't have to resign your commission. I mean, you're a damn fine Science Officer and you should really have your own command."
"That was in fact the Admiral's intention," replied T'Pol. "He would not let me resign my commission without considering an alternative posting."
"They offered you a command? What ship?"
"Not a ship. Deep Space One."
"T'Pol, Deep Space One hasn't been inhabited since the Romulan war. It was pretty much destroyed in the first attacks."
"That is true. They expect me to supervise its reconstruction and reinstate it as the first multi-species Federation deep space out-post."
"I can't think of anyone better qualified to pull it off. You know, T'Pol, I'm not going to hold you to what you said about us giving it another go," said Trip as he took the padd that T'Pol held out for him. "Long distance relationship's are no fun, and this would be really long distance."
"Admiral Black also gave me your orders to deliver to you. Perhaps before you make plans you should read them."
"T'Pol, we have to be realistic here. If we couldn't make it work when we were on the same ship we'll never manage it with you halfway across the galaxy. It's going to be at least a month before they even let me out of the hospital, let alone go back to duty, and I'm never going to be allowed on a ship again, so the chances of us crossing paths is pretty damn slim."
"Read the orders," said T'Pol.
T'Pol's mental shields were as strong as they'd ever been and Trip couldn't even get a glimpse of her thoughts. Trip sighed. He already knew what the padd said and he didn't know why T'Pol was making such a big deal out of this. He was going to be posted to Research and Development, where old Engineers went to die and young ones cut their teeth before shipping out to adventure. He pressed the activate button on the padd and scrolled past the formal language at the top, down to the details of his next assignment.
"Deep Space One?" he asked incredulously. "This has got to be a mistake."
"It is not a mistake, I assure you," said T'Pol. "It required some negotiation but I persuaded them that no one else would be able to fill the position as competently as you could."
"They know my condition, right? Phlox said he sent a report."
"Your level of health once you are recovered should be sufficient to serve on a space station."
"It's bending the rules," said Trip.
"Deep Space One requires an experienced Chief Engineer to complete its refit. It is logical that you should serve as the Chief Engineer since you helped to build the station originally. You have the required experience and will be available to take up the position. You also have many friends who were prepared to speak on your behalf. However, I believe the fact that Doctor Phlox will be taking up the position of Chief Medical Officer on the station persuaded them that they would not be placing you in undue danger."
"I still don't get it. It isn't about my safety it's about whether I can do the job," said Trip. Starfleet didn't post anyone who wasn't physically fit to active duty not only because they could endanger their crewmates but also because they could be a danger to themselves, especially in an emergency situation.
"You know that you are capable of doing the job," said T'Pol. "Captain Archer, Ambassador Soval and the Tellarite Ambassador all spoke on your behalf. You may remember that you saved his life when you successfully repaired his ship."
"Even on a space station being an Engineer is a physical job," replied Trip.
"Phlox believes that you will be able to cope with the physical aspects, provided you follow his instructions. I will be on hand to ensure that his orders are followed."
"This is what you've been doing for the past week, isn't it?"
T'Pol inclined her head. "Yes, it has been quite time consuming."
"I thought that you were ignoring me. Hell, I was certain that you wouldn't want to hang around with a guy who can't even sit up without wheezing."
"You are my t'hy'la. I could not abandon you, no matter what condition your health is in." T'Pol held out her hand towards Trip, her index and middle finger extended in the traditional Vulcan gesture of affection. Trip formed his fingers into the same shape and T'Pol's finger with his own. T'Pol dropped her shields for the first time for almost a week and he felt love pour through their link, even stronger now that they were in physical contact. He felt T'Pol's suppressed worry for his health and he reassured her that he was fine and loved her in return.
He suddenly felt that her simple touch wasn't enough, he pulled his t'hy'la into a hug and held her. When they eventually broke apart, Trip was grinning. T'Pol hadn't been hiding things from him because she was leaving him, she had been hiding things because she hadn't wanted to get his hopes up, and because she didn't want Trip to know of her plan to resign should things not go her way. She was right to hide that one, Trip would have been upset at her for considering sacrificing her career for him.
"So we're going to Deep Space One, huh?"
"Yes, although I have a month's leave before I must depart. You will be joining me once Phlox has declared you fit enough to travel. I trust there will be no problems with my being your commanding officer?"
"There never has been before."
"That is a false statement," replied T'Pol. "I can think of several instances where you disobeyed or questioned my orders."
"Any of those in the last couple of years?"
"Only last month you questioned my decision to…"
"Okay, okay! If you were worried about being my commanding officer, why did you work so hard to get me posted to Deep Space One?"
"You are my t'hy'la. It was the only logical option."
"So you're saying that you're willing to put up with me annoying the hell out of you, so that we can be together."
"You do not annoy me. I find you to be… challenging, at times."
Trip laughed. "If that's the worst that you can think to say about me then I guess we're going to be okay."
"On Vulcan we have a saying mesaha-tor ashaya ozhika k'leh-the tevun," said T'Pol.
"Love outlasts logic by a thousand years," said Trip.
"You understand Vulcan?"
"Just some basics. Not much else to do lying here," replied Trip. "I've been studying. Mainly so I could say this to you properly. Eshikh svai, ashau nash-veh du." The pronunciation was interesting, complete with southern accent, but T'Pol understood his meaning. Desert rose, I love you.
"T'hy'la, ashau nash-veh du," replied T'Pol.
It was two months before Trip was well enough to travel and by then T'Pol had already been gone for a month. Trip was missing her like crazy. He'd felt their link fade as the Excalibur had taken her further and further away from Earth until there was nothing there, just an empty place in his head where T'Pol had been. It was something that neither of them had experienced before, they had almost always been in range of each other's thoughts. They had worked out early on that Enterprise being in orbit around a planet wasn't far enough away to break their communication, it just became more difficult and less precise the further away they were from each other. Unfortunately even their bond, as strong as it was, couldn't reach the border of the Romulan neutral zone.
A lot happened in the month before T'Pol left for Deep Space One. She spent most of her time at the hospital going over briefing documents for her new assignment. She discussed everything with Trip that he would need to know if he was going to be her Chief Engineer. Deep Space One wasn't Enterprise or one of the new warp seven ships that he'd hoped for duty on before all this happened, but at least he wouldn't be stuck on Earth, or alone. T'Pol now wore an extra pip on her uniform that indicated that she had been promoted to Captain. Trip's promotion was in the pipeline as well and the confirmation should be with him any day now.
Malcolm had decided in the end that he wasn't ready to remain on Earth yet, so he'd taken the position on Excalibur, along with a promotion of his own. Excalibur was the closest thing that the fleet had to a battle ship and had been designed with Romulan attackers in mind. Trip knew that Malcolm had made the right decision and he was glad that he'd be with T'Pol on her way to take up her new command. Their earlier arguments had been completely forgotten as Trip's mood lightened and he realised that he never really had blamed anything on Malcolm.
He had also discovered that whilst inactivity sucked big time, moving sucked even more when you only had half your usual lung capacity. Wheelchairs were the order of the day at first, which he hated, but then he discovered that moving on his own was absolutely exhausting. Phlox kept saying he needed to give it time, but after a month had gone by, Trip wondered if he'd ever be able to walk to the bathroom again without having to stop for a rest. There were also regular respiratory therapy sessions, during which Trip breathed into tubes and they tried to improve and gauge his lung capacity.
The day he left the hospital, he wasn't sure how to feel. He was on his own two feet, able to get from A to B pretty much unaided, but he still wasn't as strong as he could be. He was definitely happy to be getting out of the hospital, but he was apprehensive at the same time. Leaving hospital meant that he was expected to take up his old life again and be fit for duty. It would take a couple of weeks to get to Deep Space One, but he wasn't sure that would give him enough time to prepare.
"You're worried you're not ready, aren't you?" said Archer, from the doorway. He had come to pick Trip up from hospital.
"I thought it was T'Pol and I that had the bond," said Trip, looking up at his visitor. He registered the new uniform after a double take. "Admiral. You took the promotion. Congratulations."
Archer smiled. "Thanks. You know that they wouldn't have given you this job if they didn't think you could do it."
"Yes, but how much of it was T'Pol talking them into it."
"Phlox doesn't make a habit of lying in official reports. He believed you'd recover enough to take up the position. As for the engineering side of things, your record speaks for itself."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Cap…Admiral. I needed to hear that."
"We all need a little reassurance sometimes. You're the finest engineer I've ever known, and don't you forget that. Come on let's get you out to the hover car."
Trip grabbed his walking stick, he still needed a little support, and Archer picked up Trip's bag. "Can't wait to see T'Pol. I miss her like hell."
"You remember when she first came on board. I never thought you'd be saying that about her."
"Things change. I can't imagine living without her."
Admiral Archer was drowning in paperwork and beginning to regret his decision to take the promotion. He never would have believed that there was so much logistics involved in running Starfleet, or that it seemed to devolve to Admirals to work out every little problem. That was how he came to find himself in cramped accommodations on Starbase Two rather than back in his comfortable office at Starfleet HQ. It seemed that there were some interspecies issues on the Starbase that couldn't be resolved by a mere Captain. To make matters worse other things had come up in his absence that he now had to deal with from the Starbase. Dauntless had hit some difficulties on a first contact, Endeavour needed to go back to dock for repairs after a fire fight with the Klingons but, as it was due for decommissioning in a year's time, someone had to make a decision about whether it was worth the expense, promotion lists were overdue and there weren't enough hours in the day for all the forms that he needed to fill-in in triplicate.
His com sounded. His aide, Ensign Hanson, was calling.
"Sir, I have a Captain T'Pol from Deep Space One on the line for you," said Hanson.
"T'Pol? Put her through," said a surprised Archer, it was usually Trip who called to keep him updated on what was going on at Deep Space One. They had both settled in well and Trip seemed to be happy now that he was back with T'Pol and had an engineering department to play with again.
T'Pol's face appeared on the screen. "Admiral. You look well."
"So do you. I guess command must be suiting you."
"I am enjoying the challenge," replied T'Pol. "However I have encountered two problems which I require your help with." Archer noted that T'Pol was still as direct as ever, obviously Trip hadn't managed to mellow her that much.
"Problems? I find it hard to believe that there's much that you and Trip can't deal with together," said Archer. The look in T'Pol's eyes told him everything that he needed to know. "Trip's one of the problems?" That was something that hadn't changed, Trip and T'Pol still fought like cats and dogs.
T'Pol nodded. "We had a new contingent of personnel arrive. They brought a number of minor viruses with them."
"You're calling me because Trip has a cold?"
"It was a cold. He refused to rest and it became viral pneumonia."
"Pneumonia? I'm guessing that with Trip's pre-existing condition, it's serious."
"Very, however he is still refusing to rest, and neither Phlox nor I have been able to persuade him to do so," said T'Pol.
"Even Trip isn't that stupid. I'm guessing that this is linked to your other problem."
"We received a distress signal from Excalibur just over twenty four hours ago."
"Malcolm's ship," said Archer, understanding immediately why Trip would be working so hard.
"It was patrolling the edge of the neutral zone when the call came in."
"You despatched a search party?" asked Archer.
"Of course. USS Durandal and USS Athena were in the area and are searching as we speak. However, the Romulans are refusing us entry to the neutral zone to continue our search and are jamming our scans."
"Let me guess, Trip thinks that he can penetrate the jamming?"
"He believes that he can alter the station's long range scanners so that they can detect the Excalibur's warp signature."
"So he's working day and night to get it done whilst he's suffering from pneumonia."
"That is correct."
"Tyrfing is in dock at the moment. I'll be with you by tomorrow afternoon," said Archer. Tyrfing was an Excalibur class vessel, Durandal and the namesake of the class, being the other two ships in that class, and it was easily capable of a sustained warp seven. Deep Space One was a day's travel from Starbase Two at maximum warp. Archer hoped that Captain Austin wouldn't mind leaving a little early, but then she did owe him a couple of favours, not least because he had recommended her to command Tyrfing.
"I had not intended you to leave your current assignment. I was merely hoping that you could talk to him," said T'Pol.
"It's no problem, T'Pol. One of the perks of being an Admiral is getting to order people around and being the one in charge. Tyrfing was headed in your direction anyway," said Archer. In fact he was glad that T'Pol was giving him the opportunity to go travelling again and leave his paper work behind with a good excuse.
"Very well, if it will not inconvenience you, then I look forward to your visit," said T'Pol with that non-smile that she used more and more now.
"Don't worry, T'Pol. We'll get Trip straightened out."
"Vulcans do not worry," said T'Pol.
Archer wondered if T'Pol knew what an accomplished liar she had become.