Author's note

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Trip looked around at his surroundings, seconds ago he was being thrown around his cell - the result of weapon's fire, and now he was standing in the middle of Enterprise's transporter room. He looked over to Sovek to confirm the Vulcan was uninjured and then looked back to the Transporter pad.

"Where's T'pol?"

Trip moved quickly over to the com panel, "Cap'n, where's T'pol." he questioned. Recently whenever he was aboard Enterprise he was always aware of a slight presence in the back of his mind. Now he felt nothing, it was like a part of him was missing.

Internally waves of worry and fear flooded him, this time they were his emotions. He kept his voice clear, suppressing all remnants of what he was feeling. Worrying was not going to help her.

The Captain's response to the young engineer's question was almost instantaneous, "She's still on the ship Trip, we couldn't beam her over in time. They have her."

Trip's stomach tied itself up in knots, he felt as if his worse nightmare was coming true. "Why aren't we following them?" he asked.

"Our engines were damaged in the fire fight, we're trying to fix them. What the hell happened over there Trip?" asked Archer.

Trip didn't speak, he didn't think he could if he wanted to anyway. As soon as he heard that Enterprise wasn't following he had shut off. He needed to go, go and help fix the engines. Do anything to help. Every second he was standing about doing nothing, T'pol was with her captors, having god knows what done to her. Trip didn't say anything, instead he started jogging down the corridors leading to engineering. Sovek moved over to the com panel and was left to deal with the Captain.

"As soon as we were transported over we were shot with some sort of stun weapon." Sovek began "We awoke in a darkened room, soon after T'pol was taken. Our captors were not Tellarite, merely posing as them."

Sovek hated that he hadn't done something. What kind of father lets his own daughter get taken? he demanded of himself. Even though their captors were armed he could have at least tried. He continued to relate the events that had happened.

"The next thing we were aware of was the ship being attacked, and then we were transported back to Enterprise…. I would like to offer my assistance in finding T'pol, captain." He finished.

"We could use your help." the Captain admitted "Am I right to assume that Trip is down in engineering?" Archer asked already knowing the answer.

"You are indeed correct."

As soon as Trip entered Engineering he found Lieutenant Hess issuing orders. He moved over to her. "Where's Kelby?" he inquired. Even with the recent problems he had had with Commander Kelby he still considered him to be a talented engineer and a good person. They had got passed recent events - mainly Trip's transfer and the incident with the Orion's and had fallen back into their normal, friendly routine.

"He's in sickbay sir, Daniel saved my life." she answered referring to Commander Kelby.

"The console by me exploded, he pushed me out of the way, but was injured himself." She explained, her voice slightly quieter as she flashed back to what had happened.

She had turned around after hearing an ear splitting bang, she saw him lying there, a small trickle of crimson liquid running down his face. He had risked his life to save her, as she reached down to check his pulse she didn't think she had ever been so terrified of anything in her life. Praying to god she soon found a weak pulse and within minutes he was getting treatment in sickbay. She hadn't been able to see him, the repairs came first. It surprised her, and if she had to admit it scared her just how much she wanted to throw down her tools and run to sickbay to check on him.

"How is he?" Trip asked worried, even though T'pol's abduction was his main concern he wasn't about to ignore other people's welfare. He knew Hess well and her face displayed the emotions which he was feeling inside - worry, despair, sadness. There was a popular betting pool aboard Enterprise, something which made the sometimes boring missions slightly more interesting. Anna Hess and Daniel Kelby were the other 'couple' aboard the ship who were a favourite for Enterprise's betting pool. He and T'pol apparently still remained its favourite but apparently there were quite some good odds on his second and third in command getting together.

It was true that Hess and Kelby didn't meet eye to eye all the time, hell sometimes they even gave him and T'pol a run for their money argument's wise, but that was what gave them away, they argued as passionately as he and T'pol and Trip knew more than anyone else knew what that meant. Months before he had even heard of a Xindi he and T'pol had gotten into a 'disagreement' over something, halfway through their 'conversation' he had realised that it was movie night, but surprisingly he didn't care, he was having more fun just arguing with the science officer than he would have had if he attended the movie! He was falling for the Vulcan, plain and simple. Trip's chest tightened at the thought of the young Vulcan. His heart throbbed for his kidnapped mate. He should have done more to stop them from taking her. He should have fought them harder.

"Phlox said that he should recover." Hess stated, relief tinged her voice.

Trip looked over to her and nodded. "What's our status?" he asked getting back to the point.

For the next few minutes he was brought up to speed on Enterprise's damage. It turned out the engine had been hit worse than expected. Several relay junctions had been fried, their circuits becoming fused together. A problem with the warp reactor was preventing a stable warp field from establishing and their main plasma junction had been ruined.

Enterprise had suffered far worse before, however all of these jobs would mean Enterprise would only be able to travel at impulse for the next four days. By that time any trace of the Tellarite vessel would have been lost and with it any chance of finding T'pol.

Trip had hoped a lot of the damage could have been easily repaired, luck unfortunately was not on his side today though. Trip started working immediately, if anyone could fix Enterprise's engines in record time it was her chief engineer. His thoughts strayed briefly to T'pol. Was she safe? How was she being treated?….Was she even still alive? Trip stopped his train of thought immediately. His work needed his full attention, speculation wouldn't get him anywhere. He turned back to his work, and began to repair the ship.

The first thing she became aware of was pain. Pain was surging through her body and overwhelming her senses. T'pol opened her eyes and squinted, she attempted to assess where she was, wherever it was it was dark, dank and cold. Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness, she couldn't make anything out. She moved slightly and waves of nausea struck her. She touched her shoulder where she had been shot, she felt a sticky substance on her clothing- blood.

She gasped as pain once again hit her. This time she softly touched her face, it felt as if her nose was broken, she could taste blood.

She slowly stood, the pain became more severe. Taking a calming breath she moved gradually around the room. She used her uninjured arm to feel out for any objects, the room was bare. She walked over to one of the walls and sank to the floor, cradling her injured arm. T'pol had come to the logical conclusion that her efforts had more than likely worked, Enterprise was safe. She was unsure whether Trip or her father had been beamed to safety though.

She closed her eyes and tried to reach Trip with their bond, she couldn't sense him. This, she came to the conclusion was because they had been beamed off and were now too far away for the bond to work in her weakened state. She had to believe her father and Trip were safe and that they would come for her. A small part of her also reasoned that she couldn't sense her mate because there was nothing to sense, she refused to accept this as the truth.

She continued to sit, staring into the darkness for several hours. She had found out there was no way to escape from the cell she was currently being kept in. She had to rely on Enterprise for a rescue. T'pol hugged her shivering form, the room was freezing and every time she shook from the cold she aggravated her injuries. She had been considering what would be done to her now. She would have no doubt have angered her captors with her previous actions, would she be punished for it? Would they want information from her? T'pol had been tortured for information before, it was not an experience she wanted to repeat.

'…just as we were predicting.' the words she had heard from the Romulan 'Vulcan' echoed through her mind. She had heard them just before she had passed out, she hadn't had time to dwell on what it meant then, but now she did. What had they predicted? Was her capture all part of some plan?

The door to her cell opened interrupting her thoughts, light streamed in, a large, intimidating figure stood in the door way, he strode in an air of confidence about him. T'pol looked up at his features. It was the Romulan she had met earlier, he still had that arrogant, conniving smile plastered upon his face.

"You have caused me many problems Vulcan." He spoke, T'pol didn't seemed phased by this revelation and he moved on.

"My name is Telak , I will be dealing with you from now on." he slightly smirked. His name triggered a sense of déjà vu in T'pol. She had heard that name before…. but where?

"Have no doubt that you will face consequences for your actions. It will be in your interests to co-operate fully." He warned.

T'pol raised an eyebrow. "And if I do not cooperate?". The Romulan - Telak turned on his heel, he walked towards the doorway and reached down into his pocket, he threw an object into her cell- a silver sphere, which landed right beside her.

"You will help us, of that have no doubt." A hiss escaped the sphere and a misty white gas escaped into her room, the door banged shut. She started coughing, the gas entering her lungs, she attempted to crawl away from it but it was no good. She collapsed once more on the hard floor.

T'pol regained consciousness, aware that she was lying on what felt like an uncomfortable bed. She wasn't sure how long she had been out for this time. She attempted to move but it felt as if she was restrained, she pulled at one of her arms but it was trapped in place. She tried to move her feet they were restrained too. She opened her eyes but was only met with a dim haze, she looked around. She could just about make out a few misty shapes surrounding her, one she thought could be a figure, standing a few metre from her. She blinked to clear her vision but it didn't work, something had happened to her eyes. She couldn't see!

One of the hazy shapes was moving towards her, he stopped at the side of her.

"Are you ready to comply now Vulcan?" He spat. T'pol looked up at him, she couldn't make any of his features out, but she recognised his voice. It was Telak, the Romulan from earlier.

" Were my companions transported off the Tellarite Vessel?" she questioned, even with her lack of eyesight she was still more concerned about the two than about herself.

She didn't receive an answer instead she was back handed across the face

"You will answer my questions Vulcan, not the other way around."

"As I told you earlier unless you want to come to more harm you will tell me exactly what I need to know." he continued, and T'pol could tell from the harshness his voice held that he was telling the truth. T'pol didn't respond. Instead she listened to her surroundings, her superior hearing picking up the hum of the warp engines. They sounded….. Different.

T'pol could identify several ships from the sound their engines made, Tellarite included. This was defiantly not a Tellarite ship. 'They must have transferred to a new ship when I was unconscious.' she assumed. She knew that her chances of being rescued had just severely decreased. She wouldn't lose hope though, Enterprise would find her, she had to believe that.

Back aboard Enterprise Trip had been practically working for three straight days, he hadn't stopped for more than a minute for food and had been relying on coffee to stay awake. He knew if he went to Phlox to get a stimulant he would be given a lecture about getting rest and then ordered to sleep for hours. He needed all available time which he could be using to be fixing the engines, he would sleep when T'pol was safe. The time he had put in had paid off though. Engineering was preparing to fire up the engines, they would have warp five within the hour.

Sovek had come back down to engineering to offer assistance. He couldn't believe how much he had misinterpreted the Commanders actions previously. It was obvious how much he cared for T'pol, he was practically killing himself getting the engines back in shape solely to save her. The Captain was aware of his efforts and Sovek believed he had chosen to ignore it. Perhaps he knew attempting to stop the commander was a lost cause, or perhaps he wanted to get T'pol back just as much. The Captain also had seemed very concerned about T'pol, as was everyone else aboard the ship. It appeared his daughter had had quite an impact on this crew. He only prayed that they would see her again.

The hum of Enterprise's engines sounded throughout engineering, the warp core sprung to life and within minutes they were on the trail of the Tellarite vessel. Enterprise had been in contact with the Tellarite government and had been informed by them that the ship had been missing for over three years, its crew lost. An investigation had apparently been carried out but no information had been gathered.

All the crew on Enterprise were hoping that their missing officer would soon be found. It had been predicted that Enterprise would catch up to the Rogue Vessel within three days, those three days Trip had decided were going to be the longest three days of his life.

T'pol was thrown roughly back into her cell. The confrontation she had had days ago had been the first of many. Her initial assumptions had been correct, they wanted information, plain and simple. They had asked her many questions. 'How many vessels did Vulcan have?' 'What were the most vulnerable position's on an Earth ship?' to name a few. She had refused to tell them anything, she had found they didn't react well to her silence. Several new injuries on her face and arms could testify to that. She had overheard her captors talking, it appeared a slight beating was going to be the least of her worries soon…..
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