Firebird: Thanks for the reviews. He will! Give him a little time.
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Before Archer made his way to Starfleet Medical, he contacted the Prime Minister to tell him the bad news. Pulling up the man's visage in his office in Paris, he gave a slight smile; it was a nervous one.
"I'm afraid--" Archer started.
"Save it," Prime Minister Pelletier said. "I've heard everything."
Stan, Archer thought.
"I'd like you to continue to try and get the council reconvened."
Archer agreed. "Yes, sir."
The man then pushed back a few of his wiry gray hairs and blew out a small breath as if he was about to deliver some unwelcome news.
"You told me that you had a friendship with Ambassador T'Pol …."
"We're not intimately involved, if that's what you're asking."
The Prime Minister nodded. "I like knowing we can influence the Vulcans, but … I don't like the implications that have surfaced. I don't like hearing we're influencing the Vulcans because of a romantic relationship. I don't like hearing they're in our back pocket."
"I don't either."
"You know, I drafted you into this. I hope you feel comfortable enough to tell me if there is something--"
"There isn't."
The Prime Minister narrowed his eyes at the screen, as if testing the man. Archer didn't flinch.
Pelletier said, "I know she's a close friend of yours, but I'd like it if you two …."
Archer waited, rather than revealing he'd already agreed to cool off even their friendship.
He said, "Maybe you two shouldn't see as much of each other."
"We agreed to that," Archer said. "Although, it feels more dishonest to not see each other. We've been friends for ten years and have been through a lot together. I can't tell you how many times we faced uncertainty and death together." He paused. "I can't tell you how many times she risked her life to save me."
Pelletier asked, "If you're trying to tell me you want there to be something--?"
He sighed. "No. I'm just letting you know …. I'm telling you it's an unfair and unnecessary inconvenience."
"Welcome to politics." Pelletier continued. "I appreciate your frankness. Continue to keep me in the loop if anything else surfaces."
"Yes, sir."
Before the connection broke, the prime minister leaned in a little. "I know it's a hassle, and I know I drafted you into politics. Once this blows over, I think you can pick up wherever the two of you left off."
Archer decided to level with the guy. "I lost track of T'Pol for one year. I didn't know where she was or what she was doing. When she came to Earth I was relieved that she was all right."
The Prime Minister sat back in his chair as Jon continued.
"I want you to know, I have the kind of friendship for her where I'm going to do everything in my power to protect her. And, I'll be damned if I lose track of her again." He folded his arms across his chest. "I'll agree to stop seeing her as often, but I can't promise to not see her at all."
"Sounds like you have mixed loyalties."
"No, sir. They're crystal clear. I'll defend Earth, but I'm going to look after my friends."
"I want you to be careful. You don't just represent your own interests."
"I know. That doesn't mean they're in conflict though."
"You might find they will be."
Archer frowned.
Pelletier said, "If anything new situations surface … the kind the implicate the two of you …."
"They won't."
"Keep it that way." The screen faded to black and Archer frowned.
----
Jon made his way to Starfleet Medical to drop the chip off and see how his former Tactical Officer was doing. Sneaking past the nurse at the main station, he made his way to the room he knew Malcolm Reed occupied. Without thinking, he pushed through the door and saw Hoshi and the patient lip-locked, obviously enjoying it.
"Damn hospital bed. Maybe if I lower it a bit--" Reed whispered as Hoshi giggled.
Jonathan Archer wasn't always the first man to pick up on signals, but decided the better part of valor was to walk quietly back through the door and knock on it to let the couple know he was there to visit. Stepping backwards back into the hall, he waited for a second and then knocked.
It took a few moments for Hoshi to answer.
"Yes?" she asked, slipping the door open.
Archer smiled. "I wanted to drop by. I hope I'm not disturbing you."
"Nah," she said. "Come on in."
Malcolm smoothed his hair down and gave a small wave. "Thanks for coming by."
"You bet, how you feeling?" he asked.
"Better. I didn't realize getting grazed in the side would keep me here so long."
Archer joked, "That's what happens when you try to be the hero."
"Last time I do that."
"I find that hard to believe," Archer said. "You did some great work. I knew you'd uncover whoever the spy was."
Reed gave a grin. "Well, Phlox uncovered it. The scans he performed showed she's an Arali. Apparently the doctor also uncovered that the Orions and Arali have similar DNA … as if the races were from the same offshoot."
Although Archer wasn't a scientist, it seemed natural. Most of the races were more than a billion years old and had time to travel or spread their space dust to other nearby planets. The word "connection" rang in his head until he realized a few minutes had passed and that Reed was still speaking.
Reed said. "… the MACOs confiscated various data chips Xemax made. It looks like she was hoping to blackmail various members of the Council."
"I know first hand," Archer said. Holding the data chip in the air, he indicated he and T'Pol had been wrongly accused. Hoshi took it immediately, indicating she would be happy to prove it was invalid when quietly, Jon admitted the entire video wasn't falsified, only the last part.
Reed said, "I was only able to watch a few, but it appears she has something on everyone in the Council. However, she seems to have focused her efforts on you and President Gral. Perhaps because you two have the greatest influence or responsibility?"
Archer frowned.
Malcolm lowered his voice. "There's also some potentially embarrassing information about T'Pol."
"What is it?" Archer asked.
"Xemax apparently recorded a private conversation between you and T'Pol where she admitted to failing some sort of test."
The Kolinahr. "Are these going to surface?"
"I hope not. Section 31 is working on rooting them out. But, obviously one slipped through to Ambassador Kator."
"If Kator had more, he would've brought them to light," Archer said. "He's an honorable man."
Hoshi sighed. "It sounds like Xemax went to a lot of trouble."
Reed said, "I think she knew we'd find out eventually. But, sir, there's more. They have a copy of a message T'Pol received from Trip's parents. And obviously there's manipulated data …."
"Like what?"
Reed shook his head. "Medical records forged by Dr. Phlox that T'Pol had at one time taken a recreational drug and been treated for it."
Archer's eyes narrowed. Although the admiral wasn't 100 percent certain, he thought T'Pol did use drugs recreationally in the Expanse. When she shattered the PADD against his desk out of anger and frustration, the captain was reminded of how irritable and distrustful his first officer was aboard the Selaya.
Has to be false.
"What are you doing to make sure these don't surface?" Archer asked.
"A few things." Reed shook his head. "I can't reveal exactly what."
"How likely do you think it is more will leak?" Archer asked.
"I don't think people, except the Council, a few disgruntled members of Terra Prime and maybe the media, care. Hopefully they won't care enough to pay for it."
"I want to help," Archer said. Something about tapes floating around embarrassing Council members, especially T'Pol, irritated and angered him.
The captain said, "You're a civilian now, and a famous one. Getting involved would harm the work that's being done. I hope you understand."
Just as Archer was about to contradict the information, Reed shook his head.
"Jon, I know you want us to find them before anyone else does. We'll see to it. I've personally volunteered to head up the retrieval."
"Thank you."
Reed shifted with discomfort and gave an annoyed sigh. Fussing with his pillow he grumbled. "I'm tired of lying around."
Hoshi planted a kiss on his forehead. "Oh, stop being a baby, Malcolm. Phlox said he'd release you tomorrow."
"I'm telling you, I'm not bloody eating the mushed peas they've been feeding me tonight. Never tasted food so bad in my life."
Archer grinned. "Well, maybe a friend can stop by with something more palatable."
Reed smiled. "Will this friend get me a cheeseburger?"
Hoshi put her hands on her hips and shot a warning-glare to both men. "Not if he knows what's good for him."
----
Coming home to Porthos, Archer crouched down. It was strange not dropping by T'Pol's. He had made a habit of doing so every evening just to say "hi" or determine if she'd had dinner. His little dog licked at his face and eventually his master half-heartedly scolded the animal and headed for his kitchen. Popping his head in the refrigeration unit, he noticed nothing worthwhile to eat except a T.V. dinner with meatloaf. With moderate interest he stuck it into the heating unit and slid open the top. Popping open a beer, he put on a game – football - he'd been wanting to see for a few weeks and sat in front of the television.
Although Porthos remained at his feet, licking his chops as if his master would toss him a morsel (which he eventually did), the meal was uneventful. The game didn't provide the kind of distraction he was looking for, especially since his team lost. He needed something else to keep his brain occupied.
If Trip had been alive, he would've called him up and asked him to "shoot some hoops." Sadly, the engineer was dead killed by a race of people represented now – no doubt – in the Starfleet Brig. There had to be a connection between the gem stolen by Shran, the death of his engineer and friend and the sudden interest in taking over a quadrant of the galaxy that was home to only a few planets, including Romulus, Orion and Aral.
Phlox's information about how the Orion and Arali were linked somehow – as if related – didn't really surprise him. What did surprise him was the Denobulans were a common thread between the two.
Planet Earth was about 4 or 5 billion years old and humans only a couple of million (without arguing whether the species is more ape or more man). But, the Vulcans, Denobulans, Orions … their planets were older. Much older. Vulcan scientists had determined their desert planet was created more than 10 billion years ago. The planet at one point was too warm, due to the two suns in its solar system. A cataclysmic event threw the planet out of its orbit into a cooler one more than 5 billion years ago. Life sprang as water formed on the planet making Vulcan life almost a billion years of age. Andoria began much the same way.
Every species, or nearly every, they encountered were older than the humans. There was something humbling about it, and it meant the connection between the older races, ones that were in closer proximity to each other, was greater. Archer smirked about space matter. If Mars hadn't once sustained a modicum of life, Earth's animals would have never existed. Comets, whooshing by, contaminated planets from other solar systems with the DNA (including viruses and what not) of every planet in their wake.
Ah, the mysteries of the universe.
It was a reminder that the universe was still connected, despite being unfathomably large.
Sipping at his beer, he chided himself. It was stupid to think he could answer the origin of the universe and the creatures that inhabited it, even if he enjoyed musing on it. Scientists, even the Vulcans, researched that very question without any answers.
As he polished off his beer, a flicker of thought zipped through his mind.
Yes, but there is a connection. There is a connection between Vulcan and Romulus.
Archer blinked quickly and wondered exactly where that thought had come from, unsure that it came from him.
What connection? he asked himself.
The spark died as well as the fleeting thought. Racking his brain, he tried to recall it, mostly because it seemed so important as if a major puzzle to his musings had come to light. It was like trying to remember the name of a childhood friend, something that was just out of grasp.
Sighing, rather than focus on it, he grabbed a book and headed for his bedroom to think about it instead of the problem at hand.
Maybe it'll just come to me if it's so important.
---
As soon as T'Pol made it to her office, she contacted T'Pau right away to tell her the troubling news. As soon as the woman's image filled the screen, T'Pol spoke.
"I had hoped to call you under different circumstances, Minister. The United Federation of Planets has dissolved--"
"What?" T'Pau said. There was almost surprise in her voice.
"There was a vote to disband which was approved."
"How did this happen?"
"Ambassador Xemax has proved to be a traitor. She was arrested by Starfleet, and members of the Council wanted to verify why she was taken."
"I see."
T'Pol hesitated, her lips feeling suddenly dry. "There is something else. Ambassador Kator provided information from Ambassador Xemax. It was a video. Jonathan and I have been … implicated in a scandal which questions my allegiance and may bring shame to Vulcan."
"What is the scandal?"
"There is a data chip that implicates us … that we are together." At the minister's confused expression, T'Pol became more blunt. "Katelau." It was the Vulcan word for copulation.
The woman's eyes widened. "It is true?"
"No. It is a falsehood meant to embarrass both of us. Jonathan has asked to prove that it is a fabrication and present that information to the other ambassadors. I … apologize that this involves Vulcan."
"You have a friendship with Archer."
It wasn't a question. T'Pol decided to affirm it. "I do."
"How close?"
"Is there a more specific question?"
"You confided in me that you once had a relationship with another human. You said it might hinder your ability to serve Vulcan."
T'Pol stiffened. "I did. My relationship with Jonathan is not the same."
"And Archer's feelings?"
"He feels the same, of course."
T'Pau crooked an eyebrow in T'Pol's direction. "What will you do to minimize Vulcan's shame?"
"We have agreed to see each other less frequently."
"You believe that will quiet this scandal?"
"It is a step."
"I do not like hearing that we are at the whim of Earth, even if these allegations are false."
"I understand."
"How quickly did Archer say he would be able to clear you?"
"Unknown. It may take as long as three weeks."
"I believe you should stop communication with him during this time."
"Don't you think that's a drastic step?"
"No." T'Pau leaned forward. "Are you so accustomed to Earth's ways that you have developed human impatience?"
"No," she said. The words were said without emotion, though she felt herself bristle at the accusation.
"Good. Rather than recall you to Vulcan, I would like for you to continue your duties there."
"Very well."
"Contact me again when you learn more. Live long and prosper," T'Pau said.
When the screen shone to black, T'Pol felt her lips want to give way to a small frown. She held back, but felt the emotion behind it nonetheless.
The moment she had seen the video of her and Archer, she had wondered just how quickly information about her and Trip would surface. Terra Prime already flaunted that information several years ago, it would hurt her prestige to be involved with another human.
Perhaps it is why the information viewed today bothered me. There is a connection to Trip.
She was bothered. Several things about it disturbed her, not just that her privacy was wrecked or that the Federation had crumbled in a matter of minutes. It wasn't just the remembrance of Terra Prime, although that – and the memory of Elizabeth a child that born and died to embarrass her and Earth - upset her. Other things proved unsettling: like the thought there was someone who had information about her, a private moment between friends. It meant every conversation and moment between the two could've been recorded and reviewed … admissions about Trip. Admissions about her feelings. Truths spoken in whispers about her fears of seeming too human and doubts she had anything to bring the Council.
There was something else.
During the viewing of the video in the Council hall, she'd been surprised to notice that Jonathan had acted embarrassed of the moment. Knowing him ten years, she'd expected him to act enraged, angry, galled and spiteful, not defeated. Almost as soon as the lie was shown, she'd waited for him to rail against Kator and accuse him of deception, not hang his head.
When Jonathan Archer didn't like something or agree with it, he was quick to point it out. He didn't suffer the bickering in the Council room long; instead, he made a fast exit and vocalized how disappointed he was. Even working for him for years, she'd gleaned his style was to point out disagreements immediately rather than allow them to linger.
Maybe it was the shock that prevented him from saying anything further?
For a moment, she pondered T'Pau's question about Jonathan's feelings.
He feels the same way, of course.
Dismissing her doubts, she looked at her terminal, scrolling through her communications. Hours upon hours passed as she reviewed each one in detail, making notes on a PADD beside her about the logic of the request, and placed them in various folders. The Council may've been disbanded, but it was her firm belief that she should continue to serve her planet.
Filing those requests away, and before leaving for the night, two communications came to her notice instantly. One was marked in symbols T'Pol barely remembered; the subject read "Yaa voosh a norai" meaning "all is well." The message was cryptic and in ancient Vulcan, a language that Vulcan school children were required to study, but a syntax and structure hardly anyone used.
Peering at her computer, she read the contents slowly, trying to remember the words she was required to scribble in her youth.
"We have been welcomed and are closing in on our destination. Our hosts contacted one of my friends personally. We should be there in one Vulcan day. The leader has asked us to refrain from communicating, which is why this may take some time to reach you. All is well."
T'Pol rose from her computer at once. This message, she gathered, was from Staron. They appeared to be closing in on Romulus. Perhaps Ambassador Neville Simon or Admiral Duvall requested no one send out a communication? She wondered which friend was personally contacted by the Romulans and hypothesized it was Simon.
Her fingers almost as a reflex contacted Jonathan, but instead let her hand slip away from the terminal. It was her job to represent Vulcan and the words T'Pau spoke echoed in her mind; impatience was a human trait.
Sitting down, she read the message again, resting her chin on pointed fingers studying the note. It was ingenious to use ancient Vulcan, a language that even Hoshi was unfamiliar with. It may've been foolhardy, though, to send out a communication. If it was a direct order from Admiral Duvall, Staron should've heeded it. On a starship, especially one on a diplomatic mission, radio silence was not only wise, but also imperative. By sending out this note, he may've compromised the ship and maybe even the mission.
Rather than respond, she copied the information to a personal data chip and wiped any record of it from her computer, ensuring to eradicate all traces. As a scientist, she could do so easily and with little effort. Stuffing the information into her pocket, she moved onto to the other intriguing note.
"Something you want," was the subject line.
Amongst the messages that T'Pol received on a regular basis, were advertising: promotions and sales on items that rarely ever interested her … at least not enough to inquire about them further. Apparently humans were eager to sell products anyway they could and more surprisingly, people actually wanted these nuisances. As she opened it, thinking it was an advertisement (but unsure enough to actually examine it), she dropped her jaw.
"Jonathan Archer is a dead man unless you get us information on the gem that Shran stole. We know you're having dinner with Shran tomorrow. Meet us afterward. 1 a.m. at pier 32. Be alone. If you tell anyone, we'll kill him."
Her breath stuttered.
She presumed the gem was the one reportedly back on Andoria where it belonged, the one Trip had given his life for in the end. Although she knew precious little about exactly what it was, she knew it was important enough for General Krag, the Andorian leader, to convene a covert operation personally asking Shran to lead it. At least that was Archer's explanation.
Why is the gem so important?
It was important enough that part of the plan to retrieve Shran's daughter was to fabricate something that appeared to look like the gem, but wasn't it. Somehow, T'Pol had gathered that Shran was keeping it or had spent it during his travels. Now she wondered whether there was additional value to this crystal.
Gazing at the message sent, she decided to view attached pictures - obviously recent ones – where her friend was in his office, in Starfleet Medical talking with Hoshi and Reed and traveling back to his home. There was one of him bending to pet his dog as he entered the door, a smile covering his face and one where the man looked lonely eating out of a tray in front of the television. And there was one of him reading, bare-chested and dressed in sweat pants, on his bed with Porthos curled up at his feet.
The date of the message was sent only a few minutes ago.
TBC
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A/N: We'll hear about the gem more next chapter. The visit Shran asked T'Pol and Archer to pay isn't purely social.