Captain Archer sat in his office in Starfleet Academy reading the first reports that arrived from Enterprise. He was made part of the reading list as the commander of the Columbia. When he read that they were traveling at warp 5.4, a smiled cracked his face. Trip always said his father's warp engine design was capable of being pushed to warp 6 or better. He was right, which meant he owed Trip a drink or two when he got back to Earth. His father would have been proud of his work.
The Columbia's Engineering hull was well under way and the saucer hull was just getting under way. He was land locked for months to come. As they received reports back from Enterprise, which was also seeding communication buoys as it went, any upgrades or fixed problems would be incorporated into the Columbia giving his ship an advantage that the Enterprise didn't have. The one thing Trip seemed adamant on was improving the hull. He stated that they needed better than the double hull. Archer agreed.
There was a knock on his door. He put the PADD down and sat up in his chair.
"Enter," he barked.
Cadet Elizabeth Tucker entered. She was quickly becoming one of his favorite students, and it wasn't just because Trip was his best friend. She was bright, humorous, and hard working. Plus, being Trip's sister made her feel like she was his sister.
"Cadet," he smirked, "come in."
She shut the door behind her after she entered. Standing at ease in front of the desk she looked a little uncomfortable. Archer noticed this.
"What's wrong, Lizzy?" he asked.
"Well, I know this is wrong, but I heard a rumor that Starfleet has gotten reports back from Enterprise. I just wondering if you knew how Trip was. You know ma, dad, Danny, and me are worried about him," she said.
Archer smiled.
"He's doing fine, Lizzy. As a matter of fact, you can tell your father that he and Chief Engineer Macfadden got Enterprise traveling at warp 5.4," grinned Archer.
"I can tell him this. It's not top secret," she said.
"Believe me, Starfleet will have that bit of information leaked to news agencies by the end of the week," chuckled Archer. "Bad news is top secret. Good news gets leaked."
Lizzy smiled.
"Is that all, cadet?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," she said.
"Well, I see you in class in a couple of hours," he said.
"Yes, sir," she said knowing she was dismissed.
Lizzy left Archer alone. He made a mental note to contact Erica tonight. They needed to discuss this report. Also, he wanted to talk to Admiral Jefferies, as he had some ideas about how to strengthen the hull. The NX might not be a warship but that didn't mean it couldn't handle a war.
STSTST
"Sir, I'm picking up a universal distress signal," Hoshi announced.
"Have you got the coordinates for it?" asked AG.
The Bridge of the Enterprise suddenly came alive with energy, as everyone readied themselves for orders.
"Yes, sir," she answered.
"Send the coordinates to the Nav officer," ordered AG. "Mayweather, drop out of warp. We don't want to fly by whoever is in trouble."
"Aye, aye, sir," retorted Travis.
Hoshi sent the coordinates over to the helm. Immediately Petrov downloaded them into the Nav computer.
"Petrov," AG addressed the Nav Officer, "plot a course to those coordinates."
"Aye, aye, sir," said Petrov.
"Mayweather, once plotted then take us to the distress signal best speed," ordered AG.
"Aye, aye, sir," said Travis.
T'Pol stood up from the Environmental Station and approached the Captain's Chair. Trip barked a few orders to tactical.
"Lieutenant Reed, raise shields and prep weapons," ordered Trip.
"Aye, Aye, sir," Reed crisply responded.
Trip then looked over at the Science Station. "Lieutenant Richter, begin running scans for a ship in distress."
"Aye, aye, sir," replied Richter.
"Captain, may I ask to hear if there is something more than just the distress signal?" T'Pol asked.
"Hoshi play what for you have for the SubCommander," stated AG.
T'Pol walked over to Hoshi. Hoshi took her earpiece out and offered it to T'Pol then she played the distress signal and whatever else she had picked up. T'Pol listened for a moment then handed the earpiece back to Hoshi. She turned and looked at AG.
"Captain, the language being spoken is the Tiburonian language. Tiburon is a warp capable race in what you call the Beta Quadrant, as Vulcan is in the Beta Quadrant. They are a peaceful people," stated T'Pol.
"Why would they be in the Alpha Quadrant?" asked Trip.
T'Pol looked at him with curiosity and said: "I would not know their intentions."
"Speculate since you seem to know the Tiburon," replied Trip with a soft smile.
"Take a guess, SubCommander," added AG.
"Vulcans do not guess, but if I was to speculate, I'd say they are exploring. They are always looking for trade partners," she told them.
"Sir, I have a ship ahead of us. It's dead in the water and highly damaged," Lieutenant Richter spoke up.
"Bring it up on viewscreen," AG ordered Lieutenant Richter.
Richter brought up an image of a small explorer vessel dead in space. It had heavy battle damage. There was a giant rip of metal in the side of its hull. A breach that size would have killed most if not all of the crew.
"Richter, use the sensors and scan the weapons damage," ordered Trip.
"That ship looks like it barely has any weapons," stated AG.
He stood out of his chair and stared at the image of the dead ship. It disgusted him the thought of destroying a ship without much of an ability to defend itself.
"As I stated the Tiburon are a peaceful race," said T'Pol.
"The damage was caused by disruptor damage," announced Richter.
"Are we talking Orions?" asked AG.
"Sir, it's disruptor damage but much stronger, more power than what the Orions have," answered Richter.
"Who else uses disruptors?" asked AG to the Bridge.
Trip looked over at T'Pol. With her hands behind her back and standing stiffly while looking at the viewscreen, he mused that she had an answer for them. But was she going to give it to them? Or was she? He waited to see.
T'Pol spent a moment with an internal debate. She was told to learn about the Humans, learn their technology, and assist them, but with limitations. How should she handle this situation? She decided.
"Captain, may I check your sensors? With my experience as a science officer on a Vulcan starship, I may be able to answer some questions for you about the disruptor damage," she said.
"Go right ahead, SubCommander," AG said then he walked over to the Ops Station and stood beside Trip.
"Pity we couldn't gotten here sooner to help those poor bastards," AG said softly to Trip.
"Yeah. It looks like they never had a chance," growled Trip.
T'Pol walked over to the Science Station. Richter stood up and got out of her way. She sat down and used the station as if she had been trained on it. Checking the readings she saw that the disruptor came from a Romulan weapon. The Rihannsu. She could not tell them about the Romulans without permission. T'Pol stood up. Trip and AG faced her.
"There are two races who use disruptor fire this powerful: the Klingons and Romulans," she said. "Both are Beta Quadrant races and both are aggressive empire builders. There is much intelligence in the Klingons, but little on the Romulans."
"This wouldn't be the Klingons first visit to the Alpha Quadrant. They destroyed several Starfleet ships over the years," stated AG. "The Andorian Empire is in the Beta Quadrant right on the edge of the Alpha Quadrant. We made contact with them because they towed a dead Starfleet long range explorer, warp 3 capable, back to Earth about four years ago. They said that the Klingons destroyed the ship. They were asked why and they told us that was just the way the Klingons are."
"I am sorry for your loss," said T'Pol.
"Well, good people lost their lives, but we did end up with a growing relationship with Andoria," smiled AG.
If Soval was here, he'd be warning the captain about the Andorians, thought T'Pol. She thought better of that for now.
"Captain, should I send a damage control team over to the Tiburon ship to retrieve computer information about their attacker and check around?" asked Trip.
T'Pol during her scans saw that the computer core was damaged. They would find no information about the attacks as all the data would be corrupted. The Romulans didn't leave a trace if they could help it. They preferred to be unseen, unknown, and feared. They were the Rihannsu.
"Send a team and tell Captain Hayes to send a fireteam with them," said AG.
"Yes, sir," said Trip.
"I'll be in my Ready Room. Send the sensor scans to my computer. I want to review them," said AG. "You have the conn, XO."
"Yes, sir," said Trip.
AG exited the Bridge for his Ready Room. Trip walked over to the Captain's Chair. He sat down.
"Hoshi, get me Captain Hayes to the Bridge then start working on if you can breakdown Tiburonian language to add to our universal translator," he ordered.
"Yes, sir," said Hoshi.
He swung his chair around and looked at Specialist Rostov.
"Rostov, tell Chief Macfadden we need a DC team to go over to the Tiburon ship. They are going with a marine fireteam," Trip told him.
"Aye, aye, sir," said Rostov.
Trip swung his chair back around. He noticed that T'Pol was standing beside the chair.
"Wish we could have gotten here when they still needed help," Trip remarked.
"United Earth's growth appears to be drawing the attention of races interested in dialogue and more aggressive races," stated T'Pol. "The Alpha Quadrant is becoming more interesting to many."
"Well, we haven't explored all of the Alpha Quadrant but we think of it as our home. I wouldn't assume we are a pushover if I was an aggressive race," said Trip.
T'Pol looked at Trip and nodded. She wanted to tell him about the Romulans and how dangerous they were. But she had to send an encrypted communication to Soval. He would tell her what she could share and what she couldn't share.
Lieutenant Reed looked over at T'Pol and Trip. When things were quiet he'd get a copy of the scans and send them to Harris. This would interest him greatly. He'd send several agents into the area anyway he could to seek intelligence about this incident and who did it. Reed had grown to hate Harris, but he respected how good the made was at his job.
STSTST
Trip entered Cargo Bay 2, part of which had been turned into gym. The crew needed to keep in shape and blow off steam. He dressed in a Starfleet tee shirt, gray sweat pants, and wore trainer along with a fresh towel over his shoulders. In the middle of the ring, he noticed Captain Hayes was showing a young Lance Corporal some hand to hand combat moves. Around the ring were the rest of the marines along with some of the ship's security personnel. It was good that the marines and security got along. They had to work in unison at times.
Walking away from the ring, he noticed several unused treadmills. He got on one of them, set a mile timer, and started what he hoped with be a two mile jog, maybe three miles if he still felt good. Trip was a half mile into his jog, when T'Pol took up the treadmill next to him and started exercising. He looked over and nodded. For a moment he was taken back at the skin tight workout gear she wore. He wondered if all Vulcans were without body far or just T'Pol.
"T'Pol," he said, his voice slightly hoarse.
"Commander Tucker," she greeted him.
"We are not on the Bridge so you can call me Trip, T'Pol," he said.
"That is not your name, though," she replied.
"It's a nickname," he told her.
"Vulcans do not do nicknames," she said with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh," smiled Trip. "How about Charles then?"
"Charles," she nodded. T'Pol like the way the name Charles sounded.
"I have never seen you in here exercising in here before," he said.
"I usually do it much later at night after meditating," she said.
"Why are you doing it early tonight?" he asked.
"I agreed to work with Lieutenant Richter later this evening fine tuning the Enterprise's science sensors," she told him.
"Ah, Richter asked you like I told him, huh?" smirked Trip. "He told me that you got more out of the sensors when you did a scan than he did, so I told him to enlist your help."
"I see," said T'Pol.
"I thought the more you were involved with things, the more you'd feel like part of this crew," Trip said. "You gonna be with us at least a year. Less if we are called back by Starfleet or are damaged badly."
"I didn't realize I was part of the crew, Charles. I thought I was merely and adviser and observer," she said.
"I don't see where that makes you not part of the crew," smiled Trip. "Or don't you like us?"
"Like? Isn't that a feeling?" said T'Pol.
"Don't give me the bull that Vulcans don't feel or you don't have a sense of humor. I think it's all crap," grinned Trip.
"Are you saying that you understand Vulcans better than a Vulcan?" she asked him.
"Nay, I'm saying that I believe that Vulcans don't want us to understand them as much as they want to understand Humans," said Trip.
"Fascinating," said T'Pol. Vulcans did have emotions, deep strong emotions that Humans couldn't understand. Humans would pale in the face of their feral emotions, which was why they needed to be controlled and suppressed. As for humor, even Soval occasionally had a moment of humor. Commander Tucker might be more observant than she thought.
Trip's treadmill beeped as he had reached two miles. He looked over at T'Pol and decided to run another mile or two.
"How many miles do you do on the treadmill?" Trip asked.
"Ten," she answered.
"Wow, that many," Trip said. Maybe three miles would be enough for him.
STSTST
The comm panel in Trip's quarters snapped on and a voice came over it.
"Commander Tucker, Captain Tucker expects your presence on the Bridge ASAP," said the voice.
Trip's eyes bolted open. He stumbled out of bed almost tripping over his blanket then he shuffled over to the comm panel.
"Commander Tucker here," Trip said. "What's going on?"
"We are about to make first contact with an Alpha Quadrant race we haven't met before, sir," said the comm officer.
"I'll be right up."
Trip hustled over to the closet and pulled out a fresh uniform. He got dress as quickly as possible, which was hindered by being half asleep and in a rush, then he ran out of his quarters and headed towards the Bridge. By the time he got to the Bridge, AG was standing in front of his chair and talking to a highly attractive female-like creature. Trip came up beside T'Pol.
"Who is this?" he whispered.
"The race is called the Caitians. They are a felinoid race from the planet Ferasa. Vulcan database shows that they are highly intelligent and peaceful, though they are not above fighting a war if goaded into one," T'Pol explained.
"Captain H'Riss, I'd love to travel with our ships traveling side by side for the next few days. We can exchange ideas, get to know each other, and maybe you can have dinner by my invitation tomorrow in the captain's dining room," offered AG.
"I would enjoy that, Captain Robinson," the feline captain smiled.
"You'll have to give us any dietary restrictions you have so my chef doesn't prepare anything that you can't eat or offends you," said AG.
"I shall, but trust me, Captain, I'm not finicky," said H'Riss. "Tomorrow we shall also arrange for a tour of our starship and we can tour yours."
"Great," smiled AG. "Well, since this is night shift for both our ships, I wish you a good night, Captain."
"Goodnight, Captain," she purred.
The viewscreen returned to a starfield with the Caitian starship against it. Trip had to admit that it was a sleek looking ship, but he thought their warp nacelles were too small making him wondered what their max warp was. AG turned and looked at T'Pol and Trip.
"Thanks for the information on the Caitian, T'Pol. It came in handy," AG said to her.
T'Pol nodded. AG then smiled at Trip.
"Let's go in my Ready Room. We need to talk," said AG.
Trip smiled at T'Pol then he followed AG into his Ready Room. AG plopped himself down in his chair behind his desk and motioned Trip to sit. Trip sat down on the small couch in his Ready Room.
"A race of cat people. I have to admit I was a dog person growing up. I had a hunting dog named Red. He was a beauty, but Captain H'Riss could make me into a cat person," chuckled AG.
"Caitian. We just made first contact with a new race," smiled Trip, a little awed by the moment.
"I told Captain H'Riss while you were getting dressed that we will hook up via umbilical and airlocks tomorrow. I thought I'd take the tour of their ship and you can give the tour of ours," said AG.
"You're the captain," grinned Trip.
"They are an attractive race, right?" AG said to Trip.
"Green eyes, what looks like a great figure, and fur. I'm not sure about the fur," smirked Trip.
"You've never been with a hairy woman before?" grinned AG.
Trip chuckled then said: "Captain H'Riss is a ginger."
"We are definitely not in Kansas any longer, Trip," smiled AG.