—Chapter 06—
This time around, the away mission to the Seleya had gone smoothly. The away-team had taken their time, and spent forty minutes scanning the Seleya, and had confirmed ninety-six Vulcan life signs, and their precise location, before docking with the Seleya. They'd then made directly for a group of ten Vulcans, Trip, Meyers, and another four MACOs, all armed to the teeth. They stunned all of the Vulcans quickly, then selected and returned three of them to the Enterprise's Sick Bay.
"How did it go this time?" said Archer, speaking to Trip as he stripped off his weapons and handed them to a crewman who would return them to a weapons locker.
"No problems," said Trip.
He was still shaken from seeing those Vulcans a second time, because once you faced them you were forced to realize that they had once been people, people now reduced to nothing but mindless savagery by the Trellium-D, and he doubted that Doctor Phlox could do anything for any of them, save T'Pol. She was the bright spot, the only bright spot, in this entire mess, and if she did not recover… well, that would be devastating.
"Take the rest of the day off," said Archer. "Have dinner with me at 19:00 hours. I invited T'Pol as well."
"All right," said Trip.
Ten minutes later, he called Sick Bay from the wall console in his quarters, as he did not want to enter Sick Bay, and see the Vulcans he'd brought back to the Enterprise, unless T'Pol was awake.
"Yes, Commander Tucker," said Phlox. "Not a good time. What can I do for you?"
"Is T'Pol awake?"
"I moved her to 3G while you were gone," said Phlox.
"3G? That's next to my cabin," said Trip.
"Yes. Remember our discussion, Commander Tucker," said Phlox. "Now I must go."
Trip stepped across the hall, and pressed the chime button for T'Pol's cabin. A moment later, the Vulcan answered the door.
"You busy?" said Trip, noting that the Vulcan looked better, if still fragile, and troubled: that probably meant she knew that the other Vulcans were aboard.
"No," said T'Pol.
"After all you've been through you shouldn't spend all your time alone," said Trip. "Come on, let's do something."
T'Pol closed her door, and followed Commander Tucker into the turbo-lift, where she said, "Where are we going?"
"I saw a lot of square and rectangular coffee tables on the Seleya," said Trip. "You guys must drink lots of coffee, eh?"
"Hardly any," said T'Pol, "but we use those tables to hold our meditation candles, for reading, and for eating."
"I thought we'd make you one of those tables for your quarters," said Trip. "I have some beautiful rosewood, and it will do you good to keep busy, as well as provide you with something useful."
"All right," said T'Pol.
Two hours later, after measuring, cutting, gluing, bonding wood to wood, they had a beautiful Vulcan style coffee table, minimalist and elegant, thirty-six inches wide on every side, twelve inches high. T'Pol, who had never done something like this, found the entire process of construction enjoyable, and working with Commander Tucker quite agreeable.
"This is a beautiful wood, T'Pol, with great color and grain," said Trip. "You'll see how it pops, after I lacquer it."
"Yes," said T'Pol. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it," said Trip. "You need anything else to make your cabin tolerable?"
"I could use some candles, and a candle holder, for my meditation," said T'Pol. "If you know someone who has a spare candle or two, perhaps—"
"Don't sweat it," said Trip. "I can fix you up."
He took a four inch square block of copper, and hammered the exterior with a ball peen hammer, giving it a wonderful texture more akin to stone than metal, then buffed and polished the copper. He then removed half of the material from inside the block, to create a round hole two inches deep, and then glued a thin sheet of rubber on the opposite side of the hole, to keep the candle holder from slipping and sliding. Next, he melted a block of paraffin wax, poured out ten candles into a section of a properly sized pipe, using some shredded linen for the wicks, and once they cooled, tapped them out of the mold, for T'Pol.
"I am grateful," said T'Pol, in her hands a small box containing her candles, and the candle holder.
She wanted the Human to know how much she appreciated his kindness, but to say more would be unseemly.
"You're welcome. You'd better get a new uniform and clean up," said Trip, with a smile. "We eat with the Captain in forty-five minutes. I'll be right behind you, I just want to put the tools away."
They'd dined with the Captain, but Captain Tucker begged off to go peek in on Engineering as soon as they'd eaten, so Archer and T'Pol had spoken of the changes that had taken place while the Seleya was lost in the Expanse, and she learned of the Xindi attack on Earth and the ship's mission, and then they spoke of the Seleya, and the options on the table.
Afterwards, T'Pol returned to her quarters and attempted to meditate, but met with only limited success, and for the first time since she was a child, T'Pol wept, quite bitterly so, for the crew of the Seleya… she tried to sleep then, but it was no use, and her agitation increased constantly for the next two hours, as she tossed and turned in the dark. Finally, she could stand it no more and crossed the hall in her t-shirt and pajama bottoms to ring Commander Tucker's door chime, and moments later he opened the door, wearing only pajama bottoms, and a sleepy look on his face.
"What's up, T'Pol?" said Trip, standing aside so that T'Pol could enter his quarters.
"I have a favor to ask," said T'Pol, looking up at the Human.
"So ask."
"May I spend the night here?" said T'Pol. "I can not be alone right now. I believe it is a side effect of the Trellium-D."
"Sure," said Trip. "You can watch a movie, or use my computer, listen to music, do some research, whatever you like, but I'm going to hit the sack."
"I will join you," said T'Pol, "if that is all right. I should try to sleep as well. I am exhausted."
"You do look tired, T'Pol," said Trip. "Come on."
She hated saying this after the commander's kindness, hated the implications of her words, for Commander Tucker had been nothing but honorable, but still T'Pol said, "I am not looking for a sexual encounter, Commander Tucker."
"I'm not offering one, T'Pol," said Trip, slipping into his bunk. "Good night."
"Good night, Commander Tucker," said T'Pol.
She then washed her face, and returned to Commander Tucker's bunk. The man was asleep, and T'Pol slipped in the bed with him, though separated by a foot or so of empty space. She tried emptying her mind, and surprisingly enough it worked, for she fell asleep. She woke once, in the middle of the night, at 03:30 hours. The light of the commander's alarm clock served as something of a night light, but she did not need one, to know what was happening. Commander Tucker slept on his back, and she was draped all over him. Her face rested on his shoulder, her arm on his chest, and her left leg was thrown over both his legs. It was unconscionable. She was treating the man as a six foot body pillow.
Even barely conscious, T'Pol thought, 'I should move. This is improper.'
But she did not want to move, and could not muster the will power to do so, and soon after T'Pol fell asleep once more. She woke again, two hours later, and this time, she was spooning the man, her torso pressed against his back, her left leg thrown possessively over his, once again. T'Pol knew that Commander Tucker had likely set his alarm clock for 06:00, so she held her position for another twenty minutes, basking in the man's body heat and agreeable scent, before withdrawing regretfully, to her side of the bed. Sure enough, the alarm went off at 06:00 hours.
Commander Tucker woke then, and T'Pol pretended to sleep, unwilling to deal with the awkwardness of facing the man after her admittedly inappropriate behavior. He showered, shaved, dressed, and through it all, T'Pol feigned sleep, save for the countless times when she peeked surreptitiously at the man, until eventually, perhaps inevitably, Commander Tucker turned suddenly while looking for his shoes, and caught T'Pol red handed as it were.
"Sorry to wake you, T'Pol," said Trip. "Sometimes I can't sleep, other times I can't wake, so I need the alarm clock."
"No need to apologize, Commander Tucker," said T'Pol. "Your shift starts early."
"Actually, I don't start work 'till 08:00 hours," said Trip. He sat on the bed in order to slip into his work boots, and then looked down at T'Pol, and said, "I'm having a lazy breakfast with Malcolm. He's got a technical problem with his torpedo launchers, and we need to figure it out, which means you can turn off the lights and go back to sleep."
"Yes," said T'Pol. "I apologize for imposing on you last night."
"Forget about it," said Trip. "With you here, I slept like a baby, so it was no imposition. Ok, go back to sleep. Doctor Phlox says your recovery necessitates plenty of sleep."
"Very well," said T'Pol.
She watched Commander Tucker leave his quarters, then buried her face in his pillow, and dozed in and out of consciousness for another hour or so. At 08:00 hours, T'Pol made the Bridge, feeling a bit out of place, but Captain Archer nodded to her genially.
"Good morning, T'Pol," said Archer. "It's good to see you up and around."
"Good morning, Captain."
"Attention," said Archer, and the Bridge officers stopped what they were doing, and looked at Archer. "Everyone, this is T'Pol, the Deputy Science Officer of the Seleya. T'Pol, you may remember Lt. Reed and Ensign Mayweather from the boarding party. The Comm officer is Ensign Hoshi Sato. Also present on the Bridge at the moment is Lt. Rostov from Engineering."
Everyone had nodded to T'Pol as they heard their name spoken, and T'Pol expressed her thanks to them all for their efforts to aid the Seleya.
"I can imagine why you're here, T'Pol," said Archer. "Let's go to my Ready Room."
"Yes, Captain," said T'Pol.
"Ensign Sato," said Archer on his way off the Bridge, "please ask Doctor Phlox to join us in my Ready Room."
"Yes, Captain," said Hoshi.
T'Pol followed Captain Archer to his Ready Room. Once inside Archer took his seat, and indicated that T'Pol should take a seat, and shortly afterwards, Phlox joined Archer and T'Pol. After brief greetings all around, Archer spoke.
"I know you've spent some time yesterday studying the Vulcan crewmen brought aboard the Enterprise, Doctor," said Archer.
"I worked through the night," said Phlox, "in order to have answers for Deputy Science Officer T'Pol."
"And?" said Archer.
"I am afraid that there is nothing I can do for the crewmen of the Seleya," said Phlox. "Their neural pathways are too badly degraded. They are already dying and they will all be dead in a matter of weeks, or months at the most. I can keep the Vulcans aboard the Enterprise sedated and comfortable until they expire, Captain, but I can not help them. I am sorry, T'Pol."
T'Pol nodded, misery visible on her face, for her control had been badly degraded by the horrors she'd been subjected to, as well as the Trellium in her body.
"Thank you, Doctor," said Archer. "Please make use of the Vulcan crewmen aboard our ship to learn everything you can of the effects of Trellium-D on the Vulcan mind and body. Perhaps that knowledge may save other Vulcan lives some day."
"Yes, Captain," said Phlox.
"Thank you for everything you've done to aid my crew, Doctor," said T'Pol, and Phlox nodded sadly, then left.
"I'm sorry, T'Pol," said Archer.
T'Pol said nothing, but her hands were visibly shaking.
"Given the situation we are in," said Archer, "with the Xindi threat hanging over Earth, I have to move on, T'Pol. I can't take the time to rescue those crewmen if they have no chance of living, and I can not return them home to Vulcan. My priority must be the Xindi, while Earth stand in danger."
"I completely understand, Captain," said T'Pol, "and I thank you and the Doctor for investigating the possibility of aiding the crew of the Seleya. As far as I know, I am the highest ranking officer of the Seleya still alive. On behalf of the High Command, I ask that you attach four photon torpedoes to the hull of the Seleya, and allow me to scuttle the ship."
Archer just looked at T'Pol.
"The crew can not be saved, and the ship can not be salvaged," said T'Pol. "I assure you, Captain, that it would be a kindness to terminate the suffering of the crew still living aboard the Seleya. I was considering my options for suicide when your men found me, so frightening and chaotic is the process from which they are all suffering to a much greater degree than I."
Archer nodded his agreement, and said, "I'll let you know when it's done, T'Pol."
Three hours later, T'Pol detonated the photon torpedoes, putting an end to the process of destruction, a process which had begun the day that the Seleya entered the asteroid field in search of Trellium ore. Once she had performed her duty, as she saw it, T'Pol vanished from the Bridge.
Phlox went to check on T'Pol later in the day, but she sent him away without seeing him, opening the doors to her cabin only when he threatened to involve security officers in order to gain entrance.
"I apologize for intruding," said Phlox, accustomed to the cultural Vulcan mores of privacy, but his medical duty topped all else. "Commander Tucker told me that you would need your privacy, but in these circumstances…"
"You should have listened to him," said T'Pol. "Somehow, Commander Tucker understands me better than you, Doctor."
"Nevertheless, T'Pol," said Phlox, "I have my duty."
"I know," said T'Pol.
No one but Phlox saw T'Pol for the next three days, and each day she looked worse, for she'd not slept, and had not eaten, and despite a Vulcan's superior stamina, Phlox grew concerned, and resolved to hospitalize T'Pol if she did not sleep or eat the next day. But that night T'Pol went to Captain Tucker's quarters once more, hollow eyed and bleak, and he wordlessly stepped aside to give her access. She moved then to the bed, and sat on it, and Trip knelt on the floor, so that their eyes might be at the same level.
"Do you want to talk?" said Trip, his hands holding onto T'Pol's calves, right at the knee.
T'Pol just shook her head, brokenhearted.
Instinctively sensing what she needed, for he'd woken up several times during the night she'd spent with him, and he'd felt T'Pol holding onto him, Trip stood, kissed the top of T'Pol's head and crawled into bed. T'Pol did the same, then turned her back to him, shamed, for she'd begun to weep silently. A moment later, she felt Commander Tucker's body pressed against her's, as he spooned her, and embraced her.
"Let go," said Trip, just that, but it was enough.
T'Pol tried to resist Commander Tucker's advice, but she could restrain herself no longer and her tears flowed freely, between agonized moans. How long she grieved she did not know, but when T'Pol was done, she felt Commander Tucker's arms still embracing her.
"It wasn't your fault, T'Pol," said Trip. "None of this was your fault. I saw the horror the Seleya had become, and your act was a kindness."
"Tighter," said T'Pol.
Trip pulled her closer, and held her tighter, though wary of hurting her.
"Tighter," said T'Pol.
Trip's legs twined with T'Pol's, and he drew her so close to him that she could barely breathe, yet the tight bond he held on her was the only thing that felt real to T'Pol now, and it was the only thing which gave her comfort.
The next day, a proud, but still pained T'Pol entered Captain Archer's Ready Room.
"Take a seat, T'Pol."
"I prefer to stand, Captain."
"All right. What can I do for you?"
"I formally request permission to join your crew, in order that I might aid the Enterprise in the completion of its mission, Captain."
"I know you're kind of stuck with us, T'Pol," said Archer, "but you're still in bad shape, and you'll be so for months. You need rest."
"What I need, Captain, is to repay the debt of honor I owe you, the Enterprise, and StarFleet," said T'Pol.
"The High Command might take umbrage with you serving aboard a StarFleet vessel, T'Pol," said Archer. "They did not want us out here, and they did not offer any personnel for our excursion into the Expanse, T'Pol."
"I do not care, Captain," said T'Pol. "Please do not deny my request. I will be an asset to you, Captain. I swear it."
"I believe you, T'Pol," said Archer. "If I accept your offer, you'd likely be required to spend a fair amount of time with Trip in Engineering, T'Pol. A lot rides on his shoulders, and that load might seem a bit lighter, with someone to stand by him."
"Gladly, Captain," said T'Pol.
Archer stood, opened a safe and fished around for a small box, from which he drew out a studded pin, and then approached T'Pol, in order to pin his old command insignia at T'Pol's neck, then looked her in the eye.
"Ensign Hoshi will direct you to the Science Station," said Archer. "Attend to your duties, Commander T'Pol."