—Chapter 18—
"Attention, passengers," said a cultured Vulcan speaker, "the Vo'kar has now assumed orbit round Earth. Shuttles will board passengers on a deck by deck basis, beginning with Deck 12. Deck 12 passengers, please make your way to the Shuttle Bays now. Deck 11 will board in twenty minutes."
Moments later, the announcement was made in English, and Trip looked at T'Pol, and said, "I'm all set. How are you and your mom coming?"
T'Pol looked at Trip and said, "We are both ready to disembark, Trip."
"I love Vulcan punctuality. You'd give German trains a run for their money," said Trip.
"What?"
"Nothing," said Trip, then spun to answer a knock at the cabin's door.
"Morning, T'Les," said Trip. "How did you sleep?"
"I slept just fine, Captain Tucker," said T'Les, blowing past Trip, and pulling her mid-sized wheeled suitcase over Trip's boot.
"Oh, come on, T'Les," said Trip. "Don't be sore at me. I was just playing around."
"And I was not amused, Captain Tucker," said T'Les. "I told you that I don't know how to swim."
"We were in the shallow end of the pool, T'Les," said Trip. "It was only three feet deep. All you had to do was stand up!"
"And all you have to do is drop it, Captain Tucker," said T'Les, raising her nose and moving to stand by T'Pol.
"I don't know yet how I'll do it, T'Les," said Trip, "but I'm going to make you like me again."
"Impossible, Captain Tucker," said T'Les.
"More than that, I'm going to make you love me," said Trip.
T'Les scoffed at that, looked at T'Pol, and said, "You're ready to go?"
"Of course," said T'Pol, grabbing her duffel bag, and adjusting the shoulder strap for comfort.
A moment later, the Vulcan announcer came back on, and T'Pol said, "That's us, Trip. Deck 11."
"A first step towards winning back my affections, Captain Tucker," said T'Les, fixing Trip with a glance, "might be learning to speak Vulcan."
"As fact I study Vulcan now, purple mother," said Trip with somewhat passable Vulcan pronunciation. "I plan be fluently in six months."
Somewhat mollified, T'Les said, "That is a laudable goal, Captain Tucker. Keep at it. You're not quite there yet. Now let's go."
On disembarking from the shuttle, the three moved through the space port with the rest of the passengers, only to see a group of reporters and camera men approaching their way. Trip frowned.
"Let's go around them. We must have had a Hollywood celebutard aboard the Vo'kar," said Trip, moving to the left, and mother and daughter followed his lead. "Vulcan monasteries have become something of a status symbol in Hollywood, for shoving your enlightenment down the throats of the unwashed masses."
Unexpectedly, the press altered course accordingly, and soon enough Trip realized they'd come for them, shoving microphones and cameras their way, while shooting a dozen questions their way. Annoyed, Trip stopped, followed by T'Pol and T'Les a moment later.
"What's this?" said Trip. "What's going on?"
A dozen questions shot out again, and Trip ignored them, pointing to an earnest looking older reporter, and said, "Go."
"Mark Kovac, Captain, with the Washington Tribune. We're just hoping to get a comment from you and your wife, Captain Tucker," said the reporter. "As the first Human/Vulcan couple, there's a great deal of interest in—"
"How did you know we're married?" said Trip.
Kovac looked confused for a second, then realized that Trip had been off-planet for months, and said, "When a hero from the Enterprise marries a fellow crew member, and a Vulcan at that, it's news, Captain. A video of your kal-if-fee challenge was leaked onto the internet a few days after you won your challenge for T'Pol."
Trip cursed silently at that. StarFleet definitely knew about him and T'Pol then: still, that was not completely unexpected.
"Are you glad that Captain Tucker challenged Koss for you, T'Pol?" said another reporter from the crowd.
"Very much so," said T'Pol, unfazed by the reporters, for she'd dealt with more than her share of them when the Enterprise had returned to Earth with a peace pact with the Xindi.
"Miley Tieggs," said a large breasted brunette with a pretty face and a great smile, looking at Trip. "What about you, Captain Tucker? You were a most eligible bachelor. Any regrets over tying the knot?"
"None," said Trip.
"You sure about that?" said Miley with a sexy wink, and that act brought a wave of laughter from the other reporters. "You never know what you're missing."
"I'm quite sure," said Trip with a smile that was casual enough to keep things light, but cool enough that it would not encourage the woman to keep questioning his Bond to T'Pol. Hopefully.
He sensed an instinctive aggression from T'Pol through the Bond, aimed at the reporter, and it was excusable even by modern Vulcan standards, though not encouraged. One did not interfere with the Bond of a mated couple on Vulcan without expecting a very strong reaction, and though this Human reporter was not aware of that fact, she was annoying T'Pol.
—Easy tiger, sent Trip through the Bond to his mate, flooding T'Pol with the sensation of him covering her face with kisses. Ignore her.
—She is being rude, Trip!
—I know baby, sent Trip. We'll be done in a few minutes.
—Very well.
"Will you two be returning to duty soon?" called another reporter from the crowd, and Trip was glad for the distraction from the woman reporter's questions, though she was apparently still eyeing him up and down, judging by T'Pol's irritation, which continued to grow.
"We still have two months off duty," said Trip.
"What are your plans?" said the same reporter who had asked the question.
"We're probably heading for Italy, or Tahiti," said Trip. "We haven't decided just yet. Now if we're done here…"
T'Pol knew what he was doing by saying so, but Trip had glanced casually in T'Les's direction, and though he'd detected some surprise on her face, the typically understated expressions Vulcan's allowed themselves were too subtle to read, at least by anyone in this crowd.
"One last question, Captain Tucker," said Miley. "Why did you let Koss live, contrary to Vulcan custom?"
"I had nothing against Koss personally," said Trip. "Now if you'll excuse us…"
Miley slipped her business card to Trip, and said, "If you could spare some time for an interview sometime, Captain, I'd be much obliged."
"I'll do my best," said Trip, just ready to finish with these questions and move on, though he noted T'Pol's icy gaze at the female reporter. "Now excuse us."
They moved past them now, and soon made their way to the large bank of elevators, where they grabbed one all for themselves.
"Are such intrusive questions normal here?" said T'Les to Trip.
"Yes," said Trip.
He sensed T'Pol tamping down on her irritation with Miley, and handed her Miley's business card. The Vulcan looked at it, ripped it twice, and tossed it to the ground, though littering was quite uncharacteristic of T'Pol.
"I appreciate your restraint despite the woman's rudeness, Commander," said Trip, with a smile for T'Pol, then leaned in to kiss his mate on the cheek.
T'Les should have been embarrassed by such open displays of emotion. The captain made a positive spectacle of himself and his feelings for his mate, at least in the privacy of her home, and T'Les had grown accustomed to such displays, though thankfully the man at least displayed a proper respect for Vulcan mores in public. Still, T'Les noted that the kiss, combined with the act of handing T'Pol the Human's business card quickly dispersed her daughter's irritation with the large breasted reporter.
They made their way through the space port, and finally made the exit, only to be approached by a StarFleet lieutenant.
"Lt. Marks," said the young lieutenant. "I'm here to offer you a ride, sirs."
"Thanks," said Trip.
"May I help you with your bags, ladies?" said the lieutenant.
T'Pol was used to this, and handed the man her duffel bag, but T'Les held onto her wheeled luggage until T'Pol gave her a look, and then T'Les relented, and a bit later, they came up to a charcoal gray limousine, and once inside, the Lieutenant dialed a number and handed Trip a phone.
"Hello?" said Trip.
"Trip!" said Admiral Archer. "It's good to hear your voice!"
"Likewise, Admiral," said Trip with a laugh. "Thanks for the ride."
"No problem," said Archer. "The car's at your disposal. If you're headed for home, as I suspect, it will take you to the airport. If you're staying in town, it will drop you off at my house, or a hotel, whichever you please. Either way, Admiral Ryan wants to talk about you and T'Pol, but he said it can wait until you're back on duty if you're on a schedule."
"Actually we are, Admiral," said Trip. "We have to catch a flight two hours from now. I'm taking them home for a visit."
"Sure," said Archer. "I understand. We've all heard you and T'Pol are married now, and HQ is unsure of how to handle it at the moment, given that you're both in the chain of command. For what it's worth, I told them you've had no trouble carrying out your duty in the Expanse, despite your personal involvement. They'll probably just post you on different ships tho—"
"That's not gonna fly, Admiral," said Trip. "They can take one of us out of the chain of command. I'd love to go back to just being the ship's engineer, and I'm certain that T'Pol won't mind serving as just the Science Officer, but I won't be separated from my wife."
T'Pol had been listening intently, and nodded affirmatively in support when Trip had told Admiral Archer that he would not allow himself to be separated from his mate.
"I'll pass it on, Trip," said Archer. "Don't sweat it, man. We'll get it hammered out somehow. I know HQ doesn't want to lose you guys."
"Sure," said Trip, not worried about it either way: they could deal with it somehow, or they'd both walk away from StarFleet. "You're already back on duty?"
"Light duty," said Archer, with a laugh. "Two days a week, just getting up to speed. When I tried to do three days I was escorted from the building by an Ensign and told not to come back until the following week. I'll see you both when you get back."
"Right," said Trip. "Thanks again for the ride Admiral."