—Chapter 09—
T'Pol bounced from her bed at 06:00, her usual time, though she had not slept a wink the night before. She meditated, showered, ate a light breakfast and handled ship's business until noon, when she contacted the Columbia.
"Yes, sir," said Commander Owens.
"I called to inquire if Captain Tucker is ready yet to board the Athena, Commander Owens."
"I was just about to contact you, Captain. He's headed for the Shuttle Bay as we speak," said Owens. "He'll be on board the Athena in a matter of minutes."
"Thank you, Commander."
"My pleasure, sir."
Sure enough, Trip boarded the Athena ten minutes later, duffel bag thrown over his shoulder, to find T'Pol waiting for him at the Access Hatch.
"Good morning, Captain," said Trip. "Perhaps you are not familiar with StarFleet protocol, but you're performing an Ensign's job, or maybe a Lieutenant's."
"Nonsense," said T'Pol. "Let me show you to your quarters, Captain Tucker."
"I'm sure you have more important things to deal with, Captain," said Trip. "I'm familiar with your ship's layout. Just give me a location."
"This way, Captain Tucker," said T'Pol.
Soon after, they ended up on Deck B, and T'Pol opened the door to cabin #3. Trip smiled, for he knew that T'Pol's quarters were just across the hall, in #1. Obviously, the Captain wished to keep an eye on him.
"Nice cabin, T'Pol," said Trip, taking his cabin in with a glance. "Thank you."
"You are quite welcome, Captain Tucker," said T'Pol, her eyes running over Captain Tucker's form, until the man turned around, and noticed the guilty look on her face.
"Something on your mind, T'Pol?" said Trip with a knowing smile.
"Ah, no, Captain," said T'Pol, caught flat-footed now. "Will you lunch with me before I have to return to the Bridge?"
"Sure," said Trip, reaching out to T'Pol telepathically and transferring an alpha-numeric sequence, "but please set course for these coordinates first."
"One moment," said T'Pol.
She moved for the wall mounted Comm unit, and gave the orders setting the Athena in motion, then looked at Trip.
"This way, Captain Tucker," said T'Pol, leading him to her cabin.
"I like it, T'Pol," said Trip, moments later, looking round the Captain's quarters. "It suits you."
"I am pleased with it," said T'Pol, then excused herself to speak briefly into the Comm unit.
"Lunch? Captain's Mess, Deck C, north end," said Trip, in order to prove to T'Pol that he was familiar with the Athena's layout, and so avoid the hassle of having T'Pol assign an Ensign as his perpetual babysitter."
"I thought that we would eat here," said T'Pol, "unless you would feel more comfortable in the Captain's Mess."
"No, this is great," said Trip, looking around, then plopping himself down on a floor cushion by the coffee table.
T'Pol joined him at the table and the two made small talk until a chime announced a visitor to the Captain's quarters. T'Pol answered the door, and returned a moment later with a picnic basket of sorts, from which T'Pol unpacked an iced coffee, an iced tea, two bowls of Cuban black bean soup, two sandwiches, a large fried oyster po-boy for Trip, a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich for T'Pol, fried tempeh substituting for meat. Lastly, T'Pol pulled out a nice sized square cut of cake, and laid it on the table.
"Where's your piece of tiramisu?" said Trip, eyeing the sole piece of cake quite possessively.
"I do not want any cake," said T'Pol. "It is all yours."
"Excellent. But just to make sure you don't change your mind," said Trip, sliding the cake to his side of the table.
"I do not want to speak of cake, Captain Tucker. Enough with the cake."
"All right," said Trip. "What's on your mind? You seem agitated."
"I want to speak of us, Captain Tucker."
"Us, T'Pol? That's a bold and unexpected approach from you. So, who are you, and what have you done with my T'Pol?"
"It pleases me to hear you call me 'your' T'Pol, Captain Tucker."
"Really? Here you want to get all cozy, and personal, and you're still calling me Captain Tucker."
"You are right," said T'Pol. "So let's talk, Trip."
"Ok, let's talk," said Trip. "What about us?"
"I wish to declare Koon-ut So'lik, Captain Tucker," said T'Pol. "In essence, I am expressing my desire to become your mate, and it is my hope that you will accept my proposal."
"What's that?" said Trip. "Come again..."
"I am proposing marriage, Trip," said T'Pol. "You know, between you and I."
Trip remained silent, and T'Pol watched his face closely, assuming that he was giving the matter proper consideration, but the silence continued, and T'Pol grew uneasy. Why the delay?
"Captain Tucker," said T'Pol, looking intently at the man. "Trip."
"Sorry, T'Pol," said Trip. "You caught me by surprise. So let me ask you this. Before you laid down for your little three year catnap, I thought we were growing closer. In fact, I remember clearly our last neuro-pressure session, and how cute you looked, and how pleasant I found your touch... and how necessary."
"I remember that session as well," said T'Pol, "mainly due to the fact that you were about to drop those neuro-pressure sessions, and me along with them, due to a comment by Captain Reed."
"It's not like that. I was looking out for you, T'Pol," said Trip. "You were doing something nice for me, and I didn't want your feelings hurt by Human gossip, when you inevitably overheard the crew speculating about the nature of our association. Malcolm said—"
"You know what, to use the Human vernacular, 'Fuck Malcolm'," said T'Pol, and Trip started laughing.
"What is so funny, Trip?!"
"Nothing, nothing. As I was saying, although we were drawing closer, we've never had any intimate contact, T'Pol. We've never even kissed! So how can you know that you want to become my mate?"
"When you touched me yesterday, I felt your emotions for me, Trip. That is enough for me."
"Yes, and speaking of that, I've just found out about your talent with Empathy yesterday," said Trip, "when I felt the effects of my touch in your mind, but you've had your hands on me before during our neuro-pressure sessions, so you knew even then how I felt about you, yet you said nothing. Why now?"
"I could make excuses, logical excuses," said T'Pol, "but essentially, I was a afraid back then, Trip. When I woke from my coma though, you were first on my mind, the only thing truly on my mind, and I know now that you share my feelings, so it is logical that we mate."
Trip fell silent as he considered T'Pol's words, and she, misunderstanding his silence, said, "If you are concerned over the fact that we can not Bond as Vulcan couples do, I assure y—"
"It's not that, T'Pol," said Trip. "I can Bond you to me if I wish."
"What?" said T'Pol.
"I said I can Bond you, T'Pol."
"If you can do so, than why you haven't done it already?" said T'Pol, a defiant look on her face, for she was certain that she would not like the answer.
"I'm not an empath, like you, T'Pol," said Trip, "and I wasn't 100% sure that you'd welcome the Bond."
"Oh," said T'Pol, oddly enough finding Trip's argument quite logical. "But you can be, Trip. You have the power to look within me as deeply as you care to. You used a small part of it on Soval. Use it on me. Now. Then you will know my thoughts, and my heart."
"You sure?"
T'Pol nodded, and the two faced each other across the table, when she felt a telepathic touch, and she felt the beginnings of Trip's power moving through her mind. Having a touch of the psionic power herself she could gauge it as it moved around her, and through her, and she felt as small and fragile as if standing on a beach as the tide came, and the entire vast ocean rushed into her, and through her. She gasped aloud, with pleasure, for her response now was not tinged by Soval's unease, and fear. How long she floated in that state she knew not, but when she came out of it, she noted that Trip was looking at her, a slight smile on his face.
"I accept your proposal, T'Pol."
"When?" said T'Pol, meaning, when will you Bond me?
"When this is over," said Trip, meaning the entanglement with the Xindi, and T'Pol nodded her agreement.
"I should get back to the Bridge," said T'Pol. "I must relieve Commander Jemez, so that he might take his lunch. I am very glad that we spoke, Trip."
Trip nodded, and leaned across the table to kiss T'Pol for the first time, and it was long, and soft and sweet, for they had no time to start a fire now, though judging by T'Pol's cute little whimpers she was about to throw propriety to the winds, and allow Commander Jemez to soldier on through his day, without his lunch.
"You like?" said Trip.
"Very much," said T'Pol. "It was my first."
"I know," said Trip, smiling, knowing now that Vulcans did not indulge in casual sex, given the dangers of accidentally Bonding with their partner.
Trip spent the rest of the day in Engineering, happily getting his hands dirty, for the Athena was one of the newest ships in the fleet with a variety of new technologies built right in, and as an engineer, Trip found it exhilarating. When T'Pol called for him at dinner, well Trip was mid-deep in a warp matrix realignment, and so begged off dinner, and by the time he called it a day, it was well past midnight. He showered, put on some soft, all cotton gray shorts, debated on going to the Mess Hall for a snack, then decided against it, and stretched out on the bed to unwind.
Shortly afterwards, T'Pol crossed the hall with the stealth of a feline, bypassed the door's security check due to her rank, and entered Trip's quarters. The computer system sensed weight and movement on the floor, and the dim night-light came on, more than enough to reveal Captain Tucker stretched out on his bunk, a pillow over his eyes, and T'Pol debated leaving the room and letting the man sleep peacefully, but then felt a light psionic touch, and realized that Trip now used his psionic powers as often and as unconsciously as he used his physical senses.
"You're up late," said Trip, yawning, having detected the identity of his late night intruder from her mental signature. "Can't sleep?"
"Sleep is for suckers, Captain Tucker," said T'Pol, and Trip chuckled.
"Trip," said T'Pol, "look at me."
Trip pulled the pillow off his face and looked at T'Pol through sleepy eyes, only to see her slip off her silk robe and reveal the lovely Captain T'Pol of the starship Athena, wearing nothing but a pair of ankle length cotton socks.
"Oh! My! God!" said Trip, spinning round to take a seated position on the bed, wide-eyed now.
"I take it you approve?"
"Oh, yes, T'Pol," said Trip, and tapped his thigh twice.
T'Pol took his meaning, and came to sit on his thigh. She gave Trip a kiss, while his hands roamed her body with complete assurance, and without restraint.
"Maybe you want me to leave so you can go back to sleep?" said T'Pol, playfully teasing Captain Tucker.
"Yeah, maybe I don't," said Trip.
"No, you look sleepy," said T'Pol, still teasing Trip, and moving half-heartedly to rise, "so I will—"
She squealed suddenly then, as Trip pulled, or rolled, or something and she found herself pinned beneath Captain Tucker. Then as Trip started putting his hands and lips on her, and then eventually moving inside her, T'Pol lost all powers of logic, and reason, and despite the fact that the physical pleasure was overwhelming, and the emotional pleasure of being so close to Trip intoxicating, well, she suffered, for the cruel, cruel man teased her, by doing something as he moved inside her, something that was just a hair's breadth away from Bonding her, so close, and yet so far, for Trip was ruthlessly denying her the completion of the Bond. The combination of all those factors was all like throwing gasoline on a fire, and T'Pol burned the whole night long, as Trip, laughed, and teased, and moved.
The next morning, T'Pol rose at 06:00 without the clock, and kissed Trip's lips before slipping to her quarters to prepare for the coming day. Two hours later, Trip joined her on the Bridge of the Athena, and T'Pol nodded quite casually to the man, a feat of which she was justifiably proud, considering that she wanted to throw herself into his arms, no matter the outrage that such act might cause amongst the Bridge crew.
"How's the old girl this morning?" said Trip, the hint of a smile on his face. "The Athena, I mean."
"Purring like a satisfied kitten, Captain Tucker," said T'Pol, "no doubt due to the hours you spent tinkering with her, yesterday. You were most thorough with your attention, or so my Chief Engineer tells me."
T'Pol was proud of herself for that. Who needed telepathy, when communicating through subtle interaction was as satisfying as this, with none the wiser.
Well, almost none, for Salno had been heading out the door this morning for the ship's gym, and she'd seen T'Pol slip from Captain Tucker's quarters, the Vulcan moving so swiftly that Salno almost convinced herself that she'd imagined it… almost, but even if she'd convinced herself of that, this undercover pillow talk would have swung the pendulum back to her initial impression.
No matter, thought Salno with a smile, for I'm the very soul of discretion.
And so it went for the next twenty-two days as the Athena made its way to the sector in which the Xindi Reptilian and Insectoid homeworld was located. Trip spent his days in Engineering, tinkering with the engines of the Athena, and the nights tinkering on a much more exotic and delightful piece of Vulcan machinery, one which sighed, and begged, and whimpered, and pleaded, gasped, and climaxed repeatedly.