Chapter 2

He had just rescued a Vulcan Damsel in Distress.

The Vulcan woman quickly disentangled herself from her would-be savior. Trip was startled at how quickly the young woman removed herself from his grip and regained her composure. It was always impressive to him how composed her species appeared to be. He staggered to his feet and began putting his clothing to rights.

After a moment of dusting off and rearranging clothing the young Vulcan spoke up. "Your assistance was most useful. You have my gratitude."

Trip cleared his throat and motioned to the house behind her. "You're welcome ma'am but how do I know I didn't just help some Vulcan Indiana Jones escape after stealing something culturally important? I should go in there and let them know I found you climbing out of that window."

Trip could see the woman visibly stiffen at his words. "That would be most unfortunate. I must request that you do not undertake this course of action." She glanced back at the house for a moment before turning back to Trip. "I will explain why my actions were necessary if you will take me to a more secure location."

Trip ran his tongue around the inside of his right cheek. "Well, okay, but any funny business and I'm comin' right back here and turnin' you in. Deal?"

The woman seemed to consider his terms before speaking. "Agreed."


The cramped apartment received its midnight quests. Trip led the woman into his living room and motioned her to sit down. He sat a respectful distance away from her and turned to face her. "First things first, I think we should exchange names. I'll uh," he rubbed his hand across the back of his neck, "I'll go first. I'm Commander Charles Tucker III. My friends call me Trip." He put his hand forward for her to shake it before realizing his faux pas and in turn attempted the ta'al.

The woman raised one eyebrow at his attepmt and returned it. "Greetings Charles. I am T'Pol of Vulcan. It is agreeable to make your acquaintance. I believe now that the pleasantries are over you would like for me to explain why my actions were necessary." Trip nodded so T'Pol began her explanation. "You may find it difficult to believe but I am trying to escape an unwanted marriage. My childhood betrothed is named Koss. I do not wish to marry Koss. His father holds a position of power within my government and is using this power to threaten my mother in order to coerce me into marrying his son."

Trip interrupted her when she stopped for a breath. "Let me get this straight. Some powerful Vulcan is forcing you to marry his son? He is a powerful man, why would he need to threaten you? Why would he want you to marry his son? What could he possible have on your mother?"

T'Pol nodded slightly and answered his questions to the best of her ability. Trip did not need to know everything so she told him everything she thought he needed to know. "On Vulcan we implement a clan system. My clan is one of the oldest. I am a direct descendant of the first Kholinar master. Koss does not belong to an old and prominent clan. His father wishes to use the authority and respect that my clan garners to support his own political agenda. Recently my mother has been seen in the presence of Vulcan dissidents who follow the leadership of a man named Syrann. The Syrannites are a pacifistic spiritual group who seek out the Kir'Shara. The full writings of Surak have been lost to Vulcan and we now only have translations and interpretations. If the Syrannites do indeed find the Kir'Shara, Vulcan society would drastically change. It is my belief that Minister V'Las, the leader of the Vulcan High Command, and his aids wish to keep this from happening. Two days ago my mother failed to answer my subspace call. Due to the distance we scheduled all of our calls to keep any interfering events to a minimum. She did not return my call the next day at our scheduled time either. Upon asking her coworkers I discovered that my mother has not been to the Vulcan Science Academy in two weeks and has not been seen for a week."

Trip nodded his head slowly. The faint pounding of his head alerted him to the fact that he had indeed ingested a substantial amount of alcohol during his trip to the 602 Club. He wondered vaguely if this whole episode wasn't some sort of hallucination or dream. "So you snuck out to get away from this Koss fella now you, what? Want to sneak off to Vulcan to find your mom?"

T'Pol raised an eyebrow in amazement. "Perceptive. I do indeed plan on returning to Vulcan to discover the whereabouts of my mother and, if possible, aid in the discovery of the Kir'Shara."

Trip stood up quickly, using his hands braced on his knees to propel himself upwards. "Alright. Well, looks like we're goin' to Vulcan."

T'Pol stood as well and faced her Human companion. "I do not understand."

Trip had a faraway look in his eyes. He was deep in thought, the sound of T'Pol's voice brought him back into reality. "Hm? Oh, well it sounds to me like they are gonna come lookin' for you. If you're alone you'll undoubtedly be outnumbered. They may even look for you alone. If you travel with me, a human, while disguised as a human, you just might get where you're going without being troubled." He started to walk out the door but turned back when he noticed T'Pol following. "Stay here. I'll be back in a little while, then we can get going."


T'Pol sat in meditation for nearly two hours before hearing Trip return through the front door. The couch cushions had provided an acceptable replacement for a meditation mat. She slowly opened her eyes and took in an unusual scene. Trip walked through the door carrying various packages and a small bag. He smiled slightly at seeing her watching him and motioned for her to join him at the kitchen table. She stood slowly, her legs only moderately stiff from the long period of immobility. T'Pol picked up the nearest package, a jar of cream marked 'follicle stimulant', and then placed it back on the table top.

"Why have you purchased these items?" During her meditation she realized his plan was logical and, as impossible as it seemed, she trusted him. She didn't even know him but she trusted him.

"Well, if you're going to be travelling incognito you can't exactly go lookin' like that." He motioned up and down her robe clad body. She raised an eyebrow. "So, I borrowed some hair growth gel so your hair will grow to cover your ears and the bangs should help with the eyebrows some. I purchased some clothes, I don't know your exact size but you look to be the same size as my sister Lizzie so I just bought you what she wears. I also bought these." He opened a small velvet covered box revealing two golden bands. "They're wedding rings. We're gonna travel as a married couple. Less questions. I also got this but I'm not sure if you'll want to wear it." He opened up another velvet covered box and inside T'Pol could see a golden band with small blue and red stones. It was truly beautiful but T'Pol was unsure if wearing two rings would feel cumbersome. Apparently her thoughts played out on her face because Trip closed the box with a small smile. "Didn't think so. Okay, lets get started.

Forty-five minutes later T'Pol looked in the mirror and saw a human woman staring back. The effect was jarring. Her hair was now a light brown and flowed past her shoulders. It was all one length and held no shape but Trip had promised to get her a hair cut. Because, "you don't want a terrible hair-do to draw too much attention." Her attire was equally unusual to her. The red silk blouse he had picked for her to travel in was matched with a pair of dark blue slacks. Her black boots 'would have to do' for her outfit but Trip had also provided her with a pair of shoes he called sandals and an uncomfortable looking pair of heels. She silently admitted to herself that Trip did indeed know how to shop for her. However, his sense of fashion did not extend to himself. She suppressed a frown when she thought of his atrociously bright button up shirt that he insisted on wearing to the starport. She made it a mission to convince him to change. Once he was out of his shirt and into a more appropriately coloured shirt she would dispose of the offending garment. She raised an eyebrow in silent contemplation. Perhaps she could even dispose of the other offensive pieces of his wardrobe that he had already packed.

Trip interrupted her thoughts by entering the room and looking her up and down. Normally such an action would have caused T'Pol to feel uncomfortable, if only inwardly, but his appraisal was not sexual in nature. He only wanted to ascertain the effectiveness of her disguise. "Lookin' good. We're just waitin' for my friend Barbra. She's a hairdresser, she can fix ya up and then we can hop on the transport I've arranged for." He saw her concern. "No need to worry Darlin' Barb's good with the confidentiality and she's Starfleet so she lives two apartments down." The sound of the door chime drew their attention. Trip moved out of the room calling back to T'Pol. "Come on! No time to waste."


Jonathan Archer pressed the chime to his best friends apartment. He knew Trip had been drinking pretty heavily the night before and was worried about him. When Trip didn't answer Jon just assumed it meant he was still sleeping it off. He was going to turn away when he heard the sounds of Elaine and Elizabeth Tucker making their way towards Trip's apartment for the second day in a row. He steeled himself against their persuasion and made to move away when Lizzie caught his arm and keyed in the override code that her brother had given her in case of emergencies.

The door slid open revealing an unusually cluttered living room. Trip's apartment was usually immaculately clean. It wasn't because he was so concerned with cleanliness, on the contrary Trip just didn't spend enough time in his apartment to dirty it. The sight of shopping bags and piles of discarded clothing caused Jon to worry that his friend had jumped town to avoid his overbearing mother. As the three of them made their way around the apartment trying to discover any evidence as to Trip's whereabouts Jon saw two things that made his heart beat faster and his head hurt from confusion. The first were discarded and rumpled Vulcan robes and the second was a jewelry box. Jon opened the box and nearly dropped it in shock. He held the engagement ring in his hand for a moment before Lizzie noticed he had gone still.

She began to approach him slowly so as not to startle him. "What is it Jon? What have you found?" Jon moved his opened palm towards her allowing her to see his burden. She gasped in shock not only at the sight of the ring in Jon's palm but also the robe at his feet. "You don't think Trip ran away do you? With a Vulcan?"

Jon just shook his head. "He always was more romantic underneath than we gave him credit for, but a Vulcan? I don't know Lizzie. Maybe he proposed to her and she said 'no'?"

"I don't think so." Both heads swiveled to look at Mrs. Tucker who was holding another jewelry box. "This box held wedding bands. Maybe the woman didn't want an engagement ring?" She sat down dumbfounded. "How could we have pushed him towards Natalie? She's a robot." She started to choke up. "Now he's married an emotionless alien." She began sobbing and Lizzie moved to her side. Jon closed his eyes and hoped that Trip wouldn't do something as stupid as marrying a Vulcan.


"Mr. and Mrs. Turner?" Trip and T'Pol moved forward to the desk. "Your tickets are here. I just need to see identification." Trip pulled out his and T'Pol's forged ID chips from his pocket. He passed them to the clerk and prayed that Malcolm had indeed delivered on his debt. "Very well. Mr. Turner. You and your wife are on the public transporter Chaise Lounge." Trip suppressed a snicker at the name. "Here are your tickets. Have a safe journey."

Charles 'Turner' and his wife 'Paula' made their way to the departure gate unaware of the distress that Trip's friends and family were undergoing.

The transport arrived and Trip and T'Pol boarded and made their way to Vulcan. Trips final thought was not of the mission but of the accommodations.

"Couldn't this place be a little roomier?"