The Punishment
One Week Later.
Trip was not a happy camper. He had been called on the carpet by the Admirals when they found out about him and T'Pol. They had read him the riot act. They vowed to discipline him. But, when his superiors tried to remove T'Pol from his ship, he pushed back. They really didn't want to lose him, not now. After all, they got two for one, the best engineer in the fleet and one of the best star ship captains ever. But they couldn't have him breaking the rules and getting away with it.
"So Captain Tucker," Black began, "you've been secretly married to your XO for over two years?"
"Yes Sir," Trip replied. He was dressed in uniform and stood at with his hands clasped behind his back.
"And you thought it was okay to break the rules, to just do what you wanted to?" Wells asked. Ramirez and Jeffries sat quietly.
"No sir, that's not what I thought."
"You just didn't think you'd get caught or perhaps you didn't care!" Black barked.
"I hoped we wouldn't get caught Sir," is all Trip could say.
"Captain Tucker," Ramirez finally spoke up. "I am disappointed and surprised. You don't seem to be the kind of officer that would blatantly ignore the rules."
"I apologize Sir. I never wanted to ignore the rules and I'm sorry I've disappointed you."
"Nobody cares about you being sorry!" Gardner shouted. "Besides, I happen to know you're not sorry, you're a liar and you deserve to be court marshalled!"
"Everybody just calm down," Jeffries finally spoke up. "There is a solution here. We all just need to…"
"We need to reassign Commander T'Pol," Wells said. "That's all to it."
"I can't let that happen Sir," Trip said. "We have to serve together on the same ship. There is no other way."
"Look Tucker," Black said. "The Vulcans don't tell us what to do and neither do you. She's going to be transferred and that's that!"
"Then Sir, I must tender my resignation, effective immediately."
"Someone hand him a padd," Gardner replied.
"Wait a minute, just wait a minute," Jeffries interjected. "If he resigns what's going to happen to Commander T'Pol?"
"She'll be resigning as well," Trip said. "If I go, she goes."
"You can't presume to speak for her," Wells said.
"Yes sir, I can," Trip replied, "and if I go, she goes, that I can guarantee."
The Admirals were stumped as to what to do about this situation. Then Jeffries spoke up. "Trip you know I support you, I always have. But this situation can't be ignored. What do you think would be a fair disciplinary action in this case?" Trip looked down at the floor.
"I would be happy to accept a demotion…back to Chief Engineer."
"Don't try it Tucker," Black said. "We all know you loved being a Chief Engineer. That would not be punishment to you."
"Then I'll spend time in the brig," Trip replied.
"I think 30 days in the brig would be acceptable," Ramirez said.
"No!" Gardner responded. "That's not good enough. Right after he's served his time, he just goes right back to his ship, to his command… to her!"
"Alright, alright," Black said. "Look, we need some time to deliberate. Tucker, you get out, but don't leave this building. Just sit your ass out in the hallway and wait. We're going to discuss this and then we'll call you back in. Now get out!"
"Aye Sir," Trip said and turned on his heels to leave.
After much deliberation, the Admirals came up with what they were sure was a suitable punishment for Trip. He would be grounded for 90 days, without pay. They thought that with a price on his head, he should be grateful too. During this time Trip couldn't go near Invictus, a space station an engine room or ship yard. If he violated that order he would be court marshalled, and damn the Vulcans. But to add insult to injury, he would not be sitting around for three months, instead he would go on a three month Public Relations tour.
He would attend diplomatic missions, be made available to the media for press conferences and interviews, he would do talk shows and attend benefits and balls. He would participate in a debate with the "Peace Keepers," and do commencement addresses. Trip almost blew his top when he heard what he would be doing for the next three months. "Wasting a whole lot of frigging time!" he had said to himself.
He would be doing what everyone else hated doing, being out front, representing Starfleet, answering the hard questions, defending their actions and taking all the heat, alone. In addition, he and T'Pol would have no contact during the punishment period. They could not see one another, nor contact one another, and by no means were they to tell anyone about their marriage.
When Trip was finally dismissed by the Admirals, he went out into the hall way and let out a loud string of expletives. He was about to explode. The Admirals heard it and laughed. They had gotten him where it hurt. This was a man who hated the spot light, he hated attention drawn to himself, and he loathed making speeches. Trip had tried to argue that he was the wrong person for this particular mission, but was told he had no choice. He felt that he would only embarrass himself as well as Starfleet, but the Admirals would not back off because it was a set up. Ramirez and Jefferies wanted no part of it either, because the other Admirals fully expected Trip to fail, to make a fool of himself, to damage his reputation, to offend allies and turn the public off. They knew Trip had a reputation of having a temper and that he was no diplomat. They would have to scramble to save Starfleet's already damaged reputation. This little venture would also damage the popular Captain's reputation and career. The Admirals would have to salvage it, at a cost of losing his first officer.
Six Weeks Later.
Trip was still on punishment. He was everywhere, on TV, in magazines, talk-shows, and news shows. United Earth was really getting to know Captain Charles Anthony Tucker, III. But so far, things hadn't really gone as planned. With the exception of two not so pleasant interviews, he had done really well on this so-called good will tour.
Trip had gotten into a shouting match on international TV when a reporter spoke harshly about his "alien-human" hybrid child. He struck low blows by trying to get Trip to talk about his deceased child, Elizabeth, and the whole Terra Prime mess. He had also gotten very angry when in another interview, he was questioned about rumors of an emotional break-down he had suffered some years ago. He had almost punched the reporter when his sanity was questioned and Jonathan Archer was blamed for covering it up as well as other things. Trip could take being insulted, but he would not stand for Jon's name being dragged through the mud, especially since he couldn't even defend himself. Trip was dragged out of the studio by security.
But things turned around when at a medal ceremony where he was presenting medals to several Starfleet officers for contributions they had made during the war, Trip learned that several elderly former service men were present. He also learned from a reporter that they had been denied continued disability benefits for technical reasons and that they had never been honored for what some might deem acts of heroism in the Eugenics war. Trip stunned everyone when he called out Starfleet to make it right with these retired soldiers benefits and then took his medals off and pinned them on three veterans. The crowd went into near hysterics.
Trip then spoke at a commencement address at Berkley. He was terrible at writing speeches and some of the young people upon learning that a Starfleet officer would be speaking to them, turned their seats around in protest. But much to everyone's surprise, Trip won them over. He did not make a traditional speech, but shared some of his personal failures, hurts and near-death experiences with the graduates. He talked about meeting other races and learning to overcome his own mistrust and prejudices against Vulcans, by getting to know them and having to depend on one in life and death situations. He talked about almost freezing to death on Shuttle Pod One, but having the will to survive. He talked about being kidnapped and tortured, but how he had survived and reinvented himself. He talked about losing his sister Lizzy in the attack on Earth by the Xindi, fighting with them to save Earth. He talked about Elizabeth and Terra Prime and became emotional in doing so.
In the end, the audience saw him not as a Starfleet Officer causing trouble for Earth out in space, but as someone who was very human. Someone who had a vision and a dream of space travel who had had some great experiences, but many disappointments and loses. Yet he had not given up, turned back or waivered in his resolve. He was still standing and he challenged the graduates to keep standing through adversity, pain, torture, disappointments and painful life circumstances. When he sat down he received a standing ovation, from everyone, even the students that had turned their seats around.
He really won over a lot of people when he was asked by a special needs high school grad to be her date for the prom. He accepted, took her to the prom, picked her up out of her wheel chair and danced with her. Then took her on a ride in a shuttle pod afterwards. It was the feel good story of the year.
The Admiral were incensed. Their plan to ruin Trip's reputation and popularity with the public was back firing. He seemed to be gaining more and more support and people were literally falling in love with the handsome Captain with the southern accent.
He visited children's hospital and took all the kids toy starships and got on the floor and rolled around and played with them. He was there all day! It was ridiculous. He seemed to enjoy it as much as the kids did and the hospital staff loved him.
Trip had attended more banquets and stupid conferences than he cared to remember. But each one had resulted in something positive. He had become a media sensation and darling. His next assignment however, would not be pleasant in the least. It was a debate with the Peace Keeper Organization, and Trip was really dreading this one. This one had all the potential for disaster.
Peace Keeper Debate.
Trip entered the building where the peacekeepers debate would be held. AWARP, they called themselves, anti-war protesters. What made it so bad Trip's older sister, Jenna was deep into it. After Lizzy's death, she was so distraught that she began to search for ways to relive her distress and grief. She found AWARP. Never mind that her little brother was a member of Starfleet, she blasted them every chance she got. Now here she was, facing off in a debate between her organization and a very popular Starfleet Captain, her brother Charles Anthony Tucker, III. The media was eating it up too. Starfleet could have and should have sent several of their best trained public relations people, but no, they sent Trip. It was part of his punishment and he couldn't do a damned thing about it.
He was not a speechmaker and certainly no debater. He would be defeated by the peace keeper organization on international TV, thus diminishing his popularity and Starfleet's reputation. The Admirals didn't care. They saw it as an opportunity to bring Trip down a peg and put him in his place. Now he could be controlled. He would be at their mercy and they would have to salvage his career… at a cost of losing his Vulcan wife. This whole thing had been about that; separating he and T'Pol but not pissing off the Vulcans in the process, who supported the relationship.
The Vulcans had wanted Starfleet to leave the couple alone and allow their relationship to have the respect of privacy. They had warned that any harsh discipline of their Vulcan citizens would not sit well with the Vulcan government. Starfleet brass was angry that they couldn't touch T'Pol and couldn't discipline Trip the way they wanted to, so they had come up with this public relations tour. Perhaps now they could get Captain Tucker back under their thumb.
"Hey little brother," Jenna called out spotting Trip and walking over to him. "You ready to get your ass whipped?"
"Whatever Jenna," he replied.
"Oh c'mon," she said. "Give me a sample of what you got, or was that it!"
"Don't do this sis. You think these people care about your cause? They don't. All they care about is today's hot story, "Starfleet Captain Squares Off With His Own Sister!" They're using you Jen, don't let 'em."
"And what do you think Starfleet is doing to you? They've got you running around like a trained seal, bolstering their reputation, making them look good all over the planet! Forget about the reality of this war!"
"Yeah, and what's that Jen?"
"That innocent people are dying, and for what? Starfleet needs to end this thing. From everything I've been told, the Romulans have no idea where our home world is, and for all we know they're not interested in attacking us! But how would we know that if we've never sat down and tried to have a conversation with them!"
"Jenna, some species are not interested in talking, they're only interested in killing and conquering, and the Romulans are one of them!" People had start to gather and someone snapped a picture.
"Save it for the debate," one of Jenna's colleagues said grabbing her by the arm. Jenna stared at her brother for a few moments. She felt as if she didn't know him anymore. Trip just felt sad, because he knew that this wasn't about the war, it was still about Lizzy, even after all these years. As Jenna was walking away, Trip ran and caught up to her. He grabbed her and held her tightly for several minutes, then kissed her on her cheek.
"I love you," he said, "and I always will, no matter what. And Jen, I still miss her too."
Later.
Trip listened to the first debater, the second, then to Jenna. They all made excellent points. He had a padd in his hands, but had not taken a single note. Then, it was his turn. He stood up at the podium in dress whites, looking dapper as hell. Then he spoke, no notes, no padd, nothing. The Admirals looked at the view screen in their offices and cringed. This would be painful, but necessary.
"Good Afternoon," Trip began. "I am Charles Anthony Tucker, III, Captain of the Starship Invictus. I've sat here and listened to my distinguished opponents for the last 30 minutes or so, and I've been called, let's see, a killer, a monster, and uh, the devil himself." The crowd started to murmur and the Admirals sat with bated breath. The media sat on the edge of their seats. How would Captain Tucker respond to these allegations, the attacks against his character by this antiwar organization, by his own sister no less?
"Well," Trip said looking around, then over at his opponents. "As to the accusation of being a killer, I would simply say… I'll take that." Everyone gasped, looking around shocked.
"As to the allegation that in exercising my duty as a Starfleet Officer, that I have become a monster, my response to you would be, "I'll take that." The audience all but became unruly. The marshals had to quiet the crowd.
"As to the allegation that in killing enemy aliens in execution of my duty as Captain of Invictus, the greatest warship ever built, that I am nothing more than the devil himself," Trip said in an elevated voice, "I would respond by simply saying, I'll take that too!" The crowd went wild. After a few moments, and the crowd had settled down, He continued.
"To my distinguished opponents, three great debaters, and wonderful citizens of United Earth… I concede this debate, you win hands down. I hold no ill will or carry any grudges against you; actually, I admire you! I'm glad that you think the way that you do, that you believe what you believe. Because your innocence, your naivety, your ignorance, and your foolish notions that if we would only stay in our corner of the universe, that if we would just say no to war, that if we would try more diplomatic solutions, then no one in the universe would ever bother us, that we would not be subject to attacks by hostile aliens, that we would not be engaged in a war...lets me know that I'm doing my job, that Starfleet is doing its job.
I'm glad that you believe what you believe. We need people who believe like you do. Because it would pain me deeply for you to be as cynical, suspicious, paranoid and vengeful as I am. It would pain me deeply if you have had to see what I've seen in space… entire races annihilated, slavery, torture, children sold on the black market; cannibalism; worlds destroyed, Earth almost destroyed. I'm glad you haven't seen it, and I'm glad you don't know what I know." He hesitated for a moment and lowered his head, gripping each side of the podium.
"So AWARP, I salute you, you guys continue to believe you're keeping the peace, and I'll continue to be who I am. If my reputation is the price I have to pay to protect United Earth, to protect you and your families, to keep you innocent; then I'll be the killer, I'll be the monster, and I'll be the devil!
But one thing you better know, one thing you better understand… that when I'm out there, and I'm doing my thing…when I'm on the hunt for a kill, when I'm protecting United Earth, when I'm chasing the enemy… you better tell 'em for me, they better ask somebody… cause for who I am and what I do; for being an efficient killer, a malevolent monster and the deadliest, darkest damned devil you've ever run up against… I offer no excuses, I make no apologies, and I take no prisoners! I am Charles Anthony Tucker, III, Starfleet, First Class, Engineer, Captain, Warrior…and I am, Invictus!" Then Trip stepped back from the podium, saluted, and walked off the stage.
For a moment everyone sat and stood around stunned. Then someone started to chant…" Trip…Trip…Trip…Trip!" Pretty soon the entire audience were on their feet chanting his name as he made his way through the crowd toward the door. He was engulfed by people trying to touch him and get close to him. Reporters went wild, running and jumping over chairs and each other trying to get close to him, trying to get a picture, a statement, something.
Back at headquarters, the Admirals were sick. "Whose idea was it to send Tucker on this good will tour?" Wells asked.
"I thought he was supposed to lose the debate," Black replied, "but it looks like he just blew it out of the water!"
Jefferies and Ramirez laughed. "Damn, that power we were discussing earlier, that he didn't know he had, think he just tapped into it," Jeffries said.
"Never underestimate Captain Charles Anthony Tucker, III," Ramirez laughed.
"Get him the hell off this rock on the next shuttle!" Admiral Gardner shouted. "We just elevated him to the status of a rock star! What next, Tucker for president! Get him out of here, get him outta here!"
Over the next few days Trip's speech at the debate was playing on an endless news feed. It had been analyzed, talked about, commented on, and praised up to the wahzoo as fresh, open and honest. It was a breath of fresh air. Someone was selling T-shirts on the street with "Killer, Monster, Devil" on them as well as "No Excuses, No Apologies, No Prisoners." Some people wore shirts with "Invictus" on them, some people even got tattoos. The phrase "I'll Take That!" had become very popular as well. It was everywhere, on billboards, T-shirts, comedians were using it, as well as TV ads. In trying to destroy Trip's reputation, the corps of Admirals had made him a celebrity. But he was just glad that it was finally over.