Captain Jonathan Archer walked on the bridge without looking up. "Is everyone a counted for, Commander T'Pol," He knew that his first officer would know when everyone was on the ship and when they were ready to leave. He wanted to be gone, the ship was done being fixed and they were needed on the front line.
"Captain," Hoshi spoke up. She traded a look with Travis before looking at the captain. "Commander T'Pol, Commander Tucker, and their son are not on the ship," She stated.
"Where the hell are they?" Jonathan looked around the bridge to see if anyone knew where they were.
"We don't know, sir. We contacted Starfleet and they haven't seen them either," Hoshi looked around to the bridge for support.
"They were to leave early this morning from Mississippi and be in San Francisco by mid-morning to be on one of the first shuttles back to the ship." Jonathan tried to find a reason to why his first officer and chief engineer weren't on the ship. If something had happened, they would have contracted Jonathan to tell him what was going on. "Try contacting Tripp's parents in Mississippi," Something happened to his friends, and he had to figure out what happen.
Hoshi put the call into Commander Tucker's parents. It didn't take long for them to answer. Hoshi saw a smiling older woman sitting next to an older man that shared Tripp's name. "Tripp, did you and your family make it on the ship, okay?" The woman asked.
Jonathan put on a smile. "Mrs. Tucker, this is Captain Jonathan Archer, I was wondering if Commander Tucker and Commander T'Pol left your house."
"Please call me Megan," Megan put a hand on her chest. "They left on a shuttle in the morning while my daughter, Diana and her family did. Everything okay, Captain?"
Jonathan smiled. "We're just making sure that they left at the right time."
"Okay, safe travels. You tell my son to take care of his wife and son," Megan smiled.
"Will do," Jonathan told her goodbye before hanging up on them. He turned to his security officer. "Where the hell are they?"
"Tripp," Tripp woke to his wife nudging. He thought that he was in the transporter, and they had made it to San Francisco, but then he remembered a phaser in his face. When he looked over the phaser, he saw that they had his wife and son. T'Pol was shaking her head, telling him not to do anything stupid. He was ready to follow the man when he saw the tears running down his son's face. He tried to knock the man out but got a phaser to the stomach that stunned him.
Tripp looked up to his wife's face and saw how worried she looked. He knew right then and there that something was wrong. He looked around the room to see if he could find Charlie. He didn't see his son anywhere.
"Where is Charlie?" He asked.
"They have him," T'Pol started to pace the room. "I don't know what they are doing to him."
Tripp stood from lying on the floor. This wasn't his wife. She would never let her emotions run out of control. He couldn't stop thinking about their daughter Elizabeth and what happened to her. Tripp gathered T'Pol in his arms and knew that he had to hold his emotions in check right now when he wanted to break down the door in front of them and go to find Charlie and make sure there was nothing wrong with him.
He kissed the top of T'Pol's head. "You have to stay calm."
"Calm," T'Pol tilted her head back. "They have my son and all I keep thinking about is Elizabeth." T'Pol broke out of his arms and ran to the door. She started to bang on the door, trying to get someone to come to the door.
Tripp grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back from the door. "What is wrong with you? I have never seen you this way." Tripp hissed.
Before T'Pol could say anything, the door opened, and a darked hair man came in. He smiled at Tripp, before looking at T'Pol. "So, Vulcans can lose control," He looked back at Tripp. "Control your whore."
"She is my wife." Tripp growled. "And you have our son."
"Your son is just fine," The man unclasped a walkie talkie. Tripp saw an old-time pistol on his side. Tripp had a feeling that he knew how to use that pistol. "Show them their son," He said in it.
Tripp didn't notice that there was a TV screen in the corner of room until a picture of his son came on. Charlie was on the floor with a blocks and laughing. Tripp could hear the laughter through the screen. There was a woman next to him with a clipboard. She was taking notes on him.
"As you can see your son is okay," The man out the walkie talkie back on his belt. They didn't turn the screen off. It somehow had a calming effect on T'Pol. "Please take a seat," The man waved to table and three chairs.
Tripp needed to better look around the room to see how the room looked like. As Tripp led T'Pol to the table and chairs. Tripp knew that it was better to follow the direction of the man because he didn't know how quick he was with the pistol. Tripp pushed T'Pol into a chair and took the one next to her. The man took the seat across from them. He placed his pistol on the table.
"My name is Thomas Dudley," Dudley smiled. "You are going to answer a few questions before we kill you and your son." He placed his hand on his pistol.
Tripp took a breath and looked the screen to see his son. They were taking his blood. He looked at his wife and saw that she was watching their son. They had to get out of this somehow and save their son. Tripp had to think of ideas, so he had to buy time. "Alright, what are your questions." He saw T'Pol threw him a look before going back to the screen. Tripp reached over and gave her hand a squeeze.
"Captain," Malcom stated. Jonathan looked at him and nodded to continued. "The shuttle that Commander T'Pol and Tucker was stolen. The person that was to get them was knocked out. Starfleet tracked him down in a hospital in Mississippi."
"Who wanted to take them?" Jonathan asked the room. Everyone looked around the room not knowing how to answer the question. They were in the middle of a war, and it could be anyone. Jonathan sighed. "Did they question the man some more. Did he hear anything?"
"He was pretty out of it when they found him, but now he might be more awake," Malcom said.
"Malcom, you have the bridge," Jonathan smiled. "Travis, have you ever been to Mississippi?"
"No, sir," Travis smiled.
"Well now is your chance," Jonathan said.
Travis stood and followed Captain Archer off the bridge.
"Next question," Dudley said. Tripp sighed they have been going on for awhile. He just wanted this all to be done so he could find a way to save his family from being killed. Tripp tried to answer each question that Dudley asked. Sometimes the questions were way out there. He tried to get T'Pol involved but she was watching the screen as they took Charlie's blood. Tripp saw tears in his son's eyes as they poked him. Tripp knew that Charlie didn't like needles and there was only one way that he would accept needles. T'Pol or he had to be there distracting him from the needles. "How did you two have a baby when Vulcans and humans have been trying for while?"
T'Pol finally looked at him with her eyes widen. Tripp knew that she didn't want to tell him about the Ocae. Tripp didn't want to think about what they would do that planet. Tripp opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't think of a lie.
"Lieutenant Dudley to my office," A woman's voice said through his walkie talkie.
Dudley stood and picked up his pistol from the table. "I will be back, and I would like an answer to my question," Dudley gave them a look before heading out. They left the screen on.
Tripp waited until he heard a lock going on before turning to T'Pol. "We have to find a way out of this and save Charlie."
"I know," T'Pol looked at screen to see that Charlie asleep. She reached for his hand. "Thank you for being calm in the beginning I don't know what came over me," She took his hand and pressed her lips to it.
Tripp gave a small grin. "You are a mother and worried about our son," He reached for her and pulled her on his lap. He leaned closer. "You kept thinking about Elizabeth."
"I know and how we lost her even before we got to know her," T'Pol looked at the screen. "I carried Charlie and brought him into this world. We held him and got to know him. I think it would be harder if we lost him."
Tripp kissed the side of her head. "I know. We have to save him." Tripp glanced around the room that they were in. He saw two mats in the corner that was to be beds. He also saw cameras in the room and knew that they were watching and listening to them.
'T'Pol, we need to talk like this,' Tripp said through their connection. T'Pol gave him a look. 'There are cameras, and they are watching and listening to us.' T'Pol nodded. 'How are we going to get out of this?' Tripp asked.
'By answering their question,' By the look in T'Pol's eyes Tripp felt that she would have given him a villainous laugh.
Captain Archer and Ensign Mayweather entered the hospital room where the pilot who was to drive T'Pol and Tripp's shuttle, was staying. They saw that the man was sitting up in his bed, awake. Jonathan smiled at him. "Hello, I'm Captain Jonathan Archer and this is my helmsman, Ensign Travis Mayweather and we are here to ask you what happen to you."
The man's eyes widen he must have known Jonathan's name. "You are the captain of the Enterprise," He started. Jonathan nodded. "Wow, I was to take some of your crew to San Francisco." He was surprised.
"Yes, Commander T'Pol and Commander Tucker," Jonathan said. "They had a little boy with them." The man looked between Jonathan and Travis. "If you could tell us what happen to you," Jonathan wanted to move on. He knew who he was and what Earth thought of him. They saw him as a hero and Jonathan never felt that way.
"It was early, I was making my way to my shuttle when I saw two men coming towards me. I asked if they needed anything before, I got on the shuttle. They didn't say anything as the phaser me. When I woke, I found myself here with two Starfleet officers asking me about my passage." The man said.
"Who else knew about trip and your passengers?" Jonathan asked.
"My boss and flight control," The man was trying to figure out where this was going.
"Did you tell anyone about your trip?" Travis asked. "A friend or family member."
"I told my friend at the bar last night that I had VPs in my shuttle on a trip to San Francisco," The man said.
Travis and Jonathan traded a look. "Did you tell them who your VPs were?" Jonathan asked. The man shook his head. "Were their others in the bar?"
"Yes, I remember a couple of men complaining about how we are allowing aliens on Earth and how we have aliens helping us with this war. That we should be able to take them down without them." The man said.
Travis and Jonathan traded a look. It amazed them that he could remember all this. "How do you remember all this?" Jonathan asked. He wanted to make sure that this man wasn't involved in this.
"I remember because I was waiting for my friend when they took a seat next to me, complaining that there was a Vulcan in Mississippi married to human and they had a child. They were visiting the human's family. I turned to them to tell them to shut up and I might have said something to them about transporting Vulcans before and they were some of the best costumers I had. They threw me a look before moving a seat away from me."
Jonathan had a feeling that these were the men that took Tripp and T'Pol. He had to find out who these men were because they were the only ones who would know where Tripp and T'Pol were. He ran a hand a through his hair before asking. "What is the name of the bar you went to?" The man told them, and Jonathan thanked him.
Dudley made his way back in the room. He took out his pistol and placed it on the table. He looked around the room to find his prisoners and found them on the mats sleeping in each other's arms. He picked up his pistol and made his way to the mats. "Time to get up," He pointed his pistol at the Vulcan woman, so the man didn't do anything. Dudley thought that the human wouldn't want his whore to die.
Tripp woke to see the pistol pointing at T'Pol's head. He stood slowly and helped T'Pol stand. He looked at the screen to see that Charlie was eating. Tripp own stomach let out a growl because he hasn't eaten since this morning when they left his parents. He wondered if T'Pol was hungry and knew that she wouldn't tell him if she was.
"Take a seat," Dudley waved the pistol at them. After they took a seat, Dudley smiled. "I hoped that you thought about what I asked."
Tripp took a breath. "We have," Tripp grabbed T'Pol's hand.
"And?" Dudley was impatience and that had Tripp raise an eyebrow.
"We wanted…" T'Pol started.
"I didn't ask you," He shot his pistol right above T'Pol right shoulder. Tripp had a feeling that he wouldn't have missed he tried. Dudley turned to Tripp. "You answer or your whore is dead."
Tripp could feel the anger raising in him. "If you shot anyone let it be me," Tripp heard his name in his head. He turned to T'Pol and shook his head. He would rather die than lose T'Pol. He hoped that she would get out of here with Charlie and live a good life.
Dudley smiled wickedly. "Why would you want to die rather than your whore?"
Tripp gridded his teeth. "You need to stop calling my wife a whore because in the eyes of the law, she is my wife."
"You didn't answer my question," Dudley completing ignored Tripp's statement.
Tripp looked at T'Pol before answering. "I love her."
Dudley laughed. "How can you love Vulcan? Don't they have no emotions."
Tripp reached for T'Pol. 'Remember that I love you and Charlie.' Tripp told T'Pol before turning to Dudley. "Because I can, and I have more love for both us."
"You couldn't find a nice human woman to fall in love with," Dudley frowned.
"Nope," There was a pop on the end of the p.
Dudley turned his pistol on Tripp and fired a shot. He didn't miss because Tripp felt it hit his shoulder. He didn't feel if it went through to the other side. He fell off the chair as he gripped his shoulder.
"Tripp," T'Pol was kneeling next to him putting pressure on his wound. "You stay with me," Tripp closed his eyes.
The last thing he heard was, "Take care of your man."