Jonathan watched as a planet came into view. He was glad to see a planet because it has only been stars, he has been seeing. He looked at the Ensign at the science station. "Readings?" He asked.
"A breathable planet but the planet is all ice like Earth's last ice age," The Ensign said.
Jonathan nodded. He looked at the planet again. It might be worth checking out and it could lead to answers about their own ice age. "Where are Commander T'Pol and Commander Tucker?" He asked.
"I think that Commander T'Pol is off this morning, so I'm going to guess that she is in her quarters with her son." Malcom started. "Commander Tucker is in Engineering."
"Have them come to my ready room," Jonathan started for his ready room.
"Captain," Malcom said. "Do you think that it is wise to send them down there together? One might kill the other." Malcom figured out the plan that Jonathan Archer had.
"I can't take them not talking anymore," Jonathan sighed. "I know I shouldn't get involved in their marriage, but I need them back."
Malcom knew what he was talking about because over the last two weeks T'Pol and Tripp haven't talk to each other unless it was about work or their son. He knew that Tripp wasn't very happy right now and he had a feeling that T'Pol was feeling the same way. He knew that Tripp had been sleeping on the couch in their quarters since they came back from camping.
"I understand, sir but this is their marriage," Malcom had to figure out want was going happen to T'Pol and Tripp.
"Yes, but they are my first officer and chief engineer," Jonathan stopped by the door to his ready room. "Call them."
Malcom nodded and called them.
T'Pol sighed as she heard that she was needed in the ready room. She threw her legs off the couch and saw the pillow and blanket at the end. Tripp has been sleeping on the couch and nor in their bed. She missed him next to her. The bed felt colder without him in there. They barely spoke to each other in the last two weeks. She had missed her husband. T'Pol called Crewman Edgerton to their quarter to watch Charlie, who was taking a nap.
When Crewman Edgerton came, T'Pol left and made her way to the ready room. When T'Pol entered the ready room, she saw that her husband was already there standing in front of the captain. The captain smiled at her. T'Pol threw Tripp a look He ignored it. T'Pol could tell that he was in Chief Engineer mode.
Jonathan looked between them before speaking. "I need the two of you to go on an ice covered planet."
"Sir, I'm sure that you can chose two other people," Tripp said.
Jonathan shook his head. "No, I want the two of you," Jonathan looked between them. "Is that going to be a problem?"
"No, sir," T'Pol threw Tripp a look.
"Good," Jonathan stood. "Make sure to stay warm," Tripp and T'Pol nodded and all three left the ready room. Jonathan watched as they made their way down to the hall away from the ready room. Jonathan went back to the bridge.
Malcom looked at his captain. "How did they take the news?"
"Like two professional they are," Jonathan looked at the planet. He hoped that he was making the right decision with Tripp and T'Pol.
Tripp landed the shuttle without a word to T'Pol. He knew why she was angry with him. He thought that she would be over it by now. He really wanted to sleep in their bed again, the couch was only so comfortable. He knew this was Jonathan way to get them to figure out what was going on with them.
Tripp followed T'Pol off the shuttle with a backpack with survival gear. He looked around and only saw white. He tried to zip up his coat, but it was already zipped up all the way. T'Pol decided to go left without talking to him. Tripp bit his lip without saying anything and followed her.
They had walked for a while without either one of them saying anything. Tripp couldn't take it anymore. "Why are you mad at me?" He asked. He waited for her to answer but he got nothing. "Are you mad at me because I took Charlie camping without asking you?" Again, he waited for an answer from her.
"Somewhat," Tripp heard her mumble in the cold air. He wouldn't have heard her if the wind didn't carry it back to him.
Tripp opened his mouth to speak when they saw a big animal walk right past them. To Tripp it reminded him of a woolly mammoth that he saw in schoolbooks when he was a kid. They waited until it passed before they started to walk again. T'Pol started to walk again, it took Tripp a moment to realize that she was walking again. "Oh, no we are not done," Tripp mumbled to himself as he ran to catch up to T'Pol. "You do know that he is my son, too."
"I know," T'Pol shouted at him. She turned away from him. Tripp had to take a moment because he couldn't remember the last time that T'Pol lost her cool. She stopped in her tracks and Tripp almost ran into her. He grabbed her elbow to stop himself. After he touched her, he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss all their troubles away. T'Pol closed her eyes before speaking again. "I'm upset because I didn't know where you were, and Charlie was with you."
"I'm sorry," Tripp said softly.
"What if something happened to you or Charlie?" T'Pol folded her arms to wad of the cold. Tripp was ready to take her in his arms and keep her warm. T'Pol wasn't used to these cold temperatures. When he was reaching for her, T'Pol put her hand up to stop him.
"T'Pol," Tripp said her name. He couldn't think of anything else to say. He could tell that he was sorry again or that Jonathan knew where they were. "You know that I would never let anything happen to Charlie." He finally said.
"And what about you?" T'Pol looked at him.
Tripp didn't care anymore and took her in his arms "I would never leave you."
"You cannot say that," T'Pol didn't pull away from him. She had missed his arms around her. "You could get captured or killed."
Tripp tried to smile but it only got halfway. "It's part of the job."
Tripp could tell that she wanted to hit him. She pulled out his arms and started walking away. Tripp followed her. "How am I to raise our son by myself?" She stopped and turned to him.
"You are great mom," Tripp smiled. He saw T'Pol face brighten for a moment. "Just a little too protective," Tripp mumbled to himself.
"I heard that," T'Pol stooped away from Tripp.
Tripp moaned because he had just lost her again. If they were going to hash it out there was no better time. "Good, because you are." He followed in her steps because the snow was deep.
T'Pol stopped and looked at him. "And how may I ask?"
"You don't let him do things on his own. I could give you a list of things that you do, but we be here all day," Tripp moved around her. "Do you know how much fun he had on our camping trip?"
"We could lose him," T'Pol said in a quiet voice.
It had Tripp stop and look at T'Pol. "And he could live a long life."
"Vulcan/human children haven't survived," T'Pol said. "And we are talking about having another."
"I know," Tripp looked up at the sky. "He has survived past the age of Elizabeth." Tripp closed his eyes for moment because clouds were gathering. "We must show him that we love him and support him. Along with any other children we have."
"Do you know how much it is going to hurt when we lose him? It is going to be worse than when we lost Elizabeth," T'Pol sighed.
"I know, but we don't know if we are going to lose him." Tripp felt the first snowflake fall on his head. He looked up and knew that a storm was coming. "We are going to have to find shelter before the storm comes."
T'Pol looked up at the sky to see the dark clouds. She looked back at Tripp and nodded. Tripp grabbed her hand and they started to walk, looking for a place to stay. They both knew that they were too far from the shuttle to make it back and they also didn't know what direction they came from.
The snow started out light, but it grew as they walked. Either one said anything. All they did was point out areas where they could find shelter, but nothing. The snow was getting worse, but Tripp wouldn't let go of T'Pol's hand.
"Tripp!" T'Pol shouted at him. Tripp wiped the snow off his face and saw where she was pointing. It looked like a cave. T'Pol led the way to the cave.
They took a moment as they entered the cave. Tripp brushed off the snow off him. He saw that T'Pol was doing the same. He went farther into the cave and found dry spot. He was glad that he brought survival gear. He took off his backpack and got out the fire making kit. He started a fire. T'Pol made her way over to him and sat in front of the fire.
"I just hope that this isn't some creature's home," Tripp said. T'Pol nodded.
Tripp reached in his bag and brought out water and some Starfleet rations. He handed a packet to T'Pol. "I don't see any signs of someone making this their home."
They sat in silence for a while, eating their rations. Tripp felt that he was a pioneer on his way west to find a home. He remembered learning about them in one of his early American classes. As he learned about them, he always wondered how they survived. It was a testament of the human spirit. He knew that he wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them.
"Pioneers," Tripp smiled at T'Pol.
"Pioneers?" T'Pol question.
"Yes, that is what we are," Tripp said.
"How are we pioneers?" T'Pol asked.
"We have set out of find new places and in Earth history on the North American continent, there was a group of people that moved far east to west to settle. It was hard work for them. They left their families and friends to make a new life. They did it in covered wagons. Some of them brought children on the trail west. It wasn't an easy life for them." Tripp reached for her hand and took it. "They had babies die on the trail west or at their new home. They didn't love those babies any less than the ones that survived to adulthood. It only made them stronger. They taught their children to love the land and how to grow it."
"What does that have to do with us?" T'Pol asked.
Tripp pulled her closer to him to give her some of his heat. "We are space pioneers."
"Vulcans were in space for centuries before humans made it," T'Pol interrupted him as she leaned closer to him.
Tripp shook his head. "That isn't what I meant. You Vulcans have been a pain in my side since forever." Tripp poked her in the side. He leaned closer to her ear. "But I fall in love with one." T'Pol didn't say anything, waiting for Tripp to explain. "We are heading to places we don't know about. I love Elizabeth," Tripp watched as T'Pol closed her eyes. "She will always be in my heart, but that doesn't stop me wanting the best life for Charlie. This road is going to be hard for him and any other children we have. If he goes before his time, he will know what it means to be a child. We might lose some along the way, but they will know the love of space because we love space. I want to take our children camping and fishing. I want to show them what I loved as a child." T'Pol nodded but didn't say anything. Tripp knew that she needed to think about what he was talking about. He just held her close, watched the fire, and wondered when the storm outside was going to end.
"You do make a logical point," T'Pol said after some time. "Our children should live their lives like it is never going to end."
"I think I remember you saying that you want a lifetime with me, and you want me to tell our grandchildren the story of how I met you." He kissed her behind her ear.
"It doesn't sound like something I would say," There was a light in T'Pol's eyes that Tripp had missed.
"Unless I'm married to different woman," T'Pol gave him a look and crossed her arms. She pulled away from him. Tripp laughed and tried to pull her closer to him. She just pulled away from him. "Come on," He smiled. "You know that you are the only woman I need in my life." She just gave him a look. Tripp sighed and glanced at the cave opening to see white there was no way they were leaving any time soon. Tripp glanced back at his wife to see that she cold. "I can think about another way to keep warm," Tripp crawled over to her.
T'Pol raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"
"Us making Charlie a baby sister or brother," He reached for her arm and pulled it from her body.
"I don't think this is a very logical place to do that," T'Pol looked away from him.
He reached for the zipper of her jacket. "I'll let you be on top, so you don't touch the cold stone." He pulled the zipper down; it revealed her one-piece suit. She could still pull it off after having a baby.
He pushed one arm down and pulled her arm out of the sleeve. "Tripp," She moaned. "It's not logical."
"Sorry, but you married a human, who doesn't think about logic," He reached for the other arm. He pulled the jacket away from her. He let the jacket drop and reached for her head with both hands. He kissed all over her face before taking her lips in his. T'Pol let out a moan and reached for his jacket. Tripp knew that they would be working on making a baby.
"Do you want to wake them, or do you want me to do it?" Travis asked Malcom. He looked down at his commanding officers, who were sleeping by a burnt-out fire. They looked like they had created their own fire.
Tripp was laying on one of their jackets with T'Pol on top of him with a jacket covering her. Travis thought that they might have figured everything out.
Malcom didn't answer Travis question. He just went up and kicked Tripp in the shoulder. Tripp wrapped his arms more tightly around T'Pol before opening his eyes to his friends standing there.
"What?" Tripp hissed at him. He looked at his wife to see if he woke her.
"We were just wondering if you wanted a way home to your son," Malcom said.
Tripp sighed and looked at T'Pol before answering. "Yes," He looked over them to see that the storm had stopped. "You can wait out there for us to get dressed."
Travis grabbed Malcom's arm before he could say anything. Travis looked back and saw that Tripp was waking T'Pol. He smiled. They would be out soon.