"T'Pol is pregnant," Travis, Hoshi, and Malcom said at the same time.
Tripp blushed because T'Pol and he didn't want to tell everyone too soon. They wanted to make sure that pregnancy continued. The only people that had known were the doctor and the captain. They had to know what was going on.
Tripp took a breath. "Yes, we didn't want to say much as of right now. We wanted to wait."
"That is why she had to go back to Earth," Hoshi said. Tripp nodded. "She didn't have to go back for Charlie," Hoshi looked between everyone that was around the table.
"There wasn't a war going on," Jonathan said.
"Let's get back to finding Commander T'Pol and her son," Commander Coffin said. "Ensign Mayweather, you and Commander Tucker go and see if you can find the warp signature." Commander Coffin turned to Tripp. "We'll find them."
Tripp couldn't say anything, but he did nod. Tripp glanced at Travis and nodded. They both left the bridge and headed for the shuttle bay. It didn't take long before they were out of the shuttle bay. Tripp did what he could separate warp traces that were in this area.
"I didn't realize that you and T'Pol were trying for another baby," Travis said as he sat back and watched Tripp do his thing.
Tripp smiled. "Yeah, I had to talk her around it, but we wanted Charlie to have siblings. I don't him to the only one out there."
Travis nodded. "I understand, I felt the same with my siblings and the children on my parents ship."
Tripp nodded. He had every one of the wrap traces in a different color. He found one that was the shuttle, their ship, and another ship that seemed bigger than Enterprise. The bigger ship was heading towards the Romulan Empire. Tripp had to take a breath because they were going towards the Romulan Empire. He just hoped that they didn't have to go into the Empire.
"I know where we are going," Tripp said. Travis nodded and took the shuttle back to the ship. They got back to the bridge and told the captain.
T'Pol woke to banging on her door. She glanced at the door and waited until they pushed the tray of food in her room. She didn't know how many days had passed but she hadn't seen Balab. She wondered if she was going to see him or not. The door opened but food didn't come. A Romulan guard came in. He had a phaser pointed at T'Pol. He waved the phaser towards the door. T'Pol knew that he wanted her to leave her cell and follow him. There was probably another guard waiting for them on the other side of the cell.
T'Pol stood and reached for Charlie. She wasn't going anywhere without her son. The guard shook his head at her. T'Pol narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not going unless my son is with me," She picked up Charlie, who opened his blue eyes.
"Mama," He wrapped his arms around his mother. She knew that he needed a bath, but they had no water, but the water that they had to drink. She had to train him to use the bathroom because his diaper was no use. She was glad that he took going to the bathroom so well.
"Shh," T'Pol told him and looked at the guard, who shouted something at the guard outside the cell. The guard waited until he got a respond before he nodded at T'Pol.
T'Pol walked out of the cell and followed the other guard. They took her to the lift, and they went up. T'Pol didn't know how many floors they went up until they stopped. The doors of the lift opened and T'Pol saw carpet on the floor. She wondered if she was going to meet Balab. The guard led her down the hall to a set of doors. He punched in a code and the doors opened. T'Pol took a breath because this was when she was going to meet Balab. She took a step in and glanced around.
The first thing she noticed was that Balab wasn't sitting behind a desk. There was a sitting area, a dining area with a small kitchen. There were a couple of windows that looked out to the red planet. She saw two doors on the side of the sitting room. She wondered where they were leading.
She turned to one of the guards to see they were leaving. She opened her mouth to say something, but they were both gone before she could. She turned around to try to leave but couldn't. She carried Charlie to the couch in the sitting area and put him down before going to see what the other two rooms were. One of the rooms was a bedroom and the other was a bathroom. She moaned because she would love to shower and get out of these clothes. She went back to the bedroom to find clothes. They were something that she wouldn't wear but she couldn't continue to wear what she had. She also found children's clothes for Charlie.
She went back out to the main room to see that Charlie was sleeping. She looked at the couch to see that there were bookcases with books and games on the shelves. She glanced back at Charlie before heading to the shower.
"Mama, Mama," T'Pol heard Charlie cry while she was on her fifth wash with the soap.
T'Pol grabbed a towel quickly and ran from the bathroom to see Charlie sitting up on couch. T'Pol picked him up and told him to be quiet. "Let's take a bath," Charlie nodded as T'Pol carried him to the bathroom.
After washing him five times (Charlie was crying that it was enough) and herself another four times, she took him to the bedroom and dressed him in clothes that were available. She put him down on the bed as she dressed. All she found was dresses and sighed as she picked up a green dress that had wide sleeves and clinched at the waist and hips than fell over her legs. She held out her hand for Charlie. "Are you hungry?" Charlie nodded, got off the bed, and grabbed T'Pol's hand. She took him to the dining area and placed him in the chair before finding something for Charlie to play with.
She watched him as he played with the toy while she made them something to eat. She placed the food on the table and made him a plate. She watched Charlie for a moment while he ate before making herself a plate.
T'Pol was halfway through her plate when she heard the door open. She glanced at the door and saw Balab standing there with two guards behind him. He spoke to the guards before Balab stepped in and closed the door behind him. T'Pol thought that he might be very brave to come in here alone, she could probably take him, but she wasn't going to get far with Charlie with her. Balab smiled as he could read her thoughts.
"Mama," Charlie pointed Balab out as he left his chair and climbed into her lap. T'Pol held him close as Balab took a seat at one of the chairs. She waited for him to say something as she handed Charlie a piece of fruit.
Balab glanced from her to Charlie to back again. "You care for your child."
"Yes," T'Pol said. He didn't know where he was going with this.
"He is my child and a part of me and my husband," T'Pol saw the face he made when he heard the word husband.
"You married that human," Balab watched as Charlie reached for the toy on table.
T'Pol handed him the toy and put him on the floor. "Why don't you go playing in the living room?" She asked. Charlie looked between her and Balab before heading to the living room. T'Pol nodded and returned to look at Balab. "Yes, he is bond mate."
Balab curled one lip. He knew what a bond mate was. His face changed in an instant. His curl turned into a smile. T'Pol raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry about having you in the dungeon, my men didn't know any better than to bring you to the guest quarters."
"They wanted me to leave my son down there," T'Pol crossed her arms.
"Sorry about that," Balab said he didn't give T'Pol a reason to why they would leave her son down there. He opened his mouth to say something when T'Pol interrupted him.
"I don't think you are. You want to separate me and my son to see if you can control me into what you want," T'Pol leaned forward. "If you want me to stay you will leave my son with me. He is barely two and needs me."
Balab narrowed his eyes on her. He didn't like that she had him. He had a feeling that a mother would do anything for their child. He glanced from her to Charlie, who was playing quietly on the floor. "Fine," He sighed. His face changed again. "Tell me about your family."
T'Pol thought that was odd. If that is what he wanted she thought that is what she would tell him. She told him of her parents and foreparents, He then asked about her family tree and she went back to Nodav. His eyes lit up when he heard that. She was about to go farther when he held up a hand to stop her.
"Good you can stop there," He gave a smile that T'Pol didn't like. "I'm going to make you, my wife."
T'Pol didn't like that at all.
Enterprise followed the warp core signature to a red planet. Tripp stood on the bridge watching the red planet. He knew that his wife and son were on that planet. He watched as Jonathan Archer came on the bridge with Commander Coffin.
Coffin made his way to the science station. Jonathan looked at the red planet. "Life signs?"
"I can't get any reading of life signs," Hoshi said. Jonathan nodded. There was no way that they could get out of this alive. They needed a way to find T'Pol and Charlie right away to get in and out right away.
"Travis, take us out of view," Jonathan said.
Travis took them out of the way. Jonathan went to the briefing table with the others following him. He called Phlox to the bridge to help figure things out. They had a scan of the planet and the compound.
"It would take days for us to search the compound and that is even if they were in there. They could be anywhere on the planet," Malcom frowned.
Jonathan ran a hand through his hair. They didn't have days because they knew that they would be found out within a day and then they might all be captured. Jonathan tried to think of an idea to get T'Pol when Phlox spoke up.
"I think I might have an idea to finding them," Phlox turned to Tripp. "I'm going to need your blood."
Tripp gave him a look. "Explain?" Jonathan said.
"I have been working on something of finding a person by their DNA in scans. If this works, we can pick up Tripp's DNA in Charlie." Phlox smiled.
"That means we can find Charlie, but how can that make us find T'Pol?" Travis asked.
"T'Pol would be close to Charlie, she wouldn't let him out of her sight for nothing. Also," Tripp turned to Phlox. "T'Pol is carrying our child and my DNA will be in the child."
"It is possible to find her that way," Phlox thought on it. "It could just work."
Tripp smiled. The doctor and Tripp turned to Jonathan to see what he thought about the idea. Jonathan was nodding. "I like the idea and what are you going to need Phlox."
Phlox told what he was going to need, and the team was going to be ready. Tripp turned to Jonathan. "I'm going on this mission."
"I never doubted it," Jonathan smiled.
"Do you think it is wise?" Commander Coffin asked. "He is emotionally too attached."
Jonathan turned to his first officer. "Yes, because Charlie will know him and will go to his father right away." Commander Coffin nodded. Jonathan turned to the others. "Let's get planning."
Tripp took a breath as the shuttle landed on a landing pad. It was right next to the area that T'Pol and Charlie were. He thought that he would find lower in the compound and not so close to the surface. He was also wondering why they got in so easily. They were thinking that they would have to fight their way in, but nothing. Tripp looked at the others. They had phasers strapped to their legs and they were gathering phaser rifles. The others were Travis, Malcom, and Coffin. Tripp was glad about the Travis and Malcom he knew who they were in a fight. Tripp was worried about Coffin. He didn't know how he fought.
"Ready," Coffin said. The others nodded as they opened the shuttle, ready for a fight. Malcom went out first and waved back to them to come out. Tripp stepped out and didn't see any guards, waiting for them. He traded a look with the others, and they didn't know what was going on.
They were ready to fire as they made their way to the door. They were ready to find a way to open the door when the door opened for them. They didn't not like this. They all piled in. Tripp looked down at his scanner. "We need to go down two levels," Travis pushed the button as he was closer.
Tripp took a breath as the door opened and there was the first shot. "Close the doors!" Malcom yelled. "Close the doors!" They closed the door. "Now I know how they were going to kill us."
"We need a way to use the doors to our advantage," Coffin looked right at Tripp. "You are our Chief Engineer."
Tripp smiled as a plan started to form in his mind. He shouldered his rifle and looked at the buttons. He pulled out a pocketknife and started working on his plan. It took him about five minutes for him to do what he needed to do. He turned to Malcom and Travis. "Pull the doors apart."
Travis and Malcom pulled the doors apart about three inches. The shot came at them. With the doors giving them cover, they could fire back. Travis and Tripp were one side while Malcom and Coffin were on the other side.
When the shots stopped, they heard. "Come out," The four of them traded a look thinking about what to do when they heard. "Or I hurt the boy."
Tripp closed his eyes because he knew that the man out there was talking about his son. He could hear T'Pol voice in his head, saying it was okay to come out.
Tripp closed his mind to all other thoughts and listen on T'Pol's voice. 'Tripp, it's okay to come out.'
'Are you sure?' He asked back.
'Yes,' He heard a whisper.
Tripp turned to the other. "We can go out," Both Malcom and Travis smiled while Coffin had a confused look on his face.
"They're bonded," Malcom said. Coffin looked like he was still confused but Tripp stepped out. Malcom and Travis followed him.
Tripp looked out and saw T'Pol in a dress that made Tripp think he had stepped through time, and he was recusing the princess. There was someone behind her, who looked over her shoulder. Tripp would deal with him in a second. He looked around for his son.
He saw Charlie standing in front of a guard with the guard's hand on Charlie's shoulder like holding him there. "Papa!" Charlie broke out of the guard's hold and came running towards him.
Tripp bent down and gathered his son to him. He took in the feel and smell of his son. Tears started to fall down his face as he held on to him. Tripp kissed him on the top of his head. "Go to Uncle Malcom," Tripp pushed Charlie towards to Malcom.
Malcom took Charlie's hand. Tripp stood and stared at the man holding T'Pol. The man holding her stepped around. Tripp thought that he could shoot him but the others around him would shoot him and others. That would leave him nowhere.
"What do you want?" Tripp yelled at him.
"Your wife," The man said.
"Who the hell are you?" Tripp yelled at him.
"Balab of Romuls," Balab said. He said it was like Tripp should know his name.
Tripp had a confused look on his face. "Still don't know who you are, but what do you want with my wife?"
"To make her my wife and for her to have my children."
Tripp gave a small laugh. "That's going to be hard when she is my wife and mother of my…" He heard in his head just the word son. "Son." He did want to say children, but he also learned when to listen to his wife.
"I'm going to change that," Balab pointed a phaser at him and shot at him.
Tripp saw what he was doing and dropped to the floor. "Get Charlie to the lift," Tripp shouted at Malcom and Travis. Neither one said anything but did as he told.
Coffin stepped up next to him. "What's the plan?"
"I don't know," Tripp just pulled out his pistol phaser and shot at Balab. Coffin nodded.
Tripp shoot at Balab again while Coffin took out his guards that where next to him. Tripp saw that Malcom or Travis were shooting behind him.
'Drop when I say.' Tripp told T'Pol. He looked T'Pol in the eyes. 'Drop.' He fired as T'Pol dropped.
The shot hit Balab in the shoulder. He fell back. Tripp watched his guards react to his fall as T'Pol crawled towards him. Tripp helped her up and ran towards the lift. Tripp pushed T'Pol in the lift.
Tripp looked back and saw Coffin right behind them. Tripp reached out to grab his hand when he fell from a shot in the back. Tripp was ready to save him when Coffin shook his head. Tripp wanted to save him, but someone pulled him in and the others closed the door.
Tripp took a breath as he got the lift to work again to get them out of here. They got to the top and they ran for the shuttle. Travis got them in the air as quickly as he could. Tripp only took a breath when they got back on the ship and were gone.