NX-01 Enterprise
En route to Panqual
Feb 20, 2155
T'Pol visited sickbay with complaints of a persistent headache and weakened emotional control.
Phlox found the culprit with nothing more than a casual scan.
"Weakened emotional control! It's no wonder. Your system is flooded with trellium! T'Pol, what have you done?"
"Trellium? That's quite impossible. I haven't abused that substance in years."
"The scanner doesn't lie. And it's centered in your nasal passages! T'Pol, have you been snorting it?"
"The only thing I 'snort' is prodigious doses of nasal numbing agent. Run your scans again. Something is clearly wrong."
Phlox dutifully ran his scan again. The results were the same.
"T'Pol, you must have known I would detect further trellium abuse! How could you do this to yourself? And why lie about it? Where's the logic in that? You overcame your substance abuse once before; you can do it again. And you must!"
"Phlox, I swear to you that I haven't abused trellium. I can't imagine how the substance entered my system. All remaining trellium is locked securely in cargo bay four."
"Let me see something. Give me your nasal inhibitor."
T'Pol readily produced it, handing it over to Phlox for him to scan.
"As I suspected! You've been lacing your inhaler with trellium."
"That's impossible."
Further discourse was interrupted by the arrival of Commander Tucker.
"Hey, I can sense you all the way from engineering." He said. "What's going on?
"Doctor Phlox has detected trellium in my system. It seems the source is a contaminated nasal inhibitor."
"How did your inhibitor get contaminated with trellium? It's locked up tight in cargo bay four."
"That remains a mystery."
"T'Pol," Phlox interjected. "Are you truly asserting that you didn't lace your inhibitor with trellium?"
"Hey." Trip objected. "If she says she didn't, then she didn't. Someone else must have done it."
"Are you suggesting someone intentionally contaminated T'Pol's nasal inhibitor with trellium? Who could have done such a thing?"
"Who else had access to both sickbay and cargo bay four?" Trip countered.
"Crewman Hernandez." T'Pol reasoned. "She's a cargo technician and has been cross-training as a medical assistant with Doctor Phlox."
"She is new around here." Trip said. "It's not out of the realm of possibility that she's another Terra Prime infiltrator."
"Now, wait a minute!" Phlox objected. "Leveling baseless accusations against poor crewman Hernandez doesn't detract from the fact that Commander T'Pol herself has access to both the inhibitor and the contents of cargo bay four."
"Do you really think T'Pol would let you scan her if she were poisoning herself with trellium?" Trip argued.
Phlox was rendered silent on that point.
"I say we turn Malcolm loose on crewman Hernandez. He'll get to the bottom of it, for sure."
"That may not be necessary." T'Pol interjected. "Phlox had microcameras installed in sensitive areas of sickbay ever since Massaro's treachery. We need only look to see who accessed my inhibitor in the past several days. I sought a fresh inhibitor only three days ago. The very one now laced with trellium."
"We'll review the logs and clear this matter up right away." Phlox said,
It took nearly an hour of poring through the logs before Hernandez was found accessing T'Pol's inhibitor. Though the angle wasn't clear, it was obvious that she manipulated the inhibitor in some manner before returning it to its assigned drawer.
"There you have it." Trip said. "I'm going to get Malcolm."
"I'll come with you." T'Pol said.
"And me." Phlox added.
The trio left sickbay, making their way to Malcolm's quarters and buzzing the comm.
Malcolm appeared, only partially dressed. It occurred to Trip that he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Malcolm out of uniform.
"Trip, T'Pol, Phlox." Malcolm said, uncomfortably. "Now really isn't a good time…"
"Well, you better make time." Trip insisted. "We think crewman Hernandez has been dosing T'Pol's nasal inhibitor with trellium."
"Trellium?" Malcolm asked. "The stuff that made the T'Pol go nuts on the Seleya?"
"The very same." Phlox offered.
"It has only weakened my emotional controls to a mild degree, despite the large quantities." T'Pol said. "I think I have being bonded to an emotional human to thank for that."
"These are serious charges." Malcolm said. "Give me a minute to get dressed…"
Just then an audible clamor arose from the direction of Malcolm bathroom. As if someone had knocked something loose from the sink.
"Oh, shit." Someone said from there.
"Uh…like I said, this really isn't the best time..." Malcolm offered.
"Oh, hello." Said Major Perez as she appeared from the bathroom.
Wearing nothing but a towel.
"Major." Trip said, surprised.
"Okay, let's just get it out in the open." Major Perez said. "Malcolm and I were hooking up in the shower. Now that that's out of the way, what's this about someone dosing T'Pol's inhibitor?"
Finding Hernandez wasn't difficult. She was off duty, enjoying her downtime in her quarters.
Malcolm overrode the lock and entered forcefully, accompanied by two other security officers.
"On your feet, ma'am." Malcolm said, disdainfully. "Stand and face your charges."
Hernandez got to her feet, almost unsteadily.
"Charges? What are you talking about?"
"We have the logs where you accessed the trellium stores and video surveillance of you manipulating Commander T'Pol nasal inhibitor. Don't try to deny it!"
"Oh." Hernandez said. "That."
"'Oh, that'." Malcolm repeated in disgust. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Hernandez straightened her back and made her pronouncement.
"Terra Prime forever."
"I knew it." Malcolm said, thoroughly disgusted. "Escort crewman Hernandez to the brig."
In sickbay, Phlox administered a small, sticky eel-like creature to T'Pol's neck. With assurances that the creature would serve as a blood purgative to remove all traces of residual trellium, T'Pol allowed it to be applied.
"We'll leave it there for the next hour. That should give the eel time to absorb the toxins in your system. I must say, T'Pol, I'm astounded you were able to control yourself well enough to seek help, with those levels of trellium in your blood."
"I think I have the bond to thank for that. Just as it allowed Commander Tucker to resist the seductions of the Orion slaves, it serves as an outlet for my aberrant emotional excesses. I find I am much more logical with it than without it, even if it results in my resorting to crude attempts at humor more often."
"T'Pol," Phlox admitted. "I shouldn't have assumed the worst. I apologize."
"Not at all, doctor. With my history of trellium abuse, I was the logical culprit."
"Still, your protests should have given me pause."
"I'll accept your aid in relieving myself of further trellium decay in lieu of compensation."
"Very well."
"Now that all that's been dealt with," Trip interjected. "What's all this about trellium abuse?"
"Well," Phlox said. "I'm afraid that's a long overdue conversation between you and Commander T'Pol."