Freebooter

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Castle and Star Trek: Enterprise belong to vast corporations. UCSBdad is not any kind of corporation. Rating: K, but maybe more. Time: Some vague time in two alternate universes.

They hurried back into the HMS Minerva to check their database.

"There it is." O'Rourke said, pointing to a photo taken from orbit. "South of the JOM Cubed mine and pretty big as Vulcan towns go. Maybe fifteen hundred people."

"These are solar power panels." Simone said. "They must trade with someone. The Vulcans lack the technology to manufacture those. Perhaps Ringo's people ran into a patrol from JOM Cubed."

McRoberts shook his head.

"JOM Cubed's people sit in their bunkers behind their razor wire and mine fields and never go outside. Never."

"There are a few human dilithium prospectors on the planet. Maybe it was some of them." Rick said.

"The dilithium prospectors are a pretty rough bunch." O'Rourke said. "They'd be more likely to help Ringo's people than start a fight. They've been known to grab Vulcan women as sex slaves."

"That leaves us with one possibility. They're what we're supposed to be, a group of heavily armed freebooters who've set up in T'Okar."

"How many?" Sergeant Saava asked.

"Ringo described them as a patrol. Maybe a squad. Ten people? Fifteen?" McRoberts said.

"That's how many one wounded pirate thought there were. They could be a bigger force than us. But we'll need to go talk to them."

"So, we might be facing a division or something?" McRoberts asked.

O'Rourke shook his head.

"No, we've been monitoring JOM Cubed's satellite feeds. They've shown only small tramp freighters landing on the planet. None of them could carry much more than the Minerva does."

"I worked with a group of Issari River Cossacks a couple of years ago. They had one tank, three infantry fighting vehicles and a 130mm self-propelled mortar. Something like that could tear us to pieces."

"You want out?" Rick asked.

"Me? I'm a bloodthirsty savage whose gods tell me to kill those clowns."

Trip had just finished dinner and was contemplating a nice after dinner brandy when he saw the old healer, T'Pre, headed for him.

"It is pleasant to see you, Healer."

"Let me guess. Someone needs my help."

"You are correct. Brod, a young boy, was shot in the leg. I cannot help him. Perhaps you can?"

He thought for a moment. He wasn't getting any credit for chasing off slavers and rapists, but he was making friends, sort of, as a healer. Better than nothing.

"Let me get my gear and we'll go see my patient."

Brod had been shot through the thigh. Trip quickly found the bullet had missed the bone and any major arteries. He consulted his medical computer and was given instructions. But the instructions were for a human patient.

"Look. I have medicines that will ease pain, kill germs, and rebuild damaged muscles, but it's for human patients. I have no idea what it might do to a Vulcan. You'll have to decide if you want me to treat him."

T'Pre and the boy's mother, T'Val, talked it over and decided to have Trip go ahead. He did so and then told T'Val to keep a close eye on the boy and to call both Trip and T'Pre if anything at all was going wrong.

T'Val leaned against him, pressing her breasts against his side. She was a nice-looking woman who looked too young to have a son Brod's age.

"Thank you, Healer. If there is anything I can do to repay you, I will do it."

Trip thought it would be nice to have a girlfriend, but getting involved with local women when you didn't know the local culture could be dangerous. He'd seen spacers get killed when they ignored that rule.

"Brod's welfare is my reward." He said, wondering if he was making a mistake.

She smiled at him.

"If anything else occurs to you, I am easy to find."

She walked off putting a certain sway in her hips as she left.

Trip walked back to his vehicle. He decided he'd best wear his protective vest all the time and keep his assault rifle handy. He also decided he'd better park his vehicle near the main temple, or whatever it was. If they got attacked again, it'd be the best place to dig in and try to hold off the slavers. Once there, he covered his vehicle with the tarp and went to sleep.

Sometime later, he found himself in a very odd dream. He was in a completely white space. It seemed to have no beginning and no end. He discovered he wasn't alone in the dream.

"What are you doing here?" T'Pol demanded.

He looked around and could just barely make her out, sitting and staring at a candle.

"Where am I?" He asked.

"I'm meditating. You can't be here."

"I'm sleeping and I have no idea how I got here. I think I'm dreaming."

"Go away!" She said slightly raising her voice.

"I have no idea how to go away. You go away."

"I'll have to quit meditating."

Suddenly T'Pol and the white were gone and Trip slept on.

When he got up the next morning, he wondered about the strange dream.

"That was a weird dream." But he thought no more about it.

He decided he'd have to put off prospecting for dilithium crystals for a while. If the slavers caught him alone out in the desert, he'd be dead meat. And that meant he'd have to stay in T'Okar and protect the Vulcans.

He was about to begin lunch when he found himself in the white again. This time T'Pol was much less blurry. He could see her features clearly. She was sitting on some sort of pillow and staring at a candle.

"Why are you here again?" She demanded.

"I have no idea. And since I have no idea how to get here, I suspect you brought me here."

"That is illogical. Why would I do such a thing."

"I have no idea, but I know I'm not dreaming since I was just about to have lunch."

"I need to meditate. Can you just remain silent?"

"Sure. Anything you want, sweetie."

"Sweetie? What…Never mind. Just be quiet."

It didn't seem like he was quiet for long, but all of a sudden, the white was gone, and Trip saw that the sun was much lower in the sky. Checking his timepiece, he found he'd been wherever he had been for over four hours.

"I hope you got your fill of meditating, darlin'."

He decided he'd have lunch for dinner and treat himself to two beers.

He was sound asleep in the early morning hours when he found himself in the white again. This time he was sitting across from T'Pol. She was staring at a candle. Also, she was wearing a light robe that did little to hide her gorgeous body.

"You're here again." She said wearily. "I did not know your species was telepathic."

"We're not."

"You must be otherwise you could not be here."

"Where exactly is here?" He asked.

"You are in my mind."

"That means you're in mine as well. This is your doing."

"It is not."

"I've never found myself in some white something in someone's mind before, and I've never heard of any human having this kind of experience. You must be at fault."

"Can you be silent and allow me to meditate?"

"Sure, darlin'."

"And do not call me that."

When Trip woke up, he found himself to be very refreshed.

T'Pol had gathered her councilors, and they were trying to find the significance of the human's odd appearance in T'Pol's mind.

"Human's must be telepathic." T'Pol insisted.

"The humans we've encountered before were not." Soval said.

"Then this one must be different from the rest." T'Pol insisted. "Or the few humans we've met are a minority and humans as a whole are telepathic."

"He is not telepathic." T'Pre said. "I have been with the Healer. I have briefly touched him. He is not telepathic himself. First Mother, you' re overlooking the obvious answer. The two of you have established a mating bond. He is your mate."

"He is not my mate." T'Pol insisted. "We did not engage in mating."

"The evil humans tore off your clothing. You were naked." T'Pre countered.

"That was not mating."

"You then held on to him for a very long time. A time during which you were very frightened."

"Vulcans do not experience fear." T'Pol said, raising her voice slightly.

"Please be calm, First Mother. Vulcans experience all emotions, even fear. We simply manage to control them. In addition, the Healer took care of you. He said soothing words to you and promised he would protect you in the future. When you had recovered your composure, he put your robe back on and used this odd material to cover you. The sort of actions a mate would take."

"He is not my mate."

"There is an easy way to tell if there is a mating bond between you and this human." Soval said.

"There is no mating bond." T'Pol insisted.

"Then allow me to meld with you and we will see what the problem is then." T'Pre offered.

T'Pol motioned for T'Pre to come forward and begin the meld.

"First Mother, there is a mating bond between you and the Healer. It is a most unusual bond, and it is quite strong for the time it has been in existence. I am not sure it could be removed without grave consequences to you both. One or both of you could die."

"This is impossible. My betrothed, Koss, is on his way here for us to be wed."

"First Mother, you cannot wed Koss if you have a mating bond with another." Soval said. "By Vulcan law and tradition, you are married to the human. Koss and his family would sense the bond during the wedding."

"What am I to do then?"

"There is only one option, First Mother." Said T'Pre. "You must bring the Healer here and explain to him what has happened."

"When Koss finds out what has happened, he will demand a fight to the death, the kal-if-fee." T'Pol replied. "Humans are not nearly as strong as Vulcans. The human will die."

"Perhaps, but you have no other options."

A junior priestess came to see Trip and told him that T'Pol, and her councilors wished to see him at the main building which served as a monastery, city hall, library, school, and anything else that needed space.

"Is anybody hurt? Should I bring my medical stuff?"

"No, Healer. They simply wish to explain some things to you."

"Good. I'd like someone to tell me what the hell is going on around this place."

Trip soon found himself facing T'Pol and her councilors.

"Healer, you have been a great help to us." T'Pol began. "You have healed our people who were beyond the help of T'Pre. In addition, you have repaired our solar power plant. Although you do not share our pacifist views, your actions have saved many of us from slavery. We wish for you to stay and help us."

"I'm glad to help, T'Pol. Is there any chance your people could help fighting the slavers? I have spare weapons and now that they know I'm here, they'll come back in force. I can't fight them off all by myself."

T'Pol shook her head.

"Our peaceful ways are instilled in us from birth. We cannot help. There is one thing I must tell you, however. I would like my councilors to withdraw."

The other Vulcans withdrew and T'Pol asked Trip to sit by her side.

"You have noticed we are telepathically linked."

"It'd be hard to miss."

"Somehow, we have established a mating bond. This is something that occurs when a Vulcan couple mate. I cannot explain how we became bonded, but we are. Terminating the bond could be fatal to either or both of us."

"Unless I misunderstood something about Vulcans, we never mated."

"Correct."

"So, what exactly does this mating bond entail?"

"By Vulcan law and tradition, we are married."

"Oh."

TBC