Chapter 7

July 4th, 2166

Spacecraft Serendipity

Interstellar Space

It was unusual for it to be so quiet. After over a decade of being on a human vessel, T'Pol had become accustomed to the hustle and bustle of ship life. Humans always seemed to be making noise, if not with words, then with humming some nonsensical tune under their breath, or the shuffling of their feet. Over the years, it had become like white noise, a constant background sound, that no longer registered. It was only now, with its absence, that she realized its presence. Their absence enhanced the notion that for the first time in many years, she was truly alone, surrounded by nothing but silence and never ending space that lay in front of her.

T'Pol stared sightlessly at the vastness of space that encompassed her reality, reaching endlessly before, behind, and all around her. This was her only reality, consisting of nothing and everything simultaneously. Her reality consisted only of what was on the spacecraft with her, and what laid ahead. What laid ahead was unknown. For possibly the first time in her life, T'Pol did not have a plan, did not have a destination or mission in mind. Admiral Archer had ordered her to 'shore leave'. She knew what it really was. A way out. The admiral had seen T'Pol both take matters into her own hands and he had also seen her try to hide behind her Vulcan facade. When he had ordered her to shore leave, the admiral had not specified that she must remain on Earth. He also had not directly ordered her off the planet either. Admiral Archer had 'left the door open' for her to make a decision of her volition.

So it was of her own volition that she had acquired a spacecraft, and had set out on this aimless mission. T'Pol had to admit to herself however illogical it was, this mission was not truly aimless. With or without her input, the end destination was wherever Trip was. Although she did not know where he was, or what velocity he was traveling at, she knew that sooner or later, their paths would cross. This was not a 'hope' or a 'dream'. This was a certainty.

Her fingers typed in coordinates without her conscious input. In fact, when she looked at the coordinates, it was the last place she wanted to go. T'Pol struggled against the urge to ignore what she was being pushed to do by her instincts. It would be easier to ignore her instincts, and to choose a different path. She would never have to confront what was on the other end of where her instincts were directing her. She would never even know what she had ignored, or the outcomes of ignoring it.

And yet, there had been very few things that T'Pol had been certain of in her life. She had been certain that Elizabeth was her daughter. She had been certain that Trip was alive, after he had faked his death the first time. She had followed that instinct both times, even when others had tried to deter her, and evidence was in short supply. She had been proven right, both times. If she had learned anything over the years, it was to trust her Vulcan instincts. T'Pol closed her eyes briefly, breathing in deeply. She had to do this. She had to confront what was on the other end of where her instincts were directing her. In the past, she would have ignored what those instincts were trying to tell her. Over the years ignoring them had only caused her pain. Trying to deny how much Trip and their relationship meant to her, had only caused the both of them pain. She would not even try to deny it this time. With trembling hands, she set her destination, not knowing what she might find on the other end.

July 4th, 2166

Spacecraft Merlin

Interstellar Space

Trip checked his preferred channel for the third time in an hour. In the three days since he had spoken to T'Pol, he must have checked the channel hundreds of times. Each time he checked, it was blank. His heart sank, and his back hit his chair with a light thump. What had he expected? That T'Pol, a captain of a Federation Spaceship, the flagship of Admiral Archer, had all the time in the world to send him a message? That she would ignore her duties, when people were relying on her, to send a message? He felt like a teenager, waiting for the next communication from a long distance girlfriend. He had nothing to do, but sit and wait for her to reach out. The irony. Was this what T'Pol had gone through, waiting to hear from him, for weeks on end? At least he knew she was alive…. He hoped. He tipped his head back, staring up at the ceiling. Wow, this was a really, really shitty place to be. All he had for company was time to think, and the vastness of space.

He had no right to expect that she would reach out, or that their paths would cross. . But he did. Wishful thinking? No, certainty. It came upon within the blink of an eye, settling in his stomach. He knew where he had to go, and he knew that T'Pol would be there. He chuckled quietly to himself. It sounded like one of those crazy things T'Pol would say when asked how she knew something wildly out of left field. 'I'm Vulcan'. She would say, and he would always give her an incredulous look. How could she know something, just because she was Vulcan? She had been right in those situations, of course. Didn't mean it made sense to anyone but her.

Was this what it had been like for her? When she knew something with such certainty, with so much confidence? It was a powerful feeling, this omnipotence. Maybe that's why Vulcans could be so stuck up, because they really did know things that no one else did. And one human now, apparently. How was that exactly? Was it the residual effects of being bonded to a Vulcan for so long? If so, how long would the effects last, and why hadn't he felt it before? It had been years since they had lost access to their meeting place in T'Pol's mind, ever since her mind had been violated. They assumed that their bond had been broken, since it never returned to what it had been.

But, what if the bond wasn't broken? Just different? There wasn't much documentation on Vulcan couple bonds, let alone with a Vulcan/human couple. Maybe it had never been broken in the first place. They just hadn't needed to use it, because Trip almost always knew where T'Pol was, and now he didn't. Maybe the bond brought couples back together, especially when the relationship was in times of stress.

Trip didn't know, and honestly, he didn't care about the logistics just yet. All he knew was that he had to follow the certainty, he had to put in his destination. If history was anything to go by, it was better to give in to these urges than to fight them. T'Pol had been right, after all. About a daughter who should not have existed. About knowing that she was theirs. About him not being dead the first time. About a whole lot of things. Fighting against her instincts had only caused pain, and wasted time. He wasn't about to fight his instincts.

His fingers flew across his console, inputting his destination. He had exact coordinates to land. Could he land somewhere else? Yeah. But he knew that at this destination, T'Pol would meet him there. Trip nibbled on his bottom lip as he set his ship to maximum warp, which was much lower than he would have liked.

"Alright, buckle in" he said to no one.

XXX

July 9th, 2166

Spacecraft Serenity

Approaching Vulcan

It had taken her five days to reach Vulcan, and she had not reached out Trip during the journey. If she had been directed here by her Vulcan instincts, she did not need to.

She began her clearance to land.