Chapter 2
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Phase one of their plan was about to begin. They walked into sickbay together. Phlox was feeding his animals. “Hey, Doc, you got a few minutes?”
Phlox turned around and was surprised to see T’Pol standing next to Commander Tucker. “I’m almost finished here, take a seat.”
Trip couldn’t sit, as he was way too nervous. He kept pacing back and forth, and he could hear T’Pol telling him “Relax, Relax.” He took some deep cleansing breaths and tried to clear his mind, but it was no use.
Then he heard Phlox. “What can I do for you, Commanders?”
Trip turned back, and T’Pol started talking.
“We have something very important we need to discuss with you, but we want your assurance it will fall under doctor/patient confidentiality.”
Phlox looked at them both and could see that Commander Tucker was more nervous than he had ever seen him. “If what we discuss is about your physical or mental health, I am bound by the oath I took as a doctor, and I will honor it.”
The couple looked at each other and both shook their heads ‘yes’.
T’Pol proceeded with, “The Commander and I would like you to perform a brain scan of each of us. We’re sure you already know what you will find, and we have decided that it is important. You need to know the nature of our relationship, so you will be better able to provide care for us in the future—should the need arise.”
“I see.” Phlox knew, but he asked anyway. “You are bonded, aren’t you?”
Trip looked him directly in the eye and answered, “Yes. We would have liked to have kept this private but as our doctor, you need to have all the facts. Also, I need you to know that you have my permission to discuss any and all of my medical information with T’Pol, if I’m unavailable. She will have final say over my care if I’m not able to make the decisions myself.”
T’Pol hadn’t expected that from Trip. They hadn’t discussed anything about who would make such decisions, but Trip was right. They might as well deal with all the issues at once. “The same goes for me. You will need to discuss my care with Trip if I am not able to do so.”
That shook Phlox. She called him Trip, and they sounded as if they were married. “I’ll need you both to fill out a couple of forms and sign them before I can honor your wishes. You do realize, if that were ever to happen, I would have no way of protecting your privacy? The Captain, Starfleet, and the Vulcan High Command would all demand to know why I would allow a non-spouse to have any say over the care of a patient.”
T’Pol gave Trip a questioning look. Trip just nodded at her. “Doctor, while our bond is not yet fully formed, according to my culture and traditions, we are already married. All we lack is the official documentation. We have not gone that far in how we consider our relationship yet, but we have decided we want to keep this bond. At some point we will decide we are ready to consider ourselves husband and wife and complete our bond.”
“You know, Doc, we understand you may find yourself in the position of choosing where your loyalties lie, but we trust you to make the right decision. We are prepared to deal with the consequences—whatever they are. “
Trip felt a little guilty putting Phlox in this position, but he didn’t have a choice. “This is partly your fault anyway. If you hadn’t suggested neuropressure, we might never have bonded.”
Trip heard T’Pol, “Ashayam, that is not totally true. It may have helped, but I believe we would have bonded eventually. We were attracted to one another the first day we met.”
Not being used to carrying on a conversation in his head, Trip spoke out loud. “I like when you call me “beloved” almost as much as when you call me ‘Trip’.”
T’Pol was stunned that he understood the Vulcan phrase, and Phlox just looked confused. Trip simply pulled the chain up from under his shirt and flipped the symbol over. T’Pol didn’t know he had chosen to wear it, and she hadn’t expected him to look up the inscription to find out what it meant.
Phlox interrupted when he asked who would be scanned first. Trip went first, and T’Pol filled out and signed the forms the Doctor gave her. She and Trip then traded places.
Just as they were finishing up, Captain Archer came in. “So did Trip finally get that check-up?”
Phlox hadn’t seen him come in . “Yes, Captain. He checks out fine. You are free to go, Commander Tucker. If you’ll wait just a moment Captain, I need to get Commander T’Pol’s nasal inhibitors.”
Phlox came back and handed the inhibitors to T’Pol, and she left. “Now what can I do for you, Captain?”
Trip and T’Pol each went off to start their shift for the day. Trip floated around engineering, singing to himself, and whistling all day.
T’Pol set about watching Hoshi and Malcolm, trying to find some way of getting them together. Trip told her she could learn a lot about romance while they worked at getting those two to admit their feelings for one another. She knew nothing of how to attract a mate. Vulcan’s knew who their mate would be from childhood. Romance and seduction had nothing at all to do with it.
—–
T’Pol was working down Trip’s back applying neuropressure. “T’Pol maybe I should work on Hoshi, and you work on Malcolm. ” It was then that Trip remembered he had told Malcolm he would meet him for target practice at 20:00. He looked at the time across the room. It was 19:45. He grabbed his sweats and tank top, jumped up, explained to T’Pol as he was getting dressed, and bolted out the door. Malcolm would drive him crazy for days if he was late. He made that mistake once, and Mal kept up teasing him until he promised never to be late again.
Trip made it right on time. Malcolm was already firing away at the targets. Trip picked up the phase pistol and waited his turn. He wasn’t sure why he ever agreed to do this. If he hit 50% of the stupid targets he was doing well. Malcolm usually hit in the high nineties but would be upset with himself if he hit anything lower than a 98%.
Trip always figured that if anything the size of these targets were shooting at him, shooting back wouldn’t be much use anyway, as they probably wouldn’t be organic. If he needed to shoot someone, he might not be able to hit the perfect shot, but he would still be able to hit some vital area to slow them down or stop them.
“Trip, why is the Captain worried about you? He asked me today if I had any idea what was up with you.”
The question didn’t quite register with Trip. “I’m sorry Mal my mind was wandering off about why I even bother with target practice. My scores are the same as 4 years ago, and I don’t see them ever getting better.”
Malcolm just shook his head at Trip. “I was just telling you the Captain was asking me what’s up with you. As far as target practice goes, you practice so what skill you do have doesn’t degrade. You may never get better, but I will not let you get worse.”
Trip knew Malcolm couldn’t help himself. Trip’s safety on away missions seemed to be very personal to him. He gave up long ago trying to change Trip’s behavior when he left the ship, but he did make sure Trip kept up his physical training and weapons certification. And now it seemed Malcolm had decided to assign Trip his own personal bodyguard whenever possible. The more it felt like there was nothing to worry about, the more on alert Malcolm was when Trip was going anywhere. Trip had just begun to realize that T’Pol also took precautions where his safety was concerned. Even when they weren’t talking to each other he always felt as if she were close by, just to be sure nothing happened to him. He’d told himself he was imagining it— it was wishful thinking. Now he was sure he’d been right. His two best friends were watching out for him, yet he still managed to get into more than his fair share of trouble. He really didn’t want to think what would happen to him if they weren’t there to look out for him.
“Thanks Mal. I know I give you a hard time, but I really do appreciate you trying to keep me safe. You know I’m not sure what the Captain is worried about. I couldn’t make dinner with him last night, and he just dropped by my quarters even though I told him I had plans. The conversation didn’t go well. I had to get checked by Doc yesterday because of those headaches and not sleeping again, especially after that lapse on the bridge. I told him I was fine now, but evidently he doesn’t believe me or Doc.”
Trip was frustrated with the whole Jon/Captain mess. “Mal, I don’t know what to do anymore about the Captain. He and I aren’t really friends anymore, and I’m not sure we ever can be again. Too much has happened, and my life is going in a direction that is only going to strain both our personal and professional lives. “
“What direction is your life going that would put more strain on your relationship?”
Trip wished he could discuss things with Mal, but he couldn’t do that right now. Maybe later when he and T’Pol had strengthened their relationship and were more sure of what they each wanted for their future together. Trip hadn’t quite gotten the hang of this whole ‘together’ thing. “I’m not totally sure at the moment, but when I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”
Leaving Starfleet, if it came to that, was right at the top of his list of choices that Jon would not like. Trip looked up and saw the time, 23:15. “I’m going to go try to get some sleep. I get up early to meditate in the mornings and really need to catch up on all the sleep I’ve managed to miss the last few weeks. See you in the morning, Mal, and thanks again for the practice.”.
Walking back to T’Pol’s, he began to reconsider his earlier decision to have T’Pol work on getting Malcolm to ask Hoshi out and for him to concentrate his efforts on Hoshi, and thought maybe they should work on it together. He really was looking forward to playing matchmaker for those two, and he might as well enjoy the whole process of doing it.
He entered T’Pol’s quarters to find her not there. He sat down at her desk and pulled up his messages. His Mom had sent him a message. He listened as she complained that Enterprise hadn’t been to Earth, and they hadn’t seen or heard from him in almost a year. She was right. He hadn’t been in touch since Elizabeth’s funeral in San Francisco, and Enterprise hadn’t been back to Earth either. His parents had been upset that he had returned to Enterprise instead of taking the time Captain Archer told him he could take to go home. He hadn’t had the strength to spend time with them. It was just easier to go back to work and hide in his room where no one asked anything of him.
The comm sounded. “Captain Archer to T’Pol. T’Pol, are you there?” Trip turned around just as T’Pol stepped inside the door. “The Captain just commed you.” She reached out her hand, and he took it as she headed out the door and pulled him with her. “Some reason you don’t want to talk to the Captain?”
“No, but you were right. He constantly calls me for inconsequential matters in my off hours. I was not there when he called, and he does not know you were there, so I am unreachable. If it is important, he will find me.”
Trip was amazed she would just ignore what he always thought of as her strict sense of duty. “Are you picking up bad habits from all us humans or just me?” Trip had always complained when they were together, and the Captain would comm T’Pol whenever the mood struck him, and she would get up and leave to go take care of whatever it was he needed her to do. Trip had tried to convince her it was alright to let the Captain know she had plans or needed to meditate.
The entered the observation deck and stepped over the rope that his crew had put up to keep visitors out. T’Pol went to the window and glanced out. “I talked to Hoshi about this several months ago, and she said she’d had the same problem with the Captain. She finally started asking him if it could wait until her shift began or if her staff could handle it, as she was really busy at the moment. After several tries, he finally stopped calling her unless it was important and she was the only one who could handle it. I’ve been trying to get him out of the habit by not being there when he calls because I cannot really tell him I am busy when I am not. That is also why I have been coming to your quarters. If he cannot find me then…” He could tell she felt guilty.
Trip came up behind her, laid his chin on her shoulder, and put his arms around her waist. “You’re welcome at my place anytime day or night. You can tell him you’re busy because now you are busy meditating, doing neuro-pressure, spending time with me, and trying to get Hoshi and Malcolm to spend more time together. Speaking of our new favorite couple, I think we should work together on this project. “
T’Pol laid her head back against Trip’s shoulder and looked up at him. “Any ideas on how we proceed? I have no idea how to go about this as I have absolutely no experience dating.”
Trip hadn’t considered the fact that Vulcans don’t date. “I did think about us being a secret admirer for each of them. They would get little notes or gifts that don’t say who sent them, but we figure out ways to make them think the other is sending them. I also thought about starting up movie night again and using that to somehow get things going. The hard part is going to be figuring out how to make sure they know that they care about each other. “
Trip began to yawn even though he tried to stop himself. T’Pol turned his body and started him out the door. Trip had just punched in the code to his door and turned to say goodnight when T’Pol asked, “Can I stay here tonight?”
Trip smiled. “Didn’t I just tell you you’re welcome here day or night? I meant that, Darlin. Come on, let’s both get some sleep.”
They both stripped down to their underclothes; Trip crawled under the covers, and T’Pol slid in next to him. She turned on her side. He pulled her in close, and wrapped his arm over top of her. Trip could tell there was something wrong, but he couldn’t get a sense about what it was. “T’Pol, what’s wrong?”
She didn’t answer for the longest time. Just before he asked again, she replied, “I have not been sleeping much lately. I am tired.”
“T’Pol, why haven’t you been sleeping?” He waited for her response. He already knew he wasn’t going to like the answer because she seemed afraid to tell him.
“If I sleep, I cannot keep my shields up to keep you from suffering the negative effects of our bond. You needed to sleep without dreaming before you became ill, so I stayed awake so you could sleep. If we spend more time together then the bond will sort itself out, and we should both be able to sleep in our own rooms and be fine. “
“As far as I’m concerned, you can sleep here every night if you want to. Do you shield me all the time?” Trip was sure she was going to say yes, and he wanted to know why.
“Trip, it is necessary until you can shield yourself from my mind when you need to. And you need to be able to shield me from your mind. If I didn’t shield you, I would have open access to everything in your mind. I would never go anywhere without your permission, but until you are used to me being there, it can be a little unsettling.” Then she added, “Ashayam, if I were to sleep here every night, the rumors amongst the crew would not serve to keep our relationship private.”
Trip pulled her tighter against his body and laid his leg up over hers. “Then we switch back and forth and are very careful so we aren’t seen coming in and out. Actually, is it alright if I leave some of my stuff in your quarters? “
“Yes, you can leave whatever you wish there. Perhaps I should do the same and leave a few things here.”
“I’ll make space in the closet and bathroom tomorrow.” Trip was starting to trust that they really were together forever. “You can start teaching me the shielding techniques tomorrow, okay? Oh, and will it hurt me if you let down your shields?”
“I do not think it will harm you. I can do it gradually so you will have time to adjust. But not tonight. Let us get a good night’s sleep and talk about how we will do this tomorrow. Goodnight, Trip.” It couldn’t have been more than 5 minutes, and Trip knew she was asleep. Her breathing evened out, and he felt her body relax into him. Trip closed his eyes and joined her for several hours of peaceful, dreamless sleep.
Trip woke up first. He gently pushed himself up and over T’Pol, so he wouldn’t wake her. He felt really good this morning. He went into the bathroom and rearranged his cabinet, leaving the first shelf empty. He then went to the closet and moved some things around to make space for T’Pol. He went back into the other room and sat at the desk. Her family crest was standing up against the wall. It really wasn’t just her family crest anymore. They were family now, so that made it partly his, too. He picked it up and looked around, finding the perfect spot for it on the only empty wall in the room. He reached in the drawer and found the tack, pushed it in and hung the crest on it. The package he’d picked up yesterday was right where he’d left it. He opened it up and removed the chessboard and a Vulcan 3D version of chess called Reh-retuka-tches. He’d played chess with his grandpa and liked it. When he started looking for ways to challenge T’Pol, he also found this Vulcan game. It was described as chess with many levels, more strategy, and logic. It had sounded perfect, but the longer he looked at the boards the more confusing the setup became. There were directions, and he glanced through them. They were in Vulcan and English.
T’Pol was moving around, so Trip decided he needed to get his shower. When he came back out, T’Pol was sitting at his desk holding the game board up. “Trip, where did this come from?”
Trip looked at T’Pol, who had a strange, perplexing look on her face. “I saw the description of it and thought it looked like something I might like to learn, so I ordered it.”
“And who did you think was going to teach you?” She smiled at him.
His voice got quiet. “Kind of hoped that if you knew how to play, you would. And if you didn’t, we could learn together.”
“I have not seen this game since I left home. My parents played this all the time. They seemed to derive pleasure from the experience, as their games would sometimes last for weeks. When I was young and my parents wanted to discipline me, my father would make me sit with him all day and learn this game. It was torture for a child to have to sit there for hours and try to learn all the intricacies required to master it. “
Trip was suddenly sympathetic. “I know what a pain it is to suffer through your parents hobbies. My Mom had a garden. Not just her flower garden, but a huge vegetable one that covered half the backyard. If we got out of line, we had garden duty as we called it. You weeded , fertilized, watered, and picked produce until you hated vegetables. It seemed like a lot of work so my Mom could make spaghetti sauce and goulash year round.”
“Goulash? What is that?”
“My Mom was a great cook, and I liked most everything she made, but goulash was her ‘I can’t think of what to make’ or ‘don’t want to think tonight, so let’s have goulash’ meal. To this day I can’t stand the stuff, but I don’t mind gardening now that it’s not forced on me.”
Trip felt a small shiver run through his shoulders. “Looks like I’m going to be learning how to play on my own, huh?”
T’Pol sat the board back on the desk, and then pointed up at the crest. “It looks good there. You asked me why the Captain recognized it.” T’Pol paused a moment. “That crest was from my father’s family. It is also the family crest of Surak.”
Trip looked at the crest then looked back at T’Pol. “That means you’re related to Surak?”
“Yes, it does. That has not been a problem in the past, except that I have had to keep this to myself, but it may be a problem for us both in the future.”
She had his full attention. “What kind of problems are we talking about here?”
“I am unsure, as yet, what they will expect from me , but we will face that when the time comes.”
Trip decided to let it drop for now. “I’m going to go get some breakfast. Why don’t you get a shower?”
When Trip got to the mess hall he spotted Malcolm and waved. He went to get coffee but decided to get green tea with mint instead. He also got T’Pol’s tea. When he turned around to go get their food, he almost dumped the tray down the front of Malcolm’s shirt. “Mal, don’t do that.”
Malcolm smiled at him then picked up the cup and sniffed it. “Green tea and mint. Are you sure you’re alright? In all the time I’ve known you, health conscious you aren’t.”
“Everyone kept telling me the coffee wasn’t good for me, and I sure don’t need all the caffeine to speed me up. I’ve always had an abundance of energy. Mostly I’m drinking it because the burning sensation I’ve had in my stomach seems to be gone, and while there is caffeine in green tea, it doesn’t jazz me up like coffee does. I haven’t felt good for so long now that I’m willing to try anything if I can get my life back on track. So please stop with the jabs, okay?”
“Sorry, buddy. If it really is helping you feel better, I’m all for it.” Malcolm had to admit whatever Trip was doing was good for him. He was looking more and more like the guy Malcolm met when he came aboard Enterprise.
Trip picked out his breakfast selections and put them on the tray. “I really have to go, Mal. T’Pol is expecting me for meditation, and she’s almost as bad as you if I’m late. Meet me for lunch at say 13:00, and we’ll talk.” He tried to visualize his schedule for today, which he’d briefly looked at last night. Hopefully, he had remembered it right.
As he was walking back to his room, Trip kept getting a weird sensation in his head, just for a second, and then it would stop. When he got back to his room, T’Pol had the cushions and candles set up for meditation, so he handed over her breakfast and tea and sat down to eat his own. They meditated then headed off for their shifts. “Make sure Hoshi is in the mess hall for a few before you show up, darlin. See you then.”
Trip had an uneventful morning with the exception of that feeling he kept getting off and on. He went to the mess hall. Hoshi was sitting at a table near where he and T’Pol usually sat. Trip walked over and laid down the practice Bat’leth he was carrying, making sure Hoshi saw him, then went to get some lunch. Trip returned to his table. Hoshi came over and asked about the weapon. “Are you any good with that?”
“No, I just thought I’d see if I could learn to use it. Running on that treadmill is great for exercise, but it’s boring. I’m trying to find some way to be physical and occupy my mind at the same time. Didn’t you tell me once that your family had a collection of Chinese and Japanese weapons?”
Hoshi looked surprised as she reached for her own lunch and sat down to join him. “I can’t believe you remember that. My great grandfather started the collection, and my father now has it. “
“Do you know if they had any kind of weapon similar to this?”
She picked up the weapon. “I’m not really sure. My grandfather taught me to use several of the weapons, but there were too many for me to know them all. Why are you asking?”
Trip knew she was hooked. “I was hoping if they did, they might have some instructions on how to use them that I can give Malcolm so he can help me figure out how to fight with this. It’s not like the Klingons are going to be much help, and I don’t think there’s much info in the database on their weapons.”
Hoshi knew he was right. The Klingons were less than thrilled with Humans, in general, but they hated those on Enterprise, especially Captain Archer. “If you can get me a sketch, I’ll send it to my father and see what I can do.”
“Thanks. I knew I could count on you.”
As they continued to talk, T’Pol joined them; then Malcolm showed up. “Hey Mal, hope you don’t mind if the ladies join us?”
Malcolm sat down, visibly uncomfortable. “It’s fine. What’s with the Bat’leth? Somebody looking for a fight with the Klingons?”
“No, I just asked Hoshi here to see if her father had any weapons that were similar. If he does, I was hoping he had some sort of instructions on how to use it.”
“So you want to learn how to fight with this?” The disbelief in Malcolm’s voice was evident.
“Aren’t you the one who keeps telling me I need to hone my skills, so I can better protect myself?”
Malcolm shook his head. “I’ve been telling you that for three years, but I never thought you took me seriously.”
“I do, occasionally, listen to advice from my friends.”
The conversation centered around the weapons Hoshi did remember from her father’s collection and the training she had received in their use. Malcolm seemed impressed that she knew how to use a sword and various other weapons, even though she no longer practiced with them.
They were all getting up to leave when Trip announced, “I’m going to start up movie night again. I thought maybe I’d get a list of everybody’ s favorite movies and draw one each week.” They all thought it was a good idea.
Trip and T’Pol had already put together a message to that effect, asking interested crewmembers to reply with their favorite two movies. It also requested that whoever chose to submit their favorites needed to support their fellow crewmembers and not just show up for their own choices. Trip asked T’Pol to go ahead and send it.
Sitting in his office, finishing up his paperwork, Trip began to feel queasy. The pictures of the destruction the Xindi weapon on Florida, the weapon blowing up, Elizabeth and T’Les dying were flashing though his head. He stood up and took some deep breaths. The flashbacks stopped. He hadn’t had dreams or anything like this for several months and couldn’t figure out why he was now.
He punched up a screen on his computer and input a code to lockout a small section of the Jefferies tubes that they used for maintenance. There was a hole in Malcolm’s precious security there, and Trip had never told him about it. Trip grabbed his tools and a couple of relays and headed there. Once he positioned himself, he closed his eyes and cleared his mind.
T’Pol entered engineering and began to look for him. She couldn’t get a sense of where he was, so she stopped and concentrated. She found him.
She climbed up the ladder and pulled open the door to the tube he was in. “Trip.” He didn’t answer. She reached out and touched his leg and knew that he was meditating, so she started to close the door when she heard, “T’Pol, did you need something?”
“I was just concerned for you. Are you all right?”
“I seem to be fine now. Just needed to relax a little.”
T’Pol looked around the inside of the Jefferies tube. “Malcolm does not know of your little hiding spot, does he?”
“No, and please don’t tell him. I come here when I need a few minutes alone. I haven’t been here for months, but it’s nice for days like today.” Trip was nauseous. He looked at T’Pol, and she was wobbling. Once he figured out it was her and not his vision, he told her to go down the ladder. When he got down to her she looked like a tree swaying in the wind. He put his hands on her shoulders, turned her towards the door, and told her to head for sickbay.
Trip sat her on a biobed and hollered for Phlox. “Doc, are you in here?”
Phlox came out from behind his little zoo. “What seems to be the problem, Commander Tucker?”
“Not sure, Doc. Something is wrong with T’Pol.” Trip suddenly felt… like he’d drunk too much Tequila. The room was spinning, and there were waves of nausea.
Phlox was trying to pry Trip’s fingers loose from T’Pol’s shoulders. “Let go of her, Commander. Let go, and you should feel better.” Trip let go and let Phlox lay her down, but Trip didn’t feel any better.
“Doc, give her whatever you gave me for nausea.”
“Commander, kindly stop trying to do my job. She’s unconscious. It won’t do her any good.”
Trip became insistent. “Doc, just give it to her, or we’re both going to see what I had for lunch real soon.” This was how he felt when those plants attached themselves to him. “Doc, check her for those parasites you treated me for.”
Phlox just looked at him. “Mister Tucker, please let me be the doctor.”
“You don’t understand. I felt just like this. I don’t know how, but I’m positive that’s what’s wrong with her.” Trip kept trying to make the spinning in his head go the other way. It sometimes made it stop when he drank too much, but it wasn’t working now.
Phlox picked up the handheld scanner and ran it up the length of her body. Sure enough there it was; a parasite in her chest. Phlox went to the cabinet, returned, and injected two hyposprays into T’Pol’s neck.
Trip stood up straighter. “Thanks, Doc. I feel much better. It’s those parasites, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Commander, it is. How did you know that?”
Trip took some deep breaths, trying to clear his head. “I could feel the nausea and vertigo, just like it was happening to me, but I knew it wasn’t. I’m not likely to forget something that made me feel that sick anytime soon. I thought everybody checked out clear of parasites but me.”
Phlox knew that the parasite wasn’t there when she came back. How else could it have gotten into her system? T’Pol must have gotten it from Commander Tucker. He went around the corner and came back with two small plastic cups.
T’Pol was just waking up. Phlox handed each of them a cup. “Drink it.”
“What is this?” Trip thought better and put up his hand. “Don’t tell me. I decided a long time ago that I trusted you, and as long as you keep those creepy crawly things off me, it’s better not to know.”
The last time he asked what he was taking, the description had included what amounted to the droppings of one of his collection. “I do want to know why I’m taking this, though. T’Pol’s sick, not me.”
“I suspect that you passed a parasite to her when she sat at your bedside for hours on end. I kept making her leave, and as soon as my back was turned, she’d sneak back in and hold your hand. With the nature of your relationship, it’s possible that with…” Phlox was searching for a delicate way to say this without embarrassing them. “…skin to skin contact, shall we say, you are passing it between you.”
When Trip understood what Phlox was talking about, he turned slightly red. “Doc, it’s not like that. She kissed me on the cheek, and we have cuddled up, but that’s it for over a year. Does everybody think I’m the resident Casanova? I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been with anyone in the last 4 1/2 years, and one doesn’t count because it only involved touching some rocks.”
T’Pol reached out to Trip. “Trip, just drink it so we can be sure we are both parasite free.” T’Pol looked at the Doctor. “Why did it take so long to affect me?”
“My best guess right now is that the Commander had a large number of parasites in his system, and they flooded him with the chemicals they released and the effects were immediate. You, on the other hand, appear to only have one in your chest. The fact that you’re Vulcan may be a factor, also. The chemicals act on the brain chemistry to cause nausea, vertigo, as well as weaken areas of the brain.”
“Would that cause flashback like symptoms?” Trip asked.
“It’s possible. You were having nightmares the first couple of days you were here.” Phlox responded.
Trip looked over at T’Pol. “Can she go, Doc?” Phlox knew he wasn’t going to keep either of them here unless they couldn’t walk. “Yes, but I need to see both of you before breakfast in the morning for one more dose of medicine.”
As they walked toward the doors, Trip remarked, “I really have to find a way to stay out of this place. No offense, Doc, and thanks.”
Trip was thinking about this bond of theirs. “T’Pol, were those images I saw from you or me?”
“Both, I think. The bond is like…” T’Pol was searching for a way to explain it. “…the plasma flowing in and out of the warp core. If you block the flow one way,”
Trip finished for her, “the flow slows down the other way and causes damage. If you increase the flow too much one way, it overflows and starts a flood in the other direction.”
“We just need to find a balance between us to keep the flow going smoothly in both directions. We should start teaching you shielding techniques after dinner.”
When Trip walked across the mess hall at dinner, he was surprised to see T’Pol at their table with the 3D chessboard setup. “I thought you saw this as torture and a not-so-fun thing to do?”
“You said you now liked gardening because it was no longer punishment, so I decided perhaps we could try this and see if it is enjoyable.”
Trip picked up the instructions and began reading them as Malcolm approached. “How do you play chess on that many levels?”
“Sit down, and we’ll figure it out.” Trip motioned toward a seat.
Malcolm just got seated when Hoshi arrived and stood next to Trip. “Just wanted to let you know I sent that sketch to my father. He usually gets back to me in a day or so.”
“Thanks, Hoshi.”
Hoshi kept looking at the chessboard from all different angles. “Isn’t regular chess hard enough without adding six boards?”
Trip shot both Hoshi and Malcolm a look of disgust. “What’s the matter with you two? I came out here to learn new things, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.” He could feel T’Pol smiling even though he could only see the barest hint of a smile on her face.
“I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s just it took me forever to figure out which direction each piece moves when I learned how to play, and they only moved in four directions. Can you move from level to level?”
Trip pointed across the table. “Have a seat, and help us figure it out.”
Captain Archer came in, heading to the Captain’s mess. As he closed the door, he overheard Hoshi saying, “So now you’re telling me that these detachable levels can be moved?” They were all becoming friends.
Trip was laughing at her. “Yes, if there are no pieces, or if only one of your pawns is on a level when you start your turn, you can move it.”
Malcolm chimed in. “You could be playing a game for weeks.”
T’Pol nodded to him. “My parents often did that. They could take hours, and sometimes days, to make a move. You have to have patience, use logic, and have a strategy. Is that not the way one would play those battle simulation games I have seen you play, Malcolm?”
T’Pol just used my name, thought Malcolm. The shock registered on his face.
“I am sorry. I believe you told me I could call you Malcolm when we were off-duty. Was I mistaken?”
“No, it’s fine. You’ve just never done it before, and it surprised me.” Malcolm focused on what her question had been. “Yeah…, I guess you’re right. Those games are all about being patient and planning a strategy. I guess logic would be involved, too. Never really thought of it that way.”
“T’Pol, why are the pieces magnetized to the board?” Trip wondered.
“Because the game can take such a long time to finish, it may become necessary to move it from place to place; so you would not want them to move around.”
Malcolm was the first to notice that they were the only ones still in the mess hall when he got up to leave and turned to Hoshi, “If your father sends any information on weapons, could you send a copy to me?”
He then laid his hand on Trip’s shoulder. “I’ll look it over and see what I can come up with to teach you how to use the Bat’leth, or we’ll just have to see if we can devise our own training routines. Night all.” He waved as he left.
Trip and T’Pol stood up, and Trip gathered all the trays and returned them. Hoshi looked at T’Pol. “I had fun. We should do this more often.”
“Indeed, we should. Goodnight, Hoshi.” T’Pol followed Trip out the door. Trip stopped. “I noticed you didn’t eat much. Are you feeling better?”
“I’m fine, just not very hungry after all that nausea earlier.”
“I understand that. So how do I start learning to shield my thoughts?”
“You will be learning how to shield your thoughts from reaching me, but you will also learn to shield your mind so I cannot seek your thoughts.”
“Is it hard to learn?”
“The only thing that can be difficult is keeping someone out of your mind if they are determined to get in. The rest will be tiring, and requires practice, but it is not really difficult.”
T’Pol first relaxed her shields a little so Trip could get a feeling of what that would be like. After a while, she had Trip try to project thoughts and images to her. Once he could do that with ease, she had him say or see something in his head over and over while concentrating on not projecting it to her. When his head started to hurt, he asked her to stop for now.
T’Pol got up, walked around behind him, and reached down to pull his shirt up over his head. She laid it over the chair by his desk and starting doing neuro-pressure down his neck and upper back until his headache was gone. Trip then stood up, kicked off his shoes, took off his pants, and crawled into the bed. “Are you staying?”
T’Pol took off her uniform, lifted up the covers, and laid down next to him. Trip pulled her in close, and they both drifted off to sleep.
Tags: Fanfic, Star Trek Enterprise Fanfic, Stories, Trip and T'Pol Shippers
