Forwarded by the ASC-VSO Posted: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 01:56:27 -0500 In: alt.startrek.creative From: quills the_quill_pen@yahoo.com Title: "Enemy of the State" 5 Author: Quills Contact: the_quill_pen@yahoo.com Series: ENT Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer: Paramount owns Star trek and I derive no financial gain from this story. Codes: A, T/Tu, Ma, S, R, P angst, drama, romance, humor, action/adventure Summary: The starship Enterprise is on a desperate mission to save involving the Vulcans, which threatens not only Earth, but the entire galaxy. Now it is up to Archer and his crew, with the help of Soma, to unravel the Xindi plot and prevent Earth and the galaxy from falling at the feet of their greatest threat…Vulcan . ***Special note: This story takes place after the season three episode, "Carpenter Street", but before the episode "Harbinger". Trip Tucker slammed the sonic spanner on the floor as he let out a string of curses. He had spent the last twenty minutes trying to remove three coupling sequencers that were out of alignment. He had two out and the third hadn't moved an inch in the last fifteen of those twenty minutes, which was more than the engineer could say for his patience. "Yer gonna make me work fer it aren't ya?" Trip Tucker stood up and headed over to his workbench. His staff knew good and well to give their chief a wide birth when he was 'fightin' with the engines' as he liked to call it. Tucker dropped into his work chair and pulled open the side drawer on the table. Leaning over he started tossing things out of the drawer and onto the floor as be began digging for something. Too busy with his search and destroy mission; Tucker didn't hear the main engineering door open. As the door parted, Captain Archer stepped in and several junior engineers gave the captain a 'Hello, sir' as he walked by them. Making his way across the room, he stopped Lieutenant Hayes, the assistant Chief Engineer. She was an attractive blonde with sparkling green eyes. Archer had noticed her before, but he made an effort to show it. Captain's don't mix with subordinates; especially attractive female ones. "Marsha, where's Trip?" The young blonde was about to give Archer an answer when a loud crash came from the far corner of the room. They both looked over. Hayes looked back at Archer and gave him a smile. The Captain rolled his eyes shaking his head. The engineer went back to her work and Archer headed for the source of the noise. Stopping at the corner entrance to the engineering workstation, Archer was greeted by a floor completely covered with an assortment of objects, half of which he couldn't even begin to identify. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked his friend. Trip Tucker didn't bother looking up. "I'm lookin' fer somthin'." "I gathered that," said Archer wide eyed and shaking his head. "What exactly is it your looking for?" "It's gotta be in here somewhere," said the engineer who either didn't hear Archer's question or chose to ignore it while he looked for his all consuming object. "Ah ha! Here it is!" exclaimed Tucker holding up a long cylindrical device. He wielded it in Archer's direction like it was the holy grail, but Archer failed to see the significance of the object or for that matter, what it was. "What is it?" "What is it?" said the engineer in mock offense. "This is grand daddy Tucker's very own spanner. It was the first tool he got when he worked the old oil rings off the coast of Florida. Yes sir, this ole baby never let him down." Archer shook his head. "Thanks for the family history lesson. What do you need it for?" "I got a coupling sequencer with this baby's name on it," grinned the engineer. Archer gave his friend a questioning look before he replied. "I don't know who to feel more sorry for...you or the coupling sequencer." Tucker flipped the spanner in his hand. "I wouldn't put my money on the sequencer if I were you." "Not me," chuckled Archer. He was glad the engineer was in such a good mood. He knew Tucker had been having nightmares and had even become the ship's resident insomniac. It was only through the efforts of Phlox and T'Pol that he was making any headway with either and the captain was grateful that his chief engineer was smiling again. "Trip, I need a progress report." Tucker shook his head. "We're getting' there Capn'," said the engineer as looked at several of his work crew pulling of an ODN unit. We're still on schedule. Eight hours to get everything realigned. Seven if I get that coupler off in the next five minutes." "Oh, well then don't let me keep you," said Archer in mock apology. He turned to head for the exit, but stopped and turned back when Tucker called out. "Capn'...I heard Capn' Soma was on that ship we pulled aboard." "That's right," nodded Archer studying the engineer. "I heard he got banged up pretty bad?" said Tucker. Archer looked at Trip for a moment. He wondered if Trip knew or he was just worrying about his one time commander. He wondered the same thing about T'Pol. Archer hated time travel. "He's gonna be alright Trip," smiled Archer. "He's resting in sickbay." Tucker bit his lower lip and nodded. "That's a relief...he's a good man." "I'll let you get back to your work, Trip," said Archer as turned and headed for the door. Tucker waited till Archer had left before he let out a sigh and he closed his eyes. Standing there for a moment, he gathered his resolve and taking a deep breath he opened his eyes and gripping granddaddy Tucker's spanner as he headed back to the coupling sequencer panel. Phlox leaned over one of the cages that he used as a makeshift home for one of several variety of unique specimen's he kept in his menagerie. Making small popping sounds with his mouth the doctor dropped several small brown pellets of dubious origin into the leaf-covered cage. Almost immediately a similar popping noise emanated from the cage and a broad grin formed on Phlox's face as he stood up. As he moved on to another container, the doors to his sickbay opened and he turned his head to be greeted by... "T'Pol," said the doctor as the Vulcan entered the room, "and what can I do for you Sub-Commander?" "Captain Archer has requested an injury report," answered T'Pol as she looked around the room. "He wishes to know if any crewmembers suffered severe injuries and will be unable to assume their duties." Phlox gave T'Pol a slight smile. "You may tell the Captain that with the exception of Ensign Delgada, who received a plasma burn on her arm, there were only minor injuries. Everyone is cleared for full duty." T'Pol looked at Phlox a moment, acknowledging his report. But the Vulcan made no move to leave, prompting Phlox to inquire if she needed something more. "Was there something else, Sub-Commander?" She looked at Phlox hesitantly. As a Vulcan, she considered her personal affairs to be for her alone and not for the eyes and ears of others. However, this was a different matter entirely and one she knew she could not simply avoid sharing. "I wish to know Captain Soma's condition," she replied crisply. Phlox considered his answer for a moment, remembering a promise he had made to the Captain the last time Soma was aboard. Actually, it was more than a promise...it was a standing order. Phlox cleared his throat. "Captain Soma is resting. I've been giving him injections to increase his electrolyte levels along with the copper levels in the synthetic blood I used to stabilize him when he came aboard. I'm confident that he will make a full recovery." T'Pol's eyes darted as she considered the doctor's assessment. After a moment she looked back at Phlox and asked. "May I see him?" "He's sleeping," answered Phlox pausing, "but I don't see why you can't have look." Phlox motioned his arm in the direction of a large isolation curtain. He walked over to it with T'Pol following slowly. Grabbing the curtain, he slowly pulled it open trying not to disturb his patient. As the curtain slid open, T'Pol craned her neck, peering in at the sleeping Vulcan on the bio-bed. She stared at him for a moment. He looked so peaceful, almost fragile laying on the bio-bed, a white sheet covering his lower body. So very different from the take-charge man she had first met. A man she had been at odds with until they managed to resolve their differences. Phlox watched T'Pol as she looked at Soma. He saw the worried expression on the female Vulcan and he wished there were something more he could do. "I'm sure Captain Soma appreciates you looking in on him," said Phlox sympathetically "After all your Enterprise's resident Vulcan and..." "You may drop the pretense doctor," she said cutting him off. "We both know he is my son" Phlox looked at her, unable to conceal his surprise. He considered what she had just revealed and where that now left him with Soma's standing order not to reveal his lineage to any of the crew. What perplexed him even more was how she knew. Had Soma told her? he thought. No, he wouldn't have given him such an explicit order only to circumvent it himself. Then something else occurred to Phlox and he found himself uttering it out loud "The mind-meld" T'Pol merely nodded her head affirming the doctors hypothesis. "Then it's true," he said. "Vulcans do share one another's consciousness' during such an intimate joining." He had read everything he could find on the subject, which wasn't much. Vulcans were an exceptionally private race and even more so when it came to such an intimate act. He had tried to learn whatever he could after T'Pol's unfortunate dealings with the Vulcan Tolaris. What the man had done to her was considered no less than rape in many cultures. T'Pol had never said very much about the matter and Phlox knew better than to pry into a Vulcan's private affairs. He felt even greater anxiety for putting T'Pol in a position where she had to participate in a mind-meld once again. Though it was to save Captain Soma. Phlox looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry T'Pol." This time the Vulcan was the one who gave Phlox a questioning look. "I'm sorry I forced you to engage in another mind-meld," said the doctor. T'Pol's brow shot up. "There was no forcing on your part doctor. My son was injured and you sought out the only logical way to save him. For that I will always be grateful doctor." Phlox gave the Vulcan a smile. Vulcan logic to the end, he thought. Then he considered his next question carefully. If she knew Soma was her son did she also know about Commander Tucker? He considered it a moment and then reasoned that she must. The mind-meld would have given her that knowledge as well, he mused. "Does...Does Commander Tucker know?" he asked point blankly. T'Pol looked down at Soma. "No...at least not that I am aware of." Phlox considered this and shook his head. "I must apologize once again Sub-Commander. If I had known that you were aware of the relationship that you and Commander Tucker will one day have, I would not have come to you for help in aiding the commander with his insomnia." "Once again doctor, you were merely pursuing the most logical course of action," she said correcting him. "The commander required an alternative method of treatment. You sought out someone you knew could administer it." "Maybe, but I could have tried other methods before coming to you," responded Phlox. "I didn't bother because I was confident the Vulcan neuro-pressure would alleviate the commander's problems and...given that I was aware of your...future relationship...I did not see any harm in the obvious intimacy involved in the treatment." T'Pol considered what the doctor had just said. She did not approve of the often, intimate interest the ship's physician took in the ship's crew. However, she trusted the doctor as her caregiver and he had always done an exemplary job, enough to warrant this indiscretion on his part to be overlooked. "Doctor, while I do not appreciate having my life decided for me in advance," she explained, "I do not place blame on anyone for my having that knowledge. To do so would be illogical. If the future dictates that Commander Tucker and I are to form an intimate relationship then that will be between he and I...at our own choosing." Phlox gave the Vulcan a smile. He had never noticed it before, but it was his mother that Soma's straightforward personality came from. He was as much his mother's son as he was his father's. "I will give Captain Archer your report on the crew injuries," said T'Pol curtly as she turned to leave. Stopping, she paused and looked back at Phlox. "I leave my son in your capable hands doctor." Turning she headed out the double doors, letting them close behind her as Phlox looked over at the sleeping Vulcan. "You've got quite a mother there, Captain." TBC... -- Stephen Ratliff ASC Stories Only Forwarding In the Pattern Buffer at: http//trekiverse.crosswinds.net/feed/ Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASCL/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:ASCL-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. From ???@??? 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