Forwarded by the ASC-VSO Posted: 8 Jan 2004 04:11:16 -0800 In: alt.startrek.creative From: shouldknowbettertt@yahoo.co.uk (shouldknowbetter) Title: Remember (2/4) (27/34 for series) Series: Begins with "A Logical Proposal" "Remember" is ninth in the series Author: ShouldKnowBetter Email: shouldknowbettertt@yahoo.uk.com Rating: PG-13 Codes: Tu/T, all "Enterprise" characters, Soval, action, drama, angst Summary: A planet holds unexpected treasure for Enterprise's crew. REMEMBER Part Two T'Pol did not understand her reaction to finding herself alone with Tucker in a different environment from the one to which she was accustomed. He had been correct in that Vulcans did not have the same requirement for leisure time as humans. She had not been reluctant to agree to Archer's firm suggestion that she accompany Enterprise's chief engineer because she had been concerned for him and, as Archer pointed out, Tucker had an unfortunate habit of getting into trouble when on shore leave, but she had made sure that she packed plenty of science journals and the recent publications of the Vulcan Science Directorate, as well as the notes of her latest research projects. Yet here she was, sitting on a rug before a wood fire in a cabin in the Scottish Highlands with Tucker's head in her lap, making a half-hearted attempt to read some of the more trivial of Vulcan poetry. It was her human lover who was engrossed in a paper on advanced warp theory and had been ever since they finished dinner and retired to the fire he had lit. T'Pol decided that her illogical behaviour must, as usual, be down to Tucker's influence and stared reprovingly at the head resting on her thighs. Sustaining the disapproval was difficult, however. The firelight reflected interestingly in his dark blond hair and cast unusual shadows over the face that she had come to know as well as her own, as well as highlighting the fact that the first few buttons of his shirt were undone so that she could slip her hand inside. Tucker smiled as the warm hand began to caress his chest and tilted his head back. "What are you doing down there?" "Stroking." "Is that a hint that I've been ignoring you?" "Hardly. You have frequently asked questions regarding the Vulcan interpretation of warp theory." "Yeah, and not answering was real unfair." "The information is classified." He tossed the PADD to one side and shifted to pull T'Pol down beside him, stroking her hair back from one ear. "Have I ever mentioned that you are most beautiful thing that ever happened to me?" "The information is still classified." Tucker didn't smile. If anything, his expression grew more intent. "I mean it," he whispered softly as his fingers continued to caress her soft skin. "I love you, T'Pol. Never doubt that. Ever." The rush of emotion from him was so intense that T'Pol felt her throat constrict, not in response to the declaration of love but the grief behind it. "Charles?" She raised a hand to his face. "What is wrong?" He shook his head, not in denial but in an attempt to control his own feelings. "Right now?" His mouth was half smiling although it didn't reach his eyes. "Not a damn thing," and he lowered his head for a searching kiss that T'Pol returned with all the strength of her forbidden affection. Most of the grief had left Tucker's eyes when he pulled gently back, to be replaced by a hint of his usual teasing. "Ever made love in front of a log fire, sub-commander?" "I believe not." Their only opportunity had been on yet another away mission gone wrong, but Sato's presence had made that impossible. "Now that's a serious gap in your education." "Then you had best remedy the situation. At once." Tucker and T'Pol had been for an after dinner stroll on the final night of their holiday when Earth's atmosphere took a hand in their fate. They were nearly at the cottage when the northern sky began to light up in steamers of light and Tucker looked up with a grin. "Hey, fireworks!" He got a pitying look. "The aurora borealis. An atmospheric feature typical of this latitude, involving …" "I know that." He drew her into his arms, back to his chest as he turned them to watch the display. "But I never saw it before." "Nor I." "Crazy, isn't it?" he added softly some time later. "You travel hundreds of light years then come home to find your own planet's as beautiful as anywhere." The underlying note of sadness was back in his voice again and T'Pol squirmed around in his embrace to look up at him. "Charles, why will you not tell me what is wrong?" Reluctantly he withdrew his gaze from the sky. "Because it might not happen." "You are not making sense." "Nothing new there then." He bent his head and kissed her forehead. "I love you." He had said that a great deal over the last few days. T'Pol slid her hands up to his shoulders, aware of his continuing sorrow. "If I correctly interpret the human definition of that emotion," she paused but only to move her hands higher, clasping them behind his neck, "then I feel as you do." Tucker shook his head, laughing a little. "Nice one, honey. I really thought you were gonna say it then." "Is it so important to you that I verbalise what you know very well?" He was silent for a moment, staring down into the calm face that he could nevertheless read as well as a human's; T'Pol's eyes gave her away every time. "Maybe. Just sometimes." "Then I love you." He shivered, a small inarticulate sound escaping him and kissed her as hungrily as if they had not spent a great deal of time over the last few days indulging themselves. They were both short of breath when they separated by a few centimetres and Tucker raised an unsteady hand to T'Pol's face, running the backs of his fingers down her cheek. "Meditation time?" She raised herself up for another long kiss, eyes warm and smiling although he had never coaxed her into a recognisably human smile. "I believe you would say ‘bed time'." He laughed shakily. "You have to meditate. We're due back on Enterprise tomorrow. No one wants a cranky first officer." She pressed sensuously close and his breath caught. "Although a cuddly one's good." "Then you should take advantage of the situation." Tucker's chuckle was more normal that time. "You're wicked, you know that?" "You taught me to be so." "Yeah. Good teacher, huh?" "Indeed. Do you wish to take advantage of me?" "Oh, yes. But you have to meditate afterwards." "Perhaps." "Definitely! I am not taking a randy Vulcan back to Enterprise." Archer met the shuttle pod's passengers when it docked although his grim expression indicated that it wasn't kindly concern over whether they had enjoyed themselves that brought him there. "Cap'n?" Tucker was the first of the pair to acknowledge Archer's presence. "What's up?" "Sub-Commander T'Pol, Commander Tucker," they had still been hand in hand – an unusual enough occurrence on Enterprise – but separated at their captain's harsh and formal greeting. "I have something for you to see." They exchanged a quick look and Archer anticipated. "Now, commanders." "Of course, captain." T'Pol spoke calmly but if Archer had taken the time to look, he might have noticed that his first officer was uncharacteristically ruffled by the peremptory order. They followed him in silence to the ready room where Archer flung himself into his chair and reached for the monitor. "Take a look at this." It was a video clip from an Earth-based news network – not one of the more respectable ones – with a commentary superimposed. It started innocuously enough with a shot of the Northern Lights while the voice-over set the scene. ‘For over ninety years, since Zephram Cochrane was privileged to make first contact with the Vulcans, we've been led to believe that they were cold, unemotional, unaffected by the messy passions of humanity. Yet one of our reporters has uncovered a story that could change forever our austere view of the Vulcan people. These scenes were filmed last night in the north of the European Federation.' The picture quality wasn't of the best since it must have been shot at long range and in poor light, but it was unmistakably Tucker and T'Pol, spooned together as they watched the light show in the sky. ‘The individuals have been identified as Commander Charles Tucker of Starfleet and Sub-Commander T'Pol of the Vulcan Science Directorate, both currently assigned to the warp 5 ship Enterprise. Commander Tucker, known as Trip to his friends, has something of a reputation with the ladies and he has evidently made another conquest.' On the screen, the image moved in for a close up, Tucker and T'Pol facing each other now, eyes locked together, the love between them so blindingly obvious that it didn't need the passionate kiss to prove the point, although the editor had left that in anyway. ‘Evidently Vulcan women are as susceptible to a romantic setting and a handsome man as any other. We have contacted both the Vulcan embassy and Starfleet on this matter. The Vulcan ambassador refused to comment, but Starfleet issued this statement: ‘Relationships between officers serving on Starfleet vessels have been and always will be discouraged.' Is this the end for our pair of star-crossed lovers? Other news on …' Archer flicked off the screen and glared at his horrified officers who had watched themselves in stunned silence. "You've always known you had to be discreet." His normally pleasant voice was hard. "How the hell did you allow this to happen?" There was no answer. "Well?" "We didn't know there was someone watching." Tucker sounded dazed and when Archer flicked an annoyed look at T'Pol it nearly killed his temper. She looked sick. "I don't care if you thought you were in the middle of the Sahara desert! How did the press find you?" "I dunno." Tucker ran a hand over his face. "I guess … someone we met talked." "You were seen!" "Of course we were seen! We went walking, we met people. What did you expect us to do, cap'n? Stay in all day?" Archer turned away to stare out of the ready room view port, currently showing not deep space but a portion of Jupiter Station. He knew he was being unfair but the other two didn't seem to realise the damage they might have done. "Do you know how much persuasion it took to get the Vulcans to mediate with the Klingons on our behalf?" He swung back, eyes on his first officer. "Of course you do, T'Pol was there. You two know you've been a scandal waiting to happen. I repeat, why the hell weren't you more discreet?" "We were!" Tucker was losing his temper despite his best efforts. "We didn't even hold hands if there was anyone else around." "I think, commander, that a human and a Vulcan just being seen together outside of an official capacity is enough to start speculation." "So what d'you want, cap'n? An apology? Because you're not gonna get one!" "You are way out of line, Commander Tucker." "Am I? Because …" "Stop!" Both men jerked around to face T'Pol who was staring at them wide-eyed, shaking as she gripped the back of a chair. "This is … unseemly. I … I will …" She gasped, biting her lip so hard that a trace of green appeared, and lunged for the door. "T'Pol!" Tucker grabbed for her but she struck him away and fled and Archer caught the engineer's arm before he could follow her. "Let me go, cap'n. She needs me." "She'll have to wait. What's going on with her, Trip?" His friend pulled roughly free, still furious although struggling to contain it for the Vulcan woman's sake. "Do you have any idea, cap'n," deliberately he threw the other man's words back at him, "how seeing those pictures made her feel? Knowing that everyone has seen what should be private? For T'Pol, it's like … being seen naked. Maybe worse." Tucker had few inhibitions about his own well-honed body. "I'm sorry we screwed up but Soval knows damn well that T'Pol and I are lovers – and if he tries to back out I'll make public what he did to T'Pol and Starfleet can give me a dishonourable discharge for it. Now, if you'll excuse me," this time the tone was biting, "T'Pol needs me." He left and Archer thumped a fist into the back of his chair in frustration and tried to ignore the distorted frame of the chair T'Pol had been holding. Tucker headed for T'Pol's cabin knowing that he was too late. The jumble of anger and distress in his head had reached a crescendo and stopped. Whatever she'd needed to do, she'd done it without him and that was never good. He found her curled into a ball on the floor by the wreckage of a computer terminal that hadn't stood a chance against enraged Vulcan strength. She didn't react when he crouched at her side, laying a hand on a shoulder. "You should meditate, honey." He kept his tone deliberately matter of fact. "I cannot." "Yes, you can. C'mon, T'Pol, we'll do it together." "I cannot." She sounded unutterably distant. "I am no longer Vulcan." "Excuse me?" "I disgraced my people. They will no longer accept me." "You don't know that." "I do." "T'Pol, you're just upset, darling. You've not meditated anything like enough the last few days. You'll feel better when you have. C'mon, now." He lifted her gently and caught his breath. "Shit." Her right hand was torn and bleeding, presumably from having been slammed into a plasma screen. "Let's get you to sickbay." "There is no point." "There's every point." She didn't resist when Tucker gathered her into his arms and that worried him even more. T'Pol should protest like crazy if he tried to carry her through Enterprise's corridors, not lie bonelessly against him. Phlox turned to look reprovingly at the first officer and chief engineer where they sat side by side on a biobed. "How often have you meditated over the last seven days, sub-commander?" "Vulcans must meditate every day." "I'm aware of that, but it doesn't answer the question." "Most days." The Denobulan frowned disbelievingly and looked to the human for confirmation. Tucker grimaced. "Most days but not at all yesterday or today." "You have a severe hormonal imbalance." The doctor pressed a hypospray to T'Pol's neck. "The result of a lack of meditation and," he looked repressively at Tucker, "excessive sexual activity." "Huh?" "I can't believe that you are unaware, Commander Tucker, that there is a close relationship between Vulcan physical and mental well-being. If Sub-Commander T'Pol does not meditate, her hormone levels become erratic. If her hormone levels are disrupted it is harder to achieve the concentration necessary for quality meditation. When you add to that the stimulation produced by intercourse, the result is an unpleasant one." "Huh?" The doctor sighed. "Sexual activity in Vulcan women affects their hormone levels as their bodies try to increase the probability of conception." "She's pregnant?" "Please, commander, try to pay attention. Sub-Commander T'Pol is not pregnant. In fact, I believe medical technology is at least fifty years away from being able to produce a viable human-Vulcan hybrid. What I am saying is that the combination of sexual activity and lack of meditation has made the sub-commander ill." He turned his attention back to the woman. "I am relieving you of duty for 24 hours, sub-commander. I have given you something to help stabilise your hormone levels, now I want you to return to your quarters and meditate. And I recommend that you abstain from intimacy of any description for a week." T'Pol managed a half-hearted glare and slipped from the biobed, heading for the door. Tucker grimaced and followed, nodding his thanks to Phlox. "Sorry," he said once they were in the corridor and T'Pol spared him a brief glance. "You were not at fault. You did recommend meditation." "I could've tried harder. T'Pol … what you said before … about being disgraced …" "It is a fact." She was calm again, Phlox's medication already having a positive effect, but Tucker could still sense her despair. "What are we gonna do?" "I do not know." She halted outside her cabin and Tucker could feel her withdrawal. "I must meditate." "OK. Can I see you later?" "I will return to duty tomorrow." She disappeared without another word and Tucker groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. Work was the best distraction available and there was undoubtedly a whole heap of it waiting for him in Engineering, but first he had to find Archer and see if he needed to blow his career to clear up the mess he and T'Pol had unwittingly created. Publicly, there were fewer repercussions from the revelation that Tucker and T'Pol were lovers than Archer and the rest of Starfleet had feared. The Vulcans' official policy appeared to be to ignore the matter and Earth's government followed their lead. Starfleet drew a relived breath and Forrest limited himself to severe lectures, one to Tucker on how lucky he was still to have a commission and one to Archer on having kept quiet about the affaire. At a personal level, it wasn't as easy. Precisely what Tucker's mother said to him, he never told anyone, but that he was bitterly hurt by it Archer had no doubt since it was he who found the engineer in the gym, well after midnight, exhaustedly pounding the punch bag. The captain went to lean his weight on the far side and Tucker felt the difference in resistance, blinking up at Archer through the sweat running into his eyes. "Give it a rest, Trip." Tucker was probably too tired to do anything else as he leant his forehead on the bag, panting. "What's this in aid of?" There was a long pause then the man admitted, "Mom called." "You'd not told her about T'Pol?" Archer was surprised. The tight-knit Tucker family didn't usually have secrets from each other. Everyone else, yes, but not from each other. "She wouldn't have understood." "That you were in love?" "That I was in love with a Vulcan. I never made much secret of what I thought of them." "So what happened?" "I told her it was none of her business." Wearily Tucker raised his head. "That went down real well." "She loves you, Trip. She'll come round." "I guess." "Go to bed. Let T'Pol look after you." "She's not talking to me either." Archer sighed, knowing there were no easy clichés to utter on that subject. "You still need to get some rest. We break orbit the day after tomorrow and I need a chief engineer." Tucker straightened painfully, flexing cramped muscles. "You got one, Cap'n." "Good. Now get out of here." The captain watched his friend leave with something close to pity. Sometimes life just sucked. Continued in Part Three -- 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 ???@??? Thu Jan 15 00:21:52 2004 Status: U Return-Path: Received: from n28.grp.scd.yahoo.com ([66.218.66.84]) by merlin (EarthLink SMTP Server) with SMTP id 1aGZYv5633NZFlq0 for ; Wed, 14 Jan 2004 21:23:22 -0800 (PST) X-eGroups-Return: sentto-1977044-12877-1074144126-stephenbratliff=earthlink.net@returns.groups.yahoo.