Fragile-Part 36

Fragile Universe
An "Enterprise" story

By Alison M. DOBELL

RATING: NC-17
ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where.
FEEDBACK: Welcomed. Series Conclusion.
EMAIL: AlisonMDobell@aol.com
WEBSITE: http://carlajane.50megs.com/Ali00.html

SUMMARY: "The Captain has an unwelcome visitor. Trip and T'Pol arrange some quiet time together. The baby has other plans. Meanwhile the universe holds its' breath."
DISCLAIMER: The usual disclaimers apply. The characters and 'Enterprise' are the property of Paramount. No infringement of copyright is intended.

Part 36

"INSIDIOUS"

* * * * *

What T'Pol's parents had intended to be a short visit turned into a prolonged vacation. Captain Archer was amused and pleased for both Trip and T'Pol. Having the backing of her parents meant so much to both of them especially T'Pol. The Captain was more content than a mere mortal had any right to be with Trip's mother fussing over him and cooking all his favourite Southern dishes to the point where Trip had started to complain that he was beginning to feel like an orphan. The lament was even funnier with the rest of Trip's family being on board. His sister Lizzie teasing and bullying him in the nicest way possible while his brothers devised all manner of ways to keep themselves occupied. Often to his Chief Engineer's exasperation. Danny was the only one who was no trouble at all, his calm sanguine nature a pure echo of their father's. Charles Tucker II walked around with a perpetually bemused expression on his honest and open face. Stockier than Trip he had the same sandy coloured hair and blue eyes but Trip had his mother's beautiful smile. That just left the middle brothers. The Twins. Trip called them the 'Yin and Yang of the Big Bang'. Whatever the hell that meant. The Captain could not help smiling whenever he thought of them. Stevie and Rick Tucker were two sides of the same coin. Alike to look at but utterly opposite in disposition. Stevie was loud and volatile, Rick quiet and full of deep contemplation. They drove each other mad but only for minutes at a time that played in an endless loop like a reset button between paradise and a mock hell. Devoted to each other even when they were metaphorically wringing each other's necks. The last couple of months had been the happiest and most surreal the Captain could remember since they had launched on their maiden voyage.

That was up until an unexpected visit from Sar. He looked at the big man standing at the door to his quarters. Biting back a sigh he stepped back to let him in, wondering what had brought him here at this late hour. The Volaran's presence eliciting emotions at war within his soul. He liked Sar. Respected him more than he could ever put into words. But there was always something falling just short of the kind of faith that Trip placed in this man. The move from cautious friendship to valued friend was a gulf he was not destined to span in his lifetime. Call it a hunch. An instinct. The truth pierced him at odd times like a wake-up call he kept trying to sleep through. Right now the alarm was ringing with an insistence that made his heart sink. Why this conversation? And why now?

"Sar, I think you're worrying needlessly." He said for what felt like the tenth time. "We took your warning seriously. Lt. Reed had Enterprise on high alert for over a MONTH! Do you know how hard it was to keep the crew on their toes looking for a threat that never materialised for four whole weeks?"

The Volaran opened his mouth to say something but Captain Archer held up a hand. He had just about had all he could stomach of these intimations of doom and gloom. At first he had been as alarmed and eager to act on Sar's warning as anyone else. As the days turned into weeks and still nothing happened his patience began to fray and his belief that something was going to happen faded. It was bad enough that he did not really understand Sar, now he felt the Volaran was just getting plain paranoid and he was not going to have his ship's crew turned into a bag of nerves. Both Trip and T'Pol's families were still on board Enterprise. Their visits extended beyond the wedding so that they could all be there for the birth of the baby. He sensed an underlying current of concern from both sides for the Human/Vulcan hybrid. Everyone had taken the love struck couple to their hearts and wanted only the best for them. Now here was Sar, the voice of doom playing his message over and over again like a record with the needle stuck in a groove. He wanted to thump the deck to jolt the needle back on track. Passed the point of fears and imagined threats.

"I don't want to talk about this again, Sar. The baby is due any day now and if I find you've been spreading alarm and despondency and upsetting them I'll be mad as hell at you. Let Trip and T'Pol enjoy what they have and try to be happy for them."

The Volaran gazed at the Captain for several minutes. He did not understand and Sar realised there was no way he could inject his sense of urgency into Trip's friend. Sar's tie to Trip was so strong that it was insuperable. His need to protect his Senisa was overwhelming yet he was not driven by wild imaginings or nightmares of his own making. The threat was real. The outcome would be something so beyond the Human's limited grasp of multi-dimensional physics that even if the Key materialised in front of him in its' activated form he would not only not recognise what it was he would *refuse* to recognise it. The silence stretched between them like a high wire. One wrong move and they would lose their footing and the tentative friendship that lay between them like a truce would be shattered beyond mending. When Sar spoke his voice was soft with an air of aching sadness in it that made the Captain's skin tingle on the back of his neck. "How can one who knows so much understand so little?"

"Perhaps because you're not telling me anything."

He did not think the Volaran's deep voice could get any softer. He was wrong. "Not all truths are spoken."

Long after the Volaran had left his quarters, Captain Jonathan Archer stared at the door. Mulling over Sar's words. He had been about to turn in for what passed as night. The Volaran had put pay to any peaceful notions of a dreamless sleep. He sighed and gave a little shake of his head. Trying to dismiss the big man's cautionary words but finding that they came back to haunt him. Damn the man. Perhaps it would not do any harm to have another word with Lt. Reed in the morning? Sar was wrong. He had to be. Yet a tiny voice in the back of his mind wanted him to cover all the bases just in case he wasn't.

* * * * *

The twinges were getting stronger. Trip smiled and kissed T'Pol's tight round drum of a stomach. She tried to give him a haughty look but the effect was ruined by the shadow of a smile teasing her lips and the blatant love shining in her eyes. They were in their quarters. This was their night and he planned to make good use of every minute of it. The others knew that they did not wish to be disturbed. Kai was taking Sarsa to see a movie. One that Travis had recommended as a *must see*. Trip had chuckled warmly and warned Kai not to expect a straight forward romance. Puzzled but amused Kai had nodded, smiled at his father and gone to find Sarsa. T'Pol brought her husband's attention back to her by nipping on his ear and bringing him down to the floor. He huffed as she effortlessly knocked the breath out of him then straddled him. No easy thing when she was so far gone in her pregnancy. Gently Trip kissed her, rolled her onto her back and parted the flowing gown to reveal the beauty of her bare expanse. She felt enormous. Ugly. Misshapen. A heavy incongruous mass of blood, bone and tissue. But when she looked into her Ashayam's eyes she saw only his reflected beauty. Love blinding her to anything but her need for him. Her love for everything he was. Only in her love of him was she beautiful. She thought her heart might break for love of him, unable to contain all the joy and feelings he inspired in her. Tears bedimmed her deep brown eyes. He paused. His heart missing a beat.

"Hey, ya all right?" He asked softly.

She nodded trying not to cry. The sound of his voice such a heartfelt joy. When had she become so emotional? Perhaps the mix of Human hormones entering her system when they made love had accumulated to the level where she was now unstable? If that was so she should be feeling more stable now not less as it had been several weeks since they had last had any penetrative sex. Even though she had urged him to enter her Trip would not do it. Would not risk harming the unborn child to sate his lust. Instead he had pleasured her in other ways. As he was fully intending to do tonight. "I am so happy, Ashayam."

Trip smiled, adjusting to the novelty of having an emotional Vulcan as a partner. He kissed her gently, his lips trailing hers. His breath in her mouth, her tongue invading his. Hands navigating a body he knew by heart. Every pore of her skin had his fingerprints on it. Every beat of her heart found its' echo in his. He loved her. Heart. Body. And Soul. As she loved him. His hands began to massage her breasts, amused when she automatically arched her back to push them further into his palms, the smile teasing his lips until hers curved in mimicry. Subtle and slow, their movements languorous and filled with increasing passion. She could feel herself getting hot. He was already on fire but managing it. Anything for T'Pol.

"Ashayam? Trip?"

His breath became a sigh as he forsook her lips to whisper a response. "Yeah, darlin'?"

"I want you inside me."

His heart ached. He wanted that too but they had already been over this before. "An' ya will I promise ya but not 'till after the baby is born, sweetheart. Ya know why."

He felt her groan of disappointment and advanced his itinerary in an effort to distract her. Dipping his head he claimed one full breast while continuing to massage the other into a full and needy pyramid, his fingers rolling and pinching the very full nipple into a hard and pulsing pebble of desire. He was surprised when his sucking was rewarded with a thin but milky liquid. He savoured it slowly for a moment then flicked his eyes up to her face in query. "Is this what I think it is?"

T'Pol smiled down at him, getting enormous pleasure form having him suckle at her breast. Suckle? Where had that thought come from? She realised he was waiting for her confirmation, not that he needed it. He already knew. "Yes, Ashayam. The baby must be very close for the milk to be flowing so freely."

He was about to shift and sit up but her arms tightened around him, a hand sliding round the back of his neck to stroke his nape. He shivered at the contact. She stroked him in a rhythm to match his pressure on her breast and coaxed him to continue. His guilt at stealing the baby's milk vanished in her desire to feed him. He dropped a hand between her legs and smiled around her nipple as she spread them wider. He settled between her legs, careful not to put any weight on her stomach. She thought the position he was in had to be uncomfortable. He thought it was just another view of Heaven and suckled harder, his fingers burrowing gently through her moist curly hair and sliding between the ready folds of her sex. He felt her open up to him inside, wanting something bigger and meatier than his fingers, but he knew this dance well. Increasing the pressure on her mammary gland he drank slowly of her strange exotic sweetness and swirled his fingers against the bundle of nerves exciting her to rock against the rhythm of his hand.

He was getting so lost in it now. Eyes closed, sweat beading on his face and neck, body oiled with the effort of gentle motion. Almost oblivious to the working of her hands until one took his aching shaft in the firm but gentle grip he loved so much. Her barest touch excited him. He moaned and felt her other hand move from the back of his neck to coax him to move to her other breast. Now he was automatically milking that one too, T'Pol keening in his ear to encourage him, her hand returning to the back of his neck and settling on that sensitive spot that undid him every time. She was rocking harder now beneath him, her hips lunging upwards and almost dislodging his hand but his concentration kept the titillation going, her breath heavy and sweaty now, his fingers slipping and sliding in her juices as she flooded around his hand. Muted cries accompanied her orgasm but he kept going. Building her up and up to the next one while trying not to come prematurely in her hand before he had finished pleasuring her. But T'Pol had other plans. She teased him effortlessly, her palm riding the sheath of his foreskin while her fingers wrapped around him pulling and flexing against the throbbing muscle, heating his blood to boiling point, his testicles tightening despite his best efforts to hang on. His grip on her breast slackened. Thin white liquid leaked from his mouth only to be belatedly chased by his errant tongue. Lapping at her as his fingers lapped at her sex.

Then T'Pol tightened her grip on his penis, the thumb brushing the blood engorged head and teasing the slit to produce more precum. Her thumb washing it back and forth and making him moan just before she thrust him inside her, her interior muscles clamping down on him the moment he entered to claim him. So hard that he cried out in surprise. T'Pol was never this rough with him. Never this demanding. Not since their early mating. This was urgent, passionate, feral almost in its' intensity and her firm interior muscles flexed so hard around him that he almost came then and there. But that was not T'Pol's intent. How she did it he had no idea but she managed to bring him so close to the edge that he thought he was going to die, then the pressure eased off and he came away from the edge only to be brought dancing back to it again and again and again. He felt dizzy with unfulfilled desire, completely unable to do anything but hang on and moan his pleasure and need over and over again in an incoherent babble that fragmented into wisps of laboured breaths. His strength and energy beginning to flag as she milked him to the point where he could only ejaculate when she released him at the point of her own orgasm. The effect was cataclysmic. His eyes fluttered open briefly, his body a taught spring electrified by the jolt along his spine as the heat flashed through him and filled her volcanic heat with his own.

He gasped as she milked his orgasm making it last much longer than it ever had before. So long that he almost blacked out with the intensity of it. As he was coming and her own release took some of the sexual tension out of her, T'Pol took her hand from his neck and gently splayed it along the side of his sweat saturated face. The pads of her fingers were wearing a path to his contact points. Her mind swamped his with all the erotic images that had haunted her until she could have him again. The meld helped to steady him, her strength augmenting his own while heightening everything he felt and shared with her. His hips rocked, his jism a slow steady stream that was killing him with the painstaking control of his release. Every drop siphoned out of him with aching sweetness. A control that was hers not his. The hungry walls of her womb celebrating even though they were already full. The life so well formed inside her took part in the celebration. Greedily absorbing their fluids into its' own. A need so great. A desire beyond conscious knowledge leading them where they needed to be. Together they plunged deeper. Mental coitus hammering against his flagging heartbeat. Her Vulcan rhythm bringing him back into the perfectly timed synchronisation of a mating so intense that the only wonder was that either of them survived it.

* * * * *

Danny Tucker searched surreptitiously, not wanting to intrude or offend but curious about his brother's Volaran friend. He found the big man walking down a corridor in the direction of his brother's quarters. Danny knew that Trip wanted time alone with T'Pol. This would be the perfect time to talk to the alien and find out a little more about him and his people. "'Scuse me, Sar. Do ya mind if I talk to ya?"

The Volaran stopped in his tracks and tilted his head. Danny was a good four inches shorter than Trip, with the same hair colouring but a slightly stockier frame. His eyes were the same shade of blue, the face a mite rounder but not fat. There was a depth and kindness about him that told Sar he would find much of worth in this man too. He felt weary to his soul and sad beyond words after his futile conversation with the Captain. Perhaps he would fare better with his Senisa's brother? He inclined his head with grave solemnity, "It would be my honour."

His words surprised a smile. A quiet joy sparked in eyes that held a serious distance in them. The Volaran found himself intrigued. Trip's middle brothers Stevie and Rick had been unfailingly polite to him and his family but were careful not to encourage conversation with him beyond that. He understood their wariness and was not offended by it. Trip's sister had shown an initial spark of interest then been too caught up in teasing her brother and wanting to meet as many of the single ship's crew as she could before the visit ended. It had amused Sar. Trip's parents had shown more interest and were openly inviting towards him, their gentle hearts expanding to take in Trip's son. He had to admit that considering they were alien species the Tucker clan had not disappointed him. The pleasure that gave him knew no bounds.

Sar took Trip's brother to the mess hall. At this time of night it was practically deserted and he felt it would put the Human at ease to be in a place where others came and went rather than taking him to a private room to talk. Danny smiled when he noticed there was pecan pie but did not select a piece. He had already eaten but reckoned that his brother being the engaging gregarious soul that he was the ship's chef no doubt had plenty of his favourite foods included in the daily menus. Instead he got himself a drink of coffee. Sar declined the offer of a drink and they selected a table to one side of the main concourse so they could have privacy if need be. "I understand that you are the brother who gave my Senisa his harmonica?"

The question stunned Danny. It had been the last thing he thought the Volaran would say. "Ya know about that?"

Sar smiled, a little deep rumble of affection in his chuckle. Danny stared at him. Fascinated. "Yes, I do. Did you know that he fashioned two while he was on Volara?"

"Hey, Sar - d'ya mind if I call ya Sar? I don't wanna offend ya."

The big man's smile grew. Danny's voice was a notch lower than Trip's but the drawl was the same gentle tease that delighted his ears every time he heard it. He liked this man. "I would be offended if you did not."

Danny beamed. "Then ya have to call me Danny and it's a deal."

"Danny?"

"Short for Daniel."

"Daniel." He mused. "I think Daniel is a proud name, it has grace and strength to it."

Danny flushed. "Uh, thanks."

"May I call you Daniel?"

He was stumped. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? And yet it made him feel happy inside that he would want to use his proper name. He smiled a little shyly. "I think I'd like that." He paused a second. "Do ya call Trip by his given name, Charles?"

The Volaran raised an eyebrow. Danny was not sure if he was mocking him a little or simply surprised that he would ask. "No. I call him by the name he gives himself."

"Danny is the name I give myself."

Now the Volaran gave a full blown smile. His eyes had a kind of odd spark in the golden depths. Was he teasing him? Did Volarans even know how? "Yet you think of yourself as Daniel."

For a moment the Human froze and Sar was worried he had said something wrong.

"How d'ya know that? Nobody knows that."

Realisation clicked in the Volaran's mind. "I apologise Daniel. Your connection to my Senisa gives you a vague connection to me. I sensed the colour of your thoughts though I did not intrude."

Danny lost all the colour in his face. "Ya can read thoughts?"

"No, Daniel. But I can sense emotions. Very keenly. It is part of what I am."

"Ya called my brother somethin', what was the word?"

"Senisa."

"What does that mean?"

"It has many meanings." He responded gently. His golden eyes glowed softly as he watched Danny's face. Noticed how intent he was. A quiet grace to him that spoke of depths unfathomed. "Beloved or Trusted Friend is the usual meaning."

"How d'ya know which one is meant?"

"By the inflection of the word. The emotion that accompanies it."

"Sounds like ya have yourself a complicated language."

Sar nodded. "What did you wish to talk about Daniel?"

"Well, I wanna know everythin' - of course. I *am* a nosy Tucker after all. But mostly I wanna hear how you met my brother. How ya came to be his Senisa."

The Volaran felt a deep sense of pleasure. Captain Archer would not listen. Lt Reed was the most approachable and natural harbour for his dark thoughts and being a security officer he took any threat more seriously than most. But this man. Trip's brother. Was the better choice. He saw it now. What could be more natural and more loyal than the bond of blood? The love of brother for brother might prove more fertile soil in which to confide his fears and the gaining of him as an ally might profit them all. Also. Unless he was much mistaken. He could feel the first tentative pull of friendship forming. Yes. Daniel was a good choice. He would enlist him into the protection of his Senisa until the threat was found and neutralised. But first he had to bind this man to him. Convince him that a firm friendship between them was as natural as drawing breath. Being open and honest with him was the first step.

* * * * *

Captain Archer was furious. He glared at Admiral Forest on the screen. "I'm sorry, Admiral, but I cannot and will not do that." His voice was tight with the effort to reign in his temper and form coherent words. Struggling to stay calm he took a deep breath. "Commander Tucker is *not* going back in the brig. I am not prepared to punish him for doing the right thing."

The Admiral's face was a picture. "I am not asking your advice, Captain. This order came from Starfleet with the agreement of the Vulcan High Command. You violated that instruction when you allowed the Commander out of the brig before he had served his sentence."

"Admiral..."

"No, Jon, it's time you listened to the chain of command."

"I'm the one out here Admiral not you."

"I know and by and large you're doing a great job."

"*We're* doing a great job. My crew and I, Admiral. A crew that could not function a fraction as well as it does without Commander Tucker."

"I know he's your friend, Jon..."

"Damn it, Admiral, he's the best Chief Engineer in Starfleet and but for Vulcan interference he would have been my second officer. You're treating him as if he has no rights. As if falling in love was a crime. Since when did xenophobia count more than the measure and worth of a man?"

"Captain, you are out of order!"

"Admiral, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but this whole desire for punishment is insane. If you had seen what Commander Tucker has gone through you'd understand that nothing could be worse than that. He saved my life, Admiral. Put himself in the hands of a judicial system that almost killed him. To save his Captain. To save this mission."

He saw the first chinks in the Admiral's armour. "I know Jon and personally if it was up to me I'd give him a medal not a gaol sentence but this thing with the Vulcan Sub-Commander..."

"Has resulted in marriage."

There was a stunned silence. Captain Archer enjoyed the Admiral's reaction but was careful not to show it. "They did what?"

"They got married. Sub-Commander T'Pol's parents are here on Enterprise as is Trip's family. We had the ceremony a few days' ago."

"Why was I not informed?"

"I thought you would ignore the invite."

His attempt at levity fell flat. The Admiral was most definitely not amused. Even unhappier than he had been before if that were possible. "That is not what I meant and you know it. This action will have serious consequences, Captain."

"Yes, I suppose it will." Said the Captain calmly. "In the next couple of days in fact, I predict."

Admiral Forest frowned. Confusion forming on his face. "What are you talking about?"

To the Admiral's surprise Captain Archer smiled at him. "That’s when the baby is due."

It was a look the Captain would long savour. He had seen landed fish more vocal than the Admiral was right now. The Captain decided to throw him a lifeline. Of sorts.

"We could always just not say anything about this Admiral."

"You are suggesting I mislead the Vulcan High Command?"

The Captain gave a little shrug. "No. Just don't offer an answer to a question not yet asked."

"Run that by me again?"

Captain Archer's smile returned. All the heat of temper gone out of him. "If the Vulcan High Command doesn't ask about the Commander then don't say anything. If they choose to *assume* he served his thirty days then why rock the boat? After all, I didn't have to tell you that he didn't serve his sentence."

"Then why did you?"

"Because you asked and basically I'm an honest man. I didn't want to deceive you then and I won't deceive you now."

"What about the baby?" Said the Admiral quietly, his eyes fixed on the Captain's like lampreys.

Captain Archer sighed and the Admiral saw that this last development was the one that worried the star ship Captain the most. "It will be a Human/Vulcan hybrid, I understand that sir. What worries me is what Dr Phlox had to say about it. Don't get me wrong, Sub-Commander T'Pol's pregnancy has gone without a hitch. The baby appears to be healthy but the doctor says that while Human and Vulcan marriages are rare, it is even rarer for a child from such a union to survive. Most are stillborn, Admiral."

The Admiral's face went pale. Sorrow and grief flickered in his eyes. All anger forgotten. "Oh my God, I'm sorry Captain."

The Captain hung his head, unable to meet his eyes. "So am I, Admiral."

There was an awkward pause. "Have you told the Commander and Sub-Commander?"

"No, sir. I've never seen Trip and T'Pol so happy."

Another longer pause. "Is it certain that the child will die?"

"I don't know sir, Dr. Phlox said there was a small chance that it could be born healthy and without complications. It's the best we can hope for. It has happened once or twice in the past after all. It's just very rare. So you see sir, I'd appreciate it if you said nothing about this latest development in your next meeting with the Vulcan High Command and the Vulcan Science Council." He paused and felt the weight he was carrying triple. "It may not be a consideration after all."

Admiral Forest nodded. Solemn and subdued. "I will heed your advice Captain about this and the other matter." He gave a wry smile. "After all, you are the one out there not me. Though what the Vulcan High Command will make of this *wedding* I would not like to guess. You can count on there being some rather unpleasant fallout from this, Captain."

The Captain nodded. His screen went blank. Slumping in his chair he stared without seeing. His heart aching for his friend. Glad that both T'Pol and Trip had their families on board Enterprise right now. If this went wrong and the baby died they would need that support to get through this. Seeing Trip with Kai had confirmed his belief that his friend would make a natural father. How much more would it hurt him to lose a child created by himself and T'Pol? He could not even begin to imagine how you would cope with that kind of grief. No. Sleep would be long coming this night. In the absence of sleep he did something he had not done in a long while. He closed his eyes and prayed.

* * * * *

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Two folks have made comments

You're really putting them both through the wringer aren't you?? Keep up the good work!

At last Jon shows he's actually got a backbone.

Trip's brother is nicely portrayed, a natural draw for Sar to confide in, so like his beloved Senisa. Still we wait with baited breath for the threat to materialise.

I've run out of finger nails and am contemplating starting on my toes...

More, soon ( she gasps )