In Good Time-Pt. 2

In Good Time

PART TWO: Chapters 6-9
(Disclaimers in Part One)

Chapter Six:

The Birds and the Bees

"Is anyone else hungry?" asked Phlox as the trio sat around the bridge in silence, watching the stars hurtle by at warp two and monitoring the sensors.
"I could eat." admitted Trip.
"The two of you should have a meal then. I will remain here and continue the task at hand." said T’Pol.
"Can we bring you back anything?" asked Trip.
"It would not be appropriate to have food on the bridge."
"We won’t tell if you won’t."
T’Pol raised an eyebrow at Commander Tucker and said, "I am not concerned with being caught. I am merely stating that it would be a breach of protocol to eat at one’s station, especially considering our current situation."
"I give up." said Trip, rolling his eyes and walking toward the lift with Phlox.

"I believe that in her own way, Sub-commander T’Pol is just as overwhelmed as we are about our ... situation." said Phlox as they ate in the empty mess hall.
"She has a funny way of showing it. How can she talk about protocol at a time like this?" questioned Trip, just shaking his head as he shoveled food into his mouth.
"There is comfort in structure and familiarity for some people. As long as she has duties to perform and rules to follow, she need not think about other things, such as what we will do if we are permanently trapped seventy million years in the past."
"I never looked at it like that." admitted Trip, frowning.
"You are fond of the sub-commander after a fashion, aren’t you?"
Trip dropped his fork and stared blankly at the doctor.
"Come again, doc?" he choked, having sudden difficulty in swallowing his food.
"I’m sorry, commander. Did I say something wrong?" asked the Denobulan, not looking at all apologetic.
"I’ll say!" exclaimed Tucker. He paused and asked, "Whatever gave you that idea?"
"Many things, commander: the way you go out of your way to get into a conflict with her, the way you look at her, your insistence upon annoying her, and most telling of all, the fact that despite all of these other things, you are at your best when you work with her. Oh, yes, commander, the signs indicate that you are very fond of T’Pol indeed."
"And her? Do you think the sub-commander is fond of me at all?"
Phlox grinned broadly and said, "She is a Vulcan. Don’t forget that. If she were fond of you, she would go out of her way to suppress any sign of it."
"Okay, so if she liked me, I would never know it."
"No necessarily. The suppression of her fondness for you would possibly force other emotions closer to the surface, such as irritation, for instance. Vulcans that I have worked with respond to annoyances with cool passivity. That is not always the case with Sub-commander T’Pol."
"Are you trying to tell me that T’Pol acts pissy toward me because she likes me?" asked Tucker incredulously.
"It is something to consider, commander."
"I’ll say." muttered Trip, finally picking up his fork again and returning to his meal.
"Try not to let what I have told you distract you too much from our mission."
Tucker looked him in the eye and laughed, "Good one, doc."

*******

Chapter Seven:
Where Have All the Soldiers Gone? II

“I reviewed the logs made during the last twenty-four hours while you were having your meal.” T’Pol informed them once they returned to the bridge.
“And?”
“It was not noted in the logs made last night, but in the sensor logs, I found indications of a temporal disturbance, through which the Enterprise passed.”
“What kind of temporal disturbance?”
“It is difficult to say, but whatever it may have been, it could be responsible for our situation.”
“How far away is it?” asked Tucker.
“At our present speed we should reach the coordinates in thirty-six hours.”
“What if we returned to warp four?”
“Inadvisable. It may be moving. We could miss it if we were traveling at such a speed.”
“But thirty-six hours ...” said Trip, shaking his head.
“You seem to forget that I am in command. The risk of not finding this disturbance is too great at a higher speed. It is my decision to remain at warp two.”
Trip felt his temper rising, but Phlox spoke before he had the chance: “Thirty-six hours is not so long, commander, in comparison with seventy million years.”
“Of course.” Tucker conceded.

“So if we’re in the past, where do you suppose the rest of the crew went?” asked Trip, glancing up from his turn at the helm. “You don’t suppose they’re just floating out in space back in our time, do you?”
“It is possible, commander, but it is necessarily so.” replied T’Pol from the captain’s chair. Phlox looked up from his seat at tactical where he was out of the way, expecting to see sparks fly.
The commander chose not to pursue that avenue of inquiry. He decided that it was in no one’s best interest to contemplate their crew-mates’ deaths.
“Any theories as to what might have happened?”
“None that I may present without substantial speculation.”
“We don’t mind speculation, do we, doc?” chuckled Tucker.
“Not at all.” agreed the good doctor.
“Very well.” said T’Pol, arching one eyebrow. “Upon what part of our present situation do you wish me to speculate?” she questioned.
“What will happen when we go through the temporal disturbance again?”
“In theory we should be returned to our own time.”
“And the crew?”
“If we are sent back to the moment when we vanished, then nothing will have happened as far as they are concerned.”
“You mean, they won’t have vanished?”
“Speculatively, from their perspective, we won’t have vanished.”
“And the ship?”
“I am still ... working on that question.”
“Ah.”

**************

Chapter Eight:
Tuna is Only a Fish

The question about the ship bothered Commander Tucker for several hours as he sat quietly monitoring the helm. They were aboard the Enterprise and seventy million years in the past. They were missing most of the crew, including everyone from Captain Archer to his dog. Where were they? No, when are they? That was the better question. If they were in the future, were they dead in the vacuum of space, or did they not exist anymore? Were they caught in the temporal disturbance?
Although Trip did not realize it, T’Pol was at the science station searching for an answer to his complex questions. She ran simulation after simulation only to find them all lacking. If any Vulcan had felt or understood desperation since the days of Surak, then she was that Vulcan, but the only sign of such an emotion was her creased brow as she worked.
“What time is it?” Phlox asked them after several hours of silence, punctuated only by the occasional soft bleep of a console.
“The clocks are all out. No way to know.” said Trip, rubbing his eyes.
“I would recommend that the two of you get some rest. It is probably very late.” suggested Phlox.
“Vulcans can go for days without sleep.” said T’Pol.
“And so can humans, but that doesn’t mean that either of you should. I can mind the helm for a few hours.”
“You haven’t eaten all day.” Trip reminded T’Pol.
“Very well. I acknowledge your logic. You have the bridge, doctor.” she said, relenting.

“No point in eating alone, is there?” asked Trip as he sat down with T’Pol in the mess hall. How many hours had passed since his last meal? Or hers? It wasn’t easy to keep track.
“I suppose not.” said T’Pol, slowly stirring her bowl of broth.
“Is that all you’re eating?” Trip questioned. He had prepared himself two rather large tuna sandwiches. He would have cooked something, but he was certain that T’Pol was planning to eat and run.
“It is very nutritious, commander.
“So are these. I’ll let you have one, if you want.”
“I am a vegetarian. They contain meat.”
“It’s only fish.” said Commander Tucker, holding a sandwich out to her.
Trip could see her hesitate. Her eyes moved back and forth between the tuna sandwich and her broth.
“Thank you, commander.” said T’Pol, accepting the sandwich, much to Tucker’s surprise.
“You’re welcome, T’Pol.” he said, smiling. “You know, you could always call me Trip like everyone else does.”
“I will keep that in mind.” she said, sniffing the sandwich before taking a bite.
“How is it?” asked Trip.
“It is not entirely unpleasant.”
“Is it good then?” he asked as she took another bite.
“Yes, Trip, it is a good sandwich.” she replied.

******************

Chapter Nine:
Left Behind II - Ensigns Have Feelings Too

The news had spread quickly through the ship until by mid afternoon everyone knew that three of the senior officers were missing. The mood of the ship became immediately subdued once the word was out. When many of the crew gathered in the mess hall the evening, the chief topic of conversation was their missing comrades, not surprisingly. Ensigns Mayweather, Sato, and Cutler gathered at a table together to talk over the events of the day.
The two young women looked very down as they picked at their meals, but Mayweather, always the tough and space-smart boomer, told them, “Look, Commander Tucker is an excellent officer, and Sub-commander T’Pol is a Vulcan. They can handle any situation, trust me.”
“What if they aren’t in a situation, Travis. What if they’re dead.” said Hoshi, voicing the collective fears of many of the crew.
“I don’t believe that for a minute. What would have killed them?” asked Travis, scoffing at the very idea.
“What if it was some kind of malfunction.”
“Then there would be evidence, bodies, signs of something happening. When this is all over, everything will be back like it ought to be and it will make sense.” argued Travis.
“But you don’t know that.” said Ensign Cutler.
“You’ll see.” said Travis confidently.

“Sir, I think I found something in the sensor logs from last night.” Lieutenant Reed told his commanding officer, presenting him with yet another data pad.
“What?” prompted Archer.
“It appearances to have been a very small temporal anomaly or disturbance, sir. The ship passed right through without anyone being the wiser.”
“And our missing officers?”
“It is my suspicion, sir, that this was the cause of their disappearance, but as for getting them back ... I wouldn’t begin to suggest a way to do it.”
“Have the helm plot a course back to the disturbance. It shouldn’t be far. And have them keep a safe distance, lieutenant. We can’t afford to lose anyone else.”

Continued in Part 3

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