Alpha Waves-Pt 10

Alpha Waves

By Aquila

Rating: R
Category: Angst, Romance
Summary: Sequel to Beta Waves – T’Pol meets her Father and trips.

==

Part 10

The Finale

Phlox was completing an entry in Hoshi’s file, when Travis knocked on the door frame. When the doctor raised his eyes from the data screen, he noted that Travis was holding his arm around Hoshi in an uncharacteristically protective manner.

“Come in, come in,” was followed by “You must have many questions.”

“Doc, am I able to father children?” Phlox was pleased, the young man was astute. “Technically you are able to father children and Hoshi is able to conceive.”

“But you said,” cried Hoshi.

Travis squeezed her tight, “Hush, honey, Doctor Phlox always takes a long time to get to the point.”

Hoshi giggled through her tears and Phlox harrumphed, but did not dispute the observation.

“As you know, Denobulans are not adverse to polygamous relations.” The couple nodded. “Our proclivity was in response to a low birth rate, the causes of which are not germane to this discussion.”

Travis pulled Hoshi onto his knee, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“One of the consequences of this medical reality was that we began screening our people, identifying who could and could not produce offspring.” He saw the look of horror on their faces. “Yes, eventually the infertile were ostracized. To right the wrong, Denobulan medical ethics includes a policy that not everything known about a patient should be disclosed to the patient, unless circumstances demand it.”

“Starfleet does DNA testing on a regular basis.” Travis did not realize he had spoken out loud.

“You’ve always known I could not have children,” Hoshi was irate. “You know more about us than we do ourselves.”

“What I know, and knew, was that conceiving would be difficult for you.” He turned to Travis, “I know, and always knew, that your sperm count was low.”

“What I could not predict was that the two of you would decide to conceive children.” Phlox decided to be direct. “If you were to choose a more potent male, you might conceive, eventually.” He turned his attention to Travis, “If you chose a more fertile female, you too might conceive.”

He gave them time to consider what he said, “But…and I stress, there is no guarantee that either of you would succeed.”

Hoshi needed to know, “But you know who on board Enterprise would have been a more suitable choice to attempt to conceive?”

“Do I know who shoots silver bullets? Yes.” Phlox thought it odd that the subject should come up so soon after receiving just such a request for information about Mr. Reed. Who Phlox had been pleased to inform the British ambassador was a prime candidate for fatherhood.

Travis took their understanding further, “You know if somebody is really what they claim to be, don’t you?”

“I am certainly in a position to clarify or denounce claims of legitimacy and gender orientation, and yes, I am privy to quirks of ancestry.” Phlox saw the gleam in Travis’ eye. “I have never divulged your secrets, Mr. Mayweather, nor yours, Ms. Sato. And I don’t plan to begin.”

“So, Doc, what you’re saying is that the odds are against Hoshi and I becoming parents, but the odds improve if we make some judicious choices about partners.” Travis summed up their situation succinctly, thought Phlox.

“The question that you must answer is how important is becoming a parent?”

Hoshi published her memoirs then began writing a series of romance novels that featured heroines who chose to be childless. The heroines had passionate encounters with starship captains who on the last page began long voyages of exploration, leaving them alone and crying with their memories.

Travis became the youngest captain in Starfleet history, taking command of the NX-04 as Archer predicted. Hoshi was his special guest for the commissioning ceremony. They spent his last two days on Earth in bed together. When he returned from his five-year mission, their son was four years and three months old.

==

“On behalf of the King and the people of the United Kingdom, I congratulate you.” Princess Patricia pinned the medal on the breast of Reed’s mess kit, which was resplendent with medals from a dozen other countries.

“Thank you, ma’am,” was accompanied by his best bow, taught to him by an elderly aunt who had expectations for the lad that far outweighed his station in life. Reed smiled ruefully, wishing she had lived to see this day.

An equerry appeared at his side, “This way, sir. Her Royal Highness will join you shortly.”

Reed wondered idly if the man was capable of a pun, but dismissed the idea as quickly as it had arrived.

Hayes was waiting for him. “Congratulations, Malcolm.”

“It was kind of you to lend moral support,” Reed offered in return.

“My pleasure,” if you only knew, Hayes finished silently.

The equerry who had escorted Malcolm to the reception room in which he found Colonel Hayes had reappeared. “Colonel Hayes?”

“Yes,” he confirmed.

“There are some general officers of the British Army who would like to make your acquaintance. Right this way, sir.”

Neither Hayes, nor Reed knew that they were never to meet again. The equerry acting on orders culled the Colonel from the herd. The report from Phlox had contained information about the MACO that did not please the parents of the Princess. The Princess, who had rejected all previous suitors, had set her cap for the dour Armoury officer. To increase the chance that the man would accept her proposal of marriage, they eliminated the one person that they believed would complicate the situation, the Colonel.

Lieutenant Commander Reed never made it to MACO weapons training school. When Malcolm told the Princess that he was saving himself for the right woman, instead of scoffing, she demonstrated in a graphic manner that she was that woman. Eight months later the Royal Family announced that the Princess and her husband had been delivered of a baby boy. The heir to the throne was one month premature, but doing well according to all reports.

==

Sheila Farnsworth got her scoop and Archer too. Negotiations were tricky, but in the end both parties believed they had made the best deal possible. In exchange for not revealing T’Pol’s heritage and informing the world that aliens had been living among them for generations, Sheila was the first to tell the world that Jonathan Archer had accepted the position of Ambassador to Vulcan.

Sheila also accepted Jonathan’s proposal of marriage. Mrs. Ambassador Archer had more prestige, greater perks and required less effort than the profession of journalist. Archer accepted the Ambassadorship, believing it would keep him in close proximity to T’Pol. Sheila, he knew, was pragmatic and to maintain her position would turn a blind eye to momentary indiscretions. Sheila died knowing that Archer had never strayed. She also knew that the only reason her husband had sidestepped temptation was that T’Pol did not return to Vulcan or Earth in Sheila’s lifetime.

==

“Alice, I know you are in there!” Trip’s slurred and angry shouts were accompanied by fists pounding on the door to her father’s hotel room. “Let me in, Alice. Let me in!”

T’Pol searched her father’s face. He merely shrugged. When she opened the door, a thoroughly dishevelled, dirty, hung over, jealous, and love sick Human tumbled into the room. He landed in a heap at T’Pol’s feet.

Mestral rose from the sofa to stand beside his daughter. Trip aware only that he had found T’Pol, remained on the floor gathering what little strength he had left for what he believed was going to be a fight with a rival for T’Pol.

T’Pol knelt beside him to place a cool hand on his blazing brow. “Father, I would like you to meet the man I have vowed to remain faithful to until the day he dies.”

Mestral’s eyebrow rose sceptically. To T’Pol it was like she was looking in a mirror.

“We’ve come all this way to visit your father?”

Trip struggled to his feet. He offered to shake Mestral’s hand, but withdrew it, when he realized that he was about to compound an already insurmountable number of faux pas with one more.

On his feet and finally able to focus, he peered at the man who begat T’Pol. What little clarity he had gained was lost when he noted that her father did not have pointed ears and upswept eyebrows.

“He is…” Mestral searched for a neutral description, “Unkempt.”

“He cleans up very nicely, father.” She supported her swaying beau with an arm. “I know he has not made a positive first impression, but that is, in part, due to the sedative that I put in his champagne.”

“You slipped him a mickey?” Mestral began to chuckle. “It would appear that you misjudged the dosage.”

“Does he have a profession,” provoked a response from the man in question.

“I am totally without prospects, sir.” Too late Trip realized that the truth might not have been welcome by T’Pol’s father. He tried to correct his mistake, “I do have a trade, sir.”

“A trade?” Mestral was appalled. “You have vowed to be faithful to a tradesman?” He had not exiled his child on Vulcan so that she could return to Earth and consort with a tradesman.

T’Pol urged Trip into an armchair. The minute his seat touched the cushion he passed out. T’Pol tenderly straightened his shirt and smoothed his hair. Mestral witnessed the Human elements of his daughter’s persona emerge.

“What makes this one unique?” Mestral urged her to sit in another chair, not far from Trip.

“His odd way of speaking.” T’Pol reached out to touch him. “I don’t mean his accent, but the way he communicates.”

“Please explain.” Mestral decided to trust his daughter’s judgment.

“He often asks me to talk dirty to him,” T’Pol noted the disgust on her father’s face, “He doesn’t use the expression the way you have understood it, Father.” T’Pol began to doubt her ability to explain. “When he uses that expression, he is asking me to speak with him of Quantum Mechanics, Newtonian Physics, music, poetry, art, biology – he loves to debate, Father.” T’Pol moved her chair closer to Trip’s. “So we do, talk I mean, for hours, then…” T’Pol placed a kiss on his temple. “Then, Father, he, we…”

“Say no more, daughter, you have communicated the concept.”

T’Pol pressed on, “He said he had a trade. He is the finest astro-engineer in Starfleet. Imaginative, innovative, confident, cunning, but a maverick.”

“Mavericks seldom survive in paramilitary organizations,” Mestral observed.

“Hence his lack of employment,” she conceded.

“What future could you have together?” Mestral was only too aware of how high the odds were stacked against them.

But even the odds can be beaten from time to time.

==

Archer began the gambit by presenting Soval with the Carbon Creek evidence that Sheila had gathered. It was damning. Soval’s career would be buried under the data, if it were released. The Vulcan Ambassador to Earth made a trade for silence with Earth’s Ambassador to Vulcan.

==

The Vulcan Scientific Exploration Vessel, T’Mir, was captained by T’Pol. Her hand-picked crew was the first fully integrated multi-species complement in the Vulcan fleet. Her First Office and Chief Engineer was the illustrious Charles Tucker III. Her security officer was a former MACO Colonel named Hayes. The research vessel was funded unofficially by the Vulcan Science Directorate.

But as Captain T”Pol had chosen an unknown Expanse as the subject, funding was also provided by special interest groups that understood the importance of intelligence gathering, but did not want to be seen to be gathering it.

It was an idyllic and anonymous life for mavericks and beings with secrets.

The End

Continue to Postscript

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

Thanks for the wonderful story...I love the endings, especially for our favorite couple. I love the description "He is..unkempt". Great confession by Trip - no prospects indeed :)

Thanks for a great story and a great ending! It's a nice change to see a female version of a Knight in Shining Armour" she takes charge as Captain of her own ship (her castle), rescues Trip (from his unemployment status by giving him a job aboard her ship), and they live happily ever after! I also like Malcolm's happy ending, looks like he's gonna get pampered too!

I'm glad Travis and Hoshi get to have a kid! It's great to see a happy ending from time to time! Loved this!

What a great ending! I loved the last lines. A triumph!

Gotta Love happy endings. I felt a little sorry for Archer though. Didn't really look as if he was super happy with Sheila. Plus there was never any confrontation between T'Pol and Archer or Archer and Trip. That would have been interesting to see. Great stuff. Please post your next "wave" soon.

Merci.

I admit that I have a postscript - Trip on the T'Mir as T'Pol's "recreation" - totally irreverent - so I've tried to ignore it.

Great(as usual)! Glad to see you have a postscript. Hoping you follow TnT and Hayes into the unknown Expanse for several adventures. Thanks again for such wonderful stories. LTT

Thank you for this unexpected, but most wonderful ending!!!!! I was prepared for every emotional torture, but this is just GREAT! Thanks again! And I´m looking forward to the sequel! *g*

*warm fuzzies*
I liked this story, but... I was left wanting more! I wanted to see a confrontation between Trip and Archer, and for them to resolve their differences. Plus, a little more info on Mestral would have been nice. I can understand why he chose to live on the moon, but why he sent his wife and daughter away was unclear. Over all, it was a lovely story. Thank you!

BTW, did I miss something? The description suggests that T'pol meets her father and Trip's.
Trip's father and grand father were mentioned, but I don't recall T'pol meeting him. I'm going back to read the story from start to finish.
I love this! You are a wonderful story teller!

PK - regarding Trip's father...the summary actually reads trips...as in trip over something - therefore no capital T to indicate it was Trip's father. I know a bad pun...Sorry...

Mestral didn't choose to live on the moon! In my mind T'Pol sent him a "publisher's clearing house" prize - a round trip - first class excursion to spaces best casino's. A package affair that enabled her to know exactly when and where he would be on a certain date. By appearing to win a prize, the Vulcan authorities would not put two and two together - My T'Pol has an appreciation for subterfuge!