An Excerpt from Starfleet Engineering

A chapter from Starfleet Engineering: Warp Cores and Quantum Leaps, by Captain G. LaForge (Ret.)

By Aquila

House of Tucker, Summer 2003 Fanfiction Contest Entry
Category: Alternate Reality/Mirror Universe
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Paramount owns Star Trek, Enterprise and Trip, but not Connor Trinneer’s soul.
Title:

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The title of this chapter, Tuckered Out, is a Starfleet engineering colloquialism meaning obsolete. For example, when Enterprise NX-01’s Warp Five engine was replaced by one capable of obtaining Warp Seven, it was tuckered out.

When someone tells you to tucker down, I bet you a warp core to a transporter that person served on a starship. Tucker down means review a problem, and find a solution, when you have tried absolutely everything else. When a Chief Engineer orders his or her crew to tucker down, it is a call to meet the highest standards of astro-engineering.

Tripped up is another expression Starfleet engineers use from time to time. Usually when something has gone wrong, because we were so involved in some aspect of ship’s business that we overlooked the obvious in engineering. Tripped up acknowledges that we are fallible beings.

Trippin’. Maybe you have used the expression yourself? Did you know it was Starfleet issue? When something’s trippin’ the situation can’t get much better than it is.

Every one of the “trip” expressions can be traced to the performance of one trippin’ engineer, Charles “Trip” Tucker III, whose illustrious career began with the first warp engine trials. As a young lieutenant, he schemed with Commanders Archer and Robinson to keep the warp program going despite severe opposition by Vulcan observers and Starfleet Command.

His career inspired generations of youngsters to become astro-engineers. I was one of them. Every day he was in space warp theory and engine design textbooks were tuckered out. His autobiography written as he was purging his plasma injectors at the nadir of his career is still mandatory reading for engineering cadets and anyone else who loves a great adventure story.

Early on, it was said that his experience as the first human male to become pregnant would be his only claim to fame. His critics did not know the man. His deceptive Southern charm hid an intense and intuitive intelligence and a passion for engineering that overrode everything.

Trip Tucker was a warrior and a pilot of unsurpassed excellence. He had an ear for music and eye for visual images. Starfleet offered him a command of his own, but he turned it down to accept a position as engineering professor at the Academy. Throughout his career, no matter the assignment, he worked to improve the design of Starfleet’s warp engines.

While researching this book, I discovered that there were dark periods in his life. The two years he spent in the Delphic Expanse are still classified. His reports are for the eyes only of Starfleet admirals. The Institution for Wellness in Everglades, Florida, where he recuperated after Enterprise NX-01 returned from the Expanse, made his file available to me. For 18 months Tucker awoke screaming, drenched in sweat. Sedatives were prescribed at night. His days were spent alternating personal therapy with group sessions.

Another dark period occurred during his sixth decade. Despite exhaustive research, I could not find record of his activities for six months during his 61st year. His disappearance followed the announcement of the death of Ambassador T’Pol of Vulcan, with whom he had served on Enterprise thirty years before.

One obituary included a statement from Tucker, the last public mention that I was able to locate, before he reappeared six months later. I quote, “Ambassador T’Pol sacrificed everything to further understanding between the people of Vulcan and Humankind. She will be sorely missed. I extend condolences to the people of Vulcan and those who were privileged to call her friend.”

His return from self-imposed exile marked the beginning of the most productive period in his career. He wrote his definitive engineering text, still read to this day. He conducted a speaking tour of the aligned planets, developing a network of engineering contacts that eventually became the Interplanetary Society of Engineers, of which he was first president.

Charles Tucker III did not limit his engineering vision to the nuts and bolts of his business. He envisioned a universe where technology was shared to better all beings, while adhering to the Prime Directive. Admiral Jonathan Archer, in his eulogy, said this of his former Chief Engineer: “He tripped up from time to time, because he never lost sight of his humanity. He cared, he shared and he erred. May we all be so lucky to live as he did, with an open heart. His was a trippin’ life.”

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Four of you have made comments

Excellent. I'm not sure why you put this in the AU/MU category - it is fine drama! Very poignant. I found myself very sad about T'Pol's death and Trip's reaction to that event.

Love the way your wove together TNG and Enterprise, and two remarkable engineers! Thanks.

This was an unusual perspective but comforting to think that, in this overview at least, the dark periods in Trip's life do not end up being what defines it. That he goes on in his earnest commitment to uphold the vision of starfleet while extending that vision to the betterment of other species in sharing the technology that could better the lives of all. That is so much an echo of his inate compassion. Love that. Well done, Ali D :~)

I really enjoyed getting a future perspective like this and it's good to know that the boy keeps up with the engineering. I'm deeply curious, though - what was Trip doing for those missing six months? Did T'Pol send him on a final mission?

Nice to know that Trip made a valuable contribution to the Starfleet lexicon. And nice to see that Geordi's getting work, too.