Someone Was Seeking Permission to Enter

Someone was Seeking Permission to Enter

By Aquila

Rating: G, Friendship, general
Spoilers: Post-Cogenitor, but before Regeneration
Summary: What happened after Trip left the Captain’s ready room at the end of Cogenitor.

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Someone was seeking permission to enter. Trip ignored the chirp. He swiveled the chair on which he sat, dropping his feet to the floor. He had been resting his heels on the desk as he leaned back in the chair.

The door chirped again. He sighed. Who ever it was knew that he was inside. The sound of his harmonica penetrated the door and floated in the hallway. He knew, because T’Pol had mentioned his harmonica playing. The only way she could have known was hearing the sound when she passed in the hall. He had never played it in public, at least, not wittingly.

Trip put his head in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. The door chirped again. “Who is it?”

“Subcommander T’Pol.”

Trip looked up. His arms fell to his sides. T’Pol? Had she come to reprimand or exact punishment? “Enter.”

T’Pol stepped across the threshold and came to a halt. She restrained her right eyebrow from lifting in surprise. Commander Tucker stood at attention. The commander had never, in the privacy of his personal quarters, paid the respect her rank was due. T’Pol peered at his face. Was he mocking her?

“At ease, Commander.”

T’Pol watched as he responded to the order, spreading his feet apart the width of his shoulders and placing his hands behind his back, where they remained clasped. Commander Tucker kept his eyes forward, gaze held on an invisible horizon line. The situation was worse than she had imagined.

The plan she had devised en route to his quarters had to be revised. She needed time to ponder her options, so she circled the cabin, keeping her back to the commander. He did not move, staring straight ahead, expressionless.

Still processing, she stopped to look out the view port at the stars rushing by. It was a sight that never failed to thrill her, although she would deny the emotion she should be accused of feeling-- if he accused her of feeling it. He did not. She turned. He was still standing at ease, his back ramrod straight. She stole a glance at his clasped hands resting in the small of his back. They were still.

T’Pol could not remember the last time she had seen the Commander completely at rest. Charles Tucker was never still. Something on or in his person was always moving. She often thought of him as the molten lava that oozed from the substrata on Vulcan, glowing with life, warm with fire, ever moving. Sometimes he was the newly erupted lava that poured relentlessly, slowing as it cooled. Even the heat on the surface of Vulcan was not warm enough to keep the lava liquid, although it never completely cooled. Lava that had been on the surface acquired a crust that when broken revealed a smoldering centre. What was smoldering beneath the surface of Commander Tucker’s formality?

As the First Officer, she was responsible for the well being and discipline of the crew. She understood that the manner in which she dealt with the situation created by Commander Tucker could have serious ramifications that could jeopardize their working relationship. Her actions could jeopardize the efficiency of Engineering and the relationship, working and personal, between the Captain and his Chief Engineer.

Trip was deep within himself, reliving memories that had lain dormant for decades. He was capable of stillness, when his mind was engaged on a problem. His crew had come to recognize the signs. The first to notice would pass the word that Commander Tucker was not to be disturbed. He was thinking. They waited with bated breath, anticipating the result of his ruminations. When he had worked the thought through, inevitably there was work for each of them. They looked forward to the extra shifts and long hours, because they knew that whatever had occurred to him would cause the astro-engineering texts to be written once again. As he made history, so did they.

“Commander?” T’Pol had decided. “Commander?”

“Sorry, Subcommander, I was thinking.”

Usually, when he gave her an opening like that she could find a twinkle in his eyes. Not this time. Would she be able to repair the damage to his self-confidence as readily as he repaired the warp engines?

“Please be seated, Commander.”

T’Pol’s economic hand gesture that accompanied her command was uncharacteristic. Trip was instantly on red alert. Warily he sat in the desk chair. T’Pol seated herself on his bunk. She could hear the rapid beating of his heart. Her own constricted momentarily, a weakness she would reflect upon later, in the privacy of her own quarters.

“What do you know about human neurobiology, Commander?”

Trip was as flummoxed as if she had asked him to recite the teachings of Surak word for word.

“Just what ya get in compulsory human biology courses at the Academy.” For a moment the irrepressible Charles Tucker III bubbled to the surface, “You aren’t plannin’ to ask the Doc to give me a lobotomy, are ya?”

For a moment T’Pol was puzzled. When she had processed his reference, she pursed her lips in disapproval. “That archaic procedure has been banned for centuries. Doctor Phlox would never acquiesce to such a request.”

Trip smiled ruefully, “So ya thought about it, Subcommander?”

T’Pol opened her mouth to respond, but was stopped by his words and gestures.

“I know. I know. You advised me not to get involved in the relationship between the Cogenitor and the male and female.” Trip paused to swallow his pride. “You could have ordered me not to, but you didn’t. You gave me the benefit of the doubt and I let you down. I’m sorry, T’Pol.”

Would he never cease to amaze her? The mercurial combination of impulse and logic that was Charles Tucker had blind-sided her once again. How could he see this situation so clearly, and fail to see the danger of his prior actions?

“Ya didn’t come here to give me a neurobiology lesson, did ya, Subcommander?”

“Actually I did.”

It was her turn to amaze him and not for the first time. He knew the Starfleet regulations as well as she did. She had many options from demotion to a reprimand in his personal file, but a neurobiology lesson, wasn’t one of them. Dumbfounded, he waited for her explanation.
“My people are taught to fault humans for their emotional responses, but what we are not told is that emotion is imperative to the human ability to think.”

While T’Pol gathered her thoughts to continue her explanation, Trip looked at her skeptically. He felt as if she had feinted with her right, and was about to follow through with a hard left to his jaw. He mentally prepared to duck, while waiting silently for her to continue.

‘For humans, an absence of emotion is known to make logical and reflective thinking impossible. An excess of emotion can overwhelm logic and reflection.”

Trip thought he had glimpsed a rueful smile flitting across her lips with that last statement. “Your point is that for humans a balance between emotion and logic is required for effective thinking.”

“Quite right, Commander Tucker.” T’Pol waited.

“You want to know whether my unforgivable error has taught me the value of balancing my emotions and intellect?”

T’Pol nodded. “Your ability to engage your emotions and intellect is what makes you an excellent problem-solving engineer.”

“But what makes me an excellent engineer,” he emphasized excellent, “could make me ineffective in a command position?”

He had zeroed in on his personal dichotomy, with the directness she had come to identify as one of his essential qualities.

“What are we going to do about that, T’Pol?” The pain of regret mingled with hope in his eyes.

“We,” she emphasized the word, “will work together to find a balance between emotion and logic.”

END

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The series continues in Indeed

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

Coolio! Tell me this is just the beginning of a looooooooong and hopefully romantic series. Or at the very least a sequel!

AH that was so sweet!

This was excellent! Well written and succinct with a complete grasp on the characters and complex interaction of emotions and introspective thinking that raises this piece to the level of the sublime. I loved it. Thank you so much for a well thought out and crafted piece. Ali D :~)

Well done. Very nicely written, and I loved the equating of Trip's character to that of molten lava.
T'Pol's characterisation was spot-on, and I'd like to see this developed into a longer story, where they continue to work closely together to help ease his guilt.
Thanks.

Thank you for your encouragement. The writing standards on this site are high. It was difficult to find the courage to submit.

Hmmmmm I like. Very nice. Very good.

Well written. It shows that whild T'Pol does not necessarily show her emotions she realizes that humans need emotions. I agree with a prior reviewer this should be the beginning of a series.

Cool story, I can't wait to read more.

I knew there should have been more to that episode... and you did it, great job

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