The Final...-Pt. 11

The Final Mission

Part Eleven

by Aquila

Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Paramount owns the Star Trek universe.
Summary: A sequel to Starfleet Engineering
Category: Alternate Universe

==

“There is only one instance in Logonian Law which allows a male to own property. The Primary Male may inherit the estate of the woman who has given him status.”

She opened her mouth to continue, when Trip interrupted. “As long as there are no female heirs, like daughters, cousins, mothers, aunts etc.”

“You are every bit as intelligent as T’Pol claimed, I see.”

“T’Pol bragged about me?” Trip mentally kicked himself when he realized he had spoken out loud.

“Her praise was high and constant.” The Attorney General played with a wisp of hair that had escaped. “I envied her the pride she took in you.”

“If the babies had been girls, Yuris and I would be arguing over who is the guardian of their property until they came of age.” Trip prompted.

“Actually, there would have been no argument, for the law is quite clear. You as the legal father would have been trustee of the estate.”

“It’s all about the X chromosome.” Trip muttered under his breath.

“So where do my sons stand legally?” Yuris asked.

“The boys are entitled to a portion of T’Pol’s estate, but Charles will inherit the bulk to do with as he sees fit.”

Phlox spoke, “Which brings us back to the Institute. Under the law, to settle the estate, we would have to sell its assets, essentially close it down.”

“Ya can’t do that,” cried Trip, “The Institute was T’Pol’s life’s work.”

“I’m pleased that you came to that conclusion on your own, Charles.” The Attorney General turned to Yuris and Phlox. “Gentlemen, would you excuse us? There is an option – a legal option – which I would like to offer Charles.”

“Of course, ma’am.” They left the room, throwing a look at Trip over their shoulders before pulling the door closed behind them.

“Is this option you mentioned, one of which T’Pol was aware?” Trip felt as if she were manipulating him from beyond.

“Yes.”

The Attorney General stood. She held out her hand. “Shall we walk, Charles?”

“If you insist,” he replied warily.
==

“Charles, as Attorney General it is imperative that I am perceived to uphold our laws without favour.” She led him through the institute by the hand.

“I respect that,” he pulled her to a stop, “And I thank you for the accommodations that you made for my wife.”

“Your wife,” she moved into his social space, but he held his ground, “T’Pol tried to explain the concept to me, but I did not believe her.”

“What didn’t you believe?” Unthinking he withdrew the sticks that held, his hands capturing the cascade, letting the silk fall through his fingers.

“That a male should pledge allegiance to one female, forsaking all others, has been known on Logon. But we have never known a male to publicly deny his position and status, while continuing to support the female who chose him.”

He released her hair, “My social standing had nothing to do with my partnership with T’Pol. As a matter of fact, where I come from marryin’ T’Pol was the fastest way to lose any social standing I had.”

“She mentioned it, but I didn’t believe her.” She tugged at his hand, impatient to continue.

“As a matter of fact, by marryin’ me and makin’ it public, T’Pol would have lost all her social standin’ too.”

“But you are a credit to your gender.” The Attorney General was shocked.

“I think that might be a compliment?” Trip grinned. “But then again?”

They had arrived at the door to the garden. The Attorney General punched a code into an access panel on the wall. “I have made it impossible for anyone else to enter the garden while we are in it.”

“The moonlight becomes ya, ma’am.” Trip heard the words, before he knew he had thought them.

“My name is Ami.”

Instinctively, Trip knew that giving him permission to use her name was a major concession. “I’m honoured to speak your private name, Ami.”

“Do you know what T’Pol thought was your most attractive characteristic?”

“T’Pol wasn’t one for speaking compliments. She preferred to demonstrate her pleasure in my company.” Trip grinned wickedly, unsure if the universal translator would handle the subtlety of his reply.

“It was not your sense of humour, Charles.”

Trip made a mental note to tell Hoshi Sato about the Logon UT. Ami understood exactly what he had meant.

“She said your most attractive quality was that you were completely unaware of the impact of your beauty on females of any species.”

T’Pol gossiped with the Logon Attorney General about his sex appeal? Son of a gun, she bragged about it. Trip was speechless for a nanosecond.

“T’Pol was rather fond of me, so you might forgive her exaggeration.”

They had come to a halt on the bridge over the stream, leaning against the railing, watching the moon on the water.

“She did not exaggerate, although I admit that until I met you, I thought she had.”

“I am flattered, but what has this got to do with the twins, the Institute and the Department of the Attorney General of Logon?”

“In order to keep your inheritance operating, the Institute is in need of a well positioned female sponsor. Someone - who would let the Institute continue to meet T’Pol’s vision - while maintaining the perception that the Institute operated according to the laws of Logon II.”

Trip turned so that he leaned on one elbow, “Saying there was such a female on this planet, what would ‘maintainin’ the perception entail?”

“One: You would become the female’s Primary Male in name only. Two: the male staff would become her sponsored males, in name only. Three: the boys would become her wards, entitled to the education and privileges of native sons.”

“In name only?” Trip reiterated.

“That was the original offer, yes.” Ami replied. For the first time she failed to look him in the eye.

“The original offer?” Trip searched for the hidden agenda.

“You haven’t asked who the willing female is?” She countered.

“T’Pol would not have been so forthcoming if she hadn’t thought it was to be you.” He hadn’t known the truth of the statement until he spoke the words.

She confirmed his statement with a nod.

“I am open to negotiation, Councilor.”

“A female with my ambition can progress no further politically without a Primary Male.” Ami wrung her hands. “I saw this arrangement as an opportunity for each of us to get what we wanted.”

“Sounds as if you wanted the paperwork, without the emotional obligations? What my people would call a marriage of convenience.”

“That is the phrase that T’Pol and I used to describe the situation.”

“Without committing myself to anything, explain your unexpected reluctance.”

“I would prefer to show you.” She drew his head down. When their lips met, they became the only two beings in the universe. She had made her point.

Trip broke the embrace, shaken to the core of his being.

“It is the tradition of my people for a Primary Male who has lost his female in death to mourn for one year. No legal proceedings are permitted against him, or the estate, are permitted. No female may make a public offer of position and rank. His grief is respected. He may accept private offers that come into effect at the end of the period of mourning.”

She stroked his cheek, “My offer made privately, without obligation, is this. One year from this day, return to Logon to mark the end of your grief and the beginning of your time as my Primary Male. Not merely in name, but in every way permitted under the law.”

“What was the original offer?” He wanted to know all his options.

“That we sign a contract tonight making you my Primary Male of convenience. The children live here with Yuris, the Institute continues, and you return to Earth to oversee the Institute’s source of funding. The boys will inherit their share as T’Pol’s legitimate heirs on reaching the age of majority.”

“May I suggest a third option?” He lifted her hair to watch the moonlight play across it as it fell.

“I welcome it.”

“We sign the papers tonight. I leave the way I came, anonymously. You make it known that the paperwork was conducted by courier. If however, I appear a year from today, in person, here on Logon, you will know that I have accepted willingly the terms of your first offer.”

“By failing to appear, I will understand that you have declined my first offer and that the original arrangement stands.” She swallowed hard.

Trip nodded yes.

“Agreed, Charles.”

End of Part 11

Continue to Part 12

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Four of you have made comments

C'est magnifique. It's kinda sad and depressing at points, but in that wholesome 'lost love' kind of way. Keep up the good work.

Keep these chapters coming - I'm really into this story now. And again, even with T'pol dead, she's so present in the story. Just wondering, though, how long it had been since Trip and T'pol had been together since he seemed to be attracted to Ami way too easily, in my opinion.

FYI Classic
Trip had not seen T'Pol for more than a year, when he learned of her death.

Vulcans and future economics/inheritance! I love this! Keep it coming.

I, too, wonder what is going on with Ami.