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The Final...-Pt. 12The Final Mission Part Twelve by Aquila Rating: PG-13 == The next morning, on Trip’s breakfast tray, Phlox had placed a disk fulfilling his promise. Trip chewed slowly, eyeing the disc with suspicion. Signing the papers to protect her legacy had been easy compared to watching the disk. The future and its implications cast a dark pall over the day. He was roiling with emotions, envy, jealousy, regret, grief, desire, and doubt. None was appropriate accompaniment for the last message from his beloved. The depth of his love for her had been a source of constant amazement to him. He had borne the long periods of separation easily, because to Trip she was never far away. Their telepathy heightened his senses, creating indelible shared memories that he relived vividly. Her voice would resound in his head. He could recall her scent whenever the mood struck. He could, but the gift was fading. “There, I am facing my greatest fear, Darlin’ - losin’ ya forever.” Trip clutched the disk. “Even though you’ve been gone nearly three months, I never really believed it, because you were as close as my mind.” He slipped the disk in the reader and switched it on. “Phlox has not played a cruel joke on you, Charles. This ravaged face is mine. Do you understand now why I would not come home to you? I could not let you see me like this.” Trip pushed pause. He dashed for the head, reaching it in time to heave the remains of his breakfast into the toilet. == “Does he know?” Yuris asked Phlox. The men were changing diapers after a satisfactory feeding. “I will tell him, before he leaves.” Phlox cuddled the oldest twin. “I think our benefactor needs time to process the past twenty-four hours before being subjected to another surprise.” “He is a profoundly generous man.” Yuris laid his charge on the weight scale. “I am pleased that he will be part of my sons’ lives.” “Professor Tucker’s belief in the essential goodness of beings has been tested,” remarked his doctor. “Yet his optimism rebounds after each assault. T’Pol chose well.” == Eyes red, face damp from the water that he had splashed on it, he pushed play. “I ask your forgiveness for desiring to live so much that I accepted Yuris’ help. You will have guessed by now that I had meant my last gift to you to be a child of our own. I failed you. But in the failure there was birth.” Trip blew his nose. “Not merely, the twins. Aren’t they beautiful? You may have noticed that they have not been named. Yuris and I wanted your approval. The older one will be Charles, the younger Tucker, if you agree.” “Damn.” Trip cursed at the screen. “As I was saying, in failure there was birth – birth of a new era in the life of the Institute. If you are watching this, then you have agreed to the Logon conditions. I apologize for the mystery and the secrecy and the inconvenience, I wanted you to be free to choose. Every step of the way, you had the option to refuse. I knew you would not let me down, Charles. Ever faithful, even in death.” Trip turned off the device. “Ever faithful, even in death? Oh, T’Pol you never really new me, did ya? I was tempted to accept Ami’s offer right there and then. Can ya forgive me, T’Pol?” He punched play. “Has Ami fallen in love with you?” Trip flushed with embarrassment. “She will you know, the minute she meets you as I did.” Trip rewound the disk slightly the pushed play. “Has Ami fallen in love with you?” Trip flushed with embarrassment. “She will you know, the minute she meets you as I did.” He paused the disk. “In thirty years of marriage, ya never once told me ya loved me, T’Pol. Ya showed me, more times than I can count, but ya never said it. Thank you.” He blew a kiss at the screen. “What do ya mean ya fell in love with me the day we met?” He pushed play, “You were belligerent and spiteful when the Captain introduced us. Deliberately provoking me by offering to shake hands, when you knew Vulcans abhorred touching strangers.” Trip recalled the incident vividly. The memory was always accompanied by regret at his behaviour. “I should have hated you. Instead I was overpowered by your life force, a unique combination of testosterone and intelligence that was irresistible. You were completely unaware of its effect and that was my undoing.” “Ya made me wait a long time before any undoing got done, Darlin’.” “Consider Ami’s offer. She could give you a daughter, who would become the mate of one of my boys. We would live on in our grandchildren. The choice is yours, Charles, but be assured that Ami would cherish you as I do.” The message ended. == Phlox had cleaned the Dung Beetle crate, adding a blanket for warmth and a bottle of bourbon for old time’s sake. “Your transportation awaits, Professor.” Phlox gestured with a bow in the direction of the crate. “Are ya sure we can trust the captain of that transport?” Trip settled into the crate, wrapping himself in the blanket and clutching the bottle. “He was the Attorney General’s first sponsored male. Her sponsorship gave him the prestige to capture the attention of a well placed female in the transport business. She made him her Primary Male. He will do anything that Ami asks of him and do it discreetly,” explained Phlox. The doctor dropped the lid, and then remembered one final reassurance, so he lifted the lid once more. “Once you are in free space, he will release you from the crate. You will be his guest. All the best mod cons. When he drops you at Risa, you will reclaim your identity as one of the universe’s finest astro-engineers in need of recreation. After a suitable length of time, you will return to Earth via the standard shuttle service.” “Thank ya, Phlox, for all you’ve done for T’Pol and me.” Trip stuck his hand out of the box. Phlox gravely shook it. “By the way, Professor,” he asked, “Did T’Pol ever tell you the official name of the Institute.” “Can’t recall that she did.” “The Charles Tucker III Institute of Applied Science.” Phlox was pleased to see his friend nonplussed. “On Logon II, naming something after a Prime Male is the highest and most public honour a female can bestow on him.” Phlox snapped the lid shut. End of Part 12 Have a comment to make about this story? Do so in the Trip Fan Fiction forum at the HoTBBS! One person has made commentslove this story but i was stunned in the previous chapter when trip is supposed to be in deep mourning for tpol and he just ups and kisses that woman. |