Sins of the Father - Chapter 4

The Sins of the Father

by emtb319

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Paramount owns it all. I just write.

Genre: Drama

Summary: Archer must face his actions in the expanse. T/T Summer Season 3.5 challenge-Plot 2.

Archive: Yes, but email me first.

A/N: Sorry, ShouldKnowBetter, for changing your synopsis a little bit. I stayed within the general area you wanted, I hope. Thanks to myst123 for betaing this while Jenna is on vacation. Thanks everyone who commented on my other chapters. Believe it or not, your comments made a difference as I wrote this story. BTW, I used a summary court marital as my outline for this chapter. Remember, constructive criticism is always welcome. Please email it to famspanish@yahoo.com. This one’s the longest so far. Enjoy!

~~~~~

Chapter 4

“Maybe I should just plead guilty and get it over with. Who knows, maybe they’ll actually kick me out of Starfleet. Hell, after everything I did, I deserve that and more. What the hell was I thinking?,” mumbled Captain Archer as he walked home. A few passers-by saw him, but they did not say anything. He hung his head low, shaking it while he mumbled to himself. A sorry sight.

The walk to his apartment seemed too long. He kept seeing her face, his great-granddaughter. So young, so full of life, now dead. Another casualty of his actions in the expanse. Time and again, he pushed his ethics aside to save Earth, convincing himself it was to save his people. He saved billions of lives, but at what cost.

Single-handedly, he proved Soval has been right for years. We weren’t ready. Would the Xindi attack have happened anyway? Maybe, maybe not. We have no way of knowing. Soval must be in his glory, he thought. He’ll be sitting next to the commodore saying how right he was three years ago, and who am I to argue with him. After what seemed like an eternity of walking, he made it home. Porthos greeted him at the door, but he was wallowing in his grief too much to notice the dog. Jon plopped down on his couch, clutched a pillow and cried. Porthos jumped up on the couch, placed his head on Jon’s lap and lay down.

Jon awoke a few hours later to the sound of an incoming message. He pushed aside the pillow, waking up Porthos, and rose to answer it.

“Hi, Cap’n,” said Trip. “Sent a message to Lorian earlier and he got it. If ya still want to talk to him, T’Pol’s father is more than willing to help.”

“Thanks Trip. I’ll think of something to say to him, and I’ll give you the message later on.”

“Ya alright cap’n?” Trip could see Archer’s face was flushed and swollen and his eyes bloodshot. Probably from crying, Trip thought.

“No. I just need time.”

“Been there before. Listen, if ya need someone to talk to…”

“You can guarantee you’ll be the first one called,” Jon said finishing Trip’s thought. Trip smiled at him before ending the transmission. Jon looked like hell. Trip turned to T’Pol.

“He looks like shit.” It took T’Pol a moment to understand what he was trying to say, because she was still trying to learn all of his axioms.

“He appeared to have been crying,” she answered. Trip took her into an embrace. His own emotions were getting out-of-control.

“What are we going to do? In 10 years, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him cry. The situation’s really hitting him hard. I’m afraid he’ll give up. He’s a damn good captain who did the impossible,” he said into her shoulder.

“Perhaps you should go to him Trip. He needs a friend right now.” Trip looked up at her.

“You always did give good advice.” With that, they kissed and he left.

-

After Trip cut off the transmission, Jon sat in front of his monitor for a moment. He had to face Lorian. If anything, he had to thank him for helping the Illyrians. Lorian fixed one of his mistakes for him.

“Computer begin recording.

“Lorian, I don’t know if you want to hear my voice right now, but I needed to contact you. First, I want to thank you for helping the Illyrians. That was one of my too many mistakes I’ve made over the past year.

“I’m sorry about Karyn. I only knew her for a short while, but she was my blood. I killed her, because I had to make an impulsive decision to save Earth.

"Now, I am being court martialed by Starfleet, and I only have one more day to prepare. Admiral Forrest and I cannot come up with a defense except I did it all to save Earth. Unfortunately, Starfleet may not want to hear that. I was wrong, so wrong, with so many things. I tossed aside all of my ethics and set Earth back. I never realized I had such a dark side. Before I knew it, I was making more and more questionable decisions, and I couldn’t stop. I had to save Earth.

“I can’t see them ever letting me command a ship again. They’d be fools to give me Enterprise back. Truthfully, I don’t deserve it. I deserve to be knocked down to ensign, scrubbing floors for what’s left of my Starfleet career.

“I am so sorry Lorian. You should never have been put into a position to correct my mistakes. I keep seeing Karyn’s face whenever I close my eyes. She was my great-granddaughter and now she’s dead because of my command decisions.

“I hoped you’d made it through the subspace corridor, but I didn’t have time to search for you. We didn’t see you come out, and we did not have enough time to wait. If we didn’t make the Xindi council meeting, Earth would be long gone. I wanted to get to know all of you, especially Karyn. Now, I’ll never get that chance.

“If Starfleet doesn’t crucify me, I have to decide if I can command a ship again. Right now, I don’t see how I can do it. I’ve made too many bad judgment calls and everything is uncertain.

“I hope I make it through the next day in one piece.

“Safe travels Lorian.

“Computer end recording.”

Jon put his head down on his desk. He wanted to cry, but there were no tears left in him. When his door bell chimed, he rose to answer it.

“Hi Trip. Come in.”

“Ya look like hell Jon. I figured ya needed someone to be here right now.”

“I do, even though I didn’t want to admit it” Jon said. He motioned for Trip to follow him into the kitchen. Jon grabbed two beers out of the refrigerator and handed one to Trip. They sat down at the table. There was an uneasy silence between the men.

“Jon, ya know we’re all standing by you, right? We did what we had to do; if we didn’t, we’d all be dead right now,” Trip said, breaking the silence.

“I know Trip and that’s how I keep justifying it all, but I killed Karyn.”

“Ya don’t believe that do you?” Jon only nodded his head. “She died in an engineering accident. They happen. He’ll if it hadn’t been for you, I would have died in an engineering accident.”

“The accident wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t taken that coil,” Jon said in frustration. “But if I didn’t, Earth would be gone. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.”

“Jon, I know ya wanted to get to know Karyn, especially now we know they made it through the subspace corridor.”

“I finished that message to Lorian. I don’t know if he even wants to talk to me, considering what I did, but it’s worth a shot.”

“Jon, remember, he wanted you to know about Karyn. I know you need time, but you can’t give up. You were the right choice for our mission. Don’t forget that. Name me one person would could have stopped the Xindi and make them our allies.”

“I can’t, but it still doesn’t justify everything I did either.”

“Jon, we did what we had to do. Starfleet can shove it if they don’t like it. They weren’t there.”

“I know, and that’s part of the problem, they weren’t there. Thanks Trip. I needed to talk this out with someone.”

“Anytime. We’re all here for you.”

“I know. Let me get that message. I’ll probably send him another when all is said and done.” Jon left to retrieve the message. When he returned, Trip was ready to leave.

“Call if ya need anything,” said Trip as Jon handed him a PADD.

“I will. Thanks Trip,” he said as they shook hands. Trip turned and left. Now, they just had to get through the court martial.

-

Starfleet Courtroom 0845

Captain Archer and Admiral Forrest walked into the courtroom. It was very small, barely enough room for his senior staff. They were all there, sitting in the back of the room. Jon could see one long table set up in the front of the room with three chairs, and two smaller tables faced that one, with two chairs each. They would sit at the left table, and the prosecutor would sit at the right. Starfleet decided to keep this as simple and quiet as possible. No jury, no press. Commodore Erickson would preside. He would confer with a representative from Starfleet and Ambassador Soval would be there to offer advice, and then Erickson would render a verdict. Admiral Forrest thought it would be best this way.

Jon couldn’t help but to feel like a marked man. He knew he broke ethical codes, and he couldn’t even convince himself that it was all worth it.

“We’re just waiting on the prosecution, and then we’ll get started,” stated Commodore Erickson as he walked to his seat. To his left was Soval, and to his right Commodore Van Buren.

0900 passed, and Jon started to get anxious.

“Where is he,” Jon whispered to Forrest.

“If he’s not here soon, Erickson and Van Buren will issue a recess until this afternoon,” Forrest whispered back.

At 0915 Admiral Hutchins walked into the courtroom.

“You’re late Admiral,” stated Erickson.

“Apologies sir,” he replied. “I’m ready to begin.”

“Captain Archer, a plea of not guilty has been entered for you by Admiral Forrest, is this correct?”

“Yes sir,” Captain Archer answered.

“Let’s begin. Admiral Hutchins you have the floor.”

Admiral Hutchins started in the beginning, why they went into the expanse. According to him, Admiral Forrest should never have allowed Enterprise to go into the expanse. It was the Xindi that attacked Earth, but the source of that information was dubious at best. Enterprise should have stayed close to Earth and its officers sent on various assignments to improve the fleet.

Admiral Forrest quickly objected. Hutchins was not getting to the point and now he was attacking his orders.

“Sustained. Admiral Hutchins get back to the matter at hand. Please remember, we are ruling on the incident with the Illyrian ship, nothing else. Before trial you were instructed to argue with evidence only from this incident. Nothing else.” Admiral Forrest let a smile creep out while the Commodore had his attention elsewhere. Big mistake by the prosecution, Forrest thought. Soval looked rather sternly at Hutchins who was making grave mistakes. Forrest suppressed his smile when Soval turned to look at him.

Admiral Hutchins started into his view of the Illyrian incident.

“While in the expanse, Enterprise came upon a newly warp capable ship in distress. They were not equipped to handle the anomalies in the expanse. The Illyrian captain and Captain Archer agreed to help each other, as Enterprise was badly damaged from a firefight with the Xindi. Enterprise had limited propulsion and was in need of a warp coil. It was the one thing the Illyrians could not spare. Captain Archer tried to convince the Illyrian captain the necessity for the warp coil, but the captain wouldn’t budge. It would take the Illyrians three years to get home to replace the coil.

“Captain Archer was instructed to be at a meeting with Xindi representatives, but without a warp coil, they would never make this meeting. Against the wishes of several senior crew members, he ordered a boarding party to steal the Illyrian’s warp coil.

“Captain Archer left them with enough Trellium D for their hull and provisions for the long ride home. He acted on an impulse without looking around first. He should have called for assistance once he realized that Enterprise was in over its head.”

“Objection, matter at hand,” said Forrest. “Most people saw Enterprise going into the expanse as a suicide mission. They were in over their heads the whole time.

“Sustained.”

“The fact of the matter is, Captain Archer stole from another vessel, a weaker vessel. They were not as technologically advanced and they had sustained major damage from the anomalies in the expanse. He broke the laws that govern him. Starfleet vessels do not steal technology from other races. Captain Archer tried to justify his actions by saying he was doing it to save Earth. Saving Earth or not, he broke the law, and set Earth back. We are now seen, by other races, as people who resort to stealing when we don’t get what we want.

“All of the evidence is before you, Commodores. Captain Archer admits to it in his logs and his own reports. His senior officers confirm his actions in their own reports. Their objections are also in those reports. Lieutenant Reed and First Officer T’Pol stated their disapproval of the captain’s orders, but in the end, they were forced to carry out those orders. The fate of the Illyrian ship is unknown at this time. His actions may have condemned those people to death.”

With that said, Archer leaned to Forrest and whispered that they are alive and well, and now have a functioning warp coil. He can contact the people who helped them.

“Sir, new evidence has been brought to my attention. I wish to have a recess to study it,” said Forrest.

“What new evidence?” inquired Erickson.

“The Illyrian crew may be alive and well.” Erickson and Van Buren spoke to each other in whispers. Soval heard it all, and was showing his displeasure. T’Pol turned to Trip to bring his attention to Soval.

“His control is slipping,” she whispered. Soval saw their interaction. She was practically on his lap, whispering into his ear, and Commander Tucker held onto one of her hands.

“He’s not the one I’m worried about,” Trip replied to her. “They don’t know whether or not they should consider this evidence. They may deem it irrelevant to the trial.” Soval stopped listening to the commodores bicker over whether to allow the new evidence. He was too busy watching Commander Tucker and Sub-Commander T’Pol speak to one another. When he went to turn his head back to the commodores, he saw something flicker on her left hand. On it, an engagement ring. He regained his control quickly before showing his disgust toward her. Vulcans do not wear jewelry as a sign of engagement, but humans do, which means she took one, probably Commander Tucker, as her mate.

“We will recess for a few minutes to discuss whether we will allow the evidence,” stated Commodore Van Buren. Soval, Erickson and Van Buren then stood and walked into an adjacent room.

“You could have told me that before Jon. I would have gotten this trial delayed while we contacted them,” said Forrest.

“I didn’t know how relevant it would be,” Jon replied. “How much does it really matter if they survived? I know what I did was morally wrong, but we had to do something.”

“I know Jon. If they allow this, we need to work fast. How can you contact them?”

“We’ve been going through T’Pol’s father. Sending messages only. We’ve never tried an open comline.”

“This is going to be difficult. Soval won’t like us using a Vulcan ship for this.”

“Of course not. He’ll do anything to stop us from trying this.” The commodores entered the room followed by Soval. Everyone faced front to hear their decision.

“It is out of curiosity we will allow this. Get me proof about their fate by tomorrow morning. We will reconvene at 0900. Dismissed.”

Soval was the first to try to get out of the room. He walked toward Enterprise’s senior officers.

“Sub Commander, a word please.” She got up from her seat and followed him out the door.

“Can I help you, Ambassador? We all have work to do before tomorrow morning.” T’Pol wanted to get to the point quickly. The sooner they were done, the sooner she could contact her father. She did not need to be sneaky about these messages anymore.

“Explain your actions in the courtroom.”

“To what are you referring?”

“You are very close to a certain commander. Whispering in his ear is not logical and is not how a Vulcan should conduct herself.”

“I was making a comment about the trial meant for his ears only. I could not do that if I spoke aloud.”

“Care to share that comment? It is not logical to speak during this kind of hearing.”

“No. As I just stated, it was meant for him to hear only. If there is nothing else, Ambassador, I am needed elsewhere.”

“The Vulcan High Command has requested your return to Vulcan,” Soval started. “I could make it an order. You need time away from these Humans. You’ve been around them too long and have forgotten who you are. You are showing emotion and consorting with a human.”

“I resigned my commission with the High Command. They cannot request or order me to go back to Vulcan. I will consider their request after this trial is over with.” The courtroom door opened as everyone tried to leave. “Good day Ambassador,” T’Pol said. She turned away from him and joined her crewmembers.

Trip and T’Pol joined Archer and Forrest in the admiral’s office.

“T’Pol, can we get a message to them or not?” asked Forrest.

“I can get a message to Lorian’s Enterprise. He may be able to contact the Illyrians,” she replied.

“Let’s try it. Can you do it from here or would you rather try from another location?”

“Your terminal will suffice sir. If it does not work, I can make the transmission from Commander Tucker’s apartment.” Admiral Forrest motioned for her to have a seat in front of the monitor. Within a few minutes, she had connected with her father. He told her where she could find Enterprise. She ended that transmission and began another. Lorian’s face appeared on the screen. Forrest stared at him shocked. He read the report about their descendants, but he didn’t believe all of it until now.

“I can send my reports to you, but Soval might fight them. He still doesn’t think time travel’s possible, right?”

“His opinion has not changed.”

“I will send my reports to you. The Illyrian ship is not too far away. I can speak to them on your behalf, but they may not choose to respond.”

“Any assistance is appreciated. Thank you for your help.”

“Of course. I will send my reports to you and then contact the Illyrians. Shall I have them call to the Commodore’s office?” Admiral Forrest nodded yes. “Please let Captain Archer know I received his message. When his court martial is over, I will speak to him, if he chooses to contact me.”

“I will give him the message. Thank you.” Lorian nodded and cut off the transmission. Within a few minutes, his reports were on Admiral Forrest’s desk.

“He replaced their coil and lost a crew member in the process. Jon, if you knew this, why didn’t you tell me about her?,” asked Forrest.

“Guilt. She died because of my impulsive decision.”

“You’ve suffered enough, Jon. We’ll submit this to Commodore Erickson tomorrow morning. I’ll wait here to see if the Illyrian captain decides to contact us. Hopefully, he’ll be willing to talk to the commodores, but I wouldn’t get our hopes up. Go home. I’m going to review this information. I’ll call you if they decide to contact us.”

-

The Illyrian Ship

“Captain, sir. Captain Lorian of the Enterprise would like to speak with you,” said the Illyrian communications officer.

“Route it to me,” he replied. When Lorian’s image came up he asked, “What can we do for you, Captain?”

“I just received a communiqué from Earth. Apparently, Captain Archer is on trial for his actions against your ship. Not all of their people agree with what he did. They may understand why, but he broke their laws. Starfleet does not steal technology from other people.”

“I hope you’re not asking me to defend his actions.”

“No. The residing parties simply wish to know the fate of your crew. My reports are not good enough for them. More than likely, this will have no bearing on the trial itself. One of the parties does not believe time travel possible, thus I cannot exist to him. It sounds more like human curiosity than anything else.”

“I was tempted to fly this ship back home after you helped us, but our curiosity got the best of us. You showed me the good in some people. We’d like to get to know others like you.”

“The humans are good people. You caught them in their most desperate hour. The Xindi wanted them destroyed. Captain Archer was on a suicide mission when he entered the expanse. No one expected to survive, but he stopped the weapon, and made the Xindi an ally.”

“Commendable, but I’m not sure I want these people to know where we are.”

“Their only high warp capable ship is at Earth. The senior staff of that vessel will not board it until this trial is over. They have a second one, but it is still being built. Thus, they do not have the capability to come out here right now,” answered Lorian. “Unfortunately, time is of the essence right now. They need to hear from you within the next few Earth hours, or they will not consider it at all, and more than likely, consider you dead.”

The Illyrian captain thought for a few minutes. Would it kill him to let these people know he and his people were alive?

“How can I contact them?,” he asked.

“I will transmit instructions. You need to contact Admiral Forrest at Starfleet Command. My instructions will tell you how to contact him directly. Thank you captain.”

“You’re welcome. I don’t see how it can hurt us by telling them we’re alive. I will contact him as soon as I receive your instructions. Have a safe journey captain.”

“You as well, Captain. Again, thank you.”

-

Admiral Forrest’s computer chimed waking him. He was waiting for a few hours and he inadvertently fell asleep. It took him a second to realize where the transmission was coming from. Judging by the area in space, it was either Enterprise or the Illyrian ship. He punched a few buttons. When he did not recognize him, he knew it was the Illyrian captain.

“Are you Admiral Forrest?,” he asked.

“Yes, can I help you?”

“You wanted to know our fate. As you can see, we are alive. Captain Lorian was a great help to us.”

“Allow me to conference this with Commodore Erickson. He wanted to know your fate. If I may?,” asked Forrest.

“Of course,” answered the Illyrian captain. It only took a moment for the Illyrian captain to see the face of Commodore Erickson.

“Commodore this is the captain of the Illyrian ship. He contacted us to tell us the fate of his crew.”

“Commodore Erickson, we are quite alive, thanks to Captain Lorian. He contacted me earlier and asked me to satisfy your curiosity. I’m sure you read about Enterprise’s descendants. One of them, Captain Archer’s great-granddaughter, died installing our warp coil. I don’t particularly like Captain Archer, but he’s paid a higher price for his actions. Be lenient commodores. He’s lost someone very close to him because of his actions.”

“I didn’t think you would actually contact us, but thank you. It’s a great relief to have a happy ending for you. I hope we haven’t stopped you from your explorations,” said the commodore.

“Almost, but we are a curious people too. Once we had proper propulsion, we resumed our original course. We couldn’t let one incident set us back. We worked too hard to get where we are.”

“I can understand that one. You have satisfied my curiosity, Captain. Thank you, and safe journey,” said Commodore Erickson.

“You’re welcome, Commodore. Good day now.” The Illyrian captain cut off the transmission.

“That went well considering what happened. I wonder what Lorian could have said to him,” said Admiral Forrest.

“I don’t know, but now we know what happened to them. I’ll see you later this morning, Admiral. Erickson out.” Forrest let out a sigh. He just realized how late it was. It was sleep or shower. He’d better shower; it might help wake him up.

-

Starfleet Courtroom 0900

“One announcement before we begin. Last night I spoke with the captain of the Illyrian ship. He and his crew are alive and well. Commodore Van Buren and I already have discussed that transmission. A copy of it was sent to Admiral Hutchins. He’s had time to review that transmission. Admiral Hutchins, were you finished yesterday, or did you have more to add?,” asked Commodore Erickson.

“No more to add, Sir,” Hutchins replied.

“Admiral Forrest, it’s your floor.”

“Commodore, we cannot refute the fact that Captain Archer ordered his crew to take that warp coil. He even was a member of that boarding party. Enterprise was severely damaged. Captain Archer saw a chance to end this war by making an ally out of our enemy. Without a working warp drive, Enterprise could not make it to the meeting in time.

“Enterprise was working in a very limited time frame. If they had any chance of stopping the weapon, they had to make the Xindi council meeting. The Xindi council was going to authorize the launch of the weapon within days. One council member, namely Degra, believed Captain Archer’s evidence against the Guardians, but Degra’s word would not be enough to sway the rest of the council.

Enterprise had to make this meeting, or Earth would be gone, and we wouldn’t be here arguing about Captain Archer’s decisions. Captain Archer had to bring his evidence, against the Guardians, to the Council to sway them. This would be his last chance to stop the weapon. Captain Archer knew we did not have the firepower to stand up to it once the weapon was deployed. Enterprise would not be able to return to Earth fast enough. Columbia is not out of dry dock yet, and we stood by ourselves.” That comment was directed to Soval. Soval gave him a cold look, showing his displeasure about that comment.

“It was a desperate time. He fought with himself. Bend ethics and try to save Earth or float in space and wait for the weapon to deploy and destroy Earth. A decision no captain should have to make.” With that Admiral Forrest sat down. There was nothing more to say. It was up to the commodores now.

“If there is nothing else, we will review the evidence and return with a verdict,” said Erickson.

“I have nothing to add sir,” said Hutchins.

“Nor I,” added Forrest.

“We are in recess until we reach a verdict. Don’t go far. Admirals, I will contact you when we are ready. Dismissed.” Everyone stood until Soval, Erickson and Van Buren left the room. Admiral Hutchins rushed out of the courtroom. It seemed like he didn’t want to make eye contact with Captain Archer.

“Dinner for everyone, on me, but no drinking,” said Forrest. “We need to get our minds away from this trial, but I know Erickson wouldn’t like it if we showed up three sheets to the wind.” His comment made many of the officers laugh, including Captain Archer. “There’s a nice little place down the street. It has Italian cuisine, and it shouldn’t be too busy right now.” It was close enough to walk to.

They all took their seats and ordered dinner. They reminisced about different antics people pulled aboard Enterprise. Trip leaned to T’Pol and asked her,

“Should we tell them about us?”

“You have an expression, ‘now’s as good a time as any.’” Trip knocked his fork against his glass getting everyone’s attention.

“T’Pol and I would like to make an announcement.” That caught everyone’s rapt attention. Trip looked at her before continuing. “We’re going to get married.” Enterprise’s senior officers and Admiral Forrest surrounded the couple with ‘congratulations’ and ‘it’s about time.’ As they were starting to celebrate the engagement, Admiral Forrest’s communicator chimed. He excused himself, but no one noticed.

“Everyone, listen up,” Admiral Forrest started, when he returned. It took a second for everyone to quiet down. “They’re ready for us at the courtroom. We need to be back within 30 minutes. Let’s finish up here.”

-

Starfleet Courtroom

“We’re bringing this trial to order. Commodore Van Buren, Ambassador Soval and I debated long and hard about this situation for the past few days. Captain Archer, I cannot begin to put myself in your shoes. You did the impossible, and Earth will forever be in your debt. We have come to this decision.

“You will keep your rank and the responsibilities that come with it. You will not be considered for any further promotion. Captain’s as high as you will go. You will be on probation for 5 years. If we don’t approve your command decisions, you will be relieved of your post and discharged from Starfleet. You will also help Starfleet come up with a code of ethics.

“Starfleet has skirted around the need for a code of ethics for starship commanders and officers. Given recent events, this code of ethics needs to be written. Since Captain Archer breached unwritten codes more than once in the past year, he’s the perfect person to be involved in the drafting of such a document.

“Captain Archer you are free to return to Enterprise after you help draft this code of ethics. Until then, Enterprise will remain in dry dock under repairs and upgrades. This is the decision of the court.”

After Soval and the Commodores left the courtroom, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. It was over and now they could concentrate on getting Enterprise up and running. Captain Archer turned around to face his officers.

“Trip I hope she’ll be ready when I’m done,” said Jon.

“Yeah, Cap’n, just don’t be gone too long,” Trip replied, and they shared a laugh.

“I’ll try my best. It’ll be good to get back to exploration again, which reminds me. Sub-Commander did you make your decision?”

“Yes, I did. Earlier I informed Admiral Forrest,” T’Pol stated. Admiral Forrest took this as his cue to talk.

“May I welcome Commander T’Pol to Starfleet. If it pleases you Jon, I’d like her to be first officer.”

“Of course, Admiral. I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’m assuming you two want to marry on Enterprise.”

“We didn’t set the date yet, Cap’n,” replied Trip.

“It will be on Enterprise, sir. This way we are surrounded by friends. If this is acceptable,” T’Pol answered. Trip pulled her closer. He loved everything about her.

“Of course, T’Pol. I may have to forgo ‘best man’ duty, unless you want someone else to preside over the wedding.”

“That’s ok, Jon. We’d like you to preside,” Trip said.

“With that over with, how about a celebration,” Admiral Forrest said. He led the officers away from the courtroom and down to the ‘Welcome Home, Enterprise’ celebration. The Senior Officers were shocked, but delighted that Starfleet did not forget their accomplishments.

The End.

Return to Chapter 3

Back to Fan Fiction Main Menu

Have a comment to make about this story? Do so in the Trip Fan Fiction forum at the HoTBBS!

Eight hardy souls have made comments

So sorry I didn't get back in time to beta this for you! This is a great finish to a great story. I'm glad you didn't go too easy on Archer, but also that he was still punished. Maybe we can have a sequel? :) Nice job.

Boy would I be pissed. If I was Archer, I would quit Starfleet and run for President of Earth. I could see his campaign slogan now. I'm John Archer and I saved your life. You owe me. Get out and vote.

When I won, I would freeking well absolutely crucify every sanctimonious son of a gun on that court. Starfleet would gain a new officer corps that wasn't stupid. Anything goes, when life and death are at stake.

I liked how you ended this story and how the end does not always justify the means. We don't know really if Earth would have been destroyed if Archer had not taken the alien warp coil. No other options were considered by Archer but I can understand why he did what he did and sympathise with him.
I like the idea of coming up with a code of ethics
for Starfleet. We shouldn't have to put innocent lives in danger or take innocent lives in order to save ours but I guess this could be argued that it would depend on the circumstances and possibly to the consience of the individual officer involved.

Part of the reason Archer didn't react the way Altoona Jack thinks is because Archer wasn't entirely believe his actions were justified, even if all of earth were at risk. He did what he felt he had to do at the time, but that doesn't make the decision any easier to live with, especially knowing that although the alien ship survived, his descendant died.

I like the idea of coming up with a code of ethics as well. In the end, Archer was found innocent of the charges, but it was important to have the humans recognize that space provides different kinds of challenges and that humans need codes to reflect that reality. (And the officers on the court really were sanctimonious! :^D )

emtb319, I've absolutely no problem with you changing the synopsis - I wouldn't even have noticed if you hadn't mentioned it, because I was engrossed in the story as you'd written it. I particularly liked the outcome that you devised for Archer - it seemed fair, which I thought was a terrific achievement. The final chapter in particular was excellent.

A good ending but am I the only one who wishes we'd seen Trip and T'Pol's wedding? I loved Lorian being the intermediary with the Illyrian Captain as well. Thanks, Ali D :~)

This is a worthy end for a great story. I loved the detail to the court room events, and how T'Pol deflected Soval, and the code-of-ethics idea, and everything else. ;-) I really enjoyed reading this.

This story became more and more captivating as I read it. It would be great to continue the storyline and include Lorian. I hope you do. I agree with shouldknowbetter that the outcome was good. Very good work.