The Sins of the Father (Plot #2)

The Sins of the Father

by emtb319

Summary: Archer is court-martialed for stealing the warp coil from the Illyrians in the Expanse. In the courtroom scene, Trip shouts and T’Pol emotes. Meanwhile, Lorian saves the Illyrians but Karyn Archer is killed, sacrificing herself for the greater good. Trip and T’Pol contact the Illyrians through subspace to discover the fate of that crew. Lorian convinces the Illyrians to save Archer’s neck because of the actions of Karyn Archer. Archer reads Lorian’s report and learns the consequences of his actions.

Category: Trip/T’Pol Summer 2004 Challenge

Rating: PG
Genre: Drama

Archive: Yes but please let me know via email first.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns it all. I just write.

A/N: Feedback greatly appreciated. Constructive criticism can be emailed to me at famspanish@yahoo.com

****

The Illyrian ship was partially lined with Trellium D, and that was only the start of their problems.

“Captain, we are floating in space. Life support’s at a minimum,” said his second-in-command.

“Did the distress signal transmit?”

“There’s no way of knowing sir.”

Over a jumbled intercom, the communications officer tried to relay a message, “Sir there’s a ship heading toward us. It’s the Enterprise.”

“We don’t have anything they could possibly want,” stated the second-in-command.

“They’re hailing us sir; transmitting it to you.”

“Illyrian ship, this is Captain Lorian of the Enterprise. We received your distress signal and are en route to your location. ETA 15 minutes.”
Communications abruptly went out, cutting off the transmission.

“Captain Lorian,” said the Illyrian captain, “I thought that was Archer’s ship.”

“Maybe it’s a different one.”

“I don’t know, but I don’t trust them.”

15 Minutes Later

Enterprise approached the Illyrian ship. The Illyrian communications officer was only able to receive audio signals from the Enterprise.

“This is Captain Lorian. How can we be of assistance?”

“We would appreciate help, but we’ve had too many problems with your Captain Archer,” said the Illyrian captain.

“We need to talk about that. Captain Archer is no longer in command of the Enterprise. We’re able to render assistance. Initial scans show life support’s failing, and you have no propulsion systems.”

“Correct, but we don’t have warp because Captain Archer took our coil.”

“We have an extra in storage. I’ll have it brought to you and installed. I’ll send teams to fix your ship, and I’ll explain how we’re here.”

“You’d do that for us.”

“Yes, but we need to start these repairs soon. You don’t have much life support left.”

“Of course, we only have 1 docking port available on our starboard side.”
“We see it. We’ll be docking within 15 minutes.”

Illyrian Captain’s Office

“Captain Lorian, that’s quite a story. Enterprise was thrown 117 years into the past, and you are their descendants. I’ll say that’s hard to believe.”

“It was hard for Captain Archer to accept it as well. Dr. Phlox was able to confirm out identities, and he soon accepted the truth.”

The door chimed, “Enter.”

“This is my first officer, Karyn Archer.”

“Sir, life support is fully operational. Communications are back on-line, as well as long and short-range sensors. We’re working on the impulse drive, and I’m going back to Enterprise to get the warp coil,” said Karyn Archer.

“Very good and thank you,” said the Illyrian captain. Karyn nodded and left the room. “I can’t thank you enough.”

“I knew Captain Archer. I’m sure he did not want to take your warp coil.”

“Be that as it may, he did and left us stranded.”

“I understand. We’ll get the new coil installed, and then you can be underway. Karyn is in charge of the installation.”

-

Karyn arrived to the Illyrian Engineering Deck, warp coil in hand, “Let’s get started,” she said.

“It’ll take a few tweaks,” said another engineer, “but she should fit in just fine.”

“Great,” Karyn replied.

They got the coil in and were trying to reconnect it. The coil was being stubborn and did not want to connect properly. Karyn worked at it for hours, and she finally thought she had it right.

“Now slowly, let’s test her. Watch the sensors. At the first sign of trouble, pull the plug.”

As they tested the coil, she had to adjust some of the connections, all the while watching the sensors. If something went wrong she had only seconds to get away.

“Energy spike. Karyn get away from there,” said an engineer just as Lorian and the Illyrian captain approached to check on their progress. Everyone could only watch as the energy surged through her body and then sent her body flying into a bulkhead. Lorian got to Karyn just in time to catch her and lower her to the deck.

“Lorian to Enterprise. Medical emergency. Illyrian Engineering, severe trauma.” An Illyrian trauma team arrived within seconds. Lorian was starting CPR. Karyn wasn’t breathing, and she had no heartbeat. The Illyrian trauma team could only watch; they did not know what to do. They’d never seen her species before. Enterprise’s doctor arrived to see Lorien doing CPR. The doctor approached and asked him to stop for a moment. Her pupils were fixed and dilated. The medics hooked her up to their monitors. Asystole. She was dead.

“I’m sorry captain. There’s nothing we can do,” said the doctor.

“Captain Lorian, my condolences,” said the Illyrian captain as Enterprise’s trauma team took her body back to Enterprise.

“Thank you Captain. Karyn would want us to finish what she started,” said Lorien. He then turned to the coil to inspect it himself. He couldn’t bring himself to go to Enterprise right now. Holding back his tears he said, “The coil’s not damaged. We’ll finish getting it installed.” It took another hour, and the ship was repaired enough to return home.

“We’re leaving you spare parts and extra supplies. Safe journey, Captain,” said Lorian.

“Safe journey to you too captain. Again our condolences.”

“Thank you.” Lorian then turned and entered the shuttle pod. When he got to Enterprise, he headed straight for sickbay.

“Captain are you well?,” inquired the doctor.

“Frankly no, but I need to know how she died.”

“Electrical trauma stopped her heart, she died almost instantly.”

“Almost……thank you doctor.” Lorian took one last look at her. Then, he turned around T’Pol was standing there. She was looking at Karyn. She approached her son and brought him into an embrace. For the second time in his life, Lorian cried.

Lorian’s Quarters

“Mother thank you, but I need to rest,” Lorian said to T’Pol.

“Yes, rest my son, but remember it is normal to grieve. Humans do not suppress their emotions. They found that keeping strong emotions inside is bad for their health. If you cannot talk to me, maybe someone else, or perhaps, write it down. When your father died, I did not know how to deal with my emotions. I could talk to Phlox, but it did not help me. Hoshi recommended that I simply write down everything. It helped.” T’Pol saw the anguish in her son’s face, but he remained still. He’ll deal with it on his own terms. He is half-human after all. She then walked out of his quarters and to her own.

Lorian found himself staring out the view port of his quarters. His mother was right, he needed to grieve and try to move on. He was in charge of Enterprise after all. After some time, Lorien sat at his desk, and started writing. He decided that he needed someone else’s advice. He started writing over again. This time a letter, to Trip.

TBC

Continue to Chapter 2

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!

Seven people have made comments

I very much liked this story but felt as if we had taken a bite in the middle of the pie, will we be getting the rest of it? Have worked up an appetite now... Ali D :~)

I liked it. I was a little confused at first, but I got into it. Hope to see more soon.

I like your start a lot. Lorian is a great character, and I think you write him well.

good start very nice story:-)

Are we assuming that Lorian's Enterprise wasn't destroyed/ continued to exist after the timeline was restored? Good start. I wonder, was Karyn Archer particularly special to Lorian?

This is a good start to a very "tough" storyline. I thought perhaps that you didn't get warmed up until the final two paragraphs. I think that was the best part. If you handle the rest of the chapters as well as the ending of this chapter, I predict this story is going to be fabulous. Good job and thanks for writing.

Great start! You've covered a lot in the first chapter, but my favourite bit was the last two paragraphs where very actually happens, but we get tremendous insight into Lorian's character as he begins a letter to Trip. I like how you've handled Lorian -- he seemed very real and true to the character established on the episode. I'm looking forward to the next chapter.