To Boldly Go Once Again - Ch 4

To Boldly Go Once Again

By Eratta

Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Everything that you recognize belongs to Paramount. Everything else is mine.

A/N: Sorry for the delay; it took me longer to pump this one out. The references you will find are from “Shuttlepod One” and “The Expanse”, and a big thanks to Jenna for being my beta! ::hugs::

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Chapter 4

T’Pol stared at the face before her as it stared right back. It had been several years since she’d seen Jonathon Archer, and the passage of time had certainly not gone unmarked. The grooves that separated the muscles of his face were more pronounced than she remembered, and his hair had faded in color. But his eyes, the same eyes that had darkened in fury or brightened in mirth were the same, and at the moment were twinkling at her.

Seeing Commodore Archer again was surprising. Seeing Enterprise’s signature on her sensors was enough to make her briefly contemplate a visit to her colony’s sickbay.

“It’s good to see you, T’Pol.” He said, his grin stretching the loose skin taught over his facial bones.

“It is good to see you too, Commodore, but perhaps niceties should wait.” She said.

Archer peered at her. “Something tells me you know why we suddenly began venting atmosphere out of nowhere.”

T’Pol arched her brow, a sign she knew her old friend would recognize. “I believe that should be discussed in person.” She replied, exercising conscious will to keep her voice level.

Archer smiled again, finishing the exchange with a simple “See you soon.”
Indeed, T’Pol thought, too soon.

As the screen resumed its normal view of the star system, T’Pol turned to the young woman at the communications station. “You’re in charge until my return.” She instructed. The young woman nodded as she resumed her duties. T’Pol rose from her seat and exited the main building of the compound, walking through a cylindrical shaft to the launch bay.

Something strange was going on. Enterprise had been retired several years ago, only to be brought out now for active duty. Furthermore, she was captained by the man who had led her out on every mission before. And most likely entrusted to the mechanical care of one Mr. Tucker. She moved automatically through the network of passages, her thoughts consuming her. Was she ready for this? It had been years since she had spoken to her companions on Enterprise. Indeed, the lack of communication had been her doing. But now they had come into her area of space, her sanctuary of peace and scientific logic, a place where emotion could not linger to haunt her thoughts or disrupt her sleep. How would she respond to them after so many years without them? Or more specifically, how would she respond to him? She entered one of the four Vulcan shuttles and performed the pre-flight checks, hands moving of their own accord across the keys as her eyes turned inwards, gauging her readiness for this encounter, the encounter she desperately, illogically wanted to avoid.

Someone opened the launch doors from the main building, and T’Pol ignited the thrusters, speeding up towards Enterprise.

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Only moment later she was standing on the outer side of the starboard airlock, her body stiff, aware of every nerve in her body and every emotion she was trying not to feel. The door slid open in that characteristic hiss of human hydraulics, and she stood face to face with her last commanding officer.

“T’Pol,” He said, smiling less widely now. He looked uncomfortable as he moved forward then suddenly jerked back. It is like he does not know how to greet me, T’Pol thought. She clasped her hands behind her and offered a simple,

“Hello Commodore.”

He seemed relieve to the greeting issue from her lips, as his mouth once again broke into a wide smile. He ushered her in and began to walk along the corridor, heading towards the turbolift. T’Pol walked alongside him, just as she had almost every day for three years.

“I’ll bet you’re wondering how we came to be out here.” He said, wasting no time. T’Pol looked at him and felt herself relax a little as he chuckled at her expression.

“It’s a long story,” he explained, “probably something that can wait. Right now, I’d like to know what you’re doing out here.” They stepped out of the turbolift onto the bridge, and T’Pol felt herself being engulfed in a wave of nostalgia as she looked out on the familiar circular room.

As she followed Archer around the console to the Ready Room, two dark heads turned towards her from opposite sides of the room, both sporting smiles. T’Pol wondered why she was surprised to see Lt. Sato and Commander Reed at their old posts.

“It’s good to see you.” Malcolm called out as came up to him, and she nodded in return. She raised her head to greet Hoshi as well when something else caught her eye.

Silence fell over the bridge as T’Pol stared at the Vulcan occupying her former seat. Of all people, she thought to herself as Volen met her gaze.

“Volen.” She said, pleased with the seemingly casual tone of her acknowledgment.

“T’Pol” he returned, and she was certain she saw amusement in his visage before his eyes flickered down to the consol again.

T’Pol felt the curious eyes of the humans on her and turned back to Archer, disappearing after him into the safety of the Ready Room.

The door slid shut behind her, and she breathed deeply of the scent of old books that still lined the shelves. She closed her eyes briefly as a myriad of memories flitted before her. When she opened them, Archer was perched on a corner of his desk, studying her.

“How have you been, T’Pol?” He asked. Despite her efforts, she could not help but tense at the question.

“I am well, Commodore.”

Her curt answer provoked a strange expression from him, but she ignored it.

“How long have you been on the colony?”

“Several years,” she owned. “I established this colony as a civilian research post five years ago.”

Jonathon stood and moved closer to her. “You’re pretty close to Earth.”

T’Pol knew what he was saying with that statement; she saw the question that lay beneath it. Why didn’t we hear from you?

She straightened and closed one hand tightly over the other in the small of her back.

“You have wandered into a micro-singularity field. That is why you suddenly began venting air without any detectable breaches.”

Jonathon’s eyes narrowed. “Micro-singularities? That sounds familiar.”

T’Pol nodded as her shoulders dropped. “During our first mission, when Mr. Tucker and Mr. Reed nearly suffocated in the shuttlepod—“

“You said you had discovered micro-singularities; I didn’t believe it.” Archer finished, shaking his head. “So that’s what you’ve been doing? Proving the existence of mini black holes and studying them?”

T’Pol nodded. “You have wandered into a field that is densely populated with them. In fact, the next several light years in any direction lie within the field.”

Archer sat quietly for a moment, thinking about this newest piece of bad news. “I think we need to talk to Trip.”

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T’Pol tried to slow her heart rate on the trip down to engineering, but to no avail. When she stepped foot on the threshold of Mr. Tucker’s domain and saw him up on the Warp Engine, she could not fool herself.

“Trip!” Archer called, and the engineer looked down with a frown on his face. But as soon as he noticed T’Pol standing behind him, the frown disappeared to be replaced with shock.

T’Pol forced her eyes away until Captain Tucker had recovered enough to scramble down to meet them.

“Look who we found on the moon we’re orbiting.” Archer said, stepping out of the way.

T’Pol turned and looked at the man before her, her face like marble. “Captain Tucker.” She said, pretending not to notice the soft inflection she had unwittingly added to the greeting.

“T’Pol, it’s . . . it’s been a long time.” He breathed, still staring.

Whether Archer could feel the tension between them or simply wanted to brief Tucker, T’Pol did not know. But she, for one, was relieved when he stepped in.

“T’Pol’s been on that colony for five years studying micro-singularities.” Archer began. At the word, Trip’s eyes widened. He remembers, T’Pol thought. “We’ve wandered into a field of them that stretches for light-years in every direction.”

Trip’s face puckered as he listened. “Well, we can’t keep the hull plating polarized for the next couple of light-years. It’ll take too much energy.” He turned back towards T’Pol. “I don’t suppose you’ve learned anything useful about micro-singularities these past five years?”

T’Pol’s eyebrow rose as she settled her arms over her chest. “As a matter of fact, I have. We’ve mapped out most of the field, and we have also been developing several types of shielding. With some help from the engineers on my colony, I should be able to make some useful modifications to Enterprise, with you permission.”

Archer smiled at her. “Perfect.”

T’Pol took out her communicator and sent her request to the colony. When she was finished, she turned back towards the humans. “While we’re waiting, perhaps you could tell me why you are out here, and on Enterprise.”

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T’Pol said nothing for a few moments after Archer had finished relating the story to her.

“We encountered the NX-02 just 5 weeks ago.” She finally said. Archer put his mug down.

“What?”

“They also came into the field and suffered minor damages. We modified their sensors and hull-plating, just as we will do for you.”

“So you know what direction they were headed in?” Archer pressed.

T’Pol nodded. “They remained on our sensors for three days. I can show you the logs.”

Archer sat back in his chair, hands circling his mug. A chirp from T’Pol’s robes and a comm. to Archer signaled the arrival of the Vulcan engineers. T’Pol stood to leave.

“Let us know if we can do anything for you.” Archer called after her.

“We will.” She said on her way out the door.

“T’Pol,” Archer stopped her again. She turned back, waiting. He smiled again, and T’Pol was beginning to realize just how much she had missed seeing smiles. “It really was good to see you again. And thanks for the help.”

She could feel her face soften. “It was good to see you as well, and you’re welcome.”

T’Pol’s team made the modifications within a number of hours under Mr. Tucker’s supervision, leaving T’Pol idle. She avoided Engineering for most of the day, opting instead to go back and forth to the colony for any additional data that might be of use to Commodore Archer. Finally after eight hours, her team confirmed the modifications were functional. She went down to Engineering to see for herself, and as she ran one last diagnostic heard Tucker over her shoulder.

“That’s some team you have.” He murmured, hypo-spanner in hand.

“They are exceptional.” She agreed, trying to focus on her diagnostic.

Trip lingered behind her, shuffling his feet and looking around listlessly. “I, uh, just wanted to say that it was really nice to see you again. I can see how busy you are, running your own research colony.”

T’Pol could feel something caught in her chest, just behind her sternum. “You also have been busy. I’ve been following your progress on the Warp 7 project.”

Trip’s head whipped around. “What?”

T’Pol could hear her heart thundering, and quickly stepped away. “Everything appears to be functioning normally. Should the modifications be damaged, the original schematics have been placed in both the normal and redundant memory cores.” She said over her shoulder, walking way towards the exit with Trip close on her heels.

“T’Pol,” he began, but he was blocked by an ensign for just a split second. That was all she needed, and when Trip looked up she was gone. Again.

Knowing that he was no longer behind her, T’Pol took a deep breath. I should go now, she thought. But there was still one person she needed to see. She made her way to B-deck, guessing she would find Volen there. She went to her old quarters and stood before the door, seized by indecision. Her index finger reached out to the chime and she felt strange. It was strange to press the chime to the room she still considered to be hers. Although she wasn’t sure what disturbed her more, her trepidation or the sense of ownership she still felt for a room on a Human starship.

“Enter.” He called from within, and she did. The lights were dimmed and it smelled of paraffin, just as it had when she lived there. The personal items made it look foreign, but beneath them T’Pol could still see her quarters as they once had been. She walked over to Volen, seating herself across from him on a mediation mat. He gazed at her.

“I hope I’m not disturbing you.” T’Pol said.

“No, I had just finished.”

The emptiness of sound at one time would have been comfortable to T’Pol, but that was no longer so.

“Why are you here?” She asked him.

“Commodore Archer needed a science officer. I offered my services and he accepted.” He replied, amber eyes flickering from deep within his irises with the reflection of the candle flame between them.

“It has been many years since you and I have sat together, face to face.” T’Pol said.

Volen nodded.

“How do you find it here, being the only Vulcan amongst eighty-some humans?”

A glimmer of a smile formed on Volen’s face. “I have lived on Earth for a time, as you suggested. I am accustomed to them now, and though I would not mind seeing more of our kind, I am content here.”

“You are an excellent scientist; no doubt they will need you.” T’Pol said.

Volen stared at her. “It is you they need, T’Pol.”

T’Pol was taken aback by his statement so much that it took her several seconds to reply. “I am needed on the colony.”

“You are needed here.” He insisted gently. “You are needed because you are one of the few with real experience here. You know the systems, the strengths and weaknesses of the ship. And,” he paused for effect, “you know all there is to know about this Temporal Cold War.”

“I cannot abandon my colleagues on the surface.” T’Pol returned, feeling something akin to irritation stir within her ribs. “My commitment now is to them, to my research.”

“And what of your other colleagues, Lt. Mayweather and Dr. Phlox?” He asked. It was the right button to push, and now T’Pol did not feel irritation. Instead she felt only worry. She thought back to just five weeks ago when she had gone aboard the Columbia, had visited Phlox and Travis and wished them well on their voyage.

She could not tell herself that she had felt nothing when she had not seen the young man at the helm, nor could she give a logical reason for having avoiding sickbay almost as much as she had avoided engineering that day.

T’Pol rose abruptly. “I need to return to the colony.”

Volen said nothing, only raised his hand in salute. T’Pol did the same and left what had once been her quarters. But as she stepped into the turbolift, she pressed the button for the bridge. She did not think as she stepped onto it and waked to the Ready Room for the second time that day, nor did she stop to reconsider what she was doing. She pressed the chime to announce her presence.

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Archer was close to pacing, a habit he reverted to when something troubled him. “I can’t let you do it.”

T’Pol had not moved from the position she had taken when she had made her request. “Sir.” She said.

“You know I’d love nothing more than to have you here with us again, but don’t you have a commitment to the scientists down there? You’ve been with them for five years.”

“And I have trained them sufficiently enough that they can continue their work without me. I set up this colony as a means of occupation for civilian scientists, Capt—Commodore.” She faltered only for a moment. “I can leave when I wish.”

“And what about Volen?” Archer asked, turning around. “If we take you, what do we do with him?”

T’Pol was silent, but not because she didn’t have an answer. Indeed, Volen had given the answer to her himself. “I think it reasonable to say that he wouldn’t mind taking my place on the surface.”

Archer said nothing and still had his back turned towards her. T’Pol waited, weighing the options within herself. She could not say that she wasn’t dreading this just a little, but neither could she let Enterprise fly away without her. She decided to use the last argument she had.

“Nearly six years ago, I approached you with a similar request.” She said quietly, coming up behind Jonathon. “I told you that you needed me.”

“I remember.”

“It is the same situation now as it was then. Let me help you.”

Archer turned around, scrutinizing her. Finally when he sighed and smiled faintly, T’Pol knew she had reached him.

“You’d better go tell everyone and collect your things. We’ll leave at 0500 tomorrow.” He said, that old glimmer back in his eyes

T’Pol nodded, and as she left the bridge couldn’t but help feel this newest course of action would a solution to an unnamed problem within her. This would be her test, to see if she could once again live with humans. If she had recovered enough to live once more with him.

Chapter 5

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A handful of people have made comments

Woohoo! I have been waiting for this!

What a wonderful installment to your story, cant wait for the next chapter!

T'Pol, baby, you'll never be recovered enough to live with him; that is unless you intend to do the living in his quarters with him, or him in yours. Love just doesn't go away like that sweetie!

NEXT CHAPTER SOON!

OOoooh, that last line got me good! Can't wait for the next part. I am loving this, Ali D :~)

Give into the dark side T'Pol... it is your destiny. LOL! :D

I was beginning to wonder when your next installment was going to appear. Well, wait no more... hurry with your next one. Love this story!

Great story. I was quite happy to see this update, and it was worth the wait!