To Boldly Go Once Again - Ch 8

To Boldly Go Once Again"

By Eratta

Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

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Chapter 8

Trip left the situation room, heading for the turbolift. T’Pol began to follow him, but decided that she need to speak with Archer first. She waited until the other officers had also resumed their posts before she turned to the Commodore.

“May I have a word with you?” she asked. Archer looked at her as if to say it was pointless, but he extended his arm towards the Ready Room. T’Pol walked down the two steps and waited for the door to close behind him before she spoke. But before sound could issue from her lips, he beat her to it.

“I know what you’re going to say, T’Pol. I don’t like it either, and if there’s another way I’m open.”

That was unexpected, she thought to herself. She had been prepared to argue her point against him, but that approach was now superfluous.

“This plan carries significant risk.” She said, “Deceiving Silik will be difficult, and making him cooperate with us even more so.”

Archer sat at his desk and leaned back in the chair, regarding her. “Do you have a better plan?”

T’Pol knew she didn’t, and told him so. “But,” she added, “That doesn’t make this course of action acceptable.”

Archer stood and faced the window. “We’ve had this argument before,” he reminded her. “It may not have been right . . . but it was done for the good of Earth.”

T’Pol watched him closely. “I know.” She said, waiting for him to continue. Suddenly she got the feeling this was harder for the Commodore than she had previously believed. She had heard enough to believe he was still having difficulty with some of his decisions in the Expanse. She sympathized with him.

He swung back around to face her, his face set. “I can’t undo what I did five years ago, and if I could, I wouldn’t.”

Again, T’Pol waited. She knew this justification wasn’t for her benefit; it was for his.

“We don’t have another choice,” he reiterated, “I’ve already laid the ground work, but I want to do this right, with as little injury to both parties. That’s why I need you and Trip to work on this. I know if there’s a way, you’ll find it.” And with that, he turned back around and was silent.

T’Pol stood behind him, thinking. It seemed irresponsible to her, his starting something and asking her and Captain Tucker to finish it. But, she mused, her demand not to be left in command was also irresponsible. Her suspicions were confirmed, and her empathy made her turn and walk out the door without another word of argument. In one respect, Archer was correct. They needed to find Columbia, and there seemed only one way to do it. She made her way down to engineering, where she found the blonde captain in his office, as she had predicted.

“You finished scoldin’ him?” He asked, his face strangely smug. T’Pol raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t scold him.” She said, pulling up the free chair and seating herself.

Trip wasn’t convinced. “I saw that look on your face when he outlined the plan.”

“I may not approve of the plan, but I haven’t come up with an alternative.” T’Pol replied.

Trip nodded. “So how are we going to do this?” he asked, pulling out a PADD.

“Silik doesn’t trust anymore than we do him.” She began. “We need to turn on him before he turns on us.” Her facial muscles contorted of their own accord in distaste.

“And once we get to Columbia, we’re going to need to keep Enterprise safe too.” Trip said, watching her closely. He didn’t have a clue how to formulate this plan; sabotage and intrigue weren’t his specialty. But T’Pol had been in reconnaissance, and he was willing to bet that she’d known exactly how to do this since the Commodore had first mentioned it.

“How are we going to do this, T’Pol?” he asked her. T’Pol looked at him, and saw something behind those alien blue eyes.

“You believe I already know?” she quipped. Trip didn’t need to respond in the affirmative, and T’Pol fought the uncomfortable feeling that was blossoming in her stomach.

“Judging by his willingness to take us there himself, I’m guessing the area is under Suliban control.”

“Go on.” Trip said, leaning closer.

T’Pol paused and pursed her lips, perhaps anticipating his reaction to what she was about to say. She took a deeper breath. “When he comes aboard for the temporal technology, we’ll need to disable him and the other cell ships. We’ll have to make him pose as having commandeered Enterprise. Anything further will have to be planned once we have more information, but that, so far, is the plan.”

Trip blinked. “That’s the craziest idea you’ve ever had.”

“Given what I have to work with, it’s the best I could come up with.” The Vulcan retorted, unsure whether he was being serious or humorous. “Do you have a better idea?”

Trip ignored her question, his forehead creasing as he calculated just how precise this whole operation would have to be. “How exactly are we supposed to disable half a dozen tiny Suliban ships, not to mention pull off this charade once we get there? There’s a million tiny things that could go wrong and give us away.

“The details need to be planned and practiced to perfection.” T’Pol said, knowing full well how difficult it was going to be. She looked at Trip and was surprised to see him smiling at her.

“I’ve missed this.” He said.

“Planning a dangerous course of action and hoping we come out of it alive?” She queried, one eyebrow half hidden by the hair that covered her forehead. She knew what he meant, but couldn’t resist the opportunity to see him smile again. Better yet, Trip laughed, and T’Pol felt a surge of adrenaline course through her.

“Well, they always do make for good stories later,” he chuckled, but in an instant he lost the ease of the humor. “But I’ve missed more than that.”

T’Pol found her instinct to breathe was being strangely repressed.

She wasn’t saying anything, wasn’t even moving, and Trip wasn’t sure whether that was a good or a bad sign. Despite his doubts, his found his mouth was opening and more was issuing forth, bubbling up and out in some last attempt to reach her.

“I miss spending time with you, arguing with you, seeing you everyday . . .” he paused, regaining his senses enough to restrain himself. “It’s been hard.” He finished quietly, daring a look at her to see if she was reacting at all. He felt like an idiot who couldn’t take an old blatant hint, but he’d said it. The question now was, how was she going to respond?

“We should get to work.” She said softly, her eyes averted. When she hazarded a glance at him, Trip wasn’t smiling anymore. He nodded and paged Commander Reed and stared at his folded hands while they waited in silence for Malcolm to arrive.

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Malcolm stared at the pair before him in utter disbelief. “Who the hell came up with this?” he asked, incredulity adding color to his usually formal voice. Captain Tucker glanced at T’Pol while she leveled her gaze at Commander Reed.

“That is irrelevant.” She said.

Malcolm, resisting the urge to shake his head at the folly that had just been related to him, turned back to Tucker. An odd place to look for rationality, he thought to himself. “Sir,” he began, “this is madness. There’s no way we can pull it off.” He began to count off the flaws on his fingertips. “Not enough man power, fire power, and do I honestly need to remind you just how narrowly we’ve come out of each scrape we’ve had with the Suliban?”

“As far as I can see, Commander,” T’Pol began, “the Commodore has narrowed our already small selection of viable options. This course of action, if planned well, has a chance of success.”

“How great a chance?” Malcolm asked, to which T’Pol replied,

“Greater than any other ideas that have been considered.”

Commander Reed looked back once more at Trip, who shrugged his shoulders and turned his own eyes away. He sighed. “All right. Let’s start talking about the details.”

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It was only after three hours of intense planning that all three were satisfied with the plan. “We can start drilling people in the morning.” Malcolm said with a sigh, twisting to get the kinks out of his back.

“I’ll take this to the Commodore.” T’Pol said. Checking helm status from the consol in the office, she added, “We have approximately four days.”

Trip nodded and stood, careful to avoid banging his head on the low support beams running the length of the office. “All right,” he said, “Let’s get to work.” They left the office and went back to their respective decks. The tactical officer and engineer busied themselves while they awaited word from the acting science officer.

T’Pol approached the Commodore’s quarters and announced her presence with the chime. He called out for her to enter, and as she did T’Pol was surprised to see that Archer wasn’t watching water polo or playing with the yellow ball. Instead he was reading, and upon closer inspection of the books that lay around the cabin, realized he was reading children’s books. T’Pol did not know what to make of it.

“Commodore.” She said, starting forward with the PADD that contained everything she, Captain Tucker and Commander Reed had come up with. But he didn’t take the PADD.

“Do you know,” he asked, “that my name is mentioned 150 times in these 27 books, but that all the other crewmen’s names put together are mentioned a total of 30 times.” He closed the book he’d been skimming and tossed it onto the chair across the room, where it lay withal the other books haphazardly stacked there.

“It would make sense,” T’Pol began carefully, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. “You were the captain. It was your decisions and actions that affected the outcomes of our missions.”

He gave her a look. “We both know that’s not entirely true, but that’s not what’s bothering me.” He said, looking away. He reached out for the PADD. “Let’s see what you put together.” But T’Pol drew back and took the PADD with her.

“What is it that’s bothering you, Jonathon?”

That caused him to look up. He couldn’t remember that last time she’d said his name without the rank. He looked up at her and saw something in her face. She too had a difficult time in the Expanse, and she too had never been the same after Enterprise’s return. Those memories, remembering how out of control she had sometimes been, reminded him that in the horror of memory, he wasn’t alone.

“I don’t mind that they write about me.” He said quietly, “I can handle the press and the notifications that something else has been named after me.” He paused and T’Pol waited, still sitting on the edge of the bed. “What I can’t stand,” Archer continued, “is the lies. The lies that call me a great man, a hero without fault or guilt. Because I’m not. I regret some of the things I did every moment of every day. I hate that kids look up to me, that they want to be me when they grow up. They want to be a naïve man who can’t stand to see his own face anymore.”

T’Pol, in a burst of spontaneity that would later cause her much speculation, wasted no time in reaching out and grasping his hand. “Regret and naivety do not make you a bad man. And while you took lives, you also saved far more than you took. To feel remorse is what makes you alive.”

Jon looked at her face, so full of empathy, that he felt his heart lift just a little. “I thought you were going to say remorse makes me human.” The Vulcan shook her head. Archer sighed. “I think that’s why I’m out here again, putting Daniels aside.”

“To prove to yourself that you are a good man?”

Archer shook his head. “To do one last good thing, to maybe be a little more worthy of the admiration of kids.”

Jon saw T’Pol’s feature compose themselves again, once more the calm, stalwart friend he cherished. “That is what makes you human.” She said. Then she putt the PADD into Archer’s outstretched hand, stood and left his quarters. There was much to be done.

Chapter 9

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Half a dozen of you have made comments

Yay ! Finally a new chapter !
It's great ! Write more soon,please .
;-P

Oops, forgot to say thanks again...Here's to Jenna for continuing to be a wondeful beta!

Very nice. I am enjoying this. The aftermath of choices one might have made is always interesting. And i'm looking forward to seeing this brilliant plan!

Glad to see another chapter in this story.

Oooh, that Silik is in for it now, or at least I hope so! Really enjoying this and hope it won't be too long before the next part is posted. Thanks, Ali D :~)

I have really enjoyed this story so far. Can't wait to see where you take it next. Keep up the great writing!