The Ring of Truth - Part 2

Fix the Finale Fic

The Ring of Truth

By Evalyn A.

Disclaimer: All Paramount’s, not mine, though they don’t deserve it.

A/N: It is assumed that although the overall historical events of TATV did happen, the moment-by-moment details of the events, as well as the personal interactions, would not have been part of the historical record. Therefore, the Enterprise-D holodeck recreation was a dramatization, fabricated as needed to make a better story. And hopefully, I have made an even better story than the one they came up with.

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Chapter 2

T’Pol paced the living area of her mother’s house.

That part of her logical, scientific mind that was still able to function despite the shock, turned over the questions. Could her bond with Trip, apparently dead for years, have itself survived his death? Or … and here she found her heart pounding each time she thought the question … was it possible he was still alive?

At first glance, the latter question was ridiculous. And yet, if she applied herself logically to the question, all of her knowledge of Trip’s death was indirect, inferred.

They had been told of the encounter with the alien boarding party, that Commander Tucker had died saving the Captain’s life. No one but Phlox, and presumably the Captain – she realized didn’t actually know – had seen his body. It had been badly burned, and had been cremated.

She, along with the rest of the crew, had attended the memorial service held on Earth the day after the signing of the Charter – there along with his shattered parents and his remaining family. The tears shed by his family had been copious, and undoubtedly real. They undoubtedly believed he was dead, as did most of his grieving crewmates.

And yet, in truth, she had sleepwalked through the service. Koss’ statements resonated. She had not truly believed.

And if they were, in fact, still bonded after seven years, would she not have felt his death? Have known it to be true? The death of a bondmate is the most shattering experience possible for a Vulcan; it was said temporary insanity or even death could result when the bond was strong enough, as the priest had suggested.

But she had felt no sign of the bond over many years. She stopped her pacing and gazed out towards the fire plains in the distance, remembering the connection she and Trip had shared there, the connection that she had repudiated to marry Koss and save her mother’s honour.

Their daughter Elizabeth’s death had been the final blow to their burgeoning relationship. After the shock had begun to wear off, she had reacted with apparent cool dispassion and logic. Their relationship was illogical, causing nothing but grief, and must be terminated. She had never again allowed him into her space, had pushed him away till there was no sign of their connection remaining.

But it had not been logic. It had been fear, she admitted, fear pure and simple. For every time she grew closer to him, hurt and pain was the result, till she felt she could no longer bear the emotional strain, and would crack and fail, as she had twice before. She still fought to suppress the memories of the time spent purging the emotion, the guilt, after she had killed a man – a man who, to this day, she did not know for certain was guilty of the appalling crimes of which he had been accused. And then there had been the Trellium – that had left her weak, dependent, out of control, risking herself and others.

So finally, after Elizabeth’s death, she had determined that she must find her strength within herself, that she could no longer cope with the confusion that their need for each other engendered. She had found that strength, but had found it at the expense of all they had shared. And now she wondered, had the price she had paid been worth all she had sacrificed? Surely it had, and yet …

Even after their relationship had been severed, she still sometimes knew without looking when he entered a room, still knew without asking when he was angry, or sad, or frustrated, or full of joy. At times, it seemed he could still read her thoughts. She recalled their last real conversation on the shuttle, just before his death. He had read her uncertainties and had answered her with what she needed. What had he said? She paused in her recollection. His words came back to her. “I promise you, T’Pol, that whatever happens, we won’t lose touch.” It was ironic, given that his death had ensued a few hours later.

She considered his words further. There had been a strange emphasis he had placed on his statement, as if he was anxious to reassure her against some eventuality that she had not even expressed. She stood transfixed. Had he known? Had he been aware of his imminent apparent death?

Suddenly, an amaraka bird launched itself from the trellis on which it had landed in the garden outside the window, and broke her reverie as it called out its sad skree-ah, departing.

She shook her head. No need for fanciful re-interpretation of events. Stick with verifiable facts. Assume that he was not dead. There were two possibilities she could imagine that were at least less unlikely than the others.

One: his death had been staged by some outside agency, in order to remove him permanently from Enterprise with no one the wiser. Two: instead of an outside agency, it was Starfleet, or some faction of it, that had managed the charade.

She considered the first possibility. Phlox had been fooled once before by a simulacrum of Ensign Mayweather replicated by the repair station they had encountered just after the Romulan minefield. Had it not been for Phlox’s recognition of the unusual behaviour of the micro-organisms in Mayweather’s blood, the abduction would have gone unrecognized, and his death accepted by all.

Perhaps this time around, there had been no such indicators, and a replicated corpse had been left at the scene of the apparent struggle. There had been no witnesses to Tucker’s death, Archer having lain unconscious in the hall a few feet away.

So if Tucker had in fact been abducted and removed from Enterprise, what further could she hope to learn? The security logs had been screened repeatedly for information on their attackers, there was surely no additional information there. She supposed she could spend time searching through their mission logs looking for some group that might stand to benefit from this particular ruse.

T’Pol shook her head. This line of investigation, although possible, seemed rather unlikely to yield quick answers. And while Vulcan patience when faced with a puzzle such as this was legendary, she admitted that it was not possible for her to view this as a simple puzzle. There was too much at stake.

Almost against her will, she recalled Koss’ expression earlier that day, as he departed the scene of their disastrous marriage ceremony. Her chest tightened. And then, even more unwillingly, she recalled Tucker’s face as she had finally, firmly, pushed him away, leaving each of them to grieve for their daughter alone. She thought he had, in the end, felt the same as she, that their relationship was too risky, the rewards too few and the failures too hard to bear. Surely the pain of the path they had taken from then on had been less that that which had led up to it.

She firmly pushed her thoughts back to her analysis of the second scenario, in which Starfleet was responsible for Tucker’s disappearance and apparent death.

The how was not so very difficult to imagine if one suspended disbelief. The only evidence of the intruder involvement was the testimony of three of Enterprise’s senior officers and some ship’s logs, easily altered by the individuals involved. The alien corpses, like Tucker’s, had been scorched into non-recognition, and their vessel had been unseen by anyone. Only sensor logs existed, Reed having produced them `immediately after the fact as evidence of the vessel. Reed could have faked the readings, or Archer could have fabricated them for Reed to find; he had the command override codes and the knowledge – particularly if Starfleet was behind it all helping him out.

Her pacing had taken her to her bedroom. She squinted out the side window, through the pebbled panes of glass, at the shadows falling across the desert outside the house as Vulcan’s scorching sun fell toward the horizon.

Phlox, Archer, and possibly Reed, colluding to fabricate Tucker’s death. There had been something out of true about the days that followed his death, a sour chord continually struck. She would find Archer preoccupied with the ship’s decommissioning activities, and acting as though the senseless, sudden, death of one of his dearest friends had not just occurred, or was of little matter. Phlox, after an initial period of sobriety lasting perhaps two days, had subsequently appeared as relentlessly cheerful as ever. As for Reed, she had encountered him flirting with a young ensign less than three days after the memorial service.

Perhaps Phlox, Archer and Reed were simply unable to absorb the event, just as she had been. Or, perhaps, they simply found maintaining the pretence of his death too difficult.

If this scenario was true, then there were at least two people, perhaps three, of her close acquaintance who knew that Tucker was not dead. Here was a clear path to follow. She straightened her shoulders, her spirits suddenly lifting purposefully.

She still had three weeks of leave left, time she had latterly planned to spend with Koss on Vulcan. That clearly being out of the question now, she turned definitively toward her closet, pulled out her travel bag, and began to pack.

Part 3

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

this is exceedingly interesting! i love a good mystery!

God if Archer, Phlox, or Reed had anything to do with Trips "Death" I think I might actualy have a bit of pitty for them,,, Cause Polly is gona go all Vulcan Kung Fu on their butts if they did.,,,,,,, So many possiblities Im really wondering what happened to Trip?,,,,,,, An after all this build up an T'pol relivin past mistakes,,, You had better have Trip come back from the "dead",,, Cause anything else would be just to painfull.,,,,, Great chapie cant wait for the next one. :)

Really, /really/ like this story, already. And was ecstatic to see an update! I'm oooh-so-curious and ready for the next update. ;)

Trip alive?? Yeah (doing a happy dance). Very, very eager to know what happens next. Why on Earth - (or on Vulcan) - would Archer, Phlox or Reed hide this crucial information from our Tpol? Write more, pretty please.

This is an absolutely excellent story ! More please soon !

Amazing. Simply amazing. I'm enthralled with this story. I hope that you update soon!

Excellent!

Hmmm...Polly Fu?

This is pretty darned good, Evalyn, and I'm looking forward to more...

Okay... now I'm REALLY hooked. The only thing that bugs me is that your posts are so short! I might just die of suspense before the next one... and then I'll never find out how the story ends! - : )) D

Mystery... hidden in mystery. Sorry, song I know. Anyway, awesome stuff, can't wait to see what's coming! :)

Oh, the suspense! Excellent story on its own, Evalyn, and you're making good use of all those loose ends and and bits of stupidity from the episode(like Archer and Reed's unnatural behaviour after Trip's "death"). I can't wait to see where you take this. I'm leaning towards Starfleet as the culprit - and you'll note I'm assuming Trip is alive! Please, please make it so!

Sorry about the short posts, but it takes me many hours of reviewing/rewriting for each one to get it just the way I want it, and unfortunately RL has me pretty busy working evenings and weekends. I figure you'd rather have small updates frequently that wait for the whole thing! Bear with me.

Wonderful chapter.

-j

Truly excellent! I love your T'Pol POV. Perfectly in character. I also love how we're left to try and figure out the mystery along with her. Well done. I look forward to your next post. :)

inteiguing story from T'Pol's point of view can't wait to see where your story leads theMystery of what happens next.Especially T'Pol still being bonded to Trip a fascinating angle keep up the goos work looking forward to more soon.

I'm absolutely enthralled! The first chapter was beautiful, and I found myself believing that maybe T'Pol could be happy with Koss.

But whoa! what a turn around! Which means I must compliment your structure and narration. T'Pol's inner voice is beautiful and very canon, in my opinion.

Well done. I can't wait to read more!

I'm absolutely enthralled! The first chapter was beautiful, and I found myself believing that maybe T'Pol could be happy with Koss.

But whoa! what a turn around! Which means I must compliment your structure and narration. T'Pol's inner voice is beautiful and very canon, in my opinion.

Well done. I can't wait to read more!

Love this story! Altho am concerned about the Archer/Phlox/Reed conspiracy theory: If T'Pol turned her back on Trip and the Bond 6 years prior well, maybe Trip is alive and doesn't want to be found. At least not by her. I love T-N-T' and want them reunited, but maybe she needs to want it enough to work for it! I love your characterization of T'Pol - sounds true to her - now, if she would only stop assuming her viewpoint is the only valid one re: the rightness of their relationship. Did I mention that I love this story? ;)

Interesting angle on this story. I'm continually delighted by the way fanfic writers take the original outline of TATV and write new endings and interpretations. I enjoy any fic that brings TnT back together, and I'm very interested in seeing just how you do that.

Can't wait for the next chapter. Its amazing what you have done considering that TATV was some of the worst crap ever written. I like how you deal with the really stupid parts of TATV like Archer & Reeds disinterest in Trip's death. Great job. However, still think that "Perchance" was the best (and funniest) fix ever.

Great story! Just too short chapters!

More, more!!