The Ring of Truth - Part 5

The Ring of Truth

By Evalyn A.

Fix the Finale Fic

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 a better story than the one they came up with.

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Chapter 5

Off and on for the last half hour, the chief engineer of the Europa research facility had felt a strange teasing in his brain, a sense of dizziness and displacement. His mood, which a short time ago had been calm and focussed, now seemed to swing between a state of elation and confusion. Trying to ignore the disturbing sensations, he adjusted the phase discriminator that had been misaligning randomly off and on for the past week. Maybe, he thought to himself, it was a weird subharmonic of the device causing some form of mental disturbance.

The lanky blond engineer stood and stretched out the ache in his back. “Tak-sun!” he yelled, putting down the phase discriminator in frustration. “Help me out with uncoupling this manifold cover, a couple of extra hands ought to make it easier.” The stocky junior engineer moved over to assist him, strong hands making quick work of the complicated disconnection.

The buzzing in Tucker’s head seemed to subside a bit, while leaving a tight feeling of ill-subdued tension in his chest. Partially relieved, he scrutinized the inner workings of the manifold, squinting at the long glowing tubes that were probably the equivalent of phase couplings.

“Pass me the scope, will you?” Tucker pondered the readouts as he scanned each of the couplings, adjusting the frequency range of the analysis repeatedly. Finally he rested back on his heels and sighed.

“Nothing,” he concluded, exasperated. “Nada, nil, zippo.” Five days of investigation had yielded little to no information on the function of this small portion of the device as they systematically poked and prodded it. “I don’t suppose the other teams have had any more luck today.” He turned to watch the fifty-odd beings that scrambled over the surfaces of the immense device housed in the cavernous facility.

“I do not believe so, sir,” Tak-sun replied. “This week has been particularly frustrating.”

The strange sensations chose that moment to resume, and Tucker shook his head. “I need a break,” he said, chucking the scanner onto the test bench in front of him. “Got a bit of a headache. Care for a walk?”

The junior engineer declined, saying, “I’ve got a few tricks I’d still like to try on this beast,” as he kicked the side of the unit jokingly. Trip smiled politely, and headed for the door. In truth, he had not wanted the company, as he suspected Tak-sun had known; but in such tight quarters, it was essential to maintain good relations with co-workers.

He exited into a brightly lit corridor, decorated in early 22nd century space colony décor – grey and monotonous. While he understood that this facility had been constructed rapidly, without a lot of opportunity to obtain top class construction materials, the old, drab pre-formed materials that they had slapped together were decidedly unattractive. He noted with relief that the odd sensations again seemed to recede a bit as he left the work area, although the tension remained.

After walking purposefully through a few hundred meters of corridor, having passed a number of featureless, unlabelled doors, he paused at one apparently like all the others, and pulled on the handle to let himself in. The blissful contrast between the muggy, fragrant air within the hydroponics facility inside, and the stale, ozone-laden air outside, never failed to assault his senses each time he visited. It was like a little bit of the Everglades transplanted.

He sat on the bench placed for the purpose, admiring the plump vegetables. He nodded to the hydroponics technician, and wondered not for the first time what incentives had been given to get the support staff that kept this place running – ample remuneration no doubt played a pretty big role, and maybe a story to tell their grandchildren to boot, if they could ever hope to have any. Everyone here so far single, unattached, individuals whose absence would not have an overly damaging impact on any immediate family, and who could thus disappear without causing undue notice.

The speed and efficiency with which the diverse project team had been assembled, in near total secrecy, had been impressive. How many others like him had been extracted with hardly a day’s notice, and little information before they left other than the extreme urgency of the mission?

Few of the project personnel spoke of their background before joining the project, perhaps feeling that their personal lives were best left at the door; some of them were certainly covert ops, like the agent that had contacted Enterprise. Spooks everywhere, he thought to himself with disgust. Still, it was fortunate that it was the intelligence services that had themselves organized the diaspora of Earth’s best engineers and exo-archaeologists to this facility. Otherwise, they would surely have noticed the unusual increase in sudden deaths and disappearances in these two segments of the population.

When the plan to fake his death had been outlined, Trip had objected angrily, with Archer vigorously supporting him. However, Starfleet had made it clear that after two major interplanetary wars in the past decade, this operation required absolute secrecy. Earth’s people could not know of the project, for the consequences to morale and to her security would be devastating. Tucker’s disappearance for a prolonged period, perhaps years, could not otherwise be explained without raising suspicion. It was also made clear to him that “no” was not an answer; he was essential to the project. Despite having more than paid his dues over the past decade, he was once again conscripted.

His heart still ached for the agony that he was sure his parents had endured for the few days they believed him dead. He also felt considerable guilt for the fact that the remainder of his family and friends would continue to believe, for who knew how long, that he had died a few months ago – for only his parents had been told, and otherwise, only Archer, Phlox and Reed had known of the deception.

The buzzing suddenly resumed, much louder. But this time, he realized, it was not inside his head – it was a bumblebee droning contentedly over the blossoming vegetables, cross-pollinating them as it passed from flower to flower. He smiled wistfully at this little bit of home, so incongruously transplanted to this otherwise sterile scientific facility. More cost-effective to import bumblebees than to pay another technician for the job, he supposed.

Unfortunately, as facility chief, his break was best kept to a few minutes only. Sighing, he pushed himself off the bench and headed for the exit. As he turned for one last look before departing, he noticed beside him in the corner a spiky cactus he hadn’t seen before, with a single scarlet bloom. A fairly useless plant for a hydroponics facility – he wondered who had managed to import it and why. It was prickly and lonely-looking, a desert flower incongruous but starkly beautiful amongst the rows of oxygen producing greenery and utilitarian vegetables.

As he leaned over for a closer examination, inhaling the sweet scent that arose from the scarlet flower, a vivid memory was provoked – an image of T’Pol as he had last seen her, her sadness at their upcoming separation evident. She had been wearing her scarlet jumpsuit, and the green sheen to her skin matched that of the desert succulent in front of him. As always, her slightly alien, delicately seductive scent had surrounded him, threatening to destroy his resolve.

But he had steeled himself, stifling his intense regret at the necessity to deceive her, knowing that in a few hours she would believe him dead. She’ll be better off, he had told himself, for neither one of them had been truly able to move on, even after all the time that had passed.

Maybe she could still sense that his feelings for her, buried for so long, had never truly changed. And there were times when it still took every ounce of willpower he had not to show her how he felt. This way is best, he had thought, even as he tried to reassure her that they would remain in touch despite everything.

But now, seeing that lonely desert flower, the guilt and loneliness arose unbidden. She should be here, Trip thought, slapping his hand viciously against the wall. He did his best work around her – they could troubleshoot together as though they were still linked, new insights coming to him effortlessly when she was in the vicinity observing. But even after all these years of her loyal service in Starfleet, the spooks had decided that they couldn’t take the risk of a Vulcan knowing of the project – they weren’t sure she’d be willing to make the sacrifice necessary, or even that she could be trusted to keep the secret, given her close connection to Ambassador Soval. Despite the founding of the Federation and the détente that had ensued amongst the four founding races, there was a deep distrust of Vulcans in particular amongst Earth’s intelligence services.

So in the end, this had been the perfect opportunity to break it off, to finally walk away from her and start again, forced by circumstances.

He stopped and brooded out at the barren landscape of Jupiter’s moon outside the window for a few minutes. Then, shaking his head, he exited and returned down the hall to the busy work area, the odd sensations forgotten, to once more lost himself in the challenge of the chase in which they were all engaged.

Part 6

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

An excellent installment; I'm looking forward to the next chapter(s) with bated breath...

Mr. Tucker has some 'splaining to do...

Damn, if this doesn't get finished soon I might have a Vulcan-sized conniption fit. This is a fabulous story you've got going here :)

This story is so incredible. Man, I swear I get so excited when I see that this has been updated.

Write fast!

I'm eagerly awaiting the next chapter!

::does happy dance:: He's alive! :D I've been loving your T'Pol, and now your Trip as well. Boy, oh boy was T'Pol pissed while talking with Archer. Not a happy camper.

I loved seeing Trip get that bond tingle, and how he was reminded of T'Pol by the scent of that desert flower. Very nice.

I can't wait for more. You've got one hell of a good story here. :)

I was ridiculously happy when I saw not one, but two chapters up for this! Yay! And man, oh man, is Trip gonna be in trooooouuuuble!

Everyone's right, Trip's in trouble. I think he'll be forgiven, though. I am not too sure about anyone who get's in T'Pol's way. This is really getting good.

*joins boushh's happy dance* Trip's gonna be in trooooouuuubblllleee! Na na na na boo boo! Most excellent, more please! (I particularly liked T'Pol chewin' Archer out. Quite satisfying indeed.) :)

Methinks the bond is stronger than she thinks if she's usin' words like "rattled". I'm so thrilled that Trip is alive and well, but he may not be well for long if T'Pol finds out where he is. I get the distinct impression that she will NOT be pleased with him when she finds him. I know she won't KILL him, but it might be fun if she gets to punish him a little. (*Spank* Please, darlin'... may I have another?) *smiles an evil little smile*

Good! Good! Good! Trips' alive!! I was surprised that he did not recognize the sign of the bond, but he is definitely gonna get it from T'Pol when she gets her hands on him!!

Great stuff! I'm checking every day for more!

Brilliant. I love this story. Sad, yet hopeful. Can hardly wait for the conclusion.

Ya made my day whenI saw this fic was updated,,,,, Ill admit I was really hopin T'pol was gona let Archer have it.,,,,,, But Im really wonderin how T'pols gona take things from this point on,,, obviously here next step is Reed,, but she's gota becarful cause of Section 31,,,,,,,,Sounds like Trips new life sucks,,, that poor guy wont ever get over T'pol,,,,, But he'll probably be scared shitless when T'pol shows Up cause she is gona be pissed with him,,,, But I cant wait for that moment,,, Great job on this fic.

That was wonderful! I can't wait for the next update--I seriously was sooo thrilled when I saw this had been updated. My fave line was T'Pol's, "Have you ever seen an angry Vulcan, Captain?" Cute, yet slightly angsty, and oh-so-realistic. Thank you sooo much for sharing your amazing ideas with us!

Emily

Wow, this is intriguing! That must be one hell of a project he's working on. But poor T'Pol.

Wow - a TWO chapter update!

Great writing - Loved Archer's interrogation: he didn't last two minutes, did he? heh, heh, heh - Hell hath no fury... So, is T'Pol anywhere near accepting that she needs/wants Trip to share her life? (and being okay with that admission) Or is she simply on an indignant quest to 'get the facts straight' so that the now-apparent inconsistencies surrounding the fate of her spurned bondmate are no longer a distraction to her Vulcan sensibilities? It seems they've each got reason(s) to be pissed at the other - Even DoormatTrip has got to have some issues if she confronts him like a deceived 'spouse' after six years of being denied by her.

I'm anxious to see where this is going - what the heck is the Project? Looking forward to her dissection of Malcolm and his account - Hope you can update soon

Please be patient, there may be a drought - I'm preparing to go on a two week business trip so maybe no posts for a while.

You're killin' me, Smalls!

Ehh, take your time and focus on your business trip. We'll still be eagerly waiting when you get back ;)