Unexpected Redux-Chapters 10 & 11

Unexpected Redux

By Hoshi’s Sis

Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Paramount invented the characters and the original storyline; I just went and played with it a bit.
Genre: Friendship/Angst

Thanks to Peter Simon my beta.

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Chapter Ten

Feeling relaxed and refreshed after a good night’s sleep, Trip opened his eyes and stretched his arms with a huge yawn. He was careful not to make any sudden moves, because that always seemed to bring on his nausea quicker. Slowly he turned his head, and noticed a plate with biscuits lying on a small table next to his bed with a slip of paper beside it.

Picking up the note, he read the message inscribed inside and smiled.

I took the privilege of looking up information regarding human pregnancy. There are several notes that state eating a biscuit first thing in the morning and several small snacks throughout the day will fend off the tendency for nausea. I have taken the liberty of asking Chef to maintain a steady supply in the Mess Hall from now on.
--T’Pol.

“Oh well, might as well give it a try,” Trip mumbled to himself, and reached across and took a bite. Ten minutes later, still no sudden urge to race towards the bathroom had risen up in him. “Well, I’ll be darned. Maybe there’s something in this after all.”

Closing his eyes, he concentrated on an image of him thanking T’Pol. “If our bond is getting stronger again, she’ll definitely get the message,” he thought, as he stood up to get washed and dressed.

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“You look a little perkier this morning,” said Malcolm, walking up to Trip in Engineering as he was adjusting some controls on a console.

“Yeah, it’s amazing what a few nibbles on a few biscuits can do throughout the day,” explained Trip.

Before they could talk more, the comm. interrupted them.

“Archer to all senior staff, report to the Bridge …”

“I’ll bet ya anything that’s about the Daladian ship,” Trip said, as he gave his tools to another crewman with directions on how to finish the job, before they both walked to the nearest turbo lift.

“Good news or bad news?” enquired Malcolm.

“Let’s hope good,” replied Trip. “I don’t even want to think about the consequences of the other option right now.”

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“What have we got, T’Pol?” Archer asked, while indicating Malcolm and Trip, who had just entered the room, to take a seat at the Command Table.

“There are heavy scorch marks and blast damage along the hull; it appears they have been in quite a fire fight,” explained T’Pol as she highlighted the areas of damage on the view screen.

“Is anyone alive over there?” interrupted Trip with a worried expression on his face.

“Life support is failing, and I’m not picking up any bio signs, but the heavy damage could be disrupting my sensors,” T’Pol replied, her concern for him growing, a she felt his anxiety rising. “There ship appears to be dead in space.”

“Malcolm, T’Pol, prepare a boarding party and inform Phlox as well; we’re going over there to find out what’s gone on.” Captain Archer glanced over at Trip. “We’ll also look for any … um, additional information they may have left.”

“Capt’n!” exclaimed Trip, trying to get Archer’s attention as everyone began to file out.

Captain Archer waited till they were alone before answering him. “Sorry, Trip, but I need you on the Bridge.”

“But, Sir--

“No! And before you say it, this isn’t about your condition. I need someone experienced who I can rely up on the Bridge in case who ever did this decides to come back and pay us a visit.”

Trip wasn’t happy, but nodded his head in resignation. Now was not the time to lose control, he thought, as he tried to refocus his mind and to tame his raging hormones like T’Pol had taught him.

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Malcolm manoeuvred the shuttle up to the docking hatch and latched onto the seal tight. Donned in their environmental suits, Malcolm, Phlox, Archer, and T’Pol slowly peeled back the hatch and entered the ship.

“Malcolm,” directed Captain Archer, “go with T’Pol and find out as much as you can on what happened here. T’Pol, download anything to your scanner that we might find useful. Phlox and I are going to look for Allion and Travella. We’ve got thirty minutes people; I don’t want to hang around here any longer than necessary.”
With that each pair went their separate ways.

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The damage to the ship was massive: sparks bounced off consoles everywhere, beams and jagged pieces of metal draped all over from where they had exploded, and the whole atmosphere was dense with acrid smoke pouring from damaged equipment.

“Thank god Trip is not here to see what happened to all his repair work,” Malcolm muttered quietly, as he ducked under a beam. “Although saying that, I’m not sure that’s going to be foremost on his mind at the moment.”

T’Pol looked at him surprised. “Commander Tucker has discussed his … predicament with you?”

“Errmmm, yeah, the other morning. I kind of caught him during a bad moment, and put two and two together. After that he came clean on what happened.”

“I see. You seemed to have responded favourably?”

“I was a bit shocked a first. I mean, talk about getting hit by lightening twice.”

T’Pol seemed a bit confused about the metaphor, but carried on listening while she looked around for anything that might have escaped undamaged.

“But then I got angry. I mean, if you think about it, he was violated under our very noses.”

“I don’t believe Commander Tucker thinks about it in that respect,” T’Pol replied. “He seems quite accepting of the matter.”

“That is what I’m having a hard time getting around,” Malcolm exclaimed. He studied the console in front of him for a moment, and noticed that it still carried power. So he indicated for T’Pol to take a closer look, before he carried on with his vent. “I tried to make him see that he should be angry at what happened, but he just brushed me off as if it was a natural occurrence.”

“Personal loss and grief can affect people in many ways, Lieutenant, making you more protective from going through such experience again.” T’Pol replied as she connected her scanner and began the download. “I find Commander Tucker’s positive attitude and forward view in how he confronted this situation to be honourable and commendable.”

“Yeah well, if it were me, I’d blast the buggers into small pieces.”

T’Pol just raised her eyebrow. “It seems whoever did this agrees with you.”

“I didn’t mean it quite as literally though,” Malcolm mumbled, and watched T’Pol pick up her communicator. “T’Pol to Captain Archer.”

“Archer.”

“We have managed to find an undamaged console and are downloading their database now. We will be finished in 4.97 minutes.”

“Good. Finish up and meet us back at the shuttle. We’ve found what’s left of Allion and Trevella,” said Captain Archer, causing Malcolm and T’Pol to throw each other a concerned look. “Who ever did this made clear what their intentions were; and they were ruthless in putting it across as painfully as possible,” Archer said in a sombre voice. “My only concern right now is getting Trip away from here.”

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Chapter Eleven

After piloting the shuttle back to Enterprise, Captain Archer stepped out, and walked over to the comm. “Archer to the Bridge.”

“Bridge here, Capt’n.” Trip replied a little nervously.

“I’m sending you the coordinate of our new destination; have Travis plot a direct course and get us away from here.”

“Sure thing, Capt’n. Anything else?” Trip asked, trying to gauge an answer as to what they found over there on the Daladian ship.

“Meet me, T’Pol, Reed, and Phlox in the Command Centre. We need to discuss the recent developments before we can decide upon our next course of action.”

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Five minutes later, Trip walked into the Command Centre to a group of quiet and solemn looking faces gathered around the table.

“I take it things weren’t pretty over there?”

“You can say that again,” Malcolm quietly muttered back as Trip took a seat. “It was a right mess. Who ever did this knew just where to hit them to take out critical systems, and to make the most damage.”

“So you’re saying it was no accident?” Trip asked.

“Yes,” Malcolm answered, “that was no random blast damage. The hits were too precise and accurate. I’d say it was done by someone familiar with their ships and species.”

“Could it be those who they were afraid of?”

“We don’t know, Trip. Any answer would be speculation on our parts,” Archer replied. He wasn’t happy with this situation at all; it felt like they were being used as pawns in someone’s sick little game -- a game where now an innocent baby and his best friend were in great danger.

“Did ya find out anything from Trevella and Allion?”

“They were dead, Commander,” Phlox answered. Then he added quietly: “They were killed in a rather vicious and crude manner.” This remark caused Trip to turn rather pale and to clutch at his side, where his growing child was just beginning to show.

Concerned, Archer stood up and walked behind his friend, clutching his shoulders as a sign of support. “T’Pol managed to download some data into her scanner; it might give us an idea of who did this and why.”

“So what do we know?” Trip asked in a quiet voice, deeply concerned by the events.

“The logical course of action would be to head towards the coordinates given during the meld, and to try to contact these Guardians.”

“Meld? Guardians?” asked Reed, a little confused.

Looking over at Trip, Captain Archer replied, “I’ll bring you up-to-date with events later, Lieutenant.”

Malcolm glanced at Trip and smiled. “I’m not quite as behind as you may think, Sir, but thank you, it would be appreciated.”

Captain Archer nodded to indicate that he understood. He was glad that Trip had confided to one of his friends at least, allowing Malcolm to help him through this.

“T’Pol how long will it take us to reach those coordinates?”

“Ten weeks,” T’Pol replied, as she went over the calculations on her scanner. “It would usually take about half that time at Warp 5, but the area of space contains a lot of disruptions and anomalies, so we will only be able to reach Warp 3.”

“Keep an eye on sensors at all time; let’s hope we can get there without any trouble,” replied Captain Archer as they all got ready to leave. “Trip, we’re going to need to upgrade communications in order to send a message to the Guardians. I’d like you to get started on that as soon as you can.”

“Once we’ve finished here, I’d like to take Commander Tucker to Sickbay for his daily check-up,” Phlox said trying to block the engineer’s path out of the room. Looking at Commander Tucker’s whole demeanour, he was extremely worried about his health.

“I’m fine.” Trip shouted, trying to calm his racing heartbeat. “I need to help T’Pol retrieve the data, then I have to get on with the communications systems.”

“Trip … you know about doctor’s orders. You can help T’Pol after Phlox is finished checking you over.”

“Capt’n ….”

“That’s an order, Commander,” said Archer, sternly. He didn’t want to come down hard on Trip, but he also was quite concerned.

Since nearly everyone involved was ganging up on him, Trip reluctantly agreed and followed Phlox back to Sickbay.

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Forty minutes later, Trip walked into the Science Lab to help T’Pol retrieve the data from the Daladian ship.

“How are you?” she asked.

“I’m fine.” Trip replied, giving the usual brush off that he used whenever he was asked this question. When she gave him the ‘you don’t fool me’ look though, he shrugged and answered truthfully, “It’s the same as usual. Phlox thinks I should rest, put my feet up, and relax since my blood pressure is high again.”

“That’s good advice.”

“Hardly. How can I relax after what happened to Trevella and Allion’s ship?” Trip replied, getting worked up again. “I’ve got a lot on my plate with keeping the engines in good condition so they can make it to those coordinates, and I have to revamp our communication system so we can make contact.”

T’Pol walked up beside him, and placed her hands on either side of his shoulders. “You have excellent support staff, Commander. You should rely on them more. I know you see yourself as more as a hands-on Chief Engineer, but at the moment you have more important matters to think about,” T’Pol said, looking at where the child was just beginning to show through his uniform. “Protecting her also involves keeping yourself in good condition, not just the ship.”

“Why do I get the feeling you're gonna be constantly on my case about that,” smirked Trip.

“One of my duties as First Officer is looking out for the crew. I am just performing my duty,” she replied, as she stared into his eyes while softly caressing his face.

“I love it when you take your job so literally,” said Trip softly, reaching down to gentle caress her lips with his own. Wanting more, T’Pol pulled him closer for a more thorough in-depth exploration of her mouth.

After a few minutes, Trip broke away, “T’Pol, what are we doing?” he questioned.

“I believe you Humans call it making out.”

“That’s not quite what I meant,” chuckled Trip.

Thinking back to one of those old movies that Trip loved to watch when they were together, T’Pol look at him and replied, “I believe we should take it one step at a time.”

“So which step is this?” Trip asked before leaning in for another kiss.

“Relaxing the Chief Engineer so he can perform his duties in a more efficient manner,” T’Pol teased back, raising her eyebrow and tilting her head with a slight smile.

Much to T’Pol’s delight, Trip to burst out laughing.

She had hoped to cheer him up. They looked at each other for a moment, and they concentrated on retrieving the data again.

2 hours later, Trip frowned with frustration. “Well that didn’t tell us much.”

“Indeed, although we now have a clear picture of what happened on their home world, and why they took up this mission.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t help us much, does it?” Trip replied, while pacing the room and running his fingers through his hair. “I … I just feel so damn helpless! They might be out there watching us right now, just waiting to attack--

“Trip,” interrupted T’Pol, grabbing hold of his shoulder and stopping him in his tracks. “Stressing over what may or may not happen is not helping you or the child. First of all, this event occurred several days ago, so whoever attacked their ship is long gone by now. Secondly, if the people who did this are the ones Trevella and Allion were running from, then they won’t know about Enterprise. The Daladians went through a great deal of effort to delete any trace of our involvement from their ship’s database.”

“All the attackers would have to do is to scan their ship, then they would discover our modified spare parts in their systems.”

“Yes, but it will take time to trace them back to us.” T’Pol argued back.

“I can’t let them kill her.” Trip whispered, feeling a little downhearted. After all the grief and turmoil with Elizabeth, he couldn’t deal with losing another child; even if she technically wasn’t his.

“I won’t let them kill her.” answered T’Pol, as she cupped her hands around his face and drew it down beside hers. “We won’t let them kill her.”

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Seven people have made comments

Great chapters - Glad to see T'Pol warming to Trip and you've pulled Malcolm into the inner circle

This is good! I'm gettin' some unusually emotional vibes from T'pol, though...and maybe she's just a bit too physical to really be in character in an area of the ship where someone might walk in on them at any minute. It really doesn't matter... it's nice to see her loosening up for a change. Trip as an emotional basket case due to pregnancy hormones is an interesting change as well. Too many fics have T'pol pregnant and falling apart. It's nice to see a different perspective.

I am glad to see that Malcolm,Tpol and the others are helping Trip but I wonder how the rest of the crew will react when they find out what happened.

Oh, poor Trip. 10 weeks until they get to the coordinates? And in a pregnancy that Phlox estimated as 5-6 months long, that's half the time, since he's been pregnant for what, close to a week and half already? Hope the Guardians'll still be able to remove the child safely from him if he's that far along. Can't wait to see what happens to him next.

only one complaint - too short! Just when I was really getting into it, it ended - more please--Soon!!!

Great story so far - please more soon

brilliant endin 4 this chapter xx i hope u continue doin this and i cant wait 2 see what happens if u do!! in 14 nd 15