Unexpected Redux-Chapters 18 & 19

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
A/N: Thanks for all your comments on my story, nearly at an end now. Thanks to Peter Simon and Boushh for all their help.

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Chapter Eighteen

Trip was angry because of his treatment by the Duordean’s and not being able to do anything about it frustrated him. He felt vulnerable and he was scared for his child’s welfare. After being transported off The Enterprise, the Duordean had dragged him down a hallway into a cold medical room that contained a single bio table with numerous weird looking instruments scattered around it. Despite putting up a good struggle, he was lifted up, and tied down to the table with straps that ran around his head, arms, and legs. One of the Duordean then proceeded to remove his shirt and to take scans of the child inside of him. This went on for about ten minutes before the alien put the scanner away, gave Trip a smirk, and withdrew himself from the room.

That was three hours ago and no one had entered the room since. From the sound the engines made, Trip could tell that the ship had gone to Warp. He could only hope that Enterprise was on their trail. He tried focusing on his bond with T’Pol, but his emotions were too much in turmoil -- he just couldn’t relax and concentrate properly. “Damn,” he thought as he fought hard against his bonds, then he yelled in a very frustrated tone: “Hey! you goddamned sons of bitches, untie me!” Nobody answered or came, but that didn’t stop him from carrying on nevertheless. Just when he thought he would go hoarse, two Duordeans entered the room and began scanning him some more and checking him over with various instruments.

“Aren’t ya going to say anything before ya callously murder an innocent?” asked Trip, trying to stall for time.

The two Duordeans just ignored him.

“Does killing come so easy for your species that you can just easily brush it aside without a second thought? Don’t you care whether it’s right or wrong?”

“We have a right to defend our way of life,” explained one of the Duordeans, while the other one carried on in an uncomfortable silence. “The Daladians had no right to interfere.”

“They were brought in as an intermediary to prevent you guys from blowing yourselves up. Or would you have preferred they had left you to wipe yourselves out?”

“We don’t need the Daladians help, especially when we were winning this war,” smirked the Duordean.

Feeling that time was slipping away, Trip decided on a different approach. “You’ll be killing one of your own! Can’t you see how wrong this is?”

“She’s not one of ours; she’s a half breed, a disease that must be eradicated if our culture is to survive.”

“How can you be so heartless? You’re talking about her as if she’s some thing. She’s a living, breathing entity that deserves a chance of life,” replied Trip in frustration while struggling uselessly.

“Not for long,” smirked the Duordean. He quietly gave instructions to the other man, before turning to leave the room.

“I won’t let you kill her,” shouted Trip in anger.

“You won’t have much choice in the matter,” sneered the Duordean as he left.

“Please, think about what you’re gonna do,” said Trip in desperation to the other Duordean, as he watched the alien pick up a rather nasty instrument and came over to him.

The Duordean refused to look or answer; he calmly put his hand over the ‘bump’ and placed the instrument next to the skin as if he was initiating a surgical procedure.

“No!” Trip screamed in terror. He struggled with all of his strength as the Duordean raised his instrument in the air, as if aiming to puncture the skin and rip her life out of Trip’s body.

Suddenly, it seemed as if all of Trip’s intense emotions rose sharply to the surface and converged into a shimmer of energy, which enveloped the Duordean’s hand and arm. Only it wasn’t Trip’s doing. Somehow he could sense that the child was using his rage, fear, terror, and sheer protective strength of will towards her and combined them into an energy source to protect herself. An inner feeling of serenity seemed to surge from within the child in Trip’s body and while the light proceeded to envelope the Duordean entirely, until it pervaded the Duordean’s whole being, causing both him and Trip to gasp in shock, convulse, and then fall apart.

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Trip didn’t know how long he’d been unconscious. All he knew was that he felt drained; he didn’t have a single zap of strength left in his body. By sheer will, he forced his eyelids open and took in his surroundings. Trip wasn’t sure what he had expected to see, but what he saw was the same as before … only somehow the Duordean seemed different. He looked the same, but his demeanor had changed. He seemed to radiate an inner peace. It also looked like the alien was untying the straps that fixed Trip to the table. Just as Trip was about to say something, the Duordean looked at him and putt his finger over Trips lips to indicate that he wanted him to be quiet.

“Come, you will be okay now,” he said with a huge smile. “I will protect you.”

“Why are you doing this?” Trip asked, not sure whether to trust the guy. “Why should I trust you?”

“Because I’m the only one on this ship who’s got her best interests at heart,” the Duordean said with conviction. “I had a vision of clarity. She showed me the true path for our people, gave me a vision of an united planet where Duordeans and Doradians work and live together in peaceful coexistence that I never thought would be possible. I want to reach out, and grasp that future. My people will see that once they’ve experienced what I just did. She deserves the chance to make it possible for all of our sakes, because I don’t think we stand a chance without her,” he muttered quietly.

“Can you help me get outta here and contact ma ship?”

“That wouldn’t be a good idea: communications are monitored closely, any signal would be detected immediately. But I can help you into one of our escape pods. Once you’ve left this ship, you should be able to contact them yourself.”

“I thought they’d detect that immediately?” said Trip.

“Not if I create a diversion and disable some of the systems first,” smiled the Duordean as he walked towards the door. Realising that Trip hadn’t joined him yet, he turned back around. “Come on, we’ve got to get moving.”

“I just want to say thanks for your help,” said Trip. “In case I don’t get a chance to say that later. I really appreciate what you’re doing for us.”

“I should be thanking you,” replied the Duordean. “Without your help, she wouldn’t have a chance to live, and my people wouldn’t have a chance of a future.”

“Call me Trip,” smiled Trip, holding out his hand to the alien.

“Nice to meet you,Trip. I’m Bree,” the Duordean replied with a smile, and shook his hand. “Now let’s get you to that escape pod.”

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Chapter Nineteen

“Travis, what’s our status?” asked Archer, sitting perched on his chair after T’Pol had chided him for his relentless pacing around the Bridge. Emotions were heightened enough after Trip’s sudden disappearance from Sickbay, and Archer’s display of anxiety for his friend wasn’t helping the crew’s stress levels.

Lieutenant Reed had managed to get the nacelle repaired in record time, and T’Pol quickly picked up the Duordean ships Warp trail on sensors. The Duordean ship could achieve higher Warp speed due to her superior shielding, so Enterprise wasn’t getting any closer to her quarry at first. Fortunately though, the Duordeans there ship had slowed sown to half their previous speed for unknown reasons, which had allowed Enterprise to catch up considerable.

“We’re still more than ninety minutes behind, Sir,” replied a dejected Travis.

“Damn!” muttered Archer and slammed his hand down on the edge of his chair. He was at a loss what to do. They were going at their top speed, but still they could hardly catch up with the Duordeans. He glanced over to T’Pol, stood up cautiously and walked towards her as she threw him an exacerbated glare. “T’Pol, can you--”

“As far as I can ascertain, he’s not in any pain at this current time. It is safe to assume that the Commander is unharmed,” interrupted T’Pol, guessing what was concerning the Captain. “Although, he is feeling agitated and very afraid.”

“This bond is supposed to be a two-way thing,” enquired Archer. “Can you communicate with him? Let him know that we’re on their trail?”

“Under normal circumstances, that would be the case,” replied T’Pol, “but at the moment his emotions are heightened. Any form of communication is extremely difficult to attain in his current state of mind.”

Archer just nodded to indicate that he understood, and returned to sit down. He could tell that she was just as concerned for Trip’s safety as he was. Vulcan’s may not show their emotions, but he could see that T’Pol’s whole demeanor exuded just as much frustration and anxiety for her mate as they all felt.

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On the Duordean ship, Bree and Trip’s flight to the escape pods had gone undetected so far. Bree had managed to sabotage the ship’s internal sensors and engines, causing them to slow down considerably. Something that Trip was grateful for, because it would give Enterprise a chance to catch up with them.

“That was quite something you did back there,” said Trip quietly, impressed by Bree’s engineering trick. “Do ya get a call for that often,” he joked, trying to lighten the mood as they slowly crept along close to the bulkheads.

“Actually, yes,” replied Bree in a serious tone. “It’s a standard technique we use when infiltrating enemy territory for hit and run attacks.”

“Oh!” Trip replied, silently cursing himself for putting his foot in proverbial mouth.

A minute later, they finally arrived at the escape pods.

“Here,” the Duordean said, “climb in while I go to the control room to make sure no one notices the launch. Don’t release the hatch until I give you a signal saying it’s safe to do so.”

“Are you going to be okay? After doing this, I mean. I wouldn’t want ya to place yourself in danger.”

“Don’t worry about me, Trip,” said Bree, placing his hand on Trip’s shoulder. “You’ve given me hope, something I’d lost a long time ago.”

After thanking his newfound ally, Trip climbed into the pod, closing the hatch tight and waited for Bree to indicate that it was safe to release.

Twenty minutes went by like this, but still there was no signal from Bree. “Damn,” thought Trip, growing concerned that something had gone wrong. He realized he was now faced with a dilemma. Should he carry on waiting here for Bree’s signal and risk being discovered -- which was a high possibility if Bree had indeed been caught --, or should he release the hatch and risk discovery because Bree hadn’t disabled the external sensors yet?.

Trip bit his lip and decided that he stood a better chance off this vessel. He took a final scan of the controls, reached up, and punched the release button, before bracing himself for the rough turbulence that occurred when the shuttle left the escape pod dropped out of the Duordean ship’s Warp field.

Trip waited several moments to make sure he was clear of the Duordean ship, before firing up the pod’s impulse drive. He didn’t dare yet to transmit a comm message to Enterprise, because he feared the signal would be picked up by the Duordeans, so his only other option was trying to focus hard on his bond with T’Pol, and hope that he could communicate with her. Sitting as comfortably as he could in the tiny space, he calmed his breathing, and tried to relax. Trip closed his eyes, and concentrated on the sole shining star that shone forever brightly in his heart, soul and mind.

“Please, T’Pol, if our bond is getting stronger and ya can hear me, I’m in an escape pod leaving their ship. You have to find me as fast as ya can, darling, I need ya."

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Back on Enterprise

T’Pol was concentrating hard. She focused on the bond between her and her mate. Even though their renewed relationship had strengthened the link, telepathic communication was not yet easily accomplished. She envisioned Trip’s presence in the white room with her. She tried to share her thoughts and feelings with him, trying to calm him down with her presence. She could tell that Trip’s fear had tempered off since earlier, when he’d been taken, but it was still unusually high. For a moment, T’Pol worried about Trip’s blood pressure. Phlox had stressed that this problem could become a quite a serious threat for the pregnancy if it went unchecked, so it was vital that she helped him out in whatever way she could. That would have been so much easier, if she would be able to talk to him in the tranquil setting of the white room, but since that wasn’t possible, she focused on channeling calming thoughts his way.

This had been going on for a few hours now, and T’Pol was exhausted, but she refused to give up until Trip was safely back on board. She was beginning to get a bit confused as she kept seeing faint images of him in a sitting position, apparently meditating.

Her fingers still rested on the sensor controls from earlier, when she had been tracing the Duordean ship’s warp trail, and suddenly she felt a strange urge to update the scans to recalibrate the sensors for a more precise display. She couldn’t detect anything out of the ordinary, but still she looked puzzled because she felt that something was amiss and somehow it was connected to her vision of Trip.

“T’Pol?” questioned Archer as he walked towards her console. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m uncertain, Captain,” replied T’Pol as she leaned into her scanner for another look, before leaning back with a puzzled look on her face.

“Has they altered course?” asked Archer.

“No,” she replied, before leaning back and pondering for a few minutes. “I believe, though, that we should alter ours.” With that, T’Pol pointed at a position about 5 light years away from their current position.

“Why there?”

“I can’t describe it, Captain. I keep getting a visual of Trip meditating in a very small environment, some sort of small ship. I believe it is vital we alter our course for that heading. You might call it intuition.”

“Do you thing you think Trip could be trying to communicate with you?” queried Archer.

“It’s a possibility, Captain,” she replied, each looking at the other with a glimmer of hope in their eyes.

Normally, Archer wouldn’t take the chance and go off on a tangent based on a hunch, but he trusted T’Pol. He knew that deep down she cared for Trip -- loved him even. She would never recommend anything that would place his life in jeopardy or danger. So if she believed that Trip had escaped and was now at those coordinates, then he was damn sure going to trust her judgment.

With a slight nod of acknowledgment, Archer turned to give Travis new orders. “Travis, change our course to these new coordinates.”

“Captain,” said T’Pol with some urgency.

“What’s wrong?” enquired Archer.

“The Duordian ship has changed course to the same coordinates. ETA is 45 minutes.”

“Hess,” replied Archer, almost shouting into the comm because of his rising concern, “I don’t care what you have to do, but we need our speed increased now. We’ve got to reach those coordinates before they do.”

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Chapters 20 & 21

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

Oooooooo! Nice one! Super baby is revealing her powers, eh? Well done, can't wait for more! :)

Good story since the beginning. Can't wait to see if Trip gives "birth" (Heh).

ack! you left us with another cliffhanger! not fair! haning on the edge of my seat for more soon! Am curious to see how this all works itself out (I mean it does work itself out right???)

Nice. I do have one question: would the mating bond between TnT be so publicly known? I mean, I could see Phlox and possibly Archer being made aware of it but have some difficulty comprehending how someone as intensely private as T'Pol would want anyone else knowing about it.

Boy, wouldn't it be a twist if Super!Baby turned out to be evil? :-D

Nice update. I can't wait to see the conclusion!

I kind of agree with Rigil about the bond, but it's your story. Heck, if some authors can have them openly married, I suppose common knowledge of the bond isn't too much of a stretch. If Baby is telepathic, I'd love to see her try to talk to T'Pol.

I kind of agree with Rigil about the bond, but it's your story. Heck, if some authors can have them openly married, I suppose common knowledge of the bond isn't too much of a stretch. If Baby is telepathic, I'd love to see her try to talk to T'Pol.

Maybe I should have made it a little more clearer than I did to show that Archer was talking quietly to T'Pol about the bond as its supposed to be known only to Archer and Phlox. When Archer is talking to her about it, its supposed to be quietly so no one else knows. Thinking back I took out a line, when Archer tells Travis to change course and head to new coordinates that T'Pol thinks Trip is at, because it had Travis looking confused as to why they would do that all of a sudden and I thought it looked odd. But know that I think about it, it would have made sense to leave it in because it would have shown that Archer and T'Pol's discussion about the bond was discussed quietly between them.

Super baby isn't evil, and Distracted, I think you're reading my mind. LOL.

Can't wait for an update!!

Thanks for that, Hoshisis; reading it now with the image that Archer is speaking really quietly to T'Pol regarding the bond does make it a little better. Of course, give Hoshi's known hearing ability, I wonder if he's just added fodder for the rumor mill...:D

^^ Crap. This was me...

Wow. You write well, but I'm afraid that if an alien kidnapped me and made me have a kid to be their savior, I would be certain to educate the little dickens in the finest traditions of National Socialisim and Total War before sending it back.