New World Man: Introduction

New World Man: Introduction

by Kevin

Rating: PG
Disclaimer: The characters mentioned within this text are the sole property of Paramount Studios, UPN, and Viacom. I intend no infringement.
Genre: Drama, Romance
Summary: New World Man is a series of stories about Trip’s life after the episode "Terra Prime." This short piece contains three scenes, set in February, May and June 2155, which lay the necessary groundwork for the rest of the stories.

Author’s Note: My normal formatting conventions apply for all of the stories in this series. Text in “” is English. Text in ** “” ** is Vulcan. Text in () is TnT bondspeak. Text in italics is inner dialog or the name of a ship (depending on context).

Trip steadied his breathing and tried to clear his mind while focusing on the candle in front of him. At that very moment he couldn’t imagine anything more difficult. T’Pol made it sound so easy like I can just forget everything going on.

It wasn’t working very well–in fact, not at all. His emotions whirled around like a tornado in his mind. A few weeks ago he found out he was… mated… or bonded… or whatever to T’Pol. Before he really had time to sort out what that meant, he found out he… actually they… had a daughter they never knew about. She was only in his life a scant nine days before she succumbed to the genetic defects caused by a flaw in her creation. Losing her still hurt as if he had known her… Elizabeth… her whole life. Her death left an empty hole in his heart.

When he woke up yesterday morning, somehow he knew something was terribly wrong with T’Pol. He rushed to her quarters and after overriding the security system found her on the verge of emotional collapse. He eventually was able to get her to sickbay and his numerous bruises bore witness to just how difficult that task had been. His left shoulder still ached from a punishing right jab by T’Pol. Phlox sedated her and gave her a neural stabilizer. He told Trip to come back that evening as the three of them had much to discuss. He refused to elaborate further.

Trip passed yesterday in a haze. He kept trying to figure out why Phlox didn’t seem surprised at T’Pol’s emotional state when he finally got her there. And what did they have to discuss? Did Phlox know about the bond? Without fully being aware of what he was doing, Trip went through the starboard nacelle stem to stern evaluating the damage wrought by the verteron array. Starfleet had concentrated on investigating the recent Terra Prime incident and its influence over Enterprise’s crew so repairs to the ship had lagged. No one had yet performed a detailed analysis of the damaged nacelle.

By the end of the day, his damage report read like a nacelle parts list. Trip was too wrapped up in his personal problems to recognize the nacelle was a lost cause. He was too worried about T’Pol to recognize something that should have been plain as day.

Yesterday evening was worse than he could have even imagined. The problem wasn’t that Phlox knew about the bond he and T’Pol shared, Trip pretty much expected that. Phlox revealed just how perilous T’Pol’s current situation was. During the time T’Pol spent captive by Terra Prime, she had bonded with Elizabeth. Under the best of circumstances, the death of an infant would cause significant distress in the child’s Vulcan mother. However, due to past “injuries” T’Pol lacked the emotional control to cope with the death as a typical Vulcan mother could.

That’s when Trip first found out about T’Pol’s Pa’nar Syndrome and Trellium addiction. To find out his… mate… wife… had been… mind raped and practically committed an extended suicide… overwhelmed him. The knowledge that she poisoned herself because of him only made his pain and anger worse… The rest of the evening faded into a blur of irrational tirades and fits of uncontrolled sobbing.

This morning he awoke on the floor of his quarters in the same clothes he wore the day before. At first, he hoped last night’s revelations and his response were nothing more than a nightmare, but they were too vivid for that. They had to be real. He couldn’t remember how he got there; he only knew he looked and felt like hell. His eyes were swollen and bloodshot. His voice was hoarse and his throat hurt. His body ached from the abuse T’Pol dished out the previous morning and sleeping all night on the floor. He had no idea what to do.

He did the only thing he could think of; he went to sickbay to see T’Pol.

The corridors were empty as he walked to sickbay. Upon arrival, he saw it was just after 0500 hours, which meant everyone but the skeleton gamma shift, was still asleep. The lights were dim in sickbay and he took a chair at T’Pol’s bedside. She was still asleep and he reached out his left hand to intertwine his fingers with hers while he held her right hand. She needed his support to make it through this and he would do whatever she needed. At the time he couldn’t fully comprehend what he was promising.

A short while later he found himself struggling to stay awake and finally gave in to his exhaustion. He bent over and rested his head on T’Pol’s bed, using his right arm as a pillow while he held her hand with his left. He took one last look at her face before falling asleep. She looked so calm in comparison to yesterday.

When he awoke it was to find T’Pol looking directly into his eyes. She had shifted onto her side and appeared to be watching him, probably waiting for him to wake up. “Hey,” whispered to her and smiled.

“Good morning,” she replied. Trip felt a warm tingle wash over him.

“How you feeling Trip?” Archer’s voice startled Trip and he jerked up to look at the Captain and Phlox across the bed from him. Both gave him knowing grins as if they intended to startle him.

Trip sighed and was pretty sure he was blushing. “I feel like someone beat the hell out of me…”

“I apologize for that…” He felt T’Pol’s guilt.

“I didn’t mean it that way T’Pol… I understand…” He saw her face soften slightly.

“Doctor Phlox has filled me in… on everything…” Trip was stunned. The Captain knew! But he didn’t appear all that upset. He saw the Captain take a deep breath. “The three of us need to have a long talk, but not right now. I agree with Phlox–T’Pol’s health is more important right now…”

Trip nodded in agreement.

“Phlox has placed both of you on medical leave–something about a virus you both picked up while in the lunar mining colony, I believe.”

Phlox nodded. “You are quite right, Captain. I have it contained so they are not contagious but they will require lots of rest over the next few days.”

Trip smiled and nodded his head. They’re pretty bad liars. “If you insist. But we have a lot of work to do getting Enterprise back up and running. We’re down one nacelle. I need to start a team on making repairs.”

Trip saw Archer’s baffled expression. “What?”

“Didn’t you even read your own report from yesterday?”

“I thought I did,” Trip shrugged. Maybe I didn’t?

“Well, according to your report, the nacelle’s shot. Anna had a small team review your report early this morning and they agree with your findings completely… It’s a lost cause.”

“What’re we going to do about it Captain?”

Archer shook his head and shrugged. “Don’t know. The boys at the shipyards are trying to figure out what to do… They’re trying to decide whether to take the nacelles from Challenger and put them on Enterprise or to just repair the one we have.”

Trip rolled his tongue around his cheek. He couldn’t figure out why that decision was so hard. “What’s the problem? Why not just repair the one we have?”

“It’s not that simple. They don’t have all of the parts they need to rebuild it. They’re also concerned that they’ll find a bunch of problems with the port nacelle due to battle damage. We’ve been in a few firefights since the last time they looked at it. Admiral Cragen wants Enterprise back out as soon as possible. The quickest way to do that might be to take both nacelles from Challenger and put them on Enterprise. I guess they’re about eighty percent complete.”

Archer paused before continuing. “Either way Trip, we’re going nowhere fast for a few weeks… They’re getting the repair facilities ready for us.”

Trip just turned to T’Pol. He didn’t know what to say. Apparently she didn’t either and just returned his gaze.

Evidently the Captain must have recognized the awkwardness. “Well, I’m needed on the bridge… Take care you two…”

Trip looked at the Captain and mustered up the best smile he could. “Thanks Captain…” He was certain with his sore throat he sounded pretty pathetic.

After the Captain left, Phlox grabbed their attention by clearing his throat. “I am releasing Commander T’Pol from sickbay… I’ve taken the liberty of sending some food for the two of you to her quarters.” Trip watched as Phlox focused his attention on him. “Commander Tucker, I expect you to make sure she gets enough rest… Neither of you two are to do anything duty related until I give my approval. Is that understood?”

Trip nodded. “Yes. Perfectly.”

Phlox returned his attention to T’Pol. “I have placed your uniform in the changing room. You are free to leave.”

T’Pol just nodded. “I will return shortly,” she said to Trip.

While Trip waited for her to return, Phlox came to him with a hypo-spray in his hand. “This will help with the soreness.”

Trip nodded and Phlox held it to his neck and released the medication.

“The bruises should go away in a few days too.”

“Thanks Doc…”

There was an awkward silence between Trip and T’Pol as they returned to her quarters. A couple of times Trip searched for something to say… anything… just to break the silence. But he could not and so it remained until he stepped inside her quarters.

“We should eat. You are hungry.”

Trip smiled at her simple statement. He forgot that she could feel his hunger probably as well as he could.

She turned to head toward the food but he stopped her by grabbing her wrist and pulling her toward him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly to his body. “I’ll do anything for you…” Trip whispered in her ear. He felt her body relax against his and she wrapped her arms around him and held on just as tightly. “You are my mate… my wife… and the most important thing in the universe…” He whispered again in her ear.

He heard a slight… sniffle… as they held on to each other. T’Pol did not say a word.

After what seemed like an eternity, but probably nothing more than a minute or two later, Trip felt a rumbling in his stomach. He was sure T’Pol heard it too.

She loosened her grip and started to pull away from him. “Let’s eat.”

They walked to her meditation table where two covered plates of food sat. An insulated mug held tea for her and another held milk for him.

The food disappeared rapidly as neither had eaten anything since the previous day. Once Trip finished, he stretched and twisted in each direction hearing multiple small pops from his spine. T’Pol just arched her eyebrow at the sound and he chuckled at her reaction.

Trip tried to focus on T’Pol but his eyelids were getting heavy. “Look, the doc gave me some pain medication and I’m getting sleepy… You need to meditate… I’m going to sleep… Promise me you won’t do any work while I’m asleep.”

T’Pol just nodded and reached for her candle and lighter.

Trip stood up and smirked as an idea popped into his head. He walked over to T’Pol’s bed, stripped down to his skivvies and climbed in. He heard a slight gasp and felt her surprise that he did not leave her alone in her quarters. He fought hard to stifle his laughter at her response and had to lie on his side facing the wall to hide his face. He was sure she could tell he was doing it just to tweak her. He started to feel her… annoyance at his behavior.

He took a deep breath and focused. He pushed out all other thoughts from his head and kept repeating You are my wife and I’m going to stay by your side to himself over and over again. He realized he must have gotten through to her because the only thing he felt from her after a while was that same warm tingly sensation he felt earlier. He smiled to himself and relaxed. He fell asleep shortly afterward.

For the second time that day he awoke with T’Pol staring into his eyes. This time she was under the covers with him. He just smiled as he took in her lovely features.

“The steward brought by some more food.”

Trip pulled her close and kissed her on the forehead. “It’ll wait.”

T’Pol dropped her latest bomb on Trip during their meal. She had read some of her people’s ancient writings while he slept and believed she found a way that Trip could help buttress her emotional control. Through a mind-meld, one Vulcan could strengthen the emotional control of another. She surmised that since she and Trip were bonded and Humans coped with their emotions, he could help her in a similar fashion.

They talked about it in detail. Trip was worried about the procedure because it was how she contracted Pa’nar Syndrome. She reminded him it was also how she was cured. He could tell she was less confident than her words revealed. He was still reluctant about the procedure but resolved himself to do whatever he could to help her. She was convinced this was the best way to help her deal with the loss of Elizabeth.

She suggested they both meditate to calm themselves before the mind-meld. That’s what Trip was attempting to do right now. But he wasn’t making much progress.

I have to focus. I have to clear my head. She is too important to me!

He decided to clear his head by focusing only on her face. He formed an image of her in his mind and concentrated on it. He thought of her deep brown eyes and how he always got lost in them. He moved to her eyebrows that she would periodically arch at him. And her fascinating skin color that resulted from her copper-based blood. That led him to her lips. The lips he loved to kiss.

He was reviewing the outline of her ears in detail when he heard her simple statement.

“I am ready.”

He opened his eyes and attempted to put on the most confident face he could. “Okay, what should I do?”

“Just relax,” she said as she situated herself closer to him. She reached up to his temples with her fingers. “Focus on my words…”

“My mind to your mind… My thoughts to your thoughts…”

Suddenly Trip felt her distinct presence in his mind. He gasped and jumped slightly.

( Relax… That was just the meld forming… I am in your mind… ) He felt her tell him through their link.

( Okay… what do I do now? )

( I will bring you into my mind. I will show you how to enter my mind through the meld… )

As she pulled him through her mind Trip was struck by how… alien… it felt. It was so structured, so rigid, so distinct. His mind must seem like chaos in comparison.

( Yes, it is disturbing… )

He laughed. He forgot she saw his thoughts as clearly as he did. ( Is that why you were so afraid of me? Of us? )

( Yes. It is nearly overwhelming. )

Trip was still awestruck by her mind. She was so much more complex than he could have imagined. He wished he could continue to explore but he was here for a reason. She needed him. ( Okay, what can I do to help? )

( I am going to release some of my emotions now… I will need you to focus on the meld as I do so… It may be problematic but we must remain in the link as long as we can… )

( I’m ready when you are. )

Just then Trip felt a level of grief and anguish wash over him that he could not have imagined. It felt like his heart was being crushed. He struggled to maintain his focus as the pain increased.

He felt his heart being ripped to shreds. He thought he was in pain when T’Pol rejected him before. That was nothing in comparison to this. The pain of a severed parent-child bond was excruciating. He was struggling just to keep from curling up in a little ball trying to avoid the pain.

( How… are… you… handling… this… ) Trip felt her struggle out.

( I… can… handle… it… ) He fought to reply. But it was a loosing battle. It was too much for him to bear and he was loosing his ability to concentrate. All he wanted to do was escape the pain.

T’Pol must have recognized he was fading fast and he felt her emotions slowly recede. Just after that he felt her gently leave his mind as she eased out of the meld. He was silently looking at her face as her tears streamed down. He was sure the same was true for his. He felt lightheaded and stars appeared in his peripheral vision. He got dizzy and started to lean forward as everything went black.

The next morning he awoke in darkness. He groaned as his body ached all over. Even his toes seemed to hurt.

He started to get up and felt two hands press him back down. “Do not get up. You need to rest,” came T’Pol’s simple command.

Trip gathered his strength enough to ask, “Did that help?”

“Yes, very much so… Thank you…”

Trip’s condition soon improved enough for him to move without too much effort. He reached out to run his fingers along T’Pol’s cheek. “Anything for you…”

T’Pol raised the lights just enough so they could see each other and returned to kneel by the bedside. Trip turned over on his side and let out a brief grunt as his sore muscles protested. He just smiled at her and asked, “what’s on tap for today?”

“Given your muscle soreness, I believe neuropressure is in order.”

Trip frowned. “I probably won’t be able to. I don’t think I can apply enough pressure with my left hand… I’m sorry…”

T’Pol reached up to run her hand along Trip’s arm, being as gentle as possible over the bruised area. “I will perform the postures on you. There is no need for you to reciprocate.”

Trip saw her hesitate as she was considering something. He could tell it was very important to her and she was worried he would not respond properly. He focused on her and tried to make it clear how much she meant to him. He would never reject her. He felt her doubt wash away and she turned to look at him.

“What is it T’Pol?”

“I think we should work through the complete series of postures. I want to fully train you in neuropressure.”

Trip was confused. “I thought you showed me all of the postures?”

T’Pol shook her head. “No. I only taught you the postures relevant to our conditions. I spent time teaching you only the postures that assist in relaxation and sleep. I showed you how to stimulate the nodes on my feet because they are believed to help slow the onset of Pa’nar Syndrome.”

Trip chuckled. “Well okay, what postures are left? How come you left the others out?”

He saw her swallow hard and she looked away from him. “Neuropressure is a very… intimate act. It is normally only practiced by trained healers–outside of marriage.”

“Hmmm… Well… I didn’t know you were a trained healer.” Trip smiled. “I guess I learned something new every day…”

T’Pol shook her head. “I am not a trained healer.”

Trip was confused. “Well then why do you know it such detail?”

“All Vulcan females are taught to be expert in neuropressure prior to their bonding ceremony. It is expected that a Vulcan female will perform the postures on her mate and thereby teach him. It is the primary form of intimacy shared by a Vulcan couple. The intended purpose is to strengthen their pairing.”

Trip gasped. “What!?! You mean all that time, basically we were having Vulcan sex!”

T’Pol scrunched her face at his misunderstanding. “We did not go through the full set of postures nor did we perform them as they were meant to be… Our level of intimacy was more than a doctor-patient’s but nothing approaching that of a mated pair. In addition, the level of intimacy shared in neuropressure is much greater than simple sexual intercourse.”

Trip could tell she did not intend that as an insult. “Well… okay…” Trip rolled his tongue around his cheek. Then he remembered something she said. “You said we didn’t perform them as they were meant to be. What didn’t we do?”

“Normally the postures are meant to be performed in the nude.”

Trip swallowed hard. Naked!?!

“You can see the obvious need for compromise.”

“I guess so,” Trip said with an amused snort. He was sure his face was bright red.

T’Pol stood and took her top off. Trip just stared right at her breasts. “Please remove your underwear,” she said as she reached down to drop her pajama bottoms.

Trip swallowed hard and complied.

A little over twenty minutes later found T’Pol resting her head on Trip’s shoulder while she gently played with the hair on his chest.

After Trip caught his breath he chuckled lightly. “Hmmm, we didn’t even make it through the second posture.”

“I am aware of that. You have very little self control.” He could tell she was teasing him.

He laughed back. “I was pretty sure you got on top of me…”

“Of course… A Vulcan female is driven to satisfy her mate’s needs…”

He pulled her up to give her a deep kiss. “I think you enjoyed that as much as I did…” He said after he pulled back from the kiss.

As Trip stared up at the ceiling, he thought some more about something he wanted to ask T’Pol. He took a deep breath and decided to try it. “Are you sure mind-melds are safe when performed properly.”

He felt her nod her head against her chest. “That is what T’Pau said. According to the Kir’shara and other ancient texts, they were regularly performed centuries ago… Why?”

“Well… I… ahhh… You know…”

Trip saw T’Pol look directly at him.

“What I’m trying to say is… Would you be willing to do that again later after we’ve meditated?”

“Yes… If that is what you want…” Trip saw her look intently at him. “Why?”

“It’s just…” He stammered a bit and took a deep breath. “I liked being joined together like that… I guess I got a better understanding of you… of us…”

Trip could tell she was considering what he just said. He caught a brief flash of understanding from her. “I believe they would be beneficial… It may alleviate the problems we have with verbal communication due to our cultural differences.”

Trip smiled. “Yeah, we’ve always seemed to have problems there haven’t we?”

“Agreed.”

“Let’s put that off for a bit. I’m tired… You wore me out… Lights out…”

Trip rolled over on his side as he pulled T’Pol in close. A huge smile was on his face as he fell asleep.

T’Pol had difficulty understanding what she just heard.

Before she had time to consider it, though Trip exploded next to her. “You’re taking us off Enterprise!?!” He shook his head violently. “Admiral, you promised you weren’t going to punish us!”

She reached over to Trip to calm him down. “Trip… Calm down… Your behavior is inappropriate.” She felt him relax slightly and lean back in his chair.

“Sorry…” She heard him say. “I just don’t understand why you’re taking us off Enterprise. T’Pol wasn’t in Starfleet when this happened.”

“Now just calm down Trip…” Admiral Cragen said in a voice that T’Pol thought sounded more like a father than a commanding officer. “I’m not taking you off Enterprise as punishment. I’d already planned on doing that before this whole Terra Prime mess cropped up. Finding out about the two of you just forced me to move up my time table.”

T’Pol was confused. “Admiral, I do not understand your statement. You just said you already intended on removing us from Enterprise but you never mentioned that earlier. Did Captain Archer know about your plan?”

Cragen shook his head. “Not before, but he does now… Okay you two, what I’m about to share with you is classified. You are not to discuss it with anyone outside the three of us and Captain Archer. And you are not to discuss it outside of a level 1 secure area. Is that understood?”

Now T’Pol was really confused. But she nodded her head in agreement.

“Good. Starfleet is about to begin a new project. It’s the most important one we’ve undertaken since the Warp 5 project. I had planned all along on reassigning you two to the project, just not yet.”

“What is the project?”

“Believe it or not, the Vulcan’s are giving us access to the Warp 7 engine used in their older Surak-class cruisers.”

T’Pol was… stunned. “You can’t be serious…” She heard Trip say.

Cragen smiled and nodded. “I know, I can’t believe it either.” He started laughing. “I probably ask Ambassador Soval once a day if it is still a go.”

“Wow!”

“But why us Admiral,” came T’Pol’s query.

“It’s actually pretty simple. They’re giving us the engine but not the control systems. They also are insisting we cannot copy their ring nacelle design. They do not want it known that they gave us a Warp 7 engine. Trip’s going to lead the team that designs the main engineering section of the ship.”

T’Pol felt Trip get embarrassed. “I don’t know what to say Admiral…” She saw him shake his head. “It’s more than I could ever ask for…”

Cragen shook his head in reply. “Nonsense Trip. You got both Enterprise and Columbia out of dock and traveling faster than spec… Hell no one else could even get Columbia out of dock–much less have it do Warp 5.4 on its trial run. You’re the best engineer I got. Challenger won’t be ready for another year and a half or so. I’m sure Commander Kelby, Lieutenant Hess or Commander Ross can handle it by then. You’ve trained all three.”

Cragen turned to T’Pol. “I want you to be my liaison with the Vulcans. I won’t be able to spend all of my time on the project, and I need someone full time to work with them, prepare status reports, identify risks and so forth.”

T’Pol just nodded.

“You’ll both report to me directly for the time being. I don’t expect to name a Captain until we’ve got a hull.”

“Admiral, how many teams are there?” T’Pol asked.

“Right now we’ve got two. One has started work on Warp 7 capable nacelles and one team is investigating hull designs that can withstand stresses up to Warp 7.5. We won’t assemble the engineering team for some time yet. The Vulcans are in the process of stripping technology out of one of the original Suraks. The Ir’zehl I think… They estimate they can hand it over to us in three months.”

“Admiral, I am unsure why I was chosen for this role? Surely there must be more qualified Humans in Starfleet for an undertaking of this magnitude.”

T’Pol saw Trip to turn to her out of the corner of her eye. “It doesn’t matter that you’re Vulcan. You’re more than qualified for this T’Pol!”

Cragen nodded. “Trip’s right. The Warp 5 project is the only thing Starfleet’s ever done on this scale.” She saw him take a pained breath. “The only two key players on that project still in Starfleet are Captain Archer and Commander Tucker. All of the rest have either passed on or are retired… You’ll do fine. I have full confidence in you.”

T’Pol felt the pride well up in Trip. He was proud of her.

“Plus it’ll get the Vulcan’s off my back…” Cragen said while laughing out loud.

He must have recognized their lack of understanding. “They’re constantly chewing on my ass about putting a Vulcan female at risk on an Earth ship. Minister T’Pau practically launched into a tirade over the latest attack by the Orions. I still get reminded about T’Pol only narrowly escaping after being sold to a Tellurrite…” Cragen shook his head and looked down at his desk. “I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like for Forrest, God rest his soul.” Cragen took a deep breath. “I heard one of the reasons he was on Vulcan was to get his ass chewed out. You know, I think that’s the real reason they insist on you two moving to Vulcan.”

“What?” came Trip’s reply.

Cragen appeared taken back by the question. “Hmm, didn’t Archer tell you?”

“Tell us what Admiral?” T’Pol replied.

“Minister T’Pau and Ambassador Soval stressed how critical it was for the two of you to remain together and have your bond monitored to ensure Commander Tucker’s safety. They practically insisted that you spend the next year on Vulcan… I got the distinct feeling that if I didn’t agree, they’d withdraw their offer of the Warp 7 engine.”

“Do you actually believe that is why my people are offering Starfleet the engine? That seems highly unlikely.”

“Sorry about that…” Cragen shook his head. “I guess I wasn’t being very clear. They offered us the engine long before we found out about this. I got the impression from Soval it’s a way for them to show their appreciation for what we’ve done. I think now they’re just using it as a bargaining chip to get what they want. And they want you off Enterprise and somewhere safe–preferably on Vulcan I gather.”

“But we’ll eventually get back on a ship, Admiral. What’re they going to say then?”

Cragen shrugged. “Don’t know Trip. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. But it’s going to be years before we have a working prototype of a Warp 7 ship… You know, who knows? By then you and T’Pol may decide you want kids. There ain’t no way in hell you can have kids on a starship.”

Trip chuckled. “Yeah, that wouldn’t be the brightest move would it? We got in so much trouble on Enterprise, it’d be insane to try to raise a kid there.” He turned to T’Pol. “Plus Starfleet doesn’t have maternity uniforms.” He started chuckling.

T’Pol just scowled at him. Her glare made it clear she was not amused.

Cragen focused his attention back on Trip and stiffened up in an apparent attempt to restore some seriousness to the meeting. “Commander Tucker, while you report directly to me, T’Pol will be acting as my XO and you’ll need to follow her direction from time to time when I am not available. Are we going to have a problem with that?”

“No sir!”

“Good… You’ll do well to heed that advice all of the time… One thing I’ve learned in my forty years of marriage is that I’m much happier when I do exactly what my wife tells me…”

After a couple seconds T’Pol heard Trip start laughing and Admiral Cragen started laughing with him. Then T’Pol realized what he just said and turned to Trip.

T’Pol just scowled at him. Her glare made it clear she was not amused.

Trip stopped laughing and straightened up. “Is there anything else sir?” She heard him ask.

Admiral Cragen shook his head. “Nothing more officially for right now. I’ve got a whole bunch of briefing material for you to read through. I’ll need you fully up to speed in a month or so. That should give you plenty of time to get situated on Vulcan.”

“Thank you sir.”

T’Pol watched as Admiral Cragen relaxed and leaned toward Trip. “Trip, how’s your mom dealing with this? I already talked to Charlie and he said he’s still trying to take it all in.”

Trip shrugged. “I think she’s as overwhelmed as he is. I didn’t really tell them much about T’Pol. I would have preferred them not finding out at their granddaughter’s funeral…” T’Pol heard Trip’s voice trail off and she felt his anguish at the memory.

Cragen returned his attention to T’Pol. “They’ll come around, if they haven’t already. I’ve known Charlie and Kathy since before Trip was born. They’re two of the nicest people I know.” Cragen smiled as he seemed to remember something and turned to Trip. “Although your dad is a bit too affectionate. I’m not sure T’Pol’s going to like getting a hug and a kiss every time you see him.”

Trip laughed. “Yeah, I already told dad about that. He says he’ll try to restrain himself.”

Admiral Cragen stood up. “Dismissed you two… I’ll be at your going away party tonight… But remember, you can only talk about your new assignment in a level 1 secured area. Your cover story is that you’re on temporary leave on Vulcan so they can monitor your bond to make sure it’s safe.”

“But that’s partly true.”

Cragen nodded. “That’s what makes it a good cover story. In a few months we’ll have to come up with another one. I don’t know, we’ll probably find some reason to have you assigned on Vulcan. Maybe as a Starfleet liaison?”

T’Pol watched as Trip smiled and shrugged at her. “Come on… Let’s go. I’m starving…”

Trip turned to Cragen, “care to join us Admiral?”

Cragen shook his head. “Nope, I’m going to call my wife.”

Trip smiled. “Tell Mrs. Cragen I said hi, sir.”

“I’ll do that. I’m sure Jamie will appreciate it… Now get…” Admiral Cragen waved the two out of his office.

Trip chuckled and led T’Pol out the door.

Trip looked around the rather large office. Even for a Vulcan, the doctor’s office décor was spartan. Three well-worn books, a meditation candle and a computer terminal were the only items in the room beyond a simple round table and six chairs. He was fascinated by the intricate designs formed by the wood grain in the table’s top. It reminded him of a piece he saw in a museum years ago.

Just as he was about to make a comment to T’Pol, the door opened and in walked a Vulcan female followed by a man. They wore typical lab coats that immediately led him to assume both were doctors. He missed Doctor Phlox already.

The Vulcan female stopped at the table. “Commander Tucker, Commander T’Pol, my name is Doctor T’Ishta. I will be the primary physician responsible for your care.”

Doctor T’Ishta turned to the man and he moved a respectable distance to her side. “This is my colleague, Doctor Michael Kenmore. He is the neurologist who will be monitoring Commander Tucker’s brain activity to ensure he suffers no adverse effects.”

Both doctors took seats across the table from Trip and T’Pol.

Doctor Kenmore retrieved some charts from a file he was carrying and set them in front of the pair. “Commander Tucker, these are the detailed scans taken yesterday. While they are clearly not normal for a Human, they are consistent with the scans taken five weeks ago and those taken three months ago. Since we don’t have any other cases of a Human forming a pair bond with a Vulcan, we’re going to have to just watch and see how things develop. At this point, I see nothing that concerns me.”

Trip just nodded.

“Doctor Kenmore and I find no adverse effects for either of you,” Doctor T’Ishta added. “As I understand, Commander T’Pol, you have been performing mind melds with Commander Tucker on a regular basis and wish to continue this practice.”

“Yes Doctor,” T’Pol added. “Unless there is a medical reason why we should not.”

Doctor T’Ishta shook her head. “I see no reason for you to discontinue… However, I would prefer to monitor one of your melds to ensure you are performing them properly.”

“We’ve done more than a hundred of them, Doc. Wouldn’t something have already shown up if T’Pol wasn’t doing it right?” Trip wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of someone monitoring something as intimate as their mind melds.

Doctor Kenmore turned to Doctor T’Ishta. “I wasn’t aware that they’d performed the procedure that many times. While I’m no expect, based on what I’ve read, we’d have already seen problems if Commander T’Pol wasn’t doing them properly. I believe the neural damage from an improperly performed meld is almost immediately apparent.”

Doctor T’Ishta nodded in agreement. “Yes, that is true when both parties are Vulcan. I assume that would also be the case when one is a Human. Still I believe it is prudent to monitor at least one of the sessions just to be safe. As mind melds have only recently lost their status of forbidden and because Commander Tucker is a Human, we should error on the side of caution.”

“I agree,” T’Pol nodded in agreement. “Commander Tucker and I will allow you to monitor our meld.”

Trip squirmed slightly in his chair but wasn’t going to disagree with T’Pol in front of their doctors. He tried to contain his annoyance no one seemed to ask his permission–or even seemed to care about his opinion.

The two doctors stood up. “I will leave you two to meditate in preparation for the meld,” Doctor T’Ishta informed them. “The lighter is behind the candle. I will return in one hour.” She bowed slightly to the pair and turned to leave.

“It was nice meeting you two,” Doctor Kenmore said and turned to leave also.

Once both doctors left the room, T’Pol turned to Trip. “I understand your concern, but the doctors are only looking out for our welfare.”

Trip squirmed some more and his eyes darted away from T’Pol. “I just don’t like being some lab experiment… We’ve been doing them almost every day for over four months. If something bad were going to happen, it would’ve already happened. It doesn’t take a doctor to figure that out.”

“Yes, that does seem like it would be the case,” T’Pol sighed. “However we should cooperate with the doctors.” She reached her hand to place it on top of his. “At least Doctor T’Ishta is not treating you ‘like my cherished pet’.”

Trip smiled at her teasing. “Yeah. I’ll give that to her… But I think Senek’s slowly changing his mind about me. I think he’s impressed I know Vulcan. Soon I’ll have him treating me like a small child when I get groceries.” Trip started laughing and could sense T’Pol’s amusement.

T’Pol stood up. “We should meditate… I will need to have full control if we are to be observed during the meld.”

“Okay, have a seat, I’ll get the candle…”

Later, the only comment Doctor T’Ishta made was curiosity about Trip’s ability to so easily receive the meld. She wondered if he could easily receive a meld from any Vulcan or if it was due to his bond with T’Pol. She proposed attempting to meld with Trip in order to make that determination. T’Pol, with all due respect, made it completely clear that she would allow no other Vulcan female to meld with Trip.

Trip was fairly certain Doctor T’Ishta understood T’Pol’s meaning. It was the Vulcan equivalent of ‘Hands off woman! He’s mine!’

Trip breathed a sigh of relief when Doctor T’Ishta and T’Pol agreed that line of investigation was not important enough to pursue. He didn’t want anyone other than T’Pol rummaging around in his head.

The End

New World Man: Vulcan Biology 101 runs parallel to the Introduction.

Continue to New World Man: Daedalus

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

This is sweet, Kevin. Very tasteful and well-structured, too. Thanks for keeping it PG. It's amusing that the Doctor wants to meld with Trip... and T'Pol has to defend her territory. I'm looking forward to reading about the two of them on Vulcan. Talk about leaps and bounds! Nothing like jumping right over warp six and going directly to warp seven. Should be fun.

Totally agree with Distracted here. Really enjoyed these and looking forward to the next chapter.

Very nice. I can't wait for more! :)

Dr. Michael Kenmore, hmmmm, that name sure sounds familiar,,,:)

Liked this a lot.

Who is Michael Kenmore, besides the name Kenmore for like refrigerators and appliances? :D

Although I DID notice the nice crossover of the name Ishta :D

Liked it and the "hands off woman!" lol

Great one, but is this a finale fix or AU or a pre TATV?

Thanks for the comments.

Michael Kenmore is supposed to be Connor Trinneer's character's name in an upcoming episode of Stargate Atlantis. I needed two characters so I figured I'd take the names from Jolene Blalock's character on SG-1 and his on Atlantis.

For me, ST:ENT ends with Terra Prime. TATV is just too stupid to even acknowledge. If you insist though, you could call the series "Ignore the Finale" since that's what I'm doing. :-)

Thanks, that's good to know. ENT ends with Terra Prime for me too.

Wonderfully written! I almost burned this morning's breakfast reading it. Hope fpr a sequel also.

interesting . I like the "new project" I just think they would have had a bit more of a problem getting taken off enterprise

T'Pol is a Vulcan and career "military"/public service. You go where you're told and getting upset about it just isn't something that's going to happen.

Trip is also career "military"/public service and most people I've known that chose that life understand you get moved. Getting upset about it won't accomplish much. I'm sure he's disappointed about leaving his friend Jon. But Trip's an adult and knows this is a fact of life in his chosen career.

But also, let's face it. He's getting moved onto the Warp 7 project-a super plumb assignment. Talk to any Type A person whose career is important to them and a choice between doing the same old same old and being a part of, and in this case leading a team that will cause a major leap, is a pretty trivial one. The same old, same old doesn't stand a chance.

Great start to what looks to turn in to a great series,,,,, I loved Trip helpin T'pol through the grief of the Loss of Elizabeth.,,,,, I love that they will bet together an probably close on the same project after the 1st year on Vulcan,,,,,, An Agree they Trek should treat Starfleet personel in a more millitary manner,,, an as such can grumble bout trandfers but cant do much in the end,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I have only one nit pick,,,, an Ihate doin it cause ya wrote such a good story,,,,, Ok here's the nit pick,,,,,, While the Vulcans always sayed that the top speed of their vessels was classified,,,,, but it was made clear (At least to me),, that in "Shadows of Pajem" When Archer teased Trip about not takin him down to the surface,,, he says their ships rival the Vulcans,,, an that they are rumered to have even broke warp 7,,,,,,, So while Vulcans wont reveal their top speed it apears that Starfleet )Trip/Archer know that Vulcan ships cant reach warp 7 yet,,,,,,, I dont mean to be rude or mean Id just thunk id point that out.,,,,,,,,,, I really did like yer story,, an cant wait for more.

Great beginning. I enjoyed this very much. Looking forward to seeing it where it goes. :)

Ahh, I can't wait to read this series. I enjoyed the setup, as I enjoy all your writing here at HoT. I like how you've relocated Trip and T'Pol to Vulcan. I enjoy how you write T/T as an established couple and make it interesting.

Good work and I can't wait for the rest!

Great start to hopefully a number of stories. I would be interested in seeing how you incorporate the nuances of living on Vulcan for the next set of stories...Can't wait for your next updates!

Oh my! What a lovely start to what sounds to be a very interesting and long series of stories.

Please continue and soon!

Great start. I look forward to more.

This is a fun story I hope to see more with Trip and T'Pol working together on Vulcan.
Oh Mitchell, in the episode with V'Lar, I can't remember the name of it. T'Pol was asked to figure out how quick the Vulcan ship could get to Enterprise and she said it's top speed was warp seven.

Oh figure's it be in the one episode that I havent seen in over a year,, an accidently taped over it :(,,,, Oh well sorry bout the above then,,, But Im still sayin that Archer an Trip were actin like Vulcan ships couldnt reach warp 7.,, So then Warp 7 must be the very max speed they can reach.

I'm calling the Surak-class engine a Warp 7 engine using similar reasoning as the original NX-01 engine is a Warp 5 engine. That is the maximum speed each is designed for. The general consensus I could find is that the Surak-class' maximum speed is Warp 7. I'm not sure yet if I'll have the Starfleet design based on that engine be able to go Warp 7. There's a part of me that wants to introduce some Human technology limitation that prevents Warp 7 right away. There's also a part of me that wants TnT working together to remove that limitation and have the ship do Warp 7.2. That would be roughly a 10% speed up and reasonable given a clean slate design.

Since I'm going to introduce the prototype in the next story, I guess we'll find out the results in a couple weeks or so. I went with this story format (a family of closely knit stories) instead of chapters so I could bounce around the timeframe as my interests dictate. The next story jumps ahead almost three years to when the prototype is almost ready for her trial runs. In that story you'll not only get a glimpse of the prototype but also meet their new Captain.

I just re-read TLR's Honeymoon on Vulcan this weekend and it's inspired to me to try my hand a completely domestic story that does not involve ships, Starfleet, Warp engines or anything more technical than a stasis unit. That'll probably be the next story after. Hopefully I'll be able to overcome my Estrogen impoverishment and do a decent job. :-) I'll try not to steal whole paragraphs from her...

I'm glad someone with an Estrogen impoverishment is doing the Trip 'n T'Pol romance thing. I'm glad there is a mix of male and female writers doing this. Maybe it helps the stories stay balanced.

What I originally intended to say was that your premise about Vulcan neuropressure being a primary form of Vulcan intimacy works. It answers alot of questions and solves alot of problems.

Enjoyed this. You have a very straightforward writing style. Read it twice to try to figure out what you're doing (right).

hmm, god this was good. Can't wait to read the rest. I thought terra prime was the finale of the series and that other "poop" was a bad lab experiment? (like the science project growing in my fridge?)

I'm not a technical guru ... but I'm glad someone is daring to take the NX class of ships to warp seven already ... I was reading somewhere (ok, it was my ST encyclopedia) that Enterprise TOS wasn't warp 7 capable and I thought that just seemed ... SLOW .. in 100 years "they" couldn't go faster than warp 5? In a 100 years we went from riding ponies to flying through space.

As for the perspective on the romance ... being female and having suffered a rather "unbalanced" melt down at work yesterday, its refreshing to see "it" through a male's eyes. (which also leaves much to the imagination)

"Ignore the Finale." Heh. Maybe I should name my series that too. :-D