Ya Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover

Ya Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover

By Mrs. Tucker

Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
Disclaimer: These are not my characters, Paramount owns them. I just love
’em! I am making no money off any of these characters.
Author's Note: This Story is a sequel which follows Seventeen. You should read the former first.
Spoilers for season 3, "Similitude."
“Carpenter Street” is the last episode that corresponds with this fic.
Summary: Enterprise arrives at the first Xindi colony, but the crews does not find what they expected. T'Pol and Trip try hard to keep up their charade of indifference towards each other.

Part One

Archer woke up when his communication unit beeped three times. He tapped the activation button and spoke.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Sir, we are 10 minutes away from the Xindi planet," Malcolm stated.

Archer was afraid, but felt great anticipation. This was a seriously dangerous mission. But he knew it was necessary. He would do anything to complete it. He answered back seconds later.

"Ok. Tell the helmsman to come to full stop," He dragged his
jumpsuit on and tried to walk towards the door at the same time.

"And wake up all of the senior officers. I want them on the bridge.”

"Yes, sir, right away."


*********************************************

As his officers walked onto the bridge, they all looked tired except T'Pol, who looked well rested. She had apparently realized it would not help their mission to stay awake in anticipation. Archer began to speak.

"We are ten minutes from the planet. I've had the helmsman bring us to a full
stop. I want you all to be ready for this. This is serious -this could be
what we're out here for."

Archer watched as all of his bridge officers woke up completely. Satisfied by their reactions, he started to issue orders.

"Malcolm, run a diagnostic on our weapons systems. I want us to be ready for anything. Trip, make sure our engines are running as well as possible. We might need to get out of here in a hurry. T'Pol, run a scan on this entire area of area of space. I want to know if there is any sign at all of Xindi ships. Also run a scan of the planet let me know what you can find out. We may be able to tell if it's the right planet from orbit. Travis, take us towards the planet." Everyone either turned back to their station or sat down at their station. Trip headed back towards engineering. The captain sat down in his command chair too aware of what they were about to do to relax into it.

*********************************************


"T'Pol?"

"There are no Xindi ships in the area that match the hull configuration of
the ones that we have encountered, Captain."

She paused, as he let go of the breath he had been holding since he asked
her to report, then continued.

"There are, however, ships in orbit Captain, approximately 5." she said, awaiting his response.

"You should have told me that first T'Pol!" Archer yelled out; then tried
to calm himself.

"The ships are small transport vessels, Captain. They could hold no more
than 30 Xindi. They have limited warp capabilities and cannot travel above warp 3. I did not believe they were Xindi war ships Captain," T'Pol said calmly.

Archer had sufficiently calmed himself down, and responded to T'Pol 's
statements.

"OK, T'Pol. But still, notify me of the presence of ships first and
foremost. And the planet?" He asked. He hoped the answer he wanted would come
from her lips.

"The sensors cannot penetrate the atmosphere - it is composed of gases that
deflect them. We will have to penetrate the atmosphere to investigate further," she replied.

Disappointed, Archer said "OK, we'll take the shuttles down with the M.A.C.O.s. Trip, the engines?"

"Cap'n, they're runnin' perfectly. I'll be ready for anything."

Ok. And you Malcolm? How are our weapons systems and hull plating?"

"They are running perfectly sir. We're fully prepared. The doctor and I created enough weapons for 15 M.A.C.O.s. I'll work on the rest around the clock." Malcolm was anxious to get this mission underway. He hoped his Captain didn't plan on leaving him behind.

“OK Malcolm. Good. It seems, people, that we are ready,” Archer said, pausing
for a second.

Archer stood up to make statements that he felt necessary for all of his officers to hear.

“I must inform you, now, that destroying that weapon comes above all else. It is THE objective. If I; or any one of us is injured. That is not important ; leave us until the weapon has been destroyed. Afterwards, get the hell out of here. I've got the feeling that after we hit that weapon; there will be enough Xindi ships here in no time flat to challenge an entire fleet. Have you all got that?" he asked, voice earnest.

When he heard a bridge full of "Yes, Sir’s" and "Yes, Captain’s", he sat back
down in his chair, and prepared for what they were about to do.

“Travis, lets go. Take us to the opposite side of the planet where T’Pol found the
Xindi ships, " he said.

Archer sighed heavily as the ship started forward, weary of what was about
to come.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Part 2

Travis put Enterprise into high orbit of the Xindi planet after the Sub commander had assured the captain that there were no Xindi vessels on the way to destroy Enterprise. As far as she could tell anyway.

"Ok. We'll have to form away teams. There'll be 5 M.A.C.O.s on each away team. Team one, will be me, Malcolm, Travis and our M.A.C.O.s. Team two, T'Pol, Trip, and your M.A.C.O.s. " Malcolm sighed with relief as he realized the Captain wasn't leaving him behind.

Trip was pissed, wondering why the captain always put him on teams with T'Pol. He decided to keep up his act--she wouldn't notice it, this mission was way too important. He wouldn't put to much effort into though; he decided. This mission was more important than his fear of her discovering his feelings.

"Ok. Let’s head to the armory. We need to get these new weapons," Archer said, He had started to walk off the bridge and into the turbo lift already.
***************************************

Trip paid attention as Malcolm explained how to use his new weapon, momentarily distracted when he glanced at T'Pol. Her eyes open wide and as always; a darker browner when she was focused. Realizing that what Malcolm was saying was much more important. Trip turned his full attention back to the presentation the Lieutenant.

“If you press this button, it’ll fire single enemy shots. Press this one and it’ll fire wide spread. Us it if you’re being attacked by a group of Xindi. Malcolm motioned with his hands to the buttons on the gun. He fired across the Armory at a model of a Xindi reptilian made by the doctor. He held the weapon back towards the floor before he began to speak again. “Be careful with them, you don’t want to hit a fellow crew member. The chemicals in the shells won’t harm human or Vulcan DNA but the shells themselves will,” Malcolm said as he held the gun.

T'Pol watched the Commander out of the corner of her eye. He'd been staring at her. At her eyes. At her body. She would not have reacted to anyone one else. But it was the commander, so she walked up to Malcolm to ask him about the ammunition for the new weapon.

"Ok everyone. Let's get going. Every one grab a phase pistol and a hip holster and head to the shuttle bay. We leave in ten minutes." Archer said as Malcolm handed him a phase pistol already in a holster and grabbed one himself.

Trip walked up behind T'Pol quickly to get a phase pistol after she did. She headed out of the armory and to the turbo lift and he followed. Keeping his head forward he let out a breath and stepped onto E deck.

As T'Pol and Trip walked into the shuttle bay, the captain gestured them towards shuttlepod 2 where the M.A.C.O.s where already waiting. Trip watched as the Captain walked towards him and let out a breath: they were finally going to repay those evil bastards for what they did to those 7 million people…what they did to Lizzie.

"Cap'n!"

"Trip, are you ready for this? You can't just go firing wildly on every Xindi you see. We have to be stealthy until we destroy that weapon," Archer tried his hardest to put his understanding into his voice.

"I'm ready as I'll ever be Cap'n. Though I'd love to blast every single one of those murderers to hell, I will not cost us the success of this mission. I will not fail Lizzie Jon. I will not." Trip said. His conviction evident.

The Captain and Trip began to walk towards their pods. Archer still talking as they walked.

"Good Trip. This is the most important thing in the world now. We can't fail. It'll mean the lives of countless millions. We'll succeed Trip, because we have to, " He said. Patting his friend on the back as they stepped into their separate shuttle pods.

The hatches to both shuttle pods closed. Captain Archer called for shuttle pod one to be deployed first. Archer sat as the shuttle pod was dropped and Travis steered it out of the way of Enterprise, making room for pod two. Archer watched as the other shuttle pod dropped out of Enterprise. He told Travis to move towards the planet. He opened his communicator, and told T’Pol the same. Both shuttle pods headed towards the planet. And towards the mission they had waiting to complete for months.

******************************

Travis and T’Pol entered the atmosphere almost simultaneously, the shuttle pods fought through the thick atmosphere as they penetrated through the outer level. The section of the atmosphere beneath that seemed to be even thicker. But they got through.

As they entered the next section of the atmosphere; there seemed to be a horrendous storm going on. Both shuttle pods were struck by lightning that apparently attracted to their positively charged hulls.

“There seems to a lightning storm of some kind occurring on the planet. There is no way to evade the strikes of lightning. If a burst hits the thrusters, the pod will go down,” T’Pol yelled over the constant sound of lightning strikes on the hull. Trip flipped open his communicator to check on the captain.

“Cap’n, are ya ok over there?”

“We’re good here Commander, Travis is making sure we don’t end up with to much damage. How is your team doing?”

“We’re takin’ a lot of damage over here Cap'n. If one of those strikes of lightning hits our thrusters; we could go down. T’Pol’s tryin’ her best to keep us up though. We should be okay I hope,” He too yelled over the lightning impacts.

“Ok commander. I want you to notify me if T’Pol thinks you’re going to go down,” Archer said. He had to talk over the beeping of the console in the front of the pod.

“Yea Cap'n. I think we should be ok though. T’Pol says we're only about 3,000 kilometers from the surface,”

After Trip had finally closed his communicator; the pod shook from an explosion, Tucker called out to T’Pol to see what had been hit.

“T’Pol? what’d that last one hit?” he asked loudly.

“I’m afraid it hit our port thrusters. The pod is descending rapidly. We will impact the surface in 30 seconds. I have rerouted all available power to the starboard, aft, and forward thrusters in an attempt to decrease our speed. It seems to be effective. We should survive the impact,” T’Pol answered. She was yelling still.

The shuttle pod hurtled toward the surface of the planet. Slower and slower as it went. It fortunately came down at an angle that would have the pod slide along the ground for a kilometer or so instead of impacting head on.

“Everybody! Grab something to hold on to. This is not going to be pretty,” Trip yelled out. Three... two... one second later; the shuttle pod impacted the surface of the planet sliding along the ground. The M.A.C.O.s and the Commander held on to any thing around them. T’Pol on the other hand had turned around in her chair and was attempting to grab something when to shuttle hit. She flew out of the seat and across to the back of the shuttle. She hit the hard metal ladder hard. She lay limp as the shuttle finally came to a stop.

*********************************************

“Travis, did they hit the surface?” Archer asked

“Yes captain. Not to hard though. They hit at an angle that should've cushioned their impact. I am picking up human bio signs; and one faint Vulcan sign. I think T’Pol might be hurt sir.”

“Dimmit. OK. Take us down as close to their location,” Archer said, his voice full of worry for his science officer.

“Yes sir,” Travis turned towards the downed shuttle pod.

“25 minutes sir,” Travis said.

****************************************************

Trip Tucker woke up with a hell of a headache. He held his head and shook it. It didn’t help his headache. He blinked a couple times and could now see very clearly the limp body of T’Pol at the bottom of the bulk head opposite the helmsman chair.

“Oh god! T’Pol!” He got up and ran over to her as best he could. He stepped over the M.A.C.O.s strewn across the floor as he went. He reached down and checked her pulse. He barely felt blood flowing under his finger so he checked her for injuries. She had a large gash on her head and bruises all over what parts of her body her could see.

“T’Pol! T’Pol! Come on. Don’t do this to me. Wake up please!" Trip said. Pleading with her. He picked her up gently and cradled her in his arms; the gash on her head bled profusely.

He laid her down gently and went to go get some water from the emergency rations container. He grabbed it and ran back to T’Pol. He pulled the top of his jumpsuit down and took off the blue undershirt he had under it. He ripped it into strips and poured water on one of them; wiping the blood off of T’Pol’s face. He took another of the strips that used to be his shirt and wrapped it around her head; placing another one over it to apply sufficient pressure to slow the bleeding. He checked for the communicator he had brought with him. He found it broken.

After he had laid her on a blanket from the supplies container; he heard knocking on the hatch. Figuring it was the captain and the thumbprint device on the outer hull wasn’t working; he grabbed the manual hatch opener, twisted it and waited as the hatch opened.

******************************

As Captain Archer, Travis, Malcolm and the five M.A.C.O.s stepped out of the shuttle pod. Malcolm pulled out his sensor device to check and see if there were any unexpected Xindi in the area.

“Captain!” he said, nearly yelling to Archer.

Archer turned towards him, awaiting a reason for the Lieutenant's outburst. "Yes?"

“I’m getting Xindi bio signs near shuttle pod 2. They aren’t reptilian. I think they are the sloth species Sir.” Malcolm said, he had stopped in his tracks.

“Ok. Hayes, did you put any phase rifles in the shuttle pod?” Archer asked hoping the answer was yes.

“Yea, I did. I figured my might run into more than one species. And the rifle seems to work on everyone but the reptilians.” Hayes said. Evidently happy with his decision to bring the weapons.

“Ok. How many are there?”

“Six."

“Ok. Pass them out to your officers and Reed. Malcolm, give Travis your phase pistol. Hayes, grab an extra pistol out of the shuttle.” Archer ordered

Once Hayes had passes out phase rifles and a pistol to Archer; the team got under way. They headed toward the crashed shuttle. Archer hoped his team was still all right. If they weren’t those Xindi were going to receive the same airlock treatment as the pirate. This time; he'd actually let them out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Part Three

Seeing the Xindi outside the hatch; Trip quickly pulled his phase pistol off his belt. "What do ya want? Back up. I'll shoot!" Trip said. He was obviously frightened.

"We saw your ship go down. We came to help you. Don't shoot." The Xindi closest said.

Trip held his phase pistol steady at the Xindis head; he would not take it away. He looked at the Xindi, weary of trusting them; then looked at T'Pol: still bleeding.

"I don't trust ya. If ya try somethin', I swear, I'll blow ya to hell!" He said, he had realized that T'Pol was more important. He walked back into the pod and picked her up softly. As he stepped out, he looked behind the Xindi and he saw a shuttle craft a lot bigger than Enterprise's shuttlepods. He saw the Xindi had laid two stretchers laid out on the ground. He laid T'Pol down one of them gently.

They had picked up the stretcher and were about to walk to their shuttle when Trip remembered the MACOs.

"Wait!" he said. He turned to walk back into the shuttle. He shook them all. They woke one by one. A single MACO still slept. Trip walked to the emergency supplies and pulled out a hypo-spray Phlox had said could wake someone up. He injected the MACO and he stirred. He cried in pain as he tried to sit up.

"I can't feel my legs, I'm trying to move 'em! But I can't feel 'em. Oh god!" He yelled out. Trip walked outside the shuttle to get the other stretcher. He intended to put the MACO on it. He brought the stretcher inside the shuttle and motioned for Cole and the others to help him lift the injured officer onto the stretcher. They walked over; and slowly and carefully lifted their fellow MACO onto the stretcher.

They walked out of the ship and saw the group of Xindi holding T'Pol on a stretcher.

"Put her down now!" Cole said. She had let go of her section of the stretcher. Tucker and one other MACO carefully laid the injured officer down. Tucker's helper then raised his gun at the Xindi.

"You heard her! put her down. Now!" He waived his weapon at all of them. Uncertain which one to focus on.

"Stop. Put your weapons away. They're here to help. Put 'em down." Trip said calmly to the MACOs.

"You trust them sir?" The younger MACO from Minnesota asked, weapon still pointed at the Xindi.

"No. But they're our only hope. We've got no choice." Trip said. He motioned back towards the shuttle pod. Three MACOs followed. One stayed behind to watch the Xindi Sloth's.

When they had entered the pod; Trip began to clear things up for the confused officers.

"No. I don't trust 'em, but I will not let Sub-Commander T'Pol die. Understood?" He paused as the MACOs reluctantly nodded at him.

"Do you have any phase rifles on board?" He looked each one of them in the eye.

"Yea. We do. Major Hayes said we should bring 'em just in case." A male MACO answered.

"Good. Grab 'em and hand 'em out. Give me one too. And keep an eye on 'em. if those Xindi make one false move, blow the bastards to hell, got it?" He asked as they began to pull out the phase rifles.

"Got it sir. No problem." Corporal Cole said. She passed Trip two rifles.

"Hurry. We must leave, time is a luxury she does not have." One of the Xindi said.

Trip walked out of the shuttle and handed the extra weapon to the MACO taking watch. He walked towards the stretcher holding T'Pol and brushed her cheek with his hand softly.

"You're gonna make it. I don't know what I'd do if ya don't T'Pol. You're gonna make it." He watched as the MACOs picked up the stretcher holding their injured friend and stepped into the alien shuttle while trying, awkwardly; to hold the stretcher at the same time. The two Xindi picked up T'Pol.

Trip stepped into the Shuttle after them. He walked to sit next to T'Pol on the small bunk-like seat they had laid her on. When he sat down; he wiped her blood soaked hair out of her face. Trip lifted her hand into his; and held it there as he promised himself he'd never let go again. Never.

**********************************

Malcolm walked slowly in the direction of the crashed shuttle pod 2. He kept an eye on his surroundings and the scanning device in his hand. He stopped in his track when he looked back down at the readings, seeing an object coming slowly towards them.

"Captain!" he nearly yelled to Archer. He quickly got his attention.

"Yes Lieutenant?" Archer asked, knowing it had to be important for Malcolm to yell.

"There's something moving toward us. A shuttle I think. It's bigger than ours. There it is Captain! I'm picking up the same life signs as were found by shuttle pod 2." Malcolm said. He pointed north toward a shuttle as it came towards them. It descended as it came.

"Quick! Find cover!" Archer yelled out. He ducked behind a small boulder.

The shuttle landed slowly and two Xindi sloths stepped out. Archer saw no weapons; so he held his hand up slightly to his team. He signaled them so stay in their cover.

Archer stepped up and out from behind his boulder. A phase pistol out and in his hand. Set only on stun.

"What do you want?" Archer yelled out. He pointed his phase pistol at the two of them.

"We saw a shuttle with the same hull configuration as yours crash. The people that were in the shuttle have been taken to be treated for injuries. We thought you'd want to be taken to them." A Xindi yelled across the field as he walked closer to Archer.

"Stay back. Don't come any closer!" Archer yelled out. He signaled for the rest of his team to come out of hiding.

"We will take you to your people, you must come if you wish to see them." The Xindi closet to Archer said.

The Captain didn't them. But Malcolm no longer got any human or Vulcan life signs from the area they were previously heading towards.

"Fine. We'll come with you. But try anything, and we'll fire on you." The captain signaled for Travis, Malcolm, and the MACOs to come out from cover and show themselves.

Cautiously, they got up and walked out from the large boulder they had been hiding behind. The MACOs had weapons in hands; pointing strait at the Xindi.

“Are you sure this is a good idea captain?” Travis asked, unsure of his captain’s decision to accompany the Xindi despite his deep trust in him.

“No Travis. I’m not. But this is the only way we can find out where Trip and T’Pol are. And maybe get some information on where to find the weapons the Xindi are building.” Archer said. He understood his helmsman’s question. So he answered it as truthfully as possible.

Travis nodded his head in understanding and went to stand beside the captain. Malcolm and the five MACOs followed.

“Ok, let’s go. Keep an eye on them.” Archer said to Malcolm and the MACOs.

The Captain, Travis, Malcolm and the soldiers accompanying them walked slowly and cautiously towards the Xindi shuttle. Phase rifles pointed at the Xindi the entire time.

“Good. We should leave. Two of your crewmembers are very hurt and I assume you want to see them.” The Xindi said

Archer and his team followed the Xindi into the shuttle craft and sat in the rear, the Xindi that had been talking to Archer piloted, the other co-piloted. They started up the engines. And lifted off of the ground.

“By the way. My name is Gedra. This is Tralik. and your names?” Gedra asked

“You don’t need to know that. Just take us to our people.” the Captain said.

He didn't intend to get friendly with them. He just wants to get his people; and get back to the ship. He and his team sat in the shuttle for 20 minutes before Gedra finally spoke up.

“We are here.” Gedra said, he lowered the shuttle to the ground and opened the hatch.

“It is a medical facility. We will have to take you inside. The others might find it quite strange to find more aliens inside. There aren’t many of us on the planet. Just this single city. We should go.” Tralik stepped outside of the pod and urged the captain and his team out.

They stepped out and walked the 10 yards to the doors. They walked inside and turned to the right as Gedra pointed his finger that same way. They had walked approximately 20 feet when Archer saw four MACOs standing outside a door. Hayes sped his feet up and walked over to his officers, looking around for the one missing.

“Where’s Ramirez?” He asked, looking confused.

“He broke his back. They’ve fixed it, something that regenerates nerve tissue. He’s inside. Sub-Commander T’Pol and Commander Tucker too.” Cole answered, pointing a finger backwards.

Archer nodded his head at Gedra. And shook his hand.

“I think maybe I should thank you and the doctors who helped our people. You didn’t have to do this. And I’m sorry I treated you with such suspicion. I’m not really so accustomed to Xindi who aren’t trying to kill us.” Archer said apologetically.

“It’s no problem we understand your predicament. and your behavior is to be expected considering.” Gedra said

“Ok. Thanks. I’m going to go see my people.” the captain replied. He opened the door and saw the MACO laid out in a bio bed. He thought that Trip and T'Pol were probably behind the isolation wall to the left of Ramirez.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Part 4

Trip sat next to the bio bed that he had lain T’Pol on earlier. He held her hand in his. He had never let it go. He had kept his promise. She looked so peaceful when she was asleep, as, when he thought about it, she always did. He wondered what kind of dreams Vulcans had, T’Pol in particular. To be honest he hoped she dreamed about him. But he knew it wasn't possible, so he pushed the thought to the back of his mind and returned his attention to the woman lying before him.

The wound on her head had been cleaned up and there was no longer green blood dripping down her face. It had turned out that she had been bleeding internally. If Trip had not come with the Xindi; she would have not been alive now. The MACOs stood outside now, waiting for the Captain and Hayes.

Trip heard talking outside the door and lifted T’Pol’s hand to his mouth to kiss it. He laid her hand down on the bio bed and headed to the door.

Before he could reach it; the door opened and revealed the Captain. Looking behind him; Trip could see the rest of Archer’s away team and the MACOs. They had their phase rifles flipped over their shoulders; apparently dropping their aggression after hearing about their healed comrade.

"Trip, How are you? Were Ramirez and T'Pol the only ones hurt?" The Captain smiled as he spoke.

"Yea, Cap'n. I'm fine. Ramirez and T'Pol were the only one's hurt. Apparently, they hadn't had time to hold on before we crashed. Ramirez broke his back. T'Pol was bleeding internally. They're both fine now; thanks to the Xindi. Someone called Gralith. He saved their lives Cap'n. We owe these people something." Trip said sincerely.

"Yea Trip. I know." Archer replied.

He patted Trip on the shoulder then walked past him to check on Ramirez and T'Pol. He stopped to check on Ramirez first who was still asleep; but looked like he was no longer in pain. Satisfied; Archer walked over to T'Pol who was also asleep. She looked like her good old peaceful self.

The MACOs walked inside to check on their man for themselves; followed by Travis and Malcolm.

"Well captain, it seems that we can cross another settlement of Xindi sloths off of our Enemies list." Malcolm said

"Yes Lieutenant. It seems that way." Archer replied

Gedra walked into the room follow by Tralik and someone Archer didn't know. Trip walked towards the unknown man and shook his hand; appreciation written all over his face as he smiled.

"Cap'n, this is Gralith. He's the doctor that treated T'Pol and Ramirez." Tucker said. His smile had become competition Dr. Phlox's.

"Hello Gralith, I'm Archer. I want to thank you for all that you've done to help my people." The captain said, a smile coming across his lips also.

"It was no problem. I was glad to help. It is what I do after all." Gralith stated, the smiles in the room now seeming to be becoming contagious.

Across the room, Ramirez' eyes fluttered as he slowly opened them. The bright
light made him wince and he squinting as his eyes adjusted. Seeing their comrade in arms coming to, the MACOs all shuffled over to greet him.

As Archer conversed with Gralith and the MACOs crowded around their friend; Trip quietly walked over to T'Pol who had been left unnoticed in the midst of things. Tucker grabbed her hand and held it. He thought about what he'd say to her after she woke up. While everything had been happening with her being hurt; he'd realized that life's too short to skirt around things.

He'd tell her that his feelings for her had become more than the admiration and appreciation of a friend. That he had been enjoying the neuro-pressure sessions with her for more than the fact that they helped him sleep. And when he did sleep, he dreamed about her. He'd tell her all of it. All of his feelings. Even if she didn't feel the way he did behind that wall of solid stone she'd built up; he'd still be there. He decided he wouldn't run off like some rejected lover.

As he held her hand, he tried to uncover the feelings he had tried to bury like T'Pol did so well. T'Pol's eyelids began to slowly flutter. Then they open just as slowly. Trip's gaze stayed on T'Pol's soft yet so strong hands laying in his in his lap. As T'Pol tried to orient herself and sat up, Trip felt a slight pull on his hand and looked up. Seeing T'Pol as she sat up, he dropped her hand and jumped up quickly. Trip threw his arms around T'Pol. He held tight, holding her as if he hadn't seen a best friend in twenty years.

"Commander Tucker? What are you doing?" T'Pol asked. She found it disturbing that she was not angry at Tucker for hugging her. She actually found it pleasing to feel his strong arms around her.

Trip quickly let her go; afraid he might have hurt her.

"I'm sorry T'Pol. Did I hurt ya?" The worry was clear in his voice.

"I am fine Commander. I will be as long as you cease hugging me." She tried to sound as annoyed as possible.

Trip ignored her and began talking again.

"T'Pol, I'm so glad you’re awake. I was so worried about ya. Well I mean I knew you were ok after the doctor..." Trip rambled on to T'Pol's dismay

Archer, hearing Trip's loud voice, walked over behind the privacy wall to see T'Pol awake and Trip nearly yelling about how much he had worried about her. Amused but thinking about the fact that T'Pol was probably confused; the Captain stepped in.

"So T'Pol, you're awake."

"It would seem so Captain. I was unaware I was unconscious, what has occurred?" T'Pol asked. She tried to ignore the enormous grin on the Commander's face.

"Your shuttle pod crashed Sub-commander. If it wasn't for you, your entire away team would have died." Archer smiled as well.

"Was I the only person on the away team injured?" T'Pol asked, still trying to piece together the puzzle.

"No. A MACO was injured as well, though not as seriously as you were."

"I see. Who treated me, and how did I come to be in this medical facility?" T'Pol asked, looking around her still.

"A Xindi-Sloth doctor. They saw your shuttle go down and came to see if everyone was all right."

" Hmm. It seems that all Xindi truly are not our enemies." T'Pol added, now satisfied with what she had been told.

"Yeah. Ya know what they say: 'Ya can't judge a book by it's cover'. I guess that old saying was right." Trip's face apparently did not tire from his constant smile.

"I think you're right Trip. You too, T'Pol. All Xindi don't appear to be our enemies. This is the second time they've helped us." Archer said. He waved his hand for Gralith to come over and meet T'Pol.

"Well. It seems my other patient has regained consciousness." He pulled a scanning device out of his pocket and ran it up and down T'Pol.

"Your organs are healing up fine; In 24 hours you may resume any strenuous activity." Gralith said. He put his scanner back into his pocket.

"Thank you for treating me." T'Pol said. She gave him her usual bow of the head and threw her legs around the bio bed to stand up. Apparently T'Pol still needed a bit of rehabilitation; she nearly fell off the bio bed onto the floor.

Trip reached down and caught her quickly before she fell. Afraid she would fall out again if he let her go to stand up on her own. Trip still held her in his arms after he had stood her up.

"Be careful T'Pol. Ya got ta take it easy. You'll hurt yourself otherwise." He looked into her eyes and smiled; then let her go.

"I would have to agree. You may want to do things more slowly." Gralith said

T'Pol bowed her head towards the doctor to acknowledge what he said and sat slowly back onto the bed.

"Well I think I'm going to go talk to Gedra and Tralik. I'll be back." Archer said and walked away.

"And I have more patients to attend to, I must leave as well." Gralith said as he walked off.

Trip stood there as T'Pol sat, looking her in the eye. Feeling uncomfortable, T'Pol turned head away. She shifted her gaze to the Captain. She could see him just beyond the edge of the privacy wall between them.

"I take it you were not injured in the crash, Commander?" T'Pol turned back to look at him.

"Nope. A hell of a headache and maybe a concussion. I was fine other than that. I was more worried about you than me though. The only reason I trusted the Xindi was because you were hurt. I almost shot the guy who brought us here." Trip smiled at his reaction to the Xindi.

T'Pol thought about what he had said. Finding it strange that he would dismiss his abhoration for the Xindi for her. He seemed to be getting better at controlling his emotions, she noted.

"I see. Will you help me stand?" She flipped her legs back over the edge of the bio bed, this time slowly.

"Of course, T'Pol." He walked closer to her, ready to hold her up if she began to fall again.

Trip put her arm over his shoulder and slowly pulled her off the bed. She landed softly on the floor; and Trip had to bend down a bit to help her stand. He was quite a bit taller than she was.

T'Pol began to walk slowly. She tried not move too quickly as she didn't want to fall again. Or maybe she did. Having Commander Tucker catch her was not an unpleasant experience. She continued to walk until she felt she could stand on her own.

"I will be fine, Commander Tucker. You may release me." She stood straight up.

"Ok. Are ya sure ya won't hit the ground on me though?" Trip asked. He smiled as he spoke and slowly let her go.

"I am sure, Commander." T'Pol said as she slowly walked past the privacy wall.

“Are you sure you should be up T’Pol?” Archer asked as he saw her come from behind the wall.

“I will be fine Captain.” T’Pol said. She was still walking slowly.

“All right. As long as you think you're okay. But when we get back to the ship, you're on medical leave for 24 hours.” Archer told her.

“Though that is not necessary Captain, I will accept the time.” T’Pol replied.

“Good. I wasn’t going to let you say no.” Archer replied smiling.

The captain turned back to Gedra and Tralik to continue his conversation. He had been asking them if they had any information about the Xindi weapon.

“So you know where the highest concentration of Insectoids and Reptilians is. . .” Archer asked, he had turned his full attention back to the conversation.

“Yes, my father always told me to stay away from that region of the expanse. Those two particular species of Xindi are so hostile. There’s a planet approximately 20 light years from here. I can give you the coordinates. I am disturbed to here that they killed 7 million of your people though not really surprised. I assume you know what happened to our planet.” Tralik said his sincerity was clear in his voice.

“I want to thank you for all you’ve done. For giving me the coordinates to the planet. For treating my crew. For everything.” Archer said as he shook Tralik’s hand. He then turned and shook Gedra’s as well.

“It was no problem. We are a peaceful people. We were only being courteous. If I may ask: how will you all get back to your ship? There are fifteen of you. You only have one shuttle left. We will take you back to your ship if need us to.” Gedra said.

“Oh. I hadn’t thought of that. There are too many of us to go in one shuttle. If you really don’t mind taking half of us; and it’s no inconvenience; I would appreciate you taking us back to the ship.” Archer said, feeling bad after all they had already done.

“No. Of course it is no problem. We will take you back.” Gedra smiled as he talked.

Archer turned around to talk to his crew. “Ok. We’re going to go back to the ship now. Everyone from my team will get to the ship by taking Enterprise’s shuttle pod. The other away team will travel with Gedra back to the ship.”

Everyone walked out of the room and then out of the medical facility to get into two shuttles that had been waiting outside. Gedra drove one and Tralik the other. Trip helped T’Pol climb into one of the shuttles and walked to the back of it to sit with her. He couldn’t wait to get back to enterprise. He had something important to tell T'Pol.

************************************

Trip sat in T’Pol’s quarters back on Enterprise working the nueral-nodes on her back. He remembered what he told himself he would tell her back on the planet and stopped moving his hands. He tried to build up the courage he knew it would take to tell her how he felt.

“Commander, why have you stopped?” T’Pol asked. She tilted her head in his direction as she studied him.

“Um, T’Pol. We need to talk. I’ve got somethin’ important ta tell ya.” Trip said, his courage sufficiently built up.

“Yes, Commander. What is it you need to tell me?” T’Pol asked him. She had that same eyebrow cocked up.

“Well, T’Pol, I....” Trip stammered as the courage he had built up left him. This was gonna be harder than he thought.

"You what, Mr. Tucker?" T'Pol now turned to face him. She stared at him quizzically.

Ok. Out with it Trip, you've got ta tell her. Let's start with the easier stuff.

Trip closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. T'Pol's breathing techniques helped him relax.

"T'Pol, I think I should tell ya that I've been remembering Sim's life. I haven't remembered everything yet, but I remember a bit more every time I sleep.

T'Pol lowered her eyebrow and looked away slowly. She fought hard to conceal her feelings about the Commander's revelation. She had not been expecting this. Phlox had mentioned the possibility that Tucker would recall Sim's all too short life. She straightened her posture as the Commander began to speak again.

"I um...I know he told ya he had some deep feelin’s for ya T'Pol. He said he didn't know who's they were. But I think I do." Trip stopped for a second to let his statement sink in.

"They were mine T'Pol. Though I guess, since Sim was me; they were his too. T'Pol, I do have feelin's for ya. I know it's not right. And I know there's no way in hell ya feel the same way T'Pol. But after what happen today... I mean I almost lost ya. I nearly lost my mind T'Pol. I thought I'd have ta live without ya. I'm sorry. I can't do that."

T'Pol looked at him softly for what seemed like minutes. Soon, she could no longer hold his eyes. Her gaze shifted to the unlit candle on her desk. Trip looked at her like a sick puppy. She couldn't look at him. It would break her control. She took the softness out of her eyes and turned her gaze back to the man sitting before her.

"It is understandable that you have developed an emotional attachment to me considering the intimacy of the neuro-pressure sessions." T’Pol’s voice was flat and precise.

"Emotional attachment?! Cap'n Archer has an emotional attachment to Porthos! I love you T'Pol. There's a big difference there!" Trip said raising his voice.

"“Love is not logical. It is a word humans use to justify placing undue value on individuals they are emotionally attached to.”

To Trip’s frustration the Vulcan’s voice revealed nothing of how she felt.

“Undue value?!” Trip nearly screeched. He stood fuming, with rant of profanity on the tip of his tongue, but he stopped himself. He looked down at the floor and muttered, “Why the hell did you come with us, anyway?”

“It was the logical thing to do.” T’Pol’s voice was still devoid of emotion, but she could not look at the engineer as she spoke.

Trip looked her straight in the eye, and began to speak gently. “That’s not what the Vulcan high command thought. They might even say you place undue value on this ship. This crew. I’ve seen Vulcans laugh, I’ve seen them grieve. I know Vulcans have feelings.” T’Pol stared back into Trip’s eyes. He thought her gaze seemed softer somehow. But her eyes soon hardened.

“Those were V’tosh Ka’tur, Vulcans without logic.” Remembering a certain V'tosh Ka'tur produced discomfort in her.

Trip could not control himself, he yelled at her, “Damn it, T’Pol! Sure you’ve got logic, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have feelings!” He felt defeated. His passion seemed to leave him and all that was left was a pleading for hope, “They’re in there somewhere and all I’m asking is for you to share them with me. I love you, and either way I have to know, do you feel the same?”

“I…” T’Pol said quietly.

“Yes?” Trip said with anticipation, placing all his hope into the next words she would say.

“I can’t.” T’Pol replied.

Trip didn’t say another word. He just turned and left. T’Pol stood in alone in her quarters and did not move. A single tear escaped her eye and trickled down her cheek.

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Have a comment to make about this story? Do so in the Trip Fan Fiction forum at the HoTBBS!

A whole mess of folks have made comments

Mrs. Tucker, I must say that I absolutely love this. You have captured the characters very well. I like the fact that you are portraying T'Pol as being in denial of her true feelings for Trip...or at least, reluctant to express them. You have really brought out the angst in the situation. Can't wait for the next chapter. Great stuff!

Fantastic job! There was something about Trip that seemed more...youthful. I think it might have been your focus on his love for T'Pol instead of his hatred of the Xindi. Great job.
I don't suppose we're getting another sequel? Or do you just plan to leave them like this? I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, wonderful job!
-Phaser Lady

That was great, loved the interaction between Trip and Tpol. Will there be another chapter?

Ouch! You can't leave it there! Poor Trip, Poor T'Pol. Loved this. I particularly liked the way you showed that all Xindi are not the enemy. I am hoping the next part will bring Trip and T'Pol together. Thanks for a great story, Ali D :~)

Thanks guys. I appreciate your comments. And there will be a sequel to this one. It will most likely be the last one. I'm working on writing out the sequel. It may take a while guys, sorry.

Thanks guys. I appreciate your comments. And there will be a sequel to this one. It will most likely be the last one. I'm working on writing out the sequel. It may take a while guys, sorry.

Sorry it took so long to read this but you know how it is. I was delighted to see your sequal although the ending was a bit sad but hey... in love things are never easy! I also like how you did this... the end where Trip keeps his promise to himself that he won't keep his true feelings to himself is great. I think Trip would do that... he would think T'Pol didn't feel the same but yet know in his heart he had to tell her while he still had the chance... brilliant! I can't wait for the sequal... I wonder... will it be after the long awaited VERY close episode that we have all been going crazy about? You guys know what I'm talking about!

I love the story you've got here. I can't wait for the next part.

If there's one thing to complain about, it's some of the writing.

I hate making these types of comments but I feel they're necessary. Otherwise, It'd be like that TNG EP where Data tells jokes on the holodeck and the audience is programmed to laugh no matter what he says. Feedback is important.

Anyway, I'm glad you're not adhering to the PWP (Plot? What plot?) school of fanfic writing.

Even so, there are some problems.

For one thing, the dialogue needs work. The words seem disjointed, they don't flow.

Also, the character's speech patterns are inconsistent. The captain doesn't 'sound' like the captain, etc. I remember this being a problem in a lot of K/7 fanfics back when voyager was on, where people were making Seven sound like a lovesick schoolgirl.

For example: "Hmm. It seems that all Xindi truly are not our enemies" This is not something T'Pol would say.

Also, the descriptive text/imagery could use work.

I also didn't like the short, clipped sentences.

Now the nitpicks.
-No planet's atmosphere extends to 30000km beyond the surfac :)
-No team can design and build a brand new bioweapon, and mass-produce 80+ copies within a week.
-They get a whole buncha coordinates with Xindi planets on them... It seems that everyone is convinced the first planet they get two houses the weapon. This isn't realistic.
-No one would stop the damn ship 10 minutes away from an enemy planet!

Anyway, please don't take the above the wrong way. You've got some great ideas (loved the angst in this story!). You just need to practice your writing.

My suggestion is to read anything and everything you can. Be it books or fanfic. Write as often as possible.

It is through the reading of fan fiction that my writing improved (and it did - a lot.)

If anyone thinks I'm being an ass, please feel free to tell me in the forums.

Noo, I don't think you're being an ass. I know that it needs work. But, I'm not a good writer, I just wanted a specific story, so I wrote it. I hadn't thought about how thich I had made the atmosphere. They weren't making 80 copies of the weapons, just enough for the security officers, and M.A.C.O.s I really had no idea how many MACOs there were. I figured there couldn't be more than 20-30. Enterprise is so small, and Hoshi said in Exile that she didn't think that that alien guy would destroy a ship with 80 people on it. Anyhow, thanks for the feedback. And If you'd like to help me out for the next one, email me, or send me a pm on the HBB.

Sending PM...

You're not a bad writer.

The way I see it, there are two parts to writing a good story: The Technical Side, and the Creative Side.

In my case, i've been told I write pretty well, though I know this is BS. While I can write quite well, I have to limit myself to technical/nonfiction writing. This is because my mind is a creative wasteland, a void.

I couldn't write in a creative fashion, or even think if my life depended on it.

It's the reason why I've never been good at any creative story except tandem stories, where i just run with what someone else comes up with...

In my case, there's nothing that can be done... I will always be a boring, unoriginal guy... But you can improve your writing easily.

Never lose hope.

i hope u do another chapter on this it was so brilliant i near cryed myself at the end!