Alternatives-10

Alternatives

By Samantha Quinn

See Chapter 1 for rating and disclaimers

******

Chapter 10: Still Forging Ahead

It wasn’t Trip standing in front of her, but it was an elder Vulcan male.

“Who are you?” T’Pol inquired, in a voice that was not quite as neutral as it should have been. The multitude of delusions, she told herself, was taxing her mind. Clearly, meditation was in order - and copious amounts thereof.

“I do not believe meditation is going to heal that which ails you, T’Pol,” the older Vulcan stated. “Have our people so lost sight of the old ways that you do not recognize me?”

T’Pol did recognize the man, but logic insisted that it couldn’t be the person she believed him to be. Still, the man so closely resembled the renderings of Surak from T’Pol’s youth that T’Pol had to actively fight the urge to believe the impossible.

“When the possible has been ruled out, one must then consider the impossible,” the vision of Surak stated calmly.

T’Pol watched as the man sat down on a flat rock on the cave floor. It was only then that she noticed the man’s labored breathing and the difficulty he had in moving.

“You’re injured,” she deduced, though he was merely an illusion.

“The scars you see are from radiation from a time long before yours, T’Pol. Our people are in equal danger today, and you must help them. After that task is completed, you must help your bondmate.”

“Trip?”

“I can feel his pain from here.”

*****

Trip was used to the pain, at this point. But he was the Captain, so he forced himself to continue to remember despite the pain, which in turn, only caused the headaches to double.

Vaguely, Trip could hear the worried voices of T’Pol and the children seeping through his concentration. But he knew they weren’t real, and this was important .

Then, he remembered.

He remembered walking with Chancellor Lorne. . . he remembered discussing the construction of the science center with the Chancellor . . . and most vividly of all, he remembered the Klingons attacking Valis Two.

For a minute, Trip wanted to refute the memories. They conflicted so much with what he already knew to be true that they had to be false.

Yet, more memories came. They were harsh memories of Klingons doing things Trip had only read about in history books detailing the brutalities of the mid-20th century warfare. Trip’s head still ached, but he wasn’t forcing the memories to come any longer. They came willingly, beating after beating followed by proddings, pokes, electrocutions, and the always prevalent sound of Chancellor Lorne’s screams in the bed beside him. Until, abruptly, the Chancellor’s screams stopped and Trip saw. . . remembered. . . a metal rod being forced in through his ear.

The memories stopped then, both because Trip didn’t want to remember any more and because T’Pol’s extra firm grip on his shoulders was getting hard to ignore.

*******
In the end, Admiral Gardiner didn’t like the decision he had to make. Calling Enterprise home and leaving Captain Archer and T’Pol on Vulcan to fend for themselves was not a pleasant decision.

But the Vulcans were their allies. Surely when Archer and T’Pol were found, Starfleet would be notified.

Gardiner was certain of one thing. The Andorians and the Vulcans could have their war, but Earth wouldn’t have any part of it. Earth had already had its war, and paid dearly for it.

******

“I’m sorry,’ Trip apologized again to T’Pol as he helped put away the dishes. Oddly, he had a definite sense about where the items should go, even though this was the first time he’d actually been in the kitchen.

T’Pol looked very steadily at the plate she was sliding into the cupboard. “You frightened the children.”

“And I upset you. I’m -”

“Vulcans do not get upset.”

“You looked upset to me.”

“I. . . need to meditate.”

Trip frowned. That didn’t sound especially like his T’Pol, but it did sound familiar. “That’s the second time you’ve said that since I woke up. Is everything okay?”

“I am fine.”

“Really? Because I don’t remember you ever having to meditate so frequently.”

“There is much you do not remember, Trip.”

Well, that was true, but not as true as he would have liked it to be. “Then help me remember.”

T’Pol took a deep breath and relaxed her hands behind her back. “Very well. I was planning on postponing reminding you of this. . . particular bit of news until your memory had completely returned. However, since you were quite correct in your observations that not all is . . . as controlled as it should be, I will simply tell you now.”

T’Pol paused only long enough for Trip to mentally remind himself that he’d never actually heard her ramble before. Whatever she was going to tell him had to be big news.

“I am pregnant.”

*****

“Let me see if I get this straight,’ Archer said slowly. “You’re carrying around the soul of Surak inside your head.”

“His katra, yes.”

“Do you have any idea how hard that is for me to believe?”

“Yes.”

“And when we reach the Syrannites, that’s what we’re going to tell them?”

“Yes.”

Archer threw up his hands in frustration. “Could you answer me in sentences longer than one word?”

“It would be wise for you to try to conserve your energy. Talking less would help with this endeavor. Also, if I do not make it off of Vulcan, you must promise me you’ll contact Starfleet in regards to Captain Tucker.”

“Why?”

“I have reason to believe that he is in danger.”

Archer looked concerned, but then skeptical. “Did Surak tell you that?”

“No. Captain Tucker did.” With that in mind, T’Pol handed the water ration bottle to her Captain.

****

To Be Continued Later. . .

Chapter 11

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

Cool! So the real T'Pol and Archer are wandering around Vulcan a la "Kirshara" (Is this AU and they're actually supposed to be in that story line while Trip is missing? I'm sorry if I missed something. I don't have time to go back and re-read the other chapters right now), while Trip is in some sort of alternate fantasy world (All in his head? Alternate reality?)in which he may or may not be being brainwashed by the Klingons. I'm lovin' it. It's so original. Can't wait to find out what comes next.

Excellent chapter, Samantha, and I'm VERY glad that you're continuing this. I already like your version of the Vulcan arc better than the one we saw on the screen since it looks like it will actually BE a Vulcan arc instead of Super!Archer saves the Vulcans from themselves; I've long said that it should have been T'Pol who bore Surak's katra instead of Archer as it would have made a whole hell of a lot more sense and would have given the T'Pol character a chance to TRULY get in touch with her Vulcanity instead of being relegated (once more) to Sidekick Polly status. It'll be interesting to see how things progress from here as Trip was absolutely essential to keeping Andoria and Vulcan from going to war on the show and CDR Brody isn't likely to have the fortitude to act in an appropriate manner. Yet another question that pops up is the future of T'Pol's "marriage"; since she's already bonded to Trip, will she be able to simply dissolve the union with Koss? I sure as heck hope so...

And man ... Trip is going to be absolutely crushed when he's forced to leave this dream. While rereading the story from the beginning, I was struck by the line in chapter 9: "It wasn’t every day that a person was confronted by the living, breathing personification of every dream he’d never dared to have."

Question is: will Trip retain these memories after he returns to the Real World, and how much worse will it be for him to have seen everything that he's ever wanted and still be unable to have it.

Great work and I'm eagerly (but not very patiently) looking forward to the next chapter...

I'd love to see this story completed. Thanks for updating!

Okay, I just spent all morning reading from Ch. 1... how could I have missed this? This is a GREAT story! The Trip & Malcolm dialogs are fantastic, and I can only imagine Trip's reaction to, "I am pregnant." Great stuff, Samantha!!! :)

Distracted - pretty much, yes. Trip's A/U will eventually be explained, though some readers may already have it figured out. As for Archer&T'Pol, everything is still unfolding according to canon and timeline wise, they're about at the end of "The Forge," moving into "Awakening."

Rigil Kent - While I enjoyed Surak's willingness to meld with a human (IDIC, horay!), Super!ARcher is no more.

"It'll be interesting to see how things progress from here as Trip was absolutely essential to keeping Andoria and Vulcan from going to war on the show and CDR Brody isn't likely to have the fortitude to act in an appropriate manner." ;) That's kind of the key as to how this whole series is going to end because you're one hundred percent right.

And Trip will remember every bit of what's going on. Where's the angst and drama otherwise?

Binah - it will be, I promise. I know I'm slow.:(

nikitee- I'm glad you're enjoying - there will be 2-3 more chapters.

I can't tell you how GLAD I am that you're continuing this story, Samantha! The angst from chapter one where Trip gets reassigned had me hooked and I was so disappointed when you put the story on hold, THEN said you wouldn't finish it... talk about angst! Thank you SO MUCH for continuing!
That really was a sock to the gut for Trip to find out T'Pol's pregnant (though I had a hunch from scenes in Trip's awakening!) And now you say Trip will REMEMBER all of this? Gah! Poor guy's gonna have a mental breakdown the first time he sees T'Pol again IRL. Also glad T'Pol got Surak and not Archer, plus it's convenient to help T'Pol deal with being bonded w/ Trip. I sort of wish you hadn't let her figure that out on her own, though -- I would have liked to see her struggle with the images and not have a clue until Surak told her... then have him help her deal with it all. Will you make Koss let her go as easily as he did in "Awakening," or will he fight for it, causing even more angst? Or should I just shut up so I don't make you give away the plot? :)

Personally, I'd rather see T'Pol tell Koss to take a hike than to see him "let her go" but that's just me. How do you translate "Hit the road, Koss..." into Vulcan? :D

All along I have been honestly hoping that Trip had somehow made telepathic contact with an alternate self in a parallel universe and was actually living in a real world. Alas, it sounds like my hopes are dashed. But I had thought perhaps the laternate Trip was brain dead (katra dead?) and this Trip had somehow moved in to take up residence. That way he could just set up house and stay. Oh well. It was a nice thought anyway.

so the klingons are behind trip being
captured. or are the romulans behind it and planted the idea of the klingons in trip's head to one disguise their identity and/or cause yet another group to be held in further enmity.

if the vulcans and andorians go to war and destroy a significant part of each others fleet this could be bad trouble later on in the romulan wars.

if anything they may up the time table.

love it that tpol carries surak and trip saw it as being pregant.

Yay! More story! Even though I have to go back and reread practically everything, just to make sure I'm not forgetting any important plot points. Oh, and man, who didn't know she was pregnant? Show of hands? Trip's just plain blind. (Well, and confused. That probably did a lot of it.) Great stuff, and I'm glad there'll be more! :)

Jash- "Also glad T'Pol got Surak and not Archer, plus it's convenient to help T'Pol deal with being bonded w/ Trip." It's also convenient to help her deal with something I have planned for later. As for Surak, I went back and forth on having him come out and say, "Your bondmate, Captain Tucker," but she figured it out pretty well by herself on the show, and I didn't want to take that away from her. However, Surak will definitely figure into "conversations" about bondmates and Trip in the next chapter.

Rigil - Member of the Die, Koss, Die! club, huh? There's actually a slight kink in the way of having Koss and T'Pol end the way they did on the show, but whose side do you suppose Surak is on?

Black n'Blue/pookha - those are both interesting theories, and way more complicated than I feel like producing at the present. Because I'm lazy.

Windrider - I know. I am a slow, slow person. And no, her being pregnant shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone but a mind-fuddled Trip.

To everyone in general - the next chapter is finished, it just covers a lot of ground and I'm re-reading it to try to make sure it makes sense and doesn't move too fast. If real life writing deadlines don't interfere, I hope to have it to Bucky within a week at the latest.

Sam: "Member of the Die, Koss, Die! club, huh?" Not really. I'm actually (it seems) in the minority in that I don't think he was all that bad; he was just being a Good Vulcan and following the desires of his family. It probably didn't even occur to him that T'Pol could possibly be interested in a human in THAT way. And I'm rooting for Surak to be on Trip's side. ;)

BTW, I LOVED your version of Koss in "Consequences"...

At least one issue is settled. It has been well established in canon with the other series, from TOS through TNG, DS9 and VOY that a Vulcan mating bond constitutes a de facto marriage. The TnT mating bond predates Koss, which renders T'Pol's marriage to Koss null and void right off the bat. Surak's opinion on that subject is preordained.

Works for me. Now we can see T'Pol tell Koss to hit the road. And boy, won't he be disappointed when the Vulcan who Brought Surak's Katra Back tells him to take a hike. :p

That view is a little simplistic. We know by TOS era that a Vulcan mating bond constitutes a marriage - but we simply aren't there yet in the timeline. That much is obvious by T'Pol's comments about their bond on the show.

Thus, a mating bond would only render T'Pol's marriage to Koss null and void right off the bat if this was taking place a hundred years hence. It's not.

Also, it's fan fic - nothing's preordained, including Trip's death.

And that's all I'm going to say. I have a never ending fic to finish, after all.

Urk! But the principle is supposed to be based on Surak's teachings, taken directly from the Kirshara! Egad. All I want is for some version of Trip, somewhere in some AU to hammer Koss into the ground like a fence post and use his head for a hockey puck. Is this to much to ask in order to make the life of a loyal (albeit admittedly somewhat sleep deprived) reader complete?

Well, I have faith that however Samantha ends it, it'll be memorable ... :D