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And Baby-Ch. 14And Baby Makes Four By Samantha Quinn All disclaimers in Part I. Part Fourteen Homecoming ***** "Yes, Captain. They are alive but unconscious," she replied. "Good. Have the doctor make certain they are in good health-particularly Commander Tucker, as I believe he has sustained multiple torture wounds. Make certain they are in a state of unconscious which will last until they are reunited with their ship," Zlar instructed. As he gave his last instructions, the Tholian ship moved a considerable distance from the Gabbaccian one, with the Tholian shuttlepod nestled safely against the hull. The vastness of space made the distance rather relative, however. In the end, the seemingly large distance between the two vessels did not prevent the Tholian Captain and crew from having a good view of the Gabbaccian ship being engulfed by the Tholian energy web. The process had been accelerated in recent years. *If our ancestors had possessed such quick moving technology, Kirk's Enterprise would never have escaped,* Zlar mused as the Gabbaccian hull began to buckle under the pressure of the web. Considering the importance of Kirk to the survival of the Federation, Zlar was thankful that the technology had not existed then-for the same reason he was thankful to have been put in charge of his current mission for the Tholian Empire. For Zlar knew, surely, that the survival of the Tholian Empire depended upon the survival of the Federation. Certainly, the two factions would have several centuries of strife until the ultimate moment of peace and co-operation attained in Zlar's time of the thirty-first century. Still, Zlar and his superiors-part of a larger collective of a faction known as the temporal police knew that T'Vel's conception had led to the destruction of both. It was for this reason that Zlar's ship had been sent on this mission. Yes, he mused as the Letal's engines exploded from the external pressure being thrust upon them from the Tholian web, Alanna and Leland had been there to stop the Gabbaccians. But his superiors, and in fact Zlar himself, did not trust that outcome. For, it turned out, Alanna's actions would only lead to another temporal distortion: she, failing to see the importance of her own birth, would prevent that as well. By preventing her own birth, she would not be available to go back in time to prevent the birth of T'Vel. . . Time travel paradoxes, indeed. Zlar's father had always said it took a 'special sort' to deal with them. Perhaps he had been right. In either event, it was a matter best left to the professionals. Something Captain Tucker and her crew had decidedly not been. As the last explosion cleared, leaving only debris in place of what had once been the Letal, Zlar contacted his crew aboard the shuttlepod. "Progress report, Commander?" he inquired. His tone made clear his dissatisfaction with having had to wait so long for the report. "Sir . . . Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed are fine. Tucker has received numerous superficial injuries, but the doctor has healed them and sees no reason to fear long term repercussions." "That is excellent news. How is Sub-Commander T'Pol? Is she injured?" Zlar demanded. There was a slight hesitation in Puida's reply. "Well, Captain, the doctor had noted severe distress in her mental pathways." "He employed the usage of the Romulan memory device?" Zlar assumed. "Yes." "Relay the contents to the bridge terminal." "Aye, Sir. Transmitting now," Puida's faithful reply came through. Zlar watched and marveled at the transmission. The Romulan memory device had frequently been used as a means of extracting information from enemies of the Romulan empire for centuries. The device allowed memories to be literally seen. Combined with Tholian technology, Captain Zlar was literally able to "watch" T'Pol's memories. The doctor had been able to zone in on the ones that her subconscious had been repeating in her unconscious state.
“Mother,” she greeted, trying to sound as unemotional as possible. “Daughter,” T’Pol extended her hand to the child in the formal Vulcan greeting and was surprised-and rewarded when the child instead leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “You learned that from Mr. Reed, correct?” T’Pol inquired. “Yes, mother. Is it . . . improper?” the child frowned at the thought. “Your frown is inappropriate. Your kiss is as well. However, I do find the latter. . . pleasant.” The scene shifted. T’Pol stood beside her Enterprise colleagues on board the Letal, listening to the conversation between Alanna and Leland. “Alanna, I wanted. . . this is not the answer-forbidding your birth and T’Vel’s. T’Vel is a brilliant scientist-“Leland argued. “She’s a cold blooded murderer,” Alanna replied. “Only because she was raised to be,” Leland supplanted. “And how do you suggest to change that?” It was not Alanna that spoke. Rather, it was her mother. Both Leland and Alanna looked at her with surprise. “Alanna was such a caring person because of who she was raised with-in a loving home. If Alanna and T’Vel could be combined-into one entity, the universe would be a better place. Instead of being two children conceived on this day, there would be one. Instead of it being raised by the Empire, it would be raised by T’Pol, as Alanna was.”
"Yes, Captain?" "What are the recommendations of the doctor and yourself?" "Sub-Commander T'Pol is under severe mental duress-especially for a Vulcan. The source of that duress is apparently the thought that the child she could have is about to be taken away from her, given the contrasting scenarios we saw on the tape. Using typical procedure to erase them would prove too difficult, and even potentially harmful to the Sub-Commander, as her memories are, in part, caused by a Vulcan mind meld." Zlar mentally nodded. Even in the thirty-first century, Vulcan mind melds were somewhat of a mystery. Dangerous things to tamper with, in any event. The image of the blond haired Vulcan had obviously been Alanna, as a little girl. Something T'Pol could not have known on her own. "Then our recommendation is to return T'Pol as she is, Captain. She will suffer a mental breakdown within two months at this rate. The other two, however, will be fine," Puida assured him. "We cannot do that, Puida," Zlar stated. "Record tapes show that four months from now, in both the altered timeline and the 'correct' timeline, the Enterprise crew will face a hostile alien threat. Captain Archer will be taken prisoner and the Enterprise will survive only because of the command decisions made by Sub-Commander T'Pol." "She remained on the ship, even while pregnant with Alanna?" "Yes, Commander. Don't sound so surprised. Females of many species work very near to the time of child birth." Zlar admonished. "Intriguing. I suppose it is in keeping with her Vulcan heritage." "Women of the species go into seclusion in the eighth month, to allow the mother sufficient mental preparation for the birth, supposedly. Sub-Commander T'Pol and the Enterprise crew were . . .delayed getting back to Vulcan and the child was born on the Enterprise," Zlar noted. Again, he marveled at the clarity of the records which remained in tact, even if the timelines did not. "I see. Then the only way to prevent her mental breakdown is to create a pregnancy," Puida decided. Zlar was surprised, to say the least. "How do you come to that conclusion?" he asked of his second in command. "Captain, Vulcans are strong, durable creatures, both mentally and physically. It takes an event of enormous proportions to disturb their mental state. In the Sub-Commander's case, she has been given proof of time travel that the Vulcan Science Directorate does not believe possible in this decade, a loving relationship with a child she cares deeply for, the death of that relationship, the death of a close friend, and the obliteration of her homeworld. She is close to snapping. Perhaps she will not, after all. If we take the chance, however, and she is not in command when the Enterprise is attacked four months from now-" "Then the Enterprise will be lost," Zlar stated with finality. "It is very possible, although not a certainty," Puida agreed. "And you think this pregnancy will deter her breakdown in what fashion? Shouldn't the presence of a child only confirm the bleak future she saw in the mind meld?" Zlar questioned. There was a slight pause in which Zlar could almost hear Puida smile. "Not if the child is not exactly Alanna, sir." "What do you mean?" "The tape, sir? The last conversation?" Puida prodded. "If the child instead of being purely Alanna was instead a combination of the genes that made Alanna and T'Vel, then that would possibly give the Vulcan hope. Possibly preventing a nervous breakdown." "I don't like the presence of all these 'possibilities.' Too many 'what ifs'. But we have precious little choice. The doctor thinks he can perform this procedure?" "He believes it shall be a rather simple one, sir," Puida replied. "Then you may proceed with all due haste."
To his utter shock, the shuttlepod was one of their own-a Starfleet shuttlepod. “Life signs?” he asked of the Ensign filling in for T’Pol at the science station. “Three sir,” came the reply. Then there was a slight pause. “Um, I think the sensors are malfunctioning sir. The machinery reads keeps bouncing back and forth between three and four.” **Bouncing?** Archer swore sorrowfully that if the Cosmic Entities in charge of the universe would allow him to have his somber Tactical and Science Officers back, he would never, ever, *ever* mock their need for protocol and structure on the ship. *Hell, I might even make people start saluting each other. Whatever it takes so that I don’t have to hear the word ‘bouncing’ on the bridge. Ever again.* “Perhaps you should work on fixing the equipment, Ensign,” he suggested dryly. “They are sending out a distress call, sir. But they aren’t answering any hails,” Ensign Sato informed him. Knowing what his duty called for, Archer instructed Ensign Tanner to bring use the grappler to bring the ship to the landing bay. After notifying Doctor Phlox of a potential medical emergency in the shuttle bay, Archer turned to Tanner in a motion that would have made Lieutenant Reed very happy, if he had been present. “Bring a security detail, Tanner,” the Captain instructed. “And meet me in the landing bay.” Upon arriving at the landing bay, Archer was relieved to note that his precautions were not necessary. There, in the Starfleet shuttlepod whose appearance Archer could not begin to explain, sat the three missing members of the Enterprise’s crew. “They’re unconscious, Captain, but not their injuries are not substantial. I do need to get them to sickbay,” Phlox told him after a preliminary examination. The security detail was very helpful with assisting Phlox in getting his patients to sickbay. ***************** Have a comment to make about this story? Do so in the Trip Fan Fiction forum at the HoTBBS! |