Back on Enterprise

Back on Enterprise

By: TLR

Rated: PG mild language
Disclaimer: Enterprise is the property of UPN and Paramount Studios
Feb. 19th 2005
Summary: Episode addition. Story begins during last week’s episode, “Affliction”. It’s for all the T/T lovers that want Trip back aboard. It gives rise to Trip and T’Pol realizing their bond and takes it from there. Enjoy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bridge was dimly lit; it was night shift. T’Pol sat at her station trying to decode the remnants of the black box recorder the captain had assigned her and Hoshi. The work was going slowly and she was making little progress. Whoever tampered with the box did a very good job. Hoshi went to her quarters to look up some reference material, which left the young Vulcan alone with her thoughts. Algorithms of every type danced in and out of her mind. They dueled for attention with the growing problems she had been experiencing since Trip left the Enterprise.

T’Pol was taken aback by the changes in her consciousness. In the past several months, dreams with Trip in them had become common, even expected. Since he left, however, she found it hard to concentrate, even harder to relax enough to achieve true mediation. Last evening when she was able to make that to level, it was disturbing to find him standing there. Her attempts at clearing him from her mind sparked a bit of worry, in that she may never gain true control without being able to achieve contemplative meditation.

Why did I allow him to be in my mind? She pondered trying yet another equation into the computer simulation. What does his presence signify?

The computer buzzed a disagreeable tone that brought T’Pol’s mind back to the problem at hand. She quickly scanned the outcome and attempted to edit for the positronic matrix differential.

Why was Hoshi privy to my thoughts during meditation? She wondered while waiting for the new set of results. Mind melds were a subject covered in the Kir’Shara but were still very alien to her. She remembered the initial discomfort and the eventual acceptance of the act. Felt the accomplishment with finally getting the information they needed to start the search for Phlox, but.... Another resounding buzz and T’Pol turned a disapproving eyebrow back at the green glowing console in front of her. Frustration was building, though the Vulcan would belie no outwardly gesture of it.

Ya got yer matrix misaligned. The thought came, but T’Pol knew instantly from the deep tones and heavy southern accent, it wasn’t her own. Move it point three microns an rerun the numbers. That oughta do it.

Quietly T’Pol looked around the room... slowly, not wanting to show her confusion to the few crew members on shift. Then swallowing hard the discomfort she was feeling, went to making the adjustments to the matrix differential.

Trip sat at his console in engineering aboard the Columbia. He had been reviewing the day’s first trial logs. Looking at the rows of endless numbers, he found himself slipping into a daze. It was true, he missed the Enterprise. Missed the sound of her engines, the warm hum they had when running at warp. Oh it didn’t start out that way, and he knew that the clanking of the engines before him only meant that he and his new crew had their work cut out for them. That is if they all didn’t mutiny before they could achieve it.

Tired, he rubbed his eyes and laid his head down on the desk for a brief rest. Moments later he opened his eyes. To his surprise, he was no longer in engineering, or even on Columbia for that matter. Now he stood as he had so many times before behind the science officer’s chair, aboard the Enterprise. He bent down over T’Pol’s shoulder to see what she was working on. He saw in her attempts as well as in her body language, the problem was a difficult one. Her diligence meant that it was crucial to the captain and as such must be for the ship itself. He saw her attempts at different alga rhythms, and knew the make up of the item she held before her.

“Yeah, that one might work” he spoke at her, as she dialed in yet another sequence of numbers. The buzzer made him swear for her. “Damn it”

Trip studied the numbers, his thoughts too concentrated on solving the equation to even ask why he was here. His eyes were glued to the screen. Then as if a flash of an idea, the young engineer’s face lit up.

“Ya got yur matrix misaligned.........” He pointed at the screen over T’Pol’s shoulder. “Move it point three microns an rerun the numbers. That oughta do it.”

With that he noted T’Pol’s perplexed state. She turned and examined the room, looking right past him. Moving back she began to make the adjustments. This time there was only a short ring as the underlying data was revealed.

“Erased” She uttered looking over the data. At that moment Hoshi returned to the bridge. Trip put up a hand to say hi, then realized the young Asian woman didn’t seem to see him either.

“The data on this black box has been erased.” she informed Hoshi pointing to the evidence on the screen. Pulling the records to a hand pad, T’Pol turned in her chair to face forward. “We need to get this information to the Captain.”

With that the two women exited the bridge, T’Pol walking right through the commander’s body. With their bodies merged, Trip found a giddiness that wasn’t altogether unpleasant. Her warmth, her smell they all came back to him in an instant and then were gone again. The absence smarted.

Boy am I having a freaky day... he thought and looked around at one last glimpse of the bridge. Suddenly the scene faded as a young ensign tapped on his shoulder.

“Commander” the young man looked both boyish and scared. “Maybe you should get some rest. We’ll keep things going down here.”

Trip nodded, rose from his console and walked the long steps back to his new quarters. They were roomier, brighter and more luxurious than his aboard Enterprise, but the coldness stood out well past the amenities.

“Bridge to Engineering.” Captain Hernandez’s voice was firm and held as much expectation from her crew as did Captain Archer’s.

“Engineering.” Trip stood ready at the comm.

“We’ll need to pick up speed. We’ve been ordered to assist the Enterprise in rescue operations, and we need to get there fast Trip.” her tone was telling.

“Aye, Captain” he flipped off the com. “You heard the Captain. Lets bring ‘er up to speed.” Trip jumped the ladder in two steps and was standing in front of the warp reactor watching the intermix ratio’s. “Everybody watch your stations, I wanna know any problems before they happen....Understood!”

“Aye, Sir” was the group return, as the staff hustled to take their places.
“Bridge.... you got full power now.”

“Set an intercept course with Enterprise.... Warp 5.4 Ensign” Both captain and crew braced for the leap to such a high warp.

“Flow pressure is holding Captain, but we can’t maintain this 5.2 for too much longer.” Mayweather’s voice reflected his discomfort. This was strange for the man nicknamed “Boomer” and known as the best helmsman in the fleet.

“We’ve got no choice..... Keep her together Travis.”

“Bridge to Engineering.... any luck getting the Klingon over writing out of the computer drive?”

“None Sir.” came an even tone. “The warp drive matrix is inundated with numerous subcommands.... I can not see a starting point, much less a resolution.” T’Pol continued to study the writings as her voice trailed off through the link.

“Captain.” Hoshi looked up from her station.

“It’s Columbia. They are on route at warp 5.4 to intercept. They are offering assistance. They should be within range in less than 5 minutes”

“Yes....” Archer pounded his fist on the console of his chair. Trip’s coming to save the day. He thought at the frustration of his breaking in a new chief engineer during this mission.

“Tell Columbia that we have a big time engineering problem and we could use some help quick...” He turned then added “Tell Trip he’ll have to beam over in warp, since we are liable to explode if we slow down.”

Archer knew that was a risky maneuver at best, but also knew his friend. There was nothing Charles Tucker III wouldn’t do for Enterprise. Except stay. The bitter fact came to mind.

“When they are within range, I want you to keep us even with them. Within *100 meters,* Ensign! .... I’ll operate the transporter controls,” and with that Archer left the bridge.

“At station. Keeping, Sir” The ensign’s hands never left the controls, his breath held in concentration. Keeping two speeding warp vessels 100 meters apart wasn’t a routine training maneuver.

“Understood.... Hold her steady.” Archer looked over and adjusted the controls.

“Columbia to Enterprise... ready to transport.” The voice a breath of fresh southern air.

“Gotcha Trip.... Just hold still” Trip, although never thrilled about using the transporter, felt a bit better knowing he was in the hands of his oldest and dearest friend.

There was a glimmering of light, blues and yellows that swirled for several seconds then materialized into the frame of the blond haired engineer. He held a small bag of equipment brought from the newer items that had been given to Columbia for her launch.

Archer smiled... “*Boy*, am I glad to see you.” he moved forward as Trip stepped down from the pad.

The two men rushed to engineering as Jon brought his old friend up to speed on the facts that he knew. They rounded the corner and entered the reactor room. There stood T’Pol at Trip’s old console, pushing buttons and studying the effects her efforts were having.

“Couldn’t get through a day without me....” he offered a joke to break the tension.

“It would seem.” T’Pol returned dryly and stepped aside to let the commander look at the current problem.

The mixture of Klingon symbols flashing in between changing engineering screens and interflow indicators made Trip’s head spin. “Has Hoshi taken a look at this?” he asked punching the gauges on the console.

“Yes... they are sub-routines and warp drive commands that are currently telling our engines to build up more pressure.”

“Why are they here? .... I mean.... how *the hell*did they get here?” he hunched over closer to the screen and tried to study the intricacies of the writings, looking for a pattern.

“We were boarded by a band of marauders. At first we thought they were Rigelian, but later found them to be Klingon altered to pass as Rigelian.” T’Pol pulled up the detailed scans of the attack point that the marauders used to access the system. “The intercepted the data links here and were able to download this virus of sorts into the matrix before transporting back to their ship.”

“We couldn’t stop 'em?” Trip’s words were general, but his tone seemed to be singling her out.

“The MACOs took a prisoner...”she returned a bit defensively he noticed.

Captain Archer noticed the interplay and decided to excuse himself. “You two got this covered down here... I’ll be on the bridge.” and with a turn he was gone.

“Pull up the subroutines again... Let me see what junction they put them in.” He moved in closer to her body, so they both could review the data.

“Anything on the black box might have indicated this...?” he asked absentmindedly.

“The black box was erased....it looks like sabotage.”

Trip’s eyes and mouth flew wide open. T’Pol returned him a puzzled glance.

“How’d you realize the black box was erased....? He asked standing hands on hips.

“I ran it through an edit program of its positronic matrix differential.”

“Let me guess, you had to adjust it by point three microns to get it to work” Trip’s voice was a bit sarcastic. Now it was T’Pol’s turn to hide her surprise.

“Okay.... What the hell is goin' on? ...... That daydream was that real too..?” Trip lost track of the problem at hand... T’Pol did not.

“They’re firing again Captain” a scared young lieutenant called from the tactical station.

“Shields at maximum...” came the command as she braced for impact.
“Target all weapons.” Columbia faltered under the attack.

The Klingon cruiser was of a different design and had maneuverability that the normal winged configuration did not. It swooped closer to the second star fleet vessel and targeted its’ deflector array.

“Target the Klingon vessel.” Archer commanded of the young ensign occupying Reed’s post. What he wouldn’t give to have Malcolm’s help right now, but he wouldn’t be much help from the brig.

“Keep firing... Don’t let them get a clear shot at Columbia.” Jon’s voice held concern for the young woman he knew so intimately.

Two more hits directly to the shield emitter array and aft plating was gone. Ventral plating was down as well. Columbia broke off its’ flight pattern and tried to protect her weak spots. A good move any seasoned captain would make, however it’s was made too late. With another rapid fire of disrupters the saucer burst into several large sections, followed by the port nacelle erupting in a huge ball of fire. The bridge crew of the Enterprise let out a collective gasp.

In engineering, T’Pol worked feverishly trying to make sense of the computer programs in front of her. Even though Trip returned to work with her, he still was demanding an explanation.

“If the virus had been any other of the ship’s systems, the problem would be a simple one to purge it. However, it being in the warp routines, purging the wrong areas could blow us up.” T’Pol scanned the data again.

“That’s right.... change the subject.” Trip punched up a few more screens. “I wanna know what’s goin’ on here. What are ya doin' to me?”

T’Pol returned him an aggravated stare... then almost collapsed onto the floor. “Oh...” she gasped and grabbed out at something to steady herself. Her head was spinning.... Her eyes were distant and in pain.

“Hey....” Trip eased her into a nearby chair... “You okay...”

“The Columbia...” she muttered her hands holding her face.

“Trip.... We’re gonna need some more maneuvering ability and fast.” Archer’s voice snapped T’Pol back to the present. She concentrated, felt the fear of her crewmates on the bridge and realized that the same danger that befell the Columbia was now upon them. Knowing there was no time to collaborate... T’Pol reached up her hand to Trip’s face. Finding points of contact, she extracted the knowledge she needed to purge the core and settled into affecting the corrections. She eased Trip down into the chair dazed and disoriented.

“I am sorry.” her mind connected with his as she worked.