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Devil's Advocate - Ch 2

Author - Triplover
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Devil’s Advocate

By Triplover

Disclaimer: When I own all this I’ll be sure to go outside and watch the pigs flying cause it’s never gonna happen.
Genre: Mystery, Romance, Angst
Rating: R (for violence and other stuff)
Summary: After saving a cargo ship filled with many different species, crewmembers on Enterprise are found dead.

Chapter Two

Where It All Begins

Captain Archer ran out of the turbolift and frowned when he saw the ship floating damaged in the midst of an ion storm. “I doubt the grapplers would work on a vessel of that size.”

Travis turned to look at the Captain, frowning. “It wasn’t meant for something like this sir, but we could at least try. If the grapplers can help tow the Enterprise, I’m sure it could help save the cargo ship, we’d just need a way to compensate for the ion storm.”

“And how do we do that?” Archer asked, going over it himself in his head.

Travis frowned. “It’s a pretty bad ion storm, sir. I can’t think of a single thing we could do. We’d never get the grapplers to lock onto them, let alone pull them out with that kind of pressure.”

Malcolm Reed nodded. “Perhaps the transporter is our only solution. The vessel won’t be destroyed in the storm but it will be pretty banged up. Life support is gone. There aren’t more than twelve on the ship. I’m sure we could make the room until the storm passes. The ship might not be destroyed, but I imagine the people inside might not be able to make it. Scans show hull breaches.”

Archer nodded. “How close do we have to be?”

Malcolm began the calculations in his head before answering. “We won’t have to go inside the ion storm but we will have to be fairly close.”

“Travis?”

“It’s doable, though I might need a short break afterwards,” Travis said with a grin.

Archer smiled back at the ensign. “Done, now let’s get started.”

==

“They’re moving into transporter range, Captain.”

Jolen nodded as his ship rocked hard from side to side. “Good, get ready then. This is where it begins.”

Shrith smiled back at his captain. “Where what begins?”

Jolen grinned back at his pilot and first officer. “The beginning of the end for one man that will finally feel the rod of justice,” he answered.

Shrith’s antennas both cocked oddly as he turned back around. “You know of this ship?”

“No, but I do know one person who lives there. We were old friends.”

“I’m guessing that’s a thing of the past?”

Jolen frowned while watching the view screen, showing the Enterprise ship drawing closer. “You could say that.”

==

“Now!” Archer shouted over the com.

Malcolm began quickly to lock on the life signs of everyone on the ship. He worked up to the bridge, watching as each of the crew ran from the transporter thanking him for helping. He nodded at each until finally he had the last of them, the beam of light slowly transforming into three human bodies. “We have them captain,” Malcolm said.

He could hear the captain sigh. “I’ll be right down.”

One of them turned and looked at Malcolm with a smile on his face. “Thank you for this. My crew and I owe you a debt of gratitude.”

Malcolm smiled back at the man before offering him his hand. “Lieutenant Malcolm Reed. Pleased to be of service.”

The man took his hand and shook it. “Captain Tybris Urith, but you can simply call me by my first name.”

“Good to meet you, Tybris.”

“And you Mister Reed.”

Reed smiled just as he heard the quick footsteps of the Captain. He stopped out of breath right before them, with the Doctor right behind. Doctor Phlox looked at the man Malcolm had just been talking to. “Are there any wounded?”

Tybris nodded back at him. “A few. My pilot sustained a hand burn and ship’s doctor is unconscious. Shrith!”

One of the crewmembers, an Andorian, moved up in front of the Captain. “Sir?”

“Show the Doctor here who is wounded.”

“Aye sir.”

With the man’s good hand he guided Phlox towards the group of people together. Tybris turned his attention back to both Malcolm Reed and Captain Archer. “As I was telling your officer here, I am Tybris Urith.”

Archer grinned. “Captain Jonathan Archer, I see you’ve met my security officer.” Archer paused before speaking again. “I don’t recognize your species.”

“I’m new to this part of space. I live quite far from here. At warp five it would take nearly six years to get to my home world. While still young my family made the journey and so here I am.”

“I see you speak English….”

“I know many languages, Captain. I have met humans before, many times. They are a very kind race.”

Archer raised an eyebrow. “That’s very kind of you to say. Please, come… I’ll see about making arrangements for you and your crew.”

“I don’t know how to thank you, Captain.”

“Don’t worry Mr. Urith, it’s all in a days work.”

==One Day Later==

Trip wiped the sweat from his brow and onto his sleeve. They’d had to wait an hour for the ship to finally escape the ion storm, before the Enterprise could put it in tow for repairs. Captain Archer and Captain Urith seemed to get along well, and Archer really wanted to help as much as possible. Trip didn’t blame him though; everyone had been really nice and very appreciative compared to most. “Can ya hand me that?” he asked his assistant.

Captain Urith nodded before pointing to a circular tool with a red handle. “This one?”

“That’d be it Cap’n,” he said with a smile.

The Captain handed him the tool, “Please Commander Tucker, call me Tybris.”

Trip moved back under the engine. “Tybris it is, but if I get to call you that, then you gotta call me Trip.”

“I thought your name was Charles?”

“It is, Trip is just a nickname,” Trip explained.

Tybris smiled with amusement. “Are you that clumsy Mr. Tucker?”

Tucker laughed. “Charles is also my grandfather’s name, and my father’s name. So because there are three with the name we all chose a different version. My grandfather’s Charles, my father’s Charlie, and I’m called Trip, as in Triple.”

“Triple?”

“Yeah, cause I’m the third Charles Tucker, ya know, triple Charles Tuckers.”

“Ah, I see. Intriguing. In my culture we do not name our children after us. We give them their own identities.”

Trip chuckled. “Oh really.”

“Yes, we do not even name them until we are sure of their personalities.” Tybris paused upon seeing Trip’s raised eyebrows. “I meant no disrespect,” he added.

“None taken Tybris. I understand, I used to believe one day I’d have a little Charles Tucker of my own, but life seems to want to push me the other way these days.”

“Are you married?”

“No, but I do have someone. She’s an amazin’ woman too. Real smart, brilliant actually. I’m lucky to even know her.”

Tybris cocked his head. “What’s her name?”

Tucker moved out from under the engine, about to answer his question, just when one of his engineers walked into the room. Lieutenant Vince Harren smiled down at his commander. “Sir.”

“Yeah Vince?”

“It’s almost dinner time; care to join me and Tess in the mess hall? I know you’ve got to be hungry.”

Trip got to his feet and patted Lieutenant Harren on his back. “Care to join us Tybris?”

Tybris paused for a minute before nodding. “It would be an honor.”

==

Trip laughed as Lieutenant Harren told his joke. The man knew how to make people laugh; many on Enterprise considered it a gift. Trip himself wasn’t sure what he’d do without Harren to cheer him up. Trip could still remember the last time he used his skill to cheer him up, right along with everyone else in engineering. It had been right after the attack in Azati Prime. Everyone had been on edge, engineering was hardly habitable, and eighteen officers, their friends, were dead. Trip had been in a foul mood for days after that attack.

Every one of his engineers was dirty, tired and upset. And yet, somehow Harren helped them get through. He told jokes, teased his fellow crewmates, and even helped people get by with many interesting rumors that meant leaving the whole Trip and T’Pol rumor alone. For that, Trip would love the guy forever.

“That was very enjoyable, Mr. Harren.”

Harren grinned. “I’ve got more where that came from. Okay, okay… here’s one! Why did the blond nurse bring a red marker to work?”

Trip rolled his eyes; he’d heard this one before. It was such a sad joke, but he was sure Tybris would love it, something he was sure Harren knew as well. “Why?” Trip asked.

Harren glanced at both Tess Lawrence and then back at Tucker before looking at Tybris. “Because she had to draw blood!”

Both Tess and Trip let out a soft fake laugh as the alien Captain before him chuckled. “That was very good Mr. Harren. Are you sure you’re not a comedian?”

Harren smiled. “Well, everyone else on Enterprise calls me the ship’s class clown, so I guess that’s probably the closest I’ll get to being a comedian.”

Tybris nodded. “Every ship should have one. It makes things easier with someone like you making life a little better than it should be.”

Trip said nothing. His mind was somewhere else at the moment. As much as he enjoyed eating with Harren, there were times when not even he could stop the feelings Trip felt. And after all the dreams he was having, no joke could stop the loneliness he felt even while being around many of his friends, and this time there was nothing anyone could do to help him overcome this loneliness.

==

After nearly an hour spending time with Vince Harren, Tess Lawrence and Tybris Urith, Trip was grinning. Vince and Tess were always joking around, he’d had a great time at dinner, and Tybris seemed to have a pretty good time himself. Trip walked beside the cargo ship Captain, walking him back to his ship. “You know, you could stay on Enterprise. There’s still a lot of patchin’ up we need to do,” he offered.

Tybris shook his head. “I wouldn’t think of it, Mr. Tucker.”

“Trip.”

“Right, Trip. A Captain likes to be with his ship, even if it is a bag of rusted metal,” he said with a chuckle.

Trip laughed. “I know what ya mean. Sometimes I feel like that when it comes to Enterprise.”

“You’re a brilliant engineer. You obviously know what you’re doing.”

Trip stopped in front of the airlock separating Enterprise from the cargo ship, which was situated on the other side. He opened the hatch and walked inside before opening another hatch and finally reaching the cargo ship. They strolled down the corridors together for a few seconds before Tucker finally talked again. “Thanks.”

“You know I was an engineer myself.”

“So how’d you go from engineer to Captain of a cargo ship?”

“The captain of this ship died. I took over. I wasn’t ready, but I had the most command experience. Sometimes I still wish I could be working in engineering, patching up the ship while others make the decisions.” Trip could see the look on Tybris’ face. He was already in another place and time. He’d seen that look before many times. Thinking about the good old times was one of his favorite things to do.

“When I was younger I wanted nothin’ else but to be a starship Cap’n. I dreamed of it. It was all I could think about. I used to imagine me sittin’ in the Captain’s chair, facing all kinds of different alien creatures, pretty much bein’ the hero who takes care of his crew. Didn’t work out quite like I thought it would. As I grew older I realized what kind of responsibility I’d be takin’ on, and suddenly it didn’t seem so appealin’. I like bein’ the engineer. I get as much responsibility as I can take at the moment. Maybe one day I’ll be up for more, but that won’t be for a while.”

Finally they reached Tybris’ room. “Would you like to come in? I have something I think you’d enjoy seeing. One of my hobbies is to take pictures of the many ships we run into. I’ve collected quite a lot after so many years.”

Trip nodded. “Sure, but I only have a few minutes.”

Tybris gave him a small smile. “Don’t worry, it shouldn’t take too long.”

Trip followed Tybris inside and the door closed behind him. No one left the room for three hours.

==

Ensign Wilder walked into engineering quietly. It was pretty early in the morning and she knew most people were still half asleep, even if they were at their posts. That was until they’d see Commander Tucker. Then they were wide-awake as soon as the boss was around. Kayla smiled then looked over at Ensign Henry Cortell. “Hey Henry.”

“Morning Kayla, sleep well?”

“Like a log, you?”

“I slept okay.”

“Just okay?”

“Kayla, I just had the best sex of my life… how can you expect me to sleep any better than okay,” he said with a grin teasingly.

Kayla frowned and rolled her eyes. She’d heard through the rumor mill that he was dating Ensign Ramsey, not that she needed a rumor mill with Henry announcing it to the world. “You’re disgusting.”

“I know.”

Kayla shook her head, smiling before she walked towards one of the hatches on the other side of engineering. She opened the hatch and screamed in surprise at the sight before her. Her body grew cold upon seeing who was in the hatch. There on the floor was Lieutenant Harren. She’d always been a jumpy person, it was never something she was proud of. Once she got herself together she dropped to the floor and began to shake the man as hard as she could. “Lieutenant? Lieutenant?” It was then that she noticed he wasn’t breathing. “Oh my god! Henry!”

Kayla put her head down to the Lieutenant’s mouth and turned her head to listen for any breathing at all, just in case. There was nothing. “Kayla?”

Kayla looked up to see Henry staring in confusion. “Call Phlox! Tell him there’s a medical emergency in engineering! Now!”

Henry nodded once. “Right, I’m on it!”

Kayla then turned her attention back to the person lying in front of her. She tilted back his head gently in case the Lieutenant’s neck was broken then gave him two rescue breaths, watching to make sure his chest rose. Still nothing. She checked for a pulse and when there was none, she knew there was only one thing she could do until Phlox got to him. She needed to give him CPR. Kayla took in a deep breath and unzipped his uniform, pulling it off his shoulders, then pulled off the shirt underneath and his undershirt until his chest was bare before she positioned her hands on his chest at the correct positions. “Fifteen compressions,” she told herself then began while counting in her head.

“Phlox is coming down now, Kayla!” Henry said running over to stand next to her. “Is he okay?”

“What do you think? The guys on the floor unconscious!” Kayla stopped the compressions and gave the Lieutenant another rescue breath. She watched the chest rise and fall then continued compressions once again. “He’s not breathing and he doesn’t have a pulse!”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know, but if Phlox can’t revive him….”

Henry swallowed hard. “My god! You mean he’s dead?”



Chapter 3

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Seven people have made comments

I loved Reflection, and it looks like you have another hit here! I just hope that murder dosnt find out about Trip and T'pol!

Oh, wow! This is *excellent*! I agree with Mitchell, another hit!

Oooh... is he gonna kill off everyone Trip cares about one by one? Creeeeeeepy. I like it!

Very good and getting better! Uh oh, Poor Trip. I am really enjoying this and can't wait to see what happens next. I hope Phlox can revive Harren in time to bring him back. However I have to say that in part 1 T'Pol didn't sound like T'Pol and I missed that. Apart from that this is great! Ali D :~)

Now don't you dare have him off T'Pol.. ;)

Very well written but I'm not sure Trip would be feeling this guilt ridden about 3 deaths that were really not his fault. The Cogenitor took her own life. No one could forsee that teaching her to read would lead to such tragic cirmumstances. Sims death was a result of Archers decision after Trip was involved in a accident that was out of his control and the little girls death was also an accident. I could understand her father going after Trip and the other guy if they had deliberatly caused her death and gotton away with it but to go to seek revenge like this because his daughter died in an accident. Look forward to see where you are taking this.

You still are one of the best TT-fanfic authors!
Can't wait what happens next.