Living Among the Thorns - Ch 4

Living Among the Thorns

By Triplover

Rating: PG
Disclaimer: See Chapter One.
Summary: See Chapter One.

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

Chapter Four

Charles Tucker awoke peacefully, not at all like before. He felt somehow better, and his dream was certainly wonderful... although he'd never tell a soul what he dreamed about... mainly because he dreamed about T'Pol, and he certainly wasn't gonna tell her about it. He looked over at T’Pol; she had her head resting on his arm, her eyes watching him. He gave her a kind smile. "Mornin,' honey bunch." he joked. She paused, keeping her eyes fixed on him.

"Good morning." she said eventually. She didn't even blink.... He made the first move, taking his other arm, and moving it from his side, and placed his hand into hers. She held it tight.

"We have a big day today... we should start gettin' ready." .

Finally she blinked. "Of course." she replied, almost a whisper, then got up out of the bed. He did the same and they grabbed their clothes and got ready to leave the hotel.

**********

"And this is where you'll be living." Captain Torlic said, as the door to their quarters opened. It was a big room, better than the one on Enterprise... that was for sure. Trip felt a smile appear on his lips.

"It's nice and big." Trip mumbled. The captain looked at him and nodded.

"Oh yes, we give only the best rooms to families. I know it's just you two but... here, couples tend to have families... instead of moving things all around, we just give couples family rooms just in case. Do you like it?" The captain asked. Trip and T'Pol walked into the room, it was nice. The walls were a light brown color, like wood, and there was a nice big viewport. And of course, only one bed.

"It's great! What do you think... Orina?" He asked, for a second he almost said T'Pol... he was glad he'd caught himself. She looked at him, then walked over to the window.

"It is... nice."

He smiled, looking over at the captain and rolling his eyes. "That means it's great in Orina language." The captain chuckled.

"Yes, I have a wife that is similar! Took me years to get her to tell me that she loved me! Always so difficult. My son is just like her too!" Trip was taken aback instantly. Son?

"You have a child?" T'Pol asked before he could. The captain nodded.

"He's my only son. Not very expressive though... he keeps a lot to himself... you'll see him around engineering a lot. He wants to be an engineer one day... our old chief engineer... my brother would teach him things." Torlic explained.

Trip nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss." He almost whispered, not meaning it at all.

Torlic smiled kindly. "Thank you. Anyway, don't worry about my son, Koelin. He has always been able to take care of himself... he's quite smart. He'll make an excellent engineer one day."

Trip felt sick to his stomach. These people... they lived... in peace. They did their jobs and raised families... just like humans. They reminded him of what he lost, of what they took from him... and yet... it wasn't *their* fault... was it? Could this kind man really be involved with the weapon to kill millions--no, billions?

"I'm sure he will. How old is he?" Trip found himself asking.

Torlic smiled, proudly. "Only eleven! But he's smarter than any normal eleven year old!"

Trip found himself smiling, what made things worse was the fact that Torlic reminded Trip of his own father. And that made him want to throw up.

"Well, I better let you get situated.” Torlic sighed. “We'll be leaving the planet in about a half an hour... so you should be in engineering by then. I'll have one of the officers help you with your duties... Chief Engineer Kel'tara." Torlic said to Trip.

"Call me Tobin... all my friends call me Tobin." Trip said back, and Torlic's smile grew even more.

"Tobin it is then." Then turned to T'Pol. "And I will also make sure one of my engineers helps you also, Engineer Kel'tara." He said bowing his head in respect then left the two alone. Trip moved to the bed, feeling his legs go weak.

"Oooohhhh... I think I'm gonna puke." He mumbled, shaking his head. "I can't take much more of this! I look like a Xindi, I'm living with other Xindi and worst of all... they've all got families and Torlic reminds me of my father... someone just kill me and get it over with."

T'Pol walked over to his side, holding him as she had done when he had that dream. "It will all be well, Commander. You must calm yourself. Perhaps I can teach you some Vulcan meditation techniques... they may help."

He looked up at her. "I guess that would be fine... ok... I could use a little Vulcan control right about now before I throw *myself* out the nearest airlock!"

***********

Jonathan Archer looked out the window, worrying. He worried about Trip, he hoped he would be fine. He worried about T'Pol, he certainly didn't want to lose her. But most of all, he worried about their mission... what if they failed... what if they couldn't get the information... or worse... what if they were found out? Archer grimaced, he couldn't think like that. He had to be positive. He had to show the crew that he was positive. Everything would be all right... it had to be all right. He just had to trust that the two could get the job done without getting themselves killed.

***********

"Orina, we’re having problems with their sensors on the bridge. Go see what you can do." Trip said to T'Pol, being careful to watch his speech for 'country talk' as his father would call it.

"Of course." She nodded and took the padd from his hand, looking at it carefully as left engineering for the bridge. It was their first real day on the job; they had left the planet yesterday and were now on their way to meet some ship to drop off the cargo. He was beginning to get the feeling that none of them knew about what the 'important cargo' really was. Some said it was probably food but none could be sure. No one was allowed near it per the captain's orders. He could tell Torlic knew something that he wasn't telling, but Trip was sure he'd find out what it was. It was strange working on a cargo ship. Too bad Travis isn't here, he'd probably be better qualified with all his knowledge of cargo vessels. Trip thought to himself.

What was weird, though, was how comfortable it was. Everything ran smoothly yet without a proper command structure it made some things difficult. And what made things worse was how nice and friendly all 'his people' were. Most thought he was amazing and wished to learn more about how he knew so much. They traveled fast, warp four was the speed at the moment. They didn't really use their top speed. He had learned a great deal about the place, though. The ship was called "Redeemer", an interesting name, considering. He had a lot of people working under him in engineering. Ten people worked in engineering and then there were twenty others that maintained other functions such as the bridge and any of their shuttle pods.

But what he found most interesting was how well they worked together. They all had smiles on their faces, yet some still seemed saddened by the loss they had, had when they had the explosion that killed their two top engineers. But 'his people' here were working as hard as his people on Enterprise. He missed Enterprise, but found comfort with T'Pol. It was funny how they got along so well. They really were beginning to act like a couple. Every morning so far they'd wake up, he'd fix her some breakfast, then they'd take turns in the shower, get dressed and get to work. Then come home after a long day and after another lesson on how to learn to deal with living with killers. But he was still feeling sick, it had only been a day... he'd gone through the whole thing but he had been pretty sick that night. He literally threw up twice... he felt kind of bad that T'Pol had seen him puke, but she stood by him as if they really were married. He appreciated that, more than she knew.

Today was a good day, for the most part. He had, had an interesting conversation with the captain and Torlic had invited him and T'Pol over for dinner with his family. Trip was actually looking forward to it... he was sure he could get something out of the captain if they became close friends. Meanwhile T'Pol went around, asking others what was going on. Everything was working out so far... so far. But who knew what could go wrong? Trip smiled as one of 'his engineers' walked by. He had a feeling tonight he would be throwing up his dinner. It sickened him to be so nice to people who killed his sister and were trying to kill his planet, his world... Earth.

***********

Trip Tucker walked slowly into his quarters, sore and tired. He sat on the bed, then lay down. "Commander, we can not rest now... you must get ready for dinner tonight with the captain." T'Pol reminded him as she walked in after him. He ignored her, closing his eyes when he felt her hand move into his left hand and pull him up. He knew she had the strength to do it, but he still felt surprised by the delicate way she pulled him up without another thought. He frowned groaning.

"I can't go! I'm feelin' sick. I think I'm gonna puke again tonight too!" He mumbled walking into the bathroom. He felt his knees go weak and he fell to the floor.

"Commander!" T'Pol ran over to him, turning him on his back. He groaned.

T'Pol looked at him, worry clearly shown on her face. He was pale, all color was completely gone and she could see his eyes flutter. The meditation wasn't helping as much as she would like, and he was still getting sick after being around the Xindi for so long. Last night things were the same. He'd vomited on and off for an hour and got little rest because of a pain in his stomach. She knew it was all mental, but there was little she could do. She was beginning to think it would be better if the entire mission had never happened as itt was hurting Commander Tucker too much.

He looked up at her, sweat falling down his face. "I can't do it... I can't. I can't spend another second with people that killed my sister and seven million others, I just can't do it." He told her. She moved him into a sitting position, allowing his head to fall on her shoulder.

"Everything will be all right, just hold on. Soon we'll have the information we need and then we will return to Enterprise." She assured him. She could see the tears welling in his eyes, but he blinked them back and moved his head off of her shoulder and sighed. He was trying so hard to get through it all... she could not help but admire his efforts toward composing himself,; however, she knew those efforts would not help him in the long run. He'd have to talk to someone about what he was going through, and soon. He was too scared to sleep, afraid that he might have the dream, and she suspected that not even the neuropressure could help now. He could be as tired as he wanted, but he wasn’t sleeping. He wouldn't allow it. There was nothing she could do—and to her surprise, she found that feeling of being useless hard to deal with, and much harder to suppress.

"Oooohhh, go... I need to throw up!" he said. She stood, and he pushed her just before the door closed and she could hear the sounds of him regurgitating. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the noise. Her control was melting as if it were covered in lava. She could not take much more.

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

Laughing was heard through out the entire room, as if nothing had ever happened to Commander Tucker. He and T'Pol had decided to go to see the captain, even though he felt sick. He chose not to eat much, and only allowed himself wine to calm his nerves. Captain Torlic was telling them a story about himself and his brother. It was funny, even though Trip didn't feel much like laughing. Even T'Pol put on a smile, that he knew all too well was fake and was only a mimic of his smile… after all, her people didn’t suppress emotions. He couldn't help but smile at her efforts to fool the Xindi captain and his delightful family. Torlic had a beautiful wife named Anora Torlic and then there was his son Koelin. Koelin was an interesting little boy. He seemed to enjoy talking with the four grown-ups while he held in his hand school work that he'd just finished and was now looking over for any mistakes. Trip wondered how such a boy could be so focused and hold such an importance to learning. He'd never met anyone else like him. He couldn't help but like the boy, who just seemed mesmerized with engineering. "So you wanna be an engineer I'm told." Trip went on.

The boy nodded. "Sure do, I'm gonna build the fastest engine ever built and explore the galaxy!"

"The entire galaxy?" Trip asked him. The boy, Koelin nodded. Koelin's father laughed.

"My boy, you have quite a goal set before you! Dream about your engine; it's time for bed." He finally said, and nodded at Anora. Anora took Koelin's hand and the two left for his room. Trip turned to Torlic.

"Quite an amazing young man you have there." He said, carefully choosing his words and then changing them to sound more like the Xindi would sound.

"Yes, he is certainly that. I'm not exactly sure what I did to deserve him." Torlic replied
Me neither! The boy was such a great kid... Trip felt bad for him... he wasn't like the other Xindi, he wasn't a cold-hearted murderer. Torlic then sighed and looked over at T'Pol and Trip just as his wife walked back out of their son's room and sat with Torlic on the love seat. "So, how did you two get together anyway? I bet it is an interesting story!"

Trip gulped. Well, it will certainly be interesting, just as soon as I come up with it! "Well, uh... Orina's father was an engineer... he came to our cargo ship... she was just a year younger than me. I was working towards being an engineer myself, she had similar interests, and spent a lot of time in engineering just as I did."

Torlic nodded. "Oh I see, so you two hit it off right away!"

Trip felt a smile appear. He had an idea. "Well, not really. When she first met me well, she found me... irrational... stubborn... pigheaded, the list goes on. Not to mention at the time I was in another relationship... and I think she was just a little jealous." Trip went on. T'Pol immediately jumped into the conversation to defend herself.

"I was not jealous. Tobin was all of those things and more. Not to mention he didn't know anything about common courtesy. I did not find myself attracted to him at all." She defended. Torlic laughed.

Trip rolled his eyes, looking at T'Pol. "Oh come on! That's not true, I was always nice to you!" Trip looked back at Torlic grinning. "I used to tease her like crazy. You should have seen her. I always did know what buttons to press." Now that was certainly true….

"Now that was certainly true." Muttered T'Pol as if she were reading his mind. He rolled his eyes again chuckling.

Torlic laughed with him. "The same thing happened with Anora, she couldn't stand me!" Torlic said. "So how did you two get together?"

Trip shrugged. "I broke up with my girlfriend. She wasn't living on the cargo vessel anymore, and well, those long distance relationships never work out."

"I see, so how exactly did you two find out you had feelings for each other?" Anora asked. Trip looked at T'Pol then back at the two people before him.

"Uh well, we uh... we uh.... T'Pol, you tell this story better than I... why don't you tell it sweetie." he said putting a hand on her leg. She glanced at the hand, he gave her a wink. He was enjoying this a little too much.

"You tell it better... I have never been good at telling stories." T'Pol shot back. Trip was about ready to panic.

"Well somebody tell it! I'm curious." Torlic jumped in. Trip smiled then thought fast.

"It's a long story." He was willing to try anything at that moment, he didn’t really know what he would say.

"We have the time." Torlic said, he was determined.... he'd have to come up with a story.

"I guess I could tell the short version. Uh well... you see... we weren't really the best of friends even after I broke up with my girlfriend. But we would always be forced to work with each other, and I guess we got used to each other. Then one day I lost a close friend to death... I didn't really have anyone to turn to for help to get over the loss. My best friend on the ship was having trouble himself, so I was kinda alone. But Orina helped me through it... she did a lot to help me. She'd keep me company, eat lunch and dinner and sometimes breakfast with me. And we got to know each other well. Then one day I realized that I couldn't get her outta my mind. We got really close... and finally I just mustered up all the courage I had and told her how I felt." That part was more than true... he was using a lot in his life to tell the story, it made the story sound more realistic that way. Which also made things weird since he truly did have feelings for T'Pol... only in his case, he didn't have enough courage to tell her.

"Oh, I see... I'm so sorry for your loss." Torlic said. Trip thought of his sister, then felt a knot in his stomach appear. He was feeling sick again. Trip closed his eyes for a second, then realized his smile had disappeared, he immediately retrieved it.

"Yeah... thanks... it was a long time ago though. But, anyway... I really appreciated what she did for me, she did a lot for me and I never forgot it. I didn't know when I told her how she felt about me that she liked me though... that is... until she planted a wet one on me. That sorta gave me a hint." He said jokingly, moving his hand that was lying on her leg to show warmth. He soon stopped it though when he felt T'Pol moved her hand over his and his felt his stomach loosen up a bit. "I loved her from that moment on... and now today, I love her still." He whispered and looked at her, they moved closer to each other and he kissed her, then looked back at Torlic and Anora who both smiled warmly.

T'Pol looked down, clearing her throat. The story was more familiar than she would have liked. And that last part... thinking of her all the time... making sure she knew... loving her... it reminded her of Sim. And then the kiss... tell him just how she felt. It was too close for comfort. She felt her heart sink at the memory, but she quickly got rid of it and looked at Torlic and Anora. She was beginning to feel uncomfortable… why had they had to kiss like that just a second ago? Was that little kiss really necessary to show that they were married? T’Pol felt a sudden burst of worry as she realized that the kiss was a kiss—not between Orina and Tobin… but between Trip and T’Pol. It was strange to pose as married in front of people, and yet..she… enjoyed(?!) it. And the little kiss they had before Torlic and Anora was something she would rather keep to herself. She wouldn't put that in her log.

Anora got up, taking their dishes. "I should get these dishes cleaned."

T'Pol stood. "I will assist you," she offered, and they walked away, leaving the two men alone.

Trip sighed. "So, you know... the crew's been talking all about our... cargo. Some people think it's a weapon... or food... I don't know which I think it is yet... but I'm leaning toward weapon." Trip said jokingly, it was time to find out what was going on.

Torlic laughed.

"I would never allow weapons on this ship Tobin. I have my family here, I'd never intentionally harm them by bring weapons to someone. Besides... I've never been a fan of anyone who is willing to hurt others... it doesn't really make any sense to me."

Could he be lying? Just trying to look like he'd never do something like that? Torlic could just be trying to steer him in the wrong direction. Trip had to keep his eyes open.

"Yeah... I guess your right... or you could just be trying to make me think that so you can keep it all secret." Trip teased.

Torlic laughed again.

"I suppose so! All right! You got me! I'm bent on destroying other worlds!" He joked back... or was he joking? Torlic shook his head. "I tell you... I wondered the same thing when I got the cargo. They gave me bins of stuff, but they would only let me scan it, I couldn't open it. It holds some sort of liquid, I don't know what it is exactly... but my friend assured me it was nothing."

"So you just believe him, just like that?" Trip asked, finding that quite odd.

Torlic looked at him curiously. "I've known the man for years, he's never lied to me once. He never would do that to me. I've worked with him before, but lately a lot, though. I'm not sure what's going on, but he says it's important."

"What's so important about the liquid?" He asked prodding to see what else Torlic knew.

He shrugged. "Who knows! But frankly, I don't care... as long as it's not hurting anyone, it's fine with me!"

Trip frowned. What if Torlic was telling the truth? What if his friend was just using him? But if that were true... then... how could he be so trusting? Even with a friend... it seemed strange. He had a child and a wife to take care of... wouldn't he be careful to make sure that he didn't put them in danger? Trip sighed. He'd just have to find out for himself what it was. One way or another, he had to know what they were carrying.

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One person has made comments

Funny how easy it was for Trip and T'Pol to act like a married couple. The parallels in the story of how Orina and Tobin met were amusing. Wonder where T'Pol learned to smile like that. Seems to me she'd have some difficulty with it. Then again, maybe more happened in those instances were her inhibitions were not as strong that us viewers were aware of.

Nice addition, I'm begging you to update soon!