Who Says a Vulcan Needs a Bodyguard?, by myst123

Who Says a Vulcan Needs a Bodyguard?

by myst123

Rating: No more than PG-13, I’m sure, but who knows!
Genre: Romance, Action/Adventure (I hope)

Disclaimer: Paramount owns it all. ShouldKnowBetter is the inspiration for Soval and Amanda – may I make this story worthy! :D

AN: I’m taking the 19th century approach to serial stories – I’ll add to the story as I go along, but it will take on a life of its own. I don’t know where this story is going, and I’m just going to see if it goes anywhere. If it stalls and burns out, I’ll delete it. But I do want to see if I can figure out how Amanda and Soval fell in love in *our* universe and got together.

~~~~~

Part One

Commander Tucker was not happy. He was still stunned that the kidnapping of Ambassador Soval happened on his watch. When would he stop trusting aliens? Why on earth had he assumed Shran would adhere to any human rules of honor in times of conflict? Were the rules humans engaged in conflict over that unique? Where were they spelled out? Trip wanted to sit down with Archer the second this crisis was over and seriously talk about protocol for protecting potentially vulnerable guests.

In the meantime, he assigned Malcolm to find a plan to protect Soval from future assaults. Trip hated closing the stable door after the fact, but if Shran tried something again he wanted to make sure Enterprise wouldn’t be caught flatfooted.

Malcolm met with his crew and the MACOs. Because MACOs had more experience with protection, he directed them to assign a bodyguard for Soval.

And that is how Ambassador Soval and Amanda Cole met.

~~~~~

“A bodyguard? Why me?” Amanda Cole demanded of Malcolm Reed.

“Because you are the fastest on the draw,” Reed responded. “That transporter beam which locked onto Ambassador Soval took seconds to shoot him over to the Andorian ship. He didn’t have a chance. We need to think of how to use the shields to keep our visitors safe. In the meantime, if he gets transported again, you have to intervene somehow.”

“I’m not a babysitter, and I'm not a martyr. I can’t sit around waiting to see if someone is going to be interested in whisking him away, and I'm supposed to get myself killed if he gets transported by the Andorians? There are more important things than the Vulcan ambassador, surely?”

Malcolm raised his brows at Cole. “Are you serious? Do you realize that the death of Ambassador Soval meant the end of any hope of an alliance between humans, Vulcans, and Andorians? If he hadn’t lived, then no Vulcan would have ever trust any Andorian. And Soval is a Vulcan who believes in peaceful resolution to differences. In other words, he is open game for anyone wishing to disrupt and destroy the overtures species of our quadrant are making towards each other because he refuses to take precautionary measures to protect himself.”

“What is he, a matchmaker with a death wish?”

Malcolm laughed. “No, but no match will be made if someone as vital to the process as Soval can’t be protected.”

“For the love of god, he couldn’t carry a little disrupter to make sure no one transports him against his will?”

“Of course he could, but Commander Tucker is concerned Soval was not only transported off Enterprise without any of us realizing it, but he was tortured and injured. We have to protect our allies, and if it means *babysitting,* then it means babysitting. In other words it means taking care of our allies and making sure they are safe. Got it?”

“Got it, sir.”

~~~~~

Cole had been a MACO for about five years. She had worked hard to prove herself to her superiors and had landed a job on Enterprise when it went into the expanse to track down the Xindi. During that time she had met and fallen in love with Commander Tucker, a very kind and gentle man, one with a sharp mind and a lot of wit, but he hadn’t returned her feelings. She discovered too late he had eyes only for a certain Vulcan sub-commander. Cole was not convinced that Sub-commander T’Pol deserved Commander Tucker, but she was also not one to waste her time on lost causes. Or so she thought.

Besides falling in love with an officer on Enterprise and making life as awkward as possible for herself, Corporal Cole also learned to deal with opponents with much stronger weapons and more sophisticated tactics. She lamented that the MACOs, hard as they tried, were bound by the limited access to violent scenarios available on earth. She realize the irony of it all, that humans had sought for so long to live at peace with each other, and, upon accomplishing that goal and launching into space, discovered that they needed to have the defensive tactics against cunning and deceptive opponents. Humans needed to become more savvy. But, apparently, so did Vulcans. And she was looking forward to feeling superior to a Vulcan who managed to get kidnapped by one of his oldest enemies.

~~~~~

Ambassador Soval groaned and opened his eyes. A bright light projected from above. He felt his second eyelid slide into place, and the light source was cut in half.

“You’re awake!” an overly cheerful voice chirped near his ear. Soval knew humans could be annoyingly positive, but this was even beyond human buoyancy. Shifting his eyes to the right, he saw a Denobulan smiling at him. Oh, no. A smile. Wouldn’t you know. Apparently Soval had been saved only to be subjected to further torture by the humans.

“What has occurred?” Soval felt his throat close up, and the words were croaked out.

“You were interrogated by the Andorians, and then returned to us. Fortunately, you weren’t harmed permanently. Commander Shran was just here to check on your status, and he was pleased to know you are recovering. Although Commander Tucker was a bit perplexed by the Andorians actions, Commander Shran assured Trip that you would understand and all would be well.”

Soval closed his eyes.

“Was Commander Shran mistaken?” the Denobulan doctor inquired.

Soval was too weary to respond.

“My name is Amanda Cole. I’m a MACO and have been assigned to make sure you are safe while on board Enterprise. How do you do?”

Soval opened his eyes. He saw a strong, elegant hand extended towards him. He lifted his own hand, as he had learned to do after many decades on earth, and shook the hand offered. He raised his eyes and encountered the dark brown eyes of Corporal Amanda Cole, MACO, and now guardian of one Vulcan ambassador. Great, another human.

TBC

Continue to Part 2

Two folks have made comments

Good start! It takes a character as strong as Amanda to deal with a character as strong as Soval. And neither liking to be thrown together at first gives lots of room for growth. I can't wait to read more.

Myst, you've made my day as usual. I love your stories and your insights into Vulcan culture. I'll be nipping back frequently looking for more. And may I say that I prefer you to that other well known serialiser Dickens? You're far more entertaining, however heretical it might be to say so.