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"Advance Directive" by A. Rhea King
Rating: PG CHAPTER 2 Trip watched tadpole looking creatures swim around the large tanks as he followed Phlox and Plough nurse Nadez. They were aliens that were short in height, but not width. They looked like they were folds of skin that had been poured into clothes and were overflowing the boundaries of the fabric. When they walked, they waddled like penguins, using their arms to balance their bulk. They had large, sagging jowls that lifted into ear-to-ear smiles, floppy ears and warm, kind, brown eyes, reminding Trip of Blood Hounds. There was no visual way to discern genders. He turned to Malcolm. “Malcolm, why don’t we--” “Shh!” Malcolm said. Trip grinned, looking away. Before Nadez had begun talking about these tadpoles, Malcolm was whining about being bored. But now Trip couldn’t tear him away. Phlox stopped at a tank, watching the tadpoles. “So your kind procreates with these clones?” Malcolm asked, motioning to the tank. “That is correct,” Nadez answered. “And they burrow into the... The...” Nadez smiled, waiting patiently. When it was clear Malcolm didn’t remember the term, she quietly told him, “Parental host.” “Yes. They burrow at the base of the neck and attach to the host’s brain? Amalgamation you called it? Phlox and Trip exchanged a surprised look. It wasn’t like Malcolm to remember so much about something that didn’t blow up. “Correct.” Malcolm looked at the tank. “Doesn’t that hurt?” “Yes. The parent is treated with pain medication.” “If you’ve perfected cloning, why go through all of that?” “We’ve found that each time a Plough was cloned, the fledgling lost abilities or was not mentally sound. This process produces fledgling with no memories, and the amalgamation helps educate them.” Malcolm started to ask another question when an alarm went off. Nadez turned, looking at a wall. Phlox, Malcolm, and Trip looked too, but they didn’t know to look for. “This way,” Nadez said. “Please hurry.” She led them through an open doorway. A thick metal door was slowly closing and Plouph waddled past them into the room. Inside the room handholds were bolted into the ceiling. Some of the Plouph held onto the handholds, but most squatted on the floor. “Hold onto the handholds with both hands,” she said, stepping back against the wall of the room and gripping a handhold with both hands. The three obeyed, watching the door start to close. “What’s happening?” Trip asked Nadez. “There’s about to be a ground quake,” Nadez answered. “When?” Trip asked. “In about five minutes.” “How do you know that?” “Our warning system can detect a ground quake up to five minutes in advance. Unfortunately it doesn’t detect aftershocks quite as well.” “Seismologists on earth would really like to take a look at that warning system,” Trip said, crossing his arms across his chest. “Could I talk to someone about it? Get the specs?” “I’ll arrange it.” The room began shaking, making him grab a handhold. The quake ended, but several minutes passed before the door started opening. Nadez led them back into the tank room, stopping at a terminal. She tapped the controls and then turned to Trip. “If you will go up those stairs,” she pointed to a nearby staircase, “and follow the walkway around, there will be a security guard waiting for you. He will take you to meet with seismologists.” “Thanks. You coming, Malcolm?” “I’ll stay with Phlox.” Trip walked to the stairs and trotted up them to the walkway above. Plouph passed him, returning to their workstations along the walkway. It crossed over six tanks, four of which were full of amniotic fluid and Plouph fledglings. Trip looked at the tanks below him, slowing to a stop. Schools of fledgling swam in mesmerizing, synchronized patterns like schools of fish. “Commander,” Malcolm called. Trip looked up. Malcolm walked up to side of the tank Trip stood over. “Where shall I meet you for supper?” Malcolm asked. Trip stepped up to the rail. “I thought you were interested in these tadpoles, Malcolm. Why the change of heart?” “I was being courteous, unlike you.” A smug smile settled on his lips. Trip grinned. “Well, if you get bored again, she did ask Phlox if anyone on board would be willing to submit to a full body exam. Just think, a free enema.” Malcolm shook his head. “Just for that, I’m going on shore leave alone!” Trip laughed, leaning forward on the walkway handrail. “And get in trouble--” The railing broke from the support braces under Trip’s full weight. He tried to pull back but he’d already lost his balance, sending him falling headfirst toward the tank. He saw the second bar fly past and managed to grab it with one hand. The bar groaned under his weight and sagged, dipping Trip’s toes into the fluid. The top bar crashed on top of the tanks with a loud clang, bounced and fell off the tanks. It knocked over terminals in the work area between the tanks, setting off a chain reaction of sparks and crashing. The bar he held kept turning and he quickly realized it was unscrewing. He put a hand on both sides and the rolling stopped. He tried to pull himself up and the bar started rolling again, threatening to dump him in the tank. Trip looked up when a pair of hands grabbed his wrist, finding a Plouph crouched on the walkway. Trip turned his hands, latching onto the folds of skin over the Plouph’s wrists. The quake alarm went off again. The Plouph and Trip looked wide-eyed at each other. “PULL!” Trip screamed. The Plough pulled back, straining to drag Trip back onto the walkway. Trip tried to get a foot on the bracing bar that ran underneath the walkway, but the amniotic fluid from his shoes quickly slicked it. The lab began shaking and the Plouph lost his balance, falling back onto the walkway and losing his grip on Trip’s wrists. Trip flailed wildly before plunging into the amniotic fluid. For a few seconds all he could see were thousands of fledglings swimming in little schools and he couldn’t tell which way was up or down. Then he spotted the walkway and swam toward it. Breaking the surface, he swam toward a ladder on the side of the tank. He reached a hand out for a rung. A deep pain stabbed into Trip’s neck making him shriek. He grabbed at the pain, sinking into the fluid. He was able to inhale half a breath before slipping under the surface. Pain coursed down his spine and stabbed needles into his skull. His lungs began to burn as the oxygen in them depleted. Something brushed his head and he opened his eyes. A human hand was reaching for him. Trip grabbed it, feeling it close around his wrist. The pain suddenly flared and he let go to grab at the spot. The hand pulled him above the surface as he inhaled a breath. “Trip,” he heard Malcolm say. Trip couldn’t remember how to speak. “He’s been hurt! I need some help!” he heard Malcolm call out. Pain surged down his spine and deep into his bones. Burning white light blinded him and faded into a memory. # Trip lay on the floor, facing his best friend Julie Nolan. Her long black hair was spread around them, lying across Trip’s arms like threads of silk. Only moments before she had been screaming and violent, but the emotional furry had fizzled. Now she lay exhausted and weak next to him. In the light of the bare bulb overhead, her Navajo heritage showed in her high cheekbones and smooth dark skin. She hugged a worn, patched teddy bear to her chest, staring blankly at Trip’s chest. The bare room they laid in was decorated in bright pastels. A border of puffy, happy alphabet characters smiled down at them from the top of the four walls. The only furniture was a toy box overflowing with stuffed toys. Trip reached out, stroking back Julie’s hair. “Julie bean,” Trip whispered, “you scared the neighbors. They called the police, but I told them we could work this out if they just gave us an hour. So talk to me, Jules. Please talk to me.” “Mike said he can’t live with me anymore. I remind him too much of Brittany every time I smile or laugh. He couldn’t stand it anymore. When I came home, this was all that was left. He left me!” Julie looked into Trip’s eyes. “When she died, he swore he wouldn’t leave me, Trip. He promised not to leave me.” Trip nodded. “I remember.” “How can everything go to hell in six months? I’ve lost my baby, my husband, I’m probably kicked out of Starfleet, and you’re leaving. I’ve lost everything!” Trip wanted to console her, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t promise to stay, because his dreams and orders put him on Enterprise in two days. He smiled, tugging on the teddy bear’s ear. “You haven’t lost everything. You still have Ted.” Julie smiled loving at the teddy bear. “Yeah. Ted’s still here.” “Stay with my parents. Just until you’ve completed your psych evals and the review is over.” She looked into his eyes. “I don’t want to go to Florida.” “Julie, it was just a dream. There’s not gonna be a beam of light come down from the sky and kill everyone. That only happens in those old, bad, science fiction movies.” “Everything else that happened in my vision quest has happened.” Trip moved his head closer, stopping nose to nose with her. “And you saw you with two children: a boy and a girl. You were married to a man that has black hair, not brown. And you were an Admiral at Starfleet. If everything you saw in your vision quest is going to happen, then you have something to look forward to, Jules. Stay with my parents until this is past, because... I can’t leave you here. The police won’t let me, Jules. Please?” Julie smiled, nodding. “Okay, Lucky. I’ll go. But... I want to lay here for a while. I want to stay where Brittany was happy for a little while longer.” Trip took her hand in his. “Okay. Let’s close our eyes and go to the park to play with the munchkin.” # Archer and T’Pol ran through double doors, spotting Malcolm down the hall. “What is his condition?” T’Pol demanded. “Almost an hour ago I was told he was stable, but I don’t know what that means. They aren’t telling me anything and I haven’t seen Phlox since he rushed off with the other Plouph.” “How bad was he hurt when they took him?” “Very bad. He had no color and was screaming in pain. I thought it was from the fluid. Phlox said it wasn’t, but--” “It is not the fluid, Lieutenant,” Phlox said. The three turned, finding Phlox and Nadez standing in the hall. Nadez walked to a door down the hall and held it open. Phlox motioned to it. The five filed into an empty waiting room. “Trip fell into a tank that had fledgling Plouph in it. You have to understand that fledglings have two basic instincts: find food and find a parental host. One mistook Commander Tucker as a parental host and has begun amalgamation.” “Dear God!” Malcolm muttered. Archer glanced at him. He was sitting in a chair, his arms wrapped tight around his abdomen. Archer looked back at Phlox. “What is an amalgamation?” Archer asked. “A fledgling attaches to the brain and learns from their host’s memories.” “Is this going to cause brain damage?” “We don’t believe so.” “You don’t believe so!? Doctor--” “The amalgamation is a painful process, but we are providing him with medication to alleviate that.” “No. It has to be removed.” “Captain, I assure you that we are keeping a very close eye on the process until we know for sure what is happening.” “If it comes down to his life and that fledgling, you will--” “I will do as Trip has requested, Captain. Now, Commander Tucker has been moved to an amalgamation pod and he needs people he is close to. He’s scared and confused. By now most Plouph aren’t coherent but he does appears to be still. That could change at any moment. Who would like to accompany Nadez to the amalgamation pod?” Archer looked down at Malcolm. He was in a state of shock. T’Pol stood at a window with her back to them. “T’Pol, go with Nadez.” T’Pol obeyed. Archer turned back to Phlox. “What did you mean you’ll ‘do as Trip has requested,’ Phlox?” “That isn’t important at this time, Captain. There are several doctors working on this case and I have to go assist them. Nadez will come back later to see if you or Malcolm would like to visit him.” Phlox left the room. Archer wanted to say more, but it was clear that Phlox wasn’t about to offer any more information. Archer sat down in a chair next to Malcolm, staring at the gardens outside. # Nadez led T’Pol through clear doors into a huge room filled with dome structures. “Each dome is sound proof for the benefit of the other parents, and each has it’s own climate controls to make the parents comfortable,” Nadez told T’Pol. The domes were constructed of a frosted material and medical technicians were constantly coming and going from them. T’Pol’s hearing picked up dozens of Plouph talking and crying out names. Nadez stopped in front of a dome and turned to T’Pol. “Are you prepared to help him through the amalgamation?” T’Pol nodded once and they entered. One Plouph technician was monitoring readouts from various equipment, another was patting Trip’s forehead with a wet washcloth. He had been placed in a comfortable looking reclining chair in the center of the dome with padded fabric restraints holding his arms and legs. They had changed him into white pajamas and attached devices on his temple and neck. T’Pol moved a chair next to Trip’s and picked up his hand. He opened his eyes, staring at her face. “They aren’t responsible, are they?” Trip whispered. “No. During the earthquake you fell into a fledgling tank and one mistook you for a Plouph host.” Trip whimpered, tightening his grip on her hand. T’Pol stroked his hair. He leaned his head against her hand, closing his eyes. He suddenly screamed, blinded by white-hot light. Trip smiled, whispering, “I remember when you--” # Trip couldn’t have been more relaxed. It was amazing how T’Pol could find every aching, knotted muscle and work them into relaxation with such little pressure. “Between all this training and extra shifts in engineering, I’ve been looking forward to this all day,” Trip told her. “Sit up,” T’Pol commanded. She waited for him to rise and began working on the pressure points on his neck and shoulders. Trip expected her to comment, but she remained silent. “You aren’t sayin’ much tonight.” She didn’t reply. “Don’t tell me you’re still upset about me and Amanda.” “I’m not upset.” “Sure sounds like it.” “You’re mistaken.” Trip didn’t believe that for a second. “Why would a few neuro pressure sessions between you and me be such a big deal?” he jabbed. She sighed lightly and a finger pushed down a little too hard. “Unless...” Trip began. She held his gaze, her fingers freezing on his skin. It was a light touch, nothing abnormal about it, but tonight it made his stomach tense and sent a tingling into his groin. He chose to ignore the sensations, passing them off that she was applying pressure to a particularly sensitive nerve. “Unless what?” she asked. “Unless... You’re... A little jealous.” “I don’t experience jealousy.” “You’re doing a pretty fair imitation of it.” “I am not, in any way, jealous of you and Corporal Cole.” “You... You’re voice is tensing up. It’s a dead give away.” “I didn’t know you were an expert in vocal inflections.” “I don’t need to be an expert to read you,” Trip retorted. He sighed, rolling his tongue over his bottom lip. It was a subconscious habit, but he noticed that T’Pol watched his tongue as it rolled. He realized he might have hit close to home, maybe even dead on. “Come on. Admit it. You’re a little jealous,” Trip pressed. “You’re implying I’m attracted to you.” She continued with the neuro pressure. Trip shrugged. “That kinda goes along with the assumption.” “I think you’re mistaken about who’s attracted to whom.” Trip smiled at the ridiculous implication. “Are you saying I’m attracted to you?” “You already have.” “I-- I don’t remember that conversation.” T’Pol thought for a moment. ‘This oughta be good. I’ve got her running like a fox!’ Trip smiled, waiting. “It wasn’t you, it was your clone, Sim, that told me.” “Sim?” “He said you had feelings for me,” she pointedly answered. “He told you that?” Trip’s face scrunched up at how ridiculous it was that she’d believe his clone. “Standing right there.” T’Pol glanced at the place Sim had stood and admitted the attraction to her. Trip glanced at the spot. ‘Why that conniving low life!’ “What the hell was he doing in your room?” “Your voice is tensing up,” she told him with a hint of ridicule. “Oh! Now you’re the vocal expert?” “I don’t need to be an expert to read you,” she quickly retaliated. ‘How could that jerk make a move on my-- Wait. Sim is me, so that means--’ Trip shook his head to stop the confusion. “I don’t believe this. I’m... I’m jealous of... Of myself?” “You’re jealous?” Was it his imagination or was that a hint of hope in her voice? “No! No. Absolutely not.” Trip mentally gaped when he saw a hint of hurt cross her face. Again butterflies fluttered across his abdomen and down into his groin. She’d touched a nerve all right, just not with her fingers. Yet. “Okay... Maybe.” Hope returned. “A little.” “Which would mean you’re attracted to me.” Hearing his own words thrown back at him, Trip narrowed his eyes. “It goes with the assumption,” she coolly stated. Trip did a mental double take. Hadn’t this conversation started out with him not being attracted to her? Why was it suddenly so hot in the room? “What just happened here? Did we... Are we...” T’Pol cut him off with a kiss full of passion and lust. # T’Pol woke when a hand squeezed her shoulder. She looked up at Archer, watching him crouch down beside her chair. “Why don’t you take a break? I can stay with him for a little bit.” T’Pol looked at Trip. “Did they find a safe combination of pain and anti-inflammatory?” “No. They’ve only found a medication for the pain. But don’t worry, if it gets too extreme, I won’t let this thing kill him.” T’Pol closed her eyes. Archer laid his hand on her shoulder as reassurance. She quickly stood and left. Archer sat down in the chair and slouched back, watching Trip sleep restlessly. |
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