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"Truth Versus Fiction" by A. Rhea King
Rating: PG New Look (3) (After “Dough Boys”) “…and over a third of the crew is out with the influenza virus,” Doctor Phlox finished. Archer was leaning on the situation room console, staring at the monitor. His gaze moved to Trip. The Commander was sitting in a chair with one elbow resting on the arm of the chair and his head cradled in his hand, looking as miserable as he was feeling. As if it weren’t bad enough his memories were still Swiss cheese, the influenza virus had taken a firm hold on him after he had been exposed to it. Hoshi stood next to him, holding onto the console to keep from falling over. She wiped sweat from her fevered brow with a shaky hand. “Trip,” Archer said. Trip looked down at the PADD in his hand. He started giving his engineering report, interrupted by several strings of coughing. Archer reached out and plucked the PADD from Trip’s hand. “Go to bed, Trip,” Archer ordered. “You too Hoshi.” Archer looked up at Hoshi. She was standing but she looked like she wasn’t really coherent. “Yes sir,” they both replied and left. “We really need to run a gamma sweep to kill this virus, sir,” Doctor Phlox said. “A third of my crew is down with this. Who’d take us with that many people sick?” Archer asked. “There is a Vulcan science station twenty light years from here. I could contact them and make the necessary arrangements,” T’Pol offered, “as this virus does not appear to infect Vulcans.” Archer didn’t hesitate to ask the Vulcans for help this time. “Do it. We have to get this thing under control before we make contact with someone.” T’Pol nodded. “Do it now T’Pol,” Archer said. T’Pol left the situation room. “Thank you Doctor Phlox,” Archer said. The Doctor left the room. Archer looked at Malcolm. He was staring at the PADD in his hand, looking bored. “Malcolm, report,” Archer said. “Yes, sir,” Malcolm replied and began giving his report. # Trip opened his eyes when the doorbell rang, but did little else. He closed them when it rang the second time, pulling blankets closer around him. By the third ring he was asleep again. The door opened and T’Pol stepped into the room. She stood at the foot of the bed, staring at Trip for a moment. T’Pol walked to his desk, setting two PADDs on it. She turned to leave. “T’Pol?” Trip whispered. “Yes.” T’Pol stopped, looking at Trip “T’Pol…can you get me a glass of water?” T’Pol retrieved a glass of water from the bathroom. She walked to the bed and sat down on the edge. Trip slowly rolled up onto one elbow, taking the glass of water. T’Pol quickly grabbed his hands when they began shaking and helped Trip drink the water. Trip laid back down, pulling the blankets around him. “Thank you,” Trip whispered. “You are welcome,” T’Pol said. T’Pol reached down and pushed damp hair away from Trip’s eyes. Trip reached up and caught her hand. He held it against his cheek, looking up at her. “Would you like me to stay for a while?” T’Pol asked. Trip shook his head. “Doc gave me drugs. I’ll be out in a little bit.” “I can still remain if you request.” Trip nodded. “I can get a wet cloth for your forehead.” Trip nodded. T’Pol sat the glass down and went back to the bathroom to wet a washcloth. She returned to Trip’s bed and placed the folded cloth on his forehead. # Archer walked up to Trip’s door and entered in the security code. He stepped in and stopped, staring at T’Pol. She rose from the chair she’d been sitting in, holding her hands behind her back. “Captain,” T’Pol said in a hushed voice. “Hello T’Pol,” Archer said. “Commander Tucker is asleep. It might be best if you kept your voice down,” T’Pol suggested. Archer stepped into the room, looking down at Trip. “I came to see how he is.” Archer looked at T’Pol. “His fever hasn’t broken yet. Doctor Phlox came by an hour ago. He was unable to determine if he was getting better or not.” “Did you get word back from the science station?” “Yes. They will make preparations to receive us. I left the message on your computer in your ready room.” “Good. I’ll tell helm to change course.” Archer turned to leave. He stopped, looking back at T’Pol. “Would you like a break?” “A break from what?” “From staying with him. I’m assuming this is where you’ve been for the last three days since I haven’t been able to find you after your shift.” “If my staying with Commander Tucker it’s proving an inconvenience I will discontinue—” “I didn’t ask you to discontinue anything, T’Pol. I asked if you’d like a break. I can stay with him tonight if you’d like to get some sleep. You look like you could use some.” T’Pol nodded. “I accept your offer, Captain.” “I’m going to go tell helm to change course and feed Porthos. Before you go to your quarters can you contact the science station and let them know we’re coming?” “Yes, Captain.” “I’ll be back in twenty minutes,” Archer said as he left the room. T’Pol waited until he left to walk over to the bed. She rested her hand on Trip’s shoulder and with her other hand gently pushed his hair away from his face. Trip looked up at her. “Captain Archer will be staying with you tonight, Charles,” T’Pol told him in a quiet voice. “I will return tomorrow.” Trip nodded. T’Pol leaned down and kissed his sweaty brow. “I love you, T’Pol,” Trip whispered. “I love you as well,” T’Pol whispered back. She gently stroked his hair, watching him sleep. # “Jon.” Archer woke up, looking at Trip. His body ached from sleeping in the chair. Propping his feet up on the desk had put his tailbone at the point of a right angle and it had grown numb. Trip didn’t appear to be awake and Archer almost fell asleep before Trip called for him again. “Yeah?” Archer got up and walked over to the bed. He crouched down in Trip’s line of sight, watching his friend shivering. “I’m f-f-fr-freezing,” Trip whispered. “Do you have any more blankets?” “Cl-Closet.” Trip swallowed, closing his eyes. Archer stood up and walked over to the wardrobe. He opened the door and spotted the blankets on the bottom. Archer grabbed them and pulled them out, sending a rain of papers and other items out on the floor. “Damn it,” Archer whispered. Archer turned and walked back to Trip. Archer unfolded the blankets over him, resting his hand on Trip’s shoulder. “Any better?” Archer asked. Trip nodded, swallowing. “Do you want some water?” Archer asked. Trip nodded. Archer retrieved a glass of water and held Trip’s hands steady while he drank it. Trip laid back down, falling asleep still shivering. Archer sat the glass down and walked over to pick up the mess he’d made. He stopped suddenly, staring at the drawing in his hand. Archer heard the door open and looked back, watching T’Pol walk in. She walked up to Archer, looking at the scattered papers. She dropped to one knee, helping Archer pick them up. “Where did he get these? Do you know?” Archer asked T’Pol. T’Pol didn’t reply. “T’Pol.” T’Pol looked at Archer. “You do not know your friend as well as you think you do, Captain.” Archer stared at T’Pol. “What?” “I promised I would not discuss this. Perhaps, when he is better, you should inquire about it.” T’Pol returned to picking up the drawings. Archer looked down at the drawing he held in his hand. He turned it over and found it had been on the back of an opera program. He remembered the opera. They had been visiting some race whose name he didn’t remember right now. Archer and his attaché, which consisted of Trip, T’Pol and Hoshi, were invited to an opera. Archer accepted as a gesture of political kindness, but soon was sharply reminded why he hated operas. Two hours later he had no idea what was going on and he was feeling restless. Archer remembered that he’d looked down the row to Trip. Trip had a pencil in his hand and was writing something on the back of the program. The opera ended and they joined the aliens in an adjoining ballroom. Archer made his way to Trip across the room. “What were you doing?” Archer asked, smiling while he asked. “Sir?” Trip asked, looking at Archer. “During the opera. What were you writing on the program?” “I had an idea on how to fix a problem in engineering.” “Next time take mental notes,” Archer said. “Yes, sir.” And Archer had returned to mingling with guests at the ball. Archer turned the program back over, staring at the drawing. It was of a woman Archer had noticed sitting in the box seat to his right. She had a mass of curly black hair that was piled on the top of her head. Spots like a leopard ran from her temple, down the side of her face, down her neck and disappeared under her dress. The picture was the woman’s mirror image. “Trip draws,” Archer said. He looked at T’Pol. “Trip draws?” T’Pol sighed, looking at Archer. “He doesn’t want anyone to know. I’ve tried to convince him otherwise, but he finds this hobby an embarrassment.” Archer looked at the drawing. He picked up two more from the floor, recognizing the subjects in them. One was the mountain lake Trip, Sista and Hoshi had gone fishing at. Another was Sista’s twins when they were first born and she was holding them both. In the corner was a quick sketch of Malcolm holding one of the twins. “He’s good,” Archer commented. “So are his paintings.” Archer looked up, watching T’Pol pull a painting from the back of the wardrobe and hand it to him. Archer took the painting with a smile. The painting was of Porthos and Navta playing in the meadow in the Diedra’s holosuite. The detail was amazing, right down to the butterflies and blades of grass “He will be angry that I revealed this to you,” T’Pol said. “No he won’t. I’m going to tell him I was getting the blankets and came across these. After all, you didn’t tell me anything.” Archer held up the opera program. “I figured it out from this.” T’Pol didn’t reply. “I’m going.” Archer handed the drawings and painting back to T’Pol. “Good night, Captain.” Archer walked toward the door. He stopped and looked back at T’Pol. “We should be at the station in another day,” Archer said. “Yes.” “I want you to stay with Trip while we’re on the station. This was kind of a double whammy on him. He’ll need someone he trusts.” “I have duties to attend to when we arrive, sir.” “I’ll issue them to someone else. He needs his girlfriend right now T’Pol.” T’Pol slowly looked up at Archer. Archer smiled. “Good night.” Archer left the room. T’Pol finished picking up the drawings and putting them away. She walked over to the bed, lying down next to Trip. Trip opened his eyes, looking at her. T’Pol smiled and Trip reflected it. “Free sunshine. How exciting,” Trip whispered. T’Pol kissed his lips before falling asleep next to him. |
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