"The Communicator" By Alelou Rating: PG Disclaimer: All things Star Trek belongs to CBS/Paramount. Genre: Adventure, Missing Scenes, Angst, Trip/T'Pol Description: Missing scenes from Season Two. Author's Note: Thanks as always to jT for beta and to the reviewers for that all-important care and feeding. Once Captain Archer determined that he had not, in fact, lost his scanner, T'Pol attempted to organize the cramped passengers of the Suliban cell ship for their imminent arrival at the shuttle pod.  There was as yet no sign that it had been discovered, but their escape would have no doubt triggered a massive search.  "I can pilot the shuttle pod back to Enterprise, Captain," T'Pol said.  "You will need Mr. Mayweather's experience at the helm here." "I can fly this thing, too," Tucker said, sounding a touch offended.  "Who do you think figured out how it worked in the first place?" Archer said, "I can't speak for Malcolm, but I'd rather pilot the pod back myself.  It's a little crowded in here." "You're going to run into hostile fire," Tucker warned.  "We accidentally de-cloaked long enough to get their ire up on the way down." "That is precisely why I believe it would be best to keep your attention free on the trip back," T'Pol told him. He gave her a dark look but held his tongue.  "I believe the shuttle pod's defenses are more than equal to anything they want to throw at us," Mr. Reed said.  "Besides, I'd like to finish the job we started." "Then perhaps it would be best to leave your equipment here with us," T'Pol said.  Archer grimaced.  "You think we'll fall right back into their hands?  Have a little faith, T'Pol." She said nothing.  It struck her as unfair to accuse her of not 'having a little faith' when she had agreed to use a spacecraft they barely knew how to fly on a rescue mission straight into the heart of a well-armed prison camp.  It also struck her as incredibly fortunate that nobody had been killed or injured in the process. "We're here," Mayweather announced.  After a quick scan to ensure they were not being watched, Archer and Reed exited the cell ship and ran to the pod. "Let's go, Ensign," T'Pol said. "Don't you want to make sure they get off the ground?" Mayweather said. "I'll just have a little faith," she said, which made Tucker snort, although he didn't look at her. She watched him ease back over to the panel he'd monitored on the way down.  After checking to ensure that Archer had, in fact, gotten the shuttle pod launched, she decided to satisfy her curiosity.  "Why are you wearing a glove on one hand, Commander?" He took the glove off and showed her an empty sleeve.  For a moment she just stared.  But then, judging from his slightly amused affect and the lack of a report from Dr. Phlox, she concluded that he had not, in fact, somehow suffered a catastrophic amputation.  "Your hand is cloaked?" "Yup.  Had a little accident earlier when we were trying to get the cloak working." "Will it wear off?" "I sure hope so," he said.  "These gloves are sweaty." "I told him an invisible hand could come in handy at movie night if he had a date," Mayweather said. Tucker rolled his eyes.  "And if that joke didn't work with me, what the hell made you think it might work any better with her?" "I still think it's funny."   "How is it a joke?" T'Pol said, honestly curious.  She was puzzled not only about that, but about Tucker's use of 'her' when she was sitting right there.   It was her understanding that this constituted a breach of etiquette, if a minor one ... and that was most unlike him ... or had been, until recently.  His manner towards her, while never unprofessional, had turned noticeably cooler after her classified mission to capture Menos.  Tucker just shook his head.  "It's not.  Forget about it."  Not very long ago, she had concluded that Tucker treated everyone as if they were special, which meant that she should not conclude it meant anything particular if he gave her that kind of attention.   But now she knew that in fact he did not treat everyone that way, because he had certainly stopped treating her as anything more than a person he had to work with - and a somewhat tiresome person, at that.  "It's because you could steal popcorn," Mayweather finally offered, perhaps after finding the long silence a bit awkward. "I see," T'Pol said, although she really didn't.  Next installment: Singularity.

Like it? Hate it? Just want to point out a typo? Join the discussion now.

Disclaimer: Star Trek in all its various forms and its characters are the property of CBS/Paramount. No copyright infringement is intended by the authors of this site, which is solely for the purpose of entertainment and is not for profit. This site is owned by CX and was opened to the public in February 2008.