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"Reflecting to You"
By MissAnnThropic
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: None of its mine. I’m just a sad little fangirl that spends her days writing fanfic and watching taped episodes of my favorite shows. :(
Description: A different ending to In a Mirror Darkly, Part I, results in the Mirror Universe T'Pol ending up on our universe's Enterprise when the relationship between Trip and T'Pol is at a breaking point. (later becomes a cross-over with ST:TOS, Spoilers: The Tholian Web)
Chapter 23
Archer was loathe to commit the adultery of thinking another ship more beautiful than his own, but from their approaching shuttle pod he had to confess that this Captain Kirk's Enterprise was beautiful. She was easily twice the size of his Enterprise. Her lines were cleaner; function had been nailed down enough to allow for some care to aesthetics. Archer didn't need to see her weapons banks to know her power; she bled it on sight. She was a knightly steed to his determined, reliable pony.
He tried to imagine having such a ship as an enemy and felt cold dread for the plight of Mu'Pol's universe.
Sitting beside the captain, Trip was also studying the ship drawing closer in their viewports as he piloted the shuttle. The younger man whistled.
Archer had a sense of déjà vu. He looked down at his friend, almost smiling… but his smile became a frown. Trip's interest was piqued by the sheer engineering of it, but the spark was missing. Archer had not had time alone with his friend to ask him what was wrong. But something clearly, desperately was. All things considered lately, Archer guessed whatever was wrong with Trip probably had something to do with T'Pol.
At the thought, Archer glanced back at the other occupants of the shuttle pod. T'Pol and Mu'Pol sat on opposite ends of the aft section, like two bickering sisters giving each other the silent treatment. Between them, collected and cool, sat Gary Seven. Malcolm had wanted to come along, too, but the pod wasn't exactly made for crowds and, given the fact they were heading into a ship full of this other captain's men, it seemed one security officer wouldn't make much difference.
Besides, these were the people who should be their allies. They were Starfleet. Archer's Enterprise had been the only long-range exploration vessel of Starfleet for a long time, the Columbia had barely begun her sojourn into deep space… it did not come naturally as it had not been common occurrence, but Archer realized the logic in that one Starfleet crew should trust another Starfleet crew on principle. Though he did not know these people, their affiliation should speak to their intentions. Should. Archer was mired in a time when any new ships were suspect.
The shuttle bay doors to the great ship gaped in invitation and Trip took them in. A spot was cleared for them between shuttle pods not unlike their own, only larger and sleeker.
When the comm channel came to life to report the pressure had been cycled and they were clear to disembark, Archer was the first at the hatch.
When he opened it, he found a three-man greeting party on the deck waiting for them. And he recognized one man among them. Captain Kirk stood at the center with a man on either side of him. When he caught sight of Archer in the hatchway, he offered a congenial half smile, as though they were two men who had known each other for years.
There was no denying this other captain had a certain charisma.
Archer led his retinue out of the shuttle, the whole time watching Captain Kirk. The gold-clad captain maintained a friendly half-smile the whole time, his eyes twinkling brightly… but both shifted to sudden and cold suspicion and wariness when Gary Seven exited the shuttle. The merry, affable person Kirk had been exuding disappeared completely in that half-second and Archer saw the ship's commander in all his power.
'Ah,' Archer thought.
When the two men were before each other, Kirk offered his hand. "Captain Archer."
"Captain Kirk," Archer shook his hand. When they broke apart, Archer looked around the shuttle bay, "This is quite a ship you've got here."
Kirk nodded with a pride in his eyes Archer knew well. "Yes, she is. Welcome aboard. I'm sure this sounds strange, but I'm honored to actually meet you."
Archer smiled. "You're right, it does."
Kirk chuckled. "May I introduce my first officer, Commander Spock."
Archer looked at the tall Vulcan at Kirk's right side, austere and composed. He inclined his head in greeting, then lifted a hand to offer the Vulcan salute to Archer's own first officer and her double. "Live long and prosper."
T'Pol and Mu'Pol, in unison, returned the gestured and offered an ingrained reply, "Peace and long life." It was in perfect stereo and even Archer threw a look back over his shoulder at them.
Kirk's other man snorted. "Vulcan twins… I thought I'd seen everything."
Kirk smirked. "My chief medical officer, Leonard McCoy."
McCoy gave a courteous nod, his curious eye still trained on the Vulcan 'twins'.
Archer mimicked the gesture of greeting then turned to his own people. "This is my first officer, Commander T'Pol, my chief engineer, Commander Tucker, and…" he paused on Mu'Pol, not really sure how to introduce her to someone else.
"I am called Mu'Pol," she spoke for herself.
Though he imagined it needless, Archer moved on to the last. "And the gentleman is…"
"Mister Seven," Kirk said in a level tone.
Gary stepped forward. "Captain."
"I take it you two know each other?" Archer asked.
Kirk smiled thinly. "We've run into each other before." He addressed Gary directly. "I must say that seeing you here goes a long way toward answering the questions we have about this. The 'how', anyway."
"Perhaps we should go somewhere to discuss the 'why'," Gary prompted.
Kirk looked a little put out by the notion, and the manner in which it was presented to him, but he nodded nevertheless. "Gentlemen, ladies, if you'll follow me."
Archer was in the lead among his people as they followed Kirk and his men out of the shuttle bay. He hated to seem the tourist, but as they walked he gawked. This ship was just as enormous, in comparison to his own, on the inside as it had looked on the outside. His Enterprise's interior felt much like a submarine; there wasn't a lot of room for too many people to walk the corridors abreast. It was minimally lit… not dark, but careful thought was given to how much power had to be spared for illumination. Careful thought was given to how much power was spared for anything other than main engineering. The first warp-five vessel was built to 'baby' its new, untested engine. In contrast, this ship was big, bright, and colorful.
He had been on alien vessels equally foreign and impressive, of course, but this was a human ship, and that made all the difference.
"I hope you'll return the favor when we have a chance," a voice intoned to Archer's left. He hadn't even noticed Kirk drop back to fall in step beside him.
"Excuse me?" Archer asked, ashamed to admit how little he'd been paying attention to anything other than the ship. He was as bad as an engineer.
Kirk smiled knowingly. "I'm very eager to see your Enterprise up close and personal."
"She's a fine ship," Archer affirmed, "though I'm afraid next to this she might seem a little… small."
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight…" Kirk began.
Archer laughed. He liked this man more for giving what surely seemed a pitiful little vessel its due credit and praise. Archer had a thousand questions, but before he could ask Kirk any of them they were turning corners, passing junctures, then filing into a conference room. Kirk took the head position. Spock sat to Kirk's right with McCoy next to Spock. Archer and his crew filled in on the other side, Archer to Kirk's left.
Gary Seven moved into the room but remained standing, facing both crews from the opposite end of the table from Kirk. Perhaps he felt that a better stage from which to launch into his accounting of events.
As Gary retold all the facts that Archer already knew about Mu'Pol's origin, arrival, and predicament, the captain listened with only half an ear to Gary. Instead, Archer watched the three crewman of the future Enterprise. Kirk was attentive to the point of razor-sharp acuity. The sense of laid-back and amiable he'd been so easily projecting earlier was completely gone. The Vulcan was predictable in his precise attendance to Gary's tale. No doubt he would soon be able to recite, verbatim, Mu'Pol's journey. McCoy… Archer caught the man's wandering gaze and gave a small smirk. The doctor was obviously the people-watcher of them, eyes moving from person to person, reading them.
When Gary reached the part of the story that involved the Defiant, Kirk sat up straighter at the name. Archer's eyes shot to the captain. "You know the Defiant?"
Kirk cast a measured look at Archer. "Yes. She was one of ours, taken by the Tholians. We attempted to retrieve it but failed." Kirk's eyes narrowed and his lips pinched together. "I became trapped in an EV suit outside the ship and spent a small eternity slipping in and out of realities."
"Earning yourself a biting case of hypothermal for your trouble," McCoy groused.
Kirk's dark look at his medical officer told Archer that a snap of cold would have been well worth the price… if only they had gotten Defiant back. Would that they had, then none of this would be necessary.
Gary resumed his tale, though Archer noted that Kirk was even more intent on Gary's words after learning of the involvement of the Defiant. Spock looked fascinated by the entire prospect and its implications, while McCoy got an increasingly sour look on his face.
Apparently, Gary caught the doctor's displeasure, too. "Is something wrong, Doctor McCoy?"
McCoy glowered up at Gary. "I see where you're going with all this, or rather where you intend us to go, and I'm not happy about it. I've seen as much of that mirror universe as I ever care to see."
"So you refuse to help?" Gary asked mildly.
"Now I didn't say that," McCoy returned quickly. "I just said I won't be doing back flips."
Three Vulcan eyebrows rose at that, but it was Kirk who spoke next. "What the doctor means, Mister Seven, is that our exposure to that other universe was… unnerving and once was more than enough. We witnessed a possibility that we would all just as soon never have known existed." Kirk paused and a determined, incensed look crossed his face. "But that is one of our ships out there slaughtering the helpless. A Starfleet starship… that is unacceptable."
Gary nodded. "I predicted you would feel that way."
Kirk gave Gary a narrow look, as though trying to decide if he'd just been complimented or insulted.
"I will need access to your engine room to install the Tholian device that will make your travel through time and derivation boundaries possible."
"Work with Mister Scott. You won't do anything he objects to without conferring with me."
Gary sighed. "Very well."
"Captain…" Trip began plaintively.
Archer smiled. "If Captain Kirk gives his leave, you can go down to engineering with Mister Seven."
Kirk eyed the young engineer a moment. "I don't see why not."
Gary opened his mouth as though to complain, reconsidered, then he gave up without saying anything on the matter. Instead, he said, "Proper installation, if I am not pestered, should take about an hour."
"Expect to be pestered," Kirk stated pointedly. "Mister Scott isn't about to leave you alone if you're going to be messing with his engines, and I'm inclined to let him."
Archer smirked. Seemed engineers were the same across time, as well as their captain's trust in them.
"I should have requested to supervise the prehistoric era," Gary grumbled. "A tyrannosaurus may be dangerous, but far less difficult to work with than a starship captain."
"Funny," Kirk quipped, "I'd always thought the same thing about temporal agents."
Archer covered his mouth with a hand to hide his smile.
"Spock," Kirk turned to his first officer, "Work with Mu'Pol and find out exactly what we can expect in her universe. I don't want to jump in there any blinder than we have to."
"Very well."
"Captain Archer," Kirk swiveled to face him, "as it seems we have a little time on our hands, would you care to join me in my quarters for a drink?"
"I'd be happy to."
Kirk stood, and it wordlessly cued his men to rise. Archer stood as well and his crew followed his example. Gary and Trip left first, headed toward main engineering. Spock and Mu'Pol left together shortly thereafter. T'Pol sidled closer to Archer. "With you permission, Captain, I will return to Enterprise." She stopped a moment in slight consternation. "To our Enterprise."
"Sure, go ahead."
"Bones," Kirk called, "would you kindly show Commander T'Pol to the transporter room?"
"I'd be delighted," Bones replied and gave a kindly smile. "This way, Miss."
T'Pol gave McCoy a wary look.
Kirk chuckled. "He's full of southern gentleman, but he's perfectly harmless, I promise."
T'Pol lifted an angular eyebrow. "Indeed," then she left with Doctor McCoy. It left the two captains alone together.
Archer broke the silence first. "I almost want to apologize for dragging you into this mess."
Kirk's steely expression returned. "It was my problem the moment the Defiant was used for tyranny. Besides," Kirk gestured toward the door and led the way out into the corridor, "we're afflicted with an inability to keep out of trouble, as Spock would put it."
"Sounds like Ambassador Soval would say."
Kirk chuckled. "Vulcan honesty is timeless."
'You've been to the universe we're headed for before… anything useful you could tell me?"
The two men stepped into the turbolift and Kirk grabbed the control that activated the lift. To Archer's inquiry, he frowned. "Only that it's chilling. Every moral, every idea, every motivation is wrong, but it's not impossible to imagine, either. That's the most unsettling part. You can see how things could take that course. Humanity there has more in common with the Klingon Empire… with the honor and integrity of the Tellarites."
"That's an ugly picture," Archer said lowly.
"Even uglier to live it. I don't envy you, Captain. This time I'll be a hundred years in the past; I won't be facing doppelgangers of people I know and consider friends. You can't really appreciate how disturbing it is to see someone you know act so brutally out of character."
"Given my time with Mu'Pol, I can imagine better than you might think."
The lift stopped and Archer followed Kirk back into the hallway and shortly thereafter into the captain's personal quarters. They were larger than Archer's own, though for all the extra space for personal effects the room was uncluttered. They were the quarters of a man who lived more on the bridge than anywhere else.
"Please, make yourself comfortable," Kirk prompted as he dug out a bottle of alcohol and two glasses from a wall cabinet. He poured them each a glass and handed one to Archer. Archer brought the glass to his nose, sniffed, and recoiled. "Andorian ale?"
"Ah," Kirk smiled, "the captain is a seasoned drinker." Kirk took a sip, looked at Archer, and asked a bit too innocently, "Too stout for you?"
Archer gave Kirk a faintly imperious look and silently took a drink.
Approval twinkled in Kirk's eye. "I prefer Romulan ale myself," Kirk said casually, "but good vintages are difficult to come by, and the bad ones… well, Scotty uses them to scour engine parts."
As the two captains stood together, Archer looked askance at his companion. "From the way you greeted me in the shuttle bay, I gather that you know who I am."
"Guilty as charged."
"Mind if I ask how?"
Kirk took a seat behind his desk and gestured for Archer to take the seat opposite him. "The truth is," Kirk said with an almost shy smile, "you were something of a hero of mine in my youth."
"Me?"
Kirk nodded and took another drink. "Every cadet is required to take a year of Starfleet history in the Academy… I was captivated by the adventures of the very first Enterprise and her gallant captain, Jonathan Archer." The last was delivered purposefully bombastic, a light in Kirk's eye belying the kind teasing he intended. "I must have read your chapters five times. I was a first-year rookie and reading those chapters I immediately decided that's what captaincy should be, and I told myself one day I would be an even greater captain than Captain Archer."
"And are you?" Archer returned lightly.
Kirk merely grinned and took another drink.
Archer took another drink to match him. "How do you know Gary Seven?"
Kirk pursed his lips. "We traveled to Earth's past and ended up locking horns with Mister Seven while he was on an assignment to avert disaster involving a rocket launch. He wasn't the easiest person to work with."
Archer thought, unbidden, of Daniels. "Trust me, for all Gary's arrogance, it could be much worse."
"He's not a Gorn, so yes, it could be worse."
Archer had no idea what a Gorn was, but his attention drifted to the captain's roomy quarters. He stood for a better view. He finally had to ask about this Enterprise herself. "The size difference between our ships astounds me. What's the crew compliment on this ship?"
"Four hundred thirty."
Archer blinked. "Wow… I thought room for eighty was impressive. What's her top speed?"
"Staying out of the red, warp nine."
"Nine?!" Archer yelped.
Kirk only grinned, making Archer feel the primitive fool ogling a pocket lighter. "That's… we're lucky if we can maintain warp five for any extended period of time." He shook his head. "Trip is going to get light-headed when he gets that tidbit from your chief engineer."
Kirk stood. "She's a Constitution class, top of the line," he said proudly. "I could show you around if you like."
"I most certainly would," Archer agreed.
Kirk set down his drink on the table, prompting Archer to follow suit. "You know," Kirk said as they left the cabin, "I'm sure Mister Seven would be very unhappy with me showing or telling you anything about your future."
"No doubt. Aren't you concerned he might be right to worry?"
As the two walked down the corridor, Kirk shrugged. "What can I say, I like to get that prim and proper man's goat."
Archer fought a smile. "Still… I could be a security risk."
Kirk gave Archer a sly look. "Well… I may have had Spock digging up everything on you and your crew imaginable from the databanks before you docked." Kirk walked as though he had a destination in mind. "And in fact, our first stop on this little tour will be sickbay."
Archer faltered and stopped dead in his tracks. "Sickbay?"
Kirk turned and gave Archer an appeasing look. "Just a few simple tests… to make sure you're as human on the inside as the outside, and maybe a little genetic comparison to the history records to confirm you are who you say you are. And once that is confirmed… your personnel profile in the history banks will vouch for you not being a security risk."
Archer thought carefully on that a moment.
"Captain?" Kirk asked, a slight hint of command edging into his otherwise friendly voice.
Archer conceded defeat. "I suppose in your place I'd do the same thing. All right, to sickbay it is."
Kirk smiled. "I appreciate your cooperation, Captain. For what it's worth, I hope you really are Captain Archer. I'd like to tell my security staff to stand down."
"You're watching my crewmen," Archer accused.
"I wouldn't be a very good captain if I didn't."
"I imagine I can forgive your caution," Archer said, "if I could convince you to make the second stop on this little tour the bridge. As one captain to another, I am very curious to see the command center of this ship."
"You're looking at him," Kirk countered cheekily then quickly smiled, "but I think we can arrange a stop at the bridge."
*****
From the whiteness she emerged, like an apparition coalescing from the very mist itself. She moved with grace and trepidation all at once.
The tiger lay, bound and chained. It sensed her approach and tried to rise, tried to get to her, the wildness in its heart awakened and pushing the beast toward the madness. The madness of needing her, the mindless necessity of having her.
She paused. The tiger fought and strained but could not free itself. It quaked with frustration and gave a cry.
She came carefully closer, so close her essence was a comforting spiritual shadow cast upon him. Her presence was a blanket and the desire to be enveloped by it sent the tiger's heart to racing wildly. But still, it was trapped, at the mercy of her clemency. Tethered to the promise and hope of just how near she would come.
T'Pol edged closer and gingerly sat down on the white-washed floor beside the fettered tiger. The tiger's mind was a din of restrained chaos.
T'Pol sat motionless beside the tiger for a moment. Then, with fear in her soul, she reached out a hand to it. Trembling fingers lightly touched the striped coat.
The tiger surged to no avail.
T'Pol hesitated, then her hand ventured toward the heavy chain lying heavy and oppressive over the back of the tiger's neck. Her fingers slipped between the beast and metal and, beneath her touch, it surrendered more slack than the tiger had been able to fight for with all its power.
Feeling the small measure of freedom, the tiger lurched against the chain. It had to turn. Needed her. Had to have her.
T'Pol's fear spiked.
When the beast tried to turn, T'Pol vanished. The tiger roared in feral frustration in the empty whiteness.
"Laddie?"
Trip blinked and pulled free of the white space to look at the Scottish engineer before him. Montgomery Scott, the future Enterprise's chief engineer, was looking over at him with a questioning look.
Gary Seven was hard at work installing the Tholian device and spared Trip little more than a distracted glance at Scott's concerned tone. The rest of the Enterprise engineering staff was hovering. They tried to pretend they were going about their regular duties, but they all felt a certain protectiveness over the ship's heart, and every one of them was wary of Gary's actions.
Scott most of all; he'd been over Gary's shoulder the entire time. Trip had, too, just as fascinated by the sights around him on this unbelievable ship… until T'Pol began to meditate. With the bond no longer blocked, when T'Pol meditated her mind instinctively called to him. And like a homing beacon, he went. No doubt Vulcan males had better control of when they answered their mate's psychic call. Trip didn't; he went to her every time. It was animalistic. Birds flocking south, salmon swimming upstream, caribou migrating over hundreds of miles. He couldn't not.
Scott was staring at him.
"Sorry," Trip apologized for his fugue. "I, ah… got a little lost in my head there."
Scott frowned. He was probably questioning the other man's sanity. Trip almost smirked… it would be a fairly valid concern, especially for someone who had only just met him.
"Trip?"
Trip turned and found that his little slip had more of an audience than he originally thought. Archer was standing near the main entrance of engineering, watching him with a worried look. Kirk was standing next to Archer, the two men casting the same shadow for all their physical dissimilarities. They were two men cut from the same mould.
"How are things going, Mister Scott?" Kirk asked as he started forward. Archer moved forward in unison.
"Well, Captain, I can't say I care much for having this gentleman tampering with my engines," Scott groused in his Scottish brogue. Archer came up alongside Trip and the younger man could feel his captain's eyes on him. Trip tried not to notice while Scott continued his tear. "I can't even begin to explain the contraption he's strapping to our main reactor, and I don't have to tell you how uneasy that makes me."
"No, you don't have to tell me, but I'm sure you've already told Mister Seven all about it," Kirk noted with a hint of amusement.
"Must all humans be so intransigent?" Gary complained without looking up from his work.
"Yes," Kirk and Archer chorused together.
Gary shook his head but continued working.
Archer took his attention off Trip and gazed around the engine room in open wonder. "My father would have loved to see this," he commented absently. He looked over at Trip. "What do you think of her, Trip?"
Trip glanced toward the main reactor, a gargantuan beauty, and stated matter-of-factly, "She's an impressive ship."
Kirk smiled, a captain's pride in his vessel glittering in his hazel eyes, but the look on Archer's face turned troubled. "Trip? Could I have a word with you?"
"Sure."
Archer excused them from the others and took Trip's elbow, guiding him to a corner of the room to afford them a little privacy. When they were as alone as they were like to get, Archer dropped his hand and asked, "Okay, what's wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
The worry-lines of Archer's face deepened. "Trip… something's going on with you. You've been acting… different. I saw it the second you came into the briefing this morning with Mister Seven. I'm worried about you."
"Oh, that." Trip returned in comprehension and sighed. "It was Mu'Pol."
Archer tensed and defensive ire put an edge to his features and a bite to his voice. "What did she do to you?"
Trip understood the captain's thinking. "It's nothing like that, I asked her to do it."
Archer's protective bristle gave way to confused worry. "Do what exactly?"
Trip didn't want to explain it all; it was too much to tell. Too much to be explained in a strange engine room surrounded by strangers. "She mind-melded with me and did something that stopped me from feeling. She shut off my emotions."
Archer blinked. "You asked her to do that?"
Trip nodded and studied Archer quietly.
The question was in Archer's eyes… why? But in the next moment studying his friend, Trip could tell the captain knew the answer. When understanding seized Archer he sagged in sympathy and sorrow. Archer looked away somberly with a slight shake of his head.
Trip nodded, tongue prodding the inside of his cheek. "It's all right."
Archer's quick but intense look plainly said 'no, it's not.'
Trip gave a wry, empty smirk. "Well… it will be."
"How?" Archer asked in tired sadness. The pain Archer felt was almost palpable, and this time Trip knew it couldn't be his own feelings being projected and bounced back at him. This sorrow was entirely Archer's… for Trip's sake.
Trip wondered how he had failed to see just how true and steadfast a friend he'd had in Jonathan Archer through all of this. Trip's own grief had blinded him, but now he could see just how ready Archer was to help him in any way he could. That surprised him. In the Expanse, Trip had learned a new Jonathan Archer, the captain too consumed with his mission to spare time for counseling an old, dear friend. Trip had mistakenly thought the old Jonathan Archer, Trip's long-time friend, was a man gone forever. But he wasn't, he was standing right in front of him, waiting to do whatever it took to help Trip.
That was comforting. Trip had sorely missed the old Jon Archer.
"T'Pol and I are… we're going to work this out."
Careful hope flickered in Archer's gaze. "You two… you finally talked?"
Trip nodded. "Yeah. It won't be easy, but… we're going to make it right."
Archer slowly began to tentatively smile. "That's great, Trip. I mean, I'm so tired of seeing the two of you hurting. If there's anything I can do, if either of you need anything…"
How could Trip have not seen this solid rock of a man right in front of him? Emotions really did twisted, confusing things to a person. He reached out and touched Archer's arm because Archer looked like he needed the human reassurance of physical contact. "Thanks."
Archer returned to brief contact, a hand on Trip's forearm, then both men dropped their arms back to their sides.
"So," Trip began, eager to move the conversation elsewhere, "what do you make of Captain Kirk?"
Archer glanced back at the man in question. He stood authoritatively over Gary as he conferred with his chief engineer, but at Archer's glance he looked up and shot a look at the two men in the corner. It wasn't a malicious look, but it did say 'I am very aware of you aboard my ship.'
"He's sharp."
"You think we can we trust him?"
"Yes."
Trip's eyebrows rose. "Simple as that?"
Archer shrugged sheepishly. "Well, we don't have a lot of options, but besides that… there's something honorable about him. Gut feeling, I guess."
"I'll go with your gut," Trip said. "If you don't mind, Captain, there are a few things about the technology I've seen in here I wanted to run by T'Pol before we got too busy for theoretical puzzles. Might be Vulcan science could offer a bit more insight than ours."
"Sure, go ahead… she's back on our Enterprise."
"I know."
Archer looked askance at Trip, as though dying to ask how Trip could know; he'd left with Mister Scott before T'Pol asked permission to return to their ship. Wisely, Archer didn't ask.
Trip left the engine room feeling only slightly guilty. He would like to glean a better understanding of the future Enterprise's warp engine, but that wasn't his real reason for wanting to go back home.
He let his mind slip partially to the white. T'Pol.
I await you.
Trip missed the thrill of excitement and love that one sentiment would have stirred in him before Mu'Pol's intervention at his behest. He longed to know the heady rush of desire and adoration hearing his mate's call for him would have caused. It had been so long since he'd been able to call out in his mind and find her instead of a stone wall.
Soon, her thoughts promised him, and together they remembered T'Pol sitting beside the tiger, venturing a hand beneath one of the chains.
One of the red shirts that were prominent aboard this ship detached himself from the far wall and approached Trip as the young engineer headed away from main engineering. A guard, no doubt. Trip was hardly surprised. He asked the man to take him to the transporter room, acknowledging the shadow for what he was.
The man seemed surprised that Trip was unconcerned about finding a man trailing his moves through the ship. Then he discarded the reaction and nodded down the corridor, taking the lead as his charge became his shadow.
To Be Continued…
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Continue to Chapter 24
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