DISCLAIMER: The Star Trek characters are the property of Paramount Studios, Inc and Viacom. The story contents are the creation and property of Djinn and are copyright (c) 2001 by Djinn. This story is Rated G.
The Prisoner
By Djinn
T'Pol shifted in her seat, trying to ignore the sounds from
the adjoining quarters. "And so, T'Kan, Commander Tucker will be the first human male to—" A particularly
loud crash startled her. "Computer,
freeze message."
She rose and walked slowly to
the wall her quarters shared with those of the captain. There was no sound from the other room. "Computer, resume message." She sat down again. "Replay from last sentence."
Before the computer could
comply, there was another burst of sound.
"Freeze
message." She walked out the door
and into the hall, stopping outside the door to Archer's quarters. Frantic barking erupted. "Be still," she said.
The barking only got louder.
"You must be quiet."
She didn't believe it
possible, but the noise level increased yet again. "Stop at once."
"You aren't trying logic
on a dog, are you, sub-commander?"
She turned to see Commander
Tucker watching her. "The animal is
making too much noise."
He laughed. "Yeah, well, they do that on
occasion. Especially when they're left
alone in a new place. Porthos will get used to it, just give him time."
"How much time?"
He shrugged. "I guess till he stops missing the
captain quite so much. Hell, maybe he
knows his dad isn't on the ship right now?"
"Captain Archer is the
father of this creature?"
"It's a figure of
speech, T'Pol."
She fixed him with a hard
stare.
"What? I can't call you that when we're both off
duty?" He shrugged again. "Gonna be a
long trip, sub-commander, if that's the case."
Porthos began to howl.
T'Pol winced as the dog's cries rose through several
octaves.
Tucker gave the door a solid
whack. "Porthos. Shut up!"
There was silence.
"See. That's all it takes." The engineer smiled at her, then headed down
to the mess hall.
"I shall remember
that."
A faint whine answered her.
"Your 'paternal
substitute' will be back on the ship eventually," she said softly as she
turned away from the door.
The whine became more
plaintive.
"You must be
quiet." T'Pol
knew she should return to her own quarters, yet something about the dog's cries
held her riveted.
She heard footsteps behind
her. The doctor appeared surprised to
see her. "Sub-commander. Is there a problem?"
"The captain's canine is
unhappy."
"Ah." Phlox keyed the entry code into Archer's
keypad. "He's probably just
hungry. The captain asked me to look in
on him."
T'Pol followed the Denobulan into
the captain's quarters. Porthos was jumping up and down excitedly, following the
doctor as he reached into the closet and opened up a container of dry dog
food. He handed T'Pol
the water dish. "Could you fill
that up, sub-commander? Nice cold water,
just the thing to go with kibble."
He smiled in an exaggerated manner at the dog.
She walked into Archer's
bathroom and rinsed out the dish then filled it with water. "So he will be quiet now?"
"Hmmm?" Phlox looked up at her.
"The dog. He will cease to make noise?"
"Probably
not." Phlox gave Porthos a goodbye pat and walked into the hall.
She followed him out. "But you said he was hungry."
"And he is. But he's also lonely."
"For his...father."
"Exactly." Phlox turned away. "If there's nothing else, I really have
some work to catch up on."
There was no noise from the
room so T'Pol returned to her own quarters. "Computer, replay last
sentence." She was about to
continue her message to her cousin when a renewed round of barking
erupted. "Freeze message."
She was surprised to realize
her hands were clenched tightly. She
carefully relaxed them. Dogs obviously
ate very fast. She walked over to the
wall, hit it hard, and tried to mimic Tucker's earlier tone. "Porthos, shut
up."
The barking turned to even
louder yelps.
I am a Vulcan. I am pure logic. I am unaffected by those around me. I am untouched by the chaos that abounds in
life.
Porthos began to howl.
She walked out into the hall
and back to Archer's door. Checking both
ways to make sure she was alone, she keyed in the sequence she had seen Phlox
use. The door opened and Porthos bounded to the opening. At the last moment he tucked his hindquarters
down and slid to a stop in a sitting position.
He looked up at her, making small eager noises.
"You must be
quiet."
He cocked his head.
"There is no need to
cause such noise."
He slowly sat up with his
front paws in the air.
"That will not sway
me."
He began to whine.
"Captain Archer is on
the planet. When he has finished helping
the Terra Novans relocate, he will return to
you. Your complaining will not hasten
the process.
The dog suddenly covered one
eye with a paw.
T'Pol let out an audible sigh. "Very well. But you must be quiet."
Porthos bounded over the bulkhead and followed her to her
quarters.
She opened the door. "Do not jump on the—"
He had leapt onto the bed and
was making himself comfortable on her throw before she could finish.
"This is unacceptable
behavior." She picked him up,
intending only to move him to the floor.
He wriggled up until he was able to lick her face. She pulled away in distaste. Holding him at arms length, she said,
"That is quite enough of that."
He somehow managed to look
contrite. And very sad.
He was just a dog, she
reminded herself. A simple animal. She sat down in the chair and he curled up in
her lap. "You will behave or you
will get down."
He looked up at her sleepily
for a moment, then gave a hearty sigh and fell fast asleep.
T'Pol resumed her letter to her cousin, explaining the
circumstances of Commander Tucker's pregnancy and the aftermath. As she finished the missive, she realized
that her hand had strayed to her lap and was gently stroking the dog's
back. She pulled it away and studied the
animal.
The buzzer at her door rang. She rose slowly, carefully transferring the
dog from her lap to the chair. "T'Pol here," she said as she punched the button.
"It's Tucker. I had a brainstorm on what's making that
noise in the captain's quarters. I need
to check out something on your side of the wall."
She stared at the dog.
"You going to let me
in?"
"Of course,
Commander. One moment." She scooped up the dog and put him in her
bathroom. "Be still."
She shut the door and let
Tucker in.
He put down his tools then studied
her. "Something wrong?"
She strove for her most
serene look. "What could be
wrong?"
A faint whining began in the
bathroom.
Tucker grinned. "You old
softie." He opened the door and Porthos bounded out, running excitedly between the two of them.
"I do not know what you
mean."
"Uh huh."
"The dog would not stop
barking. I could not concentrate with
that kind of noise going on. This was
the logical solution."
"And you didn't enjoy
having Porthos all to yourself?"
"I was merely trying to
maximize my efficiency. Enjoyment had
nothing to do with anything."
"Ahh." He suddenly smiled. "That wouldn't be dog hair on your
clothing, would it?" He bent down
and picked up Porthos, who began to wriggle. "'Cause
I know you'd never let this little guy sleep in your lap."
"Of course not."
He grinned as he handed her
the dog. At her protest, he
laughed. "Just hold him while I
check under this bulkhead. I think
there's a loose conduit. Don't need him
nosing around in there while I'm working."
She moved back and watched as
he detached a piece of flooring and began to test the components underneath for
stability.
"Ah, there it
is." He reached for a tool. A low hum filled the room as he began to
fasten the piece of metal more securely.
She pulled a fidgeting Porthos closer to her chest. "You appear to be fully recovered from
your experience with the Xyrillians."
"Yep."
"I may have been hasty
in my judgment."
"That your way of saying
you're sorry?"
She tensed and the dog
complained as her grip tightened.
"No. The evidence supported
my theory. However in this case my
conclusion was faulty."
"In other words you were
wrong."
She chose not to answer.
"Well, I was wrong
too. I thought it was you that told
everyone on board what happened to me."
"Why would I do
that?"
"Like I said, I was
wrong." He pushed the cover back
into place and stood up. "I guess
we both were."
"Again."
"Yeah. Seems like." He reached out and scratched the dog behind
the ears. "Maybe if we didn't
always look for the worst in each other we wouldn't always be thinking we'd
found it?"
"I am sure that I do not
do that." She tried to look
dignified, but Porthos chose that moment to lick her
chin. She pushed him away but not with
much energy.
Tucker's eyes met hers for a
long moment.
"Archer to Tucker."
T'Pol raised an eyebrow.
The engineer grinned as pushed the wall monitor and said, "Tucker
here. How's it going down there?"
"Good."
Porthos began to bark.
"Trip, what are you
doing in my quarters?"
Tucker grinned at T'Pol. "I'm
fixing that noise you've been complaining about since we launched."
"Fantastic."
"Yeah. Don't say I never did anything nice for
you."
"I won't. Is Porthos
ok?"
The dog began to lick T'Pol's face again.
She grimaced slightly but forced herself to hold still.
Tucker's expression was
wicked. "Oh yeah. He's doing just great. Going where no dog has gone before and all
that."
Archer laughed. "Listen, Trip, I need you to run some
scans of the caverns to the north of us.
See if you can identify any back-up water sources, because the ones
we've found so far appear to be seasonal."
"Will do, captain."
"Great. See you soon.
Archer out."
Tucker laughed as he walked
to the door. "So now that I just
lied for you, try to back me up and remember that the source of the creak was
in the captain's flooring and not yours."
"You wish me to
lie."
"Only seems fair."
She didn't respond.
He turned and gave her a
gentle look. "You know, the captain
won't mind what you're doing. Probably
would give him some peace of mind to know that Porthos
isn't all alone."
"You are saying I should
tell him that I took his dog?"
"Borrowed his dog. And yeah.
I'm sure you can find some way to say it so that you still come off all
superior." The gleam in his eye
took any sting out of the words.
"I will consider
it."
"Ok. Well, I'm off then. Uh, you might want to get
some paper down."
"Paper?"
"Unless you relish
cleaning up dog pee. Or worse."
"Worse?" She looked at the dog helplessly, prepared to
call back Tucker, but the door had already closed.
"Worse," she said,
wrinkling her noise slightly as a ripe smell wafted out at her from the
bathroom. "You must learn
restraint," she admonished the dog.
Porthos just wriggled closer.
FIN