Chapter 13: Anna's solution

Jon sat in his quarters, tiredly rubbing his face with the palm of his hand. The news that T'Pol had just dumped on him was making his head hurt. "Please have a seat, T'Pol," he groaned. "You're driving me mad standing there like a statue."

"That was not my intention, Captain. I apologize."

When he looked up she was sitting in an armchair, her back ramrod straight with her hands neatly folded in her lap.

"Okay, so you say the young girl we rescued is a direct descendant of Surak – one of only two females who could continue the bloodline on the maternal side."

"That is correct, Captain."

"And you want to keep her on the ship?"

"Yes. Her parents were reported missing weeks before Enterprise's mission began. From what little she was able to say in her condition, I conclude that the remaining members of her family did not survive the raid that resulted in her abduction."

Jon pondered the situation. From his earlier conversations with T'Pol and Soval he knew that the High Command would just love to 'take custody' of one of the few remainders of Surak's bloodline, but on the other hand they could just as well paint a giant bulls-eye on the hull if the High Command got ever wind of their guest. Perhaps T'Pol could at least deliver some more details. "If I may ask, T'Pol; I know she must have been through a lot, but is such an extreme reaction normal?" he asked in reference to witnessing the hysterically crying Vulcan in Sickbay.

"T'Lara is only nineteen years of age. Vulcans do not gain full discipline and control of their emotions until the age of forty. To put her stage of development into perspective for you – were she human, she would be fourteen to fifteen years old at the most."

"She's still a child," Jon gasped in horror – knowing what had been the plans for her if she had been sold by the Orions.

"Indeed, Captain. She is a child who has lost her whole family and is not necessarily safe from danger. Please do not turn her over to the authorities."

The sense of urgency in the Vulcan's voice made him sit up. But there were some practical obstacles to consider. "We might have to, T'Pol. We can't just keep a Vulcan child in custody indefinitely. The High Command would consider us as taking her hostage – it could endanger the whole relationship with Starfleet. There must be at least some far-flung relative left who can care for her."

"You are speaking to one of her far-flung relatives, Captain. Although T'Lara is of the house of Surak and I belong to the house of T'Klaas, we are members of the same clan. I have every right to care for her. That is why I want to keep her here. Not even the High Command could legally take her away as long as I live."

Jon snorted sarcastically. "From what Soval told me, they would consider that a minor obstacle that can easily be corrected."

"Indeed. But they would have to get past Lieutenant Reed first, and that will most likely turn out to be a surprisingly challenging endeavor," the Vulcan retorted drily and Jon couldn't help but smile. He had heard several people singing the praises of his tactical officer by now, but coming from T'Pol it was probably the highest accolade.

"We'll have a chance to discuss that with Ambassador Soval. He's coming to starbase 74. How is our guest anyway? I must admit I was a bit surprised see her clinging to Trip..."

"Commander Tucker is much more than just a capable engineer."

This short sentence told more about the Vulcan's affinity for the ship's chief engineer than any straightforward admission of her obvious attraction to him, and Jon decided to leave it at that. "Will she need counseling?" he asked, returning to the business at hand.

"I do not know," she admitted with surprising honesty. "Only time will tell, but with myself, Commander Tucker and Ensign Sato we have three Vulcan speakers aboard. I have found that Ensign Sato is most capable at helping people in distress."

"Wait," Jon interrupted. "Did you say Trip speaks Vulcan?"

"I am surprised you do not know. I learned of it recently. Apparently he learned the language during his time on the Warp Three program. He was displeased by not being able to understand what the Vulcan advisors spoke of among themselves. He did not trust them."

"Now there's a surprise."

She nodded. "His proficiency is nowhere near that of Ensign Sato, but it served to avert a crisis when T'Lara woke up from sedation."

"You haven't seen this," Jon said, downing a glass of whiskey he had poured himself. "But this day is starting to become too much."

The slightest suggestion of a smile touched her face. "The relaxed regulations on consumption of alcoholic beverages apply to you as well, captain."

Anna sat in Trip's office wading through the myriad of engineering reports that had come in during the three hours she had spent talking to the ship's first officer. Strictly speaking, this was Kelby's shift, but the privacy of Trip's office allowed her to think about the conversation with the Vulcan in relative privacy.

As she had started to believe throughout the first part of their conversation, the commander was indeed 'gratified' that she could talk to someone who had an insight into how Trip ticked. Thankfully, as a Vulcan, she was used to naming things as they were, which made the most delicate topic of the talk less troublesome. It would be a talk she wouldn't forget...

"To come to the point of my visiting you," Anna had said, not quite sure what to expect in return. "One of the less ambiguous parts of Trip's outburst dealt with the fact that you allegedly told him to look for a casual sexual partner through Lieutenant Reed's match-up system."

To her surprise, the Vulcan showed no sign of evasiveness or offence, in fact she came straight to the point. "Indeed I did, and I suppose you wish to volunteer as a suitable partner?"

Anna was momentarily stunned by straightforward answer, but then why was she surprised? She was dealing with a Vulcan after all. So she decided to answer in kind. "I'm not going to beat around the bush – yes – that's why I'm here. Now that you've explained the political background, it becomes obvious why you can't get intimate with him, and I suppose it wasn't an easy decision to make. I reckoned it would be less troublesome for you if it was a partner who would not come in between you and would have no designs on Trip other than the occasional encounter to take care of our 'needs.'"

"You are correct on both aspects. It was indeed not a comfortable decision. And a partner with no ulterior motives would indeed be preferable."

"May I ask why you made that decision? You surely know that Trip would wait for you until eternity. Instead you think it's better to live with the knowledge that he has sex with someone else, even though it is just casual?"

"Humans may be able to abstain from sexual activity for a long time, but every scientific publication I have read, both from human and Vulcan sources, warns against it, especially for males. Hormonal and emotional imbalances are cited, as well as detrimental health effects such as an elevated risk of prostate cancer."

Anna nodded knowingly. She was starting to gain a real appreciation for the Vulcan. It was surely not easy to make this concession, but in the end she was putting Trip's welfare before her own.

"And there is a mostly practical reason for this as well," the Vulcan continued drily, piquing Anna's curiosity. "The longer I serve on this ship, the more I grow convinced that this crew will play a role in changing my unfavorable circumstances. Should the day come that Charles and I can legally engage in intimate activities, it will be my first such encounter, and I would not wish it to be an act of desperation because Charles has tormented himself by a long involuntary celibacy. Of course at that time any previous partner would have to look elsewhere from thereon in."

Anna couldn't help but laugh at the candid admission of the commander's 'practical considerations', but she was also surprised that the Vulcan was still a virgin and admitting as much.

You have an answer to everything, T'Pol. This light-hearted reply of Captain Archer to her 'permission' to consume a glass of high percentage alcohol kept ringing in her head as she made her way to Sickbay. She wanted to make sure T'Lara was fine before it was time to retire for some late evening meditation.

In fact the Captain's statement was wrong. For instance, she had no answer to the question of how to explain to Charles what she and Lieutenant Hess had discussed earlier. In fact she wasn't sure if telling him about their conversation would not result in offending him.

When she walked around the privacy screen, wondering why Phlox was nowhere to be seen, she stopped when she saw that T'Lara was not alone. Charles was sitting next to the biobed, his back turned to her, and he was reading a traditional Vulcan child's story in a somewhat accented and sometimes halting fashion from a PADD. Considering that the young girl was sleeping soundly and looked most content, the unusual recitation of the ancient tale had obviously served its purpose.

She gently put her hand on his shoulder, both to make her presence known and to let him know that his attempt at pacifying the young female had been successful.

"Hoshi transliterated that for me," he whispered, and she could tell that he was fairly self-conscious about being found here.