Chapter 7: Anticipation

"How long, Travis?" the captain asked.

"At our current speed, 2 days, sir."

"Okay," Jon continued, addressing the whole assembly of officers. "According to Admiral Gardner, we'll have to stay in orbit around Earth for about 10 days. The space dock is occupied by Columbia – they had a less than friendly encounter with a Klingon warbird."

"Can't we get a break at least once?" Trip groaned. "First the Xindi, then human Augments, Vulcan terrorists, then Klingon Augments. I'm starting to feel like the skinny kid in a schoolyard full of bullies."

"I know, Trip," the captain commiserated, having felt much the same lately. "The Vulcans have some diplomatic channels with the Klingons and their High Council claims that it was not an officially sanctioned mission. Some Captain Q'orh apparently lost a son in the fight to Columbia while we were trying to get Phlox back from the Qu'Vat colony."

"Permission to speak freely, Captain?"

The captain was surprised by T'Pol's question. "Since when do you need my permission to do that, T'Pol? Go ahead."

"Let's 'cut to the chase'. I doubt you assembled all of us here to tell us about the misadventures of Captain Hernandez' ship. The last time you asked Doctor Phlox to attend a staff meeting, you told us about 7 million casualties on Earth." If it wasn't for the amused faces around her, T'Pol wouldn't have even realized that she had used one of Trip's phrases without thinking.

"Trip, you are ruining our first officer," Archer quipped with a somewhat forced smile, hoping it wouldn't look too phony. He didn't feel good, but the usual good atmosphere between his officers was something he wanted to preserve at all costs, so he forced himself to act chipper.

"Let's hope she'll not start to swear in Russian," Hoshi added to the good-natured ribbing of their friends.

"Back to the topic," Archer continued. "It's nowhere near as bad as last time. So according to the wishes of our first officer, we'll skip to the big news. I'm leaving Enterprise."

The room went silent.

"Leaving the ship as in going on vacation?" Trip asked in disbelief.

"Leaving as in going to take a hiatus for a year," Archer corrected and all faces except one wore a distinct expression of shock. As no verbal reply was forthcoming, Archer continued his explanation.

"For the last two weeks and to a degree ever since the Xindi mission, I've been experiencing problems and Phlox suggested that I take a time-out. Admiral Gardner has accepted my request and he will decide about my successor when Enterprise reaches Earth orbit."

"Will you return?" T'Pol asked. Jon was surprised that the Vulcan had been the first to ask. He knew it wouldn't happen. He was giving away his ship. There was no way to take it back from someone else.

"Most likely, but not to Enterprise," Jon said, trying not to show mow much this decision affected him. "The moment I leave, she's no longer mine. You don't give your wife to someone else and take her back a few months later. Starfleet has laid down keel for another 5 NX-class ships, most of which will be completed within the next 15 months. In about a year, the NX-05 Atlantis will be completed. That will most likely be my next ship. I have it on good word that you are in the running for NX-07 Buran, Malcolm, so behave while I'm gone. I'm told you may even pick the communications officer yourself." he added the last bit with a with a fatherly smile that helped a lot to fight the urge to get sentimental.

Trip, seated left of T'Pol, felt T'Pol's hand lightly tapping against his leg. Looking down, he saw how T'Pol used her index finger to first point at the captain, then in his direction. A barely perceptible nod was his signal of having understood her covert message.

"How can I even be in the running when Trip and T'Pol are certainly far ahead of me – unless you two are planning on leaving as well?" Malcolm asked with a questioning look at Trip.

"Well, lets say that Enterprise's next Captain is most likely already on the ship carrying the rank of commander," Archer supplied. "And we all know where one of them goes, the other does. too."

"Why so many new ships?" Travis asked.

"The Vulcan High Council and Starfleet agree that those Romulan drone-ships were only testing the waters. And if only half of what the V'Shar told us is true, they'll make our fight with the Xindi look like a lovers quarrel."

"Nice, another war," Trip sighed.

"Not yet, Trip," Jon tried to reassure him. "Starfleet hopes that the founding of the Coalition and the build-up of a bigger fleet will discourage them from taking any action soon, but the conflict will most likely come at some point."

"Back to business," the captain continued. "T'Pol, as the ranking officer you will be in command as of 1400 today until a new captain can be assigned. Please advise your respective departments that two weeks of shore leave have been granted to all members of the crew who have been on active duty for at least a year. The others will stay on board and make up the skeleton crew in orbit."

A nod from all officers signaled their understanding.

"Last on my list is a personal request. In a few weeks, Thy'lek Shran will apply for a commission in Starfleet. We all know how often he has rescued our sorry asses, so I'd like to ask you all to help him where you can."

"I am perturbed that you felt it necessary to even ask us to do that," T'Pol replied dryly, perhaps even with a touch of offense in her voice. "Everyone of us will support him whenever the opportunity presents itself."

Jon smiled - genuinely this time. "Thank you, T'Pol. He would have liked to hear that, especially coming from you. I'll address the crew at 1300. That'll be all."

"A quick word, Cap'n," Trip asked as the other officers filed out of the room.

"What is it, Trip."

"Knowing T'Pol, she'll probably work until the wee hours in the morning to make sure she's the most effective acting Captain Starfleet's seen since its inception," both men shared a chuckle. "So why don't ya drop by in the evening for a long overdue talk between old friends? How's 2000 sound?"

"Sounds good, Trip. I'll be there."

Perhaps the friendship was never going to be the one they once had, but Jon knew an olive branch when he was handed one. If there was a chance to heal the rift that had opened between himself and Trip, he wasn't going to waste that chance.

A loud klaxon signaled a ship-wide announcement as Captain Archer prepared for his last speech in the privacy of his ready room.

"To all crew of the NX-01 Enterprise, this is Captain Jonathan Archer. Effective today, the 4th of January 2155 at 1400 hours, I'm handing over command of the ship to Commander T'Pol of Vulcan. Commander Charles Tucker III is assigned the duty as acting First Officer. My assignment to this ship ends with the passing of command," Captain Archer announced and his voice was thick with emotion.

"Three years and 9 months ago, we began our journey into the unknown. We wanted to explore, make new friends and see strange new worlds. Like a child who ventures out into the wide world for the first time without the guidance of its parents, we hit many bumps along the way and not all species appreciated our outstretched hand.

"There was a constant however – the dedication and the enthusiasm of this crew. Without these qualities, my captaincy of this ship would have ended much earlier than today. My deep felt gratitude reaches out to all of you and to all who are not with us today because they gave their lives to protect this ship and its mission. I wish ... you and this ship, that will always have a special place in my heart, a safe journey into the future ... Godspeed Enterprise."

The mess hall was packed with crew members, who all stood at attention and listened to the final speech of Captain Archer. He had very obviously succumbed to tears before the end of his announcement and so had most of his audience. On the bridge, Commander T'Pol of Vulcan stood in front of the big chair, which in less than an hour would, however temporarily, be her rightful place. Hands firmly clasped behind her back, listening to the announcement, a tear of emotion ran down her cheek. She didn't wipe it away. It would be wrong to hide it and she had long since given up the pretense that Vulcans didn't have emotions. After 4 years with this crew, most had seen one form of reaction or another anyway.

It was only a short twitch of his face, but for a man as disciplined as Soval it revealed an onslaught of many strong emotions. He had chosen to stay in the privacy of his guest quarters to listen to the speech of the man he initially – how would Charles describe it? – 'resented the hell out of'. He had lost count of how often he had caught himself pondering things in human terms and it had nothing to do with the new-found information that Charles Tucker was now a member of his clan or his long time among humans, none of that was even remotely responsible for it. But this was a knowledge he could not share with anyone.

T'Pol noticed how Trip darted towards the ready room to console his distressed friend, but she called out to him. Stopping he looked at her with a tear-stained face.

"He needs to be alone for a while," she explained in a breaking voice.

He had just finished sending the message to the subspace queue, when the door chime announced a visitor. Trip pushed back the glum mood and put a brave face to it.

"Come in, Jon."

"Evening, Trip."

"Beer?" the chief engineer asked and held up two bottles.

"You're lucky that I'm not the skipper anymore or I'd have to investigate where that came from," Archer answered with a chuckle.

"I have my sources, and, just for your information, I have the permission of your successor. I seem to get along well with her."

"So how were your first hours as the Captain's boyfriend?" Jon asked with a smirk.

"Haven't seen her much. Told you she'd be neck-deep in preparations as soon as you were out the door," Trip said as Jon took a seat on the sofa.

"Perhaps you should learn from her, I have a hunch that you will be in that big chair soon."

"I hope not," Trip answered and shook his head. "I'm gonna fight tooth-and-nails against it."

"Pardon? Trip when we launched, all you had in mind was getting an own ship."

"That was then, Jon, before the Expanse. That's when I saw what commanding a star ship can do to you," Trip explained. "T'Pol can deal with that. I can't. Don't think we're fooled for a second about the reason of your hiatus."

"Erika needs me; she's in bad shape," Archer sighed.

"So are you, Jon. You need her as much as she needs you. You need each other the same way as T'Pol and I. We've got eyes in our heads."

"Since when did you become a psychologist?" the former captain challenged him.

"Ever since my best friend withdrew after he had to make some very ugly decisions. I'm really sorry that I couldn't be there for you. I was too messed up myself to be any help," Trip admitted sadly.

"You've got nothing to feel guilty for. And if it wasn't for T'Pol, you'd probably be even more messed up than I am now. I'll come back around, don't worry. Just need to get away from everything for a while."

"Hope things work out for you and Erika. She's a fine lady."

"That she is," Archer said as they clinked bottles. "And she's an even better psychoanalyst than you. She told me about your first day aboard Columbia and she knew exactly why you had finally agreed to transfer to her ship."

"Was it that obvious?"

"Not to me, no, but to her it was. The way you looked at her when she asked you to change the patch on your uniform – she knew immediately that Columbia was not where you wanted to be."

"Well, Enterprise is my home. That Columbia patch felt like an ulcer on my arm."

"What changed your mind?"

"About what?"

"About staying there. As I recall you weren't away very long," Archer inquired with a smile.

"Well, you know why I came back – I don't care to board a ship like that ever again, by the way – but then we did that cold start routine and I knew, she had changed."

"T'Pol?"

"Yeah. I came into engineering and, guess what, the ship's about to blow up and the first thing we do is banter with each other."

"I'm really going to miss that," Jon admitted with a chuckle.

"Then I showed off a bit and told her that I'm gonna cycle the engine in under 2 minutes. She said it's not possible and I gave her the macho and just said 'watch me'."

"Let me guess, being the logical Vulcan, she did just that."

"And how," Trip said, letting out a short burst of laughter. "I'm amazed I had even time to notice it, but, when I climbed down them stairs after blowing all the relays up, I caught her look and I swear, I have no idea why I didn't just freeze like a deer in the headlights. She was practically gushing."

"Wow, never would have pegged T'Pol for a high school girl gushing over a handsome southern gentleman," Archer laughed, while Trip handed out the second round of beer.

"Seriously Jon, those eyes have more fire in 'em than those fire plains she showed me on Vulcan. Hoshi told me that T'Pol and I zoned out a couple times during our dinner, just staring into each others eyes, and Mal said it was so hot he'd started to look for a fire extinguisher."

Archer roared with laughter. "You know what? A.G. said something similar about me and Erika a couple of years ago. He said when we danced they always feared they had to hose down the place afterwards"

"I never understood why you didn't just piss all over that no-frat crap and stayed together when you got your fourth pip. She had always been good for you."

"Well, I only learned later and the hard way that you have to bend the rules sometimes," Jon admitted wistfully. "Had I stuck to my ideals, we would never have made it out of the Expanse. But it came at a price. If it weren't for Erika, I would have thrown in the towel after the Xindi mission. When we launched I was hell bent on doing things by the book."

"You're a good Captain, always were, don't let anyone tell you otherwise," Trip declared with conviction. "I hope T'Pol will be the new captain because she's the only one who can fill your shoes."