The Haunting of Engineering
Trip wasn't sure he'd seen what he thought he just saw. Closing his eyes for a moment, Trip opened them again and everything seemed normal. “I’ve been working too much.” He whispered to himself. It was time to go to bed and his tired mind had just imagined the shape in the shadows. Shrugging, he closed the file he was working on and made his way towards the door. Even though he no longer saw anything, he still felt like he was being watched. Turning back, he glanced around engineering one last time. Still nothing, but something made his skin crawl and he again figured it was fatigue.
Sleep didn’t come easy for Trip. Unfortunately sleep hadn’t come easily for him since his sister’s death. T’Pol’s ‘treatments’ had helped some, but he still had more than his share of sleepless nights. As if the expanse wasn’t creepy enough, the things he’d seen and felt in engineering the last few days made it even worse. He couldn’t get the image of something lurking in the shadows of engineering out of his mind. That feeling of being watched had seemed so real to him too. What he needed was sleep and he had to force himself to clear his mind so he could sleep. In the morning he would get with Crewman Rostov and see if he’d been aware of anything strange.
When Trip
woke the next morning all the feelings of being watched were gone. He felt good and refreshed. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to talk to
The next
night as he stood at the console in front of the warp core, Trip got a sudden
feeling someone was there with him.
Looking around, he saw no one else in engineering. Shaking his head, Trip went back to what he
was doing. That feeling didn’t go away
however and he nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt the sensation of
fingers on the back of his neck. The
hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end and a chill ran down his
spine. Unable to move, Trip stood
perfectly still and a moment later the sensation was gone. It had not been his imagination and although
the touch had seemed gentle, it also seemed threatening. Now he began to wonder. Could engineering be haunted? Or was it some strange, invisible being that
lived in the expanse and could get aboard
“Sir,
shouldn’t you be calling it a day?”
“Yeah,
actually I am. Goodnight
“Night, sir.”
Trip left engineering and headed for his quarters. After a few minutes he decided on a detour to the mess hall. Sometimes a nice cold glass of milk helped him relax. Entering the mess hall he saw Malcolm sitting at a table by the window. Nodding to him, he moved to the wall. “Milk, cold.”
“You just going off duty, sir?” Malcolm had been off duty for hours and was enjoying a before bed snack. It seemed to him that Trip almost never slept these days.
“Yeah, lots to do in engineering. How about you?” He knew Malcolm had been off duty for at least a little while as he was not in uniform.
“Been off for hours now. Commander, I worry that you aren’t getting enough sleep. It…..” He stopped when Trip put up his hand.
“Please Malcolm, I get enough lectures from Phlox and the Captain. Sometimes T’Pol’s technique works and sometimes it doesn’t.” He figured he might as well get some work done since he couldn’t sleep. Actually he was feeling very tired, but was sure the events in engineering would keep him awake. In fact, his neck still tingled where the fingers had touched him and all he wanted to do was forget it ever happened. “I’ll see you in the morning Malcolm. I’m going to try and sleep.”
“Night Commander. Pleasant dreams.” Malcolm smiled, but didn’t think Trip would have pleasant dreams or a goodnight. He usually didn’t these days.
“Thanks Malcolm, you too.” If anything happened in engineering the next day, Trip was going to talk to Phlox and Archer about what he’d been experiencing.
As Trip crawled into bed the memory of those fingers came rushing back and he lay there wide-awake. He thought the nightmares about his sister would almost be better than the sensation of those fingers, almost. At one point he got up and began pacing. His mind raced with the possible scenarios as to what was happening in engineering.
At around
The presence watched the man as he worked. It knew it had him on edge, but didn’t know how else to reach him. For whatever reason, it had been drawn to the man and knew he was someone of authority. Unfortunately because of the anti-matter, it couldn’t leave engineering. The only choice it had was to try and reach him when he was there. It also hoped it didn’t frighten him into doing something that would harm it, or it might have to defend itself. The last thing it wanted to do was harm the man, but it would if it meant staying alive.
Trip jumped when the door to engineering opened. Although several hours had passed, it was still too early for the morning crew and he had let the night crew go. Looking up he groaned when he saw Archer in the doorway.
“Commander, what are you doing here now?” Archer knew Trip had been there for hours, as one of the night crew had told him about it.
“Sorry sir, some strange things have been happening in engineering and I was looking for anything that might give me an answer.” He turned his chair a little so he was facing his friend.
“What kind of strange things?” Now Archer was concerned. Engineering was not the place for strange things to be happening
“I’d think it was a lack of sleep if I was the only one to experience it.” Leaning forward, he put his elbows on his knees and sighed.
“Experienced what? Trip, what’s going on?” It had been a long time since he saw his friend this shaken.
“Separately they are just little things really, but put them all together and I would swear engineering is haunted.”
“Excuse me?” Archer wasn’t sure he heard what he thought he heard.
“Yep, and I’m not the only one who’s had the feeling they were being watched. Even though I do appear to be the only one who’s seen something in the shadows and felt it’s cold touch.” Now that he was telling someone, he started to feel a little better.
“How long has this been going on?”
“A couple of days, but last night was the first time I’d actually felt its touch.” Trip shivered as he remembered the feel of its icy fingers on his neck.
“How did it touch you?” Archer was curious and fascinated. He was also worried that it could all be Trip’s imagination.
“It felt like cold fingers on the back of my neck. Scared the hell out of me. It was gone as fast as it came, but there was no mistaking it.” Trip looked up into Archer’s eyes. He saw the concern, but also the curiosity.
What Archer saw in Trip’s eyes was fear, but what he didn’t see was doubt. Trip had no doubt that what happened was real. “Have you found anything?”
“No, I’ve been all through the sensor logs and there’s nothing. I just don’t know what could be happening.” His fear was beginning to show and he was just so damn tired.
“Trip, I’m ordering you to get a sedative from Phlox and get some sleep.” As soon as Trip started to protest, Archer stopped him. “No arguments Trip. I’ll have T’Pol and Malcolm look into the sensor logs and see if they can find something you might have missed.” He knew Trip was exhausted and he probably missed something in the logs.
“Aye, sir.” Trip rose and headed for the door.
“Sleep well.” Now that Archer thought about it, he had the distinct feeling he was being watched. Glancing around he didn’t see anything at first. Then he saw movement in the shadows, but as he moved closer there was nothing there. Now he understood why Trip seemed so freaked out, because now he was freaked out too. “Archer to security.”
“Go ahead Captain.” Malcolm had just come on duty.
“I want you and several of your men to do a thorough scan and search of engineering.” Archer continued to glance around as he spoke.
“Certainly, what am I looking for?”
“You’ll know, when and if you find it. I’ll be in my dining room, Archer out.”
Malcolm was puzzled, but would do as he was asked. Gathering several of his security officers and two of the MACO’s, they headed for engineering. The fact that Trip wasn’t there had him surprised, but he figured his friend was eating breakfast or talking with the Captain. It took over an hour, but they did a complete physical search of engineering as well as detailed scans. They found nothing out of the ordinary except a few spots that were colder than the rest. Malcolm figured that was just an environmental problem.
“Reed to Captain Archer.”
“Go ahead, what did you find?” Archer took a bite of his eggs and waited for Malcolm’s report.
“Nothing sir. Other than a few areas that seemed unusually cold, we found nothing.” Malcolm knew there must have been a reason Archer had wanted the search, but he had no idea what it was.
“Cold? Have the environmental controls been checked?”
“Not yet, but I’ll see if Trip can look into it.” Malcolm glanced at the other security officers and indicated they could go.
“Negative. I ordered him to get some sleep. Get
“On my way, sir.”
While
Archer waited for Malcolm to arrive he began to think about what he’d said. If he remembered correctly cold spots was
supposed to be a sign of ghosts or poltergeists. This did not make him happy and he couldn’t
figure out how there could suddenly be a ghost aboard
Meanwhile Trip had gone to sickbay and gotten a sedative from Phlox. He was tired and nerve-wracked so he didn’t feel up to explaining everything to the doctor. All he did was get the injection and headed for his quarters. As he got ready for bed, he kept thinking about everything that had gone on and just wished someone else would experience something so the Captain didn’t think he was going crazy. Crawling under the covers, Trip could feel the sedative working and closed his eyes. With any luck the sedative would allow him to get some real sleep and he would wake in a few hours feeling better.
The presence had done it’s best to avoid the men with the scanners. It knew they detected the cold it left behind when it stayed in one spot for too long. Fortunately it seemed to have succeeded as the men all left without doing anything. If they figured out they could make it visible with extreme heat then it would be in trouble, as that would also kill it. As much as it didn’t want to harm any of these beings, it also couldn’t allow them to kill it.
Malcolm arrived in the Captain’s dining room and sat quietly as Archer explained to him what had been going on. If it had only been Trip that experienced the sensations and feelings then he wouldn’t have believed anything was going on, but since the Captain had experienced it too, he believed. “I don’t know what else to do sir. Perhaps when Commander Tucker is up he’ll have some ideas.”
“I hope so Malcolm, because we’ve got to resolve this soon. If for no other reason than it’s another thing costing Trip his sleep and he doesn’t need it right now.”
“Understood, sir. The Commander has had a rough time lately.” Malcolm had done his best to help Trip out and make things a little easier for him. He’d teased Trip about what was really going on between him and T’Pol, but he knew it was just something they were trying to help him sleep. Trip’s insomnia was no joking matter and they couldn’t afford to have their Chief Engineer suffering from exhaustion.
“Yes he has and I appreciate your efforts to support and help him. The whole crew has been a real help and I’d like to solve this situation in engineering before it costs Trip any more sleep. The last I saw him he was completely freaked out and it had me worried.” Archer just wished he knew how to resolve the problem, but he had no experience with ghosts. If that’s what it really was. Somehow he doubted it. It was more likely some alien being that lived in the expanse and could keep itself invisible. “Find T’Pol and see if she has any ideas. I’ll talk to Trip when he gets up.”
“Aye sir.”
As Malcolm went to find T’Pol and get her assistance, Trip was sleeping deeply. His sleep was filled with vivid dreams that had him in a cold sweat, but did not cause him to wake. In these dreams he felt the cold touch of whatever was in engineering, but instead of disappearing quickly the touch lingered and moved down his back. It made him want to run from the room screaming, but in the dream he was frozen, just as he had been when it happened for real. Finally, five hours later he woke with a start. Sweat was beaded on his face and chest and he was breathing heavily. “Damn.”
Glancing at the time he was glad to see that he’d slept for so long and did feel better. Now all he needed was a hot shower and a few ideas about what to do in engineering. It wouldn’t do for the chief engineer to be afraid to go into his own department. Once he was dressed he contacted Archer who informed him that Malcolm and T’Pol were working in the command center on some possible solutions to their problem. It was a relief to Trip to know that the others didn’t think he was losing his mind.
Since none of them really had any idea of what was down in engineering they didn’t really have any good ideas to solve the problem. T’Pol of course didn’t believe in ghosts, they weren’t logical. All Trip could think to do was increase the heat in engineering and see if that would draw it out, since it left behind cold spots. Malcolm thought it sounded like a good idea, but if that didn’t work he thought sending a wide spread burst from a phase pistol might also work.
Trip made his way to engineering and knew just how he could increase the heat. All he had to do was reroute the heat manifolds so they vented into the room instead of out into space. He was not going to like being in there with it that hot, but he had a feeling it would make itself known more easily to him than anyone else. Sitting at his desk, Trip had just finished making the necessary changes and was about to key in the sequence that would heat up engineering.
The presence had been watching the man and knew what he was about to do. If it allowed him to proceed it would be killed, so it had to stop him. Finding a piece of conduit on the table behind the man, the being picked it up and raised it over the man's head. Bringing the conduit down it cringed as it heard and felt it make contact.
Trip grunted and collapsed over the desk. He had no idea what just hit him and as the
world went dark he could feel nothing.
“Commander!” Rostov shouted and moved towards him. Checking his pulse,
“What is it crewman?” Phlox didn’t like to hear about medical emergencies in engineering because these days it usually meant something happened to Commander Tucker and that man didn’t need anything else happening to him.
“Not sure, something seems to have hit Commander Tucker over the
head. He’s unconscious and there’s blood
on the back of his head.”
“I’ll be right there.” Phlox got his medical kit together and with the help of a medic headed towards engineering with a stretcher. Commander Tucker just couldn’t seem to catch a break these days and now he was dealing with a ghost or something in engineering. Apparently this ghost wasn’t very friendly either.
“Engineering to the Captain.”
“Go ahead
“Sir,
there has been an incident in engineering.
Someone or something struck Commander Tucker over the head.”
“What? Is he okay?” Archer rose from his chair and headed for the turbo-lift.
“I don’t know sir, he’s unconscious and there’s blood on the back of his head. Doctor Phlox is on his way.”
“So am I.” Pressing the button, Archer got the turbo-lift going. He couldn’t believe this was happening and now that the “being” in engineering was acting violent, he felt more urgency to resolve the situation.
Phlox rushed into engineering and made his way to where Tucker lay slumped over his desk. Running a quick scan, Phlox determined that the Commander had a severe concussion and a contusion on the back of his head. Although the blood flow was fairly heavy, the cut was not tremendously deep. From his experience human’s tended to bleed heavily from any kind of head injury.
“How is he Doc?” Archer asked as he quickly entered engineering.
“The Commander has a severe concussion, small contusion to the back of his head, and some blood loss.” Phlox put the scanner away and with Archer’s help got Tucker on the stretcher. “He’ll be fine in a day or so. Quite frankly, he could use the rest.”
“Agreed, lets get him to sickbay.” Archer looked down at his unconscious friend and wondered when the poor man would finally catch a break. Now it was up to him to figure out what was going on in engineering and fix it while Trip was in sickbay for a couple of days.
Once in sickbay, Phlox did a more thorough exam of Tucker and determined the man was suffering from exhaustion and extreme stress. If he had his way, Phlox would keep Tucker in sickbay for at least a week. That way he could make sure he got plenty of rest and avoided as much stress as possible. Of course, Archer wasn’t pleased with the findings. “Captain, I suggest you find a solution to whatever is happening in engineering before the Commander goes back on duty. I don’t think he can handle much more stress.”
“Understood, do what you can for him Doc, and let me know the minute he regains consciousness.” He hoped Trip might be able to tell him something about what happened.
“Certainly Captain, but he suffered a pretty severe concussion and I won’t expect him to come around until morning.” Phlox saw the Captain’s brow crease and knew he was worried, but he had to let him know the situation.
“Very well, I’ll stop by in the morning to see how he’s doing.” Archer wanted to get back to engineering so he could try to solve the mystery.
“Aye Captain.” Phlox watched Archer leave and knew how worried he was about his friend.
“Archer to Ensign Sato.”
“Go ahead sir.”
“Meet me in engineering with a Universal Translator.” He hoped to make contact with whatever was in engineering and would need Hoshi’s help.
“On my way, sir.” Hoshi knew there had been strange things going on in engineering. Both Trip and Malcolm had mentioned it to her. Now that whatever it was had hurt Trip, she wanted to help any way she could,
Archer acknowledged Hoshi’s arrival with a nod. “I don’t know if this is going to work, but we have to try something, for Trip’s sake.”
“Yes sir, how is he?”
“He suffered a pretty severe concussion. Phlox doesn’t expect him to come around until morning.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I will stop by and see him before my shift tomorrow.” Hoshi took out the UT and began pushing buttons.
“I’m sure Trip would love to see you. You know what I want you to do?” He was pretty sure she did.
“Yes sir, just tell me what you want to say.” Pushing a few more buttons, Hoshi had the UT set to cycle through every known language with whatever Archer said.
“Whoever you are, I am Jonathan Archer, Captain of this vessel. We mean you no harm, but we need to know what you want and why you are here.” As he spoke to the empty room, Archer got that being watched feeling again and thought perhaps the being knew he was trying to communicate.
Hoshi shook her head. “Nothing so far.”
“Give it some time, for whatever reason it seemed to choose Trip to make contact with. We may have to wait until he’s well enough to return.” He’d hoped it would communicate with him, but Trip might be the only one it would talk to.
“Yes sir, I hope that will be soon.” She meant that in several ways, one that Trip wasn’t seriously injured, and two that he could get rid of whatever was haunting engineering, quickly.
“So do I Hoshi, so do I.” He and Hoshi left engineering. The moment they were gone the being floated down to Trip’s desk. After hearing the conversation between those two, it understood that it had done a lot of damage to Tucker. It hoped he would return soon and now that it fully understood their language, it would speak to him.
As Trip began to rise out of the pit of unconsciousness, all he felt was pain. The throbbing in his head was like nothing he ever felt and he just wanted to return to the soothing blackness.
Phlox had other ideas and wanted the Commander to wake. “Commander, I need you to wake up.”
“Don’t want to.” His southern drawl was soft and barely audible. All he wanted was for Phlox to go away and leave him alone.
“You must Commander. You suffered a severe concussion and I need to check your responses.” Phlox knew Tucker was in pain, so he gave him something for it. “Better?”
“A little.” Slowly his blue eyes opened and he squeezed them shut again at the brightness of the room. In reality, Phlox had it as dark as possible without being completely dark.
“Take it easy Commander, one step at a time.” Tucker’s eyes were still slightly dilated from the concussion and that made them sensitive to any light
“What happened?” He decided to keep his eyes closed for the time being.
“Your friend in engineering didn’t seem to like the idea of you heating things up.” Phlox paused while he checked the readings over the bed. “It used a piece of conduit to hit you over the head.”
“Great, now I have things I can’t even see mad at me.”
Phlox chuckled and smiled. Tucker had not lost his sense of humor and with everything he’d been through that was pretty amazing. “I want you to get some more rest Commander. You are suffering from exhaustion and extreme stress on top of the concussion.”
“I’ll be fine in a couple of hours Doc.”
“More like a couple of days Commander.” Phlox wasn’t sure Tucker had heard him as he was deep asleep. “Sleep well Commander.”
Several
hours later Trip woke to find sickbay empty.
His head was still throbbing and his vision was blurry. None of that mattered to him. All he wanted to do was get to engineering
and find out what that being wanted. He
couldn’t understand what he’d done to make it hurt him. So far it hadn’t done anything but lurk in
the shadows. “Gotta get to engineering.”
Slowly he sat up and had to pause as a wave of dizziness washed over him. This was not going to be easy, but he was determined to get answers. Now all he had to do was get off the bed and get dressed. No problem, right? Under normal circumstances the answer would be no, but now it was iffy. Carefully he slid off the edge of the bed until his feet touched the floor. It took a few moments to gain his feet, but felt somewhat sturdy.
With tremendous pain and the threat of vomiting, Trip got his uniform on and made his way out of sickbay. His head hurt so bad he could hardly see straight and his stomach churned something awful. There was no way he was going to let any of that stop him from getting to engineering and trying to communicate with whatever was there. Using the wall for support, he made his way down the corridor. It took a lot of effort, but whenever a crewmember came by he stood up straight and smiled as if there was nothing wrong.
Entering engineering, Trip found it to be empty except for a couple of crewmembers working on the upper level. They did not see him and he was glad for that. Moving quickly to his desk, he sat down and held his head in his hands. “God, my head hurts.” He whispered. Suddenly he felt a soft breeze by his ear and then there was a voice that was so beautiful it was like a song.
“I am sorry that I hurt you. I did not mean to hit you so hard, but I couldn’t let you increase the heat.”
Trip didn’t move he knew it was the “being”. What he hadn’t expected was for it to be female, or at least as close to female as it could get. “I don’t understand.”
“If you had increased the heat it would have killed me.” She spoke softly as not to cause him further discomfort.
“So you’re not a ghost?” Trip could listen to her voice all day, no matter how much his head hurt.
“A ghost, no I am just as real as you. I live in a realm that is just outside your visual range and I’ve been trapped in your engineering for days.” She was glad to be speaking to him now and found him to be very intelligent and caring.
“I’m sorry, how did you get here?”
“When you passed through the nebula I was absorbed by your shields.” She could see how much pain this man was in and decided to make him go and rest. “You need to go back to your medical facility. It is obvious that you are in no shape to be here.”
“I wanted to try and communicate with you.” Trip paused while he rubbed his temples. The back of his head was throbbing and the cut stung from sweat getting into it. “I needed to find out who you were and what you wanted.”
“There is time for that later. All you need to know right now is that you must return to the nebula in order for me to leave.” Gently she touched the top of his head and stroked his hair. It was her hope that the touch would soothe him.
“That feels nice. What’s your name?” Trip sighed as the pain in his head eased a little. He still felt very nauseous and his vision was blurry.
“I don’t have a name as you do, but you can call me Marvalla. Please, go now.” Leaning down, she gently kissed his cheek and hoped it would make him go.
“That’s a beautiful name. Thanks for talking to me, if I send my Captain here will you talk to him?” Trip felt compelled to return to sickbay. It wasn’t just the pain and discomfort of his concussion, but it had something to do with her too.
“I would really prefer to just talk to you. I feel that I can trust you, but I don’t know about the others. Please, I can wait until you are well enough to return.” She stepped away from him and watched him stand. He was very unsteady on his feet and she knew it was best for him to return to his medical facility. Marvalla also felt very bad that she’d hit him too hard. “Again I am sorry for hurting you, I didn’t…..”
“Please, it’s okay.” Trip smiled at nothing and headed for the door. He really was glad she had insisted he go back to sickbay as he was starting to feel even worse.
Meanwhile Phlox returned to sickbay to find Tucker gone. “Sickbay to the bridge.”
“Go ahead Doctor.” Archer hoped he had good news about Trip.”
“Commander Tucker has left sickbay.”
The frustration and worry were obvious in Phlox’s voice and it made him worried. “Have you checked his quarters?”
“Not yet, but I doubt that’s where he is.” Phlox just knew he was in engineering.
“No, I doubt he’s there either.” Archer also knew where Trip was. He was starting to think he was going to have to put the man in restraints in order to make him get some rest.
“This is serious Captain. Commander Tucker has a severe concussion and if he doesn’t get the proper rest it could have serious complications.” Just then he got a call from another crewmember.
“Crewman Kelly to sickbay.”
“Go ahead crewman.” ‘Now what?’ Phlox thought.
“Sir, I just came across Commander Tucker lying unconscious in the corridor on D deck.” She stood over him looking very worried.
“I’ll be right there crewman, stay with him.” All Phlox could think was that Tucker was going to wear himself to death.
“Yes sir.” She knelt down and checked his pulse again. It seemed strong enough, but when she checked his pupils they seemed somewhat dilated.
Phlox got Trip back to sickbay and Archer was waiting when they arrived. “How is he Doc?”
“Not good Captain. I’m going to have to keep him sedated until the swelling has come down in his head. I may have to drain some fluid before the swelling goes down, but I need to be able to observe him for at least twenty four hours. I can’t do that if he keeps getting up and leaving.” Phlox was angry with Tucker and it was reflected in his voice.
“Do what you have to Doctor. I want him kept in sickbay until you say he’s fit to leave. If that means sedating him then do it.” Archer was also angry, but it was only because he cared about Trip and didn’t want to see him continue the foolish things he did.
“Very well.” Phlox didn’t need to use any kind of sedative at the moment. Tucker was in a deep state of unconsciousness and it would be some time before he woke. Unfortunately his little escapade to engineering had only increased the swelling in his head. Also the longer he was unconscious the further away from Marvalla’s nebula they got.
As Phlox got Tucker situated on the bio-bed, he carefully studied the scans of his head. The swelling had definitely increased and so did the fluid that was building up. There was no choice now but to drain the fluid. If Tucker had just stayed in sickbay and not gone running around the ship, none of this would be necessary.
Archer returned to engineering with the UT. His hope was that he could get the being to talk to him. Maybe if it knew Trip wouldn’t be back for a while, it would decide to talk to him. “Hello? I know you’re here and I mean you no harm. I want to help you, but you have to talk to me. Commander Tucker will not be returning any time soon.”
Hearing his words about Tucker made her speak. “Is he alright?”
It startled Archer to hear her voice. It was such a beautiful sound. “Not exactly, coming here earlier caused him further injury and I’ve told our Doctor to keep him sedated if that’s what it takes to keep him in sickbay.” Archer looked all around, but couldn’t quite figure out where this invisible female was.
“I am truly sorry he was injured at all. I did not mean to hit him so hard.” Marvalla was now very worried about Tucker. She hoped he would be okay/
Archer could hear the worry and sorrow in her voice. “I’m sure with a little rest he will be fine.” He tried to find her location by the sound of her voice, but she seemed to keep moving around. “I assume you spoke to Trip earlier. Can you tell me what you told him?”
“I feel more comfortable talking to Tucker, but I will tell you. I come from the nebula that you passed through several days ago. I exist in a realm that’s just outside your visual range. As I told Tucker, I don’t have a name like you, but you can call me Marvalla. From what I can tell I am pretty much the same as you physically. I must return to the nebula in order to leave your ship.” She moved a little closer to the man. He also seemed to be someone she could trust, so she relaxed a little.
“I will have my helmsman turn the ship around, but it will take several days to get back to the nebula.” Archer sensed she was near and it felt strange to be talking to someone he couldn’t see.
“That is fine; I would like to remain here until I know Tucker is going to be okay.” In fact she would not leave until she saw him up and around.
“I understand, is there anything I can do for you? Do you need food or anything?” He had no idea what she might eat or even how she went to the bathroom.
“No, thank you. I feed off the energy of your engines. The amount I require is so small you can’t even tell.” She didn’t want him to think she was hampering the ships functions.
“Would you like to go somewhere more comfortable?” He kind of thought she would have already done that if she could, but he felt he had to ask.
“I can’t leave your engineering until we are back in the nebula and can return to it, but thank you for offering.” It seemed all these people were nice and she felt more at ease now. She just wished Tucker would return so she could make up for hurting him.
“I will make sure the engineering staff knows you’re here so they don’t get startled by your presence.” Archer smiled and moved to leave.
“Thank you and please let me know how Tucker is doing.”
“I will, good evening.” With that Archer left and was headed back to sickbay.
As soon as Phlox drained the fluid from Trip’s head, he began to make a marked improvement. His vital signs were stronger and he wasn’t in as deep a state of unconsciousness as he had been. The swelling also began to come down and Phlox found it very encouraging. With some rest and the proper medications, he’d be back on his feet in a few days.
Archer entered sickbay to see Phlox standing next to Trip’s bio-bed studying the readings over it very closely. “How is he Doc?”
Phlox looked up at the sound of Archer’s voice. “Much better Captain, I drained the fluid from his head and he’s showing signs of improvement. With the proper rest he should be up and around in a few days.”
“That’s good news. We are headed back the way we came to return the being in engineering to her home in the nebula. I know she will want to know Trip is alright before she leaves.” Archer moved up beside Phlox and looked down at his friend. Sometimes Trip just had too much enthusiasm and curiosity for his own good.
“So it’s a she, what did you find out? I’d be curious to know more about her species.” In fact Phlox was fascinated by the fact that she couldn’t be seen by humans. If he had time, he’d go down to engineering and try to talk to her.
“Yes, it’s a she and she is very interesting. According to her, she is pretty much the same as us physically, but she lives in a realm just outside our visual range and feeds on energy.” He had to admit that she was pretty fascinating to him too. He could certainly understand how Trip thought he was either hallucinating from exhaustion, or that engineering was haunted. Trip deserved credit for thinking it might be some kind of alien being. He’d turned out to be right.
“Do you think she would talk to me? I’d love to learn more about her species.”
“Perhaps, I think she trusts us more now that she’s spoken to me. Before she only seemed to trust Trip. Too bad she didn’t speak to him before she took drastic measures and injured him. I could tell she was very upset about it though.” Glancing at the readings above Trip’s bed, Archer could see that he was indeed improving. “When will he be awake?”
“Not for a while. I’m keeping him sedated until he’s slept for an entire day. He needs the rest more than anything.”
“I won’t disagree with you there, Doc. Let me know as soon as you’re going to wake him.” Archer wanted to talk to Trip and find out if she told him anything else. He also wanted to be sure his friend was alright before he called him on the carpet for leaving sickbay when he shouldn’t have.
“Certainly Captain, I will let you know as soon as he’s awake and I have an idea how he’s feeling.” Phlox made some adjustments to the readouts and injected Tucker with the sedative.
Archer smiled; he knew Phlox understood why he wanted to talk to Trip. “Understood, Doctor.”
Even though Trip was unconscious, he remembered his conversation with Marvalla and especially how beautiful her voice sounded. He thought if she looked anything like she sounded, she would be exquisitely beautiful. His only desire at that point was to see what she looked like with his own two eyes. Somehow he didn’t think that would ever happen.
At the same time that Trip was dreaming of Marvalla, she was thinking of him. Marvalla knew that she’d frightened Tucker badly when she first made her presence known, but he handled it with such calmness that she’d been very impressed. From the moment she saw Tucker she was impressed by him. Tucker had a strong presence and no one seemed to question his authority. He was an impressive man and seemed to radiate confidence and trust. It’s what made her try to reach him in the first place.
A few hours later Trip finally began to regain consciousness. Although he still felt extremely groggy and his head hurt, he was still glad to finally be waking up. His unconscious mind had been working overtime and most of it was not pleasant. The memories of his sister were the most painful of all. However, the thoughts of Marvalla were very nice and he wished they had more time to get to know each other better.
Phlox could tell by the changes in the readings over the bio-bed that Tucker was beginning to come around. He would see how Tucker’s state of mind was before deciding whether to sedate him again or not. “Commander, can you hear me?”
“Sure Doc, I’m not deaf.” Trip knew Phlox was just trying to make sure he was coherent, but he couldn’t resist. The smile that touched his lips let Phlox know he was teasing.
“Good to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor Commander. Now, are you going to stay put, or do I need to sedate you?” Although Phlox was amused, he didn’t let Tucker see that.
“I’ll be good.” Slowly he opened his eyes and as before the light was so bright he had to squeeze them shut again. “Damn Doc, can’t you turn the lights down?”
“They are Commander; you are suffering from a severe concussion. Your eyes are dilated and will react that way until they go back to normal.”
“Okay, I’ll just keep them closed then.” Trip sighed and began to wish he hadn’t run off to engineering earlier. He really felt like crap and knew it was because he’d gone off that he felt that way. On the other hand, he was very glad that Marvalla had decided to speak to him and tell him about herself.
“You rest Commander; I will let the Captain know you are awake. He wants to talk to you.”
“I bet he does.” Trip knew he was in trouble, but it made him glad to know Archer cared that much about him.
“I’ll let him know you are awake, but I don’t feel you are ready to be “talked” to.” Phlox knew Tucker was still in a lot of pain and very groggy. It would not help his situation for the Captain to be yelling at him.
“Thanks Doc, I know he’s probably mad at me.”
“That goes without saying, but it’s only because he doesn’t like to see you putting yourself at risk. You were lucky Commander, if a blood clot had formed, it could have killed you.” That had been one of Phlox’s biggest fears when he found Tucker gone.
“I understand Doc, it won’t happen again.” He hadn’t really understood that until he started to feel really bad and began to lose consciousness in the corridor. It was then that he knew leaving sickbay and going to engineering had been a mistake. “What about Marvalla, is she okay?”
“If you are referring to the being in engineering, she is fine according to Captain Archer.”
Trip sighed and relaxed. As long as she was okay, he felt better. “We are headed back towards the nebula.”
“Yes, Captain Archer spoke with her and she told him some things. It was obvious to him that she was most comfortable talking to you. Why is that?” Phlox just couldn’t quite understand why most people had an immediate trust of Tucker. Granted he was a good man and very caring, but there had to be more.
“You got me, Doc. I wish I knew, maybe I could get the ladies to like me more.” He couldn’t understand why he’d only had three good relationships in his life and none of them had worked out.
“Get some rest Commander; I will advise the Captain to come by in a few hours to see you.” Phlox wanted Tucker to get some more rest. He still showed signs of exhaustion and that wasn’t good.
“Okay, but I want to see Marvalla as soon as possible.”
“That will be a couple more days I’m afraid.” Phlox wasn’t about to let Tucker out of sickbay until he was well rested and his head injury was much closer to being healed.
“Whatever you say, Doc.” Trip was drifting back to sleep as he spoke and his words were soft, like a whisper.
“Indeed Commander, whether you know it or not.” Phlox was glad Tucker was going back to sleep on his own. It meant his body was trying to get the rest it needed and often time’s sedatives did not really accomplish that. As much as he wanted to go to engineering and try talking to this Marvalla, he wouldn’t leave Tucker alone in sickbay.
Marvalla in the meantime did her best to co-exist with the people that worked in engineering. Thankfully there was plenty of room for her to stay out of the way and just take in what energy she could. She would be glad when Tucker was back there and she could talk to him again. It worried her that he seemed to be that physically injured and her need to see him was strong.
When Archer entered sickbay again Trip was still asleep, but he began to wake at the sound of Archer’s voice. “Captain?”
“Trip, how are you feeling?” Archer moved next to him and put his hand on the young man’s shoulder.
“Better, a lot better actually.”
“Good, cause I should kill you for leaving sickbay like that.” Archer smiled as Trip’s brow furrowed and he slowly opened his eyes.
“Had to find out what was going on. I couldn’t let anyone else get hurt and trying to talk to her seemed the only solution.” His blue eyes opened slowly and it was less painful to take in the light of the room. Once his vision focused, he could see a very concerned Archer standing over him.
“It was a stupid and dangerous thing to do Trip. You had a severe concussion and if you hadn’t run off Phlox wouldn’t have had to go in and drain the fluid in your head. You could have died.” It’s what he hadn’t wanted to say, but it was true.
“I’m sorry sir; I guess I just didn’t think of that.” All he could think of was finding out what was in engineering.
“Next time, and there better not be a next time, you don’t leave sickbay unless Phlox says otherwise.” Deep down Archer was glad that Trip had shed some light on the situation in engineering, but he still worried about his friend sometimes.
“Understood.”
“Now get some more rest and I’ll check back tomorrow.” Smiling, he patted Trip on the arm and turned to leave.
“Is Marvalla okay?”
“She seemed fine earlier, just worried about you.”
“Thanks Captain.” Trip closed his eyes and sank back into a dreamless sleep. His body was finally getting the rest it needed and his head was healing.
“You’re welcome Trip.” Nodding to Phlox, Archer headed for the door. “See you tomorrow Doc. Call me if anything changes.” He was going to his quarters to get some sleep himself.
“Certainly, goodnight Captain.” Phlox smiled and could see Archer felt better after talking To Tucker. The Commander was getting better and he would probably let him go to his own quarter’s tomorrow night.
Phlox monitored Trip closely through the night. By morning the swelling was gone and all indications were that he was doing much better. He had no doubt that Trip would have headaches for the next few days, but he could give him something for those. There was no reason Trip couldn’t go back to his quarters later. Phlox still wanted to observe him while he was conscious for a while to make sure there were no side effects to the concussion and swelling.
Trip woke a few hours later and although his head still hurt pretty badly, he no longer had difficulty with the lights. He also felt much stronger and less dizzy, which he took as a good sign that he might be able to get out of sickbay soon.
“Good morning Commander, how are you feeling this morning?” Running the medical tricorder over him, Phlox smiled at the young man.
“Much better, Doc. My head still hurts, but the lights don’t bother my eyes any more.” Trip smiled at Phlox and hoped he’d tell him he could go.
“That’s good news Commander, but I want to keep you here for at least a few more hours. After that I will allow you to go to your quarters, but you are not to work for at least another day.” The disappointment was obvious on Tucker’s face, but there was no way he was going to let him work yet.
“I really feel much better today.” Trip had a pleading look in his eyes, but he could tell it wasn’t working on Phlox.
“I know you are, but I am not going to let you rush your recovery, I’m sorry.” Phlox turned to walk away when Trip spoke again.
“Can I at least drop by engineering for a few minutes to talk to Marvalla?” He felt a strong need to talk to her, but didn’t know why.
“For a few minutes Commander, no more. I will check on you to make sure.”
“Thanks Doc, I appreciate it.” Trip spent the next several hours letting Phlox run all kinds of tests on him and checking his reflexes. All he wanted to do was get out of there, but he would wait until Phlox was satisfied he was okay to go.
It was obvious to Phlox that Tucker was anxious to get out of sickbay. After running his tests he decided that he wasn’t suffering any ill effects of the head injury and would let him go. “Alright Commander, you can go, but I want you back here this evening for a check-up.”
“Sure thing Doc thanks.” With that Trip headed for the doors out of sickbay. He was very anxious to get to engineering. It didn’t seem to take him any time at all to reach engineering. There were several crewmembers working and they smiled and nodded. It was obvious they were glad to see him back. Making his way toward the back of engineering where he knew no one was working, he called out to Marvalla. “Are you here?”
“Yes, I am here Tucker. I am very glad to see you. Are you alright?” She moved close to him and her hand gently touched the back of his head.
“I’m fine; I’ll just have a headache for a few days. Doc is giving me something for it though. Are you okay? The Captain told me he spoke to you.” He could feel her close to him and her hand was now on his shoulder, but otherwise he couldn’t tell where she was.
“I am just fine Tucker, now that I know you are well. I was so afraid that I had hurt you too badly and I want to make it up to you.” Leaning forward she kissed him on the cheek and slowly down to his neck.
“Marvalla, that really isn’t necessary and this isn’t the time or place. I wish I could see you and touch you.” He could try to touch her, but would have no idea what he was touching.
“I wish you could too. Come back here later tonight when there aren’t so many people and we can really talk in private.” She made it obvious how she intended to make things up to him and could tell he understood.
Trip nodded and began to move away. If he was going to come back later tonight then he would need to get some rest. He was feeling tired and his head ached a little. “Alright, I’ll make sure engineering is empty later.”
“See you then.” She watched him leave and couldn’t help thinking what an incredible man he was for someone of a different species.
Trip went to engineering that night which was against Phlox’s orders, but he wanted to get to know Marvalla better. He hadn’t been sorry he went and he found out a great deal about her, including how exquisitely beautiful she was. The night had taken a great deal out of him and he slept late. When he woke he had a very bad headache, but it was worth it for what he got out of the night. Today Marvalla would be leaving, as they would be in the nebula within the next few hours.
After visiting sickbay to get something for his headache, Trip went to engineering to find Marvalla. He knew it was probably the last time he’d ever see her and that made him very sad. She had come to mean a great deal to him, but he wasn’t sure he could say that he loved her.
Marvalla
was remembering the night before. She’d
learned so much about Tucker and humans.
It was a night she’d never forget and it was going to be very hard to
say goodbye to him today. There was no choice;
she had to get back to where she belonged.
Even though she was able to absorb energy from
Trip
entered engineering and found
“Sure,
Commander.”
“Thanks.” As soon as engineering was empty, Trip called to Marvalla. “You can come out now.”
“It is good to see you again. Last night was an incredible experience for me and I learned a great deal about your species.” She moved close to him and touched his cheek. “I wish I didn’t have to go, but I am beginning to feel the effects of being out of my realm.”
“Are you okay?” Now Trip was worried. He hoped last night hadn’t caused her any problems.
“I am fine and will be much better once I am back out in the nebula.” Leaning forward she kissed Trip gently at first, but the kiss quickly grew deeper. After a moment she pulled away and smiled at him. “I will miss you and shall never forget what you gave me, especially your trust and kindness.”
“Marvalla…..”
She stopped what he was going to say by kissing him again. He had the softest, fullest, sweetest lips she’d ever kissed and she found it hard to stop kissing him. “Don’t say anything, just let me go and keep the memories.”
“I will, take care of yourself Marvalla and maybe someday we’ll meet again.” He almost said see each other again.
“Perhaps we will. When I was absorbed by your shields and deposited in engineering I was terrified. Everything around me was so strange and unfamiliar. I didn’t know if you were hostile or friendly, but as I watched you and the way you interacted with your crew, I just knew I could trust you. You’re beautiful smile lit me up inside and I instantly felt comfortable near you. I am only sorry that I scared you and hurt you as badly as I did. That is my biggest regret, but it led to some much more wonderful things. Goodbye Trip.” She caressed his cheek and kissed him briefly before floating up towards the hull.
“Goodbye Marvalla.” Trip knew she was gone. He couldn’t see her go, but he felt the lack of her presence and it made him feel a little empty inside. “Tucker to the bridge.”
“Go ahead Trip.”
“Marvalla is gone, you can return to our original course.” Trip tried not to let his sadness show in his voice, but he had a feeling Archer had heard it.
“Understood, I’ll be right down.” Archer thought Trip had done a good job of hiding his sadness, but he knew the man too well not to have picked up on it.
“Yes sir.” Trip just wanted to bury himself in his work and forget. Unfortunately Phlox had told him to take it easy for another day.
A few minutes later Archer walked into engineering to see Trip working at the warp core. “Trip.”
“Sir.” Trip tried to look busy, but he knew he wasn’t fooling his friend.
“You really cared for her, didn’t you?” Archer climbed up to where Trip was working.
“Yes sir, she was very special and there was a brief time when I actually got to see what she looked like.” He continued to work so Archer wouldn’t see what he was feeling.
“How did that happen?”
Trip blushed and looked away from Archer. “It was in a very private moment, sir.”
“Ah, I understand.” Archer was almost a little surprised that Trip had been with Marvalla. It must have been interesting since she was invisible. “You going to be okay?”
“Yes sir, I’ll be fine.” Finally he looked at his friend and saw understanding in his eyes.
“Good, cause if I recall Phlox ordered you to take another day. So get out of here Commander and relax.” Clapping Trip on the shoulder, Archer climbed down and left engineering.
“Aye, Captain.” Trip smiled and also made his way out of engineering. He already loved to be in engineering, but now it held some special memories.
THE END