C-28
Chapter 15
See Chapter 1 for disclaimer, etc.
A/N: At long last this story has reached its conclusion. I don't know why it took me so long on this last chapter. I guess I have a hard time finishing things. ;)
Anyway, special thanks to: Emiliana Keladry, Laura B, plumtuckered, Rinne, Ocean, Maraschino, highonscifi, and Aurora for continuing to write reviews despite the gaps in my creativity.
And thanks to everyone else who has reviewed and read my story. I hope you've all enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. :)
Several days had passed since Phlox had completed the cure for the Draden enzyme. Ensign Jace was already back on duty, fully recovered, as his exposure was less serious than Trip's. The engineer had been kept under observation for a day longer than Phlox's original prediction due to a severe bout of nausea that, in Trip's words, had reacquainted him with his breakfast from a fortnight ago. Luckily, the other side effects of the treatment had been mild.
Now, two days after being released to his quarters and left to himself aside from Phlox's frequent check-ups and the occasional visit from Jon, Trip was feeling nearly human again. If any symptoms still remained of the enzyme's presence, they were easily ignored. Most of his strength had returned as well, though it would be over a week before he was allowed to return to duty, as his leg was still not healed to the doctor's satisfaction. To tell the truth, Trip was becoming a little restless, so he was grateful when the comm sounded, providing at least a temporary distraction.
"Archer to Commander Tucker."
Trip reached over and pressed the button on the comm panel. "Go ahead, Cap'n."
"Join us in the cargo bay in half an hour if you're feeling up to it, Trip. Malcolm's going to demonstrate the effectiveness of the C-28 and trellium-D as compared to our hull plating alone." There was amusement in Jon's voice.
"An opportunity to tease Malcolm about blowin' up stuff? I wouldn't miss it," Trip said, grinning.
"I thought you might say that. See you there. Archer out."
Trip hobbled into the shuttlebay, moving a bit awkwardly with the crutches, but glad that his shoulder had healed enough to allow him to get rid of the wheelchair he'd had to use when first leaving sickbay. From Jon's description, he'd expected to find T'Pol, and perhaps Hoshi and Travis at Malcolm's presentation, not the large gathering that met his eyes instead. Of course T'Pol and the communications and helm officers were present, but so were Ensigns Jace and Avery, Jirah, Phlox, and a good part of his engineering staff. He even recognized a few of Malcolm's security officers, and various other crewmen.
As he moved closer, he saw the staging area for the presentation. Two fairly large sections of spare hull material were positioned about 30 feet away, connected to a menagerie of sensors, to collect data on the first real 'test' of the C-28/trellium-D combination Trip assumed. Jon saw him then and motioned him over to where he, T'Pol, and Jirah were engaged in a conversation that had the two men chuckling intermittently and T'Pol with an amused gleam in her eyes.
"What's so funny?" Trip asked.
"Jirah just expressed his desire for a private meeting with the Xindi," said T'Pol.
"He said the same to me a few days ago," the engineer replied.
"Yes, but I never happened to tell you what the discussion topic was to be."
"From the way you were talkin', I sort of assumed that this private meetin' would have been a private boxing match, with you havin' a decided advantage."
"What kind of a person do you take me for, Commander?" Jirah feigned a hurt look. "Violence is not my preferred method of asserting my will. I wished to offer the man a business proposition. I thought since he and Uncle were so fond of working together, that Uncle could go around the sector making bad business deals and the Xindi could follow him, trying to collect a bounty on Uncle's head."
"Ya don't like your uncle much do ya? And don't ya think that business arrangement would be rather short-lived?"
"Nah, Uncle may be lukewarm in the customer satisfaction department, but he's an expert at hiding under rocks."
Trip joined in the laughter, and talked for a while longer with Archer and Jirah, before finding a chair and slowly lowering himself into it when Malcolm announced that it was time to begin.
The presentation got underway, and Trip watched with curiosity. While the two pieces of hull initially looked no different, after taking sustained phaser blasts, there was a large difference to be seen between the C-28 hull plating and the hull nearly classifiable as charred rubble. It appeared the C-28 was doing its job. Several crewmembers who hadn't been immediately involved in the technical aspects of developing the C-28 for use on the hull had questions, which Malcolm answered with T'Pol's help. Trip had some questions too, but he intended to read the entire span of reports on the subject, not to mention do a little hands-on experimentation of his own to answer them.
After a while it seemed that the questions from the crew had taken a turn toward phase cannons rather than C-28, and Trip was wondering whether Malcolm had purposely redirected the subject when he felt Jirah nudge him. He turned to his right to see a mischievous look on the Draden's face.
"You're a talented engineer, Mr. Tucker. Do you suppose it would be possible to shield an EVA suit with C-28 and trellium-D? That way, the business arrangement between Uncle and the Xindi might stand up against the Xindi's bad temper."
"At least until the Xindi gains possession of a sharp object instead of an energy weapon, I guess," Trip replied, a grin spreading across his face.
"Or until he doesn't protect his assets and his suit gets stolen just like his C-28," Archer added, and the three burst out laughing. After all, what fun was it to win if you couldn't make fun of the other guy a bit?
The End