Liberty Two-Four

Chapter 5

Rating: PG-13, for bad language and action scenes.
Date: 20090106
Genre: (alluding to) Friendship/Romance, Action, T’Pau
Archive: Triaxian Silk (Library at P’Jem), please. Other archives may request permission to archive or link to this story by email. (You’ll probably receive green light).
Disclaimer: Paramount owns the characters and background setting from Star Trek. The names and related intellectual property belongs to them. I just try to write an interesting story about them.
Summary: T’Pau arrives at Earth for diplomatic meetings with the United Earth prime minister and is promptly kidnapped in the middle of a violent attack on the Vulcan embassy.

A/N: This story is roughly based after the events of Terra Prime. It’s definitely AU, the way I want to write about T’Pau is entirely non-consistent with her appearance in TOS (and ENT as well, probably).
Vulcans speak Vulcan where it is to be expected, I’m not gonna list it every time. I want to thank HR, Distracted, Blackn’Blue and Rigil Kent for being such influential writers. Translatio, Imitatio, Aemulatio.

A/N2: Hmm, this seems to be a very merry Vulcan piece. :D Enjoy!

The Human who had captured her had left the room approximately 89.4 minutes ago and then left the building 30.7 minutes later. She could feel the first minor effects of dehydration on her body as well as some muscular discomfort due to the hours she spent lying on her back on a hard table with her arms at her side, unable to do more than tense her muscles every few minutes to stave off cramps.

His rude behaviour is just another proof of the Human’s lack of understanding of proper etiquette! The nerve to sit next to me without any regard for my sense of smell and just eat his breakfast approximately 33 cm away from my ear! she thought to herself with what could be classified as anger, disregarding for the moment the fact that he had actually smelled far less worse than some of the diplomats she had had the misfortune of meeting.

Forcing her thoughts away from her captor and on to more productive lanes, she recounted to herself once more what she could remember of her kidnapping. Which wasn’t much altogether. As she was nearing the Human security team with her escort a bomb had gone off somewhere in front of her. Next there was disruptor and phase rifle fire and then she must have been hit for she couldn’t remember anything else until waking up in this room in the dark.

She hadn’t been able to get a look at the restraints which bound her wrists and ankles to the table but the fact that they were able to withstand her Vulcan strength suggested they weren’t designed for Humans. All these facts were evidence that this Human was part of the group that initiated the attack on the Vulcan compound, though she wondered why she hadn’t so far noticed any other Humans in the vicinity. Surely the Humans would have brought her to their leader, and if this Human was their leader then surely he would have some bodyguards or assistants with him. The situation was puzzling.

The sound of the front door opening was her first warning, the Human’s smell the second. She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing in an attempt to pass for unconscious once more as she heard him move about into the various other rooms until she heard him come into the living room. “Wakey wakey!” he called out, to her dismay. “Come on, woman, stop pretending. We are in danger.”

His statement was so incongruous that she opened her eyes to stare at him. The Human seemed to be a young male of slightly above-average height and slightly below-average weight. His black hair was cut short enough that it could stand up in tiny, centimetre long spikes, obviously encouraged by a generous helping of the gelatinous substance human males were prone to adding to their hair. His eyes were blue, an unusual combination in that she had never before seen a human with black hair and blue eyes. He seemed somewhat bewildered by her gaze and quickly averted his eyes before moving over to a point behind her head and out of her sight. She almost wrinkled her nose in exasperation at his illogical behaviour.

“What do you mean, we are in danger? It would seem likely that either I am in danger from you or your allies, or you from my allies,” she responded with disdain.

He stayed silent for a little while before returning with a glass of water and a long cylindrical implement. “Here, you must be thirsty. Unfortunately I can’t yet release you, so you’ll have to make do with the straw.”

As he proceeded to put the glass down next to her head with the straw touching her lips she quickly suppressed her annoyance at his behaviour. Quickly weighing the pros and cons, she decided upon drinking a little of the water. It wasn’t easy in her position, but she managed so succeed without any of the fluid entering her windpipe.

“From my current predicament I have deduced that you are part of the group that attacked the Vulcan compound. Therefore it would seem illogical that you and I can be in danger together,” she prompted him again. The Human seemed to have an unusual interest in her face but now proceeded to make a variety of faces in what she hypothesized was an attempt to construct a logical explanation.

“Not entirely,” he said with teeth bared in what Humans called a ‘smile’. “I took the liberty of kidnapping you from your grounds amidst excessive fighting between Humans and Vulcans.”

“Unlikely,” she responded in a flat tone almost before he had finished. Did this Human think her intellectual capabilities were below his? Maybe he expects my intelligence to be on par with my youth she thought. It’s possible he sees me as nothing but a figurehead for the remaining members of the old administration. She had experience with such attitudes among multiple races.

“It makes no sense to save me from a Human attack on the Vulcan compound by taking me away from that place. And why would you even make an attempt to save me?”

Her highly logical question seemed to have a most illogical effect. The Human appeared notably disconcerted as he opened and closed his mouth a few times. His eyes seemed to change their hue somewhat in a manner that suggested they were being influenced by his emotional condition. For a moment his manner, his stance and his facial expression all displayed faint traces of fear. A part of her mind that kept processing the proceedings objectively wondered how she could be so sure of this alien’s emotional state based upon almost imperceptible changes in his stances and facial expression but she ignored it for the moment as he suddenly dropped himself in a chair next to her, forcing her to rotate her neck in an uncomfortable position to keep sight of his face. He scraped his throat once before replying with a tiny waver of uncertainty:

“I don’t know!”

“You have been markedly distracted,” T’Pol said, while sipping from her tea. When her table partner didn’t react she glanced around to make sure no one could hear them and added in an urgent whisper: “Trip!”

The addressed made a jerking motion as if he were about to fall out of his chair before refocusing on her. “Ah’m sorry T’Pol, I’ve just been thinking is all.” She noticed his tongue taking up residence in the corner of mouth again before he suddenly said: “What would you think if you suddenly received a quote from a movie on your terminal?”

Blinking once as she processed the non-sequitur, she needed approximately 4.3 seconds to formulate a response: “I would assume it had come from you, Commander.”

He looked at her with a confused expression before suddenly jumping up, slamming with his knee against the table in the process. After his predictable wild antics in response to the sudden pain he made as if to kiss her before composing himself and walking in an unseemly fast pace towards the comm. unit on the wall.

“Tucker to Lieutenant Sato.”

Part 5

Summary: After waking up in an unexpected place T’Pau makes a deal with her captor.

After his outburst Tan had closed his eyes and all but buried his head in his hands. What the hell is going on here? I’m a trained operative of the Section! I’ve been trained to control my fear, my emotions, my actions! I don’t just break down in front of a Vulcan, pretty eyes or not!

“Why are you afraid of me? At the moment you are clearly in a position of superiority.”

It was her unmistakably puzzled tone of voice that made him open his eyes and look at her. She really doesn’t understand. He fought with himself for a moment, deciding what he could say and calming himself as much as possible. Looking for something to do with his hands, he stood up and started fidgeting with various things behind her head.

“When I came out of the residence area yesterday and heard the explosion I dove for cover and then made my way forward cautiously. I saw the courtyard in utter chaos. Everybody was fighting everybody, it seemed. My best guess is that a mixed group of Humans and Vulcans attacked the compound. Various civilians were down, others were scrambling for cover. I saw MACO’s and Starfleet security in combat with both Humans and Vulcans in nondescript clothing. Most of your Vulcan security guard was down already but the others were fighting the same group. I was on my way to make a safe exit when I saw you lying amidst the fighting and rubble.”

He paused, turning towards her even though she couldn’t see him at this angle. “I picked you up and took you with me. It wasn’t easy but I managed to get here relatively unscathed. However, they are on my tail now, which means that you are in danger.”

Noticing her cup of water was empty he refilled it and then checked her wounds. She regarded him silently while he redressed the cut in her upper left chest and checked the various bruises she had suffered.

“Your story is highly implausible. Like I said, I would have been safer with my people.” He couldn’t detect any disbelief in her eyes. It was almost as if she were truly interested in his side of the story.

“It didn’t seem unlikely that your people and Starfleet would lose the battle. Besides, for the operation that they conducted to have succeeded so smoothly, so well organised, so well planned, they had to have inside information and perhaps even help. Your own people could have very well betrayed you and delivered you right back into their hands.”

Now he definitely saw a glint of disbelief in her eyes. “You claim to have considered this all in the middle of such a pandemonium?” she asked with raised eyebrows.

He looked down and sighed. “No. I didn’t even fully realize who you were until I looked you up in the database once I arrived here.”

He saw her raise one eyebrow in what seemed almost sarcasm but her tone betrayed nothing. “Will you release me?”

“That might be problematic,” he said with a wry grin. “I don’t much like the prospect of being anywhere near your position the moment I release your bonds.”

She cocked her head as if she knew what he was going to say. “What do you propose?”

Pretending to search for words in an effort to win time, he tried to gaze at a point past her head but soon found himself looking at her face, admiring her delicate eyebrows and the colour of her eyes and the intriguing form of her ears.

“An oath,” he managed to say, eventually. It sounded more like a hoarse whisper to him. He cleared his throat to clarify. “An oath of obedience. You’re a Vulcan and oaths count heavily for your people. If you’ll promise to obey me and, most pressingly, not attack me until I’ve delivered you to safety to either Starfleet or the Vulcan High Command.”

“High Council.”

“Sorry, High Council. In return I promise to keep you safe to the best of my abilities and deliver you to either of them as soon as possible.”

Unexpectedly, her face showed no distaste for his proposal. Though, as she was a Vulcan, it was doubtful he would’ve seen it if it were there. Nevertheless, Tan was convinced that she considered his proposal objectively, which was more than he’d expected.

“Your species doesn’t have the same disinclination against lying or breaking an oath. How would I know I can trust you?”

He looked at her in amazement until he realized that her line of thinking was reasonable. Coming up with a satisfying guarantee proved to be rather more difficult. How can I convince her I’m trustworthy? I have kidnapped her, after all, even if it were for her benefit, and though I haven’t done anything to her yet I could still… Wait, that’s it!

“I could leave you here!” he exclaimed in relief at having found a convincing argument. She wrinkled her nose slightly – in a very cute way, part of him noticed – at his paradoxical behaviour.

“I mean, I could just leave you here and trust your enemies to find you, or even tell them were you are if I were working with them. I don’t have to release you. Why would I go through all the trouble?”

She gazed at him with unblinking eyes for so long that he felt he was a figure in the ancient Egyptian myths – that she weighed his soul against a feather to determine his trustworthiness and looked right through him in the meantime, discovering his hopes and dreams and his biggest fears. Until she sighed a little and accepted with a simple: “Very well, I accept.”

Vrel looked in utter dispassion at the console screen in front of him. On the left side was an older Human male, Admiral James Callahan Damaske, the current head of their Starfleet Intelligence. On the left a younger Human female, Lieutenant Hoshi Sato, who was currently stationed on Enterprise despite being easily one of the best linguists and code breakers Starfleet employed. Were he Human, Vrel might have shaken his head at such illogical behaviour.

“And you claim it is a message?” he asked the female once again. He couldn’t quite grasp why any Human would make use of such a situational code, but then again, he couldn’t quite grasp Humans in general.

“Yes Sir,” she replied crisply. “It is a quote from a movie from the late twentieth century and based on the context I think it means that the sender has retrieved Chief Minister T’Pau.”

“But no one seems to know who the sender is!” the Human male interrupted. “He didn’t sign the message and he is inexplicably completely untraceable.” Vrel adjusted his estimate of the Human’s intelligence. In order to understand and use such a word as ‘inexplicably’ the man had to have more intelligence than he had earlier suspected.

“Beg your pardon, Sir, but he did sign it, in a way,” Lieutenant Sato continued. “Not everyone would know such a quote. We’re looking for a movie buff – someone with an interest in and great knowledge of older human movies, especially from that period in time. The fact that he sent it to a specific high-security terminal seems to suggest that the owner of that terminal might be able to make more of it, but as you have determined that she can’t, I think it was merely an effort to make sure the note would be read.”

Vrel inclined his head slightly in agreement. Considering the information his department had been able to find in the database, he couldn’t do anything but agree with her. For someone of her species the female’s logic was impeccable.

“So now I have to go searching for movie geeks among my personnel,” the male said in unwilling resignation. “Oh well, I guess one lead is better than no lead at all. Thank you, Lieutenant.” “You’re welcome, Admiral, Subcommander,” was the female’s only reply before she logged off.

Part 6

Summary: After making a deal T’Pau and Tan try to escape her pursuers.

A/N: I promise, the next instalment will finally feature some action. It’s taken me way too long ^^ But this has been very gratifying as well. :D

“I accept.”

Her words rang in the silence between them. He couldn’t really understand why he was so confused, feeling relieved, surprised and angry at the same time. It didn’t make sense for him to be so out of it. It’s probably just the sleep deprivation he assured himself.

The calm way she looked at him, seemingly prepared to wait an eternity until he’d finished with his internal ministrations, brought him back to the here and now faster than any abrupt command could have. There was something in her eyes that made his hackles stand up in anxious anticipation and he didn’t much care for the way that left him feeling.

He busied himself with her restraints as an excuse to avoid her gaze, then helped her sit up once he had completely freed her. Luckily she had the common sense not to protest and allowed him to help her upright. He fussed over redressing her robes where he had bared her flesh to attend to her wound, but eventually he felt himself forced to step back and look at her.

She hadn’t spoken a word all the while and as he drank in her sight he found himself reminded of the legend of Jeanne d’Arc.

“I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is … call me Rand.”

He did most emphatically not look at her but he was sure that she had noticed, examined and filed away his lapse. All she did, however, was to incline her head a little without any verbal response. Her silence worried him. The Vulcan mask she kept in place carefully betrayed none of her emotions and he didn’t know what to think of it.

“Are you all right? Can I do anything to help you recover?”

Again his only answer was silence, but this time there was a definite air of … pondering. He thought she tilted her head, but wasn’t sure as he still avoided looking directly at her.

“You seem distraught.” It was an observation, not a question. “I will be all right with a few minutes of rest and perhaps another glass of water. Do you have a plan to get us both to safety?”

T’Pau sank back in the back seat of the ground-based vehicle as the Human, Rand, had asked her. She doubted it was his true name; she had noticed his lapse and deduced what it meant. So far, however, she had been unable to find out more about her former captor.

According to his plan they had made use of a back door out of the building to get her into this vehicle unseen. Her muscular control had suffered from her long hours of lying on a table without moving, and to her dismay she had been forced to accept the Human’s assistance. Now they were more or less safely on their way to another place in this Human city and she had the time to sit back, let her muscles rest and review what she knew of her unlikely ally.

The logic behind her acceptance of his proposal was sound, she was sure. It was the best choice she had given the circumstances. The attack on the compound proved Vrel wasn’t infallible, at best, and therefore remaining on that table, bound and waiting for help, didn’t seem to be a viable option. She had no guarantee that the Human would not betray her but, as he had quite succinctly pointed out, he had no reason to set her free if he wanted her harmed. Of course, the question remained why he had bound her in the first place, but from his mannerisms she suspected he was afraid of her.

She couldn’t fathom why he would be afraid of her. While he seemed to be aware of the basic physiological differences between Vulcans and Humans, she didn’t think he was afraid of her physically as much as emotionally. The way he avoided looking at her seemed highly illogical.

She had to concede that her behaviour had been highly irrational as well. For some reason she was inclined to trust this Human, which made no sense at all from an objective standpoint. Furthermore, she had had trouble concentrating and focusing her thought processes in his presence. She wrote it down to a mild shock due to being kidnapped in such a violent manner but even then she had believed herself to be above such emotional chaos.

Suddenly the vehicle stopped moving and he stepped outside after shooting a warning glance in her direction. As she kept herself hidden from curious glances, helped in no part by the shaded windows, she wrinkled her nose at the offensive Human smells that wafted in through the opened side door. She didn’t know what he was doing, for there had been hardly any communication between them after leaving his apartment, but she found herself hoping it wouldn’t take long.

Luckily for her he came back after only 2.7 minutes. Glancing in her direction so quickly she couldn’t gather his emotional state from his facial expression he turned back into a forward position and re-engaged the vehicle’s propulsion system. T’Pau felt a sense of relief that she wouldn’t have to tolerate Human offensive smells – at least not for the time being.

The realization came suddenly and unexpectedly. As a sharp stab of fear drove into her belly, she could barely suppress her reaction to a widening of her eyes. There were no offensive smells!