And a Child Shall Lead Them

Author’s note:  These are missing scenes from Terra Prime.  My daughter, who has a degree in English, edited this story for me.

T'Pol and Trip sat for a while holding hands.

"We need to buy a casket," Trip said. "I would like to get her a dress too. I don't want her buried in that blue thing they had on her."

"May I pick out the dress? I would like to dress her and brush her hair before she is put in the casket. I want to be her mother one time."

"Sure, if you want. I will make sure the mortician goes along with it. We will hunt until we find one that will let you do that."

"The casket."

"We should get a white one, maybe with gold trim."

"Green is a special color to Vulcans. Perhaps some light green trim instead of gold."

"Of course, if that will please you."

"It will very much."

"I guess the mortician will have some caskets to sell. If not, perhaps there will be a place that specializes in caskets."

"After the ceremony, I will take her to Vulcan to be put in the crypt with my mother."

"We will take her to Vulcan. I am her father."

"Of course, WE will."

"You should make arrangements tomorrow to get us on a ship right away. We can take Elizabeth to the ship as soon as we can leave the cathedral."

"That is acceptable."

"She was so beautiful. Like her mother."

"She looked so much like you. Her eyes, hair, everything."

"I guess she looked a bit like both of us."

"I shall never be able to dress her, brush her hair, see her first steps, hear her first words," T'Pol said.

"See her first day at school. See her turn into a young woman. I won't be able to run off the first boys that come around. I won't walk her down the aisle to be married."

Trip reached out to hold T'Pol. He was crying. T'Pol came into his arms; she was crying too. They cried for one another, and the future their daughter would never have.

"Will you stay here tonight?" T'Pol asked. "I don't want to be alone. I just want you to hold me, nothing else."

"Of course. I really don't want to be alone, either. I promise all I will do is hold you. You should get out of those robes though."

"I will put on my pajamas."

"Do you want to have something to eat sent down?"

"No, unless you are hungry."

"No, just sleepy. It has been a hard day."

"I will be right out. You should take off your uniform."

"Okay, if you don't mind me being in my underwear."

"I have seen you like that before."

Later, they got into bed. Trip was holding T'Pol lightly. The light was off.

"Good night, T'Pol"

"Good night."

The next morning Trip said:  "Would you mind if we asked Hoshi and Malcolm to come to Vulcan with us? Sort of a small Human gathering for the Vulcan service."

"They did not know Elizabeth."

"Neither did we. We are her parents, but it wasn't until we got her away from Paxton that we really bonded with her. I believe that Mal and Hoshi would have made great godparents for her."

"If they would agree to go, they would be welcome. What about Archer?"

"He is too busy. He has a full plate. He couldn't get away that long."

"Will you ask Hoshi and Malcolm or shall I?

"You, T'Pol. You are Elizabeth's mother and it would sound better coming from you, since the service will be held on Vulcan."

"I will call them before we leave this morning and arrange for the ship at the same time."

"Good, I will call Starfleet Engineering to see if we can build a small stasis unit that will fit at the bottom of the casket."

Later that morning, Trip said, "Hoshi and Malcolm said they would be proud to accompany us to Vulcan. They have a lot of leave time coming so there will be no problem getting away. We will be traveling on a Vulcan diplomatic courier ship that is due to leave soon after the service."

"Then that much is settled. I am happy that Malcolm and Hoshi will be going along."

"I hate to do it, but we will have to take Elizabeth to the mortician to be embalmed."

"Embalmed? What is that? Does she need it?"

"Yes, she does. She is half human and you would be surprised at what happens to a human soon after they die if they are not embalmed."

"What do they do during embalming?"

After Trip told T'Pol the procedures, T'Pol rebelled.

"I don't want that done to my daughter. Can't she be put in stasis until the ceremony?"

"Sure, but what then? She still has to be taken to Vulcan. She will have to be embalmed for that."

"Can't you make something that you can put in the casket that will keep her in stasis?"

"I guess. It will give me something to do before the service. Right now we have to do some shopping."

They visited some mortuaries until they found a casket they liked. They spent time in many baby clothes stores. T'Pol looked and looked until she found a simple light green dress.

"We will need some booties too."

"T'Pol, her feet won't be seen. Fact is, with the stasis unit, we cannot open the casket for viewing."

"I want her dressed completely."

"Okay, I guess she should have some booties."

They found a suitable mortician who would allow T'Pol to dress Elizabeth, brush her hair and supervise the face make-up. Trip told the mortician Elizabeth would be brought to the mortuary in the casket.

The day of the service, police kept the curious, the onlookers and the Terra Prime supporters two blocks away from the cathedral. Delegates and the Enterprise crew were all that were allowed in.

T'Pol wore human clothes; she would wear mourning robes on Vulcan. She was dressed in black with a hat that had a veil covering her face. She did not hide her ears; everyone knew she was Vulcan.

Trip, T'Pol, Malcolm, Hoshi, Travis and Archer sat in front of the casket. Trip's face was rigid and T'Pol's was a blank mask. Only Hoshi showed any emotion.

The ceremony started and the minister delivered a sermon about brotherhood. At last Trip was asked to talk.

He stood and began to speak.

"Elizabeth was not a symbol. She would not want to be one. She was not a danger to other children. She would want to be their friend, play with them. She would know that her daddy, mother, family loved her. But she would wonder why others didn't like her, because she had done nothing to them. If she was a symbol of anything it was a happy, child running, playing, laughing."

Trip sat down then. The minister finished the service. Trip, Archer, Travis and Malcolm stood up and took positions at each corner of the casket. T'Pol stood at the head of the casket. They waited until the cathedral cleared, then Trip opened the casket. T'Pol leaned in, kissed Elizabeth, put an IDIC next to her heart and put the tiny hands over it. Trip put his hand on his daughter's cheek and said, "I love you, Punkin." He then closed the casket.

"One, two, three." The four men picked up the casket and walked down the aisle. T'Pol walked behind with her head bowed.

They exited the cathedral. There was a ground car and a hearse waiting with the rear door open. The casket was slid in and the door closed.

Hoshi and Malcolm walked to the ground car, got in, and waited for Trip and T'Pol to enter the hearse.

Trip and T'Pol walked to the side door of the hearse, which was open. Soval walked up.

"I will accompany you to Vulcan. I can help with the formalities and get you and the casket away quickly."

"Thank You, Soval," said T-Pol.

Trip turned to Archer.

"You had better have Paxton locked up where I can't get at him when I come back from Vulcan. I will strangle him with my bare hands - slowly listening to him beg for his life. Oh, he will beg. He wants to be a martyr, but not until he has a chance to use the trial as a platform to spray his hatred to the world. I will watch his eyes to see the fear in them. The last thing I want him to see is my face with all of the hatred I possess for him on it."

"Trip, you can't do that. Paxton has to stand trial," said Archer.

"If you were a five star admiral and the whole Admiralty ordered me not to, I would disobey if I had the chance to kill him," said Trip.

Archer looked at T-Pol. "Tell him he can't do that."

"If Charles cannot, I will," said T-Pol.

"What?" said Archer.

"A Vulcan woman protects her family." She looked at Trip. "Her mate, her children. I could not protect my daughter. I did not know of her existence, and when I did, it was too late."

"But...." started Archer.

"Charles once told me to release my positive emotions and suppress my negative emotions. I did not understand that until now."

T'Pol again looked at Trip. "I love..." T'Pol hesitated. "I have a mother's love. I also have hate and revenge in me. My love is burned into my heart, but my hate and revenge I hold close. They, too, comfort me. I will let go of my hate and revenge soon, but now I need them."

Trip took T'Pol's arm and guided her into the hearse and got in after her. Soval started to get in beside the driver, then stopped and turned.

"Archer, you know little about Vulcans. A Vulcan woman is fierce in the protection of her family. You humans hate, but we Vulcans suppress our hate because if we let it go, it would be a very savage hatred." Soval got into the hearse and the two vehicles drove off.

"There they go," said Travis. "I hope that Trip and T'Pol's shared hatred does what their love could not, bring them together."

"I do too," said Archer fervently. "They deserve some happiness after this. I just hope that they can find a way while on Vulcan."

Finis