Consequences

Chapter 8

Rating: PG

Genres: general, humour, missing scene, friendship

Disclaimer: Property of Paramount.

Authors Note: Enterprise arrives home and Trip is waiting to be escorted down to Starfleet Headquarters Detention Centre

Chapter Eight

Right on schedule, about 40 hours later, Enterprise pulled slowly into Earth's orbital space dock.  Watching from his window, Trip marveled at the majestic sight of Earth below and around him.  Inside, he was apprehensive that it would be the last time he'd be able to stand here like this and see it.  Counting down the time he had left onboard, he watched the scene play out in his head of what was about to happen.  Ten minutes to dock, airlock initiated, security personnel proceed onboard and career begins its proverbial slide down the tube.

"Engineering confirms full stop, Captain, docking procedures commenced."

"Initiate airlock, Travis.  Hoshi, inform all sections to commence shutdown."

"Sir, Commander James from Starfleet Security is requesting permission to come aboard and speak to you in person."

"Inform him that I'll be at the airlock in five minutes," replied Captain Archer, as he indicated for T'Pol and Malcolm to join him.  He was not looking forward to this next meeting one bit.

At the airlock, T'Pol and Malcolm stood behind Captain Archer as he initiated a seal and opened the doors.  Commander James was there waiting with four of his personnel.

"Permission to come aboard, Captain."

"Permission granted.  These are my Science Officer, Sub Commander T'Pol and my Armory Officer, Lieutenant Reed," said Captain Archer, turning slightly to introduce his next two officers in the chain of command.  "We've followed Starfleet protocols and have Commander Tucker confined to his quarters.  If you will follow me, I'll... "

"We need to talk first, there's been a slight problem with our plans to have Commander Tucker transferred to the detention centre," interrupted Commander James.

"Problem!  What kind of problem?"

"The Press kind.  We were hoping to keep this quiet, but there's been a leak. The station is swarming with reporters, and it's resulted in an... incident.  Admiral Forrest wants to avoid any more, so he is on his way up with some guests. He'll explain everything in more detail in a few minutes."

Captain Archer, Malcolm and T'Pol glanced at each other, wondering what had happened, who the mysterious guests were and just what the 'incident' was that Commander James was referring to.

Commander Tucker paced up and down inside his quarters.  It had been thirty minutes since Enterprise had docked and the engine had shutdown.  Nobody had been in touch and the wait was making him more anxious than ever.  What the hell was taking so long?  Why didn't they just escort him down to Headquarters detention centre and get it damn well over with?  Was this some kind of psychological mind game intended to make him crack? If it was, it was damn effective? The door buzzer made him stop in his tracks.

"Enter..."

Lieutenant Reed came through the door.

"I'm surprised they're letting you escort me down to Headquarters, Mal?"

"Not quite.  Captain Archer's wants to see you in his ready room with Admiral Forrest," said Malcolm with a smirk.

"What's going on, Mal?" Trip asked, wondering how one of his best friends could actually find this situation amusing.

"Come on, you'll see," replied Malcolm with a smile.

As he walked through the door of the captain's ready room, Trip stopped suddenly in his tracks and his eyes opened wide in shock.  "Mom... Dad... what are you doing here?"

"Admiral Forrest thought it would be best if we stayed up her on Enterprise with you, sweetheart," explained Elaine Tucker, after giving her son a huge hug.

"I don't understand, why would it be best for you both to stay up here on Enterprise and not back at home?"

Elaine Tucker suddenly looked sheepish, as her husband came up and gave her a hug.  "I think the surroundings would be a little less volatile up here," said Charles Sr. with a smile, making Trip look even more confused.

"It seems news of Enterprise's return for your court martial has been leaked to the press," replied Admiral Forrest. "Jupiter Station is filled up at this moment with reporters looking for a story."

"They saw me and your mom going into Starfleet Headquarters and surrounded us," explained Charles Sr.  "Having them all around us, bombarding us with questions like that every second, well, it was a little overwhelming to say the least."

"One of them was quite rude," said Elaine.  "The things she was saying about you... and Enterprise, inferring that you were doing nothing out there but causing trouble for Earth, well I'm sorry to say I lost my temper.  I'm not sorry for reacting to what she was saying, I'm just sorry that I reacted the way I did."

"Hon... from what she said... I think any of us would have done the same, am I right?" asked Charles Sr. looking at Admiral Forrest and Commander James for support.

Captain Archer and Commander James both nodded their heads, while trying to hide a smirk.

"Well, I might have tried to be a bit more subtle," replied Admiral Forrest, also trying to hide a smile, "but I can certainly understand your reaction, ma'am."

"What did you do, mom?" asked Trip, blushing bright red from embarrassment.

"Son, let's just say I doubt she will be wearing her eye camera for a while," said Charles Sr., giving his wife another hug of support. 

"Cracking punch I might add as well," whispered one of the security personnel in the background to Lieutenant Reed, whom seemed rather impressed over the whole situation.

"I think we all know where you get your impulsive nature from now," joked Admiral Forrest, but it just made Trip blush even redder than before.  "We saw and heard the whole incident and intervened before it could get out of hand.   I'm sure you can understand that if we escorted you down to Headquarters Security now, the whole situation could escalate even more, so it would be better if you and your parents stayed up here on Enterprise until the trial starts."

"Commander James said there was a leak," enquired Captain Archer, trying to divert attention away from his embarrassed friend and mother.

"We've investigated the situation but haven't been able to pinpoint a source yet," replied Commander James in irritated manner.  He prided himself on his professionalism and his highly trained, first rate department.  The idea that this kind of thing had happened annoyed him, but even more so, since his team hadn't been able to stop it or find out where it was coming from.

"I did mention what was happening to my mom and dad a few days ago, but I highly doubt they would talk about it with anyone else, wouldn't you," said Commander Tucker, looking towards his parents to confirm this.

"Don't worry, Commander, Mr and Mrs Tucker, you have nothing to be concerned about.  I have my suspicions where the leak originated from," said Admiral Forrest. 

"Is this linked to what you were saying about things going on at the moment, in regards to Enterprise," asked Captain Archer.

"Very much so," replied Admiral Forrest.  "It's happened a few times before, not long after your mission was reinstated after the Paragaan incident.  The bits of information which leaked out have always been very precise and extremely detrimental in nature towards your actions out there exploring.  It's resulted in a lot of increasingly bad feeling here on Earth towards Enterprise, and the damage you are 'supposedly' doing to Earth.  Basically if we don't put a halt to it soon, the president of United Earth's Council has said that he may have to reconsider your whole mission."

"So Soval may get his way after all," said Captain Archer, sharing a look with Admiral Forrest that said they were pretty much on the same wavelength in regards to suspects.  "How convenient!"

TBC