Missing Scenes from Season Four: Babel One

DISCLAIMER: All things Star Trek belong to CBS/Paramount. "Babel One" was written by Mike Sussman and André Bormanis.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm afraid it's just a short one here, because there was only one piece of missing TnT business in this episode that I was really interested in. Many thanks as always, reviewers.

As T'Pol ducked through the door into Engineering she reflected, with just the tiniest little flutter of misgiving, that obtaining a status report from Commander Tucker was a task she could have much more efficiently accomplished over the comm.

But of course that was not really why she was here.

Trip was huddled over a padd with Crewman Rodriguez, but looked up as she arrived. He always seemed to know when she had come into a room; perhaps it was a benefit of their remaining bond, however tenuous it might be. "Commander," he said. "How can I help you?"

"The captain has requested a status report."

He told his companion, "Why don't you get started with this? I'll be over in a minute."

Crewman Rodriguez nodded and walked off with the padd. Trip gave her a tight smile. "Hull plating is technically at 100 percent again, but until we can get in there and replace some sections, I don't have much confidence that the dorsal plates will take a beating. Malcolm's aware of that already."

"And the warp drive? Can we maintain this speed indefinitely?"

"Shouldn't be a problem. She's purring like a kitten." He started walking back to his little desk area. "That's a good thing, in case you're not up on kittens. If you can stand by a moment I'll check our progress on the other damage." He opened a report on his computer screen and started scanning it. As he read, he said, "On the off chance you haven't heard it already, the Tellarites are claiming the mud bath we made for them is too small, too cold, and doesn't have the right kind of mud."

"Yes, Ambassador Gral already shared that particular complaint with the captain."

"I don't plan to lose too much sleep over it."

"That is understandable."

She watched as he expanded a few items on the list, his tongue lodged in his cheek as he concentrated on the screen. "Everything else that's left is pretty minor. I think it will be another day or two before we've completed everything on the list, but it's all small potatoes – minor stuff."

"Very well," she said. Was it courtesy on his part that he was suddenly explaining his colorful metaphors, or was he thinking of her as more alien than he had in the past?

Perhaps he was simply trying to keep this encounter as short as possible.

He straightened. "If that's all, then—"

"—I received word from Koss this morning. The marriage is officially over."

A varied train of emotions quickly crossed his face before settling into polite wariness. "I'm sorry."

Sorry? Was this some sort of required formality? Honestly puzzled, she said, "Why are you sorry?"

He shook his head slightly, the way he sometimes did when faced with something that didn't make sense to him. "Why are you even telling me this?"

Why indeed? "It occurred to me that news of this kind is likely to spread quickly. I thought it was possible you would prefer to hear it from me rather than someone else."

"Oh." He folded his arms across his chest. "Well, yeah, you're right. Thanks." He had obviously not taken any pleasure in her news. If anything, it appeared to have sparked some pain or at least a sense of renewed vulnerability in him. "If we're done here, I need to get back to Alex."

"Yes, we're done," she said heavily, and Trip wasted no time in leaving her.

But what had she expected?

Joy? Relief? At least a flicker of renewed interest?

As she left engineering and headed back to the bridge, it occurred to her that the embrace of logic felt much more satisfying when applied in a situation of choice, as when she could have resumed her relationship with Trip, but had chosen not to – at least not immediately.

She was still certain that this decision had been the best, most logical choice for both of them, even if it had been a difficult one.

But now there was no choice. Even if Trip still cared for her – and she was sure that he still felt some affection for her, even if it had become inextricably mixed with much darker emotions – he did not appear to be even the least bit interested in reviving their relationship.

That was still for the best, of course.

Yet that logic was cold comfort now.

The END