Chapter 33: Shadows of Macular Degeneration (MU)

"Commander those weapons aren't set on stun." The lieutenant yelled over to Tucker.

Tucker stared at the hole left by the blasts from the Vulcans weapons. "You're right. All weapons on kill, NOW." Tucker reached across and pulled the Ferengi supply officer down. "Didn't anyone teach you how to use that weapon?"

"They told me to point and shoot. I'm a negotiator not a soldier." The supply officer replied back to him.

"Join the club. I'm an engineer but that's no excuse for an officer in the Resistance not knowing how to use his weapon." He grabbed a hold of his lieutenant's insignia. "Unless you have a death wish I suggest you spend some of that time you've been wasting boring us to tears with those 285 rules of acquisition and acquire the knowledge needed to stay alive in a firefight." Tucker abruptly stuffed him between two rocks. "Stay put and hold on to this." He gave him the bag of lithium crystals they'd just made a deal to obtain. "If anyone comes through there..." He motioned to the opening just beyond the rocks as he relocated the slid on the weapon from stun to kill. "...point that damn thing at them and shoot." He'd have to warn T'Pol and the rest of the team to be careful, in case, the Ferengi got easily spooked. Couldn't have them being shot accidentally. He'd have to get with Mickey to see that no one left the ship without having enough training to at the very least defend themselves.

Tucker walked away listening to the Ferengi muttering about adding a new rule...something about ranking Humans right up there with Klingons.

When he informed T'Pol about the supply officer's lack of skill with his weapon, she wasn't surprised. Ferengi were not known as a violent people, except when it came to acquiring wealth and power. They ruthlessly directed all their attention and abilities to that pursuit but stopped short of actually killing to achieve stature amongst their people.

"I'll speak to Mickey. His security officers will retrain him when we get back, if I don't bring about his demise first." Having had to ignore his sexual innuendos and constant chatter she'd be sure the training was rigorous and left the little nuisance beaten and battered.

Under normal circumstances, Tucker might have been concerned about her impatience with the supply officer, but he knew how agitated she had become the minute the attack started. "You stay here and I'll take Bremnell and Rostockin with me." He planned to take out the Vulcans long before they got close enough for T'Pol to be forced to take a Vulcan life.

"Be careful."

"Always, I promise. Just keep the grand pomba over there alive." His name was Nimbus but for some reason every time Tucker said it he burst out laughing so he'd resorted to calling him 'the Ferengi' or the 'grand pomba' until he could find a way not to laugh. It didn't help that one of the crew informed them that Ferengi's earlobes were one their major erogenous zones. When Tucker heard the Ferengi's continuous suggestive comments about performing some technique called oo-mox to T'Pol's ears or asking her to perform it for him his internal laughter at the thought of what she would do combined with the unnatural reaction to his name took over and there was no hope of stopping himself from busting loose. Every part of him prayed to be present to see what was left if the oversexed Ferengi ever actually tried to follow through and touch her ears.

"Wasn't it the Grand Nagus?" T'Pol reminded him after having listened to the supply officer regale them with tales of their leaders exploits at acquiring wealth and power.

The head Ferengi was a 'nag' that should be easy to remember. "Whatever. Just keep your head down and don't surprise him."

---

She'd finally located him after checking deck 14 and then moving up a deck. Sensors weren't able to penetrate this part of deck 15 and he had her blocked out of the bond. His ability to manipulate the bond was improving daily. "What are you doing in here?"

"Trying to find a way to rework the deflectors so we can use them on the Xindi ships." The Reptilians, Insectoids, and Aquatics all had much more advanced technology than the Terrans but could use the deflector technology. They had given Tucker the schematics and specs for their ships in hopes that he could incorporate the deflector technology Defiant used into the Xindi ships to better protect them. Once he was successful the Xindi would provide the Resistance with several of these newly redesigned ships.

"Why do you insist on being untruthful when I can sense your true intentions?"

He took a drink from the near empty beer he'd picked up from behind him. "I'm not trying to lie to you it's just I needed some time to figure some stuff out." He'd killed all but two or maybe three of the Vulcan soldiers today and was having difficulty coming to terms with the aftermath.

"There is no reason for you to be upset. There was little you could have done differently."

"What are you talking about? What are my true intentions? Stop trying to be all-cryptic. I'm not a mind reader." He complained, being in no frame of mind to even attempt deciphering her words. He really just wanted to be left alone. And she was so wrong, there was a lot he could have done differently. There were always choices to be made and today his choices had left a crew of ten Vulcans dead and covered over in a hole on that planet. Once that was done, he'd ordered their ship brought to Defiant to be recycled so it would never be found. His thinking at the time was that having these 'elite' soldiers simply vanish might make the Vulcans a little apprehensive about sending out more of their death squads.

T'Pol sat back against the bulkhead and waited...waited for him to see the irrationality of his statement. His head rose up and the look in his eyes made it clear he actually heard what he'd said. "You understand the inherent problem with your statement?"

Why did he even try to hide things from her? He couldn't use the excuse that their bond was new anymore and besides he knew drinking only made the likelihood of keeping things to himself even more impossible because it would negate whatever control he had managed to hold on to. The only reason he didn't know what she was thinking or feeling was because he had blocked her out. She was close enough now that he could feel the emptiness his absence left in her mind. "Yeah, I know I'm a selfish bastard. I didn't mean to do that to you and it won't happen again." His first instinct when he felt so lost was to retreat and having this connection to T'Pol was still not natural to him so he'd closed it off without thinking. He slowly let her back in.

He threw the bottle against the door and laid his head back against the bulkhead. "I sensed you and them in my mind down there and then I just knew what they were thinking and after that all I could think about was defending you." The Vulcans had attacked them on the way back to the shuttlepod. There was no attempt to kidnap them this time. Their mission must have been changed to killing both Tucker and T'Pol. Weapons fire at the other members of the away team had been shots meant to disable or stun. The shots fired at Tucker and T'Pol were kill shots.

"You seem to have a limited empathic ability but they were Vulcans and for whatever reason you are very sensitive to our telepathic abilities. You most likely sensed their thoughts and emotions." There was no explanation for his sensitivities. If humans had the brain capacity for emphatic or telepathic abilities they most certainly had never used them. All she had done was help shield his thought from the Vulcans so the rest had come from his own mind.

"There's a big difference between knowing this stuff and knowing this stuff." Tucker took a deep breath as awareness dawned on him. He was just beginning to understand the big gulf between what he knew and what he truly understood about this bond. He didn't need to ask but just in case he was wrong, he asked anyway. "You don't know anymore about this than I do, do you?"

"No. Why are you so..." She didn't have words to describe these emotions so instead of trying to guess she asked. "What are you feeling?"

"They wanted us dead. Wanted you dead." And once he'd felt that his insides exploded and everything broke loose and something happened that had never happened before. He fired his weapon with the intention of killing whoever stood between him and what needed to be done. No doubts, no hesitation, and no fear. Just a singular purpose to protect T'Pol.

"You did what you had to do." She had come to the conclusion he had insisted she stay clear so she would not have to be the direct cause of her people's deaths.

"And I'd do it again no problem. But then again that is the problem."

---

The Vulcans started to move from behind the trees and rocks and fired their weapons in their direction. Something had alerted him before they were even visible and all his senses became very active. Some unknown part of his brain became dominant and took over and his reactions became automatic. The device to cloak his bio-signs was engaged and he went into stealth mode, moving to put the sun at his back. The first two Vulcans hadn't seen anything in the intense light that came over his shoulder. The energy from his weapon burned into their flesh leaving fist-sized holes in their chests. The others were alerted when their comrades fell and began encircling the area they believed him to be in, but he had already moved several feet away.

Weapons fired in the location he had left T'Pol and his chest tightened so much around his heart he found it difficult to take in air. He felt a sudden surge in the back of his mind telling him she was unhurt and his muscles relaxed almost immediately allowing him to refocus on his objective. Three or four more Vulcans were several feet in front of his perch. He quietly continued to move upwards in the rocks and tucked himself in snuggly to wait until the group placed themselves into his unobstructed line of fire. All four moved into sight and he opened fire hitting the first two and watched as the security team he left with T'Pol and the Ferengi took out the other two as they ran back the way they had come.

His comm beeped signaling that Bremnell and Rostockin had moved into position on the other side of the next outcropping as they'd discussed. The noise sent a warning to the soldiers that Tucker and the others were supposed to herd in a northerly direction trapping them in a crossfire. Tucker hit his comm and told T'Pol's team to move and then he climbed back down to ground level and joined in the forward push. Once the elite soldiers realized what was happening they reversed course but it was too late. Tucker stood waiting. The first team came through the opening between the rocks and met with his phaser firing at them. He killed the first soldier outright. The second one was only injured but it was serious enough to slow him down and Bremnell followed the trail of green blood he left behind and finished him off. The others were surrounded and had no chance of escape but fought to the end rather than surrender.

Tucker snapped back when the sensation of her trying to see what had distracted him. "I've watched death and I've kept the weapons systems functioning on Enterprise and I'll do the same on Defiant, but I've never thought of myself as a killer." But today and how he felt now changed that. "I don't feel anything about what I did except that I'm glad I did it so you didn't have to." He continued to see the events unfold in his mind but he felt nothing.

She saw the horror, at his own reaction or lack of reaction, in his eyes. "You do not feel anything because I have taken the guilt and pain from you and suppressed it with my own emotions regarding the events of today."

"What?" He yelled at her.

"You heard me. You may be blocking the bond but it allows me to do whatever is needed to keep you alive and well."

"What the hell's wrong with you? You can't just swoop in and take away my emotions without asking me." He couldn't believe she would do that after what they'd already gone through. Having memories with no emotions was far worse than knowing he should have memories but didn't.

"I did not think it necessary to make you suffer because you wished to prevent my suffering." She hadn't given her actions any thought as she was not removing memories and it would not cause him any physical harm.

His voice seemed louder in the confined space and his anger was still building. "I killed them T'Pol and I would do it again but that comes with a price and I'm more than willing to pay that price." To Tucker's way of thinking this was the other side of these feelings he had for T'Pol. For them to have something good there had to be something bad to balance out the other side.

"Do you have any idea how much it terrified me to think I could kill them and not feel anything? Made me think I was becoming some kind of....I don't know what it would make me if I let you just take it all away and I never feel the consequences of my actions." Is this how Reed and Phlox started down that dark road they ended up on? Or was this what drove Archer into insanity?

"I had not considered that. We Vulcans understand the consequences but must suppress the emotions or risk being overwhelmed by them." He was feeling guilty about not feeling guilty.

"Humans are hardwired different than Vulcans. It won't be...what's the word you use...it won't be pleasant but I need to feel what I do and learn to live with it. If that's the price for having you in my life, protecting you, keeping you safe and with me then I'll pay it." With all the determination, he could find he reiterated, "I will. You have to give it all back to me." He had not been directly responsible for another beings death before and thinking himself unfeeling...what a relief it was to know that he wasn't some kind of unfeeling monster.

"I fear what will happen if I do." His emotional stability had improved slightly but she feared this would undo any progress he had made.

His hand roughly grabbed at the back of her head and pulled her forward so he could reach the contact points on her face, startling her. He recited the words and she repeated them to him. He was inside her mind. "Trip said he melded with his T'Pol when she was in that trance so I assumed that meant I could also."

Her shock subsided a little. "We are bonded I should have known it was possible. Why did you wish to meld?"

"First, you can never do something to me without asking me first. If I can't trust you...Tell me you understand?" He felt her response of yes. "Search my mind; look at whatever you have to to understand that I know what I'm asking." There was desperation in his voice. "It's not going to be the same as what we've lived with up to now, but there's no choice." Once he saw that she perceived what he had been trying to make her see, his anger subsided, and he asked her to do something else.

"Now I want you to check the damage to my brain. I've been feeling this sensation for several days now. The closest thing I can compare it to is when a wound is healing and it begins to itch constantly and drives you crazy." It wasn't an itch exactly it was more a rawness.

"You think the damage is healing?" She could feel his optimism.

"It might just be wishful thinking but I didn't lose it today like I have before." He'd been extremely angry and his insides turned cold but for the most part he had been able to remain in control. "In fact my thinking was very clear and I even knew some new survival skills, which I assumed came from you." A couple of moves he'd never studied came to mind along with the uses of his weapons he'd never practiced before.

T'Pol's mind searched through Tucker's mind to sense those places that had been injured by her actions.

"Whoa! What was that?" Tucker felt the intensity of their connection spike as he felt his body and mind merge more intimately with T'Pol. "You made the meld stronger?"

"As fully bonded mates we are able to form a meld that is much more intimate and fully connects our beings in every possible way." T'Pol twitched slightly when he reached out and touched her.

"I felt like it was my own reaction." This was all very intense.

"We are one at this moment so it was our reaction." The increase in their connection increased her sensitivity to the energy flow throughout his neural pathways.

"The neural tissue is raw and shows some signs of regenerative activity but I am not qualified to know how extensive it is or how long it will continue."

"Sounds good. Now can you let go of everything you've been hiding from me?" She thought he didn't know but he saw those lines in her forehead and around her eyes when the guilt and regret was too much for her and she had to use techniques that required immense amounts of energy to keep things hidden.

"I will try."

He wouldn't let her put him off this time. "I'm getting better, it's time to just let it go T'Pol. Don't tell me you'll try, do it because I'm asking you to." There was much they would need to deal with in this war and with the Vulcans. Looking in the rearview mirror would only sap the strength they'd need to act in the future. And Tucker understood now that there was little he could do to protect her from the realities of her own people wishing them dead. He could and would continue to act so she would not have to actually kill another Vulcan, as long as possible, but she would still experience these acts through their connection.

She read his thoughts. He pleaded with her repeatedly. He was willing to sacrifice his own moral sense to spare her so she pushed at the thoughts and emotions until she felt them leave her consciousness. She allowed him to feel her apply the necessary force to do as he asked as she suppressed all her guilt, remorse, and regret for all her past mistakes in this relationship.

"I cannot give you back today because that would mean unleashing my own emotions again but I will never remove your emotions from your mind again unless you ask me to or it becomes necessary for me to do it to ensure your health."

"Thank you." He'd rather she never do such a thing but he recognized that as his mate she would never agree to something that had the potential to harm him.

It had taken thirty-nine years to have something in his life that was this important to him and gave him a restful sense of peace, something...someone to depend on. And now that they'd come through the worst of their past there was no way he would go back. He gently pulled free of her mind and removed his fingers from her face as she did the same. "I say we go to our quarters and take the longest, hottest shower ever and then we crawl into bed, snuggle up, and get some much needed sleep." He saw the desire in her eyes and saw that she was making absolutely no attempt to mask it. He bent over and kissed her. "Or not."

---

"You called this meeting so what's up?" Tucker had concerns and he knew Mickey did too.

"The captain has ordered me to work with both of you to minimize the risk to the crew when there's a chance of our being attacked by the Vulcans. We've concluded that we have a spy on this ship. Someone has to be reporting to the Vulcans unless they managed to get some sort of tracking device aboard." That was the only explanation for how they continuously located the pair. Tucker had managed to alter their warp signature regularly and altered all the frequencies that would have been associated with Starfleet so it would be most difficult for them to be tracked with sensors.

"When we were on Xindus the Council did mention they had had reports about us. We never pursued it but perhaps we should have. It would have been someone from Defiant's original crew. It's also possible that some of the new crew members are also loyal to the Vulcan Council."

"I have begun to check all their backgrounds but so far no one seems to stand out. Is there anyone who would have had access to communication devices that were undetectable?"

"Lt. Soval and Lt. Remuc were both designated as communications officers for Avenger and Enterprise." Both were Vulcans.

T'Pol's face showed no expression. Tucker had noticed she was working hard at keeping the expression off her face, but he knew exactly what was truly going on inside. And at this moment she was upset to think that any of the Vulcans she had been working with would betray them. "Investigate Lt. Soval first and very thoroughly."

Tucker didn't see that coming and he felt the sharp jabs of pain when she said it outloud.

"What's the problem with Soval?" The security officer didn't miss the look of surprise that crossed the human's face, but then it was also obvious he agreed with Commander T'Pol's statement.

"If transmissions were being made then one or both of the lieutenants are responsible. No one else was given the codes or access to the equipment, which each had in their quarters, during their rotation. Of the two, I suspect Lt. Soval to be the traitor. At first, I thought his behavior was because he wasn't from our crew. But now that he's joined our crew he only tolerates Commander Tucker because he outranks him but most days only barely." Soval had always walked a fine line between insubordination and civility with Tucker but his open resentment of having to answer to a human wasn't missed by any of the crew.

Mickey continued along the same lines. "And whoever it is has now been in direct contact with the Council and would have been provided with whatever they needed to carry out their assignment." The equipment on Defiant had all been relocated to the communication office and Lt. Erath was the only one given new codes once they arrived at Xindus. But the Vulcan Council would have provided their spy with a new transmitter. He studied the Vulcan. "Commander, do you have any suggestions on how we uncover who it is making unauthorized transmissions to Vulcan?"

T'Pol wanted to trust in her Vulcan crew as much as she knew Tucker did but she could not. "Commander Tucker may trust the crew but do a complete check on the activities and background of all the Vulcans, concentrating on those who were raised on Vulcan, as they would have had contact with the Council. Then move on to those that have family on Vulcan who could be threatened. There may be more than one disloyal crewman." Indicating herself and Tucker, she went on. "We will discuss this matter and come up with a plan to uncover who is responsible for any unauthorized communications with Vulcan. If I can be of any assistance feel free to ask." She felt Tucker's dismay and alarm. So she kept thinking about how she would not risk his life so she could hold onto a belief in her own people. A people that had already proven to them that they could not be trusted.

Tucker tried to feel sorry for what was happening because of the turmoil it created for T'Pol, but that would mean that he and T'Pol were not together and he would never feel sorry about that. He snapped out of his reverie when it became apparent that his negative emotions were feeding into the bond and combining with T'Pol's making it impossible for her to complete her suppression techniques. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and focused on pulling his own emotions back into his own mind to allow T'Pol time to process and separate her own.

"Are you alright Commanders?" The security officer became concerned when both Commanders closed their eyes and seemed to be somewhere far removed from his office.

"We're fine." Tucker opened his eyes and responded, while thinking they would need to be more careful in the future. But not knowing how to accomplish that when she needed his support like she just had. "Do you need us for anything else?"

"Unless you two are willing to explain why the Vulcans are acting with none of their normal reason and logic, in their pursuit of you..." He saw the negative response. "...then no." The head of security wanted them to trust him but he knew that for Tucker it would take time and he suspected Commander T'Pol being Vulcan precluded any openness from her as to the motives of the Council.

"Can you put the Captain off us for tonight? We'll meet with him in the morning. I'm not up to being grilled about this anymore." He and Captain Vorack weren't on bad terms but they weren't exactly comfortable with each other either. The engineer often felt as if he was being studied when the Captain was around. Besides Tucker wanted to go meditate with T'Pol. They both needed to decompress a bit before they had to work through this latest twist and she needed to put in some major time putting down these emotions raging through her.

---

Tucker entered their quarters contemplating this new crew he was now a part of. They were blindly protecting him and T'Pol and so far had asked for little information as to why. That they each took the oath to defend and protect their fellow crewmen seriously was something he was becoming accustomed to. That and readjusting his command style from one of barking orders and issuing threats to motivate his engineers to assigning tasks and monitoring progress because they all came with their own motivation for doing their jobs. These were his major challenges.

The humans on Enterprise were the ones fighting each other for power and position. The aliens did their jobs trying not to draw attention to themselves. The mood here was still dark and at times depressing, they were at war, and it wasn't like there weren't tempers that flared or angry words spoken between the crew. It was that they had all set aside their differences and volunteered for this duty and shared the common goal of defeating the Empire. That was what drove each of them to perform, not threats of torture or death. And while they each faced their own mortality every day that attitude somehow made things seem lighter, less oppressive. And it didn't hurt that security's main function was to protect the ship and crew not monitor their internal activities and maintain discipline amongst the crew.

"There's a dozen messages here from Lizzie." Tucker pulled up the screen to listen to them.

"I need to talk to you. Something weird is going on with the Vulcans. You're on a starship so why can't they find you? Why aren't you calling me back?" He could hear the fear in her voice. He didn't listen to the rest instead he hit the transmit button and requested the comm officer contact Lizzie for him.

"Weird and Vulcans. That could mean anything." Tucker paced while he waited for the comm officer to reach Lizzie.

"Sir, I have tried several times but there is no answer. I left a message for your sister to contact you. Will there be anything else?"

"No. Leave Lt. Erath a message to have his staff keep trying every few hours. If you can't raise her soon I'll have Mickey contact security at the camp and have them locate her." Tucker flicked off the screen.

T'Pol came from the bedroom holding his sweatpants and a robe. "Change and we will meditate."

"Not sure that's going to help right now." Tucker rubbed his eyes trying to focus his mind to stop all the random thoughts and fears from overwhelming him.

"You are doing much better with your control, but you will not sleep or your nightmares will keep your sleep from being restful if you do not calm your mind."

The evening did not progress as planned. Tucker changed into the sweats but kept on his shirt and put his shoes back on and left to walk off his upset at not being able to reach Lizzie, not wanting to inflict his bad temper on T'Pol. She had meditated then taken refuge in the lounge with a cup of tea. Her thoughts drifted to her mate's mental condition and the lack of further progress in repairing his damaged brain tissue.

When Tucker entered the room she could see he was angry. These public displays of anger usually meant his control had been compromised and whoever was present became the target of his outburst. But as he approached, her assessment of his mood changed. Yes, he was angry but this was a controlled burst of anger, and it was directed at her.

Tucker sat next to her on the couch and leaned in to speak. His mannerisms broadcast his anger and the other occupants of the room moved to the outer edges well away from the couple. "What is all that crap floating through your head again?"

His semi-calm demeanor caught her off guard. In a matter of two or three steps he'd gone from what appeared to be extreme anger to only being slightly irrational. T'Pol took a moment to examine where her mind had wandered. Until she became involved with Tucker she would never have allowed her thoughts to float freely as she had just been doing. Now she found it beneficial to let the minor stresses of her day just float away without analysis of any kind to conserve energy for dealing with her most stressful thoughts and feelings. "I was not thinking of anything in particular so you need to be more specific."

"Something about Corporal Cole and me and then something about your responsibility to take care of my problem because you caused it. I thought you suppressed all that when I asked you too."

"I did, but I have been curious about the nature of our bond and that time is part of how our bond came about." She breathed in waiting for the explosion but instead it was like someone had let all the air in his body out. His shoulders dropped and his mind became less active and more focused.

"Corporal Cole has nothing to do with our bond, never did." Tucker saw the memories she had of Cole. Her animosity to the woman and her threats to kill her if she did not stay away from Tucker or if she mentioned the threat to him. "You would have killed her?" Surprise didn't cover what he was now feeling. At that time, he'd thought T'Pol hated him and by the time she had spoken to Cole he had already been actively trying to distance himself from her, from all women.

T'Pol then saw his memories of his time with the MACO. "Maybe if she had not taken my warning seriously. But once I spoke to her she had no further contact with you. I've often wondered why she gave up so easily. Being human she would have had little difficulty convincing Major Reed or other MACO's to eliminate me." She'd stayed away until the second Tucker showed up then her interest in attracting one of them was renewed.

"I wasn't interested in her for anything more than sex and that only lasted a couple of weeks. When she stopped pursuing me I was actually relieved that I didn't have to break things off with her." After the lack of having female companionship was no longer an issue he came to realize Cole's only purpose was to relieve his stress and using her or any other woman to accomplish that wasn't satisfying because it required so much work on his part to pretend an interest. After that he never sought diversion by spending time with another woman.

That and other peculiarities were exactly why T'Pol was examining this bond between herself and Tucker. Now that they both acknowledged the bond, it was more active in her mind and almost non-existent, at times, in his. Unless of course they were melding or meditating. "As for the other thoughts you heard it is true they concern our bond and my refusal to accept it but not with the emotional upheaval as before. All the emotions attached to these events have been suppressed and no longer affect me."

"So you're looking at this scientifically?"

"Yes, it is empirical data as to the creation and formation of our bond and I wish to understand how it works. It does not appear to function as a typical Vulcan mating bond."

The pair was interrupted when the murmurs around them became louder. "What a rag tag bunch of ships." Tucker stood and stepped to the window taking in the odd collection of ships that kept appearing around them. Defiant was an unplanned addition to the Resistances' ability to battle the Empire, so when they arrived it had taken the Leadership Council time to reassess their strategy and come up with a new plan. The arrival of these ships said they had finalized or were near finalizing those plans.

"All senior staff to the Captain's conference room." Came over the speakers. Several of the crew present moved to follow the directive.

Tucker's comm sounded. "Tucker I need you and Commander T'Pol to see me in my office before this meeting." Vorack assumed Commander T'Pol was with him or he'd know where she was.

"Yes, sir. We're on our way." Great. Their morning meeting had just been moved up.

---

Captain Vorack sat behind his desk shuffling a stack of padds stopping to read blips of information on one then another. The Mazurite finished then motioned for the pair to have a seat.

"Arnon has sent through the revised strategy for our newly formed fleet. It seems after reviewing the recommendations of yourselves, Tovosh, and several others that Defiant will retain its designation and will indeed be the flagship of the Resistance." The captain caught the perplexed look on Tucker's face. "Something you don't understand?"

"Just wondering who Arnon is?" He assumed he had something to do with the leadership of the Resistance but had not heard the name before. Tovosh headed security and they had met when he first arrived on Xindus. The Vulcan had questioned Tucker for several hours before he was finally released and sent for further training. Tucker was also wondering about this fleet and how it was to operate.

"I forget you are not familiar with our leaders. Arnon is the head of the military branch and works closely with Tovosh, who is the head of security."

Seeing the engineer was satisfied, "Now to continue...they have decided that as captain of Defiant I am to be the new Fleet Captain." Vorack hadn't considered this possibility when he accepted his assignment to Defiant. "The leadership has also forwarded their recommendation that both of you should share some of the responsibilities of my new position. And while you and I do not always see eye to eye Tucker I do trust your commitment to our cause." He reached into his desk and held out new insignia to each of them. "Effective immediately you are both Fleet Commanders."

"No way... I'm an engineer, and what the hell does a fleet commander do anyway?" In Starfleet, Tucker had been a commander and headed up engineering but his authority had not extended much past there with the MACOs and Reed aboard. He'd relented when the leadership of the Resistance insisted that all crews on starships must also serve as soldiers but he didn't want any more command authority. It would only draw his attention away from his main tasks.

"You and Commander T'Pol will be responsible for all engineering and scientific developments and needs for the entire fleet. And by my order, your orders will be followed as if they were mine. Strange as this may sound our Vulcan head of security, Tovosh, has ordered me to allow the two of you to work together as a team and to work out the details of how you accomplish this. And I've been ordered to refrain from inquiring into your difficulties with the Vulcan Council." Vorack had little doubt that Tovosh and the rest of the leadership knew why the Vulcans wished his commanders dead, but they made it quite clear the Captain's responsibility was to ensure they both stayed alive and were able to fulfill their duties.

T'Pol could sense Tucker's many questions. He'd requested more time and training for the crew. There was much they didn't know or had no experience with on this ship. All departments needed to train and then required practice to be comfortable utilizing these new systems to their fullest before having to engage in battle with the much more battle worn crews aboard Starfleet's ships. He and T'Pol were currently working with and training a team to utilize the holodeck for training missions. If they could simulate scenarios for the crew without wasting resources or risking serious injury or death it could be the difference between winning and losing. Now it seemed this project was going to take on new importance as it would assist them in training larger numbers of crewman utilizing the ever-expanding technology, ships, and equipment available to them.

"You're not asking so that means we have no choice?"

"I will not force a promotion or the duties that come with it on anyone. There are some who will resent a human being given command over the other species but you are the most qualified for the position. You have demonstrated your ability to command and you are an excellent engineer who I must rely on to run this ship and retrofit it's technology into our other ships." Vorack had witnessed his engineering abilities and concluded that even if he weren't more skilled than some of their other engineers, he learned at an alarming rate and his mind saw all possibilities when it approached a problem. He had a total disregard for what he had been taught about the laws of physics or warp theory and what was thought to be possible so to Tucker there was endless potential for all the new technology Defiant contained. And he taught his staff to think that way also. Which only increased the potential benefits of having a futuristic starship. He'd even taken it upon himself to insist that the manuals reflect any upgrades or changes made to ship. He was currently fulfilling his new responsibilities on Defiant. Now he would just need to expand his knowledge and expertise to include the fleet.

They were not going to replace him and forcing Vorack to promote someone just to fill the position was the same as what he'd done on Enterprise. Tucker didn't say anything for the longest time then he simply removed his insignia and replaced the bronzed version with the new silver one. T'Pol did the same.

"We had better get to the conference room. Our crew will be meeting then we have several meetings to arrange with the other crews. After you will need to start pulling together your senior staff and planning training and practice runs for the entire fleet with security and tactical. I have a few suggestions for who I think should be part of your staff and I will make myself available if you require my input." Vorack had served with many of those he now had authority over. Tucker, of course, had little knowledge beyond the crew he'd served with in Starfleet and T'Pol had been away long enough that many of the crews were unknown to her. "By the way, I have a message from Tovosh. He wants the two of you to contact Commander Mikakalas, who will arrange a subspace call to security on Xindus as soon as this initial meeting is over."

The captain was aware of what it was that the head of security wished to discuss with Tucker but deemed it necessary to deal with the new responsibilities of his fleet before the human got news of his sister.

"Mickey is the most qualified for security..." Tucker stopped when he saw the captain shaking his head.

"Why do you insist on renaming everyone?" The captain had heard several of the crew being referred to by names other than their own.

"Well... during training it became obvious that I could be dead by the time I got Commander Mikakalas out."  He stumbled over the name.  "Too many consonants and I can't say it right half the time. I asked if he had a surname but he said I wouldn't be able to pronounce it and he seems fine with Mickey." And he assumed the rest of the crew agreed with his reasoning because the name stuck immediately. Rank was used at times but for the most part only during meetings or those times, rank was important. It hadn't taken Tucker long to realize there was no requirement to salute to ones superiors either. All that was required was showing them the respect their positions were due.

Vorack saw his point. It was cumbersome at times to get out some of the crews names, especially in situations where crew was stressed and timing was of the essence. "Well, then I agree with your assessment that Mickey is the best choice to head security."

"Then he needs to be a full Commander." He needed the authority the rank would give him if he was to be senior staff.

"You will be responsible for finding or promoting those in your crews that are capable of filling senior staffing requirements and reporting to you. You must also find those who can take over your respective departments, as your duties require." The captain handed him back the insignia Tucker just taken off. They each noticed the captain's insignia was now also silver in color. "Make a list of any further promotions and submit them to me for approval."

"You aren't going to inform him?" Tucker looked at his hand, surprised. He never promoted a crewman by choice before. They'd always advanced by assassination of their superior.

"No, you wish him promoted and he should be aware of that." Letting his new fleet commanders hand out their own promotions could only help to bolster the confidence the crew had in them both. Vorack was a good captain and could keep the fleet focused and working as a team but he also knew his limitations. The limitations of the Resistance as a whole. They had been fighting the empire for years but never had the strength or organization to do more than tie them up in endless skirmishes all over the quadrant. There were no great military strategists or grand plans to win this war until now. He was now tasked with finding those that were capable of learning and then

leading them into a more optimistic future.

Having previously had doubts about Tucker, the captain watched his reactions very closely. Many thought humans were incapable of controlling their darker emotions. That they were all-volatile and had a predisposition to be cruel with no positive attributes. The captain had had to call Tucker on his shortness with his crew. Many had complained of his habit of yelling out orders and lack of ability to simply talk to them but that had become less of a problem as he worked at learning how to function effectively, with several different species, without yelling. He'd needed to learn how to train them and teach them about this new technology, not torture and torment them. He'd also needed to adjust to being the only human in the Resistance. Changing that was one of the suggestions Tucker had made to the leadership but until that happened he was on his own.

The human's emotions registered on his face and in his body but he would then look to Commander T'Pol or close his eyes and concentrate inwardly and control his breathing, much like Vorack had observed Vulcans do, and his calm returned. His captain had been right about whatever the connection was between these two and his recent orders confirmed that there was something going on there but those orders very explicitly said they were to be left alone.

That his crew would form close ties and personal relationships was to be expected and the captain would not interfere with any of his crews personal lives as long as they did their jobs. For many of the crewmen these were the only connections they had as they hadn't been to their home worlds in months, some years. And if they were to do what their leaders had planned, there would be more and more of them that had never seen where their species originated from, ever.

---

"Mickey. Where the hell are you?" Tucker stood in the security office yelling, impatient to make that call to Tovosh.

"They can hear you two decks away Tucker." The head of security should be used to him by now but at times, the human still made him a little crazy. Tucker had been patiently waiting for word from Xindus but the head of security could see his patience was not endless and would soon be exhausted.

"My sister's missing and I need to know what happened to her. If this Tovosh doesn't know then I need some way to find out." They'd had several sessions with the underlings at security on Xindus but they had done little to allay Tucker's fears. It was bad enough that he was too far away to go look for her himself and had to depend on a Vulcan of all people to be in charge of the search for him but he wasn't wasting anymore time waiting to hear from Lizzie or for someone on Xindus to get worried enough to really look for her.

"I thought Commander T'Pol's presence was requested for this meeting." Mickey looked around but didn't see her.

Tucker focused a second to locate her in the science lab. "It was and she'll be here but one of her science geeks had some kind of an accident in the lab so she had to go see what the damage was." She had them reworking the calculations to make some adjustment to the new cloaking device they were going to be installing on Defiant. She thought she'd found a way to engage the device and weapons at the same time. That meant they'd only lose the use of the transporter when they were cloaked. Tucker was ecstatic that he wasn't going to lose power across the whole ship like he had on Enterprise. But having weapons would be an advantage the new tactical officer wouldn't turn down if they solved the problem of where to divert the extra power from.

"What do you know about Tovosh?" He was a Vulcan and he headed up security for the Resistance was all Tucker knew of him.

"He trained me. I trust him with my life, but then I'm not stupid enough to get involved in anything that might be considered questionable where the Vulcans are concerned so don't ask me to guarantee his actions where you're concerned. If I had to give odds I'd say he's on our side but there's always that outside chance his loyalty is to his own government." The Rigelian always hedged his bets, unless he was 100% sure of something.

"Thanks for the honesty but that doesn't make it any easier to decide whether or not to trust him. T'Pol checked and he still has property and family on Vulcan but he hasn't been there in well over two decades." No record of a mate on Xindus or Vulcan but according to T'Pol it was possible they may have been separated all these years. Although they would have had to have been some contact every seven years, but being in charge of security definitely had advantages when one needed to keep things private.

"Let's hear what he has to say. Ask him directly what his motives are and where he stands on this whole Vulcan assassin squad's question." The Rigelian needed to know that himself. It would make a difference in how he did his job if he couldn't depend on the Resistance leadership to help keep his crewmembers safe.

"And exactly how would we know if he's lying? I realize most of the Vulcans we know are somewhat less inhibited about emoting but the strict ones I've met since we got out here are more like statues when it comes to giving anything they might be thinking away."

"I trained with him and your...what exactly is T'Pol to you?" Mickey had heard the rumors but did not like depending on them as to what was really going on.

"She's my mate. And I know she's a Vulcan to, so she might be able to see something we might miss but then again she might not." He saw Mickey's look of strangely mused surprise at his use of mate.

"Mates for Vulcans means lifelong, no messing around, you're no longer available."

"That's right. Any problem with that?" Tucker was beginning to see that this was the reaction they were going to get from everyone.

"Nope. I may not have known exactly what's going on but I assumed the Vulcans were objecting to one of their own messing around with a human, the species that has enslaved them. But it goes way beyond that doesn't it. They want you two to disappear so the whole mating with a non-Vulcan thing just goes away." It didn't matter as far his duty to protect them but it did help to know why they were being targeted by supposed allies. Now he knew more precisely what he needed to look for and some questions he needed answers to when investigating the Vulcan's aboard Defiant. And now he knew he had to expand his investigation to the fleet sooner than planned. His openly stating he was mated to a Vulcan alleviated any lingering doubts the security chief had about Tucker's loyalties.

"They can want it but that doesn't mean it's ever going to happen. I guess I'm lucky I'm more valuable to the Resistance and the rest of the species out here than I am to the Vulcans. And if they want me to stay alive to help win this fight against the Empire that means they keep T'Pol alive and well too. Because if anything happens to her..." He didn't finish his statement but he didn't need to.

Mickey got the point but all of this was something he never expected. That they were a couple--yes. That they were sharing quarters--yes. But that a Human and Vulcan had mated, which her culture saw as a permanent relationship--never. Vulcans did not mate outside of their own species. He'd never known a Vulcan to have a casual relationship before this but from what Tucker just told him he still hadn't. "Did you know what you were getting into before you got involved?"

Purposely misunderstanding his question Tucker answered, "What that her people would object so much they'd want us dead? Not really but it wouldn't have mattered. Bedsides I can hardly complain when the Empire has a price on our heads too. Although I doubt it's for the same reason, the results are the same. The target on our backs just got a little bigger but at least we're free to make our own choices." If he was going to die it might as well be for something he truly believed in.

"If that's what we're up against then I amend what I said about Tovosh. His loyalty will not be to his own people in this. He quotes that 'Surak' all the time and he once told me according to his beliefs we couldn't win against the Empire if we couldn't get past our own prejudices and preconceptions. He insisted we must look at individuals not their species or our biases. If we hadn't been doing that the Resistance would have become another version of the Empire and we would have failed long ago."

"I still can't just trust him with Lizzie's life." He and T'Pol would have to work at discovering whom they could trust but they'd both already decided Mickey was an ally.

"Commanders'." T'Pol nodded to them as she entered and greeted them.

"Did you solve the problem in the lab?" Her thoughts were racing by to fast for Tucker to discern anything beyond worry.

"No. It will require a more detailed analysis than I was able to complete in such a short time but there was no harm done as I have backups of all the data in our quarters."

"What happened?" Tucker could feel such discontent in her mind and body at not knowing who or what had happened.

"Someone introduced a virus into the system in the science lab which altered much of the data in the test files we were analyzing."

"Someone on Defiant or someone from outside?" One more item on his plate summed up what the security officer heard.

"Undetermined." T'Pol needed to discuss what happened with Tucker so they could determine exactly what data had been tampered with. "My presence was required here so I had to postpone any inquiries into the matter."

"So not only do we have to figure out which of the Vulcans we can trust now we have a saboteur on the ship. We'll need to inform Vorack before we do anything else." Tucker took a deep breath. Was their life ever going to stop being one complication on top of several layers of other complications? It was becoming more and more doubtful.

"No we won't. When he appointed us as Fleet Commanders, he also gave us a certain amount of autonomy to do our jobs without having to report to him every five minutes. We can act but must inform him within 24 hours of any operations that affect the security or operation of the fleet." T'Pol handed Tucker a padd with the orders written out that pertained to their new duties.

"Please tell me you don't expect me to read all of this?" He scanned down the pages of military rules and regs, which had to be the most dry, boring reading he knew of and unless he read the material over several times he rarely remembered enough details to make it worth his time.

"We will discuss it later." Which meant T'Pol would break it down into what he called a 'cheat sheet' of words or short phrases that held the essentials of what he needed to know.

Tucker silently thanked her then turned his attention to the viewscreen that now held the image of the Resistances' head of security. "I'm told you both hold the rank of Fleet Commanders and I see you are now a full Commander, Mikakalas. Congratulations."

"Didn't know Vulcans acknowledged such things." Tucker immediately challenged the Vulcan, taking Mickey's advice because he was fed up with repeated conversations with those in security that were assigned to find his sister.

"We do not but as I deal with many species that find such things important I have learned to adjust my interactions to acknowledge such accomplishments." Tovosh wasn't angry or defensive; in fact, he was impressed that the human seemed ready to come at him directly.

"Did you have anything to do with whatever happened to my sister Lizzie?" He was on a roll so continued to push and find out what he could about where this Vulcan stood.

"Indirectly I may have because I did not act quickly enough on the reports I received on her recent activities. She was making very public and indiscreet inquiries into some very private Vulcan matters. Unfortunately, agents for the factions of the Vulcan Council that have been pursuing you and Commander T'Pol became aware of her and have removed her from Xindus."

"I'll kill the bastards. Do you know where they've taken her?" Tucker stood glaring intently at the screen.

"I believe they have her at one of what they believe to be secret locations on Vulcan."

"What Vulcan matters was she seeking information about?" T'Pol wasn't sure but there were only a few matters that would draw the attention of both the Vulcan Council and the Resistance leaders.

"Commander Mikakalas you are dismissed." Tovosh nodded to the Rigelian.

"Yes, sir. Comm me when you're finished. We have some things we need to go over." Mickey turned and left the Commanders alone.

"The reports I have been given say she overheard a private conversation between her brother and the Vulcan he 'foolishly claims to be his mate'. You were unaware that she was nearby and things were discussed that concerned her because she feared the Vulcan was 'using her brother' and had 'tricked him with some kind of Vulcan bond and barriers and something called a meld so he would stay with her'." Tovosh read her words off the reports on his desk.

Tucker dropped his head into his hands. "No please tell me this isn't happening. She was so upset and she blamed T'Pol for us being here but we didn't know she heard anything like that." Tucker couldn't believe the whole Lizzie problem had just gone from bad to so far off the scale he didn't know how they would ever recover. Then the thought of what the Vulcans might do hit him midbrain. "What will they do to her? They won't kill her, will they?"

Tovosh considered his answer for a moment. "Commander Tucker my understanding is that you are Commander T'Pol's chosen mate. I assume this to be true because the discussion your sister overheard would have only taken place between Vulcan mates."

"Yes." Tucker and T'Pol both began replaying the only conversation he could be referring to. If it had to do with mates, and bonds, and melds to remove barriers and T'Pol forming a connection with him to deal with his anger ...his sister must have been hiding nearby and listening to them. She was so quiet and innocent acting waiting outside his quarters to say goodbye. If he hadn't been so caught up in trying to keep the peace then her behavior followed by that anxious exit would have alerted him that something was wrong. She must have been in a hurry to start on her quest to find out more about Vulcans.

"Has Commander T'Pol made you aware of the information she recently acquired regarding the practices of the Vulcan Council when certain of our citizens return to Vulcan?"

Neither of them were surprised that he had knowledge of her inquiries. "Yes." The fear he already felt doubled as it shot through Tucker. This was not only his fear but T'Pol's. Who else had been alerted to her inquiry?

"I can see by the look on your faces that I no longer need to answer your question."

"No they wouldn't." Guilt combined with the fear now. Not only had he ruined Lizzie's life by having her dragged away from Earth now her life was at risk because he hadn't been careful when talking to T'Pol.

"It will most likely be selective but yes they will remove the memories. These factions of the Council have become fanatical about protecting Vulcan culture from any outside influence and any movement away from their interpretation of Surak's teachings. I'm sure you understand why those so irrationally motivated would view a human mating with a Vulcan as unacceptable."

Contaminating the gene pool was only part of it. They feared if one human knew of their capabilities then others would soon know. And Lizzie running around asking questions about private Vulcan matters did nothing to encourage the Vulcans to trust him to keep quiet. "So it's not the entire Council that's responsible for this?"

"No, but this is unimportant because until we have your sister under our protection you will be unable to petition the full Council to intervene." Vulcans were known to be reluctant to extinguish the life force of any sentient being but those who held the human woman would kill her to keep their activities quiet.

"So you're asking me to sit tight and just trust you to find my sister and get her back safely? I don't think I can do that anymore." Tucker closed his eyes, counted his breaths to ten, and still couldn't relax. He had such a tight hold on the edge of the console T'Pol feared if he pulled upwards, he would rip the whole unit free of the bulkhead.

The Vulcan watched the human using Vulcan breathing techniques and also saw that he was not succeeding in calming his emotional state. "You can trust me or not that is up to you but you have no choice about allowing us to find her."

Tucker's eyes opened. "What you found gives us something to go on so I'll take a leave from the Resistance and find her myself."

"I am Vulcan and you should understand very well how seriously we Vulcans take our...obligations to family." Tovosh knew he understood perfectly what he meant.

His reading of Vulcan history, culture, and his bond with T'Pol gave him an understanding of how Vulcans regarded family. "Yeah I do, but she's my family, not yours. And I'm the one who wasn't being careful and we let her overhear things we shouldn't have been discussing where anyone could overhear in the first place. I'm going to ask the captain to let us go look for her." Besides, they hadn't actually located her, they only thought they had.

"You must honor your commitment and remain there." The Vulcan leader understood that the future of the Resistance depended on what took place in the next several weeks. Tucker and T'Pol had to remain on Defiant for there to be any chance of changing the course of this war.

"My first commitment is to my family. I have to find Lizzie and make sure she's safe." Tucker barked back at him.

"You would not be successful. And you both have made an oath to your crew and the Resistance." During his debriefing, the human had admitted to giving an empty oath to the empire but had assured the Vulcan that in the future his word would be good. "You also know that a human on Vulcan would be very noticeable and you do not wish to make it any easier for those on the Council who wish to kill you to accomplish this, do you?"

"Of course not. There are ways to alter my appearance and if T'Pol's with me she can help me blend in better." T'Pol would be with him of this he had no doubt but he could feel her reluctance that his plan would work.

"If it were my sister, in these circumstances, I would find it equally difficult to know in whom I could place my trust. My being Vulcan and you being without blood relatives to count on makes this harder for you to endure. I only wish to alleviate your concerns where possible." Serving on a starship light-years away from any hopes of aiding his sister could not be easy duty and the Vulcan understood his instinct to protect his sister. As the leader in charge of security for the Resistance, Tovosh had to find a way to keep Tucker focused.

"So how do we get past all our issues? How do I learn to trust you?" It was difficult communicating through subspace about such a personal thing to someone he barely knew while trying to find some thread of hope to latch onto that would make it possible to trust this Vulcan.

"Etek dungi-ketilau ni'var, Komihn et Vuhlkansu, t'zaled fupa s' kahr'y'tan. (According to the Way of Vulcan, you and I will join as two diverse beings, Human and Vulcan, united in a blood oath of loyalty to one another.) The Vulcan waited.

Tucker knew exactly what he said. Every word translated from T'Pol as he said it. "Why would you offer to do that?"

"You do not understand..." Tovosh started to explain further, but was interrupted by T'Pol. "It is not something he is offering, it is done. The words he spoke make it so."

Tucker stood transfixed for a moment trying to understand what just happened. The translation in his head said Tovosh had just pledged his loyalty to him.

"This means..." T'Pol continued.

"I know what it means, I'm human not stupid. What the hell is it with you Vulcans and making life altering choices for me?" His anger flared hotly until he sensed T'Pol's reaction. Immediately he silently tried to apologize to T'Pol. His words had come out in a shout and without thought and he didn't want her to think that's what he still thought about her or their bond.

The elder Vulcan watched the silent conversation for several seconds allowing for the possibility that T'Pol could calm her mate. "That was not my intention. It is logical to give you what I would require to allow another to fulfill my duty to my family."

"So what, now we're family?" His agitation still running high.

"In affect yes, but you are under no obligation to me. It is I who must honor my oath of loyalty to you." Vulcans were taught to honor obligations and duty but it was forced on Humans. It was hard to be honorable when one's life depended on one's actions.

Tovosh spoke again. "I'dungi tu sahrafel?" (Now will you trust me?)

If it was the other way around and he spoke those words to the Vulcan, he knew exactly what it would have meant. He didn't have the luxury of time to understand the Vulcan mind when it came to matters of duty, honor, and loyalty. Shaking his head in disbelief, but looking directly into the Vulcan's eyes, he knew what he must do. Without analyzing he blocked the bond, shut T'Pol and her logic and reason out, reached inside, and went with what he felt in the deepest part of himself. "Yes, I will trust you."

"I give you my word that I will act in your place to protect your sister." The Vulcan saw his confusion. "Your bondmate can explain."

"She doesn't need to. . .I understand." He had only ever made two true oaths in his life. One was to his new crew and the other was his bond to T'Pol. This new oath was between the two of them. He had to hand it to the Vulcans for taking the ritual and ceremony out of what made human males called 'blood brothers'; accomplishing the same end without the blood. Accepting this oath meant trusting that Lizzie was now as important to Tovosh as she was to Tucker. "Your words said we were united in this oath to one another and I choose to stand by that. I'm just not sure why you would do this for someone you barely know."

Tovosh remained unemotional and responded with a logical explanation for his actions. "You are needed there to secure a future for us all and it is my people who have done this. This is the only honorable way I see to find a solution to our dilemma."

Seeing the truth in his words lifted the load somewhat until a thought occurred to Tucker. "Find her and when you do you might want to skip over telling her anything about oaths or loyalty or any of that. She hates Vulcans right now and I can't see her hearing any more news of me being more connected to Vulcans as being a good thing unless they take those memories too." As he continued to contemplate Lizzie's reaction and possible loss of memories he could hear T'Pol telling him to stop worrying about what he had no proof of having happened yet. There would be plenty of time for that once Lizzie was located.

"I will do nothing to antagonize her further. I must go and move the search along. Teams will be dispatched to locate her and then she will be relocated to a private location of which no one is aware. Once she is found, I will be leaving for a time to visit my properties on Vulcan and I will see to her well-being. She will be kept there until the danger has been neutralized. When there is news, I will contact you. In the meantime, you are to concentrate on your duties and on finding any traitors amongst our fleet. I am sending someone to assist you. Once Master Rastek explains his function and abilities you will know how best to utilize him."

This whole situation with the Vulcans was making things difficult for Tovosh on many fronts. He never acted on impulse as he had today and he never let his emotions interfere with his decisions but in this case he kept putting himself in Tucker's place and all that he'd learned of this human he had given his blood oath to said it was the right thing to do. Not only would this new relationship ease some of Tucker's tension it would give Tovosh the standing and justification he needed to continue his search for Lizzie Tucker. Many Vulcans would not understand his giving of his oath to the human but they would honor it. Later that would give him some leverage with the Vulcan Council, in regards to Tucker and T'Pol.

 

 

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