Psyche and Sound - Chapter 4

Psyche and Sound

by Orion9

Rating: PG
Genre: General/Drama

Disclaimer: Enterprise and all related characters belong to Paramount. No own. No profit.

A/N: I’m really sorry for this late post. Things have been rather crazy lately. For those of you who’ve been following this on ff.net, I apologise for not updating there. Have been unable to do so because the site kept changing the formatting of the chapter, resulting in missing punctuation and spaces. Finally, the A/N from Chapter Three is also applicable here, and for each consequent chapter as well.

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Chapter Four – Analysis

“Well,” Archer asked, looking worriedly from the biobed to the Denobulan. “What’s wrong with him?”

Phlox studied the incoming data on the screen above Tucker for another moment before turning back to the Captain, his usual cheery manner slightly muted by his immediate concern.

“The neuroscans show an incredible but erratic increase in Commander Tucker’s cerebral activity. The levels of his neurotransmitters, or in simple terms, the chemical messengers within his brain, are …how should I put this–” Phlox paused for a moment, searching for the right words before continuing, “–off the charts, I believe that’s the phrase to use?”

“How’s that possible?”

“It is all quite remarkable, actually. The venom that Commander Tucker was exposed to a few days ago has somehow increased the activity between the synapses of his prefrontal cortex, and in doing so, has intensified his cognitive abilities, especially his higher cognitive functions,” Phlox paused suddenly, catching sight of the look on Archer’s face. Getting the unspoken message that the other man was not in any mood for complicated medical terms, the doctor added hastily, “Simply put, Captain, he now possesses a telepathic-like ability...”

“What are you saying?” Archer asked incredulously. “That he’s able to read anyone’s thoughts at will?”

“Not exactly, Captain.” At the other man’s frown, Phlox hastened to explain, “Yes, Commander Tucker is able to acquire the thoughts of others, although not so much at will. From what I could tell, he has no control over this unusual cerebral ability of his. Perhaps a few appropriate mental exercises may help change that. To date, however, I’ve determined that the Commander has been receiving random thoughts from his fellow humans but only when they are within a certain proximity to him.”

“Fellow humans?” Archer repeated bemusedly. A thought occurred and he muttered, “The music collection he got me…”

“Captain?”

“Uh… sorry,” Archer focused his wandering attention on Phlox once more. “You were saying that Trip could read the thoughts of his fellow humans?”

“Yes. From the brief tests that I was able to conduct before his headache became worse, I’ve managed to establish that the Commander was unable to read my thoughts or the Sub-Commander’s.”

Digesting this information, Archer said slowly, “He mentioned that these … incidents had grown worse these past few days, particularly during the night.”

Phlox nodded. “It appears that his telepathic ability increases when his guard is down emotionally, when he’s hungry or sleepy, or mentally tired.”

“That explains why he hasn’t been sleeping much.”

“I believe so, Captain. His mental guard would be down during that brief period before he succumbs to sleep, causing the Commander to be very susceptible to the thoughts of others.”

“The headaches…” Archer murmured, still very much disturbed by the doctor’s report.

“Yes, the migraine attacks that Commander Tucker is suffering from seem to be one of the side effects of his elevated cognitive capacity.”

“Why didn’t any of these show up in the initial check-up?”

“I believe that his new ability only developed sometime after that day, Captain. The venom itself is very indefinable. If I didn’t know what I was supposed to be looking for, even now, I would’ve missed it.”

Archer nodded briskly before asking, “Is any of this contagious?”

“From what I could ascertain from the tests, no.“

Relief flooded him at Phlox’s answer. At least that was one good piece of news. Although Trip meant the world to him – the young man being the closest he has to family on the ship, in fact, Trip was the brother he’d never had – as captain, his first concern had to be the rest of his crew. His eyes flickering to his unconscious friend before coming back to rest on the doctor, Archer asked, “Is he going to be all right?”

“I don’t see why not. His vitals are a little erratic but they are reasonably strong and steady. Apart from his obvious fatigue, the Commander has somehow developed a slight bronchitis problem and a trace of pneumonia since I saw him this afternoon. However, they’re fairly mild, nothing that can’t be treated with some proper medication.”

“These symptoms … they’re connected?”

“All current signs do point to that possibility.”

Brows drawn together, Archer looked intently at the man who was lying relaxed in sleep on the biobed. Trip had started to explain when he’d suddenly collapsed at his desk, hands clutching at his head. Although he’d regained consciousness by the time they got him to Sickbay, Phlox had decided to sedate him when the Commander’s headache had grown increasingly worse during the past hour. Eventually, Archer turned back to the Denobulan.

“Will he remain … Is this …” Archer’s voice trailed off at this point; he was noticeably at a loss on how to phrase his next question. After a moment’s pause, he continued, ”Is this condition permanent?”

“Unfortunately, Captain, that’s another question I’m unable to answer at this time. But there is the possibility that this manifestation may only be for a short period of time, that is until the venom has been fully flushed from his system.”

“Well, couldn’t you just get rid of the venom right now?”

Phlox shook his head. “I’m afraid that wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“Why not?” the other man demanded edgily, waving a hand towards the only currently occupied biobed. “It has been days and it seems to me he’s getting worse, instead of better.”

“In his current condition, I’m not sure if the Commander is strong enough to survive the strenuous procedure, specially considering how difficult it was to locate the alien substance in his blood during the initial test. I recommend allowing his body’s system to purge the venom by itself,” Phlox answered with a reassuring smile, unfazed by the Captain’s frustrated tones – Archer’s distress at his friend’s current condition was clearly understandable.

“I see…”

“Yes, well, in the meantime, I shall be giving Commander Tucker some dopamine to help stabilise his falling blood pressure, amoxicillin to counteract the bronchitis problem, trazodone–“ here Phlox lost Archer as he continued to rattle off what seemed to the Captain to be a whole list of medication. Momentarily bemused by the complex medical names and their purposes, he could only nod as the Denobulan finished cheerfully, “The last few should help keep the cerebral activity down to a minimum until his system is finally free from the toxin.”

Giving another nod, Archer passed a hand across his face and sighed tiredly. Right now, it was clear that there wasn’t much any of them could do but wait. After leaving instructions to be informed as soon as Tucker woke up, he took one last look at his friend before leaving Sickbay, taking a small measure of comfort in the fact that Trip was at least in the doctor’s capable hands.

* * * * *

“Hey, how’re you feeling?”

Pretty much doped up t’my eyeballs here… The spontaneous answer popped up even as Trip grimaced faintly in response to the all-too-familiar inquiry. Although barely into his second day in Sickbay, he was, if truth were told, already getting more than a little tired of people asking him that same question. Finally meeting Hoshi’s concerned gaze, Trip gave her a weak grin.

“Tired,” he replied simply, deciding on that answer instead of his first response. Although he’d been getting more rest these past two days compared to the last five, he still felt, to some extent, incredibly exhausted. Not to mention somewhat irritable from still being on the mandatory off-duty list. Only Phlox’s many tests and the numerous visits from his crewmates kept him from being bored out of his mind.

“Are you comfortable?”

“Pretty much. Jus’ bring me the rest o’ my stuff and I can go ‘bout callin’ this place home sweet home,” he said with a straight face, waving his hand vaguely around the room.

“Been spending too much time in here, huh?” Hoshi smiled.

Trip heaved a resigned sighed, grimacing. “Any more an’ I’ll probably qualify to be one of Doc’s pets.”

He smiled when a giggle escaped her at his answer. Giving Hoshi a sideways look during the silence that followed, Trip caught her inquiring peek and sighed, knowing what it was that was on her mind. Practically everyone who’d paid him a visit the past two days had done so. What’s one more time?

“Go ahead, ask me.”

“What?” Hoshi asked, a little startled to find out that her curiosity had been so obvious. At Trip’s wry grin, she blushed slightly and cleared her throat. “Sorry.”

“That’s al’right,” he shrugged. “I guess it’s only natural to be curious ‘bout it. I’d be if I wasn’t on the receivin’ end here.”

She was glad for his nonchalant response, which helped take away some of her embarrassment at being caught studying him moments ago. Worrying her bottom lip for a moment, Hoshi considered his words momentarily before plunging in, “So, are you reading my mind right now?”

Trip shook his head. “Nope, haven’t been doin’ any of that since Doc started me on that new set of medication a couple of days ago. Can’t say I miss any of it though.”

Hoshi nodded at his answer. “I don’t blame you. You still look terrible, you know.”

“Oh, thanks for the vote of confidence there…”

Grinning at his dry retort and exasperated expression, Hoshi cocked her head to one side as she regarded him. “Was that how you knew which book I was thinking of getting?”

Remembering the few selected questions that he’d asked the other day, Trip grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, sorry…”

She smiled. “Don’t be. I think it was one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me. Impractical, but sweet.”

“Impractical?” he questioned, taken aback.

“Yes. You could’ve just asked, you know?”

He grinned. “Yeah, sure. But where’s t’fun in that?”

With a laugh, Hoshi handed over the data PADD that she’d brought along.

“What is it?”

“Just returning the favour – some reading materials to keep you occupied while you’re stuck here.”

The Commander’s grateful look was thanks enough for her. Still looking terribly pale, with eyes that somehow seemed too large for his face, Hoshi was nonetheless glad to see that his features had at least lost the strained, pinched look.

“James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small and Jules Verne’s A Journey to the Center of the Earth,” he intoned, glancing at the book titles on the screen. Looking up, he said appreciatively, “Thanks, Hoshi. These should help keep me from goin’ nuts while I wait for the Doc’s okay…”

“Always glad to be of service, my dear Commander,” she replied in a fair imitation of Malcolm’s accent, accompanying it with an affectionate grin.

“Hah! Someone’s definitely been spendin’ way too much time with Malcolm,” Trip teased, delighted to see another rush of colour infusing the ensign’s fair complexion.

Ignoring the innuendo as well as the growing heat in her cheeks, Hoshi sent her chortling friend her best innocent look, allowing him go on for about a minute before resolutely changing the subject. Finally taking pity on the linguist – if her blush got any redder, Phlox would probably think that she was coming down with a fever herself – Trip, his mischievous grin still firmly in place, went along easily with the flow of the new topic. As a result, the two friends spent the rest of Hoshi’s visit comparing notes on the best movie adaptations ever made.

* * * * *

Despite his best efforts, Trip failed to convince Phlox that he was already well enough to be discharged. In addition to being not the least affected, the Denobulan was also not at all amused by the engineer’s powers of persuasion, preferring to call it hounding instead. Insulted, Trip had retreated into his reading, while Phlox had happily used the quiet time to complete his work. The peace didn’t last very long, for the Commander eventually began all over again, much to the physician’s exasperation.

In that particular battle of wills, however, it was the doctor who emerged victorious, for no matter how hard he tried, it was only late the next day that the slightly grouchy engineer was finally released from Sickbay. Immediately, he headed towards the Mess Hall, suddenly hungry for some food that was not prescribed by the good doctor. Halfway there, Trip caught sight of the Sub-Commander, whom he hadn’t seen since their lesson together the day before.

“Hey, T’Pol, wait up!” he called to her, genuinely happy to see a familiar face, even if it was one who had in turn both intrigued and exasperated him often enough.

Turning at the sound of his voice, T’Pol stopped, her expression unreadable as she waited for Tucker to catch up with her.

“Commander,” she greeted evenly as he drew near. “How are you?”

“Fine, thanks,” Trip made a face as he fell into step with her. “I feel like I’ve been asked that question more times these few days than in the last five years.”

T’Pol glanced at him. “I trust you have been through more these past few days compared to the last five years.”

“Thanks for lettin’ me in on that fact…” came his abrupt retort.

“I merely–“

“I know, I’m sorry,” Trip quickly apologised, shaking his head. “I guess I’m hungrier than I thought. I tend to get kinda cranky when that happens.”

“So I have noticed.”

He stared at her for a moment, astonishment at her reply temporarily getting the better of him. Recovering quickly, he grinned and asked, “Was that a joke, Sub-Commander?”

“Merely an observation, as was the case just now,” T’Pol replied, raising a delicate eyebrow at his gentle teasing.

Will I ever understand her? Trip wondered sardonically, eyeing the enigmatic woman before him as they stood just outside the Mess Hall. Dragging himself away from his thoughts, he gave her his most charming grin before asking softly, “So, whaddaya say, T’Pol? Care t’join me for a snack?”

For a time, his question hung in the air between them. Suppressing the urge to fill the silence with light comments and jokes, Trip kept his eyes on the Vulcan as she looked steadily back at him. Right when he thought she was going to decline his invitation, the answer came, verbalised in her customary cool manner.

“Yes, some chamomile tea would be acceptable.”

TBC
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A/N2: For reviewing Chapter Three…
cryogenie: Thanks! As for the guys in robes, I think we haven’t seen the last of them yet... :)
shadowmoon: Hope you liked this chapter as well. Thanks!

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Four of you have made comments

Great to see another chapter posted. Really enjoying this and looking forward to the next chapter. Thank you.

hmmmmmm this is got me hooked now reel me in please ;-)

tracy-wonderingiftripsabilitieswhiledevelopmore???

Hmmm.... but he's NOT better, is he? *evil laughter*

Once again, really really good! You've got us on the edge of our seats!

i agree with the last comment i hope he starts reading her mind suddenly lol, vulcans keep emotions in their head trip could discover a whole new side to her.