Half Past Zero Hour
Half Past Zero Hour
By The Watch Stander
Genre: Friendship
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Characters and series belong to Paramount.
Spoilers for last episode Zero hour.
AN: Just a filler for how I thought Trip felt when Malcolm and his team returned to Enterprise. Please don’t read if you don’t want part of the episode revealed.
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Trip waited with T’Pol anxiously on the bridge. There hadn’t been any news from Degra’s ship as to whether the Enterprise team had succeeded in destroying the weapon before it reached Earth.
The atmosphere was tense and Trip found himself suddenly overcome with grief thinking that they had failed and Earth was no more. Sudden tears sprang into his eyes, but T’Pol helped him regain his composure when she placed her hand on his shoulder offering him comfort and hope.
When the garbled message finally came from Degra’s ship , Trip’s hope was once more renewed. Both he and T’Pol hurried to the airlock to greet their returning crew mates.
Malcolm was first off, and for a moment when Trip saw the expression on the Lt’s face he thought they had failed. Instead Malcolm assured them it was done and the mission was a success. All the deaths hadn’t been for naught.
However ,Trip knew there was more for Malcolm stood there looking defeated as if he’d failed, and suddenly Trip’s heart sank.
Where was the Captain.
Malcolm told him what he didn’t want to hear, Archer hadn’t made it off the weapon before it blew up.
Trip suddenly felt the floor fall out from under him as he stood there stunned. They had succeeded, but at the cost of their Captain and Trip’s best friend. All he could do now was stand there his heart broken as Hoshi rushed forward to hug him and offer what comfort she could.
Having delivered the good and bad news, Malcolm walked slowly away taking his own demons with him and his sense of failure as well, for now he’d lost four men, Hawkins, Hayes, one of the Macos and now the Captain. It was a bitter pill to swallow and he had to leave so that he could deal with it in private.
Later as Trip and T’Pol walked back from the airlock, Trip asked her to excuse him for a short while, promising that he would join her on the bridge before they reached Earth. He just needed some time alone. She readily agreed and didn’t say anything as he walked away, for she too felt the loss.
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Once more Trip found himself on B deck walking the long hall alone in the quiet away from everyone. Wires and pieces of metal lay strewn about the hallway, breached bulkheads with patches gave evidence that they had been in a battle that had almost cost them everything. Fortunately this deck was used as cargo storage and no one had been here when the attack had happened and the walls had been breached.
Trip’s footsteps followed him down the corridor sending ghostly echoes behind him. As he walked he remembered Jon’s smile as Trip had wished him good luck on the mission. At the time it was all he could say, but he wished now that he’d told Jon he was the best friend he’d ever had. If it had been said he’d feel somewhat better now and his heart wouldn’t be so full of remorse. In the end though, Jon had seemed to be his old self even teasing by telling T’Pol to keep
Trip in line.
Trip would have to settle for that and hope that Jon knew how he felt. Trip continued down the hall followed by his footsteps and his ghosts, now joined by one more.
Now both his sister’s ghost and the ghost of the man he considered his brother followed him. Trip would always think of them and wish he could have told them how much they each meant to him, but for now all he had was a memory and it would have to be enough....
End
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Half a dozen of you have made comments
On 28 June 2004 at 02:00 PM tracy-thecubedone said:
ya got me blubbering all over the place with this one! On 28 June 2004 at 05:38 PM plumtuckered said:
Beautiful and heart-wrenching! Thank you! On 28 June 2004 at 08:49 PM Rinne said:
Haven't seen any of this season yet (stupid Aussie channel 9) but very well written! On 29 June 2004 at 03:49 AM Neo Getz said:
wow, that was beautiful. Teary-eyed me found that to be a heart-felt piece. I'm glad someone has given a very realistic idea to Trip's feelings. On 29 June 2004 at 11:03 AM Hoshissis said:
Great scence - wish we had had something like this on the episode. On 30 August 2004 at 01:31 PM Nichola said:
wow brillant story it made me cry
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