Equilateral

Days passed, and Archer was trying to arrange for Enterprise to visit a nearby space dock to finish cleaning the ship's exterior. However, negotiations were slow enough to try even T'Pol's patience. But she was determined the crew make use of the delay.

While Hoshi and Archer negotiated with the space station, Enterprise found an orbit around an M-class moon. The moon had no humanoid life, but it did boast a thriving ecosystem similar enough to Earth's that Archer decided an away team should go foraging on the planet.

T'Pol was a natural to lead the team, bringing Liz Cutler and several other scientists. Trip, however, was curious as to why Archer ordered him to go along. So was T'Pol.

“Because he needs to get the hell out of engineering for a little while," Jonathan told her privately, "The fresh air will do him good, and the last thing I need is for him to wind up in sickbay.”

Because the shuttles were still being used to clean the ship's exterior, the away team, all five of them, beamed down in two groups laden with equipment. T'Pol had chosen a temperate forest area as the location for their survey, believing the region would be the most likely to find edible and medicinal flora. The captain gave them two and a half hours to collect samples and perform field analysis.

She inhaled the fresh, dewy air and looked up and the tall trees.

The junior members of the team soon disappeared into the forest. Commander Tucker, on the other hand, did not have a purpose on the team beyond Archer’s vague request to assist her.

She felt his arms around her waist.

"I've always loved the way you look in this white outfit," he said, nibbling at her ear.

"Commander," she replied, "We have limited time to complete our tasks. Do you wish to accompany me?"

As he continued to tease her ear with his mouth, his hands slipped lower and squeezed her backside. His actions were not unpleasant, but she commanded this mission and needed to keep focused.

"Commander . . .I require your assistance. . ."

He laughed.

"Aren't I assisting you, Commander?" he replied, but he stepped back and grabbed one of the empty sample cases they had brought and gestured toward the direction she had designated for them to cover.

"After you. . ." he said.

From then on, they both kept their minds on their work, collecting a myriad of samples and organizing them in the cases. A few hours later, T'Pol was supervising the transport of the junior officers and their sample cases back to Enterprise.

Once Trip had stacked the last of the remaining cases, he and T'Pol took up their positions on either side. “T'Pol to Enterprise. Commander Tucker and I are ready for transport.”

“Acknowledged,” Malcolm Reed said over the communicator.

T'Pol waited for the familiar tingle that preceded dematerialization, but it never came. She and Trip exchanged glances.

“Tucker to Reed. What's going on up there, Malcolm?”

Trip was answered by Lieutenant Hess instead. “Pattern buffer's down again, Commander,” she said wearily. “I'm on it.”

Trip winced. “How long we lookin' at, Anna?”

T'Pol noted the hesitation in Hess's voice. “An hour. Maybe two. Sorry, sir.”

“Any chance you can send a shuttlepod to pick us up?” Trip asked.

“Nearest clearing big enough to land is about a half-day's hike from your current position,” Hess pointed out. “We'll get you home faster my way, sir.”

Before Trip could answer, Reed said, “I'm sure you and commander T'Pol will make good use of your time.”

T'Pol could see Trip's tongue push into his cheek. “Thanks, Malcolm. Tucker out.”

T'Pol recognized Malcolm's tone as well as the mischievous glint in Trip's eye. Surely, he wasn't going to make good on his assertion that they would "make good use of their time". There was no shelter. No privacy. Trip couldn't possibly expect her to engage in sexual relations in the outdoors. As he tenderly pulled her into his arms and began caressing her, it seemed clear to her that was his intention.

She tensed up and attempted to pull away but he didn't let her.

"There's no one here to see," Trip pointed out between kisses along her neck. "Nobody will know."

“Everyone will assume, she replied. "Besides, we should keep working. Make efficient use of our time."

He traced the point of her ear with his tongue. "I was plannin' on being very efficient with our time," he said, one of his hands squeezing her rear end.

"It's unnatural to have sexual relations out in the open," she answered with a barely suppressed shiver.

"Unnatural?" Trip laughed. He took the tricorder from her hands and set it on the crate beside them. "Come on," he said, offering her his hand. "Let's just walk."

She placed her tricorder back into her tool belt and took his hand. He led her toward the forest.

“So, how come you think sex outdoors is unnatural? Vulcans didn't always live in houses any more than humans did."

"True. My people were once quite barbaric. During the same period when they mated in the outdoors, it was acceptable for a female to castrate an unwanted suitor."

He pulled her into his embrace, laughing at that, as she knew he would. She was enveloped by his weight. It wasn't unpleasant, but she felt small - surrounded and supported by his strength.

She relaxed into him, sighing deeply.

"The first time I ever. . .you know. . . .was outside, at night. . .under the stars."

She pressed her face against his chest, flushing at this intimate revelation. She was acutely aware of his heart pounding in his chest and the sandalwood smell of him. By now she was accustomed to the peculiar position of his heartbeat, and the rhythm soothed her. His voice resonated through her whole body, and she felt as though she was dreaming. . .beams of light cut through the trees, insects chirped and birds sang. . . she was unstable on her feet as he helped her to the ground, laying her down on a soft bed of greenery.

He put his arms around her and sighed deeply. She enjoyed the feel of his breath on her cheek. For a long time, they lay there in silence. Her mind drifted lazily. It was so pleasant, just being in his arms. She missed Jonathan, of course, but she enjoyed being alone with Trip.

Her mind wandered back to when she had been alone with Jonathan. Pleasant memories overtook her. She moaned a little, then opened her eyes to see Trip looking at her with a playful grin.

"A rock? Seriously?" he said.

T'Pol sat up, not bothering to conceal her panic. How could he have possibly known the details of her encounter with Jonathan?

Trip's eyes widened. “What just happened? I didn't imagine that!'

T'Pol didn't answer. Surely a link between her and one of her human mates wouldn't be possible without chemical intervention, and no one had eaten the Gilesian fruit once T'Pol had ascertained its effects. She wondered if Jonathan had been having similar experiences. She'd have to--

“It's the fruit, right?” Trip asked hopefully. “Whatever's in it is still in our systems?”

“Possibly,” T'Pol answered. But not very likely.

Whatever the cause, T'Pol's heart began to flutter, reminded of the intense intimacy of their first encounter as a triad.

"Strange," Trip said, "that it would stay in our systems so long. ..and flash back."

T'Pol turned to him. "But not disagreeable," she said as she covered his mouth with hers, shifting to pull him back down into the ferns.

Trip's mouth soon overtook hers, and his kiss was neither gentle nor aggressive. It was somewhere in between--deep and open. T'Pol closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment, clinging to his back and pulling him close. Images flickered through her head.


A garden. Not on Vulcan but a warm weather garden. Tropical. She had never been to such a place, but she knew it was Earth. A breeze. Brightly colored flowers and birds. Salty air.


Trip's hands wandered, caressing her back and shoulders and kneading her backside. His leisurely kisses quickened her pulse. Slowly he rolled her onto her back, moving against her to create gentle friction between their uniforms.


She stood in the garden, and she wore a garment of colorful flowers. A very small garment, she noted with a climbing brow.


His hand cupped her breast, his delicate squeeze causing her to squirm up against him.


There was nothing to conceal his desire for her, his bare skin tanned a golden brown. He reached out toward her, beckoning her to come closer.


T'Pol savored the weight of his body on her, his labored breathing mingling with hers, the hardness of his arousal pressing into her.


They stared as a snake slithered past. Trip looked down at the the top of his thigh, his fingers instinctively brushing his scar. She had not known until now the healed wound was from a snakebite.


T'Pol felt herself being rolled back to the top of him, impatient fingers fumbling for her zipper, tugging it down.


T'Pol reached into the leaves beside her, pulling free a beautiful purple cainito—what Trip had called a “star apple,” a fruit he had developed an affinity for while diving in Jamaica. Though he'd never mentioned this before, the truth of this knowledge was irrefutable.

She extended her hand, offering him the fruit. He covered her hand with his, wrapped the other around her wrist, and bit hungrily. Juice ran through her fingers and into his.


Trip began fumbling with the zipper of her catsuit, and she was too weak with desire to protest. Although she was still uncomfortable with the notion of mating outside, the reverent yet primal tone of his fantasy had been seductive.

He opened the front of her suit, baring her breasts to the cool forest air. He looked up at her, grinning, as he caressed her taut nipples.

“Not wearing anything underneath?”

“This garment is adequately insulated,” she replied, feeling a slight burn in her cheeks.

Trip laughed and kissed her briefly before shimmying down her body and taking one of her boots in this hand. He unfastened it and pulled it off her foot, tossing it aside. The other one soon followed.

“Stand up,” he urged softly.

She was barefoot. His request was not logical.

Trip reached out his hand, and she sat up and took it. He pulled her to her feet, the bed of moss providing cushion her soles. Trip then zipped her suit all the way down and pushed the skintight garment off her shoulders and pulled it down over her hips.

"I love the way you look in this baby, but it's a pain to get you out of," he laughed, as he helped her step out of each leg.

T'Pol stood tall, struggling against her instincts to cover herself against the taboo sensation of the breeze caressing her exposed body. She then realized that while she was completely naked, he remained fully clothed. She moved to undress him, but he stopped her--instead gathering her into his arms and kissing her.

Trip pressed his forehead against hers, making her look directly into his smiling blue eyes. “Just trust me, okay?”

She nodded, breathless. Trip lifted two of his big, calloused fingers to her lips, and she sucked on them slowly. He then lowered them between her legs and began stroking her. The fabric of his uniform felt rough as she writhed against him, intensifying the thrill of her vulnerability. His fingers slid deeper and deeper into her, and she buried her face in his chest, muffling her cries.

His free hand found the small of her back and pressed her even closer to him. She was on the precipice of a climax when he suddenly removed his fingers. She gasped in frustration, and he turned her around to face a nearby tree.

"Put your hands against the trunk and lean over," he said softly.

She obeyed his request, and he gently spread her legs wider, his fingers still wet from being inside her.

He let go for a moment, and she heard him unzipping his uniform. She turned to look, but he reached up and gently prevented her head from turning.

"Don't look at me baby, just feel it. Let go," he said.

She trained her eyes on the bark of the tree, which was cutting into her hands, as she felt him rub his erection between her legs. She moaned and closed her eyes.

"That's right," he whispered as he slipped inside her. “I wanna hear you.”

His uniform scraped against her bare skin as he began to thrust. His fingers found her clit and began to rub. With every push, the bark dug deeper and deeper into her palms. The pain enhanced her exhilaration, as it had the last time she had been alone with Trip. She was once again behaving shamefully, this time rutting in the open like an animal. Breathing in the the forest air, she looked up to see rays of sun cutting through the tops of the trees. She felt primitive—alive!

Ecstasy overtook her, and her primal screams echoed through the woods, followed shortly by his. Her hands were cut and bleeding as they both dropped to their knees. She pressed back against him and he wrapped his arms around her. She closed her eyes, feeling more nervous for him . . .and Jon, than for herself. Trip had unleashed something from within her psyche, and she wasn’t sure if she could contain it.