"The Fairest One of All" CHAPTER FIVE




Charlie was staring up in awe at the heart and soul of Enterprise's engine room. "How fast did you say it can go?"

"We've gotten her up to warp four point five so far." Travis was a little surprised at Charlie's surprise. Word was out all over the ship that this Tucker was not their Tucker, but he looked just like their Trip and acted a lot like him too. He was, yet he wasn't. He should know about the warp five reactor, yet he didn't. Travis shook his head to clear it. This whole "parallel universe" thing was so confusing. He decided to forget about all the high tech quantum stuff for now and concentrate on helping his friend. And no matter which Tucker this was, Charlie was his friend.

After lunch with the captain, Charlie wanted to look around the ship, so Archer had asked Travis and Malcolm to play tour guides. It was no coincidence that the first stop happened to be engineering, and Tucker had never seen anything so beautiful as the gleaming reactor laid out before him. "Trip told me you guys could go fast, but warp four point five..."

"She is capable of hitting warp five." Malcolm told him. "In theory, anyway, but we haven't actually pushed her to the limit yet."

The engineer in Charlie really appreciated the effort that was generated to build that marvel before him. "How in the world did you manage to create such a miracle?" Tucker wondered. Then a possible answer came to him. "You seem to be friendly with the Vulcan's over here. Did they help you?"

"Hardly." Reed snorted. Obviously the Vulcan, Human relationship had taken a different path on Charlie's side of the pond. "It took thousands of human engineers nearly a hundred years to come up with the final design."

"Yeah." Travis reached over and brushed the power plant with affection. Next to the captain, Trip and the gang in engineering, no one loved this engine more than he did. After all, he was to only one who actually got to make it go. "You know, Captain Archer's own father was instrumental in building the first prototype."

"Really?" THAT surprise Charlie. He couldn't picture any Archer working on something so positive.

Although you couldn't tell by looking, Reed also felt a trace of admiration for the great machine. "I would never let our Charles Tucker know this, of course. It would go straight to his head, but I think this engine is a representation of one of the best aspects of humanity."

A good aspect of humanity, Charlie thought. How nice for a change. He asked Reed to explain further.

"Well, thousands of people from all over our planet worked together with one goal in mind, to get the human race out of our solar system and really begin to explore the stars, peacefully."

Travis moved forward and gently touched Tucker on the shoulder. He wanted to get this next point across. "We put aside our differences for a larger purpose, and we became a stronger people in the process."

"Wow." Charlie's mind tried to latch onto such a wonderful concept. Peaceful exploration. But this positive version of mankind was so different from his own, it was hard to get a handle on the unusual notion.

Malcolm saw the engineer struggle with the idea, but he thought that Tucker was still focused in on the engine. "I take it you don't have anything like this on your ship?"

Charlie shook his head. "The fastest we can go is warp three." His thoughts still centered on the brutality of his own people caused him to look away from the engine and down on the floor. "It's just as well, I guess."

Malcolm heard the sadness in Tucker's voice, but before he could inquire further Charlie began to sway back and forth a little, and the engineer reached out a hand to the side of the warp reactor to steady himself. Reed was instantly concerned. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah." Charlie nodded. "I'm just a little tired."

Tucker looked more than a little tired to Mayweather. The engineer suddenly looked like death warmed over. "Would you like us to get the doctor for you?"

Charlie looked a little sad at the mention of the doctor's name, but he managed to raise a smile. "Nah. I don't need to bother him with this. I'll be fine after I can get in a little shut eye."

"Well, why don't we get you to your quarters then." Reed suggested, offering Tucker the stability of his arm. The engineer gratefully took a hold of the support and allowed Reed and Mayweather to lead him out of the room.

Once out in the corridor Charlie began to perk up a bit and after a few minutes he was able to walk on his own. Reed hesitated to ask Tucker more about his world, since the engineer was obviously ill, but apparently Travis didn't have such reservations. He was curious. "Charlie. How come you're glad your engine can't go warp five?"

Tucker hesitated for a moment. This universe was so much better than his own and the people were full of optimism and hope. He hated to put a damper on their enthusiasm, but maybe the more they heard about his world the more they would appreciate their own. "I'm glad we can't go faster because we would just use our technology to enslave more people."

"Enslave them?" The thought of anything so obscene was deeply troubling to Reed. He must have misunderstood.

"We don't work together to build things like you do. Well, I suppose we did at first in order to get the weapons we needed, but once we had superior firepower we just went ahead an used it to take everything else we wanted."

"Really?" Apparently Reed hadn't misunderstood. It was beginning to sound like humanity never grew as a race over there. Perhaps they were still the savages that his own people had managed to leave behind decades ago.

"Yep." Charlie continued. "The only reason we have a warp three engine is 'cause we stole it from the Vulcan's. 'Course that pissed 'em off so much that they launched into a war with us."

Travis wasn't sure that he heard that right. "Vulcan's pissed?"

"Savage bunch." Charlie muttered. "Lettin' their emotions rage all over the place. They're a menace to the galaxy."

Oh that was a fascinating tidbit. Vulcan's savage? Reed knew that he shouldn't, but there was no way he could keep this quiet. The armory officer was going to take great pleasure in describing this version of Vulcan philosophy to T'Pol when he got the chance.

Travis' mind, however, was on other things. "This war must be very devastating to your people."

"Nah. It's not too bad." Charlie said as they rounded a corner and headed for officer's country. "The Vulcan's don't have that many ships, so we mainly get caught up in a skirmish or two whenever we run into 'em. There's still plenty of time for plunderin'." Charlie wrapped an arm over his baby's pod and thought about all of the care that he and his child had received since they set foot on this ship. "Your doctor, he's such a nice man."

"We think so." Reed agreed, not sure what this had to do with wars and plundering and the like.

"Are there lots of people on his planet?" Charlie asked.

Travis thought he could detect a tremor flowing through the commander's voice. "Sure." Mayweather wanted to reassure the man. "Lots."

"I think the last census counted at least sixty million heads." Reed added.

"Sixty million." Charlie's eyes closed at the thought. "I'm glad."

"Why?" Reed asked.

"Because..." Tucker's voice faltered for a moment. He was so tired of dealing with all the horrors all the time. "Because in my universe there aren't any Denobulan's."

"Not any?" How could that be, Travis wondered. "Was there some sort of natural disaster that destroyed the doctor's planet?"

The truth turned out to be much worse than that. "They were all wiped out." Charlie hated the memory. Hated this part of his life so much. "We wiped them out."

"You did?" Reed thought Tucker was talking about the human race in general, then it dawned on the armory officer that Charlie was talking about himself. "How could you personally destroy a whole race of people?"

"Well I didn't push the button, but I was on Enterprise when it happened." It seemed like yesterday. Charlie could vividly recall standing at his spot on the bridge watching as Malcolm cheerfully armed their weapons for the dreadful assault that was to come. "It was durin' my first mission. The Earth Council demanded that the Denobulan's join the human empire. When they refused we dropped thermonuclear bombs into their atmosphere and within minutes all life on that world was gone."

There was silence for a few moments as the horror of the action sank in. As an ordnance man Reed focused in on the weapon. "The actively used atomic armaments?" He asked, aghast. "That's barbaric."

A small smile appeared on Charlie's face. "We're barbarians I guess." He admitted before the smile faded away. "I had nightmares about that day for years. All those people... kids like me... gone in an instant..."

Tucker started shaking so much that Travis had to take a hold of him just to steady the engineer. "It's all right, Charlie. We're almost to your quarters. Then you can lie down for awhile." Grateful, Tucker nodded his thanks and hoped he could keep to his feet for that long.

Still thinking about the fate of the Denobulan's on the other side, Malcolm caught on to one small point Charlie made. "What do you mean kids like you? How old were you when you joined Starfleet?"

"Joined Starfleet?" That made Charlie laugh. A long, humorless laugh. "Nobody joins Starfleet. At least not willingly anyway."

"Then how did you get on Enterprise?"

"I guess you could say I was shanghaied."

Shanghaied? To Reed this Starfleet was sounding more and more like the old British Navy. Malcolm wondered if they made the crew eat rotten bread and punished them with flogging and the like. No wonder Charlie was so desperate to get away. "Here we are." Reed said, trying to lighten the mood. "These are Commander Tucker's quarters."

Charlie was a little surprised. "Up here? These are the rooms reserved only for the elite on my ship."

"Sure." Travis was a little confused. "You're a commander, aren't you?" Why wouldn't Charlie stay in quarters like these?

Travis may have been puzzled, but Reed understood perfectly. "I suppose it's networking and kissing up to Archer and his click that determines things like good accommodations where you come from."

"Ah..." Charlie was enlightened. "You know my ship."

"No." Reed admitted. "I've just studied human history."

"In any case..." Travis interrupted, back to the business at hand. "Under the circumstances the captain thought it would be all right if you stayed in Commander Tucker's quarters while you're with us."

Reed, ever conscientious about security matters laughed. "The captain believed that you might as well, since the lock is all ready keyed to your thumb print anyway."

Charlie smiled at Reed's little multi-dimensional joke, then pushed the lock with his finger and to his surprise it actually opened. When Tucker got inside he looked around the room in awe. "All this space is just for me?"

"It certainly is." Reed assured him.

"I take it your quarters on your Enterprise aren't so big?" Travis asked.

"Only the cap'n and his buddies live in palaces like this. I bunk down in a dorm with six guys."

"Well, go ahead and enjoy the space." Reed told him. "Because these are your quarters for as long as you're here."

"Thanks." Charlie looked around the room, then his eyes focused in on a picture of a middle aged couple that was resting on Trip's desk. "Oh, God." With trembling fingers the engineer picked it up and stared at the picture lovingly.

Reed knew the identity of the couple and partially understood his reaction. "I take it they're your parents too?"

"Are they alive in this universe?" Charlie asked, still shaking.

"I believe so."

"I'm glad." A single tear began to fall down one cheek. "My folks were killed tryin' to stop the Starfleet recruiters when they came to take me away. First mom, then dad was shot down before my eyes." The engineer ran his fingers over the glass of the frame, as if touching the picture could bring him closer to his lost family. "They dragged me away so fast that I couldn't even get a picture of them out of the house to remember them by."

"I'm sure..." Reed started to say, but then he had to clear his throat of the emotional lump that had formed before he could start again. "I'm sure our Commander Tucker wouldn't mind if you kept that one." After all, their Trip could get more.

"Thank you." Charlie clutched the picture close to his heart. Then he headed for the bunk and sat down heavily upon it. "If you fellas don't mind I'm gonna have me a little siesta."

"Rest as long as you want." Reed told him. "When you wake up please call Travis or myself and one of us will come and escort you to the mess hall for dinner."

That surprised Charlie. "You mean you're not gonna post a guard? After all, I'm a stranger to your ship."

Reed moved in closer to Charlie. He wanted his meaning to be very clear. "You're also our friend. A friend that we trust. We don't need any guard."

Overwhelmed, Charlie nodded his thanks and the other two men left him to his rest.

Outside the door Travis just stopped and starred at Reed oddly. He stared so intently and for so long that Reed started to squirm before asking "What?"

"It's not like you to be so trusting." Travis pointed out.

"Charlie's our friend." Reed protested. "Different universe or not, I'm not going to treat him as a prisoner. Besides..." the armory officer added as they started to move down the hall. "I've got the entire corridor on full video surveillance. Just in case."

Relieved, Travis clapped his friend on the back. That was more like it.

To be continued.......

 

 

 

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