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Lillian felt trapped. She couldn’t help it, she just felt trapped. Well, sitting in the captain’s ready room with the whole senior staff could easily awake the feeling to be trapped. The young woman sighed and then spoke directly to Archer.

“What is it? Why do you keep me here?”

“We just wanted to ask you some questions. Will you answer?”

Archer couldn’t help but smile as he saw the girl grin and nod. Lillian seemed to be happy most of the time.

“Listen Lillian. Dr. Phlox checked your DNA. It seems that you are human.”

Lillian wanted to say something but Archer held up his hand and made her stop.

“But it only seems that you are. Something about your DNA isn’t human, or as I should say, it isn’t human anymore. Then T’Pol told me you were from a planet far away from here. And this thing about your grandfather who did not die but is not your grandfather anymore. If you want us to trust you, you will have to explain us some things.”

The girl didn’t answer but dropped her head. For the first time since she had been aboard Enterprise she seemed to be sad or not to know what to say.

“Well….” She started and sighed deeply. “I don’t think I want to discuss this with all of you….”

Archer dropped his head and then looked at her.

“Look, I don’t think you are in the position to order.”

“Right, I suppose you’re right. Well you want to know what species I’m from? I was human once, as your doctor found out correctly.”

When she didn’t continue but started whipping with her chair Archer began to lose his patience.

“And what are you now?” he asked a bit louder.

“Now?  I don’t know. I’m really looking like a human, don’t you think? I remember falling down that rock while playing with my older brother and then darkness came. When I woke up, I was sitting on a bank near a violet sea. They told me they needed me there.”

“Who told you?” Archer asked curiously.

“I don’t really know who they are. I don’t even really know who I am now. I just know that I’m happy.”

“So you want to tell us you died and are living a new life as a new lifeform now?” T’Pol raised and eyebrow and eyed her.

“Well, you said that. Not me. I don’t know what I am now. Perhaps I’m just insane. Who knows?”

Archer realised that she was getting angry. He couldn’t really find out why, but he guessed it was all those asking. Perhaps Lillian really didn’t know who she was now but he had to admit that his science officer was right: The girl’s story seemed far too unrealistic.

“Ok, I think it’s enough for now. We’ll have a talk later, is that ok with you?”

Lillian didn’t answer, just left the room.

Later that day, T’Pol’s room.

When T’Pol entered the room, she saw Lillian lying on her small bed and staring at the ceiling of the room.

“Hi!” the girl said quietly.

T’Pol didn’t answer but ordered a hot tea and sat down on her own bed.

“T’Pol?”

“Yes?”

“Do you believe me?”

The girl still didn’t face her, just waited for an answer.

“I don’t think so.” The Vulcan stated coldly.

“I feared you wouldn’t. I just can’t explain it any other way….”

“Why is your grandfather on the picture if you say you found yourself sitting there after your fall?”

“Why do you ask this?”

“If I have more information I may believe in your words.”

Lillian now turned her head and watched the woman in front of her a while.

“I wished to have him near me. So I asked the man who painted it, to include my grandfather.”

“How did he know what your grandfather was like?”

“He just knew it. He’s one of us. He’s like me. I know many things, too, now. Things I wouldn’t like to know.”

“What things?”

“Have you ever been able to sense the feelings of other people, T’Pol?”

“Vulcans have limited telephatic opportunities.”

“I had never been able to do this before. When I woke up, I felt safe because I felt that all of them would be there to help me when I had a problem. Most of the time it’s great, I am able to help. But sometimes it’s frightening.”

T’Pol asked a question she was holding in her mind for a long time now.

“Can you sense my thoughts?”

“I’d really like to. But I have to get to know you first, to see my task.”

“Your task?”

“They send me here for fulfilling a task. Do you believe me now?”

“The fact that you seem to have abilities you didn’t have before your fall seems to prove some of your statements.”

“I guess that’s am admission…”Lillian said.

The next morning….

She didn’t know why she felt alone. She hadn’t done so before. Well, perhaps she had, but she hadn’t allowed to let these feelings come up. She didn’t know why she couldn’t hold them back now.

//It’s illogical.// T’Pol thought and stood up from her table. She was aboard a starship with lots of humans. She could not be alone.

**

„And why can’t ya bring it to her yourself?“ Trip asked the girl trotting next to him.

“I’d really like to do so but Hoshi promised to show me some of the languages she’s learned during your journey.” Lillian explained.

Trip sighed and stopped, causing the girl to do the same.

“And that’s why ya can’t bring that Padd to the Sub-Commander yourself?”

“Exactly.” She nodded and vanished into another sideway of the Enterprise.

Trip sighed for the second time during the last 10 seconds and made his way down to the mess hall were he expected T’Pol. It was not that he didn’t want to bring the Padd down, he just had had other plans. The mess halls door slid open and presented the chief engineer a full hall with lots of crewmembers sitting there. To his surprise he saw Hoshi and Lillian sitting at one of the tables.

//How did she come down here that fast? And why didn’t she hand T’Pol the Padd herself?// he asked himself but then headed towards the science officer sitting in a corner of the mess hall in thoughts.

“Uhm…..Sub-Commander?” he tried to get her attention. When she turned around to face him he swore he recognised a sad or at least disturbed look on her face.

“I’m sorry if I disturbed ya, just wanted to hand ya that Padd.” He said and handed the Padd towards her. She took it and raised an eyebrow.

“Something wrong with it?” Trip asked and sat down next to the Vulcan to have a look at the Padd he had given her.

“Not exactly. But I am not sure why I received this Padd from you.”

Trip took it from her and began to get red as a tomato when he red what was standing there:

“Humpty Tumpty sat on the wall,

  Humpty Tumpty had a great fall.

  All the king’s horse and all the king’s men

  Couldn’t put Humpty together again.”

“T’Pol, I, really, I don’t know what this is supposed to be. Lillian just gave me that Padd and begged me to give it to ya. I really didn’t know it was this…..nonsense.”

“Perhaps we should ask her herself.” T’Pol answered and stood up to join Hoshi and Lillian at the next table. To her surprise (ah…Vulcans aren’t surprised……well, at least she was a bit) Hoshi was still sitting there but Lillian wasn’t.

“Ensign, could you tell us where  Lillian has gone?” T’Pol asked but Hoshi shrugged.

“Lillian? I haven’t seen her yet today. I wanted to show her some of my languages down here but she didn’t arrive.” The communications officer answered.

“Wait Hoshi, we saw her sitting next to you.” Trip reminded.

“Perhaps you’ve seen someone else. Hallucination perhaps.” Hoshi grinned.

“We did certainly not have a hallucination.” T’Pol stated and then turned.

“Hey, T’Pol, where ya going?” Trip shouted and went after her.

“Ya wanna search her?”

T’Pol only nodded.

“If you don’t mind I’ll join ya.”

T’Pol didn’t mind. She had to admit that she was glad he’d proposed to help her search the girl. She didn’t want to be alone anymore.

**

„Over there! She must have climbed in there.” Trip shouted. He had been running in front of T’Pol down the corridor, both were searching for the strange girl that had appeared in front of the Enterprise some days ago: Lillian. And indeed Trip seemed to have found something. From the wall a piece of metal had been taken away, just enough to give a slim person the opportunity to climb inside the small tubes behind the walls.

“You could be right.” T’Pol answered.

“Look T’Pol, I’m too big to climb in there, but you aren’t. You could climb in and make the hole bigger from inside. There’s a console.” Trip suggested and T’Pol, though she didn’t really want to climb in there, did as he told her. Trip watched her as she pulled her slim body through the small hole and then disappeared inside.

“Everything all right with ya?” he shouted into the dark hole.

He baked backwards when T’Pol suddenly stuck her head out again.

“Yes Commander, everything is all right with me and I would appreciate it if you would not  shout that loud. Your voice is hauling back inside, like an echo.”

“Uhm, sorry.” Trip muttered, blushing as T’Pol disappeared again and then gave her the instructions she needed…..at a lower voice, of course.

“Ok, ya see the control panel?” he asked.

“Yes!”

“Good, there’s a small green button, next to a big blue one. Got it?”

“Yes!”

“Push first the small green one, than the big blue one.”

“Yes!”

“Now, there’s some kind of a stick. If ya pull it out ya should be able to open s part of the metal in front of ya. It should give me enough space to climb in.”

No Yes from T’Pol.

“T’Pol?”

“You’ll have to be patient for a minute Commander, this stick, as you call it, fits very tight in it’s place.” Came the pressed answer and after a few seconds the metal fell down in front of Trip and he climbed in, closing the wall behind him again. He looked at T’Pol grinning who sat next to him on her knees. There was very little space inside the tube and the two of them had to crawl next to each other if they wanted to get forward.

“I wonder why she chose this place.” T’Pol muttered and Trip asked himself for a second if he had heard some kind of anger in T’Pol’s voice. She obviously wasn’t too happy with the fact that she was crawling inside a tube searching for Lillian. Trip asked himself if perhaps the fact that he was with her lowered her anger a bit.

“Perhaps she want to play hide and seek or somethin’ like that. She’s obviously fun if she can fool anyone. And then two senior officers at the same time…..didn’t ya ever think about fooling the captain so that he really doesn’t know what’s goin’ on?” he asked her while they were crawling on.

“No.” T’Pol simply replied.

Trip laughed and earned a questioning look from the science officer.

“I mean, this could be fun. Perhaps we should try it sometime…..when we ever get out of this tube again.” He suggested and was surprised to hear a: “Perhaps!” from the Vulcan crawling next to him. Suddenly T’Pol stopped.

“What’s the matter?” Trip asked.

“We have to climb up here. I suggest you go first!” T’Pol stated and Trip only nodded. He looked up and tried to get into a sitting position. When he finally managed to do so, he grabbed a small stick that stuck out from the small tube he would have to pull himself up to. He did so and grabbed another stick. The tube seemed to be organised like a ladder at this part oft the wall. Trip pulled himself up step for step and finally came to a pint where the tube’s corridor went on flat again.

“Ok, I’m up here. Ya can come up now.”

T’Pol first did her job as well as Trip had done but when she nearly arrived at the place where Trip was lying on his stomach relaxed and watching her attempts grinning she suddenly lost her grip of the last step. Trip at once lost his relaxed sitting and sprang forward. He didn’t know how but at least he was fast enough and got hold of T’Pol’s right hand before she could fall down deeper and crash on the tube’s floor.

“I’ve got ya. I’ll not let ya fall, just hold still.”

T’Pol didn’t answer but Trip pulled her slowly up, recognising how easy it was to hold the Vulcan’s weight. When he had finally pulled her up they both fell down. Trip, though he wasn’t really knowing what he was doing pulled T’Pol to him. He was sure she’d pull away but she didn’t. He felt her heart race fast.

“It’s all right now, everything’s all right.” He said to ease her. T’Pol slowly wrapped herself out of his embrace.

“Thank you, Commander.” She said and then crawled on. Trip laughed and shook his head. Vulcans. He was sure T’Pol had been afraid after she nearly fell down there. But she’d never admit it of course. Vulcans.

**