He woke alone.
T’Pol’s side of the bed was cool to the touch and the distinctive albeit subtle smell he’d learned to associate with her – the deep-rooted romantic in him likened it to sand and fire, but the engineer simply classified it as a by-product of her copper-based biochemistry – was absent. He automatically sat up and gave the sleeping compartment a quick once-over. Neither of the two other beds had been pulled down from their storage positions in the wall, but that wasn’t a surprise since Trip could count on one hand the number of times he and T’Pol hadn’t slept under the same blankets in the last six months. He frowned and rolled to his feet, tensing unnecessarily in preparation for the feel of cool metal under his skin. As usual, though, he instead marveled at how warm the floo
