"Let the Dead Bury the Living" By Drogna Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, I'm just borrowing them. Description: Enterprise is back orbiting Earth, but not everyone is happy to see them. Author's Note: This is the 3rd part of the “Nanites Saga”, and is the sequel to “He Who Fights With Monsters”, it will help to read that and “What Does Not Kill Us” first. This is set after the end of the third series but ignoring the cliff hanger ending, I’m assuming that everything will get back to normal eventually. “I do not understand the purpose of this game,” said T’Pol. “That’s because it doesn’t have a purpose,” said Trip, with an exasperated sigh. It was Thursday evening and therefore Mah Jongg night. Their usual fourth player, Travis, was taking the Captain down to Star Fleet Headquarters for a meeting with the Admiral, so Trip had invited T’Pol to make up the four. He was beginning to wonder if that had been such a good idea now. “It’s for entertainment, T’Pol,” said Hoshi. “I see,” she said, making it clear that wasn’t a valid reason as far as she was concerned. “Don’t Vulcans play games?” asked Reed. “Vulcan games are played to improve our logic skills. The element of chance in this game annuls the use of logic,” said T’Pol. “I also do not understand why these symbols are known as dragons when they do not look anything like dragons.” “Actually I seem to remember thinking that as well,” said Reed. “The tiles have had these symbols for centuries. It’s a very old game,” said Hoshi. “Are we talking or playing?” asked Trip, with slight annoyance. He was concentrating on his tiles and didn’t notice the look which Reed and Hoshi exchanged. The Commander had been snapping at people for a couple of days now and no one seemed to be able to work out why. They were back at Earth and they had the Captain back, the Xindi peace treaty had been signed and they finally had time to rest. Enterprise was undergoing repairs and a complete overhaul before heading out again. After the damage it had sustained in the Expanse it was going to be a couple of months before they left space dock. Trip should have been happy to be home and have time to fix the ship but instead he seemed to be under a permanent black cloud. “Mah Jongg,” said T’Pol. “Again?” asked Trip with disbelief. “It is a simple matter of calculating the likelihood of being able to collect the required tiles, and formulating a suitable strategy, Commander,” said T’Pol. “I’ve never seen anyone win so quickly,” said Hoshi, amazement in her voice. “I think that’s my lot for the evening,” said Trip. “We can’t tempt you to stay for another game?” asked Reed. “No thanks, I’m kind of tired. Think I’ll get an early night,” replied Trip and he bid his friends goodnight. The three remaining Mah Jongg players watched him leave through the doors of the mess hall. “Something is definitely up with him,” said Hoshi. “Up?” asked T’Pol. “Something’s wrong,” said Reed. “I’ve tried asking him if he wants to talk but he just said it’s these upgrades. I don’t believe that for moment. He was really looking forward to seeing what the Jupiter station team had come up with. Every time I see him these days he has that far away look that he gets when he’s talking to the nanites. He seems to spend more time talking with them than he does with us.” “Perhaps the dreams are bothering him again,” said Hoshi. Trip hadn’t been sleeping well after he had been captured and tortured by the Xindi. “He has been sleeping much better recently,” said T’Pol. “We have been able to cut back on our neuropressure sessions.” “I think it’s time that I had a talk with him,” said Reed, getting up from the table. “I’ll see you both tomorrow.” **** Trip got in to his quarters and decided that he needed a shower before he went to bed. His head hurt. The headaches had started a couple of days ago and had been getting progressively worse. At first he had dismissed it as nothing important, he’d been working hard and was probably a bit dehydrated. When the headache had returned and become persistent he knew that he should go and see Phlox about it but he just hadn’t had time with the upgrade and repair schedule. Or that was what he told himself, he knew deep down that really he hadn’t gone to see Phlox because he had been spending far too much time in the doctor’s company recently. With the nanites demanding constant monitoring and his recent mental problems, he saw Phlox at least once a week, sometimes everyday, when things were particularly bad. He was getting through painkillers like there was no tomorrow. And he knew it was making him irritable as hell, which he did feel mildly guilty about but he pushed that to one side. To add to his problems, something was up with the nanites as well, their internal diagnostics had shown up some anomalies and he was still trying to work out what it meant. He told the nanites to run the diagnostics again, showered, took some more painkillers and was just getting ready for bed when the door buzzer sounded. He shrugged on his T-shirt and shouted for his visitor to come in. “Malcolm,” said Trip, slightly surprised to see his friend again so soon. “What can I do for you?” “You seemed a little on edge earlier. Something’s obviously bothering you and I wondered if you wanted to talk about it,” said Reed. “It’s nothing Malcolm,” said Trip. “Well it’s obviously something or you wouldn’t be snapping at T’Pol, and I don’t mean your usually friendly banter either. And I’m not the only one who’s noticed something. Hoshi’s worried too,” said Reed. “I’m just feeling a little under the weather, is all,” said Trip. “Have you been to see Phlox?” “It’s only a headache,” said Trip. “How long have you had it? You’ve been acting up for a couple of days,” said Reed. “Probably a couple of days. It really is just a headache,” said Trip again. “Which you’ve had for two days? I’d say it was worth getting Phlox to check it out,” said Reed. “I’ll go tomorrow,” said Trip noncommittally, and his headache took that moment to reassert itself and he winced involuntarily. The painkillers hadn’t even touched it this time. “Come on, I’m taking you to see Phlox,” said Reed. He knew Trip hated sick bay, it reminded him of the Xindi lab where he’d been tortured. He’d had a phobia about entering the place for several months after his rescue from the Xindi, it was only when the Captain had been injured that he’d summoned up the courage to enter sick bay again. Trip sighed. “Okay, I suppose it can’t hurt.” Reed and Trip wandered down the corridor to sick bay where they found Phlox feeding his various animals. “What can I do for you two?” asked Phlox. “Commander Tucker has a headache,” said Reed. Trip was rubbing the back of his neck. “How long for?” asked Phlox, getting his scanner. “A couple of days now,” said Trip. “Commander, I believe I said that you should contact me immediately if you noticed anything, no matter how trivial. Your body has been through a considerable amount over the past few months and anything out of the ordinary needs to be monitored carefully,” said Phlox. “Sorry, Doc, it’s just that I’ve spent rather a lot of time in here lately,” said Trip. “That’s as may be, but the nanites in your bloodstream complicate things and I need to keep an eye on you. If you would take a seat on the biobed, please,” said Phlox. Trip hopped up onto the biobed and winced again at the pain in his head. Phlox ran the scanner over his patient. “You don’t need to stay, Malcolm,” said Trip. “It’s alright,” said Reed. “I’ll wait until the Doctor is finished and then I can walk you back to your quarters.” “This could take some time,” said Phlox. “Some time?” asked Trip. “It’s just a headache.” “At the moment I’m not sure what it is, but it isn’t “just” a headache,” said Phlox. “I’m going to need to do some tests.” “Great,” said Trip, without much enthusiasm. “You really don’t have to stay, Malcolm.” “I said I’d wait,” said Reed. “Very well,” said Phlox. “You can take a seat over there. Commander, I need you in the scanner.” **** Archer returned to Enterprise feeling like he’d just been put through the ringer. When Admiral Forrest had called him down to Star Fleet Headquarters he knew that whatever it was had to be serious. The Admiral had refused to give him any details over an open com channel so he’d had no choice but to go down to the surface. That had been his first clue that something serious was going on. The repairs and upgrades were proceeding well so he hadn’t been too worried about leaving Enterprise for a couple of days while he went down to see the Admiral. Waiting for him in the Admiral’s office had been Senator Nash, a very important official from the government, and Soval. “It’s about Commander Tucker,” said Forrest. “What about Commander Tucker?” asked Archer. “It’s the nanites, we have some concerns over their presence in the Commander’s body,” said Senator Nash. “We feel he should be placed in isolation on the Luna Research Station until we can work out a way to get rid of the nanites.” “Senator, with all due respect, we have no idea how long that could take and I need my Chief Engineer on Enterprise,” said Archer. “Our Medical Officer on Enterprise believed that it might even be impossible to remove the nanites without killing him. He’s been through enough and I won’t put him through any more because of these damned nanites.” “Captain, we’re all aware of what happened to Commander Tucker and what he went through to protect Earth, but that has nothing to do with the current problem,” said Senator Nash. “You’ve obviously read my reports and Doctor Phlox’s report on what happened to him. He was tortured continuously for three months. It’s taken him this long to return to even some semblance of a normal life, and I don’t even want to think about what locking him in isolation would do to him,” said Archer. “He didn’t ask for this to happen to him, he was doing his duty and protecting Earth. He should be given a damn medal for everything that he went through.” Archer was angry now. “Getting emotional about this will not resolve the situation,” said Soval. “Caution is indicated and Commander Tucker should be viewed as a threat.” “If the nanites were going to harm us then they would have done it by now,” said Archer. “I wish I could be so sure,” said the Senator. “T’Pol reprogrammed them so that they would no longer destroy technology,” said Archer. “It isn’t just that, Captain. We don’t understand the technology and they were manufactured by an alien race who were our enemies at the time, and to be honest a lot of people still don’t trust the Xindi,” said Senator Nash. “If they are outside Trip’s body for more than a few hours, they die automatically. The nanites are coded to his body,” said Archer. “As I understand it, that wasn’t always the case,” said Senator Nash. “And if they can be reprogrammed in one direction then they can be reprogrammed in the other.” “From your reports I gather that they’re capable of interfacing with any computer within signal range?” said Soval. “That’s correct,” said Archer, he didn’t like where this was going. “Then what is to stop Commander Tucker from interfacing with secure systems?” asked Soval. “The Vulcans are concerned about our security being compromised.” “I resent your implications, Ambassador,” said Admiral Forrest. “Commander Tucker is not a spy.” “It is a valid concern,” said Soval. “Therefore we must ask that you keep Commander Tucker away from any Vulcan compounds or ships.” “But there are Vulcan compounds in every major city on the planet!” said Admiral Forrest. “Now you see our problem, Admiral,” said the Senator. “This could cause an intergalactic incident. Imagine if the Andorians or the Klingons find out that you have a man on Enterprise who is able to interface remotely with their computers.” “He does have a point, Jon,” said Forrest. “Maybe we can ask the Xindi for help removing the nanites,” said Archer. “That won’t be possible,” said the Senator. “We have decided that for the good of Earth’s recovery it would be best if we didn’t have close relations with the Xindi at the moment. There are several groups on Earth at the moment who are advocating a cease in all space travel. They blame space travel for the Xindi attack on Earth and think we should cancel the space programme. None of us in this room want that and getting the Xindi involved would inflame the current bad feeling that exists towards them. We certainly couldn’t guarantee their safety.” “You’re telling me that we can’t ask the Xindi for help because there’s too much politics involved?” asked Archer, crossly. “Exactly. They killed six million people, you can’t expect them to be received with open arms, even if we have signed a peace treaty with them,” said the Senator. “We understand that while you were in the Expanse there was nothing you could do about the nanite problem, especially as Commander Tucker is your Chief Engineer and therefore integral to the mission, but now we need to look at the options.” “Look, just let me keep him on Enterprise until the upgrades and repairs are complete. That gives us a couple of months to come up with a solution. If we’ve got nothing by then, we can discuss this again,” said Archer. They had grudgingly agreed to let him keep Trip on board for the time being after much further argument. However the whole thing was to be reassessed when the repairs and upgrades were complete. Somehow he doubted that two months would be enough to solve the problem of the nanites. They’d already been residing in Trip’s body for over six months and Phlox hadn’t come up with a way to get rid of them yet. Archer just couldn’t let them condemn Trip to confinement in a research centre, perhaps for the rest of his life, because people were too scared of the technology he carried. When he got back to Enterprise he’d gone straight to Engineering to break the bad news to Trip, but Trip hadn’t been there. Instead Lieutenant Hess had told him that Trip had been taken ill and so he’d headed up to sick bay. Archer found Trip lying on his side on a biobed, covered with a standard grey blanket, with Malcolm sat beside him, Trip was asleep and Malcolm was reading a padd. “Captain, did you have a successful meeting?” said Phlox, intercepting him before he could go over to see Trip and Malcolm. “Not exactly,” said Archer. “I think we’d better go into your office and I can tell you all about it. Then you can tell me what’s been going on here.” “Well, Captain, tell me about your meeting,” said Phlox as the door to his office slid shut. “They want to take Trip off Enterprise,” said Archer. “Place him in isolation because they’re scared of the nanites.” “I see. I take it that you have stopped them from doing this,” said Phlox. “Temporarily,” said Archer. “But we have to find a way to get rid of these nanites if he’s going to be allowed to stay on Enterprise.” “Actually there have been some developments on that front,” said Phlox. “You’ve found a way to get rid of the nanites?” asked Archer hopefully. “Not exactly. Lieutenant Reed brought the Commander in last night complaining of a headache. I conducted a series of tests and discovered that the nanites are dying off,” said Phlox. “That’s a good thing isn’t it? I mean we want to get rid of them,” said Archer. “The Commander’s body went through some changes when the nanites were introduced and those changes accustomed his body to the nanites. He will die if they are removed,” said Phlox. “Not only that but his body is having trouble clearing out the dead nanites. That’s what caused the headaches. The nanites are trying to replace themselves by reabsorbing the dead nanites but they can’t keep up with the die off rate. It’s a vicious cycle that’s only going to get worse.” “Why are the nanites dying?” asked Archer with concern. “His immune system has begun attacking the nanites,” said Phlox. “Why now? Shouldn’t it have done that from the beginning?” asked Archer. “As I said, his body was adjusted by the nanites in order to incorporate them successfully. They fooled his immune system into believing that they were accepted but for some reason that is no longer the case. They have been recognised as intruders and are now being attacked,” said Phlox. “All I can think is that Commander Tucker’s injuries from the Rel Sevanne incident were the factor that caused the change.” “What can you do for him?” asked Archer. “Well I can attempt to suppress his immune system so that it stops attacking the nanites but that won’t work forever. If the dead nanites build up in his body then that will strain his systems further. We need to either stabilise his immune system or get rid of the nanites,” said Phlox. “How is he at the moment?” asked Archer. “I’ve given him painkillers for the headache. The nanites have been draining his energy as they’ve had to increase their production rate, so he’s quite tired from that and all the tests, but resting comfortably. Mr Reed stayed with him while the tests were carried out and was here when I explained his condition to him, so that at least meant he had some emotional support,” said Phlox. “Would it be okay for me to see him. I have to tell him about my meeting with Admiral Forrest,” said Archer. “I don’t see why not,” said Phlox. “He should be awake soon.” Archer and Phlox left the office and went over to the biobed where Trip lay. “Captain,” said Reed, getting up as the Captain approached. “Sit down, Malcolm,” said Archer. Trip stirred and opened his eyes. “Hey Captain,” he said. “How are you?” asked Archer. “Not so good. I guess the Doc told you, my immune system finally got its act together and started attacking the nanites. Not sure why it took so long,” said Trip. “Yes, he explained it,” said Archer. “Typical, huh, I survived being tortured by the Xindi, being part of a living computer and the attack by the Vor Devrees to be taken out by my own immune system. I don’t know whether to laugh at the irony of it or cry.” “The Doctor tells me that there are treatment options,” said Archer. “We’re going to beat this.” “Yeah, Malcolm’s already given me the “don’t give up” speech,” said Trip. “Unfortunately I’ve got more bad news for you,” said Archer and he told them about his conversation with Admiral Forrest. Trip just sighed in defeat. “They can’t do that!” said Reed. “I guess I knew that something like this would happen,” said Trip. “You can’t wander around with a Xindi weapon in your bloodstream without there being some consequences.” “Well we have a reprieve,” said Archer. “I’ve persuaded them that Trip can stay here until the upgrades and repairs are completed. Anyway let’s worry about getting you well again first. I’ll deal with the bureaucrats.” ****End of Chapter One**** Archer had been shocked when he returned to Enterprise and found Trip in sick bay. The Engineer had had it tough the past few months and he’d still managed to hold the ship together. Well, as much as was possible when it was being attacked by the Xindi and when he wasn’t fighting his own personal demons. Luckily a combination of Phlox’s counselling sessions, T’Pol’s neuropressure and the support of his friends had brought Trip back to them slowly. He’d been getting much better these past few weeks. Which made it even more unfair that he was once again sick and under Phlox’s care. He had just begun his official letter of protest at the proposed plans for removing Trip from Enterprise when the door buzzer of his Ready Room sounded. It was T’Pol. “T’Pol, I’m sorry, I meant to brief you on my visit to Starfleet headquarters,” he asked. He had been so caught up with everything that was happening to Trip, he’d forgotten that T’Pol didn’t know what was going on. “Lieutenant Reed informed me of the basic facts,” said T’Pol. Archer filled T’Pol in on the full story of what had happened during his visit to Earth. She simply stood calmly while Archer explained how Starfleet planned to take Trip away from them. “I will attempt to do everything I can to accelerate the process of finding a way of disposing of the nanites,” said T’Pol. “Thanks T’Pol,” said Archer. “Anyway, you came to see me, what was it you wanted?” For the first time since T’Pol had walked into the room he realised that she looked almost worried. T’Pol still didn’t give much of her emotions away but he was getting far better at reading the small signs that she did let slip. “I have been summoned to Dohn Zhu,” said T’Pol as if the statement would explain everything. “Dohn Zhu?” asked Archer. “It is a Vulcan tribunal,” said T’Pol. “What is this tribunal for?” asked Archer. “To explain my actions in going with Enterprise into the Expanse,” said T’Pol. “I thought you resigned your commission?” said Archer. “I did. However even as a private citizen I am expected to uphold Vulcan laws. By disobeying Soval I have contravened a number of Vulcan statutes which govern our interaction with other species. I understood that this might be a consequence of my actions when I came with you into the Expanse,” said T’Pol. “What are the possible outcomes of this tribunal?” asked Archer. “The most likely outcome is that they will order me to return to Vulcan and I will not be allowed to leave it for an extended period of time,” said T’Pol. “After my return to Vulcan there will undoubtedly be further charges for me to face.” “Can they do that?” asked Archer. “It is a part of Vulcan law. And, as you are already aware, Vulcans have considerable influence within your government,” said T’Pol. “Let me talk to Admiral Forrest, he may be able to help. Perhaps we could offer you some type of political asylum,” said Archer. “I doubt my government would allow you to do so,” said T’Pol. “It would set a precedent that they are unwilling to create.” “You’re being very calm about this, T’Pol,” said Archer. “Being emotional will not change the situation,” said T’Pol. “However I would suggest that you do not inform Commander Tucker given his current state of health. I would expect him to have an emotional reaction to this and that could negatively effect his condition.” “I think you might have a point there. Trip has enough to deal with at the moment and he needs to focus on getting well. I’ll pass the word that he’s not to be told. Meanwhile I’ll contact the Admiral and see if there is anything that we can do.” **** Trip lay in sick bay. Sick bay, again. Or was it still. He couldn’t believe his bad luck. Fate, or whatever it was that governed these things, definitely had it in for him. He’d been pleased to see the Captain but less pleased to hear the news that he’d brought. Although it wasn’t unexpected, he’d always known that the nanites would cause problems when they returned to Earth. It was one thing carrying them around when he was out in space, millions of miles away from anything, it was quite another thing when he was about to visit inhabited planets. He had been due to go home next week, that was obviously out of the question now when he wasn’t even allowed to leave Enterprise. He had wanted to go and visit the memorial that had been erected to all those who had died in the Xindi attack. When they’d first arrived at Earth after the attack he hadn’t been ready to confront Lizzie’s death, but he had managed to come to terms with it eventually. It was like a slap in the face now to be told that he couldn’t go and pay his respects or visit his family. They undoubtedly wouldn’t let his folks come and visit him either. So here he was back at Earth for the first time in months and he couldn’t even set foot on the planet. He had to admit that even he didn’t know everything that the nanites were capable of and he was the one who had them swimming about inside him. Equally though he was sure that the nanites wouldn’t harm anyone. It was hardwired into their programming and even Ven Dath hadn’t been able to circumvent that, he’d had to create a completely new variety of nanite to accomplish his plan. Luckily Malcolm had destroyed the only red nanites that Ven Dath had created when he blew up the research station where they had been created. Phlox intended to try to suppress Trip’s immune system to allow his body time to recover while they tried to find a more permanent solution. According to the doctor that could take a couple of days while he tried out different drugs and combinations. The doctor had also warned him that the drugs he was going to give Trip were very powerful and could have some nasty side effects. Trip really didn’t like the sound of that. He had eventually persuaded Malcolm to leave and go on duty, but it had taken a considerable amount of argument before Trip made it clear that he would be okay on his own. He knew that Malcolm was worried because it wasn’t that long ago that Trip had been unable to enter sick bay without having a panic attack. Having Malcolm with him did help keep the shadows of the Xindi at bay but he couldn’t keep Malcolm from his duties. The Armoury was in just as much a mess as Engineering was and it needed all of Malcolm’s attention at the moment, he shouldn’t have to be sitting by Trip, holding his hand while Phlox did his tests. Phlox was being strict on the point of visitors anyway, Trip was going to be in for a rough ride while Phlox stabilised his immune system and he didn’t need people bothering him while he went through the worst of it. So visits were to be limited to an hour each evening, subject to how well Trip was. Trip was quite glad of that really he wasn’t sure that he wanted people to see him when he was ill. He was still coming to terms with the fact that the nanites had finally turned on him, admittedly it wasn’t exactly their fault that his body was conspiring against him. In many ways, he was more surprised that something like this hadn’t happened sooner. He’d sort of grown used to the nanites and they’d helped him out of a few scrapes, although they’d caused a few scrapes too. He really wasn’t sure that he actually wanted to get rid of the nanites. “How are you doing today?” he asked internally. “Operations are below optimum standards,” replied the nanites. Their voices seemed to be quieter than usual as they chattered away in their normal way. “No kidding. Don’t worry, Phlox will find a way to sort it out,” thought Trip. He knew that he wasn’t fooling the nanites, they knew his mind as well as he did and he certainly wasn’t very confident that this problem could be solved. But then did the nanites even worry? “We have already begun our analysis of options to resolve this situation,” said the nanites. “Die off rate is above acceptable levels. Attempting to increase re-absorption and replacement rates to compensate.” “Don’t I know it,” replied Trip. As Phlox had explained it, if this continued then the nanites would slowly poison him by cluttering up his system with defunct nanites. “Just don’t drain too much juice while you’re at it.” Which was the other problem, the nanites took their power from his body and if they drew too much then it made him firstly tired and then sick. “We will attempt to comply,” replied the nanites. Usually they would have simply replied “affirmative” but this was much less definite than their usual answers. “How about running those warp field simulations again for me with the updated parameters?” said Trip. He was bored and needed something to do. Thinking about the engine upgrades would get his mind off things, he worried that if he thought too much about his situation he’d descend into depression and hopelessness. Not only that but after his encounted with the Rel Sevanne he’d ended up with a chunk of alien engineering knowledge in his head and he’d been trying to adapt it for Enterprise’s systems ever since. “Energy unavailable for secondary tasks,” said the nanites. That was their equivalent reply to “too busy”. Trip had just been given the brush off. That in itself was worrying, it meant that the nanites were too embroiled in their battle with his immune system to do anything else. He sighed and tried to get comfortable on the biobed. Trip realised that his bones were aching and it felt as if someone was messing about with the environmental controls in sick bay. One moment he was too hot, the next he was too cold. He really should ask one of his staff to have a look at it when they had a moment. **** Archer was determined that Trip wouldn’t have to worry about what had been decided about the nanites. He’d told Trip that he would deal with the bureaucrats and now he had to keep that promise. He was damned if he would let them take Trip and imprison him after everything that he’d been through. He had hoped at least to be able to enlist the help of the Xindi in solving Trip’s problems but given the hostility of his own government to that idea, it didn’t seem to be an option. There had to be something that he could do. He’d just saved the world, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to have that spoilt by Trip being taken from them. Yes, the attack had been an atrocity, but it was in the past now. It was now time to mourn the dead and move on. Contacting the Xindi might save Trip’s life and yet they were letting prejudice stop Archer from doing what he needed to. He felt completely powerless and was at a loss as to what to do next. He wished that he could be as calm as T’Pol. After they had finished their conversation about her impending tribunal, she had asked when she could visit Trip, and then gone off to examine the Xindi database that they had downloaded from the research station. It had contained enough information for her to reprogram the nanites so that the original Xindi programming was erased, she was hoping that it would also contain enough information to get rid of the nanites. Even whilst they were in the Expanse she had been working on getting rid of the nanites but had had very little time to concentrate on the problem with everything else that was going on around them. Keeping the ship from being destroyed by the Xindi was foremost in their minds at that point. Archer worried about T’Pol almost as much as he worried about Trip. She believed strongly that she had her own battles to fight with the Vulcan High Command and no one should have to fight them for her, but Archer had made it clear that T’Pol did not have to stand alone. He desperately wanted to keep T’Pol on Enterprise but he knew that if the Vulcans brought their full diplomatic weight to bear on the problem then Earth would cave in. He didn’t need this problem on top of everything that he was already dealing with. Enterprise was in enough of a state after its return from the Expanse, and the repairs alone would have been enough to keep him occupied for the next few weeks. Archer of course had his own reports to file and justifications to make for his actions. He was confident that the Admiral would support everything that he had done to protect Earth, but there were some things that still pricked his conscience. He might receive vindication of his actions from his superiors but he wasn’t so sure that he would ever be able to forgive himself for the moral lines that he had crossed. He knew deep down that without Trip and T’Pol he would never have made it through the Expanse. He couldn’t think of anything worse than losing both his First Officer and Chief Engineer, and that was from a purely logistical point of view. It would be like gutting the ship. Crew morale would also be a problem if two senior officers were to leave, especially given the circumstances of their departure. One would be going to become a lab rat in Starfleet Medical, the other no doubt to face charges on her home-world. He pressed the com button on his desk. “Hoshi, get me Admiral Forrest at Starfleet Head Quarters,” said Archer. “Yes, sir,” replied his efficient com officer. “Jonathan, I was just about to call you,” said the Admiral when the connection was made. “You’re getting some visitors.” “Visitors?” asked Archer. “Starfleet Security officers, four of them. Their orders are to guard Commander Tucker,” said Forrest. “What?” said Archer with rather more force than he meant. “Commander Tucker is currently in sick bay. The nanites are causing him a few health problems. He isn’t going anywhere, and even if he was well enough to leave sick bay he wouldn’t be want to leave Enterprise.” “They’ve read the reports, Jon. They know what the nanites are capable of, it would be easy for him to steal a shuttlepod and make a break for Earth. You may trust the Commander not to attempt to go down to Earth, but while the nanites are in his body, I have no choice but to comply with this order. And you will extend them every courtesy. Is that clear?” “Yes, sir,” said Archer. “I don’t understand why we have to have four security officers fly up from Earth though. Especially to guard one sick man.” “Again, they’ve read the reports. They know that you’re a close knit crew and they don’t trust your Security Officer’s impartiality when it comes to guarding Commander Tucker,” said Forrest. “Lieutenant Reed would be quite put out by that comment, Admiral,” said Archer. “I’m sure he would but the order still stands. They arrive tomorrow. You had something to ask me?” said Forrest. “T’Pol is facing a Vulcan tribunal for coming with us into the Expanse,” said Archer. “There must be something that we can do to help her. She’s saved our lives more times than I care to count and we owe her. She didn’t have to come with us.” “It’s a matter for the Vulcans, there isn’t much I can do,” said the Admiral. “Admiral, she’s a member of my crew just as much as anyone,” said Archer. “But she’s still a Vulcan and no matter how long she stays on Enterprise, that won’t change,” said Forrest. “You know what’s at stake here, Jon. The whole Vulcan alliance.” “And what exactly is that worth to us?” asked Archer. “The only Vulcan who helped us against the Xindi was T’Pol. They did nothing but hold us back during the warp five programme. The Andorians did more for us and according to the Vulcans they’re a violent, dangerous species that we shouldn’t even talk to.” “Just because Shran saved your ass once, doesn’t mean he’d do it again. Besides, you know that the Vulcan cruiser Takurek was on its way to defend Earth,” said the Admiral. “Yes, and if we’d waited for the Vulcans to pull our asses out of the fire, Earth would have been destroyed by the Xindi,” said Archer. “Don’t you think I know that?” said Forrest. “But it doesn’t make it any easier for me to take on the whole Vulcan consulate, or our own government. There is no political will to defend T’Pol, she’s not human therefore they don’t want to know, and with Commander Tucker’s condition making everyone paranoid about out involvement in outer-space, it’s going to be harder than ever.” “We have to do something, I refuse to win the fight against the Xindi, and come home to find that two of my best officers are being taken from me. I lost a third of my crew in the Expanse. All of them good people, the best that Starfleet had to offer. T’Pol was there with us through it all, she even risked her health for us,” said Archer. “I know, I know,” said Forrest. “It isn’t fair or right. I’m just not sure if there’s anything that we can do about it. I have a friend in the Judge Advocate’s office maybe they can give us some directions to go in, but I can’t promise you anything.” “At least we’re doing something. I’m not losing her, Admiral. Not to some Vulcan tribunal.” ****End of Chapter 2**** Archer made his way down to sick bay to let Trip know that they were going to have company. This was yet another thing that he wished he didn’t have to put his friend through. He came in to sick bay to see Trip lying on the biobed, curled on his side, or at least as much as it was possible to curl on one’s side on a biobed. Trip was shivering despite the fact that he was covered with a thick blanket. Phlox saw the Captain enter. “I thought I had made it clear that visiting hours were not until this evening at nineteen hundred,” said Phlox. “My patient needs to rest.” “I’m sorry, doctor, but I have something that I need to tell Trip and I think you should hear it as well,” said Archer. “Well, if it’s urgent,” said Phlox, “but he has a fever, a side effect of one of the immuno-suppressants that I am trying out. I’m attempting to deal with it but he isn’t feeling very well, so please don’t stay long.” He steered Archer towards the biobed and the shivering man who lay upon it. Archer put a hand on Trip’s arm to let him know that he was there. He could feel how warm Trip’s skin was and his hair was damp with sweat. At the touch, blue eyes opened slowly. “Hey Captain,” said Trip weakly. Archer looked down at Trip, he seemed to be so ill and in no state to take further bad news. “I just came down to see how you were doing,” said Archer. He gave Phlox a look which he hoped would alert him to the change in plan. “Is it visiting hours already?” Trip asked hazily. “No, I just persuaded the doctor to let me break the rules,” said Archer. “Well, you are the Captain,” replied Trip, continuing to shiver. “Not when it comes to sick bay,” said Archer. “The doctor and I have some things to discuss, but we’ll just be in his office if you need us.” Trip nodded and closed his eyes, obviously feeling too ill to want to talk more. Archer moved away from the bed and Phlox followed him into the doctor’s office. “I’m sorry, doctor, I just couldn’t tell him when he’s in such bad shape. This is just the drugs, isn’t it?” asked Archer worriedly. “Yes, the drugs I’m giving him are quite powerful. In order to stabilise his immune system I have also had to start with large doses which I will decrease gradually until he takes a small amount everyday. Unfortunately it makes for accordingly bad side effects, but it was to be expected and, given time, I can come up with the correct combination at the correct dosage,” said Phlox. “What was the news that you had?” “Starfleet have decided to send a security contingent to guard Trip. They’re sending us four officers who will guard him around the clock,” said Archer. “Hmmm, yes, I see why you didn’t want to tell the Commander yet,” said Phlox. “He will be most upset.” “Well he’s going to have to know soon, because they’re arriving tomorrow and they’ll want to begin guard duty immediately,” replied Archer. “I’m afraid I will have to refuse to allow them in sick bay,” said Phlox. “Doctor, I’m not sure that they’ll take no for an answer,” said Archer. “Well they will have to. Mental state is just as important in the Commander’s treatment as physical remedies and I’m certain that they will have an adverse effect in that department,” said Phlox. “I did suggest that our own security teams could do it, but they seem to think that their knowing Trip could get in the way of them doing their duty,” said Archer. He thought for a second. “I suppose they could stand in the corridor outside sick bay, they don’t actually need to be in here.” “That would be an acceptable compromise,” said Phlox. “I have no problem with guards standing in an empty corridor.” “There’s something else. T’Pol has been called before some sort of Vulcan tribunal. A…Don Su,” said Archer, mangling the Vulcan words. “A Dohn Zhu?” asked Phlox and received a nod from Archer. “That is very serious. It is the prelude to a criminal trial.” “She didn’t tell me that,” said Archer. “Vulcans are notoriously silent about many aspects of their culture, and that includes their legal system. The little I do know is that the Teachings of Surak are very specific in their condemnation of criminal behaviour and therefore all crimes are punished severely. Criminal behaviour is also not considered to be logical and therefore Vulcans tend to view all criminals as mentally ill,” said Phlox. “If T’Pol is found to have criminal charges to answer by the Dohn Zhu, then she will most likely be returned to Vulcan to stand trial.” “So you’re telling me that if they find T’Pol does have criminal charges to answer at this Dohn Zhu, then she will be sent back to Vulcan and tried and probably put in some sort of insane asylum?” asked Archer. “That is the most likely outcome, yes,” said Phlox. “Although on rare occasions Vulcan has been known to practice capital punishment.” Archer couldn’t believe that T’Pol hadn’t told him any of this. “She’s just being so calm about the whole thing. I mean this is her life that we’re talking about.” “She is still a Vulcan, and even under extreme stress she has been trained to suppress her emotions,” said Phlox. Privately he was wondering how well she was suppressing her emotions or if she was just doing a good job of hiding them from the Captain. Although she had mostly recovered from her Trellium addiction, she was certainly not in the same control of her emotions as she had been previously. “I’m sure I don’t need to ask you not to say anything about this to Trip,” said Archer. “Indeed not, it would not be beneficial to his condition to place extra emotional strain upon him at this time,” said Phlox. “I’ve asked Malcolm to pass the word to the rest of the crew as well. Hopefully we can get this all sorted out and Trip need never know that anything was going on,” said Archer. Even as he said it, he knew it was a forlorn hope but perhaps they could at least get Trip better before they sprang any other nasty surprised on him. **** Blue antennae twisted themselves around trying to tune in on the vibrations that made their way through the ether to the listening station. Although Andorians had ears their antennae were better at picking up certain types of vibration, a hangover from their primordial ancestors who hunted for their food using echo location. It did come in very useful for picking up things which ears could miss at the listening station. “Commander,” said the Andorian radio operator. “I think that I have picked up something of interest.” “What is it?” asked his commander with typical Andorian bluntness. “It’s from the Delphic Expanse,” said the operator. “You mean the former Delphic Expanse. After Archer’s visit to that area of space it has become considerably less dangerous,” said the Commander. “Yes, sir,” said the operator. “The signal seems to be of Xindi origin. And sir, it mentions one of the pink skins. Commander Tucker and something about nano-technology. It’s very faint and hard to make out.” “Put it through the computer and let that make the best it can of it,” replied the Commander. “Yes, sir,” replied the Andorian. “How long will that take?” “Four time periods.” “Too long, abbreviate the program,” said the Commander. “I must know what the Xindi are talking about. The nano-technology could be of importance to Andoria and our war effort against the Vulcans.” The Commander was also thinking that if the information was valuable enough then it might just get him back in with the Imperial Guard command and then he might be able to reclaim his ship rather than rotting on this listening post. His failures had not been met with the forgiveness that he might have hoped for from his superiors. At least that disappointment had been tempered by knowing that a favour was owed to him. “Yes, sir, Commander Shran.” **** Lieutenant Reed was not happy that strange security officers were going to be coming aboard his ship. Nor was he happy that their commanding officer was one Lieutenant Ian Davis. Reed had known Davis at the Academy, he was Irish with ginger hair and probably the most sarcastic person that Reed had ever met, and hence guaranteed to rub Reed up the wrong way. People said that opposites attracted, well if that was true then like definitely repelled. Davis was far too much like Reed, except that neither of them could see that. Reed stood waiting outside the docking bay for the shuttle to dock and the airlock to cycle. He was doing his best to be professional about this. Archer had made it clear that this was not a reflection on his ability as Security Officer for Enterprise, it was simply that they felt his impartiality might be compromised by his friendship with Trip. He didn’t disagree that he was friends with Trip, that went without saying, but that didn’t mean that he would be unable to do his job. Although obviously they had read the report of the “mutiny” on Enterprise and seen how he had gone against his Captain there, but then that had been in exceptional circumstances. Maybe two or three years ago he would have respected the command chain and done what Archer had ordered, instead of mounting the recapture of Enterprise that he had, while Trip dealt with the Captain. The green light flashed above the door to let him know that the atmosphere was now breathable and the shuttle had docked safely. He entered the shuttle bay and went to the hatch of the shuttle to open it. He pulled back on the handle and held it open for the three men and one woman inside to get out. “Lieutenant Davis reporting for duty,” said the Irishman offering his hand to Reed. “Good to see you again, Malcolm.” “I’d be happier if it was under different circumstances, Ian,” replied Reed taking the offered hand. “These are my team, Ensigns Marshall, Keir and McLaughlin,” said Davis, indicating each as he named them, the last being a young, brown haired woman who nodded at Reed when her name was mentioned. “I have to say that I really don’t see the necessity for your presence on Enterprise. As the ship’s Tactical Officer I am quite capable of ensuring the security of this ship and I did not request any additional manpower,” said Reed. “With all due respect, Lieutenant, I will not be reporting to you, but directly to Starfleet Command. The procedures for conflict of interest are laid out in the Starfleet regulations if you care to look,” said Davis. “But this isn’t conflict of interest. My duties are to keep everyone on this ship safe and that includes Commander Tucker. However if Commander Tucker were to threaten Earth or this ship then I would be forced to take action against him, even having served with him for the past three years,” said Reed. “Now, you see, the problem there is that Starfleet Command is worried that you might say that, but when it comes to the crunch you won’t be able to act. And hence we’re here,” said Davis. “I take that implication very seriously, Lieutenant,” said Reed. “I’m sure you do,” said Davis. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, Malcolm. I don’t want to be treading on your toes, but I have my orders.” “Very well, follow me. I’ll take you to your quarters and then show you to your posts,” said Reed. Davis and his men followed Reed to their designated quarters. “While you’re on Enterprise there a few things that you need to be aware of. The bridge, the Armoury and Engineering are off limits to you,” said Reed as he walked. “That’s going to be impossible, Lieutenant. We have orders to follow the Commander wherever he goes,” said Davis. “Currently Commander Tucker is in Sick Bay and we don’t expect him to be leaving there for a few days at least. When he does, we’ll talk about your access to the rest of the ship, until then you will not set foot in any of the areas that I have just mentioned unless you have been given permission by either myself, Sub-Commander T’Pol or Captain Archer. Have I made myself clear?” “Absolutely,” said Davis. “This is a working starship and you will not get in the way of the crew while they go about their work. If I hear that you have caused any difficulties, then you will be removed. And I don’t care if that does contravene your orders,” said Reed. “And finally, about the man that you’re guarding. Commander Tucker is one of the most forgiving and open people that you’re ever likely to meet. I however, am not either of those things. The Commander is very ill at the moment and although he might put up with your disturbing him, I will not. Your post will be outside sick bay, not inside.” “Well, I can see that we’re going to be made to feel welcome while we’re on board,” said Davis, sarcastically. “This crew has been through a lot in the last few months, and you’ll have to forgive us if we’re all more concerned about returning the ship to a reasonable state than with your objectives,” said Reed in an equally biting tone. The four security officers dropped their kit off at their quarters and then Reed took them down to sick bay. Davis was about to enter when Reed put a hand on his chest. “Outside, not inside,” said Reed. “I would at least like to see that the man I’m supposed to be guarding is in there,” said Davis. “Let me check with the Doctor first,” said Reed. He wanted to make sure that Trip was asleep before he took the Security contingent inside. “Wait here.” Reed entered sick bay and noticed that Trip was indeed asleep. Phlox sat at one of the benches looking into the eyepieces of a microscope. “Doctor, I have the Security team from Headquarters outside. They want to see Trip, make sure he really is here,” said Reed. “Is he likely to wake up?” “I doubt it. I gave him something to help him sleep, the fever was giving him nightmares,” said Phlox. “I hope you made it clear that they are not normally to enter sick bay?” “Yes, doctor, I did, and if you have any trouble with them, I want to know immediately,” said Reed. “Of course, Lieutenant,” said Phlox. Reed fetched Davis and his team from the corridor outside sick bay. “As you can see, the Commander is not planning on going anywhere for the moment,” said Reed indicating the sick man on the biobed in a quiet but blunt voice. “As I said, I’m just following my orders,” said Davis, in equally hushed tones. “He doesn’t look like he needs a guard if you ask me, but ours is not question why.” “Our is but to do or die?” asked Reed sarcastically. “If you really believed that then I doubt you’d be a very good security officer.” Davis couldn’t fail to note the hard edge to Reed’s words. It was obvious that Commander Tucker was important to him, probably a good friend after serving together for three years. He knew that on a starship, it was like living in a very small town, everyone knew everyone else and everyone knew everyone’s business. Davis intended to ask some questions about who was friends with Commander Tucker because he knew those were the people that he had to watch out for most and if what he had heard was true, one of those people was Captain Archer himself. Reed ushered the security team back into the corridor, before Trip could wake and detect their presence. “Ensign Keir, you’ve got first watch,” said Davis and Keir nodded to his superior in acknowledgement. “Ensign Marshall will take the second watch, Ensign McLaughlin will take third and I’ll take the fourth.” “I’ll show you where the mess hall is,” said Reed. “That won’t be necessary,” said Davis, “I spent quite a bit of time examining the layout of Enterprise, I think I can find my way.” “Be my guest,” said Reed. “I have things to attend to in the Armoury.” With that he turned his back on the Security officers and strode away down the corridor. He generally gave the impression that he was pleased that he didn’t have to spend anymore time with them. “Right,” said Davis, “now we’ve got that out the way, let’s see if we can find out exactly what is going on aboard this ship. Everyone keep your eyes and ears open.” His men nodded their assent and went to their posts. **** Shran looked over the information that the computer had retrieved. It was very interesting. It looked as if they had picked up a research station transmitting data back to the home world. The transmission detailed files which had been retrieved from the ruins of a research base which Enterprise had had destroyed. It was a record of a plan to kidnap the Chief Engineer of Enterprise. Shran was shocked by what he read, he hadn’t realised what the Xindi had done to Commander Tucker in order to try and get information out of him. According to the report they hadn’t succeeded in getting anything significant out of the Commander, something which impressed Shran considerably. However since they had been unable to get the information they wanted out of him they had decided to use him as the subject of an experiment in nano-technology. It hadn’t gone according to the Xindi plan and Enterprise’s crew had managed to re-program the nanoprobes that had been injected into the Commander but even so it had caused Tucker some problems. “What is Enterprise’s current location?” Shran asked his Lieutenant. “They are in space dock orbiting Earth,” said the Lieutenant. “The latest intelligence that we have indicates that they are undergoing repairs after the extensive damage they sustained in the Expanse.” “Do you have the latest transcripts of Enterprise’s communications with Earth?” Shran enquired. “Yes, sir,” said the Lieutenant and handed his Commander the padd he was holding. Shran scrolled through the padd. “It sounds as if Captain Archer could do with some help with his own people,” said Shran. “I wonder if he’d be interested in cutting a deal.” ****End of Chapter 3**** When Hoshi handed Archer the sub-space communication that she had just received, Archer couldn’t have been more surprised. After Shran’s parting shot, that Archer now owed him for his help against the Xindi, he hadn’t expected to hear from Shran so soon. He certainly hadn’t expected to receive a cryptic message from the Andorian inviting him to meet. Co-ordinates had been supplied and, with them, the message that Shran had information which could be of help to Commander Tucker. Of course this left Archer with a dilemma. Shran wasn’t exactly trustworthy, although Archer believed that in general he was honourable and he thought it unlikely that he would be setting them up after saving them from the Xindi. Shran had told Archer that he didn’t sleep well when he owed someone a favour, well Archer felt the same way about being indebted to the Andorian. If he could repay that debt then it would make him much happier. This sounded as if the Andorian wanted something and that made Archer nervous. Shran would only contact him if he was calling in his marker. He also had the problem of getting to the meeting, he didn’t think that the Admiral would be too happy that he wanted to meet with Shran. Officially Earth had no problem with the Andorians but that certainly couldn’t be said of their Vulcan allies who would no doubt advise them to have nothing more to do with them. Archer called his senior officers to his Ready Room. Normally he would have used the situation room but that was too public, especially with the Headquarters Security officers on board. T’Pol, Phlox, Hoshi, Reed and Mayweather, all stood around Archer’s desk. It was an informal gathering, Archer perched on the edge of his desk. “For starters, this isn’t official, I can’t order any of you to help me with this,” said Archer. “Captain, if you’re asking us to help you do something for Trip, then I think I speak for all of us when I say that you have our full support,” said Reed. Everyone around him nodded their agreement. “We’ll do whatever we can,” said Travis. Archer smiled. How could he have ever doubted his officers? “Shran sent me a message, he’s asked to meet with me. He says he has information which could help Trip,” said Archer. “Shran is not to be trusted,” said T’Pol. “His attempt to capture the Xindi weapon prototype was proof of his duplicity. I do not believe you should go, it could be a trap.” “I have to agree, sir,” added Reed. “He may have helped us against the Xindi but he’d stab us in the back given half a chance.” “I’m not so sure about that. We obviously have something that he wants otherwise he wouldn’t have contacted us,” said Archer. “I have to take the chance that he’s being straight with us, for Trip’s sake.” “Then I want to come with you,” said Reed, crossing his arms across his chest. “Sorry, Malcolm, I’m going alone,” said Archer. “But, sir…” said Reed, already wording his protest in his head. Archer cut him off before he was able to continue though. “That’s not open for debate. Shran and I have an understanding, but even so I’ll be watching my back. The only problem I have is that I don’t think that Starfleet are going to let me go and see Shran, at least not without an argument and we don’t have time. I need to be at the co-ordinates he gave me in eight hours time.” “Well Enterprise isn’t going anywhere,” said Reed. He wasn’t pleased about Archer’s decision to go alone but Shran was calling the shots on this one. “Not for another few weeks,” said Archer. “Eight hours, doesn’t give us a lot of time,” said Mayweather. “What about the Vulcans? They’ve got some fast ships.” “I doubt any of my compatriots would be willing to help us contact the Andorians,” said T’Pol. “My pending tribunal will make them even less inclined to help the humans who I served with and who they believe corrupted me.” The human officers exchanged some worried looks. “I think I may have a solution,” said Phlox, and everyone turned to look at the doctor. No one had really expected that Phlox would be the one to come up with a plan. “Some of my medical colleagues arrived at Jupiter station yesterday from Denobula, they are attending a symposium on interspecies medicine in Atlanta along with a number of other alien doctors. I had intended to go myself but with Commander Tucker’s condition still unstable I decided that I was unwilling to leave him.” “Doctor,” said Archer slightly impatiently, “how does this help us?” “Well the pilot of their transport is Drezan, my crinas-fen,” said Phlox. “Crinas-fen?” asked Archer. “Second wife’s third husband’s son,” supplied Hoshi. “You have a word for that?” asked Mayweather. “Oh yes, you can imagine that relationships on Denobula can get quite complicated. If we didn’t have words for all those relations then we’d be forced into some very long winded descriptions,” said Phlox. “Doctor, your point,” said T’Pol just a fraction of a second before Archer was about to say something similar. “Well I’m sure that he’d be happy to take you to the rendezvous if I ask him,” said Phlox. “That’s great, doctor. Hoshi, can you open a channel to the Denobulan transport for the doctor?” said Archer. “Yes, sir, no problem,” said Hoshi. “It will be nice to have a chance for me to practice my Denobulan on someone else.” “There is another problem,” said Reed. “I’m pretty sure that Davis isn’t just here to guard Trip. If they had just wanted someone to follow orders and guard Trip then they wouldn’t have sent Lieutenant Davis.” “What’s so special about Lieutenant Davis?” asked Archer. “He used to be Starfleet Intelligence,” said Reed. “I heard that he’d left Intelligence but I never found out where he was transferred to. He’s certainly not just here for guard duty and I doubt his men are either. We’re going to need to be careful around him.” “You’re saying that Starfleet sent him to spy on us?” asked Archer, with disbelief. “Admiral Forrest would never have allowed that.” “I don’t think that the Admiral was told,” said Reed. “I think the orders came from somewhere else, I’m just not sure where.” “At a guess I would say Senator Nash,” said Archer. Reed nodded. “It’s possible. However that doesn’t help us. We need to find a way to get you to that meeting, without Davis knowing that you’ve left the ship.” “Yes, and I’m guessing that I’ll be gone a couple of days. We’ll have a problem if Admiral Forrest tries to call as well,” said Archer. “I’m sure I heard Trip mention something about a fault in the communications system. I think he asked Lieutenant Hess to do a complete overhaul,” said Hoshi with a mischievous smile. “Communications might be offline for a couple of days.” “Good idea, better ask Anna to help you make it look good,” said Archer, referring to Trip’s deputy by her first name. “Yes, sir, I’m sure that she’ll be happy to help,” said Hoshi. Trip and his deputy had been friends before they had both been posted to Enterprise and that friendship had only grown with the two of them working so closely together. “Well that solves one problem, but I still have to leave this ship without being spotted and have a plausible excuse for why I won’t be seen around for a couple of days,” said Archer. “That is a puzzle,” said Phlox, “but perhaps I can be of assistance there as well.” Archer made a mental note to himself, as he listened to the doctor’s idea, to be a better patient next time he was in sick bay. When they had all the details worked out he dismissed his officers to attend to their tasks. “T’Pol, wait, I wanted a word,” said Archer. He waited until everyone else was gone before he turned back to T’Pol. “Why didn’t you tell me just how serious this Dohn Zhu was?” “It did not seem to be necessary to go into all the details, only to inform you that it was taking place,” said T’Pol. “If you get sent back to Vulcan for a criminal trial and you’re found guilty, they’ll either send you to a mental asylum or execute you,” said Archer. “Capital punishment has not been practised on Vulcan for over a century. It is most unlikely that I will be executed,” said T’Pol. “Which leaves the other alternative, which might be worse,” said Archer. “You have to know that you aren’t insane.” “I am certain that by Vulcan standards I am not normal,” said T’Pol. “But that doesn’t make you insane,” said Archer. “If I am found guilty, then I will be considered to be mentally ill. I can only abide by the judgement of the court,” said T’Pol. “That’s only if you are found guilty, you make it sound as if the outcome is inevitable. I don’t understand why you aren’t fighting this harder. You have to let me help you,” said Archer. “It is a Vulcan matter and therefore I must be judged by Vulcan standards. I cannot let you become involved in this,” said T’Pol. “Why not?” asked Archer. “Because I believe them to be right,” said T’Pol. **** Sick bay was quiet. Only the trills and rustles of Phlox’s animals disturbed the perfect silence. Trip lay on the biobed staring at the ceiling. The fever had broken and he was slowly returning to a normal temperature. Now he just felt nauseous and tired. He’d already thrown up the contents of his stomach once and his body threatened to betray him and do the same again at any moment. Phlox assured him that this would pass just as the fever had and had given him something to help with the sick feeling in his stomach. Now he was just waiting for it to work while he held onto the bowl that Phlox had given him as if his life depended on it. Phlox had been called away to an emergency in Engineering. Trip was worried about that, he hated to think that any of his team might be injured. He should be down there with them, not lying on a bed in sick bay doing nothing. Suddenly Phlox and his team of medics rushed in with a body lying motionless on a gurney. Trip recognised the man lying on the gurney as the Captain. “Captain!” said Trip with alarm. Archer had burns on his face and it looked bad. He tried to sit up and ended up moving a bit too quickly and giving himself a dizzy spell. He fell sideways and was caught by Lieutenant Reed. “It’s okay, Trip,” said Reed. “It’s not as bad as it looks.” “What happened, Malcolm?” asked Trip as Reed helped him to lie down again. “We just staged a little accident,” said Archer, climbing off the gurney. Trip just looked baffled. “But… but you’re burnt,” said Trip. The fever was still effecting his brain and making him a bit fuzzy. “ It’s not real, Trip,” said Archer. He wiped off some of the makeup with the damp cloth that Phlox passed him to show Trip. “It’s just some of Phlox’s special effects.” “But why?” he asked. This was more than his mind could take at the moment. “Shran contacted us, he thinks that he has some information that might help you. I’m going to see him,” said Archer. “You can’t,” said Trip, trying to rise again. Reed pushed him back onto the bed. “It’s too dangerous. Not just for me.” He struggled against Malcolm. “Trip, stop it,” said Reed. “You’ll just wear yourself out.” Trip pushed off his hand and struggled to sit up again. “Commander, you’re meant to be resting,” said Phlox. He went to a tray of hypos and began readying one. “I want to know what’s going on!” said Trip petulantly. He was feeling dizzy again and he knew he would blackout if he didn’t lie back down, but he had to know what was going on. “You can’t risk your life just for me. And why all the play acting.” “Trip, I can’t let them take you off Enterprise,” said Archer, coming over to his friend’s bed, “it just wouldn’t be right. And there’s something else that I need to tell you. Starfleet decided to send some Security officers from Headquarters to guard you.” “They did what?” asked Trip, angrily. “They insisted, we didn’t have any choice,” said Reed. “You mean I’m a prisoner on my own ship?” said Trip. “Only temporarily,” said Archer. “I told you that I’d deal with this and I will, but that means going to see Shran. I’ve already had this argument with Malcolm, and I’ve made my decision, I’m going. But we can’t let them know that I’m not on the ship, so hence the act.” Phlox approached with a hypospray. “This stress is not good for the Commander.” He looked crossly at Reed and Archer before turning his glare on Trip. “You’re meant to be resting quietly.” “Doc, please don’t knock me out,” said Trip, in a pleading tone. “Commander, I cannot stabilise your immune system if you won’t rest, and at the moment there is too much excitement in this sick bay,” said Phlox. Trip rolled his eyes. “Fine, I guess I need the sleep. The nanites keep on telling me my energy reserves are low.” He lay back and let Phlox inject him with the hypospray. “Just don’t take any chances, Captain,” said Trip sleepily as the drug took effect. “I won’t, and I’ll be back before you know it,” said Archer, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder as Trip closed his eyes. “Look after him while I’m away.” “Don’t worry he’s in good hands,” said Phlox. “Drezan and the Noolen are waiting for you.” “Malcolm, is the site to site transport rigged up?” asked Archer. “Yes, sir, although I’d be happier if the Noolen was closer, in fact I’d be happier if we didn’t have to use the transporter at all,” said Reed. “We’ve been through this, Lieutenant,” said Archer. “I know. It’s ready when you are, sir,” said Reed. Archer sponged off the remainder of the fake blood and burnt tissue. “Do it, Malcolm,” he said. Reed pulled out his communicator and said one word into it, “energise.” Archer disappeared. **** “Is it true that Vulcans can’t lie?” Davis asked T’Pol. The two of them sat in the mess hall, Davis drinking coffee so black that was almost the same colour as the space outside the porthole, T’Pol sipping green tea. T’Pol had been sitting quietly alone when Davis had entered and taken the seat opposite her unbidden, an action that most humans would have considered rude. “It is against our code of ethics. It is not logical to lie,” said T’Pol. “But you’re facing a tribunal to look into your conduct in going with Enterprise into the Expanse,” said Davis. “That is correct, but it has nothing to do with lying,” said T’Pol. “I always knew that it might be a consequence of my decision to accompany Enterprise into the Expanse.” “I was sorry to hear about your Captain’s accident,” said Davis. “Very unfortunate, especially given that he was only down in Engineering for an inspection.” “He should be back on duty in a couple of days,” said T’Pol. It wasn’t a lie, but it was an omission. “It was not serious,” she added, which, she reflected, was true. “So what’s a Vulcan doing on a human ship anyway?” asked Davis. “I was assigned to provide counsel to an inexperienced crew, however that role has evolved over the mission,” said T’Pol. “I believe that Captain Archer considers me to be a valued member of this crew.” “But why you?” asked Davis. “I was the logical choice. I had already spent some time on Earth at the Vulcan Embassy and my previous assignment had been as Science Officer on the Seleya,” said T’Pol. “But you’re still the only Vulcan who has managed to survive for this long on a human spaceship,” said Davis. “That is correct,” said T’Pol. “So why did you do so much better than those other Vulcans?” asked Davis. “I do not know,” said T’Pol. “Or maybe you prefer not to know,” said Davis. “If you are intimating that I am afraid of that knowledge, then you are incorrect. It is impossible for Vulcans to feel fear,” said T’Pol. “Have you ever considered that it may be because you’re more human than other Vulcans?” asked Davis. “I had considered the possibility that I am able to understand humans better than many members of my species, I do not see that as a flaw. In my current position it is very useful,” said T’Pol. “And your relationship with Commander Tucker wouldn’t have anything to do with that better understanding, I suppose,” said Davis, with glint in his eye that T’Pol didn’t like at all. “My relationship with Commander Tucker is purely professional,” said T’Pol. “Now, I’d like to believe that, but that’s not what I’ve heard,” said Davis. “There’s this topic of Vulcan neuropressure that keeps coming up when I mention you and Commander Tucker. According to what I’ve read it’s pretty intimate.” “I have simply been helping the Commander to sleep, it is a medical procedure. After the death of his sister he experienced some disruption to his sleep patterns,” said T’Pol, this was getting uncomfortably close to things that she didn’t want to talk about. “Doctor Phlox is aware of it.” “I’m sure that he is,” said Davis. “I just wonder what else the Doctor is aware of. Unfortunately I haven’t been allowed in sick bay for longer than five minutes to talk with him.” “Commander Tucker is still very ill and needs complete rest and quiet,” said T’Pol. Although an exaggeration this was mostly true. She began to wonder if all Vulcans were so adept at telling lies without lying as she seemed to have become. “Yes, your Lieutenant Reed already gave me the lecture. It’s coincidental that your Captain is also now residing in sick bay too, so I won’t be talking to him for a couple of days either.” “It is lamentable that the Captain will not be available,” said T’Pol. “If you will excuse me, I must return to the bridge, my break is over.” She rose gracefully from the table and returned her cup to the clearing point before exiting the mess hall. Davis watched her leave and wondered if he had in fact managed to fluster the Vulcan or was it just his imagination. **** Drezan was of the same unshakeably optimistic, jolly disposition that Phlox was. He wished that he had asked Hoshi more about Denobulan customs and etiquette before he left Enterprise but there hadn’t really been time for a lesson on Denobulan social niceties. Archer hoped that all Denobulans were as forgiving as Phlox when it came to humans being impolite or just plain ignorant. “So Captain, you are meeting with an Andorian,” said Drezan. “I hope you are prepared, they can be quite surly at times.” “Oh I’m prepared,” replied Archer. He was well aware that most people would be considered surly when compared to the Denobulans. “I know this particular Andorian very well.” “We’ll be at your co-ordinates in about five hours so you’ve got time to relax or sleep if you want to. I’d be happy to alert you when we arrive,” said Drezan. “Thanks but I’d rather stay up here with you, if that’s okay,” said Archer. Drezan had been kind enough to let Archer sit in the cockpit of the small Denobulan transport. This was something that not all pilots were particularly keen on but Drezan had seemed all too pleased to let Archer into his own personal domain. “My frenas-cen said that you were a pilot yourself and would be interested,” said Drezan with a slight chuckle. Archer guessed frenas-cen was the word for Phlox in relation to Drezan, the word he had meant to look up before he left. “If you’re interested then I would be happy to give you a lesson in how to fly the Noolen.” Under normal circumstances Archer wouldn’t have hesitated to take up Drezan’s offer, but now he did. Somehow it seemed too frivolous to play around flying the Denobulan craft while he was on the way to get information to help Trip. It couldn’t hurt though, he thought. “Sure,” he said, “that would be interesting. Thank you.” It turned out that the Denobulan ship was actually harder to fly than it looked and it took almost the full five hours of their journey for Archer to master the controls. At least it made the time pass quickly. They arrived at the rendezvous co-ordinates with time to spare and began the wait for Shran’s arrival. They waited. After a couple of hours, Shran still hadn’t arrived. Archer began to worry, Shran wasn’t the type to be late. There was definitely more to this than Shran giving them information out of the goodness of his heart, but what exactly did Shran have to gain from it? Something was going on with the Andorian and Archer was going to find out what it was, even if it meant going and finding Shran himself. **** “Lieutenant Davis has been asking questions,” said T’Pol. She was in the Captain’s ready room when Reed had come to find her with the daily reports. Reed was currently Acting First Officer, with both Trip and Archer out of the picture for the moment. “What kind of questions?” asked Reed. “He questioned me about my relationship with Commander Tucker and also asked me twice about the Captain’s accident. He said that he thought it was coincidental that the Captain was now confined to sick bay, an area that he is forbidden from entering.” “Ian was always sharp,” said Reed. “Luckily there isn’t anything that he can do about his suspicions.” “Unless he decides to violate orders and go into sick bay. In which case he will discover our deception,” said T’Pol. “I’ve made sure that he can’t get into sick bay. I’ve added a coded lock to the door,” said Reed. “Only senior crewmembers can enter. Anyone else has to be let in by Phlox and I doubt the Doctor will be letting Lieutenant Davis in any time soon given Trip’s condition.” “A wise precaution,” said T’Pol. “I thought so,” said Reed. He wondered if T’Pol felt the loss of two of Enterprise’s senior officers as keenly as he did. It always made him nervous when the Captain left the ship without security. The fact that there was nothing that he could do for Trip was almost as bad. “He also asked me if it was true that Vulcans cannot lie,” said T’Pol. “Is it true?” asked Reed. “No,” said T’Pol. “Although it is not logical to lie we are capable of it. We are not particularly good at it though.” Reed nodded, he could imagine how T’Pol had answered Davis’s questions, with cool deflections and side stepping of the real answers. Just the sort of thing that set a Security officer’s sixth sense tingling. “Davis is persistent, he won’t give up easily,” said Reed. “Then I suggest we are prepared to divert his questioning,” said T’Pol. “It is only the senior officers and Doctor Phlox who know where the Captain is. As far as the rest of the crew is concerned, he is recovering from plasma burns in sick bay.” “Yes, but that in itself is suspicious. None of them have actually seen the Captain since he was taken to sick bay,” said Reed. “Ian knows something is going on, he just isn’t sure what it is at the moment.” “Then we will just have to hope that the Captain returns before Lieutenant Davis’s persistence becomes problematic,” said T’Pol. Reed nodded. “Are you going to visit Trip this evening?” he asked. “If my duties allow,” said T’Pol. “Perhaps you could make time,” said Reed. “I think he’d appreciate the visit. I know you don’t believe this T’Pol, but Davis does have a point. We’ve all noticed that you and Commander Tucker have become a lot closer over the past few months.” “It is simply that I have been helping him to sleep,” said T’Pol. “Our relationship is purely professional.” “Even so, you’re important to him,” said Reed. T’Pol looked at Reed as if weighing up the truth of what he said, before turning back to the screen she had been reading when Reed entered. “I will do my best to visit him,” said T’Pol. **** Archer waited. There was nothing else for him to do. “How long are we intending on giving Commander Shran?” asked Drezan. “He’s already overdue,” said Archer. “I guess we’ll give him another couple of hours and if he hasn’t arrived by then, we’ll make for home.” An alarm sounded. “Someone’s approaching us,” said Drezan. “Shran?” asked Archer. “Maybe,” said Drezan. “It has the right profile to be Andorian. It’s not a cruiser though. Something much smaller. Definitely warp capable though. They’re hailing us.” “Can you put it on screen?” asked Archer. “Certainly,” replied Drezan and did so. The blue face of a familiar Andorian met Archer. “Shran. You’re late,” said Archer. “I had a few technical problems,” replied Shran. “I can see that,” said Archer. “Where’s your ship?” “I’ve been reassigned,” said Shran. “I wonder why,” said Archer with the slightest hint of sarcasm entering his voice. “Perhaps something to do with failing to bring home the Xindi weapon prototype.” “Very shrewd, Captain,” replied Shran. “I don’t want to continue this discussion over an open channel, since you have the larger ship maybe you’d like to invite me to come aboard.” “Okay, come on over,” replied Archer. Shran broke the connection. It only took a few minutes for Shran to dock with the Noolen. Archer was waiting to greet him at the airlock of the shuttlebay and showed him to a room where they could talk. “It’s been a while,” said Archer. “Not as long as I had hoped it would be,” replied Shran. “Let’s get to business. I have information that you need.” “You said in your message that it was about Commander Tucker,” said Archer. “It is,” said Shran. “First, I want some assurances from you.” “What sort of assurances? And how do I know that the information you have is even any use to me?” asked Archer. “You owe me, Archer. I helped save your piddling little planet. Be glad that I’m even here at all,” said Shran. “Yes, I am wondering why you’re helping me, when, as you say, it’s me who owes you,” said Archer. “I think I’m missing something here.” “Does it matter what my motives are, so long as you get the information to help your Commander Tucker,” said Shran. “Oh it matters,” said Archer. “I’m just not sure how much at the moment. What are your terms?” “After you hear what I have to say, you’ll be going back into the Expanse. I want to come with you,” said Shran. “That’s it?” asked Archer, puzzled. It wasn’t what he had expected Shran to say. “Yes, that’s it,” said Shran. “Why can’t you go alone?” asked Archer. “I get the feeling that you need me as much as I need you.” “Do we have a deal or not, pink-skin?” asked Shran, biting off the words. “Yes, we have a deal. If we go back to the Expanse then you can come with us,” said Archer. He had no intention of returning to the Expanse at the moment. There was nothing there for them and he thought it extremely unlikely that Shran would be able to tell him anything that would make him want to go back there. But Shran wasn’t telling him something and Archer wondered what that might be. “Tell me why you called me here.” “I have your word?” asked Shran. “You have my word,” said Archer. “My new command is a listening post. We picked up a transmission from a Xindi research station. It mentioned Commander Tucker and the nano-technology that was introduced into his body. Plus a few other things about his capture by the Xindi and that Enterprise had destroyed the nano-technology research station. They managed to recover some of their research from the ruins of the station,” said Shran. “Not interested,” said Archer. “We already have that information. T’Pol downloaded their entire database.” “That isn’t why I called you here,” said Shran. “I have something that you can’t get from any downloaded database. The man who re-designed the nanoprobes. Ven Dath, he’s alive and I know where to find him,” said Shran. “That isn’t possible,” said Archer. “Trip killed him. Lieutenant Reed saw him do it.” “The doesn’t concern me. I have information that he is alive. I gather that the Commander isn’t very well and he needs help. It must be worth at least checking out whether I’m right or not.” “Your word isn’t enough, I need proof,” said Archer. “I’ve been ordered not to contact the Xindi. I need something pretty good before I’ll be able to convince my superiors to let me go back to the Expanse.” “I have recordings of the relevant messages and pictures,” said Shran. “Knowing how mistrusting you pink-skins are, I thought you might need convincing. I arranged a little extra reconnaissance of my own to back up my claims.” He handed Archer a data clip. Archer looked at the clip that he had just been given as if he could discern the contents just by staring at it. “Let’s take a look,” he said and put the clip into the slot on the computer. **** Trip awoke to see T’Pol sitting beside his bed. He felt better than he had for days and to be greeted by T’Pol when he woke up was great. “Hi,” he said sleepily. And then he internally said hi to the nanites, almost cautiously as they hadn’t exactly been chatty lately and he got the impression that they were too busy coping with their own problems to report back to him. “Acknowledged,” said the nanites, which was their version of hi. “How are you today?” he asked. “Functions still outside acceptable parameters, but normalising,” said the nanites. “What about the die off rate?” asked Trip. “Ten percent above accepted norms, but within safety margins,” said the nanites. “You mean you’re not cluttering up my bloodstream with tiny broken machines anymore?” he asked. “Affirmative,” said the nanites. Trip breathed a sigh of relief. “Did I sleep all day?” he asked T’Pol. “Yes. You are feeling better?” asked T’Pol. “Yeah,” said Trip. “A lot.” Phlox appeared beside the bed. “I was able to find the correct combination of immuno-suppressants. They are holding your immune system at bay so the nanites can resume their normal operations without being attacked by your body.” “Great,” said Trip and he moved to sit up. “However, you’re still very weak from the fever and you need to rest a bit longer before you can leave sick bay,” said Phlox, putting a gentle hand on Trip’s shoulder. “Also I must remind you that this is only a short term solution, I don’t know how long I will be able to maintain this state of affairs, not to mention the fact that you will find it difficult to fight infection without a fully operable immune system, so there are a few things that I need to go through with you before I let you go.” “Like what?” asked Trip. “I will be recommending that you don’t go on any away missions for the foreseeable future. I don’t want you picking up any strange alien bacteria that you won’t be able to fight off,” said Phlox. “I thought that was what Decon was for,” said Trip. “Indeed it is, but that only prevents you bringing anything back on board the ship, it won’t stop you getting sick while you’re off the ship,” replied Phlox. “Okay, no away missions. What else?” asked Trip with disappointment evident in his voice. “The human immune system is a remarkable thing, every day you come up against hundreds of potential sources of disease which it deals with without you even noticing. For example the common cold, although annoying, would be fatal if it weren’t for your immune system. Although the function of your immune system is now reduced, it is still active, but I want you to be extra careful about showering and your general cleanliness. I’ll also be giving you some medication to take to give your immune system a hand. Finally, I do not want you tiring yourself out with long hours of work, so I will be providing you with a duty schedule that you will stick to or I will confine you to sick bay again for bed rest.” “Sounds like I don’t have a lot of choice. I follow your instructions, or I end up ill and back here anyway,” said Trip. “I couldn’t have put it better myself,” said Phlox, grinning at his scowling patient. “There is also the matter of the Captain,” said T’Pol. “Your illness is currently our excuse for preventing Lieutenant Davis from entering sick bay and discovering that the Captain is not on board the ship.” “So I wasn’t dreaming. The Captain really did go to see Shran,” said Trip. “Yes, and he has yet to return. He is now approximately two hours overdue,” said T’Pol. “He shouldn’t have gone at all,” said Trip, he threw off the blanket that covered him and put shaky legs over the edge of the bed. He immediately knew that sitting up had been a bad idea, he closed his eyes and tried to regain his equilibrium. “You know, I think I might just rest here a little while.” “Your body has expended a lot of energy fighting the nanites and dealing with the effect that the build up of dead nanites had on your systems. You need more time to recover your strength,” said Phlox. Trip opened his eyes again and looked at the doctor with resignation. “How much longer am I going to have to stay here?” “Well I would release you to your quarters but we rather need your continued presence in sick bay to prevent the Lieutenant from becoming suspicious,” said Phlox. Trip nodded wearily and lay back down on the biobed. “If that’s what you need, then I guess I’m stuck here until the Captain gets back.” He looked over at T’Pol. “Why’d you let him go?” “He did not give me a choice. Both Lieutenant Reed and I tried to talk him out of going but he was adamant that he needed to find out what information Shran had,” replied T’Pol. Trip wasn’t sure but he thought that he heard a little indignity creeping into her tone. An indignant Vulcan, that was a first. Trip couldn’t put his finger on exactly what it was that was different about her, lately T’Pol just seemed to be slightly more…human. Trip closed his eyes. He was tired, there was no doubt about that and it certainly wasn’t normal for him to wake up and immediately want to fall asleep again. Usually he was the kind of person who was capable of working until the small hours of the morning, although woe betide anyone who tried to tackle him in the morning before he’d had his first cup of coffee. “I hope it’s good, whatever it is,” said Trip “As do I,” said T’Pol. **** Archer reviewed the data that Shran had given him. It wasn’t conclusive by any means. Some pictures of Ven Dath and documentation, which Archer had to admit, did look genuine but he was equally sure that Shran had the resources to fake it. “This isn’t exactly irrefutable proof,” said Archer. “Can you afford to take the chance that it isn’t genuine?” asked Shran. “I would have thought that Commander Tucker’s life was worth more to you than that.” “Don’t try to use emotional blackmail on me, Shran. I know what’s at stake,” said Archer. “Trip’s been my friend for over ten years, I’m not going to let him die if there’s something that I can do about it.” “In which case, you will be going to the Expanse,” said Shran with some satisfaction. Archer sighed. “It looks that way.” “Very well, then we should return to Enteprise and make preparations to leave,” said Shran. “Hang on a minute, Enterprise isn’t going anywhere for at least another month. There’s a reason why we’re sitting in space dock. We sustained a lot of damage in the Expanse, Enterprise is undergoing a complete refit,” said Archer. “That could be problematic,” said Shran. “What about an Andorian ship? Your government must be able to give us something,” said Archer. “My government don’t know that I’m here,” said Shran. “They don’t know you’re here?” said Archer, angrily and suddenly the ship shook under him. “Drezan to Archer, you might want to conclude your meeting. Some of the Commander’s friends have arrived, and they appear to be quite angry.” Archer went to the com. “What’s happening?” “Andorians, asking for Commander Shran,” replied Drezan. “What do you want to do, Captain?” “Just give me a minute.” Archer turned back to Shran. “What’s going on?” asked Archer. “I suggest you get us out of here, Captain,” said Shran. “Maybe you’d like to tell me what the hell you’re up to first,” said Archer. The ship shook again. “They’re just firing warning shots across our bow at the moment. If we don’t get moving, they could decide to become more persuasive,” said Shran. Archer looked at Shran, his eyes meeting those of the Andorian in a look of pure steel. “Drezan, take us out of here, fast as you can.” Getting to the bottom of what Shran was up to would have to wait. “Yes, Captain,” said Drezan. “Let’s get to the cockpit,” said Archer. “I think we may need your help on this.” They arrived to see four Andorian attack fighters bearing down on them. “Can we outrun them?” asked Archer, looking at Shran. Shran scanned the instruments of the Denobulan transport. “No,” replied Shran. “We can’t outrun them.” ****End of Chapter Five**** “Shran, that doesn’t help us,” said Archer. “It’s obviously you that they want. Tell me why I shouldn’t just hand you over to them.” “Because I didn’t give you the co-ordinates of where you can find Ven Dath,” said Shran. “Without me, you’ll never get the help which Commander Tucker needs. “Fine, then tell me how we beat these fighters,” said Archer urgently. “We can’t outrun them and we have no weapons.” “We’re on the border of Vulcan space, all we have to do is make it through the neutral zone and the fighters will turn back,” said Shran. “There’s no reason for the Vulcans to bother a Denobulan ship.” Archer turned to Drezan. “Do as he says,” said Archer. “But Captain, those fighters will catch us before we get there at their present speed,” said Drezan. “Then I suggest we speed up,” said Shran. “Where’s your engine room?” “What are you going to do?” asked Archer. “I don’t have time to explain, show me where the engine room is on this garbage scow,” said Shran. “It’s at the other end of the ship,” said Drezan. Shran nodded and ran from the room. “Just try and stay out of their line of fire,” said Archer to Drezan, then he turned and dashed after Shran down the corridor. He caught up with the blue skinned Andorian as he entered the engine room. He caught Shran by the shoulder. “I want to know what you’re going to do,” said Archer, practically spitting the words out. “Let go of me, pink-skin,” replied Shran, shaking himself free and going to the engine control panel. “This is our lives you’re playing with,” said Archer. “That includes my own life,” said Shran, “don’t worry, I’m not planning on turning this into a suicide mission. Stand back and let me work!” “Do you even know how this engine works?” asked Archer. “Of course,” said Shran as he worked. Archer watched the Andorian as his hands moved across the controls with surprisingly practised accuracy. “Hey, that’s the antimatter injectors!” said Archer, just too late to stop Shran adjusting the control. There was a jolt, this time not due to the proximity of fire from the attacking Andorians. This was the warp engine. Archer was thrown across the room and hung on for dear life as he felt acceleration kick in, the inertial dampers unable to cope with the sudden change of speed. Shran across the room was desperately trying to maintain his position at the engine control panel while he adjusted controls that Archer couldn’t see. It seemed like a long time that Archer held on, pinned against the wall but it could only have been a couple of minutes before he felt a diminish in the power. The Noolen was slowing. Shran went to the com. “Was it enough?” he barked to Drezan. “Yes, they’re falling back,” said Drezan. Behind Shran something in one of the consoles exploded, sending a shower of sparks out and starting a small fire. Archer grabbed an extinguisher and put out the flames. “I think you’ve got some explaining to do,” said Archer, turning to Shran when he was sure that the fire was out. “I suppose I have,” replied Shran, coolly. “Let’s start with that trick that you just pulled,” said Archer. “A peculiarity of Denobulan engines,” said Shran. “Under the right circumstances, you can dump anti-matter directly into the reactor. It produces a speed boost for a limited period of time, equal to another warp factor.” “How did you even know that it could do that?” asked Archer. “I’ve been Commander of a listening post for the past two months. You’d be surprised what information comes my way,” said Shran. “That doesn’t explain how you knew what to do,” said Archer. “I wasn’t always a Commander in the Imperial Guard,” replied Shran. “What’s the catch?” asked Archer. “What I did damaged the engine,” said Shran. “What!” said Archer in alarm. He needed the Noolen to get to the Expanse. “We don’t need the engine now that we’re in Vulcan space,” said Shran. “Have you looked in a mirror lately? The Vulcans aren’t going to be too pleased to see you,” said Archer. “Which is why we won’t be here,” replied Shran. “I can’t go anywhere, I don’t have a ship anymore,” said Archer. “Unless you expect us to get to the Expanse in that shuttlepod you arrived in.” “The Zor Rakh is not a shuttlepod,” said Shran. “It is a warp capable ship.” “It’s too small to be capable of anything more than warp two,” replied Archer. “It will take us weeks to reach the Expanse. Trip might not have that long.” “Warp Five,” replied Shran. “Just like your Enterprise. The whole journey shouldn’t take more than two weeks.” He didn’t add that would be if Ven Dath was where he was supposed to be. “If you already had a warp five capable ship, why did you want me to take Enterprise?” asked Archer. “The Zor Rakh is experimental, she doesn’t have weapons,” said Shran. “I know from experience what the Expanse is like.” “Would the fact that you arrived in an experimental ship have anything to do with the Andorians who chased us?” asked Archer. “You could say that I borrowed it without clearing it with my superiors first,” replied Shran. Archer took a deep breath and sighed. As usual, he had no choice. He had to work with what fate had sent him. **** Trip was lying on his side on the biobed discussing Engine upgrades with T’Pol. He’d managed to persuade the nanites to run the simulations for him and wanted to give T’Pol the results so that she could pass them on to the Engineering team. The nanites downloaded the upgrade specifications onto the padd in Trip’s hand which he passed to T’Pol and they were now going over the results together. “T’Pol, I’ll have to ask you to leave soon. Commander Tucker needs to rest,” said Phlox. “Doc, I’m feeling much better,” said Trip. “We’re nearly done.” “You may be feeling better but you certainly aren’t fully well again.” said Phlox. “Do I have to remind you that we have still to solve the underlying problem.” “I know, Doc, just allow me some semblance of normality, huh?” said Trip. “We will not be much longer, Doctor,” said T’Pol, realising how important it was to Trip to help with the upgrades. “Very well, but only another half an hour and then visiting hours are over,” said Phlox. “Thanks, Doc,” said Trip. Reed came through the doors of sick bay. “How are you feeling?” he asked, as he came over to Trip’s biobed. “Much better,” said Trip. “Still a bit tired, but hopefully I can get out of here as soon as the Captain gets back.” “Glad to hear it,” said Reed. “I’m sure the Captain will be back soon. He’s already overdue.” “I hope he hurries up. Phlox is driving me nuts with all his mollycoddling.” “Mollycoddling?” asked T’Pol. “This is not a word I am familiar with.” “Excessive care and attention, would be a reasonable meaning, I suppose,” said Reed. “Although it is definitely what you might call colloquial. More American mangling of the language, no doubt,” Reed grinned at Trip, who shot daggers at him with his eyes. “Ensign Sato to Sub-commander T’Pol,” the com sounded. “I have the Captain for you.” Trip’s expression brightened visibly. “Must be him calling to say that he’s on his way home,” said Trip. T’Pol went to the com. “Very well, patch him through Ensign,” said T’Pol. “T’Pol, I’m going to be away a little while longer than expected,” said Archer. “Shran has information that Ven Dath is still alive.” “Ven Dath!” said Trip, listening in. “He can’t be alive, I shot him.” “Yes, and I saw you do it,” said Reed. “Is that Trip?” asked Archer, hearing the southern accent in the background. “I am in sick bay,” said T’Pol. “The Commander is feeling better.” “I gathered that,” said Archer. “That’s some good news at least, but I still have to check out this lead. We’re heading into the Expanse to find Ven Dath but I need you to buy me more time.” “Shran is accompanying you?” asked T’Pol. “Yes, he is,” said Archer. “Is that wise?” asked T’Pol. “He’s the only one who knows where Ven Dath is,” said Archer. “Besides, we’re taking his ship. The Noolen… suffered an accident.” “I see,” replied T’Pol. “You can’t let him go, T’Pol. He has to come back, get Malcolm and a security team. Ven Dath is dangerous,” said Trip urgently. T’Pol sent Trip a weary look which told him to be quiet. “How do you propose we prevent Lieutenant Davis from detecting your absence?” “Use your imagination, T’Pol. I’m sure you can sort something out,” said Archer. “How long do you intend to take?” asked T’Pol. Trip thought she sounded rather annoyed. “I’m not sure, T’Pol. I’ll be as quick as I can. Archer out.” “He can’t be serious, how are we going to keep Lieutenant Davis from finding out that the Captain isn’t on board? He’s already suspicious,” said Reed. “Oh I don’t know,” said Trip. “I reckon we could come up with something.” “What exactly did you have in mind?” asked Reed. “The Captain’s supposed to be badly burnt right?” said Trip. “That is the story, yes,” said Reed. “Ensign Raywood from Rostov’s team is about the Captain’s height and he has light brown hair. Get him down here, cover him with some of Phlox’s magic make-up and then we make sure that one of the HQ security team sees him leave sick bay.” “I do not understand how them seeing Ensign Raywood leaving sick bay will help,” said T’Pol. Reed, however was nodding vigorously. “Yes, but all they’ll see is Captain Archer leaving sick bay. Especially if we get one of the Captain’s spare uniforms for him to wear.” “My thoughts exactly,” said Trip. “You are suggesting that we use Ensign Raywood to deceive them,” said T’Pol, with the raise of an eyebrow. “That’s pretty much the size of things,” said Trip. “Doctor, is it possible to do what the Commander is suggesting?” asked T’Pol. “I don’t see why not,” replied Phlox. “I can manufacture the correct prosthetics with the help of some images of the Captain and the rest can be done with cosmetics. It should be fairly straight forward.” “I’ll tell him to get down here and use the jeffries tubes to enter sick bay,” said Reed. “The rest is up to you, Doctor.” “I’m sure that I will rise to the challenge,” said the Denobulan. “There is one thing,” said Trip. “You know that if we do this then the crew are going to find out what’s going on sooner or later. If nothing else then they’re going to wonder what’s happened to Ensign Raywood.” “I believe that we can keep their involvement in this to a minimum. I will brief Ensign Raywood to keep this matter secret,” said T’Pol. “What are we going to do once the…erm “Captain” has left sick bay?” asked Reed. “I suspect that it might be wise to indicate that he has been ordered to rest in his quarters by the doctor for a further two days. We should be able to maintain the illusion of his presence there by sending up the appropriate meals and occasional visits from senior officers,” said T’Pol. “Well, that should work for a couple of days. What are we going to do after that? Davis is going to wonder why the Captain isn’t on the bridge,” said Reed. “Then it may be necessary for him to appear on the bridge,” said T’Pol. “But he should spend most of his time in his ready room, perhaps preparing documents.” “Sounds like a plan to me. That way no one should notice that Ensign Raywood isn’t the Captain. Only other problem is what do we do if Admiral Forrest calls and wants to speak to him?” asked Trip. “Currently Enterprise is undergoing the complete overhaul of its communications equipment. Lieutenant Hess and Ensign Sato indicated that this could take several days,” said T’Pol. “Nice one, T’Pol,” said Trip, “but that ain’t going to fool them forever. Maybe I can rig something up using old messages so we have a backup for when we “fix” the com system.” “That would be a wise precaution,” said T’Pol. “Sounds like we have everything covered for the moment,” said Reed. “I’ll get to work.” “I also must leave. The Commander requires rest,” said T’Pol. Trip stifled a yawn. “I guess I still do at that,” said Trip, trying to make himself comfortable on the biobed. “I’ll see you guys later.” T’Pol and Reed exited sick bay together. “Are you going to tell him about the tribunal once he leaves sick bay?” asked Reed. “There is no need to inform Commander Tucker of the tribunal. He does not require to know,” said T’Pol. “He’s going to find out, T’Pol,” said Reed. “It’s one thing keeping him in the dark about it while he’s in sick bay and doesn’t have a huge amount of contact with the outside world, it’s another when he’s back on duty.” “I will tell him when I feel it is appropriate,” said T’Pol. **** Senator Nash had worked hard to get where he was within the government of Earth. He now wielded considerable power and he was damned if he would let Starfleet dictate to him. Especially over one insignificant Engineer. When he had read the reports from Enterprise he had known one thing, that Commander Tucker could not and would not remain on Enterprise after he had returned from the Expanse. Nor would he be returning to Earth though. Nash had other plans for Enterprise’s Chief Engineer. There were problems though, namely Captain Archer. He was well liked within Starfleet and after the Xindi attack he had become a hero to the general public. Many people thought that he should give up being a Starship Captain and run for Senate. Nash knew that Archer was a fool though, the Captain thought that he could win this, keep his Engineer, his ship and position. The Senator knew that Archer would be losing one of them, the only question was would he be losing the others as well. Luckily one of the other obstacles to his plans had been dealt with without his even needing to lift a finger. Sub-commander T’Pol had helpfully disgraced herself with her insistence that she would accompany Enterprise into the Expanse. Not a single Vulcan would offer her their help now, nor would they listen to anything which she had to say, which also suited Nash’s plans. It was almost time for his agent on Enterprise to call in. The com unit on his desk alerted him to the incoming call exactly on time. Davis was never late in checking in. “Report, Lieutenant,” said Nash. “Something’s going on,” said the familiar voice. “Archer had an accident in Engineering a couple of days ago and was taken into sick bay.” “Sounds routine,” said Nash. “Except that he hasn’t been seen since,” said Davis. “And they won’t allow me or my men into sick bay. Something is going on and no one but T’Pol and Reed seem to know what that is.” “Then that’s who you need to get to,” said Nash. “Easier said than done,” said Davis. “I trained with Reed, he’s good at his job and as paranoid as they come. As for T’Pol, it would be easier to get blood out of a stone than expect her to tell us what’s going on.” “I may be able to help you there,” said Nash. “Really, now how would you manage that?” asked Davis. “One of my agents thinks that he has something on Reed that may interest you. I need more time to confirm it, but I think that once we have this to hold over Mr Reed he’ll be more than willing to help us out,” said Nash. “I’ll look forward to wiping that smug look off the bastard’s face,” said Davis. “What about our subject?” asked Nash. “He’s getting better. Should be back on duty soon,” said Davis. “Good, then we can start phase two,” said Nash. “Of course, he knows what Archer is planning too and he’d be by far the easiest of them to manipulate,” said Davis. “He’s tougher than you think,” said Nash. “I’ve read the reports, I know he spent two months as a guest of the Xindi. But he’s emotional and he cares about Archer and the others. Especially the Vulcan, there is something between them. We could use that against him,” said Davis. “We will, Lieutenant, we will, but in good time. We need to wait and make our move when the time is right. A few more days and all the key players will be where we want them,” said Nash. “Yes sir, understood,” said Davis. “Nash out,” said the Senator and cut the connection. ****End of Chapter Six**** Archer had never noticed it before, but he had discovered that Andorians had a peculiar smell about them that wasn’t exactly pleasant when you were stuck with one in a ship the size of one of Enterprise’s shuttlepods. He was beginning to understand what it was like for T’Pol being on Enterprise with a bunch of smelly humans. He wondered if Shran also found the odour of a human in close proximity to him to be distasteful. They had left Drezan and the Noolen in Vulcan space while he waited for his distress call to be answered. Archer had promised to make it up to the Denobulan somehow, he just wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to do it. He owed Drezan big time. Especially since he would now probably be late to pick up his passengers from the Medical conference. Archer had hated abandoning him to the mercies of the Vulcans but there had been no other way, time was short and the sooner they got to the Expanse the sooner they could find Ven Dath and go home. The problem was that although Archer was now sat in an Andorian ship on the way to his objective, he still had no idea what Shran was up to or why he was being so helpful. Shran had so far ignored or deflected all of Archer’s questions about exactly why he was being chased by his own troops and how he had ended up with the Zor Rakh. Archer had a feeling that when he did find out what was going on he was going to regret giving in to Shran. “Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,” muttered Archer. In this case the devil was as blue as the sea. “Sorry?” asked Shran. “Nothing,” said Archer. “How long until we get there?” “Another couple of hours,” said Shran. “Perhaps now we’re nearly there you could tell me where we’re going,” said Archer. “Ven Dath was designated a war criminal by the Xindi government, mainly for his experimentation on Xindi criminals and Commander Tucker. He went into hiding, but I got word from a Xindi source that he’d founded himself a private empire on a space station. It’s in an area frequented by pirates and other criminals, not the kind of place that the Xindi enforcers would ever set foot in,” said Shran. “But we’re going there,” said Archer. “If you want Ven Dath, we don’t have a choice,” said Shran. “I never said that this was going to be an easy task. You haven’t changed your mind, have you?” “No, I haven’t changed my mind, but if you’d given me more of the facts then perhaps I could have improved our odds,” said Archer. “I doubt that, given your current relationship with your government. I suspect that they don’t even know that you’re back in the Expanse. Given their recent decision to cut off all relations with the Xindi I expect your superiors would have you court-martialled if they knew you were here,” said Shran. “How do you even know about that? The decision was only made a few days ago,” said Archer. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer is an adage that Andorians take very seriously,” replied Shran. “And what exactly do you count me as, a friend or an enemy?” asked Archer. “I haven’t decided,” said Shran. “You’re too dangerous to be a friend and too dumb to be an enemy.” “Well you’d better make up your mind, I don’t have time to waste wondering whose side you’re on,” said Archer. Shran glanced at Archer but didn’t reply. Instead he concentrated on the controls. **** Ensign Stephen Raywood stood in sickbay wondering how he’d managed to end up wearing Captain Archer’s spare uniform while Phlox pasted flesh coloured pieces of rubber to his face. He hadn’t really understood exactly why Lieutenant Reed had sent him to sickbay and told him to use the jeffries tubes to get there. When he’d arrived he’d expected to see Captain Archer on one bed and Commander Tucker in another, instead the curtain was drawn around one bed and the other was empty. “Doctor,” called Raywood. “Ah, Ensign Raywood,” said Phlox as he stepped out from behind the curtain. He pulled the curtain back to reveal Commander Tucker zipping up his uniform and sitting on the edge of the biobed. “Sir,” said Raywood in acknowledgement of Commander Tucker. “Ensign,” said Tucker in reply as he hopped off the bed with a little less energy than Raywood would have expected. Raywood couldn’t help but notice that Tucker seemed to move as if he was sore and a bit tired. “Lieutenant Reed told me to come to sickbay,” said Ensign Raywood. “Yeah, we need you to do something,” said Tucker. “You may have noticed that the Captain isn’t here.” “Yes, sir,” said Raywood. “Is he okay?” “Yes, Ensign, he is in perfect health,” said Phlox. Then Commander Tucker had explained the whole charade and finally he’d got to what they wanted him to do. Pretend to be the Captain. At first he’d said no, but if there was one person it was impossible to refuse then it was Commander Tucker. Firstly the Commander really didn’t look well and secondly he had this way of appealing to a person’s better nature that always seemed to end in the Commander getting what he wanted. Commander Tucker just came across as being a genuinely nice guy. The Ensign remembered overhearing Lieutenant Hess asking Lieutenant Reed how he had ended up following Commander Tucker in his exploration of the alien repair station. It was something that Reed would normally have never considered doing, being far more level headed than that. Reed had replied that Tucker had made it seem like such a good idea that he hadn’t been able to refuse and Trip had been so excited about it that Reed hadn’t the heart to say no. Now Ensign Raywood knew exactly what he’d meant, he hadn’t the heart to say no either, it would be like kicking a puppy. By the time Phlox had finished with the make-up and a slight re-styling of the hair, even most of the crew would have been fooled into thinking that he was Captain Archer. They even spent a little time trying to get the Captain’s gait and movements right. Ensign Raywood typically bent over slightly when he walked, whereas Archer was proud of his height, walking tall around Enterprise’s corridors. It was easily fixed by a little posture advice from Phlox. Tucker gave him further advice on the Captain’s mannerisms but they all hoped that no one would actually be getting close enough for him to need more than a passing resemblance to the Captain. “What about the accent?” asked Trip. “Where are your family from Ensign?” “Boston, sir,” replied Raywood. “Not exactly right for the Captain,” said Trip. “Try your best impression of the Captain, Ensign.” “Sir, I’m not very good at impressions,” said Raywood. “Isn’t it a court-martial offence to impersonate the Captain?” Raywood was nervous, had they heard about his impersonations of the Captain or was it just co-incidence? “Not in this case,” said Trip. Although he did wonder what the Captain would think when they told him what they’d done in order to hide his absence. “Give it your best shot.” Ensign Raywood did the best that he could and came out with an almost perfect imitation of Captain Archer. “Why do I get the distinct impression that this isn’t the first time you’ve put that accent on,” said Trip, a slight smile on his lips. He’d heard rumours that one of his Engineering staff did a killer impersonation of Archer but he hadn’t suspected that it was Raywood. The Ensign had always seemed to be the quiet type. Raywood at least had the decency to look embarrassed at his proficiency. “Sorry, sir, no disrespect was meant,” said Raywood. “Well it’s just as well you’ve been practising, you’re going to need it, but to be on the safe side best not talk unless you have to,” said Trip. “If I do say so myself, I think we have managed to produce a good likeness,” said Phlox. “Yeah, not bad at all, Doc,” replied Trip. “You feel ready to face the music?” “I guess so, sir,” said Raywood. “You’ve got the plan, you walk straight out of here and go to the Captain’s ready room. Lieutenant Reed changed the codes so you can get in. T’Pol will meet you there. Try to look as if you’re in a real hurry to get there and hopefully no one will try to stop you for a chat,” said Trip. “Yes, sir, I’ve got it,” said Raywood. “You’re not leaving with me?” “No, I’ve got these damned HQ security officers following me around,” said Trip, “and the last thing we need is them following you too. Don’t want to let anything slip. Phlox has given me the all clear for light duties so I’m going back to my quarters for now anyway, well away from the bridge. When’s Davis’s shift?” “He was on duty the previous shift, Ensign Marshall is taking this shift so it should be safe to leave now,” said Phlox. “That’s your cue, Ensign,” said Trip. Raywood nodded at his Commanding Officer, put back his shoulders and strode purposefully out of sickbay, giving Ensign Marshall a nod as he passed. “I think we might actually pull this off,” said Trip to Phlox. “Now if you don’t mind, Doc, I’m going back to my quarters.” “That should be fine, Commander,” said Phlox. “You have the pills?” “Yes, Doc,” said Trip. “You need to take two of the yellow ones and one of the blue ones with your lunch each day. Don’t skip meals or forget to take the pills, or you’ll be back here faster than either of us would like.” “I was listening the first time, you know,” said Trip with slight annoyance. “Yes, but this is very important. Your health may very well depend on you getting this right,” said Phlox. “I’m not stupid,” said Trip. “I think I can remember to take a few pills.” “Except you do seem to forget important things when it comes to your health and I’m here to make sure that you remain well for as long as possible,” said Phlox. “Don’t worry, I don’t want to spend anymore time in sickbay than I already have,” said Trip. “Very well, then I have no problem in releasing you to light duty. We can see how you cope with that and then if all goes well you can return to full duty in a couple of days time,” said Phlox. “Great, that’s the best news I’ve heard in while,” said Trip. Despite his fatigue he was desperate to get back to his engines. “And don’t forget that you’re due back for a check-up day after tomorrow,” said Phlox. “Okay, Doc,” said Trip. “I’ll see you then.” Trip almost ran from sickbay in his haste to leave. He stopped just outside the doors. “I guess you must be Ensign Marshall,” said Trip to the Security officer. “Yes, sir,” said the Ensign. “Well, how would you feel about getting a cup of coffee in the mess hall before I go back to my quarters. You can tell me a bit about yourself. Might as well get to know each other if we’re going to be spending a lot of time together,” said Trip. “Thank you for the offer, sir, but I don’t think that would be a good idea. Lieutenant Davis would definitely have a problem with it,” said Ensign Marshall. “Too right, I would,” said an Irish voice as Lieutenant Davis came around the corner. “Good to see you up and about Commander Tucker.” “Thanks, it’s nice to be up and about,” said Trip. “You must be my jailer, Lieutenant Davis.” “At your service,” said Davis. “I feel jailer is a little harsh. I would prefer guardian.” “Yeah, well whatever you call it you’re still here to make sure I don’t leave,” said Trip. “That is the situation, but if you don’t make my job any harder than it needs to be then I don’t think we’ll have any problems,” said Davis. “Whatever you say, Lieutenant, I don’t have a hell of a lot of choice in this. Now I’m going to the mess hall and then I’m going back to my quarters. I guess one of you is going to be my shadow,” said Trip. “Actually I was on my way to see your Captain, I gather he’s out of sickbay too,” said Davis. “Yeah, he is, but I doubt he’ll be wanting visitors,” said Trip. He was pretty certain that Raywood wasn’t ready to be coping with Davis yet, hopefully T’Pol would be able to fend him off for a bit until their new Captain found his feet. “I think I’ll take my chances,” replied Davis with a slight smile, which reminded Trip of a cat about to attack a mouse. No wonder Malcolm had been so worried about their plan and the Captain’s continued absence. If anyone would see through their scheme then it was going to be this man. Trip watched Davis walk away down the corridor and felt his heart sink. This was never going to work. **** Harrar station was what could only be described as a den of thieves. It had once been a Xindi station, perhaps a research establishment of some sort, but it had been abandoned several years earlier and taken over by a group of criminals looking for a bolt-hold from the local authorities. It now sported a number of ugly looking guns and some other nasty spiked devices that Archer didn’t like the look of. “Grappling hooks,” said Shran, noticing Archer’s intent gaze, “to prevent ships from leaving if the masters of this place don’t want them to.” “They don’t look as if they’re original features,” said Archer. “Added by the dregs who took over the station, along with the weapons,” said Shran. He was mostly concentrating on docking. They had persuaded the local port authority that they were harmless and just here to meet an acquaintance. It had taken some doing but Shran had obviously had considerable practice at this sort of thing, Archer just sat back and watched the master at work. They docked at the station with little fuss and prepared to disembark. “Wait,” said Shran, as Archer was about to open the hatch. The Andorian rummaged around in the back of the craft and produced some clothes which he tossed at Archer. “Put these on. You stick out like a grafnek at a party in that uniform.” Archer nodded and unzipped his jump-suit, pulling on the grey long-sleeved top and trousers that Shran had provided. Shran also changed out of his uniform and into some similarly nondescript clothing. When they stepped onto the station, Archer had the overwhelming impression that they had stepped into a Victorian slum town. The station had obviously been a functioning research facility once, but that time was definitely well in its past. Now, the lighting was at a low level, probably to conserve power, and gave the whole place an oppressive feel. The main area outside the docking ring was covered in makeshift dwellings which seemed to belong to a variety of races. Archer saw beings from alien species that he had never encountered before. All around them aliens were buying, selling, talking, and just living their lives. “How the hell are we going to find Ven Dath in this?” said Archer in a low whisper to his blue companion. The station had several levels and Archer didn’t even know where to begin. “We get ourselves a guide,” said Shran. “How exactly do we do that?” asked Archer. “I wonder how you humans have survived as long as you have out here,” said Shran. “We find the local bar and ask around.” “That’s your plan?” asked Archer. “You have a better one?” replied Shran with a sneer. “Not at the moment,” said Archer. Wasn’t this what they used to do in old westerns? The hero would go into the town’s bar and order whisky and question the bar staff about where to find whoever he was looking for. He supposed that if it worked for them then it could work for him too. The stereotype had to come from somewhere. Shran and Archer found a likely looking establishment, bustling with customers but not so busy that the bar staff wouldn’t have a chance to answer their queries. Archer let Shran take the lead as he seemed to know much more about this sort of thing, although he made sure that he listened in to what was being said. The bartender pointed out a woman who was sitting at a table by the door with her back to the wall. Archer couldn’t have said what species she was, but she had a distinctly feline appearance, right down to the tail that he saw flicking away under the table. Although if you took away the ears and the tail she could easily have passed for human, if you ignored the bright yellow eyes. She looked faintly bored but as Archer watched her he realised that this was just an act, she watched everyone who entered and left the bar. There was a reason that she was sitting by the door with her back to the wall and a phaser strapped to her left hip. Shran thanked the bartender leaving behind a generous tip and the two men approached the seated woman. “My name is Shran, this is Archer, we’re looking for a guide and were told you knew your way around,” said Shran. “You were told right, now make it worth my while to tell you my name,” said the woman. Shran pulled money out of his pocket and began to shuffle the currency. “No,” said the woman. “Tell me what you’re looking for. I work for curiosity as well as money. If you don’t interest me, I won’t work for you.” Archer glanced at Shran, turned around one of the chairs at the table and straddled it with his long legs, leaning on its back. “We’re looking for a man named Ven Dath,” said Archer. Shran sat down at the table a little more sedately. “I need him to help a friend of mine who’s sick.” The woman made a noise that was a cross between a miaow and a laugh. “You’ll be lucky to get Ven’s help with anything. I think you’ve earned my name though. You may call me Enam.” “Enam,” repeated Archer. “You know where Ven Dath is?” “What exactly do an Andorian and a human want with Ven Dath anyway? You aren’t known for working together. I can’t believe that you’re both after him because you have a sick friend that you hope he will help,” said Enam. “The friend is his,” said Shran indicating Archer with a thumb. “Ven Dath is important to me for different reasons.” “Can you take us to him?” asked Archer. “For a price,” said Enam. “On Harrar anything can be done for a price. Ven Dath is an important man here though and seeing him won’t be easy, especially if he doesn’t want to see you. He is one of the inner circle, they are the people who own this station. He doesn’t like people prying into his affairs or asking about him. You must be sure that you want to do this thing before we begin because once Ven Dath knows that you are here, you will not be able to leave easily.” “This is your last chance to part ways, Shran,” said Archer. “I know what I have to do, but you don’t have to come with me.” “We made a deal, Archer, I won’t go back on that,” said Shran. “Okay, take us to see Ven Dath, Enam,” said Archer. “If you so wish,” said Enam, “Now, my fee.” Shran and Enam negotiated a price which Archer only half listened to. He was thinking about Enterprise, so many light years away, without its Captain. ****End of Chapter Seven**** T’Pol had intercepted Lieutenant Davis on his way to see the Captain, but only because Phlox had managed to Com her with a warning that he was coming. The deception had hardly begun and already Davis was threatening their plans. The doctor had overheard Trip talking with the Lieutenant in the hall outside sickbay and knew that T’Pol would appreciate the warning. With Trip being constantly followed by a Security officer he was sure that he was the only one who would have a chance to warn T’Pol. “Lieutenant Davis, I believe we still need to discuss the areas of the ship which you are allowed to enter,” said T’Pol. “I was just on my way to talk to the Captain, Sub-commander,” said Davis. “The Captain is currently working and will not appreciate the interruption. He has considerable amounts of work to catch up with after his time in sick bay,” said T’Pol. Even though none of what she had just said was a lie, she still felt very unhappy that she was being deceitful. She wished once more that Vulcans were better liars. In fact Ensign Raywood was now tucked away in Captain Archer’s Ready Room where he had successfully arrived without being intercepted by any of the crew or Davis’s men. T’Pol was now wondering how she was going to manage to do her own paperwork as well as that of the Captain. Commander Tucker had offered to help but he had his own catching up to do after spending the last few days in sick bay. In any case they were going to have to find some way of stalling Admiral Forrest so that he didn’t expect the reports yet or, alternatively, forging the Captain’s signature, something which T’Pol hesitated to do. So far none of what they were doing had constituted a crime but if they started falsifying reports then that could get them in a lot of trouble. “Okay, I suppose we have to talk about access at some point,” said Davis. “I need my men to have access to all areas of the ship so that they can adequately guard Commander Tucker.” “That is not acceptable,” replied T’Pol. “Lieutenant Reed has not yet cleared your men for sensitive areas of the ship.” “I and my men already have the highest possible clearance,” said Davis. “You’re obstructing me in my duty, sub-commander.” “I am simply re-stating the terms which Lieutenant Reed already gave you when you came aboard,” said T’Pol. “Which it was agreed we would review when Commander Tucker left sick bay,” said Davis. “I am prepared to allow you and your men into Engineering in order to guard Commander Tucker but you will not be allowed on the bridge or in the armoury without express permission,” said T’Pol. “Unless Commander Tucker is needed in those areas for repair work it is unlikely that he will be spending any considerable time there.” “I suppose that is the best that I can expect from you people but I’ll be lodging a formal complaint with Admiral Forrest,” said Davis. “You are of course welcome to do so once the repairs to the com system have been completed,” said T’Pol. “Actually we brought our own communicators with us,” said Davis. “We anticipated that Enterprise might still be experiencing problems with its infrastructure.” “I see,” said T’Pol, coldly. “Then you will have no problem contacting the Admiral.” “I’ll let you know how it goes, sub-commander,” said Davis and turned to go back down the corridor the way he had come. T’Pol didn’t like the way that he said that at all. She had a lot of work to do if this plan wasn’t going to come crumbling down around their ears. Perhaps it was time that the com system was repaired. She hadn’t even begun to think about her pending Dohn Zhu, but now that loomed large in her future and she was suddenly very aware of just how slim her defence was. The more time she took to think about it the more she came to the conclusion that perhaps her superiors were right, she had made a serious error in judgement when she decided to go with Enterprise into the Expanse. And if she was unable to convince herself of the validity of her actions then what hope did she have of convincing anyone else. **** Davis went back to his quarters and got out his communicator. He thought that if Reed had been a security officer worthy of the name then he would have searched them when they came aboard and found the communicators. Of course he wouldn’t have been able to do anything about them having them, but he would have at least been forearmed with the knowledge. And in this game knowledge was everything. Although Reed had noticed the phase pistols that they all wore, but as security officers they were well within their rights to have them and Reed had no grounds not to let them keep them. He didn’t call Admiral Forrest. Instead he called Senator Nash. Two days, said the Senator, that was all he needed until phase two could be put into motion. They had to wait until Commander Tucker was out of sickbay and part of the crew once more, so they would give it a couple of days to let everyone get complacent and then they would begin. Nash wasn’t surprised to hear that T’Pol, Reed and Archer were still being obstructive. He agreed to bring pressure to bear on Forrest who would in turn bring pressure to bear on Enterprise’s officers and it would be one more lever that they had when it came time to enact the final phase. “When is T’Pol’s Dohn Zhu?” asked Davis. “This Friday morning. After that I suspect we won’t have to worry about the Vulcan poking her nose in where it isn’t wanted. Certainly if I’ve been correct in my assessment of her peers and my words haven’t fallen on deaf pointy ears. A few well placed phrases about how useful T’Pol has been to Enterprise and how much Vulcan technology she has willingly given to us should be plenty to make sure that she is sent back to Vulcan for the full criminal trial. As I understand it, that usually ends in permanent imprisonment.” “Good. And Reed?” asked Davis. “My agent confirmed the rumours that I uncovered. I’m sending you the files I collected on the Lieutenant. I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading them, I certainly found them interesting, not at all what I would have expected from a man like Reed. Of course only a security officer would have been able to keep it hidden this long. There’s no mention of anything in his records at all, neither his civil files nor his Starfleet records,” said Nash. “Well I told you that he was good,” said Davis. “Indeed you did, for which I’m very grateful or I might not have dug as deeply as I did, but it’s all there if you know where to look,” said Nash. “Just make sure that you play your hand correctly, we’ll only get one chance to make this work and if you give him too long to think he’ll probably do something stupid.” “Don’t worry, I think I know my man pretty well,” said Davis. **** When Reed wandered into the mess hall that evening he was greeted by the sight of a full room but Commander Tucker sitting at a table alone. He grabbed a tray and went to collect some food before heading across the room to join Trip. “It’s not often that you eat alone, Commander,” said Reed. “I don’t think they like being watched by my shadow,” said Trip, indicating his guard who was standing by the mess hall door. “A couple of people sat down and then made their excuses.” “I guess it is a bit unnerving,” said Reed. “But it doesn’t bother me.” He sat down and tucked into his food ignoring the eyes of the guard looking at him. “Yeah, well it’s beginning to bother me,” said Trip, taking another mouthful, chewing more swiftly than was possibly healthy and swallowing. “Isn’t there anything that we can do about them?” “Sorry, the order came direct from Headquarters. Even the Captain’s hands were tied,” said Reed. “Great, just great,” said Trip his voice brimming with sarcasm. “It’s not enough that my own body decides to turn against me, my government has to as well.” “It’s not for long, Trip,” said Reed. “As soon as the Captain returns, we’ll get this sorted out and everything will be back to normal.” “Normal isn’t a state that we experience very often around here,” replied Trip. “It’s just having someone follow me around everywhere is really beginning to get on my nerves and I’ve only been out of sickbay a day. I never did thank you for making them wait outside, I think if I’d had to deal with this on top of feeling sick as a dog, I’d have given up there and then. It was appreciated, Malcolm.” “My pleasure, I enjoyed sticking two fingers up at Davis. He was a right bastard even back at the academy. I swear he’s enjoying all of this. How are you feeling?” asked Reed. “You know, you’re about the hundredth person to ask me that today. I must look really rough,” said Trip. “I don’t know about that, but you don’t exactly look on top form,” said Reed. “I’m fine. Everything is back on an even keel for the moment, just have to hope that Phlox’s pills keep it that way until he can come up with something better,” said Trip. “I’m going back for seconds, you want anything?” “No thanks,” replied Reed. “I can’t believe you’re still hungry after that.” When Reed had arrived Trip’s plate had been loaded with food which had been disappearing at an alarming rate. Trip had always enjoyed his food but Reed had never seen him consume it in quite such large quantities. “I’ve got a whole load of hungry nanites to feed too, you know,” said Trip, “and ever since my immune system decided to kick in they’ve been even hungrier. I guess they need the extra energy. Luckily they really like pecan pie.” “That will be because of all the sugar in it,” said Reed. “Far too sweet for me.” “At the moment I reckon I need it,” replied Trip, he rose and went back to the servery to get more food. Reed noticed Lieutenant Davis enter the mess hall just as Trip was about to retake his seat. “Just what I needed,” muttered Reed under his breath as he watched Davis collect a plate and then head towards their table. “Do you mind if I join you?” asked the red headed security officer. “Yes,” replied Trip with his mouth full, not bothering to look up. Eating was definitely the most important thing on Trip’s mind at the moment. “I think the Commander has made his feelings clear, now bugger off and find someone else to sit with,” said Reed, emphasising his English accent only slightly to give his words the proper force. “That really is very uncharitable of you,” said Davis, equally emphasising his own Irish accent. If Reed wanted to make a point of the fact that they weren’t countrymen then he was only too pleased to oblige. What had the English ever done for the Irish? “I’d be happy to do that, but then there doesn’t seem to be anyone else to sit with.” Reed noted that there were plenty of other places to sit, but he could either make a scene or let Davis sit with them and get the whole thing over with. Letting Davis sit with them seemed to be by far the easiest option of the two and by far the most becoming of a senior officer. “I’m glad to see that the Commander is feeling better,” said Davis. Trip stopped eating long enough to glare at Davis and mutter, “yeah, I bet you’re glad. Glad that I’m somewhere you can follow me again.” “I assure you Commander that this is as much for your own safety as it is for everyone else’s,” said Davis. “Really. And how do you work that one out?” replied Trip. “You are carrying technology within your body that could be of use to alien governments,” said Davis. “You don’t seriously believe that aliens are after Trip?” said Reed with incredulity. “Maybe not at the moment, but if they were to find out exactly what the Commander is carrying in his bloodstream then I’m not sure that they wouldn’t try to take him,” said Davis. “We know that the Xindi have already tried to take him back once already.” Trip looked very worried and had stopped eating, which given his current need for food was tantamount to stopping breathing. “Not the Xindi, I’m never going back there,” he said. He had dropped his fork on his plate and pushed back his chair from the table as if he was about to make a run for the exit. Reed shot Davis a look of pure hatred before directing his gaze back to Trip in an attempt to calm the troubled man. “Trip, it’s okay. The one group of aliens who wouldn’t want you are the Xindi. For starters they already have the technology and if they want to know more, all they have to do is ask. They’re our allies now.” Trip calmed down slightly. “Yeah, you’re right Malcolm,” said Trip, shaking his head as if at his own stupidity for not realising. He picked up his fork and began to eat more slowly, but it was obvious that the very idea that the Xindi might want to capture him had shaken him slightly. No doubt that was exactly what Davis had hoped might happen, he was testing Trip, pushing his buttons to see what would happen. Knowing your enemy’s weaknesses was something that they taught to all security officers and fear was definitely a weakness if used correctly. Reed knew Trip’s weaknesses intimately but he had hoped that it would take Davis longer to work them out. Especially the scars that the Xindi had left upon Trip’s psyche. When it came to the Xindi, Trip was still less than rational, even though he tried very hard to hide the worst of his fear and he was considerably better than he had been. “I was actually thinking more of the Andorians,” said Davis. “You had a run in with them in the Expanse and they didn’t come off so well. I wonder if they realised when they were helping you with your repairs that you had Xindi technology running through your veins. They were very anxious to capture the Xindi weapon prototype.” “I was pretty careful not to let them know,” said Trip. “I doubt they even know what is normal for a human anyway.” However, he was now wondering about the Andorian engineer who had paid him a considerable amount of attention. At the time he’d thought it was just curiosity about how another species ran its engines but looking back he wasn’t so sure that’s all it was. The moment when Trip had performed some tricky calculations in his head probably hadn’t helped either, these days he was so used to having the nanites there to help him that he didn’t even think about tapping into their powerful mathematics routines. He remember that the Andorian had looked slightly taken aback. Despite his attempts to make it seem that he was less able than he actually was, he guessed that he’d slipped up a couple of times. “Besides they helped us to defeat the Xindi,” said Reed. “Why would they suddenly decide to turn on us.” “It was a Commander Shran that you ran into in the Expanse, right?” asked Davis. “Yeah, we’d bumped into him before,” said Trip. “Seems he isn’t exactly in favour with his government anymore. Kidnapping you, Commander, might be just the leverage he needs to get back in with them,” said Davis. “Interesting but hardly compelling,” said Reed. “Shran’s not the type,” said Trip. “How well do you know him, Commander?” asked Davis. “I’ve met him about three or four times,” said Trip. “He’s been on the level with us most of the time and I don’t think he wanted to lie to us the last time either. He was just following orders.” “Or maybe the last time he was actually who he really is and the previous times he was lulling you into a false sense of security,” said Davis. “Maybe Shran isn’t the fine Andorian citizen that he pretends to be. But then who of us can say that we’re perfect?” Davis directed a pointed look at Reed before gathering up his tray and moving himself to another table. “What was that about?” asked Trip, quietly so that Davis wouldn’t hear. “I’m not sure,” said Reed, “but I have a few ideas and none of them are good. Fishing would be my guess. He doesn’t really know anything or it would be all over by now.” “I hope you’re right, Malcolm, because if you’re not, we’re buried under a whole heap of trouble,” said Trip. Malcolm Reed however was more worried that something from his own past was about to come back and bite him. Something that he hadn’t thought about for a long time. **** When Enam had told them it would be difficult to get to see Ven Dath, Archer hadn’t exactly realised just what that meant. He certainly hadn’t expected the level of security that was present on the outlaw station. He wondered how Ven Dath had funded the whole operation and that alone gave him pause for thought as the easiest way would have been for Ven to have traded his expertise. No one knew better than Archer just how dangerous that might make him. The lower levels of the station consisted of make shift dwellings, bars, and dishevelled looking trading stations. These were all crammed together, making the most of the available space. The original layout of the station had been cannibalised to make way for streets and shops, but some of the old rooms had been pressed into service. The upper levels were a different matter all together. This was where the elite lived, the Inner Circle, the owners of the space station. Five beings inhabited the top five levels, one level each, with their servants and henchmen, the highest belonging to the most powerful of them. It was referred to as the Inner Sanctum, at least partially because of the intense security and secrecy that surrounded it. Ven Dath inhabited the level second from the top. Each level operated as the private fiefdom of the entity who lived there, and some wild and bizarre tales had filtered down to the lower levels about what went on there. Enam explained that in order to get to Ven Dath they would have to traverse the other three levels. This was not going to be at all easy as each had their own security arrangements and they did not welcome visitors. The people who inhabited the upper levels of the station were extremely paranoid about their own safety, there were a lot of people who would like to kill the members of the Inner Circle. The first level they needed to cross belonged to a criminal known as Rorna. Enam had only ever been into this level once and that time she had used the front door which was far too well guarded for their purposes. It would have been easier all round if they too could have used the front door as that had an elevator which would take them straight to Ven Dath’s level, but if they wanted to actually reach Ven Dath then that wasn’t the way to approach the Inner Sanctum. However, using the stairs meant crossing each level in order to find the flight that lead up to the next floor. This was yet another security measure, having the stairs in different location ensured that even if one level was breached it made it hard to reach the next. They had all agreed that they should get a night’s sleep before they embarked on their journey and be well rested, so Archer and Shran had returned to the Zor Rakh for the night. Archer had tried to sleep but knowing how difficult the following day would be made him restless. He was also having considerable trouble keeping his mind off worrying about Enterprise and what was going on back home without him. He hoped that T’Pol, Reed and Trip weren’t in more trouble because of his absence. By the end of the night Archer had achieved only a few hours sleep and he felt anything but rested when they went to meet Enam. They had arranged to rendezvous at the level below the first of those belonging to the Inner Circle. Enam brought with her three backpacks crammed full of the supplies that they would need. She expected it to take them some time to reach the fourth level going the indirect route, it might even take a couple of days if things went badly. “Rorna is a Creen,” said Enam, as she handed round the equipment, “they’re an insectoid race and like the dark. Back on Creena he was a serial killer turned terrorist, a nasty piece of work. From my last visit I know that the lighting on this level will be poor. Rorna designed the level to be like a labyrinth, if you don’t know your way through then you can spend days wandering around completely lost. He also set up traps to catch out anyone who takes a wrong turn. We will need the night vision glasses and the flashlights for the first level.” “You do know the way through, don’t you?” asked Archer. “Of course,” replied Enam, “that is what you’re paying me for.” She flicked her tail with impatience. “Let’s get moving,” said Shran. “We don’t have time to waste.” They moved towards the maintenance shaft that Enam had identified as the only way to enter the lowest of the Inner Circle levels. Enam had to unseal the entrance using a crowbar and a laser welder. After some brute force the panel that was blocking their way came lose and Archer made to enter the shaft. “Wait,” said Enam. “Nothing is ever this easy here. That’s something you need to understand right now, before we set a foot inside the Inner Sanctum.” She located a piece of rubbish that lay beside her foot and tossed into the shaft, it burst into flames as three lasers fired upon the movement. “Movement sensors,” said Shran. “Exactly,” said Enam. “Don’t stick your cute human nose in anywhere until I’ve told you that it’s clear. That goes for you too, blue. Stay behind me if you want to get to Ven Dath in one piece.” “Understood,” said Archer. Shran merely nodded. They watched as Enam took out a small electronic device which she attached to one side of the shaft, adjusted and then turned on. “Okay, it’s disabled, we’re safe to climb up now,” said Enam. She grabbed hold of the first rung and swung herself up on to the ladder and began to climb. “After you,” said Shran to Archer. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather have you in front of me where I can see you,” replied Archer. “Very well, it makes no difference to me,” said Shran and followed Enam up the ladder. The three of them stepped out from the shaft into a dimly lit area with three passageways that led off in different direction. Enam snapped down her night vision glasses from where they had been resting on top of her head and turned on her torch. None of the three directions looked particularly inviting. A bizarre cobweb like material hung from some of the walls, giving the whole corridor the look of a poorly cleaned, old building. “This way,” she said, pointing to the central passageway. “Keep your wits about you, guards patrol these passages and they are well armed. Most of them prefer to shoot first and ask questions later. The Creen have very good hearing and about half the guards are of Rorna’s own race.” Archer and Shran followed Enam after putting on their own night vision glasses and switching their torches on. They walked slowly down the passage, Enam in front of them walking almost silently on her toes like a dancer, her ears twitching like radar dishes trying to home in on a sound. “Someone’s coming,” said Enam and she pushed Archer and Shran back against the wall just as a Creen guard scuttled past the end of the passageway. Archer got his first glimpse of a Creen as the guard went past and for just a moment his racial memory of arachnophobia kicked in and he wanted to run screaming in the opposite direction. The Creen guard had eight legs and eight eyes arrayed around its head and its body was very much like that of a spider, covered in dark hair. Unlike a spider it was carrying a weapon and only six of its legs were in contact with the ground, it also wore what seemed to be the spider equivalent of clothes. Even more alarmingly the guard had what looked like a fearsome stinger on its abdomen. The cobweb stuff that hung from the walls was in fact probably exactly what it looked like. I’m really glad Trip isn’t here, thought Archer. The Engineer hated insects but he especially hated spiders, although he tried to keep that very quiet. The three of them stood pressed against the wall hardly daring to breathe while they waited for the Creen to pass. They only relaxed once more when Enam motioned them forward, her ears still behaving like mini radar dishes. Enam pulled out a padd and consulted it before choosing which direction to go at the end of the passage. “There is a trap around here,” said Enam. “We must be careful not to set it off.” “Where?” asked Shran. “I only know that it is near here, not what or exactly where it is,” replied Enam. “This is further into this level than I have ever been before and the map I was able to obtain was not complete.” “You told us that you could guide us to Ven Dath,” said Shran. “And so I can but very few people have visited Rorna’s level and lived, at least without going through the regular channels. I’ve gathered together all the information that I could but even I can’t know everything,” said Enam. “And I am the best that there is.” “And modest with it,” said Archer. “When you’re the best you don’t need modesty,” replied Enam. “Besides it’s my tail on the line as well as yours.” “I don’t want to hear about your problems,” said Shran, “you’re just here to get us to Ven Dath so that we can all go home again.” He pushed past Enam and on down the corridor. “Wait,” said Enam. Archer heard a small click and Enam flew past him and into Shran’s back, throwing him to the floor just as volley of arrows flew over his head. “I told you that there was a trap around here,” she said as she rolled off Shran. Shran made to stand up but Enam pulled him back down. “You broke a motion sensor beam, it is above your head so you need to stay down if you want to live. We can crawl under it. You too Archer.” “How did you know?” asked Archer as he got down on the floor and began to crawl towards Shran and Enam. “I heard the mechanism,” said Enam. “Good ears,” said Shran. “Just as well or you’d be dead,” said Enam. “Next time maybe you’ll listen to me.” Shran didn’t say anything but continued to crawl forward. “What else have we got to look forward to in here? Those arrows weren’t exactly high tech,” said Archer. “There’s worse to come if the stories are true,” said Enam. “Rorna thinks it’s fun to hunt people he doesn’t like through his maze. He’s built in a number of traps just to make the game more exciting. The people he hunts don’t last very long by all accounts. As we get nearer the centre and his quarters there are more traps.” “And the stairs to the next level?” asked Archer. “Are right in the centre,” said Enam. “We’re out of range of the motion sensors,” she added, standing and stretching out the kinks that crawling along the floor had produced. Enam led them onwards through the rest of the maze, carefully selecting their route and occasionally stopping to disable a trap before they could progress further. Mostly the traps involved motion sensors that triggered lasers or other projectile weapons but occasionally they were much more sinister. At one point Enam stopped them, sniffing the air. “What is it?” asked Archer. Enam looked around her and found a loose piece of metal lying on the floor. She tossed it onto the floor in front of them. The metal hissed and bubbled before disappearing into the floor. “Acid,” said Enam. “I smelt it a long way back. He’s added something to it to make it look like the floor material.” “Ingenious,” said Shran. “How do we get past it?” “We use this,” said Enam, producing a grappling hook with retractable spikes from her backpack. “We should be able to swing across.” Enam launched the spiked hook into the ceiling where it stuck fast, she gave it a good pull to be sure but it didn’t move. “I’ll go first.” “I think I’d prefer it if I went first,” said Shran. “There’s nothing to stop you getting across the other side and abandoning us without any way to get across.” “Shran, I think we’ve come far enough that we can trust Enam,” said Archer. “You humans are far too trusting,” said Shran. “The Andorian can go first, it doesn’t make any difference to me,” said Enam. She handed the rope to Shran who took it and successfully swung himself across the acid pit. Shran swung the rope back to Enam, the tail end of the rope just catching the acid as it swung past and smoking slightly from the caustic substance. “You go,” said Archer. “It’ll make Shran happy if he’s got you where he can keep an eye on you.” Enam twisted her mouth into a mischievous grin. “At some point I want to hear the story of how you two ended up working together. I have a feeling it will satisfy my curious streak ten times over.” “Get us through this and I may just tell you,” replied Archer. Enam swung herself across the pit and landed gracefully on the other side just beside Shran. As before she swung the rope back across where Archer waited. He gripped the rope firmly and up high enough that he could be sure that he wouldn’t end up scraping his feet into the acid below him. He took a couple of steps back and swung himself across. He was just over half-way across the pit when he felt the grappling hook above him shake and then dislodge. Luckily he was far enough over that his momentum carried him the rest of the way and he landed on the other side considerably less gracefully than Enam had done, but he had lost his balance and felt himself about to fall backwards to a particularly nasty death in the acid bath behind him. Suddenly a hand had grabbed his and stopped his fall. It was a blue Andorian hand and when Archer looked up at its owner in surprise he saw only respect and concern looking back at him. “It’s only another few turns before we reach the main hall where the stairs are,” said Enam. “Good,” said Archer. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.” “We have another two levels above this before we reach Ven Dath,” said Enam, “each as deadly as this one in its own way.” She walked forward cautiously down the passageway. Archer followed her and then heard an ominous click as his foot hit something on the floor. He stopped still. “What was that?” he asked as nothing obvious had happened. Enam looked at him, fear in her eyes. “I’m not sure, but I think the spider knows that we’re in his web.” ****End of Chapter Eight**** There was the sound of scuttling in the dark. Archer, Shran and Enam flattened themselves against the wall, their torches turned off. “What now?” whispered Archer. “We move very quietly and very slowly towards the exit,” said Enam in a harsh whisper. She pointed in the direction that they needed to go. Archer moved forwards carefully, Shran following. There was the sound of more eight-legged movement, shadows moved across the wall and Archer, Shran and Enam once more pressed themselves back against the wall. “They’re closing in,” said Shran. “The stairs to the next floor is just around the corner,” said Enam. They started to walk slowly towards the door, careful to make as little noise as possible so that the sensitive Creen ears wouldn’t pick up their movement. There was a squeal from behind them and they looked back to see a Creen guard. “Run!” said Enam and she set off towards the stairs at top speed. “No!” shouted Archer, by his reckoning the spider could easily outrun them and it had an energy weapon cradled in its arms. Enam was gone though, already around the corner. Shran looked at Archer and then started running, with Archer close at his heels. Archer and Shran could do nothing but follow Enam with the spider bearing down towards them. They skidded around the corner together, Archer’s longer legs making him slightly faster than Shran even though the Andorian had started running first, and were confronted by another Spider standing in front of them. They ground to a halt. Enam stood frozen to the spot. She said one word and it made Archer’s blood run cold. “Rorna.” She looked at Archer. The spider in front of them was different from the others, it had only seven legs. “That’s Rorna,” said Enam. Archer stared at the huge Creen spider in front of him, a small drop of poison dripped onto the floor from its stinger. It carried a rifle and it was aimed at Enam. The spider chittered something and suddenly they were surrounded by more guards, several of them Creen spiders. Their weapons and backpacks were removed and they pushed the three intruders forward into a large hall, Rorna’s equivalent of a throne room. It was decorated sparsely, the same cobwebs hanging on the walls that covered the rest of the corridor. The only unusual features were the large pictures of Creen spiders that hung on the walls. “Leaders in the Creen terrorist movement that Rorna belonged to,” said Enam quietly, noticing Archer’s gaze. Enam, Shran and Archer were bundled into a cage in the centre of the hall. The spiders poked them with their long legs as they walked past as if it was part of some game or ritual. “What now?” asked Shran quietly. “I don’t know,” said Archer. “I guess we look for our chance to escape.” Enam slumped in the corner. “There is no escape from Rorna.” “I don’t have time for this,” said Archer. “Nevertheless we seem to be stuck here for the moment,” said Shran. Archer went to Enam. “What’s going to happen to us?” “Either he’ll kill us as an example to others or hunt us through the labyrinth. Depends what he’s feeling like. Either way, we’re dead,” said Enam. **** T’Pol had called Trip to the bridge to fix the broken com system, using it as an excuse to talk to him alone. So far Reed and T’Pol had prevented Davis’s men from going on to the bridge, but they were certain that this wouldn’t last for long, especially once Davis had spoken to Admiral Forrest. “So did you actually do something to the com system that I need to fix?” asked Trip as he came over to Hoshi’s station with his tool kit. Only T’Pol, Reed, Hoshi, Ensign Raywood and Mayweather were on the bridge so he wasn’t worried about revealing the deception they had orchestrated. “We just disconnected a few wires,” said Hoshi. “Yeah, but which wires makes a lot of difference,” said Trip. “Lieutenant Hess helped so I don’t think we broke anything important,” said Hoshi. “I’ll believe that when I’ve given it the once over,” said Trip as he crawled under the com station and detached the cover of the panel he needed to get to. The nanites assessed the damage, locating the broken connections in far less time than it would have taken Trip to scan for them. “Pass me the micro-laser,” said Trip to Hoshi, “this doesn’t look too bad, shouldn’t be more than a couple of minutes work for the nanites.” “Commander, when you have completed your repairs I would like to speak with you,” said T’Pol. Trip poked his head up above the console. “Sure, T’Pol, just give me a couple of minutes,” said Trip. He told the nanites to make the necessary repairs which they completed in a few minutes and then returned to his body. He shut the cover of the panel and used the edge of the console to help himself up. He felt slightly dizzy as he stood up, but hoped that no one noticed his moment of light-headedness. He’d been experiencing the dizzy spells ever since he’d left sick bay a couple of days ago but he had decided not to let anyone know, they’d only expect him to go back to sick bay and with all the repair work he didn’t have time for that. Until he’d been away he hadn’t realised just how much the nanites did around the ship, especially the fine work that usually took ages to complete but the nanites could do in a few seconds. Then of course there were the regular updates on the ship’s systems that the nanites gave him, which had stopped while they battled his immune system but had returned now that the nanites had spare processing power again. Trip had begun to wonder how he had ever managed to be Chief Engineer without the nanites, they’d picked up on so many problems before they became real problems. “It sure is nice not to have those HQ security guys looking over my shoulder the whole time,” he said. “Unfortunately there’s nothing we can do about that for the moment,” said Reed. “Yeah, I know,” said Trip. “I need to contact Admiral Forrest,” said T’Pol, breaking into the conversation. “I believe you mentioned that you could create a message that would make it look as if Captain Archer is speaking with him.” “Yeah, I can,” said Trip. “What exactly did you have in mind,” asked Reed. “Well, you remember when we had to fool Degra we used a voice modulator to make Hoshi sound like a Xindi?” said Trip. “Yeah, that was pretty good,” said Travis. “If it hadn’t been for those anomalies, we would have fooled him.” “You want to do something similar with the Captain’s voice?” asked Hoshi. “Yup, I’m pretty sure that we have enough recordings of his voice to work with and then we can add a visual as well. The computer should be able to cope with the calculations and we have enough video of the Captain that we should be able to string it all together fairly easily,” said Trip. “So Sub-Commander T’Pol will be on screen and speaking but the Admiral will see Captain Archer?” asked Ensign Raywood. “Exactly, Ensign,” replied Trip. “I think you may have overlooked something,” said Reed. “And what would that be?” asked Trip. “T’Pol doesn’t speak in the same way that the Captain does. You can make her words sound like Captain Archer but the words will still be T’Pol’s, and she speaks like a Vulcan, no disrespect Sub-commander,” said Reed. “None taken, Lieutenant, you are correct. I speak English in the manner of a non-native speaker, despite the long time that I have been among humans I have yet to acquire some of your idioms. Perhaps Commander Tucker should be the one to take the place of the Captain, his colloquialisms seem closer to those of the Captain,” said T’Pol. “Oh no, not again,” said Trip. “I tried that once before, remember, and my days of impersonating the Captain are over. All for some damned water-polo scores as well.” Hoshi covered her mouth in an attempt not to laugh, and Reed grinned broadly at the memory of Trip pretending to be Archer only to discover that the important message was not exactly important. Trip had nearly given the game away when he heard the message but had quickly corrected himself so that the Vulcan Captain was none the wiser, although he probably thought that humans were very strange indeed. Trip had reasoned that he’d probably thought that to begin with anyway. “Lieutenant Reed could attempt the impersonation,” suggested T’Pol. “Same problem, T’Pol, he speaks like a Brit,” said Trip. “Anyway, there’s a guy I know who does a damn fine impersonation of the Captain.” “Who is it, sir?” asked Mayweather. “Ensign Raywood,” said Trip and all eyes turned to the man who was sitting in the Captain’s chair. “Sir, I really don’t think I’m qualified to talk to the Admiral,” said Ensign Raywood. “Ensign, you’re the only guy who can,” said Trip. “Me, I’ve got this bunch of southern vocabulary that I don’t even notice that I’m using and T’Pol and Malcolm have got their own variations in the way they speak. None of us sound like the Captain in the way we talk. Now I know that you can pull it off, I’ve heard you do it.” “Sir, it’s one thing to do a couple of lines in the Captain’s voice just for a joke, but holding a whole conversation is a completely different matter,” said Raywood. “You won’t have to do the voice, the computers will do all that for you, just think about the way the Captain talks,” said Trip. “Ensign, if you are able to do this then you will be performing a great service for the Captain,” said T’Pol. “Your input in this endeavour is vital and greatly appreciated.” “I suppose I could give it a go,” said Raywood after a long pause. “Right, let’s get to it then,” said Trip. The nanites were already locating and assembling the files that Trip would need in order to construct the computer generated images and voice. All they had to do now was convince the Admiral that he really was talking to Captain Jonathan Archer, a man that he’d known for over ten years. **** “Evening Admiral,” said Raywood to the image on the screen in front of him. He couldn’t believe that he was doing this. His list of crimes was growing longer by the minute, not only had he impersonated the Captain but now he was lying to an Admiral. T’Pol sat out of range of the screen ready to prompt him if he should need it. Commander Tucker had successfully rigged up his visual and audio mask to the computer in the Captain’s ready room, but had decided to monitor the whole thing from another location as he didn’t want to distract Raywood anymore than he already was. “Hello Jon. I’m glad to see that you got the com system back online. How are the repairs coming?” asked the Admiral. “Just fine, sir,” said Raywood. “The guys from Jupiter station did a great job with the upgrades.” “I’m glad to hear it,” said Forrest. “I notice that you’re late getting your reports to me, is anything the matter? It’s not like you to be late, Jon.” “Sorry about that Admiral, I guess you didn’t hear about my accident. I went down to Engineering to inspect some of the upgrades and a faulty power relay blew up as I was walking past. I ended up in sickbay for a few days while Phlox sorted me out,” said Raywood. “I’m sorry to hear that, you look okay now though so it can’t have been too serious,” said Forrest. “A few minor burns, nothing too bad but it has put me behind schedule on the reports. Would you be willing to give me a few more days to get those to you?” asked Raywood. Too formal, he thought, not quite the right tone, the Captain had known the Admiral for years. “It shouldn’t be a problem, Jon, but I need them by the end of next week or we’ll miss the committee meeting,” said the Admiral. He didn’t seem to have noticed the slightly stilted nature of Raywood’s language in the last sentence. Raywood had no idea what the committee meeting was or even why the reports were needed for it, but decided to play it safe. “I’m sure I’ll have them for you in time, sir.” “How’s Commander Tucker?” asked Forrest. “Much better, sir, back on full duty,” replied Raywood. “Is that a permanent thing or just temporary?” asked Forrest. Raywood didn’t know, he certainly hadn’t been privy to Phlox’s private medical conversations with the Commander. He looked at T’Pol who wrote something on a padd and handed it to him. “Phlox thinks that he’s stabilised him for the time being but we won’t know for a while if it’s a long term solution. It hasn’t solved the underlying problem, the nanites are still there,” said Raywood, reading off the padd as he spoke. “I’ve been looking for a way that we can keep the Commander on board Enterprise,” said Forrest, “but so far I’ve not had much luck. Every way I turn I seem to hit a brick wall, no one seems willing to believe that the nanites are harmless. Which I’m afraid brings me to some more bad news. The powers that be have decided to place Enterprise in quarantine until Commander Tucker has been removed. That means no shore leave for anyone and no more trips down to the surface even on official business.” “But, Admiral, that’s not fair,” blurted out Raywood and then realised that it didn’t sound like a very Archer thing to say. “I mean, the crew have been in the Expanse for months and they deserve shore leave. Most of them have been waiting until the repairs are complete to go home and visit their families.” “I’m sorry, Jon, but there’s nothing that I can do. The order came from the highest authority,” said Forrest. “Which reminds me, how’s T’Pol holding up?” Raywood looked at T’Pol questioningly, he didn’t know of any reason for the Admiral to be asking after her. Again T’Pol wrote rapidly on the padd and passed it to him. “She’s doing fine, I guess a bit worried but I’m sure she’ll come through fine,” said Raywood. “That wasn’t what you said to me last week. I’ve had the Judge Advocate General’s office looking into this whole thing, it’s pretty serious. The Dohn Zhu is the prelude to a criminal trial back on Vulcan. I’m still looking into options for you to keep your Science Officer but it isn’t looking good at the moment,” said Forrest. “I think I need to talk to T’Pol again,” said Raywood, stalling. He really didn’t know what all this was about and the way T’Pol was looking at him, he didn’t think she wanted him to know. “Yes, it certainly sounds like she hasn’t told you the whole story,” said the Admiral. “I’ve had a couple of complaints from Headquarters Security about your treatment of Lieutenant Davis, by the way. I know you don’t want him there, Jon, but you have to let him and his men have access to the whole ship.” “I know he has a job to do, but I can’t have him or his men getting in the way of day to day operations of the ship,” said Raywood. “I’m sure he understands that Enterprise is a functioning starship. I don’t want to get another call from Admiral Ferguson, Jon,” said the Admiral. “Okay, I’ll give him access to the rest of the ship, but I can’t do anything about sickbay, that’s the Doctor’s domain and he won’t budge,” said Raywood. “I think I can live with explaining that to Ferguson,” said Forrest. “Sickbay can remain off limits.” Raywood continued on with the few other points of ship’s business that he had to discuss with the Admiral uneventfully, mostly handling the conversation fairly well. However, it was a blessed relief to him when he was finally able to cut the communication channel. “Do you think we did it, Sub-commander?” asked Raywood, sitting back with a sigh. “I believe that we performed adequately,” replied T’Pol. Just then there was a sharp knock on the door and then Trip barged into the room without waiting to be asked to enter. “What the hell is a Dohn Zhu and why is the Admiral talking about Enterprise losing its Science Officer?” shouted Trip, striding over to T’Pol. “Erm, I guess I’ll be on the bridge,” said Raywood, swiftly moving out of the way and through the door to the bridge before either Trip or T’Pol could stop him. Not that either of them wished to have witnesses to the fight that they knew was about to happen. “A Dohn Zhu is a tribunal of my peers to decide whether certain of my actions in regard to resigning my commission and accompanying Enterprise into the Expanse merit further investigation,” said T’Pol, calmly. “If they find my actions contravene Vulcan regulations governing our relations with other species then I will be returned to Vulcan for a criminal trial.” “T’Pol, you’re telling me that you’re going to be put on trial for resigning your commission and coming into the Expanse with us? Why the hell didn’t you tell me this was going on?” asked Trip, his voice still raised. “You were not in any state to be told bad news and I felt it best not to burden you further,” said T’Pol. “So you’re saying that you didn’t tell me because I was ill? T’Pol, I’m not a child. If something is going on I need to know. I’m the god damned Chief Engineer of this ship and if the Science Officer is about to be replaced then I think I’m entitled to know. Apart from the fact that I thought we were friends. Friends tell each other things,” said Trip. “There was no need for you to know,” said T’Pol. “But you told the Captain and Malcolm knows,” said Trip. “It seems like I’m the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on. I’m fighting to lead a normal life and you’re treating me like I’m made of glass. You’re the one who told me that having the nanites inhabit my body didn’t make me a different person.” “It was the illness caused by the nanites rather than the nanites presence that made me hesitate to tell you. The Captain, Doctor Phlox and I all agreed that you did not require further stress given your current situation,” said T’Pol. “And I suppose you think finding out this way was better?” asked Trip, sarcastically. “It was not my intention that you should find out this way,” said T’Pol. “Yeah, if you’d had your way I never would have known until you were on your way back to Vulcan,” said Trip. “The Dohn Zhu is a Vulcan matter and not your concern,” said T’Pol. “Of course it’s my concern,” said Trip. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I care about what happens to you. There must be something that we can do.” T’Pol simply looked at Trip for a moment. “There is nothing that you can do. The Captain has already looked in to ways that the Earth government might be able to assist me.” “What about your defence, I mean you are allowed to defend what you did?” asked Trip. “Yes, I will be defending myself,” said T’Pol. “What are you going to say?” asked Trip. “That I broke a number of Vulcan statutes and that I have no explanation for my actions,” said T’Pol. “T’Pol, that’s just rolling over and giving up, that’s not a defence. You’ve got to defend yourself,” said Trip. “There is no defence for being in the wrong,” said T’Pol. “Damn it, T’Pol, you did the right thing, coming with us. We might never have got home if you hadn’t been there,” said Trip. “The fact remains that I went against my superiors in order to go with Enterprise into the Expanse and even though I resigned my commission, I still ignored the advice of those in authority over me,” said T’Pol. “I used my Vulcan scientific knowledge to help you and I could well have involved Vulcan in an intergalactic war.” “That is a load of garbage and you know it as well as I do,” said Trip. “You’ve never betrayed Vulcan scientific secrets and the Xindi weren’t going to attack Vulcan just because there was one Vulcan on board Enterprise.” “That is not how the Vulcan High Command have interpreted my actions,” replied T’Pol. “It has been suggested in the past that I have been corrupted by serving for so long on a human ship and that for my own good I should be reassigned.” “And you can forget that load of bull too,” said Trip. “There’s nothing wrong with who you are.” “Perhaps not by human standards, but by Vulcan standards I am irresponsible and erratic. I cannot defend myself against charges that I consider to be valid,” said T’Pol. “You once explained to me that suicide wasn’t logical,” said Trip. “You told me that if you were alive then there was always the possibility that outcomes could be influenced and changed. Sounds to me like you need to listen to your own advice.” “I am not contemplating suicide,” said T’Pol. “You might as well be, you’ve obviously given up completely. What happened to influencing outcomes and fighting for life,” said Trip. T’Pol paused, she turned towards the widow of the ready room. Outside figures could be seen floating past carrying construction materials to repair Enterprise’s damaged hull. The ship was slowly being returned to its pre-Expanse level of full repair. Although the task had been daunting, Trip had attacked the problem with as much vigour as he always did, setting in motion all the tasks that needed to be completed so that Enterprise could get underway once more. A typical human quality and one that she had believed to be worth saving. Not once in the Expanse had it ever been suggested that they should turn around and go home, the stakes had been too high for that. “It may be that I have overlooked something,” she said. “I had forgotten why I went into the Expanse with Enterprise and you have just reminded me of my motivations.” “Then you’ll defend yourself properly?” asked Trip. “Yes, I believe I now have the reasons I need,” said T’Pol. “Okay, then I’d best get back to Engineering,” said Trip. “Commander, there is something else that the Admiral mentioned that concerns you,” said T’Pol. “What was that?” asked Trip, he’d been so worried about what he’d heard about T’Pol leaving Enterprise that he hadn’t really thought about the rest of their conversation with the Admiral. “All shore leave has been cancelled,” said T’Pol. “The crew will no doubt be resentful of this and it is likely that they will speculate on why this has been done. It is also likely that they will deduce that this has something to do with the nanites.” “I hadn’t thought of that,” said Trip. “They’re a good crew, I doubt we’ll have any real trouble.” “I do not believe that there will be any serious discipline problems, I was more concerned about there being some personal resentment towards you as the cause of their cancelled shore leave. Given that many of the crew have not seen their family for over a year and the emotional nature of humans, I expect that there will be some discontent,” said T’Pol. “I’m pretty thick skinned, I can cope,” said Trip. “I had not thought otherwise,” said T’Pol. “However, should you need someone to talk to…” “Thanks, T’Pol, I’ll bear that in mind,” said Trip and he did wonder if he was going to need to take her up on her offer sooner rather than later. He made his way back down to Engineering in the hope that the repairs would take his mind off his problems. ****End of Chapter Nine**** Archer, Shran and Enam sat on the floor of their cage, leaning against the bars. Archer watched as Rorna conducted his business in his great hall. He got the distinct impression that they were there as a deterrent, like severed heads on spikes outside a castle. Do something bad and this will happen to you too. They didn’t have a Universal Translator with them so he had no idea what the spider was talking about with its business associates. “We’ve been here for hours,” said Shran, impatiently. “He’ll kill us when he’s good and ready,” said Enam. “Why the hurry, blue?” “Because the sooner they unlock this cage, the sooner we can escape,” said Shran. “Somehow I don’t think it’s going to be that easy,” said Archer. “You did notice the size of those spiders?” “They may be big but they’re still only bugs,” said Shran. “Take out their legs and they’re ours.” “Only if you can get close enough,” said Enam. “I wish we had our phasers,” said Archer. “Wishes won’t get us anywhere,” said Shran. He got up and went to examine the lock of the cage. “These Creen are primitive. An Andorian child could pick this lock.” “Then maybe we should get one,” mumbled Enam. “If I had something to pick it with I could get us out of here in a couple of minutes,” replied Shran, directing a look at Enam. “For primitives they had the right idea, surround us so we don’t have anywhere to run and then take our weapons and backpacks so we can’t escape,” said Archer. “We must get our backpacks back,” said Enam, “we’ll need them for the next level.” “What exactly is on the next level?” asked Archer. “The Aquatic,” said Enam. “A Xindi Aquatic?” asked Archer. “Yes, it doesn’t have a name, it’s just called the Aquatic. All our diving gear is in our packs,” said Enam. “We can’t swim through the next level unless we have it.” “I was watching them,” said Shran. “They stacked our gear over by Rorna’s throne. Spoils of war, no doubt. He behaves like a tyrant, so tribute seems appropriate.” Archer got up and stood beside Shran, an idea forming in his head. “How many guards did you count?” “Seven plus Rorna,” replied Shran. “Do you have a plan?” “Maybe,” said Archer, “but it will need all of us working together.” “It gives us the best odds for success,” replied Shran. “What did you have in mind?” “You said that Rorna acted like a tyrant. Tyrants maintain their position through fear and strength, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to keep his men in check,” said Archer. “I’m guessing that if I challenge him he has to respond.” “Are all pink skins as mad as you, Archer?” asked Shran. “Only the ones who Captain ships called Enterprise,” said Archer. He quickly explained to Shran and Enam the rest of his plan which they agreed, although suicidal on his part, might work. Archer stood at the cage bars, facing Rorna. “This would be a hell of a lot easier if I had the UT.” “Shout “cree creeea greea klee Creen” at him, that should get his attention,” said Enam. “What?” said Archer and Enam gave him the phrase again in high pitched spider tones. “It means something like “the Creen race are made of stinking cowards”,” said Enam. “That’ll do,” said Archer. “Cree creean greean clee Creen” he shouted. “Oh dear,” said Enam. Rorna had got up from his throne and as much as Archer was able to discern the expression on his features, the spider did not look happy. “What?” asked Archer. “What did I say?” “You said that his mother was eaten by a coward,” said Enam. “Is that an insult?” asked Shran. “Oh yes,” said Enam. “That was a far worse thing to say. I think you just insulted his honour. Creen hold their mothers in extremely high regard, it’s a matriarchal society.” “I hope you didn’t push him too far, Archer. You’re no good to me dead,” said Shran. “As long as he’s mad it doesn’t matter how mad he is,” said Archer in a whisper to Shran. “Cree creean greean clee Creen,” he shouted in the hope that it would add to the first insult. It was obvious that Rorna was now very angry. The hairs all over his body stood up on end and his eight eyes blinked rapidly. The guards around him were looking quiet shocked and there was a lot of chattering. “You really shouldn’t have done that,” said Enam. “Added to what you already said, you just shouted that his mother slept with the whole cowardly Creen race.” “Well, I wanted him mad,” said Archer. “How do I challenge him?” “Cra creeee creEe cran cleae,” said Enam. Archer shouted the phrase through the bars of their cage. Suddenly Rorna shouted something back and the guards around them pulled Archer, Enam and Shran out of their cage. “He accepted,” said Enam. “Good, I don’t think my throat could take any more of that spider language,” said Archer. One of Rorna’s henchmen screamed something in spider language at Archer and handed him a large evil looking sword with a curved blade. “Okay, the rules are this,” said Enam. “Whoever kills the other is the winner. If you win then you get to go free, but actually it’s much more likely that the next Creen warlord will kill you in revenge. Apart from that anything goes.” “You know the plan, as soon as the fight starts, get moving,” said Archer. “Just try and keep your pink skin intact,” said Shran, “we’ll see to our part of the plan.” “Have you used a scimitar before?” asked Enam. “No, but there’s a first time for everything. How hard can it be?” asked Archer. “We are all going to die,” sighed Enam. “He’s more useful in a fight than he looks,” said Shran. “Just remember, their legs are their weakness. Their reach is longer but they’re an easy target.” The guards pushed Archer forward into the centre of the room where his opponent stood. “Now that really isn’t fair,” said Archer when he saw what Rorna was carrying. Four of his legs were in contact with the ground, the other three held scimitars like the one that Archer carried. “But then I guess we could say seven legs versus two legs and two arms isn’t exactly fair either.” The banter was more for his own benefit than the spider’s, he was pretty sure that Rorna couldn’t understand a word he said. If he could keep his own mind otherwise engaged, maybe it wouldn’t remind him what a damn stupid idea this was. Before he could contemplate his situation any further though Rorna lunged at him and Archer found himself dodging out of the way, stumbling backwards into the arms of the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight. They pushed him back into the centre of the circle that they had formed. Rorna had reared onto his back legs to show off his other weapon, the stinger on his abdomen that Archer would definitely be doing his best to stay clear of. All eyes were now concentrated on the fight in the centre of the circle. The guards who had been left in charge of Shran and Enam were paying them less and less attention as Archer ducked and weaved to escape his opponent. The sword wasn’t a weapon that he’d had a lot of experience with, it was heavy and unwieldy. Probably it had been designed for a spider to carry, just as Rorna now did with three of them. However, luckily Starfleet weapons training made a point of preparing their officers for anything so, even though he’d never fought with a sword, he knew the theory behind it. The scimitar was an edge weapon and could be used to block as well as inflict damage, but it also had a sharp point that shouldn’t be forgotten about. Rorna attacked again, towering over Archer’s head and bringing down one sword followed swiftly by the other two. Archer blocked one blow and dodged the other, moving out of range of the third sword just as it swept past him. He knew that he had to keep moving if he was to have any chance of surviving this. The spider’s size meant that Archer was definitely faster when it came to turning, although he wouldn’t have wanted to race one of the Creen in a flat out sprint. If he could get round the back of the spider then he’d be able to take the legs out from under him, although he’d have to be careful not to get within range of the sting. Rorna swung again and Archer blocked with his own sword, the vibrations from the impact running down his arm. He immediately moved to block the second sword and just succeeded, but the third was already on its way and Archer wasn’t fast enough this time. The final sword slashed into his left arm as he moved out of its path. Rorna’s followers sent up a huge cheer at the sight of blood. Archer fell backwards and clasped his arm. The adrenaline in his body kept the wound from hurting too much but as soon as that wore off he knew it was going to be intensely painful. The gash was deep and bleeding profusely, but luckily no major arteries had been hit. However, Archer was pretty sure that Rorna’s scimitar wasn’t very clean and that hundreds of hungry bacteria were now attacking the wound site. He hoped Enam had packed the first aid kit. He tried to see Shran and Enam through the crowd that surrounded them, but he couldn’t even catch sight of a blue antenna. He just had to hope that his trust in Shran wasn’t misplaced and keep Rorna occupied while Shran and Enam recovered their backpacks and weapons. He hoped that they got them soon because he wasn’t sure how long he could hold Rorna off for. Archer didn’t have anymore time to worry because Rorna was on the attack again. Once more Archer found himself backing away as Rorna came at him with swords flailing, the equivalent of a grin on his spider face. Archer blocked as quickly as he could and in a final desperate move he felt his sword connect with the flesh of a spider arm, he’d managed to draw a gash along one of the spider’s legs. Rorna let out a long agonised scream and dropped the sword that the arm had been holding. Green blood dripped onto the floor from the wound. One down, thought Archer, now at least the field was a bit more level. Two blades he could block, three had involved some serious dodging. He took advantage of Rorna’s distraction and moved around behind the spider before he could turn. He was about to slash into one of the rear legs when it unexpectedly came up and grabbed his sword arm. It hadn’t occurred to Archer that all the legs were equally capable of grabbing hold of things. Rorna was moving now to bring the stinger to bear on Archer, but he swapped his sword to his left hand and slashed downwards into the back leg that gripped him. Rorna screamed once more as more blood gushed from the new wound. He was forced to drop another sword as the leg he was holding the sword with was now needed to support his weight. Obviously the spider was now considerably injured but Archer was sure that even in this state the Creen was extremely dangerous. Archer himself wasn’t in the best shape either, he was beginning to feel the loss of blood from his arm and the exertion of staying out of Rorna’s long reach was tiring him. “Enough!” came a shout from behind the circle. There was the sound of an energy weapon being fired and the circle parted to reveal Shran and Enam holding their weapons, a dead spider at their feet. Shran tossed a phase pistol to Archer who held it on Rorna. The spider let out a huge scream of anger. “This isn’t going to last long,” said Archer. He was still breathing heavily from the fight. “Then we’d better leave,” replied Shran. Archer backed up carefully, keeping his phaser trained on Rorna. The spider twitched his legs, itching to get moving and kill those who dared to attack him in his own hall. Archer reached Shran and Enam and the three of them backed up to the entrance of the hall. “What now?” asked Archer. Enam held something in her hand. “I came prepared. Smoke grenade, should cover our retreat. On my signal make a run for the stairs,” she whispered. The trio took another step back. “Go!” shouted Enam as she threw the grenade with as much force as she could into the spider infested room. Archer and Shran turned and ran as hard as they could towards the exit to the next level, Enam at their heels. Commotion had broken out in the room behind them, there was the sound of spiders screaming and other weird alien noises as the smoke disoriented everyone. Archer thought he caught the sound of weapons fire as well. They reached the door to the stairs and Archer pulled on the handle. “Locked,” said Archer. “Out of my way,” said Enam, pulling what Archer took to be lock picks from her pack. Archer and Shran took up guard positions as Enam worked on the lock. There was the click of a lock tumbler falling into place, but the lock was complicated and there were more parts to crack before the door could be opened. “They’re coming,” said Shran from his position further forward down the corridor. Archer could also make out the shapes of long legs moving through the smoke towards them. “Fall back, Shran,” he shouted. Shran ignored him and fired at the approaching shapes. “Not yet,” shouted back the Andorian, firing into the smoke. More clicks indicated that the lock mechanism was submitting to Enam’s continued attempts to crack it. “Got it,” said Enam as she pulled the door open. “Let’s go!” “Shran!” shouted Archer, as he pulled back into the stairwell. Shran turned and ran towards them, except Archer could see a spider with only seven legs emerge from the fog of the smoke grenade. It was a race to see who could reach the door first, the two legged Andorian or the seven legged Creen. The Creen was faster, but injured, however Shran had less distance to cover. Archer gave covering fire while Shran made his escape, but Rorna seemed oblivious to it. Shran was only a few steps away from the door when Rorna put all his strength into one last jump and suddenly he was on top of the Andorian. Shran fired his weapon directly at the spider as he engulfed him in a cage of spindly legs. The spider went into its’ death throes as Shran struggled to escape from its’ grasp. Finally he pulled himself free, firing once again on the spider who finally laid still. Blue Andorian blood dripped from his hand. “Come on,” he said tersely to his two companions as they made their way to the stairs and on to the next level. **** Ensign McLaughlin picked her seat in the mess hall carefully. It was time to begin phase two of the plan and she’d just been briefed by Davis on what she needed to do. She knew Davis hadn’t just brought her along because she was a good security officer, but also because she knew some of the crew. She had gone through the academy with several of the Ensigns who now worked in the Armoury. “Mind if I join you?” she asked sitting down with her tray before they could refuse her company. At the table sat Ensigns Gary Prior, Clare Hooper and Jackie Scott, three of Reed’s Armoury team. “Julia, how are you?” asked Ensign Prior. “I was hoping Davis would give you some time off so we could catch up.” “I’m fine, doing pretty well. I suppose Lieutenant Reed is keeping you busy with the repairs,” said McLaughlin. “Yeah,” said Ensign Hooper. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. The ship took a hammering in the Expanse.” “Yeah, I noticed. Although I guess now shore leave has been cancelled you’ll have more time to complete the repairs. It is a shame though, I know that you were all looking forward to getting home to see your families,” said McLaughlin. “Seems daft when we all know that the nanites aren’t dangerous.” “The nanites,?” asked Ensign Scott. “Oh yes, that’s why the shore leave was cancelled,” she said, putting a hand to her mouth. “I hope I haven’t spoken out of turn here, I assumed that everyone knew. Starfleet decided that Enterprise should be put in quarantine until they can find out if the nanites are dangerous.” “The nanites haven’t caused any trouble so far, except for Commander Tucker,” said Ensign Prior. “Yeah, he’s such a nice guy, he really doesn’t deserve everything that’s happened to him,” said Ensign Hooper. “Yes, I was reading the reports about how you and Jackie were injured while protecting him from the Xindi,” said McLaughlin. “That was really above and beyond the call of duty, your commendations were well earned.” “Thanks, Julia,” said Ensign Hooper. “I would have been happier if we could have got them without spending time in sickbay.” “I know, it must have been horrible. Lieutenant Davis thinks that other alien governments are interested in the nanites, which is one of the reasons Starfleet sent us out here, but then with you to protect Commander Tucker I almost feel like a fifth wheel,” said McLaughlin, smiling. “Well, it is our responsibility to keep the Commander safe,” said Ensign Scott. “Indeed, and as I said, you’re doing a fine job. I just hope that if any aliens do come for Commander Tucker you’re able to protect him again without being injured,” said McLaughlin. “Enough members of your crew died in the Expanse without adding to it.” “Yes, we’re all really happy to be home,” said Ensign Scott, she didn’t look at all happy though. “Of course the other problem is that we know so little about the nanites,” said McLaughlin. “I can almost understand why Starfleet felt they had to impose the quarantine. We really don’t know whether the nanites are capable of transferring to other people or not.” “I thought the Doctor had worked out that was impossible,” said Ensign Prior. “Not conclusively, but he was fairly certain. I was very interested to read that when you had your encounter with the Tien, Lieutenant Reed worked out who had given Commander Tucker the knife by who had nanites transferred to them. But then those nanites died soon after they were transferred. Does make you wonder though, doesn’t it, what would happen if they didn’t die off. I guess that there would be nanites everywhere,” said McLaughlin with a laugh, sharing the joke with the other Ensigns. The Ensigns looked a little worried though. “I’m sure that the Captain and Sub-commander T’Pol have it all under control.” “Yes, I’m sure that they do,” said Ensign Prior, but McLaughlin caught the look that he gave Ensign Hooper. **** T’Pol and Ensign Raywood wandered through the corridors of Enterprise. The Captain had to be seen to be aboard, and that meant leaving the safety of Archer’s Ready Room and doing all the things that the Captain would normally do. Unfortunately Porthos had refused to co-operate, ignoring all of Raywood’s commands even when he used Archer’s voice. The beagle was therefore being looked after by Doctor Phlox until the Captain returned. The official story was that Porthos had eaten too much cheese and wasn’t well. They reached Engineering without too much contact with the crew apart from the odd nod in acknowledgement. Trip came over to greet them. “What can I do for you, Captain?” he asked. Ensign Keir could be seen hovering in the background, it being his shift as Trip’s guard. “Just came down to see how the repairs were going,” replied Raywood in Archer’s accent. “I gather you had a bit of trouble with the plasma manifold upgrades.” “Yeah, but she’s purring like a kitten again now. It was just your typical stuff working on paper but not in real life. The Jupiter Station boys can only do so much with models, we still have to make adjustments when we actually put their upgrades to work,” said Trip. “Good work, Trip,” said Raywood. He winced inwardly at being so informal with a senior officer, but with so many people watching he had to play the part. Trip caught movement out of the corner of his eye and noticed Davis come into Engineering. “Damn,” he said quietly. “You guys had better make yourselves scarce, I’ve got company.” “Indeed,” said T’Pol. “I suggest we leave using the other exit.” They walked away at a brisk pace but not so fast as to make it seem as if they were leaving in a hurry. Trip went to intercept Davis before he could catch-up with T’Pol and Raywood. “What can I do for you, Lieutenant?” asked Trip. “Actually, I was looking for the Captain,” said Davis, pointing at Raywood’s receding back as he left Engineering. “You just missed him,” said Trip. “He’s a pretty busy man, Lieutenant.” “Yes, he does seem to be,” said Davis. “When I asked Ensign Sato to arrange a time for me to see him, she told me that he wouldn’t have time to see me this week. If I was a more suspicious man I might say that he was avoiding me, but I’m sure that isn’t the case, is it Commander?” “I’m certain the Captain’s not avoiding you, Lieutenant,” said Trip. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a hell of a lot of work to do.” “Of course, Commander, don’t let me hold you up,” said Davis, heading towards the door. Although Trip noticed that he stopped to talk to Ensign Keir before leaving. Trip climbed the steps up to the warp reactor control panel, looking back over his shoulder to check that Davis had left his domain. “Okay,” he said to the nanites, “tell me what we’ve got.” The nanites reeled off facts and figures that told Trip everything he needed to know about the status of the warp engine. “Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters,” they finished. Except Trip though he heard an echo behind their words. “Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters. Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters. Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters.” “I heard you the first time,” he said. “Something is wrong,” replied the nanites. “Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters. Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters. Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters. Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters.” “Quiet,” said Trip. “You don’t need to repeat yourself.” Suddenly the room was spinning around him. Damn, he thought, I really don’t need this. He also realised that he was standing at the top of a flight of stairs which was not the best place to be if he was feeling dizzy and his balance wasn’t so good. He decided that getting to the bottom of the short flight of stairs would definitely be preferable to falling down them. Unfortunately he didn’t get very far. His legs buckled under him and then the stairs came up to meet him. All he could do was try to protect his head with his arms. ****End of Chapter Ten**** Trip woke up in sickbay. “Not again,” he mumbled as his eyes got used to the light. “I’m afraid so,” said Phlox. “Am I in trouble?” asked Trip. “For not telling me about the dizziness?” asked Phlox. “It didn’t seem that bad,” said Trip. “Well I think you’ve paid the price for your omission,” said Phlox. Trip tried to sit up and it was then that he put weight on his right hand for the first time and pain shot down his arm. He took a sharp intake of breath before falling back against the biobed. “You have a hairline fracture of your right wrist,” said Phlox, “which you sustained when you fell.” “Just what I need,” said Trip, noticing the strapping around his wrist. “So what’s the dizziness all about?” “The nanites had an adverse reaction to the medication that you’ve been taking,” said Phlox. “I’m afraid I was concentrating on how the medication affected you and neglected to examine how it affected the nanites.” “So you can just change the drugs again, right?” said Trip, hopefully. “It isn’t that simple,” said Phlox. “It never is,” sighed Trip. “First of all if I change the drugs now you’ll have to go through the adjustment phase all over again and even then the nanites will eventually react in the same way,” said Phlox. “The nanites were built to live in your body with a particular slightly altered balance of chemicals. That balance has been destroyed and the drugs that you’re taking have just made matters worse. The signals that the nanites send to each other are getting confused.” “Great, so I have to put up with the dizziness,” said Trip, pushing himself up on the bed using his undamaged left arm. He sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the bed. “I’ve decreased the immuno-suppressant dosage, but that means that the nanites will have more trouble dealing with your immune system. Until I can find an alternate treatment that is all we can do,” said Phlox. “I expect it to get worse as the drugs build up in your system, and if it gets severe then I will have no choice but to remove you from duty.” Trip’s head snapped up. “It’s just the odd dizzy spell,” said Trip. “Which caused you to fall down a flight of steps and fracture your wrist,” said Phlox. “Engineering can be a very dangerous place.” “Can’t you give me something to stop me getting dizzy?” asked Trip. Phlox shook his head. “Anything which I could give you would just make it worse. The nanites are being confused by the drugs already in your system, adding more won’t help.” “Doc, I’ve already had too much time off. I need to be in Engineering, supervising the repairs and upgrades,” said Trip. “Well perhaps I can compromise for the time being. No climbing ladders, no clambering around jeffries tubes and no working alone,” said Phlox. “Doc, that means I can’t do anything,” said Trip. “I have no problem with paper work or anything on the ground. It’s either that or I remove you from duty entirely, which I may have to do if you get any worse. T’Pol tells me that there’s plenty for you to do without leaving your desk,” said Phlox. “Yeah, she would say that,” said Trip. “Fine if that’s what it takes to get me out of here, then that’s what it takes.” “I also want to see you every morning before your shift and every evening at the end of it. And I don’t think I need to remind you that if I hear that you have been climbing around or doing anything other than supervising, I will be taking you off duty,” said Phlox. “Understood, Doc,” said Trip. He hoped off the bed and immediately his world spun and he grabbed for the bed. “Just stand still for a moment. Sudden movements confuse the nanites more than slow ones,” said Phlox. Trip nodded, slowly and breathed deeply to regain his equilibrium. “I’m getting worse, aren’t I? I mean the drugs aren’t working how they’re supposed to. How long is it going to be before they don’t work at all?” Phlox sighed, he hated giving out bad news. “Less time than I originally thought. I’ve begun to see the first indications of your immune system developing resistance to the drugs. The human immune system is very tenacious, and yours especially since it has been under attack,” said Phlox. “Given the complications to your condition, I believe there will be further deterioration over the next week.” “I see,” said Trip, miserably. “Thanks, Doc, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Phlox watched as his patient left sickbay. Trip stopped outside the door briefly, said something that Phlox didn’t catch to Ensign Marshall who was on guard duty, before he wandered away down the hall with the security officer in tow. Phlox went to the com. “Phlox to T’Pol.” “T’Pol here, go ahead Doctor,” said T’Pol. “Are you alone?” asked Phlox. “Yes, Doctor,” said T’Pol. “If you have any way of contacting Captain Archer, I suggest you do it,” said Phlox. “I’m not sure if that will be possible,” said T’Pol. “Commander Tucker is getting worse. If the Captain doesn’t return with data that we can use to help him soon, then I won’t be able to prevent his further deterioration,” said Phlox. “Understood, Doctor, I will do my utmost to contact the Captain,” said T’Pol. **** The trio of intruders into the Inner Sanctum had climbed quickly for about half an hour before they reached a landing just outside the airlock to the Aquatic’s level. Enam indicated that they would be safe to stop for a brief rest before they continued. Archer and Shran had both done rapid jobs in dealing with their respective wounds while they were on the move and now they were able to tend to them properly. “You’re still bleeding,” said Archer to Shran as the Andorian dropped his pack on the ground. “So are you,” replied Shran. “Although I’m not sure I’d call that red stuff you have running through your veins “blood”.” “I could say the same about that blue stuff,” said Archer. Enam got out the first aid kit and handed bandages and antiseptic to Archer. Then produced a separate first aid kit which she handed to Shran. Finally she produced a hand scanner, which she ran over Archer’s wound. “Human antiseptics don’t agree with the Andorian constitution,” said Enam in explanation seeing Archer looking at the second kit. “Our blood is based on copper rather than iron,” said Shran. “Like the Vulcans,” said Archer. “Hardly,” snorted Shran with derision. “Different chemistry.” “You brought two first aid kits?” asked Archer. “Of course, I’m always prepared,” said Enam. She waved the scanner over Shran’s hand. “There’s poison in the wound,” she said. “Rorna’s sting,” said Shran, “I must have caught it as the spider died.” “How bad is it?” asked Archer. “Bad enough,” said Enam. “It’s not even a scratch,” said Shran. “Creen poison is powerful, nasty stuff, blue,” said Enam. “Even a scratch is enough to make you very ill and probably kill you. If it was anything more, you’d be dead already. Just as well I brought the antidote. I’ve never tried it on an Andorian before, we’ll just have to hope that it works.” Enam loaded a hypospray. Shran looked at Enam with disdain but let her inject him with the hypospray. Archer finished cleaning and bandaging the wound on his arm while Enam dealt with the gash on Shran’s hand. “What now?” asked Archer. “Get your diving gear on, we’re going for a swim,” said Enam. **** Trip was doing some repairs to a junction box just off a main corridor and happened to catch a conversation two Ensigns were having as they were walking down the seemingly empty corridor. Hess had been working with him but she’d moved on to the next junction box a little further down the corridor. His broken wrist was getting in the way of his work and making it a much slower job than it should have been, but if he didn’t let nanites stop him working, then he sure as hell wasn’t going to stop for a broken wrist. “It really isn’t fair,” said one Ensign to the other. “We’ve been stuck on this ship for over a year without anything even resembling shore leave, and now we can’t go home. And it’s all because of bloody Commander Tucker.” “It’s not his fault that he got infected with nanites,” said the other Ensign. Trip couldn’t recognise them from their voices but he thought they might have been a couple of Reed’s Armoury team. “Well maybe he should have been more careful in the first place,” said the first voice. “He was captured by the Xindi, he couldn’t help that,” said the second voice. “Yes, but he isn’t exactly smart when it comes to watching his back. Look what happened with the Tien and Lieutenant Reed is always having to pull his ass out of the fire,” said the first voice. “Yeah, you’re right there, he’s nothing but trouble when it comes to away missions,” said the second voice in complete agreement. “Right, and what if those nanites do turn out to be dangerous,” said the first voice. The voices receded down the corridor but Trip kept himself hidden. A little gossip wasn’t important and he’d known that it would happen. He couldn’t blame them either, even he was pissed off about the lack of shore leave and he wouldn’t have been able to go anyway. He just hadn’t really expected the crew to blame him for something that wasn’t his decision. After the Expanse they’d become a very tightly knit crew and he’d thought that would count for something, but he guessed it didn’t after all. Maybe they’d all just been through too much. **** The Aquatic’s level was a murky green underwater jungle, full of vegetation and bizarrely shaped metal structures. Enam estimated that it would take them an hour to swim from one side of it to the other, where they could find the exit. They only had a limited air supply so if it took them too long, they would be in trouble. The three of them had sealed their backpacks in the plastic that Enam had brought for the job and now carried waterproof phasers that would work under water. A huge shape suddenly swam past them in the water. “What was that?” asked Archer over the helmet com. “A Xindi sea treen,” said Enam. “They’re the equivalent of guard dogs. They work on sonar alone, which I’m scrambling, so it can’t see us at the moment, but watch its’ tail. If you get hit by that then you’ll know about it. They have pretty good ears as well, so if you see one coming just stay real still until it goes past.” “What else have we got to look forward to?” asked Shran. “The Aquatic spends most of its time in the East corner area, we shouldn’t encounter it, but it does have guards and there are rumours that it keeps a pet kraken,” said Enam. “What’s a kraken?” asked Archer. “Something like a squid, only bigger and nastier,” said Enam. “Trust me, if we find out first hand what it is then the chances are that we won’t be leaving. Also there are motion sensors and various traps that we need to avoid, but I have some good maps of this level,” said Enam. “That’s what you said about the last level,” said Shran. “I got us out, didn’t I, blue?” said Enam, crossly. “Enough,” said Archer. “Let’s just get out of here as quickly as possible.” Enam set off at a brisk pace through the plants and metal supports. They swam along the wide corridors of the Aquatic’s level, occasionally stopping to disarm the stun traps that they found. They finally came to a narrow passage way which was the best way to go if they wanted to avoid further traps and motion sensors. It was actually only supposed to be used for maintenance on the level’s generator but they thought they could fit down it. They had to take their backpacks off and push them through in front of them, the space was so narrow. They made it three quarters of the way along before Archer got wedged between a protruding piece of machinery and the wall, his backpack getting in the way. He tried to turn himself but every turn he made just seemed to make the problem worse. Enam had got through no problem and Shran was behind him. “You humans have no spatial awareness,” said Shran, looking at Archer’s legs. “Shut up and push,” said Archer. He was embarrassed enough without Shran rubbing it in. “Wow,” said Enam, “humans don’t bend much, either.” She had just executed an almost impossible turn in the cramped space, so that she could look back at Archer. He strongly suspected that her bones were made of rubber. “We bend in all the places we’re supposed to,” said Archer. Enam took his pack and propelled it out of the way so that he had more room to manoeuvre. It floated forward before it got stuck a little further down the passage on the ceiling. She pulled Archer forward and after a bit more wriggling he was un-jammed and swimming forward again. “Oh no,” said Enam, looking at Archer. “What is it?” asked Archer. “Your arm,” said Enam, “it’s bleeding.” There was a tear in Archer’s diving suit and blood could be seen clouding the water just around him. “It’s where Rorna got me with his sword. I must have reopened the wound on that machinery back there. It’s not too bad, I’ll deal with it later.” “You don’t understand,” said Enam, grabbing a real of tape from a pocket in her diving suit. “The sea treen smell blood. If they catch the scent then they’ll be on us in a shot.” She rapidly taped up Archer’s arm, hoping that it wasn’t already too late. “How far is it to the exit?” asked Shran. “Not far,” said Enam, “maybe another fifteen minutes if we can keep up the pace.” “Good, let’s get moving,” replied Shran. They emerged from the narrow passage and out into the wider corridor. The water was so murky that they almost didn’t notice the line of treen blocking their path until they were on them. “Why don’t they attack us?” asked Shran. “I’m still jamming their sonar, they can’t see where we are,” said Enam. “But they must have smelt the blood. They’re sitting right in front of where we need to be and there’s too many for us to deal with just using phasers. If we start making a lot of noise then they’ll hear us even without their sonar.” “We have to go through them?” said Archer. “There isn’t any other way, unless you want to go back the way we came and round the other side of the generator, but that could add another hour to our travel time. We’d only just have enough air,” said Enam. “We should be able to get through them if we’re quiet.” “Better get it over with then,” said Archer. “Ladies first.” Enam nodded and swam carefully forward with Shran and Archer following. Enam was a good swimmer and she avoided the treen as if they were no more than marker buoys. Archer and Shran had more trouble, a couple of times Archer had to back paddle rapidly in order to avoid hitting a treen that suddenly changed course. Shran was having even more difficulty, the Andorian wasn’t exactly the most graceful swimmer that Archer had ever seen although he was quick and powerful. Archer guessed that the treen knew something was there but they couldn’t find it and were moving around more in confusion as each swimmer passed. It was like playing dodgems with underwater elephants. Enam was just passing the final treen when it unexpectedly changed course and caught her with the very tip of its tail. Archer heard her utter what he presumed was an expletive from her native language and then there was silence. “Shran!” shouted Archer. “Enam’s been hit.” “Where is she?” said Shran. Archer was already swimming towards the area that he thought Enam had been thrown in. “This way,” said Archer as he powered through the water as fast as he could. He found Enam floating in the water, obviously unconscious. “We’ve got to get her out of here,” said Archer, as Shran approached. “She’s the only one who knows the way out of here,” said Shran. “We were only fifteen minutes away from the exit and we know it’s in this direction,” said Archer. Shran heard movement behind him. “Archer, we may not have fifteen minutes.” The treen were turning towards them. Archer looked back towards the treen and then he looked down at Enam’s belt on her diving suit where the sonar jammer should have been. Instead there was a broken box of electronics. “Great,” said Archer. “The sonar jammer’s broken. They’re no longer blind. Come on, swimming for the exit is out only chance.” Shran and Archer held Enam between them and swam for all they were worth toward the exit. Shran stopped for a second to fire his phaser at the leading treen which slowed their attackers down slightly, but they were still right behind them and gaining. The huge fish were built for exactly this sort of pursuit and didn’t tire or worry about using up oxygen. Archer on the other hand felt like his limbs were on fire but he couldn’t stop until they were clear. They could see the exit up ahead emerging from the green gloom. “Archer, they aren’t following us anymore,” said Shran, looking back over his shoulder. “They can’t have just given up?” said Archer. “They nearly had us.” “That’s what’s worrying me,” said Shran. “Come on,” said Archer, “let’s get that airlock open.” He reached the door and pulled out Enam’s lock picking device from her pack and attached it to the door lock. Suddenly something had hold of him around his waste and was pulling him away from the door. He struggled, dropping his phaser in the process while he tried to free himself. He managed to turn himself around and saw a nightmare creature that was a cross between a giant squid and horseshoe crab. It had ten long tentacles which each ended in a bony point and a tough looking carapace with spikes on it. It had one large eye that blinked at Archer and beak that snapped in anticipation of the meal it was about to receive. “You must be the kraken. I wish I could say it was a pleasure to meet you,” said Archer trying to breathe while wrestling with its grip. He wriggled himself enough that he was able to get hold of his dive knife. He pulled it from its sheath and plunged it into the tentacle that was holding him. The creature cried out in pain but only loosened its grip slightly. Archer stabbed it again and this time it released him. However other tentacles were waiting to re-capture him. He fended them off with the knife but he knew this was only postponing the inevitable, there were too many tentacles. Then he noticed movement behind the tentacles and suddenly Shran was there firing on the tentacles. He offered Archer a hand and used the phaser to propel himself faster through the water. He took aim on the giant single eye and fired. The creature immediately screamed in pain and curled in upon itself. It was too busy to worry about Archer and Shran as they swam away towards the exit. “That’s two you owe me, Archer,” said Shran. “Who’s counting?” said Archer. “I am,” replied Shran. “We’ve got company,” said Archer glancing behind him. The treen were rallying, drawn by the blood from the kraken. “Just concentrate on getting that door open,” replied Shran. Archer pressed a couple of buttons on the lock picking device and it clicked for a couple of interminably long seconds before it displayed a green light to show that the door was open. They grabbed the, still unconscious, Enam and bundled her into the airlock, closing the door behind them just as the treen began their attack on the kraken. The wails from the kraken could be heard even through the door of the airlock. The airlock cycled and they found themselves on the next landing. Archer and Shran pulled off their diving gear and then took off Enam’s for her. As they pulled off her suit, Enam began to stir. “By all that’s holy, what happened?” asked Enam, feeling her head gingerly. “You remember you said we should watch out for the tails,” said Archer. “You should have listened to your own advice.” “I guess I should have done. Thanks for getting me out,” said Enam. “We didn’t have much choice,” said Shran. “We need you to guide us through the next level.” “Well I accept your thanks,” said Archer. “What do we do now? Up to the next level.” “We get some sleep,” said Enam. “It’s a long climb to Gain’s level and then it’s a hard journey to the next set of stairs. We need to be rested.” “Gain?” asked Shran. “A former Tanu mob boss,” said Enam. “Who are the Tanu?” asked Archer. “They are my people,” said Enam. “I am Tanu.” “We don’t have time to sleep,” said Archer. “We can’t afford to carry on without being alert and on top form,” replied Enam. “Just a few hours is all I need, we can take turns on guard duty while the other two rest.” “What she says makes sense, Archer,” said Shran. “If the next level is anything like the last two, we’ll need to be at our best.” “Okay, but just a couple of hours and then we get moving,” said Archer. “You two sleep, I’ll stand guard,” said Enam. **** Lieutenant Davis knocked on the door to Reed’s quarters. “Come in,” came the shout. Davis opened the door to see Reed sitting at his desk. “What can I do for you, Ian?” asked Reed. “You and I need to have a discussion,” said Davis. “I seriously doubt that,” said Reed. “I think you and I have said everything that we need to say to one another. I don’t like what you stand for and I don’t like what you’re here for.” “That wasn’t what I wanted to talk about, although in a roundabout way it does concern your friend, Commander Tucker. What is it you call him? Trip?” said Davis. “I gather he’s a bit of a one for the ladies. Apparently he’s even managed to melt the heart of that ice queen Vulcan bitch.” “Lieutenant, I will not sit here and listen to you insulting members of this crew, especially not its senior officers,” said Reed, standing up abruptly and dropping the padd he had been working on on the desk. “You don’t have a choice, Reed,” said Davis. “You’ll listen to whatever I want.” “If you don’t leave right now, Lieutenant, I will have you removed,” said Reed, angrily. “This conversation is over.” “Actually, this conversation has only just begun,” said Davis. “Some friends of mine did some digging into your past and they found out something interesting about you. Seems you haven’t always been as law abiding as you are now.” “Get to the point, Davis,” said Reed. “My friends and I found out that you’ve been a bad boy. I’m sure that Starfleet would be interested to hear about Jessica,” said Davis. Reed sat down heavily in the chair, this was what he’d feared. He knew what was coming next. “What do you want from me?” “Your co-operation,” said Davis. “In what?” asked Reed. “In whatever we choose. For the moment I want you to stay away from Commander Tucker,” said Davis. “He’s my friend,” said Reed. “I can’t just ignore him.” “You can and will if you want to keep your career,” said Davis. “Maybe I don’t care about my career,” said Reed. “I thought you might say that,” said Davis. He pulled out a padd from his pocket and passed it to Reed. “I don’t have time for games,” said Reed. “Watch the vid,” said Davis. Reed pressed the control that played the video on the padd. It showed a young woman. She seemed to be somewhere that looked like a warehouse and she looked very scared. “Malcolm, it’s me, Jessica. I’m so sorry, I know they’re using me to get to you. I’m really scared. I don’t know what this is about, but they say that they’ll kill me if you don’t do what they want,” said the woman. “You bastard,” said Reed. “If anything happens to her then your life won’t be worth living. Who are you? Who are you working for? It’s not Starfleet Intelligence, they’d never authorise this.” “No, not Starfleet Intelligence,” said Davis. “Someone with more teeth than Intelligence. Just remember that we hold all the cards, Reed. If you do something stupid then Jessica will suffer and rest assured that we’ve thought of everything, so no heroics.” “Fine, you win. I’ll do what you want,” said Reed, defeated. ****End of Chapter Eleven**** T’Pol had been given special dispensation to leave Enterprise and travel to Earth for her Dohn Zhu. She had handed over command to Trip, taken shuttlepod one, and now approached the landing pad of the Vulcan compound in San Francisco. She hoped that Trip could handle Enterprise without her, he’d seemed subdued and quieter than usual when she left. She had given him the necessary status updates and watched as he wandered over to the Captain’s chair and sank down, obviously tired and his mind on other things. At least, she thought, Lieutenant Reed was there if he needed support. As the shuttle circled over the Vulcan compound she looked down and saw the crowds of people that had gathered outside the walls. They seemed to be shouting and some of them were holding placards, one of which clearly said “Vulcans Go Home”. She had known that feelings had been running high on Earth, it was what had been behind the authorities’ order to stop Archer from contacting the Xindi. The last thing that the Earth government needed now was more aliens on Earth. T’Pol landed her shuttlepod on the landing pad at the side of the compound. Two Vulcans approached the shuttle. She opened the door and the noise of the crowd greeted her. They sounded very angry. “T’Pol, peace and long life,” said one of the Vulcans who approached her, holding up his hand in the traditional Vulcan salute. “Selak, live long and prosper,” replied T’Pol, her hand mirroring the gesture. “I introduce my student, T’Prell,” said Selak. T’Prell nodded to T’Pol and she inclined her head in return. “It is unfortunate that you return to us in such circumstances.” “Do you refer to my Dohn Zhu or the demonstration that is being staged outside this compound?” asked T’Pol. “Neither are fortuitous events,” said Selak. “Will you be my prosecutor?” asked T’Pol. “There are no prosecutors in a Dohn Zhu, T’Pol. I will simply be putting the facts to the council,” said Selak. “Where is Soval?” asked T’Pol. “He has been called away to speak with some Earth government representatives who are concerned about the current situation,” said Selak. “I was not aware that the situation had become so difficult,” said T’Pol. “It was not until recently,” said Selak. “What precipitated the change?” asked T’Pol. “That is difficult to tell. Humans are emotional,” said Selak. “I have served with humans for some time and although they are emotional, they are not completely without logic. I would be interested to know why we have become the target of such hatred,” said T’Pol. “That is a subject for another time. The council of the tribunal awaits your presence,” said Selak. “Very well,” said T’Pol and followed Selak and T’Prell into the council hall. Arrayed around the hall were some of the most eminent Vulcans on Earth, only Soval was absent from their number. They were the ones who would sit in judgement of her. To begin with Selak and T’Prell would speak for the law, setting out the facts of the case. Then T’Pol would get her chance to speak in her own defence. She anticipated that it would be at least two days before Selak and T’Prell finished their case and she could begin. She sat in her appointed seat and Selak and T’Prell took up their own positions. “We are here to examine the actions of T’Pol,” began Selak. **** Trip sat in the command chair. He’d already completed a shift in Engineering and now he was on the bridge. With both Archer and T’Pol away he was having to cope with everything and he was acutely aware of the fact that he really wasn’t everyone’s favourite person at the moment. He’d never realised just how much his command style relied on his crew liking him. It was making everything more hard work than it needed to be. He felt tired and he hadn’t seen Reed for hours, he’d been hoping that he could ask the Lieutenant to take this shift and then he could get some sleep. He’d never believed in the old adage about the loneliness of command but he guessed this is what they meant. Phlox came onto the bridge. “Commander, if I could see you in the Captain’s ready room for a moment?” “Sure, Doctor,” said Trip. “Travis, you have the bridge.” Trip and Phlox went into the Captain’s Ready Room and Trip sat down in the Captain’s chair. “Commander, we spoke about your condition earlier and I indicated that you should not overexert yourself,” said Phlox. “Doctor, you said no climbing around in Engineering, you didn’t say anything about Bridge duty,” replied Trip. “If you remember, I explained to you that your immune system is being suppressed and if you allow yourself to get run down then I cannot be responsible for the consequences,” said Phlox. “I don’t have time to rest,” said Trip. “T’Pol’s down on Earth, the Captain’s off on some wild goose chase with Shran and Malcolm’s shut himself away in the Armoury. I’m the only one who’s here.” “What about Ensign Raywood?” asked Phlox. “Steve’s asleep in the Captain’s cabin. Poor guy was worn out. Besides I can’t leave him on the bridge on his own. He’s only pretending to be the Captain, Doc. He can’t actually make command decisions,” said Trip. “Perhaps Lieutenant Hess could help out?” said Phlox. “She’s doing the next shift, Malcolm’s taking the one after. We thought we could get away with rotating shifts between the three of us,” said Trip. “You should be in sick bay being monitored constantly. I don’t know what possessed me to ever let someone with a condition of your severity out of my care,” said Phlox. “Because you knew I’d be a pain in the ass if I had to lie around in sickbay all day,” said Trip with a smile. “At least this way I’m doing something.” “Very well, given the circumstances, I can’t make you rest but I strongly advise you to take the next shift off,” said Phlox. “Don’t worry, Doc, I don’t think I’ll be able to stay awake by that point,” said Trip. There was a knock on the door and Hoshi came in. “Sir, I just picked this up from Earth, I thought you might want to see it,” said Hoshi. Trip loaded the file onto his monitor screen. It was a news broadcast from Earth and showed protestors outside the Vulcan compound. “Protests have started outside Vulcan compounds in several major cities across the planet after questions were asked in the Senate earlier today about the involvement of the Vulcans in the war against the Xindi,” said a pretty blonde newscaster. “Senator Nash defended the Vulcan’s actions, explaining that their reticence to send ships to protect Earth was not due to any unwillingness to honour the alliance but out of necessity.” The scene shifted slightly to the pretty blonde interviewing Senator Nash with the San Francisco Vulcan compound in the background. “I’m sure you can appreciate just how far it is to Vulcan,” said Senator Nash. “I know that Vulcan ships are capable of up to warp seven but even given that fact the nearest Vulcan ship was some considerable distance away. As you know the Vulcans are continuing to fight against a border incursion by the Andorians and many of their ships were engaged in patrolling their own borders. I really don’t think we can blame the Vulcans for wanting to protect their own borders. The Vulcans tell us that they weren’t able to get ships here in time to help Enterprise against the Xindi weapon and we have to believe them when they say that, for all the reasons that I’ve just given. I’m sure that Vulcan would have no interest in seeing Earth destroyed and therefore I can’t see any reason why they wouldn’t want to help us in our fight against the Xindi. The Vulcans have been involved in our space program for a long time. Making sure that we were ready to take the next step out into space. There to prevent us from being impulsive and making mistakes. I’m sure everyone knows the story of the years of modelling and testing that went on before we even lifted a ship off the ground, which was all due to our allies the Vulcans.” “Goddamn it!” said Trip, loudly. “He’s portraying the Vulcans as our enemies while trying to make it look as if he’s defending them.” “Everything that he said was true,” said Hoshi. “Yeah but he’s putting the worst possible spin on it. The Vulcans aren’t our enemies, Hoshi, and not all Vulcans are the same,” said Trip. “Maybe someone should point that out to the guy with the molotov cocktail,” said Hoshi. They watched the news feed as the peaceful protest turned into a riot. “I hope T’Pol’s okay,” said Trip, a worried look settling on his face. **** Archer, Enam and Shran stood outside the door to Gain’s level. “What can we expect?” asked Archer. “Surveillance equipment mainly,” said Enam. “Be careful, he is very quick this one.” Archer noticed that Shran was holding his hand, the one that had been scratched by Rorna’s sting, supporting it with the other. The hand had swollen slightly and seemed to have a greenish tinge to it. “Shran, is your hand still giving you trouble?” asked Archer. “It’s painful, nothing more,” said Shran dismissively. Enam got out her scanner again. “The antidote I gave you isn’t working exactly as it should,” she said. “We should get you to a hospital where they can properly clear out the poison. The antidote is slowing its progress but I don’t know how long you’ve got.” “We don’t have time to worry about me,” said Shran. “Shran, that poison could kill you,” said Archer. “We all die some time, Archer. I’ll take my chances with the Inner Sanctum. We’re not leaving until we’ve got what we came for,” said Shran. Archer sighed. “Maybe if we use a tourniquet we can slow it down some more,” he said pulling out a bandage from the first aid kit and tied it tightly around Shran’s arm. “Come on then, let’s get through this one as quickly as we can.” Enam pulled open the door and they stepped through into a brightly lit corridor with rows of doors down both sides. “I was beginning to wonder if anyone paid their electricity bills in this place,” said Archer. “Gain likes to be able to see his prey,” said Enam. “Yes, I do,” said a voice from behind them. The three intruders turned around to see one of the Tanu behind them. “I’ve been expecting you. Rorna was most upset with you, Enam.” The doors along the corridor opened and other Tanu entered, surrounding Archer, Shran and Enam. “Gain,” said Enam. “Rorna is dead,” said Shran, “I shot him myself.” “You may have shot him, but he isn’t dead. However, he is very angry, blue,” said Gain. “He’ll probably pay me a fair bit of money for you. Of course, it’s nice to see Enam again.” Archer turned to look at Enam, with a questioning look. “You didn’t tell us that you knew Gain,” said Archer. “It’s none of your business, Archer,” said Enam. “I would have thought that you’d be smarter than to show your tail around here ever again,” said Gain. “I heard that you were back on the station, which was your first mistake. If I’d been you then I would never have set foot on Harrar again.” “I don’t run from anyone,” said Enam. “What did you do with my property?” asked Gain, going up to Enam and looking her up and down. “I don’t have it,” said Enam. “I was going to return it to you, Gain, I just got distracted.” “If you don’t tell me where it is, then you know what will happen to you. I’ll give you to Rorna with your friends. I’m sure he’ll appreciate the free gift,” said Gain. “I told you, I don’t have it anymore. I wanted to give it back to you but a girl’s got to make a living,” said Enam. “I’ll pay you back, Gain. Make it up to you.” “You and I both know that’s impossible, Enam. Lock them all up, while I wait for Rorna to come and collect his merchandise,” said Gain. **** Davis came into the Armoury. Reed was working on a torpedo assembly alone, he’d given the rest of the Armoury crew the night off. He hadn’t wanted anyone to witness the foul mood that he was in or testify to the lie that he had told Trip that he was engaged in important repair work that couldn’t be done by anyone else. He had turned Trip down for bridge duty this shift on Davis’s instructions, which meant his sick friend was now doing double duty after a full shift in Engineering. Reed had never felt like such an utter bastard in his entire life. “What do you want now?” asked Reed testily. “I need some information from you,” said Davis. “I want to know what these nanites are capable of.” “That information is classified. If it isn’t in the reports then I can’t tell you anymore,” said Reed. “Now that just isn’t good enough, Malcolm,” said Davis. “I need to know everything that you know. I need to know what they’re capable of when it comes to protecting themselves.” Reed sighed. He didn’t want to give Davis the information but what else could he do with Jessica in danger. At least he could keep an eye on Trip while he was on Enterprise and make sure no harm came to him while he worked out how to deal with this. He downloaded some encrypted files onto a padd for Davis. “The nanites have several security features, some to protect themselves and some to protect the host. They run on bio-electrical energy produced by the host’s body. They can convert that into an electric shock on contact. If removed from the host body they die after a few hours, they are coded to Commander Tucker’s DNA so cannot be transferred to another host. They are not able to act on living material or glass, both limitations seem to be designed safeguards rather than limitations of the system,” said Reed. “And they are able to remotely access all computers?” asked Davis. “In theory as long as the computer is compatible, although Trip had some difficulty accessing the Tien systems. He triggered a booby trap,” said Reed. “And, also in theory, the nanites are able to dissolve metal or change the structure of a material?” asked Davis. “Yes, although I’m not sure Trip has realised that it can be done on a large scale yet. He’s only tried it once to my knowledge and he wasn’t exactly himself at the time. Later when we had to restrain him he didn’t attempt to escape by using the nanites to break through the restraints,” said Reed. He also thought that it was likely that such large destruction or transformation of objects sapped a lot of energy so wasn’t practical always, however he wasn’t going to tell that to Davis if he could help it. There was no need to give Davis any additional information that he hadn’t asked for. “How much control does he have over the nanites?” asked Davis. Reed hesitated. “Malcolm?” Davis prompted. “Total control as far as I can tell,” said Reed, grudgingly, “although I get the impression that his latest illness has meant that they don’t always respond to his commands.” “When you needed to isolate the nanites you kept him in the brig,” said Davis. “No doubt because of the additional shielding that provided.” “It’s all in the reports,” said Reed. “I see that,” said Davis, scrolling down the padd. “Thank you, Malcolm, you’ve been most helpful.” Davis turned and left the Armoury. Reed sank down behind his torpedo assembly. He had never felt so miserable in his entire life. Jessica was in danger, he’d betrayed his friend and he hadn’t got a clue how he was going to sort this out. As Tactical officer he should be able to see a way out of it but for the life of him, he couldn’t. The problem was that it wasn’t his life on the line here. He had no problem sacrificing his own life to save others, what he was incapable of doing was allowing an innocent to die for a mistake which was his alone. He pulled out the padd which had Jessica’s message on it and played it again. He watched her as she spoke and noticed something. “How the bloody hell did I miss that?” he said. He watched Jessica brush her hair out of her eyes and the shapes that her hand made. “Good girl, Jess.” He took the file from the padd and transferred it to the main Armoury computer. Then he began to run it through some programs that would clean up any background sounds and would analyse the picture for anything that would help him find Jessica. **** “I’m getting a feeling of déjà vu,” said Archer. “Why is it that we find ourselves once again stuck in a jail cell?” He looked pointedly at Enam. “Hey, it’s not my fault that Rorna rang ahead and let Gain know that we were coming,” said Enam. “If it’s not your fault, then who’s is it?” asked Shran. “We hired you to get us safely to Ven Dath.” “I can’t predict the unpredictable. I had everything set up,” said Enam. “Except you neglected to tell us that you knew Gain and he was looking for you. I bet the moment you walked into the Inner Sanctum alarms started going off,” said Archer, pacing around their small cell. “You never would have hired me if I’d told you, and I needed you,” said Enam. “You needed us?” said Archer. “To get to Gain,” said Enam. “I couldn’t get through the lower levels on my own.” “So you used us,” said Shran. “On Harrar everyone uses everyone else, it’s just a game to people like Gain, and Rorna, and your friend Ven Dath,” said Enam. “What exactly is it between you and Gain anyway?” said Archer. “He seemed very pleased to see you again, and not in a good way.” “I’m his mate,” said Enam. “And he threw you in prison?” asked Archer. “The whole galaxy doesn’t rest on human values, Archer,” said Shran. “Even on Tanu we don’t usually throw our mates in jail,” said Enam. “I took something that belonged to him.” “Why didn’t you just tell him where it was?” asked Archer. “Because I don’t have it anymore,” said Enam. “What was it?” asked Archer. “What was it that has him so upset that he’s going to give you to Rorna?” “He trusted me. Left me in charge of his treasure room while he went out to pirate some ship. There’s a particular piece that’s his pride and joy. It’s an alien artefact that he found on some planet. It’s almost priceless, I doubt another like it will ever be found,” said Enam. “It was a weapon. Gain had a lab set up and they were performing tests on it to find out what it did. He planned to use it to overthrow the Tanu government back home. I couldn’t let him do that, hundreds of people would have been killed in his revolution. So I stole the weapon and handed it over to the government.” “Why did you come back?” asked Shran. “I left something behind,” said Enam. “My daughter.” ****End of Chapter 12**** “You had a daughter with Gain?” said Archer. “Yes,” said Enam. “I couldn’t take her with me when I stole the artefact, it would have alerted everyone to what I was doing, so I left her behind hoping that I could come back and get her.” “Well that complicates matters,” said Archer. “I fail to see how,” said Shran. “Our objective hasn’t changed. We don’t have time to spend helping women find their children that they carelessly abandoned once already.” “I know where she is, all I have to do is get to her,” said Enam. “I can do the rest from there. We just need to get out of this cage.” “How are we going to do that?” growled Shran. “I don’t even see a lock.” Archer hadn’t even bothered to examine the bars but now that he did, he saw that Shran was right. Gain was obviously serious about keeping his prisoners where he’d put them. “Well, there must be a way,” said Archer. He was acutely aware of how much time they were wasting. Ven Dath was only a level away and he was damned if he’d give up after getting this close. He needed to think of something quickly. “Enam, what’s the locking mechanism on this door?” asked Archer. “It’s magnetically sealed,” said Enam. “Then the guard has to have some way to cut the current and let us out,” said Archer. “So there must be something which supplies the current. If we can cut the current then we can get out of here.” “What about the guard?” asked Shran. “If we can get the cell open, then I can deal with the guard,” said Enam. Archer nodded. If anyone knew how to handle these people then it would be Enam. “Look around for a panel or anything which has wiring behind it. Shran, stand guard and let us know if anyone’s coming.” The Andorian nodded and went to the corner of the cell nearest the bars so that he could get the best view down the corridor outside their cell. “What’s the name of your daughter?” asked Archer looking over at Enam. “Ghanima,” said Enam. “Has it been long since you’ve seen her?” he asked. “A few months,” said Enam. “She will have grown.” “How old is she?” “About six cycles, it’s hard to tell on a space station,” replied Enam. Archer found a panel and after a couple of attempts he broke the cover to reveal the wiring underneath. “Enam, do you have any idea which of these would open the door if I cut it?” asked Archer. Enam inspected the wiring. “I don’t think any of this is what we’re looking for, none of it’s heavy enough to carry the current that the magnetic seal would need.” “Maybe it’s time for a change of plan,” said Archer. “You know, my Armoury officer once pointed out to me that not everyone knows the old tricks.” “What do you have in mind, Archer?” asked Shran. “We start a fire,” said Archer. “That attracts the guard. I don’t think Rorna wants his prey lightly toasted before he gets his fun.” “Rorna will be angry if he doesn’t receive us intact,” said Enam. “Bring me the blankets from that bunk,” said Archer. “We just need a spark.” Enam brought over the blankets and Archer pulled out some likely looking wires. After a couple of seconds of producing sparks, the blanket caught light. Archer and Enam retreated to the other side of the cell. The three captives began shouting for the guard. “If this doesn’t work, Archer…” said Shran. “I know, we’ll be burnt to a cinder,” replied Archer, starting to cough from the smoke that the blanket was producing. They didn’t have long to wait, a guard appeared and fumbled with the locking mechanism on the wall beside the door. He opened the cage and let out the coughing prisoners, his phaser trained on them continuously. “What happened?” asked the guard. “Electrical fire,” said Archer, coughing. “The wall unit just started sparking and then it set fire to the blanket.” Enam said something to the guard in her own language. It sounded like she was trying to persuade the guard to do something. Her voice was pleasant and soft. As she spoke she got closer and closer to the guard until she had him pressed against the wall. Suddenly she lashed out and hit him around the head. The guard dropped his phase pistol in shock. Which gave Shran and Archer their chance. Shran had retrieved the phaser and now held it on the guard. He stunned him without even blinking. “Time to get out of here before his friends notice that we’re missing,” said Archer. “Which way?” asked Shran. “I need to get my daughter,” said Enam. “This is where we part ways.” Archer looked at Enam and saw her determination. “We’ll help you,” he said. “Archer…” growled Shran. “No, I’m better going alone. If we split up we’ll stand a better chance of getting out of here,” said Enam. She went to a weapons locker on the wall of the corridor, typed in a code and the door opened for her. “Stupid, very stupid. Gain didn’t change the code,” she said and handed Archer a weapon before taking a second for herself. “You’re going to need a way off this station once you’ve got your daughter,” said Archer. “You know where the Zor Rakh is, we’ll meet you there. If we’re not back by tomorrow afternoon then go without us.” Enam nodded. “These are the directions that you’ll need to get to the exit on this level. Once you’ve got what you need, take the express elevator back down again. You’ll be safe once you leave the Inner Sanctum. I’ll see you at the Zor Rakh,” she said, her confidence already back. “Hold it right there,” said Gain and Archer turned slightly too late to see the arrival of the Tanu mob boss from around the corner. “I thought that you might try something like this.” “You have my daughter, Gain, what did you expect?” asked Enam. “She is our daughter and you abandoned her,” said Gain. “What gives you the right to come back now and claim her?” “This is no place for a child,” said Enam. “You never even wanted her. Just give her to me Gain and let me go.” “No,” said Gain. “Why not?” asked Enam. “Because you betrayed me and because you want her,” said Gain. “Where is the Andorian?” asked Gain suddenly. Archer had been distracted by the arrival of Gain and hadn’t noticed that Shran was missing. “I’m here,” said Shran, emerging from the smoke behind Gain. Enam took that moment of distraction to leapt upon Gain. The two of them rolled on the floor, Archer unsure who was winning. Suddenly there was a sickening snap and Archer realised it was the sound of a bone being broken. The two fighters lay still on the floor. “Enam?” said Archer, moving over to the tangled pile of limbs. He extracted Enam and helped her stand up. Enam shook off Archer’s arm and crouched beside Gain. She let out a long howl, which was the eeriest thing Archer had ever heard in his entire life. “I broke his neck,” said Enam and she laid a gentle hand on his face and closed his eyes. She stood and Archer would never have believed that she had just caused the death of her husband. “Go and get your daughter, we’ll see you back at the ship,” said Archer. Enam nodded. “I won’t forget your help, Archer, Shran,” she said. They watched as Enam ran through the gathering smoke and towards her daughter, her tail curling menacingly as she went looking for trouble. “Come on,” said Shran. “The exit is only a couple of turns away.” **** “How’s it going then?” asked Trip to the face on the screen in front of him. “Satisfactorily,” said T’Pol. “I have not yet begun my defence, but the advocates, for what you would term “prosecution”, are giving a true account of the facts.” “Yeah, well I hope they hurry up, we could do with you back here,” said Trip. “I don’t know what I’ve done, but something’s up with Malcolm. I haven’t seen him for a couple of days now, and when he does bump into me he says he’s busy with repairs.” “Perhaps he is simply busy,” said T’Pol. “Maybe, but he missed our Mahjongg game last night. It’s the first one he’s missed since we left the Expanse. I had to drag Anna along to make up our four,” said Trip. “He’s just not acting like himself.” “With the Captain away we are all concerned,” said T’Pol. “Yeah, I know. It’s just not like him to behave like this. I really think that he’s avoiding me,” said Trip. “If you are concerned then I suggest you confront Lieutenant Reed,” said T’Pol. “I shouldn’t have to, T’Pol,” said Trip. “If something’s bothering him about the ship he normally comes to me and talks about it. I even checked with Hoshi to see if he’d had any communications from Earth that might have upset him but there’s nothing.” “I am sure that if he wishes your help then he will ask for it,” said T’Pol. “I sure hope so,” said Trip, worriedly. “I just wish the rest of the crew would stop giving me stony looks in the corridors. Up until shore leave was cancelled this was a pretty happy ship and now everyone is walking around like zombies. I’m getting the impression that they’d be much happier if I just got the whole damn thing over with and went to the Luna Research Centre.” “I seriously doubt that is the case. They are merely disappointed at the delay in their reunions with their families,” said T’Pol. “I wish I believed that T’Pol, but you’re a horrible liar,” said Trip. “Anyway how are things down on Earth. We saw the news feed of the riots.” “Luckily the Vulcan compound has adequate security. We are trapped within the walls but otherwise we are safe,” said T’Pol. “I really can’t believe what is going on down there,” said Trip, shaking his head. “How is your state of health?” asked T’Pol, she didn’t want to burden Trip with anymore worry about her safety. “About the same as before,” said Trip. “Not getting any worse at the moment. Doc, reckons that I’ve stabilised again, but he’s not sure how long it’ll last. The problem is that the nanites are having to work pretty hard at the moment and they’re taking a lot of my energy, when I’m not sleeping, I always seem to be either hungry or eating.” “I trust that you are not overexerting yourself,” said T’Pol. “I didn’t know that you cared, T’Pol,” said Trip, with an amused grin. “Don’t worry, the Doc and I have an understanding. As soon as you or the Captain gets back I’ll drop back to half time shifts. Doc says that if I put less strain on my body the drugs will work for longer.” “I am sorry that my Dohn Zhu has meant that you are having to take on this extra responsibility in detriment to your health,” said T’Pol. “Hey, it isn’t your fault. Besides I’d only be bored if I wasn’t working. Actually I’m kinda glad that I have an excuse to tell Phlox to go jump. He wanted to take me off duty all together, but I can’t expect Malcolm and Anna to shoulder all of the bridge duty,” said Trip. “Nevertheless, if I was on Enterprise I would be able to take bridge duty as well. You also have the repair schedule to deal with. It is a considerable amount of work even for someone who is fully fit,” said T’Pol. “Yeah, tell me about it, but I can cope for bit longer, so don’t you worry. You’re much better concentrating on your tribunal and making sure that you convince them that you need to stay on Enterprise,” said Trip. “I fully intend to,” said T’Pol. “I will give you an update tomorrow evening.” “Okay, ‘night T’Pol,” said Trip. “Good night, Commander,” replied T’Pol before she cut the connection. She stared at the blank screen for a moment contemplating their conversation. Trip had looked more ill than when she had left. Despite his bravado, it was obvious that the extra responsibility and resulting stress was placing his health in more danger. It was now even more urgent that she should conclude her Dohn Zhu rapidly and in her favour. She decided that it was time to seek further council in how to accomplish this and therefore she began by accessing the Vulcan compound’s extensive library, looking for something that might help her state her case. **** Archer and Shran had fought their way to the exit through the Tanu guards. Now that Gain was dead they lacked any sort of organisation which had made their passage considerably easier. They hoped that they had provided enough of a distraction for Enam to retrieve her daughter and make her escape. They stood outside Ven Dath’s level now. “This is it,” said Archer. “It all seems rather an anticlimax now that we’re here.” “Let’s just get this over with,” said Shran. “The sooner we have your information the sooner we can get out of this hell hole.” “And there I was thinking that you were enjoying this. How’s the hand?” asked Archer. “Painful,” replied Shran. “I can’t hold my phaser now. Just as well Andorians are ambidextrous.” “Maybe we should move the tourniquet,” said Archer. Shran nodded and let Archer untie the bandage and retie it slightly higher up his arm. “You ready?” Archer asked his Andorian companion. “Always,” replied the Andorian. Archer cautiously opened the door. Six separate cameras suddenly turned in their direction. “Captain Archer,” said a disembodied voice that sounded as if it was coming over a speaker. “I was expecting you and your Andorian friend. If you’d care to follow my remote then it will bring you to me.” “Are you Ven Dath?” asked Archer to the air in front of him hoping that a microphone somewhere would pick up his question. “Yes,” boomed the voice. “In a manner of speaking. Follow the remote and I will explain everything.” Archer and Shran followed the floating robot that Ven Dath had referred to as a remote. They walked through steel corridors that seemed to shine with a blue light, past pipes that were filled with a strangely moving black liquid. “Nanites,” whispered Archer. “What?” asked Shran. “In the glass pipes. That black liquid isn’t liquid, it’s billions of tiny machines. That is what Trip has swimming around in his bloodstream,” said Archer. “Rather him than me,” replied Shran. “It’s exactly what T’Pol described in her report of the original research station, but we thought all the research had been destroyed,” said Archer. “If Ven Dath is alive then it makes sense that his research would have survived too,” said Shran. They reached a room which was octagonal and had seven other corridors leading from it. In the centre of the room was a chair on a platform with wires and tubes snaking up to it. The remote hovered over the chair. Archer moved towards the chair and looked at the man who sat on the chair. Or what was left of the man. He seemed to have been extremely badly burned, his features were distorted and barely visible. He was enmeshed in wires and life support equipment. Archer could make out the fact that he had, perhaps, once been a Xindi sloth. “Please do step up and look at me, Captain. Look at me and see what you and your ship did to me,” said Ven Dath. ****End of Chapter 13**** “If that’s Ven Dath,” whispered Shran to Archer, “then who is talking to us?” “I am trapped in this broken body that you see in front of you,” said Ven Dath, “but I also have nanoprobes in my body which control the computers around you.” “We came to ask for your help,” said Archer. “Then you’ve wasted your journey, Captain. You can’t possibly expect me to help the man who caused my suffering,” said Ven Dath. “I’m not even sure that I should let you out of here alive after what you did to me.” “My Chief Engineer was the one who you tested your nanoprobes on. If it wasn’t for him, then you’d be sitting there without even the abilities that you have,” said Archer. “He needs your help.” “So Commander Tucker is still alive,” said Ven Dath. “I did wonder whether he had survived the explosion. Obviously the nanoprobes still live within his body or you wouldn’t be here.” “They’re killing him,” said Archer. Laughter reverberated around the room. “So all my attempts with the red nanoprobes were in vain, but eventually the nanoprobes that my father designed did the job without any help from me.” “You infected him with those nanoprobes,” said Archer, angrily. “I need to know how to get rid of them from his body without killing him.” “You can’t,” said Ven Dath. “They were never meant to be exorcised from a body once they had been introduced. Something must have altered his chemistry in order for them to be killing him.” “It isn’t important how it happened,” said Archer. “There has to be a way to get rid of the nanites.” “I have been experimenting with ways to get rid of them, but it is a difficult process. I have no idea if it would even work on a human. I have never successfully performed it on a Xindi,” said Ven Dath, “all my subjects died.” “I’ll take whatever you’ve got. Maybe our doctor can make it work for humans,” said Archer. “I’m not giving you anything, Archer. It was because of you that I’m in this state,” said Ven Dath. “I was declared a war criminal because of you. You told the Xindi Council about my experiments and they condemned me for my work. I became an outcast from my own people! No one would hide me or give me medical attention. I had to bribe my way into this place. If you want your Engineer to live, Archer, you’re going to have to get me out of this hell hole.” “You’re a wanted criminal,” said Archer. “That is the bargain. Unless you get me out of here and then get me proper medical attention, I won’t give you the information that you need to cure your Commander Tucker,” said Ven Dath. Archer looked at the shell that sat in front of him. This was a murderer. Someone who had killed experimental subjects to gain scientific knowledge. He had put Trip through hell, tortured him, experimented upon him, made him ill. Trip had almost died and, if Ven Dath was right, the cure that he was proposing might not even work, it could kill Trip quicker than the nanites. Even if it saved Trip, was it right to use the sacrifice of others to help Trip? People had died in the experiments that Ven Dath had performed in order to find a way to remove the nanites. Would Trip even want the help of someone who had blood on their hands? Shran watched Archer struggling with himself. If Shran wanted to get Ven Dath out of here then Archer needed a prod in the right direction. “You have no choice, Archer. We have to take him with us,” he said. “Commander Tucker’s life is at stake.” Archer turned around to look at Shran. The Andorian didn’t look too well, he’d developed a slight green tinge to his skin that Archer was fairly sure wasn’t healthy for his species. Archer knew that Shran had an alternative motive for being here, but until now he hadn’t been sure of what it was. Shran had just given it away, but Archer knew that whatever his motive, if they wanted to save Trip then he had to help Ven Dath. “Okay, Dath, you’ve got a deal,” said Archer, “but if you don’t hold up your end of the bargain then I won’t hold up mine.” **** T’Pol stood in the centre of the council chamber once again. So far the whole proceedings had taken just over two days. It was now her turn to speak. “You have heard the evidence of my actions, but not the reasons behind them,” said T’Pol. “I was posted to Enterprise to provide counsel to a young race entering deep space for the first time. We felt it was our duty to provide the humans with as much advice as we could before they entered the harsh place that we know the universe to be. When I was told that I would not be accompanying Enterprise into the Expanse I questioned the reasons behind this decision. Nothing had changed, the humans still required our council, perhaps more so now that they faced a threat to their own world. It was illogical that we should remove the Vulcan representative at the time when they were required most. I therefore resigned my commission and went with Enterprise into the Expanse.” She paused a moment, gathering her thoughts. “I am sure that this action seems to be illogical to many of you, however I had a number of reasons which I wish to present to this tribunal that I believe will show that my actions had justification.” The first part of T’Pol’s testimony detailed the threats that they had encountered in the Expanse. She explained how the Expanse would have continued to expand until it encompassed the whole of the sector, including Vulcan. She talked about the Xindi and how they had been tricked into believing that the humans were a threat to them. She presented the science of the Expanse to the council to support her assertions. It took her most of the day to give all the evidence that she had collected and explain exactly what the Sphere Builders had intended. “This threat to Earth was also a threat to Vulcan. We could logically conclude that as Earth is our ally we should assume that anyone who threatens them could also be a potential enemy of Vulcan. However this is all information that I discovered after I entered the Expanse,” said T’Pol. “I wish to read a passage from Surak.” “We have differences. May we, together, become greater than the sum of both of us. Infinite diversity in infinite combinations.” “If I had allowed the humans to enter the Expanse without me then I would have been ignoring the teachings of Surak. The humans are very different to us, but that difference is something which we should wish to preserve rather than discard. I could not allow Earth to be destroyed without doing anything to save it because, if I had, then the “infinite diversity” that it represents would have been destroyed also. We cannot ignore the teachings of Surak as it suits us. It may have been convenient for us to refuse to get involved in something which seemed to threaten the humans alone, however we have also ignored some of the things that make us Vulcan.” “T’Pol,” said Selak. “You have presented your reasons for your actions but you have not answered the charges against you. There is still the question of the laws governing our contact with other species. There is also the question of the Vulcan technology that you gave to the humans.” “I did not give Vulcan technology to the humans. I assisted in the upgrading of their sensors by their Chief Engineer, he had already laid out the designs, I simply optimised them,” said T’Pol. “The distinction that you are making here is a very slim one,” said Selak. “Then it is a matter for the tribunal to decide whether it is valid or not. I have simply stated the facts,” replied T’Pol. “There is also the matter of Regulation 115, “no Vulcan shall initiate contact with another species unless given instructions from the High Command to do so.” You did initiate contact with the Xindi without the permission of the High Command,” said Selak. “I did not initiate contact. It was initiated by a ship that I was present upon. If a Vulcan were aboard a Denobulan transport vessel when it unexpectedly made first contact with another species, would that be considered to be breaking the regulation?” said T’Pol. “Again you are making a very fine distinction, T’Pol,” said Selak. “One which I am unsure that this tribunal will share with you.” “Then that is also a matter of deliberation for the tribunal,” said T’Pol. “I am confident that my actions were not in contravention of any laws.” “Have you concluded your statement, T’Pol,” asked the chairman of the tribunal. “I have,” replied T’Pol. “Then according to custom, this tribunal will reconvene in six days time to confer our judgement,” said the chairman. Selak, T’Prell and T’Pol rose from their seats and left the council chamber. “Would you join myself and T’Prell for the evening meal?” asked Selak. “I must return to Enterprise,” said T’Pol. “Very well, then we will see you in six days time,” said Selak. “Peace and long life, T’Pol.” “Live long and prosper, Selak,” replied T’Pol. **** Davis came to the Armoury to find Reed. “Drop what you’re doing and come with me,” said Davis. “Lieutenant, I’m in the middle of some delicate upgrades,” said Reed. “Perhaps you’d like me to remind you of our conversation regarding Jessica,” said Davis. “No,” said Reed. “Where are we going?” “I’ve just got some new orders, we’ve been given the go ahead for phase three,” said Davis. “What is phase three?” asked Reed. He was also wondering what phase one and two were. “You’ll see,” said Davis. “Just remember, you’re not to interfere. You’re just here to stop anyone from doing anything stupid.” Reed followed Davis out of the Armoury, where the rest of his men waited for him, with the Exception of Ensign Marshall who was guarding Trip. They made their way down to Trip’s quarters where Ensign Marshall stood outside the door. Davis pressed the doorbell and after a moment the door slid open to reveal Trip looking like he’d just got out of bed. “Commander Tucker,” said Davis. “I have orders to take you into custody.” “You have what?” said Trip in disbelief. Reed was about to echo Trip’s statement but clamped his mouth shut, remembering what Davis had said about Jessica. “Senator Nash has provided me with the power to arrest you and take you to a secure facility,” said Davis. “Like hell he has, this wasn’t the agreement,” said Trip. “Malcolm, get Headquarters on the com.” “The order seems to be genuine, Commander,” said Reed, already hating himself for going along with this. “There’s nothing I can do.” He could see Davis give a satisfied smile at this reply, as if he’d won a great victory. “Malcolm…” said Trip, in disbelief. “I’m sorry, Trip,” said Reed and turned his head away from Trip but not before Trip had given him an extremely hurt look which cut right to Reed’s very core. He hated this. Davis pulled out a pair of handcuffs and put them on Trip’s wrists. “They’re made of toughened glass, so there’s no point in trying to get out of them,” said Davis. “We know that the nanites are unable to affect glass.” “You sure did your homework,” said Trip sarcastically. “Are they really necessary?” asked Reed. Trip was looking as if his features couldn’t decide whether to be surprised or angry; at the moment he’d settled on surprised but angry was only just underneath. “I’m afraid they are,” said Davis. “And so is this.” He aimed his phase pistol at Trip and fired. Trip slumped to the floor, stunned. Reed went to check on his friend. He found a strong pulse but Trip was completely unconscious. “You utter bastard,” said Reed. “Why the hell did you do that? He was going with you quietly.” “Maybe he was but with the nanites inside him, I can’t risk him interfering with any of the ship’s systems,” said Davis. “Marshall, Keir, get him to the airlock. Reed, let the bridge know to expect a shuttle docking.” Reed went to the com and called Lieutenant Hess on the bridge while Keir and Marshall manhandled Trip out of his quarters and towards the airlock. Not a single one of the crew stopped the Security men to ask what they were doing. Reed thought that Trip had been so ill lately that it was not unusual for him to be seen being carried to sick bay but he also felt unhappily certain that it was because the crew had turned on Trip. It was obvious that part of Davis’ plan had been to isolate Trip from everyone on Enterprise so that when they came to take him, no one would try to stop them. Davis had waited until T’Pol was away and until he had a hold over Reed. Malcolm would have been impressed by the plan if it hadn’t been aimed at one of his closest friends. Reed followed them to the airlock. The least he could do was make sure that Trip was okay before he was put on the shuttle. “Where are you taking him?” he asked Davis. “That information is classified,” said Davis. “Rest assured that it’s unlikely that you’ll be seeing him again.” “I won’t let you do this,” said Reed. “I can’t.” “You can and will, or Jessica will be dead. If you try to find him, we will kill Jessica. If anyone else comes looking for him then we will kill Jessica. It’s in your interests to make sure that we don’t have any trouble,” said Davis. “We’ll release Jessica to you once a decent interval of time has passed. Don’t look so miserable, Reed, your secret’s still safe with us.” Reed heard the clang of a ship docking with Enterprise. He felt completely impotent. Nothing he could do would make any difference now. He watched them load Trip onto the waiting shuttle and then Davis closed the door and Trip was gone. **** Archer and Shran had, under Ven Dath’s direction, placed the Xindi scientist in a stasis pod for his journey back to Enterprise. Archer had asked him if he was worried that Archer would go back on his deal and eject the pod into space, but Ven Dath had just laughed and reminded Archer that he needed him if he was to save his friend. They manhandled the stasis pod into the elevator and sped swiftly towards the lowest level of the Inner Sanctum. It took them longer to reach the Zor Rakh as they had to negotiate the stasis pod through the lower, densely inhabited levels. No one stopped them though so they reached the ship without incident. Enam stood outside the ship, a small girl clutched in her arms that looked like a miniature version of Enam. Archer guessed that this had to be six year old Ghanima, her tail curled around her mother’s arm as if worried that Enam might leave again. “You found her,” said Archer, the beginnings of a smile on his lips. “It wasn’t hard,” replied Enam. “She’s her mother’s daughter, she’d already disabled one of the guards when I arrived.” Archer didn’t want to ask how a six year old could disable a guard, but he guessed that with Ghanima being the daughter of Enam and a Tanu mob boss she would have picked up a few tricks. “We don’t have time for this touching reunion,” said Shran. Archer noticed that the Andorian was now sweating and he had red rims around bloodshot eyes. “We have just annoyed some very powerful people on this station. I suggest that we take off and chat later.” The pushed Ven Dath’s pod inside and then boarded the small Andorian craft. It was quite a squeeze with four of them but they all managed to get in with room to spare. Archer found that the com had collected a recorded message and he played it back. He was surprised to see T’Pol’s face on the screen, he hadn’t expected Enterprise to contact them, the risk they were taking was huge. “Captain, Doctor Phlox asked me to contact you. He believes that Commander Tucker’s condition is worsening and you should make all possible haste to return to Enterprise with any information that you have gathered.” The message was short, to the point, and dated three days ago. Archer needed to get back to his ship quickly. He took the controls and lifted them off from the space station. “Zor Rakh,” came the call over the com, “this is Harrar station, you have not been given permission to take off, return to your berth immediately.” Archer ignored them. “What would happen if we went to warp here?” asked Archer. “We’d cause a lot of damage,” said Shran. “Is it possible?” asked Archer, impatiently. “This craft was labelled experimental for a reason,” said Shran. “Possible, but not necessarily advisable.” “We’re going to warp,” said Archer. He engaged the warp drive and the Zor Rakh leapt into space, already far away from the station, the resulting shock-wave damaging the berths and ships docked at the station. It would be unlikely that Harrar station would be doing any trade in illegal goods for some time. The Zor Rakh hit warp five and maintained a steady speed, Archer briefly thought how much Trip would like to get a look at the Andorian engine. He allowed himself a moment of happiness as he realised that he was on his way home to Enterprise. “Archer, change your heading,” said Shran. “Why? We’re on the correct heading for Enterprise,” said Archer and he turned to look at Shran. Shran held a phase pistol and it was pointed at Archer. “Shran, what are you doing?” “This has very much been a marriage of convenience,” said Shran. “I’m afraid it is no longer convenient for you to be involved. I’m sorry, Archer, we make a good team but I have my own objective. Set course for Andorian base Gamma.” Shran reeled off the co-ordinates and watched carefully as Archer put the numbers into the computer. “I thought you two were friends,” said Enam. “Only went it suits our mutual agendas,” said Shran. “What about Trip?” asked Archer. “Are you just going to let him die?” “I’m sorry about Commander Tucker, I always liked him, but casualties in war are inevitable,” said Shran. “We’re not at war,” said Archer. “You may not be now, but Andoria is,” said Shran. “It’s a constant war to prevent the Vulcans from encroaching into our territory.” “Why do you want Ven Dath?” asked Archer as he finished the course corrections. “That should be obvious,” said Shran. “He has knowledge of how to build nanoprobes, we want that knowledge so that we can turn it into a weapon against the Vulcans.” Archer noticed a slight tremor in Shran’s arm as he held the phase pistol. The Andorian had started to sweat more and his colour had become worse, he was slowly turning from his normal blue to an unhealthy turquoise colour and the tips of his antennae were now jade green. “What if Ven Dath won’t give you the information?” asked Archer. “He made a bargain with you that I’m sure he’ll be happy to transfer to the Andorians. If he doesn’t then we have ways of gaining his co-operation,” said Shran. He wavered for just a second, the poison taking its toll on his system. Suddenly he was falling forwards and Archer caught him, gently removing the phase pistol from his grasp. Shran had passed out. “He’s really going to be angry about this when he wakes up, assuming he does wake up. Better get him back to Enterprise where Phlox can work his magic,” said Archer, propping Shran up in his seat. He switched the course back to its previous heading. “You really are going to have to tell me how you two ended up working together,” said Enam. “That is a very long story,” said Archer, “but I guess we have time.” **** T’Pol opened the hatch of her shuttle in Enterprise’s shuttle bay. She climbed out and closed the door carefully behind her. She heard someone enter the shuttle bay and turned around to see Lieutenant Reed. “Sub-commander, it’s good to see you back,” said Reed. “I must return for the verdict of the Dohn Zhu in six days,” said T’Pol. “T’Pol, Davis and his men have left Enterprise,” said Reed, “and they took Commander Tucker with them.” “The Captain had an agreement,” said T’Pol. “They had new orders,” said Reed. “Why did you not attempt to stop them?” asked T’Pol. “The order was legitimate,” said Reed. “It went against the Captain’s agreement,” said T’Pol. “Did you contact Admiral Forrest?” “I didn’t see the need,” said Reed. “You may have handed Commander Tucker into the hands of people who mean him harm and you did not see the need?” said T’Pol, her voice tainted with sarcasm. “You have failed to fulfil your duties, Lieutenant. You are confined to your quarters until further notice.” Reed almost felt relieved. “Yes, Sub-commander.” He left the shuttle bay and wandered miserably towards his quarters. No one was in the shuttle bay to see T’Pol close her eyes and bow her head for just a moment before she visibly pulled herself together and headed for the bridge. **** Trip awoke in a small white room, about a quarter of the size of his cabin on Enterprise. Everything around him gleamed and shone, reflecting the light. He lay on a bunk that protruded from the wall into the centre of the room, a white blanket thrown over him. It was then that he realised that he was stripped down to his underwear. He had the soreness in his chest that usually accompanied being stunned by a phase pistol and he’d been stunned often enough to know. He asked the nanites to run some scans, see if they could find any computers to access. They came back to him with very little information, they were unable to penetrate the shielding around his cell. A touch of the wall beside him and the nanites were able to tell him that the cell itself was made of glass, so they were unable to even tunnel out. His captors definitely knew a lot about what the nanites were capable of. He didn’t understand why Malcolm hadn’t tried to stop them. The bargain that the Captain had made had been very clear, Trip was to stay on Enterprise until the repairs were complete. If they hadn’t got rid of the nanites by the time the repairs were complete then he was to be turned over to the research station. Trip hadn’t liked it but it had been a fair compromise, and he knew it had been the best Archer had been able to do on his behalf. Malcolm hadn’t even bothered to question the order or called headquarters to check that it was genuine. He hadn’t even argued with Davis. Trip just didn’t know why Malcolm hadn’t protected him. Usually that was what Malcolm did, he was always so definite about being there to safeguard everyone that Trip had just expected him to this time. There had been something in Malcolm’s eyes when he’d looked at him as well, something which had seemed suspiciously like guilt. Suddenly one of the white walls became transparent, and he discovered that he had an audience. “We’re monitoring him for the moment,” said a man who was watching him. “How long before we can start the experiments?” asked the other man. “Well, we have to do some other tests first,” replied the first man. “We want to test his reactions and those of the nanites to some external stimuli. We have to obtain some baseline data before we can go further.” “Hey,” said Trip, sitting up. “where am I?” Neither of the two men answered. “What’s going on?” Trip rose off the bed and went over to the transparent glass. He hit it with the side of his fist. “Who are you? I want some answers,” he shouted. “He seems to be agitated,” said the first man. He made a signal with his hand to someone outside of Trip’s field of view. Suddenly the room filled with smoke and Trip began to cough. He continued to cough, barely making it the couple of steps to the bed before he was overcome and slipped into unconsciousness. ****End of Chapter 14**** “Archer to Enterprise.” “This is Enterprise, it’s good to hear your voice Captain,” said Hoshi. Archer couldn’t fail to notice the genuine relief in her tone. “What’s the situation, Hoshi, can we dock in the shuttle bay or do we need to use the transporter again,” said Archer. “You’re cleared to use the shuttle bay, sir,” replied Hoshi. “Davis and his men have left Enterprise.” “Did Phlox find a way of getting rid of the nanites?” asked Archer, puzzled. “No, sir. T’Pol will explain when you’re back on board,” said Hoshi. “Have Phlox waiting for us when we dock, I’ve got two patients for him,” said Archer. “Yes, sir,” replied Hoshi. Archer docked the small Zor Rakh easily in Enterprise’s shuttle bay, he threw open its doors and helped Enam and Ghanima out before he went back for Shran. Phlox entered the ship. “He was stung by a six foot tall spider,” said Archer, indicating the Andorian. “Enam gave him the antidote but it didn’t seem to work so well on Andorians.” Phlox took out his scanner. “He’s lucky. There’s still time to save him. Would the six foot tall spider have been a member of the Creen race by any chance?” “Yes, that’s right,” said Archer. Phlox nodded. “I’ll have him back on his feet in no time.” He waved a couple of crewmen in with a stretcher to take the unconscious Andorian to sick bay. “This is your second patient, Doctor,” said Archer. “Ven Dath.” “A more difficult task,” said Phlox after briefly scanning Ven Dath. “I’m not sure that it’s even possible to correct all of the damage that has been done.” “Do your best, Doctor,” said Archer. “Of course,” said Phlox. He waved another couple of crewmen into the Zor Rakh to move Ven Dath’s pod to sick bay. “Could you give Enam and Ghanima the once over as well? I don’t think they’ve had a great life on Harrar station,” said Archer. “I’ll give them a full check up,” said Phlox with a smile. Enam and Ghanima were already being escorted out of the shuttle bay towards sick bay by one of the crew. Ghanima clung to her mother’s leg, looking around her with wide eyes. Archer stepped out of the Zor Rakh and was greeted by the sight of T’Pol standing alone in the shuttle bay. “Captain, I am gratified that you have returned safely. Was your mission successful?” asked T’Pol. “In a way,” said Archer. “I brought back Ven Dath but he isn’t in good shape, although he claims he has a way of helping Trip. Speaking of which, where are Trip and Malcolm?” “Lieutenant Reed is confined to his quarters. Commander Tucker was arrested by Lieutenant Davis and removed from Enterprise while I was attending my Dohn Zhu,” said T’Pol. “Admiral Forrest has not yet returned my call.” “They told me we had until Enterprise was repaired,” said Archer angrily. He went to the com. “Hoshi, get Admiral Forrest on the line now and tell him I’m not in the mood for waiting. I’ll take it in my ready room.” “Yes, sir,” replied Hoshi. Archer turned back to T’Pol. “We have to get him back, T’Pol. Why is Lieutenant Reed confined to his quarters?” “He failed to check the orders with Headquarters and prevent Commander Tucker from being taken off the ship,” said T’Pol. “That doesn’t sound much like Malcolm,” said Archer. “I think we should talk to him.” “Agreed, he has not been acting like himself lately. Commander Tucker mentioned it when I last spoke to him,” said T’Pol. “I should also inform you of the other events that have happened in your absence.” As they made their way towards the bridge, T’Pol told Archer about the plan to prevent his absence from being discovered and the problems that Lieutenant Davis had caused. She gave him a thorough report of everything that had happened while he had been away. The doors to the bridge opened in front of Archer and he realised that he was truly home. Unfortunately it wasn’t the happy homecoming that he’d expected. Hoshi noticed Archer’s arrival. “Sir, I have Admiral Forrest for you.” Archer merely nodded and headed for his ready room. **** Reed was pacing in his quarters. He had analysed Jessica’s message again and again and he didn’t think there was anything more to get out of it. There had to be something though, what he had just wasn’t enough to find her yet and now they had Trip they might decide that they didn’t need Jessica. His door bell sounded and suddenly he was confronted by Captain Archer. “Captain, you’re back,” said Reed, surprised but also pleased. “T’Pol told me what happened,” said Archer. “I want to hear your side of the story.” “I have no side, whatever T’Pol told you is what happened,” said Reed. He had already decided that he wasn’t going to defend himself, his actions were indefensible. “Lieutenant, I’ve known you for over three years now and never once have you failed to protect a member of this crew or done anything that wasn’t completely above board. I find it very hard to believe that you just let them take Commander Tucker off this ship without there being something else going on,” said Archer. “If you don’t tell me what’s up, Malcolm, then I can’t help you.” Reed knew there was no other way out of this. Unless he told Archer what was going on Davis would always have the power of blackmail over him and, as Security Officer, that wasn’t something that he could allow. He went to the shelf above his bed and picked up one of the books that he had sat there. It was Sun Tzu’s Art of War, which had a certain amount of irony about it given what it contained. He flicked through the pages until he reached the middle and there tucked into the spine of the book was a picture. The only one he had of him and Jessica, out of uniform and smiling, his arm around her shoulders. He passed the picture to Archer. “Her name is Ensign Jessica Carruthers,” said Reed. “Before I joined the crew of Enterprise my previous posting involved some teaching duties. Jessica was one of my students. She was also my girlfriend for the three years before I was posted to Enterprise.” “Which is against regulations, not to mention professional ethics,” said Archer. “Exactly. I’m not proud of what I did, and I won’t make excuses for my actions, but we were genuinely happy together. I don’t want you to think it was some sort of sordid little affair, or that I abused my position just to get her to go out with me. If anything she was the one who started it,” said Reed. Reed remembered the day that she’d walked into his classroom like it was yesterday. She looked like she had stepped out of some Pre Raphaelite painting, her curly honey-blonde hair falling in waves over her shoulders. He hadn’t really seen her as anyone special until the lesson had begun and suddenly he realised that he had a real live wire on his hands. She was smart and not afraid to make her opinions known. Reed found that he began to look forward to his class with Jessica because he knew she would test his knowledge to its limits and play devil’s advocate when required. Soon he found that she would wait behind at the end of classes to ask him questions and continue their debates. He had reminded himself that she was a junior officer and a pupil and done his best to ignore what he was feeling. It had worked for a little while. Then she’d come to see him at the end of class one day with a problem. “Lieutenant, I’ve been nominated to ask you a favour by the class,” said Jessica. “A favour, Cadet?” asked Reed. “Our class are supposed to be going out to the Warp Five complex to look at the latest NX prototype, but our tutor was just taken sick. We can’t go unless we can find someone else to accompany us that has a sufficient security clearance. I was hoping that you might be able to take us,” said Jessica. “What makes you think that I have the required security clearance?” asked Reed, as he packed his data padds into his bag. “I did my home work,” said Jessica. “You may just be Lieutenant Reed to us cadets, but I know you’ve had input into the design of the phase cannons that they’re thinking about installing on the NX class. I’ve seen the way people look at you when you walk past them in the corridors.” “How do people look at me?” asked Reed, surprised to hear the Jessica had noticed something that he hadn’t. “Like you’re someone important,” said Jessica. “I’m not,” said Reed. “If I was, I wouldn’t be teaching cadets.” “But you have a security clearance good enough to take a group of cadets on a tour of the Warp Five Complex,” said Jessica. “I do,” replied Reed. He sighed. “When is it?” “Next week,” said Jessica. “Tuesday.” “Very well, I’ll see if I can move my duty shifts,” said Reed. Jessica thanked him and left, the perfect image of a Starfleet Cadet. He’d taken the class to the Warp Five Complex and shown them around. They’d seen the current prototype and the NX-Beta and all the other stages that the Engineers had gone through to get to where they were now and at the end of the day everyone had gone home. He’d stopped to say thank you to the Engineers who had given the tour and then gone out to catch his transport back to the base. Jessica had been standing there waiting for him. They caught the same transport back to the base and ended up chatting the whole way. The rest of their relationship happened so quickly that he didn’t even notice that they had suddenly become more than friends. He had woken up with her lying beside him before the consequences of what they’d done had even entered his head. The only thing that he was certain of was that he loved her and she made him complete. “We were careful to keep it a secret, made sure that we were never seen at the academy together, except in class. That picture is of us on one of the few weekends when we were able to get away together. What with my duty schedule and her classes, there wasn’t much free time for us to spend together. When I got the posting to Enterprise we decided that no matter how hard we tried the relationship was never going to work with me light years away. Jessica was also concerned that I was putting too much at stake for her, so we ended it and agreed to keep in touch. I thought we’d managed to get away with the whole thing until Davis told me he’d found out about it,” finished Reed. “Malcolm, this puts me in a very difficult position,” said Archer. “I know and I fully expect to be discharged from Starfleet for my conduct, but there’s something else. Davis tried to blackmail me into helping him by using Jessica against me, but I told him that I didn’t care about my career. That was when he gave me this,” said Reed and handed Archer the padd with Jessica’s message on it. Archer played it and looked at Reed when it had finished. “Davis had her kidnapped,” said Archer, “to ensure your co-operation.” “Yes, except it backfired slightly,” said Reed. “Jessica sent me a message. Davis and I were in the same year at the Academy. We took the same classes mostly, except there was one that I took that he didn’t, because he thought it was a waste of his time. Hostage negotiation. We all learnt the hand signals to send a message in case we were ever held prisoner. I taught them to Jessica. I don’t care what happens to me, you can court-martial me, throw me in the brig, whatever, but you have to let me find Jessica.” “If you’d told T’Pol about Davis’s attempt to blackmail you in the first place we might have been able to keep Trip on Enterprise,” said Archer. “I know, sir, and I’m sorry. I didn’t realise what he had planned until it was too late. I made an error in judgement and Trip suffered for it,” said Reed. “I just finished talking with Admiral Forrest about Lieutenant Davis. He’s disappeared. Along with any evidence that he ever existed. Whoever has Trip, it isn’t Starfleet Security. The Admiral passed on some rumours of a top secret group working within Starfleet, reporting directly to the government,” said Archer. “Davis said something to me about working for something that had more teeth than Starfleet Intelligence. So we don’t know where they’ve taken Trip,” said Reed, with concern. “I tried to ask Davis but he wasn’t giving anything away.” “I’m afraid so,” said Archer, “we’ve got two kidnap victims to find, and Malcolm, I’m going to need your help. You’re reinstated to duty, Mr Reed, for the moment anyway.” “And later?” asked Reed. “We’ll see,” said Archer. “Let’s just get our people back.” **** Shran awoke in what he assumed was the sick bay of Enterprise. He felt terrible and his head hurt like he’d drunk too much Andorian ale. Memories of what had happened on the Zor Rakh began to filter back to him and he realised that he had failed in his mission. “I was beginning to wonder when you’d decide to join the land of the living again,” said a voice he recognised. He turned his head to see Enam sitting on the biobed beside his, her feet dangling over the side. Ghanima was asleep behind her mother, her small tail curled around Enam’s waist. “So we made it back to Enterprise,” said Shran. “No thanks to you and your tricks,” replied Enam. “Are all Andorians so treacherous? You’d fit in well on Harrar station.” “I just did what I had to,” said Shran. “You killed your mate.” “Yes, I did what I had to also,” said Enam. “However I never betrayed my friend.” “Archer is not my friend,” said Shran. “I wonder if he knows that,” said Enam. Shran scowled at her but didn’t reply. Enterprise’s Denobulan doctor appeared at the end of his bed. “Ah good, you’re awake,” said Phlox. “You’ll be pleased to know that I cleared all the poison from your system. After a few days rest you should be as good as new.” “Good,” replied Shran, still scowling. “Captain Archer was asking after your health,” said Phlox. “You’re my first Andorian patient. It’s always exciting to get a new species to practice my craft upon. Did you know that your blood chemistry is very similar to that of the Vulcans?” Enam stifled a giggle. Shran deepened his scowl, which Enam hadn’t believed to be possible. “When can I leave?” asked Shran. “Well you’re too weak to go anywhere for the moment,” said Phlox. “You need to give your body time to recover. A couple of days should do it.” “I want to see Archer,” said Shran. “He’s already on his way,” said Phlox, “I alerted him as soon as you awoke.” Just at that moment the sick bay doors slid back to reveal Captain Archer. “You look better than when I last saw you,” said Archer, smiling. “That unhealthy green tinge has almost gone.” “What do you intend doing with me?” asked Shran. “None of the Earth government know you’re here and the only Vulcan who’s aware that you’re on Enterprise is T’Pol. If I ask nicely then she won’t let on. Once you’re fully recovered, the Zor Rakh is ready to take you home,” said Archer. “I figure that if I let you go, we’re even again, considering I saved your life.” “No doubt Commander Tucker has already gone over the Zor Rakh with a finely calibrated scanner,” said Shran. Archer’s face fell. Shran hadn’t expected this reaction, he had merely been making a joke and certainly hadn’t expected Archer to take it personally. “I’ve got to get back to the bridge,” said Archer, quickly making his exit. “What did I say?” asked Shran. “Commander Tucker was arrested while the Captain was away,” said Phlox. “Judging by the people who took him, the Captain is understandably concerned for the Commander’s safety.” **** Trip awoke on the bed, his hands and feet were strapped down. He tested the restraints and discovered that he couldn’t move them. The nanites told him that the restraints were made of toughened glass, he couldn’t break them or use the nanites to chew through them. He gave up struggling against his bonds, sighed and lay still. He wasn’t comfortable but for the moment there was nothing he could do. Part of the wall of the cell became transparent and Trip saw the face of Lieutenant Davis looking at him. “Davis, you son of a bitch. So you decided to come and gloat,” said Trip. “Not gloat,” said Davis. “I’m in charge of the security of this facility, I came to check on our main test subject.” “Is that how I’m seen around here?” asked Trip. “I’m not even a human being anymore.” “You’re a means to an end,” said Davis. “What’s the end?” asked Trip. “Not something we tell our test subjects,” replied Davis. “So what can I expect while I’m a guest here?” said Trip. “If you co-operate then you’ll be treated well, if you don’t then you’ll spend all your time in restraints. I don’t understand the medical stuff, but I’m certain that it can be made very unpleasant for you if you don’t do what we want,” said Davis. “I didn’t think I was brought here for a vacation,” said Trip. “If you think I’m going to co-operate with you bastards you’ve got another thing coming. You know someone is going to come looking for me.” “I doubt that,” said Davis. “With what we have on Reed, he’ll do whatever we want.” “Malcolm’s a stand up guy, I can’t believe you have anything on him that will stop them coming to find me,” said Trip. Suddenly it was as if he had the final piece of the puzzle, Malcolm had betrayed him. That was how they had known what the nanites could do and why Malcolm hadn’t tried to stop them taking him off Enterprise. It was suddenly as if someone had ripped out his heart, his friend had turned on him. He’d really thought that he could count on Malcolm, but he guessed he had been wrong there. “You obviously don’t know Lieutenant Reed as well as you thought you did,” said Davis. He was pleased to see the affect that the news had had on Trip. The more wrong footed Tucker was the easier he would be to deal with. “I may not know Malcolm Reed, but I know Jonathan Archer. The Captain’s not just going to sit around doing nothing,” said Trip. “You broke the agreement and the Captain won’t be happy about that.” Assuming that the Captain ever returned from the Expanse, he thought. “I think you’ve misread your situation. We don’t answer to Starfleet. You belong to us now, Mr Tucker. You’re our lab rat, and that’s what you will be until either we decide that we don’t need you anymore or you die,” said Davis. “Which won’t be very long if you don’t give me my meds,” said Trip, “you know the nanites are killing me,” he added as if he were telling Davis the time of day. “We know,” said Davis. “For the moment we need you and the nanites alive, although as I understand it the nanites are the more important part of that equation.” The door opened and two men in white coats, who Trip assumed to be doctors, entered the room. Trip had been waiting for this, the open door meant that the room was no longer sealed. He told the nanites to feel out for any computers that they could access. Almost immediately an alarm went off. “Now, that alarm means that you’ve been a bad boy,” said Davis, walking in behind the men in white coats and closing the door behind him. The nanites immediately lost any connections that they had made. “We have detectors set up that tell us when you’re using the nanites to attempt to access a computer. Let me give you the ground rules. You do something that we don’t like and you get punished. Depending on what you’ve done, we’ll fit the punishment to the crime.” Davis held out a hand and one of the doctors put a hypospray which contained red liquid in his hand. “What are you going to do?” asked Trip, his accent thicker than usual, shooting a look of pure hatred in Davis’ direction. Davis injected the substance into Trip’s arm without a word and the three men turned and left Trip’s cell. Trip felt a warmth spread through his blood from the point of injection. The warmth turned into a burning and his blood felt as if it had turned into acid as it moved through his body. He struggled against the restraints, trying to curl in on himself, anything to stop the excruciating pain that he was now in. He let out a small whimper of pain and finally he screamed as the poison made its way through his body. If he ever got his hands on Davis then he was going to kill him, he focused on that thought while he endured the pain. ****End of Chapter 15**** The quarantine on Enterprise had been lifted since Trip was no longer on board. That meant that the corridors had turned into a hive of activity as the first shift prepared for shore leave. Reed was among those going down to the surface in the first wave. In contrast to most of the crew, he carried only a duffel bag and it certainly wasn’t full of beach wear. Archer had offered to accompany him but he’d refused stating that this was his mess and he had had to sort it out himself. Besides this was more of a one man job. Reed felt like a man who had a lot of misdeeds to repay, he needed to atone for his sins and no one could do it for him. While Reed went to find Jessica, Archer and T’Pol were going to attempt to use their contacts to find Trip. Reed hoped that their contacts would have some information about where to find the Commander. He had a few contacts of his own that he thought he might be able to get something out of. He started at the Warp Five Complex, it was where Jessica was posted at the moment. He needed a start point, the place she’d been when she’d been taken. The only way he could get that was by asking a few well placed questions about her movements that day, but he was careful who he asked. If it got back to Jessica’s captors that he was looking for them then he would be placing Jessica in danger. Jessica’s message had been simple, twenty minutes north east. Assuming that they’d kidnapped her as she was leaving the warp five complex, then he was guessing the Black Hills were his best bet. They were about twenty minutes away by hover car. He got out the map, measured the distance and drew an arc where he estimated the furthest range of their travel to be and then another where the least distance they could have travelled was. He hoped they hadn’t been driving Jessica around in circles but he guessed she would have spotted that. From Jessica’s video he knew what kind of building he was looking for, although there’d been very little to go on. There was a metal wall behind her. He had originally guessed a warehouse, but, given the country, he thought it was more likely to be a barn. He got together his gear, hired a hover car and went up into the mountains. There were several buildings on his maps that he wanted to check out. To help him in his search he’d taken some aerial photographs from Enterprise that picked out the layouts of the buildings. He had a list of attributes that the house had to have for it to be the one that he was looking for. It had to be no more than two miles from a main road because the recording had picked up the sounds of hover truck motors. It also had to be no more than five miles away from the flight path of the nearby airport, the video had picked up some engine sound from the planes. It had narrowed his search area considerably. He spent most of the afternoon driving up and down dirt tracks. He had visited about ten buildings before he came across one which looked promising. Most of the buildings he’d been to had been farm houses with barns and had been very obviously occupied. He had used the excuse of being a lost tourist asking for directions to go and check them out. This one was different, there was no activity around the house and it looked deserted, except that he was picking up residual heat signatures. People had been in the building less than six hours previously. He went into the barn and found further evidence that it had been occupied. There were chairs upended on the floor and beside one of the chairs lay a pile of ropes. He took out his scanner and waved it across the ropes. As he had predicted there were traces of human DNA on the ropes and it matched Jessica’s. They had been here but had obviously moved on and it looked as if it wasn’t that long ago. He’d been steeling himself against the possibility that Jessica was already dead, but there was no body so he continued to allow himself to hope that she was alive. He caught the glint of something gold lying on the floor. He went to investigate and immediately recognised it, he’d given it to Jessica on their second anniversary. It was a thin gold chain and on it was a capital letter J pendant. Reed knew that Jessica had left it behind on purpose, to tell him that she knew he was looking for her. He’d had no idea that she still wore it. He tucked the necklace safely in his pocket. He intended to give it back to Jessica himself. He hoped that she could hang on a bit longer. If they had left only a short while ago then it was possible that he could track them. The air was relatively clear so he could probably pick up the exhaust of any vehicles that they had used, at least until they hit the main road. It should be enough to give him an indication of which direction they’d gone in. He ran back to his car and set off again, following the route that the scanner gave him. Luckily for him they seemed to be purposely sticking to the back roads, probably to avoid any unnecessary contact. It was a sensible move, if you didn’t meet anyone then there was much less chance of discovery. He travelled for hours, leaving the mountains behind. Finally he saw buildings up ahead and the trail led up the driveway where there was a hover car parked. Night had fallen and he was beginning to get tired, but he was so close to his goal that he refused to rest now. He used the scanner and discovered that there were three people inside the building. One of them had to be Jessica, which left her with two guards. However he also detected three other people moving around the edge of the property, Davis had posted perimeter guards. Five men to deal with in total. Reed had brought a small arsenal of weapons with him but hopefully all he’d need was his phase pistol. However he certainly didn’t intend on underestimating his opponents. These men were probably rogue Security officers just like Davis so would have had exactly the same the training as he had. Which meant that one of them was watching the approach. At the first sign of trouble they’d be on alert. Reed had to figure out a way to get in without alerting anyone to his presence. He crept up to the guard who was furthest away from the main entrance. He waited until he was sure that the guard was looking in the other direction and stunned him. The guard dropped to the ground, unconscious. He quickly disarmed the perimeter guard, looking around to check that no one had seen him. He proceeded stealthily towards the house, using the shadows as cover. He glimpsed through the windows the scene inside. Jessica sat on a chair, bound and gagged with two guards watching her. Reed thought she looked cross rather than scared. One kidnapper sat opposite her, phase pistol trained on Jessica, the other paced around the room nervously. He moved behind the hover car, using it to hide himself. He found a small stone on the ground and hurled it at the window of the house, it wasn’t enough to break it but it was enough to alert the guards inside. Reed waited for one of them to leave the house to come and investigate. Sure enough after a few seconds one of the guards appeared at the door, outlined by the light from within the house he was an easy target. Reed stunned him and was moving towards the house when the second kidnapper appeared. The guard saw Reed and fired at him. Reed dropped to the ground rapidly, still moving forwards, but lost his grip on his own phase pistol in the process. He ducked behind the hover car and stayed completely still. He waited for the guard to come looking for him. Reed heard the crunch of feet on the gravel of the drive and as the guard rounded the side of the hover car Reed jumped him. He knocked the phase pistol out of the guard’s hand before he could fire again. The guard was taller than Reed and heavier, however it was exactly this sort of situation that Reed spent most of his time training for. Reed also had the added advantage that he had the experience of the Expanse to draw upon, which if nothing else, had honed his fighting skills. Xindi Reptilians were stronger than humans and Reed had had to develop tactics to deal with that. Reed allowed the guard to get in one good punch before he used his own momentum against him and threw him to the ground. The guard kicked out and took Reeds legs out from under him. Reed landed heavily, but rolled with the fall, righting himself before his attacker could take further advantage. The guard had pulled himself to his feet, but Reed was already executing a flying kick which sent the guard into the side of the hover car. The guard’s elbow shattered the window of the hover car with the force of his fall and that set off the car’s alarm. The alarm shrieked loudly through the still of the night, scaring birds in the trees. Reed used the distraction to hit the kidnapper’s head against the car again and knock him unconscious. He pulled open the door of the hover car, quickly found the wires that would silence the alarm and ripped them out. However, he was fairly sure that it was already too late. His stealthy approach had just gone up in flames. As if to confirm Reed’s assessment of the situation, there was the sound of a the guard’s communicator activating. “Echo one to echo three, what was that alarm?” asked a voice that he recognised. “Ensign McLaughlin,” muttered Reed. “Echo three, report,” said the voice urgently. Reed rifled through the unconscious guard’s pockets and found the communicator. He put on his best impression of an American accent. Teasing Trip had given him enough practice to make him pretty good. “Echo three to echo one, we set the alarm off by accident, nothing to worry about,” said Reed. “Nice try Reed,” snarled the voice over the radio, “but Echo three doesn’t have an American accent.” Reed swore, he’d gambled and lost. He had to get Jessica out now, before McLaughlin and her guards came looking for him. Reed scooped up his phase pistol from where it had fallen and ran through the door of the house, over to Jessica. He ripped off her gag. “Malcolm, thank god,” said Jessica with relief, while Reed untied her hands and feet from the chair she was sat on. “I’m afraid we’re going to have company very shortly,” said Reed. “It’ll take them about ten minutes to get in from the perimeter,” said Jessica. Then she gave Reed a smile. “I knew you’d find me.” He lent forward and kissed her quickly on the lips. “Sorry it took a while. There were a few complications,” said Reed. “What have you got yourself caught up in?” asked Jessica. “This is what happens when I’m not around to look after you.” “I’ll explain everything on the way back to town,” said Reed. “I don’t want us to be around when those reinforcements show up.” “Agreed,” said Jessica. “I’ll be happy to get out of here.” “My car’s just down the road,” said Reed. He undid the final knot and pulled Jessica to her feet. She wobbled slightly but otherwise seemed unharmed. “My legs have gone to sleep,” she explained. “Too long tied up, just give me a second.” “We don’t have a second, we have to get going now,” said Reed, helping Jessica out of the house and to the hover car. He opened the bonnet of the vehicle and began poking about in the engine. “You’re going to disable their transport,” said Jessica, immediately understanding what Reed was up to. “If I can,” said Reed. He pulled out a couple of vital components. He was no engineer like Trip but he knew how to break a hover car. Just for good measure he tossed one particularly important looking piece of the engine into the trees. Jessica took the opportunity to stretch out her sore legs. “Ready?” he asked. “Yes, let’s go,” she said and the two of them ran down the path towards Reed’s car. There was noise behind them as the kidnappers saw their escape and then discovered the broken hover car. Reed and Jessica ducked into the trees as phaser fire erupted in their direction. They pushed their way through the undergrowth, aware that the kidnappers weren’t far behind them. Reed stopped a second to fire back at their pursuers but it seemed as if they had enough of a head start that they were going to make it. Reed had never been so pleased to see a hire car in his entire life. He wondered if the collision damage waiver covered him for phaser damage. It was only when they were safely inside the hover car and on their way back to civilisation that Reed flicked open his communicator. “Reed to Enterprise, I’ve got her.” **** Eventually the pain inducing drug had worked its way through Trip’s system. Trip was exhausted and he had pulled so hard on the restraints that the sharp edges had dug into his flesh. A doctor had come and released him from the restraints and bandaged his wrists and ankles. He was told that as long as he behaved he wouldn’t be placed in restraints again unless the tests specifically required it. He hadn’t tried to use the nanites again to access the computers, he knew any attempt would end in more pain and probably be futile. He was better saving his strength. Time passed. He had no idea how long he’d been in the cell, he guessed it had been a couple of days, but they’d taken his watch and the cell was permanently illuminated. Day and night were indistinguishable and it made it very hard to sleep, but he seemed to be permanently tired at the moment so he spent a lot of time dozing anyway. He wondered if they were putting drugs in the water, or his food, perhaps trying to keep him docile. If he moved too quickly then he seemed to get a dizzy spell, it was back to how it had been when he’d fallen down the steps in Engineering. He guessed that they had upped his dosage of immuno-suppressants and it was interfering with the nanites’ communication with his body. The nanites were certainly reporting back some strange substances in his blood chemistry, but at the moment he didn’t even know if he could trust what the nanites were telling him. What he did know was that his captors were more interested in the nanites than they were in his own health. He started to try to work out how long it would be before the immuno-suppressants stopped working and the nanites started to poison his blood again, but he gave it up as being too depressing. When someone entered the room he was given the instruction to stand up and face the opposite wall. He knew that his captors had complete power over him in this environment but he couldn’t just give in and co-operate, it wasn’t in his nature. That morning, he’d tried to overpower the person who had entered his cell to give him his breakfast but he’d been stunned before he’d even known what had hit him. As punishment, he’d been put in restraints again and left without food or water, which, given the amount of power the nanites were drawing at the moment, had ended up being very uncomfortable. He got the impression that he was very much an experiment to them. He lay strapped down on the bed while men and women in white coats came and took blood samples from him and, although he tried to talk to them, they never said a word to him. There were other tests as well, some of them painful, most of them made him feel like he was just a piece of meat to them. They were obviously testing how the nanites reacted to various stimuli. They never took him out of his cell, so he had no idea what the rest of the building looked like or even where the building was. He suspected that his captors knew what the nanites could do if they allowed him anywhere near a computer link. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was very afraid, although he was damned if he was going to let the sons of bitches know. The whole situation reminded him of his time as a prisoner of the Xindi. He shivered despite himself at the thought of his torture. He was also beginning to feel very lonely. He wasn’t used to spending so much time by himself, he was normally quite a sociable person and he was finding it hard to adjust to so little human contact. He hoped that someone from Enterprise was looking for him, he really wasn’t enjoying being a test subject. **** Archer was on his way down to Sick Bay. It had been three days since they’d taken Trip and he was no closer to finding his Chief Engineer. After Reed’s call that Jessica was safe Archer had shifted the search into high gear. He’d called in every favour that he could, but so far he’d drawn a blank. Nash had proved to be untouchable. Archer was certain that the Senator was involved, even more so after Hoshi had shown him the tape of the riot outside the Vulcan compound. However, proving it was going to be extremely hard and, without proof, Archer had nothing. Whatever organisation Davis was working for, he had made sure that there were no links back to Nash. All of Davis’ orders had come via Star Fleet channels, although no one was quite sure who had issued the orders when they were traced back. Questions were being asked about some of Star Fleet’s administration procedures and Forrest had instigated a full investigation. Davis himself, and his men, had disappeared. No one had seen them since they had left Enterprise. All records of the shuttle flight that had taken Trip from Enterprise had been wiped from the system. Even Enterprise’s sensor logs had been purged, a program hiding within the computer that was timed to produce a sensor malfunction at just the right moment. There was no doubt in Archer’s mind that Davis had been serious about keeping Trip. They weren’t meant to have any leads to him. There would be no video messages to prove that he was alive. Davis’ people didn’t care if Archer thought Trip was dead, Archer had nothing that they wanted. Archer reached sick bay and opened the door to be greeted by the sight of all three biobeds occupied. Enam sat on one playing a game with Ghanima, Shran was on the middle one, sleeping despite the noise coming from the bed beside his, and at the far side of sick bay was Ensign Carruthers, sitting on the edge of a biobed while Phlox tended to her. A worried looking Lieutenant Reed stood beside Phlox. Reed had brought Jessica back to Enterprise in order to protect her better, he certainly didn’t intend on letting anyone snatch her again. Luckily, apart from the rope marks around her wrists and ankles, she seemed to be unharmed, if rather tired. “Welcome to Enterprise, Ensign,” said Archer as he approached the far bed. “Thank you, sir,” said Jessica. “I wish it was under better circumstances.” “So do I, Ensign,” said Archer. “While you were a captive did anyone mention anything about Commander Tucker?” “No, sir, they didn’t say very much at all. Someone mentioned something about returning to base but nothing about where it was,” said Jessica. “Some of my contacts came back to me,” said Reed, “they backed up the rumours about a renegade group within Starfleet Intelligence, but no one has been able to get any evidence that it exists.” “And if no one knows whether they even exist then they certainly don’t know where their base is,” said Archer. “I’m sorry, sir,” said Reed. “Sorry won’t get him back, Malcolm,” said Archer. He saw the look of guilt on Reed’s face and immediately regretted the remark, Reed was working as hard as any of them to find Trip. Jessica reached out a hand and put it on Reed’s arm. “T’Pol thought she might be able to do something with the sensor records which could at least give us something to go on,” said Archer. “For the moment that’s our best bet.” “I’ve got an idea how you might be able to find Commander Tucker,” said Shran and everyone turned around to look at the now awake Andorian. He carefully sat up, dangling his legs over the side of the bed. He was still feeling shaky. “How?” asked Archer. Shran hesitated a second. “Well spit it out,” said Reed. “My current command is a listening post,” said Shran. “We also have surveillance equipment in your solar system.” “Surveillance equipment?” asked Archer. “You’re spying on us?” “You’re allies of the Vulcans, and therefore potential enemies of the Andorians,” said Shran. “For how long?” asked Reed. “What do you think we were doing when we helped you out with the Xindi?” asked Shran. “I did think it was a bit convenient,” said Reed. “I guess we were just so happy to see you that we didn’t wonder why you were here,” said Archer. “Regardless of how they got there, the devices we planted have been monitoring shipping in this area for the past couple of months. They will have recorded the route of the shuttle that took Commander Tucker from Enterprise. At the very least we’d know if they took him back to Earth,” said Shran. He jumped off the bed and held onto the side for a moment before straightening his pose. “Get me to a com unit and I’ll download the data for you.” “Commander, you’re not well enough to be standing,” said Phlox. “Doctors,” spat Shran. “I’m not one of your Starfleet weaklings. You don’t have any authority over me. Get out of my way and let me do my job.” It would have been an impressive display of defiance except that the green tinge had returned to his face, which Archer knew was the equivalent of a human becoming pale. “Shran, Phlox doesn’t tell people what to do for fun, it’s for your own good,” said Archer. “Get back to bed, I’ll arrange for what you need to be brought to sick bay. If that’s okay with the Doctor?” Phlox hesitated a moment and then nodded. Shran, however, remained standing by his bed. “Malcolm, I want you and T’Pol to arrange everything that Shran needs,” said Archer, more for Shran’s benefit than theirs, his officers knew what was required without needing any orders from him. “Yes, sir,” said Reed. “Commander Shran, perhaps you should rest while you’re waiting,” said Phlox tactfully. Shran looked as if he might be difficult and continue to object, but he finally nodded and climbed back onto the biobed. Phlox came over and began fussing over his patient, pulling the blanket back over the Andorian. “Doctors,” murmured Shran with derision. The poison had taken its toll on his body, making him weak. He was actually quite relieved to be able to lie back down, despite his protestations. His Andorian stubbornness wouldn’t allow him to admit that he wasn’t well enough to get out of bed and help. He wasn’t used to being ill or having others take care of him, and he didn’t like having control of his own life taken away from him. “Can I go, Doctor?” asked Jessica. “I don’t see why not,” replied Phlox. “Let me know if you have any further problems with the abrasion injuries.” “Yes, Doctor,” said Jessica. “I’d feel a lot better if I was helping, especially since I guess I’m at least partially responsible.” “It wasn’t your fault that you got dragged into all this, Ensign,” said Archer. “But with a third of the crew on shore leave, and another third due to go down to Earth today, we can do with all the help we can get. Why don’t you give Lieutenant Reed a hand getting together everything that he needs?” “Yes, sir,” said Jessica, with a small smile. Lieutenant Reed was waiting for her by the sick bay doors so she hopped off the biobed and the two of them left sick bay together. **** It was T’Pol who returned to sick bay with the com equipment that Shran required. Lieutenant Reed had been called away by Hoshi to take a call from a possible lead on Commander Tucker’s whereabouts. She entered sick bay to find Shran and Archer arguing about the surveillance equipment that the Andorians had somehow managed to sneak into Earth’s solar system. “I thought that we had an understanding,” said Archer, just as T’Pol entered. “There are no “understandings” when it comes to the safety of my people,” said Shran. “Why would you think that Earth was your enemy?” asked Archer. “You have an alliance with our enemies,” said Shran. “Has Earth ever attacked Andoria? We helped negotiate a peace treaty between you and the Vulcans,” said Archer, getting more angry by the moment. “It was deemed to be a necessary precaution,” said Shran. T’Pol gave a small cough and Archer and Shran both turned to look at her. “T’Pol, is everything ready?” asked Archer, quickly regaining his calm demeanour. “Of course,” said T’Pol. “I have programmed this padd with the necessary data. It will act as a link to the ship’s main com system. It will allow you to utilise the ship’s communications array but adjust frequencies and download files.” “Will this do it?” Archer asked Shran. “It should. The surveillance satellite will require codes to access the files that it has already stored,” said Shran. “We’ll just have to hope that they didn’t decide to change them while I was away.” T’Pol passed Shran the padd which she had programmed to interface with the com system and watched as the Andorian input codes and adjusted frequencies to link to the satellite. “It has accepted my codes,” said Shran. “I’m downloading the files directly to your computer.” T’Pol took out her own padd and thumbed through the files until she reached the sensor data that she was looking for. “T’Pol?” asked Archer. “It shows the shuttle leaving Enterprise and travelling towards Earth,” said T’Pol. “The resolution should be good enough to pick up where the shuttle went,” said Shran. “In theory,” said T’Pol. “However the direct path of the shuttle is hidden by the Earth’s moon.” Archer went to the empty biobed and lent against it, pressing both palms into the bed’s soft mattress. “Another dead end,” he said. He wanted to throw something, anything. They had been so close this time. “No doubt the Commander’s kidnappers planned their escape to be hidden,” said T’Pol. “I may be able to extrapolate further from the data we have and discern the shuttle’s eventual course.” “Do it, T’Pol,” said Archer. “Every minute that Trip’s in their hands it puts him in more danger.” “Yes, sir,” said T’Pol. “I will begin my analysis immediately.” She left sick bay and Archer turned to Shran. “I guess thanks are in order,” said Archer. “I told you that we’re even after this, your thanks aren’t required,” said Shran. “Now go away and let me get some sleep.” Shran rolled over and pointedly ignored Archer. Archer smiled and nodded, some things didn’t change. Then Archer remembered that there was something else he had wanted to talk to T’Pol about. He dashed out of sick bay and ran down the corridor in the direction he thought T’Pol had gone. She was wandering along the corridor reading her padd whilst walking. “T’Pol!” shouted Archer. T’Pol stopped, turned and waited for Archer to catch up with her. “Can I do something for you, Captain?” she asked. “I just realised that I hadn’t asked you how your Dohn Zhu went?” said Archer. The two continued walking down the corridor towards the turbo lift. “It has not been concluded, I must wait another three days before the verdict is given,” said T’Pol. “Do you think that you persuaded them not to send you back to Vulcan?” asked Archer. “I am not confident that the outcome will be in my favour,” said T’Pol. “Why not?” asked Archer. “My prosecutor was Selak,” said T’Pol. “Who’s Selak?” asked Archer. “He was my tutor of Vulcan law during my diplomatic training,” said T’Pol. “He not only knows the way that I think, but he is considerably better versed in Vulcan law than I am.” “I see,” said Archer. “How does that make a difference? It doesn’t change the fact that what you did was the right thing to do.” “Even stating the case to the best of my ability I was unable to counter all the points that Selak made,” said T’Pol. “It is illogical to worry about an event which is outside my control. I prefer to concentrate on retrieving Commander Tucker.” “I suppose that does make sense,” said Archer. “Although, if you’re not here when Trip gets back, he might never speak to me again.” “I think that is unlikely,” said T’Pol. “I’d rather not find out,” said Archer. “I suppose we’d better make the most of having you around for at least the next three days.” ****End of Chapter 16**** Nash strode purposefully through the complex. It was probably the best equipped facility in Starfleet. It had to be for the kind of projects that were carried out within it. He walked past laboratories where scientists worked with one goal in mind, untangling the inner workings of the nanites. The stockpiles of nanites were growing as they harvested more and more from their test subject. They had developed a method of stimulating their reproduction cycles so that they multiplied faster than their currently programmed rate. He was pleased to see that the vats of black liquid that lined the hall were nearing capacity, the liquid moving in the bizarre way that indicated the presence of the nanites. He entered the control room that was the centre of operations for the complex. “How is our guest today?” asked Nash, taking a seat beside Lieutenant Davis. He looked at the screens in front of him that showed the sole occupant of the bio-containment unit. Commander Tucker was lying on the bed, curled on one side. “Being difficult, as usual, Senator,” said Davis. “Yesterday, he tried to jump the guard who brought him his breakfast. Today one of the doctors took a blood sample and the nanites had been pre-programmed to self-destruct.” “He’s testing us,” said Nash. “Seeing how far he can push us.” “What would you recommend for punishment this time?” asked Davis. “I’m assuming that the order not to damage him permanently still stands.” “Unfortunately it does. He seems to require a lot of persuading to co-operate. He probably still thinks that Archer will come and rescue him. The doctors tell me that we can’t use our normal methods because he’s already weak. If he wasn’t such an annoyance then I might admire the man for his stubbornness,” said Nash. “Put him in restraints and administer the serum, perhaps a night of pain will bring him to the realisation that we are the ones in charge. This time put some padding around the restraints, his blood is a valuable commodity and I don’t want it wasted.” “Yes, sir,” said Davis. “You saw McLaughlin’s report on Reed’s raid on the farmhouse?” “Yes, most unfortunate that we lost our leverage on Mr Reed,” said Nash. “However, even if they look, they won’t be able to find us. I made sure that our tracks were covered.” “Termination is always an option,” said Davis. “One that I would prefer not to exercise unless Archer forces our hand. The Commander is too valuable to us at the moment to be discarded lightly. I’d rather dispose of Archer if it comes to it. What about the rest of the project?” asked Nash. “So far we’re on schedule,” said Davis. “And the Vulcans?” “Completely unaware that I have anything other than their best interests at heart,” said Nash, leaning back in his chair lazily. “Before you go to see Mr Tucker you should send our data on Lieutenant Reed to Starfleet Headquarters, after all he did break our deal.” **** Reed found Archer and T’Pol in the Command Centre. T’Pol was going through Shran’s surveillance data, methodical as always. So far it had taken her nearly two days to put together all the information from the Andorian spy equipment into a format where she could look at trajectories and patterns. Archer had left T’Pol to her work knowing that she would work faster without him looking over her shoulder. He still felt he needed to do something so he was reviewing the other data that they had collected about Trip’s abductors, but so far it hadn’t amounted to much. “I think I have a lead,” said Reed. “One of my contacts in Starfleet Intelligence came up with something. Supplies.” “Supplies?” asked Archer, “how does that help us?” “It’s a standard tactic, if you can’t follow the physical evidence, follow the money trail,” said Reed. “Or in this case the supplies trail. Anywhere that wants to keep Trip prisoner needs a huge amount of supplies. They’d need shielding for a cell, a lot of glass, surveillance equipment and weapons. Some of it would have to have come from the Quartermaster’s office, which means that they must have some sort of legitimate front that they use for obtaining supplies. It would take them some time to order in everything that they’d need. They must have been doing it for months, ever since we sent back that first report detailing what happened to Trip when he was a prisoner of the Xindi.” “So we can trace what happened to the supplies and find out where Trip is?” asked Archer. “Exactly,” said Reed. “The only problem is that it is by no means perfect and it’s going to take me a while to go through all the data. The best it might do is narrow down the possibilities.” “It’s better than what we’ve got at the moment,” said Archer. “I think that I may be able to refine our search,” said T’Pol. “I was unable to extrapolate the shuttle’s track sufficiently to be able to discern its destination. So I have been examining the shipping patterns around Earth in the hope that I could find an abnormality. Starfleet vessels have visited these locations,” said T’Pol and a map of Earth and it’s surrounding satellites appeared on the large screen in front of them. “Of these locations most are official bases of operations, however a number are not, but have received significant traffic.” T’Pol turned those red. They were left with about twenty locations. “So if we add in the data from where supplies were being shipped to, we should be able to get a good guess as to where Trip is,” said Reed and input his information. “I suppose the most useful one might be who was interested in large amounts of glass.” Several of T’Pol’s red dots disappeared. “Take out Mars Colony One,” said Archer. “There’s glass used in constructing the bio-domes.” “Take out the UK location as well,” said Reed. “They’re building an experimental alien ecosystem there. Lots of glass involved in that construction.” “That still leaves us with about five locations,” said Archer. “We can’t mount a rescue mission to all five,” said Reed. “I do not believe that will be necessary,” said T’Pol, cutting to the heart of the problem as usual. “Only one of these locations is unusual.” She highlighted the location on the map and brought up an enlarged picture. “That’s a high Earth orbit weather station,” said Archer. “Advanced climate modelling. About twenty staff maximum. Civilian run but they also use Starfleet personnel. I’d expect them to have a fair number of Starfleet ships coming and going. Why that one?” “Why would they need glass?” asked Reed. “Surveillance equipment yes, but not glass and certainly not in these quantities. The station was constructed years ago and there’s no record of any repair work being required.” Archer went over to the screen, looking at the picture more closely. The solar panels were extended towards the sun, gathering maximum power for the station. “We need proof that they’re holding Trip there. We can’t mount an attack on a civilian outpost, even if we do strong suspicions.” “I could scan for the presence of nanites,” said T’Pol, “however we will need to get closer if I am to accomplish this. The nanites will be extremely difficult to detect even then but given Enterprise’s state of repair and position, it would be impossible to detect them from here.” “Will the scanners on the shuttlepod be enough?” asked Reed. “With some modifications,” replied T’Pol. “That’s settled then, Travis can take you out in a shuttlepod. Try not to get caught,” said Archer. “Yes, Captain,” said T’Pol. “Perhaps I should go with them?” asked Reed. “Not this time Lieutenant, I need you here planning out our strategy,” said Archer. Reed nodded in acknowledgement. “I’ll pull the plans of the station from the Starfleet database,” he said, moving to the console. Finally he could repay his Judas debt. He was going to mount the best damn rescue mission in the history of Starfleet and they would get Trip back where he belonged. “Phlox to Archer,” said the com. “Archer here, go ahead,” said the Captain. “Captain, I have revived Ven Dath. He wishes to speak with you,” said Phlox. “On my way,” said Archer. **** Archer arrived in sick bay to find Ven Dath covered in some sort of sticky substance and with several tubes running into his body. He wore an oxygen mask, his breath rasping in his throat as he sucked air in. He was in the far corner of sick bay, surrounded by curtains which Phlox pulled closed around his patient as he came over to speak with Archer. “I have him on pain medication, but he wouldn’t allow me to drug him sufficiently to alleviate all his pain,” said Phlox. “And the gunk on his skin?” asked Archer. “An excretion from the Denebian slug. It has remarkable healing powers when it comes to burns, I’m hoping that it will be able to restore his skin. The internal injuries will be more difficult. Even assuming an operation was successful I doubt I would be able to repair all of the damage. He is dying, Captain, and although I’m doing everything I can, I don’t think it will be enough,” said Phlox. “Have you told him?” asked Archer. “Yes and he has asked to speak with you about it,” said Phlox. Archer nodded and drew back the curtains. Ven Dath pulled the oxygen mask down with a shaking hand so that it rested on his chin. “It seems that there was a flaw in our bargain, Archer,” rasped Ven Dath. “I underestimated the level of your medical technology.” “I never said that we’d be able to make you well. All you asked for was passage off Harrar station and medical attention, you have both of those. Now tell me how to save Trip,” said Archer. “I’m dying Archer, why should I tell you anything. You’re the one who killed me,” said Ven Dath. “Then what difference does it make if you tell me how to get rid of the nanites,” said Archer. “None, except that if one of your own dies then perhaps that is payment for what you did to me,” said Ven Dath. “I could take you back to Harrar,” said Archer. “A fate no worse than my current one,” said Ven Dath. “This wasn’t our agreement. I’ve held up my end of the bargain,” said Archer. “If you have any decency left in you then you’ll tell me what I need to know.” “You’ve forgotten who I am, Archer. I’m the person who supervised the torture of your Chief Engineer. I’ve killed more men for the advancement of science than I can count. What would one more death be to me,” said Ven Dath. Phlox appeared at the gap in the curtains. “You would have completed your life’s work if you perfect the removal process. If you would allow me to, I could work with you. However, I need a starting point in order to do that.” “I’m not stupid, Doctor, I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to appeal to my scientific curiosity. However, you are correct, I would like to see my work completed and your offer is tempting,” said Ven Dath. “So you’ll do it?” asked Archer. “Yes, I believe I will,” said Ven Dath. “I will work for as long as I can.” “Thank you,” said Archer. “There is no guarantee that I will be successful. Save your thanks, Archer, for when I have accomplished my task,” said Ven Dath. **** Travis piloted T’Pol to their destination. They had to be careful not to show too much interest in their target, so Travis had plotted a course that would take them close to the weather station but would look as if they were merely on their way to Earth. “How close do you need to be, Sub-commander?” asked Travis. “Within five kilometres of the station should suffice,” said T’Pol. “That’s cutting it fine, we’ll be within range of their sensors,” said Travis. “I am hoping that a shuttlepod won’t draw any undue attention on the course that you have plotted,” replied T’Pol. “Fingers crossed you’re right,” said Travis as he manoeuvred in for their fly past. “We’re only going to get one go at this. Are you ready?” “Yes, Ensign,” said T’Pol. She had already spent most of the journey to their current location checking the scanners so that they would be in perfect working order for when it came time to use them. “Okay, here we go,” said Travis. He approached the station as if he was vectoring for a landing on Earth. He slowed down as much as he dared to give T’Pol the longest amount of time possible to complete her scans. An urgent beep drew his attention on the control panel. “Sub-commander, we’re being scanned.” “I only need another forty seconds to complete the scan,” said T’Pol. “That could be a problem, if they scan us and detect a Vulcan biosign then we could be in trouble,” said Travis. “We need to get out of here now.” There weren’t many Starfleet vessels that would have a Vulcan aboard. If this was the location where Commander Tucker was being held, it wouldn’t take them much to put two and two together and work out that the shuttle came from Enterprise. If the weather station knew that they were mounting a rescue operation then that would make life much harder and could even put Commander Tucker in danger. The worst that might happen was if they decided to move the Commander somewhere else, then they might never find him again. “Twenty seconds, Ensign,” said T’Pol, calmly. The seconds dragged by, seeming much longer to Travis than they actually were. As a pilot he was much more used to reacting quickly than being patient. “My scans are complete. Please take us back to Enterprise,” said T’Pol. “Is that station where they’re holding Commander Tucker?” asked Travis, unable to wait any longer for an answer. “Yes, Ensign,” replied T’Pol. “I suggest you make haste, the Commander’s life signs are not optimal.” “Yes, Ma’am,” said Travis with feeling, and kicked in full speed as he made a U-turn back towards Enterprise. **** Admiral Forrest had been surprised when he unexpectedly received a data-chip in the mail that morning. Usually anything which could be put on a data-chip could just as easily be sent via the network. There was no return address or even a note enclosed to suggest where it had come from. He was even more surprised when he looked at the contents of the data-chip, it detailed how Lieutenant Reed had been having an affair with one of his pupils at the academy. This was four years ago now, but it was still a grave accusation. Enterprise certainly had more than its fair share of trouble at the moment. He immediately contacted Captain Archer to bring the allegations to his attention. When Archer answered the com, he looked weary and as if he hadn’t slept for a while. “Jon, I’ve just received information that Lieutenant Reed has broken the fraternisation regulations,” said Admiral Forrest. “Lieutenant Reed brought the matter to my attention five days ago,” said Archer. “Then why didn’t you bring it to my attention, Captain,” said Forrest, crossly. “There’s more to it than that, sir,” said Archer. “The people that kidnapped Commander Tucker were using it to blackmail Lieutenant Reed into turning a blind eye to what they were doing. I expect it was them that sent the information to you. At the time they were still holding Ensign Carruthers hostage to ensure his co-operation. If I had told you, then it might have placed Ensign Carruthers in danger.” “I assume that Ensign Carruthers is now safe?” asked Forrest. “Yes, sir. She’s on board Enterprise,” said Archer. “God damn it, Jon, a scandal like this is the last thing that Starfleet needs. We already have the xenophobes breathing down our necks to get us to shut down the space program, they don’t need more fuel for the fire,” said Forrest. “This is extremely serious. Not only was she Reed’s junior officer but she was also his pupil. It wasn’t just against regulations, it was unethical as well.” “The relationship is over, sir,” said Archer. “Lieutenant Reed is well aware of what he has done.” “I would never have believed it of Reed if I didn’t have the proof staring me in the face. He has always been a model officer,” said Forrest. “You know the penalty for this, Jon. At the very least he’s facing jail time, and a demotion, at the worst he could be given a dishonourable discharge. He certainly won’t be allowed to serve on Enterprise again.” “Admiral, Lieutenant Reed is the best Armoury Officer in the fleet. I don’t see why he should be punished for something which happened before Enterprise launched and is now over,” said Archer. “Jon, that isn’t the point and you know it,” said Forrest. “We can’t make exceptions simply because he wasn’t found out until now. It would send a message that we don’t care about fraternisation so long as we don’t find out about it.” “I’m just saying that the fraternisation rules were put in place to prevent an abuse of power and as far as I can see that didn’t happen here,” said Archer. “I don’t want to lose my Armoury Officer. I’m already looking at having to replace my Science Officer and Chief Engineer, one to some ridiculous Vulcan tribunal and the other to ill health. If we have to replace the entire senior staff the morale on this ship will plummet. This crew has been to hell and back, they don’t need this as well.” “I’m aware of that, but there may be nothing I can do. Lieutenant Reed has dug his own hole, I can only work within the rules to help him out,” said Forrest. “I’ll do my best, but I can’t guarantee anything at the moment.” “All I’m asking is that you don’t take him off Enterprise. You might want to remind people that Lieutenant Reed risked his life to prevent the destruction of Earth more than once,” said Archer. “I will, Jon, I will,” said Forrest. “I’ll keep you updated. Any news on Commander Tucker?” “We think we may have found where they took him, but I’m waiting for T’Pol to return with some data to confirm that. Lieutenant Reed has already begun drawing up plans for a rescue mission. We should have him back by tomorrow if everything goes according to plan,” said Archer. “Good luck, Jon. I think you’re going to need it,” said Admiral Forrest. ****End of Chapter Seventeen**** T’Pol and Mayweather docked the shuttle in the bay and immediately made their way to the bridge with T’Pol’s sensor data. She went to the Captain’s Ready Room, knocking but not waiting for the call to enter. “T’Pol, what did you find?” asked Archer, looking up from his work. “Commander Tucker is on the weather station. He is not well,” said T’Pol. “We need to get to him quickly.” “I’ll tell Malcolm to move the rescue up,” said Archer, his hand moving towards the com button. “There is something else,” said T’Pol. “Commander Tucker was not the only source of nanite scan signatures.” “What?” asked Archer. “How many?” “Commander Tucker has approximately two billion nanites in his bloodstream. We detected approximately two trillion nanites on the weather station. That would be enough nanites to infect thousands of people,” said T’Pol. “They can’t all have come from Trip,” said Archer. “How did they get them?” “They would only have needed to take some nanites from the Commander. If they had the correct conditions and information they could speed up the replication of the nanites,” said T’Pol. “So they’ve got a nanites farm. What are they planning on doing with them, T’Pol?” asked Archer. “That is unknown,” replied T’Pol. “However I do not believe that they have done this purely for scientific curiosity.” **** Enam had tired quickly of sick bay. Now she and Ghanima were exploring the ship with the typical curiosity of the Tanu. She and her daughter had already located the mess hall, Engineering and the observation lounge. Finally she came to a heavy looking door on a corridor. It had human script lettering on the bulkhead beside the door but she had never taught herself how to read the human language, only speak it. She decided to open the door and find out what was on the other side of it. She pulled back the hatch to reveal the Armoury. She was immediately interested in what she saw. The arrays of weapons and the controls called out to her to inspect them. Unfortunately there were several humans present who would no doubt want her to leave just as they had done in Engineering. She spotted Lieutenant Reed and went over to him. “What’s going on?” she asked. Reed was startled slightly by her silent approach. “Enam, what are you doing here?” “Exploring, it’s what I do,” said Enam. “This is a restricted area and no place for children,” said Reed, removing a broken phase pistol that was waiting to be repaired from Ghanima’s small hands. Ghanima looked at him crossly. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” Reed added. “You know, you humans can be incredibly dull sometimes,” said Enam. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe I could help you? I am a professional guide.” Ghanima had given up trying to retrieve the phase pistol while Reed was watching and had moved off to inspect a torpedo. “That wasn’t what I heard,” replied Reed. “I heard that you were a professional thief.” “So? You’re trying to steal back Commander Tucker, aren’t you?” asked Enam. “I suppose you could put it like that,” said Reed. He sighed. He saw no harm in accepting her help and he did need it, the station was proving a difficult nut to crack. It had an awful lot of security features for a weather station. “Fine, these are the schematics of the weather station. I need a way in and a way out. This is where we think they’re holding Commander Tucker.” “It’s very central,” said Enam, “and probably well guarded.” “Really, I hadn’t thought of that,” said Reed sarcastically. Apparently the Tanu did not have sarcasm or she was just ignoring his tone because Enam carried on oblivious. “Well obviously. He is their prize. He must be worth a lot of money to them.” “I don’t know about being worth money,” said Reed, “but he is definitely important to them.” “This central shaft runs the length of the station,” said Enam. “Maybe we could use it to penetrate to the level that we need.” “I’d looked at that but there’s a problem,” said Reed. “Traps?” asked Enam, her eyes lighting up. “I guess you could call them that. Laser grids are placed at intervals up and down the shaft. They turn them off if they need to do maintenance in the shaft but we won’t have that luxury,” said Reed. “If they can be turned off then there’s a way in,” said Enam. “That’s your entrance. Now getting out is another matter.” “Yes, a far more tricky endeavour. Not only will we have alerted them to our presence but we don’t know how badly the Commander has been injured. If T’Pol’s right then he may not be in any state to help us with his rescue. We have to plan for a difficult time.” “You sound as if you’ve done this before,” said Enam. “Rescued Trip?” said Reed. “I’m beginning to lose count.” A cold feeling gripped his stomach as he remembered finding Trip on the Xindi ship, tortured and unaware. He had thought he’d been too late until he felt the thready beat of Trip’s pulse under his fingers. “Planned for difficulties,” said Enam. “That too,” said Reed. “There’s another part to this mission as well. We have to find out what they’re up to. There must be a reason behind the kidnapping.” “We need a diversion,” said Enam. “Actually all we really need is to split their forces,” said Reed. “How many men were you planning on taking with you?” asked Enam, innocently. “Five or six. I doubt that I’ll persuade the Captain to stay behind while I do my job, so better say six,” said Reed. “Make that seven and I think you might be in with a chance,” said Enam, “especially if one of those seven is me.” “Eight,” said a familiar voice from the door. Reed turned to see Shran leaning against the doorframe. “Has my Armoury suddenly turned into Piccadilly Circus?” asked Reed, annoyed. “What are you doing out of sick bay?” “I got fed up with that Denobulan nursemaid fussing over me,” said Shran. “It sounds like you’re going to need help with rescuing Commander Tucker. I’m offering you my help. I prefer it when your Captain owes me so I thought I’d get the score table off to a good start.” “What makes you think I’m going to take either of you with us?” asked Reed. “Because you need me,” answered both Shran and Enam in unison, both turning to stare at the other. “Oh good,” said Reed, bitterly, “and I thought this was going to be a simple rescue mission.” **** “How are you doing today?” asked a voice that Trip recognised. He was having a lot of trouble focusing his eyes at the moment. He had no doubt that he’d been drugged heavily and that was why he was having so much trouble making his body respond to his demands upon it. He managed to turn his head a little so that he could see the figure who stood outside his cell looking in at him. Davis again. The past few days Davis had come by regularly to taunt Trip and the Engineer was getting very tired of it. “Been better,” mumbled Trip, “but then I guess you knew that already.” “If you hadn’t been so much trouble then we wouldn’t have had to do this,” replied Davis. “Of course, I wanted to beat you into submission but the doctors tell us you wouldn’t survive that. This is almost as good though. If we have to keep drugging you like this you’ll eventually become addicted, unable to live without the drugs we give you. Now that would be an interesting experiment.” Trip closed his eyes trying to block out the unpleasant dizziness and floating feeling. It didn’t work, the dizziness and dislocation were as much inside him as out. The nanites had long since given up trying to communicate with his befuddled brain. Not that they had been much help before, but their silence was even more ominous than their previous unintelligible chattering. He’d stopped trusting their information as soon as he’d realised that he was being drugged, he knew how that could effect the nanites. The reports he’d been receiving from them didn’t seem to be correct, one moment they told him that all their systems were fine and the next they were shouting warnings at him. “Anyway,” continued Davis, “we’ve got something different planned for you today.” The door opened and some doctors entered the cell. Trip opened his eyes and tried to focus on what was going on. They wheeled equipment into the room and Trip recognised it immediately. Sound modulation equipment. “They tell me that this will reprogram the nanites,” said Davis. “When we found your notes on how the nanites can be reprogrammed with sound, the science guys got very excited. Of course I’m more interested in just what it will do to you if we hit the wrong note.” “You don’t understand what you’re doing,” said Trip. “You could destroy the nanites or yourselves. We don’t know everything that they’re capable of. At the moment the failsafes are turned on but if you mess with them then I don’t know what might happen.” “Then we’ll just have to find out,” said Davis. Last time Trip had tried this it had almost killed him, he knew he was now in a lot of danger. If he’d realised back then just how reckless it was to mess about with the nanites then he probably wouldn’t have conducted the experiment, even if it did mean that he was able to transmute them into a benign force. He knew exactly how much destructive power the nanites could wield, he’d seen Ven Dath’s red prototypes and he knew that they had to be derived from the same nanites that lived within his body. “Please, you’ve got to listen to me,” said Trip. Davis and the scientists ignored Trip. He gave up fighting against the drugs they had given him and sank into oblivion as they turned on the sound modulation equipment. **** By the time Archer arrived in the Armoury to be briefed on Reed’s plan, Shran, Enam and Reed were discussing the fine details. Reed had to admit that the two aliens had helped considerably with refining his ideas and now he was far more confident that the rescue mission was actually going to be a success. “What is going on here?” asked Archer. “You’re meant to be in sick bay.” “We were bored,” said Enam. “You didn’t expect to keep me in sick bay with a whole ship to explore, did you, Archer?” “I had hoped that you might at least ask before you went exploring,” said Archer. He was also wondering why the usually diligent Armoury Officer hadn’t kicked both Shran and Ghanima out of his Armoury. “Actually, sir, Enam and Commander Shran have been quite helpful,” said Reed. “Enam solved the problem of how to turn off the laser grids so that we can enter the space station and the Commander has been helping me with our exit plan.” “Yes, but why are they helping you?” asked Archer. “I figured that you got me off Harrar with Ghanima, so I should help you get your friend off that space station,” said Enam. “Tanu do have some honour, you know. We don’t like unpaid debts any more than your blue friend does.” Her tail twisted in the air behind her as she talked. “What about you, Shran? What’s your motive here?” said Archer looking at the Andorian. “Let’s just say that I’m getting my first shot in early, before I end up owing you for something,” said Shran dryly. If the situation had been different then Archer might have laughed. As it was, Trip was in danger and he didn’t have time to joke or argue. He was also disturbed that Shran felt that he needed to store up favours with Archer. What was it that the Andorian wasn’t telling him? He decided that if he couldn’t beat them then joining them might be the next best thing. “I don’t suppose that I can dissuade either of you from coming with us?” “Not even a remote possibility,” said Enam. “No,” said Shran in a tone that refused any argument. “Very well then,” said Archer. “Welcome to the team. Run through the plan for me Malcolm.” The Lieutenant was about to begin when T’Pol entered with a padd in her hand. “I have the scans that you requested, Lieutenant,” said T’Pol, moving to join the party clustered around the Armoury console. “Thank you, Sub-commander,” said Reed, accepting the padd. “Thanks, T’Pol,” said Archer. “You’d better be getting back to Earth if you’re going to make it in time for the verdict pronouncement from the Dohn Zhu.” “I had intended to be late,” said T’Pol. “Late? Why?” asked Archer. “I will be accompanying you to rescue Commander Tucker,” said T’Pol. “T’Pol, if you’re late…” said Archer, and trailed off. He honestly wasn’t sure what would happen if T’Pol didn’t arrive for the verdict of her Dohn Zhu but he was pretty certain that it couldn’t be anything good. “I will most likely be found guilty in my absence,” said T’Pol. “However, you will need my technical knowledge to obtain the evidence that we require against Senator Nash and Lieutenant Davis.” “You’re risking everything that you’ve worked for, T’Pol,” said Archer. “You’ll just be proving to them that you’re as unreliable as they say you are.” “My time on Enterprise has taught me many things,” said T’Pol. “One of which is that the needs of the few occasionally outweigh the needs of the many. You have always said that I am as much a part of this crew as any of its human members. I will not be left behind.” “Malcolm, I guess you’d better make room for one more,” said Archer. He had no wish to be on the wrong side of T’Pol and after all, she was the one who would have to bear the consequences. **** Reed had decided to keep the rescue team to eight members. He had handpicked three security officers to join the five that they had already decided upon. Ensigns Hooper, Scott and Prior had been the lucky ones. They assembled in the transporter room in their space suits. Hess was at the controls, making the final few checks to the system. It had only recently been repaired and she was taking no chances with the lives of the rescue team. “You know that this is the absolute limit of the transporter’s operation,” said Hess. “We’ve been over this, Lieutenant,” said Archer. “We know the risk and we know what we’re doing.” “Yes, sir, it’s just that Commander Tucker will kill me when he gets back and finds out that I’ve over-clocked the transporter,” said Hess. “He told me never to do this, ever, and threatened some pretty dire consequences if I tried it.” “Don’t worry, Lieutenant, I’ll explain it to the Commander,” said Archer. He knew there was a very good reason why Trip wouldn’t let anyone do what they had just done to the transporter. Much like the phase cannons, the transporter could be made more powerful if it was allowed to draw power directly from the impulse engine. The extra energy could turn it into a long range transporter which could drop the rescue team in space next to the weather station. It was a one shot deal, however, the power needed to transport the team that far would blow every circuit in the transporter assembly. Hess had estimated that its repair might take a week and would probably mean getting replacement parts from Jupiter Station. When they were out in deep space they didn’t have access to Jupiter Station’s stores and hence Trip’s warnings not to overload the transporter. Some things were just too expensive and delicate to keep replacing. “Let’s go,” said Archer. The team stepped up on to the dais and sealed their space suits. If this worked then their next steps would be in open space. Once everyone had confirmed that their space suits were sealed and checked, Archer nodded and Hess. She nodded in return, her eyes telling them in no uncertain terms to bring back her boss safe and activated the transporter. The transporter room disappeared in a haze of sparkling air and suddenly eight people hung in space with the Earth beneath their feet. The weather station was to their right. The station’s sensors shouldn’t be able to detect them, their scans were looking for ships rather than men, if their intelligence was correct. Eight bodies hanging isolated in space shouldn’t be a big enough target for them to detect. They were maintaining radio silence until they were inside the station, they had no guarantee that the station was not listening in to the frequency of their suit radios. Archer activated his jet pack and the rest of the party followed him towards the station. He regulated the thrust carefully, if he was too fast then the momentum would throw him into the station and bounce him back out into space. That could be a disaster because he might not have enough fuel to get back or he could injure himself severely and they didn’t have the time or resources to deal with injuries. Archer was worried enough about how much Trip was going to slow them down. They landed softly on the outside of the station, only Enam going a little too fast, Reed having to reach out a hand to grab her as she almost detached herself from the station’s exterior. She nodded her thanks to the Lieutenant before attaching her safety line and they began the task of opening the maintenance hatch. Archer let Reed and Enam do their work while he and the rest of the team kept watch for trouble. The maintenance hatch was linked to a number of security systems that needed to be bypassed before they could enter the station, but Enam and Reed knew what they were doing. A vibration transmitted by the station’s hull let them know that the hatch had been opened. However they still had to wait as Reed and Enam disabled the laser grids that ran up and down the shaft. Supposedly these were to prevent delicate equipment being damaged by debris but Archer had his doubts about whether they had ever been put to that use. Reed gave them the signal that they had been successful and then lowered himself down through the opening. The others followed him down the narrow shaft, barely wide enough for them to drop down with all the equipment that they carried. Archer had flash backs to the Aquatic’s level on Harrar station, but he reminded himself that there would be no giant squid lurking at the end of this tunnel. About half way down the shaft was the exit that they needed. There were only three entrances to the maintenance shaft, one at the top, one at the bottom and one in the middle. The middle one would take them directly to the heart of the station. Again there was more security to be bypassed but Reed was getting a feel for their systems now so this took much less time. He pulled back the hatch and they entered an airlock. Finally they stepped out into the station corridors. Thus far their plan had worked perfectly. They removed their helmets and breathed in the air of the weather station. They took off the space suits which were clumsy and would impede their movement and stowed them in the airlock. “So far, so good,” whispered Archer. “Everyone okay?” He received a series of nods and affirmatives from the team. They shrugged their packs onto their backs and prepared to move out. T’Pol and Enam would take Ensigns Scott and Prior and make for the computer core to attempt to retrieve whatever they could on the plans Nash had for the nanites. Meanwhile Archer, Reed, Shran and Ensign Hooper would find Trip. The two teams would rendezvous back at the station’s shuttle bay where they would find transport off the station. T’Pol hadn’t wanted to take command of the secondary mission, wanting to be with Archer when he found Trip but eventually she recognised that it made more sense for her to use her computer skills to extract the information that they needed. Archer caught the eye of his Vulcan second in command, “good luck and don’t be late.” T’Pol didn’t reply but gave an almost imperceptible nod of her head, then she and her team moved away down the corridor in search of answers. **** Archer and his team wound around labyrinthine corridors, keeping out of sight of the station’s workforce who were still oblivious to their presence. However, it wasn’t long before they encountered resistance in the shape of some heavily armed guards. Around a corner they could see an opaque glass cell, probably where Trip was being held. They watched as people entered the cell and left again. One of them was Lieutenant Davis, Archer could hear Reed grinding his teeth as they watched Davis check in with the guards before moving off down the corridor towards the control room. They pulled back slightly to assess their options and ducked down a corridor that was lined with glass vats of a strangely moving black liquid. Reed recognised them as vats of nanites immediately. A metal walkway ran across the top of the vats and crossed the corridor, leading to another doorway on the upper level. Pieces of equipment, probably for monitoring the vats, were spaced at intervals along the walkway. “This is the nanite storage area,” said Reed. “There must be billions of nanites here.” “T’Pol’s scans were right then,” said Archer, looking curiously at the vats. Something about the way that the liquid moved in the vats was distinctly unsettling. “As interesting as this science project is,” said Shran sarcastically, “we are working to a deadline.” “You’re right. How are we going to do this?” asked Archer. “We don’t really have any choice but to go for a head on attack,” said Reed. “We already have the advantage of surprise,” added Shran, “two guards and a few scientists should be no problem.” “Except that they have Trip and might try to use him as a hostage,” said Reed. “If they can’t see us coming then it shouldn’t be a problem,” replied Shran. “The guards can still see us, even if the people inside the cell can’t,” said Reed. “Then we had better take them down before they can alert anyone inside the cell,” said Shran with a hint of impatience. “Agreed,” said Archer, stepping in before Reed could reply. “Let’s make this quick and get Trip out of here.” “Yes, sir,” said Reed. Shran’s antennae twitched. “Someone’s coming,” he said. “Take cover.” Suddenly, a group of guards led by Lieutenant Davis appeared at the end of the corridor. “There they are, kill them,” said Davis. The guards wasted no time in opening fire on the small group who threw themselves against the wall. Reed using the steps up to the walkway as somewhere to snipe from. He took down several guards but more seemed to appear. “Sir!” Reed shouted to Archer. “We can use the walkway to get out and then double back to get Trip. I’ll cover you.” Archer nodded and made a dive for Reed’s position. He waved for Shran and Hooper to join him and they too made it to the stairs. They gradually edged up the stairs whilst keeping the guards pinned so that they couldn’t follow. “Get going, sir,” said Reed. “I’ll hold them here.” “Malcolm…” began Archer. “This mess is my responsibility, let me deal with it,” said Reed, before Archer could get any further. “Be careful,” said Archer. They were under fire and running out of time, this was not the right time to pick an argument with his stubborn Armoury Officer. “We’ll see you in the shuttle bay.” “Yes, sir,” said Reed and he kept up a steady rate of fire while the others made their escape. However, Davis had spotted Archer, Shran and Hooper leaving and Reed watched in dismay as Davis ordered his men to go back and guard the cell. “It’s just you and me now, Reed. I think it’s time we had it out between us, don’t you?” shouted Davis, his Northern Irish accent sounding harsh in the confined space of the corridor. “It ends here, Davis. You’re a disgrace to the uniform,” replied Reed. “My bosses wouldn’t agree with you,” said Davis, “I’m useful to them and we’re as much Starfleet as you are.” “I don’t care what you think. Starfleet is not in the business of kidnapping and extortion. The man you’re holding is a good friend of mine and he’s twice the man you’ll ever be,” said Reed. “He’s the kind of man that makes Starfleet an organisation that I’m proud to be part of.” “It’s a terrible shame then that you won’t be part of it for much longer,” said Davis. “I’m willing to pay for my mistakes. The question is, are you?” said Reed. Davis stepped out from his hiding place, his phase pistol in his hand. He moved towards Reed’s position, climbing up the steps to the walkway where Reed hid, watching for Reed to make even the slightest move. “I don’t make mistakes,” said Davis, “but you did when you didn’t get out of here with your friends.” Reed stood, holding his phase pistol on Davis. The two of them stood looking at each other, grey eyes meeting green in an unwavering stare of pure hatred for one another. “It seems we have an impasse,” said Reed. “I don’t need a phase pistol to beat you, Reed,” said Davis and threw his weapon into one of the vats of nanites. “Now are you going to prove that you are the coward that I think you are, or face me in a fair fight.” Reed had his suspicions that the fight would be anything but fair but he too discarded his phase pistol into one of the vats of nanites. The weapon sank slowly into the black pool of moving liquid and was quickly dissolved by the hungry nanites. Before he had a chance to think, Davis had barrelled into him and now both men rolled on the floor trying to gain the upper hand. Reed landed a good punch on Davis’ jaw and pushed his attacker off him while Davis reeled from the blow. Reed leapt to his feet and into fighting stance as Davis did the same. They moved into a familiar rhythm of punch and block, each as fast as the other. Reed reminded himself that Davis had been through exactly the same training programs that he had, it was almost as if he was fighting himself. Except Davis hadn’t spent the last year chasing Xindi in the Expanse, nor had he played hide and seek around Enterprise’s corridors with Xindi insectoids, or fought Xindi reptilians on a sphere weapon that was attempting to destroy Earth. Reed had an edge of experience that had been hard won during his time on Enterprise. Reed aimed a sweeping kick at Davis’ left leg and his opponent went down as he’d planned, but when Reed went to complete the move by following up with an arm lock, Davis was already rolling out of the way. Davis caught Reed in the ribs with a sharp blow from his elbow. It was exactly the move that Reed would have made had he been in Davis’ position and it hurt like hell. While he was down, Davis took the opportunity presented by Reed’s weakened state and kicked him in the stomach. It reminded Reed of fighting Hayes, the MACO Major had known every move and counter in the book. Then he remembered how he’d beaten Hayes. “What was that?” Hayes had asked as he lay panting on the floor where Reed had just thrown him. “Just a little Klingon move that I picked up,” Reed had replied. Hayes had barely been able to pick himself up off the deck to get ready for another round. Reed realised that he knew how to beat this man. Stop thinking Starfleet, start thinking alien. He rolled to his feet and tried out some Vulcan martial arts that T’Pol had taught him. He aimed a well placed kick at Davis’ stomach and caught the Lieutenant off guard. Davis fell backwards onto the railing. Reed now attacked with a series of punches, using his smaller size to give him more speed against Davis, keeping out of range of his attacks until he knew where to place his own. He had no doubt that T’Pol would be lecturing him now on conservation of energy but he didn’t have time to stick to all the precepts of the Vulcan martial art. Reed could tell that Davis was having more difficulty now, he’d barely managed to block Reed’s punches and the kick had completely wrong footed him. Reed followed up his advantage with a chop to his opponent’s shoulders and then he closed both hands around Davis’ throat and began to squeeze. Davis lent back dangerously over the railings, hanging over the vats of nanites below which roiled with dark black turbulence. Reed could see the panic in Davis’ eyes as he realised the position that Reed had him in. Suddenly Davis kicked out and Reed thought he’d given away his advantage as pain exploded in his right knee. He cried out but didn’t loosen his hold on his enemy, however Davis now had a grip on Reed and was intent on taking him over the railings. Davis pulled on Reed, jerking him hard so that he lost his footing and he was thrown over Davis towards the seething blackness below. Reed kept hold of Davis, pulling the Lieutenant with him as he fell, releasing his grip when he realised he needed both hands to stop his fall. Reed threw out a hand and grabbed the support strut for the railings, saving himself just a few feet above the nanite vats. However, Davis had followed Reed over the metal bars and hadn’t been so lucky, he fell into the black swirling fluid. Reed watched as Davis tried first to swim in the liquid and then clawed at the impossibly high and slippery sides of the vat before he disappeared under the surface. Davis was drowning, his nose and mouth filling with cloying blackness which wormed its way into his body. He managed to rise once more, his hand pathetically held out in desperation, before the nanites closed over his head with a finality and hunger that made Reed’s stomach rebel. Reed hung from the walk way trying to control his nausea, his shoulders beginning to ache with the exertion of hanging on. There was nothing he could do for Davis, the nanites would already be infecting him and Reed had no wish to join him in the vat below. He reminded himself that these things were running through Trip’s body and that was why he was here. He used his remaining strength to pull himself back up onto the walkway and he rolled over on to his back, breathing hard. He pulled himself up by the railing, his knee protesting when he tried to place weight on it. This was going to make the rest of the mission very painful but at least one obstacle had been dealt with. **** T’Pol, Enam and the two Ensigns moved carefully through the metallic corridors of the weather station towards the control centre and the computer core. T’Pol knew that she was the only one who stood a chance of completing this part of the mission, logically she was the one who had to do this, however she still found herself unhappy that she would not be there personally to find Commander Tucker. It was not logical, she realised that. Undoubtedly it was a reaction which the Dohn Zhu would have gladly latched onto as proof that she was not thinking clearly. However to her it was a simple thought process; she needed to see Commander Tucker as soon as possible, ascertain that he was indeed safe, that meant she had to accompany the rescue party. So she had. And she found she did not care that the Dohn Zhu would find her guilty in her absence, because even if they sent her back to Vulcan, she would know that her friend was safe once again. She moved down the corridor with a graceful motion that didn’t use an ounce more energy than required, Enam following close behind, the two Ensigns bringing up the rear. So far Enam’s exceptional hearing and sense of smell had saved them twice from being discovered, but now they were faced with the entrance to the control centre with two well armed humans guarding it. T’Pol turned to indicate to Enam her plan for dealing with the guards, however the Tanu was gone. T’Pol glanced back towards the guards and saw Enam approaching them. She couldn’t believe that Enam was being so reckless, surely she knew that they would most likely shoot her on sight. T’Pol watched in disbelief as Enam walked right up to the first guard and ran a long finger down the side of his face while she said something very quietly and caught the eye of the second guard. Both guards were obviously stunned by her appearance but neither of them had yet moved to shoot her. T’Pol really couldn’t believe her eyes as Enam put a hand on the chest of the second guard and pushed him against the wall while she kissed him passionately. She had her other hand in a place that T’Pol considered inappropriate. Enam moved so that she stood between the two guards and held out her hand to the first guard. The guard took it and raised it to his lips to kiss. Suddenly the hand had turned into a fist and was flying towards the guard’s eye. As her fist connected with the first guard, she had whirled and planted a kick in the midriff of the second guard. He doubled over in pain as she followed up with a second kick and a blow to the head which knocked him against the wall hard enough to send him into unconsciousness. The first guard had obligingly hit his own head on the wall as he had fallen from the force of Enam’s first punch and now lay in crumpled heap at Enam’s feet. “Suckers,” she said, standing over the two unconscious guards. “You can come out now,” she added to T’Pol and the two Ensigns. “That was extremely reckless,” said T’Pol. “You should have consulted with me before you decided upon this course of action.” “It worked, you should be thanking me,” said Enam. T’Pol wondered what had possessed the Captain to allow this Tanu trouble-maker to accompany them on this rescue mission. Obviously pairing a hot blooded Tanu with a logical Vulcan would cause friction. T’Pol took a deep breath and delved deep inside herself for control of the emotions that wanted to emerge. “That may be the case,” said T’Pol, “but I am still in charge of this mission and you will follow my directions or you can meet us in the shuttlebay.” “What’s the big deal? I dealt with the guards, let’s move on,” said Enam. “I’m only here because I owe your Captain one, so just remember that I’m not under your command.” “It is illogical not to work together,” replied T’Pol. “It may be illogical, but it’s what was needed,” said Enam. “Next time I’ll ask permission first, happy now?” “Vulcans cannot be happy, but I am satisfied that you will not endanger this mission further,” said T’Pol. She turned to Ensign Prior. “How many occupants are there in the control room?” “Five,” said Prior, looking down at his scanner. “None of them appear to be armed.” “Set your phasers on stun,” said T’Pol. “Ensign Scott, tie these men up and then we will be ready to take the control room.” “Yes, Sub-commander,” replied Ensign Scott. Moments later five scientists lay stunned on the floor of the control room and Ensign Scott stood guarding the door and their two prisoners. T’Pol sat down at one of the consoles and began the process of cracking the station computer. The encryption was heavy and she was having difficulty pinning down the exact key that she needed. Enam came and sat down at the console beside her own and looked over her shoulder. “You could try this,” said the Tanu, tapping a couple of keys. Data now scrolled down the screen for T’Pol to view. She directed an interested look at Enam, one eyebrow raised in question. “Even thieves need to be able to use a computer,” she said in explanation, “not everything that I stole was locked up in a vault.” “I see,” said T’Pol, turning back to the screen. “Perhaps you could help me with finding and downloading the information that I require.” “No problem,” said Enam and the two women went to work in earnest. Ten minutes later they had downloaded considerable amounts of information on the nanites and were finding more as they dug deeper into the database. Once they had everything that they needed they would erase the database. “This is most peculiar,” said T’Pol. “It appears that they have plans of all the major Vulcan consulates on Earth and lists of staff rotations.” Then T’Pol realised that their whole plan was laid out before her. **** Archer, Shran and Hooper made their escape swiftly from the nanite storage room and looped back to the cell. They watched as guards ran to take up position around the cell. “This wasn’t what I had in mind when we discussed getting Trip out of here quietly. How did they know we were here?” whispered Archer to Shran. “When we walked into the nanite storage room, I thought I picked up a high pitched hum. We must have tripped a sensor,” said Shran. “Why didn’t you say something?” asked Archer. “I did,” said Shran. “Yeah, sure, after it was too late,” said Archer. “I didn’t realise what it was until the guards arrived. Just because I hear something doesn’t mean I know what it is,” said Shran. “Well we’re stuck with the situation, how do we deal with it?” replied Archer. “Sir, I have the stun grenades,” said Hooper. “No, we can’t risk hitting Commander Tucker. We don’t know what condition he’s in,” said Archer. Stunning a healthy person was one thing, but stunning someone who was already weak from illness could kill them. “Reed has their leader occupied,” said Shran, “we should take advantage of that. I could create a diversion while you and the Ensign get Commander Tucker.” “What did you have in mind?” asked Archer. “This,” said Shran, and leapt up before Archer could stop him. He fired at two of the guards and raced off down the corridor being pursued by at least half the cell guards, leaving the others in complete disarray. “He certainly has courage,” said Hooper. “What good will it do us if he gets himself killed?” replied Archer, crossly. “Come on, let’s get Commander Tucker out of here. Shran will just have to meet us in the shuttle bay.” Archer and Hooper stunned the remaining guards who were far too busy wandering what had just happened to notice the two Enterprise officers sneaking up on them. Archer found the key card to open the cell door and pulled it open. He hadn’t known what to expect when he opened the cell door but he had mentally prepared himself for the worst, however when he saw Trip, he couldn’t move for a second. Trip lay on a bed, strapped down by his wrists and ankles in his underwear. He was shivering and pale, staring up at the ceiling and mumbling something that Archer couldn’t quite catch. Hooper entered the cell and Archer was jerked back into action. He moved over to the side of the bed and began to work on the restraints around Trip’s wrists. “Trip, can you hear me?” said Archer urgently, truly concerned for his friend. Trip blinked, stopped mumbling and moved his head with obvious difficulty. He squinted at Archer. “Trip, your eyes,” said Archer. The pupils were so large that they almost completely obscured his blue irises. He knew what it meant and he didn’t like it. “What have they been doing to you?” “Captain?” asked Trip, quietly. “Yeah, it’s me. We’ll have you out of these in a minute,” said Archer, unbelievably pleased to see that Trip had recognised him. Finally he had the restraints around Trip’s wrists free and he threw them open, while Hooper did the same to the ones around Trip’s ankles. Archer got a good look at the bloodied bandages around Trip’s wrists and ankles and found himself getting very angry. “I promise you, they will pay for this,” he said to his friend. Trip just looked at him blankly. Archer was perturbed to hear that he was mumbling again. Something was very wrong and the sooner they got Trip back to Enterprise the better. “Do you think you can stand?” Archer asked Trip as he helped his friend to sit up. Trip sagged against Archer, resting his head on Archer’s shoulder, still shivering. He didn’t seem to have heard the question. Archer decided that there was no way that Trip was going to be able to stand on his own. “Ensign, see if you can find a blanket or something.” Hooper nodded and went to see what she could find. She returned a couple of minutes later with a white blanket that Archer wrapped around Trip. “Let’s get out of here,” said Archer. He put Trip’s arm over his shoulder and helped him off the bed carefully. Hooper moved to support Trip on the other side. It wasn’t going to be easy getting to the shuttle bay with Trip barely able to walk but they didn’t have a choice. “Hold it right there,” said a voice from the doorway. Archer turned to see a guard at the door, holding a phase pistol on the three of them and neither he nor Hooper were in any position to jump him or even draw their own weapons. Archer stood completely helpless and angry that he had allowed himself to be surprised this way. Then the guard made a small “oof” sound and was crumpling to the floor. “That’s one you owe me,” said Shran, standing in the doorway with his phase pistol drawn. “What took you so long?” asked Archer. **** Reed knew that he couldn’t leave the vats of nanites for Davis’ superiors to use for whatever scheme they had planned. He carefully modified the stun grenades that he was carrying so that they would overload and hopefully create a large enough explosion that the nanites would be destroyed. At the very least it would break the glass vats and release the nanites to cause havoc on the station. His knee hurt like hell and he was barely able to support himself as he planted the grenades, one beside each of the vats. He was very pleased that he’d come well prepared for this mission. Now all he had to do was find the rest of the rescue party in time, before the vats blew and took half the station with them. If he’d been uninjured he wouldn’t have even worried, but he wasn’t sure whether he could move fast enough while his knee was causing him so much pain. He certainly intended on trying. He could almost hear Davis laughing at the prospect of Reed killing him only to die himself at his own hand. No, that was not going to happen. Reed began to make his slow, painful way down the corridor towards the shuttle bay. **** With Shran taking point, Archer and Hooper were able to concentrate on persuading Trip to walk and carrying him when he missed his footing. Hooper had given Shran the scanner that she had been carrying so that he could check the corridors ahead for life signs and movement. They moved forward as quickly as they could, but with Trip slowing them down they managed little more than a jog. The only blessing so far had been that they had met little resistance. They were almost at the shuttle bay doors when Shran held up a hand to stop them. They heard the sound of feet coming up behind them and took up defensive positions in a doorway. There was the sound of phaser fire and T’Pol and her team dashed around the corner firing back at whoever was chasing them. T’Pol spotted Archer and she joined her CO in the doorway, crouching beside him. “My apologies for our late arrival,” said T’Pol. “As you can see we attracted some unwanted attention.” The six guards who had been chasing them had taken cover behind some metal packing crates that were stacked in the corridor. Archer and T’Pol fired simultaneously back at one of the guards who had been stupid enough to stick his head up a little further than he should have. A full blown phaser battle was now underway in the corridor. Despite the contingent from Enterprise being larger, both sides had defensible positions that would be hard to over run. “Did you find what we were looking for?” asked Archer, between phaser blasts and ducking into the doorway. He checked briefly that he had Trip well protected. “Perhaps. We were also able to remove all data relating to the nanites from the database,” said T’Pol. “What about Nash?” asked Archer. “Shuttle logs indicated that he departed for Earth yesterday,” said T’Pol. “Makes sense he’d be hiding elsewhere,” said Archer. “I was unable to uncover any evidence linking the Senator to this operation,” said T’Pol. “Maybe Trip can tell us something,” said Archer. “What is Commander Tucker’s condition?” asked T’Pol. “Not good. They’ve drugged him with something, he’s fading in and out of awareness,” said Archer. Trip seemed to be following something with his eyes but there didn’t seem to be anything there. “Right now I’m more concerned with how we get to the shuttle bay.” “Of course,” said T’Pol. “I believe you mentioned that you once used the stun setting to light a fire?” “Yes, when Trip and I were stuck on that godforsaken desert planet that you and Malcolm pulled us off,” said Archer. “Perhaps we could destroy those packing crates in the same manner,” said T’Pol. “It’s worth a try,” said Archer and aimed his phase pistol at the crates that guards were hiding behind. The others saw what he was doing and added their own phaser fire to his effort. The packing crates began to glow red, and then white, and suddenly they exploded. The men who were hiding directly behind the crates were stunned by the explosion and flying debris, falling backwards into those who had been behind them. It was a simple matter for the Enterprise officers to take out the remaining guards who no longer had any cover to hide behind. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” said Archer. They were about to move on again when they heard a noise from around the next corner in the corridor. The rescue team all drew their phasers and pointed them towards the source of the sound. Lieutenant Reed limped around the corner and stopped suddenly in the face of the seven phase pistols all pointed at him. “I had hoped for a better welcome,” he said with the slightest trace of a smile on his lips. “Malcolm! What happened?” asked Archer, noting the bruises, drying blood and pronounced limp. “Lieutenant Davis gave me some trouble,” said Reed. “Where is he?” said Archer. “Floating in one of the nanite vats. Very dead indeed I should think by now,” said Reed. “How’s Trip?” “I don’t know. Definitely drugged but we’ll have to get him back to Phlox before we know more,” replied Archer. “It looks as if you could use a visit to Phlox too.” “Archer, there’s movement behind us,” said Shran, looking down at the scanner in his hand. “We should keep moving.” “There’s something else that you should know, I rigged the nanite vats to explode. I didn’t want to leave all those nanites lying around for anyone to get their hands on,” said Reed. “We’ve got about ten minutes before they blow.” “I guess I’ll have to wait to hear about the rest of what happened,” said Archer. “Do you think you can run?” “I can try,” said Reed. “Lean on me,” said Shran. Reed was slightly surprised by the Andorian’s offer, Shran didn’t seem like someone who tolerated weakness but he nodded his agreement. Shran grabbed Reed around the waist and the Lieutenant threw an arm over Shran’s shoulder. Despite Trip and Reed slowing them down, they made it to the shuttle bay with five minutes to spare. Enam and Hooper secured Trip, making sure that he was still well wrapped in blankets. Archer and T’Pol were powering up the shuttle and readying to leave when they felt the vibration through the deck plating. It was unmistakably an indication of an explosion somewhere in the station. “I thought you said ten minutes,” said Archer accusingly. “I must have miscalculated slightly,” said Reed. “To be honest that’s the first time I’ve turned a stun grenade into a bomb and I wasn’t quite sure how it would work. I must remember that the timer is less accurate for longer periods of time when I next do it.” Archer heard Shran muttering something about trigger happy armoury officers just before he started up the shuttle and guided them out of the launch bay. Luckily Reed had been too preoccupied with working out how to improve his stun grenade bombs next time to pay attention to what Shran had said. **** The shuttle trip back to Enterprise was uneventful, something which Archer was profoundly glad of. In many ways it worried him that the station hadn’t launched other shuttles to follow them or tried to stop them some other way, but he guessed that they were too busy dealing with Reed’s impromptu explosion. He knew that he was dealing with some very powerful people and their lack of further action only meant that they had won this battle. The war was still very much up for grabs. Phlox was waiting for them in the shuttle bay with a gurney that they persuaded a dazed Trip to lie down on so that they could get him to sick bay. He still didn’t really seem to know what was going on and his eyes wandered, never focusing on one thing for long, muttering quietly to himself and shivering. Two of Phlox’s assistants wheeled Trip away towards sick bay, while another helped Reed to limp along behind. Reed stopped briefly to tell Ensign Hooper to make sure that Shran was kept under surveillance at all times. “It looks as if you won’t be requiring my services any further,” said Shran, watching the group moving off towards sick bay. “I will bid you and Enterprise farewell.” “Shran, you’re not going anywhere until you tell me what all of this is about,” said Archer. “You turn up with an offer of help for no reason, I think I have you worked out when you try to take Ven Dath back to Andoria, but then you decide to come on the rescue mission and nothing I do will talk you out of it. Now you’re just going to leave. You’ll forgive me if I’m slightly confused.” “Is it so hard to believe that I wanted to help Commander Tucker?” asked Shran. “Yes, it is. I trusted you once before and regretted it,” said Archer. “I know you. You don’t do anything without some benefit to you, even if it’s only to help you sleep better at night.” “Being able to sleep at night isn’t just about having my debts paid,” said Shran, cryptically. “Then tell me what else is going on,” said Archer, staring intently at the Andorian. “You can be very narrow in your thinking, Archer,” said Shran. “Your petty worries aren’t the only game in town.” “I’ve had it up to here with your riddles,” said Archer, crossly. “When we were in the Expanse I told you to decide whose side you were on. Make up your mind, Shran. I don’t care which side you come down on, so long as I know where I stand with you.” “I thought you would have realised by now, Archer. I’m on my own side,” said Shran. “I don’t have time for this,” said Archer. “When you’re ready to explain what’s going on, come and find me.” Archer strode out of the shuttle bay, T’Pol following him, heading towards sickbay. “Whatever you’re up to, Blue, I hope you know what you’re doing,” said Enam, climbing out of the stolen shuttle craft. “That is not your concern,” said Shran. “When are you going to work it out?” asked Enam. “You’ve underestimated him. You keep underestimating him.” “I know first hand what Archer is capable of,” said Shran. “For a pink skin he plays the game well, but he’s an honourable man. He doesn’t understand the necessities of war.” “Unlike you and I,” said Enam with a hint of bitterness. “Take my advice, Commander Shran. Archer is the kind of man you either stand behind or get out of his way, because if you’re in his way, you get trampled.” **** Phlox had his assistants place Trip on the scanner bed so that he could get a good picture of how the nanites were behaving. “I’d prefer if he was asleep for this,” said Phlox. “But given his condition and the amount of drugs that are already in his system, I don’t want to sedate him. Has he been mostly calm?” “Yeah, he’s been pretty quiet apart from whatever it is that he’s muttering. He was dozing on and off on the shuttle,” said Archer. “He’s been through a lot and I’d guess he’s pretty tired.” “Maybe if we wait a bit he will go to sleep naturally,” said Phlox. “Perhaps if he hears your voice that might help.” “Trip, we need you to go to sleep,” said Archer gently. Trip stopped muttering and looked at Archer questioningly. “Do you understand? Sleep?” “Sleep,” said Trip, softly. “That’d be nice.” “You’re safe now, just close your eyes and relax. We’ll look after you,” said Archer. “Okay,” mumbled Trip and, to Archer’s amazement, he closed his eyes and after a couple of minutes was breathing in the even rhythm of sleep. “I didn’t think it would be that easy,” said Archer. “He’s probably quite suggestible at the moment,” said Phlox. “Once I have a full analysis of the drugs in his system, I’ll be able to tell you more.” After Phlox had set the scanner going he used the time while they waited for it to complete its cycle to examine Reed. Archer sat on a chair beside Reed’s bed, T’Pol had opted to monitor the progress of the scanner. It was obvious to the Denobulan that they were both trying unsuccessfully to hide their concern for Commander Tucker. “A chipped patella,” said Phlox after scanning Reed’s knee. “I’m surprised you can even walk.” “When needs must, doctor,” replied Reed. “I expect that it’s very painful,” said Phlox loading a hypospray. “You could say that,” said Reed, wondering if Phlox knew he had an irritating habit of stating the obvious and just did it anyway to annoy him. Phlox injected Reed with the painkiller. “Right let’s do something about reducing the swelling. We may need to immobilise the knee to let it heal properly.” “For how long?” said Reed, with some alarm. “It’s not a very severe chip, so maybe only a week. There doesn’t seem to be any ligament or muscle damage but it’s always best to be sure,” replied Phlox. “Wonderful,” said Reed miserably as he lay back on the biobed in defeat. “Don’t worry, Malcolm, Enterprise will still be here,” said Archer, who had watched the whole scene from his front row seat. “I know, but I’m not sure my sanity will be if I can’t get around for a week,” said Reed. “You’ll be perfectly capable of getting around on a pair of crutches,” said Phlox. “Yes, and I remember how frustrating it was last time,” complained Reed. It was only when moving around was difficult that he had become aware of just how many doorways had lips on Enterprise and how much of his job was climbing around in jeffries tubes. He’d be stuck on light duties until the knee healed. Then he remembered that light duties were the least of his worries, it was perfectly possible that he might not have a job at all once the court martial was through with him. “Let’s have a look at your other injuries,” said Phlox and moved on to clean and apply dressings to the rest of Reed’s wounds. By the time Phlox was finished the scanner had also completed its work. They moved Trip to a biobed while Phlox examined the scans. “Well, doctor? How is he?” asked Archer, impatiently. “He’s been given various types of tranquilliser, no doubt intended to keep him docile and easily controlled. Given the build up of the drugs in his system, it looks as if he was given the tranquillisers for the entire duration of his captivity. They will take a while to leave his system, maybe a few days. Given the high dosages he’s been given, the withdrawal will not be pleasant,” said Phlox. “What else?” asked Archer, trying to control his anger but not succeeding entirely. Phlox gently pulled back the blanket from Trip’s shoulders to reveal three small angry red round marks on his left shoulder. “I saw these earlier but didn’t realise what they were. They’re marks from a hypospray that contained some sort of temporary nerve toxin,” said Phlox. “The poison burned the skin as it entered.” “He was tortured,” said T’Pol, flatly. “That is the only conclusion that I can draw. There is no medical reason for this,” said Phlox. “What about the nanites?” asked Archer. “They increased his dosage of immuno-suppressant, which means his tolerance to the drug has increased. We have less time than I thought to perfect the removal of the nanites. In general the nanites are behaving very oddly, they seem to have altered their state which may mean they can no longer communicate with the Commander but I’ll have to wait until he wakes up to test that hypothesis. However what worries me more is that in order to change the nanites’ state they would have had to have reprogrammed them,” said Phlox. “Which would have necessitated the use of sound modulation equipment,” said T’Pol. “Those irresponsible…” said Archer. “They could have killed him.” “They almost did,” said Phlox, “there are indications of medical intervention which would be consistent with the need to restart the Commander’s heart. It is likely that they encountered the same electrical activity that we did whilst performing the experiment. It’s going to take him some time to recover from this.” Everyone was concentrating on Trip, no one had noticed that Reed had turned on his side away from them and closed his eyes. He would have rather been anywhere other than sick bay at the moment, with the evidence of his wrong doing lying on the biobed right beside him. Trip could have been killed, in fact almost had been, because of his betrayal. “T’Pol, we are going to get to the bottom of this, if it’s the last thing that I do,” Reed heard Archer say. Then Archer told Phlox to contact him when Trip woke up and he and T’Pol left to look at the data she had collected. Reed took in a long breath and sighed, at least Trip was safely home again. At least he was among his real friends. And as long as Reed stayed away from him, he should stay safe. **** T’Pol put the data up on the screen in the Command Centre. “They had managed to gather complete internal plans of the ten most important Vulcan compounds on Earth,” said T’Pol. “Not only that but it appears that they had also collected accurate staff rotation data.” “Who was going back to Vulcan and when?” asked Archer. “Exactly,” said T’Pol, “which points to a conspiracy to attack Vulcan compounds on Earth and perhaps Vulcan itself.” “So they would infect the Vulcans who were going home with technology destroying nanites and then the nanites would do Nash’s work for him,” said Archer. “Vulcan would probably declare war on Earth, if they were still able to function with nanites multiplying and destroying all the technology on the planet.” “That would also be my hypothesis,” said T’Pol. “But why?” asked Archer. “Vulcan is our ally.” “There is a large xenophobic movement on Earth following the Xindi attack,” said T’Pol. “But Nash doesn’t strike me as a reactionary xenophobe and he wasn’t working alone. There has to be more to it. Where’s Senator Nash now?” asked Archer. “His whereabouts is unknown,” replied T’Pol. “I have given the weather station com logs to Ensign Sato. She may be able to gain some useful information from them regarding his location.” “He wasn’t on the space station, so where is he hiding?” asked Archer, mostly to himself. “He has no reason to hide. We have no conclusive evidence to link him to this plot,” said T’Pol. “I know, but I’m certain he’s behind this,” said Archer. “Damn, he’s covered his tracks well. I need Malcolm for this. Detective work is more his area.” “He should be able to take on light duties tomorrow if he wishes to, according to Phlox,” said T’Pol. “Strictly speaking I should have shipped him back to Earth for court martial, in fact I should have done that the moment I discovered his affair with a junior officer. I wish there was an alternative, T’Pol.” “That is understandable,” said T’Pol. “However, he must answer for his actions just as I must answer for mine.” “I think Starfleet can wait for their blood until Malcolm is properly healed. What did the Vulcan council in San Francisco say about your Dohn Zhu?” asked Archer. “They were displeased that I did not return to Earth on time. However, I explained that I was required here to fulfil my duties as your first officer. They noted that it will count against me but they have given me another two days before I must return to the Vulcan compound for their pronouncement of the verdict,” said T’Pol. “Well at least they didn’t declare you guilty in absentia,” said Archer. “Duty is important to Vulcans. If I can present them with evidence that I required the extra time to protect Vulcan then I may be able to persuade them that the delay was justified. I would also like you to accompany me on this occasion, if you can spare the time.” “You want me to go with you?” asked Archer, a little perplexed by T’Pol’s request. “I believe Earth is where you will find what you need to bring a case against Senator Nash,” said T’Pol. “Someone gave these plans to Senator Nash and in order to retrieve this level of data, it could only have been a Vulcan.” “Why would a Vulcan allow an attack on his or her own people?” asked Archer. “Not all Vulcans are in agreement with our current policy regarding contact with humans,” said T’Pol, “although given what I have discovered I would think it unlikely that they knew the full extent of the plan. Also if I am to be returned to Vulcan then I would like to say goodbye to a representative of my colleagues from Enterprise.” Then the com sounded. “Phlox to Archer,” said the doctor. “Archer, go ahead,” replied Archer. “I’m afraid I have some bad news,” said Phlox. “Ven Dath is dead. I did everything that I could but his injuries were too severe.” “I’m sure you did your best, Doctor. Did he complete the nanite removal procedure?” asked Archer. He felt guilty that a man had just died and he was pressing Phlox for details of his work, but they didn’t know how much time Trip had now. “No, it isn’t complete, I’m doing my best to extrapolate the remains of the formula but only extensive testing will tell me if I’ve got it right,” replied Phlox. “Get on it, Doctor, we’re up against the clock on this,” said Archer. “Of course, I have already begun the work,” said Phlox. “I also thought that you might be interested to know what Commander Tucker was saying when he was brought into sick bay. It was binary code.” “Binary code?” asked Archer, “ones and zeroes?” “Exactly,” replied Phlox. “I was able to take a recording. He’s been talking in his sleep as well.” “What does it mean?” said Archer. “I don’t know, I’m afraid. I suspect the only person who does know what it means is the Commander himself,” said Phlox. **** The sick bay doors opened and Ensign Jessica Carruthers entered. She saw Phlox and went over to him. “I heard Malcolm was injured,” said Jessica. “Yes, luckily not seriously. I’ve braced his knee and he was just about to try out the crutches,” said Phlox happily. Jessica drew back the curtain around the biobed that Phlox had indicated. Reed was standing on his good leg and supporting himself by leaning on the biobed. He looked very tired and a little pale. He had a look on his face that Jessica had never seen before, it was one of deep defeat and guilt, dark in his grey eyes. “Get me out of here,” he said looking directly at Jessica. “Sure, Malcolm,” said Jessica and grabbed the crutches that lay on the biobed beside him. She helped Malcolm get them positioned and then carefully watched him as he made slow progress out of sick bay. He didn’t want her help, she knew him better than that, but he did need her presence. She saw him glance back at Trip, and knew he was blaming himself for the Commander’s condition. “So the mission was a success,” said Jessica. “Yes, we got him out,” said Reed. “And Lieutenant Davis is dead?” asked Jessica. “Yes, drowned in a vat of nanites,” said Reed. He didn’t add that he’d then blown up the vats of nanites for good measure. “Not a good way to go,” said Jessica. There was an awkward pause before Jessica continued. “You know it isn’t your fault that this happened.” “If I hadn’t allowed myself to be blackmailed then Trip wouldn’t have been kidnapped and neither would you,” said Reed. “The moment Davis came to me to talk blackmail I should have gone to T’Pol.” “God, you haven’t changed, have you?” said Jessica. “Malcolm Reed, star player in the blame game.” “Jess…” said Reed. “No, I won’t just stand around while you tear yourself to pieces with guilt,” said Jessica. “This was my fault, there isn’t anyone else to place the blame on,” said Reed. “What about Davis, or whoever his boss is, or me for getting myself kidnapped?” said Jessica. “You?” said Reed, with disbelief. “Why would it be your fault?” “I let my guard down. All that training you gave us and a couple of guys asking directions bundle me into a hover car without me even putting up a decent fight. Would you have let it happen to you?” asked Jessica. “Maybe. You were out-numbered and not expecting trouble,” said Reed. “I’m a security officer, I should have done better,” said Jessica. “You sent me a message and told me where to find you. You can’t spot every threat. Believe me I know that from experience,” said Reed. “You can’t be perfect, Jess.” “Then why don’t you judge yourself by the same standard?” asked Jessica. “Because I can’t. If I make a mistake then people get hurt. Just leave it alone, Jessica. I don’t want to talk about it,” said Reed. There was silence while they got into the turbo lift and travelled to B deck where Reed’s quarters were located. “Anyway,” said Jessica, deciding to change the subject. “Now that Davis is dead and you’ve got Commander Tucker back on Enterprise, I was thinking I should get back to Earth. I’ve been away too long as it is and I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on.” Reed stopped hobbling along on his crutches and just stood in the middle of the corridor looking at Jessica for a moment. “You want to leave?” “I’m posted to the Warp Five Complex,” said Jessica. “I know but I’d hoped you’d stay longer. I’d be happier letting you leave if we had Nash in custody,” said Reed. He began hobbling along again, he didn’t want to have this discussion in the middle of corridor. “And it’s been nice having you around again,” he admitted grudgingly. “Malcolm, we decided a long time ago that you and I was not a good idea,” said Jessica. “Nothing’s changed, you’re a senior Lieutenant, I’ve only just made Ensign. We’d still be breaking the fraternisation rules.” “Jess, I’m being court-martialled. I’ll probably be given a dishonourable discharge. Fraternisation isn’t going to matter anymore,” said Reed. “I know and it’s completely unfair that they expect you to take sole responsibility for this. We were in it together,” said Jessica. The fraternisation regulations made it clear that blame lay with the senior officer alone, so Jessica wasn’t facing any charges for her part in the affair. “It’s better this way. At least you get to stay in Starfleet, but it will mean that I’ll be on Earth and not on Enterprise. You realise that it means that we could start seeing each other again,” said Reed. “And what happens when I get a posting on some deep space station or on an exploration ship? I’d be away from Earth for months at a time, we’d still never see each other,” said Jessica. “There was a reason why we had to finish it and it had nothing to do with regs. Starfleet is my life as well as my career, it was something that we had in common when we met.” “I know that and I’d never ask you to leave the Fleet for me. I love you too much for that,” said Reed. He hadn’t meant to use the “L” word but it was out of his mouth before his brain caught up. He realised that was the problem, he did still love her. “I’m glad that you don’t have to pay for my mistakes.” “God, Malcolm, what we had wasn’t a mistake. It was wonderful. It’s just too hard to do this at the moment, you’d end up resenting me,” said Jessica. “Maybe you already resent me.” “I don’t resent you, I had my eyes open when I started going out with you. I could have broken it off before we got serious,” said Reed. “Damn regulations,” said Jessica. “I still miss you,” confessed Reed. “After all these years.” “I miss you too,” said Jessica. “There hasn’t been anyone else, you know.” “Really?” said Reed in surprise. He couldn’t understand why Jessica didn’t have a queue of men waiting to date her. “I think I’ve been spoilt. So far no one else has measured up,” said Jessica. “At least we can write to each other now it’s all out in the open.” “Yes, I suppose we can,” said Reed, but he wondered if that wouldn’t just make matters worse, being able to hear about what Jessica was doing without being part of her life. They had arrived outside Reed’s quarters. “This is my stop,” he said, punching in his door code and taking a step into his sparsely decorated cabin. “Thanks for walking with me.” Jessica reached out a hand and ran a thumb down Malcolm’s cheek. She took a step forward and kissed him chastely on the same cheek. Then she couldn’t help herself, she kissed him on the lips and Malcolm kissed her back. Before long the kiss had deepened and it became an expression of all the pent-up passion that they had for one another. The love that they had put on hold for their careers. “Jess, if you don’t walk away this second, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself,” said Reed. “It’s too late, you had me on the first kiss,” said Jessica. They both moved into the cabin, Reed struggling to move quickly with his crutches and not trip over. Somehow they managed though. **** Trip awoke and knew something wasn’t right. He desperately wanted to struggle up from the mire of drug-induced befuddled thinking, but no matter how hard he tried nothing seemed to remove the barriers that were preventing him from seeing things clearly. He felt miserable. His stomach was upset and he was dizzy. The nanites weren’t talking to him and he was shivering uncontrollably. The only good part seemed to be that he wasn’t restrained anymore. Someone tried to talk to him but he didn’t want to listen, they only wanted to do more tests and he didn’t want that. “Go away,” he said, pulling a blanket around himself more closely, rolling onto his side away from the voices. There was more talking and then some bustling. Suddenly someone was beside him. “Trip, listen to me,” said a voice, “you’re back on Enterprise. We rescued you.” He recognised the voice but couldn’t place who it was. He pried open his eyes, and tried to focus on the person talking. He felt a hand on his arm and knew that the voice was a friend and had told the truth, he was back on Enterprise. Judging by the muted beige colour around him, he was in sick bay, which at least meant he was being looked after. “Why do I feel so bad?” he asked between violent shivers. He closed his eyes against the light, it was too bright. “You’re coming down from the cocktail of drugs that they gave you while you were being held captive. I know it’s miserable but you just have to hold on for a few hours and then it will all be over.” “Captain?” he asked, having finally placed the voice. He wasn’t sure how he had failed to identify it in the first place. “It’s going to be okay, Trip. You’re home now. You just need to ride this out,” said Archer. Trip just nodded and tried to ride it out as his friend suggested. He didn’t become completely aware of his surroundings until a few hours later, by which point he was throwing up the contents of his stomach. He was vaguely conscious that the person who often seemed to be holding his head while he threw up was the Captain. He knew he should have been embarrassed by that, but at the moment he just wasn’t up to caring. It was almost physically hurting Archer to see his friend going through withdrawal, but he kept up the litany of soothing words and eventually the shivering subsided and Trip seemed to be getting better. Finally, Trip fell asleep. Archer was exhausted and all he’d done was sit there, so he knew Trip had to be completely worn out. Phlox had attached a drip to replace lost fluids and help the withdrawal process along, but mostly Trip had gone through the process without help. The doctor hadn’t wanted to compound the problem by adding more drugs to mix, which Archer could understand completely. Occasionally Trip would mutter a string of ones and zeroes in his sleep but apart from that he seemed to be resting fairly comfortably. Archer felt his own eyes becoming heavy, he had no intention of leaving sickbay tonight, so he grabbed a blanket from Phlox’s store cupboard and moved himself onto a neighbouring biobed. **** When Trip awoke, it was well into the gamma shift. The lights were turned down and he suddenly realised that he really was back on Enterprise. He didn’t remember much of the previous few hours except that the Captain had been there and he’d felt really awful. It had been like the worst hangover that he’d ever had crossed with a bad case of the flu. He felt a lot better now, although he was still kind of tired and achy. He gingerly sat up and tried to take stock. He still felt a bit dizzy but as he sat still that passed, it wasn’t anything that he couldn’t cope with. He was dressed in a hospital gown and he didn’t remember anyone changing his clothes. He seemed to be attached to various medical monitors and to his horror he discovered that a catheter had been inserted, he didn’t remember that happening either. Phlox had also replaced the brace on his right wrist which now felt much more comfortable. His captors hadn’t been very concerned about his fractured wrist and since his wrist wouldn’t fit into the restraints with the brace on, they’d taken it off. He thought that if he was careful then he might be able to take a short walk around the biobed, it was about all he felt up to at the moment. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, but suddenly he felt extremely dizzy and there was the sound of a shrill alarm sounding from the bio-monitor. “Damn, busted,” murmured Trip. He hadn’t noticed the shape on the biobed next to his move rapidly into sitting position. “Trip, you’re meant to be sleeping,” said Archer, as he got off his own bed and moved to Trip’s side, just reaching him before he fell sideways. Phlox had now emerged from his office and was also zeroing in on Trip. “Commander, is there a problem?” “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get everyone up,” said Trip, as he allowed Archer to help him back into bed. He vaguely wondered where the Captain had come from but it didn’t seem the right moment to ask. “It’s okay,” said Archer. “You’re just not ready to be sitting up yet.” “Just wanted to stretch my legs, but I guess I’ll have to wait a bit,” said Trip. “That would definitely be preferable,” said Phlox. “It won’t be long before you’re back on your feet, I promise you.” “I really am back on Enterprise,” said Trip. “Everything’s been so blurry that I thought I might have been dreaming.” “No, you really are back,” said Archer. “I didn’t do anything embarrassing earlier, did I?” asked Trip. “No, Trip, you didn’t do anything embarrassing,” said Archer, with a smile. “When did you get back from the Expanse?” said Trip. “A few days ago,” said Archer. “I’ll tell you all about what happened tomorrow.” Trip nodded. “How did you find me?” he asked, tiredly. “T’Pol and Malcolm put the data together. They worked out there were only a limited number of places you could be,” replied Archer. Trip’s eyes flew wide open. “It was Malcolm’s fault that I was there in the first place.” “I heard about what happened,” said Archer. “There’s more to it than you know about, and it can all wait until tomorrow morning to be discussed.” “You have had a very tiring day,” said Phlox. “It would be best if you went back to sleep.” “I’ve only just woken up properly,” protested Trip, but he knew they were right. “I know,” replied Archer, “but you need the rest.” “What about the repairs?” asked Trip, his eyes closing as he said it. “Lieutenant Hess has done you proud as always,” said Archer. He remembered that he still had to break the news about the transporter to Trip, but now definitely wasn’t the time. “Good,” said Trip. “If Enterprise is okay then I might be able to sleep.” And with that he fell back asleep. Archer sighed. “Only Trip would wake up in the middle of the night and try to go for a walk after what he’s been through. And then ask about how the repairs are going!” Phlox checked the monitors but he seemed happy with his patient’s readings. “He’s resting comfortably again,” said the doctor. “And you should be too. Stress is also an illness and I have noticed that you have been suffering from it a lot lately.” Archer nodded. “I know, but it comes with the job.” “Being Captain is naturally stressful, but please try to remember that you are only human,” said Phlox. “I’ll try, doctor,” replied Archer moving back to his own bed. “I’ll see you in the morning.” “Goodnight, Captain,” said Phlox before retreating back to his own domain. **** When Archer woke up the next morning Trip was still fast asleep and looked considerably more peaceful than he had in the middle of the night. Archer decided to take the opportunity to go back to his quarters to shower and change into a fresh uniform, before heading to the mess hall to get breakfast. He was certain that Trip would be awake by the time he returned. Archer needed to tell Trip everything that had gone on while he’d been away and he didn’t want to leave it too long. Archer entered the mess hall and grabbed a tray which he filled with breakfast items. He selected a seat off to one side of the room, somewhere he would hopefully not be noticed by too many people. This was only going to be a quick stop before he headed back to sick bay. He watched Reed hobble in on his crutches accompanied by Ensign Carruthers. She collected a tray and put food on it while Reed located a table for them. The black eye and bruises around Reed’s jaw were now turning some fairly vivid colours. He still hadn’t heard the full story of what had happened to Reed. He guessed the fight had been a vicious one. It had to have been to have ended in the death of one of the participants. Knowing Malcolm the report would be on his desk by the end of the day, neatly sanitised to provide only the bare facts. Perfectly correct, it wouldn’t tell him what he wanted to know. Did Davis die in the heat of a fight or in cold blood? Before the Expanse, Archer would never have even considered the question but these days he wasn’t sure if he even knew his Armoury Officer any more. He didn’t fail to notice Reed brush his hand against Jessica’s as she sat down. It was barely a perceptible contact, but he knew he hadn’t imagined it. Well they couldn’t court-martial Reed for the same offence twice so he guessed the Lieutenant was allowed to make the most of a bad situation. The mess hall was relatively quiet. Most of the crew were still on shore leave and not due back for at least another couple of weeks. In fact it was where he should have been. Phlox had been right, he was stressed at the moment. However, he had a right to be after rescuing his Chief Engineer and uncovering a conspiracy within his own government. He promised himself that he and Trip would get a proper holiday once all this was resolved. He would make sure that it was a restful one as well, somewhere without any com links or computers. Then, as if to reinforce his decision, the com sounded, jerking him from his thoughts. “T’Pol to Archer.” “Archer here, go ahead,” he said moving to the wall com unit. “Captain, Ensign Sato and I have uncovered some interesting information regarding the weather research station,” said T’Pol. “I’ll meet you in the Command Centre,” said Archer. It looked as if he wouldn’t be able to get back to sick bay just yet. He knew Phlox would take care of Trip and this sounded important. **** Hoshi and T’Pol had already brought the data up on the screen in the Command Centre by the time Archer arrived. “What am I looking at?” asked Archer. “Ensign Sato has discovered some interesting patterns within the com logs,” said T’Pol. Hoshi tapped a few buttons and high-lighted some of the information on the screen. “Almost all of the transmissions sent from the weather station were encrypted to such a high level that it would take me a year at the very least to break the encryption. So I can’t tell you what they said but I can tell you where messages were sent and their frequency. A lot of them seem to be to Starfleet HQ, which makes sense. Another big group are un-encrypted messages to weather research centres on Earth.” “Maintaining their cover,” said Archer. “That was what we thought too,” said Hoshi. “All pretty dull stuff. What was more interesting was this group which are to a private office in the Earth Government. To be precise, they’re to Senator Nash. That’s your link right there.” “We’ve got him,” said Archer. “There is more,” said T’Pol. “We also discovered a group of messages that were sent outside the solar system.” “To where?” asked Archer, but he already had his suspicions. “A small moon in the Coriolanus system. According to Vulcan intelligence we believe it to be the location of an Andorian listening post,” said T’Pol. “Shran,” said Archer, feeling the anger beginning to rise within him. **** T’Pol sat at the side of Trip’s biobed, waiting for him to awake. Captain Archer had stormed off in search of Shran but he had asked T’Pol to go to sick bay to check on Trip. He hadn’t yet awoken, according to Phlox. He was talking in his sleep however. More binary code and T’Pol was taking it down as he spoke each numeral. So far her padd was covered in ones and zeroes. 01001100011001010111010000100000011101000110100001100101001000000110010001100101011000010110010000100000011000 10011101010111001001111001001000000111010001101000011001010010000001101100011010010111011001101001011011100110 0111 “It is intriguing, isn’t it,” said Phlox, as he came over to check his patient’s vital signs. “He didn’t speak about it when he awoke last night?” asked T’Pol. “No, but I was trying to persuade him to go back to sleep,” said Phlox. “He can be quite stubborn when he puts his mind to it.” “Indeed, I have noticed this trait before,” said T’Pol. “It’s not polite to talk about someone behind their back,” said a sleepy voice from the biobed. T’Pol looked over and found that Trip had awoken. “We were not “behind you back”,” replied T’Pol. “It’s a figure of speech, T’Pol,” said Trip. “Never mind. It’s good to see you. I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever see you again.” “That was never an option,” said T’Pol. “Maybe not for you,” said Trip. “I didn’t have any choice in the matter. Hey, what happened about your Dohn Zhu? Aren’t you supposed to be on your way back to Vulcan?” “It has not yet been resolved. I was given an extension. I must return to Earth tonight in time for the verdict of the tribunal tomorrow,” said T’Pol. “So what do you think they’ll say?” asked Trip. “I doubt they will be pleased that I have kept them waiting,” said T’Pol. “I remember you being there in the shuttle, but not much else. I guess you must have been in the rescue party,” said Trip. “That is correct. I was able to download their database,” said T’Pol and explained to Trip everything that she had found. “So this was all about attacking the Vulcans?” asked Trip. “It seems that way,” said T’Pol. “You shouldn’t have skipped your Dohn Zhu for me, T’Pol,” said Trip. “The Captain required my help. It was logical for me to accompany the rescue party,” said T’Pol. “All the same, you can’t do this kind of stuff. You put yourself in danger, and if you end up going back to Vulcan, I’ll never forgive myself for causing you to lose your tribunal,” said Trip. “There is no need to blame yourself. The decision was not yours to make,” replied T’Pol. Phlox decided to interrupt before the discussion could get more heated. Knowing this pair he suspected that it would if he allowed it to continue. “Now you’re awake and up to date with things, Commander, I have some questions for you,” said Phlox. “Shoot, Doc,” said Trip, noticing the Denobulan’s obvious attempt at changing the subject but deciding to go along with it for the moment. “Have you noticed any changes in the nanites?” asked Phlox. “They aren’t talking to me anymore,” said Trip. “At least, I can’t understand them anymore. Everything’s in binary and I can’t translate it now. When I first woke up in that cell, they weren’t exactly chatty and they weren’t always making sense the whole time, but at least I knew what they were saying. Now it’s just ones and zeroes. The last thing I remember before seeing the Captain was Davis saying that they were going to try an experiment with some sound modulation equipment, so I guess they did and this is the outcome.” “That was our assumption also,” said T’Pol. “So when can you fix it?” asked Trip. “Fix it?” asked T’Pol. “Yeah, what good is it if I can’t understand what they’re saying to me?” asked Trip. “That would be most dangerous given that we don’t know the exact frequency to reverse the state that they are currently in,” said Phlox. “But we could experiment again?” asked Trip. “The risk is unacceptably high,” said T’Pol. “Actually, Commander, I have been perfecting a nanite removal process,” said Phlox. “To get rid of the nanites?” said Trip. “For good?” “Yes, Commander,” said Phlox. “The nanites continued presence in your body is detrimental to your health. We need to remove them and I believe I’m very close to perfecting the removal procedure.” Trip just stared at Phlox for a moment before he remembered that he should say something. “Sorry, Doc, it’s just taking me a little while to get used to the idea that I might get my head to myself again,” said Trip. “It’s been nearly a year.” “Well you have the Captain to thank, he’s the one who brought Ven Dath back from the Expanse,” said Phlox and told Trip about Archer’s adventures to retrieve the Xindi scientist. T’Pol noted gladly that Phlox was giving Trip the edited version which missed out considerable amounts of the peril that the Captain had placed himself in. She was aware that Trip would be upset if he ever found out how much danger Archer had been in because of his mission to find Ven Dath. She wondered how much Archer himself had left out when he had related the tale. **** Archer found Shran in the shuttle bay checking over the Zor Rakh in preparation for his departure. Archer’s anger at his discovery hadn’t been diminished by the journey from the Command Centre to the shuttle bay. He practically pulled the door off it’s hinges as he entered the bay. “Shran!” he shouted, using his fury to give the shout extra volume. “Shran! You son of a bitch, get your blue ass out here!” “Captain Archer,” said Shran, calmly, as he stepped out of the Zor Rakh. “You don’t sound very happy.” “Of course I don’t sound goddamn happy,” replied Archer, striding up to the Andorian and dwarfing the smaller man. “I’ve just been going over the weather station com logs with T’Pol and Hoshi. You’ve been in touch with Nash for at least the past three months.” “I find that highly unlikely,” said Shran. “You’ll remember that we joined you in the Expanse at round about that time.” “Not you personally, Andoria, the Imperial Guard,” said Archer, his patience wearing thin. “So I’ll ask you again, what are you doing here?” “You can’t expect me to know everything that the Imperial Guard does,” said Shran. “You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t know something. I think that you’ve been lying to me from day one,” said Archer. “I don’t think that a word you’ve said to me has been true.” Shran’s antennae dipped forward in a gesture that Archer had begun to associate with guilt. “I have evidence that you’re connected to whatever Nash is up to, tell me why I shouldn’t throw you in the brig right this minute?” “Maybe you should,” said Shran. “If I have indeed done what you think I have.” “I’m giving you a chance to explain yourself,” said Archer. “We haven’t always had the easiest of relationships, but when the Xindi weapon was ready to attack Earth you pulled our asses out of the fire. I don’t understand why you would betray us to Nash and his organisation.” “I didn’t betray you,” said Shran. “Someone did and right now you’re my prime suspect,” said Archer. “Nash has been planning this for months. That means he must have had access to the confidential reports that we sent back from the Expanse. The only people who were supposed to see those reports were the top brass at Starfleet. But if you were intercepting those reports and passing them back to Nash, he’d have access to everything that we sent home.” Shran drew his mouth into a taught line. He didn’t like this, but what harm could confirmation do? Archer had already worked out most of it for himself. “The Imperial Guard were contacted and offered an opportunity that we couldn’t refuse. If we provided Nash with intelligence then he would destroy the Vulcans for us. When we discovered the details of Nash’s plan, we decided that we needed to safe guard our interests. It was decided that an Andorian should be sent to Earth to make sure Nash held up his end of the bargain and everything went according to plan,” said Shran. “You,” said Archer. “Yes, but I didn’t trust Nash. There was nothing to stop him from turning the nanites on us once he’d finished with the Vulcans. I was told by my superiors to find a way to counter the nanites,” said Shran. “So you strung me along while we went to collect Ven Dath,” said Archer. “The only man who knew how to destroy the nanites.” “I knew that if I played on your concern for Commander Tucker, that you would join me, especially given your own government’s unwillingness to help. You knew the Expanse and the people there, and had a ship. I didn’t anticipate that Enterprise would require such extensive repairs,” said Shran. “Why didn’t you just send an Andorian ship to get Ven Dath?” asked Archer. “Officially the Imperial Guard have no knowledge of this operation, if I was discovered then they would be able to deny their involvement,” said Shran. “When I reported your difficulties with the Earth government and Commander Tucker, they saw their chance.” “Knowing that even if I didn’t trust you, I’d go along with you for Trip’s sake,” said Archer. “But why did the Andorian fighters attack us?” “To make you believe that I was working alone so that Andoria could not be implicated,” said Shran. “They were a little more enthusiastic in their task than they were meant to be.” “They nearly killed us!” said Archer. “We were never in any danger,” said Shran. “It didn’t feel that way to me,” said Archer. “Why are you still here? I gave you the opportunity to leave when we got back from the Expanse. If you hadn’t been so insistent on rescuing Trip I probably wouldn’t have asked anymore questions.” “I’m not well liked on Andoria at the moment,” said Shran. “My failure to capture the Xindi weapon prototype in the Expanse was a grave disappointment to my superiors. This mission was offered to me as a way to make amends. If I succeeded then they offered to reinstate me as Commander of the Cammari. I failed again when you stopped me taking Ven Dath, but if I could still get the information on the nanite removal process, I could return to Andoria with my pride intact.” “But that doesn’t tell me why you wanted to come on the rescue mission,” said Archer. “I told you why, you just weren’t listening,” said Shran. “Sleeping at night isn’t just about paying debts.” “You expect me to believe that you helped us to rescue Trip out of the goodness of your heart,” said Archer. “A favour, to offset against the future. I knew you would discover my involvement at some point. I knew you well enough to predict that with some certainty,” said Shran, ruefully. “I had hoped that I would be a long way from here before you worked it out, but it seems Enam was right I did underestimate you.” Shran paused. “And of all you Pink Skins, Commander Tucker is one of the more likeable ones.” “But you were part of this. You helped them kidnap Trip,” said Archer. “I had no idea that was part of their plan,” said Shran. “I never wanted to see any harm come to Commander Tucker or any of your crew.” “Well maybe your superiors should have thought of that before they agreed to help Nash,” said Archer. “My superiors were happy to sacrifice Earth to further the war against Vulcan,” said Shran. “As I recall, you didn’t seem to have a problem with it either,” said Archer. “I followed orders,” said Shran. He certainly wasn’t going to tell Archer about his argument with his superiors. Andorians did not give the details of their inner squabbles to aliens, and Shran’s conscience was of no concern to anyone but himself. “Like you’re doing now,” said Archer, cynically. “My loyalty always has and always will be to Andoria and the Imperial Guard first. The Vulcans have killed countless Andorians to further their aims. There are always casualties in war,” said Shran. “This isn’t war. Yet.” said Archer. “You have to help me stop Nash from making a big mistake.” “I’m leaving. Officially, I’m not even here,” said Shran. “It’s time to cut my losses.” “You can’t leave. You’re my proof that Nash is behind this, without you all I’ve got are the com records,” which he knew wouldn’t be enough to convince Starfleet that Nash, a highly respected senator, really was plotting to destroy the Vulcan alliance. Especially not after defending the Vulcans in public on the news item that Hoshi had shown Archer. “As usual, you’re in over your head. Nash is only the tip of the iceberg,” said Shran. “The Vulcans aren’t going to be happy when they hear that you humans have been plotting against them. You can either risk your alliance with the Vulcans, Archer, or you can let it go. The nanites are destroyed, Commander Tucker is safe and T’Pol wiped their database. It will be some time before Nash and his organisation will be able to try anything like this ever again.” “We know that Nash’s people have other bases of operations. He may even have more nanites. I can’t take the chance that he still has the capability to complete his plan. I just have to hope that the Vulcans will listen to us. I promised Trip that the people who hurt him would pay, and I keep my promises,” said Archer. “Then you’ll have to do it without my help,” said Shran. “I can’t allow Andoria to be drawn into this. It’s just the excuse the Vulcans need to launch an all out attack on us.” “Shran, it’s a bit late for that. You’re at least partly responsible for this. You have to help me,” said Archer. “I don’t have to do anything. The only reason we became involved was because we believed that we would gain from the collaboration. I’ve bent over backwards to put things right between us. You owe me, remember,” said Shran. “Why does it always come down to the repayment of debt with you? Why can’t you ever do something because it’s the right thing to do?” asked Archer. “Because the right thing isn’t always what needs to be done. I had thought that your experiences in the Expanse might have taught you something. Morality is a luxury that you and I can’t afford. We protect our worlds to the best of our ability, and that isn’t always by taking the moral high ground,” said Shran. “Fine, if that’s all you care about, you said your superiors were expecting an anti-nanite weapon. What if I were to give you access to Phlox’s research on the nanite removal process, in exchange for your help,” said Archer. “That might be acceptable, but no one can know the source of your information,” said Shran. “I think I can work with that,” said Archer. “You’ll have to be cunning if you want to catch Nash,” said Shran. “Don’t worry, I’ve got some ideas on how to draw Nash out,” said Archer. “What I don’t understand is why he’s doing this, it can’t be simple xenophobia.” “It’s not fear, Archer,” said Shran. “It’s retribution. He thinks that it was because the Vulcans held you humans back that the Xindi were able to attack Earth. Then they abandoned you in your hour of need. I’m surprised that you didn’t officially break off the alliance given their lack of help. He’s proving that Earth can take care of itself and woe betide anyone who double crosses you. The rest of the galaxy will think twice about attacking Earth if you take out the Vulcans.” “The rest of the galaxy could just as easily decide to gang up on us and take us out,” said Archer. “If we stop squabbling amongst ourselves for long enough. I seriously doubt that could ever happen,” replied Shran. “You humans are the only ones who have ever shown any inclination towards working together with other species.” “If Nash gets his way, Earth won’t be making friends with anyone,” said Archer. “It’s time I put a stop to his plans. T’Pol and I are going down to Earth tomorrow and I need you to come with us.” “I told you that I won’t reveal Andoria’s involvement in this,” said Shran. “If what I’ve got planned works, then you won’t need to,” said Archer. **** Two small hands curled over the edge of Trip’s biobed, which were followed by the tips of two pointed ears. A pair of wide, gold eyes looked up at Trip from over the side of the biobed. “Hi,” said Trip, slightly surprised. No one had mentioned a child on Enterprise , especially not one with feline ears and golden eyes, of a species that he’d never seen before. “What’s your name?” “Ghanima,” said the little girl. “That’s a pretty name,” said Trip. “Are you tired?” asked Ghanima. “Is that why you’re in bed all the time?” “No, I’m just not feeling well,” said Trip. “So…what are you doing here?” “Captn Archer rescued me and my mummy,” said Ghanima. “He did, huh?” said Trip. He had just noticed the tail that was waving in the air behind his unexpected visitor and was trying not to become distracted by it. “Yes, him and the blue man,” said Ghanima. “He was sick too for a while but he’s better now.” “The blue man? Shran?” asked Trip. His brain was already working overtime, it seemed that Phlox had missed out a number of details when he told Trip about Archer’s excursion to Harrar station, including one small girl and a sick Andorian. “Ghanima!” said a larger version of the small girl. “The Commander needs to rest. I’m sorry, I hope she hasn’t been bothering you.” “No, she’s okay,” said Trip. “Makes a change to talk to someone who doesn’t keep asking me if I want to sleep. I guess you must be Enam. No one mentioned you had a daughter.” No one had mentioned that Tanu apparently had a feline appearance either. “They probably forgot that minor detail in all the excitement,” said Enam, gathering up Ghanima in her arms. “She’s been a bit shy since we arrived here, you’re the first person apart from me that she’s talked to. I guess you must have a gift.” “I don’t know about that, she seems pretty chatty when she wants to be,” said Trip. “Only with people she likes,” said Enam. “She’s a pretty good judge of character, so I guess you were worth rescuing after all.” “Nice to know you and Ghanima think so,” said Trip with a smile. “She mentioned Shran. Is he still here too?” “Blue, oh yeah, and I don’t think your Captain’s too happy with him,” said Enam. “He rarely is. Wherever Shran turns up, trouble isn’t usually far behind,” said Trip, making a mental note to find out what was going on. “So, how exactly did you get involved in all this?” Enam told him. “Wow,” said Trip. “So Ghanima’s father was like the Tanu version of the Mafia?” “Mafia?” asked Enam. “Erm, in Earth history the Mafia were an organised crime syndicate,” said Trip. “In that case, yes,” said Enam. “So how did the Captain persuade you to join the rescue party?” asked Trip. “I owed him one and he needed my help,” said Enam. “I’m good at breaking into places.” “How exactly did you get me out of there?” said Trip. “A combination of planning, luck, a juiced up transporter and a stolen shuttlecraft,” said Enam. “Hold it, transporter?” asked Trip. “Yes, don’t ask me the technical details, but your deputy hooked it up so that it would transport us to the orbit around Earth,” said Enam. “She wouldn’t…” muttered Trip. “Wouldn’t what?” asked Enam. “Never mind,” said Trip and pulled himself out of his thoughts. “Have you introduced Ghanima to ice-cream yet?” “Ensign Sato has already suggested that Ghanima might like this “ice-cream”. She has invited us to the mess hall for a tasting this afternoon,” said Enam. “Well at least Hoshi still has her head screwed on. Make sure you get to try the rocky road,” said Trip. “I’ll do that,” said Enam, moving to go. “It was nice talking to you Commander.” “Erm, I don’t suppose you could help me with something?” asked Trip. **** Archer hadn’t intended to be away from sick bay for so long but there had been preparations to make and people to talk to. He had spent at least a couple of hours on the com to Admiral Forrest explaining the situation and then another hour or so to the Judge Advocate’s office. He still hadn’t made it to sickbay that afternoon when Phlox came by his ready room. “Captain, Commander Tucker is missing,” said Phlox. “What?” asked Archer. The last thing that he needed was Trip going AWOL on him. “How is that even possible?” “He had help,” said Phlox. “Help? Who? T’Pol wouldn’t be that stupid,” said Archer. “I suspect that it was Enam, she came to sick bay to pick up Ghanima while I was in the mess hall,” said Phlox. “I’d have to ask Mr Reed for the security tapes to be sure.” “I don’t think we need to see the security tapes. Enam is the only person who’d be irresponsible enough to help someone who should obviously be in sick bay to leave. I didn’t think he was well enough to be up,” said Archer. “He isn’t really, but he was beginning to feel better. He was sitting up and grumbling about being in sick bay, which is usually a sign that my patients are getting well,” said Phlox. “I think most of it was false bravado but given his history, I can understand his wish to leave sick bay as soon as possible.” “I think I can guess where he is,” said Archer. “I’ll go get him. Would it be okay if he just rested in his quarters or does he have to be in sick bay?” “No his quarters will be fine,” said Phlox. “Getting him to rest is the priority at the moment and it doesn’t matter where he is.” “We’re going to have to come up with something. He’s going to want to know when he can go back on duty,” said Archer. “I had already thought of that,” said Phlox. He briefed Archer on the nanites’ status and outlined a duty schedule that he thought the Commander could safely cope with. Archer wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or worried that Trip was no longer able to hear the nanites. At least the transformation seemed benign, but the nanites had fooled them before. Worrying about the nanites could wait, right now he had to find Trip. **** There were hundreds of places to go on Enterprise for a man who wanted to hide. Maybe more if that man was the Chief Engineer, but Archer knew that there was only one place that Trip would want to go. Someone had told him that something needed fixing. Sure enough, when Archer arrived at the transporter pad Trip was sitting on the raised platform examining some circuits with a hand scanner. He was wearing a T-shirt that was a couple of sizes too big for him and a pair of sweat pants which were too small, probably from Phlox’s clothing cupboard in sickbay. It was always rather hit and miss as to what the doctor kept there for patients who had destroyed their clothing so badly that they needed to borrow something to leave sickbay in. Hess was working a little further down the corridor and saw Archer coming. “I was about to give you a call,” she said. “He arrived a few minutes ago, chewed me out for letting you overload the transporter, and just went to work, issuing orders and asking for a status report like he’d never been away.” Hess didn’t add that she’d grinned the entire way through her boss’s lecture on the delicate nature of the transporter’s machinery. “It’s nice to see him but he doesn’t look well enough to be out of sick bay.” “He isn’t,” said Archer. “I’ll talk to him.” Archer moved over to the transporter controls and took a seat beside Trip on the dais. “Phlox is going crazy looking for you,” he said, exaggerating slightly to play the guilt card on Trip. It was one of Trip’s big weaknesses and Archer had no qualms about using it against him if it got his friend to do what was best for him. “Would you like to tell my why you’re here and not in sick bay?” Trip turned to look at Archer. “What the hell did you get Hess to do to my transporter? Every damn circuit’s fried. It’s going to take at least a week to get the parts and fix this. I only just got the damn thing back together. This is probably the most sensitive piece of machinery on Enterprise and you decide to hook it up to the impulse drive.” Archer marvelled at his friend’s one track mind sometimes. “Your team know how to fix the transporter, Trip. You don’t need to be here personally,” said Archer. “I’ve been stuck in sick bay long enough. I got fed up with being poked and prodded and drugged and told to sleep,” said Trip, going back to his work. Sickbay made him nervous. He’d spent far too much time in labs recently to ever be comfortable with doctors again. “You could have told Phlox that before you decided to leave,” said Archer. “I didn’t think he’d understand,” said Trip. “Maybe not, but I would have,” said Archer. “I know you don’t like sickbay and I know that sometimes you just want to do something normal.” “Yeah, normal would be nice,” said Trip with a derogatory laugh. He threw the burnt out circuit across the corridor with a sigh, more from defeat than anger. “I hear that I’ve been talking in my sleep.” “Yeah, it’s been a little disturbing at times,” said Archer. “If it’s disturbing for you, imagine how I feel having that running around my head,” said Trip. “I guess I never thought that I’d ever get rid of them. I’m kind of used to them helping out when I’m working on something.” “I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you these past months, but I do know you’