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"Reed's Raiders"
Rating: PG-13 You find out where Archer’s been all this time, and yeah, what the heck happened at the end of the last chapter?? (grin) Six Malcolm strode down the corridor, back straight, eyes front, like the hardened pirate he “was”. The blue silk shirt brought out the iciness of his eyes, tucked into pants and high boots. The gunbelt he wore held a wicked-looking dagger, a blaster and a nasty array of explosives. Part of him felt utterly ridiculous—he was an Armory officer, not an actor—but a bigger part of him was like a giddy schoolboy who was playing out a long-forgotten dream. Although the head Nausicaan, Soresh, towered over Malcolm by half a foot, the pirate wrung his hands together as he gave Malcolm fearful glances. Directly behind them were Bernhard Mueller and Corporal Hawkins, both impressively dressed and armed to the teeth. Malcolm still had difficulty seeing Hawkins as a pirate; he seemed so young and clean-cut, even with the diamond stud in his ear and his hand on the bullwhip coiled on his belt. Yet Hawkins has already proven that he can surprise you. Odd, sometimes he reminds me of when I was younger: quiet, devoted to his duty, but can still do the unexpected. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get to know this young man better. He would be a fine addition to any team. Malcolm’s mouth moved into a smile as he remembered how Hawkins had assisted them on the Seleya, where the Vulcans had been affected by the Trellium-D. He sobered as he remembered Hayes’s defiance. Of course, that had been part of the plan, for it wasn’t unusual to find conflict among members of a group of pirates. Yet, Malcolm suspected that Hayes enjoyed the ruse just a little too much. Malcolm was thankful that at least Hayes carried out his end of the deal. He’d learned that you could only surprise the MACO only once; if Hayes had been serious, he wouldn’t have fallen for the Klingon move a second time unless it was on purpose. Bloody idiot. He also didn’t appreciate Hayes’s remark about “small, slight and feisty brunettes.” The major had looked directly at Reed and smirked as he said that remark; they both knew to whom Hayes referred. Malcolm hadn’t been kidding when he’d threatened to kill Hayes if he even touched Hoshi. Now that he thought about it, why had he reacted that way? And why had Travis, Bernhard and the others exchanged knowing looks? Malcolm shied away from the thought. Much as he hated to admit it, thinking about the major made him touchy, edgy and irritable. In other words, just like the head of a band of space pirates should be. Damn the man. First he wants my job, now he wants my friend. He’s a thorn in my side. “I’ve thought about your proposal about splitting the bounty on Archer—“ Malcolm turned to the Nausicaan and asked, “And, Soresh?” The Nausicaan glared at him, for Malcolm had called him by name, and not by “Captain”. “I can give you a quarter of the cut.” “Absolutely not acceptable.” Malcolm met the glare squarely. “I want Archer.” Soresh glared at him. “No. I captured him and the Klingons want their bounty. You won’t cheat me of my prize.” “Oh no?” Malcolm asked, his tone dangerous. “Is that why you’re here in the first place?” Soresh smirked. “It’s reason enough.” Malcolm inclined his head and studied the Nausicaan, who paled visibly under the scrutiny. Hawkins played the role of bodyguard to the hilt, as he crept up behind Soresh with his EM-33 at hand. Bernhard took up a position directly behind Malcolm. “I have people watching me,” Soresh said. “They’ll cut you and your men down before you can get off a single shot—“ He actually took a step back at Malcolm’s glower. “And you won’t be able to find Archer. I have him hidden so well that even my own men can’t detect him.” “Indeed?” Malcolm said, his voice chilly. “A challenge, is it, then?” Malcolm shot both Hawkins and Bernhard a look of amusement. Bernhard chuckled evily, causing Soresh to pale even further. “If I find Archer in the next ten minutes, he becomes mine.” “Ten minutes.” Soresh repeated, his eyes widening. “You can’t do that.” “Watch me.” Malcolm glanced at Bernhard, who went over to the intercom. Bernhard nodded and Malcolm continued, “Malcolm to Cutler.” The response was immediate. “Cutler,” she replied. “Our ‘friend’ here thinks we can’t find his hidden prize, namely Archer. I want your help.” Liz laughed, and Malcolm could picture her shaking her head in mirth. “You want a thermobiomedical scan, then?” “Use their own Sickbay sensors, narrowest scan you can manage.” Malcolm kept eye contact with Soresh, who opened his mouth to protest. Hawkins put the barrel of an EM-33 at the side of the Nausicaan’s neck, and Soresh clamped his mouth shut. “Give me a moment...there are clusters of the crew scattered all over the ship...I assume our ‘friend’ would have Archer in isolation?” “He bragged that even his own men wouldn’t be able to find him. The sod.” Malcolm made a show of looking at the chronometer on his wrist. “Seven minutes left.” “I believe I’ve found him,” Liz said, half a minute later. She rattled off some coordinates; Malcolm recognized them and nodded. “Do you need anything else, Malcolm?” “That will be all. Oh, and Cutler—I believe there’s a supply of those dainty confections you are fond of hidden in Crew Quarters C-8A.” Liz made a delighted noise, then trilled, “I’m on my way. Out.” Malcolm cocked his head at the Nausicaan. “Bring him,” he ordered brusquely, “and make sure he doesn’t try to do anything like set off any hidden bombs or anything uncivilized like that.” Exactly six minutes and thirty seconds later, Malcolm opened the door to Deck G, Quartermaster’s Supply Room. There, in the corner, tied up with cord and a strip of duck tape over his mouth, was Captain Jonathan Archer. Archer’s eyes widened in recognition and he tried to say something, but his words were muffled under the tape. Thank God. He would’ve blown the entire plan. Malcolm saw that the captain was in one piece and in fairly good condition, if you ignored the fact that he had been tied up wearing his skivvies. It reminded Malcolm of the time he and Trip had been tied up in a basement on Risa. Despite himself, he couldn’t help but smirk. He turned to Soresh, whose face was infused with anger. “I believe I won the challenge.” “He’s mine!” the Nausicaan howled. “You can’t have him!” Malcolm rolled his eyes. “Mister Hawkins, will you please do the honors?” “With pleasure, sir.” The young MACO gave Soresh a quick love tap with the butt of his EM-33, and the Nausicaan fell like a stone. “Use the ropes to tie Soresh up,” Malcolm instructed, as he deftly untied the knots holding Archer captive. After all, he was an Eagle Scout, and trained in nautical knots to boot. “Bernhard, find something to keep him quiet. I wish I had Liz here; she could’ve given him a hypospray.” He gave Archer an apologetic look. “Sorry, sir.” He pulled the tape from Archer’s face in one quick motion and Archer yelped. “Malcolm! How did you get on board? Is everyone all right?” The captain rubbed his wrists, then decided his jaw hurt more. “It’s quite a story, sir,” Malcolm apologized. “Did you raid a clothing store on Risa?” “No, just Commander Tucker’s closet.” The unexpected reply brought a laugh from Archer and Malcolm smirked again. “Major Hayes’s group is helping to free the rest of the group and capturing the Nausicaans.” “Good. They attacked us not long after your teams left on the training exercise. Somehow, they managed to beam on board and gas the Bridge crew unconscious. For a group of pirates who usually barrels their way down your throats with pure force, they caught us off guard with their tactics.” Archer scowled. “I overheard something about their having trouble getting the crew under control.” Bernhard nodded and said, “Not surprising, sir.” Archer tried to stand, but his legs still wouldn’t support him. Hawkins caught him before he fell back down. “Thank you, Corporal.” “No problem, sir,” Hawkins said, blushing at the praise. “Let’s get you to Sickbay, sir. Crewman Cutler and Phlox are already there.” “I’ve got to help retake the ship—“ “Begging your pardon, sir, you’re in no condition to play pirate.” Malcolm shook his head. “Come on, let’s get you out of here before Soresh’s people find out you’re gone. Is Soresh secure, Bernhard?” The Bavarian nodded. “He’s not going anywhere, Lieutenant.” “Let’s go.” Malcolm covered them as Hawkins and Bernhard supported Archer on either side. He breathed a sigh of relief. At least the captain was safe. Now he needed to rid Enterprise of the Nausicaans once and for all. As if on cue, they all felt a tremble through the deck and the com erupted in chaos. “What’s going on?” Archer demanded. Malcolm replied, “Just a minor glitch. I’m sure it’ll correct itself momentarily.” Hoshi nodded at Sergeant Nate Kemper, who punched the access code into the door of the Observation Lounge. The MACO stuck his head in and said, “Cavalry’s here, folks. Everyone all right?” There were a few negative responses, so Hoshi moved to the wall intercom. “Sato to Sickbay.” “Phlox here.” She smiled at the Denobulan’s voice. “We’ve got some injured crew in the Observation Lounge, Doctor.” “I’m on my way, Ensign. Phlox, out.” She exchanged grins with Kemper. They’d relayed false information to the Nausicaans and the “pirates” through the cross-patches in the comm system. Basically, Malcolm’s and Hayes’s teams were giving the Nausicaans the runaround while she and the other crew freed those who were still being held prisoner. The Enterprise crew were more than eager to find the Nausicaans and break their hold on the ship. Hoshi listened to the frantic demands for backup, the sounds of desperate Nausicaans trying to stand their ground, the cheers of the crew as they retook Engineering, the Armory, Astrometrics, auxiliary communications... “The Nausicaans still have the Bridge, ma’am,” Kemper said, “and we still don’t know where they’ve hidden the captain.” Hoshi nodded. “C’mon, Nathan. Let’s find Captain Archer first, then we’ll gather a group together to retake the bridge.” “Yes, ma’am.” Kemper grinned and added, “Would you consider switching into the MACOs, ma’am? We can sure use you.” She sighed and rolled her eyes. The firefight on the Engineering deck had given her plenty of cover to make her escape from Engineering. Of course, with the smoke and the chaos, she hadn’t been able to see anything, and she’d run straight into—someone. She hadn’t known who it was until the deck had reeled under a second explosion and-- It was an accident. The last thing I wanted was to do was liplock with “Horrible Hayes”. She winced and the color rose in her cheeks. Of course, she spent a lot of time trying to convince herself that it was an “accident”. At first, she’d thought it had been someone like Travis, or Rostov or even (she winced again) Kelby. Even if it had been Gunny, she’d be able to get over the embarrassment. She’d fled the first chance she had gotten; luckily, Hayes hadn’t followed her. He didn’t know it was me. That’s the only saving grace. She sighed again. Then again, it probably shocked him as much as it did me. And since no one saw me, I don’t think anyone’s going to tell Malcolm. He’d go ballistic if he ever found out. The last thing she wanted was to add more fuel to their feud, especially after what she’d heard over the comm. Trip had made some comment about how she could probably beat the crap out of both of them, since neither man had been successful in knocking sense into each other. The testosterone’s already a bit much. I don’t need to stoke that particular fire. “I’m not sure the MACOs need linguists, Nate,” she said lightly. “We need to find out where the captain is, and we can do that using the internal sensors. Come on.” They rounded the corner...and ran directly into laser fire. Kemper went down before he could shoot back; Hoshi caught a stun bolt in the shoulder. She crashed onto the deck, the breath knocked out of her. Ouch, she thought. Stupid, stupid...watch where you’re going...sorry, Nate... A pair of hands grabbed her by the front of her jumpsuit and hoisted her into the air. “So, what have we got here?” sneered a Nausicaan. “A little long-haired rat. Pretty little thing, though. Perhaps we can have a bit of fun while we still can, eh?” Raucous laughter made Hoshi feel sick. She still couldn’t move her right arm, but she could still kick. She swiftly brought her leg back and drove her knee into the Nausicaan’s midsection. He howled and dropped her like a sack of potatoes. Her body automatically tucked into a roll, just like in the aikido dojo. The movement made her dizzy and threw off her sense of direction. Another hand grabbed her hair and jerked her head back, but then it let go. She heard the crunch of a broken wrist and arm and the Nausicaan’s agonized howl. The gorge rose in her throat, but she forced it down. Another pair of strong arms enfolded her. “Ensign? Ensign? Are you all right?” She blinked and tried to refocus her addled thoughts. “I—“ She turned her head towards the voice...then realized her lips were inches away from the speaker’s. “Um—“ “Hoshi?” That was Travis, who knelt at her side. He exchanged concerned looks with Major Hayes, who, she noticed, hadn’t let her go yet. “C’mon, talk to us.” “I’m...okay,” she whispered. She looked into Hayes’s eyes and saw a mixture of relief, anger, concern, and...she managed to turn her head to address Travis. “Nate?” “He’ll have a hell of a headache when he wakes up, but he’ll be okay,” Gunny answered. He was giving her a strange look that she didn’t know how to interpret. Hoshi struggled to sit up. “The captain—?” “He’s all right. Malcolm found him,” Travis said. “We were on our way to the Bridge. The Nausicaans have barricaded themselves up there...we’re gonna flush them out.” “Then what are we waiting for?” She struggled to her feet, despite Hayes’s efforts to keep her still. “Let’s go.” “Ensign, you’ve been hit by a stun bolt—“ “I’m fine, Major,” she snapped, more abruptly than she meant. “You should go to Sickbay—“ She exploded in anger and annoyance, and the words spilled out of her before she could stop them. “Dammit, Matthew! I said I’m fine! I’m not a weak damsel in distress, and I’m not a prize to be argued over, either from you or Malcolm. I’m going to the Bridge—someone has to unlock the communications systems. So, either you let me go or I will finish what Malcolm started and do more than just detach your retina! Do I make myself clear?” Travis’s jaw went slack. MacKenzie and Money gave her looks of respect, while Gunny just stared at her. Hayes, for his part, clenched his jaw and let go of her arm. Kelby’s eyes were wide with fear and Rostov looked plain terrified. Hoshi took a deep breath and shook the feeling back into her arm. She refused to look directly at Hayes. “Let’s go.” As they made their way to the lift, Gunny said quietly, “Small, slight and feisty brunette beauty, eh?” “Shut up, Gunny,” Hayes growled. |
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