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"Age of Enlightenment" by A. Rhea King
Rating: PG CHAPTER 1 Hoshi turned to Archer. “I’m not getting any response, sir.” Archer looked away from the monitor to T’Pol. “Are you sure your scans are correct?” “Yes, Captain. I can detect ships that are warp capable on the surface and scans have detected over a million humanoid biological signs. Their orbital ports are unmanned, but functional. Five of the ten have ships docked with them still. But I’m not reading any bio-signs aboard the vessels either.” “It’s like we came across a ghost planet,” Travis commented, “Complete with ghosts.” “Try again, Hoshi,” Archer ordered. Hoshi resent the hail and waited. “Perhaps they don’t care for outside contact,” T’Pol suggested. “I wonder why none of the traders we’ve met told us about this planet,” Archer mused. “Anything yet, Hoshi?” “No, sir.” “Let’s see if anything’s changed on that visual.” The view screen changed to show a continent that quickly zoomed into a large city at street level. It changed six times, each time showing no signs of life and plenty of signs that the city hadn’t been cared for in years. “We could just go down and take the diterium,” Malcolm suggested. “There doesn’t appear to be anyone to object or they would have responded by now.” Archer shook his head. “No. I don’t want to find out the hard way it’s a trap. Let’s head back to course, Travis.” “Aye, sir.” Archer walked to his chair and sat down, watching the small blue and white planet swing out of sight. “WAIT!” Hoshi said. “Full halt, Travis,” Archer said, “What?” Hoshi turned back to Archer. “I’m receiving a response, sir. Audio only.” “Put it on.” Archer waited for Hoshi to nod. “This is Captain Jonathan Archer of the starship Enterprise.” There was no reply. He looked at Hoshi. “The channel is open, sir. I swear I heard a reply.” “What is your business here?” a feminine voice asked. She sounded slightly winded, like she’d run across the city before responding. Archer rose to his feet. “We’re explorers and we detected your planet on long range sensors. We noticed you have some diterium refineries and were hoping we could get some for repairs.” “We don’t sell anything. You’ve wasted your time.” “We’d like to trade.” “You have nothing we want.” “We have a lot to offer. Perhaps we could talk to someone who has the authority to negotiate a trade.” There was a pause. “You should be getting coordinates. Only two of your race may come to the surface. If we detect any weapons, we’ll fire on you.” “How do we kn--” “They’ve ended the transmission, sir,” Hoshi told him. “Not real friendly,” Travis commented. “No, they’re not, but we really need the diterium,” Archer said. “T’Pol, you’re with me. Malcolm, you have the bridge until Trip gets back.” “Aye, sir.” Archer and T’Pol left the bridge. “Are you certain this is a wise decision, Captain?” “Not really.” “Then why are we going to the surface?” “We really need diterium, T’Pol. The damage we’ve sustained over the last two months is getting critical. Trip is worried we won’t get to the next port.” “They appear leery and distrustful of us.” “Wouldn’t be the first time, T’Pol.” T’Pol said nothing more. # Archer landed the shuttle pod and began shutting systems down. He looked out at the dark land beyond. “There weren’t any landing lights,” Archer mused out loud. “Perhaps we should take a phase pistol,” T’Pol suggested. “No. For now I’ll respect their wishes.” Archer got up and walked to the hatch. He released it and pushed it open. A sweet smelling, warm spring breeze blew into the shuttle pod. Archer and T’Pol stepped out of the shuttle pod. All the buildings around them were dark except for a few outdoor lights that shed very little light. Archer heard footsteps coming up on his right. Judging from the sound, there were five or six. The aliens stayed out of the light shining through the hatch behind Archer. “Who are you?” the voice from the transmission asked. “Captain Jonathan Archer. This is Sub-Commander T’Pol.” Archer motioned back to T’Pol. “How much diterium do you need?” “A metric ton, but we’ll take whatever you can spare.” “And what do you offer for trade?” Archer held up a PADD. “This is everything we have to offer.” Archer heard whispering. “We’ll have to review what you want to trade with. Leave the PADD and return to your ship. We’ll contact you if we decide to trade with you.” “It doesn’t appear you want us here. If we could talk, face to face, this would go faster.” A particle stream hit the landing pad at Archer’s toes. He didn’t move, despite his desire to jump back. “Leave your list and go.” Archer sat the PADD on the ground and backed into the shuttle pod with T’Pol. He closed the hatch and sat down in the pilot’s seat. “Something isn’t right,” Archer said. “There is much about this situation that appears not right, Captain,” T’Pol added. Archer started the engines and lifted off. # Archer looked up when Hoshi’s console beeped. She looked back at him as she tapped it. “Enterprise,” Hoshi said. “We have another question,” the voice said. “Question two thousand four hundred and sixty-two,” Trip muttered from under the engineering console he was working on. Archer smiled. “We are able to supply you with two hundred kilos of chocolate. Is that what you want to know?” “No. Do you have...” Archer leaned forward. “Do we have what?” “Information on repairing conductor coils?” Archer’s brow furrowed. “What kind of conductor coils?” “In power plants.” “What kind of power plant?” “Fusion.” “Atomic or cold fusion?” There was no answer. “Are you there still?” Archer looked at Hoshi. Hoshi nodded. “Please wait,” the voice said and there was silence. “The channel’s still open,” Hoshi said. “Mute it,” Archer said quietly. Hoshi obeyed, looking back at Archer when she had. “There is something not right with these aliens. They keep asking questions about technologies that, according to T’Pol’s scans, they should know about. And they don’t even know what kind of power plant they have?” “Is there any sign of life in that city yet, Hoshi?” The view monitor zoomed in on the city T’Pol and Archer had gone to. Like the first city, it showed signs of neglect, but no signs of life. “They’re being very careful to stay out of sight, sir,” Hoshi told him. “Maybe I should offer to take down a couple engineers to look at those coils,” Trip offered as he emerged from under the console with tools in hand. “Not until we know what’s going on.” “Like I said, Cap’n, maybe I should take down a couple engineers to look at those coils.” Archer thought about it. “Captain Archer,” the voice said. Archer motioned Hoshi to turn off the mute. “I was thinking about your question. I could send my chief engineer and a couple from his team to take a look at those coils.” There was a long pause. “Did you hear what I said?” Archer asked. “We’re discussing your offer. Please wait.” Archer sat back in his chair. “Only two at a time may come down,” the voice said. “If you’re having a problem with a power plant conductor coil, it’s going to take at least four of us,” Trip told the speaker. “It’ll have to be four or none.” There was a long silence, but Archer patiently waited this time. “Fine. When the city is in dark, you may come down. Do not bring weapons.” “What do you--” “They’re gone, sir,” Hoshi said. Archer sighed. “Put together your team, Trip.” Trip left the bridge. “Perhaps you should take arms, Captain,” Malcolm suggested. “No. They didn’t try anything the last time we went.” “Perhaps they wanted a chance to scan us.” Archer looked at him. “Have they scanned us?” Malcolm hesitated. “No.” “They have the technology for visual communication and they haven’t used it either. They haven’t done anything I’d expect a race with their technology to do. And why would they want all that chocolate?” “They are an alien race, Captain,” T’Pol reminded him. “Their motives may not be obvious to us, but you should not judge them based on their contact. They apparently prefer their solitude and anonymity.” “Maybe.” Archer stood and walked to the lift, saying, “Keep a channel open Hoshi. You have the bridge, T’Pol.” The door shut behind Archer. # Trip turned his head, hearing footsteps somewhere in the darkness behind him. He looked at the Ensign Rostov on his left. Rostov was crouched beside a panel, attempting to interface a PADD with the power station’s thermal sensors to give them a better idea of what the aliens around them were doing. “Finished?” Trip asked. “Almost, sir.” Trip turned back to the monitor before him. “Looks like we have a few conduits burnt out in section... Is this J or G?” “J?” Rostov offered without looking up. “Guessing seems to be the only way we’ll know. I wish one of ‘em would come help us translate this, or let Hoshi come down. Sure make things go faster.” “We’re online, sir,” Ensign Rostov said. Trip crouched down beside the ensign, reading the PADD he held. The screen changed to show a thermal readout of the power station. “We’re here,” the ensign whispered, pointing to two warm images on the screen. “And all these others are them?” Trip whispered. Rostov nodded. “That’s a lot of ‘em. Why they just watching us?” “Or holding us under gun.” “Or both.” Trip stood, pulling his communicator from his sleeve pocket and flicked it open. “Trip to Archer.” “Archer.” “Where you at, sir?” “We just finished replacing the circuit boards in the purging station and secondary pumps.” “We have some burnt out conduits in access tunnel J or G twenty-two.” “Which is it? J or G?” “Wish I could tell you, sir.” “Trip, if the markings on these walls are right, J is on one end and G is clear on the other side of the planet. Which is it?” “I don’t know, Cap’n.” “Guess.” “J.” “Are you sure?” “No. I guessed, sir.” Trip heard Archer’s sigh. “Why don’t you come finish running these system checks and I’ll go fix things for a while?” Trip offered. “You’re nearly a kilometer from J. We’ll go check out J. If it isn’t J, then I’ll take you up on that offer. Did you get that adjustment made you were trying to do?” “Yeah. There’s a bunch of ants roaming around here.” “Red or black?” “Can’t tell, but for safety sake I’ll say red.” “Can you tell how many?” Trip looked down at Rostov’s PADD. “About three dozen here. More throughout.” “That’s a lot of ants.” “You seen any, sir?” “No. We haven’t seen much past our shadows.” “I’ll report if I catch sight of any. Trip out.” Trip looked down at Rostov. “I’m going down to the cooling tanks to check the condition of those condensers. Keep an eye on these scans and report anything.” “Be careful, sir.” Rostov looked up at Trip, adding, “The ants have increased in number since you started talking.” Trip glanced at the PADD. “I’ll watch my step. Be right back.” # Trip entered a room full of large, round tanks. Steam escaped through vents along the ceiling, creating a dense mist. Trip froze in stride when he heard something drop nearby. He turned, trying to see through the mist. “Hello?” Trip asked. “Who’s there?” There was no reply. Trip slowly turned back around and started walking again, but slower and alert. He heard a pipe slide across the floor and stopped again. “Come out. Let me see you.” Trip heard a phaser fire and turned as the particle stream hit him in the chest, knocking him unconscious. # “Trip,” a distant, drawn out voice said. Trip moved his hand and found it was asleep. He started to sit up, lost his balance and fell off the ledge he was laying on onto concrete floor. The fall jarred him awake and scraped his hand when he caught himself. “Trip,” Archer said, grabbing his arm to keep him from hitting his head on the sink nearby. Trip looked at him and then up at Ensigns Rostov and Oakland standing behind Archer. He looked back at Archer. “What the hell happened?” “I don’t know. Apparently we were all stunned and locked in prison.” “Why? We were fixing their power planet...without their help I might add.” Trip got to his feet; he laid his hand on the spot he’d been stunned. “That really hurts.” “I don’t think it was set low enough on any of the weapons. We all have first degree burns where we were shot.” “Now that you are all awake, tell me why you had tapped into thermal sensors,” the voice from the COM asked. The four looked out the doorway. The only light filling the area beyond was from the energy shielding around the door, but they could see a humanoid form standing beyond. The alien was much shorter than any of the men, coming up to maybe Archer’s chest. “Why won’t you talk to us face to face?” Archer asked the alien. “I want to see your face.” The alien didn’t reply. “Who are you? What’s your name?” Archer asked. “Your ship can take you back, can’t they?” the alien asked. “Yes. They can.” “You have the devices you were talking to each other in your pockets. Can you call your ship with them?” “You have technology far exceeding our own, you should know they can.” “You need to call your ship and return to it. Don’t return here. You can’t be trusted.” The person started walking away. “Wait!” Archer said, walking up to the energy shielding. The person stopped, turning their head. “The diterium. We really need it. What about the rest of the items we offered as trade?” “We don’t want to trade with you any more. You lied to us and then you cheated. Lying and cheating are bad.” The person left the prison. Archer saw shadows of more aliens cast on the wall before the door closed. Archer backed away, looking at the floor. “We can nurse her to the next station, Cap’n. Let’s just go,” Trip urged as he pulled his communicator from his pocket. “No. I just figured out what’s wrong here.” Archer smiled, looking up at the ceiling. “There are two morals I have tried to instill in Navta since she’s come to live with us. Know what they are?” “Don’t play in the Jeffery tubes and no running in the halls?” “No. Not to lie. Lying and cheating are bad things to do.” Archer turned to face Trip. “And only a child would say it just like that to an adult. Adults find more tactful ways of saying it to other adults.” Trip looked past Archer and back at him. “You think they’re kids?” “They wanted a lot of chocolate and cookies in trade. That seem normal to you after all these years?” Trip shook his head. Archer turned, putting his hands on his hips. “But then...” Rostov started. “If you’re right, sir, where are the adults?” “Good question. Only they know the answer and I’m not leaving until I know that answer and have diterium.” “If they’re kids they’re going to hold a grudge for a little while at least.” Archer nodded, sitting down on the cell’s bunk. He thought for a moment. An idea lit up his face. He pulled his communicator out and flicked it open. “Archer to T’Pol.” “Go ahead, Captain.” “T’Pol, transport Porthos to my location.” “Sir?” “Do it.” “Yes, sir.” “And what kid can ignore a dog?” Trip smiled. “Just might work, Cap’n.” Archer looked out the door. “I’m hoping so.” # Archer looked up when he heard the prison door open. Archer stood, leading Porthos up to the energy shield. He watched the alien cross the space beyond, stopping opposite Archer, but careful to stay out of the light. “Why did you have that transported down here?” the voice asked. “That is my pet dog. His name is Porthos. I thought maybe he’d help break the ice.” “Where are the other two that were in there?” “I sent them back to the ship. You were right, you know. Lying is bad, we did cheat when we spied on you and we shouldn’t have done either. But you know, when you’re dealing with adu-- humans, we like to speak to those we’re trading with face to face and don’t understand why a race would want to hide like you and your people have. We detect over a million biological signatures in this city alone, but we haven’t ever been able to see you when we’ve looked down from our ship.” The humanoid said nothing for a long time. They walked over to a control panel and Archer heard a soft beep. They turned as the lights came up and the shielding turned off. Archer smiled, mostly because he had been right, and the alien standing before him didn’t look much older than sixteen. She had long brown hair that had beads in it and golden threads were twisted into the six small braids that framed her face. Her clothes looked like those of a teenager that had no one to tell her what to wear. She had mustard yellow freckles that ran across her forehead, joined at her nose and ran down it to taper off at the tip. The freckles also ran from behind her ears, down the sides of her neck to the V indentation on her chest and disappeared under her shirt. Since her midriff was exposed Archer saw that the spots faded out, disappearing at her belly button and then faded in and disappeared at angles that suggested they ran down the front of her legs. She was carrying a phase rifle that, in her hands, looked gigantic. Archer stepped out of the cell, telling her, “I’d like to reopen negotiations for diterium, but I think we should probably look at trading items more pertinent than cookies and chocolate, don’t you?” “What’s pertinent mean?” “More important.” She looked at the door and then back at him. “I just keep the others from fighting and stealing. That’s my job.” “You’re security then. That’s called security.” She nodded a little. “What’s your name?” “Pex.” “Mine’s Jonathan.” “I thought it was Archer?” “My full name is Jonathan Archer.” “You have two names?” “In our society we have a first and last name.” “Why?” “Well...” Archer smiled, laughing a little. “I have no idea. It’s been that way for a long, long time.” Pex looked at the door again. “Who’s out there?” Archer asked her. “Everyone. They wanted to know why you hadn’t left.” Pex looked at Archer. “Everyone leaves when it comes to this. You didn’t.” “I don’t want to leave. We really need the diterium and according to my Chief Engineer here,” Archer motioned back to Trip, “you won’t have power for much longer if things don’t get repaired and replaced at that plant. He took a look at your water plant and it needs repairs too. If you can convince whoever is in charge to trust us, we’ll do all of that and help with whatever else you need in trade for the diterium.” “Can you fix houses?” “We have over eighty people on our ship,” Trip told her, “Between the eighty of us, we could probably build you a house.” “Really?” Pex asked hopefully. Trip nodded. Pex looked thoughtful. She looked at Archer. “You will wait here. Don’t lie to me this time, wait here.” “We’ll wait right here, Pex.” Pex ran out of the room. “You called it, Cap’n,” Trip said. Pex stepped back into the prison. “This way.” Archer and Trip followed Pex out of the prison onto the front steps and into a sea of children. Surprised by the sight, the men stopped, staring at them. Not a single face looked older than nineteen, maybe twenty, and several of the teenage girls held babies of their own. They all looked like they had rummaged through thrift stores to find their wide and wild assortment of clothes and accessories. Just from what he saw here, Archer could tell these children had not had an adult around for several years. “This way, Jonathan,” Pex called. Archer looked at her, watching her wave him to follow. Archer pushed through the crowd, keeping a tight grip on Navta. He felt her stumble behind him as she watched the children around her. “Where are all the adults, Jon?” Trip asked Archer in a hushed voice. Archer could only shake his head, as clueless to that answer as Trip was. Pex led them out of the crowd into a walkway. Standing in doorways and hanging out windows along the walkway were more children; all silently watching the men and Porthos walk past. Archer’s heart leapt when he saw a Great Dane lunge from a doorway and start barking at Porthos. He hit the end of his leash that a boy was straining to hold on to. Porthos strained against his leash, barking and growling at the dog. The boy hauled back on the leash attached to the Great Dane’s collar. “Resh, SIT!” Resh obediently sat next to the boy, but kept whining and growling at Porthos. Pex turned down another walkway that led into a courtyard. Imagination leant that the grounds had once been a very inviting garden, tended and cared for meticulously. The grass now grew almost as high as Archer and Trip. The trees had masses of dead limbs and the fallen fruit was rotting under them even as they were blossoming for another growing season. Pex led them to the opposite end and into a house. A boy and two girls ran up to her. They looked like they may be nine, thirteen and fifteen. “Send Mossirg word. Tell him the aliens need to speak to him,” Pex said. “He said they had to leave, Pex,” the boy said. He was eyeing the men suspiciously “Ral, go!” Pex ordered. The boy turned and ran up a set of narrow stairs, disappearing around the corner. “Is that your dog?” the older girl asked Archer, pointing at Porthos. “Yes. He’s my pet.” “He’s cute. There’s a friend across the buildings that has a dog like him.” “The buildings?” “Yes. She lives several paths away. It’s a long walk.” “And her dog looks like Porthos?” “Mm-hm.” “So you have Beagles here?” “We have dogs all sizes and colors.” “Porthos’ breed is a Beagle.” “What’s a breed?” Archer opened his mouth to answer when Ral appeared at the top of the stairs. He hopped onto the banister and slid down, hopping off next to Pex. “Mossirg said he’d talk to them now.” Pex led the men up the stairs and down a long hall to a door. She motioned them to enter. The group entered a darkened room. There were two teenagers tending to an aging and dying old man lying on a bed in the center of the room. Archer motioned Trip to wait and approached the bed. “Are you Mossirg?” Archer asked the old man. Mossirg nodded and whispered, “Welcome to Paxeu. I’ve been kept up on all that’s happened since you’ve arrived. Captain Jonathan Archer, is it?” “Jonathan is fine.” Mossirg smiled some. “I haven’t used a rank in a long time. Nearly twelve years.” A teenager brought a chair up to the bed and sat it down. Archer sat down in it. “That is quite a while. Were you in a military?” “I was an admiral. Before they came.” “They who?” “I don’t know what they’re called. They didn’t tell us. They came to collect workers for their mines. They were stronger and better defended than we were. They took everyone except the sick and old and children under seven. I got over my illness and set out with several other adults to find survivors. We brought them here, but we were the sick and dying and old. The only other adult died four years ago, leaving me alone to care for and raise these children. Five weeks ago I got caught in a snowstorm looking for three children and I got sick. The others and I tried to pass on our knowledge to them, but it didn’t work well. They are children. They don’t know any better. Now the older ones are scared because I’m dying and they don’t know how to keep the city going alone. Pex told me of your offer. I’ve instructed her not to give an ounce of diterium to you until you’ve delivered your end of the trade agreement. And she won’t. Pex does good by her people.” “Understood.” Archer nodded. “I’ll have our doctors come down and make sure everyone’s well. I saw several young mothers coming here. I doubt they have any idea how to take care of those children coming. I have several mothers on board that would be ecstatic to help.” “What you’re talking about could take you months to do, Captain.” Archer leaned forward. “And if I don’t, I couldn’t live with my conscience. How many children there?” “Last time a few of them got bored and counted, they stopped their census at a million four hundred.” Archer chuckled and was glad to see it brought a smile to Mossirg’s lips. “Getting bored does strange things to children. Do we have a trade then?” “We have a trade. What do you call yourselves?” “Most of my crew is human.” “Never heard of human, but so far you’re a very generous race.” “Thank you. I need to get back up to my ship and have a chat with my crew. We have a lot to figure out. Tell the children to give me three days and then I’ll start sending crew down. We have to finish work at that power plant. It needs a lot of maintenance.” “Three sun cycles here, Captain. Not three days. They’ve made their own language over the last dozen years.” “Three sun cycles then.” “I’ll tell them.” Archer stood and left the room with Trip. “We’re interfering with an alien culture. You know that, right, Cap’n?” Trip asked. “I know.” “T’Pol’s going to have a fit. Garner may tell us to go on our way when you contact him.” “T’Pol can have a fit. Who said I was contacting Admiral Garner?” Trip looked surprised. “Cap’n, you are, aren’t you?” “I haven’t decided.” Trip smiled. “Okay.” The two walked out into the sun. |
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