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"All Things Aside"
Rating: PG Land of Mystery (8) Trip glanced back at the cliff behind him. The fire he and Travis had built was lighting the area well with the light colored cliffs reflecting the warm glow. At the base of the cliff behind them Malcolm had set up his own camp and was sitting alone by a campfire reading a PADD. Trip turned his head, looking for Archer. He spotted him with Doctor Phlox setting up their tent. Trip stood and walked over to the two. “Cap’n.” Archer looked up. “Yeah?” “Gotta minute?” “Yeah. One second.” Archer finished pounding in the stake. “Last one Doc.” “Almost finished on this side, Captain.” “I’ll be back.” Doctor Phlox’s hand appeared over the top of the tent and the two men laughed when he waved at Archer. Trip and Archer strolled away from camp, walking up the river bank. “What’s on your mind, Trip?” Trip glanced back at camp to make sure they were out of earshot. “It’s Malcolm, Cap’n.” Trip looked at Archer. “He tried to convince me to convince you that he shouldn’t go on this away mission. And we’ve been down here for three days and every night he helps us pull up the rafts, set up camp, gets his plate and then pitches a tent all the way over against the cliffs. I tried to talk to him about it this afternoon when we stopped for lunch, but he kept dodging the question by changing the subject and got real short with me.” “I didn’t know he asked you to talk to me. I had to get after him when he went from asking me to stay on Enterprise to demanding. I’ve noticed he hasn’t been very pleasant since we’ve left either.” Archer glanced back at Malcolm’s tent set against the cliff wall. “I’ll go talk to him.” Trip nodded, turning and walking back to camp. Archer pushed his hands in his pockets and strolled over to Malcolm. Malcolm looked up from the PADD in his hand but didn’t offer a smile. Archer sat down in the sand next to him. “We need to talk, Malcolm.” Malcolm sat the PADD in his hand aside, looking at the small campfire. “Why didn’t you want to come on this away mission, Malcolm? I know that’s why you’ve been unpleasant and anti-social since we got here. I want to know why.” “You know why, sir.” “You said that when you asked not to go, but I’m sorry, I don’t know why.” “You do so, sir.” Archer’s temper threatened to flare. He drew a breath and let it out, calmly saying, “I can’t recall the reason if I do, Malcolm. Could you please refresh my memory?” Malcolm looked at him for a long moment. “You really don’t know?” Archer shook his head. “You honestly do not know, sir?” “No. I don’t know.” Malcolm sighed, looking at the campfire. “I’m hydrophobic, sir, remember? We talked about it when I had a spike from a bomb in my leg.” Archer let out a sigh, looking down at the river. “And spending a week on a river probably doesn’t do much for it, I’m sure.” Malcolm didn’t reply. Archer looked back at him. “I can contact Enterprise and have Lieutenant Hess transport your back.” Archer reached in his arm sleeve and pulled out his communicator. “You really didn’t remember that sir?” Archer looked at Malcolm. Malcolm was watching him. “I really didn’t remember, Malcolm. You had been asking for an away mission for two weeks to get a break from the kids and I got angry when you got so upset I’d asked you to go. And I didn’t remember.” Archer flicked the communicator open. “No, sir.” “What?” “Don’t call. I’ll stay. Aside from being in the raft on a river with strong undercurrents, the rest of the away mission is fine. It is a nice break. Just as long as I can camp as far from the river as possible.” Archer smiled. “It’s not a problem, Malcolm. I don’t mind you going back.” “It’s okay, sir. It was a misunderstanding. I’ll stay.” “Okay.” Archer stood. “Don’t say anything of it to the others.” “I wouldn’t have, Malcolm. Some things are best left unsaid. This is one of them.” “Indeed, sir.” Archer walked back to the main camp, noticing the talking died off when he came into the ring of chairs. “For the rest of the mission I want camp made as far from the river as we can get. Okay?” “Why?” Trip asked. “That’s an order. We’d better turn in. Like to make some mileage before dark tomorrow.” Archer turned around and went into his tent. Confused by the unexpected outcome of Archer and Malcolm’s conversation, the crew could only exchange baffled looks. # Archer laid back against the raft, watching the cloudless sky above. The sun had quickly heated the morning up to well above forty-four degrees Celsius. They had encountered a few rapids, but nothing that required any expert maneuvering. On either side of the river the canyon walls towered over them with a breathtaking gradients of creams, reds and browns. Archer heard T’Pol and Hoshi talking in the raft behind them. Occasionally Travis spoke up and he heard Travis and Hoshi laugh. Further back Doctor Phlox and Ensign Cutler’s were in their own raft and every so often, when the current was exceptionally calm and the breeze blowing through the canyon died down, Archer could pick up bits and pieces of their conversation. Trip and Malcolm were sitting in front of the raft, the two occasionally commenting on something they were passing or picking up a brief conversation that died as fast as it started. Malcolm had become more pleasant since their talk last night much to Archer’s relief. Archer closed his eyes, letting himself doze. “Trip, land over there,” Malcolm said. Archer opened his eyes. “Why?” Trip asked. “Trip, land over there!” Malcolm repeated with more insistence. Archer sat up since he couldn’t tell if the raise in Malcolm’s tone was excitement or panic. The river ahead had no change in it’s lazy current. Trip grabbed a paddle and helped Malcolm turn the raft toward shore. “Gotta pee?” Trip asked. “You peed an hour ago. Can’t you hold it?” “No. I don’t have to pee,” Malcolm said. His eyes were glued to whatever had caught his attention. “Then what? Why we goin’ ashore?” “I’ll show you. Get us there before we get to far down.” Archer got onto his knees and grabbed a paddle, helping steer the raft to the bank. To Archer’s astonishment, Malcolm hopped out of the raft before they’d gotten to the shore and waded to the bank. He ran up the riverbank and disappeared through an opening in the canyon wall. “What’s going on?” Hoshi asked as she and T’Pol pulled their raft onto the riverbank beside them. “Not a clue. Malcolm got excited about something,” Archer answered. “Lieutenant Reed excited? He’s been bored this entire away mission.” Travis asked. Archer smiled. “Then it’s gotta be good, Travis. “Come here!” Malcolm yelled back at them, appearing at the opening. “This is amazing! You have to see this. Bring scanners.” Malcolm disappeared again. Everyone looked at Archer. He reached down and grabbed a rope to pull the raft further up onto the shore. Trip grabbed the other side and the two pulled it up. Archer opened a case and pulled out three scanners and three communicators. He handed one to Trip and headed for the opening. The group stopped just inside, looking down the smooth walls. Further ahead they could see where sunlight came through gaps in the chasm high above. “Malcolm!” Archer yelled. “Down here,” Malcolm called back, his voice echoing on the walls of the chasm. “Follow the chasm down here. This is amazing!” “That would be the second reference to amazing,” Archer said. He led the group through the opening into a deep chasm with a gentle slope that went deeper into the ground. “And we all know he doesn’t get amazed often,” Hoshi said with a chuckle. “No. Not unless it includes an explosion.” Archer flipped a communicator open. “Archer to Phlox.” There was a pause. “Phlox here.” “How far back was your group?” “We see you’ve pulled up on the shore from here.” “Yeah. Pull up and go up the shore to a chasm. Malcolm’s found something.” “So has Ensign Cutler. Did you notice the markings on the outside of the opening?” “Markings?” Archer looked back at the others. Only T’Pol nodded. “T’Pol seems to be the only one looking.” “It appears to be a hieroglyphic language and contains numerous images of beetles.” “Interesting. Catch up when you can pull her away.” “Should I go back and look at it, sir?” Hoshi asked. “That’s up to you.” Hoshi remained with the group, as interested as the others to see what Malcolm was ranting about. They came to a sharp corner and steep slope. On one side there were stairs worn either by use or weather. Archer moved to the stairs and trotted down them. He stepped into a wide-open cavern and stopped. “Oh my…” Trip trailed off, stopping at Archer’s side, “God.” Along the walls from cave floor to the top were gigantic carvings of beetles. Where the legs of the beetles separated, pillars had been carven out of the living stones that bordered doorways. Malcolm was nowhere in sight. “Malcolm!” Archer yelled. There was no reply for a long time. “Up here, sir.” Archer spun around, staring up the wall. Malcolm was standing on a balcony concealed by a beetle’s eye. “Malcolm…how in the hell’d you get up there?” “Through that door to your right. It’s an entire city in here, Captain, and in amazingly good condition, too.” Archer looked back at the carvings. “There’s statues of half man half beetles in here too. Actually, there’s several carvings that are half men and other creatures. There’s also writing on many of the walls and gems and gold pieces scattered everywhere!” “We could be in a ceremonial ground,” T’Pol suggested. “We could, but you didn’t detect anything beyond animal life on the planet, T’Pol.” “Perhaps they visit the planet, Captain.” “Maybe.” Archer looked up to tell Malcolm to come down but he was no longer on the balcony. “Malcolm.” After several minutes, Malcolm reappeared on the balcony. “Yes, sir?” Archer couldn’t resist smiling. He was glad to see Malcolm was actually having fun for once. “Malcolm, get back down here. I want Hoshi to decipher some of the writings before we go traipsing all over and offend some alien race.” “Oh. Right, sir. I’ll be down straight away, sir,” Malcolm disappeared. “Hoshi, when he gets back, have him show you the place where there’s writing and find a way to keep him entertained while you’re working.” “Sir?” “Just do. T’Pol and Travis take the side they don’t and see what you can figure out. Trip and I are going to go back and set up camp. I think we’re going to be here for a day or two.” “Or three or four,” Trip said. Archer smiled, looking back when he heard Malcolm trot up. “You’re helping Hoshi. Don’t leave her alone.” “Yes, sir.” Archer turned and started back up the stairs. He glanced back when he heard Malcolm start chattering excitedly to Hoshi as the two walked. |
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