"Black Widow" by A. Rhea King Rating: PG Disclaimer: Don't own them, CBS/Paramount does. Summary: Archer is kidnapped right under the crew's nose. Following the clues leads them to an alien they picked up, and at first presumed to be working for a enemy. But when they learn shy she really kidnapped him, they become desperate to find him. CHAPTER 2 Trip walked into the mess hall and slid a cup into the resequencer. “Coffee. Very strong. Lots’a sugar.” Coffee poured into the cup. “It’s a bad thing if we’re both drinking very strong coffee, Trip.” Trip turned. Reed was sitting at a table alone, watching him. Trip picked up his cup and joined him. “This is crazy. No one has ever seen this woman or her race. It’s like she’s the only alien of her kind!” “Maybe it was all make-up.” “Wouldn’t Phlox have noticed when he scanned her?” “I would think, but then, I’m an armory officer, not a doctor.” “This is like trying to find a needle in a haystack in the dark.” “Worse, yet I don’t have a good analogy to define it.” Trip smiled, sipping from his mug. He looked out at the stars. “If we could just figure out how she knew Archer was on this ship, maybe we’d have a starting place.” “Perhaps.” Travis ran into the mess hall, running up to the two. “I know where I’ve seen Bionq!” he panted. “What?” both men asked. “T’Pol asked me to finish up the report to Admiral Forrest and I suddenly remembered where I saw her. She was working in this game room next to the dining hall we met the Andorians at. I remember because she kept coming to the door and staring at us. And I saw her talk to the Andorians when we left. Captain Archer noticed the same thing; he mentioned it when we were leaving port.” Reed and Trip looked at each other. “I’ll go tell T’Pol. Order helm to bring us about.” Trip jumped up and ran out of the mess hall. # Travis landed the shuttle pod and turned. T’Pol and Trip stood, walking to the side hatch. Trip unlocked it and pushed it open. A dry, hot wind blew into the shuttle pod. “Do you want me to go?” Travis asked. “No. I’m sure we can find it, Travis,” Trip answered. “Hurry back.” The two stepped out of the shuttle pod. Three of six suns shone down on the desert planet, heating it like an oven. Trip shut the hatch and the two walked into the spaceport. It wasn’t like most ports. It was clean and orderly, and bright as it’s six suns orbited around it. The hum of the travelers and residents buzzed around them. They found the game room and stopped just inside. Around them aliens of all kinds were drinking and gambling at a variety of games. The two watched scantily clad females cater to the customers, flirting and using their charm to lure customers into gambling. T’Pol led the way to the counter at the back. Trip stood close to her, looking around for any alien that looked like Bionq. A tall female walked up to them. “What would you two like?” “I need to speak to the owner of this establishment,” T’Pol requested. “He’s not here.” “One of your co-workers abducted our Captain. We need to inquire about her.” The woman smiled. “I’m sorry. I can’t help you. Would you like something to drink?” Trip turned, drew his phase pistol, grabbed her arm, and pressed it into her chest. “Perhaps you misunderstood what my science officer is askin’, ma’am. We need to speak to the owner. Now.” T’Pol looked around them as the room went silent. She turned to face the crowd. “We need to find a woman that worked here.” T’Pol held up a PADD with Bionq’s picture on it. “We do not wish to cause a commotion, simply get as much information as we can about this woman.” There was a silence. T’Pol saw a large, squatty alien stand and start through the crowd. He walked up to them, putting his pudgy fists on his hips. “Let Elir go and I’ll talk to you.” Trip let the woman go. He kept his back against T’Pol’s and his phase pistol in hand. The crowd around them returned to gambling and drinking. “What do you want to know?” the man asked. “Are you the owner of--” “Yes.” “How long has Bionq worked here?” “Years. She’s one of my best employees and brings in good money. She can get any man to gamble here.” “Do you know where her home world is?” “Lady, I run a business. You want information, you have to pay for it.” Trip grabbed the alien, threw him on the bar and sneered into his face with his phase pistol pressed under his jaw. “We don’t have time for you to feel capitalistic.” The room went silent again. “I don’t know where she comes form. I’ve seen four in my entire life, all females, and Bionq has never talked to me about her home world. I don’t even know what her kind calls themselves.” Trip looked at T’Pol. She nodded once and he let the man go. “Have you seen a ship like this?” T’Pol changed the picture on the PADD, showing it to him. “Yeah. The Urel brother’s own that ship.” “Where are they?” “I don’t know. I haven’t seen them in days.” “Thank you for your cooperation.” T’Pol and Trip headed for the exit, ignoring the stares as they walked out. “We don’t have any more information than before, T’Pol,” Trip said. “Then we must continue looking.” T’Pol looked at the ship on the PADD. “Hey! Stop!” The two stopped and turned. One of the servers from the game room ran up to them. She looked nervously back. “I have some information, and I’ll give it to you if you get me off this space port. Just put me down on any place with a ship.” “Are you captive here?” T’Pol asked. “I owe him money and at the wages he pays, I’ll owe it for the rest of my life.” A particle stream barely missed hitting Trip’s head. The three looked down the hall. The owner of the game room and two large aliens were running toward them, aiming their weapons at the three. “Run,” T’Pol said, grabbing the fleeing alien’s arm. The men opened fire on them, sending the crowd into a panic. Trip pulled his communicator from his pocket. “Trip to Mayweather.” “Go ahead, sir.” “Have the shuttle pod ready to leave as soon as we’re on board.” “Aye, sir.” The three ran out of the building onto the landing pad. T’Pol looked back when she heard a soft cry and saw the fleeing alien had fallen. T’Pol spun, firing back at the men. Trip grabbed the feeling alien up, slung her over his shoulder, and ran for the shuttle pod. “T’POL!” Trip yelled. T’Pol turned and ran onto the shuttle pod, pulling the hatch closed. Travis launched the shuttle pod, heading toward the sky. T’Pol turned, watching Trip bandage the fleeing alien’s wound. # T’Pol approached the biobed, watching Phlox. He looked back at her with a somber expression. T’Pol gripped the PADD in her hand with both hands. Phlox took her elbow and led her away from the biobed. “I know you need to speak with her, but try not to be too long. Cyrn has a degenerative disease and it’s caused her to become anemic. I can’t stop the bleeding and she doesn’t have very long to live.” “Does she know?” “I’ve told her.” T’Pol walked up to Cyrn. She looked up at T’Pol with a faint smile. “Thank you,” Cyrn whispered. “I apologize I couldn’t successfully help you escape, Cyrn.” “That’s okay. I’ll die free. Her species are called Acrynov, but I don’t know where they come from. They’re very secretive about their home world. Bionq worked there for twelve years. Every six months or so, she just disappears. Because she’s the best worker, Jadek never fires her for it. She’s gone for a month or so; the longest was three months. She comes back, works, does it again.” “Were you close to her?” “She wasn’t really close with anyone. She made me nervous.” “Why?” “She’d breath this mist in men’s faces and they’d do anything she’d ask. That made me nervous.” “Do you recall seeing this man?” T’Pol lifted the PADD, showing her a picture of Archer. “Yes. About four days ago. She and I were working the same game table and she kept looking at something. I asked her what she was looking at and she pointed him out. Then she kept going to the door to stare and followed him when he left.” “Do you know if she was working with anyone? The Andorians, perhaps?” “I don’t know. I’m sorry.” “You’ve provided a great deal of information, Cyrn. Thank you.” Cyrn nodded. T’Pol nodded once and left. # Trip and Reed walked between the spacecraft on the landing dock, comparing each one to the one on their PADDs. “There,” Reed said. Trip turned, looking in the direction Reed pointed. The two walked up to the side hatch. “Are you moving that piece of junk?” someone asked. They turned. Standing behind them was a toad like alien. Next to him was a nine-foot, gangly alien with six arms. In five of his six hands he held tools. “Are you the Urel brothers?” Trip asked. The toad laughed in snorts. The tall alien’s laughter was slow and sounded forced. They stopped laughing at the same time. “We look like brothers?” the toad alien asked. Trip started to answer. “OF COURSE NOT! What a stupid question. This ship has been here for a week. We want it moved. Now.” “It’s not ours. Do you know where the aliens are that own it?” “That junk’s been here for six days,” the toad alien said. “We were ordered to ship it off to the yards today, but if you pay the docking fee, it’s yours.” “We don’t want to buy it, we need to find the owners.” “Chances are,” the gangly alien began with a slow drawl. He pointed at the locking mechanism with a tool. “They aren’t coming back. That was shot from the outside.” Trip and Reed glanced at the ship and back at the aliens. Trip grinned. “Tell ya what. You two write down that we paid the docking fee, sell it yourselves and pocket the money, minus the docking fee. All we need is to get in and see if we can find out where the owners of the ship went.” The two aliens looked at each other. The toad alien shrugged. The gangly alien walked over to the hatch and with his tools began prying the door open. The second it was cracked open a horrid odor hit escaped. The gangly alien, Trip, and Reed retreated, but the toad alien didn’t appear to mind the scent. He forced the door open and two corpses fell out on top of him. He began squealing and flailing. The gangly alien pulled him free from the corpses and the four stood back, staring at them. “They died trying to get out,” Reed said. “We have to see if...” Trip grimaced. He walked forward, stepping over the corpses and into the craft. There were no other bodies. He walked over to a terminal and tapped it, transmitting the computer’s data to Enterprise. He made a hasty retreat into fresh air. “He’s not in there.” “Do we have to report this? Can we still sell the craft?” the toad alien asked. Trip and Reed both looked at him. “Knock yourselves out,” Trip said. Reed and Trip turned and started to walk away. The heard a thud and turned. The gangly alien was lying on the landing dock. “WHY DID YOU TELL HIM TO KNOCK HIMSELF OUT FOR!” the toad alien yelled. The two walked away, ignoring the toad alien yelling at them. Back to Chapter 1 Continue to Chapter 3

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