"Double the Blind" by A. Rhea King Rating: PG Disclaimer: Don't own the, CBS/Paramount does. Summary: Trip and T'Pol are tricked into entering an entity that lives off the life essence of others. When Archer and the crew try to save them, they're attacked by a 'friendly' ship and forced to abandoned the two. CHAPTER 1 : Waiting Game Archer waited for Brila to set plates down in front of each person before continuing his conversation. She turned and the two exchanged smiles before she left. Archer looked up at the alien sitting across from him, finding him watching Archer with what appeared to be open fascination. “Is there something wrong?” Archer asked. The man, at least a meter taller than Archer, could would have easily been mistaken for a human, except that across his cheeks and nose was a splatter of scaly freckles. He had introduced himself as Captain Ealad, captain of a freight ship, and his home system was twenty light years away. “I have not seen many species where emotions are so apparent,” Captain Ealad commented. Archer smiled, glancing at T’Pol on his right. Was she silently agreeing with that statement? “In all the years out here, I have heard that comment countless of times,” Archer joked, “As they human expression goes, we wear our heart -- or emotions -- on our sleeves.” The man imitated a smile, but Archer could tell it was faked. “You were telling us about the plant life on your planet,” Archer said before taking a bite of his food. “We have a wide variety. Most are poisonous. Have you ever seen the Bitanag, Captain Archer?” “No. Is it poisonous too?” The man laughed, making Archer and T’Pol both look at him with surprise. He was smiling a real smile. “The Bitanag is not a plant, Captain Archer. It is an alien that lives in the Uliok nebula between my home and the system I run freight to. I’m sorry, I should have explained it before asking since you are new to this area of space.” Archer smiled. “No problem. This alien lives in a nebula?” “Yes.” “How is that possible?” T’Pol asked. “They aren’t like most aliens. They’re made of some sort of silicon material. Legend on my planet is that they were once ancestors from our planet but that the Gods grew angry at their improvident nature and banned them to a place where they could do no harm, changing them so that leaving the nebula meant they would die. It would explain the five missing lines in our evolution if it were true.” Archer smiled. “Maybe that’s where the Neanderthals went too.” “The Neanderthals?” “A branch of human beings that became extinct early in human’s history.” “Ahh. Perhaps,” the man nodded, sipping his glass of water. “Perhaps.” “Is this being sentient?” “Yes. Quite. Some aliens have actually translated their language and communicated with them.” “So there more than one alien lives in the nebula?” Captain Ealad smiled again. “It is difficult to say. I have heard both yes and no.” “Has your race translated their language?” “Yes, scientists on my planet have, but I don’t keep it in our database. It’s a very complicated language and takes up a great deal of memory in our computers. The government ships and science vessels do, however.” “Hoshi would love to get her hands on that language,” Archer said. “Perhaps we should visit it,” T’Pol suggested. Archer nodded, looking at Captain Ealad. “Would you mind giving us the coordinates?” “Certainly. Before we depart.” Archer nodded. # The nebula was an astonishing display of colors moving slowly through clouds of dust and gas. “Any signs of this alien?” Archer asked, looking at T’Pol. “Not yet, Captain.” “Move closer, Travis, but be careful. If there is something alive in there, I’d rather not run over it.” Travis smiled. “Aye, sir.” “I am detecting something moving within the nebula,” T’Pol said. Archer watched the view screen. Slowly a tendril emerged from the clouds. It looked like it was made of crystal or glass, subtly catching and refracting the colors of the nebula within it. “Full halt,” Archer said. “Hoshi?” “I’m getting something, but it sounds like whales.” “Put it on.” Hoshi put it on the bridge COM and sounds like whale songs filled the bridge. “Looks like you and T’Pol have your work cut out for you, Hoshi.” Hoshi smiled, glancing at T’Pol. “Sir,” Travis said. Archer looked back around. The tendril was moving toward them, stopping every meter or so. It reminded Archer of a feral animal wanting very much to come close, but afraid to. “Full halt, Travis.” “Should I polarize the hull, sir?” Malcolm asked. “No. Not yet,” Archer said. The tendril stopped just short of Enterprise and then very slowly it touched it. Enterprise shuddered slightly from the impact, but nothing worse than when she went to warp. The tendril went out of the visual sensor’s range. “Keep an eye on it, Malcolm.” The view changed and they saw the tendril was under Enterprise, touching the ship every so often. Suddenly the tendril flew back into the nebula and the ‘talking’ stopped. The bridge crew held their breath. The songs resumed and the tendril appeared again, this time joined by four more. The tendrils continued to explore the outside of Enterprise, once in a while touching it a little too hard so the ship shuddered. Then the tendrils would immediately withdraw from Enterprise and touch it again more gently. “Travis, hold this position. T’Pol, Hoshi, get to work on the language. Malcolm, keep your eye on it. Everyone else, get back to work,” Archer ordered. The crew obeyed. # Archer walked into his quarters, let out a heavy sigh, fell face first onto his bed. Porthos jumped onto the bed and began sniffing around Archer’s head, making sure to stick his cold, wet nose in Archer’s ears to get his master’s full attention. Archer laughed, pushing the Beagle back. Archer rolled onto his back and Porthos jumped onto his chest and started licking Archer’s face. “Stop. Stop!” Archer laughed, pushing him away. “Sto-o-o-op!” Archer and Porthos both froze when they heard what sounded like a finger tapping on glass. Archer tilted his head back, looking out port window. A tendril was gently tapping on it. Archer sat up and walked around to the port window. Behind him Porthos started growling, standing at rigid on the bed as he watched attentively. Archer reached out and laid a hand on the top of the hull above the port, leaning into the recessed window. The tentacle’s form changed to imitate his face. Archer smiled and the face smiled back. Archer reached out his other hand and pressed it against the window. A hand and arm formed out of the tentacle and pressed against the window outside. “Wish I knew what you were saying,” Archer told the alien. The tentacle pulled together and backed away. Archer turned and walked to the door of his quarters. He heard tapping on the window and turned. The tentacle had formed a giant hand that it pressed against the window. Archer smiled. “A sense of humor or just imitation, huh?” Archer asked the tentacle. “Come on, Port.” Archer turned and left his quarters with Porthos. Continue to Chapter 2

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