|
"Double the Blind" by A. Rhea King
Rating: PG CHAPTER 5 : Recyclable Bauble T’Pol again was tracing the wall with her hands, probing for any weak spot in it. “T’Pol?” She turned, watching Trip sit up. She walked over and knelt down beside him. “Where are we? Where’d all these people come from?” Trip looked at the aliens all around them. “We have been tricked, Charles. The Bitanag tricked us into coming in and is feeding off of our emotions.” Trip’s head whipped around. “We’re its food?” “Yes.” Trip scrambled to his feet, drew his phase pistol and aimed at the wall. “NO!” T’Pol said, pulling his hand down. “No, Charles.” “I’m going to shot our way out.” “It’s a glass crystal, Charles. It will reflect the beam and bounce it around, potentially killing you or I.” Trip slowly put the phase pistol back in its holster. He sat back down where he’d been laying. T’Pol sat down beside him, watching his face. He looked at her. “Any word from Enterprise?” “It crushed the communicators, but it wants Enterprise. We’re lures as well.” “Why does it want Enterprise?” “For food. There is a considerable amount with the number of humans aboard.” “We have to stop it. We have to let them know, T’Pol.” “How do you propose we do that?” “I..” Trip looked at the wall in front of them and then at the aliens surrounding them. His body sagged. “I don’t know.” T’Pol looked down. “I take it you haven’t thought up anything?” Trip asked her. “I cannot always devise methods of rescue, Charles.” “Hey,” Trip said, taking her hand. T’Pol looked at him. He smiled, lifting her hand up and kissing her fingers. “I didn’t mean it like that, T’Pol. I just was hoping you had thought of something was all. It’s okay.” “I have not.” Trip nodded, dropping their hands to his leg. He looked down when something hit his hand and smiled again. He reached his other hand across, touching the fire rubies on T’Pol’s bracelet. “I didn’t think you’d ever wear this, know that? It looks good on you.” T’Pol looked down at the bracelet. “I do not normally wear it. I felt the desire to wear it today.” Trip looked at her. “Why’s that?” “I have not spoken to you for several days as we have been busy. I desired the memory.” Trip lifted her hand to kiss her fingers. T’Pol suddenly yanked her hand away, holding her wrist up to look at the bracelet. “What?” Trip asked. T’Pol looked up, meeting Trip’s eyes, “Charles, I would not normally request this, but you must forgive me now.” “For what?” “You have made a similar request before of me and I am requesting it of you now. Please, grant me forgiveness.” “Okay. I forgive you.” T’Pol stood and walked over to a case that had been imprisoned with them. She pulled out a toolkit from the case and then took her phase pistol out of the holster. Using the case top as a worktable she carefully pulled the phase pistol apart. Trip moved to her side, watching what she was doing. She made adjustments to the power circuits and set it aside. T’Pol took her bracelet off and carefully took the fire rubies off of it. Trip looked up at her face without a word, but his horrified look said enough. T’Pol didn’t acknowledge him as she continued to work. T’Pol took out a metal dissection pan and pulled the soft bottom out. She placed the gold in the pan and with the altered phase pistol she melted the gold and then used tools to form it into a ring that would fit inside the phase pistol barrel. Trip suddenly realized what she was doing when she carefully fitted the ring around the rubies. He smiled, kissing her cheek. “You’re a genius,” Trip whispered. “What are you doing?” a voice asked. Both looked back, watching a face appear in the wall. “Hurry, T’Pol,” Trip said. “What are you doing? What are you making? You cannot get out of this prison!” the Bitanag screeched. The crystal face suddenly began extending toward them. Trip leapt up and punched the face, shattering it. Tentacles shot out, wrapping around his legs, arms, waist and neck. “HURRY T’POL!” Trip screamed. T’Pol quickly closed the phase pistol and spun, shooting at the tentacle racing toward her. Now a refined, high-powered laser, the phase pistol easily cut through the crystal and shattered it. She stood and shot through the tentacles wrapped around Trip and cut a door through the wall. The two ran out of the prison, heading toward the shuttle pod. T’Pol heard Trip yelp and turned, seeing a tentacle had tripped him. She aimed at the tentacle. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, T’POL!” Trip screamed at her even as walls of crystal began to encase him where he fell, “WARN ENTERPRISE” T’Pol turned and fell back two steps, shooting at the tentacles. She took off at a run again. T’Pol raced into the shuttle pod and spun, slamming the hatch shut on a tentacle. T’Pol ran to the console and opened a communication channel. “T’Pol to Enterprise, respond.” # “Sir, it’s T’Pol,” Hoshi said, turning her seat, “Audio only.” Archer looked at Hoshi. “Put her through. T’Pol?” “Sir, it’s a trap. You cannot come near the nebula. The Bitanag is using us to lure you and the rest of the crew near enough that it can ensnare you and pull you in.” “I know. We know quite a bit about it now. We have a plan, however, but we have to be in the Bitanag in order for it to work.” Archer heard a phaser fire. “T’Pol?” There was a pause before she replied. “It can come in through open vents. Whatever plan you may have, you must close external vents before entering.” “Acknowledged. Where’s Trip, T’Pol?” “It has him.” “Were you firing a phaser? It wasn’t reflecting?” “I altered it.” “How?” “I went against regulations this morning and wore a bracelet Commander Tucker gave me that had rubies. I increased the power and used the rubies to intensify and refine the particle stream.” “Too bad we don’t a large enough ruby to do that to the canons!” Malcolm commented. “Are you in the shuttle pod?” Archer asked her “Yes.” “Try to hold it down, T’Pol. We’ll be joining you shortly.” “Captain, are you certain your plan will work?” “T’Pol, are you certain it can’t get in through closed external vents?” “Not completely, Captain. I respect your honesty.” “Stand by.” Archer looked back at Sista. “Get going, Vardee.” Sista walked to the lift and stepped on. She turned, meeting Malcolm’s concerned eyes. She offered him a smile, mouthing ‘I love you’ before the lift doors closed. Malcolm looked down, forcing himself to focus on the situation at hand. Archer began giving orders. “As soon as we’re within two hundred kilometers drop out of warp and kill the engines, Travis. Anne, re-route carbon dioxide filters to the ballast tanks and prepare to engage re-route as soon as we’re in the nebula. Malcolm, keep the shield polarized as long as you can and close the torpedo tubes and canon hatches.” “Aye, sir.” |
Like it? Hate it? Just want to point out a typo? Join the discussion now.
Disclaimer: Star Trek in all its various forms and its characters are the property of CBS/Paramount. No copyright infringement is intended by the authors of this site, which is solely for the purpose of entertainment and is not for profit. This site is owned by CX and was opened to the public in February 2008.