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"Innocent Evil" by A. Rhea King
Rating: PG CHAPTER 1 Archer stood up and walked out of his ready room. “Ready, Trip.” Archer stopped at the engineering console, waiting for Trip to finish what he was working on. “T’Pol, did you transmit the sections we’re looking at to the shuttle pods?” “Yes, Captain.” T’Pol didn’t glance up from the report she was reading or move from the captain’s chair. “Re… Ready.” Trip stood up, glancing back at what he was doing. “That’s strange.” “What?” Archer asked as the two crossed the bridge to the lift. “Well... The plasma we just vented is dispersing strange.” Archer turned, pressing the button for deck E. “Strange like we have a hitchhiker again?” Trip chuckled. “No. Not like that. Not unless they’re following right off port.” Trip shrugged, stepping onto the lift. “I dunno. Maybe I’ve just been staring at the monitor an hour too long.” Archer smiled at him. “We’ve come across other ships with cloaking technology. I’ll ask T’Pol to monitor it just to be sure.” “I guess. But they’d have to be following right next to us, less than a meter, for those patterns.” “The Suliban have.” “Maybe I should look into it instead of doing the survey.” “And miss getting into a dog fight with hull fissures?” Archer asked. Trip shrugged. “We don’t have a lot of--” Trip looked at the controls when the lift slowed to a stop. “Why we stopping on E deck?” Trip looked at Archer. Archer smiled without answering. The lift door opened and Navta looked up at Archer. “Hi,” Archer piped. Navta smiled, stepping on beside Archer and sliding her hand into his. “Pilot lessons today,” Archer explained to Trip. “All the more reason to check things out.” “Ahh. We’re getting out of the simulator and into the real thing, huh?” Trip asked Navta. Navta nodded, smiling up at Trip. Navta looked up at Archer when he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. She leaned against his leg, pulling his arm around to hug her. “Are you going to be flying circles around me when you’re my age?” Archer asked Navta. “Maybe.” Navta grinned. “Maybe, huh?” Navta nodded. “Maybe she shouldn’t...” Trip trailed off when Navta turned a serious face toward him. “I shouldn’t what?” “Nothing. I was... Talking about... T’Pol.” “You don’t lie well,” Navta said, getting a mischievous grin on her face. Trip leaned toward her. “I lie about as well as you stay out of trouble, huh?” “Uh-uh! I never get in trouble!” “Much,” Archer added. The lift stopped and the doors open. “What do you mean much?” Navta asked him, “I never get in trouble K’pan.” “What about yesterday? I caught you in the maintenance tunnel again. You spent the afternoon in the corner.” “That wasn’t much trouble!” Navta said proudly. Malcolm fell into step beside Trip, the two following Archer and Navta. “Family quarrel?” Malcolm jokingly asked Trip. “Wait until he gets around to looking at it from that angle, then you can call it a family quarrel.” Trip laughed. “It would appear he’s already looking at it from that angle from this conversation.” “I HEARD THAT!” Archer laughed, getting his arm yanked as Navta turned into a shuttle pod bay. Malcolm and Trip laughed. # “She doesn’t look too beat up over here on port,” Archer said, stifling his yawn. “We’re done on starboard and are heading back,” Trip reported. “I’m flying up top and letting the munchkin take the controls,” Archer said, glancing back at Navta in the co-pilot’s seat. “K’pan?” Navta asked, looking up at him. “Yeah?” “Will I get to be good at flying like Travis is?” “If you practice.” Archer stood up from the pilot’s seat. “Come ‘ere.” Navta got up and sat down in the seat, bouncing a little. “You’ve been hiding all this excitement for so long I think you’re about to burst, half-pint,” Archer joked, ruffling her hair. Navta flashed a grin at him. Archer crouched down beside the seat. “Okay, I want you to fly us at a quarter knot to the bow. Keep us level,” Archer pointed to a gauge. “Watch this. See the two lines here?” “Yes.” “Keep the two lines level with each other.” “Allllll right!” Navta moved to the edge of the seat so she could reach the controls. “T’Pol to Archer.” Archer reached out and tapped the companel. “Archer here.” “Captain, we are detecting a spatial disturbance on port near your location. It’s in the same location Commander Tucker noticed the unusual plasma discharge.” Archer stood. “What’s causing it?” “I cannot determine.” “Navta, turn us about.” Navta reached up and began turning the shuttle pod to the right. “The disturbance has gone off our sensors,” T’Pol reported “Probably nothing. I’ll check it--” The shuttle pod jolted, throwing Archer forward onto the controls and aim the shuttle pod at Enterprise. Archer snatched Navta from the pilot’s seat and sat down. “Sit down, Navta,” Archer ordered. “A ship has just uncloaked above us, Captain,” T’Pol informed him. “FIRE ON IT!” Archer cursed to himself. “Of all the damn days for me to be right! I’m sure they’re not here to shake hands!” Archer ordered. A ship flew past the shuttle pod and opened fire on Enterprise. Archer turned the shuttle pod, heading toward the underside of Enterprise to dock. The shuttle pod jerked forward, throwing him onto the controls again. Archer looked up, finding the shuttle pod was moving backwards. “Archer to Enterprise.” There was no response. “Archer to Enterprise. Respond.” There was still no response. Archer brought the engines up to full power in an attempt to fly the shuttle pod forward. The shuttle pod shot forward suddenly, flying past Enterprise. Archer turned it around and flew back underneath Enterprise. “K’pan, the bad ship’s following us,” Navta said. “Enemy ship, not bad ship, sweetheart.” “Them too.” A smile flashed across Archer’s lips. Archer spotted the open loading bay door and headed for it. The shuttle stopped with a jolt and began moving backward again. “No,” Archer hissed between his teeth. Something above the shuttle exploded. “Archer to Enterprise.” There was no reply. “Navta, is COM down?” Navta didn’t answer right away. “No. We’re being blocked by the bad, I mean enemy ship.” “What the hell do they want!?” Archer jumped up and ran to a bench at the back of the shuttle. He pulled out a phase pistol and armed it. Archer ran back to the controls and tried again to get forward motion. Archer looked up when bright lights surrounded the shuttle pod and saw they were being pulled into a bay. He looked forward, watching the bay doors shut. Archer picked up the phase pistol in his lap, preparing for the worst. # Enterprise rocked from a phaser canon blast. “We cannot withstand their weapons, Sub-Commander,” Malcolm informed T’Pol. “Engines are off line,” Trip said across the COM, “We don’t even have impulse, T’Pol.” “Where is the captain?” T’Pol asked Travis. “The ship has them in a tractor beam. They’re pulling them to the ship.” “Fire a torpedo at the tractor beam generator, Mister Reed.” Malcolm obeyed. “The shuttle is free,” he reported, “They’re heading for the loading bay and the ship is pursuing.” “Prepare to fire cannons when you can target them.” “They knew we didn’t have weapons on stern,” Malcolm hissed. “Are they targeted?” “No. They’re being careful to avoid cannon target. “Fire a torpedo.” “AT WHAT!? I just told you they’re out of target range!” Malcolm asked. “Mister Reed, when they began to move in the direction of a target lock, fire.” “Aye, ma’am.” Malcolm waited. “Torpedoes away.” “They have the shuttle pod in a tractor beam again,” Travis said. “One hit, but it didn’t free the shuttle pod,” Malcolm said, “They’re steadying to pull it in.” “Fire again.” Malcolm waited for crew in the armory to load a torpedo. “Target lock acquired and torpedo away.” “They just pulled the shuttle pod in,” Travis informed T’Pol. “Hit,” Malcolm said. “They’re powering warp drive.” “Take out their engines, Lieutenant Reed.” Malcolm targeted the ship’s engines and fired just as it jumped to warp. “Miss. They went to warp before they were hit.” Malcolm looked up at T’Pol. “Mister Mayweather, track their warp signature. When we have engines online, pursue. T’Pol to engineering.” “Trip here,” Trip said. “The enemy ship has broken off its attack. We need the warp drive as soon as possible.” “I’m already on it. Trip out.” T’Pol sat back in the captain’s chair. “Assist with repairs, Lieutenant Reed,” T’Pol commanded, “We need engines back online as soon as possible.” “Aye, ma’am.” Malcolm rushed to the lift. The bridge was quiet for several minutes. “Why’d they kidnap Captain Archer?” Hoshi asked T’Pol. T’Pol didn’t answer. She had no idea why they had attacked or why they had been so intent on capturing the shuttle pod or even if it was Archer, they had been after. There were more questions than she liked for an uninstigated attack. “Locate Vardee. Ask her to report to the bridge,” T’Pol ordered Hoshi. Hoshi turned to comply. # Archer stood, looking at the hatch door. “Get behind me, Navta.” Navta stood up and walked behind him. For several minutes nothing happened. Then they heard the hatch door beep and it was forced open from the outside. Archer reached around, pushing Navta closer to him with his free hand. Four aliens boarded the shuttle pod, aiming phasers at the two. The aliens wore black and silver uniforms. Their hair looked like dreadlocks, but judging from their bald heads it was the only hair they had. Short tusks protruded from their upper jaw and rested on top of their thin lips. They were wearing headgear that had a visor covering their eyes and a piece that covered one ear. Along the alien’s sleeves was a slit were shiny black spikes extended out to needle tips. A fifth alien walked in. He touched his headgear and the visor disappeared. “State your designation,” he ordered Archer in English. “What do you want?” Archer asked. The alien said something that didn’t translate. A piercing ring caused Archer to throw his hands over his ears and drop his phase pistol. The ringing stopped and Archer looked up to find the alien standing in front of him with Archer’s phase pistol in hand. The alien crushed the phase pistol with one hand and dropped it at Archer’s feet. “Designation,” the alien ordered. Archer refused to answer. The alien grabbed the neck of Archer’s uniform, pulling Archer to him. Archer grabbed the alien’s wrist, trying to pull his hand away so he could get air “Designation!” Archer tightened his jaw, glaring at the alien. With an angry growl, the alien threw Archer across the shuttle pod. Archer hit the hull with his shoulder and slid to the floor. “NO!” he heard Navta yell. Archer looked up, finding the alien had a phase pistol aimed at him. “He’s an ensign. He works in the galley. He cooks things,” Navta said. The alien looked at her. “SILENCE JIT!” he yelled at her. Navta shrunk away both from surprise and fear. Archer looked up at the alien. “Ensign is it?” he asked Archer. Archer didn’t answer. “You’re of no use to us.” “NO!” Navta yelled, lunging forward and biting the alien’s arm. The alien pulled his arm free from her, dropping his phaser pistol. He grabbed Navta’s shoulder and pushed her toward Archer. Navta hit the floor on her hip and slid to a stop by Archer. Archer scrambled to his feet, pulling Navta behind him before the alien could attack her for biting him. To Archer’s surprise the alien didn’t come after her. He unzipped his sleeve and pulled out a clear pouch that contained a milky yellow liquid. He smirked. “She’s the one. Take her to the lab and the human to a cell.” “She’s the one what?” Archer demanded. The alien started toward the hatch. “WHAT DO YOU WANT!?” Archer yelled. The alien looked at him. He walked up to Archer, his face stopping millimeters before Archer’s. “From you?” The alien smiled. “Dead would be preferable but apparently the child cares for you, otherwise she wouldn’t have tried to protect you. So for now, you are incentive for her to do everything she’s told.” The alien looked down at Navta. “Everything, child, or he will die.” The two watched him walk out of the shuttle. “K’pan?” Navta whispered. “Shh,” Archer said, watching the four aliens move around them. One produced a hypospray and reached for Archer’s arm. Archer smacked the alien’s hand away. The alien slammed Archer against the wall by the throat and his hand tightened, threatening to crush Archer’s windpipe and cutting off Archer’s air. Archer gagged, trying to pull the alien’s hand away. Archer could hear Navta screaming for him but the world was starting to become blurry, distracting his attention from her. The alien jammed the hypospray into Archer’s throat and with a soft whoosh injected him with something. The alien let Archer fall to the floor, watching him. Archer tried to get to his feet, but the effects of the drug were immediate. Archer felt the floor tilt as his knees buckled under his weight and sent him to the floor. “K’pan!” Navta yelled. “Navta,” Archer muttered. He tried to pull himself back to his feet. “K’PAN!” Navta screamed. “HELP ME!” Archer watched helplessly as two aliens walked by dragging Navta with them, her screams sounding like echoes. Two of the aliens grabbed Archer by the arm and pulled him to his feet, half dragging him out of the shuttle and through several halls. The dropped him on the floor of a room and left. Archer rolled on his back, watching the lights swirl around him. He closed his eyes, wishing the effect of the drug to wear off soon. # “Incoming message from the Diedra, Sub-Commander,” Hoshi said. “On screen.” Sista appeared on the view screen. “We can’t find it, T’Pol. I think they scattered their warp signature but we’re running another sweep.” “Report if you find anything,” T’Pol ordered. Sista nodded, reaching out to end the communications. “Vardee.” Sista looked at her. “Yeah?” “The alien vessel was intent on getting the shuttle pod Captain Archer and Navta were in.” “I know. Malcolm told me.” “Have you ever met that particular ship? Perhaps it was Navta they were after. All of you have sizable bounties on your heads issued by the Varlikon and Cardassians. It would make sense to attack a small, virtually defenseless vessel if they were seeking to collect the bounty.” “Perhaps, T’Pol,” Sista looked down, “but I can’t tell anymore than you can at this point.” “Acknowledged. Return to Enterprise.” # Archer heard footsteps coming down the hall. He stood when two aliens appeared, one carrying Navta in his arms. The energy field Archer had painfully discovered earlier flickered off. The alien with Navta walked in and laid her on the cell’s bench. The second alien aimed his phase rifle at Archer. “Come on,” he ordered. Archer slowly obeyed, looking back at Navta as he was taken away from the cell. They led him through dim lit halls to a room that resembled Sickbay on Enterprise. One of the aliens pushed him toward a bed and Archer stumbled into it, glaring over his shoulder at the alien. “Captain Archer,” someone said. Archer looked around. The alien from the shuttle pod was standing across from Archer. Beside him stood another alien dressed in a black uniform with a green stripe down one side. “The child must care a great deal for you to have lied about who you really were.” Archer stood up. “She didn’t lie.” The man pointed to a monitor. “Computer, replay transmission.” Archer’s face appeared, repeating a message. Archer recognized it as the message he had sent aliens that had attacked his ship before the phase cannons had been installed. They had installed some sort of device in a loading bay and before destroying it Archer had warned them they were not giving up their fight. It was followed by the reply from the aliens when they had made a final attack on Enterprise. The alien looked back at Archer. “Captain. Archer. Unless you have a clone, that is. Of course, from what we observed while following you, you don’t have that kind of technology yet.” Archer didn’t answer him. “I am Captain Restul of the Dilcarq vessel Uilitev. You will cooperate with Healer Iaret,” He motioned to the alien with the green stripe on his uniform, “If you do you will be returned to your cell unharmed. If you fail to cooperate you can join the deceased.” He motioned to his right. Archer guessed the ship’s morgue was in that direction. Archer didn’t reply. “Is that understood?” Captain Restul asked. Archer watched the Dilcarq without replying. Captain Restul smirked. “Do you have any idea how long we’ve been following your ship?” Archer said nothing. “At least a month. We were waiting for the right time to take the young one. At first we were going to destroy your ship, but you humans are a curious species, and stubborn. Would you consider that a correct observation?” Archer crossed his arms without replying. “I guess that’s a yes. We have prepared a demonstration that may persuade you to re-evaluate your stubborn trait.” The Dilcarq turned and walked over to a set of windows. A Dilcarq guard grabbed Archer’s arm in a painful grip and led him a row of windows at the back of the room. They were standing at the top of an amphitheater operating room. It looked like a human was strapped to the bed and he was fighting aggressively against his restraints while more Dilcarq in black and green worked around him. “Is the child your child?” Captain Restul asked Archer, looking at him. Archer looked down. “No matter. How well do you know the child’s genetic make-up?” Archer looked at Captain Restul without a reply. “Did you know she has fangs?” Captain Restul leaned toward Archer, meeting Archer’s odious glare. “Did you know that one bite from her kind could kill any living being within five minutes? And that there is no cure for the venom? Once bitten, the victim is dead. Did you know that your little freak is that deadly?” “She’s a child, not a freak.” Captain Restul smiled. “Your compassion for the girl is...” Restul’s smile vanished, “repulsive.” Captain Restul pressed a pad and the sounds in the amphitheater came through the COM of the Sickbay. “Proceed,” Captain Restul ordered, turning toward the windows. The Dilcarq in the room put respirators on. One prepared a hypospray and pressed it against the humanoids arm. The man screamed in pain as the chemical they injected him with began to disintegrate his arm. The chemical coursed through his blood stream, quickly disintegrating his skin and muscle while he screamed in agony. Archer looked away. Captain Restul grabbed Archer’s jaw and forced him to watch the man die as the chemical continued to eat away at his body until he quit screaming and lay dead on the table. Archer looked away when Captain Restul released his jaw. Anger boiled Archer’s blood, forcing him to push back thoughts of violence, reserving them. “What do you want?” Archer asked in a low voice. “How many Jit are on your ship?” Iaret asked. Archer looked around at him. “You’re helping the Varlikon?” “That was a Varlikon,” Captain Restul said. “You killed an ally?” “We have no allies. He told us about these Jit and we want to know about them.” Archer looked down. His mind was working fast on a way to get around this or even get help from Enterprise. “How many Jit?” Restul repeated. Archer didn’t answer. Captain Restul grabbed Archer by the back of his neck. He practically drug him across the room and slammed him on a bed. He held out a hand, easily holding Archer down with one hand. Healer Iaret loaded a hypospray and placed it in Captain Restul’s hand. Captain Restul pressed the hypospray against Archer’s neck to inject him with the contents of the vile. “Perhaps you need a first hand experience of what we gave that Varlikon,” Captain Restul said, pressing the hypospray hard enough into Archer’s neck he could feel the needle pricking his skin. “Or would you rather tell me how many Jit are on your ship, Captain Archer?” “FIVE!” Archer yelled. “Five?” Captain Restul pulled the hypospray back. “Yes. Five. There are five Jit on Enterprise,” Archer lied. “Is that child yours?” “Yes. Yes. She’s my daughter. My wife Vardee and I adopted her.” “There is another Jit like the child on your ship. What is that Jit’s name?” Archer closed his eyes, trying to decide which would be best to help him. “THE JIT’S NAME!” Captain Restul pressed the hypospray harder against Archer’s neck, leaning over him. Archer looked up into Restul’s eyes, making a hasty decision. “Zintar! His name... His name is Zintar,” Archer said, pretending to be heartbroken for revealing the information. “And you adopted him as well?” “Yes.” “Your wife, is she Jit?” Restul pulled the hypospray away. “No. She’s human. Like me.” “The names of the other Jit.” “Brila, Ryce and Xerrix.” “That is three.” “There were only five total. You already asked about Navta and Zintar.” “What breeds are the other three?” “I don’t know.” Restul pressed they hypospray to Archer’s neck again. “I DON’T KNOW!” Archer yelled. “I swear to you, I do not know. You can ask our doctor. Doctor Charles. We call him Trip.” Restul leaned near Archer again. “If I suspect for a moment that you are deceiving me, I will not hesitate to kill you in front of your crew with this.” Restul gave the hypospray a slight push against Archer’s neck. “Not even the slightest hesitance. Understood?” “Yes.” Captain Restul stood up, handing the hypospray to Iaret. “Iaret has questions about humans,” Captain Restul looked at Iaret. “If he decides to become uncooperative, kill him.” Restul released Archer, stepping back. Archer slid off the bed onto his feet, watching Captain Restul leave the room. He looked at Iaret and then down at the hypospray the Dilcarq was holding. “What’s in that?” Archer asked. Iaret smiled. It was a smile full of evil. “Your daughter’s venom. It’s ability to kill so quickly is amazing, don’t you think?” Archer swallowed. The images of the Varlikon’s body disintegrating while he still breathed were too fresh to forget. “Shall we begin?” Iaret motioned Archer to a chair. Archer slowly walked over and sat down. He prayed his crew would catch all the lies he just told and play along. It was the only thing he could think of to save Navta and himself. # T’Pol, Sista, Trip and Malcolm were pouring over the star chart, trying to decide on the best way to search the expanse of space. “We’re being hailed,” Hoshi said. The four looked at her. T’Pol and Trip both walked to the railing behind the captain’s chair. “On screen,” T’Pol said. An alien face appeared. He held Navta by the shoulder with a phase pistol held to her side. “Who are you? What have you done with our Captain?” T’Pol asked. “Call me Restul. I’m sure you recognize this face,” Restul said. “Is our captain alive?” T’Pol asked. “For the moment. Provided he continues to cooperate and you provide me with both the truth and my demands.” “What are your demands?” “How do we know he’s still alive?” Trip asked, interrupting Restul’s response. Restul leaned forward, pressing his cheek to Navta’s. “Is your father still alive, child?” Navta started crying. “Yes. My dad’s still alive.” Trip looked at T’Pol. She continued watching the view screen. “What are your demands?” she repeated. “I want the information your doctor has on the other four Jit aboard Enterprise. And then I want the Jit. Once I have what I want, you’ll have your captain returned.” “The Jit you speak of are part of our crew.” “Your five Jit, or your dead captain... Is it really a decision you want to make lightly?” “Doctor Trip,” Navta cried out. “Don’t give him stuff on my brother, Brila, Ryce or Xeri--” Restul covered Navta’s mouth, pressing the phase pistol to her temple. “Enough!” he snapped at her. “And if you bite me, child, I will shoot you before I die.” Restul looked at T’Pol. “Explain this to his wife, Vardee, and let her decide, Vulcan. I’m sure you can predict her decision as I have.” T’Pol lifted her chin. “I will need time to prepare the documents you request. Doctor Trip,” T’Pol glanced at Trip, “will need time to sedate the Jit you request. They will not go voluntarily.” “You have an hour.” The screen went black. “Doctor Trip?” Trip asked T’Pol. “I’m sure Captain Archer lied in hopes we can use it to our advantage.” T’Pol looked back at Sista and Malcolm. “Call Brila, Ryce, Xerrix and Zintar to the bridge, Ensign Sato.” |
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