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"Reality Flux" by A. Rhea King
Rating: PG CHAPTER 2 T’Pol watched the view screen. Ahead was endless space. In her heart she held out hope for Reed and Aina, but as fast as the warp signature was deteriorating, her logic was winning the battle. T’Pol suddenly stood and walked to the lift. “Ensign Sato, call for me if sensors pick up anything.” “Aye, ma’am,” Hoshi answered without turning. T’Pol stepped onto the lift. # T’Pol greeted the two guards with a slight nod as she approached the door. She tapped the call button and waited for the door to open. She entered, finding Archer sitting as hi computer. She visited him three days ago, before Phlox had released him to his quarters. Then he was still wearing a beard and had long hair, but today he was clean-shaven and his hair was trimmed short again. It would have been easy to believe that he wasn’t still suffering withdrawal symptoms from a drug addiction. She would never voice how proud she was that he hadn’t given up the fight to overcome his reliance. Archer looked up at her and smiled. He looked exhausted. “Hello,” Archer said. “Good afternoon, Captain. May I inquire what you are working on?” “Messages. I have dozens from seven months ago. It’s going to take me a while to work through them.” “I’m sure most people knew you were ill and are understanding of your lack of response.” He looked away with a wilting smile. She guessed he didn’t want to discuss that. “Lieutenant Reed and Aina have been kidnapped, sir.” Archer looked up at her. “I thought you should know that as you are still the Captain.” “Do you know who took them?” “No, but we are following the warp signature of the kidnapper’s ship.” Archer smiled. “You’ll find her, T’Pol.” “I hope to find both, not just Aina, sir.” “I’m glad to hear that. I’d hate the thought of you having to break in a new Armory officer.” “Indeed.” “Keep me updated.” “Of course, sir.” She turned and tapped the door. It slid open as he asked, “Have you seen Bionq? I’d miss her.” T’Pol let out a soft sigh, glancing at one of the guards when he slowly turned and looked at her. He’d heard the question too. She tapped the button, closing the door, and preparing to once again address what Archer couldn’t remember until his next drug dosage. # Reed stared at the floor. Aina slept on the bench next to him; a fitful sleep plagued with night scares. It felt like hours had passed since their kidnapper had docked with another ship. At the front of the ship the view screen showed a glorious nebula filled with reds of every hue. Every so often the hull let out a soft groan and the gravity plating shuttered, vibrating up through the wall and bench. He heard voices approaching the hatch and looked up. The kidnapper and three aliens entered and stood outside Reed’s cell talking and motioning at him. One of the new aliens wore a collar, held a case and didn’t participate in the conversation. Their kidnaper tapped the controls to power off the electrified bars. Reed sprung to his feet, putting himself between them and Aina. One of the new aliens reached for his arm and he yanked it back, falling back a step. Another alien reached for Aina. Reed swept her into his arms, frightening her awake. The alien grabbed for her, talking to Reed in a tone that resembled cursing. Reed turned, shielding her from the aliens. The first alien tried to take Aina from Reed. Reed punched him. The kidnapper grabbed a phase pistol and aimed it at Reed. Reed turned, protecting Aina. The kidnapper shot Reed, stunning him unconscious. Reed collapsed forward, his arms breaking Aina’s fall. One of the aliens walked forward and pulled Aina from Reed’s arms. He held her at arms length. The lack of comfort in his hold only made her start screaming. He looked less and less impressed as he examined her body. He passed the screaming child off to the kidnapper, who held her under his arm like a doll. The alien bent over and examined Reed. He was more impressed. He turned to the kidnapper and the two started talking. The hull of the ship groaned loudly, protesting to pressure building against it. For a moment Aina was quiet, listening to it. When it passed she burst back into crying and screaming. The two aliens haggled over the price, their voices rising as they did. The kidnapper finally nodded. The alien holding the case opened it on a counter and counted out strips of metal. He snapped it shut when he was done. The two remaining aliens grabbed Reed by the arms and drug him. The group moved off the kidnapper’s ship onto their, much larger ship. They deposited Reed against a wall and the kidnapper dropped Aina next to him. Still screaming, she latched on to Reed, pulling close to him. The alien wearing the collar stood quietly by while the other aliens and kidnapper talked and laughed. His eyes kept drifting down to Reed and the screaming, crying child. The hull of the ship groaned. The kidnapper started toward his ship, still talking with the buyers. The hull groaned louder. The collared alien was the first to notice Aina had stopped screaming. He looked down at her. She was staring down the hall, entranced by something. He looked down the hall and saw nothing. The kidnapper and aliens noticed Aina’s silence suddenly. They looked at her and then down the hall. The wall at the end of the hall appeared to ripple and buckle. A clear wave, like heat waves coming off hot desert sand, separated from the wall and raced toward them. The kidnapper and aliens backed away from it. A second wave came through the wall behind them. They turned to run, staring at the second wave. The kidnapper looked down at Reed and Aina. The wave passed over them, turning them translucent before momentarily erasing them. He turned. The second wave was almost on them. He looked back. The first wave had passed the airlock. When the two waves hit there was a resonating boom followed by a flash of light. The aliens and kidnapper, caught in the middle of the two waves, vanished in the twinkle of an eye. The waves separated and raced on. The second wave passed over where Reed and Aina had been. A ghost of them appeared before they did. When they appeared Reed had a days beard growth. Aina’s tears had dried. One of Reed’s arms was bent under him, creating a crook. Aina laid down in it, grabbing a hold of his arm. The hull of the ship continued to groan like a voice trying to lull the child to sleep. # Enterprise slowed at the nebula. On the bridge T’Pol was standing behind Mayweather, her arms crossed. “Are you certain that the warp signature goes into the nebula?” T’Pol asked, looking at the crewman manning the science station. “Yes, ma’am. It enters it at--” “Ma’am?” Mayweather said. T’Pol looked down at him. He stared wide-eyed at the screen. She looked up. Heading straight for them was a translucent ship. “I’m reading a spatial anomaly that sensors can’t identify,” the science officer told her. “It’s headed straight toward us, ma’am.” “Avoid the anomaly, Mister Mayweather.” T’Pol walked around to the science station. She began working on the monitors, working around the science officer. “Would you like me to move, ma’am?” the woman asked. “That won’t be necessary.” T’Pol turned to the viewer, looking through it. The ghost ship passed them, went to warp and disappeared. “The anomalies have the same signature we’ve detected when Daniels has transported Captain Archer to the future or past.” T’Pol stood, looking at the screen. “This has something to do with the Temporal Cold War?” the woman asked her. “No. I believe these are natural anomalies.” “From what?” “Of that, I am uncertain.” T’Pol returned to her post behind Mayweather. “Mister Mayweather, continue avoiding the anomalies.” T’Pol looked at the science officer. “Crewman Kent, launch probes into the anomalies to gather data. I will not risk sending Enterprise into the nebula without fully understanding what the anomalies are.” “What about Lieutenant Reed and Aina?” T’Pol walked over to helm and tapped the companel. “Commander Tucker, please report to the bridge.” T’Pol stood back, watching the nebula. A wave of distortion drifted out of it. She saw a probe launch and fly toward the wave. It entered and disappeared. “Did you get readings?” “No. It... Disappeared,” Kent told her. “There it is,” Hoshi said. They looked up. The end of the distortion was separating from the nebula. They could see a very faint, ghost image of the probe. It traveled away with the wave. “Continue studying the anomalies, crewman,” T’Pol instructed her. “Use as many probes as it takes.” The lift opened and Trip walked onto the bridge. “Commander, the warp signature stops at the nebula, I would like you to take Ensign Sato to go to the opposite side of the nebula so we can determine what is happening in the nebula.” “I have no idea what to do,” Hoshi protested. “Launch probes into the anomalies as they leave the nebula and record the data.” “But I--” “Ensign, I cannot go and I need Crewman Kent here. You are the only other person that can do this.” Hoshi left with Trip. T’Pol turned back to the view screen, watching the nebula. # Reed opened his eyes. His body ached and was stiff. Slowly he sat up, sensing Aina’s small body near him. Reed carefully placed her on the floor. Reed looked back, expecting the aliens to be there but found the hall empty. He jumped when the hull groaned, looking around him. He climbed to his feet, putting his hand over the spot where he’d been shot. It hurt like he’d been punched. He walked to the airlock, walking onto the kidnapper’s ship. He expected his kidnapper to appear at any moment. He walked up to the view screen, watching the nebula swirling outside. In the confined space, it was easier to hear the hull groaning under pressure. “DA!” Aina suddenly screamed followed by wailing. Reed trotted back to the other ship. Aina was sitting on the floor bawling and looking for him. She saw him come through the airlock and held her arms up, her bawling growing louder. Reed smiled, crouching down before her. He gently lifted her into his arms, rising back to his feet. “Shhhh, Aina. It’s all right, child. Shhh.” Aina’s bawling slowly subsided to sniffles. “There now,” Reed quietly told her. “All is well, you see?” Aina tucked her head under his chin, hugging him. Reed turned to the airlock controls. He fiddled with them until the airlock shut and sealed. Reed turned back to the empty ship. “It’s too bad you can’t talk, Aina. I’d like to know what events transpired while I was out.” Aina’s only response was to stick her thumb in her mouth. “You won’t be starting that, Aina.” Reed pulled her thumb out. She tried several times to disobey, but finally gave up when it became clear Reed was more determined to win the battle. Reed started walking, stopping at every room of the ship. # “T’Pol, we got nothing over here,” Trip said to the companel. Hoshi sat at the science terminal, launching a probe into every wave that came out of the nebula. Trip was actually surprised there weren’t more. In the two hours they’d been scanning, only a dozen or so had drifted from the nebula, smaller than the shuttle pod. “And you have covered all areas?” T’Pol asked. “What I didn’t cover, sensors did.” “Have you gathered any new data on the anomalies, Ensign?” Trip glanced back at Hoshi. “There haven’t been that many waves on this side and no.” “We have not see one on this side for at least forty-five minutes. Their sporadic production is unexplainable.” “Maybe there’s a invisible moon affecting the tides.” Hoshi muttered too quietly for T’Pol to hear. Trip looked back at her, smiling. She glanced at him, smiling. “And you have not received any data from the probes?” “I did from two, but only briefly.” “Return to Enterprise.” Trip turned back, reaching for the thruster controls. His hand froze. “Oh my God.” Hoshi looked up. She slowly rose to her feet, walking up behind Trip. “What is it?” T’Pol asked. In front of them, in the wake of an anomaly, Enterprise was emerging from the nebula. “It’s Enterprise, T’Pol. She’s leaving the nebula,” Trip told her. “This Enterprise?” T’Pol asked. “NC-NX01 on the hull. It’s our old gal, T’Pol.” Hoshi looked down when something beeped. She tapped a control. “The communication array is picking up a transmission. I’m recording it.” The ship jumped to warp. Trip turned his attention back to the controls, preparing to return. “Is there a warp signature from Enterprise?” “It’s scattered,” Trip answered. “Like it was supposed to be masked, but didn’t quite make it.” “Did sensors pick up any bio-signs?” “No,” Hoshi answered. “What was the transmission you detected?” Hoshi accessed the recorded transmission. “It has video and audio. I’m transmitting it to you.” “What was it though?” Trip asked Hoshi. Hoshi pulled it up on her screen and played it. Her jaw dropped. “Captain Archer.” Trip jumped up and stepped around to stand beside her. The video and audio were staticky and distorted, but they showed Captain Archer standing before the captain’s chair. “Admiral, we spent the last five days scanning the nebula. I haven’t detected anything. They’ve disappeared.” There was a pause and then Archer shook his head. “No. We didn’t detect anything, sir. I’ll send word to his parents that this search was futile too.” Archer paused, looking down. He was quieter this time. “I agree, sir. This was a horrible way to lose a crewman. T’Pol felt bad that it happened in the first place.” “That wave was a future one,” Trip said. “How can you tell?” “Look at you,” Trip pointed. Off to the left of Archer sat Hoshi. Her hair was short and she looked a little older. He pointed down at Mayweather. He also older with longer hair. “T’Pol, these waves are time fluxes. If Reed and Aina were caught in one...” Trip looked up at the nebula. “They may be lost forever,” Hoshi finished. “I assumed that from the beginning, but we must keep trying. Return to Enterprise.” “Aye,” the two answered. Trip got back into the pilot’s seat and headed back to Enterprise. |
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