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"Red Rain"
Rating: PG-13 Author's Note: This is a sequel to “Behind Blue Eyes”. You don’t have to read that to understand this story but it will help, and wouldn’t you like to know what Trip was doing as part of a MACO covert ops unit. MACO Lieutenant Theresa Arroya walked swiftly down the alleyway that she had decided to cut down. It was pitch black in the street, there were no streetlights and it was already well past midnight. The only light came from the full moon and the stars above. She’d been out with friends from the MACO base. They’d stayed out late, knowing that none of them had to be up for duty the next day. It wasn’t often that they were all able to kick back and relax so it had been doubly enjoyed by everyone. She had left her friends at the restaurant knowing that it wasn’t far back to her apartment. They had mostly been going back to base but her apartment was in the opposite direction. Living alone, miles from the base, had been a concession to her independent streak and the product of too much time being spent cramped into small spaces with other MACOs. The restaurant they had eaten at was within walking distance and it was a nice night so she had opted to walk. Almost immediately she had been sure that someone was following her. The footsteps that kept pace with her own, but when she turned to look there was no one behind her. She had taught a similar technique to her class only the previous week. She briefly considered that it might be one of the new class trying to prove something to their teacher but she dismissed that, none of them would be that stupid. They knew what Arroya could and would do to them if she caught them. She looked behind her and saw two men. She had chosen the alleyway because it was dark and presented better places for her to hide, but that also worked in the favour of the men following her. She was unarmed, taking weapons to dinner was generally frowned upon, besides it had been years since she’d needed to. Hiding or running was her only option. She turned the corner and began to run. She knew the area well and the way that alleys twisted and turned. She knew that she had to find cover and her own apartment block wasn’t far away. She turned another corner and there was the fire escape on her building and she jumped for the ladder, glad that she was as tall as she was. She caught the bottom rung on her second try and scrambled upwards. She reached the landing, pulled the ladder up behind her and climbed up the stairs until she reached her floor. It had been a while since she’d broken in anywhere, especially her own apartment, but you didn’t forget things like that. She opened the window and scrambled in. From the window she saw two men run past below and she ducked back into the darkened room. She looked around her apartment, satisfied that she was safe and although she kept the light off. She found her communicator and called Security. She wondered what was going on. She wasn’t working on anything classified at the moment, she was just teaching. She waited for the security officers to arrive, suddenly there was knock at the door. It had to be the security officers that she’d called, she wasn’t expecting anyone else. She wasn’t even aware of what had happened until her body broke the glass of the window and she found herself falling towards the ground. She knew she’d been stupid, five years ago she never would have let her guard down so quickly. She hit the ground and knew no more. Arroya’s murderer looked down at the bleeding, broken body in the alleyway below. He pulled out of his pocket a padd with a list of names on it and crossed off the first name. One down. He knew the names by heart now, the only problem was finding them all and he knew that the first would be the easiest. **** When Trip didn’t arrive for their weekly martial arts training, Reed went looking for him. He assumed that Trip had just got caught up in Engineering, he hadn’t seen him at dinner either. So Reed went down to Engineering, but Trip wasn’t there, nor was he in the mess hall, so that only left Trip’s quarters. Reed pressed the bell and waited. There was no answer. He pressed it again. There was still no answer. He was worried now so he keyed in his override and entered Trip’s quarters. Trip lay slumped over his desk, a glass clutched in his hand which still contained a centimetre of amber liquid, and an empty bottle of scotch beside him. “Oh Trip,” said Reed and went to feel for a pulse. Trip was out cold. He shook him and elicited a groan but nothing else. “What the bloody hell did you do this for?” said Reed and went to the com and called Doctor Phlox, who arrived a few moments later. “Commander Tucker has had rather too much to drink,” said Reed. Phlox scanned Trip. “Let’s get him onto the bed and into the recovery position,” said Phlox. Trip groaned again as he was manhandled onto his bunk. “Well at least he’s semi-responsive,” said Reed. “Indeed. If his blood alcohol level was any higher then I’d want to take him back to sick bay for monitoring, but I think it should be okay to leave him here, if you’d be willing to stay with him and keep an eye on him,” said Phlox. The doctor prepared a hypospray and injected its contents into Trip’s neck. Trip moved slightly as if to get away from the prick of the hypospray but apart from that he remained in the position he’d been placed in. “I’ll stay with him. Someone obviously needs to look after him,” said Reed. “Have you any idea what precipitated this?” asked Phlox. “No. I’ve never known Trip to get this drunk, especially not on his own or when he’s meant to be on duty the next day. There’s been the odd occasion on shore leave when he’s drunk a bit too much and needed someone to help him back to his room or there’s been some loud out of tune singing, but that’s about it,” said Reed. “Well there isn’t much I can do for him that will really help. I’ve given him a vitamin shot and something to help with the dehydration but that’s all I can do for the moment. The best thing to do is let him sleep it off. I’ll leave some painkillers for when he wakes up and let the Captain know that he won’t be on duty tomorrow,” said Phlox. “I don’t think he’s going to feel up to it tomorrow.” “You’re not going to tell the Captain why, are you?” asked Reed worriedly. He was never quite sure how far doctor-patient confidentiality extended in these sort of situations. “No, no, of course not,” said Phlox. “If he asks I’ll direct him to Commander Tucker. Do you know if he’s vomited yet?” “There wasn’t any sign that he had when I arrived,” said Reed. “Well it’s likely that he will,” said Phlox. “The important thing is to make sure that his airway remains clear.” “I know my basic first aid, Doctor. We’ll be fine,” said Reed. “And I can always call you if I’m worried.” “Yes, of course. Well, I’ll leave you to it,” said Phlox and with that he left Reed alone with Trip. It was still only about 9pm ship’s time, so Reed’s plan was to sit at Trip’s desk and get some work done. First he had to clear away the debris that littered his friend’s desk though. There was the empty bottle to begin with and then the usual clutter of padds and tools that Trip always had on his desk. Reed wasn’t sure why anyone would need a microcalibrator in their quarters but Trip always had one sitting beside his monitor. Once he’d cleared some space he was finally able to get to the desk and the monitor. He was about to log on to the computer when he noticed that Trip had been reading something on the screen before he passed out. It was a letter. Reed felt a bit guilty but he did wonder if it would shed any light on why Trip was lying on his bed in a drunken stupor, so he pushed his ethics to one side and read the letter. Dear Trip, The letter went on with other mundane details about when and where the funeral was, although the writer knew that Enterprise was too far out for Trip to make it back. It finished with “Love and best wishes, Ellen”. Well that at least explained the whisky. Trip had obviously been trying to drown his sorrows at the death of a friend. He wasn’t going to be able to get back to Earth for the funeral and that must have hurt. It had probably brought back memories of Lizzie’s death as well, something which Trip had only recently got over. The names from the letter rang some bells and the mention of “the Colonel” gave Reed a big clue. A quick check of the database confirmed his assumptions. Theresa Arroya was a MACO. She had been a teacher at the MACO training base and before that a member of the Special Projects Unit. That was how Trip knew her, they’d both served in Special Projects. “Ellen” who had written the letter was Major Ellen Hathaway who had been second in command of Special Projects and now headed up her own unit. He knew from Hoshi that Trip had been writing to her for some time. “The Colonel” was, of course, Colonel Robert Darwin, Unit Commander of Special Projects, who Reed had met only a few months ago. Captain Archer and Colonel Darwin were not on the best of terms after their last mission together. Each of them blamed the other for the events which had taken place on Deneb IV. Reed wasn’t exactly sure who was to blame or that there was anything to take the blame for since it had all worked out in the end. Reed knew at least some of the feelings that Trip had about his time as a member of Special Projects, but if nothing else he’d made a few friends who he still kept in touch with. He had a feeling that when Trip eventually woke up he was going to need strong coffee, painkillers and someone to talk to. Luckily, Reed was currently in a position to provide all three of those things, he just hoped that Trip didn’t decide that he didn’t want to talk about it. He knew what happened to Trip when he tried to work through things on his own and it wasn’t pretty. **** Trip woke up slowly and to great pain. His head either felt as if it was about to explode or collapse, he wasn’t sure which but it was definitely one of the two. Trip groaned. “Finally decided to wake up, then,” said Reed looking over at the dishevelled engineer from his makeshift bed on the floor. He’d scraped together enough blankets to make things a bit more comfortable but he was glad he didn’t have to do this every night. “Not so loud, Malcolm,” said Trip in voice that was little more than a groan, “and turn down the lights, it’s too damn bright in here.” He covered his eyes with his arm, even with his eyes closed the light hurt. Reed went to the light controls and turned down the brightness. He went to Trip’s coffee machine and turned it on. Trip uncovered his eyes for a second, a puzzled look on his face. “What are you doing here, Malcolm?” “When you didn’t turn up for our training session I came looking for you. Just as well, you’d practically drunken yourself into coma,” said Reed. “Phlox thought you’d better have someone stay with you. It was either that or take you to sick bay.” “Phlox? You called the doctor because I was drunk?” said Trip in disbelief and embarrassment. “You were more than drunk, you’d passed out. You drank a whole bottle of scotch. On your own.” “I did?” asked Trip, worriedly. Reed waved the empty bottle at Trip. “Now do you want to tell me why?” “Maybe when my head stops pounding,” said Trip, putting both hands to his aching head in an attempt to keep it from falling off his shoulders. “I think I might be able to help with that,” said Reed and grabbed the hypospray the Phlox had left for Trip. He pressed it to Trip’s neck before the engineer even knew what had happened. Reed waited a minute until he saw Trip relax, the pain draining out of him. “Trip, I read the letter.” Trip carefully sat up and Reed handed him a mug of coffee. “I didn’t dream it after all, I really did get that letter from Ellen.” “I’m sorry, Trip,” said Reed, picking up his own mug of coffee. “Were you and Lieutenant Arroya close?” “We were friends. We used to make time to see each other when we were both on base, not that that was very often once I was posted to Enterprise,” said Trip. “It just doesn’t seem fair, is all. We went on dozens of dangerous missions while we were in Special Projects and she could have been killed any time. Instead she gets murdered in her own apartment when she disturbs some opportunist thief.” “Is that why you decided to hit the bottle? Drinking to numb the pain?” asked Reed. “Nah, it started out as a wake, I guess I just got carried away. I’m not going to be able to make it to the memorial service and she never wanted a funeral anyway, wasn’t really the religious type. This seemed more appropriate,” said Trip. “Next time it would be better if you did it in company and without getting through the whole bottle yourself,” said Reed. “I’ll remember that next time,” said Trip. “So tell me about Arroya,” said Reed. “Terri, her first name was Terri. That took a lot to get out of her. I only found out because I beat her at cards and she’d bet her first name against why I was called Trip. She lost. Terri short for Theresa. Her family were from Mexico but she’d lived most of her life in Miami. She joined the MACOs when she was eighteen, straight out of school. I guess her childhood was pretty rough, although she never talked about it much, but she occasionally let slip some stuff about how she used to run with a tough crowd. The MACOs certainly didn’t teach her how to break in to places, she already knew that. Taught me a few tricks too,” said Trip. “Then she was recruited to Special Projects,” said Reed. “Yeah, the way I heard it they needed an infiltration expert for the final member of the team, before they decided that they needed me anyway. Darwin and Hathaway interviewed lots of candidates but weren’t happy with any of them, then this sassy dark haired kid turns up at their offices saying that she’s heard that they’re looking for an infiltration expert and she’s the one that they need. She wasn’t on their list or anything, and still just a Private. Darwin being Darwin, he put her through the tests anyway, thinking she’d screw up. Instead she aced them and he was so impressed that he gave her the job,” said Trip. “It sounds like she was fairly unique,” said Reed. “Yeah, she was. She was a pretty good fighter as well, actually everyone in the unit was,” said Trip. “Don’t I know it,” replied Reed. Last week Trip had decided to try to teach Reed a Nausicaan move which Colonel Darwin had taught him, Reed still had the bruises from where Trip had got a little over zealous. “You know, that’s what’s been bothering me,” said Trip. “It just doesn’t seem possible that she’d get jumped like that and then thrown out of her window. She was part of Special Projects for seven years, she was so damn careful and she almost never let her guard down. Not to mention the fact that I bet there aren’t many petty criminals who could take on a MACO with her level of training. I just have this feeling that there’s more to this.” “Maybe you’re seeing something where there isn’t anything,” said Reed. “I mean Special Projects folded over ten years ago now, people change, especially as they get older.” “She wasn’t that much older than me, Malcolm, and my reflexes are still pretty good. Besides who would you bet on in a fight, some guy off the street or a trained, ex Special Projects, MACO,” said Trip. “Yes, but she hadn’t been on active duty for over a year. I looked up her record,” said Reed. “She was coming home after a night out with friends, she wasn’t expecting trouble, he probably just took her by surprise.” “Yeah, maybe you’re right,” said Trip. “I guess the paranoia part of Special Ops training never does wear off.” “Better too paranoid than not enough,” said Reed. He wondered if Trip did have a point though, Arroya had been a teacher so would have had to have kept her skills up. Something was missing from this picture and there was nothing he liked better than a good mystery. He wondered what her blood alcohol levels had been, if she’d been drunk then that certainly would have explained why she wasn’t on her usual form. He suspected that Trip wouldn’t be able to let this go until they found an explanation so he decided that a little digging was in order. “I feel really awful,” said Trip, leaning back against the wall. “You don’t get any sympathy for self-inflicted injuries, Commander,” said Reed. “Gee, thanks Malcolm,” said Trip sarcastically. “Phlox did sign you off sick today though,” said Reed. “He thought you’d probably need the recovery time.” “Remind me to thank him next time I see him,” said Trip. “You might want to hold off on that, it means your name will be on the sick list and you know who gets to see that every morning,” said Reed. “Damn, the Captain. He’ll probably want to pop down and check on me. I wonder if I can get away with pretending I’ve got food poisoning,” said Trip. “Chef would never forgive you,” relied Reed. “You’re right and having Chef mad at me would be even worse than telling the Captain the truth,” said Trip. “I suggest that you start with the why you’re sick and finish with the how,” said Reed. “Hell, if he’d known he probably would have kept you company. If I’d known I would have been happy to have stopped you drinking alone.” “Sorry,” said Trip. “I don’t know, it just seemed to be one of those things that you don’t do with friends. None of you knew her and it’s a bit morbid going on about memories of dead friend.” “Trip, friendship goes both ways you know. You’ve done enough things for me, you have to let me repay the favour sometime,” said Reed. “I think you did last night,” said Trip. “You’d have done the same for me. Anyway I have to get back to my quarters to change and then get on duty. Just promise me that you won’t do this again,” said Reed. “You got my word on that,” said Trip. He hadn’t exactly intended to do it this time so it was an easy promise to make. “No more drinking alone.” With that Reed left and Trip did his best to get comfortable in bed again so that he could sleep off the crashing hangover that he had, which seemed to be penetrating even Phlox’s pain killers. Why was it every time he thought he had put Special Projects behind him, or at least reconciled with it, something reminded him of what it had been like when things were at their worst. Looking back, when he’d actually been part of Special Projects everything had been so busy that he never had time to think much about what they’d done. No, it was after their final mission that the problems had really started. **** Life after the MACO’s Special Project Unit hadn’t exactly been easy for Trip. Their final mission before the unit was disbanded had caused the deaths of thousands of people, or that’s what they had believed at the time. They’d lost a member of their unit in the process and their ship had been destroyed when they made their escape. The whole thing was a mess. The remaining members of the unit had been stranded on a nondescript planet for week until the ECS Jericho came and rescued them. That had given Trip plenty of time to brood and realise that he was at least partly to blame for everything that had happened. When they eventually got back to Earth, they’d all been called up before the General in charge of Covert Ops to explain their actions, but as what they had been doing was classified there wasn’t much the authorities could do about it without implicating themselves. In the end no punishment had been metered out, except for the disbanding of the unit. In some ways that had made things much harder, Trip would have taken any punishment gratefully since he really believed that they deserved it. The Starfleet psychiatrists had him in for all the usual tests. They hadn’t wanted to let him go back to duty, stating that he needed more time to recover from the traumatic experiences he had been through but Trip didn’t want to wait around. He wanted to be back at work and thinking about something else, something which had nothing to do with covert ops. Through his well connected grape vine he heard that the NX project was floundering and Trip knew he had knowledge which could kick start it again. He spoke to his former commanding officer at Research and Development and explained that he was fine and it was just the psychiatrists being cautious. It took a lot of persuasion on Trip’s part but after that R and D pulled some strings and got him released. The only problem was that even though he was back at work, spending every spare minute that he had working on the warp engine, he still couldn’t sleep. Most nights he had trouble getting to sleep and when he did finally close his eyes he was woken by bad dreams. The Starfleet doctor that he saw about his disturbed sleep prescribed him some sleeping pills for when the nightmares got too bad. Phlox told him later that he had been horrified to discover from Trip’s records that he had been taking sleeping pills for so long, the Starfleet doctor hadn’t seemed worried about it. If Kanatova hadn’t come to see Trip one Saturday at his new apartment and found the pills he probably wouldn’t have thought anything about it until it was too late. Sleeping pills were just a part of his life now. “Trip, how long have you been taking these?” Kanatova asked, her Russian accent becoming more pronounced which Trip knew meant he was in trouble. He recognised the tone from when she had been Special Projects’ Medic. She’d always given him a hard time about how he looked after himself. “Don’t know. Few months maybe,” said Trip. “I haven’t been sleeping too well lately.” He was cursing himself for leaving the bottle of pills in the bathroom where she could find them. He should have known better with a doctor visiting him. He headed for the kitchen area and started to make coffee, hoping Kanatova would drop the subject. “With these you are now sleeping fine again, I’m sure,” said Kanatova. She tipped them out onto the counter top and began to count them out, forming triangles with the pills. “Yeah, they knock me out like a light,” said Trip. “Have you any idea just how dangerous it is to be on these for a long period of time. I can’t believe those Starfleet doctors are letting you do this to yourself. You’re coming off them, and as of now I’m your doctor.” “Anna, you’re worrying about me over nothing,” said Trip. “I’m not sure Starfleet will even let me have a MACO doctor.” “I’m not worrying over nothing. I know your medical history, I’m on base, there’s no logical reason for me not to be your doctor. I’ll clear it with Starfleet on Monday,” said Kanatova. “I’m not letting those quacks at Starfleet undo all my good work.” “Your good work? I spent the first three months when I joined Special Projects bruised black and blue and you didn’t do a thing about it,” said Trip. “Is it my fault if you don’t know how to duck?” asked Kanatova in retort. She remembered countless incidents when Trip had returned from missions with injuries and she had patched him up, but she didn’t mention those because she knew that it would only stir bad memories. The worst fright that she’d had was when he hadn’t come back at all and Darwin had pulled him out of a prison camp a few days later, very much the worse for wear. Neither of them wanted to talk about that incident. “You really should talk to someone,” she added more gently. “Yeah, I know, but who am I going to talk to? The whole damn thing is classified and we’re not even meant to talk about it with each other. If anyone asks me what I’ve been doing for the last three years I’m supposed to say I was part of a classified research programme. A research programme! That’s the definition of irony. God, if they only knew. I wake up screaming, Anna, and those are the nights that I manage to get to sleep at all,” said Trip. “I know, Trip, it’s bad for all of us. We all regret what happened. None of us wanted to lose Antonia,” said Kanatova. “Yes, but none of you had to watch her die,” said Trip. “Talking about it won’t bring her back and I doubt it will make me feel any better.” Kanatova had changed the subject and they hadn’t talked about it anymore. He went on with his life, carefully pushing away any feelings that emerged, pretending that Special Projects had never happened. It had almost worked as well. And soon after that he’d met a Commander Archer and suddenly his life was very full, not least with keeping his new friend out of trouble, although he was sure that Jon saw it the other way round. Of course Jon hadn’t seen the man in the alleyway that night. The man that was about to mug him on his way home from the 602 Club. Trip spotted him and dealt with him without even breaking a sweat, before Jon even noticed that Trip was missing. But then Jon had drunk a few beers so wasn’t exactly on top observational form. MACO hand to hand combat training did come in useful sometimes. On his worst day, Trip was twenty times better than the mugger. Trip had Jonathan Archer pegged. Jon was an idealist. The son of Henry Archer, one of the ultimate idealists, a man who had a dream which his son was determined to see through. Jonathan Archer was a clean cut poster boy for Starfleet, already marked out for great things. The kind of officer who made speeches and whose men would follow him anywhere. Not a rule breaker like Trip. In short, Jonathan Archer was exactly the kind of person that Trip needed to hang around with if he wanted to shake off his MACO past. Of course, the following night he came to realise that he’d only been half right about Jonathan Archer. **** James Fenner had spent the last five years ferrying cargo between planets and enjoying it. He’d saved up for his own ship, knowing that he wasn’t going to want to spend the rest of his life being shot at in the MACOs. He’d had enough of military discipline and covert ops to last him a lifetime, so he decided it was time to be his own boss. Of course the ship he had now didn’t compare to the Andorian light cruiser that he used to pilot in his MACO days but then very little did. He certainly wouldn’t have been able to have afforded anything comparable to the Thak Tikh. The ship he had was fine though, basic but exactly what he needed for cargo running. He specialised in short hops between planets which was perfect because it was a niche that not many ships filled. So far he was doing pretty well for himself. He was on his way to a small planet called Veras, which was also home at the moment. He was looking forward to dropping off his cargo and then taking some well deserved vacation time. He was even daydreaming a little as he flew home about how to spend his free time. Suddenly a warning light flickered on on his control panel. It flashed urgently. Fenner checked the control. “What the…?” he looked down at the scanner, it showed three ships behind him and they were closing on him fast. He opened a com channel. “This is Veras Cargo Ship Bluebird out of Unas, please identify yourselves,” he said. Silence greeted him. Whoever the ships were, they didn’t intend to identify themselves. He did some quick mental calculations. At the speed he was travelling at and the speed they were travelling at, they should overtake Bluebird in about thirty minutes. Something didn’t feel right about this, his sixth sense was twitching. The ships had appeared almost out of nowhere with very little warning. The scanner showed that the ships were small and fast, not the usual type of freighter that moved around the system. He briefly thought that maybe the Nausicaan raiders had decided to enter the system, but he’d never heard of them venturing this close to an inhabited system before. The ships didn’t match any Nausicaan raider ships that he’d ever come across either. He decided to test out a theory. He input a new course into the computer and watched as Bluebird turned onto the new heading. He checked the scanner once the course change was complete. The three ships behind him had matched his course change, there was no doubt in his mind now that he was being followed. Except perhaps he wasn’t being followed, perhaps he was being hunted. He needed to think of something and think of it fast. It was a long way to Veras, he wouldn’t make it before the ships following him caught up. He looked at his other options. There wasn’t much that was nearer to him than Veras, just a few asteroids. If he could reach the asteroids then he might be able to use them to hide behind. He kicked in the thrusters to give himself an extra boost and watched his scanner as the three ships behind him also speeded up and matched his course. Then he noticed something that was at the far edge of his scanner, something that was moving quickly at a tangent to the system. He interrogated the computer which produced an ID. “Enterprise,” said Fenner. “I hope you’re listening, Trip.” ****End of Chapter 2**** Trip was dreaming about Special Projects, except this time it wasn’t the usual nightmares. He’d been dreaming about his birthday party. They’d been en route to a planet called Karavia and somehow they’d found out that it was his birthday, although he hadn’t told anyone. He’d walked into the small mess hall on board the Thak Tikh to get a cup of coffee and instead of coffee the dispenser had given him beer. Just as he’d been about to take the dispenser apart, a couple of the other MACOs had come in. It was Fenner, their pilot and Rush, the explosives expert. “What’s up, Trip?” asked Rush. “Damn thing’s gone haywire,” said Trip, hitting the dispenser. He needed his coffee if he was going to pull the double shift that he had planned. “Really? It was fine this morning,” said Fenner. “Yeah, it was,” said Rush. Kanatova, Didier and Hathaway came in. “What’s going on?” asked Hathaway. “Don’t you guys have any work to do?” “Trip says the dispenser’s broken,” said Fenner. “It is?” asked Hathaway. “I asked it for coffee and I got beer,” said Trip. None of this was helping him to fix the dispenser and the last thing he needed was an audience. “Sounds broken to me,” said Kanatova. Darwin, Carter and Arroya entered the mess hall, talking about some aspect of their up coming mission. “I don’t remember scheduling a meeting,” said Darwin. There was now a small discussion going on around the drinks dispenser with Trip looking baffled in the middle. “Problem with the dispenser, sir,” said Hathaway. “What’s the problem?” asked Darwin. “I asked for coffee and got beer,” said Trip, for the second time. “And your problem would be?” asked Darwin. Trip just stood looking at his Commanding officer for a moment, dumbfounded. Suddenly everyone burst out laughing and Trip realised that he’d been had. “Happy birthday, Lieutenant,” said Darwin. “Now since Sergeant Rush went to all the trouble of rigging this thing to dispense beer, I think we’d better drink some of it.” “How did you know? I didn’t tell anyone it was my birthday,” said Trip. “What do you think intelligence experts are for?” asked Hathaway. “You got Dempsey to find out?” asked Trip. “Where is he anyway?” “He drew the short straw, he’s on watch duty,” said Fenner. “Well, since you went to so much trouble…permission to get drunk, sir,” said Trip, with a grin. “Permission granted, Lieutenant,” said Darwin. That was how the MACOs had thrown him a party, it had been pretty understated but he’d had fun, and it was nice to kick back and forget about work for a little while. It had been one of the moments when he had realised just how close the Special Projects Unit was. They all had to trust one another in order to work together effectively, but it had taken them a little while to accept Trip as one of them. However, if there was one thing he’d realised about Special Projects, they looked after their own. That party was one of the good memories Trip had from his time in Special Projects. When he’d probed a little he’d found out that it had been Arroya’s idea to pull the practical joke on him, that was her sense of humour. The next week they’d arrived at Karavia and it had been back to business as usual. He was rudely awoken from his dream by the sound of the door chime. He wondered why he’d been dreaming about that particular party. He guessed because that was the last time he’d been able to get seriously drunk without a reason or worrying what he might give away while he was drunk. But maybe it was because he’d been thinking about Arroya. Trip pulled himself to his feet rubbing his eyes as he went to open the door. He pressed the button and the door slid back to revealed a concerned looking Captain Archer. “Hey Captain,” said Trip and waved Archer into the room while he turned to sink back onto the bed. “I got the sick list, but Phlox wouldn’t tell me what was wrong,” said Archer. “Are you okay?” “I got a message from a friend telling me that Theresa Arroya died. She was one of the MACOs in the Special Projects Unit,” said Trip. “I’m sorry to hear that, Trip,” said Archer. “I’m guessing that that’s not the reason you’re looking so bad though.” “I decided to hold a wake. On my own. Let’s just say that I used to have a bottle of Scotch and now I don’t,” said Trip. “Malcolm came by for our martial arts practice and found me passed out at my desk, and before you say anything,” he said quickly, holding up a hand to stop Archer from interrupting, “I’ve already had the lecture from Malcolm. It was a stupid thing to do and I won’t do it again. You can take it out of my vacation allowance if you want to, I deserve it.” “In my experience, the consequences are usually punishment enough for drinking a whole bottle of Scotch on your own,” said Archer. “You look pretty rough so I guess you’re feeling bad enough. Just, next time, come and talk to me about it before you hit the bottle.” “I wasn’t drinking to numb the pain, I was drinking in honour of her memory,” said Trip. “It’s what she would have wanted.” “As she was a MACO, I can believe that,” said Archer. “What happened to her?” Trip told Archer the story of Arroya’s death and how he couldn’t really believe what had happened. Archer sympathised but told him much the same things that Malcolm already had. Trip wasn’t anymore satisfied hearing them from Archer than he had been when he’d heard them from Malcolm. Their conversation was interrupted by the com. “Captain Archer and Commander Tucker to the Bridge,” said the com. They arrived on the bridge to find T’Pol standing beside Hoshi at her station while they tried to tune in a message. It was garbled but a few things came through very distinctly. “This is…a message…Tucker…hope…me…Red…system,” said the message. “Whoever it is, it seems that they wish to speak with Commander Tucker,” said T’Pol. “Can you clean it up some more, Hoshi?” asked Archer. “The signal isn’t very strong and it’s on a tight beam transmission aimed directly at us,” said Hoshi. “We’re travelling away from the source, but I’ll see what I can do.” Hoshi pressed some more buttons on her console and then played the message again. “This is James Fenner…a message for Trip Tucker…hope you can hear me…Red Rain…Veras system,” said the message and then went on to repeat. “Red Rain,” whispered Trip, getting a look in his eyes which Archer knew only too well. Trip was worried. “Captain, we have to go help him,” he said turning to Archer. “Where’s it coming from, Hoshi?” asked Archer. “The asteroid belt of the planetary system that we just passed,” replied Hoshi. “A few minutes at warp four, Captain,” added T’Pol. “Travis, lay in a course, warp four,” said Archer. “What’s this all about, Trip?” “James Fenner used to be in Special Projects, he left the MACOs a few years ago to start his own freight business. He was our pilot. Last I heard he’d bought a ship and was ferrying cargo around some alien solar system. He’s in trouble, Captain,” said Trip. “What does Red Rain mean?” asked Archer. “It was Special Projects’ code for being under attack,” said Trip. “If he’s using that code then it has to be bad.” “Can we let him know that we’re coming?” Archer asked Hoshi. “I can try but I don’t know if he’ll get the message,” said Hoshi. “The asteroids are causing interference.” “I’m picking up weapons fire. There are four ships in the asteroid belt,” said Reed. “One of them is registering as a small cargo freighter. I’m not getting any ID for the other three, they’re not in our database.” “My scans are unable to penetrate their hulls,” said T’Pol. “However they appear to be small fighter craft so are unlikely to be heavily armed.” “Enough to take down a small cargo ship,” said Trip, heading for the Engineering station. “The cargo ship is armed,” replied T’Pol. “Wouldn’t have expected anything less from James,” said Trip. “Running cargo can get pretty dangerous,” added Mayweather. “The cargo ship has been hit, sir,” said Reed. “Looks as if it was a direct hit to the starboard nacelle. The other three are closing in for the kill.” “How long until we’re within firing range?” asked Archer. “Another minute,” said Reed. “When you get a lock, fire at will, Mr Reed,” said Archer. “If there’s one thing I’ve never liked, it’s bullies.” Reed waited until he had his phase cannons locked on the lead ship of the attacking trio and then fired. The ship blew up almost immediately, followed by the other two. “I didn’t hit them that hard,” said Reed. “I didn’t hit the other two at all. They must have self-destructed.” “What about the cargo ship?” asked Archer. “It has sustained considerable damage,” said T’Pol. “Captain, the warp engine’s going critical. We don’t have time to dock and get James off. I think the only option is to use the transporter” said Trip. “Do it,” said Archer. Trip pressed buttons on his control pad and activated the transporter. “I’ve got a lock, I’m bringing him back,” said Trip. “Transporter room report that they’ve got him,” said Hoshi. “Good, get Doctor Phlox to check him over,” said Archer. “Captain, I’d like to go and see him myself,” said Trip. “Perhaps you can find what that was all about,” said Archer. “I’ll do my best,” replied Trip. “Captain, I suggest that we leave this area of space as quickly as possible. The warp core of the cargo ship is about to detonate,” said T’Pol. “Warp four, Mr Mayweather. Get us away from here as fast as possible,” said Archer. As they headed back out of the Veras system the cargo ship exploded behind them, leaving only debris to let anyone know that anything had happened in the asteroid field at all. **** Reed had sent a message back to Earth as soon as Trip had told him about his misgivings surrounding Arroya’s death. He looked up the MACO Security detail that was in charge of the investigation intending on calling their commanding officer, however he was pleasantly surprised to discover that he recognised the name of one of the investigating officers. Corporal Amanda Cole. Reed knew that she’d requested a transfer to MACO Security and hadn’t really been surprised after everything that they’d been through in the Expanse that she wanted to make a change in her career plans. Although Trip had been the one she’d been interested in, Reed was the one who probably knew her best. After Major Hayes death, all the MACOs had looked to Reed for leadership and he’d got to know them quite well. Reed doubted Trip had even spoken to Amanda Cole since she had left Enterprise, whereas she had asked Reed to write her a recommendation to back up her application for transfer to Security. In short, Corporal Cole owed him a favour and as it was for Trip she had been happy to oblige. He had been working in the armoury when Hoshi had commed him to say that he had a call from Earth and he asked her to put it through to his quarters. This wasn’t something that he wanted to broadcast anymore widely than necessary. “So what can you tell me?” asked Reed. “Not much that you don’t know already,” said Amanda. “She died from a broken neck. She sustained the injury after being thrown through the window of her fifth floor apartment.” “What about the tox screen? Had she been drinking?” asked Reed. “There was a small amount of alcohol in her blood but she was still legal to drive,” said Amanda. So much for that theory, thought Reed. “What about the apartment? What was taken?” asked Reed. “A few things,” said Amanda. “Nothing which couldn’t be carried easily. It’s hard to tell, Arroya was the only person who knew what was in that apartment and we can’t ask her. The place had been searched though, like they were looking for something specific.” “Interesting. What about forensics?” asked Reed. “Nothing much there, certainly no finger prints and very little in the way of other trace evidence. Again it’s hard to tell what was brought in and what was already there,” said Amanda. “So you think it was a robbery gone wrong?” asked Reed. “There’s nothing to indicate anything else. She wasn’t on active duty, she’d been teaching at the base for a couple of years. The Security guys looked into her background and couldn’t find anyone with a grudge against her or even a bad word to say. No jealous boyfriends, no disgruntled co-workers, nothing.” “Trip mentioned that she had a bit of a colourful childhood, maybe she got caught up with something from her past?” suggested Reed. “Given what her friends have said about her and the background checks we performed, I think it’s unlikely but I’ll look into it,” said Amanda. “There really is nothing here, Lieutenant, it’s a dead end.” “What do you think about Trip’s theory that some bloke off the street couldn’t have killed her?” asked Reed. “I like Trip a lot, but he doesn’t know the way that these things work. If she was surprised, even a MACO might not have been able to do anything to defend herself,” said Amanda. “If there was more than one assailant then I don’t fancy her chances.” “Even a Special Projects MACO?” asked Reed. “She was Special Projects?” asked Amanda. “Yes, so was Trip,” said Reed. “That’s hard to believe,” said Amanda. “Especially given how bad he was at hand to hand.” “But it’s true nonetheless,” said Reed. “He wasn’t exactly putting everything he had into our training that day you threw him.” “That guy is full of surprises. He plays the dumb Southerner, but after ten minutes I knew it was all an act. It doesn’t change anything on the case though, she still could have been taken by surprise,” said Amanda. “Yes, but was she?” asked Reed. “There are some inconsistencies. The door was broken in,” said Amanda. “Which could have given her enough warning that someone was in the apartment,” said Reed. “Or she was already in the apartment when they broke down the door. And we know that she called Security so she must have had some time to react,” said Amanda. “She called Security from her apartment?” asked Reed. “Yes,” replied Amanda. “What did she say?” asked Reed. “We don’t know. There’s no record of the actual message,” said Amanda. “Is that standard procedure, logging the message but not the content?” asked Reed. “No, we follow the same procedures as Starfleet Security. All messages are recorded,” said Amanda. “We’re looking into how this one got lost.” “That is a little too convenient,” said Reed. “I’m beginning to think that Trip may have been right. This wasn’t just a random killing. If she called Security then she either was expecting trouble and called before they broke down the door or she had time between her attacker entering and being thrown from the window to use the com. Both of which mean she wasn’t surprised.” “Which makes it that much less likely that a highly trained MACO would be killed by some small time criminal,” said Amanda. “I’ll go back to my Lieutenant and see if we can do some more digging.” “Thanks Amanda, I know that Trip would appreciate it,” said Reed. “Yeah, say hi to him for me and remind him to keep out of trouble,” said Amanda. “I’ll keep you updated on anything that we come up with.” “One other thing, I want you to do some checking for me,” said Reed. “We just rescued a former MACO by the name of James Fenner. He was running from some raiders. See what you can find out on him for me. I don’t like coincidences.” “Shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll be in touch once I have some information for you. Bye, sir,” said Amanda. “Goodbye, Corporal,” replied Reed and cut the connection. **** Major Ellen Hathaway hated spaceports. She’d spent enough time in them to know that they were miserable soulless places, a no-man’s land between either leaving or arriving, where the only state was waiting. She was particularly depressed about the waiting this time because even though she was meeting a friend, they were arriving to attend Terri Arroya’s funeral. Captain Ian Dempsey, ex-Intelligence Officer of Special Projects, now MACO Liaison with Starfleet Intelligence on Mars was coming in on the next transport down from the Mars Research Station. Even though she wished it could have been under better circumstances, she was looking forward to seeing Dempsey again. It had been too long since they’d spoken. She’d kept in touch with all of them, knowing that they would need her support once they returned to Earth. Colonel Darwin had done the same for her, although had stepped back from the unit, distancing himself in an attempt to prevent them from being associated with his failure. Of course the one she had been most worried about had been Trip Tucker, only twenty-seven when the unit had folded and not even a real MACO. He’d always had more trouble than the rest of them reconciling what they had to do, she guessed because he hadn’t gone through the same MACO training that the rest of the unit had. Of all of them, he had been closest to Antonia and had taken her death the hardest. Hathaway had her sources for news and had heard that Trip wasn’t coping well so had asked Kanatova to make a house call. She didn’t know what Kanatova had said to Trip but, after that, things did improve and when she heard that Trip had been involved in an unauthorised test of the NX-Beta she knew that he’d be okay. Trip still wrote to her from Enterprise and she looked forward to his letters, he was by far her most regular correspondent. She worried about him as he still seemed to get himself into inordinate amounts of trouble, and she’d cried with him when he told her about Lizzie. She wished that Enterprise was closer to Earth and he had been able to attend Arroya’s memorial service, she suspected that he would take the news hard. But she had to keep reminding herself that Trip was no longer the kid that they’d watched at the 602 club, he was Chief Engineer of Enterprise and had done a lot of growing up since then. Arroya and Hathaway had arranged regular dinner dates now that they were both back on Earth and in the same town. She worried that it would raise questions but they were careful not to pick places to meet that were too close to the MACO base. Arroya had done pretty well for herself, she had her own course at the base and obviously really loved teaching, something Hathaway could understand. She had seemed happy. It really was unbelievably cruel that she had been killed when and how she had. Hathaway sighed. This was why she hated waiting, because it gave her time to think and these days there were a lot of black memories that she would rather forget. Big picture widows looked out onto the spaceport so that people could watch the ships arriving and leaving. She could see the Mars shuttle making its final braking burn high in the sky above them. In a few moments it would be touching down on the landing pad. Suddenly there was an explosion of flame and the shuttle disintegrated as it descended through the air. Hathaway flinched away from the light of the explosion, around her people were screaming and weeping. She went to the window, not believing what she had just witnessed. She pressed her hands to the glass. “Ian,” said Hathaway. “Ian!” she shouted. There was nothing that she could do though. All one hundred and twenty people who had been on the Mars to Earth shuttle were dead, killed in the explosion. ****End of Chapter Three**** When Trip arrived in sickbay he found Fenner sitting on the edge of a biobed. He looked slightly singed and a little older than when Trip had last seen him, but apart from that he seemed to be okay. The doctor was standing next to him engrossed in the readings from his scanner. “God damn, Trip, it’s been a long time,” said Fenner leaping off the biobed as Trip came in and holding out a hand to be shaken. “It sure has, James,” replied Trip, taking the offered hand and shaking it warmly. Fenner clapped him on the arm in a friendly manner. “I know both of us were hoping that we’d never see each other again,” said Fenner. “Nah, I got over that. I’ll fill you in on the whole story of what happened when the Colonel came for a visit a couple of months back,” said Trip. “Besides I always kept in touch with Hathaway, Arroya, Kanatova and Rush. It was just that you disappeared off the map.” “What can I say, Veras isn’t exactly on a major trade route,” said Fenner. “I don’t get much news out here from Earth. Even sub-space takes a while, although its all got a lot better since Enterprise dropped echo one a couple of years back.” “Yeah that was when we were still the new kids on the block,” said Trip. “If you gentlemen wouldn’t mind postponing your conversation for a moment, I would like to treat my patient,” said Phlox, his tone showing his annoyance at the interruption. “Sorry, Doc, he’s all yours,” said Trip, moving to lean against a counter out of the way while Fenner hopped back up onto the biobed. “You have sustained a few minor burns,” said Phlox while he worked. “Control panel exploded beside me,” said Fenner. “Damn power conduits got overloaded. Could have done with you, Trip. I’ve been doing my own ship maintenance and despite everything you taught me, I just don’t have your touch.” “I hate to break this to you, but maintenance is the least of your worries. The warp core went critical and she exploded. We only just got you off in time,” said Trip. Fenner just stared at Trip for a moment. “Are you telling me that I don’t have a ship anymore?” said Fenner. “Afraid so,” said Trip. “Of all the bad luck,” said Fenner. “I spent years saving up for Bluebird.” “Bluebird?” asked Trip. “After Donald Campbell’s boat. The one that broke all the speed records,” said Fenner. “I know what it is, I’m just surprised that you do,” said Trip. “Didn’t realise that you were interested in engineering history.” “I’m not, just the history of speed,” said Fenner. “Then what were you doing with that bucket you were piloting. From the scans we took, I’m guessing she could do warp two maximum,” said Trip. “Don’t disrespect the ship, she served a purpose. You can’t compare everything to Enterprise or the...” he tailed off with a glance at Phlox. “I learned that pretty early on.” Trip knew Fenner was referring to the Thak Tikh, the Andorian ship that Special Projects had stolen. That operation was still classified, of course, and they couldn’t talk about it openly, even when it was only Phlox. “There’s something that you should know,” said Trip, suddenly changing to a more solemn mood. “Few days ago, back on Earth, someone killed Terri Arroya.” “What?” asked Fenner in disbelief. “How? I mean Arroya was hard as nails.” “I know, but it happened. They threw her out of her fifth floor apartment window,” said Trip. Fenner sat quietly unable to think of anything constructive to say. “Why were those ships chasing you?” asked Trip. “They didn’t match anything in our database and they were armed to the teeth.” “Raiders I guess,” said Fenner. “I don’t know. They came out of nowhere and usually raiders don’t venture this close to a planetary system, they’re only interested in the big cargo ships, not the little guys like me.” “Why didn’t you just send out a general mayday signal?” asked Trip. “Well, they hadn’t done anything yet when I sent the message to you, but I just had this feeling that they weren’t good news. I changed course a couple of times and they matched me turn for turn,” said Fenner. “But you sent a tight beam transmission to Enterprise and you used the SP code, Red Rain,” said Trip. “This is going to sound weird, I’d swear that I recognised them, but I can’t remember where from. Something told me that I shouldn’t be broadcasting their existence to everyone. I don’t know, maybe it’s just that Special Projects training never wears off,” said Fenner. “I know what you mean,” said Trip. “There, all done,” said Phlox. “Now please remember that burns can easily become infected. Come back tomorrow and I’ll change the dressings. Perhaps you’d like to show Mr Fenner to the guest quarters, Commander?” “Sure, no problem,” said Trip, but he didn’t get any further as the com sounded. “Sato to Tucker,” said Hoshi. “Go ahead, Hoshi,” said Trip into the wall unit. “Commander, I’ve got an urgent call for you from Earth. It’s a Major Ellen Hathaway,” said Hoshi. “I’ll take it in my quarters,” said Trip and he signalled for Fenner to follow him. **** “They’re calling it an accident,” said Hathaway to Trip after she had told him about the Mars shuttle explosion. “Like hell it is,” said Trip. “It’s too much of a coincidence. Enterprise just rescued Fenner from three raider craft. Someone is hunting down ex-Special Projects unit members and killing them.” “It looks that way, but why?” asked Hathaway. “I don’t know,” said Trip. “Trip, they killed over a hundred people in that shuttle explosion, they’re serious and they don’t care about hurting other people,” said Hathaway. “I think we should consider sending a Red Rain Alpha code.” “I think it’s the only thing we can do,” said Trip. Fenner nodded his agreement. “Where’s the Colonel?” asked Fenner. “He’s on his way back to Earth from somewhere,” said Hathaway. “He was a bit vague on the details. It was an open com channel.” “Sounds like the Colonel. Is there anyone else on Earth?” asked Trip. “Carter maybe, he’s Starfleet these days and I never know where he is. Don’t have the contacts there that I used to have,” said Hathaway, a slight smile on her lips. “Didier, I haven’t heard from in a while. He went back to school and started research again. He’s probably a professor of some university in Europe by now.” “What about Kanatova and Rush?” asked Fenner. “Kanatova is on Vulcan, she’s part of the Interspecies Medical Exchange programme. Rush was blowing stuff up on Mars last I heard. They were excavating some new areas for habitat domes and on a tight time schedule so he couldn’t get back for the memorial service.” “Send the signal,” said Trip. “We’ll see you at the rendezvous. What are you going to do about transport?” “I’ve got an idea of where I can find a ship,” said Hathaway. “I’m more worried about Kanatova. It’s a long way from Vulcan.” “She’s pretty resourceful,” said Trip. “What are you going to do about Enterprise?” asked Hathaway. “I don’t know,” said Trip. “I’ll work something out with the Captain. I can’t stay on Enterprise. If they’re after me, then that makes Enterprise a target too.” “Just watch your backs until we can figure this out,” said Hathaway. **** Paul Didier, Professor of Xenolinguistics at the University of Vienna, was beginning to wonder why he had decided it was a good idea to spend the first month of his summer vacation climbing in the Alps. It had been fine when he’d been in good shape, being part of Special Projects had certainly meant that he’d kept his fitness levels up, but now that he spent most of his day divided between the classroom and the library it was definitely hard work. Pulling himself up the side of a mountain on a rope just wasn’t the same fun that it used to be. However reaching the top still gave him an unbelievable buzz, which was definitely worth it. He only had to look out at the incredible view to remind himself why he was doing this. He mainly went up into the mountains these days to get away from everything. He hadn’t been in communications range for over a week now and he was enjoying the peace and quiet of the mountains. It allowed him time to clear his head and put things in perspective. He heard the sound of rocks rattle down from above him and automatically shielded his head. He looked up and saw three figures in black climbing gear on the ledge above him. “Hey, watch those rocks,” said Didier, in German. The three men abseiled down towards him. So far none of them had said a word. He tried again in French, on the Alps it wasn’t unusual to meet French climbers. Instead the man nearest to him reached out with his boot and stamped on the fingers of Didier’s left hand forcing him to hold all his weight with his right hand. “What are you doing?” asked Didier, in French again. “Killing you,” replied the man in a language that was neither French nor German, but Didier understood what he’d said. Didier barely had time to wonder what the language was when his assailant hit his right hand fingers with his boot. Didier let go and fell backwards down the cliff side, his rope catching him before he could fall too far. He hung on the end of the rope like a fish on a line, struggling to regain his balance. He swung himself so that he could reach the rock face, but he needed a couple of swings before it was in his reach. He could see the men abseiling towards him again. They reached the piton that he had embedded into the rock face earlier. One of the men grabbed the steel peg by its head and pulled it out of the rock. Didier couldn’t believe that the man was strong enough to do that with his bare hands. Didier fell again, once more pulled up short by the rope. He swore vividly in six different languages, this was becoming ridiculous. He swung once more and hit the cliff face but this time he bounced back, unable to maintain his handhold. When the men reached him for the third time, there was nothing that he could do except watch as they cut through the rope above him. He had plenty of time to wonder who had killed him as he fell to his death on the rocks below him. **** Trip really wasn’t looking forward to talking to the Captain. Their friendship had only recently recovered from the revelation that Trip had been involved with a black ops unit. How Archer would react to the fact that Trip was about to ask him for, at the very least, a leave of absence, he didn’t know. He thumbed the door buzzer on the Captain’s Ready Room, feeling apprehensive. “Come,” came the shout from inside. Trip took a deep breath and entered the room. Reed stood in front of the desk, he had obviously been discussing something with the Captain. “Captain, Malcolm,” said Trip in greeting. “Trip, we were about to call you,” said Archer. “You were?” asked Trip “I did some further investigation of Lieutenant Arroya’s death with the help of MACO Security,” said Reed. “How’s Amanda doing?” asked Trip. “She’s fine. How did you know Corporal Cole transferred to MACO Security?” asked Reed, a little bit disappointed that his thunder had been stolen. “Major Hathaway told me she was working on Arroya’s case,” said Trip. “So you called her?” “Yes, I wanted to get all the facts of the investigation before I went any further. She called me back earlier and gave me some further information. We came to the conclusion that Arroya wasn’t taken by surprise, which makes it very unlikely that she was killed by an opportunist thief,” said Reed. “I told you that already. Terri wouldn’t have been caught out like that. What else did you find out?” asked Trip. “There were some inconsistencies. Lieutenant Arroya called Security but the message wasn’t recorded. Corporal Cole thinks it may have been deleted on purpose and I’m inclined to agree with her. Also whoever threw Arroya out of the widow had to be strong, she fell a long way away from where you would expect if she’d just been pushed off her balcony,” said Reed. “Corporal Cole thinks that we’re looking for an alien.” “Makes sense, they would have been strong enough to overpower Terri even with her MACO training. Why didn’t anyone spot them?” said Trip. “We don’t have any reports of anyone leaving the scene. It was late at night, most people were asleep in bed. Which is probably exactly why they picked then to attack her,” said Reed. “Yeah, it’s what I would have done,” said Trip. Archer looked at Trip with slight surprise. He still forgot that his friend had once led a very different life to the one he led now and had been almost a different person. Comments like the one Trip had just made, jarred with the Trip Tucker that he knew. Trip continued. “They’d probably been watching her for days, waiting until she was most likely to have her guard down.” “We wanted to talk to you, Trip, because this puts a new slant on things,” said Archer. “I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that James Fenner, a former member of the Special Projects Unit, was attacked. I think that someone is taking out the members of the Special Projects Unit.” “You don’t have to convince me, Captain,” said Trip. “I just got off the com with Major Hathaway. A Mars to Earth shuttle was destroyed, killing everyone on board. One of the passengers was Captain Ian Dempsey, former Special Projects Intelligence Officer.” “That’s pretty conclusive,” said Reed. “That’s why I came to talk to you, Captain,” said Trip. “They killed over a hundred people on that shuttle, to get one man. They won’t hesitate to attack Enterprise to get to me and Fenner. The Major just issued the Red Rain Alpha code.” “Red Rain Alpha?” asked Archer. “You said Red Rain was the code for being under attack. What does Red Rain Alpha mean?” “It’s the code for the whole team being under attack by enemy or enemies unknown. It’s the code that we agreed on for this exact scenario,” said Trip. “You planned for this?” asked Archer. “Colonel Darwin planned for everything, sir,” said Trip. “Special Projects made a lot of enemies. There was always the possibility that someday someone would decide to pick us off one by one.” “So you think someone is taking revenge on you for something that Special Projects did over ten years ago?” asked Reed. “I think that’s the most likely explanation, Malcolm,” said Trip. “Although, right now, I’m not discounting anything.” “They’re going to an awful lot of trouble for a few MACOs,” said Archer. “Like I said, we made a lot of enemies,” said Trip. “The point is, Captain, that Fenner and I need to leave Enterprise and get to the rendezvous point.” “What rendezvous point?” asked Archer. “We agreed a rendezvous point that we would all attempt to get to if Red Rain Alpha was ever issued. The idea is that we’re harder to pick off as a team. Colonel Darwin set up a bolt-hold for us, somewhere that we could defend ourselves, well away from innocent civilians. I guess we were a bit late issuing the code,” said Trip, the last sentence said with real regret. “I wanted to ask your permission for a leave of absence. Aldebaran Spaceport isn’t far off our course and Fenner and I could get a transport from there if Enterprise dropped us off.” “Trip, your life is in danger,” said Archer, “the safest place for you to be is on Enterprise, where we can protect you.” Malcolm was nodding in agreement too. Trip shook his head. “Uh uh, I can’t put Enterprise in danger. Not just because of me. I’ve got no idea who we’re up against here and I’ve got no idea what kind of resources they’ve got. They’ve already killed two people that I thought could look after themselves and if it hadn’t been for Enterprise, Fenner would be dead too,” said Trip. “Why do you think you’ll be able to protect yourself any better with the other MACOs?” said Archer. “It’s not about whether we can protect ourselves any better, it’s about protecting everyone else,” said Trip. “If they come gunning for me I want to be as far away from Enterprise as possible.” “I’m not going to argue with you over this, Trip,” said Archer. “You’re not a member of Special Projects anymore, you’re part of Starfleet, and that means you’re my responsibility. You’re not leaving Enterprise to run off on some damn fool mission with Colonel Darwin.” “What are the rendezvous co-ordinates?” asked Reed. “I can’t tell you, that’s classified information,” said Trip. “Classified or you just don’t want to tell us?” asked Reed. “Fine, it’s not classified, but it sure ain’t a good idea to be shouting about it,” replied Trip slightly angrily. He didn’t like the way Archer and Reed seemed to be playing tag-team with him. “If there’s one thing that I got damn good at while I was in Special Projects, it was keeping my mouth shut.” In his world you didn’t say anything about the mission unless you were protected by an anti-listening device and had scanned for bugs. “Trip, do you have a death wish?” asked Archer. “No, sir,” said Trip. “Then why the hell are you making this so hard?” said Archer. “We’re trying to help you.” “With respect, sir, you can help me by dropping me off at the spaceport at Aldebaran,” said Trip. “No Trip, you’re staying on Enterprise and that’s final,” said Archer. “Is that understood?” “Yes, sir,” said Trip, grudgingly. “Dismissed,” said Archer. Trip turned and left the Ready Room without another word. “I want to know what’s going on, Malcolm,” said Archer. “Yes, sir,” said Reed. “So do I.” “This is your top priority. I want to know why two MACOs are dead and a third was attacked, and most of all I want to know who is trying to kill my Chief Engineer.” **** Fenner had been waiting for Trip in his quarters. “Well?” Fenner asked. Trip went to his cupboard and started pulling boxes out before he found the one that he was looking for. “What happened?” he asked again. Trip set down a small black box on the desk and flicked a switch on its side. “Now we can talk,” said Trip. “Every time I think I’ve put this thing away for good I end up needing it again.” “What did the Captain say?” asked Fenner. “He’s not going to let me leave Enterprise. He thinks I’d be better protected here,” said Trip. “So what do we do?” asked Fenner. “We’re going to plan B,” said Trip. “And what exactly is plan B?” asked Fenner. “Something that I’ve been working on for a while,” said Trip. ****End of Chapter Four**** Trip had a problem. It was going to take him a few days work to put his plan into action and he’d have to make sure that no one noticed what he was doing, which on a ship the size of Enterprise was nearly impossible. Some of what needed to be done he’d already put in place. His Special Projects instincts hadn’t completely left him and he always expected trouble even when there wasn’t any in their foreseeable future. He’d been using his free time to work on what he referred to as his emergency plan for months now. He did a little re-jigging of the Engineering roster so that no one was in the areas that he needed. Then he pulled a normal shift in Engineering before he went to work on his “extra-curricular activities”. He may be breaking the rules but that shouldn’t mean that normal ship operations had to suffer. He also arranged it so that Reed would be kept busy with some faulty torpedo launcher diagnostics, which of course Trip had broken in advance to give Reed something to work on. He sent Fenner off to plead with the Captain about letting him off at the next stop in the hopes that would keep the Captain out of his hair. The only other person he had to worry about was T’Pol. She had an uncanny way of telling when Trip wasn’t exactly telling the truth, which was why he did his best never to lie to her. The only way he could think of dealing with T’Pol was to stay out of her way. That was going to be tricky considering that they had a neuropressure session scheduled for that evening, which T’Pol would be suspicious if he missed, not to mention angry at being stood up. He really needed the time to work, but if his project was going to succeed at all then he also needed it to be kept secret, and that meant acting naturally. So he found himself once again lying on T’Pol’s floor, semi-naked, while she applied pressure to various places along the length of his spine. Normally he couldn’t have been happier, but this time it was completely wasted on him. His mind just wasn’t on the job. “You are not concentrating on your breathing. You seem to be unusually tense this evening,” said T’Pol. It was unusual for T’Pol to initiate conversation, even now they had become closer friends. Trip guessed that he had been quieter than normal so T’Pol was having to fill in for him. “I guess I’m just worried about my friends,” said Trip. “I don’t know what I can do, T’Pol.” “Perhaps you should let the Captain determine what to do,” said T’Pol. “I don’t have much choice there,” said Trip. “It doesn’t stop me worrying about the rest of the Unit.” “I understand that you are thinking about them, however as you are unable to act on their behalf at the moment, perhaps you could help Captain Archer in his investigations,” said T’Pol. “His investigations?” asked Trip. “He asked me to retrieve the Special Projects mission files from the MACO database on Earth,” said T’Pol. “I believe that Lieutenant Reed was also attempting to find out further information about the Mars to Earth shuttle explosion.” “The mission files are classified,” said Trip. “I have already begun the process of code breaking,” said T’Pol. “You know that’s illegal,” said Trip. “I am aware of that, however I do not intend to get caught,” said T’Pol. “That’s probably what Kevin Mitnick said,” replied Trip. “Who is Kevin Mitnick?” asked T’Pol. “You’ve never heard of Kevin Mitnick?” asked Trip. “I thought you’d studied human history.” “I did, however no mention was made of Kevin Mitnick,” said T’Pol. Trip spent the rest of their neuropressure session giving T’Pol a lesson in the seedier side of American hacker history and he was extremely glad to have distracted her from her talk about the MACOs. The first rule of effective lying was not to lie at all and if T’Pol had asked him anymore questions then he might have had to start lying. He really didn’t want to lie to T’Pol. He had never wanted to lie to anyone but these days it didn’t seem that he had a choice. **** Kanatova was a person of naturally fiery emotions, so Vulcan had come as quite a shock to her system. Everyone was just so annoyingly logical and politely unemotional that she just ended up feeling exasperated at times. She always looked forward to her dose of emotional therapy that appeared in the form of letters from home. However, despite her problems with logic, going to Vulcan was an opportunity that she couldn’t pass up. It was amazing to be able to experience other species medicine first hand and actually get to do some of the things that she had only read about. The Vulcans didn’t accept many alien doctors so she had been very fortunate to gain the placement that she had. She was working in the hospital the day that the coded transmission came in for her. It appeared to be a normal communication from home, but marked urgent. When she opened the transmission it was simply a blank screen except for a small insignia in the corner and a prompt asking her for a code. The insignia was that of the MACOs and she knew immediately what the code was. She typed it in and three words flashed up on the screen. Red Rain Alpha She cursed softly in ascorbic Russian. This was not a good time, but then when would it ever have been a good time to receive this code. The code meant that at least one of her former team mates was probably dead. Her main concern was where she could find transport at such short notice and she was going to have to start being extra careful when it came to watching her back. She didn’t waste any time, she called ahead to the spaceport and booked herself on a flight off planet, in fact she booked herself on several flights just in case someone was checking up on her. It took her less than half an hour to shove a few things into a bag and leave the hospital accommodation where she had been staying. She headed for the spaceport in one of the efficient monorails that ran throughout the city. When she got off the monorail she was aware that someone was following her. He’d got on the monorail behind her and watched her all the way to the spaceport stop. She had given him the benefit of the doubt to begin with but, as she moved through the busy streets of the capital city of Vulcan, he kept up with her, a discreet distance behind. If she hadn’t been trained to spot someone following her then she never would have seen him. She quickened the pace of her walk hoping to merge into the crowd. She arrived at the space terminal, her heart beating faster than she liked. She hadn’t done this in a long time. It reminded her of the mission on Karavia. She remembered running through streets on Karavia with the other MACOs. She couldn’t remember where they’d been going though. She pushed that to the back of her mind while she concentrated on losing her tail. If he found out which transport she intended to catch then the game would be over before it had begun. She wished she’d got her pilot’s licence like Trip or Fenner or Colonel Darwin, it would have made life much easier if she could fly a spaceship. Then she wouldn’t be confined to commercial flights, or have to fly to an orbital station where she could catch something that would take her nearer to the rendezvous co-ordinates. If her memory was correct then she was the furthest out of them all, unless Enterprise had ended up somewhere further away. As soon as she was away from Vulcan she’d feel much happier. She did her best to disappear into the spaceport crowd. Being the main spaceport for Vulcan, she didn’t standout as much as she had in the city, there were other humans waiting for flights and checking in. There were also representatives of several other species, some of which she’d never even seen before. She needed a way to reach her ship without going through the usual security channels. She wasn’t the infiltration expert on the team, that had been Arroya, but she had learnt a lot from the other MACOs and circumventing spaceport security shouldn’t be that difficult. They’d broken into and out of much more heavily guarded places. That had been when they’d all been there to back each other up and now she didn’t have the benefit of nine other team members to help her out. She found a staff entrance to the rest of the airport, then waited until a Vulcan staff member went through and typed the code into the keypad. Kanatova took note of the code and a few minutes later when no one was looking she also went through the staff door. She walked down the corridor looking as if she was meant to be there, that way if anyone stopped her then she could act like she was genuinely lost and unaware of where she was. However, it was obviously a slow period because she didn’t meet anyone else. She found a locker room and broke into one of the lockers that had a female name on it. “I wish I’d asked Didier to teach me more Vulcan,” she muttered quietly to herself as she pulled on the Vulcan uniform that everyone who worked at the airport wore. Luckily it included a hat which she could use to hide her lack of pointy ears. She headed towards the area where the spacecraft boarded. She’d known when she booked the various flights that she didn’t intend on travelling on any of them, she planned to stow away on a flight to the orbital platform at Altair. From Altair she could hire someone to take her to the rendezvous co-ordinates. Luckily most Vulcan flights called at Altair to refuel before carrying on to their main destination. She found herself in the baggage area, conveyor belts with suitcases on them rolled past her. She moved through towards the exit to the spacecraft. Suddenly there were two men in front of her, she pulled her phaser from inside her jacket where she’d kept it hidden. “Step aside,” shouted Kanatova over the sound of the machinery. The men didn’t move out of her way but came towards her. She fired at the men, but it didn’t seem to make any difference, they kept coming towards her. This was unbelievable, she’d just shot them five times, it would have killed any normal person twice over. She turned and ran, hoping to hide between the baggage machinery. She caught sight of the third man, he joined the other two who were still coming towards her. She ducked behind a piece of machinery. What the hell was she going to do. She swore. She poked her head above the machinery and quickly ducked back down as she saw the men approaching. “Okay, phasers don’t work,” said Kanatova. “Think, Anna, think.” She looked over and saw the conveyor belts. Perhaps if she could get high enough… She pulled herself up onto the nearest conveyor belt glad that the Vulcan uniforms had been designed with work in mind. It carried her upwards and she hid behind the suitcases. She saw the three men overrun her previous hiding place and then begin to look for her. The conveyor belt carried her up and out of the baggage sorting area and onto the runway. She saw a ship about to close it’s doors in front of her, it only had another few cases to load and was being fed by one of the belts beside her. It was a long leap but hopefully she could make it. She rose up from her hiding place and made a running jump along the belt. She hit the belt beside her and slid back, barely holding on to the edge. She pulled herself up onto the belt breathing hard. “No one told me that being a doctor would be like this,” said Kanatova. She saw the three men emerge from the baggage sorting area, but on the ground, they hadn’t spotted her yet. The conveyor carried her into the hold of the spacecraft in front of her and the door banged shut behind the last suitcase. The automated baggage handling equipment began to move the cases into the holding areas. This wasn’t going to be a comfortable flight for her, but at least she’d make it alive. “Altair orbital here we come,” muttered Kanatova and tried to find herself a comfortable place for takeoff. She hoped the inertial dampers were working well today. **** It took him another two days to finish all the preparations. Even then he had to wait until the night shift were on duty. Trip wasn’t at all happy about the time that had been wasted, but he knew that if he did this during Alpha shift then he would stand considerably less chance of getting away with it. He’d put into place a number of safe guards that should improve his chances of pulling it off but he hadn’t been able to bypass all the security systems, there just hadn’t been time. You couldn’t just walk away with a shuttlepod from Enterprise, there were security protocols to bypass or alarms would go off on the bridge to alert them to an unauthorised launch. Some of the alarms he could stop, some of them he couldn’t. He’d prioritised the early warning systems when he’d planned his strategy for disabling the security alerts, but he hadn’t had time to disconnect all the systems that fed the alerts, apart from the fact that disconnecting those systems triggered other alarms. Trip couldn’t hope to launch the shuttle without setting off some alarms but he wanted to give himself as much breathing space as possible. He knew that he could keep fiddling with his design and fabrication forever and it wouldn’t make it any better for what he needed it to do. Now was the time to do it. He still worried about what he was about to do, not because he didn’t have faith in his engineering skills but more because he was leaving Enterprise and he might never be coming back. It was to protect his friends, and he kept reminding himself of that, because if he didn’t he could lose his resolve. It would be easy to stay on Enterprise and let the Captain worry about protecting him, but that had never been his style, he wouldn’t just sit back and watch while other people placed themselves in danger for him. He met Fenner in the mess hall and the two of them went down to the shuttle bay and proceeded to load up the craft with the gear Trip had stowed in the bay earlier. There was still a little work to be done on the shuttlepod but Trip had been careful to make sure it was only the final touches to his plan. It took a few minutes to make the adjustments and then they were ready to launch. “This is it, Trip,” said Fenner. “If you want to stay behind then I know the rest of the Unit will understand. I can take her out on my own. With you running interference here I should be able to make a clean get away.” “It sure is tempting to stay, but it would just put the crew in danger. And you know you’re going to need an engineer to run this thing. I’m pretty confidant it’ll work but it’s still jury rigged, nothing more. It’s going to need a little coaxing to run smoothly,” said Trip. “Then what are we waiting for?” asked Fenner, climbing into the shuttlepod. “Just give me a few seconds to get the bay doors bypassed and make the final modifications to the shuttlepod,” said Trip and he headed for the control panel at the side of the bay. **** Archer had been unable to sleep. He knew why, he was worried about Trip. Someone was gunning for the Special Projects team and, no matter how much Archer might want to deny it and pretend it had never happened, Trip had been part of that team. He gave up tossing and turning in his bed and headed for the bridge, if he couldn’t sleep at least he could get some work done. He stepped out of the turbo lift and immediately he knew that something wasn’t right. Lieutenant Reed was there for starters and although Malcolm liked to work late, he should have been in bed and asleep by now. “What’s our status?” asked Archer. “We’re having some problems with the weapons, sir,” replied Reed. “They’ve gone offline and we’re still trying to determine why.” Archer went over to the empty engineering station. He brought up some diagnostic displays. He was no engineer but he knew his ship. “We narrowed it down to a few key systems,” said Reed. “It looks as if two of the principal relays are malfunctioning, but for some reason it hasn’t fallen back to the secondary relays.” “Is anything else effected?” asked Archer. “I haven’t heard anything from Engineering,” said Reed. “Archer to Engineering,” he said pressing the com button. He was greeted by silence. He ran a systems check on communications. “Looks as if there are further faults, a couple of the communications circuits are down as well. Better wake Trip and T’Pol, we could have a serious problem here.” “I’ll go by their quarters, I should get down to the armoury anyway, see if I can sort this out from down there,” said Reed. “Okay, tell Trip communications are a priority,” said Archer. “Yes, sir,” said Reed and headed for the turbo lift. **** He reached T’Pol’s quarter’s first. He pressed the door buzzer and after a few moments T’Pol answered the door in a blue silk robe. “We’re having some difficulties with ship’s systems. I’m on my way to wake Commander Tucker. The Captain asked me to wake you and ask you to get to the bridge,” said Reed. “I may be of more use in Engineering,” said T’Pol. “Allow me to get dressed and I will accompany you to wake Commander Tucker.” T’Pol dressed quickly while Reed waited in the corridor for her. Then they went further down the corridor to Commander Tucker’s quarters. Reed thumbed the door buzzer and they waited. Reed hit the buzzer again. “I know he’s a heavy sleeper but he normally wakes up when hit the door buzzer,” said Reed. “Override the door lock,” said T’Pol. Reed obliged and the door slid open to reveal an empty room. “Where is he?” said Reed. “Perhaps already in Engineering,” said T’Pol. “Let’s get down there,” said Reed. They arrived in Engineering to find everything quiet and no sign of Trip. T’Pol located Lieutenant Hess. “Lieutenant, the bridge is reporting a number of systems failures,” said T’Pol. “In particular, communications are down.” “We haven’t had any indication of any problems, the diagnostics are all showing green,” said Hess. “Let me check them again.” She pressed buttons on the console in front of her. “No still all showing green. Something isn’t right here.” “Where is Commander Tucker?” asked T’Pol. “Probably asleep at this time of night,” said Hess. “We just came from his quarters, he wasn’t there,” said Reed. “Maybe he’s already somewhere fixing the problem. If the communications are down then he couldn’t let anyone know,” said Hess. “Possibly,” said T’Pol. “We should concentrate on returning communications and ensuring that the diagnostics are correctly displaying.” “I’d better get down to the Armoury, let me know when Trip turns up, I could use his help,” said Reed. “Very well,” replied T’Pol. She turned back to the diagnostic panel. “I think I’ve got it,” said Hess. “Someone has re-routed the diagnostics, here and here,” she said pointing to the diagram. “Someone who knows our systems.” Hess went to the panel where the re-routing had been done and reconnected the circuits in the correct order. Then she went back to the diagnostic panel. “Communications, phase cannons, alarm systems in the shuttle bay, launch bay door controls,” Hess paused. “Everything which would let someone launch a shuttle without being detected.” “Fix the communications and let the Captain know what is happening. I’m going down to the shuttle bay,” said T’Pol, going to the weapons locker and getting out a phaser. “Yes, Sub-commander,” replied Hess. **** Trip had almost finished his preparations, he just had to make the final connections from the engine to the control panel and then they could go. He had the access panel off on the back of the shuttle and was kneeling down to work on the connections from a better angle. “Commander, what are you doing?” said a voice from the door way of the shuttlebay. “T’Pol,” said Trip. He quickly reattached the panel and stood slowly. He turned around to face T’Pol keeping one hand behind his back. “What are you doing here?” “I believe I asked you that question first,” said T’Pol. “I’m leaving, T’Pol,” said Trip. “I’m going to the rendezvous point.” “I thought you already discussed this with the Captain and his orders were that you should stay. Enterprise is the best place to protect you,” said T’Pol. “But if they come for me, T’Pol, they’ll have to go through you and I’m not having anyone hurt because of me. I’ve had enough of that. I’m already responsible for too many deaths, I can’t carry anymore,” said Trip. He pulled his hand out from behind his back to reveal the phase pistol that he was holding. “Now I don’t want to shoot you, but I have to go and you’re not stopping me.” “Trip, this isn’t necessary. You do not need to leave. This is not a logical decision,” said T’Pol, perfectly calmly. Fenner appeared at the door of the shuttlepod, and took in the scene. “You want a hand, Trip?” he asked. “I got it under control, James. Just strap in and be ready to take off,” said Trip, not taking his eyes off T’Pol. “Yes, sir,” said Fenner. “This will not work,” said T’Pol. “You will not have sufficient range to reach habitation in a shuttlepod.” “You let me worry about that,” said Trip. “I cannot let you leave,” said T’Pol and moved to take her own phase pistol from its holster. Trip saw her move and fired. T’Pol collapsed on the floor, stunned. Trip hung his head and took a deep breath. “Why’d you make me do it, T’Pol? Why couldn’t you just walk away?” The com sounded. “Archer to T’Pol.” “Damn, they fixed the com system,” said Trip. “Archer to T’Pol,” said the com again. “Start her up, James,” shouted Trip. He ran over to T’Pol and gently picked her up and placed her outside the door of the launch bay. “Guess this is goodbye, T’Pol. I’m real sorry about shooting you, hope you can forgive me.” He gave her a quick, soft kiss on her forehead, then he dashed back into the launch bay pulling the door shut behind him. He jammed a wrench through the door mechanism, just a precaution in case anyone else turned up to try and stop him. He ran for the shuttlepod as Fenner started up the engines. He climbed on board wondering whether this was the last time he’d be seeing Enterprise. If he did come back it would be to at least a court-martial, probably followed by his dismissal from Starfleet, stealing a shuttlepod was a pretty serious offence. Then there was disobeying a direct order, the unauthorised modifications that he’d made to the shuttlepod, shooting the First Officer and sabotaging the sensors, weapons and security alerts so that they could get away. He’d made sure that nothing he’d done was permanent but he doubted any court-martial would take that into account. He took one last look around, realising that this was the point of no return and sealed the door of the shuttlepod. **** Lieutenant Reed made his way back to the bridge, he hadn’t been able to fix the problem from the Armoury so he had decided to return to the bridge to see if anything had developed there. Hoshi and Travis had also made it to the bridge and he gave them both a nod as he entered. The Captain was still seated at the Engineering station, he guessed that they hadn’t managed to find Trip yet or else he was down in Engineering. “Did you see T’Pol on your way to the bridge?” asked Archer. “No, sorry sir,” said Reed. “Communication is repaired and Hess tells me that the diagnostic and alarm systems are nearly there. Any luck with the phase cannons?” said Archer. “No, sir, I was hoping that the problem might be here,” said Reed. It was then that his panel lit up with warning lights. “It seems the warning system is back online.” He checked the warnings and diagnostics, it showed what the problem was with the phase cannons but it also showed some other alarming things. “Someone is powering up a shuttle and launching.” “What?” said Archer, alarmed. “Who?” “I don’t know, sir,” said Reed. “Life signs are human.” “Put it on screen. Hoshi, hail them,” said Archer. They watched as the shuttle flew away from Enterprise. “They’re not answering, sir,” said Hoshi. “Can we disable them with the phase cannons?” asked Archer. “Sorry sir, they’re still offline,” said Reed. “How convenient,” said Archer. “I’m beginning to think that someone planned all this.” “Sir, I’m detecting some unusual energy signatures from the shuttle,” said Reed. “What sort of energy signatures?” asked Archer. “It looks like the profile of a warp engine, but that’s impossible, shuttles aren’t equipped with warp engines…” said Reed and even as he was saying it, the shuttle disappeared in a flash of light. “It went to warp, sir,” said Reed quietly. ****End of Chapter Five**** “There’s only one man on this ship who could transform a shuttlepod into a something that’s capable of warp speed,” said Archer. “Trip,” said Reed. Archer nodded. “Although how he did it, I’d be interested to know.” “And he’s been missing for at least the last couple of hours,” said Reed. “Where’s T’Pol?” asked Archer. “I haven’t seen her since I left her in Engineering,” said Reed. “Archer to Engineering,” said Archer into the com. “Hess here, go ahead Captain,” said Hess. “Is Sub-commander T’Pol with you?” asked Archer. “No, sir, she went down to the shuttle bay. It looked as if someone was trying to launch a shuttle so she went to investigate,” said Hess. “Thank you, Lieutenant,” said Archer and turned to Lieutenant Reed. “Can we track the shuttlepod?” “Normally yes, but our main sensors have been disabled, and they’re the ones that we’d need to track a warp signature,” said Reed. “Once they’re fixed we might be able to pick up their trail.” “Commander Tucker is going to have a hell of a lot of explaining to do when I get hold of him,” said Archer angrily. “How the hell was he able to do this?” “He is the Chief Engineer, sir. If anyone knows which systems to disable in order to launch a shuttlepod undetected then it would be him. According to these diagnostics, he not only disabled the warnings that would alert us to a shuttlepod launch but he also disabled the diagnostics that would have told us that there was a problem. In fact, he was cleverer than that, he rigged it so that the diagnostics would read that everything was green,” said Reed. “Well I don’t want it to happen again,” said Archer. “I want a full investigation into how he was able to pull the wool over our eyes so comprehensively and I don’t want to be caught out this way again. Even by the Chief Engineer.” “Yes, sir,” said Reed. “Phlox to Archer,” said the com. “Archer here, go ahead Doctor,” said Archer. “I thought you’d want to know that Sub-commander T’Pol has just been brought into sick bay. She’s been stunned by a phaser. Nothing serious and she should be awake in a few more minutes,” said Phlox. “Thank you, Doctor,” said Archer. “I’m on my way down to sick bay. Archer out.” “Trip shot T’Pol?” asked Reed with both dismay and disbelief. “I don’t know. Lieutenant, you have the bridge. Hopefully T’Pol will have some answers,” said Archer and headed for the turbo-lift. **** “We did it!” said Fenner, excitedly. “Yeah, we sure did,” said Trip, in flat tones. He couldn’t be excited by the fact that he’d just shot one of his closest friends and stolen a shuttlepod from his own ship. “This thing is amazing, Trip,” said Fenner. “What the hell did you build it out of?” “Spare parts mostly, the hard part was making sure no one noticed what I was up to,” said Trip. “Took a lot of doing but I was able to keep everyone out of the shuttle bay for the past few days, so I could do all the fabrication in the actual shuttlepod then. That was just installing the warp coil mainly. It’s a bit cramped in here now, with all the supplies and the warp engine taking up so much room.” “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you’re a goddamned miracle worker,” said Fenner. “Don’t know about that, we still have to get there. Did you send the message?” asked Trip. “I disabled the main sensor array but it won’t be long before they get it fixed and pick up our trail. At warp two, they’ll have no trouble catching us up.” “Yeah, the message is sent. If it all goes according to plan we should be at the rendezvous this time tomorrow,” said Fenner. “Hang on, I’ve got a warning light on the panel.” Trip turned back to his own panel. “It’s okay I’ve got it. Looks like the intermix ratio was set a little high, it should stabilise now. Sorry, this thing really is held together with duck-tape and willpower, it needs careful handling and we’re going to have to watch her.” “Hey, it’s better than nothing,” said Fenner. “I hope I’m doing the right thing,” said Trip. “Trip, it’s a bit late to be having second thoughts,” said Fenner. “I guess so,” said Trip, but he didn’t really sound that convinced. “You know, we really should give this baby a better name than shuttlepod one.” “You’ve got a point there. How about Bluebird II?” said Trip. “Why not?” said Fenner, “it’ll make up for the one I lost.” **** When Archer reached sick bay T’Pol was already sitting up in bed and looking as if she wanted to be out of there as quickly as possible. Phlox was scanning her in a stoic manner, ignoring his patient’s obvious restlessness. “Captain,” said T’Pol before Archer could speak. “I am sorry that I was unable to prevent the Commander’s departure with the shuttlepod.” “It wasn’t your fault, T’Pol,” replied Archer, wearily. “Just tell me, was it Trip who shot you?” “Yes, Captain, it was,” said T’Pol. Archer sighed, he’d hoped it hadn’t been Trip. “Although only because I reached for my own weapon. I believe he would have let me leave unharmed otherwise. He should still be within range of our sensors,” said T’Pol. “He went to warp,” said Archer. “That is impossible, he stole a shuttlepod,” said T’Pol. “He turned the shuttle into a warp capable ship. It probably only does warp one or two, but it’s enough to get him away from us, especially with our sensors off line,” said Archer. “Hess is busy reconnecting everything that Trip disconnected so that he could leave undetected.” “The Commander is very resourceful,” said T’Pol. “I don’t care if he is, T’Pol, I want him found,” said Archer. “Apart from anything he owes me a shuttlepod. And I want to know how he turned an impulse driven shuttle into something that’s capable of warp two. Then I’m going to throw him in the brig for insubordination.” “That is only one of the many regulations that he has broken,” said T’Pol. “I’ll start with that one,” said Archer. “We have to find him first,” said T’Pol, getting off the biobed. “I don’t suppose that there is any point in telling you to rest,” said Phlox to T’Pol. “None,” replied T’Pol. “Then I won’t waste my breath,” said Phlox. **** “Trip, I’ve got a sensor contact,” said Fenner. “Enterprise?” asked Trip, coming forward to look at the sensors. He’d been checking on the engine, which still seemed to be running fine although he wasn’t happy about staying at warp for too long. “Too small,” said Fenner. “And I’d be really impressed if T’Pol got the sensors back on line that quickly,” said Trip. “Maybe it’s Hathaway?” “She’d be early,” said Fenner. “Not her then, Hathaway would be on time,” said Trip. “Which only leaves one other possibility, we’ve got some unwanted company.” “Don’t suppose you installed some weapons on this thing?” asked Fenner. “Sorry, had to strip them out to make room for the warp core. I can only work so many miracles in one go,” replied Trip, with grim humour. “So what do we do?” asked Fenner. “Way I see it, we’ve got three choices. One, we turn around and head back to Enterprise. Now I don’t know about you, but after all the trouble we went to getting out of there, I’d rather not go back. Two, we make a run for it in the direction we think Hathaway will be coming from,” said Trip, he paused. “What about three?” asked Fenner. “Three, we stay here, they catch us and we die,” said Trip. “So really we only have two options,” said Fenner. “Engineers like to give people all the facts,” replied Trip. “I know you’re going to say option two, but if Hathaway’s coming from Earth then that’s right past the noses of our visitors.” “Rather be doing something than nothing,” said Fenner. Trip nodded. “I guess we’d better see how much speed I can squeeze out of this thing then. I’m going to full power.” The small craft shuddered as Trip locked in all the power that he could to the engine. “Okay, we’re at warp two point five,” said Fenner. “That sensor contact just resolved itself into three fighters and they’re heading straight for us.” “Where the hell did they come from? We’re in deep space and they’re not built for long range flights,” said Trip. “That, my friend, is the least of our worries,” said Fenner. “Damn, we’re not moving fast enough,” said Trip. “They’re catching up with us.” He thought desperately, trying to figure out a way to keep them alive. “James, check your scanner, about two o’clock. We’re coming up on a brown dwarf, and it looks like it has an accretion disk.” “You’re right,” said Fenner. “Why didn’t we pick it up before?” “The scanners on this thing don’t have great resolution and brown dwarves don’t give off any visible light. Plus the low radiation that they emit, we didn’t have a hope of detecting it until we got closer,” said Trip. “Can we make it?” asked Fenner. “Maybe,” said Trip. “It’s better odds than open space. You’re the pilot. Do you fancy taking us into that accretion disk?” “No, but I guess it’s the only way,” said Fenner, pointing the nose of Bluebird II towards the brown dwarf and the ring of broken rocks around it. “Those fighters have weapons that Malcolm would give up his favourite phase pistol for,” said Trip, looking at the sensor data. “And they’re still gaining on us,” said Fenner. “Is that all the power we’ve got?” “Every drop,” replied Trip. “I told you this thing is held together with chewing gum and wishful thinking, don’t push it too hard or we’ll be walking home.” “If I don’t push it we’ll be dead,” said Fenner. “You take care of the engine and I’ll worry about keeping us in one piece when we get to the accretion disk.” “Smart ass pilot,” muttered Trip, “why is it that no one listens to the engineer. Just remember who got us this far.” “For which I’m truly grateful, now strap in, Commander, and hold on,” said Fenner. Bluebird II dived into the accretion disk of the brown dwarf, dropping to impulse as it did so, warp speed would be suicidal in an asteroid field. They were followed closely by three black fighters. Fenner looped in and out of the asteroids, cutting his turns as fine as he could. “They’re still on our tail,” said Trip, “damn but they’re good.” “Yeah, but I’ve never met a pilot that I couldn’t beat,” said Fenner. He was beginning to wonder when the fighters would make a mistake though, so far they hadn’t. He’d expected to lose at least one of them to a wrong move or a stray asteroid by now. The fighters behind them opened fire and Fenner broke right just in front of a large asteroid, the fire from the fighters impacting upon the asteroid behind them. He wove around a small group of rocks and pulled a tight turn so that he was facing his pursuers. “What the hell are you doing, James?” said Trip nervously. “They’re too good, Trip, every move they make is perfect. But I’m betting that they’re not good at thinking out of the box,” said Fenner. “So you’re going to fly right at them?” asked Trip, incredulously. “No, I’m going to use the asteroid field as cover and fly between them,” replied Fenner. He was already concentrating on going against the orbital drift of the asteroids, which was making the task of dodging the rocks much harder anyway. Suddenly he was on their attackers and they turned to follow his path as he flew through the middle of the three ships. One fighter came to bear on the shuttle but wasn’t fast enough to catch it and was just opening fire as Bluebird II had passed. It hadn’t realised that its fellow fighter was pulling exactly the same manoeuvre on the other side of the shuttlepod. Neither pilot managed to stop firing in time to prevent damage to the other fighter. One fighter exploded in a burst of flame and the other had its right engine ripped off, unable to get out of the way due to its impaired mobility, it slammed into an approaching asteroid. “And you said I was a miracle worker,” said Trip. “You just evened the odds pretty damn successfully.” Trip had just finished the sentence when the third fighter appeared from its hiding place and opened fire. Suddenly alarms sounded and gas began to vent into the cockpit. “Should have kept my big mouth shut,” shouted Trip over the sound of sirens and warnings. “He got the left thruster controls and it looks as if we’ve got a leak in the life support system too.” Trip unstrapped his harness and got up to investigate the damage. He managed to seal the gas vent but that wasn’t their only problem. “Trip, if you’re going to do something then you’d better do it now because we just became a sitting duck,” said Fenner. Navigating the field with only one thruster was next to impossible. “I’ve only got one pair of hands,” said Trip in retort. He’d opened up a panel in the ceiling of the shuttle and was elbow deep in electronics. He was well aware of the fact that if Fenner hadn’t been such a good pilot they’d be dead already. “Brace yourself, he’s coming in for another attack run,” said Fenner, monitoring his opponent’s moves whilst doing his best to get out of his direct line of fire. Fenner broke left, attempting to hide behind another asteroid before their enemy could get another shot in. Unfortunately he wasn’t fast enough and the first volley of fire caught the tip of the shuttlepod’s stubby right wing. Trip was thrown to the floor, but Fenner didn’t have time to check if the Engineer was okay as the fighter was moving in for the kill. Then there was another trace on his scanner and Fenner detected incoming fire from another source. He watched as the phaser beam sliced towards the oncoming fighter and then the fighter was no more. Trip pushed himself up onto the chair, he’d already discovered that he had a gash down the left side of his forehead where he’d fallen heavily. He was trying to ignore the blood that was dripping down his face. “We’ve got an incoming transmission,” said Trip. He put it on the loud speaker. “Can’t I leave you two alone for a moment without you getting yourselves into trouble,” said a familiar voice. “Major, I’ve never been so pleased to hear your voice,” replied Trip. “We had a bit of difficulty but that seems to have been dealt with.” “What in god’s name is that ship you’re in? It looks like Frankenstein designed a shuttlepod,” said Hathaway. “She’s called Bluebird II. But you’re not far wrong, it’s Trip’s invention, a shuttlepod that does warp two,” said Fenner. “I might have guessed,” said Hathaway. “You okay to dock with us or do we have to come and get you?” “We should be okay,” said Fenner, “it could take a few minutes though.” “Okay, but don’t take too long, there may be some friends of those fighters around and I’d prefer to engage them on our terms rather than theirs,” said Hathaway. “Yes, Ma’am,” replied Fenner. “We’ll be with you shortly. Bluebird out.” He turned around to look at Trip. “What happened to your face?” he asked. “Hit my head when I fell over,” said Trip. “It’s just a scratch, but you know how head wounds bleed.” “Are you going to be okay to fix that control circuit so that I can get us out of this asteroid field?” asked Fenner. “No problem, I just need to re-route a couple of things. It’s only a temporary fix but it’ll do until we get somewhere safer. It’s a hell of a lot easier to do this stuff when we’re not being shot at,” said Trip, rising from his seat and reaching up towards the panel he’d opened earlier. Fenner pretended not to notice the fact the wound on the side of Trip’s head was definitely more than a scratch and that Trip was gripping onto the side of the panel to keep himself steady. He knew Trip wouldn’t appreciate being fussed over at the moment and there’d be plenty of time for that later. Trip had the necessary repairs made in less than ten minutes and then they were on their way again, climbing out of the asteroid field. “Bluebird to Hathaway,” said Fenner. “We’re on our way up to you.” “Acknowledged,” said Hathaway. They poked their nose above the asteroids and got their first look at the ship that Hathaway had arrived in. “My god, is that what I think it is?” said Fenner. “It’s the NX-Theta,” said Trip, looking out of the cockpit window at the ship in front of them. “But it can’t be. It was mothballed along with the rest of the NX prototypes.” The NX-Theta had been the first one of the prototypes that had looked like a starship, it had even had a small crew, no more than ten people, mainly engineers that were measuring efficiency and performance. Trip knew the ship like the back of his hand, he’d been one of the engineers who’d taken her out for her test run. He didn’t remember her having phase cannons though. “Bluebird, you are cleared for docking,” said Hathaway. Bluebird II came in for a less than perfect docking manoeuvre in the shuttle bay but considering the damage the ship had taken, Fenner was reasonably happy with it. Hathaway was waiting to meet them. They climbed out of Bluebird and Trip and Fenner saluted their former commanding officer. Which was followed by Trip collapsing in a heap on the floor of the shuttle bay as he let go of the shuttlepod, the only thing that had been keeping him upright. He moved to push himself up off the floor but found the room was spinning alarmingly. “Just a scratch, huh?” said Fenner sarcastically as he crouched down beside Trip. He propped the engineer up against the side of the shuttlepod. “How many fingers am I holding up?” asked Hathaway. “I don’t know,” said Trip. “You keep moving them.” “Concussion,” said Hathaway. “You know how serious this can be Trip, why didn’t you say anything?” “We were busy,” said Trip, it sounded lame even to him. “You haven’t changed a bit, still as stubborn as ever,” said Hathaway. She went to the com. “Hathaway to the bridge, could one of you two bring the first aid kit down to the shuttle bay.” “On my way, Major,” said a familiar sounding voice, but Trip couldn’t quite place it. It wasn’t until Mike Rush appeared in the doorway brandishing the first aid kit that Trip fitted the voice to the face. “Sergeant Rush, my man, it’s got to have been at least ten years,” said Fenner enthusiastically, clapping the MACO on the back in a friendly manner as he approached. “It’s Corporal Rush now,” said Rush returning the enthusiastic greeting briefly before turning to Trip. “Trip, buddy, what happened?” he asked as he opened the first aid kit and knelt beside his patient. “The floor came up and hit me, or it may have been the side of the control console, I’m not sure,” said Trip. “Either way, it was the Lieutenant’s piloting skills which made me hit my head.” “I haven’t been a Lieutenant for years,” said Fenner. “And my piloting was fine. You’re just lucky you’ve got such a hard head.” “You’ve got a mild concussion,” said Rush, taking readings with the medical scanner. “How do you feel?” “Dizzy, and everything’s a bit blurry,” said Trip. “We should get him somewhere that he can lie down and then monitor his condition. He’ll probably be fine in a few hours after some rest and painkillers,” said Rush to Hathaway. He put the scanner away and took out cotton-wool and antiseptic and began to clean the wound. “Crew quarters,” said Hathaway. “We’ve got a couple of cabins ready for you guys.” “I’ll be happier once we hook up with Kanatova and then she can give him the once over,” said Rush. He’d never really been happy with doubling up as medic when Kanatova wasn’t available. “So will I,” said Trip, with a teasing smile. “So did you pick up everyone who was on Earth?” Rush and Hathaway exchanged looks. “I collected Rush and Carter,” said Hathaway. “We were too late for Didier, they’d already got to him. He died in what’s being called a climbing accident, but I think we can say that it was no accident.” “What about Kanatova and the Colonel?” asked Fenner, as he helped Trip up. “I don’t know,” said Hathaway. “The Colonel just said he’d meet us at the rendezvous. Kanatova left Vulcan two days ago but I haven’t been able to track her, she’s either doing a good job of hiding or she’s already dead.” ****End of Chapter Six**** “Who’s flying this thing?” asked Fenner as they helped Trip to the crew quarters. “Carter,” said Hathaway. “Carter! When did he get his wings?” asked Fenner. “He’s Starfleet, has been for about five years now,” said Hathaway. “So’s Trip, but we didn’t let him pilot the Thak Tikh,” said Fenner. “Hey, I could have done,” said Trip indignantly. “I get to take the helm of Enterprise every so often.” “Sure you do,” said Fenner as they deposited Trip on a bed in the crew quarters. They were fairly sparse compared to his own quarters on Enterprise and about a quarter of the size. “Major, Enterprise is going to come looking for me,” said Trip. “We made use of your notes from the Thak Tikh and made a few modifications to the NX-Theta before we left space-dock,” said Hathaway. “Just get some rest and let me worry about Enterprise.” Trip was too tired to argue, the painkiller that Rush had given him was making him sleepy. He yawned and closed his eyes. “Shouldn’t we be trying to keep him awake?” asked Fenner. “No he can sleep, but I’ll be by every hour to make sure you’re okay,” said Rush, looking down at Trip. “Okay,” mumbled Trip, already nearly asleep. The three MACOs left the room so that Trip could get some peace. “Report, Lieutenant,” said Hathaway. “I wasn’t expecting to pick you two up in a shuttlepod.” “We didn’t exactly have many other options. Captain Archer wouldn’t let Trip leave so we had to steal the shuttlepod,” said Fenner. “Which means that he can’t go back,” said Rush. “Or if he does it will be to a court-martial,” said Hathaway. “Damn, this wasn’t how it was supposed to be.” “Major, you issued Red Rain Alpha, everything goes out the window when that happens,” said Fenner. “Trip did what he had to.” “We all knew the consequences if this ever happened,” said Rush. “At the moment I’m just happy to be alive. There’s only seven of us left, Major.” “Assuming that the Colonel and Kanatova make it to the rendezvous,” said Hathaway. “I suppose we’ll find out when we get there.” “Any idea what the Colonel’s got set up for us?” asked Fenner. “No idea. You know the Colonel,” said Hathaway, “he doesn’t tell his plans to anyone.” “What about Enterprise?” asked Fenner. “Trip was right, they will be looking for him.” “Then we’d better make sure that they don’t find him,” said Hathaway, “the last thing we need is someone leading the enemy right to us.” **** “T’Pol, what have you got?” asked Archer. T’Pol sat at the science station examining the readouts. “I am picking up a warp signature,” said T’Pol. “It is very unusual.” “It’s a converted shuttlepod, it’s not exactly going to be conventional,” said Reed. “Indeed,” said T’Pol. “I have their course, I am transferring it to the helm.” “Mr Mayweather, follow T’Pol’s course, warp four,” said Archer. “Yes, sir,” said Mayweather. They followed Trip’s trail to a brown dwarf with a large, rocky accretion disk, where the trail went cold. The warp signature trace just stopped outside the accretion disk and never picked up again. T’Pol scanned further afield but still couldn’t pick up the unusual warp signature of the converted shuttlepod. Reed, however, did find something. “Sir, I’m picking up the debris from three fighters, they match the debris of the fighters that were chasing Fenner at Veras,” said Reed. “Any trace of debris from the shuttlepod?” asked Archer, suddenly concerned. He may not be very pleased with Trip but that didn’t stop him worrying. “No sir,” said Reed. “Wherever they are, they escaped from the fighters. I’m picking up the energy signatures of another ship’s phase canons.” “So someone else was here?” asked Archer. “Yes, and it looks like it was another Starfleet ship,” said Reed. “Another Starfleet ship?” asked Archer. “T’Pol, are there any ships scheduled to be in this area?” T’Pol tapped a couple of buttons on her console, before raising her head to reply. “No, sir. The nearest ship is the Columbia, approximately thirteen light years from our position.” “So who are they, and more to the point, where are they? Can we track them, T’Pol?” asked Archer. “I am not detecting a warp trail,” said T’Pol. “How is it possible that a ship was here and they didn’t leave a warp trail?” said Archer. “There are ways to hide a warp signature. They have a very competent engineer with them,” said T’Pol. “I’m aware of that,” said Archer. If Trip didn’t want to be found then he knew all the tricks in the book to keep him and any ship he was on hidden, given the right resources. “Okay, let’s see if there are any Starfleet vessels missing or where they shouldn’t be. T’Pol, keep scanning and see if you can pick up their trail.” “Yes, sir,” said T’Pol. **** Trip awoke to someone calling his name. He jerked himself awake from the bad dream he’d been having. He’d been on Karavia and they’d been under fire. He tried to remember what they’d been doing on Karavia but no more information was forthcoming from his memory. He had no idea why his brain had decided to pull that episode out of the many nightmares that Special Projects had given him. He looked up bleary eyed as Rush ran a scanner over him. Somehow the caring image just didn’t suit the tall, well muscled, demolition expert. “Hey buddy, it’s that time again. What’s your name?” he asked Trip. “Charles Tucker III,” replied Trip. He’d been through this before the previous hour and the hour before that, with a concussion he had to be woken every hour to check his awareness. Head injuries could be tricky things, but Trip was getting fed up with it now. “And yes, I know where I am, I’m on the NX-Theta.” “Actually I was going to ask you what your rank is,” said Rush. “Commander,” said Trip, “assuming that Captain Archer hasn’t already got hold of Starfleet and had me kicked out of the fleet. Happy now?” “Just checking,” said Rush. “You seem to be fine.” “Good, then I guess I’d better get up and do some work,” said Trip. “Hey, I didn’t say that you could get up. You took a nasty knock, you should rest a bit longer,” said Rush. “Give a guy a medical scanner and he thinks he’s a doctor. You’re sure as hell not Kanatova, you’re not pretty enough, so let’s just forget about this resting thing and then I can get down to the engine room,” said Trip. “I’d forgotten what a stubborn son of a bitch you could be. Fine, you don’t want to rest, I can’t make you, but don’t come running to me when Hathaway has your hide for ignoring medical orders,” said Rush. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her, Corporal,” said Trip, emphasising Rush’s rank. He didn’t like having to pull rank but occasionally it was necessary. “How long was I asleep for that time?” “About an hour,” said Rush, “Three hours total.” “When do we reach the rendezvous?” asked Trip, pushing himself into a sitting position and groping around on the floor for his boots. He located them and shoved them onto his feet, rapidly doing up the laces. “About another three hours,” said Rush. “Any news on Kanatova or the Colonel?” said Trip. “Sorry, nothing so far,” replied Rush. “Damn, I was hoping that one of them would have been in contact,” said Trip. “Yeah, I think we all were,” said Rush. “The Major said that she’d made a few modifications to the NX-Theta, any idea what she was talking about?” asked Trip. “Well the phase canons you know about. She took the specs of the Thak Tikh’s engine dampening field and had the engineers make one for the NX-Theta,” said Rush. “So our warp signature should look like background radiation,” said Trip. “Yeah, don’t ask me how it works, you never taught me anything about warp signatures,” said Rush. Trip had needed help with the Thak Tikh’s engine so he had co-opted Rush and Carter as deputy engineers since their own specialisms were the closest to engineering of any of the MACOs. “That’s okay, Mike, I know how it works. I’m the one who took the designs off the Thak Tikh. I’d love to hear the story of how she ended up with the NX-Theta though,” said Trip. “That is a long one, she’s been planning this for some time,” said Rush. “I think that after all those years as the Colonel’s second, some of him rubbed off on her.” “In the world we live in, that ain’t a bad thing,” replied Trip. He stood up and was pleased to discover that the room remained perfectly still this time. “Must have taken you a while to put that Franken-shuttle together,” said Rush. “Yeah, well maybe some of the Colonel rubbed off on me too,” said Trip “Space exploration can be pretty dangerous and I like to have my options open. Let the Major know that I’m back on duty.” “Yes sir,” replied Rush and Trip exited his temporary quarters to head down to the engine room. **** Just over three hours later the NX-Theta arrived at the rendezvous. The whole team were on the bridge, Fenner at the controls in the pilot’s seat, Trip seated at the engineering station, Hathaway in the Captain’s chair, Carter at the newly installed weapons console and Rush sat at the Communications station looking slightly puzzled by the displays in front of him. “We’re coming up on a space station, Major,” said Trip, “it’s not on any of the charts we have of this area. We should be in open space.” The space station looked like a spindle, with disks spaced evenly on a central axis. Intricate metal work connected the disks to strengthen the structure. Lights showed through some of the windows but it was obvious that the station was at no where near full capacity. “I’m detecting weaponry, Major,” said Carter. “That thing is armed to the teeth.” “I wondered what he had up his sleeve,” said Hathaway. “Major, I’ve got an incoming transmission,” said Rush. “On screen, Rush,” said Hathaway. “Yes, Ma’am,” replied Rush and pressed the sequence of buttons that would display the call. The face of Colonel Darwin appeared on the screen. “Perfectly on time as usual, Major. I’m glad you could all make it. Welcome to Water’s Edge,” said Darwin. **** “You’re not going to believe this, Captain,” said Reed as he handed Archer a padd. “There is a Starfleet vessel missing. From the museum. It’s the NX-Theta.” “That ship has got to be over fifteen years old, I’m surprised it can even fly,” said Archer. “Well it was being restored by the museum, they had some idea about taking tourists up in it,” said Reed. “Apparently it was fully operable.” “The ship that we’re looking for had weapons as well, the NX-Theta was never equipped with phase cannons,” said Archer. “I think someone added them,” said Reed. “Look at the parts list on the museum’s requisition form.” Archer quickly scrolled through the files on the padd to the one he required. “How did that get past?” asked Archer, some of the items were clearly parts for a phase cannon. “They didn’t requisition everything they needed together, it was hidden in several orders and there are other uses for most of these parts. I suppose no one put two and two together,” said Reed. “Another thing to add to my list of security revisions,” said Archer. “Do we have any idea who took it?” “None officially, sir. But on a hunch I decided to check on the whereabouts of the rest of the MACOs. Hathaway, Carter and Didier were the only MACOs on Earth, with Rush and Dempsey on Mars, Kanatova on Vulcan and Darwin’s whereabouts unknown. Carter, Hathaway and Rush all requested holiday or a leave of absence from their respective commanding officers in the last few days,” said Reed. “So it’s a fair bet that Hathaway has the ship. What about Didier, why didn’t he go with them? Is he still on Earth?” asked Archer. “He was killed in a climbing accident five days ago,” said Reed, solemnly. “Which we know was most likely not an accident,” said Archer. “So they’re all heading for this rendezvous. Trip and Fenner must have met Hathaway and they’re making their way together. What about Kanatova and Darwin? If we can find them then we might have a way to track down Trip.” “I found out that Kanatova left Vulcan three days ago,” said Reed. “There is no record of her boarding any ship, but she was sighted at Altair Orbital two days ago. I’m still checking but so far I haven’t been able to discover which ship she boarded from there.” “And Colonel Darwin?” asked Archer. “We left him on Sigma, supposedly to catch a transport back to Earth,” said Reed. “Let me guess, he never got on a transport,” said Archer. “No, he got on a transport, just not going back to Earth,” said Reed. “He was headed to Sirius Alpha. After that I couldn’t pick up any sign of him, it’s as if he just disappears. I’ll keep looking but somehow I doubt it’ll do any good. We’re talking about people who were trained in keeping their movements and motivations hidden.” “We know Colonel Darwin had something planned for the eventuality that they were under attack, maybe we can find out what it was. I want more information to go on, Lieutenant. I want to know every move that Colonel Darwin has made over the past ten years,” said Archer. “Yes, sir, I’ll do my best,” said Reed. ****End of Chapter Seven**** The NX-Theta had docked at Water’s Edge and now the MACOs were unloading the supplies that they’d brought with them, including what Trip had managed to scrounge from Enterprise which wasn’t much since they hadn’t had a lot of room. “What happened to your head?” asked Darwin as Trip walked past him carrying a box of medical supplies. “We ran into some trouble on the way here,” said Trip. “Took some fire and I lost my balance while I was trying to restore power to the thrusters. I cracked my head on the console on the way down.” “He told us that the floor came up and hit him,” said Rush with a smirk, as he walked by, carrying a box of phase pistols. “So Colonel are you going to tell us how you came by this place, the design definitely isn’t human,” said Trip. “Let’s get everything off the ship and then I’ll show you around,” said Darwin. “Colonel, any news on Kanatova?” asked Hathaway. “Sorry, Major, she hasn’t been in touch,” said Darwin. “She’ll turn up,” said Fenner. “She’s always made it home before.” “I wish she’d hurry up,” replied Hathaway. When all the boxes were stacked in the cargo bay, Darwin led the MACOs on a tour of the facilities. There was a level of accommodation, each MACO had been assigned a spacious set of quarters that were far larger than any Trip had ever been assigned before. It reminded him of the apartment he had rented in San Francisco when he’d been working at the Warp Five Complex. Each suite of rooms had a double bedroom, study, living room, kitchen and bathroom. Compared to his quarters on Enterprise it was palatial. The next stop on the tour was the generator room, a big power plant that produced enough energy to keep the entire station going for several years. Trip was fascinated by the inner workings of the station and how the power plant worked, but he knew he’d have plenty of time to examine it further later. They moved through the hydroponics bay and arboretum, the Colonel giving a brief description of how they could grow their own food if necessary once the supplies they’d brought with them ran out. They passed through levels of laboratories and a sick bay, finally coming to what Darwin referred to as the War Room. The War Room was the control centre for the whole station. This was where the station’s impressive weaponry could be controlled and fired from. Not only that but it had a large table in the centre big enough for everyone to stand around and look at the display that formed the table top. The room was lined with computers and consoles that monitored the station’s functions. Trip was in heaven, examining everything and working out which systems were monitored from which console. “This is a goddamned fortress,” said Trip, looking at the weapons readouts. “Right, and like a fortress we have to be ready for a siege,” said Darwin. “We don’t know how long we’re going to be here. This space station used to be a Tellarite deep space outpost so it was designed to be occupied for long periods of time in possibly dangerous conditions. It has everything we need to protect ourselves, including early warning sensors and some impressive weaponry. Carter, you’re on weapons detail, make sure that they’re all working.” “Yes, sir,” replied the Armoury officer. “Trip, I want you to check out the power plant and make sure it’s working how it should. I also want you to check the air and water recycling. If anyone needs repairs made, Trip is in charge of that too. Anything you need, let me know,” said Darwin, catching Trip’s eye. “Yes, sir,” said Trip, leaning on the edge of the table. “Fenner, Rush, you’re up here, check that all our control systems are in good working order. If we can’t operate the weapons then we’ll be sitting ducks for anyone who comes calling,” said Darwin. The two MACOs nodded at their commander in reply. “Hathaway, you’re on inventory, I need to know what we’ve got and what we haven’t. Especially medical supplies and food, but also weapons,” said Darwin. “When you’re done with that I need you to familiarise yourself with the War Room command functions.” “Yes, sir,” said Hathaway. “Have we any idea who we’re up against, Colonel?” asked Carter. “No, Lieutenant, but once we’ve completed the systems checks we are going to find out. I suggest we start by going through the mission files. We need to get together a list of everyone who could be out to get us,” said Darwin. “We are also going to put together everything that we’ve learnt from the attacks so far. I want everyone to go through your own mission reports and logs as well. Any one piece of information that we have, could be the one that solves this thing for us, so don’t leave anything out. I’m not facing this enemy on their terms any longer. Three of us are dead and I won’t lose anymore men to this.” There was a chorus of “yes, sir” from the assembled group. Everyone was about to go to their assigned tasks when suddenly a warning siren sounded. “Sensors have picked something up,” said Trip, going over to the sensor displays. “It’s a ship, looks like a small freighter. It’s armed.” “How many people?” asked Darwin. “Just one,” replied Trip. Carter had already moved over to the weapons control console. “I’ve got a target lock,” said Carter. “Rush, try opening communications,” said Darwin. “Yes, sir,” said Rush. “This is Water’s Edge Deep Space Station, please identify yourself.” There was static over the open channel. Rush tried again, “this is Water’s Edge Deep Space Station, please identify yourself.” “Michael?” said a voice in return. “Kana?” said Rush. Darwin sighed “Proper radio protocol, Corporal, please. Doctor, we’re all pleased to hear your voice. You’re cleared to dock.” “If that were possible then I would be happy to dock, Colonel, unfortunately I have no idea how to pilot this thing,” said Kanatova. “How did you get here if you’re not flying it?” asked Fenner. “Auto-pilot,” replied Kanatova. “It’s not fast but it was the best I could do given the circumstances.” “Fenner, go and pick up Kanatova,” said Hathaway. Kanatova was the only member of the team who didn’t even have rudimentary flying skills, everyone else had either picked them up along the way or been trained to fly before joining Special Projects. Fenner dashed from the room to take out a shuttle to pick up their final team member. “We’ll see you in a bit Doctor,” said Darwin, “Fenner’s on his way to collect you. Darwin out.” “That’s it then,” said Rush. “The gang’s all here. Bring on the bad guys.” **** Kanatova found Trip in the generator room, running a complete diagnostic of the whole power grid. He was lying half way out of a jeffries tube. “Trip?” said Kanatova. “Yeah, what is it?” asked Trip. He sounded busy. “What’s broken now?” So far he’d had five requests to fix things and he was having trouble keeping up. At the Colonel’s request he had prioritised repairs to life support and weapons, everything else was going to have to wait. “I just came down to say hi,” said Kanatova. “I haven’t seen you in person for about three years now, and I thought you’d be polite enough to stop what you were doing to say hello to an old friend.” “Sorry, Anna,” came Trip’s muffled voice from the jeffries tube. “If I don’t get this circuit fixed we won’t have any air-recycling.” “Rush told me about your head as well,” said Kanatova. “It’ll keep,” said Trip. “Trip, get out here now,” said Kanatova. Kanatova grabbed Trip’s leg and pulled him out of the tube. “Anna, I have to finish this…” he said trailing off as he emerged. “Fine, let’s get this over with.” He knew he couldn’t win against Kanatova, her and Phlox came from the same school of thought when it came to patients not doing as they were told. “You’re not in uniform,” she said, slightly surprised. She’d never seen Trip on duty without his Starfleet jump-suit on. “Didn’t seem right to wear it,” said Trip. He was wearing jeans and a grey t-shirt, both of which were now pretty grubby from crawling around inside a jeffries tubes. “You left without permission?” asked Kanatova. “Yeah, so I kind of burned my bridges,” said Trip. “Fenner said you took a bad knock, I want to see you in sick bay as soon as you’re done here. I need to run some scans of that thick skull of yours. You are in big trouble for ignoring medical orders as well,” said Kanatova. “Rush ratted me out, huh?” said Trip, giving the Doctor one of his most disarming smiles. “He was concerned for your health, which is more than you seem to be. Come on then, show me, I want to see it,” she said in her typically blunt fashion. She’d learnt a long time ago not to be taken in by Trip’s smile or his little-boy-lost look. “Show you what?” asked Trip. “The scar, of course,” said Kanatova as if Trip were being unusually dim. “I want to make sure that Starfleet quack treated you properly.” Trip rolled his eyes and pulled up his t-shirt to reveal three, inch long scars on his abdomen in a horizontal line. “Phlox is okay, he did a pretty good job.” “They have healed well,” said Kanatova, grudgingly, as she gently pressed either side of the middle scar. “Klingon knife wounds can be difficult. The three blades can cause a lot of damage.” “Yeah, I know that. I was on the receiving end,” said Trip. He dropped his t-shirt back down. “From what I heard, you were lucky not to have got yourself killed,” said Kanatova. “The Colonel wanted me to kill that Klingon,” said Trip, “but I just couldn’t.” “So he stabbed you instead,” said Kanatova. “I won’t kill again to save myself, Anna. I refuse to. You know how much each life I took cost me,” said Trip. “I know, but you may have to if we’re going to get out of this one alive,” said Kanatova. “No,” said Trip. “That’s not who I am anymore.” “If that isn’t who you are, then what are you doing here?” asked Kanatova. “I couldn’t let them come after Enterprise just to get to me,” said Trip. “And you guys saved my life more than once while we were out in the field. I couldn’t stand by and just let you be killed one by one.” “You don’t owe this Unit anything, Trip,” said Kanatova. “You saved our lives by being in the Thak Tikh’s engine room more times than I can count.” She paused, trying to gauge how Trip looked. “How are you sleeping?” “I get it now,” said Trip, angrily. “You just came to check up on me, make sure I’m not cracking under the pressure.” “So, you are not sleeping well?” asked Kanatova ignoring Trip’s anger. “No, I’m not sleeping goddamned well,” said Trip. “There, satisfied?” “Bad dreams or just insomnia?” asked Kanatova, businesslike as usual. “A bit of both. It’s not been right since I saw the Colonel. Just before Arroya died, I had a really bad one, woke up screaming. You remember New Copenhagen?” asked Trip. Kanatova nodded. “It’s not easy to forget.” * It had been an unusual mission for them because New Copenhagen was a human colony and usually Special Projects stayed away from the outposts of humanity. Originally it had been begun as a mining outpost and was one of the earliest colonies to be established. However not everything had gone smoothly at the colony. The miners and their families had erupted into civil unrest. New Copenhagen was on Earth’s doorstep in galactic terms and the news reports that were being beamed back home were making the politicians nervous. Special Projects had been sent in to make sure the conflict was resolved quickly and not necessarily by diplomatic intervention. Trip hadn’t liked it from the beginning, this wasn’t what Special Projects was supposed to be there for. The Thak Tikh had ended up being the closest ship and the powers-that-be had decided that they wanted this settled quietly, a small team of men infiltrating the Governor’s residence and neutralising the threat. It had begun as a dispute between two rival politicians, but it had quickly escalated into something more violent, turning into a civil war between two opposing factions. There were bitter disputes over land and rights, but also over political ethos. The Rebels and the Loyalists, as they had been labelled, had already been fighting for a full six months when Special Projects arrived on the scene. Long enough that some truly terrible atrocities had been committed in the names of their respective causes. “Well, boys and girls, this is going to be a tricky one,” Darwin had said at the briefing. Trip didn’t think he’d ever heard such an understatement in his entire life. “The Rebels are currently holding the Capital and we have to take it back from them.” “So we’re supporting the Loyalists?” asked Rush. “The clue’s in the name,” said Hathaway. “Loyalist, as in loyal to Earth.” “Oh, right,” said Rush. “What’s the plan, Major?” asked Hathaway. “We have orders to execute Gerard Larsen. He’s the leader of the Rebels and once he’s down it should be an easy matter to help the capital fall to the Loyalists,” said Darwin. “We’re just going to kill him? In cold blood?” asked Trip. “That is what we’re here for,” said Darwin. “He has a list of war crimes to his name as long as my arm.” “But he hasn’t had a trial or been convicted of anything,” said Trip. “No, he hasn’t, but we have the authority to execute him and that is what we’re going to do,” said Darwin. “It just doesn’t sit well,” said Trip. “Which is why you’re staying here and sitting this one out,” said Darwin. “Yes, sir,” said Trip. “Kanatova, Didier, Dempsey you’re staying here too. We’re only going to need six of us for this. We’re going for stealth not force on this one. Dempsey’s in charge until we get back,” said Darwin. Darwin continued to outline their plan, while Trip considered what they were doing. The MACOs left for the surface, Fenner piloting them down in one of the Thak Tikh’s shuttles. Trip waited on the Thak Tikh knowing what was going on down on the surface and hoping that everyone would come back. It was about six hours later that they received a hail from the planet. “Arroya to Thak Tikh, come in Thak Tikh.” Trip could hear the stress in her voice. “Arroya, this is Tucker. What’s going on down there? You were supposed to be back an hour ago,” said Trip. “The mission’s shot, Lieutenant. Major Darwin and Captain Hathaway were captured,” said Arroya. “Rush has been injured. The shuttle was hit. We’ve got no way out. We need you down here, sir.” “I’m on my way down,” said Trip. “Kanatova, sounds like we’ll need you.” He didn’t wait for Arroya to reply, he and Kanatova ran for the shuttle bay, leaving Didier and Dempsey to take care of the ship. He made it down to the surface in record time and located the four MACOs who were hiding out at the Loyalist’s base. Rush had a nasty looking phaser burn on his shoulder which Fenner was doing his best to deal with. Kanatova took one look and immediately took over. Standing with them was a man he didn’t recognise. “What happened, Corporal?” asked Trip. “We were infiltrating the enemy base according to plan, but they were waiting for us,” said Arroya. “Waiting for you?” asked Trip. “Yes, sir. Someone told them that we were coming,” said Arroya. “They came out of nowhere,” said Fenner. “We didn’t see them until they were already on the Major and Captain Hathaway.” “Who’s this?” asked Trip, indicating the unknown man. “This is Gabe Denning, he’s the leader of the Loyalists,” said Arroya. “I’m sorry about your Major and Captain, Lieutenant Tucker. The Rebels have spies everywhere,” said Denning. “Yeah, well perhaps you should have told us that before you let my friends walk into a trap,” replied Trip. “There wasn’t anything we could do, sir,” said Carter. “I know. You would have done it if there was. Start from the beginning. You came down to the planet and hooked up with the Loyalists?” said Trip. “Yes, sir,” said Arroya. “We were taken back to their base of operations and shown how to infiltrate the Governor’s residence from their intelligence.” “So you followed their plan?” asked Trip. “Yes, sir. The Major pointed out that they knew the layout better than we did and had been planning this for weeks,” said Arroya. “Sounds reasonable,” said Trip. “But the Rebels were waiting for you when you got there?” “They waited until we were inside the complex and then they ambushed us. Hathaway and Darwin were leading so they were taken first, we managed to escape. The Major gave us just enough warning that we were able to get out.” “Were they hurt?” asked Kanatova. “I don’t know, Lieutenant. We got out of there as quickly as we could to make sure at least one of us would be around to get help. Captain Hathaway was putting up quite a fight when I last saw her, so I guess she didn’t go down easily,” said Arroya. “Arroya, you’re with me. We’re going to get them out,” said Trip, a look of determination settling on his face. “What about the standing orders, sir?” asked Carter. “What about them, Carter?” asked Trip. They all knew which standing order he was referring to, the order to kill any member of the team who was captured. Killing was usually quicker than a rescue attempt and guaranteed that no information would fall into enemy hands. Darwin had ignored the standing order to rescue Trip from a prison camp on Kellaris, and Trip wasn’t about to let an opportunity to repay the favour go. Despite the standing order, the unspoken code was that they never left anyone behind. “They know the location of this base,” said Denning. “We can’t let that information fall into the Rebels’ hands.” “Then we’d better get them out of there,” said Trip. Denning didn’t look happy but he kept quiet. “And the shuttle?” asked Arroya. “Carter, Fenner, do what your best with it. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” said Trip. “If two hours go by without hearing from us, take the working shuttle back to the Thak Tikh and get out of here. Look after Rush and be ready to go as soon as we get back.” The MACOs nodded. Arroya and Trip made their way across the colony to the Governor’s residence which was where the Rebels had their set up their base. The Governor had been killed in the first week of the uprising, along with his family. Denning had been his deputy and now led the Loyalist movement, he’d managed to escape before the Governor’s residence had been taken. “Where are they being held?” asked Trip. They were hiding in the gardens of the residence. Arroya had done a good job of getting them through the outer defences, but now they were faced with the guards who patrolled the perimeter. “They’ve turned one of the out buildings into a cell block. It’s where they keep their political prisoners,” said Arroya. “And the Major and Captain Hathaway?” said Trip. “It’s our best bet,” said Arroya. “Can we get past the guards?” said Trip. “Shouldn’t be a problem. We can cause a diversion and then slip past,” said Arroya. She was already planning out on her padd the size of explosive and where it would be best to plant it. “You’ve been spending too much time with Rush,” said Trip. “He may be a pyromaniac but he has his uses,” said Arroya, the ghost of a smile on her lips. “If I plant a charge over there then that should draw them away from our position.” “Go for it,” said Trip, it was the only plan that they had. He watched Arroya move around the edge of the garden into position and plant the charge. She crept back to his side and they waited for the explosives to detonate. There was a large explosion and suddenly guards were running everywhere. Trip and Arroya ran towards the cell block. “Okay, let’s split up and search,” said Trip as they reached the cell block. Arroya nodded, “I’ll take left if you take right.” Trip ran down towards the right, while Arroya ran left. “Trip!” shouted back Arroya, “I’ve got Hathaway!” Trip continued down the cells, looking in each for his CO. Finally he found him. “Trip! What the hell are you doing here?” said Darwin. “You know the rules, no rescues.” He looked as if he hadn’t been treated too gently, but he wasn’t badly injured. “Yeah and Kellaris didn’t count,” said Trip, wryly. “Get back.” He pressed an explosive charge on to the lock and Darwin moved to the other side of the cell. Trip moved a little to one side and set off the shaped charge that blew out the lock. He kicked the cell door to free it. “Come on Major, time to get out of here.” Darwin followed Trip down the hallway where they found Arroya supporting Hathaway. She looked badly beaten up and was holding her arm in an awkward position which suggested that it was broken. Trip took one look at Hathaway and knew that they had to get her back to Kanatova as soon as possible. “What’s your escape plan?” asked Darwin. “We didn’t have much time to plan this,” said Trip. “I’m hoping that the guards are still going to be distracted by our diversion.” “I could set a second charge,” said Arroya. “Sounds like a plan. I guess that’s why you’re the infiltration expert and I’m the engineer,” said Trip. “Do it,” said Darwin, and Arroya ran off towards the perimeter in the opposite direction from where they wanted to go. They huddled in the doorway while they waited for Arroya to do her stuff. “Nice plan,” said Hathaway as she lent against Trip. He couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not. “Could have been better,” said Trip. Then in the distance they heard the sound of an explosion. “Time to go,” said Darwin tersely. “Yes, sir,” said Trip. They made towards the exit from the cell, Hathaway’s injuries meant that they couldn’t move very quickly. Trip was practically pulling her across the lawn of the Governor’s residence. It slowed them down too much and the lawn was as far as they got. They were suddenly surrounded by guards who had seemingly come from nowhere. They were disarmed before any of them could even contemplate resistance and tied up, with their hands behind their back. Hathaway had cried out as they pulled her broken arm behind her so that it could be tied to her other arm. Trip knew that for the Captain to have admitted that she was in pain it must have hurt a lot. Then they were shoved towards the main building of the complex. The rest of the complex was nowhere near as sparse as the cell block. It was ornately decorated in a style the befitted the residence of the Governor of the colony. They were brought into the office which had previously belonged to the Governor. Trip, Darwin and Hathaway was forced to kneel on the floor in front of the desk. Hathaway was barely conscious now, she’d lost a lot of blood and the pain of having her broken arm tied behind her back couldn’t be helping. “Gerard,” said Darwin. From which Trip took the man standing behind the desk to be Gerard Larsen, the leader of the Rebels. “I hear that you tried to escape. As you can see all that happened was we captured another of your men,” said Larsen. “You will tell me what I want to know eventually.” “We’re never going to tell you anything. We don’t even have the information that you want,” said Darwin. “The Earth government sent you here, Darwin. I know what their motivations are in this. They want stability and they don’t care at what cost. Oppression and fear is nothing to them. But Earth is some distance away and if they were able to send more men then they would have done so. I’m more interested in where Gabe Denning is hiding,” said Larsen. “We told you before, we don’t know,” said Darwin. “Now come on, Major Darwin, you don’t expect me to believe that the Earth government sent you here without telling you how to contact the Loyalists. We know that Earth has maintained contact with the deposed government,” said Larsen. “Robert Darwin, Major, 1345579,” said Darwin. Larsen hit him across the face. A trickle of blood made its way down Darwin’s chin from the corner of his mouth. “Name, rank and serial number won’t get you out of this one, Darwin. You’re not a prisoner of war, you’re a spy. Like your two friends here,” said Larsen. “We have no quarrel with Earth, if they would stay out of our little war. If you co-operate then I’m prepared to let you go. You can return to your ship and leave peacefully, we’ll take care of the nest of vipers that Gabe Denning commands.” “The answer is still no,” said Darwin. Larsen circled around the group kneeling on the floor. He grabbed Trip by the hair and pulled back his head. “Perhaps one of your men would answer the question,” said Larsen. “Go jump,” said Trip. “We’re not answering your damn questions.” “Oh I think you will,” said Larsen, letting go his hold on Trip’s hair. “You will have heard the news that the Governor and his family were killed in the raid on this complex.” “It isn’t a secret,” said Darwin. “Not all his family were killed,” said Larsen. “Bring them in.” This was directed to one of the guards standing by the door. He ushered into the room two young girls who clung to each other. They were most definitely twins, they looked so alike. Both girls were quiet and looked as if they might burst into tears at any moment. Track marks from earlier tears could be seen on their faces. Both girls had pretty, long blonde hair, which fell down their back in waves of curls, and wide blue eyes that stared at the three people kneeling on the floor. “This is Keisha and Kaira, the Governor’s daughters,” said Larsen. “They’re ten years old. If I don’t get my answer within the next minute, either Keisha or Kaira will die. I don’t care which it is but it will be one of them.” Darwin stared at Larsen, trying to gauge if he was bluffing, but his steely eyes didn’t give anything away. Trip turned to look at Darwin. Darwin could see the frantic desperation in Trip’s eyes and knew he was thinking of giving up the Loyalist base. Larsen grabbed one of the girls, as if to accentuate his point, and pressed his phase pistol to her head. She began to cry and so did her sister. “I’ll only ask you one more time, Darwin, where are the Loyalists hiding?” asked Larsen. Darwin just looked Larsen in the eye and said nothing. “Major, you can’t,” said Trip. He’d never seen anyone quite as scared as the little girl that Larsen now had firmly in his grasp. Her eyes were pleading with them to save her life. “Not a word, Lieutenant,” said Darwin, through gritted teeth. “If that’s how it’s going to be, her death is on your hands, not mine,” said Larsen and he pressed the trigger of the phase pistol. The girl fell to the floor, a smoking hole in the side of her head, all life draining out of her. Her sister screamed, a high pitched cry of agony and grief. “You bastard!” said Trip, attempting to lung at Larsen but guards stepped in before he could even get close. One used his rifled butt on Trip’s shoulder to make sure that Trip returned to his place on the floor. “You know that I’m not bluffing now, where is the Loyalist base?” asked Larsen. “There is another girl,” he added pointedly. Hathaway took that moment to keel over sideways and while attention was focused on her there was the sound of an explosion outside, followed by a series of smaller explosions and finally, the doors of the Governor’s office were blown off their hinges. Larsen was blown over by the blast and landed hard. Trip and Darwin were already up on their feet and making the most of the distraction to disable as many guards as they could before the smoke cleared. They were at a disadvantage with their hands tied but leaving their legs free had proved to be a mistake for the guards. Arroya ran through the disintegrated doors her phase rifle taking down the remaining guards. “Come on,” she said, grabbing Hathaway up off the floor. “The other girl,” said Trip, “where is she?” Trip began searching. “Trip, we have to go,” said Darwin. “Not until I find her,” said Trip, determination in his tone. She had been standing to one side of the door, so wouldn’t have caught the full force of the explosion. He moved towards the wreckage of the door, pulling away the body of a guard as he searched. He took the guard’s phase pistol, having had his own taken from him. He pulled away a plank of wood from the door that now lay on the ground and saw her. She was curled up, eyes closed and shaking. He touched her arm and her eyes sprang open. “Keisha?” he asked and she nodded back at him. “Come on, honey, we have to get you out of here,” he said softly to her and picked her up in his arms. She clung to him as if he was the only thing in her world at that moment. “Hold it,” said a voice behind him. Trip didn’t even hesitate, he spun around, phase pistol in his hand and fired on Gerard Larsen. He didn’t check the setting of the weapon he’d picked up from the guard and wasn’t even that sorry when it turned out it had been set to kill. He’d fulfilled their mission objective after all. They escaped without any further problems, using the chaos that Larsen’s death and Arroya’s explosives had created, and made their way back to the Loyalist’s base. Trip had held Keisha the entire way, not wanting to trust her safety to anyone else. When they reached the base he had refused to let her go even then. Keisha had fallen asleep in his arms and Trip just sat clutching her to him, looking at her. He sat at the back of the cave which the Loyalists were using as a hiding place and rocked his charge gently, hoping she would sleep a long time so that she never had to wake up to the nightmare of life. Kanatova came over to see Trip after some time had passed. She put a hand on Trip’s arm and he looked up at her. “She’s the Governor’s daughter. She saw her sister killed in front of her,” said Trip. “I know,” said Arroya. “Darwin told me what happened. Trip, you have to let look at her, she could be hurt.” Trip nodded. He loosened his hold slightly so that Kanatova could scan the little girl. “She seems fine apart from a few cuts and bruises, which will heal given time,” said Kanatova. “Good,” said Trip, gently. “You need to have your shoulder looked at though,” added Kanatova. “Later,” said Trip. “You’re going to have to give her over to someone else to look after soon, Trip. We need to leave. The Loyalist have plans to launch a counter attack to follow up on Larsen’s death. We don’t need to be caught up in the middle of a war,” said Kanatova. “I thought we already were,” said Trip. “Maybe,” said Kanatova, “but you know as well as I do that the Thak Tikh isn’t any place for a child.” Trip nodded sadly. He did know. Kanatova had brought over a woman who had promised to look after Keisha and Trip had given her up. They took the two shuttles back to the Thak Tikh and it was back to business as usual. Except of course Trip now had another two deaths on his conscience. Like everything else, if he didn’t think about it, it eventually became another numb part of himself. ****End of Chapter Eight**** In the generator room on Water’s Edge Kanatova looked at Trip. “You saved that little girl’s life,” said Kanatova. “If she’d been left behind, they would have killed her, or she would have died when the Loyalists attacked.” “Don’t try to persuade me that we did a good thing, Anna, because nothing about that mission was good,” said Trip. “New Copenhagen was a bad one,” said Kanatova. “Why am I still having bad dreams about it ten years later?” asked Trip, in despair. “Trip, a ten year old girl was killed in front of you and the svinoi made her sister watch,” said Kanatova. “Yeah but there was something else as well,” said Trip. “She reminded me of Lizzie when she was that age. The long blonde hair and blue eyes, I kept seeing Lizzie in her place. Eventually it was as if I couldn’t see anything else. Then when Lizzie was killed in the Xindi attack, Kaira kept swapping places with her in my dreams. My two worst nightmares decided to move in together.” “Sounds like you’ve had it tough,” said Kanatova. “You went back on the sleeping pills?” “For a bit,” said Trip, “but Phlox wasn’t too keen on me taking them for an extended period of time so I ended up trying Vulcan neuropressure.” Kanatova raised an eyebrow. “Don’t knock it, it worked. Slept like a baby after every session,” said Trip. “Well except the one where I fell asleep in the middle.” “The reason I asked about your sleep was because you’re not the only one getting bad dreams,” said Kanatova. “Have you been dreaming about Karavia?” “Yeah, last night,” said Trip. “How did you know?” “I have been too. Your birthday party and then the mission. We’re not the only ones either, Rush, Fenner and Hathaway both came to see me about insomnia today,” said Kanatova. “When I asked them what they’d been dreaming about they all said the same.” “What does that mean?” asked Trip. “It can’t just be a coincidence that we’re dreaming about the same things.” “I don’t know,” said Kanatova. “We all went through the same experiences, it could be that something about our current situation is triggering our memories and that’s feeding our dreams.” “So it could be coincidence?” asked Trip. “Maybe, but perhaps we should start looking at that mission to Karavia,” said Kanatova. **** Hoshi knocked on the door of the Captain’s Ready Room. She entered and saw Archer hard at work examining some files that Lieutenant Reed had given him. “I brought you the communications log, sir,” said Hoshi. “There’s not much here, just a couple of conversations between Trip and Major Hathaway. They don’t give much away.” “Thanks, Hoshi,” said Archer, accepting the padd that Hoshi gave him. He hadn’t expected Trip to give anything away that might be confidential he was too smart and well trained for that. “Captain, I wanted to talk to you. What is it Malcolm would say in a situation like this? Permission to speak freely?” asked Hoshi. Archer was caught slightly off guard, it was unusual for Hoshi to want to talk to him like this. “Go ahead, Hoshi.” “Are we sure that we’re doing the right thing, going after Trip like this?” asked Hoshi. “I mean he did have a point when he said he was placing us all in danger by being on board. Wouldn’t we be better just letting the MACOs handle this in their own way? If Trip’s anything to go by, then they seem to have a pretty comprehensive plan.” “For starters we don’t know what they’re up against. They could be placing themselves in danger and no matter what Trip says, I won’t stand by while people attack my officers. Secondly, whoever these people are, they’ve already murdered over a hundred people on Earth, we need to find them before they kill again. You’re also forgetting the fact that Trip broke a number of regulations when he left Enterprise and he has to answer for that. And now we have a lead on a stolen ship, the NX-Theta. I’ve got more than enough reasons to pursue this,” said Archer. “Yes, sir, but at the moment we’re looking for Trip, not the people who blew up the Mars shuttle or killed Arroya and Didier. I suppose I know that when we catch up with him, he’s going to be in a lot of trouble and I just wish there was some other way,” said Hoshi. “Unfortunately it looks as if it’s Trip who’ll lead us to the bad guys,” said Archer. “You know the rules as well as I do, Hoshi, and Trip knew them too. He understood the consequences of what he did and he will just have to accept the penalties when we find him. I don’t want to drag him back here for a court-martial either, but I don’t have any other options. It’s better to bring him back safe to face a court-martial, than to let him get himself killed.” “But you haven’t called Admiral Forrest yet to tell him,” said Hoshi. “I know. I’m putting it off,” said Archer. “I’m hoping that something will come out of this that I can use to help Trip’s case. So far I’m drawing a blank.” “Anything I can do to help?” asked Hoshi. “Not at the moment,” said Archer, “but I’ll let you know if I need you.” **** Kanatova and Trip made their way up to the War Room. As they came down the corridor, they could hear Hathaway, Fenner and Rush talking about the various missions that they’d been on while they went through the mission files. “There’s no shortage of candidates,” said Fenner. “We sure pissed off a lot of people over the years.” “What about the Kellarins? They didn’t like Trip very much,” said Rush. “We need someone that wants us all dead, not just Trip,” said Hathaway. “Yeah, there’s plenty of them out there,” said Trip. He wondered if he could now add Jonathan Archer to that list. “Hey, buddy,” said Rush, enthusiastically, “how are the repairs going?” “Slowly, but I should have all the major stuff done by tomorrow,” said Trip. “So what are you two doing up here?” asked Hathaway. “We wanted to talk to you about your insomnia,” said Kanatova. “Kanatova, we’re a bit busy here,” said Hathaway. “Can’t it wait?” “I think it might be what we’re looking for,” said Trip. “All five of us have had dreams or memories of our mission to Karavia over the last week or so. What do you three remember about Karavia?” “Not much,” said Hathaway. “I remember your birthday party on the way there.” “Man, you should have seen your face when that drinks dispenser gave you beer instead of coffee…” said Rush, laughing at the memory. “It was priceless. That was a damn good party,” added Fenner, laughing along with Rush. Hathaway gave them both a look which silenced them. “And after the party?” asked Trip. “Not much, I guess,” said Rush. “Yeah, I remember getting the shuttle ready to leave but I don’t remember much else,” said Fenner. “I suppose it was just a routine mission or we’d remember more about it,” said Hathaway. “That’s just it,” said Trip. “I don’t remember anything about it either. I remember my party and then I’ve got bits of memory from the surface of Karavia, running through streets with the rest of the Unit, but that’s it. I don’t remember why we were there, how we got there or how we got back.” “It was ten years ago,” said Hathaway, “I certainly don’t remember every single mission we went on in detail.” “Call up the file,” said Trip. “Okay, we know it was after your birthday, so that gives us a good date range,” said Hathway. Carter and Darwin came into the War Room at that point. They were engrossed in weapons specifications, but when they noticed that the rest of the team was gathered around Hathaway, they stopped in their tracks. “What’s up, Major?” asked the Colonel. “We think we might have a lead,” said Hathaway. “What do you remember about Karavia?” asked Trip. “Erm, small planet in the Varga system I think, we went there for a mission at some point,” said Darwin. “What do you remember about Kellaris?” asked Trip. Darwin looked at Trip. “A lot of things that I’d rather forget,” said Darwin. “But you remember the mission?” said Trip. “Of course, but there were a lot of missions,” said Darwin. “Yeah but why don’t any of us remember that one?” asked Trip. “Passage of time?” asked Carter. “All of us?” asked Trip. “It doesn’t make sense.” “I can’t find the mission file,” said Hathaway. “There’s a gap in the time line as well. We finished our mission on Rigel VII and then there should be a file on Karavia but there isn’t, the next file is Nausicaan Raider outpost at Jovus. The Karavia file has been deleted.” “Those files are classified,” said Carter. “Only a very few people have access to them. Top brass at MACO HQ and the members of Special Projects.” “Whose delete code is it?” asked Trip. Every file had a log of who had modified it previously and there should be a delete code attached to a defunct file. “It’s the Colonel’s command code,” said Hathaway. “Could something have been that secret that we had to keep it from ourselves?” asked Kanatova. “I don’t remember deleting it,” said Darwin. “What if someone broke into that file and deleted it?” asked Hathaway. “That explains why I don’t remember deleting the file, but it doesn’t explain why none of us remember what happened on Karavia,” said Darwin. “What if the file wasn’t the only thing that was deleted,” said Kanatova. “What are you saying? That someone deleted our memories of Karavia?” said Hathaway. “We might delete a file to hide it, but I wouldn’t know where to begin with wiping memories of an event.” “It’s more likely than we suddenly all got a case of amnesia,” said Trip. “Kanatova, I want you to take scans of everyone and see what you can find out,” said Darwin. “Yes, sir,” said Kanatova. “Hathaway, I want you to take a good look at that deleted file and see if you can get any of it back,” said Darwin. “Rob, I’m not a computer expert, I don’t know how much use I’ll be,” said Hathaway. “Do your best,” said Darwin. “Carter, did you get anywhere with analysing the data from the attacks.” “The data is patchy but I’ve been able to put together a fair bit of information, and I think I have something interesting,” said Carter. “This is the telemetry from the sensors in Bluebird II and the NX-Theta.” Carter put up the telemetry on the screen with a small video playing in the corner of the screen that showed what the black fighters were doing in relation to the readings. “There,” said Carter and he froze the image. “It’s too precise and too fast. No human pilot could do that. Fenner, you told me that they seemed too good to be true?” “Yeah, they matched me move for move. Everyone makes mistakes, even me, but not these guys. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Fenner. “Then there’s the report on Arroya’s death,” said Carter. “She landed on the ground about five feet from where she should have done if she’d been pushed.” “Yeah, I’ve read the report. Enterprise’s Armoury Officer thought it meant she was attacked by an alien. Someone stronger than a human,” said Trip. “It’s a possibility but I don’t think it’s the right conclusion to draw from this,” said Carter. “Kanatova’s encounter makes me think that we’re dealing with something else. You said you fired four times and it didn’t harm them?” “That’s correct. But they looked human to me,” said Kanatova. Carter nodded. “I also looked at the NX-Theta’s sensor data of the accretion disk. Even when Trip and Fenner were dodging the fighters, the NX-Theta only detected two life signs, from Bluebird II. I don’t think we’re up against humans or aliens, I think they’re robots, androids.” “Androids?” asked Darwin. “It would make sense,” said Fenner. “A machine could pull tight turns at high speed without any mistakes.” “And would be strong enough to throw Arroya out of a window,” said Hathaway. “And could take five direct phaser hits and keep walking,” added Kanatova. “Hold on a minute there,” said Trip, “what you’re talking about isn’t even possible. The technology just isn’t there. Even the Vulcans don’t have the knowledge to do that, and I don’t think we’ve come across anyone who has.” “What about the Builders? They have the level of technology,” said Darwin. “Not their style,” said Trip. “If they wanted to kill us then they wouldn’t send out a bunch of robotic hit men. You saw what Antonia could do.” “And why would they want to?” asked Hathaway. “We didn’t do anything to harm them.” “Apart from try to steal their technology,” said Trip, wryly. “There are a lot of other people out there that we stole technology from,” said Fenner. “Okay, not the Builders,” said Darwin. “Then who?” asked Hathaway. “Klingons, Andorians, Kellarins, Nausicaans, Builders, Faranoans, Tellarites, Karavians, Rigellians,” said Trip, counting them off on his fingers, “we’ve met so many alien species that I’ve lost count.” “What about the Nausicaans? We destroyed a lot of their raiding outposts,” said Rush. “Oh please,” said Fenner, “those pirates wouldn’t even know where to begin. And why would they leave it more than ten years to come after us?” “You know maybe that’s the key to all of this,” said Trip. “There has to be a reason why they’re coming after us now.” “Maybe it’s just open season on MACOs,” said Rush. “Trip’s right, there has to be a reason why they waited this long,” said Darwin. “None of this fits together,” said Hathaway. “We have three dead people, missing mission files, missing memories, and no idea who’s after us.” “We need to know what happened on Karavia,” said Carter. “Yeah, but how, we don’t have the file and none of us remember,” said Fenner. “There may be a way,” said Kanatova. “It is not a technique that I usually recommend but perhaps in this situation it is the only way.” “At the moment, Doctor, I’m open to any ideas that you have,” said Darwin. “My theory is that our memories have somehow been blocked. The unconscious mind may be able to gain access to those memories where the conscious mind can’t,” said Kanatova. “That’s why we have been having dreams and remembering incidents when something else triggers them.” “That’s not something that we can tap into, though,” said Hathaway. “How do you get access to the unconscious mind?” “Hypnotism,” said Kanatova. “I need a volunteer.” T’Pol was in the Command Centre working on the sensor data with two of her Science team, when Captain Archer came to find her. “Have you found anything?” asked Archer. They had been orbiting the brown dwarf now for some time and he knew that the longer they waited the colder the trail was likely to grow. “I believe that we may have an algorithm that can discern any patterns in the background radiation of this system and therefore detect a possibly hidden warp signature. However the programme will take some time to run,” said T’Pol. It had taken T’Pol considerably longer than expected to put together the equations and simulation that she needed. After realising that she had taken on too much work for one Vulcan alone to cope with, she enlisted the help of Ensign O’Connell and Ensign Lauritsen. O’Connell specialised in radio astronomy so was a logical choice, and Lauritsen was an outstanding mathematician and computer programmer. She had reflected that if Commander Tucker had been available to help her then she might not have needed to ask for either of the two Ensigns’ help. The irony of this was not lost on her. She had been particularly pleased with the Ensigns’ work on this, they had both worked long hours to get it done. The two young women had earned their place on the Science team easily today. Both Ensigns were part of the new batch of recruits that were brought on board at Jupiter station after their return to Earth. T’Pol had appointed all the replacements needed for the Science team herself, going through tens of service records to find the right people to fill the vacant positions. She had yet to get to know all of her new team on a personal level however. Whereas she knew Commander Tucker would have been able to tell her for all of his new Engineering crew their first names and what month they had their birthdays in. She sighed mentally. He’d only been gone a few days and she was already noticing his absence. She hadn’t realised how often she consulted him on such little things as crew interaction or how much she enjoyed their conversations. Not only that, she was now experiencing an emotion that she was finding hard to control, which she thought might be concern for the Commander’s safety. Considering he had stunned her with a phase pistol she certainly had not expected to be worried about him. Anger, she could have understood. Betrayal, almost certainly would have been logical, but this was completely inexplicable. Her emotional control was still difficult at times of stress, although she had increased her meditation time in order to compensate. What threw her most was how illogical emotions were and how unexpected they could be, especially in their strength of feeling. Archer’s voice jerked her from her thoughts. “How long before you have something for us to go on?” “Finding order in chaos is not an easy task,” said T’Pol. “It will be several hours.” Archer nodded. “Do you need anymore no help?” “No sir, Ensigns O’Connell and Lauritsen will be sufficient. They have been of great assistance,” said T’Pol, she caught Lauritsen and O’Connell exchange a smile. “Find him, T’Pol. Just find him,” said Archer and left them to their work. **** Rather than one of them volunteering they had drawn straws to see who should be the one to be hypnotised. Trip’s luck had been on top form again and he’d ended up being the “volunteer”. Kanatova, Darwin and Trip had decamped to the station’s sick bay while the other MACOs finished up the repair work and tried to see if they could recover the deleted mission file. “So how’s this going to work then?” asked Trip, sitting on a biobed, “you going to wave a watch in front of me?” “You’ve been watching too many movies I think,” said Kanatova. “This is not Hollywood. Clinical hypnosis is a recognised psychiatric tool for recovering repressed memories. I’m just going to get you to relax and help you focus your mind on the memories we want to retrieve.” “I sure hope you know what you’re doing,” said Trip. “Don’t worry, Trip, I’ll be monitoring you through out the whole process,” said Kanatova. “You don’t have to do this, Trip,” said Darwin. “I won’t think any less of you if you’d rather back out.” “No, I’ll be fine. I guess I’m just a little nervous. No one’s ever hypnotised me before,” said Trip. “Am I going to remember what happens?” “It varies from patient to patient,” said Kanatova, “some remember and hear every word, others experience a sort of amnesia of the whole session. Lie down and try to relax. Colonel, please turn down the lights a bit.” Kanatova took Trip through some relaxation exercises and he didn’t even notice when he began to drift. He could still hear the calming thread of Kanatova’s voice as she spoke softly but now it seemed to be coming from further and further away. Finally it was as if he was listening to her talk to someone else in a room down the corridor. “I want you to imagine a beach for me. It’s calm, safe and quiet there. If something gets too much for you I want you to go back there,” said Kanatova. “Just think about lying on the beach with the sun on your face listening to the waves.” “Okay,” said Trip quietly. “Where are you?” asked Kanatova. “On the beach,” replied Trip. “It’s kinda nice here.” “Good, now, Trip, tell me about what happened the day after your birthday party,” said Kanatova. “We were on our way to Karavia.” “Major Darwin called everyone together for a briefing. We knew we were going to Karavia but we hadn’t been told why yet. The Major had been on subspace most of the morning getting the details of the mission,” said Trip. Darwin had stood in his usual place at the head of the table in the briefing room of the Thak Tikh. The members of the unit had gathered around the table, Hathaway to the right of the Major as was traditional. “As you all know, we’re on our way to a planet called Karavia in the Varga system. I’ve got intelligence from Earth that they have a weapons programme that we might like to take a look at. We don’t have a specific target this time, we’re just after anything that we can find that might be helpful to the guys back home,” said Darwin. “Standard smash and grab?” asked Rush. “Grab, but no smash,” said Darwin, “this needs to be done quietly. Dempsey, you’ve got the intelligence on Karavia, tell us about the situation there.” “Yes, sir,” replied Dempsey. “Karavia is a heavily industrialised planet that has a cold war going on with the neighbouring system, Jarna. Which is the reason Karavia has an extensive weapons research programme that is run by the planet’s government. The government itself is a totalitarian regime. The people have been under martial law for over fifty years now and there is some resentment of this. The political situation is definitely what you might call charged. There is an overall fear of the Secret Police, which is one reason why the Karavians haven’t risen up against their government. The Secret Police are ruthless in stamping out resistance to the government and have almost unlimited powers to do so. They have a cadre of scientists working night and day on their weapons programme. Some of the weapons are only at the ideas stage, some of them are further along than that. We’re most interested in their computer core which contains every project that they’re working on and a few that they stole from the Jarnans. In short it’s a one stop arms shop.” “What about security?” asked Arroya. “It’s tight,” said Dempsey. “We’re going to need to bypass the external security measures before we can even get into the building. Then there are guards and further electronic security systems inside.” “Which is why we’re all going,” said Darwin. “We’re not leaving anyone to mind the shop?” asked Hathaway. “Not this time, Captain. This is going to need all of us,” said Darwin. “We’ll split into two teams. Trip, Arroya, Rush, Didier, you’re with me. Everyone else is with Hathaway. You’ll cover our backs while we infiltrate the complex and get what we’ve come for. If we can avoid harming the scientists working in the complex then that’s what we’ll do but we’re here to carry out a mission. This is a big prize, boys and girls.” Kanatova’s voice intruded upon Trip’s recollection. “So the entire team went down to Karavia. What happened on Karavia, Trip?” “Fenner piloted the shuttle down to the surface,” said Trip, dreamily as he recalled. “We hid the shuttle outside the capital city. We hiked into the city, it was a couple of miles away.” “What happened then?” asked Kanatova. Trip shook his head vigorously. Kanatova watched as Trip’s pulse and heartbeat rose. “Trip, what happened when you went into the city?” asked Kanatova again. Trip shook his head again and his brow creased as if he were remembering something unpleasant. “No” he murmured quietly. “Hunters,” he said and became even more restless. His breathing quickened. “Okay, Trip, come back to the beach,” said Kanatova. “Remember it’s safe there, nothing can happen to you while you’re on the beach. The sun is shining down on you and you’re warm and calm.” Trip’s breathing slowed and his pulse and heart rate normalised again. “What did that mean?” asked Darwin. “He doesn’t want to remember or he doesn’t want to tell us, or there’s a more substantial block to those memories that he can’t get past,” said Kanatova. “At least we know what we were doing there now and we know we can unlock at least some of the memories about that mission.” “Can we try to get him to remember more?” asked Darwin. “If I’m careful and we go about this in the right way, but we may need a couple more sessions before we get to the heart of this,” said Kanatova. “If he gets too agitated by a memory he may simply refuse to talk about it or wake himself out of the trance. I think he’s had enough for one day anyway. We’ll give it another go tomorrow.” Darwin nodded. “Trip, I want you to wake up for me when I count to ten. On ten you will be completely awake,” said Kanatova. She started at one and slowly counted to ten. On ten Trip’s eyes flew open and he blinked at the lights in the sick bay, even turned down as they were. “How do you feel?” asked Kanatova. “Fine,” said Trip, slightly surprised. He had expected to feel drained or as if he’d had some sort of emotional experience but instead he just felt rested. “Do you remember what you told us?” said Darwin. “Yeah, pretty much, although it all gets a bit fuzzy towards the end,” said Trip. “You seemed to be having trouble with what went on down on the planet. If you don’t mind, I’d like to try again tomorrow and see what else we can unlock,” said Kanatova. “Sure, if it’s working then we might as well give it another go,” said Trip. “I’ll take brain scans of everyone as well,” said Kanatova. “See if I can spot any anomalies. Of course they’d have to be pretty small to have gone undetected this long.” Darwin nodded. “Get going, Kanatova. It may be all we have to go on.” “Since you’re here, Trip…” said Kanatova indicating the scanner. “I thought you might say that,” said Trip, resignedly. “Sirius Alpha is famous for its scrap yards,” said Reed. He was standing in the Captain’s ready room reporting the findings of his investigation to Archer. They had lost Darwin’s trail at Sirius Alpha so Reed had decided that there must be a reason why he had stopped there. “So he bought a ship?” asked Archer. “Not exactly. A man answering Darwin’s description bought a space station. An old Tellarite deep space outpost that was being refurbished,” said Reed. “I’d bet my right arm that was Darwin.” “I guess that’s what Trip meant when he told us that Darwin had planned for this,” said Archer. “Where is this space station?” “We know where it was,” said Reed. “But it isn’t there anymore. Darwin borrowed a tug ship and towed it somewhere.” “So we’re back to square one,” said Archer. “Not quite. I was able to get a schematic of the station and list of its weaponry. At least when we do find them we’ll know what to expect,” said Reed. “How heavily are they armed?” asked Archer. “Pretty heavily, more than Enterprise could manage alone, but if we can hit their generator then we should be able to disable the entire space station,” replied Reed. “That assumes that they fire on us,” said Archer. “I think it’s a possibility that we have to consider,” said Reed. “I know Trip’s with them but it’s obvious where his loyalties lie at the moment.” “I don’t know, Malcolm. Trip left because he was trying to protect us, I doubt he’ll want to harm us,” said Archer. “If it was only Trip that we were dealing with then I’d have to agree with you, sir, but he isn’t alone in this. Colonel Darwin wouldn’t hesitate to destroy us if he thought it was what he needed to do,” said Reed. “Yes, but we aren’t his enemy. Trip will have passed on all the information that we had about Arroya’s murderer, they know we think it’s an alien,” said Archer. “I don’t want to open fire on them if I can help it.” “Yes, sir,” said Reed. “But let’s have a plan ready just in case we have to,” added Archer. “Of course, sir,” said Reed. **** Trip’s sleep had been shallow and disrupted, he no longer had T’Pol to help him out with his lack of sleep. In the end he’d given up trying to get back to sleep and gone to the mess hall to find breakfast. The mess hall on Water’s Edge was far too big for the seven MACOs who currently occupied the space station, it was meant to cater for considerably more. It was early and none of the others were around yet, but even with all seven MACOs in the mess hall it had still felt deserted. The empty tables and chairs made Trip feel very alone and he reflected that really he was. No matter how much he wanted to forget it, Enterprise had become his home and he’d abandoned that to rejoin the MACOs, admittedly for some very good reasons but he’d still left without even saying goodbye. However, moping around wouldn’t help him, shaking his head he went into the kitchen to find what he needed. One of the first things the MACOs had done when they arrived was sort out the supply of coffee. Coffee was the life blood of a MACO unit. Trip located a mug and poured a cup of the steaming black liquid. It had been many years since he’d drunk MACO style coffee, it differed from the stuff that was usually served on Enterprise by being a much more bitter drink and was similar in consistency to engine oil. The coffee served on Enterprise wouldn’t even be worthy of the name according to a MACO. Trip had of course grown used to Enterprise’s version now, so this dark brew came as something of a shock to his system, however the caffeine hit was very welcome. There were no stewards to make breakfast for him here so he had to get his own. A cooking rota had been set up for the evening meals, but breakfast and lunch were up to the individual. They had brought supplies with them that would last several months but very little of that was fresh food since they knew it wouldn’t keep. Trip had a brief pang of homesickness for the freshly baked bread and cooked breakfast on Enterprise before reminding himself that was all in the past now. He doubted he’d ever see Enterprise again. He decided to eat on the run so that he could get to work sooner and if he kept himself busy then he wouldn’t have time to think about the situation that he was in. He grabbed some ration bars before making his way to the generator room to complete his repairs. It was early afternoon, station time, before Kanatova came to find him. He was elbow deep in circuits and wiring trying to track down an intermittent fault in the power grid. It was hard going given his lack of knowledge of the Tellarite systems, not to mention his tenuous grasp of the Tellarite language even with the help of a Universal Translator, but at least it was keeping him occupied. “Do you want some lunch?” asked Kanatova. “What you got?” asked Trip. Kanatova handed him a lunch box which he opened gratefully, he was starving. “Salad?” he asked dismayed. “We need to eat up some of the fresh fruit and vegetables that we brought with us, the stasis units won’t hold everything we brought. This station was supposed to be self sufficient. Besides it’s healthy, so don’t complain,” said Kanatova. She gave Trip a fork and he sighed, digging into the pile of leaves. He was slightly mollified when he found the packet of blue cheese dressing lurking in the bottom of the box. “So why’d you get lunch delivery detail?” asked Trip. “I’m the only one that isn’t repairing something or running systems checks,” said Kanatova. “And I know what you’re like when you’re upset. You throw yourself into your work and don’t find time to eat.” “Who said I was upset?” said Trip, indignantly. “You’ve left behind your whole life to join us here. I saw the hurt in your eyes when I asked you about why you weren’t wearing your uniform,” said Kanatova. “And I know you haven’t been sleeping, so don’t try to pretend that you’re fine when I know you’re not. I am a doctor, remember? In fact, for a while I was your doctor.” “How could I forget? Did you complete everyone’s scans?” said Trip. “I’ve got the Colonel and the Major to go, they’ve been too busy to get to sick bay. I’ll have to pull rank on them if they don’t come soon,” said Kanatova. “You’re only a Captain,” said Trip, through a mouthful of salad. “As a doctor I outrank everyone on this station when it comes to medical matters,” said Kanatova. “I’d forgotten about that,” said Trip. The Starfleet rank of Commander was the equivalent of a MACO Major, but given his probable dismissal from Starfleet, he didn’t want to use his rank at the moment. Luckily everyone had reverted to calling him Trip so he hadn’t had to worry. “Did you find anything on the scans you have taken?” “Maybe,” said Kanatova. “There is a very small area of the brain associated with memory functions that seems to be slightly unusual. It’s almost like a dead area, nothing seems to be travelling through it or out of it. It’s on all of our scans and I don’t think it can be coincidence. If Major Hathaway and the Colonel both have it as well then that’s conclusive proof.” “Why didn’t anyone ever notice it before, I’ve lost count of the number of brain scans I’ve had taken during physicals,” said Trip. “Unless you knew to look for it then you probably wouldn’t even see it. It becomes a lot more obvious when you’ve got five other scans to compare,” said Kanatova. “Unfortunately I still don’t know what it means.” “So are we going to try again this afternoon?” asked Trip. “With the hypnosis?” asked Kanatova and received a brief nod from Trip. “Yes, unless you have don’t want to.” “No, we have to get to the bottom of this and I’m the designated volunteer,” said Trip with a smile. “All the important repairs are done, I’m on to the annoying stuff now. That’s as opposed to the stuff that will kill us if it isn’t fixed.” “I am very glad to hear that we won’t be dying due to shoddy repairs,” said Kanatova. “Yeah, well next time you complain about your shower not working perhaps you’ll remember that,” said Trip. Kanatova just laughed. Trip finished his lunch and then the two of them made their way to sick bay. They commed Darwin on the way and he met them there. “How are the repairs going?” asked the Colonel. “I’m just tidying up now. Everything important has been done. Weapons are fully operational should trouble decide to come calling,” said Trip. “Good work,” said Darwin. “Now let’s see if we can get to the bottom of this.” “You know the drill,” said Kanatova, indicating the biobed. “I’m going to try to put you under deeper this time so that you’ll hopefully remember more.” Trip nodded. “Let’s just get it over with, Doc, and find out what we’re really up against here.” He sank back into Kanatova’s hypnosis. * It was night when they entered the city. Two teams in constant contact, each knowing exactly where they were supposed to be and what they were supposed to be doing. Curfew meant that there was no one else on the streets only a few patrols and probably the Secret Police. They crept around the streets hiding in dark corners as they made their way towards the weapons research complex that was their goal. With everyone inside they wouldn’t be expecting trouble. That was what they hoped. Trip was with Darwin and heard the communicator beep. They were keeping radio silence so both of them knew it had to be something serious. “I think we’ve been spotted,” said Hathaway’s voice. “Think or know?” asked Darwin, this could put paid to all their plans. “Pretty sure we’re being followed,” said Hathaway. “Not by the Secret Police either.” “Can you shake them?” asked Darwin. Arroya shuffled up to Darwin. “We’ve picked up a tail.” “Hathaway, looks like we’ve picked up some friends as well,” said Darwin. “I don’t understand we’ve been monitoring the police frequencies, we’d know if they’d found us,” said Arroya. “Someone else is playing this game of cat and mouse,” said Darwin. “Great,” said Trip. “Hathaway, keep moving, but keep an eye on your own backs as well as ours,” said Darwin. “We’ll rendezvous as planned.” “Yes, sir,” replied Hathaway. “Who are they?” asked Trip. “Uninvited company and that’s all we need to know,” said Darwin. “Maybe we should give this one up,” said Trip. “Call it a day and head on home.” “If they get in the way, we’ll deal with them,” said Darwin. “This is too important.” “Yes, sir,” replied Trip. He wondered what it was they were really after. Darwin had never kept his team in the dark before but there was always a first time. Maybe what they were here to get was too important to let the rest of the team in on. Trip wondered what could be that important that Darwin would risk the whole team when it was obvious that someone was onto them. It had seemed strange in the beginning that Darwin would want the whole team for this mission but who was he to question his Commanding officer. They were dogged by their shadow all the way to the complex. It was unsettling to say the least, moving through the pitch black streets and knowing that they were being watched. None of them liked it but they had no choice except to continue on with the mission since Darwin was refusing to back down. Arroya and Trip disabled the external security systems, the two of them working together easily as they had done many times before. As they arrived they saw Hathaway and her team taking up position ready to cover their escape. Getting in was the easy part, they’d need the extra fire power to get them out. They watched the patrolling guards, waiting until they had their patrol patterns down. Darwin gave the signal and they watched as Fenner and Dempsey did a good impression of two drunks having a good time, it distracted the guards long enough for Darwin and his men to get to the door. Arroya and Trip bypassed the security and they were inside the building in less than thirty seconds. Breaking and entering was second nature to them by now. They made their way down the corridors of the complex, disabling cameras as they went. Trip had already put together a number of small devices to attach to the cameras that would make sure they looped and didn’t record the MACO’s entry into the building. He handed these out to Arroya who did the honours with gymnastic ease, making sure that the cameras never caught her movements. They had also stopped briefly to put the motion sensors out of action, Trip had carefully re-routed the wires so that no one would know that they weren’t working. They moved in complete silence, Darwin using hand signals to let his team know when the coast was clear to move forward. Ideally they hoped to get in and out without anyone knowing that they had been there. That meant dodging the patrols rather than dealing with them as they usually would have done. It took them longer than they had planned to reach the laboratory that they were aiming for, the main computer terminal room were they could access the data that they were here for. Then they came up against an obstacle. So far all the locks they had come across had been electronic and easily circumvented with a combination of technology and knowledge of the base’s systems. On the door that they needed to get through was a heavy mechanical tumbler combination lock. “Damn, we’re not getting through this without a plasma torch,” said Trip. “Lieutenant, we need to get through that door,” said Darwin. “I’m sorry Major, but none of my gizmos are going to help us here,” said Trip. “This is mechanical.” He took his scanner out and began to examine the lock. “And the son of a bitch is damn well shielded, I can’t penetrate it with a scan deep enough to get a look at the tumblers.” “Didn’t bring my stethoscope either,” said Arroya, “maybe I can do it by listening.” Arroya pressed an ear to the door and the other MACOs held their breath while she revolved the knob on the door to see if she could hear the pins as they fell into place. She tried for a few minutes before backing up and shaking her head. “It’s too well maintained, it’s absolutely silent. How much intel do we have on the scientists working here?” “Enough,” said Darwin. “Birthdays of them and their families?” asked Arroya. “Of course,” said Trip. “If you can’t break the lock, break the person. People use stupid stuff for passwords and codes, things they can remember. Like their wife’s birthday.” “I’ll call Dempsey,” said Darwin. Within minutes they had a list of numbers to try. “This is still going to take a while,” said Arroya. “I’m going to have to try them all.” “Start with the lead scientist’s details,” said Darwin. “Yes, sir,” said Arroya. She carefully twisted the tumbler and was rewarded with a final click that indicated that the door was open. “We’re in,” she whispered with a little disbelief. Inside the room was the computer core that they had come for. Trip and Didier got to work translating and cracking the security as they went. Rush and Arroya stood guard while they worked cradling their weapons as they kept an eye out for trouble. Darwin examined the room, what they had come for wasn’t here. The weapons specifications were just an added bonus but this wasn’t why Darwin was here. Trip looked up from his work for a second and noticed his Commanding Officer. “This isn’t it, is it?” asked Trip, suddenly. “What are we really here for?” “That is classified, Lieutenant,” said Darwin. “Everything we do is classified,” replied Trip. “Major we need to know what’s going on here.” “Trip, this isn’t like anything that we’ve ever gone after before,” said Darwin. “I have my orders.” Trip sighed, shook his head and turned back to his work. That was when the door opened and the lead scientist and his assistant walked into the room, oblivious to the fact that they had just walked into the midst of a team of heavily armed MACOs. They stopped mid-conversation as they finally realised that five guns now pointed in their direction. None of the five members of Special Projects had wasted more than half a second in countering the new threat. Darwin indicated to Rush to move the scientists into the room and shut the door behind them. “Co-operate and you won’t get hurt,” said Darwin. “Of course,” replied the scientist, “we won’t get in your way. I am intrigued though. You’re not Karavians nor are you Jarnans, we have no quarrel with you.” “You’re Doctor Gliu, yes?” asked Darwin. The scientist nodded. Darwin continued, “then you should know why we’re here.” “If you have come for the computer, then I’m afraid that you’re too late,” said Gliu. “Computer?” asked Trip, looking directly at Darwin. “Your commander didn’t tell you?” asked Gliu. “How very interesting. Yet you appear to know about our other projects.” “They have a Quantum Computer here,” said Darwin. “That’s the real objective of this mission, to steal the QC and prevent Karavia from using it.” Trip was floored for a second. Earth hadn’t even come close to a Quantum Computer. There had been a few experiments that looked promising but nothing had ever come to fruition or got past the most basic of systems. “You really have a QC?” asked Trip. “One that actually works?” “Yes,” said Gliu. “We have tested it extensively and it does work.” “What’s a Quantum Computer?” asked Arroya. “It’s kind of the Holy Grail of Computer Science,” said Trip. “It’s something which falls out of Quantum theory. Quantum theory states that every time we observe a quantum particle we are collapsing wave forms, before we observe that particle, it exists in-between states. A Quantum Computer contains all the answers to everything, when you ask the computer a question, it collapses the wave forms to provide the answer. Of course you have to ask it the right questions. It could be a really powerful tool or a great weapon, depending on who gets their hands on it first. One of the classic uses for a QC would be code breaking, a Quantum Computer could break any code almost instantaneously. Kind of handy for listening in to your enemies. Or it could be used to model complex situations and spit out answers in seconds. Pretty useful for planning battle tactics. How did you get past the decoherence problem?” “Trip, we don’t have time for you to play twenty questions,” said Darwin. He knew what Trip was like when it came to technology, if he couldn’t work out how it ticked then he had to pull it apart and find out. “Where is the Quantum Computer?” “I told you, you’re too late,” said Gliu. “We destroyed the Quantum Computer.” “I don’t believe you,” said Darwin. “That is your prerogative. I couldn’t allow my government to use it in their war. It’s too powerful a force for one government to possess. Unfortunately the Hunters had already detected its presence,” said Gliu. “Who are the Hunters?” asked Trip. “We don’t know,” said Gliu. “All we know is that there were five laboratories working with Quantum Computers on Jarna, the Hunters came and destroyed the Quantum Computers, killed the Scientists who had been working with them and destroyed all the records. Jarna now refuses to do any further research in Quantum Computers. There are rumours, theories, that the Hunters are not from this area of space. The Jarnan reports on their activity talk about their unusual strength and ability to track.” “And they’re coming here?” asked Darwin. “We have reports of their presence on Karavia, we can only guess why they are here,” said Gliu. “If you knew about the Hunters destroying the other computers why did you build one?” asked Trip. “We had hoped that if we conducted our research in secret they would not come, it seems that we were mistaken,” said Gliu. “Somehow it seems that they are able to detect the presence of a Quantum Computer.” “What about your research?” asked Trip, “you must still have your notes.” “We have the plans for the computer but I had planned to destroy those as well rather than let my government build another,” said Gliu. “It seems that the Hunters will do that for me in any case.” “They’ll also kill you,” said Trip. “Why should the Hunters destroy everything that you’ve worked for? Let us take you and the data off planet for you.” “I couldn’t do that, it would be extremely dangerous for you,” said Gliu. “The Hunters would know what you were carrying. I don’t want to destroy my work, I would rather see it used by some civilisation for their benefit but there is no way to get the information off Karavia safely.” “Sir, actually there may be a way,” said Gliu’s assistant who had, up until now, been silent. “What do you have in mind, Karod?” asked Gliu. “Trian’s project,” said Assistant Karod. “It’s not perfected but maybe we could hide the information so that it wouldn’t be found by the Hunters.” Gliu nodded. “Of course, a good idea Karod, but not without risks itself. The next question is would we have sufficient repositories for the data. How many men do you have with you?” “That is not the kind of information that we give out to anyone,” said Darwin. “In order for this to work we will need more than five of you,” said Gliu. “There are more of us. What exactly is it that you have in mind?” asked Darwin. “To download the data directly into your brains,” said Gliu. “We will have to split the data between you, it would be too big for one person to carry it all, and we need to build in some redundancy. If you give us safe passage off this planet for myself and Karod, and a copy of the information once we have left Karavia, we will give you the data and a means to get it off the planet.” “If you give us the information, then you have a deal,” said Darwin. Suddenly the room shook. Darwin’s communicator beeped and he answered it. “Major, this is Hathaway. This cold war just turned hot. The Jarnans are attacking the capital,” said Hathaway. “We need to leave now.” **** Trip awoke with a start, his eyes snapping open. There was no feeling of wellbeing this time, just a horrible sense of foreboding. “Damn. We’re being hunted,” said Trip. Then he realised that the Red Alert was sounding. Darwin had already moved to the com to find out what was going on. “Colonel, we’ve just detected a ship approaching,” said Hathaway. “It’s only on long range sensors at the moment but it’s coming in fast.” “Just one?” asked Darwin. “So far,” said Hathaway. “The Hunters have always attacked in threes. Enterprise?” asked Trip, sitting up on the biobed. “Maybe,” said Darwin, “I really hope not,” and turned back to the com, “I’m on my way, Captain. See if you can get an ID on it.” He turned back to Kanatova and Trip. “I want you two to carry on. We need to know the whole story of what happened on Karavia. I don’t like the idea that I’m carrying around information in my brain and we don’t know why the Hunters want it or how to get it out again.” “The Hunters don’t want it,” said Trip, “they just want to make sure that no one else has it.” “Which leads to a whole new set of questions,” said Darwin. “Let me know what you find out.” “Yes, sir,” replied Kanatova and Trip. He settled back on the biobed and waited for Kanatova to put him back to sleep. Maybe this waking nightmare would have some answers in his sleep. **** “We’re not leaving until we’ve got what we came for,” replied Darwin to Hathaway’s suggestion that they should leave before they got caught up in the Jarnan’s attack. “I want you and your team to join us inside the complex. We’re going to need all of us for this.” A few minutes later Hathaway and her team had joined them in the lab. Darwin had given a hurried explanation of what was going on. “Rob, this is crazy. There has to be another way,” said Hathaway. The two officers were talking softly off to one side of the room but Trip was close enough to hear what was being said. He had noticed that Hathaway hadn’t been surprised at the mention of the Quantum Computer so he guessed that she’d been in on that part of the mission. “We have no idea whether this will even work. How do we know it’s safe or what it will do to us?” The room shook again as the Jarnan attack neared their position. “Ellie, we don’t have any other options and we’re running out of time,” said Darwin. “This is the only way to complete the mission.” “Screw the mission,” said Hathaway. “The data that Didier and Trip downloaded should be plenty to satisfy the boys at R and D. This is becoming a very dangerous situation, we could all end up getting killed for this damned computer.” “We can do this Ellie, it’s just going to be a bit more complicated than we originally thought. I’ve made my decision, we’re completing this mission,” said Darwin. “One of these days, Rob, you’re going to push things too far and I seriously hope that I’m not around to see it. This unit may be the best there is but even we’re only human,” said Hathaway. “There will always be bad situations, Captain,” said Darwin. “In our line of work, we can’t avoid that.” “Yes, but what we do is all about managing risk, not increasing it,” said Hathaway. “The sooner we get started the less time we have to spend on this godforsaken planet. The longer we talk about this the more risk we’re in,” said Darwin. “Fine, you’re obviously not going to listen to me. Let’s get this over with and get out of here,” said Hathaway. They could now hear the almost constant sound of explosions from the attack. The lights flickered, plunging everyone into darkness for a moment before they returned to brightness. Darwin knew that time was getting short if they were going to complete their mission. Darwin turned to Gliu. “How do we do this?” he asked. “It’s a simple, painless, procedure. The apparatus is in the lab next door,” said Gliu. “How long will it take?” asked Darwin. “It’s a concentrated data burst. It should take less than a minute for each of you,” said Gliu. “How do we get it out again?” asked Hathaway. “With the weapons data that you downloaded from our computer core there’s also the specification of the memory download and retrieval system,” said Karod. “Just how well tested is this system?” asked Kanatova. “We’ve tested it extensively, both Karod and Trian have tried it themselves,” said Gliu. “But you’re not human,” said Kanatova. “Major, this may not be a good idea.” “From what I’ve been able to ascertain about your biology, there shouldn’t be any problems,” said Gliu. “I’ll go first,” said Darwin. “Major, I really can’t guarantee that this is safe,” said Kanatova. “Even if it doesn’t damage our brains immediately there could be long term damage.” “All we need to do is get the information off the planet. We’ll retrieve it once we’re away from here,” said Darwin. “This is the only way. If it doesn’t work or anything happens to me then get yourselves out of here and back to the Thak Tikh. We all have to agree to this or it won’t work. I’m not going to order you to do this, but the mission is at stake here.” “I may not agree exactly with your methods but we’re a team, we’ll do it,” said Hathaway. The others nodded their assent. Kanatova hesitated but also agreed. “Very well,” said Gliu and led them through to the lab next door. The apparatus looked simple enough. It consisted of a chair with a headset containing electrodes which were hooked up to a computer. Darwin sat himself down in the chair and Gliu slipped the headset onto him. The scientist set up the computer and flicked a few switches. The Special Projects Unit stood around waiting to see what would happen. “It’s done,” said Gliu, after less than a minute had passed. “That was it?” asked Darwin slightly surprised. Nothing felt different. Kanatova took out her scanner and moved it over Darwin. “How do you feel?” asked the Medic. “Fine,” said Darwin. “I told you, it’s perfectly safe,” said Gliu. “I can’t find anything wrong,” said Kanatova. “I guess the rest of us better take our turn then,” said Trip, stepping up to take Darwin’s place. One by one the MACOs were hooked up to the machine and the information was transferred to them. When all the MACOs had gone through the procedure with no ill effects they got ready to leave. “Don’t worry, Doctors, we do this sort of thing all the time. We’ll get you out of this,” said Arroya to the nervous looking scientists. “Let’s just hope that we can get ourselves out at the same time,” muttered Rush. The MACOs moved down the corridor not caring now if they were seen. They took out several guards as they made their exit, protecting Gliu and Karod. The pitch black of night was lit by the dirty orange glow of burning fires in destroyed buildings, ruined in the Jarnan attack. Stood in front of their escape route, silhouetted against the flames were twelve men, dressed in black. They had no visible weapons but Darwin certainly wasn’t going to give them the benefit of the doubt when it came to hidden weapons. “Hand over the scientists and the information, we will let you leave unharmed,” said one of the men in perfect, unaccented Karavian dialect. Didier translated for the Major. He’d been up most of the previous night learning the Karavian language but this was the first time he’d been called upon to speak it. The scientists had some sort of translator which had meant his linguistic abilities weren’t required except for decrypting and reading the computer files. “Why don’t you come and get them,” said Darwin. His phase rifle was pointed right at the man who had spoken. They didn’t wait to be asked twice but began to advance on the MACOs’ position. Darwin gave the signal to fire and the men advancing upon them found themselves knocked backwards from the force of the phaser fire. However, it didn’t stop them. The men kept coming for them, except now they had their hands raised and they were emitting small white lights which exploded on impact with an object. The MACOs ran for cover, dragging Gliu and Karod with them. “Goddamn but they’re tough,” said Trip. “I’d noticed,” replied Darwin, dryly. “Any ideas, people?” “We could try concentrating all our fire on one individual,” suggested Carter. “I’ve got some C4 that I could throw in their direction,” added Rush with a slight quirk of his lips. “Last resort, Rush,” said Darwin. “Everyone concentrate your fire on the leader.” The ten members of the Special Projects Unit fired their weapons simultaneously on full power and watched as the man kept on walking. “Damn, these things just won’t die,” said Fenner, after Darwin had given the order to cease fire. This was futile and just using up their energy packs. “New plan,” said Darwin. “Let’s get the hell out of here. Split up into pairs, usual buddies. Everyone take a different route, we’ll meet back at the shuttles. Gliu, you’re with me and Fenner. Hathaway, take Karod with you and Trip. Rush I want you to rig this place to blow, even if it only slows them down at least it will have bought us enough time to get into the city streets and lose ourselves.” Rush rapidly rigged the explosives and added a small trigger that he could activate remotely. Then the MACOs took off in different directions, melting into the dark city streets as Rush detonated his explosives. “I get the impression that you really enjoyed that,” accused Arroya as her and Rush ran through the streets, Trip, Hathaway and Karod running beside them until they could head off in a direction of their own. “There’s beauty in destruction,” replied the explosives expert. “I’d be happier if it had actually taken more than two of them out of the game though,” he said looking over his shoulder at the figure that was unmistakably following them at leisurely run. “Damn,” said Trip, as he too looked back and saw more Hunters behind the first, it looked as if five of them had followed this particular group of fleeing MACOs. They came to another street that branched off and Trip, Hathaway and Karod peeled off. The scientist was breathing heavily, obviously unused to the physical exertion that they were currently engaged in. “We can’t keep this up,” said Trip to Hathaway. “He’s not going to make it.” “I know,” said Hathaway. “But I don’t want to take my chances with them back there either.” Trip knew that there had to be a way to dent their enemy but he couldn’t think straight while they were running for their lives. “I think the C4 got a couple, so they can be hurt,” said Trip out loud. “Maybe we’re thinking too high tech here. Karod, do your military use projectile weapons?” “Some, they’ve been moving towards energy weapons like your phase rifles,” said Karod. “There’s a barracks near here, they might have some projectile weapons there.” Three of the Hunters continued to follow them. Trip guessed that there was one Hunter for each fugitive and every pair would have two Hunters following them, unless they had been lucky and their Hunters had been destroyed in the explosion. They made it to the barracks which were thankfully deserted although they had been damaged extensively in the Jarnan attack. They moved quickly through the ruins trying to find the weapons store room. Their searching was rewarded a little later with a stash of shotguns and machineguns. Trip picked up a couple of each hanging them over his shoulder and then grabbed a couple of boxes of ammo for both types of weapon. “I think we should make a stand here,” said Hathaway. “If this doesn’t work we’ll just have to try and escape out the back.” She had also armed herself, except had managed to find herself something which looked very like a rocket launcher. “It’s as good a place as any to try this,” said Trip. They moved back to the front of the barracks, positioning themselves behind a low wall that encircled the front lawn. The three men running towards them were almost in range of their weapons. The waiting was agony. Finally Trip was able to let lose a volley of bullets from the machine gun. It slowed their attackers who let lose their own volley of white stars that impacted on the wall of the building behind them as Hathaway and Trip threw themselves to the ground. “I think this needs a woman’s touch,” said Hathaway to Trip as she loaded the rocket launcher. She pressed the trigger after carefully lining up the sights on her target. The result was spectacular. The man approaching them disintegrated into hundred of pieces in an explosion of blossoming flame. They had expected charred flesh however what they got was metal and plastic scattered across the road. “It’s a robot!” said Trip with disbelief. Hathaway took down a second Hunter in exactly the same manner. “Where’d the other one go?” asked Hathaway. “I have a really bad feeling about this. And where’s Karod?” said Trip. He didn’t want to shout out for the scientist and alert their enemy to their position but he was very worried. Then he heard and ominous sound, of someone trying to catch their breath, a choking, coughing, gurgling sound. He turned around to see the other Hunter lifting Karod up off the ground by his neck. The Hunter was squeezing the life out of the scientist. “Put him down!” shouted Trip, pointing his weapon at the Hunter. The Hunter said something in Karavian that Trip didn’t understand and snapped the neck of his prisoner with little more than a flick of his fingers. Karod dropped limply to the ground, obviously dead. Trip and Hathaway simultaneously opened fire and the Hunter eventually fell to the ground, cut in half by the rain of bullets. They had both had to reload in order to kill the machine that lay ruined on the ground in front of them. Trip drew in a shuddering breath, this had been too close for his liking. Hathaway pulled out her communicator and relayed what they had discovered to the other teams. Arroya and Rush had managed to dispense with their pursuers by dropping a building on them, using some well placed explosives. Carter and Kanatova had persuaded their attackers to play catch with a grenade. That was nine down so far out of the original twelve, including the two caught in Rush’s opening explosion back at the weapons research complex. Didier and Dempsey had managed to get away without being chased, which left three tailing Darwin, Fenner and Gliu. “Major, what is your position?” asked Hathaway, into her communicator. There was no answer. “Did any of you see which direction the Major and Fenner went?” “They took the direct route,” said Dempsey, his voice crackling over the communicator. “Everyone get back to the shuttles,” said Hathaway. “Trip and I will see if we can give the Major a hand.” It was then that three sleek, arrow shaped, black ships flew over their heads. “They’re not Jarnan,” said Trip. “No they’re not,” said Hathaway, her voice thoughtful. “Must be the Hunters’ ships.” “Have you noticed the way they seem to hang around in threes?” asked Trip as they began to move towards Major Darwin’s last known position. “Three ships and there were twelve Hunters.” “It could be coincidence,” said Hathaway as they broke into a run. “Or it could be design,” said Trip. “Coincidence sometimes just means there’s intelligence behind it.” Trip and Hathaway arrived at Darwin’s position just in time to see Gliu thrown against the wall by one of the Hunters. There was a sickening crack as the scientist hit the wall and then fell to the ground. Trip and Hathaway dealt with the remaining Hunters but the damage had already been done. Darwin ran to Gliu’s side but it was obvious that he was dying. “Listen to me,” said Gliu. “No one can know that you possess this information or the Hunters will come again. You have to tell your superiors that the mission was a failure or they will suffer the same fate as we have. Just remember that one day the Hunters will come looking for you. I’ve left you a reminder of that, but don’t forget it.” The Special Projects Unit made their way back to the shuttlecraft, moving through dark streets, constantly expecting to be followed by the Hunters. Outside the city, Trip looked back to the towers silhouetted against the glow of the fires. He saw three black ships scream across the sky, bombing the city as they went. The MACOs ducked automatically as the city exploded into flame, the force of the blast knocked them to ground. “What the hell?” asked Trip “The Hunters destroyed the city,” said Arroya. “I don’t understand,” said Trip, “they killed the scientists and destroyed the computer, why did they need to destroy the city?” “To get rid of any loose ends,” said Hathaway. “Let’s get out of here,” said Darwin, who was the first to recover his feet. They flew back to the Thak Tikh. Darwin contacted Earth and lied to them about what they had found. As far as Earth knew, the mission had been unsuccessful. Then he deleted every reference he could find to the Karavia mission in the files, and arranged for the same to happen back on Earth. In short the only people who ever knew that Special Projects had been to Karavia were the people who had actually been there. They broke orbit immediately not wanted to risk meeting up with the black ships that they’d seen flying over the city. They were on their way to their next mission. Everyone went to sleep that night, they all dreamt the same dream of dark twisting streets and men in black chasing them through those black streets. In the morning they awoke to a new day and had no memory of Karavia. Although none of them knew it yet, the night’s sleep had wiped their memories of all the events on the planet. **** Waking up wasn’t any easier this time than it had been before. In fact it may even have been worse because he’d just realised what they were up against. “Carter was right, we’re being hunted by robots,” said Trip. “Yes, and we still have no idea who sent them or why,” said Kanatova. “Let’s get to the War Room, we need to let the Colonel know what we’re up against,” said Trip. “And I have a few questions for him.” They made their way through the empty corridors of the station and up to the War Room. The MACOs were grouped around the scanner looking at the approaching contact. “What else did you find out?” asked Darwin. Trip filled the MACOs in on the rest of the story. “What I want to know is how long have you known?” said Trip, angrily looking at Darwin. “I don’t remember any of this either. What I did remember was that we needed a sanctuary because someone was going to come after us one day. I didn’t know why I was so sure that we’d need it, I just knew we had to have somewhere,” said Darwin. “It was after Karavia that you added Red Rain Alpha to the code list. You have to have remembered something,” said Trip. “No, I didn’t know any more about what happened down on Karavia than you did, until today. I think we can guess that Gliu was aware that our memories would be wiped but he protected us by sending me a message to plan for trouble. I just assumed it was my natural paranoia,” said Darwin. “And because we know you, none of us guessed that you were being influenced by someone,” said Trip. “But what else did he put in our heads?” asked Hathaway. “We could be carrying anything.” “I don’t think he was being malicious,” said Trip. “It didn’t feel like that. He just wanted to save himself and get his research away from people who wanted to destroy it.” “So maybe he didn’t intend for us to forget everything,” said Fenner. “No, he did,” said Trip. “He didn’t want us to build a Quantum Computer. He didn’t think the Karavians were ready for the power it would give them and I’m not sure that we are either.” “How do we get this information out of our heads?” asked Rush. “I don’t like the idea of having something in my head, especially if we don’t know what it is.” “The instructions on how to get the information out were in the Karavia files, and they’ve been deleted,” said Kanatova. “I’ll work on it but I cannot guarantee that I’ll ever find the way to download this information.” A warning beeped at them urgently from the scanner. “We’ll have to pick up this later,” said Darwin. “We’ve got company and it’s just entered weapons range. Carter, fire a warning shot, I don’t want them getting any closer.” Carter nodded and moved to the weapons console. He loaded a torpedo and set it to explode short before firing it on the approaching ship. “Is it Enterprise?” asked Trip, urgently. Hathaway checked the scanner, looking for an ID. “It’s definitely Starfleet. Registration is NX-01, it’s Enterprise alright.” “Damn,” said Trip. “T’Pol found a way to follow us. I thought we’d covered our tracks better than that.” “We covered them as well as we could,” said Hathaway. “Enterprise has the best of Starfleet crewing it, if anyone was going to find us then it was them.” “They’ve come to a full stop,” said Carter. They would have been mad to have approached any closer given the station’s armaments. “Rush, hail them,” said Darwin. “Yes, sir,” said Rush. “This is Water’s Edge Station, come in Enterprise.” Hoshi’s voice sounded over the speaker. It reminded Trip just how much he missed Enterprise. “This is Enterprise, stand down. We have authority to arrest Commander Tucker and those responsible for the theft of the NX-Theta,” said Hoshi. “Great, so the Captain’s decided to do it by the book,” groaned Trip. That meant that Archer was really pissed with him. He was well aware of the enmity between his former commanding officer and his current commanding officer, and this would just put Darwin’s back up. The Colonel was very protective of his men, even when they were no longer officially under his command. He’d always been especially protective of Trip, knowing the demons that haunted him and how naïve he’d been when he’d first become a member of Special Projects. Archer thought that Darwin didn’t really care about anything other than completing his mission and he believed Darwin had taken advantage of Trip’s youth and innocence to get him to join Special Projects. In short he thought that Darwin was a bad influence on Trip. Archer was probably very unhappy that Trip was with Darwin again. “Put them on screen, Rush. I want to talk to Archer, now,” said Darwin. “Colonel Darwin, I want Commander Tucker and whoever is responsible for the theft of the NX-Theta,” said Captain Archer as he appeared on the view screen. “You don’t know what you’re getting into, Archer,” said Darwin. “This isn’t some game we’re playing here. There are lives at stake, the lives of my men.” “If you’re trying to convince me that you’re protecting your men, give it up. I know who you are. What is this all about? What are you hiding?” asked Archer, accusingly. “Put Commander Tucker on.” “Hey Captain,” said Trip, trying to sound nonchalant, as if he spent every day on a Tellarite space station with a group of black ops MACOs. “Commander, the way I see this you have two choices. You come back willingly or we come over there and get you,” said Archer. “Captain, please don’t do this. Get Enterprise out of here, it’s for the best. Just leave me here and go,” said Trip. Suddenly alarms were sounding around the War Room. “Colonel, long range sensors, we’ve got incoming,” said Carter. “Lots of incoming.” “They led them to us,” said Hathaway. “How many?” asked Darwin , oblivious to the open com channel. It didn’t matter if Enterprise knew their plans, they could probably detect the ships on their own long range scanners by now. “Sixty ships, same pattern as those that attacked Fenner and Trip,” said Carter. “Sixty!” said Fenner. “Three were enough to nearly kill me and Trip. If Hathaway hadn’t come and saved our necks.” “We’ve got them too,” said Archer. “Who are they and what do they want?” “They’re known as the Hunters,” said Trip. “They’re deadly, and they don’t like us very much. Now would be a really good time for you to get Enterprise out of here.” “Trip, we’re not leaving without you,” said Archer. “Captain, I’m where I need to be. This is one fight that you don’t want to get involved in,” said Trip. “You’d better leave now before things hot up.” “No,” said Archer. “You’re stuck with us. Colonel, it seems as if you could do with some help, where do you want us?” Darwin ’s lips twisted up in an almost smile. “This station is pretty well armed, but more fire power is always welcome.” Trip heard Lieutenant Reed’s voice in the background, “Sir, I suggest we position ourselves above the station.” “Did you hear that, Colonel?” asked Archer. Darwin looked over at Carter, who gave him a brief nod in assent. “That’s affirmative, my weapons officer agrees,” said Darwin . “Carter, switch off the automatics and let them in.” “Yes, sir,” said Carter. He disabled the automatic defences while Enterprise made it’s approach to the station. “What about the NX-Theta? Fenner and I could take it out,” said Hathaway. “We should be fine on the station. We might need the NX-Theta if we have to evacuate,” said Darwin . “Let Enterprise get our backs.” “Colonel, I think we need to discuss what we’re up against here,” said Archer over the com. “It’s a long story,” said Trip. “Then you had better get started,” said Archer, “the rate those ships are approaching, we don’t have much time.” “It’s all to do with a mission we went on about two years after I joined the unit. It’s kind of complicated, but we had our memories of the whole mission erased. Kanatova hypnotised me and got me to remember what had happened,” said Trip. “Hypnotised you?” said Archer with incredulity. “Never mind, just tell me what happened.” Trip gave Archer the details of everything which had happened on Karavia. The other MACOs let Trip tell the story since he was the only one that had actual memories of the events. “So the fleet that’s attacking you are after the information to build this Quantum Computer?” asked Archer. “Well, I don’t reckon that they actually want the information themselves, I think they just don’t want anyone else to have it,” said Trip. “Do you have the information on how to remove the data?” asked T’Pol. “We can’t be sure, but we think the information on the memory download machine was deleted along with the mission files,” said Trip. “Why did you delete the mission files? You must have known that you’d need the information later,” said Archer. “We did what we thought would protect Earth,” said Darwin . “I for one don’t want the Hunters attacking the Research and Development Complex back on Earth, or destroying San Francisco just to get rid of the information that we’re carrying in our heads. I don’t even remember doing any of this, all we have is what Trip remembered under hypnosis.” “Memories recovered under hypnosis have been known to be unreliable,” said T’Pol, sceptically. “I know,” said Trip, “but even unreliable memories are better than no memories at all.” “That is not necessarily the case,” said T’Pol. “T’Pol, we’ve got bigger problems at the moment. These guys are tough as nails and we’re going to need all our fire power to destroy them,” said Trip. “We’re up against overwhelming forces,” said Darwin . “They don’t seem that tough,” said Reed on Enterprise . “The three that were attacking Mister Fenner self-destructed before we could get more than a couple of shots off.” “That was because they knew they were out-gunned by Enterprise ,” said Trip. “They didn’t want to risk capture. Enterprise could take down three of them easily, but I’m not so sure they could take down six. We’ve got sixty to worry about. These things are piloted by machines, they don’t have to worry about g-forces from acceleration or human error. Fenner and I were real close to becoming their latest victims back at the brown dwarf.” “But we know that phase cannons can destroy them,” said Darwin . “On full power, and in a concentrated blast,” said Carter. “It took everything that the NX-Theta had to take down that one Hunter. We couldn’t have dealt with another one. And we had surprise on our side that time.” “You should try hiding the parts for a phase cannon in a museum requisition order,” said Hathaway. “I did the best I could, but if I’d wanted anything more powerful people would have got suspicious.” “You didn’t tell me that it was so close,” said Trip. “You were out of it with a concussion for most of the journey here,” pointed out Carter. “So how much fire power do we have?” asked Archer. “Water’s Edge is rather better armed than the NX-Theta,” said Darwin . “I thought that it might be,” replied Archer. “We were able to detect some of your weapons on our scans but I’m guessing you’ve got more than we were able to detect.” “Even with Enterprise , we don’t have enough fire power to take down sixty ships,” said Carter. “But we’re going to try, right?” asked Rush. “Oh yes, Corporal, we’re going to try, but I think we need a backup plan,” said Darwin . **** Enterprise hung above Water’s Edge like some sort of guardian watchdog. The reality wasn’t that far away from the image, Enterprise ’s scanners were busy keeping tabs on the approaching fighters. “It’s like they’re swarming,” said Reed looking at the scanner image. “Their behaviour is unusual,” said T’Pol. “This is not a standard battle tactic.” “They don’t need tactics if Darwin is right about how tough they are,” said Archer. “Sir, a formation is breaking off. They’re coming in for an attack run,” said Reed. “How many?” asked Archer. “About half the fleet,” said Reed. “What are the rest of them doing?” asked Archer. “They’re moving in the opposite direction. I think they’re trying to circle behind the station,” said Reed. “Move us to meet the first group, Mr Mayweather,” said Archer. “Water’s Edge will just have to deal with the rest.” “Yes, sir,” said Mayweather, slightly nervously. Meeting thirty ships in a full frontal assault wasn’t his idea of a good time, especially when the whole crew of Enterprise were relying on his piloting skills to get them through this. They hit the fighters head on, the Hunters’ parting to keep from crashing into Enterprise whilst opening fire on the advancing ship. Simultaneously the long range guns of the station opened up, giving them covering fire. The polarised hull plating was able to deflect a couple of glancing blows from the Hunters and Mayweather kept them moving so the small fighters had a hard time getting a lock on Enterprise. Lieutenant Reed had already begun to return fire as Enterprise ducked and weaved through the seething mass of tiny ships. They knew that they couldn’t keep it up forever, but they just had to keep as much of the fleet busy as they could while Water’s Edge put into action their backup plan. **** “ Enterprise have met the first group,” said Carter. “It looks like they’re going to surround us and come in from both sides.” “Everyone ready?” asked Darwin . He received a chorus of “yes, sir” from Hathaway, Kanatova, Carter and Fenner. They were manning the shorter range weapons, while Trip and Rush worked on the backup plan. Each MACO was covering a quadrant of the sky around them. The automatic weapons would take out most of the attackers but they were going to need some help if the station was going to defend itself against such a large number of fighters. “Here they come,” said Hathaway. The main station weaponry targeted the approaching fighters. The lead three exploded immediately as fire was concentrated upon them. Darwin moved between the weapons stations, observing his officers as they took on the attackers. So far they were keeping the fighters outside a cordon of fire, with the close range weapons picking off any which strayed through the net. Enterprise had engaged the fighters just inside the range of the biggest of the station’s guns, taking down several fighters before they could cause trouble. However, for the attackers it was simply a war of attrition, they only had to keep coming to wear down the defenders. Each of the MACOs was working to the absolute limit of their abilities just to keep the fighters from breaking through and they were slowly losing round even with Enterprise ’s help. “Sir, we’re not going to be able to keep this up,” said Hathaway. “I can see that, Major,” replied Darwin , “just do the best you can and keep them off our backs while Trip does what he needs to.” Suddenly the station shook with the impact of weapons fire and klaxons sounded as the emergency systems detected a hull breach. “We’re venting atmosphere on levels six and seven,” said Kanatova. “Bulkheads are sealing automatically. We’ve lost one of beta section’s long range cannons.” The hole that the missing cannon created allowed another couple of fighters to slip through and make an attack run on the station. The fighters pulled away as Enterprise bore down on them, chasing them back out past the perimeter. Kanatova called out the damage report, minor this time. The first hit had been a lucky one for the attackers and would undoubtedly open them up to further hits. “Trip,” said Darwin into his communicator. “Please tell me that this isn’t going to take as long as you thought.” “Sorry, sir. I’m working as fast as I can down here, but I need another twenty minutes to get this rigged,” said Trip. “We don’t have twenty minutes, Trip,” said Darwin . “Sir,” said Hathaway, “you’d better see this. They’re changing tactics.” Darwin went over to Hathaway’s station and looked over her shoulder at the scanner readouts. He saw six fighters forming a triangle formation, one fighter a spearhead at the tip, two behind that and then three behind them. He watched as they turned to face the station head on and swoop towards them. “They’re on a collision course,” said Darwin in realisation. “Kamikaze,” said Hathaway. “Take them out, if they hit us…” said Darwin . “Already on it,” replied Hathaway, firing at the new formation. All around them the rest of their attackers were following the first six and forming into triangles. The first formation was destroyed efficiently by Hathaway’s guns but the others were now starting their attack run. “They’re going to hit,” shouted Fenner, as one too many fighters entered his quadrant and two slipped through the cordon. “Trip, Rush, brace for impact,” Darwin just had time to snap into his communicator before the two ships hit. He held onto the console in front of him as the whole station shook around them. Something in the war room exploded and burst into flames, sparks showering onto the floor. Darwin grabbed a fire extinguisher and dealt with the blaze. “Everyone okay?” he asked, looking around at his officers. He received a series of affirmative replies but he knew that okay was a relative term in this case. Fenner had a nasty looking cut on his head from where he’d been thrown against his console, Carter clutched a hand around his chest in obvious pain, and Kanatova had been ejected from her seat but was picking herself up off the floor. They couldn’t spare the time to deal with minor wounds at the moment. “Trip, Rush?” Darwin asked hoping that both men had been able to brace themselves before the ships had hit. “We’re fine,” came the Southern drawl. “Rush got a little toasted on an overloaded circuit but it’s nothing serious.” Darwin breathed a sigh of relief. “Keep this frequency open, Trip. I think you’d better keep one ear on what’s going on up here.” “Yes, sir,” said Trip. “They’re reforming,” said Hathaway. After the first attack, several of the triangles had lost ships and now the broken formations were merging to re-complete themselves. “We’ve got incoming.” “How’s Enterprise doing?” asked Darwin . “They’re hanging on,” said Carter. “Kamikaze tactics don’t work so well against a moving target.” “Sir, that last hit took out one of the short range batteries,” said Kanatova. “And the emergency bulk heads have closed on the access to the generator room. Trip and Rush aren’t going to be able to get out.” “Damn,” said Darwin . “Did you hear that Trip?” “Yes, sir. Don’t worry about us, I’ll figure out something. There’s more than just the main access way out of here,” said a crackled voice over the com. “Sir, there’s too many of them,” said Hathaway. “We’ve got three fighters about to…” Hathaway didn’t finish her sentence as the three ships impacted. This was far more damaging than the previous hits since the final fighter in the group had been aiming directly for the War Room. Enterprise had been able to deflect it slightly with a torpedo but nothing could prevent the impact. The fighter hit one level above the War Room. Darwin was floored by the ensuing explosions and he hit his head hard on the ground as he fell, driving himself into the red darkness of unconsciousness. When Darwin regained his senses the War Room was in chaos. Fires had broken out around the room. Smoke clouded the air, panels and wires hung from the ceiling, and a strong smell of burnt plastic hit his nostrils. He could see Fenner moving debris to get to Hathaway, who lay under the pieces of a broken tactical display. Kanatova was slumped over her own console, unmoving. Carter was stirring but lethargic in his movements. Darwin got to his feet carefully, taking stock of his own aches. He went over to Carter and helped him up before moving to Kanatova. Apart from a fast forming bruise on her head she seemed unhurt but she wasn’t waking up either. Hathaway had picked herself up with some help from Fenner. “We’re venting atmosphere from the War Room. The emergency bulkheads have malfunctioned,” said Carter. “We need to get out of here and shut them manually before the whole station is depressurised.” “Fifty percent of automatic weapons batteries are still functioning,” said Hathaway, looking at the remains of the weapons console beside her. “Everything else is down or damaged.” For a second Darwin surveyed the remains of the War Room. He retrieved his communicator from his pocket and tried to raise Trip and Rush but he was met with static. Carter tried his own communicator with the same result. They had no idea if the last hit had killed Trip and Rush, or if it was simply that their communicators were no longer working. They knew they didn’t have the luxury of time to send out a search party to discover one way or the other. If they stayed on the station with only fifty percent of the weapons then the Hunters wouldn’t hesitate to destroy them, it was as good as being defenceless. Three pairs of eyes came to rest on their commanding officer. “Game over, boys and girls, let’s get out of here,” said the Colonel. Darwin pulled the still unconscious Doctor to her feet. Realising that she wasn’t going to wake up, he threw her over his shoulder in a fireman’s lift. They left the War Room, shutting the bulkheads behind them, heading towards the docking bay and the NX-Theta. The station shaking around them as more attacks found their mark on the stricken Water’s Edge. ****End of Chapter 12**** Trip and Rush had been in a jeffries tube when the terminal hit happened. They were shaken around badly, trying to grab hold of what they could to prevent serious injury. Trip saw Rush take a knock to his head and go limp, before he suffered the same fate. When he awoke he could smell smoke and was aware that his immediate environment was warmer than it should have been. He sprang to full consciousness as he realised that the room immediately below them was on fire. He moved quickly to shut the hatches that led in the direction of the fire and then crawled over to Rush, to assess the MACO’s injuries. He was already feeling the bruises that he’d just gained from being shaken like a baby’s rattle. He looked back to see that the way behind them was now closed off with fallen metal. They wouldn’t be getting out that way. They were running out of options, if the bulkheads across the main access to the generator room had been closed then their escape routes were being narrowed quickly. They had both known the dangers inherent in what they were doing and the rest of the Unit were depending upon them. For the moment going on with their mission was their only option. “Mike, wake up, we need to get out of here,” said Trip, prodding the MACO. “Trip, what happened?” said Rush groggily. “Must have been hit,” said Trip. He pulled out his communicator and tried to raise the other MACOs but no one was answering. Rush pushed himself into a sitting position in the cramped jeffries tube. “It’s hot in here.” “Yeah, the room below’s on fire. You up to moving? We need to get out of here before we get fried alive.” Rush nodded carefully, grabbed his pack and the two men began to crawl towards their destination, the generator. Trip’s plan was to rig the generator to overload in a chain reaction that would take out all the whole station, blowing every relay and causing one hell of a fireball. If they did it right then it would be like a nuclear bomb going off and would take out any ships within a wide radius around the station. Trip checked the rewiring that he’d done in the access panel in the jeffries tube to make sure that the impact hadn’t undone his work, before he followed Rush. They dropped on to the floor of the generator room. They moved over to the generator to create the feedback loop which would be needed to produce the explosion. It was tricky work and took the two of them working together to set the circuits exactly right. If they made a mistake then they could blow themselves up while they were still working or leave themselves without enough time to escape. Although Trip was beginning to think that was a moot point. Unless he and Rush could figure out a way to get to the docking bay, they were going to die with Water’s Edge. **** NX-Theta undocked from Water’s Edge and immediately became the target of several fighters. Darwin hadn’t wanted to leave without Trip and Rush, but the station was falling apart around them. He had four officers in his charge that he knew he could save, if he waited for Trip and Rush he could end up condemning them all to death. Trip and Rush knew the score and Darwin still had an idea. “Hail Enterprise ,” said Darwin , while Fenner did his best to keep them out of the Hunters’ line of fire. The majority of attackers were still targeting the station. Carter moved to make the connection. “ Enterprise , this is the NX-Theta, come in, please.” “This is Enterprise , go ahead NX-Theta.” “We have activated the jammer and we’re evacuating. We couldn’t leave it any longer. Trip and Rush are trapped on the station,” said Darwin . “We’ll get them out on Enterprise ,” said Archer, immediately grasping the situation. “We’ll keep them off your backs until you can get into transporter range,” said Darwin . “Fenner, let’s give our friends a moving target.” “Yes, sir,” replied the pilot. “No damn robot is beating me.” “Carter, make sure that we take down as many as we can,” said Darwin to his Weapons Officer. Carter nodded his acknowledgement and returned to targeting the enemy, while Hathaway manned the scanner, calling range and position to help Carter make his shots count. Hathaway couldn’t help but be reminded of the past, it was like they were back on the Thak Tikh being chased by the Klingons again. Except the Klingons had never outnumbered them thirty to one. **** “Captain, the power levels are becoming critical on Water’s Edge,” said the calm voice of T’Pol. Even having known T’Pol for several years, Archer still didn’t understand how she could remain perfectly unemotional in the middle of a crisis. He knew that the Vulcan cared for Trip just as much as he did. This had not been the plan at all, Trip and Rush should have been able to make it to the docking bay before the other MACOs had to evacuate. Part of Archer screamed at him that Darwin shouldn’t have abandoned two of his men but the rational part of him reminded him of the duties of any commanding officer, to safeguard those in their charge. If that meant sacrificing two men to save four then that was what had to be done. But Darwin had always known that Enterprise had the capability to get the men out whereas the NX-Theta did not, having never been equipped with a transporter. It would have been impossible even for Special Projects to hide the parts for a transporter amongst the museum requisition forms for the NX-Theta. That was before they even got to the specialist expertise required to install a transporter. “How long?” asked Archer. “Fifteen minutes,” replied T’Pol. Archer turned to his Acting Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Hess. “Lieutenant, have you got a lock on their biosigns?” “All this weapons fire, the jamming device, and the overloading generator is creating too much interference. Maybe if we could get closer…” Hess was intently staring at her readouts. “We’re already too close,” interjected Reed. “If we get within range of the station’s automatic weaponry then we’ll become a target too. There’s no one on the station to tell the automatics not to fire on us anymore.” “Can we dodge them?” asked Archer. “I can try,” replied Mayweather. “They lost a few cannons in the last attack. There are holes in the defence grid,” added Reed. He forwarded the details to the helm controls so that Mayweather could see where he needed to fly. “Got it,” said Mayweather. “Take us closer, but not too close,” said Archer. Enterprise shook as a couple of shots found their mark. “I’ve got reports of minor injuries in Engineering,” said Hoshi. The ship jolted hard just as Hoshi completed her sentence and Archer was knocked to the floor. He grabbed the edge of the Captain’s chair and pulled himself to his feet again. Hess was doing her best to dowse flames that were licking at the Engineering console. She had the flames out within a few seconds, gave the console a quick check over and dealt it a frustrated kick. “I need to get to the transporter,” she said already moving towards the turbo lift. “T’Pol, you’ve got the bridge.” said Archer, and followed Hess to the turbo lift. The journey to the transporter felt longer than it was. Every second counted, the sooner they could pull Trip and Rush out, the sooner Enterprise could get away from the coming explosion. Hess manned the main controls but indicated to Archer to monitor the power at the diagnostic station. This was going to be a difficult transport and it could take both of them to pull it off. **** Trip was convinced that this was his moment. This was his time to die. He and Rush had finished their job, the station would be destroyed by an overload in the generator core in approximately ten minutes. The station had suffered more damage even while they worked. Rush and Trip had escaped down a jeffries tube towards the docking bay but it had soon become obvious that there was no safe route for them to take. While they had been crawling along one section of tube, a pressure door had closed behind them and another in front. They had been trapped by decompressed sections. Trip tried to bypass the safety systems and find them a way through but it had been a futile attempt. Even if he’d been able to persuade the pressure doors to open then they would probably have been entering a compartment that was open to space or at least losing atmosphere. Not an outcome that Trip wanted to contemplate. Trip was hot and dirty, from crawling around the jeffries tubes. Somewhere near them a fire was burning and turning the jeffries tube into a sauna. Trip went through various options in his head, each more impossible than the last, and discarded them all. He was convinced that there must be a solution but the heat was making it hard to think. As the senior officer, Rush was his responsibility and he didn’t want to let the MACO down. He didn’t want to believe it but maybe there was nothing to do but sit and wait for the station to destroy itself. Just as he’d given up hope he felt the tingling sensation that accompanied the transporter disassembling his molecules and pulling them through space. He just had time to glance sideways and see that Rush was disappearing too, before he himself disappeared. A dreamlike state followed. He could hear voices but not see anything. “I’m losing their patterns,” said a female voice. “Lock in auxiliary power.” “Locked in,” replied a man. “Okay, I think I have them. Materialising.” Trip collapsed backwards as he appeared on the transporter platform. He didn’t feel so good, it had been a rough transport. “Hess to bridge, we’ve got them.” “Understood,” said a cool female voice. “Phlox to the transporter, medical emergency,” Trip vaguely heard, which was followed by, “Security to the transporter.” Trip wondered why they needed Security. Phlox he could understand, if there was a medical emergency, but there didn’t seem to be any threats which would require Security’s attention. He gave up trying to work out what was going on and concentrated on breathing which seemed to be quite enough given the way his head was spinning at the moment. He felt himself being helped to sit up and then a cold hypospray being pressed to his neck. A few moments passed as whatever had been in the hypospray worked its way through his system and suddenly he began to feel much better. The room stopped spinning, his head cleared and he cautiously opened his eyes to see Phlox looking at a medical scanner that was pointed in his direction. He opened his mouth to frame a question but before he could get a word out Captain Archer spoke. “Doctor?” “He’s fine. The transport created an enzyme imbalance, which I’ve corrected. Corporal Rush is in the same condition although he has some burns that require treatment also,” said Phlox. “Ensigns, escort the Commander to the brig,” said Archer. Trip had nothing to say. He’d known exactly what would happen if he ever returned to Enterprise . He’d made his choice when he and Fenner had decided to rendezvous with Major Hathaway. Now he had to face the consequences of that choice. He didn’t protest as two of Reed’s Security personnel helped him up and with polite but firm tones asked him to accompany them to the brig. **** T’Pol sat in the Captain’s chair and examined the situation carefully. They had less than five minutes to get out of blast radius. The majority of the Hunters were still focussed on the station, machines that were unable to change their programming to account for the fact that no life signs were now aboard the station. A few were targeting the NX-Theta and more were still attacking Enterprise . The force was considerably depleted but no where near beaten. “Ensign Sato, hail the NX-Theta, tell them to go to warp immediately but keep track of their warp signature.” “Yes, Commander,” replied the com officer. “Is Water’s Edge emitting the jamming frequency?” T’Pol asked. Reed pressed a couple of buttons on his console. “Yes, Commander. The jamming frequency is stopping all communication between the fighters and masking all our biosigns. They don’t know whether there’s anyone on the station or not.” “Mr Mayweather, warp four. Follow the NX-Theta’s warp trail,” said T’Pol. “Yes, Ma’am,” said Mayweather. **** The Hunters hadn’t yet realised that the entities which they had been sent to destroy had left the station. They continued their attack oblivious to the NX-Theta and Enterprise ’s departure. Their programming had told them to ignore any other targets if they were not a threat. The entities who held the information were on the station and nothing had contradicted that knowledge so far. Alarms only began to be issued when it was detected that the station could explode. By that point it was too late to disengage their attack and escape. The generator reached critical, overloaded and detonated. A sphere of explosive force, fire and debris flew out from the destroyed station. Pieces of metal were thrown into the attacking Hunters closest to the station. The fighters were flipped out by the force into the second wave of attackers, where flying fragments did further damage. Machines died in a chain reaction of flame and twisted metal. A few of the black Hunters escaped the destruction but the majority of the ships in the fleet were now hundreds of floating pieces of metal. Those that weren’t destroyed were faced with a problem. Their cold, metal minds weren’t equipped to deal with failure, it hadn’t been one of their expected outcomes for this mission and now they needed to take time to re-examine their options. One in six of the Hunters’ ships carried a sophisticated primary mind, capable of reason and intelligence. Out of the survivors, only two primary minds survived, the others were secondary slave minds, less sophisticated and capable of much more limited thinking. The primaries were finding it hard to control the large number of secondary slaves that they had inherited from their fallen comrades, but they knew that in order to complete their task they would have to find some way to cope. It was clear that they should continue their mission and terminate the remaining targets. However, now that the station had been destroyed, they were able to see that their targets had escaped on the two ships that had taken part in the battle. What was less clear was where those ships now were. Many of the survivors had sustained damage and their tracking abilities had been severely limited. It would take a little time to find the trail again. In the end the primaries chose the obvious option, they told all but ten of the secondaries to self-destruct. They now had the ten least damaged ships at their disposal to hunt down their prey, plus the two primary minds to control them. Each primary controlled five slave minds just as it should. Now they could begin their hunt again. Patiently they sifted the data and with perfect cold efficiency they identified the location of the humans that they were programmed to exterminate. **** When Archer arrived at the brig he could see Trip pacing. The Engineer never had been very good at being patient. Trip saw Archer, took a deep breath and prepared himself for a very unpleasant conversation. “How’s Mike doing?” asked Trip, trying to avoid the inevitable for a little longer. “Phlox says he has some minor burns, but apart from that he’s fine.” Archer paused and Trip waited for the bomb to go off. “Just what the hell did you think you were doing?” “What I thought was right,” replied Trip. “You saw what happened to Water’s Edge. That could have been Enterprise .” “That isn’t the point. You disobeyed a direct order not to leave this ship. You stole a shuttlepod, shot a fellow officer and damaged Starfleet property. It took us hours to undo everything that you did to the ships systems.” “That was sort of the point,” said Trip. “Trip, a few months ago we had a conversation about trust. You assured me that you were the same person that you’ve always been and that I could trust you. Why do I now find myself standing in the brig wondering if I made a big mistake?” “You didn’t make a mistake,” sighed Trip. “It isn’t like you think.” “As far as I can tell, it’s exactly like I think. At the first sign of trouble you abandoned this crew and went off on your own,” said Archer. “You didn’t give me a choice,” said Trip. “You had a choice,” said Archer. “We would have protected you.” “You don’t know who you’re dealing with. They’d have thought nothing of destroying Enterprise .” “You’re missing the point, Trip. You disobeyed a direct order and you abused your position. Starfleet isn’t about individuals, it’s about working together,” said Archer. “You disabled vital systems that left Enterprise in danger.” “ Enterprise was never in any danger,” said Trip. “How do you know that?” Archer fired back. “If we’d been attacked we wouldn’t have had working phase cannons or sensors.” “They were easily fixable. If Hess didn’t have them up and running within an hour of realising they were disabled I need to have a word with her,” said Trip. “But if we had been attacked we would have had no defence,” said Archer. “Then there’s the matter of T’Pol.” “I didn’t want to shoot her,” said Trip, sheepishly. “You owe her an apology at the very least. She would be well within her rights to press assault charges,” said Archer. “I know,” said Trip. “If there’s anything that I regret, then it’s that, but I didn’t see any other way.” “You’ve just proved that we can’t trust you. You’re more concerned about Special Projects than your own crew,” said Archer. “That isn’t true.” “I don’t see any evidence supporting that,” snapped Archer. There was silence for a moment as the two men looked at each other. Finally Trip spoke. “What are you going to do with me?” “You’ve tied my hands. I have to take you back for a court-martial,” said Archer. Trip nodded, resigned to his fate. “What about Rush?” “He hasn’t broken any regulations,” said Archer. “I can’t link him to the theft of the NX-Theta. We’ll drop him off at the nearest starbase or take him back to Earth whichever he wants.” “We’re still being hunted,” said Trip. “He can stay on board if he wants,” said Archer. “If he asks us to protect him.” “It won’t be long before they catch up with us,” said Trip. “You have to listen to me Captain. The Hunters are deadly and they won’t stop until every MACO who visited Karavia is dead. If they have to destroy Enterprise to get to us then they will and don’t doubt for a minute that they have the power to do it.” “I’m not going to let anything happen to any of you,” said Archer. “You still don’t understand how much danger Enterprise is in,” said Trip. “I saw what the Hunters did to Water’s Edge,” said Archer. “You have to get Rush and I off Enterprise , it’s the only way to protect the ship,” said Trip. “I’m not dumping you on some planet, Trip,” said Archer. “Why are you being so damn stubborn about this? A Captain should put the safety of his crew first, that’s what you always told me.” “You’re not helping yourself,” said Archer. “I don’t need to help myself. I’ve been dead for a long time. Enterprise can still escape this, don’t kill this crew for nothing, Captain,” said Trip. “I don’t intend to let any of my people die if I can help it, or had you forgotten that you’re a member of this crew too,” said Archer. Despite his bravado, Trip’s words had disturbed him, he’d never known him to be so fatalistic. “I bet you’re tracking the NX-Theta too,” said Trip. “Of course, now that we’ve worked out how they were disguising their warp trail we’re not having a problem following them,” said Archer. “We should catch up with them in an hour or so. Hopefully you’ll have some company in here, once we persuade them to give up.” “You haven’t listened to a word that I’ve said.” Trip turned and dropped down on the bunk behind him. “I’ve listened, but I’m the Captain of this ship and I’ll do what I think is right.” Archer paused and sighed. Trip was stubborn and when he got protective there was nothing anyone could do to persuade him that he was wrong. “I’ve got to get to the bridge. Do you need any thing?” he asked in a softer tone. Trip was slightly surprised by the change of subject but he reminded himself that Archer didn’t like this any better than he did. Even if Trip did end up leaving Starfleet he suspected that Jonathan Archer might still come and visit him. “Another blanket would be nice,” said Trip. “I’ll get one of the Ensigns to bring one down,” said Archer and stepped out into the corridor, leaving Trip alone with his thoughts. He lay back on the bunk and stared up at the ceiling. If Enterprise caught up with the MACOs in the NX-Theta, then he thought that they might get more than they bargained for. Trip wondered sometimes why Archer was his friend. Admittedly he probably had burned that friendship when he burned his bridges. From Trip’s point of view it had all made sense, find someone to hang out with who would be a good influence, someone who still saw Starfleet with innocent eyes and maybe he could forget the three years he’d spent in the MACOs. However, he knew that the person he had become wasn’t easy to get along with, it came from all the lying that he was having to do to protect his past, he didn’t know who he was anymore and occasionally it showed. When Archer had thanked him for standing up for his father he hadn’t known quite how to react, so he’d fallen back on his previous persona of the shy young officer. It didn’t really gel with the way he’d let his mouth run off when he’d heard the Vulcans threatening to make them go back to the drawing board, but he hoped Archer hadn’t noticed the sudden shift in temperament. As part of Special Projects he never would have questioned an order or wondered at the reason behind it, now he felt compelled to do just that, whilst at the same time chastising himself for not being a good officer. As the years went by and the past was put further and further behind him, things got easier and he eventually found an equilibrium. Archer seemed willing to just let him be himself and, if that was brash at times and shy at others, he never asked why Trip behaved that way, he just accepted him for who he was. Which had only made things worse when the truth had come out, and now Trip had betrayed his best friend once again. The friend who had stood by him and been there for him. In fact he was contemplating doing it for a third time even as he sat in his cell. He wondered if the Captain could forgive him this time. Jonathan Archer, golden boy of Starfleet, Captain of the first warp five capable ship and now saviour of mankind. His achievements also included preventing at least three wars and averting several diplomatic incidents. But he seemed to have forgotten who had designed Enterprise ’s brig. **** Ensign Lauritsen was unusually talented even for a member of Enterprise ’s crew. At twenty-four she was the youngest crew member by two years, one month and nine days. Her specialist area was computer programming although she was also an outstanding mathematician. From an early age she had been singled out as exceptionally intelligent and it had always been suggested that she would go on to great things. Her family hadn’t exactly been thrilled when she decided to apply to the Academy and join Starfleet. Her grandmother had wanted her to become a doctor but it didn’t appeal to her. Her grandfather had hoped that she would remain in academia but she considered pure study to be dull. She had learnt some time ago that if you tried to please everyone else then you ended up making yourself miserable. Starfleet was what she wanted and Starfleet was where she was going. In fact Ensign Lauritsen was exactly the calibre of candidate that the Academy wanted and hoped for, despite the detail that she was below the usual admission age, her application was accepted. She had been midway through her studies when Enterprise had first launched, and had never expected that she would get a chance to become part of the crew of the prestigious ship. When the postings had been handed out after graduation she had expected to be sent to the Research and Development facility or perhaps posted to Jupiter Station, instead her assignment had been part of the Science team on Enterprise . She reported to Lieutenant Vermes who in turn reported to Sub-Commander T’Pol, or rather Commander T’Pol as she now was, and was one of a small team who were responsible for analysing the data that was collected by the various scientists. She had probably made more advances in the field of Computer Science over the past few months by finding solutions to their problems than a University full of scientists had managed in ten years. Necessity truly was the mother of invention, she realised. Her mathematical skills were also being tested, Lieutenant Vermes expected her to be able to suggest ways of analysing data that involved complex modelling and that couldn’t be done without an understanding of the mathematical structures underlying the models. In short her job was never the same, one day to the next, because they never knew what Enterprise would encounter and then be required to analyse. T’Pol’s latest project had been a case in point. Attempting to pick out a concealed warp trail from background radiation had required considerable work and the use of some chaos theory that Lauritsen had always considered to be fairly obscure. Of course Lauritsen had never expected that they would be hunting Commander Tucker, or that they would find themselves in the middle of pitched battle when they eventually tracked him down. Now they were safe again and on their way home, Lauritsen had decided that she needed to speak with the Captain. He was after all the only person who could do anything about the Commander’s situation and she simply couldn’t let the Engineer languish in the brig after everything that he had done for her. She still remembered his blue eyes as he took her into his arms and called her “honey”. He was the reason that she had joined Starfleet. She picked off an imaginary piece of dust and straightened her uniform. She needed to look her best for this. She reached out, pressed the door bell and waited to be invited to enter. She heard a muffled “come” from inside the Captain’s ready room and opened the door. “Sir, may I have a moment of your time?” asked Lauritsen, slightly nervously. Archer looked up from his work at his visitor. The young woman in front of him had an inch of short blonde hair on her head and wore the uniform of the Science team. “Of course. Ensign Lauritsen, isn’t it? You were helping T’Pol earlier.” “Yes, sir.” “Take a seat. What is it that I can do for you, Ensign?” “It’s about Commander Tucker, sir,” said Lauritsen. She immediately noticed the look on Archer’s face change. There was something behind his eyes when she mentioned the Commander’s name but she couldn’t pin down what it was. It was almost a hurt look but one that disappeared as soon as she’d caught it. “What about the Commander?” “Well, sir, you see, it’s like this. Commander Tucker saved my life,” said Lauritsen. “He has saved the lives of almost everyone on this ship at one time or another,” replied Archer. “Yes, sir, but this was before I joined Enterprise . I’m the daughter of the late Governor Lauritsen of New Copenhagen.” She waited for Archer to make the connection. Most people recognised the name when it was associated with the colony. “The Governor who was killed during the rebel uprising?” asked Archer dredging his memory for the details of the old news item. He’d just been selected as one of the test pilots for the NX programme when the news had reached them of the trouble on New Copenhagen. He remembered that it had been particularly embarrassing for Starfleet Command, who were trying to convince the Vulcans that humans were ready to be out exploring the universe. The Vulcans had pointed out that civilised people didn’t shoot each other. It had taken some serious persuasion to make them believe that this incident was not typical of humanity in general. “The rebels also killed my mother and sister.” There was old pain in Lauritsen’s tone as she spoke and her eyes briefly met her Captain’s. “Where does Commander Tucker fit into this?” asked Archer. “It’s a long story, sir,” replied the Ensign. Archer leaned back in his chair. “Why don’t you start from the beginning and tell me what happened?” So Ensign Keisha Lauritsen told her Captain the story of her rescue at the age of ten in the arms of a blond haired Starfleet officer. It hadn’t been until many years later that she’d decided to use her computer skills to track down that officer and find out who he was. Commander Charles Tucker III, Chief Engineer to Enterprise , previously seconded to the MACOs for just over three years, during which period he’d been sent to New Copenhagen. She had even found out that Special Projects was who he was working for and had an idea of the type of unit that they were. She’d never plucked up the courage to tell him who she was, she wondered if Commander Tucker even remembered her. Archer listened in silence while the young woman in front of him told him about how her family had been killed in cold blood. Unnecessary loss of life was something that Archer never thought he’d be able to deal with easily and he felt deeply for the Ensign’s loss. Quite a lot of her account was second hand, so she admitted that it might be unreliable, but she had found nothing to contradict it so far. She had heard from her Grandparents the story of how the MACOs had come to New Copenhagen to stop the uprising and had ended up being captured by the rebels. Apparently it had been Trip who had rescued his Commanding Officer and the ten-year-old Keisha Lauritsen before the Loyalists had attacked. Archer once again found himself realising that there was a lot about Trip that he didn’t know. He marvelled at how it was possible for someone to appear to be such an open book and yet have so many secrets. “You know this doesn’t change anything?” said Archer. “I know, but I thought you should at least have all of the facts,” said Lauritsen. “He really was only doing what he thought was right. He’s a good man, Captain.” “I know that, Ensign,” sighed Archer. Trip was a good man but often he was also a man who didn’t think before he acted. That was what usually got him into trouble. “But none of what you’ve told me changes what he did here.” “I just hoped that it might be a mitigating factor,” said Lauritsen. “Does he know that you’re on board?” asked Archer. “Not as far as I know,” said Lauritsen. “Are you going to tell him?” “I haven’t so far.” “He might like to know that the little girl that he saved grew up and joined Starfleet,” said Archer. “Perhaps it’s better if I don’t tell him,” said Lauritsen. “From what my Grandparents said, I don’t think he had such a good time on New Copenhagen. He’d probably rather forget it ever happened.” “I’ll leave it up to you, Ensign, but I think he’d like to know.” **** After Ensign Lauritsen left his ready room, Archer found himself summoned to sickbay by T’Pol and Phlox. He arrived to find the two of them examining some scans taken of MACO Sergeant Rush. “Commander Tucker informed us that he and the other MACOs were carrying information that the Hunters wanted to destroy,” said T’Pol. “This is Commander Tucker’s most recent brain scan, taken after he recovered from his head injury. The tissue graft healed well and is almost indistinguishable from the rest of the brain matter. However, there is a small anomaly which is also present on Sergeant Rush’s scan.” “It’s so small that it would be easy to miss if you weren’t looking for something,” said Phlox. “Combine that with the fact that every human has minute differences in their physiology, and it could easily go undetected. However, if you have two scans side by side with the same anomaly then that indicates something interesting.” “It seems to be an area which is not sending or receiving information,” said T’Pol. “A dead spot? Is it dangerous? I mean will it hurt Trip or the other MACOs that have this thing in their heads?” asked Archer. “Well if what the Commander told us is correct then he’s had this information in his head for about twelve years now. So far it hasn’t caused any problems. It does simply seem to be a piece of normal brain tissue that has been co-opted for information storage purposes. Otherwise it is a completely normal part of the brain,” said Phlox. “So can we download the information?” asked Archer. “Is that wise given what Commander Tucker has told us?” T’Pol folder her hands behind her back. “I don’t know, but unless we have that information we don’t have the full picture.” “I need to research this further, but perhaps with Doctor Phlox’s help I can discern a mechanism for retrieving the data.” Phlox nodded his agreement. “We would have to be careful. The human brain is a very delicate organ.” “Do your best,” said Archer. “Bridge to Captain Archer.” Archer went to the com. “Go ahead Lieutenant.” “Sir, we are approaching the NX-Theta.” “I’ll be right there.” **** Spending time doing nothing was never something that Trip enjoyed but given the circumstances, this was torture. He was going backwards and forwards in his mind over the events of the past few days. He couldn’t see any other way that he could have played it, but he still felt as if he’d betrayed his friends and his crew. He’d started down a road and now he couldn’t turn back. He had to keep Enterprise safe and if that meant doing some questionable things then that was what he would do. Enterprise and the people on it were all that mattered to him, and he wished he could think of another way to do this. Trip checked the time. He did some quick mental arithmetic. If his estimation of Enterprise ’s current speed was right, then they should be coming up on the NX-Theta, which would be running at maximum speed. He had spent enough time lying around, it was time for him to get moving. The MACOs were depending on him. He’d had to stop himself from escaping from the brig too soon. Reed’s security men were thorough and they checked in on him regularly. As soon as he left they’d know that he was gone and start looking for him. Trip knew that he was good, but even he couldn’t avoid the entire Security team searching for him forever. Trip reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a couple of screws that he’d taken from one of the jeffries tubes on Water’s Edge. The screws hadn’t been found when the Security officers searched him, which had been lucky. His escape would have been much harder without them, although still possible. It had been too much to expect them to let him keep the screwdriver and pliers that he’d had in his back pocket. Lieutenant Reed would have had a fit if he’d known that his men had missed the small pieces of metal, especially since he was aware of what Trip was capable of. The first thing to do was disable the cameras. He didn’t want to give them a head start on finding him. Getting the panel off was hard without any tools. It had been designed to be almost invisible so that prisoners wouldn’t know that it was there. Trip used the head of one of the screws to turn the heads of the screws that kept the panel fixed. Once he had the panel off he could expose the electronics below. He placed one screw on the circuit board carefully and then positioned the second so that it shorted the circuit. A small puff of blue smoke told him that he’d achieved his goal. Now all he had to do was open the door. He removed circuit boards and wires from the conduit, and began linking them together to get what he needed. In effect he was making a code breaking garage door opener. It should work out what the code for the cell lock was and then send a signal to open it. What he ended up with wasn’t pretty, but time was of the essence and he didn’t need to worry about aesthetics. He hooked up the power and watched as the jumble of circuits cycled through the codes and beeped at him when it had the correct sequence. The door slid open. Trip stepped through into the outer chamber. A security officer stood on the other side of the door and Trip had to work quickly before the guard decided to check on him. He put a foot against one side of the cell doorway and levered himself up towards the ceiling. He hit the panel above him until it gave way opening into a crawlspace. He grabbed the edge of the opening and pulled himself up, closing the panel behind him. The crawlspace that he was now in was tight and he could only just pull himself along. He was moving more slowly than he had originally planned and at this rate he was going to miss the party. He squeezed himself through the bulkheads and onwards. He reached a junction with a jeffries tube and managed to open the hatch. He shuffled through into the relative spaciousness of the jeffries tube. “This would be a hell of a lot easier if I had some tools,” he muttered to himself. He found the panel that he needed, pulled out the required circuits and wires, and tapped into the communications circuit. “Trip to NX-Theta.” “We’ve got you Trip. Enterprise is on our six.” “Exodus is a go. Give me five minutes,” said Trip. “You got it. We can hold out that long. We’ll see you in a few.” Trip cut the connection and started to move towards his next destination. **** “Sir, we have the NX-Theta in weapons range,” said Lieutenant Reed. “Hoshi, hail them,” said Archer. Colonel Darwin appeared on the screen. “Archer, if you think you’re taking us this easily, you can think again,” said Colonel Darwin. “I don’t want to fire on you, but if you don’t surrender your ship immediately then you’re leaving me no choice,” replied Archer. “You have two of my men and I want them returned.” “I have one of your men. Commander Tucker is a member of my crew. He has been arrested and, as a member of this crew, will be court-martialled for insubordination, among other things,” said Archer. “I’m not arguing with you, Archer, I want both of my men back.” The MACO Colonel had a look which refused to take any nonsense. “You’re in no position to negotiate, Colonel,” said Archer. “You’re out-gunned and alone in the universe. We can help you. Why won’t you let us?” “Because you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. Hell, we don’t know what we’re into, but we know what these Hunters did to Karavia and I won’t let that happen to Earth. This is our fight, let us do what we trained for.” “Colonel, this is bigger than just a group of MACOs being attacked. You can’t do this alone. Stand down,” said Archer. “I can’t do that, Captain,” said Darwin , and the screen went blank. “Lieutenant, target the NX-Theta’s engines.” “Yes, sir.” Reed’s hands moved quickly across his console. He paused for a millisecond and then he performed the same commands again in disbelief. “Sir, I’m locked out and I’ve detected a transporter signal. We’ve been boarded.” “Ensign, access the camera in the brig,” said Archer. “It’s not operating,” replied Hoshi. “I’m guessing we have Trip to thank for our visitors,” said Archer. “Get Security to the transporter room. I want those MACOs in custody.” Reed left the bridge at a run. “Sir, I no longer have access to Engineering controls,” said Lieutenant Hess from the Engineering station. “Helm is locked out too,” added Mayweather. “We have been locked out of all control systems,” confirmed T’Pol. “Only Commander Tucker would have the knowledge of our systems to be able to do this.” “I don’t care what you do, get me control back,” said Archer. “That will take some time,” said T’Pol. “He has encrypted all of the lock outs.” “Hoshi, we need to get past those codes,” said Archer. “Yes, sir. I’m on it,” said Hoshi, typing rapidly on her console. Archer couldn’t believe that he was trying to prevent his best friend from stealing his ship. He couldn’t believe that Trip would betray him like this. **** “Security’s on it’s way,” said Trip as Darwin, Hathaway, Fenner, Carter and Kanatova stepped off the transporter pad all carrying large bags full of weaponry. Darwin handed Trip a phase pistol. “Any problems?” “Not so far. I’ve locked out everything that I can, but unless we can get to Engineering I can’t guarantee that I can keep them locked out,” said Trip. “We’ll pick up Rush on the way. Is he still in sickbay?” “Yes, sir,” said Trip. “Check your weapons are on stun. I don’t want any mistakes,” said Darwin , looking at his men. “Remember, these people are not the enemy.” The MACOs nodded at their Colonel and checked their weapons. “Let’s go,” said Darwin. The MACOs headed down the hall towards sickbay. Reed’s security team arrived at the transporter to find the corridor empty. **** Trip and Kanatova burst into sickbay. “Hi guys,” said Rush, from his biobed. “You come to break me out?” His hands and arms were bandaged and he was attached to a drip. “Hey, Mike, Doc,” said Trip. “We’ve come to get Sergeant Rush.” “Commander, perhaps you should think about what you’re doing,” said Phlox. “Believe you me, Doc, I’ve thought about this a lot. We’re taking Mike with us unless you can give me a good reason why he should stay here,” said Trip. “I’m Doctor Kanatova, MACO Medical Corps. I’m his Doctor. Could you fill me in on his injuries?” “Doctor Kanatova, I would be happier if Sergeant Rush could remain here. He has second degree on his hands and arms. His burns were only minor but this really is the best place for him to get treatment,” said Phlox. “Sorry, Doc, he’s coming with us. I can’t leave the Captain with a bargaining chip,” said Trip. Kanatova went over to the biobed and helped Rush up. Carter stepped through the sickbay doors. “Colonel says to hurry it up.” “We’re on our way,” said Trip, and Carter ducked back out into the corridor. “Commander, I don’t pretend to understand what is going on here, but this can’t be the best way to handle it,” said Phlox. “Doc, I don’t have time to discuss this. At the moment, I can’t see another way. If you see the Captain, tell him that I’m sorry.” “Of course, Commander,” said Phlox. “It’s Trip, Doc,” he said and followed Rush and Kanatova out of sickbay. **** Trip walked into Engineering, wishing that he was back under better circumstances. He hit the emergency evacuation alarm and immediately Engineering became full of activity. Trip waded in shouting orders for people to leave as quickly as possible. No one gave Trip a second glance, he guessed that most people hadn’t been given any details about his return to Enterprise . It wasn’t unusual for a drill evacuation to be called so it wouldn’t have surprised anyone that there was no obvious reason for them to be leaving. He chased out the last stragglers, Rostov and Giardelli, telling them that he was right behind them. When Engineering was clear he signalled to the MACOs to join him and then sealed the doors behind them. He made sure that all the emergency bulkheads were in place sealing the jeffries tubes and air ducts. Not even a mouse was getting into Main Engineering, unless that mouse brought a blow torch. “We’ve got about three hours before they cut through that door. The only reason we can even do this is because Enterprise is set up to route bridge controls to Engineering in an emergency. We don’t have all the fancy read-outs that the bridge has, it’s all a bit more rough and ready down here, but it should be enough,” said Trip. “Where to Colonel?” Darwin handed Trip a padd with some co-ordinates on it. “Algol II, M class, out of the way, perfect for what we need.” Trip nodded in acknowledgement and went to input the co-ordinates into the helm control. “This department’s meant to be run by fifteen full time engineers, I’m going to need everyone’s help if we’re going to pull this off. Rush, Carter, I need you on the injectors. Major, keep an eye on that panel over there and let me know if it goes above ten point five.” Rush, Carter and Hathaway went to their positions and waited for Trip to give them further instructions. “I’ll take the helm controls,” said Fenner. “Good idea,” replied Trip, “Anna, I need you on the sensors. Colonel, there’s a diagnostic display to the right of the warp core, if anything goes red let me know.” “Where do you want me?” asked a voice, crawling out of a jeffries tube. Six MACOs and Trip immediately turned their phase pistols on the new arrival. “Ensign, you need to leave,” said Trip. “Sir, with respect, I’m not leaving. I guess you don’t recognise me.” “You’re one of T’Pol’s science team,” replied Trip. “My name is Keisha Lauritsen. I was born on New Copenhagen,” said Lauritsen. She had been working on a slight glitch in the engine control software when she’d heard the evacuation alarm. She had seen Trip and guessed what was happening so hid herself in the jeffries tube until it was safe to emerge. “Keisha?” asked Trip, his mouth dropped open, his phaser falling to his side. Kanatova moved to Trip’s side, concern showing on her face. She knew Trip had been dreaming about New Copenhagen, and perhaps this explained why. If he’d seen her around the ship, it could have triggered his memories, even if he hadn’t realised who she was at the time. Keisha Lauritsen had grown up but Kanatova could easily see the ten year old that Trip had rescued all those years ago. “I hoped you’d be happy to see me,” said Lauritsen. “Sorry, it’s just a bit of a shock. I never expected to see you here. I guess I never really thought of you as anything other than ten years old,” said Trip. “I suppose I have some explaining to do,” said Lauritsen. “Yeah, I’d say. How’d you know who I was and how did you end up on Enterprise for starters?” asked Trip. “We don’t have time for this,” said Darwin . “Yeah, right. Ensign, you’re a computer expert, right?” said Trip. He could talk to Lauritsen later about what she was doing on Enterprise . “Yes, sir.” “Okay, make sure that T’Pol doesn’t find a way to re-route the control systems,” said Trip, already on his way up the ladder to the upper level. “I think I blocked out most of the pathways, but knowing T’Pol and Hoshi, given enough time they’ll find a way around it, so make sure they don’t.” The other MACOs moved to their positions around Engineering as directed by Trip. “How long do you need?” asked Lauritsen. “Couple of hours should do it, by then we’ll be at Algol,” shouted Trip from the upper level of Engineering. “Yes, sir,” replied Lauritsen and went to work. **** Archer and Reed stood outside the main entrance to Engineering. “What are our options, Lieutenant?” asked Archer. “Not much, sir,” replied Reed. “All controls have been re-routed to Main Engineering. My men are bringing down the cutting gear but it will take several hours to get through the door. It was designed to withstand a warp-core explosion, so it’s one of the toughest pieces of metal on the whole ship. Also the emergency bulkheads have been closed across all of the jeffries tubes, and they’ve switched Engineering onto its emergency life support, which means we can’t even use the air vents to get to them. Nor can we gas them out. We can’t use the transporter because we’re locked out of the controls. Unless T’Pol and Hoshi can come up with the codes, we’re going to have to use brute force on the door.” Archer slammed his open hand against the wall. “I want my ship back, Lieutenant. Can we even talk to them?” “We can open a com channel, but there’s no guarantee that they’ll answer,” replied Reed. “What about the rest of the infrastructure. Can’t we cut some cables or something?” asked Archer. “We might be able to disconnect the warp nacelles from the engine but then we’d be dead in space,” said Reed. “I’m not sure that we’d want to do that given how long it might take to repair any damage that we caused.” “Trip knows exactly how long it will take to burn through the door, that’s why they picked Engineering and not the bridge. He knew how to re-route the controls and he knows the standard tactics for this type of situation. How can we fight someone who knows Enterprise as well as we do?” said Archer. “Bridge to Archer,” said the voice of Ensign Mayweather. “Go ahead Ensign, I hope you have good news,” said Archer. “Sorry, sir. We’re changing heading. If I’m reading this right then we’re on course for the Algol system.” “What’s in the Algol system?” asked Archer. “That’s just it, sir. There’s nothing. I can’t think of a good reason why they’d want to go there,” replied Mayweather. “How long before we get there?” “About two hours. We just went to warp five,” said Mayweather. “I hope the Commander knows what he’s doing,” said Reed, quietly. “There’s got to be something that we’re missing here,” said Archer. “Get me all the information that we have on Algol.” “Yes, sir. Mayweather out.” Two Security officers had set up the cutting gear and were beginning to slowly burn their way through the door into Engineering. Archer moved back to the com. “Archer to Engineering. Colonel Darwin, we have things to discuss.” “This is Darwin . You and I have nothing to discuss, Captain.” “I want my ship back, Colonel, and I will use any method at my disposal to get it.” “How many of your people got hurt when we took over Engineering? I want you to give me the numbers.” “There were no casualties and you already know that. It doesn’t put you in the right, just because you performed a bloodless coup,” replied Archer. “You’re stealing Starfleet property; my Starfleet property. Why are you taking us to Algol? What’s there?” “Nothing is there, Captain. That’s why we’re going. Now if you’ll excuse me, we’re kind of busy in here.” “Trip, if you’re listening to this, then you know that this is your last chance to set things right. You can’t let Darwin do this,” said Archer, desperately. “Sorry, Captain, but you didn’t give me a choice,” said Trip. “You’ll get Enterprise back once we get to Algol, I can promise you that.” “That isn’t good enough, Trip. You’ve dug yourself a big enough hole, isn’t it time that you climbed out of it. I know that you think you’re doing this to protect us, but this isn’t the way.” “I’ve got some more digging to do yet,” replied Trip and cut the connection. Archer closed his fist in exasperation and anger. From Trip’s final comment Archer could expect the situation to get worse before it got better. He didn’t understand why Trip was doing this to him. One thing was certain, his and Trip’s relationship had changed for the worst, permanently. “T’Pol to Archer.” “Go ahead, T’Pol,” said Archer. “Captain, one of my Science team is missing. Ensign Lauritsen is unaccounted for,” said T’Pol. “She hasn’t been seen since Engineering was evacuated.” “Understood, T’Pol. I think I know where she is,” replied Archer. It didn’t come as much of a shock to find that Lauritsen was missing. Given their earlier conversation it would make sense that she wanted to help Trip. Even so, he had to check, in case something had actually happened to the Ensign. “Did you get the Special Projects Unit records unlocked?” asked Archer. “Some of them,” said T’Pol. “I hope to have the rest in the next few days.” “I want everything that you’ve got in my ready room by the time I get to the bridge,” said Archer. “Yes, sir,” said T’Pol. Archer thumbed the intercom again. “Archer to Tucker, Ensign Lauritsen is missing. Is she in Engineering?” asked Archer. “Yes, sir,” replied Trip. “She’s our hostage.” “Even if I did believe that you were capable of taking a hostage, Trip, I know Ensign Lauritsen’s history.” “Sir, with all due respect, you don’t know what I’m capable of. And for the purposes of Ensign Lauritsen’s permanent record, she’s being held at gun point,” said Trip. “And even if you don’t believe that Trip’s capable of holding a hostage, then you know that I am,” added Darwin. “Have it your own way, I’ll add that to your list of offences,” said Archer. “Thank you, sir,” said Trip. Archer shook his head, he couldn’t believe that Trip was thanking his commanding officer for charging him with taking a hostage, but then that was Trip all over. This whole situation was wrong on so many levels that he didn’t even want to begin to think about it. Why was it that Trip insisted on being a martyr? Archer heard a Russian accent in the background over the still open com channel. “Colonel, I have Hunters on long range sensors. ETA one hour.” “Trip, you have to give us back control of the weapons,” said Archer, glancing at Reed who was already looking anxious. “You’ve got them,” said Trip, with only a moment’s hesitation. “I’m unlocking them now. Tell Malcolm to get to the Armoury, he can access them from there. I can’t unlock the bridge controls without giving you everything else as well.” Reed gave Archer a nod to show that he’d understood, and then left for the Armoury at a run. All Archer could do at the moment was wait and hope that his officers came through. He left the corridor outside Engineering and made his way back towards the bridge. At least he could see the enemy approaching from there, here he could do nothing. He was also well aware that didn’t have long to read the pile of padds that should be waiting on his desk and work out what was going on here. **** “It’s going to be close,” said Trip. “The Hunters are going to reach us about twenty minutes before we reach the planet.” “When will we be in transporter range?” asked Darwin . “About ten minutes after the Hunters arrive,” said Trip. “We’re not going to be able to get to the transporter room so I’m going to have to rig a site to site transport. That increases our odds of failure by a fair bit. Site to site transports are still on the risky side and we’d be at the very limit of the transporter’s range.” “If it can be done, that’s all I need to know,” said Darwin. “It can be done, but I’ll have to beam you down one by one or we could overload it. Even then it’s taking a big risk,” said Trip. “It’s no bigger risk than we’re taking anyway,” said Darwin. “Are you sure this is going to work?” asked Trip. “No, but what other options do we have?” replied Darwin. Trip nodded miserably and turned back to his readouts. **** “There are five planets in the Algol system. Only Algol II is an M class planet. It has an Earth type atmosphere, rocky terrain and fifty percent of it’s surface is covered by water. There are no signs of intelligent life in the system,” said T’Pol. Archer sat at the desk in his ready room while T’Pol briefed him on what she had found. Hoshi was still working on cracking Trip’s codes and didn’t think she’d be finished for at least another couple of hours. “Let’s assume that they’re going to Algol II. There has to be something unusual about this planet,” said Archer. “Algol II does have some unusual aspects. It has a particularly high magnetic field surrounding it which is thought to be caused by a high density of iron in it’s core and crust.” “What would that mean?” “It will make it very difficult to track the MACOs if they reach the surface of the planet. The magnetic field will interfere with our sensors and perhaps those of the Hunters also.” “So it’s a planet with a built in tactical advantage,” said Archer. This sounded exactly like the kind of place that Darwin would want to hide out on. “That would be one interpretation,” said T’Pol. “I bet that’s exactly how Darwin is looking at it,” said Archer. “I have a feeling that this was always plan C. It’s well within range for the NX-Theta from Water’s Edge.” “Indeed,” said T’Pol. “Special Projects have been here before.” “You found something in the files?” asked Archer. “Colonel Darwin used Algol II’s magnetic field to hide the Thak Tikh whilst running from a Klingon bird of prey. The Klingon sensors were unable to penetrate the field and failed to find the Thak Tikh.” “Which is exactly what they’re planning this time,” said Archer. “There are many other missions listed in the files,” said T’Pol. “They make for interesting reading. I have left the most pertinent files open for you.” Archer looked up at T’Pol. Her face was completely calm but Archer recognised the look. There was something that Archer needed to see. T’Pol didn’t say anything else, she turned and left. Archer opened the first file. “Kellaris” was the title. He read the file and then he read the medical report at the end, detailing the injuries of one Lieutenant Tucker. It made for uncomfortable reading. Trip had been tortured. Colonel Darwin had rescued him just before he could be executed and then destroyed the prison camp where Trip had been held. Trip had recovered from his injuries but Kanatova had made a note that she wasn’t qualified to pronounce on his mental state after such an ordeal. However, one thing was clear, Trip owed Darwin his life. Archer opened the next file that T’Pol had left for him and read about another mission in which Trip had been pinned down, under fire, and Lieutenant Dempsey had risked his own life to reach Trip. The next file told how Lieutenant Fenner had risked his life to pilot the shuttle in dangerous conditions in order to rescue Trip and Corporal Rush from the surface of a disintegrating asteroid. He found the file on New Copenhagen next, he already knew that story but this gave him another angle on Trip’s heroism. He read six files and in every one Trip either rescued one of the MACOs or they got him out of a tight situation. There were often medical reports attached showing that their victories hadn’t been easy. Kanatova, the MACO medic, had treated all the MACOs at one point or another, sometimes under fire, often saving their lives. Archer knew what T’Pol was trying to tell him. Humans didn’t go through everything that Special Projects had been through and not come away changed. They had worked together for three years, some of them for longer than that. They had all depended on each other, trusted one another unconditionally. That bond was not easily forgotten. It was a bond forged by war and death. It scared him a little that this was part of his friend’s life, a part that he’d never even guessed at until Colonel Darwin had come on board Enterprise a few months ago. If war and death had brought Trip closer to the MACOs, then the Delphic Expanse had only driven a wedge between Archer and Trip. As Captain he had tried to distance himself, fearing the pain that came with loss, knowing how he would feel if Trip was one of the casualties of his crusade against the Xindi. Archer hadn’t been there to comfort Trip in his grief or even to notice how exhausted his Chief Engineer had become. When he’d been forced to create Sim to save Trip he’d told himself that it was for the good of the mission, not because Trip was his friend. He’d really believed that at the time. Once they were back home he’d promised himself that he’d try to be a better friend. Then Darwin had come aboard and everything that he thought he knew about Trip had gone out of the window. It had taken Trip lying critically ill, wounded by a Klingon knife, to remind him just how important this friendship was to him. This time Trip hadn’t just kept things from Archer, he’d actively disobeyed an order from his Captain. Trip had known what that would mean when he did it, and Archer had no doubt that Trip thought he was doing the right thing. Archer had often told Trip that his impulsiveness would get him into trouble and it had on several occasions, but over the years he’d watched his friend mature and he’d thought Trip had learnt his lesson. It was as if every time Colonel Darwin stepped aboard, Trip’s common sense went out the airlock. Archer knew that there had to be some way out of this that wouldn’t mean he’d have to court martial his friend of twelve years, but he couldn’t see what it was and he was running out of time. “Captain to the Bridge,” the com sounded. Archer stepped out of his ready room onto the bridge and saw a small fleet of black ships on the screen. A shudder ran through Enterprise as one of the Hunters opened fire on the Starfleet vessel. Mayweather sat at the helm controls, unable to do anything other than watch as Enterprise began a pattern of evasive manoeuvres. “Archer to Reed, whenever you’re ready, Lieutenant.” “Acknowledged,” replied the Armoury Officer from the bowels of Enterprise. The Hunters fired but failed to get a lock on Enterprise , their shots harmlessly passing down the starboard side of their target. Enterprise ’s phase cannon’s opened fire in return, Tactical alert automatically coming into effect. A game of chase me ensued, the Hunters were swift but whoever was piloting Enterprise kept them out of harms way. Mayweather was silently respectful of the MACO pilot’s skills, understanding the difficulties of the evasive pattern that they had chosen. It was several minutes before another hit landed on Enterprise. “Captain, I’m detecting transporter signals in Engineering. We’re being boarded,” said T’Pol. “Hoshi, any luck with those codes?” asked Archer. Hoshi’s eyes said it all as she looked at her Captain with desperation and annoyance at her own inability to solve the puzzle. “Sorry, sir. Every time I find a way around them another block appears. They keep moving the goal posts.” “Keep at it. There has to be a way through,” said Archer. “It looks like Trip and the MACOs are on their own. Let’s hope that they can handle it. T’Pol you’re with me, we’re going to Engineering.” T’Pol merely nodded and followed her commanding officer into the turbo lift. **** The air shimmered in Engineering. “Twenty five minutes to the planet,” called Fenner. “Damn it, they’re early,” replied Trip, as the Hunters appeared. “Stations!” shouted Darwin, grabbing one of the weapons that the MACOs had brought with them and throwing it to Carter, before pulling a second fearsome looking gun from the black bag that he was carrying. Kanatova had reached one of the other weapon stashes, but Fenner and Rush were making do with the phase rifles that they had been carrying. Hathaway was doing her best to get to one of the other black weaponry bags but had come under fire, she was now edging towards he goal slowly and stubbornly. Trip kept working for as long as he could, but it didn’t take long for the Hunters to notice him and target his position. He drew his phaser and crouched down so that he could draw an angle on the Hunter that had materialised just by the warp core. He just prayed that a stray phaser blast or bullet didn’t hit anything important on the warp core and send them all up in smoke. This was a dangerous place to have a fire fight and the sooner he could get everyone out of here the better. The MACOs had now all taken cover and were firing on the Hunters, for all the good it was doing. The Hunters were slowing down but so far not stopping. “Keisha!” shouted Trip. The young Ensign was ducked down behind a console but she didn’t have a weapon. Kanatova had spotted the problem as well and was doing her best to cover Ensign Lauritsen while Colonel Darwin tried to reach her. Trip saw Darwin make a dive behind the console where Keisha was hidden and knew that the Colonel would protect her. Meanwhile Major Hathaway had reached their weapon stash and was pulling out a particularly nasty looking piece of equipment. Trip recognised it instantly. “Ellen!” Trip shouted, he had to stop her from firing. If she fired the weapon she was holding in the confines of Engineering then it would do a hell of a lot of damage and not necessarily in the right places. He got her attention and then used hand signals to explain to her not to fire until he gave her the word. He then left his hiding place on the walkway, slid down the ladder, praying that none of the Hunters would notice his movements. He landed beside Darwin , twisting his ankle as he did so, but he ignored the sharp pain that ran up his leg as dropped to the ground. “Colonel, I’ve got everything rigged for the transport,” said Trip, “but I need to get to that console.” Darwin ’s eyes located the console that Trip was pointing to. It was in a corner that would mean having to cross the line of fire of two Hunters. “Not a problem,” said Darwin . “We’ll draw their fire while you do your stuff. Beam Kanatova and Rush out first, leave Hathaway and I until last.” “I have to go last, Colonel. I’m the only one who knows how to work the controls,” said Trip. “Okay, if that’s the only way it can be done,” said Darwin . “What are we going to do about Ensign Lauritsen?” “I think if Hathaway can fire her rocket launcher just before she beams out, that should be enough of a distraction to let me and Keisha make a clean get away. Keisha can climb into a Jeffries tube and then when we’re gone she can let everyone back into Engineering. The Hunters which aren’t taken out by Hathaway should leave Enterprise once we’re all gone.” “Fingers crossed, we’re right about that,” said Darwin . “If we’re wrong then this has all been for nothing,” replied Trip. Ensign?” asked Darwin . “You happy you know what to do?” “Yes, sir,” replied Lauritsen. “I wish I could be more help.” “You’ve done more than enough for us, now go. Get yourself as far down that Jeffries tube as you can,” said Trip. Lauritsen nodded and obeyed the order, pulling the cover shut behind her. “We’ll be in range of the planet in five minutes, I need to get to that console.” Darwin signalled the plan to the other MACOs who acknowledged the commands and got ready. “We’re in your hands, Trip,” said Darwin . “As soon as I start firing, make a run for it.” Trip nodded and got ready. Darwin opened fire and Trip sprinted for the console that he needed ignoring his protesting ankle and the weapons fire that flew past him. He reached the console without any additional holes in him and began the final adjustments that he needed in order to beam everyone down to the surface. He checked the time and found that he had less than thirty seconds before the planet was in range for transport. He flinched as a shot hit the panel beside him, but he didn’t have time to duck or get to cover. He watched the countdown and locked on to Kanatova’s biosign. He signalled to the MACO medic to be ready for transport as the counter hit zero and pressed the keys that would beam Kanatova to safety. He checked that she had indeed made it down to the planet and then signalled Rush that he was next. He then beamed each MACO down to the surface in turn. Each time he beamed someone out he knew that he was evening the odds in favour of the Hunters. He signalled Darwin that it was his turn, Hathaway would remain to set off the fireworks that they had planned before Trip himself beamed out. Darwin nodded once to Trip before the Colonel shimmered out of existence in a glow of sparkling lights. Hathaway took her cue and fired the rocket launcher at the approaching Hunters as they regrouped to attack the two remaining fighters. As soon as Hathaway pressed the trigger, Trip activated the beaming controls and she was gone, just a millisecond before the rocket hit the Hunters. The ensuing explosion knocked Trip off his feet. He was dazed for a second before he was able to scramble back to his feet and he began to set the console to beam himself down to the surface. He hated to think what firing a rocket launcher in Engineering had done to the sensitive equipment that resided there, but they’d had no choice. He coughed from the smoke, his eyes watering as they became irritated by the dust in the air. He was just about to press the button to escape from the nightmare that they’d created, when a black clad hand reached out from the smoke and closed itself around his throat. Trip was thrown against a wall like a rag doll. He crumpled to the ground in heap, feeling every bruise. He suspected that he’d broken a rib. Something had snapped in his chest and he hoped that it was only a rib. He began to push himself up off the floor in an attempt to get away from his attacker. He spat blood from his mouth and tried to breathe. Once again he found himself lifted off the ground this time by his right arm. His attacker didn’t seem worried in the slightest that Trip’s arm was being wrenched from its socket by the force he was expending upon it. “Where did you send them?” asked a voice in completely unaccented English. Trip looked into unemotional dead eyes that belonged to one of the Hunters. “Somewhere away from you,” said Trip, defiantly. The Hunter raised his other hand and hit Trip across the mouth. Trip sucked in breath sharply at the unexpected blow. “I’ve been tortured… by some of the best, you’re going… to have to do better than… that if you want me to talk,” Trip said flippantly. He suspected it would have sounded better if he’d had more breath with which to say it. “I guess you robots… don’t really understand… the concept. Not… being able to feel pain an’ all.” The Hunter twisted Trip’s arm back and Trip couldn’t help but cry out in pain. “We understand pain.” The Hunter dropped Trip to the floor and planted a kick in his side, which elicited another moan of pain. “We understand pain well, and how to use it when we need to. You destroyed many of my brothers with your weapons. There are only a few of us left, but we will complete our mission and you will not stand in our way.” The Hunter knelt beside Trip and took hold of his hand and squeezed. Trip gritted his teeth as he felt the bones in his hand under pressure and then being broken. He wondered if he’d ever be able to use that hand again, and then he wondered if he’d even survive this. He was determined that these Hunters weren’t going to win after everything that they’d been through. “I know that this hurts you. Tell me where you sent them. I want the co-ordinates,” said the Hunter. “I have another ship looking for them as I speak with you. They will be found. You’re only prolonging your agony by refusing to tell me.” “Go to hell,” Trip grated out through his teeth and a red fog of pain. Suddenly he heard the sound of metal hitting metal and the pressure on his hand was released. He was able to focus enough to see Keisha standing behind the Hunter with a large wrench in her hand. She had taken the wrench to the head of the Hunter with all her might. “Keisha, no,” whispered Trip. She hadn’t even succeeded in denting the Hunter and now she looked very worried indeed. Keisha swung again with the wrench but the Hunter caught her arm before the blow could land. “If you won’t talk then perhaps this one will,” said the Hunter. Keisha squirmed in the Hunter’s grip, trying to free herself. Trip pushed himself up against the wall knowing that he had to do something. The pain from moving was almost enough to send him into unconsciousness, but he couldn’t let the blackness claim him just yet. He looked around him at the damage caused by the rocket that Hathaway had fired and an idea began to form at the back of his mind. “Let her go,” rasped Trip as loudly as he could manage. “I’ll tell you where I sent them.” He reached to his left with his good hand and his fist closed around what he’d been looking for. The Hunter dropped Keisha. She was obviously no longer of interest to him. Trip had suspected that these robots weren’t smart and he’d just been proved right. Trip would never have been able to do what he was about to if the Hunter had held on to Keisha. Being intelligent wasn’t the same as being smart, and smart was something that you only got from millennia of evolution and being the descendant of tree dwelling primates. The Hunter approached and picked up Trip by his dislocated arm once again. “Where?” it asked. “Somewhere you’ll never find them,” said Trip and shoved the live high voltage cable into his attacker’s midsection. The Hunter dropped Trip at the first jolt of electricity, which was lucky for Trip since he doubted the Hunter’s skin would have been enough insulation to prevent him from being electrocuted if the Hunter had held on. Unfortunately being dropped jarred his injuries again. He could see the jerking body of the Hunter and smell the aroma of singed circuits and plastic, but everything was fading fast. He just hoped that high voltage electricity would be enough to permanently disable the Hunter. There were reassuring sparks being created but that could mean anything. The black collected around the edge of his vision and the last thing he heard was Keisha calling his name before the blackness drenched his sight and he passed out. **** Keisha knelt down beside Trip and felt for a pulse. She was found the beat of blood vessels beneath the skin and let out a sigh of relief. He was alive, although she had no idea how bad his injuries were. Moving Trip was obviously out so she would have to get help. She glanced at the disabled Hunter android, scared that it would reanimate itself at any moment. She didn’t want to leave Trip alone but she had to release the lock outs that he had put in place to prevent anyone entering Engineering. She moved quickly to the main Engineering control console and began typing rapidly. Undoing everything that Trip had done, and that she had then enforced, took a couple of minutes and she knew that she those minutes were absolutely crucial to Enterprise surviving this situation. She released the helm controls first and then unlocked the hatch to Engineering. She ran to the door and pulled it open, revealing two surprised Security officers who had been trying to cut through the door and Captain Archer and Commander T’Pol. “Sir, I have a medical emergency,” said Keisha. T’Pol didn’t wait for Keisha to elaborate on her statement and immediately went to the com to alert Phlox that he was needed in Engineering. “Get Hess down here too,” said Archer, to T’Pol, as he pushed past her and into Engineering. He saw Trip lying on the floor and ran to check on his Chief Engineer, Ensign Lauritsen following him. Archer came to the same conclusion that Keisha had. There was nothing to be done until Phlox arrived. Instead he turned his attention to Ensign Lauritsen. Engineering looked like a bomb had hit it and he wanted to know why. “Ensign, report.” Keisha stood to attention, her eyes fixed at imaginary point on the wall. She was in trouble and she knew it, but Trip had told her to stick to her story, so that was what she planned on doing. “Yes, sir. I was working in a jeffries tube when the MACOs took over Engineering. They forced me in to helping them.” “I know that’s a lie, Ensign, but we’ll address that later,” said Archer. “The MACOs took Enterprise to Algol II. I think they were hoping to hide out there. Commander Tucker rigged up a site to site transport so that they could beam down to the surface. The Hunters boarded Enterprise about five minutes before we entered transporter range. The MACOs held them off until Commander Tucker could beam them down to the planet. One of the MACOs used a rocket launcher to destroy the Hunters and as a distraction so that the final MACOs could get away. Commander Tucker was supposed to be the last to leave as he was the only one who could operate the transporter. I was to stay hidden in the jeffries tube until they and the Hunters had gone. It went wrong though. Commander Tucker was caught by one of the Hunters.” Keisha paused. Emotion was building in her and she didn’t want to show any weakness in front of her Commanding Officer. She took a deep breath and continued. “The Hunter attacked Commander Tucker and asked him where he’d sent the MACOs. Commander Tucker refused to answer. I hit the Hunter with a wrench but that didn’t seem to do any good. The Hunter grabbed me by the arm and threatened to hurt me if the Commander didn’t answer. The Commander must have picked up a live cable because he electrocuted the android, and you can see the result. I reversed the lock out and let you in.” “Damn Darwin ,” said Archer just loud enough for Keisha to be able to hear. Phlox rushed into Engineering at that moment, followed by T’Pol. Phlox scanned Trip and then waved over two of his assistants who were carrying a stretcher. “Is he going to be okay?” asked Archer. “He has extensive injuries, including a dislocated shoulder and a concussion. I’ll have a better picture after I get him back to sick bay,” said Phlox. T’Pol was scanning the inert android. “There are biological elements in the android’s design. I believe that we should take the body to sick bay for further examination.” Archer nodded. “May be we can get some answers from it.” Keisha found herself being hustled out of Engineering and towards sickbay by one of Phlox’s assistants. She protested that she wasn’t hurt and didn’t need to go to sickbay, but they insisted on checking her out thoroughly. The adrenaline released by being in the middle of a crossfire was wearing off and leaving her feeling weak and sick, so she decided that perhaps sick bay wasn’t such a bad idea. She felt mainly anger that her body would betray her in this way, and overlying that was concern for the man who was being carefully lifted onto a stretcher behind her. She noted that the corpse of the Hunter was also being loaded onto a stretcher much less carefully and was following the small parade to sick bay. Hess and her team were filing back into Engineering rapidly and assessing damage as they came. The Lieutenant immediately began issuing orders, as if being locked out of Engineering and returning to find it almost destroyed was an everyday occurrence. Keisha had to admire the Engineering team for their professionalism in the face of adversity, but then they had been trained by one of the best. Archer caught up with Keisha again just as she stepped into the corridor outside Engineering. “The MACOs, where did Trip send them?” “To the planet,” said Keisha. “I didn’t catch what the co-ordinates were. They should still be in the computer.” “They’re not. There was a timed deletion. Damned MACO secrecy. Which means that Trip is the only person who knows where the MACOs are and we can’t help them until we can find them.” **** Phlox had immediately had to perform minor surgery on Trip so that he could repair his broken rib that was pressing on his left lung. If left, it could have punctured his lung, but the operation had gone smoothly and the rib had been set and pinned. Phlox had then shot Trip full of pain killer and muscle relaxant before he relocated the dislocated shoulder. He had splinted the broken hand and placed the whole right arm in a shoulder immobilizer which Archer knew Trip would hate when he woke up. Sickbay was beginning to feel crowded to Archer. Three beds were occupied, one with the carcass of a Hunter android, another with a pale looking Ensign Lauritsen, and the third was occupied by Trip who so far had yet to regain consciousness. Phlox had curtained off the third biobed while he worked on Trip but he’d given Archer a more detailed run down of the Commander’s injuries. None of them were life threatening now that the broken rib had been repaired and Trip was in sick bay. Phlox had made it clear that the injuries were serious, however, and had no doubt caused considerable pain. The concussion was his greatest worry given that Trip already had a head injury and Phlox had indicated that it would need careful monitoring. T’Pol meanwhile was examining the body of the Hunter. Ensign Lauritsen had been unable to restrain her curiosity for long and had begun to help T’Pol in her analysis. Lauritsen was a computer expert so Archer wasn’t surprised that she’d want to take a look at one of the most sophisticated computers that humans had ever encountered. “What can you tell me?” Archer asked T’Pol. “The mechanical aspect is extremely advanced. Commander Tucker would be better qualified to analyse the exact specifications of the system,” said T’Pol. “It’s going to be a while before we can get Trip’s input on this. What about the rest?” said Archer. “The data matrix is also unlike anything that I have ever seen,” said T’Pol. “ “That’s because it’s not binary,” said Ensign Lauritsen, as if it was an obvious fact. “I thought all computers were based on binary,” said Archer. “Experiments have been conducted using a three state system,” said T’Pol, “however I have never seen a working example.” “It’s trinary,” said Lauritsen. “Or some people call it ternary. I prefer trinary, it sounds better. The Russians performed some experiments with trinary computers back in the 1950s. There are lots of advantages to a three state system. It uses trits and trytes just like binary computers use bits and bytes.” “We have witnessed many examples of the importance of the number three in the behaviour of these Hunters,” said T’Pol. “If their numerical system uses base three then that might explain why their computers use trinary rather than binary.” “That’s all very interesting,” said Archer, “but how does it help us?” “Now that we know that they’re using trinary we might be able to find a way to disable them,” said Lauritsen. “We may also be able to find a way to access the android’s memory and it could explain why the former members of the Special Projects Unit are being hunted,” said T’Pol. “Do it,” said Archer. “We need answers and a way to deal with the Hunters before they kill all the MACOs.” Archer was about to ask if there was anything they needed when Lieutenant Reed entered sick bay. “I think that we’ve managed to take out all the locks that Trip put on the system,” said Reed. Once they had been able to get into Engineering, Hoshi had found it much easier to crack the codes and unlock the key systems. “But we still haven’t been able to locate the MACOs on the surface.” “What about the Hunters?” asked Archer. “There are twelve ships in all. They’re ignoring us for the moment,” said Reed. “They seem to have started a search pattern. They beamed at least three Hunters down to the surface but the ships are providing air support.” “We’ve got to find the MACOs before the Hunters do,” said Archer. “Well so far the Hunters are still looking, so they haven’t found them yet,” replied Reed. Then they heard a commotion from behind the curtain around the biobed. There was the sound of an alarmed southern accent and then Phlox protesting. “Commander, you shouldn’t be getting up!” said Phlox. “Doc, they’re not your unit,” said Trip, distinctly audible for the first time. His voice was agitated, and he sounded as if he was having trouble catching his breath. Archer was already moving towards the biobed when a human shape fell through the curtain and Archer instinctively reached out to catch Trip. Archer couldn’t help but grab hold of Trip’s injured shoulder, it was either that or let him fall. Trip cried out before he could stifle the automatic response. Archer quickly pushed Trip to his feet so that he wasn’t resting on his shoulder. Trip swayed and Archer steadied him as best he could. “Whoa, what are you trying to do?” Archer asked Trip. “You just went one on one with a killing machine. You’re in no shape to be up and about.” “Where’s Keisha? Is she okay?” Trip had his eyes closed and was trying desperately not to pass out again. “I’m here,” replied Keisha, quickly coming over to help Archer support the flagging Commander. “I’m fine.” Archer and Ensign Lauritsen helped Trip back onto the biobed and he lay back, grateful for the support. “You’ve got to let me out of here,” said Trip. “Commander, I’ve only just repaired your broken rib and dislocated shoulder,” said Phlox. “I’ve also had to splint your broken fingers and I’m very concerned about your head injury. You need to remain in sickbay.” “They’re on that planet with no backup,” said Trip. He grimaced when he tried to get up again and was pushed back on the bed by Archer. “From what I’ve seen, they should be able to hold their own for a while without you,” said Reed. “The Hunters haven’t found them yet.” “I should be with them,” said Trip, breathing hard. “Where did you send them?” asked Archer. “I beamed them down to the planet,” said Trip. He bit down on a gasp of pain as he tried to position himself more comfortably, but Phlox had already noted his reaction. “Are you in pain, Commander?” “Yeah, a bit,” admitted Trip. “That Hunter really roughed me up.” Archer knew the very fact that Trip had confessed that he was in pain meant that he had to be hurting a lot. “You sustained several injuries,” said Phlox and pressed a hypospray full of painkiller to Trip’s neck. Trip relaxed visibly as the drug took effect. “Where did you beam them on the planet?” asked Archer. “Go to my quarters and get the black box out of the closet. Bottom shelf, right at the back,” said Trip. “I’m not saying another word until I’m happy this place is secure.” “Trip, the sooner we get to them the sooner we can help,” said Archer. “You’re not helpin’,” replied Trip, his words slurring together, the painkiller taking the edge off his pain but also slowing his body down and making it hard for him to think. “We needed to lead the Hunters away from Enterprise . If I’m here then I’ll just draw them back. I need to leave.” Trip tried to rise again but this time it really was a futile attempt and Archer didn’t even need to do more than place a hand on his chest to prevent him from getting up. “If I have to put you in restraints in order to keep you in bed, Commander, then I will do it,” said Phlox. It was an unnecessary threat given that Trip didn’t even have the strength to push himself off the biobed at the moment. “Damn,” said Trip, vaguely, and closed his eyes. “My body feels like it’s made of lead. What was in that hypo?” “I just gave you a strong analgesic,” said Phlox. “It’s to be expected that you will feel a little sleepy.” “God damned doctors,” said Trip. “I have to stay awake.” “Don’t fight it, you need the rest,” said Phlox. “I need to get out of here,” said Trip, but his eyes fell closed and didn’t open again. “Malcolm, get the box that Trip wanted,” said Archer. “It must be his jamming device,” said Reed. “I’ll be back soon.” Reed left sickbay with a purposeful stride. “How long is he going to be out for?” Archer asked Phlox. “We can wake him when Lieutenant Reed returns. For now his body needs to rest in order to heal.” **** “Remind me again why we thought this was a good idea,” said Rush. “Because it was either this or act like fish in a barrel,” said Fenner. A desert stretched around them, pitted by rocky outcrops. It was against one of the jagged rocks that Rush and Fenner now huddled. They were acting as forward lookouts for the rest of the MACOs while Darwin set up their defences. The wind swept across the bleak landscape and whipped the sand into swirling mists that made it hard to see far. Both MACOs were wearing their desert gear but dust still managed to work its way into weapons and clothes. “Reminds me of Faranor,” said Rush. “Arroya was always my partner and we worked pretty well together. Put up with all my whining. I was complaining about the dust clogging up the weapons and she… well she was professional as ever.” Fenner put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Now we’ve lost Trip too,” said Rush. “We don’t know that he’s dead,” said Fenner. “He didn’t follow us. There’s no other explanation. If he was alive he would have found a way,” said Rush. “There’s only six of us left, James, and I can’t see a way out of this for us. We don’t even know what’s going on.” “The Colonel will get us out of this,” said Fenner. “He always does.” “Maybe this is the one time that he doesn’t,” said Rush. There was the sound of the roar of an engine over head. Rush and Fenner pushed themselves back against the rock they were hiding under. A black arrowhead of a ship streaked across the sky above them, no doubt part of the party of Hunters that were looking for them. “That was close. They’re searching pretty damn hard for us,” said Rush. “You got that right,” said Fenner. “ Darwin to Fenner and Rush. Come on back as soon as you can. We’re nearly all set up but I could do with some input from Rush,” said Darwin. The job of setting up their defences would have been considerably easier if Trip had been with them, but there was nothing Darwin could do about that. They couldn’t go back for Trip. Beaming down to the planet was a one way street, the interference from the magnetic field of the planet meant that Enterprise wouldn’t be able to get a lock on their position again. It was an advantage that Darwin had planned to exploit but the magnetic field could just as easily work against them. “Acknowledged,” replied Fenner. “We’re on out way.” **** “How did you let this happen?” “What?” asked Trip. He blinked and looked around the white room that he was in. He didn’t remember how he’d got here and he couldn’t see where the voice was coming from. “You’ve been hurt again and this time I can’t help you,” said the voice. “Who are you? Where are you?” asked Trip, indicating the empty room. “Trip, I’m upset that you don’t recognise me,” said the voice, and the shape of a woman with silver skin began to materialise and walk towards Trip. “Antonia!” Antonia smiled at Trip, her skin glittering under the light. “I thought you weren’t allowed back,” said Trip. “You’re unconscious, Trip. The Builders let me visit you but I don’t have much time,” said Antonia. “I’m unconscious? So this is a dream,” said Trip. “The only way I can reach you is through your dreams. It’s when your plane intersects with that of the Builders. It was my punishment, remember, for last time I helped you,” said Antonia. “Won’t this get you into trouble?” “I can give you some pointers, but that’s all they’ll let me do.” “Well I guess that’s better than nothing.” “Rob had the right idea. The Hunters can’t find them on the planet because of the magnetic field around the planet. It causes too much interference. The information that you’re carrying attracts them. They spend their time scanning the galaxy for any incidences of quantum computers and eradicating them when they find them. They are even able to detect stored data which would lead to the building of a quantum computer.” “We know what they’re after. Although if they can detect the data in our heads that makes a lot more sense as to how they can track us. What I want to know is why?” “Actually you confused them by splitting the data between you, that’s one of the reasons why they’ve been looking for you for so long. The fact that none of you knew you were carrying the data probably helped too. Why they are looking at all is more difficult.” “Difficult?” “The Hunters are agents for a race of beings that don’t exist in the same way that you do,” replied Antonia. “Like the Builders?” “No, not like the Builders. The Builders exist outside this universe. These beings are part of your universe but they don’t exist as solid matter. It’s to do with the quantum nature of the universe. They live in quantum flux and they created the Hunters as their enforcers.” “What does that mean?” asked Trip. Suddenly the room blurred in front of him. “Commander Tucker?” asked a disembodied voice. “Trip?” said a familiar voice. “Why isn’t he waking up?” “It’s time for you to go. You can work out the rest for yourself,” said Antonia. “No, wait…” Trip’s eyes opened and he was back in sick bay. “God damn it!” he said with all the vigour he could muster, and immediately was reminded why he shouldn’t make any sudden movements as pain shot through his shoulder. “Why the hell did you wake me?” “We were getting worried,” said Archer. “I found your black box,” said Reed. “I was talking to Antonia. She was about to tell me what this is all about!” said Trip. “Antonia?” asked Archer. “Are you sure you weren’t just dreaming?” “I don’t know. Were you sure when she came and talked to you? It just felt real,” said Trip. “What did she say?” asked Reed. “Where’s the black box?” asked Trip, grimacing as he tried to sit up. “Stay down, Commander, you’re not going anywhere,” said Archer, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Lieutenant, turn the jammer on.” “Yes, sir,” said Reed and flicked the switch on the side of the black box. “What’s the range on this thing?” “About twenty metres. Enough to cover the whole of sickbay,” said Trip. “Okay, what did she say?” asked Archer. “She told me that the Hunters are able to detect the data that we’re carrying, that’s how they were able to track us. The Hunters are the enforcers for a race of quantum beings. They built them to find quantum computers and destroy them. And any data that could mean someone could build a quantum computer. When we split the quantum computer data between us that confused them.” Archer sighed. “Trip, this just sounds…” “Unbelievable?” asked Trip. “Yes,” said Archer. “You’re in a lot of pain and Phlox has you on some heavy medication.” “Oh so when you see Antonia in a dream it has to be real, but when I do it’s just my drug addled imagination,” said Trip. “I had evidence,” said Archer. “Your track record for telling the truth isn’t exactly great at the moment. Why should I believe anything you say?” “I haven’t lied to you once,” said Trip. “No, you just took control of my ship from Engineering, shot my First Officer, stole a shuttle pod and disabled my ship’s weapons and sensors. I’ve got a list of charges as long as my arm against you and I don’t understand why you’re doing this.” “I can’t abandon my friends, Captain, and I’ll do anything that I can to protect them.” “There’s protection and then there’s mutiny. You’re already in trouble up to your neck, Commander, don’t make it worse.” “I told you I hadn’t finished digging yet,” said Trip. He coughed and jarred his rib. He tried to hide the pain it caused him, he had to pretend to be as fit as possible so that they’d let him out of sickbay. Unfortunately the monitors gave him away and Phlox came over immediately. “Commander, I’m going to give you another injection of pain killer,” said Phlox preparing a hypospray. “No, I need my head clear,” said Trip. “No more medication.” “Commander…” began Phlox. “No,” said Trip. “Trip, you have to let the doctor treat you,” said Reed. “None of my injuries are life threatening. I don’t want anymore drugs,” said Trip. “Where did you send the MACOs?” asked Archer. “To the planet,” said Trip. “Where on the planet?” “I can give you the co-ordinates but if they’re following the game plan then they won’t be there anymore. They’re setting a trap for the Hunters,” said Trip. “What kind of trap?” asked Reed. “They’re going to lure them into a kill zone,” said Trip. “I need to get to them. They need me to set up the systems.” “Trip, you’re under arrest pending Court Martial. You’re not leaving sickbay until Phlox gives you the all clear and then the only place you’re going is the brig,” said Archer. “With all due respect, Captain, get your priorities straight. This isn’t just about Special Projects, or your petty rivalries with Colonel Darwin. I couldn’t give a damn what happens to me, but anyone else who develops a quantum computer is going be hunted down and killed, and they might not even know why. The Hunters are a god damned menace to every sentient being in this galaxy and you’re worried about taking me back to Earth for court martial,” said Trip. “I know what we’re up against. I saw them destroy Water’s Edge, and I know that they’re trying to kill your friends, but I can’t just let you go down to the planet’s surface in your current condition. I know that you’re in a lot of pain and that probably isn’t helping you to think straight, but rushing down there isn’t the way to do this. We need a plan,” said Archer. “If we beam down to the surface with no way to defeat the Hunters then we might as well surrender now. Just give us some time to come up with something.” T’Pol took that moment to draw back the curtain around the bed. “Captain, I apologise for the interruption. Ensign Lauritsen and I think that we may have devised a way to reanimate the Hunter, but we require Commander Tucker’s help to complete the process,” said T’Pol. “Show me,” Trip said looking straight at T’Pol. “You’re in no condition to be getting out of bed. Perhaps you could talk us through it,” said T’Pol. “No, I need to see it. Now back off, all of you, and let me up,” said Trip. Trip pushed himself up on the biobed with great difficulty and obvious pain. Colour drained from his face and he swayed, Reed catching hold of him before he could fall back on the bed. Trip took a couple of deep breaths and they seemed to steady him. “At least let Phlox give you something for the pain,” said Reed. Trip looked at Phlox. “Can you give me something that won’t make me fuzzy?” “A mild analgesic will allow you to operate as normal,” said Phlox. “I can’t guarantee that it will keep you pain free however.” Trip gave a small nod. “Fine, do it. All I need to do is get to that other biobed. I’m trusting you here Doc.” “It would be against my ethical code to ignore your wishes, Commander,” said Phlox, “even if I do think you are being extremely foolish.” Phlox loaded the hypospray and injected a small dose of painkiller into Trip. The Doctor had been true to his word, the painkiller took the edge off the pain but no more than that, just enough that he was able to function. Trip gently put bare feet on the floor and got down from the biobed, taking care not to knock his immobilized arm or recently mended rib. The regulation blue pyjama bottoms seemed to be the only thing that Phlox had decided to dress him in. He guessed it had been too difficult to get anything over his broken fingers and dislocated shoulder for Phlox to put a top on him. As Trip threw off the blanket that covered him, the assembled group was able to see the livid purple bruises that covered most of his upper body. Some of them had only begun to show in the last hour or so. Shock registered on Archer’s face briefly but it was quickly hidden. It was a miracle that more of Trip’s bones hadn’t been broken. Reed could only imagine how much Trip was hurting at the moment. It showed in the stiffness of his movements and the occasional grimace, which Trip was trying hard not to let anyone see. There were beads of sweat forming on Trip’s forehead as he wrestled with his uncooperative body. Reed grabbed Trip under his good arm and helped him to walk across to the biobed next to his. It wasn’t far but it was a lot farther than Trip should have been walking at the moment. “Thanks, Malcolm,” said Trip, in a low voice. He reached out for the edge of the bed to steady himself. “T’Pol, give me a scanner.” T’Pol handed Trip a scanner, which meant that Trip had to let go of the biobed. Reed was back at his side before the swaying could turn into anything more. Trip pretended not to notice that he was being supported by Reed on his right and T’Pol was hovering discreetly on his left. “I made a real mess when I sent a few hundred volts through him,” said Trip. “You did a good job in repairing the processing matrix. You just need to reconnect his sensory organs. It’s a package deal, he won’t reactivate if we can’t get those working again. We can forget the rest of the body though, the motor centres are fried. What can you tell me about the central processor?” “Ensign Lauritsen is best qualified to report on that,” said T’Pol. Ensign Lauritsen stepped up to the biobed to report her findings. “The system is based on trinary rather than binary. I believe that this is one of the master control units. Each control unit can manage five other slave units. Yet another instance of threes in their operation. From what I’ve been able to discover, five is the optimal number but they can control more if necessary. I think that there’s another master controller out there given the numbers of Hunters that we’ve been dealing with.” “Never thought I’d see a trinary system,” said Trip. “That makes things a bit more interesting.” “Can you fix it?” asked Archer. “No,” said Trip, “but I can put enough back together that we can get it talking. Maybe even find a way to get it communicating with the other Hunters.” “I’ve been attempting to devise a way to download the data from the central processor into our systems, however I have yet to find a way to link the two technologies. They are basically incompatible,” said T’Pol. “Yeah, we’re not going to be able to do this the easy way,” said Trip. “But maybe we could find a way to use this Hunter against the others.” Lauritsen looked up at Trip. “A virus?” asked Lauritsen. “My thoughts exactly,” said Trip. “But we’ll need to get this Hunter in communication range of the others,” said Lauritsen. “And get it working well enough for it to be able to broadcast signals to them.” “All it has to be able to do is connect to the other androids,” said Trip. “Looks like we don’t have much in the way of range, the amplifier’s shot to hell and I can’t see us repairing it.” “But then how are we going to get it close enough to them,” said Lauritsen. “Well they’re looking for the MACOs. We just have to find them first and take our friend here with us,” said Trip. “Which means I have to go down to the surface.” “No, absolutely not. You can tell us the MACOs last known position and Lieutenant Reed will lead a team to find them,” said Archer. “And they’ll assume he’s an enemy,” said Trip, stubbornly. “In any case, I’m the only one who has any chance of finding them. These are people that are trained in covert ops and they’re pretty good at hiding when they don’t want to be found.” “I can’t send an injured man on an away mission,” said Archer, equally resolute. “We’re out of options, Captain. If we want to disable the rest of the Hunters then this is our best bet,” said Trip. “You said we needed a plan, well this is it. I have to go, there’s no one else that can find the MACOs or that Darwin will trust. I won’t let the Hunters kill anyone else.” “At least we agree on something. I guess I don’t have a lot of options. Get that Hunter working and then we’re taking it down to the planet,” said Archer and strode out of sickbay. **** Phlox found a chair for Trip to sit in while he worked so that he didn’t have to rely on Reed to support him. He sat there working on the Hunter draped in a grey blanket feeling like death warmed up, trying to ignore the low level of throbbing pain in his arm, side and head that was steadily getting worse by the minute. Working one handed was frustrating to say the least and he needed Reed’s help just to hold things while he worked on them. Ensign Lauritsen had left to work on the trinary virus that they would need to carry out their plan. She had a tough assignment given that this would be the first trinary computer virus that anyone had ever attempted to build. Meanwhile T’Pol had retreated to the Science Lab to concentrate on finding a way to override the android’s built in security systems. Without overriding the security systems they couldn’t upload the virus or interrogate the Hunter. Trip’s part in the operation was to repair the sensory apparatus and the communication system so that they could broadcast the virus to the other Hunters. “Son of a bitch,” said Trip as he dropped the micro-calibrator he was holding for the third time. “You need to rest,” said Reed, handing Trip the tool again. “I can’t rest until this is finished. At least once I’ve got my bit done T’Pol and Keisha can do the rest,” said Trip. “Sometimes you’re far too stubborn for your own good,” said Reed. “Yeah, but if I wasn’t stubborn then I wouldn’t have got this far,” replied Trip. “This time being stubborn is going to get you court-martialled,” said Reed. “You can be a real ass sometimes.” “So I’ve been told,” said Trip, not even looking up from his work. “Why on Earth did you disobey the Captain’s orders? I’m sure we could have found some way to work this out,” said Reed. “When I left Special Projects I swore an oath, I was never going to kill again, except in self defence. If I’d left the MACOs to face the Hunters alone it would have been like I’d killed them myself. I couldn’t just wait for them to get killed one by one when I could have done something about it, and I couldn’t let Enterprise get involved and put the crew in danger. Enterprise is already damaged because of the Hunters, imagine how much worse it would have been if you hadn’t had Water’s Edge to back you up. If Enterprise had met that fleet of Hunter ships alone it wouldn’t have stood a chance. Trust me, this worked out a lot better for everyone.” “But you’re going to be court-martialled and you’ll probably never work on a starship again,” said Reed. “It doesn’t matter what happens to me if I can save the MACOs and defeat the Hunters. But I guess alive and in the brig is better than dead, which is what we all would have been if I’d stayed put.” “I can’t believe that you’re happy just to throw away your career like that,” said Reed. “I can get another job, and I do deserve the court-martial. If I’d been the Captain then I’d probably have done exactly the same thing; thrown my screw-up of a Chief Engineer in the brig. But then again if he’d given me the damn leave of absence, I wouldn’t have had to disobey his orders.” “He knew why you wanted the leave of absence, and he couldn’t just let you run off and put yourself in danger like that. You can’t just chose which orders to obey and which to ignore.” “Don’t you think I know that, Lieutenant,” said Trip. “How many other times have you ever known me to disobey a direct order?” “Well discounting our mutiny attempt in the Expanse, never,” said Reed. “Then you know how much soul searching I had to do,” said Trip, looking straight at Reed. Trip closed his eyes and sucked air through his teeth as the pain his body was experiencing made itself known again. “The painkiller’s wearing off,” said Reed. “What’s new,” said Trip. “I’ll get Phlox,” said Reed. “No,” said Trip, grabbing Reed’s arm with his good hand. “I’m nearly done. Just another couple of connections.” “Okay, but as soon as you’re done, I’m calling Phlox,” said Reed. “Deal. Despite appearances, I’m not a masochist,” replied Trip. “Could have fooled me,” replied Reed, dryly. Reed watched Trip while he put the finishing touches to the repairs to the Hunter. His face was pale and sweat beaded on his forehead. “There, done,” said Trip finally. “Get T’Pol and Keisha back here.” “While we’re waiting for them, let’s get you back to bed,” said Phlox appearing out of nowhere. “I’m fine,” said Trip. “Just give me some more of your magic juice and that’ll do me.” Trip got up, hanging on to the biobed to support himself. “Trip, for god’s sake, stop being such an idiot and lie down before you fall over,” said Reed. “You may be right,” said Trip, forcing the words out as sick bay spun around him. Reed grabbed him under the shoulder just as his legs gave up the fight against gravity. Trip vaguely heard the sound of a hypospray before everything faded into pretty colours and soft lights. He felt himself being laid down on the biobed, but it was a far away sensation. “Wow, Doc, this is the good stuff,” said Trip, persuading his mouth to form the words with difficulty. “You need it,” said Reed. “That bad?” asked Trip. His injuries had been painful but certainly didn’t seem life threatening. “Commander, you are not indestructible. You have pushed your body to its limit and now it’s telling you to slow down,” said Phlox. “Get some sleep, Trip,” said Reed. “I’ll wake you when T’Pol and Ensign Lauritsen are ready.” “Couldn’t keep my eyes open anyway,” admitted Trip, giving up the battle to stay awake. Reed grabbed the blanket from the chair and threw it over Trip. He barely even noticed and, by the time Reed left sick bay to track down T’Pol, Trip was definitely asleep. **** Trip awoke to the sound of people talking in muted tones, probably trying not to wake him. He knew that he hadn’t slept long, his abused body told him that it wasn’t nearly long enough to make up for the battering he’d taken. He was going to be healing for some time to come but in order to begin healing he needed to sleep and he didn’t have time for that at the moment. He sat up carefully and immediately noticed that a new ache had joined the ensemble. Taped into the back of his hand was the needle of an IV, obviously Phlox had decided that he needed some fluids and Trip couldn’t disagree with the doctor. He tried to remember when he’d last had a decent night’s sleep. Even on Water’s Edge he’d only managed to grab about five hours between repairs, finding it hard to sleep with the ghosts that permanently haunted his dreams. He wondered if he’d dream more about New Copenhagen now that he knew who Keisha Lauritsen really was. He hoped not, the memory alone was bad enough without a nightly cinema show. The curtain wasn’t drawn around his biobed so he had a good view of the Hunter on the bed next to his. Captain Archer, T’Pol, Lieutenant Reed and Ensign Lauritsen were all standing around the bed. T’Pol and Lauritsen were setting up equipment while Archer and Reed discussed something on a padd that they were both looking at. “What’s going on?” asked Trip. “Trip, you’re awake,” said Archer, slightly surprised. “Don’t have time to be sleeping,” replied Trip. “Commander, please lie back down,” said Phlox. Trip would have protested except he really didn’t feel that good and there wasn’t anymore for him to do with the Hunter. He gave an exaggerated sigh and lay back down, being careful not to trap the IV line. Phlox came over and checked all his vitals which Trip thought was probably just the doctor being over cautious. “I had hoped that you would sleep for longer.” “And miss all the fun,” said Trip. “No, sorry, you’re stuck with me.” “We are ready to activate the Hunter and attempt to question it,” said T’Pol. Phlox adjusted Trip’s biobed so that he could sit up and see what was happening, knowing that he’d have a fight on his hands otherwise. “We have been unable to find a way to download the information in the Hunter’s central processor directly into our computer. The technologies used are too disparate. However once we reactivate the android we should be able to question it as we would with any other prisoner. I have been able to break the security on the system so that the Hunter has to answer questions and we should be able to download the virus directly into its central processor as planned.” “Good work T’Pol,” said Archer. “Turn it on and let’s see what it has to say.” T’Pol flicked a few switches and the Hunter twitched. It went from an inanimate collection of electronics and metal to something which seemed very much alive. “What are you doing here?” asked Archer. He saw no point in wasting time. The Hunter’s eyes sprang open revealing dark pupils and equally dark irises that adjusted themselves to the lights of sick bay. Fluid began to leak from one of the Hunter’s many damaged parts and dripped onto the floor, forming a slow black, oily pool. “My designation is Hunter, I am here to hunt,” said the Android. It’s voice had taken on more of a machine-like quality than it had earlier. “Self diagnostics indicate that I have been severely damaged. I should not be functioning. I will initiate self-termination.” Archer looked worriedly at T’Pol. T’Pol was staring at her screen and rapidly pressed a few controls. “The android’s termination function has been bypassed.” “You’ll stay functioning until I get my answers,” said Archer. “Why do you want to kill the MACOs?” “We destroy all individuals who hold knowledge of quantum computers. That knowledge is forbidden and must be purged.” “Why is quantum computer knowledge forbidden?” “It is the wish of our creators,” replied the Hunter. “Why do your creators forbid knowledge of quantum computers?” “When a quantum computer is run it collapses wave forms to provide answers. This terminates those who created us,” said the Hunter. “How does it terminate them?” asked Archer. “The creators are quantum entities. They live in a continuous quantum state. When a quantum computer collapses the wave forms, it destroys the quantum state,” said the android. “I don’t understand,” said Archer. “I do,” said Trip, from his biobed. “Every time someone builds a quantum computer and turns it on, they’re committing mass genocide.” “Genocide?” asked Archer. “Essentially the Commander is correct, despite his overly dramatic phraseology,” said T’Pol. “When a quantum computer is turned on it destroys the habitat which the creators of the Hunters live in. This is probably only a localised phenomenon, but it is essentially killing members of a race that exist in the quantum state. You could compare it to the destruction of the Rain Forrest on Earth which destroyed millions of species by removing the habitat that they lived in.” Archer turned back to the Hunter. “Why didn’t your creators try to talk to the people who were building the quantum computers?” “Our creators were attacked. There was no need for them to communicate with their attackers,” said the android. “They killed hundreds of thousands of people and they never thought to try to open a dialogue,” said Archer. “It was unnecessary. The solution was obvious and effective,” said the Hunter. “Turn it off,” said Archer, crossly, to T’Pol, who followed her Captain’s orders. “I’d love to know how a race of beings that live in a quantum state were able to build androids like the Hunters,” said Trip. “They seem to have plenty of them,” said Reed. “Is the virus ready?” asked Archer. “Yes, sir,” said Lauritsen. “Then I suggest that we leave this debate for later,” said Archer. “Right now we have some MACOs to rescue.” **** Trip wasn’t sure how he’d managed to climb into his uniform desert gear. It had been a very slow, painful process but if he was going on an away mission then he had to dress properly. One arm hanging out just wasn’t a viable option when there was the strong possibility he’d be wandering around a baking hot desert. Phlox had put his right arm back into the shoulder immobiliser once he was dressed which made him feel lopsided and played havoc with his balance, although that could have been the concussion still. Phlox had once again tried to persuade his patient to stay in sick bay, but it was a half-hearted protest that he already knew wouldn’t be successful. Phlox had however made it quite clear to Trip that as soon as he was back he would be in for an extended stay in sick bay. Captain Archer had refused the Doctor’s request to join the away mission, so instead he’d given Lieutenant Reed a medical kit and instructions on what drugs to give Trip to keep him functioning. Reed had promised Phlox that he wouldn’t let Trip sustain any further injuries, but both of them knew that was a promise Reed might not be able to keep. Trip limped down to the shuttle bay, not quite supported by Lieutenant Reed. If he was taking part in this mission then he had to at least try to pretend to be able to stand on his own two feet. He was certain that he wasn’t fit enough to be going down to Algol II but he didn’t have much choice if he wanted to get the rest of the MACOs home safe. Even if it was to the same court-martial that he was facing. He was unbelievably glad to reach the shuttle and take his seat in the back. Archer was already seated at the controls going through the systems checks. T’Pol loaded the head of the damaged Hunter before taking her own seat. They had decided to keep the party small, they were already going to have trouble fitting the six MACOs in the shuttlepod and numbers wouldn’t help them against the Hunters. As had been witnessed many times, phasers had no effect against them and the only rocket launcher available was currently on Algol II with Major Hathaway. Trip had no idea how much ammunition Hathaway had for the rocket launcher but he was betting that it wasn’t enough to destroy eleven Hunters. “You realise that as soon as you dip into the atmosphere you’ll lose all communications with Enterprise ,” said Hoshi, standing in the hatchway of the shuttle. “We are aware, Ensign,” said T’Pol. “I don’t want anyone coming after us,” said Archer. “I’ve give Lieutenant Hess orders to break orbit and head home if we’re not back within six hours.” “Understood, sir,” said Hoshi. “We’ll warn Earth about the Hunters.” “We’ll see you in a few hours time,” said Archer. “Good luck, sir,” replied Hoshi and stepped back to allow Reed to close the hatch. **** Algol II was one of the most inhospitable planets that Trip had ever had the misfortune to set foot upon. A red brown desert stretched off in all directions, punctuated by the occasional outcrop of red jagged rocks. Archer had set the shuttle down at the co-ordinates that Trip had supplied; the last known location of Colonel Darwin and the former Special Projects Unit. “I have got to talk to the Colonel about his choice of places to visit,” said Trip quietly enough that he was the only one who heard. He took out his sunglasses and put them on, making his eyes slightly more comfortable in the bright light. He pulled his cap down to shade his face as much as it could and was glad for once that it was a group of MACOs that they were trying to find. At least they would have been prepared for the conditions and he knew that they’d brought enough rations and water to last for weeks in the desert. T’Pol loaded up her rucksack with everything that she would need, including the head of the deceased Hunter. Reed did the same, except that Trip was pretty sure that his rucksack contained something more explosive than scientific equipment. Trip only carried a water pouch and a scanner, and even those weighed heavily on him. “You’re our guide, Trip,” said Archer. “Which direction?” “They would have covered their tracks,” said Trip, pulling out his scanner. The magnetic field was disrupting the scanner’s sensors but Trip thought that he could get enough of a reading to work out what he needed to track the MACOs. “What about those?” asked Reed pointing at a set of tracks that led away from their current position. “How many MACOs are we looking for Malcolm?” asked Trip. “Six,” replied Reed. “How many people went that way?” “I’d say one,” said Reed. A single set of footprints led off into the distance. “It’s a decoy. They made an obvious set of tracks. If you follow them then it will probably lead you to a well hidden booby trap,” said Trip. “No, they went this way.” Trip pointed in a direction at a ninety degree angle to the footprints. “How can you tell?” asked Archer. The direction that Trip was pointing in looked just like the rest of the landscape, bleak and unforgiving. “The sand’s been disturbed, it’s not packed down like the rest of the dunes around here, which is a pretty big clue, but the terrain is a bigger one. The Colonel’s going to be looking for a good place to set up his defences and it gets real rocky over there.” “Okay,” said Archer, “then that’s the direction that we go.” The four Enterprise officers set off across the sand in the direction that Trip had indicated. They didn’t have time to wait for night so they were walking under the blazing sun, which made the going tough for everyone except T’Pol. Trip imagined that for T’Pol this was just like a stroll in the park. Vulcans were well adapted to their planet’s arid planes and dry atmosphere. Trip was determined not to slow the party down, so he persuaded himself to put one foot in front of the other and ignore the aches that were building in his body. They had been walking for about half an hour when Trip stumbled. Archer was immediately at his side, closely followed by Reed and T’Pol. Trip closed his eyes for a moment at the pain that the fall had sent running through his body by jarring all his injuries. “This remind you of anything?” asked Trip, as the Captain helped Trip to his feet and produced his water bottle for him to drink from. “I’m getting déjà vu.” Trip shook sand from his hair and clothes. “It does seem rather familiar,” replied Archer, with the first genuine smile on his face that Trip had seen for some time. Reed produced a hypospray and, before Trip could protest, injected him with the contents. Trip took a couple of deep breaths of scorching air before he felt able to stand reliably on his own and that was possibly more because the shot that Reed had given him was beginning to work. “What was in that?” asked Trip. “A cocktail that Phlox came up with. Painkiller and a stimulant. You’ll pay for it later, but it should keep you going for the moment,” said Reed. “Phlox told me only to use it if you really needed it.” “Remind me to thank him when we get back to the ship,” said Trip. “You okay to carry on?” asked Archer, a protective hand still on Trip’s uninjured arm. Trip nodded, not wanting to waste his new chemically acquired strength on words. They set off again towards the rocks and another hour’s walk took them to within sight of a large collection of rocky formations. “Hold it,” said Trip. “Why?” asked Archer. “This rock formation is a perfect place to set up camp, and they wouldn’t set up camp without a lookout and a defence perimeter,” replied Trip. “Then where are they?” asked Reed. “They’re here somewhere,” said Trip, scanning the rocks for any sign of life. He caught the glow of a laser trip wire low on the ground between two large outcrops of rock, and moved forward carefully to examine it. Setting perimeter defences had been Arroya’s speciality, but Rush and Carter were just as capable of creating a fiendish set of traps for anyone who decided to invade the MACOs’ territory. Trip knew both of them well enough to believe that he could work out their tactics, but he wasn’t sure that he wanted to risk the lives of his crewmates on his abilities. However, he probably couldn’t disable all the traps one handed, so someone was going to have to come with him. He briefly considered taking his arm out of its sling, but the broken fingers made his right hand useless even without his shoulder strapped up as it was. “Malcolm, how are your bomb defusing skills?” asked Trip. “It depends what needs defusing,” replied Reed. “Bomb defusing?” asked Archer. “The MACOs have set up a series of traps to catch anyone that tries to sneak up on them,” said Trip. “I am detecting a considerable amount of explosive,” added T’Pol, examining the readout from her scanner. “The interference means that I cannot pinpoint their locations exactly.” “Mines,” said Reed. “Among other things,” replied Trip pointing to the laser trip wire. “This is a trigger. Break the beam and you’re a dead man.” “Nasty, if you’re not looking where you’re going,” said Reed. “They’re not all going to be this easy to spot and without a properly working scanner it’s going to be difficult,” said Trip. “Are we close enough to them to try our communicators?” asked Archer. The interference prevented long range communication but short range should be possible. “I don’t know what encryption or frequency they’re using,” said Trip, shaking his head. “They would have decided that when they arrived on the planet’s surface. The idea is that if one of us is captured we can’t tell what we don’t know.” “What about if we broadcast a message on all frequencies?” asked Archer. “That might result in drawing the Hunters to our position,” said T’Pol. “And there’s no guarantee that they’ll even be listening out for communications,” said Trip. “Didier was our communications expert and the others just don’t have the expertise to crack the Hunters’ communications. There’s only one way to do this Captain and that’s by me going through that minefield.” “That’s suicide, Trip,” said Archer. “Not if I’m careful. I know what I’m looking for and, if Malcolm follows me, then he can help me if I do come across anything that needs disarming,” replied Trip. “As long as Malcolm’s up for it.” “I’m always up for a challenge,” said Reed. “I’d rather do this alone, but with one hand out of action, I’m not going to be much use,” said Trip. “You don’t need to justify it, Trip. You obviously can’t do it alone,” said Reed. Trip nodded reluctantly. He didn’t want anyone else put in danger, but if Reed followed his tracks then he should be safe. It was only if Trip set something off and Reed had to get out of the way quickly that he might be in trouble, but hopefully that wouldn’t happen. “Be careful,” said Archer. “Careful is my middle name,” said Trip, flippantly. “You know the drill, Malcolm. Follow my footsteps exactly and don’t touch anything unless I give you the go ahead.” “Understood,” replied Reed. Trip took a deep breath and stepped over the laser trip wire. He had already checked to make sure that he wouldn’t be stepping on a mine. Either Carter was getting soft or the laser trip wire had been a bit too obvious. Trip wondered what it was really hiding. Then he spotted the second laser, this one at waist height and much better hidden than the first. Under the line of the laser the sand was disturbed and Trip would have bet his life that a mine was hidden there. The laser was at an inviting height for someone to crawl under it rather than going over it. “Malcolm, there’s a second laser here at about waist height, it’s too high to climb over. I’m going to step under it, but there’s a mine just below the line of the laser so think carefully where you put your feet.” Reed met Trip’s eyes as he looked over his shoulder. Trip traced out the outline of the mine in the sand so that Reed would know where to avoid. Trip carefully positioned his feet and ducked down under the level of the laser. “I’m going to kill Carter when I get hold of him,” Trip mumbled to himself as he crouched down and shuffled awkwardly forward. Reed followed him carefully. They walked carefully through a winding passage created by large outcropping of rock, Reed stepping exactly where Trip walked. A series of laser trip wires kept them on their toes but Trip got the impression that this wasn’t the main event. It was all far too easy to circumvent. The reached the end of passage and the terrain opened out again before another range of rocks began a few metres away. Trip stood and surveyed the field of sand in front of him. It was pitted with indentations and hillocks, there could be mines anywhere and they would be completely hidden. There was a pattern to any minefield that was laid, it was essential to know where you had planted your own mines in case you had to go back through the minefield. Trip just had to work out what pattern this one had been laid on. “Let me guess, you’re standing in front of a minefield,” said Reed from behind Trip. “Oh yes,” said Trip with a sigh. “Open area, nowhere to place laser trips, natural undulations in the terrain, it’s a perfect spot for a minefield.” “Your friend Corporal Rush, I assume.” “Maybe. You and he would get on well. You both like blowing things up.” “I’d rather not be the one who gets blown up,” replied Reed. “Yeah, me too,” said Trip. “The only thing in our favour is that the field is laid to a pattern.” “And you know the pattern?” “No.” “How many possible patterns are there?” “Twenty official patterns.” “So what do we do?” “You wait here,” said Trip, lifting his foot to take a step. “What are you doing!” shouted Reed. “Narrowing the possibilities,” said Trip and put his foot down gently. “This is a live minefield! Are you mad?” Trip crouched down on the ground slowly, compensating for his poor balance due to his injured arm. He reached forward and carefully brushed sand away from a mine that lay just under the surface. “How far apart do you place anti-personnel mines, Malcolm?” asked Trip. “A metre,” replied Reed. Trip drew a line in the sand around the mine and stepped over it. “That’s Starfleet protocol, right?” “Yes,” said Reed. “Why do you ask?” “Because Carter left the MACOs to become a Starfleet Armoury Officer, so he’d know that,” said Trip. “You’re standing in a minefield and you’re trying to second guess the people who laid it?” “Terri Arroya was the countermeasures expert. She was great at breaking into places and great at stopping people from breaking into places. Terri isn’t here, which means either Rush or Carter laid this mine field. Now Carter would do it by the book, so a metre away we’ll find a mine. Rush doesn’t do anything by the book.” “Which gets us precisely nowhere,” said Reed. “If it was Rush then the next mine could be anyway.” “Yeah and by rights it should be the explosives expert who lays the mines. Except Rush burnt his hands back on Water’s Edge,” said Trip. “Which makes it rather difficult to lay mines,” said Reed with realisation. “Carter set the traps and laid the mine field.” “I’d bet my favourite hyper-spanner on it,” said Trip. “That still doesn’t help us much, it could be a metre in any direction,” said Reed. “All I have to do is find one more mine,” replied Trip. He crouched down again and felt forwards. “If its buried then you won’t find it that way,” said Reed. “I’m not looking for a mine, I’m looking for loose sand. This is all packed down, but the stuff around a buried mine isn’t.” Trip edged forward again using his hands as his eyes. “Got it.” He felt under the sand gently and found the edge of another mine. “What do you think? Thirty degrees off North?” “Looks about right. What does that mean?” “Epsilon pattern,” said Trip, as he traced an outline around the mine. “They’re laid in isosceles triangles, which means there will be some closer than a metre apart.” “In other words, you were lucky,” said Reed. “Yeah, but at least if I’d got myself blown up you would have known where one of the mines was,” said Trip. “And it would have given away our location to any Hunters who are in the area,” said Reed. “Why is it you insist on trying to sacrifice your life at every given opportunity?” “Pot and kettle, Malcolm. You’re the one who’s always putting yourself in danger. What about the time we went out on the hull to put out that plasma fire. I told you to go inside when you started to get too hot, but did you listen, oh no. You had to play the hero.” “If I hadn’t then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You were worn out, if you remember. You’d had four hours sleep in the last forty eight hours, I wasn’t going to let you go out there alone. I certainly wasn’t going to leave the job half finished with the crew in danger. It was a calculated risk.” “Well so is this.” “There’s nothing calculated about walking into a minefield,” said Reed, angrily. “It worked, didn’t it? Anyway can we discuss this when I’m not surrounded by anti-personnel mines? You’re safe to come over and join me. Just make sure you walk in my footsteps.” Reed stepped carefully up behind Trip. “I should be able to follow the pattern now and lead us through this,” said Trip. “Don’t get too close to me in case I set one off.” Trip stepped around the next couple of mines, placing his feet gingerly on the ground even though he was fairly certain he was treading on un-mined areas. He counted his steps between each mine, walking through a live mine field required a considerable amount of concentration and Trip was well aware that his concentration wasn’t as good as it could be. Reed followed a couple of paces behind, closer than Trip would have liked but Reed had already made it clear that they were in this together. Trip neared the edge of the minefield, he placed his foot carefully on the sand and heard an ominous click. Trip swore colourfully. “Malcolm, I think my luck just ran out,” said Trip, far more calmly than he felt. “Guess I counted wrong.” **** “Actually, your luck held,” said Reed. Trip stood perfectly still, looking very worried, an anti-personnel mine just under his right foot. “How do you figure that?” asked Trip. “You’ve still got your leg.” He crouched down to examine the mine under Trip’s foot. “Great. I can’t move and I can’t stand here forever.” “I think I can defuse it.” “You think?” “Well it would be a lot easier if you weren’t standing on it,” said Reed. “I’ll just step off it then. Yeah, good idea, why didn’t I think of that,” said Trip with biting sarcasm. “Shut up and keep still,” said Reed. He removed the sand gently from the rest of the mine. Trip hadn’t set it off because he hadn’t stepped fully on the pressure pad, just the edge of the mine, but if he moved his foot even slightly it risked triggering the pressure pad. Reed gave the exterior of the mine a careful examination. The more he knew about what he was dealing with the better. “This is a bio-degradable casing. Even with a working scanner we would never have detected it. Have you got a screwdriver on you?” Trip reached into his pocket, pulled out a screwdriver and handed it to Reed. “I had to get this back from your Security team after they confiscated it.” “Even I know better than to lock up an Engineer with a screwdriver,” said Reed, as he carefully began to undo the casing on the landmine. “I don’t need a screwdriver to break out of jail,” said Trip as he wiped sweat out of his eyes. “I noticed,” said Reed. “Thanks to you I have to completely revise the security for all ships systems and the brig.” Keeping Trip talking would keep his mind off the dangerous work that Reed was doing. “Probably a good idea,” said Trip. “I can let you know where the holes are if you like.” “That would be helpful, although I’m not sure if the Captain will let you help,” said Reed. “Maybe I can persuade him,” said Trip. “I’m going to remove the access panel on the casing. We’re lucky that this model isn’t the kind that just has a removable top. Otherwise we’d have to come up with some other way to get you out of this.” “Yeah, I’m feeling real lucky,” replied Trip. Reed removed the access panel very slowly and put it to one side. He exposed the electronics below and began to examine the inner workings. The mine was full of fibre-optic wiring and Reed needed to separate out the ones he needed to cut so that Trip could step off the mine. “Did you attract this much trouble when you were in Special Projects?” “Probably more.” “I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me given how much trouble Colonel Darwin seems to attract,” said Reed. “You know, you and the Captain have the Colonel all wrong,” said Trip. “We do?” “You think he’ll do anything to get what he wants.” “Seems like an accurate summation. He’s demonstrated it several times,” said Reed, pulling out a penknife from his pocket. “The kind of work that special projects was doing, individuals are expendable as long as the job gets done. But the Colonel never once left one of us behind. He looks after his men.” “That doesn’t change the fact that what you were doing was morally questionable,” said Reed. “Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty,” said Trip. “I wish I could go back and change the way things happened, but I can’t, so I just have to live with them and so does the Colonel. He did what he did because he thought it would help keep Earth safe and you can’t fault him for that.” “No, I suppose not. But there are other ways,” said Reed. “I’m going to cut the wires now. This isn’t the kind of mine which can be disarmed, all I can do is stop it from going off the moment you move your foot. After that we probably have about ten seconds to get to cover. When I say go, run for that rock over there and take cover. You think you can manage that?” “I’ll do my best,” said Trip, he didn’t know how fast he’d be able to run with his arm in a sling, especially given how much walking hurt. “Ready?” asked Reed, his penknife poised to cut through the wires. “As I’ll ever be,” replied Trip. Reed sliced through the wires and yelled “Go!” Trip broke into a lolloping run, Reed pulling him along. They didn’t make it to the rock before the mine detonated and the explosion threw them forwards. Trip landed heavily on his left side and pain knifed through him. He’d been closer to the explosion than Reed by a couple of feet. He was having trouble pulling enough air into his lungs and the world was spinning around him. Suddenly there was activity on the rocks above them, black shapes were approaching them. “Malcolm!” shouted Trip, trying to see what had happened to his friend, worried that the approaching Hunters were going to get him. Suddenly Malcolm was at his side. His face was scraped and bleeding but apart from that he seemed to be alright. “Trip, are you okay?” “Think I re-busted my rib. Phlox is going to kill me,” Trip managed to get out between sucking in much needed oxygen. Reed helped him to sit up so that he could breathe a little easier. “We’ve got company,” said Reed. The dizziness finally got the better of Trip and he closed his eyes, falling sideways. Reed supported him to keep him upright. “Get out of here, Malcolm,” said Trip. “Why?” “Hunters,” said Trip. “Where?” “Rocks,” replied Trip. “Trip how many fingers am I holding up?” asked Reed. Trip prised open his eyes and squinted at Reed’s hand but his vision was blurry. Then someone else was beside him. “Trip,” said a familiar voice with a Russian accent. “Come on, stay with me.” “Kana,” said Trip with a smile. He realised that he hadn’t seen Hunters coming towards them at all, it had been the MACOs. He had completed his mission and brought Reed safely through the minefield to the MACOs. Reed could go back and get the Captain and T’Pol now and everything would be fine. With that thought he gave up his struggle to stay conscious and let the inviting blackness that had been threatening draw him down. Trip was suddenly a dead weight in Reed’s arms and he carefully lowered him to the ground. “Damn, he’s out,” said Kanatova. She took out a medical scanner and moved it over Trip. She thumped the scanner on its side as the screen wobbled. “Damn this interference. We can’t stay here. We’re going to have to get him up these rocks and back to camp. He’s not in good shape. I’m guessing that you’re Lieutenant Reed.” “Guilty as charged. You must be Captain Kanatova. You should know that he has prior injuries. He mentioned that he thought he’d re-broken a rib he cracked earlier.” “Trip has never been good at taking care of himself,” sighed Kanatova. Another MACO dropped down beside Kanatova, except that this one was wearing a Starfleet desert uniform and carrying a phase rifle. “We should get moving, it’s going to take us a while to get Trip out of here.” “Lieutenant Carter meet Lieutenant Reed,” said Kanatova. The two Lieutenants exchanged nods of acknowledgement. “Captain Archer and Commander T’Pol are waiting on the other side of the minefield. I need to go back and get them,” said Reed. “You two get Trip back to base, I’ll go and collect Captain Archer and Commander T’Pol. I know the minefield better than you,” said Carter. “Makes sense,” said Reed. “We’ll see you back at the base.” Carter nodded and set off back through the minefield. Reed could make out James Fenner at the top of the ridge of rocks. He began to abseil down with a coil of rope over his shoulder. “Hi Lieutenant, how you doing?” asked Fenner as he dropped to the ground. “Better than Trip,” said Reed. “Let’s get him roped up and out of here,” said Kanatova. “Yes, Ma’am,” replied Fenner and began to loop rope around Trip to keep him secure for the climb. “Once we’re back at base, I’ll take a look at those scrapes. It’s easy to pick up an infection out here,” said Kanatova to Reed. “I’m fine,” said Reed. “I didn’t ask you how you were, Lieutenant,” replied Kanatova. “Now help me with Trip.” Reed remembered Trip telling him about Kanatova’s approach to medicine. If you weren’t sick she had no time for you, but if you were sick or injured then she expected no nonsense. You told her where it hurt and she didn’t take kindly to people hiding their symptoms. She had a job to do and she would do it efficiently. In other words a typical MACO medic who’d had to adapt to the peculiar situation of being the doctor to a group of black ops nutcases who considered getting injured an occupational hazard. Kanatova and Reed manoeuvred Trip so that he was against rocks. Fenner began his climb, when he got to the top he began to winch Trip up. Kanatova and Reed guided Trip as they made the short climb up the rock face, ensuring that he didn’t scrape against the jagged edges. It was a much easier task carrying Trip down the shallow slope on the other side of the cliff that led down to the MACO’s camp. Tents had been set up with equipment that Reed recognised as automatic weapons systems and control devices. “Help me get Trip in here,” said Kanatova, indicating a tent with a cot and medical supplies laid out. “You came prepared,” said Reed as he and Fenner deposited Trip gently on the cot. “Of course,” said Kanatova. “We used to do this sort of thing for a living.” “I’ll get the Colonel,” said Fenner and he walked away to find Darwin . Kanatova tried to scan Trip again but the readings weren’t giving her much in the way of help. She was going to have to diagnose Trip the old fashioned way. “Damn this interference. Why did he come here? He’s obviously not well enough to be out of your sick bay. I need to have words with your doctor about dealing with Special Projects patients.” Kanatova undid Trip’s uniform and swore when she saw the bruises on his chest. She carefully felt across his rib cage for breaks and, even though he was unconscious, Trip still reacted when Kanatova found the broken rib. “Phlox didn’t let him go willingly exactly,” said Reed. “Trip was coming to find you no matter what.” “He’s lucky he isn’t dead. My scanner isn’t working as well as I would like, but he was right about the rib. It’s broken.” “Phlox gave me a stimulant and some painkillers for him but he’s been refusing anything stronger,” said Reed. “Wanting to keep a clear head?” asked Kanatova. Reed nodded. “He can be a stubborn idiot when he wants to be. Let me see those cuts. There’s not much I can do for Trip here, we need to get him back to Enterprise . I assume that you have a shuttlecraft here?” Kanatova got out antiseptic and cotton-wool and began to clean the cuts on Reed’s face. Reed winced at the antiseptic hitting his scraped skin. “The pod’s about two hours walk away. Given our little pyrotechnics display out there, I doubt we have time to get there and fly it back here before the Hunters arrive.” Darwin came into the tent before Kanatova could reply. “How is he?” asked the Colonel. “Not good. He had extensive injuries before he even set off the mine,” said Kanatova. “The Hunter on Enterprise ?” asked Darwin . “You should know. You’re the one who left him behind,” said Reed accusingly. “Believe me, that wasn’t my choice, Lieutenant,” said Darwin . “Until now I thought he was dead.” “You’re his commanding officer, you were supposed to protect him. Instead you evacuated and left him to face the Hunter alone,” said Reed. “We thought that he was right behind up,” said Darwin . “I wanted to be the last to leave but only Trip was able to man the transporter controls.” There was the sound of raised voices outside the tent which was followed by Archer and T’Pol bursting in on the assembled party. Ignoring Darwin , Archer went over to Trip’s side. “What happened? We heard the explosion,” said Archer. “The Commander triggered a mine but luckily it didn’t go off until we were far enough away for it to do minimal damage,” said Reed. “This doesn’t look like minimal damage,” said Archer. “If we hadn’t been able to get clear of the field it would have been much worse,” said Reed. “Trip’s body was already exhausted,” said Kanatova. “My medical scanner isn’t working and he could have internal injuries that I don’t even know about. We need to get him back to Enterprise . I’d be happier if he was conscious but I don’t want to give him another stimulant on top of what he’s already taken.” “Let him sleep,” said Archer. “He’s done his job by getting us here.” “And why exactly are you here?” asked Darwin . “We have brought a way to defeat the Hunters,” said T’Pol. “I thought your primary mission was to drag us all back for court-martial,” said Darwin . “Trip got out of his hospital bed to come down here and rescue you,” said Archer. “I’m beginning to wonder why he wastes his loyalty on you. T’Pol, explain what we’ve got.” “We have developed a virus that will destroy the Hunters,” said T’Pol. “We have in our possession the head of the Hunter that Commander Tucker disabled.” “Trip disabled a Hunter on his own?” asked Darwin. “He electrocuted it,” said T’Pol, matter-of-factly. “After it had nearly killed him,” added Reed bitterly. T’Pol ignored Reed’s comment and continued on. “We were able to determine that the Hunter used a trinary operating system and develop a computer virus. We believe the virus will disable all the other Hunters, if we can bring them into communications range.” “And by bring them into communications range you mean?” asked Darwin. “They need to be within a kilometre of the infected Hunter,” replied T’Pol. “That doesn’t sound like much of a communications range,” said Darwin. “Commander Tucker was unable to repair the amplifier in the time available,” said T’Pol. “Which means that we’re the cheese in this mousetrap,” said Darwin. “All you have to do is sit here and we’ll do the rest,” said Archer. “I don’t like being the bait in your trap, Archer,” said Darwin. “And I don’t like people taking control of my ship,” said Archer. “You were the ones who decided to come down here and compromise our position,” said Darwin . “You led the Hunters to us on Water’s Edge and now you’ve done it again. Why is it that you can’t just stay out of our business?” “Because this doesn’t just affect you. They’re killing anyone who has knowledge of Quantum Computers,” said Archer. “We don’t have time to discuss this now. We need to get our equipment set up.” Darwin fixed Archer with a glare, as if he was assessing the situation. “Very well, Captain. Carry out your plan. Let me know if you need anything.” “Thank you Colonel. T’Pol, get the Hunter set up,” said Archer. “Yes, Captain,” replied T’Pol and left the tent. “You and I need to discuss battle plans,” said Archer. “Agreed,” said Darwin . “I’ll give you the tour and we can talk. You came down in a shuttle?” “Yes, what are you planning?” “We’re going to need an escape route if this doesn’t work. Now that you’re here, I could spare Fenner to pick up your shuttle and bring it back,” said Darwin . “It took us about two hours to get from the shuttle to here, I’m not sure that we have that kind of time.” “You had Trip slowing you down. Fenner could make the journey in less time and it will only take him a few minutes to fly the shuttle back here. It’s just a contingency plan, I’m hoping that we won’t need it.” “Okay, do it,” said Archer. He didn’t like the idea of letting a MACO pilot their shuttle but everyone else was busy. Darwin signalled to Fenner that he should come down from his look out position. The pilot ran down to his former CO and Darwin told him what he needed to do. It wouldn’t be hard to back track along their route to find the shuttle, they hadn’t tried to hide their tracks. Fenner just nodded at the order, grabbed an extra bottle of water from the supplies and left camp at an even jog. Archer looked back at Reed. “T’Pol could probably use some help.” “Yes, sir,” said Reed, making to leave. “You can go as soon as I’ve finished dealing with these cuts,” said Kanatova moving between Reed and the exit. Archer nodded, a half smile on his lips. “I’ll be there shortly, Captain,” said Reed, knowing better than to argue with the MACO medic. Darwin and Archer left to talk about how the trap would work. Kanatova took out sterile dressings and finished cleaning an dressing the abrasions on Reed’s face. There was a groan from the cot. Kanatova was at Trip’s side in seconds. “Drink,” said Kanatova, holding a bottle of water to Trip’s mouth. Trip opened his eyes and gratefully drank the water, choking as he tried to drink too quickly. “Slowly,” said Kanatova, holding Trip’s head up. “You’re dehydrated and I don’t have the equipment to set up a drip.” “What happened?” asked Trip. “You stepped on a mine, remember?” asked Kanatova. “Yeah, but it gets hazy after the explosion,” replied Trip. “Where’s Malcolm? Is he okay?” “I’m right here and apart from a few scrapes, I’m fine,” said Reed. “How do you feel?” asked Kanatova. “Think I busted my rib again. I’ve got bruises on my bruises,” said Trip, his voice dry and rasping. “How’s your vision?” said Kanatova. “Blurry.” “How does your head feel?” “Sore. Like the rest of me.” “How long have you had a headache?” “Ever since the fight with the Hunter. Phlox scanned me and couldn’t find anything apart from a bit of swelling. He said it should go down without any trouble.” “That was before you decided to go play in a minefield. After a head injury you’re meant to avoid stressful situations, you’re meant to rest,” said Kanatova. “Yeah, Phlox said something about that,” said Trip, pain and aches covered his entire body but he was doing his best to hide them from Kanatova. Without a working scanner the doctor had no idea how bad his injuries really were and he certainly wasn’t going to tell her. “But you didn’t listen, as usual,” said Kanatova. “He never does,” said Reed. “Give it a rest, Malcolm,” said Trip, closing his eyes. “Where are T’Pol and the Captain?” “Setting up the Hunter and talking battle tactics,” said Reed. “I should help T’Pol,” said Trip, trying to get up, but failing miserably. “You remember I said that you’d pay for the stimulant that I gave you,” said Reed. “It’s borrowed strength. It’s been about three hours since I gave you the shot and now it’s worn off. Which means that you feel worse than before you had the shot.” “I’d noticed. So give me another shot,” said Trip. “No, absolutely not,” said Kanatova. “Come on, Anna,” said Trip. “I need to be out there helping.” “No,” said Kanatova. “I’m not your Doctor Phlox. I know you. You’re staying in this bed until we can get you back to Enterprise . I don’t know the full extent of your injuries.” “Malcolm, tell her that I’m okay to get up,” said Trip. “Oh no, I’m not getting caught up in this, I’ve got work to do,” said Reed, heading towards the door of the tent and pulling back the flap. “Stay in bed, Trip.” With that Reed disappeared into the bright sun. “What is this, a conspiracy?” said Trip, with a sigh. “If I have to stay here, could you do something about the air conditioning. I think it’s broken.” “Sorry,” said Kanatova. “Now, no lies, tell me how you feel.” “Like hell, but I can cope,” said Trip. “I’d forgotten what it was like to treat you and the other MACOs. Rush has gone out into the field with severe burns on his hands, and Hathaway has a head injury but she’s refused pain medication. All of you should be receiving medical attention that I can’t provide and you’re determined to carry on regardless of your injuries.” “You’re doing all you can, Kana,” said Trip. He wiped sweat off his forehead. “I know that we’re a bunch of pains in the ass.” Kanatova prepared a hypospray. Trip opened his mouth to object, but Kanatova gave him a look that silenced him. She pressed the hypo to Trip’s neck. “What was in that?” asked Trip. “Painkiller. Nothing too strong, I know better than to knock you out without your permission, and it wouldn’t be advisable given your head injury,” said Kanatova. “I have to go help finish setting up the defences. I’ll be back to check on you in half an hour.” “Oh no you don’t, I’m not staying here on my own,” said Trip. “Scared?” asked Kanatova with a smile. She could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times that she’d seen Trip scared and now was not one of them. “We’re in the middle of a warzone, Kana, now help me up,” said Trip. Kanatova shook her head, this was completely against her better judgement. Trip was exhausted and injured, he hardly had the strength to raise his head off the bed let alone get up. She watched as Trip struggled to sit up and gave in. She pulled Trip into a sitting position, pretending not to hear the small murmurs of pain that Trip tried to hide from her. She positioned herself under Trip’s good arm and they stood together, Trip swaying a little. “You are sure about this?” she asked. “I’m sure,” said Trip. The two of them made their way slowly to the rig that Reed and T’Pol were setting up. “Trip, I thought I told you to stay in bed,” said Reed. “Of all the idiotic stunts that you’ve pulled since I’ve known you this has got to be the most stupid.” “Commander, I do not believe you are well enough to be here,” said T’Pol. “Return to the medical tent.” “No,” said Trip. “I’m not lying around while the Hunters attack my friends.” “That was an order,” said T’Pol. “Screw orders,” said Trip. “Add it to the list of charges for my court-martial.” T’Pol raised an eyebrow and handed Trip a hyper-spanner. Trip sat on the ground awkwardly. “That’s what I love about Vulcans, they let you go to hell in your own way.” **** Archer and Darwin inspected the defences that the MACOs had erected. They’d done a good job with what they’d had. “Basically we grabbed everything that was portable from the NX-Theta,” said Darwin . “Unfortunately we could only carry so much and when the Hunters boarded Enterprise we were caught by surprise. They were earlier than we predicted. We were able to beam most of what we needed down here though.” “So you just happened to have a rocket launcher on the NX-Theta,” said Archer. “You’d be surprised what MACOs count as essential equipment,” said Darwin . “These days nothing surprises me, Colonel,” said Archer. He really wanted to confront Darwin about why he hadn’t gone to the authorities when he suspected that someone was hunting down the MACOs, but now wasn’t the time. He also wanted to know how Darwin was able to still have the hold that he had over Trip and the other MACOs, it had been ten years but when Darwin called they still came running. He wondered if he’d have half the following from his crew on Enterprise in ten years time. “My plan was to lure the Hunters into this area. It’s surrounded by rocks which give us good cover and then do our best to destroy them with the weapons we’ve got,” said Darwin . “Sounds like as good a plan as any,” replied Archer. “All we need to do is adapt it.” He looked over at Reed, Trip and T’Pol working on the apparatus to power the Hunter. They had almost completed their work. “All the areas around the camp are mined so we’ll know when they’re coming,” said Darwin . “Won’t they be able to detect the mines?” “I doubt it. The cases of the mines are made of biodegradable plastic composites and have optical circuitry with jamming devices. There’s no metal to detect and the jamming prevents them from detecting the optical impulses. If we have to evacuate the camp make sure you follow one of the MACOs through the minefield, we all know the pattern that they’re buried on.” Archer nodded. “I thought the use of mines was banned by Starfleet.” “Only on inhabited planets,” said Darwin. Archer decided not to ask what use mines were on uninhabited planets since it seemed to be that they could come in handy in their current situation. “And we don’t exactly play by the rules,” added Darwin. “You’re not above the law,” said Archer. “No we’re not, but if breaking a few laws keeps my men alive then I will do it,” said Darwin . “I gather that you’ve already booked Trip’s court-martial.” “He broke several regulations and tried to mutiny,” said Archer. “I’d love to be able to let him off the hook but if I do then I’m setting an example for anyone else that’s under my command. Why should anyone follow my orders when Trip doesn’t have to?” “Maybe because they respect you enough to accept your judgement,” said Darwin. “I know that my crew respect me, but that doesn’t change the fact that Trip has to answer for his actions,” said Archer. Darwin would have liked to respond, but at that moment Rush came running towards them from the perimeter. Rush was out of breath. “Sir, incoming. Three ships and eight ground targets, all headed in this direction.” “ETA?” “About ten minutes, give or take, sir.” “Everything ready, Lieutenant?” “Yes, sir,” said Rush. “Just waiting for the word from Commander T’Pol.” “They’re nearly done,” said Archer. “Ask them for their best estimate.” “Yes, sir,” said Rush, snapping off a rapid salute, he ran off towards Trip, T’Pol and Reed. “I’d be happier if Trip weren’t here,” said Darwin. “He insisted on coming,” said Archer. “It was either he came with us or he would have found his own way here. At least this way we were able to keep an eye on him.” “That doesn’t surprise me,” said Darwin. Rush and Reed returned with an estimate of how long it would take Trip and T’Pol to finish setting up the Hunter. “They’re just finishing up now, sir,” reported Reed. Three black ships screamed overhead. “We’re out of time,” said Darwin. Just as Darwin finished his sentence the ships opened fire. “Take cover!” shouted Darwin. There was activity all around the base camp as people grabbed weapons and made for cover. Trip and T’Pol hid behind their equipment. “That one was close,” said Trip, breathily. His heart was racing and he was having real trouble pulling in the much needed air. “I suggest we complete our work quickly, activate the Hunter and get to cover,” said T’Pol. “You’ll get no argument from me there,” said Trip. “Okay, I was able to rig up a temporary amplifier but it won’t give us much extra power or time.” “You were able to improve the range?” “A little. Maybe a quarter click,” said Trip. “They in range yet?” “The ground units are still over a kilometre and a half away. At their present rate they should be within range in three minutes,” said T’Pol. There was another explosion and they both covered their heads, Trip instinctively reaching for T’Pol to shield her. Sand rained down on them and Trip shook his head to get rid of the excess sand from his hair. “I do not require your protection,” said T’Pol, brushing off Trip’s arm. “Sorry,” said Trip. “The virus is ready to go?” “Yes, once the virus is activated we will have approximately five minutes before this Hunter ceases to work. The virus will have to have been passed to the other Hunters by that point or our plan will fail,” said T’Pol. “Let’s just hope that Keisha knows her stuff,” said Trip. “I appointed her myself, her work has been of a high quality,” said T’Pol. “I never thought I’d see her on Enterprise ,” said Trip. “It is an interesting development,” replied T’Pol. “She was just a scared kid when I last saw her,” said Trip. “They will be in range in two and a half minutes,” said T’Pol. Darwin was directing the MACOs to the ridge to the south of the camp. They were firing on the approaching Hunters while Reed and Archer were targeting the aircraft. Neither group were having much luck, the armour on the Hunter’s ships was too tough to be damaged by phaser fire and they already knew that phase rifles couldn’t harm the Hunters. “Hathaway, you got that rocket launcher loaded yet?” shouted Darwin to his SIC. “Yes, sir, Colonel,” said Hathaway, hefting the rocket launcher on her shoulder. She aimed and fired. The missile impacted in the midst of the approaching Hunters. Three Hunters fell in the blast and stopped moving. “Woo-hoo!” shouted Hathaway as she watched an explosion blossom. “Major, reload,” said Darwin . “I’ve only got one shell left, sir,” said Hathaway. “Make it count, Major,” replied Darwin . “Yes, sir,” said Hathaway with determination. She loaded her final rocket and took aim. Her second rocket took down two more Hunters. “Three left, sir,” said Carter. “Those are enough to kill everyone here.” “I’m aware of that, Lieutenant,” said Darwin . “Trip, are you ready yet?” “T’Pol, tell the colonel that we just need him to get in range, I don’t have the breath,” said Trip. “We are awaiting the Hunters entering range,” shouted T’Pol. “How long?” asked Archer, from his position behind an outcropping of rock. “Another two minutes,” said T’Pol, checking her equipment. “We have to hold them off for another two minutes,” said Darwin , addressing everyone around him. “We’ve held more off for longer so I know that we can do this.” “Yes, sir,” replied Kanatova, Rush, Carter and Hathaway. The MACOs continued to fire on the approaching Hunters, slowing them down but not by much. The black men walked across the red sand, unstoppable in their approach. The black ships came in for another attack run and everyone was forced to take cover again. “This isn’t working,” shouted Reed. “All we need is another couple of minutes,” said Trip. “We don’t have a couple of minutes, Trip,” said Archer and Darwin together. They looked daggers at each other realising what they’d said. “Damn, now they’re both breathing down my neck,” said Trip to T’Pol. “I guess we could move closer to the Hunters.” “You are not well enough to be lifting heavy equipment,” said T’Pol. “I’m not well enough to be doing a lot of things,” said Trip. “There is no reason to move the apparatus. It will make no difference.” “Good point. I guess I’m not thinking clearly,” said Trip. “You should not even be here,” said T’Pol. “They will be in range in one minute and thirty seconds.” “Thanks for the vote of confidence, T’Pol,” said Trip, sarcastically. “Sorry, I’m not very good at waiting.” The black craft made another strafing run and this time succeeded in hitting the ridge where the MACOs were hiding. Trip just saw Hathaway thrown aside by the blast, before he flattened himself against the ground as the ships came round for another run. Kanatova was already making her way carefully towards Hathaway to see how bad her injuries were when Trip next looked up. Hathaway was moving but only the weak movements of someone who had been hurt. Carter joined Kanatova and the two of them together pulled Hathaway to better cover behind some rocks. Trip knew better than to distract Kanatova when she was working, they’d know soon enough the extent of Hathaway’s injuries, assuming that any of them got out of this alive. “One minute,” called T’Pol, just as another rain of fire came rather too close to their position, shaking the apparatus and the two Enterprise officers. “That was too close for comfort. We’re going to have to get this exactly right to get the air support as well,” said Trip. “I had already taken that into consideration,” said T’Pol. “Thirty seconds. I suggest everyone withdraws to deeper cover.” They had no idea what would happen when the virus hit the Hunters’ systems and for that reason everyone would be pulling back from their forward positions as soon as thirty seconds was called. Trip gave the signal for everyone to fall back. Archer fell to the ground beside Trip just as the black ships made another run. “You ready?” “Yes, sir,” said Trip, counting down the seconds. He watched the seconds tick away and then pressed the button that would send the virus to the Hunter’s head beside him and transmit it to the other eleven Hunters. The same button also activated the power pack and the amplifier, both of which had a limited life. Then he waited for all hell to break loose. Then he waited some more. The transmission of the virus should only have taken seconds, but nothing was happing. The Hunters were still coming. “Goddamned piece of technological junk,” said Trip, with feeling and then he swore with some stronger language at the box of electronics that he was holding just for good measure. The heat and his injuries were making it hard for him to concentrate but he was sure that the problem was staring him in the face. He powered down the equipment again, not wanting to waste the power that they had. At best he had minutes to fix the problem, whatever it might be. T’Pol had her scanner out and was furiously checking connections. The scanner was barely working, so Trip knew the chances that it would find the problem in time were slim to nil. “Trip?” asked Archer. “I don’t know what’s wrong,” snapped Trip, before Archer could ask the obvious question. “I’m guessing that one of the blasts knocked something loose, but I’m damned if I know what.” “Work quickly, Commander, we’ve got company,” said Archer. Trip took a second to glance up and notice the black shapes climbing over the nearby rocks before he went back to his work. He was performing a visual check of all their connections, hoping that he could pick something up that the scanner had missed. There were hundreds of connections in their equipment and that didn’t include the Hunter’s own internal workings which they didn’t have direct access to. Suddenly he had an idea where the problem might be, the most vulnerable connection that had been made and the only untested part of their set up. “T’Pol, I think I’ve got it,” said Trip. He had the back off the head of their captured Hunter. The joint where their equipment joined the circuitry of the Hunter had come slightly detached. Trip quickly made good the connection. “Let’s try it again.” He took out the activation switch and once more pressed the button that should signal the end of the Hunters. A couple of seconds passed and nothing happened, making Trip think that their set up still wasn’t working. Then the black Hunters stopped walking forward. Trip couldn’t believe what he was seeing. First the Hunters stopped and then they seemed to develop muscles spasms across their whole bodies, shivering like they were extremely cold. Their central processors were locked in a loop of contradictory instructions that the machines were unable to bypass. Then they fell backwards, inert forms tumbling down the cliff that they had just climbed. The ships overhead died more spectacularly as their engines cut and they ploughed their way into the desert before exploding in impressive plumes of fire. Trip noted that Ensign Lauritsen had done her job supremely well. The MACOs broke out into cheers of triumph and relief, something that Trip had never seen Special Projects do in all his years with them. He stood up and surveyed the scene, unable to find words for what he was feeling. Then a shuttlepod was landing in the clear area between the tents and Fenner had joined the celebrating MACOs. The heat was suddenly unbearable and the sound of blood pumping was much louder in his ears than it should have been. His limbs felt like rubber and his head was pounding. Unconsciousness still came as a surprise to him, as did the hands that grabbed him and lowered him to the ground before he could fall. **** Trip never did find out how they’d got everyone back to Enterprise, it never seemed important enough to ask about. He just woke up in sickbay lying in a bed next to Hathaway on one side and Rush on the other. Kanatova and Phlox were across sick bay discussing something. He raised his head to try and see what they were doing but that turned out to be a very bad idea. Pain shot across his skull and he had no choice but to close his eyes and lie back down. The biobed made a loud beeping noise that hurt his ears and he tried to put his hands over them, only to find that one was still bound in the shoulder immobiliser. He groaned involuntarily hoping that the noise would stop soon. He heard the footfalls of someone move quickly across sickbay and then the sound stopped. “Sorry about that, Commander,” said the voice of Doctor Phlox. Trip risked opening his eyes again and the pain didn’t return. Kanatova also came into his field of view. “Is everyone okay?” asked Trip, weakly. Kanatova could have guessed that would be Trip’s first question. “Hathaway broke her shoulder blade in the explosion and she has some minor internal injuries,” said Kanatova. At Trip’s worried look towards the Major she added, “she’ll be fine. Rush’s burns had become infected but we’ve started him on antibiotics and given a little rest he’ll be okay too.” “And me?” “You had some intracranial bleeding that I was able to stop successfully,” said Phlox, checking Trip’s vital readings as he talked. Trip reached up and felt the stitches in the side of his head and the shaved area of bare skull. “You gave us all a scare when you passed out,” said Kanatova. “If you could avoid hitting your head so much then that would help your recovery,” said Phlox. “I also set your rib again. I don’t appreciate having to repeat my work, Commander.” “That’s okay Doctor, he won’t be going anywhere for a while,” said Kanatova. “I’m convinced that the two of us together can make sure of that.” “Don’t really feel like going anywhere,” said Trip, his voice dry and brittle. He moved his head slightly and noticed the drip tube that snaked its way into a vein in his arm. “I’m certain that you don’t feel like going anywhere at the moment. I would imagine that you have a rather impressive headache at the moment. The IV is providing you with pain medication but I would advise against movement for now, at least until you’ve had a chance to recover from the surgery.” “The best thing you can do for the moment, Trip, is sleep,” said Kanatova. “How long have I been out for?” asked Trip quietly, anything loud really hurt his sensitive hearing at the moment. “About twenty four hours,” said Kanatova. “That long?” “We were expecting you to be unconscious for longer,” said Phlox. Trip’s eyes sagged and he knew he wouldn’t be able to stay awake much longer. “Nice to get a lie in,” was all he could manage to get out sleepily before he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer. “I’ll disable the alarms that alert me to a patient regaining consciousness,” said Phlox to Kanatova. “At least he didn’t notice the guards,” said Kanatova. “Yes, the situation is regrettable,” said Phlox. “I wish I knew what we should have done differently,” said Kanatova. “That is not for me to say,” said Phlox. “I wouldn’t presume to understand the situation that you found yourselves in.” “Still find ourselves in. There will always be more Hunters.” “But if you’re not carrying the information, then you will not longer be a target for the Hunters,” said Phlox. “If we’re not a target then someone else will be,” said Kanatova. “Let’s deal with the task at hand before we worry about that,” said Phlox, moving back to the bench that he had been working at before. “I think the line of research we were pursuing before the Commander awoke looked very promising.” “Of course, you’re right Doctor. The mental imaging may well be the key to the technique.” Kanatova returned to examining the brain scans of her fellow Special Projects members, while trying to ignore the two Starfleet officers that stood guarding the door. **** Archer entered the brig. Fenner, Carter and Darwin sat in the cells. “You have no right to hold us here,” said Darwin . “I have every right,” said Archer. “At least let my men out of here. Lieutenant Carter and Mister Fenner haven’t done anything wrong. Neither has Major Hathaway, Captain Kanatova, Lieutenant Rush or Commander Tucker. I’m their Commanding Officer this is all my responsibility.” “They’re old enough to make their own decisions and you haven’t been their CO for over ten years,” said Archer. “You’ve got this all wrong, Archer. At least let Fenner go.” “Colonel…” began Fenner about to protest that he’d stand with them, but Darwin held out an arm to stop him saying anything. “He’s a civilian, not part of the military chain of command,” said Darwin. “You’re telling me that he wasn’t part of your take over of Engineering?” “If that’s what you need to hear,” said Darwin. “I have evidence to the contrary,” said Archer. “My men saw Mister Fenner enter Engineering with the rest of you.” “He was our prisoner.” “I gave you the benefit of the doubt with Ensign Lauritsen. You can’t save them all,” said Archer. “I can try,” said Darwin. “If you were in my place what would you do?” Archer looked at the MACO colonel. “I would have kept them out of this in the first place.” “With all due respect, Captain,” said Carter, “that wasn’t down to the Colonel. As soon as Arroya was killed we were all involved.” “If the Colonel hadn’t set up Water’s Edge then we’d all be dead,” added Fenner. “I’m aware of the facts,” snapped Archer. “You endangered this ship and the lives of this crew, that is unforgivable.” Suddenly he realised that he was saying this to the wrong person. The person he really wanted to rant and shout at and accuse of betrayal was lying unconscious in sickbay. He wasn’t just angry because Trip had disobeyed his orders, there were other layers to what he was feeling. Some of it was jealousy that Trip had chosen Darwin over him, some of it was a feeling of deep betrayal, and some of it was concern for Trip. Buried deep under all of it was a small voice that told him he was going to have to court-martial his best friend of ten years and he couldn’t see a way around it. There was silence for a moment. “I’d like to visit my wounded men,” said Darwin. “You’re not getting out of this brig until we reach Earth, I’m not giving you any chances to escape. Besides, Trip’s not up to visitors yet,” said Archer. “And Ellen and Mike?” asked Darwin. “Phlox tells me that they’re doing fine,” said Archer. If he had been in Darwin ’s place then he would have wanted information on the team members in sick bay too. “Have Kanatova and Phlox found a way to get this information out of our heads yet?” “Phlox thinks they’re close. I’ll let you know once they have something,” said Archer, turning to go. “If you need a test subject, then you know where I am,” said Darwin . “I want to be the first one to try it.” Archer just gave Darwin a nod and exited the brig. **** Enterprise left Algol II behind it and retraced its steps to locate the NX-Theta. The Starfleet ship hung in space exactly where the MACOs had left it to board Enterprise . Everything seemed to be working, so they attached the grapple cable to the NX-Theta, Travis took a small crew on board and they towed the ship behind Enterprise . They reclaimed their modified shuttle from its docking bay. The words “Shuttle Pod One” had been crossed out roughly in drippy black paint and “Bluebird II” scrawled underneath. Once the shuttle was safely back in the shuttle bay of Enterprise , Archer had gone down to see Trip’s modifications and been very impressed. Hess and T’Pol were going over it with a scanner taking down every detail before the shuttle was returned to its former state. Archer however had more pressing concerns than the modified shuttle, they were coming into range for subspace communication with Starfleet HQ after their detour to Algol II. Archer had a lot to discuss with the Admiral and it was time he bit the bullet and put into motion court-martial proceedings. He made his way across the bridge, asking Hoshi to contact the Admiral for him, before he wearily opened the door to his Ready Room to prepare to take the call. “Sir, I have Admiral Forrest on the channel for you,” said Hoshi. “Put him through,” said Archer. “Hello Jon, you’ve been out of touch for a while and I’m guessing from the look on your face that you’ve had a difficult week,” said Forrest. “We’ve had a wild ride, Admiral,” said Archer. “I’ll start with the good news, we’ve located the NX-Theta and we’re bringing her back home.” “That’s great news, I’ll inform the museum that they will be getting their star exhibit back. How did you come across it?” “Colonel Darwin crossed our path again,” said Archer and gave the Admiral the full story from Trip’s departure to their destruction of the Hunters. “Admiral I am requesting that courts martial are convened for Colonel Robert Darwin, Major Ellen Hathaway, Captain Anna Kanatova, Lieutenant Dominic Carter, Lieutenant Michael Rush, James Fenner and Commander Charles Tucker III, according to Article 23 of the Starfleet statutes.” The Admiral looked very serious. “General Whittaker isn’t going to like this.” “I don’t care what General Whittaker likes,” said Archer. “They took control of my ship and put everyone on Enterprise in danger.” “You have my support, Jon, but are you sure you want to include Commander Tucker in the Court Martial?” “I don’t have any choice, Admiral. What he did wasn’t just a minor infraction, I can’t just give him a slap on the wrist this time. He made his choice, Admiral, and he knew what he was doing.” “I’ll start the paper work,” said Forrest. “Sir, we need to warn our allies about the Hunters,” said Archer. “Agreed, I’ll get in touch with the Vulcans. Is there any possibility that we could open diplomatic channels with these Quantum aliens?” “It has to be worth a try, but I don’t even know how we’d reach them.” “Maybe Research and Development can come up with something,” said Forrest. “I hope so because the Hunters they sent after the Special Projects team were damn near unstoppable.” **** Reed had made a point of coming to sick bay to check on his Security detail everyday since they had returned from Algol II. To most people it just looked as if he was taking a personal interest in this particular guard detail, but actually he had an ulterior motive. He knew that no one had been to see Trip apart from Phlox since he’d been brought up from the planet, but as Head of Security visiting Trip could be seen as a conflict of interest. For the past few days he had sneaked over to Trip’s biobed to check on his friend and today for the first time he found Trip awake. “How are you feeling?” asked Reed. “Like my brains were scooped out with a spoon,” said Trip, who was lying flat on his back, trying his best not to move his head too quickly. “That’s a fairly graphic description,” said Reed. “The only good thing is that Phlox is pretty free with the anti-pain medication. The stronger stuff knocks me out like a light, but then I seem to be spending most of my time sleeping anyway.” “I’d noticed. You’re not supposed to have visitors so this will have to be quick.” “Yeah, Phlox said I’m not up to it yet. I’d noticed the guard detail. Have Starfleet filed charges yet?” “Not yet. Look, I have a good friend at Starfleet JAG, I can give you her details. I know she’ll do the best she can for you,” said Reed. “Thanks Malcolm, but I’m going to plead guilty to all the charges. I won’t be needing a lawyer.” “Trip, this is your career. You have to fight for it.” “No, I don’t. I made my choices. I thought I’d left behind my past in Special Projects and I was wrong. I’m never going to be able to leave it behind and if I can’t leave it behind, I can’t serve in Starfleet.” “If you don’t defend yourself you could end up going to jail. You could make a deal, get off with a demotion or something.” “I’m not defending myself, Malcolm. End of discussion,” replied Trip. Reed shook his head but didn’t press the matter. “Did Phlox give you an idea of how long you’re going to be in sick bay?” “He said at least two weeks, depending on how well everything heals. I tore something new in my shoulder, plus I got a few more bruises. Breaking the rib again means that it’s going more slowly than it would have if I’d just stayed here,” said Trip. He blinked his eyes heavily and yawned. “You need to sleep. I’ll try and come by again tomorrow,” said Reed. “Thanks, it’s nice to see someone other than Phlox or my fellow prisoners,” said Trip, already heading towards sleep again. Reed watched Trip fall asleep and then turned to leave, just as Phlox emerged from his office. “You don’t need to be so secretive about your visits, Lieutenant,” said Phlox. “It’s against regulations for prisoners to receive visits of a social nature from their jailor,” said Reed. “As Head of Security I should be setting an example, not bending the rules. Then of course there are your instructions that Trip isn’t up to having visitors yet.” Phlox went to check on his patients. Rush and Hathaway were both sleeping soundly, as was Trip now. “Commander Tucker is in a very stressful situation at the moment, one which is not beneficial to his recovery. Your visit has at least shown him that he does have friends on this ship. My instruction of no visitors was at least partially to prevent further stressful situations. As your visit did not have that effect then I see no reason to prevent you from seeing him again provided you don’t stay too long. I think bending the rules in this case is completely justifiable and necessary for the Commander’s mental health.” Reed smiled. “Thank you, Doctor.” Kanatova entered the main area of sick bay at that moment. “Doctor Phlox, I think I have the answer that we’ve been looking for. I can delete the Quantum Computer knowledge from our brains.” **** Archer received the call to sick bay and rapidly made his way there, knowing that Phlox had either made a break through with regard to the Quantum Computer knowledge or one of his patients had taken a turn for the worse. He was pleased to find out that the former was the reason why Phlox wanted to see him. Just because Trip had disobeyed his orders didn’t mean that he wasn’t worried about him. Kanatova, Phlox and Reed were all assembled by one of the lab benches. Reed was looking baffled, while Kanatova and Phlox were talking animatedly. Archer took in the three curtained off biobeds where the three prisoners lay and the guards on the door as he had ordered, although he doubted any of the patients were capable of walking out of sick bay under their own power at the moment. “So what have you found?” asked Archer. “I believe that I can erase the data in our brains safely,” said Kanatova. “Doctor Phlox and I have developed a brain imaging technique which when combined with a targeted electrical impulse, should have the desired effect.” “I have now been able to examine all of the brain scans,” said Phlox. “It seems that the information was broken into five blocks and each member of the Special Projects Unit was given three of the five blocks of data. So all of them would have held a duplicate of at least one block of data that another MACO was carrying. All of which means that even though three MACOs were killed we can still reassemble the data. In fact six of the nine members of the unit would have had to have been killed for the Hunters to have made it impossible to complete the data.” “Thank you, Doctor, but we don’t want to reassemble the data, we just want to delete it,” said Archer. “I’m happy to be the first to try the procedure,” said Kanatova. “Doctor, you’re the one who developed the procedure, if anything goes wrong we may need your expertise,” said Reed. “I agree,” said Phlox. “I would be happier if you were available to assist with the procedure.” “Colonel Darwin volunteered to be the first,” said Archer. “I know he considers it his duty as the ranking officer,” said Kanatova, “ever since Trip told us what had happened on Karavia he has felt responsible for the current situation.” “He should feel responsible,” said Archer. Suddenly there was the sound of a curtain being drawn aside swiftly and Major Hathaway stood leaning against her biobed. Her left arm was in a sling and she was obviously having trouble remaining standing. On her face was a look of anger. “You can’t judge the Colonel, you weren’t there. He did what he thought was right, what was necessary,” said Hathaway. “We all did. Don’t condemn what you can’t understand. You don’t like us because you don’t like what Special Projects stood for. Well I have news for you, Captain, Special Projects was a necessary evil. If it wasn’t for us then you wouldn’t be able to step out into the universe with your high ideals.” “That doesn’t change what you did on this ship,” said Archer. “You’ve fought for the survival of Earth, done questionable things yourself in the name of saving lives, and you still don’t see it. You’re not as white as you pretend to be, and you’re telling me that the Colonel is in the wrong. He’s only human, we all are. You try to put things behind you, but it’s impossible with something like Special Projects. It changes you and you’re never the same again. It’s been a long journey to get to where we are now and we’re all tired, Captain. We just want an end to running.” “Next you’ll be telling me that Trip didn’t disobey a direct order,” said Archer. “When I called Red Rain Alpha that command superseded all other commands, technically he was correct to follow my order. There were some codes that were still valid even after Special Projects disbanded. Trip made some bad calls in how he handled the situation, he should have trusted you more, but his overriding concern was for the safety of everyone on this ship. It’s easy to fall back into old habits and Special Projects taught him to react in a certain way and that was what he did. We taught him to trust no one, so when he found himself in this situation, he fell back on his training. I’m not saying that what he did was right, but you can’t judge him when you don’t know what he’s been through.” “I’m beginning to get a much better idea,” said Archer. “You can argue all you like Major, but the court martial still stands. Regulations were broken.” “Now that depends on how you look at things,” said Hathaway. “Trip obviously didn’t tell you what I’m doing now.” “No, he didn’t mention it. Just that you were in command of your own unit,” replied Archer. “When I left Special Projects I decided to retrain. Law looked as if it might be interesting. I’m now with the Starfleet Judge Advocate General’s office, with particular responsibility for the MACOs.” Archer just stared at Hathaway for a moment, unable to find a coherent remark to reply with. This was most definitely bad news when it came to trying the MACOs. “Maybe we should draw straws to see who undergoes the procedure first,” said Kanatova, deliberately changing the subject. “So long as you don’t rig it, like last time,” said Hathaway in reply, while Phlox helped her back up onto her biobed and she lay back. “Yes, it was rather unfair on Trip, even if he was the best man for the job.” **** “Well you certainly stirred up a hornet’s nest this time, Jon,” said Admiral Forrest over subspace. “I’ve had the top brass from JAG, Starfleet and the MACOs calling me night and day. None of them want this case to be tried. JAG are claiming that the charges aren’t substantial enough, given that apparently Special Projects authority is still good. Starfleet would love to see Darwin hung out to dry given his previous dealings with Enterprise but at the same time their worried about how this will look to the Vulcans when all the details come out. General Whittaker is screaming about clearance levels and how this is all still classified. He’s not happy that we’ve even raised it.” “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, Admiral, but I’m not backing down on this.” “I don’t think we’re being given a choice, Jon. Maybe we’ve lost perspective here,” said Forrest. “If we reveal what this was all about to the general public then we’ll have some huge problems. People could panic at the idea of Hunters attacking Earth, and the Vulcans will want to know what we were doing on Karavia in the first place. It could seriously damage our alliance with them. Maybe this is one that you should let lie, Jon.” “We could have a closed trial. Admiral, one hundred and twenty people died in that Mars to Earth Shuttle explosion,” said Archer. “People are going to want to know how and why it happened.” “That was not caused by any direct action that the MACOs took,” said Forrest. “Captain Dempsey had no way of knowing his presence on the shuttle would mean the deaths of all those people. The Hunters did a good job of making it look like an accident and I think we should let people believe that’s what it was.” “They took over my ship, Admiral, and placed my entire crew in danger,” said Archer. “Commandeered is the word that General Whittaker is using. In fact he’s even suggested that you were in the wrong for trying to stop them,” said Forrest. “I don’t believe it. They want to court martial me for trying to take back command of my own ship?” “Well he didn’t go that far. You will be pleased to hear that there have been some noises made about the way that Colonel Darwin ran the mission though. The General was less than pleased to find out the majority of what had been going on via Starfleet channels.” “I suppose that’s something. What about the charge of theft? They also stole the NX-Theta,” said Archer. “Only three of them. They’re claiming that the MACOs were given permission, the Museum just lost the paperwork.” Archer laughed a bitter laugh. “That doesn’t actually surprise me. There has to be something that we can do.” “They know that you don’t want to let this go, won’t let this go, and they have a deal for you.” Archer listened to what the Admiral had to say and then nodded his head. “It isn’t what I wanted, but I suppose it’s the best I’m going to get.” **** The MACOs assembled in sick bay, escorted by Lieutenant Reed and two of his men. Captain Archer stood watching from near the door. Kanatova had the computer randomly select a name and Fenner was chosen as the test subject, against Darwin ’s protests. Trip was excluded from the pool due to his head injury. Rush and Hathaway were both up and sitting on one of the biobeds, while Trip still slept, oblivious to what was going on around him. Kanatova sat Fenner down in the chair that she had prepared for him. “Just relax, James. I’d be sat there if they’d let me,” said Kanatova, as she positioned a headset and attached monitors. “That’s easy for you to say,” said Fenner. There was a groan and then the sound of pained coughing from the middle biobed. “Excuse me a minute,” said Phlox. He drew back the curtains around Trip’s biobed to find his patient trying to get into the most comfortable position to cough in but not succeeding. Trip attempted to push himself up a little and Phlox helped. Captain Archer was across sick bay in a few steps and supporting Trip on the other side. “I wasn’t expecting an audience,” said Trip when he was finally able to catch his breath. His chest was on fire and the movement had jarred all his injuries, not to mention the fact that his head was still killing him. Every breath just caused him more pain and he tried to make them as shallow as possible while pulling in enough air. Archer and Phlox laid Trip back down on the biobed again, carefully so as not to cause him further pain. Archer saw Phlox glance at the readings above the biobed before he adjusted something on the liquid that was being dripped into his patient via the IV line. Archer assumed it was to add more painkiller to the solution. Phlox adjusted the bed a little so that Trip was in more of a sitting position, knowing he’d want to be able to see what was going on. Archer hadn’t really seen Trip since he had been rushed into surgery upon their return from Algol II. He took in the pale colour of Trip’s skin, the bruises and shaved area of skull. He hadn’t realised quite how ill Trip actually was until this moment. “Doctor Kanatova has found a way to erase the quantum computer knowledge,” said Phlox. “We were just about to get started.” “Who’s going first?” asked Trip, his voice weak and breathless still. “Fenner,” said Archer. “Kanatova decided to play fair this time then?” said Trip. “You knew?” asked Kanatova from the other side of sickbay. Trip smiled. “You can’t get much past me, Anna. When’s my turn?” “You’re going last. Phlox wants to do a few more tests before you get your go,” said Kanatova. “You’re no fun anymore,” said Trip. “With your head injury, I’m not taking any risks, Commander,” said Phlox. “Told you before, Doc, it’s Trip. Don’t think I’m going to be a Commander for much longer.” “I’m sorry, Commander, but you don’t get out of this that easily. I expect to see you back in uniform once the doctor lets you out of here,” said Archer. Trip just looked at his Captain. “I don’t understand, what happened to the court-martial?” “It seems that Special Projects still has some powerful friends back on Earth,” said Archer. “Consider the charges dropped. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t consequences and I’ll be discussing those with Colonel Darwin after we’ve finished here. We’re leaving the rest up to your individual commanding officers.” Fenner had a grin plastered across his face, mainly because he knew that meant he was off the hook completely. The other MACOs looked relieved but definitely not happy. Darwin caught Archer’s eye and gave him a slight nod of acknowledgement, he had a good idea of what the consequences that Archer had mentioned would be. One by one the former members of the Special Projects unit underwent the procedure to remove the information that they were carrying. Kanatova went last before Trip. Phlox supervised and then went to his lab bench to analyse all the data that he had collected from the six times the procedure had been performed. Trip had once again fallen asleep as people bustled around him. No one wanted to leave until they knew that Trip’s information could also be erased safely. The idea that one of them would continue to be a target for the Hunters, even if only temporarily, didn’t sit well. “What is the verdict?” asked Kanatova, her accent sounding even more Russian due to being clouded by worry. “I can’t see any way in which the procedure could cause complications with the head wound,” said Phlox. They woke Trip to put the headset on, but he fell asleep again during the procedure. They finished without incident. Archer had remained by Trip’s side, but if anyone had asked, he wouldn’t have been able to give a rational answer as to why he felt he needed to stay there. He did however feel relieved when everything was over. “Colonel, I need to speak with you,” said Archer. “The rest of you are free to go. I have arranged for quarters to be assigned to you and Lieutenant Reed’s staff will escort you to them. I expect you all to observe the areas of this ship which are off limits to visitors. Am I clear?” “Yes, sir,” said Fenner, Kanatova, Rush, Hathaway and Carter. Rush and Hathaway would be staying in sick bay a little longer in any case. “We understand,” said Darwin . “Good. Colonel, I’ll see you in my ready room in five minutes,” said Archer and strode out of sick bay. **** It was 0200 ship’s time. The lights across the ship had been dimmed and everyone apart from the night shift were asleep in their bunks at this hour. In sick bay, Hathaway found herself wide awake. She shifted on the biobed, hoping to go back to sleep, but suddenly she found images worming their way into her brain. Images of black streets, that she ran through while being chased by men in black, Trip running beside her and black ships flying over head in arrow head formation. She reached over to the table beside her and grasped hold of the glass of water there, raising it to her lips to take a gulp. She looked over to the biobed beside hers and saw movement that was followed by coughing. She threw her legs over the side of bed and went over to Trip who was doing his best to curl in on himself. “Come on, Commander, sit up and you’ll feel a hell of a lot better,” said Hathaway. Rush was helping her a second later and the two of them together were able to help Trip. Hathaway found Trip’s glass of water and lifted it for him to sip. Trip met Hathaway’s eyes. “I remember,” he said simply. “Me too,” said Hathaway. “Being chased down dark streets by Hunters?” asked Rush. “Yeah,” replied Trip. His memories were no longer the fuzzy recollections that he’d collected out of his hypnosis, these images were as clear as day. Crystal sharp and as painful as glass cuts. The door to sick bay opened and Kanatova walked in, followed by Fenner and Carter. The three new arrivals stood looking at the others. “You too?” asked Hathaway. “Karavia?” asked Kanatova. Hathaway nodded. “Dark streets and being chased,” added Rush. “Watching the city burn,” supplied Carter. Darwin was the last to arrive. He opened the sick bay door and lent against the frame, looking much older than he had earlier. “For some reason I knew you were all here,” said Darwin . “I’m guessing that we all had the same experience tonight.” “We removed the information and removed the block,” said Kanatova. “Makes sense,” said Trip. “I doubt any of us are going to get any more sleep tonight,” said Darwin . “It’s like it happened yesterday,” said Rush. “All those people who died,” said Kanatova. “I’ve spent all these years trying to forget what happened back then,” said Trip. Hathaway helped Trip to lie back again and then took a seat on her own biobed. Kanatova joined her there. The other MACOs pulled up chairs and stools from around sick bay. “I just don’t understand why any intelligent being would do what they did,” said Kanatova. “We did worse,” said Carter. “We never destroyed a city for no other reason than the technology they had,” said Hathaway. “Faranor,” said Trip. “Not comparable,” said Darwin , “and not our fault.” “We killed a lot of people to get what we wanted,” said Rush. “But not innocent civilians,” said Kanatova. “Starfleet will work out a way to contact them,” said Trip. “Stop this from happening again.” “I hope you’re right, Trip, but I’m not so certain,” said Darwin . “What did Captain Archer want to talk to you about?” asked Hathaway. She hadn’t seen her former CO since he and Archer had departed sick bay earlier that afternoon. “They have asked me to resign my commission,” said Darwin . “Take early retirement.” “What?” asked Hathaway in shock. “They can’t do that.” “They can and have,” said Darwin . “This was what the Captain meant by consequences,” said Trip. “They can’t court martial us so they’ve demanded the Colonel’s resignation.” Darwin gave Trip a look, which he quickly hid. “Except that’s not it, is it?” asked Trip, he’d known the Colonel too long not to know when he hadn’t given them the whole story. “He demanded your resignation in exchange for dropping the charges, and since he’d already told us that the charges have been dropped, you had no choice but to accept his terms.” Darwin didn’t confirm anything but from the look on his face, Trip knew that he had it right. “Sir, if you want to fight this then I can put together a case,” said Hathaway. “No, I can’t take this to court,” said Darwin . “If any of what we’ve just discussed came out then it would be incredibly damaging. They can’t touch you, but I can’t touch them. It’s a fair exchange, boys and girls. This way you all get to keep your careers but they get their scapegoat.” “It’s not fair, sir,” said Carter. “No, it isn’t, but whoever said that life was fair?” “Being a MACO is your life, sir,” said Trip. “Was my life. I’ll do what any good MACO does when faced with a tough situation, I’ll adapt. Just like I taught all of you to do. Anyway, I need coffee, or at least what passes for coffee around here. I’m going to the mess hall.” The other MACOs watched Darwin leave and for a long moment no one spoke. “What do you think he’ll do?” asked Trip. “He’ll work something out,” said Hathaway. “He always does.” The gathering in sick bay broke up about half an hour later and the MACOs either followed their former CO to the mess hall or back to their beds to attempt to get some sleep before the morning. Trip found it hard to get back to sleep, there were so many things running around his head. He still couldn’t believe that Darwin was prepared to resign without even a fight, but then he himself hadn’t wanted to contest any of the charges against him. Perhaps that was why Darwin was giving up so easily, but then they were all tired of fighting. There had to be an end somewhere. **** Enterprise continued on its way back to Earth, a journey which would take them a month. After two weeks in sick bay, Trip was climbing the walls and ready to leave. Phlox had allowed him visitors a few days after the successful deletion procedure. After that he’d had a nearly constant stream of people coming to see him. Rush and Hathaway had been released from sick bay after only a week but had to return for regular check ups, so would stop off to see Trip then. The others dropped into sick bay whenever they could to make sure that Trip wasn’t too bored once he’d recovered enough to stay awake for a reasonable amount of time. Reed, Hoshi, T’Pol and Mayweather had all made time to see Trip as well, in fact the only person who hadn’t been to see him since the successful memory wipe was the one person he really needed to talk to, the Captain. It was another reason why Trip was desperate to get out of sick bay. If he could corner the Captain in his cabin then he wouldn’t be able to avoid Trip any longer. If Trip was going to remain as Chief Engineer aboard Enterprise then they were going to have to talk. His head was no longer constantly painful, but it would be another two weeks before his rib and the bones in his hand would finish knitting properly. Phlox had also insisted that his shoulder remain strapped up for another week, after which they would begin physical therapy. Two weeks of enforced rest had at least meant that he now had the energy to deal with his current situation. Not having the threat of court martial hanging over his head had gone a long way to improving his mood, even if Phlox wouldn’t let him return to duty until his broken bones had healed. All the MACOs found themselves in the unusual position of having no duties to perform. None of them were used to it, especially after the previous weeks of activity. Kanatova spent her time either talking to Phlox or playing and beating most of the Enterprise crew at chess. The exception to Kanatova’s near total walk over was Lieutenant Reed who she played six times to get a total of two wins, three losses and a draw. Hathaway contented herself with catching up on case files sent from her office back in San Francisco and sparing with the other MACOs when the opportunity presented itself. Fenner, Carter and Rush had a series of complicated ball games going in the gym, which a number of Enterprise crew members had been drawn into. A petition had been sent to the Captain to turn it into an official tournament, and Archer thought it might be healthy to let the crew have a new recreational activity to participate in. Darwin did a bit of everything, taking part in the tournament games, playing chess with Kanatova, sparing with Hathaway, visiting Trip and catching up on paperwork. He knew that if he allowed himself too much time to think he might have to consider what his future held and that was something that he wasn’t ready for yet. It wasn’t that he had no ideas what he would do when he left the MACOs, a quiet retirement sounded nice in a lot of ways, although he knew he wasn’t ready for that. He had enough favours owed him that he was sure that he wouldn’t be unemployed for long. It wasn’t that he worried about the future, it was just that he’d always been a MACO. He’d joined up straight out of high school and had never wanted do anything else. It wasn’t a problem, it was just that a period of adjustment would be required. When he finally did let it be known that he was looking for alternative employment, he was surprised by the interest that he received. In particular there was one opportunity that looked very promising and would mean that he’d still be involved in the military, even if it wouldn’t be Earth’s military. It intrigued him so he opened discussions and eventually, after some soul searching, he accepted the position. **** Trip heard the door bell but he knew he didn’t want to talk to whoever was at the door. He ignored it as best he could, staring at the photo in his hand. Whoever it was wasn’t taking no for an answer and pressed the door bell again. When Trip still didn’t answer, the door slid back. “You can get into trouble doing that,” said Trip. “Lieutenant Reed doesn’t like people abusing their security privileges.” “I doubt the Lieutenant will have a problem with my actions,” said T’Pol. “You’re probably right,” said Trip. He put the photograph to one side. “So what can I do for you?” “I need your help. Ensign Lauritsen and I have been attempting to analyse the memories of the Hunter that you disabled.” “I’m on sick leave,” said Trip. “I spoke to Doctor Phlox and he has given his permission for you to help us,” replied T’Pol. Trip nodded. “Well I’ve got nothing better to do.” Trip paused for a moment. “We never did talk about me shooting you. I’m real sorry about that, T’Pol.” “I have been stunned before,” said T’Pol. “But not by someone that you’ve…” said Trip. T’Pol raised an eyebrow and Trip felt red rising on his cheeks. “Never mind. You must be mad at me or something.” “I am Vulcan,” replied T’Pol. “T’Pol, that’s your race not an answer,” said Trip. “I understand your reasons for stunning me. At the time it was your sole course of action. I posed a threat and you reacted to it.” “You’re really okay about it?” asked Trip. “I have had some time to put the incident into perspective,” said T’Pol. “You did not handle the situation as I would have done, however your solution did achieve the required result.” T’Pol paused for a moment. “I am gratified that you will be remaining as a member of this crew.” Trip was taken aback by the last comment. He’d expected T’Pol to be cross with him, or at least as cross as a Vulcan ever got. He’d thought that at the very least she’d tell him off for all the mistakes he’d made in handling this affair. “That last part isn’t confirmed, I still need to talk to the Captain. After everything that’s been going on, I’m not sure that he’ll still want me around.” “If you will not be staying on Enterprise, what are your plans?” “I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought that far ahead,” said Trip. “I guess I’ll go somewhere I can’t cause anymore trouble. Somewhere I can forget all about Special Projects.” “I am not sure that will be possible. It is a part of who you are,” said T’Pol. “I never thought I’d be getting counselling from a Vulcan, but maybe you’re right. Maybe I should stop trying to deny it and just acknowledge that it’s part of who I am.” “That would seem to be a logical course of action. You cannot deny that you were part of Special Projects or the pain that it caused you. All you can do is learn to deal with it.” “You sure you haven’t been talking to Kanatova,” said Trip. “Not since you were discharged from sick bay,” said T’Pol. “We should go to the Command Centre if we are to get started on the memory download.” “Yeah, right,” said Trip. He got up and followed T’Pol out of his cabin. He glanced back at the picture that he’d left lying on the bed. It was a picture that was based on a lie, but nonetheless it was one of his favourites. It showed two Starfleet officers, obviously drunk or at least on their way to drunk since they both held bottles of beer in their hands. Their arms were wrapped around each other’s shoulders and they were both smiling. One of the officers held a single silver pip up to the camera. It had been his celebration of his promotion to Commander and the other officer had been the newly promoted Captain Archer. Neither of them knew what lay ahead for them at that point. It was a picture of innocence and open friendship. He missed that in his relationship with the Captain and it wasn’t just the revelation about Special Projects that had come between them. There was so much more that Trip wished had never happened, not least the death of his sister and their crusade against the Xindi. It had taken any remaining innocence about space exploration that any of them had ever had. Of course, Trip’s innocence had been lost over ten years ago when Faranor was destroyed, but that didn’t stop him wishing he could go back to that night at the 602 club when all he had to worry about was getting both of them home before Jon drank him under the table. **** Trip was glad that T’Pol had found some work for him to do. It wasn’t anything strenuous. There was no need to climb around Jeffries tubes, it was purely problem solving. Keisha had done a good job with mapping out the neurology of the Hunter, if it could be called neurology when dealing with a central processor. T’Pol was still working on a way to link the Hunter’s systems to Enterprise ’s computers. All Trip had to do was help T’Pol with downloading the Hunter’s memories. It took them nearly two days but eventually they had a working system that downloaded trinary memories, converted them into binary and deposited them, after a thorough virus check, into Enterprise ’s computer. Working one handed was still really annoying him but he was consoling himself with the fact that Phlox had said he’d be able to take the shoulder out of its sling at the end of the week assuming all was still going well. “I am going to review the files that we have downloaded so far,” said T’Pol. “You should get some food and then rest.” “You know, you’re beginning to sound like Phlox,” said Trip. “The doctor was not pleased that he had to remind you to come for you check up this morning,” said T’Pol. “Phlox worries too much,” said Trip. Archer stepped through the hatch and caught Trip’s last comment. “Phlox knows what you’re like,” said Archer. Trip stiffened slightly at the sound of Archer’s voice. He’d managed to avoid a confrontation with the Captain for nearly three weeks now. As he wasn’t back on duty that had mostly been down to hiding in his quarters and only coming out for meals. “Hi Captain,” was all he could manage in reply. “You and I need to talk,” said Archer to his Chief Engineer. “Yeah, I guess we do,” said Trip. “I will be in my quarters reviewing this data,” said T’Pol, making a strategic exit to leave Archer alone with Trip. “If you’re going to bawl me out then I’d rather we took this to your Ready Room,” said Trip. “I think we’re past that,” said Archer. “I’ll leave if you want me to,” said Trip, he saw no reason to prolong the agony. “I know you’d have been happier if I’d been court-martialled.” “Not happy, no that would have been the wrong word for what I would have felt,” said Archer. “I screwed up. I deserved the court martial. I did disobey orders, took control of the ship and I shot T’Pol. She seems okay with that and I’m damned if I know why.” “That might have something to do with the security footage of you kissing her on the forehead after you moved her out of the shuttle bay,” said Archer. Trip just gaped at Archer for a second. “Security footage?” “Yeah, there’s a camera on the door to the shuttle bay. I thought you knew where all the cameras were.” “Guess I forgot about that one. The point is, I thought I was doing it for the right reasons, and now I’m back I’m not so sure. Funny how a near death experience can do that to you.” “I’ve re-examined everything about this mission,” said Archer. “I made some mistakes too. I expected you to trust me, but I didn’t trust you. I immediately assumed that you leaving Enterprise was the wrong thing for you to do, when I should have realised that when you said you had a plan, you did have a plan. I shouldn’t have placed you in a position where you had to choose between keeping Enterprise safe and leaving. I spoke to Malcolm, you were right about one thing, if we’d met that fleet of Hunters without any back up from Water’s Edge then Enterprise probably wouldn’t have made it. He didn’t rate our chances against them alone as very high.” “The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” said Trip. “But they were good intention, you didn’t do any of this to hurt us. I also finally got around to reading the Special Projects mission reports,” said Archer. “It opened my eyes to some realities that I had previously been unaware of.” “Just how many people we killed?” asked Trip. “No, how many people you saved. I had no idea that Special Projects brought back so much medical information or that our hull plating design was based on that of the Thak Tikh.” “Officially it wasn’t,” said Trip. “I just happened to scribble some ideas on a paper napkin one night in the 602 club for the lead engineer on the project. All he needed was a push in the right direction.” “Of course, you’re in trouble with your own staff for modifying that shuttlepod. It took Hess days to take out all the things that you put in shuttlepod one.” “Take out!” said Trip. “It took me months to get everything together. I wasn’t expecting to use it to escape in the middle of the night, but I thought it might come in useful at some point.” “Those modifications aren’t standard so they have to come out,” said Archer. “You know the rules as well as I do.” “Yeah, I know,” said Trip. “Still it was nice to prove it could be done.” “I’m finding it hard to forgive you for locking me out of my own Engineering department,” said Archer. “But I’m willing to blame everything after you left Enterprise on Colonel Darwin’s bad influence.” “That’s rather unfair on the Colonel,” said Trip. “I do have a brain of my own, I just don’t always consult it before I open my big mouth.” “I’d noticed,” said Archer. “I thought about a punishment for you, but I can’t think of anything worse than what you’ve already been through. I’m guessing four weeks with your fingers in splints, three weeks with your arm in a sling, a severe concussion and a broken rib are enough to remind you why going it alone isn’t something that you want to repeat. Formally there will be a reprimand on your record for the unauthorised modification of a shuttlepod.” “Yes, sir,” said Trip. “I’m prepared to call this strike two, Commander. Another one and I won’t be so forgiving.” “Understood, sir,” said Trip. Archer turned to go, but then stopped. “I almost forgot, there is one other part to your punishment. My quarters, 1900 hours, you get to bring the beer.” “Water polo?” asked Trip. “I just got six matches in a batch from Admiral Forrest and you’re going to keep me company while we watch all of them. Consider it payback, Commander, for the lousy few days of worry that you just put me through.” Trip couldn’t help but grin. If his friend was forcing him to watch water polo then everything was back to normal. Unfortunately T’Pol chose that moment to return to the Command centre which spoilt the atmosphere slightly. “Captain, I was hoping that you would still be here,” said T’Pol. “I have uncovered something interesting about the Quantum aliens that the Hunters claim to serve.” “What is it, T’Pol?” asked Archer. “According to this data the Hunters have been sending back regular reports to their masters on their progress. These Hunters have been in existence for over a hundred years. Approximately twenty years ago they ceased to receive acknowledgements to their reports. Upon investigating this they were unable to locate any of the quantum aliens.” “What does that mean?” asked Archer. “It means that the Hunters have been following out-of-date orders for the past twenty years,” said Trip. “Most likely, the quantum aliens have ceased to exist,” said T’Pol. “And there’s no reason for the Hunters to be doing what they’re doing,” said Trip. “All those people died on Karavia for no reason. Arroya, Didier and Dempsey all died for nothing. We’ve been chasing ghosts.” **** It was a solemn group that gathered around Arroya’s grave when Enterprise finally reached Earth. The MACO Lieutenant had been buried with full honours in the military cemetery with other fallen MACOs. It seemed a fitting place for her to rest. That morning they had visited the memorial for everyone who had died in the Mars shuttle incident and proudly found Captain Ian Dempsey’s name. Hathaway and Rush would be going to Austria to visit Didier’s final resting place on behalf of them all, the rest of the unit would be shipping out shortly and unfortunately wouldn’t have time. “She was a fine officer,” said Darwin , looking at the headstone. It wasn’t enough to represent Arroya’s life but it was all they had. “And a good friend,” added Hathaway. “No one will ever know what she did for this planet,” said Trip. “Doesn’t seem fair.” “We’ll know,” said Kanatova. The seven remaining members of Special Projects stood ready to go their separate ways. Kanatova would be catching a transport back to Vulcan to resume her position in the hospital there. Hathaway would be returning to San Francisco to go back to Starfleet JAG. Fenner had claimed the insurance money from Bluebird but it hadn’t felt right to buy another ship with it, so he’d signed on with a Boomer crew. Carter had been offered the position of Armoury Officer on the NX-02 Columbia and would be taking that up in a week. Rush was returning to Mars, no doubt to continue blowing things up to make way for more habitation modules. That left Trip on Enterprise , and Colonel Darwin, who so far hadn’t told anyone what his plans were. Trip had taken pictures of the assembled group in the shuttle bay before they left, and then got the Captain to take more pictures of him with the rest of the team. He had given out copies to each of them. This time they weren’t going to ignore their past, they were going to remember why they had done what they had done and the team members who weren’t in the photo. “So, are you going to tell us where you’re going Colonel?” asked Trip, as they made their way back to Starfleet HQ. “I’m catching a transport to Andoria,” said Darwin . “They’ve offered me a position as a military advisor. It should be interesting.” “Did you tell Captain Archer that?” asked Trip. He knew how Archer was going to react to being told that someone he considered to be a danger to everyone around him would be advising the Andorians. “No, I thought I’d let you do it,” replied Darwin . **** End The story continues in Songs in Red and Grey. |
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