|
"May the Wind Be at Our Backs" by Lady Rainbow Rating: PG-13 The Vulcans are different from the canon universe. They have their own agenda. Enterprise’s first space battle...sort of. There is a lot of jumping around in this chapter, but I’ve divided the scenes so it’s easier to follow. Thanks, Pesterfield, for the corrections:) Twelve The Vulcan commander gazed at Hoshi impassively as he considered her request. She stood straight and tall and met the hostile gaze; at her left, Jon Archer was also standing, ready to back up his captain if necessary. His presence seemed to put a check on the Vulcan commander's behavior, for the Vulcan managed to keep his tone civil. “We are under strict orders to retrieve Doctor T’Marui alive and to confiscate any information in her possession. This is an internal Vulcan matter, Captain Sato. Once you have recovered your crewwoman, your obligation to us is finished.” She pressed her lips together at the abrupt answer. "Doctor T'Marui's actions have also endangered Starfleet personnel, Commander V'Krus. She must also answer to those charges." Commander V'Krus's eyes flashed in annoyance. "And she will, but Vulcan law will take precedence in this case. Do not interfere, Captain Sato." “What about the Syklonians? If you fire on their ship, they’ll consider it an act of war.” The commander raised an eyebrow. “This particular vessel does not represent the official Syklonian government. They have relayed their permission through Ambassador Soval for us to stop them at any cost.” Hoshi glanced at Jon and he spoke in Vulcan. “This...information contains treason, doesn’t it?” He nodded slightly in confirmation. “More than you realize, Diplomat Archer.” Hoshi noticed that the commander had pointedly ignored Archer’s new Starfleet rank. “Ambassador Soval has the utmost confidence in you, but you must understand...there are issues that must remain uniquely Vulcan.” Jon nodded slowly. “Indeed. I see your point.” "I am gratified that you do. Please let us take care of our affairs in our own way." V'Krus switched back to Standard. “We will rendezvous with the Syklonian ship in ten minutes. S’tranek, out.” His image vanished. Trip scowled, his eyes flashing. “Why do I get the distinct feelin’ we’ve been told to back off?” “Because we have.” Hoshi shook her head. “Once we rescue T’Pol, the Vulcans consider our part in this affair over.” His face flushed in anger. “You’ve got to be kiddin’.” “I’m not. They want to take care of T’Marui in their own way and their own time and they don't want us to interfere with that.” She glanced at Jon. “Jon?” He frowned, the corners of his mouth turned down grimly. “Commander V'Krus is correct; T'Marui is a Vulcan citizen and not a member of Starfleet. I don’t believe V'Krus is going to try too hard to take T’Marui alive, Captain. The Vulcans have told us—in so many words—that they aren’t open to negotiation.” Silence fell over the Bridge. Then Trip said it for them. “Crap.” “Transmission from the S’tranek,” reported the communications officer. “They wish to talk to Doctor T’Marui.” “Accept the transmission,” T’Marui replied. A secondary screen sizzled, then the stern face of a Vulcan in a captain’s uniform appeared on it. She recognized him: Commander V'Krus. Ah, Minister T'Pau's lapdog. How touching. His lips moved, but the translator issued his words in high-pitched Syklonian. Nevertheless, they all understood the message: Surrender or be fired upon. “So it begins,” T’Marui said softly. “Transmit one word back to them: Kroykah!” T’Pol started at the sharp command, but T’Marui’s hand was firm on her arm. “They threatened us; we are just defending ourselves, T’Pol." She glanced at the tactical officer. “Power up weapons.” The tac officer glanced at Shorana, who nodded. “Do as she says. We must defend ourselves.” Trip looked up at Hoshi. “They’ve powered up weapons, Captain. The Vulcan ships are responding. The S’tranek’s weapons levels are at half power. They’re set to disable T’Marui’s engines.” “Steady,” Hoshi said softly. “Wait for them. Time for our intercept with the Syklonian ship?” “Four minutes, Captain.” Trip’s voice was just as quiet. “Phlox?” The Denobulan nodded in response. “Shield harmonic pulse awaiting your command, Captain.” Hoshi brought her attention to her comm. “Chief Raymer?” The Alpha shift transporter chief replied, “Ready, ma’am.” Hoshi took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. As Trip had said during the briefing, their timing was critical. They had to get this right the first time. “All right, let’s do it.” “They’re targeting our engines!” shouted the defense officer on the Syklonian ship. “Fire!” Shorana ordered. The Syklonian ship lashed out a split second before the S’tranek and her sister destroyer did. The Syklonian beam struck the second Vulcan ship, causing its shields to short out for a brief moment. The destroyer dropped out of formation with the S'tranek. The S’tranek ‘s reply was just as spectacular. One of the engineering consoles on the bridge exploded in a burst of sparks, knocking them all to the deck. Smoke poured from the ceiling as the fire suppression equipment kicked in. T'Pol rolled away from T'Marui under the cover of the smoke, then scrambled on hands and knees towards the lift. She felt T'Marui's hand on her shoulder and thought quickly. "Doctor, all of your research, all of the artifacts that you took from Beta Polaris...we must keep them safe! If V'Krus or Captain Sato boards the ship, they can take it all!" The panic in her voice convinced T'Marui. "You are right, T'Pol. I knew I could depend on you. Come, we will secure all of the data." As the lift slowly creaked down to the lower level, T'Pol asked, "I would assume that you have some sort of backup?" "Yes. Both on Enterprise and on Vulcan." T'Marui chuckled. "I have not survived all these years by being careless. If I die, my followers will spread my work." "Like Shorana?" "She seeks the truth, like the rest of us, T'Pol and refuses to perpetuate the lies." T'Marui located the right compartment and keyed in her code. Together, the two of them gathered up the scanners, discs and holopictures and stuffed them into T'Marui's travel pack. "Come with me, T'Pol. This is all a diversion, a way for us to expose the pack of liars in the High Command." "Where do you propose on going? V'Lar and T'Pau will pursue you whereever you go. And if I follow, my mother will not rest until you are captured or dead." T'Marui's smile was motherly. "Do not worry, T'Pol. I will take care of you. I promise." “Direct hit on the Syklonian's engines. They’re down to impulse,” Trip reported. “They’re coming around in an arc.” “We’ll be in firing range in one minute,” Travis added. “They’re shunting their auxiliary power to shields.” “Phlox, get ready to fire the harmonic pulse at my command—“ A jolt shook the bridge, nearly shaking Hoshi out of her chair. “What was that?” Lieutenant Anna Hess's voice floated through the intercom. "Commander Phlox, we're having a hard time keeping the shield harmonic pulse coherent." The Denobulan nodded, his hands flying over his console and replied, "I'm diverting power to the pulse generators, Lieutenant." Trip's alarmed tone overlapped Phlox's instructions. "Captain, the Syklonians--" “I see it,” said Hoshi. “Ensign Dougherty, Z-minus twenty degrees. New heading, one-eight-zero mark two.” Enterprise dropped gracefully out of the way between the Syklonians and the Vulcans. Now that the Syklonians couldn’t hide behind the Starfleet ship, it fired at the S’tranek as the destroyer went past. Their port nacelle flashed crimson and began trailing sparks. “Direct hit on S’tranek’s port nacelle. Their speed is dropping...warp’s gone, they’re switching to impulse.” Travis squinted at his scanner. “The Syklonians are going around for another pass.” “How long before we can intercept them?” Hoshi asked. “Two minutes, fifteen seconds.” Phlox broke into the conversation “Captain, I’m still reading fluctuations in the shield harmonic pulse. I need a few moments to compensate.” “Hurry, Phlox. We need that pulse.” Hoshi glared at the Syklonian ship. Hang on, T’Pol. We’re coming to get you. The deck rolled again under their feet. T'Pol grabbed onto the railing on one side of the corridor. She didn't know where T'Marui was leading her, but she suspected the scientist had her escape planned long before this. If the Vulcans destroyed the Syklonians, they would assume T'Marui would die with them, and thus the threat to the High Command was eliminated. If T'Marui's boasting was correct, killing her would not stop the threat to the High Command's power. How could she let V'Lar, T'Pau and T'Les know? T'Marui directed her to a Syklonian shuttle in the bay. "There. Can you pilot that?" "I can try." T'Pol cracked open the hatch and motioned T'Marui inside. The shuttle was half the size of a Vulcan shuttlecraft, with far fewer amenities. Nevertheless, a quick check confirmed that it had the basics: engines, propulsion, shields, minimal weapons. She nodded and added, "I believe I can fly this." "Good. Take the engines off stand-by, T'Pol." T'Marui strapped herself into the co-pilot's seat. "We need to time this just right--" "Captain!" Travis called. "The two Vulcan biosigns have separated from the other Syklonians. It looks like they're moving to the aft quarter of the ship." "Any luck distinguishing the two?" Hoshi demanded. "No, ma'am. Not unless their shields are down or we're awfully damn close." “Phlox!” Hoshi’s voice held a note of warning. “I have the pulse generators balanced, but they will not stay balanced for long,” said the Denobulan. A trickle of sweat pooled over one of his cranial ridges. “If we are going to do this, I suggest we do it now.” “All right. Hang on everyone! This is going to get rough!” She glanced at Travis. “Distance?” “Five thousand meters, four-thousand, three-thousand eight hundred—“ Travis reported. Hoshi hit her comm. “Grant, stand by.” “Standing by, Captain,” came Chief Raymer’s voice from the transporter room. “Three-thousand meters—“ Hoshi leaned forward in her seat. “Now: Phlox, Raymer!” “Activating harmonic pulse!” A piercing whine bounced off the walls of the Syklonian bridge. Shorana and her crew cried out and clapped their hands over their ears. The science officer whirled around to face Shorana. “It’s a pulse from the Earth ship! It's disrupting shield coherence, but not draining them.” “What?“ Shorana whirled around to face him, her mouth open. “Look!” cried the helmsman. “The Earth ship!” To their horror, Enterprise was bearing down on them for a close pass. “Get those shields back up!” Panic rang through Shorana’s voice. “I’m trying!” The tactical officer screamed back. Shorana stood transfixed on the bridge, her eyes widening at the imposing hulk of the Enterprise. The helmsman slammed his hands on the console and the deck tipped as he threw the Syklonian ship out of the way. He wasn't fast enough, for two torpedoes from the S'tranek and the other Vulcan destroyer closed in on them. “Positive lock, transporting now!” Suddenly, Raymer’s tone rose sharply. “What the hell--?" "What's wrong, Chief?" demanded Hoshi. "I'm getting interference--" Trip swore and shouted, "Torpedoes closing in on the Syklonians, twelve-hundred meters--" Hoshi whirled towards Phlox, but the engineer beat her to it. "Harmonic pulse aborted." "Hang on everyone!" yelled Ensign Dougherty as he yanked back on the helm control. T'Pol's eyes widened as a slow rumble echoed through the shuttle bay. What surprised her even more was that her surroundings began to phase out of existence around her. It solidified again, then began to dissolve again. She couldn't move to see T'Marui-- --then her surroundings came back. She blinked and gazed widely around her. She was still in the Syklonian shuttle, with T'Marui. The scientist snapped out of her trance and screamed, "Now, T'Pol, get us out of here!" Still dazed, she reacted automatically to the order. The shuttle slammed forward, throwing her against the restraints. A brutal force took hold of the shuttle and then they were tumbling free through space in an uncontrolled free fall and there was nothing she could do about it. The Syklonian shields immediately reformed as soon as the harmonic phase pulse ceased, but just as they achieved strength, the Vulcan torpedoes struck the ship directly under the bridge. The shockwave ripped through the surrounding space and hit Enterprise. Hoshi yelled something, but it was lost under the scream of overstrained electronics and grinding metal. Nausea rose up in her throat as the internal dampeners were stretched to their limits. An eternity later, the deck righted itself and the noises stopped. Slowly, Hoshi raised her head to find herself face-down in front of her command chair, her long black hair spread all around her. Her left shoulder spasmed as she tried to push herself up. "Damage report!" she called hoarsely, hoping someone could manage to do it. The bridge lights came back to life and her crew groaned as they assessed themselves and the ship. Trip was the first one to recover. "Remind me to drop a line to Captain Jefferies. The anti-grav defense fields saved our lives, Cap'n, though I reckon I can improve it a bit more." "We've lost the harmonic pulse emitters, and the warp core is off-line," Phlox echoed. He glanced over his shoulder at Trip. "When you contact Captain Jefferies, I would like to join that conversation." "No problem, Commander. I think we can both give him and Commander Robinson some ideas." Trip's flash of humor was gone as quickly as it had come. "Minor damage on Decks C,D and E." "Internal communications are off-line," Jon said. "Rerouting through auxiliary systems." It was an hour until Hoshi found out that the Syklonian ship had been heavily damaged and that Commander V'Krum had led boarding parties with cool efficiency. V'Krum's sole communication message froze her heart: "T'Marui has escaped and Ensign T'Pol went with her." |
Like it? Hate it? Just want to point out a typo? Join the discussion now.
Disclaimer: Star Trek in all its various forms and its characters are the property of CBS/Paramount. No copyright infringement is intended by the authors of this site, which is solely for the purpose of entertainment and is not for profit. This site is owned by CX and was opened to the public in February 2008.