"May the Wind Be at Our Backs" by Lady Rainbow Rating: PG-13 for language Disclaimer: Don’t own ‘em, don’t make money off ‘em. Notes: Technically, this is the third story in the “Switcheroo Series” (after “Captain Sato’s Enterprise” and “Whips, Chains and Plomeek Soup”), but this tells the very first mission of Captain Sato’s Enterprise, before the events of the other two stories. The series presumes that Humans and Klingons haven’t met yet at the time of the First Mission, so it’s not like “Broken Bow”. The Vulcans are different from the canon universe. They have their own agenda. Thanks to Begoogled, who asked about Hoshi’s claustrophobia. I address it in this chapter. Also thanks to Pesterfield, who pointed out some things in this chapter that weren't clear. (And HoVis, I mentioned the Quartermaster:) LOL.) And T’Pol may have stumbled over a discovery of galactic proportions. She just doesn’t realize it yet. Eight A fine powder rained down on T’Pol, tickling her nose and eyelids. She opened her eyes to utter darkness. The sharp rocks under her back dug into her spine. Carefully, she moved her body to ease the pain. A quick self-check reassured her there was no permanent damage, save for a few bruises. But it was also utterly silent. “T’Lun? T’Niura?” she whispered hoarsely. T’Niura was the senior geologist of her group; T’Lun was her apprentice. They had been directly behind her as she had scanned the interior of the stone column, but now she couldn’t see or hear them. “Here,” came the response. T’Pol reached for the glowstick on her belt and snapped it. T’Niura’s pale face appeared in the cone of blue light. T’Pol frowned as she saw T’Lun’s head in T’Niura’s lap. “How is she?” T’Niura shook her head and replied, “She has a concussion, Ensign. The ceiling is unstable; I had warned Doctor T’Marui against attempting to access the lower levels—“ “You did? At what time?” Why had I not heard of that? What is T’Marui hiding? “At the initial analyses of the scans. I am willing to assume that she tried to do so and triggered the cave-in.” T’Niura’s tone was controlled, but T’Pol heard the rage within it. “We must get T’Lun to the surface, Ensign. I do not know how serious her injures are.” T’Pol nodded and slid her communicator out of her belt. “T’Pol to Mayweather. Respond.” A constant buzz answered her, so she knew her communicator had been damaged in some way and that also meant that Enterprise would have difficulty in achieving a transporter lock on them. The senior geologist had managed to activate her own glowstick and cast the light around her. “We are in a passageway, Ensign. Here are more of the mosaics that Lieutenant Archer found on the surface.” “Look at the edge of the mosaic; do you see that?” T’Pol brought her glowstick closer to the mosaic; a clear glowing line appeared at its lower edge, extending down the length of the mosaic and the wall itself, disappearing into the darkness. T’Pol eyed the line more closely and was surprised to see two colored lines entwined with each other. One was the green of Vulcan blood, the other the red of Human blood. “Yes, perhaps it is meant as a directional aid,” T’Niura said. “Perhaps it will lead us to the surface. Let me follow this and discover where it goes. Stay with T’Lun; I will return as quickly as I can with help.” “Be cautious, Ensign.” T’Pol ventured forward, one hand holding the glowstick, the other touching the glowing lines on the wall. They were pleasantly smooth and cool under her features and seemed incandescent in the dim shadows. The stone floor under her feet became like marble, slick underfoot. She was forced to look where she placed her feet. Slowly, she realized the floor sloped upward, towards the surface. The mosaics ran in a continuous line along the walls. Their colors shimmered under the light of the glowrod: crimsons and greens, bright golds and silver. The figures appeared to be some kind of deities or spirits, in some kind of heavenly tale. T’Pol paused next to one particular mosaic, one that portrayed some kind of cataclysm. A flock of huge birds hovered in the blue background, over the heads of the figures, claws outstretched. Bright beams of light extended from the birds’ “stomachs” to the people, catching them in their grip. T’Pol frowned and took a closer look at the “birds”. Fascinating. They do not look like organic avians at all...are those actually atmospheric craft? And the beams...possibly transporter beams? Our ancestors did possess that technology . She noted the pointed ears and the upswept eyebrows of the figures in the mosaic. Again, she thought, what happened to our ancestors here? Did they return to Vulcan? Were they forced to abandoned the Colony and go elsewhere? Were they wiped out in a natural disaster? She suppressed a pang of sorrow for those lost Vulcans. It was illogical to mourn the deaths of those dead for millennia. The passageway seemed to close in on her; now the walls were close enough for her to touch with her arms extended. The ceiling had dropped several inches and now the top of her head brushed it. T’Pol closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. There had to be an exit to this passage. T’Lun and T’Niura depended on her to find a way out... And just like that, the corridor expanded into a huge cavern. She blinked as she cast her glowrod around her. Now the ceiling was lost from view, and the remains of stone walls divided the huge space into sections. T’Pol stood at the entrance to one of those “rooms”, which extended horizontally for several meters. The remains of living quarters, with stone pallets and brass candle-holders, and several ancient-looking recording devices scattered on the floor. Her hand trembled as she touched one of those recording devices. Nothing happened. Of course, its power source would have been long drained by now. It would be impossible to access its information...as she thought it, the device crackled, and a beam of light erupted from the screen. A shadow appeared on one of the walls, a hologram of a tall male Vulcan in a strange uniform: black breeches, scarlet and silver tunic. His mouth moved, but no sound came out. “Who are you?” she murmured. The holoprojection of the Vulcan faded after several moments, and no amount of adjustment could bring it back. T’Pol had managed to capture a few minutes of it on her scanner, but little more than that. She examined the other recording devices, but none of them came to life. T’Pol continued to the next chamber, then the next. The whole scene reminded her of old pictures of the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs, those golden coffins surrounded by everyday items they would need in their afterlife. Vulcans didn’t hold to the same kind of beliefs, but the objects told T’Pol stories of the Vulcans’ lives here: a statue of something between a sehlat and a Terran badger, engraved with some of the mysterious characters at the bottom. A child’s prize possession? A memento of a long-dead pet? a board game, with dice and ivory-colored spheres. Still scattered in the moment of play. Why had the game been abandoned? T’Pol quietly took pictures with her scanner, but left the artifacts as they were. She felt a slight tremble through the walls and the muffled sound of an explosion rang through the cavern. T’Pol glanced upwards as a chunk of stone fell from the ceiling. She dove out of the way just as it landed on the board game, crushing the pieces underneath it. She turned and fled through the chambers, dodging boulders and debris falling all around her. T’Pol turned a corner and stumbled over a figure crouched in her way. She cried out as claw-like hands pushed her aside and she collided with the edge of a stone table. “Doctor T’Marui?” T’Pol croaked. The Vulcan scientist looked up at her. There was a look of flinty determination in T’Marui’s eyes, a gleam of triumph. T’Marui had collected several of the artifacts, including the recording device that had shown the holopicture. “This is the proof,” she whispered to T’Pol. “This is the proof I have spent my life searching for, T’Pol. Your mother and the others deny they exist. They want to deny the past...the truth! They prefer the lie, but now they cannot hide behind the lies!” “What are you talking about?” T’Pol asked. She knew it had something to do with the hologram of the Vulcan man she had seen. “What lies?” “The lies they have been telling every Vulcan child for the past several thousand years, T’Pol!” T’Marui looked at her with a hint of madness. “The ones who ventured into the stars, they went out to explore the galaxy, they are out there, just waiting to be rediscovered!” T’Pol shook her head and placed a gentle hand on T’Marui’s shoulder. “You are not thinking logically, Doctor. Come with me back to Enterprise.” T’Marui reached up and gripped T’Pol’s wrist. T’Pol pulled her to her feet and added, “Come back with me.” The Vulcan scientist nodded and said, her tone unusually bright, “Yes. You are coming back with me.” T'Pol suddenly felt a stab of dread. “Watch your step; it’s slippery as ice here,” warned Liz Cutler. She gripped her scanner with white-knuckled fingers. “They must’ve had a hard time trying to stop themselves from falling.” Hoshi nodded and crept down the steps. Steps was a misnomer; it was more like a ramp constructed of thin slabs of marble, each one tightly fitted to the ones before and after it. She clung to a metal handrail that ran above and parallel to the ramp. Crossing a rickety wooden bridge over the Amazon in a stiff breeze was easy compared to this! One of Trip’s Security officers preceded her, then behind her were Liz, Doctor T’Marui, and the second Security Officer. Travis hadn’t been exaggerating about the tight fit; even Hoshi had a difficult time squeezing between the walls. A vision of someone like Travis or Matt Hayes getting himself stuck brought a grim smile to her face. She took a deep breath and forced her feet to keep going. Yes, enclosed spaces bothered her, but not as much as they used to. In fact, she had faced her fears during her Starfleet training. The isolation pool, where you have to find your way out using your sense of touch and hearing. The Survival Course in the Rocky Mountains that first year, the other Survival Course in Canada’s Yukon Territory...She couldn’t let her fear paralyze her; as a Captain, her crew depended on her. So she had trained herself to function in closed spaces. That didn’t mean she enjoyed it, though. Hoshi heard a snort of repressed laughter. It was so unexpected that her head snapped around to find its source. She hadn’t been the only one; Liz glanced over her own shoulder with a quizzical look on her face. They both realized it at the same time: Doctor T’Marui was running her fingers over the pictures on the wall with the joy of a child seeing a butterfly for the first time. “Amazing,” T’Marui murmured. “Our ancestors managed to construct a whole society both above-- and underground. Look at these mosaics! The colors are as bright as when they were painted.” Hoshi shook her head at the single-minded monologue. T’Marui had insisted on accompanying the rescue party, but now she didn’t seem at all bothered at the possibility of either of her geologists being hurt or dead. The scientist seemed enthralled by the discoveries she was making. Hoshi had seen the type before; it never ceased to amaze and annoy her. “I’m getting a couple of lifesigns,” Liz spoke up. “One of them is pretty faint—“ Another tremor shook them. Hoshi slipped and Liz grabbed her before she began to slide. T’Marui stumbled, her feet going out from under her, and she tumbled between Hoshi and Liz, managing to avoid the Security officer in front. T’Marui’s act was almost convincing...if Hoshi hadn’t seen the flicker of a smile on her lips. “After her!” Hoshi yelled. She sat on the ramp—and with a silent apology to the Ship’s Quartermaster for what she was about to do to her uniform—pushed herself into a controlled slide after T’Marui. She heard several muttered curses behind her as the others followed her lead. “Shit,” muttered one of the Security guards, echoed by Liz Cutler a minute later as they slid deeper and deeper into the earth. Hoshi ended up on her rear at the foot of the ramp. She scrambled out of the way as Liz came to an abrupt stop behind her. She heard a string of shouts and curses ahead of her and she took off in that direction. “Captain Sato!” shouted one of the Vulcans. T’Niura, one of the geologists, Hoshi remembered. “Over here!” Liz immediately dropped to her knees next to T’Lun. After a minute, she looked up at Hoshi. “We have to get her topside, Captain. Now.” Hoshi nodded and directed one of the Security guards to help Liz with T’Lun. “Liz, get T’Lun and T’Niura up to transporter range, then get Phlox to beam you out of here. Crewman Mason, come with me. We’ve got to get to T’Marui.” “T’Marui,” T’Niura spat. “She went deeper into the cavern. This will be her tomb.” “She ran right by you?” Hoshi was beyond appalled. “Where’s Ensign T’Pol?” “She went to look for a way out, but she has not returned.” Hoshi nodded, then she and Crewman Mason ran down the passageway, sliding almost the entire way. As the hall narrowed, she controlled her breathing and pushed forward. Her glowstick threw odd shadows on the walls, melting over the mosaics, but Hoshi paid little attention to the pictures around her. “T’Marui?” Hoshi shouted. “Where are you?” “Over here, Captain,” said Mason. “In this chamber.” They burst out into a huge underground cavern, divided into several chambers. Hoshi saw T’Pol and T’Marui in the first room and picked up her pace. T’Marui looked up and met Hoshi’s gaze; Hoshi’s throat closed as she saw a telltale glow forming around T’Marui. “No!” The sound of running feet distracted T’Pol and she saw Captain Sato and Crewman Mason, one of Lieutenant Commander Tucker’s Security people. Sato’s eyes widened and she shouted, “T’Pol!” That was all T’Pol saw as golden sparkles claimed her and Sato vanished from her sight. Back to Part 7 Continue to Part 9

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.