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"Whips, Chains, and Plomeek Soup"
Rating: PG-13 Eleven T’Pol stepped onto the Bridge with a calm air that she didn’t feel. Captain Archer swiveled around in his chair to smile at her; she responded with a cool nod, then made her way to the science station. She had to remind herself not to take the steps down to the helm station; Travis Mayweather occupied that station. The young ensign chatted amicably with the navigator next to him. T’Pol identified him as Bryan Trace, who was the relief Armory officer in her own universe. Like Mayweather, Trace was an ensign here. She noticed a message from Hoshi: Coincidence? Deja vu? I don’t think so. HS. Her eyebrow climbed higher as she read the information bookmarked for her. The Luran First Protocols were so similar to the ones in her universe, with some differences. A humorous vision of Jon Archer with an ahn-woon came to her mind. She couldn’t imagine Archer being as successful in making the complicated speeches like Captain Sato. He was more likely to hurt himself with the ahn-woon instead. Then she brought up the information on the nebula. Again, the radiation readings had increased by ten percent, becoming dangerous to passing ships. T’Pol decided to test a theory. “Captain?” “What is it?” Archer asked as he looked at her from his command chair. “I have analyzed the readings from the nebula. It appears that radiation levels have risen significantly since the last survey.” Archer frowned and asked, “Will it be a danger to the ship?” “As long as we stay a safe distance away, Enterprise should not be affected.” And if on cue, Travis Mayweather turned to look at her and remarked, “That nebula’s directly on a major shipping lane, Captain. Boomer ships don’t have polarized hull plating like we do. Those radiation levels might be a major hazard to their crews.” T’Pol inclined her head, as if in deep thought. The young man was genuinely concerned for his fellow Boomers. She could see the foundations of the future first officer. He will be an excellent captain, in any universe. Then she remarked off-handedly, “We could drop off a series of warning buoys for any other ships in this area.” Mayweather nodded with a relieved grin. “That would be a great help, Subcommander.” Archer smiled and said, “Coordinate the buoy launch with Trip and Malcolm, T’Pol. We’ll be passing out of this sector in twelve hours; I’d like to have them deployed by then.” She nodded. “I will do so, Captain.” T’Pol caught Mayweather’s grateful smile and answered with a slight nod. The helmsman turned back to his board with new enthusiasm. Coincidence? Deja vu? Vulcans didn’t believe in such things, but then again, most Vulcans had never put the multiple-universe theory to the test by actually crossing the borders. There was a reason why she and Captain Sato had appeared on this Enterprise. They had been given another chance to correct what went wrong, another opportunity to save their own universe— Suddenly, a piercing alarm erupted from the Tactical station. Ensign Cherhezy glanced up and reported, “I’m reading a ship coming out of warp within two hundred thousand kilometers from the nebula, sir. Correction—two ships, from two different vectors. They appear to be some kind of transports.” “That’s skirting pretty close to the safe boundary, Captain,” Travis remarked. “Hail them, Crewman Djerbo,” Archer said to the man at the communications station. “Warn them about the radiation levels.” Djerbo nodded and proceeded to send the message. An answering beep came from Djerbo’s console and he replied, “We’re getting a response, sir.” “Put it on, Crewman.” T’Pol’s eyes widened at the familiar tone. “Enterprise, do not interfere. This is a private business transaction. We will be finished in a few moments.” Archer frowned at the smug self-assurance. “Your ships are close to a nebula that’s sending off dangerous amount of radiation. Even your shielding can’t withstand a lethal dose. Perhaps you could—“ “No need, Captain Archer. I repeat, do not interfere or you will be fired upon.” There was a snap as the channel went dead. Archer glanced at T’Pol. “How long before those ship crews are exposed too long?” She shook her head. “At their distance, and with their inadequate shielding, perhaps ten, fifteen minutes.” “Engineering!” Another familiar voice came over the intercom. “Hess here, sir.” “Lieutenant, can you get a transporter lock on the coordinates that T’Pol has on her board?” There was a pause, then Hess replied, “I’m getting a lot of interference from the radiation and the stellar debris within the nebula. We’ll have to close the distance considerably to get a halfway decent lock.” “How close?” “Within several thousand meters, sir.” T’Pol shook her head. “That will expose the crew to a high dose of radiation, Captain. We would not be able to maintain that distance for more than five minutes before the effects will be felt.” “Damn.” An alert beeped on Cherhezy’s board. “Captain, there’s been a transport between the two ships.” “Confirmed,” T’Pol said, “but the high amounts of distortion from the nebula is interfering with their transporters and sensors.” “Another transport,” added Cherhezy. “A strange dispersal pattern, though—“ “Dispersal?” Archer repeated. “That means—“ “—whoever it was didn’t make it, sir.” A heavy silence came over the Bridge. T’Pol ignored the sickening sensation in her stomach as she tried to analyze the transporter dispersal pattern. It was a delicate puzzle and her sensor data was spotty, but it distracted her from the emotional ramifications. She was not unaffected, but she hid her reactions to the point where the Humans around her thought her emotionless. She looked up from her board. “Captain...I am reading organic material in their immediate space.” “Can you identify it?” Archer’s voice was hushed. “Unable to do so, sir, but it is definitely of a carbon-base life form. It is logical to assume it was a humanoid.” “My God. Someone just got spaced,” Mayweather whispered. He glanced over his shoulder with a grim expression. “I recognized that voice, Captain. He’s a bounty hunter named El-Sadr. Pretty nasty guy, if I remember right. Preys on the cargo ships between Itharia and Ryder’s Colony.” “El-Sadr? Saeed El-Sadr?” T’Pol queried before she could stop herself. She wanted to bite her tongue, but it was too late. Mayweather frowned at her and asked, “You know him?.” “The Vulcan Security Ministry knows of him,” T’Pol replied in a flat tone, remembering the outbursts of rage from the Armory man in her universe. If El-Sadr is a violent man in this universe, then in could explain the ‘leakage’ between him and his counterpart.. It follows that this Vulcan Security Ministry might very well know about him, if their records approach anywhere near the scope of the one of which I am familiar. Archer stared at her. “An old friend of yours, then?” “I would not call him an ‘old friend’, Captain. More of a passing acquaintance.” That was technically the truth, though nothing as close as Archer and Mayweather assumed. Crewman Djerbo’s eyes widened as he said, “Transmission from El-Sadr’s ship, sir.” The man’s voice held equal parts of sarcasm and humor. “I don’t think you have to worry about the safety of my crew and passengers, Captain Archer. Our business here is concluded.” “You just beamed a person out into space—“ “A slight malfunction, unfortunately, when my passenger decided to sabotage the control board and scramble the coordinates. There was nothing I could do.” The shades of anger within El-Sadr’s voice deepened. “I don’t suggest following me, unless you would rather sacrifice your own crew, and if you tell Starfleet, they won’t find me. And if they do, I’ll make sure to be just as...accommodating. Have a pleasant day, Captain.” Cherhzy’s board beeped another alarm. “Two warp signatures—they’re gone, sir.” Archer muttered under his breath. “Damn. We’re under orders to Luran and we can’t break them.” He looked about to order a pursue course anyway. “Cherhzy, T’Pol, see if you can extrapolate their possible paths from their warp-out point. I’ll be in my ready room.” T’Pol wondered if Archer would break orders and go in pursuit of El-Sadr. Not only would it disrupt the first contact mission, but it would ruin any chance of she and Hoshi returning to their own universe. Archer, no doubt, would consult with Starfleet, but if they did change their orders... Fifteen minutes later, Archer returned to the Bridge. His eyes glittered with barely-contained anger, but his voice was cool and professional as he turned towards the science station. “T’Pol, send a warning to the Vulcan Security Ministry and Starfleet. Tell them of our sighting of El-Sadr and append a copy of the comm transmissions, your sensor data and Cherhzy’s tactical data. He won’t get away with murder.” “Yes, Captain.” She kept her eyes on her board. If this universe’s El-Sadr was ruthless enough to beam someone into deep space as part of a “business transaction”...she appreciated Captain Sato’s orders to have the Armory man under guard in their universe. Saeed El-Sadr is an honorable man; what kind of circumstance can twist him into a sadistic murderer like this? “And T’Pol—“ “Captain?” Her tone betrayed none of the dread she felt. “Call Malcolm, Hoshi and Phlox to my Ready Room. We’re going to meet the Lurans in less than twenty-four hours and I need to go over some protocols. I want you to join us, too.” “Certainly.” She checked their whereabouts on the computer; Hoshi and Malcolm were in the Mess Hall, while Phlox was in Sickbay. Then she relayed the captain’s orders to the trio— T’Pol, what’s going on? You’re tense and upset. She winced at Trip’s mind-voice. How did her counterpart tolerate this nearly-complete sharing of minds? Only closely bonded Vulcans could share thoughts to this degree, which brought up some interesting theories on this relationship. Forgive me, thy’la, but we just met an...old acquaintance of mine. The meeting was brief, but hearing his voice startled me. Someone you’d rather forget? At the moment, I would rather not discuss it. All right...I’ll let it go for now. You gonna be all right? I will be fine, Trip. The captain wishes to speak to us about our mission to the Luran Homeworld. Hoshi and Malcolm are on their way. I’m coming up to the Bridge. I’ll see you in a few minutes. He withdrew from the mental link before she could comment. The captain hadn’t called Trip to the Ready Room; why would he come up now? Perhaps to watch over the Bridge in the absence of the senior officers. Then why had he sounded so concerned about her? She closed her eyes and tried to regain her mental balance. She wasn’t used to this and the more she shared her thoughts and feelings with this man, the more seductive the mental bond became. This was not the Trip Tucker of her dimension, but he acted very much like him. If...when..Hoshi and I return to our dimension, could I expect such a bond with my version of Trip Tucker? It was an intriguing prospect, but one that was not a priority right now. She reluctantly pushed it to a corner of her mind and followed the captain into the ready room. |
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