Disclaimer: Star Trek and all it characters belong to Paramount. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

Shifting Ground – Part 1

It had been an altogether successful First Contact, reflected Captain Jonathan Archer. The Corisians had been as eager to learn about the humans as they had been to learn about the aliens. And Corisia itself was an exceedingly pleasant place to pass a few days – technologically advanced, yet not at the expense of natural beauty. Indeed, there had been times when Archer had wondered how the Corisians had become so advanced without taking up more of their environment.

As he surveyed his surroundings for what seemed like the millionth time (although who would ever get tired of the beauty of Corisia?), Archer's gaze came to rest on the other two members of his landing party, who were busily conferring about yet another technological marvel they had come across. Ensign Travis Mayweather had been astounded at the variety of flying vehicles the Corisians possessed, and had spent most of the last four days trying out every one of them he could get his hands on, zipping backwards and forwards across the bright blue Corisian sky like a rocket. And Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker had been in his element, exploring every single piece of engineering the Corisians had, from how their ships flew right up to how their whole civilisation was powered.

Watching Commander Tucker, Archer felt a small cloud overshadow his satisfaction. The cloud had been present more and more often lately, but Archer had managed to push it aside for the duration of their stay on Corisia, vowing not to ruin a successful First Contact by thinking about his feelings towards his Chief Engineer.

Trip was Jonathan Archer's best friend. Had been for over eight years now. However, what Trip didn't know was that for most of that time… 'Oh, come on Jon, admit it, it was from the moment you first met him,' Archer berated himself… his best friend had wanted something significantly more than friendship. But Archer was reluctant to ruin what relationship he already had with Trip by revealing his true feelings, especially since he had no idea how his friend would react. His secret fantasy was that the engineer would throw himself into his Captain's arms, but Archer knew that it was far more likely that Trip would run screaming in the opposite direction. 'Best case scenario is that our friendship will remain intact but irreversibly tainted,' Archer reflected wryly.

The away-mission on Corisia would have been the perfect time to broach the subject, away as they were from the ever-present eyes and ears of the crew, especially those of Vulcan Sub-Commander T'Pol (Travis didn't count as he had been up in the sky most of the time anyway). But because of all the reasons Archer had just reiterated in his mind, he had found himself unable to bring it up. And now it was too late. As he turned away again from the engineer and pilot, Archer espied Regent Amshal, the elected leader of Corisia, and his retinue heading towards them. Archer and his team were due to leave within the hour, and it looked like the Regent was determined to see them off in style.

"Captain Archer, it is with deep sadness that I take my leave of you. I trust you have had a pleasant stay on Corisia?" the Regent said when he reached them.

"Thank you, Regent Amshal. Our stay has been extremely pleasant," Archer replied in the same formal tone. Gesturing to Trip and Travis, he continued, "I know my officers have found much to occupy themselves with during our time on Corisia. Indeed, I anticipate severe trouble in getting them to leave." Archer smiled to indicate a joke, and heard Trip give a chuckle from behind him.

"That's true enough, Cap'n," the engineer added in his drawling Southern accent.

Regent Amshal returned the smile, and was just about to speak again when he was interrupted by a rumbling sound. Thinking it was the shuttlecraft arrived early to pick them up, Archer looked up. But the sky was empty. Archer looked around, meeting the confused gazes of Trip and Mayweather. And, despite his growing sense of dread, Archer couldn't help but think how adorable Trip looked with that puzzled expression on his face. He didn't have long to dwell on that, however, as the rumbling was shortly joined by a movement under his feet, weak at first, but quickly growing stronger. Soon it was becoming difficult for Archer to remain upright. Regent Amshal, however, although he was also having trouble keeping his footing, appeared unsurprised by the sudden earthquake. Before he had time to ponder on this development, Archer's communicator beeped, demanding his attention.

"T'Pol to Archer"

"Archer here," he replied.

"Captain, we have detected severe earth tremors all over the planet's surface."

"Yes, I'd noticed," said Archer.

"I have determined that the tremors are too strong to allow for the safe landing of a shuttle," continued the Vulcan, oblivious to the Captain's sarcasm. "In order to remove you from the planet, we shall have to use the transporter."

Archer groaned inwardly. That dratted machine! They had been relying on it far too much lately. Sooner or later something was bound to go wrong with it.

"Acknowledged." Archer turned to Trip and Travis to tell them to prepare for transport, but stopped when he saw that they had already heard T'Pol, and already knew what to expect. Travis looked fairly calm at the prospect, but Trip looked extremely agitated. He had never liked the transporter. Despite the heaving ground under his feet, Archer made to move towards Trip, intending to try and comfort him a little. But he was suddenly distracted by the disappearance of Mayweather in a beam of sparkling light. Archer was startled. Surely T'Pol would have beamed them all up together, wouldn't she? But before he could turn back to Trip, Archer felt the familiar tingling sensation that meant that he too was under the influence of the transporter.

As soon as he materialised on Enterprise, Archer jumped off the transporter pad. Both T'Pol and Lieutenant Reed were standing by the transporter controls, with Ensign Mayweather hovering anxiously nearby. "What's going on?" Archer snapped at them.

"Captain, there are unforeseen consequences of the earth tremors," T'Pol replied. "The geological structure of Corisia is made up of more than seventy percent magnetic particles. The friction resulting from the tremors has combined with this magnetism to create an electromagnetic field around the planet. This field is interfering with our transporter. That is why we can only beam one person up at a time."

Archer turned instantly to Reed. "Lieutenant, get Commander Tucker out of there now!"

"I'm trying, sir," said Reed. "The electromagnetism is making it difficult to lock on to his pattern." Brow furrowed with concentration, Reed manipulated the transporter controls. Archer held his breath for what seemed like an eternity. "Got him, sir," said Reed finally.

A beam of light appeared on the transporter pad, quickly resolving itself into the shape of Commander Tucker. Archer sighed with heartfelt relief. But before the Commander had completely solidified, he began to fade out again.

"What's happening?" demanded Archer.

"The electromagnetic field is becoming stronger," replied Reed. "I'm boosting power to the transporter." The image of Tucker began to solidify again, but then just as quickly began to dissipate. "It's no good, Captain, the field is just too strong," continued Reed, although he continued frantically pushing buttons.

Archer dashed towards the transporter pad, reaching for Trip's arm as if to physically haul him off the planet and back on to Enterprise. There was a shout of warning from Reed, but it hardly mattered. As Archer reached for Trip there was a final whining hum from the transporter, and his fingers closed on nothing.

"I'm sorry, Captain," came Reed's voice from behind him. "But we've lost him."