Zero Hour
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Warning: Please be aware that over the course of this story it will contain coarse language, violence,*possible* character death, and the like. If that's not your thing, that's cool, but you may want to hit that back button now. However, if it is your thing then please proceed and let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: Star Trek - don't own, don't profit, just having a bit of fun.
"The trouble is, you think you have time." – Jack Kornfield
Chapter 1
The crew of Enterprise had been eager to be back, or rather most of them were. Captain Archer, however, remained a bit cautious about returning to their primary objective of exploration after all that had occurred in the Delphic Expanse. In fact, he felt like a completely different person since returning. Somebody he did not know, somebody he was not sure he wanted to know. He had done despicable things. People had died. And yet it had all been necessary. However, knowing that fact still did not shake him of the guilt he felt. Following a meltdown during the debriefing, Admiral Forrest had forced him to take two weeks leave. He was not ready to face what he so desperately was trying to avoid, but Archer had little choice. In the end he resigned himself to at least try and seek some sort of antidote for the guilt he harbored. What he found instead was the realization of just how naïve and impetuous he had been in the three years prior, but he vowed that all that would change.
This time their return to the business of exploration would be different. Archer planned on acting with more than a modicum of caution. He requested that a team of MACOs remain aboard the ship as support for Tactical, and surprisingly Lieutenant Reed did not object. Perhaps it was because of the rapport that Reed had developed with the late Major Hayes. Perhaps it was because he felt he owed the man something. Hayes had been one of the ones to die, and those that had survived carried the burden of remembering the others who did not. The only other person who seemed less than enthused was Commander Tucker who, since returning from his shore leave on Vulcan, had become far more quiet and reserved.
But now, after a few weeks back, and bit of time spent finding their footing, the crew, as well as Captain, seemed to settle back into a degree of familiar normality. In fact, for the past week things had taken a rather monotonous turn, which suited Captain Archer just fine, and that particular night began as no exception.
The bridge crew was quiet. Lieutenant Reed was wearing a glazed over expression. He was staring rather dispassionately at the bulkhead and it appeared as though he had not blinked in several minutes. It would be another four hours until shift change and Travis could barely stifle a yawn as he looked around hoping no one had noticed. As he glanced around he spotted Hoshi who was bent over the Communications station and was frowning. After a moment her eyes widened and she glanced over at Captain Archer.
"Uh, Captain?"
"Yes, Ensign Sato?" Captain Archer replied as she seemed to shake him out of some internal musing.
"Uh, Sir, I'm picking up a distress signal," she said.
"Who is it from?" Archer straightened in his chair. Hoshi looked nervous.
"It's the Columbia, Sir," she said.
"The Columbia? You're sure?" Archer stared incredulously as Hoshi nodded and glanced over at T'Pol who had looked up from her station to lock eyes with Sato. Archer glanced at T'Pol who then spoke.
"Captain, Ensign Sato, is correct. I'm picking up what appears to be the Columbia on the long range scanners," said T'Pol. Archer's eyes widened. Fighting the growing lump that had materialized in the back of his throat he swallowed before he addressed Travis at the helm. He needed to appear calm, remain calm, for his crew at least.
"Ensign Mayweather, how far off are they at present?"
"Five hours, Sir, give or take," Travis said looking back at Captain Archer.
"And how long would it take to reach them traveling at best speed?"
"About three hours, Sir," Travis said. Archer swallowed again, but the lump remained. Taking a deep breath he set his chin.
"Alright, the set a course for their location," said Archer.
"Yes, Captain," said Travis as he laid in the course.
Three hours later and the Columbia loomed into sight. It sat unmoving, floating there in front of them as pristine as the day of its maiden voyage. Archer thought it was strange seeing it drifting in space as it seemed as though only yesterday he was on board discussing the new tactical upgrades with Captain Hernandez.
After hailing the ship, they had since learned that Columbia's first officer had ordered the distress call as Captain Hernandez and the Columbia's chief science officer, Commander Watanabe, had become quite ill rather quickly at almost the precise moment that the ship's warp reactor as well as the aft and ventral thrusters went offline. The Columbia was stuck unmoving and with no way to maneuver. It was an unfortunate coincidence. Their chief engineer was working around the clock to get them up and running again, but it had seemed that both Hernandez and Watanabe were too sick to wait.
The Columbia's first officer informed them that four days prior Captain Hernandez had manned a shuttle along with an away team and landed on what appeared to be an uninhabited planetoid. They had decided to go down after learning that the planetoid was rich in Dilithium. It was only after the team returned from their explorative mission that she and Watanabe became ill. No one else was sick, and the Columbia's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Ruben, had ordered everyone that had gone down to the planetoid a thorough run through in Decon as well as a full blood panel workup after Captain Hernandez and Commander Watanabe, started showing symptoms.
It was soon discovered that the pathogen was some sort of virus. It was also discovered that it could only be spread via direct contact which begged the question as to how Captain Hernandez and Commander Watanabe were infected as they had both had been wearing EV suits. Captain Archer had little time to puzzle over the how of it all; he just wanted to know if they were contagious. When he was assured that there was little risk of infection as direct contact was necessary he immediately consulted with Dr. Phlox and requested that Captain Hernandez be transported to Enterprise.
Initially, Phlox was hesitant; however after consulting with Columbia's CMO he eventually warmed to the idea after considering there was no health risk to the crew Enterprise. He even suggested that Columbia's CMO would be free to work solely with Commander Watanabe and himself with Captain Hernandez and that the two of them could then exchange information regarding treatment efficacy.
And so it was decided. Once Archer was informed that Captain Hernandez was to be made ready for transport he jumped up and began to make strides toward the lift. Archer looked back at the crew who all had eyes on him.
"Lieutenant Reed, you have the Conn," he said.
"Aye, Sir," Malcolm replied as he moved from his seat at Tactical.
The lift lurched as it came to life and Archer felt his stomach rise, rather unpleasantly, as it began to descend toward the Transporter Deck. When he arrived on the level Commander Tucker was already at the controls. Tucker looked over when he heard the lift open. Captain Archer walked over to stand next to him.
"You know, Sir, I don't think this a good idea. I mean I know it's Erika an all…" He trailed off when he saw the look on Archer's face.
"Trip, enough." He sighed. He knew Commander Tucker's concern was understandable; however they were taking every precaution. Although there was little risk, Captain Hernandez was to arrive in an airtight bio-bed. "Where's Phlox?" He asked frowning when he realized the good doctor was absent.
"He's on his way, Cap'n. Should be here any minute," Trip said, glancing at Archer apprehensively. Just then the transporter came to life. A bio-bed and a medical technician materialized before them. Archer ran up to the pad and assisted the tech in wheeling the bio-bed off and into the hallway. Trip followed closely behind.
As Archer looked down he could see Erika through the tempered glass. She was white. Her skin was so pale it was nearly translucent. When she opened her eyes he could see that they were bloodshot. It was a jarring sight. When she fixed her eyes on him she frowned slightly before she seemed to recognize him.
"Jon…" Her voice was barely a whisper, and was further muffled by the fact that she was inside the sealed chamber. Archer could see the inside of her mouth was tinged with blood as her lips moved. His stomach knotted. She was far worse than he had expected. All the reports had said she had taken seriously ill, but this was bad. Trip looked down his eyes wide.
"She doesn't look good," he whispered unable to conceal the shock that had spread over his face. Just then Dr. Phlox appeared.
"Captain Archer, if you don't mind," he said waving an arm to indicate that Archer should step back. "Hillard, will fill me in on what I need to know, but right now we need to get Captain Hernandez to Sick Bay," said Phlox indicating to Columbia's medical technician that had accompanied Captain Hernandez. Both Archer and Tucker took a step back as Phlox and Hillard made quick strides to wheel Erika back to Sick Bay. Almost in the same moment one of the MACOs appeared in the hallway. She flattened herself against the wall as Phlox and Hillard rushed past. She glanced down at the bio-bed before looking over at Archer. When they made eye contact she pressed her lips together in sympathy before continuing down the hall.
"She'll be alright. Phlox's is going to fix her right up… Just remember how many bugs we picked up while on away missions," said Trip uneasily, as he glanced at Archer. Archer seemed unfocused as he watched the shrinking form of the MACO disappear down the hall and for a moment Trip was not sure if the Captain had heard him. Finally, Archer looked at Trip.
"I want to you head on over to Columbia," he said.
"Wait, what? Do you think that is a good idea? What with the virus and all?" Archer sighed. He knew Trip had a thing about germs.
"The CMO on Columbia has assured us that it is not spread through casual contact. You'll be fine. The bio-bed was just an extra precaution. I want you to see if you can lend a hand to the Chief Engineer over there. See if the reactor and the thrusters going offline had something to do with the recent upgrades," said Archer. Trip pressed his lips together, but nodded in affirmation.
"Aye Captain, just give me a minute to pop on over to Engineering to grab some things and let Kelby know where I'll be," said Trip. Archer nodded. Trip turned on his heel and headed for the lift. Archer watched as the lift closed and Trip disappeared before he finally allowed himself to breathe. He could not shake the image of Erika with blood in her mouth from his mind.