Author's note: Enterprise and its characters don't belong to me (if they did, the series would still be going!). Any and all original characters, places etc are mine and are not to be used without permission.

1. Waking

It was the smell that first began to rouse him from his unconscious state. The stench of stale sweat, blood and vomit invaded his senses, dragging him unwillingly back to the waking world. Reluctantly he opened his eyes, his tired brain not yet registering why he would be smelling the things he was. Only faint outlines greeted him and his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Where am I?" he thought, blinking several times to try and clear the fog from his mind. He waited patiently as his eyes gradually adjusted to the low light and he could start to make out more than outlines. He could see he was on a plain stone floor, and there appeared to be little in the way of furniture nearby. He could just make out the shape of two low wooden cots and what appeared to be a doorway into another room. Given that he could not smell faeces in the revolting scents assaulting his nose, he surmised that the other room was possibly a toilet cubicle of some sort.

He gingerly pushed himself into a sitting position, trying to stifle the grunt of pain that forced its way past his lips as broken ribs made themselves known. The floor he had been laying on was smooth, which offered some small amount of comfort to him. He leant back against the wall of the room, and began to take stock of his situation.

Aside from the doorway into the toilet area, there seemed to be only one other door in the large room. There were no windows at all and the only faint light came from between the four bars that were set into the small square hole in the door. "So, a cell," he corrected himself silently. "Not a room, but a cell. And a well-used one, by the smell of it." What he couldn't recall though, was how he had ended up here, or where 'here' actually was.

A quiet scrape caught his ear and he looked over towards the cots, seeing for the first time that one appeared to be occupied. The shape moved, rising from the cot and moving in his direction. He tensed, ready to defend himself if need be, and was mildly surprised when the person stopped nearby and sat down opposite him.

"Who are you?" the voice asked softly. The owner, though shrouded in shadow, was distinctly female and there was fear lacing her voice.

"Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, of the starship Enterprise," he replied, wondering how she could understand him as he was sure his communicator had been taken from him.

"What did you do?" the woman asked, curiosity now entering her tone.

"I honestly don't know," Malcolm answered, not relaxing under her scrutiny. "What about you?"

"I'm called Elianne," she told him quietly. "And I am here because I refused to be sold to a minister as his pet whore!"

"It's nice to meet you Elianne," he said, relaxing slightly. "Would you mind telling where 'here' is please?"

"The Manorax detainment complex," she informed him. "If you're here, you're not going to leave until you die."

####

"Captain, you may come down to the surface for the start of the trial," First Minister Jerem informed Captain Archer simply.

"Trial?" Archer demanded incredulously.

"Yes Captain," Jerem replied. "Your crew member will be tried along with the others involved in the bombing."

"And if he is found guilty?"

"If that verdict is reached, then he will be punished accordingly," Jerem advised.

"And what is the punishment in this case?" Archer wanted to know, glancing at the faces of his senior staff, who stood to the other side of his desk.

"Given the severity of the offence, Captain, the punishment for this crime public execution," Jerem told him calmly, his voice giving no indication of emotion.

"Thank you, First Minister," Archer replied coldly. "We will see you in three days time for the start of the trial. Archer out." He ran a hand over his eyes, letting out an agitated sigh.

"Captain, you're not really gonna let 'em execute him, are ya?" Trip demanded, echoing the feeling of the other senior staff in the ready room. He had the good grace to look sheepish under the strong stare that his commanding officer shot him.

"T'Pol, can you please gather up all the information we have on the incident?" he asked the Vulcan, who simply nodded her head slightly in agreement. "Hoshi, see if you can get in touch with the First Minster's staff and see what other information we can get please. Oh, and see if there is any way we can see Malcolm before the trial."

"Yes Sir," Hoshi replied, her voice wavering slightly.

"Don't worry Hoshi, I'm not about to let Malcolm be executed," Archer assured her. "Dismissed."

The others filed out of his ready room, leaving him to his dark thoughts. Turning back to his screen, he pulled up the video footage they had been supplied upon Malcolm's arrest, watching it again in the hope that it might prove his innocence.