Grateful thanks to Sita Z and RoaringMice for beta reading this story
Disclaimer: Paramount owns it all.
He never thought it would come to this. All those years, months, hours spent fine-tuning the skills of mind and body forgotten in a few minutes.
What a fool! Lieutenant Malcolm Reed felt a surge of despair overwhelm him. His breathing accelerated of its own will and he could feel his heart beat furiously against his ribcage.
He banged his fist angrily against the wall and cursed under his breath as the jarring movement sent a wave of dull pain through his body.
His eyelids felt heavy. The drug Phlox had injected him with slowly but surely would overcome his resistance. Yet, as he lay on his bunk staring at the ceiling, Reed was reluctant - afraid even - to let his eyes fall shut, for the sudden darkness would provide the perfect backdrop for a replay of the day's events. Like at the movies. And this was no movie he cared to watch twice.
What a fool! He thought again, as he felt his breathing and pulse become more regular. His wounded arm stopped throbbing. His precious, if restricted, private world began to blur, and darkness folded over him. What… a… fool…
A few hours before
"Well, Malcolm! I never thought I'd say this, but there's still hope for you. You may actually make a decent pilot someday!" Trip joked, punching his friend playfully on the shoulder. Reed was busy doing the shut down procedures after landing the shuttle safely on the planet they were going to explore.
"Shame I can't say the same of you and target practice, Commander," Reed replied unfazed, shooting an amused glance at Tucker.
"You just watch, one of these days I'll surprise you yet," Trip played along.
"Of that I have no doubt," the lieutenant retorted, "Perhaps the next time you come for a lesson I should wear one of those armours of times past," he then added teasingly, "There is no telling when you might accidentally shoot me instead of the target."
Archer chuckled. He enjoyed the bantering between these two. Reed had taken quite a long time adjusting to Enterprise's friendly atmosphere, but he'd finally learned to let go a little despite the initial stiffness of his manner. He'd never be laid-back, to be sure; but after a year and a half on the ship he was no longer the impenetrable military man he'd first appeared to be. He had allowed his crewmates glimpses of what lay beneath his rigid form. Archer rather liked the little that had been laid bare to see, and found that Malcolm's biting humour was very entertaining when pitched against Trip's sunny personality.
"Is everyone ready for an adventure?" The Captain asked as he looked around, reviewing the team he had brought down with him on this away mission. A chorus of 'Aye, Sir' answered him.
Hoshi was already on her feet, smiling faintly and looking a little nervous. Nothing unusual; no doubt she would feel better once busy deciphering some alien writing.
Crewmen Samantha Brown and Robert Johansson, of T'Pol's science department, were checking their equipment.
Archer had wanted to bring T'Pol, but the Vulcan's stringent logic had won in the end: the abandoned ruins they had detected from orbit called for someone specialised in archaeology - that would be Brown; as for the flora, a botanist like Johansson was the best choice. T'Pol had insisted that she'd better stay on the ship, also on account of the fact that as many as four senior officers would be off it.
Reed had risen from the pilot seat and was accepting a phase pistol from Ensign Müller, a member of his security team he had requested to bring along.
Malcolm might need to learn the finer points in the art of relaxation, but Archer had no problem admitting that he himself, on the other hand, could use a few lessons in caution. So he had accepted Malcolm's suggestion and let Müller tag along; after all, if the Lieutenant had managed to change a little, so could he.
Trip was standing near the hatch, ready to tease his friend again: he knew perfectly well that Reed, as Chief of Security, expected to be the first out of the pod, so he was making a show of reaching for the handle.
"Captain, with your permission…?" Malcolm hastened to ask, without needing to add anything else to make his request perfectly clear.
Archer nodded his assent, managing to keep a straight face at Trip's surreptitious wink. Gone were the days when he would regularly disregard his Chief of Security's excessive safety measures. Now I only do it occasionally, the Captain laughed to himself.
Half an hour later they were all busy scanning, exploring and deciphering. Or, like Archer, just enjoying the sight of fields of orange vegetation under a light purple sky, where a couple of pale suns chased each other. Command had many burdens but also a few advantages, like taking pictures instead of scanning ruins.
"Hoshi, what do you make of these hieroglyphs?" The Captain heard Trip call out from behind a sturdy column. The young linguist, who was admiring a richly engraved archway, quickly joined the commander and busied herself with her new challenge.
On the opposite side of the archaeological site, some 70 metres away, Crewman Brown was scanning the remains of what looked like some sort of housing. Johansson was not far from her, collecting samples of the bright orange vegetation which seemed to want to take over the ruins.
Archer saw Malcolm position Müller in a strategic spot, from where he had a clear view over most of the site. The Lieutenant didn't give him any specific instructions. No need, really, the Captain thought, Reed's men know exactly what is expected of them.
Archer sensed Reed follow him with his gaze. He cast a covert glance at him and caught the lieutenant frowning. He could almost read his thoughts, 'The Captain is strolling around like a kid in a playground. Will the words 'security protocol' ever have any meaning for him?' Archer pretended to be taking pictures and studied his officer instead: Reed looked his usual tense self. He saw him stare in his direction for a few moments then roll his shoulders, as if trying to loosen up his muscles and relax a little. At least he is making an effort, he mulled, amusedly.
Every scan they had taken of the small planet had shown nothing but ruins and plants. No animal life – which was quite puzzling, considering that the place had obviously been inhabited once – no biosigns of any sort, no energy signatures. What the hell, Archer thought, I guess it'll do no harm to wander off a little on my own. He saw Trip walk towards Malcolm and when the lieutenant turned around to acknowledge his friend he moved away undetected, feeling indeed like a kid in a playground slipping away from his mother's supervision.
"Hey, Malcolm. Having fun?"
Malcolm had been concentrating so hard on Archer that Trip's voice startled him.
"Whoa, whoa! Easy! It's just me! Don't you go and shoot me - that is if you can manage that kind of self-discipline, of course."
"Very funny, Trip. I wonder why I'm not laughing."
Being out of hearing range from the rest of the away team, Malcolm had addressed his superior officer and closest friend by his first name.
"You may not be laughin' but you sure are breaking into one of those smirks of yours," Trip retorted, "Which for Lieutenant Malcolm Reed is practically equal to rollin' on the floor."
"Right." Reed heaved a resigned sigh but, just to please his friend, finished shaping his mouth into one of his characteristic grins.
Then he narrowed his eyes and enquired provocatively, "If you don't mind my asking, what is the purpose of having our Chief Engineer with us on this planet? It seems to me there is nothing here that falls within your field of expertise."
Trip shrugged, "You never know when an engineer might come in handy. The possibilities are endless. We might come across some unexpected find. Or our own Shuttlepod could malfunction. Ever thought of that?"
"Malfunction? Bloody hell! What kind of department are you running?
Trip held his friend's indignant gaze for a moment and then burst out laughing. Malcolm was about to join him when his communicator chirped. He immediately stifled the laugh and unzipped his arm pocket, reaching for the device and flipping it open in one swift move. "Reed here," he said.
"Lieutenant," T'Pol's level voice replied, "A ship just uncloaked and we are detecting…" The Subcommander's words faded into the background as all hell broke loose around them. Phaser beams crisscrossed the archaeological site and screams filled the air.
Malcolm pushed Trip unceremoniously down, shouting, "Take cover!" and rolled behind a nearby boulder, phase pistol already in his right hand and adrenaline coursing through his veins. He saw Müller return fire from behind a large tree, but did not join in the fight because from his position he couldn't make out any of their enemies.
Damn! Reed tried to focus and remember where each crewman had been. He cautiously looked around, to assess their situation.
Brown and Johansson were pinned behind the ruins of a wall, with no way of leaving their cover.
He searched frantically for Archer and cursed without restraint when he realized the man was nowhere to be seen. Trip, thankfully, had crawled beside him.
Reed glanced at the column that Hoshi had been studying. The ensign was crouching behind it, looking terrified but in no immediate danger. Their eyes met and Hoshi's gaze was pleading.
Malcolm felt a cold knot form in his stomach. Hoshi had always been so wary of these away missions. He hesitated, wanting to go to his friend, to make her feel safe. For a long moment he stalled; then he forcefully tore his eyes away from her, struggling to let his tactical mind take over. Brown and Johansson are in a much worse situation, I must think of them first, he chastised himself. But he was just as trapped as they were, with little chance of reaching Müller's vantage point in one piece.
He cursed again, the anger this time directed at his own negligence. How the hell had he got himself in such a hopeless position? Well, somehow he had, so now he must take his chances. He clenched his teeth and turned to Trip.
"I must try and reach Müller. I can do nothing from here. Don't move."
Trip grabbed him by an arm, "Are you crazy? You'll get yourself killed! There's nothing but a long stretch of open terrain between here and Müller!"
Reed looked at him unwaveringly, twisted free of his grasp and urged him again, "Don't move!" Then, before Tucker could stop him, he took off in a low crouch towards the security man.
Zigzagging to offer at least a more difficult target, Reed had almost reached safety when a burst of pain erupted in his right arm. His hand went limp, the phase pistol falling out of it as the lieutenant stumbled and dropped to one knee.
"Sir!" Müller cried out.
Through the pain Reed experienced a familiar feeling of weightlessness take hold of him.
TBC