I want to thank everyone for their very kind reviews of my first piece. Unfortunately, that is all there is to that one scene. I would have liked to have seen a re-occurring theme throughout the next 3 seasons in which T'Pol and Archer slowly realize they love each other. So that scene would have been one in a series that were only loosely linked together. To that end, here is another one.
This one is longer and involves several scenes. Since I have a short attention span, I have broken the story up roughly by scenes. I apologize if some of the "chapters" are short.
Again, thank you for sharing fun and ideas in the form of your stories. Peace.
Malcolm stood by the shuttle door impatiently waiting for the docking sequence to be completed. He was dressed in an EV suit with his helmet on but not sealed. In his hand he held a tool kit.
As he waited, the events of the past few days ran through his head. The Andorians had requested that Captain Archer be present for the trade negotiations between the Orions and the Andorians. Captain Archer did not like playing the diplomat, but he reluctantly agreed. He had two conditions though. One was that Shran was to transport him. And the second was that Enterprise be allowed to conduct scientific studies on nearby natural phenomena while he was away. The Andorians grudgingly agreed to allow Enterprise explore a neutron star just inside the Andorian borders. Malcolm had not like the idea of leaving the Captain alone. Take an armed escort he had urged him. But the Captain brushed off the idea.
In fact, the negotiations had apparently went well. After two days, the Captain contacted them to rendezvous with Shran's ship. But just a few minutes away from the rendezvous point, Enterprise received a distress call. Shran's ship was under attack. Going to high warp, Enterprise arrived in time to chase off the Orion ship. But by then, Shran's ship had taken heavy damage. There were many casualties, including Captain Archer.
As the shuttle's door hissed open, Trip jumped up from the pilot's seat. Dr Phlox and Ensign Wong also stood up. They all had EV suits on. Sensors showed that the bridge had been flooded with radiation, but most of the rest of the ship was clear. The hull breaches had been sealed, and all the decks had life support.
When the door opened they darted out the airlock into the corridor. Malcolm already had his tricorder out. "This way" he gestured to the left.
When they reached the hallway to the bridge, there was a team of four Andorians cutting on the door with a plasma torch. "Do you need some help?" asked Trip anxiously. He was disappointed that they were still working on the door.
"We are almost through," answered one of the Andorians. Trip recognized him as the chief engineer. "The radiation has been reduced to safe levels," he continued noting the EV suits.
"Maybe for Andorians," cut in Phlox looking at his tricorder, "but not for humans! I suggest that we seal our helmets before we enter."
As the Enterprise team sealed their suits, the door slid open. The Andorians poured into the room and rushed to their three crewmates lying on the floor. Two were at the right far side of the room, and one another was on the left. The air was thick with escaping coolant and the room was dimly lit by only the emergency lighting. Trip flicked on his helmet light. He had to take a moment to adjust his eyes. Urgently, he scanned the room. He recognized the Andorian lying to the left was Shran. There were angry burns on the right side of his face and uniform. Two Andorians were moving him onto a stretcher.
The room had been hit hard and there was debris everywhere. Sparks were coming from a couple of the consoles. There was a fire burning in the corner. One of the Andorians was spraying a fire retardant. Off to the left a structural support was lying on the ground covered by several ceiling panels. Trip spotted the familiar blue color. "There!" he shouted and pointed. The four of them rushed to the pile and began pulling the panels away. First an arm, then a leg, and finally the head of Captain Archer was revealed.
Trip gasped and his stomach lurched. Lying on his side, Archer was pinned by the support member. What seemed like an impossibly large pool of blood was under him. His face was an ashen gray.
"I can't see him breathing. Is he dead? No! Where was all the blood coming from? There must be someone else under here," Trip thought sluggishly, his brain refusing to accept the scene before him. Intellectually, Trip had known what to expect, but emotionally he was not prepared to see his friend like this. Something nudged urgently against his arm, snapping Trip out of his initial shock.
"We have to get this thing off of him!" Malcolm's voice broke in. Malcolm had done training in combat and rescue situations. He was more prepared for the scene. Though panic also threatened to well up in him, he let his training take over. He had already snapped open the tool kits and was setting up the jacks under the support beam. Trip quickly took one and put it in place.
Phlox was also working quickly. He pulled an oxygen mask over the Captain's face. With the help of Ensign Wong, he was spreading a radiation blanket over the exposed parts of the Captain's body.
"OK. On the count of three. One, two, three!" Trip and Malcolm pushed the buttons on the jacks and the support beam began to move upwards. Trip and Malcolm each placed a hand under Archer's shoulders and pulled. Archer let out a moan which caused Trip to hesitate.
"Come on now! We have to get him out of here" Malcolm urged.
Pholx and Wong were ready with the stretcher as soon as Archer's legs cleared the beam. They gently but quickly rolled Archer on to the stretcher. Malcolm grabbed the head of the stretcher and Wong grabbed the feet. The four of them moved into the hallway.
Out in the hallway the air was clear and the lighting was fully operational. Three more Andorians ran onto the bridge to put out the fires and seal off the leaking coolant. The injured Andorians already had been moved to their sick bay.
"Put him down here," said Phlox, pulling out his tricorder. They gently lowered the stretcher, which caused Archer to roll his head towards Trip. For the first time Trip could see that the left side of Archer's face was badly burned. Archer's eyes flickered but did not open. He seemed to be struggling for each breath. Phlox had pulled off his gloves and was carefully cutting away Archer's uniform on the right side. He revealed a long jagged gash which was oozing blood.
"Sealant!" Phlox demanded. Wong, a trained medic, had anticipated the need and had the pouch open. Phlox squeezed out a thick yellow liquid which sealed the wound.
Archer's eyes opened to a slit. He turned his head towards Trip and tried to speak but no words came out.
"Easy, Captain. We have you. You're going to be all right," Trip licked his dry lips as he tried to reassure Archer as well as himself.
"1 cc of trimezanine," Phlox called next. Wong inserted a canister into a hypospray and handed it to Phlox. As Phlox injected the medication Archer closed his eyes and then took a deeper breath. His breathing became less labored.
"OK. Let's get him back to Enterprise!" said Phlox.
Trip and Malcolm hoisted the stretcher and moved swiftly down the hallway to the air lock. When they entered the shuttle, they set the stretcher on one of the benches. Jumping into the pilot's seat, Trip started pushing buttons as quickly as he could. The door seemed to take an eternity to close. He had the engines firing so that as soon as the docking clamps disengaged, the shuttle lurched forward. Malcolm shot him a quick glance but said nothing. Trip fought the urge to look back at Archer, he had to keep his eyes on the consoles. Behind him he could hear Phlox working steadily.
"4 ccs of acetomine." Phlox's voice was calm and steady, but tense. Most of it was gibberish to Trip. But occasionally, he heard a phrase, "collapsed lung…three broken ribs," that make Trip urge the shuttle to go faster. The pod banged into the shuttle bay at a speed which exceeded the recommended allowances. This time Malcolm did not even flinch. Instead he was already standing.
Malcolm and Wong carried the stretcher out of the shuttle door before it was completely open. Outside, they placed the stretcher on the waiting gravi-gurney.
T'Pol was waiting in the shuttle bay. She fought hard to keep her anxiety at a manageable level. Though her face was a blank mask, she could not help shifting slightly from one foot to another as the shuttle door opened.
In what seemed like slow motion, she watched as Ensign Wong emerged first at the head of the stretcher. When she saw Archer's face she almost gasped. Her stomach twisted with concern. The burns were a bright red with black, charred streaks running through them. Most of his face was covered by the oxygen mask, but she saw that his forehead was tight with pain.
Miraculously, his eyes opened and he seem to look right at her. His hand came up weakly as if he was reaching for her. T'pol took a step forward wanting to help him. Make the pain stop. But then, Trip stepped between them. Unaware of T'Pol, Trip was at the side of the gurney. "Come on! Let's go!" he shouted. T'Pol stood frozen to the spot, watching them race down the hallway.
As the gurney moved out the door, Trip was at it's side. He gently took hold of Archer's outstretched hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "We're on Enterprise now. Everything is going to be all right. Phlox is going to patch you right up," said Trip faking cheerfulness. Archer smiled weakly but then coughed painfully. His eyes rolled back in his head. "Where is Sickbay?" Trip thought anxiously.
As they burst through the doors of Sickbay, someone caught Trip by the arm and pulled him to a stop. The gurney continued to a medbay without him. Trip tried to shake the hand off of him, but it firmly turned him around to face Crewman Rally.
"Sir. You are better off not to go in there," said Rally.
Uncomprehending, Trip turned back to watch as they transferred Archer's limp body to a medbay bed. He tried to pull his arm away. He wanted to help!
"Sir! I'm sorry! You can't go in there!" Rally said firmly. "You have to let the Doctor do his job!"
Slowly, the words made sense to Trip. He stopped pulling against Rally. Malcolm walked over. Putting his hand on Trip's shoulder, he slowly turned Trip towards the hallway.
"Come on. You should go take off your EV suit," said Malcolm gently. "Then we can clean up and get a cup of coffee while we wait." Trip nodded slowly and reluctantly started down the hallway. Rally returned to Sickbay to assist Dr. Phlox.