Archer tapped a nail absent-mindedly against the side of his command console. Months. It had been months since their last lead on the weapon, and he was frustrated. He tried keeping himself occupied, but the mundane daily requirements necessary to run the ship only took up a fraction of his time. The rest left him waiting for something to happen. Anything. And when it didn't, he wasn't sure what to do with himself.
"Captain." T'Pol prodded quietly.
Archer sat up immediately and turned towards her. She was standing next to him. "Yes?" He asked eagerly.
"We can handle things here if you would like to perhaps, rest?" She glanced at the crew members around them, seemingly not wanting to be overheard.
"No, I'm fine." He replied. He was needed here. "If something should come up..."
"We would let you know over the com."
Archer gave her a questioning look, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"
T'Pol's shoulders straightened some, a strange allusion to uneasiness. "I believe you're making everyone uncomfortable." She muttered.
Archer glanced around. The crew was seemingly busy at work, though he did notice how they avoided his gaze. He briefly wondered if T'Pol had become more adept at reading the room than he.
"Your frustration has been steadily growing the past couple of weeks. The crew can feel it."
He sighed. It was true. He was on edge lately, and he hadn't realized how it would affect his crew.
"You're probably right." He said, standing. "I think I'll try and get some rest."
T'Pol nodded, apparently satisfied with his reply, and headed back to her station.
He nearly made it to the door before a beep sounded at T'Pol's station. Turning on his heel, he headed straight towards her instead.
"We've picked up a small craft that just dropped out of warp .02 light years from here." She said, her eyes locked on the screen before her. "They're heavily damaged."
"Biosigns?" He asked.
T'Pol shook her head. "I can't get a proper reading."
There was another beep from Hoshi's station.
"They're sending us a transmission, Sir." She said.
He walked up to her station. "What does it say?"
"They're transmitting in several languages." She paused. "I don't recognize any... wait. One of them is Andorian.
"Need emergency assistance. Were attacked. Injured crew. No medical staff of our own."
"Attacked?" Archer looked to T'Pol. "Anything on long-range sensors?" He asked.
"No." She said without looking up.
"How long will it take us to get there?"
"Fifteen minutes at warp 5."
"Keep an eye on the sensors. I want to know if any other ships show up."
"Yes, Captain."
"Travis. Take us there."
"Aye, sir."
"Archer to Phlox."
"Phlox here, Captain." Came the reply.
"We're responding to a distress call. Be ready to attend to injured."
"Understood."
Turning back to his com officer, "Hoshi, send the following reply in Andorian."
"We have received your distress call and will be arriving to help in less than fifteen minutes."
He watched as she sent the reply. Not soon after came theirs: a simple, "Understood."
Once that was settled, Archer spent the remaining minutes hovering over the sensors, hoping the aforementioned attackers wouldn't show up.
When they finally dropped out of warp, T'Pol spoke up.
"Captain, there seem to be three biosigns aboard. Two are erratic. They might be seriously injured."
"Understood." He said. "Hoshi, I'll need you to translate."
She nodded.
"Hail them."
The view screen turned on. He didn't recognize the species, though the person before them was humanoid and appeared to be male.
"This is Captain Jonathan Archer. We are ready to take on your wounded and can offer engineering assistance if needed." He said.
Hoshi translated and waited for their reply.
There was what he'd describe as a puzzled look on the man's face.
"You aren't Andorian. I had hoped, from your reply..." There was a pause. "It doesn't matter. We're glad for the help. My name is Thelano."
"You mentioned you had injured?" Archer inquired.
"Yes. My two colleagues were damaged-" Hoshi paused, "hurt," she corrected, "in the attack."
"We can send medical staff to you if they are unable to move." Archer offered.
Thelano wasn't able to reply before an explosion sounded from behind him. He looked frantically to his consoles and said something Archer couldn't understand.
"Captain." He said. "I must transport my crew to you. Please send me the coordinates to your sickroom."
The view behind him shook violently. Archer nodded to T'Pol.
"Do it." He instructed.
"Sir, I must protest." Reed began. "There's no telling what..."
"I said do it!" Archer ordered.
"Aye, Captain." T'Pol acknowledged.
"Thank you." Said Thelano. "I'm doing what I can but this ship won't survive much longer. Its core is unstable and after the Reptilians attacked..." He trailed off, frantically pushing at buttons offscreen.
"Xindi?" Archer interrupted.
"Captain." T'Pol urged from behind him. "As soon as his crew is on board, we must polarize our hull and back away."
"I can buy you time." Thelano said.
He looked from him to T'Pol for a moment while the blaring of sirens sounded through the viewscreen. Finally he nodded.
Thelano was speaking again. He turned to Hoshi.
"Please tell her, my captain, that it was an honor."
"I will." He promised.