Author's Note: Please let me know if you want me to continue this story! I killed Archer – or did I? - so please no flames! Thanks! Okay Sclittle and Begoogled, here you go, an Enterprise fanfic!
-RadcliffePotter
Had Captain Archer known that this would be the day when he would die, he probably would have stayed in bed. In all respects but one, it had been a normal day. Archer had gotten up in time for his shift, showered, had breakfast in the Captain's mess with Trip and T'Pol and had been on the bridge for the rest of the day. The only thing that seemed out of place was that all day Captain Archer had had an unplaceable feeling that something was going to happen. He thought about mentioning it to T'Pol, but he knew she would just arch her eyebrow and tell him that humans had no such thing as a sixth sense and that to feel that was illogical. And today, he just didn't feel like listening to T'Pol telling him for the ten thousandth time that humans were illogical.
So far, it had been a calm day on the bridge. The only excitement he had had was signing some forms detailing some new security procedures that Malcolm and the MACOs wanted to institute on Enterprise. It was Lieutenant Olivia Edwards, the youngest member of the security team, who brought him the reports to sign. Archer couldn't ever recall talking with Olivia before, and he made a mental note to stop and talk to her sometime. Shortly after she left, everything went wrong.
"I'm picking up a ship about 3000 kilometers away, origin unknown," T'Pol said. "Bring it up on the view screen," said Archer, his senses going into red alert. He knew without knowing how he knew that this was what he had had a bad feeling about all day. "Hoshi," he said, "Hail them,"
"Yes, sir," she said and she pushed buttons all over the console, sending out the Enterprise's generic "we mean you no harm we're only explorers" message that seemed to not be believed by many of the races they encountered. Apparently no one "just explored" these days. Oh well, Archer sighed mentally. A few seconds after Hoshi transmitted Enterprises message, they received a message back. A face that looked most closely like a Gila monster appeared on screen. It said, "You will surrender and be boarded or you will be destroyed," Archer tensed in his seat. Didn't anyone ever just talk? "Red alert," he barked, and the ship came to life. The red lights flashed and he could see the visible tensing of the bodies around him – well except for T'Pol, being tense was a human thing, he thought with a stab of annoyance.
The flashing lights cast an eerie, blood red hue over the bridge as Enterprise charged her own weapons and waited for the fight to begin. They had hailed the enemy ship several more times to no avail and now they had to wait for them to make the first move. Personally, Archer hoped they would back down, but knew the chances of them doing so were slim. Malcolm said "I'm picking up an odd energy signature on C Deck… they're beaming in!" He exclaimed. Archer's anger flared. A firefight between two ships was one thing, but now they were dragging this onto his ship, and it was personal. His own people were in danger and he had a duty to protect them all. He punched the comm button on his chair. "Security team to Deck C!" he barked, all business. Malcolm, you're with me. T'Pol, you have the bridge," Ignoring T'Pol's objections, Archer and Malcolm boarded the turbolift and went straight to engineering. Dashing past Trip, Malcolm and Archer both grabbed phasers and jogged to C Deck.
They arrived to find the MACOs already in a heated battle with the lizard men. The lizards seemed to shoot something like a bullet, but it sure packed a wallet. When fired, the gun gave a bright, momentarily blinding flash. The hallway was a cacophony of flashes, bangs, and tension. Bullets were ricocheting off the bulk heads and the lizards were slowly gaining ground. "Fall back and regroup!" Major Hayes yelled. He knew when he was beat and was smart enough not to let his own pride cause him unnecessary lives. The team was carefully backing out, and it appeared that the MACOs hadn't yet had any injuries. They were nothing if not careful. One of the MACOs near the back Archer realized with a thrill was Olivia.
She seemed to be in her element. She was firing with careful aim and was totally absorbed in her task at hand. She backed up slowly and was soon on the other side of the hallway from Archer and Malcolm. Olivia fired at one of the lizard man and let a smile of triumph play on her lips as she knew that she would hit her mark – that is, until it disappeared. One minute it was there, and the next it was not and Archer saw Olivia scrunch her face up in confusion, wearing a look that undoubtedly mirrored the looks on his and Malcolm's faces. Seconds later, Archer heard a strange noise behind him and in an instant, Malcolm was on the floor.
The lizard had transported and reappeared right behind them. A hit to the back of the head and Malcolm was laid flat out on the deck. The lizard towered over Archer hissing menacingly. If Archer knew that he could've been heard if he cried out, he probably would have, but in the chaos nothing could be heard clearly. A hit to the head, and a blinding white pain in his head and Archer was lying beside Malcolm on the floor. Archer heard the lizard's gun discharge and waited to feel the sickening pain, but he didn't. He felt something hit the floor next to him and opened his eyes with a groan and realized it was Olivia. Blood blossomed from her stomach and she was clutching her wound in agony. A shadow fell over him, and Archer knew he was next. Why had they never seen this coming? He wondered silently. The lizard aimed for Archer's head and pulled the trigger.
Once again Archer waited for the pain of a bullet but felt nothing. Something heavy landed on top of him and realized that Olivia had thrown herself in front of the bullet meant for him! Her body was thrust aside as the lizard lifted Archer bodily off the floor. He could see Malcolm was out for the count on the floor and Olivia was now also bleeding heavily from around her hip. The lizard thrust the muzzle of his gun into Archer's chest and fired.
The pain was intense and Archer gasped at the rush of adrenaline. He felt oddly unattached from himself as he fell to the floor in a heap. His eyes wide open and his mind oddly clear, Archer watched as Olivia fumbled with her phaser, her face a study in pain, and hit the lizard three times as the lizard hit her once again in the chest. She crawled over to him and pressed her hands over his wound before collapsing on top of him.
The next thing Archer knew, he was in sickbay. He awoke in the surgical suite just as Phlox was beginning to perform surgery on him. "Olivia?" he said huskily. "Captain," Phlox chided with a worried look, "Save your breath. I'm sorry, I did everything I could, but her wounds were just too extensive. She died only a few minutes ago. Now, I'm going to put you to sleep so we can fix you up," Archer felt a surge of pain and his eyes rolled back in his head as his body arched off the biobed. He heard a monitor shriek and he heard Phlox yell, "He's flatlining! Give me the defibrillator!" And then, he knew no more.
An hour later, Phlox emerged out of the surgical suite to see Trip and T'Pol sitting in sickbay. Trip looked up hopefully as T'Pol maintained her usual look of absolute composure. Phlox hung his head and said, "I'm sorry. The captain flatlined several times. The damage to his heart was extensive and after the fifth time flatlining, we couldn't bring him back," Tears filled Trip's eyes as he said, "Are you trying to tell me that Jon's dead? He can't be dead!" Phlox came over and said, "T'Pol, you need to announce to the ship that the Captain has died. You are, of course, in charge of the ship now,"
Now the task lay before T'Pol of telling the ship that her captain had died.
To Be Continued!
Okay, there's more to this story. If you like it and you want to know what happens to Archer and Olivia, then please review and let me know! I hope you liked it.
-RadcliffePotter