Chapter 4 - The Chase
With eyes focused on nothing but his task, Tucker rubbed the
phaser against his pant leg, having already set the weapon to
kill. "Need to resolve the problem," he whispered to himself,
repeating T'Pol's words again. "Quickly. Can't fail."
The ship was in evening mode, the lights dimmed to replicate
night. Most of the crew, other than a skeleton shift, were
already in bed -- except for Malcolm Reed.
Trip was aware of the lieutenant's nightly regime. Every evening
at 2300 hours, Lt. Reed would make one final trip to the armory
to assure himself that everything was okay before he finally
called it a night. This evening was no exception, the man ran
his life like a clock. It was 2312, Malcolm had already visited
the armory, and was on his way back to his cabin. And Trip was
waiting.
* * * * * * *
*I should have just stayed in the armory,* Malcolm thought as he
traversed the empty corridors back to his cabin, knowing they'd
be no sleep for him tonight. He rubbed the back of his neck and
flexed his stiff shoulders. It felt as if the weight of the ship
rested squarely upon him and him alone.
He couldn't go back to the Captain again with more suspicions,
att least not without concrete evidence. What if there was a
perfectly good explanation for his actions? What if the
Commander was conducting some secret mission for Starfleet? Or
maybe someone had sneaked into Trip's quarters and tampered with
his communication station, setting Trip up to take the fall?
These thoughts continued to plague him when saw movement from the
corner of one eye. It was brief and fleeting, but it was
unmistakable. Someone was aiming a phaser in his direction.
Quickly Malcolm dove for cover, just as the phaser blast sliced
through the air. Feeling the heat of the blast, he knew if he
had hesitated even a fraction of a second, he would have been
hit.
Wasting no time, Malcolm sprung to his feet and raced down the
corridor. From the sound of the footsteps behind him, he knew
whomever had fired upon him was hot on his trail. Reed darted
through Enterprise's complex corridor system hoping to lose his
attacker. He wished he had time to spare a glance behind him to
ascertain that person's identify, but in reality, he didn't need
to. Instinctively he knew it had to be Commander Charles Tucker,
the Third.
The pair continued to race through Enterprise until Malcolm slid
around a corner in the corridor, and was confronted with only two
options. He could either enter the shuttlebay or he could use
the service hatch to reach the next level.
Hearing the footsteps rapidly approaching, Malcolm opted to enter
the shuttlebay. At least there, he reasoned, he would have
access to both a communications console and a weapons locker.
Unfortunately, both were located on the far wall.
* * * * * * *
*I should be in bed,* Hoshi thought as she exited her cabin. She
turned right, toward Lt. Reed's quarters. Ever since she had
given the datachip back to Malcolm, she'd been thinking that she
was overlooking something--something important Maybe if she
listened to it again, she'd be able to put her mind at ease.
She had no more than turned to the right when she heard the sound
of phaser fire coming from the other direction. In an instant,
she reversed her course, pausing at a nearby communications
console.
* * * * * * *
"Resolve the problem...quickly...eliminate the problem...
quickly..." Trip repeated as he entered the shuttlebay. With
his phaser ready, Trip followed the nimble Englishman's movements
as Malcolm wove around the docked shuttlepods. The engineer
fired twice. One shot ricocheted off a shuttlepod, and the other
the off wall behind it, both narrowly missing his intended
target.
"Malcolm! Come out! You can't get out of here!" Trip threatened.
Malcolm bit his tongue, not wanting to divulge his exact
location. But it would be so tempting to actually speak his
mind. There was no doubt about it now, he thought grimly as he
dodged another shot. Commander Tucker was most definitely
involved.
* * * * * * *
"Ensign Sato to Captain Archer, come in." Hoshi waited
impatiently by the communications console, tapping her fingers
against the wall.
To her dismay, she'd already tried unsuccessfully to contact
Malcolm, both in his quarters and in the armory.
"Archer," a tired voice finally responded.
"We have trouble down here, Captain. Someone fired a phase
pistol, and I could hear the sound of someone running. Actually,
I think it was two people running."
"What?" Archer was instantly alert. "Did you contact, Malcolm?"
"Yes, Sir, but didn't have any luck. I think he's one of the two
people I heard."
"I'll be right there. Stay put."
Hoshi terminated the connection. "Stay put, my ass," she
snapped.
Returning to her cabin, she retrieved her practice phase pistol
Malcolm had left with her last week. It wasn't strong enough to
be used in the field, but it was fine for practice. Hopefully,
it was be of sufficient strength to help whomever was in trouble.
* * * * * *
End Chapter Four
With eyes focused on nothing but his task, Tucker rubbed the
phaser against his pant leg, having already set the weapon to
kill. "Need to resolve the problem," he whispered to himself,
repeating T'Pol's words again. "Quickly. Can't fail."
The ship was in evening mode, the lights dimmed to replicate
night. Most of the crew, other than a skeleton shift, were
already in bed -- except for Malcolm Reed.
Trip was aware of the lieutenant's nightly regime. Every evening
at 2300 hours, Lt. Reed would make one final trip to the armory
to assure himself that everything was okay before he finally
called it a night. This evening was no exception, the man ran
his life like a clock. It was 2312, Malcolm had already visited
the armory, and was on his way back to his cabin. And Trip was
waiting.
* * * * * * *
*I should have just stayed in the armory,* Malcolm thought as he
traversed the empty corridors back to his cabin, knowing they'd
be no sleep for him tonight. He rubbed the back of his neck and
flexed his stiff shoulders. It felt as if the weight of the ship
rested squarely upon him and him alone.
He couldn't go back to the Captain again with more suspicions,
att least not without concrete evidence. What if there was a
perfectly good explanation for his actions? What if the
Commander was conducting some secret mission for Starfleet? Or
maybe someone had sneaked into Trip's quarters and tampered with
his communication station, setting Trip up to take the fall?
These thoughts continued to plague him when saw movement from the
corner of one eye. It was brief and fleeting, but it was
unmistakable. Someone was aiming a phaser in his direction.
Quickly Malcolm dove for cover, just as the phaser blast sliced
through the air. Feeling the heat of the blast, he knew if he
had hesitated even a fraction of a second, he would have been
hit.
Wasting no time, Malcolm sprung to his feet and raced down the
corridor. From the sound of the footsteps behind him, he knew
whomever had fired upon him was hot on his trail. Reed darted
through Enterprise's complex corridor system hoping to lose his
attacker. He wished he had time to spare a glance behind him to
ascertain that person's identify, but in reality, he didn't need
to. Instinctively he knew it had to be Commander Charles Tucker,
the Third.
The pair continued to race through Enterprise until Malcolm slid
around a corner in the corridor, and was confronted with only two
options. He could either enter the shuttlebay or he could use
the service hatch to reach the next level.
Hearing the footsteps rapidly approaching, Malcolm opted to enter
the shuttlebay. At least there, he reasoned, he would have
access to both a communications console and a weapons locker.
Unfortunately, both were located on the far wall.
* * * * * * *
*I should be in bed,* Hoshi thought as she exited her cabin. She
turned right, toward Lt. Reed's quarters. Ever since she had
given the datachip back to Malcolm, she'd been thinking that she
was overlooking something--something important Maybe if she
listened to it again, she'd be able to put her mind at ease.
She had no more than turned to the right when she heard the sound
of phaser fire coming from the other direction. In an instant,
she reversed her course, pausing at a nearby communications
console.
* * * * * * *
"Resolve the problem...quickly...eliminate the problem...
quickly..." Trip repeated as he entered the shuttlebay. With
his phaser ready, Trip followed the nimble Englishman's movements
as Malcolm wove around the docked shuttlepods. The engineer
fired twice. One shot ricocheted off a shuttlepod, and the other
the off wall behind it, both narrowly missing his intended
target.
"Malcolm! Come out! You can't get out of here!" Trip threatened.
Malcolm bit his tongue, not wanting to divulge his exact
location. But it would be so tempting to actually speak his
mind. There was no doubt about it now, he thought grimly as he
dodged another shot. Commander Tucker was most definitely
involved.
* * * * * * *
"Ensign Sato to Captain Archer, come in." Hoshi waited
impatiently by the communications console, tapping her fingers
against the wall.
To her dismay, she'd already tried unsuccessfully to contact
Malcolm, both in his quarters and in the armory.
"Archer," a tired voice finally responded.
"We have trouble down here, Captain. Someone fired a phase
pistol, and I could hear the sound of someone running. Actually,
I think it was two people running."
"What?" Archer was instantly alert. "Did you contact, Malcolm?"
"Yes, Sir, but didn't have any luck. I think he's one of the two
people I heard."
"I'll be right there. Stay put."
Hoshi terminated the connection. "Stay put, my ass," she
snapped.
Returning to her cabin, she retrieved her practice phase pistol
Malcolm had left with her last week. It wasn't strong enough to
be used in the field, but it was fine for practice. Hopefully,
it was be of sufficient strength to help whomever was in trouble.
* * * * * *
End Chapter Four