4
Captain Archer walked into Engineering and stopped. He looked around the room and noticed right away that the work atmosphere seemed lighter. The crew was busily working at all stations. They were hustling about and seemed driven to complete whatever tasks they were performing. Amongst the busy chaos, there was a sense of calmed efficiency, something that was missing for a long time. Lieutenant Burch did an outstanding job as chief engineer in Trip's absence but things just seemed to be running smoother now, back to normal.
No one was more relieved with Trip's return than Burch. He was more than happy to relinquish the responsibilities of chief engineer.
The Captain found Trip stooped over a systems monitor at one of the rear workstations. "How you doing, Trip?"
"It's crazy down here, sir." Trip barely glanced up to acknowledge his captain.
"I am sure you're glad to be back. I bet that in no time you will get everything just the way you like it," Archer said as he sat down at the adjacent workstation.
"I doubt that, Burch is a great engineer but it looks like you flew the ship through half a dozen solar flares. All the systems need to be recalibrated and the engine manifolds are a mess. You were lucky you didn't have one of the inside fire panels break loose with all the corrosion that's…" Trip caught himself in mid-sentence. He looked over at the captain and suddenly realized that he didn't come down here to discuss the status of the ship's systems.
"What's going on, Captain?" asked Trip. "I noticed we changed course. Has Starfleet finally given us a mission?"
"They have. I need your expertise on something as a matter of fact but we can discuss that later. I was wondering if you would like to come to the captain's mess for dinner. We can catch up on things. I want to hear about how it went with your family. How did they react when their dead son came walking up the driveway?" Archer said with a slight smirk on his face.
"Let's just say that they barely let me leave when I told them it was time for me to report back to Enterprise. I'll tell you all about it, over diner. Is it a date?" Trip gave Archer a smile.
"I guess it is. See you later, Trip." Archer stood and let Trip get back to work.
Romii Prison Camp,
Near Romulus
A timid knock came through the thick wooden double doors.
"Get in here, Epohh. What do you want?" shouted Dac'Quare the prison's director.
Epohh approached the director's desk ever so slowly and stood half facing his master as though afraid he would be slapped at any moment. Epohh held out a data card, "This message just arrived, Sir. It's from the Senate."
Dac'Quare grabbed the card out of Epohh's hand and read it. "Have the prisoner brought to the interrogation room then make yourself useful and bring me my dinner!" Epohh stood still, his head down, never taking his eyes off the floor.
"Get out, you worthless piece of garbage!" Dac'Quare yelled as he threw the data card at Epohh's head.
Epohh picked the data card up off the floor, touched his hand to where the card had struck his temple. Green blood began to drip down the side of his face. He bowed and slowly backed out of the office, never turning his back on his master. He closed the doors behind himself and turned to speak to one of the guards who always kept watch outside the director's office. The guard looked down at the timid Romulan with a look of utter distain and began to laugh. He repeated, "Worthless garbage."
"He wants to speak to the prisoner," Epohh replied softly. Epohh then turned and slowly walked away needing to prepare his master's dinner.
The prisoner woke coughing and spitting out water that poured down into his lungs. He opened his eyes and saw a guard throw a water pail into the corner. Another guard grabbed the prisoner by the shoulders and yanked him up off the floor. Both gauds then proceeded to drag him down the hall. They reached the interrogation room and threw him inside, slamming the door as they left. The prisoner knew this room well even in his current confused and groggy state. A single light glared down on him from the ceiling. The room was sparse and contained only a wooden chair, which sat in the middle of the room. The concrete walls were covered in blood, feces and who knows what else. The room had no windows. None of the rooms in the prison had windows, at least none of the rooms that the prisoner had been in.
He had no idea what time it was, or even what day it was. When he was first captured he tried to keep track but that soon became too much of a mental task for him to calculate. He spent his time drifting in and out of sleep unless of course, he wasn't being beaten by the guards.
The prisoner pushed himself up to a seated position. He tightened the muscles in his body in an attempt to prepare himself for the blows that were sure to come. His eyes fixed on a shadowy figure standing in the opposite corner of the room. He shielded his eyes from the light trying to determine who was standing in front of him. He could tell right away that whoever it was, he was not a guard. The guards were all bulky and didn't stand in the corners looking at prisoners. There job was to kick prisoners in the head on a regular basis, a job that they enjoyed.
The figure stepped forward, "What can you tell me about the human war ship that is sitting outside our space?"
The prisoner didn't reply.
"Wake up!" The dark figure seemed to fly across the room. Searing pain shot up through the prisoner's arm as a heavy metal club crashed down onto his hand. The prisoner winced in pain and cradled his twisted and broken hand in his lap.
"Now that I have your attention, what do you know about that ship? What is it doing? What is its mission?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," the prisoner answered.
The figure circled the prisoner, his dark cape flowing behind him. "Perhaps I did not introduce myself. I am Director Dac'Quare. I run this prison. I decide whether you live or die. Now, you are going to tell me what I want to know."
"Go to hell!" The prisoner spat through clenched teeth.
Dac'Quare instinctively raised his club above his head and swung down hard but just as the club was to strike its victim, he stopped, slowly lowering it to his side. "Now that is not an appropriate response. You helped the Romulan Empire many times in the past. Answering my questions now, surely would not compromise any ethical beliefs you may hopelessly still be clinging to. All I need to know is what their intent is. Are they planning an attack?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. What ship?" The prisoner asked hoping to delay any further hits.
"There is a human war ship just outside Romulan space. Sensors have identified it as being NX class."
"Sounds to me like maybe they're lost and stopped to ask for directions." The prisoner managed a small smile as he looked defiantly at the director.
Dac'Quare raised his club and swiftly brought it down, striking the prisoner's skull with such force that he sailed across the floor. He lay motionless as the guards came into the room. "Take him back to his cell. Make sure the Doctor keeps him alive." Dac'Quare stepped over the unconscious man on his way out of the room.