Author's note: I want to apologize for the long delay in posting this chapter. Life and an unexpected move threw a wrench in things. Hopefully the rest of the story will be posted in a more timely manner.
"Your mate is a wise man, Vulcan. If you wish to keep your little hybrid brat intact for the time being, I'd listen to him and put your weapon down." Sub-Commander Zee was still using Trip as a partial shield. She had her weapon pointed at his spine.
Looking at Trip's distressed face, she knew he feared the Romulan would follow through on her threat to destroy their child. T'Pol bowed to the inevitable. She slowly placed the weapon on the ground.
"Very good," Zee said as she stepped from behind Trip. She handed him another zip tie and instructed him to bind T'Pol's wrists. It was awkward, since his hands were already tied together, but he managed it.
"Now, you two sit down on the ground and mind your manners, I have a call to make." Zee motioned with her weapon to a grassy spot.
Trip and T'Pol eased to the ground sitting close together. T'Pol looked up at the Sub-Commander. "How did you know I was pregnant?"
Zee knelt down and began to rummage in her pack for her communicator. She looked up from her task when T'Pol spoke. "Urine…I found all manner of genetic material at the place you camped last night. A good Romulan scanner was all I needed to identify that you are at least eight weeks pregnant. I even know the sex of the child."
Before he could stop himself, Trip blurted out, "What is it?"
Leaning in toward Trip with a salacious smile, Zee ran a finger across his cheek, "All you need to know is that this child is my bargaining chip. If you want it to stay safe, you're going to do anything I want." He flinched away from her touch, causing the Romulan woman to laugh. She glanced at T'Pol once again, "I am beginning to see what you find so attractive about this male. He is rather handsome."
A wave of fury welled up in T'Pol. That this woman would dare to touch her mate triggered in the bond a possessiveness like she had never thought possible.
Trip winced as he felt the anger radiate from T'Pol. He knew it to be a product of their bond. They had discussed its ramifications over their months together.
In the beginning, Trip had been shocked to realize they were bound for life and monogamy was built in. Not that this was an issue for Trip. He never cheated when he was in a relationship. If he was not invested enough in the relationship to stay faithful, then he ended it. Trip felt that cheating showed a weakness of character.
It was simply another way that he perceived the bond to be taking away more and more of his control. When he had time to think about it, Trip found it amusing that something he wouldn't do took on significance when he was told he could never do it.
He decided he better try to redirect T'Pol's anger for fear that she would do something reckless.
"Romulan, huh…I don't know a lot about your planet, but I do know, whoever the hell thought kidnapping us was a good idea, must not be firing on all thrusters. The only possible outcome from this will be war with the Coalition."
Continuing to search for her communicator, Zee once again smiled. "Oh my pretty Human, conquest of your pitiful coalition worlds is exactly what we have in mind."
Trip smirked, "Sweetie, you are in for a rude awakening if you think we will be defeated that easily. I may not be a soldier, but I'm friends with quite a few. When you start messing with us, you're gonna unleash a storm like you've never seen before."
Finding what she needed, Zee stood pointing her pistol at T'Pol again, "I look forward to it. For now though, behave yourselves. I need to arrange for your relocation…to Romulus." Using her left hand to open a channel on her communicator, Zee established contact with General Alidar.
The voice of his communications officer broke the quiet of Alidar's thoughts. "General, Sub-Commander Zee is on the comm."
Gruffly, he responded, "It's about time! Put her through." Seconds later, he heard her familiar voice.
"General, I have your prizes. The situation is secure. Send the shuttle at your discretion."
"What the hell has been going on down there, Zee? I expected you to have control of the prisoners hours ago."
Disgust was evident in her voice, "That fool, Krell, let them escape. I've been tracking them since. They are in my custody now, wrapped up nicely for you."
"Good, send your coordinates. I am going to personally come down and take possession of these valuable assets. The Senate will soon see that the upcoming war is ours to win."
Zee could hear the pleasure and anticipation in the General's voice. "We await your arrival, Sir."
Archer leaned forward in his command chair as Hoshi translated the message. Soval, standing by his side, listened intently. This was it, they realized. It was time to put their plans into action.
Commander Hernandez rose from her station. "Captain, my team is assembled in the shuttle bay. Ambassador Soval and I will join them there now. We will await your signal to launch."
Jon gave Erika a smile filled with warmth, "Very well Commander, good luck."
"To us all, Sir," she replied returning his smile.
As Hernandez and Soval headed to the lift, Soval turned to the captain. "My people are ready for this fight, Captain. You need only give the word."
Archer had always found Soval rather intimidating, but dressed in Vulcan battle gear he was downright formidable. "Soval, with the help of your troops, I'm sure our combined forces will take that Romulan Warbird. You and the commander go and get our people on the surface back."
Soval nodded and entered the turbo-lift.
Zee flipped her communicator off and tossed it back in her bag. Trip and T'Pol were still sitting together on the ground. She crouched down in front of her prisoners, "Now, what shall we do to pass the time until our transport arrives?" She ran her hand up the inside of Trip's thigh, giving it a squeeze.
"Don't touch him." T'Pol's voice was even but a flame of anger shown in her eyes. She swung her bound hands with all the force she could muster. Romulan and Vulcan strength being equal, Zee smoothly blocked the blow. The Romulan drew back her right hand, still holding her pistol, and backhanded T'Pol across the face, sending her rolling to the side. Roaring a curse, Trip grabbed for the Romulan woman's throat.
Zee took his hands from her neck and slowly pushed him down, forcing his hands above his head.
"That isn't very friendly, Mr. Tucker…and I intend for us to get very friendly." Zee threw her leg across Trip straddling his waist. Holding his hands with one of hers, Zee holstered her gun. She reached as if to caress his face, but instead, drew her fingernail down his cheek, raising a thin line of bright red blood. It contrasted sharply with the dried blood from his head wound. Then she slowly placed her tongue flat on his face and licked up the fresh blood.
Trip struggled beneath her, trying to throw off the unwanted contact.
"That won't be the last blood you shed for me, Tucker. Soon we'll…
The Sub-Commander froze when she felt a pistol pressed against her skull.
"Get…the hell…off…my friend."
Trip looked up in stunned surprise, "Malcolm!"
David and Malcolm eased to the edge of the clearing. They crouched behind a stack of abandoned barrels. Finally, they had caught up to the woman they saw land her ship at Krell's camp. They observed her peer into the dirty window of a dilapidated building and slip inside.
Shortly thereafter, the door of the rusty building opened and a dazed looking Charles Tucker emerged. The Romulan woman followed him out.
"She has a pistol in his back," Malcolm whispered.
"Yeah, and Tucker has a head wound. Her handy-work no doubt, she is very beautiful but apparently lacking in manners."
Malcolm rolled his eyes at David. "If only half of what Krell said about her is true, she's an animal. We need to be ready to take her down at the first sign that she intends to harm Tucker or T'Pol."
"She needs to contact Alidar before we move in. Without her signal, he will never lower his cloak. She might rough them up a little, Malcolm, but I don't think she'd kill them."
"We'll see, but I'm telling you now, David, if I think their lives are in danger at any point, I'm taking the shot."
"Agreed," David said with a nod.
They watched the scene unfold, Malcolm was on high alert. Both men heard the Romulan threaten to kill T'Pol's child. That alone confirmed to them how vicious this woman was.
Once the call to General Alidar concluded, Malcolm and David began moving in. They couldn't see exactly what transpired since they were approaching from behind her. However, when Zee slammed her gun into the side of T'Pol's head, Malcolm put on a burst of speed.
With a great deal of satisfaction, Malcolm thrust the barrel of his gun to the back of the Romulan woman's head.
After growling out his threat, Malcolm grabbed the Sub-Commander's gun from her holster. He didn't think she was following his command quickly enough, so Malcolm used his boot to shove her off of Trip. David kept his weapon leveled at her head, as Malcolm took his knife out and cut Trip's hands free. Both men scrambled to T'Pol's side and gently turned her over. She was stunned but not unconscious.
Malcolm cut the binding from her hands, and Trip used his sleeve to mop at the green blood on her temple. T'Pol attempted to sit up, claiming she was fine.
"I know you are, Darlin', but take it slow for a minute." Trip eased her to a sitting position, propped against his chest. He looked up to his friend's face and grinned. "Malcolm, you are a sight for sore eyes. How did you find us?"
"That my friend, is a very long story." Malcolm glanced over at David, who had cuffed Zee's hands behind her, and tied her ankles together for good measure.
Both men watched as David, not so gently, patted the Romulan down. So far, he had found the pistol from her holster, a dagger in each boot, four razor sharp throwing stars in her belt, and a roll of garrote wire in her sleeve.
David looked at the plethora of weapons. "Lethal little thing aren't you?"
Zee spit at him and began hurling curses. David spun, resting his weapon directly between her eyes. "One more word…please."
She stopped speaking mid-tirade, looking straight into his cold eyes. There was no doubt in her mind that he would kill her.
The shuttle sat prepped and waiting. Eight members of Alidar's personal guard were already aboard. The General strode across the shuttle bay carrying a small case. He had gathered Krell's payment from his personal vault. After Tucker and T'Pol were in his hands, they would make a stop at Krell's camp to pay him and pick up Zee's fighter. He was irritated at the fool for letting the prisoners escape, but, Krell had gotten them safely this far and he might need his services again.
The pilot, standing at the shuttle hatch, snapped to attention as Alidar approached.
Taking the case from the general, the pilot said, "All is ready, we await your orders, Sir."
Both men entered the craft and settled into their seats. "Lieutenant, proceed," Alidar ordered.
Ordering the cloak to be lowered, the pilot maneuvered the shuttle smoothly from the bay and headed quickly toward the planet's surface.
Hoshi turned toward Archer, barely concealing a smile, "Captain, I just received a message from Commander Reed on a secure channel. He says that they have Mr. Tucker and Professor T'Pol secured and one Romulan officer in custody. Krell and his men have been neutralized."
Archer allowed himself a small sigh of relief before he got back to business.
"Hoshi, send back…hold tight for extraction. We will contact you when team launches."
"Captain, I'm getting strange readings, power fluctuations of some sort," said Williams at tactical.
Staring intently at the forward view screen, Archer saw the distorted shimmer of a ship de-cloaking. As they watched, a craft was launched from the Romulan ship and slid away toward the planet.
"Be ready for my signal, Williams," Archer said glancing to the tactical station.
"Captain, the shuttle has entered the atmosphere," Sato informed him.
"Hoshi, signal the Ti'Mur. Travis move us in…full impulse. Williams lock on to the cloaking generator." Archer calmly and quickly issued the necessary orders.
Both the Enterprise and Ti'Mur broke from cover and converged on the Warbird without warning. Archer could imagine the panic aboard the Romulan vessel at the sudden appearance of the two great ships. A slight shimmer appeared on the view screen.
"No you don't, you bastards...Williams, fire phase cannon!" Archer shouted.
Energy beams and torpedoes rocked the enemy ship as the Enterprise and Ti'Mur swarmed around the Warbird like angry bees.
Hoshi called to the captain, "Sir, I have signal from the Ti'Mur."
"Put him through, Hoshi."
The voice of Captain Vanik came over the comm. "Captain Archer, apparently V'Las gave us valid information. Our scans show that the engines and cloaking generator are down."
Archer glanced toward tactical, Williams gave him a nod.
"Concentrated fire on their weapons, we need them down before we can send our troops over," replied Archer. "We don't want to be firing at that ship with our people on board."
"Agreed," said Vanik.
Both ships concentrated their fire power on the Warbird's weapons nodes, as they circled their prey. Due to the surprise element of the attack, neither the Enterprise nor Ti'Mur had as yet suffered more than minor damage.
"Weapons down!" shouted Williams excitedly.
Archer pressed the comm button on his chair, "Transporter room, begin transport now."
Vanik's voice once again came over the comm, "Our forces have begun their assault, Captain."
Captain Archer had one last part of the plan to set in motion, "Archer to Hernandez, their weapons are disabled, you are cleared to launch. You and Soval be careful, the Romulan shuttle is bound to know their ship is under attacked by now."
"General, the command ship is under attack. I'm receiving damage reports now. They are specifically targeting the engines and cloaking device. It isn't random, the ships appear to know exactly where to strike," the pilot spoke swiftly, trying to give his general the pertinent facts.
"What ships," Alidar roared. "Where did they come from?"
"Unknown Sir, one vessel is a Surak class Vulcan ship and the other, according to our data base, is the Human ship, Enterprise."
Alidar slammed his balled fist on the consol in front of him. Through bared teeth he hissed. "How did they find us?"
"General, do you wish me to return to the ship?"
"No you fool, our salvation lies at our present heading." Alidar's face was a mask of fury, "Get us to the coordinates and do it quickly." He was very aware that Tucker and T'Pol, in his hands, would be the only way to salvage this debacle.
According to their intel, the crew complement of Alidar's vessel was one hundred twenty. Vanik had beamed in thirty of his best soldiers, while Archer sent twenty troops, a combination of MACO's and Enterprise security.
Vanik's forces were tasked with securing the engine room. They could not risk repairs being made to the disabled systems. The Earth troops were to take control of the bridge. They were unable to beam directly onto the bridge of the Warbird. It seemed that, for security purposes, there was separate shielding that prevented direct transport to the Romulan bridge, and it was still intact. Jonathan was forced to admit, that was a very good idea, which he would be bringing up to Starfleet. The only choice was to get them as close as possible. Both Captains were aware it would be a bloody fight to take control of the Warbird.
Archer and Williams stood in the situation room at the back of the bridge, leaning over the display, watching the battle telemetry playing out before them. Jonathan had never felt so helpless. Normally, a battle such as this was fought in space, with Jon giving orders and deciding strategies. Capturing this vessel intact was vital to the Coalition. All he could do now was watch the assault to capture this ship as an observer.
Due to the transport tags the Earth/Vulcan soldiers wore, a green glow distinguished them from the Romulan crew. The display showed heavy fighting at both assault targets. Vanik had already lost five men and Enterprise, three. Jon felt his chest tighten as each of the green auras had faded to gray. The only saving grace was that Romulan casualties were much higher.
Trip looked at the woman at his feet. The first thing that came to mind was a snarling dog. He had to admit, it felt good to see that Romulan bitch hog-tied. Apparently, the threat of having her head blown off was enough to prompt her to shut that mouth.
Feeling secure with Zee incapacitated, Trip walked over to Malcolm's friend and stretched out his hand, "The name's Charles Tucker, but my friends call me Trip."
David took his hand and shook it firmly. "David Bates-Smith, very pleased to meet you, Trip."
"And this…" Trip said as he helped T'Pol to her feet, "is my wife, T'Pol."
Malcolm looked momentarily astonished, and then shook his head ruefully. "Who but you could get himself kidnapped, dragged to the ass-end of known space, and come out of it with a beautiful wife."
Chuckling, Trip said, "You know what they say, Malcolm, fortune favors the foolish."
"True, indeed," Malcolm replied clapping Trip on the shoulder. "It's good to see you again."
"So, what's the plan, Malcolm?" Trip asked.
"Our ship is a fair distance from here, and since transporting is dodgy at best on this world, Captain Archer is sending a shuttle for us. Plus, we know that the Romulans launched a shuttle that's heading this way. Unless they turned back when the attack started, which I doubt, I'd rather we not get caught out in the open."
"What attack?"Trip asked.
"We will explain what's going on, but first…" David indicated the abandoned buildings behind them, "I suggest we take cover in the sturdiest of these buildings. We can barricade the door, and hopefully hold off the Romulans until Hernandez and Soval arrive."
"Did you say Soval?" T'Pol had been listening intently, but this name caused her to join the conversation.
"Yes," Malcolm said. "Soval and Captain Vanik brought the Ti'Mur out here in search of you."
"Wow, you must be much more important than I realized, if a person of Soval's status is concerned about your welfare," Trip teased.
T'Pol brushed past him and whispered in his ear. "You have no idea."
They all began moving toward the building that David had indicated. Malcolm leading the way with Trip and T'Pol next, David following behind with the Romulan woman thrown over his shoulder. Once inside, he dumped her, none to gently, in the corner. Quickly and efficiently they barricaded the door and took stations at the three windows. Malcolm and David at the large front window and Trip and T'Pol to the left and right sides respectively. As Trip hefted the pistol confiscated from Zee, he was suddenly very glad he had bowed to Commander Reed's nagging.
T'Pol had told him of her military service which was a part of most young Vulcan's training. She was capable of hand to hand combat and was well versed in the use of various weapons. Trip on the other hand, had no such training. That is, until he started traveling on Enterprise as a contractor.
Trip had laughed at Malcolm's assertion that he needed defense training. Trip informed Malcolm that never once in all his years had a fist fight broken out in a board meeting and he had yet to be called on to shoot one of his research engineers.
Commander Reed would have none of it though, and insisted on training him personally. Trip became a fairly competent shot, and would never admit it to Malcolm, but he had enjoyed the hand to hand training immensely. So much so that when he returned to Earth, Trip had brought in a personal trainer to continue his martial arts lessons.
Trip was pulled from his reverie by Malcolm's voice. "Be alert everyone. The Romulan shuttle is here."
