Author's Note: Thanks for all of the fantastic reviews! It's been keeping me very motivated.

Chapter Nine

T'Pol

It was not uncommon for me to continue working long after I retired to my quarters for the night. My space lacked the distractions of the busy bridge, and so I was able to focus more intently on the task at hand. On this particular night, I was following the captain's orders to locate the cause of the strange anomalies.

Captain Archer and I did not agree on a proper course of action. If the decision were mine, the alien ship sitting in our shuttlebay would be jettisoned out into space and the matter put behind us. Even if, as he said, the damage was already done, the logical conclusion was the craft posed a threat to our crew.

Still, Captain Archer's arguments had merit. Aside from the sheer rationality of his reasons, he was my superior officer. I was obligated to follow his orders.

Trip suggested I utilize an emitter to fill the room with a low-level burst of radiation and see if that helped to flush out the source of the interference. I felt I was a sufficient test subject as the counselor had discovered the phenomenon was recorded surrounding me in the hours prior to my nightly meditation.

I ran a sensor sweep of my quarters and noted the report indicated there were two of me in the room. I paused to consider if my emotions were amplified. I felt worn and raw. Evenings were particularly difficult for me, when the memories of my daughter were the sharpest. During the day, my work and activities throughout the ship distracted me. At night, my only combat against the pain was meditation. I closed my eyes. I would have no reprieve until this test was over.

With the initial sweep completed, I then turned to the emitter in my hands. It was set to release small bursts of varying types of radiation into the room. I first tried a discharge of gamma radiation. Once that was finished, I ran another sensor sweep of the room. Noting no change, I sighed and picked up the emitter once again. I tried three more types of innocuous radiation with no success.

Frustrated, I shifted in my chair. Sitting in the same position for so long had left me with stiff muscles, and so I stood to stretch. I continued my testing as I paced my quarters, stopping at my desk every few moments to run a new sensor sweep.

Perhaps metreon radiation? I discharged the emitter into the room as I passed by the window, glancing up towards my desk as it finished.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught movement. My eyes shot up to look out of the portal in my wall, my own reflection staring back at me.

What I saw in the reflection sent chills down my spine.

Behind me was a large, white, waxy-looking creature. The being stood a foot taller than I, and had an elongated head with three eye slits in its pale face. Long, gangly arms were crossed over its chest. It seemed shrouded by some sort of white cloth, which shadowed many of its features. The life form seemed to be staring at me, hunger radiating off of it. Slowly, it tilted its head and reached out one spindly arm towards me.

I dropped my emitter and spun around, a soft cry escaping my lips. I tensed, ready to do combat with the creature invading my space.

But it was gone.

Or it appeared to be. I stumbled backwards, leaning against my desk and gripping the edge of it for support as I stared at the space where the being had stood in the reflection. Frantically, I turned and pressed the button to run another sensor sweep of my quarters.

There were now three of me in the room.

Breathless, I reached out and pressed the communicator button on my desk. "T'Pol to Lieutenant Reed."

"Go ahead, Commander."

"I need a security team to my quarters." I pressed a calming hand to my abdomen. "Immediately."

Trip

For the first time in a long time, I was starting to feel a little bit like myself again. I was tired of everyone talking about how emotional and disgruntled I was, and to tell you the truth, I was getting a little annoyed with my own company. I was proud of myself for managing to refrain from laying into Callie in the staff meeting. I wanted to, and I had to bite my tongue pretty damn hard. But for the first time in weeks, I'd managed to keep it together.

I don't know who was more surprised when I suggested to Malcolm we get together for some R and R. He eyed me suspiciously, but when he realized I really did mean it, he suggested a game of poker. It wasn't something we did regularly, but now and again we did play a few hands.

We were sitting at a table in the corner of my office, chips stacked in front of us. I had a cold glass of beer and two pair. Maybe things were starting to look up.

"I've been thinkin'," I said as I shuffled through my cards, "maybe we could talk the cap'n into some shore leave on Risa before we head into deep space."

Malcolm snorted as he studied his hand. "We just finished shore leave on Earth. I doubt he would go for another round so soon."

It stung, but I didn't say anything. I spent the time planning my daughter's funeral—not exactly relaxing. I picked up my glass and took a long sip of beer to calm the annoyance that started to well up. "Maybe the rest of you had shore leave." I was careful to keep my voice even. "But I didn't have a grand time."

He heard the underlying bitterness and glanced up, guilt in his eyes. I knew he'd forgotten, and I sort of felt bad for making a point of reminding him. "I'm sorry," he said as he stared at his cards again. Malcolm fell silent and rearranged his hand for the third time. "I don't think any of us had a smashing time on leave. Perhaps we could convince the captain it would be therapeutic." He smirked at me. "It couldn't possibly be any worse than the last time we visited Risa."

I grinned, tossing one chip to the middle of the table. "You get a guy tied up in his underwear for a night one time, and he never lets you live it down."

He chuckled and dropped three chips into the pot. "Perhaps Risa wouldn't be the best choice, given our history there. I'm sure if we asked her sweetly enough, T'Pol could pull up a nice, tropical planet in the Vulcan database."

I choked on a swallow of beer. "Yeah, that'll go over real well." I studied my cards and plunked down four more chips. "'Hey, T'Pol, can you find us a nice planet where we can go relieve frustrations.' Man, she'd kill me."

"For the right planet and the right stress-relievers, perhaps it would be worth the risk."

I laughed as he upped the bet once more, then studied his face carefully. It was damned near impossible to tell if Malcolm was bluffing. He was an expert at keeping his emotions in-check. My hand was decent, but I had no idea what he was holding. After a moment of deliberation, I reached for more chips to meet his bet and call.

As my fingers brushed the chips, I froze. Malcolm sensed the sudden tension that rushed through me and glanced up sharply. "Are you alright?"

"Somethin's not right." I sat back in my chair and looked around, uneasy. I couldn't explain it. I just knew something, somewhere on Enterprise was very wrong.

I suppose the lieutenant thought I was joking. "Perhaps there's a nacelle out of alignment," he joked.

"I'm serious, Malcolm," I said. My lips pursed thoughtfully, and I struggled to put my finger on whatever was bothering me.

"Well then maybe—"

"T'Pol to Lieutenant Reed."

The sound of her voice caused both of us to jump. I cursed as I knocked over my beer and reached for a cloth to mop it up.

Malcolm stood and strode over to my comm unit. "Go ahead, Commander."

"I need a security team to my quarters. Immediately."

I glanced at Malcolm, the puddle forgotten. To anyone else, T'Pol might have sounded calm and detached. But I could hear the tension in her voice. Suddenly I knew why I was edgy. It was our damned bond again. Taking a deep breath, I let down the guard she taught me to put up between us, and her fear nearly knocked me over.

"On my way," Malcolm responded. He paused long enough to summon the rest of a security team to her quarters, but I was already out the door.

I didn't wait around for the security team to catch up. I was at her door in a heartbeat, punching in my override code to let myself in without even bothering to ring the bell. "You okay?" I asked, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"I'm unharmed." She struggled to give me a reassuring look, but there was strain under her cool, collected surface.

I dug my fingers in harder to keep from pulling her into my arms. "Are you sure?"

"Trip, I'm—"

She cut off as security entered the room, the captain hot on their heels. I released T'Pol and stepped back.

"What's going on?" Malcolm asked. He had a phase pistol in his hand, and by the look in his eyes, I'm pretty sure he was itching to use it.

T'Pol glanced briefly at me, and then turned to them. "We have an intruder."

The captain's eyes darkened. "What?"

She took a deep breath and described what happened. The more she spoke, the tighter my fists clenched. A white-hot ball of fury was beginning to build in my stomach. I wanted nothing more than to find the pasty bastard who invaded T'Pol's room and rip his head off with my bare hands.

Malcolm examined every square inch of the room and then turned back to the captain and T'Pol. "I don't see any evidence of the intruder." There was a note of doubt in his voice.

"I do," she replied. I took a deep breath to steady myself as she strode over to her desk and punched a few buttons. "I'm once again seeing the same sensor anomaly we've been dealing with in this room."

"You think what you saw is what has been interfering with the sensors?" The strain in the captain's voice was evident. He was protective of his crew, and the idea of something invading to this level didn't sit well with him. He was probably as pissed off as I was. He was just a little better at controlling it.

"There are two possibilities," T'Pol replied. "The first is I experienced a hallucination brought on by the anomaly." She glanced down at her emitter. "And the other possibility is the metreon radiation burst caused me to be able to see a creature for a brief moment."

"If that's the case, what are the odds the extra crew members we've been seeing on the sensor sweeps are one of the beings you saw?" Malcolm holstered his phase pistol on his side and glanced around the room with a dark look.

T'Pol tapped the emitter against one palm. "I would say those are very good odds."

The captain glanced over at Malcolm's security team and dismissed them with a nod. Once they left the room, he fixed his gaze on T'Pol. "Let's try another radiation burst."

I stepped behind her and peered over her shoulder as she recalibrated the emitter. The close contact intensified our bond, and her storm of emotions were almost palpable. For a split-second, several ideas of creative ways I could help her relieve the strain flashed through my mind before I pushed them back down. I wasn't fast enough, though, because she glanced up at me sharply.

Flushing, I coughed and stepped back.

"I'm ready, Captain," T'Pol said.

He nodded to her, and then at Malcolm and me. The tension in the room shot up so high you could have cut it. T'Pol activated the emitter, filling the room with radiation.

It didn't happen right away. In fact, I was pretty sure we were safe and maybe T'Pol's hallucination theory was right. But then seconds after the emitter shut down, I found myself standing between two tall, pale, ghostly figures, their hands reaching out to touch my head.

"What the hell?" I jumped out of their reach. Malcolm pulled his pistol again and the captain braced for combat.

As quickly as the shadowy figures appeared, they vanished.

For a few minutes, none of us could speak. We stared at each other in stunned silence.

"I don't think that was a hallucination." Captain Archer rested a hand on my shoulder. "You alright?"

I nodded, though I was shaken. "I think so. I mean, I didn't feel anything. But damn. That was creepy."

"Well, we know how to see them now," Malcolm spoke up. "So how do we combat them?"

"I'll do some further investigation," T'Pol replied. "Experimenting with radiation bursts is what revealed the creatures. Perhaps that will give me a way of combating them."

"I don't want you alone tonight," I blurted. The captain and Malcolm both looked at me as if I'd suddenly grown another head, but I ignored them. "If those things are in here…"

I swear she almost rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine. I'm in no more danger than anyone else on this ship." She looked up at me pointedly. "The counselor noted the creatures seem to leave me be once I've meditated. I will do so, and rest."

Despite my best efforts to squash it, hot anger washed over me. "Of course you will. Just like always, you'll solve it your own damn self without anyone to help you."

"Trip—"

"Would it hurt for you to just once accept help? Just once." Deep down, I was shaken and upset. The tone in T'Pol's voice and the waves of fear I felt from her when she called for Malcolm affected me more than I wanted to admit. I wanted—needed—to reassure myself she was safe.

"Trip, you need to calm down." The captain's stern voice broke through my tirade.

"Why?" I shot back.

"Because the sensors are now showing four of you standing in this room." T'Pol's tone was soft with concern.

Not quite believing her, I pushed past the captain and looked down at the sensor readings on the screen sitting on her desk. Sure enough, it showed four Commander Tuckers. I stared at it, my frustration over the entire damned situation growing with each passing moment.

I couldn't take it anymore. "For fuck's sake, would you soul-sucking creatures leave me the hell alone?" I shouted, hands clenched at my sides. "I—"

A wave of dizziness cut me off, and I stumbled backwards. Instantly I felt a pair of strong hands catch me. "Easy, Trip." Concern laced the captain's voice as he helped me upright. "You need to calm down."

This time the command penetrated the furious fog on my brain and I forced myself to relax. "I'm okay." I didn't sound okay, even to my own ears.

The captain and T'Pol exchanged a worried glance. "I want you to go down to sickbay and have Phlox check you over."

"I'm not going to sickbay."

"Trip, that wasn't a request."

Panic welled up fast and strong. "I'm not—!" I started to shout, and a fresh wave of dizziness washed over me. Again I felt the captain grab me by the arm to steady me as I pressed a hand to my forehead. "I'm not going to sickbay," I repeated, this time calmer and quieter. "You can have the doc come to my quarters and check me over, but I'm not going to sickbay unless you knock me out and drag me in there."

T'Pol placed a restraining hand on the captain's arm, and I shoved aside an irrational flash of jealousy. "We will send Dr. Phlox to your quarters," she said. Her eyes begged me to listen to her, and I sighed in response. "Go to your quarters. Rest."

I debated arguing, but decided I just didn't have it in me. "Fine," I agreed. "But if you find out anything else…"

"You'll be the first to know." The captain tried to smile, but a touch of wariness marred it. He nodded towards the door. "Go."

Pinching the bridge of my nose to try and alleviate my now-throbbing head, I nodded. My shoulders slumped as I turned to go. Suddenly the idea of burying myself in my bunk for a few hours didn't sound so bad.

Jon

The next morning, I gathered together a small meeting in my ready room. It wasn't a full senior staff meeting—just those who were the most crucial for the investigation into the creatures we now knew were prowling the ship. T'Pol was perhaps the most important of the group gathered, but I'd also included Malcolm, Phlox, and Callie. Since he was still sleeping–and clearly needed it–I left Trip out this time. I would bring him up-to-date later.

Once we brought the doctor and counselor up to speed, I turned to T'Pol. "Have you turned up anything else overnight?" I asked.

"No," she replied and switched on a PADD. "I've continued running sensor sweeps at regular intervals, if for no other reason than to keep track of the beings' movements." T'Pol paused, conflict in her eyes. "And I suppose after the display we witnessed in my quarters last night, it's safe to conclude the beings are, as the counselor proposed, attracted to those with heightened emotional states."

Callie was perched on the edge of my desk, palms planted on the surface. "What happened in your quarters?"

I looked up at her. "Trip was pretty fired up. The more angry he became, the more of the creatures we could see on the sensor sweeps." Absently, I fiddled with an empty mug in front of me. "When he blew his top, he was dizzy." Worried, I glanced at Phlox.

"I did go and examine him in his quarters last night," the doctor assured me. "There was some elevated activity in the medial cortex, a bit more than I was comfortable with. He's agreed to allow me to monitor him. I cleared him for duty this morning."

"I have noted something of concern," T'Pol said, her gaze meeting mine. "The sensor sweeps indicate the beings are increasingly attracted to Commander Tucker. We're approaching a point at which there will consistently be multiple copies of him appearing on the sensor sweeps every time one is run."

I exhaled and closed my eyes.

"Of course," Callie put in. "He's a veritable Sunday buffet."

Malcolm shot her a curious look. "He's what?"

"It's obvious these creatures are attracted to something about our emotional reactions," she explained. "We've all noticed the entire crew is a bit more unrestrained than they normally would be. If these… things are able to stir up our emotions, then Trip's the easiest target."

I studied her. "Why do you say that?"

"Even before the incident with the alien craft, we all observed Commander Tucker as more volatile than usual," Phlox interjected.

"Exactly." Callie nodded. "He's upset and harboring a lot of anger, frustration, and hurt. It's easy to provoke him. All you have to do to get a rise out of him these days is tell him his uniform is blue."

An exaggeration, but with a ring of truth to it.

"Is there anything we can do to protect him?" I glanced between Phlox and Callie. I desperately hoped one of them had an idea.

The two of them exchanged blank looks. "Short of sedating him, I don't know," Callie replied helplessly.

"Even if we did that—and assuming he wouldn't be plagued with unsettling dreams while sedated—the beings would find a new target." Phlox appeared agitated, a sentiment I could relate to. "We wouldn't be solving anything but redirecting the problem to someone else."

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back.

"I'm not comfortable knowing there are strange creatures floating about the ship and we have no way to combat them," Malcolm put in.

"I'm not either, Malcolm, but until we know more…" I trailed off, gazing thoughtfully out the window.

Something Malcolm said when the alien ship was brought aboard popped into my mind. It seemed inconsequential at the time, but now I wondered.

"There's clearly no one inside—but I don't see a body, either."

I spun in my chair and turned back to the others, resting my elbows on my knees and leaning forward. "I want to know what happened on that alien ship."

"Captain?" There was a note of curiosity in T'Pol's voice.

"Until now, we've assumed the ship itself was responsible for everything we've been seeing. Let's assume it's not the ship but what was contained in the ship that's the source." Standing, I began pacing the floor. "Malcolm, when you, Trip, and I first inspected the ship, you noticed there was no pilot—"

"And no body." His fingers began to tap on his thigh in agitation.

"What happened to the pilot?" I asked.

Silence.

"I want the seal on the shuttlebay broken." My first order was at Malcolm, who nodded in agreement. "T'Pol, I want you and Trip to work on pulling the ship's logs. Whatever you have to do. Get them to Hoshi, and have her work on translating them."

"Yes, Captain."

"Phlox, Callie, I want the two of you to find some way to protect Tr—" I caught myself. "Protect the crew from whatever these things are. Some sort of protocol, medication, something. Figure out what it is about our emotional states they're attracted to and find a way to block it."

"We'll get to work on it right away." Phlox stood. I could already see the wheels in his mind spinning, and I wondered which of the residents of sickbay would be volunteered for this experiment.

"Let me know as soon as any of you have made progress," I ordered. "Dismissed."

My staff began to file out, but Callie lingered behind. "Jon?" she asked, dropping formalities now that we were alone.

"Yeah?"

She reached out and squeezed my hand. "We'll get Trip through this."

I turned my hand over to return the gentle pressure. "Yes, we will." I owe him that much.

Her dark eyes lingered on mine. I felt the overwhelming desire to pull her against me and seek comfort in her arms. As I debated whether or not I would be rebuffed, she released my hand and headed to the door.

"I'd better go help Phlox." A bemused grin tugged at her lips. "I have a feeling I'm about to have an in-depth lesson on the healing capabilities of his osmotic eel."

As she slipped out the door and onto the bridge, I chuckled and sat down. Almost instantly, the amusement faded and I buried my head in my hands.

How in the world would we get out of this one?