Set in Stone

By Thalia Drogna, based on a synopsis from Softyfluff

Chapter 10

AN: Just another chapter and the epilogue to go after this one. Many thanks to those who have reviewed, getting them really does make my day (yes, even the bad ones).

Phlox enjoyed his work on Enterprise most days. It was varied and challenging, but had also afforded him the opportunity to make many new friends amongst the crew. Unfortunately being a doctor meant that he often saw those same new friends injured or sick and it was up to him to put his skills to use to help them. When he had entered the cave to treat Commander Tucker he had known what he was likely to find in the way of injuries, but it hadn't really prepared him for seeing his friend so badly hurt, buried under a pile of rocks. All he could do was put aside his feelings and fall back on his professionalism as a doctor. It was a skill which he was very practiced in but not one that he enjoyed using.

There had been a long ride back to Enterprise in the shuttlepod during which he had battled to keep his patient stable, and then an even longer session of surgery to mend internal injuries and stem blood loss. The Commander had further surgery sessions ahead of him to deal with pinning broken bones, but for the moment the emergency had been dealt with and keeping him anaesthetised for longer would have been dangerous. It was better to wait until he was stronger before dealing with the non-life threatening injuries.

Phlox supervised as two of his assistants transferred the Commander from the operating room to a biobed. He was just checking the monitors, chest tube and IV lines when Captain Archer entered sickbay. Phlox was not surprised to see him. The surgery had gone on longer than he had originally thought that it would and Captain Archer would have expected to have heard from him well before now.

Archer approached the bed apprehensively and Phlox could see him steeling himself for the worst, counting up the obvious injuries. Large bruises were beginning to form across the Commander's body and they looked particularly angry against his currently pale skin. Both legs and one arm were in plastic casts of varying sizes and two fingers on his left hand were splinted. To a lay person the visible injuries must have looked severe but Phlox knew that it was the injuries that couldn't be seen that were the real problem.

Archer looked up at Phlox and met his eyes. "How did the surgery go?"

Phlox shook his head. "I've stopped the internal bleeding and re-inflated the lung, but his heart stopped twice during the surgery. He's slipped into a coma. At least there were no injuries to his spine, although I don't think that there's a single inch of skin on his body that isn't bruised or scraped."

"A coma?" asked Archer, "but he was conscious in the cave and the shuttlepod."

"His condition deteriorated during the operation. He's currently unresponsive. You must remember that the internal injuries are very serious."

"When is he likely to wake up?"

"I can't give you a timeframe. It could be today or tomorrow or next week, next month or…"

"Never?" Archer looked worried and Phlox thought maybe even slightly panicked.

"It is a possibility that we should be prepared for, and the longer he remains unresponsive the more likely there is to be damage to his cognitive abilities." Phlox never liked to be the bearer of bad news, but this was especially upsetting for him. He was well aware that the Captain and his Chief Engineer had been having their differences lately, and Archer had obviously been hoping for the opportunity to talk them out. If Trip was in a coma then those issues would remain unresolved between them and it was a very real possibility that they might never be given the chance to set things right.

Archer nodded, but his expression was grave. "I'd like to sit with him for a while."

"Certainly. I'll give you some privacy. You might find it interesting to know that many doctors believe that coma patients can still hear people talking to them. In fact some studies suggest that it aids recovery."

"I'll bear that in mind, Doctor," replied Archer, as he pulled up a stool and sat down beside Trip's bed.

Phlox finished his checks and then drew the curtain around the biobed. Privacy in sickbay was rather an illusion as curtains didn't stop sound from travelling but Phlox did want to give the Captain as much space as he could.

"Hey, Doc?" came a question from the only other occupied bed in sickbay.

"Yes, Lieutenant, what can I do for you?" Phlox went over to Lieutenant Hess's bedside.

"I heard what you said about Commander Tucker," said Hess. "You must have some idea of when he's going to wake up?"

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but comas of this nature are impossible to predict. He is a strong young man, but he was also very badly injured and his body needs time to heal itself. I assure you that I'm doing everything in my power to help him."

"I know you are, Doc, I know you are," replied Hess, tiredly.

"If his condition changes I'll let you know, but you need to sleep, Lieutenant. You're still recovering from serious burns."

"The last thing I remember before waking up in here is Commander Tucker trying to keep me conscious. He's done more for me and my career over the last few years than anyone else. He's the best commanding officer I've ever had, and a good friend. I can't imagine working on Enterprise without him. You can see why I'm worried about him," said Hess.

"I understand completely, Lieutenant," replied Phlox, as he checked the monitors above his patient's biobed, "but currently the only thing any of us can do is wait."

Archer sat looking at Trip, wondering how he could begin to talk to someone who couldn't answer him. Trip looked like he was only a few shallow breaths away from death. His bare, bruised chest was covered in bandages and medical monitoring equipment. He really needed a two way conversation. He needed Trip to answer some of the questions that he had and the broken man in front of him was not going to do that any time soon, judging by what Phlox had said.

Trip had been ill before, and Archer had always been worried about his friend when that happened, but something made this time different. With horror Archer realised the difference was that he felt responsible, not for the accident itself, but for placing Trip in the situation that had led to him being hurt.

He couldn't bring himself to look at Trip any longer, so he studied his hands as he talked.

"Trip, I'm not good at this sort of thing, and I guess its only because you're in a coma that I can say this, but you mean a lot to me. I've never had a friend like you and I'm sorry that I've been acting like a horse's ass recently. I could blame it on the pressure of being Captain or the Xindi war but that's only part of it. We've been drifting apart for a while and I know it's mostly my fault. I wasn't there for you when your sister died and ever since the Expanse I've had precious little time for my friends. I threw everything that I had into saving Earth and now that we're out here exploring again, it's as if I can't find my way back to how things were before. Maybe too much has changed about who I am.

Given half a chance you'll sacrifice yourself for a good cause and, yes, saving a nation of children is a good cause. But did you have to go it alone? Couldn't you have told someone what you were up to? If you didn't trust me then at least you should have said something to T'Pol or Malcolm. I guess you did and we just didn't listen.

I know that you felt you couldn't trust me to do the right thing. I wish that wasn't… I promise that I'll never ignore your advice as an Engineer again. I'll promise anything you like, Trip, you just have to wake up. I know I'm being selfish but I need you here. Enterprise needs you here. Please come back."

Archer hung his head. No amount of pleading was going to make Trip wake up. Even though Phlox put a lot of store in talking to coma patients, he was pessimistic about how much Trip could actually hear. In any case this needed to be a two way conversation. He was wasting his time being here. Archer got up from his seat and pushed aside the curtain around the biobed. Phlox was tending to his animals and everything was quiet except for the small chirps from the menagerie.

The sound of the com interrupted the quiet. "Reed to Captain Archer."

Archer went to the com. "Go ahead Lieutenant."

"Sir, I have Xy'an with me," said Reed.

"Meet me in my ready room, I'll be there in a few minutes." Archer activated the door. He paused before exiting and turned back to Phlox. "Call me if there's any change in his condition."

Phlox simply gave a small nod in reply.

"The Thaisen are grateful to you Captain," said Xy'an.

"Grateful to me?" asked Archer. Xy'an sat in the chair in front of his desk. Her thin frame was far too small for the chair. It was a stark reminder that the leader of the Thaisen was only a child, along with the rest of the Thaisen population.

"You sent us Trip and without him we would not have been able to escape. His trial allowed us to show ourselves and make the rest of the Thackerites aware of our existence. Everything will be different now." Xy'an blinked her black eyes. Archer found the wide dark eyes against the grey skin slightly unsettling. This creature in front of him was completely alien, without even the same basic building blocks of life that humans had.

"I didn't exactly send you Trip, Commander Tucker. The Thackerites asked us for help fixing the mining machines and Commander Tucker was the most qualified to go. I didn't know that you'd been communicating with him."

"He was the only one of you that I have been able to contact. You were some distance away at the time and your minds are alien to us. Perhaps it was because his mind was more vulnerable."

"Vulnerable in what way?"

"It is hard for me to explain to someone with no telepathic ability, but his mind was at an emotional low. I felt great worry and tiredness."

A cold feeling settled in Archer's stomach. He recognised the signs of the stress that he had placed Trip under as Xy'an described them. That rested this whole situation firmly on his own shoulders. However he had another concern. Telepathy was disturbing at the best of times but the terms that Xy'an used to describe how she had come to talk with Trip suggested more of an invasion than that he had let her in. Could she even do more than just talk to Trip, perhaps control his mind and make him do the things that he had? Archer almost hoped that was the case but he knew deep down that it wasn't. Trip was the kind of person who would sacrifice himself if he thought the cause was good enough.

"You were only able to appear in his dreams at first?" asked Archer.

"You were a long way from our planet," replied Xy'an. "I know you are concerned that I was controlling him in some way but that is not the case. I assure you that I cannot control anyone. I can read some thoughts to a limited degree. I can pick up on your concern about my ability but in order to communicate I need the other person to project their thoughts to me. Our telepathic ability gets stronger as we grow older. This was one of the reasons that the Thackerites would kill us when we reached a certain age. I am very close to that age, but my telepathic ability is unusually strong." She paused. "I did not come here to discuss this, Captain."

"I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive my curiosity. You asked for asylum for you and your people, which presents us with a problem."

Xy'an blinked again. "Trip told me that your ship can not carry all of us, however he wanted us to be under your protection. He knew that he had placed himself in great danger with what he planned and wanted there to be someone to look after us. We had something different in mind."

"It sounds like you and Trip have thought about this a lot." Archer hoped that Trip hadn't given them false hopes or promised something that he wouldn't be able to deliver.

"Apparently breaking rocks is dull and Trip was able to spend some time communicating with me while he worked." Xy'an then actually gave him a smile.

"So what was it that he communicated to you?"

"He showed us a planet. It was uninhabited and had similar terrain to Th'ayk'ah. He suggested moving us there."

For a moment Archer wasn't quite sure what to say, but he tried not to let his surprise show. He thought back to the various survey missions that they'd been on. He knew exactly the planet that Trip had been thinking of. It was a couple of light years away back towards Earth and had a very similar landscape to Thacker with plenty of caves for the Thaisen to make their new homes in. It was also completely uninhabited. There was still one problem though.

"We could relocate you, I'm sure, although it would take a few trips to ferry all of you there, but I don't like the idea of leaving a group of children alone to look after themselves. You need some form of adult guidance. You're the oldest of your people and you can't be more that twelve years old."

Xy'an gave a small shake of her head. "Having spoken to Trip, I can see why you think this, but you are wrong in several ways. We are children because we are immature in terms of our people but there would be no need for adult supervision. You see the Thaisen live a lot longer than you. I am forty-five next season."

This time Archer really was speechless. The child that sat in front of him simply couldn't be that old. It was impossible. At least it seemed to solve one of his problems. He wondered if Trip was aware of just how old these "children" were, not that it would have made any difference, he was certain that he would have helped then anyway.

Xy'an broke the uncomfortable silence. "I would like to see Trip if it is possible. I know he was hurt very badly."

"Yes, he was, but I think we can arrange for you to visit," said Archer, slightly subdued by Xy'an's revelation. "I'll call someone to take you down."

"Don't you want to visit Trip also?"

Archer stopped with his hand halfway toward the com. "I was there earlier and I have a lot of work here..."

"You should still be the one to accompany me," said Xy'an.

"I should?" asked Archer. "That sounds like you know something that I don't."

"Take me to see Trip and I'll explain it once we have seen him."

Archer looked into Xy'an's dark eyes trying to read her expression and determine something about why she wanted him to see Trip with her but there was nothing there to read. Her face was like a blank page to him. The only way he was going to find out why he needed to be there was if he went with her. He rose from his seat. "Okay, follow me."

Phlox turned towards them as they entered sickbay. He was obviously a little surprised to see Archer back so soon.

"We came to see Trip," said Xy'an.

Phlox smiled at Xy'an an indicated Trip's corner of sickbay. "Of course, he is over here."

Xy'an went towards Trip's bed and Archer followed a couple of steps behind her. She reached the bedside and stood looking down at Trip.

"He is capable of waking, but he chooses not to," said Xy'an.

Phlox moved towards them, suddenly interested in what Xy'an was saying. "He chooses not to?"

"He is very badly injured, that is a physical fact, but he doesn't want to wake up."

"How do you know that?" asked Archer.

"He told me," replied Xy'an.

"He told you?" asked Archer, in disbelief. "He's in a coma."

"I made a telepathic bond with Trip and it is not easily broken. Even unconscious I can still pick up thoughts from him."

"Why doesn't he want to wake up?" asked Archer.

Xy'an rounded on Archer. "He is tired and doesn't believe he is valued here. You told him this on several occasions."

"Trip and I have had our differences but he knows that I value him… Doesn't he?"

Xy'an looked directly at Archer. "You tried to talk to him before but he didn't hear you. Perhaps I can help you to get him to listen. "

"How could you help me?"

"I can act as a conduit for a telepathic bond between you and Trip," replied Xy'an.

Archer shook his head. "I don't see how that will make any difference to Trip's condition."

"If you can resolve your differences then he will want to wake up. He doesn't feel that there is anything here for him at the moment. You started to heal your differences by helping him to rescue S'vin and the others but that single act isn't enough to take back everything that you have said and done over the last few months."

Archer turned to Phlox. "Do you know anything about what she's suggesting?"

"A little. I have read examples of healing through some kind of telepathy, persuading the patient to heal themselves almost. I've never heard of it working for such a severely injured patient or through a third party," said Phlox. "I can't see any harm in trying however. It can't make the situation any worse."

The worry was clearly visible on Archer's face. He didn't like the idea of telepathy or Xy'an poking around in his head but, if it would help Trip, then what choice did he have.

"Okay, what do I have to do?"

Xy'an looked Archer up and down. "In theory, nothing, but I seem to be having trouble making a link with your mind. Maybe you should try to relax and open your mind more to me."

"Perhaps lying down would help?" suggested Phlox.

Archer gave a shrug but headed for a biobed and laid himself down on it. He closed his eyes and tried to relax himself into a frame of mind where Xy'an could telepathically connect with him. He felt Xy'an take his hand and he waited. He felt something, almost imperceptible, touch his thoughts and then it was gone again. It came and went three or four times more before Xy'an let go of his hand.

"It isn't working," she said. "Your mind is not like Trip's and I can't penetrate below the most superficial level."

"You told me his mind was more vulnerable when you made contact," said Archer, sitting up on the biobed. "You described it as an emotional low. Can you tell me when you first made contact with him?"

"By Thacker time, about two weeks ago," said Xy'an.

Archer did a quick mental calculation. "About the time of the pirate raid on Enterprise. Trip was working flat out to repair the damage."

"Indeed," said Phlox. "Now I come to think about it, I remember that after the Commander took the dose of stimulants, I sedated him so that he could sleep, he woke up very suddenly having had a bad dream. At the time I suggested it was a side effect of his stimulant use but perhaps it had something to do with the telepathic contact you had made with him?"

Xy'an nodded. "He said my contact gave him nightmares. The combination of drugs and lack of sleep might have been enough to place his mind in a state where I could contact him."

"Then I have to do the same," said Archer. "Do you know how long he was awake for before he took the stimulants?"

"He told me twenty four hours, but he has a habit of lying to me about things like this. At a guess I would say it was more like three days without proper sleep," said Phlox. "Going without sleep is not something that I would recommend for a human patient. It is amazing how quickly it can affect your cognitive abilities and general health, especially if you exacerbate things with a dose of unauthorised stimulants." Phlox gave a knowing look back towards Trip.

"If that's what it takes to help Trip, doctor, then that's what I have to do. Three days without sleep and a shot of stimulants." Archer let out a sigh, this was not going to be easy and it brought it home to him just how much Trip had been abusing his body lately for the sake of Enterprise.

Phlox shook his head. "Very well, if that is what you must do I insist on monitoring you twice a day and you are not to leave sickbay once the stimulant dose has been administered."

"Okay, I'll see you back here tomorrow morning," said Archer, sliding off the biobed. "I'll be handing over command to T'Pol until this is all over."

Phlox nodded. "Very wise."

"I would like to stay here," said Xy'an.

"I don't see any harm in that," replied Phlox, turning towards Archer.

"I suppose that would be okay," said Archer. "I have to go and see T'Pol."

Archer found T'Pol and Reed discussing the relocation of the Thaisen in the Command Centre.

"T'Pol, I'm turning over command of Enterprise to you for the next few days," said Archer.

T'Pol and Reed both stopped what they were doing and looked at Archer.

T'Pol straightened up. "Can I ask why, Captain?"

"Xy'an thinks she has a way to bring Trip out of his coma that involves making some sort of telepathic bridge between the two of us. The only problem is that she couldn't make a connection with me. Apparently she can only make contact with humans if they're in a vulnerable mental state."

"She seemed to be able to connect with Trip," said Reed.

"Apparently that was because he hadn't sleep for three days and took stimulants," said Archer.

"Ah," said Reed, in realisation of the problem that Archer faced.

"You're planning to stay awake for three days and then abuse drugs," said T'Pol, an almost questioning tone to her statement.

"It doesn't sound like such a good plan when you put it like that," said Archer.

"That is because it is not a good plan," replied T'Pol.

"I can't think of any other way to do this."

"Are you sure that Xy'an can be trusted?" asked Reed.

"She doesn't have anything to gain. T'Pol will be in command anyway, so messing with my mind won't get her anywhere. I think she genuinely wants to help Trip but, just in case, I want you to change all the access codes, effective immediately. Even without Xy'an doing anything to me, lack of sleep can affect judgement and that's before I take the stimulants."

"Of course," T'Pol nodded. "I will take care of it."

"Thank you." Archer turned to leave. "I have a date with a huge pile of paperwork and a big pot of coffee."

"Sir, if you want any help staying awake, I'd be happy to assist you. Perhaps a sparing session in the gym…" started Reed.

Archer turned back to his armoury officer with a half smile on his face. "Thank you, Malcolm. I may well take you up on that offer." With that he left his officers to their work.

Archer had been awake for nearly twenty four hours and was already feeling like he could drop dead asleep on the spot. It wasn't as if he had never stayed awake for such a long period, he'd had his fair share of sleepless nights and double shifts, but usually he was working. This time there was no pressing task for him to perform, all he had to do was remain awake long enough that he could help Trip. As Captain he had plenty of demands on his time but usually they involved long hours of reading and now he wanted something hands-on to keep him occupied. To top things off he had asked T'Pol to relieve him of command so there were no big decisions to be made and all his command codes had been changed.

He decided to do the only thing he could. One of his departments was still short staffed due to the Tauran flu outbreak and various injuries. So he went down to engineering. It wasn't his specialism, but he knew enough to be of assistance. You couldn't be the son of Henry Archer and not understand the basics of warp engines.

He found the recently recovered Lieutenant Kaspera in charge and handing out assignments as quickly as people completed them.

Archer approached the young Lieutenant. "Lieutenant Kaspera, T'Pol tells me that you're in charge of Engineering until Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Hess are back on duty."

"Yes sir. I just returned from sick leave – Tauran Flu. Can I help you?" The Lieutenant seemed a little nervous.

"You can find me something to do," replied Archer.

"Sir?" asked Kaspera, rather baffled by his Captain's request.

"I need to stay awake for the next…" he checked his wrist chronometer, "forty nine hours. If I try to sit up reading that whole time I'm not going to make it. You're short staffed down here so there has to be some task you can give me."

Kaspera looked slightly bemused by Archer's explanation, but he didn't question further. "We always have plenty of work on but mostly it's low level stuff, like resetting the grav plating on C deck, installing replacement relays, repairing the hull plating polarisation matrix. I'm sure you've got better things to do, sir."

"In this case, no, I don't. What's the next task on your list?"

"Erm, purging the exhaust manifolds," said Kaspera.

Archer nodded. It wasn't a difficult task, but it was a two man job. "Who else were you going to assign?"

"Myself, sir. Everyone else is busy with more critical repairs."

"Okay, let's go," said Archer.

"Yes, sir," said Kaspera, a little more surety in his voice now.

The two officers spent the next six hours purging the exhaust manifolds. Archer noticed that Kaspera would be interrupted at regular intervals for further task assignments from his staff and reporting of problems, which he duly logged for further task assignment.

"Is it always like this down here?" asked Archer.

"It isn't normally this bad. Usually we'd be assigned tasks at the start of the shift but with so few of us we have to take on multiple roles. As command officer I should be free to trouble shoot but I can't currently afford for any of my staff not to be working on fixing something."

"How long have you been working like this?"

"Ever since we left Vulcan. We took some damage after the incident with the Andorians. Both the Commander and Lieutenant Hess were working flat out before the Tauran flu outbreak. Then people started to get sick and so they both had to start taking on extra duties along with the rest of us. The Commander already has a pretty heavy work load so I'm not sure how he found the time to do the extra repairs, as well as all his usual duties."

"I think I have an idea," grimaced Archer as he finished checking the last circuit in the batch he'd taken as his half. Part of the purge routine was checking the warning system attached to exhaust manifolds.

Trip was always more hands on than a Chief Engineer was really supposed to be. It was both a strength and a weakness; he always knew what was going on in his department but it meant he had a full schedule even without unexpected pirate raids. As Chief Engineer he was expected to oversee all work being done through out the department, then sign off on it, attend briefings, manage the well being of his crew, and go on away missions as necessary. Trip also chose to write papers for scientific journals in his spare time and act as a consultant to Starfleet Research and Development about the new generation of warp engine designs. Somehow on top of that he found time to go to the gym, play computer games with Malcolm (actually Malcolm called them simulations but it was the same difference as far as Archer was concerned) and, until recently, have neuropressure sessions twice a week with T'Pol.

Trip had been a workaholic for as long as Archer could remember. He loved what he did. Archer just took it for granted that Trip would make time for what he asked him to do. He had always been confident that Trip could tackle anything that he threw at him, and if he said he couldn't, that was just Trip being Trip. He could perform miracles. However that was something that Archer hadn't ever really thought about. Just because every time Archer pushed Trip, he coped, didn't mean that he always would be able to. In fact the more he thought about it the less he ever remembered Trip saying something couldn't be done and then doing it. He had said things would be hard or difficult, and then managed to do them, but he'd never given Archer incorrect information. He'd never told Archer anything that wasn't true. Archer had taken advantage time and time again of the fact that Trip Tucker would always give Jonathan Archer one hundred and ten percent. And then wondered why he didn't get one hundred and twenty percent.

Archer almost dropped the scanner in his hand in realisation. He had been taking advantage of his friend all this time without even a thought about how it might affect him. He had taken advantage of Trip's good nature and his inability to say no to him because of over ten years of friendship. He shouldn't have been surprised when Trip finally snapped and told him where to stick his orders.

He shook his head and closed the panel that housed the circuits that he had been working on. "What's next?"

Lieutenant Kaspera checked his padd. "I need someone to look at the EPS grid between C and D deck, section 7. It should just be a matter of replacing some malfunctioning circuit boards, but it could take a few hours."

"I think I can handle that," said Archer.

Kaspera nodded. "I really appreciate you taking the time to come down here."

Archer waved off the compliment with a hand. He certainly didn't deserve any compliments, he had vastly underestimated just how busy things were in Engineering despite Trip informing him. "I'll let you know when I'm done."

Archer had to go for his scheduled check in with Phlox before he could do anything else, otherwise he could bet that the doctor would come looking for him. The doctor scanned him and did a little tutting, otherwise it was uneventful and successfully killed another hour. With that over with he was able to get back to his assigned task.

Archer was very thankful that the task Kaspera had assigned to him was in a Jeffries tube some way from the beaten track. Trip had once told him that he enjoyed working down in the Jeffries tubes every so often as it gave him a chance to think in peace and quiet. Archer wouldn't normally agree with him, working in the Jeffries tubes was a cramped and hot experience but today he needed the solitude. T'Pol however tracked him down easily only a few hours later.

He didn't hear his second in command coming until she was right behind him. To be honest his mind was having enough trouble concentrating on the circuits he was replacing, so it didn't surprise him that he jumped when T'Pol greeted him.

"Good morning, Captain."

"T'Pol!" Archer relaxed again after the initial shock. "What are you doing down here?"

"You are not answering your communicator," said T'Pol.

"I must have left it in my tool box," said Archer indicating a little further back along the Jeffries tube where the tool box still sat.

"You are supposed to carry a communicator at all times when out of range of com points."

Archer just gave T'Pol a tired look. "What can I do for you, T'Pol?"

"I need your sign off on the fuel consumption figures," said T'Pol.

"I handed over command to you. You can sign off on anything that I could."

"I assume that you would prefer Starfleet Command not to know what you are doing?"

Archer nodded. "I suppose so." It would probably be hard enough to make his report on everything that had happened on Thacker without adding in his personal issues with his Chief Engineer.

"In order to prevent that, I need you to sign off on the fuel consumption figures. It is something that only the commanding officer is authorised to do, under normal circumstances."

Archer reached for the padd that T'Pol handed him and scrawled his signature. It was messier than usual, another sign of just how tired he was.

"I really don't know how Trip could do this to himself," said Archer. "I'm ready to drop and I'm only just over halfway through."

"He was already well practiced," replied T'Pol.

"Why didn't I notice, T'Pol?"

"Commander Tucker is also well practiced at keeping hidden what he does not wish others to see."

"I'm meant to be his best friend. I should have listened to him," replied Archer, tersely.

"That is something that you will have to discuss with him," said T'Pol.

"I wish I could," said Archer, turning back to his work. "You know, all of this, makes me wonder why he didn't talk to you about it."

"I believe he tried to," said T'Pol. "However the Commander and I have not been on the best of terms."

Archer turned back to look at T'Pol for a long second, before hanging his head. Having two of his friends turn their backs on him at the same time would be enough to drive anyone to burying themselves in their work, even without the extra pressure Trip had been under.

"I must return to my duties," said T'Pol. Her voice seemed quieter and perhaps a little guilty, but maybe Archer was projecting that on her from his own feelings.

He rubbed a hand across his tired eyes. They felt gritty and hot. He reached out to replace a breaker on the circuit and accidentally touched a live connecter. He snatched his hand back with an exclamation of pain, swearing loudly.

"Captain? Are you injured?" T'Pol was immediately beside him.

"Just an electrical burn," said Archer, examining his injured fingers.

"I will accompany you to sickbay," said T'Pol. It sounded like a non-sequitur to Archer, for a moment he couldn't understand why T'Pol would want to go to sickbay. Then he worked out that he was the one T'Pol thought should be going to sickbay. It wasn't a serious burn, but he supposed he should get it looked at. It was part of the regulations to get any work related injuries logged and examined. Trip would have made a joke about not letting his engineers get blood on the wiring.

"I must be getting a little tired." Archer gave T'Pol a lopsided smile.

"No doubt," replied T'Pol, as she turned to go back the way she had come. Archer obediently followed his second in command.

Sickbay hadn't changed much from when he had visited it earlier. Trip was still lying curtained off from the rest of the room. Other curtained off biobeds held ever decreasing numbers of victims of the Tauran flu and the injured Lieutenant Hess. Phlox didn't even comment or tut when Archer presented his burned fingers. T'Pol hovered while Phlox worked, seemingly wanting to keep an eye on her Captain.

"Has there been any change in Trip's condition?" Archer asked. He half hoped that Phlox would tell him that all of this lack of sleep was unnecessary and Trip was showing signs of improvement. Then he could have fallen asleep on the surprisingly comfortable biobed that he was sitting on and everything would have sorted itself out. That wasn't going to be the case though, and Archer really already knew that since Phlox would have called him if there had been any improvement.

"Unfortunately not," said Phlox. "Xy'an has been attempting to use their telepathic connection to talk with him, but she is finding his deep level of unconsciousness difficult to communicate with."

"That doesn't sound like it's going to make it any easier for me to talk to him," said Archer.

"Indeed. Although she has expressed the opinion that she finds it more difficult simply because he is an alien to her. A fellow human might have better luck." Phlox changed the subject. "Captain, perhaps working in Engineering is not the best place for you to be at the moment. As I've already said, extreme fatigue can hinder concentration and dexterity, which leads to accidents."

"On the contrary, doctor, I think it's done me the world of good." Archer was now aware that he should probably have headed down to Engineering several weeks ago and then he might have realised why Trip was giving him the advice that he had.

"Even so, I would prefer that you find another way to spend your time until we are ready to give you the stimulants."

Archer considered it slightly ironic that Phlox was warning him to stay away from Engineering which was exactly the place that Trip had spent most of his time when suffering from sleep deprivation. Lieutenant Reed walked into sickbay just as Phlox finished his suggestion.

"Captain, this explains why you didn't arrive for our sparing session," said Reed. He was obviously a little surprised to see Archer in sickbay.

Archer groaned. "Sorry, Malcolm, I'm afraid it doesn't. I have to confess to forgetting our appointment."

Archer could almost hear Phlox ticking off yet another symptom of sleep deprivation: deterioration of memory.

"Not to worry, sir. We can reschedule for another time."

"Are you free now?" asked Archer. Phlox had just finished tending to the small burn.

"Are you sure that would be wise?" T'Pol asked.

"Well I haven't got anything better to do," replied Archer.

"I was going to visit Commander Tucker," started Reed, "but I'm sure he wouldn't mind waiting until after our session, assuming the doctor is happy."

"As long as you go easy on the Captain, Lieutenant." Phlox had an amused sparkle in his eye.

"I think I can manage that," said Reed, and Archer wondered if he was about to regret taking Reed up on his earlier suggestion of a sparing session.

Twenty minutes later they were in the gym and he knew it had been a bad idea to take on his Security officer whilst so tired he could happily fall asleep where he stood. His whole body felt brittle and dry, as if the lack of sleep had made him older. Usually he could have at least given Reed a run for his money but today nothing was working. Every thought in his head took twice as long to get from his brain to his muscles. Simply put, Reed was kicking his ass. Adrenaline was beginning to take up some of the slack and lessen the tiredness, but he was far from on top form.

The eighth time he hit the mat he held up a hand. "I think that may be enough of that."

Reed reached down to help his Captain up again. "Perhaps we should just practice a few blocking moves."

Archer nodded and the two of them went at it again, a little more carefully this time.

"How much longer have you got to stay awake?" asked Reed.

Archer checked the gym clock. "Another ten hours, give or take." His reply was breathy from the exertion. "I'm beginning to understand why Trip thought that taking stimulants was a good idea. Being awake for sixty hours is hard enough without planning to follow it up with fixing a warp engine."

"Fixing a warp engine whilst whacked out on "go juice"," Reed added.

Archer recognised the Starfleet slang term. Combat pilots were authorised to use stimulants on a strictly controlled basis but he'd known a few that had got hooked on them. One of them had been a good friend until the stimulants had taken over his life. Maybe that was one of the reasons he'd been so cross with Trip about the misuse of the drug, but he couldn't put it all down to that. His feelings about this mission were complex and even he couldn't untangle them easily.

"At the moment I'd give anything to feel better than I do," said Archer. "And I'm about to do exactly what I chewed him out for doing."

"I chewed him out before you even got to him, Captain. My apologies for adding bruises to your troubles," said Reed.

"I should have known better," replied Archer, with a smile. "If I can just keep going a few more hours…"

The sound of the com interrupted them. "Sickbay to Captain Archer."

Archer and Reed exchanged a worried look. A call from sickbay couldn't be a good thing. Archer straightened himself out of the fighting stance that he had adopted and went to the com. He leaned tiredly against the wall as he pressed the button to answer the call.

"Go ahead, Doctor."

"Captain, we need you in sickbay. Xy'an seems to think that Commander Tucker is slipping deeper into his coma." Phlox didn't sound worried but Archer knew that he was. His voice always had a slightly flatter tone when he gave out bad news.

"On my way." Archer grabbed a towel and headed out the door, Lieutenant Reed on his heels.

The gym was on the same deck as sickbay so they didn't have far to walk to get to their destination. T'Pol was already there when they entered.

"What happened?" asked Archer.

Xy'an replied. "He gave up."

"Gave up?" asked Archer.

"Trip wouldn't…" started Reed.

"My readings confirm that his condition has indeed deteriorated slightly," Phlox added.

"He's weak and doesn't have any reason to fight," said Xy'an. "We need to give him a reason."

"Doctor, we're going to have to cut this sleep deprivation experiment short. Give me the stimulant," said Archer.

Phlox nodded and prepared a hypospray. He paused before he gave Archer the injection. "You are sure about this, Captain?"

"Do it," replied Archer.

Phlox pressed the hypospray to Archer's neck and a small hiss indicated that the drug had been released into his bloodstream. It took a few seconds for the effects to kick in, but suddenly it was as if the tiredness dropped away from him. It wasn't the same feeling that he would have got if he'd actually had a good night's sleep, this was definitely artificial. He still knew that he was very tired but somehow that didn't matter and everything was bright and shiny.

"Wow, this is great," said Archer.

"I'm sure it is at the moment," said Phlox. "However, the come down is not pleasant and stimulant use carries huge risks."

"Maybe we should go back to the gym and I'll give you a rematch," said Archer.

"Another side effect is over confidence," said Phlox.

"Yes, doctor, I'm aware of that," said Reed. "Perhaps another time, Captain."

Archer had already begun examining the lab benches with great interest and looking for something to do.

"I can't give him the sedative yet," said Phlox to Reed and T'Pol. "I suggest you take him for a walk around the deck and by that point I'll be ready."