Shadows of P'Jem
Starlog 31, October 28, 2151
Why do I always end up working 30 hours non-stop?
We received some very disturbing news from Starfleet yesterday morning. The Andorians have destroyed the sanctuary of P'Jem. Thankfully no one was killed, but P'Jem was a quite rewarded retreat and its loss is culturally incalculable. Obviously the Vulcans are not happy with it and they also hold us responsible because we actually sided with the Andorians. For this reason Ambassador Soval ordered T'Pol to go back to Vulcan and he had a Vulcan ship, the Ni'var, intercept us to take her back as soon as possible.
I can understand their disappointment and the fact that not all Vulcans agree with their government's foreign policy, but they were the first ones to disrespect that retreat, so they shouldn't complain when someone else disrespects it as well. Moreover, I must admit that T'Pol's departure would be a great loss for us; she's helped us in many critical situations.
Apart from P'Jem, the Captain decided to visit Coridan, a system he had discovered in the Vulcan database. The Coridan chancellor told us that they would've liked to know us better before allowing lots of us to visit the planet, so she asked the Captain to bring only a few people: for this reason, the away-team was composed by him and T'Pol only.
It would've been more rational to take Hoshi instead of T'Pol but I'm sure there is a reason for this. I suppose T'Pol has been shaken, in her own Vulcan way, by the latest news from P'Jem, and I bet the Captain wanted to talk to her about this.
The Coridan chancellor seemed friendly to me, her security precautions appeared rational, so I didn't advise the Captain to take a security team with him and I made a mistake. I don't know, I try not to be my usual paranoid self but every time I loosen up a bit something wrong happens so I suppose I should go back to my hyper-cautiousness.
Half an hour after their departure, we hadn't received any communication yet. Worried, I went to see commander Tucker, who was in charge:
"They should already be on the planet but they haven't hailed us yet." I told him.
"Maybe they've forgotten about it" he suggested.
"I don't think so, Commander. I insisted a lot on security protocols and lately the Captain's been applying them to the letter." I explained.
He seemed thoughtful and I went on: "I think it would be better to hail them."
"Go on, hail them" he answered.
Neither the Captain nor T'Pol answered to our hails. Hoshi tried many times but there was no sign of them.
"Let's call the Chancellor. Maybe she knows what's going on.- Mr. Tucker suggested.
When we informed her of our problem she didn't look surprised at all, apparently she already knew everything. She explained that probably the Captain and T'Pol had been attacked by some radical faction and that they weren't able to locate them.
"You didn't tell us about any factions." Mr. Tucker protested.
"They're a small group. We had no idea they were capable of an attack like this. But be assured, Commander, your people are almost certainly still alive" she replied.
"Almost certainly?" I asked, worried. I was getting angry, both with myself and with the Coridans.
"The radicals will want something in exchange for the hostages. They always do. Side arms, dicobalt explosives. It's important that you don't give them anything." She said they always do, so apparently she was quite used to this attacks. I was actually boiling with rage:
"Is this how you protect your visitors?" I asked her bitterly.
"You might have told us about your little war before you invited us down." Mr. Tucker pointed out.
The Chancellor stated that it wasn't a war but just an incident and that they were doing their best for retrieving our officer, then she ended the transmission.
"We're not going to sit on our hands and wait for a ransom note. Start scanning for human and Vulcan biosigns" said Mr. Tucker. It would've been a long and difficult task because there were billions of people on the planet, but we tried our best.
After an hour I found a ditanium signature outside the Capital; it certainly belonged to our shuttlepod, but there weren't Human or Vulcan biosigns nearby.
"Sir, I've got a rescue team standing by in the launch bay." I told Commander Tucker after informing him of the discovery.
"Hold on, Malcolm. We don't even know if this is our pod. I don't want to go down and find it's some alien tractor." And does he really think that I can't tell a shuttlepod from a tractor?
"It's our shuttlepod. I'm certain of it. All I'm suggesting is we go down and have a look around." I explained tiredly. That very moment someone hailed us: they were the kidnappers.
"We're holding your Captain and your steward. In exchange for their safe return we want forty of your phase weapons, the same type we found aboard your shuttle. You'll be hailed at this time tomorrow." I frowned: there was no steward with them! Moreover, when Commander Tucker asked to talk to the captain, the kidnapper stated that we certainly wouldn't want to harm her.
"At least it sounds like they're still alive." Travis stated, as if that was enough.
"For how long? We don't have forty phase pistols, we've got fifteen, and even if we give them to these people there's no guarantee they'll keep their word. We know where the shuttle is. We have to send a team down now while we still have the element of surprise." Commander Tucker was about to answer me when we received another call – from the Vulcans this time.
They can become so bloody irritating sometime! When we informed them of the kidnapping they said that, since a Vulcan officer was involved, they would've took over the investigations and warned us to "refrain from any foolish endeavours".
Commander Tucker was actually boiling with rage; he called back the Vulcan vessel and demanded to meet their captain but the meeting was completely unsuccessful; they had decided to penetrate the kidnappers' base of operations and weren't going to listen to our reasons.
"Any data you may have on the location of your Captain and the Sub-Commander would be useful." The Vulcan captain said before leaving.
"Sorry, we don't have anything." Commander Tucker promptly answered, but when Sopek left he told me to warm up the shuttlepod.
We landed near to a shanty town, a poor, miserable place. All of a sudden someone attacked us and put a bag over our heads: it happened so quickly that I hadn't even the time to react. Someone dragged us for several moments until we reached a closed space and we were allowed to sit. When they removed the bags from our heads, I saw Commander Shran standing in front of me.
Shran, the responsible of P'Jem's destruction, was the last person I was expecting to see. He briefly informed us that the rebels who had kidnapped our officers were fighting against the corrupted Coridan government, which was supported by the Vulcans. He also said that he wanted to help the Captain because he owed him a favor; he knew exactly the room where the Captain and T'Pol were located. At first they wanted to settle things alone, but eventually Mr. Tucker persuaded them to accept our help.
I wasn't very sure we could trust them, but it seemed to me that we hadn't other options; moreover, Shran had just saved our lives preventing the Coridans from finding us, so I had to oblige.
Too bad that, when we were about to reach the Captain, the Vulcans decided to come out and attack the Coridans, thus screwing our escape plan. Mr. Tucker and Shran went to free the Captain and T'Pol while I gave covering fire against the Coridans; to my relief, the four of them soon reappeared alive and well.
On the other hand, the Vulcans weren't too happy with us.
"Your presence here is a violation of the Tau Ceti Accords." Sopek stated, addressing Shran.
"You lecture us about treaty violations?" Shran answered, voicing my own very thoughts.
"Put down your weapons!" the Vulcan exclaimed.
"I know better than to lower my guard around Vulcans."
"Look, we're all on the same side here." The Captain began, but that very moment T'Pol jumped to Sopek, pushed him aside and then collapsed on the ground. Turning, we saw a Coridan rebel aiming a weapon at her; she had tried to save that pain in the ass of a Vulcan captain.
Shran and his lieutenant immediately shot the rebel and we all rushed to T'Pol's side.
"Let's get her to the ship." The Captain urged.
"She's no longer your responsibility. We'll treat her on the Ni'Var." Sopek replied. I think he should've had the decency to shut the hell up.
"She's still my Science Officer. Is the pod close?" the Captain asked, picking her up.
"Yes, sir." I answered.
We've got her back to the Enterprise. I hope Phlox will be able to fix her.
I don't know why the hell she decided to take the shot in Sopek's place; it's not as if he is her captain or someone she is acquainted to. I seriously hope that they will reconsider their decision to take her back, because I honestly don't know how we could manage without her knowledge and expertise.
Now it's five in the morning and I feel I need a few sleep's hours.
Addition: T'Pol is well and thankfully they decided to leave her with us for now. Apparently, the Captain and Doctor Phlox tricked them into believing that she suffers from a serious neural damage and that it would be dangerous to move her now. The Vulcans have already left and we are resuming our course.
That planet has touched me deeply; they are taunted by insecurity, political instability, poorness. They're so miserable that they prefer to fight each other instead of searching for the real causes of their problems. I believe that finding scapegoats is not a good way of solving problems.
Author's Note: next chapter (Shuttlepod one) coming in a couple of days!