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Chapter thirty-five:
Kodos' grinned at JT, as he, Eleanor and Connor were forced to the floor in front of him. JT twisted and struggled against the grip of the guard holding him, but he couldn't get free. They had only made it a mile from where they had pulled themselves free of the flash flood, before they were caught.
JT just hadn't had the energy to outrun them carrying both Eleanor and Connor. JT was simply thankful they all hadn't been shot on sight, or they'd all be dead by now. But it other ways this was worse, who knew what Kodos was going to do to them?
"My, my, look whose back," Kodos smirked. "You have no idea how much it pleases me to see you again, my boy."
"I'm not your boy!" JT growled at Kodos.
"No, you're my prisoner." Kodos agreed. "Now we're past the formalities, where are the others?"
"I'll never tell a monster like you." JT growled at him.
Kodos back hands him. "Where. Are. The. Others?"
"I. Will. Never. Tell. You!" JT answered in the same manner Kodos had asked in.
Kodos glared at JT. "Tell me now, or you'll live to regret it."
"How many times do I have to repeat myself," JT snapped at him. "I will never tell you."
The truth was, JT didn't actually know where they were. All he knew was the direction they had been heading in, so Tom and the others might not even be where they were last. The flash flood could have caused them to change direction, they could be anywhere in the mountains!
The look of fury that crossed Kodos' face, would have had the toughest of men running for cover. JT had never before seen someone so angry. It was truly terrifying, but JT wasn't about to back down and give up. He was going to ensure Kodos never found the others.
"Now you listen to me, boy!" Kodos sneered. "You tell me where the others are now and your death will be quick and painless, but if you refuse… My men have methods of making men talk."
"I don't care!" JT answered. "You'll never find them and I'll never tell where they are. You're going to fail, Kodos. Starfleet will find out what happened here and they will end you!"
"It might come as a surprise to you, boy, but Starfleet don't kill people." Kodos smirked again. "They just lock them away and release them once they have been rehabilitated."
"I think they'll make an exception for you." JT answered. "And if they don't I'll kill you with my own hands."
Kodos laughed. "You don't have it in you, boy. You could never kill me, you don't have the guts."
JT pulled against the man holding at him, as he tried to get to Kodos.
"Maybe you're right," JT replied. "But I swear you'll pay for what you have done. And if you hurt Eleanor or Connor, you'll live to regret it. You all will."
"You're in no position to make threats, however pointless they may be." Kodos sneered.
"Oh no," JT growled. "It wasn't a threat, it was a promise. I, James Tiberius Kirk, here by swear that I will make you pay for what you have done and I will never give up. You'll pay for this Kodos, I'll personally insure it."
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"I think I've worked out what's wrong with this room." Kevin suddenly exclaims, looking incredibly pleased with himself.
Spock and the rest of the command crew watched as Archer shifted in his seat at his end of the comm call, on the view screen. He looked nervous and slightly fearful, but also determined. He takes a deep breath and sips water from his cup, before looking directly at the command crew.
"I trust you are all aware of the events that took place on the colony of Tarsus IV," Archer asks. "Lesson on it were compulsory for all cadets."
The command quickly agree, they had all been taught about it. The events were similar to what Ambassador Spock had told them, almost the same in fact. It was scary how two events in different timelines could be some alike. Even the way Kirk and Riley had nearly been killed aboard the ship had been the same!
"Good," Archer mutters. "Ignore it."
Every single member of the command crew stare at Archer in confusion and dismay.
"I do not understand your meaning, Admiral." Spock speaks up.
"Everything you were taught about Tarsus IV at the academy was a lie," Archer explains. "It was a story created to protect Starfleet's public image, to protect those who survived and those who accidentally caused the events leading up to what took place on that planet."
"If you don't mind me asking, sir," McCoy speaks up, his 'sir' sounding more like an insult than anything else. "Why lie about what happened on Tarsus IV."
"Because the events that took place on Tarsus IV were Starfleet's fault," Archer answers. "The fungus which destroyed all the crops was introduced to the planet by Starfleet."
Archer holds up his hand for silence, before the command crew can respond. "If you would let me, I would like to tell the true version events that happened on Tarsus IV… It will not help you find you captain, but it will help you better understand who you're going up against, if this is truly the work of Kodos."
"Proceed." Spock all but orders the admiral, anger flashing in his eyes but his face is as emotionless as usual.
Archer takes a deep breath. "Starfleet introduced a plant to the planet, which unknown to the crew had an exotic fungus on it. I don't know how they missed it, or if the fungus had been in an early stage of growth and the scans missed it… But the fungus began to spread. It killed every plant it spread to, which in turn began killing the wildlife of Tarsus IV.
"Starfleet dropped supplies to the colony every eight to twelve months, so the fungus went unnoticed for that entire time. By the time Starfleet and the governor found out about it, it was too late. It had spread so far and killed so much. All they could do was try and contain the fungus, but everything they tried failed.
"So in the end it was decided that supply drops would be every four months instead of anywhere between eight and twelve months. The fungus hadn't reached the crops yet, but Starfleet wanted to be safe. Kodos was advised to contact Starfleet is anything happened and they would respond straight away. But Kodos never did."
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"This is your fault." Kev snapped, as Tom placed a hand on his shoulder. "If you had let me go back for them, this never would have happened."
"You can't know that for sure, Kev." Tom answered, feeling guilty.
"If I had gone back for them, I could have helped him," Kev replied, shaking his head. "They got caught because JT couldn't out run Kodos' men carrying both Eleanor and Connor. If I had gone back, they would never have been caught."
Tom looked at Kev sharply. "You could have been caught too, Kev. You've never carried someone whilst running and being shot at. It isn't easy, Kev, trust me, it really isn't. JT may make it look easy, but it is one of the most tiring things imaginable."
"Kodos has them, Tom!" Kev spun to face Tom. "And he's going to kill them. Starfleet, even if they arrive right now won't be in time to save them! They might already be dead!"
"We don't know that for sure," Tom replied. "He could just be holding them prisoner."
"Why would he do that?" Kev demanded. "He wants us all dead! He's going to kill them and you know it!"
"He won't, Kev." Tom shook his head. "He knows we'd try and save them… He's going to use them as bait to try and catch us. He wants us all dead. JT, Eleanor and Connor are a means of doing that. No matter how much he wants them dead, he'll use them to try and get to us."
"And that's so much better, is it?!" Kev snapped.
Tom glared at Kev. "What do you want me to do, Kev? Huh? I had to protect the others. I had to get them to safety, just like JT would have wanted me to do! I'm sorry JT got caught, I really am, but there's nothing I can do about it! This isn't like last time, I can't just sneak in and try and save him! If we get within a mile of the colony we'll be killed!"
"We can't just leave them there!" Kev argued.
"The only hope they have now is Starfleet," Tom answered, looking away. "So we better hope they get here soon."
"No!" Kev exclaimed. "If Starfleet even gets close to this planet, Kodos will kill them. Starfleet will be their death sentence!"
"Then there's no hope, Kev." Tom shut his eyes, to try and stop the tears from falling.
He wanted nothing more than to go and break JT and the others out, but to do so would be a death sentence. This wasn't like before, Kodos would be expecting them and once they were dead, he'd just kill JT and the others, if they weren't already dead.
"I hate myself for doing this, Kev." Tom explained. "But JT's on his own, we can't do anything. If we do, we'll be killed and then where does that leave everything? Kodos gets away with what he's done here and Starfleet are none the wiser."
Tears rolled down Kev's face. "We're abandoning them, Tom."
"We have no choice." Tom answered. "We'd be dead before we even get to them, if we did try."
"What about the tunnels?" Kev asked in one last attempt to change Tom's mind.
"None of them led into the compound, Kev." Tom shook his head again. "There's no secret entrances or trapdoor. There are no tunnels or ventilation shafts. That place is a fortress. The only way in is over the walls or through the front door… We can't do anything Kev."
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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until next time,
Blessed be,
TreeOfLife1997.