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Chapter thirty-seven:
It was the morning of JT's sixth day of being held prisoner by Kodos.
Five days of torture and only enough food to keep him alive to be tortured was beginning to take its toll. Eleanor and Connor were still alive, but Eleanor was getting dangerously weak, if they weren't rescued or JT didn't find a way to escape soon, she'd die.
Connor was as healthy as possible given their current situation, but if he stayed there much longer he'd be going down the same path as Eleanor and that wasn't a good path to be on, it only ended in death, if you reached beyond a certain point.
JT still hadn't given up the locating of the others, but even if he had it wouldn't have mattered, they had most likely moved on from where they had been heading already. Plus JT didn't even know where they were for sure in the first place. He had however given Kodos the location of a part of the mountain which were unstable.
Fifteen of Kodos' men had been lost.
JT had found some satisfaction in that, but a part of him felt guilty. Fifteen men, they may have been evil and have carried out unthinkable acts, but they were still human. They were still living begins, who had feeling on some level.
But they were dead now.
JT looked up as footsteps sounded in the hallway outside the cell. It was no doubt the guards, ready to take him to his day of torture and pain. Pain that JT couldn't take much more of. Who knew what Kodos would do when that happened?
The door to the cell was thrown open, one of Kodos' men stood there in doorway, grinning in a way that made JT's stomach turn. JT knew who it was, it was one of the men in charge of torturing him, so it was strange to see him there as he usually sent someone to pick him up.
"It's your lucky day, kids." He laughed. "Well I say lucky…"
He entered the cell and pulled a knife from his belt, he walked across to JT and traced the edge of the blade along his neck and along one of his collarbones. He grinned wickedly before glancing across at Eleanor and Connor, who were both watching him fearfully.
"Starfleet will be here before nightfall," The man explained. "Kodos has ordered your deaths. He can't have any witnesses now, can he?"
JT glared at the man before him. Ignoring the blade near his neck, he pushed himself forward as much as he could and sneered at the man.
"Well he's failed then, hasn't he?" JT growled. "Tom and the others are still alive and they'll tell Starfleet what he's done."
The man threw his head back and laughed. "They have to contact Starfleet before that can happen, boy. And just like always, Starfleet will be beaming down directly to the colony and the moment those little brats try to reach them, they'll be killed!"
"You're lying." JT answered, glaring at the man. "Why bother torturing me then? If you can kill them that easily, why bother trying to find their location from me?... No, something happened. You have reason to believe Starfleet won't do that and that they'll go looking for Tom and the other and expose everything that has happened here for the entire federation to see!"
The man punched JT hard, sending him back into the wall of the cell with a grunt of pain and a split lip.
"You think you're so clever, don't you boy?" The man sneered. "Shame you're not going to live for anyone to see it."
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"Does she?" Jim asks. "Kodos blamed his death on us. As far as the colony knew, we killed him."
"In those first four months, between drops, the fungus spread to the crops and it was slowly spreading its way towards the colony." Archer continues to explain. "Starfleet dropped off the supplies and told Kodos to burn the crops, in hopes it would stop the fungus from reaching the colony. Nobody knew what the funguses effect on humans would be, so they couldn't risk it."
Archer watches the command crew of the Enterprise. Spock, as usual, was impossible to read, but the rest of the crew showed their emotions clearly on their faces and Archer didn't want to look to see what they were. He already felt bad enough, he didn't want to see their horror, anger or rage. It was only going to get worse as the report went on.
"Starfleet had dropped off enough food supplies to last the colony for the four months, it was enough last until the next supply drop." Archer carries on. "But Kodos decided this was the perfect opportunity to carry out something he had been planning for a long time…
"He was going to kill everyone he didn't like and those who he deemed unworthy of living on the planet. I don't know exactly why he didn't like them or why he was driven to kill them… What we believed to be his body was found burnt to a crisp in his compound. The body was never successful identified, it was just too burnt.
"All I know is what your Captain told me, when he was forced to make a report on what happen on the planet. How much of what he knows if true, I don't know," Archer shakes his head slightly, he had a feeling it was all true but without Kodos to confess to it, who knew? "And so Kodos ordered the executions of half the colonists… Four thousand people were sentenced to death and killed. Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Riley were among that four thousand, only they and seven others escaped and lived.
"About two months after the massacre had taken place, Starfleet received a call from someone on the planet, claiming that Kodos had massacred half the population and that nine children had survived. But the Starfleet operator who received the call didn't believe him, who would? That sort of thing shouldn't happen in this day and age.
"So they contacted Governor Kodos and they were told the man who contacted them was mentally unstable and the paperwork to prove it was sent through. The call was dismissed as a prank call, with the person who had made it, suffering from delusions.
"Word of the 'prank call' reached me," Archer sighs again. "Something about it didn't sit well with me. I believed Starfleet should have sent someone to check it out, if Kodos really had massacred half the population, why would he admit to it? So I called in a couple of favours. My finally mission before returning to earth was to drop supplies to Tarsus IV.
"So two month later, my crew and I were finally making our way to Tarsus IV. I had my crew prepare for the possibility that what that man had said was true. But as my Chief Medical Officer pointed out, there was little we could do.
"If what the man had said was true, they'd be nobody to save. You can't bring the dead back to life…" Archer pauses for a moment as he was sure he heard McCoy snort, but not in humour. He recalled the sacrifice Kirk made aboard the Enterprise. "And what were the chances of nine children surviving four month on their own? The youngest was three and the oldest was fourteen."
Archer paused, shut his eyes and takes a deep breath.
"When we reached Tarsus, I ordered my Science Officer to search the planet for signs of life. Deep in the mountains we picked up six life signals, they were beamed aboard immediately… Six children. Six of the nine children who survived the massacre were still alive. Kevin Riley was among them, but your Captain was not."
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Archer and his crew were only a minute or two away from the planet. As they began their final approach to the planet, Archer began tapping the arm of his chair nervously. This was it, they were about to find out whether Kodos had massacred half the colony and of the nine children reported to have survived, how many were still alive.
T'Pol stood at her station, her gaze fixed on the viewport as she watched the planet Tarsus drew closer. It looked just like the reports said it would, nothing like the once green and vibrant planet it had once been. A planet made from thick forests, high mountain ranges, winding rivers and streams and lakes the size of small seas.
The planet could have passed for Vulcan.
The only difference was the lakes, rivers and streams could still be seen. Ribbons of blue flowing through the desert landscape with snow upon the highest mountains. It was beautiful in a haunting sort of way. It was the ghost of the planet it had once been and so was most of the population, if the 'prank call' was to be believed.
As the star ship entered orbit around the planet, Archer turned to T'Pol.
"Scan the planet's surface for signs of life." Archer ordered.
But it was pointless, as T'Pol had already began doing so, without the need to be asked. The results that were returned to her, nearly made her freeze in horror. If she hadn't been Vulcan she would have.
Tarsus IV should have had a population of just over eight thousand.
According to her scanner it was home to two and half thousand, possibly three thousand people.
Six of whom were deep within the closest mountain range to the colony.
"There are six life signals in the mountains, Captain." T'Pol informed her captain. "But it is not possible to tell whether they are adults or children."
Archer nodded, before hitting a button on the arm of his chair. "Captain to transporter room."
"Lieutenant Commander Malcolm Reed here, Captain." Reed answered through the intercom.
"Reed," Archer greeted skipping the formalities. "There are six life signals in the mountains, beam them aboard immediately. Have security on standby, just in case they are hostile."
"Yes sir." Reed answered.
After a couple of moments, T'Pol looked up from her station once more.
"The life signals have disappeared, Captain." T'Pol informed Archer.
"Transported room to bridge." Reed's voice sounds through the intercom.
"Archer here." Archer answered.
"They have been beamed aboard, Captain." Reed replied, his voice shaking slightly. "Six children, Captain. The youngest can't be any more than seven."
"I'm on my way," Archer announced, getting up from his chair. "Alert medical bay right away, Reed."
"Already done, Captain," Reed muttered. "Phlox is on his way."
"T'Pol," Archer called. "With me. Lieutenant Mayweather the bridge is yours and contact Starfleet, they need to know what has happened here."
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Hey, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until next time,
Blessed be,
TreeOfLife1997.