Author's Notes: This chapter pretty much wrote itself. In a way, it concludes Chapter 14. The story can now proceed.
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Reed
Reed stayed by the entrance to Sickbay, all senses on alert. He'd made the tactical decision to hang behind, where he could check what happened, have a broader range of action. There may be an intruder on board and he was wary of the Vulcans. Especially after seeing what T'Pol did to his men and her laboratory. As he waited, he put a hand on his phaser, then pulled it out. It made him feel better about staying put when every fiber of his being was pushing him to go behind the isolation curtain, see first-hand what was going on.
There was some noise, Phlox shouted at Trip to stop. The Vulcans surged out of the isolation unit almost at a run. The four security guards stationed outside surrounded them right away, phasers drawn. Reed nodded approvingly. They were following directions to the letter - not to engage in hand-to-hand combat, to contain the healers from a distance, fire only if under attack. The healers remained where they were, looking incredulously at the security men encircling them.
More noises were coming from the isolation unit. Reed rushed over, phaser drawn, gesturing to two of his men to peel off and back him up. He slipped past the isolation curtains.
And stopped. Trip and Archer were struggling with something. He wasn't sure what. Trip slipped out of the Captain's hold and hit him hard. Archer went down screaming.
There was no time for questions. Reed fired. Trip went down.
Silence settled on the room. Phlox was getting back up but the Captain was still curled up on the floor, holding his shoulder. There didn't seem to be any further issues.
Reed ruefully put his phaser back in his holster. First T'Pol and now Trip. He doubted they'd ever invite him to their wedding.
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It
If It had had a corporeal form, its howl of desperation would have been heard from one end of Enterprise to the other.
It had come so close. So close. The stasis field had been released. It had been right there, at the edge, ready to jump.
But the hosts had seen It. The hosts had seen It and taken a step back, stepping beyond where he could reach.
And the stasis field had come back. It was penned again, unable to leave the host.
The hosts had clearly seen It but they were not symbiots. Only symbiots could see It. Unless It was compressed, and then some Hosts could almost see It. That must have been what happened. It had been tightly compressed in anticipation of the jump. And the hosts had seen It. And fled.
The almost host had been gunned down. It did not know whether the almost-host was alive or dead. Now It was alone again. Alone and stranded. If It had had a corporeal form, It would have wailed its anguish and despair.
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Archer
"What the hell happened?!" Archer was angry. His shoulder hurt like the devil and it was in a sling again. If there was anything he hated more than a sling, he couldn't think of it right now.
"Based on events, I would say Commander Tucker was affected by whatever has taken hold of T'Pol," Phlox answered.
Archer turned to E'Shara. She blinked. Yadur and Smirak raised an eyebrow in turn. Their heads were once again uncovered. After the brouhaha in Sickbay, Phlox had insisted that everyone regroup in the conference room, where the healers were not under so much strain.
"Do you agree?" Archer asked when it became clear the Vulcans were not going to volunteer an answer.
E'Shara looked at Yadur and Smirak. Archer and Phlox waited. Reed hid a half-smile. He knew very well why the Vulcans were uncomfortable. They'd fled. Turned on their heels and ran out of there like they'd seen the devil itself.
"We saw..." E'Shara started, then paused. She looked at Yadur and Smirak again. Finally Yadur gave a nod. E'Shara turned back to the Captain, "I realize this may be difficult for you to understand, Captain," E'Shara started again, "but we saw a... possibly a life form... or a telepathic organism."
Archer looked inquiringly at Phlox. At first he'd almost scoffed when the elder had said it would be difficult for him to understand, ready to sarcastically ask her if it was because he was a hardly evolved Human. Now he wasn't so sure. "A... telepathic life form?" he repeated.
"A telepathic energy form, Captain," E'Shara corrected, "These do not fall within the accepted biological parameters for lifeforms."
"One of the parameters is the capacity for growth and functional activity," Phlox helpfully supplied, "but telepathic forms operate without a physical form."
"But... if it doesn't have a physical form... how d'you see it? And how d'you know...?" Archer remained suspicious about the whole thing.
Smirak repressed a quick eyebrow, as if the response should have been obvious. "We..." E'Shara hesitated, trying to find words in an unfamiliar language to explain what was an obviously unknown concept, "... Vulcan healers have heightened psi capabilities," she explained, "... the energy form would not be apparent to almost everyone, but it was clear to us."
Archer looked at her through narrowed eyes. She was explaining why it was that the healers could see that thing, she'd missed his question how could it even been seen. Another might have let it go at that, but another was not captain of a starship, tasked with protecting the lives of a hundred souls. "I mean," he stubbornly went on, "if that thing doesn't have a physical form, as Phlox puts it, then how can it be 'seen'?"
E'Shara blinked in sudden understanding, "Psi abilities are a sense in the same way vision, smell, and touch are senses," she replied, "In the absence of a specific word in Standard, it seems that 'seeing' is more appropriate then 'touching' or 'smelling'." Archer nodded. That, he could understand. "If you prefer, Captain," E'Shara went on, "all three of us perceived the telepathic energy form. The 'sighting' was too rapid to determine if it is a parasite or another form of telepathic energy," she paused, hesitated, "but Healers Yadur and Smirak have determined the potential risk is too elevated for any of us to attempt contact, and I concur."
"Hold on!" Archer had been waiting for them to chicken out since the beginning. Now he was tired, his shoulder was aching, and he'd been definitely underimpressed with the Vulcans running out of the isolation room. Phlox say what he wants, that was very... unVulcan-like. "So that's it," he raised his voice without even noticing, "you're not sure what this is but rather than try and figure it out, you're running for the hills?!"
He found himself faced with a couple of quizzical eyebrows. "It's an expression!" he roared. Damn Vulcans! He could feel his face turning red, but he'd really had it. ""Commander T'Pol deserves better than that! She would never, never, give up without trying!" He suddenly had an inspiration, "And neither would Surak! He watched his planet in the throes of dying, and still he tried, and those were much worse odds than what you're facing! And he succeeded!" he concluded in a bellow.
There was silence in the room. The three Vulcans blinked in polite puzzlement. Then E'Shara spoke again, "My apologies if I have misspoken, Captain," she quietly said, "I was referring to direct contact with the telepathic energy. I did not mean to imply we would not try. Doctor Phlox and I have spoken about how to do so."
Phlox suddenly took an intense interest in the tabletop, careful not to stare at Archer. The Captain thinned his lips again. He'd just made a fool of himself in front of Vulcans. Once again. His eyes shot daggers at Phlox, "Hhmmph," he said in response, "obviously, I have yet to hear from the Enterprise chief medical officer."
The sarcasm didn't go over the Vulcan's heads, E'Shara's eyebrow was a witness to that, but it did go over the Denobulan doctor's head. Phlox looked up, as genial as ever, "Based on what happened, we are fairly certain that Commander Tucker is under the influence of the telepathic energy form," he said, talking to the room. He looked at Reed who was sitting sullenly next to Archer. The chief of security liked a clean boundary between good guys and bad guys, he had little patience for shades of gray, and his friend being under the influence of an alien telepathic whatever was a huge shade of gray. "We'll use that to try and contact it, ascertain what its intentions are," Phlox went on, "When I say 'we', I mean Healers E'Shara, Yadur and Smirak," he added, "just to be clear."
"Hold on a second, hold on!" Archer pressed his forearms onto the table, leaning forward towards Phlox. "You're saying... Are you saying?... What?! How?!" Once again there was silence in the room. Once again, he felt like he'd just put his foot in his mouth in public.
"Commander Tucker has publicly acknowledged that he is Commander T'Pol's bondmate." E'Shara replied, talking clearly and slowly for Archer's benefit.
As if he was supposed to understand that. The whole thing was driving him nuts. "Yes, and...?" he asked.
"The healers believe the telepathic lifeform was able to reach out to Trip because of the bond," Phlox helped him, "... and that they can use the bond to communicate back with it." He wasn't exactly clear on how that would happen but he knew the full medical explanation would tax the Captain's patience, especially as it involved psionic concepts that were unknown to Humans.
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