Author's Note:
Massive thanks to Erin Chase, Kim, Kris, Braycat, Suzanne, Xenutia, CJSpooks and Antares for the reviews on chapter 2. Enjoy chapter 3…but I promise chapter 4's more interesting!!
We All Know The Risks
By Bittersweet
CHPT3
Archer stood in a thoroughly decontaminated engineering, as the crew moved methodically through their repairs. No one met his gaze, mainly because no one wanted to. The grief was all too evident in his eyes.
"And…there was no…body?" he managed to ask, at last.
Beside him, Phlox shook his head.
"I'm afraid not, captain," he replied softly, "most unusual."
"I won't believe he's dead until I see a body," Archer replied, stubbornly, "what if he wondered away somewhere? You've seen the effects of radiation poisoning before. Confusion, and that sort of thing."
"I saw the radiation levels, it was impossible that he could have survived long enough," Phlox said quietly.
"Not without a body, doctor."
"And Lt. Reed? Will you need to see his body to believe he is dead?"
"He was sucked out into space," Archer hated the way that sounded – too casual by far, "the shuttle pod bay door was wide open. You should have heard the story – I hear one of the crewmen from security had to be treated for hysterical shock…oh, God damn this!"
"Yes. They were my friends, too," Phlox understood exactly what Archer meant.
"Blimey," came an astonished voice, interrupting them without meaning to, "here, Lee, check this out."
"What's up?" Lee, the ensign being called, joined a crewman standing at the warp core control station.
Archer turned to see what was going on.
"The engines…they're….they're…" the crewman shook his head in wonder, "the engines are fixing themselves."
"How is that possible?" Ensign Lee stared at the console in shock.
Archer frowned, and joined them on the station.
"How can an engine repair itself?" he demanded, as the two of them leapt aside quickly.
"I don't know sire, but look!" The crewman pointed up in shock.
Archer glanced up at the bulkhead above them, where several wires and cables were hanging out, waiting to be reconnected. They seemed to be swaying slightly. Then, two of them actually seemed to lift themselves up, twisting around themselves in a serpentine manner, reconnecting and merging back into the systems. Archer watched open mouthed as the entire relay, quite literally, repaired itself. Several engineers leapt back from their stations, as the phenomena repeated itself all over the engineering section.
"T'Pol to captain Archer – your presence is required on the bridge."
Archer reached over to the nearest communications panel.
"From what I'm seeing here in engineering, I don't doubt it!"
Archer sat in his command chair, listening to the background noises of the bridge without really concentrating on what was going on. He had too much else on his mind. He knew if he wanted to he could go down to his quarters and grieve in private, but he forced himself to wait until later. He wanted answers first – more accurately, he didn't want his two friends to have died for nothing. He was also preoccupied with the phenomena that appeared to have taken over his ship – all the damaged systems had apparently repaired themselves, and the crew reported that the ship was running at peak efficiency. Archer had ordered intensive scans of the entire area – he wanted to know what had attacked them, if indeed it had been an attack, what had caused the radiation leak in engineering, and what had caused an intruder alert in the shuttle pod bay. The temporary replacement for Reed had reported that there had been no bio-signs or malfunction in the shuttle bay – it seemed the alarm had activated itself. Archer had ordered him to find out why, and now the captain had a feeling the ensign was desperately trying to think up some techno-babble that covered the phrase "stupid glitch". Archer didn't know how he'd react if he was told the two officers had been killed because of "stupid glitches", and it was pretty clear the tactical ensign didn't want to be the one to tell him. He closed his eyes. The grief could wait. It had to.
"Captain," T'Pol's voice interrupted his thoughts, "my scans have detected unusually high energy readings of unknown origin from within a nearby asteroid."
Archer sometimes envied the Vulcan control of emotion, but only at times of negative emotion.
"Distance?"
"Approximately forty-three minutes at maximum warp," T'Pol replied.
"Travis, set a course."
"Aye sir."
Archer watched as Mayweather input the co-ordinates, and watched the stars on the view screen as they went to warp.
"Sir! Travis exclaimed, "that wasn't me!"
"Explain!" Archer said, puzzled.
"I hadn't finished inputting the course, sir," Travis replied, sounding just as puzzled as Archer, "the ship – it's steering itself!"
"That is illogical, ensign," T'Pol interrupted, coolly, "not to mention highly improbable."
"T'Pol, I stood in engineering and watched a relay repair itself – literally," Archer responded, "does anyone have any suggestions as to what the hell is going on around here?!"
"It sounds like the ship's coming alive," Hoshi said, softly, "possessed, in fact."
Archer was surprised to note that T'Pol didn't argue.
'Maybe this is starting to get to her, too,' he thought, and hoped the ship knew where it was going.
Massive thanks to Erin Chase, Kim, Kris, Braycat, Suzanne, Xenutia, CJSpooks and Antares for the reviews on chapter 2. Enjoy chapter 3…but I promise chapter 4's more interesting!!
We All Know The Risks
By Bittersweet
CHPT3
Archer stood in a thoroughly decontaminated engineering, as the crew moved methodically through their repairs. No one met his gaze, mainly because no one wanted to. The grief was all too evident in his eyes.
"And…there was no…body?" he managed to ask, at last.
Beside him, Phlox shook his head.
"I'm afraid not, captain," he replied softly, "most unusual."
"I won't believe he's dead until I see a body," Archer replied, stubbornly, "what if he wondered away somewhere? You've seen the effects of radiation poisoning before. Confusion, and that sort of thing."
"I saw the radiation levels, it was impossible that he could have survived long enough," Phlox said quietly.
"Not without a body, doctor."
"And Lt. Reed? Will you need to see his body to believe he is dead?"
"He was sucked out into space," Archer hated the way that sounded – too casual by far, "the shuttle pod bay door was wide open. You should have heard the story – I hear one of the crewmen from security had to be treated for hysterical shock…oh, God damn this!"
"Yes. They were my friends, too," Phlox understood exactly what Archer meant.
"Blimey," came an astonished voice, interrupting them without meaning to, "here, Lee, check this out."
"What's up?" Lee, the ensign being called, joined a crewman standing at the warp core control station.
Archer turned to see what was going on.
"The engines…they're….they're…" the crewman shook his head in wonder, "the engines are fixing themselves."
"How is that possible?" Ensign Lee stared at the console in shock.
Archer frowned, and joined them on the station.
"How can an engine repair itself?" he demanded, as the two of them leapt aside quickly.
"I don't know sire, but look!" The crewman pointed up in shock.
Archer glanced up at the bulkhead above them, where several wires and cables were hanging out, waiting to be reconnected. They seemed to be swaying slightly. Then, two of them actually seemed to lift themselves up, twisting around themselves in a serpentine manner, reconnecting and merging back into the systems. Archer watched open mouthed as the entire relay, quite literally, repaired itself. Several engineers leapt back from their stations, as the phenomena repeated itself all over the engineering section.
"T'Pol to captain Archer – your presence is required on the bridge."
Archer reached over to the nearest communications panel.
"From what I'm seeing here in engineering, I don't doubt it!"
Archer sat in his command chair, listening to the background noises of the bridge without really concentrating on what was going on. He had too much else on his mind. He knew if he wanted to he could go down to his quarters and grieve in private, but he forced himself to wait until later. He wanted answers first – more accurately, he didn't want his two friends to have died for nothing. He was also preoccupied with the phenomena that appeared to have taken over his ship – all the damaged systems had apparently repaired themselves, and the crew reported that the ship was running at peak efficiency. Archer had ordered intensive scans of the entire area – he wanted to know what had attacked them, if indeed it had been an attack, what had caused the radiation leak in engineering, and what had caused an intruder alert in the shuttle pod bay. The temporary replacement for Reed had reported that there had been no bio-signs or malfunction in the shuttle bay – it seemed the alarm had activated itself. Archer had ordered him to find out why, and now the captain had a feeling the ensign was desperately trying to think up some techno-babble that covered the phrase "stupid glitch". Archer didn't know how he'd react if he was told the two officers had been killed because of "stupid glitches", and it was pretty clear the tactical ensign didn't want to be the one to tell him. He closed his eyes. The grief could wait. It had to.
"Captain," T'Pol's voice interrupted his thoughts, "my scans have detected unusually high energy readings of unknown origin from within a nearby asteroid."
Archer sometimes envied the Vulcan control of emotion, but only at times of negative emotion.
"Distance?"
"Approximately forty-three minutes at maximum warp," T'Pol replied.
"Travis, set a course."
"Aye sir."
Archer watched as Mayweather input the co-ordinates, and watched the stars on the view screen as they went to warp.
"Sir! Travis exclaimed, "that wasn't me!"
"Explain!" Archer said, puzzled.
"I hadn't finished inputting the course, sir," Travis replied, sounding just as puzzled as Archer, "the ship – it's steering itself!"
"That is illogical, ensign," T'Pol interrupted, coolly, "not to mention highly improbable."
"T'Pol, I stood in engineering and watched a relay repair itself – literally," Archer responded, "does anyone have any suggestions as to what the hell is going on around here?!"
"It sounds like the ship's coming alive," Hoshi said, softly, "possessed, in fact."
Archer was surprised to note that T'Pol didn't argue.
'Maybe this is starting to get to her, too,' he thought, and hoped the ship knew where it was going.