Hey Peoples! I'm back! Sorry this took me a little longer (okay, a lot longer, but who's counting?). I had a busy week, or two weeks really, or was it three? I don't exactly like the beginning of this chapter much, but I was a little annoyed by the fly that was buzzing around my head for an hour in the cabin at camp (but, hey, how can I complain, it was air- conditioned! Whoo-hoo!).





Chapter 13

"Gerib is gonna be pretty mad." Ja'an said. He was now leading their trek back to the camp.

"That does not concern me." T'Pol said.

Ja'an dropped his hands to his sides. "It shouldn't have to. He's gonna be mad at *me* for letting you do this!"

"You did not 'let' me do anything. I would've chosen to leave whether you wanted me to or not."

Ja'an had nothing to say to that. "I really am sorry about your companions."

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

"No, this isn't your war-"

"And we wouldn't have been here if the captain had taken my advice."

Ja'an took a double take. "You're a little sour. Don't you feel any grief for them?"

"It is unfortunate that they are dead, but it was their own fault they were here. They knew the risks," T'Pol paused, "they were reckless."

"But they were your friends!"

T'Pol looked up quickly. "They were my fellow officers."

Ja'an noted her offense and questioned it. "How can you say it like that? You served aboard the same ship together, for, what, seven months?"

"And two weeks and four days. But it makes no difference. A steward can work on board a ship for years and never personally know their captain."

"But you're not a steward, T'Pol. You're a Science Officer, and the second in command of Enterprise!"

T'Pol dwelled on this. "Not anymore. When, or if, I return, I will be Enterprise's commanding officer until we return to Earth."

Ja'an whistled. "Big responsibility."

"One Jonathon Archer obviously shouldn't have had."

"Come on, T'Pol. Give the guy a break."

T'Pol didn't answer. "How far away are we from the camp?"

"Eh, about another hour to hike. We should be back right before breakfast. And that's a good thing," Ja'an rubbed his stomach, "I'm gettin' pretty hungry."

"You've finished all of your rations already?"

Ja'an appeared to be hurt by the remark. "Walking for several hours can bring on quite an appetite, Sub-Commander!"

"Ja'an, you had rations adequate for several *days*." T'Pol obtained her own rations containing some bread and fruit.

"Here, eat these if you are that ravenous."

* * *

Hoshi squeezed some of the water out of her hair and then brushed it back. The young ensign couldn't help but contain her excitement. They were finally *doing* something, instead of just sitting around waiting on a miracle. Hoshi was worried sick about her friends, and she wasn't afraid to admit it. She even, at times, missed that little pointy-eared infuriation called T'Pol.

I must be ill. Hoshi thought.

Hoshi hurriedly dried her hair and put it up. Then she heard the door chime.

"Come in." Hoshi turned around when she heard the swoosh of the door closing.

"Good morning, Hoshi."

"Morning, Lieutenant."

The Englishman seemed tense and fiddled with his hands.

Lt. Reed didn't say anything. Hoshi leaned her head forward a bit until Malcolm noticed.

"Lieutenant, are you all right?"

"All right? Dear, of course I'm all right, why would you ask that?"

Hoshi was confused by the question. "Well, it's just that you came in here and you're not saying anything. It's kind of creepy."

Malcolm chuckled nervously. "What do you mean-oh. Right. Yes. *I* came *here*. That's right," Malcolm scratched his head, "I was, um, only checking up on you, you know, just making sure you're, um, you know.healthy, and all that good cheer."

Hoshi positioned her hands on her hips. "Uh huh. Healthy. Well, Dr. Phlox gave me a check-up two days ago, so I'm fine, and.healthy."

Malcolm tried to calm himself and look like this was exactly what he wanted to talk about. "Yes, well, that's very good, just wanted to check up on my officers, seeing that this could very well be a conceivably extremely horribly dangerous experience-oh, Malcolm, just say it." Reed struggled with himself. He took a deep break and then slowly let it out.

"Okay. Hoshi, bottom line, I would very much appreciate it if you didn't go on this mission-"

Hoshi's mouth rounded into a big "O."

"What?! No friggin' way!"

"Hoshi, please, listen-"

"NO! I've wasted enough damn time up here and I want to go down to that planet and kick some ass!"

Hoshi was instantly shocked by her words and she covered her mouth with her hand. Malcolm tried to stifle a grin.

"Hoshi, I had no idea you had such.enthusiasm."

Hoshi put both her hands on her forehead with her fingers spread out. "Malcolm, I need to do *something.*"

Malcolm's expression turned to sincerity. "You're very much worried for them, aren't you?"

"Of course I am!" Hoshi started to shout, but calmed herself.

Malcolm put his hand up. "Okay, okay," he sighed, "We'll be leaving at 0800, sharp."

Hoshi nodded. "Thank you, sir."

Malcolm pointed his finger at the communications officer. "Make sure you stay alive out there."

* * *

"What time is it?" Archer asked.

Lieutenant glanced up at the rising sun. "Around 0630. We'll reach the camp in a about an hour, just in time for breakfast."

"Well, that's a very good thing," Trip said as he stared at the peculiar ration Lieutenant had given him, "I don't think I could eat another piece of this-what exactly is it?"

"A nutritional supplement. Doesn't taste much better than the stuff you were fed at the compound, but it has the right nourishment in it."

"Yeah, but what does it actually *consist* of?" Trip smacked the hard, yellowish stick on a tree branch. It thumped against the limb.

"I'm not entirely sure."

Loupa took out his own ration and bit down hard. "Ow!" Loupa put a hand to his cheek and groaned, "I think I chipped a tooth."

"Why don't you all simply stop complaining and eat," Barik said bitterly. Everyone stopped walking and stared at the man. Barik continued, "These rations are the only food we have. Besides, we're only an hour away from the camp. Certainly you can hold back for just one more hour!"

It was somewhat of a surprise to hear anything come from Barik. He'd been staying understandably quiet for a rather long time. It was now obvious that the grief of his daughter's and entire family's death had passed and was replaced with anger, the second stage of mourning.

Archer wasn't sure what Barik's anger would be like.

Trip glimpsed down at the yellow stick and sighed. "He's right. It's better'n nothin'." Trip stared at the stick again and then reluctantly bit down.

* * *

Ja'an pushed a branch out of his way and pointed ahead. "There's the road. We're nearly there."

T'Pol didn't answer.

Ja'an scanned the area around him. "I don't see anybody. Come on." Ja'an stepped out onto the road and listened again for any sounds of a nearby truck. T'Pol walked in front of Ja'an and across the road.

"T'Pol! You're supposed to wait for the signal!" Ja'an put his hands out in front of him.

"My hearing is exceptional and I did not detect any life forms."

"T'Pol, that's not the point," Ja'an said, stepping over a falling tree, "I'm the leader of this little escapade and I'm supposed to tell you when to stop and go! That's, like, the rules of commanding a mission! You can't just go and break those rules! It's unethical! It's immoral! It's-"

"Ja'an. Stop talking." T'Pol put a hand out in front of the man.

"See?! There you go again! Giving me orders when it's not your mission-"

"Ja'an." T'Pol said, more forcefully, "look."

Ja'an's eyes flickered from T'Pol's disturbed expression to place before him. Ja'an put both hands to his mouth.

"Oh, my God. They've found us!"

* * *

"Just beyond that road is the village." Lieutenant said.

"Why is it so close to the road?" Archer asked.

"The Karthanian's spies need easy access to the road to get back to the concentration camp. We were hesitant, at first, to build it so close, but we didn't have much of a choice. Come on."

Archer had given up on the "nutritional supplement" and decided to wait for breakfast at the village. Trip and the rest of the party had done the same.

"It's just over here-oh, my." Lieutenant stopped in his tracks and gazed upon the demolished village. Archer, Trip, Barik and Loupa stared with disbelief.

"This-this isn't supposed to happen," Lieutenant stepped out into the ruins, "they weren't supposed to know we were here! They, oh, God-" Lieutenant sprinted to a body near a burned down hut.

"Nia!" Lieutenant knelt down and felt for the woman's pulse. Lieutenant took his finger away and let his head drop into his hands.

"She's dead," he whispered between tears, "Everyone is dead. They destroyed everything."

Archer stooped down and held an ash-covered doll in his hands. "Shouldn't we search for survivors?" He asked dimly.

Lieutenant shook his head. "No. They would've made sure everyone was dead."

"This is unbelievable." Trip said, "How could anyone be this cruel?"

"It's part of their values, Mr. Tucker. If you aren't the perfect race, you don't belong in this world, or any other. It's just the way it goes." Lieutenant stood and sheepishly wiped away the tears staining his eyes.

Trip walked up to Lieutenant. "Who was she?"

"Nia. She was a nurse. Only twenty-four." Lieutenant scowled, "she didn't deserve this. All she wanted to do was help people."

Archer suddenly whipped his head around. "A nurse?"

"Yeah."

Archer stared into Trip's eyes. "T'Pol."

Neither of the Starfleet officers wasted any time before searching through burned huts and tents other wreckage.

"Captain, Commander!" Lieutenant said, "you don't understand-everyone is gone!"

Despite Lieutenant's remonstrations, Archer and Trip searched frantically. Barik sat down and brought his knees to his chest. Lieutenant did the same. Loupa, on the other hand, stood and gazed upon the to two frenzied men.

"T'Pol?!" Trip shouted.

"Did you check over there, Trip?"

"I'm not done here." Trip brushed away some burned debris until a hand was revealed. Trip swallowed and kept removing debris. Trip gasped and leapt back. "Oh, Jesus."

Archer hurried over to Trip. Covered with ashes, blood, and more debris, laid three small children.

"They're dead." Trip remarked. The engineer then stood and walked away. Archer tore his gaze away from the children. The starship captain could the feel the immense anger quickly burning inside him. But, somehow, he felt that all this was their fault, and their's alone.

* * *

"Ja'an, will you be all right?"

"I don't-I don't know."

Ja'an and T'Pol were sitting down on a log about a mile from the demolished village. T'Pol was thinking about all she had lost in only four days. And how much she might still lose from the days to come.

Ja'an had his head bent down in his hands and he wept. T'Pol could feel the sorrow for her officers. But that wasn't possible. It was an emotion. Vulcans didn't experience emotion. Or so she thought. Since her year on Earth, and her time being stationed on Enterprise, T'Pol had seen emotion like she never had before. Happiness. Infuriation. Sadness. Somehow, the Human's experienced emotion, yet still worked rationally and efficiently. Of course any Vulcan elder and or the Vulcan High Command would never admit this. With emotion, there is no logic. This had been the Vulcan philosophy since the days of Surak. But perhaps, just perhaps, they were wrong.

T'Pol quickly dismissed the idea.

"Where the nearest Karthanian camp from here?" T'Pol asked.

Ja'an wiped the tears away with him arm. "Um, about a three day walk. It'd be much faster though if we had a truck or something.

T'Pol lifted her chin up. "Indeed it would."

To Be Continued.