Back on Enterprise, Hoshi was confused. She was sitting at her consol,
doing her normal daily routine, consisting mostly of sitting and listening
into space. She was mostly picking up static, but there were other sounds
as well, sounds like a ship was somewhere just within the reach of their
sensors.
"Hey Malcolm, could you take a look at this?" She asked, transferring the data to him.
The armory officer briefly looked at the scans. He would much rather be in the armory running test on the new plasma conduits. Then something jumped out at him.
"I think it's a ship." He mused out loud. Archer came to look over his shoulder.
"S'cuse me." He mumbled as he reached out to tap the consol. Malcolm would have rolled his eyes, but a good officer didn't roll his eyes at his superior. Well, at least not on duty.
Finished, the captain turned to his helmsman.
"Travis, can you get a visual?"
A small cruiser appeared on the view screen. The picture was fuzzy due to the distance between them, but they could tell it was smooth and sleek, obviously built for speed. Long distance scans showed that it was well equipped with polarized hull plating and an impressive weapons array. 'What I wouldn't give for something like that on Enterprise' Malcolm mused, eyeing the alien technology.
"Hail them."
"No response, sir."
The ship suddenly went to warp. In Archer's book, that was usually a bad sign. Plus, they had been spotted only 1.5 lightyears away from the Vulcan emergency beacon. He turned to Malcolm.
"What warp was that?"
"I should think it was Warp 3, sir."
Archer fairly itched. He wanted to pursue that alien vessel, but Trip and T'Pol were still in Shuttlepod 2. Picking them up would put even more distance between Enterprise and the suspicious ship.
"Enterprise to Shuttlepod 2."
"T'Pol here."
"We've picked up scans of an alien vessel. We're going to scope it out and then return for you two, okay?"
"Acknowledged."
Archer went back to his Captain's chair and sat down, facing Travis' back.
"Plot a pursuit course, ensign. Warp 3.2."
"Aye sir."
Back in the Shuttlepod, the two second-in-commands settled in for an extended trip. T'Pol still had her face glued to the PADD, but Trip was getting really bored really fast. His stomach rumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since lunch 6 hours ago.
"I'm gonna heat up some rations." He said, standing up gingerly in the confined space. The Vulcan science officer didn't seem to notice.
"Ya want anything?"
"No."
"You need to eat. How 'bout some broccoli and spinach pasta?"
"No, thank you Commander."
Trip sighed in frustration as silence engulfed the pod for the umpteenth time. He couldn't take much more of this silent treatment.
While Trip was debating the pros and cons of jumping out the airlock, Enterprise was quickly pursuing the enemy vessel.
"I've got a visual." Hoshi called out.
"On screen, and try hailing them again Hoshi."
The communications officer nodded, and sent out a transmission. Again there was no response. Archer was pondering his next move when Malcolm's crisp British accent rang out across the bridge.
"They're arming weapons!"
"Polarize the hull plating and charge our weapons. Keep trying to hail them!"
A blast from the alien ship made the Enterprise rock, lights blinking and sensors going haywire trying to register damage, reroute energy and collect accurate measurements of the force of the blast.
Archer turned to his weapons expert, brow furrowed in purpose.
"Lieutenant Reed,"
"We've taken damage sir, but mostly on the port side cargo bays. The hull's holding."
"For how long?" Archer asked in a strained voice as another blast sent shudders through the ship, making the bulkheads groan in protest.
"We can't keep this up for long sir, but neither can they. They're already rerouting energy from life-support to keep weapons charged."
Archer paused, weighing the barrage of possible solutions in his mind. A third blast narrowed his choices down to one as emergency lights came on all over the consols.
"Return fire, target their weapons system."
It took two well aimed shots from the phase cannons, but the weapons on the enemy ship were rendered useless. They also had lost too much power to go to Warp.
"Open a channel, Hoshi."
Almost instantly, a strange triangular shaped face appeared. The senior officers had to keep themselves from grimacing. The skin was a sallow shade of green, housing pores from which oozed a think whitish discharge. Tiny, piggy eyes stared in contemptuous fear at Captain Archer.
"Kap'lich neen."
Archer turned expectantly to Hoshi, who took a few moments to tap something into her UT.
"They surrender, but they say that we're trespassing in their sector."
Archer exchanged a look with Reed.
"Why didn't they respond to hails?"
Again Hoshi tapped into her UT, and spoke cautiously in the new language.
"They had very urgent business, and when we followed, they assumed we had come to invade their system."
"So they were going to alert others that we were here, without even telling us what we had done?"
Again the oriental language genius spoke to the alien, this time without the help of her translator. The alien appeared to become more agitated after she spoke and reiterated her question, but finally relented.
"They would have stopped to fend us off, but they had already taken on other intruders."
"Could those other intruders possibly be in the same situation as us?"
"Its very possible sir. Should I ask who they took?"
He nodded, curiosity piqued by this unusual news. He studied Hoshi's face as the alien spoke back. He waited patiently as surprise dawned on her face.
"They have 6 Vulcans on board!"
Archer looked back at her, visibly stunned. Vulcans? Who the hell was stupid enough to have messed with Vulcans?
"Tell them that this was all a mistake, and that neither we nor the Vulcans knew we were trespassing. We're going to send a shuttlepod over for them now, and then we'll be on our way."
Ensign Sato relayed the message, and as anticipated, the alien visibly became furious.
"He's not going to comply, sir." Hoshi said tiredly.
"Then remind him that he is in no position to argue."
Finally, after several long seconds of silence following Archer's ultimatum, the alien grimaced, nodded his head, and ended the transmission. Archer gave Hoshi a small smile, and sent the security team to the shuttlepod bay.
Ten minutes later, six Vulcans were escorted onto the Enterprise. They all appeared to be mostly unhurt, save for a few black eyes, and were led by a tall male.
"I'm Captain Jonathon Archer. Welcome to Enterprise."
The leader sized him up, dark eyes seemingly looking into his soul.
"I am Emris, chief physician of the Kev'Lir. We thank you for your assistance."
Something about his reserved nature reminded Archer of T'Pol. Come to think of it, he even looked a little like her, exemplifying the same confident stance of command, dark eyes and impeccably neat brown hair. But that was a thought for another time.
Back on the shuttlepod, Trip had gone to sleep, while T'Pol monitored the shuttlepod sensors. Even she was starting to get bored, yet sleep still eluded her. It had been three days since her last proper meditation and sleep, and the strain definitely showed. Her eyes were dull, her uniform rumpled, and the skin beneath her eyes sagged just enough to be noticeable. She fiddled absentmindedly with the green ribbon on her wrist, a very un- Vulcan action. Yet, why not? She thought defiantly. She was practically alone, just as she had been for the past 4 months, 3 days. Alone, now more than ever. The person she felt the most for was gone, and she couldn't even go home to Vulcan to honor his memory. Instead she was here, in the middle of space, playing nursemaid to humans. As if to add fuel to her thoughts, Trip snored. T'Pol glanced at him, painfully aware of his smell and the fact that her emotions would erupt at any moment. Then, mercifully, the comm. chirped, and Ensign Sato's voice sounded through the cabin, rousing a groggy Commander Tucker.
"Enterprise to Shuttlepod 2, we will be arriving at your coordinates in 6 minutes, standby."
"Copy that Enterprise. You sure took ya' time." He grinned at T'Pol, who quickly glanced away. Damn, what the hell is goin' on with that woman? He thought. She looked like hell, and she needed to eat. He decided then and there to be meddlesome again, even though she'd probably give a solid verbal ass-kicking, and make sure that she got food and sleep as soon as they were back on the ship.
15 Minutes later, the Subcommander and Commander exited the decon chamber, dressed in fresh uniforms. Trip was pleased to see that T'Pol appeared to be heading towards her quarters. Unfortunatley, that was the exact same time that the captain called them. "Archer to T'Pol."
She glanced at the wall, debating whether or not to answer.
"Yes, Captain,"
"Are you still in decon?"
"No, we just left sickbay."
"Good, then please join me on the bridge."
"Captain, with all due respect, I am very tired and wish to rest."
"Don't worry T'Pol, it won't take more than a minute. Bring Trip with you."
At the mention of his name, Trip gave her a wayward smile. Her own gaze barely registered the concern in his face. As she turned toward the turbolift, he followed, mentally shrugging his shoulders. T'Pol stood quietly as the decks went by, coaching herself to remain calm and collected; to keep all the turmoil as hidden as possible. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw when the lift doors opened.
"Hey Malcolm, could you take a look at this?" She asked, transferring the data to him.
The armory officer briefly looked at the scans. He would much rather be in the armory running test on the new plasma conduits. Then something jumped out at him.
"I think it's a ship." He mused out loud. Archer came to look over his shoulder.
"S'cuse me." He mumbled as he reached out to tap the consol. Malcolm would have rolled his eyes, but a good officer didn't roll his eyes at his superior. Well, at least not on duty.
Finished, the captain turned to his helmsman.
"Travis, can you get a visual?"
A small cruiser appeared on the view screen. The picture was fuzzy due to the distance between them, but they could tell it was smooth and sleek, obviously built for speed. Long distance scans showed that it was well equipped with polarized hull plating and an impressive weapons array. 'What I wouldn't give for something like that on Enterprise' Malcolm mused, eyeing the alien technology.
"Hail them."
"No response, sir."
The ship suddenly went to warp. In Archer's book, that was usually a bad sign. Plus, they had been spotted only 1.5 lightyears away from the Vulcan emergency beacon. He turned to Malcolm.
"What warp was that?"
"I should think it was Warp 3, sir."
Archer fairly itched. He wanted to pursue that alien vessel, but Trip and T'Pol were still in Shuttlepod 2. Picking them up would put even more distance between Enterprise and the suspicious ship.
"Enterprise to Shuttlepod 2."
"T'Pol here."
"We've picked up scans of an alien vessel. We're going to scope it out and then return for you two, okay?"
"Acknowledged."
Archer went back to his Captain's chair and sat down, facing Travis' back.
"Plot a pursuit course, ensign. Warp 3.2."
"Aye sir."
Back in the Shuttlepod, the two second-in-commands settled in for an extended trip. T'Pol still had her face glued to the PADD, but Trip was getting really bored really fast. His stomach rumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since lunch 6 hours ago.
"I'm gonna heat up some rations." He said, standing up gingerly in the confined space. The Vulcan science officer didn't seem to notice.
"Ya want anything?"
"No."
"You need to eat. How 'bout some broccoli and spinach pasta?"
"No, thank you Commander."
Trip sighed in frustration as silence engulfed the pod for the umpteenth time. He couldn't take much more of this silent treatment.
While Trip was debating the pros and cons of jumping out the airlock, Enterprise was quickly pursuing the enemy vessel.
"I've got a visual." Hoshi called out.
"On screen, and try hailing them again Hoshi."
The communications officer nodded, and sent out a transmission. Again there was no response. Archer was pondering his next move when Malcolm's crisp British accent rang out across the bridge.
"They're arming weapons!"
"Polarize the hull plating and charge our weapons. Keep trying to hail them!"
A blast from the alien ship made the Enterprise rock, lights blinking and sensors going haywire trying to register damage, reroute energy and collect accurate measurements of the force of the blast.
Archer turned to his weapons expert, brow furrowed in purpose.
"Lieutenant Reed,"
"We've taken damage sir, but mostly on the port side cargo bays. The hull's holding."
"For how long?" Archer asked in a strained voice as another blast sent shudders through the ship, making the bulkheads groan in protest.
"We can't keep this up for long sir, but neither can they. They're already rerouting energy from life-support to keep weapons charged."
Archer paused, weighing the barrage of possible solutions in his mind. A third blast narrowed his choices down to one as emergency lights came on all over the consols.
"Return fire, target their weapons system."
It took two well aimed shots from the phase cannons, but the weapons on the enemy ship were rendered useless. They also had lost too much power to go to Warp.
"Open a channel, Hoshi."
Almost instantly, a strange triangular shaped face appeared. The senior officers had to keep themselves from grimacing. The skin was a sallow shade of green, housing pores from which oozed a think whitish discharge. Tiny, piggy eyes stared in contemptuous fear at Captain Archer.
"Kap'lich neen."
Archer turned expectantly to Hoshi, who took a few moments to tap something into her UT.
"They surrender, but they say that we're trespassing in their sector."
Archer exchanged a look with Reed.
"Why didn't they respond to hails?"
Again Hoshi tapped into her UT, and spoke cautiously in the new language.
"They had very urgent business, and when we followed, they assumed we had come to invade their system."
"So they were going to alert others that we were here, without even telling us what we had done?"
Again the oriental language genius spoke to the alien, this time without the help of her translator. The alien appeared to become more agitated after she spoke and reiterated her question, but finally relented.
"They would have stopped to fend us off, but they had already taken on other intruders."
"Could those other intruders possibly be in the same situation as us?"
"Its very possible sir. Should I ask who they took?"
He nodded, curiosity piqued by this unusual news. He studied Hoshi's face as the alien spoke back. He waited patiently as surprise dawned on her face.
"They have 6 Vulcans on board!"
Archer looked back at her, visibly stunned. Vulcans? Who the hell was stupid enough to have messed with Vulcans?
"Tell them that this was all a mistake, and that neither we nor the Vulcans knew we were trespassing. We're going to send a shuttlepod over for them now, and then we'll be on our way."
Ensign Sato relayed the message, and as anticipated, the alien visibly became furious.
"He's not going to comply, sir." Hoshi said tiredly.
"Then remind him that he is in no position to argue."
Finally, after several long seconds of silence following Archer's ultimatum, the alien grimaced, nodded his head, and ended the transmission. Archer gave Hoshi a small smile, and sent the security team to the shuttlepod bay.
Ten minutes later, six Vulcans were escorted onto the Enterprise. They all appeared to be mostly unhurt, save for a few black eyes, and were led by a tall male.
"I'm Captain Jonathon Archer. Welcome to Enterprise."
The leader sized him up, dark eyes seemingly looking into his soul.
"I am Emris, chief physician of the Kev'Lir. We thank you for your assistance."
Something about his reserved nature reminded Archer of T'Pol. Come to think of it, he even looked a little like her, exemplifying the same confident stance of command, dark eyes and impeccably neat brown hair. But that was a thought for another time.
Back on the shuttlepod, Trip had gone to sleep, while T'Pol monitored the shuttlepod sensors. Even she was starting to get bored, yet sleep still eluded her. It had been three days since her last proper meditation and sleep, and the strain definitely showed. Her eyes were dull, her uniform rumpled, and the skin beneath her eyes sagged just enough to be noticeable. She fiddled absentmindedly with the green ribbon on her wrist, a very un- Vulcan action. Yet, why not? She thought defiantly. She was practically alone, just as she had been for the past 4 months, 3 days. Alone, now more than ever. The person she felt the most for was gone, and she couldn't even go home to Vulcan to honor his memory. Instead she was here, in the middle of space, playing nursemaid to humans. As if to add fuel to her thoughts, Trip snored. T'Pol glanced at him, painfully aware of his smell and the fact that her emotions would erupt at any moment. Then, mercifully, the comm. chirped, and Ensign Sato's voice sounded through the cabin, rousing a groggy Commander Tucker.
"Enterprise to Shuttlepod 2, we will be arriving at your coordinates in 6 minutes, standby."
"Copy that Enterprise. You sure took ya' time." He grinned at T'Pol, who quickly glanced away. Damn, what the hell is goin' on with that woman? He thought. She looked like hell, and she needed to eat. He decided then and there to be meddlesome again, even though she'd probably give a solid verbal ass-kicking, and make sure that she got food and sleep as soon as they were back on the ship.
15 Minutes later, the Subcommander and Commander exited the decon chamber, dressed in fresh uniforms. Trip was pleased to see that T'Pol appeared to be heading towards her quarters. Unfortunatley, that was the exact same time that the captain called them. "Archer to T'Pol."
She glanced at the wall, debating whether or not to answer.
"Yes, Captain,"
"Are you still in decon?"
"No, we just left sickbay."
"Good, then please join me on the bridge."
"Captain, with all due respect, I am very tired and wish to rest."
"Don't worry T'Pol, it won't take more than a minute. Bring Trip with you."
At the mention of his name, Trip gave her a wayward smile. Her own gaze barely registered the concern in his face. As she turned toward the turbolift, he followed, mentally shrugging his shoulders. T'Pol stood quietly as the decks went by, coaching herself to remain calm and collected; to keep all the turmoil as hidden as possible. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw when the lift doors opened.