Chapter 3 Escape.
Hoshi walked down the corridor still thinking about the conversation with Trip. She had learnt over the last few months that the engineer's instincts were generally good especially when it came to the Captain. His friendship with Jon allowed him an insight into the man that usually signaled problems that others would not notice, so she wasn't quite as dismissive of his suspicions as Reed had been.
As she neared the junction of the corridor, her senses were therefore heightened and so, when she heard snatches of a strange language, she listened carefully, committing the collection of sounds to memory automatically and, without consciously thinking about it, attempting to decipher them. She stepped around the corner and saw the Captain, speaking to T'pol. Instantly the speech became recognisable.
".....and I think you should work out a roster for some of the crew to visit the planet's surface whilst we are here. We should make the best use of the time." Archer said.
"I'll get to work on it straight away, Captain." T'pol replied.
The change was so sudden Hoshi almost did a double take but she pulled herself together so that by the time she walked past the two, nodding in acknowledgment of their presence, she had her expression controlled. Her heart, however was thundering rapidly and her stomach knotted at the surge of adrenaline she felt. Maybe, like Trip, she was imagining things but there was something about the way the two senior officers looked at her.
As the two of them continued their conversation, she tried to avoid running to get out of their sight, only too aware of the two of them watching her retreating form.
"Give priority to the science teams, I noticed some interesting geology that they could look at. Let me have the lists as soon as they are complete." She heard the Captain continue and then she was round the next junction
She stopped and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, wondering if her reaction would have been the same if Trip hadn't primed her to be suspicious. It didn't really matter, now she was equally convinced that there was something wrong. Instead of returning to her quarters she headed to engineering
Archer felt the gentle touch on his arm and heard his title being repeated but somehow he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes, he felt himself drifting away.
"Captain," T'pol said quietly for the third time. She was beginning to wonder if she would be able to rouse Archer at all, especially since she was trying to remain quiet. She did not want to alert the guard.
She had found the corridor outside the room empty and had crept silently to the next corner. Looking around it she had seen that there was a single guard blocking their path. She could go no further without incapacitating him. It was time to return for the Captain. If this escape attempt was to work then they would only get one try at it and she would need Captain Archer with her.
So now she knelt by the Captain, assessing his condition, trying to rouse him. She did not like the colour of his skin he was far too pale and there was a thin sheen of sweat covering it despite the rapidly falling temperature. She shook him lightly.
Jon used all of his determination to prevent himself drifting off again as he heard T'pol's slightly more urgent tones. It sounded like there was something wrong and he needed to be awake to deal with it.
He opened his eyes and blinked even in the dim light that was seeping in through the now empty doorway. It took him several seconds before his eyes focused and the memories of his current situation returned.
T'pol watched him closely. "Captain," she said when she was sure that he was sufficiently aware to comprehend what she was saying to him. "The door is off, we need to go."
Archer looked across at the displaced door and nodded. He began to push himself to his feet and regretted the speed of his movement as bruised and torn muscles protested and he gasped in pain. Nonetheless he continued to push himself up against the wall, attempting to ignore the wave of dizziness that washed over him but needing to lean for support for a few moments whilst he waited for it to pass.
T'pol was beginning to feel more and more that attempting to leave with the Captain in this weakened state would prove ultimately pointless, but it was still more logical than the alternative which was to sit and wait for the inevitable deterioration in his condition. So she waited patiently for him to steady himself.
Archer pushed himself off the wall and stood unaided. He was relieved to find that the room remained steady around him. "OK, let's go," he said.
T'pol nodded and headed out through the doorway. Checking both ways before stepping into the corridor she did not wait to see if the Captain was following, she knew that he would be.
Archer took a deep breath and followed, as he left the dimly lit cell and stepped out into escape and possible detection, a much needed surge of adrenaline coursed through his system. Keeping his injured arm protectively against his chest, he crept behind T'pol as she silently approached the corner.
Trip was checking the sensor logs for a third time, but the data remained the same as it had on the previous two occasions. There was nothing out of the ordinary and yet he had had this feeling of uneasiness ever since the Captain had left the ship only eight hours before.
Jon's reaction to him when he had returned from the first contact meeting had only served to reinforce this general unease, but he still couldn't define what it was and without something more to go on lieutenant Reed was right, it could just be his imagination.
Dammit though there just had to be something. He punched the console in frustration, too hard, pain shot through his knuckles. He looked down at the screen worried that he may have broken it and noticed to his amazement that virtually every reading had changed.
He scanned the log entries quickly, the data on the history of the planet that was now on the screen was entirely different from the data he had been reading a moment ago.
As he continued to read it, it began to change. It was as though someone was pouring a liquid of different data in at the corner of the screen. It ran and spread covering the new data with what he had seen originally.
He frantically pressed the buttons, attempting to stop the liquid flow, to get this new data back again but to no avail. All he could retrieve was the logs he had been reading for the last hour.
Trip sat back and stared at the screen in front of him. His vague uneasiness had just turned into concrete 'something's wrong.' But what was he going to do about it?
T'pol peered around the corner and was relieved to find that there was still only one guard but he was a good twenty feet away and without a distance weapon of any description she knew that the main problem was covering the distance between them without being noticed. If the guard cried out before she reached him or had a distance weapon to use on her then this attempted escape could be over before it started.
The Captain tapped her arm and she moved out of the way so that he could get a look. He appeared to assess the situation for a moment and then much to her amazement he stumbled over to the far wall and out into clear view of the guard, moaning loudly as he went. Leaning heavily against the wall nearly bent over double in pain he spoke weakly, "Help me"
For a moment T'pol thought that maybe he was hurt even worse than she had assessed, possibly delirium had driven his actions, but then she realised that far from crying for assistance the guard was approaching, albeit cautiously, down the corridor, closing the distance between them.
She pressed herself flat against the wall and waited.
Archer watched the guard approach in his peripheral vision, the man was cautious enough to be ready to check around the corner as he neared T'pol's position. Archer waited and just as he drew level, he moaned loudly.
The noise was enough to make the guard turn his head at the crucial moment and in a lightning fast move T'pol stepped out, placing her fingers on the man's neck, she squeezed. He instantly lost consciousness and she caught him, lowering him silently to the floor.
She then quickly began to search his clothing for items that could possibly help them whit their escape.
"You have got to teach me how to do that," Archer said grinning and pushing himself upright, still leaning against the wall.
T'pol replied by looking up at him and raising one eyebrow. "Captain," she said, "you could have warned me of your plans."
"No time," Archer replied, "besides you wouldn't have approved."
T'pol nodded, "It was a foolish course of action. You exposed yourself to danger. The guard could have shot you or called for help on seeing you. You should not have..."
"That," Archer interrupted, "is precisely why I didn't tell you what I was going to do." He grinned again. "It worked didn't it."
T'pol had to concede that point, however illogical the action.
"Well, if you've finished stripping our friend, let's get out of here."
T'pol nodded and pulled the guard's unconscious form out of sight around the corner and then moved to join the Captain who was already halfway to the next junction..
They now had keys and some sort of energy weapon which like their own appeared to have two settings. With it set to what they hoped was stun, they took out the remaining four guards that they encountered before finding the exit from the building they were in.
Once outside they were both relieved to find that T'pol had been right, the planet's sun had indeed set. The only light now came from a small moon. They kept to the shadows as they tried to decide in which direction to go.
They made their decision and reached the nearby fence. T'pol helped Archer to climb over it as he awkwardly tried to keep his useless left arm out of the way. They were just over and clear. Archer breathing heavily from the exertion when all hell broke loose behind them.
Sirens began to wail and powerful lights were switched on. There were loud shouts and the sound of running feet as the building they had just left seemed to spring to life.
T'pol turned and began to run for the nearby tree line, the reason why they had chosen to depart from this side of the building. To one of the other two sides that they could see, there was a large cliff, the building had been set in it's shadow and the hillside went up and out of sight beyond. To the other side the land dropped away sharply and they could see the outline of buildings in the town, but there was a much wider expanse of open land before reaching those buildings. So they had chosen this direction and the forest.
T'pol looked back to check the Captain was following her and was relieved to see that he was although she was a good twenty yards ahead of him. She slowed to allow him to catch up some noticing his slightly stumbling gait.
Archer ran for the tree line, making the best use he could of the new surge of adrenaline as it hit his system in response to the imminent danger. He tried his best to keep his pace even and his breathing steady but, unable to use his arm for balance as he ran, he stumbled and had to check his pace to recover without falling.. His bruised ribs would not allow him to take the full deep breaths he needed, instead his breathing became ragged and shallow.
Knowing that he was fighting a losing battle against his abused body he pressed on willing himself to reach the tree line and comparative safety. He watched T'pol disappear into the undergrowth now a mere ten yards away from him, but the blackness began to close in from the sides of his vision as he stumbled once more. This time unable to respond he dropped to the ground engulfed in a sea of darkness before he hit.
Hoshi walked down the corridor still thinking about the conversation with Trip. She had learnt over the last few months that the engineer's instincts were generally good especially when it came to the Captain. His friendship with Jon allowed him an insight into the man that usually signaled problems that others would not notice, so she wasn't quite as dismissive of his suspicions as Reed had been.
As she neared the junction of the corridor, her senses were therefore heightened and so, when she heard snatches of a strange language, she listened carefully, committing the collection of sounds to memory automatically and, without consciously thinking about it, attempting to decipher them. She stepped around the corner and saw the Captain, speaking to T'pol. Instantly the speech became recognisable.
".....and I think you should work out a roster for some of the crew to visit the planet's surface whilst we are here. We should make the best use of the time." Archer said.
"I'll get to work on it straight away, Captain." T'pol replied.
The change was so sudden Hoshi almost did a double take but she pulled herself together so that by the time she walked past the two, nodding in acknowledgment of their presence, she had her expression controlled. Her heart, however was thundering rapidly and her stomach knotted at the surge of adrenaline she felt. Maybe, like Trip, she was imagining things but there was something about the way the two senior officers looked at her.
As the two of them continued their conversation, she tried to avoid running to get out of their sight, only too aware of the two of them watching her retreating form.
"Give priority to the science teams, I noticed some interesting geology that they could look at. Let me have the lists as soon as they are complete." She heard the Captain continue and then she was round the next junction
She stopped and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, wondering if her reaction would have been the same if Trip hadn't primed her to be suspicious. It didn't really matter, now she was equally convinced that there was something wrong. Instead of returning to her quarters she headed to engineering
Archer felt the gentle touch on his arm and heard his title being repeated but somehow he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes, he felt himself drifting away.
"Captain," T'pol said quietly for the third time. She was beginning to wonder if she would be able to rouse Archer at all, especially since she was trying to remain quiet. She did not want to alert the guard.
She had found the corridor outside the room empty and had crept silently to the next corner. Looking around it she had seen that there was a single guard blocking their path. She could go no further without incapacitating him. It was time to return for the Captain. If this escape attempt was to work then they would only get one try at it and she would need Captain Archer with her.
So now she knelt by the Captain, assessing his condition, trying to rouse him. She did not like the colour of his skin he was far too pale and there was a thin sheen of sweat covering it despite the rapidly falling temperature. She shook him lightly.
Jon used all of his determination to prevent himself drifting off again as he heard T'pol's slightly more urgent tones. It sounded like there was something wrong and he needed to be awake to deal with it.
He opened his eyes and blinked even in the dim light that was seeping in through the now empty doorway. It took him several seconds before his eyes focused and the memories of his current situation returned.
T'pol watched him closely. "Captain," she said when she was sure that he was sufficiently aware to comprehend what she was saying to him. "The door is off, we need to go."
Archer looked across at the displaced door and nodded. He began to push himself to his feet and regretted the speed of his movement as bruised and torn muscles protested and he gasped in pain. Nonetheless he continued to push himself up against the wall, attempting to ignore the wave of dizziness that washed over him but needing to lean for support for a few moments whilst he waited for it to pass.
T'pol was beginning to feel more and more that attempting to leave with the Captain in this weakened state would prove ultimately pointless, but it was still more logical than the alternative which was to sit and wait for the inevitable deterioration in his condition. So she waited patiently for him to steady himself.
Archer pushed himself off the wall and stood unaided. He was relieved to find that the room remained steady around him. "OK, let's go," he said.
T'pol nodded and headed out through the doorway. Checking both ways before stepping into the corridor she did not wait to see if the Captain was following, she knew that he would be.
Archer took a deep breath and followed, as he left the dimly lit cell and stepped out into escape and possible detection, a much needed surge of adrenaline coursed through his system. Keeping his injured arm protectively against his chest, he crept behind T'pol as she silently approached the corner.
Trip was checking the sensor logs for a third time, but the data remained the same as it had on the previous two occasions. There was nothing out of the ordinary and yet he had had this feeling of uneasiness ever since the Captain had left the ship only eight hours before.
Jon's reaction to him when he had returned from the first contact meeting had only served to reinforce this general unease, but he still couldn't define what it was and without something more to go on lieutenant Reed was right, it could just be his imagination.
Dammit though there just had to be something. He punched the console in frustration, too hard, pain shot through his knuckles. He looked down at the screen worried that he may have broken it and noticed to his amazement that virtually every reading had changed.
He scanned the log entries quickly, the data on the history of the planet that was now on the screen was entirely different from the data he had been reading a moment ago.
As he continued to read it, it began to change. It was as though someone was pouring a liquid of different data in at the corner of the screen. It ran and spread covering the new data with what he had seen originally.
He frantically pressed the buttons, attempting to stop the liquid flow, to get this new data back again but to no avail. All he could retrieve was the logs he had been reading for the last hour.
Trip sat back and stared at the screen in front of him. His vague uneasiness had just turned into concrete 'something's wrong.' But what was he going to do about it?
T'pol peered around the corner and was relieved to find that there was still only one guard but he was a good twenty feet away and without a distance weapon of any description she knew that the main problem was covering the distance between them without being noticed. If the guard cried out before she reached him or had a distance weapon to use on her then this attempted escape could be over before it started.
The Captain tapped her arm and she moved out of the way so that he could get a look. He appeared to assess the situation for a moment and then much to her amazement he stumbled over to the far wall and out into clear view of the guard, moaning loudly as he went. Leaning heavily against the wall nearly bent over double in pain he spoke weakly, "Help me"
For a moment T'pol thought that maybe he was hurt even worse than she had assessed, possibly delirium had driven his actions, but then she realised that far from crying for assistance the guard was approaching, albeit cautiously, down the corridor, closing the distance between them.
She pressed herself flat against the wall and waited.
Archer watched the guard approach in his peripheral vision, the man was cautious enough to be ready to check around the corner as he neared T'pol's position. Archer waited and just as he drew level, he moaned loudly.
The noise was enough to make the guard turn his head at the crucial moment and in a lightning fast move T'pol stepped out, placing her fingers on the man's neck, she squeezed. He instantly lost consciousness and she caught him, lowering him silently to the floor.
She then quickly began to search his clothing for items that could possibly help them whit their escape.
"You have got to teach me how to do that," Archer said grinning and pushing himself upright, still leaning against the wall.
T'pol replied by looking up at him and raising one eyebrow. "Captain," she said, "you could have warned me of your plans."
"No time," Archer replied, "besides you wouldn't have approved."
T'pol nodded, "It was a foolish course of action. You exposed yourself to danger. The guard could have shot you or called for help on seeing you. You should not have..."
"That," Archer interrupted, "is precisely why I didn't tell you what I was going to do." He grinned again. "It worked didn't it."
T'pol had to concede that point, however illogical the action.
"Well, if you've finished stripping our friend, let's get out of here."
T'pol nodded and pulled the guard's unconscious form out of sight around the corner and then moved to join the Captain who was already halfway to the next junction..
They now had keys and some sort of energy weapon which like their own appeared to have two settings. With it set to what they hoped was stun, they took out the remaining four guards that they encountered before finding the exit from the building they were in.
Once outside they were both relieved to find that T'pol had been right, the planet's sun had indeed set. The only light now came from a small moon. They kept to the shadows as they tried to decide in which direction to go.
They made their decision and reached the nearby fence. T'pol helped Archer to climb over it as he awkwardly tried to keep his useless left arm out of the way. They were just over and clear. Archer breathing heavily from the exertion when all hell broke loose behind them.
Sirens began to wail and powerful lights were switched on. There were loud shouts and the sound of running feet as the building they had just left seemed to spring to life.
T'pol turned and began to run for the nearby tree line, the reason why they had chosen to depart from this side of the building. To one of the other two sides that they could see, there was a large cliff, the building had been set in it's shadow and the hillside went up and out of sight beyond. To the other side the land dropped away sharply and they could see the outline of buildings in the town, but there was a much wider expanse of open land before reaching those buildings. So they had chosen this direction and the forest.
T'pol looked back to check the Captain was following her and was relieved to see that he was although she was a good twenty yards ahead of him. She slowed to allow him to catch up some noticing his slightly stumbling gait.
Archer ran for the tree line, making the best use he could of the new surge of adrenaline as it hit his system in response to the imminent danger. He tried his best to keep his pace even and his breathing steady but, unable to use his arm for balance as he ran, he stumbled and had to check his pace to recover without falling.. His bruised ribs would not allow him to take the full deep breaths he needed, instead his breathing became ragged and shallow.
Knowing that he was fighting a losing battle against his abused body he pressed on willing himself to reach the tree line and comparative safety. He watched T'pol disappear into the undergrowth now a mere ten yards away from him, but the blackness began to close in from the sides of his vision as he stumbled once more. This time unable to respond he dropped to the ground engulfed in a sea of darkness before he hit.