Enterprise
"Stroke of Faith"
By Kathrin Mueller
Pairing: Archer / T'Pol
Rating: PG 13
Summary: Trapped on a planet, Archer and T'Pol learn a new level of cooperation
Disclaimer: star trek and all that belong to paramount not to me. I am just playing around.
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Chapter One
It was all dark. The scent of burned flesh filled the air. Jonathan Archer opened his eyes, only to find that he was lying face down on the floor. He tried to determine if he was injured then tried to get up. He almost fainted, but by grabbing a stool he managed to pull himself up. He stood there, a bit unsteadily, looking down at himself. There was blood on his uniform but he didn't know whether it was his or some one else's. His head hurt, as did almost every other part of his body. He would take care of that later. He turned around to observe the shuttle-pod. His breathing almost stopped at the sight. Ensign Barthez' throat was cut open, a piece of metal jutted out of her neck. Lieutenant Smith was lying on a console, not moving. Archer took a step towards him and turned him around. He closed his eyes on the sight. Smith's face was burned, his uniform merely a loose piece of charred fabric.
Only one crewmember left on the shuttle-pod: T'Pol. Archer shivered at the thought that she might have died in the accident, too. He found her under a pile of debris, green blood all over her. Please, Archer thought, not another one. He quickly removed all the fragments that were covering her. She was lying on her back, her head rested on her left shoulder. Without the catastrophic surroundings of the shuttlecraft, Archer would have enjoyed watching her this way. She looked as if she was sleeping, so innocent. Archer shook his head to prevent himself from floating away into a daydream. This is not the right time, he reminded himself. He checked if she was still alive. He sighed with relief when he found her breathing. I wouldn't know what to do…
He had to get her out of the shuttle-pod. It was dirty, and the air was painful in his lungs. Jonathan picked his science officer up, and carried her outside. It was a beautiful day. The sky didn't show any clouds, the surroundings offered him the bright colors of flowers, and in a distant he heard bird's song. If he didn't turn around to see the wreckage of the pod, he would have had the illusion of a paradise. Archer softly laid T'Pol down in the grass, about 50 meters away from the shuttle-craft. He observed her fragile body. Her face was covered with dozens of small cuts, green blood emerging from every single one. There also was a bloodstain on her uniform, on her right shoulder. Other than that she seemed unscathed. Knowing she would be safe, he hurried back to the shuttle-pod to look for a med-kit and a communicator. Archer found a scanner, a phase pistol, and the med-kit, next to some bandages and a hypo-spray. He would look for the communicator later; his first priority was to get T'Pol back to the living world.
He kneeled down beside her, moving the scanner across her face, chest and limbs. Her organs were undamaged, as was her skull. She had not lost too much blood. He was relieved, then a slight anomaly caught his eye. The scanner showed a tiny metal fragment in her back. Jonathan turned her around, careful not to cause her any pain. The first thing he saw was a tiny bloodstain on the uniform, right where her shoulder blades met. He looked closer and saw a shiny piece of metal sticking out of it. Oh my goodness… Archer was not a doctor, but he knew where the spine was located. He now knew that he had to contact Phlox immediately. He ran back to the pod. The communication system was unusable. The panel had exploded while Ensign Smith had been sitting in front of it. Archer had to look for the small communicators. His had slipped out of its holster. He got down on the floor, searching with his hands in the dust until he found it. He opened it and punched a button.
"Archer to Enterprise, please come in, this is a medical emergency!"
He waited a couple seconds, but there was no answer. He switched the frequency and tried again.
"Archer to Enterprise, come in goddamit!"
He heard a slight disturbance, and then silence again.
"Archer to Enterprise!"
Some more disturbances, then finally he heard Hoshi's familiar voice.
"This is Enterprise, Captain."
Archer quickly explained the situation, asking for medical assistance.
"We are sorry, captain. The magnetic field that caused your crash permits us to beam you up, or anything down."
"How come we haven't seen the magnetic field when we scanned the planet?"
There was a slight pause, Archer heard some mumbling in the background.
"What is going on?" he asked.
"Captain, this is Malcolm. We had to align our sensors to be able to find the magnetic field. It is very strong sir. I doubt that this line will be up for much longer, I give it maybe 10 minutes. Not much longer."
"Then get me the doctor, quick!"
Archer glanced over to T'Pol. He knew how serious an injury to the central nerve cord could be.
"This is Phlox, please state the medical emergency, Captain."
"Sub-Commander T'Pol has a tiny object in her back, a metal splinter. It is right where the spine should be located, unless you tell me that Vulcans don't have a spine."
"Well, they quite do, Captain. As it is not possible for me to come down or for the patient to come aboard the Enterprise, I suggest you remove it yourself. I will guide you through the operation."
Archer was quickly opening the med-kit, getting out medical tools. While he was working on the injured Vulcan, he hoped that the com-line would be up long enough. He had to concentrate on not letting his hand tremble. He had never done a surgery before, not even on a human body. The green blood that emerged from the wound was very disturbing, but he knew that he had to keep his head clear to save T'Pol. He couldn't let her die. If the splinter was removed, she would soon fall into a coma, Phlox had assured him.
After what seemed like an eternity, Archer held the metal splinter in his hand. This tiny object had almost killed his science officer.
"I got it, Doctor. I just hope I didn't cut any important nerves."
"Even if you did, Captain, you saved her life. Wait, hold on, Lieutenant Reed wants to talk to you."
"Go ahead, please."
"Captain, this is Malcolm again. The com-line will be up for 2 more minutes. We cannot beam you up due to the magnetic field, would you like us to send a shuttle for you?"
Archer looked down on T'Pol and back on the wreckage.
"Would there be any chance that it wouldn't be affected by the field?"
"I don't know, Sir."
"Then don't. We can't risk any more lives. We already lost two crewmen."
"But Sir, you won't be able to come back…"
Archer closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I know, Malcolm, I know."
"Sir, there must…. option… save…"
The line was dead. Archer tried a couple times to reach his ship again, but it was no use. He had lost contact with the Enterprise, and there was no chance of returning to the ship. He and T'Pol were stranded on this planet.
