Chapter Two
Hoshi clenched her bruised and bloodied fists, opening her tear-filled eyes in response to the soft noise. She couldn't move very well, so she asked the noise a question.
"Is someone there?" Hoshi rasped.
A gasp, followed by a large gulp of air and a soft "Hoshi" gave the injured ensign some hope for the first time in days
Hoshi cried out. Tears poured down her face as she felt around in front of her and stumbled across someone else's ratted hair.
"Liz?" Hoshi gasped.
They could hardly see each other in the dark, their vision already blurred because of the drugs being pumped into their bodies.
"We gotta hang on, Hoshi," the young crewman said to her friend.
Hoshi gulped and held back the tears, trying to regain some composure.
"Fight it, we have to." Liz whispered.
The pain was everywhere: in her gut, in her head and in her soul. She didn't know if she could do it, but she would try.
***
Archer's team met with the Andorians for a final briefing before the attack began.
They already had data on the tree compounds. But nothing was known about the most likely location to house prisoners - the underground areas - because of heavy shielding.
"Captain, it would be foolish for them to bring Ensign Sato and Crewman Cutler to the trees," Malcolm pointed out. "Although they are heavily guarded, they are not shielded."
"Where are these tree forts?" Archer asked.
"The south side of the planet consists of very intricately designed tree fortresses," T'Pol explained.
"It should be easy though, right?" Shran asked.
T'Pol raised an eyebrow in response to the simplistic question.
"We need to disguise ourselves better if we hope to get anywhere near easy," Malcolm said rather coldly to Shran.
"It would be a good idea," Archer agreed in an even tone.
"I agree," Shran added. "Where will we beam down?"
"This is the most logical location to beam down to without being seen," T'Pol answered, pointing to a southeast location on the long sheet of paper.
No one spoke again for several minutes as the group carefully studied the information before them.
"I can almost smell the artifacts!" Shran said with glee.
Archer furrowed his brow at the almost-maniacal tone in Shran's voice. He still clung to the hope that they could avoid a bloodbath, but that hope was dwindling fast. It looked like there was no way to do this without at least a few people dying.
Hoshi clenched her bruised and bloodied fists, opening her tear-filled eyes in response to the soft noise. She couldn't move very well, so she asked the noise a question.
"Is someone there?" Hoshi rasped.
A gasp, followed by a large gulp of air and a soft "Hoshi" gave the injured ensign some hope for the first time in days
Hoshi cried out. Tears poured down her face as she felt around in front of her and stumbled across someone else's ratted hair.
"Liz?" Hoshi gasped.
They could hardly see each other in the dark, their vision already blurred because of the drugs being pumped into their bodies.
"We gotta hang on, Hoshi," the young crewman said to her friend.
Hoshi gulped and held back the tears, trying to regain some composure.
"Fight it, we have to." Liz whispered.
The pain was everywhere: in her gut, in her head and in her soul. She didn't know if she could do it, but she would try.
***
Archer's team met with the Andorians for a final briefing before the attack began.
They already had data on the tree compounds. But nothing was known about the most likely location to house prisoners - the underground areas - because of heavy shielding.
"Captain, it would be foolish for them to bring Ensign Sato and Crewman Cutler to the trees," Malcolm pointed out. "Although they are heavily guarded, they are not shielded."
"Where are these tree forts?" Archer asked.
"The south side of the planet consists of very intricately designed tree fortresses," T'Pol explained.
"It should be easy though, right?" Shran asked.
T'Pol raised an eyebrow in response to the simplistic question.
"We need to disguise ourselves better if we hope to get anywhere near easy," Malcolm said rather coldly to Shran.
"It would be a good idea," Archer agreed in an even tone.
"I agree," Shran added. "Where will we beam down?"
"This is the most logical location to beam down to without being seen," T'Pol answered, pointing to a southeast location on the long sheet of paper.
No one spoke again for several minutes as the group carefully studied the information before them.
"I can almost smell the artifacts!" Shran said with glee.
Archer furrowed his brow at the almost-maniacal tone in Shran's voice. He still clung to the hope that they could avoid a bloodbath, but that hope was dwindling fast. It looked like there was no way to do this without at least a few people dying.
