Chapter Two

"Docking clamps released," Ensign Verona's voice came through the comm. "You're good to go, Captain."
"Acknowledged, Enterprise," Archer nodded as he told Mayweather to activate the shuttle's thruster system, very familiar with the standard protocol that applied whenever a shuttle departed the ship. "Maintain orbit while we're gone, and keep us informed of any changes that go on up there."
"Will do, sir. Good hunting."
The shuttle took off, speeding away from Enterprise and moving towards the planet. Archer watched as the planet-mostly covered with lush forests-got bigger as he looked out through the shuttle's main viewport.
"When will we be landing?" Archer asked Mayweather.
"I'd say about four minutes," Mayweather replied.
"Where's the landing site?"
"Right here," Mayweather said, pointing to a diagram. "T'Pol thinks she found a transporter signal, meaning Tosk probably beamed from his ship to this location. Tosk is definitely no further than a kilometer from this site." Archer turned around in his seat and faced the rest of the team. "Our mission is simple. We're going to split up into teams of two: Trip and Malcolm will comprise team two, Travis and Phlox will make up team three, and T'Pol will accompany me in team one. Is that clear?"
Everyone responded affirmatively.
"Good. We'll take the area south of the shuttlepod. I want team two to scout the area northwest, and team three to take the area east. We've got thirty minutes. If we can't find Tosk by then, we're going to return to the shuttlepod, regardless of any extenuating circumstances we may face. Is that clear?"
Again, the team responded, indicating that they understood what they were to do once they arrived.
"Travis?"
"We're arriving now, Captain," Travis replied.
"Everyone, check your equipment," Reed said.
Everyone began to check all the equipment they would need, including phase pistols, handheld scanners, communicators, flashlights, and homing beacons. As everyone nodded, their equipment satisfactory, the shuttle set down.

* * * * *

T'Pol examined her scanner. All that she could detect were five homing beacons-the ones belonging to team two and three. So far, there was no sign of Tosk. Just before she left for the mission, she had uploaded Tosk's bioscan to her scanner from the analysis she had made earlier of both him and his vessel.
"Captain, I'm not detecting any sign of Tosk or any debris from his vessel," T'Pol said. "In addition, we are already approximately three- quarters of a kilometer from the shuttlepod."
"Are you saying we should go back?" Archer valued input from his science officer, but he didn't always agree with it.
"I am saying that I do not believe that we will find Tosk by venturing further south of the shuttlepod than we already have."
"So you're saying we should go back."
"I believe it is the logical thing to do."
"Maybe so. Let me check in with the others," Archer said, pulling out his communicator and flipping it open. "Teams two and three, report in."
"This is team two," Reed's voice came through. "We've found nothing, and we've already moved outside the one kilometer range."
"Team three here, sir," Mayweather's voice replied. "Same here."
"Phlox," Archer said.
"Phlox here, Captain," the doctor said. "Go ahead."
"You've seen Tosk's bioscan, correct?"
"That's right, sir. He has a fascinating physiology."
"Is it possible that he has some sort of internal camouflage?"
"Actually, sir, I've been worried about something similar myself."
"So, in other words, if he doesn't want to be found, he's not going to be."
"That's only speculation, Captain, but it's certainly possible."
"Thank you, Doctor. Both teams, we've been out here for over twenty minutes. Stay out for five minutes more, then start to head back to the shuttle."
"Understood, sir," came Reed's voice.
"Got it, sir," Mayweather said. "Team three out."
Archer adjusted his communicator to hail the ship. "Archer to Enterprise."
"Enterprise, Sato here," Hoshi's voice reached the captain.
"Hoshi, what's the status of the other vessels?"
"They're going to enter orbit in six minutes, Captain."
"That doesn't give us much time. We should be able to finish up by then."
"Wait. Captain, they've increased speed. It looks like the two smaller ships are planning on entering the atmosphere. They're definitely equipped to handle it. Captain! They're transporting people to your location!"
"Archer out," he said quickly, readjusting his communicator again. "Teams, this is a mission abort, I repeat, this is a mission abort! The aliens are transporting people to our locations, return to the shuttlepod immediately!"
Archer closed his communicator, quickly looking over at T'Pol. "T'Pol, the shuttlepod! Now!"
The two began to run as quickly as they could to return to the shuttlepod. Archer began to fall behind T'Pol, who was apparently in better physical condition. Suddenly, he tripped over a tree root precariously lying on the ground. Archer fell to the ground, his face buried in the dirt, blood starting to trickle from the side of his mouth. T'Pol turned around quickly, helping Archer up from the dirt. He thanked her quickly, as they both began to keep moving. They realized it was unlikely they would be able to get back to the shuttlepod in time. Archer also wondered how the other teams were doing.
"T'Pol," Archer choked and coughed, trying to clear dirt from his throat. "How much longer until we reach the shuttlepod?"
T'Pol quickly opened and checked her scanner, replacing it just as quickly after she had found the shuttlepod on her scanner. "Captain, I am detecting the shuttlepod one-quarter of a kilometer from here. I'm also reading two biosigns there. One human, one Denobulan."
Archer realized that this meant team three had returned successfully, both Ensign Mayweather and Doctor Phlox.
"Come on," Archer replied, wiping the blood from his mouth. "We've got to keep moving or there's no way we'll make it."
Archer and T'Pol kept running, and eventually they reached the shuttlepod. Both Mayweather and Phlox were waiting there, as predicted. Without warning, they saw a bright light come from about half a kilometer northwest of the shuttle's landing site. That would be where team two was to scout, Lieutenant Reed and Commander Tucker. The bright light remained only a second before it was gone again.
"I don't like the look of that, Captain," Mayweather said.
"Neither do I," the captain responded, flipping open his communicator. "Archer to Tucker. Trip, respond please."
There was no response.
"Archer to Reed. Malcolm, are you there?"
Again, no response.
"Captain," T'Pol grabbed Archer by the shoulders.
"What is it?" Archer seemed somewhat dazed, but only for a moment.
"We've got to get into the shuttle. We can find team two from Enterprise!"
Archer hesitated. He hated to leave two of his crewmembers on this planet, especially being as valuable as his chief engineer and tactical officer, but T'Pol seemed intent that it would be better to return to Enterprise.
"You're right, of course," Archer replied. "I'd hate to run into these 'hunters' or whoever they are. Let's go."
Everyone quickly entered the shuttlepod, Mayweather reaching for the aft thruster control. The shuttlepod began to lift off the ground and return to Enterprise. Archer opened a channel.
"Enterprise, Sato here," said Hoshi from the ship.
"Hoshi," Archer said, very tensely. "We have a problem."