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Chapter Nine

Conference Room, The Royal Zenandrian Palace
Zenandria
2120 hours

"What?!" Archer exploded. He suddenly remembered where they were and hurriedly lowered his voice. "That's crazy!"

"Prime Minister Dakr'a feels that Commander Tucker's disappearance was extremely … irregular," T'pol replied, her face inscrutable.

"Anything else?" Archer asked edgily.

"No."

He shook his head in disbelief.

"First he goes missing on their watch, and now they are accusing him of kidnapping? What's next? Murder?!"

"You should calm down, Captain," T'pol warned as his furiously whispered comments were starting to draw curious looks from the others in the room. Archer closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, frustration written all over his face.

Malcolm frowned as he looked over from his seat at the table, curious about what had just taken place, especially in view of the bits and pieces that he'd overheard. Only his rigid discipline kept him from interrupting his superior officers' conversation as he settled back into his chair. He caught Travis's eye and shrugged faintly. Whatever it was, he suspected that they would probably know soon enough, as the Prime Minister and the Commandant reentered the room.

While K'lar took a seat, Dakr'a stopped beside Xadria's chair. She looked up at him, immediately on her guard.

"What's going on, Dakr'a?" she asked suspiciously.

"Your father requests that you join him in the Great Hall, Princess Xadria," he said in a low but insistent voice. "His Majesty has a matter of outmost importance to discuss with both you and your mother, Your Highness."

A look of apprehension crossed the princess's face at the note of urgency in the request but she excused herself and left the room without any further questions. Heads then turned to the Prime Minister, who took a seat beside K'lar at the table. When the silence dragged on, open curiosity soon turned into troubled glances. After another minute passed without a sound, Archer decided that it was time they found out what was going on. He cleared his throat.

"Your Excellency?"

The expression on the man's face as he turned towards them destroyed his hope that T'pol might have heard wrongly. Dakr'a's demeanour was stiff as he shot the captain a hostile look. Gone was the genial man who had greeted them just a few nights ago. Beside him, K'lar sat silent, a similar scowl on his face.

Ignoring T'pol unspoken warning, Archer pressed on, desperate to get some answers from the man.

"If it concerns Commander Tucker, don't you think we have the right to know?"

The Prime Minister stared at Archer for a moment and then laughed bitterly.

"Rights?" he said disdainfully. "You have no rights here!"

"Perhaps not. But Commander Tucker was under Zenandrian protection when he disappeared!"

Dakr'a eyes narrowed. Shaking off K'lar's restraining hand from his arm, he got to his feet and glared coldly at the man seated opposite him.

"For your information, Princess Xanindra has also gone missing. It seems she was last seen in your Commander's presence," he all but spat out the last part of his sentence.

Shocked by the unexpected turn in the conversation, Malcolm and Travis could only stare at the Zenandrian minister with mouths agape.

"What are you insinuating, Your Excellency?" Archer asked in a dangerously low voice as he stood up as well, his palms flat on the table. "That Commander Tucker kidnapped Princess Xanindra?"

"All signs currently point to that."

"You can't seriously believe that!" Malcolm spoke up, finding his voice at last. "There is no bloody way Commander Tucker is involved in anyone's kidnapping."

"Lieutenant Reed is right," Archer said, returning the Zenandrian's glare. "Commandant K'lar said it himself. They found traces of human blood in the conservatory. If anything, Commander Tucker was most probably injured protecting the princess."

"I could be wrong," K'lar defended himself. "Particularly in light of the new developments. For all we know, it may have been planned to look exactly that way."

"Are you saying that he cut himself on purpose?"

"Maybe, or perhaps the princess fought back and injured the Commander when she did," the Commandant retorted.

"What? That's the most ridiculous explanation I've ever heard! Look, Commander Tucker's one of my best officers. He would never hurt a child!"

"Even the best men, Captain Archer–"

"Don't give me that!"

"There is a lot to be gained–"

"Now wait one bloody minute–!"

The room was soon filled with angry male voices as the argument escalated. If T'pol had any opinion about the whole farce, it didn't show on her face, as she silently observed the dispute that was taking place with hardly any change in expression. As such, she was also the only one who noticed the arrival of the king and queen. They were clearly worried and upset by the recent news regarding their daughter. J'ok suddenly looked a lot older as worry lines fanned the sides of his eyes and around his mouth. Mylir's eyes were red-rimmed. She had obviously been crying. The royal pair stood at the door and stared at the angry group, momentarily nonplussed by the hostility present in the room.

Before T'pol could alert anyone to their presence, the king's voice roared over the pandemonium.

"Silence!"

It took both humans and Zenandrians by surprise, effectively silencing everyone in mid-shout. The young Vulcan watched with a subtly raised brow as this led to a lot of hasty greetings and bowing by the Zenandrians. Equally mortified but unsure of what they should do, Archer and his crew stood almost at attention and waited with the rest until the royal pair had taken their places at the table.

Once seated, King J'ok looked disapprovingly at the people assembled in front of him. For a long while, no one but T'pol met his eyes; each looking more than a little shamefaced by their recent conduct.

"You may take your seats," J'ok said finally. He continued after a short pause, "Captain Archer…"

"Your Majesty," Archer turned to the monarch. He was just about to apologise for what had happened when the king spoke first.

"… I trust that you and your crew would abide by our laws as long as you are here."

After a moment's hesitation, Archer nodded slowly.

J'ok's normally good-humoured face was forbidding as he continued, "I take it that you now know that my youngest child is also missing."

"Yes, we do."

"It has come to our attention that the Commander was the last person to be seen with her. Xanindra's disappearance changes everything, especially issues concerning Commander Tucker."

"Your Majesty?"

"Their disappearances may or may not be connected since she had been spending a lot of time in his company. However, my men believe that they are. While I understand the concern you have regarding your officer, Captain Archer, I'm afraid that he is currently a suspect in her disappearance, unless new evidence can be found to prove otherwise."

He held up a hand when Archer looked as if he was going to protest.

"Nevertheless, as it is in your world, he will also be considered innocent until proven guilty."

The king nodded at the astonishment on the younger man's face.

"Yes, Commander Tucker has been quite informative about the judicial system of Earth."

"Evidently so."

"Then can we count on your co-operation on this, Captain?"

"Yes, of course, Your Majesty."

"Excellent."

The king then turned his attention to his own people on the other side of the table.

"Dakr'a…"

"Yes, Sire."

"Regardless of the circumstances, this is not how we treat visitors to Zenandria," he said, effectively wiping the slight smirk off the other man's face.

"I'm apologise, Your Majesty. Things got out of hand just now."

"So it would seem. I understand your feelings in this matter. But please see that this doesn't happen again."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Now … find my daughter."

Both men stood up and bowed to their king and queen. As they prepared to leave the table, Archer spoke up.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, Captain?"

"We would like to offer our assistance in the search for both Princess Xanindra and Commander Tucker."

"K'lar?" the monarch raised an eyebrow at his Security Officer.

"I'm not sure if this is such a good idea, Your Majesty…"

Seeing that the king might just agree with the Commandant, T'pol spoke up for the first time since the argument began.

"Enterprise has the personnel as well as the equipment to aid in this matter, Your Majesty. It is only logical that you utilise what we have so that the search can be conducted more rapidly and thoroughly."

Mylir, who had been silently observing everything until now, leaned close and whispered into her husband's ear. After a short while, he nodded and turned back to the people seated at the table.

"The Sub-Commander is right. We would accomplish much more if we were to work together. What do you propose, Captain Archer?"

~O~O~O~

An undisclosed location
Zenandria
2150 hours

Trip slowly became aware of two things as he painfully clawed his way into consciousness. The first was that he was lying down and the ground below his cheek was hard and cold. The other was that he was lying on one side and that his right arm had gone totally numb. He tried moving but all he could manage to do was to twitch the fingers of his left hand.

The temptation to just float away once again into oblivion was so strong that he almost gave into it. Then he heard a faint and disturbingly familiar sound. He frowned. His befuddled mind tried placing it but couldn't. What was that?

Although still unable to place the sound, he somehow knew instinctively that it was important that he stayed conscious. Struggling to stay awake, he slowly opened his eyes and winced at the pain that seemed to be in a hurry to reassert itself. He ached … everywhere; even in places he didn't know it was even possible to feel any pain. He tried moving again and this time managed to turn stiffly until he was finally lying on his back.

He winced. Any movement he made, however slight, caused the throbbing in his head to increase agonisingly. Disorientated and more than a little nauseous, he lay completely still and stared hazily up at the crude ceiling, waiting for the pounding to subside. What happened? The last thing I remembered was…

His eyes widened as the pieces slowly fell into place. Fear clutched at his heart as he desperately tried to look around for any sign of the young princess. Did she manage to get away?

Suddenly, a child's sniffle broke the silence of the room again and this time, he had no problem identifying what it was. Carefully turning his head, he peered into the surrounding shadows. At first, he saw nothing. Then his eyes fell upon something dark huddled in a corner. He was still trying to figure out what it was when another sob escaped it.

"Xanindra?" he whispered hoarsely.

She looked up, startled. For a while, she didn't move but just sat there looking at him, as if she couldn't believe her own eyes.

"Trip!" She hurried to his side and knelt beside him. "You're alive!"

"Jus' barely," he groaned, trying to sit up. Her hands on his right shoulder, she helped him up gently and gradually guided him to a wall, where he leaned gratefully against it.

"How … long was I out?" he rasped, coughing.

"I don't know," she whispered. "I … I shook you for so long but you didn't even move. I thought you w-were n-never g-going to w-wake up…"

Her voice cracked at the last few words and he looked up at her, worried. Looking closely at her face, he saw that she had started crying again. He felt a pang of regret that he wasn't there for her when she first regained consciousness. No one should have to go through this kind of terrifying experience, let alone a child. Ignoring the pounding in his temples, he hugged her to him as she started to sob uncontrollably.

He rocked her gently until her sobs quietened down into sniffs. She moved to wipe her eyes, pushing herself upright as she did so. He flinched, a gasp escaping him, when she accidentally pressed against his injured side. Covering her mouth with her hands, she looked at him, horrified.

"S-Sorry…!"

"S'ok," Trip answered thickly, closing his eyes against the wave of nausea that swept over him. He wondered what were in those darts. Feeling extremely lightheaded, he took slow deep breaths, struggling to stay conscious as his heart pounded painfully.

"… anything I can do?"

Xanindra's voice broke through the slowly receding haze of pain and he focused his bleary eyes on her anxious face.

"Trip?"

"Some …water … would be nice…" he managed to gasp.

She looked around for a moment and then hurried to a corner of the room. She soon returned with a small earthen bowl filled with some liquid. Trip looked suspiciously at it. The last time he drank something he didn't recognise, he found himself more or less betrothed to a princess.

"What … is it?"

"I think it's water," she made a face. "A man brought it in a while ago."

When he could finally move without feeling the need to throw up, he took the bowl from her. Taking a tentative sip of the liquid, he shuddered and stuck out his tongue.

"If … this is their idea o' water, I can't wait for breakfast…," he groaned, putting the bowl down on. "Let's hope that they've pecan pie on their menu."

When she didn't respond as he had hoped, he sighed and took her small hands into his. She looked down, her bottom lip quivering.

"I'm s-scared."

He hugged her to him once more, stroking her hair.

"I know, sweetheart. I know…"

"What's … pecan pie?"

Trip lifted his head from where he had rested it against the wall at her question, relieved that she was finally talking once more. He hadn't been able to coax a single word out of her since she passed him that bowl of water.

"So, you were listening after all," he drawled, smiling at the young girl sitting beside him. "Pecan pie? It's a type of dessert from where I come from."

"Is it nice?"

"Yea…it's nice. Tastes … sweet."

She rubbed her hand over her eyes.

"Sweet … That sounds nice."

"Well, tell you what. When we get out of here, we'll go up to Enterprise and I'll get ya a huge slice, 'kay?"

Trip was glad to see some of the fear leave her eyes. She tentatively returned his smile.

"Okay."

"Good," he said as he watched his youthful friend settle down beside him, making sure he kept his own fear and apprehension well hidden from her.

Feeling much better, albeit still somewhat shaky, he leaned back against the wall and wondered idly about the time. If only there was a way to contact Enterprise. He went through his pockets earlier for the communicator but it was gone. Not much of a surprise there. He looked curiously around. It was still too dark too see much but it seemed as if they were in a crudely built wooden hut. He cautiously fingered the wall behind him with his hands, his hopes rising. If the hut was basically made of wood, there may be a chance for them to get out after all.