Mentem Mortalia Tangunt
By Thalia Drogna
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, I'm just borrowing them.
Thanks again to everyone who reviewed. I really appreciate all your comments.
*************************************************
Chapter 5
Archer had followed Phlox and Trip back to Sick Bay. Phlox and a couple Ensigns moved Trip onto a biobed and Phlox busied himself taking new scans of the Commander. All Archer could do was wait to hear what the doctor had to say about Trip's condition. T'Pol sat at a terminal at one of Phlox's lab benches.
She noticed Archer pacing and looking worried so she turned away from her console to address him. "Doctor Phlox is a very competent medical professional," said T'Pol. Trust a Vulcan to use six words when she could have used three, thought Archer, but he knew that this was high praise from T'Pol.
"Have you made any progress identifying the poison?" asked Archer.
"We identified elements of the toxin almost immediately, but unfortunately the structure of the toxin was affected by its dilution in the Jorgan wine. We have had no further success in determining the remaining elements. I am currently working on a process of elimination but this will take considerable amounts of time," finished T'Pol.
"And Trip doesn't have considerable amounts of time," said Archer, disheartened.
"As you would say, Captain, we are working against the clock," replied T'Pol. She did not add that she would miss the Commander's presence on the ship if they were unsuccessful, or that she had opted to remain in Sick Bay to continue her work rather than returning to the Science Lab when she heard the Commander was being brought back to Sick Bay.
"I know you're doing all you can, T'Pol," said Archer.
"It would be a great loss to Enterprise if we are unable to save the Commander's life," said T'Pol before directing her attention back to the compound that she was studying. Archer realised that for T'Pol this was her way of saying that she'd be upset if Trip were to die, quite something for a logical Vulcan. Trip had a way of persuading people to like him. His infectious charm apparently even worked on Vulcans.
Phlox came over to Archer. "The toxin has acted more quickly than I anticipated. I'm going to have to keep him here now in order to monitor his medication levels. I've increased the dose of painkiller and motor stabiliser, so he should come round fairly soon. I anticipate that I may require your help in persuading him that he has to remain in Sick Bay."
Archer nodded. "I'll do my best, Doctor."
"I can hear you, y'know," said a voice from the biobed. Trip had woken up.
"Then you know that I can't let you back on duty," said Archer coming over to Trip's side. He lay on the biobed, hooked up to various monitors and with a drip plugged in to his arm. He managed to push himself up into a sitting position when Archer came over, but he looked pale and his skin was damp with sweat. He was in obvious pain but trying to hide it, however over the years Archer had come to know Trip very well and not much escaped his attention.
"If the Doc can keep me dosed up on this stuff then I should be fine," said Trip, "right, Doc?" He looked at Phlox hopefully.
"The toxin is being unpredictable, Commander, and I have no way of knowing how long each dose will last. I have to be able to monitor you in order to adjust the medication dosages and stabilise your condition. If you collapse again while working in Engineering then you could seriously injure yourself," said Phlox.
"Doc, I'm dying, how much worse can it get?" said Trip.
"Trip, Lieutenant Hess has enough problems on her hands at the moment without worrying about you as well," said Archer.
"So you're telling me I'm a nuisance and I have no choice, I just have to lie here until I die!" said Trip, angrily. He immediately regretted the comment when he saw the hurt look on Archer's face. He knew that the Captain couldn't have a sick man in Engineering. If it had been one of his staff he would have told them to stay in Sick Bay as well. "I'm sorry Captain, it's just frustrating. I know the state that Engineering's in at the moment and I should be down there getting it all fixed. Hell, we can't even go to impulse without shearing off the port warp nacelle!"
"I know, Trip," said Archer. "I know. But that's Lieutenant Hess's problem now." No one was going to feel the lack of Trip's presence in Engineering more than he was. "You need all your strength to fight this poison, Trip, so I don't want you worrying about what's going on in Engineering." Archer knew that he was asking the impossible of Trip, but he hoped that he would listen to his commanding officer on this occasion.
"There is still a chance that T'Pol and myself might be able to find the antidote," said Phlox.
"I know you've been working real hard with T'Pol, Doc, and I do appreciate it," said Trip. "It's just that by my reckoning I've got about eight hours left and I don't think you're going to find it between now and then." Trip sighed.
"Never the less, we will keep looking," said Phlox. "It is a little premature to give up at this point."
"How about I get someone to bring you some reports to go through? Or you could catch up on your reading, you're always telling me you never have enough time to keep up with all the journal articles that come out on warp theory," said Archer.
"Yeah, I guess that is true," said Trip. "Okay, I'll be a good little engineer and lie here quietly."
"Thank you, Mr Tucker," said Phlox, smiling. "I prefer it when my patients co-operate willingly." Trip had the nasty feeling that he wouldn't have wanted to find out what happened to the ones who didn't co-operate willingly.
****
Lieutenant Reed had security officers searching every part of the ship. So far they were drawing a blank. As his teams checked in without any new data he was beginning to wonder if his information had been correct. Perhaps Mentan had found a way to go back to his ship and he was wasting his time trying to find the saboteur, while his friend was lying dying in Sick Bay. Reed wanted to go and see Trip but he didn't feel he could leave his post while they were still searching the ship.
Reed was still collating reports from the various security teams and wondering if he'd missed something, when Captain Archer came into the Armoury. Archer had just had a very gloomy status report from Hess in Engineering and was hoping that Malcolm might have better news for him.
"Any luck, Malcolm?" he asked.
"Not so far, sir," replied Reed. Archer's heart sank. "All the Jorgans have returned to their ship. We counted them all on to Enterprise and counted them all off again. We're still missing one Jorgan, but I have conducted three separate sensor sweeps of Enterprise and none of them have produced a Jorgan biosign. I have every security officer available and some of T'Pol's science staff out looking for the missing Jorgan but they've all come up with nothing. There are only a couple of places left to look and after that I'm out of ideas."
"Have you been down to see Trip yet?" asked Archer.
"I haven't been able to break away, but I should have a moment soon," said Reed.
Archer nodded. "I know he'd be pleased to see you, Malcolm."
"I'm not actually sure that he will be, sir," said Reed in his clipped British accent.
"I don't understand Malcolm," said Archer, wondering why the Armoury officer suddenly looked so guilty.
"I can't help but think that if I'd done my job in the first place then none of this would have happened. I fully expect you to reprimand me for my poor conduct in this matter, Captain," said Reed. "Not only did I allow a saboteur to board Enterprise but I let him poison the Chief Engineer and plant explosives on the port warp nacelle." His tone said it all, he was disappointed with himself for not having prevented this from happening. Archer couldn't agree with Reed's assessment of the situation though.
"None of that happened because of you, Malcolm," said Archer. "Phlox tested all the wine and it wasn't poisoned. We scanned everyone when they came aboard for pathogens and weapons and we didn't detect anything. You did everything by the book. I certainly hadn't intended reprimanding you."
"Maybe if I'd done more than go by the book Trip wouldn't be lying in Sick Bay and we'd still have out port warp nacelle intact," said Reed.
"Lieutenant, even if any of this was your fault, which I still doubt, we'll conduct the usual inquiry after this is all over and find out exactly why this happened. Until that happens I need you to focus on the task in hand. We have to find that Jorgan before he can cause any more trouble for us."
"Yes, sir," said Reed. He mentally pulled himself together, after all feeling bad wasn't going to help anyone. "I just don't understand why the sensors haven't detected any Jorgan life signs when we know that there must be one."
"There are parts of the ship that sensors cannot penetrate, isn't that right Lieutenant?" asked Archer.
"Yes, sir," replied Reed. He called up a schematic of the ship on his screen. "Obviously the catwalks on both nacelles are shielded too well and there are parts of engineering that the sensors cannot penetrate for similar reasons. Although we do have basic internal sensors in those areas. But security searched all of the restricted access areas and we didn't find the Jorgan."
"Okay, if he's not there, then where else could someone hide?" said Archer.
"You're asking the wrong person about this, Commander Tucker knows this ship like the back of his hand," said Reed and then realised what he'd said. "Sorry, sir, I guess we'll have to do without the Commander's help."
"I don't see why we should," replied Archer. "Bring those sensor logs and let's go to Sick Bay."
"Yes, sir," said Reed, brightening slightly at the thought of seeing Trip.
****
When Archer and Reed arrived in Sick Bay they found Trip in his Starfleet issue light blue pyjamas leaning against the wall in Phlox's office. He had taken the cover off the air conditioning unit which was attached to the wall and was working on something inside the unit intently.
"I foolishly mentioned that the air conditioning in my office had been malfunctioning recently," said Phlox, looking slightly bemused. "Commander Tucker insisted on looking at it and to be honest I didn't see the harm. I can monitor his condition and medication. He hasn't left Sick Bay and it's keeping his mind off other things."
"And there I was thinking he'd be bored stiff," muttered Reed. Trust Trip to find something mechanical that needed fixing.
A loud curse emanated from the doctor's office as Trip dropped the screwdriver that he was holding on his toe. "This would be a hell of a lot easier if you'd let me put my uniform back on," said Trip, bending down in search of the dropped tool. "At least then I'd have pockets." He put a hand out to steady himself as the motion caused his head to spin but it didn't help, the room continued to swim. He shook his head to try and clear the dizziness but it wasn't working. The painkillers were keeping the pain at bearable levels but that was about it, nothing Phlox had given him seemed to be helping his dizziness now.
"Maybe I'd better go and lie down for a bit before I finish this," he said half to himself, however Phlox was on hand to help him back to his bed. Which Trip thought was probably just as well as he was suddenly feeling really tired and his legs were being very unhelpful when it came to walking. "Sorry, Doc, I just need a moment and then I'll get it sorted. It's just a couple of loose bolts need tightening and a tweak in the environmental controls," he said as he settled back on the biobed. Phlox spread a blanket over his patient and rearranged the pillows so that Trip could sit up.
"I'll ask Lieutenant Hess to send someone down, Trip," said Archer.
"Captain, Malcolm, sorry I didn't realise that you were here." he added as greeting to the two officers. "You look as if you've come with a mission."
"Trip, we could use your help," said Archer.
"Please, don't be too long, he needs to rest," said Phlox and he left them to it.
"Speak for yourself," said Trip, annoyed by Phlox's last comment. He knew the doctor meant well but he just wished that people wouldn't fuss over him. "What's the problem?"
Reed explained their reason for visiting him and handed over the padd with the sensor logs on it. "The search teams have covered everywhere, and you know as well as I do that there are only limited places to hide on a starship where you can't be detected by the sensors," said Reed.
Trip scanned the sensor logs and the search team reports, his hand shaking as he held the padd. He blinked twice and tried to persuade his eyes to do what he wanted them to, Phlox's hyposprays seemed to wearing off faster and faster, however he managed to persuade them to read the padd. His brain took a little more coaxing before it was able to process the information, but he refused to give up and kicked it into working.
Archer saw the visible effort that Trip had to make to read the padd and even keep hold of it. He wondered if he had made a mistake coming to Trip for help, he seemed to be far worse than when he had left Sick Bay earlier, but he'd hoped it would make the Engineer feel as if he was still doing something. Archer knew that even at less than a hundred per cent Trip had an affinity with Enterprise that no one else did and that knowledge was hugely valuable in their search for the saboteur.
"This is weird," said Trip, after few moments studying the information.
"What is?" asked Archer.
"These sensor readings are all wrong," said Trip. "Look, these are the tolerances for the radiation in engineering in the restricted areas." He called up the file on the padd to show to Archer and Reed. "This isn't the right sort of radiation. Not even close. This is more like that Suliban cell ship that we took apart," he tried to remember when that was but his head hurt and was going fuzzy again. "Hey, Doc, have you got that file on my arm, you remember when it got dosed with cloaking radiation."
"Yes Commander, right here," replied Phlox, bringing over a second padd. Trip scrolled down to the radiation readings that Phlox had taken. They were a very close match.
"Well I'll be," said Reed. "We didn't spot it because it was radiation and in the right place, no one thought to check the frequencies. Trust an engineer to notice. We're looking for an invisible Jorgan."
"This Jorgan is using cloaking technology to evade us?" asked T'Pol who had heard the voices and come over from her workstation.
"Yes, Sub-commander," said Reed, "and now I know what to look for we should be able to pinpoint him easily."
"I find this quite difficult to believe," said T'Pol. "Cloaking technology has only ever been used on starships to my knowledge and I believe the radiation which a cloak emits to be harmful to organic life after prolonged exposure."
"T'Pol's probably right, looking at the frequencies of radiation, but I'm guessing that this guy doesn't have much regard for his own life," said Trip, sleepily. He was desperately tired and couldn't remember when he'd last slept, it must have been some time before all this started. His chest was hurting now too and getting tight, it was becoming an effort just to breathe. Trip shifted his weight to get into a more comfortable position, but nothing seemed to make any difference. His hand went into a painful series of spasms and he dropped the padd that he had been holding on the floor. He closed his eyes in pain as he tried desperately to pull oxygen into his lungs. A low groan escaped his lips.
"Malcolm, get Dr Phlox, will you," said Archer in as calm a tone as possible. Malcolm left Trip's side to get Phlox.
"I'm fine, I don't need the doctor," said Trip, opening his eyes but still gasping for breath.
"That is an obviously false statement, Commander," said T'Pol.
"I suppose you're an expert," breathed Trip between gasps.
"I do have a number of qualifications in alien biology," replied T'Pol. For a moment Archer wondered why T'Pol was arguing with Trip when he could hardly talk, but then he realised that T'Pol was distracting him while they waited for the doctor.
Reed returned with Phlox who quickly scanned his patient. "When did this start?" he asked.
"A couple of minutes ago," said Archer, feeling completely useless as he watched Trip struggling to breathe.
"The toxin has begun to effect your autonomic nervous system," said Phlox. "I'm going to put you on oxygen, Commander."
"This is a hell of a way to die," Trip said breathlessly, angry at what was happening to his body. The last comment was almost too much for Archer to bear.
Phlox slipped an oxygen mask over Trip's face, administered a hypo and after a few moments Trip began to breath slightly easier. He closed his eyes again and was soon asleep. Phlox shooed Archer, Reed and T'Pol away from Trip's bed and pulled the curtain around the area.
"How long, doctor?" asked Archer in a voice that was barely above a whisper.
"Four hours, five at most," said Phlox. "I will continue to work on a cure but we just don't have enough time," he added in a frustrated tone.
"And if we get you a sample of the poison?" asked Reed.
"Then I should be able to synthesise an antidote fairly rapidly," said Phlox.
"But we don't have a sample of the poison," said Archer, he felt as if he had let down his friend badly. He couldn't let Trip die. How would he ever be able to forgive himself if that happened?
"Captain," said Reed, "Mentan might still have the poison on him or at least I can question him about what he used. With the data that the Commander has given us I should be able to locate him. I'll let you know as soon as I have him in custody," said Reed and left Sick Bay.
"Sato to Archer," the com sounded.
Archer went to answer it. "Archer here, what's the problem Hoshi?"
"Sir, we have detected a ship approaching. We think it may be Xindi."
"I'm on my way, Ensign," replied Archer.
"I will accompany you," said T'Pol. "There is little else that I can do for Commander Tucker at this time."
****
By Thalia Drogna
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, I'm just borrowing them.
Thanks again to everyone who reviewed. I really appreciate all your comments.
*************************************************
Chapter 5
Archer had followed Phlox and Trip back to Sick Bay. Phlox and a couple Ensigns moved Trip onto a biobed and Phlox busied himself taking new scans of the Commander. All Archer could do was wait to hear what the doctor had to say about Trip's condition. T'Pol sat at a terminal at one of Phlox's lab benches.
She noticed Archer pacing and looking worried so she turned away from her console to address him. "Doctor Phlox is a very competent medical professional," said T'Pol. Trust a Vulcan to use six words when she could have used three, thought Archer, but he knew that this was high praise from T'Pol.
"Have you made any progress identifying the poison?" asked Archer.
"We identified elements of the toxin almost immediately, but unfortunately the structure of the toxin was affected by its dilution in the Jorgan wine. We have had no further success in determining the remaining elements. I am currently working on a process of elimination but this will take considerable amounts of time," finished T'Pol.
"And Trip doesn't have considerable amounts of time," said Archer, disheartened.
"As you would say, Captain, we are working against the clock," replied T'Pol. She did not add that she would miss the Commander's presence on the ship if they were unsuccessful, or that she had opted to remain in Sick Bay to continue her work rather than returning to the Science Lab when she heard the Commander was being brought back to Sick Bay.
"I know you're doing all you can, T'Pol," said Archer.
"It would be a great loss to Enterprise if we are unable to save the Commander's life," said T'Pol before directing her attention back to the compound that she was studying. Archer realised that for T'Pol this was her way of saying that she'd be upset if Trip were to die, quite something for a logical Vulcan. Trip had a way of persuading people to like him. His infectious charm apparently even worked on Vulcans.
Phlox came over to Archer. "The toxin has acted more quickly than I anticipated. I'm going to have to keep him here now in order to monitor his medication levels. I've increased the dose of painkiller and motor stabiliser, so he should come round fairly soon. I anticipate that I may require your help in persuading him that he has to remain in Sick Bay."
Archer nodded. "I'll do my best, Doctor."
"I can hear you, y'know," said a voice from the biobed. Trip had woken up.
"Then you know that I can't let you back on duty," said Archer coming over to Trip's side. He lay on the biobed, hooked up to various monitors and with a drip plugged in to his arm. He managed to push himself up into a sitting position when Archer came over, but he looked pale and his skin was damp with sweat. He was in obvious pain but trying to hide it, however over the years Archer had come to know Trip very well and not much escaped his attention.
"If the Doc can keep me dosed up on this stuff then I should be fine," said Trip, "right, Doc?" He looked at Phlox hopefully.
"The toxin is being unpredictable, Commander, and I have no way of knowing how long each dose will last. I have to be able to monitor you in order to adjust the medication dosages and stabilise your condition. If you collapse again while working in Engineering then you could seriously injure yourself," said Phlox.
"Doc, I'm dying, how much worse can it get?" said Trip.
"Trip, Lieutenant Hess has enough problems on her hands at the moment without worrying about you as well," said Archer.
"So you're telling me I'm a nuisance and I have no choice, I just have to lie here until I die!" said Trip, angrily. He immediately regretted the comment when he saw the hurt look on Archer's face. He knew that the Captain couldn't have a sick man in Engineering. If it had been one of his staff he would have told them to stay in Sick Bay as well. "I'm sorry Captain, it's just frustrating. I know the state that Engineering's in at the moment and I should be down there getting it all fixed. Hell, we can't even go to impulse without shearing off the port warp nacelle!"
"I know, Trip," said Archer. "I know. But that's Lieutenant Hess's problem now." No one was going to feel the lack of Trip's presence in Engineering more than he was. "You need all your strength to fight this poison, Trip, so I don't want you worrying about what's going on in Engineering." Archer knew that he was asking the impossible of Trip, but he hoped that he would listen to his commanding officer on this occasion.
"There is still a chance that T'Pol and myself might be able to find the antidote," said Phlox.
"I know you've been working real hard with T'Pol, Doc, and I do appreciate it," said Trip. "It's just that by my reckoning I've got about eight hours left and I don't think you're going to find it between now and then." Trip sighed.
"Never the less, we will keep looking," said Phlox. "It is a little premature to give up at this point."
"How about I get someone to bring you some reports to go through? Or you could catch up on your reading, you're always telling me you never have enough time to keep up with all the journal articles that come out on warp theory," said Archer.
"Yeah, I guess that is true," said Trip. "Okay, I'll be a good little engineer and lie here quietly."
"Thank you, Mr Tucker," said Phlox, smiling. "I prefer it when my patients co-operate willingly." Trip had the nasty feeling that he wouldn't have wanted to find out what happened to the ones who didn't co-operate willingly.
****
Lieutenant Reed had security officers searching every part of the ship. So far they were drawing a blank. As his teams checked in without any new data he was beginning to wonder if his information had been correct. Perhaps Mentan had found a way to go back to his ship and he was wasting his time trying to find the saboteur, while his friend was lying dying in Sick Bay. Reed wanted to go and see Trip but he didn't feel he could leave his post while they were still searching the ship.
Reed was still collating reports from the various security teams and wondering if he'd missed something, when Captain Archer came into the Armoury. Archer had just had a very gloomy status report from Hess in Engineering and was hoping that Malcolm might have better news for him.
"Any luck, Malcolm?" he asked.
"Not so far, sir," replied Reed. Archer's heart sank. "All the Jorgans have returned to their ship. We counted them all on to Enterprise and counted them all off again. We're still missing one Jorgan, but I have conducted three separate sensor sweeps of Enterprise and none of them have produced a Jorgan biosign. I have every security officer available and some of T'Pol's science staff out looking for the missing Jorgan but they've all come up with nothing. There are only a couple of places left to look and after that I'm out of ideas."
"Have you been down to see Trip yet?" asked Archer.
"I haven't been able to break away, but I should have a moment soon," said Reed.
Archer nodded. "I know he'd be pleased to see you, Malcolm."
"I'm not actually sure that he will be, sir," said Reed in his clipped British accent.
"I don't understand Malcolm," said Archer, wondering why the Armoury officer suddenly looked so guilty.
"I can't help but think that if I'd done my job in the first place then none of this would have happened. I fully expect you to reprimand me for my poor conduct in this matter, Captain," said Reed. "Not only did I allow a saboteur to board Enterprise but I let him poison the Chief Engineer and plant explosives on the port warp nacelle." His tone said it all, he was disappointed with himself for not having prevented this from happening. Archer couldn't agree with Reed's assessment of the situation though.
"None of that happened because of you, Malcolm," said Archer. "Phlox tested all the wine and it wasn't poisoned. We scanned everyone when they came aboard for pathogens and weapons and we didn't detect anything. You did everything by the book. I certainly hadn't intended reprimanding you."
"Maybe if I'd done more than go by the book Trip wouldn't be lying in Sick Bay and we'd still have out port warp nacelle intact," said Reed.
"Lieutenant, even if any of this was your fault, which I still doubt, we'll conduct the usual inquiry after this is all over and find out exactly why this happened. Until that happens I need you to focus on the task in hand. We have to find that Jorgan before he can cause any more trouble for us."
"Yes, sir," said Reed. He mentally pulled himself together, after all feeling bad wasn't going to help anyone. "I just don't understand why the sensors haven't detected any Jorgan life signs when we know that there must be one."
"There are parts of the ship that sensors cannot penetrate, isn't that right Lieutenant?" asked Archer.
"Yes, sir," replied Reed. He called up a schematic of the ship on his screen. "Obviously the catwalks on both nacelles are shielded too well and there are parts of engineering that the sensors cannot penetrate for similar reasons. Although we do have basic internal sensors in those areas. But security searched all of the restricted access areas and we didn't find the Jorgan."
"Okay, if he's not there, then where else could someone hide?" said Archer.
"You're asking the wrong person about this, Commander Tucker knows this ship like the back of his hand," said Reed and then realised what he'd said. "Sorry, sir, I guess we'll have to do without the Commander's help."
"I don't see why we should," replied Archer. "Bring those sensor logs and let's go to Sick Bay."
"Yes, sir," said Reed, brightening slightly at the thought of seeing Trip.
****
When Archer and Reed arrived in Sick Bay they found Trip in his Starfleet issue light blue pyjamas leaning against the wall in Phlox's office. He had taken the cover off the air conditioning unit which was attached to the wall and was working on something inside the unit intently.
"I foolishly mentioned that the air conditioning in my office had been malfunctioning recently," said Phlox, looking slightly bemused. "Commander Tucker insisted on looking at it and to be honest I didn't see the harm. I can monitor his condition and medication. He hasn't left Sick Bay and it's keeping his mind off other things."
"And there I was thinking he'd be bored stiff," muttered Reed. Trust Trip to find something mechanical that needed fixing.
A loud curse emanated from the doctor's office as Trip dropped the screwdriver that he was holding on his toe. "This would be a hell of a lot easier if you'd let me put my uniform back on," said Trip, bending down in search of the dropped tool. "At least then I'd have pockets." He put a hand out to steady himself as the motion caused his head to spin but it didn't help, the room continued to swim. He shook his head to try and clear the dizziness but it wasn't working. The painkillers were keeping the pain at bearable levels but that was about it, nothing Phlox had given him seemed to be helping his dizziness now.
"Maybe I'd better go and lie down for a bit before I finish this," he said half to himself, however Phlox was on hand to help him back to his bed. Which Trip thought was probably just as well as he was suddenly feeling really tired and his legs were being very unhelpful when it came to walking. "Sorry, Doc, I just need a moment and then I'll get it sorted. It's just a couple of loose bolts need tightening and a tweak in the environmental controls," he said as he settled back on the biobed. Phlox spread a blanket over his patient and rearranged the pillows so that Trip could sit up.
"I'll ask Lieutenant Hess to send someone down, Trip," said Archer.
"Captain, Malcolm, sorry I didn't realise that you were here." he added as greeting to the two officers. "You look as if you've come with a mission."
"Trip, we could use your help," said Archer.
"Please, don't be too long, he needs to rest," said Phlox and he left them to it.
"Speak for yourself," said Trip, annoyed by Phlox's last comment. He knew the doctor meant well but he just wished that people wouldn't fuss over him. "What's the problem?"
Reed explained their reason for visiting him and handed over the padd with the sensor logs on it. "The search teams have covered everywhere, and you know as well as I do that there are only limited places to hide on a starship where you can't be detected by the sensors," said Reed.
Trip scanned the sensor logs and the search team reports, his hand shaking as he held the padd. He blinked twice and tried to persuade his eyes to do what he wanted them to, Phlox's hyposprays seemed to wearing off faster and faster, however he managed to persuade them to read the padd. His brain took a little more coaxing before it was able to process the information, but he refused to give up and kicked it into working.
Archer saw the visible effort that Trip had to make to read the padd and even keep hold of it. He wondered if he had made a mistake coming to Trip for help, he seemed to be far worse than when he had left Sick Bay earlier, but he'd hoped it would make the Engineer feel as if he was still doing something. Archer knew that even at less than a hundred per cent Trip had an affinity with Enterprise that no one else did and that knowledge was hugely valuable in their search for the saboteur.
"This is weird," said Trip, after few moments studying the information.
"What is?" asked Archer.
"These sensor readings are all wrong," said Trip. "Look, these are the tolerances for the radiation in engineering in the restricted areas." He called up the file on the padd to show to Archer and Reed. "This isn't the right sort of radiation. Not even close. This is more like that Suliban cell ship that we took apart," he tried to remember when that was but his head hurt and was going fuzzy again. "Hey, Doc, have you got that file on my arm, you remember when it got dosed with cloaking radiation."
"Yes Commander, right here," replied Phlox, bringing over a second padd. Trip scrolled down to the radiation readings that Phlox had taken. They were a very close match.
"Well I'll be," said Reed. "We didn't spot it because it was radiation and in the right place, no one thought to check the frequencies. Trust an engineer to notice. We're looking for an invisible Jorgan."
"This Jorgan is using cloaking technology to evade us?" asked T'Pol who had heard the voices and come over from her workstation.
"Yes, Sub-commander," said Reed, "and now I know what to look for we should be able to pinpoint him easily."
"I find this quite difficult to believe," said T'Pol. "Cloaking technology has only ever been used on starships to my knowledge and I believe the radiation which a cloak emits to be harmful to organic life after prolonged exposure."
"T'Pol's probably right, looking at the frequencies of radiation, but I'm guessing that this guy doesn't have much regard for his own life," said Trip, sleepily. He was desperately tired and couldn't remember when he'd last slept, it must have been some time before all this started. His chest was hurting now too and getting tight, it was becoming an effort just to breathe. Trip shifted his weight to get into a more comfortable position, but nothing seemed to make any difference. His hand went into a painful series of spasms and he dropped the padd that he had been holding on the floor. He closed his eyes in pain as he tried desperately to pull oxygen into his lungs. A low groan escaped his lips.
"Malcolm, get Dr Phlox, will you," said Archer in as calm a tone as possible. Malcolm left Trip's side to get Phlox.
"I'm fine, I don't need the doctor," said Trip, opening his eyes but still gasping for breath.
"That is an obviously false statement, Commander," said T'Pol.
"I suppose you're an expert," breathed Trip between gasps.
"I do have a number of qualifications in alien biology," replied T'Pol. For a moment Archer wondered why T'Pol was arguing with Trip when he could hardly talk, but then he realised that T'Pol was distracting him while they waited for the doctor.
Reed returned with Phlox who quickly scanned his patient. "When did this start?" he asked.
"A couple of minutes ago," said Archer, feeling completely useless as he watched Trip struggling to breathe.
"The toxin has begun to effect your autonomic nervous system," said Phlox. "I'm going to put you on oxygen, Commander."
"This is a hell of a way to die," Trip said breathlessly, angry at what was happening to his body. The last comment was almost too much for Archer to bear.
Phlox slipped an oxygen mask over Trip's face, administered a hypo and after a few moments Trip began to breath slightly easier. He closed his eyes again and was soon asleep. Phlox shooed Archer, Reed and T'Pol away from Trip's bed and pulled the curtain around the area.
"How long, doctor?" asked Archer in a voice that was barely above a whisper.
"Four hours, five at most," said Phlox. "I will continue to work on a cure but we just don't have enough time," he added in a frustrated tone.
"And if we get you a sample of the poison?" asked Reed.
"Then I should be able to synthesise an antidote fairly rapidly," said Phlox.
"But we don't have a sample of the poison," said Archer, he felt as if he had let down his friend badly. He couldn't let Trip die. How would he ever be able to forgive himself if that happened?
"Captain," said Reed, "Mentan might still have the poison on him or at least I can question him about what he used. With the data that the Commander has given us I should be able to locate him. I'll let you know as soon as I have him in custody," said Reed and left Sick Bay.
"Sato to Archer," the com sounded.
Archer went to answer it. "Archer here, what's the problem Hoshi?"
"Sir, we have detected a ship approaching. We think it may be Xindi."
"I'm on my way, Ensign," replied Archer.
"I will accompany you," said T'Pol. "There is little else that I can do for Commander Tucker at this time."
****