Don't Judge A Book…
By Antares *Star
Chapter two: Stories and enemies
*Disclaimer and other information located on first chapter
*Note: Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews!! You all are soooo great, I hope ya like this chapter too! Sit back, relax, and enjoy…
T'pol sat calmly in the command chair. Enterprise was still orbiting Aldovia. The crewman at Hoshi's station, Johannes, couldn't raise shuttle pod two. For some reason, they couldn't raise the away team either. The Ansian's had some kind of dampening field which prevented the signal from getting through. "The Ansians aren't responding to our hail," Johannes nervously stated. T'pol merely nodded, completely emotionless.
"Continue your efforts, crewman Johannes." T'pol ordered. She briskly touched the communications key on the armrest. "T'pol to doctor Phlox."
"Phlox here, how can I help you sub-commander?"
"Doctor, is there any way to detect if the away team is still alive? This vessel's primitive systems cannot seem to do so."
"It would be difficult without information on the Ansians, but not impossible. We need to find a distinctive difference between Humans and Ansians, so we can locate the crew's life signs." Phlox replied in his cheerfully musical voice.
"We have no information on the Ansians. The captain decided to proceed to their planet knowing nothing about them, except their outward appearances. T'pol stated this with barely controlled disgust.
"Well, send me a copy of their transmission with the Captain, and I'll see what I can do. Phlox out."
Phlox strolled over to his computer and waited for Johannes to send a copy to him. He noticed it took almost five minutes to receive, Hoshi could have done it in two.
"Hmmm," Phlox muttered, studying the alien. "I believe we'll need our exobiologist for this enigma. Phlox to Cutler."
"Hello Doctor!" Cutler sounded pleased.
"I need your expertise, please report to sickbay."
"On my way"
***
Mayweather was bored. He swiveled back and forth in his chair, resting his arms on the navigation controls. His large chocolate eyes were beginning to droop. I wish I could've gone on the away mission. He glanced sleepily at his scanning readouts and his eyes snapped open in surprise.
"Sub-commander, I'm getting a ship on censors! Unknown configuration."
"It's weapons are charged!" exclaimed Reed's substitute, Anderson.
T'pol stood quickly from the chair, "On screen." A large smooth ship appeared on screen, moving fast.
"They're hailing," Johannes stated, rather surprised.
T'pol turned towards the viewer, expectantly. An extremely appalling looking alien stood. He vaguely resembled a human or Vulcan in that he was bipedal, and had four distinctive limbs. The similarities ended there though. It (he?) was tall, with long matted hair and sallow skin. His eyes glared yellow and cat-like. His thin lips and sharp nose only added to his ugly visage.
He began to speak and Johannes worked franticly to get the UT translating. It nearly took a minute, but the ugly alien's harsh language began to translate.
"We have been monitoring you." His voice was low and croaking. "We know you are helping the Ansians, our sworn enemies. We are at war with them however, not you. Leave now, and we will not fire."
"That's impossible. Our comrades are on the planet. As you said, we aren't your enemies." T'pol said.
"We're at war. We can't take chances. Leave, or die." The screen went blank.
"They're firing!" Anderson cried.
"Polarize the hull plating. All hands, brace for impact. Ensign Mayweather evasive maneuvers. Enterprise shuddered as it was hit.
"No damage!" Anderson exclaimed. He fired at the sleek vessel, but it kept dodging his shots. Surprisingly, its shots didn't seem to do any damage to Enterprise. Anderson finally got a good shot in with one of its phase cannons. The little ship bucked in space and an explosion covered it in red. The little vessel was dead in the water, with only one good shot from Enterprise.
"Curious," T'pol said as the vessel fell dark and still.
***
Archer's eyelids fluttered open. He lay still and tried to get his bearings. He was lying in a dark cell and had an enormous headache. He immediately thought of his crew. He sat up on his elbows and looked around the dark room.
Hoshi was laying facedown next to him. She had a gash on the back of her head. He gently prodded it and his hand came away sticky with blood. He checked her pulse and sighed in relief.
Trip was sitting in a corner, leaning heavily on the walls. He was already awake, but sitting still and quiet. Archer crawled over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You ok, Trip?"
Trip looked at him with glazed eyes and nodded mutely. Shock, no doubt Archer thought, afraid for his friend.
"Morning sleepin' beauty." Trip slurred. "You've been out for hours. I was startin' to get a bit lonely."
"How's the leg?" Archer reached over and gently rolled up Trip's right pant leg. Trips shoe was already off and lying to one side. It was soaked with wet blood.
"Hurts like hell," Trip admitted. Trip's foot was burned deeply, and bleeding through thousands of cracks in his skin made by the heat. Nasty weapons these people had, but not highly advanced.
"I think Malcolm's hurt too." Trip averted his eyes from his twisted and burnt foot. "He woke up 'bout an hour ago. Said he couldn't breathe. Then he either went back to sleep, or passed out."
Archer frowned concerned for Reed. Malcolm had been the last standing, and had undoubtedly tried to protect them. Archer walked stiffly over to Reed who was lying on his right side with his arms wrapped around himself.
"Malcolm, can you hear me? Wake up, I need to see if you're all right." Reed didn't stir. Archer found his pulse, then left him asleep.
Archer suddenly remembered their communicators. He pulled his out of a pocket in his sleeve. He flicked it open. "Archer to Enterprise, do you read?"
"I already tried Cap'n. All we get is static. Must have some dampening field around us."
"I see." Archer was angry.
Trip shifted weakly in his corner. "I wonder what they want from us. They seemed real friendly at first. I wonder what happened." Trip's accent was extremely prominent, either by pain or exhaustion.
"I don't think it was anything we did. As soon as we landed they started shooting. They weren't aiming to kill us, or else we'd be dead. Maybe--"
Archer's comment was cut off by Hoshi, who started to stir. She groaned and rolled over, opening her eyes.
"You feel ok Hoshi?"
"Yes Captain. Anyone get the number on that starship that ran me over?" Hoshi's head began to clear. She sat up and glanced over at Reed, then Trip, huddled in his blood-stained corner. "How's the leg Commander?"
"Better. And drop the formalities Hoshi. We're all in the same boat right now."
Hoshi nodded. Her eyes returned to Malcolm. She felt a rush of concern for the somewhat shy armory officer. She had really grown attached to him over the past weeks. Something a little stronger than friendship seemed to have grown between them. Or maybe it was just her imagination.
"What's wrong with Malcolm?" she lurched unsteadily to her feet and then, leaning slightly on Archer for support, she made her way over to him.
"I think he has some broken ribs, and a nasty bruise on his forehead. His breathe is shallow but his pulse is strong," Archer didn't lie to her.
"He's been asleep for a while." Trip sounded worried. "Woke up once, had a headache. Also said his chest and side hurt. We all know Malcolm, and he hates to admits when he's in pain, so it must be pretty bad."
Hoshi felt a deep dread. If Malcolm died, she didn't know what she'd do. He was such a great guy, despite his unnaturally private life and somewhat stuffy British upbringing. Hoshi knew she was over reacting, but she couldn't help it. She cared deeply for Reed, for all of her fellow crew, and would hate to see anything happen to them.
***
A few hours later an Ansian came to the door of their cell and pushed some fruit through. It looked rather like apples or pears. Archer quickly stood and called after the retreating back. "Wait!! Why are we here? Please, my people need medical attention." The Ansian was gone though. "Damn it." Archer cursed.
Hoshi was examining the food. It appeared ok, so she handed two to Trip and Archer and took two for herself. She approached Malcolm and laid his food next to him. "We should try to wake him up, he needs to eat something."
Archer nodded and came over to squat next to Reed. He would need food to regain his strength. "Malcolm, wake up. You need to eat." The Lieutenant didn't stir. "Lieutenant, that's an order." Archer tried, but it had no effect either.
Hoshi gently shook Malcolm, but his body was limp. Archer once again checked his pulse and felt his ribcage. His breathing seemed strained and raspy. Hoshi shook her head sadly and moved over to Trip. She sat down, already tired, and took a bite of the fruit. It was tangy and sour, but pretty good on n empty stomache.
Archer joined Trip and Hoshi. He could tell his crew was getting restless so decided to pass the time for them.
"Did I ever tell you two about the time I was unconscious for a day?" Trip shook his head and Hoshi looked expectantly at him.
"Well, my PTP, physical training professor, made us run 15 miles in uniforms and boots on our first day. It was scorching hot, and humid as hell." Archer paused to take a bite of fruit. "I got severely dehydrated and just collapsed after about the tenth mile. They had to carry me back, and I was out for 24 hours."
Trip grinned appreciably. "That's not a bad story Cap'n, but I got a better one!"
"Oh?" Archer smirked. "Let's hear it."
"Well, in high school there was this girl I had a major crush on. I sang in chorus just to be with her, I took art so I could watch her. I was totally infatuated with her. I finally got up the nerve and asked her out." Trip grinned, almost proudly, "And she said yes!
"I took her to this real fancy place, and everything went wrong!! I spilled wine on her lap, broke one of her toes dancin', and couldn't pay the bill. I washed dished for an hour, then took the poor thang to a hospital. She was wet, hurtin', and miserable. She was so mad at me she wanted to walk to the clinic, but I insisted on escorting her.
"On the way there, I got lost. She was so mad that she turned around and BAM!!" Trip clapped his hands together for emphasis. "She slapped me right across the face. Next thang I know I'm lying on the asphalt looking up at her, then, I blacked out." Archer began to snicker and Hoshi was smiling.
" The worst part is, she left me there! I woke up a few hours later at the hospital, someone had called an ambulance. Don't know if it was her, 'cause she never spoke to me again." A weak laughter from the other side of the cell caught all of their attention. Malcolm was still lying on his side, but had apparently woken up. He was grinning ear to ear and had heard the whole story.
"Very good Commander Tucker! I'm quite impressed. You seem to be the clumsiest child I've ever heard of."
"Malcolm!!" Hoshi rushed over to him and gave him a soft hug. "We were worried about you!"
"Welcome back Malcolm. But you missed my story." Archer complained.
"Sorry Captain, it won't happen again. I have a story however, that will outdo yours Trip." Trip looked doubtfully at him and crossed his arms. Malcolm sat up painfully and leaned against the wall. Hoshi sat next to him, relief evident on her face. She handed him his food. He studied it for a second, took a bite, and began.
"It happened during graduation at the academy. Security majors were marching and presenting the colors. I was holding the Starfleet flag and we had to march as well as stand at attention throughout the ceremony. About two hours into it, I began to feel weak. In fact, I felt like I was about to faint.
"The ceremony was closing however, and we were to march back across the ranks. I began to walk in step with the three other color guards, but halfway across, my legs wouldn't hold me. I collapsed in front of over one thousand people. Luckily, the man next to me grabbed the flag and the soldiers on either side of me grabbed my arms and pulled me the rest of the way. So I didn't make a total fool of myself, as you did Trip."
Trip laughed. "What happened Reed. Forgot to eat your scones and jam that morning?" He said the last part in a terribly mocking English accent.
Malcolm cringed at Trip's attempt to mimic him. "No. What happened was, in the excitement of the graduation, I forgot one very important thing. You need to relax your legs every few minutes while at attention, or you blood flow is disrupted. I neglected to do this, so I felt weak due to blood flow disruptions."
"Oh, I see. But I can't see you collapsing. Maybe I should find a recording of the graduation." Archer said, a smile on his lips. "But I'm still not sure that's as humiliating as Trip's story."
"Hey!" Trip protested. He turned to Hoshi, "Ok Hoshi, your turn. Bet ya can top us all!"
Hoshi shrugged and admitted, "I've never been knocked unconscious, totally humiliated, or publicly feinted. Sorry to disappoint you all."
"Awww, C'mon-" Trip began, but an Ansian appeared at the door to their cell.
"We are ready to speak to you." They exchanged looks. They were finally going to find out what was going on.
Thanks so much all my reviewers!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review this chapter. I wanna know how the story is going. Too slow, too fast, just right! Is the action good?? Is it too boring! FEEDBACK, PLLLEEEAAASEE!!
Thanks to all the people who reviewed chapter one. I give out stars to someone every time they reviews a chapter. You know, just for fun. So, here's the first batch of stars…
*A ~ I'm sorry if I sounded obnoxious by demanding reviews, but I thrive on them. Don't take it the wrong way! Glad ya like it so far. Hope its still good. As you can see, I cleaned up all those little mistakes from chapter one. Thanks!!
*Aislinn ~ well, I wrote more!! Thanks so much for the review! You are too nice!!
*Cheysuli ~ Well, I had more Malcolm. He's my favorite too! He's just totally awesome. I went back to the first chapter and changed that fight scene a little bit. Its better, you should read it!!
*Kim ~ Don't worry, Malcolm will defiantly have a big part. Glad you like the action., I'm really trying.
*Claire ~ Was this part good too?? Ohh, I sure hope so! Thanks for the kind words
*Sion ~ You have two names on the review! Is it Son, or Sion?? Well, hope I got it, Thanks a million for the review
*Rae ~ Sorry Trip was the first to get hurt!! He'll have a big part in this because he's really cool. Thanks!
*Buggles586 ~ Yeah, I always think of Reed like that. Slightly paranoid, but usually right! Glad ya agree!
*CJSpooks ~ Thanks! I hope it turns out all right. I'll be happy if its half as good as your stories!
*Ali Opp ~ Thanks!! I made sure to get this up ASAP! Hope its as good as the first
*Admiral ~ Hope this is good too. Thank you for the review!! They're like chocolate to me YUM YUM! want MORE
*PJ in NH ~ Well, was chapter 2 as good as you hoped?? I hope so! Thanks
*Arwen ~ That's exactly what I say!! He is way too trusting!
*Jenn ~ Thank you! I hope this is still in character!
*Aramis ~ Don't worry, Reed will get plenty of action! Just stay tuned
Once again, thanks a million, and please don't forget to drop a review! The more I get, the faster I go!!
Antares*