Don't Judge A Book…
By Antares *Star
Chapter Eight: To the Stars
*Disclaimer and other info located on first chapter
*Note: Well, here we go again! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. And by request some more action and Malcolm…lol, ask and you shall be provided.
*Dedication: I dedicate this chapter to Jen Day, who wrote wonderful Enterprise fanfics until she could no longer do so. Leukemia claimed her life on February 3, 2003. And to my grandpa who has lung cancer, and has suffered from other problems since serving his country in war. God Bless them, and everyone who suffers from these awful diseases.
And God Bless all of the American troops who are now in far away countries, my dad included, protecting America.
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Here come real stars to fill the upper skies,
And here on earth come emulating flies,
That though they never equal stars in size
-Robert Frost, Fireflies in the Garden
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-yeah, I like this poem anyways, but it's a tribute to FIREFLY, Joss Whedon's series that was cancelled, even though it RULED. Boo to Fox Network. And on to the story…
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Hoshi held the phase pistol tightly in both hands, trailing her crewmates by a mere foot. Her heart was pounding so loud, she was sure she would give them away, but no guards were in sight. Hoshi was worried about Trip and Malcolm. Neither was looking very good at the moment. Trip still limped heavily as Malcolm gasped for air through his broken ribs, leaning heavily on his comrades.
Archer peeked around a corner, then nodded to his crew, who pushed forward. He wasn't exactly sure where he was heading; all he knew was the further away from their cell, the better. The captain was concerned for his friends; he needed to get them out of here as quickly and discreetly as possible. There was a chance their shuttle pod had been left were it landed.
He pushed through a heavy door and was surprised to see bright sunlight streaming through. It had been much too easy to escape, or maybe he was just being paranoid.
The sun was so bright that Archer had to shield his eyes from its rays. A cool breeze whipped through his hair and he couldn't help sighing in relief. It had been far too long since he breathed fresh air and felt clean wind on his skin.
The beautiful, peaceful day was ripped apart by gunfire. Bullets shredded through the silence and Archer cursed in surprise. "Head for the trees!" He shouted and practically dragging Malcolm, he sprinted to the forest.
Hoshi was about to turn around and fire at the Ansians, but thought better of it. She still wasn't a great shot, and they didn't have much power left in the pistol. Instead she dashed to the trees in a half-crouch. Malcolm was leaning against a tree, gasping.
"Here." Archer reached for the weapon and Hoshi gave it over gladly.
"Maybe I should--" Reed began.
"No, I can shoot, Lieutenant." Archer said kindly. Reed smiled and collapsed against the trunk. Trip parked himself down next to Reed, looking a little pale and drawn.
"People here seem to like shooting at us." He stated simply. Reed looked at him, half exasperated, half amused.
"Yes, or maybe they just like shooting at you."
"I've always been real popular."
Reed smiled then turned his focus to Archer who was scoping out the Ansian's position. "We better wait it out. We can't be here when it gets dark though. Hoshi, see if you can contact Enterprise now."
"Ay, Sir."
She pulled out her communicator and flipped it open with practiced ease. "Ensign Sato to Enterprise, do you read?" Every second of silence seemed to deflate her. She sighed in defeat and was about to repocket the communicator when a burst of static barked through. She grinned and exclaimed "Enterprise, this is Ensign Sato! Do you read?"
"Ensign…looking for -o. we -eed get…..contact the a….rs. Request…"
"Wait, Sub-Commander, I can't hear you." Hoshi flipped the communicator over and reconfigured the frequency and quantity settings. "Sub-Commander?"
"Ensign, can you understand me now."
"Yes! We request immediate beam-out."
"We would oblige, but as of now we are engaged in a battle with the Tauners. Although their weapons are archaic, they have managed to hit out transporter array. We are attempting to repair it."
Archer leaned over, "T'Pol? Is Enterprise in any danger?"
"No Captain, we have sufficiently disabled their ships."
"Good, get on those transporters." He furrowed his brow, "We really need to get off this planet. Hell, out of this system, no one likes us much here."
"We will proceed in the repairs as quickly as possible. Out"
The firing had stopped for the time being. "They know exactly where we are, I'm sure they've scanned for us by now. We need to get to the landing site."
They all nodded. Trip rocked to his feet and Archer pulled Reed up, slinging Malcolm's arm around his shoulders. "Let's go!"
They skimmed the perimeter of the forest. After getting out of sight from the Ansians, Archer jogged through the open field. Reed frowned, they were much to exposed. An eerie silence had replaced the sound of weapons. No birds were singing. Not even a voice or distant laugh.
Reed's stomach clenched, either from anticipation or pain, he couldn't tell. He knew that all this moving around wasn't good for him right now. But there was nothing they could do about it; they had to get off the planet.
They crossed the filed safely, and Trip let out a breath of relief. Archer smiled, "Good job people."
Trip threw a desperate glance at Archer and whispered "I gotta go."
"Where?" Archer asked.
"You know, go."
Malcolm scoffed at the engineer, "And where would you go at a time like this?"
Trip looked around then spotted what he was searching for. "Ah, behind that bush."
Reed shook his, finally understanding. Hoshi giggled as Archer threw a glance at Trip. "Why in the world would you go sit behind a bush when….ohhh. You gotta go."
"Yeah, after all, we've been locked in that cell for who knows how long. And I wasn't about to go in front of this lady." Trip motioned. Hoshi smiled indulgently.
Archer shook his head, "C'mon. Let's work our way over to that rock formation."
"Cap'n! What about…" Trip began.
"You'll just have to wait." Archer ordered fimly.
"Huh." Trip growled. "Fine, but I get first dibs when we find the shuttle."
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T'Pol strode into the Transporter room, where four engineers were working on the burnt out circuits. "Are you progressing as scheduled."
The humans looked at each other, then at T'Pol's imposing figure. One stood uncertainly and shuffled into attention. "Uhh, yes, actually we're ahead of schedule."
"Notify me when you have completed your task."
She left and they let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, she's hot, but I wouldn't spend more time then I had to with her." one whispered.
"Why are you whispering, stupid. She's gone."
"I heard they have really good hearing."
"We would be finished with this by now if Commander Tucker were here." They all looked at each other, than stopped talking and bent over their work.
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Commander Tucker, meanwhile, was ducked under a low outcropping. Archer was waiting for a clear shot at the Ansians, who had come out of hiding a bit. Over-confidence was always a killer.
Archer saw the shadow of a figure and shot straight on. The blast caught an Ansian right in the side. He screamed in shock and pain, and then he was gone.
Archer nodded, pleased with himself. He turned again towards the firing Ansians. Reed lay back against the rock, satisfied with their safety for the time being. Then, all of the sudden, Reed was cast in a dark shadow. He glimpsed upwards and leapt in surprise right as an Ansian crashed down into their group. Hoshi yelped and backed away.
"Captain!" Malcolm yelled. Archer swung the gun around, fixing it on the Ansian, who currently had a gun pointed on Trip's heart. Trip was squatted perfectly still, not taking his eyes from the weapon trained on him. His ankle was trembling, but he dare not move.
"Put it down, or so help me, I will kill you." Archer snarled.
The Ansian looked uncertain, but kept the gun raised in two quivering hands. Reed looked from the gun, to Trip, to Captain Archer. He realized a second before making a rash action, that Hoshi wasn't there. He craned his neck slowly and inconspicuously around. Hoshi was right behind the Ansian, a fist raised. But she didn't seem to know what to do. Reed made a punching motion, then touched his lower neck.
Hoshi nodded and hit the Ansian as hard as she could. Wham! Right where the armory officer had showed her. The soldier went down like a sack of potatoes. Trip let out a breath and Malcolm scooped up the gun.
"Good job Hoshi." Archer breathed. "Let's go find the shuttle." He gave tRip a hand up, and they set of at a slow jog.
Whether from adrenaline, or recovered strength, Reed was able to stumble on alone. They covered ground quickly, and emerged from into the clearing where their shuttle was. Only one problem though. Hoshi gasped, Trip sweared, Reed groaned, and Archer beat the nearest tree. The shuttle was not there.
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All right, hope you all liked this chapter!! It wasn't very long, but I decided to put it out anyways. Don't forget to leave a review. Here are my Thank-Yous to chapter seven reviewers…
* Louise ~ Thank you so much!! Its very hard to find a good balance between all the characters and all the angst/action etc. Glad to know I'm not doing too bad.
* * * Jaws ~ Yay! Yet another review by Jaws! And yes, you do have power, more than you think, lol.
* * * Loz ~ Thank you! I try to do continuality as smoothly as possible; hopefully I pulled it off again. And wow, two reviews for one chapter, you know how to make someone happy!
* * * * * * *CJSpooks ~ Well, CJ, thanx for reviewing again!! Much appreciated bud. I did look back at the misspelling (oops!) but am too lazy to fix them… oh well. P.S. cant wait for your update!! (nudge nudge, hint hint) And thank you for reviewing all my chapters, your support means A LOT to me, but being a fellow author, I guess you know that.
* * * * * Rae ~ Thank you!! God, you all are so nice! Hope this was up to standards.
* * * Catspaw ~ I figured it was, you must love cats!! I had one, but I switched to dogs, both work though. Sorry to make you wait so long, I'm pretty last aren't I? Well, thank you so much for the compliment, one of your first fanfics, aww!
Thank you all. You like the story? Then please tell me!! Any suggestions? Fire away! But be kind.