Engine Trouble… In More Ways Than One!

By Moonlit Sea

Disclaimer: I don't own Enterprise or the characters all I own is this fic and the character Lt. Karyn Kelly.

A/N: I don't know if you can actually get a Phase Pistol to fire automatically (I know in TNG & VOY you can) but it suits the story :oP. a great big thank you to my friend Alun for writing the action scene between Enterprise & the aliens.
Oh and I'm incredibly sorry for the extremely late update. also thanks go to my beta reader Ltspooky26.

/-Thoughts-/

Chapter 10 - Recovery

It had been three days since Enterprise was 'run out' of the system where T'Pol and Karyn's shuttle crashed.

"Trip what's the status of the engines?" Archer asked.

"We've got warp drive back but I wouldn't push it too far."

"That's great Trip. Travis, set a course for that planet warp four." He said as he closed the comm. channel.

"Aye sir."

"How long will it take us to get there?" Hoshi asked.

"Two days." Travis replied.

"Let's just hope they can last that long."

"I'm sure they'll be fine Hoshi." Archer replied.

"I just hope we don't run into that ship that attacked us again." Travis said.

"If we do we'll be ready for them." Archer answered, with a slight smile.

/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/

(On the planet)

Karyn's condition had been stabilised enough until she got back to Enterprise, although she could hardly walk. Malcolm spent most of his time with her, protecting her and seeing to her injuries.

T'Pol had noticed that Karyn would go a slight shade of red when Malcolm tended to her. She also noticed how Malcolm went the same colour everytime Karyn spoke to him.

"How long are you and Lieutenant Kelly going to keep 'playing' with each other?" T'Pol asked Malcolm when Karyn had fallen asleep.

"I'm afraid I don't understand Sub-Commander." Malcolm answered.

"Your cheeks display another colour whenever the Lieutenant speaks to you."

"I…didn't realise my feelings were that visible." He replied slightly embarrassed.

"Only to a Vulcan."

"I see…" he looked over at Karyn and sighed, "You won't tell her will you? I don't want to come between her and the Commander." Was the officer's answer, as he still thought that Trip and Karyn were together.

"If you would just open your eyes Lieutenant you would see that it is not the Commander that she likes." T'Pol stated.

"How do you mean?" Malcolm asked in confusion as he turned back to face her.

T'Pol would say nothing more other than "Perhaps you should ask her."

During most of that night Malcolm sat awake thinking about what T'Pol had said to him. "What did she mean by 'it's not the Commander she likes'?" he wondered aloud. Suddenly he heard "Malcolm? What are you still doing up?" Malcolm turned and saw that Karyn was awake.

"You should be getting some rest." Karyn continued.

"I can't sleep." He replied.

"Why not? Is there something wrong?" she asked, a little worriedly.

"No, it's just something T'Pol said earlier."

"Wanna talk about it? It might help if you voice your concerns."

Malcolm turned a deep shade of red at Karyn's offer to help with his 'problem'
"N-no it's okay r-really."

Karyn looked a little confused.
"Are you okay?" she asked with great concern then noticed the change of colour on his face and gave a little laugh.

"What?" Malcolm queried, wondering why she was laughing.

"Your face is as red as a beetroot. If it's that embarrassing for you, you don't have to say anything. I understand." Then she settled back down to sleep. Karyn closed her eyes, only to reopen them a second later. "Wait a minute… is this to do with what I told you earlier?" she asked.

Malcolm looked confused as the colour of his face slowly returns to normal.

"About Trip and I?" Karyn continued her voice showing she was getting angry. "Is it?"

Malcolm wouldn't answer which only made Karyn angrier.

"You told her that I kissed the Commander and you're embarrassed about it!" Karyn was almost shouting, her anger boiling up inside of her ready to burst.

"No!" Malcolm shot back "If you must know we were talking about you and whether or not you liked the Commander. T'Pol said if I 'looked' properly I'd see that you didn't like him in that way."

Karyn's anger suddenly disappeared at Malcolm's statement; if she could run or walk away she would of done so by now.

"W-why would you think there was something between Trip and I? I-I told you I-it was just a spur of the moment thing."

Malcolm smirked at Karyn's sudden stutter.
"You know you were right."

"Huh?"

"It did help to voice my concerns."

Karyn turned round and tried to return to sleep.
"Glad I could help." She said although her voice had a slight solemn tone to it.

"Karyn, wait…" Malcolm began when T'Pol walked in from keeping watch outside.

"My scans have indicated several alien life forms are headed in our direction, their bio-scans show that they are the same species that attacked us three days ago." She says.

"Great just what we need." Karyn said a little sarcastically.

"We have to find somewhere else to hide out." Malcolm replied ignoring Karyn's little comment.

"And how do you propose we do that? In case you've forgotten I can't walk." Karyn said more than a little bitterly.

"The Lieutenant is correct. It is no longer safe to remain here." T'Pol stated.

"That still doesn't answer my question."

"Which is?"

"Where exactly are we suppose to go? We found this cave clearly by accident." Karyn said.

"We'll find somewhere." Malcolm answered.

"There is no point debating about this now. The fact remains that they are coming and we must vacate the premises." T'Pol responded, as she walked back out to see how far away the aliens were.

Malcolm stood and went to pick Karyn up, intending to carry her.

"I can walk myself thank you." She snapped, slowly getting up.

"You just said a minute ago that you couldn't."

"Yeah…well… that was then and this is now, and I'm telling you that I can walk."

"Funny you said the same thing three days ago when you first got shot." Malcolm retorted.

Karyn looked at him.
"Three days ago Lieutenant, you should have been on Enterprise helping to protect it." She said with an annoyed tone.

"And if I hadn't have come you would either have been captured or dead." Malcolm replied sounding just as annoyed when Karyn brought up that subject again.

"Lieutenants." T'Pol's voice came from the entrance "We must leave now."

As Karyn was distracted by T'Pol's voice Malcolm took the chance to pick her up whether she wanted him to or not and headed towards the cave entrance.

"Do you always get your own way?" Karyn asked more curious than annoyed.

"Not always."

"Could've fooled me."

They continued through the forest the rest of the night and into the early morning before stopping to rest a while.

"Any sign of a place where we can take shelter?" Malcolm asked.

"No." T'Pol said. "My scans indicate there is nothing but trees for another three miles."

Then all of a sudden a little explosion was heard near to where Malcolm was standing, which awoke the sleeping Karyn.

"Huh! What was that?" she asked startled.

"Weapons fire." Malcolm said matter-of-factly.

"We must continue moving." T'Pol stated.

They ran through the forest dodging all the blasts that came their way. They stopped behind a large rock; Malcolm set Karyn down, took out his phase pistol and started to fire back. While T'Pol took some more scans to try and find a more suitable shelter, still she could find none.

"Anything?" Karyn asked.

"No." T'Pol answered.

"Well we just can't stay here." Malcolm said ducking just as weapons fire went over his head.

"He does have a point." Karyn says.

As T'Pol continued to scan she discovered that there were some mountains another kilometre away.

"There appears to be mountains a kilometre from here."

"Caves?" asked Karyn.

"I can not be certain. But logic dictates that where there are mountains there are caves."

"That's good enough for me."

"What about our friends over there?" Malcolm asks.

"If only we could distract them long enough for us to slip away." Karyn says. "The thing is how?"

"I have an idea, Karyn give me your phase pistol."

"What do you intend to do?" T'Pol asks.

"Distract them." He stated as he took the pistol Karyn was giving him. "Do you think you could give me some cover fire?"

"Of course."

Malcolm wandered off discreetly as not to draw attention to himself. Karyn sat there wishing there was something she could do. She felt so helpless and it wasn't a feeling she particularly liked. A couple of minutes later Malcolm returned.

"Keep firing until I say stop." He said.

"What are you up to Malcolm?" Karyn asked.

"Now stop firing. I've set Karyn's phase pistol to fire automatically so it appears that we've moved somewhere else."

"Impressive." T'Pol says.

After distracting the aliens, Malcolm picked up Karyn again and they headed off towards the mountains T'Pol had spotted.

It was late afternoon by the time they reached the mountains and found another cave to take shelter in. T'Pol was again keeping watch while Malcolm tended to Karyn.

"Malcolm… did you think that… that… well that Trip and I were…together?" Karyn asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"I was just thinking about what you said last night."

"Oh."

She sighed.
"I want to let you know that I have not nor have I ever had any romantic feelings for Trip. We're just friends that's all."

"Friends that shared a kiss."

"You're never gonna let that go are you? Look I know it was wrong to kiss someone who I feel nothing for, but if it weren't for you I would never have done it in the first place." There was a tad of annoyance in her voice.

"Me? What could've I done to make you want to kiss him?" Malcolm asked annoyed and baffled that she was blaming him.

"Do you know how much it hurt when you wouldn't even let me explain why I never turned up to meet you? To be told that we had nothing to talk about and to be told to call you Lieutenant Reed instead. Do you?" Karyn said her anger rising.

"I still don't see what that has to do with it being my fault as to why you…"

"Well then let me put it in terms you'll understand Lieutenant." She said making him cringe at the mention of his rank as she interrupted him. "The morning after I was late for duty in engineering because I was up half the night wondering why you were acting so cold towards me. Which in turn caused Trip to go yell at you in the mess hall. After I found out about it from the Captain I went to go and tell him to keep out of my problems, only to end up crying as he told me he saw the whole little 'scene' between us. Do you understand now? Or would you like me to make it even easier for you?" her anger was now clearly visible.

Malcolm stared at her in amazement, as it really was his fault. He saw all the anger and hurt in her eyes. But why would she be hurt in the first place unless she…

"Karyn… I-I'm sorry for all the hurt I've caused you."

Karyn's eyes softened and she gave a little smile.
"I know, and I'm sorry for yelling at you like that. Guess I kept it all bottled up for so long that it all had to come out sometime."

"But why would you feel hurt when I said what I did. Surely you must have known I was just angry and didn't mean it."

"Hey I lost some of my memory remember and only got bits of it back."

"Are you sure that's the only reason?" Malcolm asked wondering if what he thought earlier was correct.

Karyn went a little pink at the question.
"Why were you annoyed that I didn't show up anyway?" remembering a conversation they had with the captain the night before she left Enterprise.

It was now Malcolm's turn to go a little red.
"Karyn…" he hesitated a little then continued his face getting redder with every word he said. "I… think you're a really nice person and… I… well I…"

Karyn smiled she knew what he trying to say.
"It's okay, I know…" putting her hand on his shoulder. "I feel the same."

Malcolm smiled at her and Karyn rested her head on his shoulder.

/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/
(Enterprise)

"Captain we're approaching the system." Travis informed.

"Drop to impulse. Polarise the hull plating and bring weapons online." Archer said, "This time I want to be ready."

As Enterprise entered the system everyone kept up his or her guard knowing that the alien ship could attack at any moment.

"Hoshi, see if you can get hold of T'Pol."

"Sir." said ensign Behenna who was filling in at tactical during Reeds absence. "I have the enemy vessel coming in from port side, weapons fully charged and shields up."

"Target their weapons with everything we got." Was Archer's command.

"Aye sir." Replied Behenna.

Suddenly the ship rocked fiercely almost throwing Archer out his chair.

"Aft hull plating down to 80%." yells Behenna.

Enterprise then fired its phase cannon at the ship followed by some torpedoes. They hardly seamed to do any damage to the opposing ship.

The alien ship came around for another shot and Travis managed to move just before sparks flew from the helm and he yelled "Sir our starboard thruster is off-line."

"Aft plating is down to 50%," yells Behenna.

Enterprise fires its cannons again at the alien ships weapons.

Lieutenant Armstrong who was covering for T'Pol says, "Enemy shields down to 25%."

"Fire the torpedoes on a wide spread," says Archer.

Enterprise fired three torpedoes. The first two crashed into the shields the third penetrated and disabled their weapons

"Their weapons are disabled they're retreating Captain," said Behenna.

"Continue to the planet." Archer ordered.

"Sir I've managed to contact the Sub-Commander." Hoshi reported after the alien ship had fled.

"Good work Hoshi. Put her through."

Hoshi pushed a few buttons then gave a nod of her head.

"Are you okay?" Archer asked.

"Fine but Lieutenant Kelly was injured in the crash, she has also been shot in the leg by one of the aliens."

"It isn't her week is it." Travis commented.

"We'll be in orbit in a few minutes." Archer said.

"We'll be ready." The conversation ended.

"Have Phlox meet me in the launch bay." He said to Hoshi walking towards the turbolift.

On his way to the launch bay he ran into Trip.

"Cap'n let me go with ya." He pleaded.

"Sorry Trip not this time." Then seeing the worry on his friend's face he added "Don't worry I'll bring her back."

Trip gave a nod and Archer walked into the launch bay.

"All ready Doctor." He asked seeing Phlox standing there waiting for him.

"Yes Captain."

"Then let's get going."

As they left Enterprise Phlox asked
"How bad is Lieutenant Kelly's condition?"

"According to T'Pol she was injured when the shuttle crashed but she didn't say how. She also mentioned that Karyn was shot in the leg." Archer answered.

"I see."

/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/
(On the planet)

"The Captain is on his way." T'Pol said, walking back in to see Malcolm and Karyn in each other's arms.

Karyn smiled.
"I'll be glad to get back to Enterprise."

"I see that you have both told each other." T'Pol said.

"You knew?" Karyn asked slightly amazed and embarrassed as she sat up.

"Yes although it appears that your marriage to the Captain is over."

Karyn laughed and Malcolm chuckled. Then a voice was heard saying, "Who's married to me?" everyone looked and saw the captain with Phlox standing at the entrance to the cave

"Lieutenant Kelly." T'Pol stated.

Archer looked at Karyn with a confused look on his face.

"I'll explain later." She replied.

"Well Lieutenant let's take a look at those injuries shall we?" Phlox said walking over to her.

While Karyn was being seen to Malcolm got up and went over to Archer. /-Might as well get this over with.-/ he thought.
"Captain I'm sorry I disobeyed your orders." He began.

"We'll talk about this later Malcolm." Archer replied a stern undertone in his voice "Doctor."

"She'll be fine until we get back to the ship." Phlox replied.

"Good then let's get back to the shuttlepod." He said, walking out of the cave, with T'Pol right behind him.

"Captain." T'Pol said once they were out of the cave. "If it were not for Lieutenant Reed Lieutenant Kelly would be dead by now."

Archer stopped and looked at T'Pol.
"Are you asking me to go easy on him?" he asked with a slight smile.

"I am merely stating that if the Lieutenant had not intervened when he did then Lieutenant Kelly would indeed be dead."

"I'll keep that in mind." Archer stated, and continued walking again.

The journey back to Enterprise was a quiet one and although Karyn said that she would be glad to go back to the ship she was worried what to do about the current situation with Trip.