Malcolm had the advantage as he sat in the shadows and continued watching Bryant pace in the small cell. He studied the PADD in his hand and couldn't believe he hadn't seen the connection between Bryant and the Lunar Isolationist Movement before now. He never would have found the break if he hadn't noticed Bryant's financial transactions right before the man was beamed away without a trace. It was a careless mistake on his former mentor's part and he couldn't wait to confront him with it.
Stepping out of the shadows, Malcolm cleared his throat.
Bryant stopped pacing and stared at Malcolm. "I see your captain has conveniently washed his hands of you," he stated colorlessly, noticing Malcolm's casual dress. "So much for Starfleet's noble code for the ethical treatment of prisoners."
Grinning, Malcolm set the PADD down. "You should have covered your financial tracks better, Gregory. I know you're in league with the LIM. You transferred everything in your accounts to Senator Michaels before you were beamed away."
Shrugging his shoulders, Bryant chuckled. "I see you've actually done some homework. I'm impressed, Malcolm. That was always your weakness as a field agent. As I remember, you preferred to be in the thick of it before you actually started thinking. That's what Lita liked about you."
Malcolm clenched his fist, trying not to let the mention of his past lover disconcert him.
"I was quite impressed with your doctor's solution regarding your sharpshooter's condition. Effectively freezing her to kill off the virus was very intriguing. The best part was watching your face. You always were afraid of drowning. I can't believe you actually stood by while the doctor and captain drowned your lover."
Bryant's words were spoken in desperation and Malcolm smiled. Half of what Bryant said was correct, but he played it like Hoshi meant nothing to him. "First off, she's not a sharpshooter. She's the ship's com officer. Secondly, she's not my lover."
The older man scoffed. "I know what I saw, Malcolm. I may have been doped up on painkillers, but I know what I saw." Bryant's inflection wavered, as though trying to convince himself.
"Believe what you want, Gregory. After I'm through with you, you won't remember your name," Malcolm said with a hard smile, lowering the EM field.
--
When she was very young, Hoshi had come down with a virulent form of influenza. Even with all the modern medical technologies and cures available to humanity, viruses were still evasive. The epidemics weren't as widespread, but they were still nonetheless deadly.
Hoshi was six when she had the flu, the fever and her young age diminishing the memories of her ordeal. She never knew of her parent's vigil at her bedside or the anguish they had suffered.
That's how she felt now – like she was coming out of a feverish fog, any sensible memories eluding her. Her shoulder ached and she frowned as consciousness took hold.
"Hoshi?" a familiar masculine voice asked hopefully.
"Give her some time, Captain," another voice chastised.
"Phlox?" she whispered, her eyes opening to the barest of slits. "What happened?"
"Some memory loss was to be expected," Phlox assured Archer.
An image surfaced in her mind and Hoshi asked, "Where's Malcolm?"
Jon exchanged a guilty glance with Phlox. "He's…on duty."
Hoshi muttered a soft "oh" and fell asleep.
--
Feeling no remorse as the man convulsed on the floor, Malcolm stepped out of the cell and turned the EM field back on. The combination of drugs he had just administered to the unconscious man shouldn't leave him too impaired to answer the questions. It was only a matter of time now.
--
Snow fell on the ground and she shivered and laughed as the irony hit her. She was sitting next to a fire and she was still cold. Waiting for someone, Hoshi sighed in frustration as she felt the familiar tingle of desire for him stir within her.
An unseen force pushed open the door and she jumped up and struggled to close it. There was no one there. He would not be coming back.
--
"I'm afraid," a tormented voice called out.
Malcolm couldn't help but smile. "Of what?"
"Dying," Bryant whispered.
"Gregory, who was the other sniper?" Malcolm asked calmly, trying to keep the sense of urgency from his tone before the drugs did more damage.
Shaking his head, Bryant mumbled incoherently.
"Who was the other sniper?" Malcolm repeated, slowly feeling any semblance of his soul slip out of his grasp.
"They are more like us than you realize. They are just better at hiding it." Bryant's inflection had an almost singsong quality to it.
"Who?"
"He could've rid himself of Enterprise a long time ago, but he cares for her."
Malcolm remained silent, guiltily letting the man slip further into madness.
"Boom!" Bryant cackled. "Humanity has no business traveling out of their own solar system," he reiterated the LIM mantra.
A sense of foreboding settled over Malcolm.
"He has no alternative now. The bomb's in place."
Malcolm ran out of the brig, not really sure where he was going. Flipping open his communicator, he called the captain. "Reed to Archer!"
It seemed like an eternity, but the captain finally answered. "Go ahead."
"Go to tactical alert and have all personnel sweep for explosives. There's a bomb on board."
--
Her dream dissolved as the klaxons woke her. She watched in fascination as several crewmembers walked into sickbay with scanners in their hands.
"What's the meaning of this?" Phlox asked neutrally.
"Sorry, Doctor. We're scanning for explosives," a young crewman explained.
Hoshi rolled her eyes as the reminder of Malcolm's duty ran about sickbay. Him and his drills, she thought dryly to herself.
--
He stormed back to the brig. The search for a bomb or any other explosives had turned up nothing. As soon as he walked into the brig, Bryant's laughter met his ears.
"You should have seen the look on your face, Malcolm," Bryant coughed, a trickle of blood appearing at the corner of his mouth. "You didn't really think I would give up any useful information, did you?"
Malcolm shut the EM field down and opened the door to the cell.
Before Malcolm could touch Bryant, Bryant doubled over and started spitting up blood.