Title: Alone In Darkness

Authors: Sita/T'eyla

Genre: Drama/Angst

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Again, Trip and Malcolm disappear. And the tests are about to go into their final stage...

Disclaimer: Once again... we don't own them... no, we don't... Paramount does... as we all know so well...

Warning: Sequel to "Lost In Darkness" - you probably should have read it to understand this one.

AN: Okay, it took us some time, but now, finally, Sita'n'T'eyla Productions proudly present... a little homemade evilness... THE SEQUEL!!... here we go! Have fun (and review!!)!

AN2: (no, we're not done yet!) Some time ago, one of our readers told us he/she felt offended by our rather frequent use of four-letter-words... darn! ;) He/She asked us to put a warning in our AN next time, so here it is. Hope no one feels offended this time. Oh, and btw, this story is more on the R-part of PG-13, so be prepared for some intense situations.

Last but not least: Many many thanks to our great beta-reader Gabi (penname Gabi2305) who never complained, even though you probably won't find two more stubborn pig-headed people than us to beta-read for... vielen Dank, war echt lieb & eine große Hilfe - hat die Stoy sicher verbessert!

Now, finally, the commercial's over, so on with the story!

"The mind is its own place and in itself

can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."

John Milton, Paradise Lost

Chapter 1

"It is time. The tests are about to go into their second stage."

"It was risky to allow them to escape. What if we are not able to retrieve them?"

"Do you question my judgement, Assistant?"

"Of course not, Supervisor."

"The first stage was completed to our contentment. The Subjects as well as the Guard acted the way we expected them to. The plan worked well. But as I said, it is time."

"Would it not be better to observe them a while longer, probe their reactions..."

"We cannot afford any further delays. The observation has been going on for long enough now. The Subjects are ready for the second stage."

"It is unfortunate that we had to eliminate the Guard, though. He would have been of use."

"He had too much insight into our protocols. His presence was getting risky."

"Of course, Supervisor. We will prepare everything so we can launch second stage as soon as they are back."

"Tend to your duties, Assistants. I will complete the program. In this stage, we must proceed with more diligence than last time. It is of crucial importance."

"Let us begin."

-###-

The monitor in front of him displayed an image of lush meadows and thick forests which in a way reminded him of the vast areas of unspoilt nature in the Appalachian Mountains. Archer leaned back in his chair, gazing thoughtfully at the screen on his ready room desk. It was a wonderful planet, and it wasn't for nothing that the crew had dubbed it "Eden", even though Archer found the name to be a little too mystic for his taste.

When they'd come across this green little world two days ago, at least a dozen crewmen had volunteered for the first away mission, and Archer had already sent down a couple of teams, telling them to do scans and gather samples, meaning take a break and enjoy a little R&R. Up until now he hadn't found the time yet to go down to the surface himself, but he had made up his mind that this time he wasn't going to neglect the captain's privilege of doing a little exploring of his own. And Archer already knew whom he was going to ask to be on his team when he went down there tomorrow.

The only two of the senior crew who had not asked him if they could join one of the away teams, who had not left the ship for almost three months now were Lieutenant Reed and Commander Tucker, and even though Archer knew the reason why, he was not going to ignore this any longer. Away missions were an important part of Enterprise's mission, and he needed the input of every single one of his senior officers.

Coming to a decision, Archer reached out for the comm button.

"Archer to Tucker."

Archer heard the channel open, and a second later Trip's voice came from the speaker. "Tucker here."

"Trip, if you got a minute, I need you in my ready room. And bring Malcolm along."

There was a short pause. "Somethin' wrong, Jon?"

Archer felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. Usually, when he ordered both Trip and Malcolm to his ready room, it was to tell them off for some kind of trouble or other they'd caused pulling another one of their crazy stunts. "Not this time, Trip," he said. "I just want to ask you something."

"Be right there," Trip said. "Tucker out."

Archer sighed a little. Coming to think of crazy stunts, there hadn't been too many of those lately. At least not as far as Malcolm and Trip were concerned. Ever since Enterprise had left that planet, V'nera, three months ago, both men hadn't set one foot off the ship, always finding new inventive excuses why they couldn't participate in this or that away mission.

Even though Archer tried to convince himself that it was not so, he knew that what had happened back on V'nera had changed them both. They never talked about it, at least not to him, but it showed clearly that, however cheerful they might act with the crew, the events of three months ago were still present in their minds. Which was understandable, after all.

Archer wasn't going to try and make them talk about it when they were so obviously trying to put it behind themselves, clinging to their every day routines in an almost obsessive way. He was going to make them come along on this away mission, though, however adamantly they might protest.

The sound of the door signal startled him out of his thoughts. "Come," he called, and the door swished open. As his officers came into the room, Archer scrutinized them closely and noticed that both Malcolm and Trip looked a little tired. This was nothing unusual; even though they never mentioned it, Archer surmised both of them were having trouble sleeping at night. But apart from the dark smudges under their eyes, Archer thought that they looked a lot better than they had only a week before.

Getting up from his chair, Archer motioned for them to sit down. "Gentlemen..."

"Well, what's the matter, Cap'n?" Trip asked as he lowered himself onto his seat. Malcolm, being his usual reserved self, waited for his Captain to speak first, but he was eyeing him just as curiously as Trip was.

"Well," Archer began, leaning against the edge of his desk, "it has come to my attention that the both of you didn't sign up for any of the away teams. I don't think we'll be coming across another planet like this anytime soon, so I suggest you use that opportunity to get a little R&R."

Trip had already opened his mouth to protest, but Archer held up a hand. "Why don't you join me on an away team; I'm planning on going down to the surface tomorrow, do a few scans and so on."

"I'd rather not, Cap'n," Trip said, shifting a little on his chair. "I got a whole lotta work to do in Engineerin'."

"Same here, sir," Malcolm added. "The targeting scanners went out of alignment again yesterday, and I need to-"

"I don't think we're going to do a lot of shooting the next few days," Archer interrupted. "On that planet there's nothing but a few bugs and herbivorous mammals. I'd say the targeting scanners can wait, don't you think."

Malcolm obviously didn't agree, but nodded all the same. "Yessir," he said. Trip wasn't going to give in that easily, though.

"Cap'n, I really need to clean those warp coils..."

Archer crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Since when does the Chief Engineer clean the warp coils, Trip?" he said, smiling to take the sting out of his words. "It's no use arguing, you're coming on this away mission."

Trip sighed. "Can't refuse when you ask so nicely, can I," he grumbled, and Archer grinned.

"Well, I won't make it an order," he said. "Malcolm?"

Malcolm allowed himself a small smile. "Very well, sir," he said. "Bit of fresh air won't hurt."

"Alright then," Archer said, getting up from the desk. "Tomorrow in shuttlebay one, 1800 hours."

"Be there," Trip said, getting up as well, and Malcolm nodded curtly.

"Yessir."

As he watched them leave the ready room, Archer found himself actually feeling a little relieved. This had been easier than he'd thought it would be. Maybe Trip and Malcolm had only been waiting for someone to make them break their routine and have a little fun. In any case, Archer found that he was quite looking forward to going down on that planet tomorrow. Malcolm and Trip weren't the only ones who'd been stuck on this ship for too long.

-###-

"This reminds me of the Boy Scout outings of my childhood," Malcolm said, poking a stick into the campfire. It caused a burst of flame which sent a few sparks flying.

Smiling, Archer nodded. "I know what you mean."

"I never was a Boy Scout," Trip said, messily slurping a marshmallow off its stick. "Well," he added, swallowing, "actually I was, but they kicked me out after a few weeks."

Archer looked up at that and saw Malcolm's head snap around as well. "You never told me about that," he said. "What did you do?"

"Oh," Trip said, busying himself with the task of attaching another marshmallow to the stick. "Never mind."

"Fess up, Commander," Malcolm said, grinning, and Trip shrugged, smiling a little sheepishly.

"Ya know, there was that hikin' tour-"

Malcolm held up a hand. "Actually, I don't think I want to know."

"Hey, you asked." Trip offered Malcolm the stick with the golden brown marshmallow, and Malcolm gingerly plucked it off, not quite being able to avoid getting the white goo all over his fingers. Archer leaned back on his elbows, listening to their friendly bickering. He was glad to see his friends so relaxed; when he'd met them in the shuttlebay, their nervous looks and the awkward silence had made him feel a little less confident about his earlier decision to make them come along. Now, however, Archer knew he'd done the right thing, after all. They'd spent a quiet afternoon taking scans and gathering samples, and Archer found that the warmth of the sun on his skin and the light breeze blowing made him feel better than he had in days. Trip and Malcolm also seemed to feel the positive effects of being in a non-artificial environment, and actually it had been Trip who'd suggested the campfire. In the meantime darkness had fallen, and the fire was the only source of light, illuminating the shadowy clearing around them.

Lazily glancing over at the fire, Archer returned his attention to the ongoing conversation which had turned to the topic of Malcolm's heroic deeds as a Boy Scout.

"So you got a twenty-eight merit badges?" Trip asked, unsuccessfully trying to wipe his sticky marshmallow fingers on his uniform trousers. "What did you do? Bribin' or blackmailin'?"

"Neither, of course," Malcolm answered with an air of mock indignation. "I earned them over the years. Let's see... for the History Badge I did a project about-"

"Wait." Trip held up a hand. "Lemme guess. You did a project about the naval battle between the English and the Spanish armada in 1588."

Malcolm raised his eyebrows, looking up in surprise. "How did you know that?"

Archer burst out laughing, and Trip grinned as well. "You know, it wasn't too hard."

"Well, I guess it wasn't," Malcolm admitted, smiling as well. There was a moment's silence, only interrupted by the crackling of the flames and the subdued sounds of the nightly forest.

"It's gettin' a little chilly," Trip said after a while, shifting on the rock he was sitting on. Malcolm looked up, raising an eyebrow.

"There's a big fire right in front of your nose, in case you didn't notice."

"Of course I did, Malcolm," Trip said, rolling his eyes. "It's jus' that where I grew up, it's not freezin' cold and rainin' all year long."

Malcolm seemed to take offense at that comment, sitting up a little straighter and giving Trip an indignant look. "A common misconception, Commander. In England, the weather is actually quite-"

"Alright, Malcolm, don't get started." Trip held up a hand. "All the same, I think it's gettin' quite cold out here."

Archer got to his feet. He'd just remembered the bottle of Kentucky Bourbon from his personal liquor supply he'd stuffed into his backpack before heading down to the shuttlebay earlier. Archer hadn't really thought that there would be an opportunity to drink it, but now it seemed like just the thing to round off their evening at the campfire.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment, I think I've got something for you," he said. "I just need to get it from the shuttlepod."

Trip raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What would that be, Cap'n?"

Archer smiled. "Wait and see."

As he walked away from the campfire he thought he heard Malcolm mutter "Suspense, suspense", but didn't turn around to look at the Lieutenant, knowing it would make him feel uncomfortable.

It didn't take him long to get back to the shuttlepod which they'd left about a two hundred feet away from the clearing at the edge of the forest. After he'd gotten his backpack out of one of the storage compartments Archer climbed back out of the hatch and closed it behind him. As he walked back through the dark forest, carefully avoiding to trip over any hidden roots or underbrush, Archer recalled his earlier conversation with Trip and Malcolm. It was so good to see his friends back at their former selves, joking and teasing each other instead of maintaining that strange air of reserved formality they'd taken on in his presence ever since returning from V'nera three months ago.

Well, Archer thought, feeling a smile tug at the corner of his mouth, it can only go up from here.

Feeling his foot get caught in some underbrush, Archer pulled it free and returned his attention to where he was going. He felt another small grin spread on his face as he wondered briefly if they'd even be able to find their way back to the shuttle later after consuming that whole bottle of Kentucky bourbon. Maybe this wasn't exactly Starfleet regulations, but-

A sudden high-pitched humming sound interrupted Archer's train of thoughts. His head snapped up, and for a moment he thought he'd seen some kind of light blaze up between the trees - not the campfire's warm orange glow but an odd blue shine reflecting from the trees and bushes around the clearing. It was only a moment's impression, though, and was gone in an instant. Frowning, Archer picked up his pace. Pushing aside a few branches, he stepped onto the clearing and stopped dead in his tracks.

Trip and Malcolm were gone. The flames were still crackling in the place where they'd built the campfire, and everything looked just like he'd left it, except for his two friends, who were nowhere to be seen. Taking a few steps towards the fireplace, Archer carelessly flung his backpack to the ground and looked around.

"Trip?" he called. "Malcolm? Where are you?"

But there was no answer and Archer felt a growing panic rise at the back of his mind. Part of him already knew that this had something to do with the light he'd thought he'd seen, that odd cold light shining through the forest, but still, Archer took a few quick steps towards the edge of the woods, calling out again.

"Trip! Malcolm! Are you there?"

Again, only silence answered his hails, and his voice sounded strange in his own ears as it echoed through the still forest. Retreating to the fireplace, Archer fumbled his communicator out of his uniform pocket and flipped it open.

"Archer to Enterprise."

A moment's silence, then Hoshi's voice came from the small speaker. "Enterprise. What can I do for you, Captain?"

Trying to keep his voice level as he spoke, Archer took a quick look around. "Get T'Pol to run a full scan of the planet's surface. Tell her to look for two human bio signs."

"What happened?" Hoshi's voice sounded alarmed.

"Trip and Malcolm have disappeared. I need to know what happened."

Archer knew that Hoshi would have liked to ask further, but she didn't. "Aye, sir. Stand by."

A few minutes later he heard T'Pol's voice through the open channel. "Captain, the scanners picked up only one human bio sign on the planet's surface."

Archer felt an icy knot forming in his chest. "Are you sure?"

"Indeed, Captain." T'Pol sounded as calm as ever, but Archer had the impression that her voice had a slightly tense undertone to it as she spoke again. "There is no human bio sign apart from yours on the entire planet."

"Acknowledged." Archer took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts. "Keep scanning. I'll be with you in a minute."

TBC...

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