He Who Fights With Monsters
By Thalia Drogna
AN: Thanks to everyone for the reviews for chapters 10 and 11, I've received some of the nicest reviews ever from these guys: plumtuckered, pookha, Ocean, Gabi, Cryogenie, MamaSue H, tracy-thecubednag, chianna, FlyingPurplePig and pennie.
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The Rel Ishtari sat dead in space, its Matriarch, Yu Then Tri Jeriad, had done the best that she could to fend off the attackers but it hadn't been enough. The last barrage from the Vor Devrees had taken out the engines and, while the Tien were doing their best to effect repairs, she knew that it was hopeless. Vor fighters swarmed around the stricken craft like vultures approaching a carcass. Their own Rel fighters were almost all destroyed, those that remained were severely out numbered. Her whole body hurt from the wounds the Vor Devrees had inflicted upon her hull and she knew it wouldn't be long before they struck the fatal blow. She had already watched three of her sister ships die this way.
"Ishtari to Sevanne," said Yu Then.
"This is the Rel Sevanne, go ahead Yu Then," said Dan Ten Ath Jeriad, the Patriarch of the Rel Sevanne.
"It's over Dan Ten," said Yu Then. "I'll hold them for as long as I can, but then you're on your own. It's the end for the Ishtari." She sent out a message to all the Rel fighters remaining to dock with the Rel Sevanne, there was nothing more for them to do now.
"Yu Then, we can still defeat the Vor Devrees, we just have to work together," said Dan Ten.
"No, it's too late. They got our engines on the last pass. We can't manoeuvre any more. You have to save the Rel Sevanne, you're our only hope now," said Yu Then. Suddenly she caught something on her scanners. "By the goddess," she breathed, a Vor fighter was out of control and heading straight towards the centre of the ship. Then the Rel Ishtari screamed as the fighter ploughed through the hull and into the computer core.
Dan Ten watched as the Vor Devrees moved in for the kill and before he took the Rel Sevanne to warp he saw the flames licking at the Rel Ishtari as explosions rocked her from the interior.
"And that was the last time we encountered the Vor Devrees," said Trip. Not only had the Rel Sevanne recorded the events and the com traffic, it had also recorded the emotions and Trip had been assailed by the deep sense of loss that Dan Ten had felt. He knew Dan Ten had felt each Tien death through his link with the ship, especially the death of his cousin Yu Then Tri Jeriad.
Reed had watched in disbelief as Trip had called up the records from over three centuries ago and played back their last encounter with the Vor Devrees. It didn't make for pleasant viewing, nor was it particularly encouraging considering what they were about to face. He had just watched two Tien generation ships go up against the Vor Devrees and lose. This time they only had one generation ship and Enterprise.
"The Rel Sevanne's fighters," said Reed. "How many of the fighters survived?"
"They're called Rel fighters. More than we have pilots for," said Trip. "Probably less than they have Vor fighters." Reed noted that Trip was calling the Tien "we" and it annoyed him that his friend had stopped thinking of himself as human, but at the moment he had bigger problems to worry about. They couldn't get Trip back if they were all dead.
"So the pattern is that they send in their Vor fighters to soften us up, then the big guns arrive?" asked Reed.
"So far that's always the way that they've played it," said Trip. "That's how they took out the other four ships. They concentrated all their attacking forces on one ship and left just enough resources out of the attack to keep the rest of us from coming to help."
"The Rel Ishtari attack followed the exact same pattern as the other three?" said Reed.
"Yeah, the Rel Sanvigo was the first to be hit, just after we left Tien. They ambushed us that time. Then about a hundred years later they caught up with us again and took out the Rel Meritaten in the same way. They destroyed the Rel Luis-Nion when we were delayed by a nebula and you saw what happened to the Rel Ishtari. We've been running ever since," said Trip.
"Which is why the Tien couldn't just settle on a planet," said Reed. "The Vor Devrees being quite capable of destroying a planet in order to exterminate the remaining Tien."
"Yeah, the Tien would have been sitting ducks. So, you see I wasn't kidding when I said it would kill them," said Trip.
"If this is what they've been running from all this time I can see why they're desperate," said Reed. "It might help if we knew who the Kriel are."
"You have to understand, if I tell you who the Kriel are it would put Enterprise in danger," said Trip. "The Kriel are on a mission to kill the Tien and anyone who has come into contact with them. It's bad enough that they've probably detected Enterprise but there are forces at work here that are beyond anything humans have ever encountered before. The Kriel abused those forces and this is the outcome."
"I don't think we could be in any more danger than we are in now," said Reed. "If the Vor Devrees arrives and we don't have a plan then we'll all be dead."
"Why can't you just accept that they're the bad guys?" asked Trip.
"Because it's never that simple," said Reed.
"The Captain said the same thing," said Trip.
"Maybe there's hope for him yet," replied Reed. Although Reed had great respect for Captain Archer, he often thought that his Captain was a triumph of enthusiasm over judgement. "The knowledge that you have about the Kriel could be vital to our winning this battle. What happened to make the Tien leave their homeworld?"
"The Kriel happened," said Trip.
"I assumed that was the case. Where did they come from and why did they decide to attack the Tien?" said Reed. This was like trying to get blood out of a stone. In fact getting blood out of a stone might have been easier than getting Trip to talk about Tien history.
"They came from Tien," said Trip.
"I thought you said they were the Kriel?" said Reed.
"Yeah they are, but they're also Tien. It just depends what your quantum perspective is," said Trip.
"I don't understand," said Reed.
"Let's just say, they're not from around here," said Trip.
"Of course they're not from around here, they've been travelling for ten generations, chasing the Tien," said Reed, getting annoyed now by Trip's constant side stepping of his questions.
"They're from another reality, a parallel universe," said Trip.
"How is that possible?" asked Reed.
"Well quantum theory says that basically life is a game of chance, everyday we make hundreds of choices and those choices decide the course of history. Now suppose every time you made a choice it split off another universe in which you made a different choice. There'd be an infinite number of parallel universes all different from this one. The Kriel are Tien but from an alternative universe," said Trip.
"I know the theory, Commander, but how did they get here?" said Reed impatiently.
"We don't exactly know how the Kriel did it but however they got here, they have the ability to jump between realities. We know a little bit of information about their reality from Kriel that we've captured over the years. We know that the Kriel planet is at exactly the same spatial co- ordinates as Tien was and their world is dying. The only Kriel left are the ones on the Vor Devrees. They look pretty much like the Tien, and we haven't been able to detect any physiological differences, except for an extra ridge on each cheek bone," said Trip.
"Okay they're from an alternate universe, if they're basically the same as the Tien, why do they want to kill them?" asked Reed.
"You remember the scripture that Kris Nor read from at my inauguration?" said Trip.
"Yes, how could I forget. Something about finding protection from the Darkness and taking what they needed from the sky," said Reed.
"You missed out the most important bit, the Tien are the chosen people of the goddess," said Trip.
"What do the Tien's religious beliefs have to do with the Vor Devrees coming to kill us?" said Reed.
"The Kriel believe that they're the chosen people of the goddess too. When they discovered that there were alternate realities they made it their mission to wipe out all the other Tien," said Trip. "They put all their research efforts into finding a way to move between the parallel universes. Eventually they did it and built the Vor Devrees."
"I don't understand, if you're all the chosen people of the goddess why would they want to kill you?" asked Reed.
"Because, Malcolm, there can only be one chosen people," said Trip, "and once they're finished with us, they'll move on to the next universe and wipe out the Tien there too."
"You mean this is a holy war that we've got ourselves mixed up in," said Malcolm.
"Only from the Kriel point of view, the Tien are just fighting for their lives. We're a bit more pragmatic about our religious beliefs, the goddess in Tien religion wouldn't want us going out and killing a whole load of Tien," said Trip.
"But she didn't mind them kidnapping you and turning you into part of their computer," said Reed.
"Actually that was pretty much completely against the goddess's teachings," said Trip. "Which just goes to prove how desperate they were."
"Desperation doesn't give them the right to take another person's life and co-opt it for their own purposes," said Reed.
"If you're going to be like that, I'll send you back to Enterprise. Captain's orders or not," said Trip.
"Fine, I'll behave. For now. Well at least I know what their motivations are. They won't be taking prisoners and they're not going to surrender, this is going to be to the death. Let's just hope that it's theirs."
****
T'Pol was in the command centre. She had modified the scanners once again in order to try to penetrate the hull of the Vor Devrees. She was beginning to think that it was a futile exercise and the Enterprise sensors just weren't capable of the required penetration. However as she was about to give up she noticed something unusual about the scans that she had already taken.
"T'Pol to Phlox," she said.
"Yes, Sub-commander, go ahead," said Phlox.
"Doctor, I have some data that I need your help analysing," said T'Pol.
Phlox was intrigued. He knew that T'Pol was working on ways to defeat the Vor Devrees and he wondered why she would require his help. "I will be there momentarily," said Phlox.
Phlox arrived to find that T'Pol had also called Captain Archer to the command centre.
"Captain, Sub-commander," said Phlox. "How can I help?"
"T'Pol thinks that she may have found something," said Archer.
"I was analysing the scans that I had taken of the Vor Devrees when I recollected Lieutenant Reed's report on the Rel Sevanne. He mentioned that the hull of the Rel Sevanne was grown onto the superstructure. The Vor Devrees also appears to have an organic hull which is blocking our scans, I was hoping that the doctor's expertise in organic matters might allow us to penetrate the hull with our scanners."
"I have never tried to perform a medical scan on a ship before but I am willing to give it a go," said Phlox, he examined T'Pol's data and then tapped on the padd which he held in his hand. "Interesting, very interesting. Try these frequencies Sub-commander," he said and handed T'Pol the padd.
"Thank you, doctor," said T'Pol. She input the new frequencies and instructed the computer to perform the scans. "We appear to be obtaining accurate readings now of the Vor Devrees hull and sensor net. We are still unable to penetrate below the superstructure but this is more than I was able to achieve previously. I am in your debt, doctor."
"Nonsense, T'Pol, I'm always happy to be of service," said Phlox.
"What do your scans tell us, T'Pol?" asked Archer.
"That the Vor Devrees will be very hard to destroy. The outer skin of the ship is capable of regeneration from wounds and also extremely hard wearing. It is roughly six times tougher than our hull plating when polarised."
"Roughly?" asked Archer, a slight smile on his lips. T'Pol had learnt that humans preferred a broad brush approach when dealing with numbers, however Vulcans did not and it still amused Archer to tease T'Pol occasionally.
"Five point eight six to be precise," said T'Pol.
"Any weaknesses?" asked Archer.
"None that I can detect," said T'Pol. "Although if we concentrate our fire in one area we might be able to cause enough damage to disable the ship. I doubt we could destroy it with the resources that we have at our disposal."
"If I might make a suggestion," said Phlox. "As the Vor Devrees is at least partially organic, perhaps we could attack it in an organic manner. Basically all organisms have the same building blocks, even the hull of a ship has to have cells and DNA. I suspect it also has to have an immune system. Perhaps we could give the Vor Devrees a cold."
"A cold?" asked Archer. "How will that help us?"
"Well I was actually only using cold as a metaphor. A virus. We could infect the ship's hull with a virus and hopefully it would infect the computer as well. That should disable the ship fairly effectively if your experience on the Rel Sevanne is anything to go by. Of course I will have to engineer a suitable virus and I'm not sure I'll have it ready in two hours time when the Vor Devrees arrives. Not only that we will have to work out a method of delivering the virus, but perhaps one of Mr Reed's modified torpedoes could be used, hmm?" said Phlox.
"We don't have many options at the moment, Doctor. Currently our chances of beating that thing with conventional weapons are slim to nil. Get to work and keep me updated on your progress. Make use of any resources that you need," said Archer.
"Might I borrow the Sub-commander, her insights into the hull make-up could be very useful," said Phlox.
"I would be happy to assist you," said T'Pol.
"Good, I'll let the Rel Sevanne know that we might have a way to defeat this thing," said Archer.
****
Reed walked into the hangar of the Rel Sevanne, padd in hand. The Tien had been training for this day for the past three centuries; Reed had been handed a set of instructions and told to go to the hanger. He was apprehensive to say the least. Around him Tien were busy carrying out pre- flight checks on the Rel fighters, getting ready to launch. Everyone in the room knew the odds were that they wouldn't be coming back. Assuming that the Vor Devrees still had a similar number of fighters as it had at their last encounter, the Tien would be outnumbered three to one.
The problem for the Tien wasn't fighters, it was pilots. The hangar was full of Rel fighters but there just weren't enough trained Tien to fly them. Trip had ordered every fighter pilot that he had down to the hangar and it still wasn't enough, there would only be five squadrons. They were also down one Squadron Leader so Reed had volunteered his services. Trip had protested but in the end he'd had no choice but to let the Lieutenant do as he had suggested, there just wasn't anyone else. It was a while since he'd flown any sort of fighter but he knew the tactics behind this type of combat and to be honest the Tien needed every man they could get.
At least now they had a fighting chance. The Captain had called a little over an hour ago to inform them of the doctor's efforts to come up with a virus to disable the Vor Devrees. They just had to hold them off until the virus was ready and protect the Rel Sevanne. Enterprise would do its best to get into weapons range of the Vor Devrees. Trip had shown a new side of himself when he had begun analysing attack patterns with Nils Fen and Lieutenant Reed. Despite the fact that he'd never led an army into battle before, he was issuing orders like a pro and showing leadership qualities that Reed had only ever had the briefest of glimpses of previously. Which reminded him that he had his own command to take up.
"Lieutenant Reed reporting for duty," he said approaching the Tien Flight Commander. She looked up from a padd that she held and took in the man who stood in front of her.
"Lieutenant," acknowledged the Commander. "I'm Sun Neer Gen Tespin, Flight Commander. I'm glad you're here. You're to take command of third squadron. Your fighter is over there, Crin Ad will escort you, she's in your squadron so can show you the ropes."
Crin Ad smiled at Reed, "Crin Ad Var Suriad, at your service Lieutenant," said the young Tien girl. Reed estimated her age to be about seventeen. "If you would like to follow me I will take you to your fighter."
Reed indicated for her to show him the way and followed her to the bay which housed his fighter. Crin Ad introduced the rest of the squadron which included her brother, Tran Est Dur Suriad, who had to be at least two years younger than his sister. He proudly told Reed how the Patriarch had ordered him to go home when he arrived at the hangar but he had disobeyed the order and stayed. The Patriarch had eventually relented and allowed him to stay. Tran Est was in the Tien equivalent of a cadet corps and had logged hundreds of hours in the simulator, which was more than Reed could say.
"I'm pleased to meet you all. I realise that I'm not Tien but my loyalty is to your Patriarch just as yours is. It is my foremost intention to get us all out of this alive but you know the odds we're up against. Our aim is to take down as many Vor fighters as we can, but I don't want to see any of you being reckless. The longer you can survive, the more Vor fighters you can take out, the better chance the Rel Sevanne has of getting through this in one piece. Every fighter we take down is one less for the Rel Sevanne to worry about," said Reed. "Go to your fighters and make sure everything is ready. We launch in twenty minutes."
A resounding chorus of "yes, sirs" was followed by the pilots running to their craft and making ready for launch. "I hope this works," said Reed to himself before he too went to his fighter and performed the pre-flight checks. A siren wailed around the hangar to signal that it was time to launch. He closed the canopy of his fighter and readied himself for takeoff.
"Take care, Malcolm. Make sure you come back in one piece," said Trip, over the radio.
"Don't worry, I don't intend to take any unnecessary risks," replied Reed.
"I'm glad to hear it, now go give 'em hell," said Trip.
****
"I have further information on the second ship in the vicinity of the Rel Sevanne," said Corvas. "I was able to tap into their computer. Its security measures were primitive. They are from a planet called Earth and the crew is mostly human. From my scans, it seems that the Patriarch of the Rel Sevanne is also a human."
"It's beginning to make some sense now," said Exarch Nordis. "The human ship is protecting one of its own."
"It seems that way," said Corvas. "We must therefore exterminate them too."
"The Rel Sevanne is our first priority," replied the Exarch.
"Of course. The human ship is weak, it poses no threat to us. Once we have destroyed our primary target we will destroy those who fraternised with the heretics," said Corvas.
"And once we have destroyed the Rel Sevanne we can move on to the next universe," said Nordis. "I will instruct the engineers that we will need the inter-universe jump engines soon."
"Launch the Vor fighters and tell them to aim for the centre of the ship," said Corvas. "If we can take out the computer room, if we can kill Trip En Ath Tucker, then the Rel Sevanne will be disabled and an easy target for the Vor Devrees. Just like we killed the Rel Ishtari," said Corvas.
****
By Thalia Drogna
AN: Thanks to everyone for the reviews for chapters 10 and 11, I've received some of the nicest reviews ever from these guys: plumtuckered, pookha, Ocean, Gabi, Cryogenie, MamaSue H, tracy-thecubednag, chianna, FlyingPurplePig and pennie.
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The Rel Ishtari sat dead in space, its Matriarch, Yu Then Tri Jeriad, had done the best that she could to fend off the attackers but it hadn't been enough. The last barrage from the Vor Devrees had taken out the engines and, while the Tien were doing their best to effect repairs, she knew that it was hopeless. Vor fighters swarmed around the stricken craft like vultures approaching a carcass. Their own Rel fighters were almost all destroyed, those that remained were severely out numbered. Her whole body hurt from the wounds the Vor Devrees had inflicted upon her hull and she knew it wouldn't be long before they struck the fatal blow. She had already watched three of her sister ships die this way.
"Ishtari to Sevanne," said Yu Then.
"This is the Rel Sevanne, go ahead Yu Then," said Dan Ten Ath Jeriad, the Patriarch of the Rel Sevanne.
"It's over Dan Ten," said Yu Then. "I'll hold them for as long as I can, but then you're on your own. It's the end for the Ishtari." She sent out a message to all the Rel fighters remaining to dock with the Rel Sevanne, there was nothing more for them to do now.
"Yu Then, we can still defeat the Vor Devrees, we just have to work together," said Dan Ten.
"No, it's too late. They got our engines on the last pass. We can't manoeuvre any more. You have to save the Rel Sevanne, you're our only hope now," said Yu Then. Suddenly she caught something on her scanners. "By the goddess," she breathed, a Vor fighter was out of control and heading straight towards the centre of the ship. Then the Rel Ishtari screamed as the fighter ploughed through the hull and into the computer core.
Dan Ten watched as the Vor Devrees moved in for the kill and before he took the Rel Sevanne to warp he saw the flames licking at the Rel Ishtari as explosions rocked her from the interior.
"And that was the last time we encountered the Vor Devrees," said Trip. Not only had the Rel Sevanne recorded the events and the com traffic, it had also recorded the emotions and Trip had been assailed by the deep sense of loss that Dan Ten had felt. He knew Dan Ten had felt each Tien death through his link with the ship, especially the death of his cousin Yu Then Tri Jeriad.
Reed had watched in disbelief as Trip had called up the records from over three centuries ago and played back their last encounter with the Vor Devrees. It didn't make for pleasant viewing, nor was it particularly encouraging considering what they were about to face. He had just watched two Tien generation ships go up against the Vor Devrees and lose. This time they only had one generation ship and Enterprise.
"The Rel Sevanne's fighters," said Reed. "How many of the fighters survived?"
"They're called Rel fighters. More than we have pilots for," said Trip. "Probably less than they have Vor fighters." Reed noted that Trip was calling the Tien "we" and it annoyed him that his friend had stopped thinking of himself as human, but at the moment he had bigger problems to worry about. They couldn't get Trip back if they were all dead.
"So the pattern is that they send in their Vor fighters to soften us up, then the big guns arrive?" asked Reed.
"So far that's always the way that they've played it," said Trip. "That's how they took out the other four ships. They concentrated all their attacking forces on one ship and left just enough resources out of the attack to keep the rest of us from coming to help."
"The Rel Ishtari attack followed the exact same pattern as the other three?" said Reed.
"Yeah, the Rel Sanvigo was the first to be hit, just after we left Tien. They ambushed us that time. Then about a hundred years later they caught up with us again and took out the Rel Meritaten in the same way. They destroyed the Rel Luis-Nion when we were delayed by a nebula and you saw what happened to the Rel Ishtari. We've been running ever since," said Trip.
"Which is why the Tien couldn't just settle on a planet," said Reed. "The Vor Devrees being quite capable of destroying a planet in order to exterminate the remaining Tien."
"Yeah, the Tien would have been sitting ducks. So, you see I wasn't kidding when I said it would kill them," said Trip.
"If this is what they've been running from all this time I can see why they're desperate," said Reed. "It might help if we knew who the Kriel are."
"You have to understand, if I tell you who the Kriel are it would put Enterprise in danger," said Trip. "The Kriel are on a mission to kill the Tien and anyone who has come into contact with them. It's bad enough that they've probably detected Enterprise but there are forces at work here that are beyond anything humans have ever encountered before. The Kriel abused those forces and this is the outcome."
"I don't think we could be in any more danger than we are in now," said Reed. "If the Vor Devrees arrives and we don't have a plan then we'll all be dead."
"Why can't you just accept that they're the bad guys?" asked Trip.
"Because it's never that simple," said Reed.
"The Captain said the same thing," said Trip.
"Maybe there's hope for him yet," replied Reed. Although Reed had great respect for Captain Archer, he often thought that his Captain was a triumph of enthusiasm over judgement. "The knowledge that you have about the Kriel could be vital to our winning this battle. What happened to make the Tien leave their homeworld?"
"The Kriel happened," said Trip.
"I assumed that was the case. Where did they come from and why did they decide to attack the Tien?" said Reed. This was like trying to get blood out of a stone. In fact getting blood out of a stone might have been easier than getting Trip to talk about Tien history.
"They came from Tien," said Trip.
"I thought you said they were the Kriel?" said Reed.
"Yeah they are, but they're also Tien. It just depends what your quantum perspective is," said Trip.
"I don't understand," said Reed.
"Let's just say, they're not from around here," said Trip.
"Of course they're not from around here, they've been travelling for ten generations, chasing the Tien," said Reed, getting annoyed now by Trip's constant side stepping of his questions.
"They're from another reality, a parallel universe," said Trip.
"How is that possible?" asked Reed.
"Well quantum theory says that basically life is a game of chance, everyday we make hundreds of choices and those choices decide the course of history. Now suppose every time you made a choice it split off another universe in which you made a different choice. There'd be an infinite number of parallel universes all different from this one. The Kriel are Tien but from an alternative universe," said Trip.
"I know the theory, Commander, but how did they get here?" said Reed impatiently.
"We don't exactly know how the Kriel did it but however they got here, they have the ability to jump between realities. We know a little bit of information about their reality from Kriel that we've captured over the years. We know that the Kriel planet is at exactly the same spatial co- ordinates as Tien was and their world is dying. The only Kriel left are the ones on the Vor Devrees. They look pretty much like the Tien, and we haven't been able to detect any physiological differences, except for an extra ridge on each cheek bone," said Trip.
"Okay they're from an alternate universe, if they're basically the same as the Tien, why do they want to kill them?" asked Reed.
"You remember the scripture that Kris Nor read from at my inauguration?" said Trip.
"Yes, how could I forget. Something about finding protection from the Darkness and taking what they needed from the sky," said Reed.
"You missed out the most important bit, the Tien are the chosen people of the goddess," said Trip.
"What do the Tien's religious beliefs have to do with the Vor Devrees coming to kill us?" said Reed.
"The Kriel believe that they're the chosen people of the goddess too. When they discovered that there were alternate realities they made it their mission to wipe out all the other Tien," said Trip. "They put all their research efforts into finding a way to move between the parallel universes. Eventually they did it and built the Vor Devrees."
"I don't understand, if you're all the chosen people of the goddess why would they want to kill you?" asked Reed.
"Because, Malcolm, there can only be one chosen people," said Trip, "and once they're finished with us, they'll move on to the next universe and wipe out the Tien there too."
"You mean this is a holy war that we've got ourselves mixed up in," said Malcolm.
"Only from the Kriel point of view, the Tien are just fighting for their lives. We're a bit more pragmatic about our religious beliefs, the goddess in Tien religion wouldn't want us going out and killing a whole load of Tien," said Trip.
"But she didn't mind them kidnapping you and turning you into part of their computer," said Reed.
"Actually that was pretty much completely against the goddess's teachings," said Trip. "Which just goes to prove how desperate they were."
"Desperation doesn't give them the right to take another person's life and co-opt it for their own purposes," said Reed.
"If you're going to be like that, I'll send you back to Enterprise. Captain's orders or not," said Trip.
"Fine, I'll behave. For now. Well at least I know what their motivations are. They won't be taking prisoners and they're not going to surrender, this is going to be to the death. Let's just hope that it's theirs."
****
T'Pol was in the command centre. She had modified the scanners once again in order to try to penetrate the hull of the Vor Devrees. She was beginning to think that it was a futile exercise and the Enterprise sensors just weren't capable of the required penetration. However as she was about to give up she noticed something unusual about the scans that she had already taken.
"T'Pol to Phlox," she said.
"Yes, Sub-commander, go ahead," said Phlox.
"Doctor, I have some data that I need your help analysing," said T'Pol.
Phlox was intrigued. He knew that T'Pol was working on ways to defeat the Vor Devrees and he wondered why she would require his help. "I will be there momentarily," said Phlox.
Phlox arrived to find that T'Pol had also called Captain Archer to the command centre.
"Captain, Sub-commander," said Phlox. "How can I help?"
"T'Pol thinks that she may have found something," said Archer.
"I was analysing the scans that I had taken of the Vor Devrees when I recollected Lieutenant Reed's report on the Rel Sevanne. He mentioned that the hull of the Rel Sevanne was grown onto the superstructure. The Vor Devrees also appears to have an organic hull which is blocking our scans, I was hoping that the doctor's expertise in organic matters might allow us to penetrate the hull with our scanners."
"I have never tried to perform a medical scan on a ship before but I am willing to give it a go," said Phlox, he examined T'Pol's data and then tapped on the padd which he held in his hand. "Interesting, very interesting. Try these frequencies Sub-commander," he said and handed T'Pol the padd.
"Thank you, doctor," said T'Pol. She input the new frequencies and instructed the computer to perform the scans. "We appear to be obtaining accurate readings now of the Vor Devrees hull and sensor net. We are still unable to penetrate below the superstructure but this is more than I was able to achieve previously. I am in your debt, doctor."
"Nonsense, T'Pol, I'm always happy to be of service," said Phlox.
"What do your scans tell us, T'Pol?" asked Archer.
"That the Vor Devrees will be very hard to destroy. The outer skin of the ship is capable of regeneration from wounds and also extremely hard wearing. It is roughly six times tougher than our hull plating when polarised."
"Roughly?" asked Archer, a slight smile on his lips. T'Pol had learnt that humans preferred a broad brush approach when dealing with numbers, however Vulcans did not and it still amused Archer to tease T'Pol occasionally.
"Five point eight six to be precise," said T'Pol.
"Any weaknesses?" asked Archer.
"None that I can detect," said T'Pol. "Although if we concentrate our fire in one area we might be able to cause enough damage to disable the ship. I doubt we could destroy it with the resources that we have at our disposal."
"If I might make a suggestion," said Phlox. "As the Vor Devrees is at least partially organic, perhaps we could attack it in an organic manner. Basically all organisms have the same building blocks, even the hull of a ship has to have cells and DNA. I suspect it also has to have an immune system. Perhaps we could give the Vor Devrees a cold."
"A cold?" asked Archer. "How will that help us?"
"Well I was actually only using cold as a metaphor. A virus. We could infect the ship's hull with a virus and hopefully it would infect the computer as well. That should disable the ship fairly effectively if your experience on the Rel Sevanne is anything to go by. Of course I will have to engineer a suitable virus and I'm not sure I'll have it ready in two hours time when the Vor Devrees arrives. Not only that we will have to work out a method of delivering the virus, but perhaps one of Mr Reed's modified torpedoes could be used, hmm?" said Phlox.
"We don't have many options at the moment, Doctor. Currently our chances of beating that thing with conventional weapons are slim to nil. Get to work and keep me updated on your progress. Make use of any resources that you need," said Archer.
"Might I borrow the Sub-commander, her insights into the hull make-up could be very useful," said Phlox.
"I would be happy to assist you," said T'Pol.
"Good, I'll let the Rel Sevanne know that we might have a way to defeat this thing," said Archer.
****
Reed walked into the hangar of the Rel Sevanne, padd in hand. The Tien had been training for this day for the past three centuries; Reed had been handed a set of instructions and told to go to the hanger. He was apprehensive to say the least. Around him Tien were busy carrying out pre- flight checks on the Rel fighters, getting ready to launch. Everyone in the room knew the odds were that they wouldn't be coming back. Assuming that the Vor Devrees still had a similar number of fighters as it had at their last encounter, the Tien would be outnumbered three to one.
The problem for the Tien wasn't fighters, it was pilots. The hangar was full of Rel fighters but there just weren't enough trained Tien to fly them. Trip had ordered every fighter pilot that he had down to the hangar and it still wasn't enough, there would only be five squadrons. They were also down one Squadron Leader so Reed had volunteered his services. Trip had protested but in the end he'd had no choice but to let the Lieutenant do as he had suggested, there just wasn't anyone else. It was a while since he'd flown any sort of fighter but he knew the tactics behind this type of combat and to be honest the Tien needed every man they could get.
At least now they had a fighting chance. The Captain had called a little over an hour ago to inform them of the doctor's efforts to come up with a virus to disable the Vor Devrees. They just had to hold them off until the virus was ready and protect the Rel Sevanne. Enterprise would do its best to get into weapons range of the Vor Devrees. Trip had shown a new side of himself when he had begun analysing attack patterns with Nils Fen and Lieutenant Reed. Despite the fact that he'd never led an army into battle before, he was issuing orders like a pro and showing leadership qualities that Reed had only ever had the briefest of glimpses of previously. Which reminded him that he had his own command to take up.
"Lieutenant Reed reporting for duty," he said approaching the Tien Flight Commander. She looked up from a padd that she held and took in the man who stood in front of her.
"Lieutenant," acknowledged the Commander. "I'm Sun Neer Gen Tespin, Flight Commander. I'm glad you're here. You're to take command of third squadron. Your fighter is over there, Crin Ad will escort you, she's in your squadron so can show you the ropes."
Crin Ad smiled at Reed, "Crin Ad Var Suriad, at your service Lieutenant," said the young Tien girl. Reed estimated her age to be about seventeen. "If you would like to follow me I will take you to your fighter."
Reed indicated for her to show him the way and followed her to the bay which housed his fighter. Crin Ad introduced the rest of the squadron which included her brother, Tran Est Dur Suriad, who had to be at least two years younger than his sister. He proudly told Reed how the Patriarch had ordered him to go home when he arrived at the hangar but he had disobeyed the order and stayed. The Patriarch had eventually relented and allowed him to stay. Tran Est was in the Tien equivalent of a cadet corps and had logged hundreds of hours in the simulator, which was more than Reed could say.
"I'm pleased to meet you all. I realise that I'm not Tien but my loyalty is to your Patriarch just as yours is. It is my foremost intention to get us all out of this alive but you know the odds we're up against. Our aim is to take down as many Vor fighters as we can, but I don't want to see any of you being reckless. The longer you can survive, the more Vor fighters you can take out, the better chance the Rel Sevanne has of getting through this in one piece. Every fighter we take down is one less for the Rel Sevanne to worry about," said Reed. "Go to your fighters and make sure everything is ready. We launch in twenty minutes."
A resounding chorus of "yes, sirs" was followed by the pilots running to their craft and making ready for launch. "I hope this works," said Reed to himself before he too went to his fighter and performed the pre-flight checks. A siren wailed around the hangar to signal that it was time to launch. He closed the canopy of his fighter and readied himself for takeoff.
"Take care, Malcolm. Make sure you come back in one piece," said Trip, over the radio.
"Don't worry, I don't intend to take any unnecessary risks," replied Reed.
"I'm glad to hear it, now go give 'em hell," said Trip.
****
"I have further information on the second ship in the vicinity of the Rel Sevanne," said Corvas. "I was able to tap into their computer. Its security measures were primitive. They are from a planet called Earth and the crew is mostly human. From my scans, it seems that the Patriarch of the Rel Sevanne is also a human."
"It's beginning to make some sense now," said Exarch Nordis. "The human ship is protecting one of its own."
"It seems that way," said Corvas. "We must therefore exterminate them too."
"The Rel Sevanne is our first priority," replied the Exarch.
"Of course. The human ship is weak, it poses no threat to us. Once we have destroyed our primary target we will destroy those who fraternised with the heretics," said Corvas.
"And once we have destroyed the Rel Sevanne we can move on to the next universe," said Nordis. "I will instruct the engineers that we will need the inter-universe jump engines soon."
"Launch the Vor fighters and tell them to aim for the centre of the ship," said Corvas. "If we can take out the computer room, if we can kill Trip En Ath Tucker, then the Rel Sevanne will be disabled and an easy target for the Vor Devrees. Just like we killed the Rel Ishtari," said Corvas.
****