Author's Note: There is one more chapter left, and then this fic will be complete. Thanks for the reviews and I'm glad to hear people have enjoyed a change of POV! I should have the last chapter up in the next day or two!

Chapter 6

The Unbelievable

So this was the Bridge. I was actually a little disappointed. In their defense, I suppose it was hardly fair. After all I had seen, both on arrival and during the tour, there was little room left for the awe-struck feeling.

I found Sam standing near a station where Commander Tucker was working. I really didn't know what to do with myself so I stood uncomfortably beside Captain Archer's chair, where he wasn't sitting. He was pacing near T'Pol's station. T'Pol was not thrilled with him. I could tell by the way she slightly flinched every time he passed behind her.

"Approaching the asteroid now Captain." Ensign Mayweather announced.

Archer nodded with satisfaction, "Put it on the viewer."

And the monster appeared in front of us, and it was a monster. A space behemoth lumbering through the stars, innocuous in it's devastating power concealed in the dead body. It shocked me to see what a useless lump of rock it was. This thing would be the death of an entire world and it was nothing more than elements bonded together.

"Captain, I think we've got trouble." Commander Tucker spoke. He was staring at his console in disbelief.

Archer approached him, peering over his shoulder, "What is it?"

"It's...a lot more dense than earlier scans indicated."

"Why didn't the sensors report it right the first time?" Archer had moved his attention to the viewer, as if he expected the answers to be held within the object.

Trip only shook his head and then looked at me. I knew it wasn't good. Whatever he had found out, it was bad.

"Tam...maybe you should return later?" Archer said.

"No." I said firmly. "It's my planet Captain. I have a right to be here." I wanted to know.

He looked like he wanted to argue. For a minute I thought he would then he turned instead to T'Pol, "Can we stop it?"

She was grave, "No. The composition is ten times what we had thought previously."

I looked at Sam, then at Archer and T'Pol, a panic starting down low at my feet and racing up to my head, "There's got to be something." I could see by T'Pol's expression there wasn't. "Please."

I had to sit down. I dropped back in Archer's chair. I couldn't believe this was happening. An hour ago we had so much promise. How could I go home and face this awful future?

"There's got to be something we can do? What about our full complement of torpedoes...all at once?" Archer had gained energy and was pacing harder.

"It wouldn't be enough." T'Pol answered.

"Torpedoes with phasers?"

T'Pol shook her head, "No." Her voice was deathly low. "Nothing would have sufficient force."

"That's not good enough!" Archer snapped savagely.

I stared at their Captain. In all the time I had seen him, short that it had been, he had struck me as a calm man. I was seeing another side to him, another facet of his personality, and I knew this would hurt him almost as much as it did myself.

"It is enough." I said, and my words echoed painfully in the room. All eyes turned to me. I stood, and I gathered my robe around. "You have done enough Captain. You've done more than I had a right to ask for."

Archer walked towards me, stopping an arm's length, "I'm not giving up."

"I know. You would give your life to save my world, but I won't ask it and I ask you not to try." I swallowed. It took every ounce of courage in my heart to keep standing there and not beg for a miracle.

"I must get back for Jak's installment ceremony. Life is still going on, for a while longer."

Commander Tucker was standing now, "You can't just give up." He looked angry.

"I'm not. I don't know what we can do. I'll go home and call an emergency meeting of the city governors. This isn't your problem Commander." I didn't want these people feeling guilty.

The Bridge had fallen quiet after our outburst. No one knew what to do or say. I didn't either. Our information had been faulty to our demise, but I wasn't lying when I told him we wouldn't give up. Maybe we could figure something out before it was too late.

"I'm sorry." Archer said.

"Don't be." I looked at Sam, he was still standing but he had gone white, and I wished that I could ask for him to stay. I didn't want my friend to die...I didn't want anyone to die. That lump in my throat was visiting again and I found myself unable to say anything for a few seconds. "Sam..."

He looked at me then, straight in my eyes, and I knew we would face it together, no matter what happened, "We'll be all right." He said, and I knew it was meant for me.

I smiled tremulously, "Yes, we will." I turned my head to face Archer, "Take us home, please."

I knew he wanted to argue. He wanted to do something...anything, but I saw him accept the defeat. "Travis, plot a course back to Aegis." His voice was sad and I wished I hadn't been responsible for it.

I walked over to Sam and held out my hand, "Let's go to the observation deck. The view there is indescribable."

Sam and I sat in the observation room for hours. We just sat, not talking, watching the stars fly by. I imagine both of us were thinking of loved ones at home. Sam of his friends, parents, and all those nephews he had. I thought about Mary mostly, and our children. I think what I resented the most was that they would never have the chance to grow up and have their own lives.

Captain Archer and Commander Tucker interrupted us, twin faces set in stone. "We have something. It isn't much but...it's better than nothing." Archer said.

I faced him, "Captain..."

"No, Tam, listen...please. Enterprise can take refugees. Not many, but there's a world a few days travel from your planet. T'Pol says the climate is very similar. We can't save many, but your culture...your people, they won't have to be wiped out entirely. They can rebuild."

I fought to maintain control, "How many?"

"A hundred-two maybe."

"So few." I whispered.

Archer and Commander Tucker shifted miserably. "Enterprise can't hold any more. She wasn't meant for that kind of cargo." Commander Tucker was visibly upset. I knew this wasn't easy on anyone.

"We could make more than one trip?" Archer offered.

"And do what, become a glorified cargo ship? Even a hundred trips wouldn't scratch the surface of our population. No, this is feasible, a small number. People would wonder about the disappearances but we can minimize that by whom we choose. And they could bring enough supplies to sustain a small colony until being self-sufficient." I was thinking out loud.

"We could program some of our space ready ships for the route. It would take them months but they would arrive with a second wave of supplies. It would boost the numbers who escape a little." Sam offered.

I nodded. It was an idea. And if our scientists on the planet failed to find another solution, our culture wouldn't die.

"We'll do it." My mind made up, I now faced the task of deciding who would go...and who would stay.

"I will have the list in two days, is that acceptable?" I asked Archer.

"Yes." He said. He looked so lost and torn by emotions that I felt another sharp pang of regret for all the trouble we had caused.

"Captain, you're not responsible for everything that goes wrong." I said, and I hoped he'd listen, but I knew a part of him wouldn't. It was the kind of man I had learned he was. A small part of him would always carry this failure, till he died I suppose. It was a heavy weight to suffer.

"I know."

And we fell quiet. Four people staring at the stars, contemplating a future we all wished we could change.