Chapter 6
The time spend in the little chamber was grueling. Not that it was uncomfortable in the gently radiating chamber, but he was increasingly anxious about the Captain's condition.
He was waiting at the door when Dr Phlox finally unlocked it. He sighed impatiently as the Doctor handed him a fresh uniform, pulling it on as quickly as possible.
"You may like to know that you are completely germ free... in fact, there isn't a harmful bug, germ, virus or even SPORE anywhere on you. In addition, the wounds you suffered appear to be completely healed. You are, in fact, in better shape than you left." Dr. Phlox said, with a bemused sort of puzzlement on his face. "I am still analyzing the seeds. Some of them appear to have healthful and medicinal uses that are just short of amazing. And those blue crystals... they are exuding some kind of low level energy that should keep those seeds viable for the next five hundred years easily."
"Is there anything there that will help the Captain?" Malcolm asked, finishing up fastening on his uniform.
Phlox's eyes dropped and real worry crossed his normally genial face. He dropped his voice so it wouldn't carry, "I'm afraid not... some may have potential, but I would need a fully grown plant, and I'm afraid the Captain can't afford to wait nearly that long. I made a small amount of that tea, and that seems to have increased his energy and brain functions, and he seems to be fighting off the effects of the venom a bit better, but it may be too little too late... I don't know how long the effects will last." He dropped his voice a bit more, "The venom is breaking down his nervous system, and nothing I do seems to help..." He looked pained at this inability.
Malcolm put his hand on Phlox's shoulder consolingly, "I know you'll find a way..." He said firmly. He released him, making his way over to the Captain's bedside.
"Sir." he said, pained as he looked down at Archer's pale face.
Archer's eyes opened at his voice. The pupils took a moment to focus, but then a smile spread across his drawn face. "Malcolm... they said they'd found you... but I wasn't sure... thought they might just be trying to cheer me up..."
Archer reached up his hand shakily and Malcolm quickly took it, reassuring him he was really there.
Malcolm looked down at the bandage on Archer's leg, "Does it hurt much?" He asked worriedly.
"Na..." Archer waved it off weakly with his free hand, "It stopped hurting after the first couple hours... now it just feels kinda... warm and fuzzy actually..." He looked over Malcolm with a little bemused grin, "So what happened to you? They said you were in the village..." Archer asked, though the words seemed a bit difficult to form.
"Yes sir... I knew I couldn't get back up the drop off to where you and the others were, and then I saw the shuttlepod leaving and the storm rolling in... so I tried to get to the forest... the locals found me before I reached it and dragged me back to the village... quite literally. One of them, a woman, took me to her home and took care of me."
"I thought the locals were violent?" Archer asked, blinking over at T'Pol who was standing silently by.
"Oh, they were." Malcolm reassured him before she could reply. "Well, except for her. She seemed very different from the others." He lowered his voice a bit, hesitant to bring the subject up, "Actually... Madison said she would like to come with us... and I was hoping we might bring her along... I know it's not exactly standard practice, but..." Malcolm glanced down as his hand started tingling slightly.
Archer's weak laugh brought his attention back, "Madison is actually a NAME here? First time I've heard of an alien with a normal name..." He turned his head slightly to T'Pol, "No offense."
She just blinked tolerantly.
"Actually..." Malcolm said, his cheeks coloring slightly, "I named her."
"You did WHAT?" T'Pol asked, her voice cracking out like a whip.
Malcolm blinked, set a little aback by her abruptness. "She asked me to give her a name... apparently they don't have names there..."
She eyed him for a moment,"What did the others do when she took you to her home?"
"Well... they didn't seem at all pleased... there was a lot of yelling and things being thrown actually, but once we were in her home they gave up and left."
"Did she tell you WHY?" T'Pol asked, her eyes still boring into him.
"Later, yes... after she had learned a bit of English from the translator... she said something about invoking a right..."
T'Pol gave a slight nod, "As I suspected. The females in this society are considered second class citizen, given only a few rights. One of them is the right to claim a male captive, and the people of her village are bound by this law not to harm the chosen male."
"Yes." Malcolm agreed a bit warily. The look on her face didn't bode well at all.
"That is her right to choose a mate." T'Pol said a bit coldly, "And by giving her a name, you sealed the union."
Malcolm stared at her in shock. He should have seen it... it made perfect sense now.
Archer looked over at Malcolm, a bemused look on his face, "You got married and didn't invite me?"
Malcolm just blinked in shock for a moment, then stammered, "I... I didn't know..."
"Well then, I guess you better go get her. I'd like to meet her." Archer said, giving Malcolm's hand a squeeze.
"That probably isn't possible any more. You should have told me you named her when we picked you up." T'Pol said, something bordering on anger in her eyes.
"What do you mean?" Malcolm said, his insides feeling suddenly cold.
T'Pol stared at him intently for a moment, then said, "The woman has the right to choose her mate, but the male is then required to protect her. When you left, it would have been construed as abandoning or rejecting her. Discarded females are not welcome in their social structure. She was probably dead before we left the atmosphere."
Malcolm felt like the floor had dropped out from under him. His head was spinning, "We have to go back... maybe there's still a chance..." He said, grasping at straws.
"I'm afraid she is quite correct."
They all looked over in shock at the ghostly voice. There was a woman floating in the middle of the room. She was a softly glowing, somewhat transparent blue, hair and dress swirling around her as if she was underwater.
She drifted closer, peering at them with large, luminescent eyes. "They burned her home to the ground... She ran as soon as you left, before they could get her... but she was wearing only what you left her in... she froze to death in a field several kilometers north of the forest..."
"Who are you?" T'Pol asked warily.
A soft smile graced the ghostly features. "I am the Mother... the One... the protector of this world." She turned her gaze to Archer, "Oh dear... It appears our conversation will have to wait..."
Archer, who's mind had started getting very cloudy, found those eyes peering down into his. They moved closer and closer until her face was all he could see. She placed her ghostly hands on either side of his face, and he felt all the air evacuate his lungs. He felt suddenly light and warm all over, and then she lowered her mouth to his.
The moment their lips locked, he felt a surge of warm liquid rushing down into his empty lungs. He jerked, fighting the feeling of drowning, but she held him there. Within seconds, the feeling of panic fled and a warm, tingling sensation flooded through his body.
Her lips drifted from his, and he could see her hovering over him, smiling softly. He forced the fluid out of his lungs and took another breath. The thick liquid filled his lungs again, and he realized it was surrounding him. She suddenly seemed to evaporate, leaving him alone in an endless blue. He felt himself floating... slowly drifting upwards... he could see a light slowly growing above him. His arms and legs, which had been so numb before, were coming back to life as the tingling saturated them.
He suddenly felt hands grabbing ahold of him, and he was pulled up, out of the encompassing warmth.
He coughed, water surging out of his mouth as he blinked, trying to make sense of the world that seemed to spin around him.
"Captain!"
T'Pol's concerned face came into focus. As he became more aware, he discovered Malcolm had ahold of him, and he was half submerged in a pool of water. He looked up and saw tall trees above him, blue sky peeking from between the entwined branches.
"Where are we?" he asked, dazed.
"The being appears to have transported us. We are on the planet. I suspect this is the source of that energy reading we came down to investigate." T'Pol said, looking around warily.
"But why would she do that?" Archer asked, trying to make sense of what had just happened to him.
"This feels like the same kind of water as in the cave beneath Madison's home. When she was injured, it healed her... and she used it to heal me as well." Malcolm said, helping Archer sit up on the sandy bottom, then he reached down and unwrapped the bandage on Archer's leg.
"The wound's healed." Malcolm said with relief as the bandage came away.
"It was the least I could do." The ghostly voice said, appearing once again out of thin air. She was laying on her front on the thin tip of the rock outcropping that overhung the pool, head propped up on her arms as she gazed down at them. "I was unaware of your injury or I would have helped sooner."
"And how did you learn of it?" T'Pol asked suspiciously.
"My little ones called to me and told me. They were most bewildered to find themselves outside my presence..."
"What 'little ones'?" T'Pol asked sharply, glancing at Malcolm.
The being flowed over the edge of the rock like smoke, landing upright and without disturbance on the surface of the water, then glided over.
"My nanites of course..."
"Scanners detected no nanites or artificial devices in Lieutenant Reed's belongings."
"Of course not... they were in his body... and quite well cloaked of course. They had completed their repairs, but some were unable to leave him before he left my presence. When he touched your Captain here, they sensed the poison, but there were no longer enough of them to heal him before his system ceased to function."
"So you brought me here..." Archer concluded.
"To heal you. It was an indigenous lifeform that injured you after all." She said reasonably.
"Um... just out of curiosity... why did you..." He indicated vaguely towards his mouth, feeling a bit embarrassed as T'Pol's gaze fell on him.
"The lungs are the fastest route. The tissues allow easy entrance into the body, and your own system helps distribute the nanites."
"Um... ya... of course..." Archer said, trying to get up. He fell back as he suddenly found her face inches from his.
"Sit!" She said simply, then flowed back, settling down until it looked like she was sitting indian style on the water's surface. "My little ones aren't quite done yet. Give them a little more time. The damage was quite extensive."
"Ok..." Archer said, settling in the water and studying her. "So these nanites... you made them?"
She blinked and smiled. "I guide their creation, maintenance, and disposal. They are not like the ones you met before. My little ones only heal and maintain health and balance."
"How do you know we have met nanites before?" Archer said, glancing at T'Pol to see if she knew anything about it.
"Your computer..." She smiled widely. "It has been a long time since I have had new information..." She said, an unmistakable excitement in her strange voice, "I couldn't access ALL the files or I would have set off alarms I'm sure... but I was able to access your historical Database and archived log entries... and your database as well." She said, shifting her eyes to T'Pol. She then focused most intently on Archer, "But it is YOUR species that intrigued me most. You are most ingenious... insightful... resourceful... I would like to see more."
Archer gave her a penetrating stare. "What are you?"
An amused smile came over her. "As I said... insightful... I am the soul of all you see, also known by some of my children as The Mother... and once known in ancient times as Alpha Prime. I am this planet."
They looked at eachother. T'Pol was the first to break the silence. "How can you be the planet?"
"Because that was how I was created... you would probably call me a system... a computer... an artificial intelligence created to maintain this world for my creators."
"Well then you aren't doing a very good job. This planet is dying." T'Pol said in an emotionless tone. Malcolm and Archer looked at her, shocked by her bluntness.
The Mother dropped her eyes sadly, "I was disabled several thousand years ago... I have only been allowed to watch and maintain certain systems."
"Who would disable you?" Archer asked curiously.
"My creators... they had a great war and there was unimaginable destruction... several whole planets were lost. I was the only fully functional planet left in fact. My creators decided to make some changes in my programming since I could not be shut down without the planet destabilizing. Once it was done they planned to go back to living simply, to shun technology in all it's forms... they felt it was the only way to preserve their species... so they made their plans, entered iron clad code to handicap me, and even made genetic changes to themselves so that they would be stronger and better able to take care of themselves without the aid of machines... and then they started their new lives... leaving me only the power to mask the artificial origins and contents of the planet so other species would not know about them... lately my cloaked satellite failed and returned to the surface... that is why I did not know of your approach and shield my power."
Her voice almost sounded pained as she continued. "It went well for centuries... they forgot all about technology... I became legend... then myth... all but forgotten. Unfortunately, the genetic changes they made to themselves eventually started causing unexpected results. They began losing their intellect... their muscles became denser, stronger, but they were also becoming more violent... you have seen what they have come to. Fewer and fewer of my children were born as they should be... slight and fair... their minds bright and capable of great things... eventually the number became so small that they were treated like horrible birth defects, often being killed or run off into the wild to die before they reached maturity."
She gazed at Malcolm. "My sweet Madison was the very last of the true born children. There will be no more."
Malcolm's eyes were very watery and he wouldn't meet her eyes.
She shifted her gaze back to Archer. "And of course, eventually my orbit began to erode, as you have indubitably noticed... but there is nothing that I am allowed to do that will correct it. I estimate that everything, except for the few small species that shelter in this forest, will be dead within twelve of your years. This is why I had to meet you. When there is not a single descendant left walking these lands, the onus of my programming blocks will be released." She said, staring avidly at Archer.
He looked at her uncertainly, "And what does that have to do with me?"
"I want you to give me children." she said, her eyes bright with excitement.
"What?" He said in surprise.
She sprang up, coasting back and forth across the small pool as she spoke as if pacing, "Once I am free I could make this planet great again... I could make it any way you want it! I could make it any temperature range, any gravity, any atmosphere... ten years or less and I could be anything you want... I could even move to a different system if you want... though that of course would take longer..." She came back to rest before him, looking at him with large, imploring eyes, "Just give me children... I want to see this land bearing crops... I want to hear music and laughing, little ones playing... to have children that are happy and fruitful once again..." Ghostly tears streaked down her translucent cheeks, "Just a few thousand to begin with if you like... that's not too much to ask is it? You've given them to other planets before, I read about it in your files..."
Archer blinked, realization dawning, "You want us to colonize this planet?" he asked in surprise.
"YES!" She said excitedly, "Please... just tell me what you want and I'll give it to you..." An aching loneliness crept into her voice. "Just don't leave me alone..."
"But what about these people? What about the children you have now?"
She sighed and cast her eyes down once again, "They are little more than animals now... their brutal ways were killing them off long before the temperature started doing the job for them. They gave up even the herbal medicines, and now most of the few remaining females are sterile from disease... they have less than a dozen fertile females left on the entire planet. The species is dead. They just don't know it yet." She said sadly. "There is nothing I can do for them, and there is nothing you can do for them Captain, though I knew from your files that you would wish to try. If you want to take some back to some zoo to live out the rest of their days, be my guest. I can even help you pick out the best breeding pairs if you like. You could take them ALL if you like. It would make the process even faster. As long as they don't walk this planet, they won't keep me from coming back to full power. As for the ones that remain... a part of me wishes I could finish them off quickly so they wouldn't suffer, but even that power was taken from me."
Archer ran his fingers through his wet hair as he considered. "I would have to contact my superiors... something like that isn't in my powers to decide, but I think we could work something out... But... just out of curiosity, why humans? Why not vulcans?"
She gave him a little half grin, "Vulcans don't appear to do much singing and laughing..."
He had to grin at that. "Well, I can't refute that..." He said glancing at T'Pol, "You know, this technology appears to be very advanced... I'm sure our scientists would be very interested in it as well..."
She smiled. "If they wish to study it, they may, and what they figure out on their own is fine with me... but I can't TELL you how any of it works."
"Just out of curiosity, why not?" Archer asked.
She thought about that for a moment, "My programming has... what I believe you would best describe as 'copyright protection'."
Archer laughed, "Figures." He looked down through the clear water at his leg, "Um, can I get up now?"
She smiled, "Yes. And you will be happy to know that all of my little ones have returned to me. I know how nervous they make you."
Archer stood up carefully, "Thank you... That is reassuring. No offense."
"None taken."
Archer looked over at Malcolm, remembering something, "Do you mind if we call for a shuttlepod?"
"I can put you back on your ship. They have polarized their hull... it's cute, but hardly impenetrable." She said with amusement.
"Um... yes, well I think we would like the shuttle actually... we need to retrieve Madison's body... give her a proper burial... it's the least we can do... It would help if you happen to have the coordinates...?"
She let out a ghostly sigh. "That is very kind of you... but she is already here..." She said, drifting back and up, hovering above the pool. Madison slowly floated to the surface.
Archer's hand just missed Malcolm's arm as he plunged through to water to her, taking hold of her. She just hung limply in his arms. He felt her neck for a pulse, then looked up at the floating apparition. "Can't you do something?" He asked in a pained voice.
She looked down at the lifeless form sadly, "She let me save her once, when she was just a child... when they ran her out for being different... she stayed with me several years... she was so fascinated by technology... for I am still allowed to answer any question that is asked of me by a true born... and she helped me... repaired circuits and links I was not allowed to... but she got lonely and returned to the village..." She smiled down at Malcolm, "I was very worried when she brought you home... but... at least she got to know what it was like to have someone care about her... and she got to feel love..."
Malcolm looked up at her, surprised, "How could you know if she loved me?"
She laughed a little tinkling laugh, "Because I saw her. I saw the love in her eyes when she looked at you, even if you didn't. I was there... She calls me Ooroko. It is the native word for Mother."
Malcolm stared at her in shock. Try as he might, he couldn't reconcile the strange eight legged creature with this hovering visage. He looked back down at Madison. "If you healed her once, why can't you do it again?"
She drifted down until her eyes were even with his. "But I already have... her body is mended... but I cannot force her to come back if she does not wish to." She said sadly.
Malcolm looked down at Madison's lifeless body and his heart throbbed in his chest. He brushed her cool cheek gently, feeling hot tears burning their way down his cheeks. He gently kissed her lips, then stared down at her again. "I'm sorry Madison... I never should have left you... this is all my fault..." He shifted her up, holding her tightly as her head lulled onto his shoulder. "I was going to come back for you... I was..."
Archer folded his arms over his chest, uncomfortable watching such a personal moment. He'd never seen Malcolm this upset before... he was always so reserved when it came to emotions that his reaction took Archer by surprise. T'Pol just stood by impassively, hands clasped behind her back, but Archer noticed her eyes were slightly averted.
Malcolm buried his face in Madison's voluminous hair as words failed him, his hand stroking down her back as he held her in the waist deep water. His hand froze as it reached the small of her back. It may have just been wishful thinking, but he could have sworn he felt a small tremor in her body. He stroked his hand down her back again. He felt it again.
He shifted her down, searching her face for any signs of life. "Madison?" He asked softly.
A stream of water poured out of the corner of her mouth, and then a weak cough. "Madison!" He said urgently, stroking her cheek.
Her eyes fluttered open, her irises retracting slowly. She blinked, looking around dazedly. When her eyes came across Malcolm she blinked, gazing up at him. "Malcolm?" she asked softly.
He grinned broadly, tears still streaking down his cheeks.
"You came back!" She said in a small, strained voice, touching his cheek as if not really believing he was there.
He let out a shuttering laugh of joy, pulling her up and hugging her, "Of course I did."
She put her arms around him, clinging to him for a moment, then kissed him deeply.
When he finally broke the kiss, he smiled down at her, "Come on..." He said gently, "I think it's time I took you home."
She wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling up to him ecstatically as he scooped her up and carried her over to where the others waited.
"This is Captain Johnathan Archer. Captain, this is Madison." Malcolm said happily.
Madison smiled shyly over at Archer.
Archer smiled widely back, "It is a pleasure meeting you Madison."
"And this is Sub-commander T'Pol."
T'Pol inclined her head slightly in acknowledgment.
"So you will take her?"
They turned as Ooroko drifted forward, smiling softly.
"Yes." Archer said, glancing at the young woman, "She is welcome on our ship. She saved one of my best men... one who also just happens to be a very good friend," He smiled warmly over at Malcolm, "It is the least we could do." He said, using her words with a grin.
Ooroko smiled happily. "Wonderful. My daughters have always been infinitely adaptable... I'm sure she will find her place amongst your people." She drifted closer, reaching out her hand and passing it over Madison. "She will keep the nanites within her... I have made them proprietary to her. They will not leave her body, and she will be able to control them. I have also made them visible to your machines so that you may reassure yourselves of their containment."
"Why would she need to keep the nanites?" T'Pol asked suspiciously.
Ooroko smiled, "Do you really wish to rely entirely on your ability to grow plants of this world in order to feed her? She can always dissolve the nanites later and they will break down harmlessly." She looked down at Madison. "Goodbye my child... perhaps you can return some day and see this world thriving once more..."
Madison looked up at her, tears stinging her eyes. "Goodbye Ooroko..." She said, her outstretched hand passing through Ooroko's ghostly features like smoke.
The world grew bright around them once more as Ooroko sent them home.
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