Disclaimer: see chapter one
a/n: I tried to hurry this chapter so as not to leave anyone hanging too long!
That's the first time anyone's ever called me evil!
I kinda like it... Neat! So many agreeable reviews! I can't tell you how thrilled I am!
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He suddenly was over come with a feeling of light- headedness, as the creature vanished. Trip's breath seemed quite stolen away, that thing had been so close! Malcolm, he was aware, said something softly that he didn't quite catch. He noticed something was off somehow. The world quickly seemed to be going lopsided; he struggled to keep his balance and bumped into the wall behind him. His dulled mind tried to comprehend what was happening, why was Malcolm looking at him like that? He attempted in vain to steady his ragged breathing.
"Trip!"
He was barely alert enough to hear the Lieutenant call out his name. The sound drifted to him as though through water, his vision was growing dim. His heart pounded in his ears, and he felt something warm beginning to run down his chest. He looked down and tried to comprehend all the blood he saw. Whose was it? Had Malcolm been hurt? The next instant he found himself looking at the blank white ceiling, then knew nothing else.
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"What is this?" hissed Parialter's smooth voice with a note of aggravated intensity.
There was a low laugh. "We agreed they must die."
"After we had them perform the necessary tasks. They have yet to accomplish that."
The rolling laugh continued. "I am well aware of that Parialter, but I am no great fool. We need but one to complete the work. Two is just... superfluous."
"You should have consulted me before acting."
"Why?" came the amused answer. "So that you could plead for this being's life? Do not deny that this would not have been your intent. It is in your very nature."
"You may have considered the decision of whom to keep more carefully. I, myself, would have liked to know which would have been more apt at the task."
"What does it matter? You'll be explaining it all. Only one is necessary. "
Parialter seemed flustered by that counter. "That is true. Yet, I think you fail to realize how much hinged on their ability to trust in me. I was their protector. Now they will see that no longer remains to be so."
Diluculo made a snorting noise. "You're a fool. They would as soon destroy you as they would me. Now the other will be even more attentive, and responsive to your every direction in fear for his own life.
However, this is all beside the point. My intent was not to kill. This was merely an exercise; my intent was to discover how much faith I could put into your word. Even now, you fight for them." Diluculo scorned. "I did not think I could trust you."
Parialter did not answer.
Diluculo continued, "It is in your very nature. You cannot deny it. It is what brought you into being." It paused. "But consider this, if in fact what we are trying to bring about is accomplished, would it not be worth everything and anything at all costs? You know that you would not be able to protect them. You could not protect the creators. Not then and not now."
Parialter still did not answer.
Diluculo swelled in the darkness, he sensed Parialter's turmoil. "Consider my words. We have a choice. Either this is completed, or we remain as we are forever. And that is...unacceptable. It is them or us."
"I still do not understand why they have to die."
Diluculo seemed to sigh. "The reason is simple. You must realize that if they live we die," It said knowing full well Its circular logic left very little room for Parialter to argue. Satisfied It had shaken Its counterpart's viewpoint, Diluculo continued, "I know I cannot trust you. However, I wish to let you continue guiding these beings in their work, or being, depending upon how many are left now. But be warned, I will be watching. I will know if you are trying to help them. And know I will strike them down the moment the separation is complete, and you as well if necessary."
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"Trip!" Malcolm called, his mouth gone dry at the sight of his pale friend who did not answer but looked in confusion at the blood seeping through his shirt front. Trip slumped down to the floor. The bleeding was profuse. Quickly, he unzipped the Commander's practically shredded uniform and easily tore off the ripped black shirt Trip had on underneath. He used the garment's remains to press on the deep wounds. At least he assumed they were deep he couldn't see much through the thick bright red liquid running from them. He put his ear close to his fallen comrade's mouth, and finding him still breathing; applied all the pressure he could on the wounds.
As he firmly held the material over the wound Malcolm stared steadily at his hands, they were streaked with red all the way up to the forearms. He did not know how long he remained like this. His back began to ache from remaining in this crouched position, hunched over Trip, still he pressed. When his arms started to ache, he saw that the cloth he held to his friend's chest was becoming stiff and crusty. The once bright red puddle that had formed under Trip was turning a rusty reddish-brown. Slowly, the Lieutenant lifted one hand from his compress and reached for the Commander's wrist. The flesh of the fallen man seemed unnaturally cool to the touch. He swallowed, refusing to believe what the signs pointed to.
"Trip," he whispered, and his fingers pressed down, searchingly, on the other man's wrist.
A feeble beat thumped rhythmically against his hesitant and inquisitive fingertips.
He drew a shaking breath trying to fight away the wave of nausea that accompanied his extreme relief. Trip was still alive, for now.
Malcolm located their pack, which had been abandoned by the doorway. He taped the black shirt down to Trip's front, tightly, using the last of the medical supplies they had salvaged from the shuttle pod. He didn't dare remove it for fear that the bleeding would start again. He looked at how pallid Trip's face was against the white floor.
Malcolm suddenly jumped up, thinking he had heard a noise, and spun around, slipping a little in the congealing blood on the floor. "Which one of you is there!?" he yelled, a wild light coming into his eyes. "WHO?!" he demanded again of the empty room.
There was no answer to his cries.
With a rather stony expression he returned to Trip's side. Carefully, he wrapped the two blankets they had, as best he could around the unconscious man, before rising to examine the panel they had been working on prior to the attack. The only chance Trip had now was if he made contact with Enterprise. Had to figure out a way to do it, and quickly.
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"You should have waited for my instruction."
Malcolm dropped the circuitry he had been examining. In the past hour of his work he had discovered a few things about this particular technology, but not nearly enough to aid him in contacting Enterprise. He had been checking Trip periodically, and while there was little improvement, he wasn't declining any further.
"We need to get a message to Enterprise now!" Malcolm said loudly.
"You know what I require for that to happen."
"I don't have time for this! If we don't get some help to Trip soon it will be too late! Don't you understand?"
"Yes. Allow me to assist you in the completion of this task. The sooner it is finished the sooner your message will be transmitted."
Malcolm looked frustrated.
"You would be wise not to waste time." Parialter advised.
"What about that...that beast! Why didn't you stop him?! What if It comes back?"
"I, unfortunately, was not able to. So again, I urge you to work quickly."
"You would let him die," Malcolm said acrimoniously.
"It is not what I would have, but the choice is yours."
Malcolm did not answer.
"Shall we begin?"
Trip let out a low moan. Malcolm's head snapped around and he was at his companion's side. "Trip, Trip?" he called softly, hoping for some sign that would indicate consciousness was returning. Trip's brow wrinkled for a moment, then smoothed. He made no other noise.
Without looking away from the Commander's face, he said in a stiff unemotional tone, "Show me what to do."
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As the being complied with his every direction, Parialter struggled within himself. He had no doubt Diluculo meant what he had said about this pair's immediate termination as soon as the task was complete. It was worth everything, Parialter acknowledged that. But...as he watched them, he wondered... was not the extermination of an intelligent mind the highest crime possible to commit? Indeed, it was the one thing he felt positive was unjust. Yet, It struggled with Diluculo's words. Was it them or the new beings? If so, did injustice matter?
What was an acceptable risk to these beings? It wondered. It watched Malcolm work feverishly despite his own exhaustion, reconnecting cables, reprogramming, doing everything It asked of him in order that he, and the other, might survive. Diluculo was right, It could not deny what was in It's very nature. And Parialter made the choice.
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It had been a little more then a week. They had been searching, and listening for any sign of the missing shuttle pod and the two officers who had been aboard. Since Enterprise had lost contact with them nothing more had been seen or heard.
The search was about to be called off. The Captain had conceded T'Pol was right and there was nothing more they could do. In all likelihood the shuttle had been destroyed; its passengers along with it. He had delayed as long as he had been able to.
They prepared to continue underway, but just before they made the jump, Hoshi spoke. "Captain!" she said from her station. "I have an incoming transmission."
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Diluculo seethed. Parialter had betrayed him once again. It knew that It wasn't to be trusted, but It had hoped Parialter had been coming around to seeing things reasonably. It had been wrong. At least the separation was nearly complete, It felt the change. More power was at Its command. When It was no longer dependent on that monstrosity from whence It came, It would be free of nearly all limits. But more importantly, It would be free of Parialter. And then nothing could prevent It from destroying the last living things on this world; the two beings and Parialter. It stopped Parialter's pathetic transmission to the emptiness of the sky. Soon, soon, everything would be the way It had desired for so long.
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"And then...?" Malcolm pressed. It had been nearly ten minutes since Parialter's last order, and he had long since completed it. He waited impatiently, head under a console, and then pushed himself back out.
"Look, I'm cooperating! You're the one who suggested we work quickly, please; tell me what to do next!"
Silence.
He let out a sigh of disgust, and stared at the many open panels before him. The chips and boards were integrated with fleshy cellular material, sometimes he felt like he was performing tasks better left to a doctor then an armory officer. Malcolm heard a noise and looked over to where Trip lay. He was moving.
"Hey," Malcolm said kneeling by his friend, gently taking one of the cold hands in his. Trip murmured something like a dreamer, and his body fidgeted. "Trip," Malcolm continued to say softly. "I'm almost done, I think," he told him. "Then we'll get that message to Enterprise. Just hang on, okay?"
There was a large gust of air, as though a duct of some sort had just opened up or been turned on.
"Quickly now, we must finish," came Parialter's voice, uncharacteristically urgent and agitated.
Malcolm rose to his feet.
"You have nearly completed what is needed. However, as soon as it is done, Diluculo will come down upon us."
Malcolm felt a chill run through him.
"There maybe no escape, for It means to destroy us all, and there will only be one moment in which any action will be meaningful."
TBC...
a/n: Thanks to my great Beta reader!!
Reviews of all sorts are most welcome!!
Please Review!!!
Sorry about putting in all the 'spaces'. Document manager kept deleting all my lines between the different scenes!