"Having a weapon like the one the Adili of centuries past have made will only bring us more enemies. People are threatened by a species with a weapon that can destroy a small moon! Retrieving the key will only prove to bring us more enemies. We can defeat them all wi… weapon! Didn't you hear a word I said? It doesn't wor… tha… way! Father, I wish to re… this weapon. Learn about it. Make… of it. Wise use. If I… akes, then I will learn from them. I would… have you… or guidance."
Archer tossed the padd down on his desk when he finished reading. "Any idea what this key might be?" He said quietly. He seemed disappointed, somehow. Perhaps of the fact that the Salindais were planning things, or that some of his officers had eavesdropped and found out.
Hoshi nodded reluctantly. "Counsellor Bynaul came to my quarters to look at the translator I bought. He seemed awkward around it. He had a tool that he used to probe it."
Archer nodded but said nothing. The room was filled with an ear-splitting silence. Hoshi and Malcolm shot each other a nervous glance. "Where'd you get this conversation? Weren't you both at movie night?" He asked finally.
"Lieutenant Hess was passing by Counsellor Bynaul's quarters and she heard yelling." Malcolm explained, trying to sound confident.
Archer nodded. He knew she was nosey. "I'll have to have a talk with her."
Hoshi's eyes widened. He didn't sound too pleased with her. "It's not her fault, sir. I agreed to translate the conversation."
He looked at her, his face unreadable. Then he smiled at her. "What was the Counsellor doing with the probe?"
She let out an inaudible sigh of relief. "He moved it over the script along the sides, which made it glow."
Archer leaned forward and clasped his hands on his desk. "Take the translator to engineering and have Trip take a look at it." He turned to Malcolm. "Monitor the Adili ship. Let me know if anything suspicious happens. Dismissed."
Hoshi and Malcolm gave identical "Ayes" as they left.
Before Hoshi left the bridge to take the translator to Engineering, Malcolm whispered to her. "Hoshi, Adili means 'spider'. Watch out for a web."
- - -
Hoshi ran a finger over the fine script of the translator as she turned a corner in the corridor. She wished she had had more time to study the Salindais language. Maybe then she'd know what it said. She was sure she would find out soon enough, though. Turning another corner, she spotted the door to engineering. She pushed it open, but before she could so much as peer inside, she was gone.
Inside engineering, Trip turned as the door opened an inch and no one entered. "Rostov!" He shouted above the hum of the engine and the buzz of engineers. "I thought I told you to fix that door!"
On the bridge, something beeped on Malcolm's console. "There's been an unauthorized transport." He checked the number of life signs aboard. "One person is missing."
"Who?" Archer asked. He had followed the Lieutenant onto the bridge a few minutes after he left his ready room. There was a hint of alarm in his voice.
"Ensign Sato is no longer aboard." T'pol reported.
"Scan the Adili ship." He ordered. He stood up out of his chair and approached T'pol's station.
"Sir, a shuttle is launching from the Adili ship." Travis reported. "It's cloaking!"
"Malcolm, can you get a lock on it?" Archer was becoming worried.
Malcolm worked his console, but came up with nothing. He shook his head.
"Hail the Adili vessel."
After a moment, Colonel Geido's face appeared on the view screen.
"Where is my officer?" He asked. It was more of an order than a question.
"Captain, I ask that you please do no become involved until I've figured out what's going on." He said.
"We're already involved." He said. He was beginning to become suspicious. "Do you mean to tell me you don't know what's going on?"
"No, Captain. I did not authorize that shuttle launch."
Archer paced slowly in front of his chair as he listened. After a moment he stopped and looked Geido in the eye. If looks could kill, the black-skinned Colonel would be a puddle of pulp. "I know there's a weapon involved in all this. And I know it can destroy a small moon. Now tell me what's going on!"
Geido took a deep breath before speaking. "Captain, I do not wish to harm our friendship. Allow me to come aboard and I will explain everything I know."
- - -
First there was the door to engineering. A second later it melted away, and she rematerialized on a shuttle from the Adili ship. Salinda was a large, bright sphere that provided most of the light in the shuttle. A man was working the controls, his back to her, a mass of dark red hair on his head. It took Hoshi a moment for her brain to register what she was seeing.
"Counsellor Bynaul?" He swivelled in his seat to look at her when she spoke.
"Ensign." He swivelled back to the controls and ignored her.
"What's going on?" She asked him. "Why am I here?" No answer from him. Not even a twitch of acknowledgment. Thrusting the translator into a random pocket on her uniform, she took a step forward and nearly cried out in shock. She took a step back, pressing the palm of a hand to her forehead. She felt as if she walked right into a brick wall. Damn force field.
"Where are you taking me?" As if in acknowledgment of her question, the bright green and blue planet seemed to move away, to be replaced with the Salinda moon.
It was half the size of the planet, barren and grey, probably a good choice for their military bases. The image of the moon grew quickly, soon to take up all the space out the windows. Buildings came into focus.
"Counsellor," she asked, hoping in vain for an answer. "What do you want with me?"
"I lied." Bynaul said, not turning from the control panels. "I never wanted to be a linguist when I was boy. My own language was good enough for me. I'd rather keep the traditions of generations past. Which is why I need you to help me."
That answer was nothing but riddles. "You don't need me! You can just take my translator and do whatever you have to without an audience! You should know that with me here my friends will hunt you down until they find me."
Bynaul turned and smiled at her, as if nothing was wrong. He motioned with his hands at his clothing. "The Adili uniform has no pockets. If the people on the moon saw me with that 'translator', they would know what I'm up to."
Hoshi wanted to scream. With a frustrated sigh, she sat down on the nearest horizontal surface. In this case, it was the floor. There was room enough in the shuttle to do a cartwheel or two, yet there was only one chair in sight, the one the Counsellor sat upon. Hoshi watched as Bynaul piloted the shuttle through a rapidly opening door to a hangar of sorts.
"Very good." Bynaul said. He got up from his seat after deactivating the force field. "We are now inside the military base on the moon. There is no way for you to escape. I am your guide, and you are an alien visitor. You are a close friend of mine. Now let's go." He gave her a push on the shoulder and she stumbled out of the shuttle after pushing the door away.
There were a few air crafts and large shuttles undergoing maintenance in the shuttle bay. A few of the Salindais waved at the Counsellor as he followed her out. One person was directing a massive hose at one of the aircraft, washing streaks of dirt and dust from it. The rush of water faltered and spluttered every now and again. They were probably having problems with the water system. Hoshi couldn't imagine water naturally existing on the moon. It all must have been transported from the planet.
"We go this way, Ensign." He whispered in her ear, grabbing her hand and nearly dragging her towards one of the exits.
Once they had left the high-roofed, echo-filled building and had started down a metal-walled hall, Hoshi asked her captor, "What do you intend to do with me? Are you going to kill me?"
"Just because I have kidnapped you does not mean I am stupid." He growled, contradicting himself. "I do not wish to make enemies of you Humans."
That much was good. At least there was a chance she'd get out of here sooner or later. At each turn in the corridors, she glanced up at the security cameras, hoping to get someone's attention. No one came. Though they did meet a few people in the corridors. They stopped to ask who she was, why she was there. Bynaul explained that she was his girlfriend, that they were considering marriage, and that she was considering joining the Adili. Hoshi played along. There was no telling what might happen if she revealed that she was captive, and Bynaul was trying to recover a weapon. They Adili might have a good laugh over that. Or blood could be spilled.
He led her into a turbolift whose walls were made of glass. After Bynaul pressed some buttons, the lift zoomed downward. Underground tunnels, Hoshi guessed. If she and the Counsellor spent their time in underground tunnels, the Enterprise sensors may not be able to detect them. Mentally letting out a sigh, she began planning an escape in her head.