Malcolm, Archer, T'pol and Trip were gathered around the console in the situation room on the bridge. They looked at Colonel Geido as he explained his thoughts on his son's behaviour.
"My son believed that the weapon should be used against all enemies of the Salindais, that way they wouldn't cause us any trouble. I tried to talk him out of it, but he's a strong believer in the tradition that the work and accomplishments of passed people should be honoured and remembered. I believe he is taking your Ensign and the translator into the underground tunnels on the moon where the weapon is stored. It is incomplete, though. It has never been tested or perfected." He explained.
"What's so special about the translator?" Tucker asked. "From what I saw of it, it looked pretty normal." He folded his arms across his chest.
"There is a third compartment in the translator that does not open automatically. You need to move a probe tool over the script along the sides, so it glows for a minute." Archer nodded, remembering Hoshi said Bynaul had done that. Obviously not long enough to open it, though. "Inside it is a key. It contains the codes to unlock doors on the way to the weapon. It also has a probe on one end to open a different type of door, and the other end is jagged-edged to go through locks with a key hole in them."
"Why was the 'translator' sold in a store for aliens?" T'pol asked emotionlessly. Her growing hair was pulled back in a tiny bun behind her head.
"At the time the weapon was being built, there were many different opinions about whether or not to actually use the weapon against anyone. It was a very controversial topic. People debated and argued. The crime rate even went up. So production on the weapon stopped, and it was agreed to hide the key. At first it was kept secret on Salindais, but the person who kept it safe was murdered a month or so ago. So the Adili decided to get it out of Salindais hands. So we put it in the translator and gave it to the owner of the alien souvenir store, where your Ensign bought it." Geido sighed when he finished his explanation. So far, the plan had worked brilliantly.
There was a pause as each person registered what he had said.
"Did you pick up the underground tunnels on sensors?" Archer asked, turning to Malcolm.
"Yes, sir. That's the interesting thing." Malcolm replied, pressing a few buttons on the console. An image of the tunnels beneath the moon base popped up on the screen, the tunnels highlighted in a glowing blue. The tunnels, not surprisingly, were organized into a spider-related shape. "The spider's web."
"Have you contacted the base to let your people know what's going on?" T'pol asked.
"No. As I said, what I believe to be happening is just a theory. I do not believe my son is stupid enough to make a mistake so big such as retrieving the weapon." Geido muttered, half to himself.
"Well now would be a good time, theory or not. Wait." He said as Geido started to move off to contact his people. "I'm going to send an away team down to get Hoshi back. I want you to join them."
Gedio's pale eyes widened. "Captain, there's no way – !" He paused to reword what he was going to say. "You can't really believe you'll get permission to go into the underground tunnels of an alien military base where a powerful weapon is stored, do you?"
"No." Archer said with a smile. "But that's why you're going. Dismissed."
The group went back onto the bridge, where Archer asked Baird to hail the military base on a secure channel.
After a moment the image of a Salindais man appeared on the screen. He had bright, pale blue eyes and a tattoo on his neck of the same colour.
"Captain, what is your business in the system?" The man asked. His face was like a rock, and his voice was overflowing with authority, even though it was crackly and rough
"It's alright." Geido said, stepping forward so he could be seen on he view screen. "Admiral, I believe my son has entered the military base and intends to take the weapon."
A faint flicker of shock seemed to ripple over the Admiral's face. He fiddled with something on the console in front of him. "He has indeed entered the base, though his vessel was cloaked when he entered. Captain, I ask you to turn your translator off so the Colonel and I may talk privately."
Archer nodded at Baird, and with a few taps to the console, the Universal Translator deactivated.
"Eesh aziloo ackth mithe saneidialy ti partjii?" The Admiral asked. Archer couldn't make heads or tails of what he had said. He couldn't even tell where one word ended and another began. The colonel answered in an equally flowing and smooth voice. The conversation seemed to go on and on without end, the two black-skinned aliens exchanging Salindais words. Finally, the conversation ended with a nod of the Admiral's head and the push of a button.
Archer had sat down in his chair as soon as he realized their conversation was going to be long. When the view screen cleared, Archer turned and raised an eyebrow at the Colonel, after motioning to Baird to turn the UT back on.
"He has given permission for the away team to enter the base. Though he says the team must not split up and that I am to guide your men through the tunnels."
Archer nodded. "Malcolm, get a team ready."
- - -
As they turned another corridor, Hoshi noticed a rusty pipe was leaking water. This wasn't the first she had seen since they had entered the tunnels. "Don't maintenance crews ever come down here?" Hoshi asked, not expecting or wanting an answer.
"They can't. They don't have the key to the tunnels." Bynaul answered, as if it were obvious.
Of course. How could she forget that the key lay within her translator? Well, not anymore, anyway. Bynaul had taken it out long ago, to Hoshi's slight surprise.
"The pipes look ready to blow. Locking all the doors wasn't a good idea." Hoshi muttered.
Bynaul gave her a smile. "Then we will learn from our mistake." He said, before stopping in front of a final door.
He punched the code into the panel. It beeped, but the door didn't open. He tried it again, but again the door didn't open. He tried again, and again. Nothing. For Hoshi, this was another scrap of hope. He tried the code again, and again without success. He banged a fist on the panel and growled to himself.
He turned to Hoshi. "Can you hack?"
"Excuse me?" She asked.
"I want you to hack open the door." He answered roughly.
Hoshi snorted. "It'll take at least a day until I can get it open. It's not exactly the same as hacking a Xindi database." She muttered at the memory.
"So you've met the Xindi." He said, seeming to not notice what he said.
Pulling a phaser out of it's holster, he backed up away from the door, pushing Hoshi out of the way as well. He set it to the highest setting of kill, and fired at the door, then at the panel. Sparks flew, but the door didn't budge. Klaxons didn't go off, either. The alarm system must have been broken as well. Or it could have been shut off. He fired the weapon at the edge of the door, tracing it around slowly. When he finished, the door creaked and fell into a very large, circular room. There was a splash, and water sprayed up when the door reached the floor.
"Is there supposed to be water in there?" Hoshi asked, and Bynaul shook his head.
"Stupid water system." He cursed under his breath, before ordering the computer to turn the lights on. "It must have been leaking in here for a long time." He stepped into the room, splashing as he went. Consoles and work stations were spread around the edge of the room in a wide circle. In the middle, a white sheet of canvas covered an irregularly shaped, large and bulky object. The weapon.
Tossing the key and translator on the flooded floor, Bynaul went over to it and started to unfasten the canvas where it was hooked to the metal floor. The water had toughened the strings, making them difficult to untie.. "Get the other side." He ordered, and Hoshi bent over to slowly unfasten the string from the rusty rings on the floor. When there was only one string left to untie, Bynaul left it to Hoshi so he could activate the weapon.
"You don't need me anymore." Hoshi said as she finished and stood. She shivered as water leaked into her shoes. "I don't have to stay down here with you anymore, I'm just going to bring my people down here. They won't stop looking for me." Hoshi made her voice firm.
"Take the canvas off of it." Bynaul ignored what she had said.
Hoshi stood there, stubborn.. "No."
As if she weren't even there, Bynaul came back to the middle, splashing as we went, and took the canvas off himself, throwing it down into the water. As calmly as ever, he resumed his work, playing with one of the many consoles.
Hoshi stared at the cylinder-shaped weapon for a moment. Putting a hesitant hand on it, she almost cried out as she jerked her hand back. It seemed colder than ice.
Bynaul was ignoring her again, his fingers working the console as if this was everyday work. Hoshi took a few steps toward the door, now floating on the water, in hopes he wouldn't notice her leave. She was two steps away from the door when Bynaul spoke up, not even lifting his head to look at her.
"I'm sending the activation code to the console nearest you."
Hoshi froze. She could still make it out. She looked at the Counsellor. He was still bent over the console. Looking back at the door – and freedom – she jumped over the bottom of the door frame and raced down the corridor.
There were no shouts following her down the hallways. Looking back, she could see no sign of the Counsellor. The sound of her footsteps on the cold metal floor echoed in her ears. The man was too involved in the weapon to even care she was gone.
Hoshi couldn't remember the way back to the turbolift, the way back to the surface. She couldn't call anybody for aid, as she had neither translator nor communicator with her. She had to push open doors, go inside, look around, to try and find her way again.
Pushing open a door, she stepped inside, not noticing the faint sound of dripping water. The room was dark, illuminated only by the light that spilled in from the corridors. It was a storage room, the shelves lined with boxes of food and tools. Food. She hadn't realised how hungry she was. She hadn't eaten since breakfast, and even then she hadn't had much.
Stepping around a large square in the floor that led to a lower level, she opened a random box and took out a transparent package of food. Salad. There was something stamped on it, Salindais writing and numbers. A best before date. If she was reading it right, it had long gone stale. She grunted in annoyance. She was exhausted. She was dehydrated, hungry, tired, desperate. Cold, stale air tickled the back of her neck.
Shoving the salad back into the cardboard box, she stumbled out of the storage room. Or tried to. Stumbling her way out of the room, her legs fumbled on the edge of the hole to the lower level. Swaying, she hurtled downward and through the whole. There were stairs leading down, cold, hard and metallic, and Hoshi bumped against them as she rolled down. The drip of water grew louder and faster, from a slow drip to a quick trickle, to a small rush. She saw something in the room, the outline of five massive tanks, old and rusting, obviously under pressure. The cuff of her pants near her ankle got caught on something: the bare metal framework of the stairs. She grunted as something sharp dug into her leg. She tried to pull free, just as something exploded and everything winked out of existence.