Rescued
"There captain!" Trip almost shouted. He saw a huge Vulcan ship about top fire on a smaller Vulcan shuttlepod, no doubt from Koss's ship. Trip didn't have to guess, he knew it was T'Pol.
They'd just gotten a message from T'Pol, saying she needed help. That was a first.
"That shuttle is down to 10 shields, one more blow and it'll be dust." Malcolm reported.
"Can we bean her out?" Trip suggested.
"Not without her shields being lowered and that's not a risk we can take." The Captain replied.
"Options sir?" Hoshi asked. The Captain thought to himself for a few moments.
"Set in a course to intervene and Malcolm, fire at the Vulcan ship at will." The captain sat back in his chair and Trip sat in T'Pol's chair.
"Yes sir." Malcolm smiled.
As they intervened, the Vulcan ship was collecting energy for a final blast. Enterprise fired at the Vulcan ship, which shook them up a bit, but didn't cause any real damage.
"Sir, we're being hailed." Hoshi reported.
"Open a channel and on screen." The Captain commanded.
"This is not a Starfleet matter. Be on your way." A very pissed off Vulcan said.
"It's a Starfleet matter if you include my science officer." Captain Archer replied calmly.
"I was told she was a traitor to Vulcan and was sent here as a prisoner." The Vulcan looked confused.
"She's a prisoner alright, but it was Koss who kidnapped her!" Trip said angrily. He was still reeling from his last encounter with T'Pol's ex-fiancé. If he wasn't 'ex' by now, he had a few things he'd like to say to T'Pol's family.
"That's outrageous! Koss's family are very well known and respected on Vulcan. You, sir, are lying." The Vulcan spat.
"We can give you proof." The Captain offered.
"The, please do." The Vulcan challenged.
"We had reports on a band of traitors led by Koss from the Vulcan databanks. We could send them to you." Captain Archer replied.
"You could have constructed them." The Vulcan accused.
"They have Vulcan imprints on them and there's no possible way we could have forged them." Trip said, gripping his chair tightly. He was anxious to get T'Pol back; these negotiations were taking too long.
"Then send them." The Vulcan said. The Captain gave a short nod to Hoshi and she sent the data.
A couple of beeps from the Vulcan ship indicated that they had got the data. The Vulcan quickly skimmed through the material and he seemed to have found what he was looking for.
"I see," the Vulcan muttered. "I'm terribly sorry captain, please, retrieve your science officer."
"Thank you. We're sorry to have included you in this." The Captain said sincerely.
"I'll take care of Koss. No one lies to me and puts my ship in danger." The Vulcan said and cut transmission. They saw his ship go to warp in the opposite direction.
"Open a channel to T'Pol." The Captain ordered. The screen switched to an image of T'Pol. She looked tired, worn out and physically ill.
"It's good to see you T'Pol." The Captain said. "Sorry it took us so long."
"It's fine." T'Pol said, her gaze flickered to trip. He had a strange look on his face. Relief, perhaps? But something else too.
Cutting her off from her thoughts, the Captain said, "If you lower your shields, we'll beam you aboard."
T'Pol did as she was told while the Captain went to the intercom.
"Transporter Room, beam Sub-Commander T'Pol up from the Vulcan shuttlepod." The Captain ordered.
They watched the screen as T'Pol's solid form disappeared in a swirl of light. In an instant, she was gone.
Trip turned to the Captain. "If it's alright, I think I'll go and meet T'Pol."
The Captain smiled and nodded. Trip gave him an appreciative slap on the back before walking rapidly to the turbo lift.
Malcolm, Hoshi, Travis and the Captain smiled at each other, all with exactly the same thing on their minds.
