Chapter 11

More police arrived as lobby doors were being rammed in. The group kept running hearing police right on their tail. They tried to look for an exit but everywhere they turned, all windows were covered with bricks!

"There's no way out! We're trapped!" Hoshi yelled

The footsteps got louder.

"Give your communicator!" Archer told Tripp.

"They'll be able track it!" Trip said.

"We have no choice! Give me your communicator ... now!" Archer ordered.

He handed it over he flipped it open.

"Wesley, find a structural drawing of this building and find it fast!"

Meanwhile the offices searched every floor of the building, flashlights probed the darkness as they continued their search.

"Got it!" Wesley answered on the other end.

"I need the main wet wall!" Archer told him.

Not too far away. The human female agent paused, touching her hand to her com badge.

In engineering, Wesley guided the group out as best as he could.

"Now left and that is what's in front of you." Wesley told him.

"Good." Archer responded.

Not too far away the agent heard the line click dead.

"They are on the eighth floor." The woman told the officers calmly.

Officers flooded the eighth floor, rushing everywhere. Several of them swept through the room. It was empty. As they passed through the bathroom, they saw a man sized hole smashed through the plaster and tile..

Meanwhile the group was inside the wall, slowly worming their way down the greasy pipes. Above them a light filled the hole they made to get inside.

The borg turned the human.

"Where are they?" The borg asked her.

The officers continued to search in silence, straining for a clue, then a noise came from the direction of the bathroom.

Hoshi on the other hand, found another way out of the building she just stood there and watched as the drama unfolded.

Back in the bathroom, an officer leaned in, his ear was almost against the thin membrane of plaster and tile, that separated them from the crew. He heard whispers, a grunt and even hisses. Suddenly the wall bulged.

"They're in the wall!" The officer shouted.

And then phaser fire pierced the wall like swords into a box as little points of light appeared, nearly missing them.

"FUCK!" T'Pol said as she dodged phaser fire.

"It's an agent!" Tripp shouted.

T'Pol's throat felt as if it was going to collapse and without warning Archer exploded through the plaster, diving on top of the human female. They both crashed to the floor. Before she could draw her phaser, he was pinning her with an iron grip. He had knocked her glasses off.

"Archer!" Tripp yelled.

Archer squeezed the human female's throat.

T'Pol glimpsed at what was happening before her and felt powerless to stop it. Archer looked over at them both.

"Tripp, you must get T'Pol out! Do you understand? She is all that matters now!" He shouted as he still pinned the agent to the floor.

"No, no Archer don't!" Tripp protested.

"Tripp! Go! Get to the basement! Find the catch basin!" Archer ordered.

Behind her crooked sunglasses the woman smiled.

"The sewers. Of course." She said to herself as she was still being pinned down.

"Hurry!" Archer shouted.

"They won't make it." The woman smirked at him.

Tripp's fists balled in frustration. He yelled down to Malcolm.

"Go!" He ordered.

"We can't leave him!" T'Pol protested.

"We have to!" Trip said.

He grabbed her ankle and they began almost falling, using the pipe as a brake, skidding down inside the wall until finally they reached the basement below. Malcolm was he first to smash through a wall of dirt.

"Come on!" Tripp ordered.

Archer and the woman remained on the ground, locked in each other's death grip.

"The great Captain Archer. We meet at last." She said in her mechanical tone.

"And you are?" Archer asked through gritted teeth.

"Janeway. Agent Janeway." She answered with no emotion.

"You all look the same to me." He scowled.

And then Agent Janeway countered Archer, slowly prying his hands from her neck. Archer struck like a viper, head butting her. His nose and his glasses shattered on impact. With one hand she lifted him off of her and stood him up. He tried throwing several punches, she didn't even bleed. With each he threw she continued to throw him around like a rag doll around the bathroom. He tried to escape but was met by a wall of men.

"Take him." She ordered.

And no less than a second later a swarm of men surrounded Archer and started beating him with their batons until he was knocked sensless.

Back in engineering, tears streamed down Wesley's face as he watched the scene unfold before him.

"No!" He cried

Back in the matrix both the borg and klingon were standing outside the building.

"We have them now." The klingon told the borg.

A few blocks away, a manhole cover cracked open. Two eyes peeked out just as a hover truck rattled over it. Finally the hover craft pulled away and the cover opened all the way.

"We need a communicator." Tripp said.

Wesley was at the monitor searching the planet from top to bottom. He and Beverly were trying to find them a way out.

"We gotta find them. They're still alive!" Wesley said.

Finally a transmission came in. Beverly answered.

"Operator." She answered.

"Hoshi?"

Hoshi was standing at a public phone sounding panicked, she was across the street from a burning building.

"There was an accident! A fucking hover car accident! All of a sudden, BAM! Jesus Christ!" She sounded like she was almost in tears.

"Don't worry! We got you!" Beverly told her.

"Just got me the fuck outta here!" Hoshi said.

Wesley got on the line.

"Okay the nearest exit is at Burnside and Broadway. An old bar."

"Got it!"

Hoshi hung up the phone and an evil smile crossed her face as she walked calmly to the exit.

Back in engineering another transmission came in. Wesley answered.

"Operator."

"Wesley, it's me!" It was Tripp.

They were outside of the old building. Tripp had his communicator in hand.

"Is Archer still alive?" T'Pol asked.

Tripp spoke into the communicator. "Is Archer still alive Wesley?"

"Yes. They're moving him. I don't know where yet." Wesley answered.

"He's alive. We need an exit." Tripp said.

"You're not too far from Hoshi." Wesley said.

"How did Hoshi get away?" Tripp asked.

"I have no idea. I sent her to Burnside and Broadway."

"Got'cha!"

With that Tripp flipped his communicator closed and they reached the old building. Once inside they were surrounded by dust. It was empty and the furniture almost looked like bodies in a morgue. Deep in a back room a phone that had not rung in a hundred years started to ring. Hoshi was already there as the group made their way to the room.

"See ya on the other side." Hosi said.

She picked up the receiver and disappeared in cloud of sparkling light. Back in the real world her body twitched in it's harness and she opened he eyes.

"Got her." Wesley said.

When Wesley wasn't looking Hoshi uncovered a phaser rifle from underneath a blanket that was carefully hidden underneath her chair.

"God I love that sound." Malcolm said.

Back in engineering Hoshi shot Wesley in the back, blasting him into the air. Beverly tried to come at her but it was already too late. She dodged.

"Shit!" Hosi yelled as she continued to fire.

And then she hit her square in the chest, killing her instantly.

The phone continued to ring.

"You first T'Pol." Tripp said.

She answered the phone and then there was a click. Nothing but silence.

"What happened?" Tripp asked.

"I don't know. It just went dead." She told him.

He listened to the dead line and flipped open his communicator.

In engineering, Hoshi walked over to the sizzling bodies of both Wesley and his mother Beverly, she looked towards the monitor as the communique' came in.

The longer it took to answer. Tripp's gut felt a little tighter until he finally got an answer.

"Hello Tripp." It was Hoshi.

"Hoshi? Where's Wesley?" He asked nervously.

"He had an accident." Hoshi told him calmly.

"Accident?"

Back in engineering, she walked over to Tripp's body staring down at it in it's coma-like stillness.

"You now for a long time, I thought I was in love with you Tripp. I used to dream about you..."

She nuzzled her face against his taking his scent in.

"You are a very attractive man. Too bad things had to work out like this." She told him.

Back on the other end, Tripp was gripping the communicator until his knuckles were white. Anger was building up inside of him.

"You killed them." He could barely speak.

"What!" Malcolm had a look of fear in his eyes.

"Oh, God." Travis said under his breath as he shook his head.

Wearing the headset that Wesley wore she moved along the comatose bodies.

"I'm tired, Tripp. I'm tired of this fucking war, I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired of this ship, of being cold, of eating the same fucking crap all day."

And then she made her way to Archer's body and straddled it.

"But most of all, I'm tired of this asshole and all of his fucking bullshit."

"My God. Archer. You gave them Archer." Tripp said as he tried to choke back his tears.

"Yes. You see, the truth is, Tripp, that we as life forms have a place in the future. But it's not here. It's on this world."

"This world is not real!" Tripp shouted at her.

"Oh, I disagree, Tripp. I disagree." She said with a half laugh. "I think this planet is more real than our home world of Zion. I mean all I do is pull a plug here. But there you watch someone die."

She jumped off of Archer's body and made her way to Malcolm. She twisted the cord and pulled the plug out. In the matrix before Tripp's eyes he watched his friend die as he collapsed to the floor.

Hoshi's voice continued to speak through the communicator.

"So tell me which is more real."

Anger blazed through his as he watched helplessly.

"You're out, Hoshi! There's no way you can get back!" He shouted.

"Oh that's what you think. They've promised to put me back Tripp. They're going to re-insert my body. I'll go back to sleep, and when I wake up, I'll be hot and rich and I won't remember a goddamn thing. It's the Federation dream baby."

He could hear her laughing. She slid her hand around Travis' neck as she took hold of his plug.

"Welcome to the real universe, eh, babe?"

Travis shook his head.

"No, no. Not like this. Not like this."

And then he fell down dead too. The only that were left now were T'Pol and Tripp.

"Goddamn you Hoshi!" He shouted as tears streamed down his face.

"Don't hate me, Tripp. I'm just the messenger. And right now I'm going to prove it to you." She told him in a calm tone.

She stood over T'Pol's body.

"If Archer is right, then there is no way I can pull this plug, is there?"

He turned to T'Pol, his eyes were wide with fear and somehow she knew she was going to be next to die by Hoshi's hand.

"If she is The One, then in the next few seconds there has to be some kind of miracle to stop me. Right? How can she be The One if she's dead?"

She took a hold of T'Pol's cord.

"You never did answer me, Tripp, when I asked you before. Did you buy Archer's bullshit? Come on. You can tell me, did you? All I want is a little yes or no. Look into her eyes, Tripp, those pretty vulcan eyes and tell me the truth. Yes ... or ... no."

Tripp stared at T'Pol as a single word fell soundlessly from his mouth.

"Yes." He answered.

"No!" Hoshi was frozen in terror.

"I don't fucking believe it"

A charred and bloody Wesley aimed the phaser rifle at her.

"Believe it bitch! Now burn in hell!" Wesley shouted as he fired directly upon her, killing her instantly.

Tripp threw his arms around T'Pol, they were still alive and then the phone rang.

"Go. You first this time." T'Pol told him.

Back in engineering, Tripp's eyes snapped open. T'Pol awoke not long after. As Wesley unplugged them. Tripp noticed his charred wounds.

"Wes, you're hurt."

"I'll be fine" He said.

"You mom?"

Wesley's looked as if he was about to cry.

"I'm sorry son."

All Tripp could do was just hug him as he sat there and mourned for his mother.