Red Rain
By Thalia Drogna
AN: I was overwhelmed by some of the comments that I received for the last chapter. Just because The Powers That Be can't write a decent finale, doesn't mean I plan on stopping writing. I'm hoping to take part in the Virtual Season Five project, as long as RL doesn't get in the way.
And to answer one particular review: who said anything about mines being made of metal in the future?
"Actually, your luck held," said Reed. Trip stood perfectly still, looking very worried, an anti-personnel mine just under his right foot.
"How do you figure that?" asked Trip.
"You've still got your leg." He crouched down to examine the mine under Trip's foot.
"Great. I can't move and I can't stand here forever."
"I think I can defuse it."
"You think?"
"Well it would be a lot easier if you weren't standing on it," said Reed.
"I'll just step off it then. Yeah, good idea, why didn't I think of that," said Trip with biting sarcasm.
"Shut up and keep still," said Reed. He removed the sand gently from the rest of the mine. Trip hadn't set it off because he hadn't stepped fully on the pressure pad, just the edge of the mine, but if he moved his foot even slightly it risked triggering the pressure pad. Reed gave the exterior of the mine a careful examination. The more he knew about what he was dealing with the better. "This is a bio-degradable casing. Even with a working scanner we would never have detected it. Have you got a screwdriver on you?"
Trip reached into his pocket, pulled out a screwdriver and handed it to Reed. "I had to get this back from your Security team after they confiscated it."
"Even I know better than to lock up an Engineer with a screwdriver," said Reed, as he carefully began to undo the casing on the landmine.
"I don't need a screwdriver to break out of jail," said Trip as he wiped sweat out of his eyes.
"I noticed," said Reed. "Thanks to you I have to completely revise the security for all ships systems and the brig." Keeping Trip talking would keep his mind off the dangerous work that Reed was doing.
"Probably a good idea," said Trip. "I can let you know where the holes are if you like."
"That would be helpful, although I'm not sure if the Captain will let you help," said Reed.
"Maybe I can persuade him," said Trip.
"I'm going to remove the access panel on the casing. We're lucky that this model isn't the kind that just has a removable top. Otherwise we'd have to come up with some other way to get you out of this."
"Yeah, I'm feeling real lucky," replied Trip.
Reed removed the access panel very slowly and put it to one side. He exposed the electronics below and began to examine the inner workings. The mine was full of fibre-optic wiring and Reed needed to separate out the ones he needed to cut so that Trip could step off the mine. "Did you attract this much trouble when you were in Special Projects?"
"Probably more."
"I suppose that shouldn't surprise me given how much trouble Colonel Darwin seems to attract," said Reed.
"You know, you and the Captain have the Colonel all wrong," said Trip.
"We do?"
"You think he'll do anything to get what he wants."
"Seems like an accurate summation. He's demonstrated it several times," said Reed, pulling out a penknife from his pocket.
"The kind of work that special projects was doing, individuals are expendable as long as the job gets done. But the Colonel never once left one of us behind. He looks after his men."
"That doesn't change the fact that what you were doing was morally questionable," said Reed.
"Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty," said Trip. "I wish I could go back and change the way things happened, but I can't, so I just have to live with them and so does the Colonel. He did what he did because he thought it would help keep Earth safe and you can't fault him for that."
"No, I suppose not. But there are other ways," said Reed. "I'm going to cut the wires now. This isn't the kind of mine which can be disarmed, all I can do is stop it from going off the moment you move your foot. After that we probably have about ten seconds to get to cover. When I say go, run for that rock over there and take cover. You think you can manage that?"
"I'll do my best," said Trip, he didn't know how fast he'd be able to run with his arm in a sling, especially given how much walking hurt.
"Ready?" asked Reed, his penknife poised to cut through the wires.
"As I'll ever be," replied Trip.
Reed sliced through the wires and yelled "Go!"
Trip broke into a lolloping run, Reed pulling him along. They didn't make it to the rock before the mine detonated and the explosion threw them forwards. Trip landed heavily on his left side and pain knifed through him. He'd been closer to the explosion than Reed by a couple of feet. He was having trouble pulling enough air into his lungs and the world was spinning around him. Suddenly there was activity on the rocks above them, black shapes were approaching them.
"Malcolm!" shouted Trip, trying to see what had happened to his friend, worried that the approaching Hunters were going to get him.
Suddenly Malcolm was at his side. His face was scraped and bleeding but apart from that he seemed to be alright. "Trip, are you okay?"
"Think I re-busted my rib. Phlox is going to kill me," Trip managed to get out between sucking in much needed oxygen. Reed helped him to sit up so that he could breath a little easier.
"We've got company," said Reed. The dizziness finally got the better of Trip and he closed his eyes, falling sideways. Reed supported him to keep him upright.
"Get out of here, Malcolm," said Trip.
"Why?"
"Hunters," said Trip.
"Where?"
"Rocks," replied Trip.
"Trip how many fingers am I holding up?" asked Reed.
Trip prised open his eyes and squinted at Reed's hand but his vision was blurry. Then someone else was beside him.
"Trip," said a familiar voice with a Russian accent. "Come on, stay with me."
"Kana," said Trip with a smile. He realised that he hadn't seen Hunters coming towards them at all, it had been the MACOs. He had completed his mission and brought Reed safely through the minefield to the MACOs. Reed could go back and get the Captain and T'Pol now, and everything would be fine. With that thought he gave up his struggle to stay conscious and let the inviting blackness that had been threatening draw him down.
Trip was suddenly a dead weight in Reed's arms and he carefully lowered him to the ground.
"Damn, he's out," said Kanatova. She took out a medical scanner and moved it over Trip. She thumped the scanner on its side as the screen wobbled. "Damn this interference. We can't stay here. We're going to have to get him up these rocks and back to camp. He's not in good shape. I'm guessing that you're Lieutenant Reed."
"Guilty as charged. You must be Captain Kanatova. You should know that he has prior injuries. He mentioned that he thought he'd re-broken a rib he cracked earlier."
"Trip has never been good at taking care of himself," sighed Kanatova.
Another MACO dropped down beside Kanatova, except that this one was wearing a Starfleet desert uniform and carrying a phase rifle. "We should get moving, it's going to take us a while to get Trip out of here."
"Lieutenant Carter meet Lieutenant Reed," said Kanatova. The two Lieutenants exchanged nods of acknowledgement.
"Captain Archer and Commander T'Pol are waiting on the other side of the minefield. I need to go back and get them," said Reed.
"You two get Trip back to base, I'll go and collect Captain Archer and Commander T'Pol. I know the minefield better than you," said Carter.
"Makes sense," said Reed. "We'll see you back at the base." Carter nodded and set off back through the minefield.
Reed could make out James Fenner at the top of the ridge of rocks. He began to abseil down with a coil of rope over his shoulder.
"Hi Lieutenant, how you doing?" asked Fenner as he dropped to the ground.
"Better than Trip," said Reed.
"Let's get him roped up and out of here," said Kanatova.
"Yes, Ma'am," replied Fenner and began to loop rope around Trip to keep him secure for the climb.
"Once we're back at base, I'll take a look at those scrapes. It's easy to pick up an infection out here," said Kanatova to Reed.
"I'm fine," said Reed.
"I didn't ask you how you were, Lieutenant," replied Kanatova. "Now help me with Trip." Reed remembered Trip telling him about Kanatova's approach to medicine. If you weren't sick she had no time for you, but if you were sick or injured then she expected no nonsense. You told her where it hurt and she didn't take kindly to people hiding their symptoms. She had a job to do and she would do it efficiently. In other words a typical MACO medic who'd had to adapt to the peculiar situation of being the doctor to a group of black ops nutcases who considered getting injured an occupational hazard.
Kanatova and Reed manoeuvred Trip so that he was against the rocks. Fenner began his climb, and when he got to the top he began to winch Trip up. Kanatova and Reed guided Trip as they made the short climb up the rock face, ensuring that he didn't scrape against the jagged edges. It was a much easier task carrying Trip down the shallow slope on the other side of the cliff that led down to the MACO's camp. Tents had been set up with equipment that Reed recognised as automatic weapons systems and control devices.
"Help me get Trip in here," said Kanatova, indicating a tent with a cot and medical supplies laid out.
"You came prepared," said Reed as he and Fenner deposited Trip gently on the cot.
"Of course," said Kanatova. "We used to do this sort of thing for a living."
"I'll get the Colonel," said Fenner and he walked away to find Darwin.
Kanatova tried to scan Trip again but the readings weren't giving her much in the way of help. She was going to have to diagnose Trip the old fashioned way. "Damn this interference. Why did he come here? He's obviously not well enough to be out of your sick bay. I need to have words with your doctor about dealing with Special Projects patients."
Kanatova undid Trip's uniform and swore when she saw the bruises on his chest. She carefully felt across his rib cage for breaks and, even though he was unconscious, Trip still reacted when Kanatova found the broken rib.
"Phlox didn't let him go willingly exactly," said Reed. "Trip was coming to find you no matter what."
"He's lucky he isn't dead. My scanner isn't working as well as I would like, but he was right about the rib. It's broken."
"Phlox gave me a stimulant and some painkillers for him but he's been refusing anything stronger," said Reed.
"Wanting to keep a clear head?" asked Kanatova. Reed nodded. "He can be a stubborn idiot when he wants to be. Let me see those cuts. There's not much I can do for Trip here, we need to get him back to Enterprise. I assume that you have a shuttlecraft here?" Kanatova got out antiseptic and cotton-wool and began to clean the cuts on Reed's face.
Reed winced at the antiseptic hitting his scraped skin. "The pod's about two hours walk away. Given our little pyrotechnics display out there, I doubt we have time to get there and fly it back here before the Hunters arrive."
Darwin came into the tent before Kanatova could reply. "How is he?" asked the Colonel.
"Not good. He had extensive injuries before he even set off the mine," said Kanatova.
"The Hunter on Enterprise?" asked Darwin.
"You should know. You're the one who left him behind," said Reed accusingly.
"Believe me, that wasn't my choice, Lieutenant," said Darwin. "Until now I thought he was dead."
"You're his commanding officer, you were supposed to protect him. Instead you evacuated and left him to face the Hunter alone," said Reed.
"We thought that he was right behind up," said Darwin. "I wanted to be the last to leave but only Trip was able to man the transporter controls."
There was the sound of raised voices outside the tent which was followed by Archer and T'Pol bursting in on the assembled party. Ignoring Darwin, Archer went over to Trip's side. "What happened? We heard the explosion," said Archer.
"The Commander triggered a mine but luckily it didn't go off until we were far enough away for it to do minimal damage," said Reed.
"This doesn't look like minimal damage," said Archer.
"If we hadn't been able to get clear of the field it would have been much worse," said Reed.
"Trip's body was already exhausted," said Kanatova. "My medical scanner isn't working and he could have internal injuries that I don't even know about. We need to get him back to Enterprise. I'd be happier if he was conscious but I don't want to give him another stimulant on top of what he's already taken."
"Let him sleep," said Archer. "He's done his job by getting us here."
"And why exactly are you here?" asked Darwin.
"We have brought a way to defeat the Hunters," said T'Pol.
"I thought your primary mission was to drag us all back for court-martial," said Darwin.
"Trip got out of his hospital bed to come down here and rescue you," said Archer. "I'm beginning to wonder why he wastes his loyalty on you. T'Pol explain what we've got."
"We have developed a virus that will destroy the Hunters," said T'Pol. "We have in our possession the head of the Hunter that Commander Tucker disabled."
"Trip disabled a Hunter on his own?" asked Darwin.
"He electrocuted it," said T'Pol, matter-of-factly.
"After it had nearly killed him," added Reed bitterly.
T'Pol ignored Reed's comment and continued on. "We were able to determine that the Hunter used a trinary operating system and develop a computer virus. We believe the virus will disable all the other Hunters, if we can bring them into communications range."
"And by bring them into communications range you mean?" asked Darwin.
"They need to be within a kilometre of the infected Hunter," replied T'Pol.
"That doesn't sound like much of a communications range," said Darwin.
"Commander Tucker was unable to repair the amplifier in the time available," said T'Pol.
"Which means that we're the cheese in this mousetrap," said Darwin.
"All you have to do is sit here and we'll do the rest," said Archer.
"I don't like being the bait in your trap, Archer," said Darwin.
"And I don't like people taking control of my ship," said Archer.
"You were the ones who decided to come down here and compromise our position," said Darwin. "You led the Hunters to us on Water's Edge and now you've done it again. Why is it that you can't just stay out of our business?"
"Because this doesn't just affect you. They're killing anyone who has knowledge of Quantum Computers," said Archer. "We don't have time to discuss this now. We need to get our equipment set up."
Darwin fixed Archer with a glare, as if he was assessing the situation. "Very well, Captain. Carry out your plan. Let me know if you need anything."
"Thank you Colonel. T'Pol, get the Hunter set up," said Archer.
"Yes, Captain," replied T'Pol and left the tent.
"You and I need to discuss battle plans," said Archer.
"Agreed," said Darwin. "I'll give you the tour and we can talk. You came down in a shuttle?"
"Yes, what are you planning?"
"We're going to need an escape route if this doesn't work. Now that you're here, I could spare Fenner to pick up your shuttle and bring it back," said Darwin.
"It took us about two hours to get from the shuttle to here, I'm not sure that we have that kind of time."
"You had Trip slowing you down. Fenner could make the journey in less time and it will only take him a few minutes to fly the shuttle back here. It's just a contingency plan, I'm hoping that we won't need it."
"Okay, do it," said Archer. He didn't like the idea of letting a MACO pilot their shuttle but everyone else was busy.
Darwin signalled to Fenner that he should come down from his look out position. The pilot ran down to his former CO and Darwin told him what he needed to do. It wouldn't be hard to back track along their route to find the shuttle, they hadn't tried to hide their tracks. Fenner just nodded at the order, grabbed an extra bottle of water from the supplies and left camp at an even jog.
Archer looked back at Reed. "T'Pol could probably use some help."
"Yes, sir," said Reed, making to leave.
"You can go as soon as I've finished dealing with these cuts," said Kanatova moving between Reed and the exit.
Archer nodded, a half smile on his lips.
"I'll be there shortly, Captain," said Reed, knowing better than to argue with the MACO medic. Darwin and Archer left to talk about how the trap would work. Kanatova took out sterile dressings and finished cleaning and dressing the abrasions on Reed's face.
There was a groan from the cot. Kanatova was at Trip's side in seconds.
"Drink," said Kanatova, holding a bottle of water to Trip's mouth.
Trip opened his eyes and gratefully drank the water, choking as he tried to drink too quickly.
"Slowly," said Kanatova, holding Trip's head up. "You're dehydrated and I don't have the equipment to set up a drip."
"What happened?" asked Trip.
"You stepped on a mine, remember?" asked Kanatova.
"Yeah, but it gets hazy after the explosion," replied Trip. "Where's Malcolm? Is he okay?"
"I'm right here and apart from a few scrapes, I'm fine," said Reed.
"How do you feel?" asked Kanatova.
"Think I busted my rib again. I've got bruises on my bruises," said Trip, his voice dry and rasping.
"How's your vision?" said Kanatova.
"Blurry."
"How does your head feel?"
"Sore. Like the rest of me."
"How long have you had a headache?"
"Ever since the fight with the Hunter. Phlox scanned me and couldn't find anything apart from a bit of swelling. He said it should go down without any trouble."
"That was before you decided to go play in a minefield. After a head injury you're meant to avoid stressful situations, you're meant to rest," said Kanatova.
"Yeah, Phlox said something about that," said Trip, pain and aches covered his entire body but he was doing his best to hide them from Kanatova. Without a working scanner the doctor had no idea how bad his injuries really were and he certainly wasn't going to tell her.
"But you didn't listen, as usual," said Kanatova.
"He never does," said Reed.
"Give it a rest, Malcolm," said Trip, closing his eyes. "Where are T'Pol and the Captain?"
"Setting up the Hunter and talking battle tactics," said Reed.
"I should help T'Pol," said Trip, trying to get up, but failing miserably.
"You remember I said that you'd pay for the stimulant that I gave you," said Reed. "It's borrowed strength. It's been about three hours since I gave you the shot and now it's worn off. Which means that you feel worse than before you had the shot."
"I'd noticed. So give me another shot," said Trip.
"No, absolutely not," said Kanatova.
"Come on, Anna," said Trip. "I need to be out there helping."
"No," said Kanatova. "I'm not your Doctor Phlox. I know you. You're staying in this bed until we can get you back to Enterprise. I don't know the full extent of your injuries."
"Malcolm, tell her that I'm okay to get up," said Trip.
"Oh no, I'm not getting caught up in this, I've got work to do," said Reed, heading towards the door of the tent and pulling back the flap. "Stay in bed, Trip." With that Reed disappeared into the bright sun.
"What is this, a conspiracy?" said Trip, with a sigh. "If I have to stay here, could you do something about the air conditioning. I think it's broken."
"Sorry," said Kanatova. "Now, no lies, tell me how you feel."
"Like hell, but I can cope," said Trip.
"I'd forgotten what it was like to treat you and the other MACOs. Rush has gone out into the field with severe burns on his hands, and Hathaway has a head injury but she's refused pain medication. All of you should be receiving medical attention that I can't provide and you're determined to carry on regardless of your injuries."
"You're doing all you can, Kana," said Trip. He wiped sweat off his forehead. "I know that we're a bunch of pains in the ass."
Kanatova prepared a hypospray. Trip opened his mouth to object, but Kanatova gave him a look that silenced him. She pressed the hypo to Trip's neck.
"What was in that?" asked Trip.
"Painkiller. Nothing too strong, I know better than to knock you out without your permission, and it wouldn't be advisable given your head injury," said Kanatova. "I have to go help finish setting up the defences. I'll be back to check on you in half an hour."
"Oh no you don't, I'm not staying here on my own," said Trip.
"Scared?" asked Kanatova with a smile. She could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times that she'd seen Trip scared and now was not one of them.
"We're in the middle of a war zone, Kana, now help me up," said Trip.
Kanatova shook her head, this was completely against her better judgement. Trip was exhausted and injured, he hardly had the strength to raise his head off the bed let alone get up. She watched as Trip struggled to sit up and gave in. She pulled Trip into a sitting position, pretending not to hear the small murmurs of pain that Trip tried to hide from her. She positioned herself under Trip's good arm and they stood together, Trip swaying a little.
"You are sure about this?" she asked.
"I'm sure," said Trip.
The two of them made their way slowly to the rig that Reed and T'Pol were setting up.
"Trip, I thought I told you to stay in bed," said Reed. "Of all the idiotic stunts that you've pulled since I've known you this has got to be the most stupid."
"Commander, I do not believe you are well enough to be here," said T'Pol. "Return to the medical tent."
"No," said Trip. "I'm not lying around while the Hunters attack my friends."
"That was an order," said T'Pol.
"Screw orders," said Trip. "Add it to the list of charges for my court-martial."
T'Pol raised an eyebrow and handed Trip a hyper-spanner.
Trip sat on the ground awkwardly. "That's what I love about Vulcans, they let you go to hell in your own way."
Archer and Darwin inspected the defences that the MACOs had erected. They'd done a good job with what they'd had.
"Basically we grabbed everything that was portable from the NX-Theta," said Darwin. "Unfortunately we could only carry so much and when the Hunters boarded Enterprise we were caught by surprise. They were earlier than we predicted. We were able to beam most of what we needed down here though."
"So you just happened to have a rocket launcher on the NX-Theta," said Archer.
"You'd be surprised what MACOs count as essential equipment," said Darwin.
"These days nothing surprises me, Colonel," said Archer. He really wanted to confront Darwin about why he hadn't gone to the authorities when he suspected that someone was hunting down the MACOs, but now wasn't the time. He also wanted to know how Darwin was able to still have the hold that he had over Trip and the other MACOs, it had been ten years but when Darwin called they still came running. He wondered if he'd have half the following from his crew on Enterprise in ten years time.
"My plan was to lure the Hunters into this area. It's surrounded by rocks which give us good cover and then do our best to destroy them with the weapons we've got," said Darwin.
"Sounds like as good a plan as any," replied Archer. "All we need to do is adapt it." He looked over at Reed, Trip and T'Pol working on the apparatus to power the Hunter. They had almost completed their work.
"All the areas around the camp are mined so we'll know when they're coming," said Darwin.
"Won't they be able to detect the mines?"
"I doubt it. The cases of the mines are made of biodegradable plastic composites and have optical circuitry with jamming devices. There's no metal to detect and the jamming prevents them from detecting the optical impulses. If we have to evacuate the camp make sure you follow one of the MACOs through the minefield, we all know the pattern that they're buried on."
Archer nodded. "I thought the use of mines was banned by Starfleet."
"Only on inhabited planets," said Darwin.
Archer decided not to ask what use mines were on uninhabited planets since it seemed to be that they could come in handy in their current situation.
"And we don't exactly play by the rules," added Darwin.
"You're not above the law," said Archer.
"No we're not, but if breaking a few laws keeps my men alive then I will do it," said Darwin. "I gather that you've already booked Trip's court-martial."
"He broke several regulations and tried to mutiny," said Archer. "I'd love to be able to let him off the hook but if I do then I'm setting an example for anyone else that's under my command. Why should anyone follow my orders when Trip doesn't have to?"
"Maybe because they respect you enough to accept your judgement," said Darwin.
"I know that my crew respect me, but that doesn't change the fact that Trip has to answer for his actions," said Archer.
Darwin would have liked to respond, but at that moment Rush came running towards them from the perimeter.
Rush was out of breath. "Sir, incoming. Three ships and eight ground targets, all headed in this direction."
"ETA?"
"About ten minutes, give or take, sir."
"Everything ready, Corporal?"
"Yes, sir," said Rush. "Just waiting for the word from Commander T'Pol."
"They're nearly done," said Archer. "Ask them for their best estimate."
"Yes, sir," said Rush, snapping off a rapid salute, he ran off towards Trip, T'Pol and Reed.
"I'd be happier if Trip weren't here," said Darwin.
"He insisted on coming," said Archer. "It was either he came with us or he would have found his own way here. At least this way we were able to keep an eye on him."
"That doesn't surprise me," said Darwin.
Rush and Reed returned with an estimate of how long it would take Trip and T'Pol to finish setting up the Hunter. "They're just finishing up now, sir," reported Reed.
Three black ships screamed overhead.
"We're out of time," said Darwin.
Just as Darwin finished his sentence the ships opened fire. "Take cover!" shouted Darwin.
There was activity all around the base camp as people grabbed weapons and made for cover. Trip and T'Pol hid behind their equipment.
"That one was close," said Trip, breathily. His heart was racing and he was having real trouble pulling in the much needed air.
"I suggest we complete our work quickly, activate the Hunter and get to cover," said T'Pol.
"You'll get no argument from me there," said Trip. "Okay, I was able to rig up a temporary amplifier but it won't give us much extra power or time."
"You were able to improve the range?"
"A little. Maybe a quarter click," said Trip. "They in range yet?"
"The ground units are still over a kilometre and a half away. At their present rate they should be within range in three minutes," said T'Pol.
There was another explosion and they both covered their heads, Trip instinctively reaching for T'Pol to shield her. Sand rained down on them and Trip shook his head to get rid of the excess sand from his hair.
"I do not require your protection," said T'Pol, brushing off Trip's arm.
"Sorry," said Trip. "The virus is ready to go?"
"Yes, once the virus is activated we will have approximately five minutes before this Hunter ceases to function. The virus will have to have been passed to the other Hunters by that point or our plan will fail," said T'Pol.
"Let's just hope that Keisha knows her stuff," said Trip.
"I appointed her myself, her work has been of a high quality," said T'Pol.
"I never thought I'd see her on Enterprise," said Trip.
"It is an interesting development," replied T'Pol.
"She was just a scared kid when I last saw her," said Trip.
"They will be in range in two and a half minutes," said T'Pol.
Darwin was directing the MACOs to the ridge to the south of the camp. They were firing on the approaching Hunters while Reed and Archer were targeting the aircraft. Neither group were having much luck, the armour on the Hunter's ships was too tough to be damaged by phaser fire and they already knew that phase rifles couldn't harm the Hunters.
"Hathaway, you got that rocket launcher loaded yet?" shouted Darwin to his SIC.
"Yes, sir, Colonel," said Hathaway, hefting the rocket launcher on her shoulder. She aimed and fired. The missile impacted in the midst of the approaching Hunters. Three Hunters fell in the blast and stopped moving. "Woo-hoo!" shouted Hathaway as she watched an explosion blossom.
"Major, reload," said Darwin.
"I've only got one shell left, sir," said Hathaway.
"Make it count, Major," replied Darwin.
"Yes, sir," said Hathaway with determination. She loaded her final rocket and took aim. Her second rocket took down two more Hunters.
"Three left, sir," said Carter. "Those are enough to kill everyone here."
"I'm aware of that, Lieutenant," said Darwin. "Trip, are you ready yet?"
"T'Pol, tell the colonel that we just need him to get in range, I don't have the breath," said Trip.
"We are awaiting the Hunters entering range," shouted T'Pol.
"How long?" asked Archer, from his position behind an outcropping of rock.
"Another two minutes," said T'Pol, checking her equipment.
"We have to hold them off for another two minutes," said Darwin, addressing everyone around him. "We've held more off for longer so I know that we can do this."
"Yes, sir," replied Kanatova, Rush, Carter and Hathaway. The MACOs continued to fire on the approaching Hunters, slowing them down but not by much. The black men walked across the red sand, unstoppable in their approach. The black ships came in for another attack run and everyone was forced to take cover again.
"This isn't working," shouted Reed.
"All we need is another couple of minutes," said Trip.
"We don't have a couple of minutes, Trip," said Archer and Darwin together. They looked daggers at each other realising what they'd said.
"Damn, now they're both breathing down my neck," said Trip to T'Pol. "I guess we could move closer to the Hunters."
"You are not well enough to be lifting heavy equipment," said T'Pol.
"I'm not well enough to be doing a lot of things," said Trip.
"There is no reason to move the apparatus. It will make no difference."
"Good point. I guess I'm not thinking clearly," said Trip.
"You should not even be here," said T'Pol. "They will be in range in one minute and thirty seconds."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, T'Pol," said Trip, sarcastically. "Sorry, I'm not very good at waiting."
The black craft made another strafing run and this time succeeded in hitting the ridge where the MACOs were hiding. Trip just saw Hathaway thrown aside by the blast, before he flattened himself against the ground as the ships came round for another run. Kanatova was already making her way carefully towards Hathaway to see how bad her injuries were when Trip next looked up. Hathaway was moving but only the weak movements of someone who had been hurt. Carter joined Kanatova and the two of them together pulled Hathaway to better cover behind some rocks. Trip knew better than to distract Kanatova when she was working, they'd know soon enough the extent of Hathaway's injuries, assuming that any of them got out of this alive.
"One minute," called T'Pol, just as another rain of fire came rather too close to their position, shaking the apparatus and the two Enterprise officers.
"That was too close for comfort. We're going to have to get this exactly right to get the air support as well," said Trip.
"I had already taken that into consideration," said T'Pol. "Thirty seconds. I suggest everyone withdraws to deeper cover."
They had no idea what would happen when the virus hit the Hunters' systems and for that reason everyone would be pulling back from their forward positions as soon as thirty seconds was called. Trip gave the signal for everyone to fall back.
Archer fell to the ground beside Trip just as the black ships made another run. "You ready?"
"Yes, sir," said Trip, counting down the seconds. He watched the seconds tick away and then pressed the button that would send the virus to the Hunter's head beside him and transmit it to the other eleven Hunters. The same button also activated the power pack and the amplifier, both of which had a limited life. Then he waited for all hell to break loose.
Then he waited some more. The transmission of the virus should only have taken seconds, but nothing was happing. The Hunters were still coming.