Let the Dead Bury the Living

By Thalia Drogna

T'Pol had intercepted Lieutenant Davis on his way to see the Captain, but only because Phlox had managed to Com her with a warning that he was coming. The deception had hardly begun and already Davis was threatening their plans. The doctor had overheard Trip talking with the Lieutenant in the hall outside sickbay and knew that T'Pol would appreciate the warning. With Trip being constantly followed by a Security officer he was sure that he was the only one who would have a chance to warn T'Pol.

"Lieutenant Davis, I believe we still need to discuss the areas of the ship which you are allowed to enter," said T'Pol.

"I was just on my way to talk to the Captain, Sub-commander," said Davis.

"The Captain is currently working and will not appreciate the interruption. He has considerable amounts of work to catch up with after his time in sick bay," said T'Pol. Even though none of what she had just said was a lie, she still felt very unhappy that she was being deceitful. She wished once more that Vulcans were better liars.

In fact Ensign Raywood was now tucked away in Captain Archer's Ready Room where he had successfully arrived without being intercepted by any of the crew or Davis's men. T'Pol was now wondering how she was going to manage to do her own paperwork as well as that of the Captain. Commander Tucker had offered to help but he had his own catching up to do after spending the last few days in sick bay. In any case they were going to have to find some way of stalling Admiral Forrest so that he didn't expect the reports yet or, alternatively, forging the Captain's signature, something which T'Pol hesitated to do. So far none of what they were doing had constituted a crime but if they started falsifying reports then that could get them in a lot of trouble.

"Okay, I suppose we have to talk about access at some point," said Davis. "I need my men to have access to all areas of the ship so that they can adequately guard Commander Tucker."

"That is not acceptable," replied T'Pol. "Lieutenant Reed has not yet cleared your men for sensitive areas of the ship."

"I and my men already have the highest possible clearance," said Davis. "You're obstructing me in my duty, sub-commander."

"I am simply re-stating the terms which Lieutenant Reed already gave you when you came aboard," said T'Pol.

"Which it was agreed we would review when Commander Tucker left sick bay," said Davis.

"I am prepared to allow you and your men into Engineering in order to guard Commander Tucker but you will not be allowed on the bridge or in the armoury without express permission," said T'Pol. "Unless Commander Tucker is needed in those areas for repair work it is unlikely that he will be spending any considerable time there."

"I suppose that is the best that I can expect from you people but I'll be lodging a formal complaint with Admiral Forrest," said Davis.

"You are of course welcome to do so once the repairs to the com system have been completed," said T'Pol.

"Actually we brought our own communicators with us," said Davis. "We anticipated that Enterprise might still be experiencing problems with its infrastructure."

"I see," said T'Pol, coldly. "Then you will have no problem contacting the Admiral."

"I'll let you know how it goes, sub-commander," said Davis and turned to go back down the corridor the way he had come. T'Pol didn't like the way that he said that at all. She had a lot of work to do if this plan wasn't going to come crumbling down around their ears. Perhaps it was time that the com system was repaired.

She hadn't even begun to think about her pending Dohn Zhu, but now that loomed large in her future and she was suddenly very aware of just how slim her defence was. The more time she took to think about it the more she came to the conclusion that perhaps her superiors were right, she had made a serious error in judgement when she decided to go with Enterprise into the Expanse. And if she was unable to convince herself of the validity of her actions then what hope did she have of convincing anyone else.

Davis went back to his quarters and got out his communicator. He thought that if Reed had been a security officer worthy of the name then he would have searched them when they came aboard and found the communicators. Of course he wouldn't have been able to do anything about them having them, but he would have at least been forearmed with the knowledge. And in this game knowledge was everything. Although Reed had noticed the phase pistols that they all wore, but as security officers they were well within their rights to have them and Reed had no grounds not to let them keep them.

He didn't call Admiral Forrest. Instead he called Senator Nash. Two days, said the Senator, that was all he needed until phase two could be put into motion. They had to wait until Commander Tucker was out of sickbay and part of the crew once more, so they would give it a couple of days to let everyone get complacent and then they would begin.

Nash wasn't surprised to hear that T'Pol, Reed and Archer were still being obstructive. He agreed to bring pressure to bear on Forrest who would in turn bring pressure to bear on Enterprise's officers and it would be one more lever that they had when it came time to enact the final phase.

"When is T'Pol's Dohn Zhu?" asked Davis.

"This Friday morning. After that I suspect we won't have to worry about the Vulcan poking her nose in where it isn't wanted. Certainly if I've been correct in my assessment of her peers and my words haven't fallen on deaf pointy ears. A few well placed phrases about how useful T'Pol has been to Enterprise and how much Vulcan technology she has willingly given to us should be plenty to make sure that she is sent back to Vulcan for the full criminal trial. As I understand it, that usually ends in permanent imprisonment."

"Good. And Reed?" asked Davis.

"My agent confirmed the rumours that I uncovered. I'm sending you the files I collected on the Lieutenant. I'm sure you'll enjoy reading them, I certainly found them interesting, not at all what I would have expected from a man like Reed. Of course only a security officer would have been able to keep it hidden this long. There's no mention of anything in his records at all, neither his civil files nor his Starfleet records," said Nash.

"Well I told you that he was good," said Davis.

"Indeed you did, for which I'm very grateful or I might not have dug as deeply as I did, but it's all there if you know where to look," said Nash. "Just make sure that you play your hand correctly, we'll only get one chance to make this work and if you give him too long to think he'll probably do something stupid."

"Don't worry, I think I know my man pretty well," said Davis.

When Reed wandered into the mess hall that evening he was greeted by the sight of a full room but Commander Tucker sitting at a table alone. He grabbed a tray and went to collect some food before heading across the room to join Trip.

"It's not often that you eat alone, Commander," said Reed.

"I don't think they like being watched by my shadow," said Trip, indicating his guard who was standing by the mess hall door. "A couple of people sat down and then made their excuses."

"I guess it is a bit unnerving," said Reed. "But it doesn't bother me." He sat down and tucked into his food ignoring the eyes of the guard looking at him.

"Yeah, well it's beginning to bother me," said Trip, taking another mouthful, chewing more swiftly than was possibly healthy and swallowing. "Isn't there anything that we can do about them?"

"Sorry, the order came direct from Headquarters. Even the Captain's hands were tied," said Reed.

"Great, just great," said Trip his voice brimming with sarcasm. "It's not enough that my own body decides to turn against me, my government has to as well."

"It's not for long, Trip," said Reed. "As soon as the Captain returns, we'll get this sorted out and everything will be back to normal."

"Normal isn't a state that we experience very often around here," replied Trip. "It's just having someone follow me around everywhere is really beginning to get on my nerves and I've only been out of sickbay a day. I never did thank you for making them wait outside, I think if I'd had to deal with this on top of feeling sick as a dog, I'd have given up there and then. It was appreciated, Malcolm."

"My pleasure, I enjoyed sticking two fingers up at Davis. He was a right bastard even back at the academy. I swear he's enjoying all of this. How are you feeling?" asked Reed.

"You know, you're about the hundredth person to ask me that today. I must look really rough," said Trip.

"I don't know about that, but you don't exactly look on top form," said Reed.

"I'm fine. Everything is back on an even keel for the moment, just have to hope that Phlox's pills keep it that way until he can come up with something better," said Trip. "I'm going back for seconds, you want anything?"

"No thanks," replied Reed. "I can't believe you're still hungry after that." When Reed had arrived Trip's plate had been loaded with food which had been disappearing at an alarming rate. Trip had always enjoyed his food but Reed had never seen him consume it in quite such large quantities.

"I've got a whole load of hungry nanites to feed too, you know," said Trip, "and ever since my immune system decided to kick in they've been even hungrier. I guess they need the extra energy. Luckily they really like pecan pie."

"That will be because of all the sugar in it," said Reed. "Far too sweet for me."

"At the moment I reckon I need it," replied Trip, he rose and went back to the servery to get more food. Reed noticed Lieutenant Davis enter the mess hall just as Trip was about to retake his seat.

"Just what I needed," muttered Reed under his breath as he watched Davis collect a plate and then head towards their table.

"Do you mind if I join you?" asked the red headed security officer.

"Yes," replied Trip with his mouth full, not bothering to look up. Eating was definitely the most important thing on Trip's mind at the moment.

"I think the Commander has made his feelings clear, now bugger off and find someone else to sit with," said Reed, emphasising his English accent only slightly to give his words the proper force.

"That really is very uncharitable of you," said Davis, equally emphasising his own Irish accent. If Reed wanted to make a point of the fact that they weren't countrymen then he was only too pleased to oblige. What had the English ever done for the Irish? "I'd be happy to do that, but then there doesn't seem anyone else to sit with."

Reed noted that there were plenty of other places to sit, but he could either make a scene or let Davis sit with them and get the whole thing over with. Letting Davis sit with them seemed to be by far the easiest option of the two and by far the most becoming of a senior officer.

"I'm glad to see that the Commander is feeling better," said Davis.

Trip stopped eating long enough to glare at Davis and mutter, "yeah, I bet you're glad. Glad that I'm somewhere you can follow me again."

"I assure you Commander that this is as much for your own safety as it is for everyone else's," said Davis.

"Really. And how do you work that one out?" replied Trip.

"You are carrying technology within your body that could be of use to alien governments," said Davis.

"You don't seriously believe that aliens are after Trip?" said Reed with incredulity.

"Maybe not at the moment, but if they were to find out exactly what the Commander is carrying in his bloodstream then I'm not sure that they wouldn't try to take him," said Davis. "We know that the Xindi have already tried to take him back once already."

Trip looked very worried and had stopped eating, which given his current need for food was tantamount to stopping breathing. "Not the Xindi, I'm never going back there," he said. He had dropped his fork on his plate and pushed back his chair from the table as if he was about to make a run for the exit.

Reed shot Davis a look of pure hatred before directing his gaze back to Trip in an attempt to calm the troubled man. "Trip, it's okay. The one group of aliens who wouldn't want you are the Xindi. For starters they already have the technology and if they want to know more, all they have to do is ask. They're our allies now."

Trip calmed down slightly. "Yeah, you're right Malcolm," said Trip, shaking his head as if at his own stupidity for not realising. He picked up his fork and began to eat more slowly, but it was obvious that the very idea that the Xindi might want to capture him had shaken him slightly. No doubt that was exactly what Davis had hoped might happen, he was testing Trip, pushing his buttons to see what would happen. Knowing your enemy's weaknesses was something that they taught to all security officers and fear was definitely a weakness if used correctly. Reed knew Trip's weaknesses intimately but he had hoped that it would take Davis longer to work them out. Especially the scars that the Xindi had left upon Trip's psyche. When it came to the Xindi, Trip was still less than rational, even though he tried very hard to hide the worst of his fear and he was considerably better than he had been.

"I was actually thinking more of the Andorians," said Davis. "You had a run in with them in the Expanse and they didn't come off so well. I wonder if they realised when they were helping you with your repairs that you had Xindi technology running through your veins. They were very anxious to capture the Xindi weapon prototype."

"I was pretty careful not to let them know," said Trip. "I doubt they even know what is normal for a human anyway." However, he was now wondering about the Andorian engineer who had paid him a considerable amount of attention. At the time he'd thought it was just curiosity about how another species ran its engines but looking back he wasn't so sure that's all it was. The moment when Trip had performed some tricky calculations in his head probably hadn't helped either, these days he was so used to having the nanites there to help him that he didn't even think about tapping into their powerful mathematics routines. He remember that the Andorian had looked slightly taken aback. Despite his attempts to make it seem that he was less able than he actually was, he guessed that he'd slipped up a couple of times.

"Besides they helped us to defeat the Xindi," said Reed. "Why would they suddenly decide to turn on us."

"It was a Commander Shran that you ran into in the Expanse, right?" asked Davis.

"Yeah, we'd bumped into him before," said Trip.

"Seems he isn't exactly in favour with his government anymore. Kidnapping you, Commander, might be just the leverage he needs to get back in with them," said Davis.

"Interesting but hardly compelling," said Reed.

"Shran's not the type," said Trip.

"How well do you know him, Commander?" asked Davis.

"I've met him about three or four times," said Trip. "He's been on the level with us most of the time and I don't think he wanted to lie to us the last time either. He was just following orders."

"Or maybe the last time he was actually who he really is and the previous times he was lulling you into a false sense of security," said Davis. "Maybe Shran isn't the fine Andorian citizen that he pretends to be. But then who of us can say that we're perfect?" Davis directed a pointed look at Reed before gathering up his tray and moving himself to another table.

"What was that about?" asked Trip, quietly so that Davis wouldn't hear.

"I'm not sure," said Reed, "but I have a few ideas and none of them are good. Fishing would be my guess. He doesn't really know anything or it would be all over by now."

"I hope you're right, Malcolm, because if you're not, we're buried under a whole heap of trouble," said Trip.

Malcolm Reed however was more worried that something from his own past was about to come back and bite him. Something that he hadn't thought about for a long time.

When Enam had told them it would be difficult to get to see Ven Dath, Archer hadn't exactly realised just what that meant. He certainly hadn't expected the level of security that was present on the outlaw station. He wondered how Ven Dath had funded the whole operation and that alone gave him pause for thought as the easiest way would have been for Ven to have traded his expertise. No one knew better than Archer just how dangerous that might make him.

The lower levels of the station consisted of make shift dwellings, bars, and dishevelled looking trading stations. These were all crammed together, making the most of the available space. The original layout of the station had been cannibalised to make way for streets and shops, but some of the old rooms had been pressed into service. The upper levels were a different matter all together. This was where the elite lived, the Inner Circle, the owners of the space station. Five beings inhabited the top five levels, one level each, with their servants and henchmen, the highest belonging to the most powerful of them. It was referred to as the Inner Sanctum, at least partially because of the intense security and secrecy that surrounded it. Ven Dath inhabited the level second from the top. Each level operated as the private fiefdom of the entity who lived there, and some wild and bizarre tales had filtered down to the lower levels about what went on there.

Enam explained that in order to get to Ven Dath they would have to traverse the other three levels. This was not going to be at all easy as each had their own security arrangements and they did not welcome visitors. The people who inhabited the upper levels of the station were extremely paranoid about their own safety, there were a lot of people who would like to kill the members of the Inner Circle.

The first level they needed to cross belonged to a criminal known as Rorna. Enam had only ever been into this level once and that time she had used the front door which was far too well guarded for their purposes. It would have been easier all round if they too could have used the front door as that had an elevator which would take them straight to Ven Dath's level, but if they wanted to actually reach Ven Dath then that wasn't the way to approach the Inner Sanctum. However, using the stairs meant crossing each level in order to find the flight that lead up to the next floor. This was yet another security measure, having the stairs in different location ensured that even if one level was breached it made it hard to reach the next.

They had all agreed that they should get a night's sleep before they embarked on their journey and be well rested, so Archer and Shran had returned to the Zor Rakh for the night. Archer had tried to sleep but knowing how difficult the following day would be made him restless. He was also having considerable trouble keeping his mind off worrying about Enterprise and what was going on back home without him. He hoped that T'Pol, Reed and Trip weren't in more trouble because of his absence. By the end of the night Archer had achieved only a few hours sleep and he felt anything but rested when they went to meet Enam.

They had arranged to rendezvous at the level below the first of those belonging to the Inner Circle. Enam brought with her three backpacks crammed full of the supplies that they would need. She expected it to take them some time to reach the fourth level going the indirect route, it might even take a couple of days if things went badly.

"Rorna is a Creen," said Enam, as she handed round the equipment, "they're an insectoid race and like the dark. Back on Creena he was a serial killer turned terrorist, a nasty piece of work. From my last visit I know that the lighting on this level will be poor. Rorna designed the level to be like a labyrinth, if you don't know your way through then you can spend days wandering around completely lost. He also set up traps to catch out anyone who takes a wrong turn. We will need the night vision glasses and the flashlights for the first level."

"You do know the way through, don't you?" asked Archer.

"Of course," replied Enam, "that is what you're paying me for." She flicked her tail with impatience.

"Let's get moving," said Shran. "We don't have time to waste."

They moved towards the maintenance shaft that Enam had identified as the only way to enter the lowest of the Inner Circle levels. Enam had to unseal the entrance using a crowbar and a laser welder. After some brute force the panel that was blocking their way came lose and Archer made to enter the shaft.

"Wait," said Enam. "Nothing is ever this easy here. That's something you need to understand right now, before we set a foot inside the Inner Sanctum." She located a piece of rubbish that lay beside her foot and tossed into the shaft, it burst into flames as three lasers fired upon the movement.

"Movement sensors," said Shran.

"Exactly," said Enam. "Don't stick your cute human nose in anywhere until I've told you that it's clear. That goes for you too, blue. Stay behind me if you want to get to Ven Dath in one piece."

"Understood," said Archer. Shran merely nodded. They watched as Enam took out a small electronic device which she attached to one side of the shaft, adjusted and then turned on.

"Okay, it's disabled, we're safe to climb up now," said Enam. She grabbed hold of the first rung and swung herself up on to the ladder and began to climb.

"After you," said Shran to Archer.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather have you in front of me where I can see you," replied Archer.

"Very well, it makes no difference to me," said Shran and followed Enam up the ladder.

The three of them stepped out from the shaft into a dimly lit area with three passageways that led off in different direction. Enam snapped down her night vision glasses from where they had been resting on top of her head and turned on her torch. None of the three directions looked particularly inviting. A bizarre cobweb like material hung from some of the walls, giving the whole corridor the look of a poorly cleaned, old building.

"This way," she said, pointing to the central passageway. "Keep your wits about you, guards patrol these passages and they are well armed. Most of them prefer to shoot first and ask questions later. The Creen have very good hearing and about half the guards are of Rorna's own race."

Archer and Shran followed Enam after putting on their own night vision glasses and switching their torches on. They walked slowly down the passage, Enam in front of them walking almost silently on her toes like a dancer, her ears twitching like radar dishes trying to home in on a sound.

"Someone's coming," said Enam and she pushed Archer and Shran back against the wall just as a Creen guard scuttled past the end of the passageway. Archer got his first glimpse of a Creen as the guard went past and for just a moment his racial memory of arachnophobia kicked in and he wanted to run screaming in the opposite direction. The Creen guard had eight legs and eight eyes arrayed around its head and its body was very much like that of a spider, covered in dark hair. Unlike a spider it was carrying a weapon and only six of its legs were in contact with the ground, it also wore what seemed to be the spider equivalent of clothes. Even more alarmingly the guard had what looked like a fearsome stinger on its abdomen. The cobweb stuff that hung from the walls was in fact probably exactly what it looked like.

I'm really glad Trip isn't here, thought Archer. The Engineer hated insects but he especially hated spiders, although he tried to keep that very quiet. The three of them stood pressed against the wall hardly daring to breathe while they waited for the Creen to pass. They only relaxed once more when Enam motioned them forward, her ears still behaving like mini radar dishes.

Enam pulled out a padd and consulted it before choosing which direction to go at the end of the passage.

"There is a trap around here," said Enam. "We must be careful not to set it off."

"Where?" asked Shran.

"I only know that it is near here, not what or exactly where it is," replied Enam. "This is further into this level than I have ever been before and the map I was able to obtain was not complete."

"You told us that you could guide us to Ven Dath," said Shran.

"And so I can but very few people have visited Rorna's level and lived, at least without going through the regular channels. I've gathered together all the information that I could but even I can't know everything," said Enam. "And I am the best that there is."

"And modest with it," said Archer.

"When you're the best you don't need modesty," replied Enam. "Besides it's my tail on the line as well as yours."

"I don't want to hear about your problems," said Shran, "you're just here to get us to Ven Dath so that we can all go home again." He pushed past Enam and on down the corridor.

"Wait," said Enam. Archer heard a small click and Enam flew past him and into Shran's back, throwing him to the floor just as volley of arrows flew over his head. "I told you that there was a trap around here," she said as she rolled off Shran. Shran made to stand up but Enam pulled him back down. "You broke a motion sensor beam, it is above your head so you need to stay down if you want to live. We can crawl under it. You too Archer."

"How did you know?" asked Archer as he got down on the floor and began to crawl towards Shran and Enam.

"I heard the mechanism," said Enam.

"Good ears," said Shran.

"Just as well or you'd be dead," said Enam. "Next time maybe you'll listen to me."

Shran didn't say anything but continued to crawl forward.

"What else have we got to look forward to in here? Those arrows weren't exactly high tech," said Archer.

"There's worse to come if the stories are true," said Enam. "Rorna thinks it's fun to hunt people he doesn't like through his maze. He's built in a number of traps just to make the game more exciting. The people he hunts don't last very long by all accounts. As we get nearer the centre and his quarters there are more traps."

"And the stairs to the next level?" asked Archer.

"Are right in the centre," said Enam. "We're out of range of the motion sensors," she added, standing and stretching out the kinks that crawling along the floor had produced.

Enam led them onwards through the rest of the maze, carefully selecting their route and occasionally stopping to disable a trap before they could progress further. Mostly the traps involved motion sensors that triggered lasers or other projectile weapons but occasionally they were much more sinister. At one point Enam stopped them, sniffing the air.

"What is it?" asked Archer.

Enam looked around her and found a loose piece of metal lying on the floor. She tossed it onto the floor in front of them. The metal hissed and bubbled before disappearing into the floor.

"Acid," said Enam. "I smelt it a long way back. He's added something to it to make it look like the floor material."

"Ingenious," said Shran. "How do we get past it?"

"We use this," said Enam, producing a grappling hook with retractable spikes from her backpack. "We should be able to swing across." Enam launched the spiked hook into the ceiling where it stuck fast, she gave it a good pull to be sure but it didn't move. "I'll go first."

"I think I'd prefer it if I went first," said Shran. "There's nothing to stop you getting across the other side and abandoning us without any way to get across."

"Shran, I think we've come far enough that we can trust Enam," said Archer.

"You humans are far too trusting," said Shran.

"The Andorian can go first, it doesn't make any difference to me," said Enam. She handed the rope to Shran who took it and successfully swung himself across the acid pit. Shran swung the rope back to Enam, the tail end of the rope just catching the acid as it swung past and smoking slightly from the caustic substance.

"You go," said Archer. "It'll make Shran happy if he's got you where he can keep an eye on you."

Enam twisted her mouth into a mischievous grin. "At some point I want to hear the story of how you two ended up working together. I have a feeling it will satisfy my curious streak ten times over."

"Get us through this and I may just tell you," replied Archer. Enam swung herself across the pit and landed gracefully on the other side just beside Shran.

As before she swung the rope back across where Archer waited. He gripped the rope firmly and up high enough that he could be sure that he wouldn't end up scraping his feet into the acid below him. He took a couple of steps back and swung himself across. He was just over half-way across the pit when he felt the grappling hook above him shake and then dislodge. Luckily he was far enough over that his momentum carried him the rest of the way and he landed on the other side considerably less gracefully than Enam had done, but he had lost his balance and felt himself about to fall backwards to a particularly nasty death in the acid bath behind him. Suddenly a hand had grabbed his and stopped his fall. It was a blue Andorian hand and when Archer looked up at its owner in surprise he saw only respect and concern looking back at him.

"It's only another few turns before we reach the main hall where the stairs are," said Enam.

"Good," said Archer. "I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"We have another two levels above this before we reach Ven Dath," said Enam, "each as deadly as this one in its own way." She walked forward cautiously down the passageway. Archer followed her and then heard an ominous click as his foot hit something on the floor. He stopped still.

"What was that?" he asked as nothing obvious had happened.

Enam looked at him, fear in her eyes. "I'm not sure, but I think the spider knows that we're in his web."