Let the Dead Bury the Living
By Thalia Drogna
Archer, Shran and Enam sat on the floor of their cage, leaning against the bars. Archer watched as Rorna conducted his business in his great hall. He got the distinct impression that they were there as a deterrent, like severed heads on spikes outside a castle. Do something bad and this will happen to you too. They didn't have a Universal Translator with them so he had no idea what the spider was talking about with its business associates.
"We've been here for hours," said Shran, impatiently.
"He'll kill us when he's good and ready," said Enam. "Why the hurry, blue?"
"Because the sooner they unlock this cage, the sooner we can escape," said Shran.
"Somehow I don't think it's going to be that easy," said Archer. "You did notice the size of those spiders?"
"They may be big but they're still only bugs," said Shran. "Take out their legs and they're ours."
"Only if you can get close enough," said Enam.
"I wish we had our phasers," said Archer.
"Wishes won't get us anywhere," said Shran. He got up and went to examine the lock of the cage. "These Creen are primitive. An Andorian child could pick this lock."
"Then maybe we should get one," mumbled Enam.
"If I had something to pick it with I could get us out of here in a couple of minutes," replied Shran, directing a look at Enam.
"For primitives they had the right idea, surround us so we don't have anywhere to run and then take our weapons and backpacks so we can't escape," said Archer.
"We must get our backpacks back," said Enam, "we'll need them for the next level."
"What exactly is on the next level?" asked Archer.
"The Aquatic," said Enam.
"A Xindi Aquatic?" asked Archer.
"Yes, it doesn't have a name, it's just called the Aquatic. All our diving gear is in our packs," said Enam. "We can't swim through the next level unless we have it."
"I was watching them," said Shran. "They stacked our gear over by Rorna's throne. Spoils of war, no doubt. He behaves like a tyrant, so tribute seems appropriate."
Archer got up and stood beside Shran, an idea forming in his head. "How many guards did you count?"
"Seven plus Rorna," replied Shran. "Do you have a plan?"
"Maybe," said Archer, "but it will need all of us working together."
"It gives us the best odds for success," replied Shran. "What did you have in mind?"
"You said that Rorna acted like a tyrant. Tyrants maintain their position through fear and strength, otherwise he wouldn't be able to keep his men in check," said Archer. "I'm guessing that if I challenge him he has to respond."
"Are all pink skins as mad as you, Archer?" asked Shran.
"Only the ones who Captain ships called Enterprise," said Archer. He quickly explained to Shran and Enam the rest of his plan which they agreed, although suicidal on his part, might work.
Archer stood at the cage bars, facing Rorna. "This would be a hell of a lot easier if I had the UT."
"Shout "cree creeea greea klee Creen" at him, that should get his attention," said Enam.
"What?" said Archer and Enam gave him the phrase again in high pitched spider tones.
"It means something like "the Creen race are made of stinking cowards"," said Enam.
"That'll do," said Archer. "Cree creean greean clee Creen" he shouted.
"Oh dear," said Enam. Rorna had got up from his throne and as much as Archer was able to discern the expression on his features, the spider did not look happy.
"What?" asked Archer. "What did I say?"
"You said that his mother was eaten by a coward," said Enam.
"Is that an insult?" asked Shran.
"Oh yes," said Enam. "That was a far worse thing to say. I think you just insulted his honour. Creen hold their mothers in extremely high regard, it's a matriarchal society."
"I hope you didn't push him too far, Archer. You're no good to me dead," said Shran.
"As long as he's mad it doesn't matter how mad he is," said Archer in a whisper to Shran. "Cree creean greean clee Creen," he shouted in the hope that it would add to the first insult.
It was obvious that Rorna was now very angry. The hairs all over his body stood up on end and his eight eyes blinked rapidly. The guards around him were looking quiet shocked and there was a lot of chattering.
"You really shouldn't have done that," said Enam. "Added to what you already said, you just shouted that his mother slept with the whole cowardly Creen race."
"Well, I wanted him mad," said Archer. "How do I challenge him?"
"Cra creeee creEe cran cleae," said Enam. Archer shouted the phrase through the bars of their cage. Suddenly Rorna shouted something back and the guards around them pulled Archer, Enam and Shran out of their cage.
"He accepted," said Enam.
"Good, I don't think my throat could take any more of that spider language," said Archer. One of Rorna's henchmen screamed something in spider language at Archer and handed him a large evil looking sword with a curved blade.
"Okay, the rules are this," said Enam. "Whoever kills the other is the winner. If you win then you get to go free, but actually it's much more likely that the next Creen warlord will kill you in revenge. Apart from that anything goes."
"You know the plan, as soon as the fight starts, get moving," said Archer.
"Just try and keep your pink skin intact," said Shran, "we'll see to our part of the plan."
"Have you used a scimitar before?" asked Enam.
"No, but there's a first time for everything. How hard can it be?" asked Archer.
"We are all going to die," sighed Enam.
"He's more useful in a fight than he looks," said Shran. "Just remember, their legs are their weakness. Their reach is longer but they're an easy target."
The guards pushed Archer forward into the centre of the room where his opponent stood.
"Now that really isn't fair," said Archer when he saw what Rorna was carrying. Four of his legs were in contact with the ground, the other three held scimitars like the one that Archer carried. "But then I guess we could say seven legs versus two legs and two arms isn't exactly fair either." The banter was more for his own benefit than the spider's, he was pretty sure that Rorna couldn't understand a word he said. If he could keep his own mind otherwise engaged, maybe it wouldn't remind him what a damn stupid idea this was.
Before he could contemplate his situation any further though Rorna lunged at him and Archer found himself dodging out of the way, stumbling backwards into the arms of the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight. They pushed him back into the centre of the circle that they had formed. Rorna had reared onto his back legs to show off his other weapon, the stinger on his abdomen that Archer would definitely be doing his best to stay clear of.
All eyes were now concentrated on the fight in the centre of the circle. The guards who had been left in charge of Shran and Enam were paying them less and less attention as Archer ducked and weaved to escape his opponent.
The sword wasn't a weapon that he'd had a lot of experience with, it was heavy and unwieldy. Probably it had been designed for a spider to carry, just as Rorna now did with three of them. However, luckily Starfleet weapons training made a point of preparing their officers for anything so, even though he'd never fought with a sword, he knew the theory behind it. The scimitar was an edge weapon and could be used to block as well as inflict damage, but it also had a sharp point that shouldn't be forgotten about.
Rorna attacked again, towering over Archer's head and bringing down one sword followed swiftly by the other two. Archer blocked one blow and dodged the other, moving out of range of the third sword just as it swept past him. He knew that he had to keep moving if he was to have any chance of surviving this. The spider's size meant that Archer was definitely faster when it came to turning, although he wouldn't have wanted to race one of the Creen in a flat out sprint. If he could get round the back of the spider then he'd be able to take the legs out from under him, although he'd have to be careful not to get within range of the sting.
Rorna swung again and Archer blocked with his own sword, the vibrations from the impact running down his arm. He immediately moved to block the second sword and just succeeded, but the third was already on its way and Archer wasn't fast enough this time. The final sword slashed into his left arm as he moved out of its path. Rorna's followers sent up a huge cheer at the sight of blood.
Archer fell backwards and clasped his arm. The adrenaline in his body kept the wound from hurting too much but as soon as that wore off he knew it was going to be intensely painful. The gash was deep and bleeding profusely, but luckily no major arteries had been hit. However, Archer was pretty sure that Rorna's scimitar wasn't very clean and that hundreds of hungry bacteria were now attacking the wound site. He hoped Enam had packed the first aid kit.
He tried to see Shran and Enam through the crowd that surrounded them, but he couldn't even catch sight of a blue antenna. He just had to hope that his trust in Shran wasn't misplaced and keep Rorna occupied while Shran and Enam recovered their backpacks and weapons. He hoped that they got them soon because he wasn't sure how long he could hold Rorna off for.
Archer didn't have anymore time to worry because Rorna was on the attack again. Once more Archer found himself backing away as Rorna came at him with swords flailing, the equivalent of a grin on his spider face. Archer blocked as quickly as he could and in a final desperate move he felt his sword connect with the flesh of a spider arm, he'd managed to draw a gash along one of the spider's legs. Rorna let out a long agonised scream and dropped the sword that the arm had been holding. Green blood dripped onto the floor from the wound.
One down, thought Archer, now at least the field was a bit more level. Two blades he could block, three had involved some serious dodging. He took advantage of Rorna's distraction and moved around behind the spider before he could turn. He was about to slash into one of the rear legs when it unexpectedly came up and grabbed his sword arm. It hadn't occurred to Archer that all the legs were equally capable of grabbing hold of things. Rorna was moving now to bring the stinger to bear on Archer, but he swapped his sword to his left hand and slashed downwards into the back leg that gripped him. Rorna screamed once more as more blood gushed from the new wound. He was forced to drop another sword as the leg he was holding the sword with was now needed to support his weight.
Obviously the spider was now considerably injured but Archer was sure that even in this state the Creen was extremely dangerous. Archer himself wasn't in the best shape either, he was beginning to feel the loss of blood from his arm and the exertion of staying out of Rorna's long reach was tiring him.
"Enough!" came a shout from behind the circle. There was the sound of an energy weapon being fired and the circle parted to reveal Shran and Enam holding their weapons, a dead spider at their feet. Shran tossed a phase pistol to Archer who held it on Rorna. The spider let out a huge scream of anger.
"This isn't going to last long," said Archer. He was still breathing heavily from the fight.
"Then we'd better leave," replied Shran. Archer backed up carefully, keeping his phaser trained on Rorna. The spider twitched his legs, itching to get moving and kill those who dared to attack him in his own hall. Archer reached Shran and Enam and the three of them backed up to the entrance of the hall.
"What now?" asked Archer.
Enam held something in her hand. "I came prepared. Smoke grenade, should cover our retreat. On my signal make a run for the stairs," she whispered. The trio took another step back. "Go!" shouted Enam as she threw the grenade with as much force as she could into the spider infested room.
Archer and Shran turned and ran as hard as they could towards the exit to the next level, Enam at their heels. Commotion had broken out in the room behind them, there was the sound of spiders screaming and other weird alien noises as the smoke disoriented everyone. Archer thought he caught the sound of weapons fire as well. They reached the door to the stairs and Archer pulled on the handle.
"Locked," said Archer.
"Out of my way," said Enam, pulling what Archer took to be lock picks from her pack. Archer and Shran took up guard positions as Enam worked on the lock.
There was the click of a lock tumbler falling into place, but the lock was complicated and there were more parts to crack before the door could be opened.
"They're coming," said Shran from his position further forward down the corridor. Archer could also make out the shapes of long legs moving through the smoke towards them.
"Fall back, Shran," he shouted.
Shran ignored him and fired at the approaching shapes. "Not yet," shouted back the Andorian, firing into the smoke.
More clicks indicated that the lock mechanism was submitting to Enam's continued attempts to crack it. "Got it," said Enam as she pulled the door open. "Let's go!"
"Shran!" shouted Archer, as he pulled back into the stairwell. Shran turned and ran towards them, except Archer could see a spider with only seven legs emerge from the fog of the smoke grenade. It was a race to see who could reach the door first, the two legged Andorian or the seven legged Creen. The Creen was faster, but injured, however Shran had less distance to cover. Archer gave covering fire while Shran made his escape, but Rorna seemed oblivious to it.
Shran was only a few steps away from the door when Rorna put all his strength into one last jump and suddenly he was on top of the Andorian. Shran fired his weapon directly at the spider as he engulfed him in a cage of spindly legs. The spider went into its' death throes as Shran struggled to escape from its' grasp. Finally he pulled himself free, firing once again on the spider who finally laid still. Blue Andorian blood dripped from his hand.
"Come on," he said tersely to his two companions as they made their way to the stairs and on to the next level.
Ensign McLaughlin picked her seat in the mess hall carefully. It was time to begin phase two of the plan and she'd just been briefed by Davis on what she needed to do. She knew Davis hadn't just brought her along because she was a good security officer, but also because she knew some of the crew. She had gone through the academy with several of the Ensigns who now worked in the Armoury.
"Mind if I join you?" she asked sitting down with her tray before they could refuse her company. At the table sat Ensigns Gary Prior, Clare Hooper and Jackie Scott, three of Reed's Armoury team.
"Julia, how are you?" asked Ensign Prior. "I was hoping Davis would give you some time off so we could catch up."
"I'm fine, doing pretty well. I suppose Lieutenant Reed is keeping you busy with the repairs," said McLaughlin.
"Yeah," said Ensign Hooper. "We've got a lot of work to do. The ship took a hammering in the Expanse."
"Yeah, I noticed. Although I guess now shore leave has been cancelled you'll have more time to complete the repairs. It is a shame though, I know that you were all looking forward to getting home to see your families," said McLaughlin. "Seems daft when we all know that the nanites aren't dangerous."
"The nanites,?" asked Ensign Scott.
"Oh yes, that's why the shore leave was cancelled," she said, putting a hand to her mouth. "I hope I haven't spoken out of turn here, I assumed that everyone knew. Starfleet decided that Enterprise should be put in quarantine until they can find out if the nanites are dangerous."
"The nanites haven't caused any trouble so far, except for Commander Tucker," said Ensign Prior.
"Yeah, he's such a nice guy, he really doesn't deserve everything that's happened to him," said Ensign Hooper.
"Yes, I was reading in the reports about how you and Jackie were injured while protecting him from the Xindi," said McLaughlin. "That was really above and beyond the call of duty, your commendations were well earned."
"Thanks, Julia," said Ensign Hooper. "I would have been happier if we could have got them without spending time in sickbay."
"I know, it must have been horrible. Lieutenant Davis thinks that other alien governments are interested in the nanites, which is one of the reasons Starfleet sent us out here, but then with you to protect Commander Tucker I almost feel like a fifth wheel," said McLaughlin, smiling.
"Well, it is our responsibility to keep the Commander safe," said Ensign Scott.
"Indeed, and as I said, you're doing a fine job. I just hope that if any aliens do come for Commander Tucker you're able to protect him again without being injured," said McLaughlin. "Enough members of your crew died in the Expanse without adding to it."
"Yes, we're all really happy to be home," said Ensign Scott, she didn't look at all happy though.
"Of course the other problem is that we know so little about the nanites," said McLaughlin. "I can almost understand why Starfleet felt they had to impose the quarantine. We really don't know whether the nanites are capable of transferring to other people or not."
"I thought the Doctor had worked out that was impossible," said Ensign Prior.
"Not conclusively, but he was fairly certain. I was very interested to read that when you had your encounter with the Tien, Lieutenant Reed worked out who had given Commander Tucker the knife by who had nanites transferred to them. But then those nanites died soon after they were transferred. Does make you wonder though, doesn't it, what would happen if they didn't die off. I guess that there would be nanites everywhere," said McLaughlin with a laugh, sharing the joke with the other Ensigns. The Ensigns looked a little worried though. "I'm sure that the Captain and Sub-commander T'Pol have it all under control."
"Yes, I'm sure that they do," said Ensign Prior, but McLaughlin caught the look that he gave Ensign Hooper.
T'Pol and Ensign Raywood wandered through the corridors of Enterprise. The Captain had to be seen to be aboard, and that meant leaving the safety of Archer's Ready Room and doing all the things that the Captain would normally do. Unfortunately Porthos had refused to co-operate, ignoring all of Raywood's commands even when he used Archer's voice. The beagle was therefore being looked after by Doctor Phlox until the Captain returned. The official story was that Porthos had eaten too much cheese and wasn't well.
They reached Engineering without too much contact with the crew apart from the odd nod in acknowledgement. Trip came over to greet them.
"What can I do for you, Captain?" he asked. Ensign Keir could be seen hovering in the background, it being his shift as Trip's guard.
"Just came down to see how the repairs were going," replied Raywood in Archer's accent. "I gather you had a bit of trouble with the plasma manifold upgrades."
"Yeah, but she's purring like a kitten again now. It was just your typical stuff working on paper but not in real life. The Jupiter Station boys can only do so much with models, we still have to make adjustments when we actually put their upgrades to work," said Trip.
"Good work, Trip," said Raywood. He winced inwardly at being so informal with a senior officer, but with so many people watching he had to play the part.
Trip caught movement out of the corner of his eye and noticed Davis come into Engineering. "Damn," he said quietly. "You guys had better make yourselves scarce, I've got company."
"Indeed," said T'Pol. "I suggest we leave using the other exit." They walked away at a brisk pace but not so fast as to make it seem as if they were leaving in a hurry.
Trip went to intercept Davis before he could catch-up with T'Pol and Raywood.
"What can I do for you, Lieutenant?" asked Trip.
"Actually, I was looking for the Captain," said Davis, pointing at Raywood's receding back as he left Engineering.
"You just missed him," said Trip. "He's a pretty busy man, Lieutenant."
"Yes, he does seem to be," said Davis. "When I asked Ensign Sato to arrange a time for me to see him, she told me that he wouldn't have time to see me this week. If I was a more suspicious man I might say that he was avoiding me, but I'm sure that isn't the case, is it Commander?"
"I'm certain the Captain's not avoiding you, Lieutenant," said Trip. "Now, if you don't mind, I've got a hell of a lot of work to do."
"Of course, Commander, don't let me hold you up," said Davis, heading towards the door. Although Trip noticed that he stopped to talk to Ensign Keir before leaving.
Trip climbed the steps up to the warp reactor control panel, looking back over his shoulder to check that Davis had left his domain.
"Okay," he said to the nanites, "tell me what we've got."
The nanites reeled off facts and figures that told Trip everything he needed to know about the status of the warp engine. "Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters," they finished. Except Trip though he heard an echo behind their words. "Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters. Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters. Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters."
"I heard you the first time," he said.
"Something is wrong," replied the nanites. "Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters. Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters. Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters. Plasma intake valves operating within designated parameters."
"Quiet," said Trip. "You don't need to repeat yourself." Suddenly the room was spinning around him. Damn, he thought, I really don't need this. He also realised that he was standing at the top of a flight of stairs which was not the best place to be if he was feeling dizzy and his balance wasn't so good. He decided that getting to the bottom of the short flight of stairs would definitely be preferable to falling down them. Unfortunately he didn't get very far. His legs buckled under him and then the stairs came up to meet him. All he could do was try to protect his head with his arms.