Let the Dead Bury the Living

By Thalia Drogna

AN: Thank you all for your reviews. I'm really pleased that people are still reading this series.

T'Pol had been given special dispensation to leave Enterprise and travel to Earth for her Dohn Zhu. She had handed over command to Trip, taken shuttlepod one, and now approached the landing pad of the Vulcan compound in San Francisco. She hoped that Trip could handle Enterprise without her, he'd seemed subdued and quieter than usual when she left. She had given him the necessary status updates and watched as he wandered over to the Captain's chair and sank down, obviously tired and his mind on other things. At least, she thought, Lieutenant Reed was there if he needed support.

As the shuttle circled over the Vulcan compound she looked down and saw the crowds of people that had gathered outside the walls. They seemed to be shouting and some of them were holding placards, one of which clearly said "Vulcans Go Home". She had known that feelings had been running high on Earth, it was what had been behind the authorities' order to stop Archer from contacting the Xindi. The last thing that the Earth government needed now was more aliens on Earth.

T'Pol landed her shuttlepod on the landing pad at the side of the compound. Two Vulcans approached the shuttle. She opened the door and the noise of the crowd greeted her. They sounded very angry.

"T'Pol, peace and long life," said one of the Vulcans who approached her, holding up his hand in the traditional Vulcan salute.

"Selak, live long and prosper," replied T'Pol, her hand mirroring the gesture.

"I introduce my student, T'Prell," said Selak. T'Prell nodded to T'Pol and she inclined her head in return. "It is unfortunate that you return to us in such circumstances."

"Do you refer to my Dohn Zhu or the demonstration that is being staged outside this compound?" asked T'Pol.

"Neither are fortuitous events," said Selak.

"Will you be my prosecutor?" asked T'Pol.

"There are no prosecutors in a Dohn Zhu, T'Pol. I will simply be putting the facts to the council," said Selak.

"Where is Soval?" asked T'Pol.

"He has been called away to speak with some Earth government representatives who are concerned about the current situation," said Selak.

"I was not aware that the situation had become so difficult," said T'Pol.

"It was not until recently," said Selak.

"What precipitated the change?" asked T'Pol.

"That is difficult to tell. Humans are emotional," said Selak.

"I have served with humans for some time and although they are emotional, they are not completely without logic. I would be interested to know why we have become the target of such hatred," said T'Pol.

"That is a subject for another time. The council of the tribunal awaits your presence," said Selak.

"Very well," said T'Pol and followed Selak and T'Prell into the council hall.

Arrayed around the hall were some of the most eminent Vulcans on Earth, only Soval was absent from their number. They were the ones who would sit in judgement of her. To begin with Selak and T'Prell would speak for the law, setting out the facts of the case. Then T'Pol would get her chance to speak in her own defence. She anticipated that it would be at least two days before Selak and T'Prell finished their case and she could begin. She sat in her appointed seat and Selak and T'Prell took up their own positions.

"We are here to examine the actions of T'Pol," began Selak.

Trip sat in the command chair. He'd already completed a shift in Engineering and now he was on the bridge. With both Archer and T'Pol away he was having to cope with everything and he was acutely aware of the fact that he really wasn't everyone's favourite person at the moment. He'd never realised just how much his command style relied on his crew liking him. It was making everything more hard work than it needed to be. He felt tired and he hadn't seen Reed for hours, he'd been hoping that he could ask the Lieutenant to take this shift and then he could get some sleep. He'd never believed in the old adage about the loneliness of command but he guessed this was what it meant.

Phlox came onto the bridge. "Commander, if I could see you in the Captain's ready room for a moment?"

"Sure, Doctor," said Trip. "Travis, you have the bridge."

Trip and Phlox went into the Captain's Ready Room and Trip sat down in the Captain's chair.

"Commander, we spoke about your condition earlier and I indicated that you should not overexert yourself," said Phlox.

"Doctor, you said no climbing around in Engineering, you didn't say anything about Bridge duty," replied Trip.

"If you remember, I explained to you that your immune system is being suppressed and if you allow yourself to get run down then I cannot be responsible for the consequences," said Phlox.

"I don't have time to rest," said Trip. "T'Pol's down on Earth, the Captain's off on some wild goose chase with Shran and Malcolm's shut himself away in the Armoury. I'm the only one who's here."

"What about Ensign Raywood?" asked Phlox.

"Steve's asleep in the Captain's cabin. Poor guy was worn out. Besides I can't leave him on the bridge on his own. He's only pretending to be the Captain, Doc. He can't actually make command decisions," said Trip.

"Perhaps Lieutenant Hess could help out?" said Phlox.

"She's doing the next shift, Malcolm's taking the one after. We thought we could get away with rotating shifts between the three of us," said Trip.

"You should be in sick bay being monitored constantly. I don't know what possessed me to ever let someone with a condition of your severity out of my care," said Phlox.

"Because you knew I'd be a pain in the ass if I had to lie around in sickbay all day," said Trip with a smile. "At least this way I'm doing something."

"Very well, given the circumstances, I can't make you rest but I strongly advise you to take the next shift off," said Phlox.

"Don't worry, Doc, I don't think I'll be able to stay awake by that point," said Trip. There was a knock on the door and Hoshi came in.

"Sir, I just picked this up from Earth, I thought you might want to see it," said Hoshi.

Trip loaded the file onto his monitor screen. It was a news broadcast from Earth and showed protestors outside the Vulcan compound.

"Protests have started outside Vulcan compounds in several major cities across the planet after questions were asked in the Senate earlier today about the involvement of the Vulcans in the war against the Xindi," said a pretty blonde newscaster. "Senator Nash defended the Vulcan's actions, explaining that their reticence to send ships to protect Earth was not due to any unwillingness to honour the alliance but out of necessity."

The scene shifted slightly to the pretty blonde interviewing Senator Nash with the San Francisco Vulcan compound in the background.

"I'm sure you can appreciate just how far it is to Vulcan," said Senator Nash. "I know that Vulcan ships are capable of up to warp seven but even given that fact the nearest Vulcan ship was some considerable distance away. As you know the Vulcans are continuing to fight against a border incursion by the Andorians and many of their ships were engaged in patrolling their own borders. I really don't think we can blame the Vulcans for wanting to protect their own homes.

The Vulcans tell us that they weren't able to get ships here in time to help Enterprise against the Xindi weapon and we have to believe them when they say that, for all the reasons that I've just given. I'm sure that Vulcan would have no interest in seeing Earth destroyed and therefore I can't see any reason why they wouldn't want to help us in our fight against the Xindi.

The Vulcans have been involved in our space program for a long time. Making sure that we were ready to take the next step out into space. There to prevent us from being impulsive and making mistakes. I'm sure everyone knows the story of the years of modelling and testing that went on before we even lifted a ship off the ground, which was all due to our allies the Vulcans."

"Goddamn it!" said Trip, loudly. "He's portraying the Vulcans as our enemies while trying to make it look as if he's defending them."

"Everything that he said was true," said Hoshi.

"Yeah but he's putting the worst possible spin on it. The Vulcans aren't our enemies, Hoshi, and not all Vulcans are the same," said Trip.

"Maybe someone should point that out to the guy with the Molotov cocktail," said Hoshi. They watched the news feed as the peaceful protest turned into a riot.

"I hope T'Pol's okay," said Trip, a worried look settling on his face.

Archer, Enam and Shran stood outside the door to Gain's level.

"What can we expect?" asked Archer.

"Surveillance equipment mainly," said Enam. "Be careful, he is very quick this one."

Archer noticed that Shran was holding the hand that had been scratched by Rorna's sting, supporting it with the other. The hand had swollen slightly and seemed to have a greenish tinge to it.

"Shran, is your hand still giving you trouble?" asked Archer.

"It's painful, nothing more," said Shran dismissively.

Enam got out her scanner again. "The antidote I gave you isn't working exactly as it should," she said. "We should get you to a hospital where they can properly clear out the poison. The antidote is slowing its progress but I don't know how long you've got."

"We don't have time to worry about me," said Shran.

"Shran, that poison could kill you," said Archer.

"We all die some time, Archer. I'll take my chances with the Inner Sanctum. We're not leaving until we've got what we came for," said Shran.

Archer sighed. "Maybe if we use a tourniquet we can slow it down some more," he said pulling out a bandage from the first aid kit and tied it tightly around Shran's arm. "Come on then, let's get through this one as quickly as we can."

Enam pulled open the door and they stepped through into a brightly lit corridor with rows of doors down both sides.

"I was beginning to wonder if anyone paid their electricity bills in this place," said Archer.

"Gain likes to be able to see his prey," said Enam.

"Yes, I do," said a voice from behind them. The three intruders turned around to see one of the Tanu behind them. "I've been expecting you. Rorna was most upset with you, Enam."

The doors along the corridor opened and other Tanu entered, surrounding Archer, Shran and Enam.

"Gain," said Enam.

"Rorna is dead," said Shran, "I shot him myself."

"You may have shot him, but he isn't dead. However, he is very angry, blue," said Gain. "He'll probably pay me a fair bit of money for you. Of course, it's nice to see Enam again."

Archer turned to look at Enam, with a questioning look. "You didn't tell us that you knew Gain," said Archer.

"It's none of your business, Archer," said Enam.

"I would have thought that you'd be smarter than to show your tail around here ever again," said Gain. "I heard that you were back on the station, which was your first mistake. If I'd been you then I would never have set foot on Harrar again."

"I don't run from anyone," said Enam.

"What did you do with my property?" asked Gain, going up to Enam and looking her up and down.

"I don't have it," said Enam. "I was going to return it to you, Gain, I just got distracted."

"If you don't tell me where it is, then you know what will happen to you. I'll give you to Rorna with your friends. I'm sure he'll appreciate the free gift," said Gain.

"I told you, I don't have it anymore. I wanted to give it back to you but a girl's got to make a living," said Enam. "I'll pay you back, Gain. Make it up to you."

"You and I both know that's impossible, Enam. Lock them all up, while I wait for Rorna to come and collect his merchandise," said Gain.

Davis came into the Armoury. Reed was working on a torpedo assembly alone, he'd given the rest of the Armoury crew the night off. He hadn't wanted anyone to witness the foul mood that he was in or testify to the lie that he had told Trip that he was engaged in important repair work that couldn't be done by anyone else. He had turned Trip down for bridge duty this shift on Davis's instructions, which meant his sick friend was now doing double duty after a full shift in Engineering. Reed had never felt like such an utter bastard in his entire life.

"What do you want now?" asked Reed testily.

"I need some information from you," said Davis. "I want to know what these nanites are capable of."

"That information is classified. If it isn't in the reports then I can't tell you anymore," said Reed.

"Now that just isn't good enough, Malcolm," said Davis. "I need to know everything that you know. I need to know what they're capable of when it comes to protecting themselves."

Reed sighed. He didn't want to give Davis the information but what else could he do with Jessica in danger. At least he could keep an eye on Trip while he was on Enterprise and make sure no harm came to him while he worked out how to deal with this. He downloaded some encrypted files onto a padd for Davis.

"The nanites have several security features, some to protect themselves and some to protect the host. They run on bio-electrical energy produced by the host's body. They can convert that into an electric shock on contact. If removed from the host body they die after a few hours, they are coded to Commander Tucker's DNA so cannot be transferred to another host. They are not able to act on living material or glass, both limitations seem to be designed safeguards rather than limitations of the system," said Reed.

"And they are able to remotely access all computers?" asked Davis.

"In theory as long as the computer is compatible, although Trip had some difficulty accessing the Tien systems. He triggered a booby trap," said Reed.

"And, also in theory, the nanites are able to dissolve metal or change the structure of a material?" asked Davis.

"Yes, although I'm not sure Trip has realised that it can be done on a large scale yet. He's only tried it once to my knowledge and he wasn't exactly himself at the time. Later when we had to restrain him he didn't attempt to escape by using the nanites to break through the restraints," said Reed. He also thought that it was likely that such large destruction or transformation of objects sapped a lot of energy so wasn't practical always, however he wasn't going to tell that to Davis if he could help it. There was no need to give Davis any additional information that he hadn't asked for.

"How much control does he have over the nanites?" asked Davis. Reed hesitated. "Malcolm?" Davis prompted.

"Total control as far as I can tell," said Reed, grudgingly, "although I get the impression that his latest illness has meant that they don't always respond to his commands."

"When you needed to isolate the nanites you kept him in the brig," said Davis. "No doubt because of the additional shielding that provided."

"It's all in the reports," said Reed.

"I see that," said Davis, scrolling down the padd. "Thank you, Malcolm, you've been most helpful." Davis turned and left the Armoury.

Reed sank down behind his torpedo assembly. He had never felt so miserable in his entire life. Jessica was in danger, he'd betrayed his friend and he hadn't got a clue how he was going to sort this out. As Tactical officer he should be able to see a way out of it but for the life of him, he couldn't. The problem was that it wasn't his life on the line here. He had no problem sacrificing his own life to save others, what he was incapable of doing was allowing an innocent to die for a mistake which was his alone.

He pulled out the padd which had Jessica's message on it and played it again. He watched her as she spoke and noticed something.

"How the bloody hell did I miss that?" he said. He watched Jessica brush her hair out of her eyes and the shapes that her hand made. "Good girl, Jess." He took the file from the padd and transferred it to the main Armoury computer. Then he began to run it through some programs that would clean up any background sounds and would analyse the picture for anything that would help him find Jessica.

"I'm getting a feeling of déjà vu," said Archer. "Why is it that we find ourselves once again stuck in a jail cell?" He looked pointedly at Enam.

"Hey, it's not my fault that Rorna rang ahead and let Gain know that we were coming," said Enam.

"If it's not your fault, then who's is it?" asked Shran. "We hired you to get us safely to Ven Dath."

"I can't predict the unpredictable. I had everything set up," said Enam.

"Except you neglected to tell us that you knew Gain and he was looking for you. I bet the moment you walked into the Inner Sanctum alarms started going off," said Archer, pacing around their small cell.

"You never would have hired me if I'd told you, and I needed you," said Enam.

"You needed us?" said Archer.

"To get to Gain," said Enam. "I couldn't get through the lower levels on my own."

"So you used us," said Shran.

"On Harrar everyone uses everyone else, it's just a game to people like Gain, and Rorna, and your friend Ven Dath," said Enam.

"What exactly is it between you and Gain anyway?" said Archer. "He seemed very pleased to see you again, and not in a good way."

"I'm his mate," said Enam.

"And he threw you in prison?" asked Archer.

"The whole galaxy doesn't rest on human values, Archer," said Shran.

"Even on Tanu we don't usually throw our mates in jail," said Enam. "I took something that belonged to him."

"Why didn't you just tell him where it was?" asked Archer.

"Because I don't have it anymore," said Enam.

"What was it?" asked Archer. "What was it that has him so upset that he's going to give you to Rorna?"

"He trusted me. Left me in charge of his treasure room while he went out to pirate some ship. There's a particular piece that's his pride and joy. It's an alien artefact that he found on some planet. It's almost priceless, I doubt another like it will ever be found," said Enam. "It was a weapon. Gain had a lab set up and they were performing tests on it to find out what it did. He planned to use it to overthrow the Tanu government back home. I couldn't let him do that, hundreds of people would have been killed in his revolution. So I stole the weapon and handed it over to the government."

"Why did you come back?" asked Shran.

"I left something behind," said Enam. "My daughter."