Let the Dead Bury the Living

By Thalia Drogna

Archer and his team wound around labyrinthine corridors, keeping out of sight of the station's workforce who were still oblivious to their presence. However, it wasn't long before they encountered resistance in the shape of some heavily armed guards. Around a corner they could see an opaque glass cell, probably where Trip was being held. They watched as people entered the cell and left again. One of them was Lieutenant Davis, Archer could hear Reed grinding his teeth as they watched Davis check in with the guards before moving off down the corridor towards the control room.

They pulled back slightly to assess their options and ducked down a corridor that was lined with glass vats of a strangely moving black liquid. Reed recognised them as vats of nanites immediately. A metal walkway ran across the top of the vats and crossed the corridor, leading to another doorway on the upper level. Pieces of equipment, probably for monitoring the vats, were spaced at intervals along the walkway.

"This is the nanite storage area," said Reed. "There must be billions of nanites here."

"T'Pol's scans were right then," said Archer, looking curiously at the vats. Something about the way that the liquid moved in the vats was distinctly unsettling.

"As interesting as this science project is," said Shran sarcastically, "we are working to a deadline."

"You're right. How are we going to do this?" asked Archer.

"We don't really have any choice but to go for a head on attack," said Reed.

"We already have the advantage of surprise," added Shran, "two guards and a few scientists should be no problem."

"Except that they have Trip and might try to use him as a hostage," said Reed.

"If they can't see us coming then it shouldn't be a problem," replied Shran.

"The guards can still see us, even if the people inside the cell can't," said Reed.

"Then we had better take them down before they can alert anyone inside the cell," said Shran with a hint of impatience.

"Agreed," said Archer, stepping in before Reed could reply. "Let's make this quick and get Trip out of here."

"Yes, sir," said Reed.

Shran's antennae twitched. "Someone's coming," he said. "Take cover."

Suddenly, a group of guards led by Lieutenant Davis appeared at the end of the corridor. "There they are, kill them," said Davis. The guards wasted no time in opening fire on the small group who threw themselves against the wall. Reed using the steps up to the walkway as somewhere to snipe from. He took down several guards but more seemed to appear.

"Sir!" Reed shouted to Archer. "We can use the walkway to get out and then double back to get Trip. I'll cover you."

Archer nodded and made a dive for Reed's position. He waved for Shran and Hooper to join him and they too made it to the stairs. They gradually edged up the stairs whilst keeping the guards pinned so that they couldn't follow.

"Get going, sir," said Reed. "I'll hold them here."

"Malcolm…" began Archer.

"This mess is my responsibility, let me deal with it," said Reed, before Archer could get any further.

"Be careful," said Archer. They were under fire and running out of time, this was not the rightmoment to pick an argument with his stubborn Armoury Officer. "We'll see you in the shuttle bay."

"Yes, sir," said Reed and he kept up a steady rate of fire while the others made their escape. However, Davis had spotted Archer, Shran and Hooper leaving and Reed watched in dismay as Davis ordered his men to go back and guard the cell.

"It's just you and me now, Reed. I think it's time we had it out between us, don't you?" shouted Davis, his Northern Irish accent sounding harsh in the confined space of the corridor.

"It ends here, Davis. You're a disgrace to the uniform," replied Reed.

"My bosses wouldn't agree with you," said Davis, "I'm useful to them and we're as much Starfleet as you are."

"I don't care what you think. Starfleet is not in the business of kidnapping and extortion. The man you're holding is a good friend of mine and he's twice the man you'll ever be," said Reed. "He's the kind of man that makes Starfleet an organisation that I'm proud to be part of."

"It's a terrible shame then that you won't be part of it for much longer," said Davis.

"I'm willing to pay for my mistakes. The question is, are you?" said Reed.

Davis stepped out from his hiding place, his phase pistol in his hand. He moved towards Reed's position, climbing up the steps to the walkway where Reed hid, watching for Reed to make even the slightest move.

"I don't make mistakes," said Davis, "but you did when you didn't get out of here with your friends."

Reed stood, holding his phase pistol on Davis. The two of them stood looking at each other, grey eyes meeting green in an unwavering stare of pure hatred for one another.

"It seems we have an impasse," said Reed.

"I don't need a phase pistol to beat you, Reed," said Davis and threw his weapon into one of the vats of nanites. "Now are you going to prove that you are the coward that I think you are, or face me in a fair fight."

Reed had his suspicions that the fight would be anything but fair but he too discarded his phase pistol into one of the vats of nanites. The weapon sank slowly into the black pool of moving liquid and was quickly dissolved by the hungry nanites. Before he had a chance to think, Davis had barrelled into him and now both men rolled on the floor trying to gain the upper hand. Reed landed a good punch on Davis' jaw and pushed his attacker off him while Davis reeled from the blow.

Reed leapt to his feet and into fighting stance as Davis did the same. They moved into a familiar rhythm of punch and block, each as fast as the other. Reed reminded himself that Davis had been through exactly the same training programs that he had, it was almost as if he was fighting himself. Except Davis hadn't spent the last year chasing Xindi in the Expanse, nor had he played hide and seek around Enterprise's corridors with Xindi insectoids, or fought Xindi reptilians on a sphere weapon that was attempting to destroy Earth. Reed had an edge of experience that had been hard won during his time on Enterprise.

Reed aimed a sweeping kick at Davis' left leg and his opponent went down as he'd planned, but when Reed went to complete the move by following up with an arm lock, Davis was already rolling out of the way. Davis caught Reed in the ribs with a sharp blow from his elbow. It was exactly the move that Reed would have made had he been in Davis' position and it hurt like hell. While he was down, Davis took the opportunity presented by Reed's weakened state and kicked him in the stomach. It reminded Reed of fighting Hayes, the MACO Major had known every move and counter in the book. Then he remembered how he'd beaten Hayes.

"What was that?" Hayes had asked as he lay panting on the floor where Reed had just thrown him.

"Just a little Klingon move that I picked up," Reed had replied. Hayes had barely been able to pick himself up off the deck to get ready for another round.

Reed realised that he knew how to beat this man. Stop thinking Starfleet, start thinking alien. He rolled to his feet and tried out some Vulcan martial arts that T'Pol had taught him. He aimed a well placed kick at Davis' stomach and caught the Lieutenant off guard. Davis fell backwards onto the railing. Reed now attacked with a series of punches, using his smaller size to give him more speed against Davis, keeping out of range of his attacks until he knew where to place his own. He had no doubt that T'Pol would be lecturing him now on conservation of energy but he didn't have time to stick to all the precepts of the Vulcan martial art.

Reed could tell that Davis was having more difficulty now, he'd barely managed to block Reed's punches and the kick had completely wrong footed him. Reed followed up his advantage with a chop to his opponent's shoulders and then he closed both hands around Davis' throat and began to squeeze. Davis lent back dangerously over the railings, hanging over the vats of nanites below which roiled with dark black turbulence. Reed could see the panic in Davis' eyes as he realised the position that Reed had him in.

Suddenly Davis kicked out and Reed thought he'd given away his advantage as pain exploded in his right knee. He cried out but didn't loosen his hold on his enemy, however Davis now had a grip on Reed and was intent on taking him over the railings. Davis pulled on Reed, jerking him hard so that he lost his footing and he was thrown over Davis towards the seething blackness below. Reed kept hold of Davis, pulling the Lieutenant with him as he fell, releasing his grip when he realised he needed both hands to stop his fall. Reed threw out a hand and grabbed the support strut for the railings, saving himself just a few feet above the nanite vats. However, Davis had followed Reed over the metal bars and hadn't been so lucky, he fell into the black swirling fluid. Reed watched as Davis tried first to swim in the liquid and then clawed at the impossibly high and slippery sides of the vat before he disappeared under the surface. Davis was drowning, his nose and mouth filling with cloying blackness which wormed its way into his body. He managed to rise once more, his hand pathetically held out in desperation, before the nanites closed over his head with a finality and hunger that made Reed's stomach rebel.

Reed hung from the walk way trying to control his nausea, his shoulders beginning to ache with the exertion of hanging on. There was nothing he could do for Davis, the nanites would already be infecting him and Reed had no wish to join him in the vat below. He reminded himself that these things were running through Trip's body and that was why he was here. He used his remaining strength to pull himself back up onto the walkway and he rolled over on to his back, breathing hard. He pulled himself up by the railing, his knee protesting when he tried to place weight on it. This was going to make the rest of the mission very painful but at least one obstacle had been dealt with.

T'Pol, Enam and the two Ensigns moved carefully through the metallic corridors of the weather station towards the control centre and the computer core. T'Pol knew that she was the only one who stood a chance of completing this part of the mission, logically she was the one who had to do this, however she still found herself unhappy that she would not be there personally to find Commander Tucker. It was not logical, she realised that. Undoubtedly it was a reaction which the Dohn Zhu would have gladly latched onto as proof that she was not thinking clearly. However to her it was a simple thought process; she needed to see Commander Tucker as soon as possible, ascertain that he was indeed safe, that meant she had to accompany the rescue party.

So she had. And she found she did not care that the Dohn Zhu would find her guilty in her absence, because even if they sent her back to Vulcan, she would know that her friend was safe once again.

She moved down the corridor with a graceful motion that didn't use an ounce more energy than required, Enam following close behind, the two Ensigns bringing up the rear. So far Enam's exceptional hearing and sense of smell had saved them twice from being discovered, but now they were faced with the entrance to the control centre with two well armed humans guarding it.

T'Pol turned to indicate to Enam her plan for dealing with the guards, however the Tanu was gone. T'Pol glanced back towards the guards and saw Enam approaching them. She couldn't believe that Enam was being so reckless, surely she knew that they would most likely shoot her on sight. T'Pol watched in disbelief as Enam walked right up to the first guard and ran a long finger down the side of his face while she said something very quietly and caught the eye of the second guard.

Both guards were obviously stunned by her appearance but neither of them had yet moved to shoot her. T'Pol really couldn't believe her eyes as Enam put a hand on the chest of the second guard and pushed him against the wall while she kissed him passionately. She had her other hand in a place that T'Pol considered inappropriate. Enam moved so that she stood between the two guards and held out her hand to the first guard. The guard took it and raised it to his lips to kiss. Suddenly the hand had turned into a fist and was flying towards the guard's eye. As her fist connected with the first guard, she had whirled and planted a kick in the midriff of the second guard. He doubled over in pain as she followed up with a second kick and a blow to the head which knocked him against the wall hard enough to send him into unconsciousness. The first guard had obligingly hit his own head on the wall as he had fallen from the force of Enam's first punch and now lay in a crumpled heap at Enam's feet.

"Suckers," she said, standing over the two unconscious guards. "You can come out now," she added to T'Pol and the two Ensigns.

"That was extremely reckless," said T'Pol. "You should have consulted with me before you decided upon this course of action."

"It worked, you should be thanking me," said Enam.

T'Pol wondered what had possessed the Captain to allow this Tanu trouble-maker to accompany them on this rescue mission. Obviously pairing a hot blooded Tanu with a logical Vulcan would cause friction. T'Pol took a deep breath and delved deep inside herself for control of the emotions that wanted to emerge.

"That may be the case," said T'Pol, "but I am still in charge of this mission and you will follow my directions or you can meet us in the shuttlebay."

"What's the big deal? I dealt with the guards, let's move on," said Enam. "I'm only here because I owe your Captain one, so just remember that I'm not under your command."

"It is illogical not to work together," replied T'Pol.

"It may be illogical, but it's what was needed," said Enam. "Next time I'll ask permission first, happy now?"

"Vulcans cannot be happy, but I am satisfied that you will not endanger this mission further," said T'Pol. She turned to Ensign Prior. "How many occupants are there in the control room?"

"Five," said Prior, looking down at his scanner. "None of them appear to be armed."

"Set your phasers on stun," said T'Pol. "Ensign Scott, tie these men up and then we will be ready to take the control room."

"Yes, Sub-commander," replied Ensign Scott.

Moments later five scientists lay stunned on the floor of the control room and Ensign Scott stood guarding the door and their two prisoners. T'Pol sat down at one of the consoles and began the process of cracking the station computer. The encryption was heavy and she was having difficulty pinning down the exact key that she needed. Enam came and sat down at the console beside her own and looked over her shoulder.

"You could try this," said the Tanu, tapping a couple of keys. Data now scrolled down the screen for T'Pol to view. She directed an interested look at Enam, one eyebrow raised in question. "Even thieves need to be able to use a computer," she said in explanation, "not everything that I stole was locked up in a vault."

"I see," said T'Pol, turning back to the screen. "Perhaps you could help me with finding and downloading the information that I require."

"No problem," said Enam and the two women went to work in earnest.

Ten minutes later they had downloaded considerable amounts of information on the nanites and were finding more as they dug deeper into the database. Once they had everything that they needed they would erase the database.

"This is most peculiar," said T'Pol. "It appears that they have plans of all the major Vulcan consulates on Earth and lists of staff rotations."

Then T'Pol realised that their whole plan was laid out before her.

Archer, Shran and Hooper made their escape swiftly from the nanite storage room and looped back to the cell. They watched as guards ran to take up position around the cell.

"This wasn't what I had in mind when we discussed getting Trip out of here quietly. How did they know we were here?" whispered Archer to Shran.

"When we walked into the nanite storage room, I thought I picked up a high pitched hum. We must have tripped a sensor," said Shran.

"Why didn't you say something?" asked Archer.

"I did," said Shran.

"Yeah, sure, after it was too late," said Archer.

"I didn't realise what it was until the guards arrived. Just because I hear something doesn't mean I know what it is," said Shran.

"Well we're stuck with the situation, how do we deal with it?" replied Archer.

"Sir, I have the stun grenades," said Hooper.

"No, we can't risk hitting Commander Tucker. We don't know what condition he's in," said Archer. Stunning a healthy person was one thing, but stunning someone who was already weak from illness could kill them.

"Reed has their leader occupied," said Shran, "we should take advantage of that. I could create a diversion while you and the Ensign get Commander Tucker."

"What did you have in mind?" asked Archer.

"This," said Shran, and leapt up before Archer could stop him. He fired at two of the guards and raced off down the corridor being pursued by at least half the cell guards, leaving the others in complete disarray.

"He certainly has courage," said Hooper.

"What good will it do us if he gets himself killed?" replied Archer, crossly. "Come on, let's get Commander Tucker out of here. Shran will just have to meet us in the shuttle bay."

Archer and Hooper stunned the remaining guards who were far too busy wandering what had just happened to notice the two Enterprise officers sneaking up on them. Archer found the key card to open the cell door and pulled it open.

He hadn't known what to expect when he opened the cell door but he had mentally prepared himself for the worst, however when he saw Trip, he couldn't move for a second. Trip lay on a bed, strapped down by his wrists and ankles in his underwear. He was shivering and pale, staring up at the ceiling and mumbling something that Archer couldn't quite catch. Hooper entered the cell and Archer was jerked back into action. He moved over to the side of the bed and began to work on the restraints around Trip's wrists.

"Trip, can you hear me?" said Archer urgently, truly concerned for his friend. Trip blinked, stopped mumbling and moved his head with obvious difficulty. He squinted at Archer.

"Trip, your eyes," said Archer. The pupils were so large that they almost completely obscured his blue irises. He knew what it meant and he didn't like it. "What have they been doing to you?"

"Captain?" asked Trip, quietly.

"Yeah, it's me. We'll have you out of these in a minute," said Archer, unbelievably pleased to see that Trip had recognised him.

Finally he had the restraints around Trip's wrists free and he threw them open, while Hooper did the same to the ones around Trip's ankles. Archer got a good look at the bloodied bandages around Trip's wrists and ankles and found himself getting very angry. "I promise you, they will pay for this," he said to his friend. Trip just looked at him blankly. Archer was perturbed to hear that he was mumbling again. Something was very wrong and the sooner they got Trip back to Enterprise the better.

"Do you think you can stand?" Archer asked Trip as he helped his friend to sit up. Trip sagged against Archer, resting his head on Archer's shoulder, still shivering. He didn't seem to have heard the question. Archer decided that there was no way that Trip was going to be able to stand on his own. "Ensign, see if you can find a blanket or something."

Hooper nodded and went to see what she could find. She returned a couple of minutes later with a white blanket that Archer wrapped around Trip.

"Let's get out of here," said Archer. He put Trip's arm over his shoulder and helped him off the bed carefully. Hooper moved to support Trip on the other side. It wasn't going to be easy getting to the shuttle bay with Trip barely able to walk but they didn't have a choice.

"Hold it right there," said a voice from the doorway. Archer turned to see a guard at the door, holding a phase pistol on the three of them and neither he nor Hooper were in any position to jump him or even draw their own weapons. Archer stood completely helpless and angry that he had allowed himself to be surprised this way.

Then the guard made a small "oof" sound and was crumpling to the floor.

"That's one you owe me," said Shran, standing in the doorway with his phase pistol drawn.

"What took you so long?" asked Archer.