Let the Dead Bury the Living
By Thalia Drogna
AN: Well done to everyone who spotted the Star Wars reference in the last chapter. There's another reference in the prequel to this story, Trip gets to borrow one of Leia's lines. Occasionally I can't resist throwing things in for people to spot.
Reed knew that he couldn't leave the vats of nanites for Davis' superiors to use for whatever scheme they had planned. He carefully modified the stun grenades that he was carrying so that they would overload and hopefully create a large enough explosion that the nanites would be destroyed. At the very least it would break the glass vats and release the nanites to cause havoc on the station.
His knee hurt like hell and he was barely able to support himself as he planted the grenades, one beside each of the vats. He was very pleased that he'd come well prepared for this mission. Now all he had to do was find the rest of the rescue party in time, before the vats blew and took half the station with them. If he'd been uninjured he wouldn't have even worried, but he wasn't sure whether he could move fast enough while his knee was causing him so much pain. He certainly intended on trying. He could almost hear Davis laughing at the prospect of Reed killing him only to die himself at his own hand. No, that was not going to happen.
Reed began to make his slow, painful way down the corridor towards the shuttle bay.
With Shran taking point, Archer and Hooper were able to concentrate on persuading Trip to walk and carrying him when he missed his footing. Hooper had given Shran the scanner that she had been carrying so that he could check the corridors ahead for life signs and movement. They moved forward as quickly as they could, but with Trip slowing them down they managed little more than a jog. The only blessing so far had been that they had met little resistance. They were almost at the shuttle bay doors when Shran held up a hand to stop them. They heard the sound of feet coming up behind them and took up defensive positions in a doorway.
There was the sound of phaser fire and T'Pol and her team dashed around the corner firing back at whoever was chasing them. T'Pol spotted Archer and she joined her CO in the doorway, crouching beside him.
"My apologies for our late arrival," said T'Pol. "As you can see we attracted some unwanted attention." The six guards who had been chasing them had taken cover behind some metal packing crates that were stacked in the corridor. Archer and T'Pol fired simultaneously back at one of the guards who had been stupid enough to stick his head up a little further than he should have. A full blown phaser battle was now underway in the corridor. Despite the contingent from Enterprise being larger, both sides had defensible positions that would be hard to over run.
"Did you find what we were looking for?" asked Archer, between phaser blasts and ducking into the doorway. He checked briefly that he had Trip well protected.
"Perhaps. We were also able to remove all data relating to the nanites from the database," said T'Pol.
"What about Nash?" asked Archer.
"Shuttle logs indicated that he departed for Earth yesterday," said T'Pol.
"Makes sense he'd be hiding elsewhere," said Archer.
"I was unable to uncover any evidence linking the Senator to this operation," said T'Pol.
"Maybe Trip can tell us something," said Archer.
"What is Commander Tucker's condition?" asked T'Pol.
"Not good. They've drugged him with something, he's fading in and out of awareness," said Archer. Trip seemed to be following something with his eyes but there didn't seem to be anything there. "Right now I'm more concerned with how we get to the shuttle bay."
"Of course," said T'Pol. "I believe you mentioned that you once used the stun setting to light a fire?"
"Yes, when Trip and I were stuck on that godforsaken desert planet that you and Malcolm pulled us off," said Archer.
"Perhaps we could destroy those packing crates in the same manner," said T'Pol.
"It's worth a try," said Archer and aimed his phase pistol at the crates that guards were hiding behind. The others saw what he was doing and added their own phaser fire to his effort. The packing crates began to glow red, and then white, and suddenly they exploded. The men who were hiding directly behind the crates were stunned by the explosion and flying debris, falling backwards into those who had been behind them. It was a simple matter for the Enterprise officers to take out the remaining guards who no longer had any cover to hide behind.
"Come on, let's get out of here," said Archer.
They were about to move on again when they heard a noise from around the next corner in the corridor. The rescue team all drew their phasers and pointed them towards the source of the sound. Lieutenant Reed limped around the corner and stopped suddenly in the face of the seven phase pistols all pointed at him.
"I had hoped for a better welcome," he said with the slightest trace of a smile on his lips.
"Malcolm! What happened?" asked Archer, noting the bruises, drying blood and pronounced limp.
"Lieutenant Davis gave me some trouble," said Reed.
"Where is he?" said Archer.
"Floating in one of the nanite vats. Very dead indeed I should think by now," said Reed. "How's Trip?"
"I don't know. Definitely drugged but we'll have to get him back to Phlox before we know more," replied Archer. "It looks as if you could use a visit to Phlox too."
"Archer, there's movement behind us," said Shran, looking down at the scanner in his hand. "We should keep moving."
"There's something else that you should know, I rigged the nanite vats to explode. I didn't want to leave all those nanites lying around for anyone to get their hands on," said Reed. "We've got about ten minutes before they blow."
"I guess I'll have to wait to hear about the rest of what happened," said Archer. "Do you think you can run?"
"I can try," said Reed.
"Lean on me," said Shran.
Reed was slightly surprised by the Andorian's offer, Shran didn't seem like someone who tolerated weakness but he nodded his agreement. Shran grabbed Reed around the waist and the Lieutenant threw an arm over Shran's shoulder.
Despite Trip and Reed slowing them down, they made it to the shuttle bay with five minutes to spare. Enam and Hooper secured Trip, making sure that he was still well wrapped in blankets. Archer and T'Pol were powering up the shuttle and readying to leave when they felt the vibration through the deck plating. It was unmistakably an indication of an explosion somewhere in the station.
"I thought you said ten minutes," said Archer accusingly.
"I must have miscalculated slightly," said Reed. "To be honest that's the first time I've turned a stun grenade into a bomb and I wasn't quite sure how it would work. I must remember that the timer is less accurate for longer periods of time when I next do it."
Archer heard Shran muttering something about trigger happy armoury officers just before he started up the shuttle and guided them out of the launch bay. Luckily Reed had been too preoccupied with working out how to improve his stun grenade bombs next time to pay attention to what Shran had said.
The shuttle trip back to Enterprise was uneventful, something which Archer was profoundly glad of. In many ways it worried him that the station hadn't launched other shuttles to follow them or tried to stop them some other way, but he guessed that they were too busy dealing with Reed's impromptu explosion. He knew that he was dealing with some very powerful people and their lack of further action only meant that they had won this battle. The war was still very much up for grabs.
Phlox was waiting for them in the shuttle bay with a gurney that they persuaded a dazed Trip to lie down on so that they could get him to sick bay. He still didn't really seem to know what was going on and his eyes wandered, never focusing on one thing for long, muttering quietly to himself and shivering. Two of Phlox's assistants wheeled Trip away towards sick bay, while another helped Reed to limp along behind. Reed stopped briefly to tell Ensign Hooper to make sure that Shran was kept under surveillance at all times.
"It looks as if you won't be requiring my services any further," said Shran, watching the group moving off towards sick bay. "I will bid you and Enterprise farewell."
"Shran, you're not going anywhere until you tell me what all of this is about," said Archer. "You turn up with an offer of help for no reason, I think I have you worked out when you try to take Ven Dath back to Andoria, but then you decide to come on the rescue mission and nothing I do will talk you out of it. Now you're just going to leave. You'll forgive me if I'm slightly confused."
"Is it so hard to believe that I wanted to help Commander Tucker?" asked Shran.
"Yes, it is. I trusted you once before and regretted it," said Archer. "I know you. You don't do anything without some benefit to you, even if it's only to help you sleep better at night."
"Being able to sleep at night isn't just about having my debts paid," said Shran, cryptically.
"Then tell me what else is going on," said Archer, staring intently at the Andorian.
"You can be very narrow in your thinking, Archer," said Shran. "Your petty worries aren't the only game in town."
"I've had it up to here with your riddles," said Archer, crossly. "When we were in the Expanse I told you to decide whose side you were on. Make up your mind, Shran. I don't care which side you come down on, so long as I know where I stand with you."
"I thought you would have realised by now, Archer. I'm on my own side," said Shran.
"I don't have time for this," said Archer. "When you're ready to explain what's going on, come and find me."
Archer strode out of the shuttle bay, T'Pol following him, heading towards sickbay.
"Whatever you're up to, Blue, I hope you know what you're doing," said Enam, climbing out of the stolen shuttle craft.
"That is not your concern," said Shran.
"When are you going to work it out?" asked Enam. "You've underestimated him. You keep underestimating him."
"I know first hand what Archer is capable of," said Shran. "For a pink skin he plays the game well, but he's an honourable man. He doesn't understand the necessities of war."
"Unlike you and I," said Enam with a hint of bitterness. "Take my advice, Commander Shran. Archer is the kind of man you either stand behind or get out of his way, because if you're in his way, you get trampled."
Phlox had his assistants place Trip on the scanner bed so that he could get a good picture of how the nanites were behaving.
"I'd prefer if he was asleep for this," said Phlox. "But given his condition and the amount of drugs that are already in his system, I don't want to sedate him. Has he been mostly calm?"
"Yeah, he's been pretty quiet apart from whatever it is that he's muttering. He was dozing on and off on the shuttle," said Archer. "He's been through a lot and I'd guess he's pretty tired."
"Maybe if we wait a bit he will go to sleep naturally," said Phlox. "Perhaps if he hears your voice that might help."
"Trip, we need you to go to sleep," said Archer gently. Trip stopped muttering and looked at Archer questioningly. "Do you understand? Sleep?"
"Sleep," said Trip, softly. "That'd be nice."
"You're safe now, just close your eyes and relax. We'll look after you," said Archer.
"Okay," mumbled Trip and, to Archer's amazement, he closed his eyes and after a couple of minutes was breathing in the even rhythm of sleep.
"I didn't think it would be that easy," said Archer.
"He's probably quite suggestible at the moment," said Phlox. "Once I have a full analysis of the drugs in his system, I'll be able to tell you more."
After Phlox had set the scanner going he used the time while they waited for it to complete its cycle to examine Reed. Archer sat on a chair beside Reed's bed, T'Pol had opted to monitor the progress of the scanner. It was obvious to the Denobulan that they were both trying unsuccessfully to hide their concern for Commander Tucker.
"A chipped patella," said Phlox after scanning Reed's knee. "I'm surprised you can even walk."
"When needs must, doctor," replied Reed.
"I expect that it's very painful," said Phlox loading a hypospray.
"You could say that," said Reed, wondering if Phlox knew he had an irritating habit of stating the obvious and just did it anyway to annoy him.
Phlox injected Reed with the painkiller. "Right let's do something about reducing the swelling. We may need to immobilise the knee to let it heal properly."
"For how long?" said Reed, with some alarm.
"It's not a very severe chip, so maybe only a week. There doesn't seem to be any ligament or muscle damage but it's always best to be sure," replied Phlox.
"Wonderful," said Reed miserably as he lay back on the biobed in defeat.
"Don't worry, Malcolm, Enterprise will still be here," said Archer, who had watched the whole scene from his front row seat.
"I know, but I'm not sure my sanity will be if I can't get around for a week," said Reed.
"You'll be perfectly capable of getting around on a pair of crutches," said Phlox.
"Yes, and I remember how frustrating it was last time," complained Reed. It was only when moving around was difficult that he had become aware of just how many doorways had lips on Enterprise and how much of his job was climbing around in jeffries tubes. He'd be stuck on light duties until the knee healed. Then he remembered that light duties were the least of his worries, it was perfectly possible that he might not have a job at all once the court martial was through with him.
"Let's have a look at your other injuries," said Phlox and moved on to clean and apply dressings to the rest of Reed's wounds.
By the time Phlox was finished the scanner had also completed its work. They moved Trip to a biobed while Phlox examined the scans.
"Well, doctor? How is he?" asked Archer, impatiently.
"He's been given various types of tranquilliser, no doubt intended to keep him docile and easily controlled. Given the build up of the drugs in his system, it looks as if he was given the tranquillisers for the entire duration of his captivity. They will take a while to leave his system, maybe a few days. Given the high dosages he's been given, the withdrawal will not be pleasant," said Phlox.
"What else?" asked Archer, trying to control his anger but not succeeding entirely.
Phlox gently pulled back the blanket from Trip's shoulders to reveal three small angry red round marks on his left shoulder. "I saw these earlier but didn't realise what they were. They're marks from a hypospray that contained some sort of temporary nerve toxin," said Phlox. "The poison burned the skin as it entered."
"He was tortured," said T'Pol, flatly.
"That is the only conclusion that I can draw. There is no medical reason for this," said Phlox.
"What about the nanites?" asked Archer.
"They increased his dosage of immuno-suppressant, which means his tolerance to the drug has increased. We have less time than I thought to perfect the removal of the nanites. In general the nanites are behaving very oddly, they seem to have altered their state which may mean they can no longer communicate with the Commander but I'll have to wait until he wakes up to test that hypothesis. However what worries me more is that in order to change the nanites' state they would have had to have reprogrammed them," said Phlox.
"Which would have necessitated the use of sound modulation equipment," said T'Pol.
"Those irresponsible…" said Archer. "They could have killed him."
"They almost did," said Phlox, "there are indications of medical intervention which would be consistent with the need to restart the Commander's heart. It is likely that they encountered the same electrical activity that we did whilst performing the experiment. It's going to take him some time to recover from this."
Everyone was concentrating on Trip, no one had noticed that Reed had turned on his side away from them and closed his eyes. He would have rather been anywhere other than sick bay at the moment, with the evidence of his wrong doing lying on the biobed right beside him. Trip could have been killed, in fact almost had been, because of his betrayal.
"T'Pol, we are going to get to the bottom of this, if it's the last thing that I do," Reed heard Archer say. Then Archer told Phlox to contact him when Trip woke up and he and T'Pol left to look at the data she had collected.
Reed took in a long breath and sighed, at least Trip was safely home again. At least he was among his real friends. And as long as Reed stayed away from him, he should stay safe.
T'Pol put the data up on the screen in the Command Centre.
"They had managed to gather complete internal plans of the ten most important Vulcan compounds on Earth," said T'Pol. "Not only that but it appears that they had also collected accurate staff rotation data."
"Who was going back to Vulcan and when?" asked Archer.
"Exactly," said T'Pol, "which points to a conspiracy to attack Vulcan compounds on Earth and perhaps Vulcan itself."
"So they would infect the Vulcans who were going home with technology destroying nanites and then the nanites would do Nash's work for him," said Archer. "Vulcan would probably declare war on Earth, if they were still able to function with nanites multiplying and destroying all the technology on the planet."
"That would also be my hypothesis," said T'Pol.
"But why?" asked Archer. "Vulcan is our ally."
"There is a large xenophobic movement on Earth following the Xindi attack," said T'Pol.
"But Nash doesn't strike me as a reactionary xenophobe and he wasn't working alone. There has to be more to it. Where's Senator Nash now?" asked Archer.
"His whereabouts is unknown," replied T'Pol. "I have given the weather station com logs to Ensign Sato. She may be able to gain some useful information from them regarding his location."
"He wasn't on the space station, so where is he hiding?" asked Archer, mostly to himself.
"He has no reason to hide. We have no conclusive evidence to link him to this plot," said T'Pol.
"I know, but I'm certain he's behind this," said Archer. "Damn, he's covered his tracks well. I need Malcolm for this. Detective work is more his area."
"He should be able to take on light duties tomorrow if he wishes to, according to Phlox," said T'Pol.
"Strictly speaking I should have shipped him back to Earth for court martial, in fact I should have done that the moment I discovered his affair with a junior officer. I wish there was an alternative, T'Pol."
"That is understandable," said T'Pol. "However, he must answer for his actions just as I must answer for mine."
"I think Starfleet can wait for their blood until Malcolm is properly healed. What did the Vulcan council in San Francisco say about your Dohn Zhu?" asked Archer.
"They were displeased that I did not return to Earth on time. However, I explained that I was required here to fulfil my duties as your first officer. They noted that it will count against me but they have given me another two days before I must return to the Vulcan compound for their pronouncement of the verdict," said T'Pol.
"Well at least they didn't declare you guilty in absentia," said Archer.
"Duty is important to Vulcans. If I can present them with evidence that I required the extra time to protect Vulcan then I may be able to persuade them that the delay was justified. I would also like you to accompany me on this occasion, if you can spare the time."
"You want me to go with you?" asked Archer, a little perplexed by T'Pol's request.
"I believe Earth is where you will find what you need to bring a case against Senator Nash," said T'Pol. "Someone gave these plans to Senator Nash and in order to retrieve this level of data, it could only have been a Vulcan."
"Why would a Vulcan allow an attack on his or her own people?" asked Archer.
"Not all Vulcans are in agreement with our current policy regarding contact with humans," said T'Pol, "although given what I have discovered I would think it unlikely that they knew the full extent of the plan. Also if I am to be returned to Vulcan then I would like to say goodbye to a representative of my colleagues from Enterprise."
Then the com sounded.
"Phlox to Archer," said the doctor.
"Archer, go ahead," replied Archer.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news," said Phlox. "Ven Dath is dead. I did everything that I could but his injuries were too severe."
"I'm sure you did your best, Doctor. Did he complete the nanite removal procedure?" asked Archer. He felt guilty that a man had just died and he was pressing Phlox for details of his work, but they didn't know how much time Trip had now.
"No, it isn't complete, I'm doing my best to extrapolate the remains of the formula but only extensive testing will tell me if I've got it right," replied Phlox.
"Get on it, Doctor, we're up against the clock on this," said Archer.
"Of course, I have already begun the work," said Phlox. "I also thought that you might be interested to know what Commander Tucker was saying when he was brought into sick bay. It was binary code."
"Binary code?" asked Archer, "ones and zeroes?"
"Exactly," replied Phlox. "I was able to take a recording. He's been talking in his sleep as well."
"What does it mean?" said Archer.
"I don't know, I'm afraid. I suspect the only person who does know what it means is the Commander himself," said Phlox.