Let the Dead Bury the Living
By Thalia Drogna
AN: Sorry that it's taking me a while to get chapters up at the moment, RL is just being difficult at the moment. On the positive side I did get to go to the UK Save Enterprise Rally and I met some really great Trek fans. If any of you are reading this, then this chapter is for you guys. Standing in the cold and wet, waving placards at passing buses, we must be the most dedicated Trek fans in the whole UK, and probably completely bonkers. If it had been "Save the Whales" I would have stayed home, but "Save Enterprise" (well, in my case "Save Trip"), and I'm there, go figure. It's official, Enterprise has taken over my life.
Anyway, on with the show.
Nash's residence in Switzerland was closer to a fortress than a chalet. Guards patrolled the perimeter fence and a state-of-the-art security system monitored the estate constantly.
It had taken Archer a little time to get a suitable sized force together. Admiral Forrest had personally vetted all the Security Officers that Archer had been assigned, which was why Archer had called him earlier. He would have been happier if he could have just used his own men but it was obvious that Nash was able to draw on a considerable force of manpower. He was well aware that he was dealing with corruption within his own organisation and that unsettled him distinctly.
Everyone wanted a piece of Senator Nash and the civilian authorities had sent their own team to help take down the prize. Attacks on Vulcan embassies were taken very seriously by the authorities. Archer worried that too many people were involved in this. He'd presented his evidence to Starfleet JAG and they had insisted on passing it on to the civilian authorities.
Archer's breath made clouds of steam in the cold air and his fingers were getting numb from holding his phase pistol. He looked over at Lieutenant Reed, hidden by the terrain around the chalet, and absolutely in his element. This was what the Lieutenant trained for and Archer was sure that even though Reed would never admit it, he enjoyed operations like this. Reed had told Archer that Trip had tried to come with him, but Reed had talked him out of it with Phlox's help. The medical quarantine was still in place, which meant that Trip wasn't allowed to leave Enterprise. Archer suspected that the strongest argument was that someone had to be left in charge of Enterprise and duty was a powerful motivator for Trip.
The fact that Trip refused to acknowledge just how ill he was worried Archer. It was typical of Trip that he didn't want to let anyone down and if that meant keeping going when he wasn't up to it, then he'd do it without question. Archer would be much happier when he was back on Enterprise and there to keep an eye on Trip. Unfortunately duty came first for Archer too and so he was stuck on Earth until Nash was safely in custody and all threat to the Vulcan alliance was neutralised.
Archer's communicator bleeped at him. "T'Pol to Archer."
"Go ahead T'Pol," replied Archer.
"The security system has been disabled," said his Science Officer.
"We go on my signal. Archer to Strike Force, move in."
He gave Lieutenant Reed a nod as he gave the signal. T'Pol's team was on the other side of the compound to make sure that no one escaped out the back of the building. The two teams moved in from both sides. And suddenly all hell broke lose. Archer joined the fray, using the available cover to get as close as he could. The guards were putting up a good fight, but Reed's Security team and the MACOs were slowly dealing with them. The numbers game was working in their favour and finally all the resistance outside the residence was dealt with.
The MACOs moved in to secure the stunned guards, while Archer, Reed and the Security officers moved inside. There was the sound of phaser fire and they hit the floor. Archer caught sight of T'Pol moving down the hall towards them, phaser in her hand, her back pressed against the wall. She indicated that their target was around the corner. Archer and Reed made their way to the other side of the doorway and signalled to T'Pol that they would move in together.
T'Pol fired around the door jamb and took down the guard, giving Reed cover to make his move. Reed took out a second guard as he made it to cover behind an armchair. Archer stepped through the door behind his officers and came face to face with Senator Nash. The Senator sat behind a large, ornate wood desk on which rested a view screen and a couple of padds.
"Hold it, Nash," said Archer. "Drop the weapon, or I'll be forced to fire."
"Archer, I should have known that your interfering would be behind this attack," said Nash, placing his phaser on the desk in front of him. "And Lieutenant Reed and T'Pol. Nice of you to join us. It seems the only one of you that's missing is Commander Tucker. I hope he's well."
"You know that he isn't," said Archer, picking up Nash's phase pistol.
"I know nothing of the kind. You have nothing which connects me to his kidnapping," said Nash.
"That's where you're wrong," said Archer. "The Vulcans have been keeping you under surveillance for months. They can place you on the weather station and we have the com logs. You're not wriggling your way out of this, Nash."
"You don't understand what you're doing, Captain. The Vulcans have been controllingEarth's actions for too long. We need to get out from under their yoke. This is our opportunity."
"TheVulcans do not control your actions, we merely advise," said T'Pol.
Nash laughed. "Really? That may be what you call it, but I call it manipulation. Where were the Vulcans when the Xindi killed six million people?"
"Just because you don't agree with the Alliance doesn't give you the right to attack the Vulcans," said Archer.
"I thought you were a player, Archer. It seems that I was wrong about that. Maybe I was wrong that you three needed to be removed from the field. Too late now," said Nash.
"What have you done?" asked Reed. "This was all a set-up, wasn't it? To get the Captain here?"
"No," said a strange sounding voice, from a doorway to the side of the three officers. "It was a set-up so that I could kill you, Malcolm. Of course Nash wanted me to kill you all and I'm happy to oblige if it furthers the cause. Thanks to you, when I'm done, there won't be a Starfleet officer left standing."
The three officers turned to see the shape of a man enter the room. He looked as if he was made of black, swirling, crude oil. Looking at him made Archer's eyes hurt.
"Davis," whispered Reed, just loud enough for Archer to hear.
"My god," said Archer. "What are you?"
"I'm sure that you thought you'd killed me. Unfortunately for me, I didn't die. Your explosion fused me with the nanites in the vat. I'm now more machine than man. And it's all your fault, Reed, which is why you're going to be first to die."
The man morphed into a tidal wave of black and enveloped Reed before he could do anything it. Reed struggled against the moving mass of black, collapsing to the ground under its onslaught, but he couldn't get a grip on anything. The black liquid slipped through his fingers and moved towards his nose and mouth. He felt black liquid flow into his throat and nose. He struggled for breath, knowing that he was suffocating. He vaguely heard Archer and T'Pol shouting and then a sibilant voice spoke.
"Now you know what it feels like to drown in a vat full of nano-machines. Squirming inside you, worming their way under your skin. Screaming for breath but they keep pulling you under and eventually there's no separation between you and them. They talk in your head, tell you how they're turning your body into theirs."
"Call him off," shouted Archer to Nash, his phase pistol still trained on the senator. "It's not Reed that you want."
"You don't understand your position. It's not about who I want. I have you all. And unfortunately, following Mr Davis' transformation, I have no control over him. He seems to have a grudge against your Lieutenant."
Reed's resistance was fading, his struggles growing weaker. Archer knelt beside Reed and tried vainly to help him pull the black squirming mass off his body.
"T'Pol, we've got to do something," said Archer.
T'Pol had her tricorder out and her fingers were moving over the keypad rapidly. Her eyes caught Archer's and he knew that she had something planned. She made a final key stroke and suddenly a piercing noise filled the air. Archer clamped his hands to his ears and the black mass rose up shuddering. Reed began coughing, turning onto his hands and knees, black liquid spilling from his mouth. The black mass transformed back into a man and then changed again as if Davis couldn't decide what shape he should take. Finally it was as if the nanites lost their cohesion and dissolved into a black puddle that rolled away and disappeared between the floor boards. When it had disappeared T'Pol shut off the noise.
"You're coming with us," said Archer, grabbing Nash by the arm and pulling him from behind his desk.
"I can assure you that he will be back," said Nash.
"Next time we'll be ready," rasped Reed, pushing himself up from the floor. T'Pol went to him and helped him up.
"It's over, Nash," said Archer.
"Oh it's not over," said Nash. "I'm going to let the dead bury the living."
"What the hell does that mean?" asked Archer.
"You'll find out," replied Nash.
"I intend to," said Archer, and he manhandled the senator from the room, phase pistol pressed into Nash's back. "T'Pol, get what you can from his computer. Malcolm, get the MACO's medic to have a look at you."
"I'm fine, sir. I'd rather help T'Pol," said Reed.
"Okay," replied Archer. "But when you're done, you're still getting checked out."
"Yes, sir," said Reed, and moved to Nash's desk. "I owe you a debt, Sub-Commander."
"No thanks are necessary," replied T'Pol, automatically. "I merely remembered that sound waves of the correct frequency had a profound effect upon the nanites."
"If you hadn't remembered, then I'd be dead," replied Reed, but he got down to work while T'Pol went to search the other rooms.
The computer required a little persuasion before he could log on but eventually he got the files open. Reed sifted through the files and suddenly he stopped. On Nash's computer was a list of codes that Reed recognised and that could only mean one thing. Nash was working for or with a section of Starfleet Intelligence that Reed knew well. A section that Reed had worked for some years ago and had hoped he would never come across again. Of course that would explain how Nash had found out about his affair with Jessica, Section 31 had a vested interest in keeping an eye on what Reed was doing.
Reed deleted the list of codes and a couple of other documents, and then downloaded the rest of the database for T'Pol. As long as Archer never heard of the existence of Section 31 then there shouldn't be a problem, otherwise Reed might find himself in a very awkward position indeed. It didn't surprise Reed at all that Section 31 were the ones who were behind this, it was exactly their style. The question was, would Nash give away everyone's secret? Reed suspected that he might not get the chance, he turned and dashed outside to catch up with Archer.
"Sir!" he shouted. Archer and some MACOs were loading Nash into the back of a prison transport.
Archer turned around at Malcolm's shout. "What is it, Malcolm?"
"Sir, it is possible that other members of Nash's group may try to kill him before he gets to trial," said Reed, his voice lowered. "We need to double security."
Reed, Archer and T'Pol returned to Enterprise, pleased that Nash was finally behind bars, but less happy that Davis appeared to still be alive. If you could call his current state alive.
Hoshi was waiting for them when the shuttle docked.
"Captain, Sub-Commander, Lieutenant, it's good to have you all back," said Hoshi. She looked very relieved to see them.
"Hi Hoshi," said Archer. "I thought Trip would be here to meet us. We were planning on celebrating the good news."
Hoshi took a deep breath. Archer met the eyes of his Communications Officer and knew something was wrong.
"What is it?"
"It's Commander Tucker," said Hoshi, quietly. "He's in sickbay. He collapsed."
"Is he okay?" asked Reed.
"He couldn't breathe. Phlox rushed him to sick bay," said Hoshi. "He said something about a lung infection, but you should probably get the details from the Doctor."
"I'm going to sickbay," said Archer.
"Lieutenant Reed and I will accompany you," said T'Pol.
Archer just nodded, appreciating that he wasn't the only one who needed to make sure in person that Trip was going to be okay.
Sickbay was quiet. Deathly still and quiet. Trip lay on a biobed on the far side of sickbay. He was unconscious and breathing pure oxygen through a cannula tube under his nose. His breathing was laboured and shallow. An IV line snaked its way into his right arm, the slow drips making their way down the tube and into Trip's vein.
Phlox sat working at his lab bench within easy reach of his patient should he be required.
"Ah you're back. I trust you were successful," said Phlox, standing as the three senior officers entered sickbay.
"Nash is in custody," said T'Pol.
Archer went over to Trip's bed. "They did this to him, didn't they?" asked Archer quietly.
"Indirectly," said Phlox.
"What caused his relapse?" asked T'Pol.
"He has a respiratory infection, pneumonia," said Phlox. "His captors increased his immuno- suppressant dosage and that left him vulnerable to illness. I was stepping the drugs back down, but it has to be done slowly to prevent other problems. He didn't tell anyone that he wasn't feeling well and Hoshi says that he only started coughing yesterday evening."
"Is he going to be okay?" asked Reed.
"If I had caught it earlier a stay in sickbay might not have been required. In a few days he should be up and about again," said Phlox. His face indicated that there was more and Archer wasn't going to like it.
"But…" said Archer anticipating Phlox's next phrase.
"I won't be clearing him for duty," said Phlox. "As long as the nanites are in his system then his health will not be up to long days spent in Engineering."
"So that's it, he won't be able to work again?" asked Archer.
"I won't tell you that his condition isn't serious. It is, but I have finished my work on the nanite removal process. I had an appointment with the Commander later today to discuss it," said Phlox.
"Then what are you waiting for?" said Archer. "If you can remove the nanites, do it."
"It isn't a simple cure," said Phlox. "It's a three month long course of chemotherapy. I can't guarantee that he'll be ready to return to work when Enterprise's repairs are finished, and the chemotherapy itself will not be pleasant. There is a chance that even after the therapy his health will have suffered so much that he won't be able to resume his duties on Enterprise. I need to discuss it with Mr Tucker and he needs to recover from the pneumonia before we can start."
"If we have to delay the launch by a month to make sure that Trip is well enough to come with us then that's what we'll do. I'm not letting Nash win this one. Not after everything that Trip's been through to get this far. We've just saved the whole damn planet, it's about time that they showed us that means something." Archer knew he was ranting. He was well aware that he was preaching to the converted, everyone in the room felt the same about making sure Trip was with them when they left port. It wouldn't be the same without him.
"Y'know, some of us are trying to get some sleep here," said a weak, raspy, voice. The sentence was followed by a painful sounding cough.
"Trip, I'm sorry, I didn't realise that you were awake," said Archer turning to look at his friend. Trip's skin was flushed and his eyes gave away the fact that he was in pain.
"I wasn't," replied Trip. "Phlox says he's going to give me my own biobed."
"I thought that was my dubious honour," said Reed.
"Lost your crown now, Malcolm," said Trip, with a smile, before he gave in to another coughing fit.
Phlox checked the monitors above Trip's head and adjusted the IV flow slightly.
"You'll be pleased to know that you are responding well to the antibiotics," said Phlox.
"About time something went right," said Trip, in little more than a whisper. His eyes closed and his breathing evened.
"He's asleep again," said Phlox, "and I think you should let him in peace. We can discuss everything else when he's feeling more up to it."
Nash's trial was set up swiftly. Starfleet wanted to be seen to be moving things along and there was some concern over their prisoner's safety. There was considerable discussion over who should run the trial. The question was whether it should be Starfleet JAG or the civilian authorities who prosecuted Nash. Given the nature of the crimes both had a claim, and the Vulcans had also insisted on getting involved, so in the end it was decided that a joint case would be brought. With Trip lying in sickbay, still worryingly ill, it was a procedural detail that Archer didn't really care about. The two prosecutors had arranged a meeting with him and T'Pol to go over the evidence, but he had insisted that they come to Enterprise. He didn't want to leave his ship at the moment, he felt he'd already been away too long. He was fighting battles on several fronts and, until he was called to give evidence, the trial of Senator Nash was low down on his list of priorities.
His discussions with JAG and Starfleet had paid off regarding T'Pol, she was to be offered her commission in Starfleet at the rank of Commander. She had also been offered Earth citizenship, which she was in the process of accepting. She would retain her Vulcan citizenship but at least now she would have the legal force of Starfleet and Earth behind her if the Vulcans ever decided to put her through a tribunal again. Given her resounding victory, Archer thought that it was unlikely they'd ever try that again, but he was happier knowing that T'Pol was in a stronger position now.
Then there was Lieutenant Reed, by far the most difficult battle that he had to fight. No one had suggested that Reed hadn't done something wrong. Everyone knew that he'd broken regulations. The evidence, one Ensign Jessica Carruthers, was still temporarily on board Enterprise in protective custody. Although Archer thought "protective custody" seemed to be turning into a honeymoon for the two officers involved. Every time he saw Malcolm at the moment he seemed to be with Ensign Carruthers, whether it was at breakfast in the mess hall or working in the Armoury.
Three days after Nash's capture, Archer took a call from Admiral Forrest.
"They're dropping the charges against Reed," said Forrest getting straight to the point.
"That's great news, Admiral, but why the sudden change in direction?"
"A number of things. Although there is a lot of photographic and video evidence against the Lieutenant, given its source, questions have been asked about its veracity. Secondly, Ensign Carruthers has refused to testify against him, so the prosecution are left without much to go on. They tried to locate witnesses to the alleged affair but no one is coming forward. It seems that Lieutenant Reed was well liked by his students and he and Ensign Carruthers were also very careful. Finally, and probably most importantly, Starfleet just don't want the scandal. It's bad enough that we're court-martialling the Senator with responsibility for Starfleet, without one of Enterprise's officers being convicted of fraternisation.
People know who the crew of Enterprise are. Schools are named after you, Jon. You're role models and heroes. Because of Enterprise, funding for Starfleet has been doubled. Even the Vulcans seem to be happier. If we court-martial Lieutenant Reed, Tactical Officer of our flagship, then it looks bad. Your crew is meant to be the best of the best, and this would look like we've made a mistake."
"So Lieutenant Reed gets to stay on Enterprise?" asked Archer.
"For the time being. Although if he puts a foot wrong, he will be court-martialled. Bad publicity or not. Enterprise won't have this special untouchable status forever. Just to make sure he's got the message, he's also being docked a month's wages, but I guess he can live with that."
"It's a lot better than the alternative," said Archer. He hadn't wanted to lose Malcolm to this.
Archer found Reed in the Armoury and broke the news to him. He knew that for Malcolm the news wasn't quite as obviously good as it was for his Captain. If he was still a Lieutenant that meant that the fraternisation regulations still applied and no more honeymoon for him and Ensign Carruthers. They had some choices, either they could break the whole thing off, one of them could leave Starfleet or they could get married. Archer knew that none of the choices were perfect solutions and the pair had some talking to do.
So with T'Pol and Lieutenant Reed now taken care of he could turn all his attention back to his final problem child. Starfleet still wanted Trip transferred off Enterprise. They hadn't given up on the tack that the nanites were dangerous, although the Lunar Research Station had been dropped from the discussion, to be replaced by a quarantine facility in San Francisco, but they were now also stating health grounds. Archer had to agree that at the moment Trip was too ill to serve on Enterprise and, until they had some idea whether Phlox's cure was going to work, Archer couldn't argue that he was going to get better. He could and did argue that Trip deserved the time he needed to recover and retake his position on Enterprise. He was sick because he'd been defending Earth and Archer rationalised that Starfleet owed him at least that much. It remained to be seen whether Starfleet would listen to him on that one.
The question of Columbia had also been raised. It was due to launch several months after Enterprise and it was much more likely that Trip would be well by then. Starfleet had suggested an alternative for Trip could be to transfer to Columbia, but Archer didn't want to lose his Engineer. Archer didn't think Trip would be as happy on Columbia either but at least it would mean Trip would be on a ship in a position worthy of his intelligence. It was better than being locked away in the Lunar Research Station or stuck at Research and Development.
Trip had made good progress against the pneumonia and, after three days, Phlox was releasing him to his quarters to rest. Which meant that several conversations needed to be had and all of them would be difficult. With this is mind Archer had agreed with Phlox that he should be present when Trip was released.
He strode purposefully into sickbay and found Trip struggling with his boots. Trip's chest was still painful, even after Phlox had cleared up the infection, and that made breathing and bending at the same time particularly tricky.
"Trip, you shouldn't be doing this," said Archer, pushing his friend into a nearby chair. "You're meant to be resting, not over exerting yourself trying to tie your shoelaces."
"Yeah, yeah," said Trip, as he sat back and let Archer tie his boots for him. "I feel like I'm five again. I can do stuff for myself, you know." He was breathing hard, his lungs still hadn't returned to full capacity yet.
"Trip, for once in your life, take the help that's offered," said Archer. "I don't just mean the shoelaces either. The reason you're here at all is because you pushed yourself too hard."
"The reason I'm here is because some SOB screwed with my immune system," replied Trip.
"But if you'd told Phlox that you were ill then you probably wouldn't have collapsed on the bridge in front of the Alpha shift. You weren't even supposed to be there. If you hadn't been working yourself too hard then you might not have caught the damn pneumonia in the first place," said Archer, pulling hard on the laces. "I told you what the rules were and you disobeyed them."
"I kind of saw them more as guidelines," said Trip.
"Well they weren't. Phlox has put his foot down and said that you have to stay off duty until the nanites are gone," said Archer.
Trip's face fell. "But Captain…"
"It's not up for debate. Starfleet HQ have agreed with him, and I do too," said Archer. "This is your health, Trip. You've been through so much this year. You can't push your body like this any longer, it's killing you and I refuse to stand by and watch you do this to yourself."
"You're treating me like I'm a child," said Trip, angrily.
"That's because you're behaving like one. I left you in Command of Enterprise and you made yourself ill, which means that I obviously can't trust you to take care of yourself and the ship. I told you what would happen if you didn't play by the rules, so you can't complain about the consequences." Archer paused to make sure that Trip took in just how serious this was. Sometimes his Chief Engineer did act like a petulant child, and Archer wasn't going let him get away with it this time. He needed to realise that he couldn't carry on running himself into the ground as a distraction from what was happening to him. Archer decided to change the subject. "Did Phlox talk to you about the nanites?"
"Yeah." Trip took a deep breath before continuing, obviously not really wanting to talk about his current health issues. "I have a choice of some really nasty drugs that are going to make me feel sick as a dog, and might not even work, or being poisoned slowly by the nanites. Neither of which sounds great."
"So did you make a decision about what you're going to do?" asked Archer.
"I can't give up without a fight, so I told Phlox I'd try the therapy. At least I should be free of the nanites by the end of it, even if I'm never well enough to serve on board a starship again," said Trip, his voice little more than a whisper. "Phlox says we can start in a few days, after I've got my strength back."
"That's good news," said Archer. He had wanted to get rid of the nanites as soon as he had heard that Trip had been infected with them. Despite his positive attitude he knew that the treatment was going to be hard on Trip and he worried that even if the nanites didn't kill Trip he was going to lose him another way.
"Yeah, I guess it is," replied Trip, noncommittally.
"Don't you want to get rid of the nanites?" asked Archer.
"I thought I did, but now it comes down to it, I suppose I'll miss them," said Trip in a small voice.
"You never cease to amaze me," said Archer. "You nearly die, twice, because of these things and you still want to keep them."
"I never said I was smart," replied Trip.
"Don't I know it," said Archer with a smile. Trip didn't smile back though.
"Enterprise is going to be ready for launch before I'm finished with my treatment. So I put together a list of people you might want to consider for Chief Engineer," said Trip, picking up a padd that lay on the biobed to hand to his Captain.
"Trip, you're my Chief Engineer and the only person I want in the job," said Archer.
"That's nice of you Captain, but Starfleet might not agree with you," replied Trip.
"You're not leaving unless you want to go," said Archer. "I'm talking to HQ about it and I'm confidant that they'll see things my way. We may have to delay the launch slightly but that's fine with me. This crew could do with the extra shore leave."
"I don't want to be a burden on you, Captain. You can't have a sick Chief Engineer on Enterprise," said Trip.
"We'll work something out. Come on, let's get you back to your quarters so you can get some rest."
AN #2: Having watched Divergence, I've had to slightly change the direction of this chapter. Nash always was working with Section 31 but how we find out is a little different from what I had planned. Now it fits with canon, which I do try to do occasionally.