Let the Dead Bury the Living
By Thalia Drogna
Mayweather made it back to Enterprise in good time. He was well aware that Archer wanted to get back as soon as possible so that he could check on Commander Tucker. The Commander had become a rather forlorn looking figure in the ships corridors, who occasionally made it down to the mess hall when he had the strength to do so. Other than that Hoshi, Travis and Malcolm had to make a concerted effort to drag him out of his cabin and they did their best to make sure that he ate even when he wasn't feeling up to going to the mess hall.
The Captain had been unusually quiet on the return journey. Mayweather guessed that he had a lot on his mind at the moment.
He approached Enterprise on his usual vector and reached out to hail them.
"Shuttlepod One to Enterprise," said Mayweather. He waited to hear Hoshi's dulcet tones telling him that he was cleared to dock, but no reply was forthcoming.
"Shuttlepod One to Enterprise," he tried again. Still no answer.
"Is there a problem, Ensign?" asked Archer.
"I think we've got a broken radio, sir," said Mayweather. "I guess we'll just have to wait until they notice that we're here."
"Looks like we won't have to wait too long," said Archer. The doors to the shuttle bay in front of them began to slowly open, lights flashing to either side of the gap.
Mayweather guided them in and set them down on the deck. Behind them the doors closed and they waited while the bay pressurised before Mayweather cracked open the hatch. Mayweather stepped out onto the deck plating and was greeted by a wall of phase pistols held by Lieutenant Reed and four of his Security officers. Archer stepped out of the shuttlepod rather more slowly.
"What's going on, Malcolm?" asked Archer.
"Step away from the pod, sir. We have reason to believe that you have a stowaway on board," said Reed, not dropping his phase pistol even slightly.
Archer and Mayweather moved so that they were behind Reed and his men.
"T'Pol's nanite detector went off just as you lifted from the shuttle pad," said Reed, quietly.
"Davis," said Archer with venom.
"Exactly," said Reed.
"Then where is he?" asked Mayweather.
"Hiding," replied Reed. "Sir, you and Ensign Mayweather should leave the shuttle bay." He pulled out his communicator.
"Why?" asked Archer.
"It could get a bit uncomfortable in here," said Reed. He flipped the communicator open. "Thirty seconds, Hoshi, then activate."
"Acknowledged, sir," came the cool reply.
Archer watched Reed pull out ear plugs from the top pocket of his uniform. He suddenly realised what was about to happen and pushed Mayweather through the hatch and into the corridor. He pulled the hatch shut behind him, just as the piercing sound echoed across the shuttle bay. He heard the sound of phaser fire from inside the shuttle bay and then the door was pulled open again and Reed's men hurried through, followed by the Lieutenant.
"He's managed to access our systems. The shuttle bay is depressurising," said Reed, pulling out his ear plugs. "He's also found some way to counteract the sound waves. He was able to keep moving this time although he was obviously in some discomfort."
Archer went to the wall communicator. "Archer to bridge. Stop shuttlepod one from leaving the launch bay."
"Yes, sir," said Hoshi. "I'm locking down the launch bay doors." There was a pause and then Hoshi contacted them again. "Sir, I can't lock down the doors. Someone is overriding my codes."
"Are the nanites capable of that?" asked Reed.
"The nanites seem to be capable of almost anything when it comes to technology," said Archer. He thumbed the com switch again. "Hoshi, let him go, but track the shuttle. I want to know where he lands."
"Yes, sir," said Hoshi.
"He's not getting far in that shuttle," said Mayweather.
"Why not?" asked Reed.
"It only had enough fuel left for one more trip down to Earth. Standard procedure in case of emergencies to have enough fuel to retrace your steps, but we never carry more than that," replied Mayweather.
"So he has to go back to Earth," said Archer.
"Yeah and he'll have to land on the hemisphere facing us at the moment, probably not too far away from Starfleet HQ," added Mayweather.
"I don't understand why he came to Enterprise," said Reed. "I'm due to go back down to Earth for a weapons training seminar next week. He could just have waited. If he was trying to kill the Captain then he had ample opportunity whilst you were at Headquarters."
"There is one person who has been on Enterprise ever since the trial collapsed," said Archer. "I think he came for Trip."
Reed paled visibly. "Tying up loose ends," he muttered, Archer just catching it. "The hunted is also apparently out hunting," he said at audible volume.
Reed mentally kicked himself for not realising that Trip would still be a target. If he knew anything about his former employers then it was that they would never leave unfinished business. Trip had been held at a Section 31 medical facility for several days and seen things, people, that they would probably rather he hadn't seen. Hence the nanites' attempt to kill him following his failure to destroy the Vulcan compound. It all made rather chilling sense now.
"Lieutenant, call Headquarters and tell them that no shuttles are to leave Earth for Enterprise unless they've been scanned for nanites by Commander T'Pol," said Archer. "If they have a problem with that then refer them to Admiral Forrest."
"Yes, sir," said Reed, he was about to carry out the order when he paused and turned back to Archer. "I hesitate to suggest this, sir, but as your Tactical Officer I feel I have a duty to provide you with all the options. There is a way that we could use this to our advantage. Now that we know who his target is, we could kill two birds with one stone."
"You're talking about putting the life of one of my crew in danger, Lieutenant," said Archer.
"It may be the only way that we're going to catch Davis," said Reed.
Archer sighed. He had a nasty feeling that Malcolm was right. "Not a word about any of this to Commander Tucker," he said to the assembled group of officers. "He doesn't need any more stress. Lieutenant, you and I will talk later about this."
After a long conference, Archer and Reed made their way to Sick Bay and a meeting with Doctor Phlox. Phlox was tending to one of his creatures, a brown feathery thing that looked like a cross between a baby ostrich and a pterodactyl. It seemed it had managed to damage a wing and Phlox was attempting to splint it.
"We need to speak with you about Commander Tucker," said Archer, coming over to the bench where Phlox was working.
"I take it that you have seen his current condition for yourself," said Phlox. He carefully placed the winged creature back in its cage where it flapped angrily at the doctor.
"I was hoping that you could tell me more about how he's doing," said Archer.
"Well, there isn't much I can tell you. Ven Dath's formula is destroying the nanites. His daily nanite count is down by a third from where we started which is what I would have expected for about this stage in the treatment," said Phlox, showing Archer the numbers. Reed stood to one side, his arms folded across his chest. He had already seen the day's nanite count and been disappointed by it.
"That's good news, but what I really wanted to know was about the side effects. He said the drugs you're giving him would make him ill but I hadn't expected it to be this bad," said Archer.
"I briefed him thoroughly on all the possible side effects. He knew that this was probably what would happen to him once the drug began to build up in his system," said Phlox and then opened his mouth as if he was about to say more, but closed it again.
"What is it?" asked Archer.
"I haven't said anything to the Commander, but the symptoms that he has been experiencing have been considerably more severe than I predicted. It isn't a cause for concern as yet, but it means his prognosis is less promising and if his condition continues to deteriorate then I may have to keep him in sickbay until his treatment is complete."
"Go on," said Archer.
"Weight loss is my primary concern. I'm trying to control the nausea he is experiencing, but his appetite is also suppressed, which is why he's lost weight. The two together mean that, even when he feels well enough to eat, he doesn't want to. I've asked Lieutenant Reed and Ensigns Mayweather and Sato to make sure he gets to the mess hall at least once a day but other than giving him vitamin shots or putting him on a drip, there isn't much more that I can do for the moment."
"And the tiredness?" Archer knew Trip spent most of his time sleeping.
"Well partly that's linked to the weight loss. His body doesn't have the fuel it needs to sustain his usual level of activity and fighting against the nanites. But the drug does also make him tired, along with some of the other medication he's taking for the pain," said Phlox.
"Pain?" asked Reed worriedly. Trip being Trip hadn't even mentioned that the anti-nanite therapy caused him pain.
"Joint pain; it's another side effect of the anti-nanite drug. I've prescribed him some standard painkillers for it, but there have been occasions when he has needed something stronger," said Phlox. "He often hides symptoms from me so I don't always know the full extent of what he's feeling. I suspect that is a trait that he picked up from his fellow officers."
"Don't look at me. He's always been stubborn," said Archer. Reed's cheeks turned slightly red at the jibe from the doctor.
"There is one other thing that I'm sure Lieutenant Reed mentioned to you in his last report. His state of mind has been poor lately and I believe his mood is deteriorating," said Phlox.
"That's not surprising given what he's going through and everything that's happened lately," said Archer.
"I know. Long term illness often results in depression, but I think part of the problem is Enterprise," said Phlox.
"Enterprise? But he regards this ship as home, and you and Malcolm both told me he was happy to be back on board."
"Yes, he was, but that only lasted a couple of days at most. Everywhere here he is reminded of things that he either cannot do or is not allowed to do. Out of his window he can see the repairs which he wanted to supervise but can't. It's like placing a cup of water just out of reach of a man dying of thirst."
"Malcolm and I may have a plan to help with that," said Archer. "But I wanted to discuss it with you first and make sure that we have all the necessary safeguards in place." Archer then proceeded to outline his plan to the Doctor, expecting at any moment that Phlox would throw his hands up in horror. Instead the Doctor was actually very enthusiastic, which almost worried Archer more.
Archer found Trip in the observation room. He took one look at his friend and realised that it had been a bad decision for him to stay on Earth and pursue Davis. Trip wasn't aware of Archer's presence yet which gave him time to examine the Engineer, and he didn't like what he saw. Trip was thinner than he remembered him being and wore clothes that obviously didn't belong to him. The navy blue T-shirt had been supplied by Malcolm who was a couple of sizes smaller than Trip. The giveaway was the Oxford University coat of arms on the pocket. Malcolm had turned out his wardrobe so that Trip had some T-shirts that fitted him. Similarly Travis had found Trip some pants to wear as the two men were roughly the same height but Travis's waist size was a little narrower than what normally Trip wore.
Unusually, Trip hadn't shaved and there was a fuzz of stubble on his chin. No more than a day's worth, but still more than Trip would ever have allowed had he been on duty. He was staring out of porthole at the team of Engineers that were carrying out a space walk to make repairs to something on the hull. Archer knew that Trip was thinking about how every time they fixed something it brought him closer to leaving Enterprise. Malcolm had said that Trip had found out about the scheduled completion date for the retrofit and it was probably weighing heavy on his mind. Trip always had been well plugged into the ship's grapevine.
"You do know that it's all going to work out, don't you?" said Archer.
Trip jumped and turned at the sound of Archer's query. "They're doin' a good job."
"I was talking about you," said Archer.
Trip nodded. "Wish I could be so sure, about it working out, I mean."
"How are you feeling?"
"Okay," replied Trip, noncommittally.
"Trip, I know when you're lying," said Archer.
Trip fixed Archer with a glare.
"I feel sick most of the time, I ache all over, I'm on so many different drugs that I've lost count, I can't go for more than about three hours without needing a nap and my strength is nonexistent. Happy now?"
"Not happy, but at least I know how you are," said Archer.
"I'm suffocating, Captain. I can't do anything for myself anymore, it seems. I can't even make it back to my quarters on my own. I just want my independence back. But then I guess I want a lot of things that I can't have. I want to be able to read an Engineering report without falling asleep in the middle of it. I want to go somewhere without an armed guard. I want to get a good night's sleep. I'm just waiting for the letter from Starfleet saying I've been reassigned or sacked," replied Trip.
"Then you'll have a long wait," said Archer.
"A long wait? What have you done?" Trip's reaction wasn't exactly what Archer had expected. Curiosity, yes, but not the accusation inherent in his tone.
"Something that the Admiral isn't very happy about. I gave Starfleet an ultimatum. I get to keep my Chief Engineer or I hand them my resignation," said Archer. He'd also asked for a few other things while he'd been at it, but for the moment Trip didn't need to know about that.
"I can't believe you did that!" said Trip, jumping up and starting to pace. "I can fight my own battles. God damn it! I don't need you sacrificing your career for me. What if they don't bite? How am I going to live with myself if you resign because of me? Don't you think I've got enough guilt of my own to deal with?"
"Woah, slow down. They already did bite. They didn't want the bad publicity that goes with the resignation of the Captain of Starfleet's first warp five vessel. I think Admiral Forrest may even have forgiven me for holding Starfleet to ransom. The only condition was that you have to pass a medical and they have a mission for us that's going to take a couple weeks which they want you to sit on the bench for." Archer paused. Trip had stopped pacing but he didn't look any happier. "I thought you'd be pleased."
"I am pleased. I get to stay on Enterprise. Assuming I pass the medical. Great. I just wish that you'd asked me before you did it," said Trip.
"What's so wrong about me helping out a friend?"
"You really don't get it, do you?"
"No, I don't." Archer really was baffled. He'd expected to Trip to be ecstatic at the news, instead he was obviously angry.
"I spoke to Enam. She gave me the full story of what happened on Harrar Station."
"She did? Including the giant spiders and killer squid?"
"Blow by blow account," confirmed Trip. He paused waiting for Archer to say something, but the Captain just looked questioningly at his friend. Trip decided that he was going to have to explain. Sometimes Archer's perception of emotions could be almost as non-existent as T'Pol's. "You should never have put yourself on the line for me, Captain. I'm not worth it. And now you just went and did it again. You keep doing these things and I can't repay the debt."
"Trip, I don't ever want to hear you say that you're not worth it. I'd do it all again if I had to, without a moment's thought. And I'm not doing this to put you in my debt. I'm not Shran."
"But you can't trust me. You never know when the nanites might turn me into a traitor again," said Trip.
"How can I get this through your thick skull? What happened wasn't your fault. Nash used you, in fact he used all of us to get you in that court room so that he could give you the trigger phrase. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine for not taking better care of you," replied Archer. "Malcolm wanted to take responsibility for it too, so I'd say that there are plenty of people to share the blame for this without you taking any of it."
"But what if it happens again? I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I hurt anyone," said Trip, worry colouring his tones.
"It won't happen again. Nash is dead and the nanites are being dealt with," said Archer. "Dealt with" was a euphemism at best for what Trip was going through.
"We thought Davis was dead," said Trip, ruefully.
"Trust me on this one. I saw Nash's body. He really is gone," said Archer. In fact, Archer had insisted on seeing the body for just that reason. The white face of the senator, contorted in pain and fear, had been unlike any other corpse that he'd ever seen.
"But Davis is still out there and causing trouble," said Trip.
"Not for much longer if I have anything to do with it," said Archer, determinedly. "Trip, I know that you're not happy on Enterprise."
"I wouldn't say that, Enterprise is the closest thing that I have to a home," said Trip.
"Okay, put it this way, Enterprise has some bad associations for you at the moment."
"I suppose so. You're working up to something, Captain. Spit it out."
"Lieutenant Reed and I think that Davis is trying to tie up loose ends. He tried to sneak on board Enterprise and we think you were his target. He got away this time but we have a plan to try to catch him."
"So what are you waiting for? Catch the bastard. And I hope they throw away the key," replied Trip.
"There's a problem with our plan. We need to bait our trap," said Archer.
"And I'm the only bait you've got," stated Trip. It didn't take a genius to work out what Archer was talking about.
"I don't want to ask you to do this, Trip. You're not well enough to be putting yourself in danger like this, but I'm out of options."
"Captain, if it means that we finally put that son of a bitch in jail then I don't care. You've got your bait," said Trip, firmly.