C-28

Chapter 10

See Chapter 1 for all formal rating/archive/disclaimer info.

"What's going on, Travis?" Archer asked immediately as the turbolift deposited him onto the bridge, then stopped in mid-stride, noticing the viewscreen.

"Sir, we're receiving a transmission from the planet," Mayweather replied, stating the now-obvious. "I have them on standby."

Archer took in the curious scene. From the look of it, Solead was transmitting from somewhere inside the building on the planet. He had the Xindi with him, though oddly it seemed it was Solead who was in control. The submissive-looking Xindi reptilian was on his knees on the floor. Solead was standing by his side, no weapons of any sort visible on either person. Without the information he'd just acquired in sickbay, Archer would have been highly suspicious. Knowing what he knew, he had a pretty good idea of what was going on with Solead and the Xindi. "Put them through, Travis."

"Aye, sir."

"Solead. We meet again."

"Yes, Captain Archer. I regret the way I left things with you and your people. It is my hope that if you come to understand the circumstances behind my actions then perhaps we may be able to make a…fresh start."

"I'm not sure what business there is left between us requiring a fresh start, Solead, but since we're both here, I'm listening."

"Thank you. My Xindi companion has something he wishes to say to you. Don't you, Sere'ch?" Solead gripped the Xindi's shoulder tightly.

Despite the appearance, Archer doubted it was an attempt to inflict pain. Solead was wearing no gloves, and Archer could see the Xindi's mottled, scaly skin beneath the Draden's hand. The Xindi's metal shoulder protection was missing, and Archer doubted that was an accident either.

"Remember what we discussed, my friend," Archer heard Solead hiss at the Xindi. Just then, a thought hit the captain. He stepped to Mayweather's station and tapped a couple of buttons. "Archer to Phlox. See what you make of this, Doctor." Hitting another button, he sent the transmission through to sickbay. The Xindi chose that moment to speak.

"Captain Archer, it wasn't Solead's fault that…your officer fell ill…" the Xindi paused for a long moment, during which Archer looked him over. The captain noticed that the Xindi's skin was a particular unhealthy shade of its usual green. "If not for me," the Xindi went on, "your sale would have…gone normally. There is no…reason you should refuse Solead…his compensation."

Boiling anger rose within Archer and he fought to control his voice as he responded. "What about my Chief Engineer? Do you also apologize for using him for carving practice?"

The Xindi raised his eyes, which locked for a chilling moment with Archer's—a moment in which Jonathan Archer saw not one ounce of remorse, only hatred and a malice so deep and cold that it congealed his boiling anger, leaving him only with the desire to shiver—then the Xindi suddenly went limp and fell, unceremoniously, flat on his face.

"Solead! What the hell just happened?" Archer snapped, though he had a feeling he already knew.

"I don't know!"

"Is he alive?"

"Who cares? He tried to kill all of us. If anything I did us a favor, so keep the C-28 and forget the whole damned thing okay?!" Solead slammed his hand down on something and the screen went dark.

Captain, do we have a transporter lock on the Xindi? Phlox's voice came over the still-open comm link.

After a moment, Travis looked up at the captain. "I have a lock, sir. Shall I transport?"

Archer didn't respond. He was still glaring at the viewscreen, fists clenched at his sides.

Captain, the Xindi is obviously in some sort of trouble. If he is also reacting adversely to this Draden substance, it could be fatal.

"I don't see what it matters to us at the moment right now, Doctor."

I understand your feelings, Captain, but I need all the information I can get if I am to successfully treat Commander Tucker and Ensign Jace.

"Sir?" Mayweather asked expectantly after a moment.

"Do it, Travis. Doctor, when I get to sickbay, you'd better have security posted and a damn good explanation as to why you need the Xindi to treat Trip and Ensign Jace. Archer out." He smacked his hand against the panel, closing the channel, then once again headed for the turbolift.

Nothing remarkable seemed to be taking place when Archer stepped through the doors of sickbay, save for Malcolm and two other security officers standing guard around the table where the Xindi lay unconscious. "Captain," Phlox acknowledged, momentarily looking up from his scans.

"Doctor, are you sure it's safe to leave the Xindi unrestrained?" Archer asked, looking at the reptilian suspiciously.

"Mr. Reed has voiced those same concerns Captain, and I will tell you the same as I told him. The Xindi will not be waking up anytime soon. For one thing I have him sedated, and in his present condition it is very doubtful he could cause a problem anyway. If that eventuality occurs, I'm confident that the lieutenant and his men will be able to handle the situation."

Archer glanced at Malcolm who confirmed Phlox's statement with a nod. "So can you give me any specifics on the Xindi's condition, Doctor?" the captain asked.

"At this stage, his symptoms follow those of Commander Tucker and Ensign Jace, to some degree at least. Xindi physiology is quite different from that of a human, but I can say with reasonable certainty that he is having a similar reaction to this Draden secretion."

"Which brings me to ask, what does any of this have to do with Trip's condition? Even if the Xindi is having the same reaction, what good does it do you?"

"The specifics of that remain to be seen. I'm already seeing subtle differences in the ways the Xindi is processing the Draden substance. Hopefully as my studies progress, I will be able to use what I'm learning from the Xindi to help clear the substance from the Commander's body."

"So the effects haven't subsided yet?" Archer frowned.

"Until the commander is awake, I won't be certain, but my scans indicate that he's still being affected. I've noticed that his muscles continue to be very tense at times, which should be impossible considering the medication I've given him and his deep unconscious state."

"Could he be dreaming?"

"No. His brain-wave patterns show dreamless sleep, but his body indicates otherwise. As far as I can tell, he's not experiencing the intense muscle contractions that were taking place before. The relatively long periods of tension could eventually be just as serious though. Before you informed me of the Xindi, I gave Commander Tucker another muscle relaxant, but it hasn't had as much effect as I'd hoped. I'm sorry I can't give you something more concrete, Captain, but until Mr. Tucker can tell me how he's feeling, the best I can do is continue with my research and look for a way to purge the substance from his system."

Archer nodded, and Phlox continued, "I was able to obtain a sample of the secretion from Jirah. The full analysis will be complete within the hour, so I'll most likely be able to tell you more in the morning."

Knowing he would get no further useful information out of Phlox for the time being, Archer left the Denobulan's office so the doctor could continue with his work. The still-growing complexity of what had started as a simple trade was apparent to the captain as he passed by the unconscious Xindi, Reed's officers, and Ensign Jace's bed on his way to Trip's corner of the room.

As he pushed aside the curtain, Archer was relieved to see that Trip didn't look any worse than he had a couple of hours ago. Then again, he thought he could just detect the tension Phlox had been speaking of. "It's all right, buddy. You can relax now. We've caught the Xindi." Jonathan sighed, realizing his attempt at humor wasn't at all funny considering the circumstances surrounding the 'capture'.

Archer sat down heavily in the chair that had mysteriously appeared in his absence. He talked quietly to Trip for a while about how the Xindi had come to be aboard, omitting the part about Phlox possibly needing the Xindi to help him find an effective treatment. None of them knew enough to be spreading news of the pessimistic variety, especially to those who least needed to hear it.

Within five minutes though, Archer chose to end the conversation as his own voice just seemed to add a certain degree of reality to the whole situation that he didn't really want to deal with. He straightened Trip's blankets, then sat back in his chair and proceeded to drift into a trance-like state, somewhere on the border of wakefulness and sleep, leaning more toward the latter.

TBC…

A/N: Next chapter will include more with Trip, and hopefully more action. Thanks for the reviews. They're often helpful for sparking new ideas.