Disclaimer: Enterprise is not mine. My shrink says so. I get an electric shock if I claim otherwise.

Chapter Two

Archer materialised in semi-darkness. He had no time to assess his surroundings, as a sudden lurch almost knocked him off his feet. Before he had a chance to regain his balance, the floor shifted the other way, bucking wildly.

"What's going on?" Hoshi cried out, as Archer grabbed her arm to stop her from falling.

"The ship is floating on the water surface," Reed answered, sounding surprisingly calm, "with storms approaching the seas are probably quite rough. Relax slightly; don't fight the movement."

Archer took a few tentative steps forwards, before the deck surged again and he almost fell.

"It takes some practice," Reed admitted, walking forwards and scanning the area, "the life signs are this way."

"This is awful," groaned Hoshi, as the floor shifted beneath them, "I feel sick. I hate boats. Are you a sailing man, lieutenant?"

"I hate sailing," Reed answered, honestly, "but my father…made sure I knew my way around a boat."

There was an underlying edge of steel in his voice, and Archer had to wonder at it. His relationship with his father had been built on love, trust and mutual respect. He could not imagine the strict disciplinarian that Reed must have been raised by. The lieutenant led the way through the darkened ship, lit only by their flash lights and emergency power lighting, with Archer and Hoshi stumbling along behind. Eventually, they came to a door.

"Behind here," Reed pointed.

Archer nodded, fighting to keep his footing on the turbulent deck, as he reached over and pressed the door mechanism. It beeped at him, and the door opened a fraction of an inch.

"Main power seems to be offline," Archer noted.

He forced his fingers into the narrow gap, and pushed with all of his strength. The doors reluctantly slid back, and they found themselves in a circular room.

"This must be the bridge," commented Hoshi, as Archer stepped inside, "maybe we can access their computer and I could find out who they are…"

"I've found one of the crew," Archer called, crouching down.

The other two closed in behind him, as he examined the alien lying prone on the deck. It was a good seven feet in height, humanoid, with thick fur covering it's body in a multitude of black, white and shades of grey. It wore a dark green tunic and boots, and was clutching some kind of rifle. Reed reached over and removed the weapon, as Archer examined the bloody wound to it's chest.

"It's been shot," he realised, "there must have been some kind of fight. This one's dead. Where are the life signs?"

"Further that way," Reed gestured, "I suggest we proceed with caution…?"

"Suggestion noted. I'll take point – Hoshi, stick close. Phase pistols ready."

Reed handed Archer the scanner, as they left the bridge and headed down another corridor. Archer took out his communicator and flipped it open.

"Archer to Enterprise; come in please."

"This is T'Pol. Go ahead, captain."

"All we've found so far is a body, shot to death. We're proceeding with caution. How far away are those storms?"

"You have approximately eight minutes before atmospheric disturbance prevents the use of the transporter. I advise haste, captain."

"So noted. Archer out."

Archer moved forwards carefully, getting used to the turbulent movements of the deck beneath him. He heard Hoshi stumble, and turned to catch her arm.

"Thanks," she said, white-faced and breathless, "I'll be glad when this is over. Are we heading down hill?"

"Affirmative," Archer nodded, wondering how she could tell with all the movement, "we're probably heading towards the lower decks."

They moved forwards, until Hoshi grabbed Archer's arm. Thinking she had fallen again, he held out his hand for support, but she dismissed the gesture with a quick wave of her hand.

"Do you hear that?" she whispered.

He shook his head, and then stopped. He could hear something.

"Voices," Hoshi pointed, "that way."

Archer nodded, and took the lead. As they drew closer, the voices became louder, until they rounded a corner. Two of the tall, furry aliens stood there, dressed in the same dark green uniforms and carrying the heavy rifles. On the sight of Archer they halted their conversation in shock, and narrowed their large, cat-like eyes. One of them flattened pointed ears against a narrow skull, and hissed something. Archer held his hands up in a gesture of submission.

"Hoshi?"

"I'm working on it, sir," she replied, tapping on her scanner, "the Universal Translator is having some problems here…"

The two aliens approached them slowly, curiously. Archer was suddenly glad he hadn't brought Porthos – the similarity to Earth cats was distinctive, right down to the long tails that were curved up slightly, just inches from the decking.

"Captain…?" Reed asked, warily, gripping his phase pistol tightly.

"Don't make a move…we're friendly, remember?"

One of the 'cat-men' leaned over, sniffing at Hoshi. She looked surprised, but tolerated the unusual gesture, as the UT continued to beep. One of the aliens growled something, and the other hissed back.

"I think they're deciding something…" Hoshi frowned, "something about…food…?"

They didn't get any further. One of the aliens lunged, grabbed Hoshi, and whipped her around as a shield, using his free hand to aim his rifle at Archer. He snarled something, and the meaning was clear. Without a second thought, Archer dived for cover. Reed was only a half a second behind him, jumping the other way at the alien squeezed off a shot, and missed. It gave Archer enough time to grab his communicator.

"Enterprise! Emergency beam out!"

He waited for the tingle of energy across his skin as his molecules dissolved, but nothing happened.

"Captain," his communicator coughed out static, "the storms are approaching faster than predicted…can't get a lock…signal…captain…?"

"T'Pol?" Archer called, "T'Pol! Damn it!"

He heard a choked off cry, and glanced up as the alien clumsily tried to manoeuvre his rifle to aim at Hoshi. Archer raised his phase pistol, quickly picking off the second alien, stunning it. The first alien hissed something, spat, and released Hoshi. With a powerful bound, he leapt up a nearby ladder, and disappeared through a hatchway. Archer stood up quickly.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," Hoshi nodded, breathlessly, "why didn't we beam out?"

"The storms have moved in much faster than predicted," Archer replied, grimly, "They're already interfering with the transporter."

As if to emphasise his point, a strong swell rocked the ship, and sent all three of them crashing into the far wall. The metal hull groaned under the lashing of the stormy seas, the decks creaking in protest at the unaccustomed rough treatment.

"We need to get out of here," Archer said, "or this ship's going to break up around us."

"Our scans of the ship showed it carried several smaller shuttles," Reed spoke up, "perhaps if we could locate one we might be able to pilot through the storms."

"It's a long shot but it's worth a try," nodded Archer, already wondering about the wisdom of trying to fly through an electrical storm, "According to the map, the hanger bay is this way…let's go."