Chapter Two: Back Home, I'm A Pilot
Avdev hung between three moons, but Enterprise did not get near enough to orbit above its atmosphere. She was docked at Avdev's outermost moon, an elaborate space station which acted as a buffer zone between the planet and the rest of the inhabited galaxy.
Commander Tucker checked his idling engines once again. "Okay, Captain, we can power down to the bare minimum while you're gone. There's an independent power source here for visitin' vessels, and it looks like they have a pretty extensive refuelin' and maintenance section here, too. Never hurts to give the old girl an overhaul when you have the chance."
Archer shifted his shoulders in the heavy, stiff, brilliantly green garment he was trapped in. "I'm sure you'll keep yourself very busy, Trip." The sleeves of the formal jacket barely allowed his arms to bend. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Well, you sure look important," Trip offered. The door to the docking bay opened, and Hoshi glided in. Both men's mouths dropped open at her outfit.
It was a long robe, made of the same stiff material, also green, but which covered Hoshi from earlobe to floor. Her hair was pulled back, and a matching flat headpiece covered the crown of her head. She reached up and tugged the headpiece slightly forward. "Hi, guys," she said.
"You look amazin'!" Trip managed. "I mean, really regal. I'm gonna have to start calling you Empress Hoshi."
"Actually," she replied bookishly, "the robe signifies that I am an honored guest, but the color and shape of the headpiece means I'm unmarried, unavailable, and foreign."
"How do these people get dressed in the mornin'?" Trip marveled.
"Shall we?" Archer forced his elbow to bend and offered it to Hoshi. The door hissed open, and they stepped into the Avdevi space station.
Two tedious hours later, after they had passed through the decontamination chamber, a tall, gangly Avdevi male - the first actual person they had seen – greeted them with a melodic speech and a complicated series of hand gestures. As required, Archer answered appropriately, and appeared to do it to their host's satisfaction, as he graced them with a wide smile.
"It is our honor to have you here, Captain Jonathan Archer, and you, Ensign Hoshi Sato! I am Dlvec, your guide and liaison. Anything you require, it will be my pleasure to obtain."
"Thank you," Archer answered gratefully. He was buoyed by the accomplishment of greeting his host, but already impatient to return to the ship.
"Come," said Dlvec, "your transport awaits."
The transport was a sleek, aerodynamic shuttlepod, which could, it appeared to Archer, travel both in air and on terrain. Inside, it looked like a sedan, with enough room for four or five people to relax comfortably in the soft seats. Hoshi and Archer climbed into the back of the sedan, while Dlvec slid into the front. The humans were nearly swallowed by the roomy seats; the average Avdevi was proportionately half a meter larger than the average human. Hoshi's feet didn't touch the floor.
Archer noticed that the sedan had no steering wheel or joystick, only what appeared to be buttons and dials lying flush with the dashboard. He was intrigued by the fluid movement of Dlvec's fingers as they trailed over the controls, steering the vehicle through the atmosphere effortlessly.
"Would you mind if I sat in the front seat?" Archer asked. "I'd love to see how this works. I've never seen anything like it."
Dlvec seemed to look around carefully, then nodded. "You may climb over." He didn't have to ask twice.
Archer immediately began to identify the controls: altimeter, air speed gauge, steering mechanism. Dlvec was impressed with his knowledge. "Back home, I'm a pilot," Archer said. They both immediately launched into enthusiastic comparisons of the various crafts they had flown. Hoshi rolled her eyes at the technospeak and turned her attention out the window.
Under the wispy clouds, Avdev was all turquoise water and beige and green land mass. Dlvec took a scenic route to the surface, showing off his planet's features proudly. There were cities that almost literally shone, their tall buildings made of highly polished, deeply colored stone. Vehicles sped by them, but never came close to intercepting each others' paths, while on the ground below, glittering white roads were laid out in graceful curving patterns. Archer craned his head, peering out all windows at once to take it all in.
They landed softly and drove by surface to the magnificent Parliament building, a towering, graceful structure of curved blue stone, lacking square corners anywhere. To Archer's vision, the proportions seemed slightly "off," with no smooth, flat surface on which to rest his eye. "It looks like a 3-D Salvador Dali painting," Hoshi whispered, used to rectangular buildings and cities designed on a grid system. The air, she noticed, was just thin enough to be noticeable, but not enough to make normal breathing difficult. It reminded her of a vacation she had spent in Denver, Colorado.
There were twenty minutes of introductions to the Prime Minister, then another hour of conversation regarding the various aspects of Earth and Avdev. To Archer's unpracticed eye, distinctions between the ethnicities and castes were indiscernible. The Avdevi, while fully humanoid, were all taller than him by at least one or two feet, and although their movements were fluid and graceful, they did not possess the same head, body, arm and leg proportions he was used to seeing. The Avdevi were not particularly interested in the seemingly endless diversity of Archer's planet; they were, however, eager to explore their own intricate society with him. The end result of this initial meeting was an agreement to exchange more formal ambassadors between Earth and Avdev.
Parliament was then called into session, and the Prime Minister excused herself, expressing regret that they could not continue their fascinating conversation. Archer hid his relief.
Dlvec led them to the Honored Guest Anteroom, withdrawing to announce their presence to the Parliament and to allow them to gather their thoughts. Hoshi handed Archer his PADD of notes; he barely glanced at it, having spent most of the previous night practicing T'Pol's prose. Right now, he just concentrated on not puking from the worst case of nerves he'd ever experienced.
Suddenly, there was a sound of thunderous applause, and Dlvec opened the door to the Great Hall and gestured for them to enter. The Great Hall was just that – the size of a regulation football field, filled to the brim with Avdevi dignitaries. If there were ethnic or cultural differences, he couldn't tell what they might be. He walked behind Dlvec and Hoshi to the dais, feeling profoundly blessed by Hoshi's presence, because every last protocol lesson abruptly flew out of his head. Prodded by his Protocol Liaison, he greeted the Parliamentary Head, the Prime Minister, and all of the members of the Cabinet, one by one. Hoshi gave directions sotto voce, and managed to keep her captain from making any major faux pas. His ramrod straight military bearing stood him in good stead as he was formally welcomed by each dignitary.
Miles above, the crew gathered around monitors on the bridge and in the common rooms, watching the satellite broadcast of the event. In command, T'Pol engaged the bridge view screen to observe. From time to time, Trip, standing behind Malcolm, would nudge his colleague, beaming with pride.
Speaker after speaker acknowledged the honored visitors, each employing more flowery rhetoric than the one before. Finally, the last speaker introduced the Prime Minister, who introduced the honored guest speaker. Archer stood, gripping his notes hard, and addressed the crowd.
It was a good thing he trusted T'Pol with his life and his career, because he didn't hear a word he said. But from the ovation he received at the end of his twelve minutes of remarks, he gathered he had said all the right things. Unbeknownst to him, on the bridge, T'Pol mouthed the words along with Archer, nodding as each point of emphasis was greeted with appropriate applause.
The satellite transmission ended, and the crew went back to their duties.
From the Great Hall, Archer and Hoshi were swept to the Banquet Hall, which was laid out with more delicacies than Archer could even count. Course after course was placed before them, glorious sculptures of fruit and roasted meat dishes that made Archer's mouth water like Victoria Falls. Hoshi surreptitiously scanned each dish, a subtle head-shake warning her captain away from any dish containing harmful elements, such as the jelly-like substance with enough potassium in it to send a human into a coma. Dlvec, as well, guided them away from lethally sweet or spicy foods, much to the humans' relief.
For all of the magnificent foods displayed, Archer averaged maybe one bite per dish. Delegate after delegate approached with the signature Avdevi combination of curiosity and politeness, each wanting to honor the guest with showers of attention. Each time a delegate approached, Archer rose determinedly and followed the complicated steps of greeting laid out in the protocol packet. By the time he encountered the twenty-seventh delegate, Archer didn't even need Hoshi's whispered proddings to make it through the whole process.
Archer looked longingly at his glass of Avdevi wine, his throat parched from the constant talking, his back sore from holding himself upright on furniture made for a gangly Avdevi a third again his size, his legs fatigued from the endless calisthenics of sitting and standing. He could tell that Hoshi was fading as well, trying as she was to follow three different conversations at once. He shot her an encouraging smile, and she leaned toward him to make a comment.
Suddenly, there was a series of loud explosions at the far end of the Banquet Hall. Immediately, smoke began to billow through the room, throwing the delegates into instant panic. More explosions rocked the room, sending chunks of blue mortar and stone hurtling from the vaulted ceiling onto the tables and chairs below.
Archer pulled Hoshi to the floor as the ceiling crashed around them. He covered her with his body, and wrapped his forearms across the back of his head. Hoshi heard him grunt as a giant chunk of stone landed less than six inches from his head.
Abruptly, they were both yanked up in one movement, and Dlvec thrust his anguished face at them. "Run - come with me now!" They jumped to their feet and bolted after him toward the nearest unjammed exit.
Dlvec led them through the kitchen, down several narrow hallways packed at the sides with supplies, and out a small door into an alleyway. Explosions still shook the building, and now the moans of the wounded could be heard.
"We should help them," Archer panted, staring over his shoulder at the horror behind them.
"I must protect our honored guests," Dlvec replied, not breaking stride for an instant. Forgoing protocol entirely, he grabbed each of them by their heavy sleeves and dragged them along. They stumbled trying to keep up with Dlvec's long-legged strides.
Their guide nearly threw them into the sedan. Before they could shut the doors, Dlvec dived into the front seat and started the engine. The ground shook beneath the wheels as the sedan became airborne.
Hoshi peered out of the window and gasped. Below, a full quarter of the building had collapsed. Bodies lay strewn along the boulevard. Fire had engulfed the roof.
As the sedan sped into the clouds, Dlvec said, "We'll make for the embassy. It's a strong, secure building. This has to be the work of the insurgents. They will not be able to penetrate there."
"Have they attacked like this before?" Archer asked. The information provided by the Vulcan database had suggested a small insurgency, not one capable of this level of terrorism.
"They have been getting more forceful of late, but nothing on this scale," Dlvec replied, concentrating closely. He swerved to avoid a vehicle just in front of them, then banked sharply as another, larger craft came up suddenly beside them. Narrowly missing the other, truck-like vehicle, he subjected his passengers to a stomach churning drop in altitude. The other two vehicles followed, and then suddenly there were three more cars with them in the air. Dlvec's skill kept them from smashing into buildings as he flew much too low through the populated city.
Hoshi and Archer bounced around in the back seat helplessly. There were no seat belts and no hand holds. The top of the driver's seat was too broad for a human hand span. Several times, Archer was thrown against Hoshi, crushing her against the side of the car. He braced his feet against the door, legs across her lap, trying to keep her and himself from being flung around.
"We are being herded," Dlvec said, a little frantically. His maneuvers had taken them beyond the city limits and over the water. Archer hoped desperately that they would be over land again soon. He knew they had no chance of survival if they slammed into the bay at this speed. The sedan banked again, as Dlvec headed across the bay toward one of the agricultural continents, accelerating madly.
Out of the corner of his eye, Archer saw what was, unmistakably, a weapon. "Get down!" he shouted, shoving Hoshi's head unceremoniously down to her knees. A flash of light, and the sedan shuddered under the glancing hit. Dlvec dived again, brushing the tops of the tallest trees, their frondy branches whispering underneath them. More direct hits buffeted the craft. The attackers clearly meant business.
"Are there any weapons on board?" Archer yelled over the scream and whine of the overtaxed engine. He would be damned if he would go out without a fight.
"There is a box beneath the seat, on the right side," Dlvec cried, clearly beginning to understand that he could not outrun the five attackers. Hoshi leaned over and yanked the soft sided briefcase-like pouch out and open. Dlvec chose that moment to fly straight toward one of the vehicles, an Avdevi game of chicken which resulted in the attacker veering off, slamming into a tree, and exploding.
Archer checked to see that the weapons, two non-projectile types similar to Enterprise's phase pistol, but bigger and heavier, were charged, and passed one to Hoshi. "Shoot to kill, Ensign," he ordered.
"Yes, sir," she answered without hesitation, lowered her window a crack and began firing. A moment later, another attacker went screaming into a high speed spiral and crashed into the ground with a bloom of flame. A small craft veered off and streaked away.
"I think there are only two l-" Dlvec never finished his sentence. The driver's side window shattered, and Dlvec spasmed as the phaser beam caught him in the chest. He fell to his side on the seat. The sedan flew on at top speed.
"Keep firing, Hoshi," Archer yelled, handing her the other weapon. He flung himself over the seat back, wedging himself into the driver's position next to Dlvec's body. He quickly found what he thought were the important gauges, the altimeter and the speedometer, but his relief was short-lived as he realized in the same moment that he had no idea what the measurements meant. He would still have to guess at his altitude and speed. As a test pilot, he was trained to land aircraft without instruments, but every plane he had ever flown had had at least a joystick or steering column. This craft had simply a series of buttons and dials he didn't recognize, marked in a language he couldn't read, and absolutely nothing to hold onto.
He put his fingers into position, approximating what he had seen Dlvec do. The sedan responded by turning sharply right. He overcompensated, and the vehicle dipped down and to the left. Hoshi shrieked in the back as the sedan was clipped by the big truck. She fired, aiming for what she hoped was the driver's head. The smaller vehicle spun wildly before Archer wrestled it back under control.
Hoshi fired again, and this time, was gratified to see the shadow of the driver lurch and slump forward. The truck kept flying straight, however, and collided with the last attacking vehicle which was coming back around toward them. Together, the two vehicles nose-dived until she could see only a brilliant flash of blue and gold, then a column of thick black smoke.
With their attackers gone, Hoshi and Archer hurtled through the sky, just above the tree line, with no hope of a controlled landing.