Chapter 18

Niki had just finished unpacking in her quarters on Enterprise.
She looked at one photograph of her and Jonathan and sighed deeply. Their last week together had been ... terrific. She cherished every moment. But she knew their time together was going to end ... because of her mission.
She opened a small box and put the photo inside. There was a letter for Jonathan, too. She had written it the night before leaving Earth. She hoped he would understand. She tried not to look at the other things in the box. It was painful.
She closed it. She was going to ask Hoshi to keep it, just in case ... she pushed away that thought.
She remembered a few hours before the way Jonathan had said good-bye before going to Starfleet HQ.

She had held him tight in her arms, a tear rolling over her cheek.
"Hey, Niki ... don't be sad, this is not the end."
"It won't be the same on Enterprise."
"I know, but if we'll be discreet ... we'll have some time for us."
He had brushed her lips with his.
"What about T'Pol?"
He had sighed deeply: "We already talked about this ... she's with Trip. And I'm with you."
"You still love her, don't you?"
"You know how I feel about her ... but you also know how I feel about you." he had cupped her face with his hand "I promise everything will be alright, Niki. Believe me."
They had kissed deeply.

The chime buzzed, bringing Niki back to reality.
"Come in."
It was Malcolm.
"The Captain wants to talk to us in the briefing room."
"He's onboard?"
"He came from Starfleet a few minutes ago. Something is wrong, I guess we're in trouble ..."
She already knew what it was about. She tried to keep calm.
"Let's go."

o-o-o-o-o

Archer had invited only his most reliable crewmembers to the briefing: T'Pol, Malcolm, Hoshi, Trip and Niki.
He had just finished to explain what their mission was.
Niki looked at Jonathan and sensed his anguish. Archer met her eyes and felt she was worried. He passed by her and brushed her shoulder as if he wanted to reassure her. T'Pol noticed that gesture and was bewildered.

Trip broke the silence: "I don't get it, Cap'n. I thought we were explorers, not murderers ..."
"Admiral Gardner stated this is not a rescue mission." Archer said in a low voice. "Klingons must be stopped and the base has to be destroyed, before it's too late ..."
"Why can't we try and save the scientists?" Trip asked, puzzled.
"Our government has put a lot of pressure on Starfleet. They don't want this project to become known, otherwise our relationships with other species could be compromised. They would look at us suspiciously."
"I can't blame them." was T'Pol's comment.
"I'm almost ashamed of being human." said Hoshi.
"Gardner says it wasn't government's purpose to have such a destructive weapon built." Archer countered.
"Then why did they build a secret base so far from Earth?" asked Malcolm.
"I don't have the slightest idea." Archer shook his head.
"Who's the leader of this group of scientists?" asked Niki.
"Dr. William Parsons." Archer answered.
"It was only to be expected!" Niki bursted out.
"Do you know him?" he looked at her questioningly.
"Not personally ... but my father was a scientist, he met him when I was younger. He had a doubtful reputation."
"What do you mean?"
"Ambitious, corrupt, unscrupulous. Is that enough?"
"Admiral Gardner didn't tell anything about this ..."
"I wouldn't be surprised if Parsons had made an agreement with the Klingons." she countered.
"This would explain how Klingons discovered the base in the Altair system." said Malcolm.
"That bastard would sell his mother ... if she was still alive!" Niki said, folding her arms.
"How many Klingon vessels are around that planet?" T'Pol asked.
"Unknown. We'll have to approach cautiosly to the area and try not to be detected as long as possible, while we find a way to destroy them. Starfleet has given us one of the test shuttles with a new stage of development, we could use it for reconnaissance, while Enterprise keeps at safe distance."
"The hell, how they expect us to fight the Klingons with only one starship? What about Columbia?" asked Trip.
"Columbia is not ready to leave spacedock yet. They're late with their schedule." he sighed.
"Cap'n ..." Trip paused "Do you really want us to kill those people?"
"Starfleet orders are clear. They have given me no choice."
"And you are comfortable with the death of 11 humans, just because their leader has "a doubtful reputation"?" T'Pol gived him a piercing look.
Archer gazed at her then looked away: "No ... I'm not."
"If I'm right about Parsons dealing with the Klingons, we shouldn't have scruples about killing him." stated Niki.
"I can't argue with that." added Malcolm.
"Are you ready to pull the trigger without even thinking about it?" Archer asked in disbelief.
"For Earth's sake, yes ... I can live with that!" Niki answered in anger.
"Well, I don't know if I can ..." Archer said in a hoarse voice.
"Captain, if Parsons or one of the other scientist survives ... he could become an easy target for the Klingons. They could kidnap and use him for their purposes!" Niki objected.
"What makes you believe they haven't already done this?" he banged his fist on the table.
"Captain Archer is right, it could be too late when we get there ... it takes some days at max. warp to reach the Altair system." was T'Pol's comment.
"Klingons are very far from their homeworld ... we still have the possibility of destroying their ships and the base, leaving no trace as Starfleet requested." said Malcolm.
Archer looked at his crewmembers: "It seems we all disagree about the course of action we should choose. Trip?"
"Cap'n I think we should try and find a way to save them."
T'Pol added: "Commander Tucker's right, if we bring the scientists back to Earth, then your government will decide what to do about them. If we complete the mission, Starfleet won't blame you for leaving them alive."
Archer nodded: "Malcolm?"
"It's too risky. I think we should follow Starfleet's orders, Sir."
"I agree with Malcolm." Niki paused "If we don't obey to their orders, it could be a catastrophe."
"Hoshi?"
"I'm just the communication officer, Sir. I don't think my opinion ..."
Archer interrupted her: "I count on you too, Hoshi. I wanna know what you think about it."
Hoshi looked around, then stared for a moment at Malcom's eyes: "I ... I think Malcolm and Niki are right, Sir. And if you don't follow Starfleet orders, you could lose your position."
Archer nodded, then looked at Niki: "Set a course for Altair system. We'll leave in 30 minutes. Dismissed."
"Aye, Sir." Niki left the room with the others and Archer followed.

"Captain, may I have a word with you?" T'Pol asked, stopping him in the corridor.
"Not now, T'Pol. I wanna talk to Starfleet from my ready room before we leave."
She grabbed his arm and he looked at her in surprise: "There's something very important I need to talk you about."
"Our mission?"
"No ... it's personal."
"Can you wait a few hours?"
"Maybe I could come to your quarters after dinner ..." she suggested.
"No, I prefer my ready room. 21:00 is ok?"
She nodded and they headed for the bridge.
She was puzzled that he had refused to meet her in his quarters.

o-o-o-o-o

30 minutes later they left spacedock. Niki was at the helm, for the first time after Travis had left Enterprise.
T'pol noticed Archer slightly bent over her console, whispering something to Niki, but she couldn't hear what he was saying.

When the ship went to warp speed, he withdrew in his readyroom.
Malcolm had made some investigations for him about Dr. Parsons and the other scientists. Examining all the data, he realized that Niki was right: Parsons was really an unreliable person.
Starfleet had given him a map of the secret base, too. He spent a couple of hours with Malcolm examining the map and the weak points of the base.

o-o-o-o-o

Archer entered his quarters around 18:00. Niki was there waiting for him. She was sitting on his bed, petting Porthos.
He had given her his room's code before, when she was at the helm, asking to meet him later.
"I thought this day would never end." he sighed and sat beside her.
"Have you talked to Admiral Gardner?"
"Yes ..." he ran his fingers through his hair "... but the mission remains unchanged. The good news are that only one Klingon bird-of-prey has been detected before they lost contact with the base, so we might have more chances than expected."
"Jonathan, I understand how you feel ... but I believe that Starfleet's right this time."
"They're asking me to kill 11 humans in cold blood."
"They've built a weapon that could kill a lot of people!"
"So did the Xindi, but in the end I destroyed the weapon but I didn't annihilate all of them!"
"Damn! If you realized how much Parsons can be evil and dangerous, you wouldn't have a doubt!" she stood up, exasperated.
"Niki ..." he took her hand "please, sit down. I don't want to argue ... I just wanna talk."
She sat beside him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Sorry, Jon ... I'm a little on edge."
"Me too ... I apologize if I've been rude in the briefing room ..."
"Forget it." she said "Do you want me to get something for dinner?"
"No ... I'm not hungry. But if you want to get something for yourself ..."
"Maybe later." she answered, taking his hand and gently kissing his fingers.
"I have to meet T'Pol in my ready room in less than 3 hours."
"Why?"
"I don't know. She said she has something to tell me ... maybe it's about her and Trip. We haven't talked after I catched them ... kissing."
"Does this bothers you?"
He hesitated: "I think I'll get used to it, in time."
"Will you tell her about us?"
"I think she already knows ... when she called me one week ago, she knew we were together. She had located your communicator ... and mine."
"What if ..." and she was going to ask what if she's not with Trip , but Archer interrupted her.
"Shhh ... we'll talk about this later. Now ..." he lay on the bed and pulled Niki beside him "I just want to hold you close and forget everything."
They remained there, staring into each other's eyes and exchanging little kisses and hugs.
Niki tried to hide her anxiety ... she wanted to enjoy those last moments. She didn't know for sure what T'Pol was going to say to Jonathan. But she was afraid.

o-o-o-o-o

T'Pol was in her quarters, performing the Keethara.
"Structure, logic, function, control. A structure cannot stand without a foundation.
Logic is the foundation of function. Function is the essence of control. I am in control. I am in control."
She inhaled deeply, while she was posing the blocks to build a structure.
She didn't know how much time had passed, but the alarm on her desk reminded her it was time to meet Archer.
She opened her eyes and blew out the candles.
A beautiful structure of harmony was in front of her, showing that her state of mind was calm and logical.
Now she knew she was ready and strong enough to tell him the truth.