Sorry this took so long, but I really dislike introductory chapters. I was stuck trying to make this chapter as tense as the first, but then, realizing I couldn't do that, I just settled for a basic uncanny feeling (not without its stressful moments), one that will surely lead into a much more sinister creepiness. ...I hope.

Anyway, this chapter came about with help from Keleshnar- thank you for your word suggestions- they really got me back to writing. Unfortunately, I didn't use any of them. ;;;; The ones you picked really do go nicely with the story, so I think I might use them next chapter. They were "Insinuate," "unbroken," and "jagged"- and "yclept," but I'm dodging that one because it scares me. Plus, I'm betting ¾ of the people out there have no idea what it means.

Anyway, read. Be on edge. Listen to creepy music. In the dark. Like the title says. ...Well, okay, do what you want, but read.

Chapter 2

In the Dark

[2 weeks earlier....]

"Captain-"

"I see it."

Archer stared out at the enormous debris field, the only remains of what they assumed to once have been a starship. Charred metal from the ghastly wreckage floated past wispy clouds of plasma writhing gracefully through the destruction like the lost souls of the crew trying desperately to return to their ship and make it whole again, make themselves whole again. He wondered just who exactly that crew was. He then looked past at the blue and brown planet below, so peaceful and undisturbed while the remains of the ship still floated, suspended in space and suspended in their minds. Had the inhabitants caused its destruction, or was it...? He turned to T'Pol.

"As far as we know, this was not a Xindi ship" -she turned her eyes down to read the rest of the collected data- "and I'm finding no readings that should lead us to believe that Xindi weapons fire had been the cause of destruction."

If Archer wasn't already preoccupied with thoughts of the destruction and the possibility of danger to his own ship, he might have found it somewhat interesting or humorous that she was beginning to know his questions before he ever even uttered a word. But there were more important things at hand to deal with.

"Any biosigns?"

T'Pol referred once again to her readings and quickly ran a second scan for little more than verification. She began to speak what she assumed to be the obvious answer, but then stopped when something caught her eye. She read her readings over carefully. "Captain.... There appear to be three life forms amidst the debris. Humanoid." She glanced up at him with curious eyes, then back down at her console. "...They are inside an escape pod.... Its hull is of the same composition as the destroyed ship."

Archer suddenly felt a leap in his chest and found the charge once again to take action.

"All three are unconscious," T'Pol continued, believing it best to supply the captain with all the information she could provide before he came to a decision on the matter. "...Their biosigns are weak, but they aren't critical condition."

"Malcolm, see if you can bring it into launch bay two, then assemble a security team and meet me there. T'Pol, I want you to contact Doctor Phlox and inform him that he's about to take in three patients. Hoshi...."

He at last looked away from the destruction on the screen and turned his eyes on her, and though it was difficult for Hoshi to completely comprehend it, she felt a slight chill run through her. Despite the understanding she had of the tense situations the crew had to deal with, she still felt slightly frightened by the lack of any sparkle, any enthusiasm, in her captain's eyes. It was all just duty and hurry there now. The life that was there had gone. Her captain was gone. Pushing back her discomfort, deciding that it was neither the time nor the issue at hand, she managed a "Yes, sir."

He nodded, and everyone went to their respective tasks.

[-]

The pod in the launch bay was of a dark gray color and retained a strange green tint- not similar to the oxidation of copper but alien, eerie. It was more a shimmer from the metal that would only appear when the light struck it just right, an unusual effect that caused each person there, when it was first noticed inadvertently, to immediately turn back, then squint and peer in every possible direction to find that same luster once more. Malcolm couldn't help but wonder what attributed to that feature.

Beside that, the pod looked not too far out of the ordinary; it was gracefully smooth and flowing, sharp at the edges, and contained very little writing, writing which seemed to snake in and out of itself as it ran from one character to the next. Hoshi was disappointed to find that the one or two words that were beautifully etched into the metal were not nearly enough to compile even a rudimental knowledge of their written language.

The captain found that the pause was enough to satisfy the curiosities of his crew and gain as much knowledge as the group there could about at least the very basics of this new people's technology, so he gave a nod to Malcolm, who then fumbled momentarily for a release button, tapped it, and cued a hiss as the door opened and oxygen poured into the lacking atmosphere of the pod.

Just as T'Pol's readings confirmed, three humanoid aliens were inside, sprawled across the floor, one even face down against a storage bin of some kind, and all very obviously unconscious. Their complexion was a light gray with a slight undertone of blue; their ears came to two points, one jutting up and back and the other just below the first; their hair was slightly below shoulder length, several strands of which were tied into complex braids adorned with beads of silver and aqua and a few red; and their clothes were robes of criss-crossing, overlapping material over simple trousers, each person's attire a different color. The alien currently atop the storage bin with silver blood pooling under his cheek was wearing a robe of a deep green shade with copper lining, the one closest to the helm was wearing maroon and gold, and the last was wearing a faded blue with silver.

Phlox pocketed the hyposprays he held ready in his hand to sedate any one of them if they had possibly been volatile. Seeing no need for it, he and his team of medical officers went to work to bring them safely to sickbay, scanners buzzing and slow, careful maneuvers being executed all the while by the wary medics.

As the aliens were brought out of the launch bay, Malcolm followed closely behind in case one of them decided to regain consciousness and cause trouble, which Dr. Phlox did not speak against even knowing that event to be not only highly unlikely but also extremely difficult to do were it to happen, since they were all suffering from concussions. Hoshi stayed back, however, to take another look at the pod. There was something she couldn't quite place, but it didn't settle right with her. With a small sigh of defeat, she turned and walked away from it, catching the smallest glimpse of that green shimmer again.

[-]

"Lieutenant," greeted Travis with a smile as he walked at a slightly quicker pace to catch up with Malcolm, who never seemed to take his time as he walked the corridors, no matter if he was in a hurry to find a weapon to defend himself or to get to the mess hall.

"Ensign," Malcolm replied, and though a smile hardly graced his lips, Travis could see the contentment gained for finding company hidden beneath duty and worry, even if it may have only been the slightest bit.

"Movie night tonight?"

"Every Tuesday," Malcolm said, more like repeated as he'd heard it said once before, for it sounded less like him and more like an echo. He always sounded like that when he was preoccupied with some matter.

"Good," Travis said with an air of satisfaction. "I was hoping the Captain wouldn't postpone it again because of what happened today. We've hardly had movie night at all since we started this mission. ...But everyone needs some kind of constant right now. The crew's on edge- and everyone knows it."

"I suppose," he said somewhat distantly as they turned a corner. "With all these uncertainties, as much as it seems to deter everyone from their duties, if we don't stop every once in awhile and take a moment to breathe, we'll all go crazy over it all...."

Travis couldn't help but hear "I" where Malcolm had strategically placed "we." There was just so much weighing down on everyone ever since they entered the Expanse, and Malcolm, who had subjected himself to that level of pressure ever since he had joined Starfleet, must have felt like he was halfway over the edge of sanity and far beyond what he had once assumed to be his breaking point, knowing with his entire existence that the armory was the single most important system on the ship for the duration of time they spent there, and that he had to be the one running it all. And Travis knew as well as anyone that though Malcolm did tend to enter that state of mind where his armory was top priority because the ship and its crew were top priority, at this point, everyone had to agree. Even Trip, who often insisted that his engines were top priority- something which caused its fair share of skirmishes between the two most strong-willed officers aboard Enterprise- probably wanted those weapons ready for use more than anyone right then.

Travis returned from his thoughts and decided it best to go off on a tangent. "Sir, have you been to sickbay today?"

He turned his head at last to face Travis. "No.... Why? Have you?"

"Mm-hm," he said, nodding.

Malcolm at last allowed a stifled grin onto his face, and he turned back to face the corridor ahead of him. "Knowing you, it was for no better reason than to get a look at these new visitors," he mumbled in good nature.

A large smile stretched across Travis's face. "Could you blame me?" He listened for a moment to the rhythmic sound of their footsteps, only a half of a beat off from being in step with one another. "I didn't get to go down to the launch bay, and I wanted to see who they were."

"I expected no less from you."

Travis laughed a bit, then paused in their conversation to smile at another ensign as she passed by, a young woman whom he often talked to briefly before she took her shift at the helm. But then Travis returned his attention to Malcolm and continued speaking to him about his newfound interest. "There're two males and one female, but that's all I could really tell about them," Travis went on, not really thinking to ask if this was something Malcolm already knew.

"They must be in pretty bad shape.... From what I saw in the launch bay, they were pretty low on oxygen."

Travis shook his head. "Phlox said mostly only minor injuries. He thinks they'll be conscious pretty soon, as long as his treatments work as they should."

[-]

Everything was black. There seemed a dim light from far away, barely able to turn the darkness into a slightly more maroon color, but a light nonetheless. He wondered how long he'd been unconscious, but didn't know if he had the strength to open his eyes to find that out. And, he thought, if everything spun as much as it was with his eyes closed, how much worse would it be when they opened? Pushing back his hesitance, he slowly let go of the darkness.

With a small wince, the world fuzzed back into focus- barely- and he could make out a monitor above him and dimmed lights far above that. A steady beeping could be heard, and as the images drifted back to him through liquid awareness, he discovered that he was not in any familiar atmosphere. Where... where is this? This isn't our shuttlecraft.... Who's taken us aboard?

He attempted to sit up, but his limbs felt heavy and faulty. He gathered his strength and tried again, this time succeeding, but he had to close his eyes to fight against the blinding pain that surged through his skull. He pressed the heels of his hands into his temples, hoping that somehow that would steady the swaying room, and, as his senses returned slowly, he heard the muffled sounds of a voice calling from not very far away, the voice sounding cottony and unclear. He looked up, wondering just who it was that was calling, and found that it was a dark woman in a one-piece navy blue uniform, not looking at all in his direction. He hadn't ever seen anyone that looked like her before, but with the room swimming as it was, it was difficult to determine that when he could barely make out much more than colors and basic shapes.

He slowly turned his eyes to where she was looking and found a heavyset man with dark green clothes of a much more civilian look, ridges covering much of his face, and standing by a communications panel on the wall, speaking to someone who wasn't in the room.

He turned back to the woman, and, as his eyes began to focus, at last noticed that, though she wasn't turned in his direction, the gun in her hand was.

Doctor Phlox had just finished announcing to the captain and Hoshi that one of the aliens had awoken when he heard a frightened cry from behind him. He turned quickly to see the maroon-robed alien man restraining Ensign Ravi harshly around the throat and pressing her phase pistol to the side of her own neck. She was struggling a little under his grip but doing nothing to try to break free, afraid that he would kill her first. She knew she had the weapon on stun, but at that range, and positioned where it was, it may as well have been set to kill.

Phlox concentrated his gaze on the man who was staring him down with cold yellow eyes, looking up through loose strands of hair which seemed longer with his head tilted slightly downward, and tried to keep his expression relatively calm. However, a bit of concern crept over his features as he began to move slowly backwards toward the wall.

He reached slowly behind him for the communications panel, but the alien shouted at him sharply and pressed the phase pistol firmly into Ravi's jugular, causing her to flinch away from the slightly painful pressure and let out a frightened whimper. Phlox slowly recoiled from his action, not exactly disappointed in being unable to call for help; he knew from the start it was most likely to fail.

Phlox continued to watch him, wait for a moment of weakness or some clue to one, but one did not exist. The alien seemed to sense that discovery, and his eyes glinted with the understanding that he had control. He took that moment to gesture toward the stars out the window with a small tip of his head.

Phlox didn't need to be a linguist to realize that he wanted out.

But more than that, he wanted a means of escape- a shuttlepod. Phlox felt a little relief flutter through his chest. Those pods had no weapons and no warp drive, and even if he couldn't stop him from leaving, Enterprise could. But then the relief dissipated and sank into dread. There was still a crewman in danger, and Phlox could tell by the look in this man's eyes that he planned on taking her along- and killing her if his opposition tried to stop him.

The plan was flawless.

Phlox sighed quietly in defeat, and those yellow eyes sparkled in triumph when the alien saw that Phlox knew of his full strategy. With only a moment's pause, Phlox nodded slowly and walked somberly toward decon, which would eventually lead to the launchbay, knowing he would not be followed if he led the man right into the busy corridor. The man was too smart to do that.

Phlox tapped the button to open the door, then waited, but the alien just stared at Phlox coolly and stood where he was. He wanted Phlox to lead the way. The doctor understood this and began his walk to the launchbay. He listened to the other two's footsteps behind his, Ravi's quickened and erratic, for she was being mostly dragged along, walking two steps for every one of his when her captor gave her the time to lift her feet, and the alien man's steps trying to be as even as Phlox's, but awkward from pulling his hostage along.

As Phlox reached the end of the decon chamber, something occurred to him. He slowly and briefly glanced over his shoulder to see exactly where and how the others stood, then reached for the panel on the wall that separated that room from the next: the small room between decon and the launchbay. A moment went by when he held his breath in apprehension, knowing that if this man's plan went through any further than that point, it would succeed. Phlox quickly and silently tapped a few keys and then struck a button that caused blue fluorescent lighting to abruptly illuminate the room in a bright glow. Surprised at the sudden change, the alien man jolted and snapped around, the moment Phlox needed to swiftly remove from his pocket the hypospray still with him and press it to the side of the man's neck to administer the sedative. And, though Phlox hadn't exactly meant to do so, he was thankful that his slightly faulty aim also caused his arm to smack the gun from the alien's grip- and, quite efficiently, free Ensign Ravi as a result.

For a moment the man wavered on his feet while the sedative began to take effect, slightly surprised that he had not succeeded in escaping and slightly apprehensive of what would happen next as a result of that failure, then slowly sank to the floor and collapsed.

Phlox let out a shaky breath and all of the fear and tumult that went on inside him along with it. He pressed the button behind him once more to shut off the blue lighting, feeling as though his arm was weighted down by the stress of all that had gone on in just a matter of minutes, then turned to the somewhat shaken woman nearby him. "Are you alright, Ensign?"

She took in a deep breath and nodded quickly, as if to get it over with.

Leaving the man in decon, they began their return to sickbay, Phlox stopping for a moment to lock the doors with the quick input of a code.

"Phlox! What happened?" asked a voice from behind just as he heard the lock come into place.

He turned to see Captain Archer with Hoshi beside him, who had most likely hurried in only moments ago to find that no one else was there.

"We've had a bit of a development in the situation," Phlox began, a bit of exhaustion from the excitement creeping into his voice.

Archer couldn't help but detect how much distaste he had for those words. Then he peered into decon at the alien man unconscious on the floor. Yes, he really detested those words. It never meant anything good. "Did he attack you?" he asked, his voice low and seemingly unconcerned. His voice held far too much anger and cynicism to convey care.

Phlox just let it be, as he always did, and just gave his response. "He attacked Ensign Ravi. In an attempt to escape."

Archer nodded, the large frown over his lips becoming much more prominent. He looked from Phlox to Ravi, then back to Phlox again. "I want him in the brig."

"Captain," the doctor started, "he still needs to be treated for several fractured ribs and a concussion, the decon chamber will be sufficient in holding him for-"

"It doesn't seem to me like those injuries were bad enough to stop him from trying to kill one of my crew," Archer interrupted icily.

Phlox said nothing, despite the harshness of his captain's comment and the swarming doubts that went through his mind of the man's intentions behind his actions.

"I want him in the brig," he repeated with severity in his quiet tone. "And I want security posted outside these doors in case one of them" -and the bitterness saturating the word made it even more clear he meant the other two now highly unwelcome guests still unconscious on biobeds- "tries something like what just happened." Then he turned and left Sickbay, jabbing the button for the doors, and barely giving them a chance to open before hastily leaving in a rage of anger.

{End Chapter}

Well, I wanted it to be a little longer, but it seemed a good place to end for now. Sorry that up until now, when I put in my new bracket and blurby thing, there was no way to see when each scene changed (because apparantly, FF.N no longer accepts my asterixes...ses? Stary things!). Oh, and sorry everyone that the WOMAN was taken hostage- I really didn't want to give into that stereotype, but I really wanted to put a female in the tactical field for once (a NON-MACO female), even if that meant she had to be pulled into being captive as well.

Well, the hypnotic, Jedi-like thing seemed to work last time, so I might as well go for it again. clears throat ...You see the review button.... You like reviewing, you think to yourself.... You click the review button.... It makes that cool click-y noise.... You feel the urge to review....