Chapter Nine
Restitution
An hour later, an emotionally strained Jonathan Archer left the guest quarters, looking forward to the moment when he would bid his 'guests' a long awaited goodbye. It had been a grueling two days, but he was satisfied with the result.
His thoughts, however, were derailed when he found the Rev. Mother Patricia McCabe standing outside the door. "Captain Archer?"
"Yes?" He asked, bracing himself for another stressful encounter.
"Would you please join me in my office?"
Surprised by the cryptic request, he allowed the woman to lead the way.
When, a few minutes later, he approached that room at the opposite end of the saucer, he was surprised to find Dr. Phlox just leaving. "What's going on here?"
The Denobulan turned to him with an impressively wide smile. "Merely an anatomy lesson, Captain."
xxx
A half hour more passed before Ensign Travis Mayweather received a summons while at his station on the bridge, with orders to prepare Shuttlepod One for launch.
As he was leaving the bridge, Hoshi Sato received a similar summons to go to Launch Bay One. This call, however, did not originate from the Captain, and when she heard it she was completely astonished. Nevertheless, she turned over her duties to a Crewman from Tactical in the rear of the bridge, who would hold the station until her relief arrived, and obeyed this unexpected and unusual call.
xxx
Captain Archer escorted his Capellan 'guests' to the Launch Bay, where Travis Mayweather would be waiting to pilot the Shuttlepod. But as the doors opened to the bay and the group entered the large chamber, the three Capellans were surprised to find a throng of people waiting for them. The assemblage was composed entirely of women; every crewwoman who either was or could get off duty was present. They presented a wall of Starfleet blue crowding before the Shuttlepods.
To the left, ranged along the wall, stood Lt. Malcolm Reed, Ensign Travis Mayweather, Dr. Phlox and Crewman Tony Cavaluzza. The four men were not part of the group but lent their support to it. In the front rank of the cluster stood Mother Patricia McCabe, the only one not in Starfleet blue but in her Clerical garb. Archer could quickly pick out Hoshi Sato, Elizabeth Cutler, Mary Hampshire, Ann Anderson, Christina Carson, Tia Anlor, Jennifer Farber, Mary Sherman, Mary Tigat, Vicky Pasmore, Carla Martinez, Andrea Carstairs and many others, a total of twenty one out of the twenty eight women serving aboard the ship.
"Captain Archer," Reverend McCabe said formally, "I take it that your business is concluded?"
"Yes." He said just as formally. He could not say he was happy with what was happening, but he agreed with the necessity of it. He'd agreed when the idea was first proposed to him in McCabe's office, and had not been happy then or now. "A treaty is agreed to and signed, giving Starfleet mining rights on Capella in exchange for medical assistance and supplies, as well as the commencement of an educational program for the planet's young."
"Then only one piece of business remains." The front ranks of the assembly parted to form a semicircle, leaving Ensign Dina Samuels alone in its center, surrounded by her Sisters-in-Arms.
x
Dina's heart was pounding in her chest so loudly she could barely hear anything else, so hard it hurt as it slammed blood through her. She was so afraid she had to keep her fists clenched tightly at her sides to hide her shaking. She tried to concentrate on keeping her breath steady; taking slow, controlled breaths as her mounting terror made her want to cry, or to flee to a safety that for her would never exist again!
Mother McCabe, whose hand she could not even grasp to relieve her terror, had suggested this, as had Malcolm Reed, and at the time she had most enthusiastically agreed. She knew if she did not confront the monster who had hurt her now, she would never have a chance to do so ever again.
She would be left with only terror and pain, and she knew she would never be able to touch Tony Cavaluzza again, or bear his touch, nor that of any other man for as long as she lived. She might, with counseling, come to live with the pain, but she would never again be herself.
She'd decided she'd rather be dead!
x
"Saal!" She called firmly, trying to clamp down with all her self control so her voice would not carry her terror across the chamber. "You violated me! You raped me! Now I challenge you!"
Saal looked down at her incredulously; then turned to his Teer. "This is ridiculous!"
Akaar was as surprised as his Maavs were, but by Capellan tradition and law his next move was clear. "You are challenged, Saal. What is your answer?"
Saal laughed. "A woman?" He put all the contempt he could muster into that word, looking across the bay at the much smaller human. "I'm challenged by a woman?"
"She is a warrior of her race. What is your answer?"
"Come on, bastard; you afraid of a little woman?"
The huge Maav looked again at Dina seventeen inches below him and drew a long blade from his belt. "I'll carve you for my dinner."
Archer gripped his wrist tightly. "No weapons."
Akaar addressed him directly. "What are your terms?"
Archer could not believe he was being asked this, but as 'teer' of the Enterprise it seemed to be his prerogative. He was loathe to answer, but could not stop this; not without doing more damage to his friend than by letting it continue.
Additionally, he had to admit it would help Starfleet's status with the Capellans if they did something the men could comprehend and respect. But right now he did not give a damn about any of that! He just wanted to keep Dina Samuels alive. "No weapons. And this is not to the death. Defeat or surrender."
"Agreed. This is single combat. Her supporters may remain, they may not help her."
"She won't want any help." Archer told him tightly.
As Kapaar reached out to accept Saal's sword and kligat, Archer crossed the chamber. 'If Starfleet hears about this, we'll all be cleaning privies on freighters for the rest of our careers.' He stepped up to Dina, and was joined by Malcolm and Tony. Archer was sure this was a bad idea, more so when he could see the naked terror in Dina's eyes. He knew he was not the only one who could.
"Be careful, honey." Tony urged her. Dina's answer was silent, only her lips moved, but no one needed to hear the sentiment.
"Remember," Malcolm said, "you have the advantage in height, speed and agility. Use it."
"You're out of your mind!" Dina retorted. "He's over a fragging foot and a half bigger than me and strong enough to put me through a bulkhead."
"Exactly. You have the advantage. Remember what I've taught you all these months and use it. And remember everything Phlox told you."
"Dina." Archer said firmly. "I can still stop this. Are you sure you want to do this?"
She shook her head and answered with as much fire as he'd ever heard from her. "I'm sure I don't!"
She moved to step around him, and when he turned he saw that Saal was already positioned several feet before her, the other Capellans moving aside to her left. The Enterprise crew moved aside toward the right bulkhead to give the combatants as much room as possible, in a Launch Bay dominated by two Shuttlepods.
x
Dina looked up and across the still-too-limited space at the man who had abused her and she still felt the pain of that earlier fight. Though the more intimate wounds had been 'repaired', they still hurt; and now she faced this huge monster again. Heart pounding in her chest so hard it hurt; breath carefully controlled in an effort to avoid hyperventilation; mouth so dry she felt she could sand-smooth the Shuttlepods with her tongue; she tried to hide or push aside her absolutely overwhelming terror. Just the sight of him made her more intimate wounds hurt again in sympathetic response, or perhaps the fear of new assaults; she couldn't be sure.
All she was sure of was that if she did not do this, then these feelings would be with her for the rest of her life.
She waited, sizing up the tremendous man, looking up at his more than seven foot height. She'd held her own against him in a smaller space yesterday and hadn't been as afraid as she was now. She'd learned something yesterday about how he fought, but he'd learned about her as well.
Now all she knew, even in the spacious Shuttle Bay with room to maneuver and surrounded by two dozen supporters, was that he was a lot bigger than he was yesterday!
x
This time there would be no focus on sex. This time she'd publicly challenged and impugned him. Despite Archer's terms, she could see in his eyes that he intended to kill her.
He stepped in, putting his whole body into a punch that would have torn her head from her shoulders if she hadn't dodged to her left, jumping spryly beside and past him to kick back into his knees, knocking them out from under him and sending him sprawling to the deck. Several women laughed as he got to his feet, Dina caring more about keeping out of his reach. Her opening effort to outmaneuver and humiliate him had likely worked all too well. Now he probably intended to injure her severely before he killed her.
x
Saal charged her almost before she was ready, his hands going for her throat. But she got her arms up high before he could reach her, knocking his arms aside, clasped her hands together and brought them down as hard as she could onto the bridge of his nose, backing aside out of reach as he staggered backward into the space between the two pods, clutching his nose, perhaps as surprised as angry. Dina rushed forward, leaping as high as she could and slamming both feet into Saal's chest, staggering him several feet back as she landed on her feet and leapt toward Shuttlepod Two on her right as he stepped between them, planting her foot on its slanted 'nose', her momentum carrying her up and she aimed a hard kick to his head, connecting with a very satisfying 'thud' as she passed, landing on her feet behind him between the pods as an excited cheer went up from her friends.
She did not hesitate, kicking his knees out from under him again, and as he fell aiming as hard a kick as she could at his back, at one of the spots Phlox had suggested earlier in McCabe's office. But Saal must have anticipated her move, for an instant before she connected with the vital nerve cluster he turned, one hand grasping her leg, the other her uniform between her breasts. He got to his feet as she tried to balance on one foot and turned back so fast she was pulled entirely off her feet with a startled shriek as she was swung around his body and slammed with staggering force into Shuttlepod Two!
The impact stunned her as he released her and her momentum carried her away into the open space to roll along the deck, ending up sprawled on her side on the deck. Her back felt like she'd been hit by an asteroid and she'd barely avoided a concussion by ducking her head forward. Now, lying on the deck, just trying to get her body to work again, she looked up to see Saal advancing confidently, certain of an easy victory. She pushed off the deck, just barely able to roll onto her back.
She heard her friends urging her to get up, but did not move as Saal stood above her. She lay motionless on her back, helplessly watching as he raised his left foot and several of her friends cried out as he was about to slam it down onto her head.
Her hands flashed up, grabbing his foot tightly and she twisted as hard as she could as she brought her own foot up hard into the nerve cluster of his right leg and he collapsed beside her with a pained cry. No longer pretending, keeping her grip on his left foot; she pivoted over him, one knee on his body as she pulled and twisted hard.
But the maneuver, certain to painfully immobilize a human, was ineffective as with surprising strength Saal's foot was yanked from her grip, allowing him to straighten his leg just as he reached back, his hand clutching her hair and he pulled her backward.
This time she couldn't avoid her head slamming onto the deck, the impact stunning her as she felt him get to his feet beside her. She lay still; her head feeling like it had broken open as she tried to keep from losing consciousness from the horrific impact, knowing that if she did she was certainly dead.
She tried to shake off the stupor, her head only hurting more. Awareness took a long time as he stood over her, savoring his victory, and had barely started to return to her before she felt his hand clutch her uniform, yanking her to her feet. He held her by her uniform front clutched in his massive left hand as his fist rammed into her stomach once, twice, three times as she clutched herself, trying to protect herself with her arms. Her battered stomach was so pained she could barely breathe and she struggled to avoid losing her last meal as he yanked her upright again. She couldn't raise her arms in time to prevent his fist from slamming into her face.
Dina was knocked back, staggering from the force of the punch further back between the Shuttlepods. He did not pursue her as she managed to halt her rearward flight, one hand covering her numbing face. When she brought her hand from her face it was covered in her blood.
She looked up, squeezing her eyes tightly as her right eye was smeared by a flow of blood, and when she wiped it away she saw him bearing down on her between the two Pods! Desperately, she ducked under his rush, slipping past him to get behind, again kicking his knees out from under him, moving back out from between the pods into the wide area before them as he fell; needing room to maneuver. Enraged, he got up and came charging out at her, just as she'd hoped. She dodged to her right, grasping his arm, her foot coming out to trip him and using his momentum to fling him across the bay, just as she'd done yesterday. He rolled to a stop near the bulkhead, turning to look up at her, his features distorted in rage.
"You should have remembered that move!" She said, exultant as her friends cheered, their response only serving to further anger the Capellan. 'Keep it up, gals.' She thought. 'The madder he stays; the better.'
Saal leapt to his feet and charged her. She could not believe he'd tried the same bull rush again, but determined not to repeat herself, stepping forward and kicking high, her foot slamming into his chin hard enough to drive him back – except it did not work! His momentum barreled him into her and they both toppled over, Dina landing on her back with her legs straddling his hips.
For an instant a flash of memory brought her back to yesterday's horror, and she was slow to react as he pushed up and rammed his fist into her face, the back of her head hitting the steel deck again! Stunned, she tried to move but could not do so quickly enough to prevent him from grabbing the front of her uniform and yanking her up completely off her feet, slamming her back into the bow of Shuttlepod One.
She cried out as her back exploded in pain and she was bent violently over the bow. Held against the unyielding steel, she could not stop him as his hands slipped up to her throat! His body pressed against her legs, trapping her as his hands tightened about her neck! She grabbed his wrists and pulled with all her strength, but could not ease the strangling pressure.
Pinned over two feet above the deck, bent backward, she couldn't fight him, struggling as best she could to loosen his grip, but she could not. Her strangled breath was reduced to a horrible gagging, then nothing! Straining helplessly, unable to free the tight grip or drag air into her straining lungs, she could hear the cries of her distressed friends who were equally helpless to aid her, else Kapaar could join the fight and it would devolve into a melee.
Raising her right hand high, having only one last defense, she wasn't hesitant to use it, bending her fingers and bringing her fingernails down into his eyes.
With an agonized roar Saal released her, falling back, clutching his face as she fell to the deck, gasping desperately for breath to fill her agonized lungs and clear her swimming head. Seeing Saal bent slightly, clutching his eyes, she rushed forward and aimed as hard a kick as she could to his head, connecting hard, driving him several paces away.
Falling again to her knees, still not recovered, breathing as deeply, as quickly as she could, she heard a sudden shout and looked up just in time to see him charging her again! She got to her feet but ducked under his arms as he tried to encircle her and hit him as hard as she could in his solar plexus. She'd have preferred a different target, but had already learned the uselessness of that maneuver yesterday. His breath whoofed out satisfyingly, but his fist came at her face so fast all she could do was duck backward, allowing herself to fall and roll away from him, trying to put enough distance between them as she rolled back up to her feet.
He charged her again and she kicked him as hard as she could in his stomach, putting everything she had into the kick. He hadn't been moving as fast as he had before and the hard blow doubled him over.
Stepping past him as he was bent low, she put her arm about his neck, trapping his head behind her under her arm, holding him bent over. Bracing herself, she kicked backward up into his face, two, three, four times as hard as she could before he grabbed her other leg with one hand, her back with the other and straightened to his full seven foot height, the fast motion making her arm slip from his neck an instant before he let go.
From over six feet up he dropped her and she slammed down on the steel deck, her hands and feet hitting the metal barely in time to absorb some of the impact. But the move did not absorb enough as she cried out in agony. Nevertheless, she rolled away as quickly as she could, just avoiding a kick to her ribs.
She got to her feet as soon as she was out of range; trying to ignore the pain of a mounting number of bruises and tried to get far enough back to maneuver.
Too late she realized she'd backed into the space between the pods, and as he charged she looked frantically for room to maneuver, but there was none. She tried to duck under his fist, but she was not yet recovered from his strangling her and the stunning crash, and was too slow as he hit her, forcing her backward as his fists cracked again and again into her face. He kept hitting her, driving her back step by step. She was barely conscious, unable to block any of the hard punches. She could no longer even feel her face. All she could hear were the cries of distress from her friends.
She felt his hands clutch the front of her uniform and she was lifted completely off her feet and slammed bodily to the side against Shuttlepod One. Agony exploded through her body as she was slammed so hard against the unyielding titanium hull she was sure she'd broken at least half a dozen bones. He pulled her off One and slammed her body forward against Two, the front of her body taking the titanic impact. Then she was driven sideways into One again.
She could not stop him as he brutally pounded her from one to the other, over and over! She didn't know how many times she was slammed against the hulls; just that finally, as she was about to cross over the edge of consciousness, it was over and she was hanging from his grip, limp and helpless, feeling as though every bone in her body were shattered! She was barely conscious, unable to focus her swollen eyes on anything.
She tried to move but her body, screaming in silent agony, would not obey. She hung limply from his grip on her uniform front, unable to mount any defense at all. He lifted her high over his head, his other hand grasping her crotch tightly, and her shriek cut through the chamber as she was thrown from between the pods, flying across the room to crash with cataclysmic impact into the far bulkhead, falling to the deck, the front of her body taking the full impact.
x
Dina lay face down on the deck, completely and thoroughly battered, unable to move and tortured by such pain that she didn't know if she would even live to take her next breath! She had hit the bulkhead with bone shattering force and landed hard. Her body screamed at her to stay down, to surrender to the pain, to wait for death.
Barely heard cries from her friends filled the launch bay as she lay motionless. She didn't knew how two of her friends had tried to rush to her aid, only to be held back by the others. She lay face down on the deck, barely hearing her friends urging her, begging her to get up, but consciousness nearly escaped her until she heard Archer's authoritative shout of "Enough!"
Something in that word broke through her daze, and allowed her to remember where she was, and why! She drew a deep breath, her lungs shrieking in pain.
"No!" Dina said as loudly as she was able, her body so suffused with pain that she could barely distinguish one from another, shaking her head despite the new pain it caused.
Grimacing against fresh agony, she pressed against the deck, her chest and arms protesting. She could barely move herself an inch, but the second time she forced herself to push harder, and she started to rise inch by inch until she managed to push herself up, barely able to get her elbows under her. She could scarcely move, her stunned body shaking uncontrollably, the pain shrieking at her to give up. When she could open her eyes and see the deck before her, she saw the growing puddle of red blood dripping upon it.
"No!" She cried even more firmly, as loudly as she was able, continuing to push herself up on trembling arms that did not want to obey her nor support her weight. She fought herself until she could get her arms to full extension. "I–." She drew her knees up under her, fighting back a shriek of pain as she balanced on hands and knees on the deck, watching her blood fall from several spots on her face to paint the metal. "Don't–." She shoved as hard as she could off the floor, rising as her back flared in protest, balancing herself on wobbling knees. "Quit!"
She saw Saal standing between and just before the Shuttlepods, in no hurry to advance, certain he had won. She panted carefully, every breath sending flares of pain through her lungs and from her ribs. She was sure one was cracked, but did not dare touch it. To her right were the Capellans, ranged to her left were her friends and shipmates, and before her was her fate.
She panted hard to fight the pain, fought to ignore the pain, to resist the trembling of her protesting body as she forced herself to get one foot under her. Reaching behind her, she clutched for something to support herself against the bulkhead. She held back a scream behind clamped lips, her legs wobbling as she got the other up, pushing herself upright; leaning against the bulkhead behind her. She grasped the first jutting thing she touched and forced herself to her feet, not allowing herself to breathe deeply because she would scream in agony if she did. She could feel the blood flowing down her face and didn't even want to spare a glance at her uniform.
She cautiously shook her head, trying to clear it, and pushed carefully off the bulkhead, her body shrieking in protest as she concentrated on taking a step, then another, forced herself to stand upright; and staggered backward into the bulkhead, hitting it hard, just barely catching herself with a tight grip on some protruding control. It took all she could to clutch that unknown metal, to fight her trembling body as it threatened to give out from under her, trying to think through the horrible pain.
She tried to ignore the pain, to fight it. If something was broken in her she did not want to know. If she was bleeding internally as well as outside, she did not want to know! She concentrated on nothing except the man standing across the open space before her, waiting.
This man before her had raped her, stolen something from her she had to get back – her life! When she'd faced her friends, terrified of them; when she'd clung to Patricia McCabe, trembling and screaming; she knew she could not bear a life of that fear. Either that fear would conquer her and destroy her for the rest of her life, or she would conquer it!
x
She realized at that moment that she wasn't afraid anymore. The pain so filled her that there was no longer room for fear. Once she knew she could no longer live with that fear, she knew she had to conquer that terror, or she would die – for she would not let the fear steal her life!
She looked to her assembled friends, seeing their distress but seeking out one face, one pair of eyes, focusing upon them, trying to draw strength from them. Taking a deep, very careful breath, she pushed herself away from the bulkhead and took one, two, three staggering steps.
Saal advanced on her, his fists clenched. "I'll make this fast." He promised.
"I don't like quickies." She retorted, barely dodging his fist and grasping his arm, using it for the moment to hold herself upright on legs that gave out from under her. She raised her foot and slammed it into his shin, scraping down to stomp onto his instep. As quickly as she could she targeted the same nerve cluster in his leg she'd hit before, using all her strength even as he pulled his arm away as the impact deadened his leg and they both fell face down to the deck.
Dina grabbed his long train of hair with her left hand, yanking hard as he lay face down, using the force to pull his head up and she dragged herself onto his back.
Laying on his back, she spread her legs as widely as she could, one foot to either side, keeping him down, unable to use his leg for the few moments it would remain numbed, and unable to turn over as she got her right arm up about his throat, letting go of his hair to grab her left forearm, trapping his throat between her arms and squeezing.
His throat trapped in the crook of her elbow, he tried to pull her arm loose as she squeezed harder; forcing all her body's strength, everything she had left, into her arms, cutting off his breath. With her feet planted far apart on either side of him, he could not turn or get any leverage as he pulled at her arm and she put everything she had into tightening the grip. Her body trembled on the edge of exhaustion, wanting to shut down from the brutal beating and the agony that suffused her, but she fought her body as much as his! She watched her dripping blood spot his back and in his hair. He struggled under her, trying to get up, to turn over, even as she stopped his breath.
Her body screamed in protest as she forced more and more strength into her arms from everywhere in her that she could while fighting his efforts to turn over. Pain flared through her as she concentrated on focusing her strength into her arms, drawing it from everywhere within her, focusing on her arms! He was barely struggling now under her, his wheezing breaths horrible to hear as he desperately fought to drag air into his straining lungs.
"You're about to be defeated by a woman!" She whispered tightly into his ear, barely loud enough to be heard. She knew she shouldn't waste her breath, but could not help herself. She pulled harder, pushing with her other arm, tightening the grip with all her force. She should have no more strength at all, but from some unknown wellspring within her she poured the last of her strength, everything she had left, into the grip, her arms hurting in earnest. "How's it feel to have someone on top of you crushing the life out of you, you fragging bastard?"
He pulled again, his strangled breath reduced to nothing at all as she tightened even more, seeking all her reserves of strength to throw into this, her body shrieking to stop the unremitting effort. She made it go on as long as she could, and then longer, longer, her arms burning in pain, the agony growing worse by the second. Her muscles screamed at her to stop. "A human takes four minutes to strangle!" She whispered tightly. "How long with you?" His tugging was getting weaker; she'd cut off his gasping breath long before.
"Come on, you bastard! Give!" His struggles were slowing. She could barely feel his pulling at her arm as she forced the very last iota of her waning strength into her grip. It was over. She had absolutely nothing left to draw from. She was completely drained, and still she did not let go. She would not let go until he gave! "Or not; I don't fragging care! Just know, when you die, that a woman; a woman you raped; sent you to Hell!"
"Enough." This time it was Akaar who spoke. She looked up to where he stood. "The victory is yours, woman. I would not lose my Maav."
"No!" She looked down, addressing Saal. "You give!" She tightened harder, not knowing where this last iota of strength came from but using it gladly, using the very last of her strength, completely at her limit, completely drained. She could feel her grip start to weaken. "You like to beat and rape women! You give to a woman!"
"Desist!" Akaar commanded.
"Ensign Samuels!" She looked over her shoulder toward the sound of a more authoritative command. "Release him! That's an order."
She let go, rolling off his back and away toward the bulkhead, landing on her back as he drew in a great draught of air, breathing quickly, deeply as she lay beside him, grateful to be able to stop. Her whole body was trembling, her strength completely gone, used up in this colossal effort as she lay beside her defeated foe. Her deep gasping breaths mirrored his.
Dina lay staring upward at the double high ceiling, panting deeply; blood flowing down each side of her face which she could not feel from the many hard punches. She felt the wetness flowing past the sides of her face, into her hair, but could not move to stop it. She was sure her face was a minefield of bloody bruises, but for now she just wanted to get her breath back into her trembling body. She couldn't move, knowing that if she tried to get up she would fall over and not be able to get up again. She could not feel her arms; they lay limply at her sides. She couldn't even move them, she'd totally exhausted them, and she was so grateful to be able to stop. She was aware of him beside her as he forced himself to get to his feet, staggering away toward his fellows.
An instant later she was inundated by a crowd of her friends kneeling and clustering about her, pulling her so she could sit up, hugging her as she panted heavily, throat sore and dry from her stentorian breaths, barely able to acknowledge them yet. She tried uselessly to keep her face away from her friends, but as they hugged her several came away with blood on their uniforms and no one cared. She raised a hand to her numb face, but it came away smeared with lines of blood and she realized she must be covered with it. Mary Tigat and Carla Martinez helped her up to her feet, supporting her between them. She hung limply, could not stand on her own, not even able to keep her legs under her. The throng opened ranks to allow her to be brought forward even as Phlox left the men who had remained with him at the bulkhead, crossing the room to his patient.
"SAAL! HOLD!"
The shout turned everyone toward the Capellans as Saal, humiliated beyond reason at his defeat by a weak and insignificant woman, hurled his discus-like bladed weapon across the gap toward his now hated adversary!
The kligat moved so fast it could not be seen, just a high whoosh as it traveled straight and true to its human target. The only one standing between it and Dina was Tia, and what happened was too fast for human eyes to resolve. Tia's hand flashed out and she pivoted in a blur of motion, the whoosh was repeated and the kligat buried itself deep into Saal's throat!
The Capellan's eyes were frozen in an astonished stare for about a seemingly endless second. Then he tottered, falling backward with a horrible thud.
No one moved. No one spoke. For a long moment the universe seemed to hold its breath. Then, Akaar slowly turned to Archer, and when he spoke his voice was softened and lifeless. "Saal's treachery shames us."
Epilogue
Jonathan Archer entered Sick Bay in a bleak mood, realizing that in the past two days he had been here more often than on the Bridge, and there was no real joy in the return. As the doors closed behind him, the round door to the Imaging Chamber was just opening, the platform rolling out with Dina Samuels upon it. When he drew close and she could look up at him, he was pleased to see that there were no visible marks of her ordeal.
No visible marks.
The invisible ones, he knew, would be with her for a long time to come. "How are you?" He asked as he stood beside her, with Phlox on her opposite side. She hesitated for a long moment.
"I'm not sure." She shook her head, and there was no joy in her. "I don't think I'm going to know how I am for a long time." She pressed a hand to her side, wincing.
"You had five bruised ribs, two had hairline fractures. The good news is that you had no internal injuries. The bad news is that for a few days it will feel like you did."
"Oh, joy."
She rubbed her face, but then her hand clenched tightly. "Will I sound like a horrible person if I tell you I'm glad he's dead?" Neither man answered her, which was all right, because she didn't know the answer either. "What happened?" She asked Phlox, really needing to change the subject.
"With the kligat?" She nodded. "Simple reflex. Auran dendrites are at least 75 percent closer to one another than in the human body. I doubt she could possibly do that if she had to think about it. Her greater Auran strength resulted in the kligat actually being buried into his spinal column."
Dina was impressed. Her response, however, was somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. "It pays to have alien friends."
"You can look up the relative composition and density of Human and Auran dendrites during your recuperation."
She shook her head, instantly regretting it, but hiding the twinge of pain as well as she could. "No way, Doctor; I have to go back to work. Life Sciences hasn't seen me for two days."
"In that case, you can do it here tonight, and I'll expect a report on the subject in the morning."
She grinned wryly. "Slave driver." She looked at Archer. "All this didn't foul up the treaty, did it?"
"No. In fact, Akaar was so distressed by Saal's trying to kill you after the fight was over – it was dishonorable conduct that reflected badly on him – that he was willing to make some additional concessions. The revised treaty's been transmitted, we left orbit half an hour ago, and I for one am happy to leave Capella behind."
"Amen!"
"So," Archer said, returning to his original subject. "How are you managing?"
"Well," she sighed, "I can honestly say I went through Hell! I got to fight him back, but I still have a lot of anger. I'm not afraid anymore, but …" She sighed feelingly. "I'm not the same as I was before. Mother McCabe tells me not to expect miracles; it's a long and hard road."
"Well, I can promise you that you won't have to walk it alone. On this ship, we're a family."
"All for one and one for all?" She asked with a wry smile.
He thought it over. "I've always believed that everyone here should know that when the chips are down we can depend upon our shipmates. You have a lot of people who care; and I can tell you honestly that there's a certain amount of hero worship going on out there right now."
She sighed, shaking her head carefully. "I don't want 'hero worship'. I never did. All I wanted was my life back."
"Well, you got that. You fought for it, and you won." But still her eyes were troubled.
"Captain, can I make a confession?"
"I'm not really the one, but …"
"In the end, in those last few moments … I really wanted to kill him."
"I know you did." He said as somberly.
"It's going to take me a long time to get over that, to come to terms with it…" But then her expression lightened slightly. "But with your help and that of good friends, I'll find my way back. It's hard," she took a deep breath and forced a smile, "but I know I'll have good companions along the way."
Archer clasped her hand. "Always."
But then she took a deep breath, and when she spoke again, her tone was more like her own. "And so as long as 'slave driver' here has me off duty, I've got to find something to do to occupy my time." She looked well above Archer's eyes and smiled. "Fancy a trim?"
He could see the smile was as fragile and false as any he had ever seen, that it hid a heart and soul that were still filled with a lingering turmoil; that it would be so for a very long time. He also recalled Trip's having told him that she had contrived to get him to her 'barber shop' yesterday so she could talk privately in a place where she felt safe.
"Yes."