After a few more minutes of checks to make sure the pod was safe and ready to use, the launch bay doors were opened and the arm holding the pod was dropped. Once it was out and released, the pod spun around and headed for the surface of the asteroid.
For an asteroid it was quite a large one, about 150km in diameter and 250Km in length, and so it was very easy to detect on the ship's long range sensors.
"You're being very quiet today Jacobs." Malcolm commented with a little bit of a smile as he adjusted co-ordinates and headed for a different area of the asteroid to land on.
Evelyn looked up and over at Malcolm. She was still sitting on top of the storage bin where the ration packs were stored. "I'm just tired. My shift should've ended when I had to go the bridge."
All Malcolm could was laugh slightly. Behind his back Evelyn glared at him. A few minutes later and Malcolm gently landed the pod on a flatish surface.
"Ok." Malcolm started as he got out of the pilot's seat and headed towards the back of the pod. "Let's get the EV suits on." He was fairly surprised at how quiet Evelyn was being today, but he had an inkling that she was building up to a big argument.
They got changed into their EV suits and opened the shuttlepod hatch. They stepped out and began to walk around the surface of the asteroid, scanners and tool box in hands.
"This is the area with the highest concentration of dilithium." Jacobs said. They were about 100 metres from the pod now, and the area they were in was far too rocky for the pod to land in.
"Let's start setting the charges then." Malcolm replied as he placed his toolbox on the ground.
Evelyn continued to walk around, looking for the best place to set the charges down. But no matter what, the scanner was finding it hard to pinpoint where the dilithium was and how deep in the rock it was.
Malcolm watched as she continued to slowly walk around. "Something wrong?"
"I'm not sure." She sighed. "But something just doesn't look right about these readings."
Malcolm put down the charges in his hand and moved over to Evelyn, looking over her shoulder he looked at the readings.
"There's probably some sort of isotope that interfering with the scanners. There wasn't any problem back on the ship." He began to move away and back to where he had put his toolbox.
Evelyn's face began to get even more puzzled when her scanner began to bleep. "Err… Lieutenant!"
Malcolm sighed and turned to face the young crewman. "What is it now?"
"Did Enterprise pick up any biosigns?"
"No… why?"
"Because I have. I'm reading 4 bio signs about 40 meters away!"
Malcolm returned to stand next to Evelyn. He took his own scanner out and checked it. Exactly the same readings.
"Now tell me that it's some sort of isotope that's interfering with the scanners giving us exactly the same readings."
Malcolm looked at her in annoyance and she just smiled at him.
Jacobs looked around her to see if she could see the bio-signs she was picking up. In one direction she could see Enterprise, following side by side with the asteroid, she turned the other side and froze in place.
Malcolm looked up from his scanner and at Evelyn's face. "What's wrong Crewman?"
But before Evelyn could give a response a discharge from a weapon hit the ground close to where the pair of them stood.
"Quickly back to the pod!" Malcolm shouted as they turned and ran as fast as they could, grabbing Evelyn's arm to get her moving. The lifeforms continued to fire at the two security officers until they both fell on the ground, unconscious, side by side. They had only managed to get a few meters back to the pod before they were hit.
-&-&-&-&-&-
On the bridge Captain Archer walked on from his ready room and headed over towards Hoshi's desk.
"What's wrong Hoshi?"
Hoshi didn't take her eyes of her console as she gave her answer. "I detected weapons fire on the surface of the asteroid. About 100 meters from the pod."
"It was probably just Malcolm and Jacobs setting off the charges." Archer replied, knowing how Hoshi got in sticky situations.
"It wasn't the charges sir. I also detected bio signs, other than Lieutenant Reed's and Crewman Jacobs."
Archer thought for a second. "Hail them."
Hoshi shook her head. "I tried to sir when I first detected the weapons fire. No response from either of them."
A voice from behind Hoshi rang out. "I have lost Lieutenant Reed and Crewman Jacobs."
Archer turned and faced T'Pol with a puzzled expression on his face. "What do you mean?"
"They are no longer on the surface of the asteroid." The Vulcan science officer replied calmly.
Archer was now very worried. It was now certainly looking as if there were aliens living on this asteroid and Evelyn and Malcolm had stumbled into them.
-&-&-&-&-&-
Malcolm was first to regain consciousness. He looked around him and all he could see was rock. He also noted that he was no longer in his EV suit, but in regular uniform. He tried to move his arm to rub his head but found they were anchored down. Anchored down by the fact he hand been tied back to back with Crewman Jacobs.
"Jacobs?" He called quietly, but he got no response. She was still unconscious. "Jacobs!" He said, this time a little a louder with a bit of a shunt. He was rewarded by the noise of a grunt behind him. "Jacobs, can you hear me?" He did his best to look over his shoulder, but it wasn't easy and so gave up, looking back at the wall in front of him.
"We're inside the asteroid."
Malcolm nodded his head. "Are you all right?"
"I've been shot! Of course I'm not all right!" She shouted back at him, nudging him sharply in his back with her elbow, causing him to yelp in pain slightly.
"Keep your voice down. You should have fired back at them."
"I didn't have a weapon cause I was told there was no need for one!"
"Regulation 7B of all away missions…" Malcolm started before he was rudely interrupted by Evelyn's voice.
"Oh don't give me that! Why didn't you fire back?" She asked. Malcolm said nothing. "Because you didn't have a phase pistol either." She replied to her own question. "Next time, don't blame me when you also didn't do anything!"
"You shouldn't warned me earlier that we had visitors!"
"I warned you as soon as I knew, Lieutenant!" she nudged him sharply again seeing as that was the only pain she could give him in her position. This time, Malcolm retaliated by nudging sharply back at her, and very quickly a nudging war started out between the two of them.
Evelyn's shouts had caused their captors to come over and investigate the noise. When the two security officers saw who it was they both froze in position and sighed heavily.
It was an unmistakable alien that they knew very well. Pointed ears, a 'V' ridge on their foreheads, slight greenish tint to their skin.
"Romulans." Malcolm and Evelyn sighed in unison and rested their heads against each other. Possibly the worst aliens that could be their captors.