999

Trip saw the pair enter the gym and knew he couldn't remain outside. They had arrived at their destination and if he didn't do anything Brown would carry out his criminal plan. It was risky, but he had to go in. He had changed into sweat pants and a T-shirt before going to bed; perhaps he could pretend he was there for a workout.

Heaving a calming breath he raised his hand and made the doors to open.

At the swishing noise Trip saw Hoshi jerk violently and try to push away from her abductor. But she must have forgotten Brown was a security man; trained to react fast and skilled at hand-to-hand combat. With a growl of anger he easily countered her move and a moment later she was in his firm grip in front of him, a knife held tightly just under her chin.

Trip froze. "Don't…" he began to say, but the rest of his words didn't get past the lump that he suddenly felt in his throat.

"Brown, let her go," a hollow voice with an unmistakable accent said behind him. Trip had always envied Malcolm for the apparent calm he could show in the face of danger.

Brown was breathing heavily but the knife against Hoshi's throat was unwavering. His eyes were wide with surprise and Trip could almost see his mind work frantically, weighing his options. The young linguist had her eyes closed and had gone quite pale.

"So you've caught me," he finally said, with a humourless laugh. "Well, I may have lost, but the damage has been done," he ground out. "People on Raan are up in arms and Teron's government will have to yield. No alliance will be formed. You should thank me, really: one less species to watch our back against."

Trip didn't dare avert his gaze from the scene before him but saw out of the corner of his eye Malcolm coming up beside him. He perceived that he was holding a phase pistol in his outstretched left hand, and silently hoped his friend was as good a shot with that hand as with his right.

"Let her go," Malcolm repeated in a steely voice. "You're not going to gain anything by hurting her."

Brown let out a nervous chuckle. "Seems to me at this point I have nothing to gain even if I don't hurt her," he said.

"You're not that kind of man, Ensign," Malcolm replied. Trip thought there was regret in his words. But he had no time to think about it, for Reed continued, "You saved the life of many a crewman in the Expanse. I would have trusted you with my own. Whatever made you do what you did, come to your senses: put that knife down now, and let Ensign Sato go."

"I was another man in the Expanse. Or I should say, I am another man, after the Expanse," Brown spat out. "I thought once the Xindi had been dealt with, Earth would be safe. But I've come to realise it's never going to be safe, unless we keep other species at a distance. I don't want to lose any more family the next time an alien race decides to get rid of us."

There was such suppressed fury in his gaze and voice that Trip was flabbergasted at how different this man before him looked from the reserved Ensign Brown he had come to know.

"So to keep the Raans at a distance you attacked them on their home world?" Malcolm asked. "It doesn't make any sense."

"They know we are technologically more advanced, so they wouldn't dare respond," Brown snorted.

"You almost got Captain Archer and Commander T'Pol killed," Malcolm growled accusingly, his voice showing emotion for the first time. Trip didn't turn to look at him but he could picture the exact hard expression he would have on his face.

"No one was supposed to get hurt. Not even Teron," Brown snapped back. "The explosion was only to stir up xenophobic feelings on Raan. There was a slight hitch. We should have already been off the surface when the bomb went off," he explained angrily. "We took a little longer than expected to get to the shuttlepod, or that idiot Asek miscalculated and detonated the explosive earlier than he was supposed to." His voice turned cold as he added dismissively, "Or perhaps he decided he wanted to try and get rid of the Prime Minister in a more final way."

"Asek…" Malcolm murmured.

Brown shot a triumphant look at Reed. "It was so simple, really. While you checked the hall, I was checking the outside; I knew he'd be my contact; I passed him the explosive and the detonator. Isn't it convenient that something no bigger than a communicator can blow up a room? When the talks began, all he had to do was sit down in his chair and stick it under the table. Then, at the end, I suppose he got away with an excuse and… boom!" He smiled wickedly. "Brilliant, don't you think?"

The next moment his face was straight again and his eyes wistful as he added, "You would've been tried for treason, Lieutenant, and no one would have been any wiser. Sorry, but we needed a scapegoat," he concluded tensely.

Malcolm was silent and Trip dared steal a glance at him. His calm exterior couldn't fool him; he knew Reed too well and his jaw set told him the man was experiencing his personal little hell right now.

Trip decided it was his turn to keep Brown talking. "Who told you about your contact on Raan?" he asked. "There were no communications between the Enterprise and the planet, except for Capt'n Archer's."

Brown shifted his icy gaze to him. "I don't think I want to tell you that, Commander," he replied with an evil grin. "You see, I may not come out of this gym alive, but I still believe that part can remain a secret," he said tightening his grip on Hoshi.

Hoshi opened her eyes and made to speak. But her dry mouth would not open. She knew all she had to do was scream a name. But the moment she did that her fate would be sealed, and she just couldn't get her voice to obey.

Brown's voice, instead, rang out higher-pitched but clear as he said, "Nothing personal, Lieutenant…"

Trip suddenly sensed Malcolm tense beside him, and a red beam crossed the air. It passed dangerously close to Hoshi's head and caught Brown squarely on the shoulder, and the man swayed; a second later a shape burst through behind him and dived to the side, firing as he did so. Müller's beam found a better mark, and Brown crumpled to the floor.

With a muffled cry Hoshi crossed on wobbly legs the few odd metres that separated them and found herself in another tight grip, that of Malcolm's arms. She buried her face under his chin, shaking, and he engulfed her in his embrace without a word, pressing her head against him, his eyes fixed on the form that lay sprawled before them.

TBC