Children of Enterprise

Estellio

Rating: Pg-13 (T)

Summary: When Archer is kidnapped by unknown aliens and the Enterprise is dead in the water, it seems like there is no hope for rescue but there's more to this than meets the eye and it could have something to do with the child in T'pol's arms.

A/n: Glad ye all like the first chapter, hope ye like this as much.

Tata: Yeah, Trip and Mal are my favourite characters to write. They get on so well and compliment each other on the show. AS for the girl, you'll see more of her in chapter three than now.

dennisud: Such a pessimist. lol. It won't be as A/U as you think because it is meant to be set in the six or so years left un covered by the end of the show to 'These are the Voyages'

Myxale: Whinny little prologue? I'm offended! Nah, only joking. Every day on Enterprise starts as a nice dayusually in the show before all hell breaks looseso I thought, why not lul them into a false sense of security with it being a nice normal day too. Like I said before, this kinda skims over the girl a little and you don't find out what had Malcolm and Trip so shocked until the next chapter but...I dunno, it's the way I wrote it.

IOIOIO

T'rialta was back in her dark corner and Archer could hear the sounds of metal scraping against metal.

"Do I know you?" He asked suddenly and the scraping stopped.

"No, why?" Although his eyes had adjusted to the dim light, he could hardly see her but he could tell she had gone unnaturally still.

"Your name, it just sounds familiar. That's all."

"It's a common Vulcan name." She said, a little too quickly for Archers liking and she returned to her task. Lord only knew what she was doing. He thought about it a moment, the name was familiar but he didn't think it had anything to do with Vulcans. Had he heard Malcolm mention the name? He was sure he had.

"What are you doing?" He asked, tying to gather as much data on what was happening as possible.

"Must you talk excessively?" She snapped, there was a loud clunk and she disappeared into the wall with a gruff, "Come on." Archer crawled over to where she had been working and saw a piece of the bulkhead had been removed and two boots retreating down the passage speedily. Ever since he had met her something didn't seem right. She didn't act Vulcan, didn't sound Vulcan hell, she barely even looked Vulcan but a deep gut feeling told him to trust her for now. He was all for gut feelings but he had to be practical about this. He had just been kidnapped from his ship, woken up in a prison of some sort and was now entrusting his life into the hands of an ill tempered Vulcan he hardly knew…This was happening way too often!

He crawled for what seemed like hours in the cramped, dark space between bulkheads with wires dangling dangerously low over his head, when he finally emerged he appeared to be in a cargohold of some sort and the Vulcan was already entering a ship on the far side of the bay. To call it small would have been generous and it didn't look like any Vulcan ship he had ever seen.

"T'rialta?" He hissed, approaching the ship. "T'rialta." He said again, louder this time.

"I am blind, not deaf, Captain. What?"

"What is this?" He asked, settling into the soft, cream leather seat beside her.

"It's a runabout, Captain."

"I can see that, it doesn't look like any ship I've ever seen before." He ran a hand along the red console that had vaguely lime coloured blocks rising out of its surface. Nothing was labelled or marked in anyway but T'rialta's hands skittered over its surface, leaving a trail of glowing blocks in her wake. The ship began to power up and various systems all around him sprang to life "What are you doing? Do you know how to even fly this ship?" She didn't answer, instead taking a small device out of her pocket.

"Captain, this ships inertial dampeners are severally damaged, I'd put on that seatbelt to your right." He looked to see a small clip hanging from the wall and he drew it diagonally over his body, clipping it into a slot in the panel beside his chair. "Hold onto something, I'm going to jump to warp."

"What do you mean hold…" The ship rocked violently and he felt a force pushing him back in his chair. He knew it couldn't be more than two Gs and not the impact of jumping to warp but whatever it was it worsened his already violent headache. It only lasted a few moments and when they were free he looked over at his pilot. She was staring intently at the controls, her eyes moving over a display screen to her left and taking in the readings.

"We're free of their force sheilds, that was the force you felt, similar to breaking orbit." She said, answering his unvoiced question. "What was the last known coordinates of your ship?" She asked, looking over at Archer.

"We were on a course for the Traduit Nebula." She nodded and turned back to work the controls. It was when he looked at her in profile that several things seriously stood out to him. Firstly was the cranial ridge that was almost invisible when looking at her straight on, the second was that her eyes were moving rapidly from left to right as she read..

"You know, if you're blind, why are you looking at the controls?" Her head snapped to face him and he punched her, sending her sprawling against a display screen. She was only stunned for a few moments and Archer reached to undo his belt so he could get at her easier. He was locked in tight. As he struggled with the restraints she swung back and elbowed him in the face to subdue him. With a snarl she grabbed a hypo from her pocket and discharged it against his arm.

"You never make things easy, do you John." She asked as he slumped into unconsciousness. The ship shuddered again as she decreased warp to warp two. They were in no hurry and if Techie was doing his job then the Enterprise would be right where she left it. Checking a small chrono hanging fro her belt she grimaced. It wouldn't take much longer now.

IOIOIO

The Engineer looked left and right to make sure no one was watching as he took one of the plasma injectors offline. He had already overridden the warning controls so unless someone physically checked the injectors, no one would know it was offline. they'd just have an inexplicable increase in pressure in the intermix chamber. According to all diagnostics everything would be online and running smoothly.

He allowed himself a small satisfied smirk as he turned away, colliding with Commander Tucker.

"Woah, you alrigh'?" He asked but the man was already hurrying on with a hurried 'sorry Sir.'

"Someone's in a hurry." He grumbled, checking the intermix chamber. There was a two percent increase in pressure in the intermix chamber but that was nothing to be worried about.

"Sir, there's a four percent increase in pressure in the intermix chamber." He looked back at the screen. Right before his eyes pressure increased another two percent.

"I'll be damned, we'll have to take the damn warp core offline if we can't stabilise this. Irwin, Ah want you to run a diagnostic on the plasma injectors, Fernandez, check the intermix relays, Mason…" The beeping of the Comm. Beside him cut him off.

"Tucker here."

"Commander, I'm reading a ten percent increase in pressure in the…"

"Intermix Chamber, Ah know. Ah'm workin' on it!" He snapped. "Tucker out." The figures were showing a fifteen percent increase. "Ten more percent and this baby'll blow. Mason! Take her offline!" The Engineer nodded and moments later the warpcore began to dim. The Comm. Buzzed again.

"Commander, the Warp Core is…"

"Ah know the Warp Core is offline, It'll be off till Ah can find out what's causing the build up. I'll report when Ah'm done." Tucker said irritably. Something about this didn't smell right…or that could have been his five day old uniform but Tucker knew his engines and he knew something was amiss.

IOIOIO

Doctor Phlox finished passing the medical scanner over Elizabeth's body and smiled.

"Well, she checks out fine and healthy. Apart from a few bumps and bruises…When was the last time you ate?" The girl shrugged.

"Not since I left home." She said, thinking about the time hard. "Two days, four hours ago…approximately." Phlox nodded his head impressed. "Well that explains that. Do you want something now?" The girl nodded eagerly, "Any preferences?"

"Pizza!" The girl said immediately. "Plain cheese." Phlox chuckled.

"I'll ask chef and see what he can do. Keep an eye on her, please, Lieutenant." Malcolm nodded. T'pol, despite his pleas, had ordered him to stay with the 'intruder' and once Phlox had declared her medically fit he was to interrogate her. Malcolm wondered how you'd interrogate a three year old child, he could hardly strap her to a chair with a swinging lamp overhead now, could he?

"Lizzy?" He asked and the girl looked up from the small animal she was watching move around its cage. "Can I ask you a few questions, pet?" The girl turned, giving her full attention to Malcolm. She looked familiar somehow, he couldn't really place his finger on it. She had big blue eyes and long sable hair and barely reached his hip. Even sitting on the biobed she only reached his chest and she became fascinated with all the zips of his pockets. "Lizzy, where are you from?"

"San Francisco." She said, zipping open one of his pockets and zipping it closed again as if it were a game.

"San Francisco?" He said allowed and the girl nodded. "Then how did you get here?"

"Ria brought me and my brother to the grumpy Vulcan. She said she had to go away for a little while because a friend was in trouble. But I not like grumpy man so I hid in ship. When I got real hungry and the coast was clear, I snuck out to get something to eat. There wasn't anything on the ship so I left and came here. I hid from Ria and then she left in her ship! I was all alonsome so I looked for someone to help."

"Lizzy, what were you doing in the closet?"

"Hiding." She said, looking around as if Malcolm had just reminded her of the fact.

"From who?" He probed gently, knowing that if the girl stopped talking, there'd be nothing he could do to persuade her to talk again.

"I in trouble. Techie told me stay out of way. He said I shouldnae a' come, he said he gonna kill Ria when she get back but it not her fault, she not know. I stow away. I bold. I sorry." She said a sniffed loudly, her eyes tearing up. "Please don't tell daddy, he'll shout, and mommy'll make me go to the grumpy Vulcan. I don't like him. He grumpy." Malcolm nodded.

"Okay, we wont tell. Promise."

"Scout honour?" She asked, raising her hand in the eagle scout salute.

"Scouts honour." He said, emulating the hand gesture. "Lizzy, what age are you?" She held up her fingers. "Three?" She nodded. For a three year old, she seemed a little…..advanced. "Lizzy, you said you were looking for your daddy, who is he? Is he on the ship?" She nodded and then looked behind Malcolm. She tilted her head to one side as if listening then shook her head.

"No! Saying no more!" She said, placing both hands over her mouth. Malcolm turned around but could see no one or nothing that would have indicated Elizabeth's sudden change.

"Lizzy, who's your mother. If you tell us who she is and where to find her then we'll bring you home." The girl shook her head.

"Techie says to tell you no more. I'm not going to tell you any more." Malcolm turned and scanned the sickbay again, when she had looked behind him she had gotten a signal of some sort to be quiet. Someone else had to be in sickbay.

The room was empty and the only access in were the main doors and a Jeffries tube…that was right behind him. He ran to it and looked up in time to see a pair of boots disappear into a higher up conduit. He grabbed his communicator and flipped it open.

"Reed to bridge, intruder alert, access tube B leading from main sickbay tube." As he climbed he heard the person pick up pace and he himself began to climb faster. He chased whoever it was for three decks, his muscles beginning to burn from having to move so fast in such a tight space. Finally he turned and a boot was straight ahead of him. He grabbed it and the man ahead looked behind. If something about the girl rang a bell then this man was chiming Big Ben. He knew him!

He didn't have time to deliberate the matter as the boot was shoved repetitively in his face and knocked him back down the tube. He cracked the back of his head against the roof and his chin belted one of the rungs of the ladder as he slid down it in an unconscious heap.

The man crawled back and looked down to check Reed who was lying several feet below. A nearby hatch open and two Maco's poked their head in so he was off again, navigating the tubes like a pro. He slipped through a vent into an unused quarters and ran to the closet. Pulling off the Engineering Lieutenants Uniform he replaced it with a Science Ensigns and waited. They may have gotten Lizzie but it was inconsequential to the mission. It wouldn't be long now.

IOIOIO

A/n: Hopefully it wont be too long till the next update but you can alway prod me to be quicker by pressing that little blue button and leaving a nice abusive review. Or you could just leave a nice review with encouragement...who am I kidding here, really? Anyway, thank everyone so far for reviewing, keep up the good work! (Hands out digital cupcakes)