Chapter Fifteen

Jonathon Archer furrowed his brow. For a moment, he seemed to be deep in thought, but it didn't take him long to make up his mind. "The hell I'll comply," he muttered and motioned to Trip, T'Pol, and Phlox, to follow him to the situation room. Once there the Captain looked at Trip. "Is there something you should be telling me?"

"What do ya mean, Sir?"

"You seemed shocked when you saw him on the view screen."

"Let's just say I've been on the receiving end of his 'judgment' for the last few weeks." Trip's mind drifted involuntarily back to his dream. He saw that T'Pol and Archer were still confused, so Trip explained further. "Remember the nightmare that's been plaguing me the last few weeks?"

"As I explained," Phlox fell in, "your 'nightmare' is just a representation of your subconscious fears, Commander."

"So how come the monster that's tormenting me in my dream has his face on one of its heads?" Trip shot back and pointed at the view screen where the image of Commander Sonar had been.

T'Pol remained skeptical. "I find it highly doubtful that it was Commander Sonar."

"Not him exactly, it was more like the image of what his species looked like."

"What does that still help us?" asked Captain Archer.

"Well," Trip began, "Allion did give us the coordinates of the Guardians. What if my dream is just a continuation of that message? Maybe it's showing us who to look out for? How much do ya wanna bet that the people on the other ship behind them are represented by the other head of my dream monster."

"Usually, I would be skeptical too, but all I can say our recent exchange with Commander Sonar … is that he means business," said Archer looking at Trip's bump, "and not in a friendly way, when it comes to her"

"We also know that Commander Sonar didn't subject us to the same treatment he applied to the Daladian ship," T'Pol remarked.

"Yet!" Trip shot back.

"What I mean, Commander, is that it is doubtful they gave the Daladians 1 hour to comply with their demands." She raised he right eyebrow suggestively. "We could use this to our advantage."

Jonathon Archer began to grin. "I like your style of thinking, Commander."

Trip studied them cautiously for a moment. "Maybe this pregnancy has muddled ma brain cells, but I'm not sure where you're going with this …"

Before T'Pol could come back with a teasing retort, Archer quickly interrupted her. "Let's just say we're going to play along. We'll stroke his ego for a bit, before blindsiding him out of action."

"Mr. Reed's scan shows that their ship is shielded extensively," T'Pol stated calmly. "We don't have the capacity to put them out of action, Captain."

"Just disabling them temporarily would suffice," Archer replied "We'll have a good chance of getting the hell out of here and closer to reaching the Guardians."

"Sounds good enough to me," said Trip. "I reckon I better get to Engineering and see to it that we'll have as much speed as possible."

"Now you're catching on, Trip." Archer patted his friend on the back, before he turned and walked back to the bridge.

"Malcolm lock our weapons on the other ship's critical systems, and have them standing by. Travis, you may want to get ready for some very fast flying out of here. Hoshi … please get our friend back on line."

"Commander Sonar onscreen, Sir."

"Commander Sonar," Archer said while standing up, "I don't need one hour to make a decision. I have decided to comply with your request … although it goes somewhat against our moral principles."

"I must admit, Captain Archer, I'm surprised by your decision," replied Sonar with a smug look. "I didn't expect a ship of your capabilities to give in so easily."

"When faced with difficult situations like this, our culture lives by the guidelines of sacrificing the one for the good of the many, Commander. Our technology is purely for defensive purposes."

T'Pol raised her eyebrows.

"An interesting motto," mused Sonar.

"We seek only peaceful exploration. Normally we don't interfere with other species, but the Daladians requested our help, unfortunately, and while we were assisting, they violated my officer against his will--"

"That doesn't surprise me, Captain," Sonar interrupted him in a bitter voice. "The Daladians have made a habit of interfering."

"We were searching for them, actually. Have you come across them recently, by any chance?"

"Sonar answered with an evil smirk. "I'm sure I'd remember such an encounter if we had."

"I bet you would, you smug bastard," murmured Archer to himself as he walked up to Travis. He didn't like this guy at all; his demeanor exuded that Sonar was dangerous and not to be trusted.

Archer smiled at the alien. "We're dropping to impulse. Why don't you move your ship alongside us and prepare to dock at the aft hatch? I'll have my Engineer and Doctor standing by for boarding."

"We don't need your doctor for the procedure."

"Just a precaution," Archer smiled. "You probably aren't familiar with our species. Our doctor can help should any difficulties concerning my officer's health arise."

Commander Sonar nodded to indicate that he understood.

"Would you like to come over for a tour and some dinner?" Archer went on.

"I'm sorry, but we're anxious to depart and to get on with our journey," replied Sonar, and simply cut off the transmission.

"I wonder why?" muttered Archer with a hint of sarcasm, after the view screen had gone blank. "Malcolm, when we're within 100 meters of their ship, hit them with everything we've got. Travis as soon as torpedoes have been fired, hit the gas and get us out of here fast."

Lieutenant Reed grinned. "You aren't quite playing by the rules, Sir, but I like your style."

"I have the impression Sonar won't play by the rule book either," replied Archer, "and I not prepared to let him get the upper hand when Trip's life is at stake."

"Coming up to 100 meters, Sir," stated Travis, staring intently at his console.

"Malcolm?"

"Phasers locked and torpedoes standing by, Sir," replied Malcolm, his finger hovering over the firing lock.

Archer hit the button on his chair that would activate the comm. "Trip, stand by to give us maximum speed."

"I can give ya Warp 3.5, but we won't be able to hold that for long if we come near any of those anomalies."

"We'll try to make it quick," Archer smirked before signing off.

Next he turned to Hoshi. "Have you and Trip finished the upgrades to the Comm. System?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Then start hailing the Guardians on the frequency T'Pol gave you as soon as we're on our way."

"But we're not at the given coordinates yet, Sir?"

"It can't be helped Ensign. Let's hope they've received Trellian and Allion's message, then they might be searching for us already."

"100 meters, Sir," shouted Travis through the tense atmosphere on the Bridge. "The Doradian ship is firing its thrusters in order to maneuver over to our docking hatch.

"Now, Malcolm," shouted Archer, and Reed let loose with the phasers and torpedoes instantaneously. It was only a moment before the Lieutenant braced himself and gave Travis the signal to ignite the engines. The Enterprise jerked slightly, and jumped to Warp speed.

"All hits were on target," Reed smirked, rather pleased with himself as they sped away. "They won't be troubling us for a while. I bet this wiped the smile off that smug bastard's face."

Archer grinned, relieved that they had gotten out of what could have been a dangerous situation. "I'd love to see that, but I don't think it's worth risking another encounter. We probably not his favorite people right now and."

---------------------------------------------------