Chapter Seventeen

Even at Warp 2.5, the chase was on as the Duordean ship drew closer and closer to its prey. Their shields allowed them to travel fast in this area of space. Archer had posted MACO guards all over the ship already, especially in Sickbay. Malcolm had even sneaked two phase pistols in there for Trip and Phlox to defend themselves with.

"Report!" shouted a frustrated Archer on the Bridge, as he watched the Duordeans draw closer within the hour. They had fired a few stray shots at Enterprise, but fortunately they weren't within weapons range yet. Malcolm thought they were just testing the waters and making their intentions clear.

"Still closing, Captain," stated Travis.

"Have we tried hailing them?"

"Numerous times, Captain. They're ignoring us," replied Hoshi.

The ship shuddered from a shot that skimmed their Warp field.

"They are targeting our port nacelle," shouted Malcolm, "and that one was too close for comfort."

"Travis?" urged Archer, hoping the Ensign could pull more piloting brilliance out of his pocket.

"I'm trying evasive maneuvers, Sir," replied Travis as another shot found itself on target. This time, it had hit the nacelle, and brought Enterprise to a sudden halt.

When three figures began to materialize on the Bridge, Lieutenant Reed grabbed the two phasers he had hidden under his console. "We're being boarded," he shouted, threw one of them to Captain Archer, and opened fire. In a matter of minutes, three unconscious aliens lay flat on the floor. Archer glanced over at Reed, who smirked back with a 'you know me, I'm always ready for action' expression on his face. He nodded his appreciation for his Armory Officer's prompt thinking, and then both men turned their attention to what was happening in other areas of the ship.

"There are boarding parties in Main Engineering, the Armory, on C deck, and the cargo bays on E deck," said Malcolm, scanning the information on the read-out screen. "The MACO's have them contained in the Armory and on E deck, but Engineering could use some help."

"What is the Duordean ship doing?"

"They have dispatched shuttles to Launch Bays 1 and 2." replied Malcolm.

"Notify the MACO's to be ready to greet them when they arrive," ordered Archer, while already on his way to the turbo lift. "We can't do anything from here, Lieutenant. We should go to Engineering and help T'Pol."

"Already on my way," confirmed Reed, and ran to join the Captain in the lift.

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Having arrived in Engineering, Archer and Reed gauged that T'Pol and her crew, were pinned down towards the rear. The engineers faught bravely, but didn't have the experience to hold out for long. Three intruders held them at bay with phaser fire, while two others were busy attaching an alien device to the engine core.

"Malcolm," whispered Archer, and indicated for Reed to attack the two aliens at the engine core, while he would attack the others from the catwalk. The Lieutenant nodded, so Archer quietly sneaked up along the top of the catwalk. Once in position, he managed to take out two of the intruders with a sudden burst of phaser fire. The remaining alien sprung to his feet in surprise, and instantly got hit by a shot from T'Pol. Almost at the same time, Malcolm opened fire at the other two. Archer flinched when he realized that Lieutenant Reed was, essentially, shooting at their engine core. Each of Reeds shots hid dead centre though, and so they had regained control of Engineering. Reed stormed towards the engine core to take a look at the present the aliens had left.

"Can you tell what it is?" Archer wondered in an alarmed tone.

"Yes," the Lieutenant replied calmly. "It's an incendiary device, and it is active."

Archer was clearly alarmed. "Can you disarm it?"

"I understand the design …" replied Reed as he looked over the device cautiously, to see if there were any obvious triggering mechanisms. Then he started scanning the object. "Ah!" Reed remarked.

Archer was unnerved. "What?"

"Just a minute, Sir … nearly done … just need to disconnect this wire and … there," Reed said with a smile, "it shouldn't give us any problems now."

"Sonar really does mean business," sighed Captain Archer and relaxed somewhat. He walked over to the comm to find out what the status on the rest of the ship was.

"Hmmm," said Reed, as he examined the inside of the device.

Archer spun round. "Is there a problem?"

"This device would hardly make a dent to our engine core, Captain. The explosive component is about as dangerous as a fire cracker."

At first, Archer thought this was good news, but then a terrible insight began to form in the back of his head. T'Pol, who had walked over to the engine core to see the device for herself, spoke it out first.

"Maybe this device is meant to create a diversion?"

The three officers looked at each other for a moment, and then a look of horror flashed across their faces.

Captain Archer almost leapt to the next comm station. "Archer to Phlox!"

There was no answer.

The three of them began to race towards Sickbay, but when they arrived they found the three MACO's Malcolm had posted lying prone on the floor with phaser wounds on their chests. Sickbay was in chaos. Instruments and animal cages were strewn about the floor; Phlox was lying in a corner, unconscious from a phaser blast to his midriff. The alien intruders were still there. One of them had Trip pinned to the wall, his hand clasped around his neck with an iron grip. Just as Archer was about to scream for him to release his friend, the Duordean sneered an evil smile, and then he and Trip were transported away.

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