Chapter Twenty
Trip was brought suddenly out of his mediation by a beeping noise coming from the navigation panel. A ship was closing on his position.
"Please let this be the Enterprise," he prayed. The shuttle only had the basic instruments to navigate with, so he had no way of finding out who it was.
"Damn!" he muttered, when a phaser blast fired just wide of the craft, causing the pod to shake and him to lose his balance, hitting his arm on the side of the console. "Tucker's luck strikes out again. Just for once, can't things go my way for a change?" he muttered as another shot was fired a lot closer this time.
Afraid for his life and the life of his child, and knowing that it didn't matter one way or the other now, he hit the comm channel to see if he could get a distress message to Enterprise.
"Enterprise! Enterprise, this is Commander Tucker. If you can hear me, please get to these coordinates as fast as ya can, because I don't think this pod can hold out for long in this onslaught." He pressed a button on the panel to repeat the message, then clung on to the console for his dear life. "Where's Malcolm when ya need him?" he mumbled, as another shot found its target, throwing him hard against the side of the shuttle.
With his heart racing, he picked himself up and wiped his hand across his brow. After pulling it back, his fingers were covered in a deep crimson stain. Trip closed his eyes, while pressing his hand against his bump. "Sorry," he thought, and tears leaked out of the corner of his eyes. "Looks like this is it, kiddo. They're taking no chances this time, they're doing it the quick, easy, and messy way. I wish I could have met ya. I bet you, me, and T'Pol would've made one hell of a team."
Again, just like the time when Bree had tried to kill the child back on the ship, it felt like all of his intense emotions of fear, anger, and sadness were building up inside. Fueled, it seemed, by every ounce of strength and energy left in his body, they converged into one huge eruption of light, which surged outward from his body and surrounded the craft like a protective cocoon. "Damn!" he gasped as his body rocked with convulsions. "I wish ya'd give me some warning before ya do that trick," he thought, before giving way to the all encompassing darkness.
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Back on Enterprise
"How much longer?" shouted Archer, clinging to his chair with his eyes fixed on the view screen, watching the image of a small pod that was being pounded by phaser blasts slowly grow bigger and bigger.
"A few more minutes before we're in weapons range, Sir," shouted back Reed as his fingers hovered tensely over the triggers.
"Hold on, Trip," muttered Archer, feeling frustrated and helpless at seeing his friend in what looked like such a hopeless situation.
"By all rights, he shouldn't have lasted this bloody long," said Reed, wondering just what the hell was protecting the pod from those blasts.
"Let's not tempt fate, Malcolm," replied Archer, unwilling to admit that the same thoughts were crossing his mind as well.
"Weapons are locked on their shields and engines; we are coming into range now, Sir," shouted look, with an eager look in his eyes.
"Fire at will, Lieutenant," ordered Archer, as Malcolm let loose a volley of torpedoes. "Hoshi, use the grappler to get that pod into our shuttle bay, and get Phlox down there in case Trip needs help," he said, looking at T'Pol for some sort of clue as to Trip's condition. Their anxiety increased as she looked back at him, shaking her head to indicate that she couldn't sense Trip no more.
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The sound of the clamps hitting their target told Hoshi that her aim had been good. Then she could see the pod being reeled in on screen. "Target locked and being brought home," she shouted. They had barely pulled the pod in, when Travis broke away from the incoming fire in a wild maneuver, but still one torpedo hit their starboard nacelle and put a sudden stop to their escape.
"Malcolm!" shouted Archer, as the ship rocked with explosions which, caused ruptures in three junctions on the bridge.
"Goddamn it, I want bloody shields like they have," screamed Malcolm in frustration, and sent forth another volley that didn't seem to dent their shields in any way. "It's like shooting rubber bullets at a brick wall!" he shouted, slamming his fist into his console.
Just as Captain Archer was about to reply, a huge anomaly ruptured in front of them, and threw both ships backwards.
"Hang on!" screamed Captain Archer as the ship veered on the port side, which caused each of them to be thrown from their seats. Just when it seemed that the Enterprise was going to spin out of control, everything stopped. The ship somehow righted itself, and hung limply in space as if it had been caught in a huge, powerful tractor beam. The crew picked themselves up off the floor, and watched the Duordean ship on the view screen spin violently off into a distance before a huge explosion tore it apart. With shocked expressions on their faces, they realized that the Enterprise was riding upwards into the belly of a starship about ten times their size.
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