Chapter Twenty One
Archer looked up and broke the quiet, eerie atmosphere on the Bridge. "I think we've found the one's we're looking for."
"Let's hope these are finally the good guys," cautioned Malcolm.
"They did save us from the anomaly, Lieutenant," said Hoshi, a little wary after everything that had just happened.
"Considering how they caused the damn thing in the first place, Ensign, I'd be careful to be too optimistic," Malcolm answered back, a little more roughly than he had intended. He was frustrated at continually getting their asses served to them on a platter.
"Have they contacted us? Or answered our hails?" asked Captain Archer, interrupting the banter between his two officers with a stern look.
Hoshi shook her head, indicating that no contact had been established.
"Captain," said T'Pol, diverting Archer's attention back, "while Ensign Sato is monitoring communications, maybe we should go down to Sickbay and check Commander Tucker's condition?
Captain Archer nodded. Normally, he wouldn't leave the Bridge under these circumstances, but the look in T'Pol's eyes and a slight hint of anxiety in her vocal afflictions had told him that she had a reason to be concerned. He indicated for Lieutenant Reed to take over the Bridge.
Archer and T'Pol were on their way to the Turbo lift when Reed suddenly jumped up from behind his console. "There is an unknown energy source showing in Sickbay," he said as he reached for his phase pistol and raced towards the Turbo lift. "I believe my position as Security Officer warrants that I join you."
"Travis!" Archer said just for a minute before the Turbo lift door closed, "you have the Bridge."
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Archer, T'Pol, and Reed raced into Sickbay, but were brought to a sudden halt by the sight of a small woman examining Trip on the central bio bed with Phlox standing calmly besides her, watching her every move.
"Report!" Archer shouted with anxiety in his voice.
"Are you are the Captain of this vessel?" asked the woman.
"Yes, and you are?"
"I am a Guardian, and my name is Malandria. I'm the protector of this child."
"I'm glad to be making your acquaintance, at last. Thanks for saving our lives back there."
"Oh, there is no need to thank me. It was unfortunate, but necessary. Her life was in danger, and my duty is to protect her at all costs."
Malcolm threw Captain Archer a sideways glance, before mumbling in a quiet voice: "Why do I get the impression that we would have been part of that pyrotechnic display if we hadn't reeled the pod in first?"
"You are correct," Malandria answered, in a matter of fact voice, "I make no allowances or concessions for anyone in the protection of her life. Wouldn't you say that is what our duty entails?" she said, looking him straight in the eye as if she was staring right into his heart, mind and soul.
"Touché," replied Malcolm, staring right back.
"Your ship seemed immune to the danger from the anomalies?" said T'Pol, trying to diffuse the tense situation building up between Lieutenant Reed and the Guardian.
"Yes," answered Malandria, before returning to her task of assessing Trip's and the child's condition. "We use them for navigation."
"Interesting," T'Pol said, absently minded while wondering for moment over the technicalities such a feat would involve.
"I wish we'd known," said Captain Archer, "our journey might have been shortened considerably and Trip's life might not have been in danger."
"Unfortunatly Trevella and Allian were prevented from passing on the full message," she said, "had circumstances been different, you would have been found known you only had to proceed to an area of space near an anomaly and direct a signal into it. We would have been able to trace the message and find you a lot quicker." Turning to Phlox she carried on, "I'm afraid his condition forces us to remove the child immediately. We have to transfer him immediately to our medical facilities; there we can sustain without any danger--"
"What do you mean, with 'his condition'?" interrupted Archer, looking first at Phlox, then Malandria.
The alien woman smiled an odd smile, before she explained. "The child is using your crewman's life force to sustain herself. At the moment, she is stable but his body grows weaker continuously, and soon her life will be in jeopardy. We must remove her to prevent that from happening. We will transfer him to our medical facilities so we can perform the procedure. He won't be in danger, I assure you," she said, looking at Captain Archer who didn't appear to be happy at all. "After the procedure, he'll be returned to your facilities where he can recover, so we can commence on our journey--"
"You are just going to take her and leave? Just like that? Without even letting Trip see her or hold her?"
"My duty is to protect this child, nothing else. Do you expect me to take unnecessary risks to satisfy sentimentality?"
"I would expect a little compassion towards someone who has basically put his life on hold so she can have a chance to live!" argued back Archer. He didn't want to anger these powerful beings, but neither was he prepared to let them rip out his best friend's heart out by turning around leaving without allowing him to see her first.
"We are grateful for your help, but … do not try to prevent me from fulfilling my duty," replied Malandria, standing in front of Captain Archer and staring back at him in an apparent battle of wills.
"We mean no harm towards you or the child," said T'Pol, trying to diffuse the tense situation. "Humans, as part of their nature, are a very emotional species. They easily form emotional attachments to other beings. What Captain Archer is trying to explain is that even though Commander Tucker didn't enter this pregnancy voluntarily, he has grown an attachment to this child as if she were his own. Like you would, Commander Tucker protected the child with his life throughout the pregnancy. He knows that you would be taking over this role once we found you, but breaking his attachment to the child abruptly would cause him serious emotional distress. We have no wish to prevent you from accomplishing your mission, we just want some time for him to say goodbye to someone he has come to care for."
Malandria considered her words for a few tense minutes. "I offer no promises," she said at last, pressed a button on a pad on her sleeve, and spoke a few unintelligible words before turning to T'Pol. "You should accompany us?"
T'Pol was visible confused by the request.
"You are his mate, are you not?" asked Malandria.
"Yes--"
"Then it is your duty to be at his side." Before Captain Archer and Malcolm could interrupt, T'Pol, Malandria and Trip were transported away.
Phlox, Archer and Reed just stood there, and looked annoyed. They weren't used to being treated like an unwanted piece of furniture that had no worth, or value.
"I don't like this or trust her one bit," said Malcolm, "and I'm not happy that she's able to transport away with two Senior Officers just like that. Once she has the child … who knows what she's going to do to them!"
"It seems like trust is called for, Lieutenant," Phlox offered, "because there is nothing else we can do."
"Exactly," stated Archer, "and that's precisely what I don't like about it."
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