Thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter! I was going to update this earlier, as a thanks for all those great reviews. However I was having problems uploading, they're sorted now though, so here ya go! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 15

T'Pol collapsed to the floor, the connection with Trip terminated. She inhaled sharply, and cold air entered her lugs, eliciting a slight shiver. She attempted to attain a sitting position, and moved to rest against the wall closest to her. Her body still ached, but she was feeling stronger than she had in the last few weeks, all thanks to Trip. Thoughts of the engineer traipsed through her mind, and sent waves of happiness surging through her. They had shared Katra's, soul's. It was one of the most sacred acts shared between her people - and she had experienced it with him!

A lingering though in the back of her mind whispered that it had all been a trick, a hallucination. After all how was it possible for a connection to form over such distances? T'Pol didn't have the answer, but her entire being screamed that it had been real. She would deal with the how later, as for now she just needed to get through the next couple of days. She could hold on for that long, couldn't she?

Trip willed himself to stand up, despite protests from his tired joints. His consciousness was still reeling from what had just happened. It was the most amazing and… surreal thing that he had ever experienced. He was in T'Pol's head, and they had shared thoughts, emotions - everything!

"Were you successful?" Sovek inquired, breaking Trip's thought process.

Trip looked around at the older Vulcan, he only managed to nod in response.

"Are you well commander?" Sovek asked, a slight hint of concern entering his voice.

"I just need to lay down for a minute…" Trip managed to utter before his legs buckled underneath him, and he collapsed. Sovek caught him before he hit the floor, the Vulcan's superior strength managing the engineer's weight with no problem. The engineer was out cold.

Sovek moved the Commander over to his bed. The Vulcan had expected something like this to happen, it was a very draining experience. Thankfully the engineer merely needed to rest.

Sovek could still feel very powerful emotions emanating from the Commander, but nowhere near as powerful and overwhelming as before. The Vulcan's interest was peaked, he needed to keep a close eye on this particular human, look into the matter further.

For now T'Pol's rescue was his top priority, Sovek looked over toward the digital display showing the time. It was early, but he wouldn't be able to sleep. Sovek walked over to the doors, looking over his shoulder to the commander, who was now quietly snoring. Sovek raised an eyebrow, and stepped out into the corridor, perhaps he could check on how Malcolm's rescue plan was turning out.

The security officer had actually asked for his input. The Vulcan paused for a second, if anyone didn't know any better they would have assumed he was a member of the crew. It surprised Sovek how much he didn't mind being thought of in that way. It had only been a few weeks since he had arrived on this vessel, but he wasn't treated as a stranger. Perhaps he could have a future on this Earth vessel, with his daughter…… a new start.

Malcolm Reed went through the battle simulation for the third today. When it came to any mission involving the life of an Enterprise crewmember, mistakes were not an option. It were times like these when his background in section 31 came in handy. All of the secrecy, and subterfuge, that came hand in hand with the job, provided him with added skills, which would only serve to help the mission.

He had located the best possible position to strike, organised the team that would extract T'Pol, and of course prepared many counter measures to ensure the mission was a success. He had been working with Sovek to get his perspective on how the mission could flow more smoothly. The Vulcan knew T'Pol's captor, knew his skills and weaknesses, proving to be a great help. Malcolm looked to the screen showing the end of the simulation, he was ready, Enterprise was ready. He only prayed that it was enough to save T'Pol.

On top of all his efforts with the rescue mission, the security officer had been reviewing all the data that had been collected, since T'pol had been taken. He had looked over all the schematics taken from the Tellarite vessel. The video footage of T'pol's torture at the hands of the Romulans. And of course the latest data of the base T'pol was supposedly being help upon. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something felt off. He didn't know why he felt that way, but something just didn't sit right with him. Anyone else would have passed it off as an overactive imagination, or his paranoia. But he had learned to trust his gut instincts, and he usually found them to be right.

Trip was awoken by the sound of incessant beeping, groaning he cracked open one of his eyelids - registering that he was in one of Enterprise's temporary quarters. The beeping continued, he opened his other eye and turned to the sound of the noise, it was the com. Grudgingly he sat up and moved over, pressing the necessary button's the voice of Captain Archer met his ears.

"Trip, we're waiting for you in command, is there a reason why you're late?" Archer asked

Trip took a few seconds to mull over what the captain had said, this was his day off, there was a senior staff meeting, but that was scheduled for tomorrow. Trip looked over to the date, and time displayed on the computer screen. He had slept through an entire day! Thoughts of T'Pol littered his mind, the last thing he remembered was talking to her. He had… felt that she was feeling better, stronger. I guess the connection with her took more out of me than I was expecting he absently mused.

"….Sorry cap'n, I guess I just overslept, I'll be there soon." he replied.

"Ok, just get here soon." Archer acknowledged, and shut off the comm. Archer was expecting something like this to happen, he was just surprised it hadn't happened earlier. The amount of time the engineer had spent working, it was only a matter of time before he burnt out. Tomorrow Enterprise would be carrying out T'Pol's rescue. He had all faith that once his first officer was returned, Trip's behaviour would return to normal. He wasn't sure what was going on between his two most senior officers, but it was defiantly more than just friendship.

A small bubble of jealousy rose up from the pit of Archer's stomach. Years previously he had briefly considered that T'Pol and he could have become more than friends, Phlox had even acknowledged the possibility. Even so it appeared Trip had beaten him to it. Archer couldn't blame his best friend though, it seemed T'Pol always had more of a liking for Trip than himself. Even though Trip would have never admitted it back then, the young engineer was attracted to the science officer as well. Yes they had more of their share of 'disagreements' but that was part of the attraction.

Their arguments were legendary aboard Enterprise, so much so they sometimes provided more entertainment that an entire movie night. Occasionally their 'disagreements' were so frequent Archer genuinely believed they were just doing it for the fun of it. They challenged each other, and passionately. And then there was the Expanse, that was when he really noticed the change in them. They seemed…closer. There were more of the longing glances, T'Pol was spending more of her free time with Trip. And of course there was the Vulcan neuro-pressure, something he had heard was quite an intimate procedure.

When he had heard Trip had gone to Vulcan with T'Pol - to meet her mother, by some accounts. He had thought maybe his best friend was in a serious relationship with his second in command, but then she returned married; confusing the hell out of Archer even more. Then when T'Pol did get her divorce, nothing happened between the two. If anything they became more distant, leading to what Archer had suspected was Trip's real reason for his transfer to Colombia. Even so, whatever had happened in the past, they seemed to have overcame it. The Terra Prime incident becoming the catalyst bringing them closer together.

Trip quickly appeared on the bridge, interrupting Archer's thoughts. The engineer's hair was still damp - from the quick shower he had taken, and his uniform was slightly creased. Trip made his quick apologies to everyone and Archer began.

The Captain moved over to the main screen, "we will be arriving at the lunar colony where T'Pol is supposedly being kept within the next twenty one hours. A rescue mission has been devised, now Malcolm if you will continue." Archer said nodding to his security officer. Malcolm walked over to Archer, and stood next to the main screen, continuing on from the Captain.

"The information we received told us that the colony was abandoned over twenty years ago. Many of it's system's were damaged but apparently are salvageable. If the Romulan's wanted somewhere to hide this would be the ideal place. It is very fortunate that we found out about it at all. When we arrive my team will take a shuttle down at these bearings." He said indicating the screen, the monitor showed the celestial body of the moon. A smooth curve showing the shuttle's path.

"Why can't you just transport down?" Travis interrupted.

Malcolm acknowledged the young pilot with a brief answer. "My first choice would have been the transporter but the moon's atmosphere will prevent a lock."

Travis nodded in understanding, and Reed continued.

"I've analysed the scans we received, and I believe if we take this route down the shuttle will be blocked from sensor's. We will in essence be invisible to them, they won't know what's hit them. My team will then arrive at the east entrance, the place closest to where they're most likely keeping her. And then the extraction team will attempt to pull T'Pol out." Malcolm finished what he was saying, looking around the group he tried to gage their reactions, seeing if they had any questions.

"Sounds like a good plan, great work Malcolm, I just hope this works." Archer stated, everyone else nodded in agreement.

"I want you to all return to your stations everybody, all we can do now is wait." Archer finished. The group scattered, and left to go to their respective jobs.

The next twenty one hours passed aboard Enterprise at a snails pace. At one point Travis had thought time had actually stopped. But now they were here, the spherical orb of the moon hanging in the darkness of deep space. It was agreed that Enterprise would stay a safe distance away, eliminating the small chance of alerting the Romulans. The away team - T'Pol's last hope were gearing up. Trip had wanted to be a part of the team, but Archer had to order him to remain aboard. Malcolm was the best man for the job, the engineer didn't have the skills needed. That was why now his chief Engineer was hovering around the bridge; his eyes locked on the view screen, awaiting news. Sovek on the other hand had been included on the mission, he had aided Malcolm in it's planning, and Archer knew he could prove to be useful on the actual mission. Having a long background in the military, and in particular covert missions.

"We're departing now Captain." Malcolm's voice came over the bridge speaker system.

"Good luck down their Lieutenant" Archer replied, the view screen showing shuttle pod two moving away from Enterprise.

"Acknowledged sir, Reed out." The shuttle moved further and further away, within minutes it had disappeared off of Enterprise's screen. The last image was of it entering the moon's atmosphere, it was all up to the team on shuttle pod now. Archer had all his faith in Malcolm, he knew the lieutenant would complete the mission, he had to!

On the interior of shuttle pod two Malcolm Reed re-checked the phaser that he held tightly in his grasp. Whenever possible he preferred to use this shuttle, shuttle pod one held some bad memories for him, and for Trip. It was the time they nearly suffocated and froze to death. An experience the security officer never wanted to repeat again.

Malcolm finished checking his phaser and looked around the small shuttle at it's other occupants, they too were preparing themselves, in their own way, for the mission that was about to commence. He grinned slightly as he heard Ensign Adams striking up a conversation with the Vulcan. The new Ensign had been recently transferred to Enterprise, and was a very fine officer. One of the reasons he had been included on this mission. It seemed his nervousness though was causing him to ramble. It appeared Sovek didn't mind though, perhaps he was just looking for a distraction as much as Malcolm was.

The Lieutenant closed his eyes as he felt the faint shudder of the shuttle, his stomach was doing somersaults. Clenching his jaw he willed himself to open his eyes. He wouldn't allow his travel sickness affect him. He looked out of the front view screen, the moon was more or less barren, large craters littered upon it's surface. He watched as the pilot slightly changed their trajectory, indicating that they were nearing the colony.

The security officer straightened up, and he quickly reiterated to the security personnel what they were to do; making sure they knew exactly what was expected. They all acknowledged with nods. The shuttle jerked slightly forwards as it came to rest on the surface. Reed immediately moved over to the shuttle's doors, and with his free hand he pushed it open. Cautiously he stepped out, his alert eyes scanning his surroundings. Waving to his team he instructed them to follow him out, they followed suit.

The five man team warily moved over to the east entrance of the colony, they took their time in locating any threats, now was not the time for recklessness. They arrived at their destination, the team positioned themselves around the entrance as Malcolm overrode the basic security lock. The metal door slid open, and the team slipped in. They arrived in a dimly lit, narrow corridor. It appeared luck was on their side today, they hadn't come into contact with anyone… yet.

Malcolm took out the scanner, which he held in his open palm. He pressed a combination of button's. Several small beeps indicated that it was carrying out it's task.

"There's one Vulcan bio-sign two hundred metres from our current position. I'm not picking up any other life signs in the vicinity." he informed his team.

The group acknowledged with a nod and they cautiously made their way down the passageway, weapons gripped tightly in hand. Soon they arrived at the end of the main passageway, from it led two more corridors. One led to T'Pol, the other to one of the main computer terminals.

"Sovek and Adams. I want you to go and download what you can from the computer systems. Try to find out anything useful." Malcolm ordered. It was true that their main mission was the rescue of a fellow officer, but a secondary plan had also been devised. They had an opportunity to find out more about the Romulan's and Malcolm for one was going to take full advantage of it. The Vulcan, and crewman nodded. They turned left and proceeded down the corridor. Malcolm and the remainder of his team turned right, towards T'Pol's position.

Malcolm looked down at his scanner. The readings indicated that he was nearing the Vulcan bio-sign. With every step he took the security officer became more and more on edge. All of this seemed too…easy. Considering the amount of trouble the Romulan's had gone too to lose Enterprise. He had at least expected some sort of resistance, but they had found none. The group walked slightly further and stopped at an almost unnoticeable grey door, which the scanner showed the bio-sign was behind. Malcolm indicated to one of the men to check for any obvious dangers. He wouldn't be surprised if this was all a trap and as soon as they pressed the button to enter a weapon or bomb would go off. His fears were unfounded as the officer shook his head indicating there were no threats.

"Ok, proceed with caution." he informed the others. The group opened the door, and stepped inside. It seemed Malcolm Reed's paranoia had been right today. He didn't even have time to react as a white light engulfed the group, they fell to the floor. Their weapons slipping from their grasps.

Sovek and Ensign Adams walked down their corridor. The Vulcan leading the way towards one of the main computer terminals. Even though these Romulan's had been here for a short amount of time, the computer could have held some sort of indication of what their plans were. It could have recorded an outgoing transmission, or recorded some other important data. The two shortly arrived at a large console, none of it's key system's were glowing, which indicating that it had no power, and was therefore not operational.

The Vulcan moved towards it, and he leaned underneath, scanning the wires on it's interior. His fingers sorted through the numerous connections.

"Ensign I require your assistance."

At the sound of his rank the officer moved over towards the Vulcan.

"I believe there is a backup power supply located in the immediate area. I need you to find it and re route it to this console while I reconnect this console into the system." Sovek continued.

The Vulcan then instructed the young officer on what exactly he needed to do. Apprehensively the Ensign left, his footsteps quietening as he headed away from the Vulcan.

Sovek immediately began work, submerging himself into the console. His nimble fingers quickly reconnecting frayed wires. After several minutes, his mind had strayed to the others who were assigned to locate T'Pol. Had they found her yet? How was she?

"…. Mr Sovek, I suggest you come to my position." The sound of Ensign Adams voice cut into the Vulcan's thoughts. Sovek looked down at his communicator where the sound had originated. He flipped it open, and acknowledged the young officer.

"What is the problem Ensign?" The Vulcan asked. "Did you find the backup power?" he queried

"…Not exactly sir, I need you to come to my position." the officer responded.

Sovek's frowned slightly, the ensign sounded different… his voice was erratic, he almost sounded scared. Sovek stood from his position under the console and retraced the steps Adams had taken. The Vulcan soon arrived at the officers location, and found the reason for the officer's change in temperament. There in the middle of the room was Adams, only he was not alone. A weapon was being held at the base of his skull, as tears of fear streamed down his pale cheeks.

Sovek's eyes travelled from the officer and settled onto the face of the man holding him at gun point.

The Vulcan uttered a single word."…Telak"

TBC...