Chapter Fifteen

Later that day, Captain Archer was walking Porthos down the corridor for his daily run. Trip was spending some quality time with his dad. "And knowing Trip that probably means he's giving him the unorthodox tour of Engineering", thought Archer with a smile. Unfortunately though, this left him pondering what Trip had told them earlier in his private mess.

He just couldn't get over the shock of finding out that Trip was suffering from Clarke's Syndrome. The more he thought about what Trip was going to go through made him want to bash the nearest bulkhead and vent his anger at the cruel twist of fate. Fate that had granted his greatest wish on one hand and who was going to snatch it away with the other. It was just so damn unfair.

Research on the disease showed him that it was still ruthless in how it attacked, sparing its victims no dignity with its painful and degenerating symptoms. Science had enabled sufferers more chance of life with stronger and more effective medication for the symptoms, but the end result was still the same. Death was inevitable and the prospect of a cure was unfortunately slim and decades away.

Images of him and Trip, two brothers side by side in their exploration of a New Frontier, were snatched away and replaced by memories of what his dad's last few years of life had been like. This wasn't what he'd pictured or envisioned for him and Trip, and damn it, the thought of being denied this fueled his anger even more. What right did Fate have, to torture him like this? For once, he wished she would pack it in and let things go his way. Was that too much to ask for?

"Bridge to Captain Archer …" came the voice of Hoshi over the comm.

"Archer …"

"Sorry to disturb your walk, Sir, but you have a call from Starfleet Command."

"Can you route it to my ready room, Hoshi?" asked Archer. "I'll be there in five minutes."

With a whistle for Porthos to follow, he turned around and walked back to his quarters.

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Reaching over to the LCD display, Captain Archer commed Hoshi to put through the transmission from Starfleet. He had an idea what it was going to be about. "Probably informing me of our next mission."

The image of Admiral Forrest appeared on the viewscreen, cutting off his train of thought. "Jon, how are things going with the refit?"

"Fine, Admiral, Trip says we're just about through with the repairs and the upgrades. We should be ready to depart on our mission in two days."

"We have a slight detour for Enterprise before you can commence with exploring," said Forrest.

"Detour?" asked Archer.

"You may not be aware, but since the end of the Xindi conflict, tensions have been rising with regards to visiting alien species."

"I was aware of a few minor incidents from the newsreels, but I thought they were contained and not related," replied Archer.

"Our intelligence reports indicate that they may be part of a larger organization out to make Earth xenophobic and bring it back to its roots. They blame alien contact for the disaster in Florida and are determined to drive away all alien visitors. It seems their goal is to make Earth strong again."

"I didn't realize it had gotten so bad," replied Archer, looking concerned.

"It's still at the stage where we can contain it," said Forrest. "Hopefully, it will fizzle out in a few months and we can get back to establishing ourselves within the stellar community. We want to put in place a few precautions first to prevent them from proceding with their 'stronger Earth' goal. That's where Enterprise comes in."

"What do you want us to do?" asked Archer, not understanding where Enterprise fitted into the equation.

"You are aware that we've been holding a Dr. Soong in one of our Starfleet security facilities ever since he was convicted of crimes against humanity with his augmentation and genetic experiments?" asked Forrest.

"Yes, I was aware of that."

"It seems one of our operatives has uncovered a plot to by this organization to break him out, so they can involve him in their quest to make humanity strong again."

"How?" asked Archer.

"By helping him commence his augmentation experiments again," replied Forrest in disgust.

"Do you think they are anywhere near organized or large enough to succeed?" asked Captain Archer, surprised that Starfleet was actually taking this threat seriously.

"Personally, no, but Starfleet isn't prepared to take any chances where Soong is concerned," replied Forrest. "We want Enterprise to transport him to a top secret facility in a nearby sector where we can be sure of his safety and be sure that he is out of reach of these fanatics."

"What are the coordinates?" asked Captain Archer.

"We'll transmit them once Soong is safely transported aboard Enterprise. Good luck, Jon."

Captain Archer sat back in his chair once Forrest had signed off. It seemed unbelievable to him that something like this was actually happening on Earth, and even more so, that Starfleet was actually taking it seriously enough to take precautions like this. Feeling curious, he brought up the files on Doctor Soong on his computer. Flipping through various reports and interviews, his eyes grew wide as he took in all the written information about this genius who had been lead astray and turned insane by his powerful accomplishments.

Glancing quickly at all the information, he recoiled back in shock and sat up straight against the back of his chair. It seems the hand of Fate was once more taunting him by dangling his wish in front of him like a carrot on a stick. There were unconfirmed rumors floating around the scientific community that Soong had developed cures for the initial stages of Clarks Syndrome through his previous genetic experimentations, along with various other diseases. No one could actually prove this as Starfleet had banned and destroyed all of his work before his incarceration, along with his handwritten notes that he now took to scribbling through his long hours of solitude. "If knowledge of a cure does exits though, maybe there's hope for Trip after all," thought Archer. "Lets just hope the price isn't too high."

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