666

"Bridge to Captain Archer… Captain Archer..."

There was urgency in the voice, Archer slowly realised, as his mind floated in the mist of drowsiness. He jumped up from the bed and stumbled to the comm. link. "Archer," he shot out, and Porthos briefly raised his head to look at him before lowering it again.

"Captain, a shuttlepod just launched without authorisation," the tense voice of the ensign in charge of the bridge replied. "Scans read one person on board."

Archer frowned. "Hail them," he ordered, as he grabbed his uniform and began to pull it on.

"I've already tried, Sir. No reply," the ensign answered.

"Wake up Subcommander T'Pol and Lieutenant Reed," Archer said. "I'll be right there."

When Archer entered the bridge a few minutes later, T'Pol was already sitting at her station, as unruffled as this weren't the middle of night and she hadn't just been woken up for an emergency.

"Report," Archer ordered.

She turned to him. "Captain, Lieutenant Reed did not answer his page," she said. "He…"

"Well, send someone to his quarters," Archer interrupted her with a touch of irritation. "I'd like my Tactical Officer's thoughts on whatever is going on here."

T'Pol, as always, seemed unaffected by his mood. "According to my scans, Mr. Reed is on his way to the planet," she said in her flat tone. "And he is not answering hails," she added.

Archer's facial muscles tensed. "What about the people working in the launch bay?" he asked tautly after a brief pause. If, as it appeared, Malcolm wasn't in his right mind, the man had the training to be quite dangerous.

"There was only Ensign O'Rourke: he has been taken to sickbay. He was rendered unconscious and the Doctor is treating him now. It appears the Lieutenant dragged him out of the bay before launching."

"Thank God for that," Archer murmured. "Wake up Trip," he told his Science Officer. "We need to go after Malcolm."

T'Pol relayed the order to a crewman; then turned to her CO. "Captain, I advise caution. We cannot rule out that the phenomenon Ensign Sato and I have been studying might have something to do with Lieutenant Reed's… uncharacteristic behaviour," she said.

Archer frowned. "To my ready room", he curtly instructed. As soon as they were inside he turned to face T'Pol. "Would you mind telling me what you're talking about?" he demanded. "I thought you said the phenomenon was not dangerous."

"Ensign Sato and I have not been able to ascertain yet what those energy bursts are," the Vulcan Officer said, without losing her composure. "If it's a signal of some sort, it could mean the planet is inhabited."

"Our sensors haven't picked up any life forms," Archer countered.

"That doesn't necessarily mean there aren't any," T'Pol calmly replied. "This recent event casts a new light on our research."

Archer considered her words. "Even if this were true, how would it be connected to Malcolm's actions?" he asked.

T'Pol cocked an eyebrow. "I do not know, Captain. All I am saying is that we ought to take the possibility into consideration and use the necessary caution."

Archer's brow furrowed, as he weighed his options. Just then the chime rang and Trip let himself in without waiting for Archer's answer.

"What's goin' on, Captain?" he enquired straightaway. "I heard Malcolm is on his way to the planet. He wasn't exactly fit for a mission," he said, frowning.

"No one sent him on any mission," Archer replied, looking Trip straight in the eye. "He stole a pod and is not answering hails."

"What?" The engineer chocked out. He ruffled his already tousled hair. "How…"

"We don't know," Archer interrupted him. "And just now T'Pol was telling me that those bursts of energy we detected on the planet might really be some sort of signal, which would mean that despite our sensors' readings the place could be inhabited."

Trip's eyes narrowed. "Are you sayin' Malcolm is bein'… controlled by some life form through these… signals?" he asked after a moment.

"Although I do not have any scientific explanation, it is a possibility," T'Pol commented.

"Then his confusion…" Trip's voice trailed as his mind considered the implications.

A moment of silence fell in the room. Archer leaned against the bulkhead, looking at the planet out of the porthole, deep in thought.

"Well, what are we gonna do about it?" Trip finally burst out. "We can't just leave him to these… bursts of energy!"

"Trip, meet me with Hoshi in the transporter room," Archer ordered abruptly, turning to face him. "T'Pol, you have the bridge."

"Captain," T'Pol said in as urgent a tone as her Vulcan control allowed her. "It could be dangerous to expose more crewmembers to those energy bursts. Why not transport the Lieutenant back to Enterprise?" she suggested.

"What good would that do?" the Captain countered. "It wouldn't free Malcolm of whatever is controlling him. I'm not going to sit on my hands while a member of my crew might be in danger. We need to find out what's going on down there. And if there is a life form, we need to find a way to communicate with it. I'm hoping Hoshi will be able to do just that."

"Capt'n, I thought I'd be going with you!" Trip complained from beside the transporter's console.

"There is no need for a Chief Engineer on this mission," Archer replied firmly as he studied Hoshi's pale face. "And you're my first choice when it comes to scrambling our molecules," he added meaningfully.

Trip shot him a look that meant he knew the Captain had said that to make him regain confidence in his transporting abilities. But he said nothing and took up position behind the console, his muscles automatically tensing up.

"You coming, Hoshi?" Archer enquired, raising his eyebrows.

The young ensign didn't look particularly eager to step onto the transporter area but cleared her throat and replied, "Yes, Sir." Swallowing, she joined her captain.

"Energise, Commander," Archer ordered with a reassuring smile.

Trip concentrated on the controls before him and worked the levers, watching his friends disintegrate. He held his breath until two blips on his readings told him they had arrived safely on the planet.

Archer cast a glance at Hoshi, who was biting her lip in a worried expression, and squeezed her arm reassuringly. They had re-materialised in a clearing. Silhouetted in the dark a couple of hundred metres away, Archer could make out the shape of the shuttlepod. It was night on the planet; not pitch dark, thanks to the planet's two moons, but the thick vegetation made the atmosphere quite eerie.

Archer switched on his flashlight and checked his scanner, moving it around in a circular motion. He stopped when it picked up Reed's biosigns. "That way," he told Hoshi. "Some five-hundred metres straight ahead."

They began to walk, wading through some rather tall and somewhat sticky grass that seemed to want to hold them back.

After a few minutes Hoshi grabbed the Captain's arm and pointed to a spot in the distance. "Over there, Sir," she said tensely.

"Yes, that's what we are looking for," Archer replied, watching a cluster of short flashes of light dancing in the dark. Squinting, he saw a familiar form standing still in front of them. "Come on," he urged the linguist.

"Malcolm," Archer called, when they were a few metres away. His Armoury Officer did not reply, nor did he move a muscle. He might as well have been a statue. Now that they were close, they could hear also the popping sounds that accompanied each burst of energy.

Suddenly the crackling sounds stopped and it was dark all around them.

"Lieutenant Reed," Archer called in his command voice, hoping Malcolm would respond to it. They closed the gap between them and Archer gently grabbed his arm and shook it. Nothing happened. Reed held his unblinking eyes fixed on a spot right in front of him.

"Have you worked out any intelligible pattern in those lights, Hoshi?" Archer asked, checking Reed's biosigns on his scanner. They seemed to be strong.

"Sir, it's not an easy task," Hoshi replied in frustration. "I probably can, provided these are signals of some sort, but it could take hours, or even days." She knitted her brow. "It reminds me of that time we found an alien life form in cargo bay two. That was quite a challenge too," she said pensively.

"Well, whatever they are, they are gone now," Archer commented. "We've got to get Malcolm back to the shuttlepod."

The Captain put himself in front of Reed and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Malcolm," he called a little louder, giving him a rougher shake.

"Captain!"

Hoshi's urgent voice wasn't the only thing that made Archer turn abruptly: the popping sounds were back; louder now for they came in unison, as did the lights pulsating before them. It was a strange sight, and yet it had something strangely familiar to it. Archer watched in fascination, aware that he could sense no danger; he hoped he wouldn't be proven wrong, but he felt the energy bursts meant no harm.

"Hoshi?" Archer asked after a long moment.

Hoshi was biting the inside of her cheeks. "There is something about them…" she murmured, narrowing her eyes in concentration.

"I am Captain Archer, of the starship Enterprise," Archer said. One never knew...

"Morse code!" suddenly Hoshi burst out. "Captain, I know this sounds ridiculous, but I'm pretty sure this is Morse code," she repeated, excitement in her voice.

Archer shot her a puzzled glance, before returning it to the pulsating energy bursts. "Morse code? Can you remember any of it?"

Hoshi did not reply. "Four dots, one dot …" She bit her lip. "'H… E… Hello'! Captain, they are saying hello," she said with conviction.

"I'll be damned," Archer replied without taking his eyes off the phenomenon. "I suppose we should answer," he added. He turned to Hoshi, who was looking at him expectantly. "Well, get your flashlight out and make the introductions."

A few minutes later Hoshi's eyes went wide. "Sir, these are incorporeal beings," she relayed in a tense voice. "They are saying one of them has gotten inside Lieutenant Reed."

"What?" Archer exclaimed.

"Sir, they say the life form inside Lieutenant Reed is trying to leave but is unable to do so," the linguist continued. She bit her lip as she concentrated on the pulsing lights. "It seems to be trapped inside the Lieutenant's mind," she added.

Archer pursed his lips in frustration and studied Reed. His breathing had accelerated and his face was beginning to show signs of discomfort. The Captain looked at his scanner, checking once again Malcolm's biosigns.

"Tell them that that being must stop doing whatever it's doing," he told Hoshi imperatively. "Malcolm's vital signs are becoming erratic."

Hoshi translated her Captain's words into Morse Code. There was a moment of silence, broken only by Reed's ragged breathing. Then the energy bursts flashed again.

"Sir, it's refusing to do so. The being inside Malcolm is not well and is struggling to get free," Hoshi said, concern clear in her voice.

All of a sudden Reed cried out in pain and doubled over, holding his head. Archer grabbed him and lowered him to the ground, kneeling beside him. "Malcolm!" he called to him, trying to shake him out of his trance. But the Lieutenant could not hear him. He was gasping in pain, his body tense and his face scrunched up in a grimace.

"Tell that damn thing to stop whatever it's doing!" Archer barked out again.

Hoshi quickly obeyed, trying to concentrate on the job at hand and shut out the sight of Reed writhing under Archer's hands.

"Sir, they say it is the Lieutenant who's trapping it," Hoshi said after a long moment. "He's fighting its presence inside his mind and the being cannot break free. They fear they are going to kill each other. We have to find a way to make the Lieutenant stop fighting his guest."

"Damn!" Archer cursed under his breath. Reed had curled up on himself, his face pale and sweaty, and he was grunting with pain. Archer clenched his jaw and urged his brain to find a solution. After a moment he got up, a determined look in his eyes. Under Hoshi's bewildered gaze he reached for his phase pistol and checked the setting.

"Move away, Hoshi," he told the linguist.

"Captain…" Hoshi stuttered, guessing what he wanted to do.

"That was an order, Ensign," Archer said firmly.

The linguist obeyed and got a fair distance from Reed. Archer also backed up a few metres, to minimise the consequences of the blast. Taking a deep breath, he stretched out his arm, aimed and fired. The beam got Malcolm square on his left shoulder, and the Lieutenant's body immediately went limp.

TBC