Thanks for your reviews and comments. No, you don't know the Cekatians from the show. Malcolm's experiences with them in the past are part of the "season five" that exists in my head, but no where else.

x-x

The next hours passed in a flurry around them. After Trip had rushed to the comm. and called in the emergency, the day had erupted in a swirl of activity as Phlox's team worked to stabilise the lieutenant.

Apparently, Phlox had prescribed Malcolm some sedatives the day before. And apparently, that had been a "Very bad idea," Trip had practically shouted at the doctor. In his confusion or in his desperation to muffle the voices, Malcolm had taken too many.

"By accident?" Trip asked the next time Phlox stepped through the privacy curtain he'd pulled around Malcolm.

Seemingly unfazed by Trip's earlier outburst, the doctor smiled kindly. "I think so. There were still plenty left in the bottle. If he'd intended..." He left the rest unsaid.

Trip nodded and let his eyes drop to his hands. His fingers worried his cuticles, tearing small cuts as they went, and Trip watched the movement. It was odd - it was like the fingers didn't belong to him, like he wasn't in control of them at all.

God, he was tired.

After a moment, he realised that the doctor was speaking.

"He'll recover -"

"Can I stay?" Trip asked, barely aware that he was interrupting.

"Of course."

Now Malcolm was hooked up to what seemed like every monitor and device Phlox had on hand. Trip sat in a nearby chair watching him, glad to see the steady, even rise and fall of his chest. And with each steady breath, Trip's heart beat out a litany: Thank God. Thank God. Thank God.

x-x

Trip could barely focus, his ability to concentrate a victim of too little sleep and too much everything else. Between shifts focused entirely on evaluating the signal with Hoshi, he had been spending his time with Malcolm in sickbay, leaving little time for meals, sleep or anything else.

Malcolm had been going back and forth between coherence and near-catatonia for the better part of a day now, and Trip was so ready for all this to be over. But first, he had to stay awake through this meeting. Which again, was focused on Malcolm.

"So, the voices?" Archer asked, leaning forward across the table.

"Caused by the signal," Hoshi answered.

The captain turned to Phlox. "And the physical problems - the lack of sleep and so on?"

"We believe those are also caused by this signal," said the doctor.

T'Pol interrupted. "But it is likely that the physical effects are not intentional. Our testing shows that this signal would not have the same effect on Cekatian physiology."

"Malcolm had said that the voices were trying to tell him something," Trip added, running a weary hand through his hair.

Hoshi nodded. "I think he's right, in a way." She pulled up a display, its glow bright against the dull grey of the wall. "The signal shows a clear pattern, almost like a language."

Archer watched the screen for a moment, the graphic representing the signal undulating across its surface. "So they aren't actually voices."

"No, Sir," Hoshi replied.

Archer nodded. "And he's not..."

Trip finished for him. "He's not crazy."

"Why, exactly, have they targeted Malcolm in this way?"

"We do not know yet," T'Pol answered.

Archer pushed back in his chair. "Thoughts?"

Trip commented before he could stop himself. "Why him?"

Hoshi turned to him. "Might simply have been because he was the one there, the one available." She paused, lost in thought. "Although if it's a signal, it should need a response, right? Maybe it's being used to communicate something to him? Get him to do something?"

Trip shook his head. "If so, it's not very effective. It's pretty much incapacitated him."

"Maybe it's designed to get him to go there?" Hoshi asked.

"To Cekatia," Trip said. He turned to the captain. "Then we should go there."

"That is not a good idea, Commander," T'Pol said. "They had already captured one of us, and damaged him. Going to Cekatia would only serve to expose Mr. Reed, and Enterprise, to more risk."

"But we have to," Trip said to her, then turned to the captain again. "Sure, it's a risk. But this is too damn important." He leaned forward across the table, reaching out with both hands. "We need to get it to stop, and the only way I can think of to do that is to get ourselves down there." Waiting for the captain's reaction, he thought that he, for one, was willing to risk it, if it would help get Malcolm back to normal.

Archer nodded. "All right, a compromise. We'll go closer and try to contact them."

x-x

Hoshi lost track of the signal when they arrived in the Cekatian system, their instruments too blunt to trace it through the blurr of communications in the region. But they had been able to reach someone in charge of an organised planetary-wide government body, only to find out that the organisation was mostly symbolic.

"Our world is divided up into many countries, each one with a separate government," the leader, Jsem, said, her voice partially obscured by the static interfering with her audio signal. "If the transmission is coming from Cekatia, as you believe, then it could very well be coming from one of them, or even from a rogue faction."

"But this type of technology is within your capabilities?" Archer asked, standing in front of his chair and staring up at the blank screen.

"It could be," Jsem said. "We do have some nations that are quite technologically advanced. Hold on, please." Trip heard the sound of fingers tapping a keyboard before the voice continued. "Yes, yes. Let me send you a list of countries which may be capable of this type of technology."

x-x

Trip sat beside Malcolm's bed in sickbay, explaining the situation to his friend despite the fact that Malcolm hadn't responded in over ten minutes of conversation - and from what Phlox had said, hadn't spoken or moved all day. And yet the doctor told him that the drugs had passed through Malcolm's system, and he was awake. So Trip was talking. He wasn't sure that Malcolm was listening, but still, he was talking.

"So it's this huge planet," Trip said, looking to see if Malcolm had opened his eyes yet. "And we have no idea where the signal is coming from." He watched his friend for a moment, then stood. "You know? I should get back to work, see if we can figure out -"

"I can show you," Malcolm said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"What?" Trip asked, stepping closer to his friend.

"I can see it," Malcolm said, eyes still shut.

Trip tensed. "What do you mean?" When he didn't get a response, he tried again. "You said you can see it. What do you see?" Desperate to get Malcolm to respond, he brushed his friend's cheek with a finger. "Malcolm. Stay with me. Where is the signal coming from?"

Malcolm didn't answer, and Trip figured he'd drifted away again. After a moment, though, Malcolm held out a hand and pointed. "Here."

Trip's heart skipped a beat. "Could you, um. If I had a map, could you show me?"

Malcolm opened his eyes, trapping Trip in his gaze. "No. I have to go with you."

And Trip believed him.

x-x

Please review and let me know what you think so far. Thanks!