J. B. Tilton/Page 4
TEN
"Would he go to all that trouble?" Trip asked.
"When it comes to a matter of honor," T'Pol said, "Klingons take it very seriously. Klingons consider honor more important than even life. To regain his honor, Klang might resort to what humans would consider drastic measures. However, since time travel is not possible…."
"Give it a rest, lady," Piper said. "We all know your opinion on time travel. Scientifically, you may not be able to do it. But we've learned that magic can do just about anything."
"Whatever this thing is," Archer said, "it stood up to full phase pistols. If it attacks again, it could do some serious damage. Or some of my crew might get hurt. That I won't tolerate. Any suggestions about how to fight this thing?"
"We've got that covered," Piper said. "We have a Power of Three spell that should vanquish this thing permanently."
"Vanquish?" Hoshi questioned.
"Yeah," Paige said. "That's what it's called when you kill a demon."
"Oh," Hoshi said.
"You intend to use a spell against this creature?" T'Pol asked.
"Not just a spell," Phoebe said. "A Power of Three spell. It's the most powerful form of magic there is. Nothing can withstand it. I wrote the spell but I left it in our quarters. Otherwise that demon would have been toast."
"It is doubtful that a spell will have any effect on a creature such as we witnessed in the corridor," T'Pol said.
"Don't sell it short," Phoebe said. "You'd be surprised what a Power of Three spell can do."
"I'd feel better if we had some other options," Archer said.
"Well, sir," Malcolm said, "I could see about increasing the power of the phase pistols. I could also see about rigging an electro-magnetic field to trap it in. As you know we've had some success with those of late."
"Good idea," Archer said. "T'Pol. I want you to search the database. See if there's any information on this so-called demon. Whatever it is it's no ordinary Klingon. It might be a genetic mutation or aberration. Maybe there's some way to combat this thing that we don't know about."
"That's a good idea," Piper said. "It's no wonder that the Book of…. that is, that we couldn't find anything on it. If it's not from Earth there might not be any information on it. If you have access to information from this Klingon planet they might have some way to vanquish it."
"In the mean time," Archer said, "I'm assigning guards to the three of you. Especially to Paige. If it attacks again, you'll need all the help you can get with it."
"I don't think that's going to do any good," Piper said. "This is a thing of magic, not science. And it's already proven it can stand up to your weapons."
"I'll feel better if nothing else," Archer said. "Put out a ship wide alert. If this thing shows up again, I want to know the instant it does."
"I shall attend to it, Captain," T'Pol said.
"Well," Trip said, "looks like there's nothing else to do but wait until this demon or whatever it is shows up again. I'm thinking our guests could use a good meal. Cap'n, with your permission, I'll take them to the mess hall for something to eat."
"That's a good idea," Archer said. "And stay alert, Trip. This Klingon seems to come out of nowhere."
The group broke up so that each could attend to their duties. As they followed Trip through the corridors, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige all wondered how, and if, they'd ever be able to return home. Regardless of what Piper had told T'Pol, none had any idea how they were going to return to the past.