Chapter Eight
Rescue
In the underground cell, the metal door slams open and four soldiers burst in. One of them grabs Corporal Korvakai, yanks her to her feet and spins her about, slamming her bodily into the stone wall. She crashes hard, unable to save herself, and falls heavily to the ground. The one they'd termed 'Squad Leader', the one who had beaten Liz, grabs her by her short brown hair, dragging her to her feet as she screams in pain. Travis is on his feet, but before he can defend himself or Liz one of the soldiers slams the butt of his rifle into his head and he goes down, stunned. The Squad Leader rams the barrel of his rifle into Liz's stomach, and before she can double over he reverses his grip, bringing the rifle butt up hard into her face. Liz is hit with such force she is knocked upward, back off her feet, slamming hard to the stone floor as a quick increase and dimming of light fills the chamber and the fourth soldier goes down hard from a phase bolt in the center of his chest!
Three more bolts from phase rifles sound as one, and a moment later the only ones standing are Reed and his team.
The two guards take up positions at the far corners of the room near the door, training their phase rifles out the only visible entrance, covering the visible length of tunnel as Reed helps Liz, then Travis, to their feet. He tries not to let his reaction to the blood flowing down Liz's face show on his own. Travis smiles grimly. "Took you long enough."
"You're welcome."
"Untie me!" Reed is more surprised at the ring of imperious command in Elizabeth Cutler's deadly voice than at the layers of blood and bruises on her face. He is about to answer, but Travis shakes his head slightly and he forbears calling her on her tone. Liz turns around expectantly, looking back over her shoulder with an expression of even greater demand.
It does not take more than a few moments for the surprised Lieutenant to free her, and when she turns around again, massaging her arms vigorously, she looks up at him with an expression as terrible as death itself.
"We should go; now." Reed tells them.
"Not yet." Both Ensigns answer him in unison, but it is a chilling chorus. Travis is looking at the woman who lies, stunned and unmoving, against the far wall. Elizabeth's voice, and her eyes, hold something more chilling, more terrible.
Unwilling to look into those eyes any longer, Reed turns his attention to freeing Travis, and then together they start untying the barely conscious woman. They barely begin when the air is split by a blood curdling shriek.
All four men turn in time to see Elizabeth Cutler bring the unconscious 'Squad Leader's' rifle butt down into his face!
x
So shocked are they that she has time to raise it high and bring it down again with the full strength of her body. "Oh my God." Reed whispers, appalled by her brutality against an unconscious foe, seeing what is left of the man's face.
Travis gets up to rush to his friend as she brings the rifle down a third time with all her maddened strength. "Liz. Liz, stop!"
Cutler whirls and he draws up short as she turns the rifle and trains it on him, the barrel pointed into his face. The aperture is barely six inches away, pointed right between his eyes as he stares incredulously at her. It is the second time he has looked down this barrel; the first was when it was being wielded by the man at his feet. This time it is far worse. This time he is actually afraid.
He stares, frozen, less from the incredible threat as from the look of maniacal fury in her eyes. Layers of blood and bruises cover her swollen face, turning it into an unrecognizable mask of hate. The guarding men hold their positions near the door for fear of causing Liz to fire and Travis stares down the length of the rifle, seeing his own death in his friend's wild eyes.
"He hurt my baby!"
In that timeless instant when the universe freezes, he watches her finger tighten on the trigger.
x
Before he can duck, taking a desperate chance in sudden movement, Liz suddenly turns away, bringing the rifle from his face to the head of the unconscious, bleeding soldier. She screams; a shriek of primal rage as she squeezes the trigger.
A phase beam slams into her chest and she is knocked backward off her feet, the rifle clattering against the far stone wall as she falls, insensate, to the ground.
Travis turns, astounded, seeing Malcolm kneeling beside the woman he had been about to untie, his phase rifle pointed at the spot where Liz had stood. He is still, equally stunned.
xxx
"Captain's Log; supplemental. We have successfully rescued the crew of Shuttlepod Two, but not without suffering a casualty. Lieutenant John Abrams, Chief of Life Sciences Division, has died in the line of duty. His body has been recovered, and a Memorial Service has been scheduled for 1500 hours tomorrow.
"Ensign Elizabeth Cutler and Crewwoman Tia Anlor both suffered extensive injuries due to their encounters with Drailen soldiers, and are being treated in Sick Bay. We have also taken aboard Corporal Alah Korvakai of the Manaxian Armed Forces, who will be returned to her Unit. Her injuries are also severe.
"I am making preparations to retrieve the instruments and equipment confiscated from our team and presently in the hands of Drailen forces.
"Shuttlepod Two is a total loss and I have ordered it stripped of all its components while under guard. It will then be destroyed by phase cannon and photon torpedo barrage. There is to be nothing left of our technology to fall into the hands of either the Drailens or the Manaxians."
Turning the recording off, Archer leaves his Ready Room, heading again for Sick Bay. This will be his third visit.
xxx
Lieutenant Hoshi Sato enters the Sick Bay, finding her two best friends lying side by side on two biobeds, Liz on her right. On either side of the beds are, in no way a surprise, Trip Tucker and Jim Cein. There is room between the beds, so that is where she steps, looking down at the two women. "How do you feel?" she asks Liz, standing close enough so Cutler does not have to raise her head. Liz stares up at the ceiling, her expression dismal, barely moving her eyes after the first flicker as Hoshi came into the woman's field of vision. Her face is swollen and covered in dark bruises, both eyes blackened. Several cuts have been treated and covered with white gauze, leaving her face a mask of pain. She wears a blue medical smock, and Hoshi can see the trail of bruises extend under the material.
She had been treated by her colleague Dina Samuels, acting Nurse for the shift, who is now in consultation with Phlox on the other side of the Sick Bay. There was not a lot that could be done when the focus had initially been on Tia's surgery. After the woman had come out to examine Liz, to determine that she was not in any immediate danger of death while Sam Harris, also from Life Sciences, had continued assisting Phlox, she had treated her more immediate injuries before having to return to her more pressing duty.
"I feel like shit." Liz finally answers her friend's question. Jim takes her hands in his, trying to be consoling, but it is not easy. Liz does not seem to want any of it. "Did they tell you what happened down there?"
"Not much."
Liz continues to explore the ceiling. "Well, I don't want to talk about it."
Her tone is definite enough that Hoshi does not press it, meeting Jim's eyes. From the look he gives her, he had not had much more luck getting through in the time he'd had since she got done being treated by Dina. The Denobulan doctor had been tied up in surgery since before the rescue team had returned.
x
Hoshi turns to her golden friend, noting the intravenous tubes dripping golden blood from a reservoir beside Trip into her right arm. She knew that Phlox had been accumulating a supply of pure blood on a monthly basis over the past eleven months, preserving it for need. She hoped there would be enough.
Tia looks up at her vaguely, unable to focus. Hoshi turns her attention to Trip, who still holds Tia's hand.
"She's still a bit out of it; the Doc wants her to sleep. He gave her a sedative – but of course she's fighting it."
"At least while you're here." She chides her friend with a soft, knowing smile.
"Li ceeri eda." Tia protests distantly, insisting in her almost musical language to her friend that 'I here am.' Her words are slowed, almost sung, indistinct as she fights to stay awake.
"Sure you are, honey." Trip agrees, patting her cheek lightly. "How are you feeling?"
"Li evara eda." She insists, but her effort to get up is blocked by Trip's hands on her shoulders.
"Forget it." He tells her definitely. "You may feel fine because you're pumped full of whatever the Doc gave you, but you're going to be on your back here for about a week, so just get used to it." Tia looks up at Trip, smiling at the thought, but the smile is definitely lopsided.
"Tuvi ri seelna nule juis mrunion teala ti lurin." She whispers vaguely, musically.
Trip looks at Hoshi inquiringly, having understood only a few of the words; though not enough to know what her slowed words mean. He finds her grinning at him.
"'You me always seem on my back to want'." She translates, and Trip wishes she had just gone to sleep and not said anything at all. Trying to show some mercy, Hoshi belatedly pretends not to have heard anything.
"I just wanted to come down to see how you two were," She says, taking in both women, then glances at Tia, "and to compliment you on that signal – though it nearly blew my ear off at first."
Tia looks up at Hoshi with an expression that was both self-satisfied and bleary, though her smile is considerably more out of line. "Masilvanu Li kiru. Repus kiru Shar-les ri leggot po litraq Li quiu. Veer omeny, veer tuburol, veer omeny; 'Caalyuau mrunioni Neetai'."
Hoshi sees Trip's lost expression.
"'Remembered I did. Code did Charles me teach from movie I saw. Three dashes, three dots, three dashes. 'Save our Souls'." Trip grins at her, and when she looks down at her friend she can see the young golden woman can fight the effects of the sedative no longer.
Just before she fades, Hoshi tells her; "You did well. As soon as I started getting 'O-S-O' I knew it had to come from you."
xx
When Jonathan Archer enters the Sick Bay, he finds Phlox in the main area, Tia Anlor and Elizabeth Cutler side by side on two diagnostic tables. It is hardly surprising that they are not alone, that Tucker, Sato and Cein stand on either side and between them. Seeing that everything is under 'control', he steps over to Phlox, Ensign Samuels breaking away from her consultation at his approach, going over to check the condition of the two women.
Archer keeps walking slowly past him, the Denobulan following him to the far end of the room. He turns, keeping his voice low, but able to see the six across the room. "How are they?"
"Surprisingly better than one might expect." Phlox answers, his voice equally mild so it will not carry across the room. At Archer's look of surprise, he explains. "Of the two, Tia was, of course, much more severely injured. I barely had enough of her blood stockpiled; it was a near thing. But we may be grateful that whoever shot her was apparently an excellent marksman. He hit her directly in the center of her chest, where a human heart would be and the same for their race, as I learned from Crewwoman Sarah Dutton's report on the Corporal the rescue team brought aboard.
"But the Auran heart, as you know, is over ten centimeters lower than in a human. The bullet broke through her sternum, which is fortunately also somewhat thicker and stronger than a human's. All her bones are so, due to evolution in Aura's higher gravity."
"That accounts for her greater strength." Archer at least knew that much. The young woman did not look as strong as she was, but several of the crew had found just how deceptive appearances could be.
"Ironically, it was the abuse she suffered during her life on Aura that saved her." Archer allows his incomprehension to show on his face. "She was subjected to many 'punishments' by the Silurians and their Auran collaborators. Apparently she could be quite stubborn." Archer smiles at the Denobulan's understatement; he has had plenty of experience in just how stubborn the Auran woman can be. "When bones are broken and heal, there is an extra buildup of calcium over the break. Her sternum was broken several times in her life, so there is considerable extra deposit there.
"The bullet broke through and came to rest five centimeters deeper. It missed both aorta, passing right between them. A centimeter either way, and she would have bled to death in seconds."
"Both aorta?" This is the first he's heard of two. He decides he really should take the time to learn more about his crew, beyond their records and service, and what he can learn of them personally.
"Oh yes. They run parallel from her six chambered heart up behind the sternum to the brain, thence following a pretty much normal course through the body, except for the blood paths being independent after leaving the heart. That's also why she has a triple heartbeat as opposed to the human double; it's necessary for the proper mingling of gold, klinasy and oxygen in the extra chambers. Klinasy, as you know, links with both gold and oxygen. Without it, life for her species is impossible; she would suffocate in minutes."
Archer shakes his head, disturbed by the thought that in a room full of breathable air a member of his crew could be gasping for breath, unable to get any oxygen at all; could choke to death, possibly right before his eyes; and there would be nothing he could do about it. The mental image is unsettling, one he does not want to dwell upon.
x
"Tell me about this Corporal."
"Alah Korvakai. I've just seen her. She's in Decon; for her own protection rather than ours. Her entire body is severely degraded due to her imprisonment. She's suffering from malnutrition, dehydration and the numerous ills incident to long captivity. We're feeding her basic proteins and nutrients intravenously; her system will not be ready for solid food in sufficient quantity for several days, and we are rehydrating her as rapidly as possible, also intravenously."
"You can help her, of course." He says, thinking of the possible future should these people be amenable to any help Starfleet might be able to offer.
"Better than she will allow."
The wording concerns Archer. "How so?"
"Among her injuries is a shattered right hand. All the bones were broken some weeks ago and allowed to 'heal' without medical attention. Her hand is gnarled, almost immobile; essentially useless. I told her that with surgery to repair her bones, and with reconstruction of her nervous and muscular systems, I could give her back 90 percent usage of her hand. She refused."
"Why?"
"Maimed as she is, she is ineligible for active duty. If I restore her hand, she will be put back on the lines. Apparently, her captivity has left her with little love left for fighting." He does not express his feelings in words about her choice to go through the rest of her life with this disability. He does not have to.
'Starfleet has to do something to help these people.' Archer thinks. The thought of just breaking orbit and leaving these people at war with one another is intolerable. But he can just hear Admiral Maxwell Forrest now:
'I'm sorry, Jon, but if these people won't listen, there's not a lot you can do.'
'I have to find some way to get them to listen.'
x
"Now, what about Ms. Cutler?" He asks; trying to get onto something he can do something about. She is his real concern, even if he had to deal with 'business' first. "Travis said she feared she'd nearly lost her baby."
Phlox shakes his head with the almost patronizing smile of a doctor to a layman. "The embryo was never in any danger. Even had it been a fetus … Captain, evolution has placed so many safeguards in a human body that blunt force trauma, even of the level reported by Ensign Mayweather, could not have had any effect upon the embryo. It has not, after all, even been five and a half weeks since conception. Had she not been so emotionally overwhelmed by her trauma she would have realized that for herself." He drops his voice then, and his smile vanishes.
"I am more concerned, actually, with what happened during the rescue. Not only did she seek revenge upon her assailant, assaulting him in turn several times; which fact I can understand; but she lost emotional control to such a degree that she turned a gun on Ensign Mayweather, and the report I just read indicates he believes she was about to fire.
"Further, had Lieutenant Reed not stopped her, she would have murdered her former assailant."
"Doctor…"
"Yes, I know. She was under extraordinary stresses, but I have to consider her emotional well being and, quite frankly, her stability under less stressful conditions. Until I am satisfied, I am ordering a 'Period of Observation' for her."
Archer is not at all happy to hear this, but in matters of medicine even he cannot overrule the doctor's judgment. "Does she know?"
"Not yet. I'll be speaking to her soon, after further evaluation. It may not be necessary. Until then, I am going to assign her to work closely with Mother McCabe. Perhaps that will be what she needs."
Archer looks across the room at her, watching as she holds Jim Cein's hand and they talk quietly. Tucker and Sato have already left, Anlor is asleep and Samuels has gone to Decon to check on Korvakai. "I'd hate for her to think we don't trust her."
"So would I. But anyone who would turn a deadly weapon on a fellow officer makes me … concerned."
Archer breaks his gaze, turning back to Phlox. "Let me know how this plays out."
"Yes, sir."
Continued in 'Fractured'.