A/N I still own nothing, just borrowing these wonderful characters. For the first time I have no reviewers to thank. I really do enjoy getting your input but it does not take anything away from the enjoyment I get knowing people are reading and hopefully enjoying my story. Thanks to all of you.
As they reached the Reman camp, T'Pol saw that there was a pressure dome that provided a place for the Remans to gather outside their suits. But she was taken directly to a waiting shuttle. As the shuttle lifted off, T'Pol realized that she was likely to find out about a long-time mystery, why the Romulans did not show themselves. She had to think ruefully that this was not the way she would have wanted to find out.
But as they docked with the mother ship, she found she was not even going to have that silver lining, as she apparently was in an area of the ship inhabited only by Remans.
Klat, who had accompanied her from the surface, walked by the stretcher as she was taken into what was apparently a sickbay. Immediately, two Reman nurses rushed over and helped from the stretcher onto a bed. T'Pol noted that Reman woman were not as grotesque as the men. That is not to say they would be considered attractive.
One of the nurses was taking control. "You, soldier, get out of here."
Klat tried to protest saying he had been told to guard her.
"You can stand outside the door. We have work to do."
As Klat grudgingly left, she addressed T'Pol. "You must be in terrible pain." She removed the helmet and put a hypo to T'Pol's neck. To T'Pol's relief, the pain began to recede and she could finally relax her control. She didn't even care at the moment if the drug was safe for Vulcans.
After giving T'Pol the shot, she turned to the other nurse, "We need to get her out of these clothes. We're going to have to cut them off. Be careful with that leg, we don't need to mess it up any worse."
The two worked efficiently and T'Pol was soon reduced to her panties.
The apparent head nurse spoke again, "Get her a gown."
T'Pol was soon laying back on the bed her nudity covered by a hospital gown.
After cleaning the leg as much as possible, the nurse was scanning it. "Well, it appears that at least some of the bone structure remains. Send these scans to the doctor."
She told T'Pol, "Just lay back and relax, we will be right here if you need anything."
T'Pol suddenly found herself thinking how Jonathan would feel when he heard about this. He had always been there for her, but this time a rescue seemed highly unlikely. Thinking of being in his arms she laid back on the bed.
Doctor Tornok was Manok's personal physician. He had convinced Manok to allow him to come along on the mission. He now reflected that decision was working out to be an important and provident one. He and Manok were in his office looking at the scans the nurse had taken.
Manok spoke first, "Well, Tornok, how does it look." Manok shuddered as he looked at the condition of the leg. All he could think of is what the Praetor was going to think of all this. Everyone around him knew that he had an obsession with this woman T'Pol. It should have been a huge coup for him have captured her. But he also knew that the Praetor wanted her in pristine condition. A badly mangled leg was not going to set well with him.
Tornok looked up from the scans, "It certainly looks bad, but I believe that there is enough bone structure left for me to get it back as good as new. With these new anti-scarring drugs, you won't be able to know anything was wrong in a couple months."
Manok was relieved. "Thank goodness, we wouldn't want to deliver damaged goods to the Praetor." Looking back at the scans, he said, "It's hard to believe it is that easy to fix."
Tornok snorted, "Easy? I am probably one of three doctors on Romulus that could perform the needed operation. Your bringing me along has turned out to be extremely providential. If you had to wait to get back to Romulus for the surgery, it might be too late."
After the Doctor notified the nurses that he would be performing the operation as soon as possible, they took T'Pol to the operating room and when the Doctor told them he was ready, administered a strong anesthetic that would keep her unconscious well past the scheduled time for the operation.
As it turned out, the operation took eight hours and although Surah the head nurse thought Tornok was a pompous ass, she had to admit it had been amazing to see him at work. She could hardly believe it was the same leg when he finished and had them wrap it in bandages.
Later, as Tornok looked in on her in the recovery room, he saw why the Praetor was interested, she was a beautiful woman. It was a shame he couldn't allow her to thank him. But not only was he not about to take a chance with the Praetor, they were under strict orders to have her only see Remans until they were back home.
When T'Pol awakened, she was amazed at what she could see of her leg. What had been mangled was again apparently straight and looked back to normal although she couldn't see what it looked like under the wrappings. Apparently, their Doctor had some knowledge of Vulcans.
When she was deemed ready to be moved, she was given clothes and equipped with a crutch. Klat escorted her to a cell where they made her as comfortable as possible. After being able to relieve herself, she was given, to her gratification, a vegan meal. She soon settled into a regular routine of having her bandages redone, getting anti-scarring shots, and being taken for a walk accompanied by Klat three times a day. The rest of the time she spent meditating and wondering what Shran and Turov were planning and if they would be successful. She also thought of Jonathan and although logic told her different, she still could not shake the hope he would be able to perform one more miracle.
Shran sat back and sighed. He had just finished one of the toughest conversations of his life, telling Archer that T'Pol was in the hands of the Romulans. Archer had of course been stunned and appeared angry for a moment, but then he had managed to pull himself together. He asked if she had been injured and Shran told him they had heard an explosion but they saw her being carried away alive on a stretcher. Then once again Shran was amazed how Archer could recover and become the Admiral again. He told Shran that nothing had changed, that his mission was still to protect the Depot.
Knowing how much it cost Archer to say that, he quickly agreed. After again asking to keep him posted Archer signed off.
Shran met again with Turov and both of them agreed that they had probably three days left at the most. After trying to think of anything else, they agreed their only hope was to attempt to fight their way to the point where they could destroy the drill from space or crash one of their ships into it. Before leaving on the attack, Shran tried the Rigellians once more. But although they were more contrite, they valued their neutrality too much to interfere.
Then, in last minute desperation, Shran sent out a signal to determine if any Alliance ship was close enough to help them, He and Turov were both stunned when they got a response.
When it was believed after that first battle that they enemy knew of the Alliance's ability to detect their ships, The War Committee had decided to remove five of the science vessels from their positions and have them monitor the space closer to the planets of the Alliance.
The Votar, commanded by Subcommander Storek, was finishing one of his reconnaissance flights by passing near the Depot. He had not been able to communicate with either the Fleet or the Alliance for some time and thus was surprised at being hailed.
"This is Subcommander Storek, of the Alliance science ship Votar. I am currently 1.4 days from the Great Depot at warp 8."
Shran was disappointed at first it was one of the unarmed science ships, but quickly realized it gave them a much better chance of success. He told Storek to take a path that would leave him outside of Romulan scanners and meet him at a designated point.
When they rendezvoused, Storek and his crew came aboard Shran's ship and he and Turov explained the situation. Storek needed no more information to infer what Shran's plan was. "You hope to use our ship to crash into the drill, knowing the Romulans do not know of our existence."
Shran nodded, "Your ship is small enough that it may just be possible for your vessel to stay close enough to my ship that the Romulans, who will not be expecting three ships, may not sense it until it is too late."
He hesitated and then went on, "We have arranged for a volunteer to pilot your ship. He has flown all types of vessels and I am sure you can teach him what he needs to know."
Storek raised his eyebrows. "You are risking this vital mission by having someone who has never seen my ship fly it? No General, the only one that is qualified to pilot my ship is me. I will not allow you to risk this mission because of some misguided emotion that leads you to attempt to spare me."
Then his second in command spoke up, "To give us a better chance for success, it would be advisable to have a second pilot on board."
The other two crewmembers chipped in. "The best chance lies with having a full crew."
Storek looked proudly at his men and then said, "You have captained a Starship, General, you know neither you nor your crew would never turn your ship over to someone else."
Shran nodded and then simply said, "Forgive me, I should have never suggested such a plan."
He then went on, "This is what I was thinking we need to do."
Manok looked at a viewing screen showing the drill continuing its task. The expert had told him they would break through to the inner chamber in approximately nine hours. The Reman Commander had assured him all the explosives and poisonous canisters were on the asteroid and ready to be utilized as soon as he got the word.
At that moment, his armory officer notified him that the two Alliance ships were headed their way. Manok was not surprised, he knew they would make one last effort. Everyone knew what was at stake and had their orders, He immediately raised his shields and manned his weapons as the other two ships did the same.
Shran and Turov had arranged their attack to best shield the presence of the Votar. They immediately attacked the two Romulan ships protecting Manok's ship. They hoped to do enough initial damage to perhaps have the main ship give them some type of opening by moving to assist. Unfortunately, the ships seemed to be evenly matched. Shran finally decided on a last desperate move. He turned his ship and headed toward the asteroid on the side of Manok's ship away from the drill. Manok quickly moved his ship to intercept them, firing at Shran's ship. Shran's ship was suffering damage, but the slight movement by Manok's ship gave them their one chance. The Votar broke out from Shran's ship and headed toward the asteroid. Manok cursed the Elements and immediately turned all his fire on the speeding science vessel. At first the Votar escaped damage, with Shran continuing to fire at Manok's ship, but then their luck ran out. It was hit with a disrupter ray and its weak shields crumpled and all systems including life support were ended. It was now nothing but a large piece of twisted metal. But it still hurtled toward the asteroid. More desperate shots could not divert its course and it crashed into the drill causing tons of metal to fall on the Reman camp below.
Manok screamed in frustration and turned toward Shran. By now, the other battle was also over. Turov's ship had been destroyed. Seeing he could do nothing to help, Shran turned and raced away, quickly going to warp. Turov had not died in vain. One of the Romulan ships was destroyed and the other lie dead in space. Manok was about to follow Shran when he realized he could not afford to take the time for revenge.
He was sure that the Alliance ships had long ago notified the Fleet and it was likely Allied Starships were on the way. He needed to head for Orion space and Romulus. His mission had failed but he still had something to fall back on. He had T'Pol. It might just be enough to save his life. He was about to convey his orders when he realized the remaining Romulan warship was in no shape to travel. He could not wait for them to be able to. Then there was the Troop Ship. It would also slow him down. He hailed them and told them to get the survivors off the asteroid as they were getting ready to leave. When they notified him they were all on board, he immediately turned his weapons on the damaged starship and destroyed it. He then turned and did the same to the Troop Ship. Then, with those obstacles out of the way, he headed for Orion space at high warp.
Jonathan Archer sat in the Captain's chair as his fleet of ten ships headed for the Depot at maximum warp. It took all his efforts to keep his concentration on the task at hand. All the events that were taking place beyond his control constantly ran through his mind. He knew he should feel guilty for insisting on leading this mission himself, leaving Soval in command. He consoled himself that there appeared to be no immediate threats to the Fleet and his fleet consisted largely of Tellarite ships as he had not wanted to weaken the Fleet by taking any Vulcan or other, more powerful ships.
There was also the question of the fate of the Depot. Associated with that was the fact that whether it was saved or not, he had ordered two ship and their crews to do anything to stop it. And one of those ships was commanded by one of his closest friends whose death would also deeply hurt the Alliance.
Then, there was T'Pol. He knew he loved her, but had not completely realized how much a part of him she was. He wondered how he would ever manage to go on without her. But at the same time, he knew he must.
He quickly put that thought behind him and brought his mind back to the task at hand.
Hoshi turned and talked to him, "A message is coming in, it's from Shran."
Archer had no secrets, everyone on the bridge knew what was going on. "Put him on the screen."
Archer noted how haggard his friend looked and braced himself for more bad news.
Shran spoke up, "Admiral, I am glad to report that the Depot is safe, the drill has been destroyed."
Archer took a small breath of relief, but then asked, "What about your ships? Anything new on Captain T'Pol?"
"My ship is heavily damaged and its speed is reduced to Warp 5 as well as extensive damage to my weapons and shields. I have six dead and twenty injured crewmen. I have arranged with Rigel to go to their ship depot on Rigel 5."
After a moment, he went on, "Turov and his ship were destroyed with no survivors."
Archer lowered his head as Shran continued, "We were also aided by the Vulcan ship Votar commanded by Subcommander Storek." He hesitated again, "He and his three shipmates were killed when they sacrificed themselves to destroy the drill."
"We plan to return to the Depot and remove the jamming devices that prevented them from getting a message out. I suggest you send part of your fleet to protect it in case they plan to try it again.".
"After the drill was destroyed, and it was apparent they were not following me, I returned to scanner range. Their main ship destroyed both a damaged Romulan Warship and the Troop Ship. He then left alone with T'Pol presumably aboard."
Archer took a few deep breaths to absorb all he had heard. "I assume they are taking a direct path back to Romulus. Can you give me the path they started on?"
"Actually, Admiral, they surprised me by not heading back toward Romulus but rather a path that would take them to Orion space. I suppose they knew we were in scanning range and didn't want us to know their path."
Archer suddenly had what T'Pol would disdainfully call a 'hunch'.
"No, Shran, I have a feeling that may explain why they were never detected on their way. I think they traveled cloaked through Orion space." He quickly made a decision. "I am going to head directly toward the Orion border and hope to cut them off. I will also alert the Fleet and the science ships to look for them if they are returning another way." He didn't think about what they planned to do if and when they did find them.
He then continued, "General Shran, you have my deepest admiration for your ability to save the Depot." Lowering his voice, "I deeply regret that it took the lives of so many brave individuals to do so. The responsibility for those deaths lies with me."
"Shran, take care. I will send three ships to the Depot. When we have dealt with the Romulans, we will stop by Rigel 5 and check on your progress."
Shran said, "I know you will find her. Good luck, Jon."
Heartfully, "Thanks Shran. Archer out."
Archer then turned to Hoshi, "Get me the Captains of the Hortar, the Pertan, and the Staric." He would send two Tellarites and one of his Andorian ships.
When Hoshi told him she had them, he instructed them to proceed to the Depot, stopping at Rigel 5 to get instructions and information from General Shran.
Then he turned to the bridge crew, "Travis, plot a course that will intercept the path Shran gave us before they reach Orion space."
"Yes, Sir,"
He looked proudly around the bridge and then said quietly, "Okay, let's go find her and bring her home."
