Chapter Two

"Did you pack an extra detonator, Crewman?"

"Yessir!"

"Enough explosive?"

"Yessir!"

On the pilot's seat in Shuttlepod One, as he went through the pre-flight checks, Trip glanced over his shoulder. Malcolm was coming down the ladder to the pod followed by young Crewman Strutt, of the Armoury, who was carrying a case. The lanky blond man was – as far as Trip could tell – on his first away mission and sounded a mix of excitement and unease. He wondered why Malcolm had chosen such a young member of his department. Probably he thought he could do the job himself without any help, but since the Captain had ordered him to take a man with him, he wanted to give one of his youngest subordinates a chance to get some experience.

"Welcome on board," Trip cast towards them in a cheerful mood, trying to ease the Crewman's tension. "All set and ready for a nice outing?"

"I believe we have everything we need, Commander, provided Crewman Strutt here has been thorough," Malcolm replied with a scrutinizing look at his man. Then he went to take the navigation seat, while Strutt, with a Sir! and a sharp nod went to sit on the back bench.

"Take it easy on the poor guy," Trip said softly as Malcolm passed by him, "he's so young he hardly needs to shave."

Malcolm cast him a glance. "Nonsense. He's an armoury man, he's used to it," he said, with a wry smile. "And he shouldn't be made to feel too comfortable on an away mission."

Trip rolled his eyes and turned to his console. He opened a channel to the bridge. "Enterprise, we're good to go."

"Very well," Archer's voice came back. "Keep in touch."

"Will do," Trip chimed, powering the engine.

A moment later they were gliding out of Enterprise's belly.

There had been silence in the pod for the past few minutes. Trip unobtrusively checked on Malcolm. Passing the thermo barrier usually created enough turbulence to wake up his motion sickness, but he seemed to be okay, if a little paler than before.

Finally, they pierced the clouds and the planet appeared beneath them.

"There's a clearing due south, some 20 miles up ahead," Malcolm informed him. "It's the best place for landing."

Trip steered the pod and, once it was level, allowed himself to get distracted for a moment by the view. The planet wasn't lush by any stretch of the imagination, more like a sort of rocky desert, although some tufts of low vegetation did form patches of green here and there.

"Temperature is balmy," Trip said cheerfully. "Thank God for that. Can't stand the heat."

"Or the humidity," Malcolm echoed behind him.

Trip pointed to some craggy mountains in the distance on the left. "Is that what we're looking for?"

"Yes, Commander, I believe so."

Malcolm's voice had immediately turned professional. Trip turned to look at him. The man was studying the map of the place. He did like the focussed commitment his friend put into every job. He had appreciated it ever since that time when the engineering and Armoury teams together had built the phase cannons and repelled those silent aliens who seemed bent on blowing them out of the sky. Yes, the man always put 110% in what he did.

"Strutt, are you still alive down there?" Trip called over his shoulder. The man had not made a sound.

"Yessir!"

Trip swivelled in his chair and gave the young guy one of his reassuring smiles. "Come on up and have a look at the view. It's not every day that you get to leave the ship."

Strutt stood up and came to lean on the back of his chair. "Not exactly the garden of Eden but very impressive," he said.

"Well, I for one wouldn't want there to be any snakes," Malcolm quipped, discarding for once the Commanding Officer garb.

Trip chuckled. "Don't'ya worry, Subcommander T'Pol would've warned us if there was any wildlife. The place is barren, except for some sparse vegetation."

The landing was not exactly smooth, due to the rough, rocky terrain. Once on the ground, the pod remained slightly tilted on one side.

"Sorry," Trip said, "Couldn't be helped." He heaved a sigh. "The Capt'n'll be mad. I guess she'll be due for a fresh coat of paint once we get back," he muttered to himself as he powered off the engine.

He saw Malcolm switch off his console and stand up, a hand to the bulkhead to keep upright, the other to his phase pistol as if to assure himself that it was still there – God only knew what he intended to do with it on an uninhabited planet. Malcolm checked on his subordinate. Strutt had got the case they had carried with them and stood ready, waiting for orders.

"Ready?" Malcolm asked, preparing to open the Shuttlepod's hatch.

"Yup," Trip replied. "After you, Lieutenant."

The pod's hatch swivelled up and a waft of noxious smelling air assaulted their nostrils.

"What the hell…" Trip said, bending an arm over his face to cover his nose.

"Didn't you say you wanted to breathe some fresh air, Commander?" Malcolm choked out. He stepped out of the Shuttlepod and looked warily around, coughing and wincing against the stench. Strutt climbed out as well, his face stoically showing nothing.

Trip, who had followed suit, retrieved his communicator and flipped it open. "Tucker to Enterprise."

"Go ahead Trip," Archer's voice came back.

"We've landed, Sir. Just someone forgot to mention that the air here is as foul as hell," he complained.

There were some beats of conversation Trip did not catch; then Archer's voice returned.

"T'Pol tells me it's nothing you should worry about. Closer to the caves it will get better."

"We'll be on our way, then, before we choke to death. Tucker out." Trip closed the Shuttlepod's hatch. "Let's go," he urged, "the sooner we get out of these noxious fumes, the better."

The caves they were headed for were not very distant, but the terrain consisted of some rather spiky rocks, so progress was slow.

"Watch your step," Trip said, his voice muffled by the arm he still kept in front of his nose and mouth, "wouldn't want to begin our mission by having Phlox tending to someone's rear end."

Malcolm shook his head as if to chase away a mental image. "Scary."

Trip chuckled. He noticed that Strutt had relaxed a little.

"The dilithium deposits shouldn't be too deep inside the caves," Malcolm said, breaking the silence that had stretched for a few minutes, turning to his subordinate, "but we'll still need to find a suitable place to mine them."

Strutt shifted the case to his other hand. "Aye, Sir. By the way," he added, "thank you for choosing me for this mission. It's great to be standing on my first alien planet."

Malcolm made a disgusted sound. "You're thanking me for this, Crewman? It's almost a punishment if the air doesn't get more breathable," he choked out. "If truth be told, right now I'd much rather be realigning the targeting sensors in the Armoury."

Trip smiled. "Enjoy it, Strutt," he butted in, "you're getting a rare glimpse of Lieutenant Reed's humorous side." He turned to Malcolm. "Don't forget, Lieutenant, I need crystals with a purity of at least 80%," he reminded him.

"Yes, Commander, we'll try to accommodate you."

When they finally got to the caves, the planet's first sun was setting and the second rising. At least, as T'Pol had predicted, the strong smell had disappeared. The mountains were run through by tunnels and caves. There was no indication that they had been engineered, although the question begged asking, for some of the openings were quite regular in shape, as if they were work of an intelligent mind.

Trip raised his scanner, Malcolm followed suit, and they studied their readings.

"There's plenty of ore, Commander," Malcolm said, lowering his device. "Let's find a convenient cave, one of the right size for our little explosion."

"Ah – for that I defer entirely to your judgement." Trip flicked his communicator open. "Tucker to Archer. We're entering the caves."

"Understood," the Captain's voice replied.

Trip swept a hand towards the mouth of one of the larger tunnels. "Shall we?"

They all switched on their flashlights; Malcolm searched, with his, the tunnel's entrance and went in. The space was tall enough to stand with room to spare, but rather narrow. They had to walk in a single file, and Malcolm led the party penetrating deeper into the mountain, the beam of his flashlight dancing on the walls as he progressed. Some ten minutes later the tunnel widened a little and forked. Malcolm stopped. He studied his scanner, while Trip and Strutt looked around.

"I'm reading large amounts of dilithium on both sides," Malcolm said.

Trip turned to him. "Good," he said, making as if to take right.

"Lieutenant," Strutt said, stopping Trip in his tracks, "how about this chamber?" The beam of his flashlight illuminated an enclosure that opened a few metres down the left fork. "If the amount of dilithium is acceptable, it looks large enough."

Trip retraced his steps and pointed his own flashlight to the left. The cave that appeared was oblong in shape, a good three meters tall and four deep. As for its length, the flashlights barely reached its end.

"Yes, it seems suitable," Malcolm agreed. He entered the cave, followed by the others, and raised his scanner to the rockface. "You'll soon have your crystals, Commander," he said after a moment, with a slightly wicked smile. "We need look no further."

"Great!" Trip kept his light on Malcolm, commanding his attention. He had no intention of sitting on his hands while the two Armoury men got the job done. "While you set up your playground, I'll do a bit of explorin', if you don't mind," he said. He saw a cloud of discontent veil Malcolm's excitement and had they been alone he had no doubt that his friend would have voiced it, but the man was too disciplined to tell a superior officer what to do or not to do in front of a subordinate. Wanting to reassure him, he added, "Don't worry, Lieutenant: I'll stay out of trouble." And flicking a salute, he retraced his steps and went down the right tunnel.

"Set up a couple of portable lights, Crewman" Malcolm ordered. "We'll need some proper light to do the job."

"Yessir!"

Malcolm cast Strutt an unobtrusive glance. The young man looked positively enthused. Perhaps they ought to bring some of the crew on away missions more often, he mused. Good for morale. After all, the chores on Enterprise got to be rather repetitive, especially for the lower ranks.

Focussing back on the task at hand, he dropped on his haunches and opened the case they had brought, inspecting its contents. A sudden burst of light made him lift his gaze. Strutt had done what ordered and now the cave appeared in detail.

"Larger than I had expected," Malcolm said, swivelling on the ball of his feet to look all around it.

Strutt walked to the centre of it. "What do you think, Sir? Three charges, there, there and there?" he asked, pointing to some spots on the far wall.

Malcolm got up and passed a hand through his hair. "Two should be enough," he thought out loud. He narrowed his eyes. This was Strutt's first away mission and he did not want to belittle him. After all, the chamber was large. "But three will undoubtedly make a nice explosion," he concluded with a smile.

Malcolm crossed his arms on his chest and turned to his subordinate. "Right, Crewman," he said, "get to work."

"I, Sir?" Strutt came back, eyes wide open.

Ordinarily Malcolm would have done the job himself, but he thought he owed it to the young man. "I haven't brought you down here just to carry a case," he said. "Let me see what you can do."

Strutt blinked. "Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir!"

"Right, then."

A few minutes later Strutt had stuck three charges on the spots he had indicated. Malcolm inspected the job. Given the amount of explosive, the debris would fall not very far from the wall. Piece of cake, as Trip would say.

T'Pol straightened and pushed her special viewer back into its recess. Then swivelled in her chair and got up, heading for the ready room.

"Subcommander," Archer said cheerfully after she had entered. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Captain, I have analysed the caves more closely and found that they hide large reservoirs of spring water," she informed him right away.

"Is that a problem?" Archer asked with a frown.

"It could be, should the explosion cause a sudden flooding."

"Didn't you say you made a geological survey?" Archer testily enquired.

"Yes, I did," T'Pol replied. She met his eye, "I also suggested that I be given more time to study the planet." Raising a brow, she added, with that sometimes-oh-so-irritating Vulcan poise, "You felt it was not necessary."

Archer ignored her jab and reached for the comm link. "We'd better warn Trip and Malcolm," he said in a voice turned suddenly tense.

"Archer to Tucker."

"Capt'n," Trip's cheerful voice came back, "you wouldn't believe what I've found in these caves! There are lakes big enough to play a water polo match. What am I saying, two water polo matches!"

"Trip, has Malcolm set up his charges yet?"

"I suppose so. Water's too cold for swimming, though."

"Trip, listen to me."

Archer's voice had commanded attention, for Commander Tucker took a moment to come back and when he did, he sounded wary.

"Capt'n? Is there a problem?"

"T'Pol has found that some of the caves' walls hide large pockets of spring water. You've got to abort the mission, at least until we have more data."

"Damn!"

The Commander now sounded worried. T'Pol repressed the knot of anxiety that was forming under her sternum.

"I'm not with Malcolm, Sir. You'd better-"

The sound of an explosion, which could be heard even through the comm link, cut the Commander off.

Archer's face turned dark. He pressed a button. "Archer to Reed."

There was no reply.

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