A/N: I'm still wondering if should even have split up the chapter. It seemed too long by itself, but there doesn't seem to be a good stopping point. What're your thoughts?
Precisely a half-kotul later, Captain Pak reentered the bridge. The three Bridge officers stood silently, bowed, and then returned to their tasks.
"Have you completed your task?" Pak asked imperiously. Magothi gave a vigorous nod. "And you have a good potential hostage?" He asked Donzu, who also nodded. There was an awkward pause when Donzu waited for Pak to allow him to reply. "Then tell me."
Donzu nodded and tapped a few buttons on his four consoles. A profile of a pinkish-brown skinned alien with unusually short, brown hair popped up on Donzu's scanner, and he handed the stolen Starfleet information to the captain.
"His name is "Malcolm Reed"." Donzu stumbled over the pronunciation of a human name, but continued as if he didn't. "He's currently the only officer wit transporter access alone." Donzu said.
Pak nodded and handed the scans to Magothi, who looked then over and back at Pak. He gave a one-sided smirk. "Read his profile. Are you able to mimic the captain's voice. Speak."
Magothi nodded. "I'll have this done in a decakotul." She said, flicking through his Starfleet profile. Pak nodded.
"One decakotul. Then we begin." Pak commanded, sitting back in his throne.
Magothi nodded and flicked through the scan, eyes darting back and forth along the backlit screen. This alien's military biography was painfully simple: name, species, birth date, age, small personality blurb, and list of achievements.
The alien's personality seemed rather vapid, and his face wasn't particularly interesting, by human standards. Then she got to his achievements, and her eyes widened ever so slightly. With the sheer number of commendations and awards he received over the years, she was surprised that he didn't command his own ship.
"Have you finished?" Pak demanded. Magothi nodded, shaking herself out of "Malcolm Reed"'s life and cleared her throat, nodding slowly. "Then proceed."
Licking her lips, Magothi tapped a few buttons on her comm. And opened a stealth channel to Malcolm's quarters, hidden in subspace static. "Archer to Lieutenant Reed." She hoped that she had captured Archer's inflections.
There was a small pause before Reed replied. Magothi's heart plummeted when she realized her quarry had an accent she couldn't quite identify. Fortunately, she managed to understand a few words (she hoped). She bit her lip, praying she had understood the English words "Alien" and "Aggressive" and that she correctly deduced what he said.
She laughed in Archer's voice. "No, no. Hoshi established communications with them. Their language is remarkably similar to English..." She trailed off, glancing at Pak to make sure her last-second addition was okay. After all, Malcolm needed a reason to not bring the Enterprise translator, Hoshi.
Pak nodded, and she continued quickly. "Their weapons and engines were damaged in a random hostile alien attack. They're asking for our help."
From Reed's reply, Magothi caught "Aye. Commander Tucker take the shuttlepod?" She sighed in relief, starting to understand Reed's accent. Until she realized she had to come up with a convincing lie as to why he had to take the transporter. Alone.
"Actually, no. These aliens are rather..." Magothi's heart rate skyrocketed as she tried to remember the right word. "xenophobic." She prayed even harder that she hadn't chosen the wrong one. Reed didn't comment, so Magothi continued instructing Reed how to get into their ship. "Good luck, Lieutenant. Archer out."
Magothi ended communications and took off the headphones setting them down with a sigh. She turned to Pak to await orders.
"Was it successful?" Pak asked. Magothi nodded, once. "Then bring him here." Magothi nodded, stood, bowed, and quickly left, readying the knife in her hand.
She hurried down the hallway, tearing down the corridors before the human accidentally interrupted her perfectly calibrated system. Slipping through the armory doors like a ghost, she peered around the edge of the calibration mechanism and spotted the human Reed peering at her phase cannon. Then he committed the gravest of errors and actually opened its hatch.
Her bare feet padded across the floor quickly, inaudible to even her own ears. Her knife flashed up and around just as Reed looked around in confusion. The second the cold metal touched his delicate skin, he stiffened and raised his hands quickly. Magothi vaguely recognized it as a signal of surrender.
"Lower your weapon." He said, twisting around slightly to get a look and her. Magothi gripped the knife tighter. "My captain said he contacted you. You need a person to fix your weapons." Reed waggled some sort of human technology.
Magothi briefly considered replying in English, but didn't want to make her captain seem incompetent. "Be quiet! You're not allowed to be here!" She growled in her own language. She whirled Reed around to face the door and shoved him through it.
Reed mumbled something under his breath as she pushed him through a few corridors before he stopped short with an odd, rasping sound and body jerk. Magothi recognized this as a human tendency called a "sneeze". Reed sneezed again. The third time he sneezed, the he lashed out with an elbow and stuffed it in her stomach.
She groaned and loosened her grip on the knife. Reed knocked her arm out of the way and darted to the side. His eyes widened at her unhumanoid appearance but regained his composure, shifting his weight to the balls of his feet. "What do you want?" He asked, eyeing her carefully. His hand hovered close to his phaser.
Magothi didn't respond, instead grabbing her own phaser and firing it before Reed had a chance to blink. He collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Magothi reholstered her phaser and dragged the human down a few corridors and up to the Bridge.
She pressed the comm button. "Magothi here." She said. "I have the scapegoat."
The doors whooshed open, and she dragged Reed towards the captain, holding him with two hands, a third hand gripping her knife, and using the fourth to shut the door behind her. "Bring him here." Pak commanded, pointing a couple jias in front of his throne. Magothi obeyed, Reed's weight starting to tax her strength. She really hoped he would wake up soon. "Contact the ee-ar-than ship."
Magothi nodded and used her free hand to tap a few buttons on the communications station. After less than a milli-kotul, the human captain's face appeared on the viewscreen. He seemed about to speak, then he noticed Magothi holding Reed.
"Can I ask you what you're doing with my tactical officer?" Archer asked, leaning back in his chair slightly. Then he noticed the knife clenched in Magothi's hand, poised near Reed's body. "And may I ask why he's being held at knifepoint?"
Pak's knowledge of English was limited, but he knew alien psychology and had little doubt what Archer just asked. "He was destroying our weapons. According to our law, he is out prisoner." He replied in his own language, taking pleasure in the confusion on the human captain's face.
Suddenly, Reed stirred slightly. He groaned and rubbed his chest where the phaser had hit him. Magothi hauled him close and pressed the knife against his throat. Reed took a sharp intake of breath and glanced around, no doubt formulating an escape plan. Then he looked at the viewscreen, and his eyes widened.
"Captain? What's going on?" He asked.
Archer shook his head. "We're trying to communicate with the aliens. Hoshi?" Archer glanced at Hoshi, who nodded.
"I think I got it, sir." She turned to the viewscreen and locked eyes with Malcolm with a sad smile. Magothi looked from the translator to Reed, trying to decipher the look the translator was giving her captive.
" Why is my tactical officer being held at knifepoint?" Archer asked, fury poorly hidden in his voice. Magothi almost snorted at the human translation of "tactical officer". Pak wouldn't be so keen to release the "one who uses trickery and cleverness".
Pak showed minor surprise over the human's seemingly uncanny ability to speak Zokas. "He was destroying our weapons. According to the law, he is our prisoner." He walked in front of Magothi and her captive, gesturing towards the weapons.
Reed scoffed, but Pak made no sign that he heard.
"But we are not a war-mongering race. We would be willing to trade your "tactical officer" for a generous amount of food and medical supplies." Magothi hissed ever so slightly. If Pak was asking for food as well, he really didn't want to give up Reed.
Suddenly, Reed growled, "Don't do it captain-" Out of habit, Magothi slammed the knife hilt into the side of Reed's face next to his eye. She learned a few days ago that that spot, called a "temple", was a weak spot on humans.
Reed went crashing into her weapons console, clutching to it as if his life depended on it. Magothi dragged him to his feet and pressed the knife against his throat, even harder than before. She took a deep breath, wondering why she felt pangs of remorse.
Archer tried to appease Pak, pleading to work something out. Pak glanced at Magothi and nodded. As per their plan, She retracted the knife from Reed's throat and stepped to his side, glancing at him cautiously. He did the same with her.
"I'm definitely sure we can work something out. Magothi?"
Quick as thought, Magothi leapt forward and buried her knife in Malcolm's side. She jerked the knife out and stepped back as he fell to his knees.
"I'm so sorry." She whispered in English as he fell unconscious to the ground.
Pak grinned at Malcolm's coworkers watched in shock. Pak laughed and poked Malcolm with a toe. "Your "tactical officer" needs your medical attention, and I need medical supplies and food. When shall we trade?" He asked confidently.
Archer asked for a few "minutes", a human time division. Luckily, the human translator successfully translated the phrase into "centi-kotul". Pak looked from Archer to Malcolm then back again. "You might want to hurry. I'm not sure how many minutes your "tactical officer" has left." Pak tapped a button on Magothi's comm panel, successfully ending communications.
Pak turned to his crew. "Prepare to board the ship. Donzu, you're with me." Donzu's heart dropped, but he nodded and stood next to Pak. "Magothi? Your three best men." Magothi was about to demand that she be included, but realized Pak was leaving the ship in her hands, and nodded.
Ten milli-kotul later, Magothi was left on the Bridge alone with Ekta, who had long ago started playing a handheld game. Magothi peered over her shoulder. "Did you get that from Melork last week?" She asked. Ekta seemed surprised that someone had noticed she wasn't working, but shrugged it off with a nod. Magothi grinned slightly. "How far have you gotten on that thing?" She asked curiously.
Ekta shrugged. "I'm past the part where the Andorian-"
Suddenly, Pak and his away team transported back. Pak whirled on Magothi. "Target their warp reactor!" He half-screamed. Magothi obeyed, wondering how the humans had offended him. "Communications." He ordered. Again, Magothi obeyed quickly and without question.
Ekta put away her game and watched as Archer appeared on their viewscreen. Pak walked up to it. "We have weapons locked on your warp reactor. Give us supplies, or we will destroy your ship." He growled.
Archer gave an order, and four large crates appeared in front of Pak. His away team ripped into them eagerly, showing packs of food and medical supplies. "Ekta!" Pak growled.
She read his emotions and quickly jumped into warp. Magothi's officers carried the carets to cargo bay, and Donzu and Pak resumed their stations. No one spoke of the human vessel again.
A/N: Does this seem a bit sudden? I feel like they're an abrupt culture, and if you would prefer a bit more of an ending, I'm just not sure how to do it. So unless you REALLY think that this ending sucks, then just know that I'M TAKING ARTISTIC LICENSE. PLEASE DO NOT KILL ME. ;D
P.s. Do you think this belongs in the beginning? I felt it would be a bit awkward at the end or somewhere in the middle, but it's also kinda awkward in the beginning...