Herald of Light: This is a reposting of chapter three with a minor revision. Thing is...the part I had to fix is perfectly fine from my file, yet uploaded wrong...oh well. I will just have to keep a look out for this kind of thing in the future.
"This is the star system, Iclarkrau. It's about half again as large as your Sol. There are 13 planets in orbit, three gas giants, seven Minshara class planets, and the last three…" Soval zoomed into a layout of the system. "These three planets don't register on our scans."
"You've got to be joking." Malcolm chipped in. "We've seen ships appear and disappear out of thin…space, but planets?"
"Obviously you don't understand. We see them, but our scanners show empty space."
"Wait a minute….you've sent ships to this system?" Archer didn't like where this was turning. If Ambassador Soval was right, this system was a treasure trove, but maybe also a deathtrap.
"Sent, yes. Had return….no." Soval turned around and activated the screen behind him. "The only reason we know anything of the system is from the logs of the last ship that went in." He hit another button on the screen which started the playback of the last log entry.
"This is S'Tem, Captain of the P'res. I am the last remaining person on board, and I will soon not be. I am recording this last entry before I send the log buoy back out into open space.
We were dispatched to the Iclarkrau system in order to investigate the disappearance of the E'rul and the N'stal Vuk. Both ships had been ordered here to scout this system.
Since my last entry, I have tried to re-modify our warp-drive in order to attempt the escape of the third planet's field, but all my efforts have failed. Before he was killed by the entities, Science Officer T'purm managed to get a few scans which promised information on the creatures. They are humanoid, with basically a human physiology, with a distinct difference, all of them are anemic.
We have no defense against these…creatures. All attempts to use the ship's weapons against them, and our complement of hand phasers, have all resulted in only angering the creatures. It seems there is no way to stop them.
If this should get back to Vulcan, or if any other race should happen upon the buoy, you need to stay clear of the system, at all costs. S'Tem, out."
"Anemic, humph, now I see why my presence was requested at the meeting." Phlox stated.
"Could they be like the cybernetic organisms that we've run into a couple of times Captain?" Malcolm, who had laid upon himself the sole responsibility for not being able to reconfigure the weapons fast enough to protect the crew, didn't want that to happen again. For the first time, he had feared another being, not because they were going to kill him, but because he couldn't kill them.
"No, we could at least detect them, even with our sensors." Archer gave a menacing glance to Soval. He still didn't like him, but he was starting to redeem himself. Enterprise was docked with a mobile repair ship, and the Vulcan fleet had arrived with the Andorians but an hour away. Archer was beginning to feel safe, or at least, he was until this meeting.
Enterprise was to undergo massive improvement, thanks to the Vulcans. Her engines were being overhauled, the cannons were being improved to triple their output, and Malcolm was itching to start with his new toy, the shields.
"Captain, I understand you're….grudge, but this is not the time."
"Captain, if I may? I would like to present my findings now." Malcolm motioned for everyone to sit down; at least he could defuse one situation before he ignited another. "As you know, we found that the blast was inward, as shown by the bending of the hull. The device that was in the port tube was not of this ship. When I was out with Commander Tucker inspecting the damage, I took scans of the residue." Malcolm punched up his scans. "It seems that there is a mysterious substance that I didn't catch when I was scanning from the bridge. It doesn't register, like it was a black hole, but the scanner I used was modified from the time that we encountered the…organisms." Malcolm let the words set in, and then continued. "From what I was able to infer from the debris left over from the blast, the device where this unknown material came from was more of a beacon than a bomb."
"A beacon? For what?" Trip jumped in. Soval was looking confused, but none of the Enterprise's crew was giving him a thought. This was a family matter, and they weren't going to allow insiders in.
"It seems that the beacon served as a bulls-eye. Then whoever wanted to simple pointed, and started firing a discrete energy beam. I would expect that they wanted to blow up the armory in an attempt to disarm us so they could board, but they didn't expect us to dissipate the energy. Or the fact that I keep the warheads disarmed when we are cruising. But it would have taken an intricate knowledge of the Armory to know that that was the spot to put such a bulls-eye."
"How many people have that knowledge?" Archer and Trip both looked at each other as Soval butted his way into the conversation. Soval noticed and said "Captain, like it or not, I am here to help. I know that you have formed a distinct... connectionthroughout the crew and yourself. Even T'Pol has been in on this, and I—"
"You what? You think that I am stupid? You think that just because I am human means that I can't have feelings for a woman? Let alone a Vulcan woman? WHAT IS IT SOVAL? AM I SO DISGUSTING TO YOU THAT YOU ARE GOING TO BLAME ME FOR PUTTING HER IN THE CONDITION SHE IS!"
"Captain, I'm not. If you would have let me finish you would have heard that I respect what you have done."
For a split second, everyone in the room was silent. The questions zoomed among the crewman of the Enterprise. Was he expressing his true emotions, or was this a trick? Could he be trusted fully? Was their family about to grow?
"Then let's get to work on modifying the fleet's sensors. If we can manage an edge, then maybe we can go in with something those three ships didn't have, a chance."
Sick Bay, 3 days later, just on the edge of the Iclarkrau system
"I don't know what to do T'Pol. I really wish you were here. sigh I mean we have done all we can do to prepare ourselves." Archer looked down at his fiancée. She was definitely showing signs of healing. Phlox said that the already accelerated healing was going even faster, the Vulcan doctors, who had come in and looked at her, were even amazed. She was healing almost too fast. Phlox could only feed her so much before her body tried to expel the extra. Thankfully, the time until she regained consciousness had gone from weeks to days and now from hours to minutes.
Even though she would be awake, she would be far from recovered. At least she would be there to mentally reassure him.
The crew had taken quickly to the idea of having other ships around. The former spirit of doing everything on their own was now seen for what it was a dangerous notion. The crews of the eighteen ships in the fleet were traveling between each other, repairing, modifying, doing everything they could to get ready for the worst.
Though nobody knew exactly why the Vulcans were pushing having the weapons and defensive systems upgraded. On a small ship, the rumor traveled faster that maybe what they were dealing with were everything from a rebel element of the Suliban, to a colony of a parasitic race.
"Jon…..Jonathan." T'Pol's eyes flittered as she regained consciousness. Archer motioned for Phlox to come over and he began scanning T'Pol.
"Remarkable. She's progressing at a rapid rate. I would say Captain that our hypothesis was right, and she has healed faster because of you. Add to that the fact that you have been sleeping soundly for eight full hours a night for the last two weeks by her bedside, and I say you two are going to have a hard time being apart."
"You think we could have a little…alone time?"
"Oh, of course Captain. I can't open the case, her immune system hasn't been able to fully recover, but I can let you talk to her." Phlox closed the curtains.
"I've missed you so much dear." Archer said as he placed his hand on the glass casing. "I just realized what Prince Charming must have felt when he kissed Snow White." Archer chuckled to himself as T'Pol got a confused look on her face. "I'll have to tell you that one later. But I do have one thing to say, you look very cute when you are confused."