Enterprise – The Maiden Voyage

by Soledad

For disclaimer, rating, etc. see the Introduction

Notes are at the end of the chapter.


Chapter 07 – Bogeymen in Space

Archer's announcement led to a moment of stunned silence – right before Reed would start to protest.

"Captain, you can't be serious! How are we supposed to get through metal that is in a state of quasi-molecular flux? Human flesh is not supposed to survive that!

"No, it is not," T'Pol agreed, still scanning the bulkhead that was getting worse – distorting like crazy, in larger waves. "Unless a gateway is opened, of course."

"What do you mean?" Archer asked.

T'Pol studied her tricorder thoughtfully. "Captain, the tetryon emissions have intensified. They seem to be focusing in this direction…"

She held up the instrument as if tracing an invisible stream of particles through the air, toward a tiny rupture that had suddenly appeared in the middle of the rippling bulkhead, swirling, distorting the area around it.

"It is apparently coalescing here," she continued. "They are reading as a point of subspace energy."

Archer eyed the small tear warily. "It appears to be the beginnings of a large spatial rupture."

"That is exactly what it is," T'Pol said. "And the way the tetryon emissions are modulating it is like somebody is controlling the flow of energy. This is not a natural phenomenon… and it is expanding."

"At which rate?"

"According to my calculations we will be able to pass through it in five point six one minutes," T'Pol replied. "In theory. To my knowledge it has never been done before."

"No time like the present for a first attempt," Archer said philosophically. "But if the rupture expands so quickly, would it not endanger the stability of normal space?"

T'Pol nodded thoughtfully. "Indeed, Captain, there is an eighty-seven point six per cent probability for that."

"Damn it, sometimes I hate to be right," Archer muttered. "Any ideas how to seal the rupture?"

"No, Captain. I do not know of any such precedence ever happening. However, the Viseeth have explored subspace for millennia longer than even Vulcans have. Perhaps Gerasen Gerasal will be able to suggest a method that might work."

"Assuming she is on the other side of that… thing," Archer gestured in the direction of the spatial rupture. "Can you tell it for sure?"

"No, Captain. The spatial rupture is creating severe nucleonic interference. It is impossible to obtain positive bio-signals through it."

"Not even by tracking the tetryon emissions?" Reed asked.

T'Pol shook her head. "The emissions are coming from a tertiary subspace domain. Unfortunately, subspace has an infinite number of domains – like an enormous honeycomb with an endless number of cells. Isolating the exact cell the emissions are coming from is simply not possible with our level of technology. Tetryon particles have a random momentum. Our sensors are unable to track them."

"In other words: we have to go through and see with our own eyes," Archer concluded.

T'Pol nodded. "That is correct," she checked the rupture again. "And the rupture is large enough to do so now."

"Could it be harmful to cross a phenomenon like that?" Reed asked.

"I have no sufficient data to answer your question, Lieutenant," the Vulcan replied flatly.

"Then let's go and see it for ourselves," Archer said. "I'll go first; T'Pol, you follow. Lieutenant, you take the rear."


Surprisingly enough, they felt nothing while crossing the tear in space – not even a slight prickling of the skin. Archer felt cheated… sort of. He'd just done something no man – or no Vulcan, apparently – had done before, and it didn't even register physically that he was in subspace now – or was he?"

The room behind the rupture was large, but dark all around, so that its true dimensions could rather be felt than actually seen. There was a single pool of very bright light shining down on what seemed to be an oddly-shaped metal examination table with a foot rest and a slightly elevated top.

The figure lying on the table was clearly their Viseeth passenger, her chest and arms trapped under a flat metal restraint that had buttons and blinking lights on the outer surface. Various tubes and indicators were attached to her chest and arms, feeding who knows what sort of liquid into her veins and supposedly collecting data. On the left side of the table a metallic swing-arm was attached, ending in a scissor-like tool with curved, ragged blades, one considerably longer than the other.

The whole scene had a distorted quality – surreal and dream-like, as if their perceptions had been altered. From the surrounding darkness strange, odd-sounding noises could be heard: high pitched, rapid clicks, vaguely resembling the noises made by a woodpecker while looking for worms.

Archer moved to get closer to the examination table but Reed grabbed his elbow in a vice-like grip. The armoury officer shook his head and pointed at himself, signalling that it was his job to take point while scouting out a potentially hostile and dangerous place. Archer let him. He was right, after all.

The slim Englishman moved closer to the middle of the room, noiselessly and with a cobra-like grace. He was clearly in his element, and Archer reluctantly admitted that he might prove useful for the mission yet. Still remaining outside of the central pool of light, Reed tried to estimate the status the Viseeth was in.

It did not seem very promising. Her large, liquid eyes were wide open yet unresponsive, her expression was blank. She had clearly been heavily sedated and was semi-conscious at best. Reed was about to go closer and try freeing her when some sixth sense stopped him mid-move.

Only now did they realize that – barely visible in the darkness – several shadowy figures were rustling about, making the clicking sounds. In the same moment when Reed froze, one of them came out of the darkness, gliding on the smooth metal floor of the chamber as if on wheels and approached the examination table.

It was wearing some sort of hooded metallic robe – perhaps their version of a hazmat suit – hiding almost its entire body. Only two bulbous eyes and a beak-like mouth were visible in the shadow of the wide hood.

The alien moved a small pedestal next to the examination table on the left side. There it reached out with one clawed, three-fingered hand, picked up one of the bizarre-looking tools that lay on the pedestal, moved the tool into the light and began to wave it around the Viseeth's head, which had been shaved clean and resembled a mottled skull without the lush dark locks.

The tool sent out a strange, unpleasant noise, as if the alien was scanning its captive; but it had to be more than just a scanner because even semi-conscious, Gerasen Gerasal moaned in pain and her slim body jerked violently, trapped under the metal restrain. Archer thought to have heard the snapping of several bones and he clenched his fists in helpless rage.

The alien pulled the tool away, as if to read it; then moved it back into the light and began to wave it around Gerasen Gerasal's head again. Once more, the tool sent out that awful noise and the Viseeth moaned and jerked again, her entire body covered in sweat… or rather in some milky white substance.

After a moment the alien retreated into the darkness. The clicking, chattering noises intensified, as if they were discussing the results.

"Now!" T'Pol whispered. "Gerasen Gerasal is losing subdermal fluids; Viseeth are basically amphibians, this could be fatal for them!"

The two men nodded in understanding and moved closer to the examination table, phase-pistols on the ready. Suddenly one of the aliens turned around, holding a wicked, scissor-like tool with two curved, jagged blades, like the one fastened to the swing-arm only much larger, clearly preparing to cut the Viseeth's skull open.

Without thinking, Reed aimed his phase pistol and fired at the alien, blasting it back into the shadows. Archer followed suit when another two of the aliens became aware of their presence and rushed towards them. The clicking sounds turned into panicked screeches.

"Can you get her out of it?" Archer asked T'Pol who was trying to figure out the workings of the controls on the console over the Viseeth's chest.

"I am trying my best, Captain."

After several fruitless attempts, the Vulcan touched another control. The console automatically rose off Gerasen Gerasal's chest, feeing her. T'Pol was still hesitating to move her, though, because there were several tubes connected to the Viseeth's neck like some kind of alien IV-lines. The tubes were attached to a small instrument that was next to the platform.

"We take that thing with us," Archer decided. "Let Dr Phlox find a way to separate her from it. Can you carry her?"

"Certainly," T'Pol picked up the Viseeth as if she had been a rag doll and wedged the box feeding the tubes under her arm. "I suggest we hurry up before more of these aliens would turn up."

"My thoughts, exactly," Archer fired another round of shots into the darkness, just to be sure, and then he began to run towards the rupture that had considerably expanded during their presence in the alien lab. "Let's go!"


They stumbled through the "tear" into real space and hurried back through the corridors to where their captured Suliban cell ship was still docked. Only when they'd placed the Viseeth into the small aft compartment did they realize that Reed was still carrying the maglock case.

"Damn it," Archer said resignedly. "We're only half-done. We can't leave the Helix intact."

"You two go, sir," Reed said. "This is my job."

Archer raised an eyebrow. "Lieutenant, I might not particularly like you but that doesn't mean I want you dead."

"I don't intend to die, sir," Reed answered. "However, your first priority is to bring the cow lady back to Enterprise, so that Dr Phlox can save her. You can find me by tracking the tetryon emissions once I've dismantled the Helix – they are only untraceable in subspace."

"And then what?"

"Then you can use the transporter to bring me back aboard. Or rather Commander Tucker can."

"And this from the man who swore never to use the transporter," Archer grinned humourlessly.

Reed shrugged. "It beats being dead, sir… but we don't have the time to keep arguing. You must go, as long as you still can."

"He is right, Captain," T'Pol said quietly. "We will have to come back anyway, to try sealing the rupture, once I have searched the Viseeth database for possible solutions."

Archer hesitated for a moment but then he nodded decisively and climbed into the Suliban ship. T'Pol followed him without a backward glance.

Reed hurriedly retreated into the corridor and sealed the airlock before him. Checking his wrist chrono, he waited five minutes to give the others the time to launch and get into safe distance. Then he put down the equipment case to remove the maglock. Attaching the rectangular device to the nearest wall, he put in his earplugs and activated the maglock as Tucker had shown him.

Then he went to his knees, covering his head.

He didn't have to wait for long. Almost immediately, a low-pitched whine began to sound, quietly building up in volume and intensity. Exactly five seconds later the device emitted a blinding energy pulse that radiated in all directions.

As soon as the light receded, Reed clambered to his feet again to see if the maglock had actually worked. The first signs seemed promising: the corridor under his feet began to tremble with the rumbling sound of docking ports unlocking. Looking down, he saw the floor separating right in front of him. The entire corridor split apart. Forcefields flashed on as the interlocking elements making up this section of the Helix lost coherence.

He was on his own, with a spatial rupture and an unknown number of mysterious and obviously hostile aliens in his back.

"Well," he muttered, checking the energy packs of his phase-pistol, "I hope that transporter really works as well as Commander Tucker swears."


Meanwhile the Suliban cell ship was trying to make it back to Enterprise, dodging the various pieces of the disintegrated Helix that were flaying in all directions aimlessly around them. It was only thank to Jack's extraordinary skills as a pilot that they didn't collide with either a large chunk of debris or with other fleeing ships.

With one eye on the sensor readings and the other one on the Viseeth whose condition was becoming critical, T'Pol still could spare the captain a quick glance of appreciation. She had not expected the human to be this good at the controls of an unknown vessel, regardless of his reputation.

When they reached the rendezvous point, however, Enterprise was nowhere to see.

"I don't get it!" Archer muttered angrily. "This is where they're supposed to be!"

"It would be safe to assume that Enterprise was forced to move, in order to prevent detection," T'Pol answered calmly. "The locator beams of the Suliban were already getting closer when we departed."

"Fantastic," Archer muttered. "In which case we may never find them again."

"That is a reasonable assumption as well," T'Pol admitted. "Captain, I suggest we break radio silence. With all the signals going to and fro between the Suliban ships, we may get through to Enterprise undetected."

"Assuming Enterprise will be able to single out our signal from all that cacophony," Archer murmured pessimistically.

"You have repeatedly stated that Ensign Sato's ear is better than any instrument on board," T'Pol reminded him. "I believe it is time to let her prove it. We have no time to waste, Captain. Gerasen Gerasal cannot hold on to life much longer. And when they die, everything we have done so far would be pointless."

Archer knew she was right, of course, and he nodded reluctantly.

"All right. Try hailing the ship and see if Hoshi is listening."

After several attempts and endless, tense moments they were both relieved to hear Hoshi's somewhat distorted voice telling them that Enterprise had located them and to stay right were they were.

"Hurry up," Archer replied. "And tell Doctor Phlox to be ready for a patient in critical condition."

"Human or Vulcan?" Hoshi asked anxiously.

"Viseeth," Archer said. "And have Trip fire up the transporter; we'll have to go back for Lieutenant Reed."

"That would be a risk for Enterprise the parameters of which we cannot safely calculate," T'Pol warned him.

Archer nodded. "I know. But I'm not leaving anyone behind; not even someone sent to spy on me. Hoshi, see to it that Trip carries out my orders."

"Aye, Captain," and with that, the connection broke again.

"Well," Archer said unhappily, "let's hope our people are the first one here and not the Suliban."

"That would be unfortunate," T'Pol answered with customary Vulcan understatement.


When they finally set down the ship in the Launch Bay, Phlox was already waiting for them with two med techs and a gurney. After a quick scan, his expression became alarmed and he sent forward one of the med techs to prepare the operation theatre.

"And get me a plasma infusion unit ready!" he called after the woman. "We must replace the body fluids as soon as possible."

"Yes, doctor," she replied dutifully and ran.

Phlox and the other med tech placed the semi-conscious patient on the gurney and were already wheeling it to the turbolift when Archer caught up with them.

"Doctor, what's wrong with her?" he asked.

"I've run a resonance tissue scan to screen for infections," Phlox explained. Not even slowing down their progress. "I found none; but there have been attempts to drastically change the patient's biochemistry; presumably to enable them to survive in a normally lethal environment… for a while anyway. I must undo the results, partial though they may be, or else the patient won't survive in our environment. If you'll excuse me, Captain, I really don't have the time to chat right now."

And with that, he vanished in the turbolift cabin, together with his patient and his med tech.

"Let's go to the Bridge and see what we can do to get our armoury officer back, then," Archer said to T'Pol.

Charlie Tucker was visibly relieved when they entered the Bridge and vacated the captain's chair in a hurry.

"Welcome back, Jack," he said. "And congratulations; you've done it. What's next?"

"We go back for Lieutenant Reed," Archer replied. "Is the transporter ready?"

Tucker made an unhappy grimace. "It is; but we can't obtain a positive lock on him, due to the severe nucleonic interferences created by the spatial rupture."

"You mean we can't transport him out unless we close the rupture first?" Archer clarified.

"Afraid so," Tucker admitted glumly.

"I see," Archer turned to T'Pol. "Have you given any thought how we might close the rupture?"

The Vulcan nodded. "I cannot offer you a solution that would guarantee one hundred per cent success, Captain. However, we can try closing the rupture with a coherent graviton pulse."

Archer looked at his chief engineer askance and Charlie Tucker nodded thoughtfully.

"Since we can isolate the exact subspace domain the emissions are coming from, thanks to the readings you've brought back… yeah, we might be able to do it. The only problem is: we'd have to do it at the source."

Archer frowned. "You mean somebody has to go back where Reed is?"

"With a portable graviton pulse generator, yeah," Tucker said grimly. "Or it won't work. I'll better warn my people not to take apart that Suliban cell ship just yet."

"Good idea," Archer grinned mirthlessly. "Well, let's go and do this before the Suliban recover from their surprise!"

"Captain," T'Pol intervened quietly. "You cannot go; not again. Having succeeded in retrieving Gerasen Gerasal, it is of primary importance that you deliver them to Berengaria VIII. It can make all the difference how the Viseeth will see humans in the future."

"What does it matter who will actually be takin' her home?" Tucker asked in confusion. "She will be brought home. Is that not the important part?"

"It is," T'Pol allowed. "But the Viseeth are a peculiar people with a very strong sense for protocol."

"And that coming from a Vulcan," Tucker muttered.

T'Pol gave him her best Vulcan eyebrow. "Oh, believe me, Commander: compared with the Viseeth, my people are positively…. bohemian, I think the expression is."

Both Jack and Charlie tried very hard to imagine a bohemian Vulcan – and failed.

"I'll take your word for it," Archer finally said. "All right, I'll send Travis; he's the only pilot aside from myself I'd trust with a Suliban ship. He's almost as good as I am."

Tucker grinned. "Actually, he's better; at least his reflexes are. Have you seen his Academy results in the simulator?"

"Have you seen them?" Archer glared at him suspiciously.

"Of course I have; I am your executive officer, remember?" Tucker stepped to the nearest comm unit. "Tucker to Engineering. Alex, get yourself a portable graviton pulse generator and come to Launch Bay with it. Oh, and tell Anna he's in charge until further notice; I'll be unavailable for a while."

He broke the connection and turned to T'Pol. "You willin' to help me with the final adjustments?"

"Affirmative," she replied. "Time is an issue here, after all."


But even with T'Pol's help, it too over twenty minutes to reprogram the graviton pulse generator so that it would – hopefully – bring the desired results. In the meantime the scattered Suliban ships began to reorganize themselves.

"That ain't no good," Tucker swore under his breath. "It's only a matter of time till they'll start lookin' for Enterprise again. We won't be able to return with the Suliban ship. Damn it, and I was so lookin' forward to takin' it apart and see what makes it tick!"

He looked genuinely insulted over his lost chance. Archer couldn't really blame him. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and they just had to give it up. It was frustrating, but there was nothing they could have done about it.

"If we'll have to rely on the transporter you can't go, though," he said. "I want you at the controls. I don't trust that thing, and you're the one who knows it best."

After a moment of mutinous silence Tucker reluctantly nodded.

"All right," he said unhappily. "Alex, it seems you've won the race this time. I trust you not to screw up the job."

"I won't, Chief," Crewman Gaeta promised earnestly and climbed into the tiny ship next to Mayweather.

The others hurriedly cleared the Launch Bay.

"I'd better go to the transporter room and keep an eye on them," Tucker turned to T'Pol. "And since this has been your idea, I hope you won't mind goin' down to Engineerin' and watchin' over the process."

"Not at all," the Vulcan replied serenely and left.


Trapped in what was left of the central segment of the Suliban Helix , with the steadily expanding spatial rupture in his back and nothing but a forcefield between him and the vacuum of space, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed began to wonder if Captain Archer had abandoned him, after all.

Not that he would blame the captain, if he had. Their first priority was to save the Viseeth, and to take her home, preferably in one piece. According to T'Pol, this mission was of crucial importance for the fate of the known galaxy, and while Reed didn't trust Vulcans in general, he knew they were better informed about interstellar politics than humans.

So yes, he'd have understood had they chosen to continue the mission and not to jeopardize it for his sake. That didn't mean he had to like it, though; and while he generally wasn't a coward – a coward wouldn't have lasted long with Section 31 – he shuddered from the thought what would happen to him once the rupture expanded wide enough for the aliens to cross over.

Therefore he got as close to crying with relief as a reserved Englishman with a stiff upper lip (one who was also a ruthless Intelligence officer) could ever get when he heard the segment's only still functioning airlock open.

The first one entering was Ensign Mayweather, his phase-pistol on the ready. Him followed Crewman Gaeta from Engineering, carrying some rather heavy-looking equipment. Seeing Reed, Mayweather nodded and put away his gun.

"It's good to see you, Lieutenant," he said. "Ready to blow this joint?"

"Absolutely," Reed eyed the portable monstrosity with interest. "Is that a graviton pulse generator?"

"Yep," Alex Gaeta put down the thing that appeared to weigh a ton and started working on the settings. "Travis, can you give me a hand with this?"

"What do you need it for?" Reed asked.

"We're trying to seal that hole behind you with a coherent graviton pulse, sir," Gaeta explained. "According to Subcommander T'Pol it should neutralize the tetryon emissions."

"Should?" Reed echoed.

Gaeta shrugged. "She couldn't guarantee that it would actually work; the method has never been tested before. But the chief thinks it's our best shot so we'll give it a try," he checked the settings with the help of some obscure info on his PADD and nodded. "We're all set up."

Mayweather flipped open his communicator. "Mayweather to Enterprise."

"Go on," Archer's tinny voice answered.

"We're ready to go, sir."

"Well, what are you waiting for, then?"

"Understood, Captain. We'll begin in three seconds," Mayweather nodded to Gaeta. "Start pulse in three."

"Aye, sir," Gaeta touched a few controls. "Coherent graviton pulse in three… two… one… now!"

One last touch and – accompanied by a low, humming noise – an almost completely transparent bundle of white energy rays was emitted from the generator, sizzling on the surface of the rupture… which started to shrink slowly, evenly.

"Mayweather to Engineering," Travis spoke into his communicator. "The graviton pulse is having an effect. The tetryon emissions have decreased by nineteen per cent."

There were triumphant noises at the other end of the connection, and T'Pol's calm voice answered. "Carry on, Ensign."

In the next moment, however, the rupture sent out a flash of light.

"What the hell was that?" Reed asked, worried.

"Nothing good," Mayweather consulted his scanner, then spoke into his communicator again. "Chief, additional subharmonics have appeared. They're reinforcing the tetryon emissions," he consulted his scanner again. "They appear to be counter-acting the graviton pulse."

"And with excellent results," Gaeta warned. "The rupture is beginning to expand again."

It was indeed. Reed could see he tear in space widening slowly once more.

"Looks like somebody is fighting back," he commented grimly. "Can we strengthen the graviton pulse?"

Mayweather and Gaeta exchanged unhappy looks.

"I really have no idea, sir," the engineer confessed. "This is unknown territory for us all."

"Try setting up a random frequency shift," Tucker's voice intervened. "If we can keep them from guessing our pulse modulation they might not be able to compensate."

"You've got it, Chief," Gaeta was already working on the adjustments, and for a moment or two it seemed to work too. The rupture started to shrink again; and then, with another flash, it began to expand back.

"It isn't working, Chief!" Gaeta complained in frustration. "They are too fast! I haven't even finished the resequencing when they've already adapted!"

"Program the emitters for full spectrum pulse compression," T'Pol's voice answered instead of Tucker's. "Channel all of the graviton energy into a single burst and see if they can handle it."

She was clearly guessing, which wasn't a good thing. If a Vulcan had to lower themselves to such unscientific methods then the situation was clearly desperate. But what other choice did they have?

Gaeta reprogrammed the emitters again, and this time the rupture kept getting smaller and shutting down. At the same time the entire segment began to shake.

"It seems we've been found out and the locals are unhappy with us," Reed commented cynically.

"Captain, the rupture is closing down," Mayweather reported in, "but the Suliban have found us and now we're getting shot at."

"Trip, can we get them out of there yet?" Archer's voice asked.

"No, Cap'n," Tucker's voice, heavily accented as always when under stress, answered. "There's still too much nucleonic interference. They must seal the rupture before we could even think of usin' the transporter."

"And how?"

"One more burst should suffice," T'Pol's voice, as calm as ever, said. "Give it another try, Mr Gaeta."

"Yes, ma'am!" Gaeta replied enthusiastically and did as he'd been told.

This time the rupture kept shrinking until it vanished entirely. Unfortunately, the Suliban kept shooting at the segment just as enthusiastically.

"Mission accomplished," Gaeta reported in. "Chief, this would be a good time to get us out of here."

"Don't lose your pants, I'm working on it," Tucker's voice answered.

For a moment nothing happened, save for the room shaking with the increasing number of hits by particle weapons. Then everything went dark, and when they could see again, they had already reappeared in Enterprise's transporter room.

"Bridge, we have 'em!" Tucker reported in.

"Good job, Trip," Archer's voice answered in obvious relief. "Send Travis up to the Bridge; I want to put at least a parsec or two between us and this place as fast as the engines can bear it."

~TBC~


Note: Yes, I know some of the technology mentioned in this chapter doesn't appear in canon until the 24th century. I've borrowed it, with some lines of the related technobabble, from the 6th season TNG episode "Schisms" because I wanted to give the Suliban a slightly different role. On the other hand, it isn't mentioned in "Schisms" how recent the technology was; they seemed to be familiar with it, so with a little stretch if imagination I decided that it wouldn't be anything really new. Besides, since the bizarre aliens in "Schisms" never appeared again, nor did we ever learn anything about their motivation, they were safe to use here.

All medical impossibilities are my own - I made up stuff as I went and it has nothing to do with actual medical science. Its only purpose is to move the plot along.