The one doctor on the Romulan mining colony looked down at her young patient with pity. She knew little of the reasons he had been shot by his brother, but family squabbles among the patricians often turned violent. It wasn't for her to judge her patients, only treat them and give them comfort. He was quite unconscious, and so she had removed his restraints in order to better treat him.
They boy's wound was healing well. He had remarkable physical resilience given that his arm had nearly been shot off by a particle weapon.
She dabbed his head with a damp cloth.
"I'm sure everything will be fine," she said softly.
She turned to read one of her scanners and before she really knew what was happening, she collapsed to the floor.
"You are right," said Ston, "Everything is going to be fine."
Hoshi and T'Pol both dressed in their Starfleet uniforms that morning, in preparation for what they hoped would be their release.
"As interesting as yesterday was," said Hoshi, "I'm glad it's over, and remind me never to drink Romulan Ale again. I feel awful."
"I can join you in that resolution," said T'Pol, "and I will add that I hope I will never have the opportunity to taste it again."
Hoshi walked to the window and looked at the desolate landscape that shimmered and glowed in the morning sun.
"It's strange," she said, "T'Pol, do you see the sky glowing?"
T'Pol looked out the window.
"No," she said.
"I think I'm seeing dilithium dust in the atmosphere," said Hoshi, "It's probably kicked up by the mining operation. Malcolm said he saw the dilithium glow in the lab."
T'Pol raised her eyebrow.
"He believes the Andorian chemical you two ingested widened the light spectrum of your eyes," said T'Pol somewhat skeptically.
Hoshi sighed.
"Isn't it dangerous? The dilithium, I mean. We probably shouldn't be ingesting it, right?"
Hoshi had firmly resolved to be more careful about what substances she ingested.
There was a furious knock on the door, odd since their stay had been somewhat serene.
T'Pol opened the door to see Enme, dressed in his Romulan uniform and looking frantic.
"We must get to the basement bomb shelter immediately," he stated firmly.
Hoshi and T'Pol exchanged glances and followed Enme out the door and down the main stairs and into the back portion of the house. They quickly made their way through the kitchen and down a narrow set of stairs to a vault-like door.
The three of them went through and found themselves in the shelter.
Enme quickly sealed the door behind them. T'Pol noticed two Remans were also in the shelter — sitting quietly in a corner.
"My brother has escaped," said Enme, "The moronic doctor on this godforsaken rock decided he didn't need his restraints. He knocked her over the head and made his way to my ship."
"He should be easy enough to stop," said T'Pol, thinking that the boy would be no match for experienced Romulan guards.
"It's not him that is the concern. If he takes off in my ship, and he might, the exhaust will ignite the atmosphere — blowing us all to hell."
Hoshi's mouth dropped open.
"Like the Paraagan Colony?"
Enme didn't recognize the reference, but T'Pol clearly remembered.
"Does he not know of the danger?"
"No," said Enme, "My ship is a military prototype actually powered by dilithium. A normal transport wouldn't generate enough heat for ignition."
T'Pol sat down on a bench.
"You believe we'll be safe in this shelter?"
"It was built to withstand everything and anything an enemy might throw at this colony. So, I'd say there's a good chance."
Enme ran to a viewscreen in the corner of the shelter. He tapped some information into it.
"Can't anything ever go smoothly?" said Hoshi as she sat down next to T'Pol.
"What do we do now?" asked T'Pol.
"We wait for about ten minutes," said Enme.
Far away on Romulus, The ProConsul was ignorant of his children's peril. Instead, he sat in the fine living room of another patrician family and sipped some Romulan tea while conversing with a young woman. She had jet-black hair and grey eyes, as was common among the upper classes of Romulus, and she had gotten excellent marks in school. She was also quite pretty, he thought.
"So, Bala," said the ProConsul, "Are you excited to meet my son, Enme?
The girl sipped her tea with precision.
"My father says I should be, so I am," said the girl.
The ProConsul refrained from rolling his eyes. The girl's family were long time rivals of his family, and a marriage between the two houses would be excellent for both of them. However, this particular family were notorious for their subservient daughters. The ProConsul feared this girl might bore his son to death.
Suddenly, an aide appeared in the doorway.
"I told you not to disturb us," said the ProConsul.
"Your excellency," he said, "I've received alarming news."
The ProConsul got up and learned of the destruction of the the dilithium mines and the likely death of at least one of his sons. They did not yet know which of his children was piloting the prototype, but The ProConsul knew that Enme would never be so stupid as to allow the atmosphere to ignite that way.
Trip found himself in white space, without warning. T'Pol stood there in her Starfleet uniform looking serious.
There's been an accident at the colony. The dilithium in the atmosphere has been ignited, much like the attack on the Paraagen colony two and a half years ago.
Are you hurt? Is Hoshi okay?
We are safe in a shelter. We had some warning that the explosion was about to occur, but we will likely need your assistance to get off the planet.
We're almost there. Malcolm thinks he can navigate a shuttle around the minefield.
Strategically, it would be wise for Starfleet to attempt to disable the minefield and take possession of this planet.
Understood.
The last thing on Trip's mind was the strategic value of that planet, but she was right. This was an opportunity the Alliance needed to use to its advantage.
How did it happen?
An inexperienced pilot stole a vessel powered by dilithium, which ignited the atmosphere when most other vessels would not.
Are Romulans usually that careless?
No. I must go. Be careful and hurry. It won't be long before warbirds arrive.
Captain Archer looked at Admiral Williams on the viewscreen. He appeared confident and grim all at once.
"This could start a full-scale war," said Archer.
"We are aware of that," said the admiral, "but we'd rather do that on our schedule than theirs. We'll let these Romulans know that we won't just cower and wait for their attacks."
The admiral had just informed archer that Columbia, three Vulcan War Cruisers, four Andorian warships and six small Tellarite battleships were on their way, all with express orders to secure the mining planet from the Romulans. Earth had also constructed several smaller, sleeker and better armed Warp 5 vessels in the last year, and two of those were en route. Two more were staying behind to guard Earth. None of it seemed enough given the fact that the Romulans might have hundreds of drones and dozens of warbirds.
However, given the recent accident, this might be their best chance to wrest the dilithium operation from the Empire and obtain the substance for the Alliance.
"We can't recognize any claim they have on that planet, Jon," said Williams grimly.
"Hopefully, they aren't ready to mount a full scale invasion, and we'll have more time to build ships and gather forces," replied Jon.
"Good luck," said Williams.
"Thanks," said Archer.
Jon instinctively reached into his cabinet for a bottle of bourbon, but he hesitated.
"Dammit," he said, looking down a Porthos, "What the hell am I doing?"
He closed the cabinet without removing the bottle.
Everything in engineering was busy, with Trip's staff working carefully on getting the warp drive in optimal shape and assisting Malcolm's staff in making sure all weapons were at the ready.
Trip, meanwhile, was personally working on making sure the shuttle sensors were modified to detect cloaked mines. They were also trying to shield the pod from Romulan sensors, though they weren't sure that would be necessary now that the colony was all but destroyed.
"I can't believe the captain won't let me accompany you to the surface," said Trip.
"The chief engineer can't be going on rescue missions," replied Malcolm stiffly, "especially ones involving the rescue of his wife."
Malcolm looked over at his friend and sighed. He was sympathetic, and he was grateful no one knew of his personal attachment to Hoshi.
"We'll be fine," said Malcolm, "Down to the surface and back up."
Trip nodded. He wished to hell that the transporter was an option, but the radiation levels in the atmosphere made that option too risky. It had never been the plan to take a shuttlepod to the surface, only have one circumnavigate the planet and take scans. Now, it was going to land.
T'Pol had told him they would stay near the shelter if at all possible, but she wasn't able to articulate their location beyond describing the topography and her sense that they were somewhere on a southern continent. Luckily, the giant blast gave them a general idea of where they need to look. The sensors would then need to look for a human biosign and that would be that.
Enme continued to tap into the console, but he appeared frustrated.
"The transmitter grid is out," he said, "but hopefully a warbird is on the way due to the explosion."
T'Pol raised an eyebrow. The last time they had encountered a Romulan minefield, a warbird had been nearby. Considering the strategic value of this planet, she wondered why a warbird wasn't in orbit. Perhaps the Empire did not have as many ships as they wanted the Alliance to think they did.
"T'Pol," said Hoshi, "Come here."
Hoshi was kneeling by one of the Remans, who appeared to be asleep.
"I don't think he's alive," continued Hoshi.
T'Pol examined the alien.
"He could be in some sort of a deep coma. Without a tricorder, I cannot be certain."
"He's dead," said Enme, who had given up on the communicator. "Remans are sensitive to radiation poisoning."
Enme began to rifle through a few of the storage drawers that lined the shelter. He pulled out what appeared to be a medical kit and a scanner. After a few moments, he pressed a hypospray into his neck.
"T'Pol," he said, "this should prevent you from getting the radiation sickness. Lt. Sato, we'll need to adjust the dosage for your human system. The scanner will help me do that."
T'Pol approached her brother and sat down next to him.
"What about the other Reman?"
Enme appeared surprised.
"I don't even know if it would work on him," said Enme, "They are very sensitive and their physiology is totally different."
"Try," said T'Pol, as he administered the drug to her.
"After I'm done with Lt. Sato," said Enme, who was scanning Hoshi.
He adjusted the hypospray.
"It wants me to put an additive in to dilute it manually. I think we have some of that," he said, reaching into the drawer.
"Hurry," said Hoshi, "this other Reman doesn't look well at all."
Enme resisted rolling his eyes. Concern for Remans? These two just didn't understand the order of things, he thought sadly. They were both going to have some adjusting to do once the Empire had annexed Earth and Vulcan.
He applied a hypospray to Hoshi.
"Thank you," she said, "Now do him."
Enme approached the Reman and scanned him as he did Hoshi. He then adjusted the hypospray and applied it to the man's neck.
"We'll see if that works," said Enme doubtfully.
Hoshi glanced over at T'Pol, who was her usual stoic self. No doubt it didn't surprise her how callous these Romulans were regarding Remans.
"What shall we do with the body?" asked T'Pol, who had determined the other Reman was indeed dead.
Enme stood up and threw the body of the Reman over his shoulder. He opened the hatch door and walked out. He had no plans to watch the Reman decompose, and now that they were all inoculated, the danger from the outside would be minimal.
While her brother was outside the shelter, T'Pol looked at Hoshi and nodded. Hoshi knew about the bond, and T'Pol wanted to reassure her that the ship knew of their situation. Rescue was might only be hours away.
"Remans burn their dead," said Enme as he returned, "So the best I could do was the incinerator."
Hoshi winced at this disrespect, but she said nothing.
"Did you assess the state of the house? Will we be able to reach the outside easily?"
"I don't think the house is livable," said Enme, "Although, that's not saying much. But we should be able to climb through the rubble and reach the surface. Don't worry. I'm sure the Empire has already sent crews to investigate. They will find us."
T'Pol nodded. Little did he know that it was a Starfleet vessel that could very well arrive first.
Ston flew the small, one person ship at the highest warp. His piloting skills were minimal, but the interface made sense and he knew he would be on Romulus in just a matter of days. He wasn't sure what his father had been told about the adventure of recent days, but he was sure he would be able to explain everything away. The destruction of the mining colony was accidental, but he believed it could work in his favor. Besides Maleek, everyone with first-hand knowledge of the dilithium being transferred to T'Pol was dead. Or so Ston assumed. And Maleek wouldn't be a problem. He would just have to find away to convince father to take care of that for him. He knew he could do that, now that Enme was dead.
Six hours later, Enterprise was at all stop on the edge of the minefield. The sensors had been adjusted and the mines appeared on the viewscreen. Trip was on the bridge and he sat next to Malcolm reviewing the data.
"It shouldn't be too difficult," said Malcolm, "The only defensive system still operational is the minefield. They had some sort of photonic missile system but it seems to have been destroyed in accident. That was the system that defended against smaller vessels.
"What about Romulan ships? Any signs of them?" asked the Captain.
"Not yet," said Malcolm, knowing full well that may well be a bad sign as easily as it could be a good sign.
"Travis, you're with Mr. Reed," said the captain.
"Yes, sir," said Travis as he followed Malcolm to the shuttlebay, where two of Malcolm's security team would be waiting for them.
"Trip," said Archer, "in my ready room."
Trip followed Archer into the ready room, where they would be away from the curious ears of some of the junior staff.
"Have you heard from T'Pol?"
"Not since the last time," he said, "I imagine she'll want to keep contact to a minimum, given that she's in the company of a high-ranking Romulan officer. Wouldn't want to tip her hand."
"Smart of her," said Jon, "but I need you to be ready to try and contact her if the away team has any trouble."
"Yes sir," replied Trip, "Captain, how's Starfleet's mood — regarding T'Pol?"
"I didn't tell them the motivation for the kidnapping," said Archer, "I didn't think it was relevant."
Trip nodded. Jon didn't want to lose T'Pol, and by extension Trip. So, he wasn't going to give Starfleet any reason to see T'Pol as an unnecessary risk.
"However," continued Jon, "they are very pleased at the intelligence she has gathered and the opportunity to take control of that mining planet."
Trip swallowed. He didn't like the idea of the Alliance making the first move in this conflict, but he also knew just how dangerous dilithium would be in the wrong hands, and the Romulans were the wrong hands.
"In the meantime," said Archer, "get back to engineering."
"Yes, sir."
"I'm done with staying cooped up," said Enme, "I say we go to the surface."
"If you believe it is safe," said T'Pol.
"What about the Reman?" said Hoshi.
Enme shrugged.
"He can come with us. We might need someone to serve us drinks."
Hoshi stepped over to the curled up alien, and she spoke to him softly in Romulan, despite the fact that Enme had a UT on him. The Reman sat up, and Hoshi helped him stand.
The four of them exited the shelter and up the stairs. The basement room smelled of burning flesh from the dead Reman, but they quickly passed through and up to what was the back of the house. Enme, using all his strength, managed to remove the debris from a back door and they found themselves in the outside.
Rather than smelling fresh, the air smelt burnt and there was a stench of death in the breeze. There had been approximately 300 Romulans living down the hill in the colony proper, and Enme assumed they had all been killed.
"It was more pleasant in the shelter," he said, surveying the wasteland that used to be the colony.
Hoshi looked around and couldn't help thinking of the incident with the Paaragans. It was unthinkable that something like this could happen, and yet if a substance was valuable enough, it may be considered worth the risk.
T'Pol looked at Hoshi. It was vital that they had left the shelter, as it was unlikely the shuttlepod's senors would be able to pick up their biosigns there.
"Is there a place where we should head?" asked T'Pol, "An area where rescue would be most likely?"
Enme shook his head.
"A warbird would be able to detect us anywhere on this continent, and they would send a craft to retrieve us. Don't worry. It will likely be no more than a day or so. We should probably stick close to the shelter, as that is where rations and facilities are located."
"Perhaps we should search for other survivors," suggested Hoshi.
"If that would entertain you," said Enme, "but I doubt there are any survivors so close to the mines where the fire would have been hotter. Even if people made it to the shelters there, they would have been cooked inside them."
Hoshi sighed. She hoped the shuttlepod would arrive soon.
Malcolm looked carefully at the sensor data.
"One human biosign. Two Vulcan. One unknown."
"Could that be a Romulan, sir?" asked Travis.
"Possibly," lied Malcolm. He guessed there was only one Vulcan down there and one Romulan.
"Set a course to land nearby," said Malcolm, "Make sure your phasers are set to stun, but maximum setting."
The shuttle approached the surface of the mining colony, heading to the remains of the VIP house.
T'Pol saw the light in the sky first. She recognized it as an Enterprise shuttlepod, given that it was unlikely a Romulan vessel would emit light of that shape and size in the sky. She glanced over at her brother, wondering how he would react to being rescued by a group of humans. If their situation wasn't so serious, she might have found the notion amusing.
"Enme," she said, "do you believe that Ston might come back?"
"He probably assumes we are dead," said Enme, "So I think he's likely gone back to try and save himself somehow. I do hope he's capable of feeling a little guilt. Although, he might just be a…do you have a word for it…psychopath?"
"Oh," said Hoshi, "We have a word for it. A few actually."
"I suppose people without conscience exist in all humanoid societies," said Enme, "How is the Reman?"
"Not well," said Hoshi, "He needs medical attention."
Enme sighed, but before he could respond he looked up at the light in the sky that had become large and was moving closer.
"Help may be on its way," he said tentatively.
T'Pol glanced at Hoshi. Hoshi looked up at the sky and also clearly recognized the shape of a shuttlepod. Very soon, its shape became more apparent in the sky.
From the look on his face, T'Pol assumed Enme realized it was not a Romulan vessel. He also seemed to recognize that neither his sister nor the human woman appeared surprised or worried.
"Friends of yours?" he said.
"A shuttle from our vessel," said T'Pol, "I'm sure our captain will be willing to help you and the Reman return to Romulan space. We are not yet officially at war, after all."
Enme bit his lip and instinctively reached for his sidearm, which was not there. He had left it in the house and it was currently under piles of rubble. There was likely a particle rifle in the shelter, but he had not brought it with him. He mumbled to himself —something about his foolishness and arrogance.
As Enme paced a bit, he looked at his sister. She looked at him. They both knew she had the upper hand.
"I'll introduce you as Vulcan, if you like," said T'Pol, "It's the least I can do in return for your kindness."
Hoshi glanced at T'Pol, T'Pol's offer had way more to do with keeping the identity of the Romulans a secret than any protection for her brother.
"However," she said, "I advise you not to smile or show any emotion, lest you give yourself away."
Enme nodded and looked down at his uniform.
"Will these humans be so dense as to believe I am a Vulcan?"
Before T'Pol or Hoshi could answer, the shuttle had landed. Malcolm, Travis and two security officers emerged from the shuttle.
Malcolm approached T'Pol.
"Commander," he said, "what is the situation?"
"We are the only four survivors of the blast, as far as we know. We have all been inoculated against the radiation, but the Reman is still quite ill and should be taken to sickbay as soon as possible"
Malcolm looked at Enme.
"Phlox inoculated all of us before we left the ship. What about him?"
"He is fine. He is a…a Vulcan who was also a prisoner here."
Malcolm recognized the un-Vulcan hesitation in her voice. It wasn't like her, and that was enough for him to realize the young man was a Romulan - one wearing a military uniform.
"He is unarmed," said T'Pol.
"Good," said Malcolm, "No time to waste. Let's get going."
"I believe I should stay," said Enme, "I think that I might try and look for survivors…"
"I can't allow that," said Malcolm, "It's too dangerous."
Enme walked up to Malcolm and towered over him.
"I insist," said Enme.
Malcolm stunned him with a phase pistol.
"Was that really necessary, Lt. Commander?" asked T'Pol.
"If you want the man to live it is. There are at least two dozen Alliance shipped headed here to take this planet. I seriously doubt one…Vulcan could survive the coming battle."
T'Pol nodded.
"Get him into the pod," ordered Malcolm to his two men. Then, he turned his attention to his two colleagues.
T'Pol noticed a quick glance between Hoshi and Malcolm. It was almost imperceivable, but they were clearly glad to see each other.
"You two are looking well," said Malcolm.
"Romulans are very polite hosts," said Hoshi who was assisting the Reman, "and I've even learned a great deal about their language. Of course, there's little doubt in my mind they have every intention of invading and conquering every habited planet in this sector."
"Is that a Romulan?" asked Travis, amazed at the Reman.
"No," said Hoshi, honestly, "It's a Reman. Romulans use them as slaves."
They all entered the shuttle and took their seats, and Travis took off toward Enterprise, hoping they would be able to arrive and dock before any Romulan ships arrived.
