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Author's Note: Warning for occasional bad language.
"We've picked up a message on an Andorian channel," Hoshi announces.
I just knew it was all going too well. I mean, what with those bloody Tellarites on board, with their modus operandi of being as obnoxious as piggily possible, not to mention their ridiculous demands for mud baths…
Now, given the circumstances, as soon as I hear the word 'Andorians' my previously alert-but-relaxed posture immediately transforms itself into one of bloody-hell-this-is-all-we-need anxious attention.
The message itself isn't what you'd call reassuring when she puts it through the audio. 'Kumari calling Imperial Command. …been attacked. Primary systems have failed… Request immediate…'
"That's it," she adds, presumably just in case the captain suspects she terminated it early just to keep us all in miserable suspense. I'm in miserable suspense regardless, but not so much whether there was more to the message as to just how much botheration and kerfuffle we're going to get into now.
Part of Travis's duties is to supervise long-distance traffic that may be of interest to Enterprise. At a guess Hoshi has passed him the co-ordinates of the Kumari, but it takes him hardly a moment to contribute his mite that the Andorian Imperial Command has no ships within range.
The captain barely hesitates. Even if the voice through the speaker wasn't recognisably Shran's, he'd never willingly disregard an SOS. "How long to intercept them at maximum warp?"
"Two hours." Our good helmsman's hands are already hovering in anticipation of the order. I heave a silent sigh, but who's thinking of the risks? I'll take a guess.
Our Glorious Leader certainly isn't, for one. "Alter course. Contact Babel. Let them know we're going to be delayed."
Oh, well. Risks it is, then.
~Two hours later~
On arriving at the scene of all the excitement (thankfully, now past), I announce my professional judgement based on my scan findings. The debris pattern suggests unequivocally that the Kumari's reactor breached.
T'Pol's scanners are set for different things. They detect significant quantities of duranium alloy in the debris. "This was most likely an Andorian combat vessel," she says, and nothing I can see suggests otherwise, though I'm picking up plenty of other significant readings. I'm sure the captain is relieved to hear my report of escape pods with multiple biosigns. I'm relieved myself, to be honest – I don't care much for Shran, who's got too much attitude altogether if you ask me, but I don't dislike him enough to want him blown to smithereens. Flushed down a lavatory maybe, but even I have my limits.
Captain Archer really has no option. "Bring them into the launch bay. Tell Phlox to stand by for casualties."
~The Armoury~
Trouble.
Of course there's bloody trouble. We've got Andorians and Tellarites aboard! It's about on a par with having a kilo or so of potassium and a leaky jug of water lurking in the same container!
However. It is not my professional duty to lecture the captain about the realities of highly volatile chemicals in proximity, so with an effort I confine myself to what he needs to know. "I've analysed these hull fragments. The damage is consistent with Tellarite particle cannons."
He looks resigned rather than pleased. "What about the black box?"
The memory core was damaged, but T'Pol was apparently able to reconstruct the last few seconds of sensor data. The picture on the monitor isn't great, but it's perfectly good enough to allow us to identify the vessel which opened fire on the luckless Kumari.
Captain Archer's jaw sets in a way that fills me with foreboding. "Tellarites. Set course for Andoria, best speed."