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Star Trek Enterprise
Here We Stand
Chapter 07
Broken Bow
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Horatio was finishing the calibration of the ships main weapons when the call came in from Star Fleet Command. He wanted to make sure they were ready and after he met with the two Pilots. Ensign Mayweather and Ensign Moore about the control keys that they were expected to keep on them at all times and their functions. The meeting was in the Captain's ready room with Archer, Tucker and himself along with Admiral forest to convey the depth of the secrecy that the engine systems were under.
There had been a significant incursion into the Sol system that even the Vulcans missed. An unknown ship had been intercepted at Pluto by several other smaller unknown ships. They had chased it into orbit. They followed it down while attacking the first unknown had been shot down into a cornfield in Broken Bow Oklahoma.
To say that Star Fleet Command had been upset was an understatement, the President shouted his head off to the Admiralty of Star Fleet Command. Who in turn had shouted their heads off at the Head of Star Fleet Security, who had, in turn, shouted her head off at the Provost Marshals of Star Fleet Security and heads rolled.
In a matter of three hours, forty-three officers had been arrested for negligence for encouraged to retire or outright cashiered many of them in the middle tier of ranks from Lieutenant to lieutenant commander. A hundred and fourteen enlisted ranks had been either reassigned or were cashiered the majority were Warrant officers and Petty officers who should have known better.
Another round of humiliation for Star Fleet made worse when the MACO's had been ordered to take over the security of the Sol system. It had not been a good year for the Star Fleet as a whole. Recruitment was down, and they were quitting before they finished at the academe. The next three years of academe students would be much fewer. Already there was talk of lowing the entrance requirements to get the numbers back up.
He had caught the same transport down as Captain Archer, over the past few weeks he had taken up residence on the ship for crew assignments and Warp Field testing. The vessel had held up perfectly the new dampeners had not only held up but improved sublight handling drastically. Apparently, he had been inspecting the hull when the call came through to report to Admiral Forest at Star Fleet Medical.
When the Shuttle landed, Horatio allowed Archer to leave first, not just because of Captain's prerogative. He hated being seen to rush anywhere unless there was a legitimate emergency. He exited the Shuttle calmly and tucked his swagger stick under his arm tightly. He put on a pair of aviator sunglasses and marched at just above walking pace to Star Fleet medical.
As he entered the building, he saw Archer slow down to a waltzing pace and straighten himself out. He took off the NX-01 baseball cap and tucked it into one of his tan jacket pockets, he took a few deep breaths and entered a door that was protected by two MACOs.
Horatio slowed down as he approached the same doors, the two MACO guards saluted him in recognition. He entered the room just in time for Admiral Leonard, the broad moustachioed older officer, to be corrected by one of Ambassador Soval's retinue.
"A Klingon" the Vulcan male said stressing the last part of the word in such a way that it came across as both condescending and imperious.
"Admiral." He thundered make a few of the humans jump, and the Vulcans to straightened almost imperceptibly, their own version of a startled jump. He shook the hands of both Admirals and Captain Williams.
Archer moved to get a closer look out of the observation window at the extra-terrestrial laying on the medical bead as a half dozen medical staff. Including the three-armed security watched over or operated on the Klingon.
"Where'd he come from?" he asked, turning to the Admiral "he's a long way from Kronos."
"Oklahoma" stated Captain Williams. He was a tall and athletically built man of American descent; his black hair was in a close cut to his scalp. Moreover, he stood like a bolder in the sea of agitation around him. Horatio could see the same certainty and strength in his famous descendant would use as Captain of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701. "How the heck did you know where it's from."
"I was briefed as part of the NX program," Archer said as he turned to look the man in the eyes.
"who briefed you?" he asked.
"I did sir." Horatio stepped forward "I felt it pertinent to ask the Vulcans who were the most likely threat to the ship and crew as well as any potential threats to earth." He said seriously. He locked eyes with his superior officer. "Once I received the list and the cultural and historical data, I studied them very thoroughly." Horatio unzipped his thy pocket and handed the device to the Captain who opened it and began to skim read. "Once I felt I had a handle on the information, I made a presentation to Captain Archer and Admiral Forest."
"A corn farmer shot him." Said Admiral Forest leaving the Captain and Admiral Leonard to look over the data. "Point blank with a plasma rifle" Archer looked at the man in disbelief. He saw Horatio shake his head as well. "Said it was self-defence, Security confirms the story, and so did the Vulcan security team."
"Fortunately, the Vulcan High Command has maintained constant contact with Kronos over the incident." Said the pompous Vulcan in the red robes. If Horatio didn't know better, he would have said that the man was smug.
"I take it this wasn't a scouting mission gone wrong?" Horatio asked, already knowing the answer.
"no, the man is apparently a courier," Forest said Archer and Horatio saw him open his hands in a gesture that meant he found nothing. "We couldn't find neither hide nor hair of any message in what's left of his ship or its main computer, and he had nothing on him, so we're assuming it's something he memorised."
"something that he may never be able to convey now after your farmer shot him." Said Soval calmly
"Ambassador Soval thinks that we should delay the launch until after this issue is resolved." Horatio could tell that the Admiral was a bit disappointed. Still, it didn't take long for Archer's anti-Vulcan leanings to rear their ugly head.
"Oh, He does, does he." Archer turned to face the Admiral again a look of disgust on his face. "Well, isn't that a surprise?" the sarcasm wasn't so much dripping but cascading off the words like a waterfall of disdain. "you'd think they would come up with something more imaginative this time."
"Sarcasm aside, I think the last thing humanity needs right now is a war against one of the most powerful empires in the quadrant," Soval said with utter certainty.
"If the High Command hadn't appeased the Klingons, by telling them we'd bring back his corpse. Humanity would be staring down the guns of a wing of Klingon battleships by the end of the week." Said the pompous Vulcan, Horatio watched the man for a moment wondering if he was one of the Vulcans that were shielded under the raptor's wings.
Horatio raised an eyebrow and said
"Looks pretty lively for a dead man." Before he could finish, Archer made his way into the room, breaking any quarantine that the medical team had set up. "oh, for god sake." He sighed.
"Excuse me, is this man dead?" he asked the medics as the Security guard let him walk right by without attempting to stop him. The lead Doctor, a Denobulan, responded quickly.
"His Autonomic system was disrupted by the blast. But his redundant neurofunction…" The poor man was interrupted before he could finish.
"Is he going to die?" he asked in the clarification of his point.
"Not necessarily," he said before he could continue Archer burst back out.
"so, let me see if I understand this correctly." He said squaring up to the red-robed Vulcan. "You want to murder this man because it's more convenient for you than just taking him home?" He said as Horatio watched him step up onto the metaphorical soapbox and begin to preach. He didn't notice T'Pol step between him and the Ambassadors like a good security officer. "This man could live, he could with some medical aid get up and return home why kill him where is the logic in that?"
"The Klingons are a warrior race." Horatio reminded him, He said trying to intercede before Archer lost what remained of his senses. "If we send him back in a weakened state it would be worse than murder, they would rip him asunder and do so gleefully. Then consider whether or not he's a member of a grate house? this could then potentially cause a massive shift in power in the region that could lead to war."
"his culture finds honour in death, to die in a mission is the hight of honour for them." Said Soval indicating through the observation window with grey robe revealing a bracelet on his wrist. "If he returns as he is now, he would be disgraced, and so would his house."
"so, your solution is to pull the plug?" He asked Horatio
"not mine." He answered honestly. "if it were up to me, he'd have met his end in an honour duel."
"that's barbaric." He said in reply
"these are a feudal warrior people. Like the Vikings, or the Gaul's, or the Celts or even the Samurai of Japan." He said, not backing down. "there are only three ways they would be satisfied with his return Archer, on his feet in victory, on his back in death or not at all."
"A crude description but apt." said the Red robed Ambassador
"tell me you won't let them do this?" He asked, passing the Ambassador and making his plea to Admiral Forest directly, he could see the man wavering.
"The Klingon chancellor has demanded the return of Klang immediately." He said, trying to make the Admiral see the Logic in the decision.
"we may need to defer to their judgement, Jon."
"like we've been doing for the past century?" he demanded his eyes not leaving the Admiral, the two had a personal connection. Jon was trying to make the man look him in the eye and tell him no.
"Jon," he said in a warning tone.
"how much longer." He demanded he could see the Admiral waver; he just needed another small push. The push came from the most unlikely of sources, T'Pol.
"When you have proven you're ready." She said that was the snap that the Admiral needed the straw that broke camel's back. "to look beyond your provincial attitude and volatile nature."
"volatile." He smirked taking a step towards the woman, the implied threat was there, but it was a hollow one, Horatio held his swagger stick between the two, and they stepped back. Archer tried to intimidate a Vulcan. "you have no idea how volatile I can be."
"Archer." Horatio gave a warning tone; the man turned back to the Admiral.
"The Klingons want him back; we can get him back the ship can be ready in 3 days." He said, "and what's more is he'll be alive."
"This is no time for your human ethical beliefs to be imposed on anyone."
Forest turned to the other Admiral and the Captain.
"Dan?" he called out to the older man who nodded.
"you haven't a full crew" he replied. "Your communications officer is in Brazil and won't be free for 14 days, and you haven't even started looking for medical staff."
"I can get the ship and crew ready."
"Admiral?" Soval said slightly louder getting the man's attention, Forest walked up to the man and nodded.
"it's been a century, now is as good a time as any."
"Listen to me you are making a mistake" he raised his voice, and there was a small flicker of emotion in it.
"When your logic fails you raise your voice you've been around humans too long." Said Archer smugly Horatio rolled his eyes as the three Vulcans left the room quickly.
"I had a feeling that this would be the outcome." He smiled "do not screw this up." He turned and indicated for Horatio to follow him. As they left the room, he heard Archer tap the glass loudly. Horatio followed the Admiral to his office as the man sat, he indicated for him to do the same.
Admiral Leonard and Captain Williams joined The Admiral who pressed a few buttons, and the room sealed itself. Locking the four men in the room and sealing them off from every type of know n listening devices.
"is the ship ready?" He asked all pretence of joviality gone from his expression, he was slightly pale, and his hands shook as he grabbed the arms of his chair. The Other two flag officers stood on either side of the Admiral; Captain Williams had copied the data on to another pad. The two were still reading over the info he had given them earlier.
"I would have preferred at minimum another month to test the full reach of the engine systems buts that's a luxury I don't have anymore." Horatio placed his Swagger stick on the table and straightened his jumpsuit.
"that's not what I asked" he turned his chair, so he was facing the computer he brought up the schematic of the NX-01 on the main screen. "is the ship ready."
"yes." He replied simply "but we haven't pushed her to her full speed, yet we topped her off at warp 5.6. before the sensors picked up a Vulcan ship in the area."
"5.6? she's supposed to be rated for 5.2?" Admiral Leonard said looking up from the Pad and the nightmares that it would undoubtedly give him.
"we discovered someone had tampered with the blueprints making the engine vastly less efficient and powerful." Said Forest as he pressed a button and a hidden compartment opened on the table. He handed the man a pad over his shoulder, not even bothering to look.
"my god, did we get them." He said a moment later
"it was Admiral Black."
"then what's the top rating of the engine?"
"the last simulation put the speed at Warp 6.25."
The Captain moved to the nearby couch and sat down in shock.
"I need you to do one thing for me, Commander." Said Forest as he took charge before the meeting could devolve any farther.
"sir?"
"I need you to rain Archer in." Horatio felt himself pail in abject horror. This was not something he wanted to do; he needed to prepare Earth for the Xindi attack.
"you aren't seriously suggesting."
"I am" he replied immediately.
"why?"
"I'm going to have to grovel to the Vulcans for their star charts to get Klang to Kronos." He said simply the other flag officers nodded shallowly. They knew that it was a possibility when you hit the Vulcan button on mount Archer. "and I believe that they will give them for a price."
"you believe that they will put one of theirs on the ship?" asked Captain Williams
"I do." He turned and reclined back on his chair. "they have spent the last Century carefully nudging us into their camp; they will not allow us off the leash fully yet."
"very well, but I have something for you to consider." He handed over a Pad he took from his left thy pocket. "this is to make sure that we aren't surprised like this again."
"Geo-Orbital Defence Satellites?" Horatio nodded.
The meeting went on for about an hour in which time Archer had secured his Chief medical officer in the Denobulan Dr Flox. Plus, he managed to talk his communications officer into leaving Brazil early. He offered her the Klingon linguistic database as a sweetener, and she couldn't deny her innate curiosity.
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He moved the final of his three crates into his assigned room. He would unpack later he needed to report to the Captain, and then he could get his stuff squared away. He grabbed his sidearm and holster. Attaching it to his right hip and grabbed his swagger stick he wore a maroon tactical vest over his blue Star Fleet duty blue uniform. It was an option for Security officers and enlisted men as a type C uniform, the same as a tool belt on an engineer's uniform.
He passed several dozen crewmen as he made his way to the Captain's ready room. On the way, he caught up with what appeared to be T'Pol.
"Sub-Commander?" he asked the woman in question turned to meet him; she inclined her head to him. He held up his hand in the Vulcan salute. "Peace and long-life, Sub-Commander it's an honour to be working with you again."
"live long and prosper." She returned "it is agreeable to see you again, Commander." She said neutrally.
"I'm headed to the Captain's office are you headed in the same direction."
"Indeed," she acknowledged. "I have to report my transfer to Captain Archer's command."
"then allow me to join you as I need to do so as well."
The two walked together silently, an imposing wall that the crewmen seemed to take pains to avoid. They went down the small corridor to the Captain's ready room. He allowed T'Pol to press the door chime button.
"here we go." Said Archer even muffled by the bulkhead door his disdain could be herd. "Come in." she opened the door, and the two of them stepped into the office. Commander Tucker was lounging on the chair with a glass of water.
"This signifies that I have been transferred to your command at 08:00," she said, handing him the Pad. "reporting for duty."
"Reporting as Ordered Sir," Horatio said, standing to attention. Before handing him his own Pad, "Admiral Forest has Ordered that I join you for the duration of this mission." He waited for him to finish reading the pads, but T'Pol started to sniff loudly.
"is something wrong?" asked Archer before he looked at Porthos. "wait, I forgot that Vulcan females had a heightened sense of smell." He turned to sit, and Horatio could practically see his smirk "I hope Porthos's smell doesn't offend you."
"I'm trained to tolerate offensive situations." She replied
"I took a shower this morning," the Commander said in his usual Floridian Drawl "how about you, Captain." He smirked playfully
"did you use water Swamp rat?" Horatio said playfully the man chuckled
"I'm sorry where are my manners." Archer said, smiling at Horatio's quick retort. "this is Commander Charles Tucker the Third."
"Sub-Commander T'Pol."
"Trip," he smiled "I'm called Trip." He said holding out his hand,
"I'll try to remember that." She said, ignoring the hand and turning back to the Captain who hid a smirk.
"While you may not share our enthusiasm about this mission, but I expect you to follow our rules." He said simply to her. "what's said here in this room and out on that bridge is privileged information. I don't want my every decision and action picked apart the following day by a Monday morning quarterback who has the luxury of spending hours going over alternatives."
"my reason for being here is not espionage." She replied, "the High Command simply asked me to assist you on this mission that is all."
"I find that hard to believe. Your superiors believe we can't flush the toilet without them telling us how to do it." He took a swing of his water
"I did not request this assignment, Captain." She replied Horatio could see the agitation start to rise past her Vulcan Calm. "and once this mission is concluded, I will be as glad to leave as you will be to see me go." She stopped as the beagle began to paw at her leg "if there is nothing else."
"that will be all." He replied, "you may go." She nodded and made her way to the door
"Sir, permission to speak freely." Said Horatio as she pressed the button to leave. Archer nodded "Sir, with all due respect and in deference to your rank I believe that you went too far here." He said as the door closed.
"is that so."
"Aye, Sir." He said sharply "you believe that she is a spy or saboteur I believe that you are in error."
"I don't believe, I know," said Archer in complete certainty.
"you are allowing your own bias to cloud your judgment" Horatio wouldn't back down on this at all. "I believe that she will be an asset to the ship and the crew."
"why."
"because she has been a deep space explorer with the Vulcan High Command." He said. "that's the reason Admiral Forest chose her."
"he chose her?"
"Indeed, he was given a list of names he picked her as the best option, and I believe that the Admiral is an impeccable judge of character." He straightened slightly "after all, he picked you over Captain Robinson for this mission, and he trusted you enough not to pester you about crew assignments."
"what would you have me do then?" he asked.
"give her a chance, Sir." He said to the seated Captain "She may very well surprise you."
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Horatio had skipped out on the speech and ceremony; he was never really comfortable in the formal dress uniforms that they wanted him into them. Really a Navy-Blue jumpsuit with the bone-white shirt it was bland and unimaginative. So, he spent that time in the Armory doing a deep scan of the Klingons disruptor weapon. He knew the ins and outs of this primitive version of the guns, but he wanted to be seen to scan it and study it for what he wanted to do next.
He had a crate of EM-33 weapons and was using what he had "scanned" to improve the lethality of the gun. While changing the profile of the gun enough that any connection to Earth would be lost entirely. He even removed the serial numbers and company logos off every part laser stamping new ones.
As he finished the fifth gun out of twenty, Lieutenant Reed walked in. He had his face in a pad, but when the door opened, he noticed the Commander at the table.
"Morning, Sir." He said before stopping looking at the pile of parts and tools on the table along with the man's swagger stick. "Sir?" he said in an inquisitorial tone.
"Morning Mal" he replied as he inserted the power core in the weapon. "how are you today." He walked to the wall-mounted holographic device and activated the target. The floating ball appeared and didn't move. He fired at the target once obliterating the mark completely.
"I'm fine, Sir, but what are you doing." He asked as Horatio pulled the power core from the weapon and placed it into the crate.
"I'm giving us options Mal." He said with a smile
"Options, sir?"
"sometimes Mal I forget that you were ever in the intelligence game."
"Sir?" he was about to elaborate to the Junior officer when the communications line beeped.
"Bridge to armoury" he walked over to the device mounted on the wall then tapped the receiver button.
"Armoury here Commander Smith speaking."
"Commander please report to the bridge."
"on my way." He said, grabbing his stick, his sidearm still attached to the belt over his jumpsuit. He had considered getting shoulder holsters, but he wanted to wait a while to see if they would be needed or if the hip holster was more appropriate and practical.
He moved at a brisk walking pace to the turbo lift and made his way to the bridge. The bridge, unlike the weapons and hull, hadn't been massively upgraded in the same way. But he had made the bridge a few meters bigger making the situation room a seated area turning it into a conference room.
There was an operations station now at the rear of the bridge behind the Captain's Chair on an elevated platform he was two steps higher than the rest of the bridge's duty stations. Its preview was internal systems control. The master systems display and could also be used as a secondary tactical station should the primary station either be lost or not manned. It also had all the auxiliary systems and access to the sensors, both internal and external.
The station was basically the jack of all trades station that could be flexible as needed. The lift doors opened, and Horatio walked out.
"Commander Smith, join me in my ready room." Said Archer as he sprung from his seat. Horatio nodded and followed where the Captain leads him. They walked down the corridor and into his ready room. He sat in his chair and waited as the door closed behind them.
Horatio waited for a moment the Captain appeared to be considering what to say for a while.
"I'm going to take your advice." He said before continuing. "and you were right, I wasn't treating her well, I let my prejudice cloud my judgement." He said, looking up at Horatio.
"what brought this on?"
"I had a discussion with our new doctor."
"oh, what did the good doctor say?"
"he talked about embracing new ideas." He said, leaning back in his chair. "I was helping him unpack some things when we started talking about new ideas. I realised that I was so steeped in old ideas that when new and strange ones confronted me, I was disgusted." He poured out some water into a glass. "it shocked me." He drank the glass dry and then continued "I would like you to come to dinner tonight with myself and Tucker and T'Pol act as a mediator, so I don't slip into bad habits." Horatio nodded
"it would be my honour, Sir."
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The dinner was uncomfortable, T'Pol was abrasive even as the Captain was trying to be accommodating. Everything seemed to flow into negative options as the conversation turned pessimistic about Earth Culture. Still, it ended with no bloodshed, so he considered it a win. The next day after he finished his bridge rotation, he went back to finishing the weapons upgrade to the EM-33's. he wanted them finished before anything happened.
He had ordered all the security officers to wear the tactical vests and sidearms at all times and that they should have a communications device with them as well. The device in question worked on its own carrier frequency, and they could communicate with each other without the ship's internal communications systems acting as an intermediary.
They worked similarly to the police radio that was used in civilian policing on Earth. This was a safety precaution just in case, and he made sure that all ops and security crewmen wore them. This was in contradiction to Archers orders, but Star Fleet uniform code allowed for these precautions to be taken by the security chief.
He sat at his station as Mayweather began to open the ship closer to its official top speed.
"Warp 4.3 Sir." The man smiled; he never imagined such speed when he was a kid, but here, he was making it happen. As the ship hit the rate, Malcolm commented.
"not much of a change." He knew the dampeners were top of the line and they wouldn't feel anything. Still, the sound of the deflector up shifting lasted only a moment before Hoshi said.
"does anyone else feel that?" she asked slightly alarmed she had felt a tremor she was sure of it. A thousand calamitous thoughts ran wild in her imagination for a second before she was distracted by the steady, strong voice of Captain Archer.
"feel what?" the Captain asked. He noted that given Hoshi's relative inexperience on the ship, he was more willing to be forgiving of her naivety and her feelings but only to a point.
"the vibrations." She said, trying to articulate her point. But given how little she knew of starship engineering and warp field dynamics. she couldn't really say for sure what she was feeling without using descriptors. "like little tremors." She looked to Reed for any conformation hoping that the more experienced man would know what she was trying to convey.
"You are imagining it, ensign." T'Pol cut in her neutral demeanour, giving her a more condescending tone that Horatio thought she was trying to convey. She had been silently impressed that even her superior Vulcan hearing couldn't detect the change in Warp velocity. Every report she read about Vulcans serving on Earth ships stated that Human ships had a substantial increase in white noise at higher warp speeds. She was very relieved that this wasn't the case on the NX so far.
"Bring us to Warp 4.4, ensign." He told Mayweather as he made his way towards the tactical station and Lieutenant Reed. There was a minimal tremor as the ship answered the speed requirement.
"what was that?"
"the deflector sequencing, it's perfectly normal if slightly delayed we'll have to make a note of it for maintenance." Said Reed as he made the note himself, the request was sent to Tucker, and he would rotate some crews to fix it.
"perhaps you would like to go to your quarters and lie down?" Hoshi turned to the Sub-Commander and said something in Vulcan. "I was instructed to speak English on this mission Ensign I would appreciate it if you respected that request."
"it's easy to get jumpy at these speeds Hoshi." Reassured the Captain.
"indeed ensign" supported Horatio. "we are travelling at thirty million kilometres a second give it a week. You'll be fine." He turned to meet his gaze then nodded warmly at him with a small smile, the internal comm. Beeped at the same time as Horatio's own radio beeped, he tapped the device.
"he's awake sir." Said the Security man in medical
"I'm on my way," Horatio said he grabbed his sidearm from the desk and secured it to his side in its holster. He picked up his swagger stick, hearing the Captain respond.
"Archer." He said as he pressed the button
"Our patent has regained consciousness." Said Dr Flox as Horatio pressed the button for the turbo lift.
"I'm on my way." He responded, turning to see his armed Security chief waiting at the lift doors. "Hoshi." He called over to the woman to join him as the trio entered the lift and the doors closed.
"I hope your ready ensign." Said Horatio as he looked down on the petite Japanese woman in front of him.
"I hope so too, sir." She said, she was a ball of nervous energy but amongst that was the drive to overcome the challenge that this new language presented to her.
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Hoshi walked around the tied Klingon as he babbled incoherently, the translator was having issues. Still, the drugged Klingon wasn't making any sense. Whatever the Doctor gave the warrior had been super effective Horatio could tell. From the look in the Klingons eyes that he had no idea where he was or what was happening just yet. Though the more he moved, the higher his heart rate, the faster the drug was burning out of his system.
But as the questions continued and the ensign became more and more flustered, the ship shook, and the lights flickered for a moment.
"is that the warp reactor again?" she asked, frazzled her inability to perform in front of her commanding officer and his third officer. Archer tapped the nearest internal comm.
"Bridge, Archer what's going on?"
"we've dropped out of warp some kind of Gravimetric disturbance." The voice belonged to T'Pol but just as she was about to elaborate the lights flickered again and the red alert Clackson began to sound. Then Lieutenant Reed's voice rang out on all decks.
"Red alert, all stations red, this is no drill repeat this is no drill." The lighting changed going dimmer, and red sirens began to flash. Horatio put his swagger stick into his left hand and then drew his weapon.
"T'Pol what's going on."
"unknown ships sent an attack at the computer systems the new alert happened automatically."
"Sir, you need to get to the bridge." Said Horatio "I'll make sure our guest is properly secured then join you."
"Intruder alert deck five-section three" shouted a crewman over the security line, Horatio double-tapped the device to broadcast over ship-wide communications.
"This is Commander Smith; Intruder alert standby to repel boarders." He pointed to the Klingon "Sedate him." He pointed to the two security men "you two escort the Captain and the Ensign to the Bridge."
"what! You can't" Archer said bit he was cut off as a green energy beam hit one of the guards dropping the man to the ground. Horatio put himself between the Captain and harm and instantly regretted it. There was an impact on his gut then a flash of green and red and Horatio was thrown from his feet and bounced off a bulkhead.
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The first thing that popped into his mind as he awoke to a haze of colour was, he had been "Worfed". The haze of colour began to take shape into individual things then coming into focus again. The Doctor apparently took notice of his awakened state and as he tried to get up pushed him back down with surprising strength.
"no, no backdown Commander I haven't finished treating you yet." The Doctor kept the hand on his chest, stopping him from attempting to get up again. As his head touched the pillow again, he asked.
"the ship?"
"we're all OK." He smiled as he ran a blinking device across his eyes
"What happened?" he asked as the Doctor.
"you had a nasty bump." He smiled as he ran the data through the system again.
"bloody Suliban." He groaned "augmented buggers, should have known better than to try and to hand with one of them." He made to access his communicator on his chest when he found nothing but skin. "My communicator please." He held out his hand to the Doctor, who stepped back and looked at it, questioning the gesture.
"I really don't think."
"dammit man, my communicator." He made to get up, and the Doctor rushed to hand him the device. He tapped the button.
"This is Commander Smith to the Bridge." The comm. Chirped when it was answered
"Archer here." The Captain sounded slightly bemused, but he had no time to dwell on that he needed to get down to business.
"did we catch the Suliban?" He asked he noticed the Doctor taking out several vials of coloured liquids. He took the glowing green one and shook it before inserting a syringe into the top and taking a dram.
"you know what they are." The Captain seemed almost desperate for the information
"aye, sir," Horatio confirmed
"do you know where we can find them?"
"no, but there is someone I know who might."
"who?" this time it wasn't Archer it was T'Pol, she seemed to be a little bit more agitated or as agitated as he had ever heard a Vulcan being.
"she's an information broker, works out of the worst hole this side of Vulcan." He said as the Doctor injected him with the glowing green concoction. "set course to Beta Rigel, then head to the tenth planet I'll be up when we get to the system."
"Rigel?"
"Yeah, why?"
"We have some words here that we couldn't translate."
"what are they?" The line went dead for a moment he assumed that Archer was getting the information ready.
"Jelik, Sarin, Rigel and Tholia."
"Sarin is the name of the broker; Rigel is the location the only Tholia I know is a legend among some Rigellian freighter captains. The Tholians are a myth more roomer than fact. They're said to spin webs of light and eat whole worlds." He said seriously. The line went dead for a moment before the Captain spoke up.
"You've been to Rigel before?"
"yes sir, for Star Fleet intelligence and Security."
"I'll trust you to put together an away team then."
"don't worry sir, I have a plan."
-(-)-
Horatio stood in the armoury with the team he had assembled. There were six people, five human and one Vulcan. Captain Archer was also in the room, while he wasn't in the group, he wanted to be part of the briefing.
"The mission is a straightforward one." Horatio said seriously "its simple information retrieval, but from personal experience, the simplest missions often turn out to be the most difficult." He handed out Pads to everyone. "Rigel X is a trade hub for those who want to trade in things of questionable legality." Said Horatio as the image of the planet was on display on the table. "the trade station has thirty-eight levels." He indicated to the Pad, and everyone began to read the documentation. "The farther down you go. the more likely the illegality and lethality of the merchandise." He showed the schematic of the station itself. "we will be going in undercover."
"why?" asked Ensign Hoshi "isn't our mission to meet new species."
"This mission is to be conducted undercover because of the nature of the Station." He said seriously "this station has the largest collection of slavers, drug peddlers and arms dealers in known space." He gave her a sharp look "and Star Fleet would rather than we do not advertise Earth to such people for security reasons is that OK with you, Ensign Sato."
"yes sir." She said slightly chastised
"Good, Sarin has a shop on the thirty-sixth level." The schematic revealed the location of the shop. "Do not let the façade of the shop fool you, Sarin, is one of the most successful information and weapons brokers in Rigellian space," T'Pol spoke up as he turned to grab a crate full of the weapons he had adjusted.
"Your translators have been programmed for Rigellian." She said, handing out the devices to the squad. "You will encounter other species, many of them have no time for newcomers, most have never seen humans before."
"these are Plasma Disruptor weapons. They have three settings Stun, Kill and Disintegrate. They are based on the EM-33 Plasma Pistol and Klang's Klingon Disruptor. It has a kick so if you fire you will have to retrack the target before firing again."
"restrain your usual curiosity and gregariousness it can potentially get you killed here," T'Pol said in seriousness.
"We will land on the first level, and go down as a group, do not get separated and do not gawp." He said, pointing the comment at Commander Tucker. "You will see things that will disgust you and offend you in a way you never thought possible; this is normal. You will also meet species that will try to exploit you, try to sell you something or shoot you for being you. This is also normal." He hands out the weapons to each member of the team.
"Should we not drink the water?" Tucker joked; Horatio sighed
"don't eat or drink anything that you haven't seen prepared in front of you, scan everything you order." He then grabbed Commander Tuckers inform collar then said. "Wear nothing that has Star Fleet insignia or iconography. if you have nothing, the matter replicator can make anything you need." He looked at Tucker sharply "I have provided light combat armour with this is manly for protection against stab wounds. but it can protect you from limited weapons fire."
Horatio saw Captain Archer nod his head, he was more than likely going to try and come down as well, but there was nothing, he could do to stop him.
"we'll be arriving at Rigel X in three hours I want everyone to read an hour before so we can fix any issues that can potentially arise." Said Archer as he picked up one of the weapons, he felt the weight for a moment then looked at Horatio. "a little heavy." He said before he took the gun.
"I have fast rig holsters for them based on the old west cowboy belts." He said, handing the Captain a dark brown leather belt with attached holster. "If you want to review any of the information or have any questions do not be afraid to let me know."
-(-)-
Horatio was already in his preferred clothes for the occasion, a pair of Russian Sapogi styled combat boots. A military grey pair of trousers that closed on the sides with steel buttons. Held up by black suspenders, a Marron coloured cotton long-sleeved polo shirt and a grey long military coat with red shoulder tabs. It was patched with several different shades of grey stitched on was hung up on the wall. He was finishing a report when the door chime went off.
"Enter." He said, turning to face his guest. He hadn't expected Hoshi to come through. She was wearing ankle boots with green cargo trousers tucked onto them and a closed hooded jacket under a thicker fur-lined winter coat. "Ensign Sato, what can I do for you?"
"Sir, I had a question." He could tell she was very nervous, he indicated to the chair next to him and waited for her to get comfortable.
"Go ahead I'm always open to answering questions."
"why me, sir?" she didn't stammer. However, she was surprisingly meek in asking. He waited for a second to adequately express his point when she continued. "I mean, why for this mission this doesn't seem like something a communications officer should be doing. I'm not a Soldier like Lieutenant Reed to have tonnes of experience with other worlds like Travis." he smiled slightly.
"I chose you because you are the best choice for deciphering the data we're trying to get," he said to her honestly. "Sarin also likes to take the form of the race she does business with that gives us an edge." He smiled reassuringly at her. "Because I also read in your file, you were a body language expert." She nodded quickly "I want you to try and pick up on any deception she tries to hide."
"yes sir." She said still not very confident in her contribution.
"But I will give you this one piece of advice that helped me when I was a junior officer in the MACO." She looked very eager for the advice as she was still very new and needed all the advice she could get. "Be who you are, not what you think people want you to be, we have enough Malcolm Reeds or Travis Mayweather's, but we only have one Hoshi Sato so be Hoshi Sato." She founded a bit as she pondered his words.
"I think I understand sir."
"Good, now I hope your ready we'll be going down soon enough."
-(-)-
The Shuttle entered orbit and ploughed into a massive snowstorm. The high winds buffered the Shuttle, and its crew were having trouble holding the Shuttle steady. They came up to the hub station, it was built into a mountain and had multi-story shuttle parking that reached up to the peak of the mountain.
The Shuttle penetrated the environmental shield and almost crashed as the high winds that Mayweather was compensating for suddenly stopped. Still, they managed to land without much issue. They entered the uppermost floor of the station and were greeted by the sickeningly sweet smell of pork like substance being cooked. They are as oppressive as some of the carrion-eating species were living on the level.
Hoshi stuck close to Horatio and Chief petty officer Dragomirov. Dragomirov was a big brute of a man at six foot six he was an inch taller than Horatio but was built strong as only a Cossack can be. He could always be relied on to have a blade on him somewhere a trait that Horatio approved of sincerely. T'Pol was stuck with the Captain. Commander tucker buy had Crewman Lynch with them. Lynch is a reliable hand being a former MACO shock trooper from a long line of German officers. He claims direct relation to the famous Marshal Von Blucher and held grate pride in his Prussian roots.
He had made sure that Mayweather stuck to the Shuttle and monitored them closely sending the information back to the Enterprise and Malcolm Reed. He had a guard with him just in case something, or someone took a liking to the pod and tried to steal it. When Horatio found out that the Captain wanted to go down and take Tucker with him, he had protested, but the man wouldn't listen.
"Probably the reason he and tucker sat in on the mission briefing." He mused to himself as they approached the main Turbo Lift. They were old-style freight elevators that were used when the Hub station was a mine. He watched the man lose his cool over a bug that was mostly harmless and had to be berated by T'Pol.
"get ready," he said to his small team. "this is where things get nasty." He said, pressing the button to go down. They watched the numbers roll past at a sedate pace he then let go at level thirty-four, the momentum of the lift stopped at thirty-six exactly. "Prepare yourselves and whatever you do, do not cause a scene."
The hydraulics on the doors pulled open the doors, and they were met with a scene out of The Post Atomic Horror, there were green women in cages with collard chained in such a way that they couldn't stand or sit. Blue-skinned sentiments were begging for their lives and others of the same species that were slaughtered and cooked. That was the least of the atrocities happening here as weapons were being tested on living sentients like it was an everyday thing. There was a yellow-skinned sentient injecting a glowing red substance into its eyes. Another orange-skinned sentient that was selling parts of species that he claimed were fresh and just off that really upset Hoshi.
Horatio hated being here and had to keep his hand on the handle of his weapon to stop his hand from shaking. The memories threatened to overcome him as the group made their way to the shop. It was the only beacon of normality in the see of nightmarish horrors that were occurring around them.
They entered just as a sizeable Green cyclops with spiked bone spurs jutting out of its arms left. It Grunted at them in a guttural language that the translators couldn't even begin to decipher. Still, as Dragomirov closed the door behind them, the smell and the noise ended, and a human-looking female met them with long brown hair and green eyes.
The shop was laid out like an old Ironmongers, everything was on shelves behind the counter, and the staff would get you what you asked for. She recognised Horatio almost immediately and pressed a button under her counter that sealed the door and interfered with any trackers or recording devices. She eyed Horatio before she spoke.
"you look awful." She said she had a Toronto accent and the disapproving demi sneering pout of a Quebecois. Using her index finger, she directed them to follow her to the back of the shop. "Though you have been keeping better company that last you visited me." Her eyes practically devoured Hoshi, who was slightly perturbed with her forthrightness. "How is Malcolm?" she asked as they reached a room that had a large comfort throne and several smaller chairs.
She lounged on the chair, letting the red dress she was wearing show more of her sharply leg. She loved to use her shape, shifting ability to play up her sexuality as a distraction when doing business.
"He's in orbit on my ship," Horatio said simply as he sat in front of her he was mostly immune to her extreme sexual posturing.
"they gave you a ship?" she pulled out a small Japanese style fan and used it to cover a giggle then fan herself suggestively. Again, she held Hoshi's gaze as the young Japanese woman shook her head in disbelief.
"I'm looking for information." He said, drawing her eyes to him and away from Hoshi who she was trying to seduce.
"aren't we all darling?" She sighed and reinitiated herself so that she was lounging back over the arms of the chair still fanning herself "well" she said impishly "ask me?"
"We're looking for information you gave to a Klingon, about who wanted it other than them and where they are located."
"and where would Star Fleet be taking a Warrior of the Klingon Empire." She seemed disinterested but maintained the fanning slowly and methodically.
"you know us goodie goods, my dear." He said to her as he helped her sit with her legs crossed. "we're taking him back to Kronos." She smiled slightly more comprehensive than a human should be able to.
"who took him?" she asked innocently, Horatio knew that she probably already knew and was testing him.
"Suliban, we don't know what faction." He said honestly, she looked a bit disappointed but covered it quickly.
"Silik" she said the name with venom, practically spitting at him. She then actually spat in disgust of having the residual air of speaking that name in her mouth. "He's lost sight of the end goal of our evolution" she dropped all pretence of attempting to seduce Hoshi and reverted to her proper green-skinned form. "Allied himself with someone powerful, not even I know who and trust me I have tried."
"what do they want?" asked Hoshi, she smiled at her again before giving her answer.
"War, I gave Klang the information that the Suliban Cabal have been attacking the Empire" she looked Horatio in the eye. "It wasn't one of the houses attacking the others to start a civil war."
"why would he want a Klingon Civil war?" Hoshi asked, but Horatio cut off any answer Sarin could give by stating.
"Not Important, what faction is he?" Horatio demanded
"The Cabal."
"The Cabal?" he asked, looking confused. "not a faction I'm familiar with" he lied expertly.
"they remained elusive for years then suddenly they jumped ahead of all other Suliban factions absorbing several into the Cabal. They are now the strongest of all the factions.
"where are they located?" Horatio asked she pulled a small data chip from her cleavage.
"This is the location." He reached for it before she stopped him by tapping his hand gently. "Ah, what do you have for me?" she asked, she smiled as Horatio frowned at her "you know how this goes nothing is for free." He gave her a data chip, then waited for her to read the information on it, she smiled wide again before handing the data chip to him, he handed it off to Hoshi. The latter inserted it into a reader that brought with her. It took a second before she nodded.
"let's go." As they turned to leave a green energy blast, hit where Hoshi was standing.
"there here." She shouted and as if by magic, twelve Suliban warriors wearing blue uniforms appeared. They charged out of the door, two being killed instantly as they went through. "follow me." She shouted as the sound of weapons fire got more intense.
They pulled their weapons and followed the walking Sarin at a jogging pace. He grabbed his communicator.
"This is Smith, Everyone, back to the shuttle now." The communications line was a bit staticky, but he received an acknowledgement. As they approached a set of cargo containers, another red-clad Suliban popped its head up only for Horatio to blow it off." The green plasma pulse turning the offending limb into a purple cloud of haze.
Dragamirov hit the other in the torso blowing a hole the size of a bowling ball in the chest the warrior. They took a left then a right and stopped at what appeared to be a dead-end, she placed a hand on the wall, and it opened revealing another maintenance elevator.
"This goes to the roof of the complex." She said as they got on, "take the information and use it well, Horatio." She said, pulling her own disrupter "I'll see you again now that I owe you a favour." She smiled before backtracking down the same engineering tunnels they had just come from. The elevator launched up at speed, and within a few moments, they were on the roof.
-(-)-
The Shuttle was close, but as they neared another shot, then the environmental weather shield suddenly turned off blinding everyone in the blizzard. The snow was so thick that they couldn't see more than three feet in front of them.
"Use the Scanners try and locate the shuttle." He shouted, the blizzard making it very difficult for him to be heard over the howling rage of the storm. "watch for the edge I want to accidents while we're up here." The two he was with nodded, in front of them, there were bursts of light that almost looked like lightning. They saw the shuttle pod as they neared the light show, then without warning, they saw T'Pol sliding across the roof he turned to Dragamirov. "Get Hoshi to the Shuttle I'll cover T'Pol." He said then as he turned, he saw Archer run to pick up T'Pol's weapon and cover her himself he opened up with both weapons at the Cabal soldiers.
T'Pol was slow to get to her feet as Horatio arrived, he tapped the buttons on the side of his weapon. Then he pulled the trigger the weapon opened up like a machine pistol, he had one hand on the guard and the other on the top covering Archers retreat. But he was slow in his own and took a shot to the left knee that put him down. Forcing himself to move he got to the Shuttle as Dragamirov, Lynch and Archer covered him Archer was hit and the two security men them back into the Shuttle.
As soon as the door sealed, Mayweather began to get the ship to launch.
"The Starboard thruster is down." Said Mayweather as the sound of impacts peppered the hull
"ignore it and get us out of here." Shouted Tucker
"Open a channel." T'Pol ordered "Sub-Commander T'Pol to Enterprise," she said,
"Reed here Sir."
"We'll be landing in four minutes have Dr Flox to meet us at the decontamination chamber we have wounded men here." She said as Hoshi handed her the Pad.
"is someone wounded?" Reed asked
"The Captain and Commander Smith." She said.
-(-)-
Horatio woke up with a groan, then saw the Doctors smiling face and groaned again.
"not again." He covered his face with his hands, partly out of frustration and partly out of shame. "I go five years without incident than on one mission I get hospitalised twice."
"I must say my Osmotic eel is getting quite the workout." He smiled that broad unsettling smile again.
"How long have…"
"just around six hours." He said, putting the eel back in its pen. "I felt it best to keep you sedated as the eel did its work."
"Probably for the best." He said as he sat up in the chair, the scar wasn't as bad as he feared, and the pain had lessened. "the Captain?"
"up and about half an hour ago." He said as he picked up the applicator he was looking for, he installed a pail blue concoction container into the device.
"any news?" Horatio asked as the Doctor injected him with the solution. He then turned to pick up another vile.
"we're headed to the location that you and your team found." He shook the vile, and the green liquid turned yellow, he then gave Horatio another injection this time in the meat of high thy. It stung like a bee sting and his leg cramped for a second before going back to normal.
"so, we're not headed home?"
"no, Sub-Commander T'Pol decided that the mission should continue." Horatio was surprised for a moment then chuckled.
"atta-girl" he smiled as he stepped off the bed and put weight on his leg, the pain was a lot less than what he was expecting.
"you're going to need to come back tomorrow to fix that leg fully." Said the Doctor as he injected the leg with a different coloured concoction that was apparently an effective pain killer as it numbed the rest of the pain to a dull itch.
"thank you, doctor." He smiled as he handed him his clothes.
"you are very welcome commander."
-(-)-
Horatio sat on his bed and was thankful to Flox for sedating him and giving him more numbing agents to stop his hands from shaking and relax him. Confronting his demons like that returning to the scene of the crime as it were was mentally taxing. The six hours Flox had given him had allowed him to avoid the unpleasantness of that time.
Thankfully at the moment, he was officially off duty, he wanted to relax for a while. He set the alarm to let him know when an hour was up because then he would be headed to the armoury. He needed to check the weapons locker to make sure that the modified equipment was stowed away. It wasn't that he didn't rust Reed it was that he wanted to tinker with the weapons again and he wanted to add a few more features to them. Maybe scratch build a plasma shotgun, Mal would like that he was a tinkerer too.
He tried for half an hour but couldn't quite reach the point where he could unwind. It was annoying but true, so he took a deep breath and got up, he limped slightly as he made his way to the armoury. He was surprised to see Malcolm Reed already in the room and working on something.
"Mal?" the English man jumped in surprise before turning to see Horatio.
"Ratio." He said in confusion "What are you doing here."
"couldn't relax so I thought I would get busy." The man nodded in understanding. "you working on anything special?" he asked, looking at the mess of parts on the table.
"I was looking at your weapon," he said honestly "I was surprised by the number of sub-options you managed to sneak into it."
"you heard about that."
"indeed." He said as he turned back to the weapon in question. "show me how you did it."
Horatio smiled Mal would never change; he was always looking to tinker with something and wasn't ever happy unless he had a puzzle or a mystery to solve.
"OK, Mal I'll show you." He smiled as he sat down opposite the side of him so he could explain the full gambit of things he had done to the weapon. "First, I scanned Klang's weapon to get the full rundown of its capabilities. Then I saw how I could improve upon it. I knew we had some EM-33's collecting dust so wanted to see what I can do."
As he detailed the different functions, he had squeezed into the weapon. He had a machine pistol mode that would spray the area down with plasma, a burst fire option that fired three blasts per shot and an overload option for a grenade. He also had a beam and burst fire options and then the three power options from stun to vaporise.
-(-)-
Horatio sat at his post as the ship slowed from Warp he had come straight from the infirmary. After his last session with the Doctors menagerie of strange and off-putting creatures. The treatment on his leg had been what the Doctor called a tremendous success and that any residual pain would be purely psychosomatic. He was working away at the ops station keeping an eye on the internal systems and the sensitive calibrations to the power systems.
T'Pol had called the Captain to the bridge as they entered the system they had been given. The Sensors had picked up multiple Warp trails from what we had suspected were Cabal ships. The coordinates gave no specific planet, so we followed a massive warp trail into the system. But this path had apparently gone cold as the radiation belt that surrounded the system had obscured the trail.
T'Pol had used a with the sensors and the trajectory so that they could estimate the correct location. This had led to a large D-Class gas giant. So, against recommendations from T'Pol and Horatio's own misgivings, we entered the atmosphere of the Gas Giant. Horatio had spent some time on the way done adjusting the power output and the field strength of the deflector dish. Giving the ship as smooth a ride as he was able to accomplish.
The yellow alert alarm sounded as the ship entered the layers of gas, the impact of liquid gases on the hull immediately activated the system turning on the hull polarisation. Horatio watched the viewscreen as the NX-Class crashed through the cyclohexane layer. The ship vibrated for a while as it hit a pocket of liquid phosphorus. He had adjusted the sensor output to negate any issue such an issue would cause the vibrating stopped as they pulled away from the phosphorus.
"can we recommend seat belts?" asked Hoshi "when we get home?"
"already installed." Horatio replied, "the button on the left-hand side of your chair, Ensign." He said activating his own. The chairs at each station were had was similar to the old-style Captain's chair that he had replaced for Archer. The belt flipped down over his left and right shoulder connecting to the right and left seat of his chair, securing him to the chair comfortably.
Everyone on the bridge seeing that activated their own and were pleasantly surprised at how comfortable they were.
"Long-range Scans." Ordered the Captain. "level off Travis." He called the pilot as the ship orientated to a more level position.
"Detecting two vessels at bearing one, one, nine mark seven." Said T'Pol
"Impulse and warp engines," said Reed as he ran scans of the vessels.
"armaments?"
"Beam weapons and launchers." He replied, "nothing we can't handle."
"I've got something larger at three-four-two mark twelve." Said Travis, the screen changed to show the location of a large station.
"all sensors I want everything on that station." He ordered
"I'm getting over thirty thousand life signs." Said Hoshi as her sensors began to "I cannon pinpoint a Klingon life sign." There was a sudden and massive impact on the ship that shook everyone.
"particle weapons sir." Said Horatio "Polarisation down to ninety-eight per cent." He then began to tap the button, "no casualties, no significant damage."
"evasive manoeuvres." Ordered Archer, there was another impact
"ninety-seven." Said, Horatio. There was a beep as the internal communication system activated.
"Bridge, Engineering what's going on?"
"a disagreement with the bad guys." Said Archer
"Recommend we retreat to the phosphorus level, sir." Said Horatio, before T'Pol could do so herself.
"Travis take us up," Archer ordered reluctantly.
The ship disappeared into the thick clouds obscuring it from the Cabals ships which were no match one on one with the NX -Class. Because of the cloud layer, they couldn't risk going in blind after her.
"Captain." Called T'Pol as she began to go over the detailed scans "it appears to be an aggregate structure." She showed the individual cell ships. "It's made up of hundreds of vessels."
"Captain" this time it was Hoshi, "I've isolated a none Suliban biosignature, I'm not sure if its Klingon."
"Hull Polarisation back to one hundred per cent sir." Said, Horatio
"even if it is Klang it'll be tough to get him out of there."
"I wouldn't recommend the Transporter sir we don't know if he'll come back in one piece or not." Said Malcolm "we could try and capture one of their ships?"
"would the grappler work in a liquid environment?" asked Archer
"it would sir but not as effectively." Said, Horatio.
"bring it online." He ordered.
The ship dropped down into the liquid layer. It fired a barge of fast-moving phased plasma bolts. Malcolm had been meticulous just to get their attention and not destroy any of them.
Once the ships turned to attack, the grappler dropped, and Malcolm successfully snagged a vessel before its escorts could stop them. They then disappeared back into the cloud layer as the pilot ejected.
-(-)-
Archer had explained the plan, and it sounded like a suicide mission. They had spent the past few hours going over the full details of the ship and its mechanics, giving Archer enough information to pilot the vessel effectively. As they finished the final run of checks, Horatio approached Archer in his ready room.
"Sir, I really must protest this action." He said, but Archer remained unconvinced. "you are the Captain you place is on the bridge let me and Malcolm go we are trained for this type of thing extensively."
"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow that." He said as he "I won't order someone to do anything I am not willing to do myself." He said as the door chimed. "Enter." He called and in walked T'Pol
"I should be back soon, have Mayweather plot a course to Kronos."
"There is a Vulcan ship less than two days away it is illogical to attempt this alone," T'Pol said the Captain put something in a file then turned to her.
"I was beginning to think you had realised why we have to do this alone." He said as he zipped his left arm pocket closed, he had put in a hand scanner as Malcolm entered with two large cases both from the armoury.
"There will be other opportunities to show off your independence." She said as Malcolm put the
"Never put off tomorrow what you can do today."
"Sir, you are putting your own life as well as that of Commander Tucker on the line here."
"then why did you want to go?"
"Because I am trained for that, and so is Malcolm." The man in question nodded. "we knew that death was a possibility that's why we chose the red sir." He said poking the man in the chest. "we accepted that we could die as a possible outcome to protect out Captain and our ship, sir." Malcolm opened the case containing the new phase pistols.
"these are the phase pistols." He said taking one out he handed it to Horatio
"This is stun this is kill its now on stun be careful." He said, "they have a very light trigger." Horatio said as he who tried to turn the emitter away from the man but the Captain in his hurry grabbed the weapon his thumb hitting the trigger shooting himself with it.
"bugger." He said, catching the man as his whole body went limp. "we seem to have had an accidental weapons discharge." He said shocking the two with him. "He's going to be out for about half an hour."
"Call for Doctor Flox." Ordered T'Pol, as she helped Horatio sit the man in his chair.
"This is a failure of basic safety training." He said slyly "he didn't check where the gun was pointed and didn't ensure than the weapon was safe before grabbing it." Horatio said prying apart the Captain's eyelids looking in his eye, he pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket and checked the dilation.
"but the Mission." Said Malcolm slightly befuddled as this was the first time, he had ever seen a blatant safety violation before.
"you and I will be doing it," Horatio said as he unzipped the Captain's hand scanner and took the device. "He's in no condition to do it, and Commander Tucker is going to be needed to make sure the ship is still here for us to get back to." Horatio then pointed to Malcolm "tell Commander Tucker what happened here."
He said as Flox arrived.
"What happened?"
"the captain accidentally stunned himself." Said T'Pol.
"T'Pol," Horatio said, getting her attention away from the Doctor. "we're on a tight time frame here. Until the Captain has recovered, you should take charge here." She nodded
"if the captain thinks you did this on purpose, he may insist that you should be taken into custody." She replied honestly
"a sacrifice I am willing to make." She nodded he then picked up the device and headed for the door. "come along Mal." He said as he left the Captain and potentially his career in the Ready room.
He tapped the communications device as he and Malcolm entered the Turbo lift.
"This is Smith I want two plasma rifles at the ready in the shuttle bay."
They had already docked with the station by the time the Captain had awoken.
"get your butts back here now." He ordered over the comm line.
"Sorry, sir." Said Horatio "you said it yourself we are on a strict timetable if we turn around the Klingons could be offended and attack Earth sir." He told the Captain, who sighed audibly.
"just get it done, we'll discuss what happened in the ready room when you get back."
"Understood sir."
They began to carefully sweep their way through the station to the location of Klang. They had only encountered one member of the Cabal and the stunning setting on the weapons hadn't set off any of the alarms. The found the location quickly using the hand scanners to make sure the chair he was fastened too wasn't alarmed Horatio activated the translator for Malcolm.
"Klang." The Warrior jerked then looked up at the two humans. "we're getting you out of here." He said the Warrior nodded as Malcolm untied him from the metal restraints. He pushed Malcolm, but Horatio pulled his weapon. "don't make me drop you and carry your fat ass out of here."
"weapon?"
"do you swear on your honour not to turn it on us?" he asked the Warrior reluctantly nodded and he tossed him a phase pistol. The trio made their way to the corridor before a patrol spotted them. They maintained a jogging pace as they got to the cell ships, the running firefight lasted the whole way as they covered the each-others retreat.
As they bordered the cramped courters of the cell ship Horatio activated the device. Disconnecting from the station core as the device activated the ships all detached crashing into each other and causing massive amounts of damage to the Cabals fleet. They ascended at the correct coordinates to meet Enterprise.
"it should be here." Said Malcolm as the Enterprise wasn't at its assigned location.
"ignite the drive plasma, Mal." Said Horatio the three men were crammed together like sardines. The ignition brought Enterprise to their location and was drawn into the shuttle bay by the ship's grappler. The vessel was securely locked into the bay, and it repressured the bay. The three practically fell out of the pod in a pile of twisted limbs.
-(-)-
The Captain sat in his ready room, waiting for Horatio to arrive. He berated himself as he waited; he couldn't believe he had shot himself in front of the Vulcan. Brushing the trigger with his thumb because he was in a hurry and didn't observe proper safety regulations.
The doorbell chimed, and he prepared himself.
"Enter." The door opened with a whirr and Horatio walked into the room. He stood at perfect military attention.
"Reporting as ordered sir." He could tell that the man was tired
"report." He ordered
"Mission accomplished Klang is in Medical with Dr Flox in recovery." He said not even breaking his posture. "we encountered light resistance, I believe that we have caught the Cabal by surprise with this quick hit and run raid."
"good," he said as he reclined slightly. "I would appreciate it if you don't mention what happened here in your log." He said the man nodded tightly "we're three days from Kronos. I hope you can be convinced to stay on with us." Said Archer with a smile
"I would be honoured, sir." Archer held out his hand, and Horatio shook it.