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Star Trek Enterprise
Here we stand
Chapter 09
Mystery at Nova Terra
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Commanders Star Log Entry 08: April 03 2151
Captain Archer, with gentle probing by young Mr Mayweather, has decided that we should investigate the disappearance of the Terra Nova Colony. Admiral Forest was ecstatic once we reported that fact in the weekly check-up communication. This is one of the best mysteries of the modern age like that of the disappearance of Zefram Cochrane.
A mystery that could have been solved. If the UE government had swallowed its pride and actually requested the Vulcans to check up on them when we lost communications a year after they did. But as usual, the stubborn ego of humanity rears its ugly head.
One day we'll rise above such petty considerations, I look to future generations to be better than we are now.
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Travis was practically vibrating in his chair as both he and Hoshi was going over every scrap on information their clearance level allowed them.
"is that Mitchel?" asked Hoshi, he loomed over his shoulder utterly entranced by the information. You could hear the wonder in her voice as she watched the screen.
"no, I think that's Mitchel" he replied, indicating to a different person. Horatio sighed; he was on station in the Captain's chair as he was updating Star Fleet on the current location.
"you have complete access to the personnel files Ensign if you're unsure look them up." He said as the two turned to face him, "It saves on guesswork." He pointed at her station, "now as we all have a job to do, let's start hailing the Colony every half an hour." He said lightly, he didn't want to stifle their inquisitive nature or their adventurous spirit, but they had work to do.
"Aye, sir." They both said as they got back to their stations. The Captain returned from his ready room and with his usual burst of energy and excitement.
"Are we there yet." He asked as Horatio got up and returned to his position at the Ops position.
"not yet, sir." Replied Travis, "we're three hours and seventeen minutes out, sir."
"I've taken the liberty to have Ensign Sato hail the colony every half hour Sir." Archer turned to Horatio and nodded in thanks.
"Travis has been digging through the archives." Said Hoshi as she put a device in her ear and opened the channel.
"there's just so much here, Crew Manifests, Survey Data, Weekly status reports." He said, turning to the Captain a bit bashfully. "I was hoping to find something, anything a clue to find out what happened, but it." Archer smiled at the young man as he sat in his chair
"you would be the first."
"Terra Nova has been a fascination of mine since I was a kid." He smiled, slightly "Lost colonies always affect boomers the worst after the families." He said sincerely, "with new colonies the chance at new trade routes and new business opportunities and when they fail the boomers that take the chance to reroute their trade stops either loose so much that they can't be viable anymore. Or they eat the loss and have to work twice as hard for half as much." Travis said as if speaking from a tragic experience. "There's also something about people who choose to live off-world."
"Captain." Hoshi called, "do you think there is anyone still there?" as she waited for a reply from her hail.
"I hope so, but I guess we'll find out soon in about three hours and seventeen minutes." He said with a cavalier smile.
"What about you, Commander?" she asked.
"In my experience, there are only three reasons a Colony fails." He replied, crossing his arms, "First, natural disaster, Second bad colony management and thirdly an attack."
"you think they were attacked?" Archer had spun in his chair to face him.
"it's a possibility that we must entertain until proven otherwise." Archer nodded again and turned his chair to face the viewscreen again.
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At two hours out, Captain Archer had left to have lunch with T'Pol and Tucker in his Cabin something Horatio had been thankful for. As the man was so upon discovering the mystery. He had been insufferable. But as the planet entered visual range, he leapt into action.
"Long-range scans Mr Reed." He ordered, "I want to know what the surrounding space looks like and any of the marker boy's leftover from their arrival." The man nodded and got on to his job. He turned to face Hoshi.
"no response, sir." She replied, "I've tried every frequency and every channel that they would be able to access it's like they're not there."
"Are they receiving the hails is there a handshake with our comm. Systems?"
"they are receiving." She confirmed, "I can't explain it, sir, the system is still there, and it's receiving the transmission, but it's like no one is there." He nodded in understanding, turning back to face the viewer he tapped the broadcast button on the arm of the chair.
"Captain Archer to the bridge."
"anything wrong?" Archer replied over the communications channel.
"we're in visual range sir, and I have begun preliminary scans," Horatio answered as he read the information on the arm consoles.
"I'm on my way."
"Sir!" called Malcolm, he turned to face the man who looked upset, "there's debris in orbit of the planet, sir." He informed him, "from its size I'd estimate that it was a ship of some kind, but its hull composition is something that I have never seen before." Horatio nodded before he made his next move. He pressed the button on the arm of the chair.
"Yellow Alert." He pressed the broadcast button, "All stations Yellow Alert." The Captain charged back on to the bridge and like a well-practised dance Horatio got up and moved to his Ops station as the Captain sat in his chair.
He was followed quickly by T'Pol who assumed the science station.
"what do we have." He turned to face her as she used the scope, the in-depth analysis that the scope provided gave her the answer relatively quickly.
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Commanders Star Log Entry 08: April 03 2151 [Continued]
The ship didn't match any known design that the Vulcan high command had in their database. There were familiar elements, but they were used in enough species that they couldn't be pinpointed. But it was apparent that the colony was attacked.
I had suggested that the ship remains at yellow alert until we could determine that the threat. Or at the very least the danger wasn't something that would be a near and present danger to the ship or the crew.
Initial scans of the planet revealed at one point a meteorite impact had hit the planet.
Captain Archer at mine and T'Pol's request asked for Admiral Forest to request that a Vulcan ship should be sent as immediate back up just in case.
We were going to head down to the planet to investigate farther, a prospect that I am not overly fond of.
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Two shuttles departed from the ship and moved with practised synchronicity. They hung in the void for a moment before they began to move towards the planet's atmosphere. Inside the pods, the security teams were buffeted slightly in their seats Horatio had made sure that they were packed for heavy assault as a precaution.
Horatio tapped the communicator.
"This is Commander Smith," he said seriously "I want the landing zone secured immediately by team one. Team two will be with me and investigate the settlement." He then tapped the communicator for a second time. "Smith to Enterprise"
"Enterprise here." The voice was heavily distorted by the radiation but was still clear enough to pick up the tones of Captain Archer.
"we'll keep the comm line, open sir, as a precaution."
"Understood."
"Have we been able to analyse the debris fully?"
"it's still undergoing spectral analysis we'll keep you updated."
"Aye, Sir."
The ship slowed had descended to a gentle stop just outside the main settlement of Terra Nova. They moved cautiously from the pods' Team One moved out in standard security manoeuvre for LZ clearing. Horatio knew that they would be with them again as soon as they had finished the job.
They kept their weapons up visually scanning the area.
As soon as they saw doors ajar, they turned to Horatio. Using universal sign language, he instructed two men to sweep the nearest building. Then indicated for another two to do the next he then took the last two. The team made their way to the largest building.
They breached the door quickly using the phase plasm rifles to blow off the lock and the hinges, they entered quickly and cleared every room in the building. As soon as the last building was secure, he tapped the communications device.
"Smith to Enterprise."
"Reed on station Sir."
"We have bodies down here." He said as he crouched down to one of them, using the Security scanner he continued. "Female, Caucasian, height five feet nine inches, age at death thirty-six, cause of death unknown plasma weapon strike to the back." He then followed up. "Male, Sub-Saharan African, height six feet seven inches, age at death forty-five cause of death unknown plasma weapon strike to the chest."
"anymore down there?" asked a new voice, it was clearly Captain Archer, he could feel the weight of the information land on the man, "anyone alive?"
"none so far, Sir." He replied as the rest of the team turned up. Then showed him the scans he read them carefully. "two more bodies sir." He said the two crewmen looked visibly upset but had a strong, stiff upper lip that he appreciated. "Female and Male." He then began to give the full rundown. "the Female is East Asian, height five feet exactly, age at death twenty-six cause of death unknown plasma energy strike back of the head." He coughed to cover his immediately disgusted by the information. Still, He tramped down the bile that threatened to rise in his throat. "lastly, Male, East Asian, Five feet ten inches in height, age at death twenty-nine, cause of death unknown plasma energy strike to the back of the head."
"there should be over two hundred people down there." Said Archer he could hear the frustration in his voice bubble to the surface.
"these are the only bodies we have found sir." He replied, trying to maintain his calm attitude "we'll keep looking, but I would like more teams and Dr Phlox down here as soon as possible."
"Understood we'll send them down soon."
"thank you, sir."
They spent more time widening the search before they found a crater in the side of a sloping hill. Taking the time to go down into and do a thorough scan, the team discovered Fossilised Plasma. Similar to what happens with a high-powered lightning strike hits sand to create Fossilised Lightning. Fossilised Plasma held enough of the residual radiation they could determine what type of Plasma was used and maybe like fingerprints. Or like grooves in a bullet to determine the weapon that fired it. They sent it along for analysis on the ship on the first shuttle up to the ship.
Horatio had them fan out not just to find the bodies but to find the Warp Core and the nacelles were something conspicuous in their absence. The Core on the older ships had no dilithium crystals they used a fission reactor to create the warp effect bubble. The same as Zefram Cochrane's Phoenix warp ship and was supposed to be used as the power plant for the colony.
"Smith to Enterprise." He said quickly he was pinching the bridge of his nose at his own stupidity.
"Archer here." He facepalmed himself, then face wiped himself.
"Sir, has the ship run a scan for the warp core?" he asked.
"not yet, why?" Archer asked inquisitively,
"it's not here, sir." He said he had expanded the search. Still, the scanners had only shown that it had been in the town. But that was all. He wasn't sure that whatever attacker would want an old fission reactor or if the colonists had moved it to a secure location like a shelter. But he discounted that as the radiation put out by the Core would make that a prospect not to be taken lightly.
"what?"
"it's not here."
"that's impossible." Said Reed as his voice cut through the communications line. "it would have to be there how else would they have been able to contact earth." The logic of the armoury officer was infallible.
"heavy scanning Malcolm." The Captain ordered, "we'll have the results down to you soon."
"he's right sir." Malcolm said as he finished the scan. "we have residual radiation but no fission reactor."
"How can that be?" Archer asked rhetorically, "that's impossible it has to be there."
"apparently not sir," said Horatio "I'll follow up on a trail I've found here, sir, but I think we need to take another look at the debris, sir."
"why's that Commander?"
"a hunch sir." He replied, using his handheld scanner, he followed a faint trail that went along a dirt path. The colonists had started work on a road to the nearest water source and had cleared a dirt road using lasers.
The forest had reclaimed it, but the scanner found it again, he was flanked by two of his security men. They made their way almost two miles before they stopped. What they found was an almost impossibility, hued out of the rock probably using lasers was a world war two looking V rocket sight.
"my god." He said as he walked to the clearing where the sight had been built. There was a long launch skit that had been hastily constructed by the looks of it but smooth enough. The inside was about six meters deep, leading to a bulkhead door that had been welded shut.
He stopped before proceeding. He reasoned that it would be best to give an update rather than just charge in like a fool and potentially get injured. The more he was down on the planet, the more he believed that they wouldn't find any of the Novan's of his memory.
"Smith to Enterprise, I've found a launch skid, sir." He said as he indicated for the two to begin opening the bulkhead with the phasers. There was a small explosion in the rocks as they started.
"what?" reasoning that Archer hadn't heard him or hadn't believed him.
"Launch Skid" he repeated "it's rough, but it's here," he said as he knelt to touch it, there was considerable dust from the sheltered parts. The weather had started to rust the metal that it was made of, but it was here. "the welds are very rough; this was a one-shot thing, sir, whatever they were trying."
"did they try and escape?" there was an underlying hope that filled Archer, it was upsetting that he would have to extinguish that hope. "we could track them, maybe they got to a near buy system."
"I don't think so, sir." He said carefully, he wanted to hope as well, but from the size of the skid, it wasn't possible to send a ship up even a two-seater.
"Are you sure, they could have tried and run form whatever was attacking them?"
"I'm not sure," he said, not wanting to destroy any hope that there were survivors here. "It's unlikely sir, but you should probably launch a probe or send for Vulcan reinforcements." He replied before finishing "we've found a door sir I believe it may lead to a bunker of some sort we'll continue to investigate Smith out."
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On the ship, Archer was giving the idea of reinforcements real consideration. He couldn't afford to dismiss the idea outright nor could he allow his own prejudices to prevent what happened here from being solved. With a tired sigh of resignation, he turned to Hoshi.
"Hoshi get Admiral Forest on the line we're going to need some help here." The young ensign nodded; she recognised the large step the Captain was taking in asking for help.
"Aye, Sir." She said, Archer, got up from his chair and made his way off the bridge.
"I'm headed to Science Lab three tell T'Pol I'm on my way down" he then turned to Malcolm "You have the con, Mr Reed." Malcolm nodded and followed up on the Captain's order.
"Star Fleet Command this is Enterprise please respond." She had the carrier wave of high-frequency scramble for maximum security. "repeat, Star Fleet Command this is Enterprise please respond."
"This is Star Fleet Command" the reply was almost instantaneous as the ship was close enough for direct transmission. "Enterprise, Admiral Forest here."
"Sir, this is Ensign Sato, Captain Archer has requested. Vulcan support here."
"Archer, what?" came the astonished reply, she could empathise. The Captain made no secret that he had a strong dislike of the Vulcans and the Captain asking for help meant that things were getting terrible indeed.
"as stated, sir." She replied, "the situation on the planet is complex and evolving."
"Give me a full rundown Ensign."
"aye, sir."
She gave the Admiral the complete brief of what they had uncovered so far. Meanwhile, Archer had reached the Lab.
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T'Pol was glued to the scope she eyes darted over the information drinking it in like a thirsty man fresh from surviving the desert. The composition of the metals had been astonishing, the species that had designed them used a composite material along with a type of coating the matrix of which was intended to deflect conventional sensors.
She had made doubly sure to send her findings to the high command. Still, she had reached a barrier some classified elements that had stymied her identification procedure. Still, the scans that the human-designed sensors had been able to reveal where to quote her Academe Professor "fascinating".
She had also used the materials present to reconstruct the ship from its fragmented debris. But it was something that had intrigued her. So much so that when the door opened, she stayed fixated to the device.
"What do you have." It was Captain Archer; she could discern the tension he was under through his voice.
"Hull composition is like nothing that I have ever encountered." She said as she pulled herself away from the scope. "the Vulcan Database has no record of this exact hull composition." She said as she looked the Captain in the eyes, "we do have a partial match to a now-retired Klingon ship, but the match is less than ten per cent."
"Klingon?"
"Indeed" she replied, turning to face the console and bring the image of a Klingon ship and the hull composition. "But there are several indicators key to Klingon Hull production that are not present in any of the samples we have required."
"what else."
"We had enough of the debris to be able to extrapolate what the ship looked like." She brought up the image, and Archer looked stunned.
"What?" he moved closer to the console as if the distance he was standing was affecting the image presented to him. "That's impossible."
"and yet this is, within a margin of error of five present, the ship that attacked the colony." She left that hang in the air for a moment before Archer returned to full voice.
"That is physically impossible." He said, pointing at the ship, "that is a Warp one Colony ship". T'Pol raised an eyebrow at his naked indignation. "for that to be here…" he paused to process the information again. "it could only be the Conestoga."
"I am afraid that that is impossible." She replied, he turned to her, and she could see the emotions he was afflicted with sequence through his face. "The size of the colony indicates that the Conestoga was landed, and they had taken the ship apart as per the mission parameters." T'Pol had familiarised herself with all of the parameters of this particular human mission given the assignment they were presently on.
"then how can that be?" he asked her as he grabbed a nearby chair to sit into it. "if that is the ship that attacked the colony, it would have had to leave earth within a month or two of the Conestoga's launch." He slouched into the chair his hands covering his face
"that would be impossible." She replied the image on the screen changed to the chemical makeup of the Fossilised Plasma. It showed several markers that were distinguishable as not belonging to Star Fleet ships. "As you can see here, the Fossilised Plasma, has several makers that do not appear in the plasma discharge of Star Fleet ships." She then used the interface to show the full chemical breakdown of the Fossilised Plasma. "The way the Plasma is formed in Star Fleet weapons is by ionising deuterium gas" the image on the screen changed. "This gas was mined from localised areas within Star Fleet territory. This can be found in the chemical makeup of the gas and the way it's ionised."
"go on," Archer said as he sat up in the chair.
"whatever means of ionising the plasma that the weapons of this ship used was not the same as those of Star Fleet, it also held a type of disruption field similar to Klingon weapons."
"we're back to the Klingons."
"were it only that simple."
"what do you mean?"
"the type of disruption field while similar to the Klingons have a far higher decay rate."
"what does that mean?"
"It means that whoever attacked the colony as some the point used similar weapons to the Klingons, but enough generations back that it's only an academic connection."
"Keep me posted if you find anything more." He said as he got up and made his way out, he paused at the door before turning back. "good work T'Pol." The Vulcan bowed stiffly in appreciation of the complement than when back to work.
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Horatio looked at the door as the team gathered; he had chosen six of them to accompany him inside. He wasn't sure what was beyond as the Iron content of the rocks was so high that he couldn't scan beyond it.
"we're going in blind gentlemen so let's try and keep together." He said as he addressed the team, they were nervous. He couldn't help but empathise, whatever lay beyond could probably hold the answer to what happened. "Due to the Iron in these rocks we'll be out of contact with Enterprise so as a precaution we'll go in marking our path with our phasers, so we know how to get back." The six nodded in understanding. This is why they wear the red after all.
He took his phaser and began to cut into the rusted hinges, the metal turning the first ruby read then golden yellow finally into a white-hot colour. The metal turning to a soft liquid after a few minutes the door dropped onto the floor with the kind of heavy thump.
The vibrations of the impact and the sound reverberated in the opening. Taking out his hand scanner, he tried to scan the inside. He had sent back a man to grab some rebreathers from the shuttle pod, just in case of methane gas or any number of another deadly ness that they could face going beyond the bulkhead door.
"the iron in the cave is throwing off the scans." He said as he turned to the men. "switch to sonar, we should get a more accurate picture of the cave system that way." He manipulated the device opening the brushed metal compartment in his hand and adjusting the settings. "well, let's get rambling then gentlemen." He then snapped his fingers and held up a hand
"Smith to Enterprise." He said almost kicking himself for not following procedure.
"Enterprise here." Replied Hoshi
"we've breached the door and are about to head inside."
"acknowledged."
"If you don't hear back from us in an hour, send a recovery team."
"Understood." She said before she cut the line. He sighed as he turned and nodded, during the industrial revolution his family had been miners in the South Wales Valleys. Working in one of the most challenging jobs humanity ever had. They had been the black blooded arteries that powered the British empire into a world superpower through blood, sweat, tears and effort.
He put the rebreather on locked it on then checked the airflow. One of the things he would never forget was when he went to the old mining museums as a kid. The uncomfortable heat, he remembered how hot and oppressively breathless the mines were. Even then, the towering walls of rock and coal echoed with the ghosts of men that had died chipping away at their faces to get the precious ore.
He remembered the old folk song his grandmother sang to him in his youth.
"Duw it's Hard" he whispered to himself. He had marvelled at their bravery and their stubborn determination now Horatio prayed for even a fraction of it. As he too centuries apart from those men descended into the mouth of hell.
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Hoshi stood at nervous attention in the Captain's ready room. She had a report for him from Admiral Forest.
"twenty-seven hours sir." He nodded almost forlornly. He had wanted to prove that humanity didn't need the Vulcans looking over their shoulder, and now he was calling for help. It galled him deeply; he 'knew' that they had held back his father's genius so much, so he never got the chance to see the Enterprise launch with his engine. This mission was supposed to be proof that they could stand on their own and not need the Vulcans.
"what do you think history will say about us Hoshi?" he asked her gently, turning to look out the window to the planet below.
"sir?"
"Horatio was right, you know."
"I'm not sure I follow."
"We should have asked the Vulcans to check up on Terra Nova years ago." He said, he was tapping a stylus pen on the arm of his chair. "we still have a lot of growing up to do as a people." He then took a deep breath and let out a long deep sigh.
"Sir, Commander Smith has led a squad of men into a cave system that had been blocked off by a large bulkhead."
"Can we contact him?" He asked her he turned to face her
"no sir there are large iron deposits in the mountains its disturbing everything." He nodded gently before he issued the next order.
"Keep me apprised and see if you can get lieutenant Reed for me." Hoshi nodded then left the room, on the desk was one of the internal communications points he pressed it. "Commander Tucker to the Captain's ready room." He waited a moment before the Floridians drawl flowed from the device.
"what's wrong Captain."
"I need you for an assignment."
"on my way, Captain."
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Horatio found the near-endless dark more manageable with the rebreathers, but that didn't stop the uncompromising heat, nor did it dry the most humidity that permeated the cave system. It was an uncomfortable hot moist environment that he hoped that he would never have to enter again. He kept the hand scanner in his hand so he could follow the sonar the device was using to map the cave system.
It was a limited device that only worked on one plain, but it allowed the scanner to give an accurate path. Every few meters, they scarred the rocks to make sure that they had the path back. No one wanted to be lost in this labyrinth as every wall was identical, and every new turn was a potential new danger.
It was as emotionally draining as it was physically demanding but they soldiered on. Horatio was sure that they were being watched, everyone and then he would spot movement in the periphery of his vision, he used the sign language to ask the men if they had as well and they had confirmed that they had.
He hoped that he wasn't walking his men into a trap. But as they continued their communications began to crackle and a voice that was belonging to the Captain began to speak.
"Enterprise to Commander Smith and team come in." the voice was heavily distorted, but given the large iron deposits in the mountains, he was surprised that they were even able to receive. He tapped the button on his communicator and responded.
"This is Smith receiving you signal strength three by five."
"understood adjusting now." The signal cleared up, and he spoke again. "how about now are you receiving?"
"five by five sir." He replied still confused as to how this was possible "how are we receiving you, Enterprise?"
"I had Commander Tucker, and Lieutenant Reed reconfigure several probes to dig into the mountains and use their advanced sensors and relays to construct a makeshift system like an old-fashioned cell tower but inside the mountains there giving off a special sonar-like effect but one that penetrates twice as deep."
"ingenious sir." He said with a smile, "what does the inside of the mountain look like?" he asked knowing the limitations of his own handheld scanner.
"like Daedalus had an unlimited budget and power tools." Replied Lieutenant Reed "there are over thirty layers of tunnels that are all interconnected with several chambers. It's a city underground, sir." The lieutenant elaborated; he had never seen such a complex system of tunnels.
"where is the closest access?" asked Smith
"a hundred meters ahead sir take a left then a right it'll be on your right."
"Understood." He said, moving forward with his team at his back, he really hoped that they would be more hospitable than they were in his memories. He kept his phaser at his side as he skimmed the wall headed following the directions that Malcolm had specified.
He spent some time tying his scanner into the wavelength of the probe to allow him access to the complete map. He noticed that there were several closed chambers near the access point.
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Archer and the crew of the bridge were watching the team on the screen. They were represented on that screen by green dots, and they moved down the yellow tunnels. Now and again there was a flicker of a red dot that appeared then vanished, but they dismissed it as a sensor glitch that was until another one appeared and vanished.
"Malcolm?" he turned to the armoury officer "what's that?" he indicated to the red dots that became clearer on the screen, this time not vanishing but holding steady at three to one.
"I don't know sir." Replied Malcolm, he had gone slightly pale in the face considering that his friend and his men may be walking into a trap and potentially a devastating ambush.
"Enterprise to Smith." Archer tried to sound calm, but the number of red dots continued to grow, and with each new dot his mood worsened, and his trepidation began to deepen.
"Smith here sir." There was a flicker in the security man's voice. Archer knew that Horatio probably knew that he was being watched. The man was nothing if not an expert in his job, but as his Commanding officer, it behoved him to at least try and warn him of the danger.
"our sensors." He started before Smith cut him off
"we know sir." Archer let out a breath. He knew that the man had everything in hand.
"are you going to do something about it?" he asked
"Not unless they do sir."
"Carry on then." Archer was unsure about how exactly he could help, the last of the security squads had gotten back to the ship barring a few men left behind to guard the scientific team and others that were being rotated down to protect the next wave of scientists.
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As they reached the location of the access point for the next level their shadows pounced on them, keeping their weapons on stun they dropped the first four attackers quickly but as the rest of them began to jump out at them, they began to get overwhelmed.
Their shadows were using M-34 rifles smokeless powder slug throwers that fired a 7.62 round. They were phased out for the first generation of plasma weapons that humanity built with the aid of the Vulcans.
Thankfully the armour they were wearing was more than enough to stop those rounds with only light bruising as long as it only hit the armour. Realising the tactical weakness of his team Horatio organised an almost flawless fall back to a defensive position.
"Fall back by twos odd number first." He ordered there was a more defensible position farther back into the cave, and that would allow them to have a more organised defence. "ready." He got acknowledgements fast and then began to fall back. "Odd numbers go." He ordered intensifying his fire as they did, as soon as they were clear they fell back again.
They got to the defensive point and bunkered down as best they could.
"Smith to Enterprise."
"We saw, what can we do?"
"can you give us another way out?"
"the fastest way out is through your attackers and back the way you came," said the Calm voice of T'Pol.
"you said fastest is there another way?"
"yes." She replied, "it's a longer way, and you'll come out on the other side of the mountain."
"We'll have to risk it, send the coordinates and the route please." Said Horatio turning to his men, "Well gentlemen have any of you ever read Lord of the Rings?" there were a few chuckles and nods. "well let's hope that we get out in better shape than the fellowship." He took several calming breaths the scanner chirped getting its updated telemetry. "I'll take the rear Dragomirov you take the front so keep the pace fast this will be the fastest marathon since 490bc."
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They moved in rhythm and at pace, never had Horatio been so glad to have been forced to do Track and Field at the academe, they knew that if they slowed or if they stopped they would be overwhelmed, so they used the stun grenades on its lowest setting to force the shadows to pull back and allow them space enough to retreat.
Horatio as the last man had all the grenades and dropped them at intervals with quick timers on them, every pop would be another stunning field and potentially another shadow taken out of the fight.
As they turned the last corner, Horatio felt a bee sting hit him in the thigh and he barely made it past the threshold before he felt something grasp at his leg. He launched himself forward in an attempt to get away, but it was too late whatever had him pulled him back into the cave he shouted for them to keep going before a heavy impact on the back of his head knocked him out.
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"There are over a hundred and seventy human biological life signs that we have detected so far." Said Commander Tucker, as the command crew and Dragomirov, stood around the sensor table in the situation room. The yellow tunnels on the sensor display had lots of red dots walking around and right at the bottom was the only green dot left on the planet.
"and Commander Smith?" asked Archer as he transfixed his gaze onto the green dot. "We Have to get him out of there."
"I've tried hailing him with no success." Said Hoshi with concern "and all the sensors say is that he's alive." Dragomirov exhaled heavily. He blamed himself for not catching the Commander when he called.
"if these are the descendants of the Original colonists then they would have some inclining as to what happened down there."
"they have several kilometres of tunnels and several Wells." Said Tucker as he continued to give the rundown on the tunnel system. The display showed few chambers that had collapsed "as you can see, several of the passageways have collapsed though weather through nature or insufficient safety supports is unknown the geology may not be as solid as scans first indicated." Tucker looked up to the Captain "I've had Peters and the geologists taking an extensive look at the soil samples and the scans."
"I would like to point out, Captain." Said T'Pol drawing the attention of the bridge crew and Doctor Flox. "they have been driven underground by the attack on them." The air suddenly became thick with tension. It was something that they hadn't considered immediately. "An attack I must point out that was carried out by a ship that was designed to look like an Earth Ship."
"have you been able to determine whom it was that attacked them yet?" Archer asked, 'maybe we could get him back through negotiating' he thought while contemplated to himself.
"we're still analysing the data." She replied it had been a very intriguing time for T'Pol and the ship was a mystery that was proving difficult to unravel.
"We can't beam him out with the depth and the iron in the mountains."
"could dig using phase pistols and create a shaft to get to him?" asked Archer looking to T'Pol a spark of hope behind his eyes.
"it would take too long to dig it, and they may execute the Commander before we could."
"I don't want to risk any more casualties." Archer began to pace the room, "we have to make contact with them."
"with all due respect sir, they don't seem eager to converse with us." Said Dragomirov, his thick accent and the strength behind it echoed around the room. "why else would they attack us without first making contact."
"We have to make an overture." Archer said seriously "I'll go myself Dragomirov will occupancy me with Dr Phlox." He straightened his colour "Smith may be injured."
"Sir, I cannot in good conscience allow you to go, the Commander would have my guts for garters." Said Malcolm
"none the less Malcolm I will be going." He said seriously when the door to the situation room opened.
"Sir." It was one of the science officers that had gone down in the last wave of investigations. He had a computer pad in his hand held out for the Captain to take.
"What is this?"
"Communications data module has been recovered, sir." Said the Latino Crewman. He was of average height with short dark hair. "I was hoping that Ensign Sato could take a look at the data." The Captain took the pad and handed it off to Commander Tucker, who handed it to the Ensign.
"anything else?"
"The bodies have been delivered to the med bay for analysis." The Captain nodded before the crewman was dismissed, Archer made to follow the crewman out but paused, he turned to Hoshi and said.
"Hoshi see what you can get from that data if they sent an SOS or a data burst maybe we can recover the data and get some answers."
-(-)-
The trio made their way to the bunker in the woods Archer was still amazed that they had created such a thing if they were under attack he considered that maybe the colony leader was a shrewd as Commander Smith and had planned for just such an eventuality. They stopped before they reached the Cavern as Dragomirov held out a hand.
He had not been amused to come back without weapons, nor had he been happy to leave his body armour on the shuttle pod. The Captain had ordered it, and he had reluctantly complied.
"we're being watched." Archer went for his scanner when Dragomirov stopped him again. "no sudden moves, sir."
"Are you sure?" asked the Doctor but no sooner as he had said those words than people surrounded them. They looked less like shadows in the light of day, they were wearing rudimentary clothes and had covered their skin in mud, but they had painted around their lower jaws and necks one with a blue pigment and the other in a yellow pigment.
"we're unarmed." Said the Captain holding up his arms in surrender. "we have come to talk and see how my crewman is faring." They pulled out their slug throwers and led the group to the cave system.
-(-)-
They were led deep into the cave system their eyes adjusting as best they could to the darkness within them. They came upon a large brightly lit cavern where Commander Smith was lying, his hands had been bound in ropes and his leg had been bleeding a large marron stain was still growing but another rope around his leg was cutting the circulation and a rudimentary bandage was wrapped around his leg.
"afternoon sir." He said casually holding up his bound hands
Flox turned to the yellow-painted man and pointed to his bad he slowly handed the bag to the Doctor who began to rummage around it pulling out a hand scanner.
"my medical kit please?"
"How's the leg," Archer asked as he knelt beside him
"I've lost some blood, but they treated me well so far."
Before the Doctor could start treatment, three older humans walked in. one with a yellow pigment painted in a rough U shape on her forehead and a line running down her chin and neck. The other had two think blue lines running down his forehead with his entire mandible covered in blue pigment his beard hair stained blue because of it.
"Humans?" the male asked. He regarded the three men with suspicion, Archer nodded slowly in confirmation.
"that's right."
"What is that?" he said, indicating to Phlox
"my name is Phlox." He said as he bowed slightly to him "I am a Denobulan, I am Captain Archers Physician." The two looked at the Alien then turned back to Archer
"you come from the earth?" asked the blue-painted man "in a starship?"
"yes, it's called Enterprise."
"to do what." The Blue painted man stepped forward only milometers from the man his eyes burrowed into his. "finish the job, to gut the rest of us like you did our parents."
"no," he said not backing down but trying to de-escalate the argument. "we were sent here to find out what happened to the Colony, we lost contact and only recently had a ship capable of coming here without waiting years to do so." He said as the man began to pull back "we came to help."
"we've had enough of your help." It was obviously a woman who spoke, she was wearing identical clothes, but he had discerned that the males where blue pigment and the females yellow.
"you and your pointy-eared friends won't find it so easy this time." He said with a manic grin "go back to your masters before we do you what you did to us."
"what are you talking about?" he asked, "we're not here to hurt anybody."
"take you man and don't come back."
"Alright we'll go but." He pointed to Commander Smith, "He won't be able to make it out of here on one leg." He pointed to Phlox "my Doctor here will need to treat him." He then indicated to the bag that he was holding. The blue-painted man nodded, and the Doctor began to work.
"don't worry, Commander," Phlox said with a reassuring smile "we'll get you back up and about in no time."
"What makes you think it was us that hurt you?"
"we're not stupid." The blue-painted man said. "you came at night rained down plasma fire so thick you could have walked on it." He pointed to Archer, "then you had the pointy years come down and finish the job those of us who didn't make it to the shelter were executed."
"what?"
"if it weren't for the Captain's contingency plan and quick thinking, we would be a shadow of what we were." He looked at archer like he was an inhuman thing not worthy of being even scraped from his boots. "you came back every night for a month blanketing the area with your weapons." He said as he walked up to the captain again getting right into Archers face. "But the Captain was smart, he waited. snuck back to the ship every day dodging the pointy years then when we were ready, we struck with a vengeance." He practically roared in triumph. "We took out your ship then we went from hunted to hunter." He smiled that deranged smile again "our vengeance was as brutal as your actions. We made them an example like Vlad Tepes, and we have had peace."
"then why are you here?" he said, raising his hand and spinning it around indicating to the cave.
"This is our planet." Said the young man in blue paint hotly.
"no underground." He indicated with both of his hands to the ground.
"what? Go topside and be open to a counterattack?" the blue-painted man laughed, and the rest of his people did as well. "we are not so stupid."
"We were not the ones to attack you." He said exasperated "I don't know who attacked you, but it wasn't us." He said as Phlox stood
"he can walk more or less." He placed the equipment he used into his bag. Archer straightened his top again
"We couldn't have gotten here any faster than your parents did." He said to the blue-painted man ", and the Vulcans wouldn't attack you no matter the differences I have with the Vulcans they wouldn't get involved in what they thought was an internal dispute."
"lies." Said the older woman painted with yellow. "I was only a child, but I remember." She said with a small cough "we didn't want more of you coming we wanted to build what we had independently." She said, pointing a crooked, gnarled finger at Archer. "But you couldn't take it could you had to get the pointy ears to attack us so you could come back and do what you wanted with our people and our planet." She coughed again, and as if all her strength suddenly left her. She collapsed into the arms of the blue-painted man.
Phlox jumped into action with his scanner only for one of the younger blue-painted men to step in front of him.
"I'm not trying to hurt her." He said as a younger woman in yellow moved behind him. He took the scanner and pointed it at himself and activated it. The two stepped back "see its not lethal, its just a scanner." He said as the two frowned as if not understanding. So, trying to placate them, he put on his most gentile and agreeable face "its just a tool it lets me see what's happening inside your body." He then showed his results from scanning the older woman, "She has an illness called Lung Cancer it's easily curable even at this advanced stage, but unless we get her to Enterprise quickly, she will die in less than a day."
"lies" shouted the young woman again, "they want to lure us to the surface and finish what they started."
"how long will it take?"
"half a day at most." replied the Doctor, the older man, turned to the woman. She looked at him with pleading eyes.
"I don't know who attacked you," repeated Archer trying to emphasize the point. "But please let us help you."
"I'm willing to stay as a hostage if that will assuage any doubts you have." Said Horatio speaking up for the first time since they arrived, he had been secretly communicating with Dragomirov using a more subtle version of sign language. He had been counting the boots when he was carried in and was getting a feel for the situation by feigning being unconscious for longer than he really was.
"Are you sure?" asked the Captain
"Aye Sir."
"Doctor?"
"He'll be fine for a few hours," Phlox replied to the Captain, he sighed, then agreed.
-(-)-
Archer brought the shuttle around Giving the two older Novans a view of the enterprise from one of her best angles.
"I imagine its been a while since you've been in space," Archer said, turning to the yellow-painted woman. "Enterprise is different from the Conestoga, but you can see the linage clearly." He smiled "were you born on the planet or the ship?" he asked
"I was born a year before the ship arrived." She said plainly to the Captain "I was five when the attack came."
Once they were on board and gone through decontamination Archer escorted them to the Med Bay. Where Dr Phlox began his diagnosis procedure. First, he had her lay down onto the bed then scanned her with another more powerful handheld scanner.
Once the hand scanner had confirmed what he had thought, he turned the bio-bed on sent her into the larger scanner. She was in there for a few moments before she demanded to leave, but the more powerful scanner had managed to get the exact results he was looking for.
As she exited the scanner, the man with the blue paint snarled at the doctor.
"is she healed?" The light had made him irritable as it is overpowering.
"not yet the machine told me how far along the cancer is and where it's affecting her." He said, indicating to the screen. "see, it's in her lymphatic system that's a simple cure." He told the blue-painted man "I'll need time to synthesise the medication, but once I have it's a single injection, and she'll be cured." He smiled at the two before turning to the Captain and nodding slightly.
"we've found some bodies in the settlement on the surface." He said, showing the pictures "why didn't you go back for the bodies?"
"We couldn't." said the woman. "we didn't know when you would be coming back to finish us off." She said as she looked at the pictures of who the people were. "we barely survived that night going back for the dead was an impossibility."
"What happened that night?" asked the Captain trying to be as gentle as possible.
"as if you don't know." she hissed at him
"I don't." he said simply "the initial investigation has shown evidence of a ship designed to look like the Conestoga class that you arrived on." He said as she looked at him confused, "we know that the weapons used were not of Human or Vulcan design and share many similarities with the Klingons."
"the who?"
"a race we encountered a short time ago." He said as he showed on the panel what a Klingon looked like. "we know that the attack happened over a long period of time, long enough for you captain to have pieced together a weapon capable of retaliating against your attackers." He said, showing the debris field ", and we know that you survived." He said to them "we have found a communications data module, and we've been trying to discover what is left inside it."
"Bridge to Med Bay." The unmistakable voice of Malcolm Reed came over the internal communications point. Archer moved to the communications station his eyes not leaving the two Novan's that were clutched together one on the bio-bed the other standing.
"Med Bay, Archer here." He said after engaging the device.
"Sir, we've managed to restore the communications system stored data."
"I'm on my way." He said, looking to the Doctor before he made his way out. "keep me posted."
-(-)-
The Captain sat in his ready room with the recording in his hand. Hoshi and Travis were standing at attention waiting.
"as far as we can tell the transmission was being blocked probably by the ship that attacked them." Said Hoshi, the investigation had been emotionally draining on her as she had never had to confront death on this level before. Travis was stoically standing by her side a veritable rock lending what strength he could spare to her.
"its first mate Chen Zhen he was one of the bodies that we discovered." He indicated to the data card reader, the captain placed the card into it and waited for the data to read.
"This is Chen Zhen of the Terra Nova expedition we are under attack. They came out of nowhere disguised as an Earth ship, but we know that current Warp drives wouldn't allow an Earth ship to get here this fast no matter what Logan says." Constant explosions were happening in the background of the recording. "I am sending what images the satellite was able to take before it was destroyed."
Archer paused the recording.
"Mark Logan was the leader of the opposition." Said Travis his voice wavered slightly, but he continued "He wanted no other colonists to come to Terra Nova, he threatened to fire on any ship that came into orbit."
"What is the satellite?" he turned to Hoshi to explain what the fallen man had said.
"it was a booster satellite for the subspace carrier wave to earth like the ones we have for long-range communications with Earth." Archer nodded in understanding
"do we have the images?" Travis handed him the pad, it looked very much like a Conestoga class, but the hull colour was more of a green than the warm metallic colour that earth ships were constructed of at the time. There was something substantial painted on the underside of the ship he could tell that it was orange and vaguely wing-like from the view he had and there was writing that the Computer hadn't been able to distinguish properly. "Give this to T'Pol she may be able to find out what language this is." Travis nodded and sent the image to the Sub-Commander via the ships internal systems.
"We have taken evacuated the colonists to protect them. I won't tell you where. As the channel may be monitored, but they are safe. Please as soon as you get this send a message to the Vulcans, we need help this attack was like nothing I have ever seen. There was no warning the sensors didn't see anything until they were right on top of us and firing." There were several louder explosions and the sounds of shouting and weapons fire that was getting closer. "if you can still hear my they are landing several shuttles are landing now." There was shouting in Chinese and more explosions though not as loud. But the gunfire was intensifying drastically "my God, I can see them now they look like… pointy-eared bas…" there was an underlying horror in the man's voice before one final explosion covered what he said next. Still, it sounded like pointy ears, and the recording ended.
"pointy ears," Archer stated as he leaned forward in his chair, he rubbed the tip of his chin for a moment before he shot to his feet, he grabbed the card quickly. Something in his mind had clicked into place.
"sir?" Travis asked as Archer sprang between the two of them and opening the door.
"He said pointy ears" he charged up the steps from his ready room the two Ensigns following behind him at a fast pace. He hit the turbo lift call button and turned to press the internal communications system. "Archer to T'Pol"
"T'Pol here sir."
"meet me in the Med Bay immediately."
"Sir, I've translated the name on the ship?"
"at the Med Bay Sub-Commander and bring the translation with you." The doors opened, and the trio got inside.
"Sir perhaps we could help if you explained to us." Said Hoshi, she was starting to worry that the Captain may do something rash and with Malcolm and Horatio unable to rain him in he may do something that they all regret.
"When I was a kid the most common slur for a Vulcan was pointy-ear," he said simply. "my Father reprimanded me several times for using it. That slur would have been even more common seventy years ago when Humanity was still distrustful of the Vulcans."
"you think the Vulcans attacked them?" questioned Travis, he was trying to get a feel for Archer's angle here as he was in the dark about the whole thing.
"no, I don't."
"I'm not sure I understand sir."
"I was privy to a briefing that Commander Smith gave with myself and Admiral Forest to convince me we needed more and better armaments." He said, turning to Travis "I'm sure you understand how dangerous local space currently is."
"yes sir."
"he showed me several ships from hostile races, one of which was a race called the Romulans." He said as the door opened, he was moving at pace again as the two junior crewmen gave chase. "the ship he showed me the Vulcans had encountered that had an avian pattern on the ventral hull and that script on the wing in the same place."
"so, you think that these Romulans attacked the colony."
"that would be my conclusion, yes." He said as he reached the large double doors of the Med Bay.
"Ah, Captain I was just about to call you." Archer held up a hand to stop the Doctor before he turned to the older woman.
"When the attack came, and the pointy ears landed did you see an avian, a bird on the underside of their ships?"
"what I don't understand?" she said confused, he went to the medical display and showed her several images of birds of prey in various states of flight.
"like one of these?"
"I'm not sure." She said looking at the images, but he could see some recognition, especially when she saw the view of the eagle from above.
"yes, you are." He said immediately. "think back, the ships that landed, they had something painted on them that looked like this yes?" he asked her she started to nod then tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.
"yes." She said "the explosions came, and my mother and I were knocked to the ground I looked up and saw a red bird painted on the ship. My mother bundled me up, and we got to the shelter with the others before we were forced to close the doors."
The door opened, and the older woman screamed when she saw T'Pol the man stepped in front of her.
"Bastard, you sold us to the Pointy Ears." He said pulling a concealed knife and pointing it at T'Pol.
"her people didn't attack you." He said, putting himself between the Vulcan and the Novan
"what." The man snapped his eyes still locked on to the Vulcan, Archer didn't make any sudden moves but slowly and gently held out his hand.
"her people didn't attack you." He said trying to de-escalate the situation "just hand me the knife, and we can talk this out."
"you lie." He snapped again, still not looking away. "You'd do anything to protect your masters." He spat at the Captain with pure and naked hatred.
"Please listen." He said calmly still holding out his hand gesturing for the knife. "The race that attacked you are called Romulans. They are highly xenophobic as a race." Archer explained, but the Novan man didn't look to be interested in talking "please, I can prove it." Finally, the man broke eye contact with the Vulcan and looked Archer in the eyes.
"how?" he asked,
"let me show you." Archer slowly advanced on the man "just give me the knife first." The man looked at him like he asked him to cut his own head off.
"no, I keep the knife," he said,
"then please put it away." The man reluctantly sheathed the blade again. Archer let out a breath and began to explain.
The first thing he did was play the recording. The Woman was mesmerised by the voice as she hadn't heard it in decades, the two Novans listened as Chen Zhen had explained what was happening and called for help before the explosion cut them off.
"This proves nothing." Said the man "all it shows is that you attacked us." He said, pointing an accusatory finger at Archer.
"no, this is the image he supplied." He put the ship on the screen. "we don't know how they got the ship to look like the Conestoga class, but it would be impossible for any human ship to have gotten to you within five years of your arrival." He said as the images from the satellite cycled before it ended with white noise. "Earth was limited the Conestoga was the fastest ship we had made at the time, and it took ten years to get here." He could see the understanding now. "there would be no way for us to get here that quickly to have attacked you."
"what about your pointy-eared friend?" he pointed at her "her people could have done it."
"why would Vulcans build a ship near identical to the Conestoga class just to attack this colony over an internal human matter that they avoided getting involved in?" he asked the man "what would they have to gain."
"what would these Romulans have to gain?"
"I don't know." he said honestly "but all the evidence we have points to them."
"I think you're trying to hide your people's involvement."
"I think your grasping at straws." Archer said to the man, "the Vulcans wouldn't get involved as it's a human matter and we couldn't get here in under a decade after you had already landed and set up. How would we have been able to attack you in half the time."
"you couldn't." said the old woman. The man turned to her in horror
"Mother," he said, "these people are responsible for."
"for nothing Peter." She put a hand on his cheek "I know that your trying to do what's best for us, but these humans didn't attack us Earth didn't attack us." He pointed to the screen "remember what your grandfather said all those years ago."
Peter was stunned. He couldn't comprehend that all of the hate he had for Earth and humanity was all pointless, this hate had sustained him and his people and now his mother was asking him to abandon it all.
"they could have doctored the records mother."
"no, something tells me that they are honest." He was flabbergasted. "think back to your Sherlock Holmes, 'if you remove the impossible whatever remains however improbable is always the truth'."
He looked away from his mother and to the cycling images on the screen.
"I think I'm ready to discuss the colony, Captain Archer."
-(-)-
Commanders Star Log Entry 09: April 04 2151:
After I was taken back to the ship and had my injuries treated Archer and the first contact team began to discuss the colony and its place within the United Earth Senate. It was a long discussion that would be picked up by another team that was going to be headed by the Vulcans as a neutral party.
The Novans want to maintain their autonomy and the old argument started by Mark Logan all those Decades before was reignited by his descendants. I can't say I blame them they have through three generations of growth become a unique culture and brining more humans from Earth, and other colonies could destroy that culture. But that was not something that is up to me. I can only hope things with them go well.
Commander Tucker had rebuilt the subspace transceiver, and thanks to our more modern technology didn't need a satellite booster for the signal. Hopefully one day they will live above the ground again and not worry about any potential attack in future.
The D'kyr class ship Seleya arrived today to add their considerable aide to us. Where trying to fully understand why the Romulans had decided to come this far to the Galactic West. A vast distance between known Romulan space and the location of Terra Nova and the materials that the solar system contained were just as common as the minerals you could find in the Sol system. Minus the several asteroid belts and a Jupiter sized gas giant to protect them they were lucky that an asteroid impact hadn't total the colony before now.
The only thing that Terra Nova had going for it was its strategic value in its location. It was the closest planet to earth on the galactic west that was under human control. I can only speculate as to there intent here, but I have warned Star Fleet that the system needs a dedicated Star Fleet presence for system defence.
[Classified] One of the things I am speculating over is the ship sudden appearance in the system. I believe that they were using this as a test for a prototype weapon system and the only reason that the colony didn't face a concentrated invasion was that they either had the data they needed. Or, which I believe is more likely that the weapon system was prone to catastrophic failure.
Any investigation that they launched would have found the debris and a massive radiation source from the detonated warp drive so they could have concluded that the weapon failed. I can only hope that they do not return because we are not ready to deal with anything of that magnitude yet. [Classified]
