What Lies Within Us- Chapter 11

What Lies Within Us

by Gabi

Disclaimers in Chapter 1

A/N: Thanks a lot for all your nice comments. I really appreciate them.

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Chapter 11

Aboard the Suliban cell ship, everybody sat in subdued silence. Archer was quite glad that this particular piece of "spoils" had still been standing in their shuttle hangar. It was the second time already that they were taking advantage of its cloaking abilities.

All the same, this mission was a hopeless venture. The cell ship was simply too small. Right now, six people were crammed into the claustrophobic interior, and where they were supposed to find any space for Trip on their way back remained to be seen.

If that was going to happen, anyway. Jonathan Archer was well aware of just how superior these people were that were awaiting them onboard the alien vessel; a superiority they themselves were no match for. Malcolm and his team were equipped with as much weaponry and firepower as they could carry, but what use would that be?

Jon sighed. There was no other possibility. Eventually, Hoshi had managed to pick up Trip's bio sign, and everyone had been quite relieved when they'd seen that it was strong and distinct. However, for some reason they hadn't been able to fathom they couldn't transport him from the other vessel or beam themselves aboard. T'Pol had suggested that the strangers were using some kind of force field that prevented any energy beams penetrating their ship's hull and that Enterprise's scanners weren't able to pick up. And why is it that we don't have that kind of thing, Jon thought. It was another indication of how superior these aliens really were. How were they supposed to win against people like them?

"Almost there, sir," Travis announced. "The cloaking field's stable. They haven't detected us yet."

"Good. Hail Enterprise and tell them to begin."

Enterprise would leave her hiding place behind that moon, fly back a short distance and let herself be seen by the aliens. It was a lousy decoy tactic, but maybe it would distract the aliens enough so they wouldn't pay too close attention to their internal scanners. Enterprise couldn't take any real actions; actually attacking them was not an option. The Starfleet vessel simply held no chance against the alien ship, and Archer wasn't willing to risk the whole crew. He was just hoping for a little luck.

"Docking now, sir."

"Acknowledged, Ensign. Get ready. Lieutenant Reed, you got Trip on your scanner?"

"Positive, sir." Malcolm was giving instructions to his team, telling them to switch their phaser rifles to stun and handing out smoke grenades. For this mission, Malcolm had done a quick job of developing a few nasty little devices, which would, if necessary, conjure up a whole wall of fog, giving the rescue team a good chance of getting away. Malcolm had also spent some time experimenting with stun grenades. He would have felt a lot happier about the whole thing if he'd been able to put a larger number of attacking aliens out of action in one go. But in the end he'd had to give up. Without knowing more about the strangers' physiology it was simply impossible to design a weapon which would reliably stun the aliens but wouldn't kill them.

"You're staying here, Travis," Archer told the helmsman. "Don't contact us. If there are any problems, get out of here before these people can take you prisoner."

"Aye sir. Let's hope it won't come to that."

"Alright, let's go. Malcolm, open the hatch."

"Just a second, sir." Malcolm got a folded up emergency blanket out of one of the storage compartments and stuffed it into his pocket. As he saw Archer's questioning look, he grimaced. "It's probably quite cold on that ship. Maybe it'll be of use."

The dimensions of the vessel were gigantic. Archer would have enjoyed taking a closer look at the internal design, but at the moment his only concern was Trip. He shivered. Reed had been right, it was cold in here. And the thin air didn't help either. The whole team was breathing heavily by now, but that didn't lessen their vigilance in any way. Silently, they hurried along the high walls, trying to make no sound as they sneaked down the corridors. Carefully, they peered around every corner, attentively checking their surroundings to all sides. After five minutes, they hadn't met any of the alien beings yet. Could it be possible that they should be that lucky? Malcolm checked his scanner, tightening his grip around his rifle. Trip was still quite a distance away, but as it seemed he was being held on the same level as where they were. Malcolm thanked heaven for this little piece of luck. He'd seen the ladders that led to the other levels. The space between the rungs was at least a seventy centimeters. Everything was hugely dimensioned over here. The strangers seemed to be quite careless, though. Lousy security measures, Malcolm thought by himself. It couldn't be that a team of five people could just walk in here and move through the ship without being detected. That was simply too much luck.

-###-

"What is the ship doing?" The tall humanoid was standing in front of the screen, watching Enterprise.

"Nothing. They seem to be considering what to do next."

"And that is why they left their hiding? That is strange. Power up the weapons."

"Attacking us would not be very sensible of them, would it?"

"We do not know what they consider sensible and what not. We should be prepared for all possibilities."

"Sir! A shuttle has latched to our docking hatch."

"How could that happen?" The Captain checked his controls.

"It is a cloaked vessel."

"I thought this species was not in the possession of cloaking technology."

"That is correct. The shuttle was clearly not built by this species."

"So they have raided other people as well." The tall figure nodded thoughtfully.

"We already knew that they were dishonorable marauders."

"That impression seems to have been reinforced," the Captain admitted. "All the same, they have not just left their companion behind but are coming back to get him."

"We do not know that for sure, Captain. Maybe they are out to steal more technology."

"It would not be worth the risk. But we will see. What are they doing now?"

"They are making their way through the ship."

"Where are they heading?"

"The laboratories. Your orders?"

"Leave them be for the moment. If they only want to get their crewmate, they can have him. We do not need him anymore, after all. Call Security, but tell them to keep out of sight. I do not want to provoke a fight as long as they are behaving peacefully. If they want to assimilate only the tiniest bit of technology, though, we will take them prisoner."

"Aye sir."

-###-

Malcolm's nerves were on edge, adrenaline cursing through his veins, making him overly jumpy. This was going way too smoothly. It just wasn't possible that they should be able to get so close to Trip without being discovered. The ship seemed to be dead silent. Malcolm jerked his rifle up as he saw a shadow flitting along the wall, but there was nothing. Raising a hand, he wiped the sweat off his forehead. Despite the cold, he was perspiring. "We're there, Captain," he whispered over his shoulder. "I'm picking up Trip's bio sign right behind that door."

"Is he alone?"

"It appears so, Captain." Malcolm regarded the bulkhead.

"How're we supposed to get in?" one of his team, Ensign Hanks, asked. "Can you see an opening mechanism of some sort?"

"Indeed, Ensign, I can see one." Despite his tension, Malcolm couldn't suppress a grim smile as he stood on the tips of his toes, touching the rough patch he could make out quite clearly on the door's otherwise smooth surface. With a low humming sound, the bulkhead slid aside, and immediately Malcolm and the three security people secured the door while Archer quickly entered the room.

"Trip. Are you okay?" His friend was lying on a long table, covered by a blanket, his eyes closed. As Archer came nearer, they flew open.

"Jon." Archer could see surprise and relief on Trip's face. "I thought they were comin' back."

"We're gonna get you out of here, Trip. Did they hurt you?"

"Not really. Untie me, okay?"

The table's top was on about the same level as Archer's shoulders. The Captain pulled the blanket aside, pressing his lips together as he saw how tightly the restraints were fastened around Trip's body. Despite the blanket, his skin felt ice cold under Archer's fingers.

"Lieutenant," the Captain whispered as he reached up to untie the straps. Malcolm was already standing beside him, though, unfolding the thermal blanket. His eyes clouded up with fury as they fell on Trip's shivering, naked body. Together they lifted the Engineer off the table, wrapping him in the blanket.

"Give me a hand, Malcolm." Bending down, Jon picked up Trip.

"You can't carry me," Trip protested through chattering teeth. "I'm too heavy."

"That's alright, Trip, don't worry." Breathing heavily, with Malcolm's help Archer got to his feet. Gently, he pulled Trip closer to his chest so as not to drop him. "Let's get outta here."

Malcolm and one of his men took the lead, the other two security guards brought up the rear end. Malcolm was sure that they were being watched, but he couldn't make out any cameras or similar devices. That didn't mean a thing, though, since they still didn't know enough about the aliens' technology to identify a control mechanism when they saw one. By now, Malcolm had come to the conclusion that the aliens were letting them escape. There was no other explanation. But this assumption didn't diminish his watchfulness for one second. Maybe the alien troops were waiting at the docking hatch. It didn't make any sense, really, but it was a possibility. Every muscle in his body was tensed up and alert, and he knew that his team were paying just as much attention as he was. Malcolm threw a glance over his shoulder, looking back at Archer. The Captain was panting, and Reed knew exactly how he felt, having to carry Trip while breathing the thin air of this alien atmosphere. Now they only had to get back to the docking hatch, and Malcolm prayed that everything would go smoothly from here.

A few minutes later, they'd reached the cell ship. They got in, everybody sitting down on their accustomed places. After a moment's consideration, Jon and Malcolm simply got Trip settled across their knees.

"Get us out of here, Ensign," Archer told Travis. "As fast as you can."

Travis didn't wait for Archer to repeat the order. He unlocked the docking clamps, turned the small ship in a graceful arc and maneuvered it back to Enterprise.

-###-

"They did not even look at any technology, sir," said the humanoid who'd been watching the scanners' displays. "It seems like their only interest was to retrieve their crewman. What are your orders, sir?"

"Let them escape and withdraw our teams."

"Aye sir. How do you plan to proceed further?"

The Captain threw a thoughtful glance at the screen. Enterprise was still motionlessly hanging in space, seemingly waiting for something to happen. "We will let them get away."

"Captain?"

"Let them get away. Give them a head start until we are out of their scanning range. Then we will get our cloaking online and follow them. I get the impression that this species might be less aggressive than we initially assumed. Let them think they were able to escape us. As soon as their alertness ceases, we might be able to delete our technology from their data base without having to fight them."

"As you wish, sir."

"Tell the doctor I am on my way. I want to see all the data he has gathered about these strangers."

-###-

Phlox was already waiting for them in the shuttle hangar to be able to get Trip to sickbay as fast as possible. T'Pol was there as well. Archer felt the engines' vibration as Enterprise went to warp speed. Relieved, he leaned back against the cell ship. T'Pol opened a comm link to the bridge.

"We have gone to warp 4.8, sir," she told the Captain. "The alien vessel does not seem to be following. There is no sign of them breaking orbit."

"This went way too smoothly," Malcolm said while climbing out of the cell ship as well. "Something doesn't smell right to me about this whole business."

Archer smiled. "I'm just glad that it did go smoothly, and that we were able to get Trip back."

"So am I, Captain, but still it's completely illogical. First, there was that tractor beam, keeping us from getting away, then that huge ship arrived, equipped with superior weaponry, but they left it at a few feeble blows, even though they could have blasted us to tiny little pieces if they'd wanted to. But they let us escape, only transported Trip to their vessel, and now we could retrieve the Commander without meeting with any resistance. With all due respect, sir, but there's definitely something fishy about the whole bloody thing."

"Apart from his last statement, I agree with what Lieutenant Reed says," T'Pol stated. "The aliens' behavior is highly illogical."

"Maybe they got some kind of malfunction that keeps them from pursuing us. Maybe they really didn't notice us. I don't think it's very logical, either, but it's possible. T'Pol, you have the bridge. Malcolm, you and your team can take a short break. You did a good job over there. If someone wants me, I'm in sickbay."

"Sir?" Malcolm gave Archer a beseeching look.

"Very well. You can come with me, Lieutenant."

-###-

Trip was lying on one of the bio beds, apparently fast asleep. His face was pale, and he was still shivering. Phlox was just tucking another blanket around him when the two men entered sickbay.

"Doc? How is he?"

Phlox turned around to face Jon and Malcolm, a smile displaying on his features. "Ah. I was wondering when the both of you were going to show up here. Congratulations on the successful completion of the mission, Captain. Physically, the Commander's condition isn't bad; he's suffering from hypothermia, but that can be treated. The emotional strain was more severe that the physical."

"What do you mean?" Archer asked, frowning.

"I can imagine, Captain," Malcolm said, his eyes resting on Trip, anger clear in his voice. "Think of how they'd strapped him to that table. He was at these people's mercy, and he knew what they were capable of doing. He must've been scared to death."

"Was he hurt, doc?"

Phlox tilted his head to one side. "No, not really," he said then. "But he was examined very thoroughly."

"Thoroughly?"

"I'll leave it to you, Captain, to imagine what one can do to get to know as much as possible about the metabolism and body functions of an alien species."

Malcolm swallowed. His throat felt dry as he thought about the doctor's words.

"But the Commander will recover," Phlox continued. "It is reassuring to know that he wasn't injected with any more substances, and that he endured this examination without taking any lasting damage. Mr. Tucker will be sleeping for a while. If you want me to, I'll contact you as soon as the sedative I gave him begins to taper off."

"Thanks, doc, I appreciate it." Jon patted Malcolm on the shoulder. "And you go and take your break now, Lieutenant."

"If you don't mind, sir, I'd like to stay here for a while." Malcolm felt such a relief at the fact that they'd gotten Trip back more or less sound and safely that he couldn't bring himself to leave him alone now. Who knew what else was going to happen to him? The tension hadn't fully left the Armory Officer yet. He knew Enterprise wasn't safe, was well aware of the superior speed and firepower of the other vessel. And if these mysterious strangers once more decided to kidnap Trip, he, Malcolm Reed, would be there to prevent it.

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TBC

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Three people have made comments

STILL PARALISED!!!!!

Gr8 chapter can't wait for the rest, still on the rhetorical questions thing, When are they going to get a UT?????

This has been gr8 but please free him soon!

Another fantastic chapter! Those damn aliens probing people...

Me thinks things are not as black and white as they once appeared. Nice chapter.