What Lies Within Us - Chapter 9

What Lies Within Us

by Gabi

Disclaimers in Chapter 1

A/N Thanks a lot for all your nice reviews. Neo Getz: I love your comments, but I am sorry: my whole story is already written and though I appreciate your opinion, it doesn't have any influence on the chapters. Neither is it an answer to a challenge. I haven't seen any other stories here dealing with paralizing, would be interesting to read. Can you tell me where to find those?

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Chapter 9

"As soon as we're out of here, we're going to have a party," Travis announced, giving Trip a broad grin.

"We don't know yet when we're gonna be out of here, Ensign," appeased Trip. "And we don't know when the cure's goin' to take effect, either."

"Don't be so pessimistic," Hoshi said, chuckling. "I'm sure that by tonight, you'll be running around on your own legs again."

"Wouldn't be a bad thing. I could be doin' these modifications in Engineerin' myself instead of just orderin' my crew to do them."

"What's your plan?" Malcolm asked soberly, concentrating on the matters at hand.

"It's so simple, it hardly can be called a plan. We can't dissolve or neutralize the tractor beam, so we'll have to try and break free from it. Usin' every bit of power we can come up with."

"We can't generate enough power."

"That's where the problem is. I've done a few evaluations, and I think with a few modifications we'll be able to use that impulse they sent back from the surface to get the power we need."

"A few modifications?" Malcolm grimaced.

"Trust me, Lieutenant. You're goin' to do the same thing you did in that last experiment of yours. Let's hope they're goin' to sent back an amplified impulse, just like they did before. I think I can reroute it so it'll give us a little more thrust. And, of course, I'm gonna need all the ship's internal power." Trip hesitated. "Includin' weapons."

The Armory Officer stared at him. "You want to shut down our weapons? No way."

"We're not gonna need the weapons," Trip explained patiently. "There won't be any shooting involved, but I need the power. In the end, I'm probably gonna shut down life support as well. We need to get away from here."

Malcolm still wasn't entirely convinced. With the weapons offline he always felt so vulnerable. But Trip was right. There was nothing he would be shooting at during this mission. Nothing but that tractor beam, and unfortunately the tractor beam wasn't being affected by his cannons.

"I could use some help down in Engineerin'." Trip gave him a half-apologetic, half-encouraging look. "You got a moment's time?"

"Sure. Without weapons, the tactical officer's got all the time in the world." Malcolm picked up Trip's plate and put it back onto the shelf together with his own. He turned around, and, looking at his friend, his high spirits returned. "Can I come with you to sickbay?"

Trip smiled. "Sure. Anyone else?"

"Sorry, Commander," Hoshi said regretful. "Travis and I have to get back to the bridge."

"We'll be expecting you there, Commander." Travis winked at Trip. "On your own legs."

"Deal, Travis."

-###-

"Nervous?" As they arrived at the sickbay doors, Malcolm gave Trip a questioning look.

"Kinda. I still can't believe it. But I can tell you, Malcolm, I'm not gonna miss this wheelchair."

"Maybe you can just leave it in sickbay when we're done."

"Don't get my hopes up, Mal. It could just as well take a few days till the cure's gonna take effect."

"Let's find out, what do you think?" Malcolm pressed the panel beside the door. "After you, Commander."

-###-

The moment Trip entered sickbay he knew something was wrong. Jon stood there, his back turned to him. With his hands, he was leaning on a bio bed, fixing a spot on the opposite wall. And Phlox' expression didn't fit the happy news Hoshi had brought this morning, either. What was going on here? Trip's stomach clenched up and his throat suddenly felt very dry. He swallowed.

"I've heard that T'Pol found the cure." He hardly dared to speak the words. It seemed like by doing this, he was invoking misfortune.

The Captain didn't turn around, but his hands tightened their grip around the edge of the bio bed, the knuckles turning white.

"He can't give it to you, Trip." His voice was barely a whisper, and Trip almost thought he'd misheard him.

"What are you talking about?" It was Malcolm who had asked that question, while Trip was still trying to grasp the meaning of Jon's words.

"T'Pol found the toxin in the strangers' data base, and was also able to identify the antidote." Phlox' expression mirrored deep regret. "Unfortunately..."

"What?" Malcolm persisted irritatedly. Trip didn't say a word, keeping his gaze fixed on his clenched fingers in his lap.

T'Pol stepped forward, continuing the doctor's speech. "Unfortunately, the antidote consists of substances which are lethal to the human metabolism."

Trip felt Malcolm's fingers dig painfully into his shoulder. Incredulous he looked from T'Pol to Phlox. "What's the point in finding an antidote if it's lethal?"

"These aliens seem to have a completely different physiology," T'Pol explained. "Both serums were not meant to be used on humans; in fact, you were quite lucky that the first injection did not kill you. I deeply regret this failure, Commander."

"What's this supposed to mean exactly, doc?" Trip asked, his voice sounding hoarse. "You got a cure for the paralysis, but you can't give it to me because it would kill me?"

"Exactly."

"Can't you alter it somehow? Extract the lethal substances?"

Finally, Jon turned around. His face was pale. "I already talked to Phlox about this. He told me that it's just these substances which neutralize the toxin. Extracting them would lead to nothing. I'm sorry, Trip."

Trip looked from one to another, studying their faces. Jon looked angry, furious, while Phlox' expression displayed deep regret. T'Pol's features were composed as always, but her posture seemed to express a certain despondence. For a moment, Trip had to fight the urge to laugh out loud. He should've known. It would have been too easy. For him, things were not easy, ever. So this had been it. An antidote, developed by the same species who had developed the neurotoxin. What possibilities were left to him now? One look into Phlox' face told him the answer to that. None. Abruptly, Trip turned the wheelchair around, startling Malcolm who'd been standing next to him and had to take a quick step aside. "Come on, Lieutenant, we got work to do."

"Trip." Jon stepped forward, but stopped in his tracks when Trip tensed.

"We need to get our priorities right, Captain," he said stiffly without turning around. "We have to break free from that tractor beam."

-###-

The way down to Engineering neither of them spoke a word. As they stepped into the turbolift, Malcolm finally couldn't keep himself from speaking anymore. "Trip," he began, but Trip cut him off.

"Not now, Mal. Not now, okay?"

The Lieutenant nodded. Trip apparently didn't want to talk, and he could see the reason why. After all, he himself wasn't someone to let it all hang out either, but rather to keep his problems to himself. Trip needed time to come to terms with this new blow, which was even harder to take for they'd all been so confident that this would work. Fate had played a trick on Trip, had made him feel secure only to pull the ground from under his feet again, and Trip had fallen hard. It was just plain cruel. Even though Trip's physical condition had stayed the same since this morning, still so much else had changed for him.

-###-

They were standing in front of one of the Jeffries Tubes which ran along the back of Engineering. Malcolm had waited a few minutes while Trip had told his crew what to do. It was hard on Trip to be forced to delegate these crucial modifications. He trusted Lieutenant Hess, but he would've preferred to check the results himself. Grabbing a tool kit, he threw it into the Jeffries Tube, then looked up at Malcolm. "Could you gimme a hand, please," he said.

"You want to go in there?" Malcolm gave him an incredulous look. "There's only crawling space in there."

"Fine. I can't get up, anyway." There was bitterness clearly evident in Trip's voice.

"Someone else could do this."

"Maybe they could, if I knew what I'm goin' to do," Trip admitted. "I have to take a look at this first. Come on, Malcolm, there's no time for discussions."

Malcolm gave in. "But be careful," he said, lifting Trip high enough for him to be able to crawl into the Jeffries Tube. "These relays do carry a fair amount of power."

"You don't have to tell me that. See you in an hour, okay?"

Using his arms, Trip pulled himself along, pushing his tools along in front of himself. As he reached the panels, he got himself into a sitting position and carefully opened the lid. His eyes fell on the chaotic mess of wires, relays and EPS-conduits. He needed to be really careful if he didn't want to be fried. Sighing, Trip set himself to work.

'I deeply regret this failure, Commander.' T'Pol's voice echoed through his thoughts. I deeply regret that your legs are going to be paralyzed for the rest of your life, Commander, but it was a failure. Nothing one can do about it. T'Pol, as cold and unfeeling as ever. Who did she think she was?

A few sparks came showering from one of the relays, and only in the last second Trip pulled his hand back. He mustn't be unfair. T'Pol was T'Pol, it was her way and she couldn't change it. After all, she'd been working on that data base all night long to find that cure. It wasn't her fault that Phlox couldn't give it to him without killing him. The doctor's expression as he told him about the cure wouldn't leave him alone. It was obvious that Phlox didn't know what else to try, that he was as helpless as he himself was. Trip felt a burning sensation rise in his eyes. Dammit, he couldn't afford to give in to that now, he had to concentrate on his work. Impatiently, he ran a hand over his eyes, wiping away the haze which was clouding them up.

He was breathing heavily. Just a two minutes' break. Trip lay down on his back. Working in this Jeffries Tube was exhausting him. He always had to hold on to something so as not to lose his balance and fall. He could either work with one hand and steady himself with the other, or prop himself against the wall with his shoulder. Both options demanded time and strength, and after an hour, Trip was exhausted. But at least he'd managed to finish this. He regarded his handiwork. It should work. Well, it should. It was a very unsure thing. If he wasn't able to reroute that impulse correctly, if one of his evaluations was faulty or if the timing went wrong somehow, then Enterprise would be blown to pieces and his legs would be that last thing he had to worry about.

While putting the panel's lid back into place, Trip all of a sudden slipped and lost his balance. Trying to steady himself against the wall, he cut the back of his hand on a sharp metallic edge. Letting out a cry of pain, he pulled his hand back and landed on the floor, hard.

"Fuck it!" he yelled, and then he couldn't keep the tears at bay anymore. Sobs racking his body, Trip lay in the Jeffries Tube, crying in anger and frustration.

-###-

When Malcolm came back down to Engineering, he heard a strange sound. Immediately, he knew what it was, and was already about to leave again to give Trip some time to regain his control, when he remembered that they didn't have that time anymore.

"Trip?" he called quietly. "Trip, are you all right?"

The crying subsided. "I'm fine, Mal. You'll have to get me outta here, though."

"Sir?"

"I can't turn around, Malcolm. And crawlin' backwards is kinda hard, too. You'll have to pull me out by my feet."

Without hesitating, Malcolm climbed into the narrow Jeffries tube. A man could get claustrophobic in here, he thought, taking a deep breath. A few meters further into the Tube he saw Trip lying on the floor.

"Be right there," he said. "Long range sensors have picked up a vessel," he informed his friend.

"That was to be expected," sighed Trip. "How much time do we have left?"

"They're bloody fast. Warp eight at least." Malcolm had reached Trip and grabbed him by the ankles. "They'll be in shooting range in about thirty minutes." Pulling Trip along, Malcolm began crawling backwards.

"Dammit, that's not very long," Trip swore under his breath. "Hurry up, Malcolm, we gotta get outta here."

As Malcolm jumped out of the Jeffries Tube, he saw Crewman Rostov standing beside him. With his help, Malcolm began hauling Trip out of the Jeffries Tube. When they had him safely back in his wheelchair, Malcolm straightened up and took in a sharp breath. "Trip, what happened? You got blood all over your face."

"I cut my hand. Probably smeared the blood everywhere when I wiped my face."

Taking Trip's hand, Reed examined it closely. "That cut is quite deep, Commander. I'll get you to sickbay."

"We don't have time for that, Lieutenant," Trip said, using Reed's formal title to emphasize his status as Commanding Officer. "Mike, get the engines up and runnin'," he told Rostov, "and go ask Hess how much time she's still gonna need. It's gettin' a little urgent."

"Aye, Sir." Nodding, Rostov hurried off.

"You take care of that energy impulse, Malcolm. Send it down as soon as I tell you. And tell the Captain that I'm gonna shut down life support at about the same time. Oh, and tell him to evacuate the areas around the EPS relays on C- and D-Deck. It's likely that they're gonna blow."

Crewman Kelly came around the corner, holding a med kit in her hand. She got to her knees beside Trip. "Lieutenant Hess says she'll be finished in about ten minutes," she reported, handing her boss a wet towel so he could clean his face, then taking care of the cut in his hand.

"Very good." Trip nodded and turned back to Malcolm. "Tell Travis to stand by. Basically it's him who the plan depends on."

"Let's hope we'll make it in time," Malcolm murmured. He had a bad feeling about shutting down the weapons while a potentially hostile ship was approaching Enterprise.

"Let's hope we'll make it at all." Trip gave Malcolm a scrutinizing look. "Well, let's get to work, Lieutenant."

-###-

On the bridge, the atmosphere was tense. Everyone was hunched over their stations, keeping their eyes fixed on the displays. Travis was nervously drumming his fingers on the helm's console, and Malcolm had to mobilize all his willpower to keep from snapping at him. After all, he would've liked to do the same thing. On the outside, he seemed absolutely calm, the controlled and composed tactical officer. Inside, however, things were different. The hostile ship would be here in only a few more minutes, and there was still no call from Engineering. They were waiting for Trip's signal, and Malcolm knew how hard it was for Archer to keep from hailing Engineering every five minutes to ask for a status report.

"They're in shooting range, sir." Malcolm kept his voice level, forcing his frustration not to show in his tone. The hostile vessel was in shooting range, and weapons were offline. Great. Just great.

"Polarize hull plating, Lieutenant."

"They're firing, sir."

Enterprise shook and jerked as she was hit by the weapons of the alien ship.

"Hull plating's stable," Reed said.

"Dammit Trip," Archer cursed under his breath. "Come on!"

"Tucker to bridge."

"Finally, Trip, we're being fired at."

"I noticed. Travis, we're going to try and break free now. Go to maximum speed and try to get away in a one hundred and ten degrees to starbord. Malcolm, stand by with that energy impulse. Hoshi, keep the channel open. Now, Travis."

The ship trembled as it fought against the tractor beam's hold. Lights went out as Trip rerouted the power from life support to the engines, leaving only the feeble glow of emergency lighting. Again, the aliens fired, and excited calls came through the open comm channel.

"Hull plating at forty seven percent," Reed reported calmly.

"Malcolm! The impulse! Now!" Trip shouted.

The Armory Officer reacted immediately. Along with the impulse that sped along the tractor beam he sent a silent prayer. He sincerely hoped that this would work out alright.

Travis was still trying to get Enterprise free of the tractor beam. The helm was trembling, and he had to hold on to it with both hands.

"Hull plating at twenty two percent." Reed's voice sounded eerie in the low lighting and the angry humming of the engines. "Impact of impulse backshift - now!"

The ship jerked and suddenly leaped forward. Wires short-circuited, sending sparks flying. Malcolm was flung forward against his station, and Hoshi found herself sitting on the floor, but was immediately helped to her feet by T'Pol. Enterprise was speeding through space, leaving the planet behind her. Captain Archer allowed himself a small smile.

"Well done, Trip," he muttered.

Travis turned in his chair. "What course, Captain?"

"Just get us outta here, Ensign. Maximum warp. Lieutenant Reed, what's the distance to the alien vessel?"

Malcolm gave his controls an astonished look. "They're not following us, Captain."
"What?" Archer got to his feet. "They come here because of us, fire at us, and now they're not pursuing us?"

"Indeed," T'Pol said. "They have entered an orbit around the planet."

The comm channel sizzled. "Hess to bridge."

"Archer here. Good job, Lieutenant. Damage report."

"A few ignited plasma conduits and burned-out EPS cables, nothing serious. Life support will be back online in a minute. But Captain...."

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Archer asked, alarmed. He didn't like the young woman's worried tone at all.

"The Commander's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean, gone?" Archer threw a glance at the bridge crew who were watching him with wide eyes.

"A few seconds after we got free, he was transported right out of here, sir. We couldn't do anything. I'm sorry, sir."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Jon's voice sounded strangely flat as he closed the comm channel. Briefly, he closed his eyes to gather his thoughts.

"They don't need to follow us," he heard Travis say in a resigned tone of voice. "They know we're going to come back."

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TBC

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Two folks have made comments

Another very good chapter! Keep posting!

ok, coz the stories already written i guess thats its outta both our hands my little countdown. But i'm still gonne complain :D i got nothing else to complain at.

The other paralise stories i have no idea where i found them just they all have recent dates like end of mayish. The last 1 i read i found by following an author link of archers enterprise if that helps. Author begins with K.

Gr8 chapter, thanks for the feedback-feedback :).

Poor Trip, can't they at least get a UT? (retoricle i know) :) loving it, post chap 10 soon plz