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Past Rewards, Future Torment - Chapter 7

Author - Hoshissis
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Past Rewards, Future Torment

by Hoshissis

Disclaimers in Chapter 1

*****

Chapter Seven

Captain Archer was pacing around sickbay while Phlox was examining Trip, thankfully he had come round on the way to sickbay but he was suffering from smoke inhalation bad, more so with his previous damaged ribs.

“You can see him now Captain, but don’t take long he’s still having rouble breathing and he needs to rest,” said Phlox as he pulled aside the curtains and left the cubicle.

Captain Archer entered, Trip looked terrible – his big blue eyes were all tear stained and watery from the smoke, his appearance was ashen and he seemed to be trembling.

“Hey, how are you feeling?”

“Char-grilled or barbecued, take your pick, said Trip removing his oxygen mask so he could speak.

“Oh I don’t know, I would say smoked was more appropriate in your case,” replied Captain Archer trying his best to lighten the moment.

For a brief second a smile appeared on his face, but this was all too soon wiped out by the fear, shock and confusion from the events that had just transpired. “Someone locked that door deliberately Cap’n. They said they wanted me to die.”

“Did you see who it was or recognise the voice?”

“No!”

“Why were you in there?”

“I got a message from Malcolm asking me to meet him in Phoenix’s Cargo Bay 2. He said he wanted my expertise to confirm his findings on recent developments.”

“Malcolm sent you a message?”

“No it turned out that it wasn’t him, whoever locked me in said that they used him as an excuse to get me there.”

Captain Archer looked even more perplexed as he sat and pondered what Trip had just told him.

“They said something else strange as well.”

“What!”

“They said ‘see how you like being locked in a tomb’ as if they were insinuating a previous action on my part.”

“Weird!” said Captain Archer looking even more confused. “Look I know you’re not going to like this, but I’m going to post an armed guard outside sickbay who’ll watch you at all times.”

“But Cap’n….” protested Trip.

“No Trip, you’re not talking me out of this one. If I’d done this earlier you wouldn’t be in this mess now.”

“What do ya mean, if you had done it earlier?” asked Trip looking puzzled.

“When Malcolm went over the debris from the conduit explosion he found traces of a chemical compound that can be used as an explosive and pieces of debris, which could be used as a detonator. He wanted to take action earlier but I overruled him, saying we needed more proof. I’m sorry Trip, I shouldn’t have doubted him.”

“Don’t sweat it,” replied Trip trying to reassure his friend. “So what are we going to do to find out who’s doing this and why?”

“You aren’t doing anything except rest.”

“I beg your pardon, if someone thinks I have done a grievance against them, I have a right to defend myself and find out what I’m supposed to have done. Nothing you do or say will convince me otherwise”

“I’m not going to change your mind on this, am I?”

“No!” replied a determined Trip, “I ain’t gonna sit still and play a victim, I’m damn well gonna find out what’s going on.”

“Fine, but only after Phlox has released you and you’ll be under constant supervision at all times by me, T’Pol or Malcolm. No sneaking off and trying to do things yourself – Deal?”

“Deal!”

“Right get some sleep; we’ll get started tomorrow. I’ve got an armed guard posted on both doors all night and Phlox said he’ll be here also, so you should be safe tonight at least,” replied Captain Archer as he stood up to leave.

“Cap’n thanks. I know we haven’t been on the best of terms at the moment but….”

“Hey, don’t worry about that, lets put it behind us. You had good intentions at heart; you just went about it the wrong way. I shouldn’t have blamed you for her death, you may have planted the seed but you didn’t give her the gun nor pull the trigger” replied Captain Archer patting him on the arm gently, “I’m sorry I forgot that. Get some rest, that’s an order.”

“Yes sir! Night!”

------------------------------------------------------

The next day Captain Archer, Trip, T’Pol and Reed were all seated in the Captains ready room discussing the next course of action, after enjoying a good breakfast together.

“So what happens next, I don’t fancy walking around with a bodyguard for the rest of ma life? Saying that though, they might get lucky next time and have their wish granted.”

“There’s not going to be a next time Trip, not if I can help it,” said Malcolm. “Anyway I thought you always looked on the bright side?”

“Let’s just say two near misses with the chance of more kinda knocks that right out of ya.”

“Malcolm’s right were going to make sure we find out who’s doing this and why, so hang on in there,” reassured Captain Archer. “You mentioned whoever locked you in the cargo bay spoke as if they held a grievance against you for an action or actions in the past?”

“Yeah it sure sounded that way, although I can honestly say I haven’t hurt or harmed a soul ma entire life.”

“Malcolm what have you found out?” asked Captain Archer.

“I checked all records held in Starfleet’s database and drew a blank – no one on the Phoenix has had any past interaction with Commander Tucker. So I got in touch with a couple of sources I know who have been associated with Starfleet in some form or other since it began. They confirmed that none of the Phoenix’s crew have worked with or in Starfleet before, but they told me a Harold McGane and a Caroline Goran tried unsuccessfully fourteen years ago to take Starfleet to court for an official enquiry into her husbands death, a James Goran who was a technician working on the Warp 5 program.”

“Funny you should say that, Caroline asked me if I knew a James Goran, she didn’t say that he was her husband though or that he died fourteen years ago. Come to think of it, she was also asking lots of questions about ma career and how long I’ve been in Starfleet. Didn’t think much of it at the time, but now….?”

“Why would that matter now?” asked Malcolm.

“Well for one, I used to spend a lot of ma spare time in the Warp 5 development complex back then, right after I first graduated Starfleet as an Ensign and joined Captain Jeffries engineering team.”

“Do you think they could be connected?” asked Captain Archer.

How could they?” replied Trip, “I never heard of a James Goran nor anyone who’d died connected to the program.”

“There’s nothing in the record either about anyone who’d died connected to the program,” replied Malcolm, “but what tips the balance in my book is that Hoshi has just found out that our database was tampered with and downloaded recently from the launch bay where the Phoenix is docked.”

“That leaves us with one option,” said Captain Archer, “confront Captain McGane and Caroline with this evidence.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it evidence, merely speculation,” replied T’Pol.

“Evidence or speculation, it’s all we have and I’m not going to wait for another attempt on Trip’s life before I make a move this time,” said Captain Archer standing up. “Malcolm, Trip, let’s go and see what they have to say for themselves.”

“Yes sir!” they both replied before following him out of the room.

---------------------------------------------

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Three people have made comments

yey first comment, loving it write m,ore soon plz

The story is coming along great! I like the way that it is developing. This is the best chapter yet. I just hope that I get to read more soon. :)

Yay! An update! I'm glad you've resolved the whole "Archer chewing Trip out for the way he acted towards Charlie" thing... And I can't wait for the next one...