Psyche and Sound- Chapter 12

Psyche and Sound

by Orion9

Disclaimer: Enterprise and all related characters belong to Paramount.

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Chapter Twelve – Quandary

They’d just exited the forest, and were almost to the edge of the clearing, when it happened. Travis was the first person to spot the men, being a little in front of the small group and he promptly halted to a stop. “Lieutenant Reed…” he called out warningly over one shoulder, his hand going immediately to the holster of his phase pistol.

“Easy, Ensign,” Malcolm said quietly, leaving Trip’s side after a quick word with Tanner and Michaels, and halting beside the younger man. “Let’s see what they want first,” he added, his own reservations firmly masked beneath his calm demeanor. The short demonstration that they’d witnessed back at the castle came abruptly to mind and he licked his suddenly dry lips. Even with phase pistols, we don’t have a bloody chance against them and they bloody well know it…

“Please, let me deal with this, Lieutenant Reed,” the quiet request sounded from his other side and Malcolm’s eyes flickered momentarily to their guide before returning to the tall J’rall standing imperiously before them. Flanking him on either side were two others, and like their leader, each eyed the wary Enterprise team with an equally frosty glare. It didn’t take a tactical officer to recognise the extreme hostility in their stance.

Or the sheer rage simmering in their leader’s cold, jade eyes.

• * * * *
•
Archer was about to reply to a remark that Koerin had just made when he noticed the odd expression on the man’s face. The green eyes had taken a faraway look and there was an intense frown drawing the thick, snow-white brows together.

“What is it?” he asked, feeling his insides turn to ice at the dark look that had quickly replaced the strange, preoccupied expression. Why did he have that terrible feeling that he wasn’t going to like the answer he was about to get? “Koerin?”

“I am afraid there might be an unfortunate development that we will need to address immediately.”

The scholar’s grim answer caused Archer’s heart to sink even further. Turning, he caught T’Pol’s steady gaze just as the old J’rall spun on his heels and walked resolutely towards the door, his face more forbidding than any one of them had ever seen before. This was definitely not good.

“Come with me at once, Captain Archer,” Koerin called out from over his shoulder without breaking his stride. “We need to hurry.”

* * * * *

His hand suspended steadily above his own weapon holster, Malcolm reflected with a derisive twist of his lips that the men definitely brought a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘if only looks could kill’. It was almost a wonder that none of them had dropped dead in a smouldering heap just yet, considering the intensity of the gaze that was being levelled at their group at the moment. Without turning his head, he asked evenly, “Who are they?”

“The leader of the three is called Daevin. He is one of Master Haelon’s protégé. I do not know much about the other two who are with him, other save that they entered the training academy less than half a year before I did,” Taelek answered, sliding a sideways look at the Starfleet Officer.

Malcolm shifted slightly on the balls of his feet. “I’ve seen friendlier faces…”

“Indeed,” Taelek murmured in agreement, glancing briefly at the tense, unsmiling countenance of his new friend. “Unfortunately, I fear that they are not here to offer us any assistance.” Acknowledging Malcolm’s low caution to be careful with an almost imperceptible nod of his head, he turned to address their unexpected company, his features carefully arranged in a neutral mask. “Good wishes, Daevin.”

“Good wishes, Taelek,” Daevin returned the greeting curtly.

“Why are you all here? Is everything all right in the city?”

“Everything is … fine—so far.” The laconic response only increased Malcolm’s unease on what he feared was about to take place. Wildly, he wondered if the J’ralls could teleport, suddenly wishing Koerin was here to deal with this matter, knowing instinctively that Taelek was no match for the three men. The same was true for the rest of them, he added silently, even if they did hold the advantage in numbers.

“All right. Is there something I can do for you then?” Taelek asked equably, taking a close look at the older, more experienced defender of the city, who in turn was having a fixed stare at the people behind him. He didn’t know Daevin that well, except that he was a first-rate sentinel and had a reputation of being more than a little impetuous at times. Grimacing at the thought, he just hoped this wasn’t one of those moments. Although, judging from the harsh expression on the man’s face, he’d be surprised if it wasn’t.

“No, there is not,” the tall J’rall answered brusquely. “I am not here for you, Taelek, but for those who are with you.”

That brought a confused frown to the younger man’s face. “What do you mean? These people are our guests–”

“They are interlopers!” Daevin interrupted with an irate glare. “Master Haelon was right. They should have never been brought to the city!”

“What are you saying? Master Koerin…”

“Master Koerin’s judgement in this matter is flawed!” Daevin hissed, his emerald eyes bright with fury. “His compassion has led him to initiate contact with these people. They will bring nothing but disorder to us, especially should they continue remain in our city.”

Taelek stiffened, feeling his own anger rising. With some effort, he reined it in, and spoke with forced calm. “No, it is you, and Master Haelon, who are in the wrong, Daevin. This whole situation is no fault of theirs. It was a psŷc, one of our creatures, which has caused Commander Tucker’s current condition. He is ill because of us.”

“We are not the cause of anything,” came the terse retort. “If they had not come down to our planet in the first place, none of this would have happened.”

“What would you have us do, Daevin?” Taelek asked, waving a hand around. “Cloak the whole planet so that no one will find us? We have had visitors here for many generations. They come, and then they leave, none the wiser of our existence.”

“Until now…”

“Yes, until now,” Taelek conceded grudgingly. “But it was all an unforeseen incident. No one could have predicted–”

“They should not have been down here in the first place!”

Gritting his teeth at the obstinacy of the man, the frustrated J’rall then proceeded to try another line of argument. Perhaps it may help jolt some sense back into Daevin. “The Council has already made its decision–”

“The Council… Hah! Not all of us are as naïve … or as gullible as you, Taelek. No, you know, as well as I do, that these humans…” the older man spat out the word as if it left a horrid taste in his mouth, “…and their friends will bring nothing but destruction to our way of life. Look what happened the last time when the Council agreed to help out complete strangers…”

Or perhaps not.

Taelek shook his head at his colleague’s flawed reasoning and scowled, but ignored the personal attacks on himself. He had more urgent things to deal with at the moment than something so trivial. In some way, he could empathise with Daevin, insight to the origins of the other’s pain helped, but he knew that the older man was allowing something that had gone by a long time ago to dictate his current actions. “You are mixing the past with the present, Daevin,” he said, holding the other’s heated gaze. “You need to allow what happened so long ago to remain where it should be – in the past. These people are not the same–”

“They are no different! How do we know that once these strangers have what they want, they will not seek to annihilate our people?”

“Enough! This conversation is over, Daevin,” Taelek declared sharply, turning away. Clearly, there was no reasoning with the older J’rall at this point, especially considering his current state of mind, and he had neither the time nor the energy right now to cater to the man’s irrational fear or to find a way past his innate distrust of their guests. “If you would excuse us, time is of the essence and I—we … need to get Commander Tucker to the castle without any further delay.”

“Oh, no one is stopping you from returning to the castle, Taelek,” Daevin said smoothly, causing Taelek to pause in mid turn. He waited until he had the younger J’rall’s full attention – until Taelek was facing him once more – before continuing icily, “But your … companions are another matter altogether. They are not going anywhere near Gardien City again.”

Malcolm was startled to hear the venom in the incensed J’rall’s voice. He didn’t think it was possible for there to be so much hatred in one person. From the look on the others’ faces, he didn’t think they did either. Catching Travis’ eyes, he shook his head, silently ordering the younger man to wait, wanting to give Taelek more time to deal with the situation.

“What? Have you gone mad? What are you planning on doing?”

“Just something to rectify this entire mistake,” Daevin replied, eyes glittering with pure malice. He took a step forward, hands clenched tightly at his sides. “Out of the way, Taelek,” he ordered the younger J’rall, who had immediately shifted protectively in front of Malcolm and the others.

Just something to rectify this entire mistake? Taelek’s mouth thinned at the disquieting allusion behind that simple phrase and he glowered angrily at his fellow J’rall.

“You know I cannot do that, Daevin,” he answered, standing his ground, determination on his young face. He swallowed, hoping that his fear was not visible to the three men who were glaring back at him. Although Master Koerin had conveyed to him many times that he was a gifted sentinel, he’d never faced down anyone this powerful before, let alone three at one go. “I have been asked to escort them to the castle, and that is precisely what I am going to do.”

“If you would not move, I will move you myself!” Daevin snarled, and before anyone could react to that statement, Taelek was unceremoniously hurled across the air, as if something had physically lifted him off his feet and thrown him, hard. Immobile with shock, Malcolm and his men could only watch as Taelek hit the trunk of a tree with a sickening thud before sliding bonelessly to the ground in a limp, crumpled heap.

Travis immediately ran to the unmoving man’s side, with Phlox following closely behind. “He’s all right,” the navigation officer called out, relaying the doctor’s findings to the concerned faces looking back at them after a short, tense moment. “He has a slight lump on the back of the head but it’s nothing too serious.”

Malcolm kept his gaze on the fallen man, his relief growing as the figure on the ground stirred slightly, showing encouraging signs of regaining consciousness. Once Phlox had assured him with a short nod that Taelek was going to be fine, Malcolm then turned his attention towards their aggressors, meeting the lead J’rall’s look of contempt stoically. Hope flickered within him; he hadn’t missed the uneasy glances that were exchanged between the men behind Daevin during the attack on Taelek. It was clear that none of them had expected whatever that just took place to happen.

Taking a deep breath, Daevin nursed a private relief at the younger J’rall’s prognosis and wondered how he’d managed to let things get so much out hand in the first place. It was never his intention to harm anyone but he’d permitted his temper to get the best of him and Taelek’s injury had been the result of that slip. Ruthlessly, he squashed the twinge of remorse brought on by the sight of Taelek’s pale face and focused on the main reason they were here – to get these individuals off their planet.

And he would use any means possible to accomplish that objective.

His face thoroughly devoid of any expression, Daevin allowed his cold gaze to run across the faces of the people in front of him, coming to a stop before the face of their leader, a lean, dark-haired man with antagonistic grey eyes. His own eyes narrowed as he took in the defiant look that was aimed back at him. “And you are?”

“Lieutenant Malcolm Reed of the Starfleet vessel Enterprise.”

“And where is the one whom you call Tucker, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed of the Starfleet vessel Enterprise?” the smooth deep voice continued in a lazy, faintly mocking tone.

“Somewhere safe.” Malcolm’s bluff was short and abrupt. However, Daevin’s bright green eyes flickered briefly to a spot on somewhere to his right and Malcolm’s heart sank. Following his instructions, Tanner and Michaels had already lowered the gurney below a shady tree, away from Daevin and his men but close enough for the team to keep an eye out on the sleeping man. He hoped that the three were not about to start a search – Trip may be well out of sight of these people but he wasn’t exactly hidden away.

“Is that so…?” It was clearly a rhetorical question.

“What is it that you want from us?” Malcolm asked acerbically after a heartbeat, hoping to distract the man. He was conscious of the fact that they had to get Trip back to the castle before any further delay. They’d already wasted more time than they could afford with this standoff. And the way the sentinel was acting… he swallowed as a powerful image came to mind – of a predator toying with its prey before delivering the final, and killing, stroke.

“Nothing but your immediate departure from our planet,” Daevin replied flatly, looking away from the base of a huge tree to meet the eyes of the man standing before him. His anger had dissipated, having already run its course, and he now gazed at the visitors with his usual apathy, his glare practically glacial. “If you turn around and leave now, naught will happen to you… or your friends.”

“The Captain and the others?”

“Your people who are still at the castle will also be allowed to leave safely, provided that they do so at once, and without any fuss.”

Malcolm wondered how the man was going to pull that stunt off, seeing that Koerin and the other Elders were at the castle with the remaining Enterprise crew. Most probably with Haelon’s help, and whoever else who were against the idea of having them in the city in the first place, he thought with a contemptuous look at Daevin. His hands fisted and he bit out his next question, “What about Commander Tucker?”

The green eyes narrowed. “What about him?”

“Are you just going to let him die?”

“What if we are?”

“Surely you can’t mean that,” Phlox spoke up from beside a groggy Taelek, whom Travis had helped into a sitting position. Daevin turned towards him, and the Denobulan continued sternly, disapproval radiating from his voice, “Commander Tucker is badly in need of help. If you have the means to do so…”

One bright red and orange eyebrow lifted in a condescending arch. “Whether we are able to help your crewmate or not is irrelevant here–”

“You bloody well know that it’s relevant!” Malcolm snapped, furious at the icy, detached demeanor of the man. He wasn’t about to let one of his closest friends die just because some of the inhabitants of the planet were suddenly inflicted with a severe case of xenophobia. “Getting the cure for Commander Tucker is the only reason we’re all down here in the first place!”

“If that is the case, I might as well put him out of his misery right now so you may all leave … and we may be left in peace!” Daevin declared coldly and, to their collective horror, behind the trunk of the tree where they thought that he’d been well hidden away, the engineer’s body bucked as he began to choke.

With his airway cut off, Trip Tucker was slowly suffocating to death.

TBC

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A/N: Sorry for the major cliffhanger there... Have been really busy of late but will try to get the next part up as soon as possible. Thanks for sticking with me so far!

shadowmoon: Thanks! :D
Neo Getz: Injury? What happened? Hope you get well soon! I need to be clear on something though. I’m a Christian and so Trip can’t be my God although he could be my fantasy man… ;) Thanks for the info on gravity and the many reviews!
Rinne: Hey, Rinne! Sorry for the confusion there. Was only responding to the comments that you made for Chapter 10. Thanks for the review of Chapter 11!
myst123: Thanks for clearing that up. Owe you one! :D

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Three people have made comments

I'm christian too, lol.
Just Trip he has corporeal form n makes the days managable. N connor well... *Thud* Owch, love him!

Gr8 chapter, u know i swear looks can kill. if u put ure thought behind a look of agression you can see it having an effect on the person it's aimed at, starting with paranoia, turning to a kinda twitching then ending with cemplete submission and a kinda pained look. Then they normally run, its a horrible feeling when it happens to u.

Hope Trip gets well soon, he's been thru so much. Just thinking he has hightened telepathic powers, cudn't he kinda try to block it, even only a tiny bit, or get Mal to shoot him while his attention's turned.

Write more :)

Ps. I broke my scaphoid, hopefully i get the plaster off next friday :)

Another good chapter!!! Sorry, I've been new here recently and was a bit confused on how the reply bits by the author work :-)
Keep updating!

I really like this story...but I must admit this story is slowly KILLING me! Please finish the story, so that I know how the story ends!!!!