Psyche and Sound - Chapter 9

Psyche and Sound

by Orion9

Disclaimer: Enterprise and all related characters belong to Paramount.

A/N: Okay, I have absolutely no clue what Malcolm’s childhood was like – it’s just an idea of what he might have done as a young boy.

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Chapter Nine – City

Looking about with open curiosity, the eight-member team cautiously stepped onto the paved road spread out before them and followed closely behind their alien host. Still bringing up the rear, Malcolm glanced around while he walked beside Taelek, trying to look everywhere at once. It felt like they had walked into a 12th century medieval kingdom, the presence of various modern equipment and devices notwithstanding. The city itself was amazing, reminding the Armoury Officer strongly of the pictures that he’d seen in history books as a young child.

If he didn’t know better, he would have thought that they’d just gone back into the past and were now part of an ancient King Arthur legend. Apart from Ulysses, it was one of his favourite stories while he was growing up. As a young child, castles, valiant knights and battles that were fought at the time had enthralled him – the very elements that made up those dark ages – but it was the weapons that had captivated him most.

Until he’d discovered modern artillery, his interest had mainly focused on medieval armaments like catapults, swords, lances, crossbows and battleaxes, among others. An old memory resurfaced and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He’d even made his own shield one day when he was about nine, complete with a coat of arms that he’d designed from several coloured papers. His ‘sword’, of course, had been just a long stick, but at that time, it was the mightiest weapon around, enough to strike down even the most powerful of enemies. He smiled, remembering the many hours of fun that he had had with a plain stick and a simple, handmade shield. I wonder what happened to that old thing…

“What is it?” Taelek asked curiously, catching the expression that had flashed briefly on his new friend’s face. Next to the beautiful Vulcan woman, he’d found Lieutenant Reed the most fascinating of all the off-worlders. He’d never met anyone who knew so much about weapons before. And since J’ralls had not use any for many a generation, the Starfleet Officer was an excellent source of interesting information and fresh knowledge.

Glancing at his nearest companion out of the corner of his eye, Malcolm answered lightly, “Just an old memory from my childhood days.”

“It looked like it was a good one.”

“Yes, Taelek, it was.”

“Perhaps when this is all over, you would share it with me? I would love to learn more about your people.”

“I’ll be happy to–”

“Excellent! … Now, if you would please excuse me awhile, Lieutenant…”

Malcolm had to smile at Taelek’s enthusiastic manner, watching as the younger man responded to Koerin’s wave and hurried off towards his mentor. In some ways, the young J’rall reminded him very much of Travis and of … Trip. At the reminder of why they were on the surface of the planet in the first place, Malcolm’s smile vanished, and he wondered how Mr Tucker was currently faring.

* * * * *

“Please, Commander,” Phlox began, trying to get the tense, exhausted body to lie back down on the biobed. His worried glance rested briefly on the chronometer and he frowned – it was a little too soon for the man to be waking up from the dosage of sedative that had just been prescribed to him. “You are in no condition to be up…”

Although Trip indicated with a shaky wave of his hand that he was all right, the physician’s concerns were well justified. Not only had Tucker’s fever spiked dangerously during the last hour, the bronchitis and pneumonia that he was suffering from had also threatened to escalate once again to a critical level. It was only through several powerful antibiotics that the doctor had managed to keep the afflictions from developing any further.

Concern and fascination warred within Phlox as he considered the cause of the Tucker’s now steadily deteriorating health – Ensign Potter’s brief presence when he’d brought the Commander’s dinner from the galley. Heading orders, the man was nowhere near Sickbay, having placed the tray of food on the floor several metres away from the door. But it was evidently not far enough. The engineer was half asleep when, with a low, pained gasp, he’d suddenly clutched at his temple with both hands, curling into a tight ball on the biobed as he struggled with the mental backlash triggered by the ensign’s thoughts.

Hurrying outside to the corridor, Phlox had quickly waved the startled crewman away but it was already too late, the damage had been done. The only thing the doctor was grateful for was that the cerebral intrusion had come from only one man. He couldn’t even begin to imagine the consequences if there had been more than one crewman out there at that time. Although held in check by the current assortment of medication, Tucker’s cerebral capacity was evidently getting stronger.

Following another violent bout of coughing and severe vomiting that left the young man drained, Tucker finally succumbed into a deep but fitful sleep. After making sure that the sedated patient was responding, albeit somewhat inadequately, to the medication that he’d prescribed, the physician had used the rest of the time to give his menagerie of pets their daily feed. He was just supplying his Pyrithian bat its final Vulcan Sandworm when he’d turned to find the Chief Engineer stirring prematurely from his drugged slumber.

“Commander…” Phlox tried again, considerably alarmed by the ashen look on the young officer’s face as Tucker struggled to sit up.

Obstinately ignoring the Denobulan’s warning tone as well as the throbbing in his head, which had started up again the second he’d woken up, Trip set his jaw against the pain and waited for the world to tilt back upon its axis again. As soon as he can, he rasped out, “Who else is down there? Malcolm? Hoshi? Travis? … T’Pol?”

Phlox shook his head, studying his patient with worried eyes. Relenting, he moved closer and guided the sick man into a sitting position, recognising the stubborn, determined look in the other man’s face. It wasn’t very long after he’d awoken that Tucker had once more asked about Captain Archer’s whereabouts. The last time the engineer had done so, he’d just managed to avoid answering it, using several questions of his own to distract the young officer from pursuing the matter further.

However, Phlox could see that Tucker, while ill and weak, wasn’t going to be sidetracked that easily this time. It was a situation both admirable and alarming, considering that right now, the Chief Engineer looked as if even the slightest of breeze would be able to knock him flat out onto his back. It was also obvious from his current facial expression that the Commander wasn’t at all pleased with the answer he’d just received regarding Archer.

“Doc?” Trip demanded a little impatiently when Phlox didn’t respond straight away.

“Yes, they’re also down on the planet with Captain Archer, along with Crewman Cutler, Novakovich and Foster,” the doctor finally replied, even as he ran a quick scan. He frowned at the discouraging results. The Commander’s synaptic activity was still perilously irregular.

Trip buried his damp head in his hands with a soft groan at the doctor’s answer. The last thing he wanted to put any of his closest friends at risk. Swallowing painfully, he pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes, speaking half to himself, “Don’t they know it’s dangerous down there…?”

“Yes, but–”

The stricken man hardly heard Phlox’s interjection, so lost was he in the belief that he’d just sent his closest friends to their deaths. Despair ate at him and he squeezed his eyes tight against the ache building up in his chest. His voice came out in a rough whisper as he looked unseeingly down at his fisted hands. “Don’t they know? If the same thing should happen to any one o’ them… What if the Cap’n…?”

“Commander Tucker!”

His head snapping up at Phlox’s slightly raised tone of voice, Trip focused fevered eyes on the doctor’s face with some trouble, staring at him without any sense of recognition. For a brief moment, confusion and terror shone clearly out of the blue gaze. Then reason asserted itself, along with an awareness of his surroundings, and he winced, ducking his head in embarrassment.

“Sorry…” he mumbled, unable to meet the doctor’s empathetic gaze.

“It’s all right, Commander,” Phlox said reassuringly, hiding his deep concern. He sent Tucker an encouraging smile when he looked up, hoping that it would help assuage the young man’s fears. The engineer didn’t look good – his face was flushed with fever, his eyes slightly glazed from the pain. Turning aside to fill a hypospray, Phlox forced out a cheerful tone as he continued, “And I’m sure the Captain and the others are safe and sound. In fact, I just spoke to Captain Archer when you were resting … right before you were taken ill.”

“Really?” Brightening visibly at the news, Trip asked thickly, “How are they? What did the Cap’n say?”

“Oh, they’re fine – all of them. I believe that they’ve also just met up with the indigenous inhabitants of the planet.”

“Indigenous inhabitants?” the engineer repeated with a frown. “What indigenous inhabitants? The Vulcan Database never mentioned that the planet was inhabited...”

Phlox gave slight shrug. “It has been a few hundred years since the Vulcans first visited the planet, Commander, and only for a brief moment…”

“Yeah… T’Pol mentioned that. They didn’t have any time to do anythin’ then but to run some minor scans. That was why she wanted t’carry out the survey when we were on the surface last week.”

“Well, we can safely say that an update of the database is in order,” Phlox commented with a smile.

“Figured as much,” Trip grunted tiredly, rubbing his temple with one hand. Looking down, he noted without much interest that his feet were currently bare. Glancing around for his boots, he asked distractedly, “So, who’s running the bridge?”

“That would be Lieutenant Anderson.”

“Daniel? How’s he doing?”

“Lieutenant Anderson is doing just fine, Commander. Now, if you will…”

Distracted by the device in Phlox’s hand, Trip only heard part of the answer, his missing footwear all but forgotten. He scowled, eyeing the hypospray apathetically. If he never saw another one of those medical devices again in his life, it’d be too soon.

“Aww, Doc–”

“It would be safer if you were asleep,” Phlox’s tone was firm and brooked no room for argument. “That aside, you could really do with the rest…”

With a resigned sigh, Trip tilted his head to one side, allowing the physician to empty the contents of the hypospray into the side of his neck, wincing a little at the slight sting. He might have protested just now but he knew that it was only a token gesture. Right now, he was too tired and too much in pain to disagree with anyone, let alone with the CMO of the Enterprise, who could be as tenacious, or even more so, as anyone he knew, especially when it came to the health of the ones under the good doctor’s care.

Feeling the effects of the medication almost immediately, Trip laid back down on the biobed and stared drowsily at the ceiling, relieved that he could no longer feel the various aches in his body. He was still thinking about his friends, wondering how they were doing down on the planet, when oblivion glided by and bore him away to the waiting darkness.

The trip to the surface may just have to be postponed for now, the Denobulan ruminated, watching the tenseness ebb away from Tucker’s body as sleep quickly overtook him. The Chief Engineer was obviously in no condition to be moved right now. With a worried frown, Phlox studied the sleeping man, who still looked distressed and wan, even in slumber, cognizant of the fact that he was fast running out of drug combinations to stop Tucker’s condition from worsening any further.

* * * * *

It was almost late evening but the light was still bright enough for Malcolm to make out, in the distance, tall, majestic towers that graced a huge, beautiful stone castle, which was in turn surrounded by a forest of trees. It appeared that they were heading towards the large fortress and he wondered curiously what they would find there.

Before they’d entered the city, Koerin had cautioned that any communication with Enterprise would only possible from the castle. Disbelieving at first, Malcolm had immediately tried out his communicator, only to acknowledge the truth in Koerin’s words when all he could get was a continual flow of static.

In a benign but firm manner, the old scholar had also rejected Archer’s plan of staying outside the city until Trip’s arrival, explaining that doing so would only increase the chances of discovery by any other visiting species, something that they greatly wished to avoid. In the end, Archer had reluctantly accepted Koerin’s suggestion that they wait for Phlox’s team at the castle, where they would also be able to establish some sort of communication there. The coordinates that were given should land the shuttlepod just outside Gardien City.

“Is there where we’re going?”

Raising an eyebrow at Hoshi’s direction, Malcolm answered, “Apparently so.”

“The whole city is cloaked telepathically. Isn’t it just amazing?”

“Yes, very.”

“According to Koerin this is the largest on the planet, being the capital. I wonder how many cities are there…?”

Malcolm shrugged, hiding a small smile at her whispered query trailed off, recognising it as the rhetorical question that it was. He used the opportunity to study her covertly as she walked alongside him. The beautiful linguist had certainly changed, and was a far cry from the white-knuckled explorer she had been when they’d first started out on their journey, scarcely more than a year ago. He knew that her progress was due to many reasons, but he liked to think some of it was also because of the target practices that they’d been having. With a rush of pride, Malcolm remembered their last session. Her scores were definitely improving.

Glancing once more at time, the Lieutenant was surprised to see that it was only 1840 hours. Although he felt that they’d wasted the whole morning and the better part of the afternoon tramping through the dense forest that surrounded the hidden city, there wasn’t any doubt that the overall situation had improved once the J’ralls had shown up, a little more than two hours ago. They might not have the cure for Trip yet but at least it didn’t feel as if they were alone anymore, helpless against something that they didn’t understand and had absolutely no power over whatsoever.

The soft creak of an adjacent window drew Malcolm from his thoughts and he grimaced inwardly at all the attention that they were getting. Inhabitants of the city, young and old alike, were coming out from the small, exquisitely structured stone houses lined up at each side of the paved road to stare curiously at their strange visitors. Regardless of how justifiably so it might be, all of this attention was making him nervous, not to mention very uncomfortable.

The Tactical Officer’s uneasiness at their group being the centre of attention was momentarily forgotten when a young J’rall, who looked no more than five, ran out onto the street. He gazed up at Archer and T’Pol, bright wonderment in his huge bright green eyes, before making his way to the back of the group. Still peering inquisitively over his shoulder at the Vulcan as he trotted along, the youngster barrelled full speed into Hoshi, who’d tried unsuccessfully to move out of the way of the chubby toddler.

“Mmmphh!”

Quickly putting out both hands to stabilise the young child, Hoshi grinned at his wide-eyed expression. Getting over his surprise, he promptly responded to her smile with a wide, toothy grin. Totally charmed by the simple gesture, Hoshi bent down until she was eye to eye with the diminutive boy.

“Hello,” she greeted in his native language, eliciting another smile from him and surprised chuckles from the watching adults.

“Hi,” the small boy answered shyly, putting out a timid hand to her face. Hoshi remained still as he explored her face. He seemed most mesmerised by her smooth cheeks, his tiny fingers lingering on that part of her face the longest.

The rest of them had stopped when the boy had run into Hoshi and they now watched silently as she allowed her tiny admirer to explore her features at his leisure. At first, Archer was concerned about the repercussion of the young child’s telepathic ability on Hoshi’s mind but Koerin had quickly assured him that one that young would not have developed the capability just yet.

Relieved by Koerin’s answer, Malcolm had allowed himself to relax a little, but he continued to keep a close eye out for anyone who might be acting even remotely suspicious. Watching their interaction, he had a feeling that the linguist would have knelt there for an indefinite period of time if the child’s mother had not come over and gently disengaged her small son from the Communications Officer with a shy smile. With some reluctance, the youngster left with his mother, but not before giving the ensign an enthusiastic wave goodbye.

Standing up, Hoshi returned her young friend’s gesture and then turned back to her crewmates, seeking out Archer’s gaze.

“I’m sorry, Sir–”

“That’s okay, Hoshi,” Archer interrupted her apology with a slight smile. “I think we all needed that moment.”

“Let us continue,” Koerin called out from the head of the group, waving a hand at them. “We are almost there.”

* * * * *

Malcolm took a deep breath as they drew nearer the imposing stronghold. The fortress looked even more majestic and glorious up close. Constructed of masonry and stone, it was as high as any of the modern skyscrapers of the cities back on Earth. Surrounded by a deep moat, its only connection to the land on the other side appeared to be a broad drawbridge, which slowly lowered as they walked up to it. Without warning, two similarly robed men appeared at the entrance of the gatehouse, their faces expressionless while they watched the approach of the strange group of travellers.

“Please, remain here,” Koerin instructed. At his companions’ silent acquiescence, he left their side and walked up towards the gatekeepers.

“Good wishes, Master Koerin.”

“Good wishes, Piekra, Reodran,” the old J’rall answered, returning their low bow with a dip of his head. Leaning closer, he spoke quietly to the men before indicating to the waiting group to follow him once more. Trading guarded looks, Archer and his team slowly walked up to the gatehouse, passing the two J’ralls, who’d moved aside without a sound, allowing them passage into the castle.

Walking right behind Koerin, the team soon exited the arched hallway into a wide-open space. Looking around, Malcolm marvelled at the structure of the dark grey fortress. If he remembered his castle terminology correctly, they’d just entered the outer bailey, or courtyard, of the castle. The surrounding curtain walls were thick and solid, broken only by soaring spherical towers built into them. On top of the fighting platforms were several ballistas and catapults. The medieval weapons looked old and unused, but somehow he was sure that they were all in perfect firing condition.

Ping.

“Look at that…!” Travis’ surprised hiss from somewhere in front of him drew Malcolm’s attention to what he surmised to be the exercise area for those defenders in training. What they saw astounded them. While one young J’rall sat on the ground, with eyes unblinking and in almost uncanny stillness, three more youngsters, each manning a strange machine, were taking turns hurling rocks of all sizes at him from all sides.

Ping… Ping… Ping…

Each high-speed missile, however, were stopped a few hundred metres short of its target, each bouncing back and falling to the ground after hitting what seemed to be an invisible barrier surrounding the meditating J’rall, who just might be made out of stone, for all the expression that he showed.

Ping… Ping… Ping… Ping… Ping…

The projectiles started to come faster, and as they watched, the barrier surrounding the young man also began to grow in diametre, until several rings of rocks of different sizes, started to form around him. Then the launches stopped and the target blinked, emerging from the trance that he was in. He smiled at his fellow trainees, who immediately grinned back at him. Malcolm could almost hear their cumulative sighs of relief as the exercise was completed. Perfectly too, judging by the ecstatic expressions on their young faces.

Then, the three J’ralls that were on the machines went very still and suddenly, the scattered stones began to rise up from the ground, forming three enormous piles before floating across the exercise area towards each man. As the last pebble disappeared into the container in front of each machine, Travis turned towards Malcolm with a grin.

“Well, that should be a handy talent to have around.”

Malcolm returned the smile but nodded noncommittally, he was already envisioning food trays floating around the Mess Hall while everyone sat waiting at their tables. Somehow, a grinning Trip seemed to be in the middle of that absurd scenario and Malcolm fought to keep the smile from turning into a downright chuckle. It quickly melted away when another more disturbing thought intruded – if what they’d just witnessed was just the beginning of what the J’ralls were capable of, he couldn’t help but to wonder what the consequences would be should they decide to exercise that power upon an unsuspecting universe.

“Let’s go,” Malcolm said, shaking off the troubling image, and both men trotted after the group. They soon caught up with the rest just as they turned the corner, entering what he immediately identified as the great hall. Connected to the upper floors, by several circular staircases with ornate engravings, the main chamber of the castle was larger than any mansion that the Armoury Officer had seen. In fact, it could house three to four such buildings easily, and still have room to spare.

“This is sacrilege, Koerin!”

The incensed voice drew Malcolm from further contemplation of the hall and he looked ahead to find two darkly robed men confronting their old guide. Immediately suspicious, he quickly moved forward – after making sure that Ensign Foster took his place at the rear of the group – and stopped just behind Archer, every nerve on edge.

“Captain?” he ventured softly.

“I’m not sure, Malcolm,” Archer replied, equally sotto voce, as he frowned at the scene unfolding before them. It was a struggle to contain his impatience at this new development. He could only hope that whatever was about to take place would not be a cause for any further delay, especially since he could practically feel time, precious time that they cannot afford to lose, that Trip cannot afford to lose, slipping away like sand from them.

While his guests were suddenly tense and watchful due to the sudden appearance of the somewhat hostile newcomers, Koerin appeared unperturbed by their presence, or of their heated accusation. He merely laid a hand on his protégé’s arm – although he gave both men a low bow of respect, Taelek looked all too ready to jump to the defense of his teacher – and addressed his livid contemporaries calmly, “It is the right thing to do, and you both know it.”

The taller one gave a derisive snort. He passed a quick eye over the wary group behind his fellow scholar, taking note of their unusual attire and guarded looks before dismissing them. “What we know is absolutely nothing about these people…”

“We know enough,” Koerin countered, an answering glint in his emerald eyes. Briefly, his innate serene demeanor disappeared as anger shone through. “The Council’s decision is final, Haelon. We were to help should the need arises. It has.”

“The Council…” the other man all but spat out, “…may yet come to regret its hasty decision. Remember, not all of us agreed to this.”

“That is indeed true. Nevertheless, a sufficient number of the elders have deemed the risks acceptable and that is enough,” Koerin dipped his head slightly. “And as I have stated during the assembly, I am willing to shoulder all responsibility of this encounter.”

“You’d better be, Koerin, for this will definitely be on your head if anything goes wrong,” Haelon warned with an enraged glare before striding away, his silent companion following closely behind.

It was a short, awkward moment for the Enterprise crew before Koerin finally turned towards them. “I apologise for my colleagues’ crass behaviour, Captain Archer. Haelon and Gierak were among several of the Council elders who had opposed the decision to help you out. As you can see, not all of us are in agreement with your presence here in our city.”

“No … really?” Hoshi said under her breath.

Overhearing her low sarcastic remark, Archer grimaced but ignored it – the very same thought had also crossed his mind. Clearing his throat, he addressed Koerin, who, for the first time since he’d initiated contact with them, looked distinctively uncomfortable. “I hope we didn’t cause any rift–”

“No, no… do not worry about that. Haelon and his compatriots may disapprove of what we are doing but they will abide by the Council’s decision.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Archer said. “Although it’s understandable why they feel the way that they do.”

“Still, it was unfortunate that you and your team had to bear witness to our disagreement,” the old scholar shook his head, his disappointment in the confrontation evident on his lined face. Without another word, he turned continued walking, finally leading them before a large wooden door. “You should be able to communicate with your ship from here…”

Back to his original position at the rear of the group, Malcolm gave their surroundings another cursory glance before following his crewmates into the large chamber. Passing Taelek, who was waiting at the door, he returned the J’rall’s greeting with a tight smile as he took a cautious step into the room. Not too far in, he stopped and looked back over one shoulder, watching intently as Taelek gently closed the door, its soft click a sudden, ominous sound to his ears.

TBC

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Neo Getz: Wow, thanks for the reviews. Enjoyed your comments and background info tremendously. Glad you liked Lieutenant Anderson. :D And yeah, that’s basically what an advocate does, it’s what you did in response to akin’s comments in the previous chapter. Thanks for the offer to help out. Hope you’ll keep reading! :D

tracy-thecubednag: Nope, you’re right, they can’t have Trip… wish I could though… *cough* Ahem… Anyway, thanks for the review. Am trying out the angst angle in this fic… hope it works out. :)

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Three people have made comments

Wow Wow Wow, Gr8 chapter, just amazing :P Really getting into this. The design of the Castle seems amazing and beliveable, accurate naming too. And yeh i'd say malcolm would know bout Castles n stuff coz every english school teaches it in history. Amazing chapter although that last bit:
"Taelek gently closed the door, its soft click a sudden, ominous sound to his ears." kinda sounds like summet malcolm would get worried about ominous doors have never been good before, Thanks for this chapter and your comments :) cant wait for more

oh my... i see bad things happening, well more bad things.

Excellent! Loved the medieval setting, Malcolm's previously unknown interest in medieval armaments (and totally in character - I hope the show thinks of that!), and the aliens. Something's afoot. Looking forward to more.