Unexpected - Chapter 8

Unexpected

by Orion9

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

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Chapter Eight: Missing

The Bridge
Enterprise
1950 hours

“What do you mean, you don’t know where he is?” Archer demanded furiously. “How is that even possible …?!”

The palace official swallowed, his antennae twitching.

“Err … well, no one has seen him since this afternoon…” he tried again.

“Yes, so we’ve been told – several times already,” Archer cut in. “And …?”

Faced with the irate starship captain’s mounting anger, the hapless official wished for the umpteenth time that someone else had taken the call when it came through. Another look at the Captain’s face was enough. He didn’t think his hearts, both of them, could stand the grilling any longer.

“Uh, let me p-pass you to my colleague, Captain … Please h-hold on.”

“No, wait–” Archer protested but it was already too late. The viewscreen went black as the call was again redirected to yet another person.

With some difficulty, Archer controlled the urge to smash something with his fist. Unable to reach the Chief Engineer when he had failed to check in as scheduled, they had contacted the palace officials – only to be transferred from one person to another for the past hour. So far, nobody in the palace had any idea where Trip was. All anyone could tell them was that no one had seen him since the afternoon. Without permission to go down to the planet’s surface, the crew of the NX-01 could do nothing but to try and locate their missing crewmate from where they were.

He turned to Hoshi.

“Try again.”

She nodded and turned back to her console, her teeth worrying her bottom lip. After a while, she looked back at him and shook her head. The current solar flare made sure there was a slim to none chance they would be able to get through.

“Captain,” T’pol called out from her station, commanding Archer’s attention.

“What is it?”

“According to the last coordinates we have on Commander Tucker’s biosign, he was somewhere in this region.”

“Do we have his exact location?” Archer asked, looking over her shoulder at the screen.

“No, the signal only lasted for a brief moment before it was interrupted. However, based on his last location, Commander Tucker was still well within palace grounds, although at the very edge.”

Archer frowned. He was about to make a comment when Hoshi spoke up.

“Captain, it’s the palace.”

“On screen.”

A face appeared on the viewscreen – the same official who last spoke to them.

“Uh … Captain Archer,” the nervous man began, his antennae still twitching erratically.

“Yes, what is it?” Archer answered curtly.

“Er … His Majesty King J’ok requests your presence at the palace to discuss Commander Tucker’s … uh … situation.”

Archer nodded.

“Some of my officers will be coming along.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, Captain.”

“Good. We’ll be right down. Archer out.”

As the viewscreen went black once more, he turned to T’pol.

“Send the last coordinates we have on Commander Tucker down to them and ask that they check it out for us. Let’s hope we’ll have some answers by the time we get there.”

T’pol nodded almost imperceptibly and turned back to her console.

“Malcolm, Travis – meet us at the launch bay.”

“Aye, sir,” Malcolm replied as the two men headed towards the turbolift.

Archer turned to Hoshi, ”You have the bridge, Ensign. Keep trying.”

“Yes, sir.”

“It’s done, Captain,” T’pol reported.

Archer nodded grimly.

“Good. Let’s go.”

As the turbolift doors closed behind them, Hoshi tried hailing the Chief Engineer again.

“Enterprise to Commander Tucker. Please respond, Commander…”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Conference Room, The Royal Zenandrian Palace
Zenandria
2025 hours

Archer looked questioningly at Princess Xadria.

“I’m sorry … the Jhak-re?”

“The Jhak-re is a daily session where I get to know each of my suitors, one at a time. I usually meet Commander Tucker in the library at about five each evening.”

On Archer’s left, Malcolm shifted restlessly in his seat, impatient to start the search. The only reason they were still in this room instead of out there looking was because they had to wait for the report on the coordinates that were sent down earlier. He frowned. Why was it taking so bloody long?

He looked stealthily over the large ornately decorated room even as he paid close attention to the ongoing discussion. He had to admit; he was impressed by the beautiful structure of the building and a little more than interested in the unusual weaponry that he had a glimpse of when they first arrived at the palace.

The several heavily armed uniformed men standing guard at the entrances to the room caught his eye and he wondered how many of these guards there were in total. His casual sweep of the room over, Malcolm turned his attention back to the rest of the people present. Seated across the Enterprise officers at the large circular table were an equally solemn King J’ok and Princess Xadria.

“Wait, if these sessions are what I think they are, then why was Commander Tucker involved?” the captain was saying. “They didn’t seem to be necessary.”

“No, they weren’t,” Xadria agreed. “However, I was curious about life on board the Enterprise as well as on Earth. Commander Tucker agreed to spend some time telling me about them. So far, we’d covered the different kinds of Earth food and clothing. I believe the Commander is partial to catfish, prime ribs and … uh … pe–pejan pie?”

Despite the severity of the situation, Archer had to smile at the last part of her sentence.

“That would be pecan pie, Your Highness.”

“Ahh, yes, pecan pie.” She continued after a short pause, her smile fading. “When he did not make the Jhak-re at the appointed time, I became concerned, since he has never missed a session before. I informed K’lar about this and he quickly contacted the men assigned to Commander Tucker. We became even more anxious when they failed to respond as well…”

“K’lar?”

“Commandant K’lar is the Head of Security,” King J’ok spoke up. Just then, a knock sounded at the main door.

“Enter.”

The door opened to admit a Zenandrian dressed in a gold and black uniform.

“Ahh! K’lar!” J’ok greeted enthusiastically. “We were just talking about you! Come!”

The tall Zenandrian strode to the middle of the room and bowed to his monarch.

“Sire.”

“You have news?” J’ok asked after the necessary introductions were made.

“Yes, Your Majesty. We’ve checked out the coordinates from Captain Archer. It appears to be the conservatory.”

“The conservatory?”

“Yes, Sire. After a brief search, we found both guards assigned to Commander Tucker unconscious in a specially dug pit by the edge of the palace grounds, not far away from the building itself. They were both given powerful sedatives and are currently still in a coma. I’m afraid we would not be getting any help from them until they’ve regained consciousness. Unfortunately, the doctors are unable to tell us whether they will eventually do so. Their condition remains critical.”

There was a stunned silence when he finished. K’lar hesitated over the next section of his report, unsure of how he should proceed. No one liked admitting failure, least of all him. Moreover, he had nothing but bad news about their human guest.

“And Commander Tucker?” Archer prompted, when the Head of Security did not continue immediately.

K’lar cleared his throat. His voice was low and grave when he answered.

“We were unable to locate Commander Tucker although we found traces of human blood in the conservatory. We believe he may have been injured by whoever or whatever that had attacked him there.”

His listeners exchanged worried glances. Already greatly disturbed by the news regarding the attack on the guards, the Starfleet officers looked even more alarmed by the last bit of information; even T’pol, although she showed no outward reaction save for a flicker in her eyes before her mask of indifference slipped quickly back into place.

“This makes no sense,” Archer shook his head, perplexed. “Any idea what the Commander was doing there in the first place?”

“We have yet to determine the answer to that question, Captain.”

“But you think it’s linked to the ceremony tomorrow?”

“It’s possible but we have yet to verify this fact.”

“Will Commander Tucker’s disappearance disrupt anything?” Malcolm asked.

“No, the ceremony will continue with or without all five suitors present.”

“What is currently being done?”

This came from T’pol. K’lar matched the Vulcan’s steady look as he answered.

“Our men are searching the surrounding area for him. Unfortunately, the forest is exceptionally thick and wild there and finding one man may take a while.”

“The last time a suitor disappeared was about two hundred years ago due to an act of jealousy,” the monarch shook his head, frowning. “But since Commander Tucker presence is not a threat to any of the other suitors, I don’t see how something like this could happen. This is most unfortunate, Captain.”

“Yes, it is,” Archer answered almost absently. “As soon as it is possible, Enterprise will scan for Trip’s biosign. Hopefully, we’ll have better luck locating him then.”

“I beg your pardon, sire,” the prime minister’s voice interrupted the somber group from the main door.

“Yes, Dakr’a. What is it?”

“I must speak to you privately, Your Majesty, and to Commandant K’lar as well. It … concerns Princess Xanindra.”

The mention of his daughter’s name caused the monarch to look at the other man in alarm. He quickly excused himself and, accompanied by K’lar, met up with Dakr’a just outside the main door. Occasionally, they would glance back towards the Enterprise officers still seated at the table.

Already troubled by the Prime Minister’s tone of voice, Archer’s unease deepened when he caught sight of J’ok’s stricken look. He turned to T’pol.

“Can you hear what they are saying?”

Her eyebrow rose.

“It did not occur to me to try. It is unethical to eavesdrop on a private conversation.”

“Can. You. Hear. What. They. Are. Saying, Sub-Commander?” Archer repeated, enunciating each word between clenched teeth.

T’pol’s face was expressionless as she concentrated on the exchange. She met his eyes.

“Yes.”

“Well?” he said exasperatedly when she didn’t continue.

She looked steadily back.

“They have just found the guards assigned to Princess Xanindra. One of them is dead. It appears that the princess is missing as well.”

He grimaced. Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse…

“There’s more, Captain.”

Archer looked silently at her, waiting.

“They have reason to believe that Commander Tucker was involved in her disappearance.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

An undisclosed location
Zenandria
2115 hours

Xanindra awoke first. Disorientated, she sat up slowly and looked around. It was almost pitch black in the small room. She tentatively felt around. A scream caught in her throat when her hands connected with something soft and warm. Quickly pulling her hands back, she stared fearfully at the dark mass on the ground beside her. Moments passed and when the thing on the floor did not jump up and attack her, she slowly reached out a hand and poked it cautiously with a finger. There was something strangely familiar about it.

Slowly, her eyes adjusted to the gloom and she gasped when she ealized d what, or rather, who the mass was. Tears gathering in her eyes, she crawled closer and knelt beside him. He was lying sprawled on his uninjured side, his right arm pinned underneath him. A whimper escaped her when she saw that both his wounds were bleeding again.

“Trip!” she whispered, shaking his shoulder, trying to wake him up. When he didn’t stir, she shook him again, a little harder this time. But his eyes remained closed, his breathing shallow.

“Why is he still unconscious?” a man’s voice came suddenly from the other side of the door, and she instinctively crouched down, and moved closer to the engineer. Her eyes squeezed shut; she crouched there, immobile with fear.

“Are you sure you didn’t overdose him or something?” the man continued, his voice harsh.

“How am I supposed to know?” another voice hissed angrily in reply. “It’s not like we’ve used those darts on a human before! And with his injuries–”

“Minor ones at best.”

“Perhaps. He wasn’t part of the plan! And you know as well as I do the hut wasn’t made to keep an adult in…”

“He doesn’t know that. Besides, I doubt he would be able to get very far even if he manages to get out, not with his injuries. And I do intend to add some on myself very soon.”

“I don’t like it! You said no one was going to get hurt.“

“No, but things have changed.”

“I still say this is a bad idea. You know you’re talking about outright murder here…”

Their voices faded as the men walked away, still deep in their discussion.

Xanindra opened her eyes and sat up slowly when it was quiet once more. She ealized with growing alarm that they were talking about the unconscious man beside her. She looked down at his still form. What did they mean? Why hadn’t he opened his eyes yet? Is he dying? Is he dead?

“Please, Trip,” she begged as tears rolled down her face. She shook his shoulder again. “Please wake up…”

TBC

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