Unexpected-Chapter 14

Unexpected

by Orion9

Disclaimer: See Chapter One
Feedback: Would be so greatly appreciated! :)
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Chapter Fourteen – Rescue

Forest
Zenandria
0405 hours

They stopped for breath even as the young engineer’s body went limp. Gl’ot bent over for a closer look.

“He’s alive,” he grunted. “Barely.”

He took out his gun and aimed it at the unconscious man. “But not for long.”

“No!” Hra’ak said angrily, stopping the other man before he could pull the trigger. “Put that away, you idiot! It must look as if Tucker was a victim of a random attack. He said we were to leave his body near the docks. This way, there should be nothing to connect him to any of us …”

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

Coming to rest on one knee at the back of the hut, Malcolm’s eyes narrowed in anger as he heard a familiar name in the last few sentences. He peered cautiously through the hole in the wall and swore softly as he took in the scene in the hut, his fingers tightening involuntarily over his phase pistol.

Commander Tucker was lying motionless on the ground while two Zenandrians stood over him. A third man stood slightly away, near the door. He appeared to be the one in charge. There was so much blood on the still figure that, for a moment, Malcolm felt the bitter certainty that they had arrived too late to save his friend. Cringing inwardly at the thought, he hastily pushed it away, reminding himself to stay positive. All the same, he said a quick prayer, and hoped that he was wrong. You’d better not let me down now, Mr Tucker…

Without taking his eyes off Trip, he raised a hand and gave a wave. Almost immediately, several dark figures appeared from the darkened shadows that surrounded the hut and adeptly moved into position. The entire operation only took a few short seconds but Malcolm knew, without having to look up, that the whole place was now totally surrounded by the twelve-member team.

Malcolm and his team had moved without delay the moment they’d received the exact coordinates from Enterprise over three hours ago. Unfortunately, the dense forest that covered the whole area had hindered their progress, causing the men to abandon their vehicles and to cover the last few kilometres on foot. Moving as rapidly as they could through dense vegetation, they soon came upon the small windowless hut, which was very well hidden by the thick bushes that grew nearby. It was so cleverly camouflaged that they’d almost missed it, if it weren’t for the muted light that was spilling out from the slightly opened door. At Malcolm’s signal, they had noiselessly made their way to the back of the building.

Now, forcing himself to look away from his friend’s battered form, Malcolm took a quick glance around to make sure that the team was ready to move against the men inside. Crouched not too far away, K’lar looked towards him and raised his hand. Malcolm nodded grimly; acknowledging the silent hand motion as the indication that everyone was in place and ready for the next phase of the rescue. He peered through the hole again, taking note of the men’s positions for one last time. Finally satisfied that there was no one else in the hut apart from the three Zenandrians, he turned and gave the much-awaited signal.

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

Gl’ot was aiming another kick at the Tucker’s head when a soft sound caught his attention. He looked up, just in time to see Hra’ak give an almost imperceptible jerk before falling unconscious to the ground. Before he could even form a suitable reaction, K’lar and several other members of the tactical team were already in the hut, guns firmly in hand.

With a snarl of anger, Gl’ot raised his own weapon, but the next blast from the Head of Security’s gun abruptly rendered him unconscious as well. At the same time, Malcolm turned his phase pistol on the third man with one smooth swing, before the Zenandrian could even turn fully towards them.

“Haven’t you bloody heard?” the Armoury Officer said scathingly, his clipped British accent even more pronounced in his anger, as he watched the last man collapse without another sound. “This is not how you treat visitors to Zenandria.”

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

“How is he?” Archer asked anxiously from the door. The journey from the royal palace had taken longer than he’d expected and Malcolm’s initial report was alarming at best. He walked quickly into the hut, followed closely by T’pol and Phlox.

Malcolm looked up from where he was kneeling beside Trip, his eyes filled with mute concern.

“I’m afraid it doesn’t look good, Captain,” he answered quietly as he moved away to stand beside K’lar, watching as Phlox knelt down beside Trip and ran a quick scan down the still figure.

Now that the Commander was finally in good hands, Malcolm forced himself to look away, knowing that at this point he needed to concentrate on other urgent matters. He looked across the room, to where Trip’s former captors lay silent on the cold ground, under the watchful eyes of K’lar’s men. All three were still out cold, their arms bound tightly together. Based on the uniform worn by two of the prisoners and the conversation that he’d overheard, Malcolm knew that immediate action had to be taken, as the whole incident was more serious than anyone had initially imagined.

Looking up, he met K’lar’s gaze, and noted the similar shock and incredulity in the other man’s eyes at the evidence before them. Shaking his head, the Head of Security opened his mouth, presumably to apologise, but Malcolm spoke first, keeping his voice low as he outlined his plan quickly and carefully.

K’lar looked unconvinced at first, but he eventually nodded in agreement and left the hut with his men, bringing along the three prisoners. As Foster and Zabel moved to stand guard beside the door, Malcolm turned his attention back to the doctor, just as the Captain knelt down beside the Denubolan.

Even in the muted lighting of the hut, Archer could see the severity of his friend’s injuries. He looked on, brow furrowed in concern, as Phlox continued his examination, taking in the dark circles under the younger man’s eyes; the left was almost swollen shut while a dark bruise encompassed the right. The gash on Trip’s right temple looked open and raw and there were deep rope burns on his wrists. The wounds at his side and on his thigh looked the worst. It didn’t help matters that blood was everywhere until he couldn’t tell where they were coming from.

“Doc?” Archer asked finally, the one single word representing all their fears, as the silence dragged on. There wasn’t a single movement or sound in the hut; if he didn’t know better, he’d have thought that Phlox and himself were the only two people left in the room.

Shaking his head at Trip’s condition, Phlox finished his scans and then looked up, meeting Archer’s eyes.

“It’s not good, Captain. His outer injuries are severe but what concerns me most is that he’s hemorrhaging internally.”

“Can you stop it?”

“Not here, I’m afraid. We need to get him back to Enterprise or he may just bleed to death.”

“The transporter?”

“It will be too big a risk, Captain,” T’pol spoke up. “The flares have just started over an hour ago.”

Phlox nodded. “The Sub-Commander is right. Furthermore, Commander Tucker may be too weak to survive the transporter in his condition.”

Archer stood up, his face harsh with worry.

“Then we’d better start moving.”

Sickbay
Enterprise
0725 hours

“Doctor?”

Phlox looked up as Archer walked in. For once, his cheery manner was absent, indisputably tempered by his concern for his patient.

“Captain,” he greeted soberly. “I believe Lieutenant Reed has informed you about our discovery?”

“Yes, Malcolm’s running a check on it as we speak.”

Phlox shook his head and said, “Commander Tucker was gripping it so hard I couldn’t get his fist open until I gave him a muscle relaxant.”

At the mention of the name of the very person he’d come to check up on, Archer glanced worriedly at the bed behind the doctor.

“How’s he doing?”

Phlox turned and looked at the man lying almost lifelessly on the biobed. Covered with multiple deep cuts and extensive bruises, with swathes of bandages around his wrists and ribs, the gentle rise and fall of Tucker’s chest was the only sign that he was still alive.

“I’m sorry, Captain. Although his surgery went well, it’s still too early to say. Lieutenant Reed and his team got to the Commander just in time. Any later…” he left the rest unsaid.

Archer drew an unsteady breath as the doctor’s unfinished words washed over him. Trip was more than just his friend, he was like the younger brother that he’d never had.

Any later…

With an effort, he veered away from the bleak line of thought, forcing himself to pay attention as the doctor continued, “Whatever they used to shoot at Commander Tucker passed through him without hitting any major arteries but he has lost an inordinate amount of blood. I’ve managed to stop the bleeding, internally and externally…”

“But?” Archer asked when Phlox trailed off.

“He’s running an exceptionally high fever and it has weakened him considerably,” the Denobulan finished, his expression abnormally bleak. “I’ve been unable to bring it down; I believe it to be an allergic reaction to the drugs used on him. The sedatives seemed to have an adverse effect on human physiology.”

Archer rubbed his hands wearily over his face. He could barely look at Trip’s wounded form without reacting with an empathetic wince. With an effort, he reined in the urge to shake the unconscious man, just so that he’d show a small sign of life. A movement. A moan. A twitch. Something. Anything. Anything but this horrifying stillness. He looked up as Phlox spoke again.

“Only the next few hours will tell. I’m afraid it’s all up to Commander Tucker now.”

Captain’s Ready Room
Enterprise
0755 hours

The sound of the doorchime gradually filtered into his thoughts, startling him, and he realised that he had been staring uncomprehendingly at the same page since he picked up the PADD twenty minutes ago. The door chimed again and he gave himself a mental shake as he stood up, putting the PADD down on the table.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Malcolm entered, his no-nonsense countenance grimmer than ever.

“What did you find out?”

“It was just as I had suspected, Captain,” Malcolm replied as he handed over the item that was found in Trip’s right hand, along with a PADD containing his report.

It only took Archer a few minutes to read what Malcolm had discovered. He examined the item in his hand for a moment and then looked back up at his Tactical Officer.

“Is this what I think it is?”

“Yes, Sir,” Malcolm nodded. “I’ve already confirmed it with the Sub-Commander.”

“And Hra’ak?”

“He verified what we already knew. But unless we get proof...”

“I know,” Archer finished quietly. “We’ll only have his words and nothing else. What about K’lar and his men?”

“K’lar’s not too happy with it but they’re ready. I’ve also made sure that no one else knows about our plan except for the king and queen.”

Archer’s face was dark as he moved towards to door.

“Great work, Malcolm. Get your team ready. We’ll be leaving for the surface in ten minutes – we have a rat to catch.”

TBC

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Two folks have made comments

Brilliant story I am on the edge of my seat, poor Tip. Please add another chapter soon.!!

As usual, great job! :-) I think your writing just gets better and better! I'm looking forward to the next chapter! Thank you!