Face of the Enemy - Part 8

Face of the Enemy

by SpaceCowboy

Disclaimers in Part One

‘I was the more deceived.’
- Ophelia (Hamlet)

Part Eight

ON ENTERPRISE, the senior officers convened in the briefing room. Commander Tucker had also joined them, taking his usual spot next to the captain. Archer could tell he was still experiencing minor repercussions from the amulet, but if Enterprise was going to make this work, they would need it’s chief engineer- despite his dire need for sleep and food.

Archer drew in a deep breath and began the meeting by addressing the contraption Trip’s engineer’s had constructed. He placed it in the middle of the table and let everyone stare. “It’s crude by our standards, but it’s fully functional as a relay station,” Archer stated, eying the piece with a frown. “Lieutenant Hess tells me they had difficulties trying to arrange an undetectable transmission signal, but Hoshi was able to get around the problem.” He looked to the communications officer with a smile.

“Once the Vhoorminians enter their desired coordinates, the relay junction will transmit them directly to our transporter. Commander Tucker will monitor the transmission and activate the transport from our transporter room,” stated Archer. He looked at the contraption again and frowned. It was almost comical. For artistic beauty, the engineers had used a protein resequencer keypad to work as the control panel. And if he wasn’t mistaken, someone had even attached a fork.

“Well, if it doesn’t work, maybe the pretty lights and switches will dazzle them into submission,” remarked Trip.

Archer regarded him with a single brow arched. “It’s meant to look impressive. Possibly even confuse them, Trip. That way if our plan doesn’t work, we can blame it on our technology.”

Trip blew out a puff of air. “I hope you guys know how to work it, cause I’m the chief engineer and I can’t decide whether to feed it coordinates or feed myself with it.”

Archer patted him on the shoulder playfully, but decided it was time to move on. “I would like to contact Chancellor MiVix immediately and tell him I will agree to his terms. Hoshi, I’d like you to join Malcolm and myself. We’ll meet in the transporter room in twenty-minutes.” He paused and looked directly at Hoshi. “Will you be up to it?”

“Transporter, sir?” she asked hesitantly.

Archer nodded thoughtfully. “I want to be able to make a fast escape if need be.”

“I’ll be ready,” she nodded, this time with certainty.

“Good,” replied Archer.

“Excuse me, cap’n,” interrupted Trip. “But I’d like to join you if I may? The Vhoorminians seem to have more trust in me; it may be of some benefit.” Trip paused, and then quickly added, “No offence, sir.”

Archer smiled. “No offence taken, Trip. You have a very valid point. But I want you at the transporter. Hoshi and the rest of us would feel a lot more secure.” Archer was confident in his decision, even though Trip seemed a little disappointed. Trip was still recovering and Archer didn’t want to have to send the engineer back to sickbay for exhaustion.

He dismissed his senior officers and hailed the Chancellor from his ready room. The transmission had been short and simple which made Archer happy. The faster they got this over with, got T’Pol back safely where she belonged, the happier he would be.

~

Sub-Commander T’Pol was standing between two armed guards when Archer, Malcolm and Hoshi arrived in Chancellor MiVix’s office. She appeared completely impassive by the whole ordeal, and nodded slightly in Archer’s direction. The Chancellor was pacing in front of her and he seemed either agitated or excited- Archer couldn’t tell.

But when the Chancellor spoke, there were no signs of hesitation. He looked at T’Pol with a smug smile. “Seems you were wrong, Sub-Commander. You’re captain is a lot smarter than you give him credit for.”

Archer took the comment with a grain of salt. “I trust you’re well,” he asked T’Pol.

“They have not harmed me, Captain,” responded T’Pol.

Archer nodded, and then moved slowly to place the relay station/transporter on the Chancellor’s desk. To a Vulcan science officer, it was undeniably useless as a transporter, so Archer did not feel the need to share any form of covert conversation with T‘Pol. He simply assumed she knew he had gotten her message. He stepped back and watched the Chancellor run his hands over the buttons- careful not to disturb anything.

“So, this is it? This is the great and powerful transporter that’s able to move people from one side of a planet to the other instantaneously?”

“It has limitations,” responded Malcolm, his voice clipped. “Five thousand kilometres is its range, so don’t push it.”

“Show me how it works,” beamed the Chancellor.

Archer stepped closer. “First release my sub-commander,” he demanded.

The Chancellor shook his head slowly, never taking his eyes off the transporter. “First you show me how to operate this, and then we give it a test run. You didn’t think I would just take it on your word and let you go merrily on your way, did you?”

Archer had anticipated this and was prepared. “Lieutenant, show the Chancellor how it works.”

Malcolm stepped up to the table. “Aye, Captain,” he replied. Then he indicated the control panel to the Chancellor and began the operation sequence- describing his actions as he went. When he was done, he stepped back and with a nonchalant voice, he added, “But you’ll have to lower the energy field in order for it to work.”

But the Chancellor was too preoccupied with his new toy and paid no attention to the comment. Archer’s stomach began to reel. The field had to be lowered in order for this to work, but it didn’t look like it was going to happen. He looked at Hoshi standing beside him, and noticed how her face reflected the pure tension of the moment. Archer took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. If he looked as nervous as she did, their plan would be doomed before it even hit the demonstration stage.

The Chancellor was finally ready to test the device and called one of his guards forward to volunteer. The one chosen stepped forward hesitantly, beads of perspiration evident on his brow. “If anything happens to my guard, your sub-commander dies,” threatened the Chancellor. Then he activated the transport before Archer could object.

~

In the transporter room on board Enterprise, Trip was staring at his console- hands poised to react quickly. The coordinates sprang into view and he instantly activated the ship’s transport beam. When it was done, he let out the breath he was holding and braced himself on the console and hung his head. He had no way of knowing if it had worked, but thought it good when no one contacted him for an emergency transport out.

Then something caught his eye. Trip blinked, making sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. On the monitor in front of him, in broad daylight, were the bio-signatures of three humans and one Vulcan. Trip straightened upright and rechecked the readings. The Vhoorminians had not raised the energy field after letting the away team into the Hall. And they had even brought T’Pol to the surface. Trip now had a clear and perfect chance to transport the entire away team to the ship.

“Here goes,” he breathed, and locked onto the coordinates of the away team and activated transport.

~

The Chancellor beamed when there was a knock at his door and the momentarily displaced guard walked in. “You are a man of your word now, Captain,” gaped the Chancellor.

“I’ve always been a man of my word,” Archer retorted. “So, may I take my crew and leave now, Chancellor?”

The Chancellor stared at him, then shared a look with each of Archer’s entourage. He was about to order the guards to seize them all when suddenly they dematerialized before him. He spun around to look at his newly acquired transporter and quickly realized no on had activated it.

“The ship!” cried one of the guards.

The Chancellor was raging in both anger and fear. He knew Captain Archer would want retribution for what he had done. The Chancellor had been prepared to take a defensive stance against Enterprise, but he had not expected to take is so quickly. “Put the force field back up and arm the weapon!” he ordered, flailing his arms in all directions. “We must make the first move and let them know we will not be over taken!” He jumped to his view screen and immediately informed Kintz.

~

Much to Archer’s surprise, he found himself staring into the chief engineer’s face on board Enterprise. “What happened?” he stammered, trying to settle his disorientation.

“I saw four signatures and figured it was the jackpot,” replied Trip. “I hope that was all right, sir?”

Archer raised his hand with a smile. “More than all right, Commander.” He descended the platform and patted Trip on the shoulder. “But now that we’re back, I suggest we get the hell out of here.”

“I concur, sir,” stated T’Pol, already heading for the corridor.

Archer was about to access the com panel on the wall and order the ship to leave order, but Mayweather’s voice was already occupying the line. “Commander? What’s your status? We seem to have a situation arising on the planet?”

The ensign’s voice was rushed, but cool, and Archer recognized the urgency of the request. “This is the Captain. What’s going on, Ensign?”

“You’re back? Is everyone on board?” came back Mayweather’s voice.

“Yes, we’re fine. What’s the situation?” urged Archer.

But before there was an answer, the ship thundered with a loud boom and shuddered low to the right off its axis. The inertial dampeners kicked in and evidently Mayweather was able to right the ship. “Ah, Captain,” he replied. “The Vhoorminians have opened a very large shield under most of the southern continent below us… And…” Boom! The ship rocked again. “And they’re firing at us.”

Archer pushed the alarm and ordered a ship wide alert. “Everyone to their stations. Mayweather, get us out of here.” Then he dashed out into the hallway with his crew tight behind him.

On the bridge, Archer took the con without formality and quickly addressed the helm. “I want a sit rep, and I want it brief,” he ordered.

Mayweather punched at his keyboard. “I’m not getting a response from the helm, sir.”

“Keep trying, Ensign,” Archer responded. Then he called engineering. “Trip, what’s our status?”

“We’re holding up, but there’s some sort of polarized probes attached to our outer plating,” replied Trip. Then there was a pause. Archer expected the worst. “And every time we change the hull’s integrity frequency, the probes adapt.”

“Hull integrity is disabling,” informed T’Pol. “Hull breach is imminent in forty seconds… thirty seconds…”

“I’m cutting engines, cap’n!” came Trip’s voice.

Archer steadied himself on a rail as the ship shimmied beneath his feet. “What’s going on?! Report!” he ordered to everyone present.

T’Pol viewed her screen. “Hull integrity has been restored,” she announced, now that the ship’s engines were idle. “The probes seem to be some sort of anchor to the planet, Captain.”

“You mean we can’t move?” asked Archer, his face and lips taught.

“If I try to initiate thrusters or impulse I’ll rip Enterprise apart,” added Mayweather, turning to face the captain.

“What if we jump to warp?” suggested Malcolm. “Would that be enough force to rip us free?”

“Only if you don’t mind leaving behind the lower decks,” offered Trip’s estranged voice from engineering.

“Not an option,” replied Archer. He was trying to contain the adrenalin running through his veins; he had to remain calm. “Hoshi, hail the planet.”

“No response,” replied the communications officer.

Archer knew they wouldn’t, but he told Hoshi to continue anyway. He was feeding on reckless optimism. “In the meantime, Malcolm, do you think a phase blast would dismantle those probes?”

“I’ll try,” replied Malcolm. Then he fired two shots directly at the probes attached to the hull- careful not to damage the ship itself. It was a close call, and with no effect.

Archer braced his hands on his hips and stared at the floor. Enterprise was stuck between a rock and hard place. They couldn’t move and they couldn’t break free. “What about the phase canons?”

Malcolm blew out a puff of air. “I don’t recommend it, sir. It would blow away most of the hull in the targeted area.”

Archer cursed under his breath. He couldn’t understand why the Vhoorminians were holding them captive. He had given them what they wanted. And why wouldn’t they respond to his hails? Surely they didn’t want to hold them here forever. The Vhoorminians had no major ships of their own, so they were obviously not coming up to get them.

“T’Pol,” he called, heading for her station. “Are there any ships on an intercept course?”

The Vulcan ran her fingers over her controls. “Not currently, sir.”

Archer studied the look on his sub-commander’s face. “I’m betting,” he stated, reading her arched eyebrow. “That the Vhoorminians have friends coming.”

“Who?” asked Malcolm.

“I don’t know, but I don’t want to be here to find out. I want to know the second a ship enters our sensor range,” replied Archer. He turned his head toward the floor, but spoke into the open com channel with engineering. “Trip, any ideas about how to disengage us yet?”

“I gave up tryin’ to change our hull frequency; they keep matching it at an astounding rate.”

“I already know this, Trip,” replied a frustrated Archer. “I need something else.”

“We’ll keep at it, cap’n,” stated Trip.

“Two Klingon Birds-of-Prey just entered our sensor range,” announced T’Pol. “And three more following at a distance.”

Archer spun to face the view screen. “Klingons?! What the hell are they doing here?!”

“Bearing one-three-five-mark-two-four,” responded T’Pol. “The first two will intercept in four minutes.”

Archer had no time to hesitate, he had to act fast. “Trip!”

“Cap’n, I can’t work with these interruptions,” came back the engineer’s voice.

“Two Klingon ships just dropped in. I need a solution now!” yelled Archer.

There was an audible pause before Trip responded. “I might be on to something… But I’ll need a minute, sir.”

“We don’t have a minute. We’re kind of dead in the water, Trip!”

“One minute, cap’n?!”

Archer banged a fist on the back of his chair, but in his mind, he had thrown the whole chair out the nearest port hole. He paced a few steps, trying to calm himself into a rational mode of thinking.

“Captain, they’re hailing us,” stated Hoshi.

“The Klingons?”

“The planet,” corrected Hoshi.

“Captain,” interrupted Malcolm, his face stern and ready for action. “The Klingon ships have halted and powered up weapons. One ship is directed at us, but the other is directed at the planet.”

Archer took a nanosecond to consider his options. “Power our weapons, Malcolm. Fire at will, but only if they fire first. I don’t plan on sitting still and surrendering. We will go down with a fight if we have to.” Then Archer turned to his communications officer. “Hoshi, open the channel.”

When the Chancellor’s face sprung to life on the view screen, Archer negated any polite greetings. “I demand you release my ship and tell me what’s going on! There are two Klingon ships up here and one of them is pointed at your planet. And I can guarantee they won’t be as compromising as me.”

The Chancellor smiled. “Ah, so they have arrived.”

“What do you mean arrived?” inquired Archer.

“You did’t think we primitive Vhoorminians could have propagated this plan do you?” the Chancellor mused.

“If the Klingon’s are helping you, then why do they have a ship aimed at your planet?” asked T’Pol.

“Merely protecting their interests,” replied the Chancellor, confidently. “We helped them capture your ship, and in return we get to keep your transporter technology.”

Just then, Hoshi announced the Klingons were now hailing them. Archer dropped his head in frustration, then ordered a split screen communication- the Chancellor on one side, the Klingon captain on the other. And when the latter appeared on the screen, Archer’s head fell even further forward. “Out of all the Klingons out here, it had to be you, Duras.”

“Captain Archer,” greeted the Klingon. “We meet again.” Duras threw his head back with a boisterous laugh., and Archer could tell he was enjoying this way too much.

A moment later, Trip’s voice from engineering broke over the intercom. Archer ordered Hoshi to mute communications with both the planet and Duras, and responded to his chief engineer.

“Captain, I might have a solution to our anchor problem,” Trip said.

“What is it, Trip?” rushed Archer, both eyes on the forward view screen.

“If we can hold a phaser beam on the probes long enough, we can send a polarized burst down the stream. It should be enough to stun the probes and give us enough time to create a sudden change in our hull frequency. If Travis can hit the warp drive at the exact time of impact, we should be able to break free. But the timing must be exact.”

Archer turned to the helmsman, both eyebrows raised questioningly. “No problem,” responded Travis.

“Trip, we’ll keep this line open. On my mark I want both of you to do your thing,” ordered Archer.

“We’re ready down here, cap’n,” replied Trip. Travis nodded and readied himself over the helm.

Archer motioned for Hoshi to open the line with the Chancellor and Duras, then approached the screen. The angered Klingon was the first to speak. “Captain, this is futile. We have won, now prepared to be boarded! There is no escape!” His face was even redder than usual for a Klingon, and he was leaning close to the view screen making an ominous impression on Archer’s bridge. The Chancellor was standing by on the planet, listening to the confrontation.

Archer drew in a deep breath, and although he had complete confidence in his crew, he crossed his fingers in the back of his mind. He approached the view screen and put on his most defeated demeanour. He crossed his arms behind his back and sunk his shoulders. “Duras,” he sighed. “You’re correct. There is no escape. But I ask that you grant me time to make the announcement to my crew?”

“No!” retorted the Klingon. “I know you too well, Archer. You will use that time to your advantage and sabotage your ship. There will be no time granted! Prepare to be boarded!”

“Very well, Duras,” Archer said, imitating a Vulcan’s stoicism. He turned his head to his sub-commander, then he took his seat centre bridge and held onto the arm rests with vigour. “Three… two…”

The Klingon’s face lit up with panic. “They’re up to something!” he screamed.

“…One…” continued Archer.

“Fire at will!” ordered the Klingon.

“Now!” stressed Archer, bracing for the forward jolt. Enterprise lurched forward, freeing itself from the impending anchor as several powerful bursts thundered beneath. Travis gracefully arched the sleek ship in an abrupt tactical manoeuvre, then Enterprise cleared the tops of the Klingon ships and jumped to warp.

They were light years away before their aggressors realized what had just transpired, and even further away when the Chancellor had his temper tantrum over discovering the transporter device was a fake.

When Travis dropped Enterprise out of warp, Archer rose and let the tension flow out of his body. He walked around his chair and leaned over- bracing his hands on the back rest. He stared at the view screen displaying tiny white dots, all peaceful and serene. Another catastrophe diverted. But when would they meet their next? And would he be able to recognize it when it was happening?

“I would have given anything to see the look on the Chancellor’s face when we hit warp,” commented Malcolm, causing Archer to smile.

“I guess he learned his lesson,” mused Archer.

“Not to mess with Enterprise?” asked Malcolm.

“That they shouldn’t take things at face value, Lieutenant,” replied Archer. “If they had of opened up that transporter and realized it was a fake, this whole situation would have ended up a lot differently.”

“May I remind you, Captain,” interrupted T’Pol. “That if we had of taken that advice during first contact, we never would have been in this situation in the first place.”

Archer made no comment. He turned quietly and gave the bridge one last glance before retiring to his ready room. I hate it when she’s right, he thought to himself as he sat behind his computer. He pulled up the report index on his screen and entered his first log. The face of the enemy was friendly and comforting. But what lay underneath…

~ The End ~

Continue to Epilogue

Return to Part Seven

Back to Fan Fiction Main Menu

Have a comment to make about this story? Do so in the Trip Fan Fiction forum at the HoTBBS!