He Who Fights with Monsters - Part 3

He Who Fights With Monsters

By Thalia Drogna

Rated: R
Genre: Action/Adventure; Angst; Hurt/Comfort

Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters, I’m just borrowing them.

~~~

Archer walked into sick bay to find that it was a hive of activity. T’Pol sat at one of the lab benches examining something under a microscope and Phlox was examining scans of the Vor Devrees. Various of Phlox’s assistants could be seen hard at work helping with the research.

“Anything to report?” he asked Phlox.

“I am making progress as quickly as I can,” replied the doctor. “I am generally unaccustomed to engineering viruses to disable ships, especially at such short notice. It is a very delicate and taxing task.”

“I know I’m asking a lot, doctor, but this is still our best hope for getting out of this alive,” said Archer.

“I am aware of that, Captain,” replied Phlox in an irritated tone. “It will be at least another hour before we have something to test.”

Archer knew when he wasn’t wanted. “Okay, doctor, contact me as soon as you have something to report.” A quick bit of mental arithmetic had told him what he needed to know, they wouldn’t have a weapon ready before they engaged the Kriel.

T’Pol stood up from her stool as Archer turned to leave. “How are the preparations for the attack on the Vor Devrees progressing?”

“Okay. Our part in it is fairly simple, get within weapons range so that we can infect the Vor Devrees with Phlox’s virus. Trip is sending us a squadron of Rel fighters to protect Enterprise, if we work with them we should be able to take out enough Vor fighters to even up the odds,” said Archer. “I’m not sure that Trip can really spare a whole squadron of fighters, from what Malcolm said in his last report, but he insisted. Maybe he does still have some loyalty to Enterprise left after all.”

“I have no doubt that he still has loyalty to Enterprise. But that has been overridden by his desire to protect the Tien. His personality seems to be at least partially intact. If he can protect us both then he will do so,” said T’Pol.

“Well at least that’s something,” said Archer. “I’m beginning to wish to god we’d never stopped to help the Rel Sevanne.”

“We cannot change the past,” said T’Pol. “Regret helps no one. If what we have been told about the Vor Devrees is correct then our presence may be saving billions of lives.”

“You don’t believe that the Vor Devrees is from an alternate universe?” asked Archer.

“The Vulcan Science Directorate has been unable to find any evidence for the many universe theory, but they also have not been able to rule the possibility out completely. However most alternate universe theories state that the various realities cannot interact. The presence of the Kriel would invalidate that, if they truly do come from another universe,” said T’Pol.

“Even if Trip lied to us and they don’t come from an alternate universe they’re still intent on attacking the Rel Sevanne and killing two thousand people, as well as Enterprise,” said Archer.

“Is that the only reason that you elected to stay and help the Rel Sevanne?” asked T’Pol.

Archer gave T’Pol a look that she couldn’t read. “I wish I could say that it was,” said Archer. “It certainly was the main reason, I can’t have the Vor Devrees coming after Enterprise while we’re trying to track down the Xindi. But it would have felt wrong leaving Trip behind too. I just couldn’t do it, T’Pol. He didn’t want this, just because he doesn’t know it, doesn’t mean we should abandon him. But as Captain of Enterprise I can’t and won’t make decisions based on the safety of one man. If Trip was the only reason to stay we wouldn’t still be here.”

“You know that I have great respect for Commander Tucker. I am sure that Enterprise would suffer from the lack of his presence. I believe that it was the right decision to stay to help the Tien,” said T’Pol.

“Thanks, T’Pol,” said Archer, he really did appreciate her support in this, especially because he wasn’t completely sure himself that he had made the right decision. It still might cost all of them their lives.

T’Pol gave a slight inclination of her head in acknowledgement of Archer’s thanks. “I must return to my work,” she said and turned back to her microscope.

“Sato to Archer,” said the com.

“Archer here, go ahead Hoshi.”

“We’ve detected a squadron of fighters approaching. The Rel Sevanne has launched its own fighters in reply. Lieutenant Reed has just checked in, his squadron has been assigned to provide forward protection to the Rel Sevanne. Second Squadron are to protect Enterprise. They’re taking up position now. The Commander’s name is Sun Neer Gen Tespin, Malcolm said to let you know that she’s the Flight Commander,” said Hoshi.

“So Trip sent us the best that he had,” said Archer, to himself, he had to wonder if that meant there was hope of cutting through the Rel Sevanne’s conditioning, but right now he couldn’t think about that. “I’m on my way to the bridge, Hoshi. Let the Flight Commander know that we’ll have our phase cannons ready to back her up. Tell Travis to get ready, we’re going into battle.”

“Yes, sir,” said Hoshi.

****

Reed led his squadron of fighters away from the Rel Sevanne and towards the Vor Devrees. Their main purpose was to draw the fire away from the Tien ship. Although the Rel Sevanne had very powerful guns they weren’t quick enough to cope with the nimble Vor fighters that zipped between the white towers of the Rel Sevanne. There was also the substantial risk now that the battle was underway that the guns might hit their own fighters. The guns could take out some of them but certainly not all so it was down to the Rel fighter squadrons to take out as many as they could before they could reach the Rel Sevanne.

Reed had been able to watch Enterprise move into position and see what an effective combination the starship made with the Rel fighters. He occasionally caught their com traffic as their sphere of engagement neared his own and they seemed to be holding off the Vor fighters successfully. Ensign Mayweather’s piloting skills were superb as usual and he could have wished for him in his own Rel fighter squadron. He’d recommended that Ensign Hooper take the tactical station in his absence and she seemed to have been the right choice. However, he didn’t have time to dwell on how Enterprise was faring, his own squadron had its hands full.

The Tien were good pilots, an easy match for the Kriel who obviously had simply expected their overwhelming numbers to win them the battle. They had outnumbered the Tien two to one when the battle had started but those odds were rapidly changing in their favour. Reed wasn’t happy though, despite their vast numbers, Reed was fairly sure that there should have been more Vor fighters than there actually were. His suspicions were confirmed when another wave appeared as if from nowhere. They fell upon Reed’s squadron like a pack of wolves and once again they were all fighting for their lives. The Tien stayed in formation, following their commander’s lead.

“Elites,” said Crin Ad. “The regular pilots couldn’t take us down so they sent in the Elites.”

“Less chatter, Crin Ad,” said Reed. “Watch your partners and don’t let your guard down for a second,” he added to the rest of the squadron. “They’re no tougher than the others.”

He fixed one of the Vor fighters in his sights and fired, the enemy craft exploding in a reassuring ball of flame as if to prove Reed’s point. He only had moments to enjoy the serendipity though as a loud alarm indicated that another Vor fighter had locked onto him. The Elites were definitely more disciplined than the ordinary fighters that they had been dealing with so far.

“You’ve got one on your tail, sir,” said Crin Ad. “I’ll try to pick it off.”

“Much appreciated,” said Reed to his wingman, dryly. He felt rather than saw Crin Ad fire at his attacker, she hit it but it wasn’t on target and the Vor fighter wasn’t damaged badly. Reed dodged left into the path of a second Vor fighter, he changed course again rapidly before the second fighter could get a lock on him. He watched his rear target sensors with slight amusement as he saw that his plan had worked, the first fighter slammed into the second. Neither were able to change course in time to avoid the collision, and a fire ball blossomed where the two craft had met in catastrophic style.

“That’ll teach you to watch where you’re going,” he muttered under his breath. Reed wasn’t able to gloat for long though, another fighter had picked up a lock on Crin Ad and he needed to get that fighter off her before she ended up as another statistic of this war. “Hold on, Crin Ad, I’m coming,” said Reed as he turned his craft around and concentrated on getting a target lock on the attacking fighter.

“If you could hurry it up, sir,” replied Crin Ad, her voice betraying her fear a little and Reed remembered just how young she was. Suddenly from his left another Rel fighter came screaming down towards Crin Ad’s attacker.

“I got it, sister,” he heard over the radio.

“Tran Est, get back into formation,” he said to the young pilot, “I can deal with this.”

“I’m nearer,” replied Tran Est.

“You’re out of formation,” replied Reed. “Follow my orders and get back to where you’re supposed to be.” Tran Est ignored him though, locked on to the attacking Vor fighter and fired. The Vor fighter disintegrated in front of them, another one down.

“Thanks Tran,” said Crin Ad with a sigh of relief.

“Tran Est where are you?” said a voice from one of the other Rel fighters. Reed knew it had to be Tran Est’s partner, Fin Ror.

“I’m coming,” said Tran “Just hang in there.” But they never caught the reply, Fin Ror’s Rel fighter was hit by one of the pursuing Vor fighters and twisted metal was all that remained by the time Tran Est arrived to save his partner. It was the squadron’s first loss. Reed heard Tran Est mutter “no” several times and he knew this wasn’t the time or place for recriminations. It wasn’t Tran Est’s fault, the only people to blame were the Kriel for putting them in the position where they had to send untrained children into battle. Tran Est certainly had the piloting skills to hold his own, what he did not have was maturity or the battle hardness to be able to leave his sister’s defence in the hands of another.

“Tran,” said Reed, deliberately using the form of his name that he had heard his sister use. “It wasn’t your fault. We don’t have time to mourn the dead now, put it to one side and we’ll mourn him properly when this is all over. Right now I need you to focus on the task at hand. Can you do that?”

“Yes, sir,” said a slightly more composed voice over the radio.

“Good, partner up with Crin Ad, but both of you can keep an eye on my tail too, understood?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” replied brother and sister. And Reed chastised himself for not thinking of that arrangement in the first place, but he hadn’t foreseen the problem. He had forgotten that he was dealing with young pilots who had never fought in a real battle before. Simulations and training were one thing, the actuality of a real space battle was something else. Even the skirmishes with raiders which some of the pilots had participated in weren’t preparation for something of the scale of this conflict. He cursed the Kriel once again for creating this situation that he now found himself in.

****

The main batteries of the Rel Sevanne seemed to be firing non-stop now. Nils Fen’s men were manning the guns, picking off any stray fighters which escaped the cordon of Rel fighters that surrounded the Tien mother-ship. Trip kept watch over the targets, his sensors feeling out into space to pick up targets as early as possible and prevent them from slipping past their defences. The Tien security forces were prepared to deal with boarders but they all knew that if the battle reached that stage then the Rel Sevanne was lost.

“Forward batteries, I’ve got a squadron of Vor fighters approaching fast,” said Trip. He briefly checked in with the Squadron Leaders, but they all confirmed that they couldn’t break off the fight in their area, the attackers were too numerous. “We don’t have any Rel fighters in the area, they’re all tied up elsewhere, so it’s up to us.”

He heard a chorus of “yes Patriarch” from the forward battery and then his sensors detected the satisfying feeling of target locks being acquired. The Tien opened fire on the Vor fighters and about half of the wave fell before they could get within weapons range. The fighters were quick though and some managed to get through. The Tien continued to fire but watched helplessly as laser discharge raked the hull of the Rel Sevanne and Trip felt fire course along his veins. It was like someone had just dripped acid on his skin. Damn, that hurts, he thought and did his best to push the pain to the back of his mind, he was pretty sure that there was worse to come.

After the third attack run found its target, he decided that he needed to do something. “Shar Jen,” he called. She was down in the engine room doing her best to keep everything running while they were under attack. “I need you to disconnect the outer sensors on part of the hull.”

Shar Jen heard the pain in his voice even though he was trying to hide it. “We’ve been hit?” she asked. “Is it bad?”

“No, no important systems damaged, it just stings,” he lied. “But if anything big hits us, I can’t afford to be distracted. It’s just the tactile sensors that you need to disconnect, everything else I still need. I can’t do it from here, something got hit in the last run and the junction I need isn’t responding.” Even so it was going to feel like he’d lost one of his senses and he wasn’t relishing the prospect of losing one of the faculties that he’d come to rely on for monitoring the ship’s condition. He wouldn’t be able to feel if there was a hull breach or the level of damage caused, but he needed to focus his attention on the battle.

“Okay, just give me a minute to get to the junction,” said Shar Jen, she grabbed her tool box and ran out of engineering towards the section she needed. She found the panel that she wanted and ripped off the covering to reveal the internal workings of the ship. “By the Goddess,” she said with feeling.

“What’s the problem?” asked Trip.

“It’s a fused mess in here. That last blast must have caused a cascade that fed back through the entire system. I can turn it all off or nothing,” said Shar Jen.

“I’ll be blind if you do that,” said Trip. “I need the sensors to detect the Vor fighters.”

“Perhaps I can repair enough of it, maybe re-route the rest…” began Shar Jen.

“It’s going to take hours to repair all of that. Forget it, I’ll just have to put up with it hurting,” said Trip

“Trip En, you can’t. Let me turn them off,” said Shar Jen, reaching to pull out the fused optical fibres and cables.

“Jen,” said Trip, gently. “You have to let me do my job.”

“En, you’re in pain. I can’t let you do this to yourself,” said Shar Jen.

“You have to. This is why I’m here,” said Trip. “I know what you’re feeling, but you can’t let it get in the way. You have to let me protect the Tien.”

Shar Jen looked at the mass of destroyed electronics and closed her eyes. It was so hard. “For my people,” she said. A tear slid slowly down her cheek and she brushed it away, angry at herself for giving in to her emotions when so much was at stake. “For the Tien,” she said more strongly and replaced the panel. “As soon as this is over I’ll have that junction completely replaced.”

“Now you’re behaving like the Artificer of the Rel Sevanne,” said Trip.

“I need to get back to the engine room,” said Shar Jen. “Let me know if you need me for anything else.” Trip could still feel her sorrow and worry and love for him, but she was doing a good job of controlling it now, it had all been buried under a new emotion, determination.

****End of Chapter 13****

Captain Archer had to stop himself from ducking as he watched a Vor fighter on the view screen fly over the bridge of Enterprise followed by a Rel fighter. That one had been very close.

“How are we doing, Ensign?” asked Archer, urgently.

“About as well as can be expected, sir,” replied Ensign Hooper. “Second Squadron are doing a good job of clearing us a path, we’re taking out our fair share of fighters as well but they just seem to keep coming.”

“How long before we’re in range to fire torpedoes at the Vor Devrees?” said Archer.

“About another twenty minutes, sir, but we’ll be in range of their guns a good ten minutes before that,” said Hooper.

“How’s the Rel Sevanne holding up?” asked Archer, turning to Hoshi.

“Okay for the moment, sir,” replied Hoshi. “They’ve taken damage, but so far no major systems have been hit.”

Archer knew that the Rel Sevanne was taking the brunt of the assault, Enterprise was merely a side track as far as the Vor fighters were concerned and not worth their time. If it wasn’t for the trouble that Enterprise and Second Squadron were causing the Vor fighters then he suspected they would have ignored Enterprise completely, at least until they were done with their main target. The problem was that even with Enterprise backing them up, Second Squadron were having trouble holding their own. Which worried Archer a lot, if the Vor Devrees wasn’t using its full strength to attack Enterprise and they were having trouble, how would they ever defeat the Vor Devrees.

“Sun Neer to Enterprise,” came the call. “Sorry for the near miss, we’ll try and keep them a bit further away,” said the Flight Commander.

“That would be much appreciated, Sun Neer,” replied Archer.

“How’s that weapon coming?” Sun Neer asked. Even though she hid it supremely well, Archer could hear a little of the desperation that she must be feeling creep into her voice.

“It’s coming,” said Archer. “Don’t worry, we’ll be ready in time.”

****

Reed had lost nearly half of his squadron. The Vor fighters just kept coming and he couldn’t see an end to them. He twisted into a roll to avoid another Vor fighter that was screaming in for the kill, it missed him and was taken out of the fight by one the remaining members of Reed’s squadron. He knew that their battle plan wasn’t working but he had no idea how to fix it. Dog fighting one on one just wasn’t the way to deal with the vast numbers of Vor fighters that were assailing them.

“Reed to Tucker,” he said into his com. He didn’t care if they were fighting for their lives, he still wasn’t going to call Trip Patriarch.

“Go ahead, Malcolm,” came the strained reply. Trip was having trouble staying focused. The pain had predictably only become worse as more damage was inflicted on the Rel Sevanne by the Vor fighters that continued to break through their outer defences. In fact, more were getting through now as they had lost more Rel fighters. The Rel Sevanne’s guns just weren’t built to take out small, manoeuvrable fighters and the Vor Devrees had yet to come into target range. Several Tien had died and he had felt the emotions of every single one of them. Trip was beginning to think that this was going to be the death of a thousand cuts, it sure as hell felt like it.

“Trip, what’s wrong?” asked Reed, suddenly more concerned for his friend than his own safety.

“Rel Sevanne’s taken a few hits,” said Trip.

“I don’t understand,” said Reed. “None of the critical systems have been hit.”

“It hurts, Malcolm,” said Trip as if he was talking to an extremely dense child.

“Oh god, the Rel Sevanne feeds back to the computer through the sensor net,” said Reed. “Can’t you disconnect the sensors?”

“Shar Jen already tried, the whole damn thing’s fused into a useless heap. We’re lucky the sensors are working at all,” replied Trip. “I’ll survive. What did you want?” He didn’t have time to worry about his own problems now.

“We’re getting slaughtered out here,” said Reed matter-of-factly. “I’ve lost nearly half my squadron and the others aren’t doing much better. We need to come up with a new attack plan.”

“Don’t you mean defence plan,” said Trip.

“Perhaps not,” said Reed. “Maybe we should take the battle to the Vor Devrees.”

“That would be suicide, Malcolm. You’re barely holding your own with the guns of the Rel Sevanne to back you up,” said Trip.

“At the moment we’re expending all our resources on protecting the Rel Sevanne, and they’re using all their resources to attack it,” said Reed. “The problem is that our resources don’t match theirs. We need to make them defend their ship too.”

“Enterprise,” said Trip.

“What about Enterprise?” asked Reed.

“She can lay down enough covering fire for you to get to the Vor Devrees,” said Trip. “Go on Malcolm, it’s your plan. Take Third Squadron and join up with Commander Tespin’s squadron. Regroup and attack the Vor Devrees. Their guns won’t be in range for the Rel Sevanne for another ten minutes, if you can keep them occupied you might just swing this battle in out favour.”

“I’ll contact Enterprise and let them know that we’re changing tactics,” said Reed.

“Yeah, tell the Captain to concentrate on getting Enterprise into torpedo range…” began Trip and suddenly he broke off and Reed heard a groan, followed by a stifled scream of pain. “God damn it, this is getting personal,” he managed to gasp out.

“What happened?” asked Reed, concerned.

“Five Vor fighters just made an attack run on the ship, they’re aiming in exactly the right place to hit the computer room, if I wasn’t ten floors down,” said Trip. “All the fighters that have broken through the cordon have tried for that area, these are the first guys to succeed. They probably know the lay out of the Rel Sevanne as well as I do. If too many get through then eventually they’ll make a big enough hole that they can take out the computer room. Better hurry that attack plan up, Malcolm.”

“Yes, sir,” replied Malcolm. “Third Squadron, we’re taking the fight to the Vor Devrees.”

****

Phlox looked down at the slide under his microscope. He’d lost count of the number of slides he’d examined now and found wanting. It didn’t help that they had no tissue samples from the Vor Devrees to work with, he could only run simulations and hope that they mirrored real life accurately. This one looked promising though.

“T’Pol, I require a second opinion,” said Phlox to his co-worker. “Could you take a look at this, I think I may have a viable virion structure.”

“Of course, doctor,” replied T’Pol who moved over to look at the slide under the microscope. “It looks as if you are correct. Let us run the simulation with the mutated structure and see if we get the required result.”

Enterprise shook suddenly and T’Pol grabbed for the bench. “I believe that the Rel fighters are having difficulty sustaining their perimeter around Enterprise,” said T’Pol, calm as ever.

“It certainly seems that way,” said Phlox. “All the more reason for us to speed our efforts to engineer this virus.”

“Indeed,” said T’Pol and she turned back to the console she had been working at and put the simulation in motion. Enterprise shook again at another impact, just as two crewman staggered through the doors of sick bay, one leaning heavily on the other.

Phlox went to them immediately, tri-corder in hand and scanned his latest patient. He detailed one of his assistants to help the crewman and then returned to T’Pol’s side.

“Well, Sub-commander?” he asked, slightly impatiently.

“It is as we thought, doctor,” said T’Pol. “This virus should act upon the organic material in the Vor Devrees’ hull and incapacitate their computer’s organic component.”

“I’ll let the Captain know,” said Phlox.

****

Reed’s squadron neared Enterprise and he could immediately see that they were in trouble. Sun Neer’s fighters were still hanging in there but more stray shots were finding their way to Enterprise’s hull than they should have. Occasionally one of the Vor fighters would be able to break away completely from the defending Rel fighters and make an attack run on Enterprise. Mayweather was good at dodging when he needed to but even he couldn’t out manoeuvre the rapidly moving Vor fighters. Reed knew the tolerances of the hull plating intimately and he knew that it couldn’t take the constant bombardment that it was now receiving.

“Reed to Enterprise,” said the Lieutenant. “Third Squadron reporting.”

“Lieutenant, glad you could make it,” said Archer with considerable relief. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see a squadron of fighters in my entire life.”

“We’re headed for the Vor Devrees, we decided that we need to make them work a bit harder on their own defence. Can you give us covering fire?” asked Reed.

“Just say the word, Lieutenant and we’ll point the phase cannons wherever you need us to,” said Archer.

“Acknowledged,” replied Reed. “Is the weapon ready yet?”

“Ensign Scott is installing it in a torpedo as we speak,” said Archer. “Another ten minutes and we’ll be in range to launch.” Just as Archer finished his sentence, the Vor Devrees opened fire with their main weapons batteries at the Rel Sevanne, which replied in kind.

“Bloody hell,” said Reed as he took in the sight of the two huge ships firing on each other. So far neither had hit the other but he had no doubt that it wouldn’t be long before one of them found its target. The first couple would be for ranging and then the targeting systems would have something to work with. The Vor Devrees had the advantage, not only did it have better hull plating but it had more guns to work with. Then the Rel Sevanne found its mark and an explosion lit up the hull of the Vor Devrees. When the flames had died down slightly Reed looked for the damage that the impact must have made, but there wasn’t any. He knew the Rel Sevanne wouldn’t be so lucky when the Vor Devrees found her range. “This is bad, this is very bad,” he muttered and then over the radio he called his Squadron into formation again and they readied for their attack run on the Vor Devrees. “This is probably the only chance we’re going to get at this, let’s make it count,” he told the squadron.

He guided them through the fire from the guns of the Vor Devrees, and the reply fire from the Rel Sevanne. Enterprise took out some of the fighters that stood in their way with their forward phase cannons. Reed’s reactions were on a knife edge as his perception narrowed down to the second he was living, he couldn’t afford to look any further ahead. Just survive this next second and engage enough Vor fighters to keep them away from Enterprise and the Rel Sevanne.

He didn’t know how it happened but suddenly he had picked up three Vor fighters on his tail all at once. He dodged furiously. Crin Ad took one out and Tran Est another, but the third refused to be shaken, he felt the impact on his right hand engine and the Rel fighter fought his control. He had to think quickly, his other engine was now fading too and he had to reach Enterprise or he’d be adrift in space, an easy target for any Vor that came across him. It was too far away though, they were nearer to the Vor Devrees now than Enterprise and Reed estimated his remaining engine wouldn’t last more than a minute or so, too little time to reach Enterprise. But perhaps enough time to reach the Vor Devrees, although what good that would do him he didn’t know.

“Reed to Enterprise,” he said. There was no answer. “Reed to Rel Sevanne,” he tried, but that was equally fruitless. “Damn, the communicator must have been hit too,” he said to himself. “And talking to yourself is the first sign of madness,” he added. He pulled the access panel off the surface in front of him and examined the circuitry as much as he could inside the cramped cockpit. He pulled out a fried circuit, he held it up and gave it a careful inspection before throwing it onto the floor in frustration. He didn’t have a replacement and he certainly didn’t have the engineering knowledge that he would need to fix the alien systems. He was on his own and heading for the enemy’s base ship.

His only hope was to find the Vor Devrees’ launch bay and hope that he could make some sort of approximation at landing his crippled ship. Once he was there perhaps he could steal a Vor fighter and fly it back to Enterprise. All he had to do was avoid the gun batteries in his less than agile ship, find the launch bay, hope he didn’t kill himself landing and pray that the Kriel ignored their visitor. Even he didn’t believe that he had a snow ball’s chance in hell of pulling it off. “Jolly good, Malcolm, another suicidal plan,” he mumbled to himself cynically.

He didn’t have time to worry about any of that now though because he was already within range of the Vor Devrees guns. He managed to pull left to avoid one of the batteries but one of the others caught his right wing and now he had even less control than he had before. The Rel fighter was dying a system at a time and there nothing Reed could do about it. He ploughed onwards and saw the docking bays ahead of him. “Well here goes nothing,” he said quietly and readied for landing. Or at least he tried to ready for landing, when he tried to brake he realised that the reverse thrusters wouldn’t engage. He swore loudly and violently, there was no way that he could make a landing if he couldn’t slow down. He had purposely come in fast to try to avoid as many of the guns as possible and that decision was now coming back to bite him.

He made a couple of attempts to re-route power from other systems to the damaged reverse thrusters, but they weren’t responding. This was the speed he had to make the landing at and he wished for the hundredth time since he got into the Rel fighter that he had been blessed with more natural piloting ability. He was an Armoury officer not a fighter pilot, he couldn’t deal with a forced landing at this speed. Even back in the Academy, when he’d actually spent time learning how to be a space fighter pilot, he hadn’t been good at this stuff. That was why he’d given it up as soon as he could, to specialise in Armoury systems and security. Just remember your training he told himself, remember your training and it will all be fine. He just had to remember which bit of his training related to landing crippled, unresponsive fighters on enemy ships.

He made sure his harness was tight and prayed that the rest of the fighter’s safety systems were working. He pulled the fighter’s nose up and aimed for the opening in front of him. He could see the deck coming closer, rushing towards him at too fast a speed, as if it was the deck that was coming up to smash into him rather than the other way around. He smelt burning and saw sparks out of the corner of his eye from the engine. He hit the deck and bounced. Reed was shaken like a cat’s plaything in the seat of the fighter as the speed turned into force of impact and the fighter bounced three times more before it buried itself in the back of the hangar wall. Before Reed was claimed by the oblivion of unconsciousness he registered a siren sounding and the red of emergency lighting. His only thought was that he had at least survived the landing even if the Kriel were now going to kill him.

****End of Chapter 14****

“Enterprise to Lieutenant Reed,” said Archer. When he received no answer he tried again, “Enterprise to Lieutenant Reed.” He looked over at Hoshi.

“The channel is open, sir,” replied the communications officer.

“Enterprise to any members of Third Squadron, we’re about to fire our torpedoes at the Vor Devrees, fall back immediately,” said Archer.

“This is Crin Ad, message understood, falling back,” replied the fighter pilot.

“Where is Lieutenant Reed?” said Archer.

“The Squadron Leader was hit, sir,” replied Crin Ad.

“Destroyed?” asked Archer, praying in his heart that Reed wasn’t dead.

“No, but badly damaged. I last saw him heading towards the Vor Devrees but I lost track of him after that. Hopefully he heard the message and is pulling out too.”

“I hope so, we don’t have time to wait,” said Archer. “We can give you a couple of minutes to get out of the way but that’s all.”

“Acknowledged, sir,” said Crin Ad.

“Ensign Hooper, give them two minutes and then lock on to the target and fire,” said Archer.

“Yes, sir,” said the Ensign.

****

Reed remembered the crash in fragments, like broken film. He knew he’d blacked out but he couldn’t piece a complete memory together even from before then. He was a little surprised to fine himself awake and alive. Things hurt though, which didn’t surprise him, but definitely meant that he was alive.

“I see you’re awake,” said a female voice.

Reed wondered whether he should try to open his eyes and see where the voice came from. He recognised the voice from somewhere but he couldn’t quite place it.

“Perhaps you should tell me who you are. Despite the hair, you’re obviously not Tien.” Reed had forgotten his hair was still dyed Tien blond. “You’re either very stupid or very clever and I’m not sure which yet. We’ve never had one of the enemy land in our hanger before. My guards weren’t quite sure what to do with you. If you were Tien you’d be dead already. Although you have the insignia of a Tien Squadron Leader, and you were in a Rel fighter, so it makes me wonder why you’re fighting for the Tien when you aren’t one of them.”

Reed decided that opening his eyes was something that he needed to do in order to assess the situation. He prised them open and tried to raise his head, which, along with the rest of his body, protested at the movement. He blinked at the bright light and looked around him. He was in the Rel Sevanne’s computer room, except that he knew that it wasn’t, he was on the Vor Devrees. He was sat in a chair facing a familiar looking black cylinder, his hands tied behind his back and suddenly he knew where he recognised the voice from. The voice belonged to the Matriarch of the Vor Devrees.

The side of his head was damp and from the pain in his skull, he assumed that it was blood. The headache and blurred vision confirmed that he had a head injury, possibly a concussion. His right arm hurt more than he would have expected from being tied behind his back, he suspected that it was broken or possibly dislocated. He tested the rest of his body for breaks but discovered none; it seemed that he’d escaped pretty lightly considering the speed that he’d crashed the fighter at. What worried him more was the dull ache from his stomach, it could be some bad bruising or it could be an internal injury. There was nothing that he could do about it for the moment though.

“My name is Corvas, conjoined Matriarch of the Vor Devrees,” said the voice.

“Reed, Lieutenant,” he said in a croaky and wavering voice.

“Yes, name and rank is all you’re going to tell us, I know. I’ve read your database,” said Corvas.

Reed said nothing.

“Did you come to kill me? Was that your plan?” asked Corvas.

Again Reed said nothing.

“Not going to tell me?” she asked.

“No,” said Reed, his voice rasping in his throat. He coughed, which shook his body and made his injuries hurt. What he wouldn’t give for some of Phlox’s painkillers right now.

“It really doesn’t matter if you don’t feel like talking. But maybe you’d like to watch while I destroy your friends,” said Corvas and switched on the view screen. Reed looked up to see Vor fighters screaming after Rel fighters amidst a blaze of phase canon fire. He saw hits impact on the Rel Sevanne from the Vor Devrees’ cannons. The Rel Sevanne was taking heavy fire, it was firing back but its hits on the Vor Devrees weren’t making any impact. The Vor Devrees however, was inflicting considerable damage on the Rel Sevanne.

“Why are you doing this?” asked Reed.

“Didn’t the Tien tell you?” asked Corvas. “They’re heretics.”

“This really is all about religion?” asked Reed.

“Humans have had their fair share of holy wars,” said Corvas. “Your history is littered with them, even the ones that weren’t called holy wars usually had religion at their root.”

“Humans aren’t proud of all that happened in our past, but we put all that behind us a long time ago,” said Reed. “Fighting over religion is pure stupidity.”

“Yet we seem to be winning. And that is because we are on the side of righteousness,” said Corvas.

“You are killing your own people. The Tien are also Kriel, you are all the same,” said Reed.

“We are not the same! They are not the chosen people. Never think that we are the same. Now, let’s see about that annoying ship of yours,” said Corvas.

“No!” said Reed. “Leave Enterprise out of this.”

“But they don’t seem to want to stay out of this,” said Corvas.

“Look, I’ll tell you whatever you want, just don’t harm Enterprise,” said Reed, desperately.

“But I’ve told you, you’re not alive because I want you to tell me anything. You’re alive because you’re interesting to me. You’re my entertainment. The Kriel are empaths too, but not in the same way that the Tien are. We enjoy sensing all emotions, not just the positive ones and you’re providing me with quite the show Lieutenant,” said Corvas.

“Go to hell,” said Reed.

“Ah, anger, one of my favourites,” said Corvas. “I wonder how you’ll feel when I blow Enterprise out of the sky.”

Reed could see the Vor fighters swarming around Enterprise and Second Squadron desperately protecting her so that she could get a clear shot at the Vor Devrees. The Vor fighters were getting in the way and he knew that they would only have a limited number of virus carrying torpedoes, every shot would have to count. He hoped that he had trained Ensign Hooper as well as he thought he had.

“Hope?” said Corvas, “now why would you be experiencing that emotion?”

Damn, thought Reed. He knew too much about their plan to defeat the Vor Devrees to hide his emotions, he was going to give the whole thing away. Then he remembered what T’Pol had taught them about controlling their emotions.

“I think you’re hiding something from me after all,” said Corvas. “What is it?” she asked.

“Nothing,” replied Reed.

“Now that was definitely a lie,” said Corvas. “You’d be amazed the cocktail of emotions that go with a lie, but we are very good at picking up on lies. We’ve had years of practise.”

Reed closed his eyes and concentrated hard on T’Pol’s lesson about controlling emotions. It had been short, out of necessity, they were about to be detected by the Tien and were hiding in a side room. But it had worked then, so it might work now. He calmed the storm inside him, it took him a little while and immense concentration, but when he was done he opened steel grey eyes and directed a piercing stare at the black cylinder.

“What did you do?” asked Corvas, angrily. “They’re so faint now and they were so strong before. You’re emotions are all controlled and hidden away. You’re no fun anymore. No fun at all. Perhaps this will shake your resolve,” she added. A door opened and familiar figure stepped through except this version had an extra ridge on each cheekbone and a navy blue uniform.

“Shar Jen?” asked Reed.

“This is my Weapons Master, Sharien,” said Corvas. “She has a special surprise for Enterprise.” Reed very nearly lost his control there and then but somehow he hung on to the tenuous grip on his emotions that he had.

“We have been building an inter-reality cannon,” said Sharien. “It plucks matter from it’s own reality and deposits it in another. Useful for tearing out the heart of a ship. We were hoping to use it on the Rel Sevanne to destroy their computer but unfortunately they are too well shielded. Enterprise is the perfect target though. Its shields are weak and if we target the warp engine we can disable the whole ship.”

“It’s a shame that anyone in the engine room of Enterprise will get sucked out into space through the hole that we’ll be making,” added Corvas.

Again Reed fought for control of his emotions, he was determined not to let Corvas have the pleasure of feeling his anger and concern for his colleagues. Especially he knew that he could not let her feel the hope he had felt at his realisation that Enterprise must be readying to fire on the Vor Devrees.

“Still nothing, Sharien,” said Corvas. “Time for us to demonstrate.”

Reed couldn’t keep it up any longer. “No!” he shouted looking at the screen in front of them. And as he looked he saw Enterprise fire her first torpedo at the Vor Devrees. Relief flooded over him, and even as he felt it he cursed himself for his weakness.

“That torpedo,” said Corvas. “Intercept it.”

“Yes, Matriarch,” said Sharien.

“You gave it away, Lieutenant,” said Corvas. “You’re broadcasting your emotions again and that will turn the tide of the battle in our favour. I knew that you’d be useful for something. Whatever plan you had, it won’t work now we know about it. You’ve just ensured the destruction of Enterprise.”

****

Archer watched as Hooper fired the first torpedo. Her aim was good and the torpedo was spot on target. He expected nothing less from a tactical officer who had been trained by Lieutenant Reed. Suddenly a Vor fighter swooped down from the battle placed itself between the torpedo and the Vor Devrees. Instead of impacting with the Vor Devrees as it was supposed to, the torpedo exploded on the Vor fighter, disintegrating it in the process.

“Enterprise to Sun Neer, you have to keep those Vor fighters away. We’ve only got a limited number of torpedoes,” said Archer.

“We’re doing our best, Enterprise,” replied Sun Neer. “There just aren’t enough of us left to hold them back.”

Archer sighed inwardly, it was never easy. “Do you think you could make a hole for Enterprise to get in closer?” he asked.

“Are you sure that is a wise course of action, Captain?” asked T’Pol from her science station. Archer waved her quiet.

“Can you do it?” he asked again.

“We can try,” said Sun Neer. “Flight Commander to Second Squadron, direct all your efforts to making a path for Enterprise.”

“Sir, that will put us in range of the Vor Devrees main batteries,” said Ensign Hooper.

Hooper had definitely been trained by Malcolm Reed, Archer thought. “I know, Ensign, but I’m sure Mr Mayweather can get us through.”

Mayweather didn’t really look as though he was that convinced that he could get them through. “I’ll give it my best shot,” he said, looking apprehensive.

“Let’s go for it,” said Archer.

“Yes, sir,” said Mayweather and directed Enterprise towards the Vor Devrees at full impulse. Enterprise manoeuvred through the rain of fire that came from the Vor Devrees, its’ relatively small size helping it to dodge through the fire as Sun Neer’s squadron took down the Vor fighters in their way.

Enterprise approached the huge bulk of the Vor Devrees and one of the guns found its target and the ship shook with the impact.

“Damage report?” said Archer.

“Hull plating is holding,” said T’Pol. “That was not a direct hit.”

“It wasn’t?” said Archer in disbelief, it had certainly felt like a direct hit.

“The Vor Devrees’ guns would have caused a hull breach if that hit had been on target,” said T’Pol.

“Travis, don’t let them get another one in,” said Archer, urgently.

“I don’t intend to, sir,” said Mayweather with conviction. His concentration was fully on the controls in front of him and the guns of the Vor Devrees. Right now the fate of Enterprise against this monster of a ship rested on his shoulders alone. His piloting skills were all that stood between them and being blown to pieces by the behemoth in front of them. “I’m starting my run,” said Mayweather. He didn’t think they’d get another chance at this. Sun Neer’s fighters were being decimated by the swarm of Vor fighters that had spilled out of the Vor Devrees on their approach. The squadron couldn’t last long against the continued onslaught.

“Ensign, get ready to fire,” said Archer with determination in his voice.

“Yes, sir, target is locked,” said Hooper.

“Fire at will,” replied Archer.

“Aye, sir,” said Hooper and launched the second torpedo at the Vor Devrees. Their proximity meant that the it hit home with little difficulty. “Dead on target, sir,” she said looking at her console read outs.

“Get us out of here, Mr Mayweather,” said Archer.

“With pleasure, sir,” replied the Ensign and he moved Enterprise into a swift turn away from the Vor Devrees.

“Take us back towards the Rel Sevanne, that’s where we’re needed most,” said Archer.

Mayweather guided them successfully through the barrage of fire from the Vor Devrees once again. Enterprise turned around and ran for the protection of the Rel Sevanne’s guns. It seemed ironic that it wasn’t that long ago that those guns had been pointed at Enterprise. Sun Neer and the remains of her fighter squadron followed the starship, deflecting any unwanted attention as they retreated. They would make their last stand protecting their home ship and its allies.

“How long before we know if its worked?” asked Archer looking at T’Pol.

“Several minutes,” said T’Pol. “The doctor’s simulations indicated that the virus would spread rapidly, incapacitating systems as it moved through the ship. We should see some indication of infection in the next ten minutes.”

Ten minutes was a long time in a space battle. Archer hoped that they could hold out that long.

****

“I don’t understand,” said Sharien. “They fired a torpedo at us, it impacted on the hull, it did not damage us in any way but yet they are retreating. It makes no sense.”

“Our guest thinks that it makes sense,” said Corvas. “He knows something.”

“I am aware of that Corvas, I can feel his emotions as well as you can,” replied Sharien. “We could interrogate him.”

“It would be too late, whatever they’ve done it’s already working. I can feel it. Oh by the goddess, I can feel it!” said Corvas, her voice taking on a strange panicked tone.

Sharien moved to a control panel by the view screen. “Systems are responding slowly, I’m scanning for contamination,” said Sharien. She worked at the panel for a while before she gave her Matriarch an answer as to what was happening. “It’s a virus, it’s spreading from the hull into the organic circuits. The whole ship will be disabled in less than thirty time periods.”

“Can we counter it?” asked Corvas.

“I have instigated counter measures but they are failing already. The virus is unlike anything that we’ve encountered before. It’s completely alien in design. Out standard decontamination isn’t working. The Vor Devrees is dying, Corvas.”

“I am the Vor Devrees, it can’t die,” said Corvas.

“You ignored a fundamental law of battle,” said Reed, “you underestimated your opponent.”

“No!” said Corvas. “We are righteous, the Goddess would never let this happen to us.”

“Doesn’t seem as if the Goddess is in today,” said Reed with great amusement. He briefly wondered how much blood he’d lost in the crash, he was starting to feel a little light headed and he was remarkably calm about the fact that he was sat on a dying ship. “I think this is the end of your crusade against the Tien.”

“If you think that then you are even more of a fool than I was,” said Corvas. “I still have one option left for me to use and I think we have time to use it.”

“We’re losing our weapon systems,” said Sharien.

“We don’t need them,” said Corvas.

“Matriarch, what are you going to do?” asked Sharien.

“Watch, and pray to the Goddess for peace in death and absolution for what we have done in her name,” said Corvas.

“You’re going to ram them,” said Reed, realisation dawning on him. “You’ll kill everyone. On both ships.” Me included, he added to himself. “You can’t!” He struggled with the restraints around his wrist in an attempt to free himself, but his arm hurt like hell and whatever they had tied him with was too strong for him to break.

“I can and I will. If I cannot defeat the Rel Sevanne then I will destroy it,” said Corvas. “They will die with us.”

****

Archer saw the Vor Devrees turn to face the Rel Sevanne head on and then the bright white light of their engines flared and he knew what they were doing. Enterprise was in no danger, they weren’t between the two ships and were agile enough to get out of the way in time, but the Rel Sevanne was another matter. A ship the size of the Rel Sevanne needed a little time to get moving and so far it was showing no signs that they had even understood the Vor Devrees intentions.

“Archer to Rel Sevanne,” he said.

“Captain,” said a weak voice, almost unrecognisable as Trip.

“Trip, the Vor Devrees, they’re going to ram the Rel Sevanne,” said Archer. “You’ve got to get the ship moving.”

“We see it. We’re doing our best but the engines were hit on the last attack run, they’re only at half power at best. Shar Jen’s working on them,” said Trip. It sounded as if he was having real difficulty summoning up the strength to speak.

“Can we use the grappling hook and pull them out of the way?” he asked T’Pol.

“The mass of the Rel Sevanne is too great. We would not make any difference in the time we have,” said T’Pol.

“Damn,” said Archer. “There has to be something we can do.”

“Don’t sweat it, Captain. I’ve got all non-essential personnel evacuated to the back of the ship, the Vor Devrees is on a trajectory to hit the nose. I’m doing my best to keep casualties down to a minimum. Just stay out of the way, this is going to make a hell of a dent,” said Trip.

“You heard him, Travis. Back us off. Make sure we’re as far away as we can get. Hoshi, spread the word to the Rel fighters as well,” said Archer. He watched his crew calmly obey him and then he watched as the Vor Devrees impacted with the Rel Sevanne.

It was as if the two ships were colliding in slow motion, despite the fact that Archer knew that the ships both had huge amounts of momentum behind them. The Vor Devrees hit the Rel Sevanne’s nose, Trip had been able to get the engines going just enough to push them back so that the Vor Devrees wouldn’t hit the centre of the ship. Even so the impact destroyed almost half of the Vor Devrees as soon as they hit and sent tonnes of debris flying off into space. The complete front section of the Rel Sevanne had disintegrated and it exposed the honeycomb of the interior of the ship to vacuum.

Fires broke out across both ships and they sparked with lightning running across their hulls. The Vor Devrees was rocked by an explosion before it came to rest, wedged into the Rel Sevanne like a dark dagger in the heart of the light. The black ship stood out starkly against the white of the Rel Sevanne’s delicate hull. Small explosions continued within both craft. And then both ships began to scream.

****End of Chapter 15****

And T’Pol screamed with the ships. She had never experienced anything like it. She knew that being on the Rel Sevanne surrounded by the empaths had effected her in subtle ways that she hadn’t quite understood at the time. It had faded when she returned to Enterprise so she had thought no more about it. The screams of the dying were in her head and it hurt her. She was no longer aware of her surroundings. She didn’t realise that she was on the bridge at her science station, clutching her head in her hands as if it would break if she let go. She let out a primal yell and fell to the floor, trying desperately to control the pain.

One scream was making itself heard above the others. “Trip,” she said clearly, between taking breaths to control the pain.

“What about Trip?” asked Archer of his Science Officer who now lay underneath her station on the bridge. He had already told Hoshi to send for Phlox and hoped that he would arrive soon, this was way out of his experience with Vulcans.

“So much pain,” she said. “You have to help him. He is part of the ship.” She shook her head and tried to curl in on herself. She gasped for breath trying to make sense of the emotions that were bombarding her.

Phlox was suddenly at her side, sitting her up.

“T’Pol, tell me what’s going on,” said Phlox.

“I can hear them all,” said T’Pol. “It’s too much. It hurts!”

Phlox prepared a hypospray.

“No,” said T’Pol, summoning up all her self-control. “No drugs. We have to find Commander Tucker.”

“At least let me give you something for the pain,” said Phlox.

T’Pol closed her eyes, took a deep breath and nodded her assent. Phlox took a moment to load another hypospray before he injected T’Pol. Her face changed immediately from the pain wracked mask it had been to her usual calm visage.

“What happened?” asked Archer.

“I heard the death cries and pain of hundreds of Tien and Kriel,” said T’Pol.

“I don’t understand,” said Archer. “I thought Vulcans were only touch telepaths. You have to be in contact with someone to be able to read their thoughts.”

“If the telepathic broadcast is strong enough then there have been instances where Vulcans have detected thoughts over a great distance. There are several examples in our history where a large natural disaster has precipitated a telepathic contact such as what I have just experienced. The Tien are empaths and their ability in conjunction with my own caused me to sense their emotions rather than thoughts. There are many casualties.”

“Hoshi, see if you can raise the Rel Sevanne,” said Archer.

“Yes, sir,” said Hoshi. “Enterprise to the Rel Sevanne,” said Hoshi. “Enterprise to the Rel Sevanne,” she tried again. “I’m not getting any answer, sir,” said Hoshi.

“Keep trying,” said Archer.

“Yes, sir,” replied Hoshi. “Enterprise to Rel Sevanne, come in Rel Sevanne.” Her hail was met with static.

“We won’t be able to reach him,” said T’Pol. “He’s injured.” Archer assumed that she was talking about Trip and he felt a cold feeling settle into the pit of his stomach.

“Rel Sevanne to Enterprise,” said a voice, crackled with static. It wasn’t Trip. “This is Shar Jen.”

“Rel Sevanne, what is your status?” asked Archer.

“I haven’t been able to raise anyone forward of section 3,” replied the voice. “The emergency bulk heads are holding, we have atmosphere in the aft sections of the ship but I don’t know how long that will hold. The atrium is open to space. Engines are off line. Life support is erratic and I can’t raise Trip En. We tried to reach the computer room but there’s too much debris in the way. A lot of Tien are wounded, at least as many are dead, I don’t have exact numbers. I think I’m the last one left of the Senior Council.”

“And the Vor Devrees?” asked Archer.

“I don’t know,” said Shar Jen. “They look dead, I haven’t seen any movement. Most of the Vor fighters were destroyed in the impact, and those which weren’t committed suicide by ramming themselves into our hull. We are fortunate that we have a ship at all. If Trip En hadn’t moved us when he did…”

“We’re coming over,” said Archer, curtly. “We’ll be bringing a medical team with us and a rescue crew. Is there somewhere we can dock?”

“Docking bay seven escaped the worst of the damage, but I can’t guarantee what state it’s in. I suggest you bring EVA suits,” said Shar Jen.

“Acknowledged, we’ll be with you as soon as we can. Enterprise out,” said Archer. “T’Pol, are you well enough to go over to the Rel Sevanne?”

“Yes, Captain,” replied the Vulcan.

“I beg to differ, Sub-commander. You had a very intense neurological episode according to my scans and I think you should stay on Enterprise,” said Phlox.

“Doctor, I believe my interception of the emotions of the Rel Sevanne could help us in our search for Tien survivors. I need to go with the boarding party,” said T’Pol.

“Sometimes I wonder why I waste my breath on this crew,” said Phlox as he headed for the turbo lift. “I’ll get together the supplies that I need and meet you in the shuttle bay. I’ll also need to immunise you all against the virus that we deployed against the Vor Devrees. It will undoubtedly have spread to the Rel Sevanne’s organic circuitry. It’s unlikely that you’ll come into contact with it but best be on the safe side. It wasn’t designed to kill the Vor Devrees, just disable, but who knows what effect it could have on human biology.”

“Understood, Doctor. T’Pol, tell Hayes to get his men together for a rescue and relief mission,” said Archer. “We’ll meet in the shuttle bay in ten minutes.”

“Yes, Captain,” she replied and followed Phlox from the bridge.

“Hoshi, see if you can get hold of Lieutenant Reed, we haven’t heard anything from him since Third Squadron lost contact. Lieutenant Hess, you have the bridge,” said Archer. “It’s time we got our Chief Engineer back.”

“Aye, sir,” replied Hess, and Archer wasn’t quite sure which part of what he had said she was agreeing with.

****

Trip had very little awareness of what had happened after the Vor Devrees had impacted with the Rel Sevanne. The pain had been too great, it was almost as if his arms had been amputated in some terrible accident, he couldn’t feel any part of the ship forward of section three. The pain was unbearable and had driven him into unconsciousness. This was true oblivion and not the waking dream that he had been experiencing ever since he’d been connected to the Rel Sevanne. He didn’t realise that his mind screamed out and that scream was heard by T’Pol on Enterprise.

He had seen the ship coming towards them and sounded the collision alert, ordering as many people as possible to the back of the ship. Still hundreds of Tien had died and he had heard them all, felt them all. And the ones that had been injured, he had felt their emotions too and when the Vor Devrees was close enough he found snatches of their emotions working their way into his mind as well.

For a second before the two ships had impacted he had found Corvas’ mind and the two conjoined minds had conversed, exchanged data. Her mind was not a place that he had liked, it was dark like a spider’s web of thoughts. It pulled him in, though, and he explored, watching Corvas’ childhood play out in front of him, if it could be called a childhood.

“I thought you might like to visit with your father today,” said a figure beside Corvas.

“No, I don’t want to,” said a very young girl’s voice that he knew belonged to Corvas. She had been taken by her minder to the computer room anyway. Her pleas to turn round and go back to her room went unheeded and then she had been shown into the computer room. The black cylinder scared her. And when it was opened to reveal her father inside, connected to the machine, she turned away and ran from the room. Later, safe in her room, her minder told her that it was because of the Tien that her father was this way. Trip felt a small part of Corvas’ mind break at the incident. There were other similar occasions when she was told the Tien were responsible for the bad things which befell the Vor Devrees. So this is what they did to turn you into who you are now, he thought.

She had been taught how to fight. Trip watched her training hard to defeat the enemy that she hated so much but had never encountered. Her brother was supposed to be the one to be conjoined when their father died, but events didn’t happen that way. Her brother was killed while working on some modifications to the hull plating and suddenly she was the matriarch-elect. She already knew that the Tien had killed him, even without firing a shot. Becoming Matriarch was an honour that she neither wanted nor expected. She often cursed her lineage, but there was no one else, it was her duty.

It was later and there she was again. This time she was part of the Vor Devrees’ computer. She plotted to destroy the Rel Sevanne. Sharien brought her the specifications of the inter-reality cannon. To Corvas it was a thing of beauty, a way to rid the universe of the vermin that they were chasing. She ran through the specifications and suddenly Trip realised something was very wrong with the design. He thought that Sharien had probably spotted it but had hidden it. He knew Corvas didn’t know, she had barely completed school before they strapped her into the computer of the Vor Devrees. The computer could help her with knowledge but it couldn’t draw conclusions for her.

His last thought, as he drifted in the blackness of unconsciousness was that he had to warn someone. But by that point it was already too late, all his connections to the real world had been cut and he could feel the virus approaching. He knew that he was dying, the cold of space had finally decided to claim him.

****

Lieutenant Malcolm Reed lay on the floor of the computer room of the Vor Devrees. He knew that logically he should be dead. The behemoth of a ship that he was currently on had just rammed itself full tilt into another ship of equal size and he had no right to even still be breathing. He guessed that if he’d been in any other part of the ship then he may well have been joining the choir eternal. He was glad he hadn’t because he was pretty sure the choir wouldn’t want a tone deaf Englishman in their ranks. Which once again led him to wonder just how bad his head wound was, his thoughts were definitely a little bit strange at the moment.

He could smell smoke, the animal instinct in him told his brain that fire wasn’t good, and kicked him into full consciousness. He prised his eyes open to find that the chair he had been sitting on had broken, so his arms, although still bound, were now freer than they had been. He started to look around for something sharp that he could use to cut through the bonds around his wrist. He found a piece of sharp metal jutting out from a computer casing and used that to saw through the ties.

As soon as his wrists were no longer tied behind his back, his right arm began to remind him that it was injured. Definitely broken, thought Reed, it hurt too much to be merely dislocated. His stomach was becoming increasingly painful too. More time that he’d be spending in sick bay he thought ruefully. He coughed as smoke hit the back of his throat and he realised that it was time to leave.

The room around him was in complete disarray, fallen fragments of the ceiling littered the floor. Small fires flickered around the room and electricity sparked with loud cracks around exposed wiring. Reed made his way to the black cylinder in the centre of the room. He pulled back the cover and exposed the Matriarch of the Vor Devrees in all her fearsome glory. Corvas was a child, probably not even fifteen. Reed didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. All this time, they’d seen the Kriel as an unbeatable evil, when the Vor Devrees was being governed by a child. And then he realised he was looking into the face of Crin Ad Var Surian, except a little younger and a little thinner. It figured that if Shar Jen had a counterpart on the Vor Devrees then others of the Tien would as well but he hadn’t expected Corvas to be Crin Ad. Everything was twisted here, he had to remind himself that these weren’t the people that he thought they were. He wasn’t staring into the still face of his fighter squadron’s second in command, it wasn’t Crin Ad, it was Corvas. Corvas, who had just ordered the deaths of hundreds of people.

He looked around him for something to smash the glass of the cylinder with and found a piece of metal tubing that had come from the ceiling. He put as much force as he could behind his swing and shattered the glass. He reached a hand through the hole he had made and felt for a pulse on Corvas’ neck. Her skin was still warm but she wasn’t breathing and Reed felt no movement in her vein. She looked fine outwardly, there were no wounds on her body, but perhaps the shock of the impact had simply been too much for her young body to cope with. He doubted he could have done anything for her in any case, he had no idea if he could even save himself yet.

Suddenly he was worried. He was worried about Trip. If Corvas was dead what state would he be in, was he dead too? He knew that Trip had felt everything that had happened to the Rel Sevanne and could only imagine how much pain the crash could have caused him. He had to get to him.

Pieces of the ceiling had come down and one had struck the Kriel Weapons Master. Reed checked her for a pulse but found none, her body had been covered by rubble. Sharien was dead and Reed relieved her of her phase pistol, he knew that having a weapon would improve his chances of getting off the Vor Devrees immensely.

He moved towards the computer banks wondering if he could find the com unit, but everything was so mangled he gave up looking for anything that might be working. He went to the door and used the same piece of metal that he had smashed the glass cylinder with to prise it open and wedge it there so that he could climb through. The corridor outside the computer room was in a similarly poor state. The lights had mostly failed with a couple of exceptions so the illumination was mainly provided by the fires that had broken out up and down the hall. Pieces of fallen debris were strewn across the corridor and smoke hung in the air.

His best option was to try to make his way to the Rel Sevanne. Now that the two ships were locked together he might be able to find some way to cross between them. How he was going to do that, he had no idea but he had to keep moving, he was on board an enemy ship. Reed was glad that he had Sharien’s phase pistol, his own was probably still in his destroyed Rel fighter and he certainly didn’t have time to go get it. He had managed to dodge death twice today, and he didn’t want to make it a third time, but he still had to get to Trip.

Reed began to make his way down the corridor, moving obstructions out of the way as he went. If the two ships had collided in the way he thought they had, then the Vor Devrees was side on to the Rel Sevanne embedded in the Rel Sevanne’s forward section. He should be able to move towards the port side of the ship and then perhaps he could find a way to get over to the Rel Sevanne. If his estimations were right, he didn’t have very far to go to reach the computer room once he was on the Rel Sevanne.

The going was tough though. Every time he rounded a new corner he was met by more fallen pieces of ceiling or, in some cases, missing sections of floor plating. Disturbingly often he found the bodies of dead Kriel under rubble but so far he had only come across very few live Kriel. None of them paid him much attention, they were mostly dazed by the impact or too caught up in their own problems to care about him. He thought that being in the computer room when the two ships collided had probably saved his life. Trip had told him that the computer room on the Rel Sevanne was the most well shielded and protected part of the ship and he could only assume that the computer room of the Vor Devrees shared those characteristics. Sharien and Corvas had been extremely unlucky, by rights they should have survived the crash too. He didn’t know whether he should be unhappy that they had not or pleased that his enemies were dead, at the moment he was too focused on making progress through the ship to analyse his emotions.

Every time he had to stop to move debris or find a route around an impassable area he knew he was losing time that he didn’t have. For all he knew Trip might be dying and he had to reach him as soon as possible.

It took him about half an hour in all to reach the port side of the Vor Devrees and then a few more minutes to find a hatch to the outside. He then set about searching the rooms nearby the airlock for an EVA suit. It had been logical to assume that he would find equipment for a space walk nearby the airlock, but he hadn’t been sure so he was very relieved when he located a locker full of space suits. The only problem was that these space suits were built for Kriel, not humans. No one could call Malcolm Reed fat, but compared to the Kriel whose slim build mirrored the waif-like bone structure of the Tien, he was positively chubby. He pulled out the biggest suit he could find and squeezed himself into it. It wasn’t comfortable, especially with his broken arm, but he would be okay for a short journey to the Rel Sevanne. He pulled the helmet over the head, checked his air and sealed the suit tight.

He went to the airlock and levered the door open. He closed it behind him and searched the walls for the airlock controls. He didn’t read Kriel so he had to guess which buttons to press but he worked it out and heard the air begin to evacuate. He pressed the door release and nothing happened. Doesn’t anything work on this bloody ship, he thought to himself. He pulled off the panel, using his frustration to give him the extra strength that he needed, and short circuited the door controls. The door jerked open and stopped halfway, so he pushed it the rest of the way and climbed out on to the hull.

He had been right, the Vor Devrees was side on to the Rel Sevanne. He pushed off from the side of the Vor Devrees and hung weightless in the atrium of the Tien ship. The artificial gravity was offline throughout the atrium and anything that wasn’t bolted down was floating free. This included a couple of cars from the transit system which now spun on their axes, orbiting each other. His breathing was loud in his ears as he pressed the soles of his feet against the hull of the Vor Devrees and kicked himself forward. He had an EVA pack mounted on his back that was built into the suit he was wearing but he didn’t want to use fuel up unnecessarily.

The suit also had a com unit in it so he had a couple of tries at contacting Enterprise but either the com wasn’t working or the Rel Sevanne was blocking the signal. He tried to contact Trip as well but he wasn’t answering either. Another worry to add to his list.

He floated his way carefully across the open void of the atrium. Shining bubbles of water floated in places as he passed them by. He had also caught sight of a few dead bodies and uprooted trees spinning in the weightless conditions. He was aiming for the far end of the atrium, where he hoped to find a door that he could break through to get to the parts of the ship that still had air. As he passed another floating lake he caught a glimpse of something moving reflected in the bubble of water. Just as he was about to turn, a beam of light shot past his right shoulder, close enough that he could almost feel the heat of the beam.

“Next time I won’t miss,” said a voice over the suit communicator.

“Sharien,” said Reed in reply with complete certainty as to who was chasing him. “I thought you were dead.” He swiftly used the jet pack to move himself behind one of the floating transit cars.

“No, you just wished I was,” said Sharien, who had disappeared behind a bubble of water and some other floating debris.

Reed reminded himself that not all aliens had pulses in the same place as humans and when he had checked Sharien for a pulse he had probably been checking in the wrong place. “And Corvas?” he asked, expecting to hear that she too was still breathing. He saw Sharien again and snapped off a shot at her, but she had already moved on to hide behind another piece of floating debris.

“Not as lucky. The pain of impact probably fried her neural pathways. You’d have to ask our doctor for the exact details. Makes me wonder what has happened to your Patriarch,” she added. “Probably dead too.” She fired at Reed hitting a spot directly in front of where he was hiding that he was hiding behind with frightening accuracy, something Reed was having difficulty achieving.

“Your Matriarch never stood a chance, she was only a child,” said Reed. “Another senseless casualty in this senseless war.”

“She was old enough to fight for her people,” replied Sharien as she scanned the sky for her prey.

Reed remained hidden and waited for Sharien to show herself again, while he prayed silently, to any gods that would listen, that Sharien was wrong about Trip. He caught sight of her once more and fired in her direction, hitting the trunk of a tree beside her which burst into flames, sucking up the last gasps of oxygen out of the rarefied air around them before spluttering out. The smoke from the fire now blocked both their lines of sight. However, Sharien still managed to aim a shot roughly in his direction which he had to dodge rapidly.

How is she doing this, he asked himself urgently, she couldn’t see him yet her aim was consistently better than his. He refused to believe that she was any better a shot than he was. Perhaps his emotions were giving him away again and once more he fought desperately to keep them under control.

He spotted a flicker of movement and then he saw Sharien flying towards him at full power. She was keeping her profile small by making sure she was head on to him, but at the same time dodging between the floating junk that now littered the sky of the atrium. Reed hadn’t found his target yet and her speed and swift changes of course were making it difficult for him to adjust. He ducked behind another sphere of water and waited for Sharien to come to him.

“I have to say that your security arrangements on the Vor Devrees rely far too much on your main guns. I was able to wander around your craft and borrow this space suit without anyone challenging me, until you arrived,” said Reed, hoping that the insult to her professional pride might put her off her game slightly.

“I guarantee that had we not just hit the Rel Sevanne, your exit would have been much more difficult,” replied Sharien as she hit the bubble of water in front of Reed.

That was what Reed had been waiting for, the sphere broke into lots of smaller bubbles and Reed fired his phaser at a couple of the larger ones turning them into steam and causing Sharien to lose her momentum, as well as disorientating her. After that she was an easy target for his phase pistol and Reed fired once again, putting a hole the size of his phase beam in the right arm of her suit. He heard a startled cry as her suit started to decompress and she dropped her phase pistol in an attempt to stop the flow of air out of her suit. Reed could see her start to lose consciousness as the air escaped. He grabbed hold of the back of her suit, switched his thrusters to full power and headed for one of the doors at the end of the atrium.

It only took him minutes to reach a door, which being so far into the ship was mostly undamaged but had automatically sealed shut when the atrium pressure had dropped. He quickly ripped open the door mechanism and rewired it so that he could open it. He made the final connection and the door slid open venting the atmosphere behind it as it did so. Reed pulled himself and Sharien through the door with all the strength he could muster and then thumbed the close button on the panel beside the door. The door slid shut and he breathed a sigh of relief.

He dragged Sharien across the floor with his good arm and dumped her unceremoniously against a wall. He pulled off his own helmet and then hers. She was still breathing but the lack of air had caused her to become groggy and dazed. She also had a very nasty wound on her right arm, but the phaser had already cauterised it so it wasn’t bleeding much. Reed didn’t have time to waste, he went to find something to tie Sharien up with. Whilst he had no wish to kill her if he could avoid it, he also couldn’t leave her to cause trouble on the ship. He found some loose wiring, and made use of that to tie Sharien’s hands behind her back. “That should hold you,” he said. He pulled her to her feet once more and pushed her in front of him in the direction of the computer room.

He took two steps forward and then the lights dimmed around him, before returning to full brightness. Only half the lights were still working so full brightness wasn’t much better than the darkness illuminated by his suit lights. Reed was more concerned about what the dimming of the lights meant though.

“Hold on, Trip,” he told the walls hoping that the intended target of his words heard them. “Just hold on a bit longer. I’ll be with you as soon as I can.”

****End of Chapter 16****

Archer, T’Pol, Phlox, Major Hayes and a squad of MACOs had taken shuttle pod one across to the Rel Sevanne and managed to dock the shuttle at bay seven. It wasn’t easy by any means, all the computer controls that would have helped them make their landing were offline and the bay itself was strewn with impact debris. T’Pol carefully set them down in the bay avoiding as many of the obstructions as she could.

Phlox had dosed them all with the vaccine for the virus as soon as they had arrived in the shuttle bay to make the journey to the Rel Sevanne. He had developed the vaccine along side the virus in case they decided that they needed to board the Vor Devrees after it had been disabled, but he hadn’t expected to be using it in these conditions. He had brought more vaccine with him but he doubted it would be enough for all the Tien, however if they stayed away from the organic circuitry of the ship then hopefully they wouldn’t come into contact with the virus. He didn’t like leaving such things to chance but it might at least buy him enough time to manufacture sufficient vaccine to immunise everyone.

One of Shar Jen’s engineers met them in the bay and escorted them to Engineering where they found the Artificer frantically shouting orders to her staff and anyone else who happened to come anywhere near her. The away team could clearly see the damage that had been done to the engines in the last attack run before the Vor Devrees had rammed the Rel Sevanne.

“The internal com system is down,” said Shar Jen. “I have runners getting messages to the rest of the ship, such as it is, but communication is very slow.”

“What the hell do you think you are doing here?” asked Archer, angrily.

“Trying to hold this ship together while we repair the engines,” said Shar Jen, as if it was the most obvious thing that she could do. “We need to get out of here as quickly as possible.”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, half your ship is missing and the Vor Devrees has buried itself in your forward section,” Archer said, his voice dripping with annoyed sarcasm. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“If I can repair the impulse engines then maybe I can get enough power to pull us apart,” said Shar Jen, turning away from Archer to walk to another console.

Archer caught her by the arm and she turned to look at him a stunned expression on her face. “You don’t seem to understand what’s happened,” said Archer with quiet menace. “Neither ship is going anywhere, they’re both complete write-offs. The only thing you can do is get as many of your people off the ship as possible before the superstructure gives way.”

“We are not abandoning the Rel Sevanne,” said Shar Jen, carefully enunciating each word.

“You told me you’re the last member of the Senior Council left. You have to start acting like it. You’re in charge now, start looking at the big picture,” said Archer.

Shar Jen gazed into Archers eyes and for the first time he realised why Trip had found this woman so difficult to ignore and why T’Pol had been so disconcerted by her contact with the Tien. He felt himself start to drown in her eyes as they tugged at his inner being and he looked away, letting go of Shar Jen’s arm as he did so.

“What did you just do?” asked Archer accusingly.

“Looked inside your emotions,” said Shar Jen. “I’m one of the strongest Tien empaths, I get glimpses inside a person’s memories that go with an emotion, occasionally I can see their intentions regarding an emotion.” She paused and looked at him again, but this time the intensity of her stare was gone.

“And what did my intentions tell you?” he asked.

“They told me that your advice is good, I should be concentrating all my efforts on rescuing as many Tien as I can. These engines are worthless now. I will issue the evacuation order.”

“Have you been able to reach Trip?” asked Archer.

“We’ve tried to reach the computer room but the corridors around it are blocked. I’ve got men working on it but we would be grateful if you are able to offer us assistance,” said Shar Jen. “Trip En has been silent ever since the crash and I can’t feel his emotions. A little while ago there was a power fluctuation, but life support still functions and I pray to the Goddess that means that he is still alive. He gave the order to get everyone to the aft section of the ship but he knew he couldn’t protect himself if the Vor Devrees hit us in the right place. He saved many Tien today.”

“That sounds like Trip, perhaps we can save him too,” said Archer.

“I truly hope so,” she replied. Shar Jen didn’t wait to be told twice, she decided to take the Enterprise officers to where they were needed herself, leaving orders with her subordinates to shore up but not repair. Phlox explained the problem with the virus now spreading to the Rel Sevanne and Shar Jen sent runners to pass on the word to stay away from the organic circuitry and begin the evacuation of non-essential personnel.

“What about Trip En?” she asked in a worried voice.

“We’ll just have to hope that the virus hasn’t reached him yet,” said Phlox, but he knew that the virus spread quickly, it was how it had been designed, and it would be unlikely that Trip was not already infected.

****

Reed pushed his Kriel captive through the broken corridors of the Rel Sevanne. He knew he wasn’t that far away from the computer room now, it could only be another couple of turns and he would be at the door. He’d had to make a couple of unexpected detours around blocked sections of corridor but apart from that had been making good progress. However, their options for reaching the computer room had now narrowed to one corridor, all the other routes were blocked.

Sharien had hardly spoken. She had complained about her arm and then spat insults at him for ten minutes before quieting down again. He gathered that his parentage was in question from her last two insults, or it could have been his ability to become a parent, he wasn’t entirely sure which. He had ignored her in any case and after that she had got the hint and remained silent.

He rounded the final corner and was met by a wall of rubble.

“Damn,” said Reed, surveying the blockage.

“What are you going to do now?” asked Sharien, taunting. “You have no way to reach your friend.”

“In case you hadn’t heard, I enjoy blowing things up,” said Reed.

“What with exactly?” asked Sharien.

“Oh I have something that should do the trick,” replied Reed.

Sharien did have a valid point. Reed knew he only had one option to reach Trip and that was to rig his phase pistol to overload and use that to dislodge the debris. That of course left him without his weapon, and Sharien’s had floated off in the atrium when she had been wounded. He did, of course, have a knife tucked into his boot, no self respecting security man ever left the ship without a backup weapon. It would be a lot easier to keep Sharien in check with a phase pistol pointed at her back than without and Reed was loath to give up that advantage, but she was tied up and he should be able to handle her. He wondered if he was guilty of underestimating his enemy in the same way that Corvas had, but at the moment his choices were very limited. To be on the safe side, he tied Sharien to a piece of sturdy-looking pipe around the corner while he worked.

He pulled the knife from his boot, it most certainly was not Starfleet standard issue. It was a knife that meant business but was small enough that it could easily be missed in a search. He had never had occasion to use it in anger before, but there was always a first time and somehow he was not surprised that that occasion might be on the Rel Sevanne. He embedded the knife in the wall, within easy reach should he need it, while he adjusted the settings on the phase pistol so that a feedback loop was created that would overload the pistol and create an explosion. He set it so that the energy build-up would become critical in just over a minute and then placed the phase pistol as far into the rubble as he could. He reclaimed his knife and ran for cover.

The high pitched whine of the building energy within the phase pistol quickly cycled in intensity until it was so loud that it was unpleasant. Reed hid behind a pile of debris and ducked down even further just before the explosion happened. The noise from the explosion in the confined area of the corridor was tremendous and Reed could hear nothing except a high pitched ringing. Dust filled the air and Reed coughed violently, once again jarring his injuries and reminding him just how bad he actually felt. He was running on adrenaline and desperation at the moment. The good news was that there was now a hole in the obstruction and Reed could see the door of the computer room through the clouds of dust that had been stirred up.

He went to collect his prisoner and used his knife to cut through her ties to the pipe behind her. He indicated with the knife what would happen to her if she tried anything. She spat some insult at him but he couldn’t hear what it was with his ears still ringing from the explosion. He pushed her forward, she tripped on a piece of rubble and fell. Reed knew better than to go and help her up, but he had forgotten how long her reach was compared to his. She stuck out her leg and swept his feet out from under him. He landed hard on his broken arm which caused waves of pain to run through him and dropped his knife. For a second he considered passing out, certainly it was what his brain was trying to persuade him to do, but he knew if he passed out now he would never wake up again. Sharien was already on her feet and had her hands around Reed’s neck. Instead in one swift motion he made a grab for the knife, located it with his good arm, and stabbed it into Sharien’s outstretched leg.

Sharien screamed a loud piercing scream that cut through even Reed’s deafness. With complete military precision he gave Sharien his best right hook which knocked her completely unconscious and the scream stopped.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that,” said Reed. “It’s a shame I can’t do it to your Rel Sevanne counter-part. That would have saved us all a lot of trouble.”

He dragged Sharien’s still body down to the door of the computer room where he tied her ankles together with more wiring and then secured her to a beam that lay across the corridor. The corridors aft were all blocked and that left him with only a limited number of options for getting Trip out once he’d got him. He set about trying to open the door to the computer room. The automatic opening mechanism had obviously failed but the manual controls didn’t seem to be working either. He pulled off the panel that covered the wiring for the opening mechanism and wished for the hundredth time that day that Trip was with him and not trapped inside. The engineer was much better at picking locks and persuading machinery to do as it was told. The damn thing was jammed.

Behind him he heard a noise it sounded like digging and then, voices, shouting. He went over to corridor where the noise was coming from.

“Hello?” he shouted.

The noise stopped and he heard a muffled shout in return. “I can’t hear you!” he shouted back. He started to remove debris from his side of the barrier as quickly as he could. A flash light shone through a gap in the pieces of ceiling support and other debris.

“Malcolm!” said the surprised voice of Captain Archer. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too, sir,” replied Malcolm.

Another few minutes of shifting rubble and they had a hole big enough to crawl through. Archer climbed through the gap and was followed by T’Pol, Phlox, Shar Jen, Hayes and two of the MACOs. A couple of Tien continued with their efforts to clear the corridor on the other side of the obstruction.

“What happened? How did you manage to get here? The last time we heard anything from you, you were in a Rel fighter,” said Archer.

“It’s a long story, but basically I ended up crashing on the Vor Devrees. I was taken captive, but when we crashed into the Rel Sevanne I took the opportunity to escape. I have a prisoner,” said Reed indicating Sharien.

“But that’s…” said Archer looking between Sharien and Shar Jen.

“Yes, the likeness is remarkable. Her name is Sharien, she’s the Kriel Weapons Master,” said Reed.

Shar Jen went to look more closely at her double. She was obviously fascinated by her. “We knew that there were alternate versions of ourselves on the Vor Devrees but I never expected to meet one. What about the computer room?” she asked.

“Door’s jammed,” said Reed. “I tried to hot wire the controls but it doesn’t seem to be working,” he said.

“We brought cutting gear, Lieutenant,” said Hayes and barked orders at the MACOs to get to work on the door. Reed stood back realising that he’d only be in the way if he tried to help.

“How badly is the Rel Sevanne damaged?” asked Reed looking from Archer to T’Pol.

“The damage is most likely irreparable,” said T’Pol.

“The Rel Sevanne is missing most of its’ forward section. We don’t have casualty numbers but it isn’t looking good. Some of the other MACOs are helping with rescue efforts in other parts of the ship. Trip did a pretty good job of getting everyone to the back of the ship but the impact was enough to do damage through out the ship,” said Archer.

“We are currently barely keeping the ship together,” said T’Pol.

“What does the Vor Devrees look like?” asked Archer.

“Pretty much the same, except Corvas didn’t bother trying to get everyone out of harm’s way. The casualties must be triple those of the Rel Sevanne,” said Reed.

“Lieutenant, we should get you back to Enterprise immediately,” said Phlox, who had surreptitiously taken out his scanner and been taking scans while Reed had been speaking.

“No,” said Reed. “I’m staying until we have Trip out of here.”

“What’s wrong, Doctor?” asked Archer.

“Mr Reed has extensive injuries that need immediate treatment. Not least some internal bleeding and a broken arm,” said Phlox.

“I’ll live,” said Reed.

“Only if you allow me to treat you,” said Phlox, pulling out a hypospray from his kit.

“No drugs,” said Reed. “I need to be alert.”

“Lieutenant, you’ve obviously had quite a time of it. Perhaps you should go back to Enterprise,” said Archer.

“If you don’t mind, I’d prefer to stay, sir,” said Reed, in a tone which lay carefully between insubordination and requesting permission, but obviously expected no argument.

Archer looked at Reed, really looked at him and realised that he was dead on his feet. He shook his head but he knew better than to try to shift the stubborn Armoury officer. If Reed wanted to stay then he didn’t think it would make any difference if he ordered him back to Enterprise. Besides they would need Phlox to help Trip. “Patch him up Phlox and give him whatever he needs to stay on his feet, we’ll get him back to Enterprise as soon as we can once we have Trip.”

Phlox sighed. “Very well,” he said. He pulled Reed over and sat him down on a girder that had fallen from the ceiling. He gave him a shot of painkiller, which immediately started to make him feel a bit better. Phlox pulled a piece of cloth out of his bag and looped it around Reed’s neck to make a sling for his broken arm. “It’s a clean break, it should heal without any problem, however I need to set it. This may hurt a little.”

“Ow!” said Reed as Phlox manipulated the arm and positioned it in the sling. Even through the pleasant fog of the painkillers the pain had been sharp. At least it was receding now. “That was not my idea of it hurting “a little”, Doctor,” he added.

“If you had allowed me to give you a stronger painkiller I could have done that without any discomfort,” said Phlox. He thought that Reed probably deserved a little discomfort for disobeying doctor’s orders. He re-loaded the hypospray. “Now this is something to prevent the infection that you have building from getting any worse, but really you should be back in sick bay where I can give you a full course of antibiotics.”

“Whatever you say, doctor, I just need to be on my feet a little longer,” said Reed as he let the doctor administer the medication.

“I’ll remind you that you said that when you’re complaining about the length of your stay in sick bay. Which I can promise you will only be extended by your stubborn insistence to stay here rather than returning to Enterprise.” Phlox loaded the hypospray for a third time. “This is the vaccine against the virus that we infected the Vor Devrees with.”

“I am not a pincushion, doctor,” said Reed, crossly. The doctor ignored him, cleaning the blood from his head wound and applying stinging antiseptic while Reed winced.

“We’re through,” shouted Hayes from the doorway. He and his men were busy hitting the door to push in the section that they had cut through. It gave way and Corporal Romero tumbled through into the computer room. Reed got to his feet and followed Archer, T’Pol and Shar Jen into the computer room. The sight that met them was worse than any of them had expected.

The lights were on red emergency lighting and flickered on and off. Small fires burned around the room, creating a thick, smoke laden atmosphere. A beam from the ceiling had fallen across the room and under it lay Kris Nor. T’Pol checked the Tien Exarch for life signs but no one had really expected to find him alive. T’Pol shook her head to confirm it. More smaller beams blocked their path to the black cylinder where Trip lay. T’Pol and Archer pushed them out of the way, Shar Jen and Reed following carefully behind.

The MACOs scanned for other life signs and under some fallen pieces of ceiling they located Nils Fen, the Tien Weapons Master. He was alive but just barely. Phlox went to him and started to tend to him, one of the MACOs acting as his assistant. The other MACOs continued to search for more life signs but they detected none.

T’Pol and Shar Jen reached the cylinder and Shar Jen went to the life support read outs.

“Well?” asked Archer, impatiently.

“Life support is still functioning but he’s unconscious. His brain functions are dangerously low. We need to get him out of there now,” she added urgently.

“That may present a problem,” said T’Pol. Another beam had fallen directly across the side of the cylinder and was preventing T’Pol from getting the cylinder open. “Major Hayes!” she shouted back to where the Major was standing. “We require the cutting gear.”

“And the virus?” asked Archer.

“I can’t tell with these instruments,” said Shar Jen. “His vital signs do not look good, and his body temperature is elevated, that could be the virus.”

Archer hadn’t wanted to hear that, but right now he couldn’t think about what that might mean. The MACOs made their way to the cylinder, dragging the cutting equipment with them.

“Be careful,” said T’Pol, “and remember that Commander Tucker is behind this panel.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” said Hayes and indicated to his men to begin cutting with caution.

****End of Chapter 17****

They opened the cylinder and revealed Trip, at first glance he was unharmed. Then Archer noticed the blood on his face, Trip’s nose was bleeding and a drop of blood ran from the corner of each eye.

“Doctor!” he shouted.

“Keep the pressure on that wound,” said Phlox to the MACO who had been helping him with Nils Fen. He went to the cylinder and began scanning.

“How do we get him out of there?” asked Archer.

“We need to disconnect the computer feeds before the life support. T’Pol, I require your assistance, this is more your area than mine,” said Phlox.

T’Pol took out her scanner. “We must disconnect these in order,” said T’Pol.

“I can help,” said Shar Jen.

“I think you’ve done enough,” said Reed, stepping between Shar Jen and T’Pol.

“He was fine until the Vor Devrees arrived, he was loved and cared for,” said Shar Jen.

“He had five years to live after you wired him into your computer! How is that caring for him?” shouted Reed.

“Malcolm, now is not the time,” said Archer appearing at his shoulder.

“Five years? I don’t understand,” said Shar Jen.

“He didn’t tell you?” asked Archer.

“He didn’t tell me what?” asked Shar Jen.

“The conjoining was making his brain work too hard, he was burning up. Doctor Phlox estimated that he had about five years before the damage became fatal,” said Archer.

“I didn’t know,” said Shar Jen. “I didn’t know, you have to believe me!”

“You know the sad thing about all this is that I do believe you,” said Reed. “You had him so thoroughly brainwashed that he would have given up his life for you. Of course he didn’t tell you, that would have been just like the stupid fool. You took advantage of a good man and I hope you’re happy with where it’s got you.”

Shar Jen stared at Reed as if she’d just been slapped. Reed vaguely heard T’Pol instructing Phlox on the order to disconnect the wires that lead into Trip’s body.

“Malcolm, we have a job to do,” said Archer, “we don’t have time for this right now.”

“Yes, sir,” said Malcolm through gritted teeth, but he didn’t take his eyes off Shar Jen.

The lights dimmed and then went out. The Enterprise away team flicked on their torches.

“I’ll see if I can get the emergency lights back on,” said Shar Jen and went to the computer console.

“I hope this means that you’ve disconnected Trip,” said Archer.

“We cannot remove the neural nodes until we return to the ship,” said Phlox. “That will require surgery. But that’s the last of the data feeds, now for the life support.”

Shar Jen finished working on the console and the red of the emergency lighting returned.

“Please exercise caution, doctor,” said T’Pol.

“Of course, T’Pol,” said Phlox, slightly affronted that T’Pol felt that she needed to say it. However, even if T’Pol hadn’t realised it yet, he knew that she cared for Commander Tucker and that was behind what was tantamount to an emotional outburst for a Vulcan.

The Tien had implanted a series of small black plugs into Commander Tucker’s body and these were connected to data feeds or life support systems. Phlox had already disconnected the computer feeds but now he had the more difficult task of removing the Commander from life support. At least one of the systems was introducing oxygen into his blood, another provided nourishment and yet another removed waste products. It was a tangle of biological systems that he would have preferred not to disturb given his limited knowledge of the Tien medical technology. He considered removing the whole system and moving it in its entirety back to Enterprise but he couldn’t see any way that they could get it out of the room. No, he would have to do this the hard way, disconnecting each system in turn and hoping that the Commander’s body had not become so dependent on the systems that his body would be unable to resume normal function.

“T’Pol, have an oxygen mask standing by, I’m about to disconnect the direct oxygen system and the air in here is less than ideal,” said Phlox and T’Pol went to the doctor’s kit to get the required equipment. “We will also require the stretcher to get him back to Enterprise,” he added to Archer, who went to collect the stretcher from where it had been left in the corridor. T’Pol returned with the oxygen mask and placed it over Trip’s nose and mouth while Phlox worked.

“That’s the last of them, so far he’s stable,” said Phlox a few minutes later. He pressed a hypospray to Trip’s neck and followed it swiftly with a second dose of a different drug. “We can move him,” he said and Archer and T’Pol carefully lifted Trip’s semi-naked body from the machine it had been encased in. They laid him gently on the stretcher where Phlox attached a tube that led into his arm. Archer could feel that Trip’s skin was hot to the touch.

“The virus?” asked Archer.

“Yes, he has it,” said Phlox, medical tricorder in his hand, “and combined with his other injuries it could be fatal.”

“Can’t you just give him the vaccine?” asked Reed.

“It doesn’t work that way,” said Phlox. “The vaccine is only good for preventing someone from contracting the disease. I need to manufacture an anti-viral.”

“How long will that take?” Archer asked anxiously.

“Maybe too long,” said Phlox. “A few hours at most, but the virus was designed to disable a ship, it’s strong enough to kill a human, and his body won’t be able to fight it off in his current condition.”

“And his other injuries?” asked Archer.

“It’s difficult to tell without giving him a complete body scan but definitely severe injury to his entire nervous system and some brain damage. I need to get him back to Enterprise as soon as possible.”

Suddenly Trip’s eyelids flickered. They opened to reveal red eyes, saturated with blood.

“Trip, can you hear me? You’re going to be okay, you hear, okay,” said Archer.

“I can’t see,” Trip croaked. “I can’t feel. It’s all gone.” He closed his eyes again in obvious pain.

Archer looked at Phlox with worry in his eyes. “Why can’t he see?” he asked as quietly as he could and still be heard.

“His optical nerve was re-routed to connect to the ship’s visual sensors. It’s reversible but it will take a little work. Just talk to him, let him know that you’re here, he can still hear you,” said Phlox.

“Trip, it’s going to be okay,” said Archer taking his friend’s hand. “We got you out, you’re not part of the Rel Sevanne anymore.”

Trip shook his head. “No, put me back,” he whispered.

“We can’t Trip, the ship’s falling apart and we have to get you out of here,” said Archer.

“Vor Devrees,” he said, almost too quietly for Archer to hear. “They have a new weapon.”

Archer indicated to Reed that he should listen in and he crouched down beside his friend too. “What weapon, Trip?” asked Archer.

“Inter-reality cannon,” he said clearly but obviously having trouble forming the words. He opened blood drenched eyes once more.

“It’s okay, Trip,” said Reed. “We got to them before they could use it.” He could see Archer looking at him with inquiring eyes, wondering what this weapon was.

Trip was shaking his head again though. “Flaw,” he said, swallowing hard. “Design flaw. The universe reclaims its’ own.” His eyes shut again, his head drooping to one side and suddenly Phlox was pushing them out of the way.

“His breathing is erratic, I need to intubate,” said the doctor, pulling more equipment from his kit rapidly and efficiently inserting a breathing tube into Trip’s airway which he connected to an oxygen supply. “We have to get him back to Enterprise now.”

“Agreed,” said Archer. “Malcolm, take Phlox and two of the MACOs and get Trip back to Enterprise.”

“What about Nils Fen?” asked Reed.

“We will look after him,” said Shar Jen. “Take good care of Trip En,” she added stiffly.

“We intend to,” said Reed, the anger evident in his voice even without any inflection on his part. “What about you, Captain?”

“T’Pol and I have some unfinished business with the Vor Devrees,” said Archer.

“I do not understand,” said T’Pol.

“What Trip said about the inter-reality cannon, was it true, Malcolm?” said Archer.

“Oh they had such a thing,” said Reed, “but as far as I know it was destroyed in the crash. Apparently it worked by ripping things into another universe. Luckily the virus got to work on their systems before they could make use of it. You don’t think Trip meant anything by what he said do you? He’s delirious and not exactly himself.”

“You saw what an effort it was for him to talk to us,” replied Archer. “I don’t think he would have bothered if it hadn’t been something important.”

“Perhaps we should question Sharien,” said T’Pol.

“My thoughts exactly,” said Archer, heading for the door of the computer room. He climbed through and rounded the corner to see Sharien still tied up where Reed had left her. Reed’s knife was still buried in her leg and but she was conscious.

“You found your friend,” said Sharien, indicating Trip as the MACOs carefully manoeuvred his stretcher through the door. “Looks as if he’s not doing so well.”

“We’ll take care of him,” said Reed.

“Yes, I can see that as security officer of Enterprise you’ve looked after him really well,” said Sharien, sarcastically.

Before Archer could stop him, Reed was pulling Sharien to her feet and shoving her against the wall.

“Malcolm!” said Archer. Reed ignored him.

“Perhaps I should remind you that your Matriarch is dead. Tell us about the inter-reality cannon,” said Reed. “What twisted design flaw did you build into it?”

Sharien winced at the pain but refused to give Reed any further indication of weakness. “There’s nothing you can do. The universe reclaims its’ own.”

“Trip said the same thing, what does it mean?” asked Reed.

“The cannon opens a conduit to our universe. If the power source overloads then the cannon will self-destruct, and re-open that conduit. The safety systems won’t stop it. It drags everything from it’s own universe back there,” said Sharien. “If it was damaged in the crash then it’s probably already too late.”

Reed let go of Sharien and she leaned against the wall.

“How much time do we have?” asked Archer.

“An hour, maybe less,” said Sharien.

“How do we prevent it?” asked T’Pol.

“We don’t,” said Sharien. “There isn’t enough time to get back to the Vor Devrees. The Lieutenant will tell you that it took us nearly an hour to get here. Besides we need to get off this ship. The Vor Devrees is the only thing which is holding you together, if she shifts the whole superstructure will collapse.”

“Can we get everyone evacuated and far enough away in an hour?” Archer asked looking at Shar Jen.

“Maybe, since we’ve already started. At least most of the children have been evacuated in the first wave,” said Shar Jen. “What will the blast radius be?”

“Seven hundred million kilometres,” said Sharien.

“Ten minutes at warp four point five,” said Archer. “Enterprise can get away, but what about the escape pods?”

“If we launch now, maybe we could get away,” said Shar Jen.

“Maybe?” asked Reed.

“Maybe,” repeated Shar Jen.

“Malcolm, why are you still standing here?” asked Archer. “Are you in the habit of disobeying orders?”

“No, sir,” said Reed, contritely. “I’ll escort Doctor Phlox and Commander Tucker back to Enterprise.” He went to follow Phlox and the MACOs carrying Trip’s stretcher down the corridor, looking slightly dejected and very tired.

Archer turned to T’Pol, “what about if we were to take a shuttle pod to the Vor Devrees?”

“We would save time, but we still do not know how to disarm the weapon,” replied T’Pol.

“Well, Sharien?” asked Archer.

“She doesn’t care about what happens to us, she is Kriel,” said Shar Jen.

“And the Tien have always been cowards,” said Sharien. “Afraid to face your own death.”

“Not afraid,” replied Shar Jen, “it is not our time. Enterprise and Trip En saw to that. Many Tien and Kriel died today, more are injured. Your Matriarch is dead, our Patriarch is seriously injured, perhaps fatally. Neither side possesses a functioning ship. The war is over, to fight further would be futile. Should we fight until not a single Kriel or Tien is left standing?”

Sharien looked directly at Shar Jen as if trying to weigh up what she had said before turning to Archer. “The power supply must be disconnected from the mechanism. It’s difficult. You’ll need me to help you,” said Sharien.

“T’Pol, contact Travis and ask him to bring Shuttlepod Two over,” said Archer.

“Yes, Captain,” said T’Pol and stalked off to find a communicator.

“Shar Jen, you need to get all of your people away from here now,” said Archer.

“Agreed,” said Shar Jen. “I have already issued the order.”

“Let’s get back to the shuttle bay. Do you have a doctor who can look at Sharien’s leg?” asked Archer.

“Yes, I’ll see to it,” said Shar Jen.

T’Pol returned. “The shuttlepod will be here in ten minutes.”

By the time Archer, T’Pol, Major Hayes and Shar Jen arrived at the docking bay and Sharien’s wounds had been seen to by the doctor, Travis had arrived with shuttlepod two.

“Take us to the Vor Devrees, Mr Mayweather,” said Archer as he boarded the shuttle.

“Yes, sir,” said Travis. “I brought the EVA suits just in case we have trouble docking. The Vor Devrees doesn’t look so hot at the moment.”

“Neither will we, if we can’t disconnect that weapon,” said Archer.

****

Reed lay in sick bay feeling sorry for himself and just a bit bored. To be honest he did feel ill, he’d lost a fair amount of blood, but he would rather have been helping Captain Archer and T’Pol on the Vor Devrees than lying on a biobed.

Phlox had fussed around him, dosed him up with painkillers and antibiotics, and started a blood transfusion. He wasn’t sure whether it was the painkillers, concussion or the blood loss but he was feeling rather dizzy and a bit out of it. He now had a bandage around his head and a cast on his arm. He had also been given orders to rest. He couldn’t though, his mind kept on going over what had happened when they had disconnected Trip. He had asked them to put him back, to re-connect him to the computer. After everything that he’d been through it was the last thing that he’d expected Trip to say. It didn’t fill him with confidence about the state of the Commander’s mind.

Phlox was being cautious with the virus and he still had Trip sealed in decon so Reed hadn’t seen him since he’d been moved to sickbay. Reed was really worried about Trip, he’d looked so ill. When he had left Trip in decon, the Commander had been drenched with sweat and shivering violently. Phlox had him connected to almost every piece of medical equipment that he had.

He had tried to get something about Trip’s condition out of Phlox but as usual the doctor was being very close lipped. All he would say was Trip had extensive neurological damage, probably caused by feedback from the sensors during the crash. He was also unsuccessfully fighting off the Vor Devrees virus. His system was doing the best it could to combat it, but Phlox had built the virus to be strong enough to disable a ship the size of the Vor Devrees rapidly and Trip’s immune system was no match for it. Reed didn’t need Phlox to tell him that Trip’s condition was serious, it was obvious that his life hung in the balance.

Reed watched as Phlox worked at his microscope, an image of Trip’s beleaguered immune system on the monitor above him.

“How’s it going, doctor?” asked Reed, propping himself up on his elbow with considerable effort.

“I should have the anti-viral ready soon,” said Phlox. “It’s a simple matter to create it, the problem is the time that it takes to synthesise.”

“How long does Commander Tucker have?” asked Reed and almost as soon as he’d said it he wished he hadn’t asked.

“I can’t say. He was already weak from the neurological damage and I don’t think his body will be able to withstand the attack by the virus for much longer. Maybe a day at most. And if I can’t administer the anti-viral soon, he’ll be too weak for it to work.” Phlox paused and wrote something on a padd. “You are supposed to be resting, Lieutenant,” he said. “I can give you a sedative if you are having trouble.”

“I’m already spaced out enough thank you, I don’t think I need anymore drugs,” said Reed. “I really should be on the Vor Devrees with Captain Archer and T’Pol. Disarming weapons is my responsibility.”

“They have the Kriel weapons master with them, I’m sure she will be able instruct them on how to disarm the weapon,” said Phlox. “Right now your station is that biobed and it will be until I say otherwise.”

“It’s not whether Sharien has the knowledge, it’s whether she stabs them in the back with it that worries me,” said Reed, finally giving up the struggle with gravity and lying back down.

“I’m sure the Captain knows what he’s doing,” said Phlox, whilst looking intently at the slide currently under the microscope.

“I’m sure he thinks he knows what he’s doing,” said Reed. “All the same I’d be much happier if he’d taken some extra security with him.”

“I believe Major Hayes was accompanying them,” said Phlox.

“Yes, I know,” said Reed, making it clear that he didn’t regard Major Hayes presence as sufficient extra security. Hayes was a soldier not an Armoury officer like Reed and therefore didn’t have what Reed thought of as the proper level of paranoia. Admittedly the Major and his team had shown some useful skills when helping to recover Commander Tucker from the Xindi and later when the Xindi had boarded Enterprise, but Reed still felt his own security men were better trained.

Phlox was right though, there was nothing for him to do. At the moment he’d be more of a liability than an asset, drugged up on painkillers as he was and unable to even raise himself off the biobed. Reed closed his eyes and did his best to sleep.

When Phlox looked back towards the Lieutenant he found that he was already fast asleep, the monitors above his bed confirming it. He had been very close to sedating the Armoury officer for his own good, but knowing how much the Lieutenant hated to be “spaced out” as he referred to it, he hadn’t wanted to if he could avoid it. At least one of his charges was showing signs of improvement, the other one however, was a much more difficult case.

Phlox took a moment away from his microscope to look at the scans of Commander Tucker’s nervous system that he had taken. His nervous system and brain had all been connected to parts of the Rel Sevanne and in his current state Phlox didn’t want to operate to remove the black connectors that the Tien had inserted or the two silver neural nodes which plunged connectors deep into the Commander’s brain. The impact with the Vor Devrees had created a massive input which had fed back to Commander Tucker and literally fried his neurons. It was as if he had been burned internally along all of his major neural networks.

That in itself was serious enough, but Phlox thought that he could perhaps treat it in the same way that he had reconstructed T’Pol’s neural pathways after her encounter with Trellium D on the Seleya. Of course the Vulcan brain had been equipped with rather better healing abilities than the human brain and it remained to be seen whether Trip’s nervous system could be reconstructed in the same way. Phlox would certainly do his best though.

The thing which worried him even more than the Commander’s physical state was his mental state. He had barely adjusted to life after his torture at the hands of the Xindi, still experiencing violent nightmares and severe flashbacks. Phlox knew that people did not experience pain without being changed by it and he could only imagine what Commander Tucker had experienced while he was part of the Rel Sevanne. Then there was still the Tien conditioning to consider, it was no longer being reinforced by the computer, but it would still be there. It was likely that it would fade over time with a little help, but Phlox couldn’t tell how long the conditioning would persist until he had been able to assess the Commander psychologically.

The past few days had been very eventful for Commander Tucker and Phlox had no doubt it would be a long while before he was able to deal with those events satisfactorily. Assuming that Phlox could keep him alive for the next, crucial twenty four hours.

****End of Chapter 18****

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