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What Does Not Kill Us- Chapter 10

Author - Thalia Drogna
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What Does Not Kill Us

by Thalia Drogna

Rating: R
Genre: Action/Adventury, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

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

~~~

Chapter 10

Phlox went into Trip’s quarters and found him still curled in a ball, eyes shut tight. “I thought I said I wanted to be left alone,” Trip managed to get out. He didn’t want anyone to see him like this. He pulled the blanket closer around him and gripped it tightly in his left hand.

“I just need to run a couple of scans, Commander,” said Phlox.

“Fine, I can’t stop you,” said Trip, trying to pull himself together in front of the doctor but he couldn’t escape the deep misery that he felt.

“Would you prefer if I didn’t run the scans?” asked Phlox.

“Doc, it doesn’t seem to matter what I want,” said Trip.

“It does to me,” said Phlox. “Denobulan medical ethics are very specific. If you don’t want me to perform the scans then I won’t, however it would help me to treat you if you let me.”

“You can take your scans, Doc. I’m just so tired of all this, of being sick, of hurting, of this nightmare that I seem to be living. You know, when Lizzie was killed, I really didn’t think anything could be as painful as that, but I guess I was wrong there. At least I could pull double shifts in Engineering when I couldn’t sleep,” said Trip.

“We are working hard to find a solution to the problem, Commander,” said Phlox, while he took his scans. “For the record, I do not recommend working double shifts as a substitute for sleep.”

“Doc, you’ve got to persuade the Captain that he has to leave me on the next M class planet that he comes to,” said Trip. “I’m a danger to everyone on this ship.”

“T’Pol asked him to do the same thing and he refused. Why do you think he will do it with you?” asked Phlox.

“T’Pol isn’t a Xindi weapon,” said Trip, with resignation.

“Neither are you,” said Phlox.


****


“They are Xindi,” said T’Pol. “Their signature matches that of the Xindi probe.”

“Can we outrun them?” he asked his Science Officer.

“I do not believe so,” said T’Pol.

Archer recognised T’Pol’s response, it wasn’t a no, it meant she didn’t have enough proof to give a definite no, but if T’Pol didn’t think so then he wasn’t going to contradict her.

“What about their weapons?” asked Archer.

“My scans are unable to penetrate their defences,” said T’Pol.

“I guess we had better assume the worst then,” said Archer. “Lieutenant, polarise the hull plating and sound tactical alert.”

“Yes, sir,” said Reed.

“If we can’t outrun them then maybe we can find somewhere to hide, are there any star systems near by?” he asked T’Pol.

“There is a star system, approximately nine planets of which two are gas giants, it is ten point five minutes away at warp four,” said T’Pol.

“Travis, lay in a course for that star system,” said Archer.

“Yes, sir,” replied Mayweather.

The Xindi ship continued to gain on Enterprise but they made it to the star system before the Xindi came into weapons range. “Head for that gas giant and let’s loose ourselves in its atmosphere,” said Archer.

“Sir, you want me to fly into that gas giant?” asked Mayweather.

“Yes, Ensign, not too deep but enough that the Xindi will have trouble tracking us,” said Archer.

“Captain, I must point out that Enterprise is not rated for the high levels of pressure present within a gas giant,” said T’Pol.

“I’m aware of that, Sub-commander. We’re not going far into it, just enough to make the Xindi’s job a bit harder. Hopefully it will buy us enough time that we can come up with something to get them off our backs,” said Archer.

“I suggest we do not descend below the five kilometre point,” said T’Pol.

“You heard the Sub-commander, Travis, watch your height and keep us moving,” said Archer.

“Aye, sir,” replied Mayweather, as they entered the outer layer of the gas giant. Enterprise shuddered as the atmosphere moved across its bow, but although the shaking was pronounced no alarms sounded to indicate a hull breach and all the core systems seemed to be holding up.

“What are the Xindi doing?” asked Archer, “are they following?”

T’Pol examined the readings from her console. “They appear to be holding position and are attempting to scan the atmosphere. I would surmise that their larger ship is not able to enter the atmosphere even to the depth that Enterprise is at.”

“That’s what I was hoping,” said Archer.

“The EM radiation is blocking my scans,” said T’Pol.

“And probably the Xindi’s as well,” said Archer.

“Indeed, Captain,” replied T’Pol. “However, we will find it difficult to locate the Xindi when we leave the atmosphere.”

“Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it,” said Archer, “right now I want everyone to put their heads together and come up with some ways to disable that ship. We’ll have a senior staff meeting in one hour, I want everyone’s ideas by then.”

If they needed anymore encouragement to work quickly, the hull plating creaked with the sound of protesting metal.


****


When Trip heard the tactical alert he jerked awake. Whatever Phlox had given him had made him sleepy and he’d been dreaming. He had been somewhere dark and cold, with hard metal surfaces, he’d been searching for a way out but hadn’t been able to find it. It was a common recurring dream he’d been having lately and at first he’d been glad that it had replaced some of his more vivid nightmares about his time as a guest of the Xindi. The dream always left him chilled through and unsettled, it was becoming almost as bad as having the nightmares and he couldn’t ever get back to sleep afterwards.

“What’s going on?” he asked Phlox, who was reviewing the results of the scans he had taken earlier. Phlox immediately recognised the alarm in his voice.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself over, Commander,” replied Phlox, in a calming tone.

“I recognise a tactical alert when I hear one,” said Trip, bitingly. “There’s nothing wrong with my hearing, Doc.” The ship began to shake and orange gas streamed past the window of his cabin. “We’re entering an atmosphere. We’re trying to hide from someone.” A look of realisation dawned on his face. “We’re being attacked by the Xindi.” Suddenly he was very, very afraid and images of his Xindi torturers leapt to the front of his mind. His breathing got faster and he pulled the blanket tight around himself as if that would protect him.

“Commander, take deep breaths, slowly,” said Phlox, he knew that Trip was descending into shock and he had to stop it. “I don’t want to have to sedate you again, I know that you can cope with this. You’re safe.” The threat of being sedated again seemed to have some effect.

“Yeah, safe. Enterprise is safe,” said Trip. It was a kind of mantra that he’d been using lately to get past the worst of his panic attacks. “I’m on Enterprise, I’m safe.” He closed his eyes and concentrated on slowing his breathing. He remembered what T’Pol had taught him about controlling his breathing and after a few minutes he was in control again.

“Good, Commander,” said Phlox, looking at his tricorder as the readings stabilised. “That’s much better. How do you feel?”

“I feel cold, and a bit shaky,” said Trip.

“That should pass soon,” replied Phlox. “Now please try to relax. I don’t have any more information about the current situation than what you have already guessed and I would assume that the senior staff are too occupied to give me an update at the moment.”

“You know, I’d rather die than go back to that Xindi ship,” said Trip.

“I’m sure that it will not come to that, Commander,” said Phlox.

“I sure hope you’re right,” said Trip. He wound the blanket even more tightly around himself and tried to get comfortable. It was impossible though, he had too much on his mind. He closed his eyes and tried to sort through some of his feelings. Enterprise was safe, he was trying very hard to believe that.

Here he was, Star Fleet’s best and brightest, and he couldn’t even go out of his cabin without being afraid. His foot was still broken and his right arm, which were constant reminders of his ordeal, not to mention the scars which Phlox had told him might never go. The doctor had even explained exactly why it was that he was feeling what he was, it was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and depending on the individual and what they had experienced, it could take months to years to get over. Some people never got over it. Even when he was otherwise feeling completely better he could still expect bad dreams and flash backs to remind him of what he’d been through.

He’d been so close to feeling in control of the whole situation, after Jon had taken him to the observation deck and he’d talked through what had happened. Explained how he felt and Jon had told him how many people on Enterprise were looking out for him. He knew he wasn’t better but he’d almost believed that he could reclaim his old life soon. Then the discovery of the nanoprobes had hit him like a brick wall, and he had spiralled back down into the black place he had been before.

He’d done it before though, he could do it again. He looked over at Phlox, he knew the doctor would listen to him if he wanted to talk. He made a decision, he was not going to let the Xindi win.


****


Lieutenant Reed was in the armoury. He knew Archer wanted options to combat the Xindi warship but he wasn’t sure that he had any to give him. He was working on improving the yield of the photon torpedoes but so far had come up against a brick wall, the very same brick wall that the original engineers who had designed the system had come up against, and they had spent years developing these weapons. Who was he to redesign them in half an hour. It was impossible. He reflected on the fact that so far this mission he was being a lousy tactical officer, Trip had almost been killed and he hadn’t been able to protect him or Enterprise.

He should never have left the engineer alone on the alien ship. What had he been thinking? Well he knew what he’d been thinking, he’d thought that Trip could look after himself. He’d seen Trip take out numerous aliens before, he was tough and Reed had assumed he’d be okay while the other two had gone to find the alien ship’s crew. He’d completely misread the situation. Even in the Expanse, Trip was still more interested in engines than his own safety and hadn’t been paying attention when the Xindi entered the engine room. They knew their target well and had chosen to attack him where he was most vulnerable.

Read had tried to tell himself that it was Trip’s fault really for not taking Reed’s advice, he had told Trip to keep his phaser handy. Except that Reed couldn’t really make himself believe that. If he’d even got there sooner then perhaps he could have stopped the Xindi from taking Trip, but he’d put two and two together too late. He could have left Romero with Trip but it had seemed much more important at the time to find the missing aliens. Another error of judgement on his part.

It really came down to the fact that Trip was his friend, perhaps the first he had made on Enterprise, and that he had let him down so badly it cut him to his heart. Definitely the others had become his friends now, but Trip had been the first to make the effort to get to know their shy armoury officer. Malcolm Reed knew that he didn’t make friends easily and at first Trip’s attempts to get to know him had been rather overwhelming, but once he had accepted the fact that Trip was basically well meaning, although lacking in subtly, he’d enjoyed the time he spent with the Chief Engineer.

It was only really when they had lost Trip that he had realised just how much that friendship had meant to him. Enterprise really had become a bleak place without Trip Tucker and Reed hadn’t liked it one bit. Of course not everything was back to normal, they still had to get Trip back on his feet both mentally and physically but even having him back in his current state was better than nothing. Although there was still the problem of the nanoprobes, but he was sure that Phlox and T’Pol would come up with something to get rid of them, and if they didn’t Trip was alive and that was the main thing. Even if Trip didn’t agree.

It was while he was mulling these thoughts over that an idea popped into his head. He hated himself for even thinking it. It could work though, but he wasn’t at all sure that he wanted to carry it through, given what it would mean. He stood looking down at the readouts on the console he was working at but not seeing them, wondering how he would ever be able to look Trip in the eye again after this.

He had to do his duty. He took the idea to Captain Archer, at least this way Archer would make the final decision about whether to give him the go ahead.

Archer stood in his ready room, looking intently at Lieutenant Reed. He’d heard him out and he knew at least some of what Reed felt as he had put his idea before his commanding officer.

“You realise what you’re suggesting, Lieutenant?” said Archer, it wasn’t really a question, he knew that Reed would have never come to him with the idea unless he had considered all the ramifications. He had to at least be seen to ask though.

“Yes, sir,” replied the Lieutenant. “I don’t particularly like this option or myself for thinking of it, but I can’t see another way.”

“And Trip?” asked Archer, “do you think he’ll be able to do it?”

“I don’t know, but we have to at least try,” said Reed. “I know what he’s going through as well as you do, and I don’t want to ask him to do this, but I’ve run out of options. Our torpedoes won’t penetrate their hull, our phase cannons won’t work either, and they’re faster than we are, so we can’t run. We have no tactical advantages.”

“T’Pol tells me that we have twelve hours in the gas giant’s atmosphere before the stress on the hull becomes too much for Enterprise to bear and we have to leave, Xindi or no Xindi. Can you be ready in that time?” asked Archer.

“I don’t see that we have any choice about that, sir, I’ll have to be ready,” said Reed.

“Very well, Mr Reed, go ahead and build your weapon,” said Archer.


Continue to Chapter 11

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