What Does Not Kill Us- Chapter 12

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 12

T’Pol had found Trip paper, writing implements and, most importantly, the schematic of the nanoprobes which he had asked for. Trip now sat poring over the diagrams, he was tired but he didn’t care, this was much more interesting than sleep. Where T’Pol had found something to print the diagrams onto paper, he didn’t know and he wasn’t sure that he wanted to ask in case he didn’t like the answer. The first thing he had noticed was that the nanoprobes were fairly simple machines, they had obviously been programmed for some very specific tasks, mainly sabotage.

He took out the pad of paper and the pencil and began to cover the sheet with diagrams and calculations. The maths took a while because he had to do it all by hand or with the slide rule, neither of which were as quick as he could have done it with the computer, but he didn’t have that option. He knew that he could have asked someone to run the calculations through the computer for him but at least this way he felt as if he was doing something, and getting someone else to do them would have taken more time. Not only that, he felt his brain could do with the exercise, he’d relied too much on computers and the nanoprobes were proof to him that they couldn’t always be trusted to give the right answer.

He was just beginning to realise that he hadn’t used any technical knowledge for the last four weeks and he had missed it. The way that the numbers were manipulated to solve a problem, the way components fitted together to form a whole and the sheer beauty of machinery, he’d missed it all. He wasn’t sure that he was quite prepared to go back to Engineering yet, the memories of what he’d endured to protect his knowledge of Enterprise were still too fresh in his mind, but maybe he could ease himself back into it. Okay, first things first, he had to work out how to get rid of the nanoprobes before he could even consider resuming his former role, but now he was working on the problem he felt much better.

He looked at the pad covered with his scribblings. He’d be the first to admit that his handwriting was terrible and trying to write with a broken arm was making life more tricky than usual. He very rarely had to write anything by hand these days and there was some parts of the pad which looked like a cross between ancient Greek and Sanskrit. In fact some of it was Greek, since those were the standard symbols for several constants used by engineers, but the rest of the scrawl he had no excuses for.

He’d just managed to prove that the nanoprobes were immune to the levels of radiation which a human body could stand, it wasn’t really what he’d wanted to prove. T’Pol and Phlox had already suspected that to be the case but he felt that he had to check it, as it turned out they had been completely correct. He’d die before the nanoprobes did. He sighed, he’d have to abandon that avenue of research and try something new.

Maybe he was looking at this in the wrong way. Perhaps he didn’t have to get rid of the nanoprobes just stop them from sabotaging technology. He pulled out the schematic again and began to look at ways to reprogram what the nanoprobes did. He knew there were only limited ways in which machines this small could be programmed, he just had to hit on the right one and then it was just a small matter of finding the off switch. He tried to stifle a yawn but failed and Phlox noticed him.

“Commander, you’ve been working for hours, I really must insist that you get some rest,” said Phlox, who had been pursuing his own avenues of enquiry with regard to the nanoprobes as well as providing Trip with medical data when required.

“Sure, Doc, just let me finish this and then I’ll get some rest,” replied Trip, without even looking up.

“Commander, you said that an hour ago. Your body is in no condition to be taking this abuse,” said Phlox. Malcolm had found a moment to stop by some hours earlier with a replacement chronometer for Trip, which now sat on the desk. It clearly showed that Trip was working well into the small hours of the morning as far as his body was concerned.

Trip tried not to yawn again but his body betrayed him. “Okay, okay,” he sighed. He knew the look that Phlox was giving him, it was his “either you sleep or I make you sleep” look. He cleared the bed of all the diagrams and paperwork onto the floor, and placed his precious slide rule on the table beside the bed. He lay back in the bed and closed his eyes, as his head touched the pillow he realised just how tired he was and within minutes he was fast asleep.

Phlox looked at his sleeping patient and shook his head. Humans could be so stubborn when it came to looking after their own bodies. However, he realised that this was a change for the better in the Commander, who had spent most of the last four weeks sleeping and not really caring about anything. Even if nothing came of the Commander’s efforts to rid himself of the nanoprobes, at least the project had occupied his mind and this was the most interest he had shown in anything since his return.

Phlox made sure that Trip was asleep and then went to the com. “Phlox to Archer,” he said.

“Archer, what can I do for you Doctor? Everything okay with Trip?”

“Yes, everything is fine with the Commander, he’s sleeping peacefully. I just called to ask if you could inform me when we are planning to leave the gas giant.” said Phlox.

“Certainly, but T’Pol already alerted you to expect casualties, didn’t she?” asked Archer.

“Yes, the Sub-commander was efficient as always. No, I just want to make sure that Commander Tucker doesn’t wake up at an inopportune moment,” said Phlox.

“Like when we’re in mid-battle with the Xindi ship?” asked Archer, understanding why the Doctor was asking, Trip had been through enough for one day without waking up in the middle of a nightmare.

“Exactly, Captain, so I would be most appreciative if you could let me know when I need to act,” said Phlox.

“I understand, Doctor,” replied Archer.

“Thank you, Captain. Phlox out.”

Phlox allowed himself a smile before he returned to the serious work of finding a way to destroy the nanoprobes.

****

Trip may have been sleeping but the rest of Enterprise was wide awake. Reed had set all of his Armoury staff to work on the torpedoes and had even co-opted a couple of engineers from Lieutenant Hess. They would be ready on time if he had to push the bloody torpedoes into the tubes himself. Although to be honest it was the targeting scanners that were giving him the most trouble. He just could not get the accuracy that he required and they were running out of time to find the problem and fix it. Ensign Prior had had a few ideas which had mostly solved the difficulties but something was still wrong and he couldn’t find it. It was driving him up the wall. He was the bloody Armoury officer, he should know how to fix this.

“Bugger,” he said quietly to himself.

“I don’t think that’s appropriate language for a Lieutenant,” said a voice behind him.

Reed turned around to see Hoshi standing in front of him with a padd in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. “You’ve got good ears, Ensign,” replied Reed.

“Of course,” replied Hoshi, “it’s part of the job description. I thought you might need some coffee and I know you don’t have time to go to the mess hall to get it yourself. And before you say anything, I know you don’t allow food or drink near your precious weapons but perhaps you could make an exception just this once.” She held out the mug to him and he gratefully accepted it.

“Thank you, Hoshi,” said Reed. “Right now I don’t care at all about coffee in the Armoury.”

“What’s the problem?” she asked, as he took a sip of the steaming liquid.

“Targeting sensors are still playing up, and time is running out,” said Reed.

“High frequency hum,” said Hoshi, putting her head on one side slightly.

“What’s that got to do with anything?” asked Reed.

“It shouldn’t be there,” she said. “The targeting sensors are out of alignment.”

“Since when did you become a weapons systems expert?” he asked.

“Since you made me do all that target practice down here. I know how the Armoury sounds and that isn’t right, it’s the sound it makes when the sensors are out of alignment,” said Hoshi.

Reed drank his coffee, handed Hoshi the empty cup and took out his tricorder. He scanned for a misalignment in the sensors but he couldn’t see anything wrong. He wasn’t surprised, he’d already checked them earlier and would have been alarmed if they had changed in so short a period of time. “Sorry, Hoshi, the alignment is fine,” and then he stopped, a thought forming gradually in his head. For the second time that day he swore. “It’s not the primary alignment that’s out, it’s the secondary, the back-ups. They’re throwing everything.” They wouldn’t be using the secondary targeting system, but it was still linked into the system in case the primary blew and under the right configuration the mis-alignment of the backups could cause problems with the primary array.

“Hoshi, I could kiss you,” said Reed, but he already had his back to the young Ensign, and was fixing the problem.

“You owe me one, Lieutenant,” said Hoshi and made her exit from the Armoury, before Reed could carry out his promise.

It didn’t take Reed and his crew long to re-align the targeting sensors but every minute was precious and he would have preferred to have had more time to run tests on the system. Time was the one thing that they didn’t have though and Reed wasn’t at all surprised when he heard the com beep and Archer’s impatient voice.

“Archer to Lieutenant Reed, I hope you’re nearly ready because we’re running out of time,” said Archer from the bridge. The hull had been groaning under the strain of maintaining integrity against the constant pressure exerted by the atmosphere of the gas giant. Enterprise couldn’t take much more and it was definitely time to leave.

“Just give me a couple of minutes and then I’ll come to the bridge, sir,” replied Reed.

“Okay, Malcolm but we’re leaving the gas giant in ten minutes, whether you’re ready or not,” said Archer.

“Aye, sir,” replied Reed. He made the very final adjustments to targeting scanner and then gathered his security details. They knew their orders, they were to take up their positions and help the MACOs should Enterprise be boarded by Xindi. However, Reed had some additional orders for Ensigns Scott and Hooper. He dismissed the others to their posts and took the two Ensigns to one side to issue them with their orders.

“You two are to take up position in the corridor outside Commander Tucker’s quarters and if we are boarded by the Xindi, you are to protect him at all costs. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” the Ensigns chorused. Reed was determined that they wouldn’t be able to take Trip again, not this time. He wasn’t protecting his friend though, he was protecting the Chief Engineer, who the Xindi might want to re-claim for his extensive knowledge of Enterprise’s systems. He knew instinctively that Lieutenant Reed, Tactical Officer, could protect Commander Tucker much better than Malcolm Reed, Trip’s friend. Reed dismissed the Ensigns to their post outside Trip’s quarters and made for the bridge.

Continue to Chapter 13

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