Faith-Part 11

"FAITH OF THE HEART"
An "Enterprise" story

By Alison M. DOBELL

RATING: NC-17, this part PG-13
ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where.
FEEDBACK: Welcomed
EMAIL: AlisonMDobell@aol.com
WEBSITE: http://www.carlajane.50megs.com/Ali00.html

SUMMARY": "When members of the crew go suddenly missing, Captain Archer finds the only witness is unable to tell them anything. Lt Reed takes it upon himself to turn detective."
DISCLAIMER: The characters and 'Enterprise' belong to Paramount. No infringement of copyright is intended.

Part 11

Despite all the assurances, Lieutenant Reed was nervous. He felt vulnerable and at the mercy of the unknown. He tried to shake the notion that this was not right, should not be happening. But there was the Captain smiling and nodding his reassurances as one by one the entire crew of the Enterprise were falling under Vulcan control. His heart juddered as if with shock. That was a image he did not need to dwell on yet having thought it he could not shake it. Dr. Phlox patted his shoulder, his own time on the biobed having been remarkably swift. Less than an hour. Yet Commander Tucker was still unconscious and he had gone first. Lieutenant Reed swallowed carefully trying to hide how unsettled he felt. What was he afraid of anyway? He laid on the biobed and kept his eyes fixed on Dr. Phlox, aware of the Captain hovering just out of his line of sight. Dr. Lerik gave him an emotionless look and made him think of Sub-Commander T'Pol. He hoped she would recover soon.

The slight hiss of the hypospray in his neck was followed swiftly by the seductive darkness falling over him and dragging increasingly heavy limbs down into the bowels of the abyss that now opened to receive him. Something nagged at his back brain, trying to tell him to stay alert but his grip on consciousness was slipping so quickly. He would rest awhile then he would get up and try to find out what the cause of his uneasiness was. Yes. That was much the best plan. Rest first.

* * * * *

The ship moved like a ghost in space. Only the way the stars rippled and vanished then reappeared showed evidence of its' passage. Pacing Enterprise from a distance. Sentient enough to stay out of its' wake and insubstantial enough not to register on the ship's sensors. Yet it was as real as anything nightmares were made of and as patient as the grave.

* * * * *

He ached. In mind, body and soul a dull pain absorbed his senses radiating from the heart. She tried to steady and ground him, needed him to be able to memorise everything she had to impart. All that she had to show him. Something stirred gently in his mind softly easing the burden of his care. The pain reduced to the equivalent of background noise. Her love blazed and pulsed like a second heartbeat through his sluggish veins. A window of light opened in his sleeping mind.

*Okay, T'Pol. Show me*

She did not use words as such but pictures of the mind. Mentally holding on to him she drew him along the corridors of the unfamiliar place. The huge facility seeming endless yet as he concentrated he began to see a structure to the layout. A way to map out the route in his mind. He could feel the Sub-Commander's emotions lap at his thoughts but they were muted so as to comfort rather than distract. He had no idea how she was able to do that.

*Concentrate* She chided, her thought seeped with love.

He would have died for her there and then had she asked him. *You are close*

*Closer than you could imagine*

He did not query her last comment. Knew she was not talking about distance. He went with her to the darkened room, his heart fluttering at the signs of heavy containment. Gentle thoughts tried to reassure him but he was worried for her. Knew the pain he had been feeling had not been his. She made him concentrate on the locking device. How it worked and how it could be overcome. *What about alarms?*

*It is not alarmed*

She felt his surprise. *Not alarmed?*

*This is not a military facility, Trip*

Somehow he did not wholly believe that. It was a Vulcan base. Why have a medical facility this big hidden out here if it had nothing to do with the miliary? That simply made no sense.

*You do not understand, beloved*

*Why are you imprisoned here?*

*I do not know*

*Did you stumble on something you shouldn't have?*

She hesitated. *Perhaps*

*Perhaps?*

Her thoughts became more urgent, increasing his heart rate. *We do not have time for this. Now watch as we retrace our steps then I want you to show me the route back. Can you do that?*

*I can do anything for you*

She was so solemn. He wanted to reach out and touch her. To hold her and love her until the last star in the sky had grown cold. But there was no time so he took note of every turn and branch along the route. When they got back to his biobed they paused for a minute. She wanted him to absorb what he had seen. *Now it is your turn* Her thoughts whispered.

Trip put all his concentration into retracing the route and after a minute or two he was back at her door. *Now show me how you will open it*

He felt nervous but compelled. Mentally visualising the locking mechanism and how to overcome it. She witnessed his thoughts, sifted through them to show him the most efficient way. He smiled in her mind then gently filled her heart with his.

*Hurry* She urged softly, not wanting to scare him.

Tears pricked his sleeping eyes.

*Now you must wake, Trip*

*I don't know if I can, darlin'*

He was aware of the chemicals in his body. The medication keeping him comatose.

*Try, beloved*

He tried. All his strength, his desire, put into that one thought. Unnoticed another will augmented his own, slid through the folds of his mind and carefully diluted the compounds coursing through his unconscious body. Impossibly, the Commander could feel his thoughts becoming clearer. The sluggish tug of induced sleep was fading, sounds coming to him from seemingly far away came closer. He felt a shiver of fear then realised the sounds were not coming closer, he was. As he surfaced to consciousness the rude world rushed in on his senses and almost overwhelmed him. How had he once thought this place silent as the grave? He could hear machinery, occasional voices, and the slap of soft shod feet going about a business whose regularity had grown mundane. Mundane. Now why did he think that? How could somewhere this remote be such a hive of activity that accommodating 83 crewmembers from a human star ship could be classed as mundane? He was definitely losing it.

Something nudged his mind and he thought of T'Pol. She was counting on him and time was running out. Carefully he cracked his eyelids half open and took a surreptitious look around him not wanting to draw attention to the fact that he was now awake. Fortunately the Vulcans had worked their way passed his section of the huge hangar but there were still too many Vulcan doctors and technicians in the room for comfort. Damn. He could not see the Captain or Dr. Phlox. Did that mean they were simply out of his line of sight or had they been put under too? He had no doubt in his mind that Dr. Phlox had only been given the short tour when they put him under to give the appearance that the offer of help was above board. Like the Judas Goat he had been used to convince the other goats that they would come to no harm and they had fallen for it hook, line and sinker. Now, thanks to the Sub-Commander, he knew it was a deception but he could not for the life of him fathom why the Vulcans would perpetuate such an elaborate lie or why they would wish to lure the crew of the Enterprise to this facility in the first place.

His thoughts were distracted by a commotion at the far end of the hangar. He tilted his head slightly to get a better view and was pleased to see that the doctors and medtechs nearest to his end had gravitated back towards the other end. He realised this was his chance. Carefully he eased the contacts off his arms and forehead, removed a UV line from his wrist and slid off the biobed. Immediately he ducked down and took stock. Staying down he worked his way between row upon row of beds and swallowed down the urge to shake his crew members back to consciousness. He hoped he would have a chance to make it up to them later. Mentally he apologised to them and moved on. Quickly slipping through a door at the end of the hangar he stepped into the beginning of the labyrinth of corridors. He sucked in a deep breath and began to hurry, unravelling the mental map lodged in his mind. *Okay darlin' let's see how good this A to Z of yours is*

To his infinite relief he found his recall amazingly sharp but was worried that he could not sense T'Pol or touch her thoughts. He reminded himself that she was behind a pretty thick steel door. No doubt that was why he had been unable to sense her before. Within minutes he reached the door. He reviewed the visualisation technique T'Pol had showed him and manipulated the mechanism until something shifted inside the tumbler. There was a loud satisfying click. He froze, ears stretched for any sign that he had been detected. Nothing but the normal background noises. No sounds of running feet. No voices raised in alarm. So far so good. Trip opened the door only wide enough to slide through the gap then carefully pushed the door almost closed. He had no idea whether a locking mechanism would snap back into place if he shut the door properly. No way did he want to get trapped in here with T'Pol. He had to get her out. It was the only thing that mattered.

It was funny how life had a habit of ambushing you at all the wrong times. He reached the biobed in a couple of strides. The Sub-Commander did not look good. The greenish tinge of her skin was more pronouced. Beads of perspiration gathered on her face and neck. Her eyes were closed. Trip saw the iv line and pulled it out, began to disconnect the contacts on her skin that linked her up to the machine when he heard something in the corridor outside. He froze momentarily. *Oh Shit, I'm too late* He felt utter and complete panic. Sorrow filled his heart as he looked at T'Pol, knowing several people at least were coming towards the door of T'Pol's cell. He would not dignify it by calling it a room. He wanted to cry, to rant and rage about the unfairness of it all but he did not. He looked instead on a face he had come to love more dearly than his own. His throat was closing up, heart constricting, choking on strong emotions rising up like bile. An odd detached calm descended on him and for a moment it seemed as if time had been stretched to last eternity in the compass of a single precious heartbeat. He felt the urge to touch her, to hold her one last time in his loving arms. It would be the nearest thing he would ever get to paradise. A sad smile touched his lips. Love blossomed on his face. Tears misted his eyes.

With a tiny sigh he leant forward and kissed her lips gently with his own then rested his forehead against hers, a hand cradling the side of her face as he closed his eyes. *My thoughts to your thoughts, darlin'. For ever an' ever, amen*

The footsteps approaching along the corridor seemed to speed up but he was oblivious. No thought or desire to hide from his impending doom. Life or death meant nothing to him now. All he tasted were the bitter ashes of failure in his mouth. The emptiness of losing something that had come to mean more to him than life itself. What did it matter now if the Vulcans caught him? What more could they do to him than this? Without realising it his mind automatically opened and linked with that of the Sub-Commander and something slid from his mind to rest in hers. So subtle. So stealthy that he was unaware of it. His mind sought to embrace hers, the tenative echo of personality resonating in every cell of his body. Tears leaked slowly beneath his closed lids. His heart breaking because he could not save her. Hardly aware when rough hands pulled him away from her. A hypospray pressed to his jugular. The lurching hypnotic pull of the drug dragging him instantaneously back down into darkness only this time he did not want to surface again. If he could not have the one he loved he would embrace the oblivion of death though never gladly.

* * * * *

The Vulcan doctor, Dr. Voran, found Dr. Lerik with Chief Medical Technician Sha'kith. Every member of the Enterprise crew were now unconscious. Specially engineered drugs were being circulated in their systems. It would take three days to complete the procedure. Delicate times meant to ensure that the events involving the Hirogen would be wiped from all memory. Another two days would be spent inserting new ones. A complicated and subtle art that meant having to work one on one with each crew member. Fortunately this medical facility had been designed for projects such as this. Over a thousand doctors and medical technicians lived and worked on Rastak. Not that anyone outside of the Vulcan High Command and Vulcan Intelligence knew that. When everything was finished, the crew of Enterprise would not know it either.

Dr. Lerik and Sha'kith had been walking between the biobeds towards the end of the hangar, looks of smug satisfaction on their faces. Dr. Lerik's top lip had kinked suspiciously as they passed the now comatose Dr. Phlox. He paused when he realised the younger Dr. Voran was trying to get his attention. "Yes, Dr. Voran?"

He looked nervous. Dr. Lerik frowned. Sha'kith stepped a little closer, his naturally suspicious nature picking up hints of panic. He spoke before Dr. Lerik could do so. "What is wrong?"

Dr. Vonak licked his bottom lip. Tantamount to shouting aloud in Vulcan. "There is a problem."

"What problem?" Asked Dr. Lerik, his tone mildly baffled.

"In the Sub-Commander's room."

Instantly the Chief Medical Technician urged him to go back to the room. They would follow. In silence they wove their way across the huge hangar between the biobeds. Once they began a brisk walk through the labyrinthine corridors Dr. Lerik spoke. "What happened, Dr. Voran?"

"We....we... found them in a... in a mind meld."

All three stopped dead in their tracks. The shock on Sha'kith's face was echoed in that of Dr Lerik. The Sub-Commander had deliberately been kept apart in a locked room. None of the humans even knew where she was being kept. There had to be some mistake. "Who are you talking about?"

"A human and the Sub-Commander."

Dr. Lerik's eyebrows rose in shock and denial. "That is impossible!"

Sha'kith had another second to think. "Human? What human?"

Dr. Voran wrung his hands. "Commander Tucker."

Sha'kith's eyebrows now rose thoughtfully. Putting a face to the name. He recalled seeing the Commander when he met Captain Archer. "You mean the Chief Engineer?"

He nodded. "Yes, Commander Trip Tucker. I have had him sedated and removed."

Sha'kith and Dr. Lerik exchanged stunned looks. Sha'kith mouthed the single word to his partner, "Trip."

Dr. Lerik had to take several deep breaths as they resumed walking. Much slower now, as if they wanted to finish their conversation before they reached Sub-Commander T'Pol. "Do you think he knows?"

The Chief Medical Technician stopped in his tracks. They were now just outside the door. He looked at Dr. Lerik. Both men forgetting for a moment that Dr. Voran was still present. "If they have bonded..."

He let the significance of that possibility hang in the air between them. Dr. Lerik felt ill.

"Come, we will get no answers out here in the corridor."

Dr. Lerik nodded. Sha'kith remembered D.r Vonak and turned to him. "You did well to fetch us immediately. Where did you put the Commander?"

"In a secure facility."

"How far away?"

If D.r Vonak was surprised to be asked such a question he did not show it. Sha'kith held the life and death of every Vulcan on Rastak in his hands, why should it matter about aliens? "The next floor down."

"Too far. Have him brought back to this level and use the next room. We will add extra *security* of our own."

Dr. Vonak swallowed and tried not to remind himself that the humans were their allies. "Yes, sir."

As soon as Dr. Vonak had hurried away, Sha'kith looked at his companion and allowed some of his thoughts to be shared. "This could have been much worse."

Dr. Lerik nodded but said nothing. In silence they entered the room. The two guards Dr. Vonak had left inside nodded and stepped outside. Dr. Lerik began to check Sub-Commander T'Pol carefully, adjusting her medication to stabilise her condition. He glanced at the Chief Medical Technician. "I do not understand how the Commander was able to overcome his medication let alone how he found the Sub-Commander."

The Chief Medical Technician nodded, his stern voice solemn and emotionless in the extreme. "This disturbs me also. We will have to expend more time on the Commander." He paused as if tasting something sour. "If we cannot find out how he did it, he will not leave this facility alive."

His companion looked shocked though he tried to hide it. "Sir, the humans are our allies." He said quietly.

Sha'kith nodded, his eyes dropping to rest on T'Pol. Noting the perspiration on her skin, the sheen more pronounced that it had been a moment ago. "They are bonded." He said the words calmly but to Dr. Lerik's ears they sounded like a death knell shouted from a rooftop. He shuddered.

"What about the Sub-Commander?"

Sha'kith gave the doctor a frown. "We do not kill our own."

"But if she is bonded with the human....?"

The slightest hint of a sigh leaked out of the Chief Medical Technician's mouth. The only sign that he had a single trace of regret. "Parting them will be its' own sentence. She will go insane."

The silence that fell in the room was absolute.

* * * * *

Dark. It was always dark in space. No daylight. No changing seasons. Nothing beyond the ebb and flow of the solar winds. The radiation belts. The megallanic clouds of dust. The burning tail of comets. The haughty grandeur of shooting stars. Their exit a last hurrah for life before extinction. The gravity of planetary bodies a complex ballet and adjustment of subtle forces. Vortices created and devoured in the shadow of giants. The murmur of dwarfs. The Music of the Spheres. Sporadic meteor showers trailed away their spinning debris like children dribbling at the table as they ate. Another space created at the table. The stars adjusted their orbits. Subtle forces accepted one more to the feast. A ghost that shivered across an ancient singularity.

* * * * *

Commander Tucker was unaware of his change in circumstance. Born swiftly back up the endless corridors until he was brought to the room next to T'Pol's. The Vulcan security guards lifted him off the trolley and onto the special padded bed that had been brought for him. The Chief Medical Technician watched silently. Dr. Lerik was still next door with the Sub-Commander and would join him once he was assured all that could be done had been done for her. He watched them remove the Commander's boots and socks then strip him bare. A light blue rubberised square of material was draped over his midsection leaving the arms and legs free for the restraints. He gave a nod and watched them strap him down. Only a deep flicker in his eyes indicated that this was not the outcome he had wanted. But more was at stake now. Plans that had taken decades to put into place now could fall to ruin because of this man. What did he know and how did he come to know it? Had the Sub-Commander somehow found out and transmitted this information to her human lover?

And. Even more important that this. Who else knew?

***********

Continue to Part 12

Return to Part 10

Return to Faith of the Heart Menu Page

Back to Fan Fiction Main Menu

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

Seven people have made comments

Oh, damn! Don't leave us hanging there!!! Great story Alison - you've definitely got me.

Loving it! I would never have guessed any of this. It's really good. Can't wait to read more.

Aaaaahhhhhhh! Cut my heart into little ribbons and leave it slowly twisting in the wind, why don't you? Pleeeeese don't leave it like this for very long- it's torture!

Nooooo.....that is so mean! WOW that was great, loving every word. I hope there will be more soon, very soon. I don't know how much longer I can handle the wait...but ya know I will. You got me so hooked. This is one hell of a story!

evil valcans!!!!!

evil valcans!!!!!

evil valcans!!!!! lol funni