Fragile-Part 29

Fragile Universe
An "Enterprise" story

Written by Alison M. DOBELL

RATING: PG-13
ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where.
FEEDBACK: Welcomed
EMAIL: AlisonMDobell@aol.com
WEBSITE: http://carlajane.50megs.com/Ali00.html
SUMMARY: "Lt Reed makes an unwelcome discovery. Captain Archer wants answers but is unprepared for what they will cost."
DISCLAIMER: The usual disclaimers apply. The characters and 'Enterprise' are the property of Paramount. No infringement of copyright is intended.

Part 29

"UNBOUND"

* * * * *

Try as he might sleep would not claim him. Lt. Malcolm Reed stared up at the ceiling above his head, covers awry and body tense with frustration born of weariness and a soul ill at ease. He could not explain it but a kind of nameless dread stole through him. He gritted his teeth and sighed. "Bugger!" He did not roll on to his side again, knowing it would be a fruitless attempt to calm a body so tense it was likely to shatter before he could find a way to relax. He got up and went to the shower. Set the heat then stripped and stepped under the warm spray. Set to full pressure it was both invigorating and refreshing. For a few precious minutes he braced his hands against the wall and let the water take the strain. Water. Reclaimed. Recycled and reused. Damn it felt good. He toweled himself dry and took his time shaving and cleaning his teeth. Not looking at the weary image in the fogged up glass. His thoughts pondering everything that had happened.

Once out of the shower he dried his hair and dressed. Immaculate as ever he made sure he was neat and presentable then checked his watch. Bloody hell, it was still an hour too early for breakfast. Then he thought about their prisoners and decided now was as good a time as any to go and check up on them. If nothing else he could at least give the Captain an update at the morning briefing. With a focus for his energy he left his quarters with a brisk confident stride.

* * * * *

Trip slept like an angel. Sub-Commander T’Pol woke slowly, careful not to move quickly and disturb him. Her eyes feasting on his relaxed features. Her body wrapped around his and savouring his heat. A hand drifting up to surf the planes of his face. Her eyes gentle, her thoughts on her beloved. A feeling washing through her that made her feel humble and thrice blessed. That a Human could come to mean so much to her. She kissed his forehead gently, her soft breath fanning the sleeping face with her warm breath. Her scent filling him and colouring his dreams with memories of her. A small smile teased her sombre lips. Love shining deep and pure and serene in the liquid pools of her dark eyes. She loved him with her heart, mind and soul.

As for the Commander, the dream held him in thrall. A place of light and the sparkling iridescence of a joy reflected ad infinitum through the prism of eyes that shone on him with crystal clarity. If all his days and nights could live in this moment he would die content and happy. A sigh stole his breath as they kissed. He seemed to be able to follow the journey of that breath from his soul to hers. His lungs to her lungs. His heart to her heart. He loved her so much that the thought of taking a single breath without her was anathema. Her thoughts trickled through his, exciting his mind with the unique quality that was hers alone. He smiled and saw that pleasure reflected in her, bathed in emotions he would never have suspected lay in the hidden depths of her being. Revealed for him now. Nothing held back. No thought barred. No images sacrificed to the propriety of self delusion. No barriers raised now that they were joined. In his sleep he wept for love of her. His soul cradling her to his heart. Formless words from unmoving lips echoed like a ghost playing a harp. The music invaded them both with its poignant sweetness. He felt, sensed, witnessed her gently delve deeper into his memories. All stripped back, naked and free from pretence for her perusal.

A kind of gentle amusement caressed his mind. He loved it. Embraced it as something precious while waiting for her to tell him what she wanted. Her thoughts stroked his mind with more insistence now, though everything was subtle, nothing laboured. No torturous journey of the soul. No accusations for past actions or former attachments yet she wanted to know. To examine his former loves. To understand his feelings and the emotional rollercoaster that was his life. Gently he cautioned her that he was not always as thoughtful, as controlled and cognisant as he should be. That often he erred. Made rough or ill judged moves based on incomplete information and impatience. Her smile absolved him of blame. He was who and what he was. She loved him regardless of any fault. He adored her. A bright shining sun that warmed her and gave even the shadows of her being a vibrant radiance. Now she knew its' name. Love. His slight shudder as she engulfed his memories with her probing thoughts made her soften her curiosity. Not wanting to hurt him. To abuse the trust he placed so completely at her disposal. He would let her love him or kill him with a kiss and hold neither against her. He was hers and she was his.

Her waking hand cradled the side of his sleeping face. Her forehead glistening with light perspiration from the conscious effort. The need to constrain her strength. To flow with him to those secret places of the mind not overpower him and take the gift by force. She would share just as she would open herself to him. Every important event she witnessed through his eyes. Every deep emotion she sailed with him as her guide. Intimacy layered upon intimacy deepened their bond as their understanding became a mutually traveled sea. An endless and beautiful exploration. She savoured his first flirtation with true love. Wept with him at every hurdle, every heartbreak, every betrayal received and given. It took forever and no time at all to complete that journey to the present day. Something even deeper awakening in his soul as she relived his moments on Volara. Her heart was stunned with the depth of revelation. Her grip on him tightening without realising it. His mind stirring sluggishly from the depths of sleep but not yet embracing consciousness. Because of the meld his mind remained open and pliable to her touch. She saw the slow unfolding tableau of his life in the mines. Felt every burn, every wound, every sorrow as if it was her own. Felt too the growing respect and affection of his Simitarial Guard. The deepening boundaries of friendship turning to something akin to love. A sense of brotherhood. Loyalty. Family. Belonging. Her heart expanded as she finally began to understand what bound them. His love for the boy moving her beyond tears. The ability of the Human to look beyond the boy's blindness. Passed his alien nature and see only the need. The loneliness. The aching sorrow of a child living a life of darkness. A world without love.

"Please lock me away
And don't allow the day
Here inside, where I hide
With my loneliness.
I don't care what they say
I won't stay in a
World without love..."

- 'A World Without Love' sung by Peter & Gordon

She considered all the things that he was. His gentleness. Goodness and compassion no longer any secret to her questing mind. His heart, like his mind, now an open book and the more precious to her for being so. In that brief unshuttered insight she understood why these things happened to him. He was an innocent in the maelstrom of life among the stars. Yet in that innocence was a kind of wisdom that trapped her in awe. At last she surfaced from the meld. Her eyes blinking slowly as they came back into focus on the much loved face.

He trembled beneath her. Stumbling drunkenly as he surfaced. Her thoughts now caressed his so gently, so lovingly. A metaphorical hand to guide him from darkness into light. As his eyes opened he found himself staring up into her shining eyes. He smiled with all the love in his heart played out on his gentle face. In her soul she had wept for love of him. Now she smiled for him, her tears becoming bright with joy. She dipped her head and kissed him slowly. Her plush lips coaxing his to respond. Warmth flowed between them. Beneath her she felt his manhood stir. Her eyes laughed down at him. No rebuke in her solemn humour as she gently cautioned him. "The Captain will be expecting us."

His eyebrows rose playfully. Sleep had been more illusion that fact. Their love making taking on the flavour of a marathon. An erotic tour de force that had blinded them both with passions unleashed. Sated they had rested. Brief pauses between their over riding need for each other. Now. Sated. Exhausted but in happy delirium. Their bodies teased each other again. Trip smiled and lifted his head just enough to brush her lips with his. They hung over him like ripe fruit. The sweetness intoxicated him but she was right. "How much time we got?"

"Thirty two minutes."

A soft sigh of regret puffed from his mouth to hers then he hugged her to his heart and gently kissed her eyes. His heart soaring at the love that folded round him. A protective cloak that made him feel not only loved but safe. He might be born of Earth but forever more T'Pol would be his only true home. Let the rest of the universe gnash its teeth in the darkness. "Wanna share a shower, darlin'?"

Her look made him chuckle. She loved how his chest vibrated against her, the sound of his humour precious to her. The love of this man the only pinnacle worth reaching for. "It would save time."

His chuckle became a robust laugh. They rose together and used every last second at their disposal to wash away the rigours of their truncated sleep.

* * * * *

Lt. Reed nodded to his men as he entered the corridor to the brig. Ensign Saunders looked weary and bored but snapped to quick attention at the sight of his commanding officer. The Armoury Officer looked from Saunders to Ensign Rogers. "Have the prisoners said anything?"

Both men shook their heads. He noticed Ensign Rogers looked uncomfortable. "Ensign?"

Rogers cleared his throat carefully. "It's nothing sir, probably just my imagination. You know how much I hate the night shift."

Lt. Reed knew but it did not stop him ensuring that the man did his full share of duties. It was the only way to break him of his unreasoning fear of what passed for night in space. Those quiet dead hours always churned the poor man up inside. Perhaps he was not cut out for security after all? He dismissed the thought as soon as it formed. He had once been a pretty messed up individual himself. Almost a baseket case. But they had not given up on him and look where that had got him? All the way to Starfleet and with a plumb job as the Tactical Armoury Officer aboard the first Earth star ship to sail the oceans of space. If he could do it so could Rogers. With a little help from his friends. "Describe this *nothing* to me."

"Yes, sir." He paused, feeling a little self conscious. With a straightening of his shoulders he began to explain. "These prisoners sir, are really creepy. I mean, they haven't tried to escape or lure us into their cells but they have these eyes..." He broke off and swallowed hard. "It's almost mesmerising, if you know what I mean? They seem to bore into you. We decided to be on the safe side not to make eye contact with them."

The Lieutenant nodded. "Probably a wise precaution."

"Thank you, sir."

"Anything else?"

Both men shook their heads. Lt. Reed stepped passed them and stopped at the first occupied cell. The figures were sitting on the bench, a couple sitting on the floor. There were six of them in this cell. All rose to their feet in a slow fluid motion that made Malcolm's skin crawl as if their movements were somehow synchronised. "I am Lt Reed. Who is your spokesman?"

They did not answer his question though one of the aliens tilted his covered face, the deep hood casting shadows that no amount of light seemed able to penetrate. Rogers was right. They *were* creepy. When the figure at last spoke the voice that assailed him was cold and emotionless. A flat inflection that was not quite a demand but more than a question. "The key. Where is the key?"

Lt. Reed frowned. Key? What bloody key? "I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about."

For a moment the figure did nothing. He assumed the alien was glaring at him in anger or frustration. He was surprised when the figure turned away from him and another spoke. The voice was equally devoid of emotion but less dark. More curious than confrontational. "When we have the key we will go."

"I'm sorry but you won't be going anywhere until the Captain has seen you and determined what to do with you."

A third alien spoke up. His voice was light but had a deadly cadence to it that set off alarm bells in the security officer's pigeon holed brain. "We cannot be held. Our lives are not yours to extinguish. Our search not over or curtailed by this confinement."

"Look. I have no idea what you are on about. You came aboard our ship and we responded in self defense. Why don't you lower your hoods so I can get a good look at your faces?"

He was not surprisingly ignored.

"Are you afraid of me?" He challenged in a firm quiet voice.

"We fear no one."

No one. Not nothing. Interesting. "What about failure?"

The first speaker turned back to face him and as he took a step towards the force field Malcolm had to resist the urge to step back. "We will not fail. To obstruct us is suicide."

"You seem to forget we have you imprisoned. Your threats are formless."

A dry rasping coughing sound told him they were laughing at him. He felt all the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. His palms becoming sweaty, his breath speeding up. He tried to will himself to calm down. "You think us trapped? Confined in your puny walls? Awaiting your flawed judgment?"

He said nothing. Trying to hide how much this conversation was disturbing him.

"We go where we need to go. Do what must be done. None can or will oppose us. Especially puny Humans whose only grace is that they die young."

Lt. Reed went cold. Then. Just as he was considering a way to leave the brig without making it look like a non-tactical retreat, the figures moved as one. Without a flicker from the force field they stepped right through it. Malcolm stepped back until the wall at his back prevented further movement. None of the aliens attempted to touch or harm him. He noticed movement to his right. Turning his head a fraction he hissed in a sharp breath of alarm. The other aliens had stepped out of the other occupied cell at the same time. Ensigns Rogers and Saunders stood stock still. Shock and alarm on their faces. Expressions quickly turning to fear.

"Do you require a demonstration, Reed of Earth?" Said the first speaker with icy calm. His voice soft and low but no less menacing for that.

Malcolm shook his head slowly. Fighting to keep calm. "No, but I would like an explanation."

The alien made a strange sound that could have been the equivalent of a chuckle. "You stand your ground, Human. Greater species have fallen at less. We came for the key."

"You came with Koss."

The head tilted as if searching through memories to place the name. The head straightened, the folds of the hood shifted but did not part enough to reveal a face. For some absurd reason Malcolm was inordinately grateful not to look upon the face of this imagined evil. "The Vulcan. Yes."

"You are working with him."

"Let us say that for a while our paths follow a common purpose."

Lt. Reed frowned. "Are you saying that Koss is after the key as well?"

The head shook slowly. The icy voice melted, a cold river making the Lieutenant shiver with dread. "No. I am saying Koss was a fool. He came here for vengeance but lost the key. We came to retrieve it."

"We don't have it. Koss escaped."

To his consternation the aliens laughed. Dark, dry and humourless. Lt Reed had never felt so useless nor so helpless.

"Koss did not escape. There *is* no escape."

"I don't understand."

Something seemed to glitter deep in the darkened folds of the hood. "No, Human, and it is your ignorance alone that will save you."

Before he could form another question the aliens turned and walked down the corridor, ignoring the three security officers. As if their movement released his own, Lt. Reed drew his phase pistol. His men copied his actions. At a nod from their senior officer the three men fired a sustained burst. Phase pistols set to stun. A chorus of dark dry laughter echoed in their ears as the aliens disappeared through a wall. The phase fire bouncing harmlessly off the wall while three pairs of eyes widened in horror.

"Oh shit!"

No one commented on the Lieutenant's understated summation of their situation. Lt. Reed checked his watch. It was a minute to the time of the Captain's briefing. He activated his com and ordered a ship wide alert then patched his com through to the Captain.

* * * * *

To say the Captain was not best pleased was putting it mildly. Lt. Reed stood ramrod straight as he delivered his report in person. Commander Tucker and Sub-Commander T'Pol exchanged a worried look. Sar stood with an emotionless expression on his face. His eyes fastened on the Lieutenant's face. Eyes hooded gold orbs that for once reflected no light. He was not sure what it meant. The big man moved quietly closer to Trip. Whether the Commander was aware of it or not Lt. Reed did not know. Sar was after all standing behind the command crew not in their line of sight. Captain Archer was pacing back and forth in front of his Armoury Officer in agitation.

"How the hell did they just *walk* out of there, Lieutenant? I thought you said you'd set up a force field?"

"Yes, sir. I did, sir. And at first I thought it had worked. Only when they decided to ignore it did I realise the depth of my error."

"What error was that?"

"They were humouring us, sir."

Anger blazed in the Captain's eyes. "Humouring us? Do I look *amused*, Lieutenant?"

Before the beleaguered Lieutenant could reply Commander Tucker stepped forward. His accent thickening into a slow drawl as it to slow down the heat of the Captain's anger and deflect the shrapnel from his friend. "Cap'n, we shouldn't be surprised. After all, Koss disappeared from a similar cell with the same security arrangements."

"Yes," Snapped the Captain in a miffed tone. "Security arrangements that don't work."

"Its' not Malcolm's fault, Cap'n. They have superior technology."

The Captain stared at his Chief Engineer. Was reminded of the contents of Hoshi's download. His eyes flicked passed Trip's shoulder and rested on Sar. For a long moment they just looked at each other. Then the Captain was looking at Trip again. "Okay, Commander, since you brought the subject up. About this technology. What can you tell me?"

He shrugged. "Not a lot, Cap'n. Apparently it may not come from this dimension."

"That isn't a lot of help, Trip."

"I know Cap'n but hear me out." He glanced back at Sar. The big man moved up to stand alongside his Senisa. Trip looked at the Captain. "Sar took a control device from Koss before we threw him in the brig. Maybe that's the *key* they're lookin' for."

The Captain's eyebrows rose. Without needing to be asked Sar produced the device from the folds of his layered jacket. He paused before passing it without comment to Captain Archer. Trip was glad that he did so of his own volition. The last thing he wanted to do was put any pressure on his friend. The Captain turned the object over and over in his hands. It was ovoid in shape, a cool smooth artifact that felt like a cross between metal and plastic in his hands. There were no buttons, no switches and no protrusions on the device. Yet it had a faint ambient glow. "What the hell am I looking at?"

Lt. Reed had stepped closer to his Captain to have a look. He tilted his sensitive face, raking over the device with a critical eye. It was approximately eight inches by four. "Captain? May I?"

The Captain handed it over to him then motioned to everyone to take a seat around the table. As soon as they were seated he plunged right in. "Sar, you seem to know something about this technology. What can you tell us?"

The big man was watching Lt. Reed. As if anxious in his handling of the object. After a moment he seemed to be satisfied that nothing untoward would happen. He looked at the Captain, eyes steady. "Captain, the technology of which you speak is from beyond the veil of the current worlds. It is advanced in the sense that it is another form of technology. Biomechanoid in origin. Empathic interfaces in nature."

Shock was the prevalent reaction on the Captain's face. He swallowed hard trying to wrap his brain around what he was hearing. "Are you saying it's....it's....*alive*."

"In a sense, Captain, though it is not sentient."

"You're gonna have to spell it out for me, Sar. I'm only Human."

Sar resisted the temptation to smile. Then all trace of humour fled from him. "Living cells have been bonded to non-living but compatible substances. You could say the materials are sympathetic to each other."

"That's not making things a whole lot clearer, Sar."

"I think I know what Sar's gettin' at, Cap'n." Trip looked at his friend. "Are ya sayin' the organic side of things, the livin' cells, are bonded to metals and other non-organic matter?"

The Volaran nodded. "Yes, Senisa. It makes the operation of the device very intuitive."

Something sparked in the Captain's mind. "Hold on, you mean the reason this device has no switches is because it's operated by the mind?"

Sar nodded, surprised and impressed at the Captain's swift grasp. "Yes, Captain."

"So we can think it into operating?"

The big man shook his head. "No, Captain. We are not bonded to it."

"What?"

"It is semi-organic. It responds to other semi-organics."

"A machine to instruct a machine?"

"In a sense."

"Damn it, Sar, I need you to clarify things not get everything so bogged down in this alien technology crap that I can't see a way round it."

"There is no way round it, Captain. It is what it is. We can either respect its' nature or experiment with it and risk losing everything we have."

The Captain went pale. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Said the big man slowly. "If you try to operate the device without the key it will restructure the space around it."

"And?" The Captain's voice was almost a whisper now.

You could have heard a pin drop.

"Everything occupying this space would be destroyed. Not into debris, Captain. Not into bits or microscopic dust. I am talking of far beyond what you call the sub-molecular level. All life. All material within the radius of impaction would be vaporised. Extinguished."

Lt. Reed gave the Volaran a keen look. That word. Extinguished. That was what the alien had said. Did that mean they came from the same dimension as this object of doom?

* * * * *

"You are empty handed."

The stated fact did not cause even a flicker of anxiety. "We lack the location of the key."

"Then why return?"

The figures bowed in unison. A show of respect and solidarity that had always pleased those they served. "We could not find it."

"The Other is dead. Extinguished."

There was not even the slightest ripple of surprise. Failure after all was just another kind of betrayal. "Did he have it with him?"

One of the returned stepped forward and gave a deep bow. "No."

"How do you know this?"

"It sang to me. For just a fraction of a moment."

"When?" The voice was sharp. Suddenly urgent.

"Some hours after Koss left us."

"Did he activate it?"

"No."

"Who did?"

Silence greeted the question. Minds that spanned millennia conversed in silent accord. The cloaked figures waited. Infinitely patient. At last the silence was broken.

"We released the Human too soon."

"He did not have it."

"No, but he is Human. If the Humans have it he may know."

"It would be against the code to retake him."

A pause. "There is another way."

"What way?"

"We can activate it ourselves."

A long heavy silence pained the thin air. "To reveal the device would activate the key."

A longer silence. The thin air thickened with unspoken meaning. Not quite dread. But close. "If the key is activated..." Said one.

"We cannot protect them." Finished another.

A shorter pause this time. "The key *must* be found." It was the only imperative.

"And the price?"

"Will be paid." A pause. "But perhaps we can mitigate its' effect?"

The figures stood in silence then as one they all bowed. With a single thought of blessing the figures vanished. Back to the dimension from which they had come. The next step would require no physical action. Exchanging their timeless glances they united in the decision and prepared to do one thing forbidden to them. For a higher cause justice sometimes had to be flexible. Yet on some level they could not help but think such success would leave behind the bitter ashes of defeat. A small price to pay for saving worlds as yet unmade.

* * * *

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Four of you have made comments

what is going to happen???!!!

please keep it coming. we gotta know! and soon!

You simply amaze me with your imagination, Ali! This is wonderful! I can't wait for your next chapter! Thank you!

I've gotta disappear at the end of the week for awhile. No Internet access for two weeks. Any chance you might have this wound up by then? Can't imagine two weeks without knowing how it ended.

Oh boy! You should post a warning at the start of your stories that anyone allergic to roller-coasters should disembark now.

Another great chapter, leaving as many questions unanswered at the end as at the beginning, just different ones.

So who's going to be interrogated next by these hooded aliens? Trip? T'Pol? Sar?

Gaaaa! Put us out of our misery!