Friends- Part 8

"FRIENDS AND LOVERS"
An "Enterprise" story

By Alison M. DOBELL

SUMMARY: "Ensign Cutler breaks some disturbing news to the Captain. Meanwhile the crew of the shuttlepod realise the only way they can escape is if they engineer it for themselves."
RATED: R Part 9 is NC-17
The usual disclaimers apply. The characters and 'Enterprise' belong to Paramount. No infringement of copyright is intended.
Feedback to: AlisonMDobell@aol.com

Part Eight

"Parts Per Million"

* * * * *

Captain Jonathan Archer stared at Ensign Cutler. Amazed. Stunned. Disbelieving. She just had to be kidding, right? But one look at her animated face told him she was absolutely serious. "Intellent spores?"

She nodded, excited. "Yes, it's all here on Dr Phlox's data PADD."

He held out a hand. "Let me see that."

She gladly handed the PADD over. Hoshi Sato left her console to look over his shoulder. The Captain was frowning, trying to make sense of what he was reading and the complex diagrams the doctor had drawn up to illustrate his theory. He looked up at Ensign Cutler. "Are you telling me this creature... the Sanacrid.... seeded its' spores across an area of space looking for suitable lifeforms to hijack?"

"That's what the doctor believes, Captain. The first sign that anything was amiss was when Lt Reed had that allergy."

He nodded slowly. "The spores?"

"Yes."

"How did they get on board the ship?"

"The spores are not only microscopic they are also able to mutate."

"Mutate? How?"

"They can mimic bacteria yet act like a virus."

He paled slightly. "That shouldn't be possible."

"Life on Earth shouldn't be possible but it is." She paused. "The infiltration of the hull was child's play for something this complex and adaptive, Captain. Even if it had gone through decontamination it would have survived."

"You called it intellent?"

"Yes. It seems it has a form of intelligence, a bit like a hive mentality."

"How the hell are we supposed to fight something like that? We can't see it, can't follow it, and God knows have no idea how to injure it."

"That's why we may not be able to do anything."

For a moment the Captain just stared at her. "Excuse me?"

"The organism is very intelligent Captain and it is also invasive and adaptive. From Dr Phlox's theory it would appear the creature farms other organisms to add to its' hunger for expansion. That City Ship is not called a Mother Ship for nothing."

"So the Mother Ship seeded the space we passed through on the way to the training planet."

Ensign Cutler cleared her throat carefully. "What?"

"That wasn't a planet, sir."

"Yes, it was. I stood on it. I may be a bit shaky on biology but I know what a planet looks like, Ensign."

She shook her head. "No, it was not a planet sir."

He was starting to get annoyed with her. "Then what was it?"

"A trap."

"Ensign Cutler," The Captain said slowly, too tired to want to dance all night. "Why don't you just explain it all to me?"

She took a deep breath and scrolled through the PADD. Checking to make sure what she told the Captain was in complete agreement with Dr Phlox's findings. "As I said the spores mimic bacteria and the bacteria acts like a virus. For want of a clearer terminology, Captain, it infects its spores --its DNA --into other species looking for compatible hosts. Its criteria seems to be very specific."

"To lay its eggs?"

"No. It doesn't need hosts to procreate, not in the way you might think. It uses various hosts to adapt and learn from, to increase the knowledge of the organism to make it more efficient so that it can survive anywhere and in any conditions. If part of it is injured or decays the remaining parts of the organism adapt to take on those specialisations so that the whole can function efficiently. Meanwhile it keeps on searching for more hosts to merge with it."

Alarmed he put a hand on her arm. "What do you mean, merge?"

There was no sparkle in her eyes now. "It uses the unique capabilities of other species much as we might use spare parts. That is how it grows, expands."

"But that Mother Ship was HUGE. I know cities on Earth that would be dwarfed by something that size. Are you saying it is made up of all the species this thing has absorbed?"

"Only partly. The main part is its own genotype, at least that is what Dr Phlox theorises."

"So how much of it is the Sanacrid?"

"Measured in parts per million foreign merged species would be on an order of less than five parts per million."

"That figure is based on what?"

Ensign Cutler paused slightly. "A tissue discarded by the lieutenant."

Hoshi made a face. The Captain frowned. "What made Dr Phlox even think of checking discarded tissues?"

A small smile touched the Ensign's face. Captain Archer was not sure but he thought she glowed a little. "Dr Phlox is extremely thorough Captain. He is also incredibly curious about every aspect of medicine and the pathology of disease. Nothing passes through his medlab without being checked, identified and categorised. And that includes each and every one of us."

An answering smile tugged up the corners of the Captain's mouth. No guessing who the doctor's main supporter was on this ship. "We are lucky to have him."

Ensign Mayweather shook his head in bafflement. "Excuse my asking Captain, but how does that help us find out what happened to Commander Tucker and the others?"

* * * * *

He was not sure how he was feeling. The waves of fear had abated but he still had a vague sense of unease. A feeling that he should be elsewhere only he could not think where. The Sanacrid was gentle, his thoughts soothing and bordering on the unctuous--prepared to give him almost anything if he would relax and let the Sanacrid have free access. He sensed the Vulcan. Wished he could touch her. Needed that sensation to ground him. The Sanacrid released the block on Trip's mind so he could reach out to her. T'Pol raised an eyebrow, relieved that she could sense him again. Trip could not feel his body. Was not sure where he was or what he was seeing. Everything was white. A tremble of feeling rolled through him but nothing was localised. It was weird as hell.

*T'Pol? You there?*

*I am here, Commander*

*Trip, call me Trip. This is freaking me out enough without you goin' all Vulcan on me*

*I am Vulcan*

*Okay, poor choice of words. Any idea what the hell's happenin' to us?*

*I believe you are being merged, Trip*

*Merged? What does that mean?*

*You are being added to the Sanacrid ship*

He laughed. He could not help it. *That is so ridiculous, T'Pol. Why would he do that?*

*To make his ship more efficient*

*If he wanted efficiency wouldn't he have merged with the Vulcans? I'm sure High Command would have given him a run for his money*

*That is inappropriate*

*Don't see why. You're always goin' on about how your people are more superior than ours*

*This conversation is counter productive, Commander*

*Trip*

He was sure he felt her sigh. Did not hear it, but felt it like a kind of tremor. Somehow that seemed important though he was not sure why.

*Trip*

*That's better. Okay T'Pol, I take it ya got a plan?*

*No*

*If we're havin' this conversation does that mean you're bein' merged too? You know, as well as me?*

There was an awkward pause.

*T'Pol?*

*I am thinking, Trip*

*Oh. Thought you'd left me for a minute there*

A longer silence stretched between them. He began to feel unhappy. Lonely. Carefully the Sanacrid allowed him to sense his body again. With effort he found he could move his fingers. It was weird like being a baby all over again but with the mind of an adult. He was not sure whether to laugh or cry.

*T'Pol?*

She thought he sounded upset. *Yes, Trip?*

*Don't leave me*

The Sub-Commander hardly paused more than a fraction of a second. Yet he felt it. Knew. Could have put in all the decimal points. *I will never leave you*

* * * * *

Dr Phlox was concerned about Lt Reed. The man was getting very jittery. They could not afford to lose their nerve now. "Lieutenant, you really must learn to contain your agitation. It is not helping."

He turned and paused, his anxiety causing him stress. "I'm sorry doctor but I do not have your penchant for clinical observation while my friends are being absorbed into some evil alien consciousness. Pardon me if I don't share your fascination."

He sneezed and muttered about there being no tissues around when you wanted them. Dr Phlox took a tissue from his pocket. The lieutenant looked at it as if the doctor had been hoarding gold bars. "There is nothing to suggest that this organism is evil, lieutenant."

Lt Reed blew his nose and glared at the doctor. "If is not evil why doesn't it let us go?"

"It is simply trying to survive."

"Doctor, this creature is bigger than some countries back on my home planet. I don't call absorbing a few humans for a tasty snack a matter of life and death, unless you are talking about ours."

"We are quite safe, lieutenant."

"What are you talking about? Of course we're not safe."

"There I must disagree with you. Your allergy renders you incompatible as a host. My biology rules me out as well."

"But not Trip and T'Pol?"

"The creature sought out the Commander as you recall. Not the other way around."

"And T'Pol?"

Dr Phlox hesitated to say what he was thinking. Lt Reed frowned, his eyes beginning to water again. "I think the Sanacrid detected a bond between the Commander and Sub-Commander."

Lt Reed sounded suspicious. "What kind of bond?"

Feeling uncomfortable the doctor began to walk around the area in which he and the tactical armoury officer had been placed. It reminded him a bit of a cave with its' irregular walls except that everything was white. He could see no doors or windows, no openings of any kind. They were alone.

"What kind of bond, doctor?"

Dr Phlox tried to sound casual about it. "Mutual attraction."

"Trip and T'Pol?"

When the doctor said nothing Lt Reed thought back to their time on the training planet a couple of months earlier and what he had seen. His mouth made a small round O and he fell silent. Dr Phlox nodded to himself on seeing the penny drop.

"Do you think they'll let us go - afterwards?"

The doctor shrugged. "I don't know."

"We have to find a way out of here."

"Obviously."

"But I'm not going without the Commander and Sub-Commander."

Dr Phlox nodded solemnly. "That goes without saying, lieutenant."

Lt Reed nodded to himself as if he had achieved a small victory. He began to walk around the circumference of their white room, one hand trailing across the surface of a wall. As he walked, deep in thought, the doctor idly watched his progress. Then suddenly he stiffened. Lt Reed became aware that he was the object of intense scrutiny. "What is it?"

"The wall."

"What about it?"

"Touch it again with your hand."

The armoury officer did so and this time he noticed a very faint shudder. Dr Phlox looked delighted. He hurried over to him and smiled into the confused armoury officer's face. "Watch." Lt Reed watched the doctor place his hand on the wall. Nothing happened. He trailed his hand along several foot of the wall, still nothing. Lt Reed frowned as if the doctor had gone stark, raving mad.

"What is that supposed to prove?"

"It means this chamber is organic like the rest of the ship."

"So? I hardly think we're in the stomach."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"No digestive juices."

"We may or may not be located in a digestive area, lieutenant, but that is not the point. The creature is reacting to you but not to me."

"Maybe I taste better."

The doctor actually beamed at him. "Or perhaps you don't taste good to him at all!"

* * * * *

The Wellington stopped at Jupiter Station to pass on an update regarding the Enterprise. Stunned faces took in the news. Captain Fulcram insisted on putting a call through to Admiral Forest. The Admiral listened in silence, white faced and strained. When he finished, the Admiral nodded to the transport Captain. "Thank you for your report, Captain. Where are you going now?"

"Back to Earth, sir."

The Admiral nodded. "Do me the courtesy of sending me the last known co-ordinates of the Enterprise, Captain."

"Yes, sir."

In her room Natalie was carefully making a record of exactly what had happened when Bobby Leyton had raped her. Mrs Tucker could not get over the change in the girl. Charles Tucker II was secretly impressed. Proud of her. He talked quietly to her as she wrote, explaining what she could expect. Warning her about the press and the fact that her life would be dragged out for all the world to see and speculate on. She raised her head, pen poised over her pad. "Thank you, Mr Tucker."

"What for?"

"For believing in me and helping me."

"I just wish I could do more."

She nodded and smiled, grateful to them both. Mrs. Tucker noticed she was looking a bit tired. "Natalie, I think we should get the doctor to check you over."

"I feel fine."

Mrs. Tucker stood up and smiled. "It won't take but a minute. We have to make sure that baby of yours is okay."

Natalie nodded, giving in for the sake of the child. The doctor was very thorough but it was the results that startled Natalie and Trip's parents most of all. Natalie's face lost all colour as she heard the news. Unable to speak for shock. Mr Tucker stared at the doctor in stunned surprise. "Are you sure, doctor?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes, I am quite sure. There is no sign of a tumour."

Baffled, Trip's parents looked at each other. Natalie was trying not to get too excited. "Doctor, do you think I could take a look at that scan?"

Dr Williams nodded and showed her. Mr. and Mrs. Tucker crowding in behind her just in case their ears were not working properly. The doctor brought up the image and four pairs of eyes confirmed the miracle was true. The malignant tumour was gone. Natalie could not look away from the scanner. Tears slowly filled her gentle eyes. Her baby was going to grow up with a mother after all.

* * * * *

Reviews:

Name: Yo!
Comments: AH! how sweet!

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