The Chaos Series - pt 5

The Chaos Series
An "Enterprise" story

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: "Malcolm and Trip amend their strategy. An increasingly alarmed T'Pol has a decision to make."
DISCLAIMER: The usual disclaimers apply. The characters and 'Enterprise' are the property and gift of Paramount and part of the wonderful legacy of Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of copyright is intended

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Part Five

CHANGING THE ODDS


* * * * *

Commander Shran took only a small team down to the surface with him. While he had been talking to the Vulcan his communications officer had been running detailed sensors. It had taken time but now he had Captain Archer's biosignature he no longer needed to humour T'Pol. Being fed crumbs of information did not sit well with him and while the Vulcan might be telling him the truth he found he had more faith in the Pink Skins. Lt Tara had been most displeased but he had been determined and resolute. Even when she disagreed with him - which was often - his stubborn adherence to wreak his own will drew her approval. Now she was left in charge of the Andorian vessel and he was leading a team down to the surface.

Shran carefully monitored the co-ordinates of the biosignature, it had started degrading. "What is happening? The signal is deteriorating."

His science officer ran swift agile fingers over the console, his antennae twitching with muted concern. "It could mean the Human is injured and growing weaker or..."

The Commander glared at him as he trailed off. "Or what, Dala?"

"If the Vulcan was right, it could mean he is about to leave this time zone."

Anger flashed across the blue face like lightening. He slammed his hand on the top of the console. Dala flinched slightly. "Impossible! We have not come all this way to lose the one clue that may be vital to getting out of here." He paused to speak to the pilot. "How long until we land?"

"A couple of minutes, sir."

Shran forced himself to at least be outwardly calm and retook his seat. "Land as close to that biosignature as possible."

"It is fading fast." Warned Dala.

"Then land faster!" Snapped the Andorian Commander.

No one answered, all concentrating on doing just that. Silence bound them, tension held in abeyance as they all but held their breath. A canopy of trees opening beneath the turbulent clouds in their final descent. Shran leaned forward, looking for a landing site. The pilot suddenly banking violently to the left just as tracer fired cut through the air where they had been a moment before.

"Return fire!"

Dala homed in on the heat source on the ground and paused. Shran turned his head to look at him.

"Why do you hesitate?"

"The heat signature, Commander, is very close to Captain Archer's biosign."

Shran muttered darkly and aborted the order to open fire. "How close now?"

"If we land in that clearing sir we should be almost within line of sight of Captain Archer's location."

"Then land quickly. Once we locate the Captain we will try and take one of these others with us. If Archer refuses to co-operate one of them may be more inclined to respond to suitable 'persuasion'."

* * * * *

Corporal Raol Mayo could hardly believe his ears. He looked at Corporal Fox in surprise noting that his colleague seemed just as stunned as he was. "Morse code?"

A cautious nod then Mayo's eyes widened as he began automatically transcribing the code in his head. He grabbed Fox and moved quickly to the far side of the small smelly cell. A few seconds later earth and bits of rock tumbled inwards and they had to cover their faces to keep from choking as the air thickened with debris. Debris that soon coalesced into two very dirty but triumphant looking officers.

"Ya alright?"

Fox nodded, coughing. Corporal Mayo was impressed and noticed the smirk Lt Reed could not keep off his face. He nodded in reply to Commander Tucker. "Yes, sir."

"Well what're ya waitin' for, Corporal? Party invitations?"

"No, sir."

Then all four of them were ploughing back through the opening into Trip and Malcolm's cell. Here they stopped as Commander Tucker turned to face them. "As ya can see we have another wall to breach." He noticed they were looking at the earlier failed exit and the pile of dirt and rock. "Don't worry," He drawled. "This time we're gonna go lateral not up. Right Lieutenant?"

Lt Reed nodded, a smile fleeting across his sensitive face. The echo of it lingering in his eyes. "Yes, Commander. Lateral."

Trip blinked. Was he making fun of him? Lt Reed's face was a mask of professionalism again so he let it go. Bemused, Corporal Mayo watched the Commander scramble through the debris until he found a couple of flattened pieces of rock that met his approval. His dirty face parted in a bright grin as he shoved them into the two MACOs hands. "Time to start diggin' gentlemen."

* * * * *

Ensign Sato shook her head, lines of worry deepening. "The away team are failing to respond."

It took all of T'Pol's not inconsiderable will to remain outwardly calm. Stoic. While inside layer by layer she was beginning to unravel. Her th'y'la was down there. Her ashayam. If anything happened to him she did not think she could survive it. This had started out as a simple rescue plan for the Captain. She hoped it would not turn into something much more sinister. "Can you still read their biosigns?"

Ensign Sharp had taken over the science station and was meticulously scanning. His mouth had gone dry. "Nothing. It's as if they've just vanished."

T'Pol frowned. "People do not just *vanish* Ensign." Not unless there had been another shift in time but she would not allow herself go down that route. That road led to madness. "What about the Andorians?"

"Three biosigns."

Ensign Sato tried to contact the away team again. There was no response. Neither Commander Tucker nor Lt Reed replied to any of her hails. The same thing happened when she tried to raise the accompanying MACOs. She looked at the Vulcan First Officer's tense and stiffened frame. "Perhaps we could try to lock on to Captain Archer and transport him out of there?"

"That is not possible, his signal is not stable. We could lose him."

"We could also succeed." Responded Hoshi cautiously. She did not want to bait T'Pol but things were looking critical. If they did not act fast the time shift could repeat and they could lose the Captain forever or the Andorians could capture him. He could even end up being shot by the Germans. And if the Captain's situation was dire and deteriorating what did that say about Commander Tucker and the Away Team?

* * * * *

It was not so much cold and dark as a void absent of light and warmth. His mind simply drawing the polar opposites in an attempt to make sense of his current situation. Anything but accept the disturbing emptiness which confounded his senses and sent tendrils of fear through his consciousness. Where was he? What was this place or was he unconscious, trapped in some alien nightmare?

"You wish to see where you are?" That echoing shadow whispered.

The sound chilled him, warned him he was poised upon a knife edge of unfathomable complexity. One tiny error or miscalculation on his part could spiral all of them into oblivion. How he knew that he did not know just as he could not be sure if any of this was even real. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"You have learnt nothing, Captain."

"I don't understand."

"Silence is wisdom?" The voice prompted.

Now that was beyond plain creepy. "Just tell me what you want. You said before that what you want had been compromised by my 'interference' but I don't understand. How did I interfere and what the hell is going on?"

"Just because you are in our space does not mean you have the right to be here. Simply occupying what is ours displaces what was. Your continued survival threatens our own. Do you understand now?"

"Are you saying we occupy the same space?"

"To put it in Human terms, yesss."

The hissed elongation of the final word sent tremors through Captain Archer's mind. This being felt entirely alien in ways his mind could not even grasp. "Who or what are you?"

"I am vengeance."

"If we somehow interfered with your people tell us how and we will leave."

"After you have taken what we would not give?" Mocked the being.

"We haven't taken anything."

Something sharp slithered through his thoughts and sent heightening levels of fear rippling through him. So acute was the building terror that it was almost physically painful. In silence his trapped mind screamed. The being touched his reason and rivers of ice froze disjointed thoughts against a backdrop of a limitless chasm. It became hard for the Captain to form new thoughts, as if he had to physically break down the mechanism for forming them before he could move on and rebuild new ones. It was impossible, fanciful, and utterly terrifying. Never before had he felt so helpless, not even when that telepathic alien had linked with him and some of his crew. Then he had felt out of his depth, concerned for his fellow crew members but also curious about the creature that held them in thrall for it had not felt evil. He had no such curiosity or assurance now. Was not sure if he would be able to survive it even if he did.

A memory stirred sluggishly in his mind. "You said you were going to kill me."

"Yesss."

"Then where am I? Am I dead?"

An odd sound rang through the pores of his skin. It was weird to have remote bodily sensations like touch yet not see his body nor have a more acute awareness of it. As if the sensations he were experiencing were second hand. A sudden thought made him want to be violently sick. The being picked up on what he was thinking.

"Yesss, you are touching my thoughts Human."

"How?"

"By your violation."

"I don't know how to avoid it. Help me."

A long heavy silence fell. For the longest time the Captain thought he had been left alone. Abandoned. It was part relief and part alarm when he realised he was not alone. "Why should I help you, destroyer of worlds?"

"Because I don't understand. We're explorers not warriors and we don't destroy worlds."

"The Xindi say differently."

His heart missed a beat. The Xindi. "If you know of the Xindi," Said the Captain slowly. "You know that we prevented a war that would have resulted in the annihilation of the Human Race and the Xindi races too."

"That future never happened so who can tell? You are a plague. A pestilence. We will eradicate you."

His heart clutched with fear. "No!"

Then the darkness he had longed to be free of fragmented dazzling him with brilliant flashes of colour before being suffocated by the dark decay of oblivion. Shafts of muted light leaking through like drifts of microscopic dust motes dividing him cell by cell, pixels of broken vision shattering as his battle for consciousness faded from a bright explosion to black. He did not feel as if he were dying so much as being unmade. Dismantled from his DNA. The building blocks of Human life separated. His pattern removed from the fabric of creation. Erased so that even the memory of his existence would leave no echo. And still. He did not understand.

* * * * *

It was long hard work but having Corporals Mayo and Fox help seemed to re-energise both the Commander and Lt Reed. When at last the wall was breached four of Stafleet's finest stumbled into the dimly lit corridor beyond their prison cell. Trip bent over and braced his hands on his knees, taking deep breaths to oxygenate his gasping lungs and fight off a wave of dizziness. Malcolm was a little better but was just as tired. Corporal Mayo was already recovering from the physical exertion as was Corporal Fox. He seemed amused by his senior officer's condition. Lt Reed's eyes narrowed as he caught the superior look in the MACO's eyes.

"I would remind you Corporal Mayo that myself and the Commander had been digging for many hours to get you and Corporal Fox out of your cell before starting on this wall."

He nodded suitably chastened. Besides, he was grateful. Now that they were out of their cells though he was itching to take up the tactical lead and bring his senior officers safely back to the surface. Once above ground they would need to try to locate then extract the Captain before returning to Enterprise as a matter of urgency. He had no intention of expressing the doubts crowding into the back of his mind like unquiet ghosts. Far from being a simple rescue mission this was turning into a very dangerous game indeed. If they got caught he was in no doubt that the enemy would not hesitate to kill them.

Lt Reed watched the Commander straighten up, his breathing deep and even once more. Face flushed and still sweating profusely the same as the rest of them. The air was pretty hot and stuffy and seemed to be getting even more so. A frown drew vertical creases between the Armoury Officer's eyes.

"What's up, Lieutenant?"

"The air, it's definitely getting hotter Commander."

"What d'ya expect? There are four of us breathin' in an' out instead of two."

Lt Reed shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

Corporal Fox's look sharpened. "You're right, sir."

Enlightenment dawned on Trip's face. "Oh hell!"

"What?"

"I just realised what that means. They've probably locked an' bolted the exit on the surface."

"Which means with the door closed there's less fresh air coming down." Lt Reed finished for him.

They exchanged worried looks. Commander Tucker didn't want them dwelling on what that could mean. "The good news is there's less likely to be much in the way of guards on the door, the bad news is we won't know one way or the other 'till we bust through it."

When the other three just looked back at him Trip huffed and put himself in command mode. "What're we waitin' for? We still have to get outta here an' find the Cap'n."

*Before anything else can go wrong,* thought Lt Reed.

Even though he did not speak his thought out loud Trip gave him a look that reminded him to 'think outside of the box'. If the irrepressible engineer wasn't going to give up who was he to argue?

* * * * *

The German camp was quiet as night deepened and the patrols slackened off. More men were sleeping and the guards were light. In the medical tent only minimal staff remained on duty to monitor the patients, everyone else taking the opportunity to sleep in the natural lull. So it was that no one noticed the small vessel land, nor the odd bipedal aliens making a cautious circuitous approach to the camp. Commander Shran was alert and very light on his feet, his antennae giving him the best early warning system available.

Dala watched the Commander out of the corner of his eye, knowing that if anything happened to Shran his life would be forfeit. Lt Tara would assume the Commander had been caught or killed due to his own sloppiness. The price for failing his Commander would be death but better that than dishonour.

Commander Shran moved closer to Dala and looked a question. Dala checked his hand held scanning unit. Both turned to the medical tent then cautiously advanced on it, checking the instrument closely. When they reached the entrance they paused. Shran could feel his pulse quicken with anticipation. Captain Archer was inside. Soon they would locate the Pink Skin then it would be time for Archer to repay his debt. Shran intended for it to be paid in full.

* * * * *

T'Pol was tense. Nothing she did or tried could calm the rising anxiety. Only her nature as a Vulcan enabled her to keep outward control. The crew were relying on her in the absence of both Captain and Commander to look after the ship. With the Captain already lost she could not and would not countenance the loss of the Commander as well. It was simply intolerable. She fixed an unblinking gaze on the communications officer.

"What do you mean you cannot raise them? Try again Ensign."

Hoshi nodded but nothing worked. Either the signal was not getting through or they were not receiving it. She did not like to voice the possibility that the Away Team had been captured. The thought of their friends in enemy hands was not a pleasant one. She was not even going to consider the possibility that they might have been killed.

T'Pol longed for some sign but only silence echoed back at her. A silence that was wearing a hole in her heart that nothing but her ashayam could fill.

* * * * *

The nurse was in her fifties, stocky and plain faced. She sat cradling a cup of bitter coffee, her eyes fighting to close, her will struggling to keep them open. She yawned, closed her eyes and opened weary lids on a curious sight. For a moment she froze, not believing the dubious evidence of her tired eyes. Then the impossible vision moved, the blue faced aliens advancing on soundless feet towards her. Dropping her cup she was unaware of the sound of it breaking, her eyes wide as saucers.

By the time she realised the nightmare was real it was too late. Blue hands wrapped around her shrunken neck, eyes bulging as the second alien said something incoherent to her. Words bubbled up through a constricted airway. Nothing made sense. Not the war, not her job within it nor this surreal visitation. As the fingers squeezed around her neck all the fight leaked out between compressed fingers, her life a gasp, a last exhalation of bewilderment and disbelief. Death crumpled as the air ran out, the body sagging, falling in a controlled slump to the hard ground. Dala checked that there was no one else on watch then nodded to Commander Shran. In silence they moved like wraiths until the signal brought them to Captain Archer's bed.

Commander Shran frowned in anger and frustration. The bed was empty. As he turned to glare fiercely at Dala, Dala anxiously fiddled with the scanner. The signal was still in the range gate, strong and constant and pointing to the hospital bed. Shran's eyes narrowed, an outstretched hand asking for the device. Dala handed it over nervously. Commander Shran checked the reading carefully then ran it across the empty bed, the signal growing impossibly stronger two thirds up the bed. He paused, reached out a free hand and patted the covers. His fingers brushed against something that caused a blip on the screen. Cautiously he repeated the action. It happened again. Leaning closer he tentatively patted the top of the covers until his fingers located a sticky object. Carefully he picked it up between thumb and forefinger. In the muted lamplight he could just make out the details of the small subcutaneous transponder that had been buried under the Captain's skin as a tracking device. He stared at the red smear it left on his fingertips before recognising it as the Pink Skin's blood.

* * * * *

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Two folks have made comments

Oh, where is he? Back on Enterprise?? And take care of our boys!! T`Pol NEEDS her ashayam!

Another great chapter. Might Trip, Malcolm and the MACOs run into the Andorians? I hope so - that could be fun. I'll be waiting impatiently for the next chapter.