Unexpected Redux-Chapters 16 & 17

Unexpected Redux
By Hoshi’s Sis
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Paramount invented the characters and the original storyline, I just went and played with it a bit.
Genre: Friendship/Angst
A/N: Thanks for all your comments on my story. Thanks to Peter Simon and Boushh for all their help.

**************************************************************************************

Chapter Sixteen

Engineering

About four hours later, Trip contacted the Bridge to inform them that they had to reduce speed because of massive strain the engines were under. Archer agreed reluctantly to drop to Warp 2.5, although that was still faster than Trip would have liked. The engines couldn’t take much more; Enterprise had already built up a good distance from the Doradian ship, which hadn’t moved far after being their heavily engaged by the Duordeans once Enterprise had escaped.

Trip was on the small bridge way, inputting commands into the front engine when Kelby, who was monitoring the port injector console nearby, anxiously shouted for his attention and help. “Sir, pressure is mounting again!”

Trip glanced over with a concerned look on his face, and saw Kelby trying frantically to keep the situation under control. “Anna, take over here while I give Kelby a hand,” he called over to one of his trusted aids, before climbing down to join Kelby. Suddenly steam began to billow out of the ventilation shafts … a blow out was close. “Keep an eye on that antimatter stream,” Trip shouted to a nearby crewman, and quickly activated the comm to inform the Bridge of their situation.

“Tucker to Bridge!”

“We’re losing speed, Trip. What’s happening down there?” shouted Archer.

“What’s happening? The port injectors are about to blow up; that’s what is happening,” Trip shouted back. “It looks like we might have--”

He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. One of his crewmen yelled a “Sir, look out!” through the room, and then a loud explosion rippled though the ship and brought Enterprise to a sudden halt.

On the Bridge, Archer, T’Pol, and Malcolm leapt out of their seats with horrified expressions on their faces, and raced to the turbo lift.

--------------------------------------------

It was early the next morning. Captain Archer walked into Engineering to find out how the repairs were progressing after yesterday’s accident.

T’Pol was supervising the repairs. “How’s Trip?” she asked him, once he entered the room. Captain Archer threw the Vulcan a questioning look, as if she would have more of an idea about that than he had, so T’Pol added, “I haven’t seen him since he regained consciousness.”

“Same here,” replied Captain Archer, as he surveyed the room. “Phlox just started allowing visitors. I was about to go to Sickbay after finishing here.”

“The most vital repairs are complete, Captain. We have Warp drive again, although our speed is limited to Warp 2.”

“Damn!” replied Archer in frustration. “Lieutenant Reed has picked up the Duordean ship. At their present speed, they’ll catch up with us by tonight.”

T’Pol considered this information for a moment. “Lieutenant Hess thinks we could reach Warp 2.5, but only at a significant risk.

Archer doubted that they could surprise the Duordeans a second time. Getting caught after pulling off that stunt was definitely not a good idea. “Just do it; we have no choice.”

“Have we heard anything from the Guardians yet?” asked T’Pol

“No, not a damn peep,” said a rather dejected Archer. “I hate to say it, but I fear our luck might have run out. I really don’t see how we can stop them from getting their hands on Trip.”

“It is unusual for a Vulcan to reassure a Human, Captain, but on this occasion I believe citing an old Human saying would be appropriate: They will have a hell of a fight getting through us first.”

“Thanks, T’Pol,” smiled Archer, tapping her on the shoulder as he turned to leave Engineering. “I’ll let Trip know that you were concerned about him.”

“He already knows, Captain,” replied T’Pol dryly as she turned away to look at her pad.

Archer just shook his head on the way out.

-------------------------------------------------------

Five minutes later, Archer quietly entered Sickbay. Phlox was working quietly off to one side, while screens covered the two bio beds on the other side. Phlox indicated for Archer to be quiet as he walked over. “How’s Trip?” the Captain asked, looking concerned.

“Some cracked ribs, a broken arm, and a concussion,” said Phlox, in a matter-of-fact way. “Under normal circumstances, his injuries wouldn’t be too serious, but in his condition, I can’t take any chances. I’ll have to keep him confined to Sickbay for the next few days to monitor him.”

“What about the child?”

“I was afraid she might have been injured severely in an accident like that, but surprisingly she’s unharmed. She seems quite resilient ...”

“Does Trip already know about Kelby?” asked Archer, interrupting Phlox’s train of thought.

“It was one of the first things he asked when he woke up. He was quite distressed; I had to give him a sedative to calm him down.”

Suddenly, a quiet voice could be heard from behind the screens.

“Captain?”

Archer smiled. “Thanks, Phlox,” he said before stepping into the curtained cubicle.

“You can’t stay long, Captain,” called Phlox. “He needs his rest.”

Archer nodded to Phlox, and then looked at Trip. “Hey how are you doing?”

“A few bruises … aches and ma shoulder aches a lot, but it could have been worse,” said Trip.

He was obviously still unsettled. After he spoke, he glanced at the curtained-off where Kelby’s dead body lay.

“T’Pol’s really concerned about you,” said Archer trying to divert Trip’s attention. “She hasn’t actually admitted it but we can all know.”

Trip smiled. “She keeps trying to send calming thoughts and messages ma way, but ma mind’s just keeps filling with images of Kelby … and what happened.” His bloodshot eyes began to mist over again as he glanced over at the curtained off area again. “He saved ma life, Cap’n,” Trip said quietly.

“I know, Trip,” said Archer, trying to comfort his friend as he perched on the edge of the bed and gripped his hand. “Phlox did everything he could, but Kelby took the brunt of the explosion. He was too badly injured.”

“Did ya know that he’d just been offered the post of Chief Engineer on the new NX03?”

“Yes, Admiral Gardener mentioned it last week.

Trip swallowed hard. “He really wanted that promotion – and he really deserved it. Kelby worked so hard for the last six months … he deserved that chance!”

“Trip, all that counts right now is that you are okay, and that the baby is okay.”

Trip swallowed again. “I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost her too,” he brought out and placed his hands protectively around his bump.

“Get some rest,” said Archer quietly, patting Trip’s hand gently, “I’ll see you later.”

“Thanks, Cap’n,” replied Trip, settling himself back down onto the pillow in a more comfortable position.

Captain Archer walked away feeling chills inside of him. He knew that Trip was protective about the child, but he hadn’t realized up till now just how attached he had become.
---------------------------------------------------

Chapter Seventeen

Even at Warp 2.5, the chase was on as the Duordean ship drew closer and closer to its prey. Their shields allowed them to travel fast in this area of space. Archer had posted MACO guards all over the ship already, especially in Sickbay. Malcolm had even sneaked two phase pistols in there for Trip and Phlox to defend themselves with.

“Report!” shouted a frustrated Archer on the Bridge, as he watched the Duordeans draw closer within the hour. They had fired a few stray shots at Enterprise, but fortunately they weren’t within weapons range yet. Malcolm thought they were just testing the waters and making their intentions clear.

“Still closing, Captain,” stated Travis.

“Have we tried hailing them?”

“Numerous times, Captain. They’re ignoring us,” replied Hoshi.

The ship shuddered from a shot that skimmed their Warp field.

“They are targeting our port nacelle,” shouted Malcolm, “and that one was too close for comfort.”

“Travis?” urged Archer, hoping the Ensign could pull more piloting brilliance out of his pocket.

“I’m trying evasive maneuvers, Sir,” replied Travis as another shot found itself on target. This time, it had hit the nacelle, and brought Enterprise to a sudden halt.

When three figures began to materialize on the Bridge, Lieutenant Reed grabbed the two phasers he had hidden under his console. “We’re being boarded,” he shouted, threw one of them to Captain Archer, and opened fire. In a matter of minutes, three unconscious aliens lay flat on the floor. Archer glanced over at Reed, who smirked back with a ‘you know me, I’m always ready for action’ expression on his face. He nodded his appreciation for his Armory Officer’s prompt thinking, and then both men turned their attention to what was happening in other areas of the ship.

“There are boarding parties in Main Engineering, the Armory, on C deck, and the cargo bays on E deck,” said Malcolm, scanning the information on the read-out screen. “The MACO’s have them contained in the Armory and on E deck, but Engineering could use some help.”

“What is the Duordean ship doing?”

“They have dispatched shuttles to Launch Bays 1 and 2.” replied Malcolm.

“Notify the MACO’s to be ready to greet them when they arrive,” ordered Archer, while already on his way to the turbo lift. “We can’t do anything from here, Lieutenant. We should go to Engineering and help T’Pol.”

“Already on my way,” confirmed Reed, and ran to join the Captain in the lift.

----------------------------------------------------

Having arrived in Engineering, Archer and Reed gauged that T’Pol and her crew, were pinned down towards the rear. The engineers fought bravely, but didn’t have the experience to hold out for long. Three intruders held them at bay with phaser fire, while two others were busy attaching an alien device to the engine core.

“Malcolm,” whispered Archer, and indicated for Reed to attack the two aliens at the engine core, while he would attack the others from the catwalk. The Lieutenant nodded, so Archer quietly sneaked up along the top of the catwalk. Once in position, he managed to take out two of the intruders with a sudden burst of phaser fire. The remaining alien sprung to his feet in surprise, and instantly got hit by a shot from T’Pol. Almost at the same time, Malcolm opened fire at the other two. Archer flinched when he realized that Lieutenant Reed was, essentially, shooting at their engine core. Each of Reeds shots hid dead centre though, and so they had regained control of Engineering. Reed stormed towards the engine core to take a look at the present the aliens had left.

“Can you tell what it is?” Archer wondered in an alarmed tone.

“Yes,” the Lieutenant replied calmly. “It’s an incendiary device, and it is active.”

Archer was clearly alarmed. “Can you disarm it?”

“I understand the design …” replied Reed as he looked over the device cautiously, to see if there were any obvious triggering mechanisms. Then he started scanning the object. “Ah!” Reed remarked.

Archer was unnerved. “What?”

“Just a minute, Sir … nearly done … just need to disconnect this wire and … there,” Reed said with a smile, “it shouldn’t give us any problems now.”

“Sonar really does mean business,” sighed Captain Archer and relaxed somewhat. He walked over to the comm to find out what the status on the rest of the ship was.

“Hmmm,” said Reed, as he examined the inside of the device.

Archer spun round. “Is there a problem?”

“This device would hardly make a dent to our engine core, Captain. The explosive component is about as dangerous as a fire cracker.”

At first, Archer thought this was good news, but then a terrible insight began to form in the back of his head. T’Pol, who had walked over to the engine core to see the device for herself, spoke it out first.

“Maybe this device is meant to create a diversion?”

The three officers looked at each other for a moment, and then a look of horror flashed across their faces.

Captain Archer almost leapt to the next comm station. “Archer to Phlox!”

There was no answer.

The three of them began to race towards Sickbay, but when they arrived they found the three MACO’s Malcolm had posted lying prone on the floor with phaser wounds on their chests. Sickbay was in chaos. Instruments and animal cages were strewn about the floor; Phlox was lying in a corner, unconscious from a phaser blast to his midriff. The alien intruders were still there. One of them had Trip pinned to the wall, his hand clasped around his neck with an iron grip. Just as Archer was about to scream for him to release his friend, the Duordean sneered an evil smile, and then he and Trip were transported away.

--------------------------------------------------------

Chapters 18 & 19

Return to Chapters 14 & 15

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!

Eight hardy souls have made comments

First in line! Woot! Nice story, can't wait to meet the little munchkin! More, please! :)

Now this is getting really exciting. T'Pol's gonna be pissed when she finds out they took her Human. Can't wait to see what happens next!

great story. can't wait for the next installment.

Aww Im kinda sorry Kibble Kelby got blowed up,,,, atleast he redeamed himself before his end.,,,,,,,, Ok Im bettin Pollys gona go Vulcan kung fu on those alien murderers. Im seein chunks of aliens every where in the near future.,, I think after this story she's gona sugest that an aline they meet in need of repairs can fix their own stinckin ship.,,, She really got be gettin sick of her man gettin knocked up,,, an probably a bit jealous he' hasnt had more time to try an knock her up yet. ;) Cant wait for the Next update.

Poor Trip! Wow, I can't wait to see what happens next!

Damn. Poor Kelby just can't seem to win. Dead here, dead in mine, a piece of crap in so many others...:-)

This is a lot of fun even though I'm still a little squeamish about the whole man bearing a baby bit. And I've got to agree with Mitchell: huge chunks of dead alien on the horizon.

you have a talent for leaving us on the edge of our seats! More soon please! :o)

You just end the chapters when it gets exciting - that's so mean. Please update as soon as you can!