Through Fire - Pt 2

Through Fire

By JD1

Rating: PG-13 for some strong language later on, suggested adult situations, and mild violence
Disclaimer: see part 1

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Enterprise, Engineering

“Um, Commander, there is something I need to speak with you about.” Trip looked over his shoulder to see Selak standing there, waiting politely to be addressed. He had stayed hidden for a while, avoid everyone perhaps.

“About?” Trip inquired, turning right back to his work.

“Would you like a hand?” Trip shook his head, commenting that he was fine. “Very well. Commander-”

“Just call me Trip.”

“Trip?” Selak had heard the name used but still did not understand, though this was not the place nor time to ask. Sitting down next to him as he worked, Selak continued. “There’s something very… very important I need to, um… discuss with you.”

“What about?”

“The future, sort of. But… you can’t… you can’t tell anyone that I told you about it.”

“Does it matter, yer just gonna wipe my mind once ya leave.”

“I know, but this is different. They can’t know now while it’s happening nor can they know certain things later,” Selak admitted, his hesitant voice catching Trip’s attention.

“Just spit it out, for god’s sake!”

Selak smirked, recalling a friend who often used, and made fun of, the expression. “We don’t know exactly when or how or whatever that it happened- those kind of logs got lost in an accidental fire centuries ago- well, years in the future to you. Anyway, we have a rough estimate figure for the day it happened and how long-”

“Selak, you do realize that I have no idea what yer talking ‘bout, right?”

“Sorry. Based on our calculations… you have… about three weeks to…”

“To what?” He urged, trying to catch Selak’s eye- his project all but forgotten.

“To… to, um…” he stuttered before mumbling, “to get T’Pol pregnant.”

“I’m afraid yer gonna hafta speak up,” he scolded.

“To get T’Pol pregnant!”

Trip froze. Now that kind of thing in itself was weird, but T’Pol? “T’Pol?” Was the only thing that would come out of his mouth, followed later by, “Three weeks? Yer givin’ me three weeks to get T’Pol, a Vulcan, pregnant?”

“Yes.”

“Are you nuts?!”

“Not really.”

Trip took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “Okay. First off, do you know how hard it is to have a Human and a Vulcan have a kid? I mean… well, I don’t really know, but that’s people say.”

Selak just smirked knowingly. “I do know how hard. That’s why I brought this.”

Before Trip had a chance to inquire what ‘this’ was, his arm stun, Selak having dug a needle into his arm. “Ow!”

“Commander?” The pair spun around, startled by the newest voice. Selak quickly hid the injection when he saw T’Pol standing coolly in the doorway, arching an eyebrow at the pair.

“He-hey, T’Pol.”

“Sub-commander.” Trip glanced at Selak, noticing how quickly his appearance went from casual to more… Vulcan-ish. Maybe that was just the way he was raised, to be Vulcan in Vulcan company.

Looking up at the Sub-Commander, it was easy to tell she had something to tell the Commander and him alone. That, or perhaps she was not comfortable around Selak anymore. He could understand that.

“I should be leaving, Commander, Sub-commander.” With a knowing gaze, Selak arched an eyebrow, silently telling him to give it a try.

“See ya.”

“What were you-”

“Nothin’. Just… ya know, guy stuff.”

T’Pol’s only response was the raise of an eyebrow. “I was sent here by the Captain to tell you that he will not be dinning with us tonight.”

“So, just the two of us then?”

“Apparently.”

“See ya at six.” Trip gave her a small smile as she walked away. “Oh, god!”

Enterprise, Captain’s Mess

“So,” Trip started, trying desperately to break the silence that had fallen over them ever since their dinner had arrived. T’Pol looked up at him, expecting him to continue. “Got any plans when we get back to Earth?”

The Vulcan rose an eyebrow at hearing him say ‘once’ but choice not to comment, trying to be equally optimistic about their mission. “I… am not entirely sure.”

“Really? Don’tcha have some Vulcan friends or somethin’ you’d like to see?”

“There are a few colleges I would enjoy seeing again.”

Trip nodded, chewing hard on a piece of food. For a moment, she seemed to debate whether or not to mention something before going back to her food as well. He sighed, not quite loud enough for her to hear.

“There’s, um, a bar in San Francisco that I spent a lot of time at when I was at the Academy. I was thinking about taking the engineering staff there, to celebrate. You’re invited, if you’d like to come,” he added.

The Engineer looked sheepishly up at her, not knowing what he should expect. “I would… enjoy that.”

A soft smile tugged at his lips. “Good, I’ll betcha like it.”

“We will see.”

“T’Pol? What… if… when we get back, what do ya think the Vulcan High Command will do? I mean, you quit and all and then came with us anyway. I mean… would they letcha back in?”

T’Pol thought over his question a moment. She could feel his gaze on her, watching her as he waited for an answer, but she didn’t dare look up at him. “I would imagine that I would not be very… ‘warmly’ receipted by them, but they would quite possibly accept if I were to ask to be reinstated.”

“Oh,” he nodded. “Wait, if? You mean… you don’t plan to even try?”

Again, the Vulcan looked at him, her eyebrow raised. “No.”

“Then… then what are ya goanna do?”

T’Pol looked away, slightly embarrassed by what she was about to reveal. “I have been contemplating… requesting to enter Starfleet Academy.”

When T’Pol finally got up the courage to look up at the Engineer, she was met by his astonished gaze- the man in a complete stupor.

“You’re goanna what?”

“Enter Starfleet Academy.” A smile crept over his lips. “You do not believe I should?”

His smile dropped some, hearing the disappointment in her voice. “No, no that’s not it. I just… I was just trying t’ imagine you in a Starfleet uniform… And Soval’s face when you tell him! Please let me be there for that!” He begged, chuckling at the mental imagines playing out in his mind.

“I merely said I was thinking about it, not that I was going to.”

“Okay, okay. Whatever. But, if ya choose to… I’ll support you all the way. Maybe the Cap’n could pull a few strings and bump ya up a bit so you don’t have to go through basic training and whatever.”

“I would… appreciate that.”

“I’m sure the Cap’n would be-”

“Not that,” she interrupted, stopping Trip in mid-sentence with her soft voice, forcing him to go back to his previous statement to figure out what she meant.

He nodded, a soft smile still tugging at his lips. “Anythin’ I can do t’ help, just ask.”

“I will remember that, Commander.”

Enterprise, Selak’s Quarters

“Computer, begin personal log, Stardate 78942.36. January 6, 2154, 1721 hours,” the Vulcan recorded on the handheld computer.

With a sigh, he continued. “I’m afraid I just lost my job… I know I ruined my career but… but it was worth it. It seems that after they pulled me out, everything had just gotten worse. Destroying only half of the weapon didn’t stop the scientists from thinking up something… things just seemed much more desperate.

“Not to mention that I didn’t have time to fix things around here. When they got back… let’s just say it didn’t help things. Though I would have enjoyed hearing Archer and T’Pol’s conversation with Starfleet and the Vulcan High Command- they must have thought that the two were insane after that report.

“Anyway, I’m back because I believe finishing my job will help to prevent such a worse turn of events. Hopefully, the real completion of my mission will allow me to change the future for the better, change the war for the better. Let’s just hope.”

Selak sighed once again, running a hand over his tired face. Sitting back down on his bed, no longer interested in pacing, he tried organizing the information in his head before finishing.

“My second objective is already in the works. I just hope he’s willing, though I can easily find ways around such things. I just… I just don’t look forward to returning to that place, to those people.

“The third objective could prove to be far more… problematic. I doubt that Archer would consent with it; I may lose the little trust I’ve managed to rebuild with them. Who knows what might happen, though I’m ready for it. I’ll manage without a problem, I know.

“The forth objective, of course, shouldn’t be much of a problem… though I’m not entirely sure how to allow events to happen and not be swept into them. But that, I’m sure, can wait until they happen.

“The fifth objective. I know that, originally, there never was one. But something happened last time, something I’m assuming I might have inadvertently caused, to prevent this from happening. I know that I can’t force it into happening, but I just hope that my presence doesn’t foul it up farther. Perhaps that will even help it in happening. I’m not sure. And, frankly, I don’t much care, just as long as it does.”

Again, he ran his hand over his face. With his back up against the wall, he leaned his head back as well, reporting as he did so. “I have to commend Dr. Tanith on her hypothesis of time travel and how it affects memories. It seems that, once I returned, I started to become aware of events that I never remembered before, people I never knew, things that I did that, well, I never did. I even started to forget some people that I do… did… do know.

“It’s all starting to become a little confusing. My former mental state appears to be… overclouded, at times, by I guess my other mental state. The two converging to create what seems like a third at other times. It’s odd, before- as much as I can remember- I seemed more Vulcan, I acted more Vulcan. Controlled my emotions and everything. But, it seems, that some event either happened, or didn’t happen, that changed this. Now I’m more impulsive, more emotional, chaotic.”

Selak paused there, thinking back to when, over the past few months, that he had started to notice the changes. It hadn’t taken long; a few days or weeks. Little things as easy as remembering a name of an unknown face or forgetting a person that seemed to no longer exist. Speaking of events that never happened, or that did but didn’t.

Again, the Vulcan sighed, muttering, “Computer, end log.”

Enterprise, Bridge, Orbiting Devenion, Next Day

Hoshi’s hails were finally answered five minutes after she started trying. With a simple order from her Captain, she activated the view screen. On it appeared a man surrounded by his console and many others.

His expressionless gray eyes met Archer’s. The Captain almost instinctively knew that he was in not charge. Starring up at the alien, Archer immediately noticed the blue scale-like area on his jaw and neck. He said nothing; it seemed that he was waiting for the Human to start.

“My name is Captain Archer of the Earth Ship Enterprise.”

“Why are you here? What is your business?” The man on the view screen demanded of them, not bothering to introduce himself.

“We are a peaceful ship. We have no intention of harming you or your people,” Archer assured him, taking his suspicious questions as a fear of their ship.

“Hump. They all say that just before they invade you,” he mumbled to himself, barely allowing Archer to hear him. “What is your business here?”

Archer seemed almost taken aback at his repetition, but Selak was hardly fazed. “We are here to see an Ambassador Ke’Kou,” he demanded with air of talking to a mere servant. “Tell him to expect us.”

The man nodded before mumbling, “Hump, no respect for us common slaves,” abruptly cutting the connection.

Enterprise, Bridge

“So, what do you think about Selak? With the whole time-traveling thing?” Trip asked the Vulcan Sub-Commander, leaning over the Captain’s chair as he spoke.

She turned her head to look at him, a single eyebrow raised- both in confusion and annoyance. “I am not sure what to think. There was no means of escape for Lieutenant Selak, and he was gone for nearly two days. His hair growth would have been impossible to achieve after only two days which suggest-”

“That he was right and had been gone for a while,” Trip finished with a smile, purposely trying to lead her answer.

“I will consider the possibility that he is a time-traveler. Considering the evidence, that is thus far the only explanation.”

“So, are you, Sub-Commander T’Pol, admitting to the possibility of time-travel?”

“You are merely repeating what I just stated,” she said, mock annoyance rising in her voice.
Trip just smiled, suppressing his laughter, as he nodded. “Yes, but I want to hear you say it.”
“I already have, Commander.”

“Oh, come on, T’Pol. You’re such a party pooper.”

“I was not aware we were attending a party at the moment,” she retorted, arching her eyebrow once again- an almost silent dare to challenge her.

“Sub-Commander, Shuttle Pod One reports that they’ve landed safely and without a problem,” Mayweather reported, swiveling in his chair to see the two commanders, almost unable to hide his smirk at their banter. He had to admit that it was more amusing than their arguments they had been in, and some had been down right hysterical.

“Thank-you, Ensign.”

Amocku Controlled Planet, Devenion, Ke’Kou’s House

The triangular door slid open in front of him- surprising Archer by splitting in three (one triangle going up, and the other two going to their respective sides). He stepped forward, followed closely by Hoshi and Selak- the Vulcan claiming he already knew the language but it could be productive to bring the linguist with them.

Ke’Kou sat at his desk at the far end, he was so involved with the holographic view screen that he never noticed their entry. As Archer grew closer, it became more evident to him that he wasn’t yelling at another government official but watching some kind of televised sport.

The Governor didn’t look up even as the small group stepped in front of his desk. The Captain gave a low cough, hoping that would catch the man’s attention but was only met with a mumbled, “Put it over there.”

Archer looked to Selak- not understanding his words and not entirely sure what to do. He was confused by the behavior, hoping that Selak would have something to add about why they were being ignored.

But Selak was not watching him, instead he was focused on the screen. As Archer watched, he could see the faint hint of something- anger? rage? maybe fear- towards both the man and screen.

But it vanished, replaced by Selak’s outward Vulcan calm. “He should not have done that. Now he is caught, he’ll never get out of it.”

Ke’Kou glanced up for only a second, not seeming to realize that anyone was still in the room. But then he counted with, “No see, he’s faking him on.”

But the A’Mocku’s smile quickly disappeared as he saw that Selak was right; the fight was over. “How did you know that?”

“I know a lot about gladiators and the arena.”

“I didn’t know such a… foreign alien knew anything about this,” he said running a hand through the thin, holographic screen. It wavered with the disruption, turning off.

Selak ran a hand through his freshly washed and cut hair. He had decided it would be better to keep up his old appearance, though he left some of the length. Even his face was left with the slight stubble that had formed while he was gone. “I know a lot about your people, you’d be amazed at what I do know.”

Another low cough from Archer reminded the two that he was still there- and horribly unaware of what was being said, not to mention what had just happened on the screen.

“Ah, Captain Archer.” Governor Ke’Kou smiled, he attention now on the Captain as he stood. His hands- palms facing in- went near his chest, opening them in a seemingly gesture of welcome.

Archer smiled, mimicking the motions. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“And you, Captain,” he replied, hearing the translation via Hoshi’s communicator.

“Now, what exactly was it that you wanted to see me about?”

Selak waited for Hoshi to translate to the Captain, knowing that Archer knew very little of the details and that he would- in the end- be talking anyway.

“There is a device you have, we’re curious about it. Well, actually, we need it.”

“What device- would this be?”

“A weapon.”

“I have scanned your ship, boy, you have many weapons.”

Selak resisted the urge to scowl at the “boy” comment, not at all appreciative of the nickname. “Yes, but they’re not quite… as powerful as we need.”

“And how powerful do you need, boy?”

His cocky smile had returned, but a new, subtle suspicion crept into his eyes. “Powerful enough to defeat our enemy.”

“At war are you? Well, I’m afraid we do not involve ourselves in others’ wars. I am sorry, I cannot help you.” He turned around, walking back behind his desk- his air dismissive.

“I don’t buy that. You get involved with many things,” Selak stated, leaning forward on the desk Ke’Kou just sat down in. “And this kind of thing is no different.”

“I’m afraid the word is final! We have laws and rules against such things. It would not be wise for me to do such a thing.”

Selak glared down at the man, hoping to scare him into consenting. But the Amocku weren’t ones to be intimidated. Of course, he already knew that.

With a defeated sigh, he turned away, saying, “Ah, well. I had hoped to be able to see your Generator Plant. I’ve heard great things about the way they’re run. Supposedly the best in this region of space. But, if you have such high believes to the contrary-”

“No, no. I think we could fit in a tour. We have nothing against… hosting people. Just sharing technology with them, in war and such things, of course.”

Selak nearly beamed, not at the acceptance but at his achievement. Well, at least he’d get something. He nodded warmly, hearing Ke’Kou tell them that he could take them there immediately while Hoshi translated the words to Archer.

Ke’Kou clapped his hands together- a gesture he had learned long ago meant the man was pleased with himself- as he led them out the door. Archer leaned close to Selak, following the man without any real enthusiasm (he seemed to have realized that he played absolutely no part in this away mission).

“How did you manage that so… quickly?”

“It was quite easy, Captain. The Amocku are an extremely egotistical race. As long as they think they’re better, they’ll do just about anything to continue to prove such a thing.”

Archer nodded, not knowing- or really, to some extend, wanting to- how he had become such a genius on this race. “But why do we want to go to this place?”

Selak looked at his supposed CO. He couldn’t help but smile. “No reason really, Captain. No reason at all.” With that, he walked faster, catching up with Ke’Kou, and leaving Archer behind to mull in what he had just heard.

Enterprise, Sickbay

“How have you been feeling?” Phlox asked, running his tricorder over Trip’s body.

“Not bad,” the southerner reported, shifting uncomfortably on the biobed.

“How well have you been sleeping?”

“Ah… well, but T’Pol’s been helping with that.”

“How many times a week does she perform neuropressure?”

“Um… every night,” he said with a shrug, not sure if that was a good or bad thing to admit.

“Do you feel that it’s necessary?”

“Um…” he said with a sigh, “I’m not really sure but… it helps.”

Phlox gave a passive nod, not replying. “Have you been nauseous at all?”

Trip shrugged at the sudden change in questioning before thinking back to the past few days. “Now that you mention it, um, not fer a couple o’ days. ”

“Good,” Phlox commented with a smile, putting his scanner away. “There seems to be virtually none of the toxin left in your system.”

“Well, that’s good.”

“Yes,” Phlox nodded in agreement.

“Um, can I go now, I’ve gotta be on the bridge in a couple minutes.”

“Just one more thing,” he said from the next room, Trip not able to see him from his position on the bed. “I just want to give you this. It should help to rid the rest of the toxin from your system.”

Trip turned his neck, allowing Phlox to administer the injection, wincing slightly when he felt the small prick of the needle. “There you go. I want to see you again in two days.”

“No problem. Thanks.” Trip hopped down, just glad to be getting out of there; he really hated doctors, Phlox-- though a trusted friend and good physician--was still among them.

Phlox sighed, watching his friend leave. He still had a long road ahead of him. He already had a tough life, it wasn’t fair to add this on top of all that.

Amocku Controlled Planet, Devenion, Generator Plant

“And this, Captain…” Selak heard Ke’Kou say as he led Archer and Hoshi the other way. But Selak hung back, hoping that the alien would not notice his absence- or that either of the Humans would point out the fact.

Looking around him, he found that the plant was bussing with activity and people, none of whom spared him a glance. He immediately noticed their uniforms- they were slaves. Right down to the numbers (handwritten) onto their left pectoral.

With a sigh, he walked across to the computer terminal, reminding himself that he could do nothing to help them- they probably wouldn’t even want it, much less the fact that they had nowhere to go. Just like he sometimes found himself realizing.

With the press of a few simple buttons, Selak managed to get into the mainframe, punching up the data he wanted. Another minute, he was skimming over the schematic in front of him. Sure enough, it was what he wanted.

Pulling out a small, hand-held device from his pocket, the Vulcan quickly hooked it up to the terminal, his hands quivering from the amount of adrenaline pumping through his body. His stomach felt as if it were doing back flips just as he lungs wouldn’t give him a second to enjoy a breath.

Running a hand over his face, Selak tried to stop the pounding in his head- caused by a mixture of his fast pumping blood and trying to translate the foreign text. But he didn’t have time for that. Ke’Kou would have them back at any moment, he had to move quickly.

He had to move quicker…

“As you can see,” he heard Ke’Kou’s voice echo in the distance, hearing their footsteps grow closer.

He looked down at the device, mentally urging it to move faster, to download the data faster. He needed this information; he couldn’t get caught.

“Hurry up, hurry up,” he muttered under his breath, trying hard to keep his trembling hands steady and his foot silent, the urge to tap his feet or something suddenly over coming him.

He looked over his shoulder where he had heard Ke’Kou’s voice. He couldn’t yet see them, but he could hear them getting closer. Nearly turning the corner. If that happened, they would see him. Which could only lead to awkward questions and a messier situation than he would like.

A high pitched, yet quite, beep alerted the Vulcan that the download was complete. Hurriedly, he practically ripped out the link, shoving the device into his pocket as he attempted to shut down the computer.

His hands shook, making him push the wrong button. His stomach did a summersault as he heard Archer’s distinct voice. He looked over his shoulder, scolding himself as he realized what his instincts had caused him to do: waste time.

Just as the group of three turned the corner, Selak slipped in front of the terminal, pretending to be interested in something he saw on the wall. In truth, it was a simple machine Vulcans had long ago lost need with, having invented more efficient machines.

“Ah! Lieutenant! There you are!” Ke’Kou exclaimed. Selak took a deep breath, trying to calm both his exterior and interior- wishing that his blood wasn’t pumping so fast.

Turning, he was the model of Vulcan poise. “Yes, I thought you had gone that way. I thought you might return here,” Selak told him with a ghost of a smile, gesturing to the opposite way they had gone. “So, what did I miss?”

Ke’Kou seemed to have completely forgotten the event, going on to explain to him something about power relays and so forth. Selak just tried not to roll his eyes; trying to remember if all those things were out dated by the Vulcans.

“Um, Selak, I think it’s about time for us to be heading back to Enterprise.” The Vulcan nodded at Archer, thankful that he would be able to get out of there.

“Thank-you very much for the tour of your facility,” Selak told him, his voice shifting easily to the Amocku language in Ke’Kou’s ears.

“Perhaps you would enjoy coming to dinner, later,” the man offered, Hoshi quickly translating the words to Archer.

“I would like that,” the Captain agreed with a smile, hoping that it would help in some ways with whatever it was that Selak was trying to do. The Vulcan nodded politely, not sure exactly if it was a good thing or bad- he knew he wasn’t finished with his mission.

“Please, bring your other officers. I would be delighted to have them as well.”

Archer looked to Hoshi, nodding with the translation. Truth be told, he didn’t like the harsh sounds the man’s language was made up of, but that wasn’t something he was going to comment on, it didn’t mean that the man himself wasn’t interesting.

“Thank-you. I will extend the invitation, but they have been very busy lately.” Ke’Kou nodded, excitedly, as he led them back to their shuttle.

Enterprise, Bridge

“So, Cap’n, how was it?” Trip joked as Archer, Hoshi, and Selak walked off the turbolift.

“It was… interesting. Ke’Kou invited us back down for dinner. All of us, which means you two, and Malcolm, are invited to come along.”

Trip looked over at Malcolm, in truth the two of them had just finished discussing why they didn’t want to go down there.

“Um, actually, sir, I’m still very busy with… these diagnostics. I don’t think I… should go.”

“Yeah, me too. I have a lot of catch up work down in Engineering. Actually, I should be going now. Tell ‘im thanks anyway,” Trip said in a rush, moving off toward the turbolift.

“Wonder what’s his problem,” Archer muttered, looking to T’Pol. “What about you?”

“I do not think that would be wise. With Commander Tucker so busy, I will be needed on the bridge,” she rationalized, having stood from the Captain’s chair in anticipation of his taking it.

“If that’s what you want. We’ll be leaving in an hour. Have Shuttle Pod Two prepped.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hoshi, you still willing to go down, or will I have to use Selak as my translator?” Archer asked, grinning at his communications officer and long time friend.

“I think I’m game to go back down. Besides, I’m just starting to get a handle on their language. It’s very complex,” she explained, already pouring over notes and such that she had gotten while on the planet.

“If you want. Selak, you’re still coming?”

“Of course, Captain,” was his short answer, the Vulcan already standing at his station.

“Good.” Moving closer, Archer leaned against Selak’s console. “By the way, where did you learn their language?”

“I spent time among them, I managed to pick it up well enough to speak it,” he explained, knowing that Hoshi would be thrilled to spend time with someone who could speak the language, but he would prefer to spend as little time with them and speaking it. This was just a one-time affair.

“One hour, I’ll see the both of you down in the Shuttle Bay,” Archer ordered, receiving two nods from them before entering his ready room.

Amocku Controlled Planet, Devenion, Ke’Kou’s House

With a simple wave of his hand, Selak shooed away the young man, his glass being taken with him. “I see you have an abundance of servants here. It must cost you a fortune to pay them all,” Selak joked, by then his two companions were accustom enough to his unusual behavior.

“Oh, hardly, my dear boy.” Ke’Kou laughed, he too waving away one of the other waiters. “That’s the great thing about the Delvian Slave Trade- you get twice the slaves for half the price!” Selak forced himself to smirk with the Governor’s amusement, Archer and Hoshi not able to hide their distain.

“And they are mostly obedient after they’re… properly trained. Hun, boy?” Ke’Kou continued on, taking the slave-boy by the collar of his shirt. His eyes looked only at Ke’Kou’s chest, no words coming to his mouth just as no fight was in his body.

“See what I mean?” It wasn’t until then that he noticed the looks he was getting from the two humans. “Oh, why those looks? You do not approve of the training?”

“Oh, hardly. They seem… well trained. It’s just-” he gestured to his Captain and Hoshi, “Human’s do not believe in slavery. It bothers them.”

“And you?” Ke’Kou leaned forward, intrigued by the young man. He could see the hatred in his eyes. It may have been hidden well, but it was there- covered over by his diplomatic approach and practiced acting. “Does it bother you?”

Selak smiled, leaning forward in an identical motion, his hands folded on the table. “Let’s just say… I don’t much care for those who choose to condone it.”

Selak leaned back, not missing the look of annoyance on the Governor’s face. Carefully, without drawing attention, he slid his hand into his pocket, slowly pulling it back out as he stood. Slipping a thin band around his finger, Selak approached Ke’Kou, he too standing.

“Well, I believe it is time for us to return to our ship.”

“So soon? I was just starting to have fun.”

“I apologize. But, we must be going.” There was no emotion in Selak’s voice as he replied to the Amocku’s complaint.

“Your mission, of course.”

Selak nodded, trying to look as if he were disappointed. Mimicking Ke’Kou, Selak copied the departing gesture effortlessly. “Thank-you again for all your help.” Ke’Kou nodded, a small smile on his face. In a split second, Selak’s grief disappeared. His left hand moved up, touching Ke’Kou’s bare bicep.

In an instant, his airway began to restrict. His confusion quickly turned to fear as the Amocku realized what was happening. It took less than twenty seconds for him to hunch over the table, his body efficiently void of oxygen.

“We should leave quickly,” Selak stated, turning and heading for the door.

Archer grabbed his arm, disbelief written clearly in his eyes. “You just-”

“I know what I did!” He yelled, his face only inches from Archer’s. “I may have just saved thousands of lives. Now, let’s move!”

Enterprise, Bridge

“They were my orders, Captain,” Selak stated as the two entered his ready room.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you killed a man. A potential ally.”

“Any ally of that man is no man I want to know.”

“I can see that, but you still haven’t-”

“In three years, Captain,” Selak interrupted, “he would have had two sons. Those sons would have begun the Amocku’s thirst for power. Their imperialisation would have changed to complete military dictatorship bent on gobbling up land and power. And not just in this area of the Expanse, but they would, eventually, become one of the largest powers in the Milky Way Galaxy. Challenged only by Earth and her allies.”

“So you killed him. Killed him so that his children, two boys that haven’t even been born, couldn’t create this so called empire?”

“I killed him in hopes that the war would be different. They’re a fascist, totalistic people. They spend every moment of their lives concentrated on domination after their planet was depleted of all natural resources. Eventually a dictator will rise and their people will still begin a war- that we know. It’s just that we hope that we’ll make it a little better.”

“And what if by eliminating these men, you’ve just opened the door for someone worse?”

“Then that’s our problem, isn’t it?” Selak turned, pausing for a moment before he finished. “We have ways of fixing these things. Don’t worry.”

“Just tell me it was worth it.”

Selak paused at the door, a PADD still behind his back. He turned, looking at Archer; it was apparent that he was in deep debate about what he was about to say.

Finally he seemed to make a decision. He stepped closer to Archer, who was now sitting in his chair, extending his hand. For a moment, Archer looked at the PADD, then at Selak, before he taking the device.

“I believe that T’Pol will find it… useful.”

“For what?”

“With this, I’m sure both she and Commander Tucker will be able to find a way to disable the spheres.”

“I’m not sure-”

“Even if you are able to destroy this weapon, Captain,” Selak continued as if he knew exactly what Archer was about to say. “There is no sure way to know it the Xindi will not make another. The only way to do that is to earn their trust, their friendship. Perhaps you will be able to prove to them how the transdimensional beings have manipulated you and them.”

“By destroying the spheres for them?”

“By keeping the aliens from destroying all the life in the Expanse- and by keeping the Expanse from consuming the rest of the galaxy.”

“And you think they’ll believe us?”

“I think that… that is your part of the mission. I helped the only way I can.” Archer nodded, looking down at the schematics on the PADD. “Am I dismissed?”

He looked up, trying to decide if he had anything further to say to the Vulcan. Instead, he just nodded, a silent thank-you hanging in the air. Selak turned, walking out the door in one swift motion, not unsure of his actions.

Enterprise, T’Pol’s Quarters

Trip spoke amicably about this and that, looking over his shoulder as T’Pol worked the neuronods in his shoulders and neck. He had been getting better over the past few days, improving as he continued his regular sessions with T’Pol and working hard to want to get better.

“Commander, are you implying that Lieutenant Shiva is attracted to Lieutenant Reed?” T’Pol asked, trying to look him in the eye as best she could. It never ceased to amaze her about the wealth of useless information Trip managed to collect.

“Hey, I’m just saying it like I heard it,” he protested, taking a sudden intake of breath as she put pressure on one of the more sensitive nods.

“Perhaps you should not be saying it at all,” T’Pol retorted.

“Whatever,” Trip said, his tone admitting his defeat.

A comfortable silence settled over the two. T’Pol merely continuing to focus on her work. But, for Trip, something kept nagging at him and he couldn’t decide whether or not he should talk to her about it. T’Pol, seeming to sense this, broke the silence by saying so.

“Ah, it’s nothin’, T’Pol. Just… thinkin’.”

“Turn,” she ordered, continuing to speak as he did such. “About what?” His embarrassed, shy look urged her to push the subject. “Perhaps talking about it would ease your mind.”

“I don’t think its somethin’ ya want t’ talk about,” he admitted, feeling the gentle pressure she applied to the front of his neck.

“How would you know if you do not ask?”

“I just know.” He looked up into her curious eyes, waiting for him to break and spill. In that moment, he recalled what Selak had said. He had been for the past week ignoring what the young Vulcan had told him, trying not to even think about it. But he knew it must be important if Selak had bothered to tell him.

Giving an exaggerated sigh, he finally said, “About… about yer little experiment.”

T’Pol’s eyebrow rose, interested in what else had been running through his mind. “And?”

“Just… I guess I had really been hopin’ that… we would of decided on something else than what we did.”

T’Pol thought about that for a moment, contemplating on what he meant. But she knew without the need to ask what he wanted. She starred at her hands as they moved over his skin, wishing desperately to hide her emotions from him before they welled up to the surface, as she feared they might.

Trip’s hands moved up to stop T’Pol’s progress, forcing her to look up at him. She knew from the look in his eyes that he wasn’t just finished with neuropressure for the night. His body shifted, allowing him to lean in closer and capture her lips with his. T’Pol’s hands broke free from his grasp, moving behind his neck and tangling themselves in his hair. His, too, began to roam her body as he hungrily kissed her.

As her lips brushed past his again, Trip suppressed a shutter of desire. And, for that moment, he was in paradise…

Enterprise, Selak’s Quarters

The boy starred up at him, fear etched in his eyes, as the crowd yelled and screamed and pounded their chests with their fists.

The blow struck across his face, knocking him to the ground- the soft sand lessening the impact but burning his skin from the heat it held.

Selak’s eyes opened with a jolt. With a deep breath, he blinked away the sweat that threatened to fall into his eyes. His breathing slowed, calming his raging heart, the sound echoing in his ears.

With a sigh, Selak turned onto his side, pulling his blanket up closer to his chin as if it could protect him from his dreams. Folding his body up into a ball, his body abandoned its mind, allowing a tear to slide down his cheek, a soft sob to be released from his lips.

He had wept for the memories before; cried over the futility of forgetting them and the pure thought that he had lived through them. He took a few calming breaths, trying to rid his mind of the memories, the thoughts he had desperately sought to forget.

But the thoughts would never go away. He knew they wouldn’t. They were things that had haunted his dreams for years; things that would continue to haunt him for the rest of his damned existence.

Enterprise, Engineering

“So, how are things going?” Selak asked, looking down at the monitor Trip was working on. They had been working for two days trying to find a way to integrate the weapon he had “borrowed” from the Amocku into the Enterprise’s systems.

“What things?”

“You know, you and T’Pol? You never mentioned how dinner was,” he teased, knowing that Trip was glaring at him, even without looking.

“Oh, um… things are goin’ well. Dinner was… nice and… oh, hell, will you stop smirking?” The southerner said, becoming flustered.

“Sorry,” Selak laughed, punching in a few last sequences.

“Why’s it so important fer… why did you bother t’ tell me?” Trip looked away from his work, focusing instead on the Vulcan.

“Because it’s very important that you have this child.”

“Why?”

Selak looked over at him. He sighed; would it really hurt to tell him? “Because… well… your son-”

“I’m gonna have a son?”

“A son and a daughter,” the Vulcan nodded with a soft smile. “The son first, though. And he will go on to get married, and so on and so forth until your great, great, great-”

“Great, great, thousand greats- I get the picture,” Trip interrupted, using his hand to demonstrate.

“Right, your great, great, great, grandson will be one of the most important, extremely pivotal diplomats involved with a cease-fire and an end to the war. And… his younger brother is… a very good friend of mine. He… helped with some stuff,” Selak admitted, turning back to his work.

Trip nodded, a smile creeping over his face. “I’m gonna have two kids?”

“You’re going to have a good life; you really are,” the Vulcan whispered. Clearing his throat, “We should get back to work. I think we’re close to having this compatible to the ship.”

“Right. Yeah, T’Pol and Malcolm’ll want t’ take a look, I’d imagine,” he muttered, going back to reading the data on the screen.

“Yeah, we can take it to them once we’re finished here.”

Enterprise, Bridge

“Captain, the sensors are picking up a ship of unknown configuration approaching our position,” Malcolm reported, looking up at his Captain as he spoke.

“How far away?”

Glancing down quickly, “14,000 kilometers.”

“Captain, they’re hailing us,” Hoshi stated. “Should I reply?”

Archer sighed, rising from his chair. “Might as well find out what they want and who they are. On screen.”

Almost immediately, Archer was starring at a man on the view screen. Looking him over quickly, Archer found that he couldn’t quite place the familiar looking alien- his blue scales coating over his neck and jaw line as well as his hands. The man ran a hand through his thick blonde hair, his movements tired and sluggish- it was obvious that the man hadn’t slept in days.

“Hello, my name is Captain Jonathan Archer of the starship Enterprise. And you are?”

The man tilted his head, mostly likely confused by his language. Archer looked to Hoshi, but she shrugged, she would need him to speak before she could try to figure out his language. “Uh, can you understand me?” Archer asked. “You’ll need to talk a little bit.”

The alien looked down at his console, pressing a few buttons before replying, “Now I understand. It takes time to translate. I am So’Fic, leader of this ship.”

Archer nodded, a small smile on his lips. “How can we help you?”

“We are very sick- my people have an illness. We… cannot treat it; do have a doctor? Can you help us?” The man asked, his voice pleading and desperate.

Archer looked in desperation towards his science officer, she was the best thing at the moment to a doctor. She merely arched an eyebrow, indicating that she hadn’t a clue what was wrong with them or if they could help.

“Well, we could try to help, but I can’t promise you anything. We’re not native to this region of space, we’re not familiar with any of the illnesses.”

“We… appreciate any assistance you can give,” So’Fic told them, bowing his head in a manner of thanking them.

“I will have to talk to my doctor, find out what he might be able to do. I’ll contact you soon,” Archer told him, a smile and nod the last thing he did before the view screen went blank. “Contact Phlox, tell him to meet me in my ready room.”

But, before Hoshi could respond, Selak announce, “That was a Gwri,” starring dumbfounded at the view screen, barely having walked out of the turbolift doors, Trip nearly walking right into him.

“I don’t know, he never said what his species was.”

“No, that was a Gwri,” Selak confirmed, turning to Archer. “We should leave now, before they have the chance to infect the crew,” Selak stated, gaining the attention of almost the entire bridge.

“We can’t just leave them to die,” Travis complained, looking back and forth between the Captain and Selak, not sure who he needed to convince.

“Well, it would sure make my job easier,” the Vulcan muttered, looking away from the group with indifference.

“Is that all you think about?” Trip spat at him, obviously disgusted with the young man. “Your mission and how to complete it?” Selak just glared at him, having nothing to say about it.

Well, if he were honest with himself, he had plenty to say. To retort hotly with how he had risked everything to return, how he was trying to make a better future for them and himself, how the first time through he had just screwed everything up.

But he said nothing, allowing instead for Trip to continue on with, “I thought I knew you, but the Selak I got to know would never want to leave them to die.”

Selak was barely able to hide his scowl. “In case you haven’t noticed, the Selak you befriended never existed.” With a sigh, he turned away. This wasn’t the time or place to explain temporal mechanics to the lost looking officers.

At that moment, Phlox made his entrance, looking around to find himself in the middle of a heated debate. “Um, Captain? You wanted to see me?”

“Yes, in my ready room. Trip, T’Pol, Selak, you too.”

The four followed Archer into the ready room, leaving Hoshi, Malcolm, and Travis to speculate on the outcome. With a quick explanation to Phlox about what happened, the doctor turned to Selak, asking, “You can’t honestly not want us to help them?”

“You can’t help them. This disease they have, that’s the second part of the weapon,” he complained, thankful in that moment that Captain Archer had taken the time nearly a week ago to brief the senior staff on him and his mission.

“Just because-”

“I’m saying THEY CAN’T BE HELPED!” Selak shouted, startling everyone in the room. “There is no cure for what they have.”

“Surely you must have come up with something if you used it,” Phlox commented, hoping that he wasn’t just saying it to force them to leave.

“No. There isn’t one. They tried, you tried, we tried. Hell, even our enemies tried. No one made one. There just… there isn’t a cure, there’s no way to help them. And no way to help yourselves if-”

Selak stopped abruptly, suddenly recalling what he had read about this virus. If they didn’t at least try to help, he would alter more than he’d like to admit. Whether or not he wanted to do extra work didn’t seem to really matter.

He took a deep breath, finishing. “Their entire race will be whipped out in a few months. That or enslaved. It’s pointless to try, but… guilty consciences are worse than a waste of time.”
Archer nodded, knowing immediately that he wasn’t telling them something. His cut off sentence excluded, his slumped shoulders and bowed head were proof of such.

“Very well. Doctor, I suggest you prepare Sickbay for their arrival.”

Phlox nodded, looking back at Selak before walking away. “Doctor. It’s spread through touch; it’s not airborne.” With only mute acknowledgment of his advice, Phlox left.

Archer caught Selak’s eye; his ethical side hadn’t fully collapsed after whatever had happened when he returned to the future, there was still something of him left in there, hopefully it would remain long enough to get through this.

Enterprise, Docking Port

Waiting outside the airlock, Archer looked over at Phlox. While the Captain may have been more than just simply nervous about the possibility of exposing his crew- as So’Fic assured him would not happen- Phlox seemed to be intrigued by this encounter. Almost as if invigorated by the chance to met a colleague and defeat a challenge.

The green light on the door release blinked on, alerting Archer that his guests were ready to enter. Taking a deep breath, he hit a red button, allowing the door to slide opened, revealing three Gwri. Looking them over, he could see that each of them was wearing the same tight, white uniforms, the sleeves stretching over their hands in a form of protective gloves, and masks placed firmly over their mouths.

The first male stepped forward, Archer needing a moment to identify him as So’Fic. “Captain Archer, I am glad to see you well.”

The Captain mimicked So’Fic’s slight bow, clearly a gesture of greeting. “So’Fic. This is my Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Phlox.” All three bowed to Phlox, showing their respect and greeting.

“My-- what you would call-- First Officer, Dan’At, and our ship’s doctor, Ken’Ara.”

The Denoblian smiled and nodded at her. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Since you won’t need these two in Sickbay immediately, Doctor, I thought they might enjoy a tour of the ship. If that’s of course all right with you two?”

“Of course. I would be most interested in seeing your ship; it seems… quite fascinating,” So’Fic responded, nodding his head vigorously at the idea.

“Very well then. Shall we start with the bridge?”

“I hope you do not mind missing the tour?” Phlox said once they were out of hearing range and the two were walking towards Sickbay.

“No. Engines and consoles and endless talk about weaponry hardly interests me. Oh no, the only part of this ship I want to see, is your Sickbay.”

“Well, I think I can manage that,” the doctor joked, just as he led her onto the turbolift.

Enterprise, Command Center

Trip glanced over at T’Pol, a soft smile playing on his lips as he saw her look at him. He was enjoying working side-by-side with her without interruptions, even if it had been tedious work until all the details had been smoothed over.

With a sigh, he finished the last of his calculations, letting his mind going back over them almost mechanically as he thought about everything going on in his life. ‘The Xindi, the weapon, trying to save Earth, and, oh yeah… I have to have a kid by the time I leave here. Not exactly the way I would have went for the family thing,’ he thought. But, he had to admit, it was intriguing to think about it. And who best to have a child with than T’Pol?

Trip cringed, trying hard not to laugh at the mental comment he had just made. Oh, if it had only been a year ago, maybe two, he would have laughed so hard at the thought. But, now standing there with her, he wasn’t so sure he wouldn’t enjoy it. He would at least give it a shot.

“Commander?”

“Yeah?” He looked over at her; she was standing with her body facing the many screens, but looking straight at him.

“I was wondering… if you still intended on coming every night for neuropressure, considering your increased in ability to sleep on your own.”

Trip smiled. Always the Vulcan. But, he had to admit, his sleeping was better and he really hadn’t needed so much neuropressure half the time any more. It was just, well he liked being in her company… and there was still that little matter of, well…

Putting on a sly smile, he prayed that no one would feel the urge to walk in the room at that moment. “Well, it’s not like we have to do neuropressure,” he drawled, seeing the corners of her lips twitch with amusement.

Moving a little closer, though not enough to be touching her, he half-whispered, “There are many other interesting things we can do-”

“So, Tr-” Selak began, interrupting Trip before he could finish. “Oh, sorry, am I interrupting something?” Selak smirked, stepping inside the command center only to see Trip quickly moving away from T’Pol.

“Hardly.”

The younger Vulcan shrugged off the coldness in her voice, hoping that it was merely her being Vulcan- or just annoyed at being seen. “How are you coming along?”

“Not bad, but we keep running into a small problem with power fluctuations in the manifolds,” Trip explained, Selak not missing the small blush that was slowly receding from his face.

“Archer to T’Pol,” suddenly boomed over the comm.; T’Pol moving to activate the link.

“T’Pol here.”

“T’Pol, could you come up to the Bridge? The Gwri have some technical questions, I think they’d sound better coming from you.”

“On my way, Captain.” With a last, quick glance at the two engineers- who were watching her with mild interest- she deactivated the comm. link and walked out.

“The manifolds, huh?” Selak asked as if nothing had happened, suddenly looking up at the screens.

“Yeah,” the engineer nodded absent-mindedly.

“It’s a simple matter of re-routing the EPS conduits here into the deflector to keep it from overloading. Then you reduce the power to the impulse engines and take the warp engines off-line. Engineering 101.”

Trip starred blankly at the Vulcan, shaking his head at the manner-o-factly tone he spoke in. “Yeah, in a couple hundred years from now, sure.”

“What are you talking about? The procedure was invented… it’s invented this year,” he said ruefully, looking as if he was going to slam his head on the console.

“So, I’ll learn it when I get back,” he teased, not noticing the frustrated look on Selak’s face.

“No, you don’t get it… it was in one of your reports.”

“Okay, so I would have thought it up in a couple of days. Big deal, you’ll just give me a jumpstart.”

“No, I doubt it. Oh! I can’t believe this!” He muttered to himself.

“What?”

“I’m teaching myself how to do this!” He moaned. Then, taking a deep breath, he turned to see Trip in utter confusion.

“Sorry? You’ve lost me.”

“Ever heard of a predestination paradox?”

“A what?”

“You do know what a paradox is, don’t you?”

“Yeah, it’s when… well, a, um… a cycle or something?” Trip tried to pull out the right words to explain what he meant, all the while trying to drag his mind are the possibility that the theories were real.

“It’s when the effect causes the cause,” the Vulcan stated easily; Trip just gave him a blank look. “Ok, it’s when event A happens, which causes effect B, which in turn causes event A. And so on. It never ends until an outside force makes it.”

“Right. So what’s a predist-”

“Predestination paradox. That’s a paradox when… a person, say 28 year years old, is in Time A and causes events that will eventually lead up to Time B, when he’s born. Then, Time C is when this person is 28 and goes back in time.”

“So, you being here is causing… what?”

“Who know? Issues?” Selak shrugged, turning back to the console with a sigh.

But Trip was still wrapped up in the paradox his friend was supposedly in. “So, what happens after Time C?”

“What do you mean?”

“You go back in time to A. But what happens after C? Or is it A?”

“Well,” Selak said with a sigh, looking periodically up at the screen as he typed. “Assuming that the time-traveler doesn’t die in the past, he or she will be brought back to the future minutes or days after Time C, which, for me, will technically be an alternate dimension because of the changes I caused. So, it’s really perspective that decides which ‘Time’ period it falls under. The time-traveler will see it as Time A, because that’s where they just were. The others that bring him back, will see it as Time C, because that’s the time that just passed for them.”

“Ah, I think I get it.”

“Good, then let’s get to work. See if you get this.”

Enterprise, Sickbay

“May I ask you something?” Phlox asked Ken’Ara as they walked through the corridor to Sickbay, having paused a moment to introduce the Gwri doctor to a few of the Humans.

“If you like.”

Both doctors looked at each other, Phlox intrigued by the mask she wore- one that was simply placed on her face with no sign of straps or attachments. “I have been told that this… disease is transmitted through tactical contact, not-”

“You wish to know why we wear the masks?” she interrupted, a soft smile playing on her hidden lips. She sighed, shrugging. “We know that they only way to spread it is to touch people, that is why we wear these suits. But the masks make others feel better- safer.”

Phlox nodded in understand, walking on in silence. “But, if you know of these precautions, then how did it spread so much?”

“We did not always know of it. Before, it spread like wildfire. It took us doctors years to find merely what caused it to spread- not what started it or how to stop it. I do hope you can help.”

Phlox nodded, only able to think of Selak’s warning. “I do as well. Well, here we are,” he announced, stopping to allow Ken’Ara inside.

She walked in, halting in awe of the Infirmary. “Wow, it’s… bigger than I thought!”

“Yes, it is a larger Sickbay than most ships have,” Phlox agreed, letting her move around in awe, taking in all the monitors and so forth.

With a sigh, she pulled herself out of her stupor, taking out what appeared to be a PADD from her pocket. “Well, we should get down to work, I guess.”

Phlox nodded. “First, could I ask exactly how this disease works? I mean, you have it correct? But you have no symptoms.”

“Yes, mostly all the Gwri carry it. It has spread completely through our solar system. But it doesn’t immediately kill you. It will lie dormant in your system for sometime. But it varies from person to person; some take years before symptoms appear and they die, others it is simply a matter of days.”

“And, because so few knew they had it at first, it was easily able to spread without anyone knowing it,” the doctor deduced.

“Exactly.”

“And the symptoms. What are they exactly?”

Ken’Ara turned slowly, looking him directly in the eye as she spoke. “The disease is constantly wearing away the lining in the lungs- whether slowly or quickly, it depends on the person. But, eventually, the blood will start to fill the lungs in, causing the person to have shortness of breath and blood loss do to internal bleeding. Then, ultimately, they will choke on their our blood. It’s a horrible way to die; I’ve already seen my fair share of it. The children are the worst.”

Phlox nodded, choking back tears. He couldn’t imagine what it must be like to know that that was how you were going to die. Especially for a child to know, and understand, such a thing. “Then, um… we should get working.”

Enterprise, Captain’s Ready Room

Archer smiled lightly at So’Fic, finding that he truly did enjoy the man’s company. It with his First Officer that he found hard to deal with. The younger man was quiet and suspicious, not all together bad but he was also curt, arrogant, and narcissistic.

Walking into his Ready Room, Dan’At followed as the two Captains talked, not at all impressed by anything they said, did, or that he was shown.

“Then our missions are not far from each other. You are trying to save your world and people from annihilation from another force, whereas we are trying to save our people and culture from a disease. We have more in common than I at first thought.”

Archer nodded. “Yes, but it has not been an easy mission. Already we’ve lost many of our crew; and our ship has been damaged quiet severely.”

“Yes, we noticed when we first encountered your ship. But you seem to be holding well together,” So’Fic observed, the other Gwri all but forgotten.

“There are a few things we could use, but we get what we can and work with it.”

“In exchange for all the help you’ve given us, it would only be fair of us to give whatever we can spare to help your ship.” Archer looked up sharply at So’Fic’s generous offer. Then he smiled and nodded.

“Please, see to what they need, Dan’At.” The young Gwri, trying hard not to huff at So’Fic’s order, turned quickly and marched off.

“No offense, but Dan’At seems a little, um… insolent.”

“He is young and eager, and too much like my brother: headstrong and stubborn,” So’Fic replied, watching the door the young man just exited with a sigh.

“I take it he’s your nephew?” The Gwri looked at Archer, his face rattled with confusion. “Oh, uh… your brother’s son?”

“Yes. I have looked after him the past few cycles… after both his parents died.” Archer just nodded, assuming that he was speaking of their disease. “Sometimes I think he forces his grief into anger, aiming it at whomever crosses his path.”

“It’s a hard thing to live with. You can’t really blame him.”

“No… I just wish he’d learn to express it differently.”

Archer nodded mutely, looking away from So’Fic. “Perhaps we should check on the doctors’ progress.”

Enterprise, T’Pol’s Quarters

Trip worked the neuronods on T’Pol’s neck, enjoying the relief and pleasure he knew she derived from it. She sat with her back to his, speaking softly to him as he worked. Some was instructions, most was merely light conversation between the two.

Trip leaned closer, pressing his lips to her skin, his thumbs still applying gentle pressure to the areas she instructed him on. He knew that she would protest to his contact, probably shoo him away as they worked, but he enjoyed doing it anyway. Call it simple Human pleasure.

That or he just liked to have her scold him.

“Commander.”

“Trip,” he insisted, lightly placing kisses along her neck.

“Trip,” the word came out of her mouth without thought as she moaned softly in pleasure. “We should be… concentrating.” He had to smile at her attempt to make him stop but she was enjoying the contact too much to truly do anything about it.

“All we do is work all day,” Trip complained, his hands moving down her bare back, his lips absorbing her sweet taste. “Can’t we just… play once in a while?”

T’Pol’s head lolled back, resting on his shoulder. Her eyes closed, letting him indulge. Perhaps now and then, she could agree to the indulgence. It may not have been a very Vulcan perspective but she was finding herself- whether to her dismay or delight, she did not know- more and more Human every day.

Enterprise, Captain’s Ready Room

“Captain’s Log, January 14, 2154.

“Even with the combined efforts of Dr. Ken’Ara and Dr. Phlox, I’m afraid we have come no closer to solving the puzzle than Selak said we would. Ah well, it’s only been four days- I have plenty of faith in our doctor to help. I’m only afraid of what this pause will do to our mission.

“I guess that’s what Selak’s weapon is for- I just hope he’s right and we can get the Xindi to believe us. Well, that is if we can get the device to work. So far the three of them have been at a dead end. Though they assure me the theory works, it’s instituting it and making absolute sure that it doesn’t destroy the ship that is the problem.

“Let’s just hope they get it to work. Otherwise, who knows what might happen?

“Computer, pause log.” Archer sighed, looking back down at his dog. “What do you think, Porthos?” The small dog barked, remaining on his padded bed. “That’s what I thought. We’ll get through this, we always seem to manage, don’t we?”

Enterprise, Sickbay

“Ah, Lieutenant Selak. To what do I owe this pleasure?” Phlox inquired as Selak walked in.

The Vulcan looked over at the physician; he was still sitting at his console presumably working on the Gwri’s disease. Apparently Ken’Ara already returned to her ship. All the better. “Well, I have a favor to ask.”

Phlox smile diminished slightly, but not significantly enough to notice. Standing, he walked closer to the young man, Selak obviously nervous or embarrassed about asking it. “What is it that you need?”

“Well, um, you see… this is kind of hard to explain. If you were to scan me, I have, um… a small device implanted just under my right ear,” he informed the doctor, showing him the small, three centimeter scar he bore from it.

“May I assume that you want it removed?” The Denoblian asked, already intrigued at its function and why, if it was there, the Vulcan would want it removed.

“Yes.”

“Can I ask why?”

“It, um… it’s hard to explain. I just need it removed.”

“Can’t the doctor’s in your time do that once you get back?” Phlox inquired, leading him over to one of the biobeds.

“Well, they can, but they won’t. Starfleet, in my time, thinks it’s safer to leave it in.”
“Then should I be taking it out?” He paused, halting his movements before he was even able to take a scan of Selak.

“Yes, it’s safe for me to have it removed. At least it should be. As long as you have the ability to safely remove it. They’re worried about themselves. War makes people paranoid. That or insane and many angry. But they’re mostly paranoid though.”

“And you?” Phlox asked as he scanned the area Selak had mentioned, curiously enough finding the object he had been told about. The device had been implanted into the nervous system; it would be tricky but not impossible to do it. Selak would be in Sickbay recovering for a while, though.

“Paranoid? Damn straight. Angry, not any more. Not really… actually, I probably am more than I’ll admit. But insane…” he laughed, Phlox not knowing why that would be funny. “Depends on who you talk to. Actually, my medical files say I am, but ‘mentally fit enough to operate under the stressful conditions of war’. Load of bullshit is what it all is.”

Phlox nodded. He had seen the effects of war; they weren’t pretty. “Well, I think I can remove it, but it’s embedded in your nervous system, it might take a while for you to recover.”

“That’s what I thought,” he said, pulling something from his pant pocket. “This is a dermal regenerator, it heals the skin completely. And this will allow you to repair any damaged or severed nerves. They’re very easy to operate.”

Phlox looked down in awe at the devices, taking them from the Vulcan with curiosity. “Just remember I’ll be erasing their existence from your memory in a little while.”

“Of course. Should we start now?”

Selak nodded. “Yeah, let’s get this over with.”

Gwri Ship

“This ship is perfect. It’s large and fast and has adequate weapons. Fic, this is what we’ve been looking for,” Dan’At urged his uncle, practically begging the man as So’Fic put away the dishes they had used to eat.

“You are willing to attack the only ship that will give us aid, At?” So’Fic inquired, his voice cold, hard.

“They give us aid out of pity. With their ship, we can aid our own. Fic, do you think they would not do the same in our position?”

So’Fic regarded Dan’At closely, trying to decide what his true motives might be. He was a loyal officer, and his nephew, b

Gwri Ship

“This ship is perfect. It’s large and fast and has adequate weapons. Fic, this is what we’ve been looking for,” Dan’At urged his uncle, practically begging the man as So’Fic put away the dishes they had used to eat.

“You are willing to attack the only ship that will give us aid, At?” So’Fic inquired, his voice cold, hard.

“They give us aid out of pity. With their ship, we can aid our own. Fic, do you think they would not do the same in our position?”

So’Fic regarded Dan’At closely, trying to decide what his true motives might be. He was a loyal officer, and his nephew, but he was a fool- he was young and inexperienced. Slowly, he made up his mind- his head deliberately shaking.

“No, At, it is not worth it. If they help us, it will be greater than any retribution you can imagine. We cannot be rash.”

“And what if they cannot help. Our people have been trying to work on it for years. Decades. They have come up with nothing,” the young man spat, fuming at his uncle’s reluctance to do anything. He was an old man, he could not understand what Dan’At knew was right.

So’Fic sighed. What if they couldn’t help? They were dying, that wouldn’t change without help. But, resolved in his answer, he shook his head firmly. “No. You will do nothing to provoke them, At, do you understand?”

With a curt nod, Dan’At left, clearly fuming. So’Fic just sighed and shock his head. Dan’At may be a good officer but he was sometimes too eager to fight, even those who do not threaten him.

Enterprise, Sickbay

“How’s it coming?” Archer asked as he escorted So’Fic into the Sickbay.

So’Fic, who had never entered the facility before, looked around in amazement at such a place on a starship before even noticing the doctors. He walked up to Ken’Ara, knowing full well what the half-frown on her face meant.

“I’m afraid we are getting nowhere. Dr. Phlox has added some interesting insights, but nothing more than that unfortunately,” the Gwri announced sadly, looking to both ships’ commanders as she spoke.

“Captain, this would take my entire life of complete attention to even start to find a cure. There simply is not enough time or the resources to do much anything else,” Phlox admitted, his tone unusually defeated.

Archer sighed, he had truly hoped that Selak was wrong, that they would manage someway to change just that much of the timeline. But, perhaps, it just wasn’t meant for these people to live.

But why? Why such a waste of talent and life? Why kill so many of these innocent people?

He looked hopelessly from Phlox, to Ken’Ara, then to So’Fic- somehow thinking it might suddenly inspire them to create the cure. But he had no such luck.

“Very well, Doctor, we tried. Trip and T’Pol won’t have completed their installation of the weapon just yet, we might not have to leave for another day or two. It might possibly be worth while to continue your research, if of course the two of you are up to it.”

Phlox just nodded obediently at his Captain, his eyes saddened with the grief of his defeat as he turned back to the console he had tirelessly worked at for the past few days.

“Fic… I’ll stay here for a little while longer, then return to the ship,” Ken’Ara told her Captain, the weight of her defeat showing.

Archer watched the sad exchanged, realizing that they spoke with more intimacy than he had noticed before; they sounded more like he and Trip then a Captain and his subordinate. Perhaps that was because they weren’t a military ship, run with rules and regulations but, instead, refugees searching hopelessly for a cure to their certain death.

“Well, I should return to the ship. Thank-you, Dr. Phlox, for your effort,” So’Fic said with a slight bow. Phlox just gave a small smile, matching the bow- he hadn’t a clue what to say to a man who had just lost his last hope of life. Of survival…

Enterprise, T’Pol’s Quarters

Trip let out a low moan, turning onto his side as he tried to get comfortable. Cracking his eyes opened, he was surprised to see… what? Something was definably wrong with the picture he was seeing. First off being that he wasn’t in his room… definably not his room.

Suddenly, the events of the past few hours came rushing back to him. With a soft chuckle, he recalled why he felt so sore that morning. Collapsing back onto the bed, he sighed, closing his eyes again.

But a quiet noise kept managing to annoy him just enough to keep him away. With a groan, he turned back onto his side, reaching out to find… nothing. His eyes opened once again, Trip finally taking the time to look around himself. She was nowhere to be found.

Listening harder, the engineer finally realized what the noise was: the water to the shower was running. Pushing himself up, he hung his legs over the bed, allowing the pads of his feet to touch the floor. Standing, Trip draped the bed sheet around his waist, not entirely sure why he was covering himself.

Padding across the floor, he was surprised to find the door to her bathroom opened, the shower running, steam filling the room in a heavy fog. A smile settled on his lips as he leaned against the doorway.

Even inside the blurred, semi-translucent walls, Trip was still able to make out her body easily. To see the delicate curves of her well-toned body. Suddenly, the water stopped, T’Pol stepping out, Trip now able to see her more clearly.

Meeting her eye, he noticed that she looked shocked, but only for a moment. She wasn’t angry with him, far from it. Trip looked away, knowing that the towels-- or at least his-- were right near the wall he was standing next to. But he never got the chance to even hand her one.

Her wet hand settled on his check, his neck turning so that he could look at her. Trip’s hand halted immediately once he felt her lips against his. She seemed to melt against him, the warm water still glistening on her skin, getting Trip’s own chest wet.

Her hand snaked around him, pulling off the sheet, simply allowing it to fall to the ground as she pulled Trip away from the door.

Gwri Ship

“How are Ken’Ara and the Enterprise’s doctor doing? Have they found a cure?”

So’Fic looked to his young nephew with a sad smile. “No further progress. I’m starting to loose hope that they can help us at all. Perhaps we have wasted enough of their time; we should move on somewhere else, leave these people to go on with their journey.”

Dan’At scowled at his uncle when the man had turned his back to him. He couldn’t believe that he would so easily disregard an opportunity to save them all. But then, he had already shot down his last plan. Not that that would stop him from bringing it up again.

“Fic, I have discussed the matter with the rest of the crew. Most believe that I am right; that my course of action is the best and only way,” Dan’At informed his uncle.

So’Fic turned to regard his nephew, the younger Gwri standing with more arrogance than he had ever thought to associate with Dan’At. “What matter do you speak of?”

“The Enterprise.”

“Not that foolish nonsense again. I have already told you it is not an option.” With that, he turned away- no desirer to discuss is farther.

“I’m sorry you feel that way.”

Before the older Gwri could turn to question the man’s wording, he found himself dropping to the ground. His lungs burned and his trachea felt as if it had closed itself. Choking in air, he fought to breath, trying to get Dan’At to help him.

But his nephew just stood above him, watching with indifference as his uncle died. “I’m in charge now,” he whispered, smiling as if insane. “Good-bye, Fic.”

So’Fic tried to reach out to him, to grab him and stop him. To, in some insane way, help himself. But he only succeeded in falling onto his stomach, his eyes glazing over as unconsciousness took him.

Enterprise, Bridge

“Dan’At!” Archer greeted, a sad smile on his face.

“Our doctor has just returned, she reports that you are unable to create a cure for us.”

“We’re sorry, Dan’At, but it’s not something that our doctor can help you with. At least not here with our limited resources. When we return home, there might be a way to help but-”

“By then we may all be dead,” Dan’At complained. “Are you sure you cannot help us?”

“Not now.”

“Then we have no more use for you,” he said, turning away.

“What are you talking-”

“So’Fic is dead,” he hissed, spinning around to see the Human Captain. “He was killed by my hand. The crew is loyal to me. I am Captain now. You’re crew is no longer necessary to me and my people. You will stand down and allow us to board your ship, and we will spare your lives.”

“We can’t do that, Dan’At, and you know it,” Archer retorted, now standing in front of the screen.

“Then I can’t be held responsible for those who die.” The screen went blank, switching to a view of space and the Gwri ship.

“Sir, weapons fire detected in Engineering and related decks!” Malcolm warned.

Archer ordered, sitting back down in his chair. If they wanted his ship, they weren’t getting it easily. “Tactical Alert. Malcolm, get your teams and the MACOs down there.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Captain.”

Archer nearly jumped at the voice, looking behind him, he found Malcolm pausing at the turbolift, looking around to make sure Dan’At wasn’t on the Bridge.

“My men and I have taken over Engineering and the surrounding area. We have some of your men prisoner. If you try to send security down here, we will kill them. All of them.”

“What do you want, Dan’At? Why are you doing this?” Archer hissed, looking at the Gwri on the large view screen.

Laughter ran out through the Bridge. Archer didn’t find anything about Dan’At’s situation amusing. “I thought that would be obvious. I want this ship. It’s as simple as that. We’ll let your crew have ours; or we can resettle you somewhere. I don’t really care.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I’m quite serious, Captain,” Dan’At retorted, a sick smile plastered over his features as he paced through Engineering. “You will give me control of your ship, or I will kill off your crew one by one.”

“You wouldn-”

“I will,” he said, pulling off his glove deliberately slowly. “You know, every day I wake and wonder, who died in the night? How many crewmen- how many friends- will I discover died that night? That morning. How many of the people I work with that day will die? Will I? Do you know how that feels?”

“I can imagine,” Archer tried to say, only to be cut off by Dan’At.

“No, no I don’t think you can. But I’m going to show you. Look around this room, Captain. We have at least twenty of your officers. One of them is about to be condemned to death,” he said, gesturing with his bare hand to the Engineers seated on the floor. They were all visibly tense- some for themselves, most for their friends.

“Which shall it be? The Chief Engineer?” He asked, stepping towards Trip, looking over at Archer’s reaction. Trip was his best friend, a good friend and officer. “No… no, not yet. Or this one; the quiet one.” Archer followed his gaze to find Selak at the receiving end. He may not know the young man well, but he did respect him. The Vulcan just starred back at Dan’At, impassively. He had face death too many times to really care.

“No. It wouldn’t be any fun. How about her? Or him? Or that one?” Archer’s eyes followed each jerk, each gesture, as Dan’At picked out his target. Flinching as he looked at one of his officers. He knew them all, some better than others. All were good officers; all were loyal, they just wanted to save their planet. They had nothing to do with Dan’At’s twisted revenge.

But then the man stopped, smiling down at one of the Engineers. Kneeling, Archer was able to see that it was Lieutenant Clark. She had been with them since the beginning, served under Trip and Archer since their mission to Kronos.

Dan’At’s bare hand rose, reaching up to touch her face. Even from the view screen, Archer could see her flinch; the rumors and gossip had gotten around quickly at who these people were. She knew quite well that she would die if he touched her.

Carefully, the Gwri pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, his hand just brushing her pale skin. The man looked at her, easily seeing the fear in her eyes. “I am truly sorry.” With that, his hand stroked her cheek.

He stood quickly, looking away from the officer, Lieutenant Clark near tears in fear. She seemed to already have trouble breathing- that or she was just nervous and afraid.

Archer starred, half-impassively, half-shocked at what he had just witnessed. “It is your fault, Captain Archer. I already said I am not responsible for those who die. You are. You drove me to this. When she dies, it was your fault.”

“I didn’t give her a disease. You did,” Archer hissed, now showing his anger.

Dan’At just shock his head. “You made me. Now, call back your people. Tell them to stand down and give up your ship. I will ask this one last time.”

Archer looked over the people under guard. He couldn’t just let them die; he couldn’t allow Dan’At to kill off his people to be one by one. He needed a plan; he needed to figure something out.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Captain. You’ve run out of thinking time. I need an answer.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll tell my men to stand down.”

Dan’At smiled. “Very good, Captain. Very good. But I’m afraid, you’re reluctance means two more will die. And, if you do now make good on your word… I will kill more.”

Archer gawked at the man: he couldn’t be serious. He couldn’t be that heartless. “Which will it be this time, Captain? It is your choice. You pick who dies.”

Archer starred at him in disgust. He couldn’t pick a man to die at random if it was a Xindi, much less one of his own crew. And now he was being asked to do just that… only twice.

Dan’At smiled at his opened mouth and reluctance to speak. “Can’t decide. Oh, well. I’ll do it for you.”

Again, he surveyed those around him, picking out his prey, jokingly teasing the Captain as he decided. Kneeling next to two men, he looked at them more closely. Reaching out his hand, the first tensed, trying to move away from him only to find his back against the wall. Dan’At stroked his cheek, quickly turning to the man next to him, touching him and standing.

Turning to look at Archer, he spat, “You have one hour to order your men to stand down and go to the cargo bay. My men will guard the entrance. Don’t try anything; you won’t succeed.”

Archer wasn’t given time to answer before the screen went blank…

Enterprise, Deck 5

Malcolm watched from the Jeffries Tube as officers walked in groups toward the Cargo Bay. The Captain was trying to appease Dan’At… to a point. Only a few MACOs and Security Officers would be going there, none of the bridge crew was.

They’d pretend to cooperate, of course, but Malcolm and his team had been ordered to attack the corridors just outside Engineering, moving in to take out Dan’At himself. If all went well, they would easily retake control of the ship.

The only problem was… plans rarely went according to plan. Almost never.

But, he could hope. He had to hope it would work or all those lives in Engineering were lost. Three already were.

Malcolm sighed, there were the last of the bunch he had been assigned to watch. They were on their way and he had to be on his. Turning around, he crawled into the tube, followed closely by one of his men and a MACO.

‘Well, here goes nothing’.

Enterprise, Engineering

Dan’At watched with a scowl as his men pulled the three Starfleet officers away from the others. It wasn’t as if he really cared if they all got infected, he just… well, he really didn’t know why he was bothering. Perhaps to make them more comfortable, all of them not just the dying.

But that was the thing, they were already dying. Well, so was he, just very slowly. They were going very quickly. Already their lungs were filling with blood. Already they were gasping for air that, soon, they wouldn’t be able to get. Very soon he would find himself with three dead bodies. And, no matter what he had said to Archer, he was still responsible.

He hadn’t expected this. For Humans to be so… receptive. So fragile. To die so quickly. He had hoped that they would go slowly, suffer with the knowledge that they would die, that they would be isolated from their people to protect the others. To know that, one day, they would suddenly die.

Or at least to have them die slowly in his presence. He had hoped to mock them, to see their fear as they realized the end of their lives was soon. But, no. Instead he looked at them and saw himself. Saw his mother and father. Saw all his friends that had gone before him. All those that will go before long. He couldn’t even speak to them.

What had he done? He just killed three people… and for what? For fun? He killed his uncle. For what? Why? Because he hadn’t boarded a ship that had taken its time in a futile effort to save them?

What was wrong with him?

His gaze roamed over the room, falling on the quiet, young man. He seemed much more calm than the others. He gave them all credit- they were professional, hiding their nervousness and fears. But him, that man was like a blank slate. He said nothing, did nothing. He just starred very calmly at the wall.

He had seen him once before when he came to the ship. The young man had such old eyes. Such an old soul. It made him curious. He wanted to know more about the man. That could be his fun. If he couldn’t make himself taunt the dying crewmen, then he would have his fun with the young man. It could prove interesting.

He looked back down at the knife he held in his hand. He sighed, it was true he only used it for rituals, but he could make an exception if he wanted. A wicked smile grew over his face, his only thought, ‘Yes, truly interesting.’

Enterprise, Deck 8

Malcolm watched through the small slits in the cover. He nearly smiled when they had bypassed their hideout for the fifth time. These guys definably weren’t professionals; in fact they had little idea of what they were doing at all. All the better for Malcolm. They’d never expect Malcolm and his team.

Silently, Malcolm gestured for the MACO to move to the next exit where he could easily take out the third man. He nodded, crawling away without making a sound.

His gaze switched from the retreating man to the three Gwri outside. Mostly they just stood there, guarding the corridor. If they could get through them, they could easily get to Engineering. And getting through them, at that moment, was looking pretty easy.

Holding up his hand, he showed three fingers, making sure that both Sergeant Anthony and Ensign Matthews could see. He counted down, putting down one finger, then the second. His last finger went down, simultaneously he mouthed “GO!”.

The Sergeant kicked open the door, drawling the attention of the Gwri. Malcolm heard his phase rifle fire and one of the aliens grunt in surprise and pain.

Taking that as his cue, Malcolm kicked open the grate in front of him, rolling out and firing up at the Gwri, all of whom turned in shock. He watched as he hit one of the alien’s square in the chest as he rolled into the wall for cover.

But nothing happened to the alien, he just stood straighter and started firing at them. The Brit stared in surprise, glancing over at Matthews who had met a similar problem. Anthony, unfortunately, was having a tougher time considering he had nowhere to hide. Almost immediately he was shot, knocked unconscious… or dead.

Malcolm looked away, trying not to dwell on it. Looking them over, Malcolm remembered something he and Selak had talked about. Their scales kept them protected from many weapons… but they didn’t have any on their stomachs.

Aiming lower, he hit the first in his navel. The alien doubled over, falling to the ground. Seeing what he did, Matthews shot the second, this time having better success as the Gwri crumpled over, stunned. But, before either could fire at the third, he ducked behind the bulkhead, firing at them.

Malcolm barely noticed Matthews fall into him as he dodged the shots. For a moment, Malcolm was pinned down by the alien’s weapon fire. He wasn’t even able to move without the Gwri firing at him.

Looking over at where Anthony had fallen, he noticed- with a shock- that the body wasn’t there anymore. Looking quickly around, he couldn’t find the MACO anywhere. It wasn’t until he heard a loud shout that he saw him.

Grabbing the Gwri’s weapon, Anthony was trying to disarm him, kicking the alien hard in the stomach in the process. Malcolm took his chance, aiming carefully at the Gwri’s side. With a soft grunt, the alien went limp, falling to the ground as Anthony let him go.

Malcolm sighed, straightening. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Enterprise, Engineering

“Your species is different from the others.”

Selak looked up at the Gwri, having trouble seeing him from his position on the ground. Around him, seven armed guards were patrolling the area, some guarding the doors. Dan’At himself had been keeping an eye on the small Engineering team that they had taken prisoner.

“What are you called?” Selak said nothing, mostly satisfying an uncontrollable impulse to not answer questions even of such a simple content. “Quiet are we? I asked you a question, you will answer.” When he didn’t, he received a swift kick in the side, luckily it was his uninjured side.

With hardly even a flinched, Selak looked away from the Gwri, knowing it would probably anger him more.

“Remove your shirt.”

Selak’s head snapped around to look at Dan’At from his spot on the ground. He knew that, to a Gwri, it was a revealing request. They were a very modest people, mostly only exposing their feet, hands, and neck and head. To remove an article of clothing was embarrassing and not publicly done.

He starred up at Dan’At, trying to find his motive. When he didn’t find one, he couldn’t help but become more confused and reluctant to do as he said. Not only for that, but for reasons of a more personal nature, something he wished his audience not to know.

“Disrobe.” This time Dan’At’s voice was harsh, more forceful… more dangerous. But it was nothing Selak hadn’t been through before. After only a moment of though, Selak gave up. There was no reason, none noticeable, to ignore him.

Slowly, almost menacingly, he stood. Selak’s eyes never wavered from Dan’At, never broke contact with the man, as his body straightened. Slowly, he drew his body to full height, only for the purpose of intimidating the young man, for he stood an inch or so taller than him.

“Selak, ya don’t have to do this,” Trip protested, trying to stand and pull him back down, though he knew it was unwise.

But Dan’At’s shoe caught him in the chest, knocking him to the ground, out of breath. “Stay down.”

“Please, Commander, I am hardly a stranger to pain and humiliation.” Selak’s hand reached up to his left shoulder as he spoke. Without looking, he quickly unstrapped the buckles, letting the material fold over slightly. Then he moved to undo the other two, those under his arm.

The chest of his jacket slipped away, leaving little, but some, skin showing. With a simple shake of his shoulders and the help of his hands, Selak pulled off the leather-like material, letting it fall to the ground at his feet.

Trip watched in anticipation, having righted himself and caught his breath by then. He waited for something to happen, anything. He waited for Selak to lash out or to cease the game Dan’At had began. For Dan’At to hit him- to do something, to explain himself. To use the knife he was so fondly eyeing earlier… the one he still hung on his belt.

But nothing happened…

Trip looked at Selak’s face, calm and composed as any Vulcan might look. He took off his shirt as easily and indifferently as Trip might take off his socks in the privacy of his own room. But then, he knew nothing about what Vulcan’s thought about nudity- what the future thought of it. Perhaps, to Selak, it was as simple as taking off a pair of socks.

Trip’s eyes moved to Dan’At. He just stood there, starring at Selak as if he would explode at any moment. Trip turned away, focusing, instead, on Selak. From his spot on the floor, his eye quickly caught a thick scar on the Vulcan’s left bicep. It wasn’t too long but the look of it was enough for Trip to decide that it must have hurt like hell when he got it.

His eyes moved away, looking at his chest- gently rising and falling in a slow, rhythmic pattern. He had no fear of this man, no shame in his partial-nudity. He just stood there as stiffly and rigidly as he would if an Admiral had merely asked him to stand at attention.

That was when he noticed the thick, black design- a tattoo- drawn on his left pectoral. Trip’s eyes took it in, following the lines and loops creating the pattern. A familiar pattern- one Trip vaguely recognized, but couldn’t remember where he had seen it before.

His attention was soon caught by many other things- most much more prominent than the simple scar on his arm. He could see many other, similar scars on his stomach and chest as the one on his bicep. He counted at least twenty, if not more.

Large welts distorted his back, the skin marked and scared in V-like shapes. Old burns were evident, discoloration in some places- a darker or lighter green than the bronze of his skin. Even his chest- from what Trip could see- had similar discoloration, old burns healed to noticeable scars.

Trip’s eyes moved up, trying to get his attention, but Selak’s eyes had never faltered from Dan’At’s harsh face, cold yet shocked by what he saw. Trip- giving up on that endeavor- glanced over his body, taking in the many physical scars he had- it barely went to tell about the extent of the mental and emotional scars he had. No wonder his eyes had looked so haunted when he returned. He was no longer trying to suppress the memories, the emotions, and the pain from them anymore.

“You… you were a prisoner of the Amocku?” Trip’s head shot over to look at Dan’At, in his confusion he missed the amusement in the Gwri’s voice.

“I was.” Selak, however, did not. He may have been annoyed at him pointing out such a fact but it hardly bothered him, he had come to peace with his demons on that subject long ago.

“Apparently you weren’t a very good one- that, or obedient.” Dan’At’s taunt went heard, but ignored, by Selak. Trip, on the other hand, was ready to jump up and strangle the man, knowing, though, that it would be futile. “But I’ve never heard of a master who… punishes his slaves in such a manner.”

“My master actually liked me. He barely laid a hand on me much less did this.”

“Really? Then how do you explain these?” Dan’At’s hand gestured to the marks covering his body.

Trip looked at the Vulcan, curious. He wanted to know, unlike Dan’At, who just wanted to torment him. Trip could see Selak’s face; it fell as his eyes starred off. He had lost the cocky gleam in his eyes that he had held since he came back, a look Trip wouldn’t have dared challenge.

And, as soon as it had disappeared, it returned. A smile grew, stretching the corners of his mouth in an almost show of resilience.

“Most I got when I fought as a gladiator. The rest…” Selak shrugged, letting his blunt words sink in. In that moment, when he saw that Dan’At was most confused- shocked and sorry- he moved, using his vulnerability to his advantage.

In the blink of an eye- quite literally- Selak grabbed Dan’At’s knife from its place on his belt. In a single fluent motion, he moved around Dan’At.

Trip watched in near shock, fearing his sight- or sanity- as he saw the scene play out in front of him. Selak almost seemed to move in fast forward, a blurred shadow left behind him as he went. Before Trip could even take two breaths, Selak was behind Dan’At, who was kneeling with his arms pulled tightly behind him, the knife pushing dangerously against his trachea.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you!” Selak yelled, warning the guards more than Dan’At. Pulling Dan’At around, as if displaying him to the seven guards, he continued.

“Just breathing may accidentally cause me to slit your throat. And, trust me, my days in the arena taught me how to kill without caring- without thought to who’s blood I had on my hands that day.”

Trip listened to the Vulcan, a young man he had learned to call friend. But this was a side of him he had never seen, a side everyone had the capacity for. The side that was dangerous, cold, and deadly. A side that could be pushed forward if needed or when forced. But Trip had a feeling that it had been both for Selak.

“Commander, their weapons.”

Trip stood, his legs stiff from the hours he had sat still, and took the others’ weapons, guns and knifes, after tossing out a sarcastic, “Gladly.”

Enterprise, Outside Engineering

Malcolm peaked around the corner, trying to get a look at the guards at the door. He sighed; this seemed too easy. First of all, there had only been three Gwri watching the corridor, and another three in the other corridor, which Ensign Douglas reported had been neutralized quickly. All six of which had little to no training.

And now he stood hiding from two Gwri- probably equally untrained- and about to attack with six men. ‘This is just too easy! Something must be wrong. Where was everyone else?’ his mind screamed even as gestured for Anthony to moved closer, his position allowing him a better shot.

With a shrug, he prayed that Dan’At was just playing them, pretending to have twice the power and men than he truly did. Taking a deep breath, he hoped that their stillness and ignorance of their presence as a good thing.

Malcolm took aim, his target being the dead center of the first Gwri’s stomach. Without a sound, both Gwri crumpled over from Anthony and Malcolm’s phasers. He just shrugged, shaking his head as he stepped out of his hiding spot. The Brit half expected a dozen more to jump out at him.

“Matthews, tie them together,” he whispered as Douglas and two other MACOs joined them at the door to Engineering. Waiting a minute to see that the Gwri were securely fastened, Malcolm punched the release to the door, all six of them charging in, guns up and ready to fire.

“Hey, Mal! Good of you to finally join us.”

Malcolm’s phaser-rifle lowered in shock as he took in the scene in front of him. Half a dozen of Trip’s Engineers were surrounding the Gwri, Dan’At included, with their weapons as a few others seemed to be tending to three others- Malcolm assumed they were the infected officers. By the looks of them, they would be dead soon.

“We thought since you were running late, that we’d handle the inside,” Selak teased, sauntering up to the security team, pausing next to where Trip stood.

Malcolm’s eyes glanced over his half exposed chest, but decided against inquiring about it. In truth, he didn’t want to know. “What about those guards out front? Why didn’t you handle them?”

Trip glanced over at Selak, who laughed out loud at the comment. Then the Vulcan told the security chief, “We’re not security, it’s not our job. Besides, they didn’t hear us, we didn’t feel it was our business to bother them.”

The Lieutenant nodded with a small smile- this was one story to tell. “Give them a hand, Sergeant.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We need to talk, Trip.” The Engineer nodded, walking with his friend, as the other five dispersed to take over the Gwri prisoners. “What happened here?”

“Well… I’m not exactly sure. One minute Selak was standing in front of Dan’At, the next he was holding him in a headlock with Dan’At’s knife to his throat. Then the rest of ‘em just… gave up. So-”

“You took their weapons and held them hostage.”

“Pretty much. We were going to check things out outside; we just hadn’t gotten to that. Then you came charging in… so I would assume we don’t have to.”

“No. Actually, this was all a little too easy. I keep expecting to either wake up or fine myself swarmed with Gwri,” the Lieutenant said with a nervous glance.

“Calm down, Mal. It’s handled. We, um, should get the doc down here,” he said, looking remorsefully at the three officers on the ground. “You know, there was no point to give any of them that damn virus. None at all.”

“I know, Trip. I saw it. I’ll get someone to get the doctor and take out the last of the guards.”
“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, um, we left some of them stunned and tied up in the corridors. A few others are guarding the entire crew, besides those here, in the Cargo Bay,” he explained, taking a second look around to see some of the engineers go back to work as his men tied up the Gwri.

“Right. You should… take care of that.”

“Yeah.” Turning away, he went to leave the room. “Trip?”

“Yes?” Trip turned only to find Malcolm looking solemnly at him.

“I’m sorry about your men. I know how close you are to all of them.”

“Thanks, Malcolm.”

Enterprise, Archer’s Quarters

“Captain’s Log, January 17, 2154.

“After spending two days dropping the Gwri off at a planet of their choosing, Ken’Ara assured me that things will be looked after and that Dan’At’s attempted at subduing another ship will not happen.

“As for the three crewmen he transmitted the disease to… they all died as of yesterday. It seems that the effect on humans is more rapid than that of the Gwri. Their deaths were… quite horrible and… painful but the doctor had them sedated the entire time. Their bodies will be ejected as soon as possible to kept the disease from spreading to the rest of the crew.”

Archer paused, petting his dog fondly as he regained his composure. He just couldn’t believe how effortlessly that man had killed those three. Had condemned them to die just as he and the rest of his ship were. That he would be so heartless.

“Selak has supplied us with the coordinates we need to find the Xindi homeworld and Trip and T’Pol both believe that the weapon is online and functional. Hopefully it will work. With the technology we have, we should be able to prove to them our good intensions. Either way, this isn’t over yet. But I don’t plan on losing to them, not after everything we’ve been through.”

Enterprise, Sickbay

“Doctor.”

“Ah! Selak, what-” he paused mid-sentence, seeing the solemn look in the young man’s eyes.

“I think you know why I’m here. Please, just help me and it’ll go faster.”

The Doctor nodded. He may not like having such a thing just easily deleted from the computer, to have his files altered and changed from something he still didn’t really understand- and wasn’t entirely certain he believed. Not to mention that he had promised Ken’Ara that he would continue his work on their disease.

“Are you sure about this?”

“More than anything. It has to be done, I’m sorry. I know you would have liked to try and help them but… it wouldn’t have changed anything. They died; all but a handful of them. If it helps, you did take this with you. You worked on it for years, passed it on to a few others to work on. No one did anything; nothing came out of it. I’m sorry. But I have to do this.”

Again, Phlox just nodded, his posture showing his defeat. “Must you still change what happened to those crewmen?”

Selak looked up from the console. “Yes, if you think its anything more than just radiation, then you might want to look it over or something. Besides, they’ll stay in isolation and be shot into space before you can do anything about it.”

“I will be lying to their parents about what happened,” he protested.

“For one, you won’t realize you’re lying once you have time to write a report and, two, you won’t have to write it.”

“It’s still a lie. They died thousands of light-years away from their home; their parents haven’t seen them in a year. They deserve at least that.”

“They deserve what, Doctor?” Phlox blinked in surprise; he had never heard such venom in anyone’s voice, much less one of Vulcan origin. “They deserve to know that their sons and daughter died because they happened upon an angry, idiotic man? That they died because of some virus that was supposed to make us give up the ship?

“Doctor, I know a lot about pointless death. I’ve seen it a lot- committed a lot. They died for nothing on a mission to save their planet. Nothing; not even that cause.” Selak turned away, as if to stop talking. But he continued without looking at the doctor.

“I killed a man, once… I killed him when I didn’t have to. He was weak, hungry- starving really. He wouldn’t have lasted much longer where he was. I had the choice to let him live… a week, maybe. Two if he was lucky. That was all he had left. A pointless death; he shouldn’t have died at all. He shouldn’t have been in that position at all.”

Phlox was silent. As far as he knew, Selak had only spoken about himself to the Captain and senior staff about who he really was. He doubted anyone ever heard anything much more personal than that, and now he was hearing something that the young Vulcan had to live with every day of his life- and this seemed to be one of the smaller burdens on his small shoulders.

“At least, Doctor, what you will be telling them had some honor to it. They died, now, from radiation poisoning as they sealed a leaking plasma relay. They saved the ship, doctor… they saved Earth… they sacrificed their lives to save their world… their families. That’s what everyone will remember. Not a virus that a bunch of aliens who attacked the ship had. They died with honor… that’s not something you hear about much in my time.”

Enterprise, Captain’s Ready Room

Archer sighed as he ducked under a beam. Pacing his Ready Room seemed to only help his aggravation rather than relieve it. He sighed a second time, looking down at the computer as it shuffled through the database.

He had told the crew the computer was being cleaned out and organized to compensate for the information they had found while in the Expanse, which meant no personal logs for a few days. But, the truth of the matter was, Selak was going through everything, rewriting and phrasing everything to fit what was “supposed” to happen.

Though Selak was currently working in Engineering to fix some last minutes things, his computer was almost finished changing things to match what history was to believe happened. Change everything so that Selak didn’t exist, so that certain events never happened. So that certain things were never encountered.

Selak would be leaving soon, he had already informed Archer of that. Which meant very soon, the Captain wouldn’t remember a thing about this young man. Archer had to admit, the Vulcan might be… well, odd and Vulcan but he still like him. Archer was still intrigued by what he was doing and who he was.

But that didn’t stop the fact that he couldn’t exist, that Archer was going to forget who he was and what he did. What he accomplished. He was tempted to record what he knew and remembered on a PADD and hide it somewhere so that he could, at least, remember. But he knew he couldn’t.

At least Selak would know what happened. What he did. And his superiors would know as well, Archer presumed. At least, at some point, people would know what really happened.

Selak didn’t seem too uncomfortable with the ideal that, what he did, will never be remembered. That, in a way, he’d never be known as much more than an officer fighting in the same war as everyone else. He’d probably never be known for his part in helping to save so many lives. For his time traveling.

But, somehow, Archer had a feeling that that was the way he liked it. He liked the more private, self-satisfying life. He wished all the best for the young man; hoped that what he had done was worthwhile.

Archer turned, still pacing his ready room. With another sighed, he debated whether or not to return to the Bridge. But, before he reached an answer, the ship jerked suddenly, sending him into the bulkhead.

Pushing himself onto his feet, the comm. activated, Hoshi informing him that an anomaly had hit the ship.

“I’m on my way,” he mumbled into the comm., forcing himself to walk all the while his head screaming for the room to stop moving. He wasn’t entirely certain if it really was or if it was just his head throbbing that was causing the room to shake.

“What happened?”

“We appear to have encountered a large area of anomalies. We are surrounded by them,” T’Pol reported, her usual calm unfazed by the continued shaking of the ship.

“Travis, can you get us out of here?”

“I’m trying, sir, but the impulse engines are malfunctioning!”

Hitting the comm. on his armrest, Archer asked, “Trip, what’s going on down there?”

Enterprise, Engineering

“We’re getting hit pretty hard down here, Cap’n,” Trip reported, practically shouting over all the noise.

“We need impulse engines now, Trip,” Archer ordered.

Trip grabbed the wall, trying to brace himself as the ship shook once again. “We’re trying, Cap’n. Tucker out.”

The ship shook once again, sending Trip on his back. With a grunt, he pushed himself back up, trying to walk and grab onto something at the same time. “Romano! Cortez! You’re with me. Come on!”

Trip walked on, two of his engineers following as they worked their way to the impulse engines. Selak fell-into the gaggle, recalling something he had nearly forgotten- something that had screwed many things up before.

“Selak, I need you to monitor the plasma intact. If it spikes to high while we’re in the anomalies, we’ll all be dead!” Trip ordered, trying to brush off the Vulcan.

“Cortez, you do that.”

The young Ensign looked first to Trip, waiting to see if the order was accepted. When he saw Trip’s slight nod, he ran off, trying to keep his balance as he went.

“What are you doing, Selak?”

“Nothing. I want to help.”

“You could have-”

“Trip! Look out!”

Trip suddenly found himself on the floor, barely recalling that Selak had pushed him there. Looking up, he saw that one of the bulkheads had been broken loose from the anomaly and fallen directly where he had stood only a moment ago.

Looking around, he saw Romano wobbly raising to his feet, obviously disoriented from hitting his head, a long gash showing where. Looking over on the other side of the debris, he couldn’t see Selak- lying or standing.

“Selak!” He yelled before he could stop himself. A feeling of dread and worry washed over him. Where had he gone?

Just then, he noticed a figure barely half under the bulkhead. Rushing over, he gestured for Romano to help him lift the metal. “Quickly, go fix the impulse engines. I have to get him to Sickbay.”

“Yes, sir.” Romano promptly ran off, leaving Trip with the Vulcan.

“Selak?” The Vulcan barely felt the Commander’s hand slip into his as the man slid closer to him. He could hardly feel anything. Selak could just imagine the pain that should be ripping through his body; the pain he should be in.

“Selak can you hear me?”

“Hear? Sure,” he breathed, his chest barely able to move under the invisible strain as his eyes slipped open.

“Come on, let’s get you to Phlox.”

“No.”

“You’re injured, we-”

“Trip, there’s a… hunk of debris… lodged in my back… I can’t… feel anything below… my neck…”

Selak couldn’t contain his smirk at the sight of Trip’s devastated look. Though his eye lost their spark of hope and determination, his arms still reached out to grab the Vulcan, ready to pull him off the floor, as he told him, “You can’t give up that easily. Com’on. We can get you to Phlox, you’ll be all right.”

“No, you don’t understand. Just… in my pocket… the upper right…”

“This one?” Unzipping it for him, Trip was surprised to find what he did. “What is this?” He asked about the tiny computer he held in his hand

“Push… the… side… button…”

“Why-”

“Just… do it,” he ordered. His slight nod was confused at best but an agreement. “Thank-you.”

“For this?”

“No… Thanks to you… thanks to… your great-grandson… my life doesn’t suck that much. Trust me… other side.”

Trip may not have understood his comment but he did as his friend wanted. As he watched, his bewilderment turned into complete shock as the Vulcan disappeared before his eyes. The device itself dissolving, simultaneously, in his hand.

His brow furrowed, his mind searching back to what he was doing on the floor… to why he was in that particular position. Sparks flew from the console next to him, orders shouted out filled the room. Trip shrugged off his confusion, standing up and walking away to help fix his ship.

Unknown

Slowly, gently, Selak’s eyes cracked open. Bright white light stung his eyes, making them water slightly as his pupils quickly tried to adjust.

On impulse, he tried to bring up his hand to shield his face and to brush away the moisture. But, when he tried, his arm wouldn’t move. With a sudden start, he realized that his entire body felt numb, felt gone… disconnected.

“Don’t try to move; the doctors say all your nerves aren’t fully healed yet.”

Without moving his head, he could see the form of a man to his left. Hovering over top of him, the man smiled, obviously glad to see his good friend awake and alert.

“Did it work?” he croaked out, his voice hoarse from days of no water and not talking.

“Yes, it worked. Don’t worry about that,” the man told him, seating himself on the chair where Selak could still see him.

“How long have I been out?”

“Two days while your nerves regenerated.”

“The weapon?”

Though hesitant to talk about his mission, he responded, “Never created.”

“The war?”

“For the past week they’ve been negotiating a treaty.”

“It’s over?”

“It’s over.”

His nod was slight, barely there, but it was still a nod. A grateful nod. His eyes slide shut from exhaustion, but, just before he managed to think about falling back to sleep, his companion spoke, his deep voice able to hold his attention.

“When the doctors examined you, um, they saw that the… that the chip… was removed. Did you know that?”

Selak turned his head, very slightly, to the side, looking up at his good friend. “Yes, I had a feeling it would be necessary. I guess I was right.”

“You… you did that whole…?”

“Speed-walking, Tylus. It’s called speed-walking. It felt so good… not in the way you thought it would, but… I don’t know. The way it should feel, I guess. It felt right.”

“Did you… you didn’t…?”

“No, Tylus, I didn’t. I couldn’t, I guess. But I thought about it. It would have been easier, I guess. But, then, so could a lot of things about that whole adventure.”

Tylus only nodded, understanding, while not understanding, his complex friend. He looked away, down at his hands, assuming that the tired Vulcan would fall asleep. But he didn’t…

A tiny chuckle came from his lips. “You know, there never was an Ensign Glenn.”

“Sorry?”

“I thought it was too convenient.”

“I’m not following. What about Ensign Glenn?”

“Before I left, Tylus, I memorized the crew manifest and what happened to them. Ensign Glenn was assigned to Enterprise as a replacement engineer before they left for the Expanse. He died from being blown out into space… the same day I planned to leave.”

“Interesting coincidence,” Tylus commented.

“Not really. Convenient, was what it was. When I got there, eight months into their mission, there was no Ensign Glenn on the manifest… he wasn’t supposed to die for another two months. But he wasn’t there.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“That I was the one who created him in the first place.”

“A predestination paradox. You’re crazy!”

“It’s possible.”

“How do you know?”

“That was exactly what I was going to use for… well, me when I left. Some Ensign assigned to engineering before they left who was spaced the day I left… that was the day he was supposed to die. That day.”

“How can you know for sure?”

“His name was Alex Glenn.”

“Yeah? And?”

“Alex was one of my few friends at the Academy I remember… one of the few still alive. I think… maybe… And Glenn, he’s my cousin. He, my brother, and I were always very close. Glenn and I joined the Academy together- he died during the Battle of Betazed, protecting his home.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. He was an Ensign, just like Alex is… or, was. If I were to use any name, that would be it,” Selak confirmed.

“All right, so let’s assume here, for a minute, that you’re right and this was a predestination paradox, what messed it up so much when you came back?”

“The first time? It was too soon. I hadn’t gotten the second part of the weapon and… and my fifth objective was screwed.”

“Fifth objective?”

Ignoring his question, Selak continued through his inquiry. “With the second weapon in their database, the scientists had enough to work with. They still upset the others and throw us just as far into a worse war as the other bioweapon did. Only, this time, there was no Ryan to stop them. Which also meant no you, which was why I was such a spas.”

“Why?”

Looking up at his friend, he told him, “Well, you helped me-”

“Not that,” Tylus interrupted. “Why was there no me?”

For a moment, Selak thought of shrugging, only realizing when he tried that it didn’t work. “I got this hunk of metal in my back to keep Trip from dying. Without me there, Trip died. Three weeks later, T’Pol discovered that she was pregnant with his child… she aborted the baby…”

“And the Tucker line never would have existed. I would never have existed,” Tylus realized, trying to imagine what a simple adjustment could do everything- what his friend had to be so careful about in his traveling.

“And neither would your brother. No diplomat, no treaty, no end to the war. Or, at least, a cease-fire. But, with Trip alive and the baby born, you two are born, no weapon was created, and life isn’t so bad.”

“This war’s never going to end,” was his only remark.

“Don’t be such a pessimist. I have faith in Ryan… if anyone can do this, he can…”

/*\/*\/The End\/*\/*\

It’s the end, sort of.

If not, then I hoped you enjoyed the story and that you’ll R/R and give me your opinions. Thanks for reading!

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Four of you have made comments

This is really good! I'd like seeing more Selak stories.

Good Story! However, I don't think T'Pol would have aborted Trip's baby.

This was pretty good! Ack! Darn you! I haven't finished my work and it's 1 in the morning! Oh well...it was worth it, though.

very good story! thanks for sharing!