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Negotiating - Pt. 6

Author - Myst123
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Negotiating Peace

By Myst123

Rated: G, General
Contact: mystbbs@earthlink.net
Disclaimer: Star Trek situations, characters, and name are all owned by Paramount. This work is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes.

Part Six

**********

Trip and Soval examined themselves and then the prison. Weapons and communication devices had been taken from them. The shack, although not well constructed, withstood assaults by both men. They tried peering between the gaps in the metal wall, but with no luck.

“Well, so much for brute force. What’s next on the agenda?”

The men sat with their backs against the wall, catching their breaths after their exertions. Soval was still slightly fragile, worrying Trip with his lack of energy, his eyes closed and head tipped back as he rested. Moments passed.

“Can Enterprise track our path from the planet to locate us?”

“If any part of the shuttle or my communicator made it here, then yes, there is a chance. Trip explained about the homing prototype.

“If humans didn’t foolishly take unnecessary risks, or were more responsible with their equipment, such inventions would be unnecessary. The need for this device is proof humans are too immature for space travel.”

Trip’s eyes narrowed and he nearly snapped at Soval when he noticed the look in the older man’s eyes and the tilt to his head. He looked almost like T’Pol when she was needling him about being too human. Could it be the bitter old Vulcan was teasing? At a time like this? Deciding to play it cool, Trip refrained from his initial angry response.

“Foolish invention or not, it may be our strongest hope. T’Pol may be very good at finding me when I get separated from the ship, but the device might speed things up a bit.”

“Do you frequently ‘get separated’ from Enterprise? And T’Pol has experience tracking you down?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say ‘frequently,’ but is has happened once or twice.”

“Please translate ‘once or twice’ into actual figures, Commander.”

“We are wandering from the subject,” Trip pointed out, attempting to steer the conversation back to practical means of escape and away from a tally of his busted missions. “Why don’t you put those pretty little ears of yours to work and see if you can hear anything of value to us.”

“Someone is unlocking the door. Is that the type of useful information my ‘pretty little ears’ can provide?”

****

T’Pol, Malcolm and Hoshi could not locate the bio-signs of either man, but all evidence pointed to the fact that the communicator was on the planet, and perhaps Trip and the Ambassador as well. The second shuttlepod was readied for a rescue. Malcolm selected two of his most experience security officers for the mission while T’Pol and Hoshi analyzed the structures located in the vicinity of the beacon. The area appeared to be industrial, with no residential dwellings nearby. Neither could detect anything unusual. It appeared only a visit would reveal its secrets, if any.

Archer, upon hearing the details, decided not to involve the Andorians or the Vulcans until T’Pol could verify the men were indeed on the planet and being held against their wills. He worried that the Andorians would take offense if it were suggested Trip and Soval had been kidnapped by a segment of their people. The Vulcans, always suspicious of Andorians and incapable of believing that individuals within a community could act outside the strictures of society, would hold the whole race responsible if anything happened to their Ambassador. T’Pol agreed with Archer that, although it would be risky to work alone, the prejudices of the two species could be set back too far for the current negotiations to go forward.

It was decided Malcolm and T’Pol, with the two from the security team, would go to the planet, with Rostov piloting. Hoshi would monitor communications from the ship, in hopes of intercepting anything of value, and would track closely the homing devices on the rescuers. A group of Trip’s engineers stood ready in the transporter room in case a quick rescue using the technology were possible.

The shuttlepod headed towards the industrial park on Andoria.

****

Three armed Andorians entered the shack. One pointed his weapon at Soval and gestured towards the door. “You, come with us.”

Soval started forward when Trip stepped in front of him.

“Umm, where are you going.”

“None of your concern, pink skin. Now get out of the way.”

“I’ll come, too, if you don’t mind.”

The Andorians looked at each other. Stepping forward, another of the three struck Trip in the stomach with the blunt end of a gun. Trip fell to his knees.

“Oowww, that hurt,” he gasped.

Again the Andorians gestured Soval towards the door and again Trip, who staggered to his feet, stepped in front of the Vulcan.

“Fellas, you gotta give me a break here. I can’t let the Ambassador go anywhere without me.”

“It is as we thought. The pink skins are collaborators with the Vulcans. Out of the way or I will kill you!”

“I’m no more fond of the Vulcans than you are, but one of my colleagues has affection for this particular one. If anything happens to him, and I didn’t stop it, she will hunt me down. My life will be spent looking over my shoulder in anticipation of her displeasure. Frankly, I’m more frightened of her than of you, so I’m coming along.”

The Andorians had clearly never met someone like Trip before, and didn’t know what to do. They decided to take the pink skin along and let their superiors deal with him. The group left the shack and headed towards a deserted building across a neglected field.

****

“Subcommander, the bio-signs of the Commander and Soval have just emerged. They must have been in some sort of dampening field which masked them. There are three others with them.”

“Any chance the transporter can be used to pull them out of there?”

Hoshi transmitted the coordinates to the transporter room.

“They can get one, but not two. We would have to leave Commander Tucker behind until Ambassador Soval is transported.”

T’Pol and Malcolm exchanged a look. It was vital to get the Ambassador to safety, but the two were unwilling to put their colleague’s life at risk.”

“Have them stand ready to transport the Ambassador on my command, but first our team will try to find and recover both men.”

******

Soval and Trip were escorted into a room with several more armed Andorians.

“Try to be diplomatic,” Trip muttered to Soval in low tones.

The Vulcan glanced at the human, pressing his lips together in slight annoyance.

The Andorians gathered to consult. The leaders were no more certain what to do with Trip than the guards had been. Their quarrel was not with the meddlesome pink skins. Andorians, not by nature violent, were loath to actually hurt bystanders. The fact that this group had acted with such aggression to alter or to influence the outcome of the peace talks showed their level of frustration with the situation.

“You, Vulcan, you leave this planet. Our people do not need a treaty. You stay away from us and we’ll stay away from you. Those are the only circumstances under which our two species can co-exist.”

These Andorians were also a bit naïve about the realities of living in space with other warp-capable species and the need for boundaries and rules to ensure peace. They wanted the simpler time, when Andorians didn’t know Vulcans existed and therefore lines of demarcation unnecessary.

Soval observed and understood these things about the Andorians before him. Logically, he knew their demands were not possible, but he had to address their anxieties to resolve the current situation.

“I can’t leave the negotiations. Vulcans and Andorians have to come to an understanding about our responsibilities as neighbors. You actions today could possibly have endang….”

A sharp pain, the result of being kicked in the ankle by Commander Tucker, caused Soval to gasp and stop mid-sentence. He glared at the human. “Be diplomatic” Trip mouthed. Soval’s lips tightened once again in slight aggravation.

“Excuse me, your actions today have revealed a depth of concern I would like to discuss.”

“You Vulcans are not trustworthy. You lie and you spy and you steal. You took our planet and now we have to negotiate to get it back. You set up a spy station and tell us you have not. All words from you are lies. Our government is being deceived by you and we will stop it. Leave or all Vulcans will regret it.”

Trip looked with alarm at Soval. Both men remembered the technology used to stun them and bring them to this place. Was it possible the words the Andorian uttered weren’t idle, melodramatic threats, but were actually sinister promises? Had they acquired technology which could inflict widespread harm?

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


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Two folks have made comments

This is utterly brilliant! I love the dialogue between Trip and Soval. They are like a stand up comedy team with Soval playing straight man to Trip's humour. Can't wait to see what happens in the next part. Keep going, you are doing a wonderful job! Kudos to you, Ali D :~)

I love the joking between Trip and Soval. Just really great conversation there! Keep the story coming, it's really a pleasure to read!