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To Have Learned Nothing At All-Ch 15

Author - Samantha Quinn
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To Have Learned Nothing At All

By Samantha Quinn

Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing’s changed. I still don’t own Star Trek or its characters and am still not making any money from this. Please don’t sue.
A/N: A side effect of season three of Enterprise: When writing fanfic, I now must say to myself “What would Airlock Archer Do?”

Chapter 15

Courage Or the Lack Thereof

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

Following a none-too productive conversation with Mayor Lewis, Archer summoned his armory officer.

“Malcolm, are you absolutely certain we can’t use the transporter?”

“No, Sir. The ionic distortion is too severe. Both Commander Tucker and I have been trying to overcome the problem, but our transporters simply aren’t strong enough.”

Archer rubbed his throbbing temples in frustration. “I guess that leaves us no choice. We’ll be doing this the hard way. Your men are standing by?”

“I have two Starfleet teams, and a MAACO contingent armed and waiting, Sir.”

Archer’s reply was cut short by the beep of the comm unit. Jabbing the button with a bit more force than absolutely necessary, his answer was more of a bark than a command. “Go ahead.”

“Captain, I have Admiral Forrest waiting to speak to you.”

“Put him through, Hoshi.” Turning to face Reed, Archer instructed, “Malcolm, assemble your teams in the shuttle bay. I’ll meet you there when I’m through.”

“Aye, Sir.”

“Dismissed.”

The minutes it took for Admiral Forrest’s face to appear on screen felt like an eternity to Archer. In the interval, the Captain could only focus on his missing crewmember, and begin planning for the rescue. When Forrest’s face finally came into view, a small feeling of dread began to manifest itself deep in the pit of Archer’s stomach. The look on Forrest’s face reminded the Captain of the expression worn by the same man years ago, when news of Henry Archer’s death had come directly from the then Commodore’s mouth. The expression did not bode well.

“It’s quite a mess you have on your hands, Jon,” the Admiral said by way of greeting. Though Archer believed it was supposed to be a method of breaking the ice, it only deepened the nagging feeling in his gut.

“Yes, it is, and Mayor Lewis isn’t responding well to diplomacy.”

“What do you plan on doing?”

“I’m going to take Lieutenant Reed and several of his men down to the planet and take back my science officer.”

Archer’s feeling of dread increased exponentially as the Admiral shook his head. “I can’t let you do that, Captain.”

“Why not?”

Forrest ignored his tone. Instead, the older man managed to look even more tired than he had when the conversation had began. “As I already explained to you, these colonists and Earth have a . . . tenuous relationship, at best.”

“But they are a colony of Earth,” Archer argued. “They are obligated to follow –"

“They’re obligated to follow very little of the typical restraints that Earth’s colonies agree to,” Forrest interrupted.

The feeling of dread had long ago been replaced by a greater sense of irritation. “And why exactly are they so special?”

“A lot can happen in a year, Jon. While Enterprise was in the Expanse, Earth was in a state of chaos. Starfleet was doing everything it could, but a large portion of the population – perhaps the majority – wasn’t sure that it was enough.”

“Seven million people died in the Xindi Attack. It’s only natural to assume that there’d be some panic.”

“It was a lot more serious than panic. There were rallies, protests, marches – all against the Starfleet Program.”

Archer wondered briefly if everyone on Earth had regressed to the same mental capacity that Mayor Lewis had demonstrated. “That doesn’t make any sense. If we didn’t have Starfleet, Earth couldn’t have resolved the Xindi Conflict.”

“Some believed that if Starfleet didn’t exist, there wouldn’t have been a Xindi Conflict. Our policies have been under intense scrutiny for the past several months. News of Enterprise’s success soothed much of the unrest . . . but there were still large pockets of disorder. Over three thousand of our people chose to relocate elsewhere. The APA I colony is a headquarters of sort. It contains members of all ten major dissent groups. While some of their policies differ, their basic belief is the same – that an Earth with Starfleet was no Earth they wanted to be part of.”

“Yet we continue to protect them?”

Admiral Forrest sighed tiredly. “They’re still human, Jon. We can’t abandon them.”

“But I’m supposed to abandon my first officer?”

“Our agreement with the colonists of all ten APA colonies clearly states that no Starfleet personnel will interfere in their government – and that anyone who visits their colony is subject to the laws. T’Pol clearly broke their indecency law.”

“Admiral, I can appreciate the sensitivity of the situation, but without T’Pol’s help on this mission, Enterprise wouldn’t have been successful. We have to rescue her. We owe her that much.”

Forrest took a moment before he responded. “I am well aware of how much we owe T’Pol. Hell, if it wasn’t for her influence, Enterprise’s mission would have ended two years ago. But, as appreciative as I am for her contributions, I also know that the period of unrest Earth experienced is only now dying down. I won’t risk starting a Civil War in order to rescue her.”

“Admiral –“

“I gave you a direct order, Captain. It isn’t up for discussion.”

“What about the Vulcans? Have you thought about how this is going to affect our relationship with them?” *It’s not like it’s ever been an easy relationship in the first place.*

“Ambassador Soval has been apprised of the situation. He assures me that ‘the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.’”

Archer snorted in disgust. “Cold blooded bastard.”

“Maybe. But in this instance, he’s right, Jon. Are my orders perfectly clear, Captain?”

Archer managed not to sound as bitter as he was when he responded. “Yes, Sir.”

“Good. Before Enterprise returns to Earth, you need to go to APA VI to pick up an additional geologist, proceed to APA VIII to pick up another engineer, and take them both back to APA I. After that is completed, you will return immediately home to Earth.”

“Aye, Sir.”

“I’ll send you a copy of the APA peace agreement, as well as a copy of T’Pol’s trial that Mayor Lewis sent us. You should be happy to know that APA VI tends to be a bit more. . . friendly than the other nine.”

“That’s good to hear, Sir.”

Perhaps the sarcasm in Archer’s voice as a bit more than he intended. The Admiral shook his head firmly. “Hurry home, Captain. There’s a celebration waiting on you.”

After the connection ended, Archer sat back in his chair and wondered how many people on Enterprise would actually feel like celebrating once he carried out the Admiral’s orders.

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

Hogan barely glanced up from his spot at the monitoring station when Lewis entered. “Was the chat with Captain Hero a productive one?”

“It wasn’t. I’m a little concerned, to tell the truth.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, really. Starfleet’s too busy patting itself on the back for stopping the war to risk bothering us. Was Archer as arrogant as all the rest of the Starfleet Oligarchy?”

“He did seem rather full of himself,” Lewis conceded. “What is T’Pol’s progress?”

“It turns out that all of those rumors about Vulcan mental control were true. She has been amazingly stubborn in her determination not to succumb to the device.”

“In other words, we are risking a potential conflict with Starfleet over a method that isn’t effective.”

“It’s going to be effective. Obviously, I simply have to increase the amount of pleasure she is experiencing while exposed to images of her indecency.”

“I am still skeptical that this will work.”

“It HAS to!” Realizing that he had spoken more forcefully than he intended, Hogan took a deep breath and continued more calmly. “If this method works, we can make our dissident citizens develop aversions to their abominable behavior.”

“I still maintain that our current methods are fine.”

“Our ‘current methods’ have caused us to lose nearly a third of our colony’s population. At this rate, there will be nothing left of the APA revolution. Is that what you want? For all of humanity to be reduced to sniveling, spineless, morally bankrupt Starfleet worshippers?”

“Of course it isn’t. I simply think your method would be more effective if you were using a negative means of punishment. Forcing the Vulcan to ‘enjoy’ herself hardly seems productive.”

Hogan sighed and wondered if all the previous times he remembered having this conversation were only figments of his imagination. “Didn’t your mother ever warn you about too much of a good thing? Besides, people do things because they enjoy them. We’ve tried negative stimulus before – it hasn’t worked for that very reason. Making their own enjoyment their punishment will be a far better deterrent of repeat offenses.”

“I suppose,” Lewis said doubtfully.

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

“What the hell were you thinking?”

“Captain-"

“No, scratch that. It’s obvious you weren’t thinking. Not one damn bit – either one of you. If you had, you wouldn’t have been doing that while you were on a mission.”

“It’s just neuropressure, Captain.” In the confines of the Command Center, Trip felt himself wince under Archer’s scrutiny.

“I don’t care what you call it. Do you have any idea what this looks like? Because it damn well doesn’t look like ‘Vulcan physical therapy!’”

“But that’s all it is,” Trip insisted. “It just helps –"

“I told you, I don’t care what its purpose was. If you – or T’Pol – had thought for one moment, you would have realized that while you were on this mission, stripping naked and rubbing each other down was the last thing you should have been doing. Especially. . . with the conversation you were having.”

It occurred to Trip that the part of T’Pol that so closely guarded her privacy would not appreciate other people having viewed that conversation. *But all of Starfleet Command, Soval, and the Captain have seen it.* “Look, Captain, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t do T’Pol a lot of good right now, does it?”

Trip’s tone was a bit sharper than he’d ever used with the Captain before. “Don’t you think I know that?”

“You had already visited the planet, Trip. You should have known –“

“The people walk around in loin cloths, Captain. Why the hell should I have suspected that T’Pol would be arrested for ‘indecency’ for taking off her shirt for a medical procedure?”

“You knew they were overly sensitive. Precautions could have been taken. They should have been.”

“I know.” Trip’s voice was almost a whisper. The guilt was combining with the exhaustion and threatening to overwhelm him. “Trust me, I know.” *And I’m sorry I wasn’t smart enough to realize it before T’Pol paid for my oversight.*

It may well have been the desperate tone in Trip’s voice that made Archer stop his tirade. For the first time since the mess with APA I had began, the Captain took a good long look at his chief engineer. “According to what you told T’Pol, you haven’t been sleeping very well lately. Go see Phlox, see what he can give you for that.”

*Sleep? How in the hell am I supposed to sleep?* “But, Captain –"

“Just a nap, Trip, not a prolonged amount of sleep. When you wake up, I need you to gather all the information you have on the sewer system to present to the engineer from APA VIII.”

The very thought made Trip nauseous with anger, but he suppressed it, out of respect for the man standing in front of him. “Aye, Sir. Captain? What about T’Pol?”

“We’ve been ordered to leave her behind.”

“We can’t do that!”

“Damn it, Trip, do you think I want to? But I can’t just disobey a direct order from Starfleet Command.”

Many times in Trip’s life he’d said things he later regretted when he was angry. Now was possibly one of those times. “Maybe you’d feel differently if she was a human member of the crew.”

Closing the distance between them, Archer said very quietly, “I know you’re upset, and I know you’re letting your personal feelings interfere with the mission at hand. So, I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you say that.”

Ignoring the warning tone, Trip pressed ahead. “We’re just going to leave her down there, on the planet? To let those people do . . . .whatever they want? And we’re still going to help them?”

“I haven’t given up, Trip. I’ve been reading over the APA agreements, and there appears to be some degree of disagreement between the different groups. We might be able to use that to our advantage, just as we did with the Xindi. But regardless, you have your orders, Commander.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“Dismissed.”

The walk to sickbay was not a pleasant one. If the nightmares had been bad before, Trip was certain they were going to absolutely unbearable now.

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


Chapter 16

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

So when does Trip punch the brains outta Archer? When does that happen? Just curious....

I'm with Triplover here, when do we get Archer dumped into space?

When we dump Archer in space I suggest we add the Admiral as well. As for the Vulcans rolling over with their "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" crap, I don't have words strong enough in English *or* Vulcan to articulate my disgust. Predictable the reaction may be but most definitely and utterly wrong. Great writing, can't wait to see what our boy Trip does about it. Ali D :~)

I thought it was Hogan pretending to be the admiral...did I misread again?

Still...space Archer for not disobeying orders anyway and rescuing OMT's girl!

Are you still not in love with this story Samantha? Great chapter either way!

quick comments -
1.) I'm all for spacing Archer . . . at this point in the story. :)
2.) Oh, but the poor Admiral - if you had to rely on Archer to save your planet, AND deal with a bunch of a**holes, would you stay a nice guy? ;) As for the Vulcans. . . you may change your mind. :)
3.) The Admiral is the Admiral, and Hogan is Hogan. No impersonation is taking place. :)
4.) I still hate this story, Clicks.
5.) Did I mention I'm all for spacing Archer?

Grrr... Archer's never failed to disobey orders when said orders didn't suit him before! I'm with the spacers! Let's drag him down to the airlock and he can see what it's like being airlockED Archer!

Let me get this right ... Archer decides he's going to follow orders *NOW* (oh, wait a minute there's the airlock button I think I'll just...). Also, what's with the Admiral? Hurry home there's a celebration waiting for you! JEEZ! Well ok ... let's party on dude. Never mind the fact that your ship is battered & bruised, countless lives have been lost, and your Frist Officer has been arrested by a group of lunatic extremists. Great chapter! Looking forward to your next installment!

Okay we got many votes for spacing Archer... I say it's time to act!!!!!!!!

If Archer has any guts he'll tell Hoshi to take the long range communication off-line because he believes it's been compromised. Make a log entry saying that someone's inpersonating Adm. Forrest, then rescue T'pol. After rescueing he should move Enterprise far enough to escape the 'interference' and report same. It covers his ass as well as Forrest's. If Forrest insists on T'pol being returned then he can refuse.

i do hope that jon is up to something and he has seen something in those documents to use.
after all he has some time, they will be running aroun the planets for awhile picking up different people..heck maybe he is thinking a geologist and eningeer who dont totally agree with these people may come in handy.

the thing overhanging jon and the admiral is this supposed threat of civil war.
i just dont know if i buy the back plot of it..
especially considering how the xindi story is working out.
it was the lack of communication and lack of presence of humans out in deep space that allowed it to come about and opening the communication lines which is helping to prevent the destruction of earth.

there were isolationist movements pre wwll but tended to fall to the way side later after we saw the folly of that line of thinking.

and one thing,, jon was right..
i dont know if trip and especially tpol would have been so stupid as to do what they did.
unless they both were not thinking straight due to sleep exhaustion.

they knew these people were weird..

Actually, pookha, there were isolationist movements before, during, and after WWII. They didn't die out. Mainly because "being isolationist" (which we were not) had nothing to do with our involvement with WWII. I'm sorry you don't "buy" the backstory, as it will figure heavily into the rest of the story.

oh i will still give it a try
:)
i loved the rest of your stories.
and while you are right that the isolationist movement did exist through the time periods .. the level of degree and socail acceptance did change.

and i know about some of the aid ect we sent to britian before we were in but post wwl didnt have anything at all like the marshall plan , formation of un ect..

but yeah there always is a minority out there.

(this is my last post on this subject, as it's completely off topic, but as an historian, I have to comment.)

Actually, WWI had precursors to both The Marshall Plan and the UN. The aide we gave Britain was ultimately the real reason we entered WWI (The Lusitania being a convenient scapegoat), and the league of nations was a direct ancestor of the UN.

Though, if you want a historical perspective, I think using World War I (especially since the Romulan War is just around the corner - WWII, ish, perhaps?) and it's pseudo-isolationist principles (that were actually encouraged by a minority of politiicans), is a better analogy than using World War II, as our policies were greatly affected by our issues with the Soviet Union at the time. As Earth has no Soviet Union at the end of the Xindi Conflict, there would be no need for 22nd century Marshall Plans, etc.

Loyalty goes both ways. If you expect your people to put themselves on the line for you then you have to be ready to do the same for them. A commander ignoring wrong headed orders has a long tradition going back to Nelson at Copenhagen. When he put his telescope up to his missing eye and said he didn't see orders he disagreed with. Of course if things go wrong Archer's ass will be barbicued.