Target Xindi
By Jim Guy jimguy46@hotmail.com
Disclaimer. Enterprise characters belong to the creators of the show. Only the OC's and the story are mine. Any similarity to another show is the fault of the muses. I make no income from this story. Everyone knows they do not have money on Starships
The Thebians are loosely based on the old Battlestar Galactica that was a 1979 TV series created by Glenn A. Larson. All of the Thebian characters are my own.
The 1/7th Rangers were never called Rangers in episode, The Expanse. They came into being in my story "Into the Valley of Death". So far my OC's are: Sergeant Major Benjamin Snowden, Sergeant Joe Layne, Sergeant Tina Alvarado, and Sergeant Manda Alvarado. Dana Heard belongs to Dee
This is a continuing saga that started in Road Map to the Stars, Phoenix, Déjà Vué, Khu and Gathering of Warriors; which I highly recommend that you read first. The beginning of this story was originally called Conscience.
The Xindi sloth sat in his quarters when he was startled by a knock on his door. He got up and opened the door to find an ancient slump shouldered Sloth.
“Uncle what are you doing here?”
“Gralik let me come in and I will explain.”
“Of course, come in.” The old man entered as Gralik looked around outside to see if they had been seen. He closed and locked the door. “Uncle, it must be something very important for you to come here.”
“It’s your brother. He wrote a letter just before he was executed by a Reptilian.”
Gralik gasped. “Executed? Why?”
“He was accused of being a traitor because he was trying to get the Xindi Council into giving up. He knew this might happen and that is why he wrote the letter. He felt that if something happened to him, I could come here with a letter that would not be found by an electronic sweep.”
“They ran a sweep on you?”
“Yes. They were very thorough.”
“Then how did you?”
“Who writes letters on paper anymore? Everyone uses a hand held data carrier. Everyone is lazy, thank goodness.”
“My brother, always the one for caution.”
“Yes he was. I will leave you alone while you read.” He turned and unlocked the door.
Gralik watched his uncle disappear as the door closed. He walked over to his desk and sat down. His hands shook as he unfolded the paper.
My Dear Gralik:
I have received your letter concerning your recent visitor. An interesting situation to say the least. Your comments about your visitor’s compassion have made me rethink my own position in this matter.
As you know we have received information that the inhabitants of the planet called Earth will destroy our home world in four hundred years. You did bring up an interesting point. How is it that a species whom we never heard of, and who had never heard of us would destroy our home world four hundred years from now, when we ourselves destroyed it one hundred and fifty years ago.
The Reptilian and Aquatics are most violent and the Insectoids want to attack, claiming that the human ship is an invasion. That of course is laughable. One hundred and two humans in one ship does not equal an invasion. It does equal a suicide mission, however.
I started looking at the history of our people. You are well acquainted with hour history, so bear with me. We were a people of six species until the Insectoids and Reptilians determined that the Avians did not deserve to live and annihilated them. Since the Avians had an aversion to space travel, it was easy to destroy all of the Avians in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, the only ones to escape the destruction of our home world were the species who did take to off planet travel as well as the rest of the Xindi population. Gralik as you know only several thousand of each species survived scattered across the system.
I am not sure how we were contacted by the people from the future or why they informed us that we would be attacked in four hundred years, but it was what the Council needed to form an alliance of all the species. They are convinced that this human ship Enterprise is an invasion. I think it is more of a vengeance ship. They are here to stop another Xindi attack and they will stop at nothing until their mission is over. I doubt that the Xindi would be willing to do what these humans have done.
By the time you read this, I will undoubtedly be dead. Somehow you need to contact the human ship and give them the location of the weapon. Maybe if they destroy the weapon, they will not destroy all of the Xindi people.
Uncle Zoltaf has a picture of me with the coordinates on the back.
Farewell brother.
Gralik folded the letter and burned it in the small warming fire that heated his home. He walked outside and saw his uncle sitting on a bench along the pathway. He walked up to him and sat down next to him. He nodded to the old man as he received the picture of his brother.
“Uncle we have some traveling to do.”
Zoltaf smiled. “I have a small ship in the clearing. It is time to stop the madness. Your brother finally got a conscience.”
The two men walked towards the clearing. Gralik glanced at the place he had called home for a number of years, knowing that he would never see it again.
On board the
Enterprise, Lieutenant Reed looked worried. He caught up to Captain Archer who
was jogging through the corridors at night, Porthos by his side. “Captain, may
I speak to you?”
Archer slowed down
and came to a walk. “What is it Malcolm? You have a worried look on your face.”
“I am concerned
about the MACO.”
Archer gave Reed a
puzzled look. “Why is that?”
“Well, they lost
have of their people, including Major Hayes and now two thirds are Thebians.”
“Are you concerned
about the Rangers or about having so many Thebians on board?”
“Sir you make it
sound like I am suspicious about them. I am not. It’s just that the Rangers and
the Thebians are from two different backgrounds. What do the Thebians know
about Earth? We all have a common background, a common history that the
Thebians don’t. I don’t know if Snowden is capable in instilling the same thing
in the Thebians as he has in his own people. The Rangers are a family, the
Thebians are outsiders."
Archer nodded. “I
see your point, Lieutenant, but I think you are underestimating Ben and his
people. I think they all will surprise you.”
“All right,
Captain, but I will watch them anyway.”
“You are Head of
Security so I would expect you to.” He turned to Porthos. “How about another
corridor and then some cheese.”
Porthos looked at
the Captain and wagged his tail before he raced off with Archer running behind
him.
Thebian Engineer
Lieutenant Senbi Hator, recently assigned to the Enterprise walked into
Engineering and looked for the Chief Engineer. He spotted Lieutenant Kathryn
Lee along the catwalk. “Kathryn, can I see you down here?”
Kathryn smiled at
Senbi. “Be down in a sec.” She walked to the ladder, turned around and put both
feet on each rail and slid down to the deck floor. “What’s up Senbi?”
“I have been
thinking about the problem we have between technologies.”
Lee nodded. “Let’s
go discuss it over some coffee.”
“All right,
messhall?”
Kathryn nodded and
the two walked down the corridor and into the Messhall. They each grabbed a cup
of coffee and sat down at a table on the far end, away from the door. Lee
looked at her counterpart as she sipped the how brew. “ Ok, let’s talk.”
Senbi put his cup down. “ You know that Enterprise uses Warp Drive technology. The core of the warp drive uses to control the annihilation of matter and antimatter. This controlled explosion is what generates the tremendous power required to warp space and travel faster than light. The Warp engine is attached to the Warp core and produces a subspace bubble, which pushes the ship out of the space-time and into the subspace layer that supports reality. Then, energy produced by matter/antimatter reactions at the core is launched through the nacelles, in a pulsating way. These pulses create an asymmetry on the subspace bubbles which result in a net momentum forward.”
Kathryn smiled. “Thank you Mister Warp Engineer. What does that have to do with this?”
“We use two type of engines. Ion Engines and inertialess gravity engines to faster than light travel. Our Ion engines are far more efficient than plasma or chemical propulsion as our engines expel molecules from the engine at a much higher speed. The basic principal of an Ion engine is to use electromagnetic field to strip an atom of its electrons. In order for a Cobra to go to light speed the third engine is a Particle Thrust engine that has an additional firing stage.”
Kathryn took another sip. “I understand what you are saying, but please get to the point.”
“Fair enough. The Battlestars and the Destroyers use a jump corridor by concentrating a graviton/trachyon beam that creates a wormhole between two gravitation null zones. The problem is that we have no Faster than light communications or sensors. That is why we have to have so many Cobras. We can jump from one system to the other, but we need Cobra patrols to find the next null zone.”
“Maybe we can help.”
Kathryn and Senbi looked up to see who had just spoken. Kathryn stood up. “Sub-Commander?”
T’Pol sat down. “I think that between the Vulcan and Starfleet data bases with the help of the scientists and engineers in the fleet, we can place long range scanners on all the Capital Ships and Cobras. We can place short-range scanners on the shuttles like we have on ours. It would not be difficult to build as we have the data bases to refer to and I am knowledgeable in scanner technology.”
Senbi smiled. “That would be of great help, but that still doesn’t help what we were talking about. We need to figure out how to get the fleet up to the speed of Enterprise.”
Kathryn moved the salt shakers on the table and the coffee cups to simulate the fleet. “If we can detect the null zones, then we could open the worm holes and the entire fleet, including the Enterprise could go through. It might also help to avoid the anomalies.”
T’Pol nodded. “That would be most agreeable. I will speak to Captain Archer but I see no logical reason not to go ahead with the conversions. I will let you know.”
Sergeant Major Snowden walked into the Messhall and scanned the room. Ranger meals were scheduled after the rest of the crew had eaten so everyone in the room was a Ranger. He got his dinner and sat down at an open seat next to Dana. He looked at his tablemates and recognized CW Yon Caldron, CW Minos Nakti, Corporal Romero and Corporal Chang. He ate Ranger style, in other words quickly.
Under-Sergeant Xris Swordbreaker sat at the next table with Sergeants Layne, both Alvarado ladies and CW Bia Blackstrom. Xris looked at Snowden. “Sergeant Major, I know the Rangers have a battle saying that they repeat before a major battle. We Colonial Warriors also like to sing. I hear that you are a fair singer and I have hear you sing a short song under your breath. What is it that you sing?”
Snowden glared at his Sergeants. “I think someone has been talking out of class.” He grinned. “What you heard me sing was Over the hills and far away. It is an old song originally written back in the 17th Century by an Englishman. I heard it in an old movie about Riflemen in the Napoleonic War. The story was written by a man called Bernard Cornwell and developed for film.”
Xris grinned. “How does it go?”
Snowden stood up and looked at Joe, Tina and Manda. “I will get you for this.” He glanced as the door opened as Archer and Reed walked in. “Captain?”
Archer waved his hand. “Carry on Sergeant Major. I was just getting some coffee.” He found a seat as some of the Rangers made room for the two Starfleet Officers.
Ben walked to the portholes. “You Thebians may not know our history, but the song is a warriors song.”
In a baritone voice he started singing.
“Hark! now the Drums beat up again,
For all true Soldiers Gentlemen,
Then let us list, and march I say,
Over the Hills and far away;
Over the Hills and o'er the Main,
|
There's forty shillings on the drum When
duty calls me I must go Over the Hills and o'er the Main, |
|
|
Over the hills and far away |
|
|
Over the Hills and o'er the Main,” Snowden grinned as Layne, Romero, Kemper and Chang added their own baritone voices.
|
|
|
Then fall in lads behind the drum |
|
|
When Evil stalks upon the land |
|
|
If I should fall to rise no
more, |
|
|
Let kings and tyrants come and go, The Thebians cheered as the men ended the song. Archer looked at Malcolm. “Still think they aren’t a family?” Malcolm wiped a tear from his eyes. “My apologies, Captain. I know that song. I learned it as a child.” Archer looked shocked. “A Navy man learned a Soldier’s song?” “We are all warriors, Captain and we recognize brave men Navy or Soldier. I wonder if Hoshi can find that series in the data base.” “Give Malcolm, what was the name of the series?” “It was called Sharpe. The story of a maverick British Officer who was raised from Sergeant to Lieutenant by Sir Wellsley after the Sergeant saved the future Duke of Wellington’s life. It is a great series and I would bet that the Rangers would enjoy it.” Archer nodded. “Why don’t you have a talk with our Movie Mistress.” Reed stood. “Will see to it right away.” He nodded his head at Snowden as he left the messhall. In the Xindi Council chambers, Druga, an Insectoid slammed a claw down on the table. “That traitorous Zortan has been executed, but we have word that his uncle and brother recently met and left the brother’s planet is a small scout ship.” The Sloth council member Putha regarded the sudden outburst. “Why should we care what Zortan’s brother does?” The Reptilian council member, Xros threw a glass against the wall. “We found out that Zoltaf smuggled a letter to his brother. Zoltaf took Zortan’s scout ship and we presume that the coordinates for the weapon are on that ship. Furthermore we think that they are trying to find that human ship. Now we have to send out ships to look for them.” Druga clicked his claws. “You mean you have no idea where they are headed?” “Not at this time but we have picked up a ion trail so it should be just a matter of time. The Enterprise is headed away from them and it is doubtful that Gralik can catch up. I have already sent four ships to chase them down and destroy them.” On board the scout ship, Gralik concentrated on the instrument panel. “Uncle, I think we have a problem. There are several ships behind us.” “Have they spotted us yet?” “I don’t think so. We are small but they may spot our ion trail. I am detecting several ion trails ahead. Maybe our will confuse them.” A blast of laser fire struck the small ship and rocked the two Sloth Xindi. Zoltaf’s hand raced over the control panel. “Turn fifteen degrees to the right, wait two seconds then turn to the right again then left twenty degrees.” As Gralik obeyed, laser fire passed by where the tiny ship had been. Four attackers zoomed in on the speedy ship, but it was not fast enough. Two laser strikes hit the small ship, knocking out the engine. As four of the attackers circled in for the kill, ten laser torpedoes struck two of the attackers. Explosions ripped through the disabled ships as the remaining Xindi ships turned and fired at their attackers. Two Cobras took direct hits and exploded in a ball of fire. Three more laser torpedoes raked one of the Xindi ships as five more hit the other. The disabled Xindi ships fired at the Cobras, barely missing the fleet attack ships. One Cobra dove at a Xindi ship as a laser shot took off the canopy, killing the Colonial Warrior. The Cobra continued plunging downward into the Xindi and drove its needle-nose into the killer ship. The explosion pushed the Xindi ship into the second disabled ship destroying both in a double blast. The remaining Xindi turned from the battle and sped away, right into the crosshairs of two Thebian destroyers. There were no survivors. Seven Cobras surrounded Zoltaf's ship as the lead destroyer hailed the craft. “This is Commander Acarnan of the Destroyer Minmose. Why were the Xindi attacking you?” “This is Zoltaf. They knew that I know where a weapon is being constructed to destroy an innocent planet.” “What planet?” “Earth.” “Well, Zoltaf, this is your lucky day. We are representatives of the Earth Government and we are taking you aboard.” “Please, we are trying to find the human ship called Enterprise.” “Don’t worry my friend. Enterprise will know of your rescue very shortly. Acarnan out.” The Thebian turned to his Second in Command. “We need to send a Cobra to the Pamiu. They can send a message to Enterprise.” Archer paced the deck of the Enterprise bridge. He looked at his bridge crew. Reed, Mayweather, Sato and T’Pol. He smiled inside, as he knew the core of his command had been bloodied by the Xindi attack on his ship, but it was still a fighting force. He heard a beep come from Hoshi’s station and looked her way. “Captain, we have an incoming transmission from the Pamiu.” “On Screen.” He turned and faced the vid screen. “Commander Kiya, what can I do for you?” “Captain Archer, our flankers rescued a small Xindi sloth scout ship that was being attacked by four larger Xindi ships. One man says he knows you. His name is Gralik.” “Yes, I know Gralik. He is a friend.” “Well, Captain, your friend says he has information as to the whereabouts of the weapon you are looking for.” Archer’s face brightened and he looked over to see the small grim grin of satisfaction that came over on his Tactical Officer’s face. “Thank you Commander, we will send a shuttle your way.” “No need, Captain. We have already dispatched a Raptor with fifteen fighters as escort. They should be arriving within twenty minutes.” “Thank you, Commander. Did you have any casualties?” “Sadly we lost three Cobra pilots and their ships. They died as Warriors.” “You have my condolences, Commander. Please pass them to their families, friends and your crew.” “Thank you Captain. I will do so. Kiya out.” Archer turned to T’Pol. You’re with me. Malcolm, you have the bridge.” Malcolm got up and moved to the command chair. “Aye Captain.” Archer grinned as he watched the Xindi enter the airlock. “Gralik my friend, it is good to see you.” “It is good to see you also. I was afraid that I would not live long enough to find you, that is until your people showed up. Captain, this is my uncle, Zoltaf.” Archer shook hands with the older Xindi. “Welcome aboard the Enterprise. This is my First Officer, T’Pol.” T’Pol nodded her head, but held her hands behind her back. “Welcome.” Zoltaf looked over the Vulcan and smiled. “A strong Captain with an equally strong and beautiful woman by his side. I envy you Captain.” Archer glanced at T’Pol. “Gralik, Zoltaf, please come with us, we will confer in my Ready Room.” Archer caught sight of Sergeant Major Snowden and Sergeant Heard walking down a side corridor and stopped. “Sergeant Major, can you come here please?” Snowden walked up to Archer with a puzzled look on his face. “Captain?” Archer took him aside and whispered. “I want you to organize a security team and prepare to take our guests to the Isris when we are finished. The Xindi are after them and might decide to attack Enterprise, but I doubt they will attempt to attack a Battlestar surrounded by five destroyers. You and your team will stay with them until further notice.” “How many do you want on the
team?” “I will leave that in your capable hands.” “OK. Dana, Tina, Manda, Joe and I think Xris and myself should be enough.” Archer nodded. “Keep him safe.” He turned and escorted his guests to the Ready Room. They went in and sat down. “I was told you had information on the weapon.” Gralik nodded. “My brother was on the council and was executed. Before he was killed, he gave Uncle Zoltaf a letter for me. You know how many people write a letter? My brother was being cautious. On the bottom of the letter were some coordinates that I believe are the coordinates for the weapon. Let me read the letter and you will see why I think this.” Gralik took out the letter and read it. His hands shook as he finished. Archer looked at the Xindi. “Gralik, you have my sympathies. These coordinates will be put to good use. We will make way immediately.” “I will be glad to see the look on their faces.” “No Gralik, you aren’t going with us. You will be on a Battlestar where you will be safe. If they know you are alive, they might attack the Enterprise but I doubt they are that stupid as to attack a fleet.” Archer looked at T’Pol. “How are the upgrades to the Thebian ships coming?” “Long range sensors have been installed on all three Battlestars. The Paimu’s destroyers have been upgraded and half of the Thebes’ destroyers.” “How long before all will be on line?” T’Pol paused. “Two weeks. The good news is that all of the Cobras have FTL communications as do the destroyers and battlestars.” Archer looked at T’Pol. “Very good. Sergeant Major Snowden is preparing a team and will transport our friends and his team in a Raptor with both Cobras as escort. They will be leaving in two hours.” Archer stood up. “Gentlemen, how about we adjourn to the Captain’s mess for some dinner.” Gralik smiled. “That would be appreciated Captain, it has been awhile since we have eaten.” Two hours later, Archer watched his guests join the Rangers in the Raptor and depart Enterprise. He turned to T’Pol. “We will be heading towards those coordinates at warp. We will be ahead of the fleet, but they will be able to catch up. We will not attack until the fleet is in place, but we need to find it quickly.” Commander Manethô stood on the Command deck of the Isris and watched as hie First Officer and spouse, Isis walked from the Communications center. She walked past him and whispered, “We need to talk.” Manethô nodded to his right and saw his Communications Officer. “You have the bridge.” He turned and followed Isis to his Situation Room. He closed the door. “Why does this not sound like good news.” Isis turned to him. “We have a report from Alpha Flight which has been working point. As you know they are shadowing Enterprise. Four hours ago the parlor received a scrambled message from CW Blackstrom. Enterprise rescued a group of people who have now commandeered the Enterprise and threatened to destroy it and everyone one board. They have already killed one crewman. Captain Archer surrendered.” “Is there anyway to contact Archer?” “Apparently the group demanded that one crewman be executed and Archer chose himself.” Manethô nodded. “That sounds like the actions of a good Captain. Can we intercept?” “Not yet. Captain Archer is dead. Sub-Commander T’Pol operated the transporter and sent Archer into oblivion. Apparently the enemy did not know how the transporter operates.” Manethô paced. “Isis, if this had happened to us and you had to transport me into oblivion and the crew was unable to help, what would you do?” Isis thought a moment. “I would transport you to an area that the enemy would not suspect.” Her eyes lit up. “That son of a jackal. He is still alive and probably taking steps to take back his ship.” “That would be my guess. We need to find them as quickly as possible. Has the patrol been able to keep up?” “No. Enterprise has gone to warp, but the patrol has been able to track the ion trail.” “Good. How was Bia able to send the message?” Isis smiled. “Sergeant Major Snowden has independent communications and Bia sent a scrambled message in ancient Thebian. Even if the enemy detected the transmission, they could not know what it said.” “Order the fleet to go to light speed. No time like the present to test out our sensors and FTL communications. Oh and have Sergeant Major Snowden report to me.” “Yes Sir.” She walked to the door. “Be gentle when you tell him.” “Yes dear.” Manethô smiled. Sergeant Major Snowden walked into the Situation Room with a stern look on his face. “I hear we have a problem.” “Yes, I presume Isis told you everything?” “Yes. Blackstrom did an excellent job in alerting us.” “Yes she did. It is a testimony on how well your people and ours work well together.” “Excuse me Commander. Not your people and mine. She is a Ranger now and Rangers are brothers and sisters. I am proud of every single one of them. When will we catch up?” Manethô let out a breath. “That I cannot be sure of. A patrol is following the ion trail and reporting back. We are at light speed, but they had a jump on us. They were just within Cobra range when they went to warp. The Cobras couldn’t keep up. Fortunately the message was received before they went to warp.” “I will lead my team to recover the Enterprise when we catch up.” “Sergeant Major, I somehow knew you would say that. If you don’t mind, I would like to offer the services of the Colonial Warriors and Marines.” “I appreciate that Commander. We have been training them on ship to ship fighting and this will give them practical experience. I have been speaking to your Armory Officer and we have developed a new type of body armour made of a ceramic material. We have also found a better projectile instead of lead.” “It seems that your presence here will be advantageous when we find your ship. I won’t keep you from you duties any longer Sergeant Major.” “Good night Commander.” Isis walked up to Manethô who was standing on the bridge staring at the vid screen. “We found them” Manethô looked at his wife. “It’s been four days. Where are they?” “Our patrol has located them but it appears they are being attacked. The patrol is just within range and reports that four ships are attacking the Enterprise. At least one was destroyed and another disabled.” “How long before we reach them? “We can be there within the hour, but the patrol will arrive within fifteen minutes.” “Very well, please inform Sergeant Major Snowden and his attack team.” Ben Snowden stood in the shuttle bay watching his combat team. “Check weapons. We will be going into a hostile environment. We do not know exactly how many are on board, but from the information we have gathered, they are carrying an explosive in their bodies and they will destroy themselves. Set weapons on stun and shoot anyone who is not human.” He looked at Dana. “Oh yeah, don’t shoot any Vulcans, either.” He saw the smile on Dana’s face and shrugged. “Can I help it I consider her human?” One of the Colonial Marines raised his hand. “What does a Vulcan look like?” Ben grinned. “Well ours is very beautiful, short hair and pointed ears. Don’t worry, you will know.” Dana stood by Ben. “How are we going to do this?” Ben motioned for the attack team to gather around him. “We are taking four shuttles, all equipped with transporters. Each team will transport into these areas. Joe will take team one to the engine room. Dana will take team two to the Ranger deck and free the Rangers. Manda take your team to the crew quarters and free them Tina and Xris will take their Cobras and join the patrol. Enterprise must not be allowed to leave. I will be leading my team onto the bridge.” Four Raptors crept up on Enterprise as the Cobras flew cover. As the Raptors reached transporter range, all boarding parties materialized at their designated targets. Moving in quickly, Joe and five boarders spread out through the engine room and stopped. Lieutenant Lee and her engineers waved and smiled. “Glad you could make it Joe, but you are late. We retook the engineering about ten minutes ago.” Ben and his team materialized in the Command Center and spread out into the situation room and took cover as they lowered their weapons at all on the bridge. Ben ordered his team to charge the bridge just as Archer and his team raced in through the Ready Room door. Ben was aware of the scene as Phase pistols fired striking brown clothed aliens. A Marine maneuvered his way towards the Science station as one of the aliens fired towards T’Pol as she dove to the floor. The beam struck the Marine and slammed him into the wall. T’Pol took a pistol that was shoved her way by an alien. She fired and brought down the alien leader. Archer heard a small sound and turned to see Ben aiming a rifle at him. “Hold your fire Ben, we are in control.” Ben cautiously stood up as he saw that everyone on the Bridge belonged there. “Sorry we are late, but the Cobras had a hell of a time keeping up.” He looked at T’Pol. “I heard you spaced the Captain.” T’Pol looked at Ben. “I did transport him, but it was not into space as the Triannons thought. They were unaccustomed to our technology.” Ben shook his head. “Quite an amazing woman you have there, Captain. When did you get to plan that?” “We didn’t. I trusted T’Pol to understand what I wanted her to do.” Ben laughed. “Dana reads my mind sometimes also, it’s scary.” Archer nodded. “Depends on the woman. You and I are lucky men, Ben.” “Well at least my woman hasn’t ‘spaced’ me.” He looked around and saw the Marine being picked up by two crewmen. His armor was scorched and smoldering. “Damn they had the phase pistols set to kill. Get him to sickbay.” Archer walked up to Ben. “Shouldn’t he be dead?” Ben nodded. “He would be if we hadn’t changed our body armour. We came up with a better idea and the Thebians are making them for all Rangers, Colonial Warriors and Marines. When you have time, you and T’Pol will be fitted for yours.” “Why us?” “Captain, may I remind you that you and T’Pol are the two people who command Enterprise and you must be protected. Don’t worry, you will hardly know you are wearing them.” “Take care of your man, Ben, we will talk about body armour later. I will let you make sure the ship is secured. You left with five Rangers how many transported over?” “Two flew cover and twenty boarded. Gave us a chance to practice boarding ships. Maybe I should have been a pirate.” Archer’s face grew grim. “Speaking of pirates, Malcolm please locate the Triannon planet and head towards it.” Archer glanced over at T’Pol. She looked up at him. “Lieutenant Reed, you have the bridge. T’Pol may I see you in my ready room?” He turned towards the Ready Room with T’Pol following. She was a foot behind Archer as they walked into the Ready Room and came to a stop. She stood in her normal stance, with her hands behind her back. “You wished to see me Captain?” Archer closed the door and came around to face her. “I want to thank you for your actions. You saved the ship and me.” “It was logical to do so.” “Is that all? I thought maybe you would have missed me a little if I was dead.” T’Pol arched an eyebrow. “I would miss you a lot, Jonathon.” It was Archer’s turn to arch an eyebrow. A grin grew on his face. “I want to show you how much I appreciate what you did.” He took her into his arms and kissed her. T’Pol brought her hands between them and brought them to his chest as she responded to his kiss. Their tongues intertwined and hands roamed over each other’s bodies. T’Pol broke the kiss. “Jon, it is not appropriate to continue this in the Ready Room.” Archer backed up. “You know, you are being very logical. Your cabin or mine?” “While yours is closer, I don’t share mine with a quadruped.” Archer grinned. “Very logical. How long do you think it will take us to get there?” “Three point eight minutes.” Archer grabbed her hand and led her out of the Ready Room and down the corridor to the lift. As the lift door opened on their deck, he checked around the corner to insure the coast was clear and like two teenagers walked quickly to T’Pol’s quarters. T’Pol punched her key code and pulled Archer into the room as the doors opened. Archer, still holding her hand spun her around and kissed her as he moved her to the bed. T’Pol swung Archer around and pushed him down as she undid his uniform. She slipped her own uniform off and dropped it to the floor and knelt over him. Jon reached up and pulled her to him as their lips met. Their passion grew as T’Pol climbed on top of Jon and gyrated her pelvis to his. Archer caressed his woman The intercom beeped as they felt each other rising to climax. “Bridge to Captain Archer.” The lovers ignored the hail as their simultaneous climaxes ripped through their bodies. “Bridge to T’Pol.” T’Pol collapsed onto Archer. “You had better answer or Lieutenant Reed will be standing in my doorway with a security team.” Archer snickered. “Next time we will shut the intercom off.” “If you do that Aisha, either our Security chief or Sergeant Major Snowden will break down the door. You had better answer.” Archer rolled T’Pol off of him and reached over to punch the comm button. “Archer to Bridge.” “Captain, I think you should come to the bridge. We have located the planet and there is something you should see.” “Be there shortly. Archer out.” Archer looked down to see T’Pol’s face with a slight grin. Looking further down to her breasts, he bent his head and kissed first one then the other. “Enough Jon or they will come and find us.” She pushed him away and got off the bed. “I am going to shower and no you can’t come.” She walked to the bathroom before turning around. “AT least this time.” She shut the door. “Archer stared after his love as he picked up his clothes and began to dress. ‘Maybe I should send my Armory Officer into space. I wonder if Hoshi could let me know when Reed and Tina are together.’ He fastened his uniform. ‘Nope bad idea, Tina would be worse than Reed if I caught them.’ He smiled at the thought as he headed for the bridge. Captain Archer entered the bridge and looked at the vid screen. Before him spread the remnants of a large city. “I have seen that somewhere before.” Hoshi looked up at Archer. “It reminds me of pictures I have seen of Hiroshima after the first H-Bomb was dropped on Japan in 1945.” Archer nodded. “That is what I remember. I guess humans are not the only idiots in the cosmos. Get the prisoners ready, Mister Reed. They are going home.” T’Pol entered the bridge and look at the devastation. “Vulcans always claimed that Humans were the most destructive society because of their intolerance. I think that we underestimated humans. You overcame your emotions and prevented what we see before us.” Archer nodded. He walked past her and whispered. “We will continue our previous discussion when I get back. In the meantime, disable that damn comm button.” A small quick smile flashed across her face as she arched an eyebrow. “Please hurry.” She watched as he departed the bridge. ‘Be careful Aisha.’ She was surprised when he glanced back and gave her a thumbs up before the door closed. |