Back season 5
 
HTML version...
 

 
Distant Sun
 
Written by : Thalia Drogna (beta Famous Moose, Kylie Lee, Sue C
Translated by : Laurent
Original published 21 October 2005
French version published 28 April 2006
 
            Distant Sun
 
Lieutenant Malcolm Reed sat at the controls of Shuttlepod One. He was piloting himself and Commander Trip Tucker back to Enterprise and enjoying the scenery. Outside the window, he could see one of the most spectacular binary star systems that he had ever seen. Behind him, Tucker was trying to take a few scans with the shuttle's new sensors, which they had just installed. There were a few bugs to work out, and they'd needed to be a decent distance away from Enterprise to test them properly.
Reed noted that Tucker had the curiosity of a five-year-old when it came to things like this. The binary star wasn't exactly their mission and they had no real reason to take the scans, but Tucker had been intrigued by it. Taking their test scans of the binary star didn't cost them any time. Reed could still get them to the rendezvous coordinates with plenty of time to spare.
"This is amazing," said Tucker in wide-eyed wonder. He looked out the front viewing port at the giant star that was being cannibalized by its little sister. The bigger star was connected to the smaller by a huge plume of gas that swept around in a wide arc. It was beautiful. It looked even more spectacular when he ran it through the forced-colour imagers, that brought up all the elements that couldn't be seen by the naked eye.
"We need to finish up soon if we're going to make the rendezvous with Enterprise. We don't want to hold up the aid effort to North Star," said Reed.
"We've got time," said Tucker. "Anyway, I think I've got enough of the binary star. I'd better get some baseline scans of the planet for comparison."
"I can't believe that you persuaded me to come along on this jaunt of yours," said Reed. "You remember the last time you and I were alone in a shuttlepod together, we ended up nearly freezing to death."
"No micro-singularities this time. Just a great view," said Tucker. An alarm sounded from the panel in front of him, and he rapidly scanned through the sensor data that was being returned. "That has got to be a glitch."
"What has?"
"The scan of the planet picked up an electrical source and refined metal. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was technology."
"It's supposed to be a primitive, medieval-level civilisation, according to T'Pol's database, anyway. Could the scanners be malfunctioning?"
"Not like this, Malcolm," said Tucker, examining the readings.
"I'll see if I can raise Enterprise," said Reed, turning to the communications panel. "Shuttlepod One to Enterprise, come in Enterprise."
"This is Enterprise. Go ahead, Lieutenant," came Hoshi Sato's voice.
"Hoshi, we're testing the new scanners and we've picked up something unusual on the planet below us," said Reed.
"Malcolm!" shouted Tucker. "Something just launched from the planet's surface and it's coming straight towards us."
"Taking evasive action," said Reed urgently. He didn't need to ask Tucker where the object was, he had a visual of a burning spot heading in their direction.
"It's changing course," said Tucker.
"I can see that," replied Reed tersely.
Reed turned again but the object followed them. "Brace for impact!" shouted Reed. There was nothing more that he could do. He was out of time and it was going to hit them. Reed made a last-ditch attempt to steer them out of the path of the missile, but it wasn't enough. The impact was severe and threw Tucker from his seat. Alarms sounded and the cabin lights turned to red. Tucker crawled back to his station.
"We're going down," shouted Tucker, as the planet's gravity reached out and grabbed hold of the small craft. Reed wrestled with the controls.
"Stabilisers are down. Engine control isn't responding. We're dropping like a stone. Grab onto something, this isn't exactly going to be a text book landing," Reed shouted back.
"Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing in my book," replied Tucker.
They were flying over the tops of trees, and Reed knew that they were going too fast. He was trying desperately to take off some of their speed, but he only had limited functionality to work with. There were no visible gaps in the trees, and Reed was pretty sure they only had a few seconds left before they hit the ground.
The shuttle lurched, and they heard trees hitting the bottom of the shuttle, then branches whipping past. There was the sound of twisting metal.
"We just lost our starboard wing," said Tucker. Reed was too busy to reply as the ground was suddenly rushing up to meet them, and a second later, the shuttle ploughed a furrow through the ground beneath the trees. Reed was flung to the floor as they impacted, hitting his head on the way down. Tucker remained conscious a little longer until they hit a large tree in their path, which brought the shuttle to an abrupt halt and resulted in Tucker being thrown violently against his console.
The alien birds noisily proclaimed their dislike of the interruption caused by the shuttle's rapid descent, but otherwise, quiet fell over the forest. The men inside the shuttle were both still and unmoving as blood seeped silently into the shuttle's flooring.
 
******
 
"I've lost contact with the shuttle, sir," said Sato, from the communications station.
"A radio problem?" asked Captain Jonathan Archer.
"I don't think so, sir. I heard Commander Tucker shout something, and then the connection went dead."
"Do we have a location for them?" asked Archer. He got up from his chair and moved over to the science station.
"We know which system they planned to use for the scanner trials," said T'Pol. "However, they did not specify which planet they would be using as a test subject. They planned to assess the viability of the test subjects once they arrived."
Archer nodded. When Tucker had presented the plan to him, he'd known that Tucker wanted a particular type of planet. They'd chosen the system because it was far enough away from Enterprise that the ship wouldn't influence the readings and it had a reasonable range of planets to choose from. And Tucker had been interested the unusual binary star system. How he'd persuaded Reed to go along with him on what was basically an engineering experiment, Archer wasn't sure. Tucker had complained that it would be dull on his own, so Archer hadn't been surprised when he'd learned that Reed would be joining the engineer.
"We can eliminate the planets one by one once we get there. Lay in a course, Travis," said Archer.
"Yes, sir," replied the helmsman.
"You should be aware that not all of the planets have a breathable atmosphere," said T'Pol.
Archer shot T'Pol a look. "Then those are the ones we start with."
 
******
 
Tucker came around in parts, his awareness fading in and out for a few moments before he remembered why he ached. He moved gradually and painfully, testing each limb carefully. "Malcolm?" he croaked. He looked around him and took in the state of the shuttle. Equipment was scattered all over the floor, panels hung off their hinges, and wires dangled from the ceiling. The place was a mess.
Tucker sat back in his seat and immediately wished that he hadn't moved so quickly as dizziness hit him. "Great, I've got a concussion," he muttered. He put a hand to his forehead and felt blood there, drying into his hair. His personal inventory of aches had already catalogued numerous bruises, a possibly sprained wrist, and when he looked at his hand, he realised that he also had a dislocated finger, probably from when he had put out his hand stop himself from hitting the panel. It hadn't helped much in the long run, he'd still ended up unconscious. He didn't relish the prospect of relocating the finger and decided to leave that problem for the moment.
"Malcolm?" he tried again, and was met with a groan from the forward section of the shuttle. Guarding his injured hand, he moved forward and found the armoury officer face-down on the floor beside the pilot's chair.
"Bloody hell," came a muffled English accent. Reed tried to move to turn over, but Tucker stopped him.
"Hold it a second. Let me check you over." Tucker felt Reed's limbs for any breaks but found none, so decided that it was safe for Reed to sit up. Once that manoeuvre was complete, Reed seemed dazed, and Tucker guessed that he too had a mild concussion. "How do you feel?"
"Like we crashed the shuttlepod," said Reed. "The Captain's going to kill us."
"We'll worry about that later. You hurting anywhere? I haven't found the medkit yet, but it's got to be in here somewhere. That's a nice black eye you've got coming there, by the way."
"You're a fine one to talk, Mr Tucker. What happened to your hand?"
"Put it out to stop myself hitting the console. I think I sprained my wrist, and I definitely dislocated a finger in the process. I'm just working up the courage to pop it back in."
"Might be easier if we find the medkit and some painkillers first," said Reed, making to get up and wincing. Tucker put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"You didn't answer the question, Lieutenant. You're obviously in pain from something."
"My ribs. I don't think they're broken, but I might have cracked a couple." Reed hadn't really wanted Tucker to know that, but it was hard to hide the injury.
"Stay there. I'll find the medkit." Before Reed could protest, Tucker was already searching, one-handed, in the vicinity of the cabinet where the medkit was usually stowed. "Got it," he shouted back. He brought it back to where Reed was still sitting and administered a hypospray of painkiller before he began to tend to the Lieutenant's cuts.
"This can all wait, Trip. That finger's got to be painful," protested Reed. Tucker shrugged. "Hurts like hell, but I'm sure Phlox'll be able to fix it when we get back to Enterprise."
"Any idea how long that might be?"
"Well we were in contact with them when we went down, so they know we're in trouble. They knew which system we were testing the scanners in, but they've got no idea which planet we're on. I guess it depends if the radio's still working and we can let them know where we are. Could be a few hours or a few days."
"So you don't think you can fix the shuttle?"
"I can have a look, but the damage to the engine was bad enough to make us crash, and I don't exactly have many spare parts handy," said Tucker.
Reed nodded. "So it'll be a while before we see Phlox. Let's deal with that finger and get it splinted up. You're only going to damage it more if you leave it like that."
"Yeah, better get it over with," Tucker agreed. He allowed Reed to give him a shot of painkiller from the medkit, and then Reed gently manipulated the finger back into place, a much easier task for him, given that it was Tucker's right hand that was injured. Once it was back where it should be, Reed carefully splinted and bandaged it. He then continued his work and cleaned and dressed the large cut on Tucker's forehead. With their injuries tended to, they got to work picking through the shuttle equipment and assessing the damage. Reed did his best to identify functioning systems and then assessed the planet's atmosphere, which, luckily, was breathable. Tucker checked the radio over and declared it a lost cause before he headed out of the shuttle to examine the engine.
The forest was dark and close around the shuttle. The trees weren't exactly like Earth-type trees, but they were obviously of the same basic design. They reached up towards the sky and blocked out the light from the binary stars. Tucker looked up briefly and realised just how far away those suns were when you were grounded on a planet. He put that thought to the back of his mind and concentrated on the engine.
"Damn!" said Tucker, loudly. "Malcolm, you've got to see this."
"What?" asked Reed, stepping out of the shuttle.
"Look," said Tucker, pointing at where the engine was supposed to be. Instead, there was a smouldering ruin.
"Well, that explains a lot," said Reed. "We're lucky we're not both dead."
"And then some. We're not going anywhere in this," said Tucker.
"Maybe we should go and take a look at this thing that brought us down," said Reed.
"I'm not so sure that's a good idea. Somewhere on this planet is a pre-warp civilisation, and T'Pol will have a fit if we make contact. We're a lot less likely to meet anyone if we stay here."
"Assuming that they missed that great big fireball that just streaked across the sky," Reed retorted sarcastically.
Tucker dropped his head, knowing that the argument was lost before he even began. "Malcolm…"
"Pre-warp civilisations don't have missiles. Whatever brought us down was trying to hide something. You don't randomly shoot down ships without a reason."
"Why do I get the feeling you're more interested in what shot us down than why they did it?"
"I would be interested to get a look at a weapon that can be launched from a planet and is accurate enough to take down a shuttlepod. Starfleet certainly doesn't have anything like that. What's the Captain going to say if we just sit here and wait to be rescued when we could be out collecting information?"
Tucker cocked his head and thought about it for a second. To be honest, he was curious himself. "Okay, you've convinced me."
"Good. I've got a route mapped out for us. It shouldn't be more than a couple of hours' walk." Reed waved a PADD at Tucker.
"I bet you've got our bags packed as well," said Tucker.
"Why, certainly, Commander," said Reed, reaching into the shuttle doorway and handing Tucker a backpack.
"Don't tell me, the Eagle Scout motto is "never unprepared" or something," said Tucker with resignation.
"Actually, it's "Be prepared"," said Reed.
"Near enough," said Tucker, shrugging on the backpack.
The trek through the forest took almost exactly two hours. The terrain was tough going and their feet caught in roots on the rough ground, but Reed had taken that into account when he gave his time estimate. They reached a clearing and an array of domed buildings.
Reed lifted a pair of binoculars to his eyes and examined the buildings.
"What do you see?" asked Tucker. He had his scanner out and was taking readings.
"A group of three grey domed buildings. No visible entrances, windows, or other external features. And what looks like a village, a bit further down the clearing."
"A village?"
"That's what it looks like," said Reed, handing Tucker the binoculars.
"If you had a top-secret installation on a planet, would you want a bunch of locals setting up camp next to you?"
"Maybe it was more trouble to keep them away," said Reed.
"Looks kind of medieval," Tucker mused. He could make out people walking around.
"They're at a similar developmental stage," said Reed. "Humanoid as well. I want to get a look round the other side. Let's move down the clearing a bit."
Tucker handed the binoculars back. "My scans aren't picking up much. Some electrical activity and maybe some sensing frequencies. It's well shielded."
"Which says that they're hiding something," said Reed.
"I'd say so," agreed Tucker.
They edged further down the fringes of the forest.
"There, that's got to be a door," said Tucker, holding up his scanner to show Reed a miniscule break in the shielding. "I don't see anything," said Reed.
"It's there, all right," replied Tucker.
"If we want to get in, we're going to have to cross that clearing, and we could be seen."
"Now you want to worry about making contact with the locals?"
"So far we've avoided it. Why tempt fate?"
"I thought you were the one that wanted to get a look at what brought us down," said Tucker.
"We just did," said Reed.
"And we've got nothing to show for it. You know as well as I do that what we need is inside that building."
Reed sighed. "You have a point." Curiosity was one of the reasons Reed had joined Starfleet, and he knew it was also one of the reasons that he let Tucker talk him into so many harebrained schemes.
"If we come round from the south, then I guess we can stay out of sight of the village," said Tucker.
Reed nodded. "Agreed."
They edged around the clearing again and onto a new side of the buildings.
"Malcolm, look at this," said Tucker.
On the side of the round dome, someone had painted a large mural of the binary star system. They had utilised two of the round buildings to complete the mural, one for each sun. Around the suns were dotted stars and planets, all in perfect alignment with where they would have been if someone had looked up at the sky from the ground.
"That must have taken a lot of work," replied Reed.
"The door's just here," said Tucker. A slight line could be seen on the otherwise seamless skin of the dome.
"Can you open it?" asked Reed, looking around nervously.
"I think so. Just give me a minute," replied Tucker. He pulled out a complicated looking electronic device and placed it on the outside of the door. A moment later, the lights on the device turned green, and a soft hiss indicated that the door was open. "Open sesame."
Reed ignored Tucker's attempt at a joke and pushed open the door. He drew his phase pistol and stepped into the dim interior, then indicated that Tucker should follow. They pushed the door to behind them but didn't close it in case they had trouble opening it again.
Inside, it was dark, and the only illumination came from the banks of controls and equipment that filled the room. Small lights blinked on and off, indicating something, but they had no idea what. They turned on their flashlights, and Tucker took out his scanner again and began to take readings.
"No biosigns," said Tucker.
"Any idea what this is for?" asked Reed.
"Keep your shirt on, Lieutenant. I've hardly even started. Could be an alien dishwasher for all I know." Tucker, intent on the readings from his scanner, didn't look up.
"Sorry, I just don't want to spend any longer here than we have to," said Reed.
"I'll be as quick as I can. Why don't you see if you can find that weapon that shot us down," suggested Tucker.
Reed stalked off into the dark recesses of the building and found a door that looked promising. He opened it and found another room packed full of equipment. There was only space for a small walkway around the edge of the spherical room. He pulled out his own scanner and began taking readings. After a few minutes, it was clear that whatever he was looking at wasn't a weapon, or even the control device for a weapon. He skirted around the edge to see if there were any further doors, but he found nothing.
"Malcolm," called Tucker from the other room.
Reed jogged back to where he'd left his friend. "Have you found something?"
"What we've got here is a listening station," said Tucker. "Everything I'm finding is concentrated on picking up signals. Mostly subspace bands, but it's drinking in everything it can hear. I'm guessing the reason these buildings are shaped the way they are is because they're antennae for the listening equipment."
"That explains the other room. It's a data storage device of some sort, and it takes up the whole of the next room."
"Did you find your missile launcher?"
"No, perhaps it's a sealed system. It could be in one of the other domes that we can't enter."
"That's possible. Could be set to automatically fire on anyone who scans the buildings. You know what's odd about this?" asked Tucker.
Reed lifted his eyebrows. "Apart from everything?"
"There's no writing on anything. It's almost like they're trying to hide who built this place. But I keep thinking that this technology seems familiar somehow."
"How can alien technology be familiar?"
"Every race has its own signature, a way of building things." Tucker sought the perfect word. "Aesthetics."
Reed nodded. "I'd never thought of it like that, but you're right. It's the same with weapons. I could tell the difference between a Klingon disrupter or an Andorian blaster blindfolded."
"Well, I've seen this before. I just can't remember where." Tucker shook his head as if that would shake loose the memory.
"There's another mystery. Who are they listening to? There's nothing on this planet that could produce radio signals."
"It's got a long range, but there are really only a couple of candidates: Vulcan and Earth."
"It could be Andorian, then," said Reed.
Tucker sounded doubtful. "I guess so, but it doesn't feel Andorian. I've seen Andorian technology and this isn't it."
"Let's finish up the scans and get back to the shuttle. We can figure out who it belongs to once we're back on Enterprise," said Reed.
"Good idea. Let's get out of here." Tucker flicked his scanner closed.
The two officers moved back towards the light outline of the door and stepped out of the dome. Reed pulled the door closed behind them, not wanting to leave any evidence of their visit or allow the locals a way in. The door clicked shut, and suddenly Reed's scanner beeped at him. He pulled it out of his pocket, wondering why it had alerted him.
"Trip, I'm detecting a power build-up. We need to get out of here now, this thing is set to self-destruct."
Tucker's eyes went wide, but he didn't question Reed. They both ran as fast as they could away from the buildings, towards the forest.
"The village," shouted Tucker, slowing to look back at the idyllic medieval township. People were going about their daily business and had no idea what was about to happen.
"There's nothing we can do," said Reed. "Come on!" He pulled Tucker along.
They were well into the forest when the explosion happened, but it still knocked them flat. A giant fireball engulfed the spherical domes of the alien buildings and took a large part of the village with it. Charred wood was all that remained of the houses that had been closest to the blast.
Eventually Tucker and Reed picked themselves up off the ground and then they were able to get a good look at the damage. Houses were no longer standing where they should have been and they could hear screams and cries. Fires continued to burn and black smoke billowed into the air. Crops were being destroyed as they watched and probably the livelihood of the village with them. This was a disaster, and there was no doubt in their mind that people had been killed.
"What the hell have we done, Malcolm?"
"It wasn't us. It was a booby trap. It was set to go off when the door was shut. We're lucky we weren't inside."
"If we hadn't gone poking around, then that village would still be there!" shouted Tucker.
"Don't you think I know that?" retorted Reed.
Tucker took a deep breath and calmed down a little. "I'm sorry, Malcolm, it's just that I can't believe we let this happen. We're supposed to be highly trained Starfleet officers. Why the hell didn't we pick something up on the scanners?"
"There was probably nothing to pick up. Closing the door just completed a circuit, the explosives were elsewhere. It was the power spike that my scanner detected. What do we do now?"
"Go back to the shuttle and wait to be picked up. There's nothing we can do for these people. We don't have enough medical supplies to help even half the number of injuries that there must be, and for all we know, Enterprise is still halfway across the system. Even if we did have enough supplies, we'd be contaminating their culture more by helping." Tucker miserably surveyed the remains of the village. "Let's go."
As they turned, they heard the sound of animals approaching. A party of riders were coming along the edge of the forest from the direction of the village. Their mounts were not horses, as they would have expected if they had been on Earth, but instead they were lizard-like creatures. The riders were brightly clad in primary colours with what seemed to be coats of arms emblazoned on tunics over chain mail. The party was approaching rapidly, and it was obvious where and who they were aiming for.
"They might be friendly," said Tucker.
"They don't look friendly," replied Reed.
"You want to run for it?" asked Tucker.
"And be mown down by a bloody overgrown lizard? No thanks," replied Reed, drawing his phase pistol. "Take cover behind the trees and fire when I say so."
The two men turned to take cover and came up against a row of swords held by some angry-looking natives.
Tucker instinctively raised his hands and tried for a reassuring smile, before he realised that the aliens might have no idea what either gesture meant.
"Where the hell did they come from?" asked Reed quietly.
"Damned if I know, but they just cut off our escape route," said Tucker. The aliens talked to each other and pointed at the two men in front of them. Tucker lowered one hand and felt in his pocket for his Universal Translator so that he could actually work out what they were saying. One of the natives glared at him. He switched it on by feel and quickly raised his hands again.
"What are you going to say?"
"Don't know, but I've got to say something." Tucker turned and addressed the alien at the front of the group. "Hi there, I'm Commander Tucker and this is Lieutenant Reed."
"That's it?" hissed Reed.
Tucker cast him an annoyed look, obviously not finding his friend's input helpful. The aliens were talking again, and this time the UT kicked in halfway through a sentence.
"...saw them leaving the sacred sun building just before the explosion," said one of the aliens.
"They committed trespass on sacred ground," said another.
"They are demons," cried one from the back. "Look at their features!"
"Hey, hold on a minute there," said Tucker. "We're not demons."
"That one has the hair of the sun," added another, pointing at Tucker.
At that moment, the party of riders arrived, and suddenly everyone fell silent. Tucker noticed that the clothes of one of the riders were more ornate than the others and surmised from the silence and deferential gestures that this was their leader.
"What do we have here?" asked the leader. "Two strange beings in bizarre clothing."
"They were seen leaving the sacred sun building, my lord," said one of the other riders.
"Then it is clear what must be done with them," replied the leader.
"Yes, my lord," said the rider, as he and a few others dismounted their lizards, swords drawn. "Tie them up," he ordered.
"Wait a minute, we haven't done anything wrong," said Tucker.
"You will address Lord Vilar as "My Lord", blasphemer," said one of the riders, poking Tucker with his sword.
"Okay! Sorry, my lord," said Tucker.
"At least let us explain, my lord," added Reed.
"There are witnesses who saw you leave the sacred sun building. You committed sacrilege. No further discussion is required," said Lord Vilar, leaning forward on the saddle of his lizard mount.
Tucker and Reed could only stand there as they were tied up and relieved of their weapons, more out of curiosity, Reed guessed, than because they knew what they were. Tucker also lost his scanner, but he was able to palm the UT before they found it. If they were going to get out of this, then being able to understand what their captors were saying would be useful. Once they were tied up, they were thrown unceremoniously over the backs of two lizards and secured in place. It was uncomfortable to say the least, especially for Reed, who already had injured ribs to contend with.
The riders took off at a brisk, lolloping run. It seemed to Tucker like the ride went on forever, but in reality, it could only have been a couple of hours. He tried to take note of where the sun was so that if they were able to slip away, they could head back to the shuttle, but with all the bouncing, it was hard to keep track of exactly where they were headed. Eventually a large, fortified, grey stone building reared up in front of them--a castle.
Tucker and Reed were pulled off the lizards and dumped on the ground. Reed was breathing hard, and Tucker was worried about him.
"Malcolm, are you okay?"
"No talking," shouted one of their guards, kicking Tucker to make his point. Tucker glared at the guard but decided that keeping quiet wasn't such a bad idea after all.
"Take them to the cells," said Lord Vilar.
Two guards took them into the castle and down several flights of stairs into what Tucker could only describe as a dungeon. It was dark and dank, and definitely not the kind of place Tucker wanted to spend any time. They shoved Reed and Tucker into a cell with iron bars on one side and a stone wall on the other. Light came in through a small barred window high up on the wall. The door clanged shut behind them.
Reed leaned against the wall and slid down to the ground.
Tucker, concerned, went over to the Armoury Officer. "Are you okay?"
"Sore, tired, nothing more. I can't believe that we're sitting in a medieval castle," said Reed.
"That's the least of our worries, Malcolm," replied Tucker.
"But everything seems so similar to our own history. They obviously have a feudal system, their weapons are amazingly similar, and then there's the fact that I'm sure I visited a dungeon like this in Edinburgh Castle once."
"Parallel evolution," said Tucker, sitting down beside Reed.
"What?" asked Reed.
"Didn't you pay attention back at OTC? The theory of parallel evolution states that because our history happened the way it did, it's very likely that other civilisations will have a similar path to their history. So if a planet is at its equivalent to our medieval age, then it's likely it will have a feudal system, knights, swords, and castles."
"That's ridiculous. I mean, there are so many things that cause events to happen, it couldn't be reproduced randomly."
"I thought so too, but we're sitting in a perfect example."
"I don't remember sun worship being a big part of the medieval age."
"I didn't say it was a perfect theory. Ask T'Pol for her opinion of it sometime. This is really going to bug her. She hates being proved wrong. So, you think they're a bunch of sun worshippers?"
"I'd say that was pretty obvious. This is where your lack of a classical education shows. The ancient Greeks worshipped the sun. Their god was called Helios. They revered the sun because it was a perfect heavenly sphere. They thought that spheres were the perfect mathematical shape, and those buildings were spherical domes, more perfect than anything that the people of this planet could possibly manufacture. It's a fair bet that when they turned up, these people took it as a sign from their god, hence the sun mural. They then declared them to be holy ground and no one was allowed to enter. Whoever built those things must have been pretty happy about that. It's better than any security system they could put in."
"Well, whatever the explanation, we're in a hell of a lot of trouble," said Tucker.
"As usual," replied Reed.
"You better not be saying this is my fault."
Reed sighed. "No, Commander, if anything, it's mine. I talked you into investigating the alien buildings."
"But I talked you into going inside," said Tucker.
"Sounds to me like we should accept equal amounts of blame," said Reed.
Tucker let his head lean back against the wall. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's a shame I don't have my toolkit. I could have us out of here in no time with just a screwdriver and hyperspanner."
"If you're planning an escape, friend, then I'd suggest you don't bother," came a voice from the cell opposite their own.
Tucker got up and pressed his face to the bars to see if he could see who was talking to them. He looked into the green eyes of a rather dirty, but pretty, looking female alien. She was in the cell across the hall from them.
"What would you know?" asked Tucker.
"I tried, friend. I seduced a guard and knocked him unconscious when he had his mind on other things. I got out of my cell fine, but Lord Vilar has guards posted everywhere. Escaped prisoners don't look good to the King."
"King?"
"You can't be from around here. King Erkent of Driar, he is the master of this land, but he gives out responsibility for management of areas to the Lords, people like Vilar. Actually, I hear that Vilar is better than most. At least he is consistent in applying justice, even if he isn't fair. He boasts that his peasants return the best productivity. Probably because they actually get to keep some of the crops they harvest."
"This castle belongs to Lord Vilar?"
"Of course. Who else would it belong to?"
"Sorry, you're right, we're not from around here," said Tucker. "I'm Trip Tucker and this is Malcolm Reed. Who are you?"
"Kelta of Norvis. Thief, vagabond and all-round rogue, at your service." Kelta gave a mock bow.
"I guess that answers the question of what you're doing here," said Tucker.
"I was wrongly accused. I paid good money for those gems and they double-crossed me. Not that the cutters will care."
"Cutters?"
"The punishment for thievery is cutting off the right hand," replied Kelta, holding it up and waggling her fingers at him.
Tucker took in a shocked breath.
"And what do they do with people who commit sacrilege?" asked Reed, from behind Tucker.
"That depends a lot on what kind of sacrilege."
"We're accused of trespassing on sacred ground."
"Gan's temple?"
"A building with a sun mural on it," said Reed, getting up to join the conversation.
"Gan is our sun god. You must be from the other side of the world not to know that. It sounds like you were at the sacred sun buildings."
"Yeah, that's what they called them," replied Tucker.
"Then you're in big trouble, friend. That's about the most sacred site this side of the great temple. Usually they hang blasphemers. Unless they think they're demons, in which case they're bled out and then burned."
Reed and Tucker exchanged a worried look.
"We have to get out of here," said Tucker.
 
*********
 
The search was taking longer than Archer had hoped. They had started with the airless outer planets and larger asteroids, but so far, they had nothing to show for their work. They had been gratified not to find the ruined remains of a shuttlepod sitting in space, but so far, that was the only good thing that could be said about the search. The beauty of the binary star system was completely lost on Archer.
"The next planet is inhabited by a primitive civilisation," said T'Pol, from her science station. "It has a breathable atmosphere."
"We're past the limit of their air supply," said Sato.
"If they're alive, then this is where they have to be," said Archer, finally voicing what he hadn't wanted to think.
"I am picking up the shuttlepod," said T'Pol. "It is on the surface on a landmass in the northern hemisphere of the planet. The area appears to be heavily wooded. There are native settlements nearby. We should proceed with caution."
"Travis, get Shuttlepod Two ready," said Archer.
"Yes, sir," replied Ensign Mayweather.
"T'Pol, you're with me," said Archer. "Hoshi, you have the bridge."
"Yes, sir," replied Sato, getting up to take the Captain's chair that Archer had vacated.
The trip down to the surface was uneventful, which, in many ways, puzzled Archer. Something had happened to Tucker and Reed, and so far, there was no indication of what that might have been. They were both good pilots, and it would have taken a serious problem to have knocked them out of the sky. There was no evidence of any hostile aliens in the vicinity, and the planet below certainly wasn't capable of the technology needed to bring down a shuttle. Shuttles didn't usually develop spontaneous engineering faults, and Tucker had done the pre-flight checks himself. Not to mention the fact that the Chief Engineer probably could have dealt with most failures that would arise in-flight himself. None of it made any sense.
"Put us down as close to the shuttlepod as you can," said Archer to Mayweather.
"There should be plenty of room," replied Mayweather, looking at the crash site. "Looks as if they came down hard. If their engine was out, then they'll have dropped like a stone."
"These shuttles aren't exactly aerodynamic without any power," agreed Archer, looking at the scar in the forest that the shuttle crash had caused. The shuttle didn't look as if it was in good shape, with a battered nose that had obviously been stopped by a tree. The idea of what they were going to find when they landed filled him with dread.
"I'm taking us down," said Mayweather. He brought the shuttle round in a long loop over the crash site and down along the line that the crashed shuttlepod had taken, setting the craft down gently behind its twin.
Archer and T'Pol disembarked while Mayweather shut down the engine. T'Pol had her scanner out, checking for life signs.
"I'm not detecting anyone in the shuttlepod," T'Pol reported.
Archer stopped to look at the damaged engine. "What on earth happened to this shuttle?"
"I'm picking up evidence of weapons fire, possibly a torpedo of some type," said T'Pol.
"Where the hell would that have come from? We haven't detected any ships passing through this system. Just Enterprise and the shuttlepod."
"When we find Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed, we can ask them," replied T'Pol.
Archer climbed into the open shuttlepod and immediately noticed the blood on the floor by the pilot's chair. He crouched down to take a better look at the red stains. T'Pol stepped in behind him.
"Lieutenant Reed was the pilot," said T'Pol, scanning the blood stain.
"Was he badly injured?" asked Archer.
"I don't believe so. This is not a large amount of blood," said T'Pol.
"What about Trip?"
T'Pol scanned the rest of the shuttle. "Commander Tucker was also injured, but probably not seriously. Of course, I cannot tell if either of them had internal injuries."
"Then where are they?"
"The protocol is to stay with the crashed craft," said T'Pol.
"Something made them leave," said Archer.
"There is no evidence of anyone else having been there," said T'Pol.
"The only way we're going to discover what happened here is by finding them," said Archer, looking around at the strewn equipment on the shuttle deck.
T'Pol stepped out of the shuttlepod, Archer just behind her. "I'm picking up a trail through the forest. They went north."
Mayweather came up behind T'Pol. "There's a settlement over there. Do you think they were going towards it?"
"That is unlikely. They would have avoided contact with the native population," replied T'Pol.
"Unless they didn't have a choice," said Archer, standing in the shuttle's hatchway. "Come on, let's get moving."
 
*******
 
Tucker and Reed had eventually fallen asleep in their cold, damp cell, having wracked their brains for a way out and found none. The only bedding material was some rather musty-smelling straw, but, by this point, they were both too tired to care. They were awakened by Kelta shouting at a guard who was opening their cell door.
"So when do I get my trial?" she asked loudly. "I shouldn't even be here."
The guard ignored her. "Up," he said to the two humans. "The trial council is waiting for you."
Reed and Tucker exchanged looks, but filed out of the cell. Two other guards were waiting with manacles, which they snapped onto their prisoners' wrists. The three guards ushered them up the winding stone steps and into a huge vaulted room hung with tapestries. It was obviously the equivalent of what would be called a great hall in a European castle. A panel of well dressed aliens sat at a long table, along with the alien they recognised as Lord Vilar in the centre. The guards shoved Tucker and Reed into the centre of the room so that they could be scrutinised by the trial council.
"They are obviously demons," said one of the aliens. "Their look is most unnatural. So smoothly skinned and pale."
"I agree," said another. "They are agents of the devil. That one mocks us by having the hair of the sun, increasing his blasphemy."
"You're saying I'm worse because I'm blond?" asked Tucker, incredulously.
"The prisoners will remain silent," said Lord Vilar. "We have further evidence to hear. Bring forth the villager."
One of the guards pushed an unwilling alien in shabby brown clothes towards the centre of the room.
"Well, serf. Tell us what you saw," said Lord Vilar.
"Yes, my Lord," replied the villager, timidly. "I saw the two demons leaving the buildings of the sun, and then the buildings were consumed by fire. The fire was carried to my village, and many buildings were burned. People were killed by the fire before they could flee, and others were badly injured. My Lord Vilar was assessing our crops when the incident occurred and led a party of riders to find the demons. When we came upon them in the forest, they spoke in strange tongues and carried demonic items."
"They left the building and then the fire started?" asked Vilar.
"Yes, my lord," said the villager.
"In your opinion then, they destroyed the sun buildings and a large part of your village?"
"Yes, my lord. There was no one else nearby."
"Hey, that's not evidence, that's just coincidence," said Tucker. "It was a booby trap waiting to be triggered."
Tucker's guard used the butt of his sword and struck his prisoner hard in the gut. Tucker doubled over in pain. Reed attempted to go to him, but he found the business end of the same sword pointing in his direction.
"Did you recognise the language that they were speaking when we came upon them in forest?" asked Vilar.
"No, my lord. It sounded ungodly though."
The panel members gave each other significant looks and nodded in agreement with each other.
"Bring forward the demonic items so that we may examine them," ordered Vilar.
One of the aliens rose from his seat at the table and brought out the two backpacks that they had been carrying, plus a tray that held their phase pistols, communicators and scanners. Reed desperately hoped that they had remembered to leave the phase pistols on stun, and that the aliens hadn't worked out how to turn the safeties off.
"They are made of strange materials," said the alien holding them. "The bags contain food and water, but both were found to be unpalatable. There is also an object that creates light when a switch is moved." He picked up one of their battery-powered torches and demonstrated it. It had a profound affect on the panel, some of whom appeared to be frightened by it while others seemed outraged.
"Blasphemy, it creates a false sun in a tube!" cried one.
"It is truly a diabolical device," said another.
"Evidence of magic," added a third.
Tucker would have liked to point out that it was science, not magic, but he didn't think he'd get very far trying to explain electricity. It would only earn him another punch in the gut anyway. He glanced sideways at Reed who was looking very solemn and worried.
"And the other devices?" asked Lord Vilar.
"The small golden box spoke in a strange language when I picked it up," said the alien, indicating one of the communicators.
Tucker and Reed exchanged a look. Tucker suddenly felt hope. If their communicator was working, that meant that Enterprise was in communications range. All they had to do was work out a way to retrieve their property and they could contact the ship.
"However, it has been silent since. We have been unable to ascertain what the rest of these objects are for," the alien continued.
Vilar turned to the prisoners. "Perhaps you could explain what they are for."
"I'm sorry, but we're not supposed to do that," said Tucker.
"They might be more forthcoming under torture," an alien suggested.
"Gan expects a sacrifice for such a grievous crime as sacrilege," replied Vilar. "I do not want to suffer through a cold winter if we displease him."
"We could execute one and torture the other. Surely that would satisfy our Lord Gan," suggested the alien holding their backpacks. He made a circular sign in the air as he said the sun god's name.
"A valid suggestion and a practical one," said Lord Vilar. "Are we all agreed of their guilt, given the evidence before us?"
All the members of the council answered in the affirmative, and Tucker and Reed knew what was coming next.
"Then I condemn them as demons and for violating the holy ground of the sun buildings. Take the sun haired one to the temple, his mocking blasphemy will be dealt with first. Return the other to his cell to await his interrogation."
"No!" shouted Reed, as guards pulled Tucker away. He tried to follow, but his own guard grabbed him and manhandled him back towards the cells. He gave up after a brief struggle. He was beginning to realise that these aliens were stronger than he was.
Tucker was being shoved towards a door that he assumed led to the temple and his place of execution. He saw an opportunity and fell against the table at the guard's next shove, knocking a communicator to the ground. He would have been happier if he'd been able to grab a phase pistol, but beggars couldn't be choosers. He dropped to the floor, kicking out a leg so that the guards came down with him. He grabbed the communicator in his manacled hands, scrambled to his feet, and ran towards Reed, hoping to get to him before the guards regained their composure. Reed took advantage of the opportunity, and swung an elbow into his guard's stomach, just as Tucker skidded to halt in front of him.
"Don't worry about me, concentrate on getting out of here and finding the Captain," said Tucker, shoving the communicator into Reed's hand, while the guard was doubled over in pain. Unfortunately, a number of other guards had now realised what was going on and were on top of Reed and Tucker, dragging them away from each other again. Reed had palmed the communicator successfully, but was powerless to do anything but watch as Tucker was escorted roughly out of the hall. Their belongings were tidied up from the floor where they'd fallen and locked away securely in a heavy looking wooden cabinet.
"As if I'm going to leave him behind," muttered Reed angrily to himself as he was pushed forward by the guard. He briefly considered turning around and attacking the guards again, but in the crowded great hall he wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of escaping. He needed to get back to the cells and then make his move. That was why Tucker had passed the communicator to him rather than keeping it for himself, he thought Reed would have more chance to use it. It had pleased Reed to see how much difficulty the engineer had caused his captors, but he suspected that Tucker was going to pay for it.
Reed found himself back in his cell in short order, shoved so hard through the doorway that he stumbled and hit the ground. The guard laughed, but Reed didn't see the funny side. He picked himself up and dusted down his uniform as best he could.
"Where's your friend?" asked Kelta, from across the hallway.
"Being executed," replied Reed, crossly.
"Oh, bad luck," said Kelta.
Reed ignored her understatement and flicked open the communicator. "Reed to Captain Archer. Reed to Captain Archer."
There was moment's pause before the communicator crackled into life with Archer's voice. "Lieutenant, good to hear from you. What's your location?"
"We're in a castle due northeast of our crash site. I'm afraid I can't give you better directions than that," replied Reed.
"That's okay, we're near your position," said Archer, and Reed realised that a medieval castle would be hard to miss. "Is Trip with you?"
"No, sir, we've been separated. It would take too long to explain, but the locals are planning on executing Commander Tucker. We need you to get here as soon as possible."
There was a pause, no doubt as the Captain tried to decide whether Reed had gone mad, he'd misheard or if Commander Tucker really was about to be executed. "We'll be right there. T'Pol says our current ETA is fifteen minutes. What's your situation?"
"I'm in no immediate danger, but I'm locked up in their dungeon. I'll do my best to escape, but I may require assistance. We also need to reclaim some property from the Lord of this area."
"Understood. Just hang in there. We'll be with you as soon as we can. Archer out."
Reed closed the communicator and considered his various escape methods. In twenty minutes Tucker might very well be dead.
"You really are a demon," said Kelta in awe. "Don't you have some magic that can get you out of that cell?"
"I'm not a demon," snapped Reed. "It's thinking like that that's getting my friend executed. This isn't magic, it's technology." Then something Kelta had said clicked at the back of his mind, perhaps he could use the communicator to get out of the cell. "Would you be interested in getting out of here?" Reed asked Kelta.
"Does an avian have wings?"
"I'll take that as a yes," said Reed. "Give me a minute, and then call the guard and tell him that I'm using some demonic device."
Kelta nodded, this was territory that she was familiar with. She counted to a hundred and then called out. "Guard, guard! The demon is talking to his demon friends. I don't want to be in a cell near some demon!"
The guard came lumbering down the hallway to see what Kelta was shouting about and saw Reed using the communicator.
"See, he has a magic box that talks," added Kelta.
"Give it to me, demon," said the guard.
"Come and get it," replied Reed, standing at the back of his cell waving the shiny communicator at the guard.
The guard obviously wasn't a particularly intelligent member of his race, and, as Reed had hoped he would, he unlocked the cell door and stepped in. He came towards Reed with his sword drawn and his hand held out for the communicator. Reed nudged a button on the communicator and tossed it at the guard, who caught it. As his hand closed around the communicator, the guard screamed at the pain the small box caused him. It was as if he'd been bitten by a snake. Reed made use of the opportunity the guard's distraction presented and hit him as hard as he could. He followed his first attack up by bringing down his elbows on the guard's shoulder before he finally knocked him unconscious with a kick to his head. His ribs were aching again but he did his best to ignore the pain. He picked up the guard's sword and carefully flicked open the communicator and disabled the switch again before retrieving the communicator from the floor. It was slightly dented but otherwise undamaged.
Reed grabbed the cell door keys from the guard's waist and released Kelta from her cell.
"What did you do with your magic box?" asked Kelta, warily. "You could hold it. Why did it hurt the guard?"
"I attached the power supply to the casing so that it gave him a nasty shock when he touched it," said Reed, and then realised that Kelta would have no idea what that meant. "It's not magic. One day your people will understand this sort of thing and be able to build boxes that talk to people over a long distance. That's what this is."
Kelta shook her head, obviously still mystified but they were both aware that they didn't have time to talk.
"What's the next step? I got this far before but couldn't get out of the castle," said Kelta.
"I have friends on the outside who'll help us, but first of all I need my weapons. They're in the great hall, I think. Then I'm going to rescue my friend."
"That is suicide," said Kelta. "Your friend is in the castle temple, and it's well-guarded, especially during an execution. They have a big ceremony while the execution is taking place."
"If I can get my weapons, it won't matter how many people there are," said Reed, testing the weight of the sword in his hand. He had never expected to be fighting with a broadsword, but he could adapt. He was an armoury officer, and weapons were his trade, even medieval ones. Admittedly, this wasn't quite like the foil that he'd practiced fencing with, but there were similar principles behind fighting with any sword.
They raced up the steps of the dungeon, ignoring the cries from other prisoners pleading for release. Reed and Kelta easily knocked the two other guards that they met unconscious. Kelta proved to be a capable fighter, and she was even better when armed with a sword similar to Reed's. Kelta led him through the passageways of the castle and into great hall. It was empty now, but Reed could clearly see the locked cabinet where he had seen them shut away his phase pistol and other equipment.
"Halt, demon," said a voice from the other end of the chamber.
Reed turned mid-stride to see Lord Vilar and two guards standing in the doorway to the great hall. Vilar indicated to his two guards to approach and attack Reed and Kelta. Reed decided to take a gamble.
"Coward. I call you out, Lord Vilar," said Reed.
"Reed, don't be foolish, he's the best swordsman this side of the great temple," whispered Kelta.
"Too late now," replied Reed. Vilar was already removing his heavy over-jacket and handing it to one of the guards. In front of his men he couldn't refuse the challenge.
"You think you can best me, demon?" asked Lord Vilar, drawing his own sword. This was not like the crude blade that Reed had taken from the guard, this was a thing of beauty, made of well-forged pattern steel, oiled and gleaming.
"I'm certainly going to try," replied Reed, taking up a fighting stance, his sword at the ready.
The two men circled one another, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Finally, Vilar attacked, swinging his sword in a crushing arc. Reed lifted his sword to parry the blow, hitting the sword with the edge of his own weapon and felt a stinging shudder run down his arm at the force behind Vilar's blow. His ribs had been aching before the fight began, but now they were definitely causing him pain. Vilar laughed, and Reed decided it was time to return with an attack of his own. Vilar parried with the flat of his blade, far more neatly than Reed's clumsy and rapid defensive strike. Reed noted that by parrying with the flat he had also avoided damaging the edge of his blade, and the impact was lessened.
The time for single strikes and testing the opponent was over. Vilar launched into a second attack, and Reed dodged out the way. Vilar followed it up with a series of strikes that Reed parried desperately, aware that Vilar had the upper hand. Reed turned his final parry into a riposte and began his own attack again. He thrust his blade towards Vilar, who took a rapid step back and dashed his blade aside with a sweeping parry. Vilar caught Reed's blade, twisting it in his hand and pulling it from his grasp. Reed's sword clattered on the ground and he found himself defenceless.
"Pick up the sword, demon," said Vilar. "I have not finished teaching you a lesson yet."
Reed knew that Vilar was the superior swordsman. The man had probably been using a sword to defend himself his entire life. Reed had to find a way to turn that experience and knowledge against him. He didn't think that he would get a second chance to retrieve his sword.
Reed picked up his sword. It wasn't as heavy as he had expected, but its weight was still pulling on his muscles and making them ache. He was already out of breath and his injuries from the shuttlepod crash weren't making his life any easier. He raised the sword again to defend himself. He needed to gain an advantage somehow, and he wasn't going to do it by playing the game Vilar's way. The Lord had been taught to fight in a certain style, and if Reed could break the flow of that style, then he'd have a chance.
Vilar began his attack again, moving quickly and slashing down with another crushing blow that Reed barely stopped. He rolled out of the way of the next blow and wrong-footed Vilar so that he fell forward, but the alien recovered quickly. However, Reed realised that he had one advantage over Vilar; he was smaller and more agile. Vilar tried to thrust at Reed, but again the Armoury officer moved before the blade could hit its target. He dashed the attacking sword aside as he shifted away from another strike. Vilar growled in frustration and charged at Reed again. Once more Reed went to dodge, this time sticking out his foot to trip Vilar as his opponent overextended himself. Vilar stumbled. Reed brought his elbow down on Vilar's back and the alien crumpled to his knees. Reed hit Vilar on the head with the hilt of his sword, and the duel was over. Vilar was out cold.
Reed turned to look at the guards, ready to deal with them too, only to see them fleeing the hall. Reed grinned.
Kelta clapped. "Well done. I've never seen anyone best a Lord in quite that way before."
"I'll take that as a compliment. Come on, let's get what we came for. Then, will you take me to the temple to find my friend?"
"You've got me this far. I'll take you to your friend if you can get me out of this place."
"I'll do my best. That's all I can promise."
"That, friend, is enough for me," replied Kelta with a smile.
Reed walked down the long hall, his shoes tapping on the stone floor. He reached the cabinet and, after realising that he couldn't easily force the door open, he took his sword to the lock. He hacked down in an inelegant swing and the padlock parted company with the door. He retrieved one of the backpacks and decanted the contents of the cupboard into it.
He had just finished clearing out the cupboard when he heard the sound of phase pistol fire from the corridor. He turned to see Captain Archer and Commander T'Pol enter the hall.
"Malcolm, are you okay?" asked Archer, noticing the unconscious form of Lord Vilar lying on the stone floor of the great hall.
"I'm fine, sir," said Reed, "but Commander Tucker is about to be executed."
 
***********
 
Tucker knew he was in trouble. He'd known that as soon as they'd been thrown in a deep, dark cell in a medieval castle. However, the trouble quotient had just increased tenfold. He'd been taken to an ornate temple, whose walls were covered with sun murals of the binary star system. A round altar sat in the centre of the circular space, and a large gold sphere sat in the middle of the altar, with a smaller gold sphere attached to it by a gold chain.
This was the castle's temple to Gan the sun god, the god of the giant star that the smaller star fed upon. The smaller star was Gan's consort, Shas. He only knew this because Kelta had given them extensive lessons in this planet's religion while they'd been passing the time locked up in their cells. Somewhere in the castle was a much smaller temple dedicated to Shas, but she didn't demand sacrifices, and her attributes were mercy and forgiveness, in contrast to her husband's concerns. Tucker wished he was in the other temple. The only thing in his favour so far had been that there seemed to be considerable ceremony involved in making a ritual sacrifice, and it was all taking some time.
In front of the altar was a round indentation in the floor and two round rings set into the floor on opposite sides of the dip. A channel led out of the indentation and around the altar, and Tucker had a horrible idea that he knew what that was for. Its rusty colouring proved his theory.
He was forced into a kneeling position before the altar in the indentation, and his hands were pulled out to the side and each tied to a ring. The position wasn't comfortable, but then he doubted they cared if the people that they sacrificed were comfortable. His injured wrist sent stabs of pain down his arm. An alien whom Tucker assumed to be a priest came up to him with a large, bejewelled knife with a wickedly sharp blade, obviously ready to begin the bloodletting part of the ceremony.
He had hoped that someone would come to rescue him before it came to this, but it was too late now. He was going to die on an alien planet, thousands of miles away from Enterprise and his friends, because the local populace believed that technology was the work of the devil. At least he was the one to be sacrificed and he'd given Reed a chance to escape. He hoped that his friend was able to get away and didn't suffer the same fate.
He craned his neck to keep the priest in his view, but suddenly, it seemed as if there was a lot of commotion in the temple. People were running about and falling on the ground, hit by beams of light.
"Malcolm," shouted Tucker, seeing the Armoury Officer enter the temple. Then, to Tucker's joy, Reed was followed by Captain Archer and T'Pol. T'Pol and Archer were beside him in a few seconds, the Captain having made quick work of stunning the priest with the knife.
"Trip, are you all right?" asked Archer.
"I'm a lot better now, Captain," he said looking up at his Commanding Officer. "Malcolm found you?"
"Yes, we met him in the great hall. We'll have you home in no time," said the Captain cheerfully.
T'Pol cut the ropes that held Tucker tied to the links in the floor. Archer helped him to his feet, which given that his muscles were protesting at the uncomfortable position they'd been forced into, was welcome assistance.
"Come on," said Archer to T'Pol. "Malcolm and Kelta can't hold off the guards forever, and Travis should be here with the shuttlepod by now."
T'Pol nodded once in agreement, and four Enterprise officers and one vagabond fled the castle.
 
***********
 
Archer and T'Pol entered sickbay to find Tucker and Reed sitting on biobeds being tended to by Phlox and his assistants.
"How are they?" asked Archer.
"They will be fine," said Phlox, beaming happily. "Commander Tucker's injuries were not severe, although a couple of the deeper cuts needed stitches. He does, however, have a hairline fracture of his wrist, which I assume he sustained in the crash."
"You said it was sprained," said Reed accusingly, looking at Tucker.
"I thought that's all it was," replied Tucker defensively.
"Someone did a good job of relocating the Commander's dislocated finger. I assume that was you, Mr Reed." The Lieutenant gave Phlox a small nod of acknowledgement. "It should heal on its own," added Phlox. "But I will want to monitor it."
"And Lieutenant Reed?" asked Archer.
"He has two cracked ribs and numerous cuts and bruises," said Phlox. "Nothing that a few days' rest and some painkillers can't deal with. All in all, you were both very lucky." Phlox took out a hypospray and injected the contents into Reed's neck.
"Perhaps one of you can explain to me how you ended up crashing in the first place," said Archer.
"We were just minding our own business, testing the new scanners, and someone decided it would be fun to take a pot-shot at us," said Tucker.
Reed rolled his eyes at Tucker's phrasing. "We were shot down by some kind of missile. We detected some buildings on the planet's surface that definitely didn't fit with the local level of technology. We think that the scan triggered some kind of automated self-defence program."
"But why did you leave the shuttle?" asked Archer.
Reed and Tucker looked guiltily at each other.
"It seemed a shame not to go and investigate the buildings when we'd crashed so close to them," said Reed.
"We thought we should at least find out who shot us down," added Tucker.
Archer sighed, but reprimands about following procedure could wait for another day. "What did you find at the buildings?"
"Not much," said Tucker. "We know that it was a listening station, but it had no identifying marks. I thought that I maybe recognised the technology, but I don't know, I just couldn't place it. We took scans, but I'm not sure how much help they'll be."
"I will download the scanner data to the ship's computer. I may be able to compare the findings to our database and gain more information," said T'Pol. The contents of Tucker's pockets, including the UT and scanner, lay on the sickbay counter where one of Phlox's assistants had deposited them. T'Pol took Tucker's scanner and left sickbay with it, already poring over the data.
"There's something else," said Tucker, looking over at Reed.
"When we left the building, we triggered an explosive device," said Reed. "It destroyed the whole building and part of a nearby village. People were killed, and it was our fault. If we hadn't been investigating those buildings then they'd still be alive."
"Malcolm, you didn't plant the explosives. Whoever put them in that building are the ones to blame. You were just doing your job, exploring and gathering information," said Archer.
Reed nodded but he didn't seem convinced. Archer thought that Tucker didn't look happy either. It was going to take both of them a little time to put this adventure behind them.
Phlox snapped his scanner shut.
"May we go, Doctor?" asked Reed.
"You may, Lieutenant Reed, but I need to put a brace on Commander Tucker's wrist," replied Phlox. "And you're both off duty for at least the next two days." Phlox bustled off to find a brace for Tucker's wrist.
"Is that all, Captain?" Reed asked.
Archer took a look at Reed. He hadn't protested when Phlox told him he was off duty for two days, and he looked exhausted. "Yes," he said. "But I'll expect a full report on my desk tomorrow."
"Yes, sir." Reed slid off the biobed and headed for the sickbay doors.
"Malcolm, not every first contact we make is going to go smoothly," said Archer. "You did everything you could, don't forget that."
Reed looked back at his Commanding Officer. Archer hoped he understood what he was trying to say. Reed paused a second and gave Archer a curt nod. Then he hit the button to open the doors, and a moment later, he was gone, the doors of sickbay swishing shut behind him.
Tucker sighed, lay back on the biobed, and yawned. "This has been a hell of a day."
Archer just nodded, unable to think of a valid response. He noticed that Tucker also looked exhausted and was probably only minutes away from falling asleep.
"He thinks it's his fault," continued Tucker.
"And you think that it's yours," said Archer, knowing what was coming next.
"I was the Commanding Officer. Everything that went wrong on that mission was my fault."
"You made reasonable command choices. I'd probably have done exactly the same thing if I'd been there."
"I should have made sure we stayed at the shuttlepod. It's procedure."
"You and Malcolm have probably given us vital information about that listening post. Whoever it belongs to, it's a fair bet that they're not friendly. You did good, Trip."
"Yeah, tell that to those people in the village."
"You didn't kill those people, Trip," said Archer. It had been a long day for his friend. He patted Tucker's leg. "Get some sleep, Commander."
"Yes, sir," said Tucker. He yawned again, and closed his eyes.
Archer allowed himself a smile before he left Tucker to his rest.
End.
BACK HOMEPAGE
(Back homepage)
Star Trek and all its related marks are trademarks of Paramount Pictures. No Infringement Intended.