InsaneJournal

Fic: Prisoner Of My Soul 3b/4 StarTrek Enterprise
Title: Some Kind Of Wonderful
Author: Lopaka Tanu
Disclaimer: I do not own Enterprise.
Characters: Trip, Maklum, T'Pol, Archer, Hoshi, Travis, OCs.
Words: 11963
Prompt: Romulans capture Tucker and T'Pol.
Fandom: Enterprise
Pairing: Maklum/Trip
Rating: Adult
Warnings: Language, Violence, OC Deaths, Dominance, Sexual Situations, Semi Non-Con.
Summary: Captured by an unknown race, Trip must find a way to survive and get his people out of there.
Author's Note: To Sal, thank you for your inspiration in my time of distraction.
______________________________________


Bracing himself in his chair, Archer felt the deck shake beneath him as the 'Enterprise' docked with the Vulcan scout ship. Their ship dwarfed the Vulcan vessel, but given their current condition, was no match if they had to fight. Not that he wanted to. Fact was, he was so grateful that they had even responded, he felt like kissing their smug asses.

The con beeped, signaling the locks were sealed. Looking up, Ensign O'Hair smiled warily. "We have lock. The hatch is free to open, sir."

"Good." Hitting his comm switch, Archer leaned over so he could speak better to the control. "Amanda, let them in."

"Aye, sir!" Her chipper voice probably had a lot to do with the fact he had let her take small side arms.

Shrugging it off, John glanced about his bridge for the crew's reactions. Finding them all looking a little less worn out, he knew he had made the right decision. Not like he had much of a choice, but if they felt good with the Vulcans aboard, so much the better.

"All right, just because the Vulcans are here doesn't mean everything is now magically fixed. We still have a ship to repair and people out there counting on us to rescue them." Standing up from his chair, he winced with a small gasp, but he eventually made it. Once on his feet, he turned to the lift doors, waiting for the Vulcans.

He didn't have to wait long. The doors opened with a hiss, expelling four people on to the bridge. Stepping off the turbolift, Amanda, a second security officer, and two Vulcans met the Captain's expectant stare.

While he was sure he looked like hell warmed over, Archer wasn't afraid to show it. "Welcome aboard the 'Enterprise'. Sorry for the mess, but we've run in to a situation."

The taller of the two Vulcans looked around the bridge. Raising his eyebrows, he inclined his head. "Apparently so. Is there a place we may speak in private?"

"The briefing room is this way." He gestured to the door on the opposite side of the bridge. Moving with a limp, he made his way there as quick as he could. He paused outside the door to wait for the Vulcans to arrive. "Ms. Cole, you and Crewman Jones may wait outside." After a terse nod, he stepped through the hatch.

Following behind, the Vulcans barely acknowledged their escorts.

Once inside the briefing room, John took his usual place at the head of the center console. Facing his guests, he smiled politely. "What can I do for you, gentlemen?"

Both men looked to each other. The taller one nodded to his companion.

The shorter Vulcan came forward, pulling a round disc from his robes. He placed the device on top of the console. Pressing his thumb to it, he activated a holographic interface. "Is this the ship you saw?"

The image was hazy, but there was no mistaking the shape. Swallowing, John nodded. "Yeah, that looks like it. You know these people?" He glanced up in time to see the Vulcans share another look. "Okay, so you know them. What are we going to do about it?"

"Nothing." Reaching out, the shorter Vulcan picked up the disc. "Your crew and our officer are dead. Rescue will be pointless." He quickly stuffed it back in his robes.

John's first reaction was shock. How could they just write off everyone like that? His next reaction was outrage. They knew something and he was going to find out what. "Now, just hold on a minute! What the hell are you people talking about? What do you know they are dead?"

Sighing, the taller of the two stared at Archer as if he were wasting his time. "We have dealt with them before. They do not leave survivors."

John couldn't believe that, it had to be a mistake. "Can you at least tell me why they attacked?" May be this time was different.

"They are mindless, emotionally out of control animals." As he spoke the shorter Vulcan's head raised slightly. "They kill because it is in their nature to do so." He was prevented from saying anything further by the taller one placing a hand upon his shoulder.

Snorting, John shook his head. It was the same old bullshit again.

"You must forgive my companion. He is young, and does not know when to keep his opinions separate from fact." As he spoke, his hand tightened on the shorter Vulcan's shoulder. "What he means to say is that they are extremely territorial. This has lead to a form of xenophobia unparalleled in our not so inconsiderable experience. Our few encounters with them have all ended with the same results."

It was said with such finality that John had no doubt the man spoke the truth. Still, he had to hold out some hope. He decided it was best not to discuss this with them. "Can your people give us any assistance?"

"I'm afraid the most we can do is tow your ship to a nearby system. The Krellim are a friendly people and have assisted our vessels in the past." The look on his face said it was his final word on the matter.

John wanted to scoff at their offer. The thought of their tiny vessel towing his seemed absurd. Then again, they were Vulcans. Size was not everything. Besides, this might give him time to form other plans.

Smiling, he nodded. "That would be greatly appreciated."

~~~~~~~~~

They came for him before T'Pol could check a second time. As he was dragged from the cell, Trip saw her sleeping on a nearby bunk. The others tried to wake her, but he knew she wouldn't wake for a few more hours. It wouldn't have mattered any ways.

The guards had weapons and weren't afraid to use them.

Trip was lead up another corridor. He had gotten his feet under him by the first bend. This gave him the incentive to see where he was going. There was only one exit at the end of the black corridor. Through the door he could see a single chair with restraints.

He almost jerked back against their hold, but knew what would happen. While it had been a warning before, he had no doubt that the shocking was a very real threat. Still, he couldn't just let them strap him down. He wasn't going do die like that!

Before he knew it, he was in the room.

The guard on his right, thinking him sufficiently cowed, lowered his weapon to grab him with both hands. That was his last mistake.

Trip jerked free of the other guard's hold. With a snarl, he struck the only vulnerable part he could see through their armor, the center of the neck. He prayed these people's biology was similar enough to his own.

Luck seemed to be on his side as the guard clutched his throat, freeing Trip's other arm.

Spinning, Trip didn't bother trying to find a weak point. He threw himself at the other guard. Growling, he slammed the man beneath him to the deck. Since he was on top, he rolled off to the side, making sure to take the weapon with him.

As he leaned on one elbow, he aimed the end where the beam had come out of at the guard beside him and squeezed the handle. When nothing happened, he decided to switch tactics. Brute force had worked twice already. He brought the weapon down across the man's chest as he tried to get up.

That laid him out flat.

No time to think, Trip hit him again. On the third try, he heard something snap inside the guard's chest.

The man stopped moving.

Teeth grit and bared to the world, he turned to snarl at the second guard.

That guard was still on the deck, twitching and clutching his throat.

As Trip watched, this guard also stopped moving. His mind swirling about what had happened, he tried to find out what was going on. He knew two things for certain. He was free in the chamber and he had to get off the ship.


Glancing about the chamber revealed nothing but the guards, their weapons, and the chair. The weapons were the only valuable things. Rushing out of the chamber, he scanned the corridor with the end of his weapon. There was nothing he hadn't seen the first time.

Moving quickly, he wiped the sweat from his eyes. With each step, he was growing more pissed off. Who were these fucking aliens to think they could take him prisoner?

He would show them why you didn't mess with Charles Tucker the Third!

Squeezing the weapons in his hands, he knew his knuckles would be turning white. He nearly dropped them when they both went off. Two fine holes appeared on the far bulkhead at the end of the corridor by the time he released the handles.

Staring at them in surprise, he squeezed one's handle hard. When nothing happened, he increased the pressure. A small beam appeared, hitting the wall. Smiling, Trip put on a burst of speed as he rounded the corner.

Up the corridor, there were two guards standing outside the communal cell. He killed them before they even noticed he was coming. Served them right for getting in his way! Storming up to the cell, he tried to find a control panel.

There wasn't one in sight.

That left him with two options. Waste time looking the bodies over for a control device. Or, option two.

"Commander?" It was Travis.

Smirking, Trip aimed at the wall of the cell. "Stand back, Travis, this one's about to blow!"

"Everybody get down!" Dropping to the deck, Travis covered his head with his hands.

The other conscious crew members did the same.

A manic grin appeared on Trip's face. "I always wanted to say this." Squeezing the triggers, he watched as the wall dissolved under the twin beams. Once the invisible barrier cut out, he released them. Stepping through, he grinned once more. "Here's Johnny!"

Looking up from the floor, Travis gave Trip an assessing look. "Are you all right, sir?"

"Never better." He gestured to the bunk where Sub-Commander was still sleeping off her exhaustion. "Get up and get T'Pol, we're about to get out of here."

Travis nodded. As he climbed to his feet, something occurred to him. "Sir, why aren't you unconscious? T'Pol said you'd be for several more hours."

Bouncing on the balls of his feet, Trip shook his head. "I don't know. I just got all this extra energy and I'm planning on using it to get us out of here." He spun to face the entrance of the cell. "Marshall, Terryl, get those guys weapons. You have to squeeze the handle really hard to make it work."

As the two crewmen moved to pick up the weapons, Trip stepped back in to the corridor. The way he had come was still dark, but lights were coming on the other way. "Ya'll better hurry, this place is lighten up like a Christmas tree. I think the ants know I'm about to kick over their damned hill!"

A sudden surge of anger made him turn to the corridor he had come from. Squeezing the triggers on his weapon, he fired at the ceiling. The dim lights exploded leaving the corridor completely in the dark.

An alarm sounded in the ship, causing green lights to flare in previously hidden wall panels.

Firing on them, Trip sneered at the minor explosions. They weren't big enough. "Get the lead out! We're burning daylight and I'm rarin to go!" Much to his satisfaction, this seemed to get his people in gear.

Rushing out of the cell, Travis came with T'Pol over his shoulder. He was backed up by the last two members of their crew.

"Marshall, take the rear! Terryl, you're with me." Holding his weapons up, Trip started down the corridor. "Leave no one alive."

At his side, Terryl turned to him in shock. "Sir?"

Anger coursed through him. "That was an order, crewman!" His fingers itched to squeeze the trigger again. In his mind, he knew that this was what T'Pol had warned about, but he didn't give a shit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So far, the scans and video feeds were showing him nothing he didn't already know. His human and that damned Vulcan had shared their minds twice, probably exchanging information in a secure form. A smug part of him knew they were probably talking about their so called technical data.

That was not important to him. Others were assigned to deal with that.

His job was to find out the limits of these 'Humans' bodies. How did they reproduce? Were they capable of surviving in extreme environments? Were they smart enough to capitulate and accede to the empire's demands?

These and more were up to him to find out. So, back to his studies.

Aside from the fact they could accept telepathic commands, they had demonstrated no natural ability of their own. His own artificially induced interactions with his human had proven fruitless. The man was slightly more aggressive sexually, but aside from that, nothing.

As much as it pained him, Maklum knew he would have to try something else. Failure did not sit well with him, even if it was not his own by design. He was drawn from reviewing by a green hawk image replacing his records on the screen. At the same time, an alert sounded over the ship's comm system.

Rising from his chair, Maklum's hand went to his holster. His side arm was ready and waiting to be used. Whatever had attacked his ship would suffer greatly before he deigned to let it die!

Moving to his door, he ran his hand over the buzzer to unlock them. The moment they were released, the hatch slid open. A hail of disrupter fire exploded over the decks of his bridge. The attackers were using his weapons against his crew.

Eyes narrowing, he drew his own disrupter pistol. They would pay for this insolence! Ducking through his door, he dove for the nearby console to hide behind. He must have been spotted by the enemy because a shot destroyed the console above him.

He had to roll out of the protection to avoid being covered in melting Duritanium and sparks. Two more shots were fired over his head as he continued to roll across the deck. Bringing up his arm as he went, he fired randomly in their general direction.

Just as he reached the next console, three more shots erupted across his bridge. The returning disrupter fire ceased. Clenching his fist, Maklum realized what this meant.

"Give up, Maklum, we've got you surrounded!" Trip's voice echoed over the smoking remains of the bridge.

"You filthy ape! I should have tortured you like I wanted to from the start!" If he could get the human to speak again, he could locate him and blast him to slag. Smirking at the idea, Maklum dialed up the power setting on his disrupter. "You were so easily fooled, Commander. I am surprised it took you that long to discover my deception."

"What's the matter, poor little Maklum not have the balls to do what he knows needs to be done?" Trip fired as he spoke, preventing Maklum from doing the same. "Besides, we've got your ass pinned in, we can't be that stupid."

"It is merely a temporary situation, Mister Tucker. One I promise to rectify soon." His temperature flaring, Maklum tugged at his collar. "Keep talking, Earth man, while you still can. Once I get my hands on you, you'll do nothing but scream!" Jumping out from behind his console, Maklum fired a strafing beam across the bridge.

Several consoles exploded under the disrupter fire. Two of them exploded, knocking the people behind them backwards.

As the beam ended, Maklum realized he had made on mistake. He hadn't hit his intended target. Eyes going wide when the blond man stood up, he tried to take aim, but was too late. The disrupter blast hit him in the center of his chest, knocking him flat on the deck, unconscious.

"Tag!" Coming around the console, Trip sneered down at his fallen opponent. He stopped at his side, then kicked his pistol away. Triumph made his blood run hot. "I win."

"Commander! Terryl's hit." Kneeling by the unconscious woman's side, Travis checked her pulse. "She's alive, but I can't wake her."

"Is she bleeding out?" Trip couldn't drag his eyes away from the unconscious man. His fingers twitched with the need to touch him again, to run over his lips.

"No, sir, just unconscious." Travis shook his head, not knowing he wasn't been looked at.

"Then leave her be. I want this bridge secure. Once you've got that done, see if you can't get the comm system back up." Dropping to one knee, Trip grabbed Maklum by the arm. With the other hand, he stuck his weapon down the back of his pants.

"What about you, sir?" Leaving T'Pol in one of the few chairs, Marshall glanced over in time to see Trip pick Maklum up.

Man slung over his shoulders, Trip headed for the man's ready room. "Don't worry about it." He paused just outside the doors to hit the open button. "I'm going to be busy...getting some answers." With a smirk, he stepped through.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maklum came awake with his head bouncing off the deck plates, having been thrown there by a great lummox. Growling, he bared his teeth at the Human. "You won't win."

Trip looked down at him in surprise. The hands at the hem of his shirt froze in their movement. "You're awake already? Why should that not surprise me?"

Wincing, Maklum stretched his body to work out a pain in his back. Relief came with a loud pop as his spine released the pinched flesh. That done, he slid gracefully in to a sitting position. "Whatever you are planning with me, I won't help you. Do your worst, I've been trained to withstand every torture the Tal Shiar could invent."

Tugging on his undershirt, Trip smirked at the man. "Oh, I don't intend to torture you." With that, he pealed the tight material off his body and over his head. Tossing it on the floor, he flexed his body. "This room is cold."

"Don't be a Gingokot, it's quite comfortable, even for your needs." His eyes drawn to the pebbling flesh of Trip's body, Maklum growled in anger. He forced himself to meet the man's stare. "Being on that bucket you call a starship has spoiled you, Human."

Trip snorted. He was going to enjoy working the man over. His body was tingling with the need to touch him. With nothing to stop him, he did so. Grabbing Maklum by the front of his uniform, he jerked him up.

The only response Maklum had to this was to smirk at Trip. He was far from impressed by the man's physical prowess. "Throw me around, see what good it does you."

"I told you, I'm not going to torture you." As he spoke, Trip leaned his face down to the man's neck. Inhaling, he closed his eyes to enjoy the heady scent. "What do you really look like under all that makeup?"

"Makeup?" Maklum's hand came up to touch his face. He had been so busy, he had forgotten to remove the damned pigmenting. "It does not matter what I look like without the paste. My features have been surgically altered to make me look like you. I was supposed to trick you, it failed. A disgraceful act for no reward."

"Funny, you sound bitter for the wrong reason." Nuzzling Maklum's cheek, Trip sucked in a breath through his teeth. "I would have thought failing would have been worse for you."

"It wasn't my plan." Reaching up, Maklum quickly seized the sides of Trip's head. His attack was deflected by having his hands knocked away.

"Un uh, I'm controlling this show," Trip hissed at the other man. His blood boiling, he threw the other man towards the desk behind him.

Slamming back against the edge of his desk, Maklum snickered at Trip's actions. "I thought you said you were not going to do that, Commander."

"I done told ya, I'm not going to torture you." Stomping up to Maklum, he grabbed the man's uniform top. His eyes narrowed as he felt the man's heart beating under his hands. "Afraid yet?"

"No." Maklum swallowed. He wasn't afraid, but the idea of what this could mean wasn't completely settling well with him. What else could the man want?

"You should be." Trip moved half a step back, then grabbed Maklum by the hip.

The shorter man had only a second to question what was going on before being jerked around, his back to the Commander. Then he was slammed face first in to the desk. "What are you doing?" Hands on his pants made his eyes go wide. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, I am." Pushing down Maklum's pants enough to expose his ass, Trip took a deep breath. His entire world narrowed down to this as he fumbled his hardon out of his underwear. "How'd you put it? Oh yeah."

Leaning forward, he grabbed Maklum by the hair and jerked his head up. He licked the outside of his ear, then bit it. "Grab the edge of your desk Maklum. Now that I got my hands on ya, all you're gonna be doin is screaming!" Aligning their hips, he pressed his cock against Maklum ass.

Instead of the panic the situation should have called for, Maklum smirked at the human. Warmth spread though his body in anticipation. "You don't have the balls, Mister Tucker."

"Wanna feel'em?" With a growl, he thrust in. "Here they are!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a typical show of his luck, the first console Travis had found turned out to be the communications. It was slightly damaged, but repairing it seemed to be quite easy, surprisingly. The systems were similar to something he had worked on when he was a kid.

Rerouting the power through the secondary relays proved to be the end of his luck. "Ow!" Jerking his hand back, he tried to shake some feeling in to it. Once the nerves started firing again, he stuck the burned skin in his mouth.

That was the third time he had been shocked by this system. It was almost like the ship knew he wasn't the true owner. That wouldn't surprise him, he had seen stranger things.

As he sucked on his burned index finger, he glanced over his shoulder at the alien commander's ready room. It wasn't the first time for that either. He had found his attention drawn to those doors several times over the past half hour since the man had disappeared through them.

Whatever was going on in there, he hoped the Commander didn't get himself captured again. They just got him back.

A half snort to his right drew his attention. Travis felt his heart nearly skip a beat when he realized it was the Sub-Commander coming awake. Standing, he made his way to her side. To his delight, Marshall moved over to take his place at the console.

As he knelt down to check on T'Pol, he heard a cry of pain behind him. So he wasn't the only one.

"Sub-Commander, are you awake?" He touched her uniform covered arm, careful not to make contact with her skin.

"I am." Opening her eyes, she looked a little dazed. "Where are we?"

"The bridge. Commander Tucker got us out of the cell and captured the ship's captain." He pointed to the ready room. "He's in there interrogating him now. It must be going well, because he's been in there a half hour."

T'Pol's eyebrow shot up. "Of that, I have no doubt." Sitting up, she used his shoulder to steady herself. "What systems do we have access to?"

"Well, the place is pretty shot up, but I've almost got communications back online." Standing up, he held out his arm for her to use to get to her feet. "Terryl's certain she can get us con, but the helm is a lost cause."

"Have they tried taking back the ship?" T'Pol swayed a little once she was standing, then righted herself. Putting a hand to her head, she blinked a couple times.

"No." Shaking his head, Travis frowned. "I would think they would, but nope. They haven't."

"Thank you for your assistance, Ensign, I can handle myself from here." She looked over to the hatch. "Return to your work, I will see what is keeping the Commander."

"Yes, ma'am."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Resting his forehead between Maklum's shoulders, Trip panted out the last of his release. His cock still tensed in the man's body, but was slowly going soft. Beneath him, he could fill Maklum shifting to get comfortable, but he didn't care. The man's comfort was the last thing on his mind.

Therefore, it irritated him when Maklum shifted to dislodge him from his body. With a growl, Trip slapped his already abused ass. "Stop that."

"I am not your..." Maklum was cut off by a resurgent cock being shoved deep inside him. Hissing, he white knuckled the edge of his desk. Lowering his face to the cool metal, he forced his body to relax.

"That's more like it." After a few more breaths, Trip stood up, pulling his cock from the red ass. Wiping it off on the man's uniform, he smirked, then tucked himself back in his shorts. "You can get up now."

"I will do as I please." Clenching his ass, Maklum winced. "I choose to stay over my desk."

"Suit yourself." His skin feeling pleasantly warm now, Trip scratched at his chest. For the first time since this all started, he could feel his old reasoning coming back. It was very faint, but it was there. "I gotta few questions for ya."

"I still refuse to answer them." Voice strained, Maklum checked his lower body to see if he could move it free of pain. There was a great deal of it, but he could handle that. Pushing off the desk, he groaned, but eventually made it.

To Trip's amusement, the front of the man's uniform was stained with a translucent pink liquid in several spots. Meeting his glare, he wiggled his eyebrows. "Looks like you enjoyed yourself."

Leaning a little forward, Maklum grabbed the top of his pants and jerked them up in to place. "I should cut your dick from your body." He glowered as he tucked his cock in his pants.

Watching him, Trip noticed several differences between their cocks. Most important being the ridges along the underside of Maklum's. Sucking on his bottom lip, he hummed to himself. A spark of lust tugged at him. "Careful, I might have to bend you over that desk again."

Maklum's head shot up. Glaring at Trip, he quickly cinched his belt in to place. "You would not dare!"

Before Trip could reply, the doors hissed open.

Stepping in to the room, the first thing T'Pol noticed was the smell. Wrinkling her nose, she glanced about. Upon noticing Trip, she cocked her head to the side. "Commander, you are looking well."

"I feel it." With a smack to Maklum's ass, Trip smiled. "All thanks to Maklum here."

He jerked forward from the hit, but remained standing in the same place. Maklum eyed Trip from the corner of his eyes, calculating whether it would be worth the trouble to lunge for his throat.

"If that is the case, then I suggest you join us on the bridge. We are about to call for help." For the first time, T'Pol looked to Trip's companion. Upon seeing him, both her eyebrows rose.

Sensing that he was being watched, Maklum broke off his death glare at Trip and shifted it to the intruder. Upon seeing what she looked like, his sneer returned in full force. "Vulcan bitch!" A tug on the back of his collar jerked him back from his lunge.

Wrapping his arms around Maklum's waist, Trip pulled the smaller man completely off the deck. "Calm down!"

Maklum tried to shake himself free, but Trip's hold was too tight. "Let me go! That pointy eared monster has to die!" Kicking at Trip's knees, he was almost dropped when he made contact. Instead, he found himself swung around and slammed face first in to the desk again. "She has got to be punished!"

This time, Trip brought the man's hands up behind his back. "You got anything to tie this one up with, T'Pol?"

Having been watching the spectacle with growing shock, T'Pol jerked her head to face Trip when he spoke to her. She swallowed before speaking. "I believe there is wiring."

"Get it." While she quickly left the ready room, Trip twisted up Maklum's arms to keep him from snaking out of his grip. "You wanna tell me what that's about?"

"The Vulcan filth must be purged from the galaxy." His growls were cut off by Trip forcing his face in to the desk. Shaking his hair free of the restraining fist, he twisted his head so he could glare up at the Human. "They will betray you, Commander, mark my words. When it suits them, they will write you off and leave you to rot!"

Trip just shook his head. The man was mad and spitting lies. "That don't sound like any Vulcan I know."

"Then obviously you don't know many Vulcans." Barking a harsh laugh, Maklum looked away. "Give it time. You'll see." He tried one last effort as the doors opened a second time. When that failed, he began to growl again. "Korveesh, Adja Mohest!"

Taking the wires from Marshall, Trip nodded his thanks. While he began to tie up Maklum, he snorted. "What'd you just say?"

"Look to the screen, and find out." The smirk on his lips was bitter and resigned. "Death before dishonor!"

"I don't like the sound of that, sir." Walking over to the glowing green screen, Crewman Marshall looked at the flowing symbols. "Uh, sir, if I'm reading this correctly, this thing is counting down."

Sighing, Trip closed his eyes. "How much time do we have?"

"Twenty minutes, give or take five seconds." His voice rose near an octave as he continued to stare at the screen, mesmerized.

"Get out there and tell them to get that console working, now!" Grabbing the bound man's arms, Trip jerked him off the desk. Once he had him high enough to speak in his ear, he sighed. "I don't suppose I can convince you to turn it off?"

"Not a chance." He seemed proud of this. Giving Trip a defiant glare.

"Fine, if I'm going to die, I'm going to do it with a smile on my face." Looking to Marshall, Trip sobered quickly. "Get out."

"Aye, sir." Saluting, Marshall all but ran out of the room.

The moment the doors closed behind him Maklum became reacquainted with the metal desk top.

Half a heart beat after that, Trip was grunting his way back in to the tight body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Got it!" As Travis slid the last chip in to place, the entire communications console lit up. Alien symbols slid over the screen then flashed a set of numbers. "We have complete access to subspace frequencies."

"If you will step aside, I will send the message." T'Pol took the controls, pushing Travis aside before he had a chance to comply. Her fingers quickly tapped out a message in the alien language before she activated the comm signal.

They both looked up as the doors to the ready room opened. When they saw it was only a rushing Marshall, they resumed studying the comm station.

Getting back to her work, T'Pol sent the message. "I am coding it to StarFleet and Vulcan frequencies only. There will be less of a chance of discovery this way."

"Well, I hope they get it quick." Panting, Marshall came to a stop next to them. He had to lean over to catch his breath. Throwing a thumb over his shoulder, he shook his head. "The alien activated a timer in his office. We got like nineteen, may be twenty minutes left."

"Oh man." Travis closed his eyes. Smacking his fist in to his hand, he shook his head. "We were so damn close!"

"Do not give up just yet." Her eyes trained to the console, T'Pol's lips twitched. "There has been a response."

Travis whipped around to stare at her hopefully. "The 'Enterprise'?"

"No, in this case, something better." Sending another signal, T'Pol locked the controls. "They will be here in ten minutes. Gather the others, we must be prepared for a hostile transport."

"Hostile transport?" Marshall looked to Travis for a clarification. All he found was a sick looking Ensign. "Sir?"

"It means they'll jump in expecting weapons fire. The transport will be quick and rough as the ship will only be here long enough to pick us up before they jump back to warp." Burping, Travis covered his mouth. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Sir?" Eyes wide, Marshall paled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sir, I'm receiving a signal on short wave radio." Hoshi's tired voice was barely loud enough to be heard over the buffing machine running along the deck plates. "It's in an unknown language, the UT's having a hard time translating it."

"Is the message meant for us or did we just happen to pick it up?" His face now swollen, Archer knew he must look ghastly. Still, it could be worse. Crewman Li had half his face covered by a green alien from Phlox's menagerie.

Flipping a few of her new buttons, Hoshi frowned. "It's on the StarFleet and Vulcan frequencies, so it has to be for us." She activated another control. "I'm running a trace now."

"Tell me when you've got something." In the mean time, he went back to watching the alien floor buffer. It was automated, but seemed to know where exactly it needed to be to avoid people and clean at the same time.

Half his ship was now swarming with machines that didn't belong to StarFleet. They were repairing, replacing, and refinishing much of it. At the current rate of repairs, he would have her back up and running in a week.

Unfortunately, the same problem that was sending them home in the first place was still in effect. Without Trip's know how, not even the Krellim's friendly scientists were able to synthesize technology they had never encountered before.

Closing his eyes, he took a slow breath. The longer they stayed there, the more it seemed like he would never see his best friend again.

"Sir!" Hoshi grimaced when she watcher commanding officer nearly jump out of his chair at her cry. "It's them, sir. It's Sub-Commander T'Pol and the others. They're alive."

Rising from his chair, Archer limped over to her station. He had to lean on it to keep from falling over, but his excitement pushed that from his mind. "Were you able to trace the signal?"

"Yes, sir." The joy left her face as quickly as it had come. "It was sent from sixty light years away, two days ago." She couldn't stand to see his reaction, so she went back to staring at her console. "We're only just now receiving it because of our..."

"I know, Ensign." Reaching out, he grasped her hand. "I know." When she looked up, he smiled at her. "At least we know they are alive."

For several moments, she continued to watch him, biting her lip to keep from showing a reaction. This broke off when her console beeped. Dropping her eyes, she quickly reached up to wipe away a tear.

He squeezed her hand a second time before he let go. "What's the new message say?"

"Um, hold on." Rubbing her eyes clear, she brought up the message. "It's from... A Vulcan Battle Cruiser. They're picking up...they must have picked up..." Her heart stopped. "Sir. They were rescued."

"What?" Archer wasn't sure he heard her right. Looking her in the eyes, he blinked a couple times.

"They were rescued by the Vulcans." Her voice was only a whisper. Hoshi felt too numb to say it out loud. "They're alive."



TO BE CONCLUDED...................................