Words

Chapter 12 - Ends, Odds and Beginnings

Archer and Shran go hunting for Vulcans, while the Xindi give Starfleet another NX class much quicker than expected.

Warning for sensitive souls, this one contains military violence and death. But not too much more than you'd see in your average western or action movie.

=/\=

"Please come aboard our ship," T'Pol said, once the initial shock had subsided. She registered the accepting nods of Jannar and Depac and the connection was severed.

Pushing a com button on Hoshi's console, she ordered: "Bridge to sickbay. Subcommander Soval, join us at airlock 7."

She left for the turbo-lift and without any order to do so, she was followed out by Commander Tucker.

When she arrived at the airlock, walking side by side with her mate, Soval was already there and addressed them.

"You both appear to be troubled."

"We might have found them," T'Pol answered cryptically, knowing that Soval would figure out the rest after so many mind-melds during their rehabilitation.

=/\=

"You say that there is another ship with exactly the same signature?" Jannar, the council member of the arboreals, asked.

"If our suspicion is correct and you check their plasma decay rate, you'll notice a difference," Trip explained. "After all that ship is more than a century old."

Seeing the riddled looks on the faces of the Xindi, Trip knew that he probably made as much sense to them as a hopeless drunk.

"Is this again a matter of time travel?" Depac asked.

"In a way. It happened when we came to the subspace corridor Degra had told us about. The Kovalaans took exception to our presence," Trip began and recalled the whole incident that led to the existence of the second Enterprise, the one that might still be out there.

=/\=

Archer and Shran stood on the bridge of Columbia, both clad in sand-colored uniforms

"Ensign Hartman, you're driving," Archer ordered. "Barring you have the con."

Archer left the bridge, with Shran and Hartman in tow.

"Are the MACO's ready?" he asked, once they were inside the turbo-lift.

"They are already waiting in the launch bay," Shran answered with a nod. "Luggage and weapons have already been stored. We can complete the camouflage on the way down."

"That's good. Since you're the most experienced, you'll command the operation. Major Talcin has agreed to it."

"Agreed," Shran accepted as they entered the launch bay.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let's go through some of the things that await us down there," Archer explained, holding up a pocket-sized leather bag. "Each one of you grabs one of those. It contains small metal pellets. When you see a glittering effect on a wall down there – that's a gallicite deposit. Take a pellet and throw it at the wall to discharge the static electricity or you might end up dead."

"Won't that give away our position?" Major Talcin inquired.

"That's why we're using small pellets. They make it look like a natural discharge. What do we have for weapons, Major?"

"We've decided to use crossbows. That will give us the advantage of having ranged weapons against their lirpas. My men also carry hira-shuriken."

"What's that?" Shran asked.

"Throwing stars," Talcin answered and handed both Archer and Shran such an object.

"You humans have cruel weapons," Shran remarked after inspecting the small 4-bladed metal projectile.

"Says the man, who's carrying an Ushaan-tor," Archer said with a sarcastic chuckle. "What about melée combat, Major?"

"We've left that to each soldiers preference. Some carry nunchaku others have daggers or batons."

"Ok," Archer addressed the soldiers. "As you all know, there's no modern technology that works down there. You probably got that already from the somewhat quaint selection of weaponry. That means we have no scanners whatsoever and have to rely on the good ol' Mark-II Eyeball. Make sure you all wear your sunglasses; the glare is pretty hefty down there. Captain Shran will command this mission. Judging by the sophistication of his camouflage, he'll be the guy you won't see down there."

Amusement spread among the soldiers.

"So let’s go through the quick check list, shall we. We'll be the first to do a military parachute drop in decades and we're definitely the first to do it on Vulcan. Owing to the thinner atmosphere and higher gravity, the 'chutes are huge. That's why we'll jump in intervals of 30 seconds, while the shuttle circles 5.000 meters above the ground. That's as low as we can go without hitting the natural dampening field."

John paced slowly, while delivering his speech. This operation would be the most unusual in recent history, considering that it used methods and weapons, which were out of style since the last century, or – as the Vulcans would call it – last week.

"Due to the long interval between jumps, we'll land spread out over a large area. We'll meet one hour after the drop at the given coordinates. The parachutes are to be simply abandoned. The next sand fire will take care of them. Any questions?"

None came.

"Let's get the show on the road," Archer ordered and indicated them to board the shuttle.

=/\=

"Centurio Tavrus, the Praetor will now see you."

With long steps, Centurio Tavrus, who once was  Major Talok, walked into the huge chamber of Romulus' most powerful leader.

"Jolan tru, Praetor, I come to serve."

"Jolan tru, Centurio. I see you still haven't shaken some of the habits you took on during your time on Vulcan."

Hanging his head in shame, Tavrus asked for forgiveness.

"Do not be concerned Centurio. You served us well on Vulcan for a long time. Such little things won't take away from your excellence. Tell me, what is the latest information on this 'Coalition'."

"They are still squabbling over minute details. I think they will go nowhere for months. The humans, however, keep everything together. If we eliminate them, this whole idea will collapse."

"Have you made progress on how to eradicate them without ground troops?"

"We have a lead. A century ago the humans used weapons based on a nuclear chain reaction. They could kill by radiation, even after the blast. But use of those is dangerous to us as well. If I may humbly inquire; why is it so important to avoid the use of ground troops? Ours are the best in the quadrant."

"I do not doubt the excellence and bravery of our troops, Centurio. We must avoid that any of the humans or their allies ever sees one of us. If they learn about our ancestry, they will know that any weapon against a Vulcan is also a weapon against us. The Andorians have these in abundance and the blue scum have shown a predilection for helping these humans, even without a formal alliance."

"I will see to it that we develop those nuclear weapons in all haste."

=/\=

Trip's mind was in turmoil. There they were, preparing for a tricky diplomatic mission, but all he could think of was the ship that – maybe – was still out there.

"We must concentrate on the diplomatic mission," Depac explained. "But we offer to dispatch ships to find out if the signals are indeed coming from the second Enterprise."

"We'd be very grateful," Trip answered, trying to keep his voice neutral. "Last time we saw them, they were in bad shape and if that signal was all over the sector as you say, it looks as if they are running from someone – most likely the Kovalaans. Maybe you could convince the aquatics to send a ship as well, you know, to give them a lift, like they did with us. About the diplomatic side; Maybe Soval can help."

"Was he not introduced as a medic on this ship?" Jannar asked.

"I am currently serving as a medic," Soval explained. "It was necessary to aid the recuperation of two crew members. However, before that I've been a diplomat for 50 years and I will return to that service, once this mission is finished."

"I remember," Depac replied. "The data that Captain Archer gave us about Earth spoke about an Ambassador Soval."

"Indeed."

"We would be honored to have an established diplomat available," Jannar answered in the slow manner of the arboreals. "It will make dealings with the aquatics a lot easier."

"Indeed," Depac agreed.

=/\=

"You sound as if you don't even try to apprehend him alive," Shran noted, while he covered the area around his eyes with the ochre-colored paste. Archer’s latest instructions, given while everyone in the shuttle put the finishing touches on their outfit, sounded suspiciously like 'kill anyone with a lirpa on sight'.

"If the Vulcans would have wanted him alive or for interrogation, they would have gotten him themselves. They didn't put it in so many words, but his death is exactly the outcome they expect."

"Strange," Shran noticed. "Every Andorian they ever captured was interrogated thoroughly – very thoroughly. How come they don't want to interrogate the man, who corrupted their whole government?"

"That's because they already have," Archer explained. "They had him stunned, when T'Pau and I brought in the Kir'Shara. Trust me, T'Pau or any of the other melders has picked his brain, while he was out. A mind-meld is much more efficient than any old-fashioned torture."

"Is that, why they let him go?" Shran asked, remembering that he had been very confused when reports reached the Imperial Guard that the new Vulcan government had let a high profile traitor go free.

"Think so," Archer said with a nod. "I think they had hoped to find more of his co-conspirators, but when that led to nothing, they decided to get rid of him."

"I'm surprised that Starfleet agreed to this. You humans did not strike me as a race that would kill in cold blood. You've made peace between my people and the Vulcans more than once and now you go on what is technically an assassination mission?"

"Pure opportunism on Starfleet's part. At some point we want something from the Vulcans and if they are reluctant to agree, we just need to mention this mission and they will see the logic in agreeing to our request in a damn hurry."

"Sneaky," Shran remarked. Obviously in times of war or when such was looming, the Humans could be just as ruthless as an Andorian warrior.

"War's a dirty business," Archer continued. "I've had Surak in my head long enough to know that, what we're about to do may clash with our own values, but by Vulcan standards I'm just following tradition. I've learned the hard way in the Expanse that sometimes you must shove your own moral values aside to get the job done."

"It is Vulcan tradition to assassinate people?"

"In a way. When you got the cultural briefing in the Embassy after you applied for Starfleet service. Did they tell you about medieval laws? About people being outlawed?"

Shran nodded, remembering the texts about people that were sent away from their homes and everyone had the right to kill them.

"In contrast to humanity, Vulcan still has the death penalty," Archer explained grimly. "Treason, murder, adultery and few select other offences still carry the death-sentence. By Vulcan tradition everyone affected has the right to execute the offender. He murdered one of my best friends and 29 other humans, he nearly destroyed my ship and tried to kill me and my first officer. I think I'm damn well affected."

Shran looked at the face of his human friend – there he was again, the grim, angry human, he'd met in the Expanse. The Romulans had no idea what they were up against, should they ever plan to attack.

"Captain Shran," the pilot announced. "We've reached the deployment zone."

"Ok, ready for deployment, meet me at the given coordinates in exactly 60 minutes from now...mark!" Shran ordered and shoved the balaclava over his head.

"Let's execute some tradition, Jon," he said and opened the hatch.

=/\=

Soval looked at the stack of PADDs before him. These mediation talks would challenge all of his diplomatic skills. The 5 Xindi subspecies where as different as if they came from 5 different worlds. The arboreals and primates seemed to have a certain common ground, but then there were the unassertive aquatics, the rash insectoids, not to mention the unpredictable and volatile reptilians.

"Have you come to any conclusions," Depac asked.

"Your political situation is... difficult," Soval started carefully. "With the aquatics' difficulties to come to decisions and the insectoids' intransigence, I do not believe that these negotiations can be completed in the given time-frame."

"What do you propose?" Jannar asked.

"I shall convene with my superiors to see if it is possible for me to stay on your world until these negotiations have been completed. Since I believe this process to span months, it would be illogical to keep Enterprise here for such a long time, especially since Earth might be on the verge of another war."

"Have they been attacked again?"

"Not yet," Soval answered to Depac's worried question. "As you know, four worlds – Earth, Vulcan, Tellar and Andoria – are building an interplanetary coalition. An aggressive and expansionist race, which is called Romulans by Earth, sees their plans of conquering our worlds in danger by the emergence of such a strong adversary. The danger of a pre-emptive attack is substantial."

"It is unfortunate to hear that you face peril again, so shortly after your and our worlds have faced annihilation at the hands of the Guardians. Maybe one day we might render assistance, but first we have to bring peace to our own world."

"I understand that, Councilor," Soval added and started walking the room slowly. "I propose that we gain the aquatics' approval for my mediation. Once that has been achieved, we may request my stay on New Xindus from my government and Enterprise can return to their home world to attend to more urgent matters."

"Agreed."

=/\=

Shran looked up to check the big piece of fabric that stood between his survival and the fall to his death. Only the pink-skins would come up with an idea to fall safely from great heights, but then again, they didn't have levitation boots. What was more interesting, however, it did not only work and was enjoyable in a strange way, they had had this technology since before they could take to the air.

Impacting with the ground, he started running to dissipate the remaining energy before coming to a stop. He removed the backpack that had contained the folded parachute and started to check his outfit. The grenade belt was in place, the bolt-throwing device, which the humans called crossbow was hanging over his shoulder and his faithful old companion, his Ushaan-tor was sharpened and fastened to his belt.

It didn't take long before the first humans arrived, including Archer, who had jumped third after Shran himself. 50 minutes after his own arrival, the last soldier arrived and the commando was good to go.

"The opening is 500 metres north from here," Archer reported. "It's hidden by a holographic projection, but I don't know if it survived the bombardment."

"Lead the way, Captain," Shran answered and followed the lead of the human.

=/\=

Archer ducked his head back behind the hill near the opening of the underground caves. He held up two fingers to signal the presence of two outside guards. He saw Major Talcin indicate two soldiers to crawl forward.

A few second later he saw them each throw a throwing-star and the two guards collapsed into a heap with not so much as a sigh.

Archer crested the hill and motioned the others to follow. With his two index fingers he indicated the approximate dimensions of the opening and the commando split up to crouch against the wall on either side.

Archer made a chucking movement towards Shran and the Andorian took one of the grenades off his belt and threw it through the invisible opening. A dull thud, followed by two more, signaled that at least two more guards had been neutralized.

Archer saw Shran hold up 4 fingers, followed by an indication towards the opening. Four soldiers with leveled crossbows jumped through the opening. Seconds later he noticed an arm coming through the holographic projection, indicating them to follow in.

Taking a surveying look around the cave, where he and T'Pol once were apprehended by the Syrranites, he saw two Vulcans being tied and gagged by soldiers.  Further down was a third, who was pierced by a bolt. One of the soldiers made a running-movement with his index and middle fingers and indicated a cave entry to convey that he had seen Vulcans fleeing in that direction.

Once the two unconscious guards were bound and gagged, Archer followed Shran’s lead into the cave, with the rest of the soldiers in tow. After an excruciating romp of almost half an hour through the caves, he caught a glimpse of two dark clad-figures disappearing left and right behind an opening. Shran help up a hand to indicate all to stop and Jon surmised that Shran had come to the same conclusion – this was an ideal ambush place. Before he could think any further, he heard a whooshing noise, as a throwing star passed not very high overhead and impacted with a gallicite deposit a few seconds later. A massive lightning-filled discharge ensued and the two dark-clad figures staggered into view. Moments later Jon saw them dropping to the ground.

He looked back and saw Major Talcin pump his fist in triumph.

=/\=

"Any word?" Trip asked as T'Pol entered their quarters.

"The Xindi have deployed two primate and one aquarian ship. They have picked up a signal approaching the Icaaran system."

"I still can't believe that they might be alive," Trip said and his voice was giving away his inner turmoil loud and clear.

"It was a possibility that they would survive," T'Pol answered. "I am however unsure about how to deal with meeting an older self again. It was a most confusing experience."

"Dunno," Trip muttered, gently embracing her. "I've got a gut feeling that the other you didn't make it."

"What brings you to that conclusion," she asked and Trip noticed the sadness in her brown eyes.

"Look, I've talked to Jon a few times about his meetings with Daniels and how the guy always babbled about corrupting the time line. If you existed twice, that would clearly corrupt it, so somehow I have a gut feeling that Daniels would have just zapped them out of existence if you would have survived. Maybe, if she died, that's the only reason they still exist at all."

"We shall find out," she said and Trip watched her disappear into the bath room.

=/\=

Talcin made a cutting movement across his throat to indicate that the two figures were dead. Seeing Shran's sign to go on, he followed, right behind Archer after relaying the indication to the soldiers behind him.

After a few more minutes of marching, a cry of pain from behind startled him and he saw a Vulcan striking Corporal Moore with a lirpa. Immediately he noticed the loud whirring noise of a nunchaku in action as Corporal Tsangtao pounded the attacker with the ancient Chinese weapon. After a devastating blow to the Vulcan's head, the attacker dropped with a crushed skull.

Watching Tsangtao check the fallen comrade, he noticed his grim head-shaking. All help for Moore would come too late.

"Leave him," Talcin ordered with a grim face. "We'll get him, when the job's done."

Coming up to a larger cave opening, Talcin's keen ear noticed some faint rustling noises. He tapped Shrans shoulder and showed him all 10 fingers, twice. Of course he didn't know, how many Vulcans would await them, but it was clear that the fugitives awaited them for a final battle.

Seeing Shran preparing his crossbow, he indicated his men lock and load. Every human – and Andorian - knew that he would have exactly one shot, then it would be melee, due to the long reloading time of the historic weapons.

Following Shran's attacking sign he stormed into the large opening and when he saw the approaching Vulcans – his rough estimate was a dozen – he fired his weapon at one that came directly towards him. His bolt pierced the attacker's throat and the Vulcan collapsed.

Seeing some bolts of other soldiers miss, he knew that hand-to-hand combat was coming. He drew his Kilij, the saber-like weapon of his Janissary ancestors and rammed it into the abdomen of an approaching Vulcan.

=/\=

After firing his bolt, which had pierced the chest of a Vulcan, Shran threw the crossbow away and removed his trusty Ushaan-tor from his belt. He parried the blow of a lirpa and quickly swung his arm back the other way and slashed the Vulcan's throat.

Turning around, he saw one of the human soldiers – bleeding from a wound on his arm – under attack from one of the few Vulcans still alive. Not thinking twice, he rammed his Ushaan-tor into the back of the enemy, dropping the Vulcan with a pained cry.

Preparing to engage the next one, he noticed that no Vulcans, except one were left and he saw Archer’s raised arm, notifying them to stop.

"Captain Archer," the Vulcan said and Shran could not remember that he had ever heard a Vulcan speak with so much emotion in his voice. "You came to finish what you started? Or are you just here to ingratiate yourself to that woman, T'Pau?"

Shran looked over at Archer, who still held the lirpa he'd taken from one of the fallen Vulcans.

"Let's bring that to an end, shall we?" he heard the Vulcan mock further and waited for Archer’s reaction.

"Damn right, V'Las," Archer said and Shran readied himself to pounce, when he saw Archer throwing the lirpa away. Why would the pink-skin disarm himself?

The answer came in the form of two loud bangs and he saw the Vulcan clutch his torso in wide-eyed horror.

Looking back to Archer, he saw the most menacing scowl he'd ever seen on a pink-skin and heard him growl: "That's for Maxwell, you bastard!"

Shran saw a little metallic weapon fall from Archers hand and rushed over to the human's side.

"What's that?" he asked and pointed towards the weapon.

"A little souvenir from a place in the Expanse. We met some exiled humans there."

"Why didn't you use it before?" Shran asked in confusion.

"It had only two bullets left and they had his damn name on them," Archer said and Shran watched him walk away.

"Major Talcin," Shran ordered. "Send two men to get the two stunned guards; we'll take them with us as prisoners. The others bury the corpses. We'll spend the night here."

"Aye, Sir."

=/\=

"What is it?" Archer asked, leaning against a wall, when the two Corporals returned without the guards two hours later.

"They somehow managed to kill themselves. They were both dead, when we arrived. First we thought that they had a poison capsule under the tongue, you know, like some of the Germans in the 1946 Nuremberg trial. We checked their mouths and noticed that both of them had a cracked molar. They were hollow."

"Dammit, they had their own suicide device," Archer realized, angry that he lost two valuable people for interrogation.

"I've noticed something else," the other corporal explained. "My dad is a plastic surgeon, so I noticed that some skin irregularities on their foreheads were actually scars from plastic surgery. They both had them and they were V-shaped."

Archer watched him indicate a V on his forehead.

"So whoever they were, they have either grooves or ridges on their foreheads in the shape of a V. We checked the other corpses on the way back – they all had those scars."

"Why didn't anyone notice?" Archer asked.

"If you don't know it, you'll never notice it. When I was a kid, I was amazed what my dad could do, you know, restoring the faces of disfigured people and so on. My dad always prided himself in not leaving any easily visible scars, so I had this little game as a boy. I looked at the pictures of the people he had worked on for hours until I found the scars. I loved to yank his chain, when I managed to find them."

"So they were either disfigured Vulcans or no Vulcans at all," Archer concluded.

"I think so," the MACO answered. "I thought our doctor might find that interesting."

Archer took the small box he was offered and opened it. It contained hairs and two green-stained pieces of cloth.

"From them," Archer stated the obvious.

=/\=

"So, we'll leave Soval here?" Malcolm asked during the morning briefing.

The ship was only one day from New-Xindus and Soval had practically been living in the conference room, endlessly haggling with the aquarians to accept him as a mediator,

"Considering, that it took several days to agree on Soval as the mediator," T'Pol explained. "It is the logical course of action. We cannot afford to stay idle for months until the aquarians come to a decision."

"I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with leaving him behind," Malcolm replied. "Shouldn't we at least leave a security detail as well."

"The Xindi have agreed to the deployment of a Vulcan diplomatic courier. Since they are able to travel at warp 7, they shall arrive within 3 weeks. Until then, we stay here..."

"Captain!" Malcolm cried out and pointed at the view port. Everyone turned the glance to the given direction and they saw a massive aquatic ship drop out of a vortex. When it opened its cavernous cargo hold, a ship floated out.

That's got to be the galaxies biggest colander, Malcolm thought, before T'Pol's order yanked him out of his thoughts.

"To the bridge!"

Running back onto the bridge, he quickly took his place behind the tactical console and heard Hoshi say excitedly: "It's them, they're hailing us."

"On screen."

When the picture came on the screen, they were greeted by a familiar, but awfully haggard looking face. Silence reigned for several moments, before the captain of the newly arrived ship spoke.

"Mother!"