Mestral’s Legacy: Chapter 36

Sickbay, Enterprise

It had been forty-eight minutes since Captain Archer had sent Phlox the sample from the surface, but it seemed longer–especially with the constant badgering from below. Phlox ran the analysis a second time, but the results were the same. The comm sounded for the fifth time, but Phlox ignored it. The chime was distracting, and he reached out and flicked it off; he needed a moment to think.

The blood sample from the patio door had been characterised–it’s unique finger print of proteins and genes established–and then run through the StarFleet database as well as Enterprise’s. The longer and more complex process of generating an image of the person was proceeding on another station–the computer estimated an hour to completion, now fifteen minutes remaining. In the meantime, the database search was intended to give him some information he could pass on to the captain–similarities, racial background, and whatever other minutiae that comparative analysis could uncover.

Five minutes into what should have been a twenty minute analysis, there had been a beep from the console. Phlox had assumed that it was an error message–occasionally the database choked if a sample was too degraded–but then the console had beeped again: a match, two actually. One file showing significant genetic identity to the sample was unexpected; two was so unlikely as to be unheard of. But now the results had come back the same. Phlox flicked the comm back on and was rewarded with the irate voice of the Captain. He unceremoniously disconnected the Captain and placed a call.

* * *

“Did you see that?” Alaia asked.

T’Pol found that she couldn’t see much of anything from her position on the floor, but there was no need, she soon saw the faint green light reflecting off of the uneven rock of the walls: someone was coming. The darkness receded as the light grew brighter, revealing the damp walls of a cave. It also illuminated the two of them, and for the first time the women realised that they had been treated differently by their captor. Alaia was sitting up against a wall near T’Pol’s head, while T’Pol was laying down, her limbs chained to rings attached to the floor. Alaia was bound with rope and duct tape, not chains–their captor had only planned for T’Pol. It was not a comforting thought for either woman as the shadow of their captor danced crazily over the rough walls, growing ever larger as he neared.

* * *

“Why?” Archer gave his comm unit a quizzical look as if it could explain the request that was being relayed. Vorak tried to shut out Archer who had been having a disagreement with his chief medical officer for several minutes now. Vorak tried to focus on Alaia, but he was finding it difficult to concentrate on anything–his body had its own agenda that was increasingly difficult to ignore. It took him a few moments to realise that Archer had finished his conversation and was talking to him. He opened his eyes to see Archer frowning at him.

“Yes?” Vorak tried to sound as calm as possible, resisting the irrational urge to throttle the man who had caused him to be separated from his wife. The fact that the Vulcans would have done the same was lost in the surge of anger: a fact that a part of his brain dispassionately catalogued as further evidence of his deterioration.

“Phlox wants to see us in Sickbay.”

“No.”

“He has the results on that blood sample.”

“Which he can relay over the comm.”

“Phlox insists we go up to Enterprise.”

“No.”

“I want to find them as much as you do.”

“Doubtful.”

“Look, we’re not getting any closer to finding them sitting around on the beach and it’s getting dark. Phlox must have a good reason for asking us to come up there; we’re wasting time arguing about it.”

“No.”

Archer pulled out his communicator, muttering to himself about all Vulcans being a pain in the ass–an accusation that was not unfamiliar to Vorak but usually came from a different source. Archer glared at Vorak and then gave the command to be beamed up. He rematerialised on the transporter platform and moved out of arm’s reach of Vorak, who had rematerialised beside him, in case the vulcan objected to being kidnapped, but Vorak simply glared at him.

“I said ‘No’.”

“I heard you–my ship, my rules. Now, are you coming to Sickbay or not?” Archer stepped off the platform and stalked off in the direction of Sickbay, stopping only long enough to see that Vorak was following him–whether it was to listen to Phlox or to retaliate wasn’t entirely clear. The MACO from the transporter room followed them, ensuring the Vulcan didn’t make any sudden moves.

* * *

From her vantage point on the floor, T’Pol could only see Alaia in the shifting green glow of the approaching light. The lieutenant was trying to free her hands from her bonds but was succeeding only in rubbing her wrists raw. Alaia had become somewhat less coherent over the last hour, lapsing into long silences and at other times talking to herself. It had taken T’Pol a while to realise that the pattern of speech was that of a one-sided conversation, but the language was that of the old men on Nutka Island and she couldn’t decipher it. In any case, there were more immediate problems.

T’Pol had tried to pull her hands through the rings around her wrist but they fit too snugly to allow escape that way. In fact, her hand had become stuck at one point and she had lost circulation before managing to work the ring back down around her wrist. Now T’Pol tried inching higher to provide some slack on the chains tethering her arms to the floor. The chains were fairly taut and the movement didn’t gain her enough room to reach the post that anchored the chain. For a moment she thought she felt a bit of give on the right side as if the post had shifted, but there was no time to investigate further as their captor arrived.

* * *

Daniel Keilan walked into Enterprise’s Sickbay to find it unusually crowded. In addition to Phlox, there was Enterprise’s captain, a Vulcan he hadn’t seen before, and a soldier holding what looked like a very imposing weapon.

“Ah, Daniel,” Phlox said, “thank you for coming.” He finished administering a hypospray to the Vulcan, who looked a little peaked, as he beckoned Daniel to come in.

“You said it was urgent.”

“So I did. We have a situation that I think you can help us with.” Phlox offered Daniel a chair in front of one of the computer consoles before continuing. “Two of our crew have have disappeared–we believe they’ve been abducted.” Phlox paused a moment to watch Daniel’s reaction, ignoring the puzzled looks from Archer and Vorak. The MACO kept his eyes on Vorak even though the Vulcan was calmer since Phlox had given him the hypospray.

“What can I do?”

“Captain Archer collected a blood sample that may have come from the perpetrator. The results from the database search suggested you were the person to help us.”

“A sexual predator?” Daniel guessed. It was not unusual to be called in on cases like these, though it was usually the local police and not StarFleet that did the calling. He could feel Captain Archer’s eyes boring into him; they did say the man considered his crew to be his family but the intensity the captain was projecting was making Daniel uncomfortable. Phlox was busy explaining the procedure he had followed and Daniel was only half listening, distracted not only by the captain but also by the vulcan who was looking at him oddly.

“One of the files was yours,” Phlox said, gaining Daniel’s full atttention. “A close match, but not identical–not quite.”

“What are you getting at?” Daniel asked. Phlox flicked on the console in front of Daniel, bringing up the image generated by the analysis program. Daniel’s face paled, prompting Archer and Vorak to look over his shoulder at the image–Phlox had already seen it when the analysis had completed half an hour ago. Archer looked from one physician to the other, but neither seemed inclined to speak.

“Who is it?” Archer asked, filling the silence. After a moment, when it became clear that Daniel was not going to answer, Phlox said, “It is a patient that Dr. Keilan and I assessed at the hospital several days ago. He was brought to the locked psychiatric ward from the penitentiary, but he escaped shortly after we left.”

“Assessing him for what? What’s wrong with him? Why would he kidnap T’Pol and the lieutenant?”

“He appears to suffer from a hormonal imbalance.”

“Meaning what?”

Phlox took a deep breath before answering. “Meaning he feels an overwhelming need to engage in sexual activity.”

“Are you telling me he’s going to rape them?” Archer looked at Phlox in disbelief and mounting horror. “Why didn’t you say so to begin with, we could be out looking for them instead of standing around here–”

“Where do you suggest we look?” Vorak asked.

“We could scan the islands, look for–”

“I was not asking you.” Vorak told Archer. The vulcan was looking at Daniel who was looking at the image on the console intently. “Phlox did not bring you here for your expertise, did he?”
Vorak looked over at Phlox who confirmed his suspicion.

“Somebody had better tell me what is going on,” Archer said.

Daniel took a deep breath. “His name is Michael. He’s my brother.”

The ensuing silence was broken by Vorak.

“Who does the other matching file belong to?”

* * *

Their captor’s scent arrived shortly before he did. The odour was worse than any human she had ever encountered, which, considering some of the hygiene habits of the Enterprise crew, was quite a feat. Of more concern was Alaia’s reaction–the lieutenant recoiled as if physically assaulted as their captor crouched down beside her. He cupped her chin with his hand, forcing her to look up at him, as he brought the chemical light stick up to bathe them both in its faint green glow.

“Hiya, sis.”

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