Surak's Soul - J.M. Dillard [19]
“I beg your pardon?”
“Anything unusual,” T’Pol repeated blandly. “I take it by your reply you have not. I’m looking for Captain Archer. Have you seen him?”
Phlox turned and made a sweeping gesture at Archer, who stepped to the companel.
“Archer here.”
“Captain…” Perhaps it was Archer’s imagination, but he detected a curious undercurrent of anticipation in the Vulcan’s tone. “Would you please report to the bridge? And could Ensign Sato accompany you?”
The captain frowned, immediately concerned, but intrigued by the request to bring Hoshi. “Is anything wrong?”
“Negative, sir. We seem to be receiving a unique form of alien contact.”
“We’ll be there,” Archer said before T’Pol had completely uttered her last word, then punched the control and turned on his heel in one swift move, leaving Phlox to gaze after him.
As Archer and Hoshi stepped onto the bridge, T’Pol immediately vacated the command chair—but did not return to her post. Both Reed at tactical and Mayweather at the helm were watching the encounter with great interest—and more than a little anxiety, Archer judged.
“Captain,” she acknowledged, then turned her attention to Hoshi. “Ensign Sato…do you hear anything unusual?”
Hoshi paused to concentrate; her gaze grew distant, then she frowned slightly and said, “Maybe. Do you think one of the subwarp engines is straining a bit?”
T’Pol’s lips compressed themselves a bit more firmly; this was apparently not the reply she had hoped to hear. And Archer was no longer in the mood for any more mysteries.
“Out with it, Sub-Commander. Exactly what do you hear?”
“Vulcan,” she answered.
The captain did a slight double take.
“More specifically,” T’Pol added, “a female voice speaking Vulcan. It identifies itself as an amorphous entity, composed entirely of energy particles, yet possessing consciousness. It asks—”
As she was talking, Archer flashed on the image of the mad Oani male attacking Hoshi and felt a sudden chill descend over him. He and the exolinguist shared an uncomfortable glance. Was T’Pol now going insane? Had the unidentified plague found its way aboard Enterprise?
Relax, Archer chided himself. From what we know, all but two of those people died calmly.
Nevertheless, he interrupted T’Pol. “Sub-Commander, you may very well be hearing the voice of an invisible alien entity that for some reason, the rest of us can’t detect. But I think it’s reasonable”—he emphasized the word—“to ask that you report to sickbay and have yourself checked out.”
T’Pol lifted her eyebrows in mild protest. “I assure you, Captain, I feel quite well. Should you wish to verify the truth of what I am saying, we need merely scan for the existence of the creature in the area of space it claims to be located.”
“Then do it,” Archer said.
T’Pol’s full lips parted; after a slight hesitation, she said, “According to the coordinates, the entity is currently beyond the range of our scanners. We need to leave Kappa Xi Two’s orbit.”
A gruesome image flashed in Archer’s mind: Enterprise as a ghost ship, aimlessly asail through space with her bridge crew sitting dead at their posts. Who knew what other life-forms they might expose to the mysterious plague? And if the Vulcans came looking for them…He stopped the thought at once and stated firmly, “I won’t risk leaving orbit until I can be sure we won’t spread the disease further. Report to sickbay, Sub-Commander. That’s an order.”
He saw the flicker of resistance in her eyes; but she at last nodded calmly and said, “Very well, Captain.”
He, Reed, and Hoshi watched her leave.
“Return to your work,” Archer told the exolinguist. “We might need your help sooner than you think.”
“So it begins,” Mayweather muttered—not quite softly enough. Archer heard and turned to him in irritation.
“Ensign?”
Mayweather stiffened at his post. “Yes, sir?”
“Do me a favor and knock off the dramatics. We’ve got enough excitement as it is.”
“Yes, sir.”
* * *
An anxious hour later, Archer sat in his command chair and listened to Phlox via companel.
“She checks out perfectly healthy, Captain,” the