The Good That Men Do - Andy Mangels [101]
Archer and T’Pol exchanged determined glances.
Suddenly, Shran’s expression took on a look of fear. “Jhamel! I’m… losing her. Something is wrong with her!” His vision blocked by the helmet, he pointed in T’Pol’s general direction, his arm shaking violently. “Turn up the gain!”
Phlox studied the readings on his scanner. “You are already experiencing severe nerve and cellular damage, Shran. Any more power, and you will be unable to physically function.”
“Do it!” Shran shrieked, his body convulsing. “I’m losing her!”
T’Pol looked at the console, then back at Shran, apparently considering the warrior’s plea. Her hand hovered over the control for an instant that seemed to stretch into minutes, then pushed down on the cutoff control.
Phlox was glad that things hadn’t gone as far as they had the first time, and immediately began scanning Shran for further damage.
The Andorian slumped forward in his chair, still twitching violently. Phlox and Archer moved to hold him up, as T’Pol unlatched the telepresence helmet from his head.
“Why didn’t you turn the gain up higher?” Shran asked, his anger-laced voice barely more than a whispery rasp.
“Because you cannot save Jhamel if you are in a vegetative state, or dead,” T’Pol said.
“Can you tell us the heading of the vessel she’s on?” Archer asked.
“If I can see some star charts,” Shran said, his breathing labored. “I’ve traveled a bit more than most Imperial Guardsmen.”
“You need to be treated first,” Phlox said. He didn’t like some of the readings his scans were showing, but with some medicinal cocktails, he felt that the Andorian might be restored to his usual strong and aggressive state.
“Help me get him to the bed,” Phlox said, gesturing toward one of the medical bays.
As the quartet transported Shran to the bed- Theras taking his feet and following the lead of the others- the wall-mounted com unit let out a loud whistle.
“Bridge to Captain Archer.” The voice belonged to Ensign Sato.
The four of them hurriedly put Shran down on a biobed, and Archer sprinted to the device, depressing a button on its lower edge. “Archer here.”
“You have a priority one communication from Admiral Gardner.”
Archer blanched visibly, then looked back at the others. “I’ll take it in my quarters in one minute,” he said, then let go of the button.
“I’ll make certain that Shran is able to function again as soon as possible, Captain,” Phlox said, trying to reassure him. “He’ll be examining star maps in no time.” He wished he was as certain of that as he sounded.
“Thanks, Doctor,” Archer said. “I’ve got to go figure out how much trouble I’m in now. After that, I’m probably going to need Shran’s help more than ever.”
“How do you mean?” Phlox asked.
“I just might end up having to apply for a job on his ship,” Archer said dryly as he crossed quickly to the door.
Phlox watched his superior officer exit. Given Admiral Gardner’s reputation, he thought, I’m not entirely certain he’s joking.
“Come again, sir?” Archer wasn’t quite certain he’d heard the admiral correctly.
“I said that our intelligence sources are reporting some new rumblings of war from Romulan space,” Gardner said, the expression on his face both officious and annoyed. “It’s possible that the warnings that you and Commander Tucker gave may have had some validity. Of course, we still need to find significantly more proof before we can take decisive action.”
Had the situation not been so dire, Archer might have been amused. What Gardner had said was the closest thing to an apology he’d ever heard from the man.
“What about my request to pursue the kidnapped Aenar, Admiral?”
Gardner shook his head. “I find pirates and slavers just as reprehensible as you do, Captain. But I’m not still sending Earth’s flagship halfway across the galaxy to catch them. Especially when doing so might rouse the Romulans into an active state of war.”
Though Archer wasn’t surprised, he found it difficult