Star Trek Enterprise Bk. 02 - Inherit Ch. 08

For the next few hours the ship was in chaos. Captain Archer had managed to get to sickbay and was having his side and arm stitched up by Crewmen Cutler when Danaë was carried in on a stretcher by two MACO's. Following close behind was Malcolm Reed and two security officers. T'Pol and Cmder Tucker arrived a few moments later just as Cutler was tying off the last stitch. As Dr. Phlox began running scans on Lt. D'Arcy, Lt. Reed went over and gave the Xindi communicator to the captain. He then turned his attention to her backpack and began rummaging through it with Archer watching intently. Her NX-01work PADD was located immediately and handed over to Cmdr. Tucker and T'Pol for analysis. They were certain that whatever she had been up to would be found on it or she wouldn't have taken it with her.

The two left sickbay under orders to sift through every keystroke that was made by Danaë since her return in the Xindi pod. This was a job that could potentially take several hours or even days, but no stone could be left unturned. Whatever their findings, Archer wanted it reported directly to him the second it was uncovered. Standing to one side with his arms folded, Captain Archer watched intently as Dr. Phlox ran a litany of tests. All around the exam table was a beehive of activity, but the captain knew the lieutenant was in good hands. He trusted the doctor implicitly. If anyone could figure out what was possessing Danaë it was Phlox. Until the Klingon Klang had crash landed on Earth and ushered in the beginning of human interstellar exploration, Archer had never heard of Denobulan doctor. Since then he had been nothing but impressed by his abilities and use of traditional and non-traditional methods. He held numerous medical degrees and there was no one the captain trusted more when it came to the lives of his crew.

Right now he wished he could have the doctors infinite patience because waiting for answers was quickly becoming a lesson in self-control. He had already seen her go into convulsions more than once and each time his instinct was to rush to her side, but he dared not move. He knew It was best that he stayed out of the doctor's way, it was just so frustrating feeling so powerless. How long had he been standing there, ten, fifteen, perhaps thirty minutes, maybe more? It seemed like an eternity. All the captain could do was sit and watch as Dr. Phlox worked on Danaë. He wanted to know what was controlling her and believed that the Xindi had implanted some sort of electronic device in her brain and was giving her orders remotely. If he was right then could they do that with the rest of his crew? Could it be easily removed?

Standing there in sickbay, Captain Archer thought about how many times he had stood in this very spot and watched as one of his crewmen fought to survive. Too many times. The last incident involved Cmdr. Tucker. While installing a new drive, a warp manifold exploded causing severe head injuries. He would not have survived at all except that Dr. Phlox suggested the creation of a clone that had a life span of only fifteen days. From it they could harvest the necessary brain tissue and save Cmdr. Tucker. The plan had seemed like a good one and Archer readily agreed to it, after-all he needed Trip for this mission to succeed. Unfortunately the doctor's information had been incorrect and the clone's life cycle was much longer. Archer had ordered the harvest anyway and persuaded the duplicate to sacrifice himself for the greater good. It was a decision that had cost him a piece of his soul. He even believed he had felt the devil tear it from him, but it had to be done. They had to succeed in this mission, too many lives were at stake. If he had to sell the rest of his soul to save Danaë then so be it. He was not going to lose her.

Archer believed with all his heart that he was to blame for this. When the Xindi had attacked earth, Lt. D'Arcy had initially been offered a chance to help get the Columbia ready in anticipation of assisting the Enterprise, but Archer himself had asked her to remain on board with him. After all the warnings about the expanse, he had felt that having her as part of the crew would be an asset. Who better to help the ship adapt to the anomalies than an engineer that specializes in hacking and modification. He could still recall her reaction. Instead of taking time to think about it as he had expected, she smiled, grabbed her backpack and said 'let's go'. Now he was wishing he could go back and rescind that request.

Crewman Cutler brought him a chair which he thanked her for without ever taking his eyes off of Phlox or Danaë. The lieutenant was strong so he had every reason to believe she would be fine, but he still had doubts. Putting his own life on the line to protect his friends and crew was an easy choice and a sacrifice that the captain could easily make. Seeing any of his one-hundred and thirty odd crew members injured or killed in the line of duty was always a heavy blow and the closer they were to Archer personally, the more deeply it affected him.

As the captain sat watching the minutes tick by in sickbay, T'Pol and Trip spent their time sifting through the ship's systems trying to discover what sort of damage Lt. D'Arcy had created. At first nothing seemed to turn up. They turned on her work PADD and nothing seemed amiss. Further digging uncovered a program that linked directly into the computer core. Together they went to D-deck and examined the core's console. There they discovered a small disk inserted into a slot on the side. T'Pol removed the disk and could see that it was Xindi technology formatted to work and adapt to the ship's computer system. Yes, they may have concocted the virus, but it was Danaë's knowledge that made the Enterprise's computer compatible with the Xindi program. Thinking of how close they had come to disaster, the pair soberly brought the incriminating evidence to Archer.

Stepping into sickbay T'Pol was struck by how tired Archer appeared and for a moment the normally stoic and emotionless vulcan felt a deep compassion for her friend and captain. Everyone had grown used to contending with enemies outside the Enterprise, but the possibility of crew members being compromised and an enemy hiding within their ranks was far more frightening. How can you trust anyone?

"The attempt at sabotage has been discovered and neutralized," she reported. "It seems she was supposed to activate a virus designed to spread and overload the warp engines, blowing them and the rest of the ship apart. If she had succeeded, we would not have been able to stop it." The captain nodded in acknowledgment, continuing to watch as Phlox worked on Lt. D'Arcy at a furious pace. T'Pol looked over at the unconscious crewmen and noticed the blood still on her hand. "How bad were you hurt?"

"The knife was small and missed the vital organs. I'll be a little sore, but fine."

"You are fortunate that she didn't use her D'K Tahg," the sub-commander commented.

"That Klingon knife would be too hard for her to conceal,"

"How is she?" T'Pol asked, motioning toward the Lieutenant on the examination table.

"She has had four seizures since she came into sickbay. Dr. Phlox is still running tests."

"Strange. All she would have had to do was get into an escape pod, move a safe distance away and activate the virus. I wonder why she chose to jeopardize her plan with a personal attack on you."

"I don't know," he answered. He had replayed the encounter in his quarters a million times over in his mind. Whatever it was inside Danaë had gambled in choosing to try and seduce him and in the end it had lost. Archer thought about how for a moment he could have sworn it was the real person and wondered if human emotions had not proven harder to ignore than it had expected. His thoughts were interrupted as he heard Dr. Phlox call to him.

"I think you should see this." The physician's usual jovial demeanor was somber as Captain Archer and T'Pol approached. "I was able to stabilize her and stop the seizures. Here is the scan I took of her brain." Bringing up the image, Captain Archer was shocked at what he saw. Surrounding the grey matter and extending into the spinal cord was a web made up of thousands of tiny tentacles all coming from a spot in the back of her head. Dr. Phlox then turned her head to the side and pulled back her hair revealing a tiny brown dot no bigger than a seed tick on Earth. Both Archer and T'Pol were stunned. What was it? "I have heard of these, but this is the first one that I have actually seen. It's called a yamanu. They are parasites that basically bond with the host. As you can see, it links itself into the brain taking over control and feeding off cerebrospinal fluid."

"How would she have come into contact with this 'yamanu'?" Archer asked.

"In my research I could find no evidence of these creatures implanting themselves into anything bigger than a squirrel on earth. This one was introduced to its host. A hole was punched through her skull so the yamanu could gain access.

"Someone planted this thing in her head in an attempt to infiltrate and destroy us?" At this the captain was stunned.

"When Lt. Reed shot her with the stun setting, it stopped Danaë but had no effect on the yamanu. From what I can tell the creature continued to try a force her to move causing her brain to misfire and seize. I doubt it understands what is happening right now." Archer turned and stared at the scans. It was as though Danaë's brain were engulfed in a massive spider web.

"Can the yamanu be removed?" T'Pol asked.

"Invasive removal is impossible without causing severe brain damage or death." At this the captain turned to Dr. Phlox, his face going pale. The words of the pretender came back to haunt his recollection ' try and remove me and you'll damage her more that you know'. "I'll need to run some tests of course, but I want to look at the possibility of forcing the creature to give up its captive. Perhaps introduce a toxin that is safe to humans, but will make the yamanu retract its tentacles."

"Can you wake it up? I want to talk to it," Archer said. Dr. Phlox took one of his hyposprays and administered a dose into her neck. Her eyes opened slowly, then looking into the glaring face of the captain, immediately started to jump up and try to get away. Archer roughly grabbed her and pushed her back down on the bed. The MACO's moved in closer to assist. "I want some answers."

"I... I don't know what to do," she was looking around, visibly scared.

"Who sent you?" he demanded.

"I... I don't know." The yamanu put her hands to her head and tried to think. Tapping into Danaë's memory she could suddenly see the creatures and knew what they were "Rep-reptilian. They didn't tell me any names," she quickly said. "They told me that if I did what they asked then I would be allowed to live on Azati Prime in this human host. If I had refused then they were going to kill us both."

"How do we remove you?" he growled.

At the prospect she kicked Archer in his wounded side causing him to double over in instant pain then jumped off the bed in an attempt to escape. Before she could make it to the door a MACO fired his weapon stunning her then carefully they brought her back to the bed. Managing to right himself, despite the pain, Captain Archer reluctantly returned to his quarters weary from the constant battles both internal and external. He was so tired of the fight, tired of losing crewmen and of wondering what was next.

Just inside the door he was greeted by Danaë's small bloodied knife still laying where she had dropped it. Carefully he picked it up and set it on his desk. Sitting down in his chair he suddenly remembered the Xindi communicator in his pocket. Taking it out, he carefully looked it over, his sharp eyes studying every detail. Did they know their plan had failed? Were they listening right now? In a fit of rage and defiance he pressed the button and growled into it hoping their reptilian ears could hear him.

"We stopped your virus and found the little insect you planted, you reptilian son of a bitch! It's dead now, do you hear me, DEAD!" His raw rage was laid bare as he shouted into the communicator "Can you hear me? Dolim? Degra? CAN YOU HEAR ME?" He tore the device open and ripped the wires out before smashing it against the floor. He desperately wanted them to hurt as much as he was hurting now. "You killed her," he lamented sadly as his heart gave way to despair and his head dropped into his hands. "Xindi bastards, you killed her."

She wasn't dead of course, but how could anyone recover from something like this? He fully expected to hear that she was severely brain damaged or that she didn't make it. There was the option of continuing to let the yamanu remain where it was, but he knew Danaë would rather die than live like that. If there was a way to save her, Dr. Phlox would find it.

The next twenty-four hours passed slowly and the waiting was driving Captain Archer crazy. He had passed the day following his usual routine, but he had paid very little attention to it. Chef had prepared a fine lunch and then a wonderful dinner of ratatouille. T'Pol had even mentioned it being one of the chef's better meals, but he had no appetite. When he went to the engine rooms to see where they were on repairs, Trip had to recapture his attention more than once.

He returned to his quarters and sat there on his bed, petting Porthos, a thousand memories running through his mind. The first time he had ever laid eyes on Danaë she was standing in the middle of sick bay, eyes wide in shock. Her curly hair was coming loose from her chignon. She had called him 'President Archer' before fainting. He smiled at the memory of everyone huddled together on the catwalk waiting out a neutronic storm and the sight of the lieutenant chasing Porthos down after he stole some cheese from her dinner plate. For a brief moment he managed to doze off, but it was far from peaceful. In his dreams he was still on board the Enterprise, but there was no one around.

"Jonathan," whispered a voice. He started to follow the sound from the direction it seemed to come from. After following the corridor for several yards, he heard it again, but this time he recognized the voice as Danaë's. Again he followed it down another corridor before hearing it again and switching directions. This happened over and over before he found himself in sickbay. There she was, laying on the table.

"Help me Jonathan." He whirled around and saw her standing in the doorway. He started to approach her only to see her gentle face suddenly turn dark and the look in her eyes become animalistic. " She belongs to me. You'll never get her back. Never! " Chimes sounded in the background and he suddenly awoke to find himself once more in his quarters. He quickly called out for whomever it was to come in. When the door opened his heart stopped. Dr. Phlox stepped into the room and set a large specimen jar on Archer's desk. Inside the container was a mass of webbing and a single ominous brown dot.

"I was able to force it to extract itself by injecting it with little more than a drop of anise oil. Evidently it is highly toxic to the yamanu," Dr. Phlox explained.

"Lt. D'Arcy?"

"She is alive," the doctor began. These words sent a wave of relief through the captain. "But she is not out of the woods yet. When the yamanu was being extracted it secreted a fluid that caused an alteration in her brain chemistry. It also left her with extensive nerve damage throughout her body and in considerable pain." The doctor went on to explain that for the moment there was no way of knowing what the long term effects would be. He was confident, however, that she could be helped and even live a reasonably normal life. He listed and described a number of different techniques he would like to try for pain management including the mucus from an Aeson slug. This particular secretion was excellent when applied topically and he had used it many times in the past. There were a variety of therapies he was certain would help as well, including neuropressure, provided both the lieutenant and T'Pol were willing to try it. "We won't know the full extent until she awakens of course, but I believe the damage can be repaired for the most part. What concerns me most is her mental state."

"Mental state?"

"The alteration in her brain chemistry has created an imbalance. Her levels of dopamine and serotonin have been greatly reduced. In humans this can cause depression. I also have reason to believe that she was aware of everything that was happening. Studies done on the yamanu have shown that the animals these creatures take over are cognizant of everything, but powerless to control their own bodies."

"So she knows that she was being used to try and destroy the ship and everyone in it," Archer summed up. Dr. Phlox nodded. "Do you really think she'll try to hurt herself?"

"It's an awful lot of guilt for one person to carry, warranted or not." The two men looked at each other somberly. It was an awful lot to take in, but the doctor quickly added some words of hope. "I should be able to correct the imbalance, but it will take some time and I don't know if there will be any lasting effects. For now I want her to remain under close supervision. I have taken her off the sedatives so she can wake up slowly and naturally while being monitored by Crewman Cutler. When she awakens we'll be able to get a better idea of her mental state."

"I want to be there when she wakes up," The captain said.

"Of course."

When they reached sickbay they were greeted by the doctor's pyrithian bat flying directly into Archer's hands. Crewman Cutler followed quickly behind it carrying a net. Seeing the two men, with the escaped creature, she immediately apologized and explained that the cage got bumped and the door opened accidentally releasing the bat. The animal was notorious for escaping from its cage regardless of how the doctor fastened it. Handing the animal to Crewman Cutler, they looked around and realized that the lieutenant's backpack had been rummaged through and she was gone.

When questioned, Crewman Cutler had no idea she was missing. Distracted by the flying rodent, she had never noticed her wake up or leave. Neither the captain nor the doctor knew what was missing from the satchel. With the lieutenant the objects could range anywhere from a small sentimental keepsake to a dangerous weapon. They had to find her and bring her back to sickbay, but first they needed to know where Danaë had gone. The captain immediately went to the comm system and contacted the bridge. Surely she couldn't have gotten far.

"Archer to the bridge, where is Lt. D'Arcy?"

"Lt. D'Arcy has just entered the mess hall." The doctor picked up a hypospray loaded with a sedative and followed Archer.