Star Trek Enterprise Bk. 03 - The War Ch. 13

Time was waning fast and every second was precious. Lt. D'Arcy was beginning to believe this had all been a mistake and she would never find the codes to the drone ships. If it didn't change they would have to try and escape empty handed and there would be no second chance to try and attempt this again. Seeing the smug smirk playing across Cethin's face wasn't helping. She doubted the Romulan's had ever thought their human enemies would ever attempt something like this so there had been no conscious effort to hide the codes, but rather that much information for them to sift through. It seemed that lady luck had handed them another victory.

Five minutes passed and it looked like Lt. D'Arcy was going to have to call it. She was disappointed with herself and a bit angry that she was letting down her team, Starfleet and most importantly, Jonathan. She had been so certain she could pull this off, but there was no way for her to know how much data she was going to have to comb through or the complexity of linking the tricorder to a Romulan system. Now she would have to figure out what to do with their captives so they couldn't report to the others about their presence. Then she needed to figure out how to get everyone out of the tunnels safely. If they could manage that then she would gladly deal with the consequences of her failure.

"Gentlemen, we're out of ti..." she started to say only to stop abruptly as her screen lit up with the codes for each and every drone ship parked above the planet. A sigh of relief escaped from her as her fingers began to race across the smooth surface of her screen routing all that information straight to the Enterprise.

Back on the ship, they had taken just about all the hits they could and Archer was midway through ordering Hoshi to hail the team and tell them their time was up and to make their way back to the rendezvous point. He got as far as 'their time was up' when T"Pol interrupted and announced she had all the codes to the drones and was inputting them into their system. For a second the captain stood there in shock that they actually had them. It worked! He now had access to an entire fleet of ships that he could transform into any ship he wanted with any configuration of weapons. Recovering quickly, he immediately went straight to the next task at hand and asked how long before they would be able to control them. The Vulcan's beautiful hands sped across the controls then calmly she answered.

"All systems are now controlled from the Enterprise's bridge. Lt. Reed should be able to control their weapons from his console." Hearing this, a huge weight seemed to be lifted from the captain's shoulders and he sighed audibly. "Any particular configuration you would like?"

"Yes," Archer answered as he returned to his captain's chair. "Romulan warbirds. Let them fire on themselves for a while."

"With pleasure sir." Malcolm smiled.

Instantly the drones multispectral emitter activated and each one of the dozen silent bug-like drones suddenly transformed into large, vibrant green lethal warbirds. Lt. Reed pressed a switch on his console and the tri-phasic emitters within the disruptors sprang to life and the vessels began to fire upon the Romulan ship that only a few minutes before had been tossing the Enterprise around like a toy. Neither Malcolm, nor Archer were interested in a cat and mouse game. Each target they aimed at was vital and before a call for rescue or back up could be made, they had blown the warbird to pieces. Now all they needed to do was wait for the team on the ground to contact them and be beamed to safety.

Unfortunately word that the humans had taken control of the drone ships had reached the surface just moments before the destruction of the Romulan ship. The captives in the control room were now aware of just what information had been taken and there was no way Lt. D'Arcy was going to risk them taking it back. Tearing open one of the electronic consoles, she pulled out her D'K Tahg and began cutting wires and tossing them to various members of her team with orders to tie up each of the control room operators. The plan was to simply tie them up, stun them and then sneak their way back out of the facility wearing their cloaks. When they woke back up there would be no functional consoles to retrieve the stolen codes and they would be long gone. Fate, it seemed, had other plans.

Now that they knew what the humans were taking, they were not about to stand still and allow themselves to be tied up. These Earth creatures were going to pay not just for the loss of one of their ships and crew but for the untold numbers of their race that were left to die in the future as the supernova engulfed their planet. Without a word, just iron determination, the seven members of the control room charged at their human captures. Like Vulcans they were far stronger physically and it forced the team from the Enterprise to fight two or three times harder just to inflict any pain. Seizing on the opportunity, Cethin went to the comm system and announced to the entire station that humans had infiltrated the tunnels, stolen the drone codes and were not to escape. He called for more guards to come to the control room and ordered all exits be locked and secured.

In the melee one Romulan managed to get the phase pistol away from Sgt. Garnet, killing him with it. He then turned the weapon towards Lt. D'Arcy, only to have his quarry shoot him with her twenty-fourth century weapon vaporizing him. Pushing her way through the fight, Danaë yanked Cethin away from the comm system, punching him in the face. He lunged at her, but she stopped him with a swift kick to the groin causing him to drop to the floor and double over.

While he was momentarily occupied, the lieutenant immediately turned and started to rip the casings off of each control station and rip out the wires so they were useless. With destruction as her goal, she wasn't too particular about the way she handled the equipment or the sparks she was leaving in her wake. This only added to the chaos around her. As it was, the space was filled with bodies brawling, the cries of pain, kicking, hitting, and phase pistol fire. The only one to see what she was doing was Cethin and as quickly as he could, he got to his feet and tried to yank her away. His hand barely touched the lieutenant's shoulder and she instantly put an elbow into his gut then pulled her Klingon D'K Tahg. When he once again came at her, she buried it into his chest.

For a moment the Romulan leader just stared at her in shock as blood began to appear on his mouth and drip down his chin. Coldly she placed her hand on his chest then pushed him back off her knife, watching him crumble to the floor. As he breathed his last, the pandemonium seemed to come to an end with him. The eight Romulans (including Cethin) were either dead or injured enough that they were subdued. Of the seven humans only three remained: Lt. D'Arcy, Major Forrest and Sgt. Carmine. The latter had sustained a number of injuries and was leaning against the wall holding his arm and struggling to breathe. In spite of it all, he assured the others he could make it to the rendezvous point.

The lieutenant and major finished tying up the surviving Romulans, then helped the sergeant to his feet. All that remained now was to find a way to the surface and beam back on to the ship, but it wasn't as simple as it sounded. Danaë looked at the two remaining men under her command. The Romulan commander, Cethin, had already announced their presence, so there was no way they would be able to just walk out of the tunnels and make it to the rendezvous point. They would have to go now and try to get as close to the surface as possible so the NX-01 could be beamed back on board and that was a huge IF.

What the lieutenant wasn't saying was that the chances of making it to the surface were decidedly against them. She had known from the beginning that the mission was a death sentence and had never hidden it from her team. Now death was waiting for its dance; the thought of sending these men into its arms was the most difficult command of her life. Silently her hazel eyes looked from one face to the other. They were such good men, dedicated, loyal and waiting patiently for her orders. Although no one was saying it outloud, each of them was silently saying their good-byes and none more than Lt. D'Arcy

"They know we are here and they will be storming us any time now. We have phase pistols and explosive charges. Maybe we can make it to the rendezvous point, maybe not, but regardless, we have seized their drones and succeeded in our mission. I have never seen any man more brave or more self-sacrificing than the six men who followed me on this mission and I am proud to have served with you this day. Whatever happens, I don't want to leave even an inch of this place standing. There should be nothing for them to repair or return to. I will set charges here in the control room. Major Forrest, take the sergeant to the rendezvous point, I'll be following behind setting more charges to ensure all tunnels are destroyed behind us."

"With all due respect, lieutenant, I'm not leaving without you."

"You were told before we embarked on this mission to follow my orders major."

"Yes, but the first duty of a MACO is to leave no one behind and that I swear by." She had to give him credit, he was noble and made her think of those old black and white movies from the ancient days of World War II. The original boy scout. She wanted to argue the point but there simply wasn't time.

She took off her bag of explosive devices and began setting them around the room. She then took Major Forrest's and put it over her own shoulder then went to Sgt. Carmine and added his stash of bombs to her bag. She then told them to stand by the door and get ready to run. Quickly she went around the room and set the timers for the explosives. There was enough time for them to get out of the tunnels before they went off with just a little extra just in case, but they had to be free of the tunnels. If they weren't, then once the bombs went off there was going to be a massive pressure wave that would destroy everything in its path. As she set the last one she uttered one word to her men 'go'.

The trio quickly made their way back through the tunnels following the beacons they had left while pausing now and then to return fire on the Romulans trying to stop them. As they moved Danaë kept her eyes peeled for two very specific tunnels that she had seen on the station's map. They were two very critical spots from which everything seemed to be built off of like the control room. When she saw the first she went over and slipped half of the explosive charges into a stone crevice just inside the entrance then set the timer for slightly less than the first set of bombs. She then started running until she found the next important tunnel then did the same thing with the rest of the bombs, leaving the empty bag on the floor.

Once more she took off, her men quite a distance ahead of her but she could still see them. Thankfully they were almost there, the doors to the outside were in sight. Everything looked like it was going to work, but as Major Forest came around a corner a heavy wooden rod came down on his shoulder, knocking him down. At the noise, Sgt. Carmine looked up just in time to be shot by a Romulan phaser. Down, but not out, Nathan grabbed the attacker from behind and managed to knock the phaser from their hand, but the attacker came back with a glancing blow to his head leaving him unconscious. Lt. D'Arcy couldn't see what was happening but could hear the commotion and immediately grabbed her D'K Tahg in one hand and phaser in the other. She looked to see who was attacking and found herself face to face with the icy hate-filled eyes of Sela.

"YOU!!!" She remembered those eyes from her fathers files. She didn't know how she had managed to go back in time, but she suddenly understood the source of cold, merciless hatred that had caused this war.

"You know who I am?" the half-breed Romulan said, surprised at such a thing.

"Yes. My father knew you... and your mother," she answered. Hearing this a sneer spread across Sela's face.

"You're Picard's daughter," she concluded and the lieutenant nodded in answer. "All the more reason for you to die." She took her wooden rod and swung at Danaë's head only to be blocked by the lieutenant's D'K Tahg. "All those pretty speeches and eloquent words, but at the end of the day Spock, your father... the entire United Federation of Planets abandoned us!" She swung her rod down low only to be blocked again, but this time the Romulan managed to grab a piece of metal debris and use it to land a blow into Danaë's chest and ribcage. As she fell over, the phaser fell from her hand. Desperate she crawled away then scrambled to her feet, spitting out blood and gasping for breath.

"Why!!!!" she screamed at Sela. "Why did you do this? You've killed your own people! You could have changed history and brought about peace ensuring help for the Romulans in the future. You couldn't let go of your hatred, could you? Instead you betrayed your father and all your people the same way you did your mother!!!"

With a growl Sela rushed at her only for the lieutenant to spin out of her way, slicing through one of her arms at the elbow as she did cutting through the tendons. Looking at this half human, half Romulan woman she found herself marveling at just how blinding and all consuming hatred can be. Countless stories had been written on the subject and it seemed that revenge only begets revenge and often the ones seeking it only destroy themselves. Khan Noonien Singh had learned that when he attempted to destroy Captain Kirk, or at least that's what she read. She had seen her own father nearly succumb to it when he had battled the Borg to save the Enterprise and make sure that contact with Vulcan happened. Sela was no different. Her teeth were clenched and she was practically foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog. Somehow she would destroy something and avenge herself even if it was the daughter of an old nemesis. With a cry of determination she once more lunged at the lieutenant, but her prey simply fell backward sending her knife and right arm upward as she did and through Sela's rib cage at an angle and piercing her heart..

The Romulan half-breed looked down at Danaë in shock before Lt. D'Arcy put her foot against her stomach and with a somersault flipped the body over her head and shoulders to the ground, dislodging her knife in the process. A few yards away Major Forrest had managed to wake up, but his head was pounding and he was having difficulty focusing his thoughts and seeing clearly. He could make out the shape of Danaë a ways off and started to crawl towards her. He couldn't remember why, but he knew they had to get out... quickly.

Lt D'Arcy could see that there were doors up ahead and she could see Nathan moving towards her. She rolled onto all fours and attempted to crawl, but the effort was impossible. The adrenaline that had pushed her through the fight was waning fast. The blow to her ribs from Sela had broken them, her chest was hurting and it was getting harder to breathe. She could taste blood and her body felt tired and weak. It was getting too hard to keep moving so she stopped and allowed herself to fall to the ground, her eyes closed welcoming the darkness. She could feel someone's body placing themselves over her protectively, but she couldn't tell who it was or even if they were friend or foe. She didn't have the strength to fight another enemy and every part of her body hurt. She had done everything she said she would except return to the Enterprise. She didn't want to give up, but it was too hard to keep going. In resignation of her fate, her lips began to move.

"Jonathan," she managed to say, thinking of the one person she longed to see the most. With his body carefully placed over her, Major Forrest took out his communicator and started to try and hail the Enterprise. Maybe they were close enough for a miracle.

Danaë continued to weaken as her mind began to drift. Rather than seeing Captain Archer, or the familiar crew of the NX-01, she was standing in the vineyards of her family's ancestral home. She was dressed in her hiking attire and all was calm and still around her. She couldn't understand what was going on, but the peace that filled her as she started to walk down the rows was something she had not felt in a long time. For a moment she wondered if her father, Jean-Luc Picard wasn't waiting for her up at the house, but strangely, she was in no hurry to get there. Reaching towards a vine to pluck a grape, she noticed a pocket watch hanging from a branch, its cover was open and its hands pointing to the time of ten o'clock. For some reason this seemed significant and yet she could remember why and returned to the grapes.

Back in the caverns of Cheron Major Forrest pulled Lt. D'Arcy into a fetal position then placed both his arms and legs on either side of her body, placing himself as a shield over her. He braced himself knowing the pressure wave would be coming at any moment. There was no way they could survive, but he would do what he could. He kept repeatedly calling the Enterprise as well as any vessel in the area that could pick them up. Of the seven members of the team, they were the only ones left and he had given his word that he would bring the lieutenant back. Why wasn't anyone answering??? For a moment he collapsed, his head throbbing so badly and it was so hard to focus and keep fighting. With a growl of determination he managed to push himself back up, but he didn't know how long his strength would hold out. Once more he picked up his communicator and tried to summon help.

"Enterprise, this is Major Forrest, can you read me? We need to get out of here NOW!"

"Enterprise to Major Forrest," the sound of Archer's voice sounded like music to Nathan's ears. "We have a lock on you and are ready to beam you up."

"Hurry, or there won't be anything left of us to beam up."