STAR TREK: Enterprise - Shockwave

by Paul Ruditis (Novelization)

  Archer knew it was his turn to speak—to defend the actions of his crew. He suspected that nothing he could say would alter the Vulcans’ perception of Enterprise’s accomplishments, or lack thereof. However, Archer knew he wasn’t just answering the Vulcans, he was convincing his own people as well.

  “When I was in my early twenties on a trip to East Africa,” he began, “I saw a gazelle giving birth. It was truly amazing. Within minutes the baby was standing up—standing up on its own. A few minutes more and it was walking. And before I knew it, it was running alongside its [234] mother, moving away from the herd. Humans aren’t like that, Ambassador. We may come from the same planet as those gazelles, but we’re pretty much helpless when we are born. It takes us months before we’re able to crawl—almost a full year before we can walk. Our deep space mission isn’t much different. We’re going to stumble and make mistakes. I’m sure more than a few before we find our footing. But we’re going to learn from those mistakes. That’s what being human’s all about. I’m sorry you can’t see that.”

  There was a quiet moment as everyone absorbed the captain’s words.

  “Your analogy is very colorful, Captain,” Soval said with arrogance typical of his personality. “But I question whether it addresses the consequences of your actions.”

  Leave it to the Vulcan to miss the point entirely, Archer thought. How am I going to convince any member of that stoic race to make an emotional decision?

  To everyone’s surprise—including Archer’s—a Vulcan took that moment to step forward. All eyes were on T’Pol as she seemed to be bracing herself for what she was about to say.

  “The concept of learning from one’s mistakes shouldn’t be difficult for a Vulcan of your wisdom to understand, Ambassador,” she said with a balance of respect and indictment. “Our ancestors discovered how to suppress their volatile emotions only after centuries of savage conflict. You spoke of the destruction of the monastery. What about the Vulcan listening post Captain Archer found [235] there? I would hope our people have learned from those events that using a sacred sanctuary to spy on others was a dishonorable practice, to say the least.” T’Pol paused for a moment to let the full weight of her comment sink in. “I don’t wish to contradict Captain Archer, but ‘learning from one’s mistakes’ is hardly exclusive to humans.”

  She exchanged a brief glance with the captain.

  I think we’ve come pretty far in under one year, Archer thought to himself with a barely perceptible smile. He tried to lend her his strength from across the room.

  “Their mission should be allowed to continue,” she quietly added, doing the unthinkable in contradicting the ambassador’s decision.

  Soval and the other Vulcan dignitaries stood for a long silent beat. Then, without a word, they exited the conference room. The Vulcans on board Enterprise took the ambassador’s lead and made their way onto the turbolift to return to their ship.

  “The Command Council will review the evidence,” Forrest said with a glance at T’Pol, “and listen to what’s been said here today. I’m sure they’ll hear from the Vulcans as well. I’ll let you know as soon as there’s a decision. Good luck, Jonathan—all of you.”

  Forrest tapped a button and the viewscreen switched to an image of the stars. Archer turned to his crew with a glance that told them he was appreciative of their support. He finally settled on T’Pol with a combination of shock and pride in his eyes. She met his stare and the two shared a silent moment that almost bordered on emotion.

  [236] “Hoshi, is the com still open to the rest of the ship?” he asked.

  “Yes, sir,” she replied. “The crew can still hear us.”

  “Attention all hands,” he announced into the air. “It looks like our fate is now in the hands of the Command Council. I don’t know what the final outcome will be, but I can tell you that I have never been more proud of any group of people I have ever worked with. If we are recalled to Earth, we will return with our heads held high. No matter what others may think, we have done a spectacular job out here, often against impressive odds. But I don’t think we’re going home just yet. Ambassador Soval may have listed some of our more questionable actions, but our accomplishments are many. Yes, we freed eighty-nine Suliban from a Tandaran detention center. But even in the light of recent events, I still believe those men, women, and children should be free and that the universe just might be a little better for it.

  “But we can’t save everyone.” Archer reigned in his pride and turned it to solemnity. “We’ve been very busy over the past few days trying to prove our innocence. Naturally, in our quest to find the truth we had to push past the horrific events that took place at the Paraagan colony. It’s always a strange thing to mourn the loss of a people you have never met. There’s no shared memories—no close connections. But I know those deaths have affected every member of this crew. And I ask you to join me in a moment of silence to remember.”

  The bridge crew stood at their posts with heads bowed. Archer knew that the same was being done all over the ship.

  [237] T’Pol had handled all of the arrangements for their visit to the colony. He had not even spoken with any of the Paraagans and yet he felt a responsibility to each and every one of them. They had been used as nothing more than pawns in this Temporal Cold War. The people playing their games hundred of years in the future had not even cared about the colonists in the least.

  Archer kept repeating one thought over in his mind as the moment of silence continued. How many people need to die before it’s no longer a “Cold War?”

  Hours later, Archer clicked off the monitor in his quarters. To say he was happy was an understatement. He roused Porthos from his rest by giving the dog a joyous rub behind the ears and received his own licks in appreciation for the attention. The hour was late, but Archer could not stay contained in his quarters.

  On the way to the turbolift, Archer received an odd look from the crewmembers he passed. The captain assumed that it had something to do with the fact that he was walking around the ship wearing a robe and bedtime attire. He had been too eager to share his news to bother with putting on his uniform. Archer smiled as he stepped into the turbolift on his way to B-deck to see T’Pol.

  The sub-commander had been asleep in her quarters for hours. The room was completely dark, which helped her achieve her meditative sleep. The door chime slowly roused her into the waking world. Another chime pulled her up into the sitting position.

  [238] “Come in,” she called out.

  The door opened, letting in the light from the corridor and a man in shadow. T’Pol hit the control and brought the room to a dim illumination. Her eyes continued to adjust to find Captain Archer standing in the doorway, dressed in his pajamas and a robe.

  “I can’t be sure,” he said with mock concern looking back into the hall, “but Crewman Fuller might’ve seen me coming in here.”

  “She tends to be discreet,” T’Pol said, surprisingly playing along. “What can I do for you?”

  Archer sat beside her on the bed. “I think you put it over the top.”

  The puzzled look on her face had as much to do with the fact that she didn’t understand the colloquialism as much as the subject matter of their conversation.

  “Forrest said none of them could believe it when you went to bat for us,” he said. “Not to mention the little listening post lecture you gave to Soval.”

  T’Pol was beginning to realize what he was talking about, in spite of her sleepiness and the captain’s exuberance. “You spoke to Admiral Forrest?”

  “He woke me up in the middle of the night,” he replied with feigned annoyance. “Can you believe that?”

  “I assume with good news.”

  “I think you put it over the top,” he quietly repeated.

  There was a definite moment between them as T’Pol realized their mission together would continue. Her evening meditation had been to help her accept the fact that she [239] had gone against the wishes of her superi
ors. Although she was well aware that the end result did not really provide justification for her actions, it did help her find a bit of contentment.

  Archer was fairly sure he understood the conflict going on in T’Pol’s mind. He decided it would be best to leave her to her thoughts. With a nod of appreciation, he got up and went for the door.

  “I still don’t believe in time travel,” T’Pol announced.

  Archer couldn’t help but smile. “The hell you don’t.”

  Epilogue

  Admiral Forrest stared at the blank screen. For the first time in days, he had actually enjoyed a conversation with another member of Starfleet. Captain Archer took the news pretty much as the admiral had expected. It was the same way he felt when he had heard the vote on the Command Council’s final decision. Now, if he could only manage to get rid of the damn headache, his day would be perfect.

  Forrest looked down at his desk. The piles of work had managed to accumulate over the past few days while he had to focus on the possibility of recalling Enterprise. He was happy that the rest of Starfleet had been moving forward and generating work as if everything was going ahead even though it meant even more for him to do once things got back to normal. He picked at the top of the pile, not quite ready to move past his current feeling of euphoria to deal with whatever the next problem was to arise.

  It will all be here tomorrow, he reminded himself as he [242] pushed back his chair and slid out from his desk. He stood and stretched, refusing to look at the time. He knew it was late when he had contacted Archer and interrupted the captain’s sleepless night. But Archer wouldn’t have wanted him to wait for a more reasonable hour to make that call.

  The admiral stepped out of his office to find his aide busily working at the monitor on his desk. It wasn’t a surprise. Forrest knew the kid would be there. He always was.

  “You know, you don’t always have to wait for me to leave before you go home,” Forrest said with a smile.

  The aide just stared at him.

  “Okay, fine,” Forrest added, giving up. “I have to at least say it every now and then or else people are going to think I’m running you ragged with my demands.”

  “Actually, sir, people already think that no matter what you say,” the aide said before he realized the words had actually come out of his mouth. His eyes bugged out in horror as he stood at attention so quickly he knocked over his chair. “Sir ... I meant ... I mean ...”

  “It’s okay, lieutenant,” the admiral said, laughing. “There may be hope for you yet.”

  “I’m sorry, sir,” the kid insisted.

  “Apology accepted,” Forrest replied, standing at attention. “As you were.”

  “Yes, sir,” the aide said, although his posture did not shift in the least.

  “I’m leaving,” he said. “Go home to your family.”

  “Soon, sir.”

  “How is your baby, by the way?”

  [243] A relaxed smile finally crossed the aide’s face. It was the first genuine look of contentment he had seen on the lieutenant’s face since he had met the kid. “He’s getting bigger every day, sir,” he replied.

  “Well, you should spend more time with him,” the admiral noted as he looked down at the digital image of the child that was kept on his aide’s desk. “Put in a request for some time off.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good night.”

  “Night, sir.”

  Forrest walked out of Starfleet Headquarters thinking about the lieutenant’s young child. He wondered who the boy would grow into. Would the child join Starfleet? Would Starfleet exist by the time the boy was of age? Then he wondered more along the grander scheme of things like if the infant’s descendents would be soldiers in this Temporal Cold War that Archer had spoke of.

  Who could this Daniels be a descendent of? Is he even human?

  Forrest knew when he lectured the cadets on making history with every step they take into space that he wasn’t just blowing hot air. But Archer’s recent experience made him realize the full impact of what they were doing for the first time. Even the minor decisions he made every day were leading to the unknown future.

  Is the future already set? Forrest wondered. Will we make a seemingly harmless mistake that could result in changing all that has been predetermined? How do we proceed [244] worrying about hundreds of years of history that haven’t been written yet?

  Forrest’s headache was intensifying. These were the kind of thoughts that would keep him from sleeping for the rest of his life. In the end, he knew that he couldn’t worry about the future. He needed to concern himself with the present. Enterprise would continue to make strides every day. Reports would continue to come in, decisions would need to be made. One day all the decisions would lead to something bigger and better than they had even imagined. And he would oversee it all from behind his desk at Starfleet Headquarters.

  Acknowledgments

  Special thanks to everyone at Star Trek, Viacom Consumer Products and Pocket Books, especially Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, Margaret Clark, Donna O’Neill, Paula Block, and the cast and crew of Enterprise.

  About the e-Book

  (OCT, 2003)—Scanned, proofed, and formatted by Bibliophile.