The BLTS Archive - Royal Extraction
Third in the Night Moves series
by Sue Duenn (sduenn@optonline.net)

---

Spoilers: Minefield

Comments: Thanks again to the real Mike, Rick, Derek and Hugh--sorry
if it's freaky to see some of your life in print--just remember--this
is fiction! Yeah, um, right . ::grins:: A special note to Hugh--I
*know* you look nothing like my aliens in this story... but I couldn't
*not* put you in here! ::hugs:: Thanks also to Quixar who kept my
treknobabble in line!

Beta reader(s): Snorkler318, Quixar

Archived to EntSTSlash on 03/12/2003.  Archived at EntSTCommunity with
the author's express permission.

---

"Ten-four," Rick said, putting the last wire into place. Looking at
Derek he said, "Last one to the airlock's a rotten ... oh shit!" As he
pushed himself up from his crouch, his boots came loose from the hull
and the momentum from his push sent him tumbling backwards.

"What happened?" Mike called.

"Oh shit," Derek echoed. "He's come unattached."

"Use your thrusters to get back here, Rick," Mike ordered.

"We left them inside," Derek moaned. "Shit, didn't realize how fast
we were moving till he was floating. Mike--he's out of range of the
comm already!"

Mike slammed his hand on his console, "Derek, get back in here. By
the time you cycle in, I hope to be on my way out there in a shuttle.
Get back in here and monitor." With practiced ease, he muted the
laryngeal comm system in his throat and tapped the button on the wall
for the ship-wide comm system. "Mike to Captain Archer."

On the bridge, heads turned as Mike's voice floated in the air. The
tension in his voice was palpable. Captain Jonathan Archer sat up
straighter in his chair and tapped the button on the arm to reply to
the man in the recently renovated cargo bay. "Archer here. Go ahead."

"Captain, one of my men has become demagnetized from the hull. I need
help bringing him back aboard."

Sub-Commander T'Pol nodded once and said, "I am reading one human
bio-sign off the port bow, rapidly moving away from us."

Archer didn't miss a beat. "Understood. I'll send a team to meet you
at shuttlepod one." He closed the comm as he stood up and addressed
the people to his right. "Malcolm, Trip, Travis. Go get our crewmember
back." He felt a rush of pride as his people didn't question his
orders; they just rose from their seats and headed to the turbo lift.

They brainstormed as the lift took them to the shuttle bay's level.
"We can use the shuttle's door like a scoop," Travis said. "Like when
we got the Captain and Malcolm in that minefield."

"That means EVA suits," Trip added.

Malcolm nodded and led the way down the hall to the shuttle bay.
Uncomfortable but necessary. What if we need something to pull him in
with?

"I shouldn't have a problem flying him right in, but just in case,
you're right," Travis said.

"We've got some cargo nets in there. I can put something together
while we re en route," Trip said.

They met Mike at the door of the shuttle bay and Trip quickly brought
him up to speed. "Travis here is gonna swoop down and bring your boy
into the shuttle." He started handing out the helmets for the EVA
suits. "In case we need it, I'll be fashioning a net to help scoop him
with. Travis is piloting, Malcolm will relay information to him as
needed, you and I will physically get your man back."

Mike nodded mutely, impressed at the efficiency of Archer's crew. He
climbed into the shuttle after the other men and took a quick
inventory. Lieutenant, you and I should pack away what we can--we
don't want problems when we get rid of the atmosphere."

Malcolm nodded and began doing just that while Travis began the
pre-flight check. The men each had their EVA suit on sans helmet and
all worked frantically to get outside the ship.

"I've got permission to undock. Prepare for movement," Travis said,
his eyes never leaving his work. The others braced for the slight
jarring movement of the shuttle lifting off and exiting the ship, then
went back to their assigned tasks.

"I'm reading one human bio-sign. Coordinates sent to the helm,"
Malcolm said.

"Got em. Time to rendezvous five minutes," Travis replied.

With a scowl, Mike reactivated his laryngeal comm system and tested
it. Just as he lost Derek's signal, he picked up the breathing of his
other teammate. "Rick, it'll be all right. We're coming to get you
now."

"Affirmative," Rick said. "I'm losing air; I nicked my suit when I
demagnetized and I can't keep sufficient pressure on it. I've got
about two minutes of air left."

"Shit," Mike said for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
"Breathe slow and easy; make that air last as long as you can. We're
about three minutes out from you." Turning to the others, he informed
them of the situation. At Trip's look of bewilderment he said,
"Laryngeal comm system. I'll explain it once this is over."

As Trip nodded, Travis called out, "I've got him in sight. We're
going to be cutting it close."

Trip held up the newly weighted cargo net. "If we stream this out the
open door, he can grab hold of it and we can haul him in. Might be
safer and cut off seconds."

Mike nodded and turned to Travis, "Do you agree?"

Travis only took a moment to think then nodded. "I'm a good pilot,
but I don't want to risk Rick's life by being off the mark, and we
can't afford to take two chances."

Mike nodded and put his helmet on. "Understood." He gestured for the
commander to brace himself on the other side of the door, and to hold
the net between them. Seeing everyone had their helmets on and working
he said, "Malcolm, depressurize when ready."

"Cabin depressurized. Open the door when ready," Malcolm said.
"Ensign, slow to Rick's speed, come up slow and steady."

"Aye, sir," Travis replied, cutting power to the engines.

Mike opened the shuttle door and took hold of his half of the cargo
net, hanging on desperately as the net flowed out the door. "Just grab
it, babe. You can do it. Hang on, and we'll pull you in," he said
soothingly to Rick

"I'm ... out," Rick replied, gasping for breath just as the shuttle
banked close to him.

"Just hook your arm in the net," Mike said. "We'll pull you in.
Everything will be fine."

Trip sent a ripple through the net, causing it to lay with more
surface area toward the floating man. "It's not going to be close
enough," Trip worried.

"I've got us here. You go out to the end and hang onto him. Those
extra few feet are all we need," Mike said. He looked over his
shoulder and said, "Lieutenant, take his spot--we don't want to lose
two people out here."

Malcolm nodded and swiftly took Trip's place as a net anchor while
Trip pushed off and worked his way to the end of the net. "Don't you
guys dare let go," he said, the enormity of the situation striking
him.

"Don't worry about that. Rick's out of air. We need to get him back
in here ASAP." Mike replied.

Trip reached the end of the cargo net and stretched out his arm.
"Come on ... come on ... Got him!" Trip closed his hand over Rick's
wrist and held tight. "Pull us in!"

In seconds they had everyone on board the shuttle and the shuttle
door closing. Trip quickly hooked his air supply up to Rick's pack,
allowing the man to breathe the few minutes it would take to
repressurize the shuttle. Get us to Phlox," Trip said to Travis as he
waited for the indicator light inside his helmet to come on, signaling
it was safe to remove it.

Mike ripped his helmet off even before the indicator said it was
safe. He was at his team member's side quickly assessing the
situation. He growled spotting the pin hole sized leak in the right
knee of Rick's suit "Well, this is one prototype that isn't going to
work."

Trip sat back, breathing heavily from not only the exertion but the
adrenaline as well. "That's a terrible way to figure that out. Thank
God we got to him in time."

Mike checked Rick's racing pulse and shook his head. "Maybe, maybe
not. We need extra oxygen for our ... enhancements. No oxygen mask
here?"

Malcolm shook his head. "We've got one, but it's buried from our
hasty packing job. We'll be docked before we get it out and
functional."

Travis added in a request for the doctor as he got clearance to
re-dock with Enterprise. "Phlox will meet us in there," he informed.
"Brace for docking " The shuttle docked, and just as they got the door
open, they saw Phlox with a gurney, ready to care for the man who had
almost been lost.

Travis stayed at the shuttle to do all the post-flight checks and
security. Trip and Malcolm swept themselves back up to the bridge as
if this had been just another day at work for them. While Mike made
his way up to sickbay, Derek stowed their gear. As he entered Sickbay,
Mike was relieved to find only the doctor at Rick's bio-bed.

"How's he doin', Doc?" Mike asked.

"I'm bringing up his temperature; it had dropped a bit due to the
malfunction of his suit. I've also got him on 80% oxygen which is
improving his health with each breath." The Denobulan studied some
read-outs then turned to Mike. "I'll need to discuss the," he paused
and lowered his voice "embellishments each of you possesses. It will
make any treatment I give you in the future much more ready; I had
almost given fatal overdoses of medication to Rick on two occasions
before noting a source of them within the body."

Mike nodded. "Since you'll be our primary care physician for the
foreseeable future, I'll get you those documents ASAP." He allowed his
shield of command to slip a little as he looked at the apparently
sleeping man on the bed. "So you think he'll be fine?"

"Oh, yes," Phlox beamed. "He's just napping right now; he's been
through a lot, you know. I expect that when he wakes up in about two
hours, I will let him go, no restrictions."

Anger replacing worry now that the danger was over, Mike growled, "He
might be back in here before the night is through after I get done
with him for acting so stupid."

Phlox raised an eyebrow then turned back to his patient, forcibly
putting the thoughts of what Mike meant out of his mind.

---

"There isn't anything about this planet in the Vulcan database, so
we'll have to make it all up as we go along," Archer said to his
senior officers. "From the communications we've had thus far though,
the Hughalites are a friendly humanoid race, a bit larger than humans,
with greater muscle bulk as well." Nodding his thanks to his
Communications officer, he resumed speaking. "Hoshi has been able to
program the Universal Translator, so no one should have problems
speaking with the natives. As always, a diplomatic team will go down
to the surface consisting of myself, T'Pol, Commander Tucker and
Lieutenant Reed. If all goes well, I hope to grant the ship shore
leave for the next few days." He glanced at each of his officers,
including one new one; Derek was sitting in this meeting for the
Extraction Team. Archer agreed that they had to keep communications
open in order for the two crews to eventually meld into one. "Are
there any questions?" Seeing none, he concluded, "Dismissed."

As everyone stood to depart the room, Derek touched his Adam's apple
and murmured, too low for anyone in the room to hear, "You catch all
that?"

In his ear, he heard Mike's reply, "Yes, we got it all. We'll need to
monitor communications from the planet to make sure these people are
who they claim. That'll mean double shifts, two people on at all
times."

"Understood," Derek murmured then shut off his microphone, making his
way over to the Captain. Catching his attention, he said, "Sir, may I
recommend you take one of the Extraction team with you in addition to
your Armory Officer?"

Archer shook his head, "Sorry. I agreed we would only take four
people down I need all of my officers with me; they are all essential
to this mission. He grinned then, "I'll gladly give you all shore
leave rotations though when the time comes."

Disappointed, but not wanting to ire the Captain, Derek nodded and
said, Thank you, Sir. Have a good day." He made his way to the cargo
bay that housed the Extraction team's center. He was a little
surprised to see only Rick in the small room. "Mike on the off-shift
already?"

Rick nodded as he adjusted some controls on their sensors. "You're
next at 1600, then I go at 0000 hours."

Derek nodded, bringing up his console. "Normal rotations then.
Understood. Archer didn't approve our escort," he said, keying the
information into their mission log.

"I figured he wouldn't. I'd feel safer if one of us were there to
have first hand knowledge of the layout and any goings on," Rick
replied.

"Of course, me too, which is why I tried. It's not going to happen
though, so we'd best get to decrypting some of these broadcasts. Seems
like an awful lot of them, no?" Derek sorted the incoming
transmissions from the planet by whether they were in clearly audible
language or somehow encrypted

"I estimate we're getting 30% encrypted. Even the ever paranoid
Andorians only average about 25%. We've got our work cut out for us."
Rick settled onto the padded stool before his console, knowing it was
going to be a long and tedious shift. What most people didn't realize
was the amount of intelligence and information gathering took place on
the missions; only a tiny amount of time was actually spent doing the
actual extraction. Most missions ended peacefully, without the team
even being noticed; a bit of information encoded into the computer
could go a long way to defusing a situation.

Derek's console beeped, signaling that the away team was getting
ready to assemble and leave for the surface. He turned and asked Rick,
"Do you want to brief them or do you want me to?"

"I'm neck deep in this communiqu. Would you mind doing it? I don't
want to lose what I've already figured out," Rick said.

"No problem." Derek loaded the profile they had created onto a PADD
and stood to leave. "I'll be back in a few." He grinned and shook his
head lightly when Rick didn't even acknowledge the words; the boy got
wrapped up in his work all the time. That's probably why he was one of
the best decryption artists in the known universe; he loved what he
did.

Derek jogged down to the shuttle bay and caught up with Captain
Archer just before he entered Shuttle Pod two. "Sir? We've compiled a
more extensive profile on the Hughalites. Much of the information you
may find useful."

Archer raised a brow as he took the PADD. "Thank you ... um ...
Derek. Do you guys have any ranks?" he asked, flummoxed.

Derek grinned. "Now if we told you that, we'd have to kill you," he
said with a wink. "But seriously, we don't have the same hierarchy you
do. We have a team leader, and team members. Only the team leader has
any 'rank' over anyone else on the team." Smiling, he added, "Have a
good trip, Sir. We'll be monitoring." With that said, he crisply
turned and left the shuttle bay.

Archer shook his head, still trying to acclimate himself to the
presence of the team. He climbed aboard the shuttle pod, closing the
door behind him. Taking a seat on a back bench, he nodded to Trip and
Malcolm in the forward seats, "Whenever you're ready gentlemen."
Turning to look across from himself, he extended the PADD and said to
T'Pol, "You read faster than any of us. Would you mind reading this
information then summarizing it for me?"

Taking the PADD, she replied, "Of course not, Captain." Immediately,
she activated the PADD and began her reading. In a few moments she
began to speak. "If this information can be believed--and we saw no
sign of communiqus that contained this information--then it will be
very helpful."

Archer sighed, "You know that they are in possession of technology we
do not have. Logic dictates that they may be able to glean information
that we cannot."

T'Pol raised one eyebrow at the Captain's choice of words.
"Logically, if the technology were available to these people, the
Vulcans would have known about it many years ago. The fact that we did
not know about it points to the idea that the technology is an
elaborate fantasy."

Archer smirked at the Vulcan. "And who ever said humans shared every
secret they had with the Vulcans?"

The comment earned a smothered chuckle from Tucker in the pilot's
seat, which in turn earned Tucker an icily arched brow from the
Vulcan. Turning back to the Captain, T'Pol asked, "Would you care for
the summary of the PADD's information?"

"I believe that's what I asked for originally," Archer said, the grin
on his face taking the sting from his words.

T'Pol looked at the Captain silently a moment before composing
herself to continue. "The Hughalites have a Patriarchal society, with
a leader referred to only as 'The Hugh.' Apparently the right of
succession to the throne involves the assassination of the current
Hugh so the next Hugh can step up into power." She took a breath then
continued, "The order of succession has not been fully understood by
us as of yet; it is a complicated mix of brawn and genetics. The Hugh
currently in power is the eldest Hughalite to ever hold the position.
One can infer from this one of two conclusions. The Hughalites are
either ready for another coup, or have found a ruler who is beloved by
all and therefore is staying in power. The .. extraction team ...
believes the former rather than the latter. I also wish to add the
possibility that this Hugh may have better security than any that came
before him, so can therefore stay in power longer."

Archer nodded. "It's the more cautious conclusion of the two; that's
what they are here for. What else did they have to say about the
Hughalites?"

"Apparently the coveted physical attribute is the neck," T'Pol
continued. Hughalites have tougher skin about their neck, almost like
cured leather. Rank within the society is shown by the size of this
strip of skin, as well as the amount of skin showed about the neck.
The ruling class has a large strip of tough skin which is bared
openly; the lower classes have smaller strips of leathery skin and
cover their necks more completely."

"So it might be prudent for me to tuck in the collar of my shirt so
that to them, it will appear that I have a higher rank," Archer
surmised.

"Quite so. May I also suggest that the rest of the away team cover
their necks to a fuller extent as well," T'Pol said.

Archer thought a moment. "Yes, but not too much--we don't want them
to think you are of the lowest class either. Anything else we should
know about, Sub-Commander?"

T'Pol scanned the PADD again then said, "The only other fact of note
is that the Hugh is apparently trying to keep from us the knowledge
that there are dissident groups on the planet. He has pulled certain
broadcasts so that we cannot intercept something that he feels may
harm his bargaining power with us."

Archer nodded. "We'll have to keep an extra eye open for possible
problems with these groups then." He turned to the two up front in the
shuttle piloting them through the atmosphere. "ETA to landing?"

Tucker tapped a few buttons then answered, "We're about five minutes
away, Cap'n. Their port looks kinda busy--we may be put into a holding
pattern for awhile. I'll keep you updated on that."

"Sounds good," Archer said, relaxing back against the shuttle's hull.

The shuttle landed with no wait; the Enterprise crew had been given
VIP status. Archer stepped out of the shuttle first, followed by
Malcolm, T Pol then Trip. He smiled broadly at his host and stepped
forward with his hand extended. "Hello. My name is Captain Jonathan
Archer of the Starship Enterprise. Our mission is one of exploration
and peace. Thank you for permitting us to get to know more about you
and your people." He gestured to his crew and began the introductions.
"This is my First Officer and Chief Engineer, Commander Charles Tucker
the third, my Science Officer, Sub-Commander T'Pol, and my Armory
Officer, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed."

The three man contingent of Hughalites stared at the aliens before
them for several long moments before one tilted his head to the left
marginally. Hands still clasped behind his back he said, "I am First
Minister Mugh." His eyes flicked to Tucker who cracked a grin at
hearing that the man's name sounded like the noise a cow made.
Glaring, he turned his gaze back to Archer, "The Hugh is expecting
you. If you would follow me, your crewmembers can follow Minister Wugh
to your temporary quarters." He vaguely gestured to the man on his
right with a roll of his shoulder.

With not a little self consciousness, Archer put his hand down and
cleared his throat. "I was not aware my crew would be separated. I
prefer that we all stay together when we meet The Hugh." He noticed
Reed's smug look; for once, Archer was being security minded.

"I do apologize for not informing you of our customs," Mugh said with
a touch of disdain in his voice. He took a quick glance at the away
team, eyes flitting rapidly away from T'Pol's features. "We would
appreciate if you allowed at least one of your people to inspect your
quarters for you. The female perhaps?"

Archer frowned as he weighed his choices. Obviously the Hughalites
wanted them split up, and for some reason preferred the company of
males; he hadn't seen a single female Hughalite even though the
transport area was quite busy The question was, would the possible
danger be in inspecting the quarters which were unnecessary since they
would only be planet side a few hours, or by visiting with the leader?
He decided to have Malcolm go back with Wugh to be sure fully that the
quarters were all right; he also knew Malcolm was the best of them all
to handle adversity alone. The rest of them would continue on to meet
The Hugh.

Mugh only let a glimpse of his unhappy feelings show before he tilted
his head to the left marginally again. "Wugh, if you would please show
... Lieutenant Malcolm Reed to the quarters, I will escort the rest of
the Enterprise crewmembers to The Hugh's chambers." He turned and
stalked off expecting the crew to follow where he had ordered.

Archer and Reed exchanged a look, verifying that they both knew what
the other was thinking and they were on the same wavelength. As Reed
followed Wugh through the corridors of the transport terminal and to
the Hugh's guest dormitory, he stayed at high alert, looking at
everything and missing nothing. Meanwhile, Archer, Tucker and T'Pol
followed Mugh to another building which was under heavy
guard--obviously the Fortress of Hugh. Feeling safety in numbers, none
realized their lives would drastically change in a few short minutes.

---

They were led through the corridors of the castle, many of which
switched back on another or dead-ended. Eventually they came to a door
with two heavily armed guards at either side of it. Here, Mugh turned
to the guests and said softly and reverently, "You will be entering
the inner sanctum of The Hugh. Protocol must be followed. You do not
look directly at any part of The Hugh. You do not speak unless spoken
to. You refer to The Hugh as either 'The Hugh' or 'Almighty Hugh.' You
do nothing unless asked specifically by The Hugh to do it first. Is
this understood?" Seeing the crew's nods, he tilted his head
marginally to the left then turned around to fling open the doors.

With his head bowed so his chin rested on his chest, Mugh walked in
and announced, "All Mighty Hugh, may I present to you the visitors
from Enterprise?"

A huff was heard, then an obviously elderly voice said, "Yes, yes.
Please, strangers, you are welcome. Please come and have a seat."

Mugh walked forward until he came to a row of four chairs. He
gestured for the Enterprise crew to sit, then took the last chair.
Following directions, none of the crew had yet to even see a corner of
The Hugh's robes, let alone the size of the room. Archer got impatient
as the silence stretched on.

Finally, the raspy voice said, "Mugh, you may leave us alone. I'll
ring when I wish our guests to be guided to their shuttle again."

Mugh quickly stood then laid face down on the floor spread-eagled. He
stayed down for five seconds then stood again, all the while not
looking at any part of The Hugh. "As you say, Sir. I shall be awaiting
your orders." He walked sedately out the doors and closed them with a
slight snick.

The raspy voice of The Hugh spoke again. "Please, strangers. I do not
expect you to conform to our ways. Be comfortable, look where you
wish, speak as you like. I am slowly making changes in my society, but
many customs are hard to break."

Archer looked up and tilted his head back and forth to work out the
kinks. Thank you, All Mighty Hugh," he said, taking in the elderly man
before him. Though old, the man certainly had a regal bearing to him
even though the ceremonial dress he wore reminded Archer of a
ballerina's tutu. He also had a wide grin and laughing brown eyes,
looking overjoyed to have the company of the Enterprise crew.

The Hugh waved his hand, dismissingly. "Again, I must beg of you.
Just call me Hugh, for that is my name." He frowned slightly, looking
at the aliens before him then said, "I was told there were four in
your party. Why are there only three of you here?"

It was at that moment that all hell broke loose.

---

Malcolm looked around the suite of rooms the crew had been leant for
the duration of their stay. There were certainly the normal amenities
of furniture and flowers, though the fabric covering everything was
certainly of a higher quality than that normally found aboard
Enterprise. Wugh had left him after showing him the rooms and
explaining the working of the door lock. A thorough scan of the rooms
did not show anything amiss and left Malcolm wondering if they were
overreacting. Lack of surveillance in the rooms as well as the key to
the rooms did not seem like a jail cell of any kind to him.

Just as he began to sit on a couch to await his comrades, the door
burst open, Wugh barreling in. Malcolm could hear screams and wailing
in the corridors. In an instant, he was alert again. "What's
happening?" he asked the Minister.

Wugh's eyes were wide as he began to explain to the Armory Officer
what had happened. "You must leave, now. Before the mob gets here. The
Castle of Hugh is in flames--it seems that a bomb went off in The
Hugh's inner sanctum. Your people must have been carrying explosives
we could not detect for that kind of a tragedy to happen. Please--get
to your shuttle and never return. The death of The Hugh is a
catastrophe; our only condolence is that his killers died with him."

Reed could see the inner war within Wugh as evidenced by the minor
facial changes flitting across his visage. It was obvious the man
didn't quite believe that the Enterprise crew was capable of such
destruction, yet all evidence pointed to them as the culprits. He knew
it was safer though to get back to Enterprise to conduct his own
investigation. Nodding curtly, he said, "Thank you for this warning,
Wugh. I shall not forget it. And please I know my Captain. He did NOT
harm The Hugh." Eye contact verifying that the alien understood his
words, Reed turned and jogged down the hallway, pulling his
communicator out. He cursed as he heard static and figured that the
building contained a dampening field or some alloy that didn't allow
him to use the communicator.

After only one missed turn, Reed found himself outside and quickly
made his way to the transportation hub. Dodging a few small crowds, he
came to the docking platform that the shuttlepod was docked at only to
find it heavily guarded. There was no way for him to gain entrance
without detection. On full alert, he waited for another group to pass
him before going down the short hallway to the airlock.

The guards stiffened when they saw the human approach. Reed stared
them down. "Let me to my shuttle. I don't want any trouble."

The guard on the Left replied, "Then your people shouldn't have
killed our leader."

"I know my people did no such thing. I can't prove that here though.
I need to get to my ship in order to do so. Please let me by."
Malcolm's mind was running in high gear--he didn't care what he had to
concede just so he could get off the planet and up with his own
people. His tactician mind seriously disliked the odds of him staying
on the planet alone.

"We have been ordered to keep you from your shuttle. It is not in the
interest of our planet to allow the only alien alive who may know
something of this plot to leave." The right-hand guard looked even
more defensive. This hallway sealed the moment you walked into it.
Until you answer the questions our superiors put to you, you may not
go anywhere."

Reed nodded. They were only doing what he would have done in their
place. His problem though, was that he knew he was innocent. He
resignedly sighed. "OK. Let's get this over with. Let me talk to your
superiors."

Three hours later, he was allowed to leave the planet, but only with
two of the guards in tow to "observe" the humans. Reed didn't care. He
needed to get back to his ship--he was currently the officer in charge
while the other three were missing in action. He refused to believe
they were all dead. It was an unacceptable outcome. Finally docking
with Enterprise, he jumped from the shuttle followed closely by the
aliens in their official uniform of small tutus. Reed only stopped
long enough to request than an Ensign do the proper post-flight checks
and procedures.

He made his way to the bridge and relieved a very nervous Travis from
the Captain's chair. "I need scans of the surface, and I need to talk
to Mike, now." He gestured to the guards and said, "Make yourselves at
home. We're going to be busy here for awhile." He stood to go into the
ready room, and was surprised by the turbolift opening and Mike
stepping out. Hoshi had only had a chance to begin to request his
presence, and the man showed up. At this point though, Malcolm didn't
care. He'd take some godlike premonition at this point. He gestured
with his head to the ready room and headed in there.

Turning to the big man, he gestured to the guard that followed them.
"We've got company until this is resolved. I don't like the idea of a
baby-sitter, but it was a concession I had to make to come back up
here. I know the Captain wasn't some suicide bomber. I also have a
good feeling they're still alive. What do you know?"

Mike barely spared the alien guard a glance. "Luckily we were in the
proper orbit when the explosion took place, so we have a good scan of
the event." He stood at ease before the commanding officer of the
Enterprise giving his report. "The explosion was centered in The
Hugh's main chamber. The source was a fairly uncomplicated plasticine
explosive, probably molded underneath The Hugh's chair, detonation was
most likely via remote. Had there been anyone within thirty meters of
the center of the explosion, they would have been killed. Past that
area, the main problems would be the structure collapsing about them."

Reed put up his hand. "Back up a moment. You said had there been
anyone within the area, they would have been killed. The Hugh and our
away team was in that chamber at the time of the explosion."

Mike shook his head. "No. They left thirty seconds before detonation.
Without having monitoring equipment on the away team, I can only
surmise what happened. A contingent of Hughalites entered the room,
surrounded The Hugh and the away team, then they all left. Once the
explosion hit, I lost track of their bio-signs until they reappeared
some twenty kilometers to the west. Again, the signs were lost, but I
am most certain that is due to some sort of dampening field or natural
alloy that is impeding our scans."

Reed booted up the Captain's computer and brought up a schematic of
the planet's topography. "Show me where they went."

Mike quickly manipulated the map and circled an area. "This is the
area that the bio-signs disappeared." He pushed a PADD over to Reed,
pointing to landmarks as he spoke of them. "As you can see here, we've
established that they entered this building, though these buildings
could very likely hold them as well."

Reed turned to the Hughalite guard and motioned him over. "Do you
recognize this area and these buildings?"

After a quick glance, the alien nodded, "That is an outpost that has
not been used since the last Hugh. There are rumors that this
building," he tapped the one labeled B, "housed an array of torture
devices."

"What kind of devices?" Reed asked as Mike looked on interested.

The alien squirmed then said, "There are several neck compression
devices, others which stretch the body until the bones can no longer
move together properly. It is also rumored to have been used for
psychological torture as well."

Reed nodded then looked at Mike, mentally dismissing the alien. "I'm
not going to try to attempt to figure out just what you can do and
what you can t. I am going to theorize as to what I'd like to have in
a perfect universe You then tell me your limitations to making that
universe exist, understand?"

"Perfectly, sir," Mike replied.

"OK," Reed began. "First off, I want scans and schematics of those
buildings. I want the bio-signs of our crew and The Hugh isolated and
locked onto. If at all possible, I want them
transported--alive--aboard this ship. I also need to know who has done
this and why with all the irrefutable truth to back it up."

Mike nodded and said, "We should be able to do most of that, Sir. My
team is working on scanning through the interference now for the
schematics and bio-signs. Whatever is causing our scans to be
deflected will most likely affect the transporter. I am confident we
will find out who has caused this and will bring them to justice." He
took a quick glance at the alien guard and finished, "I have other,
more sensitive information to impart as well."

"Understood." Reed looked over to the computer on the Captain's desk.
Send me a text file under encryption 023."

Mike nodded--the aliens could understand spoken words due to the
Universal Translator, but couldn't understand the written word. Add to
that their lack of knowledge of the Vulcans, a text message in Vulcan
made sense. Permission to return to my team, Sir."

"Permission granted." Reed frowned as he turned back to the computer.
Keep me informed. We don't have much time before a new Hugh is named."

Mike nodded and made his way to the cargo bay and his team. He went
immediately to his portion of the terminal and tapped out the message
to Reed which said, "We have intercepted communiqus that point to Mugh
as the mastermind behind this plot--he is trying to blame us for The
Hugh's death so he is still looked upon as favored. His political
ambitions are the polar opposite of The Hugh's though, so upon taking
that title, the positive work done by this Hugh will be undone. Also,
the shuttle my team and I arrived on is equipped with an experimental
cloak much like the ones you encountered with the Romulans. This could
make the retrieval of our away team that much easier."

Finishing his message, he sent it then called up the mission log to
catch up on what he missed while he was in the meeting, and to change
their priorities slightly. After he typed them in, he raised his voice
so the others knew he was addressing them. "Slight change in plans.
First priority is to lock onto the crew and The Hugh for transport.
Second, schematics of the occupied buildings including the occupants.
We have to get everyone back before Mugh steps up as the next Hugh.
Failure is not an option."

Rick gave a sharp nod. "I've got the buildings."

"I'm working through the interference so we can transport," Derek
acknowledged.

"Good. I'll prep our shuttle for launch and ready our supplies," Mike
said. "I don't have to tell you, but I'll reiterate the obvious. No
breaks until our men are back."

Both Rick and Derek nodded, having already understood the order.
Sleep was a secondary concern to getting their crew back. They could
eat and drink while they worked, but couldn't work through sleep. This
is what they were here for, and personal needs no longer mattered. Now
they weren't three individuals--they were parts of a larger single
machine called the Extraction Team.

---

"How long do you figure we've been here?" Tucker asked T'Pol, who had
been trying to meditate.

Begrudgingly she opened her eyes. "I estimate the time to be two
days, fourteen and a half hours and thirty-six minutes since we left
The Hugh's chambers."

Tucker sighed and shook his head at the "estimation" T'Pol had given.
He looked around the room they were in. The bare concrete room had no
windows, only a bare bulb illuminated the dank space. They each sat on
the floor in a corner, giving the others as much room as possible in
the confined space. Archer was dozing, T'Pol meditating, The Hugh
looking quite uncomfortable. The old man was doing his level best to
be a trooper, but it was obvious he had never seen any sort of
hardship in his life. He kept fidgeting and looking around the space
as if a comfortable chair had appeared since the last time he had
opened his eyes. Tucker knew all about hardship since they'd begun
this journey. He figured he knew what was going on inside the man's
head as well. Keeping his eyes open to any discomfort--he certainly
did not want to be like that creature he had been seated with on the
prisoner transport ship--he ventured a conversation with the ruler of
the planet. "Hugh, do you have any clue why they did this?"

The old man looked at the foreigner and sighed. The time for denial
had passed. This wasn't just a bad dream, it was real, and he had to
figure out something to do. He gestured to the alien for a ladle of
water.

Tucker handed him the ladle, a frown on his face. Softly, so only the
old man could hear, well, and probably T'Pol, he said, "I'm doin' this
'cause I was taught to respect my elders. Not 'cause you're some
hoopty-doo King or somethin'."

The Hugh drank the water then nodded. "I shouldn't expect it of you,
either Some habits are very hard to break."

Trip nodded, mollified. "You want more?"

The Hugh shook his head, "No, we don't have any idea how much longer
we'll be here and need the water. Thank you for the offer though." He
smiled, showing his pink-hued teeth. Unlike humans whose bones are
made up mostly of Calcium, the Hughalites bones were made mostly of
Magnesium. Though they reacted chemically alike, the lighter magnesium
atoms allowed the Hughalites to grow taller than those with calcium
based bones; the other mineral also imparted a slight rosy pink hue to
the bones.

"Not a problem," Trip said after dropping the ladle back into the
pail in the middle of the floor. He settled down next to the old man
and said, "So, what do you think?"

The Hugh played with the now soiled frills on the tutu-like skirt he
wore. I really did think I was making a difference. Since we made
contact with people from planets not our own approximately two hundred
spans ago, our people have been growing closer together, feeling a
sense of unity with one another. The ruthless fighting to be The Hugh
diminished at least ten-fold.

Trip shook his head, "It took our planet a nuclear war to decide to
get along." He looked at the alien ruler with a sad look. "I guess
it's universal for people to fight over things."

The Hugh nodded wisely. "Each successive Hugh spent a longer time in
power, and I can honestly say that my predecessor died of natural
causes, not because of something I had done." He looked up wearily at
Trip's blue eyes, his own black orbs filling with water.
"Unfortunately, there are some who want to go back to the cutthroat
old ways. No matter how careful we are, someone will always sneak
through our nets."

"So you have an idea who did this? Who wants you out of power?" Trip
asked.

"Yes," The Hugh nodded. "It isn't personal though, I don't think.
Friends and family meant nothing when someone wanted to be the next
Hugh. They killed whoever was in their way." Hugh looked off into the
distance, his eyes focusing on a memory. "I believe that Mugh is the
one behind this." He smiled at his memory. "He was such a precocious
child."

"So you've known Mugh since he was little," Trip said.

The Hugh chuckled. "Known him? He's my firstborn son."

Trip blinked. "Your own son? But it sounded like your people were
changing becoming more democratic. Why would he want to go back to the
cutthroat ways of your past?"

"He knew that chances were good he would never become Hugh. We are
learning that the Hugh class has the potential to live as long as the
Sugh class without the assassination." The Hugh sighed. "I also
allowed him a fairly liberal education which included learning about
our old ways and coming up with his own ideas of right and wrong.
Unfortunately, he embraced the old ways because he felt I wasn't doing
my job properly. Like all young ones, he thought he knew better than
anyone else."

Trip shook his head and clicked his tongue. "It's amazing how alike
so many cultures are." He looked at the Hugh with a wry grin. "We've
met a lot of different people from so many different planets while
we've been on our journey. As completely alien each culture is, there
is always some element that is like our own. Thankfully most of our
young people outgrow that stage."

"We are still learning and changing," The Hugh said. "There is bound
to be discord during such times."

"So we know who and why. Is there any chance you know where we are?
If there's any way out?" Trip asked hopefully.

The Hugh shook his head. "If I knew, I would have spoken up earlier.
I also see no way out of here. We all went around the room looking for
loose stones or anything that might have helped us. The only opening
I've seen is the trap door on the ceiling when they toss down food,
and unless you're a Visano, I don't see how you could get up there."

"Visano?" Trip asked.

"Yes, you know," he motioned with his fingers, miming walking up the
wall.

"Oh! A spider!" Trip shuddered. "Hate them things, but yeah, I
understand " He peered up at the door wistfully.

"All we can wish for now is some grand rescue. Knowing my people,
they believe whatever Mugh has told them--probably that we are all
dead. So I don't expect help from that arena." Hugh stretched out his
legs, groaning as the muscles moved.

"We've got a good crew. I know they're doin' all they can to help us
out. I just hope they can get to us in time," Trip said.

"You should rest your mind and soul so you are ready should such an
event occur," T'Pol said. "Discussing the situation is frivolous at
best."

Trip got up and started pacing their small confines. "Yeah, ok. But
we've been sitting here like lumps on a log for over two days now. I
want something to happen. I'm tired of sitting in here doing nothing."

"Be careful what you wish for, Mr. Tucker," T'Pol said quirking a
brow and looking up at the trap door.

"What is it? Do you hear -" Trip's words got cut off as the trap door
flew open and cables spiraled down. He watched with not a little awe
as Rick and Derek repelled down the cables in the flash of an eye.
They both wore skintight midnight black jumpsuits with a heavily
pocketed vest and tool belt, their faces obliterated by black face
paint.

Rick gestured to the Captain and T'Pol while Derek turned to Trip and
The Hugh. No words were spoken, the orders perfectly clear. Within one
minute of opening the trap door, the four hostages were out of their
cell and the extraction team was moving out. Mike led the way out of
the building the hostages had been held in, taking out two guards with
swift shots from his phase pistol. The zing in the air told the
Enterprise officers the pistol was not set to stun.

The group stopped just outside the building into the dark of night
and Mike tapped a controller on his wrist. All seven people
transported to the cloaked shuttle hovering above them. As soon as
they rematerialized, the pilot, one of Archer's own, hit the controls
and moved them quickly into the outer atmosphere.

During the short trip back to the ship, Rick and Derek went about
packing up the supplies they had used during the mission while Mike
briefed the officers and The Hugh on what had transpired while they
had been held. "So in conclusion, I highly recommend an immediate
communication to the surface once we're docked. The planet needs to
know that The Hugh is still alive and well, and that the Enterprise
crew did not harm him."

"I agree," The Hugh replied. He turned to Archer, respect in his
eyes. "I wish to thank you, and your most extraordinary crew for your
help. Once I explain things to my people, they too, will come to
respect you as I do. Because of you, my people can continue down the
road to a free society and respect for all."

---

The End