Forwarded by the ASC-VSO Posted: 7 Jan 2004 13:55:35 -0800 In: alt.startrek.creative From: jeanette_slinn@yahoo.co.uk (Hoshissis) Title: "Did I Just See A Mermaid" 7 Author: Hoshissis Series: ENT Rating: PG-13 for swearing Disclaimer: Paramount owns Star trek and I derive no financial gain from this story. Codes: Tu, A, T, Ma, S, R, P, angst, friendship, humor, action/adventure Summary: This story is set before Season 3 when the mission is one of Chapter Seven Captain Archer woke up with a thudding head, opening his eyes slowly and squinting at the bright glare of the lights, he moved his head to look around at his surroundings. He was lying on a bio bed in an enclosed empty room, he couldn't remember how he got here or how long he had been here, nothing after turning to ask Phlox a question before the transporter beam took hold. "Trip!" , he jumped up with a start wondering what had happened to his friend and Phlox // Damn, maybe I shouldn't have jumped up that quick, my head is spinning // he thought clutching the side of his head with one head and the bio bed with the other. At this moment Phlox walked in, chatting with one of the Aquarians called Mussels, "Ahhhh I see you have decided to wake up at last" he said walking up to Captain Archer. "What happened?" enquired Captain Archer "I'm sorry about that," replied Mussels, "An unforeseen reaction to our decontamination scan, which came into effect after materialisation." "Were you and Trip affected?" said Captain Archer looking towards Phlox. "Speaking of which, where the hell is Trip?" "Don't worry Captain, Commander Tucker is being well looked after and he is doing fine. I was slightly affected, so I have been able to observe all aspects of his care." "How long have I been out?" asked Captain Archer. "About an hour," replied Mussels, "During that time we were able to take some medical scans of you, to help us in our assessment and treatment of your officer. Do you want to come with us now to see how he is doing?" "Certainly, lead the way." "You said you had an antidote, is it working?" asked Captain Archer as they walked along a long corridor. "It's hard to say," replied Mussels, "We should know more in about one hour. If everything is going well, he should start to show some signs of improvement. It's taking so long because we had to adapt our antidote to your different physiology." --------------------------------------------------------------- Mussels led Phlox and Captain Archer into a huge underground chamber, which had Aquarians buzzing all over various machines like flies in a hive. In the middle was a huge tank filled with some kind of watery fluid, floating in this wearing only his underwear and tubes attached to his body and mouth was Trip. He was still unconscious and he seemed lifeless, apart from the occasional jerking of his body. Captain Archer looked aghast at the sight of his friend; turning to Phlox and Mussels he looked at them with pleading eyes filled with unasked questions. "Don't worry Captain Archer, it's not as bad as it looks," said Mussels trying to reassure him. "The tubes are delivering oxygen and the antidote to his body, the electric pulses that are causing him to jerk are just stimulating his organs, muscles and nerve endings that had slowed down due to the effect of the toxin. We found that immersing the patient like this in fluid is easy on the body, while also helping to speed up the healing process. As I mentioned previously we will be reassessing his treatment in a short while, so we'll find out then if the treatment is working. Why don't you visit our recreational facility while we are waiting, I'm sure Doctor Phlox will inform you when we have any news." "That's right Captain," replied Phlox who could see Captain Archer was apprehensive about leaving his friend. "While the Aquarians have offered to let me view their medical facilities, it also means I can stay close at hand should any problems arise. I promise I will let you know as soon as I hear any news." Feeling slightly reassured Captain Archer agreed then followed one of the Aquarians out of the facility. Walking along the corridor he was amazed at the complex structure they now found themselves in, the walls gleamed all colours under the sun shimmering like glitter, interspersed with huge clumps of crystal. Every now and then were giant pools intermingled with rock formations where Aquarians swam back and forth, bathed and combed their long hair, singing with angelic voices. He silently chuckled to himself // Damn Trip was right I feel like I'm in a Mermaid's Grotto // the whole atmosphere felt like it was out of one giant fairy tale. Sitting down in what looked like a chair carved out of a giant shell, he closed his eyes and let himself become calm and relaxed; he had never felt so much at ease with himself in his whole life. // I'll have to get Trip a recording of this, it knocks that whale and sea music I got him right out of the water. // ------------------------------------------------------------------- "Captain, resting nicely I see!" said Phlox walking up. "Doc!" replied Captain Archer, embarrassed to admit that he had actually fallen asleep. "Sorry I was just enjoying the scenery and lost track of time." "Don't worry Captain I wont tell a sole," said Doctor Phlox with a huge smile on his face. "How's Trip doing?" "He's awake and very bewildered by all the attention he is receiving," replied Phlox. "Great!" said Captain Archer jumping up, much relieved by the whole situation. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Archer and Phlox entered the underground medical chamber once again, it was just as busy before with Aquarians working on consoles and various machines. Archer walked up to the huge tank in the middle, where a very confused Trip was watching two Aquarians swim around him taking readings on hand held scanners and perform minor adjustments to the tubes attached to his body. Captain Archer rapped on the glass drawing Trip's attention, he couldn't respond since he still had his oxygen tube attached, so he gazed back with loads of unanswered questions in his eyes. "We have managed to eradicate 85% of the poison in his body," said Mussels walking up to Captain Archer and Doctor Phlox. "It will take about another 30 minutes to eliminate the rest." "Will there be any lingering effects that will require treatment," asked Phlox. "His leg will probably still be numb and sore, but that will soon ease," replied Mussels. "Do you want to wait or return to our recreational facility, I heard you found it to be a pleasant and relaxing experience last time?" "No thanks!" said Captain Archer, looking slightly red in the face. "We'll wait here thanks." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Two hours later Captain Archer and Phlox walked into the recreational facility where they had previously left Commander Tucker to recuperate before they left to go on a quick tour of the facility. "Where's Trip!" asked Captain Archer in a worried tone, looking at the now vacant chair that once held his officer who was on strict orders to rest. "Hmmmmmm!" replied Phlox flitting his eyebrows in the opposite direction. "It would seem that Commander Tucker is looking at the scenery." Captain Archer looked over to where Phlox had indicated; Commander Tucker was seated next to one of the lagoons happily chatting to a group of very beautiful Aquarians who were lavishing attention on the young engineer. From the look of his face and the sound of his and their laughter, enjoyment was being had by all. "Well I see Trip is feeling better," laughed Captain Archer. "I thought you were on strict orders to rest Commander," said Captain Archer walking up behind him. "It's a good job T'Pol isn't here; she would no doubt remind you the results of your previous attempts of flirtation." "Hey I'm being a complete gentleman," chuckled Trip with twinkling eyes. "Can I help it if women can't resist the old Tucker charm? Any ways I was kinda hoping to find out just how much of them was part fish?" he replied giving him his trademark eyebrow wriggle. "How do you feel?" asked Captain Archer becoming more serious with a hint of concern in his voice. "A lot better thanks, although ma leg below ma knee still feels kinda numb," replied Trip glancing once again to the group of beautiful Aquarians. "You know, I'm feeling kinda naked under here," whispered Trip indicating to his nearly bare form under a thick blanket. "You could have brought me some spare clothes you know." "Sorry! I kinda had other things on my mind, like getting you down here," said Captain Archer. "Anyway you can't say that it's not gaining you attention," he laughed pointing to the group of Aquarians who were gathered together nearby each trying to catch the young engineer's attention. This just made Trip blush a very deep red, aside from his flirtacous nature he was very shy young man who didn't understand or known the effect he had on people, Captain Archer just shook his head and laughed, god it was good to see him back to normal and he was going to make damn sure that he stayed like that. -- Stephen Ratliff ASC Stories Only Forwarding In the Pattern Buffer at: http//trekiverse.crosswinds.net/feed/ Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASCL/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:ASCL-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. From ???@??? Wed Jan 07 23:54:52 2004 Status: U Return-Path: Received: from n38.grp.scd.yahoo.com ([66.218.66.106]) by kite (EarthLink SMTP Server) with SMTP id 1aEscx67M3NZFkD0 for ; Wed, 7 Jan 2004 20:55:20 -0800 (PST) X-eGroups-Return: sentto-1977044-12862-1073537483-stephenbratliff=earthlink.net@returns.groups.yahoo.