Disclaimer: Enterprise and her crew belong to Paramount, not me. Unfortunately.
A/N: this story is set shortly after 'Cogenitor'.
Memory Lapse - Part 1
Jonathan Archer grabbed hold of the armrest of his chair and held on for grim death as yet another barrage of weapons fire rocked Enterprise.
"Port and aft hull-plating are offline," reported Lieutenant Reed from tactical. "Our port nacelle won't withstand another hit."
"Evasive manoeuvres!" barked Archer at Travis Mayweather, the helmsman. "Keep our starboard side towards the enemy."
"Aye, sir," replied Travis, proceeding to execute a series of tight turns, narrowly avoiding several more bursts of weapons fire from the enemy ship.
The insistent chirping of the comm chose that moment to make itself heard above all the other noise.
"Tucker to the Bridge."
"Archer here. What is it, Trip?"
"What the hell is goin' on up there, Cap'n?" asked the engineer, his drawling southern accent even more pronounced under stress.
"Our newest friends have turned out to be not so friendly," Archer told him grimly.
"Well, I'm not sure how much more of this the engines can take," said Tucker worriedly. "Any chance we'll be winnin' this fight any time soon?"
"We're doing everything we can, Trip," replied Archer. "You just do everything you can to keep the engines under…" He was interrupted as the ship lurched violently again, nearly throwing Archer from his chair. A shower of sparks erupted from one of the tactical consoles, but the Captain was far more concerned about the resounding explosion that had echoed over the still open comm link.
"Archer to Tucker. Trip, can you hear me?" yelled Archer desperately.
"The port nacelle is heavily damaged," reported T'Pol in her clipped Vulcan tones. "It is logical to assume that there is significant destruction in Engineering also."
"Contact Phlox and have him get down there with a medical team," Archer instructed her. "I want a report on the status of our people as soon as possible." Swinging round, he addressed Malcolm. "What's the status of the other ship?"
"Our last phase canon volley impaired their engines," replied Reed. "And their last shot burned out their weapons relays. It was purely luck on their part that they managed to hit our nacelle. Neither of us is in any position to cause any more damage to the other."
"Captain," said Hoshi suddenly. There's a ship approaching at warp two. It's Anarian."
Archer groaned inwardly. Enterprise couldn't withstand any more fighting…hell, she couldn't even move with one nacelle down. If this ship turned out to be a friend of the first one, they were all goners.
"Captain." Hoshi sounded surprised this time. "They're hailing us."
"Open a channel," ordered Archer, wondering at the same time if the view screen was still functional. But apparently it was, as an image of Ambassador M'Nor flickered into view.
"Captain Archer, are you and your crew alright?" the Ambassador asked immediately.
"Do we look alright?" replied Archer. He was angry, and he didn't bother to hide it. "I was under the impression that we had parted on friendly terms earlier," he said. "You said that you hoped Earth and Anaria could become great friends in the future."
"And I still hope for that, I can assure you," said M'Nor. "The Anarian Government did not authorise this attack on your ship. The other ship is part of a militant separatist group from our planet. Obviously they have taken a dislike to you. We do not condone their behaviour, and you can rest assured that their punishment will be severe when we return them to Anaria. I am truly sorry for the damage done to your ship, Captain, and if there is anything we can do to assist with repairs, you have only to ask."
Somewhat mollified, Archer said: "thank you, Ambassador, but I'm sure my Chief Engineer can do what needs to be done."
Suddenly, however, Archer remembered the explosion in Engineering. Who was to say that his Chief Engineer was even alright? Trip might be lying dead at this very moment. Worry asserted itself, and Archer had a hard time concentrating on what M'Nor was saying as she bid him goodbye and again promised severe retribution for all the rebels on the attacking ship.
As soon as the Anarian ambassador's image had disappeared from the view screen, Archer pushed the comm button again.
"Archer to Engineering." There was a pause in which Archer hoped desperately that the next thing he would hear would be Trip's voice. Instead, he heard that of his Chief Medical Officer.
"This is Doctor Phlox, Captain. I'm afraid Commander Tucker is unable to talk at the moment. In fact, he is unable to do much of anything."
Archer's worry increased a hundredfold. "What's the matter with him, Doctor?" he asked.
Phlox must have heard the worry in Archer's voice, because he hastened to reassure the Captain. "There is no need to be overly anxious, Captain," he said. "Commander Tucker was thrown backwards by an exploding relay and hit his head. He is suffering from a mild concussion and some minor burns, nothing more. He is, however, unconscious, so I will be taking him back to sickbay for monitoring until he awakes."
Greatly relieved, Archer nonetheless had to restrain his impulse to rush down to sickbay to be with Trip. As the Captain, there were many other things that currently needed his attention, no matter how worried he might be about his friend. Trip was in capable hands, and his injuries weren't serious. Turning his attention as much as he was able from his friend's condition, Archer set about putting his ship to rights.
Five hours later Archer was sitting in his ready room, going through the damage reports sent to him by all the different departments on the ship. The biggest casualties of the attack were the hull plating in the port and aft quadrants and, of course, the port nacelle. Other than that Enterprise had remained relatively unscathed. Lieutenant Reed estimated that it would only be another four hours before the hull plating could be put to use again. However, the news from Engineering was less encouraging. The nacelle had taken heavy damage from the enemy weapons, and Lieutenant Hess, Trip's second-in-command, believed that it would take a while to fix. They would probably have impulse by tomorrow, but it could be as much as five days before they could go to warp. Archer cursed whichever god it was that had put Trip in sickbay yet again. Tucker was a wiz with the warp engine, and Archer had no doubt that Hess's estimate would be halved if Trip was heading the repair team. Hess was a competent engineer, there was no doubt about that, but she didn't have Trip's 'sixth sense' when it came to the engines.
Thinking about the situation in Engineering reminded Archer that he hadn't had an update on Trip's condition from Phlox in quite a while. However, just as he was reaching for his comm pad, it forestalled him by beeping.
"Phlox to the Captain."
"Archer here. Do you have an update for me, Doctor?"
"Indeed I do." Was it Archer's imagination, or had Phlox hesitated slightly before replying? And his tone of voice definitely did not sound encouraging.
"Is there something the matter, Doctor?"
Phlox cleared his throat, a trifle nervously, Archer thought. "Well, Commander Tucker has regained consciousness. However, there are some unexpected side effects to his accident."
"What kind of side effects?" asked Archer suspiciously. All the worry he had felt several hours before suddenly reasserted itself. "Is Trip alright?"
"Physically, he is fine," replied Phlox, and then paused. "Perhaps you'd better come and see for yourself, Captain. He may be reassured by your presence."
Thoroughly disturbed by now, Archer barely had time to acknowledge Phlox's request before he was out of his seat and on his way to sickbay.