Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Well, that could have gone better." Captain Jonathan Archer turned away from the viewscreen and towards his senior staff with a thunderous look of his face. "Any ideas, people?"

They all looked back at him with stunned and uncomprehending looks on their faces.

"Well, you heard him. We've got till tomorrow morning to think of a way out of this." With that he turned on his heel and left the bridge.

Armoury officer Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, slumped back in his chair (a very unusual position for him) and muttered, "We really upset the natives this time, didn't we?"

"Didn't we just?" This was Commander Charles Tucker's comment.

"So have any of you got any ideas?" asked helmsman, Ensign Travis Mayweather.

"If that were the case, they would have been put forward by now." This logical answer came from the Vulcan First Officer, T'Pol.

Only Ensign Hoshi Sato remained silent.

A dreary silence fell on the bridge as all five officers considered their possible fate. Ten years in prison on an alien planet for them, slavery to the local 'aristocracy' for the lower ranks, and execution for one unlucky ensign. And Enterprise would be cannibalised to provide new technology for the G'Morrahni's own ships.

Enterprise was, at present, impounded in the space dock orbiting the planet G'Morrah, and the crew were under house arrest pending the result of the next day's hearing where their fate would be decided.

Twelve hours earlier Enterprise had come within hailing distance of G'Morrah and, after some lengthy negotiations on Captain Archer's part, had received permission to go down to the surface to meet the locals. The weather was a bit stormy, but not thought to be a worry. Nothing the pod couldn't cope with. Ensign Hoshi Sato, newly qualified to pilot the shuttlepods, had been assigned to the pilot's chair, with Lt. Reed as co-pilot in case there were any problems. Capt. Archer and Commander Tucker were also on board. Everything went fine during the flight. Hoshi appeared completely at ease and confident in her abilities as they approached the city limits and the landing site, when the pod was suddenly rocked by violent crosswinds. Hoshi fought to control the pod and just about had it back on course, when it hit something with a loud CR -AAAA-CKK.

Malcolm pushed Hoshi out of her seat and took over the controls, pulling the pod back and aiming it once more for the landing site. Having landed safely, however, they were immediately surrounded by a group of very irate G'Morrahni, who were obviously not about to give them the kind of warm greeting they were expecting. Angry shouts, waving of fists and a lot of pushing and shoving ensued, as the Enterprise crew were manhandled out of the pod and into a nearby building.

"Hey! Stop shoving," Trip protested as someone pushed a weapon into his ribs. "I'm going. I'm going."

They were herded into a large room, pushed into a corner, and made to sit on the floor. A dozen burly men stood around to make sure they didn't move.

"What did we do?" asked Trip in amazement.

"I imagine it was something to do with the thing we broke on the way down," Malcolm replied, glumly.

"Do we even know what it was?" asked Archer.

"I thought we just clipped the top of a mountain," Hoshi offered.

"Well, whatever it was," Archer said, "they are mighty upset about it."

"Did you notice that some of those people seemed to be enjoying our discomfort?" Malcolm inclined his head towards the people outside the building.

"Yes," Hoshi agreed. "Some were actually laughing and giggling. Almost as if it were a game."

"Some game." Trip muttered.

Archer wasn't wrong in thinking that the G'Morrahni were not going to be very pleased with the damage they had done. They soon found out that the pod had broken off the pinnacle which had been painstakingly set centuries before, on the top of their holy mountain. They were absolutely furious about this insult to their religion. Ten holy men had climbed the mountain, at great risk to themselves, in order to attach the pinnacle. It could be seen for many kilometres around and gave the people great comfort in the knowledge that their gods were watching over them. The pinnacle itself, they were told, was shaped like an eye on a tall pillar. The centre of the eye was made from a precious jewel which shone brightly when the sun caught it in the right direction. Now it was buried in the snow at the foot of the mountain, and would take days to recover, and who knew how long to put it back in its rightful place.

Archer had immediately offered to recover the pinnacle and also to put it back in position, but his offer was refused. No outsiders were allowed to touch the Holy Eye, only the local 'monks' could do that, and they had to go through a long purification process first. Things were not looking good. If they were not allowed to repair the damage, what else could they do to make recompense? They had to find some way of appeasing the G'Morrahni. Prison for them was bad enough, but Hoshi was facing a death sentence. Archer had no intention of allowing Hoshi to suffer, though, and intended to take the blame himself. After all, he was the commanding officer. It was up to him to shoulder the responsibility.

All the rest of that day and throughout the night a pall of gloom hung over the ship. Captain Archer had made a ship-wide announcement explaining the situation to the whole crew, leaving them all dumbstruck. The time passed slowly, with everyone trying to think of a way out of their predicament, but to no avail.

The next morning, Enterprise was hailed by the G'Morrahni at the pre-arranged time.

"On screen, Hoshi," Archer said. Hoshi pressed a button and President Antuil's face appeared.

"Are you prepared to accept your punishment?" he asked.

"No, of course not," Archer replied. "There must be some way we can compensate you for the damage we have done."

"Do you have any suggestions?"

"Other than replacing the Holy Eye, no. And you won't allow us to do that."

"I have explained to you why that is not possible."

One of the president's underlings moved to stand beside him and spoke quietly to him for some time. President Antuil listened carefully, nodding once or twice. Then he turned back to Archer.

"Would you be willing to take a series of tests? They are far from easy and could even result in death."

Archer and his crew breathed a sigh of relief. Could this be a way out?

"Tell us what you have in mind, Mr President," he asked.

"Many years ago a series of tasks was devised to test the abilities of those wishing to lead our peoples. I refer to tribal rulers and suchlike. More recently they have been updated and used as a test of strength and superiority by the younger members of the aristocracy. A game, if you wish."

"Go on. I'm listening." Archer growled.

"Don't be so eager. I said they were not easy. They take place in a Holodeck, which can be programmed to represent any situation we please - a comfortable room, open countryside, an alien planet - or even your own starship. Two of your people will enter the Holodeck and they will do all the tests set before them. They are of varying degrees of difficulty, and all completely different. It has been known for contestants to die attempting this. And there is a time limit to each test. Speed, therefore, is of the essence."

"I would like to discuss this with my officers, if I may?" Archer asked.

"You have five minutes, Captain."

"Thank you." Archer turned to his senior staff, a grim look on his face, as Hoshi cut the comm link.

"Right. Any comments?" he wanted to know.

"I should be one of the two, Captain." Malcolm spoke first. "Not only is it my job, but I was shadowing Hoshi, and therefore responsible for her error."

"I agree with you but only on the first point, Malcolm. The responsibility for Hoshi's error is ultimately mine, so I will be the second."

This immediately started an argument as to who should or should not go, and they were still in disagreement, when the planet hailed them again. Hoshi put them on the viewscreen, and Archer straightway said, "We accept your offer, and I will go as one..."

"You will not, Captain Archer," President Antuil interrupted him. "We will decide who will do this test." So saying he called for a PADD from his assistant.

"Now, according to your statements yesterday, the one named Sato was piloting at the time of the offence. Is that correct?"

"Yes, but she was...."

"And the one called Reed was overseeing Sato's actions. Yes?"

Archer crossed his arms over his chest and huffed, "Yes, that is correct."

"Then they are the pair who will decide your fate." Hoshi and Malcolm looked at one another, then round at their friends, anxiety showing on both their faces.

"If they come out of the Holodeck within the time limit," President Antuil continued, "you will be free to go. If they do not, the sentence stands."

"What if only one of them comes out? You said they could die in there."

"Providing that one comes out with time to spare, you are still free to go."

Archer spoke to Malcolm and Hoshi, "You'd better make preparations to go down there." They both nodded. Malcolm put his arm around Hoshi, who was white-faced and trembling, trying to give her some of his strength, and they left the bridge together. The rest of the senior bridge crew watched them go, wondering if they'll ever see them alive again.

Archer turned back to the viewscreen.
"Why are you allowing us to do this?" he wanted to know.

"Because you are off-worlders and are not familiar with our customs and religion," President Antuil replied. "We are not a wicked people, imprisoning without good reason. We want to give you a chance to redeem yourselves."

"And do my officers really have a chance to succeed?"

"That will depend on how resourceful they are, Captain," replied the President with a smile.

"And when do they start?"

"In two hours. We will send our shuttle for Sato and Reed. You may watch the events on your ship's screen."

"Will we be able to talk to them?"

"Oh, no, Captain! Certainly not! You will be able to see what's going on in the Holodeck, but you won't be able to give them any advice. That would be cheating, wouldn't it?" His leering grin seemed to linger on the screen as the connection was cut.

Two hours later, Archer, T'Pol, Trip and Travis were watching on the viewscreen as Malcolm and Hoshi, dressed in sand-coloured tee shirt-like tops, simple trousers and sandals, were taken to the Holodeck. Malcolm had wanted to take a knife and phase pistol with him, but had been told he would not be allowed to use any weapons.
There had been some tearful farewells at the docking bay, as no-one knew if either, or both of them would be coming back. And the crew's fate rested upon these two.

Hoshi was visibly nervous and clung to Malcolm's arm as they prepared to face the first test. Malcolm was also nervous, but was determined not to let Hoshi know that. It was his job to protect the crew - no matter what the circumstances. He had no intention of letting Hoshi die in here.
Full of apprehension, the pair passed through the doors of the Holodeck.

They found themselves in a good sized square room, which was completely grey - walls, floor, ceiling - except for the 'decoration' on the opposite wall.
It appeared to be a piece of artwork. It was a large square divided into smaller squares, each of which was divided into yet smaller squares. There was a symbol drawn on each of these. The symbols were repeated randomly over the whole of the large square. A few were in red, the rest were black, and all were on a pale green background.

"Well, what do you make of that, Hoshi?" Malcolm asked in a hushed voice, moving forward to have a closer inspection.

"It sort of reminds me of something," she replied, nervously. "But at the moment, I can't think what." She stayed back staring at the square from a distance. She had been expecting to encounter wild animals or some other sort of violence, not this thing that looked like a board game.

Malcolm was getting a close-up look, and now discovered that each small square had a knob in the centre.
Carefully, he took hold of the knob of a square containing a red symbol, and pulled. It moved fairly easily, and eventually he was able to pull it right out of it's niche. It was a cube of about ten centimetres.

"Look at this, Hoshi," he called, holding it our for her to see.

Malcolm pulled out another block, this time one with a black symbol, and swapped the positions of the two. Immediately, the red symbol turned black. The black one stayed the same.

"Change them back," ordered Hoshi. Malcolm did so and the red symbol appeared again.

"Oh," she said. "So it is a game of sorts."

"Why do you think that?"

"Well, I think we have to move the blocks around till we get them in the right places."

She gazed at the 'game' for a moment, trying to work it out. Suddenly she had an inspiration.

"I know what this is," she announced. "It's a version of an ancient Japanese logic problem called Sudoku."

"I've never heard of it. But if it's logical then it shouldn't be too difficult to work out."

"Usually they have a lot fewer squares than this, and adding just one extra set makes it much more complicated. Nine small squares on each side is the norm. Here we have," she stopped to count, "twenty-five."

"Okaaay." Malcolm dragged out the word, thinking out loud. "So why are some in red and the rest black?"

"That red one you moved changed to black, didn't it? I think the red ones are in their correct positions. We have to put one of each symbol in each of the twenty-five smaller squares, and at the same time, make sure there is one of each along each horizontal and vertical line."

Malcolm had stepped back to stand alongside Hoshi, so that he had a good view of the problem.

Hoshi looked at him and said, "'Fraid I'm not much good at this sort of thing."

"Don't worry. We'll sort it. I'm beginning to get a glimmer of light here. And if this is their idea of a difficult test, I can't wait to see the rest."

"He said we could die, if we didn't complete them in time."

"I know. Maybe he was just trying to frighten us."

"Well, he certainly succeeded with me," Hoshi retorted. "Let's get to work on this."

Malcolm studied the board for a few moments, then went up to it and pulled out two blocks, reversing their positions. One of them immediately turned red.

"Aha! We're on the right track."

He stepped back again, then forward swapping another pair, one of which turned red.

"Why don't you stand back where you can see properly, and tell me which ones to move?" Hoshi suggested. "That way might be quicker."

He nodded, and moved back to the wall. Hoshi stood near the game waiting for instructions.

"Swap four down and seven across with eight down and one across."

Hoshi did so and they were rewarded with another red symbol.

"Right. Now, swap nineteen down and eleven across with twenty-two down and five across."

Another successful swap.

For a while they were able to swap blocks successfully, but it couldn't last. Soon they were finding that all Malcolm's suggestions were not working. He sat on the floor, trying to understand where to go next. Hoshi came and sat beside him.

"How long have we been doing this, I wonder?" she asked.

"Haven't a clue. I've lost all sense of time."

"But if we don't finish in time..."

"Don't think like that. Think positively. We will finish in time."

"Then we'd better get back to it."

"Wait. Supposing we remove all the black blocks and sort them out into groups of symbols. We know that putting a block in the right place changes its colour, sooo..."
He stopped, thinking.

"Yes. We just try each symbol in one small square until we find its place."

"I see." Hoshi was following his line of thought. "We don't need to worry about what
they are. If they're right, they'll light up."

"Well that's the theory, anyway."

"We'd better get stuck in then. There's an awful lot of them. Seven hundred and fifty, to be precise."

Hoshi suited action to words and started pulling blocks out of the grid. Soon the floor was covered with piles of blocks, and they were both hard at work again. They found that it was not too difficult getting them right when there were only twenty-five possible places for each one to go. Slowly, but surely, they were getting there, and the more blocks that were correctly placed, the easier it became to fit in the rest.

Finally, Hoshi set the last block into the grid. They both stepped back with feelings of satisfaction at having accomplished this task. They looked at each other, grinning.

Instantly, they were in the bare Holodeck.

"Well, we seem to have come out of that all right. I wonder what they've got lined up for us next." The words were hardly out of his mouth, when Malcolm slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Archer, T'Pol, Trip and Travis, watching from the bridge of Enterprise, each visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"I am impressed that Lieutenant Reed had enough of a logical mind to think of that solution," T'Pol remarked. "It would have taken them three hours and fourteen minutes longer to complete it the normal way"

"And that would surely have taken them over the time limit." Archer was trying to remain cool in front of his officers, but finding it difficult.

"Does anyone know what this time limit is?" asked Trip. "I don't recall the G'Morrahni telling us."

"They did not." T'Pol replied. "Perhaps to them, our not knowing makes it more...interesting."

"Hey!" Trip pointed at the screen. "What's happened to Malcolm?"

There was a loud explosion and Hoshi found herself in what looked like Enterprise's engine room, and it was a mass of fire, flames and twisted metal. Circuitry was sparking all over the place, fires were raging and it seemed there was nowhere for her to move to that was safe. She could see the huge warp engine above her, but there was so much smoke that it was difficult to see clearly in any direction.

She turned to speak to Malcolm and screamed in anguish as she saw him lying unconscious on the floor.

"No! No! Malcolm, no!"

She bent over him anxiously feeling for his pulse. It was strong and steady. But what was wrong with him? She could ascertain no reason for him to have lost consciousness, and the clock was ticking.

'Oh, what am I going to do?' she thought, with tears of despair running down her face. 'How can I get Malcolm out of this? I can't leave him here. I can't carry him. Oh, Malcolm, please wake up.'
But Malcolm remained dead to the world, and Hoshi realised that it was up to her to get them both through this test.

"Come on, girl," she told herself, roughly rubbing the tears away, "You're a Starfleet officer. One of Starfleet's finest. You can do this."

She stood up to take stock of her surroundings. It wasn't quite as impossible as she had first thought, just nearly so. Through the smoke she could just make out a door in the distance which was actually marked 'Exit'.

"Well, that's helpful," she said, speaking out loud, as it seemed to make things easier. "But there's no way I can go in a straight line, there are too many obstacles in the way. And how am I going to manage Malcolm? I can't carry him. He's way too heavy for me."

She began to look around the immediate area for something - anything - she could use to help move Malcolm.

She had to search for some time before she found what looked rather like a sheet of canvas. It had a few holes in it, but none too large, and was about two metres square. She carried it over to where Malcolm was lying and spread it on the ground beside him. Carefully, she rolled him into the middle of the canvas, then she wrapped the fabric around his feet and tied it off. Next she tied the other two corners together, leaving a generous loop, which she pulled over her head and put one arm through. With this sling arrangement, she hoped she would be able to drag Malcolm through the danger zone. Checking that he was secure, she turned round in the sling and started gingerly to move forward. It seemed to be working. She was pulling Malcolm along behind her.

It was not plain sailing, however, as there was a lot a debris on the floor, and she needed to climb over some obstacles, and avoid others. It didn't help that she was now sweating profusely, due to the heat from the fires and the energy she was expending. Sweat was running down her face, but she had nothing to wipe it away. Getting Malcolm over small objects was not too difficult, though he would have felt it had he been awake, but larger objects meant manoeuvring him carefully up and over. It was hard work for the slightly built ensign. Malcolm may not have been very big, but he was all solid muscle, and muscle weighs heavy.

Slowly, carefully she fought her way through, now and then checking Malcolm's pulse. It had started as good, but now was definitely slower and weaker.

"I can't lose him," she told herself. "I've got to get to that door, and fast."

The trouble was, every time she saw the door it didn't seem to be getting any nearer. Mainly because she was having to take such a roundabout route to get there.
She sat down on a convenient piece of broken something-or-other to rest and recoup her strength. She put her head in her hands, and felt like giving up.

"You can't give up," she muttered, angrily. "Malcolm's dependent on you."

But he was so very heavy, and difficult to move.

"I don't think I can go on."

She turned to look at Malcolm who was serenely unaware of what was happening, and realised that she had no choice in the matter. She had to go on, come what may.
With a sigh, she heaved herself to her feet, picked up the sling and put it over her head. Then turning in the direction of the door yet again, she started forward.
Having manoeuvred Malcolm round a particularly awkward corner, she came face to face with a jet of flame crossing her path at waist level. The flame was not steady. It moved up and down erratically, making passage that much more of a problem.
She stopped, and sat on the floor thinking over her options. If she tried pulling Malcolm under the flame, they might get through before the flame shot downwards, but considering how frequently it did that, she thought not. Going over was out of the question. There was no way to go round other than by going back the way she had come.

"I don't suppose..." she wondered, "No, it couldn't be that simple." But all the same, she looked for a means of turning off the flame. She fiddled with a number of knobs, levers and nuts, then she must have hit on the right one, because the flame began to lose intensity until it disappeared completely.

"Wow," she sighed, "That's a relief. I never really expected it to work."

She resumed her task of dragging Malcolm to the door, and soon was rewarded with the sight of the door just a few metres in front of her, and there was nothing in the way!

She stepped forward cheerfully, glad that the end was in sight, then saw what she had been unable to see a few steps earlier.

There was a large hole in the floor!

There was no way to get herself and Malcolm across it and through the door.

She sank to the floor, once again giving in to despair. This time she cried. She put her head in her hands and just sobbed with fear, frustration and tiredness. Her whole body was aching, with muscles she didn't know that she had, complaining about the work she had put them through.

Suddenly there was a loud explosion, and a piece of plating was blown off a wall. It landed part way across the hole.

Hoshi had jumped at the sound, her ears ringing, and moved backwards, but now she inched forwards again, putting out a hand to touch the sheet of metal.

"Ouch!" She should have realised it would be hot. She sucked her fingers, considering this change in her fortunes. Could it, would it, span the hole and let them cross?

She carefully reached out and tried to push the plating further across the gap and eventually she had it in a position where she thought it would take her weight if she stood on it.

It seemed steady enough. Standing up carefully, she put the toe of one foot on the plate. It held, so she gingerly put her whole foot on and shifted her weight to that foot. It still held. Nervously she put her other foot on the plate. There was a slight wobble, and she stepped back quickly. The plate was still in position. Taking her courage in both hands, she put first one foot, and then the other on the plate and moved along two or three steps. Except for the slight wobble, it felt OK.

She went back to where she had left Malcolm, noticing that he was not looking so good. She felt for his pulse but had difficulty locating it. Frantically she tried again, dreading the she had taken too long and Malcolm had suffered as a result. But there it was, weak, very weak, but still there. He hadn't got long, though.

She breathed a sigh of relief, pulled the sling over her head, and, walking backwards,
started to pull Malcolm over the gap. As she was on her feet, she hadn't thought that the jagged edge of the plate, which she had simply stepped over, would be a danger to Malcolm as he was dragged across it. It would be scraping his body all the way down.

Realising this, she tried to lift him up so that he would clear the jagged bits, but it wasn't so easy. She could only lift him enough to clear his upper half over the edge, then she had to let him down again.

"I'm sorry, Malcolm," she muttered, "there's no way to avoid this," and she proceeded to drag him the rest of the way over, which meant from his waist down he was scraped by the jagged metal.

"Hate to think what his backside's going to look like now," she mused, "but at least he's across. Am I really in this situation and thinking about Malcolm's bum?"
She then turned around and pulled Malcolm straight towards the door.

As she reached it, the room vanished and she was back in the Holodeck.

"Thank goodness," was her first thought, then she turned to Malcolm and was delighted to see him awake.

"Are we still waiting for the second test?" he asked.

"We've done the second one. You were unconscious throughout."

"What? How did that happen?"

"I don't know. One minute you were fine, the next ..." She shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

"They must have stunned me." He looked at her, light dawning. "You mean you had to do it on your own?"

"Yes, and it was not very nice. I'll tell you about it later. How are you feeling?"

"Fine," he answered, "Why? Shouldn't I be?"

"You don't have any pain anywhere? Like, from your waist right down your legs?"

"No."

"They must have got rid of any pain or injury in the same way that they have cleaned us up. We've just been through a very messy, dangerous place, with fires and smoke. But we look as clean now as when we started this test."

"I'm not complaining." As Malcolm spoke, the Holodeck changed again, and they were in a peaceful, rural setting.

Back on the bridge, Archer was immensely relieved to see his two officers were both fit and well. He had been furious to discover that Hoshi was having to deal with such a difficult test alone, and that Malcolm's life was in so much danger. Trip had already made his feelings known, commenting loudly on the heartless behaviour of the G'Morrahni.

"How can they treat people like this?" he wanted to know.

But there was more to come.

"Hmm," mused Malcolm, "looks like typical British countryside."

And indeed, it was just that. They were standing in a lane bordered on both sides by hedges. Beyond the hedges could be seen fields sown with crops, although Malcolm didn't recognise the types. Alongside, there was an old-fashioned stile leading into the field, and above was an almost clear blue sky, just a few puffy clouds high up.
Hoshi went to the stile and sat on the lower step.

"I wonder what we're supposed to do here?" she asked.

Malcolm was scouting around in his usual security officer fashion. He looked over both hedges, went down the lane a few metres and back again.

"Can't see anything to suggest what we should be doing," he reported. "I think we'll just have to hang around for a bit. See what happens."

They didn't have to wait long. Hoshi's exceptional hearing picked up the sound first.

"Can you hear that?" she asked.

Malcolm cocked his head to listen.

"No. I can't. Wait... yes. Over that way." He pointed to the field behind where Hoshi was sitting.

She stood up, looking in that direction.

"Can you make it out, Hoshi?"

"It sounds like a baby crying." She climbed on top of the stile as if to hear better.

"It's coming from the other side of the field. I think we need to go and find it."

"I agree."

They were soon running through the field in the direction of the sound, and as the baby continued to cry, it led them straight to it.

It was lying in a bundle under, would you believe, what looked very much like a gooseberry bush!

Malcolm reached in and drew the baby out.

It looked human, quite new, and in good health, but it continued to cry.

Hoshi took the baby from Malcolm, unwrapped it and checked it for any injuries.

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him," she said. "He could be hungry, or just plain miserable from being abandoned."

"Him?" questioned Malcolm.

"I looked," she answered.

"Oh, right. Well, there doesn't seem to be anyone around. I can't see any buildings either. No farms or cottages."

"I imagine we're meant to reunite him with his parents. But where do we start looking?" Hoshi sat down on the grass and settled the child in her arms. She started rocking him, and singing softly to him. He soon quietened down, and in no time, was sound asleep.

Then they were back in the Holodeck, baby and fields having vanished.

"Wow! Is that it?" asked Malcolm. "All we had to do was get it to sleep?"

"Seems like it," Hoshi replied. "I think that not all of these tests are as complicated as you imagine they're going to be."

Malcolm walked away from Hoshi towards the far wall, wondering what would come next.

"We've done three now. I wonder how many more there are," he said, but there was no response from Hoshi. He looked back at her, puzzled at her silence, only to find her slumped on the floor.

He ran back to her and gently turned her face towards him. She was unconscious but he had no chance to wonder why because a roaring sound made him turn and look over his shoulder.
His eyes widened in terror as he saw what suddenly appeared coming towards him...

"That one seemed too easy," Trip commented. "I don't like it. It suggests another nasty one."

"I think you're right, Trip," Archer replied. "Now Hoshi's unconscious and... Oh, no. Not water! Not for Malcolm!"

Malcolm was horrified. The look on his face was sheer terror!

Coming towards him at a great rate of knots was a wall of water! It was still some distance away, but would reach him in minutes if he stayed there.

With adrenalin racing through him, he picked up Hoshi, threw her over his shoulder fireman-style, turned and ran for his life. He seemed to be in a valley of some kind, a dry riverbed, maybe.

'Riverbed.' 'Water.' The two words screamed at him in his mind. This 'valley' would be full of water very soon. He had to get out of there and up on to higher ground. He made for the side and started climbing, but carrying Hoshi made it so difficult. There were not many handholds he could use, and as he had only one hand free, that reduced his options even more.

He was still trying to climb up the bank when the water reached him and dragged him into its path.

He was swept along with the current, hanging on to Hoshi for all he was worth. The water was full of rocks, stones, uprooted greenery and other debris, which threatened to tear Hoshi from his grasp. He went under more than once in the first few minutes, coming up gasping each time. He had no way of telling if Hoshi was all right. He couldn't spare the time to check her out. He just had to hope for the best.

The water and debris tumbled the pair along at great speed. They were hit by rocks causing pain and bruising, so that Malcolm lost his grip on Hoshi.

"Noooo!" he cried as she was pulled away from him.

Desperately he struggled to get to her, and just managed to catch hold of her foot. He pulled her closer to him, and got his arm under her chin in an effort to keep her face out of the water.

He noticed her lips were still pink. That was a good sign, wasn't it? If they were blue he should worry.

He tried to control his forward motion, now that the initial surge of water had slowed down. It was still way too fast though, and he struggled to keep them both above the surface.

Time and again they went under, until Malcolm was sure his nightmare was about to come true. He had been afraid of drowning since he was quite small, and had never been able to overcome the fear. He didn't mind the water, as most people thought. He was a competent swimmer. He just didn't want drowning to be the means of his death. But right now, it was becoming more and more likely that that was what was going to happen. He'd much rather be caught up in an explosion. He wouldn't mind that. At least it would be quick. But drowning - no, he couldn't cope with that.
The thoughts ran through his head in seconds, and spurred him on to get them both out of there alive.

He kicked his feet in an effort to get to the bank, but the current was still too strong. It was just tiring him out.

'Maybe it would be best to let the current take me where it will,' he thought, and immediately relaxed. He concentrated then on keeping both their heads above water, and trying to keep as much of the debris as possible away from them.

He saw that Hoshi had a number of cuts and grazes on her face and arms. They weren't too bad, but there was nothing he could have done anyway. He looked at her lips and realised that they were turning blue!

'I've got to get her out of here or it'll be too late,' he thought. 'And I don't even know where I'm supposed to be going. Where's the exit to this scene?'

He felt for the pulse in Hoshi's neck and was concerned that it was too slow and weak. 'She won't last much longer.' He looked over his shoulder to see what was ahead, and saw that the river bank was beginning to slope downwards more gently on one side.

'If I can get over there...' He started kicking his feet again and swimming with his free arm. It took an enormous effort on his part, but eventually he thought he was getting closer. Another pile of debris collided with them, sending them both below the surface yet again. Coughing and spluttering, he gulped in air as his foot kicked against something immovable. It made him lose his balance and he went under yet again. By now he was despairing of ever reaching dry land, and was glad Hoshi was unaware of what was happening to her.

Then his foot again touched something immobile, and he realised that it was the river bed. He was closer to the bank than he had thought. Dragging up his last reserves of energy, he propelled himself sideways, digging his feet into the gravelly riverbed as he went. The water became shallower until he was able to drag Hoshi by her shoulders, up the slight slope and onto comparatively dry land. He turned her onto her stomach and collapsed beside her.

As he lay there exhausted, he noticed that the ground underneath him had changed.

They were back in the Holodeck, and turning at a sound from Hoshi, he saw that she was awake, dry, clean and free from any injuries.

He was also clean and dry. And his exhaustion had disappeared. He felt no worse than if he had been for a gentle stroll in the park.

Hoshi smiled at him.

He smiled back, too relieved that she was safe, to speak.

Archer and Trip both sat, head in hands, exhausted just watching the events in the Holodeck..

"Mr Reed did well to get them both to safety," T'Pol said softly. "That must have been very hard for him." She knew that Malcolm had more than just a passing interest in Hoshi, and losing her would be devastating for him.

"You've no idea how hard, T'Pol" Archer told her, his voice hoarse. As far as he knew, Malcolm had not told anyone else on board of his fear of drowning. That must have been a very intense psychological battle for him.

They looked at the screen, wondering what was to come next.

Instead of another 'situation' the face of the president appeared.

"Captain Archer, you will be relieved to know that we are not intending to subject your crewmembers to any more tests. They are done. You may come down to the conference hall for the final decision of the Council, and, if it goes well for your people, you may take them back with you." Without waiting for a response, he cut the connection.

Archer was not in the best of moods. "Right," he growled, "T'Pol, Trip, Travis, you're with me. Get straight to the launch bay. We're leaving immediately. I can't begin to imagine what Malcolm and Hoshi are feeling right now."

Malcolm and Hoshi were still waiting, somewhat apprehensively, to see if there was another test coming. When after several minutes, nothing happened, they started to relax a bit.

"Maybe it's over," Hoshi whispered as if afraid that speaking aloud would bring on another ordeal.

They were sitting on the floor of the Holodeck, and now Malcolm put his arms around Hoshi, pulling her close.

"I think it must be," he whispered back. "There's been too long a break since the last one."

A strange noise came from Hoshi's stomach.

"Oh, sorry," she said. "I think it's time I had something to eat."

"Me too," Malcolm agreed. "We've done a lot of hard exercise and had nothing to replace the energy we've used."

"Not even a drink, either."

"No. I may have swallowed plenty of water in the last one, but I don't feel any better for it."

"Well, it was only holographic water." Hoshi laughed a little at her own joke. She was beginning to feel better.

The door to the Holodeck suddenly opened and a young G'Morrahni woman appeared. She directed Malcolm and Hoshi through a door into a small room where a meal and their Starfleet uniforms were waiting for them.

"We apologise for leaving you hungry all this time," she said. "There is food for you. When you have eaten, you should change back into your own clothing and then proceed through this door for the Council's decision." She indicated a door to their left, then went through it herself, leaving them to eat and get changed.

"Why do they need to make a decision?" Hoshi wondered. "Surely we've done what they asked?"

"We'll soon find out. Let's eat."

"Ready to go?" Malcolm asked her. His stomach was full and, now properly dressed, he felt ready to face whatever 'decision' the Council might come to.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose." She wasn't looking too cheerful though.

"Chin up, Hoshi. I'm sure everything will be fine." So saying, he took her hand and moved towards the door. They stepped through into a huge auditorium packed full with excited spectators. Off to one side they could see a small group of Starfleet uniforms, and recognised their fellow officers. They were all looking rather worried.

Malcolm and Hoshi were led by a uniformed G'Morrahni to a place on the platform facing the audience, and given seats.

Malcolm was beginning to be rather concerned now. They had performed all the tasks set before them, and come through them alive. The only thing he could think was that they had gone over the time limit, and that it might make a difference to the result. But why had so many people turned out just for this?

There was a loud fanfare played by a group of musicians, high up in the auditorium, and the president, with his entourage, entered from the back. Everyone rose to their feet, and clapped as the party made its way down to the front and mounted the platform. Having settled themselves in their seats, the audience resumed theirs.

The president then rose and went to a small podium in the centre. He looked around at the packed room and said, "I hope you have all been enjoying yourselves today. It's not often we have the opportunity to see what offworlders are made of, but today we have been privileged to watch as two Humans from the planet Earth demonstrated to us just how good they are in a variety of situations."

Malcolm was astounded at this. Had they been watched by all these people? he wondered. Craning his head to see behind him, he realised that there was a huge screen facing the audience, and that it was showing brief clips of what they had been doing. They had been an entertainment for the G'Morrahni!

And now the G'Morrahni were waiting for the final verdict - would they be freed, or imprisoned?

"These two," the President continued, "have been a most interesting pair from the start." He indicated to a lackey and on the screen was the logic problem grid. "Look at the way they solved this. They started in the usual manner but soon realised that it would take them much too long if they continued thus. So they changed their tactics; as you can see, they pulled out all the blocks and began fitting them in until they lit up. In this manner, they spent far less time on the problem. It is a long time since we had anyone come up with this solution. They are to be congratulated."

He clicked his fingers and the scene changed to Hoshi in the engine room.

"Here we have another example of the Humans' ingenuity. The usual thing is for the conscious one to carry his friend through the simulation, even though he is not really strong enough to do so. The Human, Sato, realised straight away that she would not be able to carry Reed, so used some of her precious time looking for something to help her. She found the sheet we had left there for that purpose, and made good use of it. She reached the exit with just enough time to spare for us to revive Reed."

Malcolm was watching the screen and was astounded at the way in which Hoshi had got him through the fire and smoke-filled room.

"I had no idea..." he said, looking at her appreciatively. "You're amazing!" Hoshi blushed at the compliment, but their attention was redirected back to the screen.

"Now take the scene with the baby," the president went on. "Again, Sato did the simple thing of quieting the child, which is what was required of them, instead of rushing off to find its parents. Everyone else doing this scene has spent hours searching for them, with the baby screaming all the time. These two decided that the baby's comfort was of greater importance right then."

Next came the scene Malcolm was dreading. He saw the expression on his face as he watched the raging torrent of water coming towards him.

"Look at that! The man is terrified. But what does he do? Does he turn and get himself out of the path of the water? No. He stops to pick up Sato and carry her to safety. Despite his obvious fear of the water, he struggles hard to keep them both alive. They went under several times before he reached the beach. Again, there was just enough time left for her to be revived."

Hoshi turned to Malcolm and whispered, "You looked more than terrified. You told me about your fear of drowning; you must have been very close to doing so in there. Thank you for looking after me. I understand what it must have been like for you."

She put her hand on his knee and he covered it with his own.

"Your trial in the engine room was equally dangerous. I'm very proud of you."

They both turned back to what the president was saying.

".... will be on their way back to their ship very soon, and we wish them all a safe journey to wherever they are going next. And Captain Archer, I should tell you that you were never in any danger of imprisonment or slavery. And we would never execute such a delightful young female as Sato. What you knocked off the mountain was just - the top of the mountain! The story about the Holy Eye was just - a story! We like to entertain ourselves with testing the strengths and intelligence of offworlders. It is such fun."
His words were drowned out by the thunderous applause from all round the auditorium, with the natives stamping their feet and clapping enthusiastically.
Malcolm however was far from happy. They had put Hoshi and himself through all that torment - for pleasure? He was seething with barely controlled anger.
Up in the auditorium, Archer was similarly angry. He turned to T'Pol. "How could they do this to our people?" he asked, not expecting an answer.
"Different cultures have ways that are incomprehensible to others. At least they are alive and safe. Would you have preferred for them to have been thrown to the lions in the Roman Coliseum of ancient Earth? I doubt they would have survived that."
"Thank you, T'Pol." Archer's sarcasm was lost on the Vulcan, however.
"And," President Antuil continued, "I must apologise for the rough handling when we 'arrested' you. I'm afraid some of out officers were a little too diligent and may have been a bit too enthusiastic when bringing you into the precinct. Play-acting does not come naturally to everyone, while others tend to overdo it."

"You mean everyone was in on the 'joke' except us?" expostulated Archer.

"Of course! We go through a similar routine each time a group of offworlders lands. The people know what they are expected to do and react accordingly. It's a great game!"

"Not to us it isn't." Archer was fuming now. "Have you no consideration for the feelings of the people you humiliate like this? Unless you stop this practice, you are going to get a very bad reputation among other species, and that means you will no longer have visitors. And I intend to inform every species I come into contact with, of your sadistic games."

"Do as you wish, Captain. I really don't care. We have fun, and I'm only sorry you did not enjoy it."

"You're impossible to reason with," Archer told him. "O.K. If that's the way you want to play, I'll go along with it. Subcommander T'Pol, make a point of informing all our contacts of the behaviour of this species. Warn them not to visit this planet unless they enjoy being humiliated, tortured, and possibly even killed."

"Yes, Captain. It's as good as done."

"And ask them to pass the information along to their contacts."

"Very well, Captain."

"It won't be long, Mr President, before everyone in the Alpha Quadrant knows how you treat visitors. Unless you change your ways, you will soon be left out on a limb with no friends or allies to call on in time of need. I suggest you learn to treat your visitors with respect. Then maybe, we'll come again. But you'll have to earn our trust first, and that won't be easy."
Archer was about to turn away, but realised he hadn't finished.
"Did it not occur to you that we might have willingly joined in your game, had we known the rules? We like to play games which test our strength and intelligence, too. I know several of my officers who would cheerfully have gone through these tests, as a means of proving themselves. There was absolutely no need to use underhand means to coerce us into taking part. And as for allowing Ensign Sato to think that she was under sentence of death...." Words failed him here. He turned to T'Pol and Trip holding his arms out in a gesture of despair. Facing the president again, he said angrily, "I think it is highly unlikely that we, or anyone else from Earth, will ever visit this planet again."
The president held up his hand for silence as the crowd had started to boo and hiss.
"I regret that you think we cannot have friendly relations with your people, but any that do come here will be welcomed, I can assure you. We have no antipathy towards you. You gave us some wonderful entertainment. If all humans are as entertaining as your two, we look forward to welcoming others."
"Let's get out of here," Archer said to his crewmen, "before I do something I will regret. Malcolm, Hoshi, meet us out front. The sooner we're back on Enterprise, the better."
"With pleasure, Captain," Malcolm answered. Then he turned to Hoshi, took her hand and led her to the front of the platform. He jumped down and lifted Hoshi down beside him.
"Ensign Sato," he spoke briskly, "by the left, quick...march!"
Instinctively Hoshi stepped out with her left foot, and together they marched proudly up the aisle to the main doors of the auditorium, and out. The other Enterprise officers applauded loudly all the way.
They all met up in the foyer, greeting each other warmly.
"Thank goodness you're both all right," Archer said, hugging Hoshi, and putting his arm round Malcolm's shoulders. Trip and Travis also hugged them both; they were so relieved that everything was over.
A few minutes later, they were in the shuttlepod and on their way back to the ship, with sighs of relief all round. They would be leaving orbit immediately and getting well away from this planet. They had had a day and a half of anguish, just to amuse the locals. There was no likelihood they would ever come this way again.
Sitting together in the back, Malcolm and Hoshi clasped hands. Their ordeal had actually heightened the friendship they had developed recently. It looked like going a long way.