“That’s the second time this week the core’s superheated, Trip!” Archer looked at the warp core and shook his head.

            “I’ve been trying every trick in the book, Captain.  We might have to bring it in to Starfleet engineering if it gets much worse.”

            “Let’s hope it’s finished soon,” Archer said, and turned to the communications panel to send a message to Starfleet.  He instantly knew that was a mistake.  Hoshi looked like she was having a nervous breakdown, and he couldn’t help but crack a smile.

            The result was a murderous stare from Hoshi and a slap on the back from Mayweather.  “Looks like you’ve got a mutiny on your hands, there, Captain!” he said, laughing.

            T’Pol raised one eyebrow.  “I fail to see the amusement in ostracizing a fellow crewman.”

            Trip massaged his eyes and said, rather icily, “Just like you to ruin everyone’s—” he looked at Hoshi guiltily, “fun.”

            Archer shrugged.  “You know, she’s right, Trip.  We’re sorry, Hoshi.”  She gave him a sulky stare.

            “So,” Mayweather broke in, “where were we going before the…unfortunate disaster?”

            “We were going to the Klingon outpost on Daq’tar V—” he grinned as Hoshi shook her head at the pronunciation.  “I guess what goes around, comes around, eh, Ensign?”

            She raised her eyebrows innocently.  “Yes, sir!” she said loftily.

            “As I was saying…we heard about a dispute going on there about food rations.  One side says the other is hoarding the food, and so on.  Starfleet, in its infinite wisdom, has sent us to deal with it.”

            “I sure as heck know how to deal with it,” Reed mumbled, fingering the M-33 at his belt.

            “Keep your shirt on, Lieutenant, and keep those weapons to yourself before you kill us all,” Trip accentuated the remark with an exaggerated drawl.  Mayweather and Reed exchanged amused glances.

            “Hopefully it won’t come to that, Malcolm,” Archer said, and, as an afterthought, “sorry.”

            “There’s always next time,” Reed replied mechanically, as if to convince himself.

            “Mayweather…ahead at Warp 4.5!”

            “On it, sir.”

***

            After duty shifts were over, Reed moved to go off the bridge.  Mayweather watched him closely, though, because he could tell by the devious expression that he was about to do something.  When he looked at Hoshi he almost laughed out loud.  Apparently, she was reviewing a language database and was totally oblivious to everything around her.  Reed walked up, phaser pistol out, and walked up and pointed it at her head.  Trip had caught on by now and was purposefully distracting T’Pol.  Once the pistol was within a centimeter of her head, he whispered, “Boo!”

            Hoshi squealed and almost fell out of her chair.  Looking to the Captain didn’t help her much either—he somehow was laughing and trying to look disappointed in Reed at the same time.

            She smiled sarcastically.  “Very funny, Mr. Reed,” she said, and walked out of the room with surprising dignity.

***

            Enterprise dropped out of Warp at 1200 hours sharp as it normally did.  Archer pulled out his communicator.  “Reed!  Time to get up here.  We’ve come across an asteroid field, and we have a few torpedoes…”

            “Say no more, sir—I’ll be right there!” Reed yelled in ecstasy.

            Less than a minute later, Reed was standing at his post.  A red button flashed that indicated that he had locked on to an asteroid.  Time for one big explosion…

            He pushed the button.  “An Chaq, chu’Naq!” computer said.

            Reed was dismayed.  “What’s going on here?  It won’t fire the bloody torpedo!  Sounds like a Klingon chap’s been into our computer systems…” his eyes narrowed.  “No, no Klingon’s been in the system.  I’m beginning to see the picture here.”  He walked over to Hoshi’s post.  “Would you happen to know what that computer just said?”
            “I’m too busy watching my back to check the language database.”

            Trip looked over at Mayweather and mouthed, “Hoshi, one, Reed, nothing.”

            “What does it say?” Reed asked impatiently.

            “I believe it says, ‘password required’,” she said smugly.

            Trip whistled silently, and Mayweather held up 2 fingers.

            Presently, Reed walked over to the Captain.  “Lieutenant Malcolm Reed reporting for duty, sir!”

            “Take your post…if you can get it to work!” Archer smirked.  The whole bridge snickered.

            T’Pol would never admit it, but Trip swore he saw her smile a little.

***

            Later that day in the Mess hall, Reed walked over to where Hoshi was eating.  He bent down and said, “Q’in an’na,” something he desperately hoped was Klingon for “sorry”.

            Hoshi grinned.  “Close enough.  And it’s ok.  You can have your weapons back now.  Friends?”

            Reed shrugged.  “Friends.”

            “The warp drive failed again, Trip?” Archer asked unbelievably as the ship dropped abruptly out of Warp.

            Trip’s reply was strained and quick, “Sir, we’re lucky to be alive.  Something almost hit our ship in Warp…we dropped out of it just in time.  It looks like an asteroid…wonder why the nav. Computer didn’t pick it up?”

            “its surface is coated with Nitriduim Sulfate, a natural blocker to our sensors,” came the mechanical drone of T’Pol, “although it does puzzle me how we escaped destruction.”

            “I’ll start running an analysis of the computers,” Mayweather volunteered.

            “Get on it, Travis.  T’Pol, I want you and Trip to look at the asteroid…maybe we can modify the sensors to pick up more like it,” Archer said, walking towards the captain’s chair.

            Hoshi interrupted.  “Sir, I was trying to see if any life forms could live on the asteroid when I picked up a trail of…whatever the stuff was called extending for about 500 meters.  We’re on a parallel heading.”

            Archer looked at T’Pol thoughtfully.  “That’s another thing you and Trip need to investigate.  It looks to me like something passed it to create a trail like that.  Malcolm—try to see if weapons fire created the residue.”

            Reed shook his head.  “It’s definitely not weapons fire, sir, unless they’re completely different from ours; there’s no electro-magnetic charge surrounding it.  Our torpedoes would produce enough EM residue to—”

            Archer shook his head and smiled.  “Thank you, Mr. Reed.  I’ll be with Dr. Phlox examining for bio-matter in the asteroid if you need me.”

***

            “T’Pol to Archer…Captain, I believe you should come and look at what Commander Tucker and I have discovered.”

            Archer almost sighed with relief.  Phlox had been lecturing him about the conditions that are required for organic matter to exist, but he wasn’t quite the scientist that Phlox was.  “I assume you’ll brief me later, doctor?”

            Phlox stretched out his smile.  “Of course, Captain.”

            Once the door shut, Archer shook his head and took the lift to the bridge.

            “Have a nap before you got here, Captain?” Trip said, looking at the time on his display.

            Archer ignored him and turned to T’Pol.  “What’d you find?”

            “We—rather, I, detected a…a sort of psychic warning beacon implanted on the asteroid.”

            Archer looked at Trip, who grunted and shrugged.  “Could you put that a little more simply?”

            “I believe that whoever left the Warp-disrupting field around the asteroid—”

            “Warp-dampening field?”

            “Apparently, whoever passed the asteroid left a field around it, preventing Warp drive.”

            “That was a mighty kind act.  I’d like to meet these people.”

            “That may be difficult,” Hoshi broke in.  “These beings are of a higher mental order even than Vulcans.  T’Pol picked up the psychic beacon because Vulcan minds can…perceive more than humans’, generally.  These people probably don’t look anything like us.”

            “One more thing, Captain—we’ve figured out that the residue was created by some sort of electrical field.  We created none because we’ve polarized our hull to block electrical readings,” Trip added.

            Archer leaned on the wall.  “If they run on electricity, then we should be able to detect them…try scanning for more electrical fields.”

            Hoshi stood up.  “Done, sir.  There aren’t any readings, but that would make sense because if the electricity were anywhere above 1 or 2 volts, the…stuff on the asteroid would blow itself up.”

            Unbeknownst to Archer, Reed’s eyes lit up and he caressed the ‘fire electric charge’ button on the control panel.  If only we were Klingons, then we could blow everything in sight!

            “That’d be a pretty small ship, then,” Trip said.  “You can’t even run a flashlight at 1 volt!”

            T’Pol looked thoughtful.  “If we transported the sulfate from the surface of the asteroid into space, it should give us a clear reading on the direction of the vessel.”

            “Do it,” Archer said.

            “Transporting now, sir,” Reed’s hand barely missed the ‘fire’ button.

            “Sir, I’ve got a lock on the ship!  It’s barely 200 km starboard.” Hoshi said triumphantly.

            “Let’s beam a team over.”  Archer started to go off the bridge when Hoshi piped up.

            “Sir…something just happened to the ship.  There’s now a…for lack of a better term, transport inhibitor.  No power fluctuations, or anything.  It just…happened.”

            T’Pol stood up.  “I believe I can explain.  On the very edge of my consciousness I could detect some sort of psychic activity.  The being must have shielded itself with its own mental energy.”

            “Are communications still up?”

            “Yes, sir.”

            “Hail them, Hoshi.  If they’re that smart, they could at least understand English.”

            Snickering, she opened a channel.

            “This is Captain Archer of the Earth Vessel Enterprise.  You must know by now that we mean you no harm.  We merely wanted to thank you for saving our butts—”

            A metallic voice interrupted.  “You are a most gracious species, Archer.  I would set our communications so that we could see each other, but my species has no need for the technology.  We are telepathic in nature.”

            “Just a question—why are you interested in us?  We’re definitely not the cream of the crop technology wise.”

            A sound that could pass for a laugh came from the comm. channel.  “It is not your technology that I am interested in; it is your mental capacity.  I have tried to make contact with you telepathically, and two of you have semi-responded.  Would one of them be you?”

            Archer looked confused.  “One would probably be my science officer, Sub-Commander T’Pol.  She’s what we call a Vulcan.  They have…certain mental abilities that we humans lack.  As for the rest of us…” the bridge crew shrugged almost in unison.

            “I would like to board your ship, if you have no objection, Archer.”

            “Fine with me.  Our atmosphere may not be the same as yours, though.”

            “I can—I don’t really need any one type of atmosphere…I feel as if I’ll have a lot of explaining to do to your people.”

            “That’s one of our species’ tendencies.  We can transport you over anytime—”  Archer stopped as a blazing white doorway appeared in the bridge.  The being stepped out.

            It was human-like in appearance.  It wore a suit of body-armor of which the crew had never seen the likes.  The individual parts looked as if they were alive.  It was inches taller than Archer and about a foot wider.

            “I am…just call me Dhal.  I doubt you could pronounce my name.”

            The crew looked at each other.

            Archer smiled.  “Where no human has gone before…”

            After a brief exchange of greetings, Archer, T’Pol, Trip, and even Hoshi sat with Dhal at the customary dinner table to discuss the situation.  Archer was the first to gain the courage to speak.

            “So, Dhal…what brings you out here?”

            A sound came out that could pass for a sigh.  “It’s a rather embarrassing story, Captain Archer.  I…I banished myself…this is all very difficult to explain, especially taking into account the ‘language barrier’ involved.”  He paused because he felt an intense desire to question emanate from the communications officer.  No, he whispered mentally.  Wait.

Hoshi, always interested in languages, started to ask Dhal about his, but was reassured from something inside of her that it would be addressed later.  Dhal looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing.

            “All of my species have my sort of mental energies.  One of the first childhood lessons we learn as children is the responsibility required to use and control one’s own powers.  I was undisciplined in my youth, though—partially due to my relatively extraordinary abilities.  My first test of patience was with the Zagh, our arch-enemy, as you would call them.  I failed miserably.  I almost destroyed myself trying to psychically break down one of them.”

            T’Pol raised one eyebrow.  “They must have a highly sophisticated mind, then.”

            Dhal shook his head.  “Quite the opposite.  Their minds are so primitively structured that our energies are incompatible.  I can think of no analogy right now that can compare to that.”

            Trip leaned forward.  “What are those…whatever you saids like?”

            “They are insect-like in nature, amazingly adaptive and capable of multiplying exponentially.  One of our warriors could destroy at least a hundred, maybe more, but how long does it take to fully train one of our warriors?  At least 90 years.  In 90 years, there could be billions of Zagh created.  It seems that our exact opposites are a match, if not more than one, for us.”

            Archer shook his head in puzzlement.  “It sounds like your species sure could use your abilities.  Why leave them?”

            “I…I was not content with the controls placed on our powers.  I believed that if we used our abilities to their fullest extent, we would be on even ground with the Zagh.  Our leaders disapproved, and now I can see why.”

            Hoshi nodded her head.  “Yeah…they thought that you using your powers to harm would be the same as your enemies using theirs against you.”

            Dhal shook his head.  “Exactly.  Maybe I would agree with them.  That time is passed, though.  I left the Home World 4 years ago because I had found a way to exterminate the Zagh on contact with our powers.”  Trip looked confused.

            Hoshi suddenly had the desire to sigh in annoyance.  What the…I want to know about this as much as he does, she thought to herself.  I shouldn’t be annoyed.

            Dhal shook his head.  “Did we not just discuss the basic morals of my people?  Beside the point, we have also come to realize that our struggle with the Zagh creates a necessary balance in our lives.”

            Archer moved to speak, but was interrupted by the swish of the door as Reed marched into the room.

            “Did I miss anything, captain?  He didn’t happen to mention any weapons of his, did he?  I’d sure love to get my hands on that ‘transport inhibitor’—”

            If Dhal could look amused, he did right then.  Archer laughed ruefully, “This is my tactical officer, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed.”

            Reed nodded his head.  “Sir…” he paused while trying to guess Dhal’s gender.  “I guess that’s right, eh?”

            Dhal nodded his head.  “I am of the male gender.  Genders are significantly less important to us as they are to you, though.”  Once Reed had sat down, Dhal had felt a change in the atmosphere.  He pulled himself out of their time and stopped to contemplate.

            He reached within himself to find answers.  He saw his Home World, as beautiful as ever, and then in the next instance overrun by Zagh.  He saw himself fighting to the death with one of his closest friends.  He saw a blurred figure forcing him to go back to his own galaxy.

            His thoughts were interrupted as he began to slip back into the Enterprise’s time.  Not having the strength to keep from entering, he assumed the same posture he had while talking with the crew.

            Once time had normalized, he turned to the Captain.  “I really need some…rest, as you would call it.  My ship has the necessary facilities for me to regenerate.”

            Archer stood up.  “We all need our rest.  I trust we’ll see you tomorrow?”

            Dhal nodded.  With an effort, he created the blazing door to his ship.

            The crew watched him disappear and turned to face one another.  Trip was the first to speak up.  “I think I’ll be turning in, too.”

            One by one they left until only Hoshi and Archer were still in the room.  “Hoshi, I’m surprised that you didn’t try to ask him about his language.  Just too…fascinated to learn tonight?”

            Hoshi shook her head.  “I don’t really know, sir…” she stopped and tried to remember just why she didn’t think about it when her head started hurting.  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Captain,” she said, leaving for her quarters.

***

            As Dhal shut down his mind for regeneration, he looked long and hard at the new ship he had encountered.  Humans…interesting, but little mental—no, I shouldn’t put it that way—psychic capacity…except for 1.  His last memory was a pain in the deep recesses of his mind.

Captain Archer had barely gotten to the mess hall when he was aware of a familiar figure standing by the window.  After blinking in surprise, he said, “I’ll never get used to your transportation, Dhal.”

“Nor I yours, Captain.  I had…what you would call a nightmare last night.  With my race, such things are to be taken more seriously.  I fear I must return to my homeworld once more.”  He unconsciously started pacing the floor.

Archer flashed a wry grin.  “That shouldn’t be too hard?  Just a door away…” he faltered at Dhal’s apathy.

Dhal shook his head absently.  “I can’t do that, Captain.  Did I not tell you I banished myself?  Ah, I grow short with the undeserving; I apologize.  I need someone’s help to do that, and I cannot communicate with my own people.  Indeed, I have spent nearly all of the last 2 years trying to find someone with the capability to help me.”

“And to think one of us on the Enterprise has that!” Trip called out from behind.

Archer nearly jumped.  “Since when did you get up this early?”

Trip grinned.  “Since things started getting interesting.”  He tilted his head in Dhal’s direction.

Archer jumped again when he turned back around.  Dhal was gone.

***

Hoshi sat up quickly.  Something wasn’t right.  Dressing herself, she hurried out of her door to get to the bridge.

She stepped out into an arena of sorts.  It had the image of the bridge, but was surrounded by a molten moat.  Archer turned to her.  “Morning, Hoshi.  Your shift’s not for another 3 hours…what’s wrong?”  Suddenly he stiffened and a relaxed look came into his face.

“Captain!” Reed shouted, pulling out his phaser.  Behind where Archer had fallen, a being of unholy proportions snarled.  Hoshi had never seen anything like it before.  It was still dripping with the slime of life, the very embodiment of biological evolution.

A phaser bolt slammed into the creature, causing it to flinch.  Reed almost dropped his phaser as he looked upon the wound.  Severed tendons and skin congealed to close the wound almost instantly.

Hoshi heard a thin, raspy voice in her head.  “Why do you stand doing nothing, Underling?  Do you not realize the power within you?  Do you not—” he punctuated his next word with a jet of acid, striking and horribly twisting Mayweather’s body, “realize it?”

Hoshi knew nothing but rage. Unaware to her, a line of blue-white light was forming outside her clenched fist.  With a mental scream she struck out at the creature.  A white haze filled the room and she knew no more.

***

Dhal passed his hand over Hoshi’s sweaty face and incanted.  She visibly relaxed and awoke.

Hoshi unconsciously recoiled from him.  “What was that thing?  What did it say to me?”

A look of amusement crossed Dhal’s face.  “You think that because I have the power to probe people’s minds, I do?”

Hoshi looked away guiltily, “I guess I did.”

“Well, this time I did not have to read your thoughts to know what you experienced.  Think of me what you will, but I created this vision for you.  You had to understand…you had to comprehend…”

Hoshi looked at Dhal and spoke frankly, “Is that what your people really look like?”

Suddenly the room grew dark and Dhal’s face contorted with rage.  In an instant it passed, and he said, “Can you not recognize my, your, worst enemy when you see it?  That was a Zagh.”

Hoshi’s eyes teared a little and she whispered, “I’m sorry…I didn’t know—” she stopped herself short.  She looked up at Dhal in fascination—she hadn’t said a word.

            Dhal smiled as if relieved.  “So, you passed your first test.   There will be more like it.  With each test completed your powers grow, but so does the magnitude of the tests.  Eventually, the Zagh will once again test you, but not with my control.  Then you must be ready.”

            Hoshi nodded in understanding.  “What should I tell the others?”

            Dhal shook his head.  I cannot give you all the answers, Hoshi.  Only you know what is right for you, now that you have passed.  I must leave you for a time, but I will be back as soon as possible; by then, you should be ready.”

            Hoshi nodded once more.  As Dhal disappeared, Hoshi straightened out her uniform.  Time to get back to work.