Untitled: Part Four.

Quew © 2000-08-26

Section Eleven.

‘Seven.’ Janeway barged into the shuttle-bay, immediately invading the Astrometrics Officers’ personal space to look at the readouts from the console Seven Of Nine was working at. ‘Are you nearly finished?’

‘Nearly, Captain.’ Seven said, giving Janeway only a cursory glance – she was engrossed in the work and she knew how much it would mean to the Captain to have their Chief Engineer back on board.

The Delta Flyer lay in-front of them, work crews swarming over it like ants in their hurry to get the work completed. They were enhancing the warp drive, shields and weapons, and the multi-phasic shielding they had used against the Borg was being tested to make sure it was still operating. After a long Command Staff meeting, the Captain had decided that the Delta Flyer was the way to go, and since then work had been round the clock.

Seven estimated another three hours, and then the work would be done.

#

‘How much longer am I going to have to spend in this damn cell?’ Torres growled to herself, pacing the small confined space she was locked in. She had checked the force-field but despite the dilapidated state of the cell itself, the security measures were surprisingly robust.

A small noise jolted her from her thoughts. It was a cross between a grunt and a cough, coming from the cell next door.

‘Hey!’ She hissed. ‘Are you ok?’

The answer she got was a muted groan, followed by a series of wet, body wracking coughs.

‘That’s what I thought.’ Torres mumbled. Raising her voice, she said. ‘We’re going to get out of here, ok?’

The woman finally seemed to hear her properly, pulling herself upright by slipping her fingers in the grates on the wall and bringing herself level with Torres. The engineer gasped at how terrible the woman looked. Gone was the natural virulence in her skin – her natural tanned colour was now an awful, pasty white. Her hair was limp and knotted, her green eyes bloodshot and dried blood caked her face and chest. She was wheezing desperately, occasionally trying to smother a cough that sounded distressingly liquid.

‘We have to get out of here soon, you need medical attention!’ B’Elanna hissed.

The woman looked almost thoughtful for a moment, and she nodded. Turning away from the peephole, Torres gasped as she heard a thump – it appeared as if the woman had fallen off her cot. She tried to see past the thin bed but her spy hole was at the wrong height, and no matter which way she turned she couldn’t see the floor. She ducked down, trying to find a similar sight at a lower level, but before she could find one, a scrabbling noise grabbed her attention, directing it to a section of grate directly under her bed.

She felt the grate with her hands and found a crack big enough to slip two fingers into. She did, and started wrenching it away as quietly as possible. It was surprisingly easy to remove, making the engineer think that this had been done before. Behind the panel, the darkness was thick, and B’Elanna opened her eyes wide, trying to see in. Suddenly, a hand shot out, catching hold of one of her outstretched wrists. She gasped and tried to pull it away out of reflex, but the grip around her arm was iron.

Another hand followed, bloodied and cut, and B’Elanna soon lent her strength to dragging The Traitor into her cell. As they were hunched under Torres’s cot, B’Elanna leaned into her new companion, who was struggling for breath.

‘You done this before then?’ she asked.

The woman didn’t answer, but held up two fingers, indicating she had – twice. Torres blew air out through her teeth, making a sort of appreciative whistle. ‘What’s next?’ She asked.

Moving slowly, the stranger pulled herself out from under the bed and crawled to a panel in the floor.

‘But I checked all of these!’ B’Elanna said, disbelief in her tone that she had missed a potential exit.

The woman growled down B’Elanna’s comment and shook her head, as if saying but you didn’t look at this right. She felt around until she found a small sliver of decking that came off in her hands. Reaching three fingers down, a preoccupied look spread over her dour features as she concentrated on what she couldn’t see. Finally there was an audible click, and the stranger replaced the small piece of grating. She grabbed B’Elanna’s hands and slid them through a large plate, adding her hands to the task as well. Together, they heaved and the decking came up in their hands.

The woman fell back, stifling a sharp painful scream as she shifted broken bones. B’Elanna slipped an arm around the woman’s waist and moved them closer to exposed hole. The engineer went down first, sighing with relief as her feet touched down in the darkness. She held up her arms to help the woman down and then replaced the deck plate they had removed.

There was complete stillness for a minute, and then a clammy, large hand engulfed her own. Slowly, bent double in the confines of a tunnel, they moved out.

#

‘Steady as she goes, Tom.’ Chakotay didn’t really need to tell the pilot what to do, but he was on edge; they all were as they came in sight of the planet. ‘Any ships on the sensors?’

‘Negative, Commander.’ Seven Of Nine stated, watching several readouts at once as she kept abreast of their situation.

‘The multi-phasic shielding is online and the power flow is stable.’ Tuvok said. ‘All weapons are operational.’

‘Good. Begin scanning the surface. Use all available techniques and bandwidths until you find something.’ Chakotay ordered.

Seven began scanning the surface. Sitting at the back, The Doctor coughed to get Chakotays’ attention. ‘Is there anything I can do?’

‘No, Doctor. But thank you for asking.’ Chakotay looked gratefully back at the holographic doctor.

‘Commander Chakotay, I believe I have discovered something on the surface. It is a slight differential in the atmospheric radiation count. It could be a sign of habitation.’

‘Is there anything else on any of the scans?’ Chakotay asked.

‘No.’ Seven said.

‘Then the radiation count is all we’ve got. Isolate it and get us some co-ordinates.’

‘Aye sir.’

#

‘Which way?’ B’Elanna hissed as she felt the tunnel split in front of them. The woman pushed past her, the manoeuvre made awkward by the close quarters and the near absolute darkness. B’Elanna felt a hand grab hers in a weak grip, slightly clammy against her warm skin. Slowly, The Traitor led the engineer forward.

After a few moments of silent travel, they stopped. B’Elanna pulled level with her companion and felt a dead end in front of them. ‘Where now?’ she asked.

The answer was up, and they emerged in blinding sunlight. B’Elanna looked around; they had emerged from what appeared to be a crack in between a cluster of rocks. The entrance was concealed by a rock that was easily moved – too easily moved, and B’Elanna would have studied It had she not been thinking of other things.

‘We need to get a communication to Voyager.’ She whispered, unsure if it was safe to talk. The woman growled, shaking her head and pulling B’Elanna toward a thicket of trees. ‘No, wait!’ The engineer stopped dead, wrenching her arm out of the others limp grasp. ‘If I can get a message to my ship, we can both get out of here…forever. You don’t have to hide anymore, you can leave this place behind! C’mon!’

The stranger paused, swaying slightly as she stopped her forward motion. Without warning, she collapsed, sighing as she folded up onto the dry dusty earth.

‘This is all we need!’ B’Elanna cursed, rushing to her companions side. ‘Hey, hey wake up!’ She said, slapping the woman’s cheeks. Slowly, too slowly, the woman came back to consciousness. B’Elanna swallowed her sigh of relief.

‘Hey, if you don’t want to leave because this is your home, leave because we have state of the art medical help!’ Yelled Torres. ‘You are dying and maybe, if we get back to Voyager, the Doc can patch you up!’ Never one to beat around the bush, B’Elanna felt justified in being blunt with the woman.

The woman began to reach into her torn and bloodied shirt, and B’Elanna sucked in an unexpected breath as part of the woman’s well honed torso was exposed. With some effort, the woman pulled something out of her shirt and held her closed fist up. B’Elanna put her hand underneath, and when the woman opened her hand the engineer gasped at what fell onto her palm.

‘My com-badge!’ She breathed, turned the tarnished metal over in her hands. ‘You must have taken it from Lu’Tack!’

The woman nodded as B’Elanna helped her up. Placing the Starfleet emblem on her chest, B’Elanna tapped it, satisfied to hear it’s distinctive chirp as it became active. ‘B’Elanna to Voyager, can you hear me Voyager?’ After a few seconds of silence, she tried again. ‘Lieutenant Torres to the Starship Voyager, Captain Janeway please respond.’ Despondency rose in her chest as once again no-one answered. Sighing heavily, she helped the woman toward the nearby trees.

#

‘Commander Chakotay, I believe I have something on sensors.’

‘What is it Seven?’ Chakotay asked, moving backward through the cramped cabin to Seven’s station.

‘In the past five minutes, two spikes have appeared on my sensor sweeps on the dampening field. I believe this is no ordinary field, Commander. I think it responds to anomaly's happenings.’

‘So if someone was trying to get through to us, the field immediately dampens the signal.’ Chakotay theorised. Before Seven could agree, Tom turned around.

‘But hang on, that doesn’t make any sense.’ He said, frowning. ‘The whole point of a dampening field is that it is active all the time. If it’s just coming on to block things why can’t we scan the surface.’

Seven raised her Borg eyebrow implant and said. ‘I believe that this field works on many levels in order to be as efficient as possible. On one level is the field blocking our scans, another may be to block unauthorised transmissions, and they will be able to detect and possibly block our Transporters as well.’

‘But why were we able to scan the beaches?’ Tom asked, still not satisfied.

‘Maybe the field only works for a certain distance around their habitat areas.’ Seven said coolly.

‘Ok, ok, enough.’ Chakotay broke in before Tom could ask another question. ‘Seven and Tuvok, keep scanning the surface and see if you isolate the different levels of this field. If we can do that, maybe we can neutralise it.’

#

‘Goddammit! Why aren't they answering!’ B’Elanna growled, resisting the urge to pull of her com-badge and stamp on it in the dirt.

The woman got her attention by thumping a fist in the dirt and then she spread her arms wide, arcing her hands around. When it became clear B’Elanna had no idea what she was trying to get at, she grabbed a handful of dirt and then waved a hand around it, trying desperately to convey her meaning.

'What?! What the hell are you talking about?' B'Elanna exploded, thumping her own hands in the dirt.

Without warning, the woman picked the com-badge off B'Elanna's top. 'Hey!'

The woman waved her back and then simulated activating it, then waved a hand over the badge. Then, she pointed into the woods and spread her fingers, pushing the badge through two of them. Things started to click in B'Elanna's mind as she watched the actions.

'Wait…there's a dampening field, right?' The woman looked hopeful. 'And that's why we couldn't detect them, and why we can't contact Voyager…but we could on the beach and at the edges of the forest…' Again the woman pointed and pushed the badge through her fingers…'so the field must be weaker at the edges, maybe signals can slip through? So we have to get to the edges of the field to get a signal through!!'

She saw B'Elannas' expression turn to one of understanding and she sighed in relief. 'Gyuh.' She said, and then without warning, her eyes rolled back into her head. The engineer caught her before she hit the ground, but this time all attempts to wake her were futile.

'Just great, perfect!' She swore a little, and then tried to heft the woman into her arms. Without warning, her injured side grated, making her nearly lose her grip. 'C'mon B'Elanna,' she muttered to herself, 'If she can carry you with a couple of broken ribs, you can do it with a few scratches.' Gritting her teeth, she hefted once again, and ignoring the pain, started walking.

'Don't 'spose you've got a map? What's that? Just follow my instincts? That's just what I thought you'd say.' She muttered, heading toward the forest.

#

'Anything?' Tom asked, biting his lower lip in agitation as he turned to face the other people in the craft.

'Not yet.' Chakotay looked at him with a mixture of pity and shared pain. 'We'll find her.'

'Yeah.'

#

B'Elanna was caked in sweat. The thin gown she was wearing was practically transparent with fluid, and she felt like she was strangely detached from her body. For the first few miles, she talked to the woman in her arms, although she knew it was more to reassure herself than out of any hope of a response.

The woman was barely breathing, and her complexion was almost white. A while ago, blood had started to seep from her nose, and every now and again, B'Elanna wiped it away. She was exhausted, dehydrated, in a lot of pain and desperate; she knew in her gut that the chances of a rescue were almost nil, yet she still had shreds of hope. She'd seen the crew of Voyager perform many incredible feats, and she hoped she'd now be on the receiving end.

Stopping for breath, she noted it would be dark soon - that meant Erath. She tapped her com-badge and wheezed, 'B'Elanna here. Anyone feel like rescuing me any time soon?' She waited a few seconds, and then picked up her charge once again.

#

'Sir…' Sevens' voice carried more than its usual monotone. 'I have another spike…stronger than the last two. I might be able to get a location.'

'Do it.' Chatokay said as quickly as he could. 'Tuvok, you to.'

'Yes commander.'

#

B'Elanna would have sworn as another tree branch scratched at her face, but she simply didn't have the breath. Her side felt like it was fire, and she'd started to cough up blood. Her legs, supposedly healed by Lu'Tack and his people, felt heavy and weak. The ached in every part, and her knees felt like they'd given up and moved on, preferably to someone who never used legs.

She giggled as she imagined her knee-caps packing their bags and waving goodbye in vivid cartoon form, vaguely aware in some part of her mind that she was almost delirious, and not really caring. A tree root popped up to say hello to her shins, and she fell face first into the mud.

'Gosh darn it!!' She wheezed, and then began breathlessly laughing again. Her mood swung instantly from crazy to hopeless as she realised she was lying on top of the woman…and the woman's chest wasn't moving. She used her last remnants of strength to heft herself off the woman and carefully began pushing on the woman's chest.

'One…two…three…' She counted as her vision blurred, and her head began to feel heavy and her body hot as she leant forward to breath into the woman's mouth. The longer she tried, the more she felt her strength leaving her limbs, until all she could do was lay on the woman's chest, hoping to hear the familiar sound of a pulse.

Almost unconsciously, she tapped the badge…she knew if no-one answered this time, there was no way she could stop herself doing what the woman in front of her had done.

Hang on! A voice screamed in her head, What the hell are you doing?! You're just going to give up?

'No…' she coughed, feeling salty blood on her tongue. 'No.'

Speaking as loud as she could, she directed the next words to the infuriatingly silent badge on her chest. 'Is anyone there? Voyager? Captain? Chakotay? God, even Seven?'

'Chakotay? Is that you?' Her head lifted from the woman's chest, and she opened her mouth to speak again, when a movement caught her eye. A shadow passed underneath a nearby tree, and she knew instantly that they were surrounded.

'Now would be a really good time to be beamed up, Chakotay.' She managed, trying to keep the Erath in her field of vision.

'…..ning field…boosting transporters…We're…B'Elanna!'

The Erath closed and she bared her teeth. 'Come and get it.' She whispered, knowing the attack would come from the back.

Just as she felt a heavy weight displace air behind her, she saw the transporters' familiar glow, and she grabbed the prone body in front of her as she disappeared in a shower of blue sparkles.

The second big cat landed in the dirt gracefully, it's tail lashing out of anger of being thwarted out of a meal.