Thanks to: My twin Kathryn, Beta Numero Uno, who definitely deserves co-
author status on this one.
Disclaimer: Enterprise is not mine. Darnit.
Feedback: Shamelessly begged for.
Archiving: Ask and it's yours.
"The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost." C.K. Chesterton
A long corridor deep underground. Stone walls receded into the distance, dimly lit by cracked and dusty panels flickering near the ground. Here and there piles of rock showed where walls or ceilings had collapsed, and never been repaired. Branching off the main hallway were small rooms and other passages.
Out of one of those passages ran Hoshi and Trip, breathing hard and looking over their shoulders.
"I think..we lost them.." panted Hoshi, peering back around the corner while Trip rested his hands on his knees and tried to get his breath back.
Voices floated down the tunnel towards them. Throwing each other a startled look, they took off again down the passage.
After a few moments Trip reached out and pulled Hoshi with him into one of the small, abandoned rooms. They flattened themselves against the wall and listened.
Silence.
Sighing in relief, they slid down to sit on the floor.
"Any idea where we are?" Hoshi asked, wiping sweat out of her eyes.
"Nope," Trip said, pulling out his communicator. "I lost track about four turns back." He pushed a few buttons on the communicator, stared at it for a moment, and blew out a breath in frustration, leaning his head against the wall. "We're not any closer to the surface, though. Still no signal."
"How long've we been down here?"
"Ah..say four, maybe five hours."
"You think anybody from Enterprise is down here looking for us?"
"Considerin' how well that worked the LAST time, I doubt it." He shook his head, putting the communicator away. "Damn Vulcans'll be laughin their ears off when they hear about this one," he snarled.
"It's really not that funny."
"Are you kiddin'? Captain gets captured, we rush in all guns blazing to rescue 'im, and end up getting left behind, runnin like rats in tunnels and hoping somebody'll come along and rescue US! We're looking at one great big 'I TOLD ya so' if they ever find out."
"I won't tell them if you won't."
"Deal."
They looked at each other, and the ridiculousness of the situation was too much. They started to laugh.
"Wonder what T'pol said when the Captain got back and told 'er the rescue party needs rescuin'," Trip said between chuckles.
"Probably nothing. Her eyebrow just hit the ceiling."
More laughing. They almost had the giggles under control when Trip mumbled "Vulcan Death Glare" and that set them off again.
When they were quiet again Hoshi looked over at Trip. "At least we got the Captain out."
"That's somethin' anyway," Trip agreed. "If we can get closer to the surface Malcolm can use the transporter on us too."
"The Hadrigans have to know that, from the way they keep herding us deeper underground."
"Yeah, but if we keep doubling back we're bound to get behind 'em. We'll be back on Enterprise in no time."
"You said that five hours ago."
"C'mon, this'll be a piece of cake."
"You said THAT five hours ago too."
Trip mock-glared at her. "You doubting my leadership abilities, Ensign?"
"Not at all, Commander." She smiled sweetly at him. "Lead on."
Grumbling under his breath, Trip looked carefully around the door. "Next best thing to an exit out of this place would be some water," he said, mostly to himself. Looking back at Hoshi he said "I wanna check some of those old storerooms we passed. Might be some old supplies that didn't get totally pulverized in their last war."
She nodded, checking the settings on their one-and-only phaser ('I hope the Hadrigan who swiped the other one accidentally blows himself up' she thought grumpily) and got to her feet.
--------------
Four storerooms later and they still hadn't found water, an exit, or anything remotely useful. The last war had been a bad one, apparently, and everything salvageable had been scavenged out of this area a long time ago.
Hoshi was checking the back wall for a possible hidden door when colorful swearing floated up from the other end of the room.
"You okay commander?"
"Just squashed my thumb is all." He laughed. "Hey, are we gettin' hazard pay while we're down here."
"Yeah, but I think that's more for the people shooting at us than for your thumb."
"Some shore-leave this is."
"What, you don't think this is a good vacation spot?"
"I'm thirsty and tired and my thumb hurts. And people keep shooting at me. I'm gonna lodge a complaint."
"Get all your money back."
"I'll sue, I'll sue!"
Hoshi laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and swiping at the dust on her face as she carefully looked under another empty canister.
Trip stood, and was stretching his back to work out some of the kinks when he heard a very faint click, a hiss, and a frightened gasp.
He spun around. "Hoshi..?"
"Gas," she coughed. "Run Trip!" He watched her take two running steps away from the orange cloud, and then fall to the ground.
Swearing, he took a deep breath of clean air and dove towards her. 'Damn Hadrigans and their damn wars and their goddamn leftover traps,' he thought as he ran.
She was crawling forward, her hands clawing at the dirt floor, but it looked like she was having trouble keeping her head up.
'Don't let it be bad don't let it be bad,' he thought over and over as he scooped her up and ran for the door. 'Mild bio-toxin, something fixable. Not Azmirol, not Damix, please please god not Sarin.'
He ran until the air was burning in his lungs before he felt safe enough to set her down behind a collapsed wall. But she was so still, just dead weight; he had to hold her head up with one hand to keep it from hitting the ground.
"Hoshi!" he tilted her head back to see her face, his other hand on her neck, trying to find a pulse. "C'mon Hoshi, stay with me, don't.." He saw her face. Her eyes were open, wide, terrified. Her pulse slammed against his fingertips.
"It's okay, it's okay, you're gonna be alright.." he was babbling, he knew it, but anything to calm her down. "Can you move at all?"
"Nh.." only the slightest noise, little more than a breath.
"Can you feel your fingers and toes?"
She just blinked frantically, her eyes staring off at nothing.
"Hoshi! Hey! Look at me!" He patted the sides of her face, not sure if she'd even notice. But her eyes snapped to his face again, and that was something at least. "Your fingers!" he shouted. "Can you feel 'em?" He reached down and grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers with hers and squeezing. "I've got your hand, can you feel that?"
"Yh," she breathed, and he saw her take a deeper breath, try to force the word out. "Y..ssssss."
"Okay. That's good. I mean, not GOOD good, but.." he took a deep breath. 'Calm down ya dummy,' he told himself. 'She's scared enough as is.' "It's not as bad as it coulda been. The gas wiped out some voluntary muscle control, but that's it. We'll get ya back up to the ship and Phlox'll do some magic and you'll be fine. Just stay calm, okay?" He tried to smile at her, and squeezed her hand again. Her hand twitched very slightly, and she blinked at him.
Carefully, he eased her down onto the ground, but kept her hand in his. He waited there a minute, watching her, making sure her chest kept rising and falling.
A noise very very far back in the tunnels made him look up. Suddenly remembering that they had a lot more problems besides the obvious one, Trip leaned close to Hoshi's face.
"I've gotta leave ya a minute," he whispered quickly. "I haven't a clue where we ended up, and I gotta make sure the Hadrigans aren't gonna stumble across us, and we still need some water. I'll be back soon, I promise."
Her eyes were wide again, but he could see the corners of her lips turn up every so slightly, trying hard to smile. Her lips moved, and he leaned down to hear her.
"Cr..ffull.."
He smiled. "'Course. I'll be plenty careful, back before you know it." He placed her hand across her stomach, and stood up. He debated leaving the phaser with her, but reluctantly decided there was too good a chance someone could take it away from her. He took it from the belt at her side and ran down the passageway before he could change his mind.
Disclaimer: Enterprise is not mine. Darnit.
Feedback: Shamelessly begged for.
Archiving: Ask and it's yours.
"The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost." C.K. Chesterton
A long corridor deep underground. Stone walls receded into the distance, dimly lit by cracked and dusty panels flickering near the ground. Here and there piles of rock showed where walls or ceilings had collapsed, and never been repaired. Branching off the main hallway were small rooms and other passages.
Out of one of those passages ran Hoshi and Trip, breathing hard and looking over their shoulders.
"I think..we lost them.." panted Hoshi, peering back around the corner while Trip rested his hands on his knees and tried to get his breath back.
Voices floated down the tunnel towards them. Throwing each other a startled look, they took off again down the passage.
After a few moments Trip reached out and pulled Hoshi with him into one of the small, abandoned rooms. They flattened themselves against the wall and listened.
Silence.
Sighing in relief, they slid down to sit on the floor.
"Any idea where we are?" Hoshi asked, wiping sweat out of her eyes.
"Nope," Trip said, pulling out his communicator. "I lost track about four turns back." He pushed a few buttons on the communicator, stared at it for a moment, and blew out a breath in frustration, leaning his head against the wall. "We're not any closer to the surface, though. Still no signal."
"How long've we been down here?"
"Ah..say four, maybe five hours."
"You think anybody from Enterprise is down here looking for us?"
"Considerin' how well that worked the LAST time, I doubt it." He shook his head, putting the communicator away. "Damn Vulcans'll be laughin their ears off when they hear about this one," he snarled.
"It's really not that funny."
"Are you kiddin'? Captain gets captured, we rush in all guns blazing to rescue 'im, and end up getting left behind, runnin like rats in tunnels and hoping somebody'll come along and rescue US! We're looking at one great big 'I TOLD ya so' if they ever find out."
"I won't tell them if you won't."
"Deal."
They looked at each other, and the ridiculousness of the situation was too much. They started to laugh.
"Wonder what T'pol said when the Captain got back and told 'er the rescue party needs rescuin'," Trip said between chuckles.
"Probably nothing. Her eyebrow just hit the ceiling."
More laughing. They almost had the giggles under control when Trip mumbled "Vulcan Death Glare" and that set them off again.
When they were quiet again Hoshi looked over at Trip. "At least we got the Captain out."
"That's somethin' anyway," Trip agreed. "If we can get closer to the surface Malcolm can use the transporter on us too."
"The Hadrigans have to know that, from the way they keep herding us deeper underground."
"Yeah, but if we keep doubling back we're bound to get behind 'em. We'll be back on Enterprise in no time."
"You said that five hours ago."
"C'mon, this'll be a piece of cake."
"You said THAT five hours ago too."
Trip mock-glared at her. "You doubting my leadership abilities, Ensign?"
"Not at all, Commander." She smiled sweetly at him. "Lead on."
Grumbling under his breath, Trip looked carefully around the door. "Next best thing to an exit out of this place would be some water," he said, mostly to himself. Looking back at Hoshi he said "I wanna check some of those old storerooms we passed. Might be some old supplies that didn't get totally pulverized in their last war."
She nodded, checking the settings on their one-and-only phaser ('I hope the Hadrigan who swiped the other one accidentally blows himself up' she thought grumpily) and got to her feet.
--------------
Four storerooms later and they still hadn't found water, an exit, or anything remotely useful. The last war had been a bad one, apparently, and everything salvageable had been scavenged out of this area a long time ago.
Hoshi was checking the back wall for a possible hidden door when colorful swearing floated up from the other end of the room.
"You okay commander?"
"Just squashed my thumb is all." He laughed. "Hey, are we gettin' hazard pay while we're down here."
"Yeah, but I think that's more for the people shooting at us than for your thumb."
"Some shore-leave this is."
"What, you don't think this is a good vacation spot?"
"I'm thirsty and tired and my thumb hurts. And people keep shooting at me. I'm gonna lodge a complaint."
"Get all your money back."
"I'll sue, I'll sue!"
Hoshi laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and swiping at the dust on her face as she carefully looked under another empty canister.
Trip stood, and was stretching his back to work out some of the kinks when he heard a very faint click, a hiss, and a frightened gasp.
He spun around. "Hoshi..?"
"Gas," she coughed. "Run Trip!" He watched her take two running steps away from the orange cloud, and then fall to the ground.
Swearing, he took a deep breath of clean air and dove towards her. 'Damn Hadrigans and their damn wars and their goddamn leftover traps,' he thought as he ran.
She was crawling forward, her hands clawing at the dirt floor, but it looked like she was having trouble keeping her head up.
'Don't let it be bad don't let it be bad,' he thought over and over as he scooped her up and ran for the door. 'Mild bio-toxin, something fixable. Not Azmirol, not Damix, please please god not Sarin.'
He ran until the air was burning in his lungs before he felt safe enough to set her down behind a collapsed wall. But she was so still, just dead weight; he had to hold her head up with one hand to keep it from hitting the ground.
"Hoshi!" he tilted her head back to see her face, his other hand on her neck, trying to find a pulse. "C'mon Hoshi, stay with me, don't.." He saw her face. Her eyes were open, wide, terrified. Her pulse slammed against his fingertips.
"It's okay, it's okay, you're gonna be alright.." he was babbling, he knew it, but anything to calm her down. "Can you move at all?"
"Nh.." only the slightest noise, little more than a breath.
"Can you feel your fingers and toes?"
She just blinked frantically, her eyes staring off at nothing.
"Hoshi! Hey! Look at me!" He patted the sides of her face, not sure if she'd even notice. But her eyes snapped to his face again, and that was something at least. "Your fingers!" he shouted. "Can you feel 'em?" He reached down and grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers with hers and squeezing. "I've got your hand, can you feel that?"
"Yh," she breathed, and he saw her take a deeper breath, try to force the word out. "Y..ssssss."
"Okay. That's good. I mean, not GOOD good, but.." he took a deep breath. 'Calm down ya dummy,' he told himself. 'She's scared enough as is.' "It's not as bad as it coulda been. The gas wiped out some voluntary muscle control, but that's it. We'll get ya back up to the ship and Phlox'll do some magic and you'll be fine. Just stay calm, okay?" He tried to smile at her, and squeezed her hand again. Her hand twitched very slightly, and she blinked at him.
Carefully, he eased her down onto the ground, but kept her hand in his. He waited there a minute, watching her, making sure her chest kept rising and falling.
A noise very very far back in the tunnels made him look up. Suddenly remembering that they had a lot more problems besides the obvious one, Trip leaned close to Hoshi's face.
"I've gotta leave ya a minute," he whispered quickly. "I haven't a clue where we ended up, and I gotta make sure the Hadrigans aren't gonna stumble across us, and we still need some water. I'll be back soon, I promise."
Her eyes were wide again, but he could see the corners of her lips turn up every so slightly, trying hard to smile. Her lips moved, and he leaned down to hear her.
"Cr..ffull.."
He smiled. "'Course. I'll be plenty careful, back before you know it." He placed her hand across her stomach, and stood up. He debated leaving the phaser with her, but reluctantly decided there was too good a chance someone could take it away from her. He took it from the belt at her side and ran down the passageway before he could change his mind.