A/N: I wrote this story a while ago and it's been sitting on the proverbial shelf collecting dust. I wasn't sure about posting it because I don't know how well it will be received. If there's more love than hate for it, I may consider revisiting the story and continuing the adventure. If you read this please review and let me know your thoughts and opinions if I should continue or leave it where it is. I gave it an M rating because if I should continue it may get less tame as time goes on,

Exploration

Chapter 1

Enterprise had been dispatched to Ceti Alpha IV to gather scientific data. The planet had been undergoing extreme weather pattern changes, volcanic activity and seismic tremors. The Starfleet science academy was curious as to the effects of Ceti Alpha IV and its inhabited neighbor, Ceti Alpha V.

Archer, Tucker, Reed and Mayweather were in a large cave taking their scans when another tremor shook the cavern, causing small rocks and dust to fall from its ceiling. Trip looked around, very concerned by this. He had been uncomfortable since they beamed down and wasn't afraid to let his feelings be known.

"I don't like this, Cap'n. Why do we have to be the one's down here putting our butts on the line?"

"T'Pol assured us that it's safe, Trip." Captain Archer replied.

"Yeah? If it's so safe, why isn't she down here with us? While she's sitting comfortably on the ship, sipping her chamomile tea, we're dodging falling rocks!"

"You know she needs the ship's computer to analyze the data as it comes in. Besides, you've been in more deadly situations than this and never complained, are you suddenly afraid of danger?"

"It's not that I'm afraid of danger, Cap'n. It's just being buried under a pile of rocks isn't exactly how I envisioned my demise."

"Let me guess...a blaze of glory?"

Trip gave Jon a wide grin and said "Is there any other way?"

Another tremor and more rocks falling turned the mood back to a more serious tone. "Let's just hurry and finish up these scans so we can get the hell out of here." Jon said as he brushed some dust out of his hair.

Trip continued to take his scans, not paying attention to where he was walking when he suddenly found himself at the edge of a large, deep hole. As he tried to keep himself from falling in, Jon reached out, grabbing him by the jacket and pulled him back.

The two of them leaned over to look down the dark hole as the realization of the situation hit them. Trip gulped and said "That would've been a bad way to go too. Thanks Cap'n."

"No problem. Anytime Trip. Just watch where you're walking, ok? I would hate to have to break in a new chief engineer." As the two chuckled there was another tremor knocking them both into the hole, Trip on his back and Jon on top of him, face to face as they both slid down the muddy incline with large rocks chasing after them.

When they finally reached the bottom Jon let out a yell from the pain as the rocks tumbled onto his back and legs, pinning the two of them to the muddy, wet ground. Trip found it difficult to breath with the weight of the rocks and his captain on top of him.

He was a bit concerned about the water that was seeping in from somewhere and slowly rising, as he began to struggle to get free, he heard Jon crying out. "Ow! Ow! Trip! Stop!"

Trip stopped his struggles and looked at Jon with concern. "Is it your back? Did the rocks injure your back?"

"No. It's your hip."

Trip was confused by Jon's statement and cocked his head to the side. "Huh? My hip? What does my hip have to do with this?"

"Your hip is digging into a very sensitive place. So just stop. Ok?"

It took Trip a few seconds to understand what Jon was saying and his eyes grew wide. "Oh! Oh, you mean...Yeah. Ok." Trip used the few centimeters of space he had and, as gently as he could, turned himself to alleviate the pressure his hip was placing on Jon's sensitive part of anatomy.

Jon let out a sigh of relief as he said "Thank you."

Trip looked over Jon's shoulder to assess the situation. He could see that there was a large pile of rocks and mud that completely covered his captain's lower back and legs. As he looked up into the mouth of the hole where they came down from, he could see more rocks covering the area. He looked around the area they were now laying in and realized it wasn't a very big space. Only a few inches between their bodies and the walls of the hole. Even if they did get free of the rocks, there wasn't any room to stand, but he did want to at least try to get out from under Jon and the rocks in order to sit up.

The water wasn't rising fast enough to be a real threat, but being the one on the bottom closest to the water level, it still worried him. "Want to give it another try?" Trip asked. They both struggled for a few moments before realizing that it was no use and gave up.

They could hear Malcolm's muffled voice calling from above. "Captain. Commander. Are you alright?" Jon yelled back. "We're ok, but we're pinned down and there's water rising. Can you dig us out?"

"No sir. There's a very large rock covering the hole up here. It's too big to move. I could try to use my phaser and blast it."

Jon looked at Trip who was shaking his head. "I wouldn't try it, Cap'n. It could bring more rocks down and crush us to death." Jon called back to Malcolm. "Trip doesn't think that would be a good idea. Can you find another way to get us out?"

"Travis and I will search the area to find a way down to you. Just stay put, we'll get you out."

Jon looked at Trip and sarcastically asked "Where does he think we're going to go?" Trip shrugged his shoulders