The Birthday (Part 2)
by: ParisAngel (please read & review)
Rated: PG or PG-13
Summary: The crew tries to figure out what happened to the shuttle
Time: Takes place after "Drive", but before "Lineage"
Disclaimer: Paramount owns all of Star Trek, but I own the storyline.
The Birthday
Seven of Nine opened her eyes and looked around. She had been knocked unconscious when the shuttle hit the planet's surface. How could one simple mission of gathering fruits and other edible plants end up this dangerous, she wondered. She felt something dripping down her face and when she touched it she realized that it was blood. She had a gash above her right eye. Other than that, and a few other minor cuts and bruises, she seemed to be ok. She turned around and saw Neelix coming through the rubble that was the shuttle, cradling his left arm. Seven found the med kit and started to work on his arm. "Don't worry about me right now", said Neelix, "let's just find Tom and see if he's ok". Seven agreed. They found him pretty quickly because he was right where he had been: at the helm. There was a problem though. The console seemed to have prevented Tom from going through the front of the shuttle (which was good to a certain extent), but in the process he broke three ribs and had a punctured lung (probably caused by one of the broken ribs). In addition to those injuries, he also had a concussion and he was bleeding from his head somewhere. He hit his head as a result of the force from the shuttle hitting the planet. He had been pushed back from the console and hit his head when he fell. While Seven tended to Tom (there really wasn't anything she could do because of the limited resources on the shuttle), Neelix was trying to establish communications w/Voyager. "I can't get Voyager", he said, the panic obvious in his voice.
Captain Kathryn Janeway walked onto the bridge and sat in her chair. "Any word from the shuttle?" she asked "No Captain" said Harry. She was getting worried. It had been over an hour since the shuttle left and the planet wasn't that far away. The away team was supposed to contact Voyager as soon as they arrived. "Start scanning the area and let me know the minute you find something. I'll be in my ready room." The Captain said. As soon as she walked in, she went straight to the replicator. "Hot coffee, black" she said and in an instant a steaming cup of coffee appeared in front of her. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to tell B'Elanna just yet, because she didn't want to alarm her. It could be nothing; they could just be busy and lost track of time. But deep inside, way down in her gut, Kathryn Janeway knew that that wasn't the case. None of them would forget to do something that important. "Bridge to the Captain" came a voice over the comm. The Captain walked onto the bridge. "Report" she said. "We didn't find the shuttle", said Harry, "but there is a lot of ionic activity in the area". The Captain sat down. "What do we think happened to the shuttle?" she asked. "There are a number of possibilities", said Tuvok, "but the most probable ones are that some systems were damaged and are too busy making repairs to contact us or the shuttle was severely damaged and they crashed". Everyone was very quiet. Tuvok spoke again. "I believe that we should take in both possibilities and not get too involved with one or the other". Janeway looked at her first officer. "What do you think?" she asked. "I think we should tell B'Elanna", Chakotay said.
B'Elanna was making repairs in a Jeffries tube with Joe Carey, when she heard the Captain's voice echoed through. "Janeway to Torres". "Torres here". The Captain's voice sounded very strained. "I need to speak to you in my ready room" she said. "On my way", said B'Elanna. "Don't worry chief", said Carey, "I'll finish up". B'Elanna smiled. "Thanks Joe", she said. As she walked to the Captain's ready room, she wondered what the Captain had to talk to her about. She came to the conclusion that it was about the party for Tom. She had no idea.
To Be Continued