Labyrinth
Chapter I
"What the hell?" Malcolm quickly snapped his head around in the darkness, trying to see where he was.
Only silence answered him, the pitch black not giving anything away.
He immediately felt at his side- there was no phase pistol there. Of course not, he thought- he'd just been on the Bridge. No need for a pistol there. His lips twitched. Well, not normally anyway.
He kept one foot firmly planted, and tested the area around him with the other. No trip hazards, no holes. A smooth surface. He took a step. Then he repeated the process until he reached a wall. He about-turned and did the same in the opposite direction. Another wall, pretty close by too. He felt along and came to a corner. From that next wall, he started the stepping routine again until he hit another wall. By his count, he was in a square room, and not a very large one. He felt around all of the walls and couldn't find a door or even a window. He repeated the process, only this time, he pressed his back to the wall, to try and get the most contact with the wall to feel for switches or panels or anything that might give him a clue as to where he was and what he was doing there.
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"What?" Hoshi gasped to herself. "Captain! Malcolm! T'Pol- anyone?" She whirled on the spot where she was standing. Standing? She realised- not even a second ago she'd been sitting at her station on the Bridge of the Enterprise, everyone else with her.
She listened carefully. She couldn't see a thing as it was completely pitch black, but her ears rarely deceived her.
"Hullo?" she said, loudly. She listened- the acoustics were incredible. She must be in a room, and probably one with no padding anywhere. She knelt down, eyes unconsciously wide to try and let in any light that there might be.
Once she was down, she felt the floor with her hand. Stone. She felt around feeling what seemed to be grit and dust. She lifted her hand to her nose, smelling the dust on her hand. It had a dry smell of things long-forgotten.
That thought made her heart jump in nervousness.
"Hullo!" She yelled this time, and listened for a reply that didn't come.
She stood still, listening, hoping for a reply for a few minutes. When none came, she dropped to all fours and pushed her hands out in front of her on the floor. She started to move, feeling her way with her hands. She came to an upright wall- the same as the floor. She followed it around, one hand on the wall, the other on the floor.
Definitely better than doing nothing, she told herself, using the activity to keep the panic of her claustrophobia down. The room was clearly large, but the oppressive blackness just seemed to be suffocating.