Hello! Here's where things get interesting.

Chapter Four

Charlotte grabbed the last of her clothes and stuffed them into her duffel bag. She was anxious about the assignment but happy that the senior staff valued her skills and trusted her enough to do a good job. She had opted for a modified uniform that had black slacks instead of her regular skirt. She just felt more comfortable with it considering she was going to be roughing it. She tucked her jacket in her bag, just in case, and slung the bag over her shoulder. She knew she would just make it to the shuttle in time...if she ran.

Skidding around the corner, she waited for the shuttle bay doors to open. The bay was huge. It never failed to impress her with it's cavernous ceiling and the array of shuttles parked within. She noticed Commander Spock standing stiffly next to the captain. They were waiting next to the shuttle Cassini. She rushed over, clearly out of breath but smiled at their surprised reactions. Well...Captain Kirk's surprised reaction. The Vulcan simply looked at her and lifted an eyebrow in what appeared to be a questioning gaze.

"Ensign Jones, sir. Sorry. I lost track of time."

The captain smiled and chuckled. She noticed him looking at her legs and she almost looked down as well.

"Sir?"

"You know ensign? I like the skirts but I think pants leave a little more to the imagination. Don't you think, commander?"

Kirk waggled his eyebrows, looking at Spock who stared back.

"Indeed."

Charlotte rolled her eyes but couldn't help a little giggle to escape. It did help her feel a little less nervous. She appreciated Kirk's slightly cavalier attitude and was grateful he accepted her decision to stray from the onboard uniform code.

"Commander, Ensign. We'll see you in a week and good luck."

Kirk left with a smile and a wave. They boarded the small craft through the rear. She'd never used this class of shuttle before. The rear compartment was almost like a dorm room with two beds, storage lockers, a small bathroom with a sonic shower and a replicator. She stowed her bag and was moving to the front compartment when she bumped into Spock.

"Oh! I'm sorry."

He put out his hands to steady her but she shied away.

"No apologies are necessary."

She nodded to him. The close proximity to the man made her uneasy. She could see a slight flush to his cheeks and ears and his eyes seemed a little bright. She worried about the possibility of a fever but shook her head quickly dismissing it. Commander Spock wasn't like Kirk. He was very reliable in his healthcare maintenance and he would have said something before now.

She settled herself into the co-pilot's chair as Spock's fingers danced across the controls, leading them away from the Enterprise and to Zeti-6.

Commander Spock typed in the co-ordinates for their destination. He focused on the controls. His body was tense. He spared a glance at the woman beside him. Her face was set in what appeared to be nervousness, only accentuated by her biting her lower lip. She was sitting on the edge of her seat with her hands gripping the armrests tightly. He was unsure if her discomfort was due to him or the mission at hand. Her anxiety was rolling off of her, intense enough that it was breaking down a few of his carefully constructed barriers.

"Miss Jones."

"Hmm?"

"Are you alright?"

She turned her eyes to him, so wide and such a bright blue. She gave a slight upturn of her lips.

"I'm just not much of a camper. That's all."

He could sense her agitation waning. He took a deep breath. He was thankful that her agitation was not solely due to him, as well as the feeling that she was calming down somewhat.

"I assure you that staying in our shuttle is unlike camping."

She shot him a skeptical frown and turned back to watching the forward window.

They were approaching the planet. It was a pleasant blue and green orb. He plotted his descent when it happened. They had broken through the ionosphere when the shuttle suddenly lost all power. Emergency lights didn't even come up. Spock tapped on the console trying to bring up the computer. The shuttle's speed rapidly increased and the nose was falling forward.

"There is electromagnetic interference from the planet causing instrumentation to fail."

"Oh god!"

Charlotte gripped her chair and turned to him. Her face full of panic.

"Ensign, go to the back of he shuttle. Use the manual clamps to release the flaps. We need to slow down. I will attempt to bring the nose up by firing the thrusters manually."

She ran to the back having to grip the wall. Spock could feel his heart rate increase and adrenaline spike. He climbed under the console and pulled off the panel. Spying the manual release switch he twisted it. Immediately the nose of the shuttle lifted up. He pulled himself into his seat. He saw that Charlotte was not back. The ground was approaching rapidly.

"Ensign...ensign?"

"Damn clamp is stuck..."

He waited another second.

"Got it!"

He fastened his harness waiting for her. She rushed to the front. Her hands were fumbling with the catches. The ground was feet away. He saw her look at him desperately. Her eyes wide with horror. Her buckle was bent. She couldn't fully belt in. She closed her eyes as the shuttle collided.

That was the last thing Spock saw before the crash. He was helpless to save her. The shuttle hit the ground skidding and plowing through trees and earth like a hot knife through butter. Birds fled as the roar of the crash and sound of twisting metal careened towards them. Panels scraped off and a nacelle was left behind. There was a scar in the planet a mile long before the Cassini finally came to a rest.

Spock came to soon after the crash. He was bruised but otherwise fine. His hands were shaking and he felt very hot. He looked around but did not find Charlotte in her seat. He undid his buckles and fear gripped him. He remembered she had not been able to secure herself. He smelled her before he saw her. The bitter iron scent of blood.

He found her sprawled on the other side of her chair. Her left arm at an unnatural position showing a probable dislocation, there was a deep cut on her forehead and another on the inside of her right thigh. He quickly moved to get the emergency medical kit in the back.

The rear of the shuttle was caved inwards and creaked ominously as he stepped in. He spotted the kit immediately to his left and moved back to Jones. Pulling out the scanner he saw that it was non-functional. He would have to rely on his own judgement.

Seeing her like this caused him to feel a sense of panic. He took a deep breath to steady himself and control his thoughts. He realized he needed to focus. His first priority was to stem the flow of blood from her wounds. He tried all the medical equipment. Only the hyposprays were functional and that is because they were manual. He tore her pants open at the injured leg and saw it was a deep cut about 6 inches long above her knee on the inside of her thigh. He pulled off his blue tunic leaving his undershirt on and ripped it into pieces using them to bind her leg and forehead.

He noticed her breathing had become shallow and her face turned grey. He quickly administered tri-ox, an antibiotic, a coagulant and pain medication. He moved to her chest. He gently lifted her shirt. There was bruising, mainly along her left side. This was the side she had managed to secure. His hands shook as he felt her abdomen and ribs. She was far too chilled. Her stomach was soft, no internal bleeding that he could tell but two ribs were broken. He felt up her arm but he needed to see better.

He pulled the scissors out of the medical kit and cut away her uniform top feeling a wave of guilt exposing her like this. Her right side was surprising uninjured but her left shoulder would need to be set. The arm was bruised but unbroken. He took her arm in his and braced his foot against her sternum. He gave a small jerk and felt it pop back into place. Nodding, he gently set her arm down. He put his head to her chest and noted her breathing and pulse was steady.

He felt guilt at not ensuring the shuttle was in top condition before they left. That one buckle could cause so much devastation. He moved to the back of the shuttle picking through the debris. He found supply rations, their bags and he pulled blankets off the cots. He stuffed his supplies including the mostly useless medical kit into the two bags only leaving one blanket out to wrap Charlotte up with.

He gently felt along the back of her neck. Feeling no fractures he carefully turned her to her side and traced along her spine. Though bruised, she was fine there. He quickly wrapped her in the thick blanket and hefted her into his arms. He looked down into her face, calm in it's sleep but caked in blood. She was not heavy and he was able to carry her along with their supplies with ease.

He only had to put her down once to kick at the door. The shuttle was too dangerous to stay in. It wasn't structurally sound. Once outside he could see the scope of the damage to the shuttle. It was severe. The left side was caved in and missing the nacelle. Multiple panels were gone and the entire bottom was scorched from their rapid entry. Spock knew that it would never take off again.

Survival became the most important thought. Shelter first. He looked around and spotted a cave entrance about a half a mile away. He adjusted his grip and started to walk.

Reaching the entrance he moved in slowly. He was wary in case there were any predators. He did not see any. He laid his charge down carefully. He searched the rest of the cave quickly and was pleased to note that it came to a dead end 40 feet in. No predators and if there were any, they could not come up from behind them. He then decided he would have to leave Charlotte behind to gather supplies. It left him uneasy. He decided to make quick work of it.

He ran. He soon had enough wood for a fire to last for two days and he had collected a type of moss to cushion the ground beneath them and it seemed adequate to trap in heat. He made up a bed for Charlotte and laid her on it wrapping her tightly. He was unpleasantly surprised that her leg and head wound needed redressing. He would need to close it somehow. Night was rapidly approaching and he set to work on a fire.

It took a while but soon they were bathed in a warm glow. He heard a small groan and moved over to Charlotte. She was twitching, her face grimacing in pain. He wished to give her more relief but he needed her to wake.

"Miss Jones? Charlotte? You need to open your eyes. I require your assistance."

His heart started to beat quicker when her eyes fluttered open. He took a deep breath. The tight cord that had been wrapped around his chest loosened slightly. He smoothed the hair out of her face and he felt a spark as he touch her temple. He pulled away as if he had been burned. Now that his body was calming from their ordeal his curse was returning. He needed to meditate and rest but first he had to finish Charlotte's treatment.

"What happened? Where are we?"

Her face was filled with pain. She moved slightly only to stop when she realized how badly hurt she was.

"Charlotte, I need to know how to heal two deep cuts without a dermal regenerator. One on your thigh and he other on your upper forehead."

He noticed how unfocused her eyes were.

"Umm...stitches. You...need to use needle and thread to sew the skin back together after cleaning the wound. I have a sewing kit...in my bag. I always have one when I travel in case I tear my shirt or something."

Spock frowned at her unusual resourcefulness. He went to the bags and found the kit and brought the hypospray containing a powerful pain killer and antibiotic. Charlotte was in a lot of pain. Before she could protest he injected the contents into her neck. Her face relaxed. He'd only ever seen his mother sew. He struggled to remember. Threading the needle took a while because his hands were trembling. His face flushed in shame. He should be able to control this better.

He lifted the blanket exposing her leg and he moved to remove the bandage. Rinsing the wound with water he slowly stuck the needle in. Charlotte hissed and jerked her leg away.

"I apologize. I need to close your injury. I was unable to locate a topical anesthetic."

He tried again only for the same results. He felt a wave of frustration that he could not dispel.

"I apologize for this."

"For what?"

He lifted himself up and kneeled, one leg on either side of hers and tightened his knees around her leg pinning it to immobilize it. He started again and though she tried to move she was unsuccessful. He finished cleaning her now stitched injury and put a bandage to cover it. He then moved to her forehead. Removing the strip of fabric, he could see that it was not as deep as he had suspected. He was able to close it using adhesive steri strips from the kit. She thanked him quietly. She had been crying.

Finally finished he could relax. His body was shaking. He needed to meditate and collect himself. He gave Charlotte some water and settled himself for he evening. He closed his eyes. Images of the crash, of Charlotte's injuries and of her looking at him holding the bent buckle, seeing her thanking him for treating her injuries even though he had caused her pain. Tears clinging to her lashes, bright blue eyes shining through. His eyes opened with a start. His chest heaving and heart pounding. The fire had died down leaving only embers. It was still some time before morning and even if he felt warm, though it was with fever, he realized that Charlotte was not. He could see her small body shaking in pain and cold. It hurt him to see it. He built up the fire again and gave her another shot.

He closed his eyes again to attempt to meditate again but still heard the young woman shaking. He realized she was struggling to maintain her body temperature. There was only one option. He slid into the covers and wrapped his arms and legs around her, pressing himself to her. It was then that he realized she was still only partially clothed. He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind focusing on the tasks for tomorrow and trying to use breathing exercises to rest. He tried to minimize skin contact but every once in a while Charlotte would shift and brush agains his hands, or her face would turn into his neck. It felt like tiny electric jolts every time but it was a pleasant sensation. She quickly stopped shivering. He heard her sigh in relief and her muscles relaxed melting into his arms.

He drifted into an uneasy sleep of fire and ancient words he did not realize he knew.