Disclaimer: If I owned it then I wouldn't need this disclaimer.
A/N: Another chapter with two POVs. And of course, thanks for reading!
B'Elanna's POV:
This was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. If the away team was 'fine' than they'd know where they were and they would have checked in. Was it a possibility that the communications just weren't working? Yes. Out here anything was possible she'd come to realize.
Was it probable? That she wasn't so sure. The resident borg queen could probably give her all kinds of statistics on the matter, but not one of them would she be interested in. The fact was that they didn't know what condition the away team was in. They didn't even know where the away team was.
They should be going in closer to find out. It was a risk, yes, but they'd taken more risks for less before. The rules had their uses. It'd taken her a few years to accept that, but she had accepted it. However, in situations like this, protocol wasn't always right.
Her husband was out there, the captain was out there, and four other crewmembers all in who knows what kind of danger. And they were just waiting. She was surprised at Chakotay. There was a time when he would have been among the first to volunteer for an instant rescue mission.
Her old friend had been acting less like himself lately though. If she thought kicking some sense into him would help she would already be doing so. The problem was she wasn't sure even that would help at this point.
Janeway's POV:
As it turned out the nights on the planet were enough to freeze a person from the inside out. Kathryn surmised it might be due in part to the storm. After it started raining their first night it didn't let up until the following afternoon. The storm had even caused lightening to strike a tree somewhere and presumably nearby considering the loud 'crack' they'd heard that had been followed by an earth shaking 'bang' as said tree apparently fell.
The storm, having been so intense, caused the sleeping away team members to wake up. They'd then had to put together a meager shelter made mostly out of tree limbs and pieces of detached bulkhead from the shuttle. Afterwards they still hadn't slept much if any and the resulting rain had practically soaked their uniforms which only served to make them that much colder.
As the night turned to daylight and the sun eventually came out from behind the clouds the away team had stripped down to their t-shirts so their uniform jackets could dry. The warm sunlight had felt good on her skin, but it didn't help the ache she felt all over thanks to the effect the cold weather had when mixed with the concussion. Tom and his seldom shown gallant self had maneuvered himself under the makeshift shelter so he had been pushed right up next to her. His body heat had helped keep the hypothermia away at least.
The sun was yet again beginning its slow decent now though and thanks to the few warm hours they'd enjoyed after the rain their clothes were fortunately dry. A good thing as it turned out because as the sun sank lower the temperature gradually dropped once again. She could only hope it didn't rain this time as well.
In a few more hours, about the time the sun came out again, it would be forty-eight hours since their original departure. If Voyager wasn't aware of their predicament yet than they would be in about twelve hours. There would be a rescue. She wasn't sure how they would go about accomplishing it, but it would be done.
She'd been keeping the malfunctioning commbadge close by at all times, just in case the crew back on Voyager figured out how to cut through the distortions. So far it hadn't so much as made a static filled buzz, let alone a more normal chirp. As much as she'd missed hearing Chakotay's gentle tones and warm smile before, but had ignored it, now she missed them double as much. She had a feeling it was her regret that was making such feelings show their mischievous little head. Perhaps it was the concussion as well.
Blaming it on the concussion sounded pretty good right now.
Maybe she could blame her still present unease about their surroundings on that too. While she was at it she might as well account her all-encompassing guilt and growing depression on that head wound as well.
"Um...Captain?"
Kathryn looked up from where she was staring at her commbadge. "Yes, Celes?"
The young bajoran looked embarrassed, distraught, and utterly apologetic. "It's the ration packs," she began, holding out a mushy looking pouch of rations. "I was doing an inventory of them again and...well...we're going to run out sooner than we thought."
"There were enough packed for a week." She knew some had been lost in the shuttle crash, but just the day before they'd still had enough for four to five days at least.
"I know, but we lost a bunch in the crash and then..." the girl trailed off, her eyes flickering down to the ground with a downcast look."The storm. I forgot to bring them under the shelter with us. A lot of them are completely ruined. I'm so sorry, Captain! Really...I...I'm sorry."
The poor girl seemed as distraught as Kathryn had ever seen her. Tal hadn't appeared this outwardly upset when her friend Telfer had been infested with the dark matter lifeform. "It's alright, Tal. I didn't think about it either," she said with a gentle smile in hopes it would comfort the young woman. "We were all a little distracted at the time as I recall."
"I know. I mean I guess, but... I was in charge of the rations and...I'm sorry, Captain."
"Stop apologizing for things that aren't your fault, crewman. And I can make that an order if I need to. Come here," she added, patting the ground. "Sit down. And stop worrying so much. That's my job not yours."
Tal smiled sadly and only hesitated a second before sitting a couple feet away. Behind her, closer to the tree line, Jarvin and Yosa were talking amicably. Sofin sat with them, but wasn't interacting with them. Meanwhile Tom attempted to start a fire. Kathryn had decided she would give him five more minutes to try before she went over to lend a hand.
"How are you, Tal?" she asked once Celes seemed comfortable. "Is your wrist alright?"
Tal looked down at the hand and wrist wrapped in the black material of her own torn uniform. She flexed her fingers and winced. "It's a little sore, but it could be worse. What about you, Captain? Are you okay?"
Kathryn smiled softly. "I'm fine. Thank you for asking."
"Are you sure? Because you seemed pretty cold last night. Colder than the rest of us even."
She mentally cursed herself for allowing her discomfort last night to show. Even if she hadn't been aware that she was showing it. Then again, Tal had been laying on the side of her that Tom hadn't been on. It was possible she'd only noticed because of the occasional uncontrollable shiver that ran down her spine and that the others hadn't noticed.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
Tal didn't seem all too convinced, but let it go. "I know this mission hasn't exactly gone according to plan, but I wanted to thank you for bringing me along."
That was a bit of surprise. She hadn't expected anyone to thank her for getting them in this mess. In fact it didn't quite make sense. "You enjoy camping, crewman?" she asked dryly and with a hint of disbelief.
"No, not really," Tal laughed and her solemn mood turned into a grin. "I have gone camping before though. Well, it wasn't exactly camping. It was one of the bajoran camps so it was more like our house at the time, but...yeah." She cleared her throat before starting over. "What I mean is, thank you for bringing me along because it's given me a chance to talk with Yosa. I'd been feeling a bit...awkward around him lately."
"You've been feeling awkward?" For the second time in less than five minutes the young woman surprised her. She'd expected Yosa to be the one feeling awkward, she knew for a fact he was around herself at least, not for Tal to.
"Do you remember the staged escape attempt during the Teero mutiny? The one Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim set up?" Tal asked, breaking her from her thoughts.
She nodded. She had in fact heard about that from Tom and Harry in their reports. As well as B'Elanna in fact, though she had been on the opposing side of it all. She also remembered Tal being mentioned as one of those involved. "I heard about that, yes."
"Well...," Tal blushed lightly and glanced at the three men across the clearing. "When the scuffle started. I kind of jumped on Yosa's back a little bit."
"A little bit?" Tom laughed as he plopped down on the ground with them. "You nearly knocked him over on impact. It was a pretty great maneuver. Wish you could have seen it, Captain. I might have to try it the next time we run into trouble to demonstrate."
Tal blushed even more, but her amusement was evident in her grin. "I did kind of feel bad about it later when everything was back to normal though."
"Don't feel bad, Tal. You can jump on my back anytime," Yosa said as he walked over, having heard enough to know what they were talking about. He tapped the bajoran's shoulder and smiled down at her. "It's our turn to get firewood."
"Oh, right!" Tal jumped up and brushed her uniform off before turning to the Captain and giving her a respectful nod in parting.
Yosa inclined his head in the same manner and, for the first time in weeks, actually met her eyes without looking away. She returned the gesture while Tom gave a small wave and the two ventured into the woods. She watched them go until the shrubbery hid them from sight and it was only then she realized Tom was watching her.
"Something I can help you with, Mr. Paris?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I was just thinking..."
"Dangerous habit where you're concerned."
Tom smirked and didn't disagree. "I was thinking...that maybe you should take your own advice."
"Advice on what, exactly?"
"About not being sorry for things that aren't your fault." Without another word the pilot stood and walked back over to add more sticks to the fire, leaving her to think over what he said and marvel over the enigma that is Tom Paris.