Disclaimer: I think we all know that I don't own Voyager.
A/N: Back to Janeway now...
Kathryn wasn't sure how long she'd been unconscious. Upon waking up again she'd found herself alone in the room. And it was a room as she'd discovered, not just a simple cave. The walls were made of rock, whether naturally formed or carved she wasn't sure. There were no windows, but there was a door made of a familiar crimson wood and stone.
She was still cold and the few blankets they'd placed her on didn't keep the coldness of the ground from seeping through and into her already aching limbs. The room was illuminated softly, not by fire or any kind of artificially produced lighting fixtures, but by the stone itself. The silver wisps in the walls seemed to cause a reflection, from what she wasn't sure, and produced just enough light for her to see by.
Not that she could do much seeing. Movement was excruciating and nauseating all at once as she'd quickly discovered. If she had to take a guess she'd say probably because of another head wound irritating the one she'd already had. She was also positive that her ribs, if not broken, were at least badly bruised. She was leaning more towards 'broken' considering the pressure in her chest and difficulty breathing when sitting up. She also couldn't move her left leg. She couldn't be sure exactly why. It didn't hurt, she simply couldn't move it.
She also wasn't sure how long she'd laid there while dozing in and out, but eventually she heard the door scraping against the floor as it was opened. She turned her head and tried to see who it was and wasn't all that surprised to see the one from before, the one with the silvery metallic eyes. Of her three visitors before he'd seemed the most interested in her personally, not just in a scientific way as the other two had seemed to be interested. There was another one that she couldn't see very well standing outside the room, but that one- male or female she couldn't tell- didn't come in and when the first one closed the door behind himself they were officially alone in the stone room together. She watched with narrowed eyes as he walked over to the wall on her right side and picked up the wooden bowl left there from his last visit.
"I'm Kathryn Janeway," she said, her voice a bit stronger than last time, but still cracking. "Why did you bring me here?"
The alien glanced over at her with curiosity shinning in his large round eyes before calmly returning to his work. She watched as he added the contents of the bowl he'd brought with him to the first bowl which he'd left in the room. As he swirled the bowl to get the two substances to mix she caught a whiff of that leola root and almond smell again and this time it was mingled with something...something with a zing.
"I need to return to my people," she tried again as he came over and sat down beside her. He put the now empty bowl down, this time ignoring her statement completely, and offered her the bowl full of a translucent liquid.
The last time she had drunk the liquid, by force, it obviously hadn't killed her or had any adverse effects from what she could tell. Some poisons worked slower than others though. There was also the fact that he'd obviously added something to it this time. It wasn't just water anymore, if it had even been the first time. She was extremely thirsty though. She couldn't remember the last time she'd willingly had a drink and after the accident, which had probably lead to blood loss, she was even thirstier. Besides which, if she didn't drink willingly he could very well force her to anyway.
Judging by the way he was watching her intently and pushing the bowl closer to her face she wouldn't be surprised if he did. She accepted the bowl cautiously and upon doing so had the brief urge to throw it across the room and watch its contents decorate the rock walls. She very nearly did and probably would have were it not for the intensity of his eyes as he watched her every move. It almost seemed as if he knew what she was thinking, what she was considering doing. It wouldn't have nearly the same effect if he wasn't surprised by her actions.
With a deep breath, or at least as deep as she could make it, she pushed herself up just enough to take of sip of the liquid. The nauseating and tangy smell filled her nostrils as she tipped the substance past her lips and as it slid down her throat she felt a warm tingling following in its wake. The warmth spread from her throat to her stomach and almost encased her from the inside out. It only lasted a second or two, but for those one or two seconds she found relief from the cold.
And from the pain, she realized.
At her alien visitor's urging she took another sip. This time she recognized the zingy smell. Fermentation. They had fermented the medicinal sap and mixed it with water. While there was still a dull pain she felt much better. In fact she felt well enough that she was able to sit the rest of the way up without blinding agony washing over her.
As Kathryn sat up straight she felt a gentle hand on her back trying to help support her. Once stable the hand was gone and her visitor scooted back a little as if to give her room. His eyes had yet to stop watching her.
"Thank you," she said, holding up the bowl to indicate what she was thankful for.
Her visitor, or captor, or whoever he was tilted his head with a frown. He obviously didn't understand a word she was saying just as she hadn't been able to understand anything she'd heard the last they spoke. Glancing down she realized her commbadge was gone. As was her last remaining boot, which explained why her feet were so cold.
Her captor tapped her shoulder. "Machie lonosata."
Kathryn frowned in confusion this time. "Kathryn Janeway," she said, putting a hand to her chest to indicate she was talking about herself. "Janeway. My name is Janeway."
The alien shook his head. "Machie lonosata," he repeated, this time adding a few other words that she doubted she'd ever be able to pronounce or annunciate correctly even if she learned the language.
She pushed herself up more in an attempt to get more comfortable and immediately she felt dizzy. As the world around her gradually stopped spinning she moistened her dry lips and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"We're not getting anywhere," she muttered, mostly to herself.
Her luminescent captor took the bowl from her hand. With his free hand he pointed to her, then tapped just below his own eye, and then pointed to the ground. She assumed he meant he wanted her to watch him do something. She nodded and bent over a little to watch.
The alien poured some of the liquid on the dirt covered floor effectively creating mud, something she'd already had enough of to last a lifetime. With rapt attention she watched though as he used a finger to draw in the mud. With understanding dawning she smiled with a spark of intrigue in her eyes.
After a few seconds he looked up at her and pointed to the drawing. It was a simply drawing, nothing to detailed or intricate, but she could tell quite clearly what it was supposed to be. It was the away team's shuttle.
She nodded and pointed to the drawing. "The shuttle. It crashed."
He stared at her for a moment before pressing the bowl into her hands. She once again nodded her understanding and bent over a little more to pour more of the substance onto the dirt. She drew the word 'crashed', not that she expected him to understand it, and then thought for a moment what she could possibly draw that he might be able to relate to.
These aliens were intelligent, she could tell that much just from their presence and the fact he appeared to understood what a shuttle was to begin with. Perhaps he may understand their reason for coming in the first place as well. With cold fingers she began writing out the various symbols for dilithium she'd encountered over the years. She wasn't even sure if he would really understand what she was trying do, but it was worth a try. When she was done she looked up to find her captor smiling with the spark of excitement mirrored in his own expression. It was the look of a scientist who was faced with something new to study and explore. There was a time when she'd worn such an expression often.
He tapped the drawn out formulas. "Sachoz nibalok farmal."
She assumed that meant dilithium. Or he was calling her insane. "Dilithium?"
He reached for the leather hide like string around his neck that was just barely showing from under his dark gray clothing. As he pulled it out from under his clothes she saw a small piece of crystallized dilithium hanging from it. "Sachoz nibalok farmal," he repeated, holding the piece of dilithium out to show her.
"Sachoz nibalok framal," she attempted to say and was almost certain she butchered the intricate language. Apparently her captor agreed if the huffing laughter like noise he made that was accompanied by an equally amused grin was any indication.
However as quickly as the liquid concoction had worked it just as quickly seemed to wear off. The longer she sat up the more prominent the pain became once again. With the pain slowly coming back so did her fatigue and with that the cold became colder. Her visitor seemed to see her problem. He put a hand just below her throat, as he had last time, and gave her a gentle push. Kathryn complied, the dizziness back with a vengeance, and eased herself down into a laying position. With her eyes closed she heard the door open and assumed he was leaving, but a moment later she opened her eyes just in time to see him coming back with a thick blanket.
"Thank you," she said as he spread it out over her. She chuckled lightly when he began actually tucking the bottom of the blanket under her feet as if to make sure they were warm enough.
Her fight to stay conscious was soon lost though and, as her eyes slid shut once more, she heard her captor softly say, "Jay'way."