Dr. Pollard insisted Saru rest. Reluctantly he agreed and retired to his quarters, but sleep was elusive.

At 3:00pm the door chime woke him from a fitful doze. Saru tugged on a robe, fear building in the pit of his stomach. What happened that was serious enough to disregard the CMO's order?

He found Nhan and Detmer waiting when the door opened and beckoned them inside. "Tilly and the Captain?" He asked, his fear continuing to grow.

Nhan quickly responded, "No, well yes, but not bad news."

Detmer continued. "We have an idea, and we are volunteering."

Listening to their plan, his fear only increased. And yet, it might be possible. "Assemble Commanders Stamets and Reno. And Dr. Pollard. And Lieutenant Owo, her insights are always practical, and her technologically devoid background may prove useful. Meet me in the ready room in 15 minutes."

After acknowledging, Detmer and Nhan left in opposite directions to round up their crewmates. Saru started to call after them and add Michael to their group. But decided against it. Michael was also under orders to sleep. And this was a desperate plan. He didn't want her to endure the emotional seesaw of having hope offered and then snatched away if the idea proved unfeasible. Or if he could not, as commanding officer, choose for it to proceed.

ooooo

During Pike's absence, Tilly continued trying to think of a way to purify the local water or to find and test an alternate water source. Her efforts from the entire day had resulted only in a few hypothetical and most probably unworkable solutions, and one practical solution that showed promise if the Captain could find the needed plants. This was frustrating!

And this was a new to her – a problem she, alone or with help, couldn't solve. That had never happened to her before. It scared her. What if there wasn't a solution? What if Discovery couldn't return to the planet before their water supply ran out? She tried to remember how long a human could survive without water. The answer was elusive, but she was certain it was only hours or days, not weeks.

There had been several times during the war and in the Terran universe where she understood, at least intellectually, that her life was in danger. But that had felt abstract, not personal. And there was an entire crew working with her to get to safety.

Right here, right now, it felt personal. Hell, this was real. And it was just the two of them. And she was not only injured but lacked useful experience. Being assigned to a starship before finishing her last semester at the Academy, she had missed vital training. No wonder Captain Pike was annoyed at Command when he learned she never took a basic medic course and she never finished survival training.

Right now, her quick promotion felt very short-sighted.

And … this was all her fault!

She had impulsively wandered off from her team in an unknown environment, without permission, letting curiosity override her assignment, training, and good sense. She had endangered herself and a member of her crew. Maybe even the ship and all the crew if they attempted a rescue during the geomagnetic storm. Captain Pike had already reprimanded her for this type of behavior. And warned her the next time he would be less lenient. Why didn't she ever learn? A responsible, mature officer would learn from her mistakes and stop repeating them.

When Captain Pike was here, she didn't feel scared. But why?

Was it because when nursing her through that critical time after she was injured, he had shielded her, kept her from realizing how precarious their situation was and could become? Was it because he kept her distracted with the 20 questions game? Was it because today after judging she was ready; he had matter-of-factly explained their situation? Without alarm, without tension in his voice, with faith in their ability to solve the problem. With faith Discovery would return in time.

Why couldn't she maintain that faith in his absence?

Wait. Wait a minute. Just. One. Damn. Minute. He protected her before. Was he still protecting her?

More bits and pieces of information from these past days started connecting, arranging and rearranging, until the patterns became clear. How could she have missed this? He had gathered a mammoth stack of firewood. Enough to last for days. He made a crutch. He insisted she practice with it. He had carefully described the water rationing plan and insisted she repeat it back to him. While inventorying the remaining medical supplies, he had explained and demonstrated their uses.

Captain Pike was methodically preparing her to survive without him.

And he was injured. Occasionally he unknowingly placed a hand on his rib cage. On the right side. Where he had been wounded on New Eden. Where, she now remembered, there was a large, dark purple bruise. She had seen it while watching him stack wood as she pretended to be sleeping. Why hadn't she paid attention to that! And he was slightly out of breath earlier today. That didn't make sense! The Captain was too fit to be winded from this level of activity.

She still didn't remember anything between beginning to fall from her precarious position on the ledge and waking up in the cave. What happened?

She had not seen him eat or drink and when questioned about it, he gave a vague answer or deflected.

Now certain he was, if necessary, intending to sacrifice his life to buy her more time to wait for Discovery's return, she was no longer scared. She was angry!

And she had a whole new set of questions to ask of their Captain when he returned. She might even ask them politely!

ooooo

Pike cast a worried glance at the clouds gathering in the distance to the south. The wind was starting to gust, and it was raining. A warm rain, but it drove into his eyes like needles. With a storm approaching, darkness would fall sooner than he originally expected. And fog was creeping up from the ground.

He stuffed the latest plant he cut from a hanging tree into the makeshift bag slung over his shoulder. There wasn't enough time left to look for rest that Tilly had described, the two he found would have to be sufficient. The bag also held three of the coconut-like fruit he managed to retrieve after several attempts at climbing one of the trees.

The fog was gathering quickly and getting denser. Would the trail he marked to lead back to the cave still be visible?