"MR. KIM! MR. KIM!"
Harry felt like he was being lifted then suddenly dropped. The jolt caused his teeth to snap like being hit with an uppercut. More from instinct then conscious thought, he grabbed Naomi beside him and curled himself around her small body while dust and gravel rained down on them.
Once again, it was Naomi's squirming that made Harry realize that the tremor was over. He released his grasp and let her wriggle out of his arms. He lay on his side, coughing in the dust filled air. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"I am starting to get really tired of this."
"Me too," replied Naomi. They sat across from each other leaning against the cracked walls of the tunnel. The weak light of the PADD fought against the choking darkness and was mostly defeated. "Mr. Kim, are we going to die down here?"
Naomi's question focused Harry's scattered thoughts. "No. No, of course we're not going to die." He tried to believe the words he said. Every muscle in his body screamed with protest has he used the wall to pull himself up onto his feet. "We're going to get out of here. You ready?" He reached out his hand to her.
Naomi pursed her lips and looked at his outstretched hand. She let out a deep breath then picked up the PADD. Climbing to her feet, she took Harry's hand.
Together they trudged back down the tunnel. Leaning his shoulder into the wall to hold himself upright, Harry put every ounce of his strength into taking one step after another. His body screamed at him to stop and rest, but he knew that if he stopped, he likely wouldn't be able to start again. Harry barely registered reaching the junction and Naomi guiding him around the corner into the new tunnel. He no longer felt her small hand in his or the cold wall against his shoulder holding him upright. His vison tunneled, and dizziness threated to topple him over. His entire focus narrowed to taking one more step. Just one more step. Then one more. So long as he could take one more step, he would be okay.
His toe caught on a piece of rubble. He didn't feel himself fall, just the impact as he hit the ground face first.
"Mr. Kim!" Naomi knelt beside him and shook his shoulder. Harry didn't move. "Mr. Kim? Are you all right?" She shook harder. "Please don't go to sleep, Mr. Kim. Wake up. Please wake up. Mr. Kim!"
"I'm awake." His voice sounded slurred, but he was alive. Naomi let out a tiny cry and hugged his back, clutching his tunic in her small fists. Harry wished she wouldn't. Even her slight weight on his back was hurting him. He tried to get up, but his arms buckled, and his chest thumped back to the ground. Harry let out a groan and rested his cheek against the dirty floor. That was it. He wasn't going any further.
He was aware of Naomi crying beside him as she held onto his sleeve, but there was nothing he could do for her. This wasn't how it was supposed to end for Starfleet officers. He never had any illusions about dying a hero. That kind of thing only happened in holo-novels. But still, his death in the line of duty was supposed to be from a warp core breach, a space battle, or a violent encounter with a new species on an alien world. Not this. Not lying face down in a pile of muddy filth. As if dying in a sewer wasn't bad enough, he'd be leaving Naomi alone to buried alive by the next big tremor and the thought made him want to cry also. With herculean effort, Harry managed to roll onto his back. The maneuver left him gasping but he managed to stay conscious.
Naomi's sobs calmed down into small hiccups. Without saying a word, she lay down beside him and wiggled up into the crook of his arm so that the top of her head rested lightly on his shoulder. Curling on her side, he felt her put her hand on his chest, the tips of her fingers brushing his collar bone. Gingerly, he wrapped his arm up around the little girl's waist.
Within minutes, Harry felt Naomi's breathing slow and deepen as she fell asleep. The poor kid is exhausted too, he thought. His own wrecked body was urging him to sleep as well, but Harry fought against it knowing that if he fell asleep, it might be forever. He wasn't ready to die yet. There was no hope, but still, he wanted to eek out every last second of life he could. He stared up into the inky darkness. Somewhere beside him the pathetic light from the PADD flickered. The power was nearly drained. It wouldn't be long until it gave out.
His mind ran over their journey. It just didn't make sense. They should have been able to find away out of these tunnels. There had to be access ports for maintenance, there just had to be. Fatigue pulled at him. He purposefully kept blinking his eyes to reassure himself they were still open. It was so dark that it was difficult to tell the difference. He could see shapes moving in the gloom above him, but he knew that it was just his mind playing tricks on him. There was nothing on the ceiling.
A thought bloomed in his mind. The ceiling. Of course. It was so obvious. He wanted to laugh. And cry. But it was too painful to do either. Still, he couldn't help but let out sharp gasp. The sudden noise caused Naomi to jump awake.
"What was that?" she asked sitting up to look around.
"You know, I graduated top of my class at Starfleet Academy," said Harry, raising his hand to point at the ceiling. "But if I were Captain Janeway, I would throw me off the ship for being so stupid."
Confused, Naomi looked up to where Harry was pointing, but couldn't see anything. Nor could she understand what he was talking about. She knew that sometimes people with head injuries would do and say strange things. Maybe that was what was happening now. She wasn't sure how to respond but decided to say something to cheer him up. "Don't say that. I think you're very smart, Mr. Kim. And even if you weren't, I'd tell Captain Janeway to let you stay on the ship anyway because you're so nice."
Harry smiled in the dark but kept pointing at the ceiling. "We've been looking for a door, or a ladder. But you said yourself that the Astrudians are like monkeys. They have long, strong arms. They could easily reach a hatch in the ceiling and just pull themselves up." He dropped his arm and tried to reach for the PADD, but it hurt to stretch towards it. Instead, he gestured for Naomi to grab it. "Hold the PADD up as high as you can. See if you can see anything."
Naomi stood up and held the PADD above her head, pointing the light up at the ceiling. Craning her neck, she peered up trying to make out any shapes that would indicate there was something up there. Squinting into the black, she walked slowly down the tunnel. Harry turned his head to watch the dim light fade as it moved away from him. Just as he thought he should to try and call her to come back, he heard her voice shout. The little ball of light began to grow as it came back towards him.
"Mr. Kim, I think I see something." Harry was surprised in spite of himself. Somehow, he had just assumed she wouldn't find anything. Naomi squatted by his shoulder holding the PADD so she could see his face. The PADD screen flickered as the draining power struggled to keep it lit. "It's just a little way down the tunnel. It looks like a hole in the ceiling. It might go to the surface."
The thin sliver of hope was enough to force himself rollover onto his hands and knees, then, with the help of the cracked wall, stagger up to his feet. Holding onto his hand, Naomi led him carefully about 10 meters down the tunnel. Reaching the spot, she stopped and held the PADD up above her head, attempting to light up the ceiling. Leaning back against the tunnel wall to hold himself up, Harry took the PADD from the girl and lifted it above his head. It showed a ceiling full of ragged cracks forking out in all directions. But there, right above their heads was the smooth outline of a shaft running straight up. Harry could just barely make out the bottom rung of a ladder just inside the entrance of the shaft.
Harry felt a hard lump rise in this throat. He squeezed his eyes shut and slid down the wall to the floor. He choked trying to breath.
"Mr. Kim, are you okay?" asked Naomi squeezing his hand.
Harry couldn't get words out, but he nodded his head. He tried to take slow breaths and get his shaking hands under control. The sudden wave of emotion was overwhelming. He was just so relieved that it made him dizzy. He was going to get her out. She wasn't going to die down here.
He felt Naomi hunker down next to him and lean her head against his shoulder. The stab of pain he felt as she lightly bumped against his ribs got his attention and helped pull himself together. He sat forward onto his knees and looked up at the shaft.
"Mr. Kim, are you tall enough to reach up there?"
"No," Harry shook his head.
"Then how are we going to get to it?"
"I'm going to have to boost you up there." Harry held up the flickering PADD again, trying to get a better look at the opening above him. "If you stand on my shoulders, you should be able to reach."
"But how are you going to get up there?" asked Naomi, puzzled.
"I'm not," he answered.
There was a beat of silence while Naomi processed the meaning of what he said. "But how.. how are you…" The little girl clutched his tunic sleeve.
"Naomi, it's okay."
"No!" She shot to her feet and began to pace around the tunnel. "I'll build you something to stand on. I'll go back and get some of those big rocks and pile them up and-"
"Naomi," Harry reached out to stop her pacing. "There's no time. You have to-"
"NO!" her scream was so fierce that Harry pulled back for a moment. "You're coming too! You have to!"
"Naomi!" Harry didn't mean to be harsh, but they couldn't afford to waste time. "Naomi, we're running out of time. Look." He pointed to the PADD. The light had faded to a dim glow that pulsed to stay alive. In a few minutes it would be dead. "You need to go now, or you won't get out at all." Harry voice softened. "And if you don't get out, how will you bring back help for me?"
Harry could just make out the whites of her big eyes in the darkness. For a moment she just stared at him, then came and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. "I don't want to leave you."
Even though it hurt his ribs, Harry squeezed back. "I know. But it's our only choice, and we have to hurry." Harry gently pulled her arms from around his neck and held both her hands in his. "When you get to the surface, go to the first Voyager crewmen you see. Tell them that I'm down here. Once they know to target the ship's sensors underground, they should have no trouble finding me. Can you do that?" Naomi's lip trembled as she nodded. "Good. Then let's do this."
Dizziness crashed into him as Harry got to his feet. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, focusing on staying upright. He told himself that it was almost over, just one last thing to do and then he could rest. Stretching out his arms to touch both sides of the tunnel and steady himself, he squatted down gingerly so Naomi could climb up onto his shoulders. Leaving the PADD at his feet, Naomi scrabbled up Harry's back and hooked her legs over his shoulders so that she was seated behind his head.
"When you get into the shaft," said Harry. "You start climbing as fast as you can. Don't look down and don't stop until you reach the surface. Do you understand?"
"But what about—"
"You climb and you don't look back! Okay? Promise me you'll do that."
Naomi hesitated for a moment, then patted his head as if he were the child and she the adult. "I promise. And I promise that I'll be right back with help."
Stabbing pain made Harry feel lightheaded. Don't pass out, he told himself. Whatever you do, just don't pass out. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he strained to stand up. Pressing his hands into the walls helped keep him balanced, but he still staggered forward as he fought against the dizziness. He groaned as he felt nausea rising in his stomach. Keep it together, Harry, he thought. You're almost done.
"Can you reach the ladder?" he asked between clenched teeth. He felt Naomi shift on his shoulders.
"No, it's still too high," answered Naomi. Harry could clearly hear the distress in her voice.
"You're going to have to stand up on my shoulders." Harry took his left hand from the wall and reached up to the girl. "Take my hand to help you balance. Get your feet up under you so you're squatting on my shoulders. Can you do that?"
"I think so." Naomi grasped the offered hand. "Can you move toward the wall a bit?"
Harry took two careful steps to his right so that Naomi would also be able to reach the wall and use it to balance, just as he was. He panted while she got her feet onto his shoulders. The voice in his head told him that he wasn't going to make it. He told that voice to shut up. He wasn't going to collapse while Naomi was on his shoulders. He wasn't going to let her die down here. "Are you ready?" His voice as little more than a breathy whisper.
"I'm ready," she answered. He took his other hand from the wall and held it up so that Naomi could use both his hands to help her balance. Taking two steps back into the center of the tunnel, they were directly under the shaft. Naomi let go of one his hands to reach up above her head. Harry heard her grunt as she stretched up. "It's still too high." She shifted her weight to try and get every centimeter of height she could. Harry had to adjust his feet to keep her balanced. His vision had gone gray and his head was swimming. "I'm almost there. I just need maybe 5 more centimeters to reach the ladder."
Harry couldn't take this. His whole back was spasming and he was going to vomit. In one fast motion, he let go of Naomi and used both of his hands to grab her ankles. With one desperate push he lifted Naomi above his head and shoved her into the shaft. "Go! Don't look back! Go!"
The girl yelped in surprise at the unexpected boost, but had the presence of mind to grab onto the ladder rungs that were now right in front of her. With a rush of adrenaline, she scrambled up the shaft.
Harry barely registered Naomi's feet leaving his hands. His legs buckled and he knee-planted into the ground before toppling over sideways. His face landed next to the PADD which was only producing the tiniest flickering glow. The last thing he saw was the PADD give one last pulse and die.