I do not own Star Trek.

Picard's POV

Today is an away mission, an investigation of a remote planet where signs of life were rumored to be found. Apparently, a freight vessel thought they picked up signs of life as they were passing by. Now Hugh, Riker, Worf, Data, Geordi, and I were all gathered in the transporter room. We were finishing the last few equipment checks before beaming down. Everyone was issued a phaser, and this time, Hugh didn't object. He'd actually taken it upon himself to improve his skill in using a phaser for self defense, as well as defense of his fellow officers. He didn't like the violent nature of the activity, but he understood the necessity. And he knew I felt better if he had some form of defense.

"Jean-Luc." he said suddenly, "I've just thought of something."

"What is it, Hugh? Is something wrong?" I instinctively moved closer to him.

"I was just thinking. What if there are people on this planet who have seen my kind before?" What if they want to kill me on sight? I could hear the unspoken question in his voice.

"Don't worry, I'll be with you the whole time. I promise, I won't let anything happen to you, Hugh." I gave him a soft kiss to reassure him, which seemed to do the trick.

I would regret those words very soon.

We beamed down into a small clearing in the midst of dense trees. Immediately, those with tricorders took them out and began scanning our surroundings.

"I'm not getting anything!" Worf complained. Data walked over to look at his tricorder and instantly found the problem.

"Perhaps you should try turning it on." the android suggested, "Otherwise, you will continue to receive no scans."

"Thank you." Worf said sourly as Geordi stifled a laugh.

"Spread out," Riker commanded, "but don't get too far away." They all nodded and everyone but Riker and I fanned out in different directions, heading into the trees. I kept an eye on Hugh until the foliage covered him. It was amazing how easily the Borg took to an environment that was the exact opposite of what he was. He'd disappeared into the trees without a sound, and if I hadn't watched him, I wouldn't have been able to tell where he went in at.

"So what do we do now?" Riker asked.

"Now we wait." I answered, "They'll be back in fifteen minutes. If they find anything, they'll comm us." Riker nodded.

Fifteen minutes and zero comms later, we could hear the loud rustling and snapping of twigs that signaled Worf's return. Sure enough, the Klingon emerged with leaves and little twigs caught in his hair.

"I found no sign of activity, beyond that of animals, sir. And a multitude of dense plant growth."

"I too found only signs of animal life." Data said as he reemerged, "Nothing that seems even remotely intelligent or sentient."

"Same here," said Geordi, brushing what looked like a spider web off his VISOR, "I found a ton of bugs, though. And they're just as gross as Earth bugs. What about you, Hugh?" But when he and I turned toward where Hugh had walked off, there was no one there.

"Hugh?" Geordi said. No answer again.

"Hugh!" Riker yelled. Still no answer.

"That's weird," Geordi said, "He always reports on time."

"You're right," I said, starting to worry. "Let's follow his trail, maybe we'll find him further out."

"Good idea." Riker agreed. So we all set out on Hugh's trail, occasionally calling his name. After fifteen minutes, we paused.

"I don't get it." Geordi said, "According to my tricorder, we should be right on top of him. So where is he?" I looked around, my heart rate rising. Where was Hugh? Had something happened to him? If so, what? Was he hurt?

"Captain!" Worf called, "Over here!" I rushed over to him. What I saw made my heart stop.

It was Hugh's combadge and tricorder. And there was blood on both.

Hugh's POV

I started off in my assigned direction, my tricorder out in front of me. After about fifteen minutes, I was about to turn back when something flashed across my tricorder scan. My hand instantly flew to my phaser as I looked around for whatever had caused the signal blip, slowly moving in the direction it had come from. A soft rustling came from behind me and I whipped around, only to find nothing there.

I had about a second to realize someone was there when I turned back around before something collided with my head and everything went black.

When I came to, I was lying on some sort of cold dark stone. Looking around, I realized I was in some sort of cell carved into rock. Judging by the moisture on the walls around me, it was someplace underground. When I went to sit up, I found my ankles bound in heavy chains. I couldn't stand, or even if I could, I wouldn't have been able to walk. Whoever had me, though, had some sort of technology, because the "door" to my cell was a forcefield. I was further convinced I was underground when I exhaled and could see my breath in front of me. I shivered. Then a thought came to me.

Where was Jean-Luc? I dragged myself over to the forcefield trying to see into other cells, but all I saw was darkness. I crawled back away from the door wondering who had brought me here, why, and what happened to the others. My tricorder and combadge were gone, which meant they couldn't track me. I didn't know how long I had been unconscious. Was the Enterprise even still here? Did they know I was gone? And what would they tell Orion? I didn't want to admit it, but I was scared. I could imagine Jean-Luc searching for me everywhere, could practically hear him calling my name. I could almost feel his arms around me, and wished he was really there to hold me. I shivered again and curled up, trying to warm myself, as a tear slid from my eye.

Please, Jean-Luc, I thought, Please come and find me.