Chapter 3

Stardate: 1873.23. Enterprise, in orbit around Upothas II

Acting Captain's log. We have lost contact with the captain for the past 3 hours. Our attempts to lock onto our people have remained unsuccessful. Whatever has rendered our scanners ineffective on the village seems to be affecting the entire region. Lieutenant Spock and the rest of the landing party have taken refuge from the storm in the caves at the foot of the mountain. According to the ship's meteorologist, temperatures will drop as low as -20C in the next few hours. All we can do is hope that the captain and the rest of the landing party are still safely inside the village. Our repeated hails to the village have been unanswered. Mr Garison has assured me that the storm should not affect our communication and we are left to speculate that the Council is refusing to talk to us.

Una was spacing the captain's ready room furiously, blaming herself for letting Chris lead this mission. He wasn't in the right state of mind and he, along with eight other crew members, were being held captive. And this was the best case scenario. She wasn't ready to think about the worst.

The door chime surprised Number One. "Enter," she stuttered but the computer recognized her command and the doors opened to reveal an exhausted-looking Dr. Boyce.

"Doctor?"

"Spock, Landais, and Johnson should be ok in the cave until the storm passes. Landais suffered a minor sprain when they fled but nothing the portable regen unit couldn't fix," the doctor reported. "Any news from Chris and the rest of the landing party?"

Una sighed heavily and shook her head no. "I should have never let him go down there. I knew something was wrong…"

"Una, stop," the doctor interrupted, placing a comforting hand on Number One's shoulder. "This is not on you. I've known something is wrong with the captain for some time. And I cleared him for duty."

Una placed her own hand on top of Boyce's. She allowed herself to take solace in the slight touch before returning to the matter at hand. She needed a better understanding of the situation. "What's the history between the captain and Dr. Mayweather?" Boyce seemed taken aback by the question. "Come on, Phil! There are dozens of field medics you could have chosen from but you chose her. Married women don't embark on a deep-space 5-year mission without their husbands. And even Spock could feel the tension between her and the captain when she beamed aboard."

Boyce sat on the leather couch in the captain's ready room and motioned for Una to do the same. "It's a long story."

"And I need to know whether she can handle the situation."

"Thea is probably the only person who can help Chris," Boyce acknowledged. "They've known each other since they were teenargers in Mojave and probably have been in love with each other since then." Una raised an eyebrow at the comment but before she could ask any questions, Boyce continued. "Alathea Mayweather is one of the only survivors from the Andlanca II massacre."

Una nodded. As a starfleet officer, she had studied the failed diplomatic mission and the ramifications of the lost medical research that had been conducted there. "Wait, this was a low-gravity world. How is she even walking on a starship?"

"This is how I first met Thea. Admiral Mayweather had adopted her two years prior and with the help of his friend, Josh Pike, created an exoskeleton to remove the burden of gravity on her body. The contraption worked to some extent but it was leaving Thea with chronic pain. Her father brought her to the Adie Institute in San Francisco. I was an intern there working under Dr. Aggarwal."

The doctor didn't have to tell Una who Dr. Aggarwal was. He had been praised as a visionary until his methods had been exposed. "Was she…" Una couldn't bring herself to ask the question.

"One of his experiments? Yes." Boyce paused. "Albeit one of his successes. The treatment he put her through worked but it confined her to bed for six months. Most of them spent in excruciating pain." The doctor walked to the replicator. One of the captain's privileges, he mused. "Coffee, black." He wanted something stronger but he needed to stay clear headed.

With his back turned to Una, he continued. "All of us knew he should have been stopped but no one dared defy Aggarwal. So we went along. I'm not proud of this part of my life…"

"Obviously, she isn't holding it against you."

"That's because I did defy him. In a small way. I arranged for Chris to be able to sneak into her room in the evenings. He tutored her after school so she wouldn't fall behind. But most importantly, he took her mind off the treatments and the grueling physical therapy." Una couldn't help but smile. It sounded like Chris: Nobody gets left behind. "He was instrumental in her recovery."

"So they were high school sweethearts?"

Boyce shook his head. "They've never gone on a date. They didn't want to risk ruining their friendship but she's been in his life one way or another since they've first met in Mojave." The doctor turned around to face his commanding officer. "And as you said yourself, she left her husband on Earth to go on a five-year mission aboard Enterprise. All I had to say is that Chris needed her."

Una closed her eyes, unsure whether Mayweather and Pike's history would ameliorate the situation on the ground. "You think Chris will listen to her?"

Boyce nodded. "At this point, she might be the only person he's willing to listen to."

Their conversation was interrupted by a comm from the bridge. "Commander," came Garison's voice, "Mister Spock for you."

"Patch him through!" Una ordered, putting her conversation with Boyce aside for the moment. "Mister Spock, report!" She barked as soon as she heard the faint whistle signaling the comm switch.

"Commander, the caves are not natural," the science officer reported at once. "They seem to be part of an old, large bunker. Most of the tunnels have collapsed but we are presently in what looks like the command center."

Una frowned at the unexpected turn of events. "The command center of what?"

"Unknown at this time. I will call back upon further investigation. Spock…"

"Lieutenant," Boyce interrupted, "any words from the captain and the rest of the away team?"

"No, doctor," Spock answered in a flat tone devoid of any emotional trace. "If I had, I would have led my report with this information. Spock out."

Boyce pinched the bridge of his nose, murmuring a few insults to himself. Una refrained from smiling. Integrating Spock into the crew had been difficult at first, but despite his lack of emotions -or rather emotional display; Una knew enough about Vulcans to understand the fine line they walked- Spock had proven an essential member of this crew. And if the presence of Mayweather at the captain's side served to reassure Boyce, Spock's presence on the planet definitely calmed her nerves.

"The Council members never mentioned those caves," she recalled loudly.

"How is that relevant?"

"According to Spock's first report, the caves are located on the other side of the sacred ground. Maybe the villagers don't even know about them!" She said excitedly. "Doctor, it means that if all of our people made it to the cave complex, they may be safe from attacks!"

"Una, there is one problem." Boyce hated to point out the obvious. "The villagers never mentioned them but our scans never picked up what Spock describes as an extensive system. If our scanners can't penetrate the rocks, we can't beam our people aboard, even after the damn storm passes."

"One problem at a time, doctor." Una answered, frustrated.

STSTST

Alathea fought to keep up with Br'tar in worsening weather conditions. She glanced at Pike, still unconscious across the Masonian shoulders. His skin was deathly pale and his lips were tinted blue. They needed to find shelter immediately if Chris was going to survive.

"Br'tar! Pick up the pace!" She ordered, fighting to keep her legs moving.

As soon as they entered the cave, Br'tar gently lowered the captain to the ground. Alathea collapsed next to him and pulled out her medical tricorder. She winced at the readings: hypothermia wasn't the most pressing issue. The bullet had shattered on impact and one of the fragments was lodged inside Chris' femur. If Pike were to survive this, she would have to remove it and hope that the antibiotics in her emergency medkit would be sufficient to stave off the infection.

Satisfied that the doctor and captain were relatively safe for the time being, Br'tar made his way deeper into the cave, on the lookout for potential threats. There was something about this place that didn't sit well with him but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. As he was about to walk deeper into the bowel of the mountain, Alathea's frustrated cry made him turn around. "Are you ok?" He ran towards her, stopping a few feet away from where she was hunched over on the floor.

"One of the bullets shattered the hypospray and vials." She held the broken device for his inspection. "The liquid damaged everything in the medkit. I can't help him!"

Br'tar's heartbeat increased at the news. He flipped his communicator and hoped that the cave offered enough protection from the storm for him to reach the ship. "Br'tar to Enterprise!"

"Lieutenant, report!" Una's voice resonated through the cave. Br'tar appraised his commanding officer of their situation, recounting as much as he could the events leading to them taking refuge in the cave and their precarious situation. All were saddened to hear that none of the crew members from the original away team were accounted for. Their mission had been a complete failure. "What is the captain's medical condition?"

Alathea recognized the voice as Boyce's and grabbed the communicator, answering quickly. "Phil, the bullet shattered in three main pieces. Two are lodged in the muscle, far enough from any arteries to be of concern. The last one is in his femur. It shattered the bone. He needs immediate surgery and I have no equipment to stabilize his condition on the ground."

"Dr. Mayweather, there is too much interference from the planet for us to beam you aboard and we cannot fly a shuttle down in that storm." Una's voice was calm. The panicked tone from the only doctor on the ground didn't do anything to assuage Number One's fears.

Alathea took a deep breath, reviewing their situation. Enterprise would not be able to beam another medkit. Even if they could give the ship approximate coordinates for their location, looking for the medkit in the storm would be the equivalent of looking for a needle in a haystack and they didn't have a strong enough magnet to assist with the task. But the captain needed surgery. The lack of anesthetic made the task daunting but she had no tools to even attempt to extract the bullet while Chris was unconscious. The knife in their field rations wasn't anywhere near sharp enough to cut through the muscle.

"Lieutenant Spock reported an unnatural cave system," Una continued. "It is possible you are on another side of the complex."

Br'tar's eyes lit up at the news. The cave! The rocks were too smooth to be a natural formation. "I believe we are, Commander," he answered at once. "We are currently located in a large circular room made to resemble a natural chamber but the geology suggests otherwise."

"Thea, Spock reported being in a command center.," Boyce informed his colleague. "And that the underground system was large. If whoever built this place planned for a long stay…"

"They would have built an infirmary." She finished, hopeful. She gently caressed Chris's cheek before removing the hair plastered on his forehead. His skin was warm to the touch and she knew she didn't have much time. "We'll keep you updated on our situation. Landing party out." Alathea closed their communicator. "He needs surgery and we need to hurry." She rummaged through the rest of her medkit and applied compresses to the wound, hoping to contain the bleeding while they moved the captain.

Br'tar lifted the captain over his shoulders and made his way towards the back of the cave. "I didn't make it too far. Lots of interference coming from the rocks for a full scan but the tunnel on the left looks collapsed."

"To the right it is, then!" Alathea silently prayed that the medical bay was still accessible.

They made their way silently through what looked like crew quarters. As they walked through the various corridors with dormitories on either side, Alathea kept a mental inventory of the supplies they could scavenge for the surgery: beddings for bandages, blankets to keep Chris from going into shock, pans and other kitchen utensils as surgical instruments. In the meantime, Br'tar kept an eye on potential weapons he could use should the villagers decide to follow them into the mountain. He also noticed that the luminosity inside the carven didn't decrease but he could see no apparent sign of an electrical system. This could be a liability if they needed to hide in the dark.

After a few hundred meters, the landing party reached a dead end. Br'tar opened the last door and they both breathed out a sigh of relief as they recognized the medical bay. The room was circular and looked similar to the medical bay aboard the Enterprise: beds aligned along the walls for what Alathea assumed was recovery. The surgical theater occupied the center of the room. The equipment looked old and reminiscent of Earth's late 20th century design. She was also surprised to find no dead bodies there. Whatever had happened to the people who had needed this refuge, it wasn't medical in nature. Or perhaps they never made it to safety. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of something so sudden that no one would survive.

Alathea motioned for Br'tar to lay the captain on the center bed. "We need to boil some of the sheets to make bandages. He'll also need blankets. I'll see what I can find here." The security officer nodded his understanding before heading out for his supply mission. Considering the weather outside, at least water wasn't in short supply.

Alathea ran her medical tricorder over Chris' unconscious form. His condition hadn't changed in the half hour it had taken them to find this room. She scanned his leg more thoroughly, assessing the damage to the bone: the bullet had lodged itself three quarter of the way down the femur, closer to the knee. The bone was fractured almost along its entire length and Alathea didn't doubt that the bullet had made it to the marrow. Even if she could remove the bullet, Chris would need massive amounts of antibiotics. And she doubted that any of the chemicals in this place would be of any use to her.

All she could do was remove the bullet and hope that Enterprise would be able to reach them before the infection killed its captain. Alathea surveyed the room, looking for any surgical instruments. If the villagers were any indication, the instruments should be the right length for a human. The two species looked very similar in shape and height. In fact, the only difference was the ridges on their ears.

Alathea smiled when she found a surgery kit with what resembled scalpels, scissors, forceps, clamps, and retractors. Another pack contained sutures and surgical drapes. As Br'tar came back with the sheets and blankets, she handed him the instruments. "They also need to be boiled and wrapped into clean sheets."

"I found a kitchen down the hall. I'll see what I can do."

"Anything that looks like a pressure cooker? It would help sterilize the instruments," she explained, although she doubted it would matter much.

"I'll see if I can find something. There is an oven… but I'm not sure it's safe to operate."

"How did you boil water?"

"I used my phaser directly on their stone."

Thea nodded. "We also need to find restraints," she added in a whisper.

"Restraints?"

"I have no anesthetics. He will wake up."

Br'tar jaw dropped open. He hadn't considered this possibility. "We can probably use the sheets but I'll see if I can find something sturdier in the crew quarters."

"Thank you, Br'tar."

"You have the tough job." The Masonian looked towards his captain with pity. "Anything we can do to…"

"I'll need to operate quickly. And I'll need your help holding his wound open while I get the bullet. I'll also need you to hold him down if… when he wakes up."

The security guard swallowed the bile that had risen from his empty stomach. Security officer training had involved a field medic module but he had hoped to never have to use it. During his field assessment, he had almost fainted at the sight of the made-up chest wound on his bunkmate. "I'll be back soon."

Alathea gave him a forced smile before making her way back to the captain. She arranged the blankets around him, leaving his right leg accessible. She cut open his pants to give her better access to the wound. The small whimper the movement caused froze her in place. She looked up to Chris to see his eyes flutter open and his face contort in a painful grimace. Alathea immediately took his hand and ran her fingers through his hair soothingly. "Hey, shhhh…. You're ok."

"Hurt." Pike murmured. All he could feel was a white hot pain propagating through his leg.

"I'm sorry." She swallowed to prevent herself from crying. "One of the bullets shattered all the medical equipment."

Chris winced at the news and bit his lower lip. Resigned to his pain, he slowly looked around the room. Alathea filled him in on what had transpired in the past few hours. "The landing party?" Chris asked when she was done.

Alathea shook her head. "No news from them yet… but they don't have a communicator. They might have been able to take refuge in another part of this complex and we wouldn't know. Once the storm passes, we can scan for them more easily." She knew first-hand how much Chris blamed himself for the death of any crew members. And right now, she needed to keep his spirits up.

Chris didn't believe her but he was too weak to fight. "Can you bandage my leg? If we need to shelter-in-place here, we need to make sure this place is defensible."

"Chris, the bullet is lodged in the bone. I need to take it out."

Chris' eyes grew wide in fear. "You don't have any equipment…"

"Chris, I'm sorry." The captain took a deep breath and squeezed Alathea's hand hard. If she had been any other doctor, including Boyce, he would have put on a brave face. But the doctor was Alathea. And he could never lie to her. "I'll be quick, Chris." Alathea caressed his forehead soothingly. Pike nodded, tears running down his cheeks. "I promise."