Redemption
Chapter 7
Disclaimer - Paramount and Viacom own the characters from Voyager, although they didn't often treat them right. The story line belongs to me.
A special thanks to: My friend and editor of all my stories, Mill3rs.
"Harry, can you untie my hands?" Tom asked as he turned his back towards Harry's and lifted his hands up. Chakotay and Ayala were freeing themselves in the same manner. Once his hands were free, Tom stood and moved slowly back to where the shuttle had been. Squatting down in the low grass, he moved his hands back and forth until he grabbed something. Standing up with a sly grin on his face, he approached Chakotay. "I thought we might need these." He held two of the smaller phasers in his right hand and three hyposprays in his left.
Chakotay smiled with understanding. The resistance on the ramp had been a ruse so Tom could stash the items under the hatch where they would not have been seen by the Kazon. Tom approached Chakotay and, reaching into his boot, pulled out a tricorder. "The pressure in the back of your head is pretty high and I imagine you still have one hell of a headache." Chakotay nodded slightly as Tom dialed in the appropriate dosage of pain medication and pressed the hypospray against his neck.
Chakotay let out a breath as the pain receded. "Thank you, Lieutenant. That was quite a performance you put on back there. Where did you learn to conceal weapons so quickly?"
"You learn many things in order to survive on one's own after being kicked out of Starfleet, Commander. Especially when you have no money and no place to live." Tom answered with a trace of bitterness in his voice. "Well, where do we go from here?"
"Cap, Harry and I overheard the Kazon talking last night. They have a shuttle about a days walk from here. It sounded like their engines were pretty well shot when they crashed but it may offer shelter and a way to communicate with Voyager." Ayala answered as he noted the exchange between Chakotay and Paris.
Harry moved to Tom's side; as his friend stumbled slightly and put his hand to the side of his head. "Sit down, Tom. You may have a concussion." Taking the tricorder from Tom, Harry held it to the side of Tom's head. "Once again, your hard head seems okay. Just some bleeding which has stopped. But you might feel some dizziness for a while." Harry took one of the other hyposprays, adjusted it, and put it to the side of Tom's neck. "This will take care of the pain for now." He then stood and moved to Chakotay and Ayala. "Commander, the Kazon talked like their shuttle had full environmental controls online as well as at least part of their communications array. I agree with Lieutenant Ayala. We should try to get to it and rig up their systems to get a message through to Captain Janeway."
"I don't think the commander should be going anywhere yet; at least until the pressure in his head stabilizes." Tom said, glancing towards the other three men.
Chakotay slowly tried turning his head from side to side, wincing slightly. "We'll need to get out of the sun in the next few hours and there's no shelter around here. I'll be fine." He rubbed at the collar around his neck. It was getting more uncomfortable as the temperature rose. "I'd like to take this collar off. I feel like I'm being strangled."
"As long as you're sitting still, you can remove it but I think it would be good to have it on when we're moving." Tom stated, looking to Chakotay who then undid the clasps on the side of the collar and took it off his neck. "Let's at least wait another hour and then we'll go at a slow pace." Turning to Harry, Tom asked. "How far is the cave you were in last night? Is there any shelter before we reach it?"
"I'd guess we walked for at least three hours from the cave. There is a small stand of trees a little over an hour from here where we could take a break." He looked towards the commander with a worried look on his face. He was still very new to deep space travel and knew from his survival training that their situation could be quite dangerous if they didn't find shelter and water within the next few hours.
"Then it's settled. We leave in one hour. Ayala scout around and see if there's any water near here. Did you manage to keep your stash?" Chakotay asked with a sly grin on his face as he reached into his jacket and retrieved a small phaser and tricorder. When he noticed Harry looking at him questioningly he stated. "There are some tricks you learn in the Maquis, Ensign."
"Yeah, like how to conceal weapons from the enemy. These are not Starfleet issue and are small enough to hide." Ayala smirked as he pulled out his own phaser from inside his boot.
Seeing that the other two officers had weapons, Tom handed one of the small phasers to Harry and clipped the other one to his belt.
While Ayala went off in search of water, Harry approached Chakotay. "Permission to speak freely, Sir?" He asked as the older man looked up from the flat rock he was sitting against. Harry was clearly uncomfortable in the commander's presence as he shifted back and forth and glanced back at Tom who was lying on the ground with his hands clasped behind his head and his eyes closed.
"What is it, Ensign?" Chakotay answered in a weary voice. He wasn't sure if he had the energy to walk to the cave but knew that they needed to get out of the harsh elements on the planet's surface.
"Sir, the Kazon were bragging about tracking our shuttle and firing at it as we entered the lower atmosphere. We didn't crash during the ion storm. We were shot down. Tom probably kept the damage and our injuries at a minimum with his flying." Harry spoke softly, not wanting Tom to hear him.
"Understood, Mr. Kim. Thanks." Chakotay glanced at Tom and closed his eyes. He realized that there was much to learn about the young pilot. "Better get some rest, Ensign. We have a long day ahead of us.
* * * * *
Ayala returned after twenty minutes with the news of a small stream with clean water just slightly off their path towards the Kazon shuttle. At the end of the hour, Tom rose and placed the collar around Chakotay's neck before telling the commander that he could stand up. Chakotay gave him a small grin as they headed off towards the stream.
They drank eagerly at the stream and washed the dirt off their faces. Tom splashed some of the cool water on his face and stood quickly when he heard a rustling sound behind him. He stumbled as a wave of dizziness overcame him and Harry grabbed his arm to steady him. They could see some movement in the brush at the side of the stream but nothing emerged and the sounds faded away. "We need to be on the lookout for the native animals." Tom said as he waved the tricorder around their surroundings. "There are life signs of some small creatures but I don't know if they are dangerous or not." He walked over to Chakotay who was sitting on one of the larger rocks and took the medical tricorder out. "The pressure is still down but I don't think we should move at too fast a pace."
"Look, Paris, that sun is getting higher and the temperature is rising fast. We need to get Chakotay to some shelter. The ion storms will start to pick up soon and I can tell you, after yesterday, we don't want to be out in the open when they do." Ayala snapped at Tom. He was tired of this traitor giving them orders.
"It's alright, Greg. I can move at a fast enough pace. Ensign Kim said that the caves are only a few more hours from here. Let's get another drink and be on our way." Chakotay stated as he stood and moved towards the stream.
* * * * *
Voyager moved silently through the stars. Only a few veteran space travelers could hear the engines as the ship flew at Warp 2. One of these 'veterans' was the new chief engineer, B'Elanna Torres. Although she was still in her early twenties, B'Elanna had an innate sense about anything mechanical. She could feel as well as hear the engines as she awoke. B'Elanna had been on the bridge refitting the engineering station when she overheard the Captain acknowledge her fear for the away team after the Kazon attack on Voyager. Chakotay and Ayala were on the shuttle and B'Elanna was very close to them both. Chakotay had rescued her from a Cardassian soldier who was about to attack her after killing the pilot on the cargo ship she was on. Ayala protected her from some of the more aggressive Maquis when they were both serving on the Liberty. The young Ensign, Harry Kim, was also on the shuttle. Starfleet, you can't be lost, I've finally found a friend. B'Elanna thought as she finished dressing. She left her quarters, entered the turbolift and headed for engineering. She wanted to see if she could push the drive a little and get it up to Warp 3.
Captain Janeway strode onto the bridge and approached the tactical station. "Any sign from the away team, Mr. Tuvok?" She asked with a slight frown on her face. She was concerned about her all of her crewmen but especially about the Commander. If Chakotay was lost, the fragile allegiance between the Starfleet crew and Maquis could easily fall apart.
"I'm sorry Captain, but there is too much interference from the ion storms on the planet's surface to pick up any signals from the shuttle. When we get closer to the planet, we can attempt to contact them with close range communications." Tuvok replied as she turned from his station and walked to the command chair.
"Lieutenant, continue on our present course." Janeway ordered the officer at the helm. Turning back to Tuvok she requested. "Keep scanning for any communications from the shuttle and for any signs of Kazon vessels."
"Aye, Captain." Tuvok replied, his eyes on his console. He knew she was worried about the away team and the damage that the Kazon attack had inflicted on the ship. He also knew that if anything was to happen to Commander Chakotay that they would have trouble with the remaining Maquis onboard.
* * * * *
It had taken the four men almost two hours to reach the trees Harry had mentioned. Both Chakotay and Tom were moving at a slower pace and dropped to the ground under the shade. Ayala located a group of bushes with some small green fruit resembling berries, hanging from the low branches. He brought some back and using the tricorder, determined that they were safe to eat. He and Harry gathered all that they could find on the three small bushes and, using their jackets to carry them, returned to the two men slumped under one of the trees. "Here these will give us something in our stomachs. I'm afraid there's no water until we get near the cave." He handed some berries to Chakotay while Harry sat next to Tom and gave him a handful.
They ate in silence until Chakotay stood and pulled his jacket off. "We need to keep going if we're to reach the cave before dark. About how much further, Greg?" He asked as he tied his jacket around his waist and grabbed another handful of berries.
"I figure it's at least another two hour walk, Sir." Ayala said as he walked over to Chakotay. "We need to head for those hills." He pointed to some blue tinged rocks in the distance.
They moved at a slow but steady pace until the cave came into view. The opening was about two thirds of the way up a very steep cliff. Ayala looked up as he wiped the sweat from his face. "I don't remember it being such a sheer walk down."
Harry came up behind him and followed his line of sight. "You're right, it wasn't this steep. I don't think we came down right here." He pointed to a more sloping path off to their right. "That looks more like our path this morning."
"No, we came straight down. I started to fall because they were moving us too fast." He started up the side of the cliff with the other's following him at a slight distance. Moving to his left, his foot slipped and suddenly he started to slide back down over an outcropping of rocks. Clutching at the rock face, Ayala slipped off the ledge and disappeared from view. The other men rushed toward the ledge and could see him crumpled on a flat plane about three meters below them.
Chakotay started after him but Tom grabbed his arm. "No, it isn't safe. I've been rock climbing on similar cliffs before. You could bring down more rocks if you try to get down there too fast. I'll get him; just lie flat on the top of the ledge and be ready to help him up." Tom slipped over the edge carefully before Chakotay could argue with him. Making his way slowly to the fallen man, Tom found small hand holds in the rock face. Once he reached Ayala he quickly began to scan him with the tricorder.
The other man moaned slightly as he began to sit up. "I'm fine, Paris. Get that thing away from me." Ayala snapped although Tom could see the scrapes and cuts on his hands and face. "Let me catch my breath and I'll climb back up there."
"I need to be sure nothing's broken." Tom said as he raised the tricorder and scanning Ayala was relieved to note that he hadn't broken any bones in his fall. Glaring at Tom, Ayala stood up but was unable to find a hand hold.
"Look, Ayala, I've done this many times. Let me go below you and talk you up. Just put your hands where I tell you and we'll be up there in no time." Tom ignored the man's scornful look and guided him to the first hand hold. He slowly told Ayala where to place his hands and helped him to move his feet to the secure toe holds. When they reached the ledge, Chakotay and Harry grabbed Ayala's hands and helped him climb onto flat ground.
Harry reached back for Tom who scrambled over the edge and moved to Ayala's side. He took one of the hyposprays and started to place it against the man's neck when Ayala pushed his hand aside. "I'm fine, Paris." He glared at the other man and then grudgingly mumbled. "Thanks. Now, let's get up to the cave." He stood and moved away from the others.
As they neared the entrance of the cave, Ayala led the way. Harry followed about two meters behind with Tom walking quietly next to him. Chakotay was below them.
Tom glanced down to the Commander who looked like he was getting tired. Turning back to Harry, he heard a rustling in the low scrub bushes between the rocks and a snake like creature suddenly slithered out on a rock behind Harry. "Harry, don't move." Tom said in a low, calm voice while he pulled the phaser off his belt.
Harry looked behind him and saw the creature as it stopped its movement. He froze in place as Tom fired his weapon. The creature collapsed on the ground and Harry let out the breath he had been holding. Looking back to Tom to thank him, he spotted another of the creatures on the ground next to Tom. "Tom!" He cried out, reaching for the other small phaser that Tom had given him. Before he could fire, the creature struck out and sank its fangs into Tom's left leg just below his knee.
A searing pain went through Tom's leg as he fell to the ground; his phaser dropping uselessly from his hand.
to be continued…
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