A Guardian From the Past
Chapter 2
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.
The shuttle, Armstrong, crashed through the tops of the tall fir trees and came to rest on its side at the edge of a steep cliff. The right front of the shuttle had been crumpled by rocks at the top of the cliff, and then slid over the edge about ten feet before it stopped. The left side of the shuttle was split open. Through the split, cold air and rain rushed inside, along with a soft light.
Chakotay pulled himself to a standing position from the floor and located an aft compartment. He pulled out and flipped on a wrist light and went to the Captain's side immediately. She was lying on the floor of the shuttle, unconscious. When he gently turned her onto her back, he saw a gash on her forehead and a trickle of blood on the side of her face.
Tom had been crumpled over the shattered pilot's console but was pushing himself to standing. "The Captain, is she OK?"
"She's out, and has a serious gash on her forehead. Can you locate a medkit?" Chakotay asked.
Tom turned to a console behind the pilot's seat, retrieved a medkit, and moved to Chakotay.
"How are you, Tom? You got slammed pretty hard into the console."
"I'm a little banged up. I just need to catch my breath. What the hell was that? It passed right through our shields." Tom said in an anxious voice.
"I'm not sure, but I don't feel too secure in this position. I think we should get out of the shuttle and try to contact Voyager with our commbadges."
Just as Chakotay spoke, the shuttle seemed to settle closer toward the edge of the cliff.
Tom and Chakotay helped the Captain out of the shuttle. She was coming around, and was able to walk shakily from the shuttle to a flat rock. She sat while Tom ran a tricorder over her head.
"You have a slight concussion, Captain and a nasty cut over your right eye. Hold still and I'll fix you right up." Tom smiled at her as he reached into the medkit.
The Captain closed her eyes against the dizziness. Her face was pale and she winced at the pain on the right side of her head. Tom knelt down beside her and passed the osteoregenerator over her right temple, then switched to the dermal regenerator and healed the cut. "We need to get you cleaned up, Captain. You'll still have a headache and some mild dizziness, but should be fine by tomorrow."
Janeway smiled at Tom and reached her hand to his shoulder. "Thank you, Lieutenant."
"Tom, you'd better grab what you can, the shuttle has slipped again." Chakotay said while he grabbed one of the baskets of food and went back in for several blankets. Tom retrieved the other medkit and several flasks of water.
Chakotay attempted to contact Voyager through his commbadge, but there was no answer. "There's too much interference from the storm; we'll have to wait until it subsides."
Tom pointed up the hill about 30 meters. "There's a small cave up to the left. We should take the Captain inside before this rain gets any heavier."
Chakotay helped the Captain to her feet. With Tom following behind slowly, they made their way up a slight hill to the cave that Tom had spotted. A loud cracking sound drew their attention to the shuttle as it pitched forward and slowly slid down the cliff and out of sight. The three Voyager crewmates shuddered as they realized how close they came to more serious injuries.
Chakotay settled the Captain on the floor of the cave and went back for the food and water. Tom covered the Captain with one of the blankets and started back outside the cave. "Tom you need to stay inside the cave until this rain lets up. We don't have any dry clothing and the temperature is dropping rapidly." The Captain said to Tom as he neared the entrance.
"I ..... I uh.... thought I'd try to contact Voyager again." Tom stammered as he backed towards the entrance of the small cave.
"Lieutenant, don't make me order you to stay inside. The interference is too great right now and we can't contact the ship until the storm clears up." Janeway's voice made it clear she expected Tom to obey. He reluctantly re-entered the cave and leaned against the wall closest to the entrance.
Chakotay pulled the remaining supplies further into the small cave, out of the rain, and sat down next to the captain. In the dim light, he failed to notice how pale Tom's face was and that he winced slightly when he leaned up against the hard rock wall.
* * * * *
Harry and B'Elanna entered the bridge to find Lieutenant Baytart at the helm and Ensign Tal Celes at the Ops station. Harry went to Ops and relieved the Ensign, while looking to Tuvok for an explanation as to why they'd been called to the bridge.
"We have lost contact with the shuttle and a sudden storm has appeared on our sensors over the third planet. Ensign Kim, increase power to long-range sensors to search for the shuttle's ion trail. Lieutenant Baytart, lay in a course that takes us into orbit around the third planet. When in range, scan for life signs of the away team."
Oh no! B'Elanna thought. This was supposed to be a simple mission to locate dilithium crystals and check out the shuttle. Tom has to be OK. "Commander, when did we lose contact with the shuttle?" She demanded.
"We lost all traces of the shuttle at 1345 hours when sensors detected two large energy surges in the lower atmosphere of the third planet. There have been no answers to our hails."
* * * * *
Tom shifted restlessly against the wall of the cave and kept glancing out at the storm.
The captain moaned slightly and pulled the blanket closer around her body. "The temperature is definitely dropping quite rapidly. We need some way to keep warm in here." She glanced at her first officer who smiled back at her.
"This time getting heat will be easy; I have a fully charged phaser." Chakotay stated. He aimed the phaser at one of the larger rocks on the floor until it began to glow a bright red and sent warmth throughout the small cave.
Tom looked out of the entrance to the cave and noticed that the rain had let up. "I'm going to try to contact Voyager again." He left the shelter of the cave and moved slowly down the slight incline.
"This cave is really too small for Tom's comfort." Janeway remarked. "The fresh air will do him good and possibly he can get through to Voyager. I'm starting to get hungry; maybe you can break out some of that food you insisted on bringing."
"There's plenty of fruit, and some of the hair pasta Neelix had at dinner last night, but not a lot of hot food. We didn't expect to get stranded here in this cold rain."
* * * * *
"Sir, we're approaching the third planet but sensors are not picking up any life signs. I believe the interference from the storm is too great." Lieutenant Baytart declared.
"Lieutenant Torres, boost power to the sensor array and scan for any signs of the shuttle and the away team." Tuvok ordered.
"Sensors are at maximum power now, Commander, but they're not getting anything." B'Elanna reported. "We need to send someone down to get the away team back."
"Lieutenant, I understand your concern but I am not going to risk any more crewmen until we can ascertain what has happened on the planet's surface." Tuvok responded.
"Tuvok, we're talking about the Captain, Commander Chakotay and Tom down there! We can take the Delta Flyer down. The sensors and shields are more powerful than the shuttle and we can bring the away team back to Voyager." B'Elanna requested.
"I'm sorry Lieutenant, but until we have a definite answer as to why we have no signs of the shuttle, we wait it out."
B'Elanna started to protest, but a look from Harry told her it would be futile to argue with Tuvok, so she continued to try to boost the sensor array.
* * * * *
Tom stumbled back into the entrance of the cave with a small pouch in his hands. "Still can't get through to Voyager. The energy surges in the lower atmosphere are preventing any signals past the tops of the trees. But I did find something to brighten our dinner." He said with a sly smile. He held out the pouch to Chakotay. "Wild mushrooms, and don't worry, I scanned them with the tricorder, they're safe to eat. We can make soup which will help to ward off the cold." He took several ragged breaths as he suddenly slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor of the cave.
Chakotay, grabbing a medical tricorder, was on his feet bending over Tom. "Why didn't you say anything?" He demanded as he scanned the younger man. "You have several broken ribs and a bruised spleen. There might even be some internal bleeding." He grumbled as he reached out and pressed on Tom's abdomen.
Tom hissed in pain and glared at Chakotay. "Get your damn hands off of me!"
"Look Paris, you need medical attention and you should have let us know about your injuries right away." Chakotay snapped at Tom.
"And what could you have done Commander, performed surgery here in our home away from home?" Tom attempted to push Chakotay away from him.
"Gentlemen, enough!" Janeway shouted above their loud voices. "Tom, you should have told us that you were hurt."
"Sorry, Captain, but I didn't think it was so bad. I've been banged up before. It just started getting harder to breathe coming back up the hill." Tom whispered as the pain became more intense.
Chakotay took the osteoregenerator and began to heal the fractured ribs. "I'm afraid I can't do anything about the internal bleeding, Tom, but I can give you something for the pain." He pressed a hypospray to Tom's neck, grabbed a blanket, and covered Tom with it as he sat against the cold stone wall of the cave.
"Thanks, Commander." Tom closed his eyes in relief as the medication coursed through his system. "Sorry I snapped at you."
"It's OK, Paris." Chakotay answered as he turned back to the baskets of food. "Well, I guess I'm the cook for tonight. I'll get some soup going and then we'd all better try to get some rest. Hopefully, we can get through to Voyager in the morning."
* * * * *
"There must be something else we can do." B'Elanna complained to Harry as they left the bridge.
Harry turned towards her in the turbolift. "Let me go down to Astrometrics and see if Seven has any ideas on how to enhance our scanners." Harry left the turbolift on deck six and headed into Astrometrics. He kept thinking that he was missing something important.
to be
continued…