The two guards brought him before a third Hadrigan, who was wearing what
might have once been a dress uniform. After years of scavenging and
guerrilla warfare it looked more like something dragged out from under a
demolished building (which it probably was, now that Trip thought about it)
but some attempt had been made to make it look official. Trip looked at
the broken medals pinned to the shoulders and thought the whole effect
would have been pathetic, if it hadn't seemed so ominous.
"You are from Enterprise," the apparent leader said. Trip wasn't surprised at being able to understand him; the Captain had said the Hadrigans had stolen a UT from the landing party.
When Trip didn't answer, the Hadrigan continued. "Your attempts at escape were ill-advised. Your evasive skills are no match for our tracking abilities."
"Well I see you're getting a lot of use outta OUR phaser and OUR Universal Translator," Trip sneered.
"Yes, they are quite helpful," the leader said with complete lack of sarcasm
The Hadrigan guards each took one of Trip's hands in theirs. Damn stupid way to secure a prisoner, Trip thought, getting ready to kick as soon as someone got close enough.
The leader stood facing him, but not so close that he was in kicking range. Trip looked down at his hands and then back up at the leader, smiling. "We gonna start dancing around in a circle now, or are we just goin' steady.." The two guards suddenly squeezed, grinding the bones in his hands against each other. The pain forced him to his knees with a strangled shout. Just before bones could break, the pressure eased off.
Panting, he stared at the floor for a moment before looking up at the leader. "Aren't you s'posed to ask me some questions before you start in on that?"
"A demonstration," the leader said in an eerie monotone.
When he didn't continue, Trip said "Okaaay, so now what do.." the guards squeezed again, and this time from his right hand there was an audible snap. Trip ground his teeth together to keep from screaming as the pain surged up his arms to meet with the roaring in his ears. The moment before he was sure he'd black out, the pressure receded again.
"Speak only when you are spoken to," the leader said calmly.
Trip glared murderously at the Hadrigan, who stared back, unimpressed.
"We require more of your technology in order to turn the course of this war," the leader said.
"WHAT wa.." there was a warning pressure on his hands, and Trip bit off the end of his question.
"First, there is one other from Enterprise with you. You will tell us their location."
"There's no one with me, I'm alone." The guards slowly gripped his hands tighter. "It's the truth! Everybody else got back to the ship, there's only me.." the pressure reached an unbearable level, and backed off again. Trip blinked sweat out of his eyes and lifted his head to look at the leader.
"We do not believe you," it said. "But it is unimportant. We will find the other. We are more concerned with the technology aboard the Enterprise. We were unable to obtain much information from your Captain before your interference. You will give us any information available on the technology of the Enterprise."
Trip just glared at it.
The leader's voice took on a somewhat harder edge. "It is in your best interest to comply. You will assist us. We will win this war at any cost. The patriots of Hadria will rule this planet again."
"Patriots??" Trip blurted, ignoring the sudden crushing pressure by the guards. "You're just a bunch of goddam pirates!" It felt like every bone was being crumbled into powder. "Ignorant, thick-headed, brainless thieves!" He was scared to look at his hands anymore. "The planet's DEAD, the war's OVER you sorry excuse for a lifeform!" He could hear his breath coming in sobbing gasps. "Good job, you killed everybody, now deal with it your damn self and leave the rest of us out.." and the rest was lost in a hoarse scream and the sickening popping sounds coming from his hands. He sagged between the two guards, his chest tight and every tendon rigid with the effort to not beg, don't beg, don't give in, don't..
A flash, and the leader was on the ground. He felt the guard on his left jerk as another flash cut through the dark, and the last guard had time to fire off one badly aimed shot before he too dropped to the ground.
He looked up, and through a haze saw Hoshi, standing in the doorway, phaser held firmly between both hands.
He stared at her in amazement. "Strings," he blurted. She gave him a puzzled look, and he said "Got your strings back." The words were just sort of dropping out of his mouth, they sounded like they were coming from someone else. He shook his head to clear it, and suddenly noticed that she'd propped herself against the doorframe to keep from falling, and that the phaser in her hands was trembling violently.
Lurching to his feet, he stumbled over to her. "Lemmie guess," he said, trying for a nonchalant grin. "It was all an act, just waitin' for a chance to swoop in and do the big hero, last second rescue, right?"
"Course," she said faintly as she dropped the phaser and started to slide to the ground.
Half-laughing, he tried to brace her upright without using his mangled hands. "And to think I was worried about YOU. Faker."
Her laugh was cut off by a gasp as she looked down. "Oh..Trip, your hands," she whispered.
He closed his eyes briefly. 'Not looking not looking not looking' he told himself firmly. "I'll be okay, but I'd sure like to get back to the ship right about now. Can ya walk?"
"Little.."
"There's a ramp 'bout ten, eleven yards thataway. If we can get to the top of it, we outta be close enough to the surface to call home."
With Hoshi's arm around Trip's waist, and his arm resting over her shoulder, they managed to hold each other up as they made their way down the corridor.
They only paused once or twice to rest, just for a moment. Counting to himself, Trip figured they'd accounted for all of the Hadrigan guards. Hoshi wasn't so sure. The phaser in her free hand felt very small and insignificant.
Trip, who wasn't thinking very clearly any more, was vaguely worried about the blood he was getting on Hoshi's uniform. He half-dozed, and imagined Hoshi-the-puppet was trying to tie the bones in his hands together with her strings.
"..wrap them..?" Hoshi was asking.
"Mm..?" He shook himself awake and looked at her.
"Should we..wrap them with..something?" she asked, every breath feeling raw.
"I don't think I could stand to have 'em touched right now, darlin'," he said between breaths, trying to concentrate on something else other than the excruciating pain where his hands used to be. "I'll be fine." He looked over at her. Her face was very pale in the darkness; she looked faded and bruised. "You okay?"
"..be fine.." she echoed. "Little..hard to breathe.." All the nerve endings in her arms and legs felt scraped bare, and her lungs couldn't seem to draw in enough air.
He tightened his arm around her shoulder. "We can make it. Few more steps is all."
There was a timeless moment next. Everything seemed grey, featureless, unimportant. The echoes of their footsteps were swallowed up, leaving only flat, empty sounds. Pain didn't come from separate places anymore, or even separate people. It just surrounded them entirely, something they noticed, accepted, and tried to ignore. Reality sort of dropped away, and there was only one step in front of the other and ragged breaths and the flickering lights near the ground.
A breeze stirred the dust at their feet.
They stopped, looked at each other, and looked back.
The entrance to the tunnel was far behind them. They'd left it some time ago and never noticed.
They sank to the ground, clinging to each other, laughing and crying in relief. "The communicator," Trip whispered hoarsely, his head against hers. "Can you manage it?"
With fingers that felt wrapped in clay and splinters, Hoshi managed to get the communicator off of Trip's belt, and signal the ship.
"TRIP, HOSHI?" Archer's reply was immediate. "WHERE ARE YOU, WHAT'S HAPPENED?"
"Get us out of here," Trip panted, leaning against Hoshi as she held the communicator in cupped hands. "And tell the Doc to get ready. We need some help."
"WILL DO, HANG ON, MALCOM'S LOCKING ON TO YOU NOW. I THINK HE CAN GET YOU BOTH AT THE SAME TIME."
They sat, huddled together, looking up at the sky.
"Charles?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"You're more'n welcome," he said quietly. "Wouldn't have made it without you."
The light from the transporter covered them, and they were gone.
---------
"Watch it, that smarts!"
Hoshi woke up slowly, blinking at the overhead lights in sickbay.
"Commander, this will be much easier if you could hold still for a moment."
"I'm holdin' plenty still."
"Restraints would be helpful."
"I already said no didn't I?"
Cautiously, Hoshi raised her hand, and stared wonderingly at her fingers. They moved easily. She waved at herself, and then laughed.
Trip appeared beside her bed. "Hey," he said quietly. "You're awake." He gently sat on the edge of the bed. And almost fell off. Sitting again, he grinned at her. "Sorry, pain killers. Feelin' a little goofy."
His hands were hidden in a gauze-like cloth, and she opened her mouth to ask, but he quickly interrupted. "They're FINE. I'm fine. You're fine. Dehydrated, tired, and beat all the hell up, but we're gonna be fine."
"The Hadrigans.."
"We've told Starfleet and the Vulcans, and put out a warning beacon besides. They can't get off-planet because they haven't got the technology, so just as long as nobody lands there, they can't cause any trouble." He shrugged. "Captain says in a few years Starfleet might try to contact 'em again. Depends on how they're behaving I s'pose. We'll just be more careful the next time."
She smiled sleepily. "Did the Vulcans..laugh at us?"
He smiled back. "Not so's you'd notice." He leaned forward and whispered conspiratorily "But T'pol was doing that Vulcan Death Glare like it was goin' outta style, so you might wanna watch out fer.."
"Commander Tucker." Doctor Phlox's half-amused, half-annoyed voice floated up from outside her line of sight. "Your hands are not going to repair themselves on their own." And then his voice softened. "She needs her sleep. You can talk again in a few hours."
Trip nodded at her. "Sleep tight."
"You too."
"See ya in a few hours."
Phlox's voice. "Commander.."
"I'm coming I'm coming." Trip grinned at her again, and let Phlox lead him away.
Hoshi smiled. "See you.." she said. Or tried to say.
She fell asleep.
"You are from Enterprise," the apparent leader said. Trip wasn't surprised at being able to understand him; the Captain had said the Hadrigans had stolen a UT from the landing party.
When Trip didn't answer, the Hadrigan continued. "Your attempts at escape were ill-advised. Your evasive skills are no match for our tracking abilities."
"Well I see you're getting a lot of use outta OUR phaser and OUR Universal Translator," Trip sneered.
"Yes, they are quite helpful," the leader said with complete lack of sarcasm
The Hadrigan guards each took one of Trip's hands in theirs. Damn stupid way to secure a prisoner, Trip thought, getting ready to kick as soon as someone got close enough.
The leader stood facing him, but not so close that he was in kicking range. Trip looked down at his hands and then back up at the leader, smiling. "We gonna start dancing around in a circle now, or are we just goin' steady.." The two guards suddenly squeezed, grinding the bones in his hands against each other. The pain forced him to his knees with a strangled shout. Just before bones could break, the pressure eased off.
Panting, he stared at the floor for a moment before looking up at the leader. "Aren't you s'posed to ask me some questions before you start in on that?"
"A demonstration," the leader said in an eerie monotone.
When he didn't continue, Trip said "Okaaay, so now what do.." the guards squeezed again, and this time from his right hand there was an audible snap. Trip ground his teeth together to keep from screaming as the pain surged up his arms to meet with the roaring in his ears. The moment before he was sure he'd black out, the pressure receded again.
"Speak only when you are spoken to," the leader said calmly.
Trip glared murderously at the Hadrigan, who stared back, unimpressed.
"We require more of your technology in order to turn the course of this war," the leader said.
"WHAT wa.." there was a warning pressure on his hands, and Trip bit off the end of his question.
"First, there is one other from Enterprise with you. You will tell us their location."
"There's no one with me, I'm alone." The guards slowly gripped his hands tighter. "It's the truth! Everybody else got back to the ship, there's only me.." the pressure reached an unbearable level, and backed off again. Trip blinked sweat out of his eyes and lifted his head to look at the leader.
"We do not believe you," it said. "But it is unimportant. We will find the other. We are more concerned with the technology aboard the Enterprise. We were unable to obtain much information from your Captain before your interference. You will give us any information available on the technology of the Enterprise."
Trip just glared at it.
The leader's voice took on a somewhat harder edge. "It is in your best interest to comply. You will assist us. We will win this war at any cost. The patriots of Hadria will rule this planet again."
"Patriots??" Trip blurted, ignoring the sudden crushing pressure by the guards. "You're just a bunch of goddam pirates!" It felt like every bone was being crumbled into powder. "Ignorant, thick-headed, brainless thieves!" He was scared to look at his hands anymore. "The planet's DEAD, the war's OVER you sorry excuse for a lifeform!" He could hear his breath coming in sobbing gasps. "Good job, you killed everybody, now deal with it your damn self and leave the rest of us out.." and the rest was lost in a hoarse scream and the sickening popping sounds coming from his hands. He sagged between the two guards, his chest tight and every tendon rigid with the effort to not beg, don't beg, don't give in, don't..
A flash, and the leader was on the ground. He felt the guard on his left jerk as another flash cut through the dark, and the last guard had time to fire off one badly aimed shot before he too dropped to the ground.
He looked up, and through a haze saw Hoshi, standing in the doorway, phaser held firmly between both hands.
He stared at her in amazement. "Strings," he blurted. She gave him a puzzled look, and he said "Got your strings back." The words were just sort of dropping out of his mouth, they sounded like they were coming from someone else. He shook his head to clear it, and suddenly noticed that she'd propped herself against the doorframe to keep from falling, and that the phaser in her hands was trembling violently.
Lurching to his feet, he stumbled over to her. "Lemmie guess," he said, trying for a nonchalant grin. "It was all an act, just waitin' for a chance to swoop in and do the big hero, last second rescue, right?"
"Course," she said faintly as she dropped the phaser and started to slide to the ground.
Half-laughing, he tried to brace her upright without using his mangled hands. "And to think I was worried about YOU. Faker."
Her laugh was cut off by a gasp as she looked down. "Oh..Trip, your hands," she whispered.
He closed his eyes briefly. 'Not looking not looking not looking' he told himself firmly. "I'll be okay, but I'd sure like to get back to the ship right about now. Can ya walk?"
"Little.."
"There's a ramp 'bout ten, eleven yards thataway. If we can get to the top of it, we outta be close enough to the surface to call home."
With Hoshi's arm around Trip's waist, and his arm resting over her shoulder, they managed to hold each other up as they made their way down the corridor.
They only paused once or twice to rest, just for a moment. Counting to himself, Trip figured they'd accounted for all of the Hadrigan guards. Hoshi wasn't so sure. The phaser in her free hand felt very small and insignificant.
Trip, who wasn't thinking very clearly any more, was vaguely worried about the blood he was getting on Hoshi's uniform. He half-dozed, and imagined Hoshi-the-puppet was trying to tie the bones in his hands together with her strings.
"..wrap them..?" Hoshi was asking.
"Mm..?" He shook himself awake and looked at her.
"Should we..wrap them with..something?" she asked, every breath feeling raw.
"I don't think I could stand to have 'em touched right now, darlin'," he said between breaths, trying to concentrate on something else other than the excruciating pain where his hands used to be. "I'll be fine." He looked over at her. Her face was very pale in the darkness; she looked faded and bruised. "You okay?"
"..be fine.." she echoed. "Little..hard to breathe.." All the nerve endings in her arms and legs felt scraped bare, and her lungs couldn't seem to draw in enough air.
He tightened his arm around her shoulder. "We can make it. Few more steps is all."
There was a timeless moment next. Everything seemed grey, featureless, unimportant. The echoes of their footsteps were swallowed up, leaving only flat, empty sounds. Pain didn't come from separate places anymore, or even separate people. It just surrounded them entirely, something they noticed, accepted, and tried to ignore. Reality sort of dropped away, and there was only one step in front of the other and ragged breaths and the flickering lights near the ground.
A breeze stirred the dust at their feet.
They stopped, looked at each other, and looked back.
The entrance to the tunnel was far behind them. They'd left it some time ago and never noticed.
They sank to the ground, clinging to each other, laughing and crying in relief. "The communicator," Trip whispered hoarsely, his head against hers. "Can you manage it?"
With fingers that felt wrapped in clay and splinters, Hoshi managed to get the communicator off of Trip's belt, and signal the ship.
"TRIP, HOSHI?" Archer's reply was immediate. "WHERE ARE YOU, WHAT'S HAPPENED?"
"Get us out of here," Trip panted, leaning against Hoshi as she held the communicator in cupped hands. "And tell the Doc to get ready. We need some help."
"WILL DO, HANG ON, MALCOM'S LOCKING ON TO YOU NOW. I THINK HE CAN GET YOU BOTH AT THE SAME TIME."
They sat, huddled together, looking up at the sky.
"Charles?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"You're more'n welcome," he said quietly. "Wouldn't have made it without you."
The light from the transporter covered them, and they were gone.
---------
"Watch it, that smarts!"
Hoshi woke up slowly, blinking at the overhead lights in sickbay.
"Commander, this will be much easier if you could hold still for a moment."
"I'm holdin' plenty still."
"Restraints would be helpful."
"I already said no didn't I?"
Cautiously, Hoshi raised her hand, and stared wonderingly at her fingers. They moved easily. She waved at herself, and then laughed.
Trip appeared beside her bed. "Hey," he said quietly. "You're awake." He gently sat on the edge of the bed. And almost fell off. Sitting again, he grinned at her. "Sorry, pain killers. Feelin' a little goofy."
His hands were hidden in a gauze-like cloth, and she opened her mouth to ask, but he quickly interrupted. "They're FINE. I'm fine. You're fine. Dehydrated, tired, and beat all the hell up, but we're gonna be fine."
"The Hadrigans.."
"We've told Starfleet and the Vulcans, and put out a warning beacon besides. They can't get off-planet because they haven't got the technology, so just as long as nobody lands there, they can't cause any trouble." He shrugged. "Captain says in a few years Starfleet might try to contact 'em again. Depends on how they're behaving I s'pose. We'll just be more careful the next time."
She smiled sleepily. "Did the Vulcans..laugh at us?"
He smiled back. "Not so's you'd notice." He leaned forward and whispered conspiratorily "But T'pol was doing that Vulcan Death Glare like it was goin' outta style, so you might wanna watch out fer.."
"Commander Tucker." Doctor Phlox's half-amused, half-annoyed voice floated up from outside her line of sight. "Your hands are not going to repair themselves on their own." And then his voice softened. "She needs her sleep. You can talk again in a few hours."
Trip nodded at her. "Sleep tight."
"You too."
"See ya in a few hours."
Phlox's voice. "Commander.."
"I'm coming I'm coming." Trip grinned at her again, and let Phlox lead him away.
Hoshi smiled. "See you.." she said. Or tried to say.
She fell asleep.
