Tom threw the elastic rope across the wall, like he'd done once before.
The double staple collided with the high wall, making a hollow noise, which echoed across the
deserted area.
At least it seemed deserted, Harry truly hoped it was, but deep down he, along with his two
friends, knew that it wasn't. And if it was abandoned, they'd have to keep searching for the
enemy hide-out, find it, and try to get in there.
Tom slowly pulled at the end of the rope until the staple hooked on to something, a protruding
piece of the wall.
He began to climb the approximately eight meters to the top, using the rope.
Both Starfleet and Maquis wondered in they had underestimated Tom Paris, the man who
seemed to stand right between both 'Fleet and Maquis, seriously.
At the top Tom tied another rope to the one he'd used to get up.
Harry was the next one up, he hadn't many positive feelings about climbing in ropes. To help
himself, he imagined that this mission was the one going to get him up the promotion ladder,
symbolized by the rope.
Harry had quite an unusual style, he grabbed the rope and pulled himself a bit up from the
barren ground. He then did something resembling to swimming upwards, his crawling
reminded B'Elanna of a worm.
He also made it up. When he looked down at Tom before grabbing the other rope, he suddenly
got a feeling that he'd fall back and land, hurting on the side he just was about to left.
But Harry didn't fall on his back, he made it over the wall's top and jumped the last two
meters down.
An incredible stupid thing to do, when he thought about it afterwards.
His usual bad luck struck again and he landed on his toes, felt his right foot twitch forward
abruptly with an unpleasant sound.
Kim looked up from where he sat, crouched down, his foot ached a little and he felt pearls of
sweat break out at his forehead.
Deep inside he knew that he'd sprained his ankle, or worse, yet he was a little surprised it
ached so little. Scanning his head for the little medical knowledge he had, he came to the
conclusion that he was in a mild chock.
Tom was a few feet away, trying to scream instructions low to B'Elanna; like anyone can
scream low.
He hadn't noticed his friends unfortunate accident.
The Ensign stood up and tried to walk at his foot. It worked, even if it looked a little bumpy.
He decided to not tell his friends, as well superior officers, about what happened.
He broke the Starfleet rules by keeping such a thing from anyone superior, but if he talked,
they'd just keep his pace or leave him behind.
Harry didn't want to be left alone at the place they were, in his condition. Nor did he want to
slow all of them down.
He decided to walk the best he could, and if either Tom or B'Elanna noticed, he'd stay
voluntarily and take his punishment when they got back to the ship.
'So much for that promotion,' Harry sighed.
*
B'Elanna was alone at the outside, she could hear Tom tell her what to do, and it made her
mad. It couldn't be that hard, she was a Klingon, at least she had Klingon blood in her veins,
and on the whole she could do almost everything.
This stupid exercise, to climb over a wall, was probably a part of the Starfleet training she'd
missed out on by dropping out.
If she recalled boot camps' tracks correctly, this was a part of them.
In the Maquis she got training, stayings at boot camps , a lot of them, but she'd never seen this
particular stupid moment.
'This moron exercise could have been scheduled to the Freshman year!' She angrily thought,
while she grabbed the rope with both hands.
Pulling herself up, using only her armstrenght, various crewmembers' whispering comments
flew through her mind. 'Torres must have very strong arms.'
'Look at her muscles, I'm so lucky I've never been mangled by her.'
This morning she had a chance to prove how true it really was.
Torres managed to pull herself all the way up. She clumsily straddled the three feet thick wall
and rested her heavy feet and legs against the cool sides.
On her way down, which she believed should be much easier than the horrible way up, she
suddenly lost her foothold after only a meter.
She slipped down the wall, cursing at Klingon. The rope slid painfully fast beneath her fingers,
penetrating even the hardened skin covering her palms.
B'Elanna thought that she'd soon feel the ground, hit her back and lay unconscious.
She fell out-of-control, her body always brushing towards the wall passing by in slow-motion.
If she only knew where her feet were, she would have pressed them hard against the material,
and try to slow down.
Her unoptional rope-sliding lucky enough came to an end, as everything else in her life had,
though not to her advantage.
Soon it ended, and everything that happened only took a few seconds.
B'Elanna didn't lay unconscious, instead she found herself, lying like a baby, in Tom Paris'
arms. Still holding the rope.
Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres felt very humiliated, falling, incapable to stop herself, and then
ending up in the arms of a human.
Not that she disliked it, but she knew she could stay there forever, not with the two men
staring at her.
Harry had that look he always got when someone, anyone, was in severe danger. He looked
like a scared, hunted rabbit.
Tom's concerning, questioning blue eyes pierced her.
She made herself free rather fast. "I'm okay."
Standing on the firm ground, her palms and fingers burning with pain, B'Elanna wished that
she could show herself a little vulnerably, just once.
A pressing silence spread around them.
Tom left the two ropes hanging, he wouldn't get them down anyway, not if he either got a ship
or sprouted wings and learned to fly on his own.
The small break out group silently prepared to walk the, according to Earth measures, good
two kilometers to their goal.
Tom and B'Elanna, one by one, checked their equipment, that they had a backpacker each, and
so on.
Harry tried to bandage his ankle with a dark scarf he'd brought alone in case of sun, without
being seen.
"We need to get there as soon as possible." Tom broke the silence, "Before the second sun
goes up."
In the west shined a pale sun. Two of the three officers walked, another one limped, in the
opposite direction.
***
To be continued.....
The double staple collided with the high wall, making a hollow noise, which echoed across the
deserted area.
At least it seemed deserted, Harry truly hoped it was, but deep down he, along with his two
friends, knew that it wasn't. And if it was abandoned, they'd have to keep searching for the
enemy hide-out, find it, and try to get in there.
Tom slowly pulled at the end of the rope until the staple hooked on to something, a protruding
piece of the wall.
He began to climb the approximately eight meters to the top, using the rope.
Both Starfleet and Maquis wondered in they had underestimated Tom Paris, the man who
seemed to stand right between both 'Fleet and Maquis, seriously.
At the top Tom tied another rope to the one he'd used to get up.
Harry was the next one up, he hadn't many positive feelings about climbing in ropes. To help
himself, he imagined that this mission was the one going to get him up the promotion ladder,
symbolized by the rope.
Harry had quite an unusual style, he grabbed the rope and pulled himself a bit up from the
barren ground. He then did something resembling to swimming upwards, his crawling
reminded B'Elanna of a worm.
He also made it up. When he looked down at Tom before grabbing the other rope, he suddenly
got a feeling that he'd fall back and land, hurting on the side he just was about to left.
But Harry didn't fall on his back, he made it over the wall's top and jumped the last two
meters down.
An incredible stupid thing to do, when he thought about it afterwards.
His usual bad luck struck again and he landed on his toes, felt his right foot twitch forward
abruptly with an unpleasant sound.
Kim looked up from where he sat, crouched down, his foot ached a little and he felt pearls of
sweat break out at his forehead.
Deep inside he knew that he'd sprained his ankle, or worse, yet he was a little surprised it
ached so little. Scanning his head for the little medical knowledge he had, he came to the
conclusion that he was in a mild chock.
Tom was a few feet away, trying to scream instructions low to B'Elanna; like anyone can
scream low.
He hadn't noticed his friends unfortunate accident.
The Ensign stood up and tried to walk at his foot. It worked, even if it looked a little bumpy.
He decided to not tell his friends, as well superior officers, about what happened.
He broke the Starfleet rules by keeping such a thing from anyone superior, but if he talked,
they'd just keep his pace or leave him behind.
Harry didn't want to be left alone at the place they were, in his condition. Nor did he want to
slow all of them down.
He decided to walk the best he could, and if either Tom or B'Elanna noticed, he'd stay
voluntarily and take his punishment when they got back to the ship.
'So much for that promotion,' Harry sighed.
*
B'Elanna was alone at the outside, she could hear Tom tell her what to do, and it made her
mad. It couldn't be that hard, she was a Klingon, at least she had Klingon blood in her veins,
and on the whole she could do almost everything.
This stupid exercise, to climb over a wall, was probably a part of the Starfleet training she'd
missed out on by dropping out.
If she recalled boot camps' tracks correctly, this was a part of them.
In the Maquis she got training, stayings at boot camps , a lot of them, but she'd never seen this
particular stupid moment.
'This moron exercise could have been scheduled to the Freshman year!' She angrily thought,
while she grabbed the rope with both hands.
Pulling herself up, using only her armstrenght, various crewmembers' whispering comments
flew through her mind. 'Torres must have very strong arms.'
'Look at her muscles, I'm so lucky I've never been mangled by her.'
This morning she had a chance to prove how true it really was.
Torres managed to pull herself all the way up. She clumsily straddled the three feet thick wall
and rested her heavy feet and legs against the cool sides.
On her way down, which she believed should be much easier than the horrible way up, she
suddenly lost her foothold after only a meter.
She slipped down the wall, cursing at Klingon. The rope slid painfully fast beneath her fingers,
penetrating even the hardened skin covering her palms.
B'Elanna thought that she'd soon feel the ground, hit her back and lay unconscious.
She fell out-of-control, her body always brushing towards the wall passing by in slow-motion.
If she only knew where her feet were, she would have pressed them hard against the material,
and try to slow down.
Her unoptional rope-sliding lucky enough came to an end, as everything else in her life had,
though not to her advantage.
Soon it ended, and everything that happened only took a few seconds.
B'Elanna didn't lay unconscious, instead she found herself, lying like a baby, in Tom Paris'
arms. Still holding the rope.
Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres felt very humiliated, falling, incapable to stop herself, and then
ending up in the arms of a human.
Not that she disliked it, but she knew she could stay there forever, not with the two men
staring at her.
Harry had that look he always got when someone, anyone, was in severe danger. He looked
like a scared, hunted rabbit.
Tom's concerning, questioning blue eyes pierced her.
She made herself free rather fast. "I'm okay."
Standing on the firm ground, her palms and fingers burning with pain, B'Elanna wished that
she could show herself a little vulnerably, just once.
A pressing silence spread around them.
Tom left the two ropes hanging, he wouldn't get them down anyway, not if he either got a ship
or sprouted wings and learned to fly on his own.
The small break out group silently prepared to walk the, according to Earth measures, good
two kilometers to their goal.
Tom and B'Elanna, one by one, checked their equipment, that they had a backpacker each, and
so on.
Harry tried to bandage his ankle with a dark scarf he'd brought alone in case of sun, without
being seen.
"We need to get there as soon as possible." Tom broke the silence, "Before the second sun
goes up."
In the west shined a pale sun. Two of the three officers walked, another one limped, in the
opposite direction.
***
To be continued.....