***
"Can you really read a map, Tom?"
"How come?"
"I for one didn't expect the closest way to a transmitter to lead through a dark, cold and damp
basement."
"The Klingon sensitiveness striking?"
"Something like that." B'Elanna snorted, a bit too unfriendly, while tramping through a layer
of something that looked like a layer of thin mud.
"According to Ecbel's map, we should find a hatch leading up soon."
"Oh, and I thought it was supposed to lead down! How can you trust him at all?"
"We were lucky he showed up when he did! If it had been another Sprai-koo officer, we could
have been in great trouble."
"I should have taken anyone easily." B'Elanna fingered at something in her pocket.
"I don't doubt that, but what would have happened when he woke up, or someone found him?
Scrich would know instantly , and Harry would be forced to flee in his condition!"
"Okay, you trust him, and I'll have to trust you. Hey, is this that hatch?"
Tom was startled by B'Elanna admitting that she actually trusted him, but not as surprised as
he'd been when she confessed her love for him. He hadn't been able to speak then. It wasn't
many times he found himself unable to answer, not many times at all.
"Well, is it the right one?!"
He snapped out of his thoughts and finally looked up. There, above B'Elanna's dark hair, three
thin lines of light met him.
After a quick glance at the map, he confirmed that it had to be.
"Can you reach it?"
"Can you?"
"No."
"You are a lot taller than me... If you can't reach it, how do you expect me to?" She said with
amusement.
"We'll have to find a solution." He looked at her. She stared back, a wicked smile curving the
end of her lips.
*
A minute later, Tom was on all fours with B'Elanna standing straight at his back, hitting at the
closed hatch with her palm.
"Are you done soon? This doesn't feel good," he groaned.
"My high heels or the humiliation?"
"Both."
"I wish I had a holocamera!" B'Elanna laughed. Tom grunted from his exceptional position.
"It's giving in!"
"Finally!" Tom said breathless. "It feels like my lungs are punctured, with my own ribs, broken
by your shoes. Couldn't you have removed them?"
"Then you would have suffocated." B'Elanna flung the hatch open, the sound drowning
Tom's chuckle. She pulled herself up, her heels finally leaving Tom's back.
He jumped up from the disgusting water he'd been kneeling in and grabbed the floor which
was hosting the hatch, and pulled himself up too.
When he got up, a big surprise awaited him.
They weren't inside a warm, dry transmission room. The walls were grey, the room utterly
small, and as damp and cold as the basement. At last it was brighter light there, only helping
them to see the mess around them.
"What is this?" He asked struck with wonder, though he already knew the answer. "It looks
like an old prison cell." He told himself more than he talked with Torres.
"WE'VE BEEN HAD, PARIS!!" B'Elanna shouted, at the same time a heavy rain began to
fall outside.
A door in front of them opened and three guards came in, two of them were the ones Tom had
met outside Scrich's office.
"You are under arrest. You have no right--" The one unknown to Tom said monotone. He
never got the time to finish his sentence though, because B'Elanna's foot flew up and broke his
fragile jaw.
The other two had to take several punches before their bodies gave up and collapsed.
She reached down and relieved them from their complicated guns. She handed one to Tom,
put one in her belt and took a firm hold around the other one.
Then something suddenly came to both B'Elanna's and Tom's minds, they looked up at each
other in panic.
"HARRY!!" They shouted at the same time, and ran out to the hallway outside.
***
"Can you really read a map, Tom?"
"How come?"
"I for one didn't expect the closest way to a transmitter to lead through a dark, cold and damp
basement."
"The Klingon sensitiveness striking?"
"Something like that." B'Elanna snorted, a bit too unfriendly, while tramping through a layer
of something that looked like a layer of thin mud.
"According to Ecbel's map, we should find a hatch leading up soon."
"Oh, and I thought it was supposed to lead down! How can you trust him at all?"
"We were lucky he showed up when he did! If it had been another Sprai-koo officer, we could
have been in great trouble."
"I should have taken anyone easily." B'Elanna fingered at something in her pocket.
"I don't doubt that, but what would have happened when he woke up, or someone found him?
Scrich would know instantly , and Harry would be forced to flee in his condition!"
"Okay, you trust him, and I'll have to trust you. Hey, is this that hatch?"
Tom was startled by B'Elanna admitting that she actually trusted him, but not as surprised as
he'd been when she confessed her love for him. He hadn't been able to speak then. It wasn't
many times he found himself unable to answer, not many times at all.
"Well, is it the right one?!"
He snapped out of his thoughts and finally looked up. There, above B'Elanna's dark hair, three
thin lines of light met him.
After a quick glance at the map, he confirmed that it had to be.
"Can you reach it?"
"Can you?"
"No."
"You are a lot taller than me... If you can't reach it, how do you expect me to?" She said with
amusement.
"We'll have to find a solution." He looked at her. She stared back, a wicked smile curving the
end of her lips.
*
A minute later, Tom was on all fours with B'Elanna standing straight at his back, hitting at the
closed hatch with her palm.
"Are you done soon? This doesn't feel good," he groaned.
"My high heels or the humiliation?"
"Both."
"I wish I had a holocamera!" B'Elanna laughed. Tom grunted from his exceptional position.
"It's giving in!"
"Finally!" Tom said breathless. "It feels like my lungs are punctured, with my own ribs, broken
by your shoes. Couldn't you have removed them?"
"Then you would have suffocated." B'Elanna flung the hatch open, the sound drowning
Tom's chuckle. She pulled herself up, her heels finally leaving Tom's back.
He jumped up from the disgusting water he'd been kneeling in and grabbed the floor which
was hosting the hatch, and pulled himself up too.
When he got up, a big surprise awaited him.
They weren't inside a warm, dry transmission room. The walls were grey, the room utterly
small, and as damp and cold as the basement. At last it was brighter light there, only helping
them to see the mess around them.
"What is this?" He asked struck with wonder, though he already knew the answer. "It looks
like an old prison cell." He told himself more than he talked with Torres.
"WE'VE BEEN HAD, PARIS!!" B'Elanna shouted, at the same time a heavy rain began to
fall outside.
A door in front of them opened and three guards came in, two of them were the ones Tom had
met outside Scrich's office.
"You are under arrest. You have no right--" The one unknown to Tom said monotone. He
never got the time to finish his sentence though, because B'Elanna's foot flew up and broke his
fragile jaw.
The other two had to take several punches before their bodies gave up and collapsed.
She reached down and relieved them from their complicated guns. She handed one to Tom,
put one in her belt and took a firm hold around the other one.
Then something suddenly came to both B'Elanna's and Tom's minds, they looked up at each
other in panic.
"HARRY!!" They shouted at the same time, and ran out to the hallway outside.
***