Title: Lost In Darkness
Authors: Sita/T'eyla
Genre: Angst/Drama
Rating: PG-13
AN: First of all, sorry about that cliffhanger, but it just had to be done (we admit we are evil :-) ). Secondly, sorry to everybody who reviewed Chapter 5 and wasn't mentioned in the Author's Note of Chapter 6, but like everybody else we were having trouble getting our reviews. Hopefully we got everyone in here now:
Thanks to Moneypenny, Daria for Chapter 5 and Chapter 6, trecia, Aeryn Lavanthia for Ch 5+6, Pike2, Exploded Pen (well, you're gonna need a *long* pointy stick... but before you go looking for one, read Chapter 7, okay?;-) ), Gabi (danke für deine nette e-mail, Antwort kommt ASAP), ally (hey, you're the only one who was concerned about Trip too! *g*), KaliedescopeCat, Les1, Skye29 (naainnaain, wir würden doch nie Malcolm umbringen, was denkst du von uns... hehehe ;-) ), looneyluna, The Libran Iniquity (that was revenge for all the "Renaissance"-cliffies, Libra *eg*), csifan2000, Reedie, Nikki, Wolfa Moon and skully for reviewing! (Wow, what a sentence! *g*)
Here's Chapter 7, please r&r!
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Chapter 7
Captain's Log, Supplemental:
After finishing the repairs on the Tellarite freighter whose distress call we received five days ago, we are now on our way back to planet V'nera, where we're going to pick up Lieutenant Reed and Commander Tucker. By now, they should have gathered enough data about the V'neran culture to keep Science Department busy for weeks. Fortunately, the repairs didn't take as long as we expected, and so we are able to return to V'nera five days early.
I wasn't too happy with my decision to leave Trip and Malcolm behind, but all the same, I'm sure this time everything went smoothly. Lieutenant Reed assured me that the V'nerans are a very peaceful people, and when Malcolm says there are no security risks involved, then I believe him. The V'nerans seem to have a very complex and fascinating social structure, and T'Pol is already looking forward to evaluating the data.
T'Pol looked up from her station, glancing at Archer who'd just shut off the log recorder.
"I am expecting the data with some interest, Captain," she said coolly. "I am not looking forward to it."
Archer bit back a grin. "Yeah, sure. Wasn't it you who asked me yesterday if we could increase speed a little so we'd be there a few hours earlier?"
T'Pol raised an eyebrow. "I was merely suggesting we try to reach V'nera as fast as we can to minimize the period of time the away team is without possibility to contact the ship."
Archer turned his chair so he faced his Science Officer, a malicious grin spreading on his face. He was definitely feeling evil today.
"Looking forward to seeing Commander Tucker again, are you?"
T'Pol's other eyebrow shot up as well.
"Captain?" she asked and he'd just opened his mouth to give a smart reply when he was interrupted by Travis' voice.
"Sir, we're reaching V'nera."
Archer turned back to the main screen and his eyes fell on the pale blue sphere hanging before them in the darkness of space, growing steadily bigger as they approached.
"Bring us into standard orbit, Travis," he said, getting up. "Hoshi, hail them."
"Yes, sir."
Archer watched Hoshi press a few buttons on her console and felt a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Somehow, he was in a really good mood today. The repairs had gone smoothly, and the fact that he would soon be able to have all his senior officers back on board again was another plus for the day. Archer was just trying to think of a way to tell Trip that they'd left his last CO2 filter with the Tellarites when Hoshi's voice startled him out of his thoughts.
"Captain, they're not responding."
Archer raised his head. "Can you pick up the signature of their communicators?"
Hoshi shook her head. "No, I'm not picking up anything, sir."
Walking over to her station, Archer bent down over the displays as well. "What about shuttlepod 1?"
Hoshi ran another scan of the surface, then looked up at Archer. "It's still where it was when we left orbit five days ago."
Archer straightened up again. "Keep trying to reach them."
"Aye, sir."
"Captain." T'Pol's voice sounded unusually urgent, and Archer turned around.
"What is it?"
"I am picking up two human bio signs four hundred miles east of the landing site," she said, looking up at Archer with a very grave expression on her face. "They are getting weaker."
Archer stared at her for a moment, his high spirits completely gone by now, replaced by a worried feeling that was increasing with every minute.
"Four hundred miles from the landing site?" he asked incredulously. "Where are they?"
T'Pol checked her scanners again. "They are not near any settlement or town; in fact, there are no other bio signs anywhere near them." She raised her eyes. "Captain, we have to hurry."
Archer nodded curtly. "Hoshi, tell Phlox to meet us in shuttlebay one. You have the bridge. T'Pol, Travis..."
Without another look at any of his officers, Archer strode towards the turbolift. T'Pol and Travis followed him, neither of them speaking a word as they entered the turbolift, setting off for the shuttlebay.
-###-
Archer glanced out of the shuttle window, but he couldn't make out anything in the snowstorm that was raging over the frozen wasteland of planet V'nera. It was completely dark outside and Archer was quite glad they had taken Travis along, for Ensign Mayweather was probably the only person aboard Enterprise who was able to pilot a shuttlepod safely through this kind of blizzard.
As he looked out into the stormy night, he thought of Trip and Malcolm somewhere down there, surrounded by nothing but snow and ice. How on earth did they come to be here in the middle of nowhere, several hundred miles away from their shuttlepod? Archer shook his head, not able to come up with any explanation that made sense.
He raised his eyes and glanced over at T'Pol who was bent over the scanner controls, tapping away at the console with a concentrated expression on her face.
"Anything new?" he asked, and she looked up, her voice betraying even less emotion than usual as she answered.
"No, Captain. I am still picking up two bio signs, but..."
Archer straightened up in his chair. "But what?"
T'Pol hesitated. "I am not entirely sure the data is correct. The scan results might have been altered by the storm outside-"
"What is it, T'Pol?" Archer interrupted her. She met his eyes, and he heard the tension in her voice as she spoke.
"One of them is rapidly weakening. It..." She glanced down at the display again. "It is gone."
Archer felt a hard knot forming in his chest. "It's gone?" he asked. From the corner of his eyes he saw Travis turning his head sharply at these words, looking at T'Pol as well. She pressed a few buttons on the console, avoiding to meet their eyes.
"The scanners are picking up only one life sign at the moment, but as I said, the data might be incorrect. The storm-"
Archer got up from his seat. "Get us down there, Travis. Maximum speed."
"I'll do my best, sir."
Travis turned back to the helm, his fingers flying over the console, and a moment later the shuttle gave a sharp lurch as it accelerated on its descending course. Archer sat back down in his seat, gripping the armrests of his chair so hard his knuckles turned white. He prayed that T'Pol was right, that the shuttle scanners weren't working properly due to the atmospheric interferences, but somehow he doubted this was the case.
Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up, meeting Dr. Phlox' eyes. The Denobulan was smiling as he always did, but at the moment it was definitely a very subdued smile.
"Captain," he said quietly, "even if the scanners are not able to pick up a life sign anymore, this does not necessarily mean the person in question has died. Sometimes the vital functions are simply too weak to be picked up from a greater distance."
Archer nodded, forcing a slight smile. "Thanks, doc."
Travis voice came from the direction of the helm. "Doc, I think you want to sit down now. We're approaching the surface and it's gonna be quite a rough landing."
The shuttle was jerking harder now, and as Archer looked out the main window, he saw the snow-covered surface rapidly rushing towards them. A second before they hit the ground, Travis pulled the shuttle's snout up. The pod made contact with the surface, and they were almost thrown out of their seats as it slithered along on the uneven ground. Travis operated the controls with skilled movements, and after a moment the shuttle came to a halt.
T'Pol turned around in her seat.
"Captain, we are about a hundred feet away from the life sign's coordinates."
Archer got up again.
"Travis, you stay with the shuttle. Be ready to start as soon as we return. T'Pol, Phlox, you come with me."
T'Pol picked up her hand scanner and followed Phlox who had grabbed his med kit and was already on his way to the hatch. Archer opened one of the storage compartments and got out a flashlight.
"Let's get going."
As he opened the hatch, a cold gust of wind hit him in the face, and he squinted his eyes shut, hearing the snow crunch under his boots as he climbed out of the shuttle. He held the flashlight up for T'Pol and Phlox as they got out as well, then gestured for T'Pol to lead the way. Without another word she set off into the night, never taking her eyes off the display of her scanner.
Phlox and Archer followed, pulling their jackets tighter around their shoulders against the biting cold. Despite the flashlight Archer couldn't make out much of their surroundings, the snowstorm making it almost impossible to see anything beyond a distance of a few feet. He stayed as close behind Phlox and T'Pol as possible, pointing the flashlight ahead, but there was nothing but snow and ice as far as he could see. A moment later T'Pol raised her eyes from her scanner.
"Captain, I am now picking up two life signs again, about forty feet ahead."
Quickening his pace, Archer came up beside her, checking on the display himself. There were indeed two life signs, weak though, but definitely two human bio signs. Archer briefly closed his eyes in relief.
"There," said T'Pol, pointing into the darkness, and Archer brushed past her, holding up the flashlight as he set off in a run. First, he couldn't see anything, but then his eyes fell on a dark shape in the snow a few feet away from him.
"Doctor!"
Immediately, Phlox was at his side. Archer crouched down in the snow and raised the flashlight, feeling his heart sink at the sight. Trip was half-sitting, half-lying on the frozen ground, slumped forward over Malcolm's still form, cradling the Lieutenant in his arms. There was some kind of blanket around his shoulders, as if Trip had wrapped it around them both in a desperate try to keep the cold away. Archer pushed it aside, holding up the flashlight to be able to get a better look at their faces, and took in a sharp breath. Both Trip and Malcolm looked terribly thin and wasted, their faces covered in dirt and dried blood. Their beards had grown, and as Archer looked closer, he could make out various cuts and bruises on their faces, some of which were already healing again.
Phlox looked up from his scanner, meeting Archer's eyes with a worried expression on his face.
"Captain, we need to get them to sickbay. Their condition is critical, and especially Lieutenant Reed needs immediate medical attention. To be quite honest, I'm not even sure if we'll be able to get him back to the ship in time."
"Is it advisable to use the transporter, doctor?" T'Pol asked, and Phlox looked up at her.
"No, in their current condition it might actually kill them if we beam them back to the ship."
Tucking away his med scanner, he pulled out a hypospray.
"This will stabilize their condition, but we need to hurry."
Archer got up. "We need to take them back to the shuttle."
Without another word T'Pol bent down and carefully pulled Reed away from Trip, gently lowering him onto the ground. Then she picked up Trip's seemingly lifeless body and straightened up again, apparently unaffected by the weight.
When Archer lifted Malcolm off the ground, following T'Pol who was already on her way back to the shuttle, he realized with dismay that the Lieutenant seemed to have lost a great amount of weight. Walking faster, he caught up with T'Pol who had almost reached the shuttle by now.
Travis was standing in the hatch, a rather worried expression appearing on his face as he watched them approach. He didn't say a word, though, but simply took Reed from Archer, carrying him over to one of the rear benches while Archer climbed in through the hatch. Phlox followed, helping T'Pol carry Trip to the other bench, then opened his med kit and took out another hypospray.
Archer closed the hatch. "Get us back to the ship, Travis," he said. "Hurry."
"Aye, sir."
A moment later Archer felt the pod lift off the ground. Retreating to the rear part of the shuttle, he crouched down beside Phlox who was running his med scanner over Reed's body again.
"Will he make it, doc?" he asked, feeling his insides contract as he took another look at Malcolm. In the harsh light of the shuttle lamps, Reed's features looked even more drawn and haggard, and for about the hundredth time since they had picked up those bio signs Archer found himself wondering what the hell had happened. Phlox finished with his scans and picked up another hypospray, pressing it against Reed's neck.
"I don't know, Captain," he said. "I detected some strange substances in his blood which seem to be impairing his vital functions. I'm trying to stabilize him, but I need to run a more detailed analysis of these substances before I can come up with a diagnosis."
Archer had just opened his mouth to ask another question, when T'Pol spoke up from behind.
"Doctor, I have finished my scans of Commander Tucker. His condition seems to have stabilized, but he is suffering from internal injuries. It looks like there has been some bleeding around the peritoneum."
Phlox turned around, taking the medscanner from her outstretched hand. Checking the small display, he nodded in acknowledgement.
"I'll have to operate on him as soon as we get back to the ship." Running his scanner over Malcolm once again, he let out a deep breath. "He's stable. We were just in time, though. A few minutes later and there would have been nothing I could have done for him."
He turned back to Archer. "Captain, please contact the ship and tell them to have a med team stand by in the shuttle bay."
Nodding curtly, Archer got up. Phlox didn't waste any time, but went over to Trip's side, pulling another hypospray from his med kit.
Sitting down in front of the comm, Archer looked out the main window and saw that the shuttle had already left the planet's atmosphere, approaching Enterprise. He initiated the hailing frequency.
"Archer to Enterprise."
"Captain." Hoshi's voice came from the speaker. "Did you find them?"
"Yes, but they're in a critical condition. Have Ensign Cutler send a med team to shuttle bay one."
"Aye sir."
Her worried tone of voice told Archer that she'd have liked to ask a few more question, but being the ever-professional comm officer that she was, Hoshi simply cut the connection without another word.
Archer looked out the front window again. By now, they were near enough for him to be able to read the black lettering on the shuttle bay's doors, and Archer felt the knot of fear in his chest loosen a bit. At least they had been able to get both Trip and Malcolm back to the ship alive. And while he still couldn't get his mind off the question of what had happened down there on that planet, the only thing Archer really cared about at the moment was getting his officers back to safety. That was the only thing that counted right now.
TBC...
AN: Okay, I want it officially noted that it is only due to my intervention that Malcolm is still alive - T'eyla actually wanted to kill him, BUT I SAVED HIM! If you want to thank me personally, please send an e-mail to... just kidding ;-). She's an evil person, isn't she?
Sita
-To defend myself: I LOVE Malcolm, and I would've cried just as everyone else if he'd died. Well, I think I'll have to thank Sita as well for keeping me from living out my evilness... harharhar *g*.
T'eyla
Ehem. Sorry. We'll stop writing long pointless author's notes now, and leave you to reviewing (pleease? ;-) )
S&T