In a Single Heartbeat
Disclaimer – See Chapter One.
Chapter Twelve – The Mine
After securing the shuttle the Voyager away team, along with Trenar, Lorish, and Retrill, headed for the encampment. Retrill ran ahead when they entered the clearing. "The others have come from B'Elanna's ship," he shouted. "They have brought weapons and scanning devices to find the mine."
The doors of the huts opened and the elder Retrill and Takell approached the boy. "Go and tend the fire, my child," Retrill touched his grandson's shoulder. "You have done well to protect Trenar and B'Elanna and to bring the others here." The boy moved to the fire pit and placed another log on the small blaze.
"Welcome to our encampment," Retrill indicated the logs placed before his hut. "Come, we will talk about this rescue that B'Elanna spoke of.
Tuvok, Harry, and Lorish moved to the logs. B'Elanna and the doctor slowly approached Takell. "Takell, this is our doctor. You must tell him about Tom and Chakotay's injuries." The three moved off to one side while Retrill and Tuvok began planning the rescue.
# # #
Tom shivered and slowly opened his eyes. The air was stale, and he could see the others sprawled on the cavern floor in the dim light. Turning to his left, Tom saw that Chakotay was asleep. That was good. He rose stiffly and moved to the entrance. A few of the larger rocks had been pushed aside but the large timbers still lay where they fell. Tom heard a slight cough and turned to see Bromar approaching him.
"Tom, I tried to move the timbers but they are too heavy," Bromar said.
Several of the Helmar came toward Tom and Bromar. "We need to shore up the entrance again," Lonten stated. "Then, we can try to dig our way out of here."
"The guards will surely come for us," Bromar spoke up. "They wouldn't leave us. Besides, there's the Cadmilite."
Lonten looked away before he gently placed his hand on Bromar's shoulder. "The ore here is almost mined out, my son. They would not waste the time to free us. They will only move on to another mine with more of our men."
Bromar's shoulders slumped as he realized the older man was correct. They were entombed here. Their only rescue would come from digging themselves out. "What can I do to help?" he turned to Tom.
The others gathered around Tom as well. They sensed the leadership inherent in the tall blond human.
"First we need to assess the injuries." Tom looked at the few men standing before him. "Besides Chakotay, who else was injured?"
Two of the Helmar came forward. One of them cradled his obviously broken arm against his body. The other man's left eye was swollen shut and blood matted his hair. Dolon had his arm around the second man's waist, helping to support him. "I don't believe their injuries are life threatening, but I feel that they should not assist in the initial digging out," Dolon replied. He moved to Tom's side, reached up and touched Tom's left cheek. His hand came away stained with blood. "You too are injured and should rest."
"No, I'm all right. We need to get that entrance shored up and start digging. The air in here will not last long and if Voyager is searching for us, they won't be able to pick up our life signs through the rock." Tom brushed his hand across his face and wiped the blood on his shirt. "Dolon, see what you can do to make the others comfortable and then join us in the digging."
Dolon led the two men over and settled them next to Chakotay. He then rejoined the others at the entrance. "Petrar is going into shock and Jetran's arm is badly broken. I have barely enough of my medicine to ease their pain for the next few hours, and then it will be gone." He looked at Tom. "It will be colder in here soon and we would only lose what little oxygen is in the air if we light a fire."
Tom drew a ragged breath and coughed when several of the men pulled a large rock off of the remaining timbers causing a cloud of dust to rise from the rubble. "Then, we'll just have to get out of here before nightfall." He motioned to the other support. "We need to get them positioned in the entrance again. If we angle them together at the top, we should be able to dig through to the tunnel." He moved forward and with Lonten's help, began lifting the beam into place.
The men worked steadily for several hours and soon had the entrance shored up with the timbers held in place by several of the larger boulders. They managed to drag two of the bins full of ore over and place them at the base of the timbers. "That should keep them in place long enough for us to get out of here," Lonten stated, his voice raspy with the dust they all were breathing in.
"I believe we need to take a break," Dolon said. "We need to get away from the entrance and drink some of the water. We are in luck that Bromar found two more of the water bottles.
# # #
Captain Janeway walked into Engineering to find Seven and three of the Helmar engineers crowded around a console. "Tell me what you've found, Seven," Janeway smiled. The former Borg had almost sounded excited when she had called Janeway to Engineering.
"Captain, we have discovered an abundant water supply under the surface of the sixth planet," Seven replied.
"That is where the Goroth are attempting to resettle," the tallest to the three Helmar spoke up. "Your sensors are much stronger than any we or the Goroth possess."
"If we use several photon phaser blasts aimed at strategically placed locations, we can open up several underground rivers. These will form large lakes in six to eight sites on the planet's surface. This would provide more than an adequate source of water for the inhabitants."
"I'm concerned about the Prime Directive here," Janeway said as she pulled Seven to one side.
Joe Carey, who heard the conversation between Captain Janeway, Seven and the Helmar engineers, approached Janeway quietly. "Captain, since both the Helmar and Goroth are Warp capable, and have interacted with members of our crew already, I think the Prime Directive does not apply. We are only accelerating the process of terraforming their new home, and in the process preventing further loss of life and possible civil war between the two factions."
Janeway smiled at the quiet engineer before her. "Lieutenant Carey, you surely would be an asset as a diplomat. I agree with your reasoning. Please assist Seven and the others in setting up the photon blasts while I try to negotiate with the Goroth and Helmar leaders." The Captain patted Joe on his shoulder and turned back to Seven. "This is a very valid plan; please continue. I only hope that the away team is able to rescue Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Paris and the missing Helmar miners soon."
"Yes, Captain. It would be fortunate to bring the rest of Voyagers crew back on board," Seven answered and then turned back to the console. "Lieutenant Carey, please enter the following coordinates into the simulation parameters. We will need to assess the strength of the photon blasts before we approach the planet."
Janeway smiled as she moved to the doors of engineering. Seven had come a long way with her interpersonal communications with the others of the crew. Hang on Chakotay and Tom; we'll get you out of there soon.
tbc…