RATING: PG-13
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Takes place during the late fifth season. Sorry if it strays from canon. . .artistic license. wink The adventure continues. . .
DISCLAIMER: Paramount owns all things Trek, including Voyager, etc. sigh
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Silence.
Darkness.
Pain.
Chakotay's mind swam slowly into semi-consciousness, then incredible pain slammed him fully awake. His eyes flew open, and he found himself lying sprawled on the bridge floor, several yards from where he had been standing. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered how he had been thrown so far.
The bridge was completely dark, except for one or two consoles that blinked and flashed weakly. Conduits had ruptures everywhere; he could hear them hissing angrily all around him. He felt rather than saw the haze of steam and coolant clouding the still air, filling his lungs and leaving a bad taste in his mouth. He swallowed and found his throat parched and sore, and he wondered how long it would be before the environmental controls failed. It was a miracle they had lasted this long.
Chakotay tried to sit up, and fell back on one elbow with a groan of pain. Two, maybe three ribs were broken, and he had torn some muscle, he was sure of it. He took a deep breath and very slowly struggled to a sitting position. When the waves of intense pain had subsided enough, he opened his eyes and tried to look for the person closest to him. But it was too dark, he would have to move. That was not a happy prospect--every move sent daggers of fire down his side. He leaned forward, bracing himself on one arm, and reached out with the other towards what appeared to be a dark shape a few feet away. His fingers brushed fabric--a uniform. He slid closer and felt for a face.
It was Tom. He was out cold. Chakotay shook him very gently, calling, "Tom! Tom, can you hear me?" Tom remained motionless. Chakotay squinted into the darkness and thought he could see someone else close by. It turned out to be Lieutenant Ayala.
"Ayala!" Chakotay patted the black man's face and felt warm blood on his fingers. A head wound. Ayala groaned, stirred, and his eyes slowly opened. "Ayala, can you hear me?"
"I. . .I hear you," Ayala whispered, wincing. "God, my head feels like it's gonna explode."
"You're probably hemorrhaging. Lie still, I'll get you help as soon as I can."
Ayala sighed and closed his eyes. Chakotay turned from him, gasping slightly at the pain stabbing at him. He clenched his teeth and crawled a few feet, feeling in front of him, and again he felt a still body. He pulled himself alongside it and bent low to make out the face. "Kathryn," he breathed. He pulled her halfway into his lap and when her head rolled to the side, he could see a nasty gash on her temple, along the hairline. Blood covered the side of her face and neck, and he gasped at the sight. She needed medical attention, fast.
"Chakotay to the Doctor. . . .Chakotay to sickbay. . . .Chakotay to anyone. . . .Damn!" Of course the comm was down. What wasn't? He felt despair and chilling fear begin to pull at him, but he stubbornly pushed those feelings aside. They had gotten through worse. Borg space, for example. Now if they could just get through this. . .
"Kathryn," he called, feeling her throat for a pulse. His heart began to race when he could not feel one, but then he felt it, very faint, very erratic. She was barely alive. "Kathryn," he said, louder, leaning closer to her ear. "Kathryn, if you can hear me, we're going to get out of this. I promise." He gently lifted up her head and placed it on the floor. Without thinking he pulled off his jacket, rolled it up, and slid it behind her neck.
"Commander," a voice rasped from across the bridge. Chakotay looked behind him to see Tuvok standing at his station, leaning on his console for support.
"Tuvok?"
"Yes. Is anyone else alive?"
"Ayala, and Kath--the captain. But they both need medical attention, quickly."
"I am afraid time is not in excess right now. It is safe to assume that environmental controls are failing, rapidly. We have multiple hull breaches, and with primary and secondary power systems nonfunctional, force fields are not in place around those sections."
"Damn. I didn't even think of that. Getting auxiliary power online should be top priority."
"Agreed." Tuvok limped away a few feet and crouched down. A moment later he said quietly, "Ensign Lang is dead."
"Try to find Harry. We need his help if we want to get any power restored before life support runs out."
Tuvok nodded and spent the next few minutes searching the bridge, pushing aside loose bulkheads and protruding pipes, and finally he found Harry, lying on the floor behind the ops station. "Ensign Kim. Mr. Kim, if you can hear me, please respond."
Harry moaned slightly and stirred, his eyes blinking open. He jerked up, wincing and touching his fingers to the back of his head. "Ouch, damnit!" he growled.
Tuvok quirked an eyebrow and sat back on his heels. "It would appear that you survived."
"I guess so," Harry groaned, rubbing his head gingerly. "Barely."
"Nevertheless you are alive. If you are not severely injured, we require your assistance."
"Yeah, sure. Is everything offline?"
"Everything but life support, I would guess," Chakotay put in from where he sat beside Kathryn. "We have to get secondary power online. Any ideas?"
Harry pulled himself carefully to his feet. "All the relays are jammed, consoles are shorted. . .it's going to be one hell of a job."
"We have to get started right away. We don't have much time. There's an uncontained hull breach on deck two, it won't be long before we're floating in a vacuum. We'll have to work from here. If we try leaving, there's no telling what kind of atmosphere we'll meet on the other side of a door."
Harry nodded and lurched over to the nearest power relay. The cover was gone, so he just knelt down and reached in, feeling around in the darkness. "I wish B'Elanna were here, she'd know what to do. And what I wouldn't give for a wristlight right now. I can't work in the dark."
"You'll have to for now," Chakotay answered roughly, shoving himself to his feet and stubbornly ignoring the agony in his side. There were more important things to worry about right now. Like making sure they would survive the night.
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