Between A Rock and… Another Big Rock

By Didi

Disclaimer: Hey The Libran Iniquity, are you still reading these thing? Okay, here we go… I do not own any of the recognized characters, places or things in this story. (If I did it would be purely by coincidence and therefore I really shouldn't be punished for it… right?) This is purely pleasure writing and no profit shall be made from it. (Though I'm dirt poor and really would use the money.) Any copyright infringement I may be committing is unintentional and without malice. Are we all good now? Good.

Rating: PG 13 for now.

Story Summary: The crew goes hunting underground.

Chapter Summary: The Away Team does their thing and meets with a little unexpected problem. Enterprise engages the enemy and gets ready to mount a rescue.

Timeline: Set before the episode "Azati Prime" in Season 3.

Author's Note: Oh…. I thought I would be done by Chapter 15 but as I was writing it, it just got longer and longer and longer… so I had to split it into two; and I'm still not done with the second half. (sigh) Thank you all for your patience.

Spoiler: Everything up through "The Hatchery." (I'm being nicely cautious here.)

Key: "Spoken" "Thoughts"

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Chapter Fifteen – Buried

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"Captain…"

"Hold your position." Archer's eyes were watching the three ships move out as one. There was a moment of hesitation before the three spread out to investigate the dummy signals. "ETA on the shuttle?"

"Two minutes," T'Pol replied calmly as her eyes continued to scan for any disturbances.

"I want Travis up here the minute the shuttle lands," Archer ordered without any heat. He paused for a moment, not sure if his order reflected his preference to the space boomer or his lack of trust upon Ensign Clancy. "Alpha shift positions everyone."

"Sir?"

Jon took a moment not to sigh out loud. "Yes, Lieutenant?"

"The second ship still orbiting the planet, it's moving."

Before anyone could react to that piece of news, T'Pol's voice cut across the confusion even as she turned to look through her viewer. "Captain, there's an explosion thirteen hundred kilometers away."

"One of ours?" Archer asked, halfway out of his seat.

Lt. Durley double checked. "Yes, sir." He looked up and grinned. "And the second patrol ship is moving toward them."

Ensign Clancy laughed. "And then there was one."

"We can handle one," Archer replied cheerfully. "Keep scanning Lieutenant, I want to know when the away team is ready for pick up. T'Pol, let me know the minute the shuttle is…"

"Shuttle two has landed," T'Pol answered calmly.

"Tanner, get me the shuttle bay."

"Channel open," Tanner answered trying to hide his excited grin. Everyone on the bridge was feeling it…the exhilaration of winning a point for the team.

"Welcome back, people."

"Thank you sir," Lt. Langley answered then winced as she bumped her head on the shuttle door. Her legs weren't all too steady yet. "Mission accomplished."

"We've already seen some of the results," Archer answered and clapped a hand on Ensign Clancy's shoulder. "Good job everyone but it's not over yet. Travis, I need you on the bridge; everyone else, alpha shift positions."

"Yes sir."

Jon resisted the urge to jump up and down and cheer. Things were going swimmingly. Now all they needed was some sign that the away team was doing their part. "Ensign, move us in closer but keep the Reptilians in the dark until we're ready."

"I'll try sir."

"That's all I'm asking."

Clancy turned, startled by the uncharacteristically generous reply from the usually demanding captain. "Yes, sir."

-&-&-&-

"Holy crap," Jimmy Sanchez reached out and grabbed a protrusion in the wall as the cavern shook from the unexpected second explosion with enough force to throw Coates and Kemper to the ground. DeMarco was only saved from landing on his rear by falling into Lt. Jamison, who did land on his ass. "How much charge did you give them?"

"Not nearly enough for that," Reed said as he levered himself off the wall and glanced down at the gash on his forearm. "I'm sure the major can be highly creative when he wants to be."

"And I'm sure that was all Hoshi; the major is way too busy watching her back to be creative right now," Coates replied as she got to her feet quickly and took the lower position as they looked around the corner at where the Reptilians had been stationed.

"They're moving," Sgt. Kemper muttered as he waved his hand behind his back, motions for the others to stay close to the walls.

"If that didn't get their attention, I ain't sure what would," Tucker mumbled as he flattened himself against the wall, weapon in one hand and scanner in the other. Trip ignored the slightly throbbing of his shoulder from when he had fallen.

The sound of boots crunching the loosened rubble on the ground drew closer, making everyone hold their breath, then passed at a pace that announced their unhappiness at the interruption. When the last of the Reptilian troops were well on their way, Reed glanced around the corner quickly, scanning in one second the area in which they must now take control of.

Leaning back against the wall again, Malcolm glanced back at the rest of the group. "Four guards, three on the right, one on the left further into the cavern. Sanchez, Coates, DeMarco, take your pick of the right side. I'll handle the one on the left. Kemper, take the front passage and make sure we're not going to get overrun by the enemy while we secure the location. Commander, if you and Jamison would watch our backs…"

"My pleasure," Trip drawled as they all moved as one.

The MACO had a reputation and that reputation was good. Reed had barely turned from his own downed target before the MACO crew was already spreading out and securing the room. He'd give Hayes one thing, he's got incredibly disciplined men… and women.

"Kemper," Reed whispered. "Recon."

Nodding once, Kemper disappeared into the dark tunnel that would take them to their main objective as the rest of the team waited.

Kemper reappeared a minute later. "Six guards, three on each side," he reported under his breath as he pressed his back to the uneven wall. "The de-stabilizer isn't small."

"I didn't expect it to be," Tucker replied as he looked to Reed. Right now, this was Reed's show and he knew better than to interfere. There was no toe stepping on Enterprise… well, except for maybe armory and MACO but that was another story all together.

Reed pointed to their exit route. "DeMarco, Sanchez." He didn't want to be doubled back on. He didn't even watch the two move into place as he took position on the other side of the passage to the de-stabilizer.

Tucker moved into position next to Reed. "I need at least thirty seconds to do preliminary scans."

"Depending on who's on the other side of that cavern, you may only get that," Reed whispered back as he pulled the charge from his pack. This wasn't how he had wanted to go at this but beggars couldn't be choosers. "You scan, Jamison set up the bomb; Kemper and I will lead the way in and cover the third passage. Coates, you're covering the commander." Malcolm gave Trip a look that allowed no arguments. His first job was to see to the safety of the crew.

Sgt. Coates nodded her head and gave the chief engineer a smile of reassurance.

"We move on three."

-&-&-&-

"Captain?"

"Yeah?" Jon answered without lifting his eyes from the formations of the enemy ships. He silently cheered each kilometer the ships moved away from the planet. The whole bridge crew cheered loudly when the second torpedo activated and crippled another Reptilian ship.

"Captain?"

"What is it, T'Pol?" still not looking up, he was crossing his fingers as to the third torpedo. Because each beacon was planted so close to the heavy radiation produced by the moons within the gravity well, the Reptilians were unable to communicate with each other. Bonus points to the armory for that extra advantage.

"The volcanoes, Captain."

That finally got Archer's attention. Looking up, he was greeted with the heat sensory map they had viewed before… only it wasn't quite as he remembered it. "Why is that section red?"

"There is an increase of activity in that area," T'Pol replied calmly. "It would appear the…" she attempted to find the human equivalent of the Vulcan term pi'yontaya, "Slow burn has become a… rapid eruption."

"Are our people…" he stopped himself. "Belay that, you couldn't possibly know." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Just when you think all is going right in the world…" Watching the screen and the areas marked in red, he had a sinking feeling that was exactly where the away team had headed into. "Lt. Durley, what's the status on the torpedoes?"

"Nothing on the third one, sir."

"Keep scanning I want…" he turned as the lift doors hissed open.

Ensign Mayweather stepped onto the bridge and greeted his fellow helmsman with a nod before sliding into the vacated seat at the controls.

"Travis, I need you to do a little hide and seek with the Reptilians for a while," Archer said with a grim smile. "Until we know that the other scout ships are…"

"Captain," T'Pol called out as she looked across the bridge at Lt. Durley, who nodded his confirmation. "The third torpedo has detonated."

Jon looked up startled. "Ask and ye shall receive," he couldn't help but mutter under his breath, ignoring the stifled laugh from Mayweather. "And?"

Durley grinned even as his slightly hindered scanners made a mess of the readings, forcing him to revert to using visuals. "And I don't believe the patrol ship around the planet is going to get any backup, sir."

"And the fourth ship that went out to investigate the first explosion?"

"He's still picking up the pieces of his companions sir."

"Excellent," Archer smiled and looked at T'Pol. "I think it's time to go rescue our away team. Travis, take us in, get us close and keep us close. Durley, time to let the Reptilians know we're around. T'Pol, monitor the volcanic activities and get our second team ready. If we have to beam them to the surface, let's get our best engineer in the transporter room. I want my people back."

-&-&-&-

"Hoshi? We're not lost, right?" Jason Romero finally asked after several minutes of apprehensive wondering as Hoshi took them into another alternate route from the way they had come in. The second explosion had done a lot more damage than they had thought or could have expected. Several of the smaller tunnels had collapsed upon their search. They could only be thankful that this was a less traveled area of the labyrinth.

"We're not lost," Hoshi replied as she took another turn carefully. She was learning caution… finally. "We're taking an alternate route since the one we came from is now closed."

"And this will set us back how long?" Romero asked as he glanced at Major Hayes. The major looked pale in the limited light but still as alert as ever. What surprised Jason was how quiet the major was regarding Ensign Sato taking point again. Not that they really had a choice at this point.

"A lot longer if you keep distracting me with questions," Hoshi muttered as she peeked around the corner then shone her light against the wall. "Damn it."

"What is it?" Hayes breathed out without sounding too labored. The truth of the matter was, he was exhausted and in a lot of pain. His relocated arm was painful to use, his legs were bruised and his head was still sore from his last visit to the ground.

Hoshi shook her head in resignation. "We'll have to loop around the…" Her sensitive ears picked up something. Leaning forward, Hoshi pressed her ears against the rough wall and concentrated for a moment. "Oh my god," she turned and grabbed the two men by the arm. "This way," she called softly over her shoulder as she doubled back again.

Hayes and Romero didn't hesitate to follow even if their curiosity was straining at the reins. Rounding one corner after another, the MACOs were hard pressed to remember where they were and how far they had gone when Hoshi suddenly disappeared into a crevice.

Romero pulled up short. "What the…"

Reappearing with exasperation showing on her dirt smudged face, Hoshi reached out and pulled on the two officers' arms. "Get in here."

She had no sooner pulled the two men into the relative safety of the unobtrusive crack in the tunnel walls when she heard the shuffling of heavy feet on loose sand. Pressing her ear against the wall, she listened as it drew closer and closer and closer until she no longer needed to strain to detect the tell-tale signs of approaching enemy nor explain to the two men had that been watching her curiously.

Tugging gently on her arm, Hayes maneuvered Hoshi further into the limited space and situated himself at the entrance of the little cranny she had shoved them all in.

Jason took hold of Hoshi when the major passed her onto him, making sure she didn't run into any protrusions along their hiding place. Then before she could protest, Jason shifted positions with her putting her further from the entrance so that the enemy would have to go through the major then Romero before getting to Ensign Sato.

When the last of the footsteps faded away, Hoshi reached out and stopped Hayes before he could peek around the corner. Putting her finger on her lips to shush them, she pressed her ear to the wall again. After a moment, "They're gone."

"Good catch," Hayes whispered.

"That's what I'm here for," she leaned back against the wall for a moment, exhausted from all the tension.

"You all right?" Romero asked with some concern.

"Oh peachy, I just love running for my life," she muttered tiredly. A thought occurred to her suddenly. "They must have been moving this way because the tunnels had collapsed on them; same as us." Her mind went back to before all hell broke loose. "I didn't use that much charge."

"Just enough to bring down the house," Hayes replied as he looked over the edge again, making sure their way was clear. "Let's move."

"Wait," she reached around Romero and grabbed the major's arm.

"What is it?" Jason asked, concerned that they were going to end up in a firefight after all.

"The tunnels," she emphasized. "They must be destabilizing."

The two men exchanged quick confused glances.

Hoshi shook her head as she reasoned it through. "The volcanoes must be becoming more active, shifting the foundations around here, that's why the tunnels are coming down so quickly. The charges I set shouldn't have affected the structural integrity the way it did unless everything was on its way down already."

Matt understood where she's going with this and didn't particularly enjoy the idea. "Then let's not linger here."

-&-&-&-

Malcolm dropped to his knee and kept his phase rifle at shoulder length, firing with precision that he usually only reserved for target practice. They didn't have time to be messy right now, not when there were too many things to do and obviously too little time to do it. "Commander!" The squadron of Reptilians on the other side of the cavern should have been expected.

"One more second," Trip called out as he watched the scanning process run through.

"We're not going to have another second real soon, Commander. You've gotta step on it," Kemper retorted as he pulled the trigger once more. He silently commended Lt. Reed for his efficiency. With the Lieutenant's precision targeting, the two of them were able to hold back the advancing enemy fairly well. But there was no way in hell he was taking a chance of there being more backup for this little group of friendly faces.

Trip's hand continued to move across his scanner. "Coates, help out the boys will ya?"

"Coates, stay where you are," Reed ordered as he dropped another Reptilian then had to duck as a cascade of rumbling rocks came down upon him. He rolled clear of the small avalanche but found himself in the open. He didn't wait to see anyone's reaction before pointing the nozzle of his rifle toward the enemy once more. "Commander!"

"I'm done, I'm done," Trip called out as he popped the data chip into his hand and zipped it into his pocket before tossing the scanner into his backpack. "Jamison!"

"Setting the timer," Jamison replied as his controls turned from green to red. "We've got forty-five seconds."

Reed reached into a pocket and pulled out a grenade, flicking the switch with his thumb and tossing it with shout, "Pull back!" The rest of the away team managed to shield their eyes before the flash grenade went off, temporarily blinding anyone unfortunate enough to have been looking; and in this case, it was most of the Reptilian guards. "I'll cover our rear. Coates, lead the way out!"

Katie took point just as Kemper joined up with her. Motioning with one arm to have their flanks covered, she moved passed DeMarco and Sanchez while mentally counting down the time. She was almost running when her internal clock counted down to twenty. "Let's move people!" she hollered as everyone picked up speed.

The away team had gone around a bend when they literally ran headlong into Major Hayes and Ensign Sato. Obviously, neither one had been expecting company. Hayes's quick reflexes had his rifle at Sgt. Coates's throat before he recognized her but his training taught him to be sure before firing. Coates wasn't quite so disciplined, she reacted out of instinct and fired.

Romero barely pulled Sato out of the way in time.

Before Coates could stammer a word of apology, Kemper gave her a shove and shouted, "Major, you're going the wrong way!"

Hayes didn't need any more explanation than that. Turning, he pulled Sato out of Romero's arms and propelled her back the way she had just been coming from. "Get us out now!

Hoshi pushed her fears into the back of her mind and responded to the command. She pulled Kemper with her as she took point once more. "This way!"

"Move, people, move!" Tucker hollered from yonder as he glanced at the controls Jamison had handed him. "Ten, nine…"

"We'll never make it," Hayes called out ahead of him. "We need shelter!"

"Hoshi!" Romero shouted to get her attention.

"I need a moment," Hoshi screamed as she scanned the characters they ran by.

"We don't have a moment!" Sanchez bellowed.

The blue markers on the wall saved Hoshi from blistering someone with an unkind remark about not rushing her. "This way," she rounded the corner at a dead run, neglecting any effort to be cautious. But in situations such as this, she was certain she would be forgiven… or dead, in which case she wouldn't have to worry about being in trouble.

The explosion shook every molecule of the tunnels before Jamison and Reed got to the small cavern Hoshi had managed to locate in the last possible second. Tucker reached out and took hold of their arms as the ceiling began to crumble around them. Dust, sand and other unspeakable things came flooding in around them.

Everyone averted their faces and waited for the dust to settle. There was coughing aplenty for a moment as the rumbling finally stopped. And then there was silence.

Trip gave himself a few deep breaths before croaking out, "Everyone alright?" He felt as if sandpaper had been rubbed along his esophagus a few million times.

Jamison groaned and rolled onto his back from where he had fallen when the Commander had pulled him to safety. "Something hit my ankle," and well he knew it. Every movement was like a thousand needles jabbing him.

Kemper, closest to the entrance, moved to examine the engineer, and as he shifted his arms he felt a stabbing pain at his side. "Oh Christ!"

Romero called out to his best friend. "Ethan?"

Leaning against the wall, Ethan Kemper took a few deep breaths to calm his pounding heart. Setting his rifle down, he pulled his combat suit open and examined the wound on his side. A long wide gash just under his bottom most rib spilled blood down his right side, dyeing his pants a crimson color that almost blended into his brown uniform. With the pain so intense, he was a little surprised he hadn't noticed it until now.

"That looks like a burn," Hayes murmured as he flashed his scope light across the messy lesion. Carefully examining it with the pads of his fingers, he shook his head. "Were you shot?"

Kemper shrugged with one shoulder. "I must have been."

Coates frowned as she knelt by Kemper's side, nudging Romero away. "How do you not notice getting shot?" Pulling bandages from her backpack, as she was the only one of the MACOs that had insisted on keeping their emergency medical supply thought it added weight, she moved carefully over him to bind the wound tightly. If she had needle and thread she'd it stitch up first to stop the bleeding. Kemper gave a hiss of pain. "Don't be a big baby Eth," she teased even as she winced with sympathy and tried to be gentler. It was going to hurt like mad for a while.

Sanchez carefully extracted Jamison's foot from his shoe. "Can you feel that?" he questioned, putting a tiny fraction of a touch against the already swollen ankle.

Jamison clinched his teeth against the pain and nodded his head firmly. If he so much as opened his mouth he'd start hollering like a child.

Twisting the foot slowly, Sanchez shook his head. The bruises were already appearing around the joints and the swelling had doubled the size. "It's sprained but not broken," he pronounced as he reached into his backpack and pulled out two extra energy cells. "He can't put any weight on it or it'll make it worse. We'll have to carry him." Checking the safety switches, he used the two cells to hold Jamison's ankle in place before binding it with the bandages DeMarco handed him.

"Anyone else?" Reed asked with concern as he gazed at the darkened hole that had once been the entrance. A good portion of the tunnel beyond it had disappeared.

"Hoshi?" Katie Coates called out over her shoulders. "Are you still in one piece? Did I hit you?"

"No, I'm fine," Hoshi replied as she wiped her hands off. "Major? How's your shoulder?"

"What happened to the major's shoulder?" Tucker asked.

"He dislocated it earlier," Romero answered, then grunted as Kemper's hand tightened on his arm with pain. Ethan looked ready to pass out as Coates pulled the binding tighter to apply pressure to the still bleeding wound. The white bandages were already showing spots of red.

"How'd you..."

"You all right, Major?" Reed asked, concern written clearly on his face. The number of people down now was unacceptable.

Hayes glared at Kemper then Sato for revealing his injuries to the group. The last thing he wanted was everyone being concerned over his welfare. "We ran into some unexpected problems."

"What kind of…"

"Is that why there were two explosions rather than…"

"Was anyone else…"

"How many…"

"Guys!" Hayes held up his hand. It never ceased to amaze him how the brains of the most brilliant people manage to ignore the bigger picture. "Let's focus on the important things and leave the explanations for later. Right now, we need a way out." He paused to make sure he had everyone's attention. "Hoshi?"

Ensign Sato looked around the cavern for a moment. "I didn't exactly have a whole lot of time to decide on which way we were…" She took a breath and decided not to dwell upon it. "Okay, our original exit route is no longer an option right now. We need to go pass three more passages before we come to a junction with four tunnels. The second to the right is the one we want. It will take us around the side and out. We'll bypass the main entryway."

"Can you get us there?" Reed asked.

Giving the darkened and half buried entrance a dubious look, Hoshi smiled weakly and said, "Sure," with all the enthusiasm she wished she felt but didn't. She got up, took a breath to calm her nerves and climbed into the space still available to her in the opening.

"Wait," Romero and Hayes reached out at the same time and grabbed Hoshi's arm.

Matt Hayes immediately regretted his hasty movement and made the most uncomfortable noise with the back of his throat before letting go. Everything from his collarbone to his middle finger on his left arm went painfully numb. He hated dislocations, they were sometimes worse than clean breaks; at least then you can't use the arm period.

"Major, you all right?" Kemper and Coates asked at the exact same time.

It took a moment for Hayes to answer. "I'm fine," he said a little breathless. He regarded Hoshi with a look that spelled doom if she said a word. "Do you ever learn to be careful?" he couldn't help but ask. Wishing he didn't have to send another, he turned towards the rest of the team. "Romero?"

Jason nodded and motioned Hoshi out of the way. "I'll take point, you guide me."

Seeing the warning look on Hayes' face, Hoshi refrained from pointing out the waste of manpower. "We'll be back."

-&-&-&-

"Transporter room, what's your status?" Jonathan Archer barked out as he gripped the arms of his chair for support.

"We're still too far from the surface," Lt. Lingley replied as her stiff fingers stayed on the controls. She glanced across the platform to where Lt. McKinsie's team, which included Corporals Hawkins and Chang along with Ensign Tanner along for translations, stood silently awaiting their drop off. None of them looked nearly as nervous as she felt.

Archer clinched his teeth and closed his eyes in frustration for a moment. "Travis, we need to get closer."

Ensign Mayweather felt a trickle of sweat roll down his back between his tense shoulders. Practiced fingers moved across the controls without hesitation as he moved the ship into a tight circle, going the wrong direction.

"Ensign!" Archer snapped as he watched the planet disappear from the view screen.

"Torpedo approaching," Durley called out hurriedly.

Archer grabbed hold of his temper before he exploded again. "Lieutenant, a little more warning next time would not be remiss." Getting up, he walked to the pilot's chair and clapped a hand on Mayweather's tense shoulder. "Keep doing what you're doing, Travis but we need to get our rescue team on the surface."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Travis replied as his brow wrinkled with concern. "Captain, how long would I have to hold position for the transport?"

"Lt. Lingley?" the captain called out through the intercom.

"I need at least eights seconds at ten thousand kilometers," Jennifer Lingley replied calmly enough as she silently prayed she was correct in her estimation. She'd done plenty of simulations to test her time limits on the transporter sequencing but they'd all be dry runs, nothing live. And now they were adding the motion of the ship and enemy fire? Oh man…

"You heard the lieutenant, Travis," Archer said with a grim look as the ship made another turn. "We need to get closer."

Mayweather made a disagreeable noise with his throat as the enemy ship forced him to veer off again. His frustration was audible as he spoke. "The Reptilians are on our tail. I can't get within a hundred thousand kilometers much less ten without them taking a chunk of metal from our starboard side."

Archer moved to Durley. "Give Mayweather some room to maneuver."

"Take out their thrusters," Mayweather muttered. "That ought to slow them down some."

The Captain almost smiled as Lt. Durley looked up in surprise. Mayweather was considered one of the pacifists on the ship; for him to suggest such an act…. "Well Lieutenant? You heard Ensign Mayweather, aim for their thrusters."

Durley grinned. "Yes, sir."

"Transporter room."

"Here, Captain."

"Get ready to drop our people on the ground."

"Yes, sir."

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Teaser Line : Had he been able to stand up without groaning, Matt would have made a speedy exit. "Oh god, she's not going to…"