Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek. I admit it freely. But, someday, I will own the world. HAHAHA!

Please review.  My heart was warmed by the review from Sinister Darkfire. I have had a lot of homework and Christmas shopping to do. I will update more, especially after the holidays. I am also cooking up a fanfic with a friend of mine about Earthsea, so watch out for that sometime, we want to finish reading the book before we write anything. I have no idea if the tribble story is ever going to be finished, it's Ladybug's chapter to write, so take it up with her for updates on that. OK now, on with the show.

Zandile woke up with a pounding pain in her head. She tried to sit up, but got so dizzy, she lowered herself back down again, her head throbbing as it hit the floor gently. "I do not think you are too badly hurt. The tricorder says you have a concussion, so be careful, Lieutenant." Said Data's voice from somewhere seemingly far away.

"Are you sure about that?" Asked Zandile, opening her eyes to a fresh shot of pain and dancing, too bright lights in her vision.

"Yes." Said Data. Zandile's vision cleared. She was outside, lying on hard packed dirt she had mistaken for the floor of the shuttle. She could see the shuttle a short distance away, and it didn't look good. The nacelle that she could see was completely torn apart. Data was trying to weld the hull back together with a repair kit.

Zandile made a new attempt to sit up, but this time she held a hand to her head to ease the throbbing pain. She knew that she should see Dr. Crusher before she should do anything, but she also knew that wasn't an option. She probably would never see her, or anyone else she knew again. A pang of misery went through her as she thought briefly of her family, and strangely, of Zarin.

Zandile pushed the emotions from her mind, and stood up slowly and carefully to go help Data.

Back on the Enterprise, Zarin watched the sensors. "Captain, all of the satellites have been destroyed, we can go through the system. We better be quick, they can't locate us at the moment." He said.

"Good," replied the Captain. He turned to Deanna, who had taken over the pilot's station. "Set a course to get us as far away as possible and relay our course to the shuttle in an encoded message so they can follow…"

"Captain, we're receiving a mayday from the shuttle. They're going to crash. Data tells us to continue and get out of here." Interrupted Zarin before Captain Picard could finish his orders. There was a pained look on Zarin's face. He put the planet on a screen, where a streaking fireball was plainly seen against the sparkling blue ocean of the planet. The fireball disappeared, and it was impossible to discern where it landed, or even if it landed.

"We can't leave them." Said Deanna and Zarin at the same time.

"What can we do?" Said Picard. The only two people who could go to that planet and not be harmed by those people are Data and Lieutenant Rey."

"What about me?" Asked Zarin.

"You can't pilot a shuttle, and no one else on the ship can go there without being affected by the alien's attack. We have to keep going. We can send someone back for them after we get out of here." Said Captain Picard.

"Please, Captain." Said Zarin.

"Data can and has survived much worse, and he will protect Lieutenant Rey. They know that the good of the many is more important than the good of the few. Data himself told us that we should escape. Counselor please set a course out of here and engage at warp 7."

"Yes, sir," said Deanna sadly.

The Enterprise zoomed away from the planet that glowed so beautifully in space, where thin wisps of smoke could still be seen in the atmosphere from the shuttle.

"Data, are the communications working?" Asked Zandile, approaching Data.

"Unfortunately, they are not," he replied.

"We have to get off this planet before they find us. I can feel their minds, even though I shield myself from them. It is easier to do now that we are here on the surface. The people do not expect outsiders to be on the surface, so they assume everyone on the planet is one of them." Commented Zandile. Inwardly, she was grateful, because exercising her newfound telepathic abilities hurt her already sore, injured head. She was also glad that Vulcans were resilient. She knew that a human in her position would still be out cold, and have had much more serious injuries.

"It is a pity such an advanced race is so fearful of outsiders. We could help each other so much if they were not afraid." Said Data.

"Can you get the shuttle flight worthy again?" Asked Zandile.

"Not in our current situation." Said Data. He was trying to repair communications, having given up on the burned out engines.

"Then I have an idea," she said. These people must have come here from somewhere. You heard the chancellor say that they were hiding from their enemies. They have to have some sort of spaceships. They need to be able to fight, or if necessary, flee." She paused to take a breath and see Data's reaction.

Data had put down his tools, and was looking at her intently. "Go on."

"Well, I was thinking. We could find wherever they might be hiding these ships, and acquire the parts we need or another ship. If it makes you feel better, we could trade them the debris of this ship. They could learn a lot from this shuttle, and we would be long gone before they found out about the theft."

"Good idea, Lieutenant. There is a saying, 'Desperate times call for desperate measures'," said Data. "Let us get anything we need from the shuttle, and get going. It is not a good idea to stay in one place in hostile territory."

Ok, I know it's short, but I thought an update was more important than a longer chapter. At least it's not a cliffhanger. Please review.