CHAPTER 14

For lack of any better place to ride out the storm, Kleth and Slanea gathered some downed tree limbs and stacked them against a fallen trunk on a hillside out of the wind. Kleth had placed Trip under the dubious shelter of the trunk, and they built the lean-to around him.

Slanea found some large leaves that could be layered to provide an adequate shield from the rain. As it was under the tree canopy, the downpour wasn't quite as powerful as it had been by the stream. Kleth's biggest concern was that a weakened branch might break free and fall down on them, and he quickly improvised a lattice framework of tree branches for the water-repelling leaves to be woven into. The framework might stop a falling limb, provided it didn't weigh too much.

Trip began to come around as they were finishing the roof of the small structure. His moaning alerted Slanea, who rushed inside and helped him to a more comfortable sitting position.

"You look like a wet cat," he told her, grimacing at the pain in his arm. At her snarl, he amended, "A wet, ticked-off cat."

"You were lucky," she said. "You could have been killed."

As Kleth came in from the rain and hunkered down next to him, Trip asked, "How'd ya get me out of there? Last thing I remember was slammin' into that rock, and then..." His brow furrowed as he concentrated, and he looked at Slanea in amazement as the events came back to him. "You came in after me!"

She gave him a half smile as she began ripping his sleeve.

"Ow! That hurts! What are ya doin'?"

"Your arm is broken," Kleth said, holding Trip steady as Slanea tore off the sleeve. "We need to see how bad it is before we can determine how to help you."

Through gritted teeth, Trip asked, "Where are Malcolm and P'kora?"

"They went on. They are on the other side of the flood," Kleth said.

"What? I went through all that and didn't make it across?"

Kleth heard Slanea snort before she said, "Now is the time you begin to curse, isn't it?" At Trip's befuddled stare, she added, "That is what you do in engineering when things go wrong."

"I'm feelin' a little under the weather right now, pardon the pun, so maybe you'll just do it for me."

"You are teasing me again, yes?" she asked.

Kleth watched the byplay with interest. Slanea was taking as much care as any Klingon would with a fallen comrade, but he couldn't tell if there was something more. Perhaps they were developing what humans called a working relationship. That could explain her devotion to her superior, although she had been hovering over him an inordinate amount ever since dinner aboard the Falcon.

A lot had happened since then. What had started out as a gathering of two good friends and one potential mate had rapidly escalated into this grand adventure. He couldn't have asked for a better test of Slanea's worthiness.

Her contributions to the mission could not be overlooked. First, she had disabled the cargo hauler and rounded up the rebel Lanaris without a word of instruction. She had easily kept up with the group as they moved through the forest, and her keen eyes had picked out the trail of those they followed. She had even, with his help, saved the life of one of their group, calling upon her strength and determination to do so. Her honor had come through the entire ordeal untarnished.

There was that moment when they'd entered the forest and she had been complaining loudly about the miserable plant life on this planet. Although he'd reprimanded her harshly, he had secretly been pleased. If she had gone the entire journey without voicing her displeasure at something, he would have found her to be bland and uninteresting, not to mention being too compliant and willing to follow the others' lead.

Now she was ministering to Trip, tying straight branches to his arm to keep it immobile so the break could not become worse. Kleth hadn't realized she had had survival training.

There was a lot about her that he didn't know. This could be the perfect opportunity to find out.

Except for one thing -- it would be difficult for them to talk with Trip sitting between them, especially if the Human was to be one of the topics of their conversation.

With a grunt, he sat down, trying to find a comfortable position for his considerable size in the close confines of their shelter, and began running his fingers through his wet beard, wringing out some of the water.

"So, what do we do now?" Trip asked, glancing first at Kleth and then at Slanea.

Slanea flicked her gaze over to Kleth, waiting for him to speak. Kleth realized by her deferential attitude there might still be a chance for them to develop their own relationship, one more along the lines of what he'd originally had in mind when she had knocked him to the deck of the Morning Star.

Kleth didn't reply directly. Instead, he pulled out his communicator and tried to contact the Falcon. When only static could be heard, he told the others, "We wait."

"I told you it wouldn't work," P'kora called over his shoulder as he and Malcolm slogged along.

When the downpour had lessened slightly, Malcolm had tried to contact the Morning Star but had heard only the same static that had ended his conversation with Kleth back at the ravine. Grumbling, he closed the communicator and put it back in his pocket.

"How long do these storms last?" he asked P'kora as they skirted a fallen limb.

"About a day, usually. The interference will clear up when it is past."

They were both soaked to the skin. The only thing working in their favor was that they were moving at a fairly good pace, their exertion keeping them warm. Malcolm knew it would be only a matter of minutes before they were chilled if they stopped.

They kept moving, any noise their passage might make drowned out by the roar of the wind and rain. P'kora, he noticed, would glance up at the canopy frequently. Malcolm was about to ask why he was doing that when the Lanari stopped abruptly in front of him and threw out his arm to halt him as well.

Within seconds, a large tree limb crashed to the ground directly in front of them.

P'kora shot him a glance and yelled, "You can't hear them with all the other noise."

From then on, Malcolm divided his attention between their path and the treetops. At least the lightning seemed to have abated. There was no way he could dodge something like that.

As they trudged along, Malcolm knew he owed this Lanari. Without his help, they never would have been able to begin tracking Hoshi. And his expertise in the forest was priceless. Once they found Hoshi and made sure she was safe, he would have to figure out some way to repay the man, especially if P'kora lost his job because he had helped them.

"How much farther?" he called out, hoping the Lanari would hear him.

P'kora turned in his tracks to face Malcolm and waited until the human was closer.

"Over the next rise," he said as Malcolm joined him. "We won't have to worry about being quiet, but we will have to be careful to stay in concealment as we approach the cave."

"It's a cave?"

"More like a depression in a hillside, but it's a good shelter."

"How do you know about this place?"

Giving Malcom a smile, he said. "I used to play here when I was a boy. It was my secret place to go when I couldn't deal with my parents, or school, or---"

"I get the picture," Malcolm said, cutting him off. Much as he appreciated P'kora's help, standing here talking wasn't getting him any closer to Hoshi.

P'kora nodded and began moving again, Malcolm falling in behind him once more.

Malcolm was wet, he was tired, and he was worried. The last information Trip had gleaned from the scanner before it was lost in the stream was that the two bio-signs were together and were stationary. That had to mean Hoshi and F'linu were holed up somewhere out of the storm. He only wished he knew for sure they were in the place P'kora was taking him.

He told himself he would find Hoshi soon, and hoped that nothing had happened to her. He refused to believe differently. He couldn't, else his determination might falter, and that wouldn't help either of them.

Hoshi moved as far away from F'linu as she could. She found herself against the back wall of the small cave again. The Lanari seemed more amused than anything else by her reaction, and had stayed next to the fire.

His fanatical zeal had calmed somewhat since telling her his plans. Funny, she hadn't thought fanatics had a lot of patience. She thanked her lucky stars that she was stuck with one of the few who apparently did. For the time being, she was relatively safe. She was fairly sure the situation would remain stalemated until the storm passed.

Looking past him, she could see the rain was still falling heavily outside. She was tired of the rain, but she also didn't really want it to stop. As long as it kept coming down, they'd have to stay put, and F'linu wouldn't do anything to her -- she hoped.

Once they were on the move again, she would have to escape. She didn't think she could outrun him, but maybe she could push him off a cliff back at the ravine if they went that way.

A wave of dejection washed over her as heavily as the rain falling outside, and she became aware of her tiredness again. As she sat with her back against the far wall of the little cave, she realized she was getting hungry again, but she had too much pride to ask F'linu if he had any more of the meat strips.

Seeing her settled, F'linu turned his back and gazed out at the landscape. He stood like that for a long time, and Hoshi watched him, unwilling to close her eyes lest she fall asleep and he could come close to her without her knowing.

She wondered what Malcolm was doing right now. Was he on the Morning Star, overseeing the installation of the phase cannons? He thought she didn't know about them, but she had seen the invoice for their purchase. After everything they'd been through together, she didn't blame him for wanting to be able to protect the ship. She wouldn't let on about knowing about the cannons until he told her. There was no reason to spoil his fun, she thought with a rueful smile.

A phase cannon would come in handy right now, she thought as she stared at F'linu's back. What she wouldn't give for even a good-size rock to crack him over the head. She let her gaze roam around the cave, looking for anything she could use as a weapon.

There was nothing. No rocks, no loose dirt she could throw in his eyes. Nothing.

Over by the fire, however, there were some stout sticks that F'linu had brought in. If she could get her hands on one when his attention was distracted...

F'linu turned back to look at her, and she flinched guiltily, pulling her gaze away from the sticks. He was pretty good at guessing what she was thinking, although it wouldn't take a genius to figure out that she wanted to get away from him.

"I have to go out," he said. "Don't try to run. I will be right outside."

Hoshi was puzzled why he would want to go out in the downpour until she realized that he probably had to relieve himself. Thank goodness he wasn't going to do that in the cave, she thought.

And then she realized it was the perfect opportunity.

She wasn't going to make a run for it. He would be expecting that. Instead, as soon as he had moved past the foliage screening the opening, she scooted over to the pile of branches and found the biggest one. Grasping it firmly, she got to her feet and stood to one side of the opening, poised to hit him as soon as he came back in.