Horror Days- Chapter 8
Day 4 (night time on the planet)
Tom and Phil were sitting on a roof with Riken and Wen. They were sitting around a fire that Tom had made and eating some of the food Tom had taken from Wen's home. They had been talking on and off with long stretches of silence in between. All were thinking of the horrible events that had unfolded.
"I would like to thank you both again." Wen said breaking the silence.
"You've thanked us both already, Wen." Tom answered smiling. The little boy, Riken was lying on Tom's lap asleep.
"I know, but Riken and I owe you two our lives." Wen replied sharing his smile. Wen looked over at Phil who was staring at the fire. "Phil, you remind me of someone."
"I'm a reporter for Disaster News." Phil answered. "I was down here doing a piece honoring my father."
"Yes! You're Mr. Rinkala on the news!" Wen said. "Oh, Phil, you're father was a great man."
"Rinkala?" Tom asked.
"In the news it is common to use a different name." Rinkala answered. "I chose to use my father's real name."
"Oh." Tom said.
"I remember your father when he first started in the news business." Wen started. "I kept saying to everyone, 'That Rinkala man, he's going to be someone!' And look at how right I was! You're father was such a nice man. I even met him once. He called me his biggest fan."
"Yeah, my father was a great man…" Phil said. He seemed to not like to talk about his father. Almost like he was a great hero that Phil was forced to look up to. Tom noticed his stare and realized that Phil and he had more in common than meets the eye.
Day 5 (Voyager)
"What do you mean they have no clue where he is?" B'Elanna yelled inside the Captain's Ready Room. "The weather is clear! They can easily go out and find him! Hell, we can search for him using the sensors!"
"B'Elanna, we've already tried the sensors, for some reason we can't find him." Captain Janeway answered frustrated herself. "It is still very bad out there; they haven't been able to get their military down there, yet. But I'm sending out three shuttles to look for him."
"Good, I'll go." B'Elanna said.
"No, you aren't. I know you want to find Tom, B'Elanna, we all do, but you need rest." Janeway replied.
"I don't need any rest." B'Elanna growled.
"But the baby does." Janeway responded. B'Elanna was silent.
"Will you tell me when you find him?" B'Elanna asked.
"You know you'll be the first to know. And I'll even send down the search pattern of the shuttles." Janeway replied smiling. "We'll find him, B'Elanna. It's Tom, my bet is he's sitting in one of the evacuation centers waiting to hail us right now."
B'Elanna stood up. "Good night, Captain." She said.
"Good night B'Elanna." Janeway answered.
B'Elanna left Janeway's Ready Room and made her way to her and Tom's cabin. She didn't even bother taking off some of her clothes. B'Elanna just lied down in bed and fell straight asleep.
8 hours later…
"Anything?" Janeway asked. She was in the Briefing room with Chakotay, Tuvok, Harry, and the Doctor.
"No." Chakotay answered.
"Nothing at all? No signs?" Janeway questioned.
"None of the shuttles could find a single trace of Tom." Chakotay replied. "There are still lots of damage and flooding in the towns and cities around where Tom was taken. It's nearly impossible to find Tom in such a large area to look for."
"Okay, people. Let's try and narrow the search down a bit more." Janeway said. "It's been five days since Tom has been taken. If he went an average of five kilometers a day in any direction, show me the possibilities. And I want every relief or evacuation center marked in that area. Understood?"
"Understood." They all said in unison.
"Now let's get down to it." Janeway responded.