Exploratory.
By
Serena Aris.
Disclaimers: Paramount and other big organisations own Star Trek: Voyager, the ship, its crew and the whole trek universe. I'm just borrowing some of it for a short amount of time.
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Exploratory.
By
Serena Aris.
Chapter Five.
Seven of Nine had been watching Ensign Kim dig. She had instructed him to make a hole, half a metre wide by one metre deep. Kim had protested to the measurements so she relented and rephrased her instructions to include 'approximately.' The completed hole was not to her high standards as the Ensign had insisted on doing the digging, however judging his shortness of breath it would suffice.
As the Ops officer lounged back against a tree Seven took careful soil samples looking for traces of useful elements. The tricorder rolled through all of the tests and eventually let out a triumphant beep that the two of them took notice of.
Seven expertly tapped the tricorder, getting the information she required before informing Kim. "I am reading several elements which we could use to form duranium."
"We always need hull plating." Quipped Kim, although sadly it was true especially when the races they encountered were hostile towards them.
"It has also detected trace amounts of deuterium and dilithium. Without the Delta Flyer's sensors we will need to do more tests. However the evidence suggests that there could be an ample enough supply for Voyager..."
Both of their combadges chirped. To their horror they heard the cries of a male in agony followed by a thud. The two witnesses to this audio hell looked to each other as ragged breaths gasped out the warning "Harry, Seven, run!" It was Tom. Kim was wide-eyed in shock as the realisation kicked in. There was more commotion then the com went dead.
Harry and Seven stood in stunned silence. Nervous breathing was the only sound as Kim panted. Seven slapped her combadge, "Lieutenant Paris please respond!" A moment later she said, "I repeat, please respond." When she received no reply Harry too tried his combadge. After several failed attempts Harry took off at a run. "Ensign Kim what are you doing?" Seven shouted to his retreating back.
"I'm doing what Tom told us to do." He replied, as only a pair of golden shoulders was visible through the branches.
"You are going the wrong way. You are going towards the shuttle." She said as she ran to catch up with him.
"Exactly."
Running through the vegetation, leaves and branches hindered his travel at every turn as they sprang back and slashed at his body and face. The stinging pain he felt and the burning of his heaving lungs was in no comparison to what he imagined Tom to be going through. Did wild animals attack him? Their tricorders had picked up no life-signs, only when the insect had flown by them earlier. There might have been a few small creatures not detected by the tricorder but nothing that could bring down someone as tall as Tom. What if it was some sort of alien tree monster? The thoughts continued to race round his mind.
As he neared the Flyer's position he stopped to catch his breath - ready to face whatever had become of his friend. He took a shaky step forward just as he was dragged back. A hand over his mouth prevented his yelp of surprise. He fell backwards and scrambled in the dirt before coming face to face with Seven of Nine.
"Jeez, Seven you scared..." He was interrupted as she pushed him further into the ground and put a finger to her lips. He did as he was told as he raised himself up on his elbows. He watched curiously as she slowly crawled towards the edge of the clearing, the tricorder already out scanning. As he crawled along side her he understood her caution.
Surrounding the Delta Flyer were a dozen humanoids with weapons in guarding positions. Several others were scanning and moving the Alpha Quadrant native's equipment. There was no sign of Tom. Checking her readings on the tricorder Seven could detect the humanoids and recorded the information for future use. However there was no hint of a human bio-sign. Now they knew that sentient life existed on this planet.
Kim looked at the scene in disbelief. Seven turned her analytical gaze away from the small diagnostic screen and looked to him. "I suggest that we presume these humanoids to be hostile until proven otherwise." Harry being Starfleet naturally leaned towards giving the benefit of the doubt to alien species, but he had to agree with Seven for now. Shifting forward to get a better look he snapped a branch.
The guards nearest to them looked in their direction. The two voyagers froze. As the two black-clothed guards called for back up Harry hastily crawled back the way he came. The first guard was making his way up the slope into the vegetation. Harry staggered to his feet grabbing Seven's arm and dragging her up as he started to run. Voices could be heard behind them despite their panicked fleeing.
Running at full pelt Harry failed to see the out cropping root. He tripped rolling into a gorge. Slapping into the side he tried to steady himself while his body thought that he was still rolling and spinning. Seven landed next to him with a cat-like grace. The stomping of feet were steadily getting closer. Using the tree roots above them like an umbrella he and Seven sheltered beneath them.
Huddling as close to the base of the tree as possible Seven withdrew her tricorder. The footsteps stopped. From Harry's position he could just see a booted foot above him. The guard directly above swept the area with a scanning device. Seven continued tapping the controls of her tricorder. Harry willed their pursuers to fail to detect them and leave. The guard hesitated, shuffled further towards the edge and looking below. He retreated back a few paces before leaping across the lattice network of roots and away from the hiding duo.
After the forest had been free from the sound of trampling feet for a while, Harry made sure the coast was clear. "Do you think you can do that trick again?" He asked referring to the tricorder.
"Yes. I have researched in detail information regarding 'Maquis tricks.'" At Kim's quizzical look she continued. "I did so after hearing Lieutenant Torres and Commander Chakotay made several references to them. I have found them to be quite resourceful; however they lack efficiency by depending upon strategies that have a high probability to fail..."
The Ensign stopped her before she gave him a full report on the Maquis and their tactics. "We had better find a more reliable hiding place. This place is probably still crawling with those gunmen." He would have to live to fight another day, hopefully Tom could last that long.
"I concur." She replied as they carefully scrambled from their temporary sanctuary. They stealthily moved through the forest to find a haven that could provide cover from both the hostiles and the encroaching night.
To be continued...
Thank you to everyone that has read my work so far and especially to those who reviewed it. The comments are very helpful and inspire me to write faster!