Walk in the Dark

By Drogna

Chapter 5

AN: The house move and network disruption is over so hopefully regular updates should resume. Thanks for bearing with me.

The first thing that Reed and T'Pol did after they were thrown into the cell was look for weaknesses in the security system, but they found none. They had been searched thoroughly and all their equipment removed, so they had very little to work with. Reed was very concerned for Trip and Phlox's safety and he didn't like the fact that they had been separated from the rest of them. Unfortunately all he could do for the moment was wait and hope that Lo Pico gave them an opportunity to escape.

It was impossible to tell how much time passed but it seemed like hours. T'Pol had given up her examinations of the cell and now seemed deep in meditation. She sat cross-legged in a corner. The MACO's had begun a complicated game that involved an imaginary small furry animal and some dangerous situations for the furry animal to be rescued from. Reed got the impression that they spent a lot of time sitting around waiting and had done this before many times.

The cell door was abruptly pulled open and Trip was roughly shoved through the opening. "Hey, you don't need to push," said Trip crossly. Their captors ignored him and firmly shut the door again with a loud clang, jerking T'Pol from her meditation. "Hi honey, I'm home," Trip added, leaning against the wall. He slid down carefully so that he was sitting with his legs splayed out in front of him.

Reed noticed that Trip seemed tired and he had a new angry looking bruise on his right cheek. He fetched the jug of water that they'd been given and sat down beside Trip. He poured a cup of the liquid and handed it to him. Trip just gave him a nod of thanks and drank deeply.

"I take it that engine repairs are not progressing satisfactorily," said T'Pol.

"I guess I don't work fast enough for them," said Trip. "So any ideas how we're going to get out of this one?"

"None, as yet," said Reed.

"Did you see Doctor Phlox?" asked T'Pol.

"No, they brought me straight here from the engine room," said Trip.

Reed noticed that Trip's hands were trembling. "How are you holding up?"

"I've had better days," replied Trip.

"Trip, if we're going to get out of this I need an accurate assessment of your condition."

"My meds are still in the shuttlepod and I'm well overdue for most of them. I'm slightly dizzy, sore and I'm getting muscle spasms."

"If you needed to, do you think you could make a run for it?"

"Depends how far we're going," replied Trip, and he added mentally to himself, whether there was anything to hang onto.

"All we need to do is get to the shuttlepod," said Reed.

He went through the route in his mind. Inside the ship should be fine, but there was an area of open ground between the exit and the shuttlepod where he wouldn't have anything to support himself. "I'll do my best," said Trip. "Have you checked the door locks?"

"Yes, no luck there. We couldn't even get into the circuitry," replied Reed.

Trip levered himself into a standing position with some effort and a little help from Reed. He went to examine the door himself. "I think I might be able to open this," he said. "The only problem is that I'm going to need some parts from my leg brace and if I take the brace off then I'm not sure I'll be able to make a run for it."

"We'll carry you if we have to," said Reed. "If you can get us out of here then we're one step nearer freedom."

"The Lieutenant is correct. Getting out of the brig is our current priority," added T'Pol. "We will work around your disability."

Trip sat on the floor again and rolled up the left leg of his uniform to reveal the brace beneath. It was a lightweight construction that included servos to help Trip walk, padding and metal supports. Trip unclipped it and set about dismantling it. When he had the parts that he needed he moved back to the locking mechanism and began to work. He was able to detach the protective panel by using a couple of the brace supports as levers and get at the wires beneath. Once the mechanism was exposed, he made use of the servo circuitry to unlock the door by hooking up some wires and cross connecting others. It certainly wasn't pretty but he was fairly certain that it would work.

"How many guards were there when you were brought back?" asked Reed.

"Two," replied Trip, "but they were both armed."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We have the advantage of numbers if nothing else," said Reed. He signalled to the MACOs to join him beside the door. T'Pol moved to beside Trip in case he needed support.

"Ready?" asked Trip.

Reed and T'Pol acknowledged with a nod.

"Okay, here goes." Trip touched the two wires together that would open the door and the hatch slid back.

The two baffled guards outside obviously weren't sure what to make of this. They peered into the dimly lit cell, and failed to spot the occupants pressed against the wall by the door. To them it seemed as if the brig was empty. They ventured inside, perplexed by the apparent disappearance of their prisoners, which was when the Enterprise contingent made their move. Their guards soon found themselves on the wrong end of their own weapons after some swift disarming by Reed and the MACOs. Trip reset the lock and they shut the aliens in their own brig.

"We need to find Phlox," said Trip.

"No doubt he is still in the main area tending to the wounded. The MACOs and I will go to retrieve Doctor Phlox, you and Lieutenant Reed will go back to the shuttle and warn the Captain."

"Commander, are you sure that's the best division of tasks?" said Reed.

"I don't need a bodyguard," said Trip, quietly terse, intending that only T'Pol hear him, but Reed had good ears.

"If we divide into two groups then we will accomplish more," replied T'Pol, ignoring Trip's comment. "We will rendezvous back at the shuttle."

Reed realised that T'Pol had made her decision and she wasn't going to change her mind. He gave a nod of assent and then helped a reluctant Trip towards the way out of the ship. His friend's limp was pronounced and he knew that, despite his protestations, Trip wasn't well enough to be in this situation. Without the benefit of his medication, the tremors and muscle spasms were becoming worse. Reed was also well aware that CS patients required constant pain management and he could already detect the drawn look to Trip's face that signalled hidden discomfort.

"God damned Vulcan nursemaid," complained Trip, almost so quietly that Reed hadn't caught it.

"Someone needs to get a message back to Enterprise," replied Reed, not saying what was on both their minds as he unconsciously steadied Trip. They were well aware that splitting the team was a risk and Trip's condition was why that was necessary. Reed was certain that Trip would have made the same decision had he been in T'Pol's position but it didn't make it any easier for him.

T'Pol had long since disappeared with the MACOs in the opposite direction into the central areas of the ship. The metal corridors reflected the light harshly, creating dark corners as the corridor twisted towards the exit. Reed wasn't stupid enough to believe that they would meet no resistance on their way back to the shuttlepod. He only hoped that it would be minimal and the single stolen weapon that they had between them would be enough to prevent their recapture.

The two officers moved as swiftly as they could. Trip wouldn't slow down despite his obvious pain in moving. He used the ship's bulkheads for support, refusing anything other than an occasional steadying hand from the Lieutenant. Reed decided that if Trip was ignoring the problem then he could as well and concentrated on getting both of them past any resistance that they met. The crew of the crashed ship was spread thinly, no doubt because not all of them could be trusted by the new captain. That was always a problem with a mutiny, a new Captain couldn't be sure that his crew's loyalty could be trusted. Reed stunned anyone who got in their way easily.

They came to a fork in the corridor and Reed caught the sound of voices coming further down the corridor to the right. He signalled to Trip to take cover while he went to investigate. Trip looked as if he might object for a moment, but he gave Reed a nod and crouched down behind some crates. Reed edged further down the poorly lit area of corridor and came to an open hatchway. Inside he caught a glimpse of communications equipment and a large view-screen. Captain Lo Pico had hailed Enterprise and Captain Archer was clearly visible on the screen. Reed kept himself hidden but close enough to the door to hear what was said inside.

"We do not negotiate with hostage takers," said Captain Archer.

"Then your men will die," replied Lo Pico. "I place the blame entirely on you, Captain, if I am forced to kill them."

"I've offered passage to the nearest habitable planet, I can't give you more than that."

"I want your ship, Captain. You can have mine in return. It's a fair exchange."

"I'd be signing the death warrant of my crew."

"Or you can sign the death warrant of your away team. Perhaps you need a demonstration of the seriousness of my intent."

"No," said Archer, quickly. "No demonstrations are necessary, I'm certain you mean what you say. I need time to consult with my crew."

"You can have an hour, no more. After that your crew members will die, starting with your first officer."

Captain Lo Pico indicated that the connection should be terminated and the screen went blank.

"We'll give them some time to stew over our proposal. If Archer doesn't agree we'll kill four of the hostages and put the engineer and the doctor to work. Otherwise we get their ship. Either way we will come out of this game better than we went in." Lo Pico looked pleased with himself.

Reed decided that he'd heard enough and quietly made his way back to Trip's hiding place. He crouched down beside the Commander and gave him a summary of what he'd just heard.

"It sounds like the Captain's playing for time," said Trip.

"Yes, I thought so too. At least it means that they don't know that we're gone yet." Reed got to his feet and offered Trip a hand up, which he accepted gratefully. "I think we should probably avoid that corridor, however. I don't want to push our luck too far."

"What luck would that be, Lieutenant?" asked Trip. "I don't think we've had much."

"I thought I was the pessimist," replied Reed.

Trip shrugged. "I'm justsaying that we could do with things going our way for a change."

"Then we'd better get moving again and let the Captain know that he doesn't need to send a rescue party for us. How's your leg doing?"

"As long as I've got someone to hang onto it should be fine."

"Good. Let me know if you need a break."

"Okay," Trip agreed grudgingly and Reed knew how much it cost the Commander's pride to admit that he wasn't at full strength.

They continued down the other corridor and circled round back towards the entrance to avoid going past the communications room. It didn't take long to make the detour but it did mean they had to walk further than Reed would have liked. Trip had been tired when they started, having been made to work on the Therans' engine for hours without a break. Fatigue always made his symptoms worse and now he was flagging badly, his body wracked occasionally by muscle spasms.

Reed was relieved when he saw the hatchway ahead of them. They edged closer warily. There were no guards visible.

"This has got to be a trap," whispered Trip.

"It does seem unlikely that the entrance wouldn't be guarded," replied Reed.

"Maybe they're outside."

"Or they're waiting for us to show ourselves."

"I don't like this."

"Join the club, Commander." Reed was on full alert and his nerves were singing with the danger in the air. "But this is our only way out."

"What do you think we should do?"

"Proceed with caution," replied Reed. They crept to the entranceway and Reed carefully peered around the edge of the doorframe. He couldn't see anything except the shuttle parked a few metres away. He waved Trip forward behind him and stepped out into the daylight of the planet. The lack of movement was eerie and very unsettling, but Reed would take it over a pitched battle any day.

The rocky terrain between the Theran ship and the shuttle caused them some problems. Trip stumbled and fell several times before he gave in and let Reed support him on his weak side.

"Not far now," said Reed.

"Easy for you to say," replied Trip, breathlessly.

They finally made it to the shuttle and Reed pulled open the hatch while Trip lent against the hull. Reed's eyes went wide as he was met with the muzzle of a Theran pistol. He rolled sideways quickly and fired at the alien who was coming towards him. He saw Trip drop to the ground as well but didn't see what happened after that because he was on the move again. The first Theran went down but there were others in the shuttle who had used their colleague as a shield and were firing their own weapons. Reed got himself behind a large boulder and returned fire, trying to catch sight of where Trip had hidden himself.

"Hold it, Lieutenant," shouted one of the aliens. "We have Commander Tucker. Drop your weapon and come out or we will kill him."

Reed looked around the boulder in the direction of the shout and saw Trip lying on the rock strewn ground, hands held up above his head. Two Therans pointed weapons at him. Reed could easily imagine how they had caught him. Trip just couldn't move very quickly at the moment and the rocky ground made life even more difficult. Reed had no choice but to surrender. He tossed the weapon out and then raised his hands as he got to his feet.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," said the Theran.

Reed vaguely registered Trip shouting and the flash of a gun firing, then pain exploded on his upper body. The ground was hard when he hit it.

"You bastard!" Trip was shouting and being held back by two Theran guards. "He was surrendering!"

"The Captain's orders were clear about what we should do if you tried to escape. We don't need him, but you can be of use to us. Leave the body here."

Reed saw them drag Trip, who was struggling as hard as he could, back towards the ship, and then the pain became too much to deal with and his brain refused to stay conscious any longer.