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Shuttle One
"Where are we?!" Archer asked, straining to see in the dim glow of the emergency lights.
Trip craned his neck as far as he could, but he couldn't see much. The shuttle windows were obstructed. By what, he couldn't tell, but it looked vaguely metallic. "Unknown, Captain," he finally responded. "I can't see outside."
Archer squinted, trying to peer out the window over Trip's shoulder. "D'you think we're on the ground?" he asked. None of them could unstrap and check, the seats were perched at an odd 90 degree angle, they were half-dangling from their seats, safely held in place by the harnesses. The shuttle was obviously lying on its side.
Trip shook his head once. "Hard to say... The only way to tell would be to open- -"
"No!" Archer cut him off shortly, "The planet's mostly water. We could be on the bottom of the ocean for all we know." He looked out the window again, squinting against the outside darkness, trying to figure out what he was looking at.
Trip looked around at the opposite side window. Everywhere was the same metallic-like stuff blocking their view. Perhaps the shuttle had buried itself in the sediment at the bottom? That could be what happened... Jon was right, they had to stay put. "Still no word from Enterprise?" he asked.
Archer shook his head. "No response... Not sure if our system doesn't work or if the signal's not getting through..." He stopped and turned to Hoshi, who was groggily waking up in the back. "You ok?"
"I think so...," she groaned, moving her head from side to side, "... stiff neck, though." She opened her eyes wider, sat straighter, taking in the dim emergency lighting, the blocked off windows, the fact that they were on their side, "Where are we?!"
"I wish I knew," Archer dryly replied.
"Are you guys ok?" Hoshi asked.
"Mostly minor strain from hanging, stuff like that," Trip replied. "I was unconscious for most of it, though."
"We all were," Archer clarified. "Though Hoshi -"
A screeching sound suddenly sounded through the shuttle, setting everyone's teeth on edge. "What's going on?!" Hoshi shouted, her hands over her ears. The sound died as suddenly as it came.
The shuttle dipped as if in a sudden air pocket. "Wow!" "Hey!" "Captain!" The shouts fused throughout the cabin.
The shuttle reared, its occupants jostled around helplessly. It dipped to the right, dropped hard left. "Captain!" Hoshi yelped again. The emergency lights flickered off.
Silence fell.
Nothing else happened.
The emergency lights came back on. This time everyone was sitting upright in their chairs. They all looked at each other, then around the shuttle. The same vaguely crevaced surface was blocking all views from the windows.
"Where the hell are we...?!"
Archer's question floated in the silence.
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