Shuttle One

The throbbing in his head was sickening. Trip heard someone moan, wasn't sure if it was him. He tried moving but it hurt too much. Everything hurt. Something was pinning him down, but he didn't know what. He couldn't see anything. He closed his eyes. And opened them. It made no difference.

"Captain! Hoshi!" he called out.

There was no answer. Did they leave him behind? No, if they had left him behind, they'd opened the hatch, he would've drowned.

Had he drowned?

He wasn't sure anymore. "Guys? Are you there?! Hoshi!" he called out again.

There was an answering moan. This time it wasn't coming from him. ..

"Hoshi?!" he called louder. Perhaps she was the one who'd moaned.

"Trip…" a voice croaked in answer. It was the Captain.

"You okay, Jon?" he asked, relief edging his voice. Things were starting to look up. If the Captain was okay, he could come over and help him get up. That would be an improvement.

"… Shit… What was that?" Archer said.

"We were too close to the thruster… Must have gotten a clean shot." Trip replied.

Archer pulled himself up to a sitting position. He winced at the pain in his head, brought a hand to his forehead. Felt it wet and sticky. Blood. Even if he couldn't see it. "There can't be much of that alien thing left," he mused out loud, "I'm pretty banged up."

"I can't move," Trip replied. "Something's pinning me down. What about Hoshi?"

Archer looked around at the surrounding darkness, unseeing. "Shouldn't there be emergency lights?" he asked. Talk about rhetorical questions...

Trip shook his head, bit his lip at the pain. 'Okay, remember, no head shaking, no moving'. "The shockwave must have fried all the circuits on board," he ventured. "Looks like the shuttle held," he added.

"Thank god for small favors," Archer said. "Any idea where are we now?"

Silence settled as Trip wondered how to answer the impossible. Jon would probably not want to hear, 'Somewhere in the ocean,' but nased on the jostling of the shuttle, that's the only thing he could think of. "What about Hoshi?" he asked instead.

This time the thought connected. Archer looked right and left, cursing silently. Where was Hoshi?! "Hoshi!" he called out loud. "Hey, Hoshi! Hoshi, wake up!"

There was only silence.

"Hoshi!" Trip shouted in turn. "Come on, Hoshi!" He had a sense of foreboding. Please let her be all right...

"Here…," a voice feebly answered. "I'm here."

Trip felt giddy with relief. "Hoshi, you scared us!" he hollered in the darkness.

"I'm okay…," came the reply, "well, kind of. I can't really tell but I think everything's still attached."

"Well, that makes one of us at least," Archer said drily. "I'm okay too, mostly," he added. "What about you, Trip?"

"Everything hurts," Trip answered truthfully, "I'm trying not to move. Can't move anyway, there's something across me."

"An emergency?" Archer asked.

Now he was asking... If anything was an emergency, he'd be dead already. Trip shook his head, groaned. Not a good idea. "I'm fine so long as I don't move," he said.

It looked like the darkness was less dark, he could see shades in the cabin, His eyes must be getting adjusted. But nothing made sense. He blinked, staring again, tried to look around, but the pain was too sharp. He couldn't recognize where he was. Was that the shuttle? "Where are we?" he asked.

It was Hoshi who came to the rescue. "We're in the shuttle," she said, "But it's upside down."

"Ah!" Archer exclaimed in response, "that explains that."

"Anybody can figure out what's lying across me?" Trip called out. Perhaps one of them would actually think about freeing him...

"Must be one of the chairs," Hoshi responded. "I think I see something gleaming on the ceiling, looks like a chair post. Mind you, the seats just look like darker shapes, I'm not sure."

"You have good eyes," Archer commented.

"Of course, when I say ceiling, I mean the floor, you understand?" Hoshi added.

"Of course," Archer replied.

Were they exchanging niceties while he was there stuck under who knows what?! "You think one of you could help me push this thing off?" Trip asked.

There was the sound of someone moving, then getting up with a groan. "Trip, I'm going to try and find you. Keep talking so I can find you," Archer's voice resonated in the small habitacle.

"Try not to step on me, okay?" Trip forced a light tone in his voice, "Everything already hurts enough as it is."

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