AN: Oooo, guys, I feel like we're in the home stretch! I know some chapters have been pretty derivitive of "Caretaker"—this is one of them, I'm sorry to say—but I think the remainder will be lot more original, which hopefully equals more fun. I'm revising the last chapters now and filling in a few missing scenes and I'm really excited to get to the big finale!
For what Kirk sincerely hoped was the last time, the away team materialized on—or rather, slightly inside—the dusty red planet. The coordinates Spock had provided, limited by their ability to pass a transporter beam through one of the small gaps in the security barrier, seemed to have deposited them in some kind of agricultural area. In sharp contrast to the barren surface above, Kirk's first impression was one of overwhelming greenness: neat rows of unfamiliar plants grew in planters or cascaded down the stone walls, and the air was heavy with the smell of water. The cavern, easily the size of one of Enterprise's larger hangars, was lit evenly by enormous glowing blocks mounted on the walls. He could hear the rush of a waterfall and, over that, the steady thrum of the Caretaker's energy pulses.
Kes glanced around quickly, getting her bearings. "This way," she said, and strode confidently down a paved path.
The away team followed—Kirk; Khan again, despite Kirk's continued misgivings; Trance, who had insisted on accompanying Kes; Sh'athylnik; and Sulu. Spock, apparently doubtful of Kirk's ability to stay out of trouble without his presence, had requested to join the party, but Kirk wanted him on the Enterprise, and Rev Bem had demurred from accompanying them on the grounds his presence might alarm the Ocampa. A handful of people scattered around the cavern watched them curiously but without alarm. They were slight and fair, like Kes, and dressed in soft, earth-toned clothing. Kirk didn't like to jump to conclusions about alien races, but the difference between these people and the Magog was striking.
Sulu had his tricorder out. "Sir, the pulses from the array are getting faster."
"Whatever the Caretaker is planning, it's happening soon." Kirk looked again at the lush greenery and the calm people, so unlike the barren rock above and the violent Magog who inhabited it. Did these people know what was happening? Did they know what the Caretaker intended for them?
Ahead of them, a dark-haired man rose slowly from examining the leaves of a plant, staring at them in disbelief. Kes broke into a run, and for a moment Kirk thought there might be trouble. But then Kes threw herself into the man's arms.
"Kes!" he cried.
"Hello, Daggin." Kes smiled warmly up at him.
He pushed her out to arm's length, laughing a little. "We thought we'd never see you again! How did you get back?"
"These people rescued me from the Kazon." Kes half-turned to gesture at the away team. "I'm trying to help them find two of their crewmen." She raised her voice and looked to the gathering crowd. "Does anyone know where the aliens are kept? The ones the Caretaker sends here?"
Daggin glanced curiously at Kirk and the others and then back to Kes. "I think they're in the central clinic," he offered. The other Ocampa only watched the unfolding scene with mild interest. They seemed more excited by Kes's miraculous return than by the aliens standing in their garden.
Kirk stepped forward, drawing Daggin attention back to him. "Can you take us there?" he asked.
The watching Ocampa all jumped as though startled by a loud noise, though Kirk heard nothing but water and energy pulses. Kes looked past Daggin's shoulder at something behind Kirk.
"They can't speak telepathically, Toscat," she said sharply. "Please talk aloud."
Kirk turned and found himself facing an older man walking toward them, a little taller than the other Ocampa and beginning to turn gaunt with age. He wore a gray robe and an expression of habitual melancholy. "I didn't mean to be rude," the man said to Kirk. "But you should not be here."
"We'll be glad to leave once we find our crewmen," Kirk told him honestly.
Like Black Claw, this man was obviously a leader, and obviously bent on getting in Kirk's way, but after Black Claw—and Nero and Khan and half a dozen other people who had tried to get in Kirk's way—Kirk wasn't intimidated. He met Toscat's gaze steadily, and it was the Ocampa who looked away first, glancing to Sh'athylnik and Khan as though considering whether either of them might be more easily cowed.
Not likely, Kirk thought.
"That won't be possible," Toscat said. "We cannot interfere with the Caretaker's wishes."
"Maybe you can't," Sh'athylnik said sharply, "but we can."
"You don't understand," Toscat insisted.
"That's right, they don't understand," Kes said. There was a fire in her eyes Kirk hadn't seen before. "They have no way of knowing that the Ocampa have been dependent on the Caretaker for so long we can't even think for ourselves anymore! They don't understand we were once a people who had full command of our minds' abilities."
Toscat smiled patronizingly down at her. "The stories of our ancestors' cognitive abilities are apocryphal—at the very least, exaggerated."
"We lost those abilities because we stopped using them!"
"We should not dwell on what has been lost, but on all that has been gained."
"We've gained a talent for dependence, for simply taking what we're given," Kes said. The Ocampa gathered around them murmured softly in agreement. It was milder than the shouts Kirk would have expected from a Human crowd, but Toscat flushed in alarm. "I'm going to help them, whether you like it or not—and I think my friends will join me."
Toscat's expression said he knew she was right. He took Kes's arm and drew her away from the other Ocampa—though not so far that Kirk couldn't hear what he said.
"You defied the Caretaker by going to the surface, Kes," he said. "Learn from the experience! Follow the path he has set for us."
Kes didn't bother to lower her voice. "I learned very well, Toscat. I saw the sunlight! I can't believe our Caretaker would forbid us to open our eyes and see the sky!" She turned away from him and grabbed Trace's hand. "Come with me, we'll find your people."
Only a few of the watching Ocampa hesitated before following Kes out of the cavern. As Kirk turned to follow them, he couldn't help but smirk a little at the sight of Toscat, standing alone in the underground garden.
Chekov was hoping for a phase-drill and some plasma globes, but what they got were old-fashioned shovels and filament lights. He tried not to let his disappointment show as the Ocampa nurse bade them good luck and, with many anxious glances over her shoulder, left them at the mouth of the tunnel she promised would lead them to the surface. Kati turned the light over in her hands, examining the hard plastic case.
"I always imagined aliens would be more technologically advanced than us," she said, "but this looks like something from my time. I would have thought people capable of making food out of raw energy could do better than this." She shook the light and something inside—probably the power cell—rattled faintly. "Though," she added thoughtfully, "it was really disgusting food."
"I think their more advanced technology was given to them by the Caretaker," Chekov said. "They don't really seem to understand how it works, do they?"
They stood in silence for a moment and stared at the tunnel yawning before them. Their guide had led them down a series of sidestreets that turned into cut stone passages and finally to this tunnel, which looked like nothing more than a ragged hole in the rock wall. The walk alone had left Chekov so exhausted he wanted nothing more than to lie down on the ground and sleep until someone came to rescue them.
Kati switched on her light and shone it down the tunnel. The darkness swallowed the beam entirely. "There's no point in just standing here," she said.
She started down the tunnel without looking to see if Chekov followed. He groaned and forced himself to stumble forward. The floor was rough but otherwise level, but the tunnel gradually narrowed until it was smaller than one of the corridors on the Enterprise. Chekov guessed they had gone almost a kilometer and was beginning to feel the uncomfortable pressure of stone all around him when the passage opened suddenly into a large room. At first he thought it was a dead end; then he saw the staircase.
They both pointed their lights straight up, and Chekov groaned again. The tunnel turned into a wide shaft, arrowing straight up farther than their light could reach. The staircase, an alarmingly rickety construction, spiraled upward along the walls.
"None of that," Kati said sharply. "We'll… just take it slowly, that's all."
The only good thing Chekov could see was that there were lights bolted to the wall at irregular intervals. They started up the staircase, Kati leading, shovels braced over their shoulders and flashlights clutched in their hands. Chekov felt like he had weights in his boots. He found himself counting steps: after twenty stairs they reached a landing with a light; another twenty and another landing, but this one's light was dark. He peered up at the shaft above them. There were half a dozen lights he could see, which meant at least a hundred and twenty stairs. But how many landings were unlit? Assume an equal number… though admittedly he was working from a small sample size… two hundred and forty stairs…
He made it to the third landing and collapsed. His legs felt like water; it was hard to breathe. Kati kept going a few more steps before she realized he was no longer behind her. She turned and shone her light on his face, blinding him, but he was too weak to raise his hand to shield his eyes. The beam shook wildly: she was trembling.
"Come on, Pavel," she panted. "You can't stop now, you have to keep going. Come on."
"I'm sorry," Chekov said. And he was. He didn't want to fail her like this, fail himself like this, but he didn't think he could get up even if someone put a phaser to his head.
She seemed to realize this. "All right," she said. "It's all right. We'll rest for a minute." She sat on the step above him. She was breathing hard and sweat gleamed on her face. Her sores seemed to be getting worse, and Chekov supposed he was in no better shape.
Her strength shamed him. He had collapsed with no thought what would come next. If he had given it any thought at all, he would have assumed he was collapsing for good, that he would die here on this landing. But she called it a rest and assumed they would get up again. Even if they never took another step, she at least hadn't given up hope.
"Maybe," he said weakly, "I would do better if I had a few enhanced genes."
"Maybe," Kati said.
"You know, I'm the second-youngest Academy graduate in Starfleet history," he said. "This is only my third mission. I knew it was dangerous, but I didn't expect…" He trailed off. He didn't know how to finish the sentence.
"I always wanted to travel through space," Kati said. "To see other planets—Mars, I thought it would be. That's why I studied astrophysics. It's ironic that I came all this way while sleeping, and now that I'm awake I've seen nothing but giant cave." She sounded bitter.
"Aren't you afraid?" Chekov asked.
"No," she said. "I'm never afraid." She paused, and then said, "Almost never."
"Well, I'm afraid enough for both of us."
She smiled and nudged him gently with her foot. "Don't give up yet. You've still got some fight in you. I can tell."