Digging Deep
Chapter nine.

Kathryn's emotions were being pitched between regret and guilt, the nausea and tinnitus were no help, her senses felt as if they had come adrift and floating away on the tides of a tsunami. She had no control over where her body and mind were being tossed.

Focus Golden bird , focus. She heard her father admonish. Don't let yourself be distracted from the task at hand.
What task was that. Kathryn could not remember. She tried to think, but this sent throbbing bolts of pain surging to every synapses in her brain.

You're not alone Kathryn, I will always be by your side. Chakotays's face floated briefly before her. Warm smile, comforting eyes, she could gladly give herself to his loving embrace, but she did not. Why was that? She asked herself. Was she unsure about her feelings for him. or she just wanted to keep those feelings locked away because of Mark? But Mark had given up on her and moved on with his life, getting married four years after Voyager had been dragged into the Delta quadrant. Chakotay was by her side, ready and willing to take Mark's place in her heart. So why did she not let him in ? Was she hiding behind the rigid Starfleet protocols, using it as a protective shield?

Wake up Kathryn, Voyager needs you, I need you, we must get home. Chakotay's voice pleaded.
Kathryn flinched at the urgency in his tone. her eyelids flickered, allowing the orange glow of the cavern lighting to infiltrate her visual cortex and awaken her senses to become aware of her surroundings again, and the alien sitting on top of her. Her shoulder throbbed and her uniform felt damp from blood. The nightmare was not over. It was only just beginning. She groaned out loud.

"Oh so glad you're awake, would hate for you to miss all the fun." The guard chortled with malicious mirth. Only seconds had past since he'd stabbed Kathryn, but in her miasma it felt like hours had gone by. He had managed to cut along one side of her tunic and and was about to start on her pants, but in order to do this, he had to slide further down, so that he was sitting just below her knees. This gave Kathryn more leverage, a tactical advantage, the ball was in her court, and she was not going to let this chance slip away. She wanted to be with voyager, her crew and Chakotay, She would not let them down again. I made a promise that I must keep, I will get them home. She thought with determination.

With the image of Chakotay and the echo of his words, Kathryn mustered all her strength and courage. With her fist scrunched into a tight ball, she sat bolt upright at warp speed and smashed it into the side of the guards head, just above the ear. The weakest part of the skull in humans. She did not know about his species, maybe his brain was packed elsewhere, like between his legs she thought wryly.

It was enough to knock him sideways off her and drop his knife, flushed with success and adrenalin, she pressed her advantage home, ignoring the pain from her shoulder and now fist, she got to her feet grabbing the knife on her way up. concentrating all her efforts to stay conscious. The guard sat up shaking his head and roared with anger.
"You bitch, time for playing nice is over."

Kathryn heard a muffled sound she did not recognise, the guards contorted face changed from animalistic rage to a look of stupified confusion, before he toppled backwards with glazed eyes, staring up at the ceiling. Tulamina stood weapon in hand, unfazed by the sight of the dead guard.
'Are you all right?" She asked Kathryn, who at this stage, now that the flight or fight effects were wearing off, was leaning against the wall shaking and panting from the exhertion. She felt cold and weak, droplets of persperation covered her face.

"Lay down Kathryn, let Thalonious take a look at your wound."
Kathryn thought, Not likely, she'd had enough of this devil's snare and wanted to get moving, her stubborn streak kicked in.
"No time." She said, weakly waving her hand in the air dismissively, with as much gusto as she could muster at this moment in time.
"We must find a way to get out of here."
"You're still bleeding and will go into shock, now stay still while Thalonious sees to you, a few minutes can't hurt, you do want to get out alive and not as a corpse, don't you?" Tula said not unkindly.

On that cold sober note Kathryn had to give in and be realistic, sheer willpower and strength would not be enough to get her through this. Getting out was not enough, she had to stop the mining operation and she could not do that dead. Her legs buckled and she used the wall to slide down into a sitting position. A guard approached and Kathryn looked at him alarmed, her heart pumping even faster, an instinctve reaction after what she had been through, she tried to get up on her feet again. The guard raised his hand.

"Relax, I'm on your side," He said gently.
Kathryn looked at the familier face. It was the guard who had told her about the chip in her hand. He removed a medikit from the pouch on his belt, opened it and took out an ampule, twisted off the top and squeezed the contents into the wound, which sizzled and foamed, turning the area white and letting off a cloud of grey plumes.

"This should stop the bleeding temporarily so long as you don't move it. I will put a dressing on the wound and strap your arm up so that the clot will remain in place.
Kathryn nodded, unable to speak, her teeth were clenched so tightly together from the pain, that it felt like her jaw would stay clamped together permanently.
"I will give you a shot for the pain and a booster to strengthen your metabolism."
Within seconds Kathryn felt the benefits from the concoction, her head felt clear, her body calm, heart beat and pulse normal, the sweats and shakes gone. She smiled feeling ready to take on the Quadrant all over again.

"Just because you feel good does not mean you are. You still have to take it easy and be careful." Thalonious advised.
"Understood and thank you." Kathryn said gratefully
She stood up thankful not to feel light headed and dizzy anymore. Now she could concentrate on the job at hand.