Sandra was working on her weekly report to Starfleet when the announcement came out over the shipwide announcement. "This is Captain James T. Kirk. I'm gonna need Dr. McCoy, Chekov, Dr. Linh and Scotty to meet me in shuttle bay. Kirk out." Her brows furrowed in confusion. Nevertheless, she got up and followed the CMO down the hallway towards the shuttle bay.
"Jim, what the hell's going on?" McCoy automatically growled as soon as they entered the room. Sandra was still in step with the CMO was they walked into a shuttlecraft with Chekov behind them as well as Ensign Allbright. "There better be a damn good reason for all of us to go down to the planet."
The captain was buckling a belt with a phaser and a communicator and sat himself down in the pilot's seat. "I'll give you the quick version, Bones. Have a seat." McCoy took the seat next to the captain while Sandra and the others sat in the back and buckled in. "Spock's sensors picked up all sorts of weird crap from the planet. Life signs but not life forms. Transmissions have been scrambled. So we can't send anything to Starfleet, obviously. We also can't beam down planetside."
There was a heavy pause between the two as Sandra watched. "You don't think it's..."
Kirk seemed determined. "No, he's dead. And no one else knows enough to try the same thing."
Their craft flew out of the hangar and towards the planet. "So why am I here, captain?" she asked.
"Like I said. Life but not life forms. You're a Betazoid so you should be able to read any minds if they are there. Bones is coming along to verify physical life forms. You're there for psychological life forms. We needed Chekov because we need him to disarm whatever it is that's blocking our signal. We won't be able to contact the Enterprise until it's shut down." he replied. "Allbright and I are there for security and possibly any talks that might occur."
She frowned. "Captain, there are life forms that Betazoids cannot read."
He flashed a grin at her. "Well, let's find out."
They broke the atmosphere and shot towards the rocky terrain. When the door hissed open, she took in the sight. "I thought you said this was a class M planet?"
Chekov, Allbright, and McCoy stepped out of the craft as well. "Yeah, Jim, this place looks like Vulcan used to be."
Kirk finally popped his head out of the door and shut it. "Well then, let's go introduce ourselves." And with that, he walked off in a direction. "Come on, Bones! Chekov, Allbright, I need you up here!"
McCoy rolled his eyes and Sandra felt that the sound of her hand smacking her forehead could be heard for kilometers around. The two doctors trailed after Jim's crew. "So...why did you call Jim Captain Manwhore when you first beamed on? We could've had you court martialed for that." he asked.
"You wait nearly 8 months to ask me that?" she quipped. McCoy's brows furrowed. I don't remember you sleeping with Jim. She paused in her step. "No, I did not sleep with Jim." The gravel crunched under their feet. "He slept with my roommate. Her people hold the act of making love as a sanctity of marriage type of deal. So when he wouldn't really return her calls or when she saw him with someone else, she got pretty bad."
"How bad?"
"Were you at the student clinic when Tyra G'srenchi was brought in?" McCoy froze in his tracks. "Yeah, that was her." The man didn't say anything. She knew he didn't really need to. He understood.
"What about you?"
"What about me?" she asked.
"You've been avoiding Chekov for a good while now."
"None of your business, McCoy."
They trudged on and followed Jim up the side of some kind of cliff. "Anything yet, Bones?" called out Kirk. They stopped to take in the view. "Damn, it looks nice up here."
McCoy waved his tricorder. "Still life signs." He looked up, surveying the landscape. "But no life."
"Linh?"
"I can't get much. It sounds like a million little signs and one giant sign at the same time." she replied. It seemed to get louder in her head when she walked closer to the edge. Before she got within a meter of it, the ground beneath them rumbled. She screamed and tried to scramble back to the away team. The ground gave way.
"Sandy!" shouted a voice.
"Pavel!" she cried out as she fell. There was a sharp crack and her vision went black.
She groaned when consciousness seeped into her mind. The warm pillow she was resting on shifted and replaced her head on something soft. Sandra blinked in the darkness. "W-where am I?"
"Shh...don't move." whispered a quiet, familiar voice. She heard a chirp. "Captain. Dr. McCoy. Can anyone hear me?"
"Can't contact, remember? Signal knocked out communications." she mumbled. "Allbright? Is that you?" Wherever they were was too dark for her to tell. Her head hurt something awful to really concentrate on the subconscious ideas. The soft pillow wasn't as warm as the first one but still smelled wonderfully.
"No. Is not Allbright." came the reply. She gulped. "Don't worry, Dr. San...dra." She winced at his pronunciation of her full name. "I am sure that the captain and doctor will find us before long." She shivered. "Are you cold?"
"I was warm right before I woke up.." she mumbled. Sandra finally tried to look for him. She propped herself up to find see him sitting just inside the cave mouth. She looked down at her pillow. It was a gold, neatly folded gold Starfleet tunic. "Pavel, you've got to be freezing." He didn't budge.
She stood up and sat down next to him, a slow ache in her head reminded her of the accident. "My heart stopped when you fell through the rock." he admitted quietly. His voice was lulling her to sleep again. And his scent. So distinctly...Pavel. "So I followed you. You were not moving." His shirt was big enough for her to use as a small blanket.
"I'm sorry I worried you." she mumbled sleepily. Her head felt heavy and his shoulder seemed so inviting. Before she could stop herself, she was practically cuddling up to the navigator. His arm wrapped itself around her shoulders.
"You're ok. That is all that matters to me right now." She was almost unconscious again. He kissed the top of her head and held her closer. "The captain and doctor will find us. I will look for them. You sleep."
The echoes of it tugged at her mind first. Help us. Help us. Her eyes cracked open to the dawn. Help us. Disarm Deb. Help us. The words kept buzzing in her head. Pavel's scent enveloped her as she slowly woke up. The weight on her head was snoring softly.
"Pavel..." she nudged him. "Pavel, I think I hear them."
"Net, Reggie. I do not have advanced interstellar physics today." he mumbled and held her closer.
She pushed at him. "Pavel."
Grey eyes blinked owlishly open. He sat up and stretched in the morning light and smiled at her. Then shock registered on his face. "Dr. Sandy!" His brain seemed to catch him up on what transpired the night before. "How is your head? Are you ok?"
"I'm ok, Pavel. Just shut up for a minute." She listened closer. "Disarm...Deb?" She slowly stood up with Pavel shooting up to hold onto her. "This could be the signal that's jamming our communications." She thrust the gold shirt at him and edged deeper into the cave. Don't get separated. Deb will take you. Sandra grabbed Pavel's hand and held on tight. "Stay with me, ok?"
"Yes! Ok!" he chirped.
Her arm reached out and patted along the walls. Cold. But...as they progressed further into the cavern, it slowly stopped feeling organic and more...synthetic. A rock gave way when she pressed on it accidentally. She jumped when a panel slid up to show a control panel.
Pavel whispered something.
"What is it?"
"I can...fix that! I can fix that! Here, here. Hold your arms around my waist. I can reprogram it!" His hands maneuvered her to wrap themselves around his waist from behind. She peeked over his shoulder to see his fingers dance across the screen in his calculations. "Sandy, when I tell you, try to contact the captain."
She used one hand to fumble with her communicator. "Ready."
"Ok...now!"
She pushed at a button. "Captain Kirk, this is Dr. Linh, do you read me?"
Static met their ears. She was about to try again when the familiar voice broke through. "Kirk here. Are you guys ok? Are you with Chekov?"
"Yes, sir. We disabled the--"
"The source that was bending light enough to make its inhabitants invisible with a signal strong enough to knock out communications of any nearby star ship." Kirk replied. "We know."
"How do you know?"
"Suddenly, we're standing in the middle of a busy city. We'll send you a hailing as soon as we've settled talks with the President of...wherever we are. Kirk out."
She shouted in joy and Pavel joined her in the enthusiasm. He leaned down and kissed her. He blinked and pulled away. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He began to babble an apology. She smiled and placed a finger on his lips. Sandra rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him.
"I'm willing to try, Pavel. If you are."
A blush rose over his cheeks. "I am."