Chapter Seven

It was quite late by the time Trip had reassembled the radio back in to some semblance of working fashion. He had connected the other power cell from his communicator to the device in order to boost their transmission power over the storm's interference, and increase their chances of getting their message through to Enterprise. Since they had no way of knowing if a message had got through with the receiver being well and truly fried, with dusk setting in, he was taking no chances. He activated the generator, while T'Pol switched on the transceiver.

"Sub Commander T'Pol to Enterprise … we have a possible quarantine situation and require immediate assistance."

She repeated this message several times and then turned it off, to Trip's surprise. "We need to conserve as much power as possible for the generator to last through the night," she explained, to his questioning look.

"I suppose ya right," he said, joining her at the nearby table. "So what do we do now?"

"We wait…" she replied, before sitting down in a meditative pose.

-------------------------------------------

Patience wasn't one of Trip's virtues. He was a hands-on type of guy who always kept himself active and busy. More especially at times like this when he was on edge, with his emotions close to the surface. Sitting around waiting like this just made him think … think about those man-eating insects and what they did to the previous colony here … think about the small amount of light the generator was giving out and how it couldn't possibly keep them at bay or last through the night … think about how he could hear the swarm building up right now, gearing up to flock towards them, ready to pounce en mass on to their two unsuspecting new prey …

"I can see them," Trip whispered, in a scared tone as his threatened emotions finally spilled over. "T'Pol … look," he said, pointing over to the corner of the room where tiny green glowing insects were crawling out of the brickwork and slowly spreading around the dark edges of the room. "Look they're coming through the wall down where it's dark."

T'Pol glanced over to where Trip was pointing, but her calm demeanour didn't show any sign that she was perturbed by their appearance. Trip, on the other hand, jumped up in panic as his fear took hold, overwhelming all rational thoughts.

"Oh my god… they're on me. Get'm off ... Get'm off ..." he yelled, jumping around, brushing off the hoard of imaginary insects his irrational fear had projected on him.

"Commander!"

"Get'm off me …"

"Commander … Stop it …!" she loudly exclaimed, gripping his hands to stem his rising fear.

"Can you see them? They're on me …"

"They are not on you …" she said, gripping him harder. Her firm grasp and composed poise slowly began to seep through her touch to bringing him back to reality. His fast grasping breaths began to settle back down into a normal breathing rhythm as his irrational thoughts slowly began to subside. "Your fears are beginning to overwhelm your emotions. You have to focus…" She pulled him down to a meditating position, all the while holding him firmly and speaking in a soothing voice. His frantic, agitated state slowly focused on her until she became the sole being in his whole existence. "Close your eyes … imagine yourself on a calm ocean …"

After a few minutes, "Thanks," he said. "Sorry I lost it back there …"

"How are you feeling?" asked T'Pol, still holding on to him tightly.

"I'm good … I'm okay …" he replied, looking a lot calmer, whilst retaining a slight tremor of fear in his voice.

"We are safe while we remain in the light," she explained. "The insects are not encroaching beyond the extent of the boundary."

"That's … that's good … that's good ta know," exclaimed Trip, taking deep breath while he focused himself on T'Pol.

"I think the light keeps them from swarming," she carried on. "Just like fireflies, which you have on Earth. The green luminosity that you can see projecting from them comes from oxidizing enzymes. I think this is why they cocoon their prey. So they can oxidize the proteins taken from fluid in the body …"

"T'Pol," exclaimed Trip, shaking his head to indicate for her to stop. "Not that I don't appreciate what ya doing, but … can ya not go there …?"

"I apologise."

"Do ya think, maybe, Enterprise heard our transmissions?"

"I am certain Captain Archer will endeavour to undertake a rescue at the earliest convenience…" she replied, failing to answer his question, but not wanting to come across as too negative to prevent his fears from escalating once again.

"We sent that call hours ago … Help would have been here by now …"

"While the storm intensity has lessened, it is still too dangerous to attempt a landing. Try to remain calm and focused."

"What if the generator fails," asked Trip, his anxiety rising again. "What then, are they gonna swarm in here and drain the life out of us?"

"Trip!" she exclaimed, drawing his full attention once more. "Close your eyes. Think of the boat … the ocean," she said, holding onto one of his hands, as she began pressing her fingers into the middle of his palm, performing a Vulcan relaxation ritual. "You are sitting in that boat. There is a gentle breeze blowing causing slight ripples on the water. As the sun sets, the orange glow stretches across the horizon…"

His breathing slowed down once more, as he began to lose himself in her vision …

Overhead, the light flickered as the generator's steady hum started to stutter as it reached the last remnants of fuel towards the bottom of the tank…

------------------------------------------------