SHELTER

"It doesn't look very deep, Tom," commented B'Elanna as she entered the cave. Depositing a sack of tubers and the two backpacks she was carrying on the floor inside the entrance, she rummaged through her pack and removed the light. Not bothering to attach it to her wrist, she flashed it around the cave. "There's one area far to the back that cuts into the mountain about 40 meters or so from the entrance," she went on, "but that shaft of light coming from the roof opens to the outside."

"It'll act like a wind tunnel during the night. I was hoping that this cave would be deeper than the tricorder said it would be, but it isn't. Where's a false reading when you really need one?"

"What is it, 18 hours of winter night to get through, Tom?"

"Yeah, we've got to find the most protected area of this cave to camp out in."

After switching on his own light, Tom circuited the small cave with B'Elanna. They had to be careful of their footing, as much of the cave had an uneven floor. In the back of the cavern, in a cul-de-sac formed by an outcropping of stone, they found a crack in the floor It was directly underneath the one in the roof but was out of sight somewhat from the main area of the cave. "Latrine area," declared Tom. B'Elanna agreed. Cold draft or not, it would be better to use for their needs than going outside would be.

"Tom, what about over there on the left, where the stalactites and stalagmites are in a line. That's almost a wall." They bent down and shone their lights inside. The lights revealed that the roof of the cave there was a mere meter and a half from its floor. The columns of stone enclosed an area a little under three meters in length and about two meters in width, but they could see that four other stalactites with their connecting stalagmites hung in the center of the space.

She sighed. "There isn't enough room for us to slide in there, out of the wind, is there?"

"No, the columns are in the way. The best place is against that side wall to the right, I think, where at least the floor is level."

"It's going to be in line with the draft."

"If you can find a better place, I'll be only too happy to go along with you."

They flashed the lights around for several minutes more. There was no better place in the cave.

"Do you want me to see if there is another cave nearby, B'Elanna?"

"I don't think it's worth the effort, do you? It's getting close to dark now. We don't want to be wandering around outside then. It's cold enough now."

Remembering that the half-Klingon engineer's body was less resistant to cold than his own, Tom agreed. They returned to the mouth of the cave and transferred the sacks of tubers and their meager supplies to the area of the cave where they would sleep.

"Inventory time, Lt. Torres?" asked Tom, as he sat beside her and leaned his back against the wall of the cave. B'Elanna was the nominal head of their two-person expedition. When she agreed, he emptied the damaged knapsack first.

"Let's see, we've got a change of underwear and socks. One spare gray turtleneck. One personal hygiene kit for male crew members. A comb. One mess kit. Three ration bars. A canteen with . . . ." He opened the stopper to sniff the contents. "with water inside. Terrific. I was hoping they would have left us something a bit stronger. One Starfleet All-Weather Sleeping Bag-Blanket. A padd - I wonder what it has on it. Women Warriors at the River of Blood would be nice. I haven't finished that yet." Pulling the padd out of the backpack, Tom switched it on, making a face when he saw what it was. "It's a security manual. This must be Larson's pack; he was taking Tuvok's promotional course for prospective ensigns. I knew he was ambitious when he started showing up on the bridge as a backup. Okay, back to the inventory. Personal med kit. One pair lined gloves."

"Dibs on the gloves, Paris."

"Don't you bring your own?"

"I forgot them. I didn't expect to be here all night," she said defensively.

"You're going to be sorry. These won't be very warm. They're the lightweight ones." He tossed them over to her. "You may want to put these on with your climbing gloves for a little extra warmth, B'Elanna." He turned back to the contents of the backpack. "One deck Starfleet-issue playing cards. Guess we'll have something to do to pass the time, other than to sleep and eat. One wrist light. A spare power pack for said wrist light. That's handy, at least. He didn't even need to bring a light, let alone the spare power pack. What's this - oh, it's a pocket knife. And two candy bars, chocolate. Looks like we're going to have dessert tonight."

She smiled but would rather have had another half-dozen blankets than candy bars for dessert. "What did you bring with you, Tom?"

"Pretty much the same thing. My field medic kit is more complete that the personal ones and has a medical tricorder. I have an extra power pack for the phaser. I had three, but we used up two when we were cutting out the dilithium. I have the climbing equipment, with the pitons and cords and some cleats. No candy bars or playing cards though, and I don't have a padd. What about you?"

"The same basic stuff like the convertible blanket, mess and med kits, some ration bars and a little Tarkalian tea. I had five spare power packs for the phaser when we left the ship, but I used three of them cutting. The one in my phaser is full power, though. I've got a change of underwear, socks, and turtleneck, too. My wrist light and a spare power pack for that. Of course, I have the female version of the hygiene kit.

"I would think so."

"Is there any spare food?"

"What's in Neelix's lunch basket, B'Elanna?"

"Oh, forgot about the basket. He's got an old blanket in here. I guess they sat on it while they ate. It isn't one of those that can be made into a sleeping bag. He's got one, no, two sandwiches, about a dozen ration bars, another beverage container . . . . " She passed the container over to Tom so that he could check out its contents. "A cooking pot, it looks like. I don't know what he had planned on cooking! A small lighter to start fires. Some cups and plates and cutlery. And some more of those roots. They're soft, so they must be leftovers from lunch."

"You can use the extra blankets, B'Elanna. You'll need them."

"You're right about that. It's a good thing we never sent our cold-weather jackets back up to Voyager. I wish I had an entire environment suit right about now."

He leaned forward away from the wall. "Yeah, this stone is cold. If the cave had been deeper, we could have gotten into an area where the temperature was moderated, but this one's too shallow for that. We may need to use Neelix's blanket on the floor under us to help insula . . . " He stopped talking in mid-sentence and thought a moment.

"B'Elanna, I just had an inspiration. Insulation, and a soft bed, all in one. What about bringing in those piles of straw that are outside - you know, the stalky tops of the tubers. We could sleep on a haystack."

"That's a good idea, Tom. It's got to be warmer and more comfortable than the floor of this cave."

"We'd better hurry though. The straw is probably starting to blow all around."

Jumping to his feet, Tom held out his hand for B'Elanna to pull herself up. Without another word, they went out to gather up their bedding.

"It could have been much worse, Captain. At least we were able to limp out of the nebula on impulse before the more serious problems with the computer forced us to shut down propulsion." Harry tried to look optimistic, but the good news was meager, compared to the overwhelming problems that faced them. "Most of the damage to the Bioneural system was apparently caused when the shields were down for the transporter. The effect on the circuitry wasn't caught in time to prevent a cascade failure that spread throughout the ship's systems. Neelix and Larson were lucky to get here when they did. The transporter buffers went off line within seconds after they were on board."

"Where are we regarding repairs, Lt. Carey?" asked Commander Chakotay.

Torres' primary assistant in engineering consulted his padd. "We can use backups to reprogram all the systems, but before we can do that, we need to check on all of the circuits to make sure that they aren't damaged. In addition to the circuitry, a significant amount of damage was done to other parts of the ship by the ignited plasma. It's going to take a while to fix everything, and since all replicators are down at the moment, even on the holodecks..."

"The holodecks, Mr. Carey?"

"Yes, Captain, sometimes when we need a lot of parts we press the replicator function of the holodeck into service. It permits us to make larger parts, especially. Since they are off line, too, we will need to fix them before making new parts for other parts of system. At least the gelpacks themselves, were OK; only the linkages between them were damaged. They automatically disconnected to prevent damage to the gelpacks, which is what is supposed to happen - it's a protective system. That circuitry needs to be fixed before we will be able to make much headway on the rest of the ship. Estimated repair time is about six days, ship's time."

"Does that mean B'Elanna and Tom will have to spend four nights on that planet?" Neelix looked distressed.

"That is a minimum estimate, I'm afraid, Neelix. Even if we can get all of the repairs completed without any delay, Voyager can return to the planet only if the nebula has settled down by then. We can't risk a recurrence of the damage to our shields and systems."

"Captain, that means we also need to keep an eye on Tantrum in order to monitor the conditions inside the nebula," reported Harry Kim.

"What did you say?" asked the captain. 'Tantrum?'"

"Uh, sorry, Captain. That's what they're calling it down in Stellar Cartography. I think Megan Delaney christened it that," answered Harry.

A smile crossed the captain's lips for the first time at the meeting. "The name certainly fits! I think we should keep it."

Harry smiled back. "Stellar Cartography will be glad to hear it. Everyone was getting pretty tired of saying V3-F01-1472 all the time."

After a short pause while everyone acknowledged the name, Lt. Carey spoke up, "Captain, about observing the star, Ensign Myers and the crew in the shuttle maintenance bay have an idea. Since the shuttles are not connected directly to the ship, their systems sustained little if any damage. We can get them up and flying in a day or two, fit them with some extra long-range sensors, and keep an eye on Tantrum until Voyager is repaired enough to do it."

"Why not for a day or two, Mr. Carey?" asked Chakotay.

Lt. Carey looked sheepish. "Until the shields are working properly again, it wouldn't be a good idea to have the doors open anyway, but we can't even try. The shuttlebay doors won't open, Commander. We have to fix that circuitry, too."

The captain and the first officer exchanged an exasperated look with one another.

"Keep us informed, Lieutenant. Anything else?"

"Captain Janeway, pardon me for asking, but once the shuttles get out, can't you just send one to pick up Lt. Torres and Lt. Paris? I'd be glad to volunteer for such a mission, " said Neelix.

Janeway replied gently, knowing that while Neelix should have known the answer to his question already, the guilt he carried about returning to Voyager while Tom and B'Elanna had been forced to stay behind was preying on his mind. "That isn't practical. If there is another solar flare while the shuttle is in the nebula, more crew members would be put in danger, and in worse danger, frankly, than Lt. Torres and Lt. Paris are in right now. The shuttles have less shield capacity than Voyager."

"Wasn't the damage done because the shields were down, to permit the transport of Crewman Larson and myself?"

Tuvok looked at Janeway and Chakotay as he noted, "Much of it was, but the shields were also damaged by the interaction of the plasma fires on them, apart from whatever damage had occurred during the transport. While sending in a shuttle might be perceived by the crew as a positive step toward rescuing Lieutenants Torres and Paris, it would be an unacceptable risk." Realizing that the comments were for him, Neelix nodded reluctantly to acknowledge the Vulcan officer's statements.

Captain Janeway looked around at what remained of her senior staff. "Does anyone else have anything to report?"

Chakotay replied, "At least there is a little good news."

"What is it, Commander. We could use some right about now."

"Dilithium is one thing not in short supply, thanks to Torres and Paris." Everyone smiled.

Janeway met the eyes of her first officer, appreciating his attempt to lighten the mood. "Yes, thanks to Tom and B'Elanna. Anything else?" When there were no further questions or comments, the captain dismissed what remained of her senior staff, along with Carey and Hamilton, who were replacing Torres and Paris. As he was about to exit the conference room, Commander Chakotay heard Janeway's not quite contained sigh from where she remained seated at the conference table. He stopped at the doorway and turned to her, commenting lightly, "Five light years away, and it might as well be a hundred.

"Yes, Chakotay, it might as well be. I know we have a good crew, but some people, B'Elanna, especially, are more essential than most. Every time we are in this kind of situation, I have to admit how right you were in recommending her to become chief engineer. Carey is competent, but B'Elanna is so much more than that. She's creative, innovative. I know that this is no time to berate Lt. Carey for not being Lt. Torres - it isn't fair to Mr. Carey - but I admit I can't help thinking that she would find a way to get the ship repaired a little sooner."

"If the nebula doesn't settle down, the amount of time taken for the repairs won't really matter."

"True, Commander." She motioned him to walk with her to her ready room as she came to her feet. "But the worst thing is that we can't even get word to them about what's happened. I hope they don't think we've deliberately abandoned them."

"I doubt that, Captain. Paris knows that you could never do that, any more than B'Elanna would believe it of me, or of you."

She smiled slightly. "Does that mean you think Tom would think that you could be capable of leaving him behind?"

His dimples showed briefly. "We couldn't leave the Best Pilot in the Delta Quadrant to the fate of being stuck somewhere without anything to fly, could we?" The quick smile faded. "And I think he knows I wouldn't leave him behind, even if he might think it is only because I wouldn't leave B'Elanna. If I didn't know better, I would have trouble believing Tom was the same person who served with me in the Maquis. He's done such an about face in the last three years. If you knew him then, Kathryn, you wouldn't believe it was the same man, either."

"Maybe it only seems that way now that he's had an opportunity to show what the real Tom Paris is like. I know he certainly isn't at all like the man I met in prison. May I ask you if you have ever mentioned to him how your view of him has changed, Chakotay? I know the two of you have not always gotten along, but I also know that he respects you tremendously."

"Not in so many words, Captain, although I hope he knows my feelings have changed towards him. When he gets back on board, I'll see if we can sit down and have a talk - as long as he hasn't done anything to make me mad at him again."

Entering the ready room, the commander took his usual seat as the captain moved around to take her place behind the desk. "What I really wish we knew, Captain, is what kind of supplies they had available to them. We know what didn't come up with Neelix and Larson, but neither one was sure whether or not the missing items were on the surface for Torres and Paris to use. If they only have their own packs, the amount of power available to them to create a heat source may be extremely limited. Late winter, a day 33.4 standard hours long - I'm glad it isn't me down there."

"Me too. Let's see if we can come up with some projections about their power supplies. What did they requisition? What equipment and supplies were in the missing packs that Neelix and Larson weren't able to bring back?"

"Aye, Captain."

Spying a padd lying on her desk, Janeway toyed with it for a few seconds before picking it up, her face lighting briefly with a smile. "I wish I could ask Leonardo about it all, but that will have to wait for Mr. Paris' return, too."

"Leonardo?"

"Tom was helping me with a new holodeck program. Sort of a holonovel, but based on the life and works of Leonardo Da Vinci. He'd promised we'd finish it as soon as he got back."

"Scientist, inventor, artist... I can see the appeal for you, but you couldn't have used the program anyway, Captain, with the holodecks out of order."

"True. It will have to wait for another time," said the captain. "I just hope that I will be able to avail myself of Mr. Paris' golden touch with a holodeck program before making any appeals to Mr. Da Vinci."

The Klingon half of B'Elanna Torres was being extremely difficult to the rest of B'Elanna and to Tom. Even though the pilot had dashed out to grab the last three armloads of straw without her, B'Elanna was thoroughly chilled and miserable. The pile of straw-like stalks was almost half a meter in height, with an extra pile of the stuff propped up against the wall of the cave to serve as an improvised back rest. B'Elanna was now seated in the middle of the dried vegetation with all four of their blankets wrapped around her. Her face was lit by the flames of a small fire and the glow of several large rocks that had been rolled in front of the pile before being heated with low beams of phaser power to radiate heat and light.

The fire consumed fuel made by Tom's twisting into knots the thickest of the straw-stems, which were deemed likely to be uncomfortable as bedding. They burned brightly but far too quickly for the effort required to make them, in B'Elanna's opinion. Tom had maintained that the soothing quality of the flames made it all worthwhile, despite the tending that was required to keep the small fire going. Since it was "Tom's fire," Tom was doing all of the tending.

B'Elanna was still cold.

"More tea, B'Elanna?" he asked, solicitously.

"I think I've had enough; I'll only have to get rid of it later," she answered brusquely. By now, Tom's fussing over her had become tiresome enough for her to become irritable. She was not sure she would be able to stand it for the remaining 16 hours plus of darkness that they were anticipating.

Squatting next to the campfire, Tom added a few more hunks of straw to the flames before pouring the last of the tea from the cooking pot into his metal mug. Settling back on the pile next to his companion, Tom sipped the tea cautiously, as the brew was still hot enough to burn an unwary mouth.

"Ready to play some cards? Or do you have something else in mind to pass away the night."

"Card playing, wearing these?" she demanded, raising hands clad in Tom's heavy, cold weather gloves. Tom had taken pity on her frozen hands and let her wear them, while he wore Larson's lighter weight ones beneath his climbing gloves.

"Sure, why not. We won't have to cheat because we'll be dropping the cards all over the place." That managed to draw a hint of a smile from her.

"I think that what I really want to do is sleep away the night, if you don't mind. You will permit me to go to sleep this time, won't you?"

"In the Argala habitat we weren't equipped for sleeping. You would have died of hypothermia napping there. Here, once we make up the sleeping bags and with the heat sources we've got, we'll get by. As a last resort we can huddle up and conserve our body heat by staying close. In fact, we might be better off by making one double sleeping bag right from the start, instead of two, and use the extra blankets to block the wind as much as we can." He looked up toward the crack in the cavern's ceiling. The draft had turned into a cutting wind since nightfall.

"I don't know, Hotshot. Can I trust you, seeing as how you wanted a 'passionate affair' between the helmsman and the Maquis engineer in Insurrection Alpha?"

"Don't worry. I can control myself for one night, even if I do wrap my body around yours. For protective purposes only, of course."

"Of course," she snorted.

Taking the last sip of tea, Tom leaned over the edge of what they were calling the haystack to deposit his empty mug on the cavern floor. "Seriously, though, we probably should make up the sleeping bags now. How do we go, single, with each of us having an extra blanket, or double, with the extra blankets spread above and below us?"

She thought a moment. They were going to be fully dressed, after all. "I guess doubled does make more sense."

"You'll have to crawl out from under the covers now, Lt. Torres. Brave that wind, just for a few minutes."

Giving him a dirty look, B'Elanna did as he asked. The thermal blankets from their packs had special seams along the outside edges which, when peeled open, gripped upon the other side of itself or onto matching blankets to form the envelope of a sleeping bag. Spreading one of them out to form a base, they tucked another blanket over the first. After they had finished, B'Elanna noted, "You know, if we loosen up the top blanket in a few spots, can't Larson's blanket be attached to the top, too?"

"It's worth a try." In a couple of minutes they had all three blankets attached to one other. A little cold air could enter where the top two blankets overlapped one another, since the gripper seam of the bottom blanket could not adequately grab both of the top blankets' seams well enough to prevent at least some gaps from occurring. They agreed that having slight openings, even if they might be a little drafty, were an acceptable tradeoff for having an extra layer of insulation over them while they slept.

"Climb in, Lieutenant," said the helmsman, holding the bag open for B'Elanna to slip inside the layers. He tossed Neelix's blanket on top of B'Elanna. Looking around their shelter, he grabbed a wrist light and a phaser, tucked them into his knapsack, and tossed the sack at the head of the sleeping bag. "Just in case we need it," he said.

Gingerly lowering his long legs into the bag next to B'Elanna, Tom tried to settle in and relax, but the engineer's rigidly straight position on her back did not constitute relaxation to Tom. "B'Elanna, we'd be much warmer if we spooned together."

"If we what?"

"You know, like spoons lying in a drawer." He gently nudged her into position on her side as he described it to her. "Your back to my front, knees bent, hips bent, my arms curled around you. There, isn't that more comfortable?"

"I don't know. You're awfully close."

He laughed. "That's the idea. I promise not to take advantage of your virtue, Lt. Torres. If I'm a bad boy, you'll make me pay for it for the rest of my life, which might not be a very long time!"

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" she said, although she had to smile. Why should she worry about him when he had been able to control his impulses better than she had on Sakari IV? Crossing her arms tightly in front of her to hold in as much of her body heat as she could, B'Elanna wiggled her hips a little to settle herself in a better position, grinning evilly as she did so. No sense letting him be too comfortable.

Tom awoke with a start. At first, he thought that the frigid wind had dragged him back to consciousness. Then he was aware of the soft moaning and shivering of his bed mate. B'Elanna was suffering, and he did not know what he could do to help her beyond what he had already done. The rocks he had heated with the phasers were dark and cold. Checking his chronometer, he saw that he had heated them last about two hours before, but the draft in the cave obviously dispersed the warmth too quickly to provide the two officers with much in the way of comfort. He briefly considered burying them deeper in straw, but he doubted there was enough in the cave to make the difference needed for B'Elanna. There was one way that might help, but even that method had its flaws.

"Tom, did I wake you?" Her voice quivered, totally unlike its usual crisp delivery.

"No," he lied. "The wind woke me. How are you doing?"

"Not very good. Tom, I've been thinking." She struggled in the piles of straw, blankets and winter clothing that she wore to face him. She took a deep breath. "Sex makes body heat. Maybe we should . . . have a . . . physical encounter."

"Can't you even say 'Let's have sex, Tom?'" he teased.

"Okay. Let's have sex. I don't feel like playing word games here, Tom."

He hesitated a moment. "B'Elanna, much as I'd love to, there are some logistical problems we'd have to work out first."

"Such as . . . "

"We haven't exactly gotten to the point in our relationship where taking such a big step is expected . . . "

"Tom, I'm freezing. You're freezing. I'm not talking 'relationship' here. This is survival."

His lips curled up into a smile. "We can survive without it, Lieutenant. Cold, uncomfortable, and probably without a lot of sleep, but we can endure this. It isn't much colder than the habitat ship, but this time we've got lots of equipment. Let me warm up some tea for you."

"Don't you dare leave this bed."

"You need me? Be still, my heart."

"Tom, I'm serious."

"I'm being serious, too. It's too soon in our - if you don't want us to have a 'relationship,' then let's call it 'friendship' - to, well, too soon to get physical like that. I really do want you to respect me in the morning, Torres."

"Tom, this isn't like that pon farr/Klingon mating urge thing. We both need to be warm. I am fond of you, you know that."

"How many times have we kissed, other than when you had that 'pon farr thing.' "

"I'm not sure."

"Let me refresh your memory, Lt. Torres. We haven't."

"What does that prove?"

"It proves that we aren't ready to hop into bed - uh, let me rephrase that, since we are in bed already - it proves we aren't ready to make love. In case you haven't caught on yet, Lieutenant, I am not interested in a casual affair with you." He had to stop a moment, as he felt a catch in his throat that he did not want B'Elanna to hear. "Your friendship is very important to me, B'Elanna. Special. I do not want to blow this by doing something we will both regret later."

"Tom . . . " Her voice trailed off; she knew she probably was not ready for what he wanted, as he had made what he desired from her abundantly clear during the last few months. Tom was right about it not being advisable to do what she wanted him to do now. He was right, but he was wrong, too. This was a completely different situation. He had to see that!

"And, I did mean it when I said there were logistical problems, apart from the effect having sex would have on our - friendship."

"Such as?"

"To do it right, we'd have to remove a fair amount of our clothing, or, at least, you would. Do you really want to expose your body to the cold more than it already is to try to get warmed up that way? And for my part, frankly, there are certain parts of my anatomy that I would prefer not to lose to frostbite."

"Point taken," she grudgingly admitted.

"Hasn't this discussion warmed you up just a little?"

"Yes, it has, a very little. I want to be a lot warmer, at least for a while."

He couldn't see her deep, lovely eyes, but he could imagine the look she was giving him. Tom almost gave in right then, cold or not, frostbite risk or not, but then he remembered something that might serve their needs, all of their needs, a little better under the present circumstances.

"We could do a little cuddling, B'Elanna."

"I thought that was what we were already doing."

"Cuddling and caressing, the way couples used to when they went 'parking.' Like in that Old-Car-on-Mars holodeck program I've got. You'll get a little of that sexual contact from me you suddenly are craving, and trust me, you will get warmer. Lots warmer."

"Sure, Tom. Let's do it."

Tom laughed at her matter-of-fact answer. Suddenly, though, he was aware of her scent, of her breath puffing in his face, of all of the places that her body was touching him, not to mention the proximity of her lips to his. At the same time he became acutely aware that talking about sex had made him, oh, so ready for it.

Breathing softly to her, "Okay, let's . . . ," he leaned the few centimeters he needed to brush her mouth with his. Since she did not pull back and seemed to be receptive, he kissed her again, still gently, but with a bit more desire, more passion. Pulling off his gloves, he tried to slip his hands between her thighs to warm them before he touched her anywhere else and was rewarded with a stiffening of her body and a distinct jump back, although how she managed it while lying on her side was a mystery to him.

"So you want to 'do it,' Torres, and I can't even warm my hands up between your legs?"

"Just give me a little warning, okay?"

"I'm giving it to you now, then. My hands are going to make contact with your body, Torres. Lots of contact. If you don't want me to do that, fine. Just say so now."

B'Elanna grunted a little but said nothing. Taking this as assent, Tom murmured her name and kissed her again. Their kisses became more and more passionate as they caressed and comforted each other in the frigid caverns.

"That definitely helped me get warmer, Paris," she said. He could sense the upturning of her lips on his and answered with a smile of his own.

"Much warmer, Torres."

Settling the blankets back around them, Tom wrapped his arms around her shoulders and back, hugging her close to him. She in turn tucked her head into his shoulder, the top of her head brushing his chin, snuggling into his embrace. He wanted to think that they would lie like that, undisturbed, for the rest of the night. By his chronometer, though, he figured that there were at least nine more hours of night left, nine more hours that would be colder than those they had already endured. Sighing into B'Elanna's hair, Tom resigned himself to the fact that several more sessions of kissing and hugging would probably be needed before morning. He was sure he'd be up for it.