Author's Note: Here's another chapter, I hope you like it. Make sure to leave a review.

Chapter Eight

Another night of sleeping on the ground really had done Chakotay in. While he was used to "roughing it" during away missions, usually he had some sort of padding to cushion the discomfort of sleeping on the ground for days on end. Of course, that padding was stolen from the shuttle with everything else, leaving him with nothing but this uniform to protect him from the hard ground. In an attempt to loosen his tight muscles, he tilted his head from side to side several times. His neck cracked loudly. Almost instantly, the joints loosened somewhat. The exercise did little to help the dull pain radiating up his back from his hips. It was simply a fact of life for the day, and he would have to learn to deal with it. It also served as a reminder that he wasn't as young as he used to be.

As he ate half a ration bar, Harry mindlessly poked at the cold embers left over from the fire the night before. It was going to be another hot day, making it pointless to start a fire. Besides, they would probably be heading out in a few minutes, so as soon as they started a fire, they'd simply have to put it out once again. Sighing, Chakotay sat on the ground next to him and grabbed one of the fruit from the nearby pile.

"What I wouldn't give for a cup of coffee," he complained as he carefully peeled the fruit and discarded the skin next to him.

"And a bed," Harry added.

"I'd just settle for a mat to sleep on." Harry made a face. "What? Camping doesn't appeal to you, Harry?" There was a hint of amusement in Chakotay's voice. It was the happiest he'd sounded since Tom and Seven got stranded in the cave. Even so, he didn't sound particularly happy, just slightly more upbeat than he had been earlier. Harry figured it was the best mood Chakotay was going to be in until either they got the pair out of the cave or they got rescued, whichever came first.

"I don't mind camping," Harry replied. "But it would be nice to have a tent or sleeping bag or even just something other to eat than this fruit." Chakotay opened his mouth to point out that things could be worse, but he immediately decided against it. The last thing he wanted to do was jinx this already difficult away mission, especially with Seven and tom trapped in the cave. Instead, he continued to eat and stared at the fire pit. It was hard to believe that just the other night, he and Seven were together and safe in his quarters. They were warm, eating their fill and sleeping in each other's arms. Now, they were sleeping on the cold ground, separated by several feet of stone and rock debris and constantly worrying about each other's well-being. As if that wasn't enough to stress Chakotay out, they still hadn't found whoever sent out the distress call. While their main focus was now on getting the rest of their away team out of the cave, Chakotay still kept an eye open for whoever summoned them here. As much as he looked, however, there was no trace of them anywhere: no tracks, no litter, no residual proteins from them touching anything. It was as if they didn't exist. The thoughts caused Chakotay to sigh dejectedly and rub the back of his neck in an attempt to ease from of the tension that still gripped him there. Harry glanced at him. He was tempted to ask if everything was alright, but he ultimately decided against it. All it took was one look at the First Officer to know that he wasn't alright, and he was lost in his own thoughts.

Seven's hand twitched against her will as she and Tom stood underneath the hole and discussed the plan for the day. She was grateful for the limited light and Tom's poor eyesight in such lighting. Between those factors and the fact that he was distracted talking to Chakotay and Harry, he didn't even notice her current situation. Thankfully, Harry and Chakotay were too far away to see it either, which meant she was free to deal with the problem however she saw fit. In order to better hide it, Seven crossed her arms over her chest and listened carefully to Chakotay as he gave the orders for the day. At this point, the orders for the day were redundant: continue to explore the cave in search of a way out of there and meet back either here at the hole or at the camp at 1800 hours. It was the same routine as yesterday and the day before. With any luck, it would be the last day with this mundane routine, and they would be sleeping outside in the open tonight. Seven knew that it was highly improbable that they would find a way out of here, but she wanted to think that it was a possibility; it served as a motivating factor to keep her moving forward.

Later that day, a sharp pain starting in her hip implant and radiating down her thigh caused Seven to stumble slightly as she walked. She immediately caught her footing and prayed Tom didn't notice. If he did notice, he didn't say anything. While she did have to deal with pain and discomfort that came with her implants on a fairly regular basis, this was something entirely different. That pain was dull, annoying but eventually something she could ignore when she focused on her work. This pain couldn't be more different. It was sharp, as if fire was radiating from her implant and working its way down through the implant along her thigh, causing the muscles to contract as they protested the new discomfort. The pain persisted, as if desiring to distract her from her work like Naomi did when she showed up in astrometrics, and no matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn't ignore it. She did her best to focus putting one foot in front of the other while simultaneously keeping track of where they were. It incredibly draining for Seven and only made more difficult by the fact that the sharp pain in her temple was progressively getting worse as well. All of these were signs of her need to regenerate, but she knew that that wasn't going to happen. It would be inefficient and a waste of energy to lament the fact that she needed to to regenerate, so she did her best to banish those thoughts from her mind as she pressed forward on her mission. The least she could do was get Tom out of here in one piece.

As he walked along the surface, Harry's tricorder beeped excitedly, instantly drawing his attention from scanning the landscape around him to the device in his hand. He carefully read over the results several times just to make sure he was reading them correctly; the last thing he wanted to do was give Chakotay incorrect information and risk getting his hopes up.

"Commander," he called across the expansive desert. Chakotay was several yards away from him, weaving his way in and out of dried, seemingly dead bushes and small piles of rocks scattered across the ground. At the sound of his name being called, Chakotay's head shot up. "You better get over here." He didn't need to be told twice, and he rushed to Harry's side.

"What is it?" he demanded. It hadn't been his intention to be so sort with the Ensign, the words just came out like that. After several days of nothing, it was reassuring to think that there was some good news.

"Scans are picking up an opening about half a kilometer due south," Harry informed him.

"An opening? Like the entrance to a cave?" He shrugged.

"I don't know." Chakotay clapped him on the shoulder. It was better than nothing. In fact, it was the best news they'd gotten probably since getting here.

"Well, let's find out. Lead the way." The excitement in Chakotay's voice wasn't lost on Harry. After dealing with setback after setback, it was the most optimistic he'd sounded in days. Harry only hoped that he wouldn't be disappointed when they got there.

The entrance to the cave was smaller than the one they made their camp at, but it was still an entrance to the cave, and for that, Chakotay and Harry were grateful. The ceiling stretched approximately seven feet above the ground. While there was no way of knowing if this cave was connected to the cave that trapped Seven and Tom, but they had to force themselves to be optimistic. Even if it was connected to that cave, Tom implied that it was a maze of caves below ground, which would make their job even more difficult. It was the best they'd come across, though, and Chakotay figured it was the best they were going to get given everything that had gone wrong with this away mission. Without a flashlight, it would be difficult to navigate the cave, but they would have to make due. Just like Seven, they would adapt.

As soon as they entered the cave, there was a significant drop in temperature as cold air instantly wrapped around them. After facing the blazing heat outside, it was a huge relief for both Harry and Chakotay. The air felt damp, and a slight mildew smell floated through the air. Neither man minded, as it was far better than being outside under the blazing sun.

"Homey," Harry commented sarcastically.

"How far are we from camp?" Chakotay asked, ignoring the Ensign's remark. Now that they were in the caves, he had a new sense of determination consuming him.

"About seven kilometers."

Despite the fact that he knew it was a longshot, Chakotay bellowed, "Seven!" His deep voice bounced off the walls of the cave, echoing as it worked its way down the dark corridor. "Tom!" The echoes eventually faded into nothingness, and both men anxiously listened against all odds for any reply.

Seven's head shot up, and her eyes whipped around excitedly as they did their best to find the source of the noise she just heard. She immediately stopped walking and put her hand up to signal Tom to stop walking as well. He immediately stopped walking, not only because he wanted to figure out what was going on, but also because without her, he would instantly get lost.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Did you hear that?" she demanded. He listened carefully. All he'd heard was the sound of their footsteps echoing off the walls of the cave and the distant sound of water dripping down from the surface.

"No…" There was nothing of importance to hear, just the two of them.

"Someone is calling my name."

"That's impossible, Seven. We're the only ones in here, and I definitely wasn't calling your name."

"It is not impossible. Perhaps Commander Chakotay and Ensign Kim have found a way into the cave and are here to lead us out." Skepticism and excitement consumed Tom. He hadn't heard anything, but he knew Seven's hearing was better than his, so he was inclined to believe her. On the other hand, he wanted to think that his hearing wasn't that poor, and he would have at least heard something, no matter how faint. "It came from this direction." Without waiting to see if Tom was following, Seven took off at double speed in the direction she thought she heard the voice.

Seven's implant encrusted leg screamed in protest as she rushed through the cave. At times, she nearly broke into a sprint to get to the source of the noise faster. Tom nearly had to jog to keep up with her. He opened his mouth to beg her to slow down, but he ultimately decided against it. She took several sharp turns, weaving through the cave as if she knew exactly where she was going. Tom hoped she keeping track of all the turns and deviations she was making, because now he was utterly and hopelessly lost. Up until now, he'd been doing his best to keep track of where they were going. It wasn't that he didn't trust Seven, but the incident yesterday had left him feeling a little on edge. Despite her assurances to the contrary, he knew she had gotten lost and confused, even if it was just for a few minutes. It was easy enough to do, even for someone with an eidetic memory. Everywhere in the caves looked exactly the same. Tom didn't hold it against Seven, but he just wanted to make sure that they made it back to camp in one piece or else he knew Chakotay would throw him out of the nearest airlock as soon as they got back to Voyager.

Seven eventually stopped. While she'd heard Chakotay's voice several more times, she couldn't find him. If anything, it grew more and more distant. Her head whipped around in search of him or the source of his voice. She even looked up to see if there was another hole above their heads. All she saw was darkness and the same brown rocks, slick with moisture that seemed to elude the surface. His voice was gone. Tom stopped next to her and doubled over to catch his breath.

"Well, that was a great workout," he teased. Seven wasn't in the mood.

"I heard Chakotay's voice," she insisted. "As clearly as I hear your voice." She sounded distraught and confused. Tom stood up. In an attempt to comfort her, he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. While she usually found such contact with other members of the crew intimate and inappropriate, right now she found it oddly comforting. "I don't understand." Never before had Tom heard her sound so emotional and conflicted. She was always the epitome of calmness.

"Maybe it's just the stress of this entire situation," he suggested. "You're worried about Chakotay. There have been times I've thought I've heard B'Elanna's voice, but it's all been in my imagination. Usually it's when I've been away from her for a while." Seven turned to face Tom.

"I am Borg. I don't have an imagination," she insisted.

"You're also human, and humans do have imaginations." Tom could tell that Seven still looked shaken by her experience. He noticed her hand trembling. "Here, sit down and rest."

"I don't need to rest. This has been an inefficient use of our time. If we are going to get out of here, we need to keep moving." Seven broke free of Tom's grip. She squared her shoulders and put on a stern expression. All emotion disappeared from her face as she went back to her usual composed self. Tom sighed.

"Please, Seven?" He knew if he really wanted to, he could pull rank on her or say that it was medically advisable for her to rest, but he ultimately decided against both tactics, as it would probably only cause her to grow more agitated.

"Let's go." She turned sharply on her heels and began to backtrack. Unfortunately, she hadn't been paying attention to where they were going as she ran through the caves, which meant she would have to work twice as hard to get them back to where they'd originally veered off course.

Harry followed Chakotay's lead in the cave. They had walked for about a kilometer and a half before the cave branched off in two directions. Chakotay stopped and carefully analyzed both caves in an attempt to figure out which way to go.

"This way should lead in the direction of the cave in," he finally announced after careful examination.

"If we turn off this main cave, how will we know how to get back?" Harry asked. He remembered what Tom and Seven had told them. These caves were a maze, and they all looked the same. It would only take one wrong turn for them to get lost as well, which meant neither group stood much of a chance of getting out of here. Chakotay crouched down and gathered together three rocks. He stacked the two largest on top of each other in the middle of the cave and put the smallest rock leaning against the other two rocks.

"There, that will tell us which way to go. It's an old tracking symbol," he explained as he stood up. "Every time we turn, we mark down if we turn right or left when we backtrack. It's as good as a map." To Harry, it looked like little more than a pile of rocks in the middle of a cave, but Chakotay seemed confident in his plan. If it was good enough to the First Officer, then it would have to be good enough for him, despite his apprehensions.

It took Seven nearly an hour to undo the damage from her little misadventure. Because neither her nor Tom had been paying attention to where they had been going, they didn't know where to go when they backtracked. At every turn and fork, they had to stop while they both carefully analyzed the choices in front of them. Tom redoubled his efforts to keep track of each turn they made, just to play it safe, but it was like fighting a losing battle with him. His memory was terrible when it came to things like this. As he attempted to keep track of where they were going, he couldn't help but shake the feeling building up inside of him. Seven turned left, prompting him to do the same.

"Are you sure we aren't lost?" he asked. He didn't mean to sound rude, but he just couldn't hold it in any longer. Seven stopped and carefully looked around.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I can't remember."

"Well think back to the last thing you do remember and go from there."

"That is what I have been doing," Seven snapped. "If you are going to offer advice, at least make it something meaningful."

"Maybe you're being overworked. Neither of us are sleeping well, we're not exactly eating the best diet, and we're stressed. Let's stop here for a break. Once your mind relaxes, it'll all come back to you, and we can head back to the rendezvous point."

"Fine," Seven relented. Although she had agreed to Tom's suggestion, her tone gave away the fact that she wasn't pleased with the decision. Resting would hardly help her memory. She knew this was her fault. Had she just kept to the plan and not allowed her emotions to get the better of her, then they wouldn't be lost and perhaps may have even found a way out of these caves. She only had herself to blame for their current predicament.

Tom flung himself down unceremoniously and pulled out a handful of fruit to share with Seven. He peeled off the skin and tossed the fruit up into the air, effortlessly catching it in his mouth. Seven eyed him. She clearly looked unamused by his childish behavior. She had no idea how B'Elanna put up with him, especially with the addition of Miral into their lives.

"What?" he asked as he chewed and swallowed the fruit in one bite.

"That seems like an inefficient way of eating," she commented from where she stood.

"Oh come on, Seven. Where's your sense of fun?"

"We are stranded in a cave. I don't have time for fun." Tom rolled his eyes. He glanced down to grab more fruit but quickly looked back up again and watched as Seven sat down across from him. Yesterday, she sat down in one fluid movement. It almost looked like a choreographed dance. Today, she braced herself against the wall of the cave and gingerly lowered herself to a sitting position while putting as little weight as possible on her leg. It was an action that wasn't lost to Tom. He opened his mouth to ask if she was alright but quickly decided against it. He could tell she was in a bad mood, and he wasn't about to make it worse. Instead, he tossed her a handful of fruit from his pockets and ate in silence.

While Seven ate in silence, she did her best to remember which way to go. Her mind simply wouldn't relax. It replayed their actions over and over again, but it came back in broken fragments. There were holes in it that she simply couldn't fill, and, unfortunately, those holes were exactly what she needed filled to figure out how to get back to the rendezvous point. Sighing, Seven closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall of the cave. Between the pain in her leg and her head, it was almost impossible for her to concentrate. Without realizing it, she grimaced in pain and frustration as she ran her hand over her face. If she didn't remember soon, they would be stuck down here for even longer than they originally intended.

When Seven didn't move for several minutes, Tom started to get worried. If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn that she was asleep. He saw her hand twitching where it rested on her lap, but that was the only movement. He was starting to get worried.

"Seven?" he murmured as he crawled across the cave and put a hand on her bad leg. Gasping loud, she jumped several centimeters in the air. Her eyes flew open and looked around wildly as she took in her surroundings. Tom immediately put his hands up. "It's just me," he assured gently. "It looked like you fell asleep."

"You wanted me to rest, so I was resting," she pointed out. "I;'ve remembered how to get back to the rendezvous point. Are you sufficiently rested?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tom replied. He scrambled to his feet and extended his hand. Seven eyed it suspiciously. "Come on, I'll help you to your feet."

"I am capable of getting up on my own."

"It's called chivalry, Seven. I'm not doubting your ability to get up, I'm simply offering you a hand." Seven felt suspicious as she put her hand in Tom's. The second their hands met, his medical training set in, and he used the close proximity to give her a quick once over. Unfortunately, he only had a few seconds, and his sight was limited down here. All he noticed was that her felt slightly warmer than most people's bodies, but he wasn't sure if that was normal or not. Rather than press the matter, he carefully pulled her to her feet.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," she said with a formal nod as she brushed her hair out of her face. "We need to keep moving." He didn't protest as she lead the way through the cave in the direction of the rendezvous point at the hole. Instead, he carefully analyzed her, looking for any sign that something was wrong, not that there was much he could do about it down here.

While being down in the caves definitely had perks, such as being out of the blistering heat, Harry felt himself going crazy. Every turn they took lead them down another winding cave that looked exactly like the last one. It was disorienting. Harry knew there was no way he would be able to lead them out of here. The tricorder was just as confused as he was, rendering it basically useless. Even so, he couldn't bring himself to put the device away, it gave him a false sense of purpose. He hoped Chakotay's little trick with the rocks would do their job and guide them out of here. While Harry slowed down to analyze his tricorder, Chakotay continued to press on without any sign of slowing down.

"Commander," Harry called after him. Chakotay slowed down. "Commander, we should start heading back if we're going to make it on time." The First Officer continued to walk. He couldn't bring himself to turn back. For all he knew, the next turn would lead them straight to Seven and Tom. If that was the case, he wouldn't be able to live with himself, knowing he was so close, yet he had turned back at the last possible moment. On the other hand, he knew he couldn't play this what if game. It would drive him crazy and keep him searching this cave without end. If they continued to search, they would end up being late to the rendezvous point, which meant Seven and Tom would be left stranded without any food or wood for the night. No matter how much it pained him, Chakotay knew they would have to suspend their search for the day and turn back.

"You're right," he relented reluctantly. "Let's head back. With any luck, they won't be at the rendezvous point." Chakotay stalked past Harry and took point as he lead the younger man back in the direction they came. Feeling hopeful, Harry glanced down the cave one last time, just to be sure, but all he saw was utter darkness.

Now was the moment of truth for Harry. It was time to see if Chakotay's little plan to use a pile of rocks to guide them would be enough to get them out of here. They walked for about half a kilometer until the cave split off into three branches.

"Which way?" Harry asked. He hoped Chakotay didn't take his question as being rude or insubordinate, he simply wanted to know which way to turn and to see if his planned had worked. Chakotay carefully analyzed each branch until he finally saw the outline of the pile of stones sitting in the middle of one of the entrances.

"This way," he announced. With confidence, he led Harry down the cave. They both carefully skirted around the pile of rocks in the process. "We should make it back to the rendezvous point right on time, but we'll have to hurry." Harry had to scramble to keep up with Chakotay's long gait, but he knew asking him to slow down was pointless, this was a man on a mission.

Just like Chakotay and Harry, Seven and Tom were making their way back to the rendezvous point as well. Tom kept an eye on Seven as they walked. He noticed that she was favoring her right leg, barely putting any pressure on it as they walked. Now that he'd had a chance to watch her for a while, there was no doubt in his mind: she was limping. Try as she might to hide it, his medical training told him that he was absolutely correct. To his knowledge, however, she hadn't fallen or done anything to her leg, and there was no reason for her to be limping or to be in any pain or discomfort.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked as he fell into step next to her.

"I am undamaged," she replied in her usual curt manner. He glanced down at her leg. She followed his gaze. Almost immediately, she stopped limping. She hadn't even been aware that she was limping until he subtly brought it to her attention. In an attempt to change the subject, Seven asked, "How is Miral?" Tom did a double take.

"Miral?"

"Your daughter, Miral."

"Yeah, I'm aware of who Miral is. I just didn't know you were interested in her well-being."

"I have been told that new parents are often fond of talking about their offspring." Tom figured that that was Seven's way of saying that she was curious about how Miral was doing in her own special way.

"Miral's fine," he finally responded.

"Is she growing adequately?" He couldn't help but chuckle at Seven's attempt to engage him in smalltalk. It was awkward and almost forced, although he could tell that she was trying her best to seem genuinely concerned with how Miral was doing.

"The Doctor says she's hitting all her milestones fine. If only she would sleep through the night. She's perfect though. She's happy and healthy, and that's all B'Elanna and I could ask for." The pain continued to radiate through her leg. She had to focus nearly all of her energy to keep from limping and drawing attention to herself. "Have you and Chakotay talked about settling down, having little half-drone/half-Maquis babies?" Seven's eyes narrowed angrily.

"That is none of your business," she snapped.

"Hey, I'm just trying to keep the conversation going. You don't have to answer the question if you don't want to."

"I don't want to." While it hadn't been his intention, Tom knew he had crossed the line. He shouldn't have pressed. When he and B'Elanna had first started dating several years ago, they'd longed for some privacy as well, although they were just begging to be caught with their little trysts all over Voyager. If someone had asked him the same question, he would have gotten snippy as well, especially since he never really thought of himself as the paternal type. Now that he had Miral, however, he couldn't imagine life without her, and it had only been a few months.

The sudden intimate question caught Seven off guard and distracted her from concentrating on stopping her limp. Now that she'd turned her attention back to her leg, she found that the pain was excruciating. Every time she took a step, pain shot up her leg and through her hip, penetrating her torso in the process. Never before had her implant given her so much trouble. Seven took a step, and her leg finally gave out, sending her crumbling to the ground without so much as a warning.