Chapter Five: Bear Defense

Sydney spun around, drawing her gun even as Walker jumped to his feet and dashed to help Trivette brace the heavy table they had leaning against the door. He was none too soon, throwing his weight against it just as the bear began its ferocious onset from the other side.

Gage was attempting to get up as well; whether to help brace the door, or to try to escape the bear, Bashir wasn't sure. "Easy; lie back," he soothed, pushing him down with a hand on his shoulder.

"But the bear…"

"Won't hurt you," Bashir said firmly, administering a mild sedative and for once wishing that he carried a phaser. He took a laser scalpel from the medkit instead; meant for delicate, close work, the device made a poor weapon, but it was better than nothing. At least if he was quick enough — and he knew he was quick enough — he could amputate the claws as the bear made its attack, reducing any further damage to blunt force trauma.

Of course, if the bear broke through, he would have more claw wounds to deal with before it ever got close to him and Gage…

Even as the thought crossed his mind, a weak spot on the door splintered away beside Walker's head. The Ranger flinched to the side, Alex screaming as a claw flashed through, grazing him.

"Stay back, Alex!" he shouted without turning. "I'm all right!" Instinctively he and Trivette shoved the table to the side to cover the vulnerable spot.

Alex crouched behind Sydney, who was aiming her gun at the door in a two-handed grip that she couldn't manage to keep steady. "Not that this will do much good," she murmured, a half-hysterical edge in her voice. "Unless I get a really lucky shot, this small caliber won't do much more than annoy a bear."

"Or unless they're drugged," Bashir realized suddenly.

Setting the laser scalpel within easy reach, he quickly slipped his hand into the medkit, coming up with two hypospray vials he would seldom dream of using in combination. With a fingernail, he pressed the release to manually empty their contents, spilling several cc's of each into a small basin meant for surgical refuse. A swirl of the basin mixed the two powerful drugs, and he looked up mere moments after Sydney had spoken.

"Sydney, give me the bullets from your gun."

Sydney stood as if incapable of movement, not appearing to have heard or comprehended.

"Sydney! The bullets! Now!"

Few disregarded Bashir's orders when he used that tone of command, but though Sydney came to with a gasp, she still glanced at Walker as if for permission.

"Do it, Syd," Walker gasped, leaning into the table with all his strength and knowing it wouldn't withstand the bear's onslaught much longer.

With a whimper, Sydney forced herself to lower the gun and uncurl her frozen fingers from the hilt.

With a brief nod of thanks, Bashir spilled the bullets into the liquid, then removed them with the tips of his fingers and let them dry for a moment on a piece of bandaging before passing them back for Sydney to reload her gun.

''Can you shoot the bear through the door?" Bashir asked.

Sydney nodded, her confidence and Ranger's training returning now that there was something she could actually do. ''Do I have to hit it anywhere special?"

"No; as long as it penetrates into muscle, the bear should be out in ten to fifteen seconds."

"That, I can do," Sydney said grimly. Ducking beneath Walker's arm, she aimed through the knothole and fired once, twice, three times.

The bear roared angrily at the pinpricks of pain, leaving the door for the moment to swagger menacingly around the yard, all the time roaring his rage that the puny creatures had dared to fight back.

"He's not going to go down," Trivette whispered.

"Give him a few seconds," Bashir insisted through dry lips. He had been sure that mixture was strong enough — and Sydney had given him a triple dose. But it was possible he had miscalculated the amount that would adhere to the bullet, or maybe the bear's thick fur and tough hide had kept the bullets from penetrating far enough.

Before he had time to process his own doubt, the bear began to stagger, making it only a few more steps before falling at the edge of the woods. "He's down!" Trivette exclaimed in relief.

"Come on!" Bashir exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "He's only going to be under five minutes or so."

Walker instantly held out his hand for Sydney's gun. "You stay with Alex and Gage!" he told her, his tone indicating he counted on her to protect them even unarmed.

Sydney nodded, while Trivette joined Walker and Bashir in running to where the bear had fallen.

Kneeling beside it, Bashir used the scalpel he still held to open the vein in the bear's neck with quick, surgical precision. Sitting back on his heels, he fancied he could feel the relief in the air as the three of them watched the bear bleed out.

It had to be dead. And yet he had seen so many persistent lifeforms that he found himself with tricorder in hand, scanning for any remaining signs of life.

The same kind of thought must have been in Walker's mind, as he stepped forward and fired point blank into the bear's brain through its eyes, one after the other.

"It's dead," Dr Bashir pronounced.

"Whew," Trivette marveled, looking at the massive animal, then added almost matter-of-factly, "Walker, you're bleeding."

Bashir looked up quickly, for the first time consciously noting the blood streaming down the side of the Ranger's face from when the claw had come through the door. Walker appeared slightly startled as well, putting his hand to his face and then staring at his bloody fingertips; Bashir imagined adrenaline had masked the pain of the injury until now.

"Come on," he urged, laying a hand on the man's arm. "Let's go inside and get that cleaned up."

Next chapter coming next week!

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