Rating: PG-13
Chakotay forced his way through the brush as he trudged up the densely covered hillside. His uniform was soaked through with sweat and damp from the humid air. It clung to him, weighting him down, and making it harder to walk.
He wondered idly if he'd stopped sweating, or if he was just so drenched that it no longer mattered. He'd have to ask Doc about that when they got back. If they got back.
He took another reading on his tricorder and frowned. In spite of the heat, he picked up his pace.
His mind wandered as he tried to distract himself from the exhaustion and oppressive heat. Just another trade mission gone wrong. It was supposed to be a milk run, as Tom had put it. He and Kathryn would be gone from Voyager for three days, just long enough to divert to the planet, trade for supplies, and rendezvous with the ship.
Nothing to do for three days but spend time, alone, with Kathryn. He suspected Tom of concocting the whole thing right down to manufacturing the planet. B'Elanna was in on it too, he was certain. She was Tom's alibi, the reason he couldn't pilot the shuttle for the captain. The wink Tom had given them as he saw them off in the shuttle bay clinched it. It was a plot. And Chakotay hadn't minded.
That was two days ago.
8 hours ago they had reached this idyllic planet. The natives were very friendly if primitive technologically. Neelix had assured them they had a long tradition of trade with strangers from "far away." They might not know what warp drives were, but they treated visitors from the sky with the same nonchalance as their neighbors across the inland sea.
They also knew how to drive a hard bargain. The locals might not have understood the technology, but they understood clearly enough that the visitors could provide them will all sorts of things they couldn't make or trade for among themselves.
Looking around, Chakotay chuckled grimly at the surroundings. A perfect spot for camping, and by coincidence Neelix had replicated a number of items perfect for spending some time outdoors. They had pop-up shelters, the latest thin insulating blankets, a selection of cooking pots and pans, and a variety of low-tech utilitarian items. They even had some decorative items, although Kathryn reserved the "shiny beads" for a thank you to their hosts after the actual negotiation.
It had all gone perfectly. Food stores, seeds, and live plants were loaded onto the shuttle in no time. The command team was left with an entire day to kill before needing to leave to meet Voyager. There was a festive dinner planned for that night. Chakotay had been looking forward to it.
But then the head man offered them a tour of the town. It seemed like a good idea at the time, he thought. They always seem like a good ideas, right up until everything goes straight to hell.
They were inspecting a farm on the outskirts of the town. The owner was proudly showing off a field of grain, the same kind Kathryn had just purchased. She was nodding appreciatively and asking all the right questions, when suddenly she disappeared.
In retrospect, Chakotay realized he had felt the wind and seen the shadow, but he hadn't thought anything of it -- until it was too late.
Now he was tracking the thing and hoping Kathryn was still alive.
The head man apologized profusely, offered to return all their trade goods, and insisted they hadn't seen a gwythaint in the area in years. He assured Chakotay that while the flying reptiles were carnivorous, it was early in the season, and the female that took the captain was undoubtedly gathering food for her unhatched chicks. The captain might be injured, but she would be alive at least until the eggs hatched -- probably.
Chakotay looked at the tricorder again. The echoes and false signals from the indigenous rock had faded as he got closer, and now Kathryn's life signs were clear and strong if slightly erratic. He wished he could have taken the shuttle, but the combination of thick foliage and trees made it impossible to find a landing spot.
Somewhere behind him, he hoped reinforcements were on the way. The local hunters needed to be found and organized. Again, the headman apologized, but Chakotay saw there was no point trying to prevail upon him to send any of his men against the creature without preparation. He tried to stop Chakotay as well, but his descriptions of the beast's razor sharp talons and beak did nothing but motivate Chakotay to strike out on his own. He threw some supplies into a pack and headed out toward the cliffs the bird had flown toward.
Hours later he felt no closer to his goal. Fear lanced through him, spurring him forward. The forest grew steadily denser, vines tangled his legs and branches clawed at his arms as he tried to push through a dense thicket. Exhausted, he paused for a moment to catch his breath and assess the situation. The edges of the thicket extended as far as he could see to either side, disappearing into the forest. His tricorder confirmed that whatever this underbrush was, he was on the edge of a vast sea of it. He felt sudden panic and desperation well up, making his blood run cold. It would take hours to detour around this obstacle. Hours Kathryn might not have.
It was unimaginable to be thwarted by an overgrown patch of weeds. To be separated from Kathryn by something so insubstantial and yet so impenetrable. He let out a strangled cry and grabbed the nearest tree branch. He snapped it off and hacked at the brush in front of him, smashing it down out of his way. For several minutes he flailed angrily at the barrier, advancing a few inches only to become entangled again in the undergrowth.
Tearing his arm free, Chakotay dropped the branch and folded over, supporting himself with his hands on his knees and gasping for air. His breathing smoothed out and more regular as he collected himself. He didn't usually indulge in emotional outbursts, but between the heat and the worry he'd needed some kind of release. At least that's what he told himself.
Surveying the situation with a calmer eye didn't change anything. As the panic threatened to rise again he took a couple deep breaths and a few swallows of water from his pack. He wasn't trapped here, he reasoned. There had to be a way out -- to Kathryn.
As he readjusted his pack, his hand ran along his belt. Growling with frustration, he pulled out his phaser and sliced a path through the underbrush. He smiled with satisfaction as he watched his adversary evaporate in front of him. The vines that a moment ago were reaching out to trip him seemed to pull back and shrink away from him.
As Kathryn said, sometimes you have to punch your way through.
He marched forward, leaving a seared path in his wake. It occurred to him that the locals might not appreciate him damaging their delicate ecosystem. He snorted and tapped the phaser to burn another 20 meters of path. They could put it on Voyager's tab.
Chakotay's was making better time with his new tactic, but it was giving him more time to think and worry. He checked the tricorder yet again and was relieved that Kathryn appeared reasonably stable, but she was starting to show signs of distress. If only she could hang on until he got there.
Half an hour later, as the far edge of the foliage gave way, Chakotay saw the grey stone of the cliffs ahead. He had thought traversing the "open" ground from the village to the cliffs would be the easy part. Now he needed to find Kathryn somewhere in these cliffs and caves.
He couldn't afford to rest, but he also needed a better plan than wandering around, scaling one cliff after another. He compromised and set his pack down while he scanned the area with the tricorder. The forest below was sweltering by day, but even it cooled off at night. Up here at the higher elevation and without any foliage, the temperature would plummet when the sun set.
The tricorder beeped, alerting him that it had a fix on Kathryn's location. His heart soared when he realized she was barely one hundred meters away. Chakotay grabbed his pack and began picking his way around the rock. Ten minutes later he saw a cave entrance ahead. The tricorder indicated only one definite life form, and seven ambiguous signals.
Drawing his phaser he inched forward. The mother had flown nearly silently when she swooped down on them, and he didn't want to be taken by surprise again. As he entered the mouth of the cave, he realized he needn't have bothered. There, by the far wall, lay the body of the gwythaint. The large scorched mark on it's body left no doubt that it was dead.
He hurried farther into the cave searching for Kathryn. He found her huddled against the other wall, her eyes closed but with a phaser clutched in her hand. Stepping carefully around her, he was reaching for the phaser when her eyes opened.
She blinked at him with unfocussed eyes. He wondered if she recognized him. "Kathryn, it's Chakotay. I've come to take you back to the ship."
She smiled weakly and loosened her grip on the phaser as he knelt beside her. Kathryn's voice was rough, "I know it's you. I knew you'd find me." She moved her hand slightly, toward his, her fingers just brushing the side of his hand.
Chakotay sat down heavily on the ground beside her and took her hand in his. He sat and stared at her, his thumb stroking the back of her hand. Once he'd assured himself that she was here, alive, he realized he needed to keep her that way.
Kathryn frowned and groaned quietly when he put her hand down. "I'm still right here." He patted her arm before pulling the pack off his back and opening it.
The first thing he pulled out was the insulating blanket and tucked it under and around her. Then he pulled out the first aid kit and began treating her wounds and gave her something for the pain. She had lost some blood, but fortunately the gashes where the creature had grabbed her arms and legs were not deep or in vital areas, but he was sure they must be painful. She was able to drink some water and he was relieved when she became more alert.
Chakotay noticed that the sun was starting to set. He could already feel the temperature dropping. "I'll be back in just a minute, as soon as I've taken care of any neighbors."
Kathryn nodded.
He walked back to the large nest. Inside he found the 7 other lifesigns -- a clutch of enormous eggs. Ordinarily he would have left them alone, but as he examined them, two began to wobble slightly. He stepped back, adjusted his phaser, and fired short burst at the nest. Most of the nest vaporized along with the eggs.
Chakotay quickly explored the rest of the cave and then returned to Kathryn. She was sitting up now, wrapped in the blanket, and sipping on a water packet. He took a seat next to her and took a couple breaths to steady himself, hoping the overwhelming anxiety and relief didn't come through in his voice. "As your first officer, I'm very unhappy with you for wandering away from the tour."
Kathryn reached over and patted his hand. "I'm not very happy about it myself. But I was hoping to spend some quality time, alone, with my first officer. So the day's not a total loss." He was surprised when he saw her wink at him.
She leaned against him and he slid his arm around her. "Me too", he said.
Kathryn yawned. "You don't have a first officer."
He chuckled at that. "I think you should lie back down and rest."
"Good idea." She squeezed his hand and tugged him down beside her. "I'm still your responsibility until we get back to the ship. It would look bad on your record if I froze to death after you rescued me."
"We can't have that." He pulled the other blanket out of the pack and wrapped it around them as she snuggled against him.
Just as he was falling asleep he heard her say. "Next time I want to be alone with you, remind me to reserve the Holodeck."
THE END
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