Forwarded by the ASC-VSO Posted: 24 May 2004 20:40:32 -0700 In: alt.startrek.creative From: daria@ameritech.net (Daria) Title: Salvage Author: Daria Series: ENT Part: 9/11 Rating: [PG-13] Codes: Tu, R Summary: After the disasterous mission on Dorlog, Trip and Reed try Beta: This was beta'ed by A. who did an amazing job. You have no idea how much she improved this story. Absolutely fabulous beta reader. The mistakes are mine for continuing to mess with it. Spoilers: Notably Minefield, Desert Crossing, Silent Enemy, The Catwalk, Shuttlepod One, and The Communicator, but possibly alludes slightly to other eps from the first two seasons. Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Paramount, not me. This is just for fun, not for profit. Feedback: Always appreciated, especially constructive criticism. *** "Malcolm? Where are you?" Trip? Was that Trip's voice? Malcolm was nearly unconscious with the cold, and for a moment he thought he must be hearing things. "I'm here," he muttered, his voice only traveling a few feet. "Malcolm! Malcolm, damn it, where did you go?" Malcolm could hear Trip's frantic voice as he searched the area above the control room for the armory officer. Malcolm needed to make himself heard. "Commander!" he called. His trembling voice was still much too quiet, but this time it traveled a little further. The footsteps stopped. "Malcolm, is that you? Did I hear something?" "D..down... h...here," Malcolm called. "I'm... d..down...here." *** Trip was perplexed. He had followed the schematics where the control room should be, but had not been able to find it. He began calling Malcolm, trying to keep his voice low to avoid attracting attention, but desperate to find the armory officer and get out of the complex. Where could Malcolm have gone? The scanner indicated biosigns right here... Trip stopped. He'd heard something. He stood still, listening. When the faint sound came again he moved slowly towards it... and nearly fell into an open hole. Looking down he saw a ladder on the side of the tunnel. He shed his pack, found his flashlight, and took a few steps down the ladder. "Malcolm?" "I'm... d..down...here." Trip continued down the ladder a few more rungs before turning and shining the light into the room. He was far enough down that he could see across the room--and what he saw stunned him. The room was filled with water. With the exception of his face, and one hand, Malcolm was submerged. The one visible hand was clutching a lever on the wall. "Malcolm? What are you doing? Why are you in there?" "W..weapons... control ... r..room... Have to k..keep the w..weapons off." "Malcolm, it's okay now. The generator was destroyed. The weapons won't fire." "The g...generator... g..gone?" "Yes. Everything is deactivated. But we have to get out of here. Come on." Trip wasn't sure why Malcolm had remained in the control room, but this was no time for questions. Malcolm didn't move, continued holding the lever down. Trip began to grow frantic; the Vericans, or worse the Dorlogians, could find them any moment. "Malcolm, come on!" Malcolm still didn't release the lever immediately, and Trip was considering jumping in the water and forcibly dragging him away from the control panel when the armory officer finally, slowly let go of the control. He was still moving much too slowly, though. "Malcolm, hurry! Please!" *** Trip had come back. The generator was off. He could let go of the lever. It was hard for Malcolm to comprehend, to believe that it was at last okay to let go, but Trip's insistence that it was safe convinced him-- he'd accomplished what he needed to. It took a real effort to make his fingers release the lever he'd been holding down for so long, and it took another ten minutes for Malcolm to make his way across the room. His relief at the thought of getting out of the cold water helped push his fear to the back of his mind, but he had to tilt his head back to keep his face out of the water, and this, as well as his numbed limbs, slowed him. Trip was pleading with him to hurry, telling him to just swim across the room, but he wasn't able to move any faster, and some deep part of him remained reluctant to lose the small amount of contact with the ground. Reaching the tunnel, he looked up. Trip had scrambled back up the ladder and out the entrance; he directed his flashlight down into the darkness, providing light, and watched as his crewmate climbed. Malcolm was shaking so hard he could barely move, his numb fingers unable to grasp the rungs tightly. When he stopped to rest, Trip urged him on. "Malcolm, you've got to hurry." Trip's desperate voice penetrated Malcolm's fog, and he tried to obey, tried to make his frozen limbs move faster. He was almost at the top, when they stopped working altogether, and he began to slide back into the water. *** Trip saw Malcolm's hands slip, and he reached down into the tunnel and grabbed the back of his collar just before he slid out of reach. Trip hauled Malcolm up the last few feet, and over the tunnel's edge. The armory officer lay on the floor, panting with effort and shivering with cold. His teeth were chattering so hard he couldn't speak. His lips and fingertips were blue, and his eyes were glazed. Trip had a lot of questions, but there wasn't time right now. "Malcolm? Can you hear me? Malcolm?" Trip tried to get a response. "Ye...e...s...s," Malcolm chattered. "So...c..c..cold." Trip leaned over and grabbed Malcolm under the arms, lifting him to his feet. Grabbing his shoulders he shook him. Hard. "Malcolm. We've got to get out of here. Now. The workers will be back soon. Do you understand me?" Malcolm nodded, his head jerking up and down spasmodically. Trip found both packs, and shouldered them, and then put a supportive hand under his elbow and they began moving toward the front exit. Malcolm pulled back. "W...wait." "Malcolm, there isn't any time!" Trip was frantic. "Cl...cl..oser... d...door," Malcolm managed through chattering teeth. "S...saw it... on the w...weapons... schematics." "Are you sure?" Another shivering, convulsive nod. "Fine. Which way?" Malcolm's quivering arm pointed out the direction, and Trip turned and headed that way, half-dragging the stumbling armory officer. After they'd traveled just fifty meters, Malcolm was proven right. There was a small door, much like the one they'd been using to gain entrance. This one was locked with a deadbolt to prevent entrance from the outside, but not to prevent exit. Trip slammed the bolt open, and pulling Malcolm with him, left the building Whether it was adrenalin, or because he was starting to warm up, Malcolm was able to move faster as they headed toward the fence. They weren't at their normal breach point, so Trip pulled out his phaser, glad Malcolm had insisted they remain armed, and blew a hole in the fence. Malcolm worked his way through first, with Trip following on his heels. Finally clear of the complex they stopped. "You want to do the honors? I already got to blow up the generator." Trip grinned at Malcolm. "My... d...detonator...g..got ...wet..." "Here." Trip started to hand over his own detonator, and then realized that Malcolm's hands were trembling too hard to enter the needed command. He tapped the code into the keypad and handed the detonator to the armory officer. "All ready to go. Just hit 'enter'." Malcolm checked the complex, confirming that the night workers were all huddled in a small group clear of the building, and then looked in the direction of the road where already a line of vehicles carrying the arriving workers could be seen. With fingers that were still blue, he pushed the detonator. The roof went straight up. Under it, white clouds and fingers of flame lifted up, and a fireball exploded slowly outwards above the building. A wave of heat hit them at almost the same instant as the sound. The roof crashed back down, almost directly on top of the building, and slowly collapsed downward. The external walls remained standing, although the engineer knew they were no longer structurally sound and would have to be rebuilt if the complex were to be used again. Malcolm was watching the explosion with pleasure. Trip grinned at him, and then teased, "The walls didn't go down." "I... used... r..restraint," Malcolm replied with a slight smile. Trip kept grinning, watching the results of the explosion. There were no fires; the water mains Malcolm had rigged had done their job. The arriving workers had left their vehicles and were staring at the destroyed building with awe. For a few minutes Trip and Malcolm simply watched the activity below. When the Dorlogians arrived, Trip decided it was time to leave. He tugged on Malcolm's arm to get his attention, and they moved further into the forest out of site. Malcolm had pulled out his communicator. "R...Reed... to... E...Enterprise," he said, his voice still quavering. There was no response, not even static. Malcolm stared at the communicator dumbly. "I think the water got it, Malcolm. Try mine." Trip offered his communicator to Malcolm, at the same time pulling him further along the trail, eager to get as far from the complex as possible. "R...Reed... to... E...Enterprise," Malcolm tried again. "Enterprise here." Hoshi's response was immediate. "E...Ensign, c..could you p..please r...run a scan of the c...c...complex. Are there any b...biosigns inside the b..b..building?" Malcolm's voice shook as he continued to shiver uncontrollably. "No, Lieutenant. There are several outside the building, but none inside. There were none inside before the explosion either. I was scanning. I got the recording for you, but I'm afraid it's not too impressive. It was a pretty small explosion." Hoshi's tone was teasing, and it caught Trip's attention. A glance at Malcolm showed the armory officer wearing a small smile. Yes, Trip thought, he would have to investigate this further. Later. Right now he needed to get back to business. He took the communicator from Malcolm. "Hoshi, tell Shuttlepod Two to return to Enterprise. There's nowhere for them to land safely, and they'd draw a lot of attention. Right now, I'd just as soon let the Dorlogians think that it was a mechanical problem, or internal sabotage or whatever, and give us time to get Enterprise away from here," Trip instructed. "Aye, sir. Shuttlepod Two already told us they didn't think they could find a place to land, but they wanted to stay around in case there was something they could do to help." "Tell them thanks. We'll be heading back to Shuttlepod One now." "Aye, sir." Hoshi closed the connection from her end, and Trip turned back to Malcolm just in time to see the armory officer waver. Trip grabbed Malcolm's arm and helped him lower himself to the ground and then grabbed the first aid kit from his pack. He pulled out an emergency blanket. Opening the four-inch by four-inch silver packaging, he pulled out the shiny piece of material and kneeling by his friend, wrapped the shaking man in the blanket. He would have to find some way to warm him, Trip realized, remembering his basic first aid. A hypothermic person couldn't generate their own heat; blankets alone would do little good. At least Malcolm was still shivering-- he was still able to generate some body heat, but Trip didn't know how long that would last. Malcolm was still soaking wet. Trip vaguely recalled a time he had been suffering from heat exhaustion. The captain had found water that wasn't drinkable, but had used the phase pistol to heat rocks to boil the water. Trip decided to try it. "Malcolm, I'm going to go get some rocks. I'll be right back." Malcolm nodded his head, his chattering teeth making speech too difficult to bother trying to reply. Trip stepped back into the forest, using his flashlight to scan for rocks. They were hard to find in the dark, but he managed to collect a few that seemed to be of the right material and size. He hurried back to Malcolm, hoping the armory officer was still conscious. Malcolm was still awake, but barely. His eyelids were drooping, and it took Trip several seconds to get a response from him. The engineer threw the rocks down, pulled the phase pistol from his side, and aimed them at the rocks. Within a few seconds they glowed red. Without further prompting, Malcolm inched closer to them. "H...how... did ...you th-th-think to do th-that?" "Captain came up with it. When we were stranded on that desert planet." "Cl-cl-clever." "Yeah. You feeling any warmer?" "A l-little. I can't b-believe it worked." Trip smiled broadly. "It sure did." *** "I suppose we should start back to the shuttlepod," Malcolm commented several minutes later. His teeth had stopped chattering, but his lips and skin still had a bluish cast. "Yeah, I guess we should. But we can sit here a little longer, let you warm up. How long were you down in that water?" "I'm not sure. Since shortly after we separated." Trip's eyes widened. "You were in that water the whole time? Lord almighty, no wonder you're so cold. Let me give the rocks another jolt. See if you can get a little dried out before we start moving." Trip blasted the rocks again, and they glowed red. Malcolm reached his hands out over the warmth, wincing at the returning circulation. He looked over at Trip, for the first time noticing the condition of the engineer. "What happened to you?" Trip looked a little embarrassed. "I got a little too close to a temperamental wire right before I blew the generator. Too bad you missed it. It made a hell of a boom." Malcolm's face fell. "I don't suppose you recorded it?" "Nah. I was gonna, but I was kinda in a hurry. Guess that's why I got careless." "Come over here." Malcolm beckoned him over, and grasped Trip's wrists, turning his hands palm up to examine them. "You burned them rather badly. They're starting to blister. How do they feel?" "They sting," Trip admitted. "Are you burned anywhere else?" Malcolm asked. Burns could be dangerous. "My back-- it's sunburned. I took my shirt off for a while you were sleeping." "And didn't put on sun protection?" Malcolm chided him. "Whatever will Dr. Phlox say?" "He'll lecture me, so you don't need to," Trip grumbled. "Have you put anything on it? Or taken a painkiller?" "Not yet..." Malcolm shot him an exasperated look, and pulled the med kit over and opened it. He studied the contents. "Look. There's a gel for burns right here. Why don't you at least put that on your hands? And there's some mild analgesic that should be just right for the sunburn..." Trip allowed Malcolm to give him the medicine, and assist him with the gel. "That does feel better." "Good." Malcolm stood up, and stomped his feet, promoting circulation. His teeth were no longer chattering, and his lips weren't so blue. Trip, busy returning the supplies to the first aid kit, glanced up. "You trying to tell me something?" "I think we should get moving, Commander. Someone is sure to investigate when they notice the damage to their little 'showroom' wasn't just a mechanical malfunction. I don't particularly want to be here." Malcolm had folded up the emergency blanket, and put it in his pack, which he was throwing over his shoulders. "You've got a point." "Can you carry a pack? With your back burned? Why don't you give me some of the things in there--" "So you can give me grief about it for the next six months? No, I'll carry it myself." Trip smiled to take the sting out of his words. "Really, Malcolm, I'm okay. That gel stuff helped a lot." Malcolm's expression said he didn't believe him, but he didn't say anything. Too tired to walk and talk at the same time, they silently began hiking. -- Forwarded to ASCL by: Stephen Ratliff ASC Stories Only Forwarding In the Pattern Buffer at: http//trekiverse.crosswinds.net/feed/ ASCL is a stories-only list, no discussion. Comments and feedback should be directed to alt.startrek.creative or directly to the author. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASCL/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: ASCL-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From ???@??? 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