Danny Amor's Online Library/Danny Amor's Online Library - Volume 1.iso/html/startrek/incomplete/iftheybetwo.ch5-7

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DISCLAIMER: Paramount has the most toys, Paramount wins. The story is
mine, so don't mess with it, don't sell it, and leave my name attached.
Send all comments to [e-mail].

If They Be Two
Paisley R. Mason

Chapter 5
********
 Picard's diminished team continued soberly into the tunnels. The passages
had begun to twist and turn much more now and they were finding it hard to
keep their footing on the slope. Rounding a bend, Picard stopped suddenly
and Troi just avoided tripping over him. Worf came up and the three
officers stared in fascination at the scene before them.
 An enormous cavern stretched seemingly forever ahead and up. Stalagmites
and stalactites clung to the floor and ceiling. So some water did get in
here after all, thought Picard, who was beginning to be very thirsty. They
all three shone their torches round the cavern's walls and the light
seemed tiny and insignificant as it disappeared into the great space.
 "It's huge," whispered Troi in awe.
 Picard reached automatically for his tricorder, before he remembered how
useless it would be. He felt a kind of security knowing this was here.
He'd rarely heard of tunnels without a few big caverns mixed in. However,
now was no time for pondering the mysteries of this planet's make-up.
"Let's keep moving," he said. "This way."
 He moved along a nearby ledge to the cavern floor, and began to pick his
way cautiously among the stalagmites.
 About half way across the cave a large fissure opened to the right and
Picard flashed his torch beam into it. "Mr. Worf!" he shouted.
Worf, to his everlasting chagrin, actually jumped. He ran to the the
entrance of the tunnel into which the captain had just disappeared. "What
is it, Sir?"
 "Look!" Picard's hand was shaking as he tried to steady the torch beam on
the thing in his hand - a medical tricorder. "She's down here. She's this
way. Come on!" He turned and almost ran down the tunnel in a most
un-captainly manner.
 Worf gestured to Troi and took off after Picard. They caught him up as he
stopped to examine a tunnel branching off of the one in which he stood. He
turned as they approached, rather out of breath. "Commander, you two go
that way. It seems as though it branches again just down there." He
flicked his light along the walls. "I'll continue in this tunnel. It
doesn't look like it branches for a while."
 "Captain, I should come with you," said Worf, despite his quite natural
tendency to want to be with Deanna.
 "Nonsense! We haven't much time left. We ought to start getting back to
the rendezvous point in about fifteen minutes. If we're not there in time,
Commander Riker will worry like a mother hen. We need to cover all the
possibilities. That means that we have to split up, especially now that we
have fewer people to search."
 "Sir!" objected the responsible Worf, wondering which would make Riker
kill him faster: allowing harm to come to Deanna or the captain. He
decided not to contemplate either possibility.
 "That's an order, Commander!"
 Worf sighed and scowled, but he turned to explore his designated tunnel.
 Worf and Troi were nearly at the branch of their tunnel when they heard
the captain call out to them. "Commander Worf! Deanna!"
 They sprinted back up the passage. Before they had gone a meter, they
heard the sound of a phaser. Worf burst out of the tunnel and narrowly
missed being killed by a phaser blast which came shooting past his ear
from the direction of the captain. Troi ran smack into him. "Captain!"
Worf shouted.
 "Get out of the way, Worf!"
 Worf had no intention of keeping out of the way and took off down the
tunnel, keeping low to the ground. Ahead of him, around the sharp bend of
the tunnel, he could see the captain's light flickering about. A sudden
shadow partially obscured the light for a moment. There was another phaser
blast and the shadow disappeared. Worf could hear the captain's running
footsteps and he tried to find the shadow with his torch. He didn't dare
fire, lest he hit Picard. He ran faster. There was a smothered cry from
Picard and then a sudden, engulfing silence. Worf stopped short and behind
him, Troi did, too. Their gasping breaths were the only thing to be heard.
Worf shone his light down the passage to where it curved out of sight.
Slowly, staying flat against the wall, he edged down toward the turning,
Deanna right behind him. They came to the bend turn and Worf stopped
again. He gestured to Troi and nodded each count - one, two, three. He and
Troi jumped out from behind their protective corner, phasers braced for
anything, torches pointing ahead. There was nothing there. The captain had
disappeared.

                                         **********

 "Captain!" shouted Worf. "Captain Picard!"
 His own echo laughed at him through the tunnels as he beamed his torch
light frantically around the walls. He began to run down the passage, all
thoughts for his own safety gone completely out of his head. Behind him,
he heard Deanna calling, " Worf! Worf, it's no use. He's gone."
 The Klingon rounded on her. "Gone where then? He cannot simply have
vanished. It is impossible."
 "Worf, I think he was taken the way Savin was."
 "And how was Savin taken?" demanded Worf.
 "I'm not sure. But you said yourself that he disappeared from a crevice
which had but one way out. Worf, if that's the case, and this rock thing
has him, then he could very possibly be... dead." Deanna swallowed hard.
She was terribly fond of Picard. "I can't sense him anymore, Worf."
 Worf's Klingon temper was well to the fore and he practically roared at
Troi. "No! I will not allow the captain to vanish like this. He cannot be
dead or we'd see a body. He must be somewhere. We must stay and search for
him. You will take that tunnel-"
 "Worf," Deanna broke in firmly. "If we separate, we will be taken by the
rock as well and then we will be of no use to the captain at all."
 "We will not be taken, Deanna. We must find the captain."
 "Worf, listen to me" Troi knew that Worf would listen to reason if she
allowed him to get over his fright somewhat. "The captain was taken while
he was alone. So was Savin. I had only been out of his sight for an
instant and yet I, too, was attacked. My tunnel was larger and I got away
faster. You and the captain were together and so you were safe. The same
thing happened here. We were together and so we were not attacked. If we
separate, Worf, we will be captured or killed and will do the captain only
harm. We cannot search together because we haven't time and we need more
people. Let's go back and tell Will. Then we can bring down more people to
help search if we have to."
 Worf was angry and very frightened for Picard's safety, but he was a
Starfleet officer, trained to think like one. He also was apt to listen to
Deanna Troi. He nodded. "Come," he said, and started back out of the
tunnel at a near run. Troi hurried behind him.


Chapter 6
********
 The two away-teams could hear each other before they could at last see
one another's lights. Riker came hurrying up the passage ahead of his
people and met Morris running into the branch of the tunnels. She looked
distraught. "Lieutenant, did you find anything?"
 "No, but we lost someone, Commander - Lieutenant Jackson. She's gone."
 "Take it easy Morris. What do you mean you lost Jackson? She's lost in
the tunnels?"
 "I mean we lost her. She's dead, Sir."

                                      **********

 "How did it happen?" he asked tonelessly.
 "She was in a small fissure while Bellar was in another passage. We heard
a cry and ran." Morris turned to Bellar. "You saw it. You explain."
 "Commander, I came up just in time to see. She was... she was taken into
the wall. These arms seemed to extend from the wall and just... envelope
her. Then the wall went flat again and she was... gone."
 Riker glanced at his team. "She's in the wall?" he asked incredulously.
 "I think so, Sir."
 "So that's what happens," he said bleakly. "We saw the rock thing, too,
and ran from it. There's no time to talk now. We'll discuss this back on
the ship. I want a dozen more people down here to search until we're sure.
It will only take us one at a time, we're safe in numbers." He thought of
Beverly.
 From down in the tunnels there came the sound of hurrying feet followed
by Worf's voice, "Commander!"
 "Up here, Mr. Worf!"
 Worf scrambled out of the low tunnel followed by Troi. "Commander, the
captain has been taken!"

                                       **********

 Riker turned white in the black tunnel. "What?"
 "The rock, Sir. It has taken the captain and Lieutenant Savin."
 The nine people now left of the away-teams looked at each other, stunned
into silence. Riker spoke first. "He's dead?"
 "I do not know, Sir." Worf's voice was flat, but Troi was almost crushed
beneath the weight of his sorrow. "We were searching a tunnel, Sir. We had
already lost Savin in strange circumstances. He simply vanished. Because
of our diminished numbers we separated. The captain had found Dr.
Crusher's tricorder and wanted to search quickly. Lieutenant Morris and I
went toward a branch in one tunnel and the captain searched another. We
heard him call to us and ran. There were phaser blasts. I could not fire
without hitting the captain. Then he was just... gone. We searched for him
and finally came back to get help. We will need more people." the muscles
of his jaw worked. "Commander, it is my to my everlasting dishonor and my
sorrow that I have lost Captain Picard."
 "Mr. Worf, I don't blame you, but I don't have time to worry about your
honor right now." He looked at the tired, grubby, and dis-spirited people
around him. "We'll go back to the ship for reinforcements. I am not giving
up that easily."


Chapter 7
********
 Picard woke and resisted the impulse to open his eyes. He had no idea
where he was, but he was sure it wasn't the _Enterprise_. He therefore had
no intention of making himself a target for unpleasantness without first
gaining some idea of his surroundings. At the moment he was being left
alone, so he'd remain exactly as he was until he considered it safe or
necessary to do otherwise.
 He remembered what had happened. He'd been firing a phaser at that moving
wall, of all things. Deanna hadn't been kidding. The rock did have arms.
Wait, that was it. The rock had reached out for him and had actually
lifted him off the ground. That was as far as his memory went.
 Slowly he took stock of his situation. He was rather sore, as if he'd
been squeezed very hard all over. He didn't seem to be in acute pain in
any specific spot except for his right shoulder, though. That probably
meant that the shoulder was damaged, but other than that he was all right.
As surreptitiously as possible he flexed various muscles. Everything
except the shoulder appeared to be in order. His head ached quite a bit,
but he doubted it was a concussion, more likely just a continuation of the
general soreness he felt. Picard started checking the status quo outside
his own body. He decided he was still somewhere in the tunnels because
whatever he was lying on was very hard. It was also totally silent. Damn.
Then Worf and Troi were probably not very nearby.
 It was so quiet that Picard decided to risk opening his eyes. Very
carefully he opened them a fraction. He opened them a fraction more.
Trying not to panic, he opened them as wide as he could. He'd gone blind!
He couldn't see! Then he took a deep breath. Of course. His torch had gone
out and in the tunnels there was no light. He closed his eyes again and
counted to ten to calm himself. He listened for any sounds of a possible
captor and hearing none, began to feel cautiously about for his torch. He
was definitely in the tunnels, he could feel the texture of the rock
beneath his fingers. It appeared to be a small tunnel because he barely
fit between the two walls. He couldn't feel the ceiling, though. He sat up
and cautiously felt his right shoulder. It didn't feel broken. Probably
dislocated. He sighed softly and continued searching for his torch. He
crawled cautiously down the tunnel for about a meter before his fingers
found it. It was broken. Picard experienced a moment of sheer terror. If
he had no light, he could never find his way back, assuming of course,
that he would ever have been able find the chalk marks again.
 He tried to calm himself. Now was hardly the time for panic. He had to
think. He needed a way out. He could stay put and wait for the others to
find him, as they undoubtedly would try to do, but that might take a very
long time. For all he knew he was on the other side of the planet. No one
had any idea how far these tunnels went. There was also the rock creature
to contend with. It seemed to have lost interest in him for a moment, but
it might come back. He had no idea what it wanted him for, but he wasn't
overly anxious to find out. He was pleased to note he still had his
phaser. He would just have to start moving and simply trust that he was
going toward his searching crew and not away from them. He stood up,
grunting softly as pain shot through his shoulder. Keeping his left hand
on the wall, he moved forward.
 And struck another wall. He turned back the other way and after about
five meters, reached the other end of his little room. He was in a five by
one meter crevice. A big coffin, he thought bleakly.

                                         **********

 Riker led nine silent people out of the tunnel and into the cave. Outside
it was still raining, but the lightning had stopped. Abblewhite wouldn't
have cared if they had to wait out the worst storm in the planet's history
so long as she could see the sky and have room to turn around. She walked
sadly by Torres's side to the mouth of the cavern. Standing just inside
the sheltering rock Riker called the _Enterprise_ and told Data to beam
them up. They stepped out into the downpour and the feel of raindrops on
her skin was the most wonderful sensation Abblewhite could remember. Then
the tingle of the transporter started and the surrounding rocks became a
blur.
 The first half of the away-team, or what was left of it, stood dripping
on the transporter pad. Abblewhite moved off with the others and a moment
later the last of the team shimmered into being. Riker rubbed his face.
"Everybody go get into some dry clothes. We'll meet in the conference room
in fifteen minutes. Mr. Morgan," he turned to the transporter chief. "Did
Mr. LaForge and his crew get that shuttle back up ok?"
 "Yes, Sir. They came back up about two hours ago when the storm got too
bad to stay on the surface."
 "Good. Thank you."