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The Miles That Lay Ahead- Chapter 14

Author - Gabi
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The Miles That Lay Ahead

by Gabi

Genre: Action/Adventure/Angst
Rating: PG-13 (one or two chapters will be rated R later on)

Disclaimer: I guess I own the aliens in this story, the friendly as well as the unfriendly ones, but unfortunately none of the Enterprise staff.

~~~~~~

Chapter 14

Trip groaned and opened his eyes. At this moment a young woman came out of the building, a cheerful smile on her face. She seemed to be a few years older than Jeren, but she looked a lot like him. Her long hair was of the same light color and her friendly smile brightened up her features.

Trip felt terribly humiliated when Jeren picked him up. He would have given a lot to be able to meet this pretty woman on his own feet.

Jeren introduced them. "This is my sister Erianna. And these two are Trip and Malcolm."

"Welcome to our home! Please, come in." Erianna gestured at the open door.

Jeren sat Trip on a chair in a large room that looked like some sort of living room, and offered Malcolm a seat as well. Erianna took a seat at the other side of the table and gave them a questioning look, smiling a little. "I apologize if I've been staring at you. Jeren told me you come from a planet named Earth. It's amazing that you look exactly like us."

"Oh, there are some differences, Erianna," Jeren told her before Trip or Malcolm could answer. "But we can talk about this later. At the moment we should get them something to eat." He grinned. "That's something they need just like we do."

"Of course." Erianna got up. "I've prepared some soup. I'll go and get it. You stay here and entertain our guests."

Trip was far too tired to be thinking of food. He raised a hand to cover a yawn.

"You have to regain your strength," Jeren told him. "Just a little bit of soup. You can try solid food tomorrow." He put two glasses in front of them, each containing a milky, slightly pink fluid. "Drink this. It will help you recuperate." He threw a questioning look at Trip. "Shall I help you?"

Trip shook his head. He wouldn't allow himself to be fed as long as he was still able to move a single finger. He had difficulties to hold on to the glass but he didn't spill a drop while drinking.

Erianna brought two bowls of soup. "I hope you'll like it."

Trip forced himself to pick up the spoon. He didn't want to offend Erianna, but his stomach gave a lurch at the mere thought of food. He managed to eat a little, though. The soup tasted good and made him feel warm from the inside. Contrary to his expectations he actually found himself feeling better afterwards.

Jeren watched him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why do you have T-14 in your body?"

"T- what?" Trip looked up with a bemused expression on his face.

"Tetraparcyllin. It's a chemical substance, and can be found in various compositions and dilutions. To make things easier they've been put in a numerical order. What you have in your body is very similar to T-14."

Trip threw Malcolm an astonished glance. "This stuff has a name."

"Seems so," Malcolm agreed. "And it seems like it's well known around here."

"You don't know about T-14?" Jeren raised his eyebrows.

"No, it's a completely unknown substance."

Jeren raised his hands. "If that's the case, then why are you infected with it? This substance is the reason you can't walk, isn't it?"

Trip nodded. "It's a long story." He yawned, feeling too tired to talk. "Malcolm, would you be so kind...?"

Malcolm chewed on his lower lip, thinking. "The whole trouble started when we were scanning a solar system that contained several uninhabited planets. Our science officer, T'Pol, detected a small area on one of the moons the scanners couldn't get a fix on." Malcolm grinned. "Trip wanted to tease her a little and came up with different theories as to why that place couldn't be scanned. Eventually the Captain complied and sent us down to investigate. We found a weird fog-like substance which was actually a cloaking field hiding a gigantic building."

"A building?" Erianna virtually hung on his lips. "What happened then?"

"It seemed to be abandoned. Trip found a computer station and downloaded the data so our linguist could translate it. When we were about to leave the building we were attacked by aliens."

Malcolm looked down at his bowl, embarrassed. Trip knew he felt uncomfortable with that particular part, and continued. "They succeeded in overpowerin' me, but Malcolm managed to get away and escape." Trip saw Malcolm clenching his hands and knew that his friend still felt he'd been letting him down. "The aliens dragged me to a lab and injected somethin' into my spine."

"T-14," Jeren added. "Did the substance show any direct effects?"

"Not exactly what the aliens had expected, but it was only a few weeks later when we found out about that. The poison was supposed to completely paralyze me so I wouldn't be able to escape. Because of our different physiologies it didn't work quite that way, though. I remember that for a few seconds my body was burnin' like hell, and I was feelin' totally numb. After a while the pain subsided. My legs stayed paralyzed, though. Malcolm did a great job carryin' my outta there and gettin' me back to the shuttle."

"Not an easy task, I guess." Jeren raised his eyebrows at Malcolm. "No offence, but your bones are very fragile. Your species doesn't seem to have great physical strength."

"Jeren", Erianna admonished, slightly shaking her head.

"Well, it's the truth," Jeren answered back. "It's not their fault. I believe it's not easy for you to carry a grown man."

"Looks like for you, that's no problem at all." Trip grimaced.

"We can carry a weight one and a half times our body weight," Erianna explained.

Malcolm looked up, surprised. "The women, too?"

"Yes, of course. We're not weaker than the men."

Trip looked at her. The image of being picked up and carried without any effort by this young woman, even though she was at least ten centimeters smaller than he, was fascinating.

"So you were able to escape," Jeren reminded them of their former conversation. He refilled their glasses with the milky substance, gesturing at both of them to drink.

"We escaped from the moon," Malcolm told them. "But the aliens called for help and held Enterprise in a tractor beam until one of their military vessels arrived."

"And what did you do?"

"Trip came up with a way to break free from the tractor beam. But we couldn't stop them from beaming Trip aboard their ship where they conducted some..." Malcolm paused briefly, "...examinations."

Now it was Trip's turn to look down at his hands. Those terrible hours aboard the alien ship weren't something he liked to be reminded of. Jeren looked at him with sympathy in his eyes. "I understand," he said simply.

"But we were able to retrieve him. We couldn't leave our best engineer in their hands, could we?" Malcolm smiled, glancing at Trip.

"You're an engineer?" Erianna asked.

Trip nodded and tried to suppress a yawn. All he wanted to do was go to sleep. But he liked Erianna and Jeren, and tried not to let his exhaustion show so as not to offend them.

"When Trip gets a technical device to play with he'll completely forget about his surroundings," Malcolm teased, but looked worried when Trip didn't react. He decided to bring his story to a quick end. "About a week later Trip's paralysis was getting worse. He tried to hide it but wasn't able to do so for long. Within two days he was completely paralyzed. Our ship's doctor is a very capable physician, but even he had no idea what to do. And after a while Trip's respiratory system began to shut down."

Erianna looked at Trip with compassionate eyes. "That must have been awful. What did you do to help him?"

"Eventually the Captain succeeded in making contact with the aliens and eliminating some earlier misunderstandings. They generated a cure which the Captain brought aboard Enterprise just in time."

"How long ago did that happen?" Jeren suddenly seemed to be very excited, but tried not to let it show.

"It's been nearly three weeks." Trip threw a thankful glance at Malcolm. He was glad his friend hadn't told them exactly how miserable his condition had been at the very end. How he had lain on a biobed, completely helpless, hooked up to a respirator and not even able to swallow his own saliva. He liked Erianna and Jeren a lot, but these embarrassing details were none of their business.

Jeren was lost in thoughts. "It looks like the cure took very quick effect," he said.

"Yeah, within a few days the paralysis was beginnin' to recede," Trip explained. "I was almost able to walk again, but then I suffered a relapse." He yawned. "Sorry."

Jeren stood up and picked up a medical scanner. "You're still very exhausted," he stated.

"Yes, I'm awfully tired. Sorry for bein' such borin' company."

"You aren't." Jeren looked down at his scanner. "That's strange. Malcolm has regained his strength a lot faster than you."

"Hear that, Trip?" Malcolm teased, but his eyes betrayed his worry.

Jeren smiled. "Erianna has prepared our parent's bedroom for you. I guess you should both try and get some rest."

"There's only one problem," Erianna said softly.

Trip looked at her. "I guess your parents need the room."

"Oh no, they're long dead."

"Oh, I’m sorry." Trip blushed. "I didn't mean to..."

"That's okay. You had no way of knowing. It's just that there is only a double bed in this room. Is that a problem for you?"

Trip couldn't suppress a smile when he looked at Malcolm. "Is that a problem for us, Lieutenant?"

"Not as long as you're going to behave, Commander."

Erianna gave Trip an astonished look. "You're a Commander, Trip?"

"Third in rank aboard Enterprise," Malcolm confirmed.

"And Malcolm's next after me. He's our security chief and tactical officer." Trip smiled. Erianna's open admiration was comforting, in a way. "We have no problem with sleeping in the same bed. It was rather cramped in the shuttle as well."

"But you're not..." Jeren waved his hand questioningly between the two of them.

"No, we're not," Trip answered. "Just good friends."

"We wouldn't mind, but I'm afraid a lot of people on our planet are somewhat narrow-minded where these things are concerned."

"It was the same back on Earth a few centuries ago," Malcolm nodded. "But fortunately things have changed a lot."

Trip looked down at his hands, and noticed that they were starting to tremble slightly. Damnit, he didn't need that now. He didn't want to appear weak. It was bad enough, having to put up with being carried around all the time. He tried to suppress the trembling, but failed miserably.

"Trip! What's the matter with you?" Erianna asked, alarmed.

"Damnit," Malcolm muttered. "Is it starting again?" He laid a comforting hand on Trip's shoulder.

Jeren picked up his scanner. "Would you two mind if I took a blood sample? I would like to conduct further examinations."

Malcolm shrugged. "No problem. Take what you need." Trip nodded as well.

Jeren pressed a hypospray against Malcolm's arm, extracting enough blood to fill a small phial. When it was Trip's turn, the doctor laid a hand on the engineer's arm. For a moment he felt the muscle's convulsive trembling. He shook his head and took the blood from Trip's jugular vein. He labeled the two phials and laid them aside. After that he took a body scan of Trip. "I think you're in dire need of rest," he told him. "The last few days have been very strenuous for you. Your body is protesting against the strain you've been putting on it. I'll give you a strong muscle relaxant. You won't be able to move a lot but that shouldn't be too big a problem since you'll be sleeping most of the time. At least until tomorrow evening. I believe you'll be feeling much better after that. Is that okay with you?"

"A whole day?" Trip felt uncomfortable with the thought of being out for such a long time. "I don't want to be any trouble."

"Don't worry about that." Erianna stood up. "That's okay. You'd do well following Jeren's advice."

Trip looked at Malcolm questioningly and his friend nodded as well.

"Okay. I'll do everythin' if you'll only find a way to stop this tremblin'."

Jeren injected him with a hypospray and immediately the trembling subsided.

"Thank you." Trip sighed in relief.

"You'll soon be getting very tired. I'll take you to your room. As for you, Malcolm, you should rest as well. Your body is still fighting the infection."

Malcolm nodded. He hadn't been planning to leave Trip alone, anyway.

Jeren picked Trip up and carried him to a spacious bedroom. Carefully, he laid him down on one side of the bed. When he started to take off his shoes, Malcolm put his hand on Jeren's shoulder. "I'll do that."

"You sure?"

Malcolm looked at his still bandaged hands. "I think so."

"Okay. Call me if you need help or if there are any problems. No matter what time it is. The door in the rear leads to the bathroom. I hope you'll be able to find some sleep."

"Thank you, Jeren. For all your help."

"You're welcome. I hope Trip'll be feeling better soon."

Malcolm took off Trip's shoes and pants. He made very slow progress doing so because his fingers were still a little numb, but he knew that Trip preferred him being the one who assisted him. They'd made friends with Jeren and Erianna very quickly, but helping someone undress was a very intimate matter, after all. Trip would feel more comfortable with Malcolm helping him.

"Thanks, Mal," Trip mumbled sleepily.

"That's okay." Malcolm looked at his friend whose eyes were slowly drifting shut. "Do you think Enterprise is going to come to pick us up? We've been away for almost five days now..."

"I'm sure the Cap'n is movin' heaven and earth to find us." Trip's voice was beginning to sound indistinct.

"I'm just wondering..."

"What?" Trip tried to focus on Malcolm's voice, although it was hard to stay awake. In the meantime the trembling had stopped, but his arms had become too heavy to lift them up. They lay on the bed like dead weights. It felt as if Malcolm's voice was coming through a thick fog. Nevertheless, he tried to listen to what his friend was saying.

"Do you think the Captain will find us here?"

"Of course. They'll be able to locate the shuttle. The emergency signal is still on." Trip yawned.

"But we're not anywhere near the shuttle. The physiology of these people is quite similar to ours. Jeren said there are certain differences but I wonder whether they'll be enough for Enterprise's scanners to locate us among all these people."

Trip had been thinking about that as well. "If you'll get the two communicators for me, I'll be able to build a portable emergency signal good enough to make even T'Pol's eyebrow twitch."

"Really?"

"I only need my toolbox." Trip's voice had become very blurred.

"I'll see what I can do." Malcolm pushed Trip's legs under the sheets, carefully covering him with the blanket. "Sleep well, my friend. If you need something, I'm right here."

Trip mumbled something indistinct, then his deep breathing told Malcolm that he had gone to sleep.

TBC


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