The Miles That Lay Ahead- Chapter 18

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.

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Chapter 18

Lieutenant Reed didn't know what had woken him up. Except for Trip's soft snoring the dark room was quiet. But for some reason his trained senses had switched to alarm mode. While he was intently listening in the dark, adrenaline began to flood his veins, causing every nerve to tremble. The soft scratching at the door was hardly audible, as was the faint clank when the old fashioned key Malcolm had locked the door with fell to the floor. Slowly, Malcolm extended his hand and touched Trip's back. All of a sudden the snoring stopped and Malcolm felt Trip's muscles tense.

The door opened with a low creak. Malcolm grabbed his blanket and rolled from the bed in a catlike movement. The blanket cushioned his fall and muffled the thud as he hit the floor. Carefully, he peered over the edge of the bed. In the faint light from the hall he was able to identify three darkly dressed figures quietly entering the room. One of them sneaked to the bed while the two others shut the door and leaned against it after a short and futile search for the key.

Well, too bad I'm already here, Malcolm thought grimly. No use in locking me out. He tensed his muscles. Fortunately, his eyes had already gotten accustomed to the darkness and he could see what the intruders were doing. But his position behind the bed wasn't a good place to start from. He would have to jump over the bed to help Trip, but such an action would give his enemies enough time to fend him off, even if he could take them by surprise.

But Trip didn't need any help. When the man bent down over the engineer, Trip's fist hit him right between the eyes, sending him sprawling on the floor. For a split second Malcolm allowed himself a satisfied grin before he jumped over the bed towards the two men who were still standing at the door, peering into the dark and trying to understand what was happening in front of their eyes. Arms spread wide, Malcolm managed to knock them both down in one swing. Before they had a chance to recover, Malcolm was back on his feet, his martial arts training kicking in as he fought them off with all his strength. He stopped short when he heard a noise behind him, and turned his head. The third man had managed to pull Trip off the bed, but although he was lying on the floor, Trip wasn't helpless at all. With a hard punch on the man's legs, he swept the intruder off his feet and landed a few more hits before his opponent had a chance to react.

The brief look over his shoulder had been a mistake, though. The second Malcolm turned back to his adversaries, he received a hard hit in the stomach that pressed the air out of his lungs and made him cough. As he instinctively bent forward, he knew the next punch was supposed to hit him hard on his chin. With an effort, Malcolm stepped aside and when his opponent's fist hit only empty space, the tactical officer used the opportunity to slam the man against the nearby wall. The same moment Malcolm turned around and with a well-placed uppercut sent the second man to the floor as well.

Malcolm was breathing only slightly heavier when he turned to Trip and the third intruder. Although he was lying on the floor and hindered by his paralyzed legs, Trip managed to hold his ground. Again and again he placed some hard hits, preventing the man from getting up. All of a sudden, however, the stranger pulled up his legs and with all his strength he smashed his feet against Trip's chest. Trip cried out in pain and let go of his adversary. The man jumped to his feet, turned around and stumbled straight into a very angry Malcolm who sent him to the floor again with a hard punch.

When he saw the two other men scrambling to their feet, Malcolm prepared himself for a fight with all three of the men. But it wasn't necessary. After looking and gesturing at each other the men turned around, opened the door and without another look back, they ran away.

After switching on the light, Malcolm found the key and locked the door. In addition to that he blocked the doorknob with the back of one of the chairs. "It would've saved us a lot of trouble if I had done that in the first place", he muttered to himself.

"Neither of us was expectin' an attack", Trip said from behind.

"I'm quite sure Jeren was expecting something like this." Malcolm turned around. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Only a few more bruises added to my collection." Trip chuckled wearily, holding his ribs with both hands. "It's a shame, if you think about it. Three men and they can't even fight off one and a half." He smiled ironically. "And here I was thinkin' we were much more fragile than they are."

"You're counting yourself as half a person?" Malcolm smirked. He crouched down, wrapped his arms around Trip's upper body and lifted him back onto the bed. "Didn't look that way to me, the way you were fighting that guy."

"Wasn't so difficult, really. My engineerin' crew would've been able to do a better job fightin'. They may have more strength than we do but you could've beaten them with one hand. Guess they've never heard of fightin' tactics before."

"Maybe. But they weren't completely inexperienced, either." Malcolm sat down beside his friend and finally asked the question both of them had in mind. "Any ideas what they wanted?"

"Nope." Trip shook his head. "They weren't just burglars. But I have no idea why they would be so interested in two aliens."

"They were only interested in you, Trip." Malcolm ran a hand through his hair. "They didn't know that I was here. That's why two of them stayed at the door, so they could stop me in case I tried to get in. What do you think? Shall we wake Tasur to inform him about what happened?"

"Right now? It's the middle of the night." Trip shook his head. He hated causing so much trouble. "Tomorrow mornin' we'll have time enough to tell him."

"But now there'd still be a chance to find them."

"Not a better chance than in the mornin'. I'm sure all three of them are now in their rooms, playin' innocent. They didn't come from outside the palace. They had a key to open the door. I'm pretty sure that they were part of Tasur's very own personal guard. And they were sent here by someone."

"You mean, by Tasur himself?"

"Not necessarily. It could be Dorsik as well. Or Javor, although I don't know why he would do such a thing. Or maybe even someone we haven't met so far."

"But why should someone order the guard to attack you?"

"I don't know and we won't find out right now." Trip dragged his legs onto the bed and under the covers, while Malcolm moved over to his side of the bed to make room for him. "We should try to sleep," Trip suggested.

"Okay," Malcolm admitted but he wasn't really planning on going to sleep now. How could he when the men who'd attacked them might still be sneaking around the house? He leaned against the head of the bed, pulled his knees against his chest and covered his legs with the blanket.

"What're you doin'?" Trip asked him, looking up suspiciously.

"I think it's better for me to stay up a while. To make sure this doesn't happen again."

"Malcolm..." Trip stopped when he saw Malcolm's features harden. "I can't talk you into lyin' down and gettin' some sleep, can I?"

"I Don't think so."

"You know that you're terribly stubborn, don't you, Lieutenant?"

"Almost as bad as you, Commander. Now get some sleep."

Trip sighed and closed his eyes. There was no use in arguing with Malcolm. He would watch over his sleep like a mother over her baby. Trip smirked at the comparison, at the same time feeling somewhat guilty because Malcolm stayed awake because of him. Still, he had to admit that he was going to sleep a lot better with Malcolm watching over him.

-###-

"This is unbelievable," Tasur fumed. He paced up and down his office, only stopping briefly when he passed the table where Trip sat and Malcolm stood beside him. "I can't believe this. My guests are attacked! In my own house! I still can't believe it. No one can break into this house, it's very well guarded."

"We think the attackers came from within the house." Malcolm tried to interrupt the governor's litany in a calm but firm tone of voice.

Tasur stopped in his tracks and raised his eyebrows at him. "From within...? Are you saying you're suspecting my staff?" He looked at Trip. "But they know that you don't have any articles of value with you. Why should anyone attack you if not to steal something?" Tasur’s lips tightened. "Perhaps they just wanted to check whether you might have something valuable in your pockets, after all." Thoughtfully, Tasur ran a hand over his smooth chin. "This incident will not go unpunished, I assure you. I will question all of my staff myself. And I'll find the culprits, I promise you."

"I don't think they belonged to your staff," Trip said.

"Who else?" Tasur's eyes were sparkling angrily and Trip didn't know whether the governor's anger was addressed to him personally or whether the man just hadn't liked his last remark. "No one else has a reason to break into one of your rooms."

Trip and Malcolm exchanged a glance. It hadn't been a coincidence that the men had broken into Trip's room; they had done so for a reason. And their intention hadn't been to steal something. Trip and Malcolm were sure the men belonged to Tasur's guard; even though they hadn't been very good fighters, their martial arts training had given them away. Those men hadn't been simple domestic employees, that was for sure. But there was no way to explain this to Tasur who seemed to be a hundred percent sure of his guard's loyalty.

With an almost imperceptible nod the two officers agreed to let the subject drop so as not to upset Tasur even more.

"It's alright, Governor," Malcolm said. "Neither of us got harmed."

"You don't seem to understand, Lieutenant Reed. You're my guests and you've been attacked in my house. I can't tolerate this." Tasur took a deep breath, trying to calm down a little. "But that doesn't concern you. I'll take care of it. Please, accompany me to the breakfast table."

"Sorry, Governor, but we'd prefer Jeren to pick us up immediately. Maybe you could be so kind as to call him?"

"You can't leave just yet," Tasur exclaimed. "Breakfast is ready and Farina would be happy to show you the palace garden later on." He smiled sheepishly. "Okay, I must admit, palace garden is somewhat overstated, but it's a beautiful park. She's been looking forward to spending some more time with you. As have I."

Malcolm glanced at Trip. He felt increasingly uncomfortable in this house. But it looked like they couldn't leave without offending Tasur. He nodded. "All right, we'll stay."

"Wonderful." Tasur clapped his hands. "I'll call Harek."

-###-

During breakfast, Tasur continued to ask them all kinds of things, mostly about their lives on Enterprise. Malcolm was sure that Tasur was going to try and find out more about their technology and spent most of the conversation thinking up diplomatic answers why he couldn't tell him anything about Enterprise's weapons or tactical systems. After a while, however, he realized that Tasur wasn't really interested in their answers. The man was only trying to be a good host, making small-talk, but that was all. While Malcolm was relieved that the governor wasn't trying to get classified information, he found himself feeling slightly irritated at the man's obvious lack of genuine interest. Why invite someone if you weren't interested in them at all?

Finally Tasur stood up. "I apologize, but I have some urgent business to attend to. Farina will be happy to stay here and entertain you." Smiling broadly, he laid a patronizing hand on his daughter's shoulder, then left the room together with Javor and Dorsik.

Farina took Malcolm's arm. "Please, follow me, Lieutenant. I've prepared a picnic basket. You'll like the park." She beamed at him.

A picnic basket? Malcolm sighed, making no move to get up from the breakfast table. He had just opened his mouth to object when he realized what Farina's exact words had been. Her invitation had been addressed only to him.

"What about Commander Tucker?" he asked.

Shyly, Farina glanced at Trip who gave her a friendly smile. She looked back at Malcolm, clearly feeling uncomfortable. "Perhaps he'd like to have a look around the house. Or lie down and get some rest." Her voice took on a hopeful tone.

But Malcolm shook his head. "I'll stay with him."

"Why?" Farina looked disappointed. "You don't have to stay with him all the time, do you?"

"No, I don't. But he's my superior officer." Malcolm remembered what Jeren had said to him the day before. "And my friend," he continued. "And I won't leave him here."

"Very well." Farina sighed resignedly. "I've got enough food for the three of us. I'll ask Harek to assist Commander Tucker."

Malcolm stiffened. "That'll be not necessary. I can carry him."

"No, you have to help me with the basket." Farina stood up and went to the comm panel on the wall.

Malcolm leaned over to Trip. "Do you think she's deliberately trying to leave one of us behind?" he asked in a low tone of voice.

"I don't think so, Mal," Trip said, smiling a little. "She just doesn't like to share you. Just humor her and go for a walk. I'm sure I'll find somethin' to keep me busy."

"No way, Commander. I won't leave you alone after what happened last night. You're coming with me to this... picnic."

Trip looked at Malcolm, biting back a grin. He could clearly see that Malcolm felt uncomfortable in Farina's presence. This wasn't so much about not leaving him behind than about not being the one who had to keep conversation going.

"Wouldn't it be better if I carried you?" Malcolm asked in a rather obvious attempt at changing the subject.

"I'll be fine, thanks."

"I can imagine you don't feel very comfortable, though."

Trip shrugged. "The Renelans are a lot stronger than we are. No reason for you to throw out your back."

"Okay." Malcolm looked up when Farina came back.

"Harek is on his way," she said to him. "Come on."

Malcolm nodded but remained standing next to Trip until Harek had entered the room. Then he followed Farina to get a picnic basket so stuffed with food that he felt slightly sick just by looking at it. Farina clung to his arm and began to talk happily.

Harek grinned at Trip. "Looks like the Governor's little darling has a crush on the Lieutenant."

"Seems so," Trip agreed. "Isn't there anyone on Renelan she likes?"

"Sure. She's a nice girl and she's very pretty." Harek threw Farina a glance that told Trip it wasn't the first time the guard had noticed these things about the governor's daughter.

"You like her too, don't you?" Trip teased. He liked Harek. He was the only one who didn't seem embarrassed about Trip's inability to walk.

"Yeah," Harek admitted. "But I'm just a guard. Tasur has other plans for his daughter."

"So you think he'd want a Starfleet Lieutenant for a son-in-law?"

"Who knows? Tasur was very impressed with the Lieutenant's shooting abilities. He would love to have someone like him in his guard. I guess he'd become one of Tasur's tactical consultants in no time."

Trip smiled wryly. Seemed like Malcolm would have no problem climbing the career ladder on this planet. But what about him? There didn't seem to be a great demand for crippled engineers around here.

Trip decided to turn his attention to the garden. The park was indeed very spacious, huge bushes and trees lining large meadows and colorful flower beds. Here and there the greenery was interrupted by well-kept foot paths. In a way, the peaceful scenery reminded Trip of a garden in a fairy tale.

Farina spread a blanket on the ground in the middle of a large meadow. Trip frowned. "Maybe we can move over there to sit under the trees," he suggested.

Farina threw him an irritated glance. "Over there we'll only be sitting in the shadow, Commander. It's nicer out here in the grass." She nodded at Harek who carefully lowered Trip down onto the blanket.

"Over there at the lantern is a comm panel," he told him. "Call me if you need me."

"Thank you, Harek." Malcolm put down the picnic basket and sat down beside Trip. It must look very odd, two men and a woman together on a blanket having a picnic in the middle of the day. Malcolm thought of picnics as an amusement for couples in love but not for the tactical officer of the Enterprise. He felt slightly uncomfortable, particularly because Trip kept watching him with a knowing grin. On the other hand he was glad for Trip's presence. He had no wish to take care of the small talk all by himself. Malcolm watched Farina unpack the basket, then noticed that Trip was having some trouble keeping his balance. "Lean against my shoulder if you like."

Trip gladly accepted the offer. He bit his lip when he saw Farina's face as she realized that she'd made a mistake by refusing to sit under the trees. There had been no way for her to know that without something to support his back he had to put a lot of strain on the muscles in his stomach to sit up and couldn't stay like that for a very long time. Now, of course, he was sitting a lot closer to Malcolm than Farina was, and the young woman didn't seem to like it.

Farina listened with rapt attention to everything Malcolm said, but still, Trip noticed that she seemed to be listening to him as well, showing genuine interest in what he had to say. Finally she relaxed enough to joke with the men, and the general embarrassment subsided.

Trip lay down on his side and leaned on his elbow. He had a feeling Malcolm regretted this; with Trip leaning against him for support he'd had the perfect excuse to ignore Farina's attempts at moving closer. Inwardly, Trip shook his head as he watched Malcolm sitting stiffly on the picnic blanket.

Come on, Mal, he thought. Give the girl a chance, for God's sake.

Trip remembered the letters Malcolm had written to "half the girls in San Francisco" back in the shuttlepod. If this was how the lieutenant usually acted around women, then Trip no longer wondered why Malcolm hadn't been able to get close to any of them.

He was almost relieved when Farina finally decided to try a different strategy, suggesting a walk in the park.

But the lieutenant shook his head. Trip had a hard time to keep himself from rolling his eyes.

"I can't leave Trip alone," Malcolm explained.

Trip sighed. No way would he take the blame for Malcolm's inability to have a good time. He was already playing gooseberry as it was, and didn't want to be the reason for Malcolm to refuse to go for a walk with a pretty girl. "C'mon, Mal," he said, "I'm not a baby. What d'you think could happen to me here? I'm perfectly fine stayin' here and waitin' for you."

Farina threw him a grateful look, waiting patiently for Malcolm to make his decision.

"Go, Malcolm!"

Malcolm stood up, reluctantly. "Okay, but we'll stay within sight. Call me if you need me."

Trip rolled his eyes; no way was he going to do that. He watched them leave, Farina taking Malcolm's arm and leaning against his shoulder. Relax, Mal, Trip thought. For heaven's sake, this isn't combat training.

Trip turned onto his back and leaned on both his elbows. The park was indeed beautiful, and the weather was nice and sunny. Their ordeal in the desert was almost forgotten, and he was beginning to feel almost at home on this world. Still, Trip would have given a lot to be back on Enterprise. It had been seven days, and still they were nowhere in sight. What was keeping Jon so long? Trip knew that there wasn't any reason to worry yet, the Captain knew where to look for them. If he couldn't find them in the asteroid belt he would search for them in the nearby solar system and then it wouldn't take long for him to locate the shuttle. It was only a matter of time until T'Pol picked up the emergency signal Malcolm was wearing in his arm pocket. All they had to do was wait a little longer.

Wearily, Trip shut his eyes and was already beginning to doze off when he noticed a movement behind him. He wasn't able to react fast enough, however, and a moment later hands grabbed his arms and he fell on his back, hard. Someone was holding his upper arms in a vise grip, and a hand was tightly clamped over his mouth. Trip squirmed, but he couldn't escape the strong grip. He might have been able to free himself by kicking his legs, but unfortunately that was not an option. Again, there were three of them, each of them wearing dark clothes, their faces masked. Trip tried to scream but the hand covering his mouth muffled the sounds. Whoever the attacker was didn't care that he was pushing his hand against Trip's nose as well and Trip could barely breathe. With an effort, Trip managed to get his hand free and pinch the man behind him hard in the wrist. For a split second, the man loosened his grip, which was enough for Trip to break free and to drag his fingernails across the unmasked throat of the man before him. When the pressure on his mouth subsided, he bit the hand as hard as he could. The man cried out loud, and punched him in the face.

"Malcolm!" Trip shouted, then the man's fist connected with his cheekbone again and the world went dark.

TBC

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