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The Miles That Lay Ahead- Chapter 20

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 20

Trip had been helped into a comfortable deck chair on the roofed-over verandah. Malcolm was sitting beside him and Jeren and Erianna had provided for some beverages. Uncomfortably, Jeren shifted on his chair before he straightened his posture. "This part isn't one of the most glorious of Renelan's history. To be honest, I feel ashamed about what I have to tell you. I think you have the right to know, but it's quite a long story."

"Well, we want to hear it," Malcolm said. He and Trip weren't going to budge until they got to know about this mystery.

"Okay, maybe some historical facts first. However, 'history' isn't very present in people's minds on Renelan. We live in the present and no one bothers to remember what happened in former times. To be exact, no one is supposed to bother about. Our great-great-grandfather secretly did some researches on his own and left them to our grandfather. Unfortunately, we never had the chance to get to know him, and our father wasn't interested in carrying on this chronicle. I found it in the attic a few years ago, and have drawn my own conclusions. I can't even tell you whether life on Renelan has developed on its own, or whether the planet was colonized by outworlders. I only know that some generations ago the inhabitable area was hard-fought over by some clans that used to massacre each other over every single acre. It were rather violent times back then. Finally, a man named Zanos succeeded in uniting the clans and bringing them together in one nation. Zanos is one of the very few names that are mentioned in the records. He's our Prince of Peace, so to say. He founded the eight provinces and installed the governors. They were allowed to reign pretty much on their own, but were responsible to Zanos. All weapons had to be destroyed, and people learned about agriculture, stock-breeding and later on about industry. They built houses and lived in peace. It worked until Zanos had to admit that there was a big weak spot in his plan."

"I think I know what it was," Malcolm commented. "After people stopped killing each other, they ran out of living space."

"You're right. The lasting peace quickly led to overpopulation."

Erianna shook her head. "Isn't it crazy to think a war can contribute to maintain the living standard and ensure a people's survival?"

"But war wasn't an option for Zanos. He started building more houses. Mostly skyscrapers towering into the sky and getting higher and higher to host more and more people. Progression of statics and architecture couldn't keep up with this development and during the time when our great-great-grandfather lived one of these skyscrapers collapsed."

"A few less people to take up living space," Malcolm muttered sarcastically.

"According to our great-great-grandfather, there were rumors that the governor of this province had personally arranged for the accident. The governors and even most citizens weren't very happy with Zanos' efforts to build houses on every suitable surface just to provide living space for the growing population. They wanted to keep their living standards with greenery and parks and one-family houses rather than living in skyscrapers."

"The way they live today," Trip said.

Jeren nodded. "It doesn't matter whether someone purposely arranged for the building's collapse or whether it was due to inadequate statics; the skyscrapers were classified as too dangerous and had to be knocked down. At this time, Zanos had died and the eight governors agreed on having no other leader. Zanos' son who was designated to be the new monarch mysteriously disappeared and was never seen again. No one knows what happened to him, but I believe the governors had him killed. The governors granted each other their sovereignty but agreed on the same policy, that would grant every Renelan generous space to live."

"How did they manage?"

"It seemed so simple. They only had to prevent people from having children. A law was enacted, saying that each couple was allowed to raise only one child and they were strict in supervising that it was obeyed. Unfortunately our great-great-grandfather doesn't say anything about what happened to parents who in spite of this law conceived more than one child or what happened to these children, but for a while this plan actually worked. Until the governors were confronted with another problem. The society's average age was rising."

"I see," Malcolm agreed. "If only few children were born there were a lot of old people and no one to care for them or do the work."

Trip was chewing on his bottom lip. He remembered Malcolm's remark about seeing no old people on Renelan. But the speculation that crossed his mind couldn't be true. Or could it? "Could it be that the governors tried the opposite? That they allowed people to have more children but started decimatin' the old ones?" He barely dared to voice his thoughts, but looking in Jeren's face he knew he'd hit the bull's eye. "That can't be true," he exclaimed.

"But it is," Jeren answered resignedly. "They realized children are the planet's future, they are eventually the ones who will do the work. Renelan needs its young people. Perhaps the regulation would have been effective a few generations later. When the population would have been halved by this measure, the number of old and young people would have been approximately equal, but the governors needed quick solutions."

"And then? I mean not allowin' people to have children is one thing, but how can you diminish the number of old ones?"

"First, the Health Centers were founded. A place where even today patients are brought who can't be treated by common physicians or, let's say, whose health isn't expected to get better soon. Accident victims are always taken to the Health Centers. Consultants decide about the seriousness of injuries, or how long it will take to heal a disease, and if they deem it appropriate they'll order the patients to be taken to the left wing. But you never see those people again."

Trip and Malcolm both stared at Jeren. "Are you saying they're killed?" Malcolm asked incredulously.

Jeren looked down at the floor. "Of course not officially," he said, barely audibly. "The official version is that the medical care is much better in the Health Center's left wings. But no one who is brought there with an injury or a disease is supposed to leave it again. The injuries simply were too serious or the disease too bad, they can always explain it." Jeren looked at them and his gaze was full of sorrow and shame. "Yes, they're killed. With a substance that paralyzes all of their nerves and muscles completely within ten seconds and stops the heartbeat almost in an instant."

Trip stared at Jeren, an unspoken question in his eyes. Jeren met his gaze, nodding.

"Highly concentrated Tetraparcyllin which officially even doesn't exist. T-18."

Trip swallowed. He had to breathe deeply to fight the nausea he was suddenly feeling.

"If this stuff doesn't officially exist, how come you know about?" Malcolm asked. "Because you're working in one of these Centers?"

Jeren started badly. "Are you implying I have something to do with these murders?" Jeren let out a trembling breath and grabbed his beverage. "I apologize," he said hoarsely after he had drunk. "But I saw too many people disappear in this wing. People I would've been able to help. I always try to see new patients before the consultants appear so I can convince them that I'll be able to help these people and that it's not necessary to bother the 'specialists'."

"You were tellin' us about injuries and diseases that can't be healed in a certain period of time," Trip broached the subject again. "What time period are we talkin' about?"

"Eight days."

"Say what?" Malcolm and Trip looked at each other, terrified. Malcolm licked his lips. "You're saying everyone who needs more than eight days to recover is killed?"

"Luckily, nearly all of the diseases can be healed very quickly. Our advanced medicine is truly a blessing."

"But what about an accident victim? Can you heal broken bones in this time as well?"

Jeren shook his head. "We can't heal broken bones at all. As advanced our medicine is in other areas, it completely fails there. Our bones are extremely dense. A great force is needed to break one, but once it's happened it won't heal again."

"So all people with broken bones automatically go to the left wing," Erianna who had been silent until now, added, her face displaying disgust. "As well as all diseases concerning the nerves. Paralyzed persons aren't welcome here."

Malcolm nodded, thinking. "That's the reason why you told Tasur that Trip would recuperate within two or three days. If you had told him his condition would stay the same for several weeks, he would have been brought to this left wing."

"I don't know," Jeren sighed. "Trip isn't from Renelan. But I don't trust Tasur and I just didn't want to give him a reason to treat Trip according to our planet's laws."

"You still haven't told us where your knowledge about this T-18 comes from," Malcolm insisted.

"I've taken blood samples from some of the dead. You can imagine that's strictly forbidden. I had to break into the Center one night to do so and if someone had caught me they would have kept me there. Erianna managed to modify my keycard so it would open the door to the left wing. Only very few physicians are allowed to enter this wing, and unfortunately I don't belong to them." Jeren shivered. "I don't want to belong to them. Perhaps they really believe they're doing what's best for the people of Renelan, but to me they're only cold blooded murderers. Anyway, I got the blood samples to do some tests of my own. Although my break didn't stay unnoticed. The administration noticed someone had manipulated the doorlock, and changed the codes immediately. I don't dare to break in there a second time, since they are already suspecting me, although they have no evidence. I guess they ordered Kenan to spy on me and to report immediately when I'm doing something that hasn't really to do with my job."

"Do the people know what's awaitin' them in there?" Trip wanted to know. A shiver ran down his spine when he thought of being brought to the Center fully aware of being killed there.

"No, not really. The injection is like a normal medicine. And then it works so fast no one has got the time to think about what's happening to them. The families are usually told there was nothing the doctors could do to help the patient."

"Are there many of these patients?"

"Fortunately not. About one or two a day in every province."

"I think that is a lot. But it still won't be enough to keep the population low."

"No, I'm not finished with my story yet."

"I bet." Malcolm nodded. "I would like to know why I haven't seen any old people."

"Old is a relative term, Malcolm," Jeren said softly.

"But I can't believe that on a planet like this, with your medical knowledge, people don't get older than maybe 50."

"But it's a matter of fact."

"Is it this disease?" Trip asked. "Harek mentioned it. CSD or somethin' like that."

"CDS. It's an abbreviation for a virus attacking the immune system. Especially older people get infected with it because their immune system is naturally weaker. But young people can get it as well if they're not strong enough."

Trip watched him closely. "Why do I have the feelin' that there is somethin' wrong with this virus? Can it be treated? Or are people who suffer of it immediately brought to this left wing?"

"No, people would get suspicious if so many patients died in the Health Centers and it takes a while until the symptoms start to show. The doctors do take good care of those patients. But there is no cure, although its progression can be slowed down with certain injections."

"Harek told me somethin' about paralyses similar to mine and that people go to the Health Centers before it gets worse. What exactly was he talkin' about?"

Jeren stood up and looked out into the dusk. "My grandfather wrote in his notes that there used to be some sort of afterlife-cult. The people were told that when their life here was over there would be the afterlife where everything would be a lot better. I guess they were very convincing because temporarily there was a real run of people who seemed to be tired of living. The Health Centers offered the possibility to go to the afterlife. I guess the idea to assist even those who didn't want to die had its origin in this afterlife-cult."

"So people wanted to die?" Incredulously, Malcolm shook his head.

"There are these so-called counselors at the Centers. They can literally talk you into everything. They're doing a good job, deliberately telling everyone who wants to die wonderful stories about the afterlife. About how everything is better over there and they'll have a wonderful live, waiting in peace for their family to come, or meeting with those who have already gone."

"People really allow themselves to be killed? Just like that?"

"Renelan is now a planet of young people, Trip. There were times when older people were blamed by the society for using up living space. You can believe me, it's true. Everyone around the age of 50 was expected to end their life to make room for the next generation. Fortunately, during the last years families began to care more about their relatives and the younger ones won't give up their parents so easily. But then CDS came."

Malcolm grimaced. "It seems like this virus fits perfectly into the scheme."

Jeren sat down at the table again, turning his glass in his hands. "I tried for a long time to get into the research team. I was sure to be able to contribute to the researches about CDS, perhaps even to find a cure. But I was rejected every time I tried, in spite of my qualifications. The research team consists only of physicians who work in the Health Centers' left wings. I was taken aback at this fact, as well as the fact that only those physicians are allowed to treat CDS. They say that the virus can only be detected by testing a blood sample and only those physicians are allowed to take one. The family doctors are provided with the results, but they don't even have access to the data that was collected in the laboratories and I wondered why. So I started a research of my own. I compared the birth rates of the last few years with the death rates and got an astonishing result."

"The numbers were similar?" Trip assumed.

"They were almost equal. In years with a low birth rate less people have died of CDS than in years with lots of births."

"You think there's a connection?"

"I know there is."

"How can you know that if you don't have access to the test results?"

Jeren looked at Erianna who was lost in her own thoughts, spreading some spilled drops of her beverage on the table. She looked up and met Malcolm's and Trip's eyes. "Seven years ago, our mother died in an accident. She was a first-class engineer, and worked in the power supply. She got badly burnt in an explosion. At that time, Jeren was still studying medicine. I still remember them standing in the door, pretending to be sorry and telling us her burns had been too severe to save her."

"I can hardly believe that," Malcolm said. "Jeren worked a miracle on my hands. Not even our ship's doctor would have managed that and he's really good."

"I'm sure even with the little knowledge I had at that time I would have been able to save my mother, if they had let me," Jeren said bitterly. "But every other physician would have been able to help her as well. It just wasn't the plan. Our mother always had been a thorn in Tasur's side. She told him what she thought of his policy without holding back and I think he didn't like that. I think her accident worked perfectly for Tasur. Our father was devastated. Without our mother, he had nothing to live for. Erianna temporarily dropped her engineering study to care for us but he withdrew into himself more and more. He couldn't find anything to live for, and began to degenerate physically as well. Of course his condition didn't stay unnoticed. I guess a well-meaning neighbor reported that he was looking ill and advised an examination. In any case it didn't take long until he got the order to undergo a CDS-test."

"You're forced to undergo this test?"

"Yes, anyone who misses the appointment is taken there by the consultants. By force, if necessary."

"What about your father? Did he have this CDS?"

"Of course he did. And of course they immediately injected him with the so-called vaccine. Our father didn't really care about the infection, he had gone on living only because of us. We were the reason why he wouldn't go to the afterlife he'd heard so much about when he was young and where our mother would be waiting for him. He allowed me to do what I'm forbidden to do by law. Taking a blood sample. Like I said, scanners can't find the virus so a blood examination is the only way to find it. The scanners only detected the vaccine he was injected with. Diluted Tetraparcyllin. T-14."

"Wait a minute," Trip objected. "I thought this stuff is responsible for my lame legs."

"It is. But at that time, I didn't know anything about that. I only found it strange that except for the vaccine I couldn't find anything in my father's blood that indicated he was infected with a virus. But I drew my own conclusions when I found the T-18 in the dead people some time later."

Malcolm inhaled sharply when he got the point. "Oh god, are you saying that they are injecting older people with a poison that slowly kills them, and keep telling them it's the vaccine to a virus?"

"Exactly. With every treatment our father was injected with more of the T-14. And even though the doctors kept saying it was easing the symptoms they kept getting worse. After six month, the first signs of paralysis were starting to show. One morning, our father was gone. He left us a letter saying he'd gone to our mother as long as he could do so himself."

"That was three years ago," Erianna added sadly. "Ever since, we've been on our own."

"That's a horrible story." Trip was full of sympathy. "But I don't understand what this has to do with me."

"You don't?" Jeren smiled. "You are the living evidence for the government's deceit. Your blood contains T-14, you know how it came to be there and you know what it did to you. You know that it's not a vaccine but a poison. So you would be able to prove that T-14 doesn't cure CDS, but actually causes it. You could prove there isn't any disease at all, and that it is only a cruel and well-planned genocide. And additionally, you've got the cure in your blood, too. A real cure that could heal all those people suffering from CDS, although it is said to be incurable. If you told our people what you know you could overthrow the entire government and cause a storm of protest among the population like Renelan has never witnessed before. And that's why you are a threat to Tasur and his colleagues. That's why Dorsik wanted to examine you. When you declined, a blood sample was his last chance to verify the truth of what Kenan told them. They wanted to know whether it's true that you have T-14 in your blood, although you're not from Renelan, and therefore would be able to threaten them with your knowledge. When Dorsik finds out about the cure he's going to flip his lid. And from that moment on you'll be in great danger."

"I can't believe it." Trip was stunned. "I don't know what shocks me more, your government systematically poisonin' its people or me havin' the cure for it." He looked at Jeren. "Tasur seemed to be so jovial and open-minded, but he's nothin' more than a cold-blooded murderer."

"Tasur is obsessed with having a 'clean' province. No old ones, no ill people, just a province of the young and strong. During the last years, the dying rates in our province were constantly higher than the birth rates. Other governors aren't that radical. We know that at least five of them aren't very happy with the current solution. But it works and therefore no one feels the need to do anything about it."

"I just can't believe it," Trip repeated. "It must have been a big surprise for you when you detected this T-14 in my body."

Jeren snorted, and for the first time since the beginning of their conversation the sparkle returned to his eyes. "At first, I thought you weren't going to be a lot of trouble. I asked Kenan to treat your cuts and the sunburn and all the aftereffects from your stay in the desert. Malcolm's hands, on the other hand, were more of a challenge. But then Kenan showed me the scanner results that showed a great amount of T-14 in your system. A far greater amount than my father's body had ever contained. I became suspicious. The couple that had found you had told us that you weren't from Renelan but that didn't necessarily have to be the truth. All the same, it could have been possible that you were from Renelan, although I couldn't imagine why a young and strong man should be infected with CDS. Malcolm, at least, had on a uniform that definitely wasn't from a Renelan organization, but you were wearing civilian clothes. It could have been that Malcolm met you here and was trying to take you away as long as you still had the time. I crossed my fingers that you both would be outworlders, and the extended scan Kenan did confirmed this. It was clear that you were not from Renelan. And then you confirmed the suspicion I was never able to prove: It is the T-14 that caused your paralysis, and it could lead to your death even though it worked slightly different with you than with my people. Perhaps you can imagine how excited I was when I found the cure in your blood. Now I'm hoping that with your help, we'll be able to prove that our governments are killing people instead of saving them."

"But is there anything you can do anything against it?"

Jeren nodded. "Renelans aren't as naive as they were only a generation ago. Lots of other people are concerned, too. We have a very well organized resistance movement that is trying to reveal the facts. Erianna is one of the leaders. She published my test results, my suspicion that it isn't a virus causing the CDS. I can't say it had a great impact because I couldn't show my evidence, and making the announcement anonymously took away a lot of its credibility. But we succeeded in sowing some distrust and making people think about the disease. Of course, the governments tried to find out who had spread the news and they almost found out it was Erianna. Tasur couldn't prove it was her but as a measure of precaution he put her name on the black list. That's where the public enemies are listed. Her name was labeled with a question mark, but she still lost her place at the engineering academy and can't find a job."

Looking at Trip's and Malcolm's shocked faces, Erianna forced a smile. "You have to make some sacrifices if you're fighting for your principles. And this matter is worth every sacrifice, particularly because we have evidence now. You're our evidence, Trip. Jeren told me I must not endanger you and may only publish his results when you're safe aboard your ship again. But an interview with you telling us about your experiences with T-14 would be very helpful."

"Of course," Trip agreed at once.

Erianna smiled at him. "You can't imagine what this means to me."

"Actually, now I can."

Erianna threw a regretting look at Jeren. "It's a pity our computer hasn't enough memory space to do something big, like a documentation we could feed into the media. That would be great."

"D'you want me to have a look at your computer?" Trip suggested. "I'm pretty good at tinkerin' with such things."

"I've done a little tinkering myself. But I lack several of the necessary parts. You just can't get them anywhere. Private people aren't allowed to have sophisticated computers. I guess the government is afraid someone would find a way to spread information without them being able to control it. The computer I have could already get me into trouble." Erianna smiled. "I hope no one will ever find out that Jeren removed some parts from several of the old Health Center computers that had been sorted out to be discarded."

"So it would be better not to help you upgrade it," Trip assumed.

"Oh, I wouldn't care about the risk. But like I said you can't get the necessary parts."

Trip shrugged. "Our shuttle is full of them."

"What?" Erianna and Jeren cried in unison while Malcolm was grinning broadly. He had known from the beginning what Trip was getting to.

"Your shuttle? But, but you're still going to need it," Erianna stammered. "You can't take out the computer parts. Or can you?"

"Well, only few of the parts are still where they're supposed to be, anyway," Trip grinned. "And this shuttlepod won't fly again, at least not here on Renelan. So I think we could find a better use for some of the parts."

"You would really do this?" Erianna was buzzing with excitement. "Trip, that would be, would be... just wonderful."

"It's okay, if we can help your cause."

Erianna leaned back in her chair, smiling, then suddenly she jumped up. "I have to tell Arissa."

"Please don't." Jeren grabbed her arm. "It wouldn't surprise me if Tasur had bugged our communication device. Don't take the risk. But you can ask Arissa to visit you tomorrow, so you can talk about whether Trip and Malcolm can stay at her place for some time." He turned to the two men. "Arissa and her husband Yanis are our best friends. They're absolutely trustworthy, and both members of the resistance movement as well."

"They have all reason to work against the government," Erianna said, sighing.

"What do you mean?"

"Yanis' mother, Malika, broke her leg when she fell down the stairs two years ago. Yanis and Arissa were clever enough not to call their family doctor, but Jeren. He was able to save her."

"Save her may be somewhat exaggerated," Jeren said in a regretting tone. "Like I said we can't really treat broken bones. I did all I could, but Malika's leg didn't heal properly. She's kept a rather strong limp. A limp that wouldn't be tolerated by the Renelan society. So we simulated her death. If someone found out she's still alive, the consultants would come to get her in a matter of hours. So she hides in the basement of Yanis' and Arissa's house. But I believe sometimes she regrets having accepted my help. She doesn't have any social life anymore, she can't go outside and always lives in fear of discovery. That's no life and I can't even blame her for having these feelings. Of course Arissa and Yanis are afraid that some day she'll make the same decision as our father. But it's very interesting that she's over 50 years old and shows no signs of CDS, although with her weakened immune system she would be the perfect victim."

"But no one ever forced her to go to the examination and injected her with T-14," Trip reasoned.

"Exactly, and that's another point on our list. But we can't take advantage of it without endangering Malika. It's different with you. We'll protect you until your ship arrives, preparing our documentation in the meantime and as soon as you are safe on Enterprise we'll present our evidence to the public. Let's hope we'll be able to change something."

"But wouldn't your friends take a great risk by hiding us?" Malcolm wanted to know.

"I don't expect Tasur to do something within the next two days, because he can't risk anyone noticing what he's up to. If he wants to know where you are we'll tell him your ship came to get you and you were very sorry that there wasn't any time to personally say good-bye or to introduce your captain to him. I guess his wish to keep you in his palace was just a pretense to keep you under his supervision, so no one would find out that there's something special about your blood. I think he wasn't interested in meeting your captain at all. In any case, you're safe at Yanis' and Arissa's place. And Malika would be glad to care for you. Sometimes I'm worried about her. Her depressions have become worse."

"Which is understandable, considering how she's forced to live," Erianna said. "But Arissa's first baby was born a few months ago, and that gave Malika new energy and courage to face her life."

Jeren smiled. "The baby worked a miracle. For Malika it's a reason to go on living. And I'm glad for Arissa and Yanis. It was really time, since Arissa is already thirty."

"Jeren," Erianna admonished her brother.

"Time? Why? At thirty, you're not too old to get pregnant, are you?" Trip looked at Erianna, questioningly, but it was Jeren who answered.

"If you assume a live span of fifty or at the most fifty-five years you're actually quite old at thirty. That's another problem our government has to deal with. If they intend to let the people die at the age of fifty they'll have to ensure that those people won't leave a lot of orphans behind."

Malcolm frowned. "And how can you ensure that?"

"By making sure people don't get pregnant after a certain point in time," Erianna said, an undercurrent of anger in her voice.

Jeren looked at Trip and Malcolm. "The women on Renelan get sterilized at the age of thirty-two, the men at the age of thirty-four. So it's guaranteed the children are out of the woods when the parents are infected with CDS."

Jeren never got an answer. His words had taken their breath away. Their mouths open, the two humans stared at him. "You get what?" Trip finally gasped. Looking at Erianna, his gaze flickered. "But you are..."

"I'm thirty-five. Six years older than Jeren. But it has its advantages when your brother is a physician. Jeren has forged my personal file."

"So you're not..."

"No, I'm not. But of course I have to be really careful now. Jeren would get into big trouble if I got pregnant, and on a planet which hasn't enough space to build prisons the consequences wouldn't be very pleasant. But I guess there's no danger of that happening." A faint longing was to be heard in Erianna's voice, the longing for an own family, for a husband and a baby of her own.

Trip and Malcolm glanced at each other. They had both heard this longing but didn't know what to say. Trip decided to change the subject. "But if Jeren was able to forge you file, why can't he delete your name from this ominous black list?"

"With my code, I can only access medical data," Jeren told them. "I can't get through to the other entries. Of course I would have done something to help my sister if I could."

Erianna stood up. "Okay, after letting you in on all of Renelan's dark secrets I'd like to leave all that behind me for some time. What about dinner?"

-###-

Trip was plain exhausted when Jeren brought him to the bedroom some hours later. While Malcolm used the bathroom he allowed himself a few minutes of rest. He closed his eyes but his thoughts kept wandering. It was hard to believe what they had learned about Renelan. Its perfect, paradise-like peace was as deceiving as Malcolm's Fata Morgana. Trip was horrified by the cold-blooded way the government kept the population in check, although he could see the necessity of keeping the population at bay. He didn't approve of anything he had heard this afternoon, but Renelan would be doomed if the population exceeded a certain number. He wondered whether Erianna and Jeren and their resistance movement could offer a different solution to the problem after they had started their transmission that would doubtlessly agitate the people. Standing by and watching all older Renelans get killed was out of the question, but he couldn't imagine any humanly possible way to maintain a balance of power.

Malcolm sat down next to him on the bed. "I knew there was something fishy about this planet," he said.

"And of course you were right, Lieutenant. You seem to have an unerrin' instinct where these things are concerned."

Suspiciously, Malcolm looked at Trip. He wasn't so sure whether Trip was complimenting or kidding him, so he decided to drop the subject.

"I wonder whether Erianna and her friends could really change that much with this documentation," he said.

"It's a pity we won't be around to find out. As you heard, they will start the documentation only when we're back on Enterprise."

"And if Enterprise doesn't find us?"

"They will."

"But they should have already been here yesterday, or even the day before yesterday."

Trip sighed. "Malcolm, I don't have to tell you that only a little malfunction in the warpdrive would delay their arrival for days."

"But it's also possible they never got the message."

"Don't be so pessimistic, Malcolm. There's no reason why it should've been lost. And even if it was, the subspace amplifier was powerful enough to be detected by T'Pol's scanners, although I guess it didn't stay intact for long in this asteroid field. But it was enough for them to locate its position."

"Okay, so Enterprise has got our message and they'll be coming for us soon. Let's talk hypothetically. As you said it can take a while. Do you want to hide all the time?"

"There seems to be no alternative. At least not until this T-14 is out of my blood and I'm able to walk again. But I'm hopin' the captain won't let us wait for so long."

"But if worst comes to worst, do you think you could get accustomed to the thought of staying here for a longer period of time?"

Trip raised his eyebrows. "Would you like bein' sterilized?"

Malcolm shrugged. "It's your turn first, Commander. You can tell me about it."

Trip snorted. No way would he comply with the absurd laws of this planet. But Malcolm had a point. He knew for sure that Jon would find them but he had no idea when it was going to happen. The unpredictabilities of space were too great to even approach an estimation. He was sure Enterprise had encountered some problems, otherwise she would've been here already. Trip had no idea whether these problems were technical failures or something completely different, but the odds that they were stuck here on this planet were increasing with every day. And the prospects didn't look very bright, especially for him, the only handicapped person on the whole planet.


TBC


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