The Miles That Lay Ahead- Chapter 21

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: in chapter 1.

~~~~~~

Chapter 21

The next morning they went to check on the shuttle. In order to be able to find the way on his own the next time, Malcolm mapped the route with his scanner. After half an hour they had reached the clearing, and Jeren landed the flitter next to the shuttle.

While Malcolm did his best to explain the shuttle's various functions to Erianna, Trip once again crawled under the helm console. It was a pity to take apart all the jury-rigged conduits, but since this shuttle wasn't going to be flying again any time soon, there was no reason not to use the spare parts for other purposes. After a while the box standing beside Trip was filled with conduits, circuit boards, condensers, control units and transistors. He'd taken a look at Erianna's computer this morning, but he still had no idea if these spare parts would be of any use if he tried to improve the old-fashioned machine. Erianna seemed to have high expectations of his technical skills, and while Trip was confident that he would be able to do something, he didn't know if he was going to be able to adapt Starfleet technology to the Renelan computer systems.

Trip yawned. Compared to the oppressive heat he had been forced to put up with out in the desert, these were perfect working conditions, but still he could feel himself getting tired again. He had also slept very well last night, so why was he feeling so exhausted yet again? Trip was beginning to get frustrated. How could he ever finish his work when his eyes were drooping all the time, and he was all but falling asleep? With an effort, he managed to suppress another yawn.

"You should take a rest," he heard Jeren's voice, and sighed. With his perfect hearing, the doctor had of course noticed Trip's attempts at hiding his weariness. "Can't Malcolm take care of that?"

Trip, busying himself with loosening another circuit board, decided to ignore Jeren's words, but the doctor would have none of that.

"Trip, I know you heard me, so don't play dumb with me. I want to know if Malcolm can take care of that job."

"Yeah, of course he can, but I'm almost done. Half an hour or so, and I'll..."

"Watch your head, Trip!"

The engineer didn't have time to wonder what the doctor was up to; all he could do was obey and let go of the circuit board as he suddenly felt Jeren's hands on his legs and was pulled out from under the helm console.

The doctor's features were angry. "I told you to rest."

"Man, you're nearly as bad as our doctor back on Enterprise," Trip joked, trying to ease the tension. He didn't feel very comfortable, lying on the floor and looking up at Jeren's grim face.

"I'm not surprised your healing process isn't improving. You're simply too stubborn to listen when your body tells you it has had enough."

"Hear, hear!" Trip could clearly hear the laughter in Malcolm's voice.

Without any visible effort, Jeren picked him up and lifted him onto the bunk. "Tell Malcolm what he has to do and get some rest."

"It's still early in the mornin', Jeren," Trip objected. "I can't be tired from an hour of work."

"Come on, Trip, I know you were hiding a yawn." Jeren sighed and sat down on the bunk beside him. "Listen," he said in a calmer tone, "I know, it's hard for you, feeling so weak, but you have to understand what's going on. There are two substances fighting each other in your body. This would be enough to weaken you even without putting any extra strain on your muscles. You have to be more careful, or it will take months before you'll be able to walk again. Do you want that?"

Trip shook his head.

"So stop playing the hero, and let Malcolm finish the job. I'm sure he knows what to do."

Trip looked at Malcolm who had crawled under the dirty helm console, and all of a sudden his place on the bunk didn't seem so uncomfortable. He lay down on his side, looking at Malcolm's legs sticking out from under the console, and again he found his thoughts returning to what Jeren had told them about Renelan's political situation.

"You know, I was wonderin'... what if your documentation is successful, after all?" He looked at Jeren. "What if all Renelans suddenly refuse to be injected with T-14? Nobody will get ill anymore, and people will be gettin' old. I'm not sayin' this is a bad thing, but what about the problem of overpopulation?"

"We've thought about that, of course." Jeren looked at him and sighed. "Unfortunately though, we don't have a solution either. But we have to stop the killing."

"Yeah, of course you have to. But the governors will have to think of other possibilities to keep a check on Renelan's population. And who knows what ideas they'll come up with."

Jeren chewed on his bottom lip. "Erianna had a good idea, but unfortunately it can't be realized."

"Tell us about it." Trip propped himself up on his elbows, and from the corner of his eye saw Malcolm emerging from under the console.

"Erianna has made friends with an Alkiran merchant." Jeren threw a knowing glance at his sister. "Perhaps a little more than just friends," he added, and smiled when Erianna blushed slightly. "We got to know him and his colleagues when I treated one of them at the Health Center. It was only a case of flu, but Tasur panicked. He threatened to take measures if they didn't leave at once, bringing their ill man away from Renelan. The merchants were very upset, and understandably so; after all, they had travelled quite far to do business with our people. We hid them in our house for a few days, because the sick man wasn't in the condition to travel. Erianna and her friends spread the news how Tasur treats his alien guests, and you can imagine that he didn't like that very much."

"Jeren," Erianna interrupted her brother. "I don't think Trip and Malcolm are interested in this old story. Maybe if you concentrated on the facts..."

"We're interested in all things concernin' your planet," Trip said.

"But Erianna is right. I was digressing. Well, we learned that Alkira has a lot of uninhabited regions. There are hardly any deserts and they have more rich farmland than they can use. Alkira would be able to take in a great number of new settlers."

Malcolm frowned. "So you think a part of your population could move to another planet? Just like that?"

"We were told that Alkira's culture is very similar to Renelan's. There's no real difference between us and the Alkiran people. I suppose we may have the same ancestors but no one can tell for sure, since all of this must have happened a long time ago. And to tell the truth, I'm not surprised that there’s no way to research these things." Jeren smiled bitterly. "I bet there are enough Renelans who would prefer a long life on Alkira to a premature death on Renelan."

Erianna continued, "The problem is that Renelan doesn't really have any space technology. I was desperately hoping for a space program to be developed. It would have given us the chance to build a colony on Alkira. This was one of the subjects our mother often argued about with Tasur. She saw Alkira as our only chance. But Tasur never listened to her. He used to say..."

"Now who isn't concentrating on the facts?" Jeren interrupted, and threw his sister an amused glance. "The problem is very simple: we don't have any possibilities to travel to Alkira."

"But the Alkirans do have spaceships?"

"Cargo ships. They're not big, and not very fast either. With those ships, the Alkirans need more than two months to reach Renelan. After the last incident with Tasur I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped doing business with us altogether. We don't have any way of contacting them, even if the Renelan government agreed to our suggestion of building a colony there."

Trip looked at Malcolm and saw his own smile mirrored on the lieutenants face.

"You know what?" Trip said, looking first at Jeren, then at Erianna. "I think you should talk to our cap'n."

"To your captain? Why?" Jeren threw him a questioning look, but Erianna smiled. She seemed to know what he was getting at.

Malcolm stood up, wiping the sandy dust off his uniform. "Enterprise is not a cargo ship," he explained. "And I believe she can go somewhat faster than a freighter." He looked at Trip. "You scanned this system, Trip. What do you think? How long would it take Enterprise to get from Renelan to Alkira? Half an hour?"

"I think so. It would be far less with warp 5, but we can't go to top speed within a system."

Trip smiled when he saw his friends' perplexed expressions. "Warp 5," Erianna whispered in awe. "Your ship can go as fast as warp 5?"

Malcolm grinned. "Looks like she can't without her chief engineer. Or they'd be already here. But under normal circumstances we can reach warp 5, that's right."

"I suggest that when Enterprise arrives we have a word with our cap'n and our science officer. Perhaps we can help you somehow." Trip deliberately kept his offer a bit vague, since he didn't know if Jon would agree to help resettle several thousand colonists to another planet. But he was quite sure the captain would agree to take Jeren and Erianna to Alkira so they could talk to the Alkiran government. Maybe this would be a start to convince Renelan's governors that Renelan's future didn't lie in the killing of its people.

-###-

"You'll manage on your own?" Jeren asked them on their flight back. "If it is alright with you, I'd like to go back to the Health Center to do some more tests. I was able to extract the cure from Trip's blood yesterday, and I'd like to try and adapt it to the Renelan metabolism. We'd have a cure for CDS, if it works."

"That would be great, Jeren," Erianna smiled. "I think we'll manage on our own just fine. Arissa promised to drop by in the afternoon. She'll bring the baby with her. We'll do the interview with Trip and prepare the documentation. We can take Trip and Malcolm to Arissa's place as soon as you're back."

"Alright. I'll drop you off at our house."

-###-

Trip leaned back in the comfortable wicker chair he was sitting in. The chair was fastened to a branch, slightly swinging back and forth in the afternoon's light breeze. Trip's naked toes dragged over the grass with every movement. He liked the feeling. In a way it was silly, but the soft grass had looked so inviting that he had asked Erianna to take off his shoes and socks so he would be able to feel it under his soles. It brought back memories of his childhood. Sleepily, Trip closed his eyes and enjoyed the breeze on his face, his thoughts returning to the events of the last few hours. Together with Malcolm, he had spent about five hours working on Erianna's computer - which might be considered sophisticated by Renelan standards but to Trip was nothing but an old fossil. It only had a 30 gigabyte hard disc and lacked most of the equipment Trip was used to. Erianna had been watching them with great interest. Considering her Renelan background, she knew quite a lot about computers, but Trip and Malcolm both knew a lot more about the functions of computer hardware and of course had more practice and experience. Erianna hadn't felt very comfortable when they had started to take her computer apart, fearing she might lose her data. But Malcolm had assured her that they had already managed to built whole phase cannons from scratch and that a simple computer was only a matter of routine to them. Granted, Malcolm had exaggerated a little, but after that Erianna had left the men to their work, and had gone to work on her documentation. When they were done, they had succeeded in upgrading the old computer so that it was almost as good as one of the computer stations aboard Enterprise.

After lunch Arissa had come. Trip had felt rather uncomfortable, meeting the woman who had helped washing him and putting cream on his skin when he had been suffering from the after-effects of their ordeal in the desert. But Arissa had only smiled at him.

"Hey, these stubbly hairs in your face are gone," she stated when she saw him. She had her baby with her, a squirming little boy of about four months who was chuckling and giggling all the time. Ignoring the ironic twitch in the corner of Malcolm's mouth, Trip held him on his lap while Erianna showed Arissa the new computer in the basement.

"I'm impressed, you boys are really good," Arissa said when she came back, picking up her baby from Trip's lap.

"Trip's the best engineer I've ever known," Malcolm said. "I don't think there are any technical or electronic devices he can't handle."

Trip knew that Malcolm was right but hearing it said aloud made him feel somewhat embarrassed.

Erianna smiled at him. "Would you mind if we started with the interview?" she asked. "I thought you and Malcolm could tell our people about how you got infected with T-14 and what this substance has done to you. I'll integrate your story into Jeren's explanation that T-14 is the reason why there's CDS, and not a cure of some sort. He'll also tell our people about his efforts to synthesize an antidote, with your blood as the base of his research project."

"You already have his statement?" Trip asked.

"Yes, we recorded it yesterday while the two of you were staying at Tasur's place. At first, Jeren was against having you in our little show. He said he didn't want to put you in danger, but I was able to convince him that without you telling your story nobody was going to believe us."

"Okay, let's begin."

It had taken two hours of hard work until Erianna had finally been satisfied with the results. They were only just watching the tape once again when they heard a knock on the door. Quickly, Arissa and Malcolm put away the recording device while Erianna went to open the door. It was Farina, shyly asking if she could talk to Malcolm. With a look over her shoulder Erianna assured herself that no evidence of their activities was to be seen, before she let Farina in.

Farina nodded amiably at Arissa and Trip, then turned to Malcolm and repeated her offer to go for a walk together.

"That's a nice offer, Farina," Malcolm began, "but..."

"Don't tell me you can't leave your commander on his own. He won't be alone here."

Malcolm couldn't deny that fact, but he felt uncomfortable, leaving Trip alone with Erianna and Arissa. Still, he didn't want to offend Farina who was almost begging him to accompany her.

Trip motioned for Malcolm to come over to where he was sitting so they could have a word in private. "C'mon, Mal, she came only so she could go for a walk with you. You'll hurt her feelings if you don't go. You heard Jeren. I'm safe as long as Dorsik doesn't find out about the cure, which will happen tomorrow at the earliest. So there's no reason for you to stay here and play the babysitter. Erianna and Arissa can take care of me."

"I have a bad feeling leaving you on your own, Trip."

Trip sighed. "Don't you think you're bein' a little overprotective, Lieutenant? Really, Mal, what could happen to me here? You don't have to stay away for long, but that girl really seems to like you. Hell, if I were you she wouldn't have to beg me to come for a walk with her."

"But you are not me," Malcolm answered stiffly.

"No, I'm not, but what's wrong with havin' some fun once in a while?"

"Fun?" Malcolm raised his eyebrows. "This has nothing to do with fun, Commander. If I'm going for a walk with her she'll think I'm interested in her and I don't want to lie to her."

"You're not lyin' to her, Malcolm. You're just goin' for a walk. Look, if we're stuck here for a while it would be helpful to have good connections to the governor. Maybe she can even convince her father to let me stay alive." Trip bit his lip when he saw Malcolm's shocked face. "Dammit, Malcolm, I was just jokin'. I don't think Tasur would try to kill me, he just doesn't want his people to find out about the cure. Now go and take Farina out for a walk, before I do it."

"I wouldn't mind."

"But unfortunately she doesn't want me. See ya, Malcolm."

-###-

That had been an hour ago, and it seemed like Malcolm enjoyed Farina's accompany, after all. Trip yawned, rubbing a hand over his face. After working on the documentation for another half an hour, Erianna had stated that he looked tired, and told him he could either go and lie down for a while, or sit in the deck-chair on the verandah or the wicker chair in the garden. Like Jeren she refused to discuss his condition and finally Trip gave in, choosing to sit in the garden. He still felt slightly embarrassed, remembering how Erianna, who was at least fifteen centimeters smaller than he, had effortlessly picked him up and carried him out to the wicker chair. He knew Renelans were stronger than humans, but that didn't help him feeling better about being carried around by a woman smaller than he.

Wearily, he watched her weed the vegetable beds. He guessed weeds were some of the constants you could find on every planet. Erianna looked very pretty, kneeling between vegetables of which Trip didn't even know the names. He knew that she would prefer being with Arissa in the basement working on the computer, but he hadn't been able to persuade her to leave him out here on his own. Actually, he was grateful she hadn't left. Without her help he couldn't even get out of this chair. Feeling a sudden surge of anger, Trip stared down at his useless, dangling legs. How long would it take until he could move them again? Trip wasn't fooling himself. He knew that those exhausting days out in the desert had been slowing down his recovery. Jeren was right. He had to find a compromise between rest and activity. A way he could weaken the poison and at the same time help the cure to take effect. Perhaps in a few weeks he would be able to stand up to take a few steps. He was so damned fed up with this helplessness. It was so frustrating, being carried around all the time. A little while ago when Erianna had insisted that he rest while at the same time Arissa had put her baby to bed for an afternoon nap, Trip had had to bite back a sarcastic remark. But Erianna wasn't to blame for his condition, she was only worried about him. He knew he should be grateful that she and Jeren took care of him, and allowed Malcolm and him to stay at their house as if they were old friends.

Trip started when he heard voices, some of which sounded vaguely familiar. Harek, Rassik and a third man who belonged to Tasur's guard were talking to Erianna, who was fiercely shaking her head. Trip's heart began pounding in his chest. This wasn't just a duty call. He wondered what they were here for. Bringing him back to the governor? Trip tried to get out of the wicker chair but stopped when it began to swing slightly. He realized he'd only end up falling out of the chair, and he certainly had no wish to look up at the men from the ground.

Harek was still talking to Erianna while the other men took a searching look around the garden. They're looking for Malcolm, it suddenly came to Trip's mind. No, this was no duty call, indeed. Harek took Erianna's arm. Angrily, she shook him off. Trip remembered what Jeren had said about Erianna and Harek being good friends some time ago. There didn't seem to be much left of those feelings. Erianna's face was red with anger and Trip was sure the discussion was about him, although he couldn't understand a word. Suddenly Rassik lifted something and hit Erianna on the head, hard. Trip watched in dismay as Erianna fell to the ground, and hated his useless legs more than ever before. There was nothing he could do. He was stuck in this chair when she needed his help. He couldn't even find out whether she was dead, or merely unconscious. Harek knelt down beside her and examined her quickly. Angrily he shouted at Rassik, who didn't seem to listen, though. He had turned to Trip, and a nasty grin spread in his face as he approached the wicker chair.

"What did you do to Erianna, you bastard?" Trip yelled. He was as furious as he could ever remember being. He would have given everything to be able to take a good swing at this guy and wipe the arrogance off his sneering face. The fact that he was stuck in this chair without any possibility to defend Erianna or even himself only served to fuel his anger.

Rassik came to a halt in front of him. In one hand he held the old-fashioned weapon he had used to knock Erianna down, in the other one he carried something that looked like a thin club. Harek and the other man stepped closer as well. Harek tried a smile. "We have orders to take you to the Health Center," he explained.

"What for?" Trip snapped, feeling his stomach give a lurch when part of his anger turned into fear. "So you can get rid of me?"

"Of course not, Commander. Only for some examinations. You won't be harmed."

"Says who? You?"

"Governor Tasur gives you his word."

"Enough talking." Rassik put his weapon into the holster on his hip, and before Trip had a chance to react, he took a step forward and, grabbing him by his arm, threw him out of the chair. Trip fell down hard, and it turned out that the grass wasn't so soft, after all. Furiously, he grabbed Rassik's ankle and gave it a sharp jerk. Thrashing his arms, Rassik tried to keep his balance, but it was no use. With a thud he landed on his butt. Watching him, Harek smiled thinly and not without sympathy for Trip. His face contorted with fury, Rassik jumped to his feet and raised his club, bringing it into contact with Trip's side. The moment an excruciating pain shot through his whole body, Trip realized the club was a zapstick. His arms and legs twitched uncontrollably as a strong electric shock went through them. Painful spasms went up and down his body, setting every nerve on fire. For a few terrible seconds his world was only pain. His own scream sounded painfully loud in his ears.

It felt like hours until he was able to control his arms again. His legs, in fact, continued to twitch for some more time, until they finally lay motionless on the ground again. The pain subsided and Trip cleared his throat.

"Hope you're feelin' better now," he said, hoping his voice wouldn't tremble too much. He had to voice his anger, even though he knew what Rassik could do to him, and steeled himself for the unbearable pain when Rassik raised the stick again.

But Harek held him back. "Stop it, Rassik," he ordered firmly. "You don't torture a helpless man. That wasn't necessary."

"He attacked me," Rassik growled.

"He can't even stand on his own feet. Do you really think he is a threat to us?"

Contemptuously, Rassik looked down to Trip. "You've seen the scratches he gave me, Harek. I'm just being careful."

Trip realized he had just come across two bits of information. First, Rassik had been the attacker who had almost choked him back at the picnic place, and, second, Harek knew about the attack. In some way Trip was disappointed by this fact.

Harek laughed. "Come on, it was just a few scratches. Every man has the right to defend himself when he's being attacked. Even if we think of him as a helpless person."

Harek's voice grew angry when Rassik raised the zapstick again. "It's enough, Rassik. Put that thing away. We have orders to bring him to the Health Center and that's exactly what we're going to do. Without torturing him. Understood?"

Harek grabbed Trip's arm with one hand and his leg with the other and turned him onto his stomach. Pushing one knee into his back, he pinned him down, making it impossible for Trip to squirm away. Trip tried to lash out, trying to hit Harek, but the guard effortlessly caught his arms.

"Sorry, my friend," he said, holding Trip's hands in an iron grip and tying a leather string around his wrists. "But Rassik's right. We've underestimated you and I won't let it happen again. This is your own fault."

Trip heard the genuine sympathy in Harek's voice but it didn't make any difference. With his hands tied behind his back he was helpless, and there was no way for him to offer resistance, let alone escape. Harek took hold of his right arm and nodded at the third man, who had only watched up until now, to take the other one. Together they lifted him up and dragged him along.

"What about Erianna?" Trip asked, when he saw his friend lying motionless on the ground.

"She'll come to very soon." Anger crept in Harek's voice when he continued. "Rassik can be a little hot-headed and tends to overreact sometimes. Don't worry, her injuries aren't serious. She'll only have a headache when she wakes up."

Trip hoped that Arissa wouldn't notice what was going on in the garden. Putting her and maybe even her baby in danger was the last thing he wanted. He wished Malcolm would choose this moment to suddenly appear at the garden gate, but unfortunately he didn't. This time, there would be no rescue at the very last moment.

They dragged him to a big flitter they had parked behind the house. When Trip awkwardly lifted his head he recognized the governor's shimmering emblem on the side of the craft. The flitter was nearly twice as large as Jeren's and had two bunks behind the seats. Harek and his colleague lifted him inside the flitter and sat him down on one of the benches. Carefully, Harek helped him lie down and even lifted his legs onto the bench. Still, lying on his hands which were still tied behind his back wasn't very comfortable, and Trip shifted as he felt the circulation in his hands being cut off. His muscles were still trembling because of the electric shock Rassik had given him, and added to his discomfort. While the third man took his seat at the helm, Harek and Rassik sat down beside him, carefully keeping their eyes on him.

"Why are you doin' this?" Trip asked Harek who didn't seem to be feeling very comfortable.

"You know why. We were ordered to bring you to the Health Center. Dorsik wants to examine you. Perhaps he'll be able to help you."

"Help me?" Trip snorted in annoyance. "They're more likely to kill me."

Harek shook his head. "Why would they do that?"

"Because I'm endangerin' the governor's politics. My legs aren't paralyzed as a consequence of our crash in the desert. The paralysis is caused by a substance you know as T-14, which is believed to be the cure for CDS. With my blood, Jeren would be able to prove that T-14 isn't the cure but the cause of the disease."

"That doesn't make sense. Why would someone try to cause a disease?"

"To keep a check on the population. Without people dying of CDS your planet would be hopelessly overpopulated by now. But there's another reason why they want me out of the way. I also have the antidote in my blood. A real antidote. With a little more research, all Renelans sufferin' from CDS could be cured. Tasur wants to stop that from happenin', and that's why he ordered you to bring me to the Health Center."

"I don't believe this."

"It's the truth." Trip looked Harek straight in the eyes. Harek lowered his gaze and looked away.

"I've had enough of your lies." Rassik took a piece of fabric, crumpled it up and forced it brutally into Trip's mouth. He fastened the gag so tightly that the fabric cut painfully into the corners of Trip's mouth, smirking when Trip shot him an angry glance. Trip looked at Harek, mutely begging him to remove the gag, to listen to him, not to bring him to the Health Center. But Harek turned away from him, his gaze unsteady, and looked out the window. It was easier for him just to follow his orders and not to deal with the doubts lurking at the back of his mind.

TBC

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