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The Miles That Lay Ahead- Chapter 27

Author - Gabi
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The Miles That Lay Ahead

by Gabi

Genre: Action/Adventure/Angst

This chapter is rated PG-13

~~~~~

Chapter 27

Yawning, Malcolm leaned his head against the window. He wouldn't say no to a few hours of sleep. This night seemed to stretch endlessly. As soon as Trip was back and he knew his friend was safe, he would lie down and sleep for the rest of the day. Slowly, his eyes drifted close. Just a few minutes...

He started when he heard Jeren utter a curse. "What happened?" he asked, alarmed. A moment later, however, he saw for himself what was wrong. A flitter with the governor's emblem on its sides was lifting off the ground, only a few meters away from where their shuttle was parked.

Erianna forced the flitter into a steep descending arc.

Jeren grabbed for a hold. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to intercept them."

"You can't do that. It's too dangerous."

"Do you have any better idea? You know as well as I do that they’ve got Trip in there. If we let them get away with him, he's dead. I don't think we'll manage to break into another official building to get him out. And I don't think they'll bother to take him to the Health Center this time."

She forced the flitter's nose down and rammed its side into the rear section of the governor's flitter whose driver reacted very fast and started to attack them as well. The flitter shook heavily and Jeren and Malcolm had difficulties staying on their seats. Small explosions could be heard from beneath the deck.

"It won't work, Erianna," Jeren exclaimed.

"It will." Erianna turned around and aimed for a head-on collision, following the other flitter when it swerved to the right. The two flitters smashed forcefully into each other, disabling each other's engines in the process. They trundled away from each other, finally crashing to the ground.

Stunned, Malcolm shook his head. He could smell smoke. Frantically, he looked around for its origin. Behind the rear chairs flames were flickering on the floor plating. Cursing, he jumped to his feet.

Erianna turned around. She seemed to be alright, except for a small gash on her forehead. "There's a fire extinguisher behind you, Malcolm," she told him. "The blue device."

Malcolm never would have recognized the thing as a fire extinguisher, but he needed only a few seconds to get it working, putting out the smoldering fire in an instant.

Erianna shook Jeren's shoulder. "Jeren, you alright?"

"Yeah," Jeren squinted his eyes shut. "Just give me a few minutes to count my bones."

"At least we stopped them from taking Trip away." Erianna looked out the window, trying to locate the other flitter.

"Can you see what they're doing?" Malcolm asked.

"They don't seem to be doing anything at the moment. Shall we have a look?"

"No." Malcolm shook his head. "We don't have any cover here. If we go outside now we'll be an easy target. Let's wait and see what they do." He looked at his friends. "Jeren, maybe you could pretend to have collapsed on the helm console, just in case they're going to look through the front window. Just play dead. Erianna, you come with me. We'll lie down on the floor. Here's a phaser. Hide it under your body, but in such a way that you'll be able to draw it immediately when there is need. You know what you have to do?"

"Of course."

Malcolm nodded appreciatively. Considering the fact that Erianna had never seen a phaser before they had met, she did a quite good job handling it. She would have been a good addition to his team back on Enterprise.

Furtively, Jeren glanced out the window. "They're coming."

"Can we fire at them?"

"No, they're using the trees for cover. Look out!"

With his arms spread, Jeren lay down on the helm while Malcolm and Erianna got down on the floor. Very carefully, two of the guards glanced through the window, assessing the situation. Then they could hear them fiddling around with the hatch.

"They think we're either dead or unconscious," Malcolm whispered in Erianna's direction. "Be prepared." He drew his phaser and held it loosely at his side. Erianna did the same.

The guards had definitely learned a lot from their previous encounters, since they were careful enough to stay outside the hatch and do a quick check of the flitter's interior. But despite the fact that they had their weapons at the ready they never had much of a chance to react. A bullet hit the shuttle's rear bulkhead, then both of the guards dropped to the ground, hit by Malcolm's and Erianna's phaser beams.

"Good job," Malcolm complimented her.

Erianna smiled. "Let's go get Trip."

"Wait." Malcolm grabbed her arm. "In my experience, there's always three of them."

"That's right," Jeren agreed. "One of them must still be in the shuttle, holding Trip hostage."

"I bet."

"So what can we do?" Erianna lowered herself to the floor again and gave Malcolm a questioning look. He didn't notice, however, his attention still focused on the governor's flitter. Suddenly there was a movement. The other flitter's hatch was opened, and Malcolm raised his phaser when a person appeared in the hatch.

"Damnit," he cursed when he recognized Trip. A second later the commander was violently kicked out of the hatch, landing on his stomach. In no time the guard jumped out of the flitter after him and aimed his weapon straight at Trip's head.

"Listen, you people better do exactly as I say or your buddy will suffer. Drop your weapons on the ground and come out of the flitter, slowly and one after the other." To drive home his point, the guard grabbed Trip's wrists that were tightly bound together behind his back and pulled him up until the engineer was almost on his knees.

"What is he doing?" Erianna whispered, appalled. "Trip can't get to his knees."

"No, he can't," Jeren added hoarsely. "He's hanging on his arms with his whole weight. If this guy continues to pull him up like this he will dislocate his shoulders."

Malcolm's mind was racing. He could see Trip's contorted face even from this distance. There seemed to be nothing they could do. Trip's body provided a perfect cover for the guard. And they'd lost the element of surprise. It was impossible to hit the man without firing a phaser beam straight through Trip's head.

"I'm waiting!" the guard yelled, jerking at Trip's hands. Trip let out a cry of pain when his shoulder ligaments were stretched painfully.

Jeren gritted his teeth. "We have to give in, otherwise he'll break Trip's shoulders."

"We'll come out," Malcolm shouted. "But put him down first."

The guard shook his head. "I want you to drop both of your weapons to the ground."

Jeren grabbed Malcolm's arm. "He doesn't know that there's a third person in here, does he?"

"You've stayed in the background until now. I guess he hasn't noticed you. What are you getting at?"

"Do what he says. Try to stall for some time, but don't let him hurt Trip. I'll try to sneak around him and attack from behind."

"Let me go, Jeren," Erianna asked. "You're still not feeling well. I could be a lot quicker."

"But I'm sure he saw you at the helm. He knows that there's a woman in here. Don't worry about me, I'll manage. Cover me so that he doesn't see me open the other hatch."

Malcolm and Erianna both stood and held up their weapons so that the guard could see them, while Jeren crouched down and opened the hatch on the other side of the flitter only wide enough for him to duck through.

Erianna resisted the urge to turn around. "I hope this will work," she whispered anxiously. "Jeren is still very weak."

"He's our only chance," Malcolm whispered back. Then he shouted: "Here are the weapons." One after the other they threw the weapons out of the hatch. "Now put him down."

The guard looked at them for a moment, then lowered Trip to the ground, smirking. "You really don't want him hurt, do you?"

When the man looked at his weapon and let it carelessly fall into the grass, Malcolm felt a surge of hope. His heart sank, however, when he saw what the guard pulled from his belt instead.

"Malcolm," Erianna exclaimed beside him. "He's got a zapstick."

"I see." Malcolm uttered a silent curse. Their chances to overpower this man without harming Trip seemed to be very small.

"Come out! One after the other. Put up your hands and get slowly out of the flitter!"

Malcolm nodded at Erianna. "I'll go first." He raised his arms and slowly and awkwardly, he climbed out of the flitter.

"Okay. Now the woman. Come closer so that I can see you." The guard had put his foot on Trip's back, the zapstick hovering closely over the commander's body. Malcolm could see the sparkle when the device was activated. The stick was charged and ready for use. The guard only needed to lower it a few centimeters and it would touch Trip's back. Briefly, Malcolm considered to surprise the man by diving for his phaser and to deliver a well-aimed shot, but that was not an option. If the man was hit by the phaser beam and fell down, the zapstick would come right down on Trip's back. And if he missed the target, Trip would be on the receiving end anyway. Malcolm had seen what these things could do. He would never do that to Trip. So they had no choice but to wait and hope that Jeren was going to take care of things. He must have retreated into the forest by now so that the guard wouldn't see him. But it was going to take him a while to walk around the clearing and get behind the governor's flitter. Malcolm hoped that Jeren was going to manage despite his injuries. Without really noticing what he was doing, he tried to detect some movements in the forest that would tell him about Jeren's whereabouts. But when he realized what he was doing, he returned his attention to the guard. He mustn't give away even by a single gesture that there was another person around.

In the meantime, Erianna had caught up with him, her hands raised as well. The guard stared at them. "You again," he spat.

"Do we know the guy?" Malcolm asked from the corner of his mouth. He couldn't recognize the face, but it might be due to the disfiguring bruise that had colored the man's cheek black and blue.

"It's the guy who was with Harek and Rassik when they came to get Trip. And I believe he was the one who was escorting the counselor earlier. You shot him."

"I see," Malcolm smiled grimly. "He doesn't seem to like us very much, does he?"

"Looks like he doesn't."

"Okay, let's do something to keep him occupied." Malcolm had been watching the man closely, but there was nothing he could do without endangering Trip. "So," he shouted. "What now?"

"Walk over here, slowly. Come on, move. But no tricks, or he'll pay for it." Threateningly, the guard swung the zapstick over Trip's back.

"Malcolm!" Trip yelled all of a sudden. "Don't care about me. Go get 'em!"

Malcolm held his breath. Why did Trip always have to shoot his mouth off and put himself in danger at the same time? Didn't he know that the man was holding a zapstick over his body? Malcolm could only hope the guard wouldn't use it to punish Trip.

The guard slammed his boot into Trip's back, until the engineer moaned loudly. "Put a sock in it! Or I will teach you to keep your mouth shut. Come on now," he shouted to Malcolm.

Walking slowly and carefully, Malcolm and Erianna crossed the clearing.

"Stop! That's far enough." The guard pulled a piece of rope out of his pocket and threw it to them, never taking his eyes off them or moving the zapstick while doing so. He pointed at Erianna. "You! Tie his hands on his back. But do it properly. If you try any tricks..." The guard didn't finish his sentence but lowered the zapstick until it nearly touched Trip's hands.

"It's okay," Erianna exclaimed hastily. "I'll do it. Leave him alone." She picked up the rope and Malcolm held his hands behind his back.

"Turn around so I can see what you're doing."

They turned around and Erianna wound the rope around Malcolm's wrists. Suddenly, Malcolm saw from the corners of his eyes how the hand that held the zapstick was abruptly jerked to one side and at the same time a large stick came down on the guard's neck. With a surprised cry of pain the man dropped to his knees. Jeren took the zapstick from his hand and pointed it angrily at the man's chest. "Don't move, buster, or you'll get a taste of that little toy yourself." He glanced at Trip. "You okay?"

"Yes, I am," Trip mumbled in the grass. "And damn glad you're here."

Jeren smiled. "I can imagine you are." He looked back at the guard.

In the meantime, Erianna and Malcolm came running. Erianna still was trying to untie the rope around Malcolm's wrists, which was difficult because the lieutenant didn't take the time to stop. But eventually she succeeded. While Erianna used the rope to tie up the guard, Malcolm crouched down beside Trip.

"One should think you'd be fed up with being abducted by now, Commander. It's becoming something of a bore to pull your tail out of the fire all the time."

"Nice to see you, too, Malcolm," Trip answered. "Would you mind helpin' me with these things?"

Malcolm grinned briefly and untied the rope around Trip's wrists, then helped him to turn around and sit up. Getting down on his knees, he laid a supporting arm around Trip's shoulders. Trip's face contorted with pain when he tried to move his shoulders and Malcolm tightened his grip when his friend suddenly swayed.

Jeren handed the zapstick to Erianna and also got to his knees rather awkwardly. "Does it hurt a lot?"

"It's okay now. I thought he'd pull off my arms."

Jeren looked at a bloody bruise in Trip's face. "They've beaten you."

Trip shrugged. "My fault. I'm not so cooperative when it comes to bein' captured."

"Just be glad they didn't use the zapstick. It's an awful device."

"I know."

Jeren frowned. "How would you know?"

"Rassik was so kind. I guess he would have loved to give me another shock, but Harek stopped him from doing so."

"Rassik," Malcolm cursed. "I'm really fed up with this guy."

"What about you?" Trip asked, pointing with his chin at Jeren's bandaged wrists and the bandage under his shirt.

"Rassik," Jeren said laconically.

"He beat him with an electroshock whip. I've never seen a thing as awful as that before," Malcolm added.

Trip inhaled in dismay and cursed. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Jeren only said.

"But they tortured you because of me."

"Hey guys, I don't mean to interrupt," Erianna told them, "but I think we shouldn't stay here any longer."

"That's right," Trip agreed at once. "The guards contacted someone, askin' for reinforcement just after we'd crashed."

"So we have less than half an hour before Tasur's guard will be here."

"What about your flitter?" Malcolm asked.

"After the engines have been damaged by the fire?" Erianna shook her head. "There's nothing we can do."

"I could take a look at it," Trip suggested, but Erianna shook her head again.

"We don't have the time for this."

"And their flitter?" Trip pointed at the governor's vehicle.

Erianna jumped to her feet. "I'll try and assess the damage."

"Is there any way you could call for help?" Malcolm asked Jeren. "Ask someone to come and get us out of here?"

"Only Tasur's flitters are equipped with comm devices," Jeren answered, shaking his head in regret. "And that's only a direct link to the guards' comm station in the palace. I'm afraid we're on our own."

"So what can we do?" Malcolm asked. "Barricade ourselves in one of the vehicles and hope we can defend ourselves against them?"

"Tasur will send all of his men. We wouldn't stand a chance against thirty armed guards."

"Unlikely," Malcolm admitted. "All the more since our weapons are almost out of power. We have got only a few more shots."

"We can get the guards' weapons," Trip suggested.

"Yeah, but even if they're fully loaded it will only be thirty shots."

"Thirty shots, thirty hits. Would be enough."

"You're optimistic, Commander." Malcolm smiled.

"You know I am, Malcolm." Trip frowned. He knew his suggestion would never work. He had already found out that the flitter's bulkheads weren't bulletproof. If thirty men began firing at once they wouldn't stand even the slightest chance. Perhaps they could stay in the shuttle, but with the open window and the hatch that could only be secured with a rope it wouldn't be a good place to hide.

Erianna came back. "Not a chance," she told them. "Their engines are damaged as well."

"So hiding in the forest would be the only possibility," Jeren stated.

Trip frowned. "But for how long? They won't stop searchin' for us."

"In the next town there are people who would help us," Erianna suggested. "People from the resistance movement who could hide us for a while."

"How far away is that town?" Malcolm wanted to know.

"About eight kilometers."

Eight kilometers through a thick forest. Thinking, Malcolm chewed on his bottom lip.

Trip looked at him, knowing what his friend was thinking about. "I could hide somewhere here in the neighborhood," he suggested.

"Forget it." Malcolm shook his head. "We're not going to leave you behind."

"Well, and what are you plannin' to do? You know I can't walk, and Jeren doesn't look like he can carry me."

"I'll carry you."

Trip and Malcolm turned to Erianna. "You?" Trip asked surprised.

"Of course. You know I'm strong enough."

"We know you are, but this isn't just a few meters like the time you carried me out into the backyard. It's eight kilometers through that forest."

"We'll just give it a try." Erianna had made up her mind. "We can't stay here and we're wasting time, discussing this. So let's go."

"Let's not rush things, Erianna." Jeren stopped his sister who was already bending down to pick up Trip. "We need to check first how much water there's left in the flitters."

"Nothing in ours," Erianna admitted ruefully. "I forgot to stock up the supplies."

"Perhaps they have got something." With his chin, Jeren pointed at the governor's vehicle. "And I wouldn't say no to some food either."

"I'll have a look." Erianna nodded and entered the flitter behind them.

"Yanis left a bottle of water with me in the shuttle," Trip told Malcolm. "It's still almost full."

"I'll get it." Malcolm got up, making sure that Trip had his hands firmly on the ground, and wouldn't lose his balance when the lieutenant suddenly let go.

While Malcolm went to the shuttle, Jeren tested Trip's reflexes and tried some exercises. "How do you feel, Trip? Any after-effects of the T-18?"

"Nothin', as far as I can tell."

"In any case your voice sounds a lot better now. How about your arms?"

"Except for the sore shoulders, they're fine. For a while they were feeling like chewing-gum, but it's okay now."

"And your legs?"

"No changes there."

Jeren smiled understandingly when he heard Trip's bitter tone of voice. He looked up when Erianna stepped out of the flitter with a bottle of water in her hands.

"I'm sorry, there's only one left."

"Did you find any food?"

"I'm afraid not. I've searched all the containers."

"That's bad news." Jeren looked at Trip. "We don't have any food in our flitter either, and since there's nothing but fried circuits in your shuttle I believe it'll be a while until we can get something to eat."

Trip nodded, but he wasn't really worried about food at the moment. He was thinking about their escape. He was sure that Erianna overestimated her strength. She would never be able to carry him across eight kilometers of uneven terrain. Sighing, he decided to forget about his worries for now when he saw Malcolm emerge from their shuttle, a bottle in his hand. Malcolm had also picked up their two phasers and had taken the two guns from the unconscious guards who were still lying in front of Erianna's flitter. "Together they've got twelve shots," he stated. "How much about the other one?"

Trip rolled onto his side to grab the third weapon. After checking it, he looked up at Malcolm. "It's empty."

"Empty?" Malcolm exclaimed incredulously. "You mean this guy was threatening you with an empty weapon? And we fell for his little game hook, line and sinker."

"Calm down, Malcolm." With Erianna's assistance, Trip got into a sitting position again. "There was no way you could have known."

"You don't just drop a loaded weapon as carelessly as he did. I should have noticed."

"And what use would it have been?" Erianna asked. "We'd already lost our weapons at that point and don't forget about the zapstick. If you ask me, it's not important whether the weapon was empty or not. Well, not really, although we could use some more ammunition. I've looked in the flitter as well. There aren't any more bullets left." Erianna put the weapons and the bottles into her bag and handed it to Malcolm who slung it over his shoulders. "We've got to get going." She bent down to Trip and picked him up. "Hold on to my shoulders. We're on our way."

TBC


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