The Miles That Lay Ahead- Chapter 28

The Miles That Lay Ahead

by Gabi

Genre: Action/Adventure/Angst

This chapter is rated PG-13

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Chapter 28

Jeren took the lead. In the beginning, the going was good and they made some headway, but after a while the forest grew denser and the ground became more uneven. Roots and rotten trees blocked their way.

"You know the way?" Malcolm asked Jeren who nodded.

Malcolm turned around to Erianna, suppressing a smile when he saw Trip in her arms. He knew how ridiculous his friend must be feeling, even though Trip didn't let it show. "Do you know where our scanner is, Commander? It might come in handy if we want to find out where the bad guys are hiding."

"I'm sorry, Malcolm," Trip said regretfully. "I broke it. When those guys came into the shuttle, I grabbed the first thing I got hold of and smashed it straight into that guy's face. Unfortunately it was the scanner."

Thinking of the guard's bruised face, Malcolm grinned. "Doesn't matter, I guess we'll find the bad boys without the scanner as well."

"Or they'll find us," Trip muttered. "Am I wrong or have we been walkin' zigzag for some time now?"

"No, you're not wrong," Jeren admitted. "Some of Tasur's new vehicles are equipped with heat sensors. If we staid on a straight course, they'd be able to anticipate the direction we're heading in."

"Heat sensors?" Malcolm asked, appalled. "Why haven't you told us about that earlier?"

"I saw no reason to worry you. We can fool them by changing our course from time to time. The flitters can't be landed in the forest and the scanners are firmly integrated into the vehicles. They are prototypes with quite a short range."

"But they'd be able to intercept us when they realize in which direction we're headed."

"That's right, but they've got to land outside of the forest, and when they get to the position where they've located us, they won't know which direction we've taken."

"Don't they have portable comm devices to stay in contact with the flitter?"

"I don't think so."

Malcolm grimaced. Jeren didn't seem to know much about tactics. He just hoped that Tasur's guard didn't, either and wouldn't be able to anticipate their course. He assumed that those men had never had to perform a task like this and that this could be used as an advantage. All the time while following Jeren through the forest, Malcolm kept scanning their surroundings with his eyes, keeping an eye out for a safe hiding place, but to no avail. Hiding was not an option anyway as long as their pursuers used those heat sensors to locate them from their flitters. Perhaps it would have been best if they had separated. Four single spots on the scanners wouldn't have been noticed as quickly as those four spots clustered together. But they couldn't have split up even if they'd thought of it before. They were depending on each other. Trip couldn't walk and Jeren was stumbling more than walking, his coordination still failing sometimes as an after-effect of the electric jolts, although he was trying to hide it as well as he could.

Having worked with conduits themselves, both Malcolm and Trip had gotten their share of electric shocks, but even a charged EPS-conduit seemed to be nothing compared to the voltage in the zapstick and that whip. Malcolm shuddered when he remembered the sight of Jeren dangling from that chain. He asked himself why peaceful people like the Renelans would rely on such instruments of torture. He was sure Rassik used it not only to defend the governor and the palace.

Thinking of Rassik, the tactical officer felt a grim satisfaction. They surely had found him by now. For a short moment, Malcolm wished he had given Rassik some of his own medicine, had given him at least one lash with the whip. But this feeling vanished as quickly as it had come. Malcolm wasn't a brute like Rassik, and using violence against a man who was already down wasn't an option to him, even though the rage he had experienced when he had seen his tortured friend had not subsided yet.

Malcolm glanced at Trip. He, too, had been shocked with the zapstick, but unlike Jeren he seemed to be alright, and didn't seem to suffer of any after effects of the T-18, either. At least, they seemed to have a little bit of luck. Although Malcolm was sure his friend felt very uncomfortable with Erianna carrying him. He knew Trip well enough to know that he must be feeling more than a little embarrassed at the moment. Maybe it was a little old-fashioned, but sometimes Trip had this image of himself as the southern gentlemen who protected the women, but was not in turn protected by them. Especially not if "protected" meant being carried through a dark forest by a woman.

Malcolm smiled. A smile full of sympathy and bitterness. Trip had already suffered a lot back on Enterprise when the T-14 had been eating through his body, paralyzing it bit by bit, but the ordeal he was going through on this planet was even worse. He'd been roasted in the desert, persecuted because of his handicap, had nearly been killed, and now he had to endure the humiliation of Erianna carrying him like a little child. Malcolm knew he would have wished for the ground to open up and swallow him if he'd been in Trip's place. But in fact it was the best solution, since at the moment Erianna was undoubtedly the strongest one of them, even if Malcolm found that hard to admit. Still, he wondered how long she would be able to keep up carrying Trip's weight.

###

Trip could feel Erianna's arms growing weak. He'd been wondering how she found the strength to carry him that long; they had been underway for more than an hour now. For more than an hour, she had carried him on her arms, protecting him from loose-hanging branches and twigs and never allowing herself the slightest stumble. She was a strong woman, but she couldn't go on like this for an indefinite amount of time. Even she would reach her limits at some point. Trip bit his lip. He hated to be such a burden to his friends. Only because of him they were making such a slow progress. In fact, because of him they were in this hopeless situation at all.

Jeren stopped. He was panting and sweat was glistening on his forehead. "We should rest for a few minutes," he suggested.

"Yes," Malcolm agreed. "But not here." They stood on a grassy patch on a small clearing that was sunny and cozy. And provided a perfect view for all their pursuers who were patrolling the forest with their flitters.

Malcolm led them into the underbrush, seeking cover behind two big trees. "It's better here." He helped Trip so he could slide down to the ground and sit down. Erianna was panting when she sat down beside him. Jeren slowly got to his knees and lay down on his side, his eyes closed. Malcolm grabbed the bottles of water and handed them to Trip and Jeren.

"Are you in pain?" Erianna asked her brother, her voice carrying a worried undertone.

"It's okay." Jeren took a big gulp and handed the bottle over to Erianna. "The cuts are burning and my nerves still feel kind of wired. I'll be fine, though."

"Do you want me to have a look at your wounds?"

"No, that's okay. Kenan took good care of them. I don't think there's any more you could do. We don't even have a medkit with us." He smiled lopsidedly. "What about you, Trip?"

"I'm okay." Trip handed his bottle over to Malcolm. "But Erianna is beat. She can't carry me any longer."

"That's not true," Erianna stated. "Of course I can carry you. As long as is necessary."

"You can't." Malcolm had noticed her exhausted condition as well.

"Listen, why don't you leave me behind?" Trip said. "I'm only slowing you down."

"And what do you suggest you do then?" Malcolm asked through gritted teeth, showing clearly how much he disapproved of this proposal.

For a short moment, Trip pressed his lips together. "Look, Malcolm," he said then. "You have to admit it's not very clever to drag a dead weight with you when you're on the run."

"A dead weight?"

"Dammit, Malcolm, I'm only slowin' you down. Erianna is beat, and Jeren can't carry me either, injured as he is. It would be best for me to hide somewhere around here and wait for you to come back with help."

"It won't work, Trip," Jeren disagreed in a gentle tone of voice.

"Why not?"

"Because you can't hide well enough so they won't find you."

"Because of those heat sensors?"

"Right."

"They're searchin' for four signs that stay together. I think a single one wouldn't catch their attention. I suppose I'm not the only livin' bein' in this wood. They will have all the animals on their sensors as well. They'll think I'm one of them. They can't possibly check on every heat source."

Jeren sighed. "You and Malcolm have a higher temperature than any living being on this planet. Your signals are lighting up their sensors like a beacon. You can't hide. And you couldn't even run when they come for you. We can't just leave you behind."

Trip just stared at him. It just didn't seem fair. He was endangering their small party a lot more than he had thought. Not only that he slowed them down, together with Malcolm he was providing a distinct signal on the guard's scanners, enabling their enemies to locate them at any time. Trip was furious, at himself and at his damned helplessness that prevented the others from getting away. "Is this never goin' to stop?" he asked, suddenly feeling very exhausted and hopeless.

"I could stay with Trip," Malcolm suggested. "I could defend us while you go and get help."

Jeren shook his head. "It would take too long for us to return. If you stay here, they'll find you in no time at all. And how long would you be able to defend yourselves with these poor weapons? They'd have found and killed you for sure until we came back. Besides there's another problem. Neither Erianna nor I are very familiar with this forest. We know in which direction we have to go, but we'd never find our way back."

Erianna stood up. "Come on guys, we have to get going. And we're going to stay together, and that's that." She bent down to Trip, but he shook his head.

"You can't carry me any longer, Erianna. You're exhausted. You have to leave me behind. I don't want to be responsible for you getting caught as well."

Malcolm stood up, too. "I can carry you."

Trip looked at him. "I appreciate it, Malcolm, but..."

"Don't tell me that I can't." Malcolm tightened his posture. "I managed to do so under worse conditions, remember?"

Of course Trip remembered how Malcolm had hauled him across the moon to their shuttle after he had been injected with the T-14 and couldn't move his legs. Trip chewed on his bottom lip. He didn't want to do this to Malcolm yet again.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea, Malcolm," Jeren voiced his doubts as well.

Now it seemed the tactical officer had enough of it. "Would you please stop it?" His tone was curt and sounded very British to Trip's ears. "I know you Renelans are stronger than we humans are, but that doesn't mean that we don't have any strength at all. I'll carry Trip as far as is necessary. And now let's go." He squatted in front of Trip. Erianna would be so nice as to help you?"

Slowly, Malcolm stood up. He took a hold of Trip's thighs and balanced the weight on his back. He gave Jeren and Erianna a challenging look. "Are you with us?"

Trip clung to Malcolm's shoulders. He still wasn't convinced that this was a good idea. "You could put me across your shoulders," he suggested. "Like you did on the moon. It would be easier to carry me."

"And I'd be banging you against every branch that's in our way. Well, perhaps it would knock some of that stubbornness out of you." Malcolm sighed. "I'll manage, Trip. I'm not as weak as everyone may think."

Trip allowed himself a slight smile. Look who's talking about stubbornness. But Trip could understand why his friend felt hurt, although it changed nothing about his guilty feeling. How far would Malcolm be able to walk with him on his back? One kilometer? Two perhaps? The ground was uneven and covered with roots and intertwined tendrils of creeping plants. Bushes and twines were hindering their progress. It was hopeless. Sooner or later the guards would catch them. They couldn't escape those heat sensors. Tasur just had to mobilize all his forces and the chase would be soon over. And what would happen then? Would they bother to bring him to the Health Center once again or would they simply kill him right then and there? Trip knew that in all probability, that was what would happen. He was worried about his friends. Jeren and Erianna had turned their life inside out for him. They couldn't go back to living like they had before. Even if they managed to escape this time, they would be on the run for the rest of their lives. Hiding from Tasur and the consequences of Renelan policy. All because of him. He was to blame for all the bad things that were happening. Perhaps it would have been better if he had died in the desert instead of surviving and getting all those people into trouble.

"Hold on to my shoulders, Trip," Malcolm grunted and Trip realized that he unconsciously had loosened his grip.

"You sure you're okay, Malcolm?" he asked, reinforcing his grip. "I'm way too heavy for you."

"Stop it, Trip! I can carry you as long as I have to."

Trip knew for sure that he would, too. Malcolm would never let him down. Trip's heart contracted painfully when he thought of all the things his friends were doing for him. What had he done to deserve them risking their lives for him? He suppressed a yawn, feeling an irrational surge of anger directed at himself. He needed to pull himself together. Malcolm was hauling him through these woods and he was almost nodding off. He felt Jeren's eyes on him and shot him a warning look. Right now he couldn't stand any well-meant comments about the fighting poisons in his body. There was no way he was going to ask for a few minute's rest. Jeren nodded understandingly and kept his mouth shut.

###

"How far still?" Malcolm asked after what seemed to him like an eternity. His back was aching and his arms could barely hold Trip's weight, but giving in wasn't an option.

"I guess we've made nearly half of the way," Jeren told him.

"Half of the way?" Malcolm was appalled. He realized that their slow progress must be due to the zigzag course Jeren had chosen to get rid of their pursuers. Up until now it had worked, although Malcolm sometimes had the impression that he heard something or someone sneaking around in the underbrush. But his senses were starting to fool him, due to his exhaustion and tiredness. He was barely able to lift his feet high enough so as not to stumble over the roots and dead branches on the ground.

"I can take over," Erianna offered. "I'm not that tired."

"Quiet!" Jeren raised his hand, warningly. "Do you hear that?" He looked up. Over the tree tops a vehicle with the governor's glittering sign on its hull came into view. It was circling above the trees, scanning for them.

"They've seen us," Erianna hissed. "Let's run."

"It doesn't make sense to run now, Erianna," Jeren told her. "At the moment they can't harm us. They'll have to land first and that's impossible in the forest."

"They really don't seem to have any radio units to guide the search parties in our direction," Malcolm stated, once again surprised at the guards' stupidity.

"Yes, or they would have caught up with us a long time ago."

"That means we've got a head start." Malcolm looked around. "Where shall we go?"

"Over there." Jeren pointed to some thorny shrubs that covered the whole area to their right. "Perhaps they won't be able to follow us in there."

"Great," Trip mumbled, pulling himself more closely towards Malcolm's back.

With his bare hands Jeren held apart the branches and twines. Lots of the bushes they were passing had prickly thorns that got caught in their clothes and ripped them. Trip cursed silently when one of the twines tore along his bare forearm. He swore to never go on an away mission again without his uniform.

Malcolm stumbled over a root, only barely staying on his feet.

"You need a rest, Malcolm," Trip insisted gently.

"Not now, Commander. We have to get a move on."

"But it won't make any sense if you collapse with exhaustion. Why don't you let Erianna carry me again?"

"As soon as we're out of this brushwood."

Trip gave in. He didn't have a chance of talking Malcolm out of his opinion.

After twenty minutes the going got better. The lush treetops created a thick layer of leaves which allowed only little light to pass through. Therefore the ground was less overgrown and easier to walk on.

Erianna came near, giving Trip a sign. He nodded and let go of Malcolm's shoulders, putting his arm around her neck. When she pulled Trip off Malcolm's back, the lieutenant turned around in surprise. "What are you doing?"

"You need a break, Malcolm. I told you I can carry him again."

"Okay, if you say so." Malcolm gave in, trying not to let anyone notice that he was rather short of breath. "Do you think we got rid of them?"

Abruptly, a sharp bang cracked through the forest. Some birds rose in the air, chirping angrily. The next bullet hit a tree five meters away from the small group of fugitives, sending splinters of wood flying.

"Shit," Jeren cursed. "I don't think so. Get moving, we have to find some cover."

They broke into a run. Loud voices were calling out not too far behind them. Malcolm could have kicked himself. Why hadn't he heard their pursuers catching up? He should have realized that they were closing in.

Jeren stopped in his tracks. "We can't go on in this direction," he panted. "We're almost at the desert."

Malcolm looked around. Through the trees he could make out patches of glittering sand. Escaping into the desert wasn't an option, it would be a walk-over for their pursuers to shoot them out there. "Go," he shouted, pushing Jeren into the other direction. "I'll give you covering fire."

Noticing a movement behind some bushes, Malcolm fired his phaser. He wasn't able to see anyone, but a pain-filled cry told him that he had scored a hit. He fired a few more times but then realized that he had to save the phaser's charge which was almost used up anyway. However, Tasur's men didn't know that. They seemed to believe he could go on firing forever, and were careful to stay behind the trees where he wasn't able to hit them.

Malcolm ran after his friends when he heard voices coming closer from his right. "We can't escape," he stated. "They're encircling us."

"What do you suggest?" Trip asked.

"We need to search for a hiding place. But we can't keep them at bay for long. The energy in the phasers is very low."

"We still have the guards' weapons."

"Twelve shots. That won't get us very far."

"We need help." Erianna panted under Trip's weight.

"But who would help us?"

Jeren looked around. "If we could hide somewhere and barricade the entry, perhaps Erianna would be able to sneak around them and get help from the town. It can't be very far now. If we distracted them somehow, she might be able to slip through their lines and reach our friends."

"I thought neither of you would find the way back?"

"We're much closer to the town now. We'll just give it a try."

Malcolm looked at the young woman, unsure if Jeren's suggestion was such a good idea, after all. They might be closer to the town, but on the other hand their pursuers were getting closer as well. When Erianna came back it would probably be too late. And even if she did manage to reach the town, then who was she going to ask for help? Her friends from the resistance movement were normal citizens who had no experience in fighting and most of all, no weapons. How were they supposed to fight Tasur's guard? But it was the best chance they had. At least Erianna would be safe. Malcolm assumed this was Jeren's plan. To get his sister out of danger. He nodded. "Okay, let's give it a try." Scanning their surroundings, Malcolm eventually spotted two huge fallen trees that lay across each other on the ground and were covered with twines. In front of them was an open area that would make it very difficult to sneak up to them from this side. It wasn't a very good hiding place, but it was going to have to do. He pointed it out to the others. "Over there." Gesturing for Jeren and the rest to duck down behind the trees, Malcolm ran into the other direction, firing his phaser to mislead the guards. It worked. Their shouts and the sound of their boots on the forest ground told him that all the men were following the flashing rays from his phaser. It was so easy to manipulate them. All the same, it wasn't going to be long until they realized what was going on.

Firing a second and third time, Malcolm led the guards further away from his friends' hiding place, then turned around and, with a little detour, sneaked back to the fallen trees. Erianna had set Trip down on the ground and was ready to leave.

"Jeren should go with you", Malcolm suggested.

Jeren looked at him. "I know what you're trying to do, Malcolm, and I appreciate it. But Erianna will be faster without me. I'm rather beat."

Seeing Jeren's exhausted and sweaty face and the slight trembling of his arms and legs, Malcolm knew he was right. Nodding, he turned to Erianna. "It would be best to go into the direction of the desert. They won't be looking for you there. But be careful not to leave the shelter of the trees, there's at least one of their vehicles patrolling out there. Stay close to the edge of the wood. Let's hope they won't notice you."

Erianna nodded. She looked from one of the men to the other, then ducked to the ground and disappeared between the trees.

"Good luck," Jeren murmured.

Trip kept watch behind the fallen trees while Malcolm piled up loose brushwood and twines to improve their shelter. It wasn't very long until he felt sweat trickling down his forehead, but when he inspected his handiwork in the end, he found that it had been worth the effort. No one could approach them from the sides without being noticed, and the brushwood would absorb the guards' bullets. They only had to keep an eye on the open side which faced the desert.

He sat down beside Trip, allowing himself a big gulp of water. Their pursuers had retreated but he knew they were still there. They weren't in a hurry, they had all the time in the world to come up with a plan.

Malcolm felt nervous. He calculated how long Erianna would need to reach the town, find her friends and come back with them. Perhaps they could use the proximity of the desert to their advantage. Out there, they would be able to land a flitter. If he could retain enough energy in the phasers to keep the guards at bay while Jeren brought Trip out of here to the waiting flitter, and if he managed to reach them quickly enough so they could take off before the guards realized what was going on, it might be an option worth thinking about. But this plan included too many unknown factors, the most precarious of them that they never would be able to keep their enemies at bay long enough for Erianna to come back.

Malcolm started badly when a branch snapped behind him. He raised his phaser and was just about to pull the trigger when he recognized Erianna.

"Erianna," he whispered and heard the word being echoed by Trip and Jeren. "I thought..."

"I'm sorry," Erianna answered. "There are too many of them. They've encircled us completely. I might have been able to break through their lines, but only by running straight into the desert."

"I suppose that's what they plan to do," Jeren said. "Drive us out into the desert where they can take us down with no trouble at all. They could stay covered by the trees and shoot us one by one."

Appalled, Erianna looked at her brother. "You think they would simply shoot us down? I can't believe that."

"Well, I can. Who's going to stop them from doing so? No one would know what happened out here in the forest. No one would protest. We'd just disappear. No one knows about Trip and Malcolm, and there are only few people who'd notice our disappearance."

"But Arissa, Yanis and Kenan would get suspicious."

"And what could they do? Accuse Tasur of murder? No one would listen to them. Our documentation might change a few things, but that's not going to help us in dealing with the guards. They don't know anything about the evidence we have gathered, and assume that nothing can ever happen to them. Have you been able to find out how many of them are out there?"

"I think it's the whole bunch of them."

"Except for Rassik, I'd say. So it's thirty men against four."

"Shit." Trip looked at Malcolm. "What are we goin' to do, Lieutenant?"

Malcolm grabbed the phasers and tossed one of them to Trip. "We're going to fight, Commander."

TBC

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