The Miles That Lay Ahead- Chapter 30

The Miles That Lay Ahead

by Gabi

Genre: Action/Adventure/Angst

This chapter is rated PG-13

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Chapter 30

Sickbay was a mess. It wasn't that Phlox couldn't handle his work, but the wrong people were insisting on staying while the one he wanted to treat was urgently demanding to be allowed to leave. The doctor could understand Captain Archer staying here to look after his officers, he could even understand why the young Renelan woman wasn’t leaving her chair, after all he was treating her brother, but he didn’t have a clue as to why Hoshi and T'Pol had appeared in sickbay immediately after the shuttle's return, getting in his way all the time. As if that weren’t enough people messing up the sickbay routine, there was still this uncooperative patient who tried to get up all the time.

"Lieutenant Reed," he sighed, glancing over at Malcolm while he was treating the deep cuts in Jeren's back some of which had begun to bleed again. "Would you please do me a favor and stay in bed? I'll take care of you as soon as I can. Take a leaf out of Commander Tucker's book."

Malcolm glanced at Trip who was lying on his usual sickbay bed, still sleeping. He had barely moved at all when the paramedics had pulled him from Erianna's shoulder to put him down onto the stretcher.

"It's only a small cut, doc," he said defiantly. "Nothing more than a bruise, really. It has even stopped bleeding. No reason to make such a fuss."

Phlox frowned. "After all the bruise earned you a cracked rib. And I’m not making a fuss, Lieutenant, I'm doing my job."

"I only want to go to my quarters to take a shower, doc. Do you know how long it's been since I last changed?"

Phlox looked at him. "My nose gives me quite a good idea." He sighed and his expression softened. "Let me make a suggestion, Lieutenant. You go and get fresh clothes from you quarters and come back to take that shower here. Then you let Ensign Cutler take care of your injury and after that you can do whatever you please. Perhaps Ensign Sato is willing to accompany you to your quarters, so you won't run into any more problems."

Turning his back to Malcolm, who was cringing in embarrassment, Phlox looked at the other people in the room. "T'Pol, you may assist me, if you want to, and I think it would be a good idea, Captain, to show the lady to one of the guest quarters where she can get some rest. Or you could introduce her to chef's culinary abilities. I may be able to tell you about the commander's condition when you come back afterwards." With a smile he turned to Erianna. "Eat something and get some rest. I'll take care of your brother."

Anxiously, Erianna looked at him. "His shoulder is broken, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's right, but I've removed the bullet and the wound isn't infected. There's no reason to worry."

"You don't understand, doctor." Erianna bit her lip to keep the tears at bay. "Renelan bones are different from human ones. They don't heal. A bone fracture equals a death sentence."

Phlox put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't be so pessimistic, hm? You go get some rest now and I'll take care of your brother. Please trust me, I'm quite good at my job."

Erianna nodded weakly, but made no move to get up from the chair. Eventually, Archer took her gently by her arm. To him, Phlox' request had been very clear. If they didn't leave now the doc would simply kick them out. "Phlox is right. I’m sure you must be hungry." When he had Erianna's attention, Archer continued, "On our way to the messhall I'll show you our observation deck. I'm sure you'll like it."

"Alright, Captain." Reluctantly, Erianna got up. She sighed. "Let's get out of the doctor's hair." After a last worried glance at Jeren she allowed the captain to lead her out of sickbay.

-###-

Trip could hear his own moan when he awoke from a deep and dreamless sleep. He was lying in his bed. In his own bed, in his own quarters. He vaguely remembered how Jon had personally carried him from sickbay to his quarters and had put him down on the bed.

Hearing a faint sound next to him, Trip opened his eyes. The dimmed lights barely lit up the room, but he could clearly make out Jon sitting beside him, patiently waiting for him to wake up.

"Hey Trip, you're awake."

Trip yawned. "How long have I been sleepin'?"

"About eight hours." Jon reached out when Trip tried to sit up, but withdrew his hand when Trip shook his head. Trip reached for the bar Malcolm had put over his bed and pulled himself up into a sitting position. "How are Malcolm and Jeren?"

"Malcolm is arguing with Phlox because he thinks he's fit for duty and Phlox doesn't. Jeren is quite well. Phlox is confident that the broken shoulder will heal within a few days." Jon looked at Trip. "What's so funny?"

"Malcolm," Trip said simply. Then he frowned. "It's funny, indeed. As sophisticated as the Renelan medicine is, they can't heal a simple bone fracture. I'm so glad Phlox could help Jeren. You don't know what a broken bone means on Renelan."

"Oh, believe me, I do. I had a very interesting dinner with Erianna and Malcolm. They've told me about your adventures in detail. It's unbelievable what you've accomplished, most of all in that desert. And Phlox was very impressed to hear about Malcolm's hands. I guess the two physicians can learn from each other." Jon looked at Trip, thoughtfully, then grimaced. "You both went through a lot."

Trip exhaled audibly. "Tell me about it, Jon. Please do me a favor, will you? If at some point in the future you get the idea that you have to pull me out of another depression, try to find a less excitin' distraction, okay?"

"I promise." Jon laughed, but quickly grew serious again. "Malcolm told me about your relapse. I can't even imagine how awful this must have been for you. I'm so sorry, Trip. I shouldn't have sent you on this mission. It was irresponsible."

"Don't say that, Jon." Trip looked at his legs. "I might have suffered another relapse on Enterprise, too. It wasn't only bad and dangerous down there. It was okay."

"You don't blame me?"

"How could I?" An amused sparkle appeared in Trip's eyes. "After all you're the Cap'n."

Somewhat unsure, Archer searched Trip's eyes for a reproach, but he couldn't find any. "I've been so worried," the captain admitted. "We've met a rather unfriendly species who wouldn’t allow us to pass through their space, but they told us about this asteroid field, presuming that you both were long dead. We were worried about you before, but wasting three days flying around their territory was terrible. I guess the whole crew was pretty on edge."

"I'm sorry, Cap'n."

"It wasn't your fault, Trip. We were so relieved when we picked up the readings of the shuttle. It meant you had passed the asteroid field. We were hoping to find you there with the pod, but when we entered the clearing, there was only the shuttle, completely dented and torn so we feared the worst. But then your emergency signal came in. Right from the middle of the forest."

"Your timin' was perfect, Jon. Five minutes later and you wouldn't have found us alive."

Archer smiled lopsidedly. "I’m still amazed at how you always manage to get into such a fix. Even though my tactical officer isn't any better at avoiding trouble." He pointed at something next to him. "There's something waiting for you. Malcolm told me you've missed it dearly."

Trip grimaced as he looked over at his wheelchair. "That's right," he admitted. "Can you imagine how humiliatin' it is to be carried all the time?"

Jon nodded. "Not to mention being carried by a pretty woman like Erianna."

Trip pressed his lips together. "Don't make fun of me."

"I’m not. Erianna is a strong woman."

"She is. In many respects. Will you help them, Erianna and her brother?"

Jon looked at him thoughtfully. "I discussed the matter with T'Pol. We both don't see any problems with making first contact with Alkira and helping Jeren and Erianna to voice their request."

"Do they already know about your decision?"

"Yes, they do, and they seem to be very happy about it."

"I believe they are. They've been working for this for years."

"And they have gained some astonishing insights by doing so. It's outrageous what their government is doing. Imagine the nerve it takes to create a poison and to inject people with it, telling them it's a cure for a disease."

"Erianna told you about the T-14?"

"Yeah, and I also know about the T-18. I would so like to get a hold of this man Tasur."

"Perhaps you'll get the opportunity. At some point the Alkiran and the Renelan governments will have to meet each other."

"You're suggesting us playing shuttle service for them?"

"I thought about somethin' like that. But I don't think it would be helpful for the negotiations if you strangled one of the governor's beforehand."

Jon bit his bottom lip, chewing on it. "Could you bear having the man on board who ordered to kill you?"

Trip ran a hand over his cheeks, unconsciously noticing that he needed to shave. "I could do it for Erianna and Jeren. These two have done so much for me that it would be a small sacrifice. Besides, he can't do me any harm here."

"Okay, let's see how the contact with Alkira comes out. Are you hungry?"

"Sure. It's been a while since I’ve had somethin' to eat."

"Do you want me to get something for you?"

Trip shook his head. "Thanks, but I prefer goin' to the messhall."

Jon stood when Trip shoved his feet to the floor. "Can I help you?"

"Please push the wheelchair somewhat nearer. I'll manage the rest on my own. It's time to become a little more independent again. D'you know where Erianna is at the moment?"

-###-

Erianna stared out the window so intently, she didn’t even hear the door to the observation deck open. Trip studied the fascinated expression on her face. Admiring the beauty of space with wide eyes, she looked relaxed, calm, expectant and somehow like a child that was amazed at the miracles of the world.

Trip remembered when he had last looked out of this window. His gaze hadn't been directed towards the endless space, but towards his own misery that had seemed so huge and overwhelming. What he had said to the captain in his quarters an hour before had been the truth. It hadn't been all bad and dangerous on Renelan. Thinking about it, the time on the planet had given him a lot. Beside the toils, the pain and the fear he had received an invaluable gift. He knew now how his handicap had come into existence. He knew what was causing it and how he could fight it. Most important, he knew it wasn't permanent and he had no reason to fear being bound to the wheelchair for a lifetime. Jeren had taken away this fear. Trip knew it would never have left him alone otherwise. Fearing all the time that every little strain could lead to a relapse, he would never have been the same man again. He would have been afraid of doing hard work and would have become weak and bitter over the years. Jeren had given him back his future and that was worth all the pain, fear and humiliation he had had to go through on Renelan. That, and the good friends he had found there.

"Hey," he said gently.

Erianna whirled around and smiled broadly when she saw him. "Trip." She took a few steps to reach him and hugged him tightly. "It's good to see you. How are you?"

Trip grinned. He was back aboard Enterprise, had showered and shaved and gotten something to fill his stomach, so he was feeling just great. "A lot better," he told Erianna, hugging her before she straightened up again. "And you?"

"It's fantastic. Jeren will be okay and Captain Archer agreed to take us to Alkira. Suddenly it all looks so simple. And this is just unbelievable." With a gesture Erianna included not only the observation deck but the whole ship. "In my wildest dreams I never expected to see something like this. An hour ago we were flying close by this asteroid field because your crew took some scans. T'Pol showed me the anomaly you came through on her sensors. It's so beautiful."

Trip smiled about Erianna's excitement. Shyly, she looked at him. "I bet you think I'm childish."

Trip shook his head. "No, of course not. It is fascinatin', for all of us, even for the Cap'n." He smiled. "I guess even for T'Pol, although she never would admit it."

Erianna nodded. "You have a wonderful life, Trip. I envy you."

"Sometimes it’s not so wonderful after all. Sometimes it's dangerous and sometimes it’s just plain borin'."

Erianna laughed. "I believe that it can be dangerous, but boring? Never." She looked at him. "Is that your wheelchair?" she asked. "Seems like a good alternative to walking indeed."

"Better than bein' carried." Trip felt uncomfortable with the matter. It was time to change the subject. "Are you looking forward to meeting the Alkirans?"

"I'm excited. We don't have any idea how those people will react to us. We only know that Carrin and the other merchants were very open-minded and interested in our ideas."

Trip smiled. He had clearly seen Erianna blushing when she had mentioned the name of the Alkiran merchant. "You'll see him again?" he asked.

"I don't know. I don't know where to look for him. Alkira is rather big."

"It shouldn't be that hard to find out which merchants have visited Renelan."

"It would be nice." Erianna blushed once more.

"What else d'you know 'bout Alkira?"

"Not too much. From what I've heard, it’s being a beautiful planet. With two great oceans and lots of inland water. They’ve got a president who governs the whole planet. As far as I know the inhabitants are rather friendly, although I guess you'll find people like Rassik all over the universe. But I assume Alkirans and Renelans could find a way to live together."

"Sounds good. I'm really looking forward to finding out whether you'll be successful. By the way, have you already been taken on the big tour?"

"No, I've been to the bridge and Malcolm has shown me the armory before the captain ordered him to rest. Oh yeah, and I've seen sickbay and the messhall."

Trip chuckled, hearing about Malcolm who in fact seemed to be doing quite well again. "Okay, so I'll show you the most important part of the ship."

-###-

"Hey, folks, look who's here. The chief's back." For a moment, Trip basked in the attention of his crew who surrounded him, warmly welcoming him back. It did seem that they had missed him. But soon he was beginning to feel uncomfortable with all the chattering voices that asked him about his health and told him over and over again how happy they were to have him back. "Don't you have anythin' to do?" he asked, waving his hands to get some space.

"Actually a lot, Chief!" Rostov grinned broadly. "The captain told me to repair the shuttle. What have you done to the poor ship, Commander? I know you were flying through this asteroid field, but there's not a single circuit left in its place. I'll need half of the crew to repair it and the other half to replace the dented bulkheads."

"You're just the man for the job, Mike. Hurry up, I want to have a workin’ shuttlepod by the day after tomorrow."

"The day after tomorrow? You must be joking, Commander." Grumbling, Rostov called for some of his colleagues who followed him to the shuttle bay.

Smiling, Trip looked after them when something caught his attention. The warp engine wasn't running as steadily as it used to. The humming sounded not right in his ears. "What's wrong with the warpdrive?" he asked worriedly.

Sighing, Hess turned to the crew. "I told you, the chief will know about it the minute he starts listening."

"Know about what?"

"The engines overloaded. We've been constantly flying maximum speed during the last days. There were moments I was sure the warp drive would blow up the next second, but the captain wouldn't allow us to reduce speed." Apologetically, Hess looked at Trip, as if she feared a reproach for handling his precious engines in such a rude way.

But Trip only grimaced, holding up his hands. "No problem. We'll handle it."

Hess nodded in relief.

Trip snorted. Who was he to complain about the engines' condition? If Enterprise hadn't been flying at maximum speed, he would not be here.

Heading for their various work stations, his crew spread out over the room. Trip turned to Erianna who was looking around with big eyes. "This is fantastic," she whispered. "You do have a great job here."

"That's right, and I wouldn't want to be doing anythin' else." Trip smiled about Erianna's open admiration, giving her some time to look around while he checked the repair schedule with Hess and controlled the status of the engines. Maneuvering his wheelchair to the foot of the stairs to the warp core, a frustrated expression crossed Trip’s face.

"What's the matter?" Erianna asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Nothin'. I would like to have a look at the warpcore. But I can't get there, at least not at any point in the near future."

"Do you want me to get you up there?"

Surprised, Trip looked at Erianna. Apologetically, she raised her hands. "I know you don't like to be carried, but it's still an option."

Trip opened his mouth to decline the offer, but after another look at the warpcore he changed his mind. Why shouldn't he accept it? It had been a long time since his crew had had something they could gossip about. He smiled. It was only a matter of his personal point of view. He could think of it as humiliating or he could have some fun.

"Okay. It's been way too long since I've been up there." He wrapped his arm around Erianna's neck, and she lifted him out of the wheelchair. When she effortlessly carried him up the few steps, he could see his crew standing there with their mouths open. For a moment dead silence settled on the room.

"They're watching us," Erianna stated.

"Of course they do. I guess some of them are wonderin' how you can be strong enough to carry me and the others are speculatin' on what's goin' on between the two of us."

"They like you."

"You think so?"

"It's obvious. They were worried about you."

"I know, but they're worrying too much. Can you put me down on my feet please?"

"Sure." Erianna let his feet slip to the floor and entwined her hands around his waist to hold him. What a sight for his crew. But Trip didn't care. It was a great feeling to be standing on his own feet again, even if Erianna was carrying his whole weight. It was a great feeling, too, to be working the reactor's controls again.

"What do you mean, they're worrying too much?" Erianna wanted to know.

"Since my relapse no one dares to tell me about any problems that crop up, they all just go to Hess to spare me the trouble."

"Maybe you should tell them that you don't want to be mollycoddled."

Trip turned his head to look at Erianna. When she put it like that, it sounded so simple.

When Erianna carried him back down the stairs, Trip saw Malcolm standing at the bottom, watching them with a dry smile on his face. Trip just shrugged. He had decided to stop being ashamed of his condition. It was okay to accept help from other people and it wasn't a great difference between Jon or Erianna carrying him.

Malcolm helped him to sit back down in the wheelchair. "We have orders to get Jeren and come to the bridge," he told them. "Hoshi has got something for us."

-###-

Phlox beamed when they entered sickbay. "Now I have all my patients gathered together in one room. What rare luck. But I don't think you two came for an examination?"

"Sorry, doc," Trip grinned. "We're here to get Jeren. Cap'n's orders," he added quickly when he saw Phlox frowning and throwing a thoughtful look at Jeren who stood beside him. Jeren's arm was strapped across his chest to stabilize the injured shoulder, but otherwise he looked quite well. On the monitor, Jeren and Phlox had been looking at an image of a body with nerves and muscles that looked very familiar to Trip.

Phlox, who had followed the engineer's gaze, nodded enthusiastically. "It's indeed an interesting substance, this tetraparcyllin, Commander. Jeren just explained to me how it works."

"And Doctor Phlox will tell me about how to heal Renelan bones." Jeren hugged Erianna with his healthy arm. "It's good to see you all in good condition. Looks like we all have survived our little walk in the woods. What does your captain want?"
"We don't know, either. Let's go to the bridge." Trip shrugged, a regretful expression on his face. "I'm sorry we don't have time for the sight-seeing tour, but we'll show you the ship later on."

-###-

Standing behind Hoshi, Captain Archer looked up when they stepped out of the turbolift. "Come on over. Hoshi was able to pick up a transmission that might interest you." He nodded to Hoshi who started the recording.

"That's our documentation," Erianna exclaimed.

"It seems like Arissa and Yanis have been doing some hard work," Jeren said. "How did you manage to pick this up?"

"The transmission was broadcasted over the whole inhabited area of your planet," Hoshi explained. "They used a satellite that was very easily to tap."

"The media satellite," Jeren nodded. "I only hope no one can track it back to Arissa and Yanis. How did they know how to hack into the satellite's system?"

Trip and Malcolm exchanged a knowing look. Upgrading Erianna's computer wouldn't have made a lot of sense if they hadn’t shown them how to use the enhancements.

They concentrated on the transmission. The documentation was indeed perfectly done. After a short introductory sequence, Jeren showed up on the screen and explained the connection between CDS and T-14 to the Renelan people.

"I thought you wanted to stay invisible," Trip commented. "We made such an effort to disguise your face."

"Yeah, but after Dorsik's attempt to kill you I told Arissa to delete this effect. After what I've done it's no longer possible to stay underground, anyway. Tasur knows that we freed you, so he would know the documentation is our work. It's more authentic when it's not anonymous."

"That's right." Erianna put her hand on Jeren's good shoulder. "But I still feel uncomfortable, now that you can be identified so easily."

After finishing his explanations, Jeren told his people about their guests from the planet Earth and how he had been able to prove his long-standing theory with their help. Some shots followed in which Trip spoke about his own experiences and Malcolm confirmed them. Hoshi turned around and smiled at the two men.

Afterwards, there was a voice from the off which Jeren to his astonishment identified as Kenan's. "Of course our governors had to keep this a secret. We can't even blame them for trying to keep our population in balance to abide the living standard we all are used to. But the members of our resistance movement think this mustn't cost people's lives. We must not sacrifice our old and ill to improve the quality of our own lives; we mustn't forget that all of us might fall ill, and will certainly grow old at some point. Renelan's possibilities to provide living space are limited, but there has to be another solution. It's no longer tolerable that Renelans are injected with a poison that will slowly kill them while they are told they're suffering from a deadly disease." He paused for a moment, then continued. "We're aware how implausible this sounds. We’ve lived with CDS for such a long time now that we simply have accepted its existence as a fact, and what you've heard now seems like the ravings of a bunch of paranoid lunatics. I know a lot of people are not willing to believe us. But we can show you how one of our governors has treated our friend from Earth to get rid of him. As you've heard his blood contains T-14 and even an antidote that we can use to create a cure to heal all those people suffering from CDS. To prevent this from happening, our friend Trip was brought to the Health Center by force where Governor Tasur's personal physician tried to kill him."

Trip started badly when all of a sudden he could see himself lying strapped down on the examination table in the Health Center. The hidden camera in the laboratory had recorded his complete conversation with Dorsik which clearly revealed the physician's intention to kill him. Again, Trip could feel the hatred when the other physician put the band-aid over his mouth, and swallowed dryly when he saw the syringe in Dorsik's hand and the panic in his own eyes. Suddenly he felt two hands on his shoulders, one belonging to Jon, the other one to Malcolm. Their comforting squeeze intensified as they watched Dorsik injecting him with the poison. It was only a few seconds until his head dropped lifelessly to one side and his whole body grew visibly limp. To him, these seconds had seemed like eternity. He heard Hoshi inhaling sharply and saw Erianna clinging to Jeren's arm. The moment was so intense that he almost felt as if he were living it for a second time. Trip shuddered. Looking up he met Jon's worried gaze.

"You okay?" the captain asked softly.

Trip nodded. "It's over."

The image changed and the camera focused on Kenan's face. Jeren bit his lip. So Kenan had also sacrificed himself for their cause. "Our human friend was injected with a substance that is called T-18. It's a concentrated poison, the stronger variation of T-14, the substance that people suffering from CDS get as a cure. T-18 would kill a Renelan in no time at all, but it's somewhat different with the different human metabolism. We were lucky to save our friend just in time. But you see how absurd it is to call such a poison a cure. Our friend's body was completely paralyzed within an instant. Repeated doses of T-14 have the same effect, first causing CDS and later its progression until death.

Governor Tasur hadn't given up on his plan to kill our friend Trip, though. He actually ordered my colleague Jeren to be brutally tortured to get information about Trip’s whereabouts. Unfortunately, we don't know where the two humans and our own people who saved them are at the moment. They didn't come back and we're afraid that they've been captured by the governor's guard."

Kenan straightened his posture. "All the more it's important to make sure their sacrifice wasn’t in vain. People of Renelan, I call upon you to stand up against this policy of killing. You heard the facts, please take time to think about them before you take any actions. It makes no sense to be upset or angry or to demand the governors to account for their actions. Most of them were only doing their duty to save our standard of living. We need our governors to think about the situation and what to do to change it. We ask you to stay calm and not to act rashly. But don't go to the Health Centers anymore. Don't allow CDS examinations and particularly don't let them inject you with this so-called cure. Thanks to our human friend, we may be able to provide a real cure that can heal CDS in the near future. We only ask for some patience because we have yet to develop it."

"Could he?" Erianna asked. "Could he develop a cure on his own?"

Jeren shrugged. "I left the disc with the test results at Yanis' place. I think he gave it to Kenan. So it's possible, but it surely will take some time, because he's not as familiar with the substances as I am."

They looked at the monitor that had gone dark. For a moment no one said a word.

"I have to go and see Arissa," Erianna said. "They think we're dead." She looked at Archer. "Captain, do you think we could..."

Jon nodded. "How late is it in Erianna’s and Jeren's hometown, Hoshi?"

"Early evening."

"Okay, wait until dark. Travis will take you to the surface."

"Thank you, Captain. We appreciate it very much."

"If you don't mind, Captain, I'd like to fly them down there," Malcolm offered. "I know the terrain quite well by now."

"Very well, Malcolm, it's your job then."

Thoughtfully, Trip looked at his legs. "Jon? I'd like to ask you a favor. Could you go with me to sickbay? I have to talk to you and Phlox before the shuttle takes off."

"Okay." Briefly, Archer looked around. "T'Pol, you have the bridge."

TBC

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