Unexpected-Chapter 10

Unexpected

by Orion9

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

*******

Chapter Ten: Cooperation

An undisclosed location
Zenandria
2230 hours

“Well, at least your dad knows where we were last,” Trip said, trying to keep her talking. The last thing he needed was for the child to go into shock. “Should be a cavalry charging here any minute now.”

His smile faded as he caught sight of her face.

“What?”

“He … uh … he doesn’t know. No one does.”

“No one does,” Trip repeated blankly. He scowled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, Father did agree to me visiting the conservatory once or twice a week,” Xanindra hurried to explain. “Kind of…”

There was something in the way she said that that gave him pause. He looked at her suspiciously.

“Is there somethin’ yer not tellin’ me, Your Highness?”

For a long while the young princess sat there with a guilty look on her face. Then she nodded slowly.

“Yes …”

* * * * *

Trip buried his head in his arms with a sigh.

“But you failed t’mention to your guards that you weren’t exactly allowed to go to the conservatory ev’ry day,” he muttered in a strangled voice.

She bit her bottom lip, looking down at the dirt floor.

“I sort of modified the orders on their order blocks before they got them,” she mumbled.

“Modified the orders–“ Trip raised his head from his arms and glowered at her. “And how’d you do that?”

She fidgeted, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

“I’m … uh … really good with computers…”

He shot her a look.

“Yer weren’t s’pposed to be at the conservatory at all t’day, were you?”

The expression on her face was answer enough. Trip groaned and dropped his head back into his arms.

“Please, Trip,” she pleaded. “Don’t be angry.”

He let out a long deep breath and then looked back up at her.

“’M not,” he said finally, keeping his head still as he answered, mindful of the ache there.

“Really?”

She beamed at him. The engineer threw her a stern glance in return.

“Yes, really. But you do know that yer goin’ to be in a whole lot of trouble when we get back to t’palace…”

He didn’t finish the sentence but cocked a brow at her.

“Oh...”

Eyes downcast, she pushed out her lower lip and sighed dejectedly, her rueful expression eliciting a tired smile from him. He struggled to his feet and staggered around painfully for a moment as he adjusted to his injuries, allowing his uninjured leg to take most of his weight. Looking down at her, he held out a hand.

“C’mon, Your Highness. Let’s find us a way outta here.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Conservatory, The Royal Zenandrian Palace Grounds
Zenandria
2315 hours

“Is that it?”

“Yes, unfortunately,” K’lar replied, his expression equally disheartened. “As you can see, the whole area is fairly large and dense so the search can only be carried out on foot. We’ve only managed to cover that much so far. Most of my men are currently out there searching, along with many other volunteers.”

Malcolm gave a frustrated sigh as he looked at the man standing across the table. Charts and maps were strewn haphazardly all over the place as the three of them looked over a map outlining the search area.

“What about the vehicle that brought the princess and Commander Tucker here? Any sign of it?”

The Commandant shook his head.

“Not yet. Whoever took them, assuming that they were both taken by the same party, must have taken it with them.”

“Or hidden it somewhere,” Travis muttered gloomily. “At this rate, we’ll never find them.”

The ensign glanced over at the two security officers who were studying another pile of charts. They had arrived on Shuttlepod Two along with Phlox, upon Archer’s orders, over an hour ago. Foster and Zabel looked up and shook their heads at his silent query before returning to the stack of charts in front of them.

“You mentioned a scan from Enterprise?” K’lar’s question caused Travis to turn back to the men in front of him.

“Well, until the flare is over, I’m afraid we’re literally flying blind too,” Malcolm answered bluntly. “And we are working on the assumption that they are still somewhere on palace grounds. For all we know, they could be on their way to another planet by now.”

“No shuttle has been allowed to leave–“

“I know,” Malcolm interjected with a sigh. “Sorry. It’s just that this is so bloody frustrating.”

He spotted another chart and dragged it over.

“What about this section?

K’lar studied it for a while and then shook his head.

“Nothing there but heavily-wooded forest. It’s part of the forest reserve.”

Malcolm was about to reply when his communicator chirped. He flipped it open.

“Reed here.”

“How is it coming along?” Archer asked.

“Not good, sir. We still have a lot of ground to cover. Unless we’re able to use the scanners, it may take days to find them.”

“Time is something we don’t have. Just keep trying.”

“Aye, Captain.”

* * * * *

Archer met T’pol’s eyes once Malcolm had signed off.

“Lieutenant Reed’s assessment is correct,” she commented, reacting to his unspoken question “It would be quite impossible to locate a single man in such a large area, especially at night, without any of the scanners.”

“We don’t have much of a choice at the moment, do we?” Archer retorted sharply.

She raised an eyebrow at his tone of voice and he held up a hand in a gesture of apology. “I’m sorry. The situation seems largely impossible, doesn’t it?”

“We will find Commander Tucker and the young princess, Captain,” T’pol answered. “It only remains to be seen how soon we can accomplish it.”

Archer grimaced at her evenly spoken answer.

“How can you be so clinical about this?” he demanded. “This is Trip we’re talking about.”

“I fail to see how being emotional will help in this, or in any crisis, for that matter. As for Commander Tucker, he is a well-trained officer. I am sure that he will be all right, wherever he is at present.”

Archer made no reply as he stared up into the night sky. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that T’pol was right. Trip had been in tight spots before. He hoped that his friend would be able to get out of this one as he did the others. He heaved a frustrated breath. If only they knew where to start looking.

While Phlox prepared the medical team at the palace, Malcolm and his security team, along with Travis, were working with K’lar to coordinate the search of the palace grounds from the conservatory. In the meantime, T’pol and himself, along with Dakr’a, concentrated on retracing the engineer’s steps, with the anticipation that someone may have seen something that would help them locate the missing two. So far, nothing useful had turned up. A thought occurred to him and he turned to his Science Officer.

“When’s the next projected flare?”

“At 0300 hours.”

“Any indication that the present one is drawing to a close any time soon?”

Despite her steady state of detachment, Archer could tell that the Vulcan was as worried as he was when she answered him.

“No, Captain.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

An undisclosed location
Zenandria
2340 hours

“I heard someone’s scream before I entered the buildin’. It was one o’ your men, wasn’t it?

Sitting close by, Xanindra shuddered at the memory.

“Yes, Ve’ltr was trying to warn me. I think they shot him.”

“Well, don’t worry. We’ll–“ Trip grunted as he tugged at the piece of wood. “–make sure those men get what they deserve when we get outta here.”

He shifted slightly, to avoid putting any other unnecessary pressure on his injuries, as he pulled harder. The pain of his wounds had subsided into a dull throb but the queasiness had remained. A scrutiny of the walls showed that they were made of thick pieces of wood crudely but effectively put together. Finally finding a piece that protruded out at the back wall, he had been trying his best to create a hole big enough for them to get through. So far, he had only managed to wrench a few pieces free.

The thick branch finally came away in his hands and he paused, winded from the strenuous tugging. He pulled experimentally at the other branches next to the gap he had managed to make but soon gave up when he couldn’t dislodge any of the bigger ones. His head drooped as he leaned back against the adjacent wall, utterly worn out. If he could just rest his eyes for a minute…

“–Trip?”

He was floating away into the darkness when Xanindra’s voice penetrated the fog of exhaustion that he had fallen into. Snapping awake, he found her looking anxiously at him, her hands gripping his arm hard. He wondered how long she had been calling out to him.

“Sorry, must’ve drifted off there,” he whispered, his voice rough and low. He cleared his throat. “I’m ok.”

She swallowed and then nodded solemnly, her eyes huge in her small, pale face. He gave her a weak smile and then sat up straighter, wincing at the stabbing pain that accompanied the simple action. Taking a deep breath, he leaned towards the opening he had made and peered through. It was almost as dark out there, as it was inside, and for a moment he wondered about the shadowy shapes he saw outside.

Then the moon came out from behind the clouds and his heart sank as he realised, straight away, what they were. Trees – trees and bushes, and nothing else. This meant that they were somewhere within the forest and, as far as he could tell, entirely cut off from any immediate help.

TBC

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