Unexpected-Chapter 11

Unexpected

by Orion9

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

*******

Chapter Eleven – Flight

Forest
Zenandria
0030 hours

Trip examined the opening he’d made in the wall carefully, checking for any sharp edges that he might have missed. It didn’t look as if he could get any of the other surrounding branches loose. Although somewhat a tight fit, he was certain that he’d be able to squeeze through. He sat back on his haunches and eyed his youthful companion as she yawned and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Not surprisingly, the day’s events must have finally caught up with her. He was amazed that she had lasted this long, given what they’d just been through. Feeling dead on his feet himself, he wondered, for the first time since he regained consciousness, if there was even a possibility of escape for the both of them.

With a muttered curse, he abruptly pushed the negative thoughts away, the memory of how ruthless the men were when they had hunted them down earlier strengthening his resolve. He had to get Xanindra away from here before they came back. Who knows what they had in mind for either of them. He put out his hand.

“C’mon, it’s time to go.”

Quickly and quietly, he helped her through the hole in the wall and then wiggled through himself. Once outside, they crouched near the hut while he looked around, trying to get his bearings.

“Recognise anythin’?”

Xanindra shook her head, her eyes wide with fear.

“That’s ok,” he soothed. “Don’t worry ‘bout it. We’ll jus’ keep goin’. There should be people looking for us by now. Sooner or later, someone will find us. If we’re lucky, it’ll be sooner.”

They had not gone far when they heard shouts behind them. Trip turned back for a quick look, alarmed by the anger in the men’s voices. There was no telling what they might do if they were to catch up with them. He quickened their pace until they were almost running. Even with the full moon, it was so dark at times that he was amazed that they hadn’t stumbled over a branch and crashed to the ground by now, considering the pace at which they were going.

Suddenly, they came upon an old forest trail and halted beside it, breathing hard. The engineer looked at the track with some reservation – some parts were so overgrown with undergrowth that it had completely disappeared. But since it was better than stumbling aimlessly in the dark, he decided that it would be best that they followed it, with the hope that it might eventually lead them somewhere.

They ran on, keeping to the narrow trail, at times narrowly avoiding the low branches that were in the way. Once, preoccupied with Xanindra’s progress, Trip did not see the branch on time and hissed out an agonised breath when it whacked into his injured side. Gritting his teeth at each pounding step, he was painfully aware that his wounds were bleeding again. The crude bandages that he had fashioned from one of Xanindra’s inner skirts were already soaked through. At this rate, he might just bleed to death before they could get any help.

Soon spots began to appear in front of his eyes and Trip knew that they had to stop, even if it gave their former captors an opportunity to catch up with them. He spotted a nearby bush that looked big enough to shield them from prying eyes and headed towards it. They crouched there, using the time to catch their breath. A wave of dizziness suddenly swept over him and he closed his eyes, his breath coming in short, burning gasps. A small cool hand touched his cheek and he looked up, meeting Xanindra’s solemn gaze.

“You are ill.”

Her simple statement, spoken with the typical open honesty of a child, brought a slight smile to his face. Out of the mouths of babes, he thought as he nodded slowly at her, his heart thudding painfully in his chest. He’d been trying to ignore the fact that his temperature was higher than normal for the past few hours, probably caused by a combination of the drugs and the wounds he’d suffered. They were most likely infected; the last time he checked, conditions in the hut weren’t exactly setting the standards for cleanliness. The night air was cool against his sweat-dampened clothes and he shivered, clenching his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering.

“I’ll be okay,” he assured her, wishing that he could believe the lie himself. He was certain that Enterprise would be searching for them by now. He’d bet his life on it. All he needed to do was to keep them moving and hope that Captain Archer would find them first before their former captors did.

A bird hooted in the dark, and they jumped, startled by the unfamiliar sound. Trip looked up, searching for the source of the sound. It was then that he realised that they could actually see past the thick canopy of leaves from where they stood. Immediately, he scanned the sky for any familiar sight that might give him a clue to their current position, his hopes rising as he spotted the tip of a tower, appearing high above the trees some distance away.

“Look! What’s that?” he asked, pointing it out to his young companion. “Do you recognise the building?”

“No,” she answered, wringing her hands together as she studied the structure with rounded eyes.

In the distance, a twig snapped, then another, as their pursuers grew chillingly nearer. Trip took a nervous look at the enveloping darkness and then promptly made up his mind.

“How well d’you know this part of the woods?” he asked, his voice rough from anxiety and fatigue.

Xanindra gazed back at him in bewilderment, and then shook her head. Trip rubbed a weary hand over his face at her answer. What he was about to ask her to do may be no better than if she stayed with him. But he knew, without a doubt, that they only had a remote chance of outrunning their pursuers at their present speed, especially with his current condition. This might be the only way that at least one of them got away.

“Listen, I need you to follow this trail and head towards that building as fast as you can. Do not stop for anything, ya hear me?”

She stared at him, a puzzled frown on her face.

“Me? But what about you? Aren’t you coming too?”

“No,” he admitted reluctantly. “I’m slowing us down. It’d be faster if you went alone.”

“No, I’m staying here with you,” she declared, crossing her arms.

Trip grimaced, realising that it was going to be harder than he thought. Her answer was only a soft whisper but it was filled with the defiance of one who was used to getting her own way.

“Xanindra, listen–“

“No!”

He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, further dishevelling the blond strands.

“Look, this isn’t the time for you to go all stubborn on me! Those men back there want you for a reason and I don’t think it’s to throw you a party!”

He softened his tone when she stared silently at the ground, her features strained.

“Don’t worry ‘bout me, al’right? I need you to get to safety while I lead ‘em away from you.”

“No! What if they catch you?”

“Then … then I’ll stall them, for as long as I can,” he said, grasping at the first thing that came to mind. “And I’ll just wait for help to arrive. The Cap’n’s probably searched half the forest by now. He’ll find me soon enough.”

She shook her head obstinately.

His patience was at the end of its tether and it was all he could do to stop himself from yelling at her. Taking a deep breath, he tried again.

“Xanindra, please,” he said tightly. “Jus’ go before they come. Please.”

Her eyes fixed on a spot on the ground; she mumbled her answer, so softly that he almost missed it.

“I c-can’t.”

He took her hands in his.

“Listen to me. Yes. You. Can…”

“I’m really s-scared.”

“I know, sweetheart. But you need to do this, ‘kay?”

She peered hesitantly at the dark forest ahead of her and then looked back at him, her eyes tearing. Her face crumpled as she choked back a terrified sob. He muttered a curse as he hugged her briefly, and then gave her a gentle push, away from him.

“Go. Make sure you follow the path till yer get to the tower,” he reminded her. “I’ll see you later, al’right?”

“You p-promise?”

“I promise. Now, go!”

After one last look at him, she turned and ran off. As he stood there and watched her slight figure disappear into the darkness of the forest, he hoped fervently that he was doing the right thing. An angry shout from somewhere behind him shook him out of his mild stupor and he looked around, trying to decide which way to go. With another glance at the path that the young princess had taken, the engineer turned on his heels and moved, as quickly as he could, in the direction that he hoped would lead their pursuers as far away as possible from their main quarry.

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

The Royal Zenandrian Palace
Zenandria
0125 hours

“Archer.”

“Captain,” Sato’s voice came through the communicator, her relief obvious even through the slight interference in the transmission. “We picked up Commander Tucker’s biosign a few minutes ago.”

Archer stood up straighter, his weariness dissipating at the news.

“Good work. Send the coordinates down.”

“Yes, Captain. Transmitting now.”

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

Forest
Zenandria
0130 hours

His fever raging, Trip stumbled on mindlessly; barely aware of where he was going. All he knew was that he had purposely left the trail some time back and that he had to keep moving, away from the angry shouts behind him. He desperately needed rest but was afraid that he might not be able to get back on his feet again if he did stop, even for short while. His vision blurred suddenly and he shook his head, trying to clear it. Looking down, he noted with a vague sense of amazement that his feet were still moving. Jus’ like that rabbit, he thought, almost hysterically, as he limped heavily along.

When he looked up again, there was a Zenandrian standing in his way with a weapon pointed straight at him.

Trip’s eyes widened even as the man tried to move out of the way, both realising a little too late what was about to happen. Unable to stop himself in time, Trip collided with the man at full speed, crashing the both of them painfully to the ground. For a moment, he just lay there, fighting for breath, as the world faded in and out.

The man cursed as he struggled to sit up, his hand reaching for the weapon that had fallen beside him. The sound of the man’s voice snapped everything back into focus and Trip scrambled to his feet, ignoring the stabbing pain caused by the sudden movements. He tried to move away but, as he did so, a hand reached out and seized him by the ankle.

Pulled off balance, Trip tumbled to the ground again but rolled to one side, away from the man’s reach. He quickly stood up and assumed a defensive stance, his eyes wary. The other man’s stare never wavered as he too got to his feet, a smirk on his face as he took in his opponent’s injuries and exhausted visage.

“Well, Commander Tucker,” he taunted as he pointed the weapon at the Starfleet officer once more. “Enjoying your moonlight stroll?”

The fact that he was called by name barely registered in Trip’s feverish mind as he put all caution aside and charged the man, catching his adversary off guard.

“What the–?“

Trip’s shoulders slammed into his enemy’s abdomen, cutting his exclamation short and sending them both crashing to the ground for a second time. There was a frantic struggle for the weapon as they got to their feet. Although his antagonist was heavier and stronger, Trip’s adrenaline more than made up for it. The man managed to finger the weapon temporarily before Trip kicked out at his hand, knocking it away.

With a curse, the man lashed out, hitting the engineer hard in the ribs. Gasping for breath, Trip danced deftly out of reach of the second blow. He responded with an upward swing and struck the man in the jaw, stunning him. As his opponent fell to the ground, Trip continued with a kick to the man’s stomach, keeping him down on the ground. He was just about to land the final punch when someone called out to him from behind.

“Commander Tucker!”

Automatically, he turned towards the voice and the butt of the gun caught him hard at his right temple. He spun around and fell to his knees, dazed by the blow. The blood from the gash dripped into his eye, turning everything into an agonising red haze as he struggled weakly to stand. The man raised his weapon again and struck down hard one more time. This time Trip collapsed without a sound. He went limp and half fell onto the first man, who swore forcefully and pushed him off.

“What took you so long?” he demanded as he stood up, shaking leaves off his clothes. He looked down at the crumpled body of the engineer, hatred in his eyes, and gave the unconscious man a vicious kick in the ribs.

Satisfied, he straightened his uniform, and turned to the second man.

“Did you find the girl?”

The other man shook his head. With a loud curse, the first man looked down at the still figure on the ground. He glared at the surrounding jungle and then looked back at his cohort.

“Never mind, she won’t get very far alone. Tell the men to continue searching,” he instructed before indicating Trip with his foot. “And take him back to the hut. If we can’t find the child, I’m sure the Commander will be more than willing to tell us where he has hidden her. We’ll just have to provide him with the right … encouragement, of course.”

A/N2: I’m a little green when it comes to action sequences so I hope you’ll all bear with me if they should get a little confusing. Thanks! :)

TBC

Continue to Chapter 12

Return to Chapter 10

Back to Fan Fiction Main Menu

Have a comment to make about this story? Do so in the Trip Fan Fiction forum at the HoTBBS!

One person has made comments

Hey orion9,

i love this story and I hope that you'll finish your story very fast. Please!!!
You have a good style to tell stories and your character discreption is very good.
please write like the wind...:))

(i come from germany,i hope u understand me, i've too few words to decsribe what i mean...)

Gon on!! snowtear