Stranded - Chapter 8 and Epilogue

STRANDED

By Vanishingp2000

Email: vanishingp@supawoman.com

Rating PG 13 – English –Adventure/Drama/Friendship

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

*****

Chapter 8

“Sub Commander….” Reed began.

“I see it Lieutenant.” T’Pol answered calmly and continued for the benefit of those working at other stations. “There was a momentary energy spike for 0.6 seconds.”

“I put it in the northern hemisphere,” Reed added, “I picked up some intense weather systems as the sensor block lifted.”

“Did you locate the Starfleet signal again?” Hoshi asked excitedly.

Reed nodded, “it showed up briefly. In the northern hemisphere also but I don’t think it was in the same place as the energy spike. It’s difficult to be precise.”

“It is to be hoped that the captain and Commander Tucker are not anywhere near the source of the extreme weather systems,” T’Pol spoke softly but clearly. “It is doubtful they would survive weather of such severity.”

“With a Starfleet signal down there it’s a reasonable bet that they are at least on the planet.” Mayweather said.

“For better or worse,” Reed muttered darkly.

************************************

Lightning flashed almost continuously overhead as Trip emerged through the hole, Archer over his shoulder. The resulting noise from the thunder drowned all coherent thought as they were slammed to the ground by gale force winds and rain. Tucker fought to turn them back the way they had come but the barrier showed only black. It was back in place.

Gasping for breath he scrambled over to where Jon had fallen and began dragging him towards the shelter of a rocky overhang he could see during the lightning flashes. He fought to retain his footing as he crouched low, ignoring the pain in his own leg and hand. Dimly he realised that the air was at least breathable, when the wind allowed time to breathe. They were both soaked again and Trip was shivering with cold, despite the exertion. At least we know why they needed biospheres, he thought as he reached the overhang and took a moment to catch his breath.

All around them debris flew through the air, caught up in the fierce gusts. Trip ducked down and shielded the captain as several large rocks were flung it their direction, some catching him painfully in the back. He glanced wildly about looking for a better shelter, protection from the storm, but could see nothing further than the edge of the overhang. Even the barrier had disappeared. Definitely a bad move Tucker, he berated himself as more rocks slammed into the wall to his left. Should’a stayed where we were.

A wild howling heralded an increase in the strength of the wind and Trip fought to keep them in place beneath the overhang as the wild gusts threatened to suck them from its pitiful shelter. He shifted his grip on Archer’s shoulders, determined that whatever happened they would stay together and looked up in horror at a sharp crack. The overhang was giving way. A boulder the size of an inspection pod was plummeting towards them. He jammed them as far beneath the overhang as he could and waited as the winds screamed out their fate.

Trip sucked in a deep breath. All about them was silent and pitch black. He took a moment to gather his thoughts. Jon still lay beneath his hands, Trip could feel him breathing although he was still unconscious. Prob’ly just as well, Trip reasoned, after the hammerin’ we’ve just taken. He could see nothing, there was no break in the darkness, nor could he hear anything, it was eerily silent. He coughed to reassure himself and his voice echoed slightly. Sitting back he knocked the backpack against something firm behind him and remembered the flashlight. Somehow he was surprised to still have it. “Not that I’m complainin’,” he said aloud, needing to hear his voice as he reached into the pack, finding the light by touch. The light came on at the press of a button and revealed their surroundings.

They were in a large cavern. Trip had knocked the backpack against the wall and Archer lay beside him on his side. The cavern was too big for the light to penetrate and despite twisting and turning it in every direction about him Tucker was unable to even see the roof. The ground was rocky and uneven but dry and he swept an area clear with his good hand before settling the captain down more comfortably and covering him with the field jacket they had salvaged. The air smelt stale but Trip was content that he was able to breathe comfortably enough so he let it pass. The temperature was more of an issue. Having been soaked again he would have liked a chance to warm up but here, beneath the ground it was decidedly cool and he was having a job controlling his shivering.

Trip got to his feet and swung his arms about in an attempt to warm up. Events had overtaken them again. This was a crazy place, for every thing that they learned, or thought they did they received a set back. He wondered morosely whether or not they would ever return to Enterprise but stopped that train of thought in its tracks as he looked down at his friend lying on the floor and relying on him to get them out of this mess. Jon had pulled him out of trouble often enough he’d be damned if he was going to let him down.

A soft moan pulled him away from his thoughts and he knelt beside his friend as Archer wearily opened his eyes. “Where are we?” he rasped, his voice barely above a whisper, “did we get through?”

“Yes and no,” Tucker replied, checking Archer’s pulse and temperature. “We got through but it was like being in a nightmare. The worst storm I’ve ever seen and then some, rocks were being thrown through the air by the wind, constant lightning. Anyway,” he paused shaking his head, “we were moved again but I haven’t had a chance to find out whether this is another sphere or not.”

“You cut yourself again,” Archer’s voice was stronger as concern for his friend gave him energy.

“I did?”

“Yeah, you’ve got blood running down your face.”

Trip shrugged, putting a hand to his face. “I didn’t notice, thought it was water. It musta been the rocks.” He reached down into the pack which he had left on the ground and took out a medical wipe running it quickly over his face.

Archer laughed, “You just smeared it, let me,” he offered, reaching out his hand for the wipe.

Trip handed it over, glad to see his friend with some energy, and sat still as Archer cleaned the cut. He couldn’t really feel it as he was still cold but he used the time to think. “The last few times we were moved there was a little more to see.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Archer agreed, finishing up with Trip’s cut. “You’ve got quite a bump there, you sure it’s not bothering you?”

Tucker shook his head, “Nah, prob’ly too cold. Y’know,” he paused, rubbing his eyes tiredly, “I don’t think this is a sphere. I think we rushed them and they didn’t have one ready.”

“Then maybe this is our chance, perhaps we got back into the caves by default.”

“Uhuh, so, we need to move quickly before they get a sphere ready and chuck us out again.”

Wordlessly Archer began to push himself up from the ground, taking Trip’s hand for support. “I don’t know about you,” he said, “but I’m getting damned tired of all this.”

“I’m with you Capt’n,” Tucker agreed, “you OK with the flashlight again?”

“Sure, which way d’you want to go?”

“Down if we can, we were headin’ that way when they moved us from the caves before.”

Archer nodded and braced himself as Trip began walking. Try as he might he found he had to lean more heavily on his friend than before, somehow his good leg just wouldn’t co-operate as well as it had. But all this was taking its toll on Trip too and privately Jon doubted that they would be able to go too much further without help. They had to find a way out of here.

They made their way slowly around the edge of the vast cavern looking for any opening that might lead off downwards. Twice they had to stop to rest but eventually their persistence paid off and they found a narrow opening off to their right.

“Turn off the light,” Tucker suggested, “let’s see if it’s lit at all down there.”

Archer did as his friend suggested and was rewarded with the faintest of glows some way down the narrow passage. “Wonder if anyone’s home?”

“Someone’s been movin’ us all over the place. Let’s hope they’re still not ready with anywhere new because I doubt we’ll be able to sneak up on ‘em.”

“They do seem to know where we are,” Jon agreed. “Listen,” he whispered, stopping Trip from moving again, “can you hear something?”

“Yeah,” Trip nodded grimly, “sounds like a generator, a powerful one at that.”

“It would need to be.”

“We need to find a control room.” Tucker spoke softly but Archer could hear the determination in his friend’s voice.

They began moving again, trying to be as quiet as possible but with their limited mobility it was difficult. After a time they noticed that the glow from the walls was more intense and they shut off the flashlight. The noise of the generator too was increasing. “That wasn’t here before,” Trip whispered, adjusting his grip round Archer’s waist. The captain was leaning heavily on him and hadn’t spoken for some time, saving his energies for walking. Trip sat him down to rest for a moment and slid wearily down beside him, trying to focus his thoughts.

He was becoming more and more convinced that a control centre of some sort must be near by. Why have it any distance from the generator? That wouldn’t make sense. All they had to do was to find it and access the controls without being stopped or moved. Easy, he shrugged, wishing he could believe himself.

In the end finding the control room proved easier than they could have hoped. They had barely started walking again when they rounded a corner and were met by a pulsing red dot. Beyond they could see a cavern opening out to reveal a vast complex of generators and monitors around the walls. “Uh oh,” Trip spoke softly, not wanting a repeat of his experience with the red light. He backed them up slowly towards the corner when, out of the corner of his eye he saw the dot move until it was behind them. “Damn,” he said crossly, “now what?”

“You must wait here,” the voice seemed to come from everywhere at once and Tucker cringed at the volume. “The sphere is not ready, you would not survive.”

“Who are you?” Archer asked from Tucker’s side. “We mean you no harm, we’d just like to get off this planet.”

“You must wait here,” the voice repeated. “The sphere is not ready.”

“We don’t want to go to the sphere,” Tucker stated firmly, “we want to go back to our ship.”

“All of the ships left millennia ago. You must wait here.”

“We got that bit,” Trip said crossly. “Capt’n can you try and distract it, I’ll see if I can get past to the control room.” As he spoke he set Archer down on the ground and began easing himself to the side as the captain began to speak.

“Our ship only arrived a few days ago, we crashed on your planet,” Archer began.

“The planet is shielded to protect you. You must wait here.”

This is getting’ kinda repetitive, Trip thought as he slowly made his way back around the corner. He could hear Jon having a one sided conversation with the voice but left it to his friend to handle that side of things as he approached the control room. He slid the pack off his back and looked through the opening that served as a door. After all that this planet had thrown at them he didn’t want to be stopped at the last by a force field or similar. His caution proved well founded as a close inspection revealed a shimmering electrical field across the entrance. Keep it talking Capt’n, he muttered as he selected a tool to try and access the panel he had spotted in the wall.

The controls in the panel were complex. Deciding that speed was more important than finesse Trip picked up a rock and slammed it into the panel with all of the pent up emotions within him. The result was less than spectacular but successful none the less as the electrical field suddenly shimmered out of existence. Tucker entered the room quickly and took stock. The cavern was huge, much bigger than it had looked from the passage and was clearly manmade. Along one side were computer screens showing scenes of what he supposed were spheres in the process of completion. He recognised the Enterprise sphere but clearly it had fallen victim to the weather outside as the images of the ship showed scenes of devastation.

Two monitors along the scene was one from his childhood with simple buildings by the Florida Keys. He had been scanned, it had just taken some time for the computer processors to come up with the more complex patterns rather than just changing the weather systems and repairing the spheres. Trip shook his head in silent admiration for the programmers whose knowledge and expertise had set this system up. He sure would like to have met them but the voice had said all the ships left millennia ago so it didn’t look likely.

He counted twenty monitors in all with scenes on them. The complex was much more extensive than they had imagined. Reaching the end of the wall at last he turned to look at the generators. Their systems were recognisable at least but again they were vast. He didn’t know where to begin to look for the sensor block.

Suddenly a shout came from off to his left. Jon.

“It’s programmed to protect Trip,” Archer yelled as Tucker raced towards him. “And that includes the complex. Look out.”

Trip ducked down behind the generators as the red light appeared in the doorway. “You must wait in the holding area,” the voice boomed, reverberating even over the noise of the engines.

Through the doorway Tucker could see the captain crawling determinedly towards them, yelling to try and distract the light. Trip knew he had moments only before he was discovered and with that discovery maybe their last chance of escape. He nipped between the generators looking for something, anything, with which to shut the complex down. A loud humming began which he recognised as the precursor to the transport beam and in desperation he started flinging switches and turning handles to throw the giant generators out of action.

The humming abruptly stopped and the lights began to flicker, turning red as the pulsing light approached again. Tucker tripped more switches and ducked as quickly as he was able between the massive machines as a whining began and the red light grew in intensity before suddenly disappearing altogether.

The cavern was plunged into darkness as the whining increased, growing in pitch and menace. Fires began breaking out and Tucker flung himself in the direction of the doorway and the captain. “We’ve gotta get out of here Jon,” he yelled. “It’s either gonna blow completely or else just stop working which could be just as bad.” As he spoke he pulled Archer to his feet and half dragged, half carried him back up the passage and around as many corners as possible.

The whining followed them, accompanied by a series of explosions that made the ground shake beneath them. “Gotta keep goin’,” Trip gasped, rocking on his feet as he tried to hold them steady.

“Where?” Archer rasped, doing his best to help his friend. Both were running on pure adrenaline.

“No further than the cavern we were moved to last time. If the generators go offline they won’t be able to support the spheres and they’ll soon break down. Believe me you don’t want to be outside in that storm.”

Archer heard the undercurrent of desperation in his friend’s voice and what he had left unsaid. Enterprise had better be looking for us or we’re on borrowed time. “You didn’t have any choice Trip,” he offered breathlessly as they pushed on further up the passageway. “I don’t think either of us would’ve wanted to be trapped here forever.”

Tucker didn’t answer but concentrated instead on putting as much distance as possible between them and the control room. They were moving largely by instinct as the only light came from the flickering flames reflected off the rocks behind them. The air was becoming choked with smoke and the echoing whine of the dying generators filled their senses.

Abruptly they reached the end of the passage just as a massive explosion reached their ears to be followed immediately by an immense rush of air as the destructive force was flung along the passage to find release. They were thrown into the air to land several metres away into the cavern, falling debris landing all about them as their world erupted.

*********************************

Smoke particles swirled in the air to land delicately on the backs of the two men and amongst the rocky detritus that surrounded them. The silence was deafening in its intensity and it was long moments before either found their voice. Finally Tucker eased himself coughing to his knees in the darkness and called out to his friend. “Capt’n? Jon? Where are you?”

Archer moaned softly and moved his arm, catching Trip’s knee as he did so. Trip grasped his hand in relief. “I guess we made it Capt’n,” he said, “now we wait.”

Jon squeezed Trip’s hand in his and lay back sighing gently. He heard optimism from his friend this time and somehow he couldn’t help but agree with him especially when a gentle beeping from the communicator in his pocket connected them once again to the outside world.

***********************************

Epilogue.

Trip awoke and stretched carefully. He still ached all over from being pummelled by the rocks but he felt refreshed for the first time in days. Refreshed and clean he reflected which was a definite bonus. He turned his head and looked at the bed next to him. Archer was sitting up watching him, his leg encased in a support to keep the blanket from touching it.

“Hey, how’re you doing?” Jon asked smiling.

“Good, you?”

Archer nodded, like Trip he still looked worn but the lines of pain and exhaustion that had been etched on their faces when they had been picked up two days earlier had gone.
“Doc says he’ll probably release us to quarters today.”

“Thank you,” Trip raised his face to the ceiling a look of contentment passing over his features. Much as he appreciated Phlox’s care he didn’t want to spend any more time in sickbay than he had to.

The door opened and T’Pol entered with Reed. She nodded at the captain and then Tucker before consulting the padd she held. “The last of the biospheres has been obliterated by the storms,” she announced, all trace of the relief she had felt at the safe return of her colleagues suitably masked.

Tucker shook his head, regret on his face. “It was an incredible system T’Pol, you should’ve seen it. It’s a cryin’ shame it had to be destroyed.”

“You had no choice Trip,” Archer repeated, “as the voice said all of the builders were long gone. They obviously hadn’t been able to make a success of the scheme at all.”

“No but the computer and those generators. I would’ve loved to get a better look at that programming,” Tucker sighed wistfully.

Reed smiled at his friend sympathetically, inordinately glad to have the crew complete once again. “At least the planet is now visible so no-one else is likely to crash down there.”

Archer looked sombre, recalling the events of the past few days. He knew he wouldn’t have survived on his own, neither of them would. They were a team, he and Trip and the crew of the Enterprise, each of them stronger for knowing each other. He picked up his glass of water from the nightstand and raised it in a toast. “To friendship,” he said, eyeing each of his colleagues and resting his gaze on Trip.

“Friendship,” they echoed, Trip’s eyes twinkling as he touched his glass to his friend’s.

The End

Return to Chapter 7

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!

Eight hardy souls have made comments

Let me be the first one to congratulate you on a great story! My first Star Trek story was also posted here on Trip!
Good dialog between characters and well done plot. I always enjoy Trip & Archer's friendship. It really adds a lot to the series. Archer always seems like Trip's older brother as well as best friend. Thanks again and hope to see more of your stories posted here. :-)

Wow!! I'm blown away at how good that was for a first! I was carried along with the two of them as they struggled to get out, and to survive each sphere's assault.

Their friendship was well portrayed, and indeed they most likely wouldn't have survived alone...the need to stay strong for each other carried them through.

I was sorry in a way when they were eventually rescued, as it meant the adventure had ended.

Well done, and write again, soon.

This was a great fic! I love the Archer/Trip friendship and you captured it nicely! I hope we see more stories from you here! Thanks!

Wow!!! This would make a great episode, what with all that suspense and action! Makes me wonder about the race that built those biospheres. All in all, a great story.

Excellent, this was so good and I loved the idea of the equipment left by the Builders continuing to automatically carry out its' original directive, scanning Trip then building him spheres taken from his memory in an effort to protect him. A great concept that you used really well and the friendship between Jon and Trip is very realistic too. Great stuff, many thanks and much kudos. Ali D :~)

That was a excellent story. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and it was good science fiction, as well as capturing the Archer/Tucker friendship nicely.

Wonderful story kept me on the edge of my seat. Really nice to see the Trip/Archer friendship again. Pity we dont get any of it in season 3. All we get is angry Archer and vengeful Trip. Hope we see their friendhship blossom again soon. Thanks for a great story.

wow, That was amazing a real on the seat edge kinda story. amazing how do u ppl even manage to write ure first story? i cant get a chapter done before i give up.