Caretaker - L. A. Graf [72]
Pulling Kim to his feet as he stood, Paris decided to attribute the captain's silence to damaged communicators, and the devil take anyone who said different.
"Voyager, prepare to transport everyone in this group except me."
Neelix angled a disbelieving stare up at Paris as Paris passed Kim into his arms. "You're not thinking of going back in there?"
It wasn't a question deserving the dignity of a reply.
Backing away from the others, Paris picked up the flashlight Kes had left lying on the ground and tested to make sure it would still throw a beam. Not much of one, but better than absolute darkness. As he prepared to head back for the tunnel, he heard Neelix sigh explosively, and glanced up to see the little alien bob forward to touch his nose briefly to Kes's.
"The fool needs company." Neelix sighed with a shrug. He smiled into his beloved's eyes. "Take care of them, dearest! I'll see you later."
She nodded mutely, gathering Kim and the Maquis close against her as Neelix gently fixed his own comm badge to her shift. Smiling, Paris tapped open a channel to the starship far above them.
"Voyager, make that three to beam up. Lock on to the other comm badge and energize."
Neelix paused long enough to pat once more at Kes's cheek; then the warbling tremolo of the transporter began to tingle the air around them. He danced away to join Paris before the beam could lock him in place, and Paris let him stay until the last sparkling atom had dissipated and carried Kes away. Then, impatient to be on his way, he clapped Neelix once on the arm as a signal to follow, and ducked back into the cave entrance with nothing but a dying flashlight to lead them.
* Janeway woke up to darkness. Darkness that shook and rumbled like thunder, and smelled like moldy dirt. Slapping at the ground on all sides, her hand collided with a cold, ridged cylinder that nearly rolled beyond her reach before she could lock her hand around it and pull it into her lap. She recognized the shape and heft of it as soon as she had it in both hands--the flashlight Daggin's people had given them on their way to these ancient tunnels. The tunnels were apparently feeling every moment of their years under the Array's powerful assault.
Twisting the cylinder to activate it, she thanked whatever gods watched over starship captains when it sprayed a bright cone of light across the landing and down the flight of stairs she'd just stepped off of before the last loud explosion hit.
She found Tuvok first. He'd been directly behind her, his hand even touching her shoulder now and again in the darkness as they climbed, as though silently reassuring himself of both her presence and her nearness in the almost total dark. Now, he lay facedown on the metal staircase, a spray of green blood glistening on the steps and wall beside him. Swallowing her heart as she worked her way down to him, she pressed shaking fingers to his throat and held her breath as though that would help the security officer to breathe instead.
The quick hammer of his pulse against her hand made her dizzy with relief. That was one of the other good things about Vulcans, she thought as she took up his arms to drag him off the rickety stairs and onto the more solid rock landing. They were as reliable as antigravs, and nearly as hard to disable. If she could just get him out of here and back onto Voyager, he would no doubt be peering at her with his usual hint of Vulcan superiority before the end of the day. I hope to give you that chance, old friend.
Something moved farther back in the darkness as the flashlight beam played across the steps almost a full level below. Janeway froze, Tuvok's weight pulling at her arms, and Chakotay raised a hand to shield his eyes from the light now focused directly on him. His angular face was twisted with pain.
"I can't move," he called up, waving the captain away. Or maybe just the light. She couldn't