Flashback - Diane Carey [69]
At the bottom of the cliff, a herd of mammoths looked up disinterestedly. One of them raised its trunk, waved its huge curving tusks, and trumpeted upward at the proto-human commotion. One of the mammoths gathered its baby under its thick legs, as if afraid that Titi might fall on it.
Muk choked on his own spittle. He was losing his grip-Janeway reached down and caught at the soft hem of Tuvok's sleeve, catching his wrist just before he would have slipped irretrievably into the open air.
He stared up at her, all Vulcan reserve drained from his chalky face.
She was stretched out on her stomach at the edge of the plateau, her right arm yanked almost out of its socket by his weight-he weighed far more than she did. If she attempted to get to her knees and use the stronger muscles of her legs to pull him up, she'd never be able to keep her grip.
"I won't let you fall," she rasped, her voice scratching out of her throat, raw with dust from the scratching of Tuvok's boots on the face of the cliff.
"Stop kicking ... we can do this. Ke ep the grip- don't worry, you're not hurting me ... I'm not going to let you fall."
"Captain-"
"Try to relax. Brace your feet on the roots. I can see the roots and rocks . . . bring your toes forward, Tuvok. I won't let go, no matter what happens. If you fall, you'll take me with you, and I don't intend to go."
"It's hopeless," he gasped up at her as he dangled. His body slowed its pendulous waving as he took her at her word and stopped struggling.
Janeway tasted the grit of the plateau's edge. "There's something here with us," she choked out. "Something we have to beat together. We can do it, if I don't let you fall and you don't let go."
"But," he wheezed, "is it a life-form?"
"I don't know. I've sensed it for hours-a presence I can't explain. It won't be resolved if I let you fall. It's terrified of letting you fall. . . it's been living with the guilt for centuries, Tuvok. You and I have to beat this entity. All of this has happened with children who couldn't deal with it. We're going to deal with it, you and I. . .right now. Put your toes on the bank and press slightly. Very slightly . .."
"Captain-"
"Muk!"
"Rameses!"
"lacob!"
"Tukala!"
"Li!"
"Bobby!"
"Dimitri!"
"Tuvok!"
"Captain- "
"That's it. Your right boot is near a heavy root. Two inches to your center. Don't look down-don't! I'll lose my balance if you swing at all... good."
She felt her rib cage bite into the unforgiving stone, felt the ligaments of her arm wrench until her hand began to go numb.
She dug her own toes into the grit and willed herself to stay calm.
"Good," she repeated on a gasp. "Brace on that root . . . I'm going to lower my left hand now. You raise your right hand-"
Tuvok was shuddering every few seconds with mental and physical effort, but he did as she asked. Slowly he raised his right hand to meet her left hand as she extended it.
Her shoulders screamed with agony, but if she inched forward to give herself relief, the imbalance of his weight against hers would yank her over the cliffs edge.
"I'm going to make this our primary grip," she said as their hands took hold of each other by the wrists. "I'm going to pull you up about four inches. Your left foot should be able to reach a little ledge that's at your knee right now."
Dutifully Tuvok didn't attempt to look down, which would have changed the whole attitude of his
body as he hung braced on one root and a skinny captain. Janeway summoned all her strength to raise him just a little, and he raised his left leg.
"I have it!" he wheezed with the surge of a tiny win.
"Test