Marooned - Christie Golden [37]
"Hrrrl," repeated Janeway, holding the syllable deep in her throat and keeping it nasal. The creature tossed its head excitedly and rubbed her back in that circular motion again, but with more enthusiasm than gentleness this time.
"Ain-way," Hrrrl growled, and this time the name came easier to him. He pointed with his staff, and Janeway could see smoke twining upward. Campfires, perhaps. "Khaank." And then Hrrrl rattled off lengthy sentences, pointing with his staff to various things Janeway couldn't yet see.
This is going to be onefor the log, Janeway thought. Her sense of adventure rose, calling out to the explorer, the scientist inside her. If it weren't for Kes-and the fact that her crew aboard Voyager was totally in the dark as to her fate and that of the away team-she might have enjoyed this.
In a few minutes, Janeway's human vision could see what the clearly superior Mishkaran sight could-a small encampment, with a large fire around which were clustered more Mishkarans. There were no recognizable shelters. However, there was something that she had not expected to see, give the apparently primitive level of the Mishkarans-Janeway spotted what appeared to be the ruins of several old ships. As she watched, two more Mishkarans emerged from the shadowed hulk of a long-dead vessel.
Hrrrl chattered away as he led her forward. The Mishkarans at the encampment had obviously seen them coming for a while, and had gathered together into a crowd of some twenty or thirty. A few young ones, about a meter tall and with larger heads and eyes in proportion to their slimmer bodies, peered shyly around the protective barrier of their parents at the strangers.
Gently, Hrrrl pushed Janeway forward. "Djainway," he announced, following the introduction with a babble of words in his own harsh tongue. Janeway motioned to the rest of her crew. One by one, they stepped forward and introduced themselves while the Mishkarans gazed at them curiously.
Again Janeway felt pressure on her back, propelling her forward, then a push on her shoulder signaled her to sit. She and the rest of her crew complied, and she was surprised at how good the warmth of the fire felt. She'd been moving so briskly she hadn't had a chance to get chilled, but the temperature had dropped as what passed for the sun had gone down. Automatically, Janeway glanced up to see what constellations were visible from the surface. Of course, she could see none. The thick ion storm prevented that. Darkness fell about her almost as she watched, and she realized that night on this planet would be very black indeed. They had seen no moon in orbit about Mishkara to provide any kind of reflective illumination.
Hrrrl motioned, and another Mishkaran stepped forward. He held himself stiffly, as if this were a formal occasion, and carried a sack that looked to have been made out of an animal skin of some sort. Introducing himself as Rraagh, with great ceremony he placed the bag in front of Janeway. The captain hesitated, uncertain what might be inside it, but at Hrrrl's eager gesture, she took a deep breath and carefully opened the sack.
Inside, gleaming in the flickering light of the fire, was every free tool and spare part from the shuttlecraft.
Suddenly Janeway felt warm from more than the fire. She opened the bag wider, so that the others might see. "They want us to fix our instruments," she said, marveling at the innocent trust so displayed. Some of the items in the sack, while most were harmless enough things like tricorders and communicators, were phasers. A single wide-angle blast from one of those could have killed most of the tribe. She glanced up at the shaggy creature and wondered, seeing him through the eyes of a friend, how she could have thought him an enemy.
"Hrrrl, thank you. Here, B'Elanna. The first thing I want up and running is a communicator. I want to be able to thank our new friends in a way they can understand."
"Gladly, Captain," replied Torres, clearly relieved at having something useful