The Murdered Sun - Christie Golden [39]
"I'm sure you'll do just fine, Kim. Matter of fact..." The words suddenly dissolved into gibberish as his tongue ceased to function properly. The dimness that had been coyly playing about the corners of his vision now descended full force. His firmly muscled legs gave a damn good impression of rubber as they suddenly refused to support him.
The last thing that Paris was aware of as he sped toward unconsciousness was how swiftly Kaavi could move when she wanted to and how firm a support her strong arms were as they caught him before he hit the ground.
***
Paris started to regain consciousness the minute the medication from the hypo hit his system. He blinked fuzzily, trying to manage a sardonic grin for the benefit of Chakotay, who stared intently into his face. From the first officer's expression, though, Paris knew the grin was feeble.
"How do you feel?" asked Chakotay, concerned.
"Did you get the number of that transport that ran me over?" quipped Paris weakly.
Chakotay's full lips quirked in a slight smile of his own.
"That's the Tom Paris we know and love." He gestured with the empty hypo. "I've given one to myself and Torres as well. It was the heat and the humidity. Plus, the air is extremely thick.
If you'd checked your tricorder, you'd find that the heat is somewhere around forty-nine degrees centigrade on the planet surface. Of the three of us, you're the one least used to that kind of temperature. I grew up in a hot climate, and Torres's chemistry is different from ours. You should be fine now."
And to his surprise, Paris found he was feeling better. Even the headache that beat an angry tattoo inside his temples was starting to fade.
With his recovery came a new awareness of his surroundings. He felt a lot cooler now than he had before, that much was certain.
They were all apparently underground now, and the light seemed to be emanating from the rocks themselves.
He was in a sitting position. The rocks beneath him were cold, but something warm and soft supported his back. He turned around and was startled and embarrassed to see that he owed his comfort to Kaavi, who held him cradled against her long, muscular body.
She smiled and for the first time seemed genuinely pleased. He could tell by the way her large amber eyes crinkled happily at the corners.
"I was worried about you, Par-is. I am glad that you have recovered so quickly."
"Kaavi caught you before you fell and insisted on carrying you down here personally," said Chakotay in a tone of voice that sounded slightly like a teacher's rebuke. Paris wondered if Janeway had briefed her first officer on his initial dislike of the Verunans. It would be just like her and Chakotay to sneak in a lecture even when it didn't sound like one.
"Um, thanks, thanks a lot, Kaavi," he said as he edged away from her.
"That was... kind of you."
The Verunan shrugged. "You are my charge while you are here. I didn't want anything happening to you." She rose to her feet with far more dexterity than he would have guessed from the sheer bulk of her body.
Moving slowly, still not certain of his own body's response, Paris followed suit.
And received still more surprises.
If the area on the surface indicated a primitive culture, the chambers below ground were so advanced as to astonish Paris. The cooling stone arched over a startlingly complex array of computers and equipment.
Dozens of Verunans, wearing clothing identical to that worn by Anahu and Kaavi, moved about purposefully. From what he could glean, the Verunans' technology wasn't that much far behind the Federation's.
"What...?" he began.
"Tom," said Torres, her hands on her hips and a smug grin on her face, "shut up and turn around."'
Thoroughly surrendering to the situation, the lieutenant did so.
"Oh, my God," he breathed softly, "she's gorgeous."
Not eight meters away, raised on a platform so that the uniformed engineers could reach her underbelly, was