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"Leap of Faith" by A. Rhea King
Rating: PG CHAPTER 1 Travis Mayweather walked down a tunnel that had intricate patterns carved into the living stone. Each design was decorated with gems, some the size of baseballs. The patterns and gems were tapering off quickly. He stopped, looking at his scanner when it beeped. Behind him two Starfleet xeno-geologists along with Malcolm and Hoshi followed, their electric lanterns revealing the carvings in greater detail as the light swung past. They each wore a backpack and carried cases of geological equipment. “I’m picking up trace gas,” Travis said. The group stopped around him. “I wonder if designing with gems became too monotonous or too expensive,” Malcolm ruminated. “What’s the ratio?” “Two parts to one.” “Should we continue, sir?” one of the geologists asked. “Yes,” Malcolm answered. He looked ahead, seeing the tunnel was divided. “Lieutenant Schaffer and Ensign Jackson, begin surveying the tunnel on the left. If the Vispeyn gas concentration is over five parts, evacuate immediately and alert us.” “Yes, sir,” they replied as they headed down the tunnel. Travis, Malcolm, and Hoshi entered the right tunnel. “I can go ahead and find a place to set up camp, sir,” Travis offered. Malcolm nodded, handing Travis his case before he left. Malcolm walked to the left side of the tunnel and began scanning for tarinium. Mentally, he was shaking his head over this mission. Some supposed genius engineer thought a very scarce mineral called tarinium was going to be the next generation of warp engine fuel. The mineral was volatile and released a tasteless, odorless gas that was twice as volatile. The idea had led to a lot of controversy on Earth and Enterprise. Trip was sure that Starfleet would never replace plasma with the mineral, and therefore, so was Malcolm. So when the order came that he was going to be senior officer on these pointless geological surveys, he pointed out to Archer how it was a waste of time and manpower. The point led to an argument, which ended when Archer calmly explained, ‘Malcolm, I don’t think Trip is wrong either, but orders are orders, and sometimes being a senior officer means doing things you don’t want to do, including humoring bureaucrats and catering to their whims.’ Malcolm hated that ugly truth, but left to pack for the expedition without further dispute. Behind him, Hoshi sat her case and lantern down to begin scanning the carvings on the walls. She looked down the tunnel, making sure Travis was gone, and then turned to Malcolm with an ornery smile. “Sir, permission to speak freely?” Malcolm stopped what he was doing. For the last four days Hoshi had been chalk full of vigor and orneriness, as if she were glad to be stretching her legs in real gravity. “Permission granted.” “How did Captain Archer convince you to come down here?” “I have nothing against geological surveys,” Malcolm blatantly lied. “That’s not what I heard.” “How did he convince you, Ensign?” “Alien language written all over the walls. And you?” “I volunteered. I couldn’t stand being away from you and your hotplate.” Malcolm smirked, imagining the look on her face. Hoshi blushed and turned back to scanning. “Actually, I do enjoy spelunking.” Malcolm looked sidelong at her. “It’s one of my hidden interests.” Hoshi smiled again. “One day I’m going to learn some nice, juicy and highly embarrassing hidden interests, and then, when you get married, I’m telling your wife alllll about them. All because of a hotplate.” Malcolm turned to her, crossing his arms. “You’ve got me married off already?” Hoshi turned a taunting glare on him. “And do I feel sorry for the poor woman stuck with you, sir.” Malcolm laughed. “As I feel for the poor bloke in it with you, Ensign.” Hoshi laughed, turning back to her scans. “Give me a few minutes to reload my wit canon.” Malcolm chuckled, turning back to scanning the wall. He frowned at his scanner, smacking it. Hoshi looked over her shoulder at him. “What’s wrong?” “It’s dying. I must have grabbed the one we used on the surface.” Malcolm picked up his lantern and headed down the tunnel. “I’ll be back shortly.” “I’ll be waiting for another sparring round, sir.” Malcolm laughed, disappearing into the darkness. Hoshi continued scanning the writing. Her scanner beeped and she changed screens. The message flashing on the screen made her throat constrict: Vispeyn level 7:1 and an arrow pointing up flashed in red next to the ratio. Hoshi dropped her lantern, running after Malcolm. “RUN!” she screamed. # Hearing Hoshi scream, Malcolm turned. Suddenly the ground shook, and bright white light lit up the tunnel, followed by a hot blast of hot air that slammed Malcolm to the tunnel floor where he could feel how deep the quake was. Chunks of rock and stalactite crashed to the floor in a deafening procession. He covered his head, waiting for the shaking to stop. It ceased as abruptly as it had begun. Malcolm held his breath, waiting a few seconds to make sure it had stopped. He lifted his head, spotting his lantern lying on the tunnel floor within reach. He leapt to his feet, snatched it up, and ran back up the tunnel. # She felt something wet and cool on her face. Subtle noises like cloth against cloth were over exaggerated in the intense silence surrounding her. Hoshi wet her lips and grimaced. The movement made her face hurt. She reached up and someone caught her arm, pulling her hand away from her face. “Don’t touch your face, Hoshi.” She knew that accented voice, but she couldn’t place the name right away. “Where am I?” Hoshi murmured. “We’re still in the caves.” ‘Malcolm. Lieutenant Reed.’ Hoshi’s memories allowed her access again, but they didn’t fill in the blanks as to why her face and hands hurt. She opened her eyes, finding herself in darkness. “What happened?” “Vispeyn gas must have built up. I guess we should have listened to Ensign Jackson’s warning when he said it was building more frequently.” “Where are they?” “I don’t know. The tunnel caved in.” “Good thing I’m not afraid of the dark.” The cool wet thing was removed from her face and reapplied in seconds. “Does that help any?” Malcolm asked. “Yeah. What is it?” “Burn packs.” Hoshi smiled. “And since you’re not getting it in my eyes, am I to assume you’ve memorized my face, Lieutenant?” “No.” Malcolm chuckled. “Why do you ask?” “Because I imagine it’s difficult to apply the packs in the dark.” “In the dark?” Travis asked. Hoshi heard deep concern in his voice. “Yeah. It’s so dark I can’t see my hand in front of my face.” Silence was the men’s reply and it made Hoshi’s stomach sink. She could hear Malcolm and Travis scarcely breathing. One of them moved closer to her. “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?” Hoshi asked. His voice was dark and tight when Malcolm replied, “We have four lanterns on, Hoshi, and I’m holding my hand in front of your face.” Hoshi’s mouth dried. Her throat tightened. The lump in her stomach became ice cold. “No,” Hoshi whispered. “NO!” |
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