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It was already October dusk by the time the small group made it back to Tag 51. Roy and Tom hastened to get Chakotay inside a warm sleeping bag while Johnny got out a portable O2 canister from Roy's larger field pack in the main tent. He set its mask over Chakotay's face and put it only at the lowest flow rate he needed. "This has got to last the night until he recovers more circulation into his lungs." Gage said to Tom, about Chakotay's shock. He retreated immediately for more firewood. Roy watched Paris nod in agreement then watched him start to gather Chakotay up by the shoulders. "What are you doing?" he asked. "It's gonna be dry enough here by the tent." Tom stopped lifting and said. "He's cold. I'm moving him closer to the campfire." "Not with this oxygen here you're not. This is highly flammable." Roy insisted. "Oh." Paris said, "You're right. I...sort of forgot about that." Johnny had returned with an armful of logs and understood at once, what had happened at a glance. "I can fix both of your problems. Hang on..." he said smiling. He returned with a few hot rocks on a beach towel from the fire's edge. "Line the bag with these.. He'll be warm with these nestled against him and the O2 won't be risked so near the fire..." Roy and Tom both said, "Thanks." All three got to planting hot boulders into place inside the sleeping bag and around the injured man. Slowly, Chakotay stopped his involuntary shivering. Paris said, once Chakotay was comfortably bundled and heated. "I do appreciate what you're doing for Chakotay and me. I... just feel a little out of my element here." Johnny grinned. "So do we." "Think nothing of it." DeSoto reassured him with a slight grin that didn't hide his medical worrying. Roy and Tom and Johnny were deep into discussing a rescue plan to get Chakotay along the fastest route back to civilization when a cough from the bedroll attracted their attention. All three men scrambled over to him in the darkness, shining a flashlight onto his face. |
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Johnny eased the oxygen mask off long enough to make sure things were fine with the commander's breathing after he pulled out the short airway. He hadn't vomited. He was shocked to see dark eyes blinking up at his own in confusion. "Easy there, Mr. Chakotay. I've got a friend of yours right here. You've had a fall but we're taking real good care of you so don't try to move around just yet. You've internal injuries." Gage shared softly, holding him still with a gentle hand on his chest. "T--Tom?" Chakotay's panting got out. "Right here, Comman- uh, coming....." Paris said, leaning in on the first officer. "I found these two firemen who have emergency medical training as paramedics. We're in their campsite and we're working on a way to get you to some help right now." "Can't-t. go into town, Tom.. Can't.." he said, tossing his head as he fought awake. "Not our place." "Of course we can. We'll be real polite and accomodating, okay? We have to forget being a pair of hermits for a while. So what?" Paris said in a backstory, "Lie still." Chakotay wasn't listening. He was still lost in the truth. ".. can't break the Pr--" he gasped, muzzy. Paris pretended a cough, cutting him off. "Shhh," Tom said, replacing the hissing mask over Chakotay's face. "We have to. These two men and I agree that your condition is only going to worsen without intervention and I myself can't help you alone with our bandaids and rolling tape." he said significantly to him. His meaning got through to Chakotay at last and he nodded slowly. He lifted his hand to touch Tom's shoulder in understanding when he noticed the clear I.V. fluid line running into it. His look of surprise made Roy say, "It's only normal saline. Keeping your blood pressure up. If you've noticed, your belly pain's the reason why we started one on you. We think you may be bleeding out inside into your abdomen. Tomorrow morning at daybreak, two of us are going to hike for help from the nearest ranger station. Either Johnny or I will stay here with you until rescue workers come to fly you out of here." "Fly? Oh, ..fly.." said Chakotay, thinking carefully, orienting himself to time a possible period. Tom Paris pantomimed a crafty set of fingers framed into Roman numerals behind the paramedics' back at Chakotay addressing his guess at a year. "I'll stay, Roy." Johnny said, "I'm worn out from carrying him. What did they feed ya at that commune, Chakotay? I think you've crippled me for life, man." he joked, popping his stiff shoulders. Tom stiffened up at his superior's unhappy reaction to that little lying story previously dished out. Paris pretended to fuss with the Commander's O2 flow valve on the primitive gas tank. "Yeah, this is good. At a two." he read avoiding the measurement term he couldn't guess at, with mm/L symbols on the dial. "Better?" he asked. Chakotay just grunted and swallowed around his dry mouth. Desoto reached up and set the mask on Chakotay's chest so the flow still reached him as he offered Chakotay a mug of warmish tea and sugar. "Thirsty at all? Just sip it or you might get nauseated. No, don't move, let your friend help you with that straw there." Johnny looked at Roy. "We have a straw?" Roy shrugged his shoulders. "I got kids." "Thanks for the tea." The Voyager first officer got in about two mouthfuls before the effort exhausted him. He closed his eyes. "Oh, I've had better days. This isn't one of them." "So I've heard." Johnny said, studying Chakotay's face. "Say, is your head bothering you?" he asked, feeling around Chakotay's forehead and neck for problems. Chakotay looked at him. "Not at all. I just feel a little shaky and I have some discomfort in my shoulders. Funny, I don't remember getting hurt there." "Both of them? At the very top on both sides of your shoulders?" Gage asked quickly. Chakotay nodded. Roy and Johnny exchanged glances. ::Spleen then.:: "It's pain that's being referred from farther down. So far, the I.V.'s keeping your BP elevated but we think the hemorrhaging you're having will get worse before it gets better. We've done all we can until we get in contact with a doctor." John said. |
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Tom slowly nodded an affirmation to Chakotay subtlely, telling him the same story was true about the Delta Flyer's state of disrepair and disability. "What kind of chances do I have for surviving until help arrives." Chakotay asked realistically. Roy answered instantly. "We'll do everything we can for you to keep you going. Exploratory surgery will be the telling factor determining that in the long run." he said truthfully. "I see." Chakotay said, then he met the paramedic's eyes evenly. "May I have a few words with Tom? Alone?" "Of course." Johnny said. John and Roy retreated to the edge of the ring of firelight, ten yards away to prepare a quick dinner for those who could eat and to pack up the things they would need for the journey in the morning. Tom looked down the moment the two Earth men were out of earshot. "Commander. I did what I had to do. I couldn't treat you myself with just a tricorder. That beam smashed both med kits." "Listen, Tom. I know you did what you thought was best. But the Prime Directive is clear. No contact when out of time. At all. I'm willing to be sacrificed to preserve the timeline." "Sir." "Mr. Paris. That's an order.." Tom's mouth worked a bit. "I'm sure the captain wouldn't agree with you. We didn't ask for those Borg to come and try to assimilate us. We were making a simple trading run, Chakotay. I'm sure that Voyager's somewhere out there, right now, trying to find us despite of the danger that Cube might represent. We have a chance to get back, sir. I left a trail for her the Borg will never think to follow." "You did what?" Chakotay said angrily. "How could you put Voyager in danger like that. The second we were discovered by that Cube, our mission instantly became one to keep Voyager from being discovered, even at the expense of our own lives. You know Kathryn's got a stubborn streak a light year long. She's going to try to use that trail to find us and that activity'll bring the Borg right down on top of Voyager and afterwards, to this Earth here, of the past." "Hear me out Chakotay. Yes, I had the Mustang in a back cargo hold on the Flyer. I just... leaked a can of old fashioned gasoline out into space through the trash dump as we were being tractored in. I even suspect that some of it even got sucked into that wormhole with us before it ran out. Now you tell me whether or not the Borg are smart enough to even track a technological substance that is so primitively organic. To the Borg, mere gasoline is irrelevant. And everyone knows Borg drones make rotten grease monkeys. They'll never know." That shut Chakotay up. ::Do I dare hope?:: he thought to himself. Tom pressed his advantage. "You don't deserve to be facing this choice of whether or not you live or die, Commander. So far, you're the only one willing to throw your life away just for the sake of following proper protocol. We can still pull this off. I can get you to a hospital, then swing back to the Flyer and get a tricorder and my notes to keep from making any further transgressions into their timeline. The second you're cured, I'll break you out of bed, we get back here, make repairs, and then we're home free." Chakotay's eyes narrowed, "Are you sure that wormhole's not going anywhere?" "Positive. It's trailing Halley's comet like it always does every seventy years to Earth, making its tail grow. It's at 74,000 kph, and holding, coming this way. We could catch it on one impulse engine if we have to." "Only one?" Chakotay asked. Tom firmly placed the O2 mask over his commander's face again. "Only one." Sighing, Chakotay nodded slowly, "Do it." and gave himself up to the sleep pulling him under. An instinct made Johnny rise and walk back over to Tom and Chakotay. "Hey, he's out again.. Why didn't you call us back over?" he said irritably. He felt the big man's neck for a carotid. "He's fine, John. Only sleeping. Best thing for him right now. Best thing for us, too. Roy, you and I should hit the hay. Or, one staying up and spelling in turns to keep watch on him?" he suggested. |
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Johnny nodded and handed Tom a freeze dried meal, so he'd have something to eat. Tom looked at it strangely. Johnny saw his apprehension. "It's filled with carbs, protein. It's what the astronauts take with them. I bet you haven't eaten in awhile." Tom nodded and took the bar from Johnny. He tore it open, sniffed it and took a bite. ::My first meal back on Earth is what they gave astronauts.:: "Umm, tasty." Johnny smiled. "I know it's not the best, but it's nutritious and easy to carry." Tom looked at him while he ate his meal. "And Tom, call me Johnny. John is too formal." "Okay, Johnny." Paris grinned. Johnny finished checking Chakotay and realized that Tom was right. The man WAS only sleeping. The oxygen had made him relax, too, a bit, for the muscles in his abdomen were not so knotted anymore. ::Maybe the hemorrhaging's easing off.:: he speculated. But then that idea got replaced with the voice of experience. ::Internal bleeds from the URQ always need surgery, Johnny Gage. For a spleen IS a blood resevoir. How can you stop a leak from a lake that big? It can only get bigger.. This is just a reprieve.:: his mind told him. He frowned remembering his own splenectomy after his hit and run accident. He had almost died from his internal injury then. That didn't end up happening but Gage had lost his spleen and a little of his stamina as a result of his brush with death. Tom spoke up, "Anything you need me to do while you take the first vigil over him?" "I'll be fine. Bring a fresh load of hot stones in an hour and I'm good." he finally answered the man. "All right. Call me if anything changes. I'll be right over there by Roy. We're sleeping outside so we'll hear you." Tom said. "Go. We've a busy day ahead of us tomorrow an' I know you're bushed." Gage chided, heading off Tom's protest, then he started taking a set of vitals on Chakotay. ::Still the same. He's holding. But there's only so much you can do with hot stones and a little water.:: he realized. John hunkered down next to the pile of steaming stones for warmth, with a grip on the pulse beating in Chakotay's wrist to monitor him. He started to lightly doze, but the doze was that of all firemen, always alert to his surroundings. ========================= Roy watched Tom approach him and tossed him a tied up sleeping bag. "How is he?" "Sleeping. His vitals are the same. It seems that I.V. thingamabob actually works." Roy looked oddly at Tom. "It's the cutting edge of paramedical medicine. It should work. Although I'd feel better with a MAST suit handy." "And I'd feel better with the EMH in hand." "What's an EMH?" Desoto asked. "Oh, I meant, EMS. Yeah, the Emergency Medical Services." "Wouldn't we all?" Roy chuckled. "There's no point in living in California if we didn't have them available. That's why I joined the department. Try to get some rest. Dawn'll come before you know it." "You, too." Tom said. He stretched out uneasily, dreading what could come and haunted by what had already arrived. Roy's voice next to him made him jump. "My partner's very good at what he does. Your friend isn't going to die in the night. Johnny won't let that happen." "I hope you're right." "I know I'm right. I taught Johnny everything he knows." "Thanks, Mr. DeSoto." "No problem. Call me Roy." "Okay, Roy." Comforted, Tom dropped off into fitful sleep. He never even felt Roy come over to cover him with a blanket to ward off the cold. ============================ It was a long cold night for Johnny. He looked at his watch and realized that neither Tom or Roy should take the next shift, with the long walk to come, as he was feeling okay. Knowing that he'd be staying behind with Chakotay meant he'd be able to rest well later. So Johnny decided to let the two sleep on. The fire was still glowing and its warmth felt good, even from a distance. Johnny got up and checked Chakotay's vital signs and his overall condition yet again. He was still the same, on the low side of normal, which was a good sign to Johnny. His shock was still taking a very slow advancement for his type of injury. Johnny was about to pull his hand away, when it was gripped by Chakotay's sweating one. "Everything is okay, Chakotay. Just try to rest." Johnny made to break the grip, but he was held firm. He gave up trying to ease the stricken man in the grip of his new pain, Johnny started talking with him. "What tribe are you from?" Chakotay opened his eyes in confusion and looked at John. He noticed Johnny's features and realized Johnny was a Native American. But then his better reasoning kicked in. Afraid of the Prime Directive, Chakotay didn't respond. "I'm Sioux – Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota." Johnny offered to him. Chakotay heard the information, but it didn't register to John that he knew what that meant. The man just shook his head, released his grip on Johnny's palm and closed his eyes. Roy approached the two and knelt down next to Johnny. "How's he doing?" "No changes." "You were supposed to wake me." "I wasn't THAT tired so I figured I stay on." "You're gonna have your hands busy when you're alone again with him, in about an hour. You need your rest, too." "Yes, Dad." Gage teased, finally agreeing. The two men stood up. Johnny walked over to the sleeping bags and gingerly got into the one Roy just vacated. At least Roy's body heat was still there. Johnny put his left arm over his face and was asleep in seconds. Roy, relieved that Johnny was settled, moved some heated rocks close to himself. He leaned back against the spot that Johnny had used and he let his mind wander. He thought about their two new companions and what possible reasons could exist about what they might be escaping. ::Commune refugees? Doesn't make sense. Despite of that story from the both of them, their actions are speaking louder than their words. It's clear they're holding back information about themselves. Not divulging any history at all. I wonder why?:: But then his concern over his patient made him fuss over the splint and O2 and I.V. line and suddenly, his unsubstantiated doubts were low priority. ::If I'm going to risk treating this man, I better be right in my decision to assume his care outside my sphere of influence like this with the I.V.:: he mentally decided. |
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Time passed slowly. Morning hues of marmalades and lemon sunlight brightened the eastern sky. Tom Paris woke up with a start, but quickly remembered where he was. Sleeping near him was Johnny. On the other side of the campsite, Roy was sitting near Chakotay. Roy was asleep sitting up. His hand was on Chakotay's arm, where he could still feel the movement of the commander's breathing underneath it. Tom looked at Roy and then looked at Johnny. ::From what I've read about firemen from the past, these guys are real heroes. Boy am I lucky that they found us.:: he thought. Tom got out from the sleeping bag and went to the provisions. He saw the coffee pot that Johnny had mentioned the day before. He went down to the stream, carrying the canteens and stared at the water. Emotions welled up inside of him. He was on earth, his actual home. Even if it wasn't his real time, it was still feeling painfully like home. ::I can't think about it. We can't stay here.:: Bending down, Tom cupped his hands and slurped up some cold water from a canteen. It chilled him but tasted sweet. He filled up the other canteens from the nearby trout stream and headed back to the campsite. Tom found the coffee grounds in a sack and he really had to remember how to prepare the fresh coffee. ::Wow, this is the real stuff, not from a food dispenser or one of Neelix's paltry coffee like concoctions, but real fresh java. Oh, Kathryn.:: he thought. ::If only you were here. You'd be in heaven.:: he smiled about Captain Janeway. Doing the best he could, Tom put the coffee grounds into the top and the water in the bottom and put the percolator on the grate covering the fire. He continued rummaging through the food supplies. The least he could do was make breakfast for his new friends. Johnny heard Tom moving about the camp and got up. Stretching to get the kinks out, he walked over to Roy. He bent down and looked at Chakotay and the oxygen mask to make sure it was still in place and flowing. Roy woke up hearing Johnny inflate the BP cuff. "I thought you were going to wake Tom." Johnny asked as the cuff hissed out for a reading. "He woke himself. Probably worrying a bit." DeSoto shrugged. Looking at their patient, Roy asked, "How is Mr. Chakotay?" "Holding his own. I'll watch him while you get yourselves ready for the hike." Johnny sat down in Roy's place and Roy got up. He walked over to the fire and picked up a canteen and took a long swallow. "Smells good, what are you making, Tom?" "I found your pancake mix so I experimented. I found fresh berries that you had picked and stored over there so I added them to the batter." Roy bent down and picked up two mugs and poured out a cup of coffee. Finding the sugar he put in three teaspoons. "Want some coffee, too?" Roy took a sip. Tom flipped some pancakes and nodded his head yes. "I can't refuse." he grinned. Roy poured a cup for him and placed it down. He then moved the coffee pot away from his partner, fearing a repeat of Johnny's accident. He teased him a bit by making a show of dragging it away from his booted feet without saying anything. "I learned my lesson, Roy. Would you cut it out?" Gage griped. "How's Chakotay doing, Mr. DeSoto?" Paris asked. "He's holding his own. Amazing, considering the belly bleed. I bet he comes from strong stock. After breakfast, we should get moving. It will take four hours to get to that park base. And even then the rangers'll have to muster a group with stokes and their gear for about fifteen more minutes before we can start back here. Afterwards, it'll take even more time until we can cut out a safe clearing for a helicopter." Tom frowned. "You're not afraid of flying are you?" Roy smiled. Tom laughed. "Me? Of flying? No fear whatsoever. It's just that-- Oh, never mind." he said when his amusement failed him at the memory of Delta Flyer's current condition. Tom sat with Chakotay while Roy and John ate breakfast nearer to the fire. Tom was worried. He was worried for his friend's well being, but the longer they were away from their shuttle, the more difficult it would be to get back onboard ship once Voyager detected them. Roy was packing up his backpack and provisions that he'd carry with him. Tom was also rolling up a map they had shown him which showed the route to the Ranger base and he expertly tested the hand held radio with the familiarity of solid Captain Proton holodeck experience. Roy watched Johnny take a couple of aspirins. "You okay?" Gage looked up from the face he was making as he washed down the acrid stuff with left over coffee from his mug. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit achy. Carrying him all that way made me sore. The aspirin will help." Then he realized that Roy was mother henning him again. He turned sarcastic while Roy grinned, "Listen, just forget about my dumb aches. You be sure to use that radio when you're gone. We've got that nice range of ten miles. And they should still work the distance between us even when you both get there to the tower." He shivered as he bound his down vest tighter around himself. Roy looked at his friend but Johnny turned away. Roy wasn't sure if Johnny was telling the complete truth about his energy level. He decided to let Johnny manage his own reserves and let things go without further prying. ::My main worry is for Chakotay.:: "Let's go Tom." Tom nodded, but before leaving, he walked over to Chakotay. He knelt by the Commander but didn't disturb him beyond speaking. "Chakotay, I'm leaving now with Roy. John, I mean Johnny, will be staying behind. He'll take good care of you, so don't worry. Leave it to me and them to find us that medical help like we talked about last night." The Commander didn't indicate that he knew Tom was above him. But Tom knew even in his deep sleep, he had been heard. |
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With that, Tom and Roy left. --------------------------------- They made good time. Tom hefted his pack a little more firmly around his shoulders about an hour later. He broke their concentrated silence while they navigated the narrow trail leading to the ranger's tower that they could see far across the valley. The distance Paris figured they had still yet to go prompted a question from him to his paramedic guide. "Seems to me that you two should have had a vehicle or other form of transportation a little closer to camp than this. I saw your flight glider in the grove before we left." Roy smiled, turning back, moving a pine bow out of his companion's way, "Flight glider? Oh, you mean Johnny's hang glider. Heh. That's a hobby of his he's managed to hang onto years after I gave it up. He says it helps build character making him "one with the eagles" soaring up there. Some years he actually finds them flying in the valley." Tom nodded back. "Nice.." Roy went on, "To answer your question, we hiked in instead of driving for a similar reason. Johnny likes feeling like he's shedding the city in the process of getting to camp. Takes a full nine miles to do that he says." Paris sighed, "Right now. I wish I could just snap my fingers and undo everything that happened to us in the last day or two." Roy laughed, "Don't think that'd ever be possible." And he forged on ahead along the trail. Tom muttered under his breath, "Oh, you'd be surprised if I told you it was..." he said softly, thinking of the Q. DeSoto didn't hear him as he took up his binoculars and spied ahead, in line of sight with the tower. "We should be close enough." And he retuned his handy radio to the universal distress frequency to contact any rangers who might be there. "Mayday. Mayday. Mayday. This is Roy DeSoto on emergency band 21. Come in ranger station.." Static met his ears. Tom's forehead furrowed, "What's the range on that thing again?" "Ten miles." Tom eyeballed the shimmering tower he saw through the fog on the ridge across the valley. "We're way closer than that to it. Any radio over there should be picking us up.." Roy pointed to another section of the ridge. "This is Cretaceous Strata below us. Bound to be some magnetic interference from the rocks around here in isolated pockets. We just may be over one. Come on.." And he gestured for Tom to follow him. "We'll try again in the meadow. It's just ahead." -------------------------------- Johnny cleaned up camp keeping an ear out for Chakotay. He didn't stray far from the wounded man's side as he worked. He eyeballed the fire. ::I think I'll keep that going all day. He's gonna get chilled even more than he already is with that belly bleed.:: When he was through, he knelt by the big man's side and looked at his pupils again using the sun light for his stimuli. Chakotay did not awaken. Concerned, Johnny felt the strength of his breathing with a hand and gently shook his shoulder. "Hey. How are you doing?" Chakotay startled awake. "Look out! We're gonna cra--" he shouted, jolting awake. He cut off his sentence when he saw Johnny's face above his own. Gage straightened his face growing serious. "Just what do you mean by that? And don't tell me you were having a dream. Is that what you two were really up to when we found you? Flying un-permitted into National Park airspace's illegal." Chakotay froze as his memory returned in snatches, of exactly where he was. He could tell by his benefactor's body english that anything but the truth wasn't going to wash. He told the truth. Boldly. "You're right. We crashed while..... sightseeing." Johnny threw his head to the side, "Aowww man.. Did your friend check to make sure fuel didn't spill out? Last thing we need is a forest fire starting." Chakotay smiled, "Don't have to worry about that with our flyer, our "fuel"'s not your standard variety combustible." Gage sighed, "Don't tell me, you two are thrill seekers, experimental pilots and fellow adventurers all rolled into one." "You could say that. Part of the job." Gage's grin dropped away, "Then why the cover story?" "Wouldn't you lie too if you crashed down into forbidden territory? Picture the consequences. Revoked pilot's licenses, criminal trespass charges, worse...." Chakotay said. Johnny said, "Yeah, well. My responsibility to you is strictly medical. I don't want to get involved in a court scene over this any more than I have to. Once we get you to the hospital. You don't know me." "I can live with that." Chakotay admitted, inwardly pleased that his rescuer wanted little contact with the Flyer's crash site. He shifted his neck on the bundle of clothes his head rested on and winced at a sharp stab which took his breath away. Johnny instantly caught his head. "Easy. Staying still has been masking your injuries. You're still bleeding internally." he reported, turning on the O2 again when Chakotay's lips turned blue while his skin paled. "This will help a bit." |
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Chakotay sighed, "Thanks.." He rested for a few moments, catching his breath. "So.. how does it feel to be a Native American working in the big city?" Johnny grinned, setting himself down on the seat of his pants after he put another blanket over Chakotay. "Feels great. My family says it's just another kind of reservation there... A high tech one..that pays a LOT better." "Know what you mean.." Chakotay said. "My people feel the same about my career choice." "Oh? And what's that?" "I fly and I'm a Commander. Tom and I have served together." Johnny grew thoughtful. "So that's why Paris is so respectful of you. I thought I heard him call you that last night. Bet he's not a commander. That's really great. I myself.. " and he grinned lopsidedly, "...have never been drafted, know what I mean? Never had the time being in the department and all.. and it's still not likely that my kind of people are widely accepted in the military these days." "Same here." Chakotay admitted. "My father was dead set against my leaving." "You like your boss?" John said. "Pardon?" Johnny reiterated, "Do you like who you work for?" "Oh, sure. Kathryn's been an inspiration to me. We've been through a lot of scrapes together. Although, a lot of times, we don't see eye to eye." "Know what you mean." Johnny chuckled, "Sometimes, Cap can be a real pain in the a--" He broke off when his radio popped into life. Gage snapped it up. "Roy? That was fast." Roy's voice came over clearly, ##Hate to burst your bubble but we're still across the valley from the ranger tower. There's too much electrostatic interference here for my radio to transmit to them to see if anyone's about this morning yet.## Chakotay crooked a finger to the radio asking to see it by motioning. "Let me speak to Tom." Johnny handed it over. "Tom." Chakotay said, "Remember your "flight pin"? The one we all wear on our uniform...?" Paris took the hint without being obvious to Roy. ##Yeah, I got it here.## "Good. Glad you didn't lose it. Kathryn would be very upset with us if we showed up for work to fly without them later on.." Tom thought, ::Chakotay's been forced to say a little of our true origin.. But how much?:: he wondered. He listened as the commander spoke on. "Listen, lieutenant." Tom took the hint, ##Yes, sir!## falling into character. "....the metal casing on the pin may help as an antennae so you can extend the range of your frequency..got that?" Chakotay said, throwing implied hints to Tom. ##Yes, sir! Commander, sir.## he said, playing it up well for Roy's benefit. Tom understood right away how much Chakotay had told John about themselves. ##Trying to use the pin, sir. Paris out.## ------------------------------------------------------------------------ And he pulled out his Voyager's combadge and pressed it in a subtle way Roy didn't notice. Its booster worked. It began augmenting the battery operated radio into a more powerful signal. He took the pin and taped it to the radio antennae in a show like he was improvising. "Try it now, Roy." He gave the radio back to him. Roy mumbled, "Chakotay's your boss in the army?" Tom nodded. "He's a tough one, too." "Sounds like it." the fair haired man chuckled. Roy lifted the radio to his lips and said, "Ranger Tower this is Roy DeSoto on emergency band 21. Mayday." There came a reply instantly... |
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##DeSoto at Tag 51 this is Sierra at Ranger Tower, we copy your transmission. What is your emergency?## Roy toggled the talk button. "Sierra, we have an injured--" "Don't say pilot, please." Tom whispered urgently at Roy. "Maybe I'll be allowed to show you why..." he said, biting his lip. ::Now you've hammered the last nail on the coffin. Chakotay's gonna love you for this.:: screamed his inner conscience. "It's a matter of national security." Tom began again, grabbing one of Roy's shoulders firmly, keeping his gaze steadily. Paris held up a mock up of a federal agent's license and metal badge from the Delta Flyer's disguised, replicated pack that he had carried since the beginning. "Wh--?" DeSoto gaped, shocked. Roy eyed Paris and the I.D. with a jolt, and then continued as requested. "...man at our campsite. He has multiple trauma and a fractured humerus. We've started an emergency I.V. and he's on oxygen. We're requesting an immediate flight with an available rescue copter." ##DeSoto, what is your treatment capability? We note your paramedic status on paperwork.## replied the ranger in the park tower. "Limited. I'm with one of the victim's.......coworkers." he added hesitating. ##10-4, we're sending in a Sierra team. We'll rendevous to your location first to pick up both of you. We have your radio coordinates locked on transceiver scope.## "Roger that. Tell the hospital that a surgeon will definitely be needed asap." ##Affirm, Tag 51. Hang tight. Our E.T.A. is six minutes.## Roy sighed as he lowered his radio. "Well that saves a few miles for the both of us, going there and coming back." he said, eyeing up the distant ranger tower on top of the ridge. He pulled off and handed the taped combadge back to Tom. "They know exactly where we are now." he replied. "Thanks for that mini repeater's usage. Though I can say I've never ever seen one that tiny before." "It's one of a few, new experimental toys we've just got issued." Paris fibbed, pinning the combadge back onto its usual place on his shirt. "That's why we were flying over the park, to test one of them out away from the city in a rural area." he lied again levelly, trying to dismiss the subject. "I'm glad Chakotay, at the very least, is going to have a fighting chance here now." "You've realized how bad he is?" DeSoto asked in surprise. "Intimately. Sometimes I work mandatory duty in sickbay back home. You pick up a few things." Tom grinned tightly. DeSoto sat down on a storm cracked stump to rest. "Tell me one thing. Do I have your word that your downed aircraft out there in the woods isn't about to start a forest fire? I'm asking that as part of my job. I'm guessing that you two have already got the army or something coming in to muscle it out of any potential public eye, sight unseen. It'll be my neck if a forest fire risk exists and it's found out that I didn't report it." Tom sucked in a careful breath through his nose cautiously. "She won't be starting any fires, Roy. This I know. I helped build her." he said with exasperation and a little cockiness. "There are triple redundancies designed into every operating system that way. They don't break." DeSoto became short tempered. "Then why didn't you radio out to your bosses about the accident the moment it happened?! Chakotay was clearly in no kind of condition to delay getting any help." |
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Paris was struck speechless, trying to think fast on how to answer. Roy's eyes flashed at him for his silence. "I know all military jets have rock solid transponders that go off automatically upon any crash landing. I served in Nam. Something about the two of you isn't ringing absolute truth here. No matter how hard I try to put my finger on it." DeSoto snapped angrily. He was tired, sore, and mad that he was involved in yet another emergency situation during his rare, hard won weekend time off. Paris didn't flinch. "Mr. DeSoto, I can't tell you more. I'm under strict orders. Just be satisfied that Chakotay and I are going to be in really big trouble once we get back home. Kathryn won't stand for anything more than the barest minimum action necessary to fix an on the ground situation like ours. You..... wouldn't want to meet her eye to eye when facing the music, believe me.." he said, paling visibly at the memory of such moments in the past on Voyager. Roy's ire fizzled. "That bad, eh?" "Worse." Tom nodded, empathetic. "Captain Janeway dresses down like pure hydrochloric acid. Trust me." "She sounds a lot like Dr. Brackett when a patient's treatment goes awry with a new medic or intern." "Dr. Brackett?" "Kel's his name. He's my medical boss." Roy finally grinned. "Taught me and Johnny everything we know about emergency medicine. Tough as nails. Stubborn. And he's absolutely right about any argument we might have, all the time." "Sounds painfully familiar." Tom commiserated, taking a sip from his canteen after toasting to the memory. Roy scoffed in amusement. "He's not that bad." But then his expression fell into a very uncomfortable frown. "Only when you're on the.... receiving end of it." He cleared his throat dryly. "Makes you feel like you're five years old again in a heartbeat." he thought with barely veiled remembered horror. "Ouch." Tom passed him the canteen in sympathy. "Here, looks like you need this more than I." "Thanks." Roy said, and began to gulp of it, deeply. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Johnny Gage looked up from the light doze he had been taking while sitting Indian style by the fire a few minutes later. Chakotay had begun to pant again, rapidly. Gage crawled quickly over to the sleeping bag with the full medkit. "Chakotay? Tell me what the problem is. What's the matter? What's wrong?" he said, feeling the quality of the pulse in the commander's neck. It was thready, barely felt. "I'm right here." |
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--------------------------------------------------------------------- Back on the ridge, Roy's radio went off. ##Roy! Tom! Tell 'em to step it up a little! Chakotay's going south and I don't know why!## Gage said over his channel. "We'll be there yesterday!" Paris said into it as he watched Roy guide in the helicopter to their landing area with hand gestures. "What's going on?" ##Some kind of reaction. He's not breathing so hot. Started just a minute ago. And it's not due to the internal bleeding. His pressure's still the same. Palpable at the brachial.## Gage reported, still bagging oxygen into Chakotay's lungs fully whenever he couldn't inhale some in on his own. ## I've given him a first dose of epi. But I've only got one more left! His skin's really losing its perfusion color.## ::What the h*ll?!:: Paris quailed. Then he realized all at once. ::Oh, sh*t! That Borg tractor that snagged us just before we entered the Halley's Comet wormhole! It must have been some kind of new way for them to infect people remotely.:: Tom said the only thing he could. "We're doing good if he's still got a pulse. Be there soon. Do what you can." Paris finally saw his hand signal from the red helmeted ranger pilot to climb on board with Roy. "We're taking off now!" ##Let me talk to Roy!## Gage demanded urgently. Tom passed off the radio to DeSoto as he got buckled in. "Complications." he told him. "Johnny, go." Roy said, acknowledging as he watched Tom Paris buckle in. The rescue chopper took off. ##Allergic reaction! One of the worst I've ever seen. He's breathing somewhat without obstruction so I haven't intubated yet. Tell them to have epi standing by even before that defibrillator, Roy.## "I hear ya loud and clear." he said and then he toggled the headset he was wearing to communicate with the pilots and other ranger medic to relay the news. "Adult epi, sudden onset acute anaphylaxis." he ordered the flight medic, as the paramedic in charge. "Roger. I'll get it set up." said the man. "Johnny, we'll be there in just minutes." Roy told Gage as they roared over the pine trees towards Tag 51. ##I can already hear ya!## -------------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Paris stepped to the forest floor, pulling off his helmet quickly. He ran to Roy. "I'm going on ahead while you guys unload the litter!" "Here!" said the medic, passing off the capped, prepared syringe to Tom. "Got it!" Tom told him. Then he started running for the campsite down the mountain. Once he was out of sight in the trees, he hit his combadge. "Paris to Delta Flyer, come in!" The shuttle's computer voice came to life. ##Working.## "Emergency beam out! One to the transporter pad." he shouted, holding still as the Flyer's transient energy took hold. |
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Tom Paris materialized inside of the dark smoky interior of the Flyer. "Lights!" he shouted, rushing for a special console set into the wall above the destroyed medical biobed. He flipped down a hatch and pulled out a spare empty hypospray into his hand as he activated a med tricorder by flipping it open. He knelt onto the floor and started scanning the crash filthy carpetting. "Come on, there's got to be some of them still here." The tricorder dutifully beeped at a spot on the floor just behind the co-pilot's seat. Taking a probe, Tom began magnetically picking up unseen microscopic objects and dumping them into a waiting petris dish he had snatched from out of a shattered lab kit. Power flickered briefly. "Girl, don't fail on me yet." Tom said to the sleek but battered little ship. He leaped for the medical hatch again and pulled out a small trapezoidal chip, held it up into the air about shoulder height and pressed it. "I still need you. Computer, activate the EMH!" "Please state the nature of the medical--" said a familiar hologram as it sprang to life and filled out underneath the portable holo emitter that Tom was holding. It was the emergency medical hologram, a balding dark eyed male in a blue and black tunic'd medical suit. "Doc! No time to talk. Chakotay's being assimilated by Borg nanoprobes outside a few miles away. We're on Earth of the past by a few hundred years. I need two things. I need you to reprogram some of these into a cure for him and I need another batch made into disassemblers to take apart this whole shuttle right down to the molecular level!" He passed off his collection dish of Seven's shed Borg skin nannites over to the EMH. "Think you can handle that?" "What am I? An hallucination?" the projection snapped as he began work with a subatomic protoplaser beam Paris gave him from the alcove. "Close. You're a replica Chakotay and I have been experimenting with and'll be only online for another minute or so. Then the Delta Flyer's emergency batteries will fail and very soon after that, you'll die off for good." "Wonderful. Nice to know I'll live such a long, happy life." the EMH said sarcastically as he played first a blue beam over half the dish, then a yellow one over the other side. He finished work and shut off his sophisticated tool with a snap. He shoved the dish back into Tom's shaking hand. "Do me a favor, Flyboy. Save my portable holoemitter and reconstitute me onto the next ship the two of you build when you finally get back to the right century. I like being activated like this more than you can ever possibly know. The first time here wasn't exactly a charm." |
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"Done." Paris told him, meeting his eye. "Which ones are the fix?" he said, holding up his empty hypospray toggled into the absorb setting. "Think blue." the EMH said, hurt. "Like my holoshirt." he said pulling on his collar. "Yellow is always anti-biohazard. My G*d, Mr. Paris. Have you forgotten your sickbay medic's training already?" "Not by a long shot. Thanks, doc." he said, sucking up Seven's blue glowing reprogrammed Borg cure nannites into his hypospray while the EMH held up the dish in mock impatience. "From both Chakotay and me." Paris sighed expansively, and very eager in his stress. "Now, how to I use Seven's disassemblers here?" The EMH didn't even blink, but a hint of emotion played across his unreal features. "Are you sure you want to end all hope of you getting back into orbit and back home to Voyager? Once the Flyer's destroyed, the away team won't be able to figure out where on this primitive mudball you are easily." "We'll take our chances, doc. Prime Directive, remember?" "What about the Hippocratic Oath? First due no harm? I can't imagine Earth of this time enjoying having you around." the doc sniffed. "Funny, doc. Now, how do I melt the d*mned ship?" The EMH snatched the dish with the remaining yellow glowing nannites from Tom's hand and tossed its contents over his shoulder dryly. The sparkles landed on the back of the smashed pilot seats and still smoking flight console. Where they fell, matter started disappearing into nonexistence. Tom began to see just scorched forest floor appearing into the hungrily eating nannite decay holes as they grew larger. "Both types of nannites will self destruct the same way as the Delta Flyer soon as they've served their purpose. No muss, no fuss. Your crash crater will be mistaken for a lightning strike's work." |
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Tom grinned. "Thanks." and he started heading for the door after grabbing up a few other handy devices into his away team pack. "Wait! Remember your promise to me?!" said the doc, looking nervous as the decay started making the shuttle's power sputter. "Oh. Yeah. Right." Tom said, plucking off the doc's holoemitter from the EMH's shoulder area in mid air. The holodoctor disappeared from view. Paris pocketed the doc's program and called out aloud. "Paris to Delta Flyer. One to beam out to my previous coordinates. Mark!" ##C-Complying.## the shuttle stuttered as she began to rapidly unconstitute into organic dust from stem to stern. ::Ah, that's a sad sight. My poor girl. All that work.:: Tom mourned. ::I sure hope Captain Janeway'll be far happier about this than I am. Temporal Prime Directive my---:: Paris dematerialized. |
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------------------------------ Tom reappeared out of the transporter beam at a run. He got to the rescue team's side just as they finished strapping in the last stokes strap around Chakotay's long board. "Where did you go?" Roy asked him, holding up Chakotay's I.V. as the park rangers lifted up the basket stretcher in a careful carry to move to the helicopter. They allowed time as they walked for Gage to continue breathing for Chakotay using the oxygen BVM. Roy held the I.V. bag in his teeth as he accepted the epinephrine syringe Tom gave him and prepared to use it. Paris looked properly abashed. "I... got turned around. I thought I was closer to the creek than I actually was when I turned right." Tom said. He watched as all the rescuers intently watched Roy injecting the medication. Then, when they weren't looking, using sleight of hand, Tom injected a dose from the shuttle's hypospray of blue nannites into Chakotay's side out of sight underneath the shock sheet. ::Too bad the doc didn't have time to whip up a batch of red surgical repair nannites for me. But, beggars can't be choosers.:: Paris wished. ::We didn't have time enough.:: |
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The second the nannites had finished being pressed through Chakotay's clothes into his circulatory system, the commander started to cough vigorously with new life around the ventilations. "That did it." Johnny smiled. "The new epi's working!" he said, switching out the ambu bag to a plain oxygen mask as they moved swiftly towards the rescue chopper. "He's breathing normally again." "Whew! That was close!" Tom covered, his relief actually not feigned. "Thanks, Johnny. We owe you one." "Anytime." smiled the Native American paramedic. Still being crafty, Tom monitored the nannites progress in their cure with a medical tricorder poking out a zippered pouch from his backpack that he held neatly in front of him as if he were nervous. He located the only Borg eruption that had made it to the surface. Tom watched as the sole Borg implant fell off of the back of Chakotay's hand as the pale silvery skin healed and turned flesh toned again. He pocketed the spidery thing discreetly out of view. With his fingers, he felt the blue nannites disintegrate the device to powder inside of his pocket. Sighing in relief, he hung his head in weariness and followed all of his rescuers to the helicopter. ::I wonder what's going to happen to us now?:: |
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