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Chapter 5

Lt. Worf punched a few buttons on his console in desperation. "Sir, I have lost track of the away team."

Captain Picard swore under his breath. "Where were they last?" he asked.

"They were heading north, following the coastline," Worf answered.

"They must have gone underground or something," Lt. Shay suggested.

At that point, Lt. LaForge stepped out of the turbolift, followed by Dr. Crusher's son Wesley. "Captain, I think we got something," Geordi said. He motioned for Picard, Worf, and the others to join him at the Sciences console. The screen lit up, revealing a map of the planet's surface. Blotches of color were scattered across random areas on the map.

"You see these colored areas? These regions are where the EM fluctuations are the highest," Geordi said. "Coincidentally, those happen to be areas where the altitude is the lowest."

"The EM fluctuations are the highest at sea level," Lt. Shay observed. "We just lost them a few seconds ago while they were walking along the beach." He glanced over at Worf, who said nothing.

"There's something else," Wesley chimed in. "We were looking through these readings, and we found something really bizarre." The boy paused, knowing that what he was about to say would probably sound so far-fetched, that the crew wouldn't believe him.

"The planet itself is giving off bioelectric signatures."

*****

"So which cave do we take?"

The beach had ended abruptly, leading the away team to a huge cliff face overlooking the sea. Numerous caverns pockmarked the rocky wall before them.

"None of these look big enough to house a ship that size," Tasha said.

"Mr. Data, are there any caverns on the other side of the cliff?" Riker asked.

Data took another look at his tricorder. "No sir. None. Just these. However, the caverns we see before us are interconnected, similar to a naturally-occurring labyrinth."

"How complex is this labyrinth?"

Data punched a few buttons on his tricorder, squinted and shook his head. "Unknown, sir," he said. "The tricorder's maximum scanning range is now down to ten meters."

"It's these EM fluctuations," Riker said. "There's probably a wide open space somewhere in those caves where they could have stashed that ship."

"How?" Tasha asked. "These entrances are too small."

"There could have been an opening, like a sinkhole or something, on top of that cliff that they could have lowered the ship into the caverns somehow." He noticed Tasha's incredulous expression. "Just a thought, Lieutenant."

Tasha shrugged. "Well in that case, if these caverns are interconnected, we shouldn't have a problem getting lost," she said. She stepped into the nearest cave's mouth and motioned the other two to follow.

*****

The water was ankle-deep. The roar of ocean waves echoed along the walls of the cavern. Tasha ventured ahead, using her tricorder light as a flashlight. It was not long before they had ventured far enough inside the caverns that they lost the sunlight.

The echoes every droplet of water made as they dripped into the water along the floor suddenly made Tasha shudder. She thought back to her nightmare of drowning. It would be awful to die down here, in the dark, murky water...

"Is something wrong, Lieutenant?"

Data's voice brought Tasha out of her thoughts. "Um...just watch your step," she said. "It gets a bit slippery here. There are some loose rocks..."

Tasha felt her heart pound against her chest. Loose rocks, ankle-deep water, dank tunnels...she was suddenly reminded of the colony planet on which she spent her childhood. She, her sister and some other children would hide out from the rape gangs in the sewers, in the cold, wet blackness, daring not to move a muscle, lest they make a splash and alert them to their presence. Tasha remembered the cramped spaces in which she sometimes had to crawl to get away from them when that did happen...

She wiped her hand over her face, noticing that she had started sweating.

"Are you sure you're all right, Tasha?" Riker asked.

"I'm fine," Tasha said, trying to keep her voice level. Her drowning nightmare was coming back...the water felt deeper here.

"Careful," Riker said. "There's a hole right..."

Splash!

"Ahh!"

"Tasha!"

"I'm okay," Tasha said. "The hole's kind of deep, though." She began to dog-paddle toward the other side. The other two followed close behind.

"Hey, the ground is a bit higher over here," Tasha said. What a relief...She pulled herself onto the ledge and sat down. Yes, the ground felt so nice and dry...

"Any reading on that ship yet?" she asked as Riker and Data hoisted themselves onto the ledge.

Data checked his tricorder. It was a miracle it was still working. He shook his head. "No sign of any ship," he answered.

Tasha cursed under her breath. She stood up and motioned for her companions to follow her. The light from her tricorder was starting to grow dim. They had to find that ship soon.

"We need to be very careful here," Riker said after about a minute of walking. "This doesn't sound like a very safe part of the caverns."

"Quite right, Commander," Data said. He stopped and ran his free hand over one of the rock walls. "These rocks must have fallen here recently."

"Well, we'll just have to be careful where we're stepping," Tasha said. "Data, you go first, since your tricorder seems to be working fine. Mine's almost dead."

"The composition of the rock here is different from that closer to the entrance," Data continued as he squeezed past Riker. Tasha thought she saw some sand fall from the low ceiling as Data squeezed between her and the wall.

"Data..."

"This rock is made of some kind of sedimentary rock that is softer and less--"

"Data! The ceiling's caving in!!" Tasha shouted. Sure enough, the sand began to trickle down steadily. Tasha and Riker sprinted past Data, who was still reading off his tricorder. Riker turned around, grabbed Data's sleeve and forced him to run with the rest of them. Tasha was a few meters ahead running blindly.

Then it happened. The ceiling just ahead of Riker and Data was beginning to collapse as well.

"TASHA!!"

Tasha turned around. She saw the ceiling begin to collapse. "Come on, guys!" she shouted. She continued running forward. Suddenly, the ground disappeared beneath her feet. She toppled forward and felt her forehead hit the ground before blacking out completely.

Description
Chapter 5

Lt. Worf punched a few buttons on his console in desperation. "Sir, I have lost track of the away team."

Captain Picard swore under his breath. "Where were they last?" he asked.

"They were heading north, following the coastline," Worf answered.

"They must have gone underground or something," Lt. Shay suggested.

At that point, Lt. LaForge stepped out of the turbolift, followed by Dr. Crusher's son Wesley. "Captain, I think we got something," Geordi said. He motioned for Picard, Worf, and the others to join him at the Sciences console. The screen lit up, revealing a map of the planet's surface. Blotches of color were scattered across random areas on the map.

"You see these colored areas? These regions are where the EM fluctuations are the highest," Geordi said. "Coincidentally, those happen to be areas where the altitude is the lowest."

"The EM fluctuations are the highest at sea level," Lt. Shay observed. "We just lost them a few seconds ago while they were walking along the beach." He glanced over at Worf, who said nothing.

"There's something else," Wesley chimed in. "We were looking through these readings, and we found something really bizarre." The boy paused, knowing that what he was about to say would probably sound so far-fetched, that the crew wouldn't believe him.

"The planet itself is giving off bioelectric signatures."

*****

"So which cave do we take?"

The beach had ended abruptly, leading the away team to a huge cliff face overlooking the sea. Numerous caverns pockmarked the rocky wall before them.

"None of these look big enough to house a ship that size," Tasha said.

"Mr. Data, are there any caverns on the other side of the cliff?" Riker asked.

Data took another look at his tricorder. "No sir. None. Just these. However, the caverns we see before us are interconnected, similar to a naturally-occurring labyrinth."

"How complex is this labyrinth?"

Data punched a few buttons on his tricorder, squinted and shook his head. "Unknown, sir," he said. "The tricorder's maximum scanning range is now down to ten meters."

"It's these EM fluctuations," Riker said. "There's probably a wide open space somewhere in those caves where they could have stashed that ship."

"How?" Tasha asked. "These entrances are too small."

"There could have been an opening, like a sinkhole or something, on top of that cliff that they could have lowered the ship into the caverns somehow." He noticed Tasha's incredulous expression. "Just a thought, Lieutenant."

Tasha shrugged. "Well in that case, if these caverns are interconnected, we shouldn't have a problem getting lost," she said. She stepped into the nearest cave's mouth and motioned the other two to follow.

*****

The water was ankle-deep. The roar of ocean waves echoed along the walls of the cavern. Tasha ventured ahead, using her tricorder light as a flashlight. It was not long before they had ventured far enough inside the caverns that they lost the sunlight.

The echoes every droplet of water made as they dripped into the water along the floor suddenly made Tasha shudder. She thought back to her nightmare of drowning. It would be awful to die down here, in the dark, murky water...

"Is something wrong, Lieutenant?"

Data's voice brought Tasha out of her thoughts. "Um...just watch your step," she said. "It gets a bit slippery here. There are some loose rocks..."

Tasha felt her heart pound against her chest. Loose rocks, ankle-deep water, dank tunnels...she was suddenly reminded of the colony planet on which she spent her childhood. She, her sister and some other children would hide out from the rape gangs in the sewers, in the cold, wet blackness, daring not to move a muscle, lest they make a splash and alert them to their presence. Tasha remembered the cramped spaces in which she sometimes had to crawl to get away from them when that did happen...

She wiped her hand over her face, noticing that she had started sweating.

"Are you sure you're all right, Tasha?" Riker asked.

"I'm fine," Tasha said, trying to keep her voice level. Her drowning nightmare was coming back...the water felt deeper here.

"Careful," Riker said. "There's a hole right..."

Splash!

"Ahh!"

"Tasha!"

"I'm okay," Tasha said. "The hole's kind of deep, though." She began to dog-paddle toward the other side. The other two followed close behind.

"Hey, the ground is a bit higher over here," Tasha said. What a relief...She pulled herself onto the ledge and sat down. Yes, the ground felt so nice and dry...

"Any reading on that ship yet?" she asked as Riker and Data hoisted themselves onto the ledge.

Data checked his tricorder. It was a miracle it was still working. He shook his head. "No sign of any ship," he answered.

Tasha cursed under her breath. She stood up and motioned for her companions to follow her. The light from her tricorder was starting to grow dim. They had to find that ship soon.

"We need to be very careful here," Riker said after about a minute of walking. "This doesn't sound like a very safe part of the caverns."

"Quite right, Commander," Data said. He stopped and ran his free hand over one of the rock walls. "These rocks must have fallen here recently."

"Well, we'll just have to be careful where we're stepping," Tasha said. "Data, you go first, since your tricorder seems to be working fine. Mine's almost dead."

"The composition of the rock here is different from that closer to the entrance," Data continued as he squeezed past Riker. Tasha thought she saw some sand fall from the low ceiling as Data squeezed between her and the wall.

"Data..."

"This rock is made of some kind of sedimentary rock that is softer and less--"

"Data! The ceiling's caving in!!" Tasha shouted. Sure enough, the sand began to trickle down steadily. Tasha and Riker sprinted past Data, who was still reading off his tricorder. Riker turned around, grabbed Data's sleeve and forced him to run with the rest of them. Tasha was a few meters ahead running blindly.

Then it happened. The ceiling just ahead of Riker and Data was beginning to collapse as well.

"TASHA!!"

Tasha turned around. She saw the ceiling begin to collapse. "Come on, guys!" she shouted. She continued running forward. Suddenly, the ground disappeared beneath her feet. She toppled forward and felt her forehead hit the ground before blacking out completely.