All was pitch blackness except for a barely discernible pinpoint of light far, far above. With agonizing slowness, the pinpoint grew brighter, and its edges expanded, pushing back the unknown dark. Awareness reawakened with equal sluggishness, pushing aside the fog of oblivion.
Kim felt as though she were floating upward toward the light. She tried to turn her head, to look around, but her muscles refused to obey her commands. From somewhere far, far away, she thought she heard someone speaking her name. She longed to respond to the call; it seemed to be drawing her further toward the light. She concentrated all her willpower on moving in that direction.
Now she became aware of another sound that quickly grew in volume. It enveloped her in a cacophonous roaring like blood rushing in her ears. The area of light before her eyes expanded until the surrounding darkness was completely dispelled off the edges of her vision, and began to resolve itself into shapes and objects. The roaring of the blood in her ears subsided, and she heard the voice clearly now. She thought she recognized it.
Suddenly-responsive muscles turned her head slightly toward the source of the voice and she blinked a few times in the suddenly bright sunlight.
"Garek?" she asked in a weak voice.
"No, it's Thomas," said Riker. "Don't worry. You're okay." He gently helped her up into a semi-sitting position, leaning her against a large boulder.
Kim winced with the motion, and a stabbing pain shot through her left arm causing her to cry out.
"Easy there," cautioned Riker. "Your arm's broken. I had to set it."
Kim looked down and saw that indeed her arm was encased in an emergency plastifoam splint from her downed fighter's first-aid kit. She raised her other arm and put her hand to her head, and felt the bandage there. "I have a headache that would kill a targ," she mumbled.
"I'll bet," said Riker. "You took a nasty bump on the head. You've been out for about two hours."
"What?!?" Alarmed, Kim tried to stand up, but Riker held her down with a hand on her good shoulder. "Two hours!" she exclaimed. "The Nausicaans might still be out there. We have to get moving!"
"I think you're forgetting one thing," said Riker. He pointed to a blackened heap about a hundred yards from where they were. Kim recognized it as the remains of the crashed cockpit of her Banshee fighter. "That wreck isn't going anywhere."
Kim slumped back against her boulder. "I guess you're right."
"You just stay put," ordered Riker. He stood and strode away toward the mangled wreckage that had been her starfighter. Kim was in no mood to argue, so she did as she was told and stayed put, but she took the opportunity to crane her neck and look around a little. The place was truly desolate. Not a single blade of grass was to be seen sticking out of the gravelly soil, craggy lunar mountains crouched on the near horizon, and the lavender sky above was devoid of clouds.
Presently, Riker returned carrying some supplies and a large silver case. He set it down next to her, and she recognized it as the automatic distress transmitter from her ship. It looked intact. Riker set about fiddling with the simple controls, and then sat back on his haunches looking satisfied.
"It still works," he announced. "Good thing these things are built to take a beating."
"Won't the Nausicaans be able to home in on our signal too?" asked Kim, worried.
Riker looked serious. "I don't see as we have a choice. Hopefully a Starfleet vessel will respond before the Nausicaans do. It's our only hope."
Kim nodded in agreement. At the mention of their rescue, she thought about Garek, and daydreamed how nice it would be if he was the one who rescued her.
Another alert klaxon reverberated through the cockpit of the Lambda Flier. Garek check the sensors and readied his ship for battle or flight. As it turned out however, the alarm wasn't triggered by the proximity of a Nausicaan cruiser, but rather by the signal from an emergency distress beacon! It was coming from the surface of the planetoid he was currently orbiting, and it carried a Starfleet transponder frequency.
KIM!!
Heart racing, Garek powered up the impulse engines, and started the 'Flier into a dive towards the surface of the planet.
back to TOC