Meanwhile, T'Lenn and Cona made their way across the large cave, unaware of Kai and the Captain's perilous predicament. Appalled at the number of casualties, Kyle set to work helping the remaining survivors. At the other end of the cave, T'Lenn looked at her crushed tricorder. Cona approached her.
"I have had no luck in locating the Captain," Cona stated. "Nor in finding Lieutenant Rayn."
"I haven't had any fortune in that area either. Perhaps they are not here, but were trapped in another part of the cave."
"It's possible," Dr. Lamar chimed in from the other side of the room. "What with all these people trapped and what, they could'a be anywhere, even buried in the quake." Though his words were not reassuring, they were entirely true.
* * * * * * * * * *
She was so tired. Keeping her eyes open was hard enough. But Kai knew she must remain strong. For her people... for Captain Ridger. She turned back towards his motionless body. So little air left.
'I must be close to breaking the surface. It can't be that much farther,' Kai thought. Slowly, the air was being used from the small enclosure. Then as if she would never reach the outside world, her hand broke through the rock. She took in lungfuls of the fresh air now pouring in. Eagerly, she pushed other rubble aside to make the hole bigger. Finally the hole was large enough to climb through.
Kaimana turned back nervously to the unconscious man on the floor. She couldn't risk moving him; it could injure him more. She knew what must be done. She would have to go for help herself; but her leg, and she was still so tired.... No matter. She would drag herself if necessary. Carefully, she lifted herself through the opening and fell into the main cavern. She could tell there was no one in that section of the cave, but she could sense them. Bracing herself against the wall, Kai pushed herself along the cave wall until she reached an opening.
* * * * * * * * * *
T'Lenn, suddenly sensing Kai's weak telepathic presence calling to them, looked up from her tricorder. She saw Lt. Rayn leaning heavily against the cavern wall gasping for breath.
"Dr.!" T'Lenn exclaimed as she hastened to Kai's side just as she collapsed. Dr. Lamar also ran to her side when he saw the extent of her injuries. Her leg was raw with blood and there were numerous other cuts on her body. Kai was still gasping for breath when Kyle scanned her with his med-tricorder.
"Cap'n..." she whispered. "...in cave.... unconscious." She pointed with a shaky finger in the direction which she had come. Dr. Lamar looked at T'Lenn. He motioned for her to go and see to the captain. He would tend to the Lieutenant. T'Lenn walked briskly down the corridor, following the trail of blood that Kai had left. She pulled herself through the opening when she saw the captain.
Dr. Lamar began tending to Kai's wounds. Slowly, the blood stopped flowing from her crushed leg. As the pain subsided, Kai started to breath easier. Looking at his tricorder, Kyle came to a shocking discovery. "You're... blind!?" he said to the Mikellan.
"Yes, doctor," she replied quietly. "I have been for nearly a year. It happened a long time ago, but I never told anyone. They didn't need to know. Please respect my wishes for now, doctor. I'll tell when I'm ready."
"But how do you find you're way around?"
"I see, but not in the way you do; I'll tell you about it sometime."
"I won't say anything for now, but you'll hafta tell sooner or later."
"I know."
In the tiny cave, T'Lenn drew her tricorder, and scanned her unconscious leader. Carefully, she picked him hp and carried him back to the others. "What happened?" the First Officer asked Lt. Rayn.
"He was trapped, under the rocks," Kaimana explained.
"He's in pretty rough shape. Broken arm, cracked ribs, fractured leg, concussion.... We will have to get him to sickbay as soon as possible."
"The ion field decreases quite quickly from here on." she told T'Lenn as she returned. "We don't have far to go."
"You, however," T'Lenn logically observed, "are in no condition to walk anywhere." With her Klingon force of will refusing to accept impairment, Kaimana stood up abruptly, her Vulcan heritage masking the resulting explicit pain.
"jIH wej Hegh (I'm not dead yet)!" she retorted to the Vulcan. T'Lenn raised an eyebrow curiously, but said nothing. Kaimana knew she'd need something to brace against, & noticed a near-by broken tree root she could use as a crutch. She made her way over & picked it up with a look of smug satisfaction.
Mr. Cona gently lifted the Captain from T'Lenn's arms, being careful not to injure him more while Dr. Lamar gathered all the surviving Mikellans and they set out again. There was now only about sixty in the group in total.
There were a few earthquakes after that, but none as severe. After they had trekked for approximately twenty minutes, T'Lenn took out her communicator and tried signaling the ship.
"Kent here. Sirs, you've got to get out of there now! The sun'll nova in less than half an hour!"
"I am aware of that, Mr. Kent." T'Lenn said flatly. "Do you have a lock on our positions? There are approximately sixty of us including the surviving Mikellan refugees."
"Aye, Sir, we do. It's a little fuzzy, but we'll make it."
"Good. Transport the refugees to cargo-bay three. The landing party including Lieutenant Rayn, however, should be beamed directly to sickbay. The Captain has been severely injured. Then set a course away from the system at warp two."
"Got it, Sir. Preparing to energize."
Just after the landing party materialized in sickbay, Lieutenant Rayn's leg gave out under her. She immediately clambered up again but had to support herself against the wall. T'Lenn came over and helped her to one of the bio-beds. She laid down without protest, at last allowing herself to rest.