Body

THE GATES OF HELL

The planet looked beautiful and frightening at the same time. Trip looked over Mayweather's shoulder as they came closer to the landing site. According to the scanners, the planet had a large supply of dilithium as well as duratanium. It also had a fair amount of volcanic activity, but it didn't look like there was any chance of any eruptions during their visit to gather the necessary minerals.

"Looks a little intimidating." Travis commented as he approached the spot they'd chosen to set down.

"Beautiful and rugged." Trip was looking forward to a little hiking as they gathered the minerals they needed to maintain Enterprise. Suddenly the shuttlepod was rocked violently and Trip grabbed the back of Travis' chair to keep from being thrown against the side of the craft. "What the hell was that?"

"We've been hit by another craft. It's not familiar to me and the computer doesn't seem to recognize it." Travis was frantically working the controls, but the shuttlepod was going down. He was pretty sure he could land it without too much damage.

"Can you land the shuttlepod?"

"Yes, sir. It appears the other craft has suffered much more damage than we have, sir." Travis guided the shuttlepod down and it hit the ground a little harder than normal. "The other craft went down about three kilometers from here. I am reading one life sign, but it's very weak."

"Are you okay, Travis?" Trip checked himself and found no injuries.

"Yes sir, fine."

"Good, see what you can do about repairing the shuttlepod. I'm going to go and see if I can help whoever is in that other ship." Even though they had caused the accident, it had just been an accident and they were obviously in need of help.

"Be careful, sir. That terrain looks pretty treacherous." In fact it looked like nothing but mountains of hardened lava. It looked creepy to him and he was glad he wasn't going out there.

"Don't worry Travis, I'll be back before you know it." Slipping a communicator into his pocket and draping a canteen over his shoulder, Trip smiled at Travis. "I've got my communicator and will keep in touch."

"See you soon, sir." Travis began to open up the panel next to him so he could begin making repairs.

Trip exited the shuttlepod and began walking in the direction of the other craft. There was some urgency in his stride, but he tried to be careful where he stepped. He hoped the being on the other craft was not dangerous, but if it's vitals were as low as Travis said, they couldn't be much of a threat. It took him a little less than an hour to reach the other craft. The air was getting hotter and the smell of sulfur was strong. Trip began to fear a volcanic eruption might be getting ready to occur.

Pausing before he entered the damaged ship, Trip took a long drink from his canteen. Wiping his sleeve across his forehead, he pulled his communicator out. "Tucker to Mayweather."

"Go ahead, sir."

"I've reached the other ship and it appears to be far too damaged to fly without major repairs. I'm going inside to check the occupant and will return as quickly as possible. How are things on your end?" Trip wiped his brow again and coughed. The sulfur fumes were getting worse.

"Good, sir. I've got all the systems running again and just need to reinforce the hull where we made impact. I should be done by the time you get back. From what I can tell, the person in that ship is for the most part humanoid." Now that Travis had repaired the systems, he was able to get a better reading on the person in the downed ship.

"Great work Travis, I'll keep in touch. Tucker out." Carefully, Trip entered the ship through the large hole in the side where it had made contact with the shuttlepod. Obviously their hull was not as strong as the shuttlepod's. He had to be very careful as there were sharp pieces of metal sticking out. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light inside the ship, Trip made out the form of a female laying on the deck. She didn't move and Trip feared he was too late.

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Quickly he moved next to her and knelt down. She was laying somewhat on her side, but face down. Gently he rolled her over and discovered that she'd been impaled on a sharp piece of metal sticking up out of the torn deck. "Oh dear God." As he rolled her off, it had pulled her off the piece of metal, but now the left side of her abdomen was bleeding heavily. "Hold on, I'm going to help you." Placing his hands over the wound, Trip pressed down to try and slow the bleeding. He needed to think of something he could use as a bandage.

As her dark red blood seeped between his fingers, Trip decided that his black turtleneck was about the only thing he had to use. Unzipping his uniform, he shrugged it down off his shoulders and slid his arms out. Quickly he pulled the turtleneck up over his head and balled it up. Pressing the shirt against her wound, he wrapped the arms of the shirt around her and tied them tight.

As he examined her for other injuries, he took note of the differences between her and a human female. For the most part she was the same. The differences consisted of three fingers and a thumb instead of four and there was webbing between her fingers. Trip imagined her toes were the same. The other differences were that her eyes were bigger and her nose smaller than human's. Her mouth was about the same size, maybe just slightly smaller. Her hair was long and black as pitch. What struck Trip was the dark blue highlights in her hair. Despite her differences, she was a beautiful woman.

Finding only a nasty bump on her head in the way of other injuries, Trip gently picked her up in his arms and moved to exit the ship. He would have to be careful leaving so he didn't catch himself, or her, on any of the pieces of metal sticking out. Trip was half way out the opening when the ground shook and he began to lose his balance. "Ouch, son of a bitch." He'd managed to keep his balance and not drop the woman, but he caught his thigh on a shard of metal sticking out and cut it deeply.

Making his way the rest of the way out of the opening, he gently laid the woman down and sat on a nearby rock. Looking through the tear in his uniform, Trip cringed. The cut was very deep and he was bleeding heavily. "Damn." He again unzipped his uniform and slipped it off his arms. Removing his blue undershirt, he put the uniform back on. Taking the undershirt, he tore it up the side and twisted it into a tight strip of cloth. Wrapping it around his thigh above the cut, he tied it as tight as he could possibly tie it. Gritting his teeth in pain, Trip quickly poured some water on the wound.

Taking out his communicator, he tried to call Travis. "Tucker to Mayweather." No response. "Come in Travis." 'Where the hell was he?' Trip wondered.

Meanwhile, Travis was outside the shuttlepod making repairs to the hull. He'd left his communicator inside and therefore could not hear Trip calling him. The good news was that he almost had the repairs completed, but he was afraid the shuttlepod would not get off the ground with three people aboard. The engines were slightly damaged and the added weight might keep them from getting up and out of the atmosphere.

Trip gave up on trying to reach Travis. He made the assumption that Travis had gone outside without his communicator. Checking the wound again and finding the bleeding had reduced considerably, he moved back to the woman and picked her back up. Luckily she wasn't real heavy, but it was going to be difficult to get her back to the shuttlepod with his injured leg and the effects the sulfur were having on him. His eyes had begun to water from the sting of the sulfur and he was coughing more now.

Adjusting his hold on her, Trip began limping back towards the shuttlepod. Three kilometers was such a short distance, but right now it felt more like three hundred to him. He knew the area was beginning to have volcanic activity. The amount of sulfur in the air and the way the ground was shaking now and again made it obvious. Feeling a certain urgency, he tried to pick up his pace, but the pain in his leg was beginning to be too great.

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Back on Enterprise, Archer had no idea what was going on with Trip and Mayweather. Enterprise was at another planet in the system picking up supplies that Doctor Phlox and Chef had requested. Archer didn't like the fact that they were out of communications range, but they needed what both planets had to offer. Of course Archer wasn't worried yet as it wasn't time for the pair to rendezvous with Enterprise yet.

On the planet, Mayweather had finished the repairs and was making preparations for departure. He still didn't think they could get off the ground with three passengers. Usually it wouldn't be a problem, but with the engines at reduced capacity he didn't think it would work.

After a half hour of walking, Trip had barely managed to make it a kilometer. He decided there was no way he was going to make it back to the shuttlepod. Stopping under the only tree in the area, Trip gently lowered the woman to the ground and made sure she was comfortable. Glancing at his pant leg, he saw it was soaked with blood. Not a good sign, but there wasn't much he could do but try to reduce the flow. Untying the shirt around his leg, Trip tied it tighter and moaned at the pain it caused. He felt so weak and his eyes and lungs burned furiously from the sulfur.

Abina moaned and wondered where she was. The last thing she remembered was taking off and crashing into another ship. After that she'd lost consciousness when her head hit the console. Now all she felt was pain and she knew she was no longer on her ship. If only she could open her eyes.

Trip heard the woman moan and slid closer to her. He watched as her eyes fluttered, then squeezed shut tightly before fluttering again and finally opening. The color of her eyes stunned him and he just sat there for a moment. Her eyes were the most beautiful shade of teal he'd ever seen and he'd certainly never seen anyone with that color eyes. "Take it easy, you're going to be okay." Gently, he stroked her hair and tried to make her feel comfortable.

Abina couldn't understand a word the man was saying, but she could see the concern in his blue eyes. He looked strangely weak and pale and she wondered if he was all right. "Where am I and who are you?" Her words didn't come out as anything Trip could understand and she saw the puzzlement on his face. If he would just say a few more things, she'd be able to pick up his language.

Trip couldn't understand a thing she said, but he continued to talk to her. "I'm afraid I don't understand you, but I'm going to do everything I can to get you some help." He saw her smile weakly and wondered if she could understand him. "Can you understand me?"

"I can now. I just needed to hear you speak a little to pick up your language." He seemed like a very caring man and as she glanced down, she saw the wound to his leg. "You're hurt."

"I'm fine, don't worry about me. You've been pretty seriously injured and I don't know if you've got any internal damage." He watched her as she glanced down at her own body and her eyes went wide. "I got the bleeding pretty well stopped, but I decided to stop and take a rest."

"Where are we going?"

"To my shuttlepod. The pilot has been making repairs while I came to get you. My name is Trip by the way." Her eyes again stunned him and he almost became lost in them as she looked him in the eye.

"I am Abina. Thank you for coming to my aid." Glancing around she realized they were in the middle of nowhere. The ground suddenly shook and she gasped. "What was that?"

"I'm afraid this area is beginning to experience some volcanic activity." Trip was very worried about that. At any time now he was sure the ground was going to open up and start spewing molten lava. "We should get moving again." Trip tried to stand, but his leg gave out and he fell back to the ground.

"You are more seriously injured than you let on." Abina felt concern growing in her for their situation.

"I'm afraid I lost more blood than I thought. I'll call my ship and the pilot can come and help us." Trip smiled at her as he pulled his communicator out. "Tucker to Mayweather."

"Go ahead, sir." Travis had started to worry about him.

"I need you to come and give me a hand. I'm still about two kilometers from the shuttlepod and I'm slightly injured." He hated asking for help. All his life he'd always taken care of things himself. That's how he got to be Chief Engineer on the first starship, but now he had no choice.

"Is it bad sir?" As he spoke, Travis began gathering what he'd need. That included a canteen and a portable oxygen canister. He'd been keeping track of the sulfur levels and knew it was getting bad. Not to mention he'd heard Trip coughing and breathing hard through the communicator.

"Not too bad, I just need a little help." Trip lied, but he didn't want to worry either Abina or Travis. Truth was he felt terrible and was afraid he might actually pass out any moment.

"I'm on my way, sir. Just hang in there." He closed the hatch behind him and headed off in Trip's direction.

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While they waited for Travis, Trip checked Abina's wounds. The abdominal wound was bleeding slightly, but looked okay otherwise. Her head wound was better, some of the swelling had gone down. "Here, have some of this water." He helped her drink a little of the water before drinking some himself. Placing his hand on her forehead, he checked for any sign of a fever. "How ya feeling?"

"I'm in a lot of pain, but I'm managing." Abina could see that Trip was fighting his own weakness and pain. "Why don't you lay down for a while?"

"Frankly, I'm afraid to." At her puzzled expression, he continued. "I'm afraid I won't wake up when I need to." Not that it mattered. He'd decided to order Travis to take Abina back to the shuttlepod and go get help. There was no way he was going to be able to take another step and there wasn't time for Travis to come back for him. Abina would lose too much blood in that amount of time. As he checked her for a fever, he ignored the fact that a fever was beginning in his own body.

Abina lay there watching him struggle, but there was nothing she could do. Her own injuries prevented her from doing anything to help him and it was obvious that he was too stubborn to realize his own weakness. The fact that he was willing to sacrifice himself for her touched her deeply and if they both got out of this alive, she'd find a way to thank him. "So what is it that you do, Trip?" Distracting him was all she could think to do.

"I'm the Chief Engineer on a starship."

"That's impressive. You must be a very intelligent man." 'Besides being extremely handsome.' She said to herself.

"I don't know about that. I just love what I do. What about you? Where are you from?" As long as they were talking, he might as well find out more about her.

"My planet is the most distant planet in this system. It is mostly water and we come here to collect samples. I am a geologist." Now she was beginning to feel drowsy as well and fought to stay awake. She didn't want to leave him alone, so if she could just stay awake until his friend came, then she could let go.

"Hopefully we can meet your people when we take you home." Trip smiled weakly and just knew he wasn't going to make it off that planet alive. Something deep down told him he was going to die there and all he could think about was how Archer would feel. He wouldn't go down without a fight, but he didn't think it was a fight he could win. The blood loss and sulfur fumes were taking their toll on him, but it was more important for Travis to get Abina out of there.

"That would be wonderful. My people would throw a celebration to thank you for saving my life." Both she and Trip were beginning to have trouble breathing from all the sulfur in the air. That scared her more than her injuries and when the ground shook again they both jumped. She looked up to see a portion of the mountain, high above them and to their right, explode and started spewing molten lava. "We need to get out of here."

"Travis should be here any moment." At least he hoped so. He also watched the lava flowing out of the mountain. The danger was not immediate as the section was fairly far away from their position, but it didn't bode well for their chances. Trip again wiped his brow with his sleeve and tried to stay alert. As each moment passed that was becoming harder to do and he could see that his leg was bleeding again.

"Commander?" Travis called out.

"Over here, Travis."

Travis moved in the direction of Trip's voice and became worried by the sound of his voice. It was weak and hoarse, as if Trip was in serious trouble. Rounding the corner he found the pair under a tree. "Sir, you're hurt pretty bad."

"Doesn't matter, take Abina and get out of here. You can come back for me once you have her safely aboard Enterprise." Trip tried to look as alert and strong as he possibly could.

"I can't do that, sir. For one thing the Captain would kill me for leaving you behind, and for another, I can't leave you behind." He didn't want to leave Trip behind, not for anything. Since he didn't think the shuttlepod would fly with all three of them, he had to consider doing just that.

"It's not a request Ensign, it's an order. Don't make me bring you up on charges of insubordination." He knew Travis wouldn't believe he'd do that and he wouldn't, but he needed him to do as he requested. "Please, Travis. She is in desperate need of medical attention."

"You can't stay here. This place could become a sea of molten lava at any time." Abina was horrified at what he was suggesting. Not for her, she couldn't live with him dying to save her.

"I'll do as you ask, Trip. We'll be back for you as quickly as we can. Take my canteen and this oxygen canister." Travis felt his gut twist at the idea of leaving Trip there, but he didn't see any other choice.

"Thank you, Travis. Tell Archer I forced you to do it. He won't blame you, he'll blame me." Trip sighed and leaned back against the tree.

"Yes, sir." Travis picked Abina up in his arms and began to walk away. The urge to look back was strong, but he knew if he did, he wouldn't leave him behind. Moving quickly, he got Abina back to the shuttlepod and took off. He could see the tree Trip was laying under as he took off and the urge to go back was so strong.

"Hurry back, Travis." He really didn't want to die, but it had been the only choice they had. Trip watched as the shuttlepod disappeared from view and an intense wave of loneliness and fear washed over him. He was completely and utterly alone. Placing the oxygen canister over his face allowed him to at least breathe a little easier.

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Travis set a course for Enterprise and put the shuttlepod on auto pilot. He needed to tend to the woman he'd brought back with him. Deep down he still felt pangs of guilt about leaving Trip on that planet, but the woman was in serious trouble. She'd lost consciousness just after he took her from Trip. He'd placed her on the bench and quickly got the shuttlepod lifted off. The quicker he got her to Enterprise and they could get back to Trip, the better. Travis was still expecting to have to deal with the wrath of Archer for leaving Trip behind, but there wasn't much he could do.

As Abina woke, she found the dark skinned man running a devise over her. It was obvious they were aboard his craft now. "You can't leave him there."

"I'm sorry, Miss. I didn't have a choice. He ordered me and he is my superior officer. Besides, with the damage to the shuttlepod I don't think we could have taken off with all three of us aboard." Her vital signs were weak and she had lost a lot of blood. Fortunately Trip had done a pretty good job of keeping her bleeding to a minimum. Travis couldn't say the same about Trip, he had sacrificed his own blood loss for her.

"My name is Abina, and you are?"

"Ensign Travis Mayweather." He smile down at her in an attempt to make her feel comfortable.

"I am a geologist and that planet is in the process of undergoing a massive volcanic event. You must get back to Trip as quickly as possible." Her fear must have been reflected in her eyes, because she saw Travis react with great worry.

"Once we are to Enterprise, Captain Archer will take Enterprise to pick Trip up. Enterprise is capable of going at warp speed and we can be back to him in a matter of minutes." Travis just hoped it wasn't too late. Trip was in no condition to move if things got too hot where he was, so he'd be killed if things started to erupt around him.

"How long until we reach Enterprise?"

"Well, we should be in communications range in about a half hour. Once I contact the ship they can meet up with us." Putting the tricorder away, Travis pulled out a blanket and draped it over her. "You best get some rest. Our Doctor will fix you up when we get back to Enterprise."

"Thank you, Travis." As exhausted and weak as she felt, she couldn't go to sleep. Her concern for Trip was growing with each passing moment. She knew all too well how close that planet was to a full scale eruption and he was trapped there with no where to go. Not to mention he'd lost too much blood and couldn't even walk.

While they headed back to Enterprise, Trip struggled to remain conscious. His fear grew with every moment that passed. He watched the lava flows grow closer and closer to his location and considered trying to make his way to some place safer, if there was such a place on that planet. About twenty minutes ago he'd finished off his canteen. Thankfully he still had the one Travis had brought, but he was also almost out of oxygen in the canister. The sulfur fumes were burning his eyes and lungs and he felt miserable. All the molten lave spewing to the surface was making things incredibly hot and he couldn't help thinking that he was at the gates of hell. "God, help me."

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Archer was furious, but he was more afraid for Trip than he was angry. He knew it wasn't Travis' fault and didn't yell at him. In fact, he knew it wasn't Trip's fault either. It had all been an accident and Trip did what he was trained to do, put civilians ahead of himself. "How badly was he injured, Travis?"

"I didn't get a real good look sir, but his pant leg looked like it was soaked with blood." Travis adjusted the controls on the shuttlepod so they would rendezvous with Enterprise.

"Damn, what was he thinking? What about the planet? You say there were already volcanic eruptions before you left?" Archer glanced towards T'Pol. He hoped Enterprise's long range sensors could tell them something.

"Yes, sir. The sulfur levels in the air were high and Trip was having trouble breathing. I left him an oxygen canister." Depending on how much he used it, Travis knew that the canister could be empty by now.

"Good work, Travis. Doctor Phlox will have a medical team standing by when you dock. Archer out." He wanted to get with T'Pol and see what her scans were showing. "T'Pol, what do your long range scans show?"

"There are numerous volcanic eruptions occurring on the planet. We are too far away to get any idea if they are in the area that Commander Tucker was left." T'Pol did not approve of Commander Tucker being left there alone, but there wasn't anything she could do about that.

Turning to face the helm, Archer asked his next question. "How long until we arrive at the planet?"

Ensign Jones was currently manning the helm and quickly answered. "At impulse it will take several hours. At warp it would take about twenty minutes."

"As soon as we have the shuttlepod aboard, I want us going to warp."

"Aye, Captain." Jones replied.

Twenty minutes later, Travis brought the shuttlepod into the landing bay and Phlox quickly took Abina to sickbay. She was unconscious again and Phlox was going to have to perform surgery to repair the damage to her abdomen. Travis quickly went through decontamination and headed for the bridge. He needed to be there when they got back to the planet and made sure that Trip was alive.

Archer looked up as Travis entered the bridge. He smiled and nodded to him. "Take your station Mister Mayweather."

"Thanks, Captain."

"How long until we arrive at the planet?"

"We should be there in about ten minutes at this speed sir." Mayweather had only needed ten minutes in the decontamination. It had simply been precautionary. Despite the scans not showing any contaminates, Phlox had wanted to be sure.

"Good, Malcolm get down to the landing bay and get shuttlepod two ready to launch." He wanted to be ready to go the minute Enterprise was in orbit.

"Sir, I'd like to go along." He was the one that left Trip behind, so he had to be there when they went back for him.

"Of course, Travis. As soon as Mister Reed is ready, we'll go." Archer could understand how Travis felt. It wasn't easy leaving someone behind, especially someone you cared about.

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Meanwhile, Trip was trying to find a new place to wait for Enterprise. The lava flow had been steadily moving closer to where he was and he couldn't stay there any longer. Every step was a struggle and he had to support himself by leaning on the rocks as he climbed over them. His leg was throbbing and so was his head.

His only thoughts were of how he would die. It would either be from blood loss and suffocation from the sulfur fumes, or he would burn to death when the lava caught up to him. He also couldn't stop thinking about Archer and how he felt like he was letting his friend down. Archer had chosen him for his Chief Engineer because he could trust him and count on him to be there.

By the time Trip found the cave, he was crawling. The blood loss and fever were taking their toll and he couldn't walk. The sulfur in the air was getting into the wound and an infection had begun to set in. As soon as he was inside the cave, Trip collapsed against the wall and let the blackness of unconsciousness take him.

The next thing he knew he heard Archer calling his name. It had to be a dream, Archer couldn't be there could he? Not yet. What he didn't realize was that he'd been unconscious for over an hour and now Enterprise was on the scene. The problem was that there was now a river of molten lava between him and the Captain. Sliding out to the opening of the cave, Trip squinted out at the Captain, Reed, and Travis.

"Hang on Trip, we'll get you out of there." Looking around, Archer could see no way to reach Trip. The lava was flowing down around the cave on both sides and he was beginning to think they would have to transport him out.

Trip could only nod, he didn't have the strength to speak. With the lava flowing all around him, the cave was now like an oven and he was sweating heavily. He fought hard to stay conscious in case Archer needed him to do something. What he didn't know, as he wasn't in any condition to do much.

A moment later his communicator beeped. Pulling it out of his pocket, he opened it. "Tucker here." He whispered.

"Trip? We are going to try and transport you back to Enterprise. Just hold on." Archer was concerned about the weakness in Trip's voice. He was in bad shape and Archer prayed there were no transporter malfunctions.

"Aye, Captain." At that point Trip didn't care how they got him out of there, just as long as they did it soon.

"Archer to Enterprise."

"Go ahead, Captain." T'Pol replied calmly.

"We need you to try and transport Commander Tucker out. We can't reach him due to the lava flows." Archer was actually grateful for T'Pol's calm tone right then.

"Understood, give me a few minutes to get to the transporter room." She was already headed towards the turbo-lift.

"Make it fast, Sub Commander." As they stood there, they could see the lava moving closer to the cave. If the cave went down into the ground very far, it could begin to fill with lava too.

"Understood, T'Pol out." Quickly she made her way to the transporter room and began adjusting the controls. She had everything set, but there was a problem. "T'Pol to Captain Archer."

"Go ahead, T'Pol." Archer held the communicator up to his mouth as he kept an eye on the cave.

"I've got a problem sir. There is too much interference and I can not get a lock on Mister Tucker. There are numerous minerals in the cave and it's preventing me from getting a good enough lock."

"Damn, okay T'Pol stand by there. Archer out." What the hell were they going to do now? All he could do was see if Trip had enough strength to get out of the cave far enough to get clear of the interference.

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Trip's breathing was becoming labored and he had to fight with every ounce of strength he had left to stay conscious. He was beginning to wonder why he hadn't been transported yet when his communicator beeped. "Capt.....ain?"

"Yeah, Trip. We can't get a lock on you because of the minerals in the cave. Can you get yourself out of the cave?" Archer's brow was furrowed with worry. Trip sounded so weak and his breathing was obviously labored.

"I'll try........sir." Trip closed the communicator and slid it into his pocket. Closing his eyes he tried to muster all the strength he could and slowly rose to his knees.

"Malcolm, you and Travis get back to the shuttlepod and have it ready to take off the minute Trip is transported. I'm staying here until he is safely off the planet." He nodded to the two men and they headed off toward the shuttlepod.

Trip tried to ignore the pain in his thigh as he crawled toward the opening of the cave. The sulfur was making the cut on his thigh burn and he could barely stand the pain. Between the heat and blood loss, he was very dehydrated.

The best he could do was make it part way out of the cave before he collapsed. Archer watched in fear and frustration as Trip collapsed just outside the opening. "Archer to T'Pol, do you have a lock?"

"Negative, sir. He did not get far enough outside the cave and the minerals are still interfering." T'Pol was actually feeling frustration too, but hid it well. She could read the Commander's vitals with the transporter and they were not good.

"All right, we'll have to forget about the transporter. Head back to the bridge T'Pol, we'll figure something else out." Archer was thinking the whole time he spoke into the communicator. They only had one option left.

"Aye sir. T'Pol out." Heading back to the bridge, T'Pol hoped Archer would find a way to get Tucker out of there.

"Archer to Travis."

"Yes, Captain?" Travis had the shuttlepod ready for lift off and was just waiting for the Captain's order.

"I need you to pick me up and then we will have to land the shuttlepod in front of the cave and pick up Trip." He knew it was going to be risky. There was barely enough room in front of the cave for the shuttlepod to land without getting into the lava.

"Yes, sir." Travis turned and looked at Malcolm. It was going to be extremely risky and if they made one wrong move, they'd all be dead.

"We have to do something to save Trip, Travis."

"Yes, sir. I'll do my best." Travis lifted off and headed for Archer's location. As he looked down at the planet's surface, there was now more lava on the surface than solid ground. He quickly landed the shuttlepod and picked up Archer before lifting off again and heading towards Trip's location.

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While Archer and the others struggled to get to Trip, Doctor Phlox had performed surgery on Abina and she was now resting comfortably. Even though she'd lost a lot of blood, her body seemed to produce what she needed in greater quantity than human's did and she didn't need a transfusion. Which to Doctor Phlox was a good thing as he didn't have any of her blood. He'd never seen any of her race before and it had fascinated him to see how quickly her body began healing itself.

Abina slowly began to wake. She felt a certain amount of disorientation and knew that was partly because she was in an unfamiliar place. Her assumption was that she was now aboard Enterprise. Suddenly there was a strange looking man standing over her smiling.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not bad, where am I?" Abina had never seen anyone like him before and she was intrigued.

"You are in the sickbay aboard Enterprise. I am Doctor Phlox." He looked at the readings over the bio-bed and smiled. She was doing much better.

"You look different from the others."

"They are all human and I am from Denobula." Phlox smiled at her. It was obvious from his examination of her, that she came from a planet that was mostly water. Both her feet and hands had webbing and even though her skin looked the same as human's, it had very small, microscopic, gills that allowed her to breathe under water. She was one of the most fascinating species he'd ever seen and he was glad he'd get to meet more of her people when they took her home.

"How many different species are on this ship?" Abina found her interest in these people growing and talking to the doctor helped her forget the pain. Not that she was in a lot of pain, but some.

"Only three. Most of them are human, but I am from Denobula and Sub Commander T'Pol is from Vulcan. Otherwise the rest are all human, except the Captain's dog." Phlox ran another scan of Abina and found her to be healing quickly now.

"What is a dog?"

"He's the Captain's pet. Porthos is small with fur, four legs, and doesn't stomach cheese very well." Phlox smiled at her and picked up a hypo-spray. "This will ease your pain. I must say that I am fascinated by your species healing abilities."

"Thank you, Doctor. It's just part of our genetics." Abina yawned and closed her eyes. The healing process always took a lot out of her.

"You get some rest. Hopefully when you wake again, the Captain and others will be back aboard." Phlox turned to walk away and let her rest, but turned back at the sound of her voice.

"What about Trip?"

"From what I understand he's fairly seriously injured, but they are having trouble getting to him through the lava." He'd been kept informed of Commander Tucker's condition, but didn't have a lot of details. "Never fear, the Captain will rescue him."

"I hope you're right, because I would feel incredibly guilty if he died to save me." Abina closed her eyes again, but this time a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Don't you worry, Abina. Commander Tucker is a very strong and determined man and so is Captain Archer. They will come out of this." At least he hoped so. Dimming the lights, he moved to another section of sickbay and began to prepare what he would need to treat Commander Tucker once he was back aboard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back on the planet, Travis was trying to carefully set the shuttlepod down in front of the cave. It was their third attempt as the previous attempts had them almost landing in the lava flow. The outer hull of the ship was beginning to get hot and Archer was getting worried about the effects the heat was having on Trip.

Both Reed and Mayweather kept their eye on Trip's unconscious form as they tried to land. He was not in immediate danger from the lava, but the heat was another story. Reed used the external sensors to try and get bio-readings on Tucker. His heartbeat was shallow and his breathing was very labored. According to the scan, he had a fever of a hundred and five degrees and even Malcolm knew that was bad.

Archer was waiting by the hatch and the minute they were down, he and Reed would go out and retrieve Trip as quickly as possible. "Mister Mayweather?"

"Almost there, sir." He was getting frustrated, but knew he needed to keep his cool if they were going to save Trip. Since he was the one that left him behind to begin with, it was important to him to save Trip. There was a soft thump as the shuttlepod landed on the hard ground. "Okay, sir. We're down, but you better make it fast." The rear of the shuttlepod was just inches from being in the lava flow.

"Be ready to take off immediately. Let's go Malcolm." Opening the hatch, he and Reed quickly moved out and over to where Trip lay. Gently he rolled Trip over and took hold of him under the arms. Reed grabbed his legs and they carefully picked him up.

"Ahhhh, Capt....ain?" Trip felt pain explode in his leg and he opened his eyes to see Archer over him. 15

"Yeah, Trip. Take it easy, we'll have you out of here in a moment." Watching as Reed climbed into the shuttlepod, he quickly followed. His hold on Trip never wavered and in another moment they were safely back aboard the shuttlepod. "Get us out of here, Travis."

"Aye, sir." Travis flinched as they took off and the cave erupted in a explosion of molten lava. "My God."

Reed looked out the window and whistled. "That was too close." Turning back to Trip and Archer, he smiled at his friend. "I thought we were going to lose you there for a while, sir."

"Thanks...........Malcolm." Trip squeezed his eyes shut as another bolt of pain flared in his leg. It was so nice to be breathing clean air again, but his eyes still burned from the sulfur.

"You lay still and be quiet Trip." Archer couldn't help worrying about Trip. The fact that he was conscious was a good sign, but he still felt deep concern as he looked into Trip's very red eyes. The wound on his leg looked vicious and he knew it was infected. "Get us back to Enterprise quickly, Travis."

"Yes, sir. How is he?" Travis was worried too. He didn't have the luxury of observing what was going on in the rear of the ship. Flying the ship was his priority at the moment.

"Not good. He's got a high fever and the wound on his leg is infected." Phlox would be able to fix him up, Archer was sure of that. What he hated was that his friend had to be in so much pain and discomfort.

"How's...........Abi.....na?"

"Doctor Phlox is taking care of her. Trip, don't you ever do anything like that again. Is that understood?" Archer was trying to be angry with him, but he didn't think it came out sounding that way.

"Aye, Captain" Trip smiled and closed his eyes. He let the blackness take him and was grateful to be unconscious. There was no pain or discomfort in that blackness and he savored it.

"Hang on, Trip." Reed whispered. Looking up, he met Archer's eyes and the worry they both felt passed between them. Nodding to the Captain, he poured a little cool water over Trip's head.

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Ten minutes later, Trip and the others were back aboard Enterprise and all of them were going through decontamination. It would be a quick process as no contaminates had shown up on the scan, but again Doctor Phlox wanted to be sure.

"How much longer, Doc?" Archer wanted to get Trip out of there and to sickbay.

"Just a few more minutes, Captain. Commander Tucker seems to be holding his own." Phlox knew Archer was worried about Tucker, but decontamination was important. He'd been running detailed scans on the Commander during decontamination and knew he was in bad shape, but didn't think it was anything he couldn't treat.

As soon as the decontamination was complete, Archer and Travis wheeled Trip out and headed towards sickbay. Doctor Phlox was there waiting and immediately took him into the critical care ward.

"Why don't you go get some rest, Travis." Archer wasn't going anywhere until he knew Trip was going to be okay.

"If it's all the same to you sir, I'd like to stay until we know the Commander will be okay." As tired as he was, Travis knew he couldn't sleep until he knew if Trip would make it.

"Very well." Archer walked over to where Abina lay sleeping. He needed a distraction and figured checking on her was the best thing he could find. Scanning the readings on the bio-bed, he could see that she was doing fine, but some of her readings were different from a human's. Of course they were, she was not human.

Meanwhile, Phlox was cleaning Trip's wound and applied an osmotic eel to it to aid in the healing process. The infection and fever that had developed were bad, but Phlox had seen worse. Removing the Commander's uniform, so that he wore only his under shorts, Phlox placed a cool blanket over him. The cool blanket was a lightweight blanket that was cool to the touch and would assist in bringing Tucker's body temperature down. Giving him three hypo-sprays, one for pain, one for the fever, and one for the infection, he left the critical care ward. Phlox was pretty certain that Commander Tucker would be fine with a little rest.

Archer moved to the critical care ward and looked inside. Trip lay motionless on the bio-bed with an oxygen tube in his nose. "How is he, Doc?"

"The Commander is in pretty bad shape, but I've seen worse. He'll be fine with some rest." Phlox moved to Abina's bed and checked the readings. Her vitals were much stronger now and he knew she would be fine.

"Can I see him?" Archer asked.

"Certainly, but only for a few minutes." Phlox glanced at the Captain and could see how worried he looked. "You may go in as well, Ensign." He hadn't missed the look on Mayweather's face, so he let him go too. Besides, it was the only way he was going to get them out of sickbay.

"Thanks, Doc." Travis followed the Captain through the curtain that lead to the critical care ward. They both knew that Trip would be unconscious, because Phlox usually kept his patients sedated while the osmotic eel did it's work. "He doesn't look too good, does he sir?"

"No, Travis he doesn't" Archer was starting to get tired of seeing his old friend looking like death warmed over. He thanked God for modern medicine, otherwise Trip would probably be dead by now. "He's tough though and I know he'll make it."

"Yeah, I just wish he hadn't had to go through all that pain and discomfort." Travis somewhat blamed himself for what Trip went through. If he'd refused to leave him behind, then he wouldn't have gone through as much as he had.

"It wasn't your fault, Travis. You obeyed orders and I've found out the hard way that there is no arguing with Trip. Not when he gets his mind set on something." Archer could understand how Travis felt, but he didn't blame Travis for what happened and neither would Trip. "Now go get some rest, Ensign. That's an order." Archer turned and smiled at him.

"Aye, Captain." Travis smiled back and some of the guilt washed away. Leaving the critical care ward, Travis nodded to Phlox. "Night, Doc."

"Goodnight, Ensign." Phlox had been doing some tests on Abina's blood while he waited for Archer to come back out. Which he did a few minutes after Mayweather. "Captain, I wanted to let you know that Abina is going to be just fine. Her species has incredible healing abilities."

"That's good to hear, Doc. I'd like to talk to her when she is strong enough. Perhaps breakfast in my dining room in the morning?" He wanted to learn more about her and her people, but also what had happened on the planet.

"That should be fine, Captain."

"Goodnight, Doc."

"Goodnight, Captain."

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In the morning when Phlox came into sickbay, Abina was not on her bed and he heard soft voices coming from the critical care ward. Moving into the ward, Phlox found Abina standing next to Commander Tucker's bed. She was holding his hand and the two were talking quietly. "How are my two patients feeling this morning?"

"I'm just fine, thank you." Abina smiled at the Doctor, but did not move away from Trip.

"Just...great....Doc." Trip's voice was low and hoarse. His throat and lungs were still raw and sore from the sulfur fumes. The oxygen tube in his nose was helping to clear his lungs, but it would take some time. He still felt like hell and wanted something for the pain.

"Abina, the Captain would like you to join him for breakfast. Ensign Cutler here will escort you to his dining room." He wanted to be able to work on Tucker without her possibly getting in the way.

"Certainly, I look forward to talking with him and getting to know your people better." Abina smiled at Trip and let go of his hand. "I will be back later Trip."

Trip winked at Abina. "See ya then."

"Commander, how are you feeling this morning?" Phlox moved up and took Abina's place as she moved off and followed Cutler out of sickbay.

"A lot of pain, Doc." His leg was hurting him the most, but his lungs and eyes still burned as well. Trip was also feeling the effects of the fever that still burned inside him. It was much lower than it had been, but it still made him feel weak.

"I'll give you something for the pain as well as your fever. How do your lungs feel?" Phlox began pressing several hypo-sprays against the Commander's neck. He was also reading the monitors above the bed to see how Tucker was doing.

"They are still burning and so are my eyes."

"It will take a few days before that goes away. You were exposed to a great deal of sulfur fumes." Phlox gently removed the osmotic eel and examined Tucker's wound. It was healing nicely, but he still needed the eel for a while longer. Taking the eel to a container, he put it inside and took a new one out. "The effects of the eel are rather uncomfortable, so I am going to sedate you for a few hours."

"Do you have to?" Trip was tired, but he didn't want to be sedated. He was looking forward to Abina's return and wanted to find out what she and Archer had talked about.

"Yes, I would rather you be sedated. It's only for a few hours, Commander." Picking up the hypo-spray, he placed it against the Commander's neck and injected the sedative into him. Whether he wanted to or not, the Commander still needed lots of rest. He still had a fever and the infection in his leg was not gone. "Sleep well, Commander."

"Thanks, Doc." He could feel the effects already and fought them.

Phlox could hear the disappointment in the Commander's voice, but it was for the best. "You're welcome, Commander." Phlox smiled at the Commander's scowl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door to the Captain's dining room chimed. "Come." Archer looked up to see Abina come gliding through the door. Quickly he stood and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Please, sit down. I hope you don't mind that I started without you."

"Not at all." Abina sat down next to the Captain and scrutinized what was on his plate. It all looked delicious, if unfamiliar, to her.

"Is there anything special you would care to eat?" Archer sat back down and placed the napkin back in his lap.

"I would love to try what you are eating. It looks and smells delicious and I've never seen anything like it before." Abina smiled. She could say one thing for these people and that was that they were friendly.

"Certainly, I'll have chef bring you another plate."

"What is all that anyway?" Abina was curious about what he was eating.

"Well, this is scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast." Pointing to his glass, "This is orange juice and coffee." Archer smiled at Abina. She was very curious and he enjoyed that. Abina was also very beautiful and he was glad Trip had saved her life, even if it had caused him a great deal of pain and discomfort.

"I wanted to thank you and your crew for saving me, especially Trip." She had no idea what his rank or position on the ship was other than being the Chief Engineer.

"You're welcome, we aren't the kind to leave someone behind that's in trouble. Commander Tucker was doing his duty by saving you. We always put civilians ahead of ourselves." Archer indicated to the steward that he should bring another plate for Abina, then took a drink of his coffee.

"He's a very kind man and I hope that I can find an appropriate way to thank him."

"It's really not necessary. Trip has a soft spot for beautiful women in distress." Archer smiled as she blushed at the compliment. He was sure that whatever she came up with to thank Trip, that it would be enjoyable given by the woman that sat next to him.

"It is necessary and you can be sure Captain, that when we get to my planet, there will be a large celebration given for your entire crew."

"I understand that your planet is mostly water." Archer swallowed a mouthful of eggs and washed it down with orange juice.

"Yes, about three fourths of it is water. We do live on land, but spend much of our time in the water and most of our food comes from the oceans." Abina looked at the plate that was set in front of her. None of the food on it looked anything like the food they had on their planet. The Captain seemed to be really enjoying it, so she picked up a fork and took a bit of the eggs. "Oh, this is delicious. What did you say this was again?"

Archer smiled, "They are scrambled eggs. They come from chickens, which are a type of bird. We eat those also." He really enjoyed exchanging information about different cultures and their meal continued like that. The two talked about their different cultures and Archer got the coordinates to Abina's planet, so Enterprise was now on it's way there. He hoped Trip would be well enough by the time they got there to join in the festivities.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After her wonderful breakfast with Captain Archer, Abina returned to sickbay to check on Trip. She'd learned a lot about human's, especially Trip, from the Captain. There were several things she was planning to do to thank Trip for saving her life. The Captain had given her a recipe for Trip's favorite dish, pan fried catfish, and she was certain that they had a fish on her planet that was similar enough.

Trip had begun to wake a short time ago and Doctor Phlox had removed the osmotic eel. His leg still had healing to do as the wound had been deep and the infection bad. Overall, he was feeling much better and aside from the ache in his leg and the slight burning in his eyes and lungs, he felt a lot better.

"How are you feeling, Commander?" Phlox knew his patient would be awake now and wanted to see how he felt.

"Much better, Doc. My leg still aches, but otherwise I feel better." Trip glanced over to see Abina step into the critical care ward. She really was a beautiful woman and he felt very glad to have saved her life. "Abina."

"Hello, Trip. How are you feeling?" Abina smiled as she stepped closer. Trip certainly looked better than the last time she'd seen him.

"I was just telling the Doc here that I was feeling much better. I'm hoping he'll let me out of here." He looked at Phlox to see what his reaction was, but he couldn't tell.

"I'll give you permission to go to your quarters Commander, but you are to get some more rest. You're going to have a limp for a while and you haven't regained all of your strength." He was hesitant to let the Commander go yet, but he knew how much Tucker didn't like sickbay. As long as he went to his quarters and rested, it would be all right.

"I'll make sure he rests, Doctor." Abina added with a smile. It was the least she could do.

"Very well, you are free to go then Commander, but I want you back here later today so I can see how you are doing." Phlox helped Tucker off the bed and guided him to the changing room. "He'll be right out Abina. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine Doctor. My body has pretty much healed."

"That's good to hear." Phlox knew she had tremendous healing abilities and was glad that she was fine. Hopefully she would take care of Commander Tucker and not let him tire himself out. "Please don't let the Commander talk you into doing something he shouldn't be doing yet."

"Don't worry, Doctor. I owe him my life, but I would never do anything to risk his health." Abina smiled and knew just what to do for Trip to help him relax and hopefully go to sleep.

"I know you wouldn't, but I worry about the Commander sometimes." Phlox knew Tucker could be a risk taker sometimes.

"I'll take care of him."

"I'm ready to go. Thanks again, Doc." Trip smiled at Phlox in an effort to make him feel better about letting him go, but he got the feeling it only made him more worried.

"Come on, Trip lets get to your quarters." Abina took Trip by the hand and together they walked from sickbay to his quarters. His limp was pretty severe, but she knew that would get better in a few days. "We are having a celebration when we reach my planet tomorrow. Will you be feeling well enough to attend?" She hoped so, otherwise her efforts to thank him would be much more difficult.

"I think I can make it." Trip smiled at Abina. It was nice to have her close and not be in a life or death situation. "Here we are." The short walk from sickbay to his quarters had nearly exhausted him. He wanted to lay down, but didn't want to be a poor host.

"Lay down, Trip. I can see you are tired." It was obvious to her that their walk had tired him. She could relax him and get him to go to sleep, of that she had no doubt. "Lay on your stomach, Trip."

"Whatever you say." Trip did as she asked.

Abina moved onto the bed and slowly began to give Trip a gentle massage. Working her way from his shoulders down his back and arms, it wasn't long until Trip was sleeping deeply and Abina smiled. She'd been impressed by the strong muscles under her fingers, but her goal had been achieved and Trip was sleeping.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abina placed a blanket over Trip and contacted Doctor Phlox. She didn't think he would wake now until morning and wanted to let the Doctor know that he wouldn't be in for his follow-up. "I wanted to let you know that Trip is sleeping deeply and he should sleep through the night."

"Thank you, Abina. I won't expect him later then, but I do want to see him in the morning." Phlox was glad she'd gotten Commander Tucker to sleep. He still needed a lot of rest after the blood loss and dehydration he experienced on the planet.

"You're welcome, I will make sure he sees you in the morning." Abina settled herself in a chair and just watched Trip sleeping. The longer she watched him, the more handsome she thought he was. She couldn't remember a time when she'd met a more handsome man and this one had saved her life. "Nothing I do can ever repay what you sacrificed for me, but I'm going to do my best to show my gratitude." Her voice was soft and low. Curling up on the chair, Abina drifted to sleep.

When morning came, Trip woke to find Abina asleep in the chair. She didn't look very comfortable, but he didn't want to disturb her. Instead he got off the bed and hobbled to the shower. He knew Phlox would want to see him and thanks to Abina getting him to sleep, he felt a whole world better. Carefully he showered, but the water and soap stung his wound a little. It still felt good to have a nice hot shower.

The sound of the shower woke Abina and she slowly rose from the chair. Stretching her muscles after the night in the uncomfortable chair, she moved to the bed and began folding the blanket she'd put over Trip the day before.

Trip came out of the bathroom wearing a robe and rubbing a towel in his hair. He smiled when he saw that Abina was awake. "Good morning, Abina. You were here all night?"

"Yes, I really didn't have anywhere else to go."

"We could have assigned you one of the guest quarters. I certainly wouldn't want anyone thinking negatively of you for spending the night in my quarters." The last thing he wanted was for people to think anything had gone on, not that he wouldn't have liked that. It still bothered him that she might be thought of as loose.

"I'm not worried about that. You were in no condition to do anything but get some sleep." Abina thought it was so sweet that he was worried about her image. After today she would never see any of them again, so it really didn't matter. Moving closer to him, she gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek.

Trip wrapped his arms around her and kissed her firmly on the mouth. Closing his eyes, he let the kiss linger and grow deeper. He was so glad he'd saved her life, because she was a special lady. Breaking the kiss, Trip looked deep into her teal eyes. "I'm so glad I saved your life. You are a special lady." 23

"Trip, you are the most amazing man I've ever met. You're extremely intelligent, so handsome, and you have a heart of gold. I can never repay you for saving my life, especially at the risk of your own." She ran her fingers through his towel swept hair and smiled. It was a good thing she would be going home today, because if she stayed there any longer, she'd fall in love with Trip for sure. "Now you better get dressed so you can stop by sickbay before we go down to my planet." Gently she gave him a kiss and moved away.

"Okay, but you better come with me."

"Of course, I am going to be your escort for the entire day. It's my duty to make sure you have a good time, but don't tire yourself out." Abina smiled and sat down at the desk. She'd wait there for him to dress and then they could go together to sickbay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Doctor Phlox felt that Trip was well enough to go down to the planet, but advised him to take it easy and try to stay off his leg. That didn't make Trip happy, because that meant he'd have to be sitting around most of the time and he wanted to see Abina's planet. Now he and Abina were headed for the landing bay to join Captain Archer, Malcolm, Travis, and Hoshi to head down to the planet.

Abina helped support Trip as they walked. His limp was still severe and they were making slow progress. Luckily the shuttlepod wasn't going anywhere until they arrived. "Trip, are you sure you want to do this? Perhaps you should be in your quarters resting."

"Not a chance. I wouldn't miss this for anything and I'm dying to see Aquillis." Abina had spent the morning telling Trip about her planet and he wanted more than anything to see it.

"Just remember that you can't wear yourself out. I have a few surprises for you later." Abina held his arm tighter and smiled at him. Her hope was that the fish on her planet that was similar to catfish would be good enough to make his favorite dish perfect.

"Is that so?" Trip smiled at Abina with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Yes, now behave." Abina gave Trip a small punch in the arm as they entered the landing bay. Moving up to the shuttlepod, Travis came out and assisted Trip into the pod.

"How are you feeling, Trip?" Archer asked as Trip took the seat next to him.

"Much better, sir. My leg is still pretty sore, but otherwise I feel fine."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that. Shall we go?" Archer tapped Travis on the shoulder and he nodded.

The crew was rotating trips down to the planet. Twenty at a time and T'Pol had elected not to go at all. They were all greeted with strongly scented flower lei's draped around their necks and a delicious fruit cocktail with some sort of alcohol in it. Archer had ordered that the alcohol intake was to be kept to a minimum and he only had the one glass.

As the celebration got underway, Abina gave the bridge crew a tour of their capital city in a land vehicle, before the feast began. She kept a close eye on Trip and as the day wore on she could see he was getting tired. "It's time for the feast to begin, so I'll take you back to the banquet hall."

There was all kinds of food to be had. Most of which was seafood, but there were some vegetables and other things that most of them didn't recognize. Archer, Malcolm, and Hoshi chose shellfish, while Travis was a little more daring and went for something that looked like it had tentacles. Abina had made Trip sit down and told him she had prepared something special for him.

Placing the plate with what she hoped would pass for pan fried catfish, in front of Trip, she smiled. "I hope this is satisfactory Trip. We don't have catfish on this planet, but I think this is close enough."

"You made pan fried catfish?" Trip was stunned and moved.

"Yes, Captain Archer was kind enough to give me your mother's recipe." Abina was pleased at Trip's reaction and hoped he liked the dish. Watching as he took a bite, Abina smiled when his face lit up and he closed his eyes.

"This is perfect, Abina. It's been so long since I had this and it melts in my mouth." Smiling up at her as she stood next to him, he took her hand and kissed the back. "Thanks, Abina"

"Please, don't thank me. It's my way of thanking you for saving my life." She sat down next to him and they all enjoyed the feast. Abina could feel Trip watching her as she ate and it made her smile.

Before they knew it, it was time to leave and everyone said their goodbyes. Archer thanked Abina and the Governor of their city, for the hospitality and wonderful meal. Everyone climbed aboard the shuttlepod except Trip. He wanted to say goodbye to Abina in private.

"The way we met might not have been the most pleasant, but you are a special lady and I'll miss you." Trip pulled her close and his fingers brushed a strand of her hair back off her face.

"I'll miss you too, Trip. Please take care of yourself and let your leg heal." She worried about him, but he'd survived this long and he was a very strong man. Bringing her hand to the back of his neck, she pulled him into a deep, but gentle kiss. "Goodbye, Trip."

"Goodbye, Abina." Stepping back, Trip smiled at Abina and climbed aboard the shuttlepod. Watching out the window as the ship lifted off, Trip waved to her and then she disappeared from view.

"She was a special lady, sir." Travis hadn't missed the things she did for Trip and how she cared for someone she really didn't even know.

"Yes she is, Travis." Trip smiled and settled in his seat. It would be another week and several more osmotic eel treatments before his leg was healed and he no longer limped.

THE END