THE PRISONS OF ZORAX
The last thing Trip remembered was flying shuttlepod one towards the large moon that orbited the planet that Enterprise was currently in orbit around. The sensors had detected dilithium and he had been sent by the Captain to see if he could get some. Now he found himself in some kind of dungeon with his hands tied by straps that stretched his arms high above his head. Trip knew they must have searched him, but they didn't do a very good job of it. He could still feel the universal translator and communicator that were attached to the inside of his uniform just below his left arm. Glancing up at the sound of someone entering the room, a chill went down his spine. He was in serious trouble.
Warden Mirsk entered the interrogation room and saw that his newest prisoner was finally awake. He was going to get good money for this slave. The man was the best specimen that he had and perhaps with some luck he could make the man mate with Tindara and provide him with another slave. Tindara was the best female specimen that Mirsk had and perhaps the two could produce the perfect specimen. "I see you finally decided to wake."
"Who the hell are you?" Trip glared at the man and tried to avoid looking at the creature that stood next to him.
"I am the warden of this slave prison. You are Commander Tucker of the starship Enterprise and I'm going to make you tell me where it's current location is." Mirsk smiled and glanced at Gork. No one could resist Gork's influence. Gork was eight feet tall and had muscles like no one he'd ever seen before. The fact that Gork had one eye, two mouths, and no nose made him look terrifying.
"Like hell I will." Trip tried to kick out with his feet, but the creature caught his legs and twisted. He cried out at the pain and closed his eyes as the creature finally released his legs and they fell back to the floor.
"Commander, there is no point in trying to be a hero. I have learned much about you and your ship from the computers on your shuttle craft. All I need to know is where Enterprise is." He could add it's entire crew to his prison and make a lot of money selling them.
"I'll die before I tell you that." He didn't even see the first punch coming. There was suddenly a sharp pain in his stomach as the one eyed creature punched him repeatedly in the stomach. The next punch was to his face and split open his lip causing it to bleed. Trip barely registered the next punch as it impacted the side of his head and sent him back into oblivion.
"Damn it Gork, you weren't supposed to knock him unconscious."
Gork just shrugged and looked at the being in front of him.
"Untie him and put him in the cell with Tindara." Mirsk then turned and left the room.
Gork untied the man's hands and slung him over his shoulder. Carrying him out of the interrogation room and down a long hallway, Gork stopped in front of a cell and unlocked the door. Opening the door, Gork tossed the unconscious man onto the cell floor before closing and locking the cell. Before he left he grunted at the female inside the cell and glanced again at the limp form on the floor. Without another sound, Gork left them behind and went to find his meal.
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Tindara was hesitant so she kept her place on the cot. She watched the man on the floor for many moments trying to decide if he was a danger to her. It was obvious he'd been beaten and that probably meant he was another innocent victim of Mirsk, but why was he put in her cell then? Usually a male was only put in her cell when Mirsk wanted him to mate with her and this man did not look in any condition to do that.
With the grace and smoothness of a cat, Tindara moved from the cot and knelt down next to the unconscious man. Now that she was closer she could see that he was a very handsome man. Tearing a piece of cloth from her gown, she dipped it in the basin of water that sat on the table next to her. Carefully she wiped the blood from his face and dabbed at the cut on his lip. She truly hoped he was not injured too severely. Gently stroking his hair, she whispered. "Rest easy, you are safe for now."
Trip moaned as he changed position on the floor. He felt someone's gentle touch and thought he was dreaming. After the hell he'd just been through, he didn't believe that anyone could be that gentle. It took a moment for him to focus as he opened his eyes. Blinking, he couldn't quite believe the vision he saw before him. She was the most exotic and beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Her hair was long and light blue and her skin was gold. Gazing into her azure eyes, he felt a calmness come over him and he relaxed. "Who......who are you?"
"Shhhh. You have been beaten pretty badly. Can you make it to the cot?" Tindara glanced at the cot against the wall. It wasn't that far away since the cell was pretty small, but she didn't know if he could move.
"I think so." Trip moaned again as he moved to a kneeling position. He felt the woman try to assist him. Slowly he rose to his feet, but a wave of dizziness washed over him and he leaned against the woman at his side. "Thank you." With the woman's help he made it to the cot and sat down.
"Lay back. You need to rest." Placing her hand at the back of his head, she helped ease him down to the cot where he immediately closed his eyes. "You've taken a pretty nasty beating so you need to rest a while."
"Thank you." Trip opened his eyes again and looked at the vision of beauty. If he didn't know better he'd think she was an angel. He closed his eyes once again as she began to dab at his lip with the wet cloth. It felt very good and her gentle touch was making him drift off.
"You do not need to thank me." Leaning down she placed a brief, gentle kiss to his lips.
Trip didn't open his eyes when she kissed him, but he did whisper to her. "I don't even know your name."
"My name is Tindara. I probably won't be here when you wake again. It will soon be time for me to go and fix Mirsk and Gork their dinners. Be assured that I will return soon." She brushed the hair back from his forehead and watched as he drifted into a deep sleep.
While Trip slept, Tindara did her best to gently examine him for injuries. She unzipped his jumpsuit and felt around for any broken ribs. There were a few spots that were very tender and caused him to moan in pain, but he did not wake. At one point her hand brushed against the communicator and universal translator, but she did nothing with them. When he woke again she would ask him about them. Zipping his uniform back up, she once again dabbed at his lip with the wet cloth. For some reason it didn't want to stop bleeding and she needed to get it stopped.
A short time later Gork showed up to take her to the kitchen. There was no reason for her to think that things would be any different this day than any other day, so when things were she was not prepared for it.
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Back on Enterprise Captain Archer had made contact with the inhabitants of the planet. They were a friendly people and Hoshi hadn't had much trouble translating their language. The leader of the planet had invited the crew to come down and visit if they wished. "Thank you for the kind invitation and I will grant shore leave to any of the crew that wish to go."
"Very well, we will make sure they have a good time and look forward to meeting more of your people." The leader of the planet was a very distinguished woman and had a commanding presence. Their people were not as advanced as Earth, but they did have warp capabilities.
"I'll begin sending them down within the hour. I do have a question for you about one of the moons around your planet. We detected dilithium on it and wondered if there were any other sources of dilithium anywhere else?" Archer saw the look of concern and fear cross the woman's face and he suddenly got a bad feeling about Trip.
"Please tell me you did not send anyone to Zorax."
"Yes, I did. I sent my Chief Engineer there to investigate and try to bring some dilithium back." The sudden tightness in his gut was not a good sign.
"I'm sorry to hear that Captain. I fear you will never see him again." She'd tried many times to get rid of the slave trade on Zorax, but didn't have the technology to do so.
"What are you talking about?" Archer was confused.
"Captain, there is a slave prison on that moon. We've tried many times to get rid of it, but they have more advanced technology than we do. They give off those false readings of dilithium or whatever mineral beings might be looking for and when they go there to retrieve it, they are taken as slaves." Maybe these people could get rid of the slave traders with their technology. She knew if one of their crew was a prisoner there, they would try to rescue him.
"Thank you for telling me this. I'm afraid we will have to cancel that shore leave, at least for now. I need to try and make contact with my Commander." Archer sat heavily in his chair and glanced around the bridge. Everyone had concern on their faces.
"I understand Captain. Be advised that the warden can be very brutal and don't be surprised if your Commander has been beaten." After a pause. "Good luck to you Captain."
"Thank you Chancellor, Archer out."
"Do you think Trip is okay, sir?" Reed asked from his station.
"I don't know Malcolm, but I'm not about to leave him in a place like that." Archer looked at Reed. He knew that Malcolm and Trip were becoming good friends. "Hoshi, see if you can make contact with Commander Tucker."
"Aye, Captain." She began sending out a signal on all frequencies in an attempt to reach Commander Tucker, but she was getting a lot of interference. "There seems to be some sort of dampening field around that moon. I can't get through it at this distance."
"Travis, take us closer to that moon."
"Yes, sir." Mayweather tapped in the coordinates and Enterprise began moving in the direction of the moon. It was currently on the opposite side of the planet from where Enterprise was. Therefore they could not scan the moon and the scanners on the moon could not find Enterprise.
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Trip wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep, but he ached all over. It took him a few moments to get his bearings and started looking around the cell. "Oh dear God." He moved as quickly as he could from the cot to where Tindara now lay on the floor in the same place he'd been earlier. She was in almost the same condition he'd been in and he was worried. Rolling her over he found her to be conscious, but now she had a split lip to match his. "Tindara?" Her left eye was swollen and a dark purple, where his right eye was swollen and black and blue. "Take it easy now."
"I'm fine, really." Tindara sat up slowly. She'd been struck in the face a few times, but that was all. They hadn't beaten her like they had him. Realizing she didn't know his name, she started to ask when he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the cot. "You shouldn't be exerting yourself like that, you are more injured than I am."
"Now, you took care of me before. It's my turn to take care of you." He picked up the cloth that she'd been using earlier and dipped it in the basin of water. Gently he dabbed at the cut on her lip and wiped away the blue blood that had run down her chin. "Why did they do this?" He had no doubt why they'd done it.
"It doesn't matter. They didn't hurt me very much."
"It does matter. They did this because of me didn't they?" He got the cloth wet again and returned to dabbing at her lip. "They thought I might have told you something and they wanted to beat it out of you." If he got the chance, he'd make those bastards pay for hurting her. "I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault......I don't even know your name." She gazed deep into his blue eyes and thought she could easily fall in love with him.
"I'm Charles Tucker the third, at your service. Everyone calls me Trip and I insist that you do so as well." He smiled down at her and felt a strong need to protect her.
"I'm pleased to meet you Trip." She closed her eyes as she suddenly felt very tired. The feel of his lips touching hers did not really surprise her, but she had expected pain in her lip from the touch. There was a slight twinge, but it quickly faded away as the pleasure and warmth of his tender kiss filled her.
"You sleep now Tindara. I am going to try and contact my ship." He caressed her hair for a moment until he could tell she was asleep. Moving away from the cot, Trip removed the communicator from inside his uniform and started trying to reach the ship. "Tucker to Enterprise."
On Enterprise, Hoshi's excited voice reached Archer's ears. He'd been lost in thought and her voice brought him out of it. "What is it Hoshi?"
"Sir, I've got Commander Tucker."
"Put it on audio." Archer sat up straight in his chair. "Trip? Are you okay?"
"I've been better sir. This moon is a slave prison and I am trapped here with another alien. They beat her trying to get information out of her. They did the same to me, but I didn't tell them where you are." Trip glanced at Tindara to make sure he wasn't disturbing her.
"Commander, what did they want to know?" He couldn't understand what information they could possibly want from him.
"The location of Enterprise. I guess they think they can add the crew to their slave market." Trip knew that's what they wanted, but even if they knew where Enterprise was they couldn't take the whole ship.
"Hang on Trip, we'll get you out of there." How he didn't know yet.
"Sir, we need to get Tindara out of here too. She doesn't deserve to be here."
"We'll do everything we can Trip, just try to hang in there." Archer wanted to just raid the place and rescue them, but with the dampening field in place that wasn't an option. They'd have to come up with another way.
"Affirmative sir, Tucker out." Trip ended the communication, but wished he hadn't. It had felt comforting to talk with Archer. At least he knew they were aware of the situation and would get Tindara and himself out of there.
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Trip sat on the floor of the cell and scrutinized it. That position on the floor was uncomfortable with all his bruises, but there was only one cot in the cell and he would not disturb Tindara. All of the walls of the cell were solid rock except for the front wall which was made of thick steel bars. He'd hoped there might be a way to break out, but he couldn't see one. If he had his phase pistol he could cut through the bars, but that was on the shuttlepod.
Tindara slowly woke and winced at the pain in her lip and eye. Glancing around the cell she saw Trip sitting on the floor. He didn't look at all comfortable and she could see a grimace on his face as he moved wrong. "Trip, why don't you sit here on the cot with me?"
"I didn't want to disturb you. How are you feeling?" Trip slid closer to the cot, but did not get up from the floor. He wasn't sure he could get up now as his muscles had stiffened up. Reaching up, he gently touched her face where a bruise was appearing. "I'm very sorry this happened to you."
"Please don't, it wasn't your fault and it really doesn't hurt that bad." She reached out and touch the cut on his lip. It was no longer bleeding and she was glad for that. "You are a very sweet man and I'm sorry you got captured and brought here."
Trip took her hand and held it tight. "How long have you been here?"
"I'm not exactly sure. I've lost track of time, but I believe about six months."
"How many men have they forced you to be with?" He felt awkward asking it and when he saw the look on her face he wished he hadn't.
"Um, well."
"No, you don't have to tell me that. I shouldn't have asked you that kind of question. I'm sorry." Looking down at the floor, Trip felt very embarrassed and ashamed for asking her such a personal question.
Tindara reached out and lifted Trip's chin so she could look in his eyes. He really was a sweet, caring man and she didn't want him to feel ashamed. "It's okay. It was a perfectly understandable question considering the circumstances." Every time she looked into his blue eyes she felt herself falling for him more. There was such intelligence, compassion, and concern in those eyes and for the first time since she'd been imprisoned there, she actually wanted to mate with her cell mate.
"It was still not an appropriate thing to ask......" His words were cut off by her finger pressed to his lips. He'd been determined not to be with her when they threw him in her cell and expected him to do just that. Now he was finding it hard to resist her and he fought the feelings growing inside him for her.
Tindara leaned forward and kissed Trip. It was gentle and tentative at first, but grew deeper as she let herself feel something for the first time in a long time. "I want you, Trip."
Trip pulled away from the kiss and looked into her azure eyes. "We can't Tindara. That's what they want and I won't give them what they want." Truth was he wanted her very much and if they were left in that cell alone together much longer, he'd be giving in to his desires.
"It's what I want, Trip. For the first time since I was brought here I have feelings. You have brought all the feelings that I'd been hiding away, back to the surface and I need you to let me experience those feelings again." Her hand caressed his face. She understood why he was reluctant, but she needed to feel true pleasure and love again.
"I......."
"Please?" Tindara closed her eyes as Trip began kissing her deeply. She felt him pull her into his arms and move onto the cot with her. They made love slowly and Tindara let the feelings flow through her like a warm, soothing breeze. He was giving her something she desperately needed and there was no way she could ever repay him. When they finished she held Trip tight and whispered in his ear. "Thank you." Then kissed his cheek gently.
"You're welcome, Tindara. It was quite wonderful." Trip smiled and held her tight. Now that he'd given in to her he found that he was not sorry that he had. In fact it was one of the most memorable experiences he'd ever had. They fell asleep in each others arms and slept better than they had in days.
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On Enterprise, Captain Archer had found a way to at least get the female out of the prison. With the help of one of Doctor Phlox's friends that was in the area, they would buy her. It was set up so that Phlox's friend would be given the money to purchase her by Starfleet and he would take her somewhere far away so she couldn't be recaptured. Archer still wasn't sure what to do about Trip. Reed was working on a way to disrupt the dampening field so they could raid the place, but that was a last resort.
Phlox was currently in the landing bay with his friend Torlock. They'd just given him the money to make the purchase and he was preparing to depart. "Good luck Torlock, take good care of the young lady."
"Don't worry Phlox, no harm will come to her I promise. I will also try to find out how your Commander is while I am there." Torlock had been appalled to find out about the slave prison and wanted to do all he could to help.
Captain Archer walked into the landing bay and over to where Phlox and his friend Torlock stood. "As soon as they lower the dampening field to let you in, we will run a scan and should be able to get a better idea of what we are up against." He hoped this whole thing worked. There had been no further communications with Trip since that first one and that had him worried.
"Don't worry Captain. I won't let you down. Whatever I can do while I'm there to help, I will." He shook both Phlox and Archer's hands and climbed aboard his ship. Torlock had it all planned out as to what he would say to the warden when he made contact. Now all he had to do was hope the warden didn't want too high a price for the female.
Meanwhile back on Zorax, Trip was being taken from the cell in a rather violent manner. The warden wanted to try beating the information out of him again. This time he'd make sure that Gork didn't knock him unconscious so quickly.
Tindara tried to stop them from taking Trip, but was not strong enough to fight Gork. All she could do was watch him drag Trip down the hall towards the interrogation room. "Trip." She whispered. There was no doubt in her mind what was about to happen to him and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Trip tried to fight Gork, but it was no use. The monster was huge and had bulging muscles like he'd never seen. All he could do was prepare himself for what was about to come. He'd die before he revealed the location of Enterprise to that scum Mirsk. He tried to struggle as Gork tied his hands up over his head by the straps like they'd been before. When Mirsk walked into the room, Trip just glared at him. "You're wasting your time, I'm not going to tell you a damn thing."
"We'll see Commander. There is only so much a human body can take and I think I'm about to find out how much that is." Mirsk smiled and nodded to Gork.
With Mirsk's nod of approval, Gork began hitting Trip. He pulled his punches enough that they would not knock him unconscious, but were still very strong. Gork smiled as he heard his victim cry out in pain. This was the favorite part of his job and he enjoyed it. The punches continued for what seemed like a very long time. The man in front of him was beginning to look like something else as blood ran down his face and bruises began appearing.
Trip was fighting to maintain control. He'd fight the pain and nausea for as long as he could in order to keep them from winning. At one point, one of Gork's punches landed just so that it broke the communicator and pieces of it imbedded in his side. The pain and blood loss were beginning to take their toll on him and after an hour of being beaten, succumbed to unconsciousness.
"Damn it. We aren't going to get anything out of him. Take him back to the cell. Once his wounds heal sufficiently we'll sell him off." Mirsk was disappointed and angry. He'd felt certain that he could get the information out of the Commander. From his experience human's were usually weak, but not this one.
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Tindara moved quickly to Trip's side once Gork was gone. She knew it would be bad, but she was not prepared for what she found. "Oh God, Trip." Gork had beaten him severely this time and he was currently unconscious. Gently taking him under the arms, she dragged him to the cot and carefully got him settled on it. His wounds needed immediate attention and she would provide it. Taking the cloth that she'd used before, she dipped it into the basin of water and gently began to clean his face.
Trip wasn't aware of much except the pain that seemed to radiate from every inch of his body. The only relief he felt was when Tindara began to clean his wounds with the damp cloth. Her gentle touch made him relax and he fell into a deeper sleep in which he felt nothing.
She couldn't believe how badly beaten Trip was. The cut on his lip was bleeding heavily again and there was a gash on his left temple that was also bleeding heavily. Black and blue marks were beginning to appear on his face and she knew those same marks would be on his body. Kneeling on the floor next to the cot allowed her easier access to Trip in order to clean his face, but it prevented her from seeing the blood on the left side of his uniform under his arm.
It was only when she moved her hand away and found it covered with blood that she realized that Trip had a serious injury on his left side. She wasn't sure what to do as she would need to get his jumpsuit off and she couldn't do that with him unconscious. All she could think to do was to try and bring him around. If he'd lost that much blood, then he needed immediate attention. "Trip? I need you to wake up."
Trip moaned as he struggled to do as she asked. Pain was all he felt and he didn't want to wake. He felt so weak and light headed. Once he finally opened his eyes the room was swirling and he fought not to throw up. "Oh, God."
"I'm sorry Trip. I wouldn't have wakened you if it wasn't necessary. You have some serious injuries to your side and I need to get your uniform off." Tindara unzipped the jumpsuit and with a little help from Trip got his arms out of the sleeves. Lowering the jumpsuit down to his waist, Tindara lifted the black shirt he wore underneath. "Oh, Trip." Some of the wounds were deep and the bleeding was heavy.
"It really doesn't hurt that much." Trip lied. In fact it hurt like hell, but he didn't want her worrying about him. It had been a long time since he felt that weak and light headed. "Don't worry about me Tindara. I'll be fine." He gasped and closed his eyes as Tindara began to probe his wounds for the pieces of his communicator that were imbedded in his side.
"I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you, but I've got to get these wounds cleaned out." Tearing a larger piece from her gown, Tindara wet it and began to clean the wounds and apply pressure to stop the bleeding. She cringed every time Trip gasped in pain. The fact that she was hurting the man who had given her so much made her feel bad, but it needed to be done.
"It's fine, really. I've been worse off than this before." Another lie. Not even nearly freezing to death, or roasting to death had been worse than how he felt now. His side felt like it was on fire and he didn't think he could even stand right now if he had to.
"I hate to think that." She knew he was trying to keep her from worrying, but it wasn't working. "I've got the bleeding stopped and these pieces of plastic removed, but you need stitches and bandages."
"Just help me get the jumpsuit back on and I'll be fine." Trip smiled at her and wished he didn't feel so awful. The love making they'd shared had been wonderful and he wouldn't mind being with her again. Maybe when they got out of that hell they could have something together.
"Trip, that isn't good enough."
"It'll have to be, we don't have any way of stitching the wounds or putting bandages on. We have to hope that the Captain figures out a way to get us out of here soon." Leaning back against the wall, Trip closed his eyes and put his arm around Tindara as she moved next to him on the cot.
A few moments later, Mirsk and Gork came into the cell block which was empty except for the pair in the first cell. A few days before they captured the human, they'd sold off all of their slaves except Tindara. Now they'd been contacted by an individual offering top dollar for her and they couldn't turn down the offer.
Trip and Tindara looked up as Mirsk and Gork came into the block. Both of them felt the fear and hoped that they weren't going to take Trip for another beating. Trip held Tindara a little tighter and hoped they weren't going to hurt her any further.
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Lieutenant Reed was poised to run a detailed scan on the prison complex the moment Torlock was granted access. Torlock had already contacted the prison warden and made the deal for the female. Malcolm hoped he could find Trip's bio-signs when he ran the scan so they would know if he was even alive.
"Mr. Reed, are you ready?" Archer glanced at him, but knew he was ready.
"Yes, sir." Just then a light flashed on the panel in front of him. That was the signal that the dampening field was down. Quickly Malcolm began running the scans as he knew the field would not be down for long. As he read the data, his brow furrowed.
"What is it?" Archer hadn't missed Malcolm's expression of concern.
"I was able to run a detailed scan before the field went back up and there are some possible weak spots that we could work on breaking through, but we need to make a move soon." Reed paused a moment before continuing. "I've found Commander Tucker and his vital signs are not good." His eyes continued to scan the data on the screen in front of him.
"Could you get any specific information?" Concern was written all over Archer's face. What had they done to Trip? Apparently nothing good and he intended to make them pay for their illegal actions.
"Not really. I could only tell that he was barely conscious and his vitals were weaker than they should be." Reed was very worried too and right then he felt completely helpless to do anything.
"Get to work on a way to break through those weak spots. I want to get Trip out of there as soon as possible." The anger was rising in Archer and he knew he needed to keep it under control.
"Yes, sir. I'm on it." Reed was working hard to analyze the data and come up with a way to break through the dampening field at one of the weak points. He just hoped Trip could hang on a little longer.
Meanwhile on Zorax, Gork had moved into the cell and grabbed Tindara by the arm. He was dragging her out of the cell when Trip managed to get to his feet and try to stop him. "Leave her be. She can't tell you anything."
"Yeah, we figured that out. We've got a buyer for her and he's paying top dollar." Mirsk felt a certain satisfaction in taking her away from the stubborn Commander. He knew the man cared about her and it was his revenge for not being able to beat the information he wanted out of him.
"Leave her, she's not some possession that you can just sell." Trip tried to grab Gork and stop him, but Gork shoved him hard and he slammed against the rock wall. His head impacted the wall, but not hard enough for him to lose consciousness. Everything began to go dark, but he fought to stay conscious so he could help Tindara. Staggering forward, Trip couldn't keep his feet under him and he fell to the floor. He looked up as Gork took Tindara out of the cell and closed the door. "Tindara."
"Trip, please don't fight them. You are too weak and I couldn't bare it if you were injured more because of me. I'll be fine." She didn't want to leave him and feared once she was gone, Mirsk might just kill him because he couldn't get what he wanted. Looking back one last time before Trip disappeared from view, Tindara tried to let Trip know how she felt. "I love you." She whispered, but doubted Trip could see or hear her as he looked to be barely conscious.
Trip watched them take Tindara away from his place on the floor. He couldn't focus, so all he could see was a blur. The feeling in his gut about what was going to happen to Tindara made him realize just how much she really meant to him. He also wondered if he'd ever see her again. Crawling to the cot, Trip pulled himself up onto it and rolled onto his side. The pain and return of the bleeding to his side made it easy for him to drift into unconsciousness.
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Torlock met Mirsk, Gork, and Tindara on the landing pad. He was angry to see the bruises and cut lip on the beautiful young woman. She looked terrified and Torlock wanted to let her know as soon as he could that she was safe and he was going to take her far away from there. Commander Tucker had been correct, she did not belong there, but then again no one did except maybe Mirsk and Gork. It would be fitting punishment for them to have to spend the rest of their lives in a place like that.
Mirsk happily took the money from Torlock. Now that he was getting rid of Tindara, he felt glad to be rid of her. Other than fixing their meals, she was completely useless. The numerous attempts to mate her with other prisoners had failed completely. "Truth is I'm glad to be rid of her. I hope you get more use out of her than I did."
"Oh, I'm sure I'll find plenty of things for her to do." Torlock grinned at Mirsk and shook his hand. It was hard to keep his anger under control and he needed to get out of there as soon as he could. "Pleasure doing business."
"Indeed." Mirsk nodded and he and Gork returned to the main complex. His hope was that he could get that much money for the Commander as well. He'd have to wait a while until his wounds healed up.
The moment Torlock had Tindara safely aboard his ship he let her know that she was safe. "There is nothing to fear. I was given the money to purchase you by Commander Tucker's Captain. I am going to take you far from here and set you free."
"I'm free? What about Trip? He's hurt badly and may not last much longer. You have to help him." She didn't want to leave until she knew Trip was okay, but she also knew that if they stayed around Mirsk might just find a way to capture them again.
"Don't you worry. Captain Archer is working on a plan to free the Commander." Torlock lifted off and headed in the direction of Enterprise. He would fly right past and keep going, but he'd deliver a message on the way. That message would be that Commander Tucker was still alive, but might not be for much longer.
Hoshi acknowledged Torlock's message and put it on visual.
"I want to thank you again for your assistance Torlock. Ms. Tindara, I am glad that we could get you out of that place and I assure you that we will rescue Commander Tucker." Archer almost couldn't believe how exotic and beautiful she was. He could understand why Trip wanted to get her out of that hell hole.
"Thank you Captain. Please help Trip as soon as you can. When I left him he was in very bad shape and had lost a lot of blood." The affection and concern for Trip was in her eyes and it wasn't lost on Archer.
"I will get him out of there as soon as I can. I am sure he will be glad to know that you are safe." Archer smiled at her and wished he had time to get to know her better.
"Please tell him that I will miss him. I became very fond of him and I would like for you to let him know that." A single tear rolled down her cheek. It saddened her to know that she would probably never see Trip again.
Archer was a little surprised at the strong display of emotions. Tindara and Trip must have become very close during their few days in that prison. "I will let him know Tindara. Take care of yourself and thanks again Torlock."
"Best of luck to you Captain in rescuing the Commander." Torlock nodded and ended the transmission. A moment later his ship went into warp and he was gone.
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"Malcolm, what have you come up with?" Archer moved closer to his station and hoped Malcolm had a way in.
"If we take a shuttlepod in from behind the complex, we could take out the dampening field in that area with a few well placed shots." Malcolm handed Archer a padd with the data on it and watched as he nodded.
"Get a couple of security officers and meet me in the landing bay. T'Pol, you're with me." Archer stepped onto the turbo lift and hit the button once T'Pol was inside. Pressing the button on the comm. Archer spoke. "Archer to Phlox."
"Phlox here, go ahead Captain."
"Put together an emergency medical kit with stretcher and meet us in the landing bay as soon as possible." Archer looked at T'Pol. Sometimes he hated her cool exterior. As far as he could tell she had no concerns for Trip and that bothered him.
"Right away, Captain. Any idea what Commander Tucker's condition is?" Phlox had been told what Tindara had said, but that wasn't much.
"Not really. He's been beaten pretty badly and apparently lost a lot of blood. So be prepared for anything."
"Understood." Phlox hit the button to end the call and began putting his emergency kit together.
"We are going to have to move quickly once we land. I want you to take Phlox and find Trip. I am going to take Reed and his security team and find the warden of that place and take him into custody." He watched her for any sign of emotion, but there was none. There never was.
"Understood. I think it would be wise to destroy the prison complex before we leave. Therefore, no one else could make use of it." T'Pol was cool and calm on the outside, but inside she was worried about Commander Tucker and she wanted the prison destroyed.
"I had planned to do just that T'Pol." Maybe she was concerned. Stepping off the turbo lift, he and T'Pol made their way to the landing bay. Ten minutes later the security team and Doctor Phlox were aboard the shuttlepod and it departed Enterprise.
Malcolm banked the shuttlepod down and under the moon so that they'd come back up on the back side. The data about the weak spots had been fed into the shuttlepod's computer and the phasers were in position. Things were about to happen fast and there could be no mistakes.
As soon as the first shots hit the dampening field and it fell, Mirsk and Gork headed for their escape pod. Mirsk had thought about taking the shuttle craft belonging to Commander Tucker because it was faster. He decided against it however, as it would be too easy to track. They didn't even give Tucker a second thought as all they could think about was escaping. "Damn, I knew we should have gotten rid of that troublesome Commander sooner."
Gork just grunted as they ran. Their little money making slave trade was history now and all he wanted to do was get away.
Trip remained in his place on the cot. Not even the phaser blasts brought him out of unconsciousness. He'd lost too much blood and the side of his uniform and the cot under him were soaked with it.
Reed got the shuttlepod landed and he and his two security officers caught Mirsk and Gork on the landing pad. Gork tried to put up a fight, but Reed stunned him and rendered him helpless. While Reed and one of his security officers got Mirsk and Gork secured on the shuttlepod, Archer and the other security officer entered the main complex to retrieve the computer records. T'Pol and Phlox also entered the complex and began searching for Commander Tucker.
Archer spotted shuttlepod one as he entered the complex and sent the security officer to check and see if it could fly and if so, to take it back to Enterprise. Quickly he retrieved the data module from the main computer core and headed back out to the landing pad. "Archer to T'Pol."
"Go ahead, Captain."
"Any luck finding Trip?"
"Yes, Captain, but he has lost a lot of blood. Doctor Phlox is currently giving the Commander a blood transfusion. Until he has completed that task the Commander cannot be moved." T'Pol stood next to the cot as Phlox knelt on the floor in front of her. Commander Tucker looked very pale and did not move. She did her best to hide her concern for him, but it was difficult.
"Where are you? I'll be right there?" Archer was extremely worried about Trip. It didn't sound like he was doing very good.
"There is no need Captain. The Doctor will be finished in a few moments, then we will be on our way out." T'Pol knew Archer was worried about his friend, but it would be inefficient for him to come there when they would be on their way out in a few moments.
"Very well. Keep me informed." Archer placed the data module on shuttlepod two and watched as shuttlepod one took off toward Enterprise. Once Trip was safely back aboard Enterprise, Archer planned to turn Mirsk and Gork over to the government of the planet below. With the data module for evidence there should be no problem finding them guilty of any number of crimes. He would instruct Reed to use Enterprise's torpedo's to destroy the prison complex for good.
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"T'Pol, carefully take his legs. We need to get Commander Tucker on the stretcher, but we need to be careful. I have his wounds sealed, but not very securely." The condition Tucker was in was serious and Phlox was worried about his blood level. He'd given Tucker a transfusion, but doubted it was even remotely enough. The tricorder scan had indicated that one of the pieces of the communicator had put a small hole in Tucker's artery. Luckily the way he was laying on the cot had provided some pressure and reduced the bleeding. If they'd gotten there any later it would have been too late and Tucker would have bled to death.
"Yes, Doctor. He is going to be fine?" T'Pol didn't want her concern to show, but got the feeling Phlox knew anyway.
"I can't say for sure yet. We need to get him back to Enterprise where I can treat him properly." If he could keep Tucker alive until they got to Enterprise, he could most likely save him.
"Let's get moving then. We wouldn't want the Captain getting upset because we let his Chief Engineer die." Carefully she wrapped her hands around Trip's legs and they placed him on the stretcher. Quickly, but carefully they moved the stretcher out of the cell and down the hall. It would only take a few minutes to get him safely aboard the shuttlepod.
Archer stepped up next to the stretcher occupied by his friend. Trip looked too pale and didn't move at all. Taking a seat in the chair directly next to the stretcher, Archer placed his hand on Trip's shoulder and braced himself for liftoff. The amount of blood on Trip's uniform shocked him and he wondered just how much blood he'd lost. Suddenly the tricorder that Phlox had put on Trip's chest began to beep and Archer noticed that the life signs on the tricorder indicated that his heart had stopped beating. "Doctor."
Phlox quickly moved in and looked at the readings. "T'Pol, hand me that hypo-spray out of the kit." He needed to get Tucker's heart beating again.
"Come on Trip. Don't you quit on me." Archer said into his ear. He watched as Phlox worked on Trip and a moment later his heart was beating again.
"That was close sir. The sooner we get him back to Enterprise the better." Phlox's concern for the Commander was even greater now. Until he could get more blood into him he could have more heart failure.
"Mr. Reed? You heard the Doctor?"
"Yes sir. I have the shuttlepod at maximum speed and we will be aboard Enterprise in a few moments." Reed felt just as much urgency as everyone else and got the shuttlepod going as fast as he could.
"What about decontamination?" T'Pol asked.
"We will have to skip it. There isn't time for him to go through that." Phlox knew that could be dangerous, but doubted that Tucker had any kind of dangerous germs.
"Is that wise?"
"We don't have a choice T'Pol, if we put him through decon, then he will not survive." Phlox replied.
"Understood."
Trip's heart stopped again before they could get him aboard Enterprise. Phlox was able to bring him back with a combination of a hypo-spray and cardiac stimulator. The minute they were aboard, Trip was rushed to sickbay where Phlox was currently working on him. More transfusions were needed and the wounds to his side needed to be tended.
Reed and his security officers got Mirsk and Gork secured in the brig while Archer went to the bridge and contacted the government of the planet. Chancellor Forsk was more than happy to take Mirsk and Gork off of Archer's hands and vowed that justice would be served. She was very glad to be rid of the slave prison and that Commander Tucker had been rescued.
Archer ordered Mayweather to launch two of Enterprise's torpedo's into the prison complex and everyone on the bridge watched as the whole thing exploded. Archer felt a great deal of satisfaction in seeing the place destroyed. All he, or any of them could do now was wait and see if Trip came out of the experience alive.
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It was another two days before Trip woke for the first time. Phlox had given him several transfusions and he was stronger than before, but still very weak. The wounds on Trip's side had been sealed and were healing, but he still had many other bruises and contusions. Several of his ribs had been cracked and he'd suffered a concussion.
Archer just happened to be visiting Trip when he finally woke and was a little startled by the suddenness of his waking.
Trip woke with a start and called out. "Tindara." Squeezing his eyes shut at the pain he felt, he spoke again. "We have to help Tindara."
"Take it easy, Trip." Archer kept his hand on Trip's chest to keep him from sitting up and possibly hurting himself.
"No, we have to save her. They sold her to someone." Trip struggled against Archer's hold, but it was a weak effort.
"Settle down Trip. Tindara is fine." Archer felt Trip relax under his hand. "Tindara is safe and on her way home, Trip."
"You lost me, sir." He was very confused and still a bit disoriented.
"The person that bought Tindara was a friend of Doctor Phlox. We gave him the money to buy her and get her out of there." Archer watched as Trip relaxed and his eyes began to close again.
"She's safe?"
"Yes, Trip. She is on her way home to her planet."
"Thanks, Captain." His voice was barely a whisper as he drifted back to sleep.
"You're welcome, my friend." Archer nodded to Phlox on his way out of sickbay. In another week Trip would be back on his feet. Doctor Phlox would not let Trip do anything but desk duty for the next month after that. Which did not make Trip happy, but he had no choice.
EPILOGUE
It was six months since Tindara had been freed from her prison. It had been a long and difficult four month journey back to her planet. Even at warp it had taken that long, but she was home and surrounded by her parents and siblings.
Currently she sat in a chair out in her front yard looking up at the stars. She thought of Trip often and wondered where he was, or if he was even alive. An attempt had been made to find out about him, but her planet was too far away from where Trip would be, to make contact.
It saddened her to think that Trip would never know what gifts he'd given her. He'd freed her from the prison that she thought she'd spend the rest of her life in. Trip had shown her how to feel and love again, and most of all, he'd given her the unborn child that grew inside her.
What saddened her the most was that her son would probably never know his father. She'd decided to name him after his father and she would be sure and tell him all about Trip as soon as he was old enough. Using her memories of him, she'd had a picture drawn of Trip and she would show that to her son as well. Someday she hoped that she would find a way to let Trip know that he had a son, but she didn't know when that would be, if ever. The baby would be born in another few months and she caressed her belly as she remembered the most unforgettable love making she'd ever experienced. Trip had shown her more tenderness and love during that experience than anyone ever had. Because of that she'd let go of everything including her control over whether she got pregnant or not. She was not sorry and couldn't wait to see if her son looked anything like Trip. "Someday my little one, perhaps you will get to meet your father." A single tear rolled down her cheek. Tindara missed Trip so very much.
THE END!