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“Damn!” Malcolm yelped out in pain to the general public, of whom the only public nearby was Commander Trip Tucker, attempting to help him out of his situation. “Seriously! Why is it ALWAYS my right leg? First that Terra Nova society, then that damn Russian Minefield, and now this? Seriously?!”
“Malcolm. Will you stop yelling into my ear as I’m helping you?” Trip demanded, digging around Malcolm’s leg.
“OW!” Malcolm yelped as Trip tugged on his right leg.
“Ow what? Is it broken?”
“I think my ankle’s twisted, but I can't really tell.” Malcolm said, wincing even as he shivered from the torrent of cold rain pouring down their backs. It was black as night, and they could only see a few feet around them due to the flashlights. They were in a jungle, doing a survey, and Malcolm and Trip had decided to go one way to find anything interesting, while T’Pal and Hoshi had gone the other. Girls against boys, basically.
“My communicator isn’t working. I think it’s safe to say we’re going to be stuck here for a while, unless we can get your leg out of here.” Trip said, still digging around the leg. The water made it hard to see.
“It’s like a damn rock and a hard place. We can’t seem to catch a break here,” Trip said, cursing as he slipped in the mud and landed on his back.
“At least you aren’t going to be stuck in the infirmary for the next several hours,” Malcolm snarled, struggling to yank his leg free-and then he tumbled backwards and landed right next to Trip, yelping as he fell.
“Are you alright?” Trip asked, as he struggled to sit up and find his scanner.
“Does it bloody look like I’m alright?!” Malcolm snapped, wincing.
“Commander Tucker!” Hoshi’s voice sounded like an angel, both men thought.
“Over here!” Trip yelled towards them, and there was suddenly a flood of more light. “Malcolm got his leg stuck in a hole. I think he twisted his ankle?”
“His right leg again?” Hoshi asked, squatting down next to Malcolm.
“Oh, yes, because I did it on purporse.” Malcolm said, scowling.
“His ankle is broken, not twisted.” T’Pal said as she scanned his leg. “Why did you not communicate us?”
“Our communicators seem to be malfunctioning. Well mine is. Malcolm lost his somewhere in the mud,” Trip explained.
“So I see.” T’Pal hmmed. She then flipped open her communicator. “Captain. Please beam all four of us aboard the ship. Lt. Reed has broken his ankle,”
“Understood” Captain Archer’s voice could be heard, and then suddenly they were out of the rain, and Malcolm winced as Captain Archer and Dr. Phlox both entered the room.
“Are all of you alright?”
“What part of a broken ankle is alright?” Malcolm asked through gritted teeth as Dr. Phlox began scanning him.
“Sorry, sir. We’ve just spent half an hour trying to dig Malcolm’s leg out.” Trip said, sounding exhausted even to himself. “On top of that, I’ve gotta figure out why my communicator stopped working. Malcolm’s got lost in the mud.” He added.
“Sounds like you two had an adventure.” Captain Archer said with a faint smile. “Get yourselves cleaned up and to sickbay. All of you. When you’re well, come on to the bridge.
Looks like our friends the Andorians had come by to say hello.”
“Oh don’t tell me,” Trip started with a groan.
“Seems like Captain Sheen wants to talk. He seems to think that we could share resources. Seeing as we keep paying each other favors, I thought that this might be a good opportunity to learn more about one another.” Captain Archer said.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Captain? Remember last time?” Trip demanded.
“That’s precisely my point. They helped us last time, just as we’ve helped them.” Captain Archer reminded him. “But more on that later. You four get yourselves cleaned up. Doc, they’re all yours.” He said, and Trip and Malcolm exchanged looks even as Hoshi and T’Pal were both standing and preparing to go to sick bay.
“Thanks for digging me out,” Malcolm said, as the women both left, and Dr. Phlox was beginning to haul him to his feet with Trip’s help.
“No problem.” Trip responded.
But both weren’t thinking on that now, as dire as it had seemed before. Now they were thinking of the whole new set of problems that were coming their way.
It looked like their adventures weren’t over yet.
Not by far.
~*~
End