Chapter Text
Stardate 50201.3
The controls of the runabout were blinking all over the place. Julian desperately hammered commands into the control center, but his expertise was in medicine, not in engineering nor piloting, and so his attempts remained futile. He stared with wide eyes at the rapidly nearing surface of the planet. He needed to do something to slow down the runabout or else they would crash and die.
„Do something!“ he shouted at Garak who pushed him out of his seat.
In a speed he hadn’t expected from the so-called tailor, Garak began to type something into the controls. Julian prayed to whatever deities there might be that whatever they taught them at the Obsidian Order would be enough to save their lives.
The control center exploded and Garak was thrown back with a startled cry.
„Garak!“ Julian rushed to his side. Blood on his temple, darker than a human’s, and as Garak began to haul himself up to get to the console, he stumbled. „You shouldn’t get up!“
„Neither of us will get up again if we don’t get this runabout under control!“
Garak tried again, and Julian helped him to the console. The short-circuit had fried a good deal of it, with smoke quickly filling up the runabout’s small space, and Julian squinted his eyes. Without hesitating, Garak ripped the smoking panel out and plunged his hands into the mess of wires, hissing as some of them burned his scales. Julian had no idea what he was doing beyond ripping some of the wires out of their sockets and rerouting them to different ones. He really should have taken on more than that one basic engineering course in Starfleet Academy, but it was easy to say such things now the need had arisen.
The planet’s surface came closer and closer. It seemed to be almost completely covered in a forest and Julian with his enhanced eyes could already make out the treetops.
They wouldn’t survive.
The thought came sudden and unbidden in his head. He stared at the treetops, and envisioned the runabout diving into them, crashing against one of the heavy trunks, the already small space of the runabout being crushed by its impact, his body squashed between its sides.
Garak grabbed his arm and pulled him down to his level. The blood on his temple was running over one of his eyes as he pushed a thick black wire into his hand. „Quit staring into space and put this into the main panel!“
For a second, Julian didn’t understand, but then he jumped into action. The runabout tilted and he stumbled against the console, holding fast onto it as the ship began to tilt to the other direction, and jammed the wire into the main control’s socket. Sparks flew out, but Garak quickly hammered a series of commands into it and the runabout began to correct his nosedive – and not a moment too soon; branches clattered loudly against the runabout’s underside, shaking it thoroughly.
Julian and Garak both flung themselves into the seats and on instinct, Julian caught Garak’s eyes, holding his gaze for a moment as the runabout shook violently, then his head was thrown forward and he banged his head against the control panel. His vision blackened, but only for a second. They were still falling, and Julian held himself tightly against the backrest of the pilot’s seat while Garak was crouched on the floor.
Then they hit something, hard, and Julian felt the impact break through his body.
Then there was silence.
He heard a strange noise and it took a moment for Julian to recognize his own breathing – erratic, heart rate still elevated to 172 beats per minute.
Weirdly, his first thought was that they would be late.
They had been en route to the panel on genetic augmentation at the medicinal conference on Boreas V. He’d prepared for his presentation for weeks, both giddy and nervous about the fact that he’d been invited to do so in the first place.
Augments weren’t supposed to hold presentations.
He closed his eyes briefly, forcibly evening out his breaths until he felt less dizzy. Garak was lying on his side on the floor. His face was covered in blood.
He wasn’t moving.
„Garak?“ Julian whispered and Garak groaned. Oh, thank God!
Slowly, he peeled himself off the seat and went over to Garak, careful of his footing. The floor was slightly askew and the electricity had failed, cladding the runabout’s insides into darkness.
Garak’s eyes were open, but barely. One half of his face was covered in dark red blood, but Julian didn’t let that worry him yet. Head wounds were notorious for bleeding profusely and often looked worse than they were. At least that was the case with humans. He wasn’t sure about Cardassians, secretive people they were, but they were both Humanoids. It couldn’t be that different, could it?
„Are you hurt anywhere? Let me check.“ He proceeded to roll Garak down on his back and palpated around his forehead until he found the small cut on his forehead ridge. The cut was precisely two point four inches long, cutting straight from one side of the ridge to the other one, but nothing a few stitches couldn’t help with.
„If you’re quite done feeling up my face,“ Garak said and sat up, dislodging Julian’s hand on his shoulder. „I’d like to take a look outside and see where we’ve landed.“
„Garak.“ Julian sighed. „You shouldn’t get up until I made sure that you don’t have a concussion.“
„Cardassians aren’t nearly as prone to those as you humans with your soft little heads,“ Garak scoffed, then stood up. „Besides, my dear Doctor, I think you’re the more likeable candidate for a concussion. I can see that you’re already developing quite a spectacular bump on your forehead.“
Now that Garak had called him out on it, Julian could no longer ignore the throbbing pain emanating from his head. Groaning, he got up as well to peer through the front window.
The window was cracked from where it had probably hit a large branch on the way down. It hadn’t broken completely, but he wouldn’t trust that crack to hold against the pressure of deep space.
There wasn’t much to see outside. Most of it was covered in thick, bluish foliage, the meaty leaves pressing wetly against the glass pane. They were in the forest he had seen from above. He should probably be thankful it had slowed their crash a bit, but he couldn‘t quite bring himself to, seeing as it had also made their escape much more difficult.
A steady beeping brought him out of his thoughts. Garak held the Tricorder against one of the cracks in the window where a faint puff of air streamed in.
„The air is breathable,“ Garak said after a moment.
„Small mercies,“ Julian grumbled. He didn’t want to think about what would have happened if it was toxic for them. „Now, let me look at that cut on your head.“
„Later. We should first check if this runabout is still operable,“ Garak said while raising both of his eyeridges. Julian rolled his eyes. It seemed Garak was out to be the worst possible patient as always. But it didn’t seem like he was in any immediate danger, so he would let it slide – at least for now.
„With that kind of damage, it doesn’t really matter now, does it?“ Julian pointed with his thumb at the window. He may not be an engineer, but even he knew that the cracked glass would never hold out against the vacuum in space. They probably wouldn’t even make it off the planet. „Come on. You won’t escape an examination forever.“
„We’ll see about that,“ Garak replied and went into the back of the runabout. There was a hatch in the bottom leading to the engine room. Garak opened it. „Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and assess the damage.“
„You do that. And while you make use of your tailor skills, I’ll see where we’ve landed.“ Julian went to the other side and tried to open the exit, but it was stuck. He tried again, this time using a bit more force than was normal for a non-altered human and the door opened with a groaning creak. Sunlight filtered through the narrow crack and Julian had to put his whole weight against it to widen the door enough to slip through.
The air outside was hot and humid. A cacophony of sounds greeted him, chirping, chattering, an animal in the distance calling. So there was fauna on this planet. The forest stretched as far as he could see. The branches were thicker than his body, but one of them had broken off – probably when they had crashed right into it. The branch was splintered, the other end nowhere in sight.
They had landed on what appeared to be the crown of a massive tree, its trunk easily spanning fifty feet or more. The runabout had crashed right into it and had broken off quite a big chunk. Around a quarter of the ship stuck out over the tree’s crown.
Carefully, Julian stepped closer to the brink and looked down.
And quickly held onto one of the branches, his stomach lurching.
The forest floor was very far below. If he had to make an estimate – and there was no other way around it, his number-driven brain delivered the precise height as surely as he took his next breath – they were currently a whopping 122 meters above the ground.
The tree leaves were thick and meaty like those of succulents. If it weren’t for the thick branch which they had destroyed on the way down cutting a path through the leaves, he would barely have been able to see the forest floor with the dense foliage in the way. The branch was now lying down below, embedded in what seemed to be a thick layer of white moss.
Well, falling to his death was definitely not the way he wanted to go. Hopefully, they could at least make the runabout operable so they could leave the forest behind and land on firmer ground. He craned his neck to look above, but he couldn’t see much of the sky.
A sudden movement in the foliage above him caught his attention, followed by high-pitched chattering. He craned his head, but it was too fast to see what it was.
Going back into the runabout, he stuck his head down the hatch. Garak’s face was sweaty.
„We’re in some kind of jungle,“ Julian reported and then followed up with his findings. When he finished, Garak grabbed the ledge and pulled himself out of the cramped engine room. He was pale.
„Unfortunately, we’re not going anywhere. The dilithium chamber is damaged, and without it, I can’t start the engines without risking a warp core breach.“
„What about impulse?“
„I wouldn’t recommend it, unless you want to be atomized.“
Julian sat down, suddenly no strength left in his limbs.
„So we’re stuck here?“
„We’re stuck here anyway, Doctor, in case you have forgotten that window.“ Garak dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief he had pulled out of somewhere. „But yes, we can’t move the runabout. Let’s hope this tree is as sturdy as it looks.“
„I’ve never seen such huge trees in my life. Keiko would love this place, the trees are gigantic and I think there are some wild animals higher up.“
„What kind of animals?“ Garak asked, immediately alert. Julian shrugged.
„I’m not sure, I couldn’t see them properly. But I‘m sure we’ll yet get a chance to later.“
Garak looked dubious.
„How quaint. Let’s hope they‘re purely herbivorous.“
The damage was worse than they’d hoped: The dilithium chamber was broken, possibly irreparably, the front window had a crack, and the electricity was also down, meaning they had no access to the replicator, heating or the control panel. Which meant they couldn’t get any communication out. All that was according to Garak. Julian had no choice than to trust his words; it wasn’t like he had any idea about engineering. He was a doctor, and even if he was trained in Starfleet and had gotten a mandatory education in warp theory and the usual armory classes in case of military conflicts, he couldn’t do much more than repair the replicator in his quarters.
He really should have listened better during those courses.
At least the lack of heating wasn’t an issue – Julian had already sweat through his uniform.
There only chance was setting up the distress beacon every runabout was fitted with.
After Julian had taken it out of its container, he‘d climbed on top of the runabout. The view wasn’t much better here; the trees were still reaching too far over him. He sat the beacon down and extended the solar panels powering it, then activated it. A green light lit up and then began steadily flashing. It was working.
This little piece of technology was the only hope they had. They were far off any of the usual Federation routes, so the chance that someone happened upon them coincidentally was practically zero. It could take weeks for someone to even come across the signal. That is, if it didn’t fizzle out before that.
In conclusion, they were stuck on that planet. Julian tried not to be too worried – after all, incidents like these were hardly rare in Starfleet and not even on the top of the strange things that had happened according to the list some Admiral surely had to have somewhere in his desk drawer.
But his skin still felt tight and uncomfortable while Garak and him prepared for the night. The temperature had fallen as soon as the two suns in the sky had set, but it still was uncomfortably hot and humid. Julian had cut off some leaves and squeezed an ounce or so of water out of them for drinking after he had ran the Tricorder over it to make sure it was safe for drinking. He didn’t want to use the device more than necessary. Without the transformer they wouldn’t be able to recharge it when it lost power, but making sure that they weren’t poisoning themselves was a top priority.
Meanwhile, Garak had barred the door with the panel he had ripped out during their crash. He seemed to be worried about wild animals, and maybe that was a sensible worry. After all, he hadn’t bothered to check which planet they’d landed on before the runabout had begun to show signs of malfunctioning. The universe was a wide and often times weird place. Everything was possible.
After they had settled down, Julian finally managed to make him sit down so he could get a proper look at his cut. Thankfully, it really was superficial. He quickly disinfected the wound before stitching it close; Garak didn’t even flinch.
„Here.“ Julian handed him a ration bar when he returned to the sleep cabin. They had enough of those for about a week, but probably would be sick of it after three days or so. At least they had enough water, but food could turn out to be a problem if they didn’t find anything palatable for Humanoids. Therefore, the first point on tomorrow’s agenda was finding something to eat.
Garak took the ration bar, but didn’t sit down on the free bunk bed.
„What is it?“ Julian asked, then remembered before even seeing the closed off look on his friend’s face. Of course. He could picture all too vividly how much Garak had suffered through his claustrophobia when they had been imprisoned by the Dominion. Tight spaces made him nervous, and the situation they found themselves in was unlikely to help.
Julian got up from his bunk bed and began to gather the bedding.
„What do you think you’re doing?“ Garak asked incredulously.
„What does it look like?“ Behind his fluffy pillow, Julian’s voice was muffled, and he tried not to walk straight against the door when he navigated through it. Slowly, Garak followed him to the cockpit. It was more spacious than the sleep cabin, although not by much, but more importantly it had a window. Julian let the bedding fall down to the floor, then went back for the other set.
„You needn’t do this,“ Garak said only after Julian had settled down under the covers. He was still standing by the door.
„Maybe not. But this situation is bad enough as it is, and if it makes you feel any better, I don’t see a reason to sleep in there. Also, I don’t like sleeping on the bunks either. Gives me a back ache.“
„Lying doesn’t suit you, Doctor.“
„Just get down on the floor, Garak.“
Garak rolled his eyes, but he did as he was asked. There was a lot of shuffling and turning and plucking at the bed sheets, but eventually, Garak settled down lying on his back with the sheet tucked up to his chin and his arms crossed over his chest.
Julian was curled around a spare pillow and was staring at the darkness behind the window. During the last two hours they had been so busy securing the runabout that he had blended out the reality of their situation. Now it came crushing back with a vengeance, and all he could do was hug that pillow tighter to his chest and wish it were Kukalaka. Of course he couldn’t tell Garak that. Those were childish thoughts, and Garak, who definitely had been in worse situations during his nebulous spy life, would not be sympathetic to his whining.
He tried closing his eyes, but his mind was still wide awake. The jungle was also extremely noisy. There was rustling and calls in the distance and the occasional shriek. Julian tried to force his body to relax. The only door was securely blocked, the window was fourteen millimeters thick and – cracked. Would the window hold or could a bigger animal get through with enough force? Were there any animals on this planet that could be dangerous for them? He stared harder into the darkness. There were some shapes, but he wasn’t sure if those were branches or something else. The shapes were moving slightly. Was it only the wind?
He had to stop thinking about this and go to sleep. He turned his back to the window, but that was even worse. Now he couldn’t see what was going on outside and his mind was conjuring up the most horrible images.
So instead, he concentrated on Garak’s face. He really had a quite distinct profile, even for a Cardassian. There were the obvious differences between humans and Cardassians, of course, most prominently the ridges lining either side of his face and the vestigial depression on his forehead – or spoon, as some Bajorans called it derogatorily. But after all these years they had known each other, there was something familiar by the curve of his cheeks and the tip of his nose.
After a second, when his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he noticed that Garak’s eyes were open.
„Can’t sleep either?“ Julian whispered. For a long moment, he thought that Garak hadn’t heard him or that he was sleeping with open eyes, but when he had just began to contemplate whether he should speak up again or roll back to the window, Garak blinked.
„I suppose so,“ he said, voice quiet. „I’m not accustomed to sharing quarters with someone else.“
„Me neither.“
„I find that hard to believe. After all, back on the station you’re more or less known for your numerous conquests.“
„As flattering that might be, I sure hope that’s not the first thing that pops into people’s minds when they think of me.“
Garak looked at him oddly.
„What would you like to be the first thing?“
Paradoxically, the first things Julian could think of were those that he didn’t want people to think about him first. His amorous conquests aside – those at least could be counted as successful, if one only thought of them as the tally sheet of a womanizer and not as the sad attempt of a bachelor who was growing old before being able to settle down properly. Ever since his secret came out, most people knew the name Julian Bashir as the only augment in Starfleet. Everyone of the people he knew personally had told him in their own way that it didn’t matter, that he was still the Julian they knew, but there was still the occasional glance from strangers or the odd message asking him about an interview or (worse) containing death threats.
He cleared his throat and hugged his pillow tighter against his chest.
„My research, I suppose. The medicinal breakthroughs I had. There was this one time I researched biomolecular replication – I had a talk about that during the Andorian Medicinal Conference last year.“
That had been before the war. Before people even knew that he was an augment.
„Hm.“
Garak had that infuriating quality to inflect even the shortest words – or even sounds like these – with additional layers. This ‚hm‘ could mean anything between a simple lack of knowing what to say to Julian’s statement, disapproval of his choice or both. So Julian tried to deflect.
„What would you like people to think about you first?“
The corner of Garak’s mouth went up.
„Isn’t it obvious? I want them to think: ‚What an excellent tailor, I would like to buy all of my clothes in his shop!‘“
„Very funny. I mean you as a person, not your ostensible occupation.“
„I find that one’s occupation is often overlapping widely with one’s personality.“
„Maybe. But not completely. You just don’t want to tell me, do you?“
„Must you ask me so directly?“ Garak sighed. „On Cardassia, this kind of question would be considered quite rude, you know.“
„Then it’s good that we’re not on Cardassia.“
Even while he said those words, Julian’s stomach plummeted. Arguing with Garak came so naturally that for a short while, while not exactly forgetting their situation, he had been able to block it out.
He tugged his blanket closer to his chest and said, „Well, good night.“
Garak regarded him with a long look.
„Good night, Doctor.“
Stardate 50202.9
Julian woke early the next day. That wasn’t because he had slept and therefore didn’t need the additional rest, on the contrary: He felt like someone had run over him last night. Repeatedly. His mouth tasted funny, too, and his stomach growled. They’d only had a ration bar each last night. Even though he knew those were supposed to cover the nutritional need of an average human for a day, his stomach had processed it far too soon and demanded more food.
He wondered if Cardassians needed more food than humans. A side glance revealed Garak had apparently already gotten up. Julian vaguely remembered movement in the middle of the night. At the time, he had assumed that Garak had only gotten up to take a leak, but it seemed that he’d never even returned to bed.
He got up, went into the bathroom to fix himself as well as he could – a quick brush through his hair and over his teeth – and washed his face before he remembered that they should probably preserve the remaining water in the water tank. Then he went to find Garak.
Unsurprisingly, Garak was back in the engine room. He was lying on his back and beneath the dilithium chamber; the only part Julian could see were his legs.
„What are you doing?“ Julian asked from above.
„Good morning to you, too, Doctor. I’m trying to find out if there’s any other way to repair the dilithium chamber. Maybe I overlooked something yesterday. It isn’t easy to think with a headache.“
Julian frowned at Garak’s legs.
„You’ve got a headache? Why didn’t you tell me so?“
„It’s better than yesterday.“
Vague as always, Julian thought, and prodded, „How’s your wound doing? Any pain?“
„Just as much as is to be expected.“
Garak was unusually short with him. Julian couldn’t blame him seeing as he had apparently gotten even less sleep than him. He should let him work and make himself useful at well.
He went to check on the water tank’s level and was relieved when he saw that it was still about forty percent full. This meant that they could endure a few weeks on this planet, although he sincerely hoped that wouldn’t turn out to be necessary. But to get the most of their remaining water, they would have to forego showers and only give themselves a quick wash to get rid of the worst dirt. Lacking electricity, sonic showers were out of the question, too. He really wasn’t looking forward to that.
Deciding to supplement their water with additional water from the environment, he went out to gather some leaves and also see if there was anything edible. He told Garak of his plans, but didn’t receive more than a muffled grunt from under the dilithium chamber. Sighing, he took the Tricorder and a spyglass with him and set foot outside.
If he had thought it to be hot the day before, he was sorely mistaken. The air outside hit him as an almost physical force, warm and moist and soaked in a sweet grassy scent. A faint drizzle from above drove the humidity even higher. Starfleet regulation said to keep on his uniform at all times, probably to be more easily recognizable, but Julian threw that immediately out of the window. He’d gladly take any disciplinary action if Captain Sisko saw him lacking his jacket if it meant getting off the damn planet. He placed the jacket in the runabout, then cut off a leaf and took a few gulps straight from its insides. The water was surprisingly cool and tasted delicious.
Now: Where to find food?
Seeing as there was an abundance of flora and fauna on this planet, there had to be something they could eat. He took a look around. The forest had grown so densely that some branches reached into the crowns of nearby trees, forming an interwoven structure that reminded him of the neural pathways of the human brain. Vines, some thin like thread, some as thick as his arm, wound around both branches and trunks, sprouting triangular leaves.
He held onto one of the vines and tested its hold, then leaned forward to peer down below. It was still uncomfortably high. Even though he didn’t have a fear of heights, this planet was surely the way to develop one.
A movement on a nearby tree caught his attention. There was a group of small animals climbing around the trunk and swinging from vine to vine. They reminded him of monkeys back on Earth, although their fur was a bluish gray which made them hard to spot against the scrub and their heads seemed too large for their bodies. Their small bodies were surprisingly nimble and Julian watched them for a few moments while they clambered around the tree, some of them jumping from branch to branch and balancing themselves with their long tails.
He was sure that they had noticed him already. As a human (or an approximation of one) he stood out fairly well, but they didn’t seem to be disturbed by him and even came closer. One of the smaller ones was sitting on a thin branch which was bending under its weight. The animal was staring right back, then suddenly crouched forward, its hindlegs quivering – and then it jumped onto the tree Julian was sitting on.
Julian held completely still as the animal sat down on the other end of the tree crown.
„Hey there,“ he sat quietly. Garak surely would find it questionable if he overheard him talking to the wildlife. „You’re friendly, aren’t you?“
The animal cocked its head, as if it was trying to understand him. He wondered how intelligent they were. On Earth, monkeys were fairly intelligent, too, but of course he couldn’t draw any comparisons. Maybe it was herbivorous like most monkeys back on Earth. That would be a good sign. Those animals had to eat something, too, and maybe their food would be edible for Garak and him as well. If worst came to worst, they possibly had to hunt these creatures, and he’d rather not. He’d been a vegan for his entire life, eating meat and dairy only if it was replicated, but if the only other option was starving to death ...
A few minutes passed in which Julian and the animal studied each other. But then, as if it had heard a silent cue from somewhere, the animal suddenly jumped up and joined its family on the next tree, completely ignoring him as the group moved further away.
All except one.
It was one of the adults, if he could make such extrapolations based on size, and it had stayed behind on one of the branches slightly lower than Julian was.
There was a faint tremor running through its body. Maybe it was ill. Julian felt a wave of empathy rising up in him, but unfortunately it was a common practice in the animal kingdom to leave their old and sick behind. It meant a higher probability of survival for the group as a whole, and on a purely logical basis it made sense. Humans had left that kind of cold calculation behind long ago, but not without a long and painful learning process lasting a few centuries.
He shouldn’t get involved. For all he knew, it could be contagious, and he also had no means to get to the other tree safely. And he had bigger problems right now.
Before he could reach a decision, however, the animal suddenly began to climb to the end of the branch it had been sitting on. To the end, the branch thinned and split up, but the animal didn’t let that deter it, instead, it climbed until the branch was bowing under its weight and then, as if its muscles suddenly had stopped working, it let go, falling the deadly height down to the ground.
Julian winced.
Then he got his spyglass out and peered through it at the forest floor.
The animal wasn’t moving. It was lying in a bed of the white moss which was covering the entire forest ground. Had it killed itself because it knew it had no chance of survival? What a grim thought.
Was he imagining it or was the moss moving?
No, he wasn’t imagining it. Slowly, but a lot faster than he had seen any kind of plant do so in his entire life, the moss crept over the creature’s dead body, fine tendrils carving their way like rivulets through its fur. Soon, it was enveloped almost completely. The outline was slightly sunken in, like the body had already begun to decay.
After less than five minutes, there wasn’t a trace left and the moss was spotless once more.
He had never seen anything like it.
Keiko would have a field day, but he had bigger problems to fry. The incident with the animal was disturbing, but what they really needed right now was food. The ration bars would only keep them afloat for so long (not long enough) and he really wasn’t eager to go on a mono-diet.
He examined the forest floor further through the spyglass. Most of it was covered by the white moss, but there were some thick bushes growing here and there, mostly at the base of the trees. A few of them were bearing small yellow berries.
„Bullseye,“ he whispered to himself.
He’d love to pick them if they were edible, but the Tricorder’s range wasn’t enough to get a reading from this far up and there was still the problem of getting down.
He went back into the runabout to get the standard issued survival kit. Garak was still nowhere in sight.
The survival kit was the size of a footlocker and was located under one of the front seats. Julian pulled it out and immediately began to rummage around in it. Where they in an escape pod, the survival kit would have more items, but in a runabout it only consisted of an inflatable tent, a first aid kit and, most importantly two sets of climbing gear with a twenty meter long rope. It took a little while to get the idea of how the harness was supposed to fit around his body, but eventually, he managed it and went outside again.
Daring to look over the ledge, his stomach plummeted. Outside from holosuites, he really wasn’t comfortable with this kind of height. He stuck the climbing gear’s hook into the scraggly bark, grabbed the rope with both hands, leaned forward and-
„What do you think you’re doing?“
Julian nearly jumped over the ledge as he heard Garak behind him. Turning around, he saw him standing in the runabout’s doorway, a look of sheer disbelief on his face.
„I saw some berries down there, I thought I would check them out to see if they were edible.“
Garak tutted, „And you call yourself an intelligent man, you could fall to your death! Haven’t you learned anything about self-preservation at your so-called Academy?“
„The rope should hold.“
„Your statement is positively dripping with self-confidence. Well, if you want to end our predicament a little early and leave me alone on this rotten planet to either starve or bore myself to death, be my guest. Far be it from my intention to cut into your free will.“
„No need to be so grim, Garak.“ Julian felt annoyed. „It’s the best I could come up with under this circumstances.“
Garak slowly approached him and cast a glance down.
„I have to admit that I don’t have any better plan either apart from not going down at all. But seeing as I’m not too fond of those wretched ration bars, count me in in your endeavour. I only have one small question: How did you plan to get up again?“
„I’m stronger than I look. I can climb up the same way I climb down.“
„Ah. Yes, how could I forget! You’re speaking of your augmentations of course.“
„Yes, Garak. It’s really nothing new by now, is it?“
He hated it when Garak spoke of his status as an augment like that, as if it was something he had some kind of control about at any point of his life. Ever since Garak learned about it, he had been making remarks about it – only a few times, but for some reason Julian never expected it and therefore wasn’t prepared for the blow.
Garak just shrugged his shoulders.
„Any luck with the dilithium chamber?“ Julian quickly tried to change the topic. Garak would of course notice, but he couldn’t care less.
„Sadly, no.“
With the damage they had noted Julian hadn’t really expected Garak to get anywhere, but he had still hoped. Suddenly feeling his energy sapped out of him, he plopped on the ground, the rope falling into his lap.
„Fuck.“
Garak lifted one eyeridge.
„Yes, my sentiment exactly.“
„What’s the plan then?“
„We survive until either someone from the Federation finds us or we die.“
„I don’t like the chances of that.“
„And you know these rounded to two decimal places, don’t you? Spare me the exact number, please.“
„I wasn’t planning to.“
It was twelve point seven. Nine point one that both of them would survive before their rations ran out. Even if they got communications working again, there were no regular trade routes passing by. Any message they sent would take a little more than a week to reach the station, and adding the time spent for the Defiant to reach this planet they’d have to spent a minimum of ten days stuck here.
He’d also like not to have to think about those numbers, but he couldn’t help it now that it was stuck in his head. He was just like this. It didn’t seem to resonate well with Garak who, ever since he had learned of his secret, had left a chasm grown between them. They still met for lunch every week and exchanged heated arguments, but outside of that, sometimes Garak’s quips had a more cutting edge to them, his tone just a tad too cold, his eyes flat. Julian had no idea how to change it and so he had just helplessly watched them drift further and further apart.
Which was why he had been surprised when Garak had volunteered to escort him on his way to the conference, but hadn’t questioned it further. He’d just been glad that Garak had seemed to continue their friendship.
He hadn’t talked to anyone about it. To whom should he anyway? Miles wasn’t a fan of his friendship with the ex Obsidian Order operative and Dax’s advice, while well-meaning, was often too crass.
Clearing his throat, he said, „There’s something you should know. Earlier, I saw some small animals. So far, they seem harmless, if a bit curious.“
„We could hunt them. I volunteer. I’m quite handy with a phaser.“
„No.“ Julian shook his head. „Only as a last resort. I don’t like the idea of killing innocent animals just so we can survive.“
„What a perfectly human sentiment!“ Garak said, exasperated. „How you humans ever evolved to be able to indulge in such frivolities is beyond me.“
„I will if I have to! Also, that’s not my point, earlier – I saw one of the animals fall to the ground. It looked like it let itself fall. But whatever it is that’s down there consumed it in seconds.“
Garak frowned minutely.
„You mean to say we can’t touch the ground without risking the same fate?“
„I wouldn’t bet on it. Maybe I can get a reading when I climb down.“
„Even though you know there might be danger lurking down there, you still want to go down?“
„It’s not like we have much choice, do we? I want to know what’s going on.“
„People have been killed for less curiosity,“ Garak retorted.
Julian didn’t take the bait.
„At least water won’t be a problem for a while. The tank is still filled for a few weeks if we don’t use it for showers, and the leaves of this tree are excellent sources of water as well. I tested it, so don’t worry. It’s safe.“
„How reassuring.“ Garak leaned over the edge and carefully glanced downward. Julian fastened the rope to one of the branches.
„Will you make sure the rope holds while I climb down?“
Garak sighed heavily.
„By all means.“
Julian held tightly onto the rope and looked down. Over 120 meters. He really hoped that fitness program in the holosuite had been worth his credits. He stepped towards the edge of the platform.
„Wait.“
Garak stepped suddenly into his space and began fastening the harness tighter around his legs and hip. Julian said nothing as he watched him inspect the many hooks.
„Now you may go.“ Garak patted his shoulder and stepped back.
Slowly, Julian let himself down. The rope was rough against his fingers and slightly slippery, and the harness was cutting into the meat of his legs. Garak’s worried face appeared above him. He wondered what went on in that infuriating man’s head. Just for once in his life, he would have liked to be sure about any of the things Garak said to him, but it seemed that he was the most truthful with him when he was insulting him or his Federation ideals. Which was more or less drifting apart during these last few months.
The ground drew near. The closer he got to it, the starker was the white color of the moss against the rest of the forest. It seemed almost cotton-like, an undisturbed blanket. The air smelled grassy and sweet.
Down here, it was quieter. He couldn’t hear any animals. They probably spent most of their lives up in the trees, knowing that down here only death lingered.
Craning his neck up, he tried to catch a glimpse of Garak, but the space where the rope hung over the tree crown was empty. Turning his head back, he concentrated on roping down.
As soon as he was a few meters above the ground, he got the Tricorder out of his uniform and began to scan.
A fair amount of proteins and amino acids, mostly glutamine, aspartic acid and serine, also ergosterol and psilocybin.
This wasn’t moss, he realized with a start. It was a fungus.
There wasn’t a trace left of the small monkey-like animal the fungus had consumed a short while prior. Julian knew exactly where it had fallen, but now there was nothing different about the spot, not even a small indentation, it just looked like any other. A shiver ran down his spine. How many animals had been consumed just like that, not leaving even a trace of them behind, nurturing the vast energy needs of a giant, possibly kilometres spanning fungus?
The Tricorder read an insanely high amount of hydrolytic enzymes. So high in fact that he instantly knew how the dead animal had been consumed in a matter of minutes.
He held tight onto the rope. They had to get something to eat. The forest floor was mostly covered in the white fungus, the trees sticking out of it like fingers, and the sparse bushes clung to them like children. Gripping the rope tightly with one hand, he reached out to the nearest berry bush with his Tricorder and tried to get a reading. The ground around ‚their‘ tree was covered in the fungus, so there was no way he could touch his feet to the ground without also coming into contact with it.
The Tricorder beeped a few times, then spit out a few lines of data. He didn’t see anything which was poisonous for either humans or Cardassians. The Tricorder’s energy indicator switched from yellow to orange and he quickly turned it off.
Leaning forward as much as he could without risking toppling over, he began to pick as much berries as he could quickly and effectively, and stashed them in the little bag dangling from his hip. They’d have to come up with another plan if they wanted to pick the berries from other places, but that should stretch their rations for a bit.
He got as much readings as he was able in his radius, then began the gruelling way up.