The Race
Rating: G to PG-13
Summary: This is Part 2 of 3. Three teams compete in a shuttle race and scavenger hunt.
Disclaimer: Voyager & its characters are owned by Paramount. This story is for entertainment purposes only.
The Captain had given her approval for the race. Word quickly spread throughout the ship (with the help of Tom and Harry), and everyone was eagerly on the lookout for an uninhabited M-class planet. One week after "The Meeting", an ideal planet had been located... uninhabited, rich in minerals and plants, and it had a breathable atmosphere. Somewhat cool for human liking, but not too cold.
One day before the race, the preparations were nearly complete. It had been decided that three teams would participate. Harry and Seven would be one team, Tom and B'Elanna another, and the Captain and Chakotay the third. Tuvok would officiate the race, the Doctor would assist Tuvok, and Neelix would keep the crew informed about the progress of the race, as well as plan the festivities during and after the race. Tuvok and the Doctor beamed down to the planet, decided on the best landing sites, and made lists of the minerals and food supplies available. An intense betting pool had been set up by Tom and Harry. Many a young crew member had wagered large portions of their replicator rations!
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The day of the race finally arrived. All the crew that could be spared from their duties congregated in the mess hall. The three teams arrived in the mess hall, each wearing uniforms corresponding to their team's colour. Chakotay and the Captain were the red team. Harry and Seven were green, and Tom and B'Elanna were blue. The crew cheered wildly as they entered the mess hall. Neelix quieted the crowd as Tuvok read the rules:
"Once I have finished reading the rules, you will proceed to your appropriate shuttle bay. You each will be provided with an identical shuttle, and are only allowed to bring the supplies that Neelix and the Doctor have placed in your shuttle. On my signal, you will race down to the planet via the obstacle course set out. You must perform one complete orbit of the planet before proceeding to your assigned landing site. Once on the planet, you must collect the items on your list, in the quantities specified. You each have five items on your list, and each team's list is different. A force field with a radius of twenty kilometers is set up around the landing sites. You will be able to find all of the items on your list within each area. Your landing sites will be separated by at least 2 km, although you may meet and interact with other teams while on the surface. In addition to finding your supplies, you must do the following:
First, build a shelter using only the materials provided in your shuttle, and what you find on the planet. A maximum ground clearance of 2.0 metres must be achieved. The shelter must remain standing for at least 8 hours.
Second, you must build a fire, and keep it burning for at least 4 hours. The locations for your shelters and fires are clearly marked. They are within sight of the other teams; and we are trusting to your honesty to ensure that your shelter and fire will meet the dimensions and duration specified. No team may interfere with another team's shelter or fire.
Finally, somewhere within the force field is a flag with your team's colour. Bring the flag back with you.
Once you have achieved these objectives, you may return to Voyager by the fastest means possible. The first team to return to the mess hall and place their flag in the appropriate stand will be the winner. A statement of these rules, as well as your list of items and a map of the area within the force field has been placed in your shuttle's computer."
Neelix continued, "And now... for your incentives! The winning team will receive three days of shore leave on the planet, 10% of the profits of Lt. Paris' betting pool, and Voyager's last remaining bottle of real Romulan Ale. Good luck, and have fun!"
The three teams left the mess hall to wild cheers, as all the crew shouted for the team they had wagered their rations on. Captain Janeway couldn't help smiling. She hadn't seen the crew this happy for months. On the turbo lift to the shuttle bay, the teams had a chance for some final conversation.
"Tom... you're goin' down! Mwa ha ha ha!" teased Harry.
Tom replied, "Not a chance! I've bet 2 weeks of rations that the blue team will win!"
"What makes either of you think you can beat the Captain? Not even the Borg could do that!... Good luck everyone!" said Chakotay as they left the turbo lift.
"Yeah, good luck Chakotay!" Tom winked at Chakotay, who winked back, and the Captain rolled her eyes.
"Ouch! B'Elanna, don't kill the pilot yet!" they heard Tom say as he and B'Elanna retreated down the corridor to Shuttle Bay 2.
A few minutes later, all the teams were in their shuttles, preparing to launch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well Commander, are you ready to fly this shuttle?" asked Captain Janeway. "You don't exactly have the best record you know."
"Those were accidents, really! I can't wait to show Mr. Paris that he's not the only good pilot on Voyager!"
"Good, because I've got quite a few rations wagered on the outcome of this race," she said as she accessed their list of items to collect.
"Am I the only one on Voyager not in the betting pools?" asked Chakotay.
"You and Tuvok. He said something about his objectivity being called into question."
"That's our Tuvok!...So, Captain, what do we have to find down there?"
"Let's see... palladium, cryolite, sodium chloride, and two plant species with unpronounceable names. Thankfully they provided pictures."
"Thank goodness we don't have to look for leola root!" said Chakotay.
"Perhaps I should pilot the shuttle," suggested Seven.
"What? You think I'm not good enough?" asked Harry.
"I would be able to adapt more quickly to unforeseen conditions in the obstacle course."
"No Seven, I need you to be fresh for locating our items once we reach the surface. We won't have any way for you to regenerate while you're on the planet."
"As you wish, Ensign."
"Please, Seven, call me Harry. By the way, what are we looking for?"
"Zirconium, rhodonite, beryllium, Talaxian tomatoes, and Diasporium."
"What the heck is diasporium?" asked Harry.
"It is an edible plant species."
"It sounds disgusting, but at least it's not leola root!" Harry said.
"Agreed."
"So, Helmboy, are you ready to win?"
"You bet! I can't wait for the shore leave! We'll have a great time!" he winked.
"What will you do with the Romulan Ale?" B'Elanna teased.
"I'll save it for the Christmas party, so I can spike the punch. Again."
"You're hopeless! You do remember that the whole point of this race is to get the Captain and Chakotay to spend three days of shore leave alone together on this planet, right?"
"Of course I remember. But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to come as close as I can to winning," replied Tom.
"OH NO!" shouted B'Elanna.
"What is it?"
"We have to find leola root!"
"Ugh... I bet Neelix put that on our list on purpose. He knows how much I hate it. What else are we looking for?"
"Dilithium, Xenon gas, tri-plutonium, leola root, and some other plant with a weird name," replied B'Elanna.
Just then, Neelix's voice interrupted them.
"Teams, the obstacle course will consist of three parts. First is 'Tractor Beam Terror', followed by 'Meteor Maze', and finally 'Twist and Turn'. Remember after completing the course, you must still orbit the planet once."
"Hey Neelix," remarked Tom over the comm system, "Thanks for putting leola root on my list!"
"My pleasure, Mr. Paris."
Laughing could be heard in the background from the mess hall.
Tuvok initiated the race: "Teams, on my mark. 3...2...1...GO"
All at once, the three shuttles shot out of Voyager's shuttle bays. Immediately, tractor beams were emitted by Voyager. Each one continued for approximately 30 seconds, before moving to a new location.
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"Captain, they're using firing pattern Delta-3!"
"You're right!" replied Janeway.
Once he recognized the pattern, Chakotay piloted the red team's shuttle swiftly through the flickering beams.
He hadn't yet recognized the pattern, and was weaving in and out of the beams, with some very close calls. B'Elanna gripped her console in preparation for the sudden halt if they were caught by one of the beams.
Suddenly the shuttle came to a full stop, caught in a tractor beam, and Harry could only watch sullenly as the red and blue teams pulled ahead.
"Perhaps I should have piloted the shuttle," Seven said.
"Tactful, Seven, very tactful."
After 30 seconds, they were released by the tractor beam, and with Seven's guidance, Harry managed to negotiate the rest successfully. Next, the course markers led them to an asteroid belt.
"Turn off the shields," shouted Tom. "Re-route all power to the forward thrusters."
"Are you crazy? If we hit one of those things -"
"Relax, B'Elanna, I know what I'm doing." Then he saw the death glare on B'Elanna's face. "Alright, alright, shields at 20%. Hold on!"
With increased power to the thrusters, the Blue Team hurtled forward through the asteroid field. Their shuttle rolled and turned with amazing speed and agility. Tom had obviously been spending time in the holo-simulators to prepare for the race.
"Yes Commander. But won't that slow us down?"
"Wait and see," Chakotay said with a mischievous smile.
While the Red Team's shuttle was slower than the Blue Team's, they were able to deflect most of the smaller asteroids with their strengthened shields. Thus, they only had to avoid the largest of the asteroids, and had a much shorter path through the field. However, the collisions did slow them down, so Tom and B'Elanna finished the 'Meteor Maze' with a slight lead.
Next, the course markers led them in a winding course back toward the planet. Tom had used a lot of power in the asteroid field, so the other teams managed to narrow the lead slightly. Harry made up the most ground, and was only slightly behind the Red Team after the course. The three teams then began their orbit of the planet.
"Captain, if we put more power to the shields, we could descend to a lower orbit and have a shorter distance to travel."
"Great thinking! Take us into the atmosphere, Commander."
Back on Voyager, Neelix had been commentating on the progress of the race to the entire ship from the bridge.
"And...the first team to reach the surface is... the Blue Team, Lt's Paris and Torres!"
Cheers erupted again in the mess hall.
"They arrived one minute before the Red Team, Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay - and eight minutes before the Green Team, Ensign Kim and Seven of Nine."
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Chakotay set the shuttle down gently on the planet's surface. He and the Captain exited the shuttle and were immediately struck by the beauty of the planet. The vegetation was deep green in colour, and the trees about them were covered in flowers of vibrant hues. They were in a clearing in a forested area. The air was crisp and clean, and a cool breeze was blowing. Chakotay surveyed the landscape while the Captain consulted a PADD.
"The map says there's a hilly area to the west of us with caves. That would be the most likely place to find our minerals," she said
"Great, What do you think our strategy should be?"
"I think we should find all our list items first, as well as our flag, then work on the fire and the shelter."
"I agree. Let's see what supplies they've given us."
They went to the cargo area of the shuttle, and began removing their supplies.
"Let's see," Chakotay said, "We've got a large red plastic sheet and some poles and rope - I guess that's for our shelter. There's two mining phasers, a tricorder, two large backpacks, some airtight drums - I guess for the plants, some containers of water, a knife, some blankets, two packages of food... Oh, and look! Neelix sent an insulated container labelled 'coffee' - this must be for you!" He handed her the container.
"Thank goodness! I don't think I could have made it that long without coffee!"
"So much for 'roughing it'" Chakotay laughed, "Let's go get our minerals."
They each took their share of the supplies, and headed off westwards at a brisk pace.
The Blue Team's landing site was in an open area next to a shallow, swiftly-moving river. Low hills could be seen across the river. Tom and B'Elanna immediately began unloading their equipment from the shuttle's cargo hold. Their items were similar to what the Red Team had, but they had special containers for the dangerous materials. Also, they had no knife, only a full-sized Klingon bat'leth.
"What are we supposed to do with this?" B'Elanna held up the weapon in disgust.
"Maybe it's for self defense, to keep the other teams from stealing our supplies!" Tom laughed hysterically as mental images of B'Elanna defending the leola root from Seven of Nine flashed through his head.
"I could think of more practical uses if you don't get back to work!" B'Elanna brandished the weapon at Tom, who immediately stopped laughing.
"Let's get to those hills and and find our minerals," she said. They picked up their supply containers, and headed off towards the hills.
Harry set the shuttle down in an open field at the designated landing site. He and Seven began unloading their supplies.
"I will proceed to those hills to the west to collect our minerals. You will proceed to the appropriate location and begin to set up our shelter and build the fire," commanded Seven.
"But..." began Harry, but Seven interrupted him.
"The goal of this exercise is to be the first to complete our tasks. The shelter must remain standing for eight hours. It is unlikely that it will take us eight hours to collect our supplies. Therefore, it would be more efficient if one of us set up the shelter immediately, while the other collected the supplies. Since I am the stronger person, I will collect the minerals. You will build the shelter."
Before Harry could reply, Seven had taken several large containers and was walking westward across the field at an incredible pace. Harry looked down helplessly at the jumble of poles and the large green plastic sheet on the ground.
Half an hour later, the Red and Blue Teams, and Seven of Nine, were exploring the caves in the hills for their minerals. Janeway and B'Elanna had located minerals from both of their lists in one large cave, and with the help of Chakotay and Tom, were retrieving their supplies.
"We saw your flag on the way over here," taunted Tom. He and B'Elanna had found their own flag as well.
"Well, we saw a nice patch of leola root," replied Chakotay.
"Commander, I say we do a little intelligence sharing," Tom smirked.
"Intelligence, what intelligence?" mocked B'Elanna.
"Surprising what the thought of a little Romulan Ale can do to improve the IQ of human males, isn't it?" teased the Captain.
"I was wondering how Chakotay managed to get that shuttle on to the surface in one piece!" B'Elanna and Janeway laughed.
The two men looked displeased, but they decided not to respond to the teasing. They got out the maps and marked the locations of the leola root and the red flag.
Meanwhile, Seven of Nine was on her own in a different cave. She had located the necessary minerals, but it was taking her longer than she estimated to extract them. Perhaps it would have been more efficient to bring Harry along. But then she remembered that the Red and Blue teams had decided not to construct their shelters until after they had collected all their supplies. Having Harry construct the shelter immediately would give the Green Team a distinct advantage.
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Three hours later, Seven returned to the shuttle. She was exhausted from carrying several large containers full of minerals and plants, and from the work of extracting the minerals. She had found all of their supplies, but had not yet located the green flag. She unloaded the supplies and stowed them in the cargo hold. She then retrieved a food package that Harry had left behind, and proceeded to the area designated for the construction of the shelters. When she arrived, she saw a red lean-to shelter and a blue conical tent, but no green shelter. Harry was sitting on the ground disconsolately. A few poles stuck out of the ground at odd angles, and the green sheet still lay crumpled on the ground. Seven was furious that Harry had failed. Instead of being ahead of the other two teams, they were now behind.
"Ensign Kim. Since you are incapable of constructing the shelter, you will locate the green flag. I will construct the shelter."
"Yes Seven," said Harry, as he walked off.
"Ensign Kim. Take this tricorder. It may help you locate the item. Take this PADD as well. It has a map of the area, and shows the regions I have already searched. And take this food package. I don't want to have to retrieve you if you faint from hunger." Harry returned and took the items gratefully before heading off into the woods.
Seven set to work constructing the shelter. With her Borg strength, she bent the metal poles into perfect semicircles. She embedded the ends in the ground, and then laid the green sheet on top to construct a large dome shape. She fastened the sheet to the poles with the rope, and, with a phaser, cut a slit in the sheet to use as a doorway. In only ten minutes, she had constructed a perfect shelter. Seven moved all their 'camping' supplies inside the shelter. She then set to work on starting the fire.
The Red Team had collected their materials the most efficiently, and so they were the first to arrive at the 'campsite', aside from Harry, who had already given up. Chakotay and Janeway discussed the merits of various shelter designs, but at last decided on a lean-to type, since that would be the least likely to collapse. They didn't want to have to start over. They then set to construction.
"All of the trees here are quite young-looking. Do you think they will hold up the shelter?" asked Janeway.
"Those two over there look a little stronger. And they're about the right distance apart," Chakotay pointed at two trees a little ways away. They headed over to the trees and began laying out the red sheet and the rope. The trees were perfectly smooth and had a uniform diameter to about ten feet up, where branches began to sprout off from the main trunk.
"You're going to have to climb up," concluded Chakotay.
"Why me?" asked Janeway.
"Because those branches up there will never hold my weight. The only other option is to cut a groove in the trunk lower down."
"No, don't harm the tree. I've climbed a few trees in my time. I'm sure I can manage this one," agreed the Captain.
They attached the rope to one corner of the sheet, and then Janeway took the other end of the rope in her hands. She would have to stand on Chakotay's shoulders in order to reach the branches. After several failed attempts, Janeway finally caught the lowest branch. Both of them were laughing hysterically by this time. Tom and B'Elanna, who had just arrived at the campsite, watched the whole procedure with great amusement. Captain Janeway had the rope in her teeth, and was dangling from the branch. With surprising strength and agility, she hoisted herself into a sitting position on the branch, and began tying the rope around the tree-trunk securely. It was above the branch so that it wouldn't slip. Then they realized that the rope was all in one piece. They'd have to cut off the end in order to use it for the other four corners. But their knife was on the ground. Chakotay reached up as high as he could, and Janeway leaned over as far as she could. Janeway nearly fell out of the tree, and Chakotay nearly dropped the knife, but they finally managed to cut off the extra rope. The Captain jumped down from the branch, and they moved on to the next tree. By this time, Tom and B'Elanna were laughing uncontrollably at the acrobatic display their commanding officers were putting on. The Red Team repeated the awkward process at the second tree. Then, they secured the other side of the sheet to the ground using the metal poles. After moving their supplies inside the shelter, they decided to take a break before starting the fire.
After their laughter finally subsided, Tom and B'Elanna set to work building their own shelter. B'Elanna had had some experience camping as a child, and she quickly set up some poles to form a teepee-like structure. They constructed the frame, and then joined the poles at the top by melting them with a mining phaser. With Tom's help, they laid the sheet over the frame and attached it. However, cutting an opening for the door was a little tricky, because they had to use the bat'leth. Now it was Janeway and Chakotay's turn to laugh, as Tom tried to hold the blue sheet still while B'Elanna hacked away at it with the massive weapon. But, the Blue Team had completed their shelter in a mere fifteen minutes. They were about to go over and console Harry, but then Seven of Nine arrived at the campsite and ordered him off to find the green flag. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Several hours later, an exhausted Harry came back with the flag. Now in the clearing were three shelters, still standing, and three fires happily burning. Now all that was left to do was wait.
Janeway and Chakotay were wishing they had built a more enclosed shelter, as the sun was setting and the planet's temperature was dropping. Chakotay nobly offered the blanket to Janeway, but he soon started shivering, so they had to share. But the open side of their shelter was facing away from the other two tents, so at least none of the others would see. Their fire gave them some warmth, but occasionally the smoke would blow inside their shelter. Janeway decided that now was the time for the coffee. It was Neelix's usual bitter blend, but to her, it was heaven in liquid form. Janeway and Chakotay sat and chatted amiably for several hours, something they had not had time to do for quite a while. Tom and B'Elanna secretly monitored their conversation via the link that had been set up in one of the Red Team's tricorders.
Tom and B'Elanna sat close together, huddled under their blanket and listening to the Captain and Chakotay talking.
"It sounds like things are going well over there," said Tom, after the Captain began laughing at a silly joke Chakotay had told.
"Yes, I would say things are going according to plan," smiled B'Elanna, "Now we have to make sure that they win, so they can get the shore leave."
"Well, I don't think the Green Team will be much to worry about!" said Tom.
"Did you see the look on Seven's face when she got back and Harry still hadn't built the shelter?"
"We should have installed a comm link in their tricorder too. I'd give anything to hear what was going on in that green tent. It looks like a Borg sphere embedded in the ground!"
Several hours later, the eight hours were nearly up. The Red Team would get to leave first, since their shelter had been set up first.
Under the Red Team's lean-to shelter, Captain Janeway, despite the coffee, had fallen asleep on Chakotay's lap. He was so incredibly happy that he forgot about the eight hour time mark for several minutes. He tapped her shoulder lightly, and she opened her eyes to find she was staring into her first officer's face and lying on his lap. She jumped up suddenly, her hair all disheveled, and asked what time it was. It was still dark outside. Chakotay told her it was time to go. First they had to pack up all their supplies, and then disassemble their shelter. This involved a groggy Captain Janeway standing on Chakotay's shoulders yet again to cut the rope that tied the sheet to the trees. They hastily collected their supplies and started back to where their shuttle was parked.
B'Elanna and Tom had managed to stay awake, and B'Elanna was peeking out the door of their shelter.
"Why aren't they going yet? Their time has already elapsed!" she was muttering.
"I don't know," said Tom. "We haven't heard anything on the tricorder for a while." Tom was busy packing up their gear.
"Maybe that's a good sign. Well, only two more minutes and then our time will be elapsed too, and we can start packing up this tent."
They counted off the minutes, and then started disassembling their tent, just as Chakotay woke Captain Janeway. They were finished well before the groggy command team, and headed off into the woods.
"We've got to let them win, B'Elanna, don't go so fast!" said Tom as he struggled to keep up with B'Elanna's pace.
"Yeah, I know that. Let's just say we won't be taking the most direct route back to the shuttle."
"3...2...1...NOW!"
Both Harry and Seven sprang into action. They had the shelter, poles, and supplies packed away in under two minutes. They left very shortly after the Red Team. They raced back to the shuttle as fast as they could. Poor Harry had to carry the curved poles, which were incredibly awkward. He shouted to Seven to go ahead and prepare the shuttle for takeoff, so they could leave as soon as he got there. She sprinted on ahead.
As it turned out, all three shuttles left the planet at nearly the same time. The race back to Voyager took only about ten minutes or so, and then the three teams docked their shuttles. They collected their flags and arrived at the turbolift at exactly the same time. To their surprise, the turbolift was not functional. They tried all the command codes they could think of, and B'Elanna tried to hack into the system to get it going again. Suddenly, Tuvok's voice boomed out over the ship's comm system:
"You will not be able to use the turbolifts in order to reach the mess hall."
"He's certainly done a thourough job of stopping them!" said B'Elanna, "I wonder how he did it? I'm going to ask him when this is over. It could come in handy in an emergency."
The three teams headed for the Jeffries tubes. They each decided on different routes. B'Elanna contacted Harry on a secure comm channel.
"Harry, where are you?"
"Somewhere on Deck 5, B'Elanna. Seven says we have only about ten more minutes until we reach the mess hall."
"You've got to go slower! According to my sensors, the Captain and Chakotay are on Deck 7, and they'll take at least 20 minutes to get to the mess hall!"
"Alright B'Elanna, we'll go a bit slower. But it'll be hard to keep Seven back. She doesn't like to finish second, you know."
"Hey, who says you're going to be second," shouted Tom,"If I'm not allowed to win, I'm certainly not going to lose!"
"We shall see," said Seven.
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In the mess hall, much of the crew was assembled to see the end of the race. Neelix and the Doctor had set up a display showing Voyager, with three moving coloured dots showing the locations of the teams.
"...And... the Green Team seems to be the closest. But wait... they're slowing down. The Blue Team moves over to Jeffries Tube Three-Alpha-Two. Nice move! They're gaining on the Greens. But the Red Team is taking a different route. They could be going for... yes, they are! They're heading for the emergency turbolift next to Engineering. We forgot to shut that one down! They've reached the turbolift. It's moving..."
Neelix's commentary continued. The three dots continued to converge on the Mess Hall. The crew was excited now, cheering their chosen team on to victory.
Suddenly, the Mess Hall opened, and Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay walked in. The Captain refused to be seen running through the ship, except in emergency situations. They proudly walked to the front of the mess hall, and placed the red flag in its stand. The assembled crew cheered loudly.
A minute later, Harry and Seven appeared, closely followed by Tom and B'Elanna. With a final sprint between Tom and Seven, Seven finished the race only seconds in front of Tom. Harry was ecstatic that for once, he had beaten Tom.
Tuvok announced the official results, and then Neelix's party began. There was lots of food, music, dancing, and fun. The race teams left fairly early, though, since they were quite tired. Chakotay couldn't wait for the shore leave to start. Three whole days alone with Kathryn, on a beautiful planet. What more could he ask for?
To be continued...
December 14, 2001 Any comments on this story? Please email me at warp10@canada.com
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