Story:Star Trek: Infinite Voyages/Trust



In Trust, the crew of the USS Pioneer adjusts to life under their new commanding officer, Captain Scott O'Reilly, and faces a crisis when the life of their first officer, Commander Adriana Watley, is threatened during an away mission. In the process,T'Ral and Lijaro Nabam examine their relationship after their experience on Vulcan.

Summary
It's early 2376 and the Pioneer is finally getting back down to business after the change of command, repairs, and shakedowns which followed the end of the Dominion War late the previous year. They are assigned to survey the planet Yuzhama III, thought to contain rich deposits of ore. However, when they reach the system, Ensisgn T'Ral, science department head, reports that scans conducted from orbit suggests Yuzhama III is prone to prone to significant tectonic activity that could interfere with any mining attempts. After she confirms a short visit is unlikely to be dangerous, O'Reilly gives the go ahead to Commander Adriana Watley to assemble a survey team.

While the away team, which includes T'Ral and Lieutenant Sho Sakura, is on the surface, the planet suffers an earthquake that separates Commander Watley from the rest of the team. Unable to lock on to her signal, Captain O'Reilly orders the remainder of the survey group beamed up until a rescue plan is worked out. Sakura accuses O'Reilly of wasting time and advocates an immediate return to the planet. T'Ral suggests a more cautious approach, as the conditions planetside have proven to be more dangerous than she had anticipated. Sakura, already upset over T'Ral's mistake, reacts badly to her dispassionate proposal.

Shortly thereafter, T'Ral tells Lijaro Nabam that Sakura should relieve himself from duty for the duration of the rescue if he is unable to separate his personal feelings from his duty. Lijaro defends Sakura, but also accepts the sensibility of T'Ral's argument. Though torn between his loyalty to Sakura, his first friend aboard the Pioneer, and his changing feelings for T'Ral, he eventually broaches the subject with Sakura for the former reason as much as the latter. Sakura steps aside, but the situation is complicated when Watley begins communicating telepathically with him. Eventually, Lieutenant Commander Tricia Jensen and her engineering team devise a way to safely extract Commander Watley, who proves to be largely unharmed by the harrowing experience.

Major Characters

 * Adriana Watley
 * Sho Sakura
 * Scott O'Reilly
 * Lijaro Nabam
 * T'Ral

Chapters

 * Chapter One
 * Chapter Two
 * Chapter Three
 * Chapter Four
 * Chapter Five
 * Chapter Six
 * Chapter Seven
 * Chapter Eight
 * Chapter Nine
 * Chapter Ten