Stardate undefined - Supplemental

The small, bland, but ultimately satisfying meal revived her somewhat. She still felt tired, but less in danger of just collapsing into sleep. Across from her, David seemed intent on his own rations. If he was watching her, she could not catch him at it.

Jana downed the rest of the water, pausing for a moment to consider whether she should save some of it for later. There was more in the storage locker, she knew, although she was not certain how much. She also remembered her survival training instructor telling them all that the best place to store water was in their bodies, not in containers where it could evaporate, leak out, or get lost.

Placing the empty container and deflated meal package aside in a neat pile, she rose.

"What are you doing?"

Jana peered at him for a moment. There was something in those dark eyes that stared back at her that reminded her why she had been attracted to him.

"I'm going to work on the internal sensors some more," she said, waving in the direction of the ring of engineering stations.

David nodded. "Can you use some help?"

Jana felt her eyebrows rise. Her skepticism must have been obvious; David winced slightly. She bit back the snide retort that had arisen to her lips. Knowing that the stress and fatigue were fueling her emotions as much as any other feelings she had about David, she looked away, taking a slow, deep breath.

"Why don't you check on Wa?" she suggested. "I'll let you know if there's anything you can help with."

David nodded, but the disappointment was evident in his features as well. Jana knew that he must be just as tired and scared as she was.

I can't be strong for both of us, she told herself. She watched as David gathered up the tricorder and medical kit. Do I?

David walked over to Wa-Rhayvea and crouched down, pulling out the tricorder. He began scanning the Chief Engineer without looking in Jana's direction.

Jana rose to her feet, dusting imaginary crumbs and lingering dirt from her pants. She headed for the equipment locker again, creating a mental checklist of tools she needed. It was main Engineering after all, she told herself with vague humor. Nearly any tool she might want should be here somewhere.