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No sooner were the words out of the science officer’s mouth than the entire ship shuddered around Khatami. Her hands flailed for her chair’s armrests, barely preventing her from being tossed to the deck. Overhead, the bridge’s main lighting flickered for a moment before returning to full illumination, and the distraught howl of the red-alert Klaxon wailed across the bridge.
“Evasive maneuvers!” Khatami shouted over the din. “Damage report!”
Using the sensor viewer to hold himself steady, Klisiewicz replied, “Direct hit on forward shields. No damage.”
Yeah, but those Tholian weapons still pack a mean punch.As though striving to emphasize her thought, the ship bucked again as the Endeavour’s shields absorbed another strike. All around the bridge, display screens and lighting blinked in chaotic fashion. Khatami waved toward the viewscreen. “Target those ships, and fire at will, but aim to disable only. And give me a tactical view.”
Neelakanta nodded without looking up from his station. “Aye, Captain.” The lieutenant’s fingers were almost a blur, moving across the console’s rows of controls as though possessed of their own will.
“In case you were wondering, Mr. Estrada,” Mog said from where he still sat at the engineering station, “that was the Tholians responding to our hail.”
Ignoring the comment, Khatami focused her attention on the computer-generated schematic now on the main viewer. The Endeavourwas displayed as a bright blue circle at the image’s center, and the trio of Tholian vessels appeared as red arrowheads in the screen’s upper right quadrant. The tactical plot updated with each passing second as the other ships’ positions and distances changed in relation to the Endeavour.
“Stubborn, aren’t they?” she asked as she watched the pair of cruisers maintaining their aggressive pursuit of the smaller and weaker scout ship.
At the helm, Neelakanta nodded. “And slippery, too. Even with computer targeting, I’m having trouble locking on.”
“Captain,” Klisiewicz called out, “the smaller ship just took another direct hit! I’m reading a total loss of power onboard as well as a hull breach. It’s venting atmosphere.”
Damn!
“Get us in there, helm,” Khatami ordered without hesitation, still hunched forward in her chair and for the first time noticing the dull ache that had formed between her shoulder blades. “Put us between that ship and its pursuers.”
On the viewer, Khatami watched as the Endeavourchanged course, maneuvering toward the stricken craft. In front of her, Neelakanta stabbed the control on his console to fire phasers, and Khatami felt the minor thrum in the deck plating as the starship’s massive weapons came to bear.
“Substantial damage to both ships’ shields,” reported Klisiewicz. “They’re breaking off their pursuit and taking evasive action.”
Excellent,Khatami thought. Maybe now they had breathing room, if only a little bit. Considering her options and knowing that most of them would take more time to implement than the damaged Tholian ship might have left to it, she looked to her chief engineer. “Mog, can we extend our shields to protect that ship?”
Turning from his station, the Tellarite replied, “It will weaken our overall shield strength somewhat, but I should be able to compensate by rerouting power from nonessential systems.” He nodded toward the viewscreen. “That’s liable to irritate our friends out there.”
“Do it. We only need it long enough to tractor the ship into our shuttle bay.” She had considered using the transporter but ruled that out, owing to Tholian atmospheric requirements and the unlikely event that the damaged ship’s lone occupant would be wearing any sort of environment suit.
“We’re within range of the damaged ship, Captain,” reported Neelakanta.
Khatami nodded. “Mog, extend our shields.” To Neelakanta, she said, “Lay down a full phaser spread. No need to hit them. Just keep them off our backs.”
“Extending now,” the engineer replied. A moment later, he added, “They’re inside our shield envelope. Activating tractor beam.” Looking over his shoulder, he released an irritated grunt. “I don’t recommend sitting still while I do this.”
“Neither do I,” Khatami replied. “Neelakanta, get us back to the station.” Part of her rebelled at the thought of tucking tail and leaving the other ships to chase after them, but securing the renegade Tholian’s safety took precedence.
Not getting ourselves blown up is pretty important, too.
Klisiewicz said, “They’re coming back around.” He paused, not looking up from his viewer before adding, “It looks as if they’re splitting up, trying to flank us.”
“They’re hoping to catch us in a cross fire,” Khatami replied. “Mog, get that ship into the shuttle bay. Helm, continue evasive, and keep up the cover fire.”
Thanks to the Endeavour’s inertial dampening system, only the shifting tactical plot on the main viewer offered any clue to Khatami that the starship was responding to the helm officer’s commands. On the screen, the red arrows representing the two Tholian vessels appeared to be buzzing like flies around the larger ship.
And just as a
“Captain,” Klisiewicz called out, “I’m picking up weapons fire from Vanguard! They’re laying down cover fire for us.” After a moment, he added, “The Tholian ships are breaking off. Looks like the cavalry’s here.”
“They were always there, Lieutenant,” Mog said, grunting in amusement. “They were just waiting for us to get our act together and start home.”
On the screen, Khatami watched the pair of pursuing vessels veer away from the Endeavour.She allowed herself a small sigh of relief as the tactical view updated to reflect the ships’ departure from the immediate area and—presumably—well out of the region.
“Captain,” Estrada said from behind her, “I’m picking up a new hail from one of the Tholian ships.” Without waiting for direction from Khatami, the communications officer keyed a control that allowed the incoming message to be heard through the bridge intercom.
“Federation outpost, the fugitive you now harbor is a threat not only to us but to you as well. By interceding in our affairs, you invite whatever consequence should befall you. Rest assured that this matter will not serve to improve the current diplomatic relationship between our two peoples.”
There was a distinct crackle as the co
“I guess this means they won’t be coming by for di
Heavy footfalls rattled the deck plating behind Khatami, and she looked up to see Mog stepping into the command well to stand beside her. “Something tells me we just gave Ambassador Jetanien a whole new set of headaches,” he said, punctuating his observation with a grunt of concern.
Khatami leaned back in her chair, contemplating this latest development in what over the past months had proven to be anything but a smooth, peaceful relationship between the Federation and the Tholian Assembly. Already strained—possibly to the breaking point—the tenuous understanding between the two powers would be tested further by what had happened here today.
19
As she stood in the drab, utilitarian chamber onboard the massive Federation space station and regarded her hosts, Nezrene finally felt the first easing of the anxiety that had gripped her for so long.
My instincts were correct,she decided, sensing the warm blue auras of confidence emanating from her visitors and begi