Death of a Neutron Star by Eric Kotani

Author:Eric Kotani
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

CHAPTER 13

TYLA GLANCED AROUND AT THE PLUSH FURNISHINGS OF the yacht. The perfumed air seemed thick in comparison to Voyager’s clear, odorless atmosphere. The carpet made the floor feel spongy under her feet, and the mood lighting seemed far, far too low to ever work in.

It now felt like a decade since she and Dr. Maalot had frantically climbed aboard this small ship. The five minutes it had taken her to familiarize herself with the controls were the longest five minutes she had ever lived. But she had been lucky. No Qavok had noticed them boarding the yacht. She had gotten the five minutes she needed.

Pure luck. Nothing more.

And they had been lucky to have Voyager come to their rescue. She was still embarrassed at her fruitless escape attempt from Voyager, but no one had said a word about it since. And now she felt she was being trusted. Humans were a very forgiving species. She would not have done the same in Captain Janeway’s place.

“Grab the edge of the panel,” B’Elanna said.

Tyla snapped back to her present job. She and B’Elanna had to get the yacht up to flying just far enough to get down into the clutches of the neutron star binary. And do it at just the exact moment.

Tyla lifted the panel away and B’Elanna stuck her head into the compartment behind it. It was a service hatch for the engine room of the ship. There was no real door into that room.

“Bring those tools,” B’Elanna said, pointing to some equipment on the deck. Then she turned and crawled inside the opening, standing up in the small room on the other side.

Tyla followed quickly, also standing.

The inside of the engine room was strikingly different from the luxuriously furnished main cabins of the yacht. It was hidden from view of the prince, as if seeing it might harm his delicate sensibilities. If a Qavok had delicate sensibilities.

The deck was bare metal; the walls were, likewise, plain metal sheets. The room smelled faintly of burnt circuits. Not a good omen, Tyla guessed.

B’Elanna flipped open a sensor and began taking readings. After a moment she shook her head. “The warp core is still active, but we’ll be lucky to get this thing to fly even on thrusters.”

“What can I do?” Tyla asked.

“How much engineering experience do you have?”

“Not much,” Tyla said. “But I know ships.”

B’Elanna nodded. “See if you can run some diagnostics on the ship’s systems. I’ll start by getting the thrusters back on-line.”

Tyla nodded. “I’ll be at the controls. Yell if you need my help.”

“Will do,” B’Elanna said, sounding distracted. Apparently she had already shifted her focus to the task that faced her.

Tyla crawled out of the engine room and back into the plush furnishing of the main cabin. After a moment she was back in the pilot’s chair, isolated in the small area off the front of the main cabin. The seat felt comfortable to her.

The thought made her shudder.

That flight from the Qavok system was the longest she ever remembered.

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