Star Trek DS9 - 018 Saratoga by Michael Jan Friedman

Author:Michael Jan Friedman [Michael Jan Friedman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780671568979
Publisher: Star Trek
Published: 2014-01-22T16:00:00+00:00

"So Dr. Laffer's condition may be even worse than we thought?" he asked Counselor Barnes.

"It seems that way," she confirmed. "Without a doctor on hand, it's hard to tell for certain. And if she takes a turn for the worse, none of us here is really qualified to deal with it."

The captain nodded. "I see." He turned to O'Brien and Graal, who sat next to each other. "And the propulsion system?"

The chief scowled. "It's a mess."

"How long to get the warp drive working again?"

Sisko inquired.

O'Brien glanced at the Craynid, then shrugged. "A couple of days, maybe. Certainly not less than a day and a half."

The captain grunted and looked to Zar. "Lieu- tenant?"

"I got a distress call out," the Bolian reported. "But we're pretty far from any other Federation vessels.

I'm not optimistic that we'll receive help on a timely basis."

Sisko made a pyramid of his hands and turned his attention to Thorn. "What about the shields?" he asked. "Don't tell me there's bad news from that quarter as well."

"I won't," replied the security chief. "Fortunately the shields are working fine. We're fully protected from any and all radiation hazards--at least for the time being."

The captain smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Thorn. I could always count on you in a pinch." Finally, he eyed Dax and Lopez. "Well? Any idea what it is we've blundered into?"

"We have a theory," the Trill began.

"Yes," said Lopez. "Our sensor information indi- cates we're situated at the nexus of two sets of energy waves--each one generated by a supernova in the area."

"I know how unlikely that sounds," Dax added quickly. "Nonetheless, it's the truth."

"Why didn't we detect this sooner?" asked Sisko.

"We would have," Lopez answered, "if we'd been traveling at sublight. But, of course, we weren't. And this nexus is virtually undetectable at warp speeds."

"The worse news," Dax remarked soberly, "is that we're being drawn deeper and deeper into the thing-- even more quickly than we first suspected. In ten hours, maybe less, the stresses on the Defiant will be great enough to tear her apart."

Her announcement was met with an oppressive silence. The captain surveyed the faces of his col- leagues, old and new. None of them looked very happy about the situation.

But then, they had all been in worse spots than this one. Somehow they would find a way out of it.

"Clearly," he said, "we've got to escape this phe- nomenon before we reach the point of no return-- and we don't have time to repair the warp drive." He looked to O'Brien. "Any chance of repairing those escape pods, Chief?."

It was Graal who replied first. "That is not an option," she noted. "The damage is too severe."

Sisko cursed inwardly. "All right, then. What about the impulse engines? Can we get them working in the next several hours--say, at even partial effective- ness?"

The chief frowned. "I don't know, sir."

"We will make the attempt," the Craynid elabo- rated. "But there are no guarantees."

"I wasn't expecting any," the captain told her.

"Take Mr. Thorn with you. Maybe he'll see something you've overlooked.

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