Star Trek: Pike: Burning Dreams by Margaret Wander Bonanno & Gene Roddenberry

Author:Margaret Wander Bonanno & Gene Roddenberry
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, Star Trek, Fiction
ISBN: 9780743496933
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2006-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

They’d spotted the first vessel early that morning. Vestian ships were top-heavy with weaponry, but their sensors had blind spots, and they hadn’t spotted Aldrin.

“Half impulse,” Kamnach said quietly. “Arm lasers.”

“Armed and ready, sir,” Hanley reported just as quietly.

“Warning shot across her bow on my mark…”

“Aye, sir.” Hanley’s finger hovered over the button.

From the science station, where he’d relieved Renkova, who was still analyzing the debris from the presumed Tellarite vessel, Pike cleared his throat. “Captain?”

“What is it, Mr. Pike?”

“She’s still on her side of the border, sir. Regulations—”

“—specify that we should hail her first, and if there’s no response to our challenge, then we fire across her bow. You familiar with the weapons array on a Vestian Aloku-class battleship, Mr. Pike? Ever try to pick up a sea urchin?”

Prior to this mission he hadn’t been, but Pike had done his research. The visual on the forward screen confirmed what he’d learned. The Vestian ship bristled with weapons ports in all directions. Depending upon the situation, it could fire those weapons in sequence, transforming itself into a spacefaring Gatling gun, or all at once, spewing plasma fire like darts in all directions.

“No, sir. But I’ve accidentally brushed up against a saguaro and not been able to sit down for the rest of the day,” Pike answered, keeping his voice light. “Which is why—”

“Which is why, in spite of your folksy little tale, we are not going to hail that ship and risk getting spiked,” Kamnach finished for him. “Weapons, fire when ready.”

Pike winced as the laser released, holding his breath until he saw it lance through empty space well ahead of the Vestian ship, which abruptly turned toward them, searching for the source of the fire. Pike could see Flowers scanning for any comm from the Vestian ship. Catching his eye, she shook her head: Nothing. They were not even attempting to communicate with Aldrin. Maybe Kamnach’s decision was the right one.

Simultaneously, Kamnach was barking orders, maneuvering Aldrin into position behind a particularly large chunk of rock—not big enough to hide them completely, but big enough to confuse the Aloku’s sensors.

Whoever was captaining the Aloku didn’t seem to care. The ship’s forward weapons ports began to glow, and then she fired.

By the book, Aldrin should not have even fired a warning shot unless the Aloku violated the border. Strictly speaking, the Aloku was well within her rights to fire back. It all happened rather quickly after that.

“Target her aft shields, there!” Kamnach ordered, jabbing a blunt finger at the schematic on the screen between the helm and nav stations. “Short burst ought to get her to pay attention and back off. Even a Vestian won’t fight with no shields.”

Weapons fired. A short burst should have just knocked out the shields. Instead, the entire ship went up in a fireball. The forward viewscreen damped some of it, but for several moments the bridge crew was virtually blinded. The shock wave came next.

“Hang on!” Kamnach said unnecessarily as they braced for impact.

Did

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