The Centre Cannot Hold by Mike W. Barr

Author:Mike W. Barr [Barr, Mike W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Adventure
ISBN: 9781416534365
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2006-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

“Mr. Scott,” said Kirk, in mild surprise as he exited the turbolift. “I didn’t expect to see you still on duty.” It was the night shift, after all, and Scott should have been in bed. So, for that matter, should Kirk have been.

“No Scott has ever bunked down while his captain was in the field, sir, and I’m not going to be the first,” replied Scott, rising from the command chair.

“Appreciated, Scotty,” said Kirk, chuckling at the boast, taking the center seat. “Any visitors while we were gone?”

“Not a one, sir. Nice and quiet. Too quiet, if you get my drift.”

“I think I do. Stick around if you feel like it, we may have something for you to do.”

“Aye, sir,” said Scotty, moving to the bridge engineering station next to the turbolift entrance.

Spock took his post at the science station and Lon at the auxiliary science station.

“Orders, Captain?” asked Spock.

“Patch into all the satellites we put in orbit around Mestiko,” said Kirk. “Check for any attempts to override programming.”

“Do you think they’ll try the same trick again, Captain?” asked Scott.

Kirk shrugged. “If no one catches them at it, why not? Spock, anything?”

“Evaluating data, sir,” said Spock, staring into his scanner. “Interesting. Satellite 158 shows attempts to override its basic programming.”

“Location?”

“Satellite 158 is orbiting directly over the Norrb Refugee Center.”

“Kirk,” said Lon, as this bit of knowledge struck home, “you can’t let them- “

“They won’t catch us with the same trick twice, Doctor,” Kirk said with a glance behind him, then turned back to Farrell and Riley at helm and navigation in front of him. “Mr. Riley, lay in a course to take us within ten thousand kilometers of Satellite 158.”

“That’s as close as you want, Captain?” asked Riley. “I can get us- “

“Have you ever seen a cat track a mouse, Lieutenant?”

“I get it, sir,” said Riley, with a grin. “Course laid in.”

“Mr. Farrell, ahead, maximum impulse power.”

“Ten thousand kilometers from Satellite 158, sir,” said Farrell, seconds later.

“Maintain this position,” said Kirk. “Spock, any uninvited guests?”

“Difficult to say, Captain. The same ionization from the disaster is making sensor readings somewhat unreliable. This location is a source of maximum interference.”

“And I don’t need you to tell me the odds against that being a coincidence,” said Kirk. “Do what you can to compensate. Lieutenant Palmer, main viewer on, maximum magnification. Can you get a visual at this range?”

“It’s not the range, sir,” said the relief communications officer. “It’s the interference. Let me try…” Seconds later, a hazy, static-ridden image flickered on the viewscreen; a globular object seemed to float on a sea of ebony waves. For all they knew, it might have been a snowball dropped into a vat of dirty oil, viewed through the wrong end of a cracked telescope.

“That’s the best I can do, sir,” said Palmer.

“We’ll have to do this the hard way,” said Kirk. “Scotty, can you pick up any kind of engine readings out there?”

“It’s like trying to see through that muck they call air down there, Captain.

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