Star Trek: Voyager #5: Incident at Arbuk by John Gregory Betancourt

Author:John Gregory Betancourt [Betancourt, John Gregory]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fiction, General
ISBN: 9780743453660
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Pocket Books/Star Trek
Published: 2002-08-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

B'Elanna had watched with mingled horror and anger as the attack unfolded above her. The three round silver ships fired as one, launching a devastating barrage of what looked like photon torpedoes and bolts of electromagnetic energy. Above her, Voyager shook noticeably as first one, then another, then another blast hit. Flames shot out of a hole that suddenly appeared in the hull.

A low moan escaped her. "Run!" she cried. "Get out of here!

Don't wait for the next hit!"

As if in response, Voyager began to turn. The nacelles began to power up for warp acceleration, then abruptly failed. On impulse power alone, Voyager limped off toward the red giant.

The three ships turned in pursuit. The lead ship fired again, but Voyager veered sharply and the blasts narrowly missed.

Shields seemed to be failing or down altogether, B'Elanna thought. And there wasn't a thing she could do to help.

Again Voyager turned, this time heading straight for the red giant.

The three ships followed, laying down another fierce barrage of shots.

Several more struck--at least one piercing the hull. There were just too many of them attacking, she thought angrily. She felt a stirring in her blood and longed to be up there with her friends, fighting to survive.

The battle wasn't over yet, though, if she knew Commander Chakotay.

Why did she have to be here, where she couldn't help?

Or maybe I can help, she thought suddenly.

She remembered the firepower of the tube. If she could figure out the controls, swing it around, and use it herselfShe turned and hurried back inside. She had a lot of work to do, she thought. Quickly she twisted the airlock's controls. The hatch shut and air began to fill the chamber. Seven minutes.

You could work miracles in seven minutes, she thought. She was going to have to.

As soon as the air pressure rose enough to support life, she slipped off her helmet and cycled through the airlock. Dawson and Wong barely glanced up from their tricorders.

"Don't stop work," she said, then briefed them as she pulled out her own tricorder and began frantically searching for the control mechanism. The two ensigns paled, and she noticed Li's hands shaking a bit, but they kept at their tasks with renewed energy.

The minutes ticked away. Five minutes, four. B'Elanna found the thruster controls and gave a small cry of triumph, but then she realized she had no way to take aim.

Three minutes.

They weren't going to make it, she knew deep inside. She began to despair. Even if she found the aiming controls now, she realized, Voyager had been heading toward the red giant. With the tube's little thrusters, it would take half an hour to turn that far around. It was hopeless.

Sighing, she paused and looked up, toward the last place she'd seen Voyager. One minute left. Sixty seconds could be an eternity in space, she knew. Voyager could already be a drifting, burnt-out, lifeless hulk.

She couldn't go back outside, not with the tube about to fire.

She'd just have to wait... and pray.

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