Star Trek: Yesterday's Son by A.C. Crispin

Author:A.C. Crispin
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, Star Trek, Fiction
ISBN: 9780671038519
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 1999-08-01T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter XI

"All stations report red alert status, Captain," Uhura said.

"Entering sector 90.4, sir," Sulu's voice was calm.

"Decrease to sublight, helm, Lieutenant Uhura, are you picking up anything?"

"Yes, sir. We're being hailed by the Lexington."

"Put it on audio, Lieutenant."

"Aye, sir."

A stutter of static, then a harried voice filled the bridge. Uhura made a hasty adjustment. "… lost our aft deflectors. Enemy vessels closing. Enterprise, are you there? Come in, Enterprise."

"Open a channel, Lieutenant. Scramble it."

"Aye, sir. . . . Go ahead, sir."

Kirk kept his eyes fixed on the forward viewing screen as he spoke. "This is Captain Kirk of the Enterprise here, we are receiving you, Lexington. What is your status? Over."

A new voice. "Jim? This is Bob Wesley. We've held them off until now, but our aft deflectors are gone, and our port shield won't take another direct hit. Over."

"Hold on, Bob. . . .I've got you on my screens." One large star and three smaller ones materialized and grew rapidly until the bridge crew could see the wounded vessel. The smaller Romulan ships circled her cautiously, wary of her greater firepower. Every time an opening presented itself, one of them would take advantage of their faster maneuverability to dart in, fire, and pull back out before the Lexington could bring her weaponry to bear.

"Ready forward phaser banks, Mr. Sulu."

"Phaser banks ready, sir."

"Fire a ten-second blast amidships on my order, then change course immediately to four-five-two, point zero, mark."

"Course four-five-two, point zero, mark, as soon as we've fired, aye sir. Phasers standing by."

Kirk scanned the instrument panel, counted seconds, then said quietly, "Fire." The deadly beams shot out, impaling the central Romulan warship directly. A sudden, blinding explosion flooded the viewscreen, then was gone as the Enterprise changed course. As the crew waited tensely, there came a shudder, then a slight lurch.

"A hit on the starboard deflectors, Captain, but not serious," Sulu reported.

"Change course to five-three-eight, mark two-four, Mr. Sulu. Let's go after the others."

"Aye, sir. . . . The Lexington just fired her main banks, sir."

Kirk was already watching the instruments, between glances at the viewing screen. The hit was a glancing one, and the Romulan was able to turn away, though she appeared to have limited maneuverability.

"That scorched her tail-feathers some. . . ." Commodore Wesley's voice came over the channel.

Kirk raised his voice, "Bob, I don't see the other one. Do you scan?"

"She used her cloaking device about a second after we fired."

"Prepare to pursue the one that was crippled, Mr. Sulu. Course three-two-six, mark zero-four."

"Aye, sir. Three-two-six, mark zero-four. . . . Captain, she just faded off the screen."

Kirk turned to his Science Officer. "Spock, switch all your sensors to infrared. We should be able to pick them up by their heat emissions, even if we can't see them or scan them."

The Vulcan bent over his sensors, and straightened after tense moments. "Negative, Captain. I picked up a faint trail, but they changed course often enough to mask it. This sector is full of radiation distortions that make scanning unreliable.

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