Death of a Neutron Star - Eric Kotani [0]
CAPTAIN KATHRYN JANEWAY SAT IN HER COMMAND chair, staring at the image of the speeding craft on her main screen. Around her the bridge was silent; a waiting silence, a holding-breath silence, as her bridge crew stood or sat at their stations and watched.
At best the small craft was big enough to hold four humans, but the design was nothing Janeway had ever seen before. Swept-back, finlike wings made it seem more like a bird in flight, while its long "nose" curved upward like the front of a water ski. The craft was painted a gold metallic, with black stripes that gave it the sense of motion. It seemed clearly designed for atmospheric use, but it was a long, long way from any atmosphere.
Janeway was fascinated by it, especially since it seemed to be in a very great hurry. They had been tracking it from a distance for the last ten minutes, and unless the craft had very good sensors, she doubted that they had even seen Voyager yet.
She picked up her half-forgotten cup of coffee and sipped, letting the wonderful flavor fill her mouth. Even barely warm, it was still delicious. Neelix had found some fascinating beans on an uninhabited planet six days earlier, and had managed, for the first time, to really brew a good cup of coffee. It was rich, with an aroma that woke her up and soothed her at the same time. There was only one small problem. Unless they could do a decent replication of the bean, their supply was only going to last another week, especially with most of the crew drinking it. It would be a sad day when the last cup was poured. Until then hot, warm, or even cold-she wasn't going to waste a drop.
"Can't tell exactly where it's heading, Captain," Harry Kim said, finally breaking the silence.
"It seems to have originated," Tuvok said, "from a planet a few light-years away."
"Sure is a great-looking ship," Tom Paris said. "I'd love to get a look inside."
"I doubt you're going to," Kim said.
Janeway glanced around at her operations officer and took another half sip.
Kim shrugged. "From what I can tell with distant scans, they're overloading the engine."
Janeway set the cup down beside her and stared at the beautiful and very alien ship on her main viewscreen. "Tom, take us in closer. I want more information."
She turned to Kim. "Ensign, hail them. Let them know we have no hostile intentions."
The bridge again fell silent.
"No response to the hail, Captain," Ensign Kim said.
"Keep at it," she said.
On screen the small ship seemed to grow in size. Janeway studied its lines, swept-back and beautiful. Like Paris, she wanted to see the inside of the thing. But the real question was why was it out here in the first place? And why was it pushing so hard? It was almost as if it were running from something.
She turned to Tuvok. "Do a long-range scan along the path the ship has taken."
Tuvok nodded and set to work.
"Still no response, Captain," Ensign Kim said.
"Captain," Tuvok said. "A large, unidentified ship is on an intercept path. It will overtake the smaller craft in three minutes and seven seconds."
Janeway nodded, then turned back to stare at the beautiful small craft that now filled her screen. So she had her answer as to why the craft was in such a hurry. It was being chased.
"Captain," Ensign Kim said, "the small craft's engines are about to overload."
"How long?"
Kim shook his head. "They'll go critical in thirty seconds, if they aren't shut down."
"Open a hailing frequency," she said, turning back to the screen. "This is Captain Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager. You are about to self-destruct. Shut down your engines and we will offer what assistance we can."
"Incoming message from the larger ship," Kim said.
She turned as he glanced up.
"They are demanding that we stand aside."
"They are not our match, Captain," Tuvok said. "In weapons, or in screens."
"Small craft powering down," Kim said.
Janeway nodded. "Mr.