Death of a Neutron Star - Eric Kotani [16]
"Yes, Captain." Paris's hands moved quickly over his console.
The neutron-star pair was a dizzying blur of two bright dots swirling around each other. Janeway had never seen anything move at such a speed, in such a tight orbit. The force at work in front of them was beyond comprehension. And Voyager was going to snuggle in real close to it all. Craziest thing they had done in a long, long time.
"All recording instruments on?"
"All working smoothly," Chakotay said.
Janeway nodded and sat back, staring at the incredible sight of two orbiting neutron stars. "Good. I don't want to miss a second of this."
"Captain," Ensign Kim said. "Dr. Maalot would like to talk to you."
Janeway tapped her combadge. "Yes, Doctor Maalot?"
"From my observations, the two stars are nearing the critical point. In about a day, I would say. We have arrived just in the nick of time."
"Perfect," Janeway said. "Everything ready and working there?"
"We are ready," Dr. Maalot said. He was beyond even trying to hide the excitement in his voice.
Janeway smiled. "Good. Keep on top of it."
She tapped her combadge again. "Seven, how are the preparations going?"
"Six hours and we will test the container."
"Understood," Janeway said, and smiled at Chakotay. Dr. Maalot's excitement was infectious, and she had to admit, this was exciting to her, also. She and the rest of the crew were going to be the first humans to witness an event like this. And witness it right up close and personal. She just hoped they got home with the data.
"Captain," Ensign Kim said. "There are two other ships holding positions close to the binary. They've just come into view."
"Where and who?" Janeway asked.
"Identity unknown," Kim said. "Both their orbits are circular with a virtually identical radius of about one hundred fifty thousand kilometers from the neutron stars."
"One hundred and fifty," Janeway said, almost whistling. "That's in there close. What about their orbital inclinations, Mr. Kim?"
"Effectively the same inclination as the double star's own orbital plane."
Janeway did a few quick calculations on her control panel, working to see if the two ship's orbits were safe or suicidal. After a minute she was sure they had picked the lowest safe orbit. But when the big event started, they were going to have to get out of there fast, or never leave.
"Mr. Paris," Janeway said. "Take us in. Circular orbit at a distance of one hundred fifty thousand kilometers from the binary. Match the inclination to those of the other two ships. I want to be within transporter range of the other two ships."
"Yes, Captain," Paris said, but he didn't sound happy about the order. He took a slow, deep breath and focused on his controls.
Janeway watched Paris for a moment, then glanced around at Tuvok. "Shields up. I don't want anything to take us by surprise here."
Tuvok nodded. "Screens up, Captain."
Paris was almost sweating as he focused on the controls in front of him. Taking a ship in that close to orbiting binary neutron stars made for tricky piloting, at best. Deadly, if done wrong.
"Ensign," she said. "Tell those other two ships we're coming in and that we're friendly."
"Understood," Kim said. "Hailing."
"Beautiful, isn't it," she said to Chakotay as the neutron stars grew in size, spinning around each other like two dogs chasing their tails.
"Amazing," Chakotay said. "Like ancient dancing gods, moving across the ballroom of the sky."
"You always did have a way with words," she said, smiling at him.
He only shrugged, never taking his gaze from the sight on the main screen.
Janeway tried not to hold her breath as she watched Paris take them slowly in, matching the speed and distance of the other two ships in a mad orbit around the two neutron stars. One slip and Voyager would be ripped apart by the intense tidal forces at work below them.
The process took less than a minute, but it seemed to go on forever.