• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Seven nodded and turned back to her board.

Dr. Maalot smiled at Janeway. "We won't be long."

"Good," Janeway said.

She didn't say, "Just be right."

"One hour and fifty minutes remaining," the computer said.

Janeway shifted in her command chair and stared at the swirling binary neutron star on the screen. She thought about shutting the countdown off, but decided she would let it run twice more. After that, there would no longer be a point.

Beside her Chakotay said, "I won't be sorry to hear the last of that thing."

"I'll second that," Tom said.

Janeway smiled. Tom's uniform was stained with sweat. He hadn't moved from his pilot's chair for hours. His hands were constantly in motion as he worked to keep the orbit of Voyager stable against the incredible forces at work around them. Only twice in the last two hours had the ship even shuddered slightly. And Tom had sworn both times.

They were lucky to have a pilot of Tom's ability. He'd saved the ship more than once over the last few years. If she had to pick a pilot to fly that shuttle down into that binary, it wouldn't be him. Taking Tom away from the main pilot's chair would threaten all the lives on Voyager and she wasn't willing to do that.

But then who would pilot the shuttle?

She glanced at her second-in-command and best friend. Chakotay was the second-best shuttle pilot they had. Tuvok was the third. It would have to be one of them.

She stood and looked at her security officer. "Mr. Tuvok, has the situation with the Qavok changed?"

"No, Captain," he said.

"Okay, I need to talk to you in my ready room." She glanced at Chakotay. "Commander, would you join us?"

"Gladly," Chakotay said.

It took her only a few minutes to completely relay the conversation with Seven to her two officers. Then she finished with "I will not send Tom and risk all the lives on Voyager. We need him where he is."

"Agreed," Chakotay said. "I'll take the shuttle down."

"It would be logical that I fly the shuttle, Commander," Tuvok said.

Janeway laughed. She knew, without a doubt, that both her officers would have that exact reaction when faced with this problem.

"Explain the logic, Tuvok," Janeway said.

"You are needed for your scientific abilities in this type of situation, Captain. When you are pulled from command for such matters, you must have an experienced officer in command on the bridge. As security officer, I am the most easily replaced in this instance. Since I am also rated as the third-best shuttle pilot, I am the logical choice."

She glanced at Chakotay. "Hard to argue with such reason, isn't it?"

Chakotay smiled. "Yeah. Annoying, also."

Tuvok glanced at the commander. "I did not intend to be annoying. I was simply answering the captain's question."

Janeway and Chakotay both laughed.

"You were fine," Janeway said. "But before we send you out to risk your life on this flight, I need you to test the transporter system closer to the binary."

"Logical," Tuvok said. "We can send off a probe and lock on to it with the transporter to run tests."

"Good," Janeway said. "Get to it and report as soon as you can."

Tuvok turned and moved back onto the bridge. After he had left, Janeway smiled at Chakotay. "Sorry. I know you would have wanted to do the flying."

Chakotay laughed softly. "Yeah, but hard to argue with Vulcan logic."

"Why do you suppose," Janeway said, dropping down behind her desk, "that doesn't make me feel any better?"

Chakotay had no answer to that one.

JANEWAY STOOD BESIDE ENSIGN KIM IN THE Communications area of the bridge. Harry was frantically working to adjust the calibration on the transporter so that it could maintain a lock on the probe in the intense gravitational and radiation forces flowing from the spinning binary neutron star.

So far they had lost two probes.

She wasn't happy about that. She wasn't happy about