Death of a Neutron Star - Eric Kotani [64]
Nothing.
"All right then, let's do it. B'Elanna, I want you down there running the tractor beam. Make it solid, double it up where you can. This is going to be a bumpy ride and we don't want to lose them."
"Got it," she said, and headed for the door.
"Tuvok," Janeway said on the comm line. "Here's what we're going to try to do."
It took her less than a minute to explain the plan. That left seven minutes and thirty seconds to put it all in motion.
Seven minutes to slowly count down. She desperately needed a cup of coffee.
And maybe about seven hours of sleep.
"LAUNCH THE SHUTTLE," JANEWAY SAID.
"Launching," B'Elanna said.
"Three minutes, ten seconds remaining," Harry said.
On the screen, the beautiful shape of the Xorm ship Gravity floated between Voyager and the binary neutron star. The binary was now spinning off so much mass, it looked more like a swirling spiral galaxy to Janeway than a binary star. And there was no way to tell the two stars apart anymore with the naked eye. They were both just one big blur on the main screen. Very shortly, just before the final moment, the binary period would decrease to barely six milliseconds.
Voyager jolted and Janeway held on to the arm of her command chair. They were back at their original orbit level. The Xorm ship was below them a considerable distance, but within easy phaser range.
"Rougher than just an hour before, Captain," Tom said. "I have no idea how the Xorm ship is holding that orbit."
"Just keep us right here," Janeway said. "And we'll soon find out just how stable they are."
"Shuttle in position," B'Elanna said.
"Xorm powering weapons," Ensign Kim said.
"Extra power to forward shields," Janeway said.
"Shields at sixty-five percent," Chakotay said.
A greenish beam shot out of the Xorm ship and lit up Voyager's front shield. Janeway was snapped back hard, but managed to stay in her chair. For a moment the lights dimmed, them came back up.
"Shields at fifty percent," Chakotay said. "Almost no damage."
"More punch than the Qavok," Janeway said. "But that sure answers any question as to their intent, doesn't it."
"That it does," Chakotay said.
"Tom, bring us around so the shuttle is in firing position."
"Aye, Captain."
Right now the shuttle, held by a tractor beam, was like an outrigger off the side of Voyager. Or, more accurately, a giant weapon held away from the body of the ship.
"Coming around now," Tom said.
"Fire when you are clear, Mr. Tuvok," Janeway said.
"Firing now."
Two phaser beams shot out, sending the Xorm ship's shields into the dark reds.
"Their shields are holding," Kim said.
Janeway was afraid of that. For some reason she knew the Xorm were really more powerful technologically than the Qavok. More than likely, the Qavok simply overpowered them by sheer numbers centuries before, as they had tried to do today.
"Fire again, Mr. Tuvok."
Before he could fire, the Xorm ship fired first, smashing a green-tinted beam into Voyager like a massive fist.
This time Janeway was knocked sideways, up and out of her chair to her right. She hit hard, but rolled quickly and came up on one knee. She would have a bruise on the shoulder tomorrow.
"Status of the shuttle?"
"One tractor beam is down," B'Elanna said. "Still got the shuttle by another."
"Don't lose them," Janeway said.
Losing the shuttle without power this close to the binary would be like losing a child's float in a fast-moving river headed for a waterfall. There was very little chance they'd recover it if they didn't get it quickly.
"Firing," Tuvok said, his voice filling the bridge.
Two more phaser shots cut at the Xorm screens.
"They're damaged," Kim said. "They have some shield damage and fires throughout their ship."
"Can you get