Distant Shores - Marco Palmieri [17]
“Quickly,” Chakotay ordered. He swiveled around and addressed Kim. “Harry, find me a way to trigger those mines from a distance. I want to clear a path or lure the Dresh within range, maybe catch them off guard.”
“Aye, sir,” Kim replied, fingers already at work.
“Your tactics are not logical,” Tuvok counseled Chakotay. “You have too many variables and could be putting the ship at risk.”
Chakotay stared at him, his eyes hard. “I may have to do exactly that to get us clear. Keep phasers locked on the lead ship and be ready to fire on my signal.”
“I’ve already targeted their exhaust ports,” Tuvok said calmly.
Chakotay blinked with some surprise, nodded once, and returned his attention to the screen.
“Course plotted,” Paris said.
“Everyone stand by,” Chakotay ordered. Seconds ticked by with no movement aboard the bridge or among the Dresh vessels. Tuvok scanned the area with long-range scanners to make certain reinforcements were not sneaking up on them. He was uncertain if Chakotay would get them away unscathed; the man was not following standard procedures and seemed to be growing increasingly desperate.
Twin lights flickered to the Vulcan’s right, catching his attention.
“Commander, the two outer ships have begun to move, closing the pincer,” Tuvok said.
“Fire phasers! Paris, execute!”
Voyager corkscrewed to starboard as the phasers fired, and the stars streaked as the warp burst carried the starship away.
“Dresh ships have fallen back but are in motion,” Tuvok advised.
“Any damage to them?”
“No, sir,” Tuvok said. “The phaser salvo was too brief. We’d need a longer, sustained barrage to be effective.”
“Next time,” Chakotay said, ignoring the look of concern crossing Tuvok’s features.
“Here they come,” Paris called. “They’re matching our speed!”
Chakotay looked at the screen and then ordered, “Evasive maneuvers; get us close to the edge of the minefield.”
“We’re still sluggish,” Paris complained.
“Improvise. Tuvok, get ready for that barrage. I want one ship taken down to prove we can.”
“Understood,” Tuvok said. To him, it seemed Chakotay wanted to fight instead of run, which was endangering the crew. He began to turn events over in his mind, looking to determine if the actions were reckless enough to relieve Chakotay of duty. If so, he would assume command and warp out of the region, plotting a new course when they were safe and the captain was recovered. While Chakotay wasn’t following the rule book to the letter, he also wasn’t violating it with enough disregard to justify removing him.
Janeway had told him and the rest of the crew that this was to be a Starfleet ship. Even the Maquis crew members would be required to follow Starfleet regulations until the ship was safely back in the Alpha Quadrant. To that end, he would have to wait and see if Chakotay stepped over a line that would effectively force the Vulcan’s hand.
“Return fire at will, Tuvok,” Chakotay ordered. “Paris, keep distance between them and us.”
The ship rocked gently as several shots hit the shields. Damage reports started coming in to the commander. To the tactical officer, that would be signal enough to leave the area. Instead, Chakotay ordered Paris to turn the ship about, flying between several Dresh ships in order to force a wedge and keep them scattered.
As the ship maneuvered between three ships, the shields were hit again and again with concentrated weapons fire. Tuvok gripped his station, watching as others were shaken badly. He also noted that even though the damaged shield emitter had been restored, another was about in danger of overload.
“Tuvok, I think we too need to improvise,” Chakotay said, a twinkle in his eye. Tuvok tried to imagine what they experienced together with the Maquis could apply to these circumstances. Nothing occurred to him.
“Bridge to engineering.”
“Engineering to bridge. Carey here.”
“Keep a crew on the shield generators. Meantime, I want you and B’Elanna to rig the warp core to