Enigma - Michael Jan Friedman [26]
Poor Ulelo, she thought.
“Listen,” said Urajel, “I feel the same thing you’re feeling. I wish Ulelo were well. But it’s not as if there’s anything we can do about it.”
But there was, Bender thought. She couldn’t cure him of what was ailing him, unfortunately. But while he remained on the Stargazer, she could let him know he still had a friend.
Greenbriar watched the turbolift doors slide open, revealing the sparking, smoking chaos of his bridge. It was empty but for four figures—Hohauser, Bolaris, Cangelosi, and Moy—all of whom had their phasers trained on the captain.
“Stand down,” said Greenbriar, in case someone was too blinded by the smoke to recognize a friend.
His officers lowered their weapons. Moy, whose head cut was bleeding profusely, slumped back in his chair and groaned.
“How are things down below?” asked Hohauser, his face streaked with soot from the smoke.
“Bad,” said Greenbriar, moving toward Moy and the com console. “The aliens are in charge there.”
“What are we doing about it?” asked Bolaris, his tone too much like a challenge.
The captain shot him a glance. “We’re consolidating our forces and trying to hold the more strategically important decks. And we’re maintaining the decorum expected of Starfleet officers.”
The Andorian recoiled. “Sorry, sir.”
“No need to apologize,” said Greenbriar, fighting off a wave of vertigo—a lingering effect of the blow he had taken earlier. “Just do your job.”
Putting a hand on Moy’s shoulder, the captain thanked him silently for his courage. Then he laid his phaser down on the com console and began entering a message to Starfleet Command.
He had barely gotten through the first sentence when Bolaris shouted a warning. Looking up, Greenbriar saw a blinding-white glow in the center of the bridge, and a handful of man-sized figures taking shape inside it.
They’re beaming in here too, Greenbriar thought.
Bolaris and Hohauser poured energy fire into the glow. So did the security officers who had come up with the captain.
As he picked up his phaser to do the same, he saw a second glow, and a third—and the aliens in the first group were firing even as they fell. Greenbriar gave up whatever thoughts he had had of sending a message from the com panel. His people weren’t going to be able to hold the bridge long enough.
But he had to get his message off. He couldn’t let the aliens take the Cochise without warning the fleet.
Fortunately, there was another way. While his officers tried to beat back the invaders, Greenbriar abandoned the com panel and returned to the turbolift.
He had almost reached it when an energy beam went sizzling by his ear and scorched a bulkhead. Casting a glance back over his shoulder, he saw that one of the aliens was getting ready to fire at him a second time.
But Cangelosi was quicker. Her phaser blast caught the invader in the shoulder and turned him around. That gave the captain time for a shot of his own, which sent the alien flying.
He wished he had time to stay and fight, but it wouldn’t be possible. Swinging himself into the turbolift, he punched in a destination and plastered himself against one of the compartment’s interior walls. Then he trained his weapon on the space between the closing doors.
Come on, he thought, urging the doors to come together faster.
An energy beam sliced past him and struck the back of the compartment, leaving it a blackened mess. But Greenbriar himself remained unharmed. And a moment later, the doors slid closed, allowing him to release the breath he had been holding.
As the turbolift began to move, Greenbriar wiped perspiration from his forehead with the back of his free hand. With luck, he thought, there won’t be quite so many of the invaders on deck seven.
That was where his quarters were. And in them, he would find his computer terminal, which he could use to bypass the com station on the bridge and transmit a subspace