Equinox - Diane Carey [20]
She wasn't just stating a fact. She was also throwing out a challenge. Someone would think of something, perhaps herself, perhaps one of the others. It was her job to prod them to think, throw the net out and see what jumped in. If she didn't, eventually the crew would get used to waiting around for her to come up with something. That was part of a captain's job too in a situation like this-stimulate and keep stimulating. Keep their minds on positive action.
Seven of Nine was the first to speak. She turned to Captain Ransom. "According to your bioscans, the aliens can only survive in our realm for several seconds."
Ransom nodded. "They're like fish out of water. But they can do a lot of damage in those seconds."
"Nevertheless," Tuvok picked up, "it is a tactical weakness. Perhaps we can exploit it."
"What've you got in mind?" Burke asked.
Janeway looked at him. Somehow the question sounded funny, the way he asked it.
Seven postulated, "If we can show them that we have the ability to hold them here," she said, "they'll think twice about launching another attack."
"The question is," Janeway probed, "how do we catch these fish?"
Would they have an answer? She hadn't gotten much out of Ransom about this problem. Of course, she hadn't pushed him. He was a captain, after all, and she expected him to be forthright with information that would help both their crews. He was, like the rest of his crew, still shell shocked, probably having trouble trusting even other Starfleet personnel. She'd seen plenty of illusions herself since being forced into the Delta Quadrant. It wouldn't be out of line for him to wait awhile, see if what he was experiencing was the real thing, not just an hallucination or an illusion, a trick or a trap. Janeway knew deep inside that she would hold back too, just to see, to be sure.
Yes, First Officer Burke was communing silently with his captain. They were looking at each other in the way that didn't need words.
Finally, with some kind of tacit permission from Ransom, Burke offered, "You build a trap."
So, they did know how to do it.
"Commander?" Janeway prodded. Keep them talking.
Burke looked again at Ransom and again received silent license.
"A multiphasic force field, to be exact," he said, still hesitating. Was he choosing his words carefully? "We wanted to see what we were up against. So we built a small chamber that could keep one of them trapped for several minutes."
Janeway waited a second to see if there was more, then said, "If we could expand on that technology, we might be able to create a latticework of multiphasic force fields around both ships."
Stiffening as if waiting for a blade to fall, Burke looked at Ransom. "Rudy?"
Another of those strange pauses, those wordless communications ... Ransom's tight eyes worked. "If Captain Janeway agrees."
What an odd thing to say. He knew she wanted an answer, a course of action. Why was he so uncertain?
"We'll need to examine that stasis chamber," she told him. He knew that too, didn't he? This business of having to state the obvious ...
This time Ransom didn't look at Burke or the other way around. Both men stared at Janeway and she got the idea they were holding their breath for a moment.
"I'm afraid that won't be possible," Ransom stated flatly. "It's in our research lab. That section was flooded with thermionic radiation during the last attack. It'll be days before anyone can go in there."
"The design schematics are in our auxiliary data-core," Burke quickly filled in, offering a fair but not great alternative.
"I'll see if I can download them," Ransom said before anyone else could speak. "Give me a hand?"
Janeway followed him out, giving him a chance to lead the way even on her ship. That was all right, he needed it. She was expecting the Equinox crew to have to be here longer than they thought they might, judging by the amount of damage turning up on that ship,