• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

“Now put your hands out where I can see them and walk very, very slowly forward. Don’t stop until I tell you.”

As the Eerlikka walked forward, Corsi asked, “What’s your name?”

“I—I’m Utaka.”

“Well, congratulations, Utaka, you’re now a prisoner of Starfleet. Stop walking,” she added when they arrived in front of the bulkhead—

—which started to slide open.

The door opened to 110 and Gomez, the latter sitting on the floor, clutching her left leg. She was also bleeding from a gash in her jaw.

“Glad you could make it, Commander Corsi,” Gomez said with a small smile. “And I see you brought a present.”

“This is Utaka,” Corsi said. “Walk inside the core, Utaka.”

Corsi led the prisoner into the core. Hawkins followed behind, first shouldering the rifle, then taking out the medikit. He knelt down to check on Gomez.

As Hawkins one-handedly checked over Gomez’s leg wound and gingerly applied the appropriate hypospray, the prisoner said, “It’s no use, you know. We still outnumber you. We’ve alerted the others—they’ll all be here soon. And that door won’t protect you.”

Gomez nodded. “I guess they know the code for the door, then. 110, can you change it?”

“Yes,” the Bynar said.

“Do it, then shut it. We may as well have some privacy.”

Corsi was staring at her tricorder. “Utaka’s right. I’ve got eight Eerlikka moving toward this position.”

The door started to slide shut. “I have changed the code,” 110 said, “and it’s unlikely that they’ll determine what it is.”

Hawkins finished awkwardly applying a salve to Gomez’s jaw. “You should be able to at least limp on that leg now, Commander.” He stood, put away the medikit as best he could, then offered his good hand to help her up.

“Thanks, Hawkins,” she said, getting to her feet.

“Commander Gomez, all security protocols have gone off-line. I cannot access any of them.”

“Does that mean Drew is freed?” Hawkins asked.

“Yes, but it also means that the other two who were similarly trapped are freed—and I will be unable to use any security devices against those who are heading this way.”

Hawkins breathed a sigh of relief. He’d been worried about his friend.

“Okay,” Gomez said, “we’ll have to hope that the door will keep them out.”

Corsi tapped her combadge. “Corsi to Drew.”

“Drew here. The bulkheads just raised.”

“We heard,” Corsi said. “Proceed to the core, but with caution. There’s a band of eight hostiles coming here, and two more wandering around as well, and I don’t want you to get taken down by them.”

“Understood, Commander.”

Sonya turned to the Bynar. “All right, 110, get to work on the core. We need to end this.”

Sonya Gomez looked at the Bynar—and her heart fell. She’d never seen 110 like this: his eyes were dilating, he was fidgety, and he spoke with a motormouth that reminded Sonya uncomfortably of herself as an ensign.

“I—I don’t know if I can perform this task, Commander. I’m—diminished without 111, and—”

Sonya put her hands on 110’s shoulders. “I understand, but you have to try.”

“But it might go wrong. I’ve been fearing this moment since you first put me on the away team. In fact, to be honest, I’ve been fearing it since 111 died. Up until now, everything’s been simple. The interface with Ganitriul, activating the manual override, changing the code—those were basic tasks that even the most inept Bynar pair can do without thinking, much less one as mature as I, even without a mate. I know that I’m supposed to be able to fix any computer problem, but this may be beyond my capabilities.”

Great, Sonya thought. My throat feels like raw uridium, I’ve got a bum leg and a sore jaw, and now I have to hand-hold a Bynar.

“Listen to me. It’s true that you’re not as efficient without 111 as you were with her. But you were never infallible. It may have seemed that way, but you’re not. There’s always a chance of failure. That doesn’t mean you don’t try. You still know your way around computers better than anyone I’ve ever met. And, even if it doesn’t work, at least you’ll have made the effort. If