Flashback - Diane Carey [40]
Of course, Kang already knew that.
"Tuvok," Sulu went on, "modulate a positron beam and stand by. We'll ignite the sirillium the instant we clear the nebula. Helm, prepare to engage maximum warp on my command."
"Aye, sir," the Halkan at the helm said.
Valtane, Tuvok, and the others plunged to work, and Sulu took his command chair.
"All hands," he said, "this is the captain. Secure stations and batten down the hatches."
Tuvok straightened from his controls. "The positron beam is charged and ready."
"Oh my mark, Ensign."
Janeway wondered how far out of the nebula Sulu
would try to go before igniting the sirillium. All
attention fell to Valtane, who was watching the
proximity monitors. "We're clearing the nebula," Valtane said evenly,
and from his measured tone Janeway could tell they
were barely clearing the nebula.
"Mr. Tuvok," Sulu said, definitely enjoying himself, "light the match."
An energy beam vaulted from the big ship's stern into the gushing blue nebula, a few degrees sideways from where the Klingon ship was just becoming visible. The gaseous cloud gulped the energy, began glowing a weird yellow-green right where the beam penetrated, then lit up with a fabulous explosive flash made mostly of glowing white and blue particles.
The Klingon ship was jarred severely and fell off its course, wobbling on a wing and sinking some against its own axis.
"The Klingon ship's been disabled," Valtane reported with victory in his voice. "They're not pursuing!"
"Helm," Sulu said, not bothering with self-congratulation, "set a course for Kronos and engage."
The ship came about in a sweeping arch and skimmed the Azure Nebula back to face Klingon space again.
"Commander Rand," Sulu began, "I want you to-"
An alarm interrupted him from Valtane's console.
"Sir!" Valtane called. "Long range sensors are detecting three Klingon battle cruisers on an intercept course! They're arming torpedoes!"
CHAPTER 12
"CHAKOTAY TO SICKBAY."
"Sickbay."
"Doctor, in your opinion, what's the progress of that melding experiment?"
"My opinion? I have nothing with which to compare something like this, Commander. Mr. Tuvok's mental state is tenuous, his brain stability losing integrity, and there's a steady downward digression."
"I see. Tell me this-you don't think there's any attachment physically to that nebula out there?"
"At the moment, I have nothing to suggest that, other than a possible visual trigger involving Mr. Tuvok."
"So I'm probably safe in going ahead with the sirillium collection?"
"Your call, Commander."
"All right, thank you. Bridge out." At the helm, Tom Paris was looking at him. "Well?"
Chakotay gave him a scolding, narrow-eyed glare and refused to say anything.
"Well, sir," Paris accommodated. "Are we going after the sirillium or not?"
From the bridge engineering station, B'Elanna Torres stepped to the edge of the upper platform. "If it doesn't affect Mr. Tuvok or the captain, there's no reason to wait. We can start scooping sirillium any minute."
Chakotay gazed at the main view, still showing the turbulent blue nebula roiling before them. "What if this belongs to somebody else?"
"Belongs?" Paris repeated with a crimp of his features. "It's just sitting there!"
"Yes, but one thing I've discovered is that in a populated area of space, there's no untapped resource. Chances are pretty dim that nobody's noticed the sirillium source."
"All the more reason," B'Elanna said, "to get cracking, get the sirillium, and get out of here."
"I tend to agree. After all, I don't see any 'No Trespassing' buoys."
Torres stepped down to his level. "But I do have one suggestion." "And that is?"
"There's a particularly rich vein in there, about six hundred kilometers in and slightly to the starboard of where we are now. If we could go into that area, we could scoop out more sirillium in a couple
of hours than we could mining the whole nebula for a month."
"But. . ."
She