Flashback - Diane Carey [73]
A tremor of excitement blew across the bridge.
"Well, if they know anything we don't know," he said, "we'll have to find it out some other way."
Janeway leaned to speak to Tuvok. "What could cut them off? Jamming from that cloaked ship?"
"Yes," Tuvok murmured quietly. "They were . . . they are being headed off by Chang near Khitomer. With his modified bird of prey, he is a strong match even for a starship. And we have no way of knowing whether or not he will have summoned any other support ships."
"At warp nine," she murmured back, "we'll find out pretty darned soon."
"Sir," the Halkan at the helm began, "coming up on the Romulan-Klingon border. Khitomer is showing on my long-range chart."
The ship whined and shuddered around them without respite, an endless vibration that went down into her structural bones. The groan of plates about to pop was a tooth-grating sound, and Janeway found herself squint-eyed and clench-fisted as she
stood beside Tuvok. He glanced up at her, and there was decided fear in his eyes.
So strange-he knew he would survive, but the fear was still there.
After a few calculated moments, Sulu asked, "In range?"
"Not yet, sir," Lojur said, dark eyes reflecting the glow of the main screen.
"Come on, come on," Sulu chanted, possessed. "Increase speed to-"
Lojur swung around in his seat. "She'll fly apart!"
Sulu's glare turned vicious. "Fly her apart, then!"
His roar cut everyone off at the throat. The whole bridge crew suddenly lunged to their own consoles, as if no one else wanted to have that tone used toward him or her.
Poor Lojur turned back to his helm, wide-eyed, slack-jawed, and humiliated.
In admiration Kathryn Janeway stared at Captain Sulu. He not only took this chance-he begged for this chance. He was furious that one more dilithium crack of speed might not be attainable, that one more inch of forward movement might be out of reach. Better to die in a ball of flame than play it safe and arrive to find a charred husk where the Enterprise had been and a smashed conference with the littered corpses of dignitaries rotting in the sun.
What a moment!
"Almost there," Lojur croaked, his voice failing him.
"Weapons nearly in range of Khitomer system's spatial sphere, Captain," Tuvok reported.
Janeway felt a shiver rattle down her arms. Yes, she was there for Tuvok's sake, to finalize the reordering of his mind, to file these memories into the right order and relegate them to the past, where they belonged, but she also felt she was there for herself. A visit to home space, a chance to witness these intrepid forerunners in the last great effort they shared, to feel this tough old-style ship around her and notice how strong they could build a long-range ship, even then-yes, all this was good for her too.
"Sir," Tuvok spoke up, infectious excitement tightening his voice, "I have the Enterprise on scanners."
"Acknowledged." Sulu moved to Lojur's other side, closer to Rand on the upper bridge. "Send to commander, Enterprise, from me-'The cavalry's here!'"
"Aye, sir, sending!"
"Sir, reading a firing signature-no source," Tuvok choked out, taken by surprise by his own instruments.
"The Klingon ship!" Lojur blurted. "I don't see anything on these instruments!"
"We expected that," Captain Sulu said calmly. "Hold course. Reduce to impulse speed the instant you're within firing range. Everyone settle down. We have to be very workmanlike in the next few minutes, but be ready."
"Aye, sir," Tuvok said.
"Aye, aye, sir." Logur, Rand, and two other bridge personnel echoed.
"The Klingons are firing on the Enterprise, sir,"
Tuvok said, deliberately keeping control over his tone, partly because he was Vulcan and partly because he'd been ordered to.
Janeway glanced at him, but instantly put her glare back on the main screen. Now she could see the Enterprise-Kirk's Enterprise! The crew with more accolades than any other in Starfleet history lay before them in slightly battered but beautiful form, her brilliant