Ghost of a Chance - Mark Garland [2]
***
Captain Janeway found herself momentarily pinned beneath her first officer as the two of them tumbled to their left and were slammed down onto the deck. The ship lurched to the right then and shuddered violently, setting off alarms. The impulse engines howled as the lights dimmed and systems began to go down.
The captain's head bounced off the gray-carpeted deck plates, and she felt her teeth bite into her tongue, tasted blood. She looked up into Chakotay's eyes as he tried to regain his bearings and attempted to roll off her. Paris was clinging to his station, fighting to regain control of the helm. Behind her she could hear Tuvok wheeze as he thudded against something hard.
The ship lurched to the left once more, sending everyone tumbling yet again. Janeway managed to grab hold of the deck rail and steady herself briefly. She craned her neck and saw Tuvok still at his post, every bit as tenacious as Lieutenant Paris.
"Mr. Tuvok, report!" she shouted over the wail of the emergency klaxon and the onerous groan of the engines.
"We are caught in an intense gravitational field. I am attempting to determine the source."
"That would be a help."
"Captain," Tuvok came back almost at once. "There seems to be a star, a small brown dwarf, dead ahead."
"I'm attempting to compensate," Paris called back. "It's really got a hold of us."
"There was no brown dwarf here before, I'm sure of it!" Neelix cried from the heap he had tumbled into just in front of the captain's chair.
"And it's only been a few years."
Janeway looked at the main viewscreen, but even at this distance there was almost nothing to see. Yet as she looked more closely she began to notice the star's outline, an apparent hole in space where the brown dwarf's dark sphere blocked out the stars behind it.
"Transferring all available power to the impulse engines," Kim said, following procedure perfectly.
"Engines at full," Paris acknowledged. "It's having an effect, but we're still not breaking free." He sat up, rigid in his chair, bracing himself as the lurching ceased--only to be replaced by a steady and rapid shaking that quickly threatened to rattle the starship apart.
"Systems failure reports coming in from all over the ship," Kim reported, even before Janeway could ask.
The captain worked her way along the railing, hand over hand, toward her command chair. "Injuries?"
"Numerous, but all minor so far," Tuvok replied.
"We're too close. The star's gravity is too strong," Paris said, his voice straining in sympathy with the engines.
Janeway lifted her head and shouted at the ceiling.
"Engineering, can we go to warp? We have to get out of here."
"Yes, Captain," B'Elanna replied. "The upper matter-constriction segments shut down briefly. I'm reinitializing now. Just give me a minute."
"We don't have a minute."
No one said a word for several very long seconds. The shaking grew worse, or it seemed to, as Janeway stood bent-kneed on the trembling deck.
"That should do it, Captain," B'Elanna announced, sooner than expected.
"Mr. Paris!" Janeway snapped.
"Warp drives engaged," Paris said, as the deck again suddenly tilted beneath their feet. Janeway's grip tightened on the deck rail as Chakotay grabbed the chair behind him. On the viewscreen the dark circle began to move, but it did not go way.
"It's still no good, Captain," Lieutenant Paris said, glancing frantically over his shoulder. "We just aren't pulling away."
"Engineering, we need more power!" Janeway demanded.
"You've got everything we have," Torres came back, her voice nearly lost in the background roar of the engine room.
Janeway turned to her officers. "Tuvok, Kim, divert everything to the engines, including life-support, do it now!"
In an instant the bridge went nearly dark, lit only by the dim glow of red emergency lighting. The ship pitched and shook again as yet another surge made itself felt. Janeway watched intently as the stars off