Ghost of a Chance - Mark Garland [21]
"But, Commander," Jonal said, despondent, "I assure you, this is--" "Not now," Chakotay said, moving past them.
"Wait, Chakotay, please," Tassay said, reaching for him. "You must let us--" "No!" Chakotay replied coldly, avoiding her hand. He vanished into the hall at a jog.
***
Kim's shout of warning came at the same instant the energy beam flashed from the Televek cruiser. The shuttle rocked, then began to spin. As the cabin lights went out, the flash and sizzle of burning systems illuminated the darkness. Then the red emergency lighting brought grim clarity to Kim's eyes once more. Janeway and Tuvok scrambled up from the deck and dragged themselves into position over part of the shuttle's main console. The spin continued. Kim felt the fear fill his chest, a tightness that threatened to steal his breath. He forced his lungs full of air several times and tried to work past the fright.
"We've lost power in the port nacelle," he reported, hauling himself up among the others, working quickly to evaluate the rush of data displayed before him.
"That is not all," Tuvok said, sounding somewhat shaken as well, a rarity in any Vulcan, and no comfort to Kim.
"We've got to pull out of this spin or we don't stand a chance," Janeway said, struggling with the controls. "Mr. Kim, see what you can do with those starboard stabilizers."
Telemetry readings glowed next to a screen displaying the shuttle's position relative to the horizon. Kim rerouted the stabilizer controls while Janeway and Tuvok regained minimal control, then began to ease the shuttle into a more shallow dive.
Momentarily the rate of descent started to slow, and the planet's surface, bathed in daylight, rotated into view.
"We might just make it, Captain," Kim said, feeling a need to say something as he realized survival was now a possibility.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," the captain said, glancing sidelong at him, as if she had known the outcome all along. She hadn't, of course. No one could have. But a part of him almost believed it so, and just when he needed that belief.
"Yes, ma'am," he said, already anticipating her next command, readying the landing thrusters.
"Helm is barely responding," Tuvok reported. "Power levels are down seventy-three percent. I believe we can still come close to our original destination, but it will not be possible to choose a proper landing sight."
"Let's just make it one we can walk away from," Janeway said, to enthusiastic nods from her shipmates.
The shuttle bucked, then rolled, then leveled slightly, only to fall abruptly again. Kim's gut floated up into his chest once more. He tried to ignore the feeling. He watched the viewscreen as the shuttle slipped through dense banks of black, ash-filled clouds. Then the ground seemed to leap up at them as they broke into the clear. A patchwork pattern of grasslands, cultivated fields, and dense forests lay below, stretching out to nearby hills and mountains in the east.
Another mountain range was visible far to the south, where great plumes of smoke rose to fill the sky.
Kim fired the thrusters, correcting manually as best he could, while the others struggled to keep the ship's nose in position.
With one final stomach-wrenching lurch, the shuttle pushed back, then settled down and hit the ground with a force that sent its three crew members sprawling.
"Everyone all right?" the captain asked as she and Tuvok picked themselves up off the deck yet again. One dim red light made the shuttle's interior vaguely visible.
Most of the instrument panels had gone dead, Kim noticed as he stood up and looked around him. He moved again to the main console, feeling a bruise on his lower ribs and another on his elbow. Then he began working, trying to determine what was off-line. "I'm okay, Captain," he said.
"I am unharmed as well, Captain," Tuvok said, "but it appears this shuttle will not fly again without considerable repairs. A separate crew will have to be sent down." He