Ghost of a Chance - Mark Garland [81]
"Captain, why don't you just beam up as many Drenarians as you can, then leave before it's too late?" Neelix suggested.
"Yes," Kes agreed. "You could save dozens that way."
"I've thought of that," Janeway said, "and we may be left with no other choice, but I'm reluctant to let it come to that. And we have another consideration: if we tried to flee on the impulse engines we'd be sitting ducks. We would have to reconfigure the warp drive first. I'm not sure we have the time, and I am sure that would mean abandoning any hope of lunar realignment. And I don't know of any other way to stop the planet's destruction."
"If we didn't have a fleet of cruisers closing in on us, you could keep trying to move those moons," Neelix said. "But we do, Captain. There isn't anything you can do about that."
"I have to agree," Chakotay said thoughtfully. "We can't fight them all off with just a few torpedoes."
"Or with the shields already half depleted," Torres added. "We'd be no match for so many ships even under ideal conditions."
Janeway felt her uncertainty turn into something firm and determined in her gut. If she let Voyager be destroyed, she would be helping no one, but the idea of running away, of letting so many perish...
A flicker of an idea tickled the back of her mind. She looked up, trying to think clearly, trailing after her thoughts so as not to lose them. "Mr. Neelix, what was it you just said, about being responsible for protecting these people?" Janeway stepped down and walked slowly across the bridge to the captain's chair.
Then she turned, still sorting things out, beginning to get somewhere.
Chakotay looked at her. "What is it, Captain?"
"Whose responsibility is it to protect the Drenarians?" she asked. "I mean, if we can't protect them, who can?"
"No one," Neelix said.
"I guess it would be whoever built the planetary defense system," Paris offered.
"Yes," Janeway said, looking at him, "but whoever that was is gone now.
The defensive system, however, is still here. And that must be the key."
"It would seem the system is faltering, Captain," Tuvok said.
"And we do not know enough about it to address that particular problem in the time remaining."
"But that's just it, Tuvok," Janeway said, growing more excited, seeing the solution more clearly as she turned and paced just behind Paris's back. "I think I may know what's wrong, thanks to something I saw in a dream." She stopped and faced Chakotay.
"Something the ghosts showed me."
"Captain," Neelix said, "what Tuvok said, about there not being enough time, well--" "And if I'm right, I can think of only one way to fix it." She spun half about once more. "Lieutenant Torres."
"Yes, Captain."
"I'll need a shielded antimatter container fitted with a detonator. I want it charged and ready for transport as soon as possible. And two antigravity floaters. How soon can you supply them?"
B'Elanna shrugged. "In about five minutes, Captain."
"Good. Meet me in the transporter room in six minutes." She paused again, still finishing the idea in her mind. "Mr. Tuvok, have the transporter room get a fix on that underground power source everyone is so interested in. There is a plateau down there, at the western end, I think. Have them locate it. I want to get as close to ground zero as possible."
"What do you plan to do, Captain?" Paris asked, staring at her.
"Blowing yourself up won't help." His expression was one of intense concern.
"I'm going to try to recharge that defense system's batteries.
I'm not sure it will work, but I know I have to try, and I think we have just enough time."
"You'll need someone to go with you," Paris volunteered, rising out of his chair.
"No, I'll go," Chakotay said. "If anything goes wrong, Paris can get the ship to safety as quick as anyone." He looked hard at Janeway. "I stayed behind the last time. This time I'm going."
"What