Ghost Ship - Diane Carey [48]
The entity stepped up speed to follow, and stardrive did the same, even faster. The ship tipped as LaForge swung it around in front of the enemy’s electrical body. As they passed it they saw that it was indeed more flat than round, a gigantic field of computer fakery, yet somehow completely animated, somehow walking around in space without the screen it was supposed to be displayed on. Its electrokinetic bands sparked and erupted as the stardrive section plowed past it and swished off in the other direction.
Picard came up between Data and LaForge. “What the devil! Nothing?”
“No response,” LaForge said, and somehow he was disappointed.
“Worf!”
“No explanation, sir,” Worf boomed. “It’s unrelenting on the saucer.”
Data looked up and said, “Perhaps it is something more than an insect, Captain.” And as he said it, he looked across the small bridge at Deanna Troi, who stood now beside Tasha, ominously silent, leaving herself open to assault by mind weapon.
“Shark,” Riker muttered.
“Number One?”
Riker turned to the captain. “It’s a shark focusing on one fish in a school. It ignores tastier morsels for the one it focuses on.”
“Sir.” Troi spoke up suddenly. Her voice was a shock on the compact bridge. “We must draw it off. The saucer-“
“Won’t stand the attack, I know, Counselor, I know. Shields to full power. Engineering, this is the captain. Have we got warp speed?”
“MacDougal, sir, and barely. I can give you up to warp three.”
“Do so! And I want an emergency antimatter dump on my mark-“
Riker spun around. “Sir?”
“We’re going to make damned sure it can’t ignore us again. We’re going to crash the gate, and right now. That thing is not going to-“
“Sir!” Yar choked. “It’s closing on the saucer! Burst of speed at point-seven-five-“
“Set course dead center on it, warp three and engage!”
Both LaForge and Data actually cocked their heads toward each other as though to see if they’d both heard the same thing, and that the captain saw it.
“I said engage!” he thundered. Then his voice lowered to a whisper, like a gathering volcano. “We’re going right through that pretty bastard.”
Chapter Seven
PICARD STOOD HIS battle bridge as though it were a chariot. In his hands he held the reins of chargers, in his eyes the image of the enemy.
Even to Riker, who himself was a tree trunk of a man, Picard suddenly seemed larger than life. Every ship had its no-win scenario; this was theirs. Despite the primitive programming of that thing out there, it was very efficient and it had them cold. They were going to have to deal with it; there was no getting away.
It filled the screen now, leaving no black edges, a wall of fulmination and color, just the kind of thing a mother tells her children never to touch, never even to think of touching. The stardrive section aimed its great cobra’s head for that wall and jammed forward at all the speed she could muster. And even warp three-warp anything-was impressive and terrifying enough for anyone in his right mind.
In the last few seconds, Riker closed his eyes. He had to, to accept the fact that he was about to die to save the others. That was his unspoken duty, he knew; it was why the ship separated at all-when push came to shove, the stardrive section was expendable. They were supposed to sacrifice themselves, to step in front of the bullet. This was the whole idea.
His thick body tightened. He’d tasted the metallic flavor of the thing’s attack before and now—
Enterprise crashed into the electrical wall at dead center, and erupted into pyrotechnics with a deafening crack. Voltage snapped throughout the ship, accosting every panel, every living body, a terrible concussion after concussion. Spasms racked through, each one accompanied by a blitz of senseless lights. Riker heard Deanna shriek as it focused on her, but he couldn’t even turn around, couldn’t even look.
Crack … CRAAAAAACK …
And the ship burst out the other side-a shaken vessel, filled with shaken people, sucking a tail of spectral fire after it.
“LaForge, veer into the asteroids! Engineering, this is Picard-