Have Tech, Will Travel (SCE Books 1-4) - Keith R. A. DeCandido_. [et al.] [122]
“Well, this was certainly a bright idea.”
“The rift is sucking them back inside?” Duffy spoke to no one in particular. The question was unnecessary, though, as everyone on the da Vinci ’s bridge could easily see the Defiant ’s regression into interphase.
The numbing sight almost made Duffy not notice that there was still a Tholian ship nearby, and that it was at this very moment turning itself toward the da Vinci . As Corsi had predicted, things were about to go completely to hell.
“We’re not shooting first,” he said, willing to telegraph his strategies to the bridge crew in the hope that they might better understand his command decisions. Turning his attention to Abramowitz at the communications station, he said, “Carol, open a channel and find—”
“Incoming fire!”
Wong’s warning drowned out the rest of Duffy’s order as the ensign frantically punched commands into his console in an attempt to move the ship out of the line of fire. On the screen, the hellish red burst of energy grew until it washed over the entire image.
The next instant the da Vinci pitched upward, throwing Duffy nearly out of his command chair and catching Wong completely off his guard. The ensign’s head slammed into his console with a sickening sound that Duffy heard even over the klaxons and warning signals erupting across the bridge. He rushed forward, catching Wong’s slumping body before it dropped to the deck.
Even as he eased the ensign to the floor, though, it struck Duffy that no orders were being given to respond to the attack.
That’s because you’re not giving them . The realization jerked him back to his first priority.
“Corsi, take the helm. McAllan, fire phasers. And a torpedo.” He paused. “Hell, two torpedoes.” Frustration and confusion enveloped every word that left Duffy’s mouth. “And turn off those damned alarms!”
As McAllan tapped out the necessary commands, Duffy continued tending to Wong. He tapped his combadge. “Bridge to sickbay. Copper? Wetzel? One of you, up here now!”
From the tactical station, McAllan called out, “Looks like we got them, Commander.”
Duffy turned to the viewer in time to see the Tholian ship listing to its portside, shunted from the offensive position it had held only seconds before. He could see an ugly black puncture wound on the side of the vessel’s hull, evidence of the damage the da Vinci ’s barrage had caused.
“Nice shooting, Mr. McAllan,” he said. “Carol, open a channel. I want to know what . . .”
The words died in his throat as, on the viewscreen, energy glowed from the stern of the Tholian ship. Reorienting itself in a sluggish maneuver, the vessel pivoted on its axis and pulled away from the da Vinci , moving quickly out of the viewscreen’s coverage.
“They’re moving off,” Corsi said from the helm. She turned to look at Duffy, her eyes asking the obvious.
“We’re not chasing them,” he said simply.
Though he noticed the mild slump in her shoulders, Corsi’s tone was all business. “They’ll be back, you know, and they’ll bring reinforcements. Tholians don’t like getting their butts kicked.”
“It’s worse than that,” Abramowitz added as she stepped down to assist Duffy with Wong. “They’ll view the attack on them as an act of aggression. We may have just caused an interstellar incident.”
“Well, that’ll certainly make Captain Gold’s day,” Duffy said as he rose to his feet. The attempt at humor fell flat, he knew, almost flinching at how weak the words sounded even as they left his mouth. Getting into a political hotbed with the Tholians was no laughing matter, and he imagined how the Federation Diplomatic Corps would blow its collective stack once word of the altercation got back to them.
No time for that now. Get it together, Duff.
“Our first priority is to get the Defiant out,” he said. “Fabian, reestablish the tractor be—”
His voice fell off as he focused on the main viewer.
The Defiant , and the rift, were gone.
To be continued in
Star Trek ®: S.C.E.
Book Two
Miracle Workers
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