Immortal Coil - Jeffrey Lang [65]
Troi, too, was searching her ship’s systems for the last remnants of power, though she did not yet know what she would do with whatever she found. Deanna was beginning to feel the itch to slash at them with one good phaser strike, though she knew it might end up being the last thing she ever did.
Another hit.
The Enterprise shuddered, heaved and the bridge went dark. She felt her feet leave the deck plates and for a second Troi thought this might be the one. She tensed and waited for either fire or ice, but, no, gravity reasserted itself and the tactical console came back online. “That one got past the shields, Captain. Decks ten and twelve are open to space. The force fields failed …” And then she realized she was almost shouting. Collecting her reserves, Troi forced herself to speak calmly. “The force fields failed, but they’ve come back online.”
Picard, once again seated in the command chair, was grim and haggard. The left side of his neck and face had been badly burned when the monitor in his command chair had blown out, but he did not seem to notice the blistered skin. “Fatalities?” he asked.
Troi checked the internal sensors. “Twenty-nine, Captain,” she said as softly as she could.
Though his face did not show it, Troi knew her words had hacked away a slice of Picard’s soul. He was the captain and people in his command had just died. Something deep inside him writhed in agony, but he said only, “Enemy position?”
“I can’t get an exact fix, but they’re off the port bow.” She studied the scant readings the damaged sensors were providing. “They’re not moving. We may have damaged them worse than we thought.”
“Perhaps,” Picard said. “Or they might be waiting for something: a response from the surface. That might explain what happened to the away team.”
“Sir,” Troi said suddenly. “Commander Riker is signaling.”
“On audio.”
“Riker to Enterprise. Riker to Enterprise.”
Picard leapt to his feet and snapped, “Number One, report.”
“Have to keep this short, Captain,” Riker said. “I’m using a lot of power to punch through the interference.” He briefly explained what had happened after they beamed to Vaslovik’s undersea lab, then outlined his plan. Troi felt the blood drain from her face. It wasn’t much of a plan.
“But you’re not sure you can get through their shields?” Picard asked.
“Not positive,” Riker admitted. “We found a weak spot under the stern, but it’ll be touch and go. I was hoping you might be able to tag them with a phaser burst just before I went in.”
Picard looked at Troi, who nodded. Picard nodded. “One shot, Will.”
“Understood, Captain. Dare I ask how the transporters are holding up?”
Troi knew that Will would do what he had planned whether the transporters were functioning or not, but Reg might not, so she said, as confidently as she could manage, “Don’t worry, Commander. We have a lock on you.”
“Great. I’d like someone waiting with a cup of coffee when I get back.”
Picard grinned. “I’ll bring it myself, Number One. Good hunting.”
“See you all in a few minutes,” Riker replied, then signed off.
Picard hailed engineering. “Mr. La Forge, make sure you still have that burst of impulse power available. The cavalry is on the way.”
Riker hit the throttle again. “Hold on,” he said unnecessarily. Reg was holding onto everything he could. The little pod’s excellent sensors had done their job and found a weak spot in the enemy’s shields. Now all they had to do was stay alive long enough to exploit the discovery. He didn’t dare approach too closely until the Enterprise was in position; there was no telling how sensitive the attacker’s sensors were or how they might react to him despite the fact that the pod would appear about as big as a flea would to a Barzan mastodon.
But this flea has a nasty bite, he thought, feeding extra power to the pod