Lost Era 05_ Deny thy Father - Jeff Mariotte [139]
Kyle nodded. He could follow this, all right, but he wanted Owen to get to the real point.
“Those grids on the display show each planet’s claimed sphere of influence. As you can see, there’s an overlap. That’s a big part of the problem, right there-they both want to control that section of space, which is a main shipping lane for their system. It’s not the whole problem, but it’s kind of symptomatic of the greater issues. They both claim that space, and neither will relinquish that claim. The red dot in the middle of the disputed territory? That’s the Pegasus.”
“What’s it doing there?” Kyle asked. As he did, the door opened again and more Starfleet officers filed in. Kyle recognized Vice Admiral Horace Bonner and Admiral J. P. Hanson, but none of the others, a mix of captains and some of their staff people.
“Captain Pressman was responding to reports that a pirate-one that has been preying on Federation ships, not too far from Omistol and Ven-had taken refuge in the disputed zone. He went in intending only to investigate the report and capture the pirate vessel if it was, in fact, inside there, and to leave immediately if it wasn’t.”
“And was it?”
“The Pegasus was unable to locate the pirate. What it located instead was trouble.”
“Why?”
“Because the fleets of both Omistol and Ven were moving toward one another, in force. Omistol’s ships were cloaked. They were on the Pegasus before Captain Pressman knew they were coming.”
“Cowardly bastards,” Kyle growled. “I hate cloaking.”
“So does every civilized people,” Vice Admiral Bonner put in, joining the conversation. “Welcome back to the fold, Mr. Riker.”
“Thank you, Vice Admiral,” Kyle said. They shook hands. “It’s nice to be back, I think.”
“As you can see, we’ve brought you back at the best possible time. For us. Maybe the worst for you, I’m afraid.”
“What do you mean?” Kyle asked.
Bonner looked a little surprised. “You haven’t told him, Owen?”
“I’ve been trying to fill him in on the whole picture,” Owen Paris said. “Not just the details.”
“If the details are important,” Kyle said, “then I’d like to know them as well.”
“Very well, Kyle,” Owen relented. He looked like he was sorry to have to say it. “One of the bridge officers on board the Pegasus is your son, Will.”
Chapter 36
Will had tried every trick Starfleet Academy had taught him, and a few new ones he’d made up on the spot, trying to break the grip of the graviton beam that held them in place. The Omistolian warship was gigantic, half again the size of the Oberth-class Pegasus, and its tractor beam powerful beyond even the experience of Captain Pressman. Beads of sweat appeared on Will’s upper lip and at his temples, not from the heat but from the exertion and concentration he applied to the problem. And still nothing worked.
The worst part was, they had come here for nothing-chasing a shadow, a ship that wasn’t here in the first place. Captain Pressman had warned them of that possibility before they’d entered the system. But they had all agreed that it would be worth the risk if they could find Heaven’s Blade, the pirate vessel that had been making this region decidedly unsafe for Federation freighters. The Blade hadn’t been here at all, though. If by chance it had passed this way, it hadn’t stayed long.
The word that it might be here had come in from Starfleet Command shortly after they’d transferred Endyk Plure to the ship that would carry him to Earth. After a brief conference with his officers, during which the phrase “suicide mission” had come up a few times too often for Will’s liking, Pressman had given the orders to move into the war zone between Ven and Omistol. And so they had. They had still been in the disputed zone, looking for the elusive Heaven’s Blade, when the Omistolians had decloaked. There had been a brief verbal exchange between Captain Pressman and the leader of the Omistolian force, but no