Mosaic - Jeri Taylor [115]
"It's over, Captain," he rasped. "Once they attach, they don't let go. We're all dead."
Paris glanced up at her, as though waiting for orders. But what orders could she give? If what Trakis said was true, it didn't matter if they retreated or not.
On the other hand, if they no longer perceived Voyager as a threat to the planet, there was the possibility they would lose interest. "Captain, the shields are degrading pretty rapidly," said Chakotay. "Down to sixty-three percent and falling."
Janeway acted. "Mr. Paris, abort landing sequence. Set a course away from the planet."
"Aye, Captain. Standing down blue alert."
Now they reversed course, and swam with the Tokath, rising swiftly through the mesosphere and ionosphere, and soon breaking orbital velocity. They had a brief glimpse of the Kazon ship-or rather, the shape of the Kazon ship- covered with the writhing hard-shelled bodies of the Tokath. It reminded Janeway of a visit to Georgia she'd made as a child, where she saw an entire forest covered in a vine called kudzu. She could see only the shapes of trees underneath the all-encompassing vine, which had blanketed every surface in its path.
The Kazon ship was no longer firing weapons, and was listing randomly, apparently powerless. Voyager streamed past it, and finally broke free of the swarm of Tokath, which was clustered between the planet and the Kazon ship. They watched intently to see if any of the creatures followed them. After a few moments, Paris ventured, "it doesn't look like any more are coming after us, Captain."
"But the ones on our shields aren't letting go," added Chakotay. "Shields now down to forty-seven percent."
"Reroute power from the weapons and propulsions systems to reinforce the shields."
"Yes, ma'am," responded Rollins crisply. But in a few moments Chakotay reported that the move hadn't helped much. "Shields still degrading. Now at forty-one percent... thirty-eight..."
"Captain, at this rate they'll penetrate the hull in another eight minutes."
Janeway's mind raced. What could she use to pry these sticky creatures off her shields? They were stuck there like wood ticks, and soon they'd be working on the hull.
Wood ticks... the image resonated in her mind. Getting rid of wood ticks...
She put a hand on Paris's shoulder. "Lieutenant, set a course for the primary star of this system. We're going to burn those things off our shields."
Paris grinned and immediately went into action. Trakis looked over at her, and she thought she detected a faint smile from him, as well. "You're remarkably courageous, Captain," he conceded. "I admire that in you-even if it accomplishes nothing."
"We'll see," Janeway snapped, tired of this Trabe physician and his negativity. But then the viewscreen began to emanate a golden glow, and all eyes moved toward it.
The fiery disk of the yellow star loomed ahead of them, somewhat obscured by the bodies of the Tokath, growing larger as Voyager approached. "Distance fifty thousand kilometers," announced Paris. "Hull temperature rising, now at two thousand degrees Celsius. Radiation levels at twenty rads per minute," chimed in Rollins. Chakotay moved next to Janeway. "Shields are down to twenty-six percent. We won't be able to get much closer."
"Maybe we won't have to. It's hotter for them than it is for us."
The ship raced still closer to the star, and Janeway realized they could feel a temperature difference already. Their degraded shields just weren't protecting them from the massive heat generated by the star-and yet the Tokath showed no signs of distress, no indication that they were going to let loose of their death hold on the ship.
"Hull temperature at twelve thousand degrees and climbing. Radiation at forty rads per minute."
"Distance, ten thousand kilometers."
"Hold us here, Mr. Paris," said Janeway. It was definitely getting hot on the bridge. She could feel the closeness of the