Mosaic - Jeri Taylor [53]
"Acknowledged. Let me know the minute you've got warp capability."
"Aye, Captain."
Chakotay was still studying his console, his forehead knotted in concentration. "There's no doubt about it. They're heading right for us." And as if in violent confirmation, a weapons blast hit Voyager's shields, jolting the bridge and everyone on it. "Those weren't plasma flares," said Paris loudly. "They've shifted to their primary disruptor weapons."
"Shields at eighty-four percent."
"Return fire." Janeway didn't like revealing their weakened weapons systems, but they couldn't continue to sit here without retaliating now that the Kazon had definitely located them.
Phaser fire arced through the nebula, illuminating the dark gases in eerie patterns, and then lancing through the Kazon ship's shields. "Direct hit," said Chakotay with satisfaction. "They felt that one." But no sooner had he spoken than Voyager took three more hits in rapid succession. Smoke from an explosion somewhere in one of the conduits began to seep onto the bridge.
"Shields at seventy-one percent."
"Return fire. Bridge to Engineering. What's happening with warp drive?"
"Almost there, Captain," came Torres' reply.
"I need it now, Lieutenant."
"Understood." In Engineering, Torres was working frantically, beads of perspiration forming on her ridged Klingon brow. She had been realigning the dilithiumcrystal articulation frame, desperately trying to restore warp power, and she was almost there. Only the antimatter injectors remained to be reinitialized. Lieutenant Carey was at her side, calculating parameters for the warp core ignition sequence, and with luck, they'd have warp capa- bility in seconds.
"Engineering?" Janeway's voice displayed no emotion, but the quick repetition of her request indicated their desperate plight. A huge jolt rocked the ship, and Carey went flying across the room. "I'm okay," he called quickly, "don't stop working."
Torres hit the final commands for reinitialization, and was rewarded with the familiar sound of the warp core humming to life. "Tomes to bridge. We're on-line."
"Understood, Engineering. Good work."
On the bridge, Janeway looked toward Paris. "I want to go to warp from within this nebula, Lieutenant. What's your assessment of the repercussions?"
Tom Paris hesitated only a second. "It's always dicey to go to warp from a full stop, but I'll increase power to the inertial dampeners; we might get bounced around, but I think we can do it."
"And the effect on the nebula's gases?"
"That's another matter. There are volatile elements in here, and the sudden energy charge of our warp engines could ignite them. I'd say it's unpredictable."
Janeway hesitated only briefly. "We have to try. Let's do it. "Yes, ma'am." Paris deftly fingered controls and Voyager shot into warp; inertial dampeners held but the crew was bounced around like rag dolls for nearly twenty seconds. Then things smoothed out. "Damage report." Janeway felt like she'd just gotten off a bucking horse, and there was a ringing in her ears. Chakotay was already studying his console.
"No damage to the ship... minor casualties on deck four. Nothing serious."
"Should I set a course, Captain?" Paris was ready, hands poised over controls.
"Fly a random evasive pattern. Let's try to buy some time until we see if that ship intends to pursue."
"Aye, Captain." And once more a troubled quiet fell on the bridge as Janeway risked the game she enjoyed least: playing for time.
Trakis the physician was aware of two sets of eyes: Nimmet's, impatient and glowering, and the captive's, which were just beginning to flutter open. It was regaining consciousness.
The last time that had happened the captive had responded by ejecting a blast of dark fluid from a proboscis on its underbelly; Trakis had just avoided being sprayed by the noxious stuff, and, as he quickly realized, a lucky thing for him. As expected, the secretion was highly corrosive, and began to etch patterns into whatever