Myriad Universes 02_ Echoes and Refractions - Keith R. A. DeCandido [73]
All eyes on the bridge focused upon the tranquil scene laid out before them. Time itself seemed to slow, until Thelin broke the silence.
“Mister Chekov,” Thelin said. “Program the trajectory for deployment of the Genesis torpedo near the equator, on the illuminated side of the moon.”
“Aye, sir,” he replied, intently setting himself to the task at hand, as if afraid that any hesitation might draw his attention back to the viewscreen.
“Captain Sulu,” Thelin continued. “Prepare to drop the cloak and power the weapons systems, on my mark.”
“Standing by, Admiral,” Sulu responded.
Thelin climbed down from the captain’s chair and stood behind the helm, still looking at the image of Praxis rotating slowly against a backdrop of alien stars shimmering through the cloaking field, providing a surreal, dreamlike view of the landscape before him…which, were they to be successful, would shortly be changed forever.
“Programming complete, Admiral,” Chekov announced.
It was time. “All right, everyone,” Thelin said in a firm but reassuring tone. “You all know your jobs. Let’s do this thing and go home.” He looked down at Sulu. “Now, Captain.”
Sulu punched two keys on the console and moved a slider to its opposite position. As Thelin watched, the moon on the viewer before him suddenly focused into sharp relief. The lights dotting the breadth of the night side, providing illumination for the hundreds of thousands of settlements on the surface, beamed out at him in vivid clarity.
Half a million people-some living underground, or within protective forcefields that could minimize the Genesis effect. We can’t possibly know what this will do to them, David had said.
“Awaiting orders to deploy, sir,” Chekov said.
Once you do this thing, the galaxy will never be the same. You’re opening Pandora’s box. You’re unleashing a power that can never be reined back in.
“Admiral?” Sulu inquired with a hint of alarm.
Thelin swallowed. His antennae stood firmly at attention. “Fire,” he calmly commanded.
With a brief flash upon the viewscreen, the projectile launched from the torpedo bay and traced a long streak across the face of the moon as the rockets in its self-contained propulsion units guided it toward the horizon as it slowly descended to the surface.
“Reengage the cloaking device,” Thelin ordered.
“Activating now,” Sulu replied. The telltale shimmer returned to the viewscreen’s display.
“Admiral,” Uhura called out from her station. “I have confirmation that our presence in orbit has been discovered. The Qo’noS defense network is going to high alert. Stand by…” She stared off, nodding slightly as she assimilated additional incoming information. “Ground-based defenses on Praxis are tracking the torpedo, but they’re having trouble locking onto it.”
Chekov nodded. “Then the targeting scramblers we installed on the device are working!”
“Captain Sulu,” Thelin said. “Break orbit. Follow evasive pattern delta in retreat formation; we have to assume they’ll be trying to track us visually. Let’s get out of here.”
“Aye, sir,” he said. “Aft view on screen.”
The Katai began to veer away on a course perpendicular to the moon’s terminator, away from the system’s sun, and the visible half of Praxis began to shrink away into a thin, bright crescent.
“Five seconds to device detonation,” Chekov announced.
The seconds ticked away. The image of Praxis slowly reduced in size as the Katai continued on impulse power, clearing the gravity well of both the moon and the nearby planet. Somewhere on the opposite side, invisible to them, the Genesis device reached its target.
A few more seconds passed in silence, until Uhura spoke up. “Ground-based observers on Qo’noS are reporting an explosion on the surface of Praxis.”
On the screen, the dim outline of Praxis was now barely visible as the sunlit surface had waned