Pantheon - Michael Jan Friedman [198]
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Less than seventeen hours after Picard removed the Stargazer from Magnia’s sensor range, he heard Gerda Asmund announce the approach of two vessels she had spotted on her monitor.
The second officer had been leaning over Vigo’s weapons panel, supervising some last-minute diagnostics. Moving to a position just in front of the captain’s center seat, he gazed at the viewscreen.
“Can you give me a visual?” he asked.
Gerda worked for a moment. Then the screen filled with the sight of not one Nuyyad vessel but two, both of them as big and powerful-looking as the ones Picard had seen earlier. Obviously, the enemy believed that would be more than enough to put down the Stargazer.
We will have to show them the error of their ways, thought the second officer. “Red alert,” he said. “All hands to battle stations. Raise shields and power up phasers.”
“Raising shields,” Gerda confirmed.
“Diverting power to phasers,” said Vigo.
“Their speed?” asked Picard.
“Full impulse,” Idun reported.
This was it, the second officer told himself, glaring at the enemy. This was the test of all their hard work. They would either turn the Nuyyad back or be destroyed in the attempt.
“Any sign that they see us?” he asked his navigator.
“None, sir,” said Gerda, her hands darting over her control panel. “They’re heading straight for the colony.”
As we expected, thought Picard. But he couldn’t help thinking of Simenon, whom he had left to help defend Magnia.
He hoped that he and the engineer would both be around to congratulate each other when the battle was over.
“Here they come,” said Simenon, tracking the two yellow blips on his black sensor screen.
Brentano, who was seated to the engineer’s left, cast a thought: Shields are at full strength.
Phasers powered and ready, replied Hilton-Smith, the blond woman to Simenon’s right.
“Target phasers,” intoned Shield Williamson, who had taken up a position behind the Gnalish.
Targeting, Hilton-Smith responded.
Range in thirty seconds, Brentano informed them.
On Simenon’s screen, one of the yellow blips unleashed a series of green energy bursts. A moment later, the other blip followed suit. Apparently, the engineer reflected, the Nuyyad’s weapons range was a little greater than that of the colonists.
Direct hits, said Brentano. But no damage to report. Shields are holding at eighty-six percent.
Range in fifteen seconds, thought Hilton-Smith.
Simenon watched the blips get closer. Again, they fired their vidrion cannons, and this time he thought he could feel a little tremor in the floor beneath him.
Shields down to seventy-two percent, Brentano told them.
Range in five seconds, Hilton-Smith reported, her eyes reflecting the light from her screen. Four. Three. Two…
“Fire!” Williamson commanded, his voice ripping through the chamber.
On Simenon’s monitor, a half dozen red phaser beams reached out and pummeled the enemy vessels. Inwardly, the Gnalish cheered. After all, he had personally helped increase the force of those beams.
“Their shields are taking a beating,” observed Brentano, pure excitement in his voice.
Of course, none of them expected to win this battle from the ground. If the Magnians were going to prevail, their allies in the heavens would have to take the lead.
Just as the engineer thought that, he saw a third blip enter the picture. The Stargazer has arrived, he announced silently, but not without a certain amount of pride.
Picard eyed the bright, diamond-shaped ships on his viewscreen. “Fire again!” he thundered.
A second time, the Stargazer’s phasers stabbed at the enemy vessels, wreaking havoc with their shields. What’s more, the Magnians’ sensor enhancements allowed each beam to find its precise target.
Finally, the Nuyyad must have realized that something new had been added to the mix. Both ships peeled away, resorting to evasive maneuvers.
But Picard knew he had the enemy off-balance. The last thing he wanted to do was give them time to regroup.
“Stay on them,” he told Idun