Pantheon - Michael Jan Friedman [217]
Picard took another look at the depot and its fleet of defenders. Was his friend right? Were they out of their league? Or would their secret weapon be enough to pull off a victory?
There was only one way to find out.
“All hands to battle stations,” he said.
All over the ship, he knew, crewmen were rushing to their predetermined posts. He remembered what it was like to respond to such an order, to know that a battle was imminent.
On the bridge, it was a different experience entirely. It was at once headier and more daunting. After all, he wasn’t just responsible for one isolated job. He was responsible for all of them.
“Strafing run?” Ben Zoma suggested.
The second officer shook his head. He had already considered the idea and rejected it. “I would rather be in their midst, where they will have to worry about hitting each other with their vidrion bursts.”
Just as the second officer expressed that sentiment, he saw two more of the enemy ships move out to meet him. Apparently, the choice of approach had been taken out of their hands.
“Phaser range?” he asked Vigo.
“In a few seconds, sir,” the weapons officer told him.
“Target the foremost vessel,” said Picard.
“Targeting,” Vigo responded.
“Range,” Gerda announced.
The commander eyed the viewscreen. “Fire!”
The Nuyyad tried to twist out of the way. But the Stargazer’s phaser beams punched through the vessel’s shields, shearing off its nacelles on one side and cutting a deep furrow on the other.
A moment later, the enemy ship met its demise in a ball of yellow-white flame—a blast so prodigious that it licked at the extremities of the victim’s sister vessels.
“Evasive maneuvers!” Picard called out. “Pattern Gamma!”
Accelerating, the Stargazer split the difference between the Nuyyad ships and blew right through the remnants of the vessel she had destroyed. The enemy must have been surprised, because it didn’t even get off a volley.
“Pattern Alpha!” the second officer demanded. “I want them both in our sights again!”
Idun muscled the ship hard to port until the Nuyyad appeared on the viewscreen. Then she bore down on them.
“Target the starboard vessel and fire!” said Picard.
At close range, their enhanced phasers were even more effective. The beams rammed through one side of the Nuyyad ship and came out the other. And in the process, they started a series of savage explosions that gradually tore the vessel to pieces.
The third vessel raked them with a vidrion barrage, causing the Stargazer to jerk to port. But again, their shields kept them from serious harm. Then it was the Federation ship’s turn again.
“Target and fire!” Picard told his weapons officer.
Once more, Vigo’s aim was impeccable. Their phasers speared the Nuyyad vessel through its heart, causing it to tremble and writhe with plasma eruptions until it was claimed by a massive conflagration.
For the second time that day, the second officer found himself the winning combatant. But he wasn’t done yet—not while the supply depot still lay ahead of them.
“Resume course?” asked Idun.
Picard nodded. “And give me a visual of the installation.”
Instantly, an image of the depot leaped to the viewscreen. Up close, the thing was even more gigantic, even more daunting than before. It dwarfed its lone remaining defender.
The second officer focused himself on the task ahead. He hadn’t forgotten that he chose this course over the objections of others. If it failed, he would have only himself to blame.
That is, if he was still in a position to blame anyone at all.
Abruptly, the last of the Nuyyad ships came after them. No doubt, its commanding officer knew the other vessels had failed miserably, and his was likely to do the same. But it didn’t stop him.
“Phaser range,” said Vigo.
Picard regarded the enemy. “Target and fire!”
This time, the enemy veered at just the right moment and eluded the Stargazer’s first volley. But her second assault nailed the Nuyyad ship.