Planet X - Michael Jan Friedman [57]
He gave Storm a moment to object to the idea. She didn’t. In fact, she seemed pleased.
“I’ll want to lead a team myself,” said the first officer.
“I expected no less,” Picard admitted. “See to it that each team targets a different tactical system. When I see the Connharakt’s shields drop, I will give the order to transport.”
Riker nodded, then headed for the turbolift with Data in his wake. With a glance at the captain, Storm went with them.
Picard almost asked her to stay behind, to continue as his advisor with regard to her compatriots. But then, as perhaps the most powerful being in their midst, she would be infinitely more useful as a member of one of the boarding parties.
As the first officer passed the tactical station, he said, “You’re with me, Mr. Sovar.”
The Xhaldian hesitated only long enough for another officer to take his post. Then he joined Riker, Data, and Storm as they entered the lift.
“Captain,” said Nightcrawler, still speaking over the ship’s intercom, “if this is going to work, I’ll need a moment to familiarize myself with the Connharakt’s layout.”
Again, the bridge staggered under the weight of a Draa’kon barrage. Picard glanced at the new tactical officer.
“Additional breaches on decks thirty-one through thirty-three,” the man told him.
The Enterprise couldn’t take much more of this, the captain thought. He looked to the intercom grid again.
“Commander La Forge will show you our sensor data,” he told Nightcrawler. “Will that be enough?”
The mutant grunted. “It will have to be, nicht wahr.”
Chapter Twenty-one
DATA ENTERED ENGINEERING with a phaser in each hand. He found Nightcrawler and Geordi bent over the free-standing situations monitor.
Halfway there, the deck pitched beneath the android, spilling him into a bulkhead. In fact, everyone in engineering was thrown off their feet.
No doubt, the Draa’kon have breached the hull again, Data thought. He could smell the smoky odor of distant circuitry fires. It gave them all the more reason to hurry.
“Data,” said Nightcrawler, helping Geordi to his feet, “I’m as ready as I will ever be.”
“Good,” said the android, handing the mutant his phaser. “I, too, have assimilated all our information on Draa’kon ship design. Therefore, even if we do not materialize in the immediate vicinity of the shield generators, I am confident I will be able to find them.”
Nightcrawler patted him on the back. “I like an optimist.”
Data smiled. “Thank you.”
“Commander La Forge,” came the captain’s voice over the intercom. “How much longer need we wait?”
Geordi looked at Nightcrawler, then at the android. “We’re ready when you are, sir.”
“Excellent,” said Picard. “Stand by. We are attempting a maneuver which will allow us to match the Connharakt’s course and speed.”
Data didn’t know what that maneuver might be, but he was certain it entailed a great deal of risk. As Storm had said, Nightcrawler’s maximum range was only a couple of miles. At that distance, a direct hit would turn the ship into a blazing scattering of debris.
“Ten seconds,” the captain warned them.
Their timing would have to be excruciatingly precise, the android reflected. The slightest miscalculation …
“Nine,” said Picard. “Eight. Seven. Six.”
The android took up a position next to the mutant, who put his hand on Data’s shoulder.
“Five. Four. Three,” the captain continued.
Nightcrawler cleared his throat. “Here goes nothing.”
Data sincerely hoped it was a joke.
“Two,” said Picard. “One …”
There was no sensation attached to the experience of teleporting alongside the mutant. At least, none that the android could discern.
He simply found himself in a wide, high-ceilinged corridor he had never seen before, made of a dark metal he couldn’t identify. The place was illuminated with lurid, red lighting strips.
And there was a smell of sulfur, of course—Nightcrawler’s trademark, apparently.
Data turned to the mutant just in time to see his eyes roll back in his head, his powers having been taxed to their very limits. As Nightcrawler’s knees buckled, the android