Ring Around the Sky - Allyn Gibson [5]
“How big a hole in the Ring did the Jem’Hadar make?” asked Stevens. “The damage you showed looked rather extensive.”
Tev grunted. “And rather complete. The kinetic energy from the impact, combined with the matter annihilation from the collapse of the ship’s antimatter containment fields, was sufficient to destroy the Ring’s structure over a four-hundred kilometer section.”
“Then what are the Kharzh’ullans expecting us to do?”
Before Tev could answer Stevens’s question, Gomez said, “The Kharzh’ullan government approached the Federation Council asking for assistance in rebuilding and repairing the Ring. The Council passed the request along to Starfleet, and they assigned the da Vinci to make a survey of the damage done to the Ring and the elevator, evaluate any repairs the Kharzh’ullans might have made, and then provide whatever assistance we can.”
Stevens looked to Gomez. “The last time I checked we didn’t have the personnel or the hardware aboard to essentially build a space habitat four hundred kilometers long.” He paused. “No offense meant, Commander, and I know we’d do fine work on a job like this, but this doesn’t sound at all like our sort of mission.”
Gomez nodded. “I would agree with you, Fabian, if that’s what the Kharzh’ullans wanted from us. There are any number of private contractors and engineering firms that would line up for work on this scale, if only for the notoriety of being the ones that repaired the Ring. I have no doubt that once we’ve made our report, Interworld or another of the habitat builders will descend on the Kharzh’ullan system looking for the work.” She stood, crossed to the viewscreen, and tapped the computer terminal. The image zoomed to focus on one of the elevator shafts. While most of the shaft showed as blue against a black background of deep space, a portion showed as red. Gomez pointed this out. “As Commander Tev mentioned, one of the elevator shafts took phaser damage during the Jem’Hadar attack. The Kharzh’ullans haven’t repaired the damage, either because they don’t know how or they don’t have the resources. If the elevator shaft isn’t repaired, then there’s the chance the elevator might collapse onto the planet’s surface.”
“What would that do to the Ring?” asked Lense.
Wordlessly, Tev called up another simulation on the viewscreen. The elevator shaft toppled, and as it fell, it pulled the Ring attached to its terminus down with it. Halfway to the surface the Ring structure snapped, but the elevator to the west had already begun to fall. Like dominoes, the elevators fell to the ground, and large sections of the Ring tumbled out of orbit and crashed into the surface. When the collapse was finished, the time-index counter read twelve hours. No elevator stood standing, and the planet’s equatorial region showed the ravage of the impacts from orbit.
“We think,” said Gomez, “that if one elevator fell, the entire system would as well. Each part supports the others. Much, if not all, of the debris would impact with the surface. It would be like asteroid strikes all the way around Kharzh’ulla’s equator.”
Tev continued: “Sixty percent of the planet’s population resides within five hundred kilometers of the equator. Another fifteen percent lives in coastal areas near the base of the ocean-based elevators. These areas would be ravaged by the falling debris, either from direct strikes or from tsunamis caused by the fall of the elevator into the ocean.” He paused for dramatic impact. “Kharzh’ullan civilization would not survive.”
“What about evacuation?” asked Lense. “If we can’t repair the elevator, then there’s always the chance that it would fall.”
“It’s an option,” said Gold. “If we have to take it, Federation relief agencies will step in and handle the matter. But that’s the final option, not the first.”
Carol Abramowitz, the da Vinci’s cultural specialist, cleared her throat. “Tev, you said Kharzh’ulla is a Tellarite colony. I wouldn’t think a colony would be capable of building a space