Seven of Nine - Christie Golden [37]
They were sitting ducks.
She set her jaw and willed away the fear for her crew's safety. "Keep firing. Hammer them, Tuvok.
Don't let up. We've got nothing to lose now. As for the Imperial vessels, don't fire at them unless fired upon.
I'm still not sure how deeply they're involved in this."
"Aye, Captain."
The Vulcan security officer was as good as his word.
Voyager became the attacker now, firing an almost steady stream of phasers. It looked as if Janeway's plan was working. The small black Ku ships ceased their own attack momentarily, darting away to avoid the Federation vessel's aggressive, almost brutal assault.
During the entire engagement, the Imperial ships sat by, doing nothing. They had assisted the Ku by offering vessels in which the insectoid beings could hide, but now that an active battle had begun it was obvious that the representatives of the Lhiaarian Empire did not wish to be drawn into it.
These Ku, these assassins, as Tamaak had described them, clearly exerted a powerful influence. Fear had a long reach and a strong hand.
But Janeway wasn't afraid. She was angry.
Voyager scored another direct hit on a Ku vessel with little, if any, apparent damage. "What are those ships made of, anyway?"
She heard footsteps and glanced up to see Chakotay and Annika. She saw that Annika had exchanged Seven of Nine's severe hair and outfit for flowing blond locks and a loose, breezy red dress. Janeway's eyes flickered back to the viewscreen as Chakotay sat down beside her.
Another direct hit. Another strike with nothing to show for it.
"I don't get it," said Tom. "Nothing should be able to take a beating like that."
Behind her, Janeway heard a soft gasp. She turned to find Annika clutching the railing. The young woman's eyes were wide, her mouth open in a soundless cry. Her body was rigid, locked in paralysis.
"Annika?" No response. "Seven?"
Species 13. Insectoid, able to adjust the density of their exoskeleton to comply with various environments. Hostile and intelligent.
Assimilation was difficult. Advanced technologically. Their distinctiveneadded to the efficacy of Borg assimilation.
"Captain!" She breathed again, a great gasp of air.
"Reconfigure the phasers to a random pattern."
Janeway didn't waste valuable time asking why.
"Do it," she shouted to Tuvok.
The next phaser fire that contacted a Ku vessel shattered it. There was a brief flash of light in the starry sky and pieces of wreckage flew everywhere.
"Continue firing."
"Captain, the random configuration does enable us to fight back," replied Tuvok. "However, shields are down to sixteen percent. Another direct hit from them and they could be completely decimated."
"Captain," said Kim, "We're being hailed."
"Onscreen."
The by-now loathed visage of the hideous alien captain filled the screen. His antennae waving and mandibles clicking, Kraa T'Krr spoke.
"Captain Janeway, our information tells us you cannot take another direct hit. We offer you generous terms of surrender. Relinquish your passengers to us, and we will not harm you or your vessel."
"He is lying, Captain," snapped-who? Annika?
Seven of Nine? Janeway didn't know anymore. "The Tuktak despise all warm-blooded beings. It is an integral part of their culture. They want the Skedans alive so that they can ritually dismember them as part of their assassination contract. As for us, we serve no purpose and they will destroy us once they have what they want."
Her back was straight, her eyes cold and angry as she gazed upon Kraa.
Janeway had no reason to doubt her certainty. The captain returned her gaze to the screen, stared at the unfathomable creature before her, then said in clipped, measured tone, "Your proposal is unacceptable.
You want the Skedans for ritual dismemberment and us