String Theory_ Cohesion (Book 1) - Jeffrey Lang [26]
“That’s our deflector—a shield,” the captain said. “To protect us as we travel.”
“I understand.” Then the wonder of the moment faded and he recalled the people deep in the vessel’s holds. “Captain,” he asked. “May I speak with the transport. My crew may be alarmed…”
“Of course,” Captain Janeway said, “though we have been in touch with them. They know what is about to happen in general terms. But hearing it coming from you…”
“Precisely.” The image of his transport shrank into the corner of the viewscreen and his second-in-command appeared. “Mateo,” Ziv said, then paused while his XO made the gesture of acknowledgment. “All is well?”
“Well and truly well, my captain. We will be under way soon, I understand, and moving very quickly.”
“You have no idea, Mateo. I only regret that you have not been able to see this extraordinary ship.”
“There may still be time,” Captain Janeway said. “If you permit it.”
On the viewer, Mateo beamed happily. A talented officer, his second-in-command was also one of the few of his senior staff who saw their flight as some kind of great adventure. Yes, a visit to this alien vessel would be a fitting reward for his service. “We will discuss it when I return to the ship, Mateo. But for now, relax and tell the crew and passengers to do the same. Have you informed everyone what will be happening?”
“Word is filtering down through the holds, Captain. It is difficult, but I think most of them have the sense that something wonderful is about to occur.”
“More wonderful than even they know, Mateo,” Ziv said, not able to keep the joy from his words. “But perhaps it would be best to keep that between us now.” Mateo, sensing his captain’s keen excitement, grinned and agreed. “I will see you soon,” Ziv finished, and signed off.
“Let’s be on our way, then,” the captain ordered.
The pilot took this as permission and pressed a series of controls. “Tractor beam activated, Captain. We have the drive unit.” Pausing, Knowles checked her instruments. “All green. One-quarter impulse, Captain,” she said. Chakotay felt the ship lurch slightly under his feet. “Sorry about that,” the pilot said. “I must have miscalculated the mass a little.”
Chakotay checked the sensors, frowned at what he was seeing, then said, “Understood. Check your acceleration curve.”
“Will do. Acceleration normal.” Again, the ship shuddered.
“Ease off the throttle there, Knowles,” Chakotay said. “I don’t like that.”
“Me, either, sir,” the pilot said. “It’s not the engines. We’re encountering some kind of turbulence.”
“Harry,” Chakotay said pointing at the feed from the main sensors. “What am I looking at here?”
“I think we’ve reached the edge of normal space, Commander.”
“That can’t be right,” Chakotay said. “We shouldn’t be here so soon. Seven’s charts clearly show…”
“It could be that navigating this system is more complicated than we thought.”
“But we don’t know for sure.”
“Not unless we stick around for a little while to map.”
Chakotay glanced at Janeway, silently asking whether she wished to do what Harry suggested. The captain shook her head once: No. “I don’t think that will be necessary, Harry. Let’s be on our way, Ensign.”
Once again, Voyager eased forward, then shuddered along her beam like a long boat hitting the crest of a wave. Knowles looked over her shoulder questioningly, and Chakotay urged her on. In a moment they would be clear of the turbulence, and after a quick check they could be in warp. Later, he and Kathryn would have a conversation about helping wayfarers and what that did to crew morale, but for now he had to admit that he was enjoying watching Captain Ziv. How often would Voyager be able to perform such a great favor at so little cost to themselves?
The ship shuddered once more, the deck trembled, and Chakotay saw in his mind one of the great salmon of the American Northwest leaping up a waterfall.