Survivors - Jean Lorrah [38]
“What happened?” Captain Jarvis asked Dare.
“That’s what we’re trying to find out.”
“Commander Adin!” Bosinney’s voice was even higher pitched than usual in his excitement. “Look at this circuit breaker!”
Dare stared, puzzled. Neither could Yar see anything odd about the part the boy had pulled loose.
It was Jarvis who demanded, “Well-what’s wrong with it?”
Bosinney gulped, but held his ground. “It’s the wrong power level-too low for this connection.”
“That would just mean it would blow out and have to be reset,” said Jarvis.
“But on this voyage,” said Dare, “the Weapons Room staff have changed almost daily.”
“That’s right!” said Yar. “I was scheduled to two watches here, then on to auxiliary power.”
“How often would that breaker go out?” Jarvis asked.
“Each time there was an overload,” Bosinney replied. “It’ll be in the log-” He went to the computer terminal, calling up charts and graphs that flicked by too fast for Yar to make sense of what was not her field.
“On the average,” said Bosinney, “the breaker was reset every two point six days. Actually, it formed a random pattern ranging from zero point eight to five point four. And here,” he indicated a low point following a spike on one of the graphs with one hand, and the Weapons Room Log entries with the other, “where it blew twice in one day, it was not while the same person was on duty.”
“But how could a power loss every couple of days damage so many weapons?” Yar asked. “They’re all on backup circuits.”
“I think I know,” said Bosinney, and began calling up more graphs. “Yes-that’s it. Power fluctuations decreased the life of the storage batteries. They were partly drained until someone noticed and reset the breaker, but never fully drained and then recharged. Once or twice wouldn’t hurt, but this pattern of a small drain followed by recharge occurred repeatedly. Finally it damaged the batteries, and they allowed the booster handles to discharge.”
“Replace those damaged batteries,” said Captain Jarvis. “Mr. Adin, how long will it take to recharge the booster handles?”
“Not more than-“
He was interrupted when warning lights began to flash.
The intercom clicked on. “Yellow alert. Unidentified vessel approaching-does not respond to hailing frequencies. Captain to the bridge, please. Yellow alert!” The voice was young and female, high-pitched with tension.
Darryl Adin and Enid Jarvis, experienced line officers, looked at one another for one moment. Dare’s frown was ominous. “I do not believe in coincidence. Advise systems checks of all weaponry.”
Jarvis went to the intercom. “Jarvis here. Go to red alert, shields up. Run check of all weapons systems. I’m on my way.”
Before the Weapons Room door opened at the Captain’s approach, the klaxon began sounding, and the flashing lights changed to red. The voice on the ship’s intercom shook now, but sent out the message: “Red alert. All hands to battle stations. This is not a drill. Red alert.”
Then Dare was at the intercom. “Security personnel to Weapons Room.” He turned to Yar. “Ensign-take the Security post on the bridge. I must decide who gets what weapons we have operational. Who’s up there now?”
Yar glanced at the posted roster. “Henderson.”
Dare handed her two phasers. “He’s not our best shot, but he’s tough and he doesn’t panic. Keep him with you. You can always hide behind him, come to that.”
“Dare-you can’t think there’s any danger of being boarded!” Yar exclaimed.