Survivors - Jean Lorrah [90]
Chapter Ten
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER DATA saw that Pris Shenkley was correct. “Where do you need us?” he asked.
“Join Dare on the upper ramparts,” she replied. “Those guns will bring down a standard military flyer-provided it doesn’t get you first.”
“Is the instrument scrambling in effect everywhere inside the outer defenses?” Tasha asked.
“Yes. Our own computer’s shielded, of course. Our anti-aircraft installations should take out most of the flyers-“
“Pris!” from Sdan.
They all turned to the viewscreen-which showed something that was definitely not a flyer zipping through the outer defenses. “Missile!” exclaimed Pris. “Launch counter-attack!”
“Launched and running,” Sdan replied, as another point of light shot out of the chasm below the castle, met the incoming missile-seconds after the screen showed the explosion when they met, the castle rocked with the sound of the blast.
“Nalavia’s fooled us,” said Poet. “The best-laid plans-“
“You didn’t consider the possibility of an attack?” Data interrupted.
“An attack, yes,” said Pris. “But if she’s using missiles, she doesn’t care if she kills everyone in the castle. That includes the investigating team from Starfleet!”
Aurora joined them. “Missiles! Nalavia’s insane. How do we plot strategy against a madwoman?”
“But you have counter-weapons,” Tasha pointed out.
“Certainly; we are prepared for all-out war. But we didn’t expect that with you here,” said Aurora. “We thought Nalavia would try to take you back, not kill you!”
“It’s my message to the Enterprise,” said Tasha. “Dare said it would pinpoint our location-but obviously, to send it so steadily we had to have your cooperation. Nalavia must think we’ve gone over to your side.” Her knuckles went white as she clutched the weapon she carried. “Damn! We should have sent it once only-we might have sneaked that through.”
“Too late to worry about it now,” said Sdan. “Once that shield goes we’ll be up to the armpits in Nalavia’s troops.” So the castle’s force shield was not up to all-out assault.
“Has Nalavia communicated with you?” Data asked. “Has she made demands for surrender?”
Sdan hit the communications board. “Nothing. But-she’s stopped jamming Starfleet frequencies. Sure-she needs all power to push voice communications to her own troops through our scrambling.”
Tasha jumped at that. Leaning over Sdan, she quickly programmed in the Starfleet emergency frequency. The Vulcanoid made no attempt to prevent her.
“This is Lieutenant Tasha Yar, on Treva, to any Starfleet vessel. Lieutenant Commander Data and I are under attack, at these coordinates. Emergency priority-repeat, Starfleet investigating team under attack. Any Starfleet vessel, please respond!”
There was no answer-but it could take from minutes to hours for the message to reach the nearest Starfleet vessel to Treva.
There were more explosions as missiles met anti-missiles, and then a flash of white burnout lit the strategy room as one got through and took out the shield.
“We should go up to the ramparts,” Data said. “They will need every hand.”
“And if there’s an answer from Starfleet, we won’t get it now,” said Tasha, tuning out the burst of static as jamming resumed on Starfleet channels.
Adin, Barb, and the Tellarites were on the ramparts already, armed with guns like those Pris had given Data and Tasha. The first of the flyers approached, guns blazing.
Anti-aircraft fire lit the twilight and the first few went down before reaching the final defenses.
Then one got through. Adin took aim-one quick burst, and it exploded in flame and fell into the chasm.
But more came, wave after wave, locating the guns in the chasm by the bursts of light, bombing and strafing them. Each wave brought more