The Garden - Melissa Scott [96]
Light flared in the main viewscreen, flat flashes bracketing the Andirrim flagship, but when the image cleared Janeway could see no damage on the rough surface.
"No hits," Pao reported. "Their screens absorbed the impact."
"Captain," Kim said. "Ship two is moving to engage us."
Janeway could see the movement for herself now, doubly reflected in the main viewscreen and in the tactical display beneath it, and blinked as phaser light flared from the newcomer as well. Voyager rocked under the doubled blast, and she heard Pao give a smothered exclamation.
"They're targeting the same spot on our shields, or at least they're trying to."
Not bad tactics, Janeway acknowledged silently, still
staring at the patterns on the screen, given that their phasers are weaker than ours, but ineffective-at least as long as our shields hold.
"Returning fire," Pao went on, "but their shields are still holding."
"Engineering reports that the fluctuation is between point-one-nine-eight and point-two-seven-nine," Kim said. "A spike reached three, but they've got it back down again."
"Keep us in position," Janeway said. "And keep firing, Mr. Pao."
"Aye, Captain," Pao answered. "Target?"
Janeway studied the tactical display. The Andirrim flagship and two of its fellows were still concentrating on the orbital stations, and under their onslaught four more of the dots that represented the satellites were flashing red, warning of shields stressed almost to failure. Even as she watched, another one winked out, and this time the satellites did not move to compensate. "Concentrate on the flagship," she ordered. "Treat the others as secondary targets. Shield status, Mr. Kim?"
Even as she spoke, the ship rocked again under Andirrim fire. Kim said, "Holding. But we're down to ninety-five percent on the forward screens, and engineering says we're going to lose more if we're not careful"
"Captain," Chakotay said. "Look!"
"Multiple launches from the surface," Pao reported, in almost the same instant, and in the screen the planet's disk was dotted with light, a dozen, maybe more, pinpoints rising toward orbit. "Tracking," Pao went on, her voice unnaturally calm. "Captain, they're definitely Kirse ships, and they seem to be heading to the satellites."
Before Janeway could answer, another one of the
orbital stations flashed red and vanished from the screen. The gap it left was obvious, a breach in the defense screen, and the Andirrim flagship swung toward it, maneuver engines flaring without sound. If it got inside the screen, Janeway realized, it could pick off still more stations, open a gap in the screen that the entire fleet could enter, and then they could turn on the surface with impunity.
"Target the flagship, Mr. Pao," she snapped. "Chakotay, see if you can get between it and the screen."
'Firing phasers," Pao answered, and the ship rocked again from a glancing hit. The other ships were closing in, swinging around to get behind Voyager, blocking their best retreat, but Janeway ignored them, her attention focused on the flagship.
"Keep firing," she ordered. The shuttles were still rising, but none of them were close enough yet to support Voyager's effort; the rest of the Andirrim ships were still closing, and Voyager rocked under a concerted salvo, throwing her against the side of her chair. Their own phaser fire sparked and flared, its energies absorbed or repulsed by the flagship's shields, but the Andirrim ship bored on, heading for the gap in the screen. "Keep firing, damn it!"
"Shields down to eighty percent," Kim reported, and the ship lurched again. "Seventy-three percent. And the power fluctuations have steadied but mean stress is approaching point-nine."
Janeway didn't answer, all her attention focused on the flagship. If they could force it to turn, force it to return fire, break off from the barrier, then there was a good chance the shuttles would reach orbit in time to reinforce the stations, plugging the gap in the system. The phasers were ineffective, so far, but the