The Murdered Sun - Christie Golden [20]
She sank back in her chair and braced herself for the fresh wave of agony as Tom Paris expertly pulled the big ship, as she had commanded, very hard to port. The second Akerian attack thudded harmlessly against Voyager's shields, and the ship trembled only slightly from the impact.
"Captain, sensors have been able to ascertain that there is no life on any of the six pods," Kim announced with a hint of relieved triumph.
"Excellent." Janeway leaned forward, her eyes snapping. "Then let's blow those things to kingdom come."
She allowed herself a brief, ignoble flush of pleasure as she anticipated the small, empty pods responsible for the damage to her ship exploding with a single phaser blast. The first one burst asunder, sending fragments flying, just as she had envisioned, but then something terrible and unexpected happened.
The one immediately beside the first destroyed pod self-destructed. It blew up with considerably more force, sending shards of slick black metal flying. The space around it shuddered, and Janeway realized with a sinking feeling what kind of trap they'd walked into by firing on the first pod. The third followed suit immediately, then the fourth, fifth, and sixth.
Each destructing pod emitted its own wave of gravitons, forcing the shield open even further. By now, the hole in the shields was enormous--a clear and easy target for the Victory, who even now was hastening to maneuver its bulk into position to fire.
"They were booby-trapped," she cried. "They were set to self-destruct and take more of our shields with them! Mr. Paris, evasive action. I give you a free hand, just keep us out of Victory's sights. That ship's too fast, and it knows just where to hit us."
"Aye, Captain," responded the helmsman. Voyager immediately dove.
Paris had read her urgent tone of voice correctly. There was little smoothness to his maneuvers, but they did the job better than any sleek, level movements would have. "The Conquest is continuing to fire on the planet."
Another surge of pain hit Janeway as she moved. She fought it back.
There was no place for personal physical pain aboard a starship bridge in battle, and like it or not, the Akerians had embroiled them in one.
"We're going in. Fire at both ships at your best opportunity," she commanded. Paris's fingers flew over the consoles. Voyager, with the speed of a predator, lined up Conquest in perfect range.
Silently, Janeway commended Paris. Again, he anticipated her wishes.
Either ship would have been a prime, and indeed necessary, target, but the one that was actively attacking innocent civilians got just a little higher priority than the one that had attacked them personally.
Tuvok fired. Red screamed across the space and hit the Conquest solidly, connecting directly behind where the now-infamous black pods were situated. Its shields held.
"Again," commanded Janeway. Tuvok obliged. This time, Conquest took damage. There was an explosion, and the ship veered off at a crazy angle.
At the same moment Voyager rocked from yet another attack from the Victory, which was even now racing around from their starboard side, trying to position itself for an attack on the unprotected area of the saucer.
Automatically Janeway reached to slap her comm badge, wincing as the gesture sent red-hot torment up and down her arm. Instead, she used her left hand. "Bridge to Engineering. How long till we can repair that hole?" She didn't ask the real question that raced through her mind: Can the shield even be repaired.
To her surprise, it was Lieutenant Carey's deep voice that answered.
"Not any time soon, Captain. The graviton polarity source generators have been damaged. That attack knocked out one of the millicochrane subspace field distortion amplifiers.
Torres is leading a crew and working on it now.