The Murdered Sun - Christie Golden [21]
Again, the phasers screamed, doing no damage.
Janeway didn't need to repeat the order; Tuvok fired again. This time, as with the Conquest, the ship took a hit. It tumbled to port, temporarily out of control. Janeway resisted the urge to order another attack. Her job was to disable the vessel, not destroy it.
"Captain, the Conquest has resumed its attack on Veruna Four," came Paris's voice.
"Carey, tell B'Elanna to work at warp speed on getting those shields back up. Tuvok, fire again. These people just won't quit, will they?"
"No," said Neelix, although the question was rhetorical. "Those who've run afoul of them say they never surrender and never flee."
How reassuring, thought Janeway sarcastically, but she said nothing.
The pain in her shoulder was screaming now. She'd need to get it looked at soon, or else she wouldn't be able to concentrate. She forced back the torment. Tuvok fired yet again, directing the phasers at the already damaged area. This time, the damage was far greater.
Conquest jagged to port, spinning slowly, at last coming to a stop. It hung at an odd angle, and any movement was clearly drift. It was obviously now dead in space.
Janeway swore softly. "Number of life-forms aboard the Conquest?"
"Can't get an exact number, but there are quite a--Captain!" Kim glanced up. "The Victory's shields just went down. I'm reading a transporter carrier wave. My guess is they're beaming their comrades from Conquest aboard." A heartbeat later, he reported, "Victory's shields are back up."
"Let's hail them, Mr. Kim." She leaned back in her chair, eyes still locked on the image of the ship on the screen. "Maybe they're willing to talk to us now."
But the Akerians, just as Neelix had said, were not about to surrender.
They responded to the hail by firing another wave.
Janeway saw the twisting, invisible shimmer and cried, "Evasive action!"
Paris had beaten her to it, and the Voyager slammed hard to starboard before the words had left her lips. But fast as Paris was, he was not fast enough. The tail of the wave hit the vast, open area engendered by the pods, and another powerful blow slammed into the ship.
Janeway's vision grew dim as the impact jarred her wounded shoulder, and she fought like a tigress to hang on to consciousness.
"Damage reports coming in from all over the ship," said Kim.
"Engineering reports a coolant leak in the primary warp core.
We're venting plasma from the port nacelle. Engineering is responding."
On the view screen, their enemy appeared to be using this final volley as a distraction. It veered off speedily but not going immediately into warp. For a moment Janeway wondered if it would seek refuge in Sun-Eater. Instead the vessel peeled off in another direction entirely.
"Of course," she said, continuing her train of thought aloud, "it can't go into Sun-Eater, not now. We damaged its shields. Until they repair them, the gravity well would crush them." She took a deep breath.
She'd have to go to sickbay soon, but she couldn't leave the bridge just yet.
"Cancel red alert." At once the bridge's lights brightened and the pulsing crimson beat ceased. "Try to raise the planet, Mr. Kim."
A pause as Kim attempted to hail. "Not responding, Captain."
Damn, Janeway thought. "Keep at it."
"Torres to bridge."
"Janeway here. What's going on down there, B'Elanna?"
"The coolant leak has been locked down, but the warp engines are going to be off-line for a few more hours." The disgust was evident in her voice. Janeway smiled slightly. B'Elanna Torres took any fault in her engines personally. "Lieutenant Carey's taking care of that. My crew and I are making good progress on the field distortion amplifiers, though. We should be able to have full shielding capability back within eighty minutes."
"Excellent, Torres. Good