The Murdered Sun - Christie Golden [73]
"Paris, no, not yet--" Kaavi's imploring voice was cut off.
Behind him, Paris heard the hum that indicated the transport was in progress. He couldn't spare a moment to turn around, not yet.
He touched the pad that reinstated the shields. Not a moment too soon, for half a heartbeat later, the empty (he hoped it was empty, oh, God, he hoped) Conviction crashed headlong into the Akerian vessel.
There was a flash of blue as the warship's shields protested, then gave way beneath the attack. A blinding explosion forced Paris to avert his gaze, and the shuttlecraft shook with the resonance of the explosion.
He locked his legs around the base of the chair, forcing himself to stay in his seat.
Paris blinked, refocused, then grinned happily as he saw that the crash had done exactly what Conviction's pilots had intended.
The huge, clear dome that served as window for the Akerian bridge had been crunched inward. The four orange-red "eyes" that marked the generators had gone dark. Slowly, the warship tumbled backward from the impact. And out of the corner of Paris's eye, he saw the six little black balls that had once posed such a threat to Voyager and the six ships she shielded floating off harmlessly into space.
"We didn't get the third one, Tom. I'm sorry." Janeway's voice was filled with genuine regret. "Did... Is your friend aboard safely?"
Something cold squeezed Tom Paris's heart. Behind him, he knew, were two Verunans. One of their number didn't make it, had faced death with quiet courage as his... her? ... ship completed its suicidal mission.
Who had it been?
A large, sharp-clawed Verunan hand closed on his shoulder.
Steeling himself, he glanced up to see who it was.
She smiled down at him with mingled sorrow and gratitude, her enormous mouth curved and her great, lambent eyes brimming with tears.
"Kaavi!" he whispered, telling himself that surely it was just the tension of the moment that closed his throat and clouded his eyes.
"We lost Rixtu," Kaavi said, her own voice thick. Paris's joy was suddenly, harshly, undercut by the three words. Rixtu, little, lively Rixtu, the youngest of the eighteen pilots. The one who always had "just one more question, Paris!" The chatterbox of the group whom you couldn't get angry with because he was so genuinely upbeat and friendly. Rixtu was gone, that cheerful voice forever silenced.
"Oh, Kaavi," he began, but there were no words.
The second Verunan, the large, quiet male called Takoda, also reached to clasp Paris's shoulder in a gesture of gratitude, but kept his eyes on the screen.
"You had better hurry, Par-is," he commented. "That second warship is heading straight for us."
CHAPTER 14
Takoda was right. A second ship was now barreling down on them at staggering speed.
"Hold on to your hats," warned Paris, slamming the shuttlecraft into a sharp turn. Kaavi tumbled into the seat on Paris's left, while Takoda immediately sat down and anchored himself as best he could.
"But Paris, we have no hats," reprimanded Kaavi. Paris ignored her, his mind utterly on evading that behemoth that was now seemingly just a few kilometers away. Paris had completely reversed direction now and was heading at top speed toward the hole in Voyager's shields. It seemed dreadfully small, but he'd gotten through it once...
"Paris to bridge. I'm heading back toward the hole in the shields.
Captain, I know you're trying to dodge these people as much as I am, but please, try to hold a steady course. This is not going to be easy."
"Holding steady. But make it fast, Paris," came Janeway's cool voice, "make it damn fast."
"Aye-aye, Captain," the lieutenant replied. He glanced down at his sensors, getting his bearings. The hole in the shields, while certainly physical, was not visible. He'd have to rely on the not-very-reliable sensors to navigate.
Kaavi dipped her sinuous neck, staring down at the controls and watching him like