The Valiant - Michael Jan Friedman [48]
The air was full of smoke and sparks and fire. Unmanned consoles beeped frantically and open conduits hissed deadly plasma. The second officer blinked, trying to see through the haze with badly stinging eyes, and spied someone sprawled on the deck near the captains chair.
It was Ruhalterand he wasnt moving.
Darting to the captains side, Picard saw why. Half the mans face had been burned away in the explosion of a still-sputtering plasma conduit.
The second officer shook his head. No, he thought, denying it as hard as he could. It cannot be. It is not possible.
But it was .
Daithan Ruhalter was dead.
Abruptly, he realized that someone was standing next to him. Looking up, he saw that it was Paxton.
My god, said the communications officer, gaping at the captains corpse in disbelief.
Picard saw the look on Paxtons face and imagined the same look on his ownand a feeling of shame welled up inside him. He had to accept the situation, he told himself. He had to move on.
After all, the ship was in deadly danger. Their shields were down and they had an enemy taking shots at them with impunity.
As Picard thought that, he felt another jolt run through the shipbut it wasnt nearly as bad as the last one. Obviously, Idun Asmund was still at the helm, doing her job.
They needed a leader, however. And with Ruhalter dead, that left Leachwhether the man was up to the task or not. Starfleet protocol wouldnt tolerate anything less.
Commander Leach! Picard hollered into the miasma of fireshot smoke.
There was no answer.
Leaving Ruhalters side, the second officer made his way forward. He had last seen Leach at the engineering console. With luck, the man would still be there.
But when Picard reached the spot, he couldnt find any sign of the first officer. He looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of himand instead saw Gerda Asmund hunched over near her navigation console.
His first thought was that the woman had been hurt. Then, as he got closer, he saw a body stretched out on the deck beyond her. Gerda turned and looked up at the second officer.
Its Leach, she told him, her concern evident in the knot of flesh at the bridge of her nose.
Picard moved around her and saw the first officer. His eyes were closed, his features slack, and there was blood seeping from a gash in his smoke-blackened temple.
Dead? the second officer said numbly.
Gerda shook her head. No. He still has a pulse.
Get him to sickbay, Picard told her. And send some hands up here to see to the captain.
Aye, sir, said the navigator.
Picking Leach up with athletic ease, she headed for the turbolift. The second officer watched her go for a moment, open plasma conduits and flaming consoles illuminating her passage.
As the lift doors opened, Picard felt another impact. But like the last one, this one had been tolerable.
He looked at the officers still left to him. Idun, who was battling her controls to keep them in one piece. Paxton, who had returned to his post at communications. And Werber, who looked eager to fire again if only someone would give him the order.
With Ruhalter and Leach victims of the Nuyyad, Picard would have to be the one to do that. In fact, he would have to give all the orders.
Mr. Paxton, he barked, take over at navigation.
Aye, sir, the communications officer replied, and moved forward to do as he was asked.
Picard turned and gazed at the viewscreen, where a reverse perspective showed the Nuyyad ship clinging to them in pursuit. It only took him a moment to realize that there was something curious about the sightand another moment to figure out what it was.
The enemy vessel was slightly atilt as it sped through space, slightly offline relative to the axis of its forward progress. Picard knew enough about propulsion systems to understand the reason for such an aberration.
One of the Nuyyad ships warp nacelles was misfiring. The one on the port side, it seemed to him. That suggested a weakness of which his helm officer could take advantage.
Lieutenant