The Valiant - Michael Jan Friedman [49]
Aye, sir, the helm officer replied.
Next, the second officer turned to Werber. Target photon torpedoes.
Ive been doing nothing but targeting, Werber told him.
Ignoring the mans tone, Picard eyed the screen again. Lieutenant Asmundexecute your maneuver. Lieutenant Werber fire when ready.
The words had barely left his mouth when the Nuyyad spewed another wave of green fire at them, trying to finish off the Stargazer . But by then, Idun had gone into her turn.
The vidrion assault shot harmlessly by them. And as the Federation vessel continued to perform her maneuver, the enemy shot by as wellmuch to Werbers delight. Cheering beneath his breath, the weapons officer released a hail of golden photon torpedoes.
The first wave ripped into the Nuyyads flank, shredding what remained of her shields. The second wave clawed chunks out of the vessels hull. And the third penetrated to the very heart of the ship, finding and obliterating critical power relays.
A moment later, Picard knew that at least one torpedo had reached the enemys warp corebecause the Nuyyad ship tore itself apart in a ragged spasm of bright yellow fire.
The second officer watched the fragments of the shattered craft pinwheel end over end through space, expanding outward from the point of the explosion. There was a macabre grace to the scene, a feeling of something strangely akin to serenity.
He looked back over his shoulder. Ruhalters corpse was gone, having been spirited away while Picard was busy with the Nuyyad.
But his work wasnt done yet. They were still in unfamiliar territory, with wounds to lick and the ever-present threat of another attacknot to mention some serious questions to answer.
And his bridge was on fire.
As Werber, Paxton, and Idun Asmund watched him, Picard moved to the rear of the bridge and found the fire extinguisher he had used before. Then he began spraying down the ruined remnants of the nearest console.
Carter Greyhorse ran his sleek, palm-sized regeneration unit over the flesh of Lieutenant Cariellos bare shoulder, creating a few more healthy, new cells to replace the ones she had lost to a white-hot spurt of plasma.
The doctor took a moment to examine his work. Satisfied with it, he checked Cariellos vital signs on her biobeds overhead readouts. The lieutenants systems were all stable, he observed. In a day or so, after she had gotten some rest, there would be no indication that she had been within minutes of losing her life.
Activating an electromagnetic barrier around Cariello to guard against infection, Greyhorse moved to the next bed in line. Lieutenant Kochman was lying there in a stasis field, outwardly unharmed but inwardly suffering from broken ribs, ruptured organs, and considerable hemorrhaging.
He would require a good deal more work than Cariello, the doctor reflected. But at least the man was alive.
Greyhorse glanced at the corpses laid out under metallic blankets in the comer of his sickbay. There were four of them in all. Barr, Janes, Harras and, of course, Captain Ruhalter.
If the chief medical officer had had more than twelve biobeds at his disposal, he wouldnt have subjected the deceased to the indignity of lying on the floor. But to his chagrin, he didnt have more than twelve bedsand his priority had to be the living.
Greyhorse was on the verge of deactivating Kochmans stasis field when he heard the sickbay doors hiss open. Glancing in that direction, he fully expected to see someone bringing in another casualty.
But this time, it was different. It wasnt just anyone being brought in. It was her .
At least, that was the way it looked to the doctor for a split second. Then he realized he was mistaken, and a wave of relief washed over him. It wasnt Gerda Asmund who was being carried into sickbay. It was Gerda who was doing the carrying.
And it was Commander Leach wrapped up in the womans arms, Greyhorse realizedCommander Leach who was lying as limp and pale as death. Clearly, the first officers