The Valiant - Michael Jan Friedman [61]
Again, Picard shot a look at Ben Zoma. As before, the man didnt seem to have a care in the world.
Phaser range, the weapons officer announced.
Fire on my mark, Picard barked.
The Nuyyad bombarded the shuttles again, lighting torches of pale green fire in the void. Picard squinted to see through them, to get an idea of whether any of his craft had made it through.
Five seconds, said Gerda. Four. Three
Then Picard spotted themnot just one of the shuttles, but all three. As his navigator counted down to zero, they smashed headlong into the Nuyyads deflector shields.
And went off.
If the vidrion bursts had been showy, the shuttle explosions were positively magnificent, magnified by their reflection off the enemys shields. But Picard didnt take any time to appreciate their glory. His sole interest was how much damage they could do.
Fire! he bellowed.
Instantly, the starboard phaser banks lashed out with everything they had, driving their crimson energy through each of the three spots where the shuttles had exploded.
Picard turned to Gerda. Report!
Weve penetrated their shields! she told him. Sensors show significant damage to their hull!
He turned back to the viewscreen, smelling the victory they had been hoping for. Fire again, Mr. Vigo!
A second time, the Stargazers phaser beams slashed through the enemys tattered shields, piercing the vessels outer skin and setting off a string of small explosions.
But the Nuyyad wasnt ready to call it quits yet. A moment after Picards ship fired, the enemy unleashed a salvo of its own.
Brace yourselves! the second officer called out.
Fortunately, Idun managed to slip past most of the barrage but not all of it. The force of the vidrion assault drove Picard to the deck, his head missing the base of Ruhalters chair by inches.
Consoles exploded aft of him, shooting geysers of white-hot sparks at the ceiling. As a cloud of smoke began to gather, he dragged himself up and glared at the viewscreen.
The enemy ship had suffered extensive damage, her hull plates twisted and blackened from stem to stern. Still, she was functioningand if she was functioning, she was a threat.
Picard meant to put an end to it. Mr. Vigo, he said, trying not to choke on the smoke filling his bridge, fire again!
On the screen, the Nuyyad vessel seemed to writhe under the impact of the Stargazers phaser beams. She was wracked by one internal explosion after another as the directed energy ripped into key systems. Finally, unable to endure the torment any longer, she flew apart in a splash of gold that blotted out the stars.
Picard wasnt a bloodthirsty man and never had been. However, he found himself nodding in approval as pieces of Nuyyad debris spun through space in an ever-expanding wave.
He glanced over his shoulder at the ruined aft consoles. Ben Zoma and a couple of other officers had gotten hold of fire extinguishers and were spraying foam over the flames, though the control panels themselves would require extensive repairs.
Ben Zoma seemed to sense that his friend was watching him. Returning the look, he smiled a big smile. You see? he seemed to say. I told you you could do it.
The second officer turned to Gerda. Report.
The navigator consulted her monitor. Damage to decks three, four, and six, she replied. Photon torpedo launchers are offline. Likewise, the starboard sensor array.
Picard grunted. They were shieldless and half-blind, and their once-powerful arsenal was limited to a couple of battered phaser banks. But it could have been worse.
Much worse.
Casualties? he asked.
Gerda paused for a moment, then looked up at him. None, sir. Everyone made it through intact.
It was better than the second officer might have guessedbetter even than he might have hoped. Excellent, he said.
There was only one thing left to do. After all, they had come all this way for a reason. He regarded the forward screen, which now showed him an unobstructed view of the planet.
Mr. Paxton, he said, hail the colony.
Aye, sir, came the response.
Almost a minute passed as Paxton tried