Three - Michael Jan Friedman [73]
Nikolas had heard about Kirk’s accidental transit at the Academy, and more recently in discussions among his peers. It was a natural topic of conversation when a woman from another universe came aboard.
“In Kirk’s time,” Gerda Idun continued, “humanity was the oppressor of other species. In my time, it’s different. The Klingons and the Cardassians have formed an alliance. Its goal is to wipe us out—every last man, woman, and child.
“They’ve had us on the run for some time now, but a few of our ships are still putting up a fight. The Stargazer is one of them.” Her eyes narrowed. “You asked about your counterpart in my universe? Well, he died, all right. But it wasn’t when he was in his teens. It was just a few weeks ago, in a battle with a Klingon bird-of-prey.”
Nikolas swallowed. He had always known he could die in battle, but it had only been a theory, an abstraction. Suddenly, it was all too real.
“We took other casualties too,” Gerda Idun said. “One of them was Simenon. Our Simenon.”
[220] The ensign was beginning to understand.
“His engineering expertise had been the key to our survival,” said Gerda Idun. “One way or another, he had kept us alive through skirmish after bloody skirmish. But the real tragedy is that he was working on a new propulsion technology—something I couldn’t even begin to understand—that might have turned the tide of the war in our favor.”
Nikolas saw a hint of pain in her face, and a distance in her gaze. It was working. He was distracting her.
And it occurred to him that it might get him somewhere after all—because even though he still hurt like crazy, he felt that he could move his arms and legs a little if he had to.
Keep talking, the ensign thought. Maybe I’ll get another shot at stopping you yet.
As if in compliance with his silent instruction, Gerda Idun went on. “We had another engineering marvel, a man named Montgomery Scott. In the days of Kirk’s Empire, he had served on the Enterprise and made a name for himself as a real hardass, but he eventually saw the error of his ways.
“When Simenon was killed, Scott was too old and tired to take over for him. But he was still sharp enough to re-create the circumstances that sent your Kirk from universe to universe—and to use them to transport me here.
“My mission was to cross the transuniversal barrier, find Simenon—either here on the Stargazer or elsewhere—and bring him back with me.” Her gaze turned hard again; “And that’s what I intend to do.”
[221] “Despite the kindness the captain showed you,” he rasped. “Despite us.”
He could see the muscles working in Gerda Idun’s jaw. “Yes,” she said, without the slightest trace of uncertainty in her voice. “Despite all that.”
Chapter Nineteen
IDUN HELD ON to her control console as the Stargazer lurched to starboard under a Balduk barrage.
“Shields down seventy-eight percent!” her sister called out from her navigation board.
The air on the bridge was hot and heavy with smoke, there was a metallic reek of leaking EPS coolants, and the lighting faltered every few seconds. But the viewscreen remained in perfect working order, showing them every detail of their enemy’s volleys.
Idun could accept the fact that the Stargazer was taking a beating. What irked her was that they weren’t getting any closer to their goal in the process.
The helm officer was too busy weaving through the enemy’s formations to pay attention to her sensor screen, but she knew time was running out on Gerda Idun. If the situation didn’t improve—and quickly—the [223] anomaly would vanish and the woman would be stuck in a universe not her own.
Captain Picard seemed to be as determined as anyone to send Gerda Idun home. But even he had his limits, and Idun had a feeling he was about to reach them.
Suddenly, the Balduk pulled a maneuver of which she hadn’t thought them capable. Even without the Coordinator to guide them, the Satellite ships pinched the Stargazer into the narrowest of escape slots.
Idun drove the ship forward at full impulse. But just when