Three - Michael Jan Friedman [74]
Blood of Kahless, she thought, the muscles in her temples working furiously.
She tried a roll to starboard—a move that had stood her in good stead before. But not this time. The weapons officer on the Balduk ship tracked the Stargazer and buried his phaser beams in her saucer section.
Before Idun could try another tack, the console next to her exploded in a gout of sparks, sending Gerda flying out of her seat. Her heart pounding against her ribs, the helm officer glanced at her sister to make sure she hadn’t been killed.
Gerda’s hands and face were badly burned, but she was alive. Alive. Swearing beneath her breath, Idun turned to her task with a new resolve.
Gerda was the only blood kin she had left in the entire universe. She would be damned if she would let some Balduk marauder take her life.
Diving and twisting to port, she shook the Balduk ship for the moment. Seizing the opportunity, Paris [224] blasted away at the Independent and battered her hindquarters, but not enough to slow her down.
By then, Gerda had gotten to her feet. Even with her injuries, she wanted to stay on the bridge—just as Idun would have, if it had been she who was hurt.
But when the captain ordered her to report to sickbay, she had no choice but to comply. Reluctantly, she limped to the turbolift and disappeared inside it.
Idun felt a pang as her sister departed. But it was only natural for Idun to feel the loss. They were a team.
A team ...
She looked at the viewscreen and the enemy vessel depicted there in all her martial glory. Picard had dubbed her the Independent for a reason.
Had the Balduk worked together, they might have driven the Stargazer off immediately. But they hadn’t. They hadn’t even attempted to communicate with each other.
Klingons were warriors too. But they talked. They worked together in a space battle.
Why didn’t the Balduk talk? she wondered. Why?
It was then that Idun found herself turning to Picard. “Captain,” she said, “I have an idea.”
It was unorthodox, to say the least. Her father would never have approved of it. But if not for what she had learned from him, she would never have been able to come up with it.
“What is it?” Picard asked, no doubt willing to entertain any idea at this point.
“When warriors like these Balduk refuse to talk to each other, it’s because they’re competing for the right to claim victory—in this case, the victory that would [225] come with driving the Stargazer out of Balduk territory.”
Picard looked at Idun. “And if that’s so?”
“Then we can use it to our advantage.” And she told him how.
The captain seemed surprised that she would consider such an approach. After all, she was a warrior herself. But he didn’t reject it out of hand. Finally, he said, “All right. Let’s give it a shot.” Idun was gratified that Picard had embraced her suggestion. But she would be a lot more gratified if it got them closer to the anomaly.
Wutor Qiyuntor glowered at his data-collection officer. “What did you say?”
Delakan repeated the message she had received from the Federation ship, this time more slowly and carefully. Still, it was hard for Wutor to believe he had heard correctly.
He turned to his viewscreen, where the Stargazer was still veering to one side or the other, trying to shake him from her trail. “I will talk to Picard,” he growled.
A moment later, the human’s pale, smooth visage appeared on his screen. “Commander,” he said, “so nice to hear from you.”
“Are you insane?” Wutor demanded.
“Perhaps. Men do strange things in the heat of battle. But for some reason, I feel compelled to surrender to your colleague in the larger vessel.”
“You crippled him!” Wutor insisted. “He’s no longer a threat to you!”
“Thank you for confirming that,” said Picard. [226] “Nonetheless, it’s he to whom I’ll surrender.” His eyes narrowed, as if something had occurred to him. “Unless ...”
Wutor leaned forward in his command brace. “Unless what?”
“Unless you give us some time to return our guest to her proper universe.