Unification - Jeri Taylor [32]
“Forward shields at sixty-eight percent, aft shields forty percent.”
“On my mark, a point-seven-five burst only. We just want to slow them down.” Geordi might feel that the dark ship was their match, but Riker felt sure the Enterprise weapons could fatally damage the other vessel, and he wanted to avoid that. He was more interested in answers than in destruction. “Mr. Worf—fire,” he ordered curtly, and Worf let loose with a staggered phaser array. Riker knew it wouldn’t cause irreparable harm to such a sturdy ship, but it would sure as hell get their attention. He watched with satisfaction as the spread of phaser fire hit at various points on the ship.
“Their forward shields are damaged, sir,” announced Worf, with perhaps just a hint of triumph. But it was Geordi’s voice that cut in now. “We destroyed one of their phaser arrays… looks like collateral damage in the cargo area.” Geordi scrutinized his sensor readings carefully, then said in an alarmed voice, “Sir, I’m picking up massive power fluctuations… internal explosions… with all the armament that ship is carryingmit’s going to blow!”
Even with that warning, Riker wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
The dark ship exploded in a cataclysmic eruption of flame and fire. Secondary explosions followed one after the other in a succession of towering blasts; extruded matter was hurled hundreds of kilometers into space. The catastrophic explosions continued until the viewers on the Enterprise could not imagine there being any matter left to detonate, but the molten core continued to erupt, spewing still more slabs of burning metal.
When it was over, there was nothing left. It was as though every bit of matter in the ship had been pulverized. Small flaming chunks drifted toward them, brought into sharp relief by the ship’s sensors, though they were still thousands of kilometers away. Those last blazing embers gradually extinguished and became dust, and presently, there was only darkness and the undisturbed starfield. It was as though the ship had never existed.
Chapter Nine
“WELL, MR. DATA—what do you think?”
They were still in their cramped quarters aboard the Klingon ship Kruge. Picard passed a mirror to Data, who took it and held it in front of him.
The reflection he saw revealed a startling transformation. Most immediately noticeable was the hue of his skin, which had lost its android paleness and was now an earthy, ruddy tone. His yellow eyes had been changed, with lenses, to a medium brown, and a prosthesis gave his skull and forehead the angular bony structure of the Romulans; a blunt-cut hairpiece completed the effect.
The cleverness of Beverly Crusher’s prosthetics had become apparent when Picard and Data applied their Romulan ears. Made of a synthetic biopolymer material, they were able to mold directly into the skin with gentle pressure. No seam line was visible; they were as natural looking as their own ears.
Data took a full minute to inspect himself, and finally announced, “I am very pleased, sir. I would not have thought it possible.” Picard admitted to himself that he had shared the same anxieties, and he breathed a silent thanks to Beverly for her expertise.
His own changeover had been as successful, he felt, and though the synthetic ears continued to give him a vaguely uncomfortable feeling, he was sure he would grow accustomed to them. He had been startled at first by seeing himself with hair; it had been a long time since he’d had a full head, and looking in the mirror was rather like looking at a portrait of himself as a young man.
They were both dressed in Romulan clothing, Data in a gray, square-cut jacket and Picard in a brown cape with a stand-away collar—replicated for them from accurate designs provided by Starfleet Command.
“I am eager to test the success of our efforts, sir. It does remain to be seen if the Romulans will accept US.”
Picard smiled. “We’ll soon find out,” he replied. He knew that Data was incapable of feeling either eagerness or apprehension, yet he seemed to have something that passed for one of those