Star Trek: That Which Divides (42 page)

“Evasive course,” Scott ordered. “Increase our speed to maximum and stand by weapons.”

“Aye, sir,” Sulu responded, his hands almost a blur as they moved over his helm console. “Executing evasive maneuvers.”

“Sensors are detecting minor fluctuations in the energy barrier,” Chekov called out. “It’s almost like it’s reacting to our presence.”

Scott frowned as he processed the report. “Are we in any danger?”

“From the field?” Chekov asked as he returned his attention to the science station’s sensor viewer. “No, sir. The Romulans seem to have that covered.” A moment later he blurted, “Incoming fire!”

There was no time to issue any warnings to brace for impact before the first salvo struck. Scott felt the deck shudder beneath his feet as the
Enterprise
’s deflector shields absorbed the brunt of the attack. An alarm klaxon wailed for attention, but he waved to Chekov to silence it.

“Hit on port side, aft,” Chekov said, and Scott heard the anxiety in the ensign’s voice. “Shields holding.”

Sulu asked, “Should we return fire?”

“Target their engines,” Scott answered. “Wait for my order.” He did not want this fight, but he did not see anything else in the way of options. Grathus was going to force
this confrontation, perhaps destroying the
Enterprise
in the process. He would then be free to tell his superiors whatever version of fact or fiction suited his needs, perhaps even justifying further action against the Dolysians, who at least for the short term would be defenseless against Grathus and his small fleet. None of it made any sense to Scott, with the possible exception of simple pride, and the need for the Romulan commander to demonstrate that he—and, by extension, his people—would not be intimidated by their interstellar neighbors regardless of whatever territorial borders might exist between them.

Another strike impacted against the deflector shields, and everything around Scott trembled in protest. The quivering was channeled through the command chair and into his arms. Like the first round, he knew that this also was a solid hit.

They’ve got us dialed in, all right.

Chekov looked up from his viewer. “Another hit aft. Shields are still holding. For now, anyway.”

“Are they playing with us?” Sulu asked as he alternated his attention between his console and the main viewscreen, which continued to update the tactical schematic as the skirmish evolved. “Or are they worried about the barrier?”

“You just keep hugging it, Mister Sulu,” Scott said. Maneuvering the
Enterprise
closer to the energy field seemed to be producing the desired results, based on the information being relayed by the tactical plot. The Romulans, at first eager to give chase, now appeared to be giving the barrier a wide berth, even though they remained well within the operational range of their warships’ weapons. Glancing over his left shoulder, he asked, “Lieutenant Masters, any effects from the field?”

Seated behind him at the bridge’s engineering station, Lieutenant Charlene Masters, a young, dark-skinned officer, replied, “There’s some minor flux in the warp engines, but otherwise everything’s in the green, sir. I don’t know what might happen if we get any closer.”

The bridge was jolted by yet another salvo of disruptor fire, one after another in rapid succession. This time the effects were more pronounced, with consoles blinking and the overhead lighting dimming for a moment as power was automatically routed to the ship’s deflector shield generators.

“Now it’s getting interesting,” Scott mumbled to himself, before prompting in a louder voice, “Damage?”

Chekov replied, “Aft shields down to eighty-seven percent, sir. Rerouting power to compensate.”

“Masters,” Scott said, “direct the computer to alternate power to the shields based on which side is facing the energy field. Draw power from that side to shore up the weakened areas.” He knew it was a tall order given Sulu’s maneuvering, which entailed whatever turns, banks, and dives he might execute as part of the evasive course he had plotted along with any improvisation he might employ based on the Romulan ships’ movements. Such rapid calculations and action were beyond the limits of regular flesh and blood engineers, but Scott reasoned it would be easy enough for the
Enterprise
’s main computer.

Blowing out his breath, he said, “All right, Mister Arex, let’s try giving them something to think about. Fire at your discretion.”

Before the Triexian could respond, there was a notable disruption in systems across the bridge. Once more consoles and their display monitors wavered and the lights
flickered, and Scott thought he even felt the briefest of tremors in the deck plating. Instead of resetting themselves as they had before, the interruptions continued, showing no signs of abating.

“We weren’t hit,” he said. “What’s causing that?”

At the helm, Sulu’s hands moved across his console, with the lieutenant stabbing button after button in a flurry of chaotic motions. “It’s the energy field. I think I got us too close.”

“The field’s definitely reacting to us,” said Chekov, once more bent over the viewer. “The Romulan ships are backing off. They must be seeing what’s happening.” Then, he looked up from his station. “If I’m reading this correctly, there’s a distortion at the field’s boundary corresponding to our relative position.”

Scott moved from his seat just before another disruptor barrage struck the shields. The effects of the impact were more pronounced this time, triggering new alarms at different stations around the bridge.

“Firing phasers,” Arex called out, and Scott heard the deep resonating hum of energy being channeled to the starship’s weapons banks. “Direct hit on the lead vessel’s forward shields. They’re still maintaining their distance.”

“Our aft shields are down to sixty-three percent,” Chekov said.

Acknowledging the report, Scott pointed to the science station. “Show me the distortion.”

Chekov nodded, pressing a series of controls on his console. One of the two large monitors above his station changed to a computer-realized interpretation of the energy barrier as recorded by the sensors. Pointing to the field’s outer boundary, the ensign said. “See this area right
here at the edge? It actually retreated on itself as we passed, then resumed its normal configuration after we moved away. The pattern repeats as we traverse the field.”

“Our warp engines,” Scott said, more to himself than to anyone else. “The barrier reacts to the presence of an active warp drive. Every time a ship passed through the rift, the field responded with distortion, but those ships were moving at sublight speeds.” He studied the monitor, seeing for the first time what had been right before him—before them all—from the beginning. “What if a ship were to penetrate the barrier at warp speed?”

“What?” Chekov asked, his eyes wide with disbelief. “Enter the barrier? Sir, the rift’s not open. The Dolysians told us that every ship and probe they’ve sent into it has been destroyed.”

The ship trembled around them once more, the ship’s reaction to the attack even greater this time. How many more hits could the shields take before the generators were overloaded?

“None of those ships had warp drive,” Scott said, holding on to the railing to keep his balance. “Arex, plot a course for the other side of the barrier, using the
Huang Zhong
’s navigational data.”

“What are you thinking, Scotty?” Sulu asked.

Scott returned to the captain’s chair. “Warp jump, Mister Sulu. Precision piloting. You up for that?”

“It beats staying out here,” the helmsman replied. “But what if you’re wrong?”

“Then Captain Kirk’s liable to be pretty angry with me. Standard view on the screen, please.” Though Scott could not be certain his idea would work, the sensor data seemed to support what his gut was telling him was possible.
Instinct emboldened by experience had always helped to see him through one enormous challenge after another during his career—none greater than some of the trials he had faced during his tenure aboard this ship—but would that be enough now? There was only one way to know, and any lingering doubts he might have vanished as another double disruptor strike slammed into the
Enterprise
’s shields.

“Aft shields failing!” Chekov shouted above the new wave of alarms.

Clinging to the arms of the captain’s chair, Scott snapped, “Mister Arex!”

“Course plotted!” replied the navigator. The Triexian was gripping the edge of his console with two hands and using his third to manipulate his console’s controls.

Scott gritted his teeth, glaring at the roiling mass of energy at the center of the main viewscreen. “Now, Sulu!”

The helm officer did not reply, but instead stabbed one button on his own control panel. Scott had the briefest of moments to note distant stars on the viewscreen begin to stretch as the energy barrier seemed to lunge toward him. Yet another alarm whined, and everything seemed to shake and rattle as though preparing to come apart.

“Energy distortion!” Chekov yelled over the klaxon.

Then, the field was gone, replaced by the small green-brown sphere that was the Gralafi planetoid. The tremors subsided, leaving only the alert warbling and drowning out all other sounds on the bridge. Before Scott could order it silenced, Sulu pressed a control and terminated the annoying siren.

“That’s it?” Chekov asked, making no effort to hide his skepticism.

“We’re secure from warp speed,” Sulu said.

Scott cleared his throat. “Status? How are the warp engines?”

Behind him, Lieutenant Masters replied, “Everything looks nominal, sir. All decks are reporting no damage.”

His eyes still on the planetoid, Scott asked, “What about the energy field? Any change in its readings?”

Peering into the sensor viewer, Chekov answered, “Readings appear normal, Mister Scott. No apparent disruptions based on our passage.”

“The subspace field,” Sulu said, turning from his console. “That’s what did it, right?”

“Aye,” Scott replied. “At least, I think so. If I’m right, the field generated by our warp engines actually acted as a sort of agent against the energy within the barrier. A ship moving at sublight speeds was slow enough that the barrier was able to . . . retaliate, if you will. But, by moving at warp speed, we didn’t give it that chance.” He would have to examine the sensor records as well as diagnostic and sensor information recorded by the ship’s computer with respect to the warp drive’s performance, but for now, he was satisfied with the explanation.

His theory was strengthened by the appearance of a Romulan warship on the viewscreen, flying into view as though from nowhere as it completed the transition from subspace. It loomed before him, crowding the screen’s edges on all sides, and Scott imagined he could see the vessel’s weapons bristling as though ready to fire.

“Distance sixty-one thousand kilometers!” Sulu shouted, peering into the targeting scanner which had risen out of the left side of his console.

“Full power to forward shields!” Scott yelled, with just enough time to comprehend how the enemy vessel had
duplicated their escape maneuver before he saw a sphere of undulating orange energy spew forth from the Romulan ship’s disruptor bank. At this range the effect was immediate, and the
Enterprise
rocked from the full force of the strike. Streaks of diffused energy played across the viewscreen image, and Scott felt his seat drop from beneath him before he was slammed back into the chair. “Return fire!”

Arex pressed the firing controls, and twin beams of blue-white energy streaked across the space separating the
Enterprise
from the Romulan ship. Its shields flared in response to the attack, absorbing the strike even as the navigator fired again. Next to him, Sulu manipulated the helm controls, trying to give the starship some maneuvering room. On the screen, the Romulan warship unleashed another barrage, once more bathing the
Enterprise
’s shields with unharnessed energy as the entire ship groaned in protest.

“Forward shields down to thirty-eight percent!” Chekov yelled.

Scott said nothing, his attention drawn instead to the second and third Romulan ships, which had just appeared on the screen. No sooner had they dropped from subspace than they began moving off in different directions, each banking in such a manner that Scott was able to make out the elaborate markings—ominous predatory birds—on the underside of each vessel’s hull for only a moment before the ships moved out of view.

At the science station, Chekov called out, “They’re moving to surround us!”

“Evasive, Mister Sulu!” Scott ordered, but his next command died in his throat as, on the viewscreen, the remaining Romulan ship was rocked by an enormous writhing
globe of green energy slamming into its hull. It took Scott an extra second to realize that the attack had penetrated the warship’s shields as though they were nonexistent, continuing through until it ripped into the vessel’s port nacelle and destroying it with a single salvo. The Romulan ship lurched in response to the attack as it was sent careening away from the
Enterprise.

“It’s from Gralafi!” Chekov called out. “I’m picking up massive energy readings from multiple locations around the planetoid. The other two Romulan ships have also been targeted and have already been disabled. I’m detecting massive power loss in all three vessels.”

“What about us?” Scott asked. “Are we being targeted?”

Chekov shook his head. “Not that I can see, sir. Only the Romulans.”

“Let’s have a look at all three ships, Mister Chekov,” Scott ordered. The image on the viewscreen was now split into three parts, each displaying one of the three Romulan warships. In addition to the vessel Scott and the bridge crew had seen attacked, its two companions also were adrift. One ship, a massive wound in its underside, spiraled as warp plasma vented from both nacelles. The third vessel had taken a strike along the top of its primary hull, and all of its external lighting had gone dark.

“Life signs?” Scott prompted.

Nodding, Chekov replied, “I’m picking up readings on all three ships, sir. One ship has lost main power, but its life support systems look to be running on emergency batteries. The other two ships still have power, but all three ships appear to have had their weapons and primary propulsion systems disabled by the attack.”