“What’s the story, Spock?” Kirk asked.

At the science station, the first officer did not look up from his instruments as he replied, “The Sagittariushas sustained heavy damage and is on a course away from the station, and sensors are detecting debris from at least one Starfleet vessel, possibly the Buenos Aires.The Endeavouris the only other ship, and their course and evasive maneuvers suggest they are attempting to remain within transporter range of the station. Its shields are compromised and losing power.”

“Trying to evacuate personnel, most likely,” Kirk said. If Captain Khatami was maintaining her ship’s position for that purpose, it would not take long for the Tholians to deduce that for themselves, at which time the Endeavourwould be little more than a sitting duck, and that was beforeit dropped its deflector shields in the hopes of transporting survivors from the station. “Move us toward them, Mister Sulu.”

“Aye, sir,” replied the helm officer, nodding without turning from his station.

Behind him, Kirk heard Uhura say, “Captain, we’re being hailed by the Endeavour.”

“On-screen,” Kirk ordered, and a second later the image on the main viewscreen depicting the chaos of battle was replaced by that of Atish Khatami. The Endeavour’s commanding officer seemed to be holding up well enough, all things considered, but he still saw the relief in her expression. Disregarding the usual greetings and other protocol, Kirk cut right to the point. “What’s your status, Captain?”

Her voice crisp and controlled, Khatami replied, “We need cover so we can beam survivors off the station. Can you buy us five minutes?”

Kirk’s mind raced through tactical scenarios. The Endeavourwould have to lower its shields to employ its transporters. For the Enterpriseto provide effective protection throughout that maneuver, it would have to be within close proximity to its sister starship. Very close proximity. He glanced at Sulu just as the lieutenant looked over his shoulder and realized from the other man’s expression that he already had surmised the situation for himself. Without saying anything, Sulu nodded, his expression one of utter confidence.

Returning the nod, Kirk looked back to Khatami. “You’ll have it. And I hope your pilot’s as good as mine, because we’ll have to be almost on top of you to pull this off.”

Without missing a beat, the Endeavour’s captain said, “We can avoid hitting the station as long as you don’t hit us.”

Kirk smiled, encouraged by her composure and matter-of-fact demeanor even as the situation seemed hell-bent on collapsing around her. “Deal. We’ll follow your lead. Enterpriseout.” No sooner did the transmission end than another round of weapons fire slammed into the ship’s shields. Kirk felt the reverberations in the hull as they channeled through the deck plating beneath him. “I think the Tholians might know what we’re up to.” Looking to his helm officer, he said, “All right, Mister Sulu. It’s up to you.”

“Aye, Captain,” the lieutenant acknowledged, splitting his attention between his controls and the console’s tactical scanner. “Moving in to shadow the Endeavournow.”

Smacking the communications control on the arm of his chair, Kirk snapped, “Engineering. Scotty, we’ll need everything you’ve got to reinforce the shields. Take power from anywhere you need to, including life support, but keep the shields up no matter what.”

There only was the briefest of pauses before the voice of the chief engineer called out through the intercom from the bowels of the ship. “Aye, sir. We’ll hold things together with spit and baling wire if we have to.”

“Bridge out.” Kirk severed the connection and redirected his attention back to the main viewscreen. The image there depicted dozens of Tholian vessels streaking back and forth across the Enterprise’s path. Ahead of them, Starbase 47 hung in space, its multiple phaser ports and photon torpedo banks continuing to track and fire at the attacking enemy ships. Sulu keyed several controls on his console, and the angle on the viewscreen shifted as the helm officer guided the starship on a diving turn to starboard. The station loomed even larger as the screen now was dominated by the Endeavour, with Sulu maneuvering the Enterpriseever closer to it. Kirk and the bridge crew were provided with a stunning overhead view of the other vessel, now so near that Kirk felt he might reach through the screen and touch the ship’s hull. His stomach lurched in response to the Endeavour’s proximity.

This is going to be tight.

Sulu adjusted the Enterprise’s trajectory so that the starship fell behind its sister vessel as the Endeavourmoved into the shadows cast by the underside of the station’s massive saucer-shaped primary hull. Rolling so that the underside of its engineering hull faced the station, the Endeavourbegan to describe a circular path around the starbase’s core, using Vanguard itself for cover as it continued its restricted orbit.

“Whoever’s at the helm of that ship is pretty good,” Sulu said, and Kirk heard the tension in the lieutenant’s voice.

“Almost as good as you,” Kirk said, forcing himself not to react to the extreme nearness of the station’s hull even as he noted the copious battle scars inflicted upon it.

From the science station, Spock called out, “The Endeavourhas lowered its shields and is commencing transporter evacuation.”

“Good,” Kirk replied. “Let’s hope we can get this done fast and get the hell out of here. Chekov, fire at your discretion, but keep the Tholians off our backs.”

The ensign nodded without looking away from his console. “Aye, Captain.”

“Overlay tactical plot on the main viewer,” Kirk ordered, and a moment later a faint schematic was superimposed over the screen’s existing visual feed. At its center was Starbase 47, with two small blue dots representing the Enterpriseand the Endeavourcircling it. Red dots, far too many to count, swarmed about the station.

We just made their job that much easier for them.

Glancing toward the science station, Kirk asked, “What about Vanguard, Spock? What kind of shape is it in?”

“The primary hull section has sustained considerable damage,” answered the first officer. “Shields are down across the upper structure, including the Operations Center. I am picking up life readings throughout the station, though most of the remaining personnel appear to be in or near emergency evacuation stations.”

Kirk frowned. With its shields compromised, the starbase’s Ops Center was even more vulnerable to attack. If any sort of coordination with respect to the evacuation was originating from there, rather than a more secure location deeper inside the station, a strike at that point would hinder if not outright thwart the Endeavour’s rescue efforts. Eyeing the station’s immense cylindrical secondary hull, he asked, “What about the engineering sections?”

Once more looking into his sensor viewer, Spock replied, “Power reactors are approaching overload. Sensors are detecting several radiation leaks and power surges throughout the central core.”

For a moment, Kirk considered ordering the Enterpriseshields dropped so that it could participate in transporting survivors from the station, but he dismissed the notion. This crazy plan’s only chance of success was if he and his ship held their position and protected the Endeavourwhile it completed the evacuation. That conclusion was strengthened as he looked to Chekov, whose hands were alternating between his station’s weapons and targeting controls. On the main viewscreen, Kirk noted the extinguishing of several red dots, each a Tholian vessel falling victim to the weapons of the station, the Enterpriseor the Endeavour.It seemed that as each icon disappeared, three more moved into view, taking its place.