There was a chorus of replies as the other engineers resumed their stations, and Scott saw a host of new alerts and status indicators illuminated on different monitors around the room. His gaze fell upon one of the displays at an adjacent station, which now showed a tactical plot as provided by Enterprisesensors. It depicted a large blue circle at its center representing Starbase 47, with two smaller circles—the Enterpriseand the Endeavour—orbiting it in a tight circuit around the enormous Watchtower-class space station’s core. With the Enterprisecommitted to covering its sister starship as its crew worked to transport survivors from the besieged starbase, both vessels were prime targets for the armada of Tholian warships currently laying waste to Vanguard and anything else in their sights.
“Mister Scott!” a voice shouted from across the room, and the chief engineer turned to see Lieutenant Cleary manning one of the consoles devoted to overseeing the Enterprise’s defensive systems. “Port side shields are buckling! We’ve got outer hull breaches in the saucer section!”
A glance at the master situation panel confirmed the younger engineer’s report. “Reroute all power from the ventral shields,” Scott called out, once more eyeing the tactical plot. With the Enterprise’s current orientation as it circled the station, its underside was protected from the majority of the incoming enemy fire. “Concentrate allocations dorsal and aft.” It was a risk, given the madness of the situation, but Scott knew James Kirk’s thinking processes well enough when it came to defensive maneuvering. Based on the Enterprise’s position relative to the Endeavouras it shielded the other ship, Scott could anticipate Kirk’s needs and appropriately allocate the ship’s resources.
But for how much longer?The thought echoed in the chief engineer’s mind as he regarded the ever-changing array of status displays. Despite the best efforts of his team, the Enterprisewas still outnumbered, outgunned, and almost out of time.
“Kirk to Engineering!”bellowed the voice of the Enterprise’s captain, exploding from the intercom system. “Scotty, how are we doing?”
His hand slamming down on the control to activate his console’s comm unit, Scott replied, “We’re taking quite a beating, sir.”
“We have to hold things together for another couple of minutes,”Kirk said. “TheEndeavour ’s warp drive is out, and they’re making some kind of quick repair. They expect to be ready any minute, but we need to cover them until then.”
Scott’s first thought was to offer his assistance to the Endeavour’s engineering staff, but he knew that was an impractical suggestion. He had his hands full here just keeping the Enterprisein the current fight. Still, he could not resist asking, “Can we do anything to help them?”
“You’re already doing it,”the captain said. “Just maintain our shields and weapons for another minute so we can keep the Tholians off their back. We’re almost home.”
Buoyed by Kirk’s comments, Scott already was setting to the process of rerouting power from systems across the ship. “Aye, sir, we’re on it.”
The connection was terminated, and he once more regarded the master panel, seeing the disturbing number of crimson indicators. Each of them begged for his attention, laboring to communicate to him the injuries his ship had sustained. Even with the damage the Enterprisehad absorbed, Scott knew it still was in far better shape than the Endeavour.He knew also that Kirk would not abandon the other ship and its crew, not while he still possessed any ability to fight.
All right, lass, Scott mused with renewed determination as he once more tapped the console before him. Let’s see this through.
• • •
The ache at the small of his back was beginning to work its way up his spine and toward his legs, and Kirk forced himself to shift positions in his chair. For the tenth time in less than two minutes, he glanced to each of the consoles around the bridge, starting with Lieutenant Leslie at the engineering station and proceeding clockwise. Each person’s attention was focused on his or her instruments as the crew carried out whatever task or function best supported the current tactical situation. For his part, Sulu seemed to have melded with the helm station, his eyes locked on the various controls and indicators before him. His hands appeared possessed of their own will, their every movement one of economy and tenacity as the lieutenant guided the Enterpriseon its unthinkable course. Despite the obvious tension permeating the bridge, Sulu’s demeanor was one of utter self-control, offering no hints that the slightest miscalculation or deviation on his part would doom the ship and everyone aboard it.
The man is a machine.
Sensing other eyes on him, Kirk turned his chair to see Lieutenant Uhura regarding him from her communications station. Her anxiety was obvious, even though she managed to mask that worry in her expression, and he offered what he hoped was an encouraging nod. Uhura returned the gesture, her features softening as she returned her attention to her console.
The ship lurched as more Tholian weapons fire struck the deflector shields, and everyone on the bridge gripped their consoles as the deck heaved. Despite the artificial gravity and inertial damping systems, the effects of the prolonged assault and the need to transfer ever-increasing amounts of power from other areas of the ship to strengthen its defenses were beginning to take their toll. The rescue maneuvers in which the Enterpriseand Endeavourhad engaged left the starships vulnerable to Tholian attack, but at the time the enemy vessels had seemed obsessed with pummeling Starbase 47. It was apparent now that the aggressors had deduced what the Endeavourwas attempting and were changing their tactics.
“More buckling in the starboard shields aft,” Spock reported from the science station. “Engineering is rerouting power from other sections to compensate.”
“Continue firing, Mister Chekov,” Kirk ordered, turning so that he once again was facing forward. He studied the image of the Endeavouras it raced ahead of the Enterprise, circling the space station in an orbit that was so close and dangerous that it had triggered every possible proximity sensor and collision threat alert. Near the edges of the viewscreen, Tholian vessels darted into and out of view, firing their weapons either at the station or at the pair of beleaguered starships. Kirk winced as a burst of energy plowed into the Endeavour’s hull, and his thoughts turned to the crew of the other ship as they labored to effect emergency repairs under such hellish conditions. How much longer could they last? During her last transmission to the Enterprise, Captain Khatami had said they needed only another minute to get their warp drive back online, but that interval had expired.
“Spock?” Kirk prompted. “What’s going on over there?”
The Vulcan, his face bathed in the cool blue light of the science console’s sensor viewer, replied, “The Endeavour’s warp drive is still off-line.”
“What about the station?” Kirk asked. “The Shedai?”
There was a noticeable pause as Spock continued to consult his instruments. “The Shedai life readings appear to be restricted to one area of the station’s central core. It is the same section as the elevated power readings we detected. Something seems to be keeping the Shedai contained there.”
Had Nogura and his people devised some means of combating the Shedai? It was a question Kirk was sure would never be answered to any degree of satisfaction, and dwelling on it now served no useful purpose. “If you’re right, and the station doeshave a self-destruct, whoever’s still over there is obviously holding off for us to get clear before they trigger it.” Was someone standing by, waiting until the last possible moment before being beamed out by the Endeavour? Were they trapped, unable to be rescued, or had they elected to remain at their post, working to prevent the Shedai from somehow interfering with the self-destruct? If that were the case, then the longer the Enterpriseand Endeavourremained here, the more their already untenable position possibly also served to undermine whatever crazy plan had been put into motion aboard the all-but-overwhelmed space station.