“Theyre charging their tubes, ready to fire, el‑Rashad shouted. “All three cruisers!

As the viewscreen showed the first hint of green energy coming from a disruptor bank on one Klingon ships ventral side, Hernandez heard herself give an order. “Roll it, Reiko!

The words seemed to leave her lips in slow motion, but the reaction to them was anything but slack. As Akagi manipulated the controls, Columbiabegan to twist in a corkscrew fashion. The ships hull groaned as it spun, and Hernandez felt almost as though she were trapped in a high‑speed centrifuge despite the accelerated inputs to the artificial gravity plating and the inertial compensation system. The maneuver overwhelmed the hull sensors, transforming the image on the central viewscreen into a jumbled and pixelated mess, but the fact that the ship hadnt encountered a disruptor blastor sixin the several seconds since the cruisers had opened fire seemed to imply that the maneuver had worked.

At least for the moment.

“Get us steady and return fire! Hernandez shouted. A few moments later the ship seemed to lurch toward its port side, pulling everyone on the bridge a bit off balance.

“Firing now, Thayer said emphatically, as gravity and inertia returned to their proper ratio, and the viewscreen rebooted to display a short‑lived blue wash of outgoing phase‑cannon fire.

The image cleared quickly; just ahead was the battle cruiser that had been farthest from Columbiaat the outset of the battle. Hernandez could see clearly that Columbias phase cannons had communicated very clearly with the hostile vessels aft engine areas.

An instant later, the Klingon warships impulse engines exploded, sending a bright sphere of plasma expanding into space as the interior gases escaped and ignited. The conflagration quickly caught on throughout the hull‑ruptured cruiser, and in moments both the secondary and primary hulls exploded as well, sending jagged hunks of debris and the remains of the vessels burning nacelle pylons and long, fractured neck tumbling in random directions, with some pieces falling toward the planet while others tumbled outward into space.

“Good shooting, Kiona, Hernandez said, excited despite the fact that she would have preferred to avoid the engagement with the Klingons entirely. Good intentions aside, Hernandez knew that she was committed now to fight to the finishand that the two remaining cruisers would be even tougher to stop now that blood had been drawn. There will be no negotiating now.

“Bring us about, and lets see if we can keep the other two off‑kilter. She realized that even though her stomach was still lurching a bit from the spin maneuver, it had worked very well indeed. She didnt expect it to become a standard maneuver, however.

“Were receiving a hail, Ensign Valerian said from her station at the rear of the bridge.

“Are the Klingons finally coming to their senses? Hernandez asked with a smirk. She knew better; the most likely reason they were calling was to spew invective and to make threats about feasting on her entrails or some other such macho nonsense.

“Not exactly, Valerian said.

The image of two menacing Klingon cruisers set against the star‑flecked blackness beyond Draylax vanished, to be replaced by a far warmer and more welcoming sight: Captain Jonathan Archer and the bridge of Enterprise.

“Think you could use a hand, Captain?Archer said, a grim smile on his lips.

“Well, I havent been able to talk any sense into them so far, Captain, Hernandez said, gesturing outward as if toward the Klingons. “In fact, theyve ignored all our hails and warnings. We had to destroy one of their ships before you got here.

“That makes the odds a bit more even,Archer joked. “Two against two is amuch fairer fight.

“Whats your ETA, Captain? Hernandez said, eager to make the coming fight an even‑money proposition.

“Were nearly right on top of you already,Archer said. He turned his head slightly, speaking to someone off‑screen. “Fire to disable.

Hernandez tapped a button on her chairs arm‑mounted console, and the forward viewscreen switched to a view of the other ships. Enterprisewas thundering forward, having apparently just dropped out of warp, and its pulsed phase cannons threw a series of blasts toward the central Klingon aggressor that had been pouring the heaviest fire onto the surface of Draylax.

The beams arced over the enemy vessels hull, and it visibly shuddered, but did not move further. Instead, the Klingon launched a salvo of projectiles at the swift‑moving Enterprise.

“Bring us to bear against the third ship, Hernandez said. “Try hailing them one last time, but prepare to fire again at my signal.

Looking at the viewer, Hernandez saw that Archer was making a pass toward the other ship as well, essentially trapping the vessel between Enterpriseand Columbia. The Klingon cruiser arced to starboard, attempting to fleeHernandez thought she understood Klingon pride well enough to imagine the ships captain would no doubt claim the maneuver was really only a means of “regaining the defensive high groundbut Hernandez knew that Akagi was already matching the hostiles new course.

“Still no answer, Valerian said.

“Target their nacelles, Hernandez ordered.

Suddenly, the Klingon vessel slid off the viewscreen, as if vanishing.

“What happened?

“They braked!Fletcher shouted, staring goggle‑eyed from a computer station she was using. “They just cranked their reverse‑thrusters all the way up. We just overshot them!

“Shit!Hernandez ordered, “Polarize the aft plating! Get Archer back on the

A moment later, the ship shuddered violently, and Hernandez had to grab the arms of her chair to avoid being tossed to the deck. The rest of the bridge crew were similarly jostled, but they had all braced themselves solidly just prior to Akagis earlier evasive maneuvers.

“Status?

“Our starboard nacelle took a hit, Captain, el‑Rashad said, a hint of panic in his voice. “Were venting quite a bit of plasma.

The viewscreen image switched perspective to the aft end of the ships saucer section; from that vantage point, Hernandez could see very clearly the extensive damage the starboard nacelle had sustained, and the energetic plasma that was rapidly escaping from it. Beyond the nacelle, she saw the sapphire glow of Draylax, the Klingon cruiser, and something else.

Enterprisefiring.

A heartbeat later, the phase‑cannon blasts from Enterpriseignited the impulse drive module at the aft end of the Klingon ships secondary hull. Within seconds, the second cruiser turned inside out as the resulting explosions tore it to pieces, its decompression as spectacularly violent as the conflagrations that had taken apart the first vessel.

“Is your ship okay, Captain?Archer asked, his worried face reappearing on the forward viewer.

“Its nothing a little time and baling wire cant fix, Hernandez said through a wry but grateful smile. “But we still have one more ship to deal with first. Lets see if we can get themto surrender in one piece.

“Theyre Klingons,Archer said. “Im not sure their language even has a word for surrender.His gaze shifted to his right for a moment as someone spoke to him.

Fletcher spoke up then as well. “Captain, its notjust one ship.

“What?

“Three more Klingon battle cruisers have just dropped out of warp. Theyre flanking the surviving vessel.

“Damn,Archer said, his image frowning into his own central bridge viewer. “So much for trying to stack the odds in our favor. Are you seeing what were seeing, Captain?

“On‑screen tactical, Hernandez said. “ Enterpriseto audio‑only.

There were now indeed four Klingon vessels orbiting Draylax, and not a one of them showed so much as a dented fenders worth of damage.