Klingon Two Point Oh
The Enterprise D ran like a bear harried by a pack of dogs. The attacking ships were smaller and weaker but they were many and they had kept the Enterprise headed away from Federation space at full warp for four days.
Picard had lost track of how long he had manned the helm.
"Sir, the cut on your head is bleeding again," Data said. "I can operate helm control while the doctor attends you?"
"No! I will not leave the bridge," Picard barked, then forced himself to take a breath and swallow his frustration. His left eye was swollen almost closed from an impact with the helm console and he felt disconnected from his surroundings. He recognised the symptoms of concussion, but attempted to hold his body erect and his shoulders back as he piloted Enterprise.
"Sorry Data, I cannot spare myself while the Enterprise is under attack. Besides, the last report said medical were overwhelmed with casualties."
Casualties had reduced the bridge crew to three officers; corpses lay where they fell; no one had the strength left to remove them.
The bitter smell of burning plastic filled Picard's nostrils; the floor under his feet vibrated as the engines struggled.
"Captain, shields are failing! I've shut down all secondary systems and used the power to generate the shields- but it's not enough," Worf shouted over the sound of the torpedoes striking the shields.
"Cut power to Life Support," Picard ordered. "Concentrate shields around…" he willed his brain to work. "Around inhabited areas of the ship."
"La Forge, I'm dropping out of warp- now!" Picard called into his com badge and then cut power to the warp nacelles. The ship lurched to sub light speeds. Impulse engines were down, he used thrusters to spin the Enterprise almost 180 degrees. The attacking ships shot past and out of weapons range, and Picard engaged warp drive again.
"Captain, please don't do that again," La Forge's voice came over the com. "We almost breached the warp core!"
"Have we lost them?" Picard asked Data.
"No sir, they are maintaining warp 9 as they turn. We will be in their weapons range again in… 6 minutes," Data said.
"For every ship I destroy, two more take its place!" Worf punched his console in frustration.
"They must have advanced replicator technology," Data said.
"Replicating this many ships would take massive amounts of energy," Picard said. "Perhaps from a mothership of some sort?"
"There's nothing on my targeting scanners, sir. But they are blocking our scans," Worf realised. "There are four dark patches on the long range scanners, where we should see background radiation and random particles."
"I suppose the dark areas are out of weapons range?" Picard asked.
"Yes sir."
They waited in silence for the enemy to catch up. Everything had been said, everything that could be done had been done.
The ship bucked as torpedoes struck the shields and Picard flew out of his seat. Data caught him with one hand and righted him.
"Enterprise is surrounded by 18 ships. Another wave of 12 ships are holding position a light year behind us, probably in case you try dropping out of warp again, captain," Worf analysed. "Their weapons are not as powerful as ours, but as their numbers increase-"
"They don't have to be," Picard finished for him. He rubbed damp hands on his trouser legs. The same question repeated in his mind: how do we survive this?
"Sir, I have six photon torpedoes left, and two phaser banks; the others are offline."
"Have La Forge replicate more torpedoes and assign repair crews," he ordered.
"Sir, replicators have been offline since yesterday," Data said. "We no longer generate enough energy to maintain shields and replicators, so you ordered them shut down."
"Ah… did I?" His mind seemed fogged. Definitely concussion.
"Sensors reading target lock, sir," Data informed him. Weapons fire rocked the ship, but Enterprise was already travelling at full speed in a straight line, so he took a moment to examine his options. Again. Over the days of battle he had used every trick he had. But I'm missing something, something someone else did?
Picard closed his eyes in exhaustion but jolted from a doze as the ship slowed abruptly.
"La Forge- we need more warp power!" he demanded over his combadge.
"I'm sorry captain, both warp nacelles are damaged, warp 8 is the best we can do," the Chief Engineer answered.
"They are concentrating fire on the warp nacelles, sir," Worf added. "They are trying to bring us to a halt."
Picard shivered. A stationary Enterprise would be an easy target. He programmed thrusters to spin the ship on the horizontal axis, prodding his fingertips hard against the plastic surface. He wanted the sensation; he deserved pain for failing to save his ship.
Shots aimed at the nacelles struck the shields of the secondary hull as the ship spun.
"Sir, this makes it harder for our targeting computers to maintain a lock," Worf complained.
"Save your torpedoes," Picard said. Six ships less would not make any difference. His body was beaten, his mind on the verge of surrender when a star appeared on the forward sensors. Picard stared at the main screen for a long moment and then aimed the Enterprise straight at the star. That's it- pinch an idea from history! At warp 8 they would flash past it in a moment, but he plotted a course that would take them through the corona.
"Cut power to weapons and transfer it to shields," Picard struggled to keep his voice calm, as he plotted a sling shot manoeuvre in his mind. They were surrounded by enemy ships in three dimensions, but there was still the fourth.
"It won't be enough, Captain," Data said.
"Enough for what, Data?" Picard asked as he focussed on programming helm control.
One of the attack craft cut in front of Enterprise, Picard had a glimpse of an office block shaped vessel and then they burst through it. He breathed a sigh of relief as the shields held.
"One more collision and the shields are gone, sir," Worf informed him.
"To protect us from solar radiation as we time warp around this sun," Data said, matter of factly.
"Time warp?" Worf asked. "Does it not take hours of preparation to plot such a course?"
"We don't have hours, Mr Worf," Picard said. "We might have minutes. But if we can time jump even 5 years, we will be out of range of our attackers."
"La Forge," Picard activated his combadge. "We need more power to the warp drive and shields- we are attempting a time warp manoeuvre to escape the attacking fleet."
"We're on the verge of a warp core breach," La Forge warned. "But I can hold it together for a few more minutes."
"I can plot a more efficient course, captain," Data said. Picard nodded and sat back as Data reached over and his lon fingers danced across helm controls. The engines screamed. The star grew huge, the bridge tilted as the engines pushed the ship into a tight orbit. It took a fraction of a second to pass through the corona of the star. Picard was aware of his heart pounding and held his breath.
"Time warp achieved, captain!" Data yelled above the noise of the engines.
Picard's vision blurred, bile rose in his throat as he looked at Data and saw ghost images streaming away. He locked his eyes on the read outs before him, which made it easier to control his stomach.
"Geordie- we're losing shields!" Worf yelled into the com system.
"The warp core is breaching," Geordie yelled back.
"We need a few more seconds!" Picard banged his fist on the console. Must be a little extra power somewhere.
Picard raised his head and straightened his back, ready for death. A long moment passed as he waited the Enterprise to burn.
"Full Stop-" Data shouted. "Shut everything down! We need Full Stop now!"
"Helm showing Full Stop," Picard reported automatically, as he pressed buttons. Metal tore, Picard felt the sound through the soles of his feet and fingertips. The ship bucked and spun. Picard clung to the console. Lights and gravity died. His body drifted, and he pulled himself back into the chair.
"We've dropped out of warp, Impulse Power still down- My console down," Worf reported.
Picard sat in the dark, willing his breathing and pulse rate to return to normal. They had survived. Now he had to face the grief of friends and colleagues he had lost, and he readied his mind for that task.
"Are you getting anything from sensors- Data?"
"My console has also powered down," Data said.
"Battery power should have come on by now," Picard noted.
"I used the battery power to maintain the shields, sir," Worf admitted.
"Battery power would only extend the shield life by twenty four seconds," Data calculated.
"The captain said we only needed a few seconds," Worf said. His voice had a growl as he defended his decision.
"I did not mean to sound critical, Mr Worf," Data said. "I calculate that those extra seconds are the reason we are still alive."
The air was cooler and harder to breath, or was that just his imagination? All he had was the floor under his feet and his ears. The silence and lack of vibration told him his ship was dead.
"Come on, Geordi," he murmured. "Be alive."
Emergency lighting flickered and came on, but his control panel remained blank. He turned and saw that Worf had drifted away from his console, towards the rear wall of the bridge. He must have been out of reach of a hand hold when the gravity plating lost power. The big Klingon pushed off from the rear wall and drifted up into the ceiling dome, bounced and made a grab for Commander Ryker's body as he passed. He caught the commander's ankle and drew the two together, pulling himself up his friend's body arm over arm. Picard held his breath as Worf touched his fingers to Ryker's neck and then pressed an ear to his mouth.
"Is he?" was all he managed.
"Commander Ryker is dead, sir," Worf said. "May the gates of Sto-vo-core be welcoming, my friend."
Picard allowed grief to take him. They had survived so much together. Then he pulled himself together, the Enterprise needed her captain.
"Data, as soon as the turbolifts are functional, head down to engineering and assist La Forge with repairs. We don't know where or when we are, so focus on shields and engine power."
"Yes sir," Data said. He remained still. Picard envied Data his self-control; his own hands trembled.
"Engineering to all decks," La Forge's voice echoed through the PA system. "We are about to re-energise the gravity plating. We will start at ten percent of one Gee….now."
"Sir," Data said as he studied the Ops Console. "The engineers have connected several of the shuttlecraft to the EPS grid, providing emergency power. The Warp Drive and Impulse Engines are still down."
"Worf, you're with me, we will start diagnostics and repairs on the bridge," Picard ordered.
"Sir, partially restored sensors show we are drifting in the Oort Cloud of the star we used for the time warp manoeuvre," Data stood as he reported, ready to go to engineering.
"Sir! Look," Worf pointed at the viewer, eyes wide.
Picard looked; stars moved across the view screen as the ship spun, then a warp nacelle and part of a strut drifted across the screen. Picard's legs gave way and he sat down hard. The warp drive was beyond repair.
"La Forge," he said dully. "Shut down Engineering and get your people to the saucer section. We'll get back to the Federation with Impulse Drive."
His body too heavy to move, Picard focussed on his breathing. To lose his ship… The blow was visceral.
Data dropped into his chair, fingers pressing buttons. "I am reading a target lock; we are being hailed."
"On speakers," Picard ordered.
A deep voice announced something in a language Picard did not understand.
"Sounds like a bear having a coughing fit," he speculated.
"It is High Klingon, captain, the language of the Emperor Kahless. They are demanding our immediate surrender," Worf said.
"Disruptors launched," Data said.
"How many?" Picard asked in a hoarse voice. Helm was still dark, he could do nothing.
"Sixteen," Data said.
"Oh, that's…. unfair," Picard looked around at the vacated bridge. There would not be time to abandon ship.
Beat.
Beat.
Beat.
His heart counted down his life.
The ship wobbled.
"Disruptor charges exploded prematurely," Data said.
"A warning shot?" Worf wondered.
"I'm afraid our automated defences were built in grandfather's time. The AIs are rather aggressive," a stranger's voice said, in accented modern Klingon. "I apologise for any distress caused."
Picard swivelled and found himself looking at a Klingon, dressed in a bright blue tunic and shorts. Bare feet? He was used to Klingons wearing armoured boots with a large talon at the toes. It was small relief that the Klingon did not appear armed: "I presume your defence systems are still targeting my ship?" Picard asked.
La Forge announced artificial gravity had returned to one Gee and Picard willed himself to stand erect. His head and ribs complained at the movement, but he ignored the pain. The top of his head reached the Klingon's bearded chin, but he pulled his tunic straight and looked the stranger in the eye.
"I shall ask the questions here," the Klingon thundered. "Who are you and why do you bring a warship into our system?"
Worf placed himself between Picard and the Klingon and growled.
"I am Worf son of Mogh, declare yourself and answer the captain's questions."
"Sir, I am being scanned by this individual, on every frequency I can detect," Data said. He stood and pulled a tricorder from his waist band. "And he is scanning every frequency the tricorder can detect, too. The scans emanate from his stomach area."
The stranger grinned. A Klingon grin is impressively toothy.
"Our defence AIs reacted to a Klingon life sign. They were not programmed to wonder what all these other life signs might mean- so I came to find out for myself. The Klingon looked around the bridge before staring at Worf.
"I assume, son of Mogh, your father died gloriously in battle? My father died at the age of six hundred and forty, in his bed after a lifetime of research and development."
"Worf," Picard gripped the big Klingon's elbow and moved him gently to one side. As much as he would like to see this smug individual knocked down by Worf, it would serve no good purpose.
"Sir, he has a personal force field, which is making scanning difficult, but I am detecting a power output the equal to a Federation Runabout, emanating from him" Data said.
"I am Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Federation starship Enterprise, and this is not a warship. We are primarily explorers and did not expect to meet Klingons in the Delta Quadrant," he said, hoping the introduction would move things along. The bridge control systems were coming back on, but there were casualties to see to, repairs to make and he needed to decide whether this Klingon was a new threat or an ally. They needed an ally, but a power equal to a Runabout standing on his bridge, sounded like a threat.
