Chapter-Twenty Six
Jerry looked at the screen, his face a fixture of horror.
"Stand down, Commander, and prepare to be boarded," Heaton said. "I will be taking Captain Allen and his group into custody, and Captain Harker will be taking command of the Ascension."
Jerry took a step back and slowly sat down in the captain's chair. He drummed his fingers on the armrest for a moment, never looking in my direction. Finally, he looked back up to the viewscreen.
"Admiral, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to deny your request to board my ship," he said very calmly. Heaton's face lit up with rage.
"It wasn't a request, Commander!" he bellowed. Jerry smiled congenially.
"Then I'm going to have to wish you a pleasant trip straight to hell." With that he cut the transmission.
"Raise shields!" I said.
"Captain, he's powering up…whatever that thing he's got on his ship is," said Julie.
"Evasive maneuvers," I said, moving to take my place in the captain's chair. "Course bearing five-zero mark two. Weston, what are the chances we can outrun that thing?"
"Not great, Captain. Her warp capabilities are essentially the same as ours."
"Great. Power up phasers, but don't fire until he does."
At that moment, the ship was rocked as a green lance of energy shot across space at us. Half the bridge crew toppled over, myself included.
"What the hell was that?!" I demanded.
"Captain," Weston said, "that was a Borg weapon.
"Ah sure am gettin' tired of surprises!" Tex said, dragging himself back into his seat.
"That makes two of us," I agreed. "Return fire. Quantum torpedoes, full spread."
"Aye, Cap'n." Tex punched the console, and five brilliant-white points of light shot out toward the Byzantium. Heaton had apparently anticipated our move, and only two torpedoes struck home.
"Damage?" I said.
"They were good hits," Julie said. "But not good enough so far. Our shields are down to seventy-three percent."
"With one hit," I muttered. "Continue evasive maneuvers. Weston, don't let them breathe. Fire phasers."
"Aye, sir." The reddish glow of phaser fire displayed on the viewscreen, raking across the Byzantium's shields.
"Cap'n, they're firin' again…"
It felt as if the entire ship had been thrown on its side. Jerry's body slammed into mine, and we both toppled over the chair and into the deck. Jerry was the first to get up, and he turned to Julie.
"Shield status?!" he barked.
"It's too powerful for us, Commander," she said. Nearby, one of the consoles exploded into a shower of sparks, and smoke began pouring onto the bridge. "Shields are down to thirty percent!"
"Captain!" said Weston. "There's another ship coming into range. It's Voyager, sir."
"Thank God," I said, silently amazed that she had been able to get here so quickly. "Return fire again, Weston. Phasers. Try to disable…"
"We've lost phasers, sir," she said. "That last hit took out our weapons."
"Shit!" I swore. "Johnstone, emergency warp. Engage."
"Aye, Captain." In an instant, the stars on the viewscreen distorted and turned into fast-moving lines.
"The Byzantium is pursuing, Captain," said Julie.
"That's fine. Hopefully at this speed that weapon of theirs won't work very well."
"Sir," said Weston, "Admiral Janeway is aboard Voyager. She's hailing us."
"On screen."
Admiral Janeway filled the screen, and the concern on her face was palpable.
"Hang on, Captain, we're on our way."
"Admiral," I said, "he's got more than just Starfleet weaponry on that thing. He's got Borg technology."
"I was counting on that," she said with a smile. "Just be prepared to drop out of warp and fire at him."
"Admiral, we've lost phasers," I said. Janeway frowned.
"Torpedoes?" she asked. I looked at Weston. She nodded.
"Yes, Admiral, we have those."
"Good. That will have to work."
"Thank you very much," I said.
"Least I can do for one of my star pupils," she said. "Janeway out." She vanished from the screen. I turned to Weston.
"How long until Voyager intercepts?"
"Three minutes, sir," she said. At that moment we were rocked again by another blast from the Byzantium, but this time it was not nearly as powerful.
"Report," I said.
"Shields holding at twenty-eight percent," Julie said. "He doesn't have the same accuracy at warp speed."
"Good, then let's keep that up until Janeway pulls whatever stunt she's got up her sleeve. Allen to Engineering."
"Demansky here, Captain," came the voice of the Engineer.
"How are we doing down there?" I asked.
"Well, it isn't pretty, sir. We're blowing relays like it's the damned Fourth of July down here!"
"Can you keep the ship together for a little bit longer?" I half-pleaded.
"I think so. But you'd better get a handle on whatever it is that's firing at us. That thing is packing one hell of a punch."
"I intend to, Demansky. Allen out."
"Sir," said Weston, "we've got a change in the visual on Voyager. Something is…happening to it, sir." I was horrified. What could this mean?
"On screen," I said. My horror turned to instant relief as I saw exactly what it meant. Voyager was deploying its ablative hull plating. In seconds, it looked like a giant metal shell, hurling through space at its target.
"They're coming into weapons range," said Weston.
"Bring us out of warp, and come about hard to port," I said. We dropped out of warp, and moments later we could see the huge hulk of the Byzantium bearing down on us. In an instant, Voyager shot across the screen, firing volley after volley of torpedoes and phasers at the Byzantium. Every single torpedo hit its mark.
"Sir," Weston said, "the Byzantium has sustained heavy damage. They're preparing to return fire."
"Keep it going," I said. "Fire torpedoes."
The green energy beam shot out from the Byzantium, slamming itself into Voyager.
"What's Voyager's status?" I said. Julie looked at her console.
"Barely any damage at all," she said.
"Fantastic. Keep firing at those bastards. Try to disable them as quickly…"
"Captain," said Weston in alarm, "the Byzantium is moving off."
In a second, the space in front of the massive ship distorted, and the Byzantium shot forward and disappeared. We all looked on, agape.
"What the hell was that?" I asked.
"Transwarp conduit, sir," said Weston. "Voyager is hailing, sir."
"On screen."
"Captain, they're heading for the front. We'll never catch them, but we need to get there as quickly as we can."
"Agreed, Admiral," I said.
"We're feeding you the latest updates on the coordinates of the front. I think you'll find the news somewhat distressing."
I looked at one of the nearby consoles, and nearly choked.
"They've moved the sphere!" I said. "They're only a few light years from Earth!"
"Yes. The sphere opened a massive transwarp conduit and travelled almost an eighth of the quadrant in a matter of minutes. It seems that they've planned this all along, since most of the fleet is just now catching up to them."
"But this means that they'll reach Earth in a matter of hours," I said, horrified.
"I wish we had that much time," she said. "Captain, Earth is already under attack."
"How many?" Spock asked. I looked around the conference table, hating what I was about to say.
"The best estimate at the moment is that there are twenty thousand drones on the ground. For some of us, this will actually be our first destination, since Starfleet needs as many ground troops as it can get facing them."
Faces around the table were grim, even Spock's.
"I presume, then, that the Ascension will be fighting in space?" he said. I nodded.
"This ship will be joining the defense perimeter, trying to hold Borg reinforcements back. We're fighting a losing battle, people, but we're going to give them everything we've got."
"What about the situation with Q," Jerry asked. "Do you really think that he's going to let Earth be destroyed?"
"I don't know," I said hopelessly. "I would love to say no, but I don't think it's safe to assume that. For all we know, his appearance might have been just to give humanity a mocking farewell."
"Still," Spock said, "that was not the intention he conveyed in our meeting. It seemed that, if nothing else, he wished to keep Omega out of the hands of the Borg."
"Yes," I agreed, "and that's what puzzles me the most. It seems to me that if Q really wanted to stop all of this, he'd just wave his hand and do it."
"There are two possibilities," Spock said. "He is unable to do that, or he is unwilling to." Despite the stress of the situation, I couldn't help the smile that crept onto my face. Some things never changed.
"Agreed," I said. "In the mean time, I don't think that we can count on his help in the upcoming battle. So, here's the situation. Per Admiral Janeway's orders, I will be beaming down to Earth to join the shock troop regiment. I'm taking Weston, Newman, Brock and Foster with me. Additionally, we'll be taking everyone not on this shift with us. Weston, you will be in command of the Ascension while I'm gone, and you'll be working with Beta shift only."
"Aye, Captain," she said. Then, with a warmth I had not seen in her since I met her, she added, "I'll keep her together for you, sir."
"I would greatly appreciate that," I replied. Perhaps there was hope for our working relationship, after all. "Those of you who will be joining me, report to Transporter Room Three in thirty minutes. We'll be suiting up with the new anti-assimilation units. Additionally, we'll all be receiving a complimentary shotgun and bat'leth."
"Hell, yeah!" Tex said, grinning.
"Those of you remaining aboard the Ascension," I continued, "I am expecting a lot out of you. It is my intention to return to the ship as quickly as I can, with all of my people in tow. You all know what to do, so I won't waste your time."
As I spoke, I felt the tears begin to well up. I had been standing, but I suddenly felt very weak, and sat down. I sighed, rubbing my temples, and looked up at my crew with bleary eyes.
"People," I said, "this very well may be the last time that we are able to be together. I'm not going to tell you that I'm not scared, even if it is my job to be confident. Frankly, I'm terrified. And I know that every one of you is, too. Unless something amazing presents itself, we're probably all going to die today. End of story. Every single one of you has a story that may never be told. Without some kind of miracle, this ends up being a very sad story. I don't know what to say to calm you, since I can't even calm myself. All that I can say is that we have a duty to perform, and that I have complete confidence in your abilities. I know it sounds cliché, but it's the truth. We may die today, but we will die having done our damndest, and that's something to be proud of.
"You know," I said, rising again and beginning to pace around the table, "there's a lot of diversity sitting at this table." I looked at Weston, and noticed that her attention was completely set on my words. "Some of us came from nothing. I used to spend every week day taking people's measurements and trying to sell them expensive clothing. Not very glorious, is it?" By this point, I realized that I was mostly speaking for my own benefit. I didn't want to go where we were going, and I was speaking mostly to calm myself. "I certainly never imagined myself as the captain of a starship going into a battle where the odds were so stacked in the enemy's favor. But none of that matters, because it's where I am. And it's where you all are. This is it, people. This is where the line is drawn, and we have to stand up and say that humanity is worth saving. That we have the right to wake up in the morning and decide our own fates. That we will not be taken from our way of life and destroyed by some faceless, emotionless evil.
"Honestly," I said, feeling the emotion well up continually as I spoke, "that's why we can win this battle. That's why we can beat the Borg. We care. We want to wake up tomorrow and pursue the adventure that is our lives. I'm tired of these sons of bitches and their relentless quest for 'perfection'! We do pretty damn well searching for it at our own pace, and who the hell are they to tell us how to accomplish it?! I want each and every one of you to consider that. And at the end of the day, I don't want to just beat the Borg back. I want to crush them into oblivion. I want them to feel, in those last moments, the grip of terror that they've inflicted on so many races for so long. I want to destroy them, people, and I want us to be the ones that do it. Will you help me do this?"
There was no round of applause, no stirring movie music to indicate the climactic end of my speech. There was only the nod of heads around the table. But it was enough. I dismissed the meeting, and one by one everyone filed out of the room. Except Weston.
"Captain," she said, "permission to speak freely?"
"Of course," I said. "What's on your mind?"
"First of all, I want you to know that I meant what I said. I will keep this ship together while you're gone." She paused for a moment, and it seemed that she was having difficulty coming up with the words for what she wanted to say. "And second, I think that I owe you an apolgy. When you came aboard, I thought you were just some stupid young flunkie from a backwater time, who had no idea of what the realities of command were. I was envious, to be frank. I thought that Starfleet had made a terrible decision, hiring a bunch of idiots to do a job that they could never live up to. I realize now that I was mistaken, and I was wondering if we might start fresh." She looked down at the deck as she said this last part, and I smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"When I first came here," I said, "I was a stupid flunkie from a backwater time. Whether or not that has changed in the last couple of months remains to be seen. But I feel like it has. In fact, I feel like a completely different person than I was then. I don't know much about command, but if I were going to guess, I'd say that it's people like you who make good commanders out of people like me. People who are willing to stand up and tell me when I'm being an idiot. I accept your request, and I hope that we get the opportunity to explore our mutual qualities in the future."
"Thank you, sir," Weston said.
In my quarters, I struggled with the anti-assimilation suit, trying to get it apart so that I could put it on. The chime to my door sounded.
"Come in," I said. The doors opened, and Julie entered.
"Hi," she said simply. I smiled.
"Hi there," I returned. "Are you ready?"
"As ready as I'm going to get," she said. "Mike, I think I need to tell you this before we go. I know it's really soon; we've only known each other for a very short time, but I think that…I'm in love with you."
The silence was thick between us. I was already on the verge of tears, terrified as I was of our destination. For a moment, I tried to hide my emotions from her, but I realized that it was futile.
"Julie," I said, "I've fallen in love with you too. It's stupid, I know. I mean, this is classic psychology, right? Here we are in a desperate situation, and naturally we fall in love with each other." She nodded with a tear-stained smile. "But frankly, I don't care. The simple fact is that I do love you, and I have a feeling that I'm going to for a very long time."
She came over and embraced me. I put my arms around her and held her tightly. We didn't cry, nor did we speak. For several long moments, we did nothing at all. We just stood there, feeling the warmth of each other and trying to stay caught in the moment. And it worked; for a few brief minutes there in my quarters, the melee of terror disappeared and we were able to exist only in the warmth of each other.