Hiten walked with Pike until he was standing in the middle of the Vayu's small bridge. "Una's in front of you manning the helm, Malie's on sensors to your left, comms officer is to your right, I will handle the weapons console behind you."
Pike tugged the hem his uniform jacket down. Someone on the Vayu had thoughtful cleaned it and repaired the wear and tear from the past few rough days. He had insisted on donning it before coming to the bridge with Hiten. It's silly, he thought, but wearing it at least I feel like a functioning captain even if I cannot see anything other than very bright light. "Number One, location of the Klingon ships? And us?" He asked. After Una reported the information, he committed the coordinates and current direction of the three enemy ships and the Vayu to memory. "Speed?"
"All three cruisers are traveling at one quarter impulse; the Vayu is matching that." Una answered.
On the map in Pike's mind, three blips representing the enemy vessels began creeping in different directions. "Why that slow?" Pike mused as he considered. "Ah. Of course. They're planning to surround us … after toying with us first."
A voice on Pike's right called out, "Ship is secured, and all confirm battle readiness."
A voice behind Pike said in his Oxford accent, "A word of caution Christopher, the Vayu has an energy budget. You do not have a couple hundred photon torpedoes at your fingertips as you would on Enterprise."
Pike turned to face Hiten and ended up looking at the space between the Vayu Captain and the comms officer. "How many do you have?"
"Six."
A voice to Pike's left reported, "The lead sship is a D5. The other two are Lukara classs."
"The D5s have been in service for over thirty years but still out gun us." Pike remarked.
"And the Lukaras can easily outrun us," Hiten added.
Una squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. This just isn't right, she thought. "Captain?" When two men answered simultaneously she amended, "Chris, I realize this sounds ridiculous, but would you face the viewscreen? I need … I need to see the person directing the battle watching the visual of its action."
Malie and the comms officer nodded their agreement.
"Well this is really going to blast a hole in your faith in me then," Pike responded as he gradually turned. "Tell me when I am looking at it."
"Almost, now you are just past it, three inches back to your right, perfect," Una coached.
"What's our top speed Hiten?" Pike asked.
"Warp 5.5 sustained. We can do short bursts up to 7.2, anything past that tends to blow the circuitry and the dilithium crystals."
"Phasers?"
"Three Type VII arrays. 34 second recharge rate," Hiten replied.
Pike shook his head, "That's practically eternal during a brawl in space." He turned to his right. "Call Engineering, put Reno on."
"Sir?" She asked.
"Take a look at the phaser array. Speed up its recharge rate after firing."
"That's nearly impossible in this situation, with this equipment and it's age," Reno protested.
"Figure it out, we need a miracle," Pike ordered and signaled the comms officer to keep the channel open. "Number One any course changes?"
"No, course and speed remain constant," Una answered.
"Time?" Pike called out.
"16:17 sir," replied the comms officer.
Pike focused inward and begin running scenarios using the map in his head. Quietly he muttered, "No, no, no, maybe, no, no, if we're desperate, could work, too reckless, no, no, maybe, too slow, too fast," in a normal tone he instructed, "Number One, change our course three degrees starboard and increase speed 10 percent, tell me how they react" and then he went back to muttering, "no, no, maybe …"
"No change in their speed or course," Una reported.
"Change course seven degrees to port, decrease speed 15 percent," Pike ordered.
"Enemy speed and course remain constant," Una said.
"Have they scanned us Malie?" Pike asked.
"No."
"Interesting," Pike said to himself and then continued, "No, no, maybe, requires too much power … how nimble are your inertial dampeners and gravity generators Hiten?"
"Like the fingers of a virtuoso pianist. I modified them myself," Hiten replied with a note of pride in his voice. He added, "I would match them against your Enterprise's any day." Before embracing a different path, Hiten was a senior fellow at the Daystrom Institute.
Pike continued evaluating options, "Maybe, definitely not, no, wait, that might work … Number One, full stop, ten seconds later roll right and then resume original course and speed."
As Una executed Pike's instructions she thought, now who is toying with whom?
"Scans?" Pike asked.
"Yess, they did, once we ressumed coursse," Malie answered.
"OK, good," Pike said. "It's time to play cat and mouse."
Malie checked the chronometer. 16:19.
"Apologizes Hiten, but this is our best option. We won't last five minutes against all three of them, we need to even the numbers. Number One, continue with the random intermittent course and speed changes. Create the appearance this ship's commander is inexperienced and intimidated by the size and strength of the Klingon ships."
Hiten huffed in the background.
"Also, make the ship appear as if … as if it's past it's prime, that it's not quite spaceworthy, but keep it subtle …" Pike continued.
Hiten huffed louder this time.
"Very bad guys, after us, remember?" Pike queried with a slight smile. "If we survive this, we will fix your illustrious reputation."
The tension on the bridge and in engineering would have required a type-III phaser to cut through it. Or a real version of the mythical light saber they all played with as children.
Hiten raised his eyes skyward as if pleading for help from the heavens. "I am trusting my ship and crew to a man who got himself stranded on a planet where he had to shelter in a cave with four women during multiple snowstorms. Did you also run of petrol? And people call me a roue."
The comms officer let out a nervous laugh.
Tilly's high-pitched giggle was heard over the open channel to engineering.
Reno called out, "I'm impervious to the dimples."
Malie snorted, shook her head, and mumbled, "Captains, all of them are worse than children."
Well done, Hiten, Pike thought. "Mallie, keep an eye on the Klingons using the passive sensors. Let me know when they stop scanning us or if they change course. Number One remember Kantari III?"
A slow smiled spread across Una's face after she raised an eyebrow. "I believe I know what you have in mind."
Seeing Una's expression set off alarm bells for Hiten. She had that eager look of a child about to climb into a dodge 'em car.
Pike addressed the group. "The timing of this has to be precise. We'll only get one shot at it. Once we lull the Klingons into a false sense of even greater superiority, they will grow bored and overly confident and stop scanning us. When they do; Malie go dark, shut down everything but helm, life support, weapons, and the warp engine. Comms go silent. Number One punch it to warp 7.2 for 15 seconds and then turn back. Put us half-way between …"
Hiten paled and his voice inched higher as he emphasized the final three words in his sentence. "You are planning a hairpin turn at warp … 7?"
"No, at warp 7.2, unless you can coax more out of her," Pike corrected serenely. "Don't worry, Una has already done this with a constitution class vessel; if a ship with greater mass can survive such a turn at that speed without coming apart at the seams, the Vayu will hold. Number One, put us halfway between the two Lukara ships. Hiten when she drops us out of warp target their engines and weapons with maximum phasers. Number One I want us back at warp 7.2 as soon as he fires. Head in a random direction for 30 seconds, then another every 30 seconds until further orders. We can't outrun the D5 so keep us in scanning range."
All were silent contemplating a plan that violated the first rule listed in every piloting 101 handbook – Don't execute sudden acute turns at warp, especially above warp 3. Never. Ever. Period.
"Any questions?" Pike asked in a calm tone of voice. "No? Good. Let's do this."
Hiten remembered an old adage about the blind leading the …
It felt as if the maneuver occurred between one breath and the next. And it worked flawlessly.
"Malie, scan for damage on the Klingon ships," Pike ordered.
"Weapons and engines down in Lukara One. The warp core is failing in Lukara Two, breach is imminent."
"Number One get us out of range. Good job everyone. Any problems here?"
"Engineering reports minor power outages throughout the ship, none in critical areas. And Commander Reno requests a promotion to Miracle Worker. Phaser recharge interval is now 23 seconds."
"That only counts as a junior Miracle Worker, but I'll take every extra nanosecond she can squeeze out. OK everyone, look sharp. Those were the foothills. Now we have to scale Everest without oxygen," Pike warned.
"Really Christopher? A rock-climbing metaphor? Will we be reining them in next? Do you not have any normal hobbies? Some consider a five star resort a relaxing vacation." Hiten remarked dryly.
Twenty Minutes Later
Reno felt like the little boy in the fairy tale who was frantically patching holes in a failing dam. The impulse engines failed. Number One was now piloting the Vayu through stomach churning evasive maneuvers using only thrusters. Shields were slowly bleeding away. Fires were erupting all over the ship consuming precious oxygen. No one could reach the infirmary physically nor via a communications link. I hope Bonnie and the little dragons are safe, Reno thought, never expected to be a mother but if I could have babies that spit fire, well that would be …
"Ma'am, hull breach in crew quarters."
"Did bulkheads close?" Reno asked.
"Yes ma'am."
"OK, inform the bridge. And tell the Captain we can't hold things together much longer. We need to end this now," Reno instructed.
The ship rocked as it took another point-blank phaser hit from the Klingon D5 ship.
"Tilly, check the matter/antimatter intermix flow and if it's holding reroute shields through the warp core," Reno ordered.
"Gravity just went to .01 gees," a crewman called out.
"Captain Pike wants a status on the gravity generator."
Just as they started to float, everyone slammed into the floor. Tilly tried to lift her arm and failed. It felt as if it someone were sitting on it.
"Now at 3 gees!"
Reno pulled herself to the nearest console using the ridges in the floor tiles. This simple action was the equivalent of performing one hundred chin-ups at Earth sea level. Once there she climbed the chair in front of the console like a rock face. With a little creative ingenuity she managed to restore their normal environment. "Alert the crew that gravity is likely to continue fluctuating."
"Yes ma'am."
Phasers hit the ship three more times.
"Shields are down to 25%, Captain Pike says to route all power to forward shields and evacuate the aft decks."
The ship rocked violently. The lights dimmed once, twice, three, four times and stayed off. Glaring yellow emergency lighting kicked on. Smoke was rising from at least a dozen panels. The ship rocked and shuddered again. Reno reached down to help a Vayu crewman to his feet. He limped to a chair.
"Ma'am, we've lost contact with the bridge," reported another crewman.
Reno and Tilly exchanged worried glances.
Reno clapped her hands to get the attention of all in room. "Stay focused people, just because we cannot speak to the bridge doesn't mean they aren't still there. Our job is to keep the shields up, to keep the engines running, to keep the weapons online, and to send repair teams to other areas as required. Focus on the task in front of you. That is what both Captain Pike and your Captain are doing right now. As long as we all do that, we will get to the other side of this."
There was a bright flash, a loud noise and the Vayu corkscrewed.
"Direct hit with a photon torpedo," Tilly whispered to Reno.
"Don't think about that, go take care of the warp engine and shields," Reno directed in a firm tone.
"But … but it was above us … right where … near Captain Pike!" Tilly shouted. "Too close!"
"Yes," Reno answered quietly. "And he needs you to do your job."
Tilly stood rooted in place as she thought with alarm and growing conviction, No! I can't stay here when … when Captain Pike … when Chris … may need help. I should be by his side! She pivoted and ran for the exit.
"Tilly no," Reno called after her.
Tilly exited.
Before the door closed Reno called out again hoping Tilly would automatically respond to a superior officer as she was trained to do, "Ensign, stop. Keep to your post! That's an order."
When that failed, Reno shouted, "Sylvia!"
The doors closed.
Tilly hurried to a lift.
She barely pulled herself back in time after realizing there was only an empty shaft.
I have to get to him, I have to! He may need me. And I need him.
Tilly closed her eyes and recalled the schematics of the Vayu that she memorized earlier in the day. That's it, one corridor over there's a maintenance shaft that reaches the bridge.
She climbed and climbed.
I love him. If this is the end I want to be by his side.