CHAPTER TWENTY
The Firestone whirled around to fire another volley at the pursuing Romulan ship. A Z-1 Nova Class VIII battleship, it was just the type of ship that the battle cruiser was built for. The photon torpedoes hit with deadly accuracy. Shields that were once flaring strong now weakened and died. The ship tried to use its cloaking device, but as it faded, an explosion appeared on its port side, and the ship came back into view.
The Firestone pounded mercilessly, and the enemy battleship came apart at the seams in a brilliant bloom of plasma and ignited gases.
The captain jumped out of his chair. "Yes!" He pumped his arm down in a victorious gesture. He then raged over to the viewscreen, practically putting his face in it, so he could drink in the wonderful sight. "Ramsey, are there any other ships in the area?"
The man he called Ramsey glanced in his viewer. "No, sir. This sector is ours."
Stevens grinned. "Good. That will show those damned Romulans not to interfere in our mission. Helm, resume our course and speed. We have places to go." He sat back down in his chair and caressed its sides. "Ah, yes. This is a fine ship that Starfleet decided to give me. Under my command, I'll show those bureaucratic fools how to do things."
Ramsey watched his captain go into another tirade. He felt that the man was a fool for wasting precious resources, but he was a smart fool. It was only days after they had stolen the ship that they realized it was incomplete, and that it was damaged upon leaving the spacedock. They repaired the ship, and now nothing could stop them, which frankly scared Ramsey a little. Their captain was getting a little too obsessive these days. He couldn't do anything now, but he could wait silently, as he always did, for the captain to slip up. When he did, Ramsey would make his move.
~ * ~
It's a slow night, Apollo thought to himself as he walked the corridors. Or maybe I only think it's slow because I don't get around this late very often anymore. Since that night on Fremma, he and Sam have been able to retire for the night earlier than usual. Of course, sleep was out of the question, but who needs sleep anyway.
Tonight was different. The science officer on gamma shift was sick, and Sam volunteered to pull a double shift. Not unusual for this ship... Apollo noticed that friends always covered for each other... it's just that without any distractions, he couldn't sleep, so he'd taken to his rounds again. Which makes me realize that I've been a little selfish lately. The crew used to like to see me walk around. I have to do it more often again.
He found himself entering Stellar Cartography. On the trail of the Firestone, they had a rare opportunity to observe a star's collapse into a neutron star. They stopped to record it, and now the people here were poring over the data they'd retrieved. It reminded Apollo of his time aboard the Oberth. It was surprising that with as much information they had gathered while he commanded her, they still had so much more to learn about the galaxy. He felt quite sure that there were plenty of surprises waiting to astound humanity as they explored their tiny section of space.
He snapped out of the memory as he realized one of the officers was waving him over. It was Karen. He strode over to lean against the back of her chair. "Captain, this is amazing," she said in awe. "I never believed that a star could collapse so quickly."
He stared at the screen, mesmerized by the view. The star had shrunk from a red giant to a neutron star in the matter of a few years. Astronomically speaking, it was faster than the blink of an eye. "What would cause such a high rate of collapse?" His Vulcan curiosity won out in him, and he joined her in her research.
"We haven't yet figured it out." She moved over to make room for him; he got down on one knee, as there were no chairs left. "We think that it reached a certain point that there simply wasn't enough material for the star to maintain its previous size. As it shrank, its gravitational forces grew, and its reduction rate increased exponentially, until it stabilized in the form we see now."
"Intriguing," Apollo said.
Karen looked at Apollo. "You love her a lot, don't you?"
"How could I? I've only just seen it. Besides, I'm merely curious about the star, not emotionally attached to it."
"No. I mean you love Sam a lot."
Apollo stopped what he was doing, then shifted his entire attention to her. "What are you talking about? Of course I love her." He paused, looking at her suspiciously. "Why? What are you getting at?"
"Oh, I was just curious as to why you haven't done anything about it."
Apollo was perplexed. "Why I haven't... wait a minute. Why are you here? Aren't you on alpha shift, too?"
She shrugged. "Yes, but I just got wrapped up in my work. And no, I'm not pulling the extra shifts to get you to change your mind about letting Ethan on board early."
"I'll bet. You two have something going."
"I should hope so. I'm his mother."
He shook his head in frustration. "No, I mean you and Sam." He noticed that heads were beginning to turn. "Come with me." He got up and headed for the door; she followed.
Once out in the corridor, he started up again. "You and Sam planned this."
She looked shocked. "How could you even say something like that? We both know she had to pull a double shift."
"Yeah, and I'll bet if I check Sickbay, I'll find out that Lieutenant Brenner never went there, much less get confined to quarters. Both you and Sam know that if I'm not occupied, I have trouble sleeping, and I make my rounds. It's not hard to guess that since we just studied that star, I'd make a visit to Stellar Cartography. Fess up, now... you know what happens when you gang up on me. Remember the fountain at the Academy?" He added an impish grin at the end for emphasis.
"Okay, okay. Call off your dogs." Karen was waving him off. "I'll confess, you did come up here and there in our conversations, and your feelings for her aren't really concealed that much."
"I don't even try to conceal them."
"That much we could tell. Look, all I'm saying is that we were concerned... okay, she was concerned, and she wanted me to find something out if I could. So, now that that's out, you bum, why haven't you asked her to marry you?"
That took Apollo off his guard. He tried to cover himself. "I'll have you know it's inappropriate calling your captain a bum," he said, pointing at her. She didn't budge. "It's not working, is it." She shook her head. He sighed. "To be honest, I... I really don't know. I mean, I do love her, but... I guess... maybe I grew a little too comfortable with how the relationship is now. Maybe I just get scared about it. I mean, think about it. I'm her commanding officer. Suppose she has to go on a dangerous mission. I have to order her to do it. How the hell can I live with myself if she gets hurt? Or killed?"
Karen's eyes glazed over for a minute. This was definitely something she hadn't thought of. "Well... it sounds as if it's something you two have to talk about. And you do have to talk to her about it. There is no reason why you should be putting it off. Now, if you'll excuse me, sir, I have to return to my work."
Apollo smiled at her sarcasm. She returned it as she passed through the door. He looked around him and realized that he needed to think. So turned and headed down the corridor.
~ * ~
The doors to the shuttle bay opened to admit Sam. She walked inside, every footstep echoing through the cavernous room. "Captain? Are you here?" She noticed that the outer doors were open; the atmospheric force field was the only thing between her and the cold depths of space. She was startled as Apollo floated into sight. He was hovering near the ceiling when she entered and called out. His legs were crossed, with his arms resting on them, as though he were meditating. "I just got off duty. Again. You weren't in your quarters, and I knew you wanted to check out that info on the star. Karen said..."
"We need to talk, Commander, and since technically neither of us is supposed to be on shift, you can drop the formality."
She did so, but noticed by his tone that he wasn't in the mood for romance. "What's on your mind?" she asked simply.
He gazed out past the bay into space. "You know, I come here a lot when I need peace without interruption. No one ever thinks of looking for their captain in the ass end of the ship. On the Excalibur, Skip and I used to meet here whenever we needed to talk, and didn't want the rest of the crew to overhear."
"Is that why you called me here? To talk about 'something'?"
When he was low enough, he merely uncrossed his legs and straightened them to touch the floor. Then he started pacing, trying to get the words out. He decided the blunt approach would be best at that point. "Sam, I want to ask you to marry me." He waited until his statement hit her and the initial shock passed before he continued. He had to wait a few minutes. "Now, before you say anything, I'm not finished. I'm saying that I want you to marry me... but..." he walked up to her and grasped her shoulders. "I have this little problem, kind of a conflict of interests. You see, I love you very much, but I'm also your CO. You should be able to understand when I say that I don't want to worry about you - any more than I'd worry about anyone else in my crew - if I were to send you on a landing party. If it got dangerous, if you got hurt, or worse... I'd never forgive myself."
She smiled, relieved that it seemed the worst thing he worried about. "Silly. You know me better than that. Well enough to know that I picked this career for a reason. If we were going to let a thing like this stop us, one of us would have never stayed in the Academy. Apollo, I love you very much, too. And quite frankly, when we were apart, I kept hoping we'd be together again; I always dreamed that you would ask me that one question.
"You would be a fool, or extremely cold, if you didn't worry about me. But you would be a bigger fool if you let that worry hamper your judgment. Now I think that I'm a big girl, and I can take care of myself. I know you will try your damnedest to keep from giving me any special treatment, and I'll try my damnedest to keep from taking any. Would that be all right by you?"
He smiled. "That would be just fine. Now, if I can just make this official..."
"By all means."
He went down on one knee. At first, she thought he was going to be corny and propose to her that way. But the next thing she knew, he sat her on his raised knee and slowly lifted her into the air until they reached the center of the bay. "Samantha Taylor, more than anything else, I've wanted to share my life with you. You are the light in my heart, impossible to extinguish, nor would I ever dare to. You would make me a very happy man if you would take my hand in marriage."
Sam couldn't help but feel a tear roll down her cheek, even though they had been talking marriage since she walked in. Now she knew why the shuttle bay door was open. He must have rehearsed this, the bastard. She was too choked up to speak, all she could do was nod frantically. She pulled him close and held him tight when suddenly she heard applause. She looked down. The bridge crew from Alpha shift came in, smiling and cheering. Karen was leading the bunch.
Sam glared at Apollo, but all he could do was shrug as best as he could without dropping her. "I didn't know about this." He headed toward the floor.
Upon touching down, Karen came up to them. "I was wondering when you two lovebirds would come to your senses. God, Apollo, do you have to have a shuttlecraft drop on you to figure out what was left to do? And you, Sam. We're not in Apollo's old time. You could have asked him just as much as he could ask you. Boy, Apollo, you're lucky Skip's not around. He'd beat you senseless, though he wouldn't have far to go."
They looked at her, and at each other. When they returned their gazes to her, they wore a matching set of evil grins. Karen knew that look all too well, and before they could twitch, she was out the door in a flash.
Laughter sprang up among the group. "Hey, I just thought of something." Apollo said. "If the captain is supposed to perform the weddings on a ship, who performs it if it's the captain's wedding?"
Thelem thought about it. "I suppose we could go to a starbase. Then a commodore or an admiral could do it."
Their conversation was interrupted by the intercom. "Captain Racer to the bridge."
Apollo found the nearest companel. "Racer here. What's up?"
"Sir, we're picking up reports from the USS Bozeman. They've discovered a debris field close to the Romulan Neutral Zone. The debris has been identified as belonging to at least three of their battleships."
"What does that have to do with us?"
"Sir, they said the ships were Nova-class."
Apollo slowly looked up. "I'm on my way. Racer out."
Thelem was puzzled. "What does it mean, Captain?"
Apollo stopped as the doors opened and whirled around. "The Firestone was built to take on their Nova-class ships. Currently, it's the only ship in the fleet capable of taking on more than one." He shot down the corridor. The group took one look at each other, then hurried off after their commander.
~ * ~
"Are you sure this was caused by a Federation ship? I mean, I didn't think we had any such weaponry capable of doing this to Nova-class ships. They're the most advanced that the Romulans have come up with, at least to our knowledge."
Apollo's eyes narrowed to slits. "Believe me, Captain Bateson, we have a ship. The Firestone was built for just this type of confrontation."
He didn't like this at all. The Valiant had entered the sector only moments before, to find the Bozeman sifting through the wreckage. As a consequence for alerting other ships to watch for signs of the battle cruiser, certain technical details had to be included for their safety, details such as the fact that the Firestone had enough firepower to take out a squadron of Romulan ships, or obliterate a fairly decent-sized planet.
The first reaction Apollo had to deal with when contacting Captain Bateson was disbelief. Before the Firestone, the Federation didn't really have a chance to face this new threat. In light of recent events, they may still have problems. "Any sign of the Firestone from your sensor sweeps?" he inquired of the other captain.
"One moment." He conferred with one of his officers off the screen. "We picked up a warp signature leaving the area, one the likes of which I've never seen. We're sending the info to you now."
The moment they started receiving the signal, Sam recognized it. "Sir, it's the Firestone, all right. Attempting to trace its course now."
Apollo looked at Bateson and smiled grimly. "Thank you for your help."
Bateson chuckled nervously. "Just be sure you get the bastard. I've only heard a little about what this Stevens guy is like. He's a disgrace to everything Starfleet stands for, and since he stole that ship, he gives Starfleet a bad name. Give him hell, Apollo. Bozeman out." His face was replaced with a view of the Soyuz-class ship drifting through the debris field."
Thelem said, "Well, Captain, shall we continue our pursuit."
Apollo wanted nothing more, however... "No, not yet. In case you haven't noticed, we've always been one step behind Stevens. There's got to be a pattern to this madness; I want to find out what it is before..." He was silent for a moment, then jerked out of his seat. His face contorted in pain, though he tried hard to hide it.
"Captain, are you all right?" Thelem asked, drawing concerned looks from around the bridge.
The moment passed; they were really beginning to worry. Then Apollo snapped his head around to glare at Thelem. "I'm fine. M'ress, call up Stevens' service record. Have it patched through to my office." He didn't wait for acknowledgment before leaving the bridge.
~ * ~
A chime sounded. "Come in," Apollo responded.
The door opened and Sam entered the foyer. "I hope I'm not intruding."
Apollo looked up from his reader. "Oh no, not at all. Come in, come in."
Sam entered his office slowly. "Is... everything all right?" Apollo ignored her. She looked at what he was reading. "You're still working on Stevens' record?"
He gestured toward the viewer. "His Starfleet record, his personnel file, even his psych profile, and if you tell anyone I got that, I'll swat you."
She put her hands on his shoulders; they jerked. "Jeez, dear, you're wound up tighter than a clock spring."
He nodded absently. "Yeah, that's right. I've been a little tense lately."
She started to work, kneading his shoulders and neck. "My God, it's like trying to work steel cable. You really ought to relax."
"You heard what Bateson said. I doubt anyone can relax until that wacko is under control."
"Well, I think you've been working at it too hard. Maybe you should take a step back, take a deep breath, and just retrace your steps."
The muscles under her hands suddenly went slack. She thought he passed out when he suddenly stood up. When he turned to look at her, she could almost swear she saw a light turn on over his head. "Retrace my steps! Darling, your wonderful!" Before she could react, he cupped her face and kissed her, then sat back down. "Computer, give me a list of Commander Stevens' activities during his Starfleet career." The viewer promptly revealed the requested list. "Now give me a list of reported sightings of the Firestone since her abduction and correlate the two lists."
A second list popped up aside the first. Several entries were highlighted. "Look at this, Sam. He is retracing his steps; doing everything he did when he was in Starfleet. I think we just found a way to figure out where his next move will be."
She noticed the entries on the second list that weren't highlighted. "What about these? There's no comparison with the other list."
"That's because in those instances he confronted conflicts he didn't deal with in the past. They're moments of chance, instances he hadn't counted on."
She looked at the lists again. "Well, then, what about the ones on the first list that weren't highlighted?"
His reverie stalled, and he made a face. "Hmm. Good question. Computer, bring up the highlighted entries on the first list." The computer promptly complied.
They studied the list for a while. "It looks as though at each of these stops, Stevens didn't do too well," Sam noticed.
Apollo reread the entries. "You're right. Each place he's visited marks a point in his career where he suffered a downward slide." He pointed at one entry. "I remember this place! We were on the Merrimac. Klingons tried to establish an outpost there. We stopped them, but after losing our landing party, Stevens wanted to beam up and take them out from orbit. I refused to go along with it, so he went up without me. That bastard told them I was killed. As a result of his lie, he was given a reprimand, and started in motion a series of events that made me quite the unpopular person."
She hugged him from behind. "I'm so sorry you went through that. It's okay now."
He nodded. "Actually, I like to think that it made me a better person today. Captain Kirk seemed to think so, anyway. He saw me shortly after that incident. Backed my actions, too. If not for him, I probably wouldn't be here."
"Well, yeah," she said, rolling her eyes. "After all, he did pull your ass out of the Excalibur." He swatted her arm and she returned her attention back to the screen. "Hey, look here. This Isaleese Incident took place just before he came to this sector."
"And here it is on the first list. He was engaged by those Romulan ships before he could reach his next destination. This makes him particularly dangerous because it means he's not totally buried in the past. He can and has adapted to situations in the present as they crop up. We'll have to be real careful." He sat back. "On the other hand, he's still never given any indication that he knows he's being pursued. Now, either he doesn't know it, he does know it and is acting like he doesn't to set a trap for pursuing ships, or he just simply doesn't care."
She nodded. "Should we notify other ships as to his pattern?"
"Nnnnnno... he might intercept the transmission. It wouldn't be hard, because it'd have to be a broadly based transmission. No, better to use a messenger type system. We could contact the Bozeman, tell them to seek out other starships and give them the information through ship-to-ship messages. It'll be slower, but it cuts down on Stevens' chances of finding out that we know what he's up to. And if that fails, we still have an ace up our sleeve."
"What's that?" she said to his back as he headed for the door.
"He thinks I'm dead." He was almost out the door when she grabbed his arm, whirling him around.
"Just a minute, buster. That brings up the point of why I'm here. Why would he think you're dead? Does it have to do with what I saw on the bridge earlier? And don't avoid my questions this time. You obviously have these flashes of pain. I've seen you go through that before. Don't make me get Sorel in on this."
He stopped dead, raking over her with his penetrating gaze. She felt her courage start to bleed out of her, but she held firm and stood her ground. Finally he re-entered his office and the door closed. He walked back over to the desk, sat down, and put his face in his hands.
"Dammit, Apollo, I'm waiting! Tell me what's wrong or I'm going to Sickbay."
He took his hands away from his face so she could hear him. "You know, blackmail is very unbecoming of you."
"I mean it!"
"He wouldn't find anything."
"That remains to be seen." Realizing that she might be breaking through, she walked over to him and took his hand. "Besides, if we're to be married, I would think it would help our relationship if you didn't keep any secrets from me."
"Oho, so now it's manipulation." He looked up at her and decided that she was right. "C'mon, let's go to Sickbay. I guess Sorel should hear this, too."
~ * ~
Meeting in sickbay, Sam and Sorel listened as Apollo related to them what happened when he confronted Stevens aboard the Firestone while it was still docked at Starbase 47; he also told them, reluctantly, of how he managed to rid himself off the deadly projectile. "Apparently, I physically destroyed the bullet, but the experience left a mental scar, or more aptly, a ghost sensation, in my mind. Every so often, out of the blue, I'll be struck with a flashback of that terrible ordeal, and it'll feel as though it happened yesterday." As he described it, he absently rubbed the spot on his back where he had been shot.
Sorel had scanned Apollo thoroughly during his story. "I do not detect any foreign object in his system. There isn't even any scarring, aside from his purported mental ordeal. I have heard of spiderweb bullets. It must have taken an extraordinary amount of energy to purge the device from your body."
"There were black scars on the ceiling of the Starbase 47's medical bay as proof of that. So now you know. It is a secret I intend to keep from anyone else. The reason is obvious. Can you understand what would happen if Starfleet got wind of the fact that I could be in combat, and then out of nowhere this would strike? I'd probably never command a starship again."
Sorel stood silent for a moment. "The logic of your statement is valid. However, I would not necessarily say that I could come to the same conclusion."
"We'll help you out as best we can," Sam said in assurance.
"Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me." Apollo took Sam's hand in emphasis and gave it a little squeeze. She smiled in return. "Now, what say we go catch us a starship?" They left Sorel to his work and headed for the bridge.
As the lift doors opened, Thelem looked up from M'ress' station. "Captain, we were just about to call you. The Firestone's been found. The Enterprise and the Horizon have engaged them. Bozeman is just arriving, and the Hornet is about five minutes away."
Apollo practically jumped into his chair. "Set course for their coordinates, maximum warp. Contact the Enterprise, tell them we're about to join the party." As he saw the familiar distortion of stars that heralded warp speed, he punched the comm button on his chair. "Bridge to Engineering. Mr. McCormick, I hate to bother you about this, but I'm going to need you to wring every drop of warp power out of those precious engines of yours."
"I've kept an ear on what's been happening. To catch that madman, Cap'n, I'll give you warp nine, and a bit more."
"The effort is appreciated, Mac. Bridge out." He sat back and steepled his fingers. "Mr. Arex, time before we reach the scene."
"Fifteen minutes, Captain." Arex replied in his clipped tone.
Apollo slowly nodded. He reached deep to utilize every Vulcan meditation technique he had ever learned to prepare himself for the upcoming confrontation.
It seemed to come sooner than he expected. "Captain, long range sensors are reporting several starships ahead. Four of them are surrounding a fifth. Sir, it's got to be them."
"Unless the Klingons are staging this to throw us off." He looked to see if anyone took him seriously. They didn't. "Hail our friends. Drop out of warp. Go to Red Alert." The lights changed, but due to a prior order from Apollo, the klaxon remained silent.
"I have Captain Kirk, sir." M'ress said.
"Put me through." He paused. "Greetings, everyone. Is this a private party or can anyone join in?"
Four faces came up on the screen. Their bridges, like Apollo's, were suffused in red light. One of the faces belonged to Kirk. "Captain Racer, good of you to come," he said.
"Has any fire been exchanged, Jim?"
"No, you haven't missed anything yet. Right now, we're just showing off our shields to each other."
Apollo was about to say something else when a voice broke over the speakers. "Federation ships, this is the Firestone, Captain Stevens commanding. Can I help you?"
"This is Admiral James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise. And you're no captain, Stevens. Surrender your ship."
Stevens laughed. "Admiral, your wit is legendary. I cannot help but be amused."
Apollo snorted. "I think it's safe to say that you're the only one."
Stevens stopped posturing, the smile wiped off his face. "Who said that? The voice is familiar, but the man it belongs to is dead.."
Apollo stood. "Put me on visual with him," he said to M'ress. Stevens' image came up on screen. As they were all patched in to each other, his face showed on their screens as well. "This is Captain Racer of the Valiant. Once again, I'm afraid reports of my death have been... greatly exaggerated. You seem to have a big problem with that, Captain."
Stevens became horrified. His eyes bugged out at the aspect of confronting a ghost. "How! No one ever..." Suddenly, Stevens' face became composed. "Well, Racer, if you weren't dead before, prepare to become so now." His image disappeared.
"Oops." Apollo said. "Ladies and gentlemen, I highly suggest we get ready for battle. Valiant out." The screen once again showed the scene before them.
Sam looked worried. "Firestone is powering up her weapons. And one other thing. While you were talking, I scanned the ship for the damage it received at Starbase 47. They've repaired it. That explains why they took that material on Cordova. I guess we'll get to find out how those Romulan ships felt."
Apollo nodded. "Hopefully we'll fare better." He watched as Horizon's shields flared brightly under Firestone's first volley. "Here we go, people. Engage the enemy. Arex, evasives as you see fit. Thelem, fire at will."
Valiant swooped around a phaser blast meant for them. The Hornet was caught by a torpedo volley. She staggered, but held her ground, firing back. Enterprise and Horizon flanked the battle cruiser, throwing everything they had into their attack. The Firestone's shields flared brightly, but showed no signs of failing. They fired all forward torpedoes at the Bozeman. The warp-powered weapons proved too much for their shields. They flared briefly, collapsed, and the energy backlash acted like an uppercut to the jaw. Their power went out, and the ship spun helplessly through space.
On the Valiant's bridge, a flash appeared on the right side of the screen. "What was that? Arex..."
"On it, sir." The view switched to show the Horizon. A torpedo had gotten through her shields, and an ugly glowing scar across the upper surface of the primary hull marked its path. "Grazing hit scored, Captain. Surface damage only."
"Give me a tactical view across the bottom fifth of the screen." Apollo ordered. Arex complied, and space compressed to make room for a diagram of the ships' locations. "The Hornet looks to be damaged the most. Move to protect..."
Suddenly, the bridge was slammed sideways as the Firestone hit them with a barrage. Thelem got up off the floor and supported himself by the console as he read a damage report. "Shields held, but they're down to 56 percent."
"Let's try not to get hit again, shall we people?" Apollo said, crawling back into his chair.
The two sides exchanged blow for blow for what seemed like hours. Due to the Firestone's advanced weaponry, the factions were equal. The Valiant's crew were working feverishly to hit their targets while at the same time avoid getting hit themselves. Another barrage from the battle cruiser struck them. This time, their seats fell out from underneath them. They were getting used to being bounced around, though, and recovered more quickly. As they did, Sam gasped at the screen. They looked to see the Hornet blazing across their path, dangerously close. One of her nacelles were missing, and burning plasma trailed behind them where it had been severed. From the extent of the damage to her, he couldn't imagine that there was anyone on board left alive. Then Arex initiated an evasive move to avoid a collision. The move also saved them from coming nose-to-nose with a photon torpedo. Apollo punched his comm button. "Enterprise, watch where you're shooting."
"Sorry, Valiant," came Kirk's reply. "They moved out of the way."
With the thought of the Hornet still in his mind, Apollo got an idea. "Sam, locate the Hornet's nacelle."
She went silent for a moment. "Got it," she finally said. "What do you have in mind?"
"Arex, move toward the nacelle. Prepare to grab it with a tractor beam."
~ * ~
Aboard the Enterprise, Kirk watched as the Valiant swept gracefully toward the Hornet's nacelle and locked their tractor beam onto it. "Vat is he doing?" Chekov asked from the weapons station.
Spock raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. Admiral, are you thinking what he is thinking?"
Kirk was rubbing his chin. "Yes. I believe it just might work. Let's not give Stevens the chance to find out what he's doing."
~ * ~
Stevens was marveled at the resilience of their resistance. He had no doubts that the Firestone would eventually emerge the victor here, but he had to admire the other captains' tenacity at not giving up. Two of the ships, Enterprise and Horizon, despite moderate damage to both ships, redoubled their attempts at disabling his ship. He had seen the Hornet limp away, too damaged to be of much more help to them. And the Bozeman was taken out early in the game. Valiant was swooping around, apparently out of control. Maybe his last strike killed off their bridge crew. He was about to rejoice that he had killed Apollo when the ship swooped toward him. He had just enough time to realize what the Valiant just did before an explosion threw him off his feet.
When he regained his footing, he saw the damage caused and he went berserk. "You bastards!! How dare you defy me!! I'll show you the penalty for moving against me!!" he raved. "Fire all weapons!"
Ramsey simply stood there. "They have the advantage! We should give in now while we're still alive!" His argument was made moot as Stevens shot him with a phaser. He screeched as his body's molecules discorporated.
"Take that, you mutineer! I'll show them myself!" Stevens launched himself toward the tactical station and threw everything they had at the task force.
~ * ~
"Disengage tractor beam... now. And evade."
They watched as the nacelle shot past the ship like a javelin and slammed into the underside of the Firestone's saucer section. At the same time, they and the Enterprise fired on the nacelle. The resulting explosion sent debris into Firestone's port nacelle. While it wasn't sheared off, the damage was more than enough to render it useless. The ship lumbered off in the opposite direction. "Well?" he asked.
Sam smiled. "As you suspected, that top nacelle can't balance out a warp field without the other two. Their warp drive is out."
"But they are still dangerous," Thelem commented. As if on cue, they were struck by a full phaser barrage. The lights flickered, dimmed, and went out. For a full minute, the only illumination came from the viewscreen. Their tactical display winked out, and was automatically filled in by the rest of the view. It really wasn't needed anyway. From their vantage point, they could clearly watch helplessly as torpedoes shot from Firestone's ventral aft launchers to slam into Enterprise and Horizon, punching through both their weakened shields. Enterprise's navigational array went out, and Horizon received a hole through the dorsal support that connected its two hulls.
Apollo's comm beeped. "Valiant, this is Enterprise. Horizon's in trouble, and all but one of our transporters are out."
He glanced over at Sam, and she took stock of their situation. "Half of our transporters are out as well," she reported.
"Enterprise, it'll be slow, but I think we can get them out. Can you keep an eye on Firestone for us?"
"Will do. Kirk out."
Apollo looked at the Firestone. The behemoth drifted silently before them. Without action, the captain could clearly tell that their little stunt caused more damage than was visible on Stevens' ship. "Captain," Sam said, "a few of the battle cruiser's weapons systems had fried in our last attack. We're currently in one of the Firestone's blind spots, but I wouldn't guarantee how long that will last."
He got up and tugged his jacket down. "Thelem, you have the bridge."
"Captain, are you sure its wise to go over there?" Thelem questioned, concern clearly in his voice. "We're not really sure what that ship is still capable of doing."
"Then I trust you'll inform me the minute something happens." He headed for the lift.
"Captain," Sam called out before he was gone, "be careful." The last thing she saw before the doors closed on him was that he winked at her.
~ * ~
He and Sorel materialized on Horizon's bridge. Kirk had the same idea. He had McCoy beamed over, and Kirk himself was just sparkling into existence as Apollo took stock of the situation. The two doctors conferred with each other, then they worked in concert to help Horizon's medical crew stabilize their wounded as quickly as possible. Kirk was heard to say, "See if you can't split these people between the two ships." He turned and saw Apollo surveying the bridge. "We still have to find out what the Hornet's condition is."
The Valiant's captain shook his head gravely. "We took scans, sir. The Hornet's crew are dead. They simply took too much damage. Bozeman's not so hot either, but I received a message from them stating that they were out of danger. I think they were limping toward the nearest starbase. They're in no condition to be of any help to us."
Kirk sized Apollo up. "That was a good javelin throw you guys pulled off. Very effective. A bit unorthodox, but effective."
Apollo nodded his thanks. "Let's get these people off this ship before she blows."
Kirk headed for the lift, but stopped when he saw Apollo just stand there, looking at the Firestone. He then must have realized he was being watched, for he turned and entered the lift with Kirk. They headed down to deck eight, where Apollo suggested they split up. Kirk thought nothing of the suggestion and took off. Then Apollo took a different corridor.
He found the Horizon's captain just as she was entering the auxiliary bridge. "Captain, we have to leave. Your ship is unstable."
"The hell I will, Racer! I intend to pay back that ugly, cross-eyed butt for damaging my ship. Besides, I thought the captain was supposed to stay behind."
Apollo followed her into the bridge. "Those were the old days. Enough life has been lost already. What do you intend to do, anyway?"
She snorted. "No, enough lives haven't been lost. That son of a bitch killed some of my good people, and I'm not going to let him get away with it." She sat down at the helm and started punching in commands. "I'm going to give him what he wants. I'm going to shove this ship right down his throat."
Apollo was shocked. "You can't be serious! First of all, I've seen the damage to this ship. You'd have to pilot her manually all the way in, never mind the fact that he could probably still swat you aside. Your efforts would only be futile."
"It's a chance I'll take. You just make sure you get those other buckets out of here when this baby blows."
"Besides, I had orders from Starfleet that we were to bring the Firestone back for analysis."
She shot up out of her chair. "To Hell with Starfleet's orders! And I'm surprised that you're willing to allow that maniac to live! I've read the reports. I know what that bastard put you through. If it were me, I'd have killed the son of a bitch."
He walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Those years are past. I don't deny what he did, but I'm not suffering. You're right though, he needs to be taken down." He smiled disarmingly. "I admire your bravery with the way you're willing to sacrifice yourself to save us." He then added pressure to the nerve juncture at the base of her neck, and she slumped in her seat, unconscious. "But I'm afraid that's not your position to take. Don't worry, Captain... justice will be served." He pulled out his communicator. "Racer to Valiant. I have another injured person. Lock onto my coordinates and beam her up. Also coordinate with Admiral Kirk to transfer some injured to his ship."
"Just her, sir? There's not too many more to take care of. You'll be among the last group."
"There's a few more things that I need to take care of. Just beam the injured party over."
The voice sighed in resignation. "All right, sir. See you back on board." At that point, the Horizon's captain disappeared in a transporter beam.
He sat down in the recently vacated seat. "Computer."
"Working."
"This is Captain Apollo A. Racer of the USS Valiant. In accordance with Starfleet Order 104, Section B, I am assuming command of this vessel." He waited for the response.
He got one. "Acknowledged. Transferring command of the USS Horizon to Captain Apollo Racer," said the computer.
"Computer, scan the ship for life signs."
There was a pause. "There is only one life form on board."
"Direct all power, including life support, to shields and propulsion, whatever of each is functioning."
The computer struggled to comply. "Shields are now at 34 percent. Warp drive is out. Impulse drive is at 25 percent. Best possible speed is one-quarter impulse." The computer's report was grim, but it was more than Apollo had hoped for.
"Okay, pay attention. This is what I want to do."
~ * ~
Thelem shot up from the command chair. "What the hell is the Horizon up to?" His first concern was their captain. He hit the comm button. "Transporter room, did you pick up the captain yet?"
"No, sir. He said he had a few things to take care of first," came the reply.
Sam's face went pale. Thelem had one more call to make. "M'ress, patch me through to Enterprise." He waited until she nodded. "Enterprise, this is Commander Thelem of the Valiant. Do you have our captain?"
There was a moment of silence, then Spock's voice came over the speakers. "Negative. Is he not with you?"
Kirk cut in on their conversation. "This is Kirk. I'm in Valiant's transporter room. I was just about to beam over to my ship when the Horizon's captain beamed aboard here. She's just coming around. She said Apollo was talking to her when he gave her a Vulcan nerve pinch."
Thelem spit an Andorian curse that wouldn't translate. "Thank you, sir." He cut the connection. "Get me the Horizon."
M'ress only shrugged. "Sorry, Commander. Their communications were taken out in the battle. Even if they functioned, we couldn't reach him; his comm system is receiving no power."
Thelem looked to Sam. "Neither of us can move," she said. "Enterprise's drive systems are off-line, and we only have maneuvering thrusters. Besides, we're trying to coordinate medical efforts." She turned back to her viewer. "Horizon moving at one-quarter impulse. Her shields are up, but they're not very strong."
"Transporter room, beam our captain back over here, now," the first officer said.
"Sorry, sir. The Horizon's gotten her shields back. We can't get through them," came the reply.
"Damn." Thelem brought his fist down on the console. They watched helplessly as the Horizon slowly turned toward the Firestone on an inexorable course.
~ * ~
The Enterprise's lift doors opened, depositing Kirk onto the bridge. "Spock, is there any way we can stop him?" he pleaded, pounding on his chair for emphasis.
Spock solemnly shook his head as he relinquished the command chair to his commanding officer. "Negative, Admiral. We simply don't have the power."
Kirk cursed, pounding his chair again. "Damn it! What the devil is he up to?" His eyes widened as the Horizon closed the gap.
~ * ~
Her eyes widened as the Horizon settled on its course. "Oh my God," Sam exclaimed, "He's going to ram it! Thelem, stop him!"
"How! Our weapons are out." He hit the comm button. "Enterprise, is there anything we can do?"
Kirk heard the transmission. He turned toward his science officer, who took the gesture as a cue to begin scanning. Spock went through the procedures, but turned back toward Kirk with less than favorable news. "I suggest the only thing we do at this time is to get out of range, quickly."
Kirk's fury became evident. "I will not allow him to commit suicide!"
Spock remained calm in the face of this storm he faced. "Admiral, if you recall, the Horizon was unstable. Apollo understands this, and is using it to our advantage. I merely point out the only logical solution. Remaining here will only result in our destruction as well."
"But Starfleet..."
Spock cut off Kirk's protest. "Apparently, Apollo believes that an incident such as this would repeat itself if the Firestone were kept intact; he no doubt feels the battle cruiser is an atrocity that should never have been explored as an option. I tend to agree."
Kirk stared at the floor, not comprehending, forcing himself not to believe. Spock silently came down to stand at Kirk's side. "Jim," he said quietly, finally. "He has made his decision. Let him go, so we can get to safety."
Kirk gazed deeply into his friend's eyes. Seeing the truth in them, he made one of the hardest choices he could ever make. "Get us out of here."
"But, Admiral..." Sulu started to protest.
"Now, Mr. Sulu. Move it." His tone indicated he wouldn't have any further argument. "Inform Valiant of our decision. Tell them they should do the same. If they protest, tell them to get out of here on my order." He collapsed in his chair, burying his face in his hands.
In silence, the two ships crept away from the inevitable.
~ * ~
Stevens was moving from station to station, checking their status. He didn't like what he saw. Several systems were off-line. They couldn't go anywhere; he still had some weapons systems up, but without shields, he couldn't withstand retaliation.
He caught a blip on an intermittent sensor reading. Just before he lost it due to instrument damage, he trained the main viewscreen on it. The image changed to reveal the crippled Horizon, lumbering towards him, its intentions obvious. Well, he couldn't have that now. Moving toward the rear of the bridge, he trained what weapons he had left to bear on the juggernaut.
~ * ~
Sam stifled a gasp as phasers lanced out from the Firestone and sheared the Horizon's port nacelle clean off. The blast shook the ship, stopping her forward motion and sending her slowly spinning in a circle. A few moments later, she righted herself and continued her charge. "He's going to tear Apollo apart, piece by piece." Her look pleaded with Thelem, but he was helpless as to what was going on.
They had complied with Admiral Kirk's order, and were struggling to leave the area, but they kept the viewscreen trained behind them to record the final moments of Apollo Racer.
~ * ~
Phaser fire erupted from Firestone again. It carved through the portside section of the primary hull, and at the same time, another lance tore through the bridge and destroyed it and the impulse drive reactors behind it. Again, the ship stopped. For a long time, the Horizon drifted lazily in death.
On the Enterprise, McCoy slowly shook his head. "That's got to be it. The bridge is gone and his impulse drive is out. He can't possibly survive any more."
"Perhaps, doctor." Spock said dispassionately.
As if the derelict had heard him, it slowly stopped drifting. It's port side faced the Firestone as its maneuvering thrusters were brought to bear. It was drifting again, but this time it was controlled, and once again, it was heading for the battle cruiser.
McCoy was virtually hanging on Kirk's chair. "Good Lord... he just doesn't stop, does he?"
Kirk just watched the screen. He knew of the grudge Apollo had against Stevens. "No, Bones... he doesn't," he said with a touch of sadness.
~ * ~
Another blast shook the ship, but Apollo managed to keep the Horizon moving in the right direction. "Computer, engage self-destruct subroutine, and initiate immediate detonation on my command, authorization Racer Alpha 215 Omega."
The console whirred and chirped, signaling that it was processing the orders just given to it. The length of time it took told Apollo that part of the computer core had been damaged. Finally, it spit out, "Self-destruct countdown disengaged. Awaiting order for instantaneous destruct."
Apollo watched as what was left of the port lateral sensors kept a static-filled image of his target in view. The Firestone kept hammering away at the ship, but at this point, Apollo wouldn't be surprised if his own will weren't somehow holding it together. As that thought formed in his mind, his spine tingled. Apollo smiled as an idea struck him, and he realized that he wasn't as doomed as he thought he was.
~ * ~
Spock had started ticking off time and distance to impact. It was getting on Kirk's nerves. "We are at 100,000 kilometers, 20 seconds to impact," the Vulcan said.
"Please, Spock," Kirk pleaded.
"If it is any consolation, Admiral, Captain Racer is no longer in an effective position to be fired upon."
McCoy snorted. "Gee, thanks, I feel so much better."
The seconds ticked away in silence. Then, the bridge crew looked on in horror as the two ships collided.
~ * ~
The Valiant's crew kept no tally on speed and distance, but they were equally relieved and remorseful. The Firestone could no longer fire on Apollo, but that merely told them just how close he was to his target. Sam turned away and silently cried as the two ships collided.
~ * ~
The Horizon filled the viewscreen. Stevens stared at it slack-jawed, realizing that none of his weapons could touch it; as that realization hit, somehow he knew that Racer was aboard that ship, guiding it to his destruction. As the computer warned that a collision was imminent, Stevens finally realized that he had lost; that Apollo had once again ruined things for him. He faced the screen, trembling with rage and screamed, "DAMN YOU, RACERRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!" as the bridge exploded around him.
~ * ~
"Computer," Apollo started. On the one hand, if his last minute plan worked, the galaxy would be rid of Stevens and he'd still be around to enjoy it. If it didn't work... well, the galaxy would still be rid of Stevens. "Computer... detonate."
"Acknowledged. Initiating self-destruct."
Apollo winced, crossed his fingers, and concentrated. There was a flash as the ship detonated.
~ * ~
The crews of both ships started at the explosion. Kirk's face jerked up from his hands, McCoy's eyes widened to saucers, and the rest of the Enterprise's bridge crew had their own faces of shock. On the Valiant, Sam spun her tear-streaked face toward the screen in time to watch the Horizon's explosion triggered a warp core breach in the Firestone. Both ships disappeared in a tremendous ball of flame that could have easily been mistaken as a star going nova. The nearby, drifting Hornet was caught up in the blast, and joined the conflagration. Then the shock wave reached the two ships, and they rocked and struggled to ride it out.
As was over as quickly as it started. The screen had blanked out when the explosion grew too bright. When the image returned, they gazed at a nebulous cloud of debris and plasma residue where the nova was at its brightest. Sam immediately broke down and cried, not wanting to believe what was real, that the man who spent years trying to find her just went up in a spectacular explosion.
Kirk stared absently at his recently recovered screen. "My... God, Bones. What has he done?"
McCoy wanted to say something, but no words came from his mouth.
The comm at Kirk's chair twittered. "Engineering to Bridge." From the tone in Scotty's voice, he had witnessed the whole thing as well. "If it means anythin' right now, Admiral, ye've got warp speed again."
Kirk stared at his chair arm for a moment, then acknowledged his engineer. "Well done, Scotty. We'll stay around long enough to get the Valiant back up and running, then we'll leave."
"Aye, sir," came the reply, then the connection was cut.
He was about to ask Uhura to open a line to the other ship when something on Spock's board attracted his attention. He studied the sensor readouts. "Admiral. I'm picking up a strange energy reading from the immediate area of the explosion."
Kirk leapt up and moved to look at Spock's finding. "Awfully small. Doesn't even look stable."
Sulu offered a suggestion. "Shall I move closer for a better look?"
Kirk waved off the comment. "That area would still be flooded with radiation."
McCoy had wandered over for a look. He was surprised with what he saw. "Jim, I recognize those energy readings. From the barrier."
Spock understood. "Indeed. And the incident on Arcadia."
Enlightenment shone in Kirk's widening eyes. "Get us back there! Best possible speed!" he snapped at Sulu. He slammed his fist down on the comm button. "Scotty, I need at least one transporter up and running in five minutes."
He heard a groan from the other end. "Aye, sir. Ah'll see what I kin do." Scotty signed off.
They felt the ship as it whirled around to return to the scene of the battle; the fact that they could feel it was testimony to how much of a pounding the ship had taken. Now it was being asked to whip around and go back into an irradiated area. But Kirk knew that the lady would hold out for him.
~ * ~
Thelem was trying to comfort Sam when he noticed what was going on. "What is the Enterprise doing?"
"She's heading back to the scene," Arex reported.
"M'ress, open a channel." Thelem waited until the Caitian complied, then spoke out. "Enterprise, this is Valiant. Sir, what is going on?"
"On a rescue mission. We'll talk later. Kirk out," was his only reply.
Starfleet training taking over, Sam used her station. "Commander, it appears as though the Enterprise is checking out an unknown energy reading in the vicinity of the debris cloud."
"Can we follow them?"
"Negative. We still won't have impulse power for at least another day. They'll be there in five minutes at their present speed."
Thelem shrugged in a defeated attitude and sat heavily in the command chair. "I guess we'll just have to wait until they get back."
~ * ~
The Enterprise reached the outer perimeter of the cloud. "Can we use the transporter?" Kirk asked.
Spock knew better by now than to give him a negative answer. "It may be possible, if not probable. I would highly suggest that Mr. Scott handle the controls."
"Agreed. Mr. Scott," Kirk stated, riding on hope.
"I've got one running, but we can't get too many jolts." As if to emphasize his point, the Enterprise trembled as they rode through an aftershock.
"Understood. As soon as you get any type of lock, energize." Kirk spun and gestured to McCoy. Together they made their way to the turbolift. "Apprise me of any changes, Spock."
In no time at all, the two of them appeared in the transporter room. Scotty looked up from his manipulations. "Admiral, I canna guarantee anything. A solid lock is nae possible. It keeps fluctuating on me."
"I trust your judgment, Scotty. Energize when you feel right about it."
They waited for what seemed an eternity. Then without warning, Scotty activated the controls. A column of light apeared on the platform. A figure tried to materialize, but it faded in and out. Scotty twiddled a control here and nudged a control there, and he finally managed to get enough of a boost on the signal for the form suspended in mid-air above the platform to fully solidify. Once that was done, he collapsed onto the floor, his uniform in tatters. McCoy was on the platform and next to the figure before Kirk could so much as glance in his direction.
The doctor ran his medical scanner over the body. "It's Apollo, all right. He's alive, but I can't give you any good reason why."
"Will he make it?" Kirk asked.
"Yeah, he'll make it. His body's just exhausted, that's all. He has some radiation poisoning, but a quick trip to Sickbay will clear that up."
Kirk smiled for the first time since this whole ordeal began. He walked over to the console. "Let's get ourselves out of here before we wind up needing the same thing. Kirk to Bridge," he said, activating the comm on the console, "Head back to the Valiant. I'm sure they'd like to hear the good news." He looked up at his chief engineer. "Well done, Scotty. A miracle truly worthy of your name."
"Ah, thank ye, sir. But I think I had a wee bit o' help." He nodded toward the still form being loaded on a stretcher that just arrived. "He kept himself stable just long enough for me to get a lock on him. But thank ye just the same."
Kirk clapped Scotty on the shoulder and followed McCoy to Sickbay.