Chapter 3
Inertial dampeners were offline. Kathryn felt her stomach churn as the Flyer flipped end over end, spinning rapidly at the same time. Disorientating red alert lights flashed, and a million different headache-inducing beeps kept erupting from all sides. "Tom!" she shouted through clenched teeth. He had somehow made it to the Flyer's controls before they had been thrown out of the hangar, and she could see him gripping the flight console with one hand and running the other hand over the flickering display in a desperate attempt to steady them. Kathryn finally wedged herself safely between some debris near the engine control panel with Seven, joining her in the effort to regain some thruster control.
"I'm trying, but we might not have enough power!"
"We're working on it!"
"We have another problem, Captain!" Chakotay warned. She saw him wince as he pulled himself to the tactical station. "The alien vessel is targeting us with their weapons."
Kathryn felt her heart rate increase even more if that was even possible. It drummed painfully against her ribcage. "Tom, we're going to have to try harder! We're need to get out of here, now," she relayed. "Chakotay, take all non-essentials offline and divert that power to the shields! Including life support!"
"Done, but it won't be enough to take the hit," Chakotay said. "Their weapons are almost fully charged!"
"Thruster control back online," Seven called.
"And some impulse," Kathryn confirmed in relief. "Chakotay, reroute power to engines; Tom, get us out of here!" she shouted. The Flyer finally slowed its tumbling, and Tom sped away from the massive ship just as its weapon banks began to glow.
"Going into evasive maneuvers," Tom reported. With inertial dampeners still offline, Kathryn felt sick again as the Flyer took a dive. A beam of laser shot directly overhead as Tom sped the Flyer up, sideways, and then into another swoop. "They've launched pursuers! I don't suppose we have Warp back online?" he called.
"Not yet," Seven answered shortly.
Chakotay reported, "There's a large micro-asteroid field 50,000 kilometers to starboard. We might be able to lose some of them there."
"We can make it," Tom agreed.
The Delta Flyer was beginning to tremble in protest at being pushed at such a high velocity on such minimal power, but Tom continued to accelerate. They entered the asteroid field, and he felt himself and the shuttle becoming one as his focus zeroed in on avoiding one asteroid after another. His hands danced expertly over the controls, even as the Flyer fought him, and together, they zigzagged up and down, left and right.
"Chakotay," he shouted, "shoot one of these things!"
"You're crazy!" Chakotay shouted back disbelievingly.
"Trust me," Tom yelled.
One of the asteroids in front of them burst obligingly into three large chunks, and Tom sped through the gap, small hail-sized rocks pummeling the hull, as two of the enemy ships collided with two of the larger pieces. The other three broke off their pursuit to avoid being hit by debris, looping back and around.
"Yes!" Tom cried. "We're almost through!"
"Good work," Kathryn said. She slid into her seat and scanned the area. "There's an M-class planet just ahead," she called.
Seven assessed their power levels quickly. "We should be able to make it to the planet and land," she said.
"Got it," Tom acknowledged. There was no sign of the other three ships. They must have given up. Tom felt hope and elation rise in his chest. He pushed the Flyer just a little more. He could see the planet in the distance. "Just a little further; we can do this," he whispered under his breath.
Suddenly, the Flyer lurched. Smoke erupted from the back. Tom felt his shuttle slipping from his control. "No, no, no!" he cried.
At the same time, Seven warned, "Direct impact by asteroid debris on one of our engines!"
"Distance to the planet?" Kathryn demanded.
"About 5,000 kilometers from the edge of the asteroid field," Chakotay answered.
Kathryn called, "Tom, can we make it?"
"I'll try my best. If we do, it's going to be a rough landing!" he called back. Even with the Flyer tipped at an odd angle, he zipped out of the asteroid field and made a break for the planet. They were halfway riding on inertia as they broke through the atmosphere. The gravity on the planet was beginning to pull them downwards, and Tom pulled up on the controls desperately to try and level them out as they careened towards the surface. "Hang on!"
The shuttle's flight path was curving towards a large body of water. Tom tried to guide the Flyer away from it, but with the engines on one side now completely offline, he couldn't. Instead, he kept it level as best as he could. "Brace for impact!" he warned. The Flyer hit the water and began bouncing like a flat skipping stone.
When the bouncing stopped, the only light was the natural sunbeams pouring through the front window. Seven could see glittering blue water stretching out to the distant horizon. Somehow, Tom had managed to land them upright on the surface of the water, and they appeared to be safely floating for the time being.
Kathryn stood up cautiously, making the Flyer rock a bit before she seemed to gain her balance. "Everyone alright?" she questioned uncertainly.
Seven studied the data readings from her tricorder, and after trying several times to restore main power, she concluded, "We have lost main power permanently. We are approximately 15 kilometers from the nearest shoreline and drifting away from it at a rate of approximately 3.24 miles per hour."
"Doesn't sound very approximate to me," Tom tried to joke. Then he sighed, "Guess we'll have to swim."
"I don't think so," Chakotay countered, his voice sounding hollow and strained.
Seven turned back to the rest of the group just in time to see Chakotay try to stand and then keel over instead. Kathryn reflexively caught his arm to break his fall. Seven gasped softly at the stab of panic that shot through her at the same time as her captain exclaimed, "Chakotay! What's wrong?" Kathryn's sapphire blue eyes filled with anxious concern as she helped him to the floor. He leaned back heavily against the console.
"I…I don't know…I can't…can't breathe…" he struggled to speak, one hand over his chest as his face now reflected the pain that he had obviously hidden before.
Seven, feeling fearful paralysis take hold of her body, answered for him breathlessly, "There was an altercation in the alien vessel's prison before we were taken to the hangar bay. He was beaten…severely." Tom had grabbed his tricorder and begun scanning.
"Not good," he whispered under his breath.
"What?" Kathryn demanded.
Tom shook his head, opening up his medical kit as he replied, "He's got a broken rib. It probably was only fractured at first, but it broke the whole way and punctured one of his lungs during our rough landing. He needs surgery, but you're going to need to get the Doctor's backup program running, Seven. Whatever it takes." Tom looked her in the eye for an urgent split second as he spoke, conveying the seriousness of the situation in that one solemn expression which was usually so rare on his face.
"Acknowledged," Seven hurried to the aft compartment, her own chest tight as if she could feel Chakotay's pain. Her hands trembled ever so slightly as she worked desperately to bring the backup program online. She wished momentarily that she could once again bury her emotions and simply focus on the task at hand, but then she admonished herself for such a thought. Chakotay, and the captain for that matter, would tell her that emotions could only serve to make her stronger and more human, despite their inconveniences.
She sensed rather than saw Kathryn come into the compartment and join her efforts silently. The captain's determination and undying hope seemed to permeate the air and helped Seven focus. Both of them worked quickly on connecting spare power cells to the Flyer's basic medical area.
At length, Kathryn said softly but surely, "He'll make it, Seven. You need to believe that."
"This should not have happened," Seven replied roughly. "He was injured while trying to protect me."
Kathryn did not pause her work, but she reassured Seven intently, "It's not your fault. He wouldn't want you to blame yourself, no matter how this turns out."
Seven promptly buried her guilt and reminded Kathryn stubbornly, "He will recover."
At that moment, the voice of the EMH program announced loudly, "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." Both women felt a flare of hope inside them, and as Seven explained the situation, Kathryn went to help Tom move Chakotay to the bio-bed.
The Doctor and Tom got straight to work, and Seven felt Kathryn's hand come to rest on her shoulder and guide her back to the front of the Flyer. He will recover, she repeated to herself stubbornly, hopefully, prayerfully. He must.
Suddenly, Kathryn gasped softly. Seven followed her captain's gaze. To her dismay, she saw there was a growing puddle of water seeping under the door to the Flyer. She realized they would not continue to float for long.
