He Who Fights With Monsters
By Thalia Drogna
*********************************************
"Enterprise to Lieutenant Reed," said Archer. When he received no answer he tried again, "Enterprise to Lieutenant Reed." He looked over at Hoshi.
"The channel is open, sir," replied the communications officer.
"Enterprise to any members of Third Squadron, we're about to fire our torpedoes at the Vor Devrees. Fall back immediately," said Archer.
"This is Crin Ad, message understood, falling back," replied the fighter pilot.
"Where is Lieutenant Reed?" said Archer.
"The Squadron Leader was hit, sir," replied Crin Ad.
"Destroyed?" asked Archer, praying in his heart that Reed wasn't dead.
"No, but badly damaged. I last saw him heading towards the Vor Devrees but I lost track of him after that. Hopefully he heard the message and is pulling out too."
"I hope so, we don't have time to wait," said Archer. "We can give you a couple of minutes to get out of the way but that's all."
"Acknowledged, sir," said Crin Ad.
"Ensign Hooper, give them two minutes and then lock on to the target and fire," said Archer.
"Yes, sir," said the Ensign.
****
Reed remembered the crash in fragments, like broken film. He knew he'd blacked out but he couldn't piece a complete memory together even from before then. He was a little surprised to fine himself awake and alive. Things hurt though, which didn't surprise him, but definitely meant that he was alive.
"I see you're awake," said a female voice.
Reed wondered whether he should try to open his eyes and see where the voice came from. He recognised the voice from somewhere but he couldn't quite place it.
"Perhaps you should tell me who you are. Despite the hair, you're obviously not Tien." Reed had forgotten his hair was still dyed Tien blond. "You're either very stupid or very clever and I'm not sure which yet. We've never had one of the enemy land in our hanger before. My guards weren't quite sure what to do with you. If you were Tien you'd be dead already. Although you have the insignia of a Tien Squadron Leader, and you were in a Rel fighter, so it makes me wonder why you're fighting for the Tien when you aren't one of them."
Reed decided that opening his eyes was something that he needed to do in order to assess the situation. He prised them open and tried to raise his head, which, along with the rest of his body, protested at the movement. He blinked at the bright light and looked around him. He was in the Rel Sevanne's computer room, except that he knew that it wasn't, he was on the Vor Devrees. He was sat in a chair facing a familiar looking black cylinder, his hands tied behind his back and suddenly he knew where he recognised the voice from. The voice belonged to the Matriarch of the Vor Devrees.
The side of his head was damp and from the pain in his skull, he assumed that the damp patch was blood. The headache and blurred vision confirmed that he had a head injury, possibly a concussion. His right arm hurt more than he would have expected from being tied behind his back, he suspected that it was broken or possibly dislocated. He tested the rest of his body for breaks but discovered none; it seemed that he'd escaped pretty lightly considering the speed that he'd crashed the fighter at. What worried him more was the dull ache from his stomach, it could be some bad bruising or it could be an internal injury. There was nothing that he could do about it for the moment though.
"My name is Corvas, conjoined Matriarch of the Vor Devrees," said the voice.
"Reed, Lieutenant," he said in a croaky and wavering voice.
"Yes, name and rank is all you're going to tell us, I know. I've read your database," said Corvas.
Reed said nothing.
"Did you come to kill me? Was that your plan?" asked Corvas.
Again Reed said nothing.
"Not going to tell me?" she asked.
"No," said Reed, his voice rasping in his throat. He coughed, which shook his body and made his injuries hurt. What he wouldn't give for some of Phlox's painkillers right now.
"It really doesn't matter if you don't feel like talking. But maybe you'd like to watch while I destroy your friends," said Corvas and switched on the view screen. Reed looked up to see Vor fighters screaming after Rel fighters amidst a blaze of phase canon fire. He saw hits impact on the Rel Sevanne from the Vor Devrees' cannons. The Rel Sevanne was taking heavy fire, it was firing back but its hits on the Vor Devrees weren't making much impact. They had used the previous three centuries to shore up their hull plating until it was pretty much impregnable. The Vor Devrees however, was inflicting considerable damage on the Rel Sevanne.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Reed, his voice wavering.
"Didn't the Tien tell you?" asked Corvas. "They're heretics."
"This really is all about religion?" asked Reed.
"Humans have had their fair share of holy wars," said Corvas. "Your history is littered with them, even the ones that weren't called holy wars usually had religion at their root."
"Humans aren't proud of all that happened in our past, but we put all that behind us a long time ago," said Reed. "Fighting over religion is pure stupidity."
"Yet we seem to be winning. And that is because we are on the side of righteousness," said Corvas.
"You are killing your own people. The Tien are also Kriel, you are all the same," said Reed.
"We are not the same! They are not the chosen people. Never think that we are the same. Now, let's see about that annoying ship of yours," said Corvas.
"No!" said Reed. "Leave Enterprise out of this."
"But they don't seem to want to stay out of this," said Corvas.
"Look, I'll tell you whatever you want, just don't harm Enterprise," said Reed, desperately. He had no intention of telling them anything but perhaps he could buy some time.
"But I've told you, you're not alive because I want you to tell me anything. You're alive because you're interesting to me. You're my entertainment. The Kriel are empaths too, but not in the same way that the Tien are. We enjoy sensing all emotions, not just the positive ones and you're providing me with quite the show Lieutenant," said Corvas.
"Go to hell," said Reed.
"Ah, anger, one of my favourites," said Corvas. "I wonder how you'll feel when I blow Enterprise out of the sky. And then I still have the deaths of over two thousand Tien to look forward to. Negative emotions make us stronger, we're going to have a lot of fun today with the Rel Sevanne. It's an added bonus to our crusade."
Reed was doing his best to block out Corvas' ravings, he could see the Vor fighters swarming around Enterprise and Second Squadron desperately protecting her so that she could get a clear shot at the Vor Devrees. The Vor fighters were getting in the way and he knew that they would only have a limited number of virus carrying torpedoes, every shot would have to count. He hoped that he had trained Ensign Hooper as well as he thought he had.
"Hope?" said Corvas, "now why would you be experiencing that emotion?"
Damn, thought Reed. He knew too much about their plan to defeat the Vor Devrees to hide his emotions, he was going to give the whole thing away. Then he remembered what T'Pol had taught them about controlling their emotions.
"I think you're hiding something from me after all," said Corvas. "What is it?" she asked.
"Nothing," replied Reed.
"Now that was definitely a lie," said Corvas. "You'd be amazed the cocktail of emotions that go with a lie, but we are very good at picking up on lies. We've had years of practise."
Reed closed his eyes and concentrated hard on T'Pol's lesson about controlling emotions. It had been short, out of necessity, they were about to be detected by the Tien and were hiding in a side room. But it had worked then, so it might work now. He calmed the storm inside him, it took him a little while and immense concentration, but when he was done he opened steel grey eyes and directed a piercing stare at the black cylinder.
"What did you do?" asked Corvas, angrily. "They're so faint now and they were so strong before. Your emotions are all controlled and hidden away. You're no fun anymore. No fun at all. Perhaps this will shake your resolve," she added. A door opened and familiar figure stepped through except this version had an extra ridge on each cheekbone and a navy blue uniform.
"Shar Jen?" asked Reed.
"This is my Weapons Master, Sharien," said Corvas. "She has a special surprise for Enterprise." Reed very nearly lost his control there and then but somehow he hung on to the tenuous grip on his emotions that he had.
"We have been building an inter-reality cannon," said Sharien. "It plucks matter from it's own reality and deposits it in another. Useful for tearing out the heart of a ship. We were hoping to use it on the Rel Sevanne to destroy their computer but unfortunately they are too well shielded. Enterprise is the perfect target though. Its shields are weak and if we target the warp engine we can disable the whole ship."
"It's a shame that anyone in the engine room of Enterprise will get sucked out into space through the hole that we'll be making," added Corvas.
Again Reed fought for control of his emotions, he was determined not to let Corvas have the pleasure of feeling his anger and concern for his colleagues. Especially he knew that he could not let her feel the hope he had felt at his realisation that Enterprise must be readying to fire on the Vor Devrees.
"Still nothing, Sharien," said Corvas. "Time for us to demonstrate."
Reed couldn't keep it up any longer. "No!" he shouted looking at the screen in front of them. And as he looked he saw Enterprise fire her first torpedo at the Vor Devrees. Relief flooded over him, and even as he felt it he cursed himself for his weakness.
"That torpedo," said Corvas. "Intercept it."
"Yes, Matriarch," said Sharien.
"You gave it away, Lieutenant," said Corvas. "You're broadcasting your emotions again and that will turn the tide of the battle in our favour. I knew that you'd be useful for something. Whatever plan you had, it won't work now we know about it. You've just ensured the destruction of Enterprise."
****
Archer watched as Hooper fired the first torpedo. Her aim was good and the torpedo was spot on target. He expected nothing less from a tactical officer who had been trained by Lieutenant Reed. Suddenly a Vor fighter swooped down from the battle placed itself between the torpedo and the Vor Devrees. Instead of impacting with the Vor Devrees as it was supposed to, the torpedo exploded on the Vor fighter, disintegrating it in the process.
"Enterprise to Sun Neer, you have to keep those Vor fighters away. We've only got a limited number of torpedoes," said Archer.
"We're doing our best, Enterprise," replied Sun Neer. "There just aren't enough of us left to hold them back."
Archer sighed inwardly, it was never easy. "Do you think you could make a hole for Enterprise to get in closer?" he asked.
"Are you sure that is a wise course of action, Captain?" asked T'Pol from her science station. Archer waved her quiet.
"Can you do it?" he asked again.
"We can try," said Sun Neer. "Flight Commander to Second and Third Squadron, direct all your efforts to making a path for Enterprise."
"Sir, that will put us in range of the Vor Devrees main batteries," said Ensign Hooper.
Hooper had definitely been trained by Malcolm Reed, Archer thought. "I know, Ensign, but I'm sure Mr Mayweather can get us through."
Mayweather didn't really look as though he was that convinced that he could get them through. "I'll give it my best shot," he said, looking apprehensive.
"Let's go for it," said Archer.
"Yes, sir," said Mayweather and directed Enterprise towards the Vor Devrees at full impulse. Enterprise manoeuvred through the rain of fire that came from the Vor Devrees, its' relatively small size helping it to dodge through the fire as Sun Neer's squadron took down the Vor fighters in their way.
Enterprise approached the huge bulk of the Vor Devrees and one of the guns found its target and the ship shook with the impact.
"Damage report?" said Archer.
"Hull plating is holding," said T'Pol. "That was not a direct hit."
"It wasn't?" said Archer in disbelief, it had certainly felt like a direct hit.
"The Vor Devrees' guns would have caused a hull breach if that hit had been on target," said T'Pol.
"Travis, don't let them get another one in," said Archer, urgently.
"I don't intend to, sir," said Mayweather with conviction. His concentration was fully on the controls in front of him and the guns of the Vor Devrees. Right now the fate of Enterprise against this monster of a ship rested on his shoulders alone. His piloting skills were all that stood between them and being blown to pieces by the behemoth in front of them. "I'm starting my run," said Mayweather. He didn't think they'd get another chance at this. Sun Neer's fighters were being decimated by the swarm of Vor fighters that had spilled out of the Vor Devrees on their approach. The squadron couldn't last long against the continued onslaught.
"Ensign, get ready to fire," said Archer with determination in his voice.
"Yes, sir, target is locked," said Hooper.
"Fire at will," replied Archer.
"Aye, sir," said Hooper and launched the second torpedo at the Vor Devrees. Their proximity meant that the it hit home with little difficulty. "Dead on target, sir," she said looking at her console read outs.
"Get us out of here, Mr Mayweather," said Archer.
"With pleasure, sir," replied the Ensign and he moved Enterprise into a swift turn away from the Vor Devrees.
"Take us back towards the Rel Sevanne, that's where we're needed most," said Archer.
Mayweather guided them successfully through the barrage of fire from the Vor Devrees once again. Enterprise turned around and ran for the protection of the Rel Sevanne's guns. It seemed ironic that it wasn't that long ago that those guns had been pointed at Enterprise. Sun Neer and the remains of her fighter squadron followed the starship, deflecting any unwanted attention as they retreated. They would make their last stand protecting their home ship and its allies.
"How long before we know if its worked?" asked Archer looking at T'Pol.
"Several minutes," said T'Pol. "The doctor's simulations indicated that the virus would spread rapidly, incapacitating systems as it moved through the ship. We should see some indication of infection in the next ten minutes."
Ten minutes was a long time in a space battle. Archer hoped that they could hold out that long.
****
"I don't understand," said Sharien. "They fired a torpedo at us, it impacted on the hull, it did not damage us in any way but yet they are retreating. It makes no sense."
"Our guest thinks that it makes sense," said Corvas. "He knows something."
"I am aware of that Corvas, I can feel his emotions as well as you can," replied Sharien. "We could interrogate him."
"It would be too late, whatever they've done it's already working. I can feel it. Oh by the goddess, I can feel it!" said Corvas, her voice taking on a strange panicked tone.
Sharien moved to a control panel by the view screen. "Systems are responding slowly, I'm scanning for contamination," said Sharien. She worked at the panel for a while before she gave her Matriarch an answer as to what was happening. "It's a virus, it's spreading from the hull into the organic circuits. The whole ship will be disabled in less than thirty time periods."
"Can we counter it?" asked Corvas.
"I have instigated counter measures but they are failing already. The virus is unlike anything that we've encountered before. It's completely alien in design. Out standard decontamination isn't working. The Vor Devrees is dying, Corvas."
"I am the Vor Devrees, it can't die," said Corvas.
"You ignored a fundamental law of battle," said Reed, "you underestimated your opponent."
"No!" said Corvas. "We are righteous, the Goddess would never let this happen to us."
"Doesn't seem as if the Goddess is in today," said Reed with great amusement. He briefly wondered how much blood he'd lost in the crash, he was starting to feel a little light headed and he was remarkably calm about the fact that he was sat on a dying ship. "I think this is the end of your crusade against the Tien."
"If you think that then you are even more of a fool than I was," said Corvas. "I still have one option left for me to use and I think we have time to use it."
"We're losing our weapons systems," said Sharien.
"We don't need them," said Corvas.
"Matriarch, what are you going to do?" asked Sharien.
"Watch, and pray to the Goddess for peace in death and absolution for what we have done in her name," said Corvas.
"You're going to ram them," said Reed, realisation dawning on him. "You'll kill everyone. On both ships." Me included, he added to himself. "You can't!" He struggled with the restraints around his wrist in an attempt to free himself, but his arm hurt like hell and whatever they had tied him with was too strong for him to break.
"I can and I will. If I cannot defeat the Rel Sevanne then I will destroy it," said Corvas. "They will die with us."
****
Archer saw the Vor Devrees turn to face the Rel Sevanne head on and then the bright white light of their engines flared and he knew what they were doing. Enterprise was in no danger, they weren't between the two ships and were agile enough to get out of the way in time, but the Rel Sevanne was another matter. A ship the size of the Rel Sevanne needed a little time to get moving and so far it was showing no signs that they had even understood the Vor Devrees' intentions.
"Archer to Rel Sevanne," he said.
"Captain," said a weak voice, almost unrecognisable as Trip.
"Trip, the Vor Devrees, they're going to ram the Rel Sevanne," said Archer. "You've got to get the ship moving."
"We see it. We're doing our best but the engines were hit on the last attack run, they're only at half power at best. Shar Jen's working on them," said Trip. It sounded as if he was having real difficulty summoning up the strength to speak.
"Can we use the grappling hook and pull them out of the way?" he asked T'Pol.
"The mass of the Rel Sevanne is too great. We would not make any difference in the time we have," said T'Pol.
"Damn," said Archer. "There has to be something we can do."
"Don't sweat it, Captain. I've got all non-essential personnel evacuated to the back of the ship, the Vor Devrees is on a trajectory to hit the nose. I'm doing my best to keep casualties down to a minimum. Just stay out of the way, this is going to make a hell of a dent," said Trip.
"You heard him, Travis. Back us off. Make sure we're as far away as we can get. Hoshi, spread the word to the Rel fighters as well," said Archer. He watched his crew calmly obey him and then he watched as the Vor Devrees impacted with the Rel Sevanne.
It was as if the two ships were colliding in slow motion, despite the fact that Archer knew that the ships both had huge amounts of momentum behind them. The Vor Devrees hit the Rel Sevanne's nose, Trip had been able to get the engines going just enough to push them back so that the Vor Devrees wouldn't hit the centre of the ship. Even so the impact destroyed almost half of the Vor Devrees as soon as they hit and sent tonnes of debris flying off into space. The complete front section of the Rel Sevanne had disintegrated and it exposed the honeycomb of the interior of the ship to vacuum.
Fires broke out across both ships and they sparked with lightning running across their hulls. The Vor Devrees was rocked by an explosion before it came to rest, wedged into the Rel Sevanne like a dark dagger in the heart of the light. The black ship stood out starkly against the white of the Rel Sevanne's delicate hull. Small explosions continued within both craft. And then both ships began to scream.
By Thalia Drogna
*********************************************
"Enterprise to Lieutenant Reed," said Archer. When he received no answer he tried again, "Enterprise to Lieutenant Reed." He looked over at Hoshi.
"The channel is open, sir," replied the communications officer.
"Enterprise to any members of Third Squadron, we're about to fire our torpedoes at the Vor Devrees. Fall back immediately," said Archer.
"This is Crin Ad, message understood, falling back," replied the fighter pilot.
"Where is Lieutenant Reed?" said Archer.
"The Squadron Leader was hit, sir," replied Crin Ad.
"Destroyed?" asked Archer, praying in his heart that Reed wasn't dead.
"No, but badly damaged. I last saw him heading towards the Vor Devrees but I lost track of him after that. Hopefully he heard the message and is pulling out too."
"I hope so, we don't have time to wait," said Archer. "We can give you a couple of minutes to get out of the way but that's all."
"Acknowledged, sir," said Crin Ad.
"Ensign Hooper, give them two minutes and then lock on to the target and fire," said Archer.
"Yes, sir," said the Ensign.
****
Reed remembered the crash in fragments, like broken film. He knew he'd blacked out but he couldn't piece a complete memory together even from before then. He was a little surprised to fine himself awake and alive. Things hurt though, which didn't surprise him, but definitely meant that he was alive.
"I see you're awake," said a female voice.
Reed wondered whether he should try to open his eyes and see where the voice came from. He recognised the voice from somewhere but he couldn't quite place it.
"Perhaps you should tell me who you are. Despite the hair, you're obviously not Tien." Reed had forgotten his hair was still dyed Tien blond. "You're either very stupid or very clever and I'm not sure which yet. We've never had one of the enemy land in our hanger before. My guards weren't quite sure what to do with you. If you were Tien you'd be dead already. Although you have the insignia of a Tien Squadron Leader, and you were in a Rel fighter, so it makes me wonder why you're fighting for the Tien when you aren't one of them."
Reed decided that opening his eyes was something that he needed to do in order to assess the situation. He prised them open and tried to raise his head, which, along with the rest of his body, protested at the movement. He blinked at the bright light and looked around him. He was in the Rel Sevanne's computer room, except that he knew that it wasn't, he was on the Vor Devrees. He was sat in a chair facing a familiar looking black cylinder, his hands tied behind his back and suddenly he knew where he recognised the voice from. The voice belonged to the Matriarch of the Vor Devrees.
The side of his head was damp and from the pain in his skull, he assumed that the damp patch was blood. The headache and blurred vision confirmed that he had a head injury, possibly a concussion. His right arm hurt more than he would have expected from being tied behind his back, he suspected that it was broken or possibly dislocated. He tested the rest of his body for breaks but discovered none; it seemed that he'd escaped pretty lightly considering the speed that he'd crashed the fighter at. What worried him more was the dull ache from his stomach, it could be some bad bruising or it could be an internal injury. There was nothing that he could do about it for the moment though.
"My name is Corvas, conjoined Matriarch of the Vor Devrees," said the voice.
"Reed, Lieutenant," he said in a croaky and wavering voice.
"Yes, name and rank is all you're going to tell us, I know. I've read your database," said Corvas.
Reed said nothing.
"Did you come to kill me? Was that your plan?" asked Corvas.
Again Reed said nothing.
"Not going to tell me?" she asked.
"No," said Reed, his voice rasping in his throat. He coughed, which shook his body and made his injuries hurt. What he wouldn't give for some of Phlox's painkillers right now.
"It really doesn't matter if you don't feel like talking. But maybe you'd like to watch while I destroy your friends," said Corvas and switched on the view screen. Reed looked up to see Vor fighters screaming after Rel fighters amidst a blaze of phase canon fire. He saw hits impact on the Rel Sevanne from the Vor Devrees' cannons. The Rel Sevanne was taking heavy fire, it was firing back but its hits on the Vor Devrees weren't making much impact. They had used the previous three centuries to shore up their hull plating until it was pretty much impregnable. The Vor Devrees however, was inflicting considerable damage on the Rel Sevanne.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Reed, his voice wavering.
"Didn't the Tien tell you?" asked Corvas. "They're heretics."
"This really is all about religion?" asked Reed.
"Humans have had their fair share of holy wars," said Corvas. "Your history is littered with them, even the ones that weren't called holy wars usually had religion at their root."
"Humans aren't proud of all that happened in our past, but we put all that behind us a long time ago," said Reed. "Fighting over religion is pure stupidity."
"Yet we seem to be winning. And that is because we are on the side of righteousness," said Corvas.
"You are killing your own people. The Tien are also Kriel, you are all the same," said Reed.
"We are not the same! They are not the chosen people. Never think that we are the same. Now, let's see about that annoying ship of yours," said Corvas.
"No!" said Reed. "Leave Enterprise out of this."
"But they don't seem to want to stay out of this," said Corvas.
"Look, I'll tell you whatever you want, just don't harm Enterprise," said Reed, desperately. He had no intention of telling them anything but perhaps he could buy some time.
"But I've told you, you're not alive because I want you to tell me anything. You're alive because you're interesting to me. You're my entertainment. The Kriel are empaths too, but not in the same way that the Tien are. We enjoy sensing all emotions, not just the positive ones and you're providing me with quite the show Lieutenant," said Corvas.
"Go to hell," said Reed.
"Ah, anger, one of my favourites," said Corvas. "I wonder how you'll feel when I blow Enterprise out of the sky. And then I still have the deaths of over two thousand Tien to look forward to. Negative emotions make us stronger, we're going to have a lot of fun today with the Rel Sevanne. It's an added bonus to our crusade."
Reed was doing his best to block out Corvas' ravings, he could see the Vor fighters swarming around Enterprise and Second Squadron desperately protecting her so that she could get a clear shot at the Vor Devrees. The Vor fighters were getting in the way and he knew that they would only have a limited number of virus carrying torpedoes, every shot would have to count. He hoped that he had trained Ensign Hooper as well as he thought he had.
"Hope?" said Corvas, "now why would you be experiencing that emotion?"
Damn, thought Reed. He knew too much about their plan to defeat the Vor Devrees to hide his emotions, he was going to give the whole thing away. Then he remembered what T'Pol had taught them about controlling their emotions.
"I think you're hiding something from me after all," said Corvas. "What is it?" she asked.
"Nothing," replied Reed.
"Now that was definitely a lie," said Corvas. "You'd be amazed the cocktail of emotions that go with a lie, but we are very good at picking up on lies. We've had years of practise."
Reed closed his eyes and concentrated hard on T'Pol's lesson about controlling emotions. It had been short, out of necessity, they were about to be detected by the Tien and were hiding in a side room. But it had worked then, so it might work now. He calmed the storm inside him, it took him a little while and immense concentration, but when he was done he opened steel grey eyes and directed a piercing stare at the black cylinder.
"What did you do?" asked Corvas, angrily. "They're so faint now and they were so strong before. Your emotions are all controlled and hidden away. You're no fun anymore. No fun at all. Perhaps this will shake your resolve," she added. A door opened and familiar figure stepped through except this version had an extra ridge on each cheekbone and a navy blue uniform.
"Shar Jen?" asked Reed.
"This is my Weapons Master, Sharien," said Corvas. "She has a special surprise for Enterprise." Reed very nearly lost his control there and then but somehow he hung on to the tenuous grip on his emotions that he had.
"We have been building an inter-reality cannon," said Sharien. "It plucks matter from it's own reality and deposits it in another. Useful for tearing out the heart of a ship. We were hoping to use it on the Rel Sevanne to destroy their computer but unfortunately they are too well shielded. Enterprise is the perfect target though. Its shields are weak and if we target the warp engine we can disable the whole ship."
"It's a shame that anyone in the engine room of Enterprise will get sucked out into space through the hole that we'll be making," added Corvas.
Again Reed fought for control of his emotions, he was determined not to let Corvas have the pleasure of feeling his anger and concern for his colleagues. Especially he knew that he could not let her feel the hope he had felt at his realisation that Enterprise must be readying to fire on the Vor Devrees.
"Still nothing, Sharien," said Corvas. "Time for us to demonstrate."
Reed couldn't keep it up any longer. "No!" he shouted looking at the screen in front of them. And as he looked he saw Enterprise fire her first torpedo at the Vor Devrees. Relief flooded over him, and even as he felt it he cursed himself for his weakness.
"That torpedo," said Corvas. "Intercept it."
"Yes, Matriarch," said Sharien.
"You gave it away, Lieutenant," said Corvas. "You're broadcasting your emotions again and that will turn the tide of the battle in our favour. I knew that you'd be useful for something. Whatever plan you had, it won't work now we know about it. You've just ensured the destruction of Enterprise."
****
Archer watched as Hooper fired the first torpedo. Her aim was good and the torpedo was spot on target. He expected nothing less from a tactical officer who had been trained by Lieutenant Reed. Suddenly a Vor fighter swooped down from the battle placed itself between the torpedo and the Vor Devrees. Instead of impacting with the Vor Devrees as it was supposed to, the torpedo exploded on the Vor fighter, disintegrating it in the process.
"Enterprise to Sun Neer, you have to keep those Vor fighters away. We've only got a limited number of torpedoes," said Archer.
"We're doing our best, Enterprise," replied Sun Neer. "There just aren't enough of us left to hold them back."
Archer sighed inwardly, it was never easy. "Do you think you could make a hole for Enterprise to get in closer?" he asked.
"Are you sure that is a wise course of action, Captain?" asked T'Pol from her science station. Archer waved her quiet.
"Can you do it?" he asked again.
"We can try," said Sun Neer. "Flight Commander to Second and Third Squadron, direct all your efforts to making a path for Enterprise."
"Sir, that will put us in range of the Vor Devrees main batteries," said Ensign Hooper.
Hooper had definitely been trained by Malcolm Reed, Archer thought. "I know, Ensign, but I'm sure Mr Mayweather can get us through."
Mayweather didn't really look as though he was that convinced that he could get them through. "I'll give it my best shot," he said, looking apprehensive.
"Let's go for it," said Archer.
"Yes, sir," said Mayweather and directed Enterprise towards the Vor Devrees at full impulse. Enterprise manoeuvred through the rain of fire that came from the Vor Devrees, its' relatively small size helping it to dodge through the fire as Sun Neer's squadron took down the Vor fighters in their way.
Enterprise approached the huge bulk of the Vor Devrees and one of the guns found its target and the ship shook with the impact.
"Damage report?" said Archer.
"Hull plating is holding," said T'Pol. "That was not a direct hit."
"It wasn't?" said Archer in disbelief, it had certainly felt like a direct hit.
"The Vor Devrees' guns would have caused a hull breach if that hit had been on target," said T'Pol.
"Travis, don't let them get another one in," said Archer, urgently.
"I don't intend to, sir," said Mayweather with conviction. His concentration was fully on the controls in front of him and the guns of the Vor Devrees. Right now the fate of Enterprise against this monster of a ship rested on his shoulders alone. His piloting skills were all that stood between them and being blown to pieces by the behemoth in front of them. "I'm starting my run," said Mayweather. He didn't think they'd get another chance at this. Sun Neer's fighters were being decimated by the swarm of Vor fighters that had spilled out of the Vor Devrees on their approach. The squadron couldn't last long against the continued onslaught.
"Ensign, get ready to fire," said Archer with determination in his voice.
"Yes, sir, target is locked," said Hooper.
"Fire at will," replied Archer.
"Aye, sir," said Hooper and launched the second torpedo at the Vor Devrees. Their proximity meant that the it hit home with little difficulty. "Dead on target, sir," she said looking at her console read outs.
"Get us out of here, Mr Mayweather," said Archer.
"With pleasure, sir," replied the Ensign and he moved Enterprise into a swift turn away from the Vor Devrees.
"Take us back towards the Rel Sevanne, that's where we're needed most," said Archer.
Mayweather guided them successfully through the barrage of fire from the Vor Devrees once again. Enterprise turned around and ran for the protection of the Rel Sevanne's guns. It seemed ironic that it wasn't that long ago that those guns had been pointed at Enterprise. Sun Neer and the remains of her fighter squadron followed the starship, deflecting any unwanted attention as they retreated. They would make their last stand protecting their home ship and its allies.
"How long before we know if its worked?" asked Archer looking at T'Pol.
"Several minutes," said T'Pol. "The doctor's simulations indicated that the virus would spread rapidly, incapacitating systems as it moved through the ship. We should see some indication of infection in the next ten minutes."
Ten minutes was a long time in a space battle. Archer hoped that they could hold out that long.
****
"I don't understand," said Sharien. "They fired a torpedo at us, it impacted on the hull, it did not damage us in any way but yet they are retreating. It makes no sense."
"Our guest thinks that it makes sense," said Corvas. "He knows something."
"I am aware of that Corvas, I can feel his emotions as well as you can," replied Sharien. "We could interrogate him."
"It would be too late, whatever they've done it's already working. I can feel it. Oh by the goddess, I can feel it!" said Corvas, her voice taking on a strange panicked tone.
Sharien moved to a control panel by the view screen. "Systems are responding slowly, I'm scanning for contamination," said Sharien. She worked at the panel for a while before she gave her Matriarch an answer as to what was happening. "It's a virus, it's spreading from the hull into the organic circuits. The whole ship will be disabled in less than thirty time periods."
"Can we counter it?" asked Corvas.
"I have instigated counter measures but they are failing already. The virus is unlike anything that we've encountered before. It's completely alien in design. Out standard decontamination isn't working. The Vor Devrees is dying, Corvas."
"I am the Vor Devrees, it can't die," said Corvas.
"You ignored a fundamental law of battle," said Reed, "you underestimated your opponent."
"No!" said Corvas. "We are righteous, the Goddess would never let this happen to us."
"Doesn't seem as if the Goddess is in today," said Reed with great amusement. He briefly wondered how much blood he'd lost in the crash, he was starting to feel a little light headed and he was remarkably calm about the fact that he was sat on a dying ship. "I think this is the end of your crusade against the Tien."
"If you think that then you are even more of a fool than I was," said Corvas. "I still have one option left for me to use and I think we have time to use it."
"We're losing our weapons systems," said Sharien.
"We don't need them," said Corvas.
"Matriarch, what are you going to do?" asked Sharien.
"Watch, and pray to the Goddess for peace in death and absolution for what we have done in her name," said Corvas.
"You're going to ram them," said Reed, realisation dawning on him. "You'll kill everyone. On both ships." Me included, he added to himself. "You can't!" He struggled with the restraints around his wrist in an attempt to free himself, but his arm hurt like hell and whatever they had tied him with was too strong for him to break.
"I can and I will. If I cannot defeat the Rel Sevanne then I will destroy it," said Corvas. "They will die with us."
****
Archer saw the Vor Devrees turn to face the Rel Sevanne head on and then the bright white light of their engines flared and he knew what they were doing. Enterprise was in no danger, they weren't between the two ships and were agile enough to get out of the way in time, but the Rel Sevanne was another matter. A ship the size of the Rel Sevanne needed a little time to get moving and so far it was showing no signs that they had even understood the Vor Devrees' intentions.
"Archer to Rel Sevanne," he said.
"Captain," said a weak voice, almost unrecognisable as Trip.
"Trip, the Vor Devrees, they're going to ram the Rel Sevanne," said Archer. "You've got to get the ship moving."
"We see it. We're doing our best but the engines were hit on the last attack run, they're only at half power at best. Shar Jen's working on them," said Trip. It sounded as if he was having real difficulty summoning up the strength to speak.
"Can we use the grappling hook and pull them out of the way?" he asked T'Pol.
"The mass of the Rel Sevanne is too great. We would not make any difference in the time we have," said T'Pol.
"Damn," said Archer. "There has to be something we can do."
"Don't sweat it, Captain. I've got all non-essential personnel evacuated to the back of the ship, the Vor Devrees is on a trajectory to hit the nose. I'm doing my best to keep casualties down to a minimum. Just stay out of the way, this is going to make a hell of a dent," said Trip.
"You heard him, Travis. Back us off. Make sure we're as far away as we can get. Hoshi, spread the word to the Rel fighters as well," said Archer. He watched his crew calmly obey him and then he watched as the Vor Devrees impacted with the Rel Sevanne.
It was as if the two ships were colliding in slow motion, despite the fact that Archer knew that the ships both had huge amounts of momentum behind them. The Vor Devrees hit the Rel Sevanne's nose, Trip had been able to get the engines going just enough to push them back so that the Vor Devrees wouldn't hit the centre of the ship. Even so the impact destroyed almost half of the Vor Devrees as soon as they hit and sent tonnes of debris flying off into space. The complete front section of the Rel Sevanne had disintegrated and it exposed the honeycomb of the interior of the ship to vacuum.
Fires broke out across both ships and they sparked with lightning running across their hulls. The Vor Devrees was rocked by an explosion before it came to rest, wedged into the Rel Sevanne like a dark dagger in the heart of the light. The black ship stood out starkly against the white of the Rel Sevanne's delicate hull. Small explosions continued within both craft. And then both ships began to scream.