Chapter Thirteen: Slingshot Effect
Disclaimer: The Enterprise belongs to Captain Picard: I'll sic Paramount on him if they come calling. If they bother him, he can get Worf to shoot them out of the sky. Then all Star Trek fanwriters can point and laugh.
Author's Note: People with really good memories may notice that the titles for chapters one and two have been changed. No content has been altered, only a pair of lame titles. Also, Chapter Twelve has been slightly altered to reflect a more canonical take on sixth-book YYH, and has a couple extra sentences on how they're going to circumvent the Prime Directive. Always fun, that.
Apology: Yes, I know the chapter's late…I'm sorry… Someone found my Active/Passive switch and locked me in Passive Mode. Riiiiiiight. True Story: I'm lazy, on break for Thanksgiving, and finals are coming. Ok, forget all that, although it's mostly true. More realistically, I couldn't get this chapter to sound right—this is the third or fourth version. And the stupid keyboard of EVILNESS decided to give out on me again…(I apologize for the odd-sounding monologue, but I just got back from a friend's house and my second viewing of Harry Potter 4 in two days. Also, it's really early right now…or really late…depending.) I'm such a slacker, but you all love me...Right? (looks cross-eyed at business end of weapons pointed at nose) OKAY then...
ON WITH THE SHOW!
"Status of the Lhyarri cruiser," Picard requested curtly, sitting tensely into his command chair and trying to pretend that he was perfectly at ease.
"The ship has taken up a holding position on the other side of Hel's Gate," Worf reported brusquely. "Sensors cannot obtain accurate readings through the matter cloud."
"What do the sensors tell us?" Riker asked.
"Their energy output is surprisingly high, allowing me to detect them. If they lower their power by fifty-three percent, we will be unable to detect them, possibly due to unusual hull construction. Preliminary readings indicate that the ship is approximately twice the size of the Enterprise; in addition, they out-mass what would be typical of a Federation or Fed-allied construction of that size."
"Speculation, Mr. Worf?" the captain requested.
"The hull appears unusually dense, perhaps as a compensation for insufficient shields. The composition of the hulls is unknown. I am unable to read anything more through the radiation."
"Radiation? Is the ship or crew at risk?"
"No sir, not with our shields raised, and our previous exposure was insufficient to present any significant effects."
The captain scowled, although reassured that his ship had not been damaged by the radiation. "Mr. Data, I want you to reconfigure the sensors to penetrate Hel's Gate. We can't afford a blind spot in a battle against a ship that size."
"Aye, sir," Data said, fingers already flying.
"Picard to Engineering," he hailed, thumbing the panel at his left hand. "Do we have warp drive back yet?"
"We've almost got it, Captain," La Forge replied.
"I need it now, Mr. La Forge. We've got a very large ship riding herd on us up here."
Geordi sighed audibly. "I can give you Warp One for about a minute, but then we'll be right back where we started. Or, you can wait five more minutes and have all the warp drive you want. I'm sorry, Captain," he continued in a more conciliatory tone, "but the plasma manifolds aren't quite stabilized yet, and piling more of my people on it simply won't do any good."
"Understood. We'll have to stall them. Every second counts, Mr. La Forge. Bridge out."
"Captain," Data spoke up as Picard turned off the intercom. "I have reconfigured the forward sensors to penetrate Hel's Gate in its current state, however, the constant alterations in the cloud's composition make it unreliable, and the modifications will not be valid for long."
"Excellent work, Mr. Data. Tell us about the Lhyarri ship."
Data tapped at his board for a few quick seconds, and then said, "The Lhyarri vessel's hull is unusually dense, and is polarized." He paused.
"Continue."
"Captain, I believe they are experiencing malfunctions, due to the influence of the radiation emitted from Hel's Gate. Their power matrix is experiencing severe fluctuations, and is affecting several shipboard functions to a degree visible even at this distance."
"They may be uniquely unsuited for such a chaotic region of space," Riker mused. "It could be that they were called out here unprepared. We are quite a way away from where we last encountered the Lhyarri."
"That may be, Number One. We may not even have to fight them. I will not order an attack on a crippled ship. Mr. Data, can the sensors read anything else?"
"I am unable to obtain further information, sir. They have shut off power to protect themselves from the backlash of the anomaly."
"Why have we not been affected similarly?"
"On the contrary, Captain, we have been; however, we are at a greater distance from its perimeter, and the shields have been modified to filter out the greater part of the radiation. Not only does the Lhyarri vessel lack advanced shielding, they have been using the phenomenon to mask their approach, on the theory that we could not penetrate the cloud."
"A flawed theory, it would seem."
"Aye, sir." Data paused to consult with his panel. "Captain, the vessel has shut off or significantly lowered power to protect themselves. It is now at a level at which we cannot detect them."
"That's going to be inconvenient," Riker complained. "If they can just shut off all power and sit, we could be floundering around in the dark for far too long."
"I will work on it, sir."
"You have about three minutes, Mr. Data."
"Understood."
Picard thought quickly, checking off points in his head. "Status of the infernium recovery and Alameda rescue?" he asked the bridge at large.
"Complete thirty minutes ago, sir," Riker said quickly, consulting his panel. "Forty-two crewmembers of assorted races, including Orions, Chalnoth, Andorians, and Lhyarri, are behind level-nine forcefields in Cargo Bay Two. The infernium has been placed in stasis on Deck 15, in Science Lab A."
"Good," Picard said tersely. That was half of their mission successfully done. The only impediment to the remainder was, at the moment, setting off proximity alarms on Data and Worf's boards.
"Captain! Five smaller Lhyarri vessels have been launched from the area where the cruiser was last seen. They are closing to a distance of sixty million kilometers. Their limited shields are raised," Worf reported. "The mother-ship still does not register on sensors."
"Mr. Data?"
"There was not time to find the proper scanning frequency," Data said apologetically.
"Shields up. Yellow Alert. Open a hailing frequency," Picard commanded, rising to his feet and settling his red and black uniform back into place.
"Hailing frequencies open," Data reported.
"Lhyarri cruisers," Picard began, "this is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise. State your business in this sector."
A tense pause ricocheted around the bridge.
"They are not responding, Captain," Data stated.
The ship shuddered dully as a torpedo impacted with the forward shields, fired from the lead ship. Automatically, damage reports siphoned themselves to Worf's console.
"Shields at sixty-six percent and rising," the Klingon said brusquely. "No damage to the ship."
"A warning shot," Riker muttered into his beard. "The universal greeting when you don't like someone."
"Agreed," Picard replied, having dropped back into his command chair. "Is the channel still open?"
"Aye, sir."
"Lhyarri vessels, withdraw at once. Stand down or we will retaliate with force."
The predatory, smaller ships remained silent, still advancing on the Enterprise. They spread out from their tight cluster, and assumed positions around the Enterprise saucer. Only two now remained on the forward viewer; the rest were out of the current frame.
"Mr. Data, get Tactical from Mr. Worf and put it on split-screen with forward view," Riker requested.
"Aye sir, receiving information. On screen."
The Main Viewscreen seemed to split in two. Half still showed the two forward Lhyarri vessels, but the other half changed to show the familiar diagram of Hel's Gate and its surroundings. Fenell's green dot was nowhere to be seen, and although the white Enterprise-dot hadn't moved, five blue indicators now hovered about it like vultures, to starboard, port, directly forward, and above and below.
"We do have an escape route directly astern," Ensign Crusher reminded them.
"True, unless they launch others and move to cover that area," Riker said gently.
"Unlikely, sir," Data said, checking his monitor. "In order to ambush us without being seen, they would have to maintain extremely low power levels in order to remain undetected. Without noticeable power emissions, any reinforcement ships would not be able to maneuver on more than impulse power, and it would take, at full impulse, approximately one hour and thirty-eight point four minutes to reach our current position from their last known location." (AN—these are real true numbers according to the Star Trek Encyclopedia and my graphing calculator.)
"Very good. Inform us if there is even a possibility of reinforcements moving in," Picard ordered.
"Yes, sir."
"Captain!" Worf cried. "The lead ship is charging weapons!" On the Tactical readout, the ship he had indicated began to flash.
"Fire a warning shot at half power, Lieutenant."
Worf tapped his panel curtly, and an orange beam momentarily connected the Enterprise and the closest Lhyarri cruiser. Part of the hull plating darkened slightly, only to return to its original color three seconds later.
"No damage to lead vessel. Hull plating is regenerating," Worf reported, then consulted his panel. A moment later, the other four dots also began to flash. "The other ships are charging weapons."
"Red Alert. Keep shields at maximum. Bridge to Engineering," Picard hailed, thumbing the built-in intercom on the arm of his chair. "Warp status?"
"Seven seconds, Captain…"
"Mr. Crusher, on my mark, take us out backwards through the hole in their formation."
"Six."
"Aye, sir, course laid in."
"Five."
"The ship to starboard is firing, Captain," Worf informed them. As Geordi counted "four," the Enterprise was once again hit, and was shaken rather roughly. Wesley, resolutely staying in his seat, held them in position, preparing to jump to warp.
"Three."
"Captain!" Data said urgently. "Three cruisers have dropped out of maximum warp directly astern."
"Dammit!" Riker hissed. "That's overkill!"
"Ensign, plot course 000 mark 0. Mr. Worf, open fire directly ahead!" Picard ordered.
"Bridge, we have full warp capacity—now if you'll excuse me, I'll organize the repair teams we'll be needing shortly."
"Now is not the time, Geordi, though we appreciate it," Riker told him as the channel was closed from Engineering.
Beams of energy lashed out from the Enterprise's saucer section, licking across the enemy ship's hull. The plating visibly scorched, but before it could burn away to the degree where it would damage the actual ship, the other seven ships jumped to the defense of their comrade. Alarms wailed as the bigger ship came under attack from all sides.
"Shields dropping, Captain," Worf reported, grimly clinging to the security arch with one hand while manipulating his console with the others. "They have targeted sensors and weapons." Part of his panel exploded, sending sparks across the bridge before the automatic fire-suppression systems kicked in. "Targeting scanners are experiencing malfunctions. I can only keep locks on three ships at once."
"Reroute all power to shields. Target the ship dead ahead again, with all phaser banks. Mr. Crusher, hold that course," Picard ordered.
"Power is being rerouted from all nonessential systems," Data reported crisply. The bridge lights, already low due to the red alert, dimmed even further, leaving only the warning lights to bathe the bridge in a crimson glow.
"Mr. Worf, fire," Picard said coldly, taking firm hold of his chair.
The lead ship staggered back, receiving the full force of the Enterprise's phasers. The rest of the attacking fleet, not to let the bigger ship pick on one of them alone, barraged them with blasts. The Enterprise's shields flared, beginning to drop even further.
"Keep phasers on target," Picard gritted.
"Shields failing," Data warned, as Worf was too busy to say it.
As Ensign Crusher moved the ship forward, the Lhyarri vessel began to fall back, creating a hole in their net.
"Captain, shields are down!" Data cried.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the starboard ship locked its own phasers on the main emitters, hoping to take out the powerful beam at the source.
About to order phasers diverted, just when an escape route was opening, the captain received a momentary surprise. Despite all phasers targeting the ship dead ahead, another phaser blast impacted with the next closest ship, whose phaser banks had been just about to release another surge of energy. Surprised, the weapons officer reacted poorly, and the phasers stabbed out across the Enterprise, missing completely and striking the Lhyarri ship across from it.
"Where did that come from?" Riker demanded.
"It was a Federation phaser, sir…" one of the ensigns at the back consoles called.
"Possibly from a shuttlecraft?" the commander grinned, things suddenly making a little sense.
"Aye sir, possibly…" The ensign ran a scan amidst the turmoil. "Shuttlepod Onizuka is directly beneath our saucer, sir!"
A moment later, Riker's personal console beeped, barely audible over the noise of battle. He read the message quickly.
Get out of here, Enterprise. The little ones are only powerful in packs. Your best bet is probably to run, and let the fastest catch you one at a time.
"We're clear!" Wesley cried in a brief moment of stillness.
"Get us out of here, warp six," Picard ordered.
As the Enterprise slipped into subspace, Riker pulled up a scan on his console. Amidst the chaos of eight Lhyarri cruisers scrambling to follow, one limping visibly, one warp trail led away, hot on Fenell's trail.
"Bridge to Engineering, status report," Picard said tensely as the Enterprise sprinted away with the enemy fleet on her tail. The large mother ship, presumably still wallowing, was nowhere to be seen.
"We're working on the shields, Captain, but some circuits got fried and we're having to work around them. We'll let you know if there's a problem, but there definitely will be if the Lhyarri catch up to us again. I don't know how we survived eight ships, but if it happens again, we won't."
"Thank you, Mr. La Forge, bridge out." The captain thumbed the channel closed. "How did we get out of that?"
"The Lhyarri weapons are substantially less powerful than our own, well below the levels of early phasers," Worf observed, checking the records of the recent battle, which were stored on his console. "However, the synergetic effect of their weapons strained our more advanced shields to the point of collapse."
"Mr. Worf, if we were to fight only one or two at a time, what would be the result?" Riker asked, remembering the quick message.
"We would be at a significant advantage," the Klingon officer said without even needing to consult his panel. "However, they are no doubt aware of their inferiority, and will be difficult to split up."
"They are staying in a pack, Captain," Data added.
"Hmm," Picard ruminated quickly. "Mr. Crusher, warp evasive. Let's see if we can shake some of them."
"Aye, sir," Wesley said, altering their course.
Brief seconds passed before Data reported, "Sir, they have increased speed, and have changed course to intercept."
"On screen," Riker ordered.
The Main Viewer changed, now showing not only the warping stars, but also a cluster of blue-grey, vaguely shark-shaped ships accelerating to cut in front of them. They disappeared briefly as Wesley changed course to avoid a collision, then reappeared. Despite several more course changes, he was unable to shake them.
"Fast little ships," Commander Riker observed. "It's a wonder they don't crash into each other. They must have some great pilots; they're flying pretty close."
Wesley changed course again, and this time, no shark-shaped ships cut across their bows. Instead, the tactical readouts showed the little cruisers spreading out to flank the Enterprise, although they stayed in pairs, two above, two below, and a pair on each flank.
"Mr. Crusher, take us to warp seven, and get us out of the center of this formation," Picard commanded.
"Aye, sir, warp seven." Wesley entered the appropriate command. Moments later, he reported, "The Lhyarri ships are at warp seven point five, Captain. We're being cut off!"
"Peculiar," Deanna commented from her chair, where she'd been sitting quietly throughout all the fireworks.
"Does anyone else feel like we're being herded somewhere we don't want to go?" Wesley asked aloud.
On any other day, Picard would have reminded the youth of bridge protocol, which didn't allow outbursts like that, but today was an exception—he was getting that feeling too. About to order all stop, as it was theoretically better to sit tight than charge blindly, he changed his mind as he realized that a sitting duck would be easier for the pack of starships to hit. Still, it might be worth a try if the situation persisted.
"Captain, I'm getting some unusual readings from the space ahead," Data informed him in a puzzled tone. "There are 'dead zones,' very small, barely noticeable at this distance. The sensors are unable to get any feedback from the blank areas."
"What about the surrounding area, is there anything strange about it?"
"Strange, sir?"
"Yes, strange, Data, there isn't time for a better description now!"
"Aye, sir," Data said resignedly. "Apart from the blank spots, there is nothing outside normal parameters previously recorded in that area."
"What's our ETA to where the blank spots begin?" Riker asked, getting up to look over Data's shoulder.
"Two minutes, three seconds, sir. Mark."
"Data, could those spots be artificial?" Riker asked, squinting at the screen.
"It is possible, sir."
"Captain, I think we're being shoved into a trap," the first officer snapped. "Look at them," he gestured at the viewscreen, "herding us into somewhere with something potentially dangerous."
"Agreed. Mr. Crusher, accelerate to warp eight for three seconds on my mark, then full stop," the captain ordered.
Riker looked up at the ceiling. "Computer, put me on shipwide address."
A whistle announced him. "All hands, this is Commander Riker. Prepare for sudden deceleration. Grab something solid, and batten down the hatches. Riker out."
"Now, if we're incredibly lucky…or they're incredibly stupid…" Riker muttered as he sat back down.
"Approaching suspect area," Worf rumbled.
"Mr. Crusher, engage," Picard said, and braced himself.
The whine of the engines was nearly audible even up on the bridge as they jumped another half-warp factor. Flanking them, the Lhyarri fighters began to match them, keeping them from swerving in any direction—even though that would be a very bad idea at high warp.
"Decelerating…now!" Wesley cried, and pressed the button.
With that one touch, people all over the ship were thrown to the deck and into walls. Sirens blared, klaxons flashed—and were occasionally silenced by falling objects, which collided with the wall panels, the lights, and anything else unmoving. Unsecured furniture flew across rooms. Some consoles, insecurely bolted down or merely damaged, were wrenched from their accustomed places. Old damage, from the battles not long ago, reopened.
The Enterprise screeched to a stop in space, warp field collapsing with a vengeance on the border of their destination. All around her, the Lhyarri vessels, caught by surprise, were still accelerating to keep up with their warp eight sprint, and, warp drives flashing brightly, charged right over the Enterprise and into the region.
The first one blew up not two seconds after passing the border. Spinning wildly, it rendezvoused with a 'blank spot' by chance. In a flash of flame, soon extinguished in the vacuum of space, both it and the floating mine were eliminated. Overly thick on the ground (so to speak), two more quickly went the way of the lead ship.
"A minefield," Riker said to the bridge at large. "No wonder they didn't have any time to modify their big ship. They were setting this up all that time."
Picard watched the littler ships scrambling to regain their feet, as it were, without going the way of the other three. Coasting on minimal thrusters only, they edged tentatively around their own trap, trying to get out and take another whack at the Enterprise.
"Mr. Worf, can you target those mines?"
"Aye, sir, easily."
"Excellent. Target the ones nearest to the enemy ships and fire," he ordered curtly. "They've gone to all this trouble; it would be a shame not to use it," the captain said in an aside to a smirking Riker, who was, to his credit, making an effort to hide his expression.
"Firing now," Worf said, as phasers lanced out from the saucer. The beams maintained as Worf drilled away at one mine after another, creating a long string of exploding or exploded mines in his wake. Once a handful of mines had detonated, a chain reaction began, sweeping across the field faster than Worf's phasers could manage.
"The remaining Lhyarri vessels have been destroyed or disabled," Worf reported, shutting down the phaser. "Minefield is collapsing."
"Scan the area. Make sure there aren't any left," Picard ordered. "There's no need for anyone else to stumble into this mess."
"That will take time, Captain," Data commented as he began to run the requested scans.
"We have it," Riker shrugged.
"That was only half of our mission," Picard reminded them all. "What about Fenell?"
"I think," Counselor Troi put in, "that our friends will do better if we stay out of their way. Besides, they may have already captured him by now."
Riker leapt to his feet and headed for the aft wall. "I can boost the long-range sensors to try to pick up the shuttlecraft while we check to make sure all the mines are gone."
"Make it so," Picard ordered, settling back into his chair. "We'll conduct repairs and then pick up the trail ourselves. I want status reports from all department chiefs," he began, turning to his console.
Before long, the ship buzzed with repairs and reports, patching the big ship up from its recent battles. Amidst all this, Riker located the large Lhyarri mother ship—still all but crippled by the curious effects of Hel's Gate. He kept an eye on it as he continued to scan along their most probable course, and watched as it was eventually tossed away by the currents. Once it was at a safe distance, it picked itself up and limped away towards Lhyarri territory at low warp to lick its wounds, heading away from Hel's Gate, the Enterprise, the ruined trap, and especially Fenell.
Some time later, Riker looked up from his panel. "Captain," he reported, "I can't get any sign of a Starfleet shuttlecraft. The sensors say there's nothing Starfleet or Federation for light-years."
"Could they have been destroyed?" Picard asked. "Or are the sensors malfunctioning?"
"It's a possibility, sir; the short-range sensors did take heavy damage. Some of the damage could have carried over to the long-range, but it's unlikely."
"They could be simply masking their signal," Worf suggested.
"Could they do that?" Wesley asked.
"Wes, it's probably wise to just assume that they can do anything they feel like," Riker told the youth, only partly exaggerating. He doubted that masking a shuttlecraft's signal would be beyond the demon pair. Why they would do it was more of a mystery—besides just wanting to be difficult, which they seemed to get a particular amusement out of…
Author's Note: Ok! No more lazy! I'm writing! I'm writing. I'm planning—I'm plotting—I'm writing a sentence—I'm planning—I'm thinking…I'm…staring…at the ceiling…and eating marshmallow salad (Mmm…). Well, I knew that wouldn't last long… Yes, it looks like you got another space battle—this is why it took so long to write, because it's the whole chapter. Anyone who saw the title 'slingshot effect' and thought 'oh darn, TOS time travel' should congratulate themselves for being a trivia buff, but they can relax now. That aside, as Chat sections are now illegal (dumb rule), I am sending my wonderful reviewers their replies just as soon as I finish posting this.
Notice: Finals are coming. Please bear with me as I juggle my life to include finishing this story. I will finish it. Promise.