They were going to be too late.
Hands clinging to her console, Hoshi Sato-Reed stared in horror at the images now being displayed on the main viewscreen. The Triton was reeling under concentrated fire from a Romulan bird of prey, and she gasped as the Neptune-class ship shuddered under brutal barrages. Hull plating was sent spinning into the darkness, and Hoshi felt her stomach tighten.
Through the deckplates, she could feel Endeavour's impulse drive straining as Lieutenant Mayweather pushed the envelope, exactly like her brother would have done. Going to warp to cover the vast distance wasn't much of an option; in the best of times, it was dangerous to break the light barrier within the confines of a system, but with an exit point within an asteroid field? That was tantamount to suicide.
Out of the corner of her eye, Hoshi could see Trip leaning forward in his command chair, one hand gripping the armrest tightly as he studied the sensor feed in front of him. There were no immediate indications of worry on his face, although Hoshi had known him long enough to recognize the tightness around his eyes for the concern that it was.
On the viewscreen, Triton suddenly shuddered as Romulan disruptor fire burned into Starfleet vessel's hull, and Hoshi looked away, forcing herself to focus on the communications console in front of her. She didn't want to watch the Neptune-class die.
"The hell with this," Captain Tucker muttered abruptly. "Helm," he said loudly. "Stand by for warp speed."
"Captain-" T'Pol started to say, but Trip continued to speak over her, his tone implacable.
"Communications, sound collision," he ordered. As Hoshi obeyed, he continued, this time directing his comments to his first officer. "I'm not going to sit here and watch them die."
"I wasn't asking you to," the Vulcan retorted calmly as she manipulated her board. "Uploading recommended flight path to navigational control now." Hoshi's board beeped, and she gave the small display a quick glance.
"All stations report ready," she announced.
"At warp six," T'Pol continued, "it will take approximately six point three seconds to reach the target. Automatic warp shutdown is recommended."
"Do it," Tucker decided. On the main viewscreen, Triton's port nacelle suddenly exploded, and Hoshi forced herself to look away. "Engage," Trip said.
With an aggressive rumble, the warp drive of Endeavour engaged, and the NC-06 surged forward at two hundred and sixteen times the speed of light. The six seconds seemed to flash by, and Endeavour dropped from warp less than a thousand kilometers from the out-of-control Triton. Even as the NC-06 began to maneuver toward the two ships, the Romulan bird of prey accelerated away from the newly arrived Starfleet ship, clearly recognizing that the NC-06 outgunned him.
"Track them," Tucker snapped, before glancing in Lieutenant Commander Eisler's direction. "Get a tractor lock on the Triton," he ordered.
"Romulan craft is deploying mines," T'Pol announced from her station. A moment later, Endeavour shuddered slightly as its tractor beam locked onto the Triton. The sudden addition of millions of kilograms of mass caused the NC-06 to lurch to a virtual halt, and Hoshi winced at the resulting high pitched whine that echoed through the ship. The grimace that flickered across T'Pol's face was gone nearly before Sato saw it.
"Triton is stabilizing," the Vulcan said moments later. "Maneuvering thrusters are firing."
"Cut 'em loose," Trip instructed. "Helm, pursuit course for the Romulan ship." He leaned forward slightly. "Weapons are free."
Engines growling, Endeavour accelerated deeper into the asteroid belt. The viewscreen was suddenly alive with pyrotechnics as the point-defense systems on the Starfleet vessel began firing at the two barely noticeable mines, ripping the defensive weapons apart with x-ray laser pulses. A third mine began shifting position as its integrated thrusters began firing, but two of Endeavour's phase cannons opened up, their beams converging upon the explosive and vaporizing it.
"Where the hell is he?" Captain Tucker demanded, his expression tight. He glanced in T'Pol's direction.
"I am detecting multiple sensor contacts," the Vulcan revealed, her fingers dancing across her board. "All are relaying contradictory information." To Hoshi's ears, she sounded slightly surprised.
"Elaborate." Trip's words required an immediate response, and, once more, Hoshi realized how much he had changed. He no longer seemed to be the fun-loving extrovert he'd always pretended to be while aboard Enterprise; now, he wore authority like a coat, and the lines around his eyes revealed the cost that it was demanding. It wasn't that he seemed older – to the contrary, in fact – but the distance in his eyes lent him an air of aged wisdom.
At his words, however, T'Pol merely gave him a sidelong glance, complete with the raised Eyebrow of Annoyance. It was a slightly modified version of the Eyebrow of Doom, and Hoshi had learned that it was the Vulcan's way of expressing that whomever she was talking to at the time was being obtuse. In the early days of Enterprise's launch, it was a toss up as to whether Jonathan Archer or Trip Tucker received this particular Eyebrow more.
"I do not have sufficient data to do so," the Vulcan responded to the captain's demand before bending back over her board's viewer. "It is probable that the Romulan craft has activated its holographic cloaking device, while deploying a number of devices to confuse our scans."
"Countermeasures," Commander Eisler growled from his station.
"Confirmed." T'Pol pressed a button on her board, and the main viewscreen abruptly zoomed toward a specific target. At first, Hoshi thought it was the bird of prey; its albedo, color and general shape were very similar to that of the Romulan warship. A flash from the engine section revealed the presence of maneuvering thrusters, but there was something not quite right about it, something that caused Hoshi to give it a second look.
"What the hell is that?" Trip asked, speaking Sato's thought.
"An inflatable decoy ballute," Eisler answered. He sounded mildly impressed, as if he approved of the Romulan's battle tactics. Tucker gave him an incredulous look, before returning his attention to T'Pol. She was still leaning forward, her eyes glued to her viewer.
"Detecting mass displacement equivalent to a bird of prey," she stated. "Outer hull appears to be a semi-flexible skin of duranium composites with internal structure comprised primarily of oxygen and helium." Her fingers tapped additional keys. "Additional components appear integrated to provide it with a close approximation of the bird of prey's sensor cross section," she finished.
"So, it is a decoy," Trip mused, ignoring the almost triumphant expression on Eisler's face. "Why haven't we seen these before?"
"Because we've always been outnumbered," the tactical officer rumbled. "This is the first time one of them is outgunned and being hunted."
"Fascinating," T'Pol muttered under breath, her comment pitched so low that Hoshi doubted anyone else heard it. "I am detecting debris that would indicate these decoys were deployed via torpedo."
"But what about the Romulan ship?" Trip asked, his fingers gripping the armrests of his chair. He appeared poised to stand, probably to pace, Hoshi presumed.
"As I stated earlier," the Vulcan first officer reminded him, "I am receiving contradictory information." She pressed another button on her board, and the main viewscreen returned to its broad overview. "Stand by."
"Slow to one-quarter," the captain ordered. He glanced toward Eisler. "Target those decoys and fire."
"Recommend we capture one for study," the tactical officer said, and Tucker nodded sharply.
"Contact!" T'Pol declared abruptly. "Bearing: one nine three mark one one four."
"That's behind us!" Trip realized. "Full evasive, maximum impulse!" he snapped. Lieutenant Mayweather was already applying acceleration, even before the captain spoke.
"Incoming!" Eisler's voice carried over the sudden wail of proximity alarms. Disruptor beams hammered into Endeavour's shields, rocking the Starfleet vessel, even as a trio of torpedoes screamed through the void. As the point-defense lasers began tracking the rapidly approaching warheads, Mayweather sent the NC-06 into a sudden, lurching dive. Hoshi felt her stomach suddenly jump into her throat as one of the torpedoes ignored the sudden flashes of pyrotechnics from Endeavour's countermeasure suite, and an overwhelming sense of deja vu washed through her. With effort, she pushed away the dark memories of the last battle she had been a part of as the p-def system ripped the incoming warheads apart.
Her heart was hammering as she focused her complete attention on the comm frequencies in an attempt to think about anything but the fact that she was once more in the middle of a battle. Six Starfleet vessels were en route, four of them Daedalus-classes. To her surprise, she discovered that a poorly armed Boomer ship was even now maneuvering toward the partially disabled Triton to tow it free of the combat zone, despite the many communications from Starfleet Command to stay clear.
Hoshi glanced up from her board, noting the attitude of focused determination that seemed to surround the three senior officers present. There was no concern, no panic at being outmanuevered, or even a hint of worry about the ultimate result of this engagement.
She shook her head in amazement.