An Unexpected Attraction - Part 11
See Part 1 for heading/disclaimer information.
*Malcolm*
"They're
firing again!"
"Travis,
evasive maneuvers!" The captain's voice was loud and confident. The
attacking ship wasn't measurably larger than Enterprise, but it's high-energy
pulse weapons were effective.
Travis
danced the ship about in an impressive, but ultimately futile evasive effort.
The Enterprise shuddered and I had to grab the top of my console to stay in my
seat. Across the bridge I could see that Hoshi hadn't been as successful, as
she was hanging onto the back of her chair to avoid being sent flying across
the room.
"Malcolm,
weapons?"
"Still
off-line, sir." I slammed my hand on the console in frustration. The
other ship had essentially appeared out of nowhere and immediately opened fire
to disable us before issuing a terse demand for our surrender. Our subsequent
attempts to communicate with them were all ignored.
Another
fusillade rocked the ship.
"Hull
plating is depolarizing, Captain." T'Pol calmly announced.
"Damn,"
Archer ran his hand through his hair in agitation. "Trip, where's that
warp drive?"
"We're
bypassing the bypasses down here, Cap'n. You've got what we can give
you," the engineer's tone was harried.
"Damn,"
Archer said again. He smiled grimly at the bridge personnel. "Maybe we
could launch some of Trip's shirts at them."
I laughed
in spite of myself. We were locked in a losing battle against an opponent with
superior firepower, and our leader was cracking jokes. But as I looked around
at the others on the bridge, I saw something else, a lessening of tension, a
renewed intensity of purpose. I shot the captain a surprised look of
appreciation and found he was staring at me, as if waiting for me to realize
what he was doing, with his unconventional style of command.
"Captain."
T'Pol drew his attention away, but we'd exchanged something in that brief
moment. Respect.
Smaller
ships were converging on Enterprise, shuttles from the larger ship. A sense of
dread filled me.
"One
of the ships is attempting to dock."
I was up
out of my seat and halfway to the lift before T'Pol finished her sentence.
While in the lift, I busily ordered my security teams into position and
prepared to defend our ship from these hostile invaders. When the doors
finally opened, I grabbed the phase pistol and rifle that were handed to me. I
deployed my teams and we waited.
It seemed
to take forever, but in reality it couldn't have been more than a minute or
two, before the internal docking bay doors were blown open. We were instantly
caught up in a fierce fire fight. Their hand weapons were on a par with our
own, and my confidence rose. We felled all but two of the boarding party and
several of my team were hit as well. The two invaders managed to escape the
area and as we fell into pursuit, I was notified that docking port two was also
under attack. I dispatched more teams to deal with that while continuing to
chase down these two intruders. They began heading toward engineering.
We cut them
off. They weren't happy about that. I say that simply because neither of them
let up on their weapons fire for an instant. Any expression on their faces was
hidden by the full helmet both wore. I had the fleeting thought that it looked
like a breathing apparatus, not unlike our own EV suits, but with none of the
bulk. When the two of them were finally felled, I raced for my second
battlefront. I was still en-route when I was informed a larger group had
broken through there and was now loose in the ship. Cursing inwardly, I was
struck with a sudden memory and hastily detoured to the Armory for the
equipment I'd need.
We tracked
the intruders' progress through the ship, our weapons fire only slowing them
down a little. I was grateful for whatever reason kept them together in a
group. I re-deployed teams to protect engineering and coordinated with my
remaining crewmen, allowing the intruders to believe they were roaming somewhat
freely through the ship, without their realizing I was carefully herding them
toward a surprise I had set up just for them.
Once the
intruders all passed my pre-determined point of no return, I powered up my
newly-enhanced, special-purpose force shield. The invaders quickly realized
they were heading for a dead end and retraced their path, leaving them no
choice but to pass through my cobbled together wing and a prayer. It worked
perfectly.
Before, I
hadn't had this particular point of view. The first two intruders passed
through the field, and actually took several more steps before they realized
they'd left their outer coverings, including their weapons and the odd-looking
helmet, several steps behind them. The remaining intruders halted in their
tracks behind the shield and we all watched in horrified fascination as the
first two collapsed, gyrating hideously on the floor and jerking a few times
before lying completely still. Lifeless. It seemed I'd been correct about the
helmets.
At that
moment the ship shuddered violently again. One of the remaining three
intruders lifted his weapon and attempted to fire through the shield. My
security team members tell me there was a huge explosion, I'm sure I would have
enjoyed it, if I could remember it. Unfortunately, the structural integrity of
that particular corridor of the Enterprise chose that exact moment to
collapse. The intruders were all killed. The explosion sent debris flying
everywhere. A good portion of it decided to simultaneously occupy the same
space I had been using.
I was later
told that after we'd detached their shuttles from Enterprise and blown them to
smithereens, (which I wish I could have had a crack at) the alien ship had
faltered in its attack. Trip's team had picked that precise moment to get the
warp engines back on line, allowing Enterprise to high-tail it out of the area
before they could regroup and come at us again.
As for
myself, I woke up in sickbay, looking very much like an ancient Egyptian mummy.
The first thing I saw when I could finally get my eyes to open was another
pair of eyes. Blue. But too blue, not the right pair. Phlox made an
approving noise when he saw that I was conscious.
"Ah,
welcome back, Lieutenant. How are you feeling?"
I took
stock of my internal feedback. Feet and legs, sore but functional. My belly
ached, it hurt to breathe, one of my arms was oddly numb, my eyes felt gritty,
my throat hurt and I had a killer headache.
"Fine,"
I told him.
Phlox made
a noise I assumed was amusement. I heard the outer sickbay doors open and
close.
"Ah,
Captain, Commander. I was just going to notify you that Mr. Reed has regained
consciousness."
I couldn't
lift my head very far, but I was able to make out their twin concerned faces.
I attempted a smile, but failed miserably, judging by the dismayed reactions I
got.
"Intruders?"
I managed to ask.
"Gone.
You did it, Malcolm," the captain told me. His voice sounded muffled and
far away. I let my eyes close and drifted off.