Star Trek: Earth Strike
Episode 16: Ambush
�It�s no use: there�s too much interference,� Worf complained, slamming his hand down in frustration, �I can�t raise them!�
�It�s imperative we ascertain how they are managing to neutralise the alien�s dampening field.� Insisted Picard, �have you tried a tight beam link?�
�In order to establish tight beam communications we would have to lock on to Voyager in much the same
way as we would were we attempting to target her for weapons fire.� Spock observed.
�The way she�s moving, that aint going to be easy.� Hawke said. Indeed the evasive manoeuvres of Voyager led her pursuers on a complex and confusing route. Phasar beams licked out from the Starship occasionally destroying one of her attackers. Answering fire scorched space in return, most missing - and more than once hitting their own - but sporadically scoring on Voyager�s shields.
�Sir,� Data said urgently, �I have been analysing Voyager�s flightpath and her evasive manoeuvres are developing a repetitive pattern.�
�Can you use it to make tight beam contact?� Picard asked.
�I believe so, but if I have been able to detect this pattern...�
�...The aliens could too.� Picard completed grimly.
Even as he spoke a schematic window opened up on the viewscreen under Data�s direction. A dotted line showed Voyager�s projected course, becoming solid as the Starship followed it precisely. The red sparks that indicated the alien fighters suddenly assumed their own pattern as they raced to converge on a point a second or two ahead of Voyager�s predicted course!
* * *
�Drop charges!� Janeway ordered, �All stop! Full reverse!� The bridge crew held onto their consoles and seats as the ship bucked, the inertial dampeners seeking to compensate for the sudden course change. All of the ship�s torpedo tubes spat forth their missiles, their short delay fuses exploding almost as soon as they had passed Voyager�s shields.
The bridge rocked violently as the ship took damage from its own weapons. The torpedoes explosions merged into one rapidly expanding cloud, it�s components still moving at Voyager�s initial full impulse velocity, and engulfing the alien fighters waiting to ambush the Starship.
The destructive power of the explosions themselves were largely spent and easily absorbed by the alien ships. The trillions of modified Borg nanoprobes that the cloud consisted of was another matter. Tiny harbingers of alien death, they pierced each chink in the alien�s armour, impacting, infiltrating and subverting the very substance of the Species 8472 ships. Most of the alien formation exploded instantly, some sought flight and managed to flee for a few seconds before their inevitable self-immolation - all were destroyed!
The roar of approval on the bridge of the Enterprise was immediately stilled. They observed three of the alien fighter�s, neither of whom had anticipated Voyager�s course as their unwise brethren had, ran headlong into Voyager�s stern - not having predicted her sudden course change either. The first two exploded on contact with her aft shields, the third actually penetrated and collided with Voyagers hull, tearing a great chunk out of the engineering section and gouging a furrow along it�s length. secondary explosions shook the ship as detritus - movables, plumes of leaking atmosphere and a few unlucky crewmembers spewed from the Starship�s torn flank. One of Voyager�s landing struts spontaneously deployed, hanging loosely from the underside of the damaged ship.
* * *
�Warning: outer hull breach.� The calm voice of Voyager�s computers informed her disarrayed bridgecrew.
�Status?� Janeway asked, half moaning as she levered herself up from where the impact had thrown her. �Report,� she ordered, then louder, insistent, �report!�
�Hull breach on deck 15 section 29 alpha: emergency forcefields are off-line.� Tuvok was the first to respond.
Kim shook his head, trying to clear his vision, then realised the haze was smoke drifting through the bridge, not a result
of the concussion he had suffered. �Captain, we�ve lost weapons.� he informed his commander. �And shields: shields are down too.�
�Warp engines are off-line...� Paris added, �uh... and impulse: helm is answering, but thruster power only.�
�Bridge to engineering, report.� Janeway said.
�We�ve lost everything Captain,� Torres�s voice responded over the intercom, �stored power is all we have left.�
�Seven to the Bridge.� A crisp voice intruded, �Captain; we have lost weapons.�
�I know that; can they be repaired?� Janeway asked.
�No: I mean we have lost weapons; torpedo bays and phasar banks no longer exist.�
�Understood.� Janeway slapped a control and the EMH�s harried face filled a console screen. �Doctor, I need you to interface with the ship�s computer,�
�Can�t it wait?� asked the hologram, �I�ve got casualties com...�
�Now Doctor. Emergency override Janeway Gamma one one three eight.� The doctor quietened instantly, his face betraying his surprise as the subroutine Janeway had had inserted in his programme was triggered. �Interface with the ship�s computer: I want every replicator on the ship producing modified nano-probes on a repeating cycle. Do it now.�
Janeway didn�t wait for the Doctor�s acknowledgement, aware that the subroutine would allow no delay or argument. She took a deep breath, then coughed on the thickening smoke. Chakote worked at the life support station and the circulation systems hummed as the air cleared somewhat. The Captain and the First Officer exchanged a grim look then Janeway touched the control for a shipwide announcement.
�All hands this is the Captain. Proceed to the escape pods and abandon ship. Repeat: abandon ship.�
