Which was when the first gravimetric wave slammed sidelong into the station, bucking the deck beneath Sonya’s feet. She stumbled, fell sliding. Lights died all across the operations center.
Slamming against the corner of an abandoned workstation, Sonya caught the edge against the side of her head, and stars exploded in her vision.
Resaurian alarms rang out over the bridge, sounding like metallic rattles. The Resaurians themselves slithered and ducked about in the near total dark, backlit only by one of the small electrical fires or the main screen that still, with all the failures, showed the bright circle of stars clustered at the top of the Demon’s gravity well.
Another gravimetric wave shook the station roughly. Sonya’s sense of balance swam before her eyes, and she felt heavier, awkward. Gravity fluctuated—or maybe that was just her head that pounded to the sound of large spikes being driven into her brain, burning where she had clipped the station corner. Rolling to her hands and knees, she tried to shake her head clear.
Nearly fainted.
“Commander!”
Rennan’s yell was close by, but she couldn’t see him. Blood oozed from the wound, trickling past her ear and down into her hair, over her face. A smear burned at the corner of her left eye. The sound of shots, phasers, welders. She smelled the acrid scent of hot metalwork, looking up in time to see one of the bridge’s welded doors spit a fury of angry sparks around three sides. It fell inward with a large crash, and more Resaurian bodies crashed through into S’eth and Fabian.
Then rough hands seized her, hauling her forward.
And nothingness finally claimed her.
They had lied to Gold on his own ship and now the Resaurians had apparently doomed seven more of his crew to die. Captain David Gold did not entertain violent thoughts; few Starfleet captains did, or they’d not be in command of a vessel. But at this moment, as he suddenly found himself facing Galvan VI all over again, the idea of several photon torpedoes was somehow comforting.
“Captain.” Tev interrupted his bloody fantasy. He turned and shucked himself of such delusions. There would be time for recompense later. Rational recompense. Right now, he had to rescue his crew.
“What have you got, Tev?”
“The anchor has completely torn away. The station is falling.”
Not on his watch it wasn’t! “Is there any way to grasp the anchor before it vanishes beyond the photon sphere?”
“No, Captain. A dekyon beam is not a lasso to grasp a moving target. It was only a viable option against a rock-steady target.” Tev snorted. “Even then, it really was only viable because of the addition of the probes and their dampening effect. There is nothing to stop the fall of the station.”
Gold nodded, his mind working furiously. A shadow walked across his grave, and he shuddered, knowing what he had to do.
He stood like a sailor of old, rock-steady on his deck as his ship bobbed among the gravimetric waves and he stared his nightmare in the face. His granddaughter had never been in danger. All along it had been he who faced death. Of course he had always known and accepted that, but never had it seemed more personal than right this moment. Gold might never see any of his grandchildren again. Might never see his beloved Rachel again, or listen to her harsh but loving ribbing.
For an instant, he wavered. He’d lost twenty-three of his crew not so long ago and he’d be damned if he’d lose seven more. If that meant he never saw his own loved ones again, then so be it.
Such was the price of wearing the red.
“Tev, we need to cross the photon sphere.”
To his credit, the Tellarite slowly blinked without a word, as he considered all the ramifications and other possible solutions before nodding. “It is the only way to secure the station and recover the crew,” he agreed.
Gold breathed deeply. For a brief moment he’d hoped that Tev might have another plan. Another idea that would save them from this. But there wasn’t.
There was only the Demon and the best damn crew he’d ever had the pleasure of commanding.
Looking around the bridge, his eyes came to rest on Wong, who looked expectantly over his shoulder at him. Gold saw no doubt in the young lieutenant’s eyes.
“Take us in,” he said. “Straight into the maw of the Demon.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
About the Authors
LOREN L. COLEMAN wrote fiction in high school, but it was during his enlistment in the U.S. Navy that he began working seriously at the craft. Discharged in 1993, he went to work as a freelance fiction writer and eventually became a full-time novelist. His first novel, Double-Blind, was published in 1998. As of the end of 2003, he has written and published fourteen novels, a great deal of shorter fiction work, and been involved with several computer games. His latest work is By Temptations and By War, set in the MechWarrior: Dark Age universe. The Demon is his second foray into Star Trek fiction following the publication of the short story “All that Glisters…” in the Star Trek: New Frontier anthology No Limits. When he isn’t writing, Loren plays X-box games, collects far too many DVDs, and trains as a black belt in traditional Tae Kwon Do. He has lived in many parts of the country. Currently he resides in Washington State with his wife, Heather Joy, two sons, Talon LaRon and Conner Rhys Monroe, and a young daughter, Alexia Joy. The family owns three of the obligatory writer’s cats, Chaos, Ranger, and Rumor, and one dog, Loki, who like any dog is just happy to be here. His personal website can be found at www.rasqal.com.
RANDALL N. BILLS began his writing career in the adventure gaming industry, where he has worked full-time for the last eight years. His hobbies include music, gaming (from electronic to RPGs to miniatures to all those wonderful German board games), reading (of course), and, when he can, traveling; he has visited numerous locations both for leisure and for his job, including moving from Phoenix to Chicago to Seattle, numerous trips to Europe, as well as an LDS mission to Guatemala. He currently lives in the Pacific Northwest where he continues to work full-time (and then some) in the adventure gaming industry, while pursuing his writing career. Randall has published two novels and is working on his third; this is his first published Star Trek work. He lives with his best friend and wife Tara Suzanne, precocious son Bryn Kevin, utterly adorable daughter Ryana Nikol, and an eight-foot red-tailed boa called Jak o’ the Shadows.
Coming Next Month:
Star Trek™: S.C.E. #36
The Demon
Book 2
by Loren L. Coleman
& Randall N. Bills
Over the years, the S.C.E. team on the U.S.S. da Vinci has solved innumerable problems and escaped from numerous deathtraps, from the ravages of interspace to the gas giant of Galvan VI. Now, they must enter the outer reaches of a deadly black hole known as the Demon in order to rescue an away team from a hidden Resaurian prison teetering on the edge of the singularity.
But the Resaurians will do everything they can to preserve their secrets, and keep the da Vinci from getting out of the Demon alive!
COMING IN JANUARY FROM POCKET BOOKS!
The Demon Book 1 Page 8