Death of a Neutron Star

by Eric Kotani

  Chakotay looked puzzled.

  “She might be able to help us against the Qavok. Her people have fought them before.”

  “Good thinking,” Chakotay said, and turned to his comm panel.

  Janeway stood and moved down beside Paris, staring at the binary on the main screen. She put her hand on his shoulder, feeling the strength under the fabric. “Tom, I want you to hold an orbit one million kilometers from the binary. When the Qavok fleet moves to come around at us, move away from them, keeping the same distance from the binary.”

  “Understood, Captain,” he said. “But what if they split up?”

  She patted his shoulder and moved back to her chair. “Now you’re getting the idea. We want to make them split up.”

  “I see,” Kim said. “They come from both the left and the right, we move down under. They send ships down after us, and we go up over the top. They have to keep a safe distance from the binary just as we do, so we use it to split them up.”

  “Exactly,” Janeway said. “Improve the odds a little.”

  “Captain, that’s an idea even Captain Proton would be proud of,” Tom said.

  “Well, thank you,” Janeway said, then smiled. “I think. Ensign Kim, hail them.”

  “No response, Captain,” Kim said after a very short pause.

  “All ships have powered weapons,” Tuvok said.

  “It seems they want to fight,” Janeway said. “Guess Captain Qavim didn’t learn his lesson.”

  “Or he didn’t tell them about it,” Chakotay said.

  “More than likely,” Janeway said.

  “Thirty seconds until the Qavok fleet will be within firing range,” Tuvok said. “The Invincible has joined them.”

  “Tom,” she said, “move us around the binary. Keep it between us and them.”

  The starfield beyond the binary shifted, moving on the main screen from left to right. She couldn’t see the Qavok fleet of warships, since Tom was doing his job and keeping them on the other side of the binary.

  “Three ships have split off and are moving to intercept,” Kim said.

  “Under them,” Janeway said again, staring at the screen. “Make them split up again.”

  The silence on the bridge seemed to stretch and stretch.

  Everyone did their job.

  Janeway hated this part of any battle. It was when she could feel her nerves, when the coffee taste that had lingered in her mouth turned sour, when the pressure of her command chair under her seemed unbearable. She kept her attention focused on the screen and on Tom’s fingers, as he moved them around the very dangerous binary neutron star. The only thing showing on the screen was the binary. No ship had managed to get close to them yet.

  But she knew that would soon end.

  “Hail from Captain Qados,” Kim said.

  “On screen,” she said, standing.

  The binary was replaced by the sneering lizard-face of Captain Qados.

  “You run, Captain,” he said. “Surrender now and you will not be harmed.”

  “And why should I surrender to you?” Janeway said. “I have done nothing to harm the Qavok Empire. We have no desire to fight.”

  Qados laughed, or at least Janeway thought it was a laugh. “You harbor two Lekk thieves. And hold our prince’s craft on your ship. Surrender now.”

  “We will gladly return your craft to you after the secondary star has exploded. The Lekk have asked for political asylum and I have granted it. We are here on scientific reasons.” Janeway glared at the screen. “But we will not surrender.”

  “Then prepare to die,” Qados said, and cut the transmission.

  Janeway dropped back into her seat with a sigh.

  “The guy can turn a cliché,” Tom said.

  “Three warships are in pursuit,” Tuvok said.

  “Good,” Janeway said. “Ensign Kim, show a battle schematic of the locations of the seven Qavok warships, our position, and the binary.”

  “Yes, Captain,” Kim said.

  Janeway watched him as he worked furiously for a very long two seconds.

  “On screen,” he said without looking up.

  She turned to stare at the battle schematic. It clearly showed all the Qavok warships with red dots and marked Voyager’s position with a blue dot. In the center of the image were small, circling binary stars. A green dot showed the location of the Xorm ship, very close in.

  Two Qavok ships were bearing down on them from the right, two from behind, one from the left, and two remained in position on the far side of the binary, blocking that route.

  “Let’s give them a little surprise,” Janeway said. “Tom, reverse course hard. I want to go right through the center of those two pursuing ships. Forward shields on full, fire when in range.”

  “Aye, Captain,” Tom said.

  “Split screen, Ensign,” Janeway said. “Half schematic, half forward images.”

  “Understood,” Kim said.

  The main screen split into two images. Schematic left, two Qavok warships on the right.

  “Fire,” Chakotay said.

  Janeway sat, her hands gripping her chair as Voyager’s phasers made short work of the two Qavok warships.

  It wasn’t even really a fight.

  The phasers sliced open the ships as if they were child’s toys.

  Not one shot from a Qavok warship was even fired, it all happened so fast.

  “Two Qavok warships have been destroyed,” Tuvok said.

  “Have our odds improved?” Janeway asked.

  “Considerably,” Tuvok said.

  “Good,” she said. “Ensign, hail Captain Qados.”

  “Aye, Captain,” Kim said. After a moment he said, “No response.”

  “Idiots,” Janeway said, staring at the schematic. The three ships had now formed one group and were in pursuit. The other two Qavok warships were moving to block their path.

  She hated this situation. The Qavok were clearly outgunned and had no defense against Voyager’s weapons. Yet the only way to prove it to them was to destroy ships and kill hapless Qavok warriors.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

  But Qados was giving her no choice in the matter.

  “Mr. Paris, head right at the two blocking Qavok warships. Maybe if we take those two out, the others will pull back.”

  “Almost within firing range,” Chakotay said.

  “Fire when ready,” she said.

  She pushed her back against her captain’s chair and watched as the blue dot showing Voyager bore down on the two red dots of the Qavok Empire.

  “Firing,” Chakotay said.

  On the right side of the split screen two Qavok warships exploded as Voyager flashed past On the left side of the screen two red dots vanished, leaving only three dots in pursuit.

  “The two warships have been destroyed, Captain,” Tuvok said, clearly stating the obvious. No damage to Voyager.

  “Mr. Paris, keep us ahead of those others.”

  “No problem,” Paris said.

  Behind her the door to the bridge whisked open. She turned to see Lieutenant Tyla standing in front of two security guards, glaring at the screen. The red-haired Lekk was certainly a presence. She had on her officer’s red cape, and the energy surrounding her seemed as defiant as before. It was an attitude that Janeway admired, even though it had already caused her more problems than she cared for.

  “Join me, please,” Janeway said, indicating that Tyla should move down in front of the screen beside her chair. Janeway indicated that the guards should remain near the door.

  She waited until Tyla was beside her, then pointed to the left side of the main screen. “The three red dots indicate Qavok Empire warships.”

  Tyla seemed to pale, her already fine skin suddenly seeming pasty. “Captain, you must get away from here. Take me to my homeworld. We might be able to get enough reinforcements to beat them there.”

  Janeway managed not to smile, but Tom wasn’t as tactful.

  “Why?” he as
ked, glancing around at Tyla.

  “Those are Qavok warships,” Tyla said. “They will destroy you and any hope my people have of stopping this coming disaster.”

  Tom again laughed. “Two minutes ago there were seven of them.”

  “Your panel, mister,” Janeway said.

  Tom snapped back around, his shoulders squared.

  “Seven?” Tyla asked. “You’ve destroyed four Qavok warships?”

  It was clear to Janeway that the Lekk didn’t believe such a thing possible. “We did,” Janeway said. “I’m afraid a Qavok warship is no match for Voyager.”

  Tyla’s gaze turned from the main screen and held Janeway’s. For the first time since Tyla had come aboard, Janeway could see the hatred in the Lekk’s large green eyes turn off, replaced by respect.

  And just a little bit of fear.

  CHAPTER 8

  WHEN LIEUTENANT TYLA HAD STEPPED FORWARD ONTO the bridge of Voyager, she had been angry. The two guards had offered her no explanation beyond the fact that Captain Janeway wanted her on the bridge. Being held prisoner by the humans was almost as bad as being held by the Qavok. Only human food was better.

  The Voyager bridge was as impressive the second time she stepped on it as it had been the first time hours before. It was clean, well lit. Lekk warship bridges were crowded, dark places, where the mood seemed to always feel heavy and the underlying smell was always of fear.

  Lieutenant Paris, the man who had greeted her, occupied a chair at a panel in front of the captain. Beside Janeway sat Commander Chakotay, studying a small panel to his left. Others were at stations around the room. The main screen was cut in half, showing an image of the binary neutron star on one side and a schematic of a system on the other.

  The two guards had eased Tyla into the room and the door had closed behind them, making her feel almost trapped. Captain Janeway had turned and seemed to study her for a moment, then motioned that she should come down to stand beside her chair. Tyla had done just that. Then the captain had told her that they were being chased by three Qavok warships, and Paris said they had already destroyed four.

  For an instant, Tyla wouldn’t believe that such a thing was possible. But then her inner voice, the voice she had trusted her entire life to steer her in the right direction, said that the captain and Lieutenant Paris were telling the truth. Voyager was much more powerful than any Qavok warship.

  “So why do they continue to pursue us?” Captain Janeway asked. “You mentioned that defeat wasn’t an option for the Qavok, yet Captain Qavim retreated. What exactly did you mean?”

  Tyla glanced at the screen, then faced the human captain squarely. “I’m sure Captain Qavim is not alive, or he found another to take the blame. It is the way of the Qavok.”

  “For retreating?” Janeway asked.

  “No,” Tyla said. “For losing.”

  The captain still looked puzzled. How could she make the captain understand? “Let me put it this way,” Tyla said. “There is no word for ‘loss’ in the Qavok language. They win or they die.”

  The human captain was nodding. “So we need to give those three ships a way out.”

  Now it was Tyla’s turn to be confused. “Captain? A way out? If you can destroy them, you must destroy them. They are Qavok.”

  Captain Janeway gave her a sad but gentle smile. “It seems you are missing a few words from your language as well, such as ‘compassion’ and ‘compromise.’”

  Tyla could feel her face growing hot, her anger rising. She forced herself to stay still.

  “I’m going to ask you to help me here,” Janeway said.

  Tyla took a deep breath and forced down her anger over the insult. “I will try.”

  “I’m going to ask you to give up your claim on the yacht, so I can return it to the Qavok.”

  “What?” Tyla almost shouted. Again she forced herself to remain still. She could see the two guards out of the corner of her eye. If she even made a wrong step they could cut her down instantly. “I suppose you would also like me to return to the Qavok?”

  “Of course not,” Janeway said. “But if we give them back the craft we might be able to stop the killing here. We’ll drop you and Dr. Maalot off at your homeworld as soon as we witness the binary explosion. We have to stay here to make sure the Qavok don’t send the unexploded star toward your homeworld.”

  Tyla forced herself to take another breath. The main screen still showed the three Qavok warships chasing after Voyager around the binary neutron star. It had taken a dozen of her people’s ships to defeat three Qavok warships. Yet the craft she now was in could do it easily and didn’t want to. Still they would make sure the Qavok did not destroy her homeworld. These humans were a very strange people.

  “I relinquish my control of the yacht,” Tyla said.

  “Thank you,” Janeway said, nodding. She had a faint smile on her face, as if she understood what Tyla was thinking. Could the humans also read minds?

  “Hail the Qavok,” Janeway said. “Tell them we’ll give them what they want.”

  “Response coming in, Captain,” the one they called Ensign Kim said.

  “On screen,” Janeway said as she stood. “Tyla, move sideways about two steps to get out of the picture. No point in rubbing salt in their wounds.”

  Tyla stepped sideways.

  The face of a Qavok warrior filled the screen a moment later.

  “You surrender?” the Qavok asked.

  Tyla wanted to jump at the screen, scratch his tiny eyes from his face, stab the Qavok a hundred times in his dozen tiny hearts. Yet the humans around her seemed to have no reaction at all to the image of the Qavok.

  Captain Janeway actually laughed at the Qavok.

  “Of course not. But I am willing to call a cease-fire. And to show my good intentions, I will return your prince’s yacht to you.”

  “And the Lekk escapees?” the Qavok asked.

  “They will remain on my ship and be returned home,” Janeway said.

  Tyla could hear the firmness in the captain’s voice. The same firmness Tyla had felt when caught during her escape attempt.

  “I will consider your offer,” the Qavok said, and cut the connection.

  In all her life, Tyla had never imagined a Qavok considering an offer of peace. Yet this human woman seemed to control them at her whim.

  “Keep us ahead of that fleet, Tom,” Captain Janeway said.

  “No problem,” he said. “As long as they stick together.”

  “I bet they will for the moment,” the captain said.

  “Confirmed,” Tuvok said.

  The captain turned to Tyla. “Any suggestions?”

  “None,” Tyla said, still staring at the screen in wonder.

  “They had an alliance with the Xorm.”

  “That wasn’t so much a peace treaty as it was a standoff.”

  “And that’s lasted for thousands of years?” the captain asked, clearly amazed.

  “That is what history teaches us,” Tyla said. “I know nothing more.”

  Janeway nodded. “So it seems that if they don’t take my offer, we’re in for another fight.”

  Suddenly Tyla knew why the Qavok captain was acting the way he was. “Captain, under normal circumstances I do not believe the Qavok would take your offer. But by making it, you put the Qavok captain in a very difficult position.”

  “How?” Janeway asked.

  “You are offering the prince’s yacht,” Tyla said. “If the Qavok captain turns you down and then destroys you, he also destroys the yacht and would, more than likely, be killed by the prince.”

  “But he can’t really accept my offering because that would show weakness.”

  “Exactly,” Tyla said. “More than likely they will accept your offer on the surface, then destroy you when they have the yacht.”

  “Try to destroy us,” Janeway said. “They’ve already lost four warships.”

  “Yes, try,” Tyla said, smiling.

  Captain Janeway smi
led back, and for the first time Tyla relaxed a little. Just a little.

  “Qavok flagship hailing us,” Ensign Kim said.

  “On screen,” Janeway said, again motioning that Tyla move back a step or so.

  Tyla quickly did so as the ugly face of Captain Qados appeared, larger than life on the large main screen.

  “Captain,” he said. “I will accept your offer.”

  “Fine,” Janeway said. “Here are my terms.”

  “Terms?” the Qavok almost roared. “I did not agree to terms.”

  “You want your prince’s yacht, you will agree to these,” Janeway said, smiling.

  Tyla wanted to laugh as Janeway made Captain Qados fume for a few seconds before going on.

  “First,” Janeway said, “two of your ships must move at least one astronomical unit away and hold position until the secondary star explodes.”

  Tyla watched as the Qavok captain said nothing.

  “Second,” Janeway said, “we will drop the prince’s yacht exactly one hour after the secondary has exploded at a location of my choice, a safe distance from the explosion. You can pick it up there.”

  “No!” the Qavok shouted.

  Tyla had never seen a Qavok actually flustered. He looked almost humorous as his scales seemed to push away from his hide. His mouth flapped open and closed and his eyes watered.

  “Too bad,” Janeway said, dropping back down into her captain’s chair.

  Tyla was amazed how relaxed she looked.

  “Destroy me,” Janeway said, “and you destroy the prince’s yacht. I doubt he’s going to like that very much, now, do you? Especially since by simply waiting some twelve hours, you can return it to him safely.”

  Again Tyla watched as the Qavok’s mouth opened and closed. His scales flapped as if a strong wind were moving them. Finally he said, “I agree. All but the Invincible will move off to a holding position.”

  “Good,” Janeway said. “Now we can get back to studying this binary neutron star.”

  Tyla thought she heard the Qavok captain snort in disgust before the connection was broken.

  “This is a first,” she said.

  “Two of the warships are breaking orbit and moving off,” Ensign Kim said.