Death of a Neutron Star

by Eric Kotani

Janeway sat forward. “Be warned that any attack against the Xorm vessel Gravity will be considered an attack against this ship.”

  If a reptile could sneer, that’s what Captain Qados did at that moment. “You seem to have a fondness for protecting the weak,” he said.

  “You seem to have a fondness of picking on those who can’t defend themselves,” Janeway said, smiling. “But Voyager can defend itself, as you’ve seen.”

  “We shall see,” Captain Qados said.

  “Is that a threat?” Janeway asked.

  “Take it as you like, Captain,” Qados said.

  “Maybe I should just blow you out of space now and be done with it.” Janeway stood, her hand on her comm panel.

  Again Captain Qados’s mouth opened, then snapped shut.

  Janeway added casually, “I guess I’ll have to give that idea some thought. Sure would make it easier on us all.” She punched the connection off.

  Tom broke into applause, while Harry and Chakotay laughed.

  “I’m sure that shook him up,” Chakotay said.

  “Two hours and fifty minutes remaining,” the computer said.

  Janeway wanted to slap the computer, she was so frustrated. She glanced at Chakotay.

  “Don’t look at me,” he said, smiling. “You’re the one who ordered the countdown.”

  “Remind me never to do that again.”

  “Oh, I will,” Chakotay said. “You can be sure of that.”

  CHAPTER 15

  LIEUTENANT TYLA WATCHED AS CHIEF ENGINEER B’Elanna Torres briefed her captain. Beyond the two women, the Qavok yacht sat, its lines smooth and rounded against the straight, functional lines of the Voyager shuttlebay. Beside the yacht, the shuttle looked more powerful. More forceful. More like it could handle any situation. Tyla knew that her hatred of the Qavok was coloring her observation, but she didn’t care. The Voyager shuttle was just a better-looking craft as far as she was concerned.

  “Linking the shuttle and the yacht together solves a number of problems,” Torres said to Janeway, pointing at the screen on the panel in front of her. “We can use the shuttle’s shields, the shuttle’s engines, and the shuttle’s navigation system. In essence, the yacht simply becomes cargo attached to the outside.”

  “And you can get both warp cores to breach at the same instant?” Janeway asked.

  “We probably won’t have to,” Torres said. “When the tidal forces start tearing apart the containment of one, it will do the same to the other. When one blows, the other will do so almost instantly, just adding to the power of the explosion. But, just in case, we are attaching a timing device to both and to the gravitational wave container.”

  “So how long until you’re ready?” Janeway said, studying the screen in front of her.

  Tyla couldn’t see exactly what the captain was looking at, since she was standing out of the way. The moment B’Elanna had come back from the meeting with the idea of hooking the two ships together, there had been little for Tyla to do but stay out of the way. She had, somehow, managed to do just that.

  “We can have both ships ready in fifteen minutes,” B’Elanna said. “If the math works out, which I think it might, and when you give the go, we’ll launch the shuttle, then use a tractor beam to pull the yacht out of the bay and attach it. That process will take less than three minutes.”

  “Five to be safe?” Janeway asked. “We’ve got to consider the conditions outside at the moment.”

  “Five,” B’Elanna nodded.

  “Good work,” Janeway said to B’Elanna. Then she looked at Tyla. “Both of you.”

  “Thank you, Captain,” Tyla said.

  B’Elanna nodded, undoubtedly already thinking about the next problem. Over the last hour or so, Tyla had come to recognize that look.

  “I’ll check back in thirty minutes,” Janeway said, and headed out of the landing bay.

  “What do you want me to do next?” Tyla asked B’Elanna, breaking the woman’s concentration.

  “Actually,” B’Elanna said, “the most important thing we’ve got left to do. I want you to download every ounce of information that’s in that yacht’s computers, no matter how deep it’s buried.”

  Tyla could feel the excitement twist her stomach. She’d already had the chance to study a Qavok warship in close detail. Now she was going to get the chance to pore through the Qavok prince’s computer. Her knowledge was going to be invaluable to the war effort when she got home.

  “Gladly,” Tyla said.

  “Good,” B’Elanna said. “You’ve got less than thirty minutes. Don’t waste it.”

  “I won’t,” Tyla said. She turned and walked in running steps; she was then inside the swank interior of the yacht and back in the pilot’s chair. But this time the feeling of being trapped didn’t bother her.

  This time she was getting what she wanted.

  * * *

  Janeway found Dr. Maalot and Seven in the lab. One screen to their left showed the containment as it pulled in more and more energy from the neutron star binary. It seemed clear that the experiment had worked wonderfully. Too bad it wasn’t the only thing they had to think about at the moment.

  Seven stood over a different panel, her fingers flying over the controls. Dr. Maalot stood slightly to one side, a frown on his face, clearly concentrating, working to keep up with Seven.

  Janeway didn’t want to interrupt an important calculation, so she paused, staying silent until Seven stopped and Dr. Maalot nodded.

  “Have you calculated the results of the joined warp-core explosion?” Janeway asked, moving up to stand beside Seven.

  “We have, Captain,” Seven said. “Ensign Kim was correct. Simultaneous warp-core breaches, plus a set amount of gravitational energy stored in a containment unit on board the shuttle, would generate enough energy to suffice.”

  “Good,” Janeway said. For the first time since all this started, her stomach undamped a little. “Have you double-checked your calculations?”

  “We are doing that now, Captain,” Dr. Maalot said. “But I must say, I think this will work.”

  “It needs to,” Janeway said.

  “It’s ironic,” he said, smiling. “A short time ago I was excited just to see this neutron star binary. Now I’m working to control it. This is a like a dream come true.”

  Janeway smiled at the Lekk physicist, then patted him on the shoulder. “Just make sure those calculations are right. We don’t want this dream turning into a nightmare.”

  “I understand, Captain,” he said. But the smile didn’t dim from his face.

  “Seven,” Janeway said. “We’ve also got to double-check the shield calculations. We want to make sure the shuttle and yacht last long enough to get into position.”

  “I will, Captain,” Seven said. “But the flight may require a pilot for all but the last few seconds.”

  The sentence startled Janeway. She had expected that they would be able to set the autopilot, then beam away at once. “Why?”

  “I’ve calculated the fluctuating gravitational forces coming from the binary. It would not be possible to program an automatic pilot for handling such rapidly changing forces with accuracy.”

  “Remote control?” Janeway asked. “We could fly the shuttle from Voyager.”

  “Possible,” Seven said. “If you are willing to accept the added elements of risk. This explosion, set off at the wrong time or position, could alter the neutron star’s path into a more densely populated area of the galaxy.”

  Janeway nodded. She understood exactly what Seven was saying. If they were going to do this, they had to make sure it was done correctly. And the best choice for that was a pilot to fly it most of the way in, then beam out. Assuming, of course, that the transporter would work through all the gravitational forces at work. And if it didn’t work, it would be far, far too late to stop.

  “Understood,” Janeway said. “Get the calculations done as quickly as possible. The shuttles should be standing by within a half-hour.”
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  Seven nodded and turned back to her board.

  Dr. Maalot smiled at Janeway. “We won’t be long.”

  “Good,” Janeway said.

  She didn’t say, “Just be right.”

  * * *

  “One hour and fifty minutes remaining,” the computer said.

  Janeway shifted in her command chair and stared at the swirling binary neutron star on the screen. She thought about shutting the countdown off, but decided she would let it run twice more. After that, there would no longer be a point.

  Beside her Chakotay said, “I won’t be sorry to hear the last of that thing.”

  “I’ll second that,” Tom said.

  Janeway smiled. Tom’s uniform was stained with sweat. He hadn’t moved from his pilot’s chair for hours. His hands were constantly in motion as he worked to keep the orbit of Voyager stable against the incredible forces at work around them. Only twice in the last two hours had the ship even shuddered slightly. And Tom had sworn both times.

  They were lucky to have a pilot of Tom’s ability. He’d saved the ship more than once over the last few years. If she had to pick a pilot to fly that shuttle down into that binary, it wouldn’t be him. Taking Tom away from the main pilot’s chair would threaten all the lives on Voyager and she wasn’t willing to do that.

  But then who would pilot the shuttle?

  She glanced at her second-in-command and best friend. Chakotay was the second-best shuttle pilot they had. Tuvok was the third. It would have to be one of them.

  She stood and looked at her security officer. “Mr. Tuvok, has the situation with the Qavok changed?”

  “No, Captain,” he said.

  “Okay, I need to talk to you in my ready room.” She glanced at Chakotay. “Commander, would you join us?”

  “Gladly,” Chakotay said.

  It took her only a few minutes to completely relay the conversation with Seven to her two officers. Then she finished with “I will not send Tom and risk all the lives on Voyager. We need him where he is.”

  “Agreed,” Chakotay said. “I’ll take the shuttle down.”

  “It would be logical that I fly the shuttle, Commander,” Tuvok said.

  Janeway laughed. She knew, without a doubt, that both her officers would have that exact reaction when faced with this problem.

  “Explain the logic, Tuvok,” Janeway said.

  “You are needed for your scientific abilities in this type of situation, Captain. When you are pulled from command for such matters, you must have an experienced officer in command on the bridge. As security officer, I am the most easily replaced in this instance. Since I am also rated as the third-best shuttle pilot, I am the logical choice.”

  She glanced at Chakotay. “Hard to argue with such reason, isn’t it?”

  Chakotay smiled. “Yeah. Annoying, also.”

  Tuvok glanced at the commander. “I did not intend to be annoying. I was simply answering the captain’s question.”

  Janeway and Chakotay both laughed.

  “You were fine,” Janeway said. “But before we send you out to risk your life on this flight, I need you to test the transporter system closer to the binary.”

  “Logical,” Tuvok said. “We can send off a probe and lock on to it with the transporter to run tests.”

  “Good,” Janeway said. “Get to it and report as soon as you can.”

  Tuvok turned and moved back onto the bridge. After he had left, Janeway smiled at Chakotay. “Sorry. I know you would have wanted to do the flying.”

  Chakotay laughed softly. “Yeah, but hard to argue with Vulcan logic.”

  “Why do you suppose,” Janeway said, dropping down behind her desk, “that doesn’t make me feel any better?”

  Chakotay had no answer to that one.

  CHAPTER 16

  JANEWAY STOOD BESIDE ENSIGN KIM IN THE COMMUNIcations area of the bridge. Harry was frantically working to adjust the calibration on the transporter so that it could maintain a lock on the probe in the intense gravitational and radiation forces flowing from the spinning binary neutron star.

  So far they had lost two probes.

  She wasn’t happy about that. She wasn’t happy about condemning one of her crew to death for some harebrained idea. They would have to find a way to get Tuvok out of that shuttle at the right time.

  “Ready,” Harry said.

  “Do it, Mr. Tuvok,” Janeway said.

  A moment later Tuvok said, “Probe away.”

  To Janeway, time seemed to stop on the bridge as she and Harry both watched the board.

  It all seemed fine for the first few seconds; then the transporter lock on the probe started to weaken. Exactly as it had done on the first two probes.

  Harry’s fingers flew over his controls and the lock strengthened again, just in time.

  “Ten seconds to correct height,” Tuvok said.

  The correct height, as Tuvok had said, was just before the point where the tidal forces of the binary would tear the shuttles apart and set off the warp-core breaches.

  Two seconds between saving Tuvok’s life and losing it.

  Two very short seconds.

  Again the lock weakened and for an instant Janeway thought Harry had lost it. But it remained as he adjusted, seemingly reading the intense variable forces before they hit the probe.

  “Five seconds.”

  Harry still had a transporter lock on the probe. But he was fighting it. He had managed to stay with this probe far longer than the first two. It seemed the practice was helping.

  “Three.” Tuvok started the countdown.

  Harry still had the lock.

  “Two.”

  Still…

  “One.”

  “Beam that probe back,” Janeway ordered.

  Harry’s fingers were now really flying over the controls as he fought the probe into the transporter buffer.

  “Got it!” he said, smiling up at the captain.

  “One and a half seconds before the binary would have torn it apart on a molecular level even with its protective screen.”

  “Good job, Harry,” Janeway said. “Drop it in the cargo bay.”

  “In the bay,” Kim said, letting out a sigh.

  “Can you download the information out of it?”

  “No,” Harry said after a moment. “It’s too damaged.”

  Janeway nodded. “I’ll go see if I can salvage anything. But in the meantime, I want you two to repeat this exercise. Do it over and over if you have to. I want to make sure we can do the same thing every time. Understood?”

  “Yes, Captain,” Tuvok said. “Prepare, Ensign.”

  “Give me thirty seconds,” Harry said. “I want to make one more adjustment.”

  Harry went back to work as Janeway headed for the door. That probe would tell them exactly what kind of forces to expect—if she could get the information out of it and download it to Seven and Dr. Maalot. It would be very helpful to make sure their calculations were correct.

  “One hour and twenty minutes remaining,” the computer said.

  “I know, I know,” Janeway said as she reached the door.

  Behind her, on the bridge, she heard both Tom and Chakotay laugh. She obviously said that a little too loud.

  * * *

  Janeway studied the exterior of the probe. It looked as if it had been put through a meat grinder. But somehow it had remained intact and collecting data. It took her less than five minutes to get the data to Seven. By the time she got there, Seven had incorporated the data into their calculations.

  “Does anything change?” Janeway asked as she moved up between Seven and Dr. Maalot.

  “Nothing, Captain,” Seven said. “Our initial calculations were accurate.”

  Seven keyed up a schematic of the neutron star binary. Then she set in motion the entire picture, bringing an image of the shuttle in from above. “The shuttle must be at this height, at this exact moment,” Seven said, bringing up the height and time on the screen.

>   “The force of the two warp-core ruptures, plus the gravitational-energy-container rupture, will be focused on this area of the secondary neutron star, which is becoming more bloated as it loses matter.

  On the screen Seven brought up a blast point on the surface of the less massive of the two neutron stars.

  “Thus causing it to explode exactly two point three nine milliseconds sooner,” Dr. Maalot said.

  “Do you believe this will work, Seven?” Janeway asked.

  Seven stared at the screen for a moment. “Yes, I do. I must admit that my earlier opinions were in error in a number of factors. For that, Captain, I apologize.”

  “No need, Seven,” Janeway said. “We’re all learning from this one time.”

  “I do not foresee another time,” Seven said.

  “Nor do I,” Janeway said. “Thank heavens.”

  She tapped her comm badge. “B’Elanna, are the shuttles ready?”

  “They are, Captain,” B’Elanna said. “But I think you might want to take a look at what Tyla found.”

  “On my way,” Janeway said.

  * * *

  Tyla managed to contain her dread at showing the captain what she had found. She didn’t know these humans very well, yet. And she had no idea how a powerful human captain like Janeway would react to news.

  Janeway strode into the hangar bay, looking intent and worried. Tyla could clearly tell the woman was carrying a heavy burden. She was making decisions that would affect entire systems full of beings.

  “What do you have?” Janeway asked as she approached Tyla.

  “I was downloading the information from the yacht’s computer,” Tyla said, “to make sure we didn’t miss anything that would be useful to us against the Qavok.”

  “Good idea,” Janeway said.

  “B’Elanna thought of it,” Tyla said.

  Janeway nodded to B’Elanna.

  “I discovered a link,” Tyla said. “Buried under passwords and command codes.”

  “To what?” Janeway asked.

  “At first I didn’t know,” Tyla said. “I just knew it was a link of some sort. But once I got past the security features, I discovered there was a secondary computer aboard.”

  “Really?” Janeway said softly, her eyebrows raising above her closely set eyes. “What was the reason for that?”