Gold definitely wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that.
“Shabalala, how are the shields holding?”
“Still at one-hundred twenty percent, sir.”
Gold turned back toward Stevens. “Okay, let’s see where this field boundary is. Shabalala, if those shields drop below one hundred percent, I want to be the first to know. Understood?”
The tactical officer nodded, and that was all Gold needed to see to know that he would not only sing out if the shields dropped below full power, but he’d be watching to see if they even began to drain.
“All right, Wong, take us down. Ten meter increments until the shields start showing the edge of the field.”
“Uh, yes, sir,” he said.
Gold didn’t like the tone in the conn officer’s voice. “There a problem, Wong?”
“Not at all, sir,” Wong said quickly. “Ten meter increments, aye.”
Putting an encouraging hand on Wong’s shoulder, Gold said, “I’ve piloted a few starships in my time too, son. I know this thing has the aerodynamics of a brick, and it wasn’t meant for traveling such short distances. But this is what we do here: what everyone says can’t be done.”
Nodding, unwilling to take his eye off his console, Wong sounded a bit more confident this time when he said, “Aye, sir.”
“And Stevens?”
“Yes, Captain?”
“You keep calling. We’ll reach them.”
Sarjenka was checking on Captain Picard when she heard a sonic boom. “That’s got to be the da Vinci,” she whispered. “We’re working on getting you out of here, Captain,” she said, wiping the cool cloth across his forehead for what felt like the eight hundredth time.
“I will check,” Data dutifully said. Rising to his feet, the android stepped outside the shuttle. Within seconds, he said, “Yes, it is the da Vinci. They appear to have found the shuttles.”
Sarjenka’s heart began pounding. They were finally going to get out of here. Captain Gold and Fabian and Pattie Blue and Nancy and the others would find a way to get them through the field. When all else failed, she could rely on Starfleet.
Her heart briefly stopped as the question began forming in her mind.
Could she rely on Starfleet? Really? Was it possible to rely on an organization that had already violated her mind to keep their secret?
As she heard the ship’s massive engines move into a steady drone, she realized that they were hovering. Sarjenka stepped out of the shuttle. She looked up and saw the enormous ship, big enough to take up a good portion of the sky in the clearing’s open patch. “Have they signaled?”
Data shook his head. “No. They appear to be descending in ten-meter increments. I was not aware that the da Vinci had atmospheric capability.”
“Neither was I,” Sarjenka matter-of-factly replied. “We’ve got the only two shuttles assigned to the ship down here. They must be trying to find a way to get to us through the field. Wong’s going to need an anti-anxiety regimen for that kind of precision flying. I’ll have to make sure to keep some on hand for him.”
A groan sounded from within the Shirley.
“I will remain here,” Data said. Sarjenka wasn’t sure if he was trying, but somehow, his voice was comforting at that moment. “If they are able to make contact, I will inform you.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll get the captain ready for transport and then help Dantas with the others. If they can get us out of here, they probably won’t have much of a window to work with. We’ll need to be ready to go.”
“If you require assistance—”
“No, Data,” she said, perhaps a little too quickly for her own liking. A part of her would have loved the help, but a part of her wanted Data somewhere, anywhere, else. If she was ever going to learn to cope with what Picard had ordered done to her, then she had to deal with him alone. “Thank you. I’m sorry, but if I require your assistance, I’ll ask. Okay?”
The android simply nodded, and went back to monitoring the da Vinci’s descent.
Sarjenka tried to bury her emotions as she walked back into the shuttle and into Picard’s presence.
Domenica Corsi came sprinting through the woods with Konya right behind. Vale was draped over Konya’s shoulders, with the orthosis supporting her legs resting along his right side. Corsi could tell the man was in pain. He was projecting it to anyone within thoughtreach.
She could also hear the two goons behind them, one stumbling as though he’d never walked in the forest before, the other shooting at anything that moved.
With luck, they’ll waste their ammo long before they get to us.
I’ll take Vale to the Shirley. You get where it’s safe. Maybe Data…
Konya didn’t get the chance to finish that thought, as Vale screamed in his left ear. The Betazoid kept running, even as Corsi knew he felt the warmth of Vale’s blood on his arm. Vale’s been hit.
“Wait a minute. Christine? You felt that?” Corsi asked.
“Yes, and it hurt like hell, thank you!” That was when it seemed to register in Vale’s head. “Rennan, put me down!”
The Betazoid did, and was surprised when she stood on her own without the crutches. She took off, walking slowly at first, then building up to the quickest run the orthosis would allow. Konya, to his credit, didn’t need to be told to keep pace with her.
Until they had the ability to use their phasers again, the machetes were all the armament they had.
Then all three paused at the sound of the da Vinci’s engines over their heads. The warmth of the massive power flowed through the field and added to Corsi’s already sweating forehead. They can’t land. What the hell are they doing? Wiping a hand across her face, she said, “Konya, Christine, keep going. Get to the shuttles.”
Finally, after running what had seemed like forever, they reached the relative safety of the two crafts. Konya immediately took Christine to the Shirley, while Corsi simply yelled for Data.
When the android saw Corsi running toward him at top speed, he immediately asked, “What is wrong, Commander?”
“Two goons. On our six. Take care of them. I’ve got to get this to the temple.”
“Understood, Commander.”
She didn’t have time to concern herself with whatever the hell the da Vinci was attempting, though. Knowing Fabian, he was probably trying to use the ship’s shields to find the upper border of this godforsaken field. It was just the kind of harebrained scheme he would think up. If she survived this, she made a mental note to thank him for the ingenuity.
Corsi kept running for all she was worth, following the slashed undergrowth and ignoring the pain that was assaulting every nerve ending in her body, until she reached a mound with a cave that looked like it extended into oblivion. “Commander Gomez?” she called. The sound echoed for a moment, until finally it stopped.
“Domenica?” Gomez’s disembodied voice called back. “Have you got it?”
She was already down the ramp at a full sprint before the echo of Gomez’s first question met her ears. Corsi followed the sound, until finally she found Gomez and her small party at the base of the ramp. Collins had a look about him that she was certain she didn’t like. “What’s going on?” Corsi asked, quickly coming to a full stop.
Carol stepped in between Corsi and the others. “It’s not what it looks like.” Then Carol turned back to the others, returned her attentions to Corsi, and said, “Screw that. Maybe it is what it looks like.”
“We can figure that out later.” Holding the tablecloth-wrapped sphere forward, she said. “I’ve got the third sphere.”
Inana’s eyes brightened. “We can shut this thing off?”
Collins reached for Corsi’s bundle. “Let’s get going.”
Within a few minutes, all three spheres were back in their homes in the obelisk.
Corsi screamed, falling to the dirt floor as a pulsating wave of pain began in the center of her skull and quickly worked its way out.
But she was
n’t the only one. Before she lost consciousness, she heard at least three other bodies fall to the floor elsewhere in the cavern.
Sarjenka wiped the cool cloth over Picard’s forehead once again, but this time, something was different. The cold sweating was back, but when she opened his eyes to check his pupils, those same pupils had dilated beyond the point where she had even thought possible. His eyes were black as night. He edged backward on the bed from her touch, almost as though it hurt him. Then Picard let out a scream the likes of which she had never heard before. He whispered one word before dropping back into unconsciousness. “Beverly.”
Before she could even begin to theorize on what was happening, it hit her. Something, somehow, had a death grip on her skull. When she reached a hand up to try and brush it away, there was nothing there. It felt as though fingers were trying to grab onto her brain, and then pull it out through her ears. If this was the pain that the captain felt, she could understand the screaming. It was all she could do not to do it herself. Never show weakness before the patient. It undermines their confidence in your abilities.
She reached back into one of the medical kits, retrieving two more hyposprays of melorazine. She gave Picard the largest dose she felt comfortable venturing, and herself about half that. “Data?” she called, dismayed to hear her voice as weak as she sounded.
Sarjenka heard punches being thrown outside, those fists falling on something far more solid than their owners. The fighting had made it to their camp.
She heard one fist fall on something hard, then a grunt of pain. “I am sorry,” Data’s voice said. “But I cannot allow you to enter this area.”
Another fist impacted another solid object, only this time, Sarjenka could have sworn she heard bones breaking. Think, Sarj. Ignore the pain and think. What can you use to splint hands?
All she could do as she lost the battle with consciousness was curse the fact that the planet wasn’t going to allow her to use something as simple as a bone knitter.
CHAPTER
11
“Da Vinci to away team, please respond.”
Stevens had run his fingers through his hair so many times, he wasn’t sure exactly what he’d looked like before the endurance test began.
“Da Vinci to away team, please respond.”
“They’ll be okay, Fabe.”
Fabian looked up and found Vance Hawkins staring at him from the next console. “Carol knows this group. They’re good people. They’ll take care of each other,” Hawkins said. “Just because they can’t call home doesn’t mean we should be worried. We knew that going in.”
“Yeah, but it’s not going to stop me from worrying.”
“Oh, buddy,” Hawkins said, his voice full of mock sympathy. “You’ve got it bad.”
“Yeah, like you can talk,” Stevens said, raising an eyebrow.
Hawkins’s eyes fell to the floor between them. Shaking his head he matter-of-factly said, “Yeah, face it. We’re whipped.”
At that, Fabian Stevens laughed for the first time since the away team had left. “That’s just mean.”
“But true,” Hawkins said.
“—to da Vinci. Repeat, away team to da Vinci, you there, boss?”
Hawkins and Stevens exchanged a look. “Was that Vinx?” Hawkins asked, with a what the hell is going on down there? tone to his voice. “Seriously. Was that Vinx?”
Stevens opened the comm. “Da Vinci here. Makk? Is that you?”
“Sure is, Fabe. Good to hear ya.”
“And you. Hawk, get the captain, will you?”
With a nod, Vance was gone.
“Makk, what’s your situation?”
“We’ve got injured, boss. The doc sent me out to find the border of the field. I guess I found it, huh?”
Stevens gave a nervous, but grateful laugh. “Yeah, Makk, you sure did.”
That was when a thought crossed Fabian’s mind. He called up his forecast for the beryllium-copper borders, overlaying the location of Makk’s comm signal, and sure enough, Makk was standing just outside the one that Stevens had theorized would go active next. It’s good to be right sometimes. It was expanding roughly every two to two-and-a-half hours.
“Makk, we don’t have much time. You need to get moving. The next expansion should end about a kilometer due west from where you are right now. How long do you think it’ll take to get everyone to that point?”
“Don’t know, boss. We’ve got the android and all, but there’s a lot of hurt folks back there. The doc’s had her hands full.”
“Just get everyone to that point as soon as you possibly can. I’ll meet you there. Okay?”
“Gotcha boss.”
“Good, da Vinci out.”
When Stevens and Hawkins finally beamed down to an area Stevens had calculated was at least one field expansion out, an empty pasture greeted them. “Crap. Where’s Vinx?”
“Good question,” Hawkins replied.
The grass grew wild, and came up to Stevens’s knees. He pulled out his tricorder, just to check his theory. They should have been just outside the next border.
Reality didn’t seem to be feeling too charitable toward Fabian Stevens that day. The tricorder’s display flickered to life for a moment, only to retreat to powerless darkness within a second. “What the—?”
Hawkins waded through the grass toward him. “Border expanded?”
Stevens shook his head. “It looked for a minute there like it was actually down. I could see the shuttles, then it just died.” Slapping his combadge so hard it hurt his chest, he said, “Stevens to da Vinci. Did you just pick up a fluctuation in the field?”
He could hear the frustration in Songmin Wong’s voice. “Yes. And I’d give half my stash of latinum if it would happen again.”
Stevens cringed. He’d have to pay Wong back big time for that kind of precision flying. “Any luck getting through to the away team?”
This time, it was Shabalala’s voice that responded. “Nope. You and Hawkins are the only comm signals we’re picking up.”
“No sign of Vinx?”
“No, sir.”
“Crap.” He checked his map once more. The topography was right, the surface scan had indicated a grassy pasture would be here. He faced away from where he was sure the border was, setting the tricorder to locate the beryllium-copper alloy.
Two strides in front of him, there was a hole in the overgrowth. When he took a closer look, Stevens found a small statue shaped almost like an old-fashioned lightning rod, only more conical instead of a straight rod. He was exactly where he was supposed to be.
Where the hell was Vinx? He paused for a moment, trying to calm down. There was no sense to what was going on, and that made him even more irritated. Damn, I’ve been picking up too much from Dom. Okay, Stevens, you’ve got yourself a dilemma. You have an idea of where the shuttles are. And you have a map with where you think the field is going to expand to next. Which way do you go?
As if on cue, Makk Vinx chose that moment to stumble across Stevens and Hawkins. “Hey, boss. Looks like ya found the edge of that field, there. Watch out, there are some piles of I don’t wanna know what around here. Stink like a skunk in heat if you step in ’em.”
Stevens smiled and quietly thanked the universe for finally deigning to cooperate.
For once.
And it was about damned time.
No sooner did he have Vinx heading toward where he suspected the next field border would fall than he and Hawkins turned back toward the general direction of the shuttles.
At least, Stevens thought it was the general direction of the shuttles. The screen had barely done more than flicker. But those two signals. They had to be duranium.
They had to be.
CHAPTER
12
Sarjenka opened her eyes to the bridge of the Enterprise—at least, she thought it was the Enterprise, only this was like no starship she had ever seen before. Shadows abounded through what little she could see of her surro
undings. None of the muted pinks and grays of the Enterprise-D were there, none of the friendliness or the welcoming feeling she could finally recall from her brief moments with Data.
This, this was different. She called out for Data, but he was nowhere to be found. The rank, acrid smell of fresh blood threatened to turn her stomach. Somewhere in the darkness, the hiss of a vent breaking free sounded. Then she heard the sound of water dripping into a pool. Had the hydraulics ruptured? Were there even hydraulics in a Starfleet ship?
She reached out into the near-darkness, trying to find something—anything—to grab onto, something that could anchor her to reality.
If this was still reality.
Brain damage. The neurons must have been damaged by the field’s radiation.
Sarjenka tried to force herself to wake up. She yelled, smacked herself in the face, everything she could think of, but nothing worked.
If this isn’t sleep, it’s a hallucination. But if I recognize it’s a hallucination, how can it still exist?
Sarjenka rose to her feet, slowly walking into the darkness, toward the smell of blood and death. Her feet were bare, and she could feel shards of something thin and honed to a razor’s edge in the carpeted floor. “Hello? Is anyone there?”
Her steps became more tentative as she moved, trying to find a spot that didn’t try to shred the soles of her feet. Another smell surfaced, that of something that was not of nature burning. She’d smelled isolinear chips burning once before, when a friend in the Academy had completely botched an isolinear circuitry experiment, but this was…bigger somehow. Instead of one or two chips frying, it almost smelled as though an entire engine room was on fire.
Where am I?
Sparks arced through the air above her head, causing her to duck. That was when she caught sight of a faint glow in the distance. It looked almost like light shining under a doorway, but that wasn’t possible. Starfleet didn’t use doors that would have gaps like that, and her own people hadn’t had them since the invention of the entrafield so many years before her own birth.
Star Trek™: Corps of Engineers: Remembrance of Things Past Book Two Page 7