For a split second, Lense’s mind refused to accept what she had just seen. The Defiant ’s hull had begun to destabilize around them, and Pattie had fallen outside of the ship itself!
“Pattie? Do you read me?” she called into her communicator, but received no response. Was the Nasat injured, or worse? Had her suit sustained damage in the collision with the cargo container? Was she losing oxygen?
Don’t just stand there , her mind screamed at her. Move!
And before she realized what she was doing, Elizabeth Lense leapt straight from the figurative frying pan into the proverbial fire.
Though the bulkhead’s surface had turned transparent with the consistency of a membrane or thin gauze, she noted no strange sensation of passing through any such barrier as she leapt through the destabilized hull section and into open space. The first thing she saw as she emerged from the ship was Pattie, her body limp as she drifted slowly away from the Defiant .
“Pattie, can you hear me?” she called out even as she activated her suit’s maneuvering thrusters, pulsing the small jets of compressed gas. It took a moment to orient her body so that she was moving in the correct direction as she called on skills that she hadn’t given a second thought to since her days at the Academy.
The Nasat did not respond to her latest call, and Lense concluded that she must have been knocked unconscious. How serious was the injury? Did she have a concussion? Could she be treated here, or would she require transport back to the da Vinci ?
All of these questions and many others flooded Lense’s mind as she closed the gap. After another moment, she was able to reach out and grab an errant leg, her gloved hand closing around the fabric of Pattie’s environment suit.
“Gotcha,” she whispered, sure that Pattie was unconscious when the Nasat did not react to having her leg grabbed. “Don’t worry, we’ll get back to the ship and . . .” The sentence faded away incomplete as she reoriented her body to face the Defiant .
Elizabeth Lense had never been outside a starship before. The closest she had come was an observation port at SpaceDock orbiting Earth, looking through plexisteel windows at vessels berthed in various parking slips. While those ships looked big from that perspective, the derelict before her now was positively huge.
“What the hell am I doing out here?” she asked aloud as she pulsed her thrusters again, pushing her and Pattie closer to the ship. Lense stretched a hand out as several more seconds of maneuvering brought the vessel’s hull within reach.
Then it and the rest of her body made contact with the tritanium surface, discovering that the hull was as solid as a starship’s skin was supposed to be.
Of course , her mind taunted, reminding her that even in the 24th Century, Murphy’s Law still applied: Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.
They should make that the S.C.E. motto, Lense decided as she set her feet and activated the magnetic seals on her boots. Once secured to the hull, she surveyed the area of the ship in her range of vision. She had returned to the Defiant near the midpoint of the secondary hull, yet there were no signs of airlocks or other entries into the ship that she could see. Where were they located? Other than the shuttlebay doors at the rear of the ship, she had no idea. She hadn’t consulted the Defiant ’s technical schematics prior to beaming over.
Adjusting her hold on Pattie, she turned the Nasat in order to look into her helmet and saw that she was still unconscious. An area the size of a fist appeared to be swelling over her left eye, and Lense saw that the bruise was already beginning to turn a dark blue.
“Pattie, can you hear me? I need you to wake up.” A moment’s scan with her tricorder confirmed her suspicion: Pattie did indeed have a concussion. She would need medical treatment, and soon, something Lense would not be able to provide so long as they were stuck outside the ship.
“Damn it,” she whispered, turning her head to face the front of the ship when her attention was caught by something else. It was the rift, the barrier marking the entrance to interspace. Unlike the black void surrounding the Defiant, the rift itself was a spectacular clashing of colors, colliding and mixing to form a frenzied chaos.
And it was shrinking. The rift was closing back up! While Lense stood by, a powerless spectator, the tear that had brought together two spatial planes was slowly healing itself. They and the Defiant would be cut off from their companions and in fact from their entire universe.
“Well, this was certainly a bright idea.”
“The rift is sucking them back inside?” Duffy spoke to no one in particular. The question was unnecessary, though, as everyone on the da Vinci ’s bridge could easily see the Defiant ’s regression into interphase.
The numbing sight almost made Duffy not notice that there was still a Tholian ship nearby, and that it was at this very moment turning itself toward the da Vinci . As Corsi had predicted, things were about to go completely to hell.
“We’re not shooting first,” he said, willing to telegraph his strategies to the bridge crew in the hope that they might better understand his command decisions. Turning his attention to Abramowitz at the communications station, he said, “Carol, open a channel and find—”
“Incoming fire!”
Wong’s warning drowned out the rest of Duffy’s order as the ensign frantically punched commands into his console in an attempt to move the ship out of the line of fire. On the screen, the hellish red burst of energy grew until it washed over the entire image.
The next instant the da Vinci pitched upward, throwing Duffy nearly out of his command chair and catching Wong completely off his guard. The ensign’s head slammed into his console with a sickening sound that Duffy heard even over the klaxons and warning signals erupting across the bridge. He rushed forward, catching Wong’s slumping body before it dropped to the deck.
Even as he eased the ensign to the floor, though, it struck Duffy that no orders were being given to respond to the attack.
That’s because you’re not giving them . The realization jerked him back to his first priority.
“Corsi, take the helm. McAllan, fire phasers. And a torpedo.” He paused. “Hell, two torpedoes.” Frustration and confusion enveloped every word that left Duffy’s mouth. “And turn off those damned alarms!”
As McAllan tapped out the necessary commands, Duffy continued tending to Wong. He tapped his combadge. “Bridge to sickbay. Copper? Wetzel? One of you, up here now!”
From the tactical station, McAllan called out, “Looks like we got them, Commander.”
Duffy turned to the viewer in time to see the Tholian ship listing to its portside, shunted from the offensive position it had held only seconds before. He could see an ugly black puncture wound on the side of the vessel’s hull, evidence of the damage the da Vinci ’s barrage had caused.
“Nice shooting, Mr. McAllan,” he said. “Carol, open a channel. I want to know what . . .”
The words died in his throat as, on the viewscreen, energy glowed from the stern of the Tholian ship. Reorienting itself in a sluggish maneuver, the vessel pivoted on its axis and pulled away from the da Vinci , moving quickly out of the viewscreen’s coverage.
“They’re moving off,” Corsi said from the helm. She turned to look at Duffy, her eyes asking the obvious.
“We’re not chasing them,” he said simply.
Though he noticed the mild slump in her shoulders, Corsi’s tone was all business. “They’ll be back, you know, and they’ll bring reinforcements. Tholians don’t like getting their butts kicked.”
“It’s worse than that,” Abramowitz added as she stepped down to assist Duffy with Wong. “They’ll view the attack on them as an act of aggression. We may have just caused an interstellar incident.”
“Well, that’ll certainly make Captain Gold’s day,” Duffy said as he rose to his feet. The attempt at humor fell flat, he knew, almost flinching at how weak the words sounded even as they left his mouth. Getting into a political hotbed with the Tholians was no laughing matter, and he imagined how the Federatio
n Diplomatic Corps would blow its collective stack once word of the altercation got back to them.
No time for that now. Get it together, Duff.
“Our first priority is to get the Defiant out,” he said. “Fabian, reestablish the tractor be—”
His voice fell off as he focused on the main viewer.
The Defiant , and the rift, were gone.
To be continued in
Star Trek ®: S.C.E.
Book Two
Miracle Workers
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Born, raised, educated, and still residing in the Bronx, Keith R.A. DeCandido is the co-developer of Star Trek: S.C.E. with John J. Ordover, and he has written or co-written several eBooks in the series. Besides Fatal Error , Cold Fusion , and Invincible , he has also written Here There Be Monsters , and more of his S.C.E. scribblings will be available in electronic form in 2002 and 2003 (some in collaboration with David Mack). Keith’s other Star Trek work includes the novels Star Trek: The Next Generation: Diplomatic Implausibility , Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Demons of Air and Darkness , and the two-book cross-series tale Star Trek: The Brave & the Bold (coming in 2002); and the comic book Star Trek: The Next Generation: Perchance to Dream (reprinted in the trade paperback Enemy Unseen ). He has also written bestselling novels, short stories, and nonfiction books in the worlds of Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Doctor Who , Farscape , Marvel Comics, and Xena , and is the editor of the forthcoming anthology of original science fiction Imaginings . Learn more than you ever really needed to know about Keith on his web site at the easy-to-remember URL of DeCandido.net.
Kevin Dilmore counts himself as very thankful for the person who, at age nine, tipped him off to the fact that Star Trek was a live-action television show before it was a Saturday morning cartoon. A graduate of the University of Kansas, he works as news editor and “cops and courts” reporter for a twiceweekly newspaper in Paola, Kansas, where he lives with his wife, Linda, and daughter. Kevin also covers “nonfiction” aspects of the Star Trek universe as a contributing writer for Star Trek Communicator magazine as well as the Internet site StarTrek.com. He is looking forward to his next writing project with Dayton Ward, the S.C.E. trilogy Foundations , to be published in 2002. Kevin always will be proud that the formula for transparent aluminum was devised by the user of a Macintosh computer.
Award-winning author Christie Golden has written eighteen novels and sixteen short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy and horror. Besides her Star Trek: S.C.E. work in this volume, she has written eight Star Trek: Voyager novels ( The Murdered Sun , Marooned , Seven of Nine , the Dark Matters trilogy, and the Gateways novel No Man’s Land ) and one Star Trek: The Next Generation novel ( Double Helix: The First Virtue , in collaboration with Michael Jan Friedman). She is also the author of three original fantasy novels, King’s Man and Thief , Instrument of Fate (which made the 1996 Nebula Preliminary Ballot), and A.D. 999 (under the pen name of Jadrien Bell, winner of the Colorado Author’s League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel of 1999); the TSR novels Vampire of the Mists (which launched the Ravenloft novels and introduced the popular Jander Sunstar character), Dance of the Dead , and The Enemy Within ; the Warcraft novel Lord of the Clans ; and the short stories “The White Doe” in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Slayer and “In the Queue” in Star Trek: Gateways: What Lay Beyond . In 2001, she wrote a special addendum to the Star Trek: Voyager finale novelization, in which she takes the characters in new directions. Golden will continue writing Voyager novels even though the show is off the air, and is eager to explore the creative freedom that gives her. Golden lives in Denver, Colorado, with her artist husband, two cats, and a white German Shepherd. Her web site is www.christiegolden.com.
Dean Wesley Smith is the bestselling author of over 60 novels and hundreds of short stories. He has been nominated for every award in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror fields, and has won the World Fantasy Award and a Locus Award. His most recent novels are the movie novelization for Final Fantasy and (with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch) Star Trek: Voyager: Section 31: Shadow and the first original Enterprise novel. He works and plays poker on the Oregon coast.
Dayton Ward has been a fan of Star Trek since conception (his, not the show’s). After serving for eleven years in the U.S. Marine Corps, he discovered the private sector and the piles of cash to be made there as a software engineer. His start in professional writing came as a result of placing stories in each of the first three Star Trek: Strange New Worlds anthologies. In addition to co-writing Interphase , Dayton is also the author of the Star Trek Original Series novel, In the Name of Honor . He and Kevin Dilmore are also writing the forthcoming S.C.E. trilogy Foundations , to be published in eBook form in the summer of 2002. Though he currently lives in Kansas City with his wife, Michi, he is a Florida native and still maintains a torrid long-distance romance with his beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Feel free to contact Dayton anytime via e-mail at [email protected].
Look for STAR TREK fiction from Pocket Books
Star Trek®: The Original Series
Enterprise: The First Adventure • Vonda N. McIntyre
Strangers From the Sky • Margaret Wander Bonanno
Final Frontier • Diane Carey
Spock’s World • Diane Duane
The Lost Years • J.M. Dillard
Prime Directive • Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Probe • Margaret Wander Bonanno
Best Destiny • Diane Carey
Shadows on the Sun • Michael Jan Friedman
Sarek • A.C. Crispin
Federation • Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Vulcan’s Forge • Josepha Sherman & Susan Shwartz
Mission to Horatius • Mack Reynolds
Vulcan’s Heart • Josepha Sherman & Susan Shwartz
Novelizations
Star Trek: The Motion Picture • Gene Roddenberry
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan • Vonda N. McIntyre
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock • Vonda N. McIntyre
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home • Vonda N. McIntyre
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier • J.M. Dillard
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country • J.M. Dillard
Star Trek Generations • J.M. Dillard
Starfleet Academy • Diane Carey
Star Trek books by William Shatner with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
The Ashes of Eden
The Return
Avenger
Star Trek: Odyssey (contains The Ashes of Eden, The Return, and Avenger)
Spectre
Dark Victory
Preserver
#1 • Star Trek: The Motion Picture • Gene Roddenberry
#2 • The Entropy Effect • Vonda N. McIntyre
#3 • The Klingon Gambit • Robert E. Vardeman
#4 • The Covenant of the Crown • Howard Weinstein
#5 • The Prometheus Design • Sondra Marshak & Myrna Culbreath
#6 • The Abode of Life • Lee Correy
#7 • Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan • Vonda N. McIntyre
#8 • Black Fire • Sonni Cooper
#9 • Triangle • Sondra Marshak & Myrna Culbreath
#10 • Web of the Romulans • M.S. Murdock
#11 • Yesterday’s Son • A.C. Crispin
#12 • Mutiny on the Enterprise • Robert E. Vardeman
#13 • The Wounded Sky • Diane Duane
#14 • The Trellisane Confrontation • David Dvorkin
#15 • Corona • Greg Bear
#16 • The Final Reflection • John M. Ford
#17 • Star Trek III: The Search For Spock • Vonda N. McIntyre
#18 • My Enemy, My Ally • Diane Duane
#19 • The Tears of the Singers • Melinda Snodgrass
#20 • The Vulcan Academy Murders • Jean Lorrah
#21 • Uhura’s Song • Janet Kagan
#22 • Shadow Lord • Laurence Yep
&
nbsp; #23 • Ishmael • Barbara Hambly
#24 • Killing Time • Della Van Hise
#25 • Dwellers in the Crucible • Margaret Wander Bonanno
#26 • Pawns and Symbols • Majliss Larson
#27 • Mindshadow • J.M. Dillard
#28 • Crisis on Centaurus • Brad Ferguson
#29 • Dreadnought! • Diane Carey
#30 • Demons • J.M. Dillard
#31 • Battlestations! • Diane Carey
#32 • Chain of Attack • Gene DeWeese
#33 • Deep Domain • Howard Weinstein
#34 • Dreams of the Raven • Carmen Carter
#35 • The Romulan Way • Diane Duane & Peter Morwood
#36 • How Much For Just the Planet? • John M. Ford
#37 • Bloodthirst • J.M. Dillard
#38 • The IDIC Epidemic • Jean Lorrah
#39 • Time For Yesterday • A.C. Crispin
#40 • Timetrap • David Dvorkin
#41 • The Three-Minute Universe • Barbara Paul
#42 • Memory Prime • Gar and Judith Reeves-Stevens
#43 • The Final Nexus • Gene DeWeese
#44 • Vulcan’s Glory • D.C. Fontana
#45 • Double, Double • Michael Jan Friedman
#46 • The Cry of the Onlies • Judy Klass
#47 • The Kobayashi Maru • Julia Ecklar
#48 • Rules of Engagement • Peter Morwood
#49 • The Pandora Principle • Carolyn Clowes
#50 • Doctor’s Orders • Diane Duane
#51 • Unseen Enemy • V.E. Mitchell
#52 • Home is the Hunter • Dana Kramer-Rolls
#53 • Ghost-Walker • Barbara Hambly
#54 • A Flag Full of Stars • Brad Ferguson
#55 • Renegade • Gene DeWeese
#56 • Legacy • Michael Jan Friedman
#57 • The Rift • Peter David
#58 • Faces of Fire • Michael Jan Friedman
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