“Coming into effective weapons range in forty seconds, Captain, Akagi said. The bridges main viewscreen showed one of the battle cruisers directly in Columbias flight path.
“Give me one more hail, Sidra, Hernandez shouted back to her communications officer, Ensign Sidra Valerian. When she saw the red “go ahead light appear at the bottom of the viewscreen, she squared her shoulders and put on her best “scolding teacher face.
“Klingon cruisers, this is Captain Erika Hernandez of the United Earth Starship Columbia. You must cease fire immediately, or we will open fire on yourvessels. Your continued aggression will be considered an act of war not only against Draylax, but also against Earth and Alpha Centauri.
“The central ship is charging her weapons, Thayer shouted.
“Then so do we, Hernandez said, leaning forward in her chair. “Employ evasive maneuvers, and send them a full phase cannon salvo, maximum intensity. The tactical alert lights activated even as she gave the command, casting the bridge into forbidding shadows.
The viewscreen image changed as the ship arced between the central Klingon cruiser and the blue-white planet below it, as the hull-mounted sensors realigned the sweep of their imagers. Hernandez saw two bright greenish arcs exit the belly of the Klingon ship, and she braced herself for their arrival, digging her fingers into the arms of her chair.
Columbiashuddered as the disruptor beams struck the primary hull, causing the viewscreen image to crackle and waver momentarily.
“Hull plating down fifteen percent, Lieutenant Commander el-Rashad shouted from his science station. “The other two ships are altering their trajectories. Looks like theyre going to try to catch us in a crossfire.
Hernandez studied the main viewer, where the other two enemy ships were indeed moving toward positions flanking Columbia. “You know that tactic youve been wanting to try for far too long, Reiko? The Niagara Barrel Roll?
She thought she heard a gulp of surprise coming from the woman at the helm. “Are you certain now is the time?
“If not, we might not get another chance, Hernandez said. She toggled her com unit, tying into the shipwide intercom system. “All hands, brace yourselves. Were gonna have a bit of a tumble. Tapping another button, she said, “Karl, youre gonna need to make surethat the inertial dampers hold up.
Akagi had once told her that despite her Japanese heritage, the one thing she loved more than anything else on Earth was quintessentially North American: roller coasters. Hernandez couldnt stand them herself, and thought the simulation rides she had endured in Starfleets flight training program had to be more than realistic enough to satisfy whatever death wish seemed to motivate roller-coaster aficionados.
“Theyre charging their tubes, ready to fire, el-Rashad shouted. “All three cruisers!
As the viewscreen showed the first hint of green energy coming from a disruptor bank on one Klingon ships ventral side, Hernandez heard herself give an order. “Roll it, Reiko!
The words seemed to leave her lips in slow motion, but the reaction to them was anything but slack. As Akagi manipulated the controls, Columbiabegan to twist in a corkscrew fashion. The ships hull groaned as it spun, and Hernandez felt almost as though she were trapped in a high-speed centrifuge despite the accelerated inputs to the artificial gravity plating and the inertial compensation system. The maneuver overwhelmed the hull sensors, transforming the image on the central viewscreen into a jumbled and pixelated mess, but the fact that the ship hadnt encountered a disruptor blastor sixin the several seconds since the cruisers had opened fire seemed to imply that the maneuver had worked.
At least for the moment.
“Get us steady and return fire! Hernandez shouted. A few moments later the ship seemed to lurch toward its port side, pulling everyone on the bridge a bit off balance.
“Firing now, Thayer said emphatically, as gravity and inertia returned to their proper ratio, and the viewscreen rebooted to display a short-lived blue wash of outgoing phase-cannon fire.
The image cleared quickly; just ahead was the battle cruiser that had been farthest from Columbiaat the outset of the battle. Hernandez could see clearly that Columbias phase cannons had communicated very clearly with the hostile vessels aft engine areas.
An instant later, the Klingon warships impulse engines exploded, sending a bright sphere of plasma expanding into space as the interior gases escaped and ignited. The conflagration quickly caught on throughout the hull-ruptured cruiser, and in moments both the secondary and primary hulls exploded as well, sending jagged hunks of debris and the remains of the vessels burning nacelle pylons and long, fractured neck tumbling in random directions, with some pieces falling toward the planet while others tumbled outward into space.
“Good shooting, Kiona, Hernandez said, excited despite the fact that she would have preferred to avoid the engagement with the Klingons entirely. Good intentions aside, Hernandez knew that she was committed now to fight to the finishand that the two remaining cruisers would be even tougher to stop now that blood had been drawn. There will be no negotiating now.
“Bring us about, and lets see if we can keep the other two off-kilter. She realized that even though her stomach was still lurching a bit from the spin maneuver, it had worked very well indeed. She didnt expect it to become a standard maneuver, however.
“Were receiving a hail, Ensign Valerian said from her station at the rear of the bridge.
“Are the Klingons finally coming to their senses? Hernandez asked with a smirk. She knew better; the most likely reason they were calling was to spew invective and to make threats about feasting on her entrails or some other such macho nonsense.
“Not exactly, Valerian said.
The image of two menacing Klingon cruisers set against the star-flecked blackness beyond Draylax vanished, to be replaced by a far warmer and more welcoming sight: Captain Jonathan Archer and the bridge of Enterprise.
“Think you could use a hand, Captain?Archer said, a grim smile on his lips.
“Well, I havent been able to talk any sense into them so far, Captain, Hernandez said, gesturing outward as if toward the Klingons. “In fact, theyve ignored all our hails and warnings. We had to destroy one of their ships before you got here.
“That makes the odds a bit more even,Archer joked. “Two against two is amuch fairer fight.
“Whats your ETA, Captain? Hernandez said, eager to make the coming fight an even-money proposition.
“Were nearly right on top of you already,Archer said. He turned his head slightly, speaking to someone off-screen. “Fire to disable.
Hernandez tapped a button on her chairs arm-mounted console, and the forward viewscreen switched to a view of the other ships. Enterprisewas thundering forward, having apparently just dropped out of warp, and its pulsed phase cannons threw a series of blasts toward the central Klingon aggressor that had been pouring the heaviest fire onto the surface of Draylax.