Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Robyn’s grip on the armrests loosened at the sight of the Serparnian Liberation Army warship. “Lieutenant Ramirez, how much damage did our little stunt do?” she asked. Her voice still had the same strong tone of command as before but Brett sensed a hollowness to it.

“Minor damage from what I can tell,” Ramirez said. “Captain, they’re hailing us.”

“Onscreen.”

Slonix’s face appeared on the screen, his mangled hood ruffling at the sight of Robyn. “Captain Lichen, what a surprise. Streng told me you were dead but that is clearly not the case.” His eyes narrowed, the pink scar turning red when he saw Brett in the chair next to Robyn. “You survived as well. Then it will give me the chance to finally destroy you. There’s nowhere for you to run this time.”

Robyn levered herself from the chair smoothly and stood at the center of the bridge, showing no sign of her illness. “Surrender your ship now or we will be forced to fire upon you.”

“I will never surrender. The Serparnian Liberation Army is not afraid of a puny Federation ship and its weakling captain.”

“Lieutenant, prepare a full spread of quantum torpedoes. Target their engine room. Last chance, Slonix.”

From what Brett knew of the Orion’s inventory they didn’t have any quantum torpedoes on board. Robyn must be hoping the impressive sound of the weapons would force Slonix to back down. But he wouldn’t. Slonix was the type to go down fighting.

“Never!” Slonix hissed and broke the transmission. His ship continued screaming towards the Orion, its torpedo ports glowing orange as it prepared to fire.

“Evasive maneuvers,” Robyn said to Cooper. She then dropped into the command chair a little too heavily for Brett’s liking. The confrontation with Slonix had clearly put a strain on her.

The Orion banked hard to port and away from the Serparnian ship to keep the most heavily damaged areas from the last attack away. A pair of torpedoes shot out from Slonix’s ship to explode against the Orion’s shields. The bridge rattled, but everyone managed to hang on.

“Return fire,” Robyn called out. “A full spread of torpedoes…now!”

The photon torpedoes from the Orion cut through space to impact along one of the Klingon nacelles. Half the nacelle disappeared in a puff of flame. Not that it mattered, Brett thought. Slonix wouldn’t go to warp anyway. This battle would be to the death.

A pair of disruptors pounded against the shields just above the bridge. “Shields down to forty percent,” Ramirez said. “A couple more hits and they’ll be down.”

Robyn said nothing. From the rigid way she stared out the viewscreen, Brett thought she’d frozen up again. Merle and Cooper turned around in their seats, apparently under the same impression. With the shields ready to fail, they didn’t have time to dawdle.

“Captain?” Brett prompted.

To his surprise, Robyn stood up. She glided across the bridge as if in a trance until she reached the viewscreen. Her fingertips traced the shape of the Serparnian ship even as it turned around and launched another pair of torpedoes.

“Brace for impact,” Brett said. He rose from his chair to fetch Robyn as the torpedoes streaked towards the ship.

Cooper’s fingers raced across her controls, the Orion sliding starboard in a trail of blue gas. The torpedoes shot through where the ship had been to detonate in empty space.

“What was that?” Brett said.

“I vented plasma gas from the port nacelle,” Cooper said.

“Good thinking.” Brett reached Robyn’s side and took her arm. “Captain, you should get down to sickbay—”

She shook away his arm with amazing strength and then turned to face her crew. “I’m not going anywhere. Mr. Ramirez, I want you to lock all phasers on this section right here,” she said, her finger pointing to the point on the patchwork warship where the Cardassian bow met the Ferenghi stern. “Follow it up wit a spread of torpedoes on the same mark.”

“Locked on, sir,” Ramirez said.

“Fire.”

The Orion’s phasers glowed harmlessly against the Serparnian warship’s shields. But the attack weakened the shields enough for the torpedoes to follow through. One by one they impacted along where the two sections of the Serparnian ship came together. With the final blast, the ship broke cleanly in two.

“Good shooting, Mr. Ramirez.” Robyn turned to Brett. “Commander, take a security detail to secure the forward section. Take Slonix alive if possible.”

“I’ll do my best, sir,” Brett said.

“Lieutenant Ramirez, take a second group and secure the aft section. I don’t want them to overload that warp core.”

“Yes, sir,” Ramirez said. He and Brett piled into the turbolift. Before the doors closed, they saw Robyn collapse into her command chair and shut her eyes.

The battle was over for her, but it was only beginning for Brett. Slonix wouldn’t go without a fight even without his ship.

Along with four phaser rifle-carrying security personnel, Brett beamed onto the forward section of the Serparnian warship just aft of the bridge. They found themselves in an empty corridor with orange lights glowing and an alert klaxon still blaring.

Brett motioned for the team to move ahead slowly, one man going ahead to the nearest doorway for cover while the other three covered him. They continued this way without incident all the way to the bridge door. Whatever surprise Slonix had in store for them would be waiting behind that door.

“I’ll go first,” Brett said. “Cover me. And stay sharp.”

The door opened to a gruesome sight rivaling that of the mining colony. The entire bridge crew were slumped over their stations, a bloody gash in the backs of their necks. In the center of the bridge stood Slonix with a blood-edged Szai clutched in his hand.

“It’s over, Slonix. No one else has to die here.”

“You are wrong. I must still dispatch you.” He raised the crystal sword over his head, his eyes narrowing into slits.

“I’m sorry,” Brett said, leveling his phaser rifle. The first shot hit Slonix in the chest. The Serparnian kept going, his eyes glowing with hatred as he plunged ahead. Three more shots struck him in the same place, but didn’t bring him down.

Slonix staggered forward, driven on by raw hatred until he stood before Brett. Grasping the sword in both hands, he raised it over his head to strike. At last he would complete his revenge on Brett.

In that final moment, Brett saw not just hatred or rage in the Serparnian’s eyes but love. Love for the wife and children Brett had taken from him through a twist of fate. He could not let these loved ones go unavenged, even if it meant his life.

With tears in his eyes, Brett fired a high-power shot into Slonix’s face. The headless warrior collapsed backwards to lay unmoving on the deck. The phaser rifle dropped from Brett’s numbed hands onto the deck.

A search of the rest of the forward section turned up only dead bodies. Ramirez reported the same situation on the aft section. They had chosen to die rather than suffer the humiliation of being captured by Federation personnel.

It was over, at least here. Brett only hoped the rest of the Serparnian Liberation Army wasn’t as committed to the cause or else a lot more people would die.