Chapter 12
The seat felt so cold a shiver went through Brett’s body. Like the tightness of his uniform at first, he knew this was another psychosomatic response to not just sitting on the bridge of a Starfleet ship but sitting in Robyn’s former seat. She now sat to his left, close enough to touch yet as distant as Earth. A Starfleet first officer couldn’t reach out to take his captain’s hand, even if they had once loved each other.
Instead, Brett forced himself to stare straight ahead out the viewscreen. There was nothing but empty space and the distant smudge of a comet. At least the Serparnian ship wasn’t out there.
Over the last twelve hours the ship had been at a state of yellow alert, everyone bracing themselves for the return of the Serparnian ship or perhaps another one. Nothing happened. From what the long-range sensors showed, the whole system was quiet as a graveyard, holding its breath.
With nothing else to do, Brett called up the damage report on his display. In a testament to Starfleet engineering skill, the impulse engines, phaser arrays, and shields were fully restored.
“All decks are ready,” Ramirez reported.
“Very good. Ensign Cooper, lay in the enemy’s escape vector and ready impulse engines,” Robyn said, her voice hard and firm with a captain’s authority.
“Aye aye, sir,” Cooper said. Her hands flew across her console, setting in a course to follow the Serparnian ship. “Impulse engines are online.”
“Then let’s get underway.”
The Orion coasted forward, gradually picking up speed. Brett tensed in anticipation of a rattling or explosion, but the ship moved along smoothly. Clearly Commander Jolok and his staff knew what they were doing.
When the ship didn’t explode, Brett allowed himself to release the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in. Beside him, Robyn let out a smaller sigh of her own. She dug her fingernails out of the arms of the command chair to set in her lap. He wished he could reach out to squeeze her hand or give her a friendly pat on the shoulder, but he couldn’t.
All he could do was check his display and say in his best Starfleet officer voice, “All systems functioning normally.”
“Thank you, Commander,” she said, her eyes indicating she was thanking him for more than a systems report. “Ensign Merle, anything on the sensors?”
“Negative, sir. No sign of any shipping traffic.”
“Let me know of any anomalies.”
“You think they have a cloaking device?” Brett asked.
“It’s possible given all the other stolen technology they have already,” Robyn said.
Brett nodded, the possibility of a cloaking device sending another shiver through his body, this one not psychosomatic. A sharp-eyed ops officer with a good sensor array could pick up the background energy readings from a cloaking device. A third-rotation ops officer two months out of the Academy with a sensor array being held together by baling wire on the other hand—
He didn’t want to finish contemplating the thought. Better to think positive. For all they knew, the Serparnian ship was in as bad of shape as the Orion. They might be looking for some hole to hide in until they could make their own repairs. That might be a trickier task given the patchwork construction of the ship. For all anyone knew, the Serparnian ship might have exploded after limping off.
Somehow Brett doubted the Orion’s crew would get that lucky. Knowing Ferenghi Marauders like he did from his dealings with Ril, he knew that hit wouldn’t have taken out anything too vital. Certainly nothing that would cause the ship to explode unless it somehow sustained more damage during its escape.
Tapping into Merle’s sensor readings, Brett analyzed the data for himself. Nothing indicated another ship, cloaked or otherwise. There was no way to tell how fast the Serparnian ship could go, but in twelve hours it could be just about anywhere in the system. Unless they’d gone to warp, which didn’t seem likely with the damage they’d sustained.
“Anything?” Robyn asked.
“Nothing,” Brett and Merle said at the same time.
Then Brett saw something interesting on the long-range sensors: a small asteroid belt between the sixth and seventh planets. The sensors further indicated mining equipment around the asteroids, but none in use at the current time.
“Find something?” Robyn whispered into his ear.
“A mining station, appears to be abandoned.”
“You think they have a base there?”
“Could be. The asteroids make a natural hiding place and the mining equipment gives them a front.”
“Let’s check it out. Ensign Cooper, adjust our heading to intercept that asteroid field.” To Brett’s surprise, Robyn tapped the back of his hand with a finger. “Good work, Commander.”
“Just doing my job, sir.”
As the Orion approached the asteroid belt, Brett kept his eyes on the sensor displays. The mining colony could be exactly what it appeared to be. Or it could be a base for the Serparnian renegades. Or it could be a trap.
The Serparnians wouldn’t need much sophistication to booby-trap the asteroids. A few well-placed charges could shower any nosy ship with enough debris to do a lot of damage. An antimatter mine or two could wipe out anything in a million kilometers. There wasn’t any way to be certain.
“Captain, requesting permission to take a shuttle to investigate the area more closely,” Brett said.
Robyn studied his face for a moment. “You think it’s a trap?” she said.
“It’s possible. Better to risk sending in a team by shuttle than risk the whole ship.”
She considered this and then nodded. “Agreed. Take an away team and see what you can find.”
Brett leapt from his chair. “Cooper, Ramirez, you’re with me. Have a couple extra security personnel waiting in the shuttle bay with phaser rifles,” he said, striding towards the turbolift.
“And Commander—”
“Yes?”
“Good luck,” Robyn said before the door closed.
