Star Trek: That Which Divides by Dayton Ward Read Free Book Online Page B

civilization and its level of technological advancement supported that contention. Not that such things mattered at the moment. Struggling to maintain his composure, he asked, “T’Vrel, time to impact?”
    “Fifty-eight seconds,” the Vulcan replied.
    Enough of this! If they were going down, Arens decided they would go down swinging. “Engineering, stand by for maximum thrust to the impulse engines! Transfer all remaining power to structural integrity and inertial damping!”
    “ Aye, sir! ” Rideout acknowledged.
    T’Vrel said, “Forty seconds to impact.”
    “Helm,” Arens continued, “target the beam’s origin point with full phasers. On my mark, fire the full spread and then take us at full impulse on a lateral course away from the beam.” Heartbeats seemed to stretch into eternity as he waited for the helm officer to complete her preparations, finally turning from her console long enough to meet his gaze.
    “Standing by, Captain.”
    Hebert called out, “Twenty seconds!”
    “Fire!” Arens ordered, leaning forward while gripping the arms of his chair. “T’Vrel, full power breakaway, now!” Subtle tremors vibrated from the deck plates into his boots as the phaser batteries released their first barrage. On the viewscreen, two glowing spheres of energy sailed out ahead of the ship, arcing down toward the surface of the planetoid, which was now much too close for the captain’s comfort. Two more phaser salvos followed, and seconds later the strikes registered on the screen as brilliant plumes of orange-white heat. Arens had only an instant to see the results of the attack before the Huang Zhong ’s trajectory shifted with such abruptness that he could feel everything shift as the inertial damping systems struggled to compensate.
    “We’re free!” Boma shouted. “The beam’s gone!”
    Arens ignored the report, his attention riveted on the movements of T’Vrel at the helm. Her fingers were a blur as she fought the console, and from his vantage point the captain saw several status indicators change from yellow to red just as new alarm sirens began to sound.
    “T’Vrel, what is it?”
    “The helm is slow to respond,” the Vulcan replied. “I am having difficulty arresting our speed.”
    On the screen, Gralafi’s surface was now highlighted by a reddish-purple sky occupying the image’s upper third. The ground continued to rush past, and terrain features now were clearly visible, growing larger and more ominous with each passing second. A single thought echoed in Ronald Arens’s mind.
    We’re not going to make it.
    “Helm control is failing,” T’Vrel reported, and this timeeven her stoic demeanor seemed to be cracking around the edges. “Captain, I cannot prevent a crash landing.”
    Without hesitation, Arens once more hit the intercom switch with his fist. “All hands, this is the captain! Crash protocols! Brace for impact!” Then, looking to Hebert, he said, “Launch the buoy.”
    As the first officer moved to comply with the order, Arens could do nothing except watch as the last sliver of sky disappeared from the top of the viewscreen, leaving only the barren, uninviting surface of the planetoid to draw ever closer.

FOUR
    Leonard McCoy hated waiting.
    “All right, that’s it,” he said, reaching for the control to deactivate the computer terminal on his desk and swinging the tabletop unit so that its display screen faced away from him. “I’m now officially bored.”
    Entering the room from the doorway leading to the sickbay’s adjacent laboratory area, a data slate tucked into the crook of her left arm, Nurse Christine Chapel regarded him with a look of amusement. “You’ve finished reviewing the Huang Zhong crew’s medical records?”
    “Three times,” McCoy replied. “It’s easy when they only have fourteen people.” He had spent the better part of the past two days preparing for whatever might be found once the Enterprise was finally able to rendezvous with the