CHAPTER EIGHT
"Uh…Commander
Sutter?" Lieutenant Johnson
was scratching his head whilst studying the readings on his console. He had a
confused look on his face.
"Yes? What's
up, Johnson?" Sutter asked, walking towards him.
"The
interference that's been surrounding the planet since we got here…"
"Yes."
"Well…It's
moving…"
"Moving?"
Sutter blinked. "How's that possible?"
He shook his head:
"I haven't got a clue, ma'am."
She frowned.
"It's coming
straight at us." Johnson said with a twinge of fear in his voice.
"What should we do, commander?"
"We stand our
ground…I believe someone told me this interference cannot hurt us."
Johnson looked at
the viewscreen anxiously: "Aye."
The bridge was
silent for a few minutes, all of the officers on the bridge were keeping at
least one eye on the viewscreen, curious to see what the hell was coming for
them.
Sutter took a deep
breath and stared out the viewscreen defiantly. She vowed: Whatever would come
wouldn't stop her from seeing her family again.
Then, the center of
the interference appeared on the viewscreen, Sutter's eyes grew wide with fear
and she thought grimly: Well, maybe I'll see them again in the afterlife…
* * *
USS-Eagle.
Starfleet registry X-01, stardate 57523.6,
in orbit of planet Gyltian in the Gylt
system, lieutenant commander Janna Sutter in command.
No one on board the
vessel had ever been so afraid in there entire lives…
The ship-or whatever
it was-was approaching slowly…It had the most bizarre shape that anyone had
ever seen…The central hull was shaped like a carrot, bumps and all, the spidery
sub-sections that emerged from the aft section and sprung forward like arrows
pointing at the Eagle, the prey.
The moment of awe
preceded the moment of fear…What was this ship? Where did it come from? Was it
hostile? Was it going to fire and blast the Eagle away in one shot?
Questions, questions and questions…Questions usually lead to fear…
Sutter didn't know
what to do for what seemed like hours, but was in fact only a few seconds…She
suddenly said: "Attempt to open hailing frequencies."
Mantion nodded and
then shook her head: "There is no response, commander. I recommend we
raise shields."
Sutter's eyes turned
once again to the menacing ship on the viewscreen. She hoped she was doing the
right thing: "Raise shields."
Mantion was happy to
do so, the Eagle's shields rose and Sutter took a deep breath.
Suddenly, a
high-pitched screeching noise filled the bridge, the crewmembers exchanged
confused glances and Sutter asked over the noise: "Where the hell is that
coming from?"
Mantion shook her
head: "I'm reading unusual vibrations that keep…disappearing…"
"No…"
Sutter hadn't noticed that Tarses was standing at the back of the bridge.
"No…They're phasing…These are interphasic
creatures, remember that."
Suddenly, a black
cloud of mist was thrown from one of the claws of the interphasic
ship.
"That looks a
lot like a torpedo." Johnson said.
The ball of mist
accelerated suddenly, hurling itself against the shields of the Eagle.
The ship trembled and Mantion said: "Minimal damage to shields, but energy
readings are fluctuating."
"Well…It now
looks as if they want to play." Sutter said. "Return fire. Full phasers."
The interphasic ship was much larger than the Eagle but
it seemed to Sutter that it was an even match… But this was before Mantion
fired the phasers.
The red beam of
energy lashed out from the Eagle…
…and went right
through the interphasic ship.
"Uh-oh…" Yasmin Reeves said.
Sutter clenched her
teeth: "Any ideas as to why our weapons went through that
ship?"
Mantion said:
"If doctor Tarses' assumption is correct…That ship is continually "phasing" in and out of our space…If this processes is
controlled somehow, our phasers go through the ship when it isn't in our space
but out of phase."
"This is
getting complicated." Johnson said, sighing.
"So how do we
do it so that our weapons hit that ship whilst they are in our space?"
Sutter asked, hoping that someone knew the answer.
"We have to get
into their phase…" Tarses said, frowning and holding his chin
thoughtfully. "But it's impossible…"
"The Romulans experimented with phasing cloak…And so did the Klingons." Yasmin Reeves reminded.
"That's
right." Tarses nodded. "But I don't see how…" He suddenly
jumped. "The cloaking device!"
"What? What
about the cloaking device?" Sutter asked.
"Didn't Patrickson say that we had a…" Another energy ball
from the interphasic ship struck the shields. Mantion
reported still no damage and Tarses continued. "Didn't Patrickson
say that the Eagle had a phasing cloak?"
"Yeah but
they've tried it a million times, it's too dangerous to use the cloak. It isn't
stable enough." Reeves said.
"Yes…But if we
reconfigure some torpedoes…It wouldn't matter if they're stable or not,
right?" Tarses shrugged. "I'm not a weapons expert, you know."
All eyes turned to
Mantion who was frowning, her arms crossed: "It would take too much
time." She finally said, shaking her head. "At least five minutes for
one torpedo…"
"I think it's
our best shot." Tarses turned to Sutter. "But it's your decision to
make, commander."
Sutter turned to
watch the interphasic ship get closer and
closer…Soon, there would be more shooting, she could feel it.
"Let's get to
work." She said. "I want Mantion's teams
working right away…We need to try to find a way to integrate the phasing
technology into those torpedoes."
"We have plans
from Starfleet's preliminary reports on 'phasing' torpedoes…We believe what we
will be building will be similar, albeit less powerful than the versions that
Starfleet is testing." Mantion said.
"That's fine…I
just need something to hit them and measure their strength." She gestured
to the ship on the screen. "Whoever 'they' are…"
Five minutes later, the interphasic
ship had caught up with the Eagle and the first phasing torpedo was
loaded and ready to be fired. Sutter was drumming her fingers nervously on the
armrest of the command chair.
"The first torpedo
is ready." Mantion reported as stoically as ever.
"Okay…"
Sutter bit her bottom lip and prayed that this would work. "Fire the
torpedo."
Mantion pressed the
firing button.
The torpedo was
launched.
It approached the interphasic vessel and was getting closer and closer…
…and
closer…
And suddenly, as it
struck the forward-section of the ship, it exploded.
Sutter let out a
sigh of relief.
But then, the
shrieking noise that they had heard earlier resumed.
"I have located
the source of this noise, commander." Mantion said. "These are
vibrations at the interphasic level.
That is why the sounds are so discordant and cacophonic; they are shifting
through different phases and…"
"Stop…stop…stop…"
Sutter massaged her temples and said: "Hearing the word 'interphasic' every two sentences is giving me a
headache."
"Was the alien
ship damaged?" Reeves asked.
"We have no way
of telling. Our sensors are still half-jammed by the interference given out by
that vessel. But they have slowed; I believe this may be an indication that
they have sustained some damage."
"Then we just
need more phasing torpedoes." Sutter said.
"They're
firing!!!" Johnson suddenly reported.
This time, the balls
of mist came much quicker and in much greater number. They slammed against the
shields with impacts that made some officers on the bridge trip and fall.
Sutter managed to grab onto her command chair but Reeves was not that lucky and
she hit her head against the Science console.
"Johnson! Take
us away from that ship!" Sutter ordered.
Johnson's piloting
was swift but not as swift as Burnel's, how Sutter wished that the pilot could
have been there with them…Burnel was the best pilot Sutter had ever known and
she was sure that—had she been here—she would have outrun twenty of these vessels.
But Johnson had to
do, he managed to slalom around a few energy balls and Mantion said: "The
second phasing torpedo is ready."
"Fire!"
Sutter ordered.
The torpedo flew
towards the interphasic vessel and hit one of the
claws that came out of the aft section. This time, the damage was visible, a
piece of the claw was ripped off into space and the screams (the 'interphasic vibrations') grew louder.
"Can't we block
out those screams?" Sutter asked, wincing at the shrieking.
"I cannot block
them." Mantion shook her head.
The enemy vessel
fired again, this time, the weapon went right through the Eagle's
shields and struck the port warp nacelle. Everyone was thrashed around at this
impact and Mantion said: "Heavy damage to the port warp nacelle!"
"How
bad?" Sutter asked.
"We won't be
going to warp anytime soon, that's all I can say." Mantion said as another
weapon hit the shields.
"The shields are
down to sixty percent!" Johnson said.
Now, the interphasic ship was releasing all of its fury against the Eagle…The
balls of mist came in rapid succession and Johnson's valiant piloting efforts
were not enough to save them. Soon, the shields were entirely disabled.
"I can't get
the shields up…" Mantion said in a slightly defeated tone.
The interphasic ship was now slowly approaching the Eagle,
coming in for the kill…
And suddenly, there
was an explosion…But not where the crew of the Eagle had expected one.
The deflagration had appeared on the side of the interphasic
ship! Someone was firing at it!
All eyes turned to a
small speck on the viewscreen.
"Magnify."
Sutter ordered.
The viewscreen
magnified the speck.
It was no ordinary speck.
It was the USS-Nightshade…