CHAPTER NINE
Stevenson watched as
the 'phasing' torpedo struck the side of the alien vessel. The explosion made
the large, dark vessel tumble to the side and began moving away from the two
Starfleet ships.
Stevenson and his
repair team had gained access to the logs of the crew of the Nightshade and
had learned everything about the interphasic
organisms and how they had assaulted the planet Gyltian
and the Nightshade itself. The repair team had found a bunch of
strangely configured torpedoes and Stevenson discovered, by listening to the
logs of the crew of the Nightshade, that these were weapons designed to
combat the formidable phasing power of the massive alien starship.
Unfortunately, the
phasing torpedoes hadn't helped the late crew of the vessel, but they were now
helping the Eagle and Stevenson was glad that they were.
"Fire another
one." He ordered.
The silver-blue ball
of light emerged from the launch-bay of the Nightshade and struck the interphasic vessel on the forward section, causing the ship
to begin to rotate sideways.
"Can we contact
the Eagle?" Stevenson asked McPherson who was standing at the
tactical station behind the command chair.
"No, we
can't." McPherson said. "The interference from the alien ship is
weakening, but it's still to powerful to block out all communications."
Stevenson watched as the gargantuan interphasic ship slowly drifted away on the viewscreen, the
engineer frowned and said: "Looks like they've had enough."
"Hmmm…"
McPherson said, unconvinced.
"Take us closer
to the Eagle." Stevenson said. "We should be able to contact
them if we're close enough, right?"
McPherson shrugged:
"We should be able to…"
Stevenson sighed.
The Nightshade
cautiously approached the Eagle; the Federation bird-of-prey was in
pretty bad shape. There was a black scar running along its starboard wing and
several other black burn marks all over the hull.
"I'm attempting
to contact the Eagle now, sir." McPherson said, his fingers flying
over his console. "There…"
First, all they
could hear was static. This continued for ten seconds while McPherson tried to
compensate for the interference from the drifting interphasic
vessel that was still getting farther and farther away.
Then, Stevenson
heard something: "…Steve…"
It was Commander
Sutter's voice.
"Commander
Sutter?" He said in a clear voice.
"…n't hear you we…nson…What is g…on?"
"Clean that up,
please, McPherson." Stevenson said.
"Right
away, sir."
After two minutes,
Sutter was finally comprehensible.
"Stevenson?
Are you all right?" She said.
"Never felt
better, ma'am." Stevenson smiled.
"Good…We're
in pretty bad shape over here…We have everyone working on repairs but I doubt
that we can be battle-ready in less than a day."
"Then we have to get rid of
that "interphasic" ship ourselves."
Stevenson nodded. "We'll manage, they don't seem
to be in pretty good shape either."
"I
agree…We'll move the Eagle to a safe distance and give you moral
support…It's the only thing we can do for now."
"It's
appreciated." Stevenson said. "Nightshade
out."
Stevenson watched
the interphasic vessel on the screen. Pondered a
moment, then said: "McPherson."
The fellow engineer
turned to face his commanding officer: "Yes, sir?"
"We have to
find a way to seal the interphasic rift within the
planet." Stevenson said. "Any ideas? I heard
you were an expert on…"
"…Phasing
technologies, yes…That's why I'm working for Intelligence."
"So…I await
your suggestions." Stevenson smiled.
"Well…"
McPherson folded his arms across his chest. "…interphasic
distortions in "normal" space time can be caused by energy releases
of great magnitude. Some people at the Dyson institute managed to create a
controlled microscopic interphasic mix by using a
massive matter-antimatter explosion. I think that they sealed it by using a
high-energy discharge from a hand-phaser."
"I see…But this
rift is a lot bigger." Stevenson said.
"Yes,
indeed." McPherson agreed. "But maybe we could do the same thing that
they did…But in a bigger way."
"We use the Nightshade's
phasers?"
"No…The interphasic rift we detected within the planet is too large
to be sealed by the energy discharge of a normal phaser beam…No…We need
something bigger…We can modify the deflector dish of the ship like the
"…And seal the
rift." Stevenson nodded. "It sounds good."
"But there's a little problem."
McPherson said.
As always…Stevenson
thought with a sigh: "What problem?"
"The deflector
dish was damaged…Presumably during the last fight of the Nightshade's
former crew against the interphasic ship. I don't
know if the dish is going to explode in our face or actually fire the beam."
Stevenson frowned.
"So…"
McPherson hesitated. "What should I do?"
"I think that
we have to take the risk…" Stevenson said. "If those creatures get
off that planet…I don't dare imagine the consequences." He paused, and
then said: "Get the deflector and the phasers ready."
McPherson nodded:
"Aye, sir."
"Meanwhile…"
Stevenson said as McPherson exited the bridge. "I think we should destroy
the interphasic ship."
The Nightshade
moved towards the interphasic ship, it looked totally
lifeless…It was drifting slowly away from the planet.
Stevenson suddenly
began thinking: What could we learn from a ship like this?
"The phasing
torpedoes are armed and ready." Someone reported.
Interphasic
technology for use on all Federation ships…
"We are now at a
safe distance from the interphasic ship, sir."
The same person said.
It could benefit
millions for years to come…But…
"Sir?" The ensign began to
notice that Stevenson wasn't answering.
But could bring
destruction if we handle it wrong…
"Uh…Sir?
What should we do?"
Stevenson smiled:
"Fire at will, ensign. The future doesn't need more destruction."
The ensign blinked,
confused, but fired a volley of the phasing torpedoes that they had found in
the torpedo bay of the Nightshade.
The interphasic vessel began to explode from all sides. The
phasing torpedoes tore through the massive ship and sent pieces of interphasic
materials flying in all directions and fading out of existence…Finally, as the
ship was about to be totally annihilated, it too began fading in and out of
normal space…Soon, it had entirely disappeared.
Stevenson watched the empty space on the
viewscreen for at least a full minute, and then asked: "Uh…Is it
gone?"
The ensign nodded:
"Um…Yes, apparently."
Stevenson looked
suspiciously out the viewscreen at the space that the interphasic
ship had occupied a few minutes before: "Oh…" He said.
"Well…That's good."
Proceed to the
Final Chapter and the Epilogue