NEW VS7.5 Cyclops [PG13] (all J/C) 11/13
Christina
Title: Cyclops
Author: Penny Proctor
Contact:seas...@yahoo.com
Series: VS7.5 story 36
Codes: J/C all
Rating: PG
Part: 11/13
Date Posted: 7/28/03
::Odyssey-2 reporting:: It was Harry Kim. ::We're all right. Odyssey-3
is ... gone, and we're not sure about Odyssey-1 and Odyssey-4.::
::We're here:: came the shaky voice of Jenny Delaney, co-pilot on
Odyssey 4. ::We can see Korbut's shuttle. It's badly damaged, but she
and O'Connell are still alive.::
::Voyager-2 reporting functional::
::Same for us:: the two remaining shuttles reported simultaneously.
Auraan's screens had gone offline but she brought them up again. What
she saw on the tactical screen made her catch her breath. "Commander
Paris," she said, "Look!"
He leaned in her direction, and hissed. Voyager was listing in space,
obviously damaged. A damaged shuttle, seemingly dead, drifted nearby.
There was no sign of the biocontainers. The Cyclops wasn't moving; it
was almost as if it were considering the situation.
Then the eye, still erect, began to swivel toward the ship.
He slapped his commbadge. "Paris to Voyager. You've got to get out of
there."
::We know that, Tom.:: Captain Janeway sounded calm. ::We're trying. If
we don't, consider it Plan Z and finish the job.::
Auraan watched Paris's face run through a series of emotions as he
stared at the holophoto on his console. In a tight voice, he said,
"Don't worry. We'll take care of it." Then he switched back to the comm
frequency for the task force.
"This is Paris. Listen up. We're going to try again."
::How? Lavelle's voice was harsh, either with anger or desperation.
::We're down two ships. We can't do it.::
Paris answered so quickly, his words almost tumbled over each other.
"The hell we can't. We'll make a pyramid, not a cube. Base of four, I'll
take the apex. You'll each make three connections. Chen, hold Voyager-4
back. You'll take care of Plan Z if this doesn't work. Got it? Then
move, people."
Even before he had finished the order, he had accelerated Voyager-1
toward the Cyclops. "Get ready," he said, without looking at Auraan.
"You'll have to set the links manually."
"Sir, I can't do it," she said, dumbfounded. "At the apex, we'll have
four connections. We'll overload."
"Don't tell me what you can't do," he said, so angrily she flinched.
"Just do it."
She swallowed and got to work.
The Cyclops
It was unprecedented. Moments earlier, the threshold for interest had
barely been reached. It had been eliminated, but still the sensors were
registering unmistakable levels well above the touch point. The target
had been eliminated. What was this new scent? Further inspection was
required.
The tiny annoyances were still there, but they were of no matter. There
was life nearby, waiting for verification and elimination.
Scanner activated.
Shuttle Voyager-1
She was too busy trying to figure out how to adjust for four connections
to look up, but Auraan knew the instant the scanning ray started from
the noise Paris made. It wasn't a word, but it was a curse nonetheless.
"Thirty-six seconds," she said.
He didn't acknowledge the comment. "Paris to task force. Stand by to
initiate energy field." Then he turned the chair to face her. "Are you
ready?"
*No*, she wanted to say. She wanted to cry. *It's not going to work,
we're going to blow up, this is useless*. But in the end, she was indeed
a Daughter of the Royal House of Troyius and would not display her fear.
"I've done all I can."
To her astonishment, Paris smiled. "Good girl." Then he said into the
comm, "Activate field in 3, 2, 1 -- now."
Auraan's fingers moved rapidly over her control panel, making the
connection with each of the other four shuttles as they projected a link
to them. At the fourth, she saw the spike in the power baffles. Almost
immediately a warning light began to flash. "Power overload building,"
she warned.
"Just hold on." Below them, the energy field shimmered as it modulated
through the programmed frequencies, a pyramid of sparkling silver and
gold that was not affecting the green scanning beam at all. "Twenty-five
seconds," Paris muttered. "Come on."
The emergency klaxon blasted a tattoo of sound. "Sir, the overload-"
"*Do* something," Paris said. He was struggling to keep the shuttle
steady against the pull of the energy field.
'Do something'? What kind of order was that? She started at him
helplessly but he didn't see.
Below them, the energy field was shimmering as it modulated through the
programmed frequencies -- and then it locked. ::Bingo!:: Sam Lavelle
shouted over the open comm channel. ::We've got it now!::
::Fifteen seconds to go:: someone else said.
Auraan's eyes were fixed on the power indicator. The level was
approaching critical. In a moment, it would overwhelm the baffles and
burn out every system, including the energy field. Impulsively, she
disabled one of the major baffles.
As she raised her hands from the board, the implacable power bled
through the baffle and surged through the unprotected system with a
sound like rushing water and the smell of burnt circuits.
"Something fried," Paris said. "What was it?"
"Life support," she replied. "If we fail, it won't matter. And if we
succeed, we'll have enough oxygen to return to the ship."
He grinned. "Now you're getting it."
USS Voyager -- Bridge
Janeway tried to protect her eyes from the intense green light with one
hand. "B'Elanna," she said, "*now* would be a good time."
::You've got impulse:: B'Elanna responded triumphantly.
"Evasive maneuvers, Mr. Tresyl." They had about ten seconds, she
guessed, and doubted that any maneuver could be effective at this
distance and speed, but they had to try.
The ship rolled up and away from the beam, but couldn't escape it. The
blinding light still pervaded the Bridge. *Eight seconds*, she thought.
*Seven*.
Then the light flickered and pulsed. The strobe effect was unexpected
and painful. Then it stopped. It was just .. gone. Was this the
beginning of the next phase?
"Look," Tuvok said.
She had to blink several times to get her eyes adjusted to normal light
again, but then she saw the viewscreen. Five shuttles were hovering
around the eye of the Cyclops, which was not just smoking and covered in
grime and soot, but also tilting to one side. It looked as if the
feedback overload had caused a significant fire, if not an actual
explosion. And the base had closed, leaving the front flat and
apparently seamless.
Plan A must have worked after all.
"Full stop," she said. "Janeway to Paris."
::At your service, Captain.::
She couldn't help smiling. Paris never changed, and at the moment she
wouldn't have it any other way. "Well done, Tom. Recall the task force."
"Yes, ma'am."
To Tuvok, she said, "Beam over the crew from the disabled shuttle. As
soon as the rest are safely aboard, back us up to a safe distance and
hold position. I'll be in Sickbay."
The Cyclops
Blind? It checked itself for damage. Blind! The sensors still registered
the aroma of life, still nearby in quantity sufficient to the Purpose,
but there was no Eye to confirm. How could the Purpose be served?
The Purpose must be served. There must be a way.
USS Odyssey -- Bridge
Sam Lavelle came straight to the Bridge from the shuttle bay, not
bothering to stop to clean up. He wanted to see the Cyclops from big
viewscreen. Something was niggling at him, although he couldn't quite
put his finger on it. Perhaps it was just delayed nerves. If so, the
sight of the crippled planet-killer should help.
La Forge was on his feet, staring at the viewscreen, as Sam left the
turbolift. "Nice job, Commander. You regrouped quickly."
"That was Paris." He said it quietly. "He's ... quick on his feet."
"You all reacted the way you needed to." La Forge looked again at the
screen. The Cyclops had returned to its horizontal orientation, but the
damaged eye hadn't retracted. It dangled from the tip, dangerously close
to breaking loose. "I wonder if it feels pain."
"What's going to happen to it now? Will the Romulans do something with it?"
"That's someone else's challenge, not ours." He turned away from the
screen and studied Sam for a moment. "For someone who just finished a
successful mission, you don't look very happy."
"We lost two crewmen. And," he hesitated, "something doesn't feel right."
"Captain," Lt. Chafyn said from tactical, "the Cyclops is starting to move."
Sure enough, the planet-killer was slowly moving forward, probably at
the equivalent of half-impulse speed. "Where's it going?"
"Straight for Voyager."
La Forge said, "Switch to holographic view."
The three-dimensional image sprang up, showing damaged Voyager moving
slowly, and the monstrously larger Cyclops inching along behind it.
Sam stared it for a moment, transfixed. It sure looked like it was on a
deliberate intercept course.
La Forge shook his head. "It must be a coincidence. It can't find
targets any more."
"Sir," Sam said slowly, "is it true that when a person loses their
sight, their hearing improves?"
"Sometimes." La Forge frowned. "What are you saying?"
Sam turned to him. "We blinded it. But what if it had other sensors that
now have become more sensitive?"
"Are you saying it can *hear* life forms?"
"Maybe. Or smell it, or feel it, or some other sensory contact." He
pointed to the image on the hologrid. "If Voyager weren't damaged, this
wouldn't be a problem. But what if that thing knows that the ship is
there. It might not be able to target its weapon, but it still has a
mouth. It can eat. If Voyager's engines and defenses are still down,
that thing might just be able to suck it in."
La Forge stared at him for a moment, the artificial eyes somehow
managing to convey abrupt understanding. "Damn. Griz, get Voyager.
::Commander Tuvok here. Captain Janeway is momentarily away from the
Bridge.::
"Commander, what's your status? Do you have warp engines or weapons yet?"
::Negative. Our engineer estimates two more hours before engines are
restored. Is there a problem?::
"Maybe. We aren't sure. But I'd feel better if you could go to maximum
speed and get some distance between you and Cyclops." La Forge took his
seat, and Sam followed suit. "We have some concern that it will come
after you, ah, orally."
There was a pause before Tuvok replied. ::I take your point. We shall
increase to full impulse power.::
That niggling feeling left Sam convinced that wouldn't be enough.
USS Voyager -- Sickbay
Even though Kathryn had successfully shoved her worry for him aside
after Dr. Brown told her of the injury, it had flooded back as soon as
she left the Bridge. It had never taken so long to travel just five decks.
Sickbay was busy, but it wasn't as bad she had feared. Even better, most
of the crew seemed to be ambulatory as they were attended to by Dr.
Zimmerman and Dr. Brown and the rest of the medical staff. She looked
around, but Chakotay wasn't on any of the biobeds. Stepping around an
abandoned first aid cart, she finally spotted him. Her relief was so
great that her knees almost buckled.
He was in the Doctor's office, sitting at the desk with both hands
immersed in a large tub filled with green goo. She recognized it as the
regenerative gel used to treat burns. Distor Stann and Prolak were there
with him, and they appeared to be having a fine conversation. In fact,
it was such a fine conversation that he was completely oblivious to her
presence.
"Captain? Are you injured?"
She turned at the sound of the Doctor's voice. "Not badly. I just wanted
to check-" she let the sentence end prematurely, but inclined her head
toward his office.
"Ah. It's nothing significant. He suffered a concussion and some burns
on both hands. Another couple of hours and he can leave." His face
became serious. "I apologize for Dr. Brown. He shouldn't have called in
the midst of the crisis. Remember, he hasn't served on a ship before."
She nodded. "He's young."
"But he is a good physician. Other than his faux pas with you, he's done
very well today." He looked at her and frowned. "You're in pain, aren't
you?"
Caught, she pressed her left hand against her ribcage. "A little."
He lifted his medical tricorder and checked her out. "Well, you've got
two cracked ribs, and a broken wrist, not to mention that bruise on your
face. Why don't you have a seat?"
::Tuvok to Janeway. Captain, you're needed on the Bridge.::
"On my way." To the Doctor, she said, "Can you give me something for the
pain? I'll come back as soon as I can for treatment."
"Of course." He picked up a hypospray from the cart and injected her.
"But try not to roll around on the deck any more. Those ribs could still
break."
USS Odyssey -- Bridge
"Voyager is pulling away," Harry Kim reported from Ops. He returned to
the Bridge only a few minutes after Sam. Then he added, "Cancel that.
Cyclops is accelerating."
"But is it going after Voyager?" La Forge asked. "Or is it just fleeing
the scene of its injury?"
Sam said, "There's one way to find out."
La Forge nodded and signaled Kim to open the ship-to-ship channel.
"Voyager, are you at maximum speed?"
Janeway replied. ::This is the best we've got at the moment.::
"I suggest you change course by ninety degrees. That should tell us if
it's following you."
::Agreed.::
They watched the viewscreen as Voyager made a sharp left turn, running
perpendicular to its previous course. The Cyclops didn't slow as it made
an identical turn.
"That settles that," Sam said. "It's hungry."
La Forge shook his head. "Captain Janeway, any chance you'll get
torpedoes any time soon?"
TBC