Part 5 (2/2)
”He is very close, sir.”
”Mr. La Croix, it has happened,” Heard said, ”so now we must deal with it. Is there any way to seal this off, contain the pressure?”
The android shook his head, as did La Croix, but only Data spoke. ”Not in time, except with a containment field, but the batteries available would last but a few moments.”
”The Enterprise could swing into a low orbit, generate a containment field...”
”Yes, sir, but not for very long, at that range and of this size. If we could even form one in this dead power zone. As you remember, using our tractor beams-”
”Tractor beams.”
”Sir?”
”Data, how long before we lose containment?”
”Difficult to say exactly, without proper sensor readings. The dead zone hampers our more advanced sensors, and the radiation hampers the lower-technology scanners. Without proper study-”
”Guess, Data,” Picard barked.
”Fifteen minutes, sir,” Data said quickly. Then he added, ”Give or take.”
Picard allowed himself the briefest of smiles. ”Let's hope that's enough. Evacuate all personnel from the center. And I mean every last person.” He turned to La Croix. ”How many people would that be?”
It took a moment for La Croix to answer, as if he was thinking of each person in turn, remembering where they were, then taking mental note of it. ”Ten-no, eleven, including myself.”
”Plenty of time,” Picard said as he took La Croix's shoulder and guided him quickly toward the door.
”What? Plenty of time for what? There's nothing that can be done.”
”From here?” Picard said, ”No. From the Enterprise, a great deal.”
”Sir, you're breaking up badly.” Squinting, straining to hear through bursts of static, Riker twisted toward Shapiro at ops. ”Boost the gain on that.”
”There's ...alot... time. I need beams... station as soon as out of... ange.”
Frustrated, Riker shook his head and stomped from the command chair. ”Ensign-”
”I'm trying, sir.” The young man's hands danced over the ops console a bit nervously. ”Here we go.”
”Enterprise, do you read?”
”We do now, Captain. Repeat your last message.”
”/ want all available nonessential power diverted to tractor beams. We have to punch through that dead zone and we have less than five minutes to do it.”
”Sir?” Riker leaned over to see the ops station's sensor console. ”I have you just coming out of the dead zone. Why would we need to tractor you?”
”Not us, Number One. The entire reactor.”
Enterprise's powerful tractor beam sliced through atmosphere, energy, raw and determined, dancing in the thin Martian air as it pulled on the red planet itself, tore a chunk of crust from the surface. And with it, the hemorrhaging nuclear reactor.
From the Hubble, the scene was rather blissful for a moment, then it lurched out of Picard's view. The control consoles dimmed and the runabout dipped awkwardly and too quickly. He struggled with the controls as the wind thrashed the runabout up and to the side, then down and around. Picard felt his chair fall from under him as the s.h.i.+p lost alt.i.tude. He turned to Data and found the android giving a very human shake of his head, as if trying to clear mental cobwebs, or rattle off a stunning blow.
”Transfer s.h.i.+eld power to impulse drive,” Picard ordered.
”Impulse is offline,” Sanderson said, his voice tinged with minor panic.
Data's voice was tight with apprehension. ”I am weakened myself, sir. The dead zone has expanded.”
It had never done that before, at least not that they'd recorded. How, why, and all the other nagging questions simmered in the back of Picard's mind as he gazed at Sanderson's console. The ensign was trying to pilot a rock through a tornado. It was a very lost cause. Backup batteries wouldn't provide enough lift and everything else was offline. The runabout was falling quickly from the Martian sky.
”Picard to Enterprise.”
”We're scanning you, Captain,” Riker said. ”See your situation. Trying to get a transporter lock now.”
The captain glanced at Data. If applied right, the thrusters might at least level their descent as they fell. Might. Runabouts weren't gliders meant to ride air currents, they were powerhouses. They used energy to bend physics into the control of man. Without power, there was no control.
”I am unable to determine where the dead zone ends, sir,” Data said. ”If we could maneuver out of it-”
”a.s.sume we can't. Can we help Enterprise get a transporter lock?”
Data's expression seemed blank for a moment, as if lost in thought. It wasn't something Picard was used to seeing on him. ”If we transfer all power to our transporter, it may provide a signal on which to lock. Both signals in conjunction may be able to break through the dead zone.”
”Make it so.”
The android nodded hastily and began his task. Sanderson set his board to transfer power as well, after locking thrusters on a course up and away from any possible settlements. If the runabout was going to crash, it would have a lot of wilderness in which to doit.
”Did you get all that, Number One? Can you link into our pad?”
”Got it, Captain. Data's fed us the coordinates. Ready when you are.”
Darting from his seat, Data went into the small transporter alcove and began moving isolinear chips in and out of a control unit. ”We will only be able to transport two at a time.”
Picard nodded. ”Begin with the reactor personnel.”
”This is safe?” one of the scientists' voices cracked as Data ushered him onto one of the two transporter pads.
”Safer than cras.h.i.+ng, sir,” Data said, and Picard couldn't help but allow himself the briefest of smiles. Out of the mouths of androids ... ”We're ready with the first two, Number One,” Pi card said. They were plummet ting like a stone now, and seeming weightlessness was taking over.
”Energizing.”
A shower of light and sparkle fell over two very tense-looking scientists. The process lasted longer than it should. The two men didn't de materialize for a few moments, and then finally the process ended, taking them with it, up into orbit.
”Rough ride, but we have the first two, sir,” Riker said. ”We'd better hurry.”
Two by two Data led the scientists into the transporter alcove, then the engineering personnel. Picard's Ark, the captain thought with a smile. Each beam-out took only seconds, but it seemed quite long for a transport, especially when riding a wind-torn runabout up and down as it fell, lifted a bit with a gust of air, only to fall farther on the next downturn.
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