THE INCREDIBLE LIGHT faded quickly, but it was several moments before the bridge crew fully accepted that the alien being was really and truly gone. They looked around with both confusion and relief.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6XccKUE60D
Weir's stomach was churning. Too soon. This was happening too soon. She didn't have a first officer. She hadn't had a chance to drill her crew and get to know them. It wasn't fair. Deep space wasn't fair.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNQdk0ImDx
Weir touched her neck to check her pulse. It was racing. But why? Was it fear? Was it excitement? What did it matter? She knew what was needed now--before anything else---was the appearance of self-control. Fake it till you make it, Weir said to herself. The crew looks to the captain as the source of all well-being on the ship. So be it.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRBnCp3YHAL
Weir glanced around the bridge calmly. "Everybody's all right, I take it?" There were uneasy nods of assent. "Good." She eased herself into her command chair and looked at Jay One. "Got any readings on this alien?"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFfpCeP6mf
Jay One shook his head. "Bridge sensors picked up nothing. Either he wasn't here or he blanked them out. As we all seem to agree on what we saw, I would assume that the alien blanked them out. Let me also suggest a third possibility: the being might not have been physically present at all. He might have been a projection or an illusion of some kind. But again, that would require some kind of blanking effect on the bridge sensors. A fourth possibility: the being may have been a telepathic projection and therefore undetectable by the bridge sensors. A fifth possibility...."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj1y3GXHQ3q
Weir held up a hand. "Thank you, Jay." As always, Jay One not only answered the question, he beat it to death with alternative possibilities.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqxHccCdKs
"Ma'am," Wrrf stood up before her. "I respectfully submit that our only chance is to fight."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbPdae6CEJn
Samantha stepped down off the horseshoe to stand next to Wrrf. "I agree, ma'am. We fight or try to escape."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFMco8aTngD
Weir held up a hand to them and turned to Emmagan. "Did you sense anything, Counselor?"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63H9MmHs2Y
She shook her head. "Its mind is much too powerful, ma'am." She paused, and then added, "Recommend we avoid contact."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlsHQGF91h
"Interesting," Weir said. "Very interesting."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMjcNFOqpE
She considered their remarks, turning the situation over in her mind. There was something they could try. It might not work, but it was a fair chance they could take Eye by surprise. She looked up at her people. "All right. From this moment, no station aboard, repeat no station, for any reason will make use of signals, transmission or intercom. Confine all communications to hardcopy only. My personal comm line will be reserved as the only active signals line in use. Let's see if we can take them by surprise. Lieutenant Wrrf, inform engineering to make ready for maximum acceleration and we'll find out what a Galaxy-class starship can do."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuGJWiqDX0
"Aye, ma'am."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRwKQWa90KP
Wrrf was already on his way to the forward turbolift as Weir turned to Jay One. "Records search, Jay. Results of attempting battle configuration at high-warp speeds."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMc7MuoQus
"I beg your pardon, ma'am?" Jay One seemed honestly confused.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVodAkvbfJ
"You heard me. It's theoretically possible. I want to know if anyone has succeeded---or will we have to be the first?"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIH2me4wtF
The android looked unhappy with the question, but he considered it, seeming to draw in on himself as he searched his internal memory banks. Then he looked at Weir impassively. "It is inadvisable at any warp speed, sir."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIpBQi2Ye7h
"Search theoretical. What are the odds?"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTY28IOVXV
Jay One did another quick scan and lifted his shoulders in a slight shrug. "It is possible, ma'am. But there is no margin for error. Therefore, I cannot compute the odds."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4Hl6vqeLk
"I see. Thank you, Jay." Weir considered her idea again. It was dangerous---much more dangerous than she liked. Certainly it was much too much of a risk to ask the crew's families to accept. But---they were already at risk from Eye....596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuHhoTwMFoa
A rock and a hard place. That was the dilemma.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiX9j4FTmwE
Weir sighed as she examined the plan's faults and virtues one more time. It was an argument she knew she couldn't win, because she was arguing against herself. Logically, she knew what she had to do. Emotionally---well, that was another matter.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DmkG9FBF1
Weir made a choice. She nodded to herself and stood. She raised her voice and said, "Now hear this!" The crew turned toward her, expectantly. She waited until there was silence on the bridge and all eyes were on her. "Using printout only, notify all decks to prepare for maximum acceleration. Maximum, I have to warn you, means we'll be pushing our engines way beyond their safety limits. We hope to try to surprise whatever that thing is out there and try to outrun it. Our only other option would be to put our tail between our legs and return to Earth as they demand."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgqA7CCY2tR
Lt. Wrrf could hurry without running. He had a stride that was near-legendary among those who had tried to keep up with him. He strode into the huge Engineering section of the Atlantis and paused, looking around for the officer in charge.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIDkmaSYP1
The great injector core dominated the center of the two-story area, driving through it from floor to ceiling. This was the heart of the Atlantis, as the bridge was her brain. Streams of matter were injected from the core's top, antimatter from its bottom, to converge on the dilithium crystal, nature's wondrous gift which made warp speed possible.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8azr2kBnAq
Despite Psychlo advances in interstellar drive technology, Wrrf still stood in awe of Fleet's warp drive. It had more sustaining power and thrust than any other drive system in the combined Space Federation/Psychlo Empire space and had been one of the key bargaining chips in the negotiations that had made them allies twenty-five years ago. Psychlo strategists often speculated on what would have happened had the two great powers not united. Indeed, it was a common theme of tactical games at home. Generally, the assessment was that the alliance of Space Federation and Empire had proven beneficial for both--and in some very astonishing ways. But still, Wrrf liked to imagine what the Psychlo Empire might have been had they had access to engines like these twenty-five years ago. It was a pleasant, if slightly illegal, thought.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eeazZx44I
Chief Engineer Savage stepped in beside him quietly. "Can I help you, 596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiP6F2q4niS
Lieutenant?"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Hkbo778Te
"Captain's orders. Make ready for 'max.'"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQzwQTbgJGl
Savage's eyes flickered and he frowned. "Maximum?"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdU5d6sZUY9
"All the way. On the signal 'engage.'"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMH5YYbK2aL
The chief engineer looked unhappy. He resented anyone abusing his engines. 596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXr3doUU6T9
"She'd better have a damned good reason."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoX4D10v10
"We've encountered an alien force. We don't know what it is---what they are. 596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2S4vMZLLoZ
The Captain's going to see what they're made of."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhCNFUMkDJ
"Correction: Captain's going to see what we're made of." Savage turned toward his engineers working at their consoles. "All right. Engineering alert. Stand by. We're powering up to go to maximum warp in one jump."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3fyU0laHa
Several of the engineering crew snapped around to stare at him in shock and alarm, but he kept his face straight and noncommittal. Going to maximum in one jump was hard on the ship, hard on the engines; but it could be done. They had done it in drill, they had done it in simulation. They had even once done it as part of the ship's shakedown.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOf0hmCkAsU
Still....it wasn't considered a good idea. There was too much likelihood of phase blowout. But the crew knew their jobs, so Savage wasn't worried about that. What was alarming was the situation that forced them to do it. 596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIFXhkoIe2
"Engagement will be on captain's signal from the bridge. O'Reilly, I'll want a maximum charge on the reserve cells."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAKKJ70w9w
Wrrf grinned wickedly and headed back to the main bridge. As the doors to Engineering hissed closed behind him, he heard the low-pitched whine of standard warp power ascending quickly to a high shriek.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ib48VvEGV
Weir stood behind Jay One at the conn, studying the alien grid that glittered on the viewscreen. Whichever way they turned their viewer cameras, the grid barred their way---except behind them. Weir was pinning her hopes on what her ancient sporting forebears would have called an "end run."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡorMqBrgx0j
Wrrf burst back onto the bridge from the forward turbolift, half running toward his operations station. "Engine room is standing by, ma'am."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETIFkqrM1J
"Thank you, Wrrf. Jay One?"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtanWCneMe5
"The board is green, Captain."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFx25HdPq17
The captain stepped back to her command chair and settled easily into it. "Reverse heading, 180 mark 3. Stand by." Her eyes flicked over the bridge and the crew poised in readiness at their various stations. She tapped the communications tab on her left-hand panel. "Engage!" The entire bridge shuddered under a scream of power as the warp engines leapt to their full strength.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbBHWj3U26b
Weir imagined for just the briefest of instants that she could feel the acceleration as the Atlantis leapt forward. Of course, she could not. She'd have been smeared across the back wall if the internal gravitational adjustors had not been in sync with the warp drive. Nonetheless, Weir imagined that she could feel the acceleration. Every starship captain did.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRzrJNidwKg
The Atlantis shot forward, held in control like a tightly-reined horse under Jay One's navigation and then---peeled off in a stomach-churning sharp left turn! They passed perilously close to the shimmering alien grid, but then they were beyond it and still pushing their warp envelope upward.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUd88jUnoW
Still under Jay One's tight control, the starship angled her nose beyond the grid and raced free. Behind them, the grid wavered briefly, its glow dimming. It suddenly shrank in size, coalescing into a brightly colored spinning shape that swiftly settled into grim pursuit of the Atlantis.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmz8ZmXS6xH
Weir ignored the steadily rising thrum of the engines and listened to her officers as they reported. "Warp nine point two," Wrrf reported, grinning. He didn't approve of running from any fight---but he did understand the value of a "strategic withdrawal." Particularly a strategic withdrawal that demonstrated both strength and cleverness. After all, didn't the Earthlings have a saying? "He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day?" Or was it, "---lives to run another day?" Oh, what the hell?596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9xN0HHeNp
"Heading, three-five-one, mark eleven, ma'am," Jay One reported from the conn.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVPyjWiVlnE
"Steady on that."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnkBG35InyG
Samantha spoke up from the Weapons and Tactical console behind Weir. "The hostile is giving chase, sir. Accelerating fast."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOaPtVKgQm
Wrrf stirred from his console and studied his screens. "We are now at warp nine point three, ma'am."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAhP2Sm6wsb
"Thanks. Let me know when we pass the red line."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBTPSCP43z2
"We are now passing it at warp three point five, ma'am."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4M5XDqvoYC
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Inform engineering to maintain maximum power."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZpUpdIB2z
"Aye, ma'am."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5r5h6r0d9
"Continue accelerating," Weir said evenly. She looked over at Emmagan and half-smiled. "Counselor, at this point I'm open to guesses about what we've just met. What do you feel about it?"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJay8SnMHLE
She bowed her head a moment, her beige hair shadowing her face as she pondered, analyzing the sensations she had felt when Eye was on the bridge. "It---it felt like something beyond what we'd consider a 'life form.'"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5p5qntwJJK
"Beyond?' Can you be more specific?"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1gks8VjnV
"Very, very advanced, ma'am. Or...." Emmagan considered it and then nodded firmly. "Advanced or certainly very, very different!"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfE5PGFo38t
Wrrf turned in his chair to interrupt. "Ma'am, we're at warp nine point four."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6r9dBn5B51
"Hostile is now beginning to overtake us," Samantha chimed from behind Weir.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpy4dASva5W
"Hostile's realized velocity is warp nine point six, ma'am," Jay One added calmly.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Sho9M9QF1
"Are you sure?" Weir regretted the words even before she finished speaking them.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtHavoVmcF
Jay One did not bother to look back at Weir. He accepted rhetorical questions as a matter of human habit. "Of course, ma'am. Hostile is now within viewer range. Shall I magnify the image?"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Vgd3Sh5WD
"I so order."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbFCzHnBfY
The forward wall of the bridge shimmered, and the blinking point of light that had been at the center of it suddenly jumped forward to become a spinning shape, shimmering and undefinable.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLgI4a4ydA
Samantha tensed, reading her console. "Hostile's velocity now at nine point seven, ma'am."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjR87K6XSl
Weir leaned forward in her chair, keeping her eyes on the screen, tabbed her communications line open. "Engineering?"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBfxmCANuM
Savage's voice came back instantly. "Ma'am---I have to warn you..."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb819Ladu2L
"To hell with your warning, Engineer. We need more speed." Weir snapped off the communications line. "Go to yellow alert."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡasoz8PNBbp
Jay One touched a control on his console and the yellow alert alarm began to clamor loudly. Weir turned to Samantha. "Arm photon torpedoes. Stand by to fire." She was aware of Emmagan's alarmed glance, but she ignored it.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfVFY4o8jL
"Torpedoes to ready, ma'am."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjW7kb8TKW
Suddenly the ship shuddered. It was felt as a tremendous tremor throughout the bridge, and several of the crewmembers had to grab quickly for their consoles to steady themselves---and there was a sound, as if some great beast slumbering on the bottom of the blackest ocean had been troubled in its sleep, a beast best left undisturbed.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOaery0b3bt
Emmagan glanced around quickly. She felt the pulse of fear and alarm from some of them. Then the temblor eased away as suddenly as it had begun.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EzsJDcE6l
At the forward console, Wrrf was hastily punching up commands on his console. 596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFse2vqh5TP
He had minored in the design and engineering of starships in his Academy days. He'd never experienced a primal shiver first hand, but that great shuddering groan couldn't have been anything else. It was as bad sign. Warp stress could rip the drive core apart!596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlWBLnm55BK
"Hostile now at warp nine point eight, ma'am," Samantha reported evenly.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPSSGbNu84
Wrrf quick-scanned his console. "Our velocity is holding at nine point five."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzkvxq2XMt
"Projection," Jay One said quietly. "We may be able to match the hostiles nine point eight if we push the warp engines to absolute capacity. But at extreme risk , maam."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6Op8siquw
"Now reading the hostile at warp nine point nine."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFfHMx9aKR
Weir paused a moment, considering her options one more time. There was really not much to consider. Shed been locked into this course of action since the moment shed ordered Engage. There was no changing her mind now. Finally she rose and raised her voice so it carried to all areas of the bridge. Now hear this. Print-out message, urgent. All stations on all decks, prepare for emergency battle configuration maneuver.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphIKJgQJvT
Samantha looked to Weir in alarm. Emmagan looked at Samantha at the same moment, sensing her fear. The starship had been constructed so the main disk could be detached and function as an independent vehicle if necessary, although it could proceed only on impulse power. The remaining half---the stardrive section---had its own bridge, the heavy phasers and photon torpedo launchers, and the warp engines.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWuX2Xh8cVp
Original Fleet planning designated the saucer as a sanctuary for noncombatants while the battle section was its defense. Fleet's exploration of space had been far from uneventful, but there were only a few occasions where a captain had taken the extraordinary step of splitting his ship into two, sending the saucer section off to safety while riding the stardrive section into combat. Obviously, a captain had to consider the situation so serious that this final measure was unavoidable.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9DhFmlPAgF
Weir gestured Wrrf out of his Ops chair. "You will command the main bridge, Lieutenant."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYf8l4Au6I
"Ma'am!" The young Psychlo jumped to his feet in protest, his outrage overriding his normal respect for the superior officer. "I'm a Psychlo, ma'am. For me to seek escape while my captain goes into battle..."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxznLlfJvD
"Noted," Weir said quickly. Her voice turned cold. "But you're also a Fleet officer, Lieutenant, and you've been given an order."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzZBpBRICzU
Wrrf hesitated, considering another protest. The years of discipline and ingrained obedience prevailed, and he nodded his head once at the captain. 596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqzG4Uo5b3
Aye, ma'am." But his expression spoke volumes.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSvJYOJT98
Weir tapped a control on his right hand panel and spoke quietly. Captains log, "Stardate 52 2 64.84. At this moment, I am transferring command to the battle bridge. She gestured to Jay One. Make the signal.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJvpabnoApg
Jay One touched a control lightly, and the traditional bugle call Beat to Quarters rang over the bridge. It repeated over and over as the duty officers swiftly moved toward the battle turbo. Replacements began to arrive almost immediately on the other two lifts, and the main bridge was fully remanned in moments.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6L4pAgPo5t
Reluctantly, Wrrf moved over to the captains command chair and contemplated it dourly before he settled down into it. Prepare for battle configuration, he said firmly. On the captains command. The thought flickered across his consciousness: If a Psychlo were in charge of this ship, we wouldn't be running. But he was a Fleet officer and---well, the captain might not always be right, but he was the captain.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImkSvsDw5u
The turbolift fell swiftly toward the battle bridge. Weir stared unseeingly at the lift's directional lights as she considered her plan. The disengagement of the command module at high warp speeds was a dangerous tactic, but they had to have enough of a lead on the Eye ship (or whatever the damn thing was) so they could turn and face it while the saucer made away with the majority of the ship's company and its noncombatants.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXoBYkCAGS
The turbo sighed to a stop, and the doors popped open, revealing the stark and Spartan battle bridge. Weir led the way into the smaller station, his bridge crew quickly fanning out to their duty positions. Jay One activated the conn and scanned the panel while Weir quietly dictated the captain's log supplementary, explaining her strategy.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dNXNX1bOi
"Hostile is still closing in on us, ma'am. Their speed is holding at warp nine point nine."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrqU3TFzuhV
"Interesting," Weir noted. "Whoever or whatever it is, has the same warp envelope limitations we have. Maybe they're not so powerful as they'd like us to believe." Weir nodded toward Samantha. "Lieutenant, I want a full spread of photon torpedoes aimed to detonate close enough to the hostile to blind it at the moment we separate. Stand by to fire on my 'mark.'"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54OSV6wooG
"Understood, ma'am."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHNJDxESYCN
Weir tabbed his communications control. "Lieutenant Wrrf, this is the captain."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VoMxcRTJs
Wrrf's voice replied crisply over the speaker. "Yes, ma'am?"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq4HiXtcqlh
"As separation begins, we will reduce power just enough to get the saucer section out ahead and clear of us."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbQsgCxA6E
"Understood, ma'am."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWUBwA3TjDg
"Begin countdown." Weir paused, gauging the glittering intruder on the viewscreen, then said firmly, "Mark!"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUwMR4I40L
Samantha's fingers flew over her weapons console. "Photon torpedoes away."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2kn5TEXxS
The torpedoes leapt away from the Atlantis's aft tubes with solid satisfying ka-chunks. Each one flashed and glittered as it sped rearward.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg5SltVd85n
Samantha was a superlative weapons officer, but the timing Weir required depended largely on the assumption that the hostile was traveling at its maximum speed. If it was not---if it could still increase its FTL velocity, then the torpedoes would very likely detonate behind it, losing the advantage the command module needed to escape. Weir was counting on the limitations of the alien's technology as an ally.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRLtgRHqAAN
"On the count," Jay One said. "Six, five, four, three, two, one, separation."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBeWr5N1Ll
At the rear of the saucer section, where it joined the gooseneck of the stardrive section, a crack appeared. The massive retention assemblies unlocked and pulled back into their housings. Jets of vapor hissed into vacuum as connections were pulled free.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR61aqW57Kk
"Captain's log. Moment of separation, Stardate 52254.86. We are now free to face the hostile."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pxAF06gf0
"Good luck, ma'am," Wrrf murmured as he watched them drop away.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Z0WhI19yy
The great disk angled up, up and away from the cobra-shaped stardrive section. As they cleared, the locking mechanisms completed their rotation and finished up flush in their housings with a thump that was unheard in space but which was felt in the disk. Wrrf checked his distance and ordered the impulse engines to full power. The immediate response quickly thrust the saucer section away so the stardrive section cleared the warp envelope of the Atlantis's battle module, it appeared to vanish. The Atlantis and its pursuer were past it in an instant too brief to register on any instruments.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjpQAc5X9K
This was what Weir had been hoping for---- a chance for the saucer section to lose itself in the vastness of space and make a run for Jutterdon Station.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXa38tWUSJm
On the battle bridge, Jay One reported quietly, "Separation is successful, ma'am."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeP3IQDaFec
Weir found herself breathing a sigh of relief. She hadn't realized she had been holding her breath. "Thank God. Where is the hostile?"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBOdUzqzMd
Jay One tabbed his console, and the viewscreen again showed the glint of the alien vessel at its center. The multiple flares of photon torpedo explosions were still glistening around it. Weir clenched her fist and hit her knee in triumph.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9c2m4EvNi
"Good timing. All stop. Reverse course."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAzp7dMI1f
The Atlantis collapsed its warp envelope and swung around to face its pursuer head on. On the huge forward viewer, Weir could see that the photon torpedoes had apparently had no effect on the Eye ship. Despite several near-direct hits, the alien vessel remained unchanged. It drove on toward the Atlantis with no decrease in speed. The two ships were on a collision course.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBh68HW2ij
Weir studied the viewscreen a moment longer and then said, "Hold position."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xVgu509yj
Jay One suppressed a surprised look and replied evenly, "Aye, ma'am."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUaTFp9knB
"They'll be on us in minutes..." Emmagan began.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGq5NVY3NL
"I know that, Counselor."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCoqcBYaAx2
"Will we make a fight of it, Captain?" Samantha asked. "If we can at least damage their ship....."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3u8Tkpagq
Weir pointed at the viewer and snorted. "Lieutenant Carter, are you recommending we fight a life form that has already demonstrated significant military superiority?" She stared at her, waiting. "If you think we have a chance of winning, I'd like to hear your advice."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvm4gmZiMLD
Lt. Carter flushed and looked away, unable to face her captain's challenging look. She was right, of course, and Carter was embarrassed.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91m9gumk2n
Samantha Carter knew what her worst fault was. She reacted too quickly. It was why she was a good security chief. But it was also why she often had trouble coping with situations where ship's security was compromised. She still found it difficult to allow for diplomatic and strategic considerations.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7NjzY3Rxt
The renegade colony in which she had grown up had been lawless and murderous. Her early years had been spent surviving, and all her experience had taught her to act first and try to control a situation before analyzing it. Until she entered Fleet Academy, she had acted on the sure knowledge that hesitation could mean death. The humanitarian principles on which Fleet based all its decisions had at first been a shock to her. But she had listened and she had learned.....596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPkGAwuaCY
Something about Fleet's basic tenets spoke to her. Not to the person she pretended to be, or the performance she put on for the people around her, or even the person she wanted to be---it spoke to who she really was. Her secret self. The self that she had shared with one on in her life.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZdCiHZYUrY
Fleet's policies were based on the single assertion that Life is sacred. 596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJmahHVPgc
Everywhere. 596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQAFV2faXWu
Samantha had not trusted this assertion. Not at first. Her initial reaction had been skepticism and derision. The Fleet Ethics and Moral Philosophy courses were full of those discussions. But after a while, Samantha began to realize that what they were really talking about was the same thing that she had secretly dreamed of for years.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmStcCsbYM
Life as it is live isn't the necessarily the way life has to be. We can do better. We are each and every one of us, always capable of going beyond what we think are our limits. That is our history. We will do better.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSesWptYbMn
Samantha realized---like the dawning of a great light---that Fleet truly wanted the same things she did. Children did not have to die of starvation. People did not have to live in poverty. Illiteracy was not inevitable. The conditions under which she had grown up were a terrible aberration, and not a norm.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlu7TI8UVtZ
This was the life she had dreamed of---she could start living it today. And she had accepted that in a simple declaration: "If it is be, let it start with me."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7JIhdS90t3
And from that moment, she was never the same woman again.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJzkFnsDUN
But even so, there were moments---like this one---when she still responded with her old instincts. "I...spoke before I thought, ma'am. We should look for some way to distract them from going after the saucer section."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzsw9ZP05sq
"Now that's more like it, Lieutenant," Weir said, nodding approval.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI0QW9FXYhy
"Full stop, ma'am," Jay One reported. "Holding position."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGseCfQPb9t
Weir looked over at Emmagan, who was manning the communications board. 596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsARWEbczQu
"Emmagan, signal the following in all languages and all frequencies. 'We surrender.' State that we are not asking for any terms or conditions."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKCQFRfZY3
A ripple of consternation flowed around the battle bridge as the crew exchanged puzzled looks. Surrender? This from Elizabeth Weir? Only Emmagan felt the calm, the confidence, the sense of rightness that the captain put forth. It was not a sense of failure or capitulation. Weir clearly had the conviction that was the only right thing to do.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhG4kELw8Fx
"Aye, ma'am," Emmagan said firmly. "All language forms and frequencies." She opened the communications channels and tied in the universal translator. "Atlantis to Eye. We surrender. Repeat: we surrender. Our surrender is not conditional. We do not ask for terms."596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzBTJCcqxWE
As Emmagan repeated the broadcast, all eyes turned to the viewscreen where the alien hostile was seen to be rapidly bearing down on them. As it neared them, the gleaming shape began to open up, partially revealing the grid. It curved and expanded, reaching out to enclose the Atlantis. As it encompassed them, a cacophony of sound tore through the ship, the scream of metal being stressed beyond its limits. The whole battle section was shaken violently, forcing the crew to grab for anything solid that they could hold on to. The raging, howling sound rose to a peak, and the violence of the shaking increased. A fierce, blinding flash of light bathed the battle bridge.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0fRDOk4vB
Then----silence.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJf9nh6wFGv
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