Death of a Neutron Star

by Eric Kotani

  “A secondary concern,” Seven said. Torres frowned. Janeway winced. If only Seven’s tact were equal to her scientific acumen. “We must first gather and hold the energy before such a concern need be focused on.”

  B’Elanna actually snorted, but said nothing.

  Seven turned to Janeway. “I trust you will want us to get started right away?”

  “Yes,” Janeway said. “I want us to be ready to start charging it up as soon after our arrival at the binary as possible. Our outside deadline, as I can figure, is that the device needs to become operational by the last day in the life of the binary. Theoretically, most of the gravitational energy will be radiated away during the last few hours, but we need the time to test the efficacy of the containment in advance. We ought to allow at least a few hours for that.”

  “Days, maybe weeks would be better,” Torres said.

  “I doubt we have that much time,” Janeway said.

  Both B’Elanna and Seven stood silently, clearly thinking about what she was asking of them. Finally B’Elanna sighed. “I suppose it’s worth a try.”

  “At least,” Seven said.

  “I want this project kept secret from our Lekk visitors.”

  “Understood, Captain,” Torres said.

  Seven just frowned, as if telling anyone was the farthest thing from her mind.

  “Keep me posted,” Janeway said. She sat down behind her desk, glancing at the screen in front of her as her two officers left. She didn’t dare let her hopes rise. That had happened too many times before. This idea was just another idea, nothing more.

  * * *

  “Report,” Janeway said as she walked onto the bridge and headed for her command chair.

  Chakotay stood and moved over. “Lieutenant Tyla is still in her quarters. She has made no real attempt to move around the ship, at least so far.”

  Janeway nodded. “Don’t detain her if she tries. Just follow her. Also, let’s find her something to do. Maybe help in the repairs of the yacht. Under strict supervision.”

  Chakotay smiled. “Understood.” He turned to his comm link while she glanced around at Ensign Kim.

  “How close are we, Ensign?”

  “Two hours yet, Captain,” Kim said.

  She nodded. “Keep all sensors at full range. I want to know if there are any Qavok Empire ships anywhere near that binary.”

  “Understood,” Kim said.

  She stepped down beside her pilot. “Tom, when we get close I want to stop one million kilometers from the binary. No closer, at least not at first. We’ll ease in later, if we can.”

  “Not a problem,” he said.

  She patted him on the shoulder and then dropped down into her chair, staring at the main screen, thinking about what was coming. Soon they would bear witness to one of the rarest natural shows in all the universe. And with luck, during the show they might even harvest some of the energy to help them get home.

  If they could build the device to hold the energy.

  If the Qavoks let them.

  If the explosion itself didn’t destroy them in the process.

  Too damn many ifs.

  Beside her was the empty spot where her coffee cup usually sat. She looked at it for a moment, then decided there was no point in waiting. It was time for another cup. She shoved herself out of her chair and headed for the door. “You have the bridge, Commander.”

  He smiled at her and nodded. He knew exactly where she was going. And she didn’t care.

  “Captain,” Ensign Kim said, just as she reached the door.

  She stopped and turned around. Her second-in-command was now no longer smiling, but instead staring at Kim’s board.

  “Lieutenant Tyla has escaped,” Chakotay said. “Security reports that she has assaulted both of her guards.”

  “Are they okay?”

  Chakotay nodded. “They’re being treated by the Doctor.”

  “Use the ship’s sensors to find her and beam her out of wherever she is hiding,” Janeway said. “I’d suggest searching the shuttlebay area first.”

  Chakotay nodded and glanced down.

  “Got her, Captain,” Ensign Kim said.

  “Good,” Janeway said. “Just hold her in the transport buffer until I can get there.”

  Janeway strode to the turbolift. It looked like that cup of coffee was going to have to wait.

  CHAPTER 5

  TYLA’S PLAN HAD BEEN SIMPLE TO START WITH. GET away from the guards who were watching her room, then find one of these human’s shuttles and take it home to warn her people. If she could fly a Qavok prince’s yacht, she could fly a human shuttlecraft, she was sure. Even though the humans had beaten the Qavok easily, they didn’t seem that much more advanced. And they were clearly not as military.

  She eased closer to the door and listened, trying to make sure no one was in the hallway. She knew she was being guarded, even though she was sure Captain Janeway didn’t want her to know. So her plan started as she simply went out for a short walk down the corridor.

  She picked up a small statue of a creature she had never seen before. It was solid and had a hefty weight in her hand. It would do fine. She tucked it under her arm and stepped into the hallway.

  As she had hoped, it was deserted, except for one of her guards, who was posing as an engineer working on a panel. She turned toward him, acting as if she knew exactly where she was going. And she did: off this ship.

  She smiled and nodded to the guard.

  The fool smiled back, then turned, pretending to get back to work. A half step beyond him she turned and knocked him out with the statue.

  He went down with a soft thump.

  She hoped she hadn’t hit him too hard. There was no point in killing anyone. She quickly checked. He was still breathing, but she bet he’d have a hell of a headache in the morning.

  She stepped back and around a corner as the other guard came down the hallway. He saw his companion and did what anyone would do, and what Tyla wanted him to do: he bent over to check the condition of his friend.

  Tyla knocked him out, also, not as hard as the first one. The second guard went down with a grunt.

  He’d have a headache too, she was sure.

  Since she had planned her route before leaving her cabin, in less than a minute she was inside the shuttlebay. The human shuttle seemed small, and plain compared with the prince’s yacht. It was square, with no real beauty to it. The door was open and she crawled inside, taking her time to study the instruments. She was sure she had a few minutes before the guards would be found, and then even longer before they thought to look here. She had time to make sure she didn’t kill herself in this escape process.

  Or at least she thought she did.

  Suddenly the ship seemed to shimmer around her, and then it somehow vanished, as if it had been nothing more than a dream.

  Then, without seeming reason, she found herself standing, facing a very angry Captain Janeway.

  Beside her, guns drawn, were the two guards she had knocked out just a minute before, both not looking happy.

  This wasn’t possible. None of it was. How had she gotten here? She had been sitting a moment ago, now she was standing. How had the guards recovered so quickly?

  None of this was possible. Yet to the captain, it all seemed normal.

  “I’m waiting for an explanation,” Janeway said.

  Tyla glanced around, then stepped down toward the captain and the two guards. Forcing herself not to think about how the captain had pulled off such a trick, she faced the human woman. “Captain, I need to warn my people.”

  “Why?” Janeway asked, the sound of her voice clear with anger. “Can they alter the path of a runaway neutron star, as you claim the Qavok can?”

  “No, no,” Tyla said. “But they can die trying to stop the Qavok. My people’s leaders are hostages. We are at war.” Why didn’t this human see her point? It was so clear, so obvious.

  “So you hit my people, attempt to steal from my ship, ev
en though we helped you? And now we are in the process of rushing toward the neutron-star binary to stop the Qavok.”

  Tyla couldn’t stand to look Captain Janeway in the eye. The truth of her words hurt, but she had done what she had needed to do. “Captain, I will do what I think is right to help my people.”

  Captain Janeway snorted. “You have a great deal to learn about helping anyone but yourself. Let alone what is right.”

  “But—”

  Janeway waved her comment away. “Take her back to her room and make sure she stays there this time. Understand?”

  “Yes, Captain,” one guard said.

  Janeway turned away, moving toward the door.

  “Captain,” Tyla said, forcing the shaking out of her voice to make it sound even more confident than she actually felt. “What would you have done in my place? You impound my ship, imprison me. What would you have done?”

  Janeway stopped and turned. “I would have spent a little more time understanding who was a friend, and who wasn’t, before I took chances of making new enemies.”

  Tyla stood straight, shoulders back, and stared at Janeway. “You claim to be a friend of my people, yet I’m not free to go. Why?”

  “At the moment, it’s because you assaulted the two men standing beside you for no reason at all. They were not detaining you.” Janeway stepped back toward Tyla. “Before that, it was because your ship was damaged and was not spaceworthy, and I didn’t have the time to have my people fix it, considering that we might be going into a situation with the Qavok to save your entire home system.”

  “You make me sound ungrateful, Captain,” Tyla said. Her words rang hollow in the small room. And instantly she wished she could take them back. For the first time she understood that she had been ungrateful. But the words were out there, and Captain Janeway was staring at her.

  Finally, Janeway shook her head, spun on her heel, and left.

  Tyla stood, staring, feeling the shock of being a fool. Finally the guard beside her nudged her gently with the point of his gun. “Let’s go.”

  She glanced up at him, straight into his brown eyes.

  “I’m sorry for hitting you,” she said. She turned to look at the other guard. “And you, too.”

  The second guard nodded. “Apology accepted. Now, please move forward, through the door and to the left.”

  She did as she was told, eyes down, thinking about what had been said. And knowing that she would try the same thing again if given the chance.

  * * *

  Janeway needed a moment to cool down. From experience, she knew that helping someone who was not grateful angered her more than it should. She made the choice to help others not for the reward, or for the thanks, but simply because it was the right thing to do.

  But having someone like Tyla around didn’t help her resolve, that was for sure.

  She stopped just outside the engineering lab and took a long gulp of the warm coffee. It soothed her nerves a little, focused her on the important aspects of what was ahead: observing a dying neutron star binary, possibly getting energy for a faster trip home, and stopping a Qavok attempt to destroy another race. Tyla’s concerns were not on that list at all.

  She stepped toward the lab door and it opened. Inside, Torres and Seven were hard at work, side by side, both bent over the same panel. In front of them a part was being replicated, just shimmering into place.

  B’Elanna heard the door open and turned. “Almost finished, Captain.”

  “There is little chance this will function,” Seven said, also straightening and turning to face Janeway.

  “Why do you say that?” Janeway replied, moving to the panel and studying the work they had done on the energy-containment device. At first glance, it looked fine. Exactly what she had wanted.

  “The energy will set up a standing wave pattern inside the container,” Seven said. “It will rupture within three days’ time.”

  Janeway glanced at Seven, then at the parameters for the container on the board.

  “Not necessarily,” Torres said wearily. Clearly the two of them had been arguing this point for the last hour. “Standing waves will form, but they can be broken regularly.”

  “Change the shape of the container,” Janeway said, punching up her idea on the panel. After a moment she let the computer form a three-dimensional image of the new container, filled with energy. Then she set the image in motion. After a moment she nodded. “See? Let the waves break themselves apart.”

  Both Torres and Seven studied what she had done.

  “It will take extra time,” Seven said.

  “It might work,” Torres shot back, still studying the data.

  “How long?” Janeway asked.

  “Ten hours,” Seven said.

  “Do it,” Janeway said. “I think we have the time. And keep me informed as to your progress.”

  “Understood,” Seven said.

  B’Elanna only nodded, clearly lost in the data on the panel.

  Janeway started back toward the door, then stopped and turned. “Where is Dr. Maalot?”

  “Engineering,” Torres replied. “Since we needed this space for this project, I assigned him to help calibrate sensors.”

  “Any problems from him?”

  B’Elanna looked puzzled. “None. He’s like a kid with a new toy.”

  “He is overzealous,” Seven said. “That is a dangerous trait.”

  Janeway smiled. “Noted.”

  She waited until she was out in the corridor before downing the last of her coffee. Even cold, it tasted wonderful.

  CHAPTER 6

  “PUT US IN A CIRCULAR ORBIT, MR. PARIS,” JANEWAY said, dropping down into her command chair and staring at the sight ahead. “Keep a distance of one million kilometers.”

  “Yes, Captain.” Paris’s hands moved quickly over his console.

  The neutron-star pair was a dizzying blur of two bright dots swirling around each other. Janeway had never seen anything move at such a speed, in such a tight orbit. The force at work in front of them was beyond comprehension. And Voyager was going to snuggle in real close to it all. Craziest thing they had done in a long, long time.

  “All recording instruments on?”

  “All working smoothly,” Chakotay said.

  Janeway nodded and sat back, staring at the incredible sight of two orbiting neutron stars. “Good. I don’t want to miss a second of this.”

  “Captain,” Ensign Kim said. “Dr. Maalot would like to talk to you.”

  Janeway tapped her combadge. “Yes, Doctor Maalot?”

  “From my observations, the two stars are nearing the critical point. In about a day, I would say. We have arrived just in the nick of time.”

  “Perfect,” Janeway said. “Everything ready and working there?”

  “We are ready,” Dr. Maalot said. He was beyond even trying to hide the excitement in his voice.

  Janeway smiled. “Good. Keep on top of it.”

  She tapped her combadge again. “Seven, how are the preparations going?”

  “Six hours and we will test the container.”

  “Understood,” Janeway said, and smiled at Chakotay. Dr. Maalot’s excitement was infectious, and she had to admit, this was exciting to her, also. She and the rest of the crew were going to be the first humans to witness an event like this. And witness it right up close and personal. She just hoped they got home with the data.

  “Captain,” Ensign Kim said. “There are two other ships holding positions close to the binary. They’ve just come into view.”

  “Where and who?” Janeway asked.

  “Identity unknown,” Kim said. “Both their orbits are circular with a virtually identical radius of about one hundred fifty thousand kilometers from the neutron stars.”

  “One hundred and fifty,” Janeway said, almost whistling. “That’s in there close. What about their orbital inclinations, Mr. Kim?”

  “Effectively the same inclination as the double star’s own orbital pl
ane.”

  Janeway did a few quick calculations on her control panel, working to see if the two ship’s orbits were safe or suicidal. After a minute she was sure they had picked the lowest safe orbit. But when the big event started, they were going to have to get out of there fast, or never leave.

  “Mr. Paris,” Janeway said. “Take us in. Circular orbit at a distance of one hundred fifty thousand kilometers from the binary. Match the inclination to those of the other two ships. I want to be within transporter range of the other two ships.”

  “Yes, Captain,” Paris said, but he didn’t sound happy about the order. He took a slow, deep breath and focused on his controls.

  Janeway watched Paris for a moment, then glanced around at Tuvok. “Shields up. I don’t want anything to take us by surprise here.”

  Tuvok nodded. “Screens up, Captain.”

  Paris was almost sweating as he focused on the controls in front of him. Taking a ship in that close to orbiting binary neutron stars made for tricky piloting, at best. Deadly, if done wrong.

  “Ensign,” she said. “Tell those other two ships we’re coming in and that we’re friendly.”

  “Understood,” Kim said. “Hailing.”

  “Beautiful, isn’t it,” she said to Chakotay as the neutron stars grew in size, spinning around each other like two dogs chasing their tails.

  “Amazing,” Chakotay said. “Like ancient dancing gods, moving across the ballroom of the sky.”

  “You always did have a way with words,” she said, smiling at him.

  He only shrugged, never taking his gaze from the sight on the main screen.

  Janeway tried not to hold her breath as she watched Paris take them slowly in, matching the speed and distance of the other two ships in a mad orbit around the two neutron stars. One slip and Voyager would be ripped apart by the intense tidal forces at work below them.

  The process took less than a minute, but it seemed to go on forever.

  “We’re there,” Paris finally said, after what seemed to be one of the longest silences Janeway could remember on the bridge.

  Tom let out a deep breath and smiled at Janeway. Little beads of sweat covered his forehead and neck.