In response to Kirk’s barely contained rage, Picard felt himself go cold. “And I’m prepared to accept them.”
Kirk and Picard locked eyes, viewscreen to viewscreen.
“Fifty seconds,” Kirk said.
“You won’t escape the other ships,” Picard warned.
“Then at least I’ll die free.”
The immovable object. The irresistible force.
Two beasts locked in eternal combat, each prepared to accept death before defeat.
“Forty seconds…”
Kirk could barely breathe. It took all his strength simply to sit upright. But he would not relax his posture. He would not let Picard see any sign of weakness.
At his engineering console, Scott had almost lost his voice. The holographic doctor had administered tri-ox and mitochondrial enhancers to everyone, but four gravities took a constant toll.
“Warp core comin’ online, Captain,” he croaked. “No sign of any interference….”
Kirk was aware of Spock at his side, adjusting a communications control. “Jim, are you certain this is necessary?”
Kirk had to struggle to enunciate clearly enough to be understood. “You’ve been away, Spock. I believe the Vulcan authorities have been compromised by the Totality. And if it can happen there, it can happen on Earth, and on the Enterprise.”
Spock didn’t argue the point, though Kirk couldn’t be certain if that was because he accepted the argument, or because exhaustion was also claiming him.
Then, without warning, the image of Picard on the center viewscreen dissolved into subspace static.
“Scotty…?” Kirk began to ask. Had the Totality devised a new method of entering normal space-time?
But before his engineer could answer, the cause of the static was revealed as a new and unexpected image appeared.
“Captain, I have broken in on both transmissions,” Tuvok said. “You are now on the viewscreens of the Belle Reve and the Enterprise.”
This time, Riker didn’t even try to hide what he was feeling, and it left no room for any of the respect that he should be showing two more senior captains.
“You two will stand down right now or I swear I’ll open fire on both of you!”
Kirk appeared on the left side of the main viewscreen. It was as if he had not even heard Riker’s threat. “This isn’t your fight, Captain,” he rasped. “Thirty seconds, Jean-Luc.”
“Why is this a fight at all?!” Riker demanded.
Picard was on the right side of the screen, jaw clenched, eyes piercing. “Will, I’m counting on you to stop Kirk as soon as he drops out of warp.”
“No!” Riker shouted. “The universe does not revolve around you two alone! We’re all of us on a Starfleet mission and there is another way to resolve this!”
Riker took some comfort in seeing Kirk and Picard finally react to what he said, both momentarily losing their stern demeanor.
“Twenty-five seconds,” Kirk said. “Convince me.”
“I’ll increase gravity on the Titan! It’ll be the neutral ground. And when you’re both convinced that this ship hasn’t been compromised, I’ll beam everyone over for identity confirmation and a sensible discussion about how to proceed.” Riker turned to Tuvok. “Mister Tuvok, is Kirk’s warp core still online?”
“It is.”
Riker glared at the two captains on the viewscreen as he gave his orders to Tuvok. “Very well. Target the Belle Reve and the Enterprise. All banks, full barrage.”
Then Riker made his ultimatum as clear as he could. “Captain Kirk, Captain Picard, you’ve heard my offer. But if you two are so determined to tear apart your ships, allow me to lend a hand.”
“Phasers locked,” Tuvok confirmed.
“Captain Kirk,” Riker said, “it’s your move.”
25
THE OORT CLOUD, SECTOR 001
STARDATE 58567.9
Picard regarded Troi with concern. Even he could infer from her expression that the counselor was troubled.
“I’ve never sensed Will so angry,” she said quietly.
Picard’s guilt deepened. How many times had he told Riker to always look for another way out, a way to defuse a situation rather than stubbornly insisting on proving a point?
And here was the student instructing the teacher.
“All right,” Kirk said from his side of the Enterprise’s viewscreen. “I’ll agree to stay put. And you’ll agree to let me run a complete sensor sweep of the Titan to monitor the gravity readings.”
From his side of the viewscreen, Riker gave a tight smile. “Acceptable. Captain Picard?”
“I should have thought of that myself, Will.”
“We both should have,” Kirk said.
Picard nodded. He understood, as he was sure Kirk did, that that was as close to an apology as either of them would ever make, or need to make.
Riker quickly gave his orders. All crew on the Titan were to police loose objects and brace for increased gravity. The precautions were little different from the turbulence drills that were a regular part of starship life.
Within two minutes, all decks reported they were secure.
“Tuvok,” Riker said, “increase gravity throughout the ship by four hundred percent.” He looked at the viewscreen where Kirk and Picard waited. “Captain Kirk, start your sweep.”
Already feeling the first tug of increased mass, Riker took his chair, bracing himself as artificial gravity plates below his bridge stepped up their cascade of Casimir particles to manipulate inertia.
“Two gravities,” Tuvok announced calmly.
Riker heard faint creaking from the deck and a few of the bridge consoles as they responded to the building gravitational load. He felt the subtle change in the almost subliminal vibration of the ship’s structural-integrity field as it sent bracing energy through the superstructure.
“Three gravities,” Tuvok announced, and alone of all others on the bridge, he was the only one still on his feet, the only one who didn’t sound affected by having his apparent mass triple. “Three point five…”
At the conn station, Ensign Lavena suddenly called for a replacement and slumped from her chair to the deck, lying awkwardly against her hydration suit’s stiff dorsal spines where they protected her twin gill crests. “Apologies, Captain,” she said haltingly. “Suit’s pressure adjustment… not functioning…”
Commander Vale stomped heavily to the conn as if she bore two hundred kilos on her shoulders and slammed down into Lavena’s empty chair. With a grunt of effort, she swung her hands to the controls, standing by.
Lavena lay on the deck to the side of her chair, the liquid gurgle of her gills audible, labored, even through her suit. From his vantage point, Riker could see that the water in the suit had pooled around her. The suit’s distended shape gave the appearance that she was melting into the deck.
Riker concentrated on moving his head to the side, intent on locating any crew who might be near a critical equipment locker. Lavena needed extra water injected into her suit at once.
A blank-faced ensign sat on the deck staring at nothing, his legs straight out before him, his back to a wall
