How the hell did that happen? he wondered, then remembered that the ship that had approached the fleet and apparently been responsible for dragging them tens of thousands of light-years away from it hadn’t even been detected on long-range sensors. No one had a clue it existed until it was almost on top of them.
Velth’s next step was to check his belt for his phaser, and to visually confirm that the physical tether connecting him to the airlock was still in place. Often during routine spacewalks, this extra precaution was not utilized. In Galen’s current predicament, Kim had insisted and assigned one of the bridge officers, Ensign Selah, to monitor Velth’s physical connection to the ship during the entirety of his extravehicular activities. Taking the tether gently in one hand to make sure it didn’t get tangled and clutching his phaser in the other, he continued back toward the airlock. A quick glance over his right shoulder confirmed that his new friends were still coming.
“Velth, it’s Harry again.”
“Nice to hear your voice, sir.”
“Change of plans,” were the next entirely unacceptable words that Velth heard. His gut flipped as he wondered how much he was going to hate whatever Kim said next.
“If you’re even considering asking me to stay put and attempt first contact, Lieutenant…” Velth began.
“Stop walking, now,” Kim said urgently.
Velth did as he was told. Seconds later, the reason became clear. He could now see that the five distinct figures moving toward him had adjusted their position to compensate for his movement. Kim had to be tracking their speed. If he had calculated that they would reach Velth’s position before he could make it safely back to the airlock, they had to be moving awfully fast.
“Tell me you have a better plan than me just opening fire right now and taking my chances,” Velth said.
“Take hold of the tether with both hands and prepare to release your mag locks. We’re going to reel you in. We need you to give a little push as soon as you’re free. We’re going to release some extra tether line to make sure you clear the edge of the hull. As soon as your alignment is right, it will only take a few seconds to bring you in.”
Okay, it was a plan. Just not a great one.
“Wait for my order to release, understood?”
“Copy that,” Velth replied. Of course, the first part of the plan required pocketing his phaser—another action his primitive brain cautioned against. Still, Kim’s firm command and years of training won the day. The bigger issue was really the rest of the plan.
“Sir, are you sure that the tether will hold?” Velth asked, not certain he really wanted to hear the answer. It was meant to serve as a backup in the event he unexpectedly lost contact with the hull. But the return procedure was usually executed incredibly slowly. He anticipated that part of Kim’s plan was to push the safety limits of the rig in order to make sure he got to the airlock before the aliens reached him.
“We believe it will,” Kim replied. “You set?”
Velth no longer had to turn his head to see the aliens. They were coming at him now, directly ahead. “Do it,” he said.
“On my mark. Three… two… one…”
“Mark,” Velth said simultaneously with Kim as he released his boots from the safe haven of the hull and pushed off.
It took a moment for his body to register the sensation of floating free and less than that for his stomach to begin to protest. He continued to move steadily away from the ship, heading straight toward the aliens.
Lieutenant Kim had shifted the visual feed of Velth’s progress to the main viewscreen. He was moving away from the hull on a more or less straight trajectory while Ensign Selah fed more tether line to him. When he had enough distance, she would halt the feed. The tension would then reverse his momentum, bringing him into alignment with the airlock. Only then would Selah reel him in.
According to his scanners, there were five distinct alien contacts closing on Velth’s position. They had first been detected a little over a thousand kilometers out and even with their course adjustment had closed almost two hundred kilometers in the three minutes since sensors had first detected them.
“We should have given him a propulsion pack,” Conlon offered nervously.
She wasn’t wrong. But it was too little too late now.
“He’s going to make it,” Kim insisted.
“Their speed is increasing,” Conlon noted.
“How?” Kim asked. “Scans indicate no apparent means of propulsion.”
“Didn’t the Children of the Storm navigate their vessels by thought?” Conlon asked.
Kim wasn’t sure. They might have. After reading O’Donnell’s reports of Demeter’s encounter with those beings, Kim’s honest appraisal had simply been gratitude that Voyager had been spared most of that first contact.
“Doesn’t matter. He’s almost at the clearance point. He’ll be back on the ship in two minutes.” Hoping to confirm this estimate, Kim called to Selah, with whom he had maintained an open comm line throughout Velth’s EV mission. “Selah, how’s it going?”
“Twenty more seconds should do it,” she replied. “He’s almost reached the optimum distance and angle to initiate retrieval.”
“Velth, you still okay, buddy?” Kim asked.
His breath was coming too quickly now, likely a combination of anxiety and exertion. “Oh, you know… just looking forward to feeling something solid beneath my feet again.”
“Try to relax,” Kim requested, knowing how hard that would be. “Your heart rate is climbing pretty fast.”
“Is that an order, sir? Because with all due respect…”
“We’re about to halt the tether feed. You’re going to feel a jolt. It’s not a problem. In five, four, three, two…”
A grunt followed by several quick breaths came in response.
“Okay, it’s okay,” Velth said, clearly panicking a bit at the abrupt directional shift. “I’ve still got the tether.”
“We’ve got you, Velth,” Kim said. “Nothing to worry about.”
“Harry?” Nancy said urgently.
Kim checked the aliens’ approach and immediately understood her
