The Aftermath

“No,” Victor agreed. “They’re heading here.”

“Your son has a good lead on them.”

But Victor was thinking, Seven of them. And we’ve only got this one pistol. The hand welder’s useless in this kind of fight: its range is too short.

“Once Theo comes aboard,” he said to Dorn, “we’ve got to power up and get away from them.”

“You’d better go to the bridge, then,” Dorn replied.

“Not until Theo gets here.”

“That may be too late.”

* * *

“Wow,” said Angela, glancing around at the spacious, well-appointed bridge of Pleiades. “Talk about luxury.”

Pauline said, “Your father lived here alone for all those months.”

“How could he control such a large ship by himself?” Angela wondered aloud.

Elverda said, “Dorn reconfigured Hunter’s controls so that one person could handle it. Your father must have done the same here.”

With a small smile of appreciation, Pauline started to say, “I didn’t think Victor knew how—”

“Pauline!” her husband’s voice blared over the intercom. “We’ve got to power up the main drive and get away from here.”

She looked at Elverda. “Do you know how?”

The sculptress shook her head. “I could do it on Hunter, but these controls are strange to me.”

“Pauline, did you hear me?” Victor’s voice sounded strained with tension.

“Victor, I don’t know how to do it!” Pauline said.

Angela plunked herself down on the command chair. “Talk me through it, Dad,” she called out. “I’ll do it.”

* * *

“Talk you through it?” Victor shouted.

“I’m in the command chair,” Angela’s voice replied, bright and eager. “There’s an electronic keyboard in front of me.”

Theo was almost within arm’s reach; the scavengers close behind him and coming up fast. Victor closed his eyes momentarily, trying to visualize the command keyboard.

“Extreme right end,” he said. “The key’s labeled ‘propulsion.’ ”

“I see it,” Angela said. “Oh, good! The whole keyboard’s changed to the propulsion program.”

Dorn reached out with his prosthetic arm and helped Theo to remain standing as he glided into the airlock.

“Made it!” Theo said, exultant.

“But not soon enough,” said Dorn, pointing to the scavengers, barely a hundred meters away.

CARGO SHIP PLEIADES: MAIN AIRLOCK

Standing at the open airlock hatch, Victor watched the seven space-suited figures approaching Pleiades. They’re going to get here before we can get the fusion drive going, he realized, then added, If Angie can figure out how to do it.

Turning to Theo, he commanded, “Get up to the bridge and power up the fusion drive! Now! ”

Without even lifting the visor of his helmet Theo banged the wall control that opened the airlock’s inner hatch. Alarms hooted and emergency hatches farther up the passageway slammed shut as Theo dashed out, heading for the bridge.

Victor looked down at the pistol in his hand. The indicator along its barrel showed it was fully charged.

“Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes,” said Dorn.

“Don’t try to stop me,” Victor warned.

“You can prevent them from boarding this ship without killing them.”

“Can I now?” Victor’s voice echoed the scorn he felt.

“Warn them. Remind them of how vulnerable they are.”

“Men don’t always behave logically, especially when their lives are at risk.”

“Warn them,” Dorn insisted.

Victor stared at the cyborg for a long, silent moment. At last he said, “Words won’t stop them.”

Dorn reached out his prosthetic hand. “Let me have the pistol, then.”

“No!”

Patiently, Dorn explained, “I’m a good enough shot to hit that big laser welder they’re carrying. Perhaps a warning from you and a disabling shot from me will discourage them. In any event, you don’t want them to use the laser to ruin the fusion drive’s thruster, as they did to Hunter.”

Victor thought it over for half a second. Maybe all he wants is to get the gun away from me. He could probably crush it in his metal hand. Then we’d be totally defenseless.

“I don’t want them here any more than you do,” Dorn said, his metal hand still extended. “But we at least should warn them that we’ll defend ourselves if they don’t leave us.”

He could take the gun from me, Victor was thinking. And probably break every bone in my hand while he’s doing it.

“Killing should be our last resort,” Dorn said.

Reluctantly, Victor handed him the pistol. Then he clicked on the radio frequency that the scavengers were using.

“Don’t come any closer,” he said sternly. “We’re armed and we’ll defend ourselves.”

The seven approaching figures did not waver. They were close enough now to see the weapons they were brandishing.

Valker answered, “We’re armed too. And we outnumber you.”

Dorn raised his prosthetic arm and, holding the pistol in his human hand, cradled it in the metal one.

“You’re hanging out there like targets in a shooting gallery,” Victor said. “One puncture of your suit and you’re a dead man.”

The scavengers kept coming.

Using both hands, Dorn raised the pistol to eye level. He pressed its infrared finder with his thumb, walked the red spot in the IR scope center to the flank of the welder that Valker carried cradled in his arms. He squeezed the trigger.

The welder flared as the laser pulse punched a hole of molten metal into its side. Valker twitched and yelped and let go of the bulky tool. It floated weightlessly for a moment, then jerked as the cord connecting it to its power pack pulled it short. The smaller man carrying the power pack let go of it, and the two pieces floated away from him.

Victor heard the scavengers cursing and muttering.

“Go back to your ship,” Victor told them. “Leave us alone.”

* * *

Valker hung in emptiness, watching the laser welder and its power pack tumble slowly away. Kirk was