Bloodthirst (39 page)

George stared rudely at her, quite aware of the rude part, and once his memory adjusted for the sickish bridge lighting and the green smock she wore instead of the unmarked lab jacket she'd been wearing before, he recognized her. “We've met,” he snapped.

Sarah bobbed her eyebrows and requested, “Don't look at me like that. He did the same thing to get me here.”

George snapped back at the captain, “You did that to her? And why pull Drake into this?”

The captain shrugged and strode a few steps to the upper bridge for a long look at Drake. “While it would be easier if you'd just drag around a teddy bear or suck on a blanket, I knew you'd want him along.” The hands went back into the pockets, and the captain suddenly looked as though he was hovering in front of a blackboard, waiting to see if his students comprehended a new hypothesis. He was so innocuous and self-assured that he was almost impossible to dislike. With that tolerant grin, he nodded. “Well, then. This is a good time for explanations. Gather round, children.” He moved to the computer bank and tapped the access. “Computer on,” he said.

“
Working.
”

“This is Captain Robert April. Request security access, Starfleet Command authorization, graphic tape one.”

The console buzzed to life, and its raspy fake voice responded,
"Authorization accepted. File on screen.”

Above them appeared a series of diagrams and photographs of a familiar colonial transport ship, one of the Seidman Class long-distance movers. Old, but time-proven. It meant nothing at all to anyone except, of course, Captain April. He nodded at the diagrams. “This is the United Federation Colonizer S.S.
Rosenberg
. She was off into space to colonize a newly discovered planet in the space just recently charted by the Federation. Five days ago we received a distress call from the
Rosenberg
. They don't, of course, have an advanced sensor system and weren't able to realize the severity of an ionic storm cluster they encountered until after they were already too deep inside it to stop the damage and reverse course. They're adrift. No engine power, and heavy radiation leakage in their storage compartments and engineering areas. Most of their foodstuffs has been contaminated. Actually, even if they did have the food, there's radiation leakage into the inhabited parts of the ship. It's only a matter of time, and not much time at that. To make the long story tolerable,” April said with a sad sigh, “they're going to die out there.”

George was the first to break the heavy silence. “How many?”

April half turned. “Fourteen families. Fifty-one people. Twenty-seven are under fifteen years old. Young families with babies, and without experience. And without food.”

“God” Sarah breathed, then caught the breath with the knuckle of her thumb and kept herself from uttering her anguish.

“Of course, a shuttleplane was dispatched straight off,” April went on, “but no conventional ship can risk going through the ionic storms until they've dissipated, and that could take years. The rescue ship is going around the storms, but even at warp three that'll take four months. The
Rosenberg
only has about three weeks' worth of supplies on hand, and, of course, I mentioned the radiation leaks,” He gazed at the graphic screen. It cast its pattern of lights on his face. “Fifty-one people who think they're going to die in space, hopelessly out of range. And the really tragic part is that we can communicate with them quite nicely, with communications at warp twenty. All of the Federation is listening to them die out there. Journalists are having a field day, you can well imagine.”

His gaze dropped as he stepped off the upper deck, past the three pained faces of his chosen crew, only to find himself yanked around to stare up at George Kirk. Unmistakable in the Vikinglike hazel eyes was the image of two little boys in a cornfield on a planet suddenly too far away for peaceful memory.

“You've got something planned,” George snapped. “What is it? We'll try it.”

April's light blue eyes filled with affection, and he grinned at the fierceness he knew he would need at his side. He opened his mouth to answer, only to be interrupted by the beeping of the ship's auto-nav. He turned as though responding to a dog barking outside his door. “Ah! We've arrived. Drake, do you know how to take the ship out of warp?”

Drake blinked out of his trance and recovered his usual false humility. “I shall die trying, sir.” With that, he moved to the helm and pecked at the controls.

April moved toward the bridge viewing portal and watched in wonder as the ship smoothly fell out of warp drive and approached what appeared to be a spacedock behind a little cluster of asteroids. He breathed deeply, as though he could nearly smell the fresh air of reassurance.

George left the upper deck, his eyes never leaving his former commander, all the details of their mutual past flashing through his mind. He came to April's side and saw unshielded resolve in the captain's expression. It was infectious. And confusing. He shouldered his way into April's periphery and quietly prodded, “What is it, Robert? What are you planning?”

“Think of it, George,” April murmured. “An impossible rescue. A way to turn a four-month journey into a three-week epic triumph in the name of life. Think of it.”

Now George moved around to face him, and to force April to look at him. In the upper edge of the viewscreen, unnoticed, the spacedock moved closer.

“Why all the cloak and dagger?” George pressed. “Why didn't you just ask me?”

“Couldn't take the chance, old boy.”

“Why?”

April stepped closer to the helm, placed his hands on the console, and looked out, upward, at the looming spacedock. He nodded out, up. “That's why.”

Soft lights from the spacedock played in his eyes.

George stepped closer, leaned over the console, and looked out. The lights bathed his ruddy cheeks and drew him on, into astonishment.

“My God” he whispered. “What is
that?
”

“That,” April breathed, “is a starship.”

Star Trek®: The Original Series

Enterprise: The First Adventure
· Vonda N. McIntyre

Final Frontier
· Diane Carey

Strangers From the Sky
· Margaret Wander Bonanno

Spock's World
· Diane Duane

The Lost Years
· J.M. Dillard

Probe
· Margaret Wander Bonanno

Prime Directive
· Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Best Destiny
· Diane Carey

Shadows on the Sun
· Michael Jan Friedman

Sarek
· A.C. Crispin

Federation
· Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Vulcan's Forge
· Josepha Sherman & Susan Shwartz

Mission to Horatius
· Mack Reynolds

Vulcan's Heart
· Josepha Sherman & Susan Shwartz

Novelizations

Star Trek: The Motion Picture
· Gene Roddenberry

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
· Vonda N. McIntyre

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
· Vonda N. McIntyre

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
· Vonda N. McIntyre

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
· J.M. Dillard

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
· J.M. Dillard

Star Trek Generations
· J.M. Dillard

Starfleet Academy
· Diane Carey

Star Trek books by William Shatner with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

The Ashes of Eden

The Return

Avenger

Star Trek: Odyssey
(contains
The Ashes of Eden
,
The Return
, and
Avenger
)

Spectre

Dark Victory

Preserver

#1 ·
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
· Gene Roddenberry

#2 ·
The Entropy Effect
· Vonda N. McIntyre

#3 ·
The Klingon Gambit
· Robert E. Vardeman

#4 ·
The Covenant of the Crown
· Howard Weinstein

#5 ·
The Prometheus Design
· Sondra Marshak & Myrna Culbreath

#6 ·
The Abode of Life
· Lee Correy

#7 ·
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
· Vonda N. McIntyre

#8 ·
Black Fire
· Sonni Cooper

#9 ·
Triangle
· Sondra Marshak & Myrna Culbreath

#10 ·
Web of the Romulans
· M.S. Murdock

#11 ·
Yesterday's Son
· A.C. Crispin

#12 ·
Mutiny on the Enterprise
· Robert E. Vardeman

#13 ·
The Wounded Sky
· Diane Duane

#14 ·
The Trellisane Confrontation
· David Dvorkin

#15 ·
Corona
· Greg Bear

#16 ·
The Final Reflection
· John M. Ford

#17 ·
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
· Vonda N. McIntyre

#18 ·
My Enemy, My Ally
· Diane Duane

#19 ·
The Tears of the Singers
· Melinda Snodgrass

#20 ·
The Vulcan Academy Murders
· Jean Lorrah

#21 ·
Uhura's Song
· Janet Kagan

#22 ·
Shadow Lord
· Laurence Yep

#23 ·
Ishmael
· Barbara Hambly

#24 ·
Killing Time
· Della Van Hise

#25 ·
Dwellers in the Crucible
· Margaret Wander Bonanno

#26 ·
Pawns and Symbols
· Majliss Larson

#27 ·
Mindshadow
· J.M. Dillard

#28 ·
Crisis on Centaurus
· Brad Ferguson

#29 ·
Dreadnought!
· Diane Carey

#30 ·
Demons
· J.M. Dillard

#31 ·
Battlestations!
· Diane Carey

#32 ·
Chain of Attack
· Gene DeWeese

#33 ·
Deep Domain
· Howard Weinstein

#34 ·
Dreams of the Raven
· Carmen Carter

#35 ·
The Romulan Way
· Diane Duane & Peter Morwood

#36 ·
How Much For Just the Planet?
· John M. Ford

#37 ·
Bloodthirst
· J.M. Dillard

#38 ·
The IDIC Epidemic
· Jean Lorrah

#39 ·
Time For Yesterday
· A.C. Crispin

#40 ·
Timetrap
· David Dvorkin

#41 ·
The Three-Minute Universe
· Barbara Paul

#42 ·
Memory Prime
· Gar and Judith Reeves-Stevens

#43 ·
The Final Nexus
· Gene DeWeese

#44 ·
Vulcan's Glory
· D.C. Fontana

#45 ·
Double, Double
· Michael Jan Friedman

#46 ·
The Cry of the Onlies
· Judy Klass

#47 ·
The Kobayashi Maru
· Julia Ecklar

#48 ·
Rules of Engagement
· Peter Morwood

#49 ·
The Pandora Principle
· Carolyn Clowes

#50 ·
Doctor's Orders
· Diane Duane

#51 ·
Enemy Unseen
· V.E. Mitchell

#52 ·
Home is the Hunter
· Dana Kramer Rolls

#53 ·
Ghost-Walker
· Barbara Hambly

#54 ·
A Flag Full of Stars
· Brad Ferguson

#55 ·
Renegade
· Gene DeWeese

#56 ·
Legacy
· Michael Jan Friedman

#57 ·
The Rift
· Peter David

#58 ·
Faces of Fire
· Michael Jan Friedman

#59 ·
The Disinherited
· Peter David

#60 ·
Ice Trap
· L.A. Graf

#61 ·
Sanctuary
· John Vornholt

#62 ·
Death Count
· L.A. Graf

#63 ·
Shell Game
· Melissa Crandall

#64 ·
The Starship Trap
· Mel Gilden

#65 ·
Windows on a Lost World
· V.E. Mitchell

#66 ·
From the Depths
· Victor Milan

#67 ·
The Great Starship Race
· Diane Carey

#68 ·
Firestorm
· L.A. Graf

#69 ·
The Patrian Transgression
· Simon Hawke

#70 ·
Traitor Winds
· L.A. Graf

#71 ·
Crossroad
· Barbara Hambly

#72 ·
The Better Man
· Howard Weinstein

#73 ·
Recovery
· J.M. Dillard

#74 ·
The Fearful Summons
· Denny Martin Flynn

#75 ·
First Frontier
· Diane Carey & Dr. James I. Kirkland

#76 ·
The Captain's Daughter
· Peter David

#77 ·
Twilight's End
· Jerry Oltion

#78 ·
The Rings of Tautee
· Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch

#79 ·
Invasion!
#1:
First Strike
· Diane Carey

#80 ·
The Joy Machine
· James Gunn

#81 ·
Mudd in Your Eye
· Jerry Oltion

#82 ·
Mind Meld
· John Vornholt

#83 ·
Heart of the Sun
· Pamela Sargent & George Zebrowski

#84 ·
Assignment: Eternity
· Greg Cox

#85-87 ·
My Brother's Keeper
· Michael Jan Friedman

#85 ·
Republic

#86 ·
Constitution

#87 ·
Enterprise

#88 ·
Across the Universe
· Pamela Sargent & George Zebrowski

#89-94 ·
New Earth

#89 ·
Wagon Train to the Stars
· Diane Carey

#90 ·
Belle Terre
· Dean Wesley Smith with Diane Carey

#91 ·
Rough Trails
· L.A. Graf

#92 ·
The Flaming Arrow
· Kathy and Jerry Oltion

#93 ·
Thin Air
· Kristine Kathryn Rusch & Dean Wesley Smith

#94 ·
Challenger
· Diane Carey