THE INCREDIBLE LIGHT faded quickly, but it was several moments before the bridge crew fully accepted that the alien being was really and truly gone. They looked around with both confusion and relief.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2w1H1QXetf
Weir's stomach was churning. Too soon. This was happening too soon. She didn't have a first officer. She hadn't had a chance to drill her crew and get to know them. It wasn't fair. Deep space wasn't fair.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTD1lAdvyU
Weir touched her neck to check her pulse. It was racing. But why? Was it fear? Was it excitement? What did it matter? She knew what was needed now--before anything else---was the appearance of self-control. Fake it till you make it, Weir said to herself. The crew looks to the captain as the source of all well-being on the ship. So be it.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0eEnzZTQi
Weir glanced around the bridge calmly. "Everybody's all right, I take it?" There were uneasy nods of assent. "Good." She eased herself into her command chair and looked at Jay One. "Got any readings on this alien?"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKA2mbvbTRv
Jay One shook his head. "Bridge sensors picked up nothing. Either he wasn't here or he blanked them out. As we all seem to agree on what we saw, I would assume that the alien blanked them out. Let me also suggest a third possibility: the being might not have been physically present at all. He might have been a projection or an illusion of some kind. But again, that would require some kind of blanking effect on the bridge sensors. A fourth possibility: the being may have been a telepathic projection and therefore undetectable by the bridge sensors. A fifth possibility...."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzFXQ1U8Yt
Weir held up a hand. "Thank you, Jay." As always, Jay One not only answered the question, he beat it to death with alternative possibilities.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WlUJLiovt
"Ma'am," Wrrf stood up before her. "I respectfully submit that our only chance is to fight."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmIkKSha0v
Samantha stepped down off the horseshoe to stand next to Wrrf. "I agree, ma'am. We fight or try to escape."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdBekuRO545
Weir held up a hand to them and turned to Emmagan. "Did you sense anything, Counselor?"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ok5ax4Pkh
She shook her head. "Its mind is much too powerful, ma'am." She paused, and then added, "Recommend we avoid contact."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ32DAbDLSbV
"Interesting," Weir said. "Very interesting."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLf8Mv49WF
She considered their remarks, turning the situation over in her mind. There was something they could try. It might not work, but it was a fair chance they could take Eye by surprise. She looked up at her people. "All right. From this moment, no station aboard, repeat no station, for any reason will make use of signals, transmission or intercom. Confine all communications to hardcopy only. My personal comm line will be reserved as the only active signals line in use. Let's see if we can take them by surprise. Lieutenant Wrrf, inform engineering to make ready for maximum acceleration and we'll find out what a Galaxy-class starship can do."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTexvcrc6m
"Aye, ma'am."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQxRqZv344
Wrrf was already on his way to the forward turbolift as Weir turned to Jay One. "Records search, Jay. Results of attempting battle configuration at high-warp speeds."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2b12Uygxev
"I beg your pardon, ma'am?" Jay One seemed honestly confused.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ95bcw11kke
"You heard me. It's theoretically possible. I want to know if anyone has succeeded---or will we have to be the first?"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBHt4EV7qB
The android looked unhappy with the question, but he considered it, seeming to draw in on himself as he searched his internal memory banks. Then he looked at Weir impassively. "It is inadvisable at any warp speed, sir."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uFYeQTfM9
"Search theoretical. What are the odds?"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFUYdqyUEQ
Jay One did another quick scan and lifted his shoulders in a slight shrug. "It is possible, ma'am. But there is no margin for error. Therefore, I cannot compute the odds."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOBPNeOwB2
"I see. Thank you, Jay." Weir considered her idea again. It was dangerous---much more dangerous than she liked. Certainly it was much too much of a risk to ask the crew's families to accept. But---they were already at risk from Eye....526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHjVl6Wo7c
A rock and a hard place. That was the dilemma.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZ3b0nnuWJ
Weir sighed as she examined the plan's faults and virtues one more time. It was an argument she knew she couldn't win, because she was arguing against herself. Logically, she knew what she had to do. Emotionally---well, that was another matter.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFBpcC20Hmn
Weir made a choice. She nodded to herself and stood. She raised her voice and said, "Now hear this!" The crew turned toward her, expectantly. She waited until there was silence on the bridge and all eyes were on her. "Using printout only, notify all decks to prepare for maximum acceleration. Maximum, I have to warn you, means we'll be pushing our engines way beyond their safety limits. We hope to try to surprise whatever that thing is out there and try to outrun it. Our only other option would be to put our tail between our legs and return to Earth as they demand."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4PV0m414E
Lt. Wrrf could hurry without running. He had a stride that was near-legendary among those who had tried to keep up with him. He strode into the huge Engineering section of the Atlantis and paused, looking around for the officer in charge.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiv2jlbjWL3
The great injector core dominated the center of the two-story area, driving through it from floor to ceiling. This was the heart of the Atlantis, as the bridge was her brain. Streams of matter were injected from the core's top, antimatter from its bottom, to converge on the dilithium crystal, nature's wondrous gift which made warp speed possible.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPFYu6UQqP
Despite Psychlo advances in interstellar drive technology, Wrrf still stood in awe of Fleet's warp drive. It had more sustaining power and thrust than any other drive system in the combined Space Federation/Psychlo Empire space and had been one of the key bargaining chips in the negotiations that had made them allies twenty-five years ago. Psychlo strategists often speculated on what would have happened had the two great powers not united. Indeed, it was a common theme of tactical games at home. Generally, the assessment was that the alliance of Space Federation and Empire had proven beneficial for both--and in some very astonishing ways. But still, Wrrf liked to imagine what the Psychlo Empire might have been had they had access to engines like these twenty-five years ago. It was a pleasant, if slightly illegal, thought.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ378HxnQ2Jr
Chief Engineer Savage stepped in beside him quietly. "Can I help you, 526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2sMdLdXlD
Lieutenant?"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsle6cRhTsc
"Captain's orders. Make ready for 'max.'"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupp2F5XM4g
Savage's eyes flickered and he frowned. "Maximum?"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzy1mE3s9Rw
"All the way. On the signal 'engage.'"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YW7ptEYra
The chief engineer looked unhappy. He resented anyone abusing his engines. 526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLOvqHuqQI
"She'd better have a damned good reason."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SVpFfqj5i
"We've encountered an alien force. We don't know what it is---what they are. 526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGN5ABmFGX0
The Captain's going to see what they're made of."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TnPKIST3K
"Correction: Captain's going to see what we're made of." Savage turned toward his engineers working at their consoles. "All right. Engineering alert. Stand by. We're powering up to go to maximum warp in one jump."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfpc113wN1
Several of the engineering crew snapped around to stare at him in shock and alarm, but he kept his face straight and noncommittal. Going to maximum in one jump was hard on the ship, hard on the engines; but it could be done. They had done it in drill, they had done it in simulation. They had even once done it as part of the ship's shakedown.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvZzPBUojW
Still....it wasn't considered a good idea. There was too much likelihood of phase blowout. But the crew knew their jobs, so Savage wasn't worried about that. What was alarming was the situation that forced them to do it. 526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDrdLjqePI
"Engagement will be on captain's signal from the bridge. O'Reilly, I'll want a maximum charge on the reserve cells."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZiLzAAdr8I
Wrrf grinned wickedly and headed back to the main bridge. As the doors to Engineering hissed closed behind him, he heard the low-pitched whine of standard warp power ascending quickly to a high shriek.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHIJzV2A60
Weir stood behind Jay One at the conn, studying the alien grid that glittered on the viewscreen. Whichever way they turned their viewer cameras, the grid barred their way---except behind them. Weir was pinning her hopes on what her ancient sporting forebears would have called an "end run."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFaWjQH4hh
Wrrf burst back onto the bridge from the forward turbolift, half running toward his operations station. "Engine room is standing by, ma'am."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ011czPeVYf
"Thank you, Wrrf. Jay One?"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhIeO2w35b3
"The board is green, Captain."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuCtlylmWIc
The captain stepped back to her command chair and settled easily into it. "Reverse heading, 180 mark 3. Stand by." Her eyes flicked over the bridge and the crew poised in readiness at their various stations. She tapped the communications tab on her left-hand panel. "Engage!" The entire bridge shuddered under a scream of power as the warp engines leapt to their full strength.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8aDRUPKXhW
Weir imagined for just the briefest of instants that she could feel the acceleration as the Atlantis leapt forward. Of course, she could not. She'd have been smeared across the back wall if the internal gravitational adjustors had not been in sync with the warp drive. Nonetheless, Weir imagined that she could feel the acceleration. Every starship captain did.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5S5oLGoSIO
The Atlantis shot forward, held in control like a tightly-reined horse under Jay One's navigation and then---peeled off in a stomach-churning sharp left turn! They passed perilously close to the shimmering alien grid, but then they were beyond it and still pushing their warp envelope upward.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEY4WMTlIhV
Still under Jay One's tight control, the starship angled her nose beyond the grid and raced free. Behind them, the grid wavered briefly, its glow dimming. It suddenly shrank in size, coalescing into a brightly colored spinning shape that swiftly settled into grim pursuit of the Atlantis.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6WxP7EPoj
Weir ignored the steadily rising thrum of the engines and listened to her officers as they reported. "Warp nine point two," Wrrf reported, grinning. He didn't approve of running from any fight---but he did understand the value of a "strategic withdrawal." Particularly a strategic withdrawal that demonstrated both strength and cleverness. After all, didn't the Earthlings have a saying? "He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day?" Or was it, "---lives to run another day?" Oh, what the hell?526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9auEgRSqKA
"Heading, three-five-one, mark eleven, ma'am," Jay One reported from the conn.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpE0DMGzms
"Steady on that."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwpEw9j2Gz0
Samantha spoke up from the Weapons and Tactical console behind Weir. "The hostile is giving chase, sir. Accelerating fast."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi06mNjCzmr
Wrrf stirred from his console and studied his screens. "We are now at warp nine point three, ma'am."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAxdfFcG6M
"Thanks. Let me know when we pass the red line."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qiFRLIkir
"We are now passing it at warp three point five, ma'am."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMnUR9CvPV
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Inform engineering to maintain maximum power."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjsxxnTDRm6
"Aye, ma'am."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYEJPi3dn6I
"Continue accelerating," Weir said evenly. She looked over at Emmagan and half-smiled. "Counselor, at this point I'm open to guesses about what we've just met. What do you feel about it?"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLNgzkZGCq
She bowed her head a moment, her beige hair shadowing her face as she pondered, analyzing the sensations she had felt when Eye was on the bridge. "It---it felt like something beyond what we'd consider a 'life form.'"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoFpr4uSCvn
"Beyond?' Can you be more specific?"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4TOAfb2Q5Y
"Very, very advanced, ma'am. Or...." Emmagan considered it and then nodded firmly. "Advanced or certainly very, very different!"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFnnNcMteQ
Wrrf turned in his chair to interrupt. "Ma'am, we're at warp nine point four."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvXoESBBVs
"Hostile is now beginning to overtake us," Samantha chimed from behind Weir.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9TMxyWZjRO
"Hostile's realized velocity is warp nine point six, ma'am," Jay One added calmly.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35fVt9Z0L9
"Are you sure?" Weir regretted the words even before she finished speaking them.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSvXcU0TqKD
Jay One did not bother to look back at Weir. He accepted rhetorical questions as a matter of human habit. "Of course, ma'am. Hostile is now within viewer range. Shall I magnify the image?"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxXQpE6scTH
"I so order."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0l2zNp68ua
The forward wall of the bridge shimmered, and the blinking point of light that had been at the center of it suddenly jumped forward to become a spinning shape, shimmering and undefinable.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNXybZ1j1w
Samantha tensed, reading her console. "Hostile's velocity now at nine point seven, ma'am."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7Wkjw5SKE
Weir leaned forward in her chair, keeping her eyes on the screen, tabbed her communications line open. "Engineering?"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepyRz8Izyg
Savage's voice came back instantly. "Ma'am---I have to warn you..."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQGesrqrdf
"To hell with your warning, Engineer. We need more speed." Weir snapped off the communications line. "Go to yellow alert."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqPZS38eky
Jay One touched a control on his console and the yellow alert alarm began to clamor loudly. Weir turned to Samantha. "Arm photon torpedoes. Stand by to fire." She was aware of Emmagan's alarmed glance, but she ignored it.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGHMbXwdnh
"Torpedoes to ready, ma'am."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡio39QXRABg
Suddenly the ship shuddered. It was felt as a tremendous tremor throughout the bridge, and several of the crewmembers had to grab quickly for their consoles to steady themselves---and there was a sound, as if some great beast slumbering on the bottom of the blackest ocean had been troubled in its sleep, a beast best left undisturbed.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJbjRMtEiZ
Emmagan glanced around quickly. She felt the pulse of fear and alarm from some of them. Then the temblor eased away as suddenly as it had begun.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lP5oktHmv
At the forward console, Wrrf was hastily punching up commands on his console. 526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsGTt139iO4
He had minored in the design and engineering of starships in his Academy days. He'd never experienced a primal shiver first hand, but that great shuddering groan couldn't have been anything else. It was as bad sign. Warp stress could rip the drive core apart!526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡobz3iiBl3o
"Hostile now at warp nine point eight, ma'am," Samantha reported evenly.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwUM7Hkhv2
Wrrf quick-scanned his console. "Our velocity is holding at nine point five."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDlVdiSZZU
"Projection," Jay One said quietly. "We may be able to match the hostiles nine point eight if we push the warp engines to absolute capacity. But at extreme risk , maam."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboxJVlYWaG
"Now reading the hostile at warp nine point nine."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXxDb9kqym
Weir paused a moment, considering her options one more time. There was really not much to consider. Shed been locked into this course of action since the moment shed ordered Engage. There was no changing her mind now. Finally she rose and raised her voice so it carried to all areas of the bridge. Now hear this. Print-out message, urgent. All stations on all decks, prepare for emergency battle configuration maneuver.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPDm8my4Qb
Samantha looked to Weir in alarm. Emmagan looked at Samantha at the same moment, sensing her fear. The starship had been constructed so the main disk could be detached and function as an independent vehicle if necessary, although it could proceed only on impulse power. The remaining half---the stardrive section---had its own bridge, the heavy phasers and photon torpedo launchers, and the warp engines.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhGF7EjQLjT
Original Fleet planning designated the saucer as a sanctuary for noncombatants while the battle section was its defense. Fleet's exploration of space had been far from uneventful, but there were only a few occasions where a captain had taken the extraordinary step of splitting his ship into two, sending the saucer section off to safety while riding the stardrive section into combat. Obviously, a captain had to consider the situation so serious that this final measure was unavoidable.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UGJEhMrR0
Weir gestured Wrrf out of his Ops chair. "You will command the main bridge, Lieutenant."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgqysGvKC0v
"Ma'am!" The young Psychlo jumped to his feet in protest, his outrage overriding his normal respect for the superior officer. "I'm a Psychlo, ma'am. For me to seek escape while my captain goes into battle..."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpY1e8vG6d
"Noted," Weir said quickly. Her voice turned cold. "But you're also a Fleet officer, Lieutenant, and you've been given an order."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNeEaWtDYHP
Wrrf hesitated, considering another protest. The years of discipline and ingrained obedience prevailed, and he nodded his head once at the captain. 526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOGK8fRK4w
Aye, ma'am." But his expression spoke volumes.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJPl5hHacq
Weir tapped a control on his right hand panel and spoke quietly. Captains log, "Stardate 52 2 64.84. At this moment, I am transferring command to the battle bridge. She gestured to Jay One. Make the signal.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTFvpGClV4
Jay One touched a control lightly, and the traditional bugle call Beat to Quarters rang over the bridge. It repeated over and over as the duty officers swiftly moved toward the battle turbo. Replacements began to arrive almost immediately on the other two lifts, and the main bridge was fully remanned in moments.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzkfuOYf1am
Reluctantly, Wrrf moved over to the captains command chair and contemplated it dourly before he settled down into it. Prepare for battle configuration, he said firmly. On the captains command. The thought flickered across his consciousness: If a Psychlo were in charge of this ship, we wouldn't be running. But he was a Fleet officer and---well, the captain might not always be right, but he was the captain.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfg7hOV66o2
The turbolift fell swiftly toward the battle bridge. Weir stared unseeingly at the lift's directional lights as she considered her plan. The disengagement of the command module at high warp speeds was a dangerous tactic, but they had to have enough of a lead on the Eye ship (or whatever the damn thing was) so they could turn and face it while the saucer made away with the majority of the ship's company and its noncombatants.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5i6o4UjHX3
The turbo sighed to a stop, and the doors popped open, revealing the stark and Spartan battle bridge. Weir led the way into the smaller station, his bridge crew quickly fanning out to their duty positions. Jay One activated the conn and scanned the panel while Weir quietly dictated the captain's log supplementary, explaining her strategy.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBuZhQOLvD
"Hostile is still closing in on us, ma'am. Their speed is holding at warp nine point nine."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVa7m8CEU6
"Interesting," Weir noted. "Whoever or whatever it is, has the same warp envelope limitations we have. Maybe they're not so powerful as they'd like us to believe." Weir nodded toward Samantha. "Lieutenant, I want a full spread of photon torpedoes aimed to detonate close enough to the hostile to blind it at the moment we separate. Stand by to fire on my 'mark.'"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7RRRcBFyM
"Understood, ma'am."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcEhbOVMlEg
Weir tabbed his communications control. "Lieutenant Wrrf, this is the captain."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27kjq6zZBa
Wrrf's voice replied crisply over the speaker. "Yes, ma'am?"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohW1pI9ELX
"As separation begins, we will reduce power just enough to get the saucer section out ahead and clear of us."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTP7Z78snub
"Understood, ma'am."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn4KfmXNnJw
"Begin countdown." Weir paused, gauging the glittering intruder on the viewscreen, then said firmly, "Mark!"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIraKUwijJq
Samantha's fingers flew over her weapons console. "Photon torpedoes away."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdO04wMaRFr
The torpedoes leapt away from the Atlantis's aft tubes with solid satisfying ka-chunks. Each one flashed and glittered as it sped rearward.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZOK83zz4m
Samantha was a superlative weapons officer, but the timing Weir required depended largely on the assumption that the hostile was traveling at its maximum speed. If it was not---if it could still increase its FTL velocity, then the torpedoes would very likely detonate behind it, losing the advantage the command module needed to escape. Weir was counting on the limitations of the alien's technology as an ally.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLmz51Oghy
"On the count," Jay One said. "Six, five, four, three, two, one, separation."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUbjYgI314
At the rear of the saucer section, where it joined the gooseneck of the stardrive section, a crack appeared. The massive retention assemblies unlocked and pulled back into their housings. Jets of vapor hissed into vacuum as connections were pulled free.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsFPJEgUnVD
"Captain's log. Moment of separation, Stardate 52254.86. We are now free to face the hostile."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB63w7FgXfE
"Good luck, ma'am," Wrrf murmured as he watched them drop away.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVeJ12TcEqu
The great disk angled up, up and away from the cobra-shaped stardrive section. As they cleared, the locking mechanisms completed their rotation and finished up flush in their housings with a thump that was unheard in space but which was felt in the disk. Wrrf checked his distance and ordered the impulse engines to full power. The immediate response quickly thrust the saucer section away so the stardrive section cleared the warp envelope of the Atlantis's battle module, it appeared to vanish. The Atlantis and its pursuer were past it in an instant too brief to register on any instruments.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJbRjtwBbD
This was what Weir had been hoping for---- a chance for the saucer section to lose itself in the vastness of space and make a run for Jutterdon Station.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtY4StKOyt2
On the battle bridge, Jay One reported quietly, "Separation is successful, ma'am."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUxYvo4Nl3
Weir found herself breathing a sigh of relief. She hadn't realized she had been holding her breath. "Thank God. Where is the hostile?"526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jRSyoBlex
Jay One tabbed his console, and the viewscreen again showed the glint of the alien vessel at its center. The multiple flares of photon torpedo explosions were still glistening around it. Weir clenched her fist and hit her knee in triumph.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvSGYfpEdiB
"Good timing. All stop. Reverse course."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5bmUBxXy7
The Atlantis collapsed its warp envelope and swung around to face its pursuer head on. On the huge forward viewer, Weir could see that the photon torpedoes had apparently had no effect on the Eye ship. Despite several near-direct hits, the alien vessel remained unchanged. It drove on toward the Atlantis with no decrease in speed. The two ships were on a collision course.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhhiTJK9pd
Weir studied the viewscreen a moment longer and then said, "Hold position."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4yN5vgnbR
Jay One suppressed a surprised look and replied evenly, "Aye, ma'am."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz39QG7aEb9
"They'll be on us in minutes..." Emmagan began.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4DwrKvfH1
"I know that, Counselor."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMEG1cfDNK
"Will we make a fight of it, Captain?" Samantha asked. "If we can at least damage their ship....."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJmHOzJJ4r
Weir pointed at the viewer and snorted. "Lieutenant Carter, are you recommending we fight a life form that has already demonstrated significant military superiority?" She stared at her, waiting. "If you think we have a chance of winning, I'd like to hear your advice."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCrVBA7DN2
Lt. Carter flushed and looked away, unable to face her captain's challenging look. She was right, of course, and Carter was embarrassed.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RLonwD7xV
Samantha Carter knew what her worst fault was. She reacted too quickly. It was why she was a good security chief. But it was also why she often had trouble coping with situations where ship's security was compromised. She still found it difficult to allow for diplomatic and strategic considerations.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeUtRqRwbhw
The renegade colony in which she had grown up had been lawless and murderous. Her early years had been spent surviving, and all her experience had taught her to act first and try to control a situation before analyzing it. Until she entered Fleet Academy, she had acted on the sure knowledge that hesitation could mean death. The humanitarian principles on which Fleet based all its decisions had at first been a shock to her. But she had listened and she had learned.....526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9txolPV97
Something about Fleet's basic tenets spoke to her. Not to the person she pretended to be, or the performance she put on for the people around her, or even the person she wanted to be---it spoke to who she really was. Her secret self. The self that she had shared with one on in her life.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1aZNKxtB6A
Fleet's policies were based on the single assertion that Life is sacred. 526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu8fAqOoPTT
Everywhere. 526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJi4d6MEuhe
Samantha had not trusted this assertion. Not at first. Her initial reaction had been skepticism and derision. The Fleet Ethics and Moral Philosophy courses were full of those discussions. But after a while, Samantha began to realize that what they were really talking about was the same thing that she had secretly dreamed of for years.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mmec5FDNJ
Life as it is live isn't the necessarily the way life has to be. We can do better. We are each and every one of us, always capable of going beyond what we think are our limits. That is our history. We will do better.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAeDbgkslE
Samantha realized---like the dawning of a great light---that Fleet truly wanted the same things she did. Children did not have to die of starvation. People did not have to live in poverty. Illiteracy was not inevitable. The conditions under which she had grown up were a terrible aberration, and not a norm.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNwUfwlAHl
This was the life she had dreamed of---she could start living it today. And she had accepted that in a simple declaration: "If it is be, let it start with me."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPraXnjOvUB
And from that moment, she was never the same woman again.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjmrK5eEay
But even so, there were moments---like this one---when she still responded with her old instincts. "I...spoke before I thought, ma'am. We should look for some way to distract them from going after the saucer section."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEErqyBZZDh
"Now that's more like it, Lieutenant," Weir said, nodding approval.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLU6SkcBWs8
"Full stop, ma'am," Jay One reported. "Holding position."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpk41fykxy
Weir looked over at Emmagan, who was manning the communications board. 526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfN3ESHdsDp
"Emmagan, signal the following in all languages and all frequencies. 'We surrender.' State that we are not asking for any terms or conditions."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNWuKFV3II
A ripple of consternation flowed around the battle bridge as the crew exchanged puzzled looks. Surrender? This from Elizabeth Weir? Only Emmagan felt the calm, the confidence, the sense of rightness that the captain put forth. It was not a sense of failure or capitulation. Weir clearly had the conviction that was the only right thing to do.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLyBWnAXWsz
"Aye, ma'am," Emmagan said firmly. "All language forms and frequencies." She opened the communications channels and tied in the universal translator. "Atlantis to Eye. We surrender. Repeat: we surrender. Our surrender is not conditional. We do not ask for terms."526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASF6jAjyVE
As Emmagan repeated the broadcast, all eyes turned to the viewscreen where the alien hostile was seen to be rapidly bearing down on them. As it neared them, the gleaming shape began to open up, partially revealing the grid. It curved and expanded, reaching out to enclose the Atlantis. As it encompassed them, a cacophony of sound tore through the ship, the scream of metal being stressed beyond its limits. The whole battle section was shaken violently, forcing the crew to grab for anything solid that they could hold on to. The raging, howling sound rose to a peak, and the violence of the shaking increased. A fierce, blinding flash of light bathed the battle bridge.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWlzdBjp1I
Then----silence.526Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZKqES0yoZX
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