Read Online Ghost of a Chance by Charles G. McGraw, Mark Garland - Free Book Online
Authors: Charles G. McGraw, Mark Garland
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stabilizers.”
Telemetry readings glowed next to a screen displaying the shuttle’s position relative to the horizon. Kim rerouted the stabilizer controls while Janeway and Tuvok regained minimal control, then began to ease the shuttle into a more shallow dive.
Momentarily the rate of descent started to slow, and the planet’s surface, bathed in daylight, rotated into view.
“We might just make it, Captain,” Kim said, feeling a need to say something as he realized survival was now a possibility.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” the captain said, glancing sidelong at him, as if she had known the outcome all along. She hadn’t, of course. No one could have. But a part of him almost believed it so, and just when he needed that belief.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, already anticipating her next command, readying the landing thrusters.
“Helm is barely responding,” Tuvok reported. “Power levels are down seventy-three percent. I believe we can still come close to our original destination, but it will not be possible to choose a proper landing sight.”
“Let’s just make it one we can walk away from,” Janeway said, to enthusiastic nods from her shipmates.
The shuttle bucked, then rolled, then leveled slightly, only to fall abruptly again. Kim’s gut floated up into his chest once more. He tried to ignore the feeling. He watched the viewscreen as the shuttle slipped through dense banks of black, ash-filled clouds. Then the ground seemed to leap up at them as they broke into the clear. A patchwork pattern of grasslands, cultivated fields, and dense forests lay below, stretching out to nearby hills and mountains in the east.
Another mountain range was visible far to the south, where great plumes of smoke rose to fill the sky.
Kim fired the thrusters, correcting manually as best he could, while the others struggled to keep the ship’s nose in position.
With one final stomach-wrenching lurch, the shuttle pushed back, then settled down and hit the ground with a force that sent its three crew members sprawling.
“Everyone all right?” the captain asked as she and Tuvok picked themselves up off the deck yet again. One dim red light made the shuttle’s interior vaguely visible.
Most of the instrument panels had gone dead, Kim noticed as he stood up and looked around him. He moved again to the main console, feeling a bruise on his lower ribs and another on his elbow. Then he began working, trying to determine what was off-line. “I’m okay, Captain,” he said.
“I am unharmed as well, Captain,” Tuvok said, “but it appears this shuttle will not fly again without considerable repairs. A separate crew will have to be sent down.” He stood beside Kim, examining panels. “We have lost power, at least for the moment, but even if it can be restored it appears nearly everything is out.”
“Including life-support,” Kim said.
“And communications,” Tuvok added.
Janeway nodded, her expression unreadable in the near-darkness.
“Very well,” she said. “Let’s see if we can find out what’s going on upstairs.” The captain tapped her comm badge. “Janeway to Voyager, come in.”
No response. Kim tried his own badge, then Tuvok, all to similar results.
“It is possible that interference from the planet’s extreme magnetic field fluctuations is preventing the signal from getting through,” Tuvok suggested.
“That has to be it, Captain,” Kim interjected, trying to make himself useful. He was well aware that Tuvok and Janeway, between them, had more experience than he would likely accumulate in a lifetime. Still, neither of them ever made him feel that he was not a valued crewman, which only increased his determination to be just that.
“Cut off and shipwrecked,” Janeway muttered, shaking her head gravely.
Then her hands went to her hips, heralding a change in her mood. “What systems can you get to come back up?” she asked the Vulcan. “And how long will it take? That
Telemetry readings glowed next to a screen displaying the shuttle’s position relative to the horizon. Kim rerouted the stabilizer controls while Janeway and Tuvok regained minimal control, then began to ease the shuttle into a more shallow dive.
Momentarily the rate of descent started to slow, and the planet’s surface, bathed in daylight, rotated into view.
“We might just make it, Captain,” Kim said, feeling a need to say something as he realized survival was now a possibility.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” the captain said, glancing sidelong at him, as if she had known the outcome all along. She hadn’t, of course. No one could have. But a part of him almost believed it so, and just when he needed that belief.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, already anticipating her next command, readying the landing thrusters.
“Helm is barely responding,” Tuvok reported. “Power levels are down seventy-three percent. I believe we can still come close to our original destination, but it will not be possible to choose a proper landing sight.”
“Let’s just make it one we can walk away from,” Janeway said, to enthusiastic nods from her shipmates.
The shuttle bucked, then rolled, then leveled slightly, only to fall abruptly again. Kim’s gut floated up into his chest once more. He tried to ignore the feeling. He watched the viewscreen as the shuttle slipped through dense banks of black, ash-filled clouds. Then the ground seemed to leap up at them as they broke into the clear. A patchwork pattern of grasslands, cultivated fields, and dense forests lay below, stretching out to nearby hills and mountains in the east.
Another mountain range was visible far to the south, where great plumes of smoke rose to fill the sky.
Kim fired the thrusters, correcting manually as best he could, while the others struggled to keep the ship’s nose in position.
With one final stomach-wrenching lurch, the shuttle pushed back, then settled down and hit the ground with a force that sent its three crew members sprawling.
“Everyone all right?” the captain asked as she and Tuvok picked themselves up off the deck yet again. One dim red light made the shuttle’s interior vaguely visible.
Most of the instrument panels had gone dead, Kim noticed as he stood up and looked around him. He moved again to the main console, feeling a bruise on his lower ribs and another on his elbow. Then he began working, trying to determine what was off-line. “I’m okay, Captain,” he said.
“I am unharmed as well, Captain,” Tuvok said, “but it appears this shuttle will not fly again without considerable repairs. A separate crew will have to be sent down.” He stood beside Kim, examining panels. “We have lost power, at least for the moment, but even if it can be restored it appears nearly everything is out.”
“Including life-support,” Kim said.
“And communications,” Tuvok added.
Janeway nodded, her expression unreadable in the near-darkness.
“Very well,” she said. “Let’s see if we can find out what’s going on upstairs.” The captain tapped her comm badge. “Janeway to Voyager, come in.”
No response. Kim tried his own badge, then Tuvok, all to similar results.
“It is possible that interference from the planet’s extreme magnetic field fluctuations is preventing the signal from getting through,” Tuvok suggested.
“That has to be it, Captain,” Kim interjected, trying to make himself useful. He was well aware that Tuvok and Janeway, between them, had more experience than he would likely accumulate in a lifetime. Still, neither of them ever made him feel that he was not a valued crewman, which only increased his determination to be just that.
“Cut off and shipwrecked,” Janeway muttered, shaking her head gravely.
Then her hands went to her hips, heralding a change in her mood. “What systems can you get to come back up?” she asked the Vulcan. “And how long will it take? That
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