Read Online The Oppressor's Wrong by Phaedra M. Weldon - Free Book Online Page A

shifted, the jolt knocking over easels, paints, and half-completed sculptures as well as the two officers within. Daniels lost his footing and he was pitched to the floor in front of the waist-high shelving where supplies were kept. A cascade of canvases, bottles, brushes, and palettes came down on top of him.
    Before he could move, a hand shot through the debris and grabbed the front of his uniform tunic and hauled him to his feet. The lights in the room dimmed as a klaxon blared through the ship’s speakers.
    â€œRed alert. All hands, red alert.”
    â€œAre you all right?”
    Daniels nodded. “I think so. What happened?”
    â€œUncertain.” Data released Daniels’s uniform and tapped his badge. “Data to bridge.”
    â€œData.”
Riker’s voice came through.
“I need you uphere. Secondary systems are down, and we’ve lost external sensors.”
    â€œI am on my way.”
    Daniels followed Data out of the studio into the corridor, his mind already going over standard starship protocols. As a member of any security team, he would need to check in with the chief.
    He tapped his combadge as he moved. “Daniels to Huff.”
    â€œDaniels,”
came Huff’s voice. She coughed a few times.
    â€œSir,” Daniels began as he wove around a few moving crew members to the turbolift, “external sensors are down. Where can I be of service?”
    â€œAre you near the bridge?”
    â€œWe’re several decks below it.”
    â€œGet to the bridge. You’re the closest officer.”
    â€œAcknowledged.”
    The overhead lights flickered as the two made their way to the turbolift. When the door didn’t respond to their presence, Data turned and accessed an information panel along the wall. The schematic image of the
Enterprise
flickered behind the smooth, polished finish as his thin fingers moved quickly over the controls. “Apparently the secondary systems that are offline are confined to decks eight, nine, and ten.”
    â€œJefferies tube.” Daniels turned to the nearest access and opened the door.
    Daniels allowed Data to lead and he followed close behind. He tapped his combadge. If the ship had lost external sensors, then there was no way they could sweep for bombs. “Daniels to t’Saiga.”
    There was no answer.
    The two emerged from an access panel near the tactical station on the bridge. Daniels could see immediately that many of the crew members on the bridge had fared worse than he had, being caught off guard by whatever it was that had hit the ship. A few lay on the floor unmoving as medical personnel stepped out of the turbolift.
    He recognized Nurse Ogawa from his recent blood screening as she bent over the conn officer.
    Riker stood beside the operations station and turned as Daniels and Data entered. He too looked as if he’d come face-to-face with the floor or a console. Blood smudged the left side of his face.
    Data went immediately to his post as Daniels stepped forward.
    Riker eyed him warily. “Lieutenant Huff is trapped in a turbolift. We need help at tactical.”
    â€œAye, sir.” He nodded and moved to the station behind the first officer’s chair.
    The turbolift opened again, and Picard and Hawkboth stepped through. As the latter moved to the conn, the former said, “Number One, report.”
    Riker remained beside Data as he spoke to the captain. “We dropped out of warp near Starbase 375 and were immediately fired on.” He moved around Data to sit at helm control. “We’ve lost secondary systems on decks eight, nine, and ten, and external sensors are down. Geordi’s trying to reroute the power now. We do have shields, but without those sensors we’re blind.”
    â€œWho fired on us?”
    â€œWe won’t know until—”
    â€œExcuse me, sir.” Daniels had been busy running a diagnostic on all ship’s systems, keeping an eye on