Paris Flies Voyager Like a Fighter Through Hachai Fire

Star Trek: Voyager: Ragnarok
By Nathan Archer
ISBN: 067152044X

Chapter 22 is pure adrenaline. Tom Paris is flying Voyager like it is a fighter jet in the middle of a war that has eaten star systems for centuries.

He swoops, cuts, dodges phased-energy bursts, and threads gaps between dreadnoughts. At one point he lines up a perfect shot. Tuvok misses it because by the time he fires the alignment shot and reverses polarity, Paris has already turned away. Human reflexes, even Vulcan ones, cannot keep up with Paris at the helm.

Janeway solves that. Secondary phasers transfer to conn with automatic polarity reversal after one second. Now Paris can shoot when he sees the opening. He does, tearing through a Hachai hull while juggling thrusters and impulse.

Evans in Ops loses track of the P’nir cruiser holding Chakotay. Too much interference, too many identical ships, and it is moving toward the far end of the battle. Paris asks if he should follow. Janeway says no. Voyager’s safety comes first. Get out. Hope Chakotay finds his own way off.

Paris mutters something unfinished about what happens if Chakotay cannot. Janeway hears enough. Chakotay is more than first officer. He keeps the Maquis integrated. He protects Paris from the crew that still sees him as a traitor. Janeway respects him personally too. But the ship is her first responsibility, and there is no starbase around the corner for repairs.

A P’nir ship cuts in front of them while Paris tries to squeeze through a Hachai englobement gap. It does not fire. Janeway takes that as a small mercy. Paris is less forgiving. The P’nir captured Chakotay and got them into this mess. He does not call them friends.

Janeway reminds him the P’nir are not shooting at Voyager yet. She wants to keep it that way. Their shield waveforms are unanalyzed. Phasers might not work the same. And Chakotay is still aboard one of their ships. Fire at the P’nir and he could die in retaliation.

Paris still thinks they should shoot the P’nir too. Three smaller Hachai vessels strafe them on a pass. Tuvok tears impulse engine off one and sends it spinning into a dreadnought. Both survive the impact thanks to shields, but the smaller ship collapses into wreckage. Paris calls it a nice shot and says they are almost out. One more gap at bearing one-three-three mark six-zero-five and they hit open space.

Paris’s shoulders slump when Janeway explains why the P’nir are off limits, but his hands never leave the controls.

They almost make it. Bearing one-three-three mark six-zero-five. Open space ahead. Paris feints the wrong way, swings toward the real gap, reaches for warp.

A P’nir cruiser sails into the opening.

Paris shouts and slams the phaser trigger instead.

Janeway yells no. Then she stops, staring at the screen.

The reversed-polarity beam goes through P’nir shields like a knife through meat. The light cruiser does not shrug it off. Spiky protrusions fold and shear. The hull buckles. Atmosphere boils out. A Federation ship would take damage and keep flying. A Klingon ship might barely notice. This P’nir vessel practically collapses.

Tuvok’s analysis is grimly fascinating. P’nir ships use shield fields as structural members. The exoskeleton is the shield. Break the field and the hull cannot hold together.

The escape gap closes. Three more P’nir light cruisers block the way. Paris hunts for another exit while Janeway files away the lecture she will give him later.

Then the P’nir open fire on Voyager. The Hachai, confused, break off. Janeway does not care who is shooting anymore. Get out. Paris tries to slip through the loosened Hachai lines while Tuvok keeps firing.

The tactical picture shifts ugly. P’nir cruisers had been weaving through Hachai formations, annoying more than engaging. One blocked Voyager’s escape on purpose to keep the stranger trapped where it hurt the Hachai most. Nobody expected Voyager to cripple a P’nir ship. When Paris does, every nearby P’nir gun turns on them. Voyager can rip through those shields now, but more P’nir keep pouring in behind the crippled ones. Turning and dodging stops working. Running is the only play.

Ahead lies a gap between two immense dreadnoughts with maybe a kilometer of clearance on each side. On a planet that sounds huge. In space it is a needle thread. Misjudge the angle and Voyager collides at warp. Get shot at that range and shields may not matter.

Paris hits warp anyway.

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