Star Trek: The Original Series: The More Things Change Read Online Free PDF Page A

off with the warp drive.
    Chapel sat up straight and rubbed her sore rib cage. “What the hell was that?”
    Spock continued adjusting the warp field on the fly while he briefed her. “I powered down key systems to give our attacker the impression they had damaged us more seriously than they had. They proceeded with their apparent plan to board us. When they came alongside, I engaged warp engines while they were just within our forming warp field. They received the worst of the resulting gravimetric displacement, although it did affect us as well. I was able to compensate, but unfortunately I do not know how long my patchwork rerouting will keep our engines on-line. If you could assist me again?”
    Chapel turned toward her panel, where the power levels of various systems were still displayed. Over the next few minutes she called out readings to Spock as he continued rerouting subsystems and programming new subroutines to keep primary systems in sync despite the hodgepodge nature of his field repairs. Chapel could barely follow much of the work, but overall she understood the concept. Rerouting around damage seemed simple enough, but with so many systems that needed to be highly integrated in order to work effectively—artificial gravity and inertial dampers being the most significant example—the process could be exceedingly intricate, often requiring computer assistance to manage properly.
    Finally Spock brought the artificial gravity back on-line and switched from emergency to normal lighting. He leaned back in his seat and let his hands drop into his lap. He sighed deeply. If she hadn’t still been strapped in, Chapel felt like she might have fallen out of her chair. It had been a long time since she’d seen such a—for lack of a better description—human reaction from him. She was about to say something when he spun to face her, and the look of anger on his face made her pull back in her seat and keep silent.
    “I will not ”—and he slammed his hand on the armrest—“lose you, the commissioner, or this shuttle.”
    As quickly as this rage had surged to the surface it was gone, and he slumped down, his expression worn and tired. Chapel realized he was thinking of the loss of the shuttlecraft Galileo on a mission seven years ago—and the death of two crew members under his command.
    “Spock?” Chapel watched him closely. “You did everything you could back then, just as I know you’ll do now.”
    “Everything was not enough.”
    “Sometimes it’s not. But in the end you brought home more than you lost. That’s cold arithmetic, I know, but it is . . . logical.”
    “Yes.” He straightened up. “There are still times logic can be a source of comfort.” Spock glanced her way. “I must apologize for my outburst. It was unbecoming.”
    “You don’t have to apologize to me.” She undid her restraints. “I know you’ll do whatever it takes to get us out of this situation, and I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”
    He nodded. “I understand.”
    “Do you? You know I’m not just talking about this mission, right? I mean I’ll help you in this transition you’re going through. After we get back to the Enterprise , any time you need to talk, you call me. That’s not a doctor’s order, that’s a friend’s request.”
    He rewarded her with a soft smile. “I understand.”
    “You better. Now . . .” Chapel peered through the forward port. “Who attacked us? And why?”
    “Unknown. Sensors remain off-line, but as the ship maneuvered around us I was able to see it clearly. It was a nondescript civilian vessel approximately twice our size, with many illegal weapons upgrades. I have no way of knowing their motives for the attack.” He paused thoughtfully. “They could have easily destroyed us but instead tried to dock. Clearly they wanted to take us alive.”
    “Or capture the ship intact.” Chapel frowned at her own grim insight.
    “True. Whatever their reasons, I can only hope