Captain, five craft, traveling in formation, appear to be rendezvousing with the craft we have been tracking."
"Rendezvousing? Not attacking?"
"It would seem not. They are all within range of each other now, and no hostilities have been initiated by either side."
"Reinforcements? These are the ships those subspace radio bursts were intended for?"
"In all likelihood, Captain. From the limited sensor data available, all five craft appear to be identical to the first. However, based on the formation in which the five craft were traveling, it would appear that one of those craft was being purposely shielded by the others. The craft we have been following has joined that protective formation."
"A flagship of some kind?"
"Unlikely. As I said, Captain, all craft appear to be identical. It is only the shielded position in the formation that distinguishes the one craft from the others."
"Interesting. Keep track of that craft, Mr. Spock, even if the formation changes. Lieutenant Granger," Kirk went on, turning toward Lieutenant Uhura's third-watch counterpart, "any subspace radio activity?"
"None," Granger's bass voice returned. "There hasn't been a peep out of anyone since those bursts."
"And no possibility of tight-beam transmissions?"
"Not from that ship, sir, not without our knowing it."
"Rendezvous complete, Captain," Spock announced. "All have dropped to sublight and are clustered within kilometers of each other."
"Could they be communicating using something we can't pick up at this distance?"
"Affirmative, Captain. Direct visual communication is only one of many possibilities our sensors could not detect."
Whatever the six ships were discussing, if anything, it didn't take long. After less than five minutes clustered in normal space, their velocities so precisely matched they could have been linked by invisible rods, the six split apart and resumed warp speed.
"Where are they headed, Mr. Spock? And is the same ship still in the center of the formation?"
"Affirmative, Captain. They are now, in effect, retracing the path of the first craft."
Kirk grimaced. "Now that they have a posse together, they're coming back to look for us."
"Apparently, Captain."
"If the situation arises, how would our screens hold up against the lot of them?"
"Adequately, Captain, assuming all have the same capability as the first, but we could not resist a great many more."
"Rather imprecise, Mr. Spock. How many is a great many?"
"In this case, assuming the Enterprise maintains peak efficiency, I would estimate we could withstand the combined force of those six and another four-point-seven ships before long-term overloading became a significant danger."
"That's all it would take? Eleven ships like that?"
"Affirmative, Captain. You must remember that, though their weapons technology is at the level of the very early Federation ships, the destructive energy they can deliver is greater by a factor of more than fifteen. Virtually all their power is devoted to their drive and their weapons, whereas only a small fraction of the power in the early Federation ships was available for weaponry use. With crews of over a hundred on Federation ships, a much greater percentage of available power was utilized in maintaining the necessary environment. These ships do not appear even to maintain an artificial gravity except by constant rotation."
"Thank you for the history refresher, Mr. Spock," Kirk said with a faint smile as he rotated the command chair once again to face the viewscreen.
"Mr. Woida," Kirk said to the massive, muscular third-watch helmsman, "continue to track themâbut keep us safely outside their sensor range."
"Yes, Captain," Woida responded in a voice surprisingly soft for a man of his size. "And if they split up?"
"Unless you receive orders to the contrary, stay with the ship in the center of the formation, the one apparently being protected."
Nodding his acknowledgment, Woida hunched more closely over his controls, his
"Rendezvousing? Not attacking?"
"It would seem not. They are all within range of each other now, and no hostilities have been initiated by either side."
"Reinforcements? These are the ships those subspace radio bursts were intended for?"
"In all likelihood, Captain. From the limited sensor data available, all five craft appear to be identical to the first. However, based on the formation in which the five craft were traveling, it would appear that one of those craft was being purposely shielded by the others. The craft we have been following has joined that protective formation."
"A flagship of some kind?"
"Unlikely. As I said, Captain, all craft appear to be identical. It is only the shielded position in the formation that distinguishes the one craft from the others."
"Interesting. Keep track of that craft, Mr. Spock, even if the formation changes. Lieutenant Granger," Kirk went on, turning toward Lieutenant Uhura's third-watch counterpart, "any subspace radio activity?"
"None," Granger's bass voice returned. "There hasn't been a peep out of anyone since those bursts."
"And no possibility of tight-beam transmissions?"
"Not from that ship, sir, not without our knowing it."
"Rendezvous complete, Captain," Spock announced. "All have dropped to sublight and are clustered within kilometers of each other."
"Could they be communicating using something we can't pick up at this distance?"
"Affirmative, Captain. Direct visual communication is only one of many possibilities our sensors could not detect."
Whatever the six ships were discussing, if anything, it didn't take long. After less than five minutes clustered in normal space, their velocities so precisely matched they could have been linked by invisible rods, the six split apart and resumed warp speed.
"Where are they headed, Mr. Spock? And is the same ship still in the center of the formation?"
"Affirmative, Captain. They are now, in effect, retracing the path of the first craft."
Kirk grimaced. "Now that they have a posse together, they're coming back to look for us."
"Apparently, Captain."
"If the situation arises, how would our screens hold up against the lot of them?"
"Adequately, Captain, assuming all have the same capability as the first, but we could not resist a great many more."
"Rather imprecise, Mr. Spock. How many is a great many?"
"In this case, assuming the Enterprise maintains peak efficiency, I would estimate we could withstand the combined force of those six and another four-point-seven ships before long-term overloading became a significant danger."
"That's all it would take? Eleven ships like that?"
"Affirmative, Captain. You must remember that, though their weapons technology is at the level of the very early Federation ships, the destructive energy they can deliver is greater by a factor of more than fifteen. Virtually all their power is devoted to their drive and their weapons, whereas only a small fraction of the power in the early Federation ships was available for weaponry use. With crews of over a hundred on Federation ships, a much greater percentage of available power was utilized in maintaining the necessary environment. These ships do not appear even to maintain an artificial gravity except by constant rotation."
"Thank you for the history refresher, Mr. Spock," Kirk said with a faint smile as he rotated the command chair once again to face the viewscreen.
"Mr. Woida," Kirk said to the massive, muscular third-watch helmsman, "continue to track themâbut keep us safely outside their sensor range."
"Yes, Captain," Woida responded in a voice surprisingly soft for a man of his size. "And if they split up?"
"Unless you receive orders to the contrary, stay with the ship in the center of the formation, the one apparently being protected."
Nodding his acknowledgment, Woida hunched more closely over his controls, his
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