The Rings of Tautee by Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch

keeping the ship on a course through the large rocks.
    "Dead ahead," Spock said.
    "Full stop," Kirk said. The huge asteroid looked barren from this distance. Kirk couldn't believe life could have survived there.
    "I believe we will need to move closer if we are going to attempt the rescue," Spock said.
    Kirk hated it when Spock used the word "attempt." He was so precise that he meant each word he said. Words like "attempt" meant Spock had doubts as to whether or not the project would succeed.
    Kirk pushed himself out of the captain's chair.
    No sense hesitating.
    Or dwelling on the word "attempt."
    They would succeed or die trying.
    "Mister Sulu," Kirk said. "Take us in as close as you can to that hunk of rock."
    "Aye, sir." Sulu looked somber as he punched in the coordinates. He would manually maneuver the close-in work. It was too sensitive for the computers.
    In times like this Kirk sometimes ached to pilot the ship himself. But Sulu was one of the best. Sulu would bring them in safely.
    64 THE RINGS OF TAUTEE "Mister Sulu," Spock said, "we face our first subspace wave in the debris field. It shall arrive in one minute. I have fed a course into your computer. On my mark, follow that course at one-tenth impulse for exactly three seconds."
    "Course laid in and waiting for your command, Mister Spock," Sulu said.
    Kirk glanced at Spock, who had his face buried in his viewfinder. He had trusted his life to Spock more times than he could remember. This time he was trusting the entire ship to him. One slip and the subspace wave would shake them apart, or slam them into a huge piece of the planet.
    "Captain," Uhura said, "the distress signal is coming from inside the asteroid."
    "Magnify screen, Mister Chekov."
    A gray, jagged-surfaced rock filled the screen, slowly rotating to the right.
    "Fifteen seconds until my mark, Mister Sulu," Spock said.
    Kirk turned to IJ-HURA. "Can you get an exact fix on the location, Lieutenant?"
    "It's too deep underground, sir." She swiveled toward him, her brow furrowed, almost as if she didn't believe the readings. "At least a kilometer deep."
    Kirk punched his comm button to engineering. "Scotty," he said, "can you rig the transporters to work through a kilometer of rock?"' "I wouldn't want to beam in there," Scotty said, his voice sounding far away. "But if it's the survivors you'll be trying to beam out, we can do it.
    If I can get a fix on them, that is."
    Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch "Now, Mister Sulu!" Spock said.
    The Enterprise surged forward, leaving the jag-ged hunk of rock behind.
    Then the subspace wave hit.
    Far worse than before.
    The ship bumped and rocked like a boat on a stormy ocean. Kirk gripped his chair, but that didn't steady him. His body bumped in and out of the chair as if it were a malfunctioning ejection seat.
    Sulu braced his feet against the console in front of him, but kept himself in place. Chekov bounced out of his chair. Spock tumbled backward, caught himself, but was unable to stand.
    Giant hunks of the destroyed planet flashed past the screen, and the shield howled and grew red with the impacts of small rocks and dust.
    Then the wave had passed.
    Spock stood, dusted himself off, and returned to the science station as if nothing had happened. Chekov shook his head once as if he were clearing it, then climbed back into his chair.
    "Mister Sulu," Kirk said, "get us back to that asteroid."
    "Aye, sir."
    The Enterprise wove her way through a maze of rocks. The light vibrating continued from the pounding of rocks against the shield.
    "How are our friends the Klingons, Mister Chekov?"
    "The fleas are still with us, sir. But they are staying safely above the debris field."
    THE RINGS OF TAUTEE Kirk nodded. The Enterprise continued to wind her way through the debris cloud. The movement didn't take very long, but it felt like forever.
    Finally the huge asteroid filled the screen again. The asteroid was vaguely triangular, with large chunks of rock hanging