Here's yet another example of my
meddling: Matt wrote an entirely acceptable little drabble… and I pretty much
disintegrated it.
The idea is his, the execution is mostly
mine, and I think it's a sharp little piece—for those who are rabid
If you are, you'll know what I mean.
"Children of the Night"
By Joseph Manno
(with Matthew
Gurney)
The deck tilted beneath her; the
inertial dampeners strained to compensate with less success than Sera would
have hoped. Balance suddenly became an aspiration; she and the bulkhead had a
meeting of the minds. Clutching her forehead, she stumbled towards the
turbolift.
Her Vulcan hearing was attuned to the
sounds of a Sovereign-class in battle: Shield generators thrumming…
engines groaning…. nigh-imperceptible tremor of quantum torpedo launches…
…long pause…
…alert status panel shifting from red to
green…
…and silence that announced she was no
longer needed on the bridge.
She thought, "…what beautiful
music they make"…
…and tried not to cry.