Текст книги "In Tempest's Wake "

Автор книги: Dayton Ward

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FOUR

Stardate 5829.6

Starbase 12

“So,” Nogura said, reaching for the brandy bottle in order to refresh Kirk’s glass, “now you know why I asked for the Enterpriseto be assigned to search for the Defiant.”

Kirk retrieved the glass, then leaned back in his chair. “Because of this new Tholian weapon?”

The admiral shook his head. “We actually had no advance knowledge of the technology the Tholians deployed on Traelus II. Captain Blair had detected elevated Klingon and Tholian ship activity in that region, and I authorized him to investigate. What he found there was . . . unfortunate happenstance, I’m afraid. Still, given everything we had going on at the time, it seemed prudent to classify it along with all other data and materials attached to Vanguard.”

“For what it’s worth,” Kirk said, “and from what Mister Spock showed me, the weapon doesn’t seem very practical, at least in its current form. It requires too much in the way of setup, which in turn requires stealth.”

Nogura shrugged. “While I can’t see it being of any real use against a hardened target, it could definitely be a problem if used against a civilian facility. What concerns me is how the Tholians were able to deploy the damned thing on Traelus II in the first place. You’d think the Klingons would’ve picked up on them being there long before that.” He gestured as though to dismiss his own idle thought. “Anyway, that’s not why I wanted the Enterprise.While the Defiantwas sent out there for a legitimate reason, to investigate heightening tension between the Tholians and the Klingons, we did suspect it might have some connection to one or both parties finding something related to the Shedai. You and your first officer guessed right: a sample of the meta-genome was found six years ago on Traelus II by the Sagittarius. Extensive surveys were never conducted thanks to the diplomatic screwup that gave the Klingons the right of claim to the planet.”

“Did Traelus II possess any other Shedai artifacts?” Kirk asked, frowning.

“Not that we know of,” Nogura replied, “and not that it matters anymore, anyway. With the Shedai gone, all of their technology appears to have self-destructed or else it’s simply inert. Even the pieces we have that we’d managed to get working to one degree or another are all dead now. Whatever control the Shedai possessed over their technology disappeared when they did.” Grimacing, he added, “That’s not necessarily a bad thing. On the other hand, we can still learn from the meta-genome samples we’ve collected and the research notes recorded by Lieutenant Xiong, Doctor Marcus, and their teams. The downside is that anybody else can, too.”

It required physical effort for Kirk not to react at the mention of Carol Marcus. He had not heard from her since her reassignment from Starbase 47 to a location that—to him and for the moment, at least—remained undisclosed. Their last meeting on Vanguard, like their recent previous encounters, had been awkward, with her maintaining her adamant stance that their son, David, remain with her and clueless as to Kirk’s true identity. Her fervent desire that the boy not come to idolize Starfleet while he waited at home for his father’s infrequent returns from long duty assignments was but one of the many points on which Kirk and Marcus disagreed. In the end, he acceded to her wishes, maintaining his silence for David’s sake.

There’s an easy way to fix that, he chided himself, just as Carol had reminded him the last time they spoke. He almost as quickly pushed away the thought—not because it was unwelcome but because he knew it was true.

Kirk forced his attention back to the matter at hand. “From what I know, the Klingons haven’t had the same success with respect to examining the meta-genome itself and learning anything from it. Are you saying we just got lucky with that?”

Nogura grunted. “Hardly. Don’t tell the Diplomatic Corps I said this, because heaven forbid we insult anyone, but my personal theory is that the Klingons’ research is flawed because they tend to go about these types of things the wrong way. Their primary motivation always seems to be how or if something can be used as a weapon. While I’m sure there’s a way to figure out something along those lines, we know that the meta-genome has so much other potential. I think the Klingons’ limited focus ultimately will end up being a waste of time. Besides, they—at least, their military and some segments of their leadership—don’t typically think long-term. They’re more interested in the quick exploitation of a resource. If they can’t get what they need or want from it right away, they tend to move on to something else.”

“Not all Klingons think like that,” Kirk said, recalling some of his own memorable encounters with various representatives of the empire.

“I agree,” the admiral conceded. “However, those brighter thinkers tend to be outnumbered by their less-enlightened counterparts. For now, that’ll have to be good enough, I suppose.”

Twirling the brandy in his glass, Kirk decided that the permission granted to him by Nogura to speak his mind was due for testing. “Sir, it occurs to be me that you neglected to mention this part of the Defiant’s mission during my debriefing about our rescue attempt.”

“I didn’t neglectany damned thing,” Nogura snapped, and for a fleeting moment his expression darkened with what Kirk recognized as restrained irritation. It was gone as suddenly as it appeared, and within seconds the older man had regained his composure. “As you’ve no doubt surmised all on your own, Captain, you had no need to know those aspects of the Defiant’s assignment, owing to my concerns about connections to the project. You still don’t, so drink my brandy, don’t push your luck, and try not to take advantage of my good graces.”

Kirk nodded. “Understood, sir.” They sat in silence for a moment, each staring at the top of Nogura’s desk, before the captain said, “Admiral, just about anyone who’s been paying attention knows you were the one who saw things going bad with the Klingons back before the Organians stepped in.”

“I’m not clairvoyant, if that’s what you’re going to ask,” Nogura remarked, the ghost of a smile teasing the corners of his mouth.

“Well, I guess that means I lose the betting pool, sir,” Kirk countered. “You knew that the situation in the Taurus Reach was going to escalate with the Klingons—and the Tholians, for that matter—well ahead of anyone else. You all but predicted the name of the Klingon ship that attacked that freighter in the Iremal Cluster, which tells me you either have some exceptional intelligence assets embedded within the empire, or else you may have had something to do with the freighter being in that location at that time. Maybe a diversion of some kind, but for what, I have no idea.”

It took a moment, but finally Nogura’s expression changed just enough to offer Kirk a hint that he might have guessed right. “Always thinking like a tactician. I knew there was something I liked about you, Captain.” Finishing his second drink since the start of the briefing, the admiral slid his empty glass across the desk, where it clinked against the brandy bottle. “And you’re right. The Ephialteswas a diversion of sorts, providing cover for a sensitive mission I gave to Captain Nassir and the Sagittarius, the very mission you ended up helping to complete.”

FIVE

Stardate 5729.8

U.S.S. Enterprise

Though Kirk had ordered the Red Alert klaxons silenced, the Enterprisebridge still was bathed in the soft crimson lighting indicating general quarters, and even the power utilized for standard illumination had been routed to systems that for the moment were of greater importance. Diverting his attention from the streaking stars on the bridge’s main viewscreen, Kirk glanced to his first officer, who was leaning over the hooded sensor viewer at his science station.

“Spock, any change?”

Without looking up from the viewer, the Vulcan replied, “No, Captain. The twelve Tholian ships are still pursuing the Endeavourand the Sagittarius.Sensor scans indicate that they have been running at their maximum speed for an extended period. Their weapons are active, but I detect no signs of fire being exchanged.”

“They should be picking us up, by now,” Kirk said. “What about our ships? What’s their status?”

It took an extra moment for Spock to respond, so focused was his attention on the telemetry being fed to the viewer by the Enterprise’s array of sensors. “The Sagittariusappears to be running at full power, but the Endeavourhas sustained significant hull and internal damage. Its propulsion systems are compromised but are operating well enough for the moment.”

For the moment, Kirk mused. From the report given to him by Admiral Nogura just prior to the Enterprise’s departure from Starbase 47, the Endeavouralready had taken quite a pounding at the hands of the Tholian attackers. The admiral was less than forthcoming with details pertaining to the Endeavour’s mission, or the Sagittarius, for that matter. In that regard, he remained as consistent as his predecessor, Commodore Diego Reyes, concerning just about anything with even the slightest connection to the station or the top secret mission that was the real reason for its presence in the Taurus Reach. The one thing about which Nogura had been very clear was that the Tholians harbored strong reasons for not wanting the Sagittariusin particular to make a safe return to Vanguard. It was obvious that the Endeavourhad been sent to support that effort and had continued to do so for the past two days, now acting as a shield for the smaller and more vulnerable Sagittarius.Based on Spock’s sensor scans, that had come at tremendous cost, and if whatever patchwork repairs that ship’s engineers had managed to cobble together failed, Kirk knew that the Endeavourquickly would be little more than a practice target for its relentless pursuers.

Not if we can help it.Kirk would be surprised if either the Endeavouror the Sagittariusstill possessed any of its photon torpedo complement, and their phaser batteries might well be exhausted, too. The Tholians likely were biding their time, waiting for an opening in which to strike.

As if this were not enough, Kirk also was thinking of his crew’s next pressing mission. The report from Starfleet Command regarding the bacterial affliction that was causing catastrophic damage to the planet Ariannus and its atmosphere had come while the Enterprisewas en route to the Iremal Cluster. The assault, the origins of which at this time remained unknown, threatened more than one billion people along with every other living thing on the planet. A massive orbital decontamination effort was the only hope, and the Enterprisehad been given that vital task. Since receiving the update from headquarters, Scott and his engineers had spent every available moment preparing the special chemical compounds that would be introduced into the Ariannus atmosphere upon the starship’s arrival. At present, that mission was being delayed by this side trip.

So, let’s get this over with.

“How much longer, Mister Sulu?” Kirk prompted.

Sitting at the helm console positioned in front of the captain’s chair, Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu looked over his shoulder and replied, “Just under five minutes at our present speed, sir.”

“With all of us moving at warp eight, those five minutes are going to be up mighty fast,” said the Enterprise’s chief engineer, Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, from where he sat at the engineering station to Kirk’s left.

“Weapons and shields ready?” the captain asked.

Scott replied, “Aye, we’re locked and loaded, sir. Everything shows green.”

“Captain,” said Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, from her communications station behind Kirk, “I’m picking up a transmission from the Endeavour, intended for the Tholians and alerting them about us.”

Kirk smiled. “Well, at least Captain Khatami knows we’re here. Mister Chekov, commence targeting on the Tholian ships. Stand by to fire on my command.” Given the already tense situation, and the Tholians’ notorious reputation for employing their weaponry ahead of their diplomacy, Kirk saw no harm in making sure the Enterprisewas ready for anything the instant it entered weapons range. The Tholians likely would see the move as aggressive, which was the point. He would leave the smoothing of any ruffled feathers to whichever distressed ambassadors from either side were so unfortunate as to draw their respective short straws.

I’ll send them flowers.

“Targets acquired, Captain,” replied Ensign Pavel Chekov from the navigator’s station next to Sulu. “All weapons standing by.”

Spock, still hovering over his sensor viewer, called out, “The Tholian ships are changing course, Captain.”

His muscles tensing in anticipation, Kirk leaned forward in his seat. “Some kind of tactical maneuver?”

“Negative,” replied the first officer. A moment later he rose to his full height and turned from his station. “They are now headed back toward Tholian territory.”

“However that’s defined today,” Scott added.

Kirk rose from his chair and moved around the helm console. “All twelve ships are retreating?”

Moving to stand at the curved red railing separating the upper bridge deck from the command well, Spock clasped his hands behind his back. “Affirmative, sir. Sensors detect no further hostile action on their part.”

“After all that?” Kirk frowned as he folded his arms across his chest. “They just turn tail and run? It doesn’t make any sense.” Whatever the Sagittariushad recovered was of enough importance to commit the Tholians to two days of high-speed pursuit and the risk of engaging superior Starfleet forces the closer they got to Starbase 47. Despite the pride he had in his ship and crew, Kirk found it hard to believe the Tholians would simply break off the chase when faced with one more vessel poised to oppose them.

Damned peculiar, that’s what it is.

“Captain,” Uhura said, “I’m picking up a transmission from the lead Tholian ship.”

“Put it on-screen,” Kirk ordered. A moment later, the main viewscreen shifted to display the image of a Tholian, and Kirk realized this was his first time actually seeing one himself. His only prior exposure to the mysterious, isolationist race had come through his review of log entries and archived communications between Tholian vessels and the Enterpriseduring the starship’s search for the U.S.S. Defiant.Like Loskene, the Tholian depicted in those communications, this one appeared to be an oversized crystalline structure, the only sign of a face being a pair of narrow white slits that were eyes, or whatever was the equivalent in Tholian physiology. Its body emitted a bright crimson hue as it stood within the roiling, superheated red-orange cloud that was its native atmospheric environment.

Thanks to the universal translator protocols Uhura already had engaged, everyone on the bridge was treated to the Tholian’s posturing as it said, “This is not over. You have meddled with forces you do not understand—and you will all pay for your interference.”No sooner did the Tholian finish speaking than the transmission ended, returning to the screen the view of multicolored streaks of passing stars as the Enterpriseplunged through space at high warp.

“He doesn’t sound very happy, does he?” Sulu asked.

Kirk said, “I don’t care what he sounds like, as long as they keep heading home.” Even with the Endeavour’s comprised condition, it, along with the Enterpriseand the Sagittarius, would be able to hold its own against even a dozen Tholian vessels. Abandoning a potential firefight and running for safe ground was the best solution for all involved. “Spock, track their course until they’re out of sensor range. Helm, proceed on course to rendezvous with the Endeavourand the Sagittarius.” He looked over his shoulder toward the engineering station. “Scotty, they’ll probably need some help once we get there.”

“Aye, sir,” Scott replied. “We’ll take good care of them.”

“It’ll have to be fast,” Kirk said as he turned to look at Sulu and Chekov. “Start computing a new course to Ariannus. Let’s hope this delay won’t end up costing us too much time. Scotty, we’ll need those engines of yours to keep pouring it on for a while longer yet.”

Once again, the chief engineer nodded. “Not a problem, sir.”

Kirk turned his attention back to the main viewscreen. “All right, then. Lieutenant Uhura, hail the Endeavour.Let’s see what kind of shape they’re in and get this over with. We all look to be in a hurry, after all.”

Though he knew his own mission to Ariannus was of the utmost importance, Kirk still wondered what had prompted Admiral Nogura to send the Endeavourand the Sagittariusinto harm’s way, and what was so critical that it was worth risking the Tholians’ ire.

Whatever they’re up to, it’s something big. Damned big.

SIX

Stardate 5829.6

Starbase 12

Leaning back in his chair, Kirk studied Nogura’s face as the admiral sat in silence, listening to the recounting of events. The older man had said nothing during Kirk’s recollection of the encounter, most of which already was recorded in the official report the captain had filed after the conclusion of the Enterprise’s role in the incident.

“After rendering assistance to the Endeavour,” Kirk said, “and escorting it and the Sagittariusto our rendezvous with the Buenos Aires, we proceeded with our mission to Ariannus to carry out the decontamination protocol.”

His hands clasped before him and with both index fingers extended so that they joined at the tips, Nogura looked almost Vulcan as he regarded Kirk. Then, in a manner that was very much not Vulcan, the admiral smiled. “And even that wasn’t such smooth sailing, was it? I read your report on that, too. Tell me, Kirk, is trouble naturally drawn to you, or do you have some innate talent for finding it with such ease and regularity?”

Kirk returned the smile. “I imagine it’s a bit of both, sir.” The temporary delay in the Enterprise’s journey to Ariannus resulting from its encounter with Lokai and Bele, two beings from the planet Cheron, had almost resulted in the ship not arriving at the planet in time to carry out the critical process of neutralizing the raging bacterial attack on its atmosphere. The aliens’ incredible story, with Bele, a political officer charged with apprehending those deemed to have committed treason against his planet’s people, having hunted Lokai from system to system across the galaxy for more than fifty thousand years, was one Kirk still found hard to believe. There had been no mistaking the antagonism and raw hatred Bele and Lokai felt for each other. After Bele forced the Enterpriseto return him and his charge to Cheron, it was discovered that such hatred—much of it fueled by racial bigotry—had brought about the destruction of its entire civilization. Lokai, escaping the ship, transported down to the dead world, and Bele, still driven by that same rage, continued his chase. There was no way to know for certain what had come of the pair, but Kirk held on to the theory he had submitted with that after-action report: Bele and Lokai had fallen to the same fate as the rest of their people.

Such a waste.

Kirk leaned forward until he could rest his forearms atop the desk. “The Sagittarius, sir. What was it carrying?”

“Our salvation,” Nogura said without hesitation. “And, as it happens, our doom. The system I sent Captain Nassir to investigate, Eremar, contained thousands of crystalline artifacts created millennia ago by a civilization that called itself the Tkon Empire. As it turns out, they and the Shedai had gotten on each other’s nerves more than once, and the Tkon figured out a way to defeat them or, rather, keep them at arm’s length. The crystals acted as a sort of trap for the Shedai, each able to hold a Shedai’s particular noncorporeal essence within itself. The trade-off is that the artifact becomes a potential power source, and when channeled through other Tkon technology or—in our case—whatever our engineers could cobble together, it can be used for all sorts of things, including some pretty catastrophic applications.”

Kirk’s brow furrowed. “Such as?”

“Such as blowing up planets,” the admiral snapped. “We learned that one by accident. The damn thing blew up eleven planets just from us trying to scan it. Thankfully, none of them were inhabited. How the hell we managed not to kill anybody, I’ll never know.”

“Good Lord,” Kirk said. Even imagining that level of devastation, unleashed with such ease, disturbed him. He had known—or surmised—that one of Starfleet’s primary motivations in seeking out any remnants of the Shedai and their technology was to prevent its being found first by one of the Federation’s enemies. What he had not dared to consider was the true immensity of that threat in this context.

“We’d already lucked ourselves into finding a couple of the things,” Nogura continued. “Xiong actually came across the first one, while he was a . . . guest of the Klingons on Mirdonyae V. When we rescued him from that, we also retrieved the artifact. Xiong and his staff were studying the thing, which contained a Shedai entity he’d managed to trap when it attacked the station. He and a team from the Corps of Engineers from the Lovellwere trying to communicate with the Shedai inside when it broke loose.”

“The Lovell,” Kirk said, putting it together and recalling the all-but-ancient Daedalus-class ship that for a time had been assigned to Starbase 47. “The official report said it was destroyed due to a failure in its warp engines.”

Nogura nodded. “A plausible enough cover story, considering the ship is older than I am.” He waited, as though expecting Kirk to be so reckless as to offer a joke or other observation on that point. When Kirk held his tongue—despite being unable to prevent just the slightest hint of a smile—the admiral said, “Your restraint has earned you another glass of my brandy.” Without asking, he refilled Kirk’s glass and slid it back across the desk.

Taking a pull from the glass, Kirk closed his eyes, relishing the warmth of the brandy as it coursed down his throat. He and Nogura had been savoring the spirits as they talked, and Kirk was beginning to feel the cumulative effects of the alcohol on his system. He imagined the look on the face of Commander Haystead or whoever else might wander into the office only to see him and Nogura drunk and either giggling like children or just sitting asleep in their chairs.

That’d look good in somebody’s report.

“Once we figured out what these things could do,” Nogura continued, “we started hunting for their source, or at least someplace where we could find more. Xiong figured if we could get enough of them, we might be able to construct an array or other device to use against the Shedai. Well, the Eremar system was our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The Sagittariusended up bringing back more than five thousand of the Mirdonyae artifacts.”

Kirk’s jaw went slack. “Five thousand? Each of them with the same power as the ones you already had?” Even with his limited knowledge of the Shedai’s true nature, he still was able to appreciate the magnitude and potential not only of the technology they once had wielded but also that of anyone else who may have created a weapon with the power to defeat them.

Nogura nodded. “Closer to fifty-five hundred, actually. As for what they could do, hell, we still don’t know the full extent of their capabilities. Xiong and his people were guessing right up until the end. It took them a bit, but they finally figured out how to build a contraption that definitely got the Shedai’s attention. They were able to tap into the conduits the Shedai used to move through space, sort of like interspatial or even interdimensional passages. They could move from planet to planet the way you and I walk across a room, and now we had access to that technology.”

Becoming more animated, the admiral began to move his hands as he spoke. “Can you imagine what we could do with that kind of ability? Putting aside the military applications, the possibilities for opening up avenues for exploration were incredible, and that’s just talking about the Taurus Reach. What if we were able to adapt what we’d learned and push farther out? Star systems and even other galaxies, centuries away by our standards, now close enough to touch.” Sighing, Nogura shook his head. “Yes, the tactical potential was important, too, particularly with the Shedai breathing down our necks, but it could’ve been so much more.”

“So what happened?” Kirk asked.

Nogura’s lips tightened for a moment before he replied. “What always happens in situations like this: somebody higher up in the food chain gave orders, and the rest of us had to follow them. Starfleet Command wanted that thing operational as soon as possible, despite almost continuous protests from Xiong and Doctor Marcus. I agreed with the notion, at least in part, and up until we were able to capture the Shedai.”

The statement was offered in such a matter-of-fact manner that it took Kirk an extra second to comprehend it. “So you were able to capture a Shedai?”

The admiral shook his head. “No. We captured allof them. After using Xiong’s new toy to locate every last Shedai, he was able to . . . transportthem into the array he’d built. Snatched them right from wherever they were in less time than it just took me to tell you that.”

“All of them,” Kirk repeated, the words barely a whisper. “Damn.”

“It scared the living hell out of me, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Nogura said. “Scared a lot of other people, too. The power requirements to keep them contained inside that thing were staggering, Kirk. But now that we supposedly had all of the Shedai under our thumb, so to speak, that started giving people all sorts of ideas. If we could blow up planets by accident with just one under our control, what might allof them, working in concert, be capable of?”

Kirk, his mind already racing to conjure those possibilities, felt a cold chill run down his spine as he imagined the Klingons, the Romulans, or other Federation adversaries coming into possession of such unchecked power. “So these other people, the Tkon, were able to do something like that?”

Nogura shrugged. “We don’t know. So far as Xiong was able to determine, the crystals largely were meant as prison cells for the Shedai. Whether they later attempted to exploit whatever advantage this gave them is anybody’s guess. Of course, the Tkon have been dead for thousands of years, too, so maybe they did try something and paid a heavy price for it.”

For the first time, Kirk was beginning to see the real reasons behind the climax of the battle at Starbase 47. “It’s no wonder the Tholians wanted to get their hands on the array, and the Shedai.”

Nogura, to Kirk’s surprise, laughed. “Hardly. They didn’t want the array, but our having it definitely pissed them off. You had your own taste of that, didn’t you?”

Kirk nodded. “Yes, sir. We certainly did.”

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