by James Blish
The woman moved to go around Kirk. Again, he blocked her way to Sulu. "Please," she said. "I must. I am for Lieutenant Sulu."
McCoy had joined them. "She's mad!" he cried.
"Bones, take care of Sulu." Kirk eyed the woman, her dark loveliness, her misty, dreamlike state. He had to fight his mounting horror as he recognized her. "Please, please," she said again. "I must touch him."
Once more she advanced—and once more Kirk shielded Sulu with his body. They collided. Her outstretched arms were around his neck. He felt nothing but revulsion. Shoving her away, he said, "Why can you destroy others—and not me?'
She looked at him, her eyes tortured. "I don't want to destroy. I don't want to . . ."
"Who are you? Why are you trying to kill us?"
"Only Sulu. I wish you no harm, Kirk. We are—much alike. Under the circumstances—" She broke off.
"Are there men on this planet?" Kirk demanded.
"I must touch him."
"No."
She stepped back. Then she flipped sideways, leaving only a line that thinned—and disappeared.
Kirk stared at the empty space. "Did you see that, Bones? Is this a ghost planet?"
"All I know is that thing almost made a ghost of Sulu! His shoulder where she touched him—its cells are disrupted, exploded from within. If she'd got a good grip . . ."
"Why? It's true we must seem like intruders here, but if she reads our minds, she must know we mean no harm. Why the killing, Bones?"
Sulu looked up at him. "Captain, how can such people be? Such evil? And she's—she's so beautiful . . ."
"Yes," he said slowly. "I noticed . . ."
Spock had changed the red alert to an increase of security guards. Sweep after sweep had failed to show evidence of any intruder. Uhura, bewildered, turned to him.
"But how did she get off the ship, Mr. Spock?
"Presumably the same way she got on, Lieutenant."
"Yes, sir." She spoke again, anxiously. "Mr. Spock, what are the chances of the Captain and the others being alive?"
"We're not engaged in gambling, Lieutenant. We are proceeding in the logical way to return as fast as possible to the place they were last seen. It is the reasonable method to ascertain whether or not they are still alive."
Radha spoke from where she was monitoring her station's instruments. "Mr. Spock, speed is increased to warp eight point eight."
He crossed hastily to the command chair. "Bridge to Engineering," he said into the intercom.
"Scott here, sir. I see it. It's a power surge. I'm working on it. Suggest we reduce speed until we locate the trouble."
"Very well Mr. Scott." He turned to Radha. "Reduce speed to warp seven."
"Aye, sir. Warp seven." Then, as she looked at her board, her eyes widened. "Mr. Spock! Our speed has increased to warp eight point nine and still climbing!"
Spock pushed the intercom button. "Bridge to Scott. Negative effect on power reduction, Mr. Scott. Speed is still increasing."
Scott, down in the matter-anti-matter reaction chamber, looked at the unit that had witnessed Watkins's death. "Aye, Mr. Spock," he said slowly. "And I've found out why. The emergency bypass control valve for the matter-anti-matter integrator is fused—completely useless. The engines are running wild. There's no way to get at them. We should reach maximum overload in fifteen minutes."
Spock said, "I calculate fourteen point eight seven minutes, Mr. Scott."
The voice from Engineering had desperation in it. "Those few seconds won't make much difference, sir. Because you, I, and the rest of this crew will no longer be here to argue about it. This ship is going to blow up and nothing in the universe can stop it."
Around Spock, faces had gone blank with shock.
Sulu's pain had begun to ease. McCoy, still working on his shoulder, looked up at Kirk. "There's a layer of necrotic tissue, subcutaneous, a few cells thick. A normal wound should heal quickly. But if it isn't, if this is an infection . . ."
"You mean your viruses?" Kirk said.
"It couldn't be! Not so quickly!"
"She just touched me, sir," Sulu said. "How could it happen so fast?"
"She touched the Transporter Ensign. He collapsed immediately. Then she got to D'Amato and we saw what happened to him." Kirk looked down at Sulu. "Why are you alive, Lieutenant?"
"Captain, I'm very grateful for the way it turned out. Thank you for all you did."
"Jim, what kind of power do they wield, anyway?"
"The power, apparently, to totally disrupt biological cell structure."
"Why didn't she kill you?"
"She's not through yet, Bones."
Spock had joined Scott in the matter-anti-matter chamber. As the Engineer rose from another examination of the unit, he shook his head. "It's useless. There's no question it was deliberate."
"Sabotage," Spock said.
"Aye—and a thorough job. The system's foolproof. Whoever killed Watkins sabotaged this."
"You said it's been fused, Mr. Scott. How?"
"That's what worries me. It's fused all right—but it would take the power of the ship's main phaser banks to have done it."
"Interesting," Spock mused.
"I find nothing interesting in the fact we're about to blow up, sir!" Scott was glaring at Spock.
The Vulcan didn't appear to notice it. "No," he agreed mildly. "But the method is extremely interesting, Mr. Scott."
"Whoever did this must still be loose in the ship! I fail to understand why you canceled the red alert."
"A force able to fling us a thousand light years away and yet manage to sabotage our main energy source will not be waiting around to be taken into custody." He put the result of his silent musings into words. "As I recall the pattern of fuel flow, there is an access tube, is there not, that leads into the matter-antimatter reaction chamber?"
"Aye," Scott said grudgingly. "There's a service crawlway. But it's not meant to be used while the integrator operates."
"However, it's there," Spock said. "It might be possible to shut off the flow at that point"
Scott exploded. "With what? Bare hands?"
"No, Mr. Scott. With a magnetic probe."
"Any matter that comes into contact with the antimatter triggers the explosion. I'm not even sure a man could live in the crawlway—in the energy stream of the magnetic field that bottles up the anti-matter."
"I shall try," Spock said.
"You'd be killed, man!"
"That fate awaits all of us unless a solution can be found very quickly."
Scott stared at him with mingled admiration and annoyance. There was a pause. Then he said, "Aye, you're right. We've nothing to lose. But I'll do it, Mr. Spock. I know every millimeter of the system. I'll do whatever must be done."
"Very well, Mr. Scott. You spoke, I remember, of the 'feel' of the ship being 'wrong'."
"It was an emotional statement. I don't expect you to understand it, Mr. Spock."
"I hear, Mr. Scott, without necessarily understanding. It is my intention to put an analysis through the ship's computers comparing the present condition of the Enterprise with her ideal condition."
"We've no time for that!"
"We have twelve minutes and twenty-seven seconds. I suggest you do what you can in the service crawlway while I return to the bridge to make the computer study."
Scott's harassed eyes followed him as he left. Shaking his head, he turned to several crewmen. "Lads, come with me."
They followed him quickly.
Down on the planet Kirk had also indulged some musings. As he watched McCoy check Sulu again, he said, "If this planet is hollow—if there are cities and power sources under the surface, there should be entrances. We'll do our exploring together. Lieutenant Sulu, do you feel strong enough to move now?"
"I feel fine, Captain."
"Is he, Bones?"
"He's back in one piece again."
"Whatever destructive power that woman has is aimed at a specific person at
a specific time. If I'm correct, when she appears again, the other two of us may be able to protect the one she's after. And simply by intruding our bodies between her and her victim. No weapons affect her."
"But how does she know about us, Captain? She knew my name, my rank—even the name of the ship! She must read our minds—" Sulu broke off at the sound of a whining noise that rose rapidly in pitch. "Captain! That's a phaser on overload!"
But Kirk had already whipped his weapon from his belt. "The control's fused," he said. "Drop."
Sulu and McCoy hit the ground. Kirk, flinging his phaser away with the full force of his strength, also fell flat, his arms shielding his head. They acted just in time. There was an ear-splitting roar of explosion. Debris rained down on them. Then it was over. Kirk got to his feet, looking around him.
"That answers our question," he said. "She does read our minds. Let's go . . ."
The crawlway was dark and narrow. Scott, two of his men, beside him, peered up through it. "All right," he said. "Help me up into it." Wriggling through the cramped space, a corner faced him. He edged around it, the heat of the energy stream meeting him. It flowed over him, enveloping him in a dim glow. He spoke into the open communicator beside him, his voice muffled. "Scott to bridge."
"Go ahead, Mr. Scott."
"I've sealed off the aft end of the crawlway. And I've positioned explosive separator charges so you can blow me clear of the ship if I rupture the magnetic bottle. I'm so close to it now that the flow around me feels like ants crawling all over my body."
"Mr. Scott, I suggest you do not engage in any further subjective descriptions. You have precisely ten minutes and nineteen seconds to perform your task."
Radha turned from her console. "Mr. Spock, we're at warp eleven point two and accelerating."
From the crawlway, Scott said, "I heard that. The ship's not structured to take that speed for any length of time."
"Mr. Scott, you now have ten minutes, ten seconds."
The hot glow in the crawlway was enervating. Every inch of Scott's body was tingling. "All right, Mr. Spock, I'm not opening the access panel to the magnetic flow valve itself. Keep your eye on that dial. If there's a jump in magnetic flow, you must jettison me. The safety control can't hold more than two seconds after rupture of the magnetic field."
"I am aware of these facts, Mr. Scott. Please get on with the job."
Spock had moved to his station, twisting dials. Now, pushing the computer button, he said, "Computer."
The metallic voice said, "Working."
"Analysis on comparison coordinates."
Three clicks came in succession before the computer said, "Unable to comply. Comparison coordinates too complex for immediate readout. Will advise upon completion."
Scott spoke again. "I've removed the access plate and I've got static electric charges dancing along the instruments. It looks like the aurora borealis in here."
Spock turned to Uhura. "You're monitoring the magnetic force?"
"Yes, sir."
"Don't take your eyes off it." His quiet face showed no sign of strain. "Lieutenant Radha, arm the pod jettison system."
"Aye, sir." She moved a toggle. "I'll jettison the pod at the first sign of trouble."
"Only on my order!" Spock snapped.
"Yes, sir. Warp eleven point nine now."
Spock used the intercom. "Mr. Scott, what's your situation?"
In the access tube, sparks were flying from all the metal surfaces. Scott himself seemed encompassed by a nimbus of flowing flames. "It's hard to see. There's so much disturbance I'm afraid any attempt to get at the flow valve will interrupt the magnetic shield."
"You have eight minutes forty-one seconds."
To himself, Scott muttered, "I know what time it is. I don't need a bloody cuckoo clock."
The three on the planet had reached a plateau of the red rock. They paused for rest; checking his tricorder, Sulu cried, "Captain! There's that strange magnetic sweep again! From zero to off the scale and then—"
"Like a door opening . . ." Kirk muttered.
From behind a jutting rock stepped the woman, the dreamy smile on her lovely mouth.
"And who have you come for this time?" Kirk said.
"For you, James T. Kirk, Captain of the Enterprise."
McCoy and Sulu stepped quickly in front of Kirk. "Keep behind us, Jim!" McCoy shouted.
She was standing quite still, her short, flowing garment clinging to the lines of her slim body.
Kirk spoke over McCoy's shoulder. "Why do you want to kill me?"
"You are an invader."
She moved forward and he spoke again. "We're here on a peaceful mission. We have not harmed you. Yet you have killed our people."
McCoy had his tricorder focused on her. Reading it, he said amazedly, "Jim, I get no life reading from her!"
"An android," Sulu said.
"That would give a mechanical reading. I get nothing."
Warily maintaining his place behind his men, Kirk said, "Who are you?"
"Commander Losira."
"Commander of what?"
"This base," she said.
Kirk studied her exquisite features. "You are very beautiful, Losira. You—appeal to me."
Stunned, McCoy and Sulu turned their heads to stare at him. The woman trembled slightly. Kirk noted it with satisfaction. "Do I appeal to you, Losira?"
She lowered her dark eyes. "At another time we might have—" She broke off.
"How do you feel about killing me?" Kirk said.
The eyelids lifted and her head came up. "Feel?" she asked. Then, very slowly, she added, "Killing is wrong." But nevertheless, she took another step forward. "You must not penetrate this station." Her arms stretched out. "Kirk, I must—touch you."
Behind his shielding two men, Kirk was frantically working at his tricorder. Where was the door? She must have emerged from somewhere! But as he worked, he talked. "You want to kill me?"
She stopped her advance, confused. "You don't want to," he said. "Then why do you do it if you don't want to?"
"I am sent," she said.
"By whom?"
"We defend this place."
"Where are the others?"
"No more." Abruptly, determination seemed to possess her again. She ran to them, arms out, struggling to get past McCoy and Sulu. They remained, immovable before Kirk, her touch leaving them unaffected.
"How long have you been alone?" Kirk said.
Her arms dropped. A look of depthless sorrow came over her face. Then, turning sideways, she was a line that vanished in a flash of light.
"Where did she go?" McCoy cried. "She must be somewhere!"
"She isn't registering," Sulu said. "But there's that power surge again on my tricorder! Bight off the scale! The place must be near here."
"Like a door . . . closing," Kirk said. He moved forward toward a big, distant, red rock.
The bridge chronometer was marking the swiftly passing seconds. Spock left the helm position to hit his computer button. "Computer readout," he said.
"Comparison analysis complete."
"Continue."
"Transporter factor M-7. Reassembled outphase point zero, zero, zero, nine."
Spock's eyebrows arched in astonishment; and Radha called, "Fifty-seven seconds to go, sir."
"Understood," Spock said. Radha watched him unhurriedly study the readout—and had to struggle for calm. Nor did he raise his head from his view box when Scott's blurred voice came from the intercom. "Mr. Spock."
"Spock here, Mr. Scott."
In the crawlway sweat beaded Scott's forehead. Vari-colored light played over his face as he cautiously eased two complex instruments toward the access hatch. "I'm going to try to cut through the magnetic valve. But if the probe doesn't exactly match the flow, there'll be an explosion—starting now." He crept forward with agonizing care.
Radha, her face drawn with strain, had poised her finger ready to activate the jettison button. Uhura cried, "Mr. S
pock, magnetic force indicator's jumping!"
Spock came out of his scope. "Mr. Scott, ease off," he said.
As Scott withdrew his instruments, the tempo of light fluctuation slowed. Uhura, eyes on her console, said, "Magnetic force back to normal, sir."
Radha, with forced composure, spoke. "Warp thirteen point two, Mr. Spock."
If he heard, he gave no sign. "Computer, for out-phase condition, will reversed field achieve closure?"
"Affirmative if M-7 factor maintained."
Spock struck the intercom. "Mr. Scott, reverse polarity in your magnetic probe."
"Reverse polarity?"
"That is correct, Mr. Scott."
"But that'll take a bit of doing and what pur-pose—?"
"Get started, Mr. Scott. I shall explain. You were right in your 'feel'. The Enterprise was put through a molecular transporter. Then it was reassembled slightly out of phase. Reversed polarity should seal the incision."
"I've no time for theory, but I hope you're right."
Radha said, "Fifteen seconds, Mr. Spock."
In the crawlway Scott heard her. "I'm doing the best I can. Wait—it's stuck." He struggled frantically with the magnetic probe, the sweat dropping into his eyes.
"Ten seconds," Radha said.
"I'm stuck," Scott said. "Blast me loose."
"Keep working, Mr. Scott."
"Don't be a fool, Spock. It's your last chance. Push that jettison button. Don't be sentimental. Push it. I'm going to die, anyway."
"Stop talking," Spock said. "Work."
Scott retrieved the probe. The control came free. He shoved it quickly into the access hatch. "It's loose now. But there's no time. Press the button." Lights flared wildly around him as the probe sank deeper into its hole.
Spock was at Radha's station. The needle on her dial had climbed to warp fourteen point one. Uhura, looking across at him, said, "Magnetic force meter is steady, sir."
As she spoke, the needle on Radha's dial had sunk to warp thirteen. It continued to drop. Spock flipped the intercom. "Mr. Scott, you have accomplished your purpose."
