by Various
“. . . celsior to captain of Stella Signata. Please power down your engines and respond. The stress on your vessel is reaching critical. This is Captain Hikaru Sulu of the U.S.S. Excelsior to captain of Stella Signata. Please power down your engines and respond. The stress on your vessel is reaching critical. This is . . .”
The Federation vessel in pursuit had been trying to hail them for God only knew how long. “Open a communication channel. Bring it on screen,” Eve ordered. “And stay out of sight.” Harry did as Eve said, then stood up and fell back into the shadows. Sulu? Sulu? Where had she heard that name before? She didn’t have time to give the question much thought because the viewscreen was soon filled with the chiseled visage and red uniform of a Starfleet captain. He looked familiar too. “Captain Sulu, this is Eve McHuron. CEO of Childress Drilling.”
“Ms. McHuron,” responded Captain Sulu, his eyes wide in surprise. “We had no idea you were aboard. It’s nice to see you again. Are you in any trouble? Can we render assistance?”
Nice to see you again? So she had met him before. But where? “No, Captain. We’re all fine now. But thanks for the offer.”
“May I ask why you ran from us?”
“I’m deeply sorry for that. It began with pilot error, and then our warp engines locked up. It took us awhile to get them back under control.”
“I see,” Sulu replied in a tone that could hardly be described as trusting. “I can’t help but notice the Stella Signata has not filed any flight plan with the Federation Ministry of Civil Spaceflight.”
“You are correct. I apologize for that as well. However, according to Federation mining regulations, companies that specialize in hypersonic element extraction, such as Childress, have considerable leeway in exploring new sources of dilithium. As you know, dilithium is indispensable in starship operation and maintaining the standard of living humanity has come to enjoy. When a potential new source has been brought to our attention, we must work quickly to confirm its viability so extraction . . .” Harry started waving his arms at her and whispering loudly, trying to share some great revelation he just had. It wasn’t helping her concentration. She did her best to block him out. “So extraction can begin as soon as possible. Going through the process of, um, filing a flight plan and, um . . .” He started whispering louder. What the hell? Couldn’t he see she was busy saving their butts? She wanted to reach over and punch him. “The process of filing a flight plan and having it approved is time consuming and often a barrier to the work we do. Captain Sulu, believe me when I say it’s work we at Childress take very seriously. The Federation recognizes the importance of what we do and allows us to forgo a flight plan when new sources of dilithium are at stake.” She finally turned toward Harry. “What!”
“Sulu was on the Enterprise when they intercepted us on the way to Ophiucus III,” whispered Harry.
“Is there a problem, Ms. McHuron?” Sulu asked.
“No, not at all. I was simply discussing with my pilot how we might avoid incidents such as this in the future.” Eve flashed her best smile. “Captain Sulu, I never had the chance to thank you all those years ago. If it hadn’t been for our fortuitous encounter with the Enterprise, we most certainly would’ve died. You saved all our lives.”
“Saved our lives!” Harry’s voice boomed. He wasn’t whispering anymore. He stomped over next to Eve, in full view of the Excelsior’s bridge. “If it wasn’t for him and the Enterprise, we never would’ve been in any danger.”
She clenched her jaw. She wasn’t going to punch him. She was going to kill him.
“Harry Mudd,” Sulu said in dismay. “Ms. McHuron, are you sure you’re not in any danger? Has this man taken you against your will?”
Eve laughed. “No, Captain Sulu. I’m quite safe. On occasion, I contract Mister Mudd for transportation when I want to keep a low profile. Very low.” She cast Harry a look of disgust. “I can assure you the only person Mister Mudd poses any danger to is himself. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve wasted enough of your time, and we’re on a tight schedule. You can contact my company, and they’ll fill you in on the details of our flight plan as well as the planet where we believe significant dilithium deposits exist.”
Sulu was silent, perhaps deciding whether or not to believe her story. Her heart began to beat a little faster. She hadn’t lied—not completely anyway. In the event of the very circumstance she was confronting right now, she’d filed a flight plan back at Childress and the name of a planet. Of course, the planet was in a system several light-years away from the one she was actually going to.
“Very good, Ms. McHuron,” Sulu said after what seemed like an eternity. “We’ll check with your company. You’re free to go. Safe journey, and don’t hesitate to contact us if you need anything.”
Eve released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Thank you, Captain. Stella Signata out.”
“Whew, that was close,” remarked Harry after the screen went blank. “I must admit, I had my doubts, but you came through like a charm, my girl.” He patted her shoulder and gave her a smile of paternal pride that disappeared the moment she punched him in the gut.
Eve wondered if Harry’s buyer had deliberately chosen the dreariest part of Phocis Harju V as a meeting place. Since they’d landed on the M-class planet and disembarked from the Stella Signata, they’d encountered little more than thick fog and constant lightning flashes from every direction. She had yet to see any greenery. It was all jagged rock and sheer cliff faces. There was no sign of humanoid life, according to Harry’s old-as-dirt tricorder that was strapped across her torso. Yet she didn’t feel alone, and she wasn’t talking about Harry, who was so close he was literally breathing down her neck. It felt like they were being watched.
Eve was convinced the feeling was related to the giant crystals that grew everywhere around them. They stretched upward as high as three to five meters and emitted a ghostly light that oscillated irregularly but seemed to speed up whenever she got closer. Even more unsettling was the howling noise. As first she’d thought it was the wind, but there was very little wind here. She soon realized it was the crystals making the banshee-like sound.
“On the upside, at least we won’t have to find him in a crowd,” Harry said as they started making their way around a large rock.
“Don’t you know what he looks like?”
Harry gave a sheepish grin. “I can’t rightly say. I’ve never seen him.”
“Geez, Harry. What do you know about him?”
“It’s for the best. Like I said, in my line of work—”
“ ‘You learn not to ask too many questions,’ ” Eve mimicked. “Yeah, yeah, I know. But you could’ve at least gotten better directions than ‘walk north until you run into me,’ especially when we can’t see anything through this fog. The tricorder still isn’t picking up any—” Suddenly, the status display on the tricorder went blank and all the indicators stopped blinking. Eve stared at the dead hunk of junk. Had the damn thing finally conked out? She slapped the side of it with her hand, for no reason other than that’s what everyone did with malfunctioning equipment.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your tricorder is—” The wail of the crystals turned into a full-blown scream. A strong burst of wind struck Eve. She shivered against its chill and felt her flesh prickle.
“WHAT IS YOUR PETITION?” a resonant voice called through the fog. It seemed to come from all around. Eve looked in every direction, but could find no body to put to the voice. The wind became even stronger.
“Petition?” Eve yelled into the growing cyclone. “We have no petition. We came here because we were summoned here.” The wind at once subsided, and the crystals quieted enough that she could hear footsteps coming toward them from the other side of the rock they’d been walking around.
“Maybe we should find another route. I don’t t
hink I like this one,” said Harry. She felt him pulling away. She quickly turned and grabbed his arm before he could take off back the way they’d come.
“You’re not going anywhere,” she hissed through gritted teeth. Right as she turned back in the direction of the footsteps, a tall and lanky figure appeared around the bend of rock. He was humanoid, although his skin was considerably paler and oilier than the skin of any human Eve had met. He had a shock of gray hair that erupted from the sides of his head. The top was mostly bald. He wore a green-and-black robe. His eyes were fierce and wild, like eons had passed since they’d last seen civilization.
“Welcome,” the figure said, this time without the godlike echo of his last statement. “You must be Harcourt Fenton Mudd.” He gave Harry a broad smile.
“I-I-I am,” said Harry, his voice rising a full octave on the last word. His body was pressed so tightly against the rock face, he seemed to want to disappear into it. “But you may call me Harry.”
“Very good,” the green-and-black figure said, and then turned toward Eve. “And you are?”
“Eve McHuron. I have the item you seek. Harry was a little sketchy on details, though. Do you have a name?”
“I am Portal 57. You may deliver the item to me.” He reached out his gloved hand from beneath his robe, his palm open and waiting.
Odd name, thought Eve. It sounded more like a place. “Before I can give you the item, Mister . . . um . . . 57, I need to know more about your intentions. The Genesis device is very dangerous.”
Harry was suddenly pressed against her back, breathing into her ear. “What are you doing? Just give the nice man the data crystal so he can pay us, and we can be on our way.”
“I need to be certain what he’s using it for. Why else do you think I came?”
“A perfectly reasonable request, Eve McHuron,” Portal said. “Follow me.” He turned and began walking back the way he’d come. Eve and Harry followed.
Portal led them up to a cliff face that extended at least fifteen meters high. He stopped and looked up as if their journey would continue up and over. Eve could find no steps or ladders, and the surface of the rock was far too sheer to climb without equipment. She was about to suggest finding an alternate route when Portal walked straight into the mass of rock and disappeared. Eve and Harry exchanged looks of shock.
A disembodied voice drifted out from the cliff face. “Are you coming?”
Eve stepped through the wall just as Portal had done and emerged into a cavernous room that extended up almost as high as the cliff face. The first thing that caught her eye was a large holographic display of a star, glowing with a green hue. It must’ve had a circumference of ten meters. The room itself was filled with computer terminals and lab equipment. It was all situated on metal platforms layered against the cavern wall. The platforms were connected by a system of stairs and ramps. Against the back wall, Eve spotted a symbol or insignia of some kind emblazoned on the rock—an image of a green flame. Much to her surprise, it looked familiar, but she couldn’t place it. There were smaller doors against the back wall, and Eve could only wonder where they led. She moved to walk farther inside, but Portal’s arm shot out from under his robe with preternatural quickness, blocking her path.
“I’m afraid I can let you go no farther,” explained Portal. “I hope what I have shown you is sufficient to allay your fears.”
“Of course it is,” Harry said nervously. “There’s the star, and there’s all the research equipment. What more could you ask for? Their word is good as gold as far as I’m concerned.”
Eve had to admit, all of this was impressive. Harry was right for once: Aside from actually visiting their system and seeing their star-gone-nova in person, what more could she ask for? Still, she couldn’t help the bad feeling swimming around in her gut. Something about the green flame symbol . . .
“Well?” Portal prompted. Eve reached into her breast pocket, took out the data crystal, and thrust it toward Portal, who, with another burst of inhuman speed, swiped it from her grasp. It disappeared beneath the folds of his robe. She then gave him the encryption code. “Return to your ship. When we confirm you’ve delivered what we asked for, payment will be delivered.” Before either Eve or Harry could speak, Portal had disappeared into the shadows of the room.
“I guess that’s that,” said Harry. “Best be on our way.”
As they passed through the holographic veneer of rock and started back the way they’d come, Eve knew beyond any doubt that she’d made a mistake. She suddenly wished she’d never agreed to this. She wanted to be back at her company, working alongside her team. It was hard, relentless, and deadly work. Eve often joked that the only thing more difficult than extracting dilithium was finding people willing to do it. Other governments came by the labor through less-than-reputable means. The Klingons used prisoners, the Rura Penthe penal colony being the most famous example. It was rumored the Breen used slaves. Yet, despite the difficulty and risks that had ultimately killed her husband, she found it fulfilling. She was making a difference, a good one. She wasn’t handing over the most dangerous weapon ever developed to a person she didn’t even know.
After they’d gone past the rock where they’d encountered Portal, Eve lifted the tricorder and, on a whim, decided to test it again. It came back to life with the rhythmic chirping and blinking of its scans. It wasn’t broken. It had simply stopped working moments before encountering Portal.
Remembering the green flame icon she’d seen on the wall, she used the tricorder to access the computer on Harry’s craft. By the time they’d reached the Stella Signata, she’d found the information she was seeking. It wasn’t good . . .
“Harry,” she said as he started up the landing ramp. She stayed at the bottom. “We have to go back and take Genesis from Portal.” Harry came to a dead stop halfway up the ramp. Wearing a look of profound bewilderment, he turned slowly to face her.
“I’m sorry, Evey. But could you repeat that? It sure sounded like you said, ‘We have to go back and take Genesis from Portal.’ There’s no way you would say such a thing, because it would definitely interfere with his plans to pay me.” Harry’s voice had settled into a growl of disgust by the time he’d finished speaking.
“Remember the green flame icon on the wall? It’s from the Tkon Empire—an ancient and powerful civilization that collapsed after the sun in their home system went nova.”
Harry walked back down, shaking his head in disbelief along the way. “Are you suggesting Portal is from the Tkon Empire? That’s preposterous. The Tkon Empire existed over . . . over . . .” His eyes rolled up into his head as he sought a figure in vain. “The point is, they existed a very long time ago.”
“Six hundred thousand years,” said Eve.
“Exactly. Not even the Genesis device can save an empire that’s been dead for six hundred millennia.”
“You know as well as I do time travel is possible. It’s dangerous, but when you’re desperate, you do dangerous things.” Eve winced at her words. They hit too close to home.
“Am I supposed to believe this Portal person has been here all this time, waiting for the right piece of technology to come along?” Harry rolled his eyes. “I’ve never met anyone who lived six hundred thousand years, and I’ve met my share of humanoid life forms.”
“I don’t think he’s humanoid. I think he just looks that way.” Still, Eve had to admit Harry’s point. How would a being secluded on this planet, even an immortal one, find his way to knowledge of Genesis? He would almost certainly need help.
“Let’s say you’re right,” he said. “So what if he’s trying to save his long-dead empire? How does that affect us now?”
“Think about it, Harry. The Tkon Empire was one of the most advanced civilizations our galaxy has ever seen. If they don’t collapse when they’re supposed to, it could change the course of history. T
he Federation might never exist. You might never exist.”
Harry stared at her, realization then fear passing across his eyes. While empathy wasn’t his strong suit, self-preservation most certainly was. “Even if we wanted to, how could we stop him now?”
“I have a code that will corrupt all data contained within the storage crystal, even after it’s been downloaded. Unfortunately, we’ll have to do it from inside the facility.”
“From inside?” Harry said in disbelief. “How do you plan on doing that?”
“I’ll have to figure it out once I get there.”
Harry gave an incredulous laugh. “Well, don’t expect me to follow you. Portal didn’t strike me as the sort who would respond well to being reneged on.”
Eve nodded. “Fine. I wasn’t expecting you to come anyway.”
“What?” Harry asked in shock.
“I need you to stay behind. The tricorder stopped working the moment we got near Portal. You’ll have to be my eyes and ears from here.”
Harry was silent for a long moment, and Eve could see the gears turning behind his eyes. “If you have to do this, could you make sure he’s paid me first before you wipe out the data?”
Equipped with another data crystal containing the code, a communicator, and an old type-2 phaser she took with her whenever she ventured far from home, Eve stood before the fake cliff face, trying to determine where the hologram ended and the real cliff began. As she walked, her hand moved through the illusion of rock like it was passing through a thick fog.
“Ouch,” she yelped as her palm struck something cold and hard. She removed her hand and began shaking and flexing it. She cursed herself both for walking too fast and for making such a loud noise. Her eyes darted every which way, looking for movement. All was still and quiet. She lifted the communicator to her lips and whispered, “Are you picking up any life signs, Harry?”
