Star Trek 11

by James Blish

  Kirk's eyes narrowed. He eyed the small device; and spotting its connecting switch, extended a wary hand to it. He snatched it back, the Scalosians watching him expressionlessly. Then, despite the shock of contact with it, he grabbed it boldly with both hands. They froze on it. Deela ran to him; and, careful not to touch the switch herself, released his hands.

  "He told you not to touch it!" She folded his numbed palms between hers, warming them. "The cold will soon pass," she said.

  Rael spoke. "Our mechanism has its own self-defense arrangement. You should have heeded me."

  Kirk jerked his still icy hands from Deela's. He'd had enough of these aliens; and, feeling a sudden compunction for Compton, sprawled and untended in his heap, he went to him quickly to kneel beside him. But what had been the young and vigorous Compton was now withered by age, mummified as though dried by a thousand years of death. He looked up in horror and Rael said, "In your struggle with Compton, you damaged some of his cells. Those newly accelerated to our tempo's level are sensitive to cell damage. They age very rapidly and die."

  Kirk got to his feet. "Is this what you have prepared for us?"

  "We all die," Rael said. "Even on Scalos." Kirk looked around at the bland faces. Where was the way back into his own time . . . the time of Spock . . . of McCoy . . . of Scotty? A sense of unutterable loneliness overwhelmed him. He walked out of the center.

  Behind him Deela cried, "Rael, why did you lie to him? He didn't damage the dead one! You did!"

  Rael shrugged. "Perhaps he'll be less violent now."

  "There was no reason to make him feel worse than he does!"

  "What do you care about his feelings?"

  She changed her tactics. "Rael," she said, "he's not one of us. You know he's temporary." But Rael still stooped to his work. She sighed; and touching the medallion on her belt, listened. "He's in the medical laboratory trying to communicate with the Vulcan. He likes that one of the pointed ears. His species seems capable of much affection."

  "I have noted that," Rael said stiffly.

  "Oh, stop sulking! Accept it. We've had to accept it all our lives! Don't make it worse!"

  Rael seized her fiercely in his arms. Her hand was reaching to caress his face when she broke free, laughing and breathless. "Not now," she said. "Go back to work."

  He didn't. Instead, he watched her as she followed Kirk out of the center. She found the door of the medical laboratory open. Ignoring the rigid figures of Spock and McCoy, she went to the communicator console where Kirk was dictating. "Kirk to Spock," he was saying. "I have fed all facts ascertainable into the computer banks—" He broke off as he saw Deela.

  She studied him—a beautiful woman estimating a man for her own reasons. "Go ahead," she said. "It won't accomplish anything. But it may be historically valuable."

  Eyes on her, he continued. "Hyper-acceleration is the key, Mr. Spock. We are in their control because of this acceleration. They are able to speed others up to their level as they did to Compton and me. Those so treated then exist at their accelerated tempo, become eventually docile but when—"

  "Damaged," Deela said.

  Kirk gave her a mock bow. "When damaged, they age incredibly fast as if the accelerated living—"

  "Bums them out," Deela said.

  "Destroys them. Compton is destroyed. The device affixed to life support produces an icy cold. It is my belief it will turn the Enterprise into a gigantic deep-freeze and for purposes the Scalosians alone know—"

  "Quite correct," Deela said.

  Kirk was ironic. "My opinion has been verified. Their mechanism has its own protective shield, preventing physical contact. I have no means of destroying it. But its destruction is imperative. I am dictating this in the presence of their Queen who has denied none of it. Why she has permitted me to—"

  Leaning forward, the cloud of her hair brushing his shoulder, Deela spoke for the record into the communicator.

  "Because by the time you hear this, it will be too late. Our mechanism will be activated."

  He turned to look at the two stiffened figures of his friends. The ice would creep through the Enterprise to stiffen them forever in a shroud of frost. He swung to Deela. "Why? Why are you doing this?"

  "You really want to know? In a short time, it won't matter to you a bit. You'll be quite happy about it, as Compton was."

  "I want to know."

  "Oh dear. You are so stubborn. It should be obvious to one with your reasoning powers that we're doing it because we have to." She pushed the shining cloud of hair back. "A long time ago, we used to be like you. Then our country was almost destroyed by volcanic eruptions. The water was polluted and radiation was released. That changed us. It accelerated us . . ."

  He waited. It was possible. The long-term effects of radiation were still unpredictable. "The children died," she said. "Most of the women found they couldn't bear any more. All our men had become sterile. We had to mate outside our own people . . ."

  A doomed race. Listening, Kirk seemed to know what he was going to hear. He felt a stab of pity. She gave him a sad little smile. "So, whenever a space ship came by, we sent out calls for help. But accelerating their crews to our level burned them out . . ." She came to him and put her head on his shoulder. "Don't you see? Must I give you every detail? We're going to take you down with us. Maybe one or two others of your crew, too. We have to. We'll be kind to you. I do like you, you know."

  "And the rest of my crew?" Kirk said.

  "It's as you said. They'll be kept frozen in a reduced animation we know how to suspend. It won't do them any harm. We'll save them for our future needs. You won't last forever. You know that." At the look on his face, a cry tore from her. "Captain, we have the right to survive!"

  "Not at the cost you impose," he said.

  "You'd do exactly the same thing! You came charging down into that life support room just as soon as you knew it was threatened! You'd have killed every one of my people if you could have . . ."

  "You had invaded my ship! You were endangering my crew!"

  "There's no difference!" she cried.

  "There's every difference. You are the aggressors!"

  "We didn't ask for our situation. We're simply handling it the only way we know how to—the way our parents did and their parents before them . . ."

  "Would you call it a real solution?"

  She looked at him, silent. "Have you tried any other answer? Deela, tell your scientist to disconnect his construction—to destroy it! I promise you we'll use every skill we have to help you. We'll even move you to another planet if you want that. We'll call on the most brilliant minds in our Federation for help!"

  She shook her head. "We have tried other ways. We tried to make the transition to your time level. Those who made the attempt died. We're trapped, Captain, just as you are now. I'm sorry for what it's going to do to you but I can't change it. And you can't change me."

  The medallion on her belt beeped. She touched it and Rael's voice said, "Go to the Transporter Room, Deela. Signal me when you're there and beam down."

  "With the captain?"

  She was frowning, concentrated on the medallion—and Kirk grabbed his chance. He pulled his dictated tape partially out of the computer so that Spock would note it. He heard Rael say, "Yes. I'll activate our mechanism and follow you. I'm setting it to allow enough time for all of us to get off the ship. But don't delay, Deela."

  Kirk had raced for the lab door. Behind him, Deela shouted, "The captain's gone!"

  "Go after him, Deela!"

  But his headstart had given him time to make the Transporter Room. He rushed to its console, ripped out some wire; and had it shut again to conceal the damage as Deela ran in.

  "Why did you leave me?" she demanded.

  "I panicked," Kirk said.

  The green eyes swept over him. "I don't believe that," she said.

  "Can we leave before he activates your device?" he said.

  She looked at him, her smooth brow puckered
suspiciously. Then she touched the medallion. "Rael, we're in the Transporter Room. You can—activate."

  "Beam him down at once."

  Still doubtful, she gestured Kirk to the platform. At the console, she pushed a switch. It swung, limp—and the smile in the green eyes deepened. "What did you do to the Transporter, Captain?"

  "Nothing," he said. "It must be what your people did. Try the switch again."

  She obeyed. Then she touched the medallion communicator. "The Transporter isn't working," she said quietly.

  "What did he do to it?"

  She delayed her answer. The impishness glinted in her eyes. She was enjoying herself. It was fun to pretend she didn't know what she knew. "Nothing," she told Rael. "He didn't have time. I think it's a—what do they call it? A malfunction. You'd better not activate yet." She turned to Kirk, the amusement still in her face. "What would you say it is, Captain?"

  He assumed a thoughtful look. "Well, our technicians reported a loss of energy. That may be it."

  She spoke solemnly to the medallion. "The captain says his technicians—"

  "I heard him. Do you expect me to believe him?"

  It was the Queen in her who spoke. "I expect you to check into all possible causes." She turned the medallion off to smile the impish smile at Kirk. "If I had a suspicious nature," she said, "I'd say you sabotaged the Transporter, Captain. To buy time."

  "Of course," he said.

  She laughed with delight. "Aren't we the innocent pair? I despise devious people, don't you?"

  Kirk nodded gravely. "I believe in honest relationships, myself." He hesitated. "Deela, you've never seen my quarters. Before we leave, wouldn't you like to?"

  Their eyes met. "Are they like you?" she said. "Austere, efficient—but in their own way, handsome?"

  "Yes," he said.

  In his cabin, the first thing she went to was his mirror. "Oh, I look a perfect fright! All this running about has left me a perfect fright, hasn't it?"

  She lifted a brush from the dresser and flung her head over, the shining hair cascading to the floor. She parted the chestnut curtain with a finger, peeking at him. Then she laughed, tossed the hair back and began to brush it, a delicious woman attracting what she knows her preening has attracted. An electric spark flashed between them.

  "Are you married, Captain?"

  "No."

  "No family, no attachments? Oh, I see. You're married to your career and never look at a woman."

  "You're mistaken," he said. "I look, if she's pretty enough."

  "I wondered when you'd say something nice to me. Am I more presentable now?"

  "A bit," he said.

  She was facing him, the brush still in her hand. "It was quite delightful kissing you when you couldn't see me. But now that you do see me, don't you think . . .?"

  He strode to her, took her in his arms and kissed her. She drew back—but he had felt her body tremble. Her arms were reaching for his neck when she whirled out of his embrace, her weapon out. "Unfair!" she cried. "To try and take it in the middle of a kiss!"

  She thrust it back into her belt. "But I'll forgive you. I'd have been disappointed in you if you hadn't tried to take it!"

  "Was I too crude?" Kirk said.

  "Just don't try It again, that's all. You're so vulnerable to cell damage. All I have to do is scratch you." She held up pink nails. Then she lifted his arms and placed them around her waist. "You'll come around to our way of thinking sooner or later. And it will be better sooner than later. That's a promise."

  In the medical lab, Spock, still functioning in normal time, was about to insert a tape of his own into the computer when McCoy called him. "Have a look at this, Spock. There's no question about it. The same substance is in the captain's coffee as in the Scalosian water. But not a trace of it in the other cups."

  Spock spoke to Christine. "Nurse, program that information and see if we can isolate counteragents."

  A mosquito whined. Spock, striking at air, turned to McCoy. "Did you just hear—"

  "I've been hearing that whine ever since we beamed down to Scalos."

  "We brought it with us. And I know what it is. I shall be on the bridge." They stared after him, puzzled, as he raced out of the lab. He was still running when he brought up short on the bridge. "Lieutenant Uhura, replay that Scalosian distress call on my viewer!"

  "Yes, sir."

  Rael's image appeared on the screen. Spock leaned forward in his chair, waiting for the voice. It came. "Those of us who are left have taken shelter in this area. We have no explanation for what has been happening to us. Our number is now five . . ."

  It was enough. Spock twisted a dial on the viewer; and the voice, rising in pitch, became incoherent babble, went higher still until it turned into recognizable whine. Spock slowed the voice back into words, lifted it up again into the whine—and nodded. On the screen, the image, rushed faster and faster, had first blurred. Then it vanished.

  "So," Spock said to nobody.

  Back in the lab, McCoy had made a discovery, too. Banging away the whining mosquito at his ear, he spoke into the intercom. "McCoy to Spock." "Spock, here."

  "Did you leave a tape in the computer? I've tried reading it but I get nothing but that whine . . ."

  "Bring it to the bridge at once, Doctor."

  Kirk's voice. They listened to it on their separate edges of eternity, each of them reading his own fate in Compton's and Kirk's.

  ". . . Its destruction is imperative. I am dictating this in the presence of their Queen who has denied none of it. Why she has permitted me—"

  Deela's voice came. "Because by the time you hear this, it will be too late. The mechanism will be activated . . ."

  Silence fell over the bridge people. Spock leaned swiftly to his console. "I read no change in life support," he said. "Lieutenant Uhura, alert the rest of the crew."

  Scott rose and went to him. "We could use phasers to cut through the wall, bypass the force field and get to that mechanism . . ."

  "Mr. Scott, we cannot cope with them on our time level."

  "Is there a way to cope with them on theirs?"

  "A most logical suggestion, Mr. Scott. Please stand by in the Transporter Room. Dr. McCoy, I should appreciate your assistance."

  They left with him, their faces blank with bewilderment. Uhura followed them with her eyes. "Mr. Sulu, if nothing has happened yet, wouldn't it mean that the captain has managed to buy time, somehow?"

  "Yes," Sulu said. "But how much?"

  Rael had restored sufficient energy to the Transporter for a beam-down. But his success had a bitter taste. His fancy persisted in tormenting him with present and future images of Deela with Kirk. Finally, he touched his own medallion.

  "Deela . . ."

  She didn't answer. Languorously, she was combing her hair to rights before Kirk's mirror. He watched her from a chair. Then he got up, smiling at her reflection in the mirror. As he kissed the back of her neck, she turned full into his arms.

  "Deela!"

  Rael stood in the cabin doorway. The hot fury in him exploded. He reached for her; and seizing a lamp, hurled it at Kirk. Kirk ducked it. Cell damage! In his accelerated state, this could be no ordinary fight. Deela screamed, "Rael, stop it! Don't hurt him! Rael! Captain, get out . . ."

  Grabbing her weapon, she fired it at the lamp. But Rael lunged at Kirk again, barehanded. She fired again, spinning him around with the force beam. "That's enough!" she cried. "Did he damage you, Captain?"

  "No."

  "How very fortunate for you, Rael! Don't try anything like that again!"

  "Then don't torment me. You know what I feel."

  "I don't care what you feel. Keep that aspect of it to yourself. What I do is necessary, and you have no right to question it." She paused to add more quietly, "Allow me the dignity of liking the man I select."

  He stood sullen but subdued. "Is the Transporter repaired?" she said.

  "I have more work to do."

  "Then do it." He l
eft. She remained silent, more depressed by the scene than she cared to show. After a long moment, she spoke. "He loves me. I adored him when I was a child. I suppose I still do." She made an effort to recover their former mood. "I must say, you behaved better than he did."

  "I hope so," Kirk said.

  Something in his manner startled her. "What did you say?"

  "That I hope I behaved well."

  She was staring at him. "And nothing troubles you now?"

  "Why are we here?"

  "Our leaving was delayed. Don't you remember? You damaged the Transporter."

  "That was wrong," Kirk said.

  "It certainly was."

  "But we are going to Scalos?"

  "Do you want to?"

  "Yes."

  "What about your crew? Aren't you worried about them?"

  "They'll be all right here."

  Her mouth twisted with distaste. "What's the matter?" Kirk said.

  "You've completely accepted the situation, haven't you? You even like it."

  "Am I behaving incorrectly?"

  "No." Then she burst out petulantly. "Oh, I liked you better before! Stubborn, independent . . . and irritating! Like Rael!"

  "Those are undesirable qualities," Kirk said.

  But she was brooding over her discovery. "Maybe that's why I liked you so much. Because you were like him."

  The muscles of Kirk's face ached under the blandness of his smile. But he held it. She touched her medallion. "Rael, you don't have to worry about him. He's made the . . . adjustment"

  McCoy was examining the vial of liquid he had processed. "It's finished," he told Spock wearily.

  Spock took the vial; and, mixing some of its contents with the Scalosian water, exposed the result to an electronic device. "It counteracts the substance most effectively, Doctor."

  "Under laboratory conditions. The question is, will it work in the human body? And the second question is, how do we get it to the captain?"

  Spock poured some of the Scalosian water into a glass. He lifted the glass in a toast to McCoy. "By drinking their water." He drained the glass.

  "Spock!" You don't know what the effects—"