by Tony Daniel
Kirk looked at the asteroid on the viewscreen. Nothing. The phaser seemed to have no effect whatsoever.
“Fire phaser bank number two,” said Kirk.
“Firing phaser bank number two,” Sulu replied, and he pressed the button adjacent to the one he had just depressed.
This time the effect was dramatic.
The asteroid began to break apart. At first there was only a tiny crack formed at the point of contact with the phaser blast. But this crack began to spread in a hundred different directions, then in thousands. The last point of the initial phaser blast served as a destination for these cracks to travel from. Kirk realized that what he was seeing was the breaking up of the asteroid along the lines that the Horta had dug. It was cracking up, as it was expected, as it needed to.
This might just work!
“The asteroid is separating along projected lines,” Spock reported. “Sensors indicate that the mass is breaking up in chunks manageable by our tractor beams.”
“Excellent,” said Kirk. “Chekov, tractor beams. Sync them with the sensors and let’s clear that thing away.”
“Aye, sir,” said Ensign Chekov.
The ensign began applying the tractor beams to the various masses. Sulu made minute course adjustments. The two worked together, reading each other’s moves. It was as if they had been born to maneuver a starship.
As he watched, Kirk could see the asteroid debris field being pushed away. The lift door opened, and Scotty exited. He looked at the viewer and nodded with satisfaction.
Chekov and Sulu maneuvered a particularly large mass using the tractor beam combined with the Enterprise’s impulse engines. The chunk spun out on a course that was outside of the system and into deep space.
As Scott watched the readings from the engineering station, his smile turned to a look of concern. “Captain, we have a problem.”
“What is it?” asked Kirk.
“The center mass. It hasn’t broken up the way that we planned.”
Kirk immediately saw what Scotty was talking about. It seemed relatively small, a tiny mass at the center of the exploded asteroid. Surely that couldn’t be a problem.
But Kirk’s every spacefaring instinct told him it could and that it was.
“That center is dense. It’s composed of iron and nickel. I believe it’s too big to move with our tractor beams.”
“Mister Spock?” Kirk demanded of his science officer.
“Tensile strength is too great for either our phasers or photon torpedoes to have effect,” Spock reported. “The specific mass would absorb a photon torpedo barrage. We would damage the surface, perhaps even split it into pieces, but it would not be sufficient to change its trajectory enough to avoid planet fall.”
“Where’s it going to hit?”
“It is headed for the main population center,” Spock said. “It will hit in two minutes.”
“Notify the colony,” Kirk said to Uhura.
“Aye, sir.”
“Damage estimate,” Kirk ordered.
“Captain, the diameter of that asteroid piece is one hundred and twenty-one meters.”
We got so much of it, said Kirk to himself.
“Captain, there will be atmospheric contact in forty-five seconds,” said Spock.
“Follow it in. Blast it out of the sky,” said Kirk.
Sulu and Chekov moved to execute his orders, and the Enterprise drew closer, phasers blasting away.
It was no use. The surface was scored, but it was not broken apart. Its velocity was too great to be halted by applied tractor beams.
“Hull temperature increasing,” said Scotty from the engineering station. “Captain, the Enterprise will burn up coming in at this angle.”
“Correct course,” said Kirk. “Follow that thing in as close as we can!”
They were within ten kilometers of the rock; the atmosphere was beginning to tug at the Enterprise.
“Captain, outside hull temperatures at maximum. Shields are down forty percent.”
“One more shot, Sulu,” said Kirk.
Sulu fired the phasers.
One, two, three, Kirk counted grimly.
Nothing. No effect.
“Take us about and get us out of here,” Kirk ordered.
“Coming about, sir,” said Sulu.
“Hull temperatures still climbing, Captain,” said Scotty.
The Enterprise was buffeted as it hit the outer atmosphere and skipped across it like a flat stone on a lake. The only difference was that every hit of the stone on this lake caused an increased friction.
Hold together, Kirk thought. Hold together, girl.
A final wrenching buffet threw everyone into the backs of their seats as the Enterprise cleared the atmosphere. She was free. Safe in space.
“Establish orbit, give me a visual on that strike,” said Kirk.
Sulu, who by any measure should have been rattled, responded with his customary fluidity and brought the ship into orbit. There was a moment of blurriness as the sensors sought the correct resolution and focus, and then the planet appeared.
The first effects of the asteroid strike began. An enormous plume of dark material rose up from below into the atmosphere. First it turned a milky brown, and then, occluding a large portion of it entirely, a black cloud rose, and within that cloud rose a red flame. The flame grew into what appeared to be an angry eye in the center of darkness.
“What is that?” Kirk asked.
“A volcanic eruption of enormous magnitude,” said Spock. “It appears that the asteroid fragment has dug its way to the planet’s mantle and has temporarily opened the passage for the outflow of magma onto the surface. What you’re witnessing is a volcanic plume approximately a hundred thousand feet high.”
“Can anything survive there?” Uhura asked.
“We will discover that shortly, Lieutenant,” said Spock. “The planetary puncture is closing over and the escape of magma has sealed it. There has been a rapid heating of the atmosphere by three degrees Celsius. This will linger for approximately six months, and then the cooling effect caused by the occlusion cloud will begin to take effect as sunlight is blocked. At that point there will be rapid cooling, snowstorms, and the initial formation of the glaciers that will eventually cover a good portion of the northern and southern hemispheres of this planet.”
“Hannah,” whispered Kirk.
“Sensors indicate that damage is far less than a full-on strike would have produced. The planetary biosphere will likely survive in some measure. Whether that will be enough to preserve the Vesbian colonists remains to be seen.”
“If only there were something we could do,” Uhura said.
But there was not.
Beneath the Enterprise, Vesbius writhed in agony.
Seventeen
Captain’s log, Stardate 4915.2. The Enterprise was able to prevent the utter destruction that a full-on asteroid strike would have brought. However, a sufficient portion of the asteroid fell on the planet. It will be years, perhaps centuries, before Vesbius fully recovers. According to our sensors, a substantial portion of the biosphere remains. The fate of the colonists and Horta digging volunteers on the planet at this time: unknown.
The Enterprise landing party beamed down onto what had once been the veranda overlooking the verdant valley of the Vesbius colony. Kirk looked out upon a scene of devastation. The crops had been flattened by a pressure wave and then burned to a crisp by the eruption of the planetary magma. All smelled of sulfur and ash.
There were a few items that had escaped the cataclysm below. While the river was gone, a ragged scar now filled with dry ash, two houses out of the hundreds still stood by its ashen banks. They seemed more skeletal framework than houses.
“Spock, is there anything alive?”
Spock turned his tricorder in several directions. “Minimal macrobiology remains in this valley. Confirming the Enterprise sensor readings that this is the status of this world. It seems a few insect analogs have surv
ived, particularly a ground-hugging insect similar to Earth’s cockroach. There may be a sufficient gene pool to enable a recovery, in fifty or a hundred years.”
“The cockroaches survived,” said Kirk with chagrin.
“Captain, I do have life signs, headed in our direction at extreme velocity. Four humans and one Horta.”
The landing party waited. Walking around on this devastated landscape might be dangerous. It sure was depressing.
Five minutes later the antigravity sleds arrived. In them were Chancellor Faber and his staff. Hannah was among them. She looked as changed as the planet. They landed the sleds on the ruins of the veranda and stepped off.
“Chancellor,” Kirk said.
“Captain Kirk,” Chancellor Faber replied. “We are very glad to see you. We’re very happy to see anyone. The cooling has set in, and now the tidal wave of destruction has passed. We are crawling out of our holes. We are alive—thanks to this Horta and his compatriots.”
The chancellor indicated the Horta, whom Kirk recognized as Slider Dan. The Horta shuffled in place in acknowledgment.
“We also had two shelters with cave-ins near the entrance,” Faber continued. “My people would have been trapped, but for the Horta. They dug us out.”
“Chancellor, it would appear that the planet’s biosphere was damaged but not destroyed,” said Spock. “The ecological interactions that lead to your integration with the planet’s biome seem to remain intact. There may be just enough diversity remaining to support it.”
“We have felt this,” said the Chancellor. “And we will make it our mission to increase the diversity and bring our planet back.”
Hannah stepped up next to her father.
“We also know something that your sensors cannot tell you, Mister Spock,” she said. “Vesbius is hurting. She is in pain, and we feel her anguish.” She looked to Kirk and smiled sadly. “Since none of you are Vesbians, you cannot experience this. We are a different species. We have made ourselves into something that is not human. While we did so to survive, we have given up something that can be precious and useful. We have given up our separateness. We are bound to this world now, for better or worse.” She stepped next to Kirk and took his hand. “Two roads met in the woods, Captain. And we Vesbians have taken the less traveled path. Perhaps it is a good direction, perhaps not. But it is another direction from yours.”
They toured the planet on the antigravity sleds and took in a vista of vast destruction. Yet even now, in the aftermath, people were emerging. Preparations were being made for the long winter to come. It would be generations before this planet knew the warmth of a true spring again. Yet the ground could still be sown with winter wheat and barley, at least for temporary sustenance.
“In five hundred years, this valley will be under a sheet of ice that will continue growing for perhaps another ten thousand,” said Hannah. “All the things that we made here have been swept away, ground away. We must move south to the equatorial regions and hope the ice does not reach us there.”
“You will tell your children how it once was, and they’ll tell their children,” Kirk replied. “That will be enough to keep hope alive.”
Hannah smiled slightly. “I suppose we can take comfort that we will have a future.”
They landed near what had once been a grand château. One tall stone corner remained; a shelter had been thrown up by settlers who had come to reclaim their land. Children ran about outside the hastily built structure. Kirk marveled that they were playing. Playing as if nothing had happened.
A little girl recognized Hannah and ran over to her.
“You! You’re the one who said it would be all right,” she called to Hannah.
Hannah took the girl’s hand and tears welled in her eyes. Kirk put a hand on her shoulder. The girl stared up into her face and smiled. “You said it would be all right, and it is. I still have Mommy and Daddy. I even have my little brother,” she said, shaking her head. “Well, I guess everything can’t be completely all right.”
“You don’t mean that,” Hannah said.
“I don’t care what Uncle Rudolf and his friends say, I like the Horta!” said the little girl. “I wish I could have one for a pet, but Mommy says they are people and not meant for keeping.” The girl noticed the antigrav sled. “Can I ride on your sled?”
Finally Hannah did smile. “I think that can be arranged,” she said. “Right now, in fact. Why not? Let’s go. Let’s do it!”
Hannah took the little girl by her hand and, laughing and skipping together, the two went to the sled and climbed aboard. Hannah took the controls and activated them. The sled rose about a meter above the surface. “All right, hang on tight!” she called back to the little girl, and then they were away.
Kirk watched them fly over the planet’s devastated surface. He watched Hannah draw away. When she was just a speck on the horizon, he flipped open his communicator.
“Kirk to Enterprise,” he said.
“Scott here, Captain.”
“Two to beam aboard, Mister Scott.”
• • •
Captain’s log, Stardate 4917.2. We are in orbit around the mining colony Janus VI. The Horta that we took to honeycomb the asteroid, which was on a collision course with the Vesbius colony, have now been returned to their homeworld. They have returned as heroes. The Horta were able to expand and strengthen the planetary shelters in record time. They are the saviors of the population of Vesbius.
Mister Spock, Doctor McCoy, and I are transporting down now to speak with the Horta about our agreement. Will Spock remain on Janus VI? Unresolved.
• • •
The grand chamber of the All Mother was filled with every Horta who could cram into the vast structure. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy stood on the stone dais near the middle of the cavern near the great central stalactite. They had been conducted there by a Horta honor guard, which, Spock assured the captain, was in no way intended to be threatening. Kirk found being surrounded by six Horta moving in unison on all sides a bit disconcerting, nonetheless. These Horta seemed to be very well-behaved Horta, and their synchronized movements spoke of a great deal of practice and drill.
Kirk had an auxiliary plan in place. All he had to do was press a button on his communicator and they would be beamed out. But at this depth, there was no way to achieve transporter lock. They would have to trust in the goodness of the Horta heart.
“The All Mother gives you her greetings and kind regards, Captain,” said Spock. “She asked that I allow myself to mind meld with this congregation of Horta in order to report to you on its deliberations. May I have your permission?”
“Is it dangerous?” asked Kirk.
“I do not believe so,” Spock replied. “Over the past few weeks, I have developed methods for integration with their hive mind, and protection of my Vulcan individuality. It is a curious phenomenon; the Horta have gotten used to me as well. There is a difference between venerating a legendary presence from the past and actually living with that person.”
“Are you saying the Horta are getting tired of you, Mister Spock?”
“I have received no such indication, Captain.” Spock tilted his head. “On the contrary, they seem to have grown rather fond of me. But more in the manner of doting on a favorite relative than the motherly affection they showed before.”
“Very well,” said Kirk. “Proceed, Mister Spock.”
Kirk watched Spock stretch forth his hands, palms out, as if trying to grasp an imaginary pool of energy in the air about him. And then something strange happened. Spock’s eyes rolled up in his head, and he let out a breath, as if he’d suddenly been shaken unexpectedly. But then soon after that his breathing regularized again. “Spock, are you all right?”
“Yes, Captain, Spock is all right.” It was Spock’s voice, but Kirk knew that this was not Spock speaking. There was softness to his words, a difference in delivery. Kirk knew the All Mother was now speaking through Spock.
Spock’s eyes rolled
back down, and for all intents and purposes, he looked just like Spock. That is, until he smiled, a contented and happy smile.
“Speaker from the Stars is welcome among us,” said Spock’s voice, confirming Kirk’s suspicions. “As are you, Kirk. Kirk, the Finder, the Captain of the Night Sky.” Spock’s body turned to McCoy. “And you are McCoy, the Healer.”
McCoy, clearly pleased with the sobriquet, nodded gallantly. “Good to see you again.”
“We are reminded of you, McCoy, every spring when the magma rises and increased temperatures cause us to experience twinges within our old wound. You saved our life, but this spot still gives us trouble from time to time.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said McCoy.
“No one could’ve done better, Doctor McCoy,” said the voice from Spock. “And for that we will always be grateful.”
“You’re very welcome,” said McCoy.
Spock turned to Kirk. “And now I come to the matter of Speaker from the Stars. You made a promise to us, Captain Kirk. Spock agreed to this promise, and the children saw that he was sincere. All of the children saw that when they looked into his mind. But we also observed something else. We experienced Speaker from the Stars as he truly is within. He is human, also Vulcan, and a man of integrity and daring. I instructed the children to study this being, this Vulcan, as they traveled with him and to try to understand him. In the same way, Spock has attempted to understand us. And after this time among you, the children have reported back to me.”
“And what have they discovered?” said Kirk. “We had misfortune befall us on the voyage. You’ve seen that there are evil ones among us, humans who would do wrong to others for no reason. The Vulcans are different from us, in many respects. Theirs is a planet of logic, nonviolence, and peace.”
“Yes, Captain. We are aware of this. We are not so backwards as you suppose. Within this planet lie repositories of our memories written into crystals, into the structure of the rock itself. We are a literate species, a tool-using species, and, as you have discovered, an intelligent species who appreciate the strengths and differences of others.”
“That has become completely apparent,” said Kirk. “And you, your children, have been invaluable in our recent efforts.”
