by Star Trek
were several other posts inside the building at evenly spaced
intervals. Since his retina pattern was on file here, his status
as a Starship Captain should guarantee his admission to the main
auditorium. Then, it was just a matter of toasting the other sets
of detection units that were scattered throughout the complex.
He mounted the steps, only 10 meters from the men, when he saw
the thing that he was hoping against. Each guard carried a hand-
held scanner that would certainly alert them of his weapon. 'No
turning back now,' Jim thought as he approached the men. He
thumbed the adjustments on his phaser as quickly as possible, then
raised his arm with his weapon extended.
"Here you go, boys," Jim said as he handed the first man his
phaser. "Guess I can't bring her with me, can I?"
"No, Sir." the young man said. "Thank you, Captain."
"Have you heard if the Assembly has come to a decision yet?"
the Captain inquired as he allowed another guard to scan his right
eye for identification. A third pointed his scanner at Jim and
played it up and down to be sure there were no other weapons on his
person.
"They are announcing the results of the vote this minute," the
second guard replied. "I think you've missed most of the
PAGE 136
excitement... Captain Kirk," he said, reading Jim's name on the
identification readout.
The first guard handed Jim a receipt for his weapon. "Thank
you; you're clear."
"Thank you," Jim said while eyeing the sidearms on the men.
He then turned toward the entrance of the building and considered
his options. Silently he trod up the sloping walk between the two
marble columns and into the building.
The lobby was enormous, lavish, and reflected a myriad of
cultures, Jim noted, as he saw the artwork that adorned the walls.
Beings from all corners of the Federation hurriedly filed in and
out of the restrooms, concessions stands, meeting rooms and hall-
ways. Most seemed to be aliens to this world, taking care of the
governmental business, which would not wait until their return to
their respective homes.
Jim spotted the hallway that would lead him, ultimately, to
the Supreme Assembly Hall. He headed down it. Before he had made
much headway, he came to the first of the internal security check-
points. They allowed him to pass through as soon as the scanner
had correctly identified him, and determined that he was no threat
to security.
'This way, at least, I won't have to keep destroying
Federation equipment,' he thought to himself.
Jim hurried his pace, passing others, many of whom were pages
or aides to their esteemed leaders. There were no windows in the
halls; all the lighting was artificial. They were tunnel-like
passageways, color coded in florescent pastels, the shade dependent
upon which wing or auditorium you were heading for. Jim passed
through four shades of blue hallway, and four different check-
points before he reached the final one, and after that, the last
(and lightest blue) corridor leading to the Supreme Assembly Hall.
The Security team looked no less lax, this deep into the
complex, than the first team did. The five men at this post were
keeping a wary eye on all comers, regardless of rank or position.
Jim approached the team and allowed them to do their duty.
They approved his access to the Hall and let him pass. As he went
by the last man, he smiled politely and nodded at him. While the
man returned the smile, Jim swiftly gave a Karate chop to the
muscular cords on the man's neck, bringing him down in an instant.
As the others turned to see what had happened, Jim had the
immobilized guard's weapon leveled at the four of them. He fired
without a moment's hesitation. The security men fell as if they
had been marionettes with their strings cut, and astonished cries
from the other beings in the hall erupted. He was glad to see
them run for help in the opposite direction that he was going.
Jim ran full-tilt to the last corridor, knowing that there
would be no shortage of armed guards on his tail any second. As he
PAGE 137
rounded the corner, he saw in the distance another security detail
standing outside the doors to the Hall. He stopped himself short
of crashing into a slender young woman with her arms full of
documents. In fact, there were several people walking the long
corridor between the guards and himself. They saw him with his
weapon and turned, shouting for the security team, while the young
woman slowly backed away, frightened.
Jim knelt and aimed his phaser down the hall. A blue stun
blast raced down the hall after the frightened people. They
dropped in their tracks, but the guards were shielded by the people
and too far from the blast to be affected. He could hear the
footfalls of many other guards coming from the corridor behind him.
He was on his feet again and ran down the hall firing ahead of him
at the security men now crouched by the doors. They returned fire.
Tight and deadly beams of crimson and blue screamed past the
Captain, but now the stun effect had better range as Kirk managed
to get close enough to them that they became dazed, and then one
final blast took them out.
The security team trailing Jim rounded the corner far behind
him. They reacted like a crack outfit, prepared for terrorists,
assassins or worse. There were twenty men in all. Five of the men
lay on the floor, aiming their phasers down the long corridor.
Five knelt behind them, five stood, while five more, slowly
advanced towards Jim who was only ten meters from the Supreme
Assembly Hall's doors. Jim turned. Seeing them, he stopped.
The guards were distant, but it did not matter. Jim was sure
that if he turned his back for a split second, he would be shot.
He was equally certain that if he just stood there at a standoff,
he would be shot still. He did the only thing he could think of.
Captain Kirk slowly raised his weapon above his head with both
hands. The guards halted their advance for a moment, cautious of
his every move. There was still at least 40 meters distance between
them, only a little breathing room for the Captain.
"Drop it!" the Lieutenant in charge shouted, and began to
advance, ever so slowly.
With his arms still raised, Jim gave the front end of his
weapon a sharp clock-wise twist. The phaser gave a distinct whine
that immediately began to increase in pitch and volume. The
security team heard it, and understood its meaning.
"It's on overload!" the Lieutenant shouted, and in a split
second calculated that at his best running speed, he could reach
the Captain just as the phaser exploded. "Fall back!" he ordered
his men, while turning himself around and retreating with all of
his might.
Kirk held his weapon up until he was sure that they were no
longer a threat to him. He quickly twisted the end of his phaser
counterclockw
ise, cancelling the power build-up. He pointed it
down at the ground before him and discharged the excess energy,
PAGE 138
burning a large crater in the floor.
James T. Kirk turned back towards the Assembly Hall, and
looked at the closed doors that separated him from the most
dangerous man in the Galaxy. He took a long deep breath and held
it for a moment. Slowly he exhaled it and nodded to himself in
silent affirmation. 'This is it,' he thought.
"Once more unto the breach!" Kirk quoted aloud, just because
he had always wanted to. He rushed at the doors to the great hall,
bursting through them like a battering ram, and into the mammoth
auditorium.
* * *
"I now ask you again," The President addressed the Assembly,
"to welcome Emperor Tromok of the Klingon Realm, as we discover
together the result of today's vote." The president pressed the
appropriate button on his dais and turned towards the beam-down
point. Several moments later the Klingonese monarch and his
entourage took shape on the stage. Admiral Sorr stayed beside
the Emperor as they approached the President of the Assembly.
"Again, I welcome you, Emperor Tromok," the President spoke and
offered his hand to the Klingon.
"Again, I am honored," he said in formal response.
The president turned toward the gathering of beings and broke
the seal on the document in his hand. He looked at it and began to
read its contents for all to hear.
"On the planet Earth, stardate 5859.5, in the seventy-third
gathering of the Supreme Assembly of the United Federation of
Planets, the question of the admission of the Klingon Empire to the
Federation was decided. The decision was 'for' admission." The
President stopped for a moment, knowing what would happen next.
As if on cue, sizable vociferation of joy arose from a great
many members of the Assembly who were hoping for this announcement.
The others remained silent, accepting the outcome, if not agreeing
with the decision. The noise died down and the President continued
his address.
"In the act of acceptance of this new member as part of our
alliance, we will now engage in the formality of signing the
document of admission." The President turned to the Emperor.
"Emperor Mocdar Jek Tromok of the Klingon Realm, you have read the
charter of the Federation during your journey to this world?"
"I have," he stated
PAGE 139
"Do you accept the responsibility for all contents therein and
agree to uphold all directives pertaining to interplanetary peace
and security?"
"I do," he spoke deeply.
"Then we all bear witness this day, that as Chief Spokesman
for the Klingonese people, Emperor Mocdar Jek Tromok and all in his
authority, are now full members of the United Federation of
Planets, and recipients of all the benefits and privileges of that
status." The President stepped back from his podium, and allowed
the Emperor to stand behind it to place his signature on the
document of admittance.
The Emperor looked down at the Charter of the Federation,
then he paused, lifting his head from the document and turning it
towards Admiral Sorr. "Do you acknowledge me as Emperor of the
Klingon Realm, Admiral? Do you recognize my authority as Supreme?"
He spoke low enough that only Sorr and the President could hear
him. Both Sorr and the President were taken aback by the question,
but Sorr dared not hesitate in giving him an answer.
"You are my Emperor. You are all I obey," spoke Sorr almost
silently, apprehensive of the man he stood with.
The Emperor smiled at Sorr through narrow eyes. It made the
Admiral all the more fearful. Sorr, a Klingon who had faced
dangers unflinchingly, now frightened by a glance, a mere facial
expression. Sorr felt ashamed of himself, but nonetheless he was
scared.
It was Garth who smiled at Sorr. It was Garth who only now,
received the full authority of the Klingon Empire from the highest
ranking representative. He could now sign the document with the
confidence of his signature's legitimacy.
The Emperor of all the realm known as Klingon placed his
signet ring on the base of the document and impressed the royal
emblem on it. He then looked out upon the congregation and raised
both his arms above the audience in a gesture of victory. They did
not know the extent of his victory.
"I must now take my leave of you," he spoke to the throng. "I
will take this good news to my people. We will prepare for the new
beginning that we will forge, together... Rest assured," he lowered
his voice and discontinued his smile, "you will see my face again."
There in that brief moment of silence, before a single being
could respond to the Emperor's statement, before a single hand
could strike another in applause, the doors to the immediate rear
of the auditorium burst open with a thunder. And like the
irrepressible backwash of a tide, all heads turned toward the sound.
* * *
PAGE 140
Captain James T. Kirk bolted through the main entryway in a
blur of black and gold, and came to a halt atop the central, down-
sloping isle. It took only a second for his eyes to adjust to the
lighting and to single out his target on the distant stage. He was
too far away. 'But not for long,' Jim silently promised the man
on the stage.
"Everybody DOWN!" Jim shouted, and an alarm sounded throughout
the complex at that very moment.
Many things happened at once, from that point on. Jim could
see the Emperor's elite guards drawing weapons that only they and
Starfleet security were allowed to bear. With his peripheral
vision, he could see security running towards him from their posts
at the emergency exits. The crowd whom he had just ordered to get
down looked at him, dumb and unmoving, like a herd of deer caught
in the illuminators of a land transport vehicle, but most important
to him was the locked gaze that he shared with the man who wore the
Emperor's face.
All doubt that Jim might have had concerning the identity of
the Emperor was stripped away when Jim saw the recognition, no, the
visible shock, on the Emperor's face. He would never know how
disturbing his presence was to Garth on that day, for in Garth's
arrogance and pride, he had planned for every conceivable problem.
He did not believe in the inconceivable... until he saw Kirk. Garth
came close to losing control of his physical appearance, and he
could feel his tenuous grip on it slipping away, moment by moment.
With all his strength Garth silently battled for mastery of his flesh.
The man, Kirk, moved with great speed down the aisle,
abbreviating the distance between himself and the stage, then the
floor exploded before him, as the Ramjep Avwi fired in defense of
their Majesty. Jim dived over the blast, tucked and rolled, coming
to a halt on one knee and aiming his weapon at the still too-
&nbs
p; distant enemy. Then all hell broke loose...
The blast had shaken the frozen delegates from their shock,
and beings were running, flying, and oozing in all directions.
Screams and shouts made a deafening din. Both security and the
Klingon guard had momentarily lost their target in the masses, and
Jim was now being moved backwards away from his target by the
press of the crowd.
The President waved his arms at the edge of the stage,
fruitlessly shouting for the crowd to remain seated for their own
safety. Sarek and his aide climbed the stage in an effort to
protect the President. They each grabbed an arm and pulled him to
the back of the stage. It was the logical thing to do.
Garth regained control over his body and lost control of his
temper. No single person could be heard in the chaos, but Jim
could see the Emperor shouting his name in fury and moving across
the stage towards him. Garth, too, brandished a weapon now.
Jim struggled to make headway in the stampede, and made some
PAGE 141
progress until two beings directly in front of him exploded in a
blaze of light. The Imperial guard would not let a little thing
like killing innocents stop them from hitting their mark. If Kirk
had a choice in dealing with this situation, it had just been
ripped from his grasp. Jim held his phaser in front of himself
and fired his weapon, point blank into the press.
The group of delegates directly in front of him lit up in the
blue stunning energy field, falling upon eachother. More came,
stepping over and on their fallen peers. Jim fired again, mowing
