by James Blish
"I can only speculate," Spock said. "We exist in a universe which coexists with a multitude of others in the same physical space, but displaced in time. For certain brief periods, one area of such a space overlaps an area of ours. That is the time of interphase when we connect with the Defiant's universe."
"And retrieve the Captain," Uhura added.
"Perhaps. But the dimensional structure of each universe is totally dissimilar to the others. Any use of power would disturb what can at best be only a tenuous and brief connection. It might also result in our being trapped ourselves . . ."
"And die like them?" Chekov said raggedly. Suddenly his voice rose to a yell. "Damn you, Spock . . ."
He sprang. Spock, surprised, was knocked backward, Chekov's hands around his neck. Sulu attempted to drag Chekov off; the enraged man struck out at him. Scott promptly grabbed him by that arm. It was all that they could do to handle him, but the distraction enabled Spock to get in a neck pinch.
"Security guards to the bridge," Spock said to the intercom. "Dr. McCoy, will you also please report?"
McCoy appeared almost at once, taking in the scene at a glance. "He jumped you? My fault, I should have checked him the minute he said he was feeling funny, but there was so much else going on. Anybody notice any spasms of pain? Ah. What about his behavior? Hysterical? Frightened?"
"He looked more angry than frightened to me," Uhura said. "But there was nothing to be angry about."
"Nevertheless," Spock said, "there were all the signs of a murderous fury. After what we have seen aboard the Defiant, the episode is doubly disturbing."
"I'll say it is," McCoy said. "Guards, take him to sickbay. I'll see what I can find out from seeing the thing in its first stages. Spock, on the other subject, what makes you think Captain Kirk is still alive?"
"The Captain was locked in the Transporter beam when the Defiant phased out, Doctor. It is possible that he was saved the shock of transition. If we do not catch him again at the precise corresponding instant in the next interphase, he will die. There is no margin for error; his environmental unit can supply breathable air for no more than another three point twenty-six hours."
"Mr. Spock," Sulu called from the helm. "A vessel is approaching on an intercept vector."
Spock walked quickly to the command chair, and Scott went back to his post. "Status, Mr. Sulu," Spock said.
"Range, two hundred thousand kilometers and closing. Relative velocity, zero point five one C."
"Red alert," Spock said. The klaxon began to sound throughout the ship. At the same instant, Uhura captured the intruder on the main viewing screen.
The stranger was crystalline in appearance, blue-green in coloration, and shaped like a tetrahedron within which a soft light seemed to pulsate. As the scene materialized, Sulu gasped.
"Stopped dead, Mr. Spock. Now, how do they do that? Range, ninety thousand kilometers and holding."
"Mr. Spock," Uhura said. "I'm getting a visual signal from them."
"Transfer it to die main viewer."
The scene dissolved into what might have been the command bridge of the alien vessel. Most of the frame, however, was occupied by the upper half of an unknown creature. Like its vessel, the alien was almost jewel-like in appearance, multifaceted, crystalline, though it was humanoid in build. A light pulsated rapidly but irregularly inside what seemed to be its head.
"I am Commander Loskene," the creature said at once in good Federation Interlingua. "You are trespassing in a territorial annex of the Tholian Assembly. You must leave this area immediately."
Spock studied Loskene. The pulsating light did not seem to be in synch with the voice. He said formally, "Spock, in command of the Federation Starship Enterprise. Commander, the Federation regards this area as free space."
"We have claimed it. And we are prepared to use force, if necessary, to hold it."
"We are not interested in a show of force. The Enterprise has responded to a distress call from one of our ships and is currently engaged in rescue operations. Do you wish to assist us?"
"I find no evidence of a disabled ship. My instruments indicate that ours are the only two vessels in this area."
"The other ship is trapped in an interspatial sink. It should reappear in one hour and fifty minutes. We request that you stand by until then."
"Very well, Enterprise. In the interest of interstellar amity, we will wait. But we will not tolerate deceit."
The view wavered, and then the screen once more showed the Tholian ship. Now there was nothing to do but wait—and hope.
The moment of interphase approached at last. As before, Scott personally took over the Transporter console. In the command chair, Spock watched the clock intently.
"Transporter Room."
"Aye, Mr. Spock. I'm locked onto the Captain's coordinates."
"Interphase in twenty seconds . . . ten seconds . . . five, four, three, two, one, energize!"
There was a tense silence. Then Scott's voice said, "The platform's empty, Mr. Spock. There's naught at all at those coordinates.'
"Any abnormality to report, Mr. Sulu?"
"The sensor readings don't correspond to those we received the last time we saw the Defiant. Insofar as I can tell, the Tholian entry into the area has disturbed the interphase."
"McCoy to bridge," said the intercom. "Has the Captain been beamed aboard, Mr. Spock?"
"No, Doctor. And the interphase period has been passed. We will have to wait for the next one."
"But he hasn't got enough air for that! And there's been another case like Chekov's. I have had to confine my orderly to sickbay."
"Have you still no clues as to the cause, Doctor?"
"I know exactly what the cause is," McCoy's voice said grimly. "And there's nothing I can do to stop it. The molecular structure of the central nervous system, including the brain, is being distorted by the space we are in. Sooner or later the whole crew will be affected—unless you get the Enterprise out of here."
"Mr. Spock!" Sulu broke in. "We're being fired upon!"
The announcement came only seconds before the bolt itself struck. The Enterprise lurched, but did not roll.
"Damage control, report," Spock said.
"Minor structural damage to sections A-4 and C-13."
"Engineering, hold power steady. Mr. Sulu, divert all but emergency maintenance power into the shields."
"Sir," Sulu said, "that will reduce phaser power by fifty percent."
Almost as if it had heard him, the Tholian ship darted forward. It seemed to be almost within touching distance before it fired again. This time, the shock threw everybody who was not seated to the floor.
"Engineering to bridge. Mr. Spock, we can't take another like that. Well either have to fight or run."
"Mr. Sulu, lock in phaser tracking controls. Divert power to the phaser banks and fire at the next close approach. Lieutenant Uhura, open a channel to the Tholians."
McCoy came onto the bridge, his face masklike. On the main viewing screen, the pyramidal ship looped around and began another run.
"Spock, what's the use of this battle?" McCoy demanded. "You've already lost the Captain. Take the ship out of here."
Spock, intent upon the screen, did not answer. The pyramid zigzagged in. Then both vessels fired at once.
The Enterprise rang like a gong and the lights flickered, but the screen showed that the Tholian, too, had sustained a direct hit. There was no visible damage, but the pyramid had again stopped dead, and then began to retreat.
"A standoff," Spock said. "Mr. Scott, status?"
"Converters burned out," Scott's voice said. "We've lost drive and hence the ability to correct drift. I estimate four hours in replacement time."
"By that time," Sulu said, "well have drifted right through that—that gateway out there."
"Are you satisfied?" McCoy said, picking himself up off the deck. "Spock, why did you do it?"
"To stay in the area for the next interphase," Spock said, "required fo
r disabling the Tholian ship."
"But you're ignoring the mental effects! How can you risk your whole crew on the dim chance of rescuing one officer—one presumed dead, at that? The Captain wouldn't have done that!"
"Doctor, I hardly believe that now is the time for such comparisons. Get down to your laboratory at once and search for an antidote to the mental effects. Since we must remain here, that is your immediate task. Mine is to command the Enterprise."
McCoy left, though not without an angry glare.
"Mr. Spock, something has just entered sensor range,"
Sulu said. "Yes, it's another Tholian ship. Loskene must have contacted them at the same time they intercepted us. Loskene is moving back out of phaser range."
"Lieutenant, attempt contact again."
"No response, sir."
On the screen, the two Tholian ships joined—literally joined, base to base, making what seemed to be a single vessel like a six-sided diamond. Then they began to separate again. Between their previously common bases a multicolored strand stretched out across space.
Spock rose and went to the library computer station. The Tholians met again, separated, spinning another thread. Then another. Gradually, a latticework of energy seemed to be growing.
"Switch scanners, Mr. Sulu."
The screen angle changed. The tempo of the Tholian activity was speeding up rapidly. From this point of view, it seemed that the Enterprise was already almost a third surrounded by the web and it kept on growing.
Spock pulled his head out of the hooded viewer. "Fascinating," he said.. "And very efficient. If they succeed in completing that structure before we are repaired, we shall not be able to run even if we wished to."
Nobody replied. There seemed to be nothing to say.
There was a service for Kirk. It was brief and military. Spock, as the next in command, spoke the eulogy. The speech was not long, but it was interrupted all the same, by another seizure of madness striking down a crewman in the congregation. Afterward, the tension seemed much greater.
As the rest filed out, McCoy stopped Spock at the doorway. "There is a duty to be performed in the Captain's cabin," he said. "It requires both of us."
"Then it will have to wait. My duties require my immediate return to the bridge."
"The Captain left a message tape," the surgeon said. "It was his order that it be reviewed by both of us should he ever be declared dead—as you have just done."
"It will have to wait for a more suitable moment," Spock said, putting his hand on the corridor rail.
"Why? Are you afraid it will change your present status?"
Spock turned sharply. "The mental and physical state of this crew are your responsibility, Doctor. As I have observed before, command is mine."
"Not while a last order remains to be obeyed."
For a moment Spock did not reply. Then he said, "Very well. To the Captain's quarters, then."
McCoy had evidently visited Kirk's quarters before the service, for laid out on a table was the black velvet case which contained Kirk's medals, and it was open. The surgeon looked down at them for a long moment.
"He was a hero in every sense of the word," he said. "Yet his life was sacrificed for nothing. The one thing that would have given his death meaning is the survival of the Enterprise. You have made that impossible."
Spock said glacially, "We came here for a specific purpose."
"Maybe not the same one. I came to find out, among other things, really why you stayed and fought."
Spock closed the box. "The Captain would have remained to recover a man at the risk of his own life, other things being equal. I do not consider the question closed."
"He wouldn't have risked the ship. And what do you mean, the question isn't closed? Do you think he may be still alive after all? Then why did you declare him dead—to assure your own captaincy?"
"Unnecessary. I am already in command of the Enterprise."
"It's a situation I wish I could remedy."
"If you believe," Spock said, "that I remained just to fire that phaser and kill James Kirk or this crew, it is your prerogative as Medical Officer of this ship to relieve me or duty. In the meantime, I suggest that we play the tape you referred to, so I can get back to the bridge and you can resume looking for an antidote for the madness."
"All right." McCoy turned to Kirk's viewer and flipped a switch. The screen lit; in it, Kirk was seated at his desk.
"Spock. Bones," Kirk's voice said. "Since you are playing this tape, we will assume that I am dead, the tactical situation is critical and you two are locked in mortal combat.
"It means also, Spock, that you have control of my ship and are probably making the most difficult decisions of your career. I can offer only one small piece of advice, for what it's worth. Use every scrap of knowledge and logic you've got to save the ship, but temper your judgment with intuitive insight. I believe you have that quality. But if you can't find it in yourself, then seek out McCoy. Ask his advice. And if you find it sound, take it.
"Bones, you heard what I just told Spock. Help him if you can, but remember that he is the Captain. His decisions, when he reaches them, are to be obeyed without further question. You might find that he is capable of both human insight and human error, and they are the most difficult to defend. But you will find that Spock is deserving of the same loyalty and confidence that you all have given me.
"As to the disposal of my personal effects . . ."
McCoy snapped the switch, and turned. For a moment the two men studied each other, less guardedly than before. Then McCoy said, "Spock, I'm sorry. It hurts, doesn't it?"
Spock closed his eyes for a moment. Then he turned and left. McCoy remained for a moment longer, thoughtful, and then stepped out into the corridor.
He was greeted by a stifled scream. Turning, he saw Uhura running toward him, half out of uniform, her normally unshakable calm dissolved in something very close to panic. She saw McCoy and stopped, gasping, trying to get words out; but before they could form, a stab of pain seemed to go through her and her knees buckled. She grabbed the rail for support.
The signs were all too clear. McCoy surreptitiously got out his hypospray, and then went to steady her.
"Lieutenant!" he said sharply. "What is it?"
"I—Doctor, I've just seen the Captain!"
"Yes, he just left a moment ago."
"No, I don't mean Mr. Spock. The captain. He's alive!"
"I'm afraid not. But of course you saw him. We would all like to see him."
Her legs were still shaking, but she seemed somewhat calmer now. "I know what you're thinking. But it isn't that. I was looking into my mirror in my quarters, and there he was. He was—sort of shimmering, like the Defiant was when we first saw it. He looked puzzled—and like he was trying to tell me something."
McCoy brought the hypospray up. Uhura saw it and tried to fight free, but she was too wobbly to resist. "I did see him. Tell Mr. Spock. He's alive, he's alive . . ."
The hypospray hissed. "I'll tell him," McCoy said gently. "But in the meantime, you're going to sickbay."
One of Scott's crewmen attacked him within the same hour. The effect was spreading faster through the ship. The Tholian web was now two-thirds complete, and the Enterprise was still without impulse drive, let alone the thrust to achieve interstellar velocity.
The crewman's attack failed; but a shaken Scott was on the bridge not ten minutes later.
"Mr. Spock—I've just seen the Captain."
"Spock to McCoy; please come to the bridge. Go on, Mr. Scott."
"He was on the upper engineering level—sparkling, rather like a Transporter effect. He seemed to be almost floating. And I think he saw us. He seemed to be breathing pretty heavily—and then, hey presto! he winked right out."
The elevator doors snapped open and McCoy came out, fast enough to pick up most of Scott's account. He said, "Scotty, are you feeling all right?"
"Och, I think so. Tired, maybe."
&nb
sp; "So are we all, of course. Don't fail to see me if you have any other symptoms."
"Right."
"Lieutenant Uhura told a similar story before she went under," Spock said. "Perhaps we ought not to discount it entirely. Yet in critical moments, men sometimes see exactly what they want to see, even when they are not ill"
"Are you suggesting," McCoy said, "that the men are seeing the Captain because they've lost confidence in you?"
"I am making no suggestions, but merely stating a fact."
"Well, the situation is critical, all right. And there have been more assaults on the lower decks. And if Scottie here's being affected, that will finish whatever chance we have to get the Enterprise out of here."
"Have you any further leads on a remedy?"
"A small one," McCoy said. "I've been toying with the idea of trying a chlortheragen derivative. But I'm not ready to try anything so drastic, yet."
"Why not?"
"Well, for one thing . . ."
"Gentlemen," Scott said quietly. "Mr. Spock. Look behind you."
At the same moment, there was a chorus of gasps from the rest of the personnel on the bridge. Spock turned.
Floating behind him was an image of Captain Kirk, full length, but soapily iridescent. He seemed to recognize Spock, but to be unable to move. Kirk's hand rose to his throat, and his lips moved. There was no sound.
Spock—hurry!
The figure vanished.
The Tholian web continued to go up around the Enterprise, section by section. The pace had slowed somewhat; Loskene and his compatriots seemed to have concluded that the Enterprise would not or could not leave the area.
Aboard the ship, too, the tension seemed to have abated, if only slightly. It was now tacitly accepted that the apparition of the Captain on the bridge had not been a part of the lurking madness, and that he had been, therefore, alive then.
Spock and Scott were having another computer session.
"So your reluctance to use the phasers now stands endorsed," the Engineering Officer said. "They blasted a hole right through this crazy space fabric and sent the Defiant heaven only knows where."
