by Gene DeWeese
"None, Captain. This one is maintaining as low a profile as the others."
"Spock, you can't refine the life form readings enough to distinguish between Hoshan and Destroyer?"
"Negative. Readings show all ships are occupied by humanoid life forms—that is all."
The turbolift door hissed open, and the three Hoshan lurched onto the bridge, followed closely by Lieutenant Tomson and two other security guards.
"Get us closer, Mr. Sulu, maximum warp factor. I want a decent picture on that viewscreen."
"Done, Captain."
The power channeled to the drive engines seemed to pulse through the bridge as the image on the viewscreen shifted dizzyingly and swept toward the dot at its center. Within seconds, the dot expanded into a featureless hexagon. Like the others, it appeared to be a massive warp-drive unit fastened to a heavily shielded crew compartment.
"One of yours, Tarasek?" Kirk asked, glancing toward the Hoshan. "Or one of theirs? Bolduc? Radzyk?"
"Eight minutes to sensor range, Captain," Spock said.
"Quick, Tarasek!" Kirk snapped. "One of yours? If so, it will be detected by the four Destroyer ships in less than eight minutes."
"Yes, it is Hoshan!" Bolduc said.
"Will you help us now, James Kirk?" Tarasek asked sharply.
"How? By attacking the four Destroyer ships?"
"Of course! Even without your help, at least three will be destroyed! The Hoshan ship you see there is more powerful than our own, and we eliminated two Destroyers ourselves before our own destruction!"
"He's right, Jim," McCoy said. "If we don't do anything, there's going to be another slaughter out there. The Hoshan ship may be able to take two or three of the Destroyer ships with it, but it will be destroyed, too! You have to help them!"
"For what it's worth, Captain, I agree," Sulu said, an unusual intensity in his voice. "I've heard all the arguments for holding back until we've been able to talk to both sides, but I've seen what the Destroyers have done."
"And I, sir!" Chekov said quickly.
"This is not a democracy, gentlemen. Mr. Sulu, put us—"
"Captain Kirk!" A new voice, harsh and commanding, overrode Kirk's voice and the sounds of the ship, and it was only when everyone turned, startled, toward the back of the bridge that it became clear that it had come from Dr. Crandall, who now stood next to the security detail and held one of their phasers, its force setting almost at maximum, its muzzle aimed directly at Kirk.
Chapter Eleven
FOR WHAT SEEMED like forever, there was total silence except for the distinctive electronic sounds of the Enterprise itself, and Dr. Jason Crandall had to pull in a deep breath to try to calm himself. Had he, in this impulsive move, picked the right moment? Or had he miscalculated?
For days, he had watched for an opportunity, half hoping one would not present itself, but now it had. For more than an hour, he had wandered unobtrusively about the bridge, watching impatiently as simulation after simulation had been run, first with Chief Engineer Scott at the distant transporter controls, then with various of his assistants. As far as Crandall was concerned, the point of diminishing returns Kirk had alluded to had been reached before the simulations had ever been started. Kirk, unable to make the obvious decision—to help the Hoshan—had been manufacturing one delaying tactic after another for more than three days, with these ridiculous simulations being only the latest. Even those crew members who had come closest to openly criticizing the captain for his "recklessness" in allowing the Enterprise to be drawn too easily into dangerous situations in the past were becoming impatient now that they had all heard the story of the Hoshan. Like Dr. McCoy, they felt there was nothing to be gained by waiting, certainly nothing to be gained by risking the entire Enterprise in an effort to snatch one or more of the Destroyers from the heart of a fully functional Destroyer ship.
Crandall had been on the verge of leaving the bridge, perhaps to talk once again with the Hoshan, when the new ship had appeared, and now, with all eyes turned toward him, he almost wished he had left.
But he hadn't. Instead, he had stayed, and he had heard McCoy once again urge an attack on the Destroyers. And then, when the helmsman had for the first time come down openly on McCoy's side, he had decided. It was now or never. He had already spoken with enough of the crew to know that he and McCoy were far from alone in their feelings about the Destroyers. He had even spoken with the Hoshan themselves, who, while craftily refraining from making any outright commitments while still on the Enterprise, had made it clear that they would see to it that his efforts on their behalf would be fully recognized and rewarded once they were back on Hoshan worlds.
And so he had acted, snatching a phaser from Ensign Creighton, who, though alert for Hoshan moves, had never suspected that Crandall presented a threat. Hastily Crandall had thumbed the force setting well above the stun range Creighton had been using.
"Dr. Crandall!" Kirk began, but Crandall waved him to silence with a quick jerk of the phaser.
"As a representative of the Federation Council, Captain Kirk," Crandall said, enunciating his words slowly and carefully, "I hereby relieve you and Mr. Spock of command of the Enterprise. Dr. McCoy, as next most senior officer present, you are to assume command. And if you are to take advantage of the situation, I would suggest you order Mr. Sulu to prepare immediately to fire on the Destroyer ships. And tell security to escort the captain and his first officer to their quarters!"
"Now just a blasted minute—" McCoy began, but a quick shake of the head from Kirk and a glance at the phaser's force setting silenced him.
Crandall acknowledged Kirk's intervention. "A wise man knows when to accept the inevitable, Captain."
"All right," McCoy said hesitantly after a moment of blinking silence, "let's do things sensibly for a change. Mr. Sulu, you heard Dr. Crandall. Prepare to fire. Lieutenant Tomson," he added, looking toward the security chief, "be prepared to escort the captain and Mr. Spock to their quarters as Dr. Crandall suggested."
As he spoke, McCoy put his hand on Kirk's wrist in what Crandall saw as an apologetic gesture. Kirk stood up slowly from the command chair. "I hope you know what you're doing, Bones," he said, slumping as he stepped down and moved toward Crandall and the security detail. "Mr. Spock?"
With only a slight arching of his eyebrows, Spock turned from the science station and followed Kirk, his hands raised roughly to shoulder level in the face of the leveled phaser. Crandall stepped back out of his way, his grip tightening on the weapon.
"Everything is under control, Dr. Crandall," McCoy said, still standing to one side of the command chair. "However, there's something you should see, there, on the viewscreen."
"What?" Crandall frowned. "I see only the Hoshan ship."
"There," McCoy said, "in the corner of the screen. Mr. Sulu, bring that object to the center of the screen, maximum magnification."
With a darting glance toward McCoy, Sulu turned sharply back to the viewscreen, his fingers playing rapidly across the controls. An instant later, the image on the screen shifted, the Hoshan ship sliding off the upper left corner.
"I still don't see anything!" Crandall snapped impatiently.
"Look more closely," McCoy said.
"There," Sulu said, raising his finger to point at a spot near the center of the screen. "Right there."
Squinting, Crandall took a step forward. "There's nothing—" he began, but suddenly he was silent, slumping to the deck as Spock's fingers closed precisely on the junction of his neck and shoulder. Kirk caught the phaser, unfired, as it tumbled from Crandall's limp fingers.
"Good work, Bones, Mr. Sulu," Kirk said. "Spock is apparently not the only member of the crew with a touch of telepathy."
"Just common sense, Jim. Once you gave us a chance to see the way he had his phaser set, we knew we couldn't allow it to be fired. Even if it missed us all, it could've wiped out half the controls. And there was only one way to overpower him quickly and quietly enough—to distract h
im and let Spock's magic fingers take over."
Spock, glancing briefly sideways at McCoy at the word "magic," was already back at the science station. "Three-point-four minutes to sensor range, Captain."
"Right," Kirk said, striding toward the command chair. "Security, take Dr. Crandall back to his quarters. Leave the Hoshan here, but keep watch on them."
Already the Hoshan ship was again centered in the viewscreen. "Mr. Sulu, lay in a course that takes us directly across the path of the Hoshan ship, behind it but within its sensor range. Get us within sensor range as quickly as possible, but once there, don't exceed warp two. And keep our deflectors up."
"Aye-aye, Captain."
"Two-point-nine minutes, Captain," Spock announced as the Enterprise surged forward.
"Decoy duty, Jim?" McCoy asked, shaking his head.
"That's the general idea, Bones."
"You may lose the Destroyers."
"Once we get the Hoshan out of their way, we can come back to them. Unless they change their course while we're gone."
"Two-point-three minutes, Captain."
Kirk glanced briefly toward his science officer, then turned to the communications station. "Lieutenant Uhura, tight-beam directional transmission. Send a randomly modulated subspace carrier directly at the Hoshan ship. Scan up and down the spectrum until you get their attention."
"Aye-aye, sir."
"Two minutes, Captain."
For another thirty seconds, the only sound was Uhura's fingers as they danced across her control panels. Then, abruptly, the image of the Hoshan ship flipped on its axis, turning nearly a hundred and eighty degrees.
"Maximum power drain on Hoshan antimatter generator, Captain."
"Not heading for overload, I hope."
"Negative, Captain. It is simply supplying the power needed to allow them to make the same kind of U-turn that was made by the Destroyer ship that we first encountered. And its weapons are preparing to fire."
"So," Kirk said, turning to look at the Hoshan, "the Destroyers are not the only ones who attack on sight."
"We have never said otherwise," Tarasek said. "You know our reasons."
"Whoever is on this ship, do they speak the same language as you?" Kirk asked. "Would they be able to understand us?"
"They will understand, but they will not listen."
"Tarasek, you were the commander of your vessel. If you were to speak to them, they would certainly listen." Kirk paused, his eyes narrowing as he watched the alien's face. "Particularly," he went on deliberately, "if you transmitted the proper identification code."
"Code? What code is this you speak of?"
"Whatever code Hoshan ships use to recognize other Hoshan ships. We have a record of what your ship transmitted when you first became aware of the presence of the Destroyer ships. We don't, however, know what the required response is, since the Destroyers obviously didn't make it." Kirk paused, watching Tarasek digest the information.
"You are right," the Hoshan finally admitted. "Such recognition codes exist. When an unknown ship is detected, a challenge is issued, and if the proper response is not received, it is assumed that the ship is a Destroyer."
"And you can show us how to produce the proper response?"
"We cannot. Both challenges and responses are controlled by the ship's computers, and both change from hour to hour. No crew members possess this knowledge."
Kirk grimaced. "You don't take any chances, do you?"
"Would you, under such conditions?"
"Perhaps not. But you're saying that, without the proper interaction between the computer on this ship and the one on that Hoshan ship out there, communication is impossible?"
"Not impossible, only pointless. They will receive whatever you broadcast, but they will not listen. They will not believe."
"Not even if they hear your voice? You couldn't convince them we are not Destroyers but friends? Even though we do not return fire?"
"What would you have me say to convince them, James Kirk?"
"You could tell them the truth, that you have found an ally in your war against the Destroyers."
"But you have refused to be our ally."
Kirk grimaced in exasperation. "We have only refused to shoot the Destroyers down before we find a way of communicating with them!"
"Thirty seconds until we are within range of the Hoshan ship's weapons, Captain," Spock said. "It has increased its speed to warp two-point-three."
"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Spock. Mr. Sulu, take us directly away from the Destroyer ships, and keep us just outside the range of the Hoshan weapons."
"Aye-aye, sir."
"So," Kirk said, turning back to the Hoshan, "according to you, meaningful communication with your people is impossible."
"Unless you demonstrate your friendship toward the Hoshan, I am sure it is."
"And the only way to demonstrate that friendship is to wipe out a few Destroyer ships?" The computer did not pick up Kirk's sarcasm as it translated for the Hoshan.
"I know of no other way," Tarasek admitted.
"And even that would prove it only to you, the three of you on board the Enterprise. How could we go about proving it to anyone else? Would we have to make sure a suitable number of Hoshan ships had a ringside seat for the destruction?" Kirk broke off, shaking his head angrily. "Security, escort our guests back to their quarters."
Standing up as the turbolift door hissed shut behind the Hoshan and their guards, Kirk stepped forward and glanced over Sulu's shoulder at the controls, then at the viewscreen and the Hoshan ship in its center.
"Maintaining specified separation, sir," Sulu volunteered as Kirk turned away.
"I didn't doubt it, Mr. Sulu. But I think we've carried this on long enough. Our initial objective of keeping that particular ship from running into the Destroyers has been accomplished. Mr. Spock, are the Destroyer ships still within sensor range?"
"Affirmative. Course and speed remain unchanged."
"Very well. Mr. Sulu, ahead warp factor six until we are safely out of Hoshan sensor range, then double back and resume our tracking of the Destroyers."
"Aye-aye, Captain."
As the Hoshan ship began to shrink on the screen, Kirk turned to McCoy, still standing near the handrail not far from the elevator. "Bones," he said, "I think we had better have a talk with Dr. Crandall."
It was a thoroughly chastened, almost trembling Dr. Crandall that Kirk and McCoy found in his quarters.
"I—I don't know what came over me," he said, even before the door had closed behind them. "I didn't intend—"
"We all know exactly what you intended, Doctor," Kirk said evenly. "What we don't know is how you thought you could get away with it. Would you care to explain?"
"That's right," McCoy grated, frowning as much in puzzlement as anger. "What the blazes ever gave you the idea that I'd go along with mutiny?"
It was at that moment, as he heard the mixture of anger and outright incredulity in McCoy's tone, that Crandall realized how completely he had miscalculated, not just the timing of his move but everything. The arguments between Kirk and McCoy, the differences of opinions had meant nothing. In a sense, he had been right in his first, instinctive assessment of the officers and crew. No matter what their complaints or fears, they were all bound together in some peculiar form of extended family, with the captain as patriarch, and there was no way he could ever gain admittance to it, let alone any degree of control over it.
Reluctantly, but knowing he had no choice anymore, he began to talk.
To his utter surprise, when he finished, he was neither transferred to a detention cell nor even restricted to his stateroom. The engineering deck was made off limits, and he was barred from the bridge until further notice, but other than that his freedom was unimpaired. McCoy seemed annoyed at the captain's seeming leniency, but Kirk said only, "Now that he knows how things stand, I don't think he'll cause any more problems." And then, looking at Crandall, "You're a practical man, a
m I right, Dr. Crandall?"
Crandall only nodded, his relief, even gratitude, mixed with a tightness in his stomach that he did not realize until later was the beginning of a new crop of anger.
Six hours later, with the four Destroyer ships showing no sign of breaking formation or changing direction, Captain Kirk turned sharply from the viewscreen.
"Lieutenant Uhura, it's time we tried something. Tight-beam transmission aimed directly at the three guard ships. Transmit the same signal, the identification code, that the ships themselves transmitted during rendezvous. We'll see what happens."
What happened was that the three guard ships immediately closed up their formation, tightening the shell of protection around the fourth ship.
"Like the Hoshan, Captain," Spock commented, "they apparently change the password frequently, and an out-of-date password is more suspect than no password at all."
"So, Mr. Spock, do you have any suggestions?"
"A diversion, sir," Sulu said when Spock remained silent, "as was discussed before. We still have quite a number of unused probes. We could send a half-dozen of those along one side, and while the guard ships are disposing of them, we could come in from the other direction."
"Simple, Captain," Spock said, "but possibly effective."
And it was.
By the time the probes, traveling at low sublight velocities on their impulse engines, were within sensor range of the guard ships, the Enterprise had, in effect, circumnavigated the Destroyer ships and was waiting for them to attack the probes.
"Probes within sensor range, Captain," Spock finally announced. "Guard ships moving to intercept."
"Ready, McPhee?" Kirk asked.
"Ready, sir," a faintly accented voice came from the transporter room.
"Security?"
"Ready, sir," Lieutenant Tomson's voice came, also from the transporter room.
"Very well," Kirk said. "Now's as good a time as any. Mr. Sulu, prepare to take us to within transporter range, warp eight. Mr. McPhee, prepare to lock onto at least one of the life forms on the Destroyer ship as quickly as possible. Lieutenant Tomson, phasers ready, heavy stun." He paused, glancing around the bridge. "You all remember the simulations," he said after a moment. "Let's see what we can do for real. As soon as—"
