Spock stared, feeling himself drawn by the vibrant color spectrum and the chains of turning designs within. "Captain," he studied the readouts from his tricorder, "I have never seen anything resembling this. The outer layer is primarily silicon and contains some form of shielding, which my tricorder scan does not penetrate. There are no controls of any kind. It." is beautiful, he thought, but said aloud, ". its purpose is not apparent."
"So maybe it's art, Spock. Maybe it doesn't have a purpose."
"Doctor, all things have a purpose. Particularly art. Your haphazard view of the nature of things is most-"
"Gen-tle-men." The captain's tone was soft and dangerous. "My patience is wearing very thin. I want a search of that ship-now! I'm not interested in Romulan art."
"Understood, Captain." But Spock doubted that it was. This bridge had no emergency life-support; why should it have art? "Come along, Doctor," he said with some reluctance. They entered the lift, but Spock couldn't dismiss the object from his mind. It was aesthetically appealing, and oddly hypnotic.
Their footsteps echoed as they walked the dingy, narrow corridors and looked into utility cubicles, what passed for a sickbay, and into crew's quarters. There was no sign of anyone. But a clear box with sparkling patterns of light occupied a niche in the wall at the junction of the second level's main corridors. On the next deck, resting on a pedestal, another sat in the corner of the largest cabin.
"Here is another one, Captain," Spock reported. "This makes three so far, and they all look the same. I should like to-"
"Later, Spock. Nothing yet?"
"No, Captain. This appears to be the commander's cabin, judging by its comparative luxury. But we have found no person of such rank. No one at all, in fact. It seems I made an error."
"Spock, this doesn't make sense. A kamikaze run with a skeleton crew? They'd never get through Starbase's defense. Why would they waste a ship on-"
"Captain!" Scott's voice broke in. "I think I know. I found somethin' very interestin'. Mr. Spock, can ye come straight away? Port side, fourth level down."
"What, Scotty? You found the crew?" Kirk tensed in his chair.
"Nary a soul, Captain. But there's another of those pretty baubles-and a wee gadget for Mr. Spock to feast his eyes on. I'll be needin' his opinion."
"On my way, Mr. Scott. Come along, Doctor."
Kirk hated waiting. And suddenly he hated that Romulan ship, with its empty decks and questions with no answers; the only thing he hated more was not being there.
"Dammit, what 'gadget,' Scotty? What do you think you've got?". this was ridiculous, no one telling him anything.
"Spock here, Captain. What is it, Mr. Scott?" Spock sounded calm as ever, but then the silence seemed to go on interminably ". ah, yes," he finally said. "Yes, I see."
"Well, I don't see, gentlemen!" snapped Kirk. "So will one of you kindly tell me what the hell is going on?"
"No, sir!" Scott replied firmly. "Not just now, sir! Ye would not want us speakin' of this over the comm link."
"Speaking of what?"
"I quite agree, Captain. We must not discuss this on an open channel."
Kirk rubbed a spot in the middle of his forehead, trying to erase his frustration. "Then beam back aboard immediately-unless, of course, you have some objection!" He didn't wait to find out. "Uhura, take the conn!" he said, entering the lift.
As the door hissed shut behind him, his anger began to fade, replaced by a growing sense of unease. Just what had they found on that ship?
". an' that's that," Scott finished gloomily. "Not exactly good news for the Federation." They sat in the briefing room's silence, while Kirk's mind reeled around what he'd just heard.
"A cloaking screen with unlimited range-in warp drive?"
"It appears to exist," Spock agreed, "as an integral function of the drive itself. Instead of depleting antimatter reserves, it collects and recycles energy from their coil emissions. With the power-consumption factor solved, their weapons could be fired without decloaking first. A ship with this advantage approaching at warp speed would give our defenses insufficient time to react. Starbase Ten would sustain critical damage, at the very least."
"So. a test run with a skeleton crew, a load of firepower, and warp speed all the way? But they had this little problem?"
"That is the obvious explanation, Captain." Spock looked uncomfortable. Kirk waited. "I can offer no other."
"If they risked the one," Scott reasoned, "it means they have others. They'll be back."
Spock nodded. "This device renders the Federation vulnerable and bodes ill for this area of the galaxy. Without further study we cannot know if it was developed by the Klingons, Romulans, or a collaborative effort. We must assume that both empires possess it."
"And now we do. We won't be giving this one back!" Kirk said grimly. He touched the intercom. "Uhura, message to Starbase Ten, Priority One. Use that new code and scramble it."
"The new code scrambles itself, sir."
"Fine. Send to Commodore Stocker, Starfleet Command, this sector. Item: Romulan warship, on course for Starbase Ten. Leak in coolant line killed crew of four. Item: cloaking screen designed for use in warp drive. Ship's engineer and science officer project weapons' capability with cloak in place. Will proceed to Base with ship in tow, pending further orders."
"Yes, sir. That's going out now."
"Thank you, Uhura." Kirk leaned back, welcoming a moment's distraction. "A new code, gentlemen, the Rosecrypt. 'By any other name'-get it? Someone has a sense of humor. It encodes and decodes by individual ship's and destination's Ops manuals, and then it's cross-ciphered by Starfleet Calendar dates. But that's as far as I get. Uhura must know what she's doing."
"No doubt she does," said Spock, "since it was she who invented it. Captain, request permission to reboard that ship and interrogate its computer. Although I believe record tapes were completely wiped, the terminal I examined appeared to be functional. We must check for potential traps. It should be possible to program and navigate the ship on automatic from our helm, without the drain of a tractor beam on Mr. Scott's engines."
"Aye, an' they'll be grateful, Mr. Spock. Captain, Starfleet'll be adaptin' that design. I'm thinkin' we were very lucky."
"Damn lucky-this time. Gentlemen, you've earned your pay for the week. Spock, go to it. I'll be on the bridge. Scotty, maybe you'll get a crack at that ship when we get to starbase."
They left the briefing room and went their separate ways.
After nearly three hours, Spock found no information anywhere in the computer banks, no record of what was sent out the torpedo bay. Ship's log? The obvious explanation, but those were piling up. So he reprogrammed the nav computer warily, but meticulous checks and rechecks revealed no hidden traps.
Then he crossed the bridge and stood staring into the glowing box. Its vivid ebb and flow of colors unfolded, expanded, turned back in upon themselves. He ran his hand across it, feeling the cool, seamless surface. He lifted it from the niche and set it back again. Surprisingly heavy, surprisingly beautiful. Four of them. A form of surveillance imaging? Transmitted by some carrier wave not registering on his tricorder? Or simply a pleasing object with no explanation, obvious or otherwise?
He should not be delaying; the captain was anxious to get under way. He could request permission to bring it back, run a complete spectroanalysis, and satisfy his curiosity on his own time. But he continued to watch. Really, quite fascinating.
"Spock, how's it going?" Kirk's delighted voice broke into his ear. "There's something I want you to hear."
"Navigational programming is completed, Captain. I find no suspicious relays to indicate overloads or triggers to detonate the engines. But these artifacts. may I bring one-"
"Not now, Spock. We've got new orders. Stand by. Uhura, patch him through on commlink. All hands, this is the captain. Message from Starbase Ten to U.S.S. Enterprise: 'New potato too hot for starbase to handle. Orders per Starfleet Command: Secure ship and all systems
intact. Proceed best speed to Earth.' And very well done, all of you. We'll be getting under way shortly. Spock, come on back aboard. That's it, my friends-we're heading home. Kirk out."
Spock heard the cheers that went up all over the ship, but he was frowning as the transporter beam took him.
. and he frowned all during the perfectly executed test maneuvers, even when the ships accelerated and winked away together at warp speed. Before Kirk left the bridge, he strolled over to the science station, wishing Spock wouldn't frown like that when things were going so well.
"Spock. Is something the matter? If you'd like time off or-well, anything."
"I see no reason to disrupt routine," Spock began stiffly. "However. a personal request, Captain. When Enterprise docks, may I invite a guest aboard? A student of mine at the Academy." He didn't elaborate further.
"Of course." Curious as he was, Kirk didn't pry; that frown was finally gone. "And about that ship-we'll take it apart, get all the answers."
Spock nodded, then frowned again and turned back to work.
And Kirk left the bridge feeling uneasy. But when he stepped out into the festivities in full swing on every deck, his uneasiness was forgotten, and he was swept along with the happy tide. Today had turned out right after all.
And Enterprise was homeward bound.
In a remote, forgotten province of the Romulan Star Empire, Praetor Tahn cursed the dampness and the cold. He adjusted the voice-changer he wore about his throat, wrapped his cloak tighter, and pulled its hood down over his head. His hands shook. His stomach cramped in fear, and he cursed the twenty long years he'd been coming in the dead of night to rooms like this one. Then he opened the door.
He was last to arrive, last of The Ten, an alliance born in secret, fed by an Empire's arrogance and disregard. And if Tahn could put a name to any shrouded figure in this room, he didn't want to; he preferred to stay alive. There was great power here: commands of ships and troops, private funds for weapons, private contracts with the Klingons. And occasional mistakes-the government's investigation of one incident had led almost to their doorstep. But mostly their efforts brought results, escalating distrust at least, with the Empire outraged at Federation charges, furious when its Word was not believed. This was all to the good.
For their business here was the overthrow of government. No names, no faces, no unfiltered voices betrayed identity. Secrets went deep, and plans were whispered here. Very soon now, that was going to change. Everything was going to change-or so The First had promised on that dark night twenty years ago, when his words had reached into their hearts and changed their lives forever. Tahn was young then; he was older now, old enough to know the fate of a traitor discovered in their midst. Which was why his belly ached and his hands trembled so. He was running out of time.
The First, who knew all their names, made a sign, a ripple in the folds of his black cloak. The Second activated a soundshield and turned out the lights. Then someone spoke into the dark.
"First, there is great news! It is just as you said-they have taken the ship!"
"Excellent. And the probe?"
"Deployed and undetected-or the fools believed it was one of their own. Transmissions to and from their base were in an unknown code, but they spoke freely between ships. As you said, they take it to their Starfleet. Your ship goes to Earth."
"Excellent," First said again. "Now you will hear why. Our Cause does not depend on haste or plans that lack the vision to prevail. Tonight I tell you of another plan, two decades in the making, and the world where it was born. You know its name; you do not know its secret. Your attempts were tests of character, skirmishes, mere rehearsals for a Grand Design-a Design that cannot fail, not even by treachery from within. Tenth?"
Tahn's heart stopped inside his chest. He knows! O gods.
"Tenth, I have need of ships and soldiers. Yours."
"But-" Without them I have no protection! He knows that too! O gods. "First, I have but one, and two modest outriders."
"Modest sacrifice then, Tenth. Prepare them."
"I-am honored." What else can I say? O gods.
"Yes, Tenth, honored. Remember that. For soon," the voice hummed through its resonator, "soon there will be many ships and many new worlds. This time the Enemy will fall. And the cowards in our government who sell honor to buy peace-they will join us. Or they will fall! There can be no honor in appeasement! No glory in this cage of stars! And no peace in surrender to this Federation foe! Our Enemy is hasty and predictable, and therein lies its doom. So today they have taken a ship, and for the rest-have no fear."
The voice sank to a whisper, the room waited on his words.
". the rest they will do to themselves."
Chapter Three
SUNWARD FROM THE glow of Mars, a distant point of light winks blue and green in the night of space: an elegant island jewel tossed on black velvet amid mightier, drabber neighbors. It grows into a turning cat's-eye marble. Trailing wreaths of cottony clouds drift across its land masses and oceans. Serenely, as it has done billions of times before, a lush, tranquil planet winds along its way in placid revolutions around a fifth-magnitude star. In three short and colorful spacefaring centuries, this sapphire face has become famous. Hub of the Federation, home of Starfleet, playground of the galaxy. An unlikely, out-of-the-way little place to become a legend, but there it is: Earth.
"Captain," said Sulu, who was due for shore leave, "Dock's got our feathered friend now. There it goes." The Romulan ship tracked toward the great double mushroom of Starfleet Spacedock. The mammoth doors opened, and it disappeared inside. "And sir, looks like we'll be home in time to celebrate."
"What a world!" McCoy gazed at the main screen with affection. "I can celebrate just looking at it."
"Let's get there first, gentlemen-then we'll see." Kirk breathed a sigh of relief, glad to see the last of that damn ship. As he turned his attention to the shore leave roster in his hand, he heard Uhura muttering into the comm.
"Yes, he's still got it. No, I can't see the names."
Spock observed the glances, the nudges, the air of heightened excitement, then rose from his station and came toward Kirk wearing a perplexed frown.
"Captain," he said, "something has always puzzled me. Why should this port of call evoke such euphoric anticipation? Although performance remains adequate, the duty personnel seem more. exuberant. than the situation warrants."
Exuberant? Kirk looked around the bridge and saw nothing but smiling faces and unflagging efficiency. Of course they were happy. "We're just glad to be home, Spock. Earth in the spring-there's nowhere else quite like it."
"Precisely my point." The eyebrow spoke volumes.
"Well." Kirk covered his mouth with his hand, apparently in deep thought, but McCoy took up the challenge.
"Never mind, Jim, I'll handle this. Home, Spock, is where we can really unwind, kick up our heels, let ourselves go."
Spock's puzzlement deepened. "As opposed to what, Doctor?" he inquired. Kirk could stand no more.
"Bones, leave it alone. Spock, I. I don't know why," he pronounced with what dignity he could muster. "I guess it's just one of those. things." Perversely, Spock seemed enlightened.
"Indeed. Thank you, Captain. No doubt that accounts for it." He returned to his haven of data banks and rational explanations.
Now, Spock started that on purpose, Kirk thought. I'd swear he's in a good mood. He was wondering why when the voice of Approach Control interrupted.
"Standing by for your helm, Captain. And sir, regarding your shore leave parties: HQ's transporters are scheduled for maintenance tonight, and City Station's went down this afternoon. Spacedock pads are fine, though, and we have plenty of shuttles for crew going planetside. Sorry, sir."
"Acknowledged, Approach Control. Kirk out." Oh, well, he thought, nothing's ever perfect. And he wasn't going anywhere, except to his quarters-to assign shore leaves in peace.
Uhura was feeling a lot less philosophical. Now she had to
deal with shuttles tonight-and an officious, junior voice ranting in her ear.
"Starfleet Command to Enterprise! Acknowledge, Enterprise!"
"Enterprise here," she answered sweetly.
"Lieutenant-Adjutant Michaels here! Relaying orders from the Admiralty! Priority! Encoded! Transmitting now! Acknowledge that relay, Enterprise, and state your name and rank!"
"Why, certainly, Lieutenant-Adjutant Michaels," she said in honeyed tones. "This is Lieutenant-Commander Uhura acknowledging." Pleased with the nervous gulp on the other end of the line, she extracted the tape and intercepted Kirk on his way to the lift. "Orders from the Admiralty, sir."
"Oh?" Kirk eyed it warily. "What do they want?"
Star Trek - Pandora Principle Page 5
