STAR TREK: TOS - Errand of Vengeance, Book Two - Killing Blow

by Kevin Ryan

  “The late stages of deep-core mining creates massive earthquakes, tremendous volcanic activity, tidal waves, and even polar shifts. They do not have long, sir,” Parrish said.

  Kirk dismissed Parrish and asked Kell to translate. Gorath seemed concerned but not surprised.

  “We could see they were doing damage, but enough to destroy the world ...” Gorath said.

  “We are here to protect you,” Kirk said with confidence.

  Gorath shook his head. “We welcome help, but we do not need protection. We do our own fighting,” he said, finally.

  “I cannot allow you and your people to pit themselves against the Orions and their weapons,” Kirk said.

  Gorath smiled. “We do not ask permission, Captain. The Orions are our problem and I have a plan for dealing with them, though we will have to move more quickly then I intended. I wished to collect more tribute from the green skins.”

  “Tribute?” Kirk asked Kell.

  “I do not know what he means, Captain,” Kell said.

  Kirk smiled. “We are your guests. We will offer you whatever help we can.”

  Just then, the ground shook beneath them. Kell quickly realized that it was not another earthquake when he heard the nearly simultaneous explosion. He turned to see a bright orange mushroom rise in the distance.

  Kell immediately saw that it came from roughly the place where they had left the shuttle.

  [157] The captain was on his feet immediately.

  “That was the shuttle, sir,” Parrish said, checking her tricorder.

  Kell thought he heard the captain mutter some nonregulation language under his breath and he understood why.

  The mission just became exponentially more dangerous and more difficult. The Orions knew they were here.

  “Sir, something happened on the surface,” Junior Science Officer Stern said from the science station. “An explosion.”

  Spock was out of the command seat immediately and was at the science station in a moment. The young lieutenant stepped aside and Spock looked into the computer viewer.

  He could see Mr. Scott’s work to increase power and sensitivity to track the shuttle. He backed the readings up and found the shuttle clearly on the surface. Then he traced the sensor records forward, saw a power spike that could only be an explosion, and then saw the shuttle’s signal disappear.

  “What is it, Spock,” McCoy asked from behind him.

  “The shuttle has been destroyed,” Spock said.

  He saw the surprise register on the doctor’s face and heard the sharp intake of breath of the rest of the bridge crew. Their concern over something they could not change would hamper efficiency. He had to do something to reduce their anxiety.

  “I have no reason to believe the landing party was on board. In fact, it is unlikely, given the fact that the shuttle had landed and was in standby mode at the time,” he said.

  [158] “How will the captain call for help without the shuttle’s transmitter?” McCoy asked.

  “Lieutenant Uhura, have you had any success?” Spock asked.

  The communications officer turned around and said, “I’m not getting anything on the landing party’s communications channels. However, I am getting some chatter now on the Orion frequencies.”

  Uhura listened carefully for a moment, then said, “They are looking for someone ... Starfleet. They have put out an alert.”

  “Sp—” McCoy began.

  Spock stopped him with a raised hand. “Mr. Sulu, full impulse to the planet. Lieutenant Uhura, order a yellow alert and have Lieutenant Commander Giotto prepare a team to beam down to the surface.”

  Spock took the command seat. He did a quick estimation of the time required to the planet. At full impulse, the Enterprise would reach the world in seventeen point four six seven minutes.

  “If they found the shuttle then the captain won’t have much time, if they are still all right,” Dr. McCoy said.

  The doctor was right, seventeen minutes might be too long.

  “Lieutenant Uhura, hail the Orion installation. Tell them the Enterprise is on its way to take control of their illegal operation. They are to abandon all mining activities as well as any other aggressive activities.”

  “Think that will convince them to give themselves up,” McCoy said. The smile on the doctor’s face told Spock that the human was not asking the question in a [159] literal sense. It was difficult to tell with humans, the Vulcan had learned.

  “No,” Spock replied. “But it will give them something to worry about besides the landing party.”

  Karel entered Klak’s quarters. The Klingon nodded to Karel and put on his d’k tahg blade. Before he could finish, the viewer on his desk flashed.

  “Wait,” the commander said to him, and hit the switch on his viewer.

  Karel watched as a Klingon wearing the uniform of a high commander appeared on the screen.

  “Captain Klak,” the Klingon said. “I have new orders for you. A federation starship is on its way to the installation. They will be there in minutes.”

  “We are still hours away, even at maximum warp,” Klak said.

  “But you are not hours away from the border between Klingon and Federation space. Cross it now and make sure the Earthers see you,” the high commander said.

  Klak looked concerned, “But I thought stealth ...” he said.

  “Stealth is the last thing we want now. Make sure the Earthers see you with their sensor probes. Draw that starship away,” the high commander said. “Then wait for more orders.”

  “I serve the Empire,” Klak said as the high commander broke the connection.

  “You may get to pay the Earthers back sooner than you thought, Senior Weapons Officer Karel,” the commander said.

  Karel hoped that was true.

  [160] Yet he was troubled by Klak’s tone. He did not hear confidence in the Klingon’s voice. Klak had shown surprise when he learned that the D’k tahg would not be sneaking into Federation space.

  Karel preferred the notion of the ship announcing itself, making its entrance a challenge that would put the Earthers on notice.

  Yet he heard something else in Klak’s voice. Was it caution, or cowardice?

  Chapter Fifteen

  “THE SECOND KLINGON CRUISER is moving into position,” Acting Science Officer Parker said.

  Justman nodded. The lead ship was reluctant to engage them. The damage to their nacelle was great and their starboard shield was probably still down, which explained why the Klingon captain was keeping the starboard side of his ship behind the Endeavor’s primary hull.

  “Helm, pull away from the Endeavor. Let’s see if we can put some distance between us and the lead ship. Maybe they will stay out of the battle for a while.”

  They would probably stay out as long as the Endeavor remained intact and a threat. Then Justman had no doubt the Klingon commander would take pleasure in finishing them. Well, he did not intend to give them a chance.

  “Sir, there’s something happening on the Endeavor. A power surge,” the acting science officer said.

  [162] “Is the Klingon cruiser firing on them?” Justman asked.

  “No, sir. I think the ship is powering up phasers,” she said.

  “Put the Endeavor on screen and magnify,” Justman said. He kept a careful eye on the second Klingon cruiser with his tactical sensors. It was powering weapons itself.

  Justman spared a look at the main viewer and saw the impossible happen before his eyes. The crippled primary hull of the Endeavor shot out a single beam of red energy, directly into the damaged and nearly unprotected starboard side of the lead Klingon cruiser.

  “What’s happening?” the science officer said.

  “Captain Shannon is happening,” Justman said as he watched the Klingon cruiser shudder under the assault.

  The phaser beam stopped and Justman watched as the cruiser turned to pull away. That must have been what Captain Shannon was waiting for, because another beam lanced out, striking t
he Klingon ship square in the damaged nacelle.

  Though it was only a single phaser bank firing, the Klingon’s shield failed in a flash of light. Then the beam cut right into the hull of the ship.

  The continuous beam cut through and then severed the nacelle. Then moved up to the main hull, cutting into the very heart of the ship.

  The Klingon vessel tried to use maneuvering thrusters to move out of the way. It actually put a few hundred meters’ more distance between it and the Endeavor. Justman wondered why the Klingons didn’t use impulse engines to escape.

  Then he understood when he saw the phasers cut closer and closer to the rear of the ship, where the [163] impulse engine system was housed. The system must have been blown, he realized. Yet the Klingons put another perhaps thousand meters between it and the Endeavor.

  It was not nearly enough. The phaser tracked the ship and continued its lethal path. Justman imagined systems overloading and bulkheads crumbling. He could see debris being sucked out through multiple hull breaches.

  The Klingon ship was dying and it pained Justman to see it. He imagined that the Endeavor must have also sustained terrible damage before Captain Shannon had given the order to separate the main hull.

  That was a desperate act of a captain who was trying to save his crew even as he lost his ship. The primary hull could function as an excellent lifeboat, even at minimal power. But it was never supposed to be taken into battle.

  Somehow, Captain Shannon had brought the remains of the Endeavor back into the battle. And he had done it while a Klingon boarding party controlled most of the crippled ship.

  In the end, Justman couldn’t tell whether the phaser struck the impulse engines directly or the torpedo room that served the rear torpedo shaft. Whatever the phaser hit last, it caused the Klingon cruiser to explode in a brilliant flash of light and energy that traveled through subspace and rocked the Yorkshire.

  It shook the even closer Endeavor much harder.

  “I’m showing no power in the Endeavor,” Lieutenant Parker said.

  Justman was determined to see that Captain Shannon and his crew’s incredible effort was not wasted.

  “Helm, I want a near-miss course on the remaining Klingon vessel,” he said, knowing he had to hit the [164] Klingon vessel while it was still reeling from the loss of its lead ship.

  For the first time since he realized the captain and the bridge crew were gone, Justman thought they might actually have a chance.

  “They want to come along?” Benitez asked.

  “Is the captain going to allow it?” Clark asked.

  “The leader, Gorath ... insisted. Apparently, they have been planning some kind of raid on the installation for some time,” Kell said. He spared a glance toward Gorath and about a dozen other Klingons as they conferred outside one of the larger buildings, while Captain Kirk and Section Chief Brantley spoke nearby.

  “We can’t be worrying about them when we go in,” Ensign Sobel said.

  “They did capture an Orion weapons platform with rocks and an axe,” Kell said. “In any case, the point is settled. We have their help, or they have ours, depending on how you look at it.”

  The others nodded, apparently satisfied. That alone amazed Kell. The humans were not questioning whether or not they would help the Klingon primitives. Their only concern was whether or not those primitives would be a help or hindrance.

  The humans around him did not do this after wrestling with their principles; they did it as a matter of course—as if there were no other course.

  Kell knew that if the Klingon Empire won the coming fight, they would try to smash the surviving humans’ spirits. He doubted that would be even possible, even if the humans were defeated. And even if it were possible, [165] the loss of such strength of purpose would be a great loss to the galaxy.

  Suddenly, Kell heard a whoop in the distance. It was followed by another, then another, each closer than the last.

  Suddenly, the village was alive with movement, with Klingons running back and forth. But the movement was not frantic, instead it was filled with purpose.

  Something was happening.

  Kell and the squad ran toward Kirk and Brantley’s position and arrived just as Gorath did.

  “It begins. The green skins are coming,” Gorath said, and Kell translated.

  “Captain, I don’t show anything,” Parrish said, studying her tricorder.

  Kirk didn’t hesitate. “Check your weapons,” he ordered as he checked his own phaser rifle.

  “Come,” Gorath said, motioning for the squad to follow.

  Gorath was met by about twenty other Klingons, both males and females, who looked to him intently. Obviously waiting for instructions.

  The Klingon leader gave a nod and his Klingons went to work. They surrounded the wooden structure and a moment later its walls fell away. The building had obviously been a shell. Now only its roof was standing, supported by four large posts.

  “Orion tribute,” Gorath said, pointing to the contents of the building.

  It was tribute indeed, and far superior to rocks and an axe.

  Kell took a quick inventory. There were three Orion [166] weapons platforms that looked to be completely intact. There were also two tables full of Orion weapons, both rifles and sidearm. Kell had seen firsthand how deadly those weapons could be in the hands of even inept Orions.

  Side by side with the powerful energy weapons were weapons that Kell recognized: Klingon mek’leths, precursors to the bat’leth, the honored blade first forged by the hand of Kahless himself.

  The Klingons descended on the tables and suddenly the Orion weapons were in the hands of Klingon warriors, warriors who had brought down a shielded and armored weapons platform with little more than their bare hands.

  Seeing the landing party’s naked astonishment, Gorath smiled and said, “One does not fight fire with grass.”

  Kirk raised an eyebrow and said, “Apparently not.”

  Gorath offered Kirk a mek’leth. Without hesitation, the captain accepted it and strapped it on. Then the rest of the landing party accepted the offered blades, and Kell took his own. He felt his blood burn when he touched the metal handle with one hand and the blade with the other, staring at the weapon in awe.

  He quickly tied the leather belt that held the blade around his waist and saw that the other officers were doing the same.

  The captain approached one of the weapons platforms and said, “I will give one of them a try. Who else has a combat flight rating?”

  Chief Brantley stepped forward, but Gorath stayed him with a polite but firm hand on the shoulder.

  The Klingon leader did not understand the captain’s words, but he obviously understood the human’s intention. Gorath leaped onto one platform and signaled two [167] other Klingons, a male and a female, who did the same on the other two platforms.

  With a quick series of movements that spoke of long practice, the three Klingons powered up the platforms and maneuvered them outside. Once there, they brought the platforms up to about two meters above the ground.

  Gorath looked down on the assembled Klingons and the landing party and said, “Let them come.” Then he quickly gave instructions to his warriors.

  “Captain, he is telling them to take their positions and suggests we do the same. They will be taking cover on either side of the center or the village. He asks us to take this side,” Kell said, pointing to a line of trees nearby.

  “Tell him we will,” Kirk said.

  The Klingons quickly redistributed themselves, with twelve spread out on one side of the village behind the dwellings and five more accompanying the eight members of the landing party to the line of trees.

  As they took position, Benitez stayed close beside him. The others did the same, staying close to their partners.

  He saw Parrish and Ensign Sobel take cover behind one of the trees. Before she disappeared from view, Parrish smiled at him, a smile that he returned. Whatever happened, he hoped he had time to
finish things properly with her.

  Kell noticed that the village was extremely quiet. He also realized that it was completely deserted, except for the warriors who would now defend it. Kell was proud to be among them.

  He glanced at Benitez, who smiled at him. Kell returned the smile, and then it began.

  Five warriors came running toward the center of town [168] from the distant woods. As Gorath had been when they first saw him, the Klingons were dodging, finding cover where they could, making themselves difficult targets.

  Then Kell saw what was chasing them. Four weapons platforms, piloted by the now familiar figure of tall Orions wearing armored suits.

  The platforms tried to track the Klingons, but the nimble and fast warriors managed to avoid the deadly energy blasts. As the Klingons led the Orions toward the center of town, Kell realized that they were using the pincer formation again.

  Except this time, the Klingons on each side of the pincer were carrying phaser rifles and Orion energy weapons. And even if the Orions survived the strikes from each side, the Klingon was sure that three weapons platforms piloted by Klingons were waiting for them at the apex of the formation.

  Suddenly, a blast from one of the vehicles hit one of the warriors, who disappeared in a flash of light and energy.

  To Kell it seemed both impossible and supremely unjust that the cowardly Orion could end the valiant primitive Klingon’s life. The others continued, drawing the platforms closer and closer to the pincer’s snare. Then, when they were perhaps ten meters from the position of the outermost Klingons, Gorath gave a Klingon war cry—the same cry that had rung out on countless battlefields in Klingon history.

  Kell added his voice to the cry and so did, he noticed, Benitez and the other security officers nearby.

  A weapon fired from nearby, one of the captured Orion weapons now in the hands of a Klingon.

  “Fire!” he heard Kirk’s voice shout. And then the [169] phaser rifle in his hand came alive with deadly power. He picked his first target and was pleased to see its shield flare purple under the assault.