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

by Kevin Ryan

  * * *

  [237] “Klingon vessel is arming a torpedo,” Lieutenant Stern said.

  Already on his feet, Spock turned and vaulted over the bridge railing, landing next to the science station—peripherally aware that he was pushing the doctor aside as he did it.

  “Full thruster speed to the surface,” Spock shouted as he grabbed the science-station controls from Lieutenant Stern.

  For them to have even a chance to survive, Sulu would have to comply without question and forgo a helmsmen’s instinct to execute evasive maneuvers when under torpedo fire.

  Sulu’s “Aye” told Spock that he was complying. That meant there was still a chance.

  As quickly as he could, Spock focused all possible shield strength to the rear of the ship.

  When the chain reaction began, they would need to be as far ahead of the solar flare as possible and make certain the shields did not immediately fail under the assault of energy.

  Counting the elapsed time in his mind, Spock realized that they would not make the surface in time. Now the ship’s survival depended entirely on the shields. They would either perform or fail.

  Spock knew that given time, he could calculate their chances. Yet he knew that the matter would be settled before the calculations were complete.

  Looking into the science-station viewer, Spock saw that the torpedo had detonated. The radiation reached the ship immediately and was easily repelled by the shielding.

  [238] Then the chain reaction began. Spock caught sight of the solar flare’s leading edge just as it reached the Enterprise’s position.

  Then the deck shook violently under his feet, and the bridge went completely dark as power failed.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  “ANY SIGN OF THE EARTHERS?” Klak shouted.

  “No sign, but they did not make it out of the star,” Koloth said.

  “Then they are finished. Helm, take us back to Klingon space. Maximum speed. I am eager to leave the stink of this Federation behind us.”

  Eager to run from battle, Karel thought.

  Klak stood and turned to the weapons console, where Koloth sat staring back at him.

  “You challenge my leadership with your insubordination, Koloth, you challenge me,” Klak said. His voice sounded strong, but Karel noted that the commander had made certain that Karel and the other guard, Ranc, were between him and the weapons officer.

  “No, I challenge a weak and cowardly Earther, without the courage or honor to lead,” Koloth said.

  [240] Klak glanced once to Ranc, who drew his d’k tahg, and then to Karel, who drew his own. Karel noted that Koloth had his own blade drawn and was staring at Klak and his two guards without fear.

  It was a nearly hopeless battle, yet Koloth was obviously prepared to wage it.

  Karel did not think about what he did next, he simply acted. Stepping in front of Klak, he reached out with his left hand and brought the back of it across Ranc’s face.

  The Klingon looked at him in surprise for a moment; then he understood the deadly insult. He lunged forward with the knife. The blow was clumsy but powerful, and Karel was barely able to deflect it.

  Ranc, however, did not even see his counterstrike, a quick, powerful jab with his d’k tahg. The honored blade that was once his father’s penetrated Ranc’s uniform, and slid between his ribs and straight into the Klingon’s chest

  Ranc clutched at the wound and then fell.

  Karel pulled his blade out as the Klingon fell and turned to face Klak, who was looking at him incredulously.

  “You are sworn to protect me!” the Klingon demanded.

  “From any unequal challenge,” Karel spat back. “I see nothing but a single honorable Klingon making a just challenge. It is more than you gave to Captain Kran when you murdered him.”

  “You cannot do this!” Klak shouted.

  Another voice sounded. It was Koloth’s, and said, “Do not worry about him, Klak. You should worry about me.”

  Koloth lifted his blade high.

  Klak turned and shouted, “Withdraw your challenge or die!” Karel did not have to strain to hear the fear in Klak’s voice.

  [241] Koloth smiled and said, “I will withdraw nothing but my blade from your lifeless body.”

  Klak lifted his own blade and lunged at Koloth. The weapons officer did not bother to sidestep. He met the charge head-on and, as he promised, plunged his d’k tahg into Klak’s chest.

  Karel thought it was over. Then he saw that Klak’s blade had found its mark as well. It had pierced Koloth in the shoulder.

  As Klak clutched him, dying, Koloth calmly pulled Klak’s blade from the wound. Then he withdrew his own blade from Klak’s chest and—as the Klingon sank to the deck—wiped it on Klak’s uniform.

  Then Koloth kicked Klak’s body, rolling it over once, making room in front of the command chair.

  Karel took a guard’s position behind Koloth and said, “Congratulations, Captain Koloth.”

  Koloth turned to him and nodded. “Take your post, Bridge Weapons Officer Karel,” he said.

  Karel wanted to protest. He was not ready for that honor, yet he would not question Koloth’s judgment on the bridge.

  He simply nodded and took a position in front of the console.

  He spared a look back at Koloth, who remained standing, showing no sign that he would seek medical attention for his wound.

  Karel had no doubt that Koloth would finish the duty cycle just where he was, on his feet in front of his command chair.

  Suddenly, he realized that he had a commander he would be honored to follow.

  [242] Let the Earthers tremble, Karel thought. His time of vengeance was drawing near. He could feel it.

  “It’s up ahead,” Benitez said, pointing to movement in the distance.

  Equipment and various containers blocked the view, but Kell could make out the movement and occasional patches of green skin.

  Kell knew they had better hurry. According to the computer countdown, the pickup was scheduled a full fifteen minutes before the warp-core failure.

  The Klingon estimated that they had less than ten minutes left now. He wished he had a chronometer and cursed whoever decided that Starfleet officers didn’t need them.

  As they moved closer, Kell caught a better glimpse of the Orions. They were standing next to an ore hauler larger than but similar to the one that Parrish had used to lower them to the level-of the mines. These Orions, he noted, were not combat troops and were not wearing armored suits.

  The ore container they were unloading was full of large, rough crystals, which the Orions were moving with small, hand-controlled antigrav sleds to the large transporter platform, which sat thirty meters across from the hauler. Behind that was a control station of some kind, which no doubt provided controls for the transporter and the other heavy equipment in the area.

  Kell and Benitez took a crouching position behind heavy cargo containers.

  “I count six, Flash,” Benitez said. “How about you?”

  “Six, but there may be more to the right,” Kell said, [243] pointing to the transporter and control area to the right. The area was partially obscured by the huge support beams that ran from the floor to the hundred-meter-tall ceiling.

  “They look like no problem,” Benitez said.

  Kell nodded. “But let’s not take any chances. We cannot let the Orions escape with their precious dilithium.”

  His roommate nodded, and they both took aim.

  “Target the vehicle’s antigrav pads,” Kell said.

  Benitez nodded, and both officers trained their phasers on one of the two circular pads at the bottom of the transport.

  “On three,” Benitez said.

  “One,” the Klingon said.

  “Two,” Benitez replied.

  Then together, they said, “Three.”

  The phaser rifles in their arms let loose their deadly red energy simultaneously. The heavy vehicle rocked when the beams struck but, surprisingly, abs
orbed the energy.

  They kept their fire trained on the antigrav pads and watched the metal around it change shape and begin to buckle.

  A few seconds later the pads flashed and something exploded underneath the huge ore hauler, sending it at least thirty meters in the air.

  Kell noted with satisfaction that the nearly full load of dilithium was thrown in all directions—many of the crystals flying off into the pit that was just a few meters behind the vehicle.

  Then, with a deafening crash, the ore hauler smashed into the ground, twisting itself as it shook the ground under Kell’s feet.

  [244] “I think we got it,” Benitez said. Kell did not have to look to see the smile on his roommate’s face.

  Then an angry red beam flashed over their heads.

  “And it looks like the Orions noticed,” Kell said.

  Suddenly, other beams started crashing around them. Watching carefully, Kell counted five origin points. He hoped that meant that the Orion he had seen closest to the ore hauler had been incapacitated by its explosion.

  With hand motions, he told Benitez to move position. Using cargo containers and support pillars for cover, they made their way closer to the pit.

  The typically foolish Orions, however, kept up fire on their previous position. From their new position, they could make out five Orions ... no, six. One was lying on the ground, incapacitated.

  From the look of the Orion’s wound, Kell judged that the incapacitation was permanent.

  By now, the fire on their previous position was slowly dissipating and the Orions were elsewhere.

  Suddenly, he felt a tremor under his feet. Then he heard the deep rumble of an explosion somewhere underground.

  “If that was the warp core ...” Benitez said, once again speaking Kell’s thoughts out loud.

  Then the shaking stopped and Kell said. “I don’t think so ... we are still here.”

  When he looked back at the Orions, Kell could see that the shaking had knocked them to the ground. They were slowly picking up their weapons and getting up.

  Kell shook his head. They were a pitifully unworthy enemy.

  “They outnumber and outgun us, Flash, I say we attack?” Benitez said.

  [245] The Klingon nodded. “Let’s end this now. The captain may need our help.”

  Simultaneously, the two officers got up from their crouching positions and raised their weapons. They started running full-out toward the Orions’ position, firing as they ran.

  Already disoriented from the explosion, the Orions were slow to see them and slower to react. By the time they raised their weapons, Kell had found a target, then another. Benitez found one as well.

  Then the two officers let out a battle cry. The remaining two Orions jumped at the sound, but managed to fire in their direction.

  Kell saw a blast head over his left shoulder, where Benitez was running. A quick glance told him that his partner was unharmed, and then Kell was looking forward again, firing as he ran. Kell and Benitez fired and struck the last two Orions nearly simultaneously.

  The two men came to a stop. Benitez was smiling, and Kell returned the gesture.

  “Flash, remind me—”

  Before Benitez could finish, Kell did two things simultaneously. He saw movement out of his peripheral vision from somewhere near the control area. Before the movement had completely registered, he dove for the nearest cover, shoving his partner down as he went.

  The two men hit the ground with a thud. Benitez, fortunately, had the sense to ask no questions and crawled for better cover, as blasts rang out over their heads.

  The fire was heavy, even when they were finally out of the attacker’s sight. Kell did not venture a glance from their covered position.

  [246] Then the enemy fire was tearing up cargo containers and blasting metal supports all around them. Even if the enemy could not see them, it was only a matter of time until they hit the officers directly or hit something close enough to them to have the same effect.

  Kell noted that the enemy was using a different and more powerful weapon than the Orion arms. If he didn’t do something soon, he would find out just how much more powerful.

  With a wave, he showed Benitez what he wanted to do. The human nodded and the two men made their way closer to the edge of the pit. The cover was not as good, but they were able to make their way to Kell’s objective, the twisted hulk that was the ore hauler.

  A few moments later both men slipped past a single cargo container and were behind the vehicle. Heavily armored, it provided the best cover in the immediate area. Kell allowed himself a few deep breaths and looked at Benitez.

  “At least they are a challenge,” Kell said.

  “Personally, I liked them better when they were inept,” Benitez said, smiling. “What’s the plan, Flash?”

  Benitez pointed to a support pylon about twenty meters away. “I will run that way to draw their fire. You shoot them all when they reveal themselves to fire.”

  Benitez nodded seriously. “Okay, but you be careful, Jon,” he said.

  “You as well, Luis. And do not miss,” Kell replied.

  He started to turn, already tensing his legs for the leap into action, when the world exploded behind him.

  They must have hit the cargo container behind us, [247] Kell thought as the blast picked him up and tossed him forward.

  Benitez, who was closer to the container, overtook him in the air. Even as they flew, Kell saw that Benitez would land close to the edge of the pit, dangerously close.

  The Klingon reached out a hand and was able to just feel Benitez’s uniform as the human was thrown past him. Then Kell’s shoulder struck something solid and he came to a rest on the ground.

  Turning his head to look for his partner, he saw Benitez resting precariously near the edge. The human was injured, though Kell could not see how badly.

  Kell struggled to clear his vision and tried to determine how badly his own body was damaged.

  Then he heard footsteps. They were coming closer.

  Reflexively, he reached for his phaser, but the rifle was gone, thrown somewhere by the blast.

  When the footsteps seemed almost upon him, he found that his right hand still worked, and reached for his sidearm.

  That was gone too.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  THE EMERGENCY BRIDGE LIGHTS flickered on. The bridge crew seemed unharmed,

  “Helm status, Mr. Sulu,” Spock said.

  “No response, sir,” Sulu said.

  Spock hit the science-station intercom button and said, “Spock to engineering.”

  “Scott here,” said the chief engineer’s voice.

  “Mr. Scott, I need emergency power to the helm and functional thrusters immediately,” Spock said.

  “Is that all?” Mr. Scott said.

  “Yes, that will be sufficient for the moment,” Spock replied.

  “Sir, we just had a hell of a wallop and my equipment must be faulty because it’s telling me that we are inside the outer layer of a red giant.”

  [249] The Vulcan ignored the chief engineer’s comment. “Time for repairs?” Spock asked.

  “Time for repairs?” Scott said and Spock could clearly hear exasperation in the human’s voice. “Pick your system, we’re still inventorying damage.”

  Spock checked the shield level. They were at forty-two percent and falling.

  “Mr. Scott, unless we have helm control and thrusters in forty-eight seconds, the shields will fail. Then you will be able to measure our survival time in hundredths of a second.”

  There was silence on the intercom for a moment. Spock took the time to calculate the actual amount of the Enterprise’s hull that would remain intact after complete shield failure. Taking into consideration temperature of the surrounding stellar material and the insulating properties of the hull material, he concluded that the hull would last exactly .0347 seconds.

  “Try it now,” said Mr. Scott’s voice.

  “Mr. Sulu, take us ou
t,” Spock said.

  “Aye,” Sulu said, manipulating his controls. There was a slight but noticeable delay and then the ship was under way.

  Spock tracked the ship’s progress. They had covered most of the distance to open space before the blast.

  Turning to the viewscreen, Spock saw the deep red give way to lighter and lighter shades.

  Then the vessel was in open space.

  Turning back to the computer, he saw that they had escaped by a comfortable margin: just over 18.06 seconds.

  He noticed that the entire bridge crew was looking at him, expectantly.

  [250] “The ship is safe,” he said.

  Spock returned to the command chair and notice that the doctor was clutching the back of it tightly.

  “Do not be alarmed, Doctor, we escaped with a safety margin of more than eighteen seconds,” the Vulcan said.

  That must have satisfied McCoy, because the doctor was speechless for a moment.

  Then Chief Engineer Scott entered the bridge. Spock had served among humans long enough to read the displeasure on Mr. Scott’s face.

  “How long before we have warp speed, Mr. Scott?” Spock asked.

  “How long?” the human said, with an expression that Spock could not read. “You can have it now and for about two more hours.”

  “Please explain,” the Vulcan said.

  “The stellar flare hit us very hard. The dilithium chamber is damaged and the crystals are failing. You have warp speed for two more hours, then nothing short of a starbase repair station will get this ship past sublight.”

  Without hesitation, Spock turned to Mr. Sulu and said, “Maximum warp to System 7348.”

  Then Spock took a moment to calculate the time required to reach the system at maximum warp. Then he subtracted the time, lost due to loss of speed during the final decay of the dilithium reaction chamber.

  He concluded that they would reach the system with several minutes to spare. Turning back to the chief engineer, he said, “Excellent, that will be fine, Mr. Scott.”

  To the Vulcan’s surprise, the human did not seem pleased. Instead, he shook his head and muttered [251] something indistinguishable as he headed for the turbolift.