by Tony Daniel
“Aye, sir.”
* * *
Kirk had always enjoyed approaching a planet after dropping out of warp, experiencing the relatively slow and magisterial approach toward orbit with only impulse power pushing the ship along.
There would be the revelation of how the world would appear from space. Even though he was a veteran starship captain who had visited hundreds of systems, and been the discoverer of many of them, the captain had never lost the tingle of awe and anticipation of adventure he felt when a world, and especially a world harboring life, loomed before him. Kirk had assumed he would never arrive in orbit without that brief flicker of rapture.
Zeta Gibraltar tested that assumption.
The planet loomed before them with its odd orange and blue coloration: ferrous silicates and biological variants on the bush-sized algae they’d encountered before. But the garish orange of the equator gradually faded to a deep and rusty orange toward the poles. Even from space the vegetation revealed that it was not a uniform blue, but was a patchwork of subtle differences. He could see how someone might call the planet lovely and mean it.
“Captain,” Chekov said, staring up from his station at the bridge viewscreen. “The Montana is not in orbit.”
“Perhaps she’s occluded by the planet,” Kirk said.
“Negative, sir.”
Not again, Kirk thought. Had some outlying L’rah’hane raiders made an opportunistic foray while the Enterprise was away hunting bigger game? The Montana could be off chasing them.
“Hail the outpost, Lieutenant Uhura.”
“Commander Contreras,” Uhura reported after a moment.
“On-screen, Lieutenant.”
A frazzled Imelda Contreras appeared before Kirk. “Commander, where’s the Montana?”
“I was hoping you could tell me that, Captain,” Contreras replied. “About two hours ago she left orbit. Sensors indicated a rapid departure. Shortly thereafter we picked up a burst of subspace chatter and then a mayday call. We’ve been going through the communications records trying to understand what’s happened, but nothing yet.”
“We were inside the Vara two hours ago, too close to the nebula to be able to pick up subspace communication,” said Kirk said. “Let me speak with Representative Valek, please.”
“Valek?” said Contreras. “She was on the Montana. She was communicating with the Council Security and Intelligence Committee. She took the Excalbians who were not with you on board so that they could speak directly to the Council and explain their recent actions, especially that declaration of Excalbian independence.
“Captain, are you going after them?”
“I can’t abandon you to possible pirate attack.”
“The Excalbians are our primary mission.” Contreras smiled grimly. “The minute the Montana left, I ordered my chief engineer to charge up our new planetary defense system. It’s ahead of schedule, but all systems came online and we have full function. We may not have a complete shield, but we’ll be able to hold off a couple of raiders if we have to.”
She’s right, Kirk thought. It’s about time somebody chooses to trust. She has to be thinking her career is in tatters. Besides, I have faith in Scotty’s defenses.
“Commander,” Kirk said, “we’ll be back as soon as we can. Kirk out.”
Kirk turned to his first officer.
“Mister Spock?”
“Sensors show an active ion trail leading away from the planet. Analysis indicates the signature matches Montana. There are indications of excessive energy discharge occurring in synclinic waves. A classic indication of a ship that has all engines in full reverse.”
“She was tractored away,” said Kirk. “Dragged away kicking and screaming.”
“Colorful, but that would be my assessment, Captain,” Spock said. “The Montana did not leave orbit of her own accord.”
“But dragged where? Toward the nebula?”
“Negative. Deeper into Federation territory.”
“Let’s go get her,” Kirk said. “And find whatever it is that’s strong enough to tractor an Archer-class starship.”
Seventeen
Captain’s Log, Stardate 6100.9. We are following the trail left by the Montana. It appears that she was tractored out of orbit and pulled away from the system at warp speed by an unknown force. Two-thirds of the Excalbian refugees are reported to be on the Montana along with Federation Special Representative Valek. Enterprise will locate the Montana and then determine whoever—or whatever—is behind this.
“Lieutenant Uhura, call President Washington to the bridge,” Kirk said. He had been brooding silently for the hours the Enterprise had been tracking the Montana’s ion trail, and his order startled Uhura—but she quickly recovered her usual professional aplomb and promptly summoned the Excalbian.
Washington-Yarnek arrived moments later.
“What can I do for you, Captain?” he said, coming to stand beside Kirk’s command chair. He stared at the viewscreen. “I shall never get used to that sight. Racing through the stars in all their glory.”
“All right, Yarnek, I want you to tell me what the hell is going on,” Kirk said. “What have you been keeping from us?”
“There is nothing, Captain.”
“There’s something,” Kirk said. “Mysterious forces do not suddenly grab starships out of orbit—at least not normally. One force I know from experience that can perform such a feat are the Excalbians. The fact that Excalbians are here and aboard the Montana is no coincidence. So I ask you again: what have you been keeping from us?”
“Captain Kirk, I assure you—”
Kirk turned sharply on the Excalbian. “I’m done playing games, Yarnek. Lives are at stake. Human lives, and—unless I miss my guess—Excalbian lives as well.”
Washington-Yarnek was silent for a moment, considering. Then he bowed his head toward Kirk and finally spoke. “You must understand, we—my humanoid companions and myself—did not leave our native planet in the best of circumstances. We were hunted criminals, accused of treason, and we were facing”—Washington-Yarnek shuddered—“re-absorption into the planetary silicon matrix. A death sentence. I fear our pursuers may have hunted us down.”
“You should have told us.”
“I’m sorry I was . . . not forthcoming. In retrospect, it was obviously a grave error. But we were hopeful that if we disappeared into the vast population of the Federation—”
“Never mind that. Tell me who or what I might be facing out there once we catch them.”
“I do not know for certain,” Washington-Yarnek replied. “It is most unusual, although not unheard of, that members of my species leave our planetary home . . . brief expeditions, to the worlds within our system. We possess matter-manipulating technology that makes warp travel possible. Excalbians simply don’t want to go anywhere else. The usual excuse is that we are far too busy exploring the inner space of our being to bother with mere physical reality.” Washington shook his head. “As you know, I do not hold with such a philosophy. I believe, much as you do, in the power of exploration and discovery. It could be argued that I believe this because I am partially a construction taken from your mind, Captain Kirk. And, George Washington began as a surveyor on the American frontier.”
“Fine sentiments, Yarnek. Who took that ship?”
Washington-Yarnek hung his head. “It is quite likely to be Excalbians. They possess the technology that would allow them to do this. I cannot explain how. There is much knowledge that was wiped away when I forced into this human form. But they are after us, the refugees. I believe Representative Valek and the crew of the Montana were merely in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Why are they after you? What treason did you commit? Why not just let you go?”
“When we left, we took something with us,” Washington-Yarnek said. “Knowledge. Knowledge of good and evil. They want it back.”
“You’re joking.”
“I wish I were, Captain,” Washington-Yar
nek said. “You have to understand how the Excalbian collective works. All decisions are made through a series of thought experiments. Various scenarios are created and tested, again and again. I know it seemed bizarre to you when Abraham Lincoln appeared to you and we coerced you into one of our games. But to an Excalbian, it was perfectly normal. That is the way information is gathered for collective decision-making. There is no other way. Those who participate in these scenarios are, to some extent, actors in a drama. But, during the scenario, we believe we are the personas we’ve taken on. At the conclusion, the experiential data is collated and matched against experiential matrices from similar dramas. Conclusions are modified or reinforced accordingly. But the ones who possess this data, who retain these memories, are the individuals involved. Half-formed conclusions are not shared with the collective. In fact, the collective does not know what to do until that knowledge is shared. It is prevented from acting by the very makeup of our mental structures.”
Washington-Yarnek touched his own temple with a finger. “It’s locked in here,” he said, tapping his temple several times. “We escaped Excalbia with the data sets of hundreds of scenarios contained within our beings. The collective cannot act without that knowledge. It is prevented by the logical pathways of our thought processes.”
“You said that the collective runs these scenarios in order to reach a decision,” Kirk replied. “What was the decision the collective intended to make in this case?”
Washington-Yarnek seemed to grow tense and stood even more stiffly than usual. When he spoke, it was in a low voice, as if he were ashamed of what he had to say. “Whether or not to destroy your Federation, Captain. Excalbians do not tolerate threats to the collective’s existence. They strike first and strike hard.”
“How were you planning on destroying the Federation?” Kirk asked.
“By activating the planet Earth’s tectonic plates. We would bury your world in a lake of lava hundreds of kilometers deep. We would then move on and repeat this process world by world. We know how to do this. We did it to our own world, after all.”
“So if they want to catch you and somehow . . . reintegrate you . . . into Excalbian society . . . this would trigger the decision of whether or not to attack Earth.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Yarnek, why not tell us this before?” Kirk asked with an exasperated sigh. “We could have helped.”
“We believed that you would annihilate us rather than risk our experience and conclusions falling back into Excalbian hands,” Washington-Yarnek said. “In fact, was that not the official plan?”
He’s got me there, Kirk thought. But the difference between us and them is that cooler heads prevailed.
“I’m a Starfleet captain and a representative of the Federation. I do not annihilate people because they possess dangerous information,” Kirk said. “I and my crew protect them.”
“The New Excalbia Assembly had come to the conclusion that we were no longer in any danger of eradication. We were planning to inform you and Representative Valek of these facts after our return from the expedition to the Vara Nebula. It was a final test of whether you would treat us fairly. Captain Kirk, you passed with flying colors.”
“Knowing what you were up to infuriates me, Yarnek.”
“I completely understand, Captain.”
Kirk shook his head. “I don’t think you do. You still believe you can play with people’s lives. Even now, when you’ve assumed human form, have human emotions, human beliefs. The Excalbian part of you retains this . . . arrogance.”
“Doctor Franklin has been attempting to warn us of this shortcoming,” Washington-Yarnek replied. “He told us it would be our downfall. He is completely correct, but to my great sorrow it may be too late.”
“No,” Kirk said. “It’s not too late. It’s never too late to learn a bit of humility. Maybe that’s what the exploration and discovery of physical reality is truly for.”
Washington-Yarnek put a hand to his forehead, kneaded it for a moment. “What I have told you now is all I know. I would provide to you the specifics of Excalbian capabilities so that you may better counter them, but I do not have this information. This is a portion of my Excalbian self that was wiped away to make room for George Washington. It is so with all of us. Much was lost when we became humans.”
He shook his head as if to rid it of bad thoughts. He faced Kirk. “I have come to the conclusion, however, that the gain far outweighs the loss. I know you may not believe me, and I wouldn’t blame you, but I tell you that I am completely on your side. I am a partisan for the human race, for the Federation, and for freedom.”
Kirk smiled. “Good to hear, Yarnek. Or whoever you become,” he said. “I think you’ve finally stopped the playacting and stepped into real life.”
“I believe you are right, Captain.”
“Ion trail is growing more intense,” Spock suddenly reported. “Energy residue from Starfleet weaponry. Extreme energy levels would indicate that the Montana was engaged in combat.”
“Take us out of warp, Mister Chekov. Let’s see if we can make sense of—”
“Captain, ahead!” called out Sulu. He pointed to the viewscreen. “It’s the Montana, sir.”
She was spinning slowly. Her stabilizers were obviously nonfunctional. One nacelle was twisted into a jagged flower of metal-ceramics. It had blown out its forward end.
“Spock.”
“Engines are nearing overload,” Spock said. “Captain, the Montana is in imminent danger of a warp core meltdown.”
“Run a scan on life signs,” Kirk said.
“Faint,” Spock said.
“Damn!” Kirk said, staring at the crippled ship.
“I’m sorry, Captain,” Washington-Yarnek said. “I detect the hand of my former species in this.”
“Scans confirm life support is functioning, sir.”
“Uhura, see if you can get me Haynes.”
“Montana, this is Enterprise,” said Uhura, adjusting and readjusting her earpiece frequencies. “Montana, come in please.”
After a moment the viewscreen crackled to life.
Red Alert lights flashed everywhere on the Montana bridge. Captain Haynes was busy taking a report from a red-shirted engineering officer. He turned toward Kirk.
“Haynes, what’s going on?”
He answered rapidly. “We were pulled from orbit by unknown tractor beam technology. Beam originated from a group of ships of an entirely alien design. We tried to break free and fight back, and the dilithium crystals began to spontaneously disintegrate. Condition critical. Attempting to respond.”
“Understood.”
“Kirk?”
“Yes?”
“They took Representative Valek,” said Haynes. “I don’t know how. Didn’t look like a transporter. One moment she was on the bridge, the next moment she had disappeared before my eyes.”
“Do you have any idea who did this?”
“Not a clue. They didn’t answer any of our hails. Or notice our emergency log beacon.”
“Noted. Would you like to abandon ship? We should be able to get your people off.”
“Negative. There was an enormous energy surge, and nonessential systems became inoperative. My engineer has a solution to prevent immediate core meltdown,” Haynes said. “It’ll leave us dead in space, but should save our lives for the moment.”
“Enterprise will stand by.”
“Hope we won’t need it.” A distraught crewman suddenly trotted up to Haynes with a report. Haynes glanced at the data slate he was handed. “Montana out.”
The viewscreen returned to starfield with the slowly spinning Montana.
Kirk lowered his eyes, shook his head in frustration. Then he looked back up, resolved. “Mister Spock, I want you and Franklin to fire up that Hradrian device and prepare it for use as a weapon.”
“Aye, sir,” Spock said. “Franklin and Galileo have been working on the device since our departure from Zeta Gibraltar.�
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“Check on their progress, Spock,” Kirk said. “Do what you can speed them up?”
“Aye, sir.”
* * *
“Captain, multiple incoming objects,” Chekov reported from the science station. “They are moving toward us at warp speed. Unknown configuration.”
“On-screen.”
The approaching objects looked like specks at first, but as they drew closer, their outlines began to be discernable.
“Red Alert,” Kirk said. “Battle stations.”
“These are the configurations of Excalbian vessels,” Washington-Yarnek said with a sigh. “They have found us.”
“Well, they haven’t gotten you,” Kirk said. “And we intend to fight for your freedom.”
“That is much appreciated, Captain Kirk.”
A hailing whistle from engineering broke the heavy silence.
“Mister Scott.”
“Captain, Mister Watt and I have been discussing what he remembers of Excalbian science and looking through the data we acquired from our encounter with them before. We may have found a way to counter at least a portion of the Excalbian technology.”
“That’s the best news I’ve had in while,” Kirk said. “Explain.”
“We believe we’ve created a deflector shield resonance that will guard against direct matter manipulation within the ship. They won’t be able to reach in and grab anyone out of thin air. Most importantly, they won’t be able to mess with my dilithium crystal matrix and cause the kind of critical deterioration they did before.”
“Do it, Mister Scott.”
“Aye, sir.”
Kirk looked back up at the viewscreen. There was an array of five ships in a star-shaped formation. They looked more like giant crystals than ships. Each was a slightly different shape, with different facets. Each ship was also a different shade, glowing faintly from within, but relatively bright here in deep space. Thousands of tiny points of light played around furiously inside the crystal ships, twinkling, moving together, and spreading apart. It resembled a bee colony, if one could peer directly inside.
