Star Trek - Gateways 7 - WHAT LAY BEYOND

by Various

  With the hood up, Kirk felt much better. His black pants could vaguely be seen through the near-opaque polymer. But in the darkness, no one would notice.

  Finally feeling free to roam, Kirk slipped out of the garment factory and began briskly walking down the center of the tunnel. He didn't have to sneak up to every doorway, and could take more time to examine the unusual machinery. It had the same hodgepodge construction as Tasm's ship, as if different materials and technology had been jumbled together to form one functioning unit.

  No one paid any attention to him, even when several Petraw passed close by. They kept their eyes cast down as they walked, and their movements seemed somewhat slow to Kirk.

  He grew bolder, ranging through the corridors. His general direction was up, figuring that would be the way to get out of the complex. Yet the tunnels went on and on, making him pause as he tried to remember his route. No sense getting lost in the maze. It appeared to be laid out in concentric rings, with short, steeply sloping tunnels up to the next level.

  Though it had long underground corridors like the Kalandan station, everything else was different. The Kalandan passageways were large and kept sparkling clean like the space station it was. This place was cramped, dark, and dirty, like an underground mine. The Petraw, especially the smaller ones, were bowed down with work. With their melted faces, he couldn't tell any of them apart.

  Kirk didn't want to feel sorry for Tasm, but for some reason he did.

  It took hours before Kirk found what he was looking for - a docking bay for spaceships. Keeping his elation in check, he passed a few of the larger vessels the size of Tasm's ship. They filled the underground bunkers from one end to the other. Then he came across several hangars for the smaller shuttlecraft-type ships, the kind that a single man could operate.

  Kirk was grinning in relief. That hadn't been too difficult. Now all he needed to do was get hold of the interstellar transporter and steal a ship to return to the Enterprise.

  It took a while to explore the extensive hangars to find the right ship. Most were being worked on round the clock by the silent waxwork Petraw.

  At this point, he didn't hesitate to go right up to them. They were so intent on their jobs that as long as he appeared to be doing a task of his own no one paid attention to him. They coordinated with each other with a minimum of clipped words, almost a technocode.

  The one time Kirk was asked a question, he made sure his hood hung over his face before grunting and shaking his head. The worker accepted his ignorance and asked someone else.

  Finally Kirk found a small ship that appeared fully operational. He slid into the pilot's seat and examined the controls. The panel was activated, but it was like nothing he had ever seen. Spiky symbols scrolled down one side, with triangles and diamond patterns on the other side.

  "Uh-oh," Kirk muttered. "Maybe not so simple..."

  His other problem was how to get the ship out of the hangar. There were large recessed doors in the ceiling of each bunker, but he couldn't see a control panel that operated them.

  I might need a native guide, he thought. Not that Luz or Tasm seemed predisposed to help him.

  Working at the panel, Kirk managed to call up the navigational chart. The pattern of a galactic star map was clear in any language. He felt a rising hope that he would manage in spite of any obstacle - Then he realized what he was seeing. Amid the multitude of stars, there was one that coincided with a red stationary indicator. It was near the center of the galaxy, in the spiral arm at the base of the Beta Quadrant.

  Kirk froze. In the center of the galaxy ... if that red indicator meant what he thought it meant, then he was there! At least forty thousand light-years away from Federation territory ...

  Dazed, he tried to do the math. At top warp speed of 9.9 - and no ship could go that fast for very long - it would take him over twenty years to get back to the Enterprise.

  Chapter 2

  It was a shock, no doubt about that. Kirk kept thinking about the orange sky outside. It was filled with stars just as the sky would be on a planet close to the galactic core.

  But Kirk wasn't completely convinced until he checked two other navigational arrays on different spacecrafts. Each one showed the location indicator positioned over the same star near the galactic core.

  Well, that certainly changed things. Much as Kirk liked space travel, he didn't intend to spend the better part of his life dashing through unknown space trying to get home. Who in their right mind would do something like that?

  His only hope was the dimensional transporter. If he could get hold of the cylindrical unit, hook it up to a self-diagnostic subprocessor, then somehow build an archway out of solid neutronium .. .

  Even Spock would consider that an impossible task.

  Kirk had no idea how neutronium could be made or shaped since it was supposed to be impervious to heat and pressure.

  He was almost delirious after so much searching, then hours of examining spaceships. He hid out for a while in the fresher of one of the ships as he tried to consider his dilemma, but he didn't want to be discovered or, even worse, be on board if the ship took off to points unknown.

  Cautiously, he emerged in time to see at least a dozen Petraw heading toward the door of the hangar. Kirk tagged along behind. He kept thinking of the millions of stars between him and the Enterprise. Was his crew looking for him now?

  But the silent workers commanded his attention. Kirk wondered what sort of terrible hardships must have befallen these people to make them so downtrodden and subdued. He kept his own head down, too, to cast a shadow over his well-defined features.

  But when they emerged onto a ledge, he forgot himself and looked up in frank amazement. They were at the bottom of another crack, a miniature version of the crevice outside. These parallel walls were much closer together. The inner wall was lined with hexagonal cells, just like the one he had been sealed into by the Petraw. These cells were open; a honeycomb of thousands of cells stacked at least a hundred rows high.

  The edges of each cell glowed, making a latticework up one side of the narrow crack. The other wall loomed close in the darkness.

  The lattice was crawling with Petraw, climbing up or down, easily gripping the open sides and stepping on the staggered rows. But it was completely, eerily silent.

  The Petraw from the hangar started climbing, so Kirk did too. His gloves and booties were skid-resist-ant, helping him keep a grip on the edges of the cells.

  Inside most of the cells were Petraw, lying down. They were on their backs, their heads concealed in the darkness at the other end. Their encased feet stuck toward him.

  Kirk climbed very high where more of the cells were empty. He didn't want to take someone else's spot, though he wasn't sure how anyone could find a certain cell among these identical units.

  Crawling inside, he sat on the edge and looked down. He was about seventy-five meters high, but it seemed higher because of the nearby opposite wall and the many levels between him and the floor.

  Kirk stretched out, lying down with his head at the inner end to hide his face in the shadows. He was still trying to think of a way out of this mess when he passed out.

  Kirk was dreaming. It was a nightmare replay of the events leading up to their leap through the gateway. But this time it was different, as if he were watching it outside of himself, seeing details he hadn't noticed before: Luz's snarling mouth as she fought, the flare of the protective shield over the crevice, and the arrival of the defenders on the platform....

  That drove Kirk nearly to wakefulness, making him roll over. But he let sleep pull him back in.

  Then he was dreaming about Tasm. She was being praised by the matriarchs. But he could only see a waxy-looking Petraw dressed hi baggy coveralls. Then something in the way she moved and inclined her head as she acknowledged their praise made Kirk realize it was Tasm!

  His eyes opened wide as he was jolted out of sleep.

  But he could still see Tasm in her new guise. On
ly now it seemed to fit her constrained and sexless manner. That's why he had rejected her kiss. His subconscious mind had detected the forgery, and had recoiled from a false intimacy with her.

  Tasm will be rewarded with our highest honor. She will take her place in the birthing chamber and will be fed the royal gel. She will make a fine addition to our birthing world....

  Kirk sat straight up, his heart pounding. Now he couldn't hear anything. But somehow the words had formed in his mind.

  His hands felt the slight curve on the floor at the end of the cell. It was made to fit his skull. The concave surface felt warm.

  It was an information feed. He wasn't sure how he knew that, but he did. Just as he knew the matriarchs used it to distribute their orders and information to Petraw throughout the galaxy.

  Kirk hesitated for only a moment. Then he lay back down, placing his head in the curve. He breathed deeply, trying to relax. If this thing provided information, mat's exactly what he needed.

  His fatigue helped. In spite of his surprise, his mind started to drift. Then he saw Luz. Her face had been transformed, too. Now she had mere dips for her eyes, with an abbreviated nose and a bump for a chin. She was fully Petraw.

  Apparently Luz had already given her version of events. Kirk was disappointed; he wanted to know what had possessed her to steal the interstellar transporter from her own commander. He was certain now that Tasm had been surprised and appalled by Luz's betrayal. Apparently that was the consensus.

  Luz is defective and must be put away from the Petraw. The defenders will put her into the deep.

  Kirk could see Luz crying out, her gloved hands reaching up to something he couldn't see. She was apparently protesting her innocence. But he couldn't hear what she said.

  Two of the larger Petraw took her by each arm, and Kirk couldn't see her anymore.

  He lay there for a few moments longer, but he got no other information. It seemed like a haze hung over his thoughts.

  Kirk resisted, sitting up. They were going to kill Luz. If this was happening in real time, they were going to do it any moment. Not that he had any affection for Luz. Quite the contrary, it was because of her that he was trapped so far from home. But the Petraw defenders had made the first move against him by sealing him in that cell. Their enemy was his potential ally.

  Tasm was clearly out of the picture, now that she was a favored member of the ruling clan. He would never trust her again.

  Kirk slid forward to the edge of his cell. He had slept for a while, to judge from the cramp in his shoulder. Now where, in this huge complex, is Luz?

  It would be easier to figure out where they were taking her. The deep... He was sitting at the edge of what was certainly a deadly plunge, but he wouldn't call this the deep.

  It had to be the giant fissure outside. They were going to throw Luz off the platform.

  Kirk rapidly climbed down the cells. There was still a lot of movement over the latticework. After sleeping in the information feed, it made more sense. As if he had been listening to routine orders given throughout the night. He now knew there were thousands of workers in this one block who kept the factories and shipyards functioning. Other vast blocks of cells catered to the guards they called "defenders," and the scouts in training.

  Kirk hurried through the tunnels, slowing down only when he spotted a Petraw ahead. He had been careful to memorize the tunnels he had used, and was able to find his way back with only one wrong turn.

  After pushing through the first barrier, he knelt down to check on the cell where he had been sealed in. It was difficult to see that the seal had been broken unless you got close. So they might not know yet that he had gotten away.

  Feeling his way along the wall, he went toward the outer barrier. It opened for him more easily this time, and he was outside again. The orange light was bright.

  Kirk leaned over the edge. The beige polymer sort of dripped over the edge, but it offered no strategic advantage.

  As the barrier closed again, he took up a stance behind it, against one wall. He would jump the Petraw when it opened. Assuming that they hadn't already marched Luz through here and over the edge. In that case, there was nothing he could do for her.

  - The barrier started to open, and by the time the Petraw stepped through, Kirk was clinging to the wall near the top curve of the tunnel. His hands and feet were buried in the soft polymer, giving him the perfect ambush position.

  They didn't see him. As the Petraw passed underneath, Kirk dropped down on the first one. His feet kicked out to catch the other Petraw in the face. They let go of Luz to fight back, but with a few well-aimed chops from Kirk, they were both lying unconscious on the floor. He wished he could learn how to do that Vulcan neck pinch. It would be easier on his hands.

  Luz looked completely different now, with smoothed features that left her expressionless. Except for her thin-lipped mouth, which was perfectly round in horror. "You!"

  Kirk grabbed her. "Come on! Run!" he shouted at her.

  Jerking on her arm, he pulled her after him. After a few stiff steps, she finally got going. She must have been in a near-trance, unable to resist being taken to a plunge to certain death.

  The second barrier was too slow in opening for Kirk's comfort. But then they were through and running toward the factories. "Where to?" Kirk asked.

  She looked at him blankly, her steps faltering.

  Kirk stopped and gave her shoulders a commanding shake. "You better snap out of it and start helping me! The first thing they'll do is announce that you've escaped. If you don't want to take a dive into nowhere, you'll have to find us a safe place to hide."

  "Yes!" she gasped out, clutching at his arm. "Yes, I think I know where we can go."

  Luz hurried down the tunnel, passing the doorways to the factories until she found the one she was looking for. Kirk ducked inside after her, wary of other Petraw. But Luz beckoned him to follow her behind a bulky ion generator before anyone noticed them.

  It was very dark behind the generator, though the polymer coating on the wall continued to glow. Luz crouched down near an obstruction. Kirk shifted until he could see that it was the wall itself, stretched out and attached to a large round collar in the side of the generator. It was nearly a meter in diameter.

  Touching it, Kirk discovered the wall material was taut, pulled to its maximum extension. It was amazing, the uses the Petraw found for polymer.

  Luz glanced up, her eyes shining with a fierce intensity. But she didn't speak.

  "This isn't going to be enough cover." Kirk crouched down, too, but the junction wouldn't hide them if anyone walked behind the generator.

  "Everyone always underestimates me," Luz retorted scornfully.

  Placing both hands against the wall next to the junction, she pushed. An opening appeared in the wall, widening to about a meter in diameter. It was low to the ground, so Luz stuck her head and arms inside, and with a wiggling motion, disappeared inside.

  Kirk scrambled closer. There was faint warm light glowing in the walls of the small tube. "Can't you open it a bit wider?"

  "Nothing satisfies you, does it?" Luz shot back over her shoulder. She started to crawl away.

  Kirk shook his head, knowing he'd be a bit caustic, too, if his own people had just tried to throw him off a cliff. Bending his arms, he crawled inside after her.

  The opening slowly began to close behind him. "What is this?" he called up to her.

  "Access tubes for maintenance and repair." Her own voice was low. "Be quiet, will you? There's other Petraw in these tubes."

  Creeping through the tiny space, bumping his head and elbows with almost every movement, Kirk swore he would never again complain about the size of the Jefferies tubes on board the Enterprise. If he ever got back to the Enterprise.

  At least the polymer offered padding for his knees, even if the tube was too small. But it also took extra effort to move since he sank into the stuff. It was like crawling through sticky clay.

  Kirk c
aught up with Luz as she reached an intersection. Another tube crossed theirs. She listened for a few moments. Kirk wasn't sure how any sound waves managed to carry in such spongy surroundings. There was nothing for them to bounce off.

  But Luz seemed satisfied. She turned right, scuttling away again as Kirk slogged after her.

  Luz was pushing on the ceiling when Kirk caught up again. Another round opening grew in the top of the tunnel to nearly a meter wide.

  "How did you know where that tube was?" If she was going to keep leaving him behind, he needed to be able to navigate on his own. He didn't trust any of these Petraw.

  Her rapidly blinking eyes and nervous twitching indicated she was about to crack under the strain. "I can see it," she snapped.