"Raise the Sundew, then."
"I have them, sir."
"Captain Maldari, this is Captain Sencus, acting commander of the U.S.S. Excelsior. Come in, please."
Everyone on the bridge looked at the main viewscreen. It remained black.
"Sundew, do you read me? This is the U.S.S. Excelsior."
The screen flashed with static, but nothing appeared.
"They're accelerating, sir," the navigator said quickly.
There was an uproar on the bridge. Sencus called for quiet. He ordered Rand to keep track of the Sundew's course and whereabouts.
Sencus was sure that Svenson and his team of Excelsior engineers couldn't possibly have gotten the Sundew's power systems up and operational in just those few moments. And he knew that Sulu wouldn't have allowed their propulsion systems to be tested without warning the Excelsior that they were going to use their engines.
"Lieutenant, follow the Sundew."
"Yes, sir!" Henrey moved his hands expertly over the conn, and Sencus felt the Excelsior surge forward.
"Don't scare them, stay at least a sector away and travel no faster than they do, so they do not think we are going to attack. If they alter course radically, let me know at once."
"Yes, sir."
"Rand, are they still within range of our sensors?"
"Yes, sir."
"I want their ship mapped at once. Before they are out of range. Get me the layout of the Sundew as quickly as you can."
"Yes, sir."
"And call Commander Garvin to the bridge at once," Sencus said as an afterthought.
"What do you think is happening, sir?" one of the younger officers asked.
"The Sundew is moving away from us with eleven of our officers on board," Sencus said crisply. The experienced officers on the bridge smiled inwardly at the incredulous look of the young cadet who had asked the Vulcan science officer for what was, in essence, a guess.
Maldari saw his prisoners secured in one of the empty holds of his starship, then hurried up through the corridors and ramps to his bridge. He noted that two of the Starfleet officers were women, and that the taller one was voluptuous by many standards. If there are as few imperfections on her dark peach body as there are on her silky smooth cranium, he thought, she alone will be worth a small fortune in certain markets. I'll deal with the men first. The Excelsior ought to be more than willing to give up some of their cargo for these officers. They won't care about the two women; we'll sell them off on the way home.
When he arrived on the bridge, his star freighter was just dropping its speed and coming to a floating orbit. He noted that Kornish and Dramin were still present. They didn't appear on the bridge often, knowing that as captain of the Sundew Maldari had the psychological advantage there. He ignored them.
"Were we followed?" he asked the Sightsman.
"I think so," came the answer.
Maldari, about to trade for the most valuable haul with which he had ever returned home, and buoyed by the feeling that he had, on the spur of the moment, turned the whole situation to his advantage, was not in a mood to play politics with his bridge crew.
"Garith, you miserable toady, surely you can spot one of the largest starships in the galaxy. If you have to consult with your religious leader to answer a simple navigational question, then do so, but if you cannot do your duty as Sightsman, I will have you relieved, and your share of our profits for the entire voyage will be reduced accordingly. Where is the Excelsior?"
The young Beta Promethean's gray skin darkened on the back of his neck. He didn't look at Maldari or around at anyone else on the bridge when he answered.
"Sir, the Excelsior has remained out of visual range, but I believe our sensors show that it has followed us. She slowed to cruising speed when we did, and now sits approximately two light-years farther out from our position on a direct line from Beta Prometheus."
"Send this message: 'The Excelsior has been caught spying within restricted Beta Promethean star space. Eleven spies have been taken prisoner. Unless a satisfactory arrangement can be made, they will be tried by the Court of the People of Light. Punishment is death.' That should bring a response from their ship."
"The value of the spies is directly related to their flagrant abuse of our star space," Kornish said, stepping forward from the dark-shadowed edges of the bridge. "And thus it is the People of Light themselves who ought to receive the majority of their payment."
"As disbelievers, they ought to be executed at once," Dramin said, following him quickly.
"If I execute them here," Maldari said to Dramin testily, "the men who remain on that Starship will have no reason not to blow us out of the galaxy, which a Starship of their size could surely do. As for the Ruling Family's share"—Maldari turned to Kornish—"which I know you will use assiduously for the benefit of the People, you can be sure that we will pay our appropriate fees when we return."
Commander Peter Garvin, the Excelsior's chief of security, hurried onto the bridge from the turbolift. Sencus turned to the tall, square-shouldered man with silky black hair cut short.
"The captain and the boarding party have been taken hostage by the Beta Promethean ship, Mr. Garvin. I am afraid the situation is very dangerous. The Prometheans have threatened to kill them."
"I have a team standing by right now in the transporter room. We can beam aboard and—"
"Not just yet."
"But Captain—"
"I know you are anxious. I am as well. It would only complicate matters to move precipitously, however."
"The sooner the better, I say. The quicker we act, the more likely we are to have the element of surprise on our side. We can't let them get away with this, Sencus," Garvin urged.
"We will not, I assure you. We will have a map of their ship shortly. I want you to draw up a plan of attack."
"Yes, sir." The security chief hurried off.
Sencus turned to communications again. "Are we within range?"
"We are now," Rand said.
"Put them up."
The viewscreen crackled and Maldari's face appeared. Sencus stood in the center of the bridge.
"Captain Maldari, what in Hades do you mean by 'satisfactory arrangements'?"
Sencus spoke evenly and calmly, but the Starfleet officers on the bridge had not in the four years of their expedition heard him use language like that.
Maldari smiled his crooked smile.
"The People of Light are quite poor," he began carefully.
"Aside from dilithium, we have very little, and need much. The Federation is rich with resources of all kinds. If you are carrying goods that would be valuable to us, I am sure that our political officer would be disposed to accept them as a penalty for your transgressions."
"The Excelsior is a research and exploration Starship. We are carrying scientific equipment and little else."
"Surely the great holds of a ship such as yours are filled with freight. Perhaps if you would care to tell us what your cargo consists of …"
"I told you, we are not carrying freight."
"Then perhaps you can suggest something else."
"I can suggest that you return our officers at once." Sencus stared evenly at the viewscreen.
Maldari began to sweat. He had assumed the Starship was staffed only by species from the planet Earth. But this Sencus was a Vulcan, judging by his ears. He had often heard that they were not as predictable as humans. He pressed on sternly.
"Unless you can suggest substantial quantities of valuable resources, I doubt if I can get our political officer to back down. If I return to Beta Prometheus with the officers"—that was something Maldari had no intention of doing, for the Federation Starfleet officers could be extremely hard to sell—"they will have to undergo a trial for trespassing and spying. I cannot guarantee their safety in that case. I suggest you send us your Starship's manifest, and perhaps—"
"We are not paying a ransom," Sencus said, an imperceptible rise in the volume of his
voice. "That would be strictly against Federation and Starfleet regulations. I could not do it if I wanted to."
Silence.
Maldari turned to his Sightsman and made a curt motion, and the screens on both ships went dark. He scuttled to his stool but hovered over it, wishing he could think clearly.
"We have heard that the Federation values its officers highly," Kornish said. "That the humans who staff the Starships do not even believe in the Higher Calling, and fear death. How could they put their cargo ahead of their people?"
Maldari didn't answer. His mind was a miasma of apprehension. That Sencus is a Vulcan, he thought. I can hardly read him. His impassive face, his even voice. Is he bluffing? How do I call his bluff? What will happen if I execute one of the prisoners? How many soldiers are they carrying? Dammit. I expected to make a clean trade for a rich cargo, and hightail it home.
"Bring their captain up," Maldari ordered. Two Promethean pirates on the bridge scuttled back down the corridor.
"We should put them on trial at home," Dramin spoke up for the first time. "It will give the people great satisfaction to see Federation species executed."
"I'm sure," Maldari agreed, thinking that the people couldn't care less about Federation species. "But it is our mission to buy and sell on behalf of the families in our Conclave, and I would prefer to honor that mission, even if it means passing up the glory of returning with spies from the Federation."
"If you give them to me," Dramin said, "I'll make good use of them at home."
"Perhaps I should," Maldari said, thinking that it would be a relief to put the whole mess in Dramin's hands. "But it would be cowardly of me to ask you to take on what is my responsibility."
Besides that, he thought, they're my only way out of here.
The two Prometheans returned, pushing Sulu between them. Maldari signaled for them to bring him to the center of the bridge, where he stood beside the Starfleet officer.
"Bring up the transmission," he snapped. The viewscreen came on. The Vulcan appeared to be waiting patiently.
"Commander Sencus, I wanted you to see that we have no intention of harming your officers. It is a long way back to Beta Prometheus, and in spite of the fact that they have been caught red-handed, we will return them to you if you could supply us with a respectable penalty fee for—"
"Captain, are you all right?" Sencus spoke past Maldari.
"None of our officers have been badly hurt," Sulu said carefully. "One has a superficial wound."
Maldari turned to Sulu. "You have been caught spying in the Beta Prometheus star system. As I have explained to your comrade, we should transport you back to our city, and hand you over to the Court of the People of Light. But should the Excelsior be able to pay a significant fine in useful resources and goods—"
"Sencus," Sulu said, startling Maldari. "No ransom. You may not offer these pirates anything. Under no circumstances should you negotiate with—"
The screen went black as Maldari shoved Sulu out of range and nodded angrily at the Sightsman. He waved at his two men and they dragged Sulu off the bridge. Then he turned to Kornish and Dramin.
"It seems," Maldari said, sighing, "that we are returning to our planet with human cargo." Then he scuttled off the bridge after Sulu, feeling as if he were caught between a titanium wall and a Rakatan volcano, and wondering how exactly he had gotten there.
Sencus sat down for the first time, assuming the captain's chair. He sat quietly for a moment, staring at his console, though nothing was illuminated there. The bridge was quiet and none of the officers moved from their stations. A knot of people had arrived on the bridge, and stood uncertainly near the turbolift. Sencus knew that everyone was staring at him.
"Put the ship on Red Alert. You may as well return to your stations. There is nothing you can do here." The group drifted off.
"Now, Lieutenant Rand, let me speak to the entire crew."
"Communication channel open, sir."
"This is Commander Sencus. This is an urgent priority report. Captain Sulu and a team of officers beamed aboard a Promethean ship a few minutes ago in order to assist them. Apparently the request for help was in fact a ruse, and the team has been taken hostage." He paused for a second, knowing that four hundred people aboard the Excelsior were going to be startled and upset. There would certainly be friends and even relatives of some of the hostages aboard hearing the news for the first time. "As you can guess, this is a totally unexpected and rather delicate situation. Beta Prometheus has no formal agreements with the Federation and this is an act of aggression tantamount to war. There is nothing, however, that we can do at the moment. We are following them, we are preparing several contingency plans, and we have notified Starfleet Headquarters. I can assure you that everything is going to be done to secure the safety of the captain and our fellow crew members. In the meantime, I ask for your patience. All communication monitors aboard the Excelsior will be immediately sent any new information as it arises. Thank you."
Sencus nodded to Lieutenant Rand at the communications console and she gave the bridge privacy once again. Then he laced his elegant fingers together, and began to silently project for himself all possible permutations of the circumstances.
"Put the Sundew on the main viewscreen."
The screen lit up with the ship's profile as it glided through space many kilometers ahead of the Excelsior.
"This is hypothetical, sir," Henrey said. "I'm keeping us out of visual range."
"Good. Just keep her within the range of our sensors."
Then Sencus joined Peter Garvin and Janice Rand at the cartographic projection console just as the Sundew's skeleton frame was forming.
"The bridge is here." Rand pointed to the blueprints that were projected on the monitor in front of them. "A single corridor connects it directly to a central room, probably some kind of assembly area, or lounge."
"Is that corridor the only access to the bridge?" Garvin asked.
"Yes," Rand confirmed. "The bridge is almost like a self-contained pod. The corridor is like a round tube that connects it to the body of the ship. It's narrow; you and your men might have to bend over to go along it."
"Prometheans are seldom more than five feet tall," Sencus explained. Then he lapsed into silence as Rand gave them a quick tour of the alien starship, pointing out the four levels. Sencus noticed that Garvin listened with intense concentration.
"Scans show that they have approximately sixty humanoid forms aboard," Rand said briskly. "Eleven would be ours. So we're guessing they have a crew of no more than fifty, as Maldari said."
"That is a lot. They are probably all armed, since they are clearly some kind of pirate ship. What do you think, Garvin?" Sencus looked at the big man.
"We'll have to search the ship for the hostages?" Garvin asked Rand.
"I'm afraid so. Heat scans indicate that there are warm bodies all over the ship. Without their communicators we just can't identify Sulu and the others. And they might be split up by now."
Now that they were actually discussing a direct attack, Sencus knew it would face pretty strong obstacles.
"This is not going to be a simple operation," Sencus said.
"The longer we wait, the more difficult it will be," Garvin said quickly.
"It seems very difficult as it is," Sencus said. "In hand-to-hand combat, we lose the advantage of superior power. They will be fighting on familiar ground. We do not even know where the hostages are." Sencus stared at the ship's plan. Finally he turned to Garvin. "All right, what is your proposal?"
Garvin only hesitated for a moment. Sencus knew Garvin was anxious to go forward, but only the ship's acting commander had the authority to initiate an operation of this kind. Federation standards dictated that force was always a last resort.
"Three teams of six men each," the big man began. "We'll use a directed phaser to open a hole in their shields just long enough to transport us through. You'll transport us at once, here, here and here." He pointed to th
e bridge, the main assembly room, and a cargo hold on the third level. "A helmsman will go with my first team. They'll take and hold the bridge. We'll shut down all their systems, leaving only auxiliary power for life support aboard. Then we'll control the helm and lower their shields. At the same time, the second team will work their way down from the top deck, and the third team will work their way down from the third level, both searching for the hostages. It shouldn't take more than twenty minutes to cover the whole ship."
"And anyone aboard who is not hostile?"
"We have to assume everyone aboard is," Garvin said.
"Can you go in with your phasers on stun?"
"We'd be at a disadvantage. Teams sweeping forward shouldn't leave living hostiles behind them," Garvin said firmly.
"We cannot start killing Beta Prometheans haphazardly."
"They've committed an act of war."
"Acts of war are not so easily defined," Sencus said quietly.
"I'd hate to send my team in with a handicap. If these Beta Promethean pirates fire on us, we must be able to fire back with full capacity. There may be casualties. It's my job to see that the casualties are all on their side."
Sencus thought through the logical alternatives in seconds. He was aware that a number of officers stood around the little group, listening. He raised his voice slightly. "We will initiate this action at once." He looked right at Garvin. "With the appropriate amount of force dictated by the situation as you find it."
Maldari warned the Sightsman to set the shields and transporter alarms carefully, then left the younger Prometheans in charge of the bridge and headed out the corridor.
"Where are you going, Captain?" Dramin asked.
"To interview the prisoners," Maldari said. "I want to know what their ship is carrying."
"I think I should be present, don't you? As religious officer."
Maldari didn't. But he knew it was futile to object. In such a delicate situation, he should be careful to keep both Kornish and Dramin on his side.
"Good idea. Kornish, you should be present also," he said, knowing that the other man was lurking in the shadows as well. He scuttled through the corridor and down several ramps, leading the two men, until he was on the bottom deck of his ship.
The Fearful Summons Page 4
