Violet Bays had never much liked reptiles, and these half-humanoids bore far too much a resemblance to that particular species. She thought of them as the lizard-men. They were escorting her and Nora Schmidt from Engineering through a yard that seemed to be the repository of intergalactic junk, primarily shuttles and even starships too ancient or busted up to be of any use. The rotting hulks lay haphazardly scattered around and some of the larger ones towered above them, but the lizard-men seemed to know the path, and their leader quickly led them through the twisted carnage. One of them held Bays' forearm tightly, and she could feel the cold-blooded hand, clammy and scaly on her skin.
"Why do you think we've been separated?" Bays said to Nora. Nora looked over at Bays as one of the lizard-men pulled her along the path.
"I'd rather not speculate," she said. "Though perhaps we are being released, in some sort of goodwill political gesture." Bays recognized Nora's gift for sarcasm. She glanced at the lizard-man pulling her along, but he didn't seem to care that the two women were conversing.
"But you don't think so?" Bays said.
"Societies out here," Nora answered. "Or perhaps that's unfair—let's say, underdeveloped societies have a lesser regard for women than the societies of our sun. The fact that their leader up there tried to get you to disrobe, well …" Nora let the thought go unfinished. But Bays found the conversation comforting.
"Then too, they're pirates," she said.
"I don't think we'll have to walk a plank," Nora said. "If that's what you're worried about."
After another few yards, Bays looked at the man guarding her. "Go to hell, lizard breath," she said pleasantly. He didn't react. She turned to Nora.
"I'd say they aren't translating us just now."
Nora smiled, and turned to her own escort. "Hey, scale skin. How would you like a swift kick in the balls?"
She got no answer.
"In that case," Violet said in a noncommittal tone, "you'll want to know we aren't without resources. I've got a very sharp knife in my boot."
Nora tried not to be startled.
"You are a clever girl," she said. "I think we'll be able to take on these Jurassic types after all. Maybe we should hold off a bit, however. Until we get settled somewhere."
"All right. But if their leader wants me to take off my clothes again, I can't be responsible for my actions."
"That's certainly up to you. When I was your age, I would have done the same thing. Now I think I'm jealous that they asked you and not me." Nora smiled sideways, and Violet decided that if she was going to find herself in a tight situation, there was no one she'd rather be in it with than the frank and imperturbable Nora.
The lizard-men hurried Violet and Nora through the junkyard and across an open space of desert. Violet noticed that the ships around them changed in character and seemed to be reasonably intact. They were all small shuttles parked in the open desert, and some were attended by species from outside the Federation planets. But the lizard in the lead, whom Violet had heard Maldari refer to as Licus, ignored them and hurried the small group onward. Then Violet saw their obvious destination.
Ahead of her in the open desert sat a series of cages, each containing one or more individuals of an alien species. Violet noticed a pair of Berengaria dragons, which she knew were a protected species under Federation environmental regulations. Nora, however, was looking in the other direction.
Violet followed her gaze. A shudder ran through her. A number of the cages held humanoids. Although she saw no races from Earth, several were known to her as sentient beings.
"You think this is some kind of zoo? I've heard of those," Violet said.
"It's possible, since we're outside Federation territory. Federation treaties allow only for wilderness parks, not zoos. But the care and feeding of the species trapped here doesn't seem to be their keeper's highest priority."
Violet and Nora were pushed into an empty cage, and the gate was shut behind them. Violet looked around. They were in an open pen no more than eight feet square, with wire enclosing the ceiling. The walls were contiguous with other walls, and over a hundred pens were linked together in the clearing. Although they were locked in, and the grid of wire fencing was too narrow to slip through, construction seemed rather flimsy. Violet wondered how sturdy it was. But when she went to grab the wire mesh, Nora pulled her back. Then Nora searched the ground, and came back with a bit of twisted metal. She tossed it against the wire, and a spark sizzled in the air.
"I'd say about eighty volts," Nora said. "Don't touch it or lean against it."
"So that's it," Violet said. "I thought some of these species looked pretty strong."
"Even a zoo wouldn't have boundaries as inhumane as these," Nora pointed out.
The dry desert dust blew up, and a shuttle cruised in and stopped in a clearing in front of the cages. The species around them became agitated.
Two Klingons climbed out of the shuttle, strode to a squat building at the edge of the cages, and disappeared inside. After a minute or two, Licus and several other lizard-men came out with the Klingons. The group strode toward Violet and Nora. They paused in front of the women's cage. Their translators taken, Violet and Nora couldn't understand the exchange. The Klingons seemed intrigued, but eventually shook their heads and moved on. Violet watched them walk along the cages and stop in front of another pair of females, whom Violet recognized as Caltarian. They were humanoid, tall and lithe, without any hair, wearing only loincloths. They backed away from the front of the cage as Licus began a conversation with the two Klingons. The Klingons nodded. Licus turned and waved back toward the building he had come out of, and one of his guards threw a switch on the wall. Then two lizard-men opened the cage and went inside.
The Caltarians resisted. They slipped to the back corners of their cage. When the lizard-men approached them, they kicked furiously, and one of the guards went down. Licus hissed out a few orders, and the rest of the guards rushed in and subdued the two. Long poles were brought in, and the Caltarians' wrists and ankles were tied to them. Then the lizard-men hoisted the poles on their shoulders and carried the struggling Caltarians out of the cage and across the clearing. Violet watched them disappear into the Klingon shuttle, and the two Klingons followed them in.
"Caltarians are a highly intelligent species," Violet said quietly to Nora.
Violet watched the shuttle power up, then dash out of the clearing and disappear into the clouds. She watched as Licus and his men returned to the building, leaving only three guards roaming the perimeter of the stockade. The guards paid little attention to the species trapped inside.
"Some say superior to humans," Nora answered. "I sure hope that signal Norquist rigged up went out okay, and someone knows where we are."
Lieutenant Janice Rand stood up suddenly.
"I'm getting a signal on the emergency channel!" she said. Everyone on the bridge looked over. Sencus walked to her side.
"It's a Mayday code."
"Anything else?" Sencus said.
"No. No message. But it's on our coded emergency channel. No one could have transmitted on it except Captain Sulu or his people."
"And it is nothing more than that?"
"Yes. It's stopped."
"Already?" Sencus said.
"It was a one-time-only transmission."
"Can you pinpoint it?"
"Yes."
"Lieutenant Henrey?" Sencus turned to the helmsman he knew was tired. They were all tired. Not one officer had left the bridge since the Sundew's shuttle had disappeared ahead of them in the asteroid belt.
"Sir," the young man said quietly.
"Wherever it is, take us there. Right now. Fast as we can travel."
"Yes, sir."
The bridge came alive at once as the Excelsior shot into space.
"We'll have to go the long way. Around the asteroid belt," Henrey reported.
"Sir," another officer said from his console. "I have confirmation on the location. We'll be well
within the Beta Prometheus star system."
"Their home planet?"
"No, sir. On the outskirts of the system. An uninhabited moon."
"Lieutenant Rand, send a message to Starbase 499 for transmission to Starfleet Headquarters at once. Tell them we are entering the BP system in search of the missing Starfleet officers. Tell them we can expect a confrontation with their abductors, and we request permission to use all available force if necessary. Henrey, ETA?"
"Within minutes now, sir."
"Forward monitor," Sencus said, raising his voice.
The monitor came alive with black space. A dark planet floated in the far distance.
"Enhance."
The planet grew larger.
"Is that it?" Sencus asked.
"That's where the transmission came from, sir," an officer said.
"Scan it."
All the officers on the bridge were glad to have something to do at last.
"Sir, this side is deserted. No life-forms."
"And the other side?"
"I haven't scanned it yet, sir."
"Well, as long as no one is home on this side, let us go around and look for ourselves."
A few moments later the Excelsior had identified the small community on the dark side of the barren planet and hovered in space above it.
"Report, Mr. Cavanaugh," Sencus said.
"Our scans show only three basic areas in use, the rest is desert." The officer was bent over his console, his craggy face intent on the readings. He pushed back a shock of gray hair in an unconscious gesture. "There's a great many starships and shuttles, or parts of them. None of the ships have a power source of any kind aboard. For that matter, most of them don't have all their walls intact. It seems to be a junkyard or salvage yard of some kind. But there are two areas that are filled with life-forms."
"What kind? Beta Prometheans?"
"Yes, sir, but many others as well. It looks like an intergalactic crossroads."
"What is the nature of the two areas?" Sencus said.
"It's hard to say, sir. We'll need to take a closer look."
Sencus turned around. Commander Garvin stood a few feet away, waiting for an order.
"Proceed there at once."
Even as Sencus was saying it, Garvin turned swiftly and headed for the turbolift.
"Two teams," Sencus said to his back. "One for each encampment. Garvin!" Sencus said just before the turbolift doors closed on the security chief. The big man turned around.
"Phasers on stun only. We have no idea what species are down there, or why."
"Yes, sir," Garvin said grudgingly as the turbolift doors closed around him.
When Commander Garvin and twenty-four of his best people had been transported down to the surface, he divided them up into two teams. He studied his tricorder.
"According to the navigator, we're in the middle of a junkyard," he told them, his deep voice rumbling in the deserted yard. "Alpha team, you'll find life-forms in that direction. Zeta team, we'll go this way. Teams are on your own. When you need to pull out, notify Excelsior. You know what we're looking for. Let's go."
Both teams hurried through the aisles of rotting metal fuselages. There were no straight paths, but by using sound-reflection, they were able to follow their tricorders until they made their way to the edge of the junkyard.
It was just as the Alpha team was crossing the open space that Maldari glanced out the window of the No Where and saw them coming. He said a few words to Dramin, who looked out the window. Maldari nodded to the Klingons with them, and the four of them got up and hurried across the bar.
The Alpha team entered the No Where cautiously. Its denizens were surprised to see Starfleet officers, and nervous when the intruders were recognized as not ordinary flight officers but a security team. But the traders who patronized the place were not easily intimidated. Most of them merely watched as the soldiers spread out and went through the large open area, searching the faces of any Beta Prometheans there. After that they moved into the back rooms, where smaller groups of species were gathered. They didn't find any sign of the hostages.
By that time Maldari and his cohorts had slipped out the back way.
Nora saw them first. Two Starfleet security soldiers were moving cautiously out of the junkyard into the clearing. She knew there would be more. They were scanning the area, but hadn't seen the women yet. Nora shouted to Violet, and the two women waved. The officers saw them, but as they ran across the clearing toward the cage, a guard near the cage spotted them and fired. One of the soldiers was hit, but the other rolled to the side and shot the guard, who was knocked backward and rendered helpless. The noise must have warned the others, and a dozen lizard-men poured out of the building.
Before they could fire, a dozen more Starfleet officers poured out of the junkyard and spread out in the clearing, and a furious firefight ensued. In the chaos, the original soldier reached Violet and Nora.
"Don't touch the fence!" Nora shouted. "It's electrified! There's a switch over by the wall!" Violet pointed out the controls she had seen the lizard-man work when the Caltarians' cage was opened. The soldier ran toward the building, firing ahead of him. Violet saw him blast the little panel. She looked around the dirt at her feet for something to test the wire with, but saw only bare dust. She quickly slipped her knife out of her boot and threw it against the gate. The wire was silent.
"It's off!" Nora said. Violet picked up the knife. A soldier appeared out of the rising dust in the clearing and fired his phaser at the latch. Then he kicked the gate and it swung open. Violet and Nora hurried through the gate and into the clearing, where a rising cloud of dust cut their visibility, and the noise of phaser fire exploded around them.
Just as the soldier stepped back to let the women through, Licus appeared behind him. The lizard leader fired a weapon and the soldier went down. Licus reached out and grabbed Violet Bays's hand and yanked her toward him. He held his phaser to her head and twisted one arm behind her back. Then he moved out into the clearing.
"Cease firing!" Commander Garvin's deep voice boomed in the clearing. The soldiers had stunned most of the lizard-men and the others had run away. But Licus moved forward, using Violet as a shield, and worked his way toward a shuttle parked next to the low building.
Violet thought she wouldn't be able to do it. Although she had received weapons training at the Academy, she had served only on the bridge for almost five years. She had never had to kill a member of another species in her life.
Licus was forcing her across the clearing. The shuttle was coming closer. Garvin and his people were stationary. They had their weapons raised, but wouldn't be able to fire. In a short time she and Licus would have reached the safety of the shuttle.
"Violet!" she heard Nora's voice shout. "Violet, now!"
Ensign Bays thrust the knife with all her might behind her, plunging it into the thick reptilian skin pressed against her.
Licus stopped. He dropped his phaser. His webbed feet tried to find a balance in the dirt, but he swayed and dropped to the ground, where he twitched, the knife deep in his side. Violet stood over him, her hand still extended.
"First-rate use of ancient weapons," Nora said to her as she reached her side. "I never liked this guy. He wanted to see you naked, and couldn't care less about me." She smiled at Violet.
Violet realized she was shaking. She felt Nora put her arms around her. "I never killed anything before," she said to Nora.
"If it makes you feel better, and it should," Nora said quietly, holding her, "this guy was scum."
"Zeta team to Excelsior." Garvin had touched his communicator. "We have secured our area. Two hostages are safe. No sign of the others. We will continue to search."
"They're probably still aboard the shuttle," Nora said to Garvin. "That's where they were when we were separated. It's this way."
The two women retraced their path back across the junkyard maze. They came to the original landing site. They hurried acro
ss the clearing to the Sundew shuttle. The door hung open. The Starfleet security team searched the small shuttle, but it was deserted. An officer with a tricorder stepped up to Garvin.
"No life-forms here, sir," he said. "They must have been taken somewhere else."
As soon as the team was back aboard the Excelsior, Garvin reported to the bridge. Sencus listened to a brief account of the events at the stockade, and the Alpha team leader reported finding nothing at the No Where. Both teams had searched the small inhabited areas of the planet, and found no sign of the Starfleet hostages, nor of Maldari and his men.
"They must have been taken off the planet," Sencus said. "Lieutenant Rand, what kind of activity has there been since we arrived?"
"A single starship left the vicinity, sir. It's heading across the system toward BP1."
"Identification?"
"Yes, sir. It's a Klingon ship. A Bird-of-Prey."
"Klingons. Wouldn't you know it," Sencus said. "But what would the Klingons be doing in all this?" he said more to himself than the officers on the bridge.
"Sir," Rand spoke up. "We are receiving a subspace transmission from Starfleet Command."
"Finally. What do they have to say?"
"Admiral Belzie, Starfleet Command Headquarters, United Federation of Planets to U.S.S. Excelsior," Janice said aloud on the quiet bridge, one hand holding her earpiece in tightly. "Situation acknowledged. Excelsior will report immediately to Starbase 499. Do not, repeat, do not enter Beta Promethean star system."
Sencus stood silently for a long time. The bridge officers watched him. Finally the helmsman spoke to him.
"Course heading, sir?" Henrey said.
"Hmmm?" Sencus was stirred out of his thoughts. "Yes, course heading. We will cease pursuit of the hostages, and report to the nearest Federation starbase."
"But sir—" Henrey said. "We could catch that Bird-of-Prey in a matter of—"
"Starbase 499," Sencus said abruptly, and returned to his own science station, from where he was most comfortable commanding the Starship. "At once. Those are our orders."
The Fearful Summons Page 7
