Rand's hands played over the console in Sencus's cabin. In a few minutes a deep voice came through.
"Sencus, we've heard their ultimatum."
"And …?"
"And I'm afraid right now my hands are tied. Admiral Fesidas is here with me. The Federation Council has already seen the transmission, and they are preparing a response. But you have to understand, even Starfleet Security doesn't believe that an assault would secure the hostages. We don't even know where they are at this point."
"You just saw Sulu on subspace transmission."
"Yes. We've identified its origin as coming from their most powerful transmission tower. Clearly they wanted it to be monitored by other star systems. But we don't know if Sulu was at that location when he made the speech. Or if he is there now."
Sencus thought to request that the Federation just give the kidnappers what they wanted, but he couldn't. He knew the Federation could not accede to the demands.
"You realize that Captain Sulu could not have said those things unless he was coerced."
"Of course. No one is blaming him. No one believes the transmission."
"Beta Prometheans are going to believe it."
"The Ruling Family has assured the Federation Council that they are doing everything in their power to insure that there are no more executions of Federation citizens," the voice said.
"That transmission did not mention the Ruling Family. Sulu referred only to the Shrewdest Ones. Clearly the Conclaves have the hostages. Who is in charge over there?"
"I'm afraid we don't know, Sencus."
"Neither do they, I think," Sencus said abruptly. Then he slumped in the chair by his desk.
"You will let me know if there is anything we can do?" Sencus asked.
"At once, Commander." Sencus saw Lieutenant Rand adjust the console, and knew that the communication had ended. He stared out the viewport for some time. Rand didn't leave the cabin. Finally Sencus turned to her.
"You know, there is someone here who is not quite so helpless as we are. Perhaps we ought to let him know about this."
"I'll forward the transmission to the Plush Princess at once, sir."
Kirk sat alone in his commander's chair on the bridge of the Princess as they flew back to the starbase. In his mind he saw the drawn face of Sulu on the transmission. He looked at the chronometer on the wall. It was almost noon.
He wasn't aware of Spock entering the bridge, but when he felt the tall Vulcan move up next to him and gaze at the dark galaxy, he felt less alone. Finally Kirk spoke quietly.
"The idea of attempting to make another trade for Sulu does not appeal to me very much, Mr. Spock," Kirk said. "We can't trust them, and we can't keep raiding the starbase for valuable goods."
"I concur, Captain," Spock said. "And with your new plan as well."
"My new plan? I haven't quite got a new plan, Mr. Spock." Kirk looked up.
"Surely you are thinking the same thing that I am thinking," Spock said.
"An assault …"
"With only seven of us? Better to call it a … covert action."
Kirk sighed. "I have been thinking that. I suppose we all have. I'm worried that I lean toward it out of anger. I hate to be bested. That was an embarrassing moment on the moon. For Starfleet even if they didn't know it, for the whole crew of the old Enterprise, and for me. Especially for me," he added glumly. Having admitted that, Kirk smiled at Spock. "I guess one thing I haven't lost with age is my ego."
Spock looked at Kirk. "Perhaps just recognizing that makes you a better human being," he said. "In the past, I posit that you would have—"
"Oh, never mind the old days, Spock. What are we going to do today?"
"Let us put our heads together on that," Spock said earnestly. Kirk stepped back.
"You don't mean—"
"Oh, no. Nothing like that. It is just one of your expressions, I believe."
"All right," Kirk said, relieved. "Let's."
"What do you mean, one's missing?!" Maldari screamed at Barush. "You were guarding them!"
"Dramin came and said that—"
"Dramin! That fanatic! I might have known. And he promised me that no more of my prisoners—my prisoners—would be executed! Who has he taken?"
"Their leader."
"The captain? Picades! I have just bested the Federation traders in a swap. I have whetted their appetite and we are ready to sell the real officers for more goods or kerns. How can I tell them that while I was selling them phonies, one was being executed?"
"I believe he is still alive. The Conclave Declaration said only that—"
"Where is he?"
"The prisoner? I don't know. Dramin still has him. He brought a cohort of Klingons to guard the prisoner."
"Klingons," Maldari spat and scowled. His black eyes blazed. "Didn't I say that no good would come of doing business with Klingons? Didn't I?"
"Yes, Maldari, you did," Barush said, nodding.
"This is my own fault. I should never have accepted their transport to Archnos from the No Where. They stick their oversize heads in everywhere. The rest of the prisoners are inside?" Maldari tilted his dark gray head toward the barred door.
"Yes, Maldari. All seven."
"Go tell the others. We're moving the rest of the prisoners."
"Now?"
"Yes, now. We're moving them out of the reach of the Shrewdest Ones, and out of the reach of these Klingons too. Go get the rest of the guards, then bring the prisoners to the shuttle. It's in the back. I'll meet you there." Maldari scuttled off, thinking.
"Vith Uhura's descriptions, ve have isolated three buildings. Ve're pretty sure it's one of them," Chekov said, as he stepped to the navigator's console. He ran his hands over the controls and a map of Archnos came up on the main viewscreen. "Now look here." He stepped up to the map and pointed with his finger. "Here's the tallest building on Archnos, and it's a transmitter, just like Uhura thought. We are positive it's the one she saw. There are a lot of those domed conclaves around, but by figuring the angle—the conclave has to be on the opposite side of the building from the tower—and judging by Uhura's description, there's only a thirty-degree difference, or a one-hundred-and-fifty-degree angle between them, leaving exactly two hundred and ten for the other degree, if ve postulate that the varehouse is in the middle. So there are three buildings large enough to fit Uhura's description. One here"—he pointed—"one here"—he pointed again—"and one here. Anything else vouldn't compute."
"Does this mean, Jim, that I have to dress up once more like a goddam Klingon?" McCoy said. "In twenty-five years with you, I've been in a lot of predicaments. But I've seldom had to act like a soldier, and never a Klingon. I'm a doctor, not an actor."
"You could stay here and let Scotty go. Run the transporter for us."
"Not on your life, Captain," Scotty jumped in. "Not that I would not love to go down there with a phaser and have a shot at these damn Prometheans. But I cannot trust the doctor with my engines. They're delicate things, and we may need all the power I can coax out of them."
"I'd have to agree with Scotty," Kirk said. "The women and Mr. Spock can't disguise themselves as male Klingons. So it's the three of us," he said, nodding at Chekov and McCoy. "That is, on a volunteer basis, of course. I really mean it, this time. There's probably going to be fireworks. This time will be far more dangerous. And once again, we're not representing Starfleet. Frankly speaking, I'm well aware this trip started out for most of us on a note of more enthusiasm and enjoyment than seriousness. I for one wanted to get back on a starship and back into space. But now I think we all have to admit we're a crew of slightly overage and overgrown adventurers."
"Speak for yourself, Jim," McCoy said. "Chekov and I don't weigh a pound more than we did when we signed on, do we, Pavel?"
"No comment, Dr. McCoy," Chekov said in his thickest accent.
"You have managed to insult four of us in one short sentence, Doctor," Uhura said. "That may be a record, even for you."
>
"And on that note," Kirk said, trying to steer the conversation back into more productive channels, "each of us must search his or her own soul and decide, in the harsh glare of reality, whether or not he or she ought to go forward." Kirk was looking right at Barbara, who was looking back at him with a studied and stern expression. "So perhaps I ought to say that I don't expect anyone—"
"Oh, come on, Jim," McCoy said. "Enough of this palaver. Do you honestly think there is anyone here who is going to jump ship? Even though I will be the first to admit that it's certainly what each one of us ought to do. We haven't abandoned ship in the past, and we're not going to now. I know I can speak for all of us when I say that."
There was a round of nods and short statements of agreement. Kirk was secretly pleased.
"As for you," McCoy went on, "I think you're just trying to get off the hook for bringing us into this. Well, it won't happen. Each of us is going to blame you for the rest of our days for dragging us out of our comfortable if boring existence and back into trouble. Now, let's go over this plan of yours one more time."
Kirk was looking at Barbara, and she smiled. He felt an urgent desire to go back in time, to be back in his apartment with her, back in that stage of their relationship which, in the light of the last couple of days, was less complicated. Equality between men and women, he thought, was something like that old logger's game of balancing on a tree log that floated on the water. You both had to keep running at precisely the same speed. One hesitation and into the water you'd go.
"Kirk?" McCoy prompted again.
Kirk looked around him. "Yes, the plan. Feel free to suggest improvements and alterations, of course."
Kirk couldn't help but lower his voice, even though there was no one aboard the Princess but the seven of them. The conspirators leaned in, and they spent the rest of the trip going over the exact details. When Chekov announced that they were arriving at Starbase 499, the meeting broke up.
Sulu walked ahead of the Klingon guards in a trance. He felt good about the statement he had made. The Federation had a heavy-handed approach to its position in the galaxy. While claiming its mission to be exploration and research, its vast influence was actually based on the power of Starfleet. Moreover, the Federation's insistence on the rights of the individual over those of the state led to excessive behavior that failed to benefit the community in general. Leadership was a responsibility of which only certain individuals were capable, and all others must submit to the will of the leaders for their own benefit. Sulu wondered how he could have spent so many years failing to realize that individual will had to be subjugated to the will of the larger community if civilizations were to advance without leaving some members of the community behind. He thought about the cacophony of cultures he had left behind, even on his own planet. Then he thought about the concept of a monocultural civilization, and saw at once how it led to peace and harmony, with all members of society equal. Surely it was truly the Only Way.
When they arrived at the warehouse, Dramin held a heated conversation with a number of Klingons who had arrived before them, but Sulu didn't understand what they were saying. Eventually he was taken back to the prison room, where he was mildly surprised to find that the others were no longer there.
He had wanted to engage in a discussion with Dr. Bernard Hans on the points he had been thinking about, Surely someone of Dr. Hans's experience could see that the Shrewdest Ones had the good of the larger Beta Promethean society at heart, that it was they who protected the interests of the average Beta Promethean. Surely Dr. Hans would be one of the first to see the efficacy of the idea of the eradication of individual will in favor of the collective good. Dr. Hans would see at once that the clamor of competing belief systems in their own society was harming their forward progress. And when he did, probably the others would begin to understand as well. Sulu had looked forward to discussing the ideas to which he had been introduced with his officers. When he found the room empty, he was disappointed.
He felt too good to worry about them, nor did he wonder where they were. He sat and waited patiently for the opportunity to talk with them about his new ideas.
"Do the preflight check for me, would you, Mr. Chekov?" Barbara said. "We might not be returning here, and I want to see an old friend. I went to the Academy with him. I'll be back shortly."
"I vill take care of it," Chekov responded. "Ve're launching soon, Ms. O'Marla. I should varn you that Captain Kirk vould not vait for anyone."
"Don't worry. I wouldn't miss this trip for the world."
Barbara left the deck and headed for the transport room, where she was just asking Scotty if he would mind beaming her over to Starbase 499 when Kirk appeared.
"Where are you going, Barbara?" he asked politely.
"Oh, hello James. I'm just going over to see a friend before we go. I figured that if we got hold of the hostages, we'd head straight back to Federation star space, and I might not see her again."
"Your friend hasn't guessed what you're doing here, has she?"
"Oh, no. I explained that I was just on a vacation. With you, as a matter of fact. She bought that, because … I told her about us. No, I've been very careful not to give anything away."
"Still," Kirk said looking at her, "if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to ask everyone to stay on the Princess from now on. We'll be leaving shortly, and I think we ought to stick together. You can apologize to your friend in a transmission when we're all safely back in San Francisco."
Barbara hesitated. Then she smiled. "All right, sure. If you think that's best."
"I do. Thanks."
Barbara nodded and headed back toward the cabin she shared with Uhura. Kirk watched her go. Scotty watched Kirk watch her.
"You think she has a friend on the starbase?" Scotty said quietly.
"Yes, I do. But I'm just beginning to wonder what civilization this friend is from."
"What is it you're thinking?" Scotty said.
"I have no idea, Mr. Scott," Kirk responded. "But she told us her friend was a she, while a minute ago she told Mr. Chekov it was a he." He looked at Scott, who didn't say anything. "I just happened to overhear her conversation. Don't you think," Kirk asked, "that her presence here is odd, in fact? I know she is an impatient girl, but as a graduate from the top of her class at the Academy, I believe she could have had a deep-space assignment within a few weeks, or a few months at the very least. Yet she insisted on coming along on our half-assed mission."
"I am not one to talk about personal affairs, Captain," Scotty said. "But I do not think she's here for the adventure. I think she's here because of her feelings for you. If you'll excuse me saying so."
Kirk was almost startled. "I hadn't thought of that," he said. "What an interesting notion. But a not altogether sound one, as Mr. Spock would say."
"You underestimate yourself, Captain," Scotty said.
"Thank you, Mr. Scott. Yet I have to wonder how it happened that we were cheated by Maldari and his pirates. I mean, how is it that Maldari had the courage to pull such a fast one? How did he know we weren't carrying a lot of firepower? Or that we didn't have backup from Starfleet?"
"He could have taken the chance. He's a pirate trader, after all."
Kirk shrugged. "Yes, I suppose he could have. Let's just hope he isn't way ahead of us today."
"Not likely. Your plan's too clever by half."
"Unless there is a leak."
"Nobody knows about this except the seven of us."
"Mr. Spock is telling Captain Sencus. We'll want the Excelsior to rendezvous with us for the trip home. If we succeed, he'll ask permission of Starfleet to leave Starbase 499 and meet us. But Mr. Spock believes Commander Sencus to be entirely trustworthy."
"Because he's a Vulcan? Remember Lieutenant Valeris."
"How could I forget her? No, because of Sencus's actions immediately after the hostages were taken, and because they have apparently engaged in some private conversations. Commander Sencus hasn't told his c
rew anything, however. Nor has Spock given Sencus any hint of our precise plans. Only that we hope to do something, and would the Excelsior stand by to help if necessary. We'll send them a transmission if we need them. I wouldn't ask them to engage in any battle, however. They're still under orders from Starfleet to stand by at 499. I've compromised one crew already. That's enough."
"Then as I said, only the seven of us know."
"I hope I'm not letting my feelings for Barbara obscure my judgment."
"If you want my opinion, Jim, it's the other way around. You've been a captain so much more than you've been a lover, I'd worry about letting your judgment cloud your feelings."
Kirk looked over at Scotty with a surprised expression.
"I hope I haven't spoken out of turn, Captain," Scotty said.
At first Kirk didn't answer, contenting himself with turning back toward the corridor and looking after the ghost of Barbara O'Marla. Finally he spoke to Scotty.
"On the contrary, Chief Engineer. I suspect you know me better than I do myself." Kirk smiled. Then he wandered back to the bridge.
"How are the robots coming?" Kirk asked when Scotty joined the rest of them on the bridge.
"I'll have them all up and running in time, Captain. They're not going to last long, but they ought to look convincing enough."
"How much are they going to be able to do?" Uhura asked.
"Not much. They're sturdy but stupid, I'm afraid."
"That's probably just what we need," Kirk responded.
He turned to Scotty. "Why don't you tell us what you've done with these dime store robots."
"Well, I've reboosted their power source by plugging them into the ship's electrical energy system," Scotty pointed out. "I've programmed them to a more aggressive behavior pattern. I've entered a prearranged series of commands, which, once activated, they'll follow until they've either been destroyed or run out of power. As you requested, they canna actually fire their weapons."
"Good. We don't want anybody hurt."
"I could probably get them to recognize Maldari and his crew."
The Fearful Summons Page 24
