Prologue
KERDOCH MOVED with a steady, solid pace across the large family room to his chair. He wore the same clothes he had worn on this day twenty cycles earlier. Frayed work clothes that still fit, even though his body had thickened with age. They were the clothes of a proud Klingon farmer, but on that special day twenty cycles ago, they had also been the uniform of a warrior.
The air was warm and still full of the smells of the huge meal prepared and eaten earlier. The tension of anticipation of a wonderful story about to be told blanketed the room, coloring everyone's sight with a special glow, as if Kahless himself were about to visit them. Kerdoch felt it. He let the sensation fill him with strength, reinforcing his tired old bones, bones worn by a lifetime of working the fields to feed the warriors of the Empire. His j ob was a proud one. He and his family were respected in the region.
The seventeen Klingon adults and the thirty-one Klingon children who filled the room were silent, almost not breathing. Waiting.
Kerdoch settled himself in his big chair, then looked over the group. They were his family. His entire family. Around his feet, his youngest grandchildren sat cross-legged, staring up at their grandfather. They too anticipated his story, and he knew it.
They all knew the story by heart. Kerdoch had repeated the story every year on the same day, and he had never tired of it. His children and grandchildren were not tired of it, either; that much was clear. A good sign for the future, in his opinion. His story was important, about a day and a fight of honor that should be remembered by all Klingons.
Kerdoch's black eyes never missed a detail, not in the fields, and not in this large room on this special day. His gaze bored through his grandchildren and his older children until it came to rest on his wife , standing near the back. He smiled, and she returned his smile. She also remembered this day twenty years earlier. It was a day on which she feared she had lost her husband, her children, and her own life. She too knew the importance of his story.
The tension in the room seemed to grow as everyone knew the story of the great fight was about to begin. The excitement of hearing it again was almost too much for the younger children to bear. Many of them squirmed and shifted their position. Kerdoch forced himself not to smile at them.
He took a deep breath, then started, letting his deep voice fill the room as he took himself and his gathered family back to that time of battle twenty cycles earlier.
To a time when he, Kerdoch, had been a warrior. And when the Klingon Empire had learned about the honor of its enemies.
Chapter One
KERDOCH GRUNTED SOFTLY as he stood upright, stretching the soreness out of the tight muscles in his back. He had been a farmer for almost thirty years, and each passing year wore on his body a little more. But it was a price he was more than willing to pay.
He studied his work. The field of tIqKa SuD spread out before him like a calm ocean, blue-green stems drifting back and forth like gentle waves at the touch of an unseen wind. The health of his crops radiated from every stem.
On the horizon K'Tuj , the larger of the two yellow suns had dipped below the horizon, leaving only K'mach's faint yellow light to illuminate his work. Already the chill was returning to the air, pushing out the intense heat ofthe day. Kerdoch knew that within the hour the cold would settle in for the short night. Back in the farming colony the lights of the streets and in the domes would be on, the fires lit.
He and the rest of the colonists had been on this planet now for five years. They had named the planet QuI' Tu. Paradise. He loved many things about this new home, but he loved most of all the nights around the fire, letting the ale and the flame hold back the cold and soothe his tired muscles.
He turned slowly, surveying his field and his work. Not a black stalk of Qut weed could be seen above the blue-green stocks of his crop. He had again won the day's battle. The pride of a fight well fought filled him for a moment. And he let it.
Then, as the second sun touched the horizon, he focused on the tasks of tomorrow, the struggle for the approaching harvest. Feeding the Empire was a neverending battle that must be fought every day, or the war would be lost. Kerdoch was proud of his place in the Empire. Throughout the sector he was well respected for his work and his land's output. He enjoyed that respect and had every intention ofgaining more.
Moving through the plants without breaking even one stem, Kerdoch made his way to the open area between fields, then turned and headed for home down a dirt path between two shallow ditches. His family would be waiting. Dinner would be ready, the fire popping and crackling like a celebration. A celebration of a day's battle won.
Suddenly his thoughts of family and the next day's tasks were broken by the searing sound oftwo aircraft flashing overhead. They were low, not more than ten of his height in the air. He couldn't tell what type of craft they were. They did not look like any of the colony ships. These were flat and diamond-shaped, nothing like any Klingon ship he'd ever heard about.
The intense wind in their wake rocked him, staggering him until he caught his balance. Around him his plants whipped back and forth as if being brushed by a large unseen hand.
In his five years on this land, on this planet, he'd never seen a craft fly over his fields, even at a great height, let alone low and fast. Without doubt there would be crop damage from this foolish act. He would make sure the persons responsible would pay.
He glanced around in the dimming light to see if he could locate any damage. But it was too dark. And the night chill was settling in. His assessment would have to wait for morning.
In the faint light Kerdoch caught sight of the two craft making a high, very tight turn above the glowing orange of the sunset. They finished their turn and headed back toward him, coming in low again and very fast, two thin silver slashes in the sky.
He stopped, too startled to move.
His mind fought to make sense of what he was seeing.
The ships appeared to be making an attack run.
In his youth on the planet T'Klar he had seen such action from aircraft in the great battle of T'Klar. His mother had been killed in just such an attack led by a cowardly pilot not willing to look his prey in the eyes. Kerdoch had managed to survive and see his mother's murderer killed two years later. Revenge had tasted good that day.
Wide orange beams shot out from the noses of the two thin ships, cutting a swath ofintense red and blue flame through the crops.
It was an attack mission !
They were heading right at him.
Instinctively Kerdoch flung himself to the right side of the path and rolled down into a shallow ditch. He trusted his heavy work shirt to protect his body. He used his arms to cover his head.
Almost instantly the two aircraft were over him and then gone past.
The concussion from their passing pressed Kerdoch into the ditch, pushing his face into the mud as an added insult. The pilots of these ships would pay for this action.
Before he could move to push himself up he felt an intense burning on his shoulder and back. He was on fire from their flame weapons.
He rolled over, rocking back and forth on his back as hard and as quickly as he could in the dirt and mud of the ditch, letting the coolness of the ground smother the flames of his clothing. Many mornings he had cursed the cold ground as his achingj oints worked it. Now he thanked it.
When he was sure the flames on his back were out, he stood, ignoring his pain.
For fifty paces on either side of him, his crops were nothing more than smoking ashes illuminated by small flickering fires along the edges of the destruction. In the distance through the smoke Kerdoch could see the two aircraft
as they continued their burning run through his neighbors' crops.
Who were they?
Why burn his crops? The Empire's food?
There was no sense to this action.
Behind him, from the direction of his home and the main colony center came loud explosions.
He spun around. Flames shot into the air as more strange aircraft attacked the colony.
His family, his wife, and his home were near the center of the colony. Instantly he was running, intent on saving his family.
And paying back in death whoever was doing this.
Captain James T. Kirk crossed his arms and leaned against the wall in the tiny office. The office belonged to Commander Bracker, who ran Starbase l l , one of the smallest starbases Kirk had ever been on. Small and uncomfortable. This office barely accommodated Kirk and Bracker, let alone the four other people in the room. The size of the office didn't help Kirk's mood.
He glared across the desk at the smiling face of his friend Captain Kelly Bogle of the U.S.S. Farragut. Bogle was standing behind Bracker, somehow making himself the center of attention in the small space. He had arrived before Kirk and taken the place Kirk would have had. The place Kirk had had when both captains arrived on the starbase.
Bogle's position was symbolic of his recent victory over Kirk. Kirk adjusted his arms, but he couldn't relieve the tension in his shoulders. He had lost. And he hated to lose, even in a friendly game of catch-the- thief. But worse, he hated to lose to Kelly Bogle, his friend and former shipmate on the Farragut. That galled Kirk even more.
Captain Bogle stood only three inches taller than Kirk, but to Kirk the difference had always seemed much greater. Bogle somehow carried himself with a straight-backed posture that always made him seem like the tallest man in the room, even when he wasn't. His light brown hair was never out ofplace. Kirk also knew that straight-backed posture and perfect hair were consistent with the way Bogle captained his ship. He did everything by the book. But in a fight, Kirk couldn't honestly think of a better ship, crew, and captain to have at his side.
He liked Kelly Bogle, partly because Bogle was one of the few people who could get the better of Kirk. Rarely, to be sure. But Bogle could do it, and he could do it by the book.
Near the door, two red-shirted Farragut crew members held a tiny, childlike, and extremely thin humanoid between them. The prisoner wore regulation starbase children's clothing-probably stolen-and a small duck-billed cap. He was the first member of the Liv Kirk had ever seen, but he'd heard a great deal about them over the past few years. They were reported to be a race of thieves, although Spock claimed that for an entire race to turn to theft was not logical. Logical or not, the Liv stole on every planet, every starbase, every ship they appeared on.
They were fair creatures who appeared, at first glance, to be human children. They had porcelain skin, bright blue eyes, and no body hair. The tallest member ofthe race most likely wouldn't have reached Kirk's chin, and this one was far from the tallest: he came up to Kirk's waist.
They were known as the "child-race," "the kids from Liv," "troublemakers, " as well as by a dozen other names. They traveled in small ships oftheir own or stowed away on other ships. They had an uncanny ability to hide in places where hiding didn't seem possible. And they looked so sweet and childlike that unsuspecting adults of all species usually took them in, soon to be robbed blind.
"It seems," Commander Bracker said nervously, "that our situation is now resolved. "
Kirk glared at Bracker, a stocky red-haired man who was clearly nervous as he sat between the two starship captains. It was obviously the last place Bracker wanted to be. But he had caused his own discomfort. He had sent a message to the Enterprise, which was close by at the time, asking for some quick help with robberies at the station. Kirk had felt it would be a good excuse to give his crew a few days' shore leave and had agreed to help. But just minutes before the Enterprise reached the starbase, the Farragut had arrived unexpectedly for repairs.
The contest to catch a thief had started the first night in a bar, with a friendly wager between members of the two crews. Actually, some of the Faarragut crew had said that the Enterprise couldn't catch anything if they tried and a few of Kirk's crew had objected. Loudly, from what Kirk had come to understand.
The argument had grown even louder between Kirk and Bogle in the officers' mess. Then the two captains had laughed, made a friendly wager, and bought each other a drink.
When the drinks were over, both men had hurried back to their crews. Shore leave was called off until the cause of the disappearances was found.
It had taken both crews a full day of searching the small station to find the Liv, hiding in a locker in a main hallway. His loot had been stashed in a dozen places around the station.
Captain Bogle smiled at his security detail. "Escort our prisoner to the station brig. "
Then Bogle turned to Kirk. "Well, Captain, I'll collect that drink in the bar anytime you are ready. " Bogle did not quite manage to keep the smirk off his face, even though he was trying.
Sort of.
Kirk shook his head. The game had been all in fun , yet some pride and ship's honor had been involved. It irked him that his crew had lost.
He still wasn't sure why they had lost. He knew Bogle too well to suspect an underhanded move, but he still felt uncomfortable-and a bit responsible. He had intended to check the lockers himself, but he had been detained, talking to a yeoman in the bar.
She was worth being detained for.
She was not worth losing a bet over.
It galled him to lose, but he had no one to blame but himself. Even so, the bet had been a nice diversion from the last month, which had been filled with routine . The sector of space they were in had provided nothing new, not even an interesting debris field or an unusual moon.
He smiled at Bogle, but his smile had an edge. Bogle
had won this bet, but he wouldn't win the next.
"I could use a drink right now," Kirk said. "Care to join me?" With a wide sweeping gesture he indicated the door.
Bogle laughed. "I'd be glad to."
Both nodded to the relieved-looking station commander, then turned and headed for the door side by side.
Kirk liked Bogle, and even with the ribbing for not catching the thief first, drinking with his friend would
be enjoyable. Just what Dr. McCoy had ordered for him and the rest of the crew.
But before the captains had taken two steps, their communicators went off simultaneously.
Kirk had his up and open first, instantly wondering what emergency would cause both starships to call their captains at the same time. "Kirk here," he said.
Beside him Bogle turned his back on Kirk and said, "Bogle," in such a stern tone that Kirk glanced over at him.
"Captain," Spock's voice came loud and clear over the communicator. "We are receiving a distress call from the agricultural planet Signi Beta. They are under attack and asking for assistance from anyone nearby. "
Signi Beta was the Federation name for the Klingon farming planet QI' tu' . Just the name Signi Beta annoyed Kirk. The Federation farmers had lost the planet to the Klingons in a fair and honest contest.
But losing to the Klingons galled Kirk more than losing to Bogle did.
The planet was not in dispute, though. Why would anyone attack it?
Behind him, he heard Bogle get the same news.
"Mr. Spock," Kirk said, "notify the crew that shore leave has been canceled. Order them back to the ship immediately. Then set a course for Signi Beta. On my mark, beam me aboard."
"Aye, Captain," Spock said.
Kirk snapped his communicator closed at almost the same moment Bogle did. The two captains turned and faced each other, all thought of the rivalry and the drinks gone. Now they were both efficient working Starfleet captains with the same problem.
"How long until you can get under way?" Kirk asked. He knew that the Farragut had taken a beating during a run-in with a
subspace anomaly. They had to repair their warp drives as well as bring weapons and shield systems back online .
"The starbase crew told us we had to dock here for at least twenty hours," Bogle said. "But knowing my engineer, Projeff, we can get out of here in fifteen. "
Kirk grinned. Projeff was one of the few engineers who could give Scotty a run for his money. "I'll keep you informed as to what we find."
"Good luck," Bogle said, his eyes intent on Kirk.
"Thanks," Kirk said, knowing that Bogle was saying much more. They ran their ships in very different manners , but the respect between the two captains was there. Kirk extended his hand, and Bogle shook it. "That drink will have to wait. "
Bogle smiled. "I don't mind you owing it to me. Just make sure you stay alive to pay it off. "
"Oh, I'll pay you back," Kirk said, laughing. "And then some." He flipped open his communicator.
"Enterprise. One to beam up. "
Sixty seconds later the Enterprise was headed at warp five for Signi Beta on the edge of the Klingon Empire.
"Dinna give me any trouble, Doctor," Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott said, clutching his right arm as he sat on the edge of the medical cot. Dr. McCoy was standing beside him, holding a tricorder and frowning. "I woulda been here sooner, but I had a project to finish."
"Do you realize how filthy this wound is, Scotty?" McCoy snapped. "If you'd waited much longer, it would have become infected. I could have treated it, but it would have taken a lot longer."
"Ah, time. That's the ticket, isn't it, Doctor?" Scotty said. "We're headin' into Klingon space and I've got parts and pieces all over her innards. I gotta get back to Engineering and put things to right before we reach that planet. "
"You'll let me finish, " McCoy said. "And you'll tell me how you got this mess while on shore leave at a starbase."
"Well, now, I didn't exactly get the cut on the Starbase."
"Wound," McCoy said. "This is too big to be called a cut."
Scotty shrugged but didn't look at his arm. The sleeve of his uniform was torn, and beneath it the skin had been flayed to the bone.
Day of Honor - Treaty's Law Page 1
