assistance. "
And then he signed off.
"Sir?" The young ensign he had upbraided stood beside him. "We could modify the shuttle's shields. I believe they're the same as the Enterprise 's. All we
have to do is follow your instructions from the last
time. "
Scotty looked at her. "Is this your creative solution, lass?"
She swallowed. "Yes," she said. "None of us are as
skilled at jury-rigging as you are, sir. That's why you're chief engineer. "
He grinned at her. "You have a bit of the Celtic in you, lass."
"The Celtic?" she asked.
"The Irish call it blarney, but I'll take it," Scotty said. "But realize I'll be there to check your work shortly. Lives depend on your accuracy. " She swallowed again. "Aye, sir." And then she led a group from Engineering to the shuttle bays.
"Now, it's me and you," he whispered to the schematic of the various weapons on board the Enterprise.
At that moment, Uhura hailed him with a message from Projeff.
"All right," Scotty grumbled. "Nothing could be worse than the last few moments I've had."
Projeff appeared on the screen, grinning so wide that it looked as if his face had split in half. "I assume you heard about the modifications we were to make to the weapons," he said.
"Aye," Scotty said mournfully.
"Well, have I got a modification for you," Projeff said. "Courtesy of the Farragut. "
Scotty's eyes narrowed. How had Projeff solved this problem when Scotty hadn't even had a chance to work on it? The honor of the Enterprise had been at stake, and he hadn't even had a chance to try. He swallowed his pride and asked, "What have you got?"
Chapter Twenty
KIRK SNAPPED his communicator closed and stood. Even in the heat of the afternoon, finally having some
sort of a plan gave him energy.
He paced back and forth, thinking. There was a great chance that at least two, if not three or four
shuttles were going to be landing near the colony in about an hour. Having the firepower of the shuttles, as well as the shields and extra armament they would bring, would level the field a little. Not all the way, but enough to keep the battle from being a
slaughter.
"Rathbone, would you have Lieutenant Sulu join us?"
She nodded, stood and quickly ducked out the
door, letting in a hot, dry wind.
"McCoy," Kirk said, sitting down next to Kor,
"can you wake your patient?"
"I am awake," Kor said. "I heard your communication with your ships."
"Good," Kirk said. "Do you think the plan will work?"
"It is a sound plan," Kor said. "It has only one drawback that I can see."
"And that is?" Kirk asked. Kor had always annoyed him in the past, and he was doing his best not to let the Klingon commander do so now.
"The Narr transports," he said.
Kirk sat back, thinking. Kor had a point.
"I have not seen the transports," Kor said. "But I assume they are considerably larger, and likely more powerful, than your tiny Federation shuttles?"
"They are," Kirk said. Kor was right and he knew it. The transports were undoubtedly armed and well shielded.
"And they will have time to launch and engage the shuttles above the colony. Correct?"
"You are very correct," Kirk said.
"Then we must have a plan," Kor said, sitting up slowly and facing Kirk, "to keep the Narr transports on the ground while our shuttles land."
Kirk nodded. "Good thinking, Commander. " He turned to Kerdoch. "Can we get to that small ridge of mountains behind the transport landing sites without being seen?"
Kerdoch thought for a moment, then, with a glance at Kor, he answered Kirk's question. "It would be possible to go north into the foothills and circle west behind the Narr transports. It would take at least an hour."
Kirk turned back to Kor. "The Narr shuttles are wing-shaped, and landed standing upward. "
Kor nodded. "I see what you are thinking," he said. "They might have some sort of support legs holding them in that position. "
"Exactly," Kirk said. "And the transports wouldn't be shielded on the ground. All we have to do is knock a leg out from under them. "
"It would certainly slow down their take-off," McCoy said.
"It would, Doctor," Kor said, dropping back on the cot and closing his eyes with a sigh. "It most certainly would. "
Rathbone stood in the small sliver of shade offered by the edge of the shelter over the disrupter cannon. It was still five hours to sundown, and the heat seemed to smother her, baking every inch of her. She'd been sipping water almost continuously since sunrise, but she still felt constantly thirsty and dry. She didn't remember having the heat be this oppressive when she was here with the Federation colony. In fact, she remembered enjoying the heat and the cool evenings. Amazing how a little time could change a person's perspective.
She took another long drink of warm water from the bottle she carried. More than anything else she wanted a cool shower to take off the caked salt and black ash, followed by a long cool bath to soothe her burned skin. At this moment that would be heaven.
Just getting off this planet would be heaven.
At the front of the cannon platform Kor and Captain Kirk stood, staring out over the blackened fields at the distant Narr transports.
This was Kor's first time out in the sun, and Dr.
McCoy had strenuously objected. But even McCoy's brash manner couldn't stop the Klingon commander. McCoy had managed, to the amusement of the captain, to get Kor to promise to return to the dome at once, and drink water every few minutes while out in the sun.
So far the Klingon commander was willingly complying with the doctor's orders. Kor had to be sicker than he was admitting.
"The plan should work, Commander," Kirk said, turning and finishing a conversation with Kor that Rathbone hadn't been able to fully hear from her position in the shade.
"Mr. Sulu," Kirk said. Lieutenant Sulu stepped up to face Kirk and Kor.
"Kahaq," Kor said. "Kerdoch, the colonist. "
Kahaq and Kerdoch stepped up and stood near Sulu.
"You are to disable those transports in any fashion you see fit," Kirk said.
"Disrupter rifle shots to the supporting legs," Kor said. "Focus on only one spot. "
"It shall be done ," Kahaq said,
"And then we need you back here . Quickly. Before the sunset attack. "
"Yes, sir," Sulu said.
Kerdoch and Kahaq glanced at Kor, seemingly uneasy taking too many orders from Kirk.
"At this time we fight beside our enemy against another enemy," Kor said. "It is the nature ofwar. At this time Captain Kirk's orders are mine. "
Kerdoch and Kahaq said nothing, but Rathbone could tell they both understood.
"Okay," Kirk said. "Get moving. And good luck."
Suddenly it dawned on Vivian that Kirk wasn't planning to send her out with Sulu and the others. For some reason she hadjust expected him to do so, given her knowledge of this planet. She glanced at the young Ensign Adaro who stood off to one side, then back at the three who had been picked.
"Captain," she said, stepping out of her slice of shade and moving toward him, "I should be included in this mission. "
Kirk's hard gaze behind the dirt-smeared face almost froze her in midstride , but she moved right up and faced him and the Klingon commander. "As a former colonist, I know the natural terrain of this planet. Also, there are two transports. There might be a need of four weapons."
Kirk nodded. "Good point. How good a shot are you?"
She glanced at Sulu, uncertain as to how to answer the captain's question. He had clearly not had the time to look at her service record before they left the ship, or he would have known.
"Captain," Sulu said, smiling, "Rathbone is a master-level marksman. "
She smiled at Sulu. At least he had read
her service record.
"A logical addition," Kor said, letting pass the fact that Kirk didn't know some details about his away team members.
Kirk laughed and patted her on the shoulder.
"Make sure you have water. "
McCoy handed her a canteenlike water carrier, which she slung over her shoulder, its solid weight a comfort against her hip. She emptied the bottle she'd been carrying with a long, warm drink and handed it to him, then slung the Klingon disrupter rifle over her right shoulder.
"Good luck," Kirk said.
"batlh Daqawlu 'taH, " Kor said, and nodded slightly to them all.
With that she fell in behind Kerdoch as he headed at a fast pace toward the northern edge and the hills beyond.
Spock figured that the odds were long that the Narr would attack during the hour after the transport attack mission left the colony.
And the project he had in mind could be a valuable asset to the coming attempt to stop the ground attack. So Spock left the bridge and moved straight to sickbay. Commander Scott was busy working with Projeff on a method of cutting off the antigravity units of the Narr soldiers. Therefore , if Spock's idea was to be pursued, he had to be the one to do it.
It took him only a few short minutes to modify a medical imaging device . He reversed its analytical functions and set it to emit a life-form signal where there wasn't one.
It then took him exactly nine minutes and eight seconds to alter the device enough to show ten lifeforms from the same signal.
Three minutes and eight seconds more of finetuning and mounting the equipment in a small box and he was satisfied. Logically the device would work. But a test was necessary.
He punched the communication panel of sick bay.
"Mr. Chekov, please scan sick bay and report how many life-forms are present. "
"Yes, sir," Chekov said. After a pause of two seconds he said, "Eleven, sir. But ten are grouped tightly, and the signal is odd. I'm running a check to see why."
Mr. Spock expected as much. The Narr would be scanning through full screens. It would be enough to fool them. He flicked off the medical scanner he had altered.
"Sir," Chekov said, his voice suddenly agitated, "ten life-forms have vanished."
"That is correct, Mr. Chekov. Thank you. " He cut the communication. He felt no need to explain his actions to Mr. Chekov at the moment.
He picked up the small box, tucked it under his arm, and left sick bay, headed for Engineering. His theory was that two such boxes on each shuttle should cause the Narr to be a little more cautious on their attack on the colony, thinking there were more soldiers defending the colony than actually existed.
It might also have the secondary function of causing them to break off their blockede and attack more of the shuttles in orbit, allowing the Enterprise to move into transporter range-ifthe captain agreed to the device being used. But Spock was sure he would. Last year in a fight the captain had noted that sometimes the best defense was nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Spock had not understood at the time, but now he was beginning to see the logical principle behind the metaphor.
The little box under his arm would substitute for the mirror in the metaphor.
Captain Kirk would have to provide the smoke, a skill at which he was very talented.
Chapter Twenty-one
KERDOCH SET a fast, but steady pace as he crossed the blackened fields of his neighbors and moved into the rough ground of the small rolling hills. There was no shade, only small scrub brush, ankle-high blue weeds, and rocks. He continued on a northern track until the hills were the height of twenty warriors. Then he stopped.
The human woman had stayed close behind him, as had Sulu, but Kahaq had fallen behind at least fifty paces. He seemed out of breath and flushed when he finally did reach them.
Kerdoch knew the warrior could not make the full distance. The heat would fell him more surely than a phaser blast. But a colonist could not tell a warrior he would fail. So Kerdoch said nothing.
The woman took a quick drink, rinsed the water around in her mouth, then spit it out. She took another sip, which she swallowed.
Kerdoch was impressed at her actions. They
showed clear thinking and practice in this climate.
She would have little trouble staying with his pace.
Sulu took a quick sip of water at the same time, recapped his bottle, and seemed ready to move onward. The thin human would also be able to make the journey. That pleased him. Over the last day he had come to respect Sulu. He was a human with strength
and honor, much like his captain.
"We follow this valley," Kerdoch said.
He knew the shallow valley wound its way to the east into the slightly higher hills near the Narr transports. They would have to cross over two ridges to get
to the transports. But until that point the valley would give them shelter from Narr eyes on the ground. His
hope was that the Narr ships in orbit were not
scanning the surrounding area in close enough detail
to locate them. That was a chance that both Kirk and
Kor had thought worth taking.
Kerdoch turned and set his pace, moving with practiced ease through and around the natural brush.
He did not look back.
And he did not stop until he reached a point in the valley beyond the Narr transports. Above, the two
suns seemed to have grown in size and energy. He was
used to working the day in the sun, but after the last
two days of no sleep and little water, he could feel the extreme heat.
He pulled his water bottle and let the warm water fill his mouth and throat. Then he turned around.
He was again surprised to find both the woman and
Sulu stopping with him. There was no sign of Kahaq.
"Where is Kahaq?" he asked.
Sulu finished a sip of water, his face bright red and sweating. "He stopped to take a drink quite a long way back. He told me to go on. "
"This heat can fell the strongest tree ," Kerdoch said.
"How far to the transports?" the human woman asked. She also looked very tired and hot, but she seemed willing to continue without complaint.
Kerdoch pointed over the high ridge to his right.
"We should be able to target the transports from the second ridge. "
Kerdoch glanced back down the gully in the direction they had come. "We will find Kahaq on our return. "
"Lead on," Sulu said.
Kerdoch took another drink, unshouldered his rifle, and began to climb toward the top of the ridge.
To his left Sulu did the same.
To his right the human woman followed.
Kirk stood alone in the slim shade offered by the shelter over the disrupter cannon. Kor, Ensign Adaro, and McCoy had returned to the protection of the dome to rest until the shuttles launched. Rathbone and Sulu were somewhere in the foothills, and the colonists were scattered along the edge of the colony facing the Narr camp. Some were digging trenches; others rested in the shade; many had gone back to their homes to check on their children.
A waiting time. Kirk hated waiting.
Beyond the blackened fields the Narr transports stood, winglike shapes pointing upward as ifready to jump back into the air. And they most likely would do just that when the shuttles were launched, unless Sulu and the others could get them grounded. Otherwise the shuttles would be sitting ducks coming in. They could be programmed to land and do basic maneuvers, but not evade or return enemy fire.
He stared out over the field where the Narr casualties had been. The Narr had used teams of four to retrieve their wounded and dead, floating them between the team members like heavy caskets in a funeral march, as they moved back to their camp. There had been over eighty Narr soldiers in the field at once , and there was no doubt that was only a small part of the force that would be coming against the colony at sunset.
There had to be a way to stop them, to en
d this fight. Throughout the history of Earth, wars had been fought over disputed ownership of land. Now they were fought over ownership ofentire planets. He and the Federation had no real stake in the outcome of this battle , except for the fact that he and his crew were trapped in the middle of it. Somehow there had to be a way to get the two parties who had something to win or lose to talk to each other.
His communicator beeped, and he snapped it open. "Captain," Sulu said, his voice low, almost whispered. "Kerdoch, Rathbone, and I are in position above and behind the Narr camp. The heat stopped Kahaq along the way."
"How is the camp laid out, Mr. Sulu?" Kirk asked.
"The Narr have four large tentlike structures," Sulu whispered. "Ten guards in armor are outside , posted at the doors. The others must be inside the tents and the transports. "
"Can you knock down the transports?" Kirk asked.
"I don't know, Captain," Sulu said. "Like the larger Narr craft, they are wing-shaped, and have landed pointed upward, wing tips on the ground. But there are no support legs of any sort to target. "
"None?" Kirk asked.
"None, sir," Sulu said.
He had been afraid that might be the case. The Narr were clearly very good with artificial gravity, and were using it to hold their ships upright.
"Stand by, Mr. Sulu. And keep your head down. "
He flicked his communicator closed and at a fast walk covered the fifty paces of hot ground to the dome. Inside , Ensign Adaro sat on the cot, Kor sat at the table, a glass of water in his hand, and McCoy sat across from him. It was clear to Kirk that neither had been talking to the other.
"The team is in place above the Narr camp," Kirk said. "Kahaq is not with them. He had a problem with the heat."
Kor frowned, but said nothing.
Kirk sat down at the table next to McCoy. McCoy slid him a bottle and Kirk drank the lukewarm water gladly, filling his mouth twice. Then he gave Kor the bad news: "There are no support legs holding up the transports."
This time Kor shook his head in disgust. "Antigravity support fields."
"Most likely," Kirk said.
"So this changes the plan," Kor said.
"I know," Kirk said. "What's your idea?"
Kirk asked that way because the ideas he had come
Day of Honor - Treaty's Law Page 17
