  STAR TREK
  LOG 7
  BY
  ALAN DEAN FOSTER
  Also by Alan Dean Foster on the Ballantine
Books list:
  STAR TREK LOG ONE STAR TREK
IOG TWO STAR TREK IOG THREE
STAR TREK IOG FOUR STAR TREK
IOG FIVE STAR TREK IOG SIX
MIDWORID IUANA THE TAR AIYM
KRANG ICERIGGER DARK STAR BLOODHYPE
  backslash
  STAR TREK LOG SEVEN
  Allan Dean Foster
  Based on the Popular Animated
Series Created -- by Gene Roddenberry
  BALLANTINE BOOKS NEW YORK
  Copyright at were 1976 by Paramount Pictures
Corporation
  All rights reserved under International and
Pan-American Copyright Conventional Published
in the United States by Ballantine Books, a
division of Random House, Inc., New York,
and simultaneously in Canada by Ballantine
Books of Canada, Ltd., Toronto,
Canada.
  Library of Congress Catalog Card
Number: 74-8477 ISBN

  Printed in Canada.
  First Edition: June, 1976 Cover art
supplied by Filmation Associates
  For all the fans of Star Trek, everywhere .. .
ignore the ignorant and stick to your phasersl
STAR TREK LOG SEVEN
  Log of the Starship Enterprise Stardates
5536.3 5536.9 Inclusive fumes T.
Kirk, Capt., USSC, FS, ret. Commanding
  transcribed by Alan Dean Foster At the
Galactic Historical Archives on S.
Monicus I stardated 611 1.5
  For the Curator: JLETTER
  THE COUNTER -- CLOCK INCIDENT
  [Adapted from a script by John CulverJust
A warm light seemed to suffuse April's face
as he stared at dhe drawings. Soft, caressing,
intense Hle kind of gende radiance Rembrandt
used to edge his portraits with.
  The works hanging on the wag before him, which had
inspired such a reverent gaze, would never hang in
any museum, would never raise the brow of the lowliest
art critic. Yet April's mind applied a
critic's terminology to Them. Masterpieces
exquisite, sensuous, drawn with unsurpassed
skill and vivid realization they were.
  True, the drawings had no depth beyond dhe
mioimally necessary. There was no attempt to give body
to He colossal conception so skeletaUy
sketched. The use of color was minimal, every drawing
done in unrelieved blue on white.
  But that didn't matter. His mind filled in the
myriad colors that would be added later.
  "Magnificent, isn't she?" the old man standing
on April's le* murmured. 'seven in the
preliminary blueprints. The soundness of
Franz Joseph's original design holds up
well. You know, there was a time when people thought he
designed these ships only for amusement, that they'd
never have any practical application."
  "Hard to believe," April agreed. "StiUs,
they were wed ahead of their time." He peered harder at
the wag fug of drawings. 'NCC-1701, Class
One ... Uhat's a heavy cruiser, right?"
  "Sure is," Commodore van Anling
admitted. "Her major components are being put
togedher out in dhe San Francisco yards right
now. I could take you out there, but" he nodded toward the
wall "there's much more to be seen in those prints than in
a few irregular
  4 STAR TREK L tilde SBVBN
  masses of metal and plastic. Free-space
assembly won't begin for another eight months
yet."
  "I see." April turned to the smaller,
deceptively fraillooking man. "But why tell
me all this, sir? Why call me away from my
regular duties?" The light in his eyes deepened
to an expectant gleam. "Am I going to be
ass2gned to her?"
  The commodore nodded, to suppress a
slight smile.
  April's voice rose like a small boy's.
"What section, sir? If you have any idea, if it
wouldn't be against regulations to tell me . . . to was
  "I do and it isn't," van Anling told him,
moving to a chair facing the wall.
  "Nog"tilde g? April prompted.
  "Communications, then? Surely communications."
The commodore shook his head. "Sciences . . . a
secunty post?"
  "No . . . no." Under the pencil-thin white
mustache the older officer cracked an
irrepressible gnn.
  For heaven's sake, sir, give me to the
Klingons, send me up for disobedience . .. but tell
me! I've got to restudy whatever section it is,
got to prepare. . . ."
  " You sure do," van Anling informed him
somberly, 'because you're going to be in all of them."
At April's blank stare, he added, "Because
she's going to be your ship . . . Captain
April."
  "My. . . ship?"
  "You're going to be her captain ... her first
cap- tain," the commodore continued. April
eyed him uncertainly, but there was no tag to the
incredible pro" nouncement. Therefore it had to be
true.
  Slowly April turned, to stare anew at the
wall filled with diagrams and blueprints. His
gaze traveled from one to another, but all at once
the regular lines seemed wavy, the precision gone.
Lines clashed crazily, ran blindly into adjoining
ones. The gleam in his eyes was gone, replaced
suddenly by signs of another emotion
  Fear. Fear and a thrill so overwhelming he felt
as though the combination would shove his heart
  right out
  STAR TREK tilde n 5
  through his chest. All of a sudden Robert April was
the happiest man in the world . . . and he was scared
to death.
  "I ... I'm not ready for this, sir," he finally
man- aged to confess.
  "That's all right," van Anling replied
benignly. "You've got a whole year to make yourself
ready. Better get to it, son."
  In the harsh, grey shadows of the moon, beneath hills
of devastated ash and pumice, an
unlimited-range, high-resolution
navigational computer finished digesting a gigantic
body of minutiae. The results of many days of
intense electronic cogitation were regurgitated in
the form of a tiny printout on an insignificant little
shard of tape.
  The tape was carefully routed from the
  computer processor through an intermediary to the
person in charge of the installation, who then relayed it
to the captain of the small vessel resting in orbit
high above the station. The captain passed it on, together
with the requisite orders, to his own navigator.
That worthy conferred with his two associates one
mechanical, the other only partly so.
  The thing, he explained, would have to be aligned so and
so at a speed of such and such, to achieve the optimum
eventual impact. Prom time to time the ship's
gunnery officer nodded knowingly or added a comment or
correction of his own. Eventually everyone agreed.
The results of the discussion were transmitted to the
captain, who gave his approval and issued the
formal order, which the gunnery officer executed.
  Although the projector mounted on the small ship
looked unimpressive, its efficiency was astounding.
There was no flash, no concussive aftershock, no
rumbling boom, of course, but the
projector did its job nonetheless. Sensors
immediately took over, announcing unemotionally that the
projectile was on course at the proper speed.
It would reach its target in approximately two
weeks, four days, sixteen hours and assorted
minutes.
  n
  6 STAR TREK LOG SEVEN
  The captain of the small eyed the tiny blip
unfit it had faded completely from the sensitive
tracking screen. More than anything else, he wished
he could be there when the projectile impacted on its
target. Destiny, however, had ordered more mundane
activities for him on that distant day. He sighed.
If he were lucky, they might be able to pick up the
results on the track- ing monitors if they were
still in the area.
  Construction of the bathe cruiser was
  proceeding smoothly. More smoothly, in fact,
than had the construction of any similar vessel in
some time. Possibly the Vulcan foreman had something
to do with it. But whether through causes superhuman or
supernatural, it began to be whispered among the
construction crew and Starfleet personnel that this was
going to be an especially blessed ship, a
lucky ship....
  The projectile possessed no power units of
its own. It had no sensing equipment, no
detectors, no screens nothing that could be sensed
by any type of sophisticated energy-detection
equipment. There was nothing to spoil the eventual
surprise of its arrival, and it had to be
perfectly aligned when fired. Divergence of even
a hundredth of a degree could cause it to miss its
intended target entirely. So its planners, both
electronic and human, had been careful. It
held to its course and flew silentdy on its way.
  The United Federation of Planets Starfleet
assembly station swung in majestic orbit around
Earth. It resembled a bombed toy factory.
  Gigantic preassembled sections of ships were
boosted to this spot from half a hundred points on
Earth's surface; special components from as many more
deepspace cargo containers were unloaded. Thousands
of elements were
  manufactured nearby, in dozens of enormous
drifting factories, their production facilitated
by zero gravity and total vacuum. Each of several
million parts had to fit into sisters and brothers within
a thousandth of a millimeter. Humanoid
minds had conceived
  STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN 7
  the project, but none of it would have been possible
without the aid of machines.
  One section was devoted to assembling two
massive war tilde drive engines. Construction
crews working in triple shifts seamed the yawning
sections together, work continuing around the clock.
  An unusual pause in the work rhythm
  accompanied the placing of shielding from Tashkent.
Assembly totally halted as the
  second-shift engineer-in-charge slowly turned
his flexible armored work-quit to face the glowing Earth
below. He arranged his suit carefully, moving the
upper part in a particular way. His motions were
directed toward a distant point on the planet's
surface. They were as accurate as he could make them
without benefit of detailed instrumentation. A slight
divergence would not matter. His thoughts exceeded the
actual
  movements in importance.
  He quickly resumed directing the shielding in-
stallation. Below, Mecca had rotated past, turning
majestically with the rest of the world.
  In bits and pieces the huge ship began
to form, sections of a white puzzle taking shape against
a chill black background. Each crew, each
shift, prided itself on being more accurate than its
predecessor. Every coterie of seamers drifted on
tethers and tried to outdo its counterparts for smoothness
of joining and accuracy of component integration. The
technicians and constructors and fabricators who
set the lanes for the ship's bowling alley in place
did their job with no less care and finesse than did
the cybernetics crew responsible for locl tilde
lng the central computer into the ganglion of
electronic nerves which stretched the length and breadth
of the steadily maturing ship.
  While construction proceeded with remarkable speed and
efficiency, a tiny projectile continued toward a
preselected point in space.
  Eventually the day came when no more massive
boosters lifted from the Earth's surface. No
com- ponents required a last recheck; every bit
of instrumentation had been certified operational.
Everything was in place, from photon torpedos
to potted philodendrons.
  8 STAR TREK L tilde SBVBN
  Several thousand strong, the construction crews began
to assemble around the finished ship.
Individuals in work-quits drifted in, as did
crews of two or three manning engineering
  lighters several hundred looking on from the
orbital assembly stations that boxed in the construction
area. All looked on as the first crew finally took
official possession of their ship.
  The engineering staff alone did not proceed at
once to assigned quarters. Starship engineers
seldom used their on-board personal cabins. They
lived in jeffries tubes and cramped
  accesswaysandin the free spaces between
  computer housings.
  April barely had time to check out the
  glistening chronometer in his quarters.
  Luxuriating in the comparative spaciousness of the
captain's cabin would have to wait. He had a ship
to command.
  It was a short turbolift ride to the bridge.
His firstshift officers awaited him there. Slowly,
appraisingly, he looked them over one at a time.
were they all as nervous as he was, he
  wondered? Some had had more time in Starlleet than
he did, albeit in noncommand ratings. Md any
of them feel the same overpowering mix of fear tilde
and exultation, terror and expectancy, that
had been building in him since that day the commodore
had shown him this ship, at the time only a smattering
of diagrams spread on a wall outside the San
Francisco naval yard?
  To April's relief, it was First Offlcer
Shundresh who smoothly broke the silence.
  "Ready to get under way, Captain."
  "Very well, Mr. Shundresh. All stations stand
by."
  Suddenly his fear was gone, replaced by a strange
calmness. It all seemed so natural somehow, as
if he had been doing this for years. Walking forward,
he assumed his position in the command chair. His body
melted easily into the deceptively blunt
contours. The chair was comforting beyond imagination, in a
way that bordered on the erotic
  Leaning over, April pressed the proper
button and spoke with a reassurance that sprang from
just-tapped regions. "Engineering?"
  STAR TREK LOG SEVEN 9
  "Chief Lngineer Kursley," the thick voice
filtered back. "Standing by for orders, sir."
  "Activate warp-drive engines, Chief."
  "Activating warp-drive, Captain."
Kursley turned to the prime engineering
board. She eyed her subordinates, then muttered
a silent liturgy. It might have been a prayer,
might have been something else. She engaged the energies
of a sun.
  Hitherto quiescent monitors awoke on the
bridge. Blank-eyed circlets winked on,
needles sprinted ahead, bands ascended on
gauges, and a tiny shock ran through every member of the
bridge crew.
  "All systems," April ordered firmly,
"final checkout. Report."
  Response came from around the bridge, from
speakers at the freshly painted communications station,
and finally from Navigation.
  'iVisual contact, sir. Object approaching
on collision course, bearing dead ahead."
  "Acknowledged, Lieutenant Po." April
  addressed the general intercom. "All hands, stand
by."
  Other, distant hands were standing by in a small room
beneath the lunar surface. Other eyes checked
chronometers and predictors as they watched the
distant Earth-ball, fighting to find a minute
speck outlined against that brilliant blue-white
globe. The drama begun on a small
stage several weeks before was approaching the final
curtain.
  "Contact in thirty seconds, Captain,"
Lieutenant Po reported, with an irrepressible
shiver of excitement.
  "Thank you, Lieutenant."
  In suits and ships and stations, thousands of men and
women of several races watched their fully formed
offspring and waited expectantly.
  "Four . . . three . . . ," the navigator
counted off tensely, "two ... one ...
interdiction...."
  Head-on, the tiny projectile struck the
completed cruiser, exploded, and burst into a small
but rapidly expanding ball of brilliance. Tiny
reflective fragments caught the morning sunlight
and turned the diffusing globe into a spray of
diamonds.
  STAR ORBS L tilde SEVEN
  Thousands of watching eyes saw the distant ex-
plosion and reacted. From electronic pickups
set strategically around the assembly area,
billions more on Earth and on other globes also
saw it and all reacted.
  On billions of speakers, the aged but
  enormously respected voice of the Federation
president, Samuel Solomon Qasr, sounded from
a chamber on the moon: "In the name of the United
Federation of Planets, for the United Nations of
Earth, the Planetary Confederation of Porty
Eridani, the United Planets of Sixty-one
Cygni, the Star Empire of Epsilon Indii,
the Alpha Centauri Concordium of Planets,
and all other peaceloving, space going peoples I
  christen thee Enterprise!
  Those on board the just-commissioned ship heard those
words, but not the cheering of the construction crews gathered
around them, or the comments and smiles and expressions of
  satisfaction on the world below. Though each crew
member might have permitted himself a silent
observation, of varying content and in- tensity, these were not
voiced aloud.
  There was too much to do now.
  The Pederation Exploration Territory was
enormous beyond comprehension, and it was but a minuscule
portion of this tiny section of the galaxy. Battle
cruisers were too expensive, their personnel too
valuable to be tied up on anything as wasteful as a
shakedown cruise.
  It seemed there was a certain world on the
present fringe of Pederation expansion which
desperately required the know-how and
  capabilities of a major-class vessel.
April had his orders. The initial cruise of the
Enterprise would be fully operational.
  Ceremony concluded, April leaned back in his
chair, already a part of him, and called firmly to his
helmsman.
  "Ahead warp-factor three, Lieutenant
Nobis."
  It was four decades, forty long years since he
had given that first order, April thought. He was still
on the bridge of the Enterprise, only this day and this
place in
  STAR TRBR LOG SEVEN 1 1
  time he found himself behind the captain's chair, instead
of sitting in it.
  Still odd, he mused to himself. Odd to be standing here,
staring at the familiar and always overpowerin tilde
panorama of stars depicted on the viewscreen
ahead and listening to someone else making the entry into the
official log.
  "Captain's log," the voice was saying,
"Stardate 5536.3. The Enterprise is on
course to the planet Babel, where an
inter-Federation ambassadorial gathering is
scheduled. Highlight of the
  conference is to be a ceremony honoring the
Enterprise's distinguished passenger."
  Kirk paused and glanced behind him to see April
still staring quietly at the main screen. The
commodore's mind appeared to be elsewhere, but his
eyes sparkled as he stared intently at the
perfectly ordinary starfield ahead. There was an
enthusiasm there that was often absent in officers a
third his age. The superstructure might be aged and
wrinkled, but Kirk knew the mind it housed was as
keen and fascinated with the universe as ever.
  Every so often Uhura, Arex, or Sulu would steal
a surreptitious glance at their honored guest when
they were sure no one was looking. Kirk smiled. A
little hero worship would not affect ship efficiency.
Besides, he had to admit he wasn't wholly
immune to it himself. He turned his attention back
to the log. After all, it wasn't every day one had a
living legend for an afterdinner chess partner.
  "Commodore Robert April," Kirk continued
recording, "was the first captain of the U.s.s.
Enterprise and, for the past twenty years, the Federation
ambassador-at-large. Now
seventy-five years old, Commodore April
has reached
  mandatory retirement age." Kirk pressed one
switch, activated another.
  "Captain's log, supplemental to entry of
5536.3. Said retirement age being a
bureaucratic
  abberation arbitrarily decided on by a cluster of
smug civil servants without regard to individual
capability or overall
  12 STAR TRBRLOGSBVBN
  Starfleet efficiency and a regulation badly in
need of overhaul." He clicked off.
  "Nice of you to add that, Jim," April
approved in soft, almost small-boy tones. "Do you
really think anyone will ever pay any attention to it?"
  Kirk shook his head. "They had to pick a
number, Commodore. How they arrived at
  seventy-five for everyone human is something
I'll never understand. Instead of basing the figure on
individual ability and performance, they simply his
  April cut him off smoothly, soothingly.
"Oh well. If they didn't have a number,
Jim, then there'd be a blank spot on a form some
place. And you know what that would mean."
  Kirk grumbled sarcastically. "The end of
Starfleet, I suppose."
  "That is hardly likely, Captain. Nor is
it logical," Spock observed from across the
bridge.
  "I guess not, Mr. Spock, but neither is the
mandatory retirement setup."
  "I never claimed it was, Captain. On
Vulcan such things are determined with rather more regard
to reason."
  "Perhaps it will all change in Starfleet someday,
Mr. Spock," ApAI mused hopefully.
"Too late for me, I'm afraid." He turned
his gaze forward again and was silent for a minute.
  "You know, no matter where I've traveled through this
galaxy, Jim, this badge is more home to me than
anywhere else. I can't count the number of times these
past twenty years when I've turned to give an
order to someone and found myself seated across from some
utterly bemused diplomat I was negotiating with.
It's a wonder I accomplished anything for the
  Pederation." He chuckled. "Most diplomats
don't take orders very well or even
suggestions."
  "Probably intentional," Kirk
observed. "If every one of you behaved reasonably and
intelligently at all times, why then all our
problems would be quickly solved, and you'd all be out of a
job. No more diplomatic corps." April
smiled knowingly.
  STAR TREK BE 13
  "But as far as this bridge being home," Kirk
continued, "yes, I know the feeling myself,
Commodore."
  "The Enterpnse has always been like my own child, in
a way," April went on. "I was there in San
Francisco when her basic components were being
built. I consulted with her chief construction
engineer, Franz Joseph IV, on her internal
configuration. I was present at the orbital
assembly plant when they put her innards together.
  "When they tested out each newly installed com-
ponent, whether warp-drive or swimming pool, I
was there. The additions and modifications she's taken
since are good ones. A ship-of-the-line has to be
kept up to date, but . . ." He shrugged. "I
miss some of the old-fashioned touches."
  "Nostalgia is notoriously inefficient,"
Spock com- mented, but so softly no one could
hear. He knew an emotional observation
when he heard one.
  The elevator doors parted to admit Dr.
McCoy. He was accompanied by an attractive
little woman who projected an air of supreme
self-confidence and contentment. Her attire was
current high fashion, all emerald green and
black and bearing no relationship to Starfleet
uniforms. Gray hair, unabashedly untouched, was
done up in long taflfylike swirls and twists.
Even" the single flower she carried seemed
designed only to complement her. The colorful
blossom had petals that wound in and about themselves in an
intricate, delicately engineered manner.
  The last person in the room she resembled was her
husband. Only one thing, besides age, linked them
inseparably both wore that same aura of composure
and confidence like a coat of jewels.
  For his part, Dr. McCoy wore his standard
on-duty uniform and an air of what could best be
described as bemused pleasure.
  "Jim," he began admiringly, "I didn't
realize until now how many of the instruments I use
in Sick Bay were originally designed and first used
by Sarah. Did you know that she cribbed the first version
of the
  14 STAR TRBKL tilde SBVBN
  standard cancer monitor together out of some old
medical components and phaser-monitor units?"
  The woman smiled demurely. "As the first
medical officer aboard a ship equipped with
warp-drive, it was always necessary for us to come up with new
ideas."
  "Your modesty is unnecessary, Ms. April,"
Kirk observed honestly. "Your achievements as a
pioneer Starfleet physician are well known and
extensively documented. There are many doctors
Leo cannot do what a medical engineer does, and a
corresponding number of medical
  engineers who are ill-prepared to administer
treatment. You're one of the few people in StarReet
medicine who ever managed to master the requirements of
both professions."
  "And it's nice to know," McCoy added, "that the
doctor is as beautiful as she is accomplished.
A beauty that's reflected by the flower she
carries."
  "If your medical ability is as accomplished as
your flattery, Dr. McCoy, then I know
Captain Kirk has no worries in that area of
Enterprise operations. I won't be
impolite and ask if that's a quote I'll
assume you made it up on the spur of the moment."
She smiled a youngish smile. "Please feel
free to insert Such comments wherever you think they fit
into the conversa- tion."
  Her smile faded as she looked down at the
delicate growth in her hands. "I'm afraid,
though, that my flower is dying."
  So many references to the flower prompted Kirk
to turn to get a better look at it. "Let's
see . . . botanical text, the Reddin
catalog ... volume six, which sector . . .
?" Mumbling to himself, he thumbed the text. He
located it quickly. "A native of Capella
Four, isn't it?"
  She nodded. "The mature blossom has a
  lifespan of only a few hours. If you
recognise it, Captain, you'll recall how
brief the growing period is on that world.
  "This is an extreme example even for
Capella Four, Em told. When it was given
to me this morning it was a bud barely out of seed. Within
a few hours it will be dead." She paused. "It's
one of the most beautiful growths in the galaxy, and one
of the shortest-lived.
  STAR TREK tilde SBVBN 15
  What a pity." She looked up. "I know people like
that, too, Captain."
  "Excuse me, sir," Spock said in the ensuing
silence. "You asked to be notified when eve made
visual contact with the Beta Niobe Nova."
  "Yes . . . thank you, Mr. Spock."
Kirk glanced backward. "Ms. April, you're
about to see another of the galaxy's most beautiful and,
in
  astronomical terms, short-lived sights. Its
remnants, though, will last a lot longer than the
petals of your flower. The Beta Niobe Nova.
Mr. Spock?"
  "A moment, Captain, some precision focusing
is required." They waited while the first officer
made final adjustments at his console. The forward
viewscreen blurred, then cleared, to show a
monstrous eruption in space, an explosion of
primal energy, of raw power and only
  incidentally of blazing colon
  Yellow and white gases, mutilated matter,
glowed at its heart, while at its edges erratic
and undisciplined streamers of brilliant red and
orange charged blindly into indifferent
emptiness. In this isolated section of space, the
depressing darkness of the universe was suffused with
wild color and wilder energies.
  "Magnificent," Sarah April gushed.
  "Magnificent and deadly," Spock echoed, "but
we are traveling at a safe distance from the nova,
Ms. April."
  "Beta Niobe, Niobe . . . I've heard
that name in connection with the Enterprise before." She
looked up at the commodore. "Bob, didn't you
read me a report some years ago . . . ?"
  "Yes ... you were present when the star first ex-
ploded, weren't you, Jim?" he asked.
  "We were, Commodore," Kirk replied. "I
wasn't aware that in addition to handling all your
duties and activities as ambassador-at-large
you managed to keep track of such trivia as our
day-to-day operations."
  April looked at once flattered and
  embarrassed. "It's not trivia to me, Jim.
A part of me will always be on this ship, and the rest of me
is intensely interested in what happens to it. Some of
your reports to Starfleet
  16 STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN
  headquarters read as anything but uninteresting
trivia As you know, your ship's log is always
available to me a courtesy Starfleet extends
to former starship captains. I know what's happening
aboard the Enterprise as soon as headquarters
does.
  "If I recall this particular report
correctly, you were trapped in a planet's past,
about to be tried as a witch just before this star started to go
nova."
  Kirk nodded. "One of our narrower escapes.
For Dr McCoy and Mr. Spock as well as for
me."
  "I'll say it was narrow!" McCoy added
fervently. y was trapped in that world's ice age
at the time. The only other time in my life I've
ever been that cold was when our computer went berserk a
little while back and turned the Recreation Chamber
into subarctic snowpack."
  "Captain . . . ?" A hesitant query from the
region of the helm. Kirk looked over absently.
  "What is it, Mr. Sulu? Important?"
  "I don't know, sir." He looked puzzled.
'Tve got something moving toward us, at extreme
range right now."
  Kirk swiveled. "'Mr. Spock?"
  "No basis for identification as yet,
Captain," the first officer replied, staring into the
gooseneck viewer. "Vessel is no longer at
extreme range, however."
  Now it was Kirk's turn to appear confused. "That
was a quick change. Are you sure, Spock?"
  Both curved eyebrows sank as Spock
analyzed several readouts at once. "Captain,
the object is trav- eling at a speed nothing
short of incredible. Presently on collision
course with the Enterprise."
  - Kirk didn't hesitate. "Sound red
alert, Lieutenant
  Uhura. 'ationothing short of incredible" doesn't
ted me much, Spock. Spock?"
  Crimson warning lights blinked on,
accompanied by the appropriate aural blarings.
  "Excuse me, Captain," the first officer finally
mut- tered. "You'll have to ascribe my hesitation
to sheer incredulity. This object is traveling at a
rate theoretically impossible for matter to achieve.
  backslash that
  STAR TREK [equals SE -- n 17
  "More bear in mind I have to override the standard
settings, Captain it is moving at a
speed on the order of warp-thirty-six."
  The numbers cut through Kirk like a scalpel.
"You're right," he finally confessed, "lit is
impossible. Mr. Spock, nothing can travel that
fast."
  "I fear, Captain, that in this case you must
redefine that observation. It is nothing, less one."
  'ationo natural object," April put in,
"has ever been recorded as traveling at that spedded
or at anything close to it."
  "Preliminary sensor reports, Captain,"
Spock continued, 'Read me to an even more astonishing
conclusion." He looked up from his instruments. "The
object is an artificial construct. I must
assume it is some kind of ship."
  Kirk pondered the information. When he spoke again,
his voice was unconsciously hushed. "Who has the
technology to build a vessel that can move at that
velocity?"
  "Obviously, no known race, Captain,"
Spock pointed out. "Impossible or not, it will
make contact with us in one point four minutes."
  There was nothing theoretical about the order Kirk
gave then. "Hard over, helmsman, change
course to a new heading, two full
degrees to starboard."
  Even as he gave the order he knew that if this
ridiculously rapid visitor turned out to be
inimical, there was no way they could dodge or
outrun it.
  The same thought evidently was running
  through his first offlcer's mind, because a second later
Spock commented, "It is apparently
  nonbelligerent, Captain. It appears a
collision was not intended, as the vessel has not
altered its course to match ours.
  "If it continues in its present direction, it will
plunge directly into the confer of the Beta Niobe
Nova."
  Was that it, then, Kirk thought quickly a hurried
rush to extinction, to suicide? Or was an unknown
crew injured, its ship damaged?
  "Lieutenant Uhura," he called over his
shoulder,
  18 STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN
  "open hailing frequencies. I want to talk
to that ship's captain if it has one."
  A long pause while Uhura worked at her
  console Pnally she turned, spoke discouragingly.
"I'm sorry; Captain. I've sent
everything in its direction except carrier pigeons.
If there's anyone on board capable of responding,
they've elected not to."
  Kirk pondered. "Have you tried all the
  emergency frequencies, Lieutenant?"
  "Sir, I've broadcast on every possible
frequency for every listed race, and a few that are only
hypothetical. No response."
  "Vessel is nearing a parallel course,
Captain," Sulu reported uneasily
uneasily because their brief course change was now
taking them toward the raging nova instead of past it.
  "Increase speed to war tilde seven, Mr.
Sulu, try to stay with it as much as possible."
  "Aye, sires
  "Despite our best efforts, the alien vessel
will shoot past us very shortly, Captain," Spock
declared.
  "I realize that, Spock." His voice dropped
to a murmur. "It may be that they can't
  communicate maybe their communications
  equipment's been damaged. Perhaps the entire
crew is injured. We've got to find out, somehow."
  "It'll have to be soon, sir," Sulu noted.
"She'll go right out of range as soon as she
parallels us."
  "Then we'll have to slow her down. Mr. Sulu,
put our forward tractor beam on that ship as soon
as it comes within range. Full power."
  "Is that advisable, Captain?" Spock
wondered aloud.
  It s more advisable than letting a possibly
friendly crew burn to a crisp in the nova, Mr.
Spock. If I were injured and aboard that vessel,
I'd want any stranger to lend a hand. If they
know what they're doing and insist on committing
suicide . . . well, let's evaluate that
possibility last of all."
  "It is not that, Captain," Spock protested.
"I agree with you completely on the possibility that
the crew may be incapacitated or that their
broadcast instrumen
  STAR TREK tilde SBVBN 19
  tation is damaged beyond use. If that is the case,
then naturally we must do everything in our power to aid
them. My worry is that we may overextend ourselves
in doing so. I am particularly concerned about the
aftereffects of locking a tractor beam on an
object moving at such a velocity. To understate the
matter, there could be severe physical
repercussions. Such a thing has never been tried
before."
  "Naturally not, Mr. Spock, the opportunity
never arose before. It'll be history in a few
seconds, whatever the result. Mr. Sulu?"
  "Forward tractor beam energised, Captain."
A pause; then, "Contact achieved . . . locked
on."
  "Any effect?"
  "Sir," Sulu responded after a quick check of
his readouts, "I'm running it at maximum power,
but the alien is still moving on the same course."
  "Tractor beam monitors report no
damage to components or tractor bracing,"
Spock reported evenly. "No sign of
dangerous stress apparent yet."
  It was Arex's turn to speak up. The quiet
navigator made his first comment on the
  proceedings. "We are apparently having some
effect on the vessel's mobility, Captain, if
not its course. Using the parameters employed
by Mr. Spock, it would appear that the other ship's
speed has dropped to the equivalent of warm
  twenty-seven."
  "Darn well froze it in its tracks,"
Kirk muttered. "That's some ship."
  That was when Uhura's excited voice
  commanded all the attention on the bridge.
  "Captain, we're being beamed!"

  "I can't be certain the message is terribly
scrambled, and like nothing I've ever seen before but I
think it's a request to open
intershipcommunications," Uhura declared.
  "So much for the disability and damage theory,"
Kirk observed tautly. "That means they're
probably healthy just antisocial. Switch on the
screen, Uhura."
  The communications officer appeared to be struggling with
her instrumentation, but
  eventually the view of the grand nova vanished. It
was replaced by a portrait of a more composed
subject, but one in its own way no less
fascinating.
  As usual, Kirk awaited this first view of an
unknown race without preconceived imagery. Even
so, the first sight of a representative of supreme
warp-drive technology was at once disappointing and
shocking Disappointing because its manipulator was no
wizened alien genius, and shocking because the
reality tended to the other extreme. In fact, the young
woman who appeared on the screen was so human that
she could have traded uniforms with Uhura or any of the
  Enterprises female complement and moved freely
about the ship.
  When she spoke, however, her speech was anything but
familiar. Nothing sounded normal; even the inflect
tions seemed intentionally misplaced
  "Demood eb yam I ro echo ta pihs ym
esaeler, ssergorp ym gniwols si maeb rnoy,
noissim ytiroirp a no mI."
  Following this urgent stream of decidedly
incomprehensible alien chatter, the viewscreen
once again went dark. It was replaced
  automatically by the view forward the steadily growing
magnificence of the Beta Niobe Nova.

  STAR TREK EM 21
  "Human, certainly," Kirk ventured, 'unless
her race is a shape-changer."
  "It would have to be more than that, Captain," Spock
observed, "to mimic so precisely without ever having
contacted us."
  "Possibly even a direct human analog,"
the captain continued, "though the likeness
appears too exact to be true. The only thing that
doesn't match up is her language. Never
heard anything like that before. Yet somehow it sounds
vaguely familiar. I could swear she referred
to herself as 'I" at least once."
  "It might merely have been the "aye" sound,
Jim," April suggested from behind him. "I didn't
recognise the language, either. I haven't heard
speech like that, not in all my travels throughout the
galaxy. But as you say, it did have something familiar
about it. Strange."
  "Let's see if the ship's translator can come
up with identification, Lieutenant Uhura,"
ordered Kirk
  "All right, sir."
  As she ran the tape of the tilde voman's
brief speech through that intricate portion of the
Enterpfise's computer system, she also allowed the
sounds to play over the bridge speakers. Once again
everyone listened to that oddly pitched, weirdly
modulated, yet faintly familiar babble.
Repetition failed to produce enlightenment; no one
could make any more sense out of the
  situation this time than before.
  A pause after it trailed off, then,
"Negative response, Captain," she finally
reported. "Whatever it is, it's no lcnown
language in our section of the galaxy."
  "Implement decoding procedures," came the
command. "Might be a coded variant of some little-known
humanoid speech."
  The woman on the screen hadn't delivered her
message as if it were in code, Kirk thought as
Uhura worked. She had delivered her
  sentence if that's what it was rapidly and without
apparent effort, as though it were her natural, everyday
speech. Furthermore, she had done so in a
fashion suggesting that her listeners would understand
instantly.
  There was surprise and just a hint of
  embarrassment
  22 STAR TREK L tilde SEWN
  in Uhura's voice when she spoke again.
"I've got the answer, Captain. I should have
recognised the pattern right away, but it was a little
too close to home. The woman was speaking our own
  language, only in red
  verse$'g
  "Reverse," Arex echoed from the navigation station.
"No wonder it sounded so familiar, dike
a tape played backward.
  "Correct," Kirk agreed sourly he should have
identified it himself "only without the distortions one would
expect of such a playback.
  "All right, Uhura, let's hear that tape again,
only backward this time that should sound forward to U8.
And put the visual tape on screen again, too."
  Uhura nodded. Once more they saw the
  anxious face of the woman, once more listened to her
tense message. Only this time it was easily
understandable, even though her words failed to match her
mouth movements.
  "I'm on a priority mission," the words tumbled
out, "your beam is slowing my progress. Release
my ship at once or I may be doomed."
  "Short and to the point. Open hailing
  frequency again, Lieutenant, matching ours to her
broadcast. Tell her she's endangering her life
if she continues on her present course, and
explain why. Tape it and then broadcast it in
reverse, so she'll understand. Though it's beyond me,"
he continued puzzledly, "how anyone could head for the
heart of a nova and not have an inkling there just might be a
bit of danger involved. Something doesn't make
sense here." A sudden thought intervened.
  "Mr. Spock, we should be close enough to obtain a
decent internal sensor scan. How many life forms
aboard that vessel?"
  "I have just concluded a check of our first readings,
Captain. The result is conclusive: There is
only one. The woman we saw on the screen."
  "No response, sir," Uhura broke in.
"She's incapable of replying or else is just
refusing to."
  Kirk was about to suggest another approach when a
  STAR TREK Ed SEVEN 23
  demanding buzz from his armchair intercom caught his
attention.
  "Engineering to bridge. Engineering to bridge."
  "Yes, Scotty, what is it?"
  "Captain, I'm gettin' severe stress
reports from all over the ship. The Enterprise
wasn't meant to travel at such a speed."
  What speed, Kirk wondered.
  Scott rushed on. "If we keep on
IL-KE this, we'll break up, Captain."
  "Just a minute, Scotty." Kirk looked
ahead. "Sulu, are we still holding on with that
tractor?"
  The helmsman checked his readouts.
"Holding firm, Captain."
  That explained it, then. "Lieutenant Arex, we
are apparently being towed. What is our present
speed?"
  "War tilde eleven, sir," the Edoan replied
  incredulously, after a frantic check of his
instrumentation.
  "No wonder Scotty's having trouble. Mr.
Spock, how long before the alien vessel impinges
on the outermost danger zone, the first lethal
radiation?"
  Spock made a quick check and performed some rapid
calculations. "Three minutes, forty-two
seconds plus, Captain. There may be some
local variance in field strength, but generally speaking
. . ."
  Kirk spoke hurriedly to the chair pickup
again.
  "I heard, Captain."
  "We'd burn up in the nova before our
  superstructure went; Im trying to stop that ship
from destroying it
  "Well and noble, Captain," the chief engineer
agreed, "but speakin' of destroyin' oneself, keep in
Fund we can't travel like this much longer."
  h "Three and half minutes, Scotty, that's
all Give me
  And he cut off, leaving the chief to oversee some
frenzied emergency bracing of the
  warp-drive engines.
  Speed still increasing, Captain," Arex
reported. 'Warp-fourteen, warp-fifteen . . ."
  Seconds before, they were traveling at
  warp-eleven,
  24 STAR TREK By
  and even that was putting a severe strain on the ship.
It also meant that the engines on board that tiny
suicidal craft were even more powerful than first
imagined they were slowly overcoming the drag effect
of the E"...'terprise's tractor.
  Kirk had no choice but to release that beam. There
was a point beyond which he wasn't willing to go to rescue
the confused or misguided pilot of the other ship, and
that point had been reached. The Enterprise must not be
risked.
  "Cancel the tractor, Mr. Sulu.
Lieutenant Uhura, continue beaming our message
at the other ship until they acknowledge or . . ."
he hesitated "dis . . until they become incapable
of acknowledging. That gives you about three
minutes. When she hits those first radiation belts,
her instrumentation's going to fry. Maybe she'll at
least change course a little."
  "Yes, sir," Uhura said doubtfully.
"I'll beam it, sir, but . . ."
  "Captain . . . ?" There was a strained note in
Sulu's voice. It brought Kirk's head around
quickly. "I can't release the tractor."
  "Explain, Mr. Sulu. Past."
  Sulu stared helplessly at his console. "AII
controls appear inoperative the ship isn't
responding as she should."
  "Take it easy, Lieutenant. Go to manual
  override."
  The helmsman's hands dashed over the
  console, repeated the necessary manipulations again, then
a third time. "Still no response, sir. We're
locked tight." A touch of panic was creeping
into his voice now.
  "We've got to break that beam," Kirk said
tightly.
  "Our speed is now warp tilde twenty,"
Spock
  announced quietly. "Alien vessel will contact
first lethal radiation in one minute, fifty
seconds."
  "Never mind that now," Kirk shouted. "Mr.
Spock, see if you can aid Mr. Sulu." The
first officer moved rapidly to the helm.
"Lieutenant Uhura, contact Security and have
them break out a phaser rifle. I want the
tractor-beam
  components melted into a tin puddle!"
  STAR TREK SHIN 25
  Even as he gave the order he knew there was no
way Security could break out the necessary equipment,
set up, and perform the required destruction before they
passed the point of no return. They needed those
three and half minutes again, and now they didn't have
even half that.
  He swiveled in the chair, resigned. "I'm
sorry, Commodore, Dr. April. It looks as
if we're not going to make this conference."
  He saw that further words were unnecessary. The
commodore and his Wife were probably the most
relaxed people on the bridge. It was a serenity
derived from having faced death a dozen times before.
Anyone who served on a far-ranging starship knew
that life was at best a transitory business.
  "Captain," April told him, "as
Starfieet personnel we were always prepared to give
up what small sentience life has granted us.
I was ready for the end before I ever set foot on my
first ship."
  "We're still starship personnel, Captain,"
Sarah April added softly, holding tight to the now
wilting flower.
  "We do have one chance left," a grim-faced
Kirk explained. "After it enters the first zone of
strong radiation, the alien ship should burn up
rapidly. With nothieang to lock onto, our
tractor beam will be freed." He turned toward the
science station
  "Mr. Spock, will we have enough time to apply full
braking power and execute the necessary course change?"
  Spock considered the question in light of the constantly
changing information the ship's sensors supplied.
"We're up to war tilde twenty-four and still
increasmg speed rapidly, Captain. But I
calculate that we will have forty-two point eight
five seconds to effect a sign'ficant course
change following destruction of the alien vessel. That
is assuming, of course, that it does not possess
radiation screens as advanced as its engines.
  Kirk had no time to redect on that
possibility. "Mr.
  26 STAR TREK SBVBN
  Sulu, I want a course implemented at
warp-eight the moment our tractor is released."
  "Yes, sir. Bearing, sir?"
  "Whatever will get us clear of here the quickest this s
no time to be choosy."
  Sulu nodded, then punched the necessary information into the
Enterprise's helm. Kirk hit the intercom again.
  "Mr. Scott, we're going to try to slow our
speed a little. Stand by to apply full braking power in
fifty seconds.
  "Standing by, Captain," Scott acknowledged.
"A good thing, too."
  "Fifty-two seconds to contact for the other ship,
Captain," Spock declared.
  Kirk studied the view on the screen ahead.
Detectors still showed the tail end of the tiny alien
craft. It seemed incapable of mounting engines
equipped to drive it at such incredible
velocities. It was almost lost against the now
frighteningly near blaze of red, orange-yellow, and
white fluorescing gases.
  "Eighteen ... twelve, eleven," the first
officer was counting off.
  "Stand by to execute course change, Mr.
Sulu. No time to spare. Apply maximum
braking
  power."
  "Braking," Sulu announced. The fading
  silhouette of the alien ship had vanished now,
subsumed by a licking tongue of orange
  phosphorescence
  "Now, Sulu," Kirk snapped, unable
to restrain giving the verbal command even though he knew
the Enterprise's electronic nerves were prekeyed
to perform the necessary rnaneuver.
  "Something's wrong, Captain!" Sulu yelled
immediately. "We're still being pulled by the alien ship!"
  "Impossible, impossible," Kirk murmured.
"There shouldn't be anything left for the tractor beam
to lock onto. By now that tiny craft and its
enigmatic pilot should have been reduced to cinders."
  "We're still connected by tractor to something,
Captain," announced Arex, "and we're still
building speed."
  STAR TREK L tilde SEWN 27
  "Contact with destructive energy levels in
thirty-five seconds," declared a dispassionate
Spock, eyes never straying from his
instruments.
  "Incredible engineering," Kirk mumbled. "A ship
that small capable of warp-thirty-six. If her people
can build engines like that, maybe they hoe shielding
sufficient to permit a ship to survive the heat and
radiation of a nova. But the Enterprise can't."
  He knew the answer, but decided there was nothing
to be lost by a last check. "Mr. Scott, we are
receiving full braking power, aren't we?"
  "Aye, sir," the answer came back, "but
we're as bad off as before. As long as we're
locked to that little skiff, or whatever it is, I
canna do nothin" with the engines."
  "Contact in twenty seconds," Spock informed
him solemnly.
  tilde "Mr. Sulu . . . rat
  "Still no change, sir. We're still locked in.
Warps speed . . . warp-thirty-five."
  Kirk was out of the command chair and at the
helmsman's side in a second, keying controls
himself. It was a last, desperate hope. Even the
most experienced officer could overlook . . .
overlook what? What could he hope to find that both
Sulu and Spock had missed?
  Some minuscule calculation, some
fail-safe forgotten, ignored.
  "It's got to work," he muttered to himself as he
funously manipulated useless controls.
  "Fourteen seconds," counted Spock
inexorably. "Thirteen, twelve . . ."
  Kirk returned to his seat, turning slowly as
he sat. At least they would not die in darkness. The
awesome, overpowering glory of the nova's heart was
sucking them in at incredible speed.
  "No use. It's finished."
  Behind him, Robert April had unobtrusively
slipped an arm around his wife's shoulders. Her
hands clutched a little tighter around the nearly dead
blossom.
  "Three . . . two . . . one . . . ,"
Spock concluded.
  Something picked the Enterprise up and heaved it
forward, bounced it off a rubbery surface, and threw
it
  28 STAR TREK L tilde SB-N
  once more. Those on the bridge bobbed about like rubber
toys in a bathtub. A dizzying assortment of
color swirled about the ship, but no one had the time
or inclination to notice everyone was too busy trying
to keep from being tossed against a bulkhead or
neighbor as the ship rode out a tremendous
buffeting.
  Kirk reflected on the fact that there shouldn't have
been any buffeting, let alone anyone still alive
to feel it. By now the Enterprise should have been nothing
but a rapidly diffusing field of, ruptured
molecules melting into the raging energies of Beta
Niobe.
  The ship slowly ceased its violent shaking. And
yet, Kirk mused as he rose slowly to his
feet from where he had been thrown, they were stiDo here,
still alive, and, from the looks of the bridge, still
functioning. He saw his shocked surprise
  mirrored in the faces of the other officers as they
found themselves intact. Slowly, stations were resumed
by dazed personnel.
  "What happened?" Uhura finally wondered
  aloud.
  - "A great many things, Lieutenant," Spock
declared. He was working at his station with an intenseness
unusual even for him.
  Uhura was unable to request a more specific
explanation, because Kirk had called for damage
reports. They came in immediately and
  constituted another surprise. All
decks reported no damage, no injuries other
than a few minor bumps and scrapes to personnel
from being violently thrown about.
  Kirk's amazement grew. Everyone still alive,
and healthy as well.
  Of course, he still had no idea what had
happened to them, or where they were cruising at the moment.
At any instant the ship might come apart at the
seams, as should have happened several minutes before. He
shrugged mentally. No point in dwelling on that.
Maybe they would at least be spared enough time to figure
out what had happened to them.
  "Lieutenant Uhura, can you get us any
external visuals?"
  "I'll try, sir." Some very peculiar static
rippled
  STAR TREK Em 29
  across the main viewscreen, then cleared without warning
  Or had it?
  Kirk blinked, but the image that had appeared on
the screen was still there, unwavering, unchanged,
unbelievable. It was as impressive as it was
impossible, in its own bizarre way. What Kirk
and Spock and everyone else saw was a
normal-looking universe, normal
except for one slight change.
  It was a universe of pure white, speckled with
stars of varying intensities of black.
  "Where are we?" April whispered in amazement
  "I don't ..." Kirk paused, noticing a
new aberra- tion. The starfield on the screen was
shrinking away, not moving past. A quick Deck of
  instrumentation confirmed his observation. The
Enterprise was traveling back-end first through this
perverse vacuum.
  "I believe, Captain," Spock hypothesised
aloud as he stared at the negative panorama
ahead, "that we have somehow passed into an alternate
universe, normal in every respect but normal in
reverse of what we know to be real. We have entered a
universe where everything is the opposite of our own."
  "Black stars in a white void," Kirk
murmured. "It looks frightening, somehow."
  "Physics are never frightening, Captain.
Merely hard work sometimes."
  "Mr. Sulu," Kirk asked firmly,
"what's our present situation?"
  "Still apparently locked onto the alien ship,
Cap
  Kirk turned to his first officer..
"Radiation?"
  "Nothing, Captain," Spock announced after a
moment's check of his gauges. "It seems we're
no longer in any danger. I wonder if we ever
were."
  Kirk thought of one more detail to be checked.
"Bridge to Engineering . . . Scotty, how are
we holding up?"
  "It was hectic for a few minutes, sir.
What's going on? Everything's workin" properly but
in reverse. We're havin' to learn how to run the
ship all over
  30 STAR TREK LOG SEVEN
  again, backward. Takes a minute to get used
to it. Not the instrumentation adjustments; it's the gain'
years of experience, pushin' op when you want on,
turnip' to maximum when you want to shut somethin'
down. I know when I adjust the engine flux
backward now that everythin's gain' to be all right, but
I canna keep from feelin' in my bones that I'm
gain' to blow us to kingdom come."
  "Take your time and do the best you can, Scotty,"
Kit* sympathised. "Speaking of the engines . . .
?"
  "They shouldn't still be with us, Captain, but
they are. Don't ask me how or why. They should have
torn free of their pylons a long time ago,
considerin' the strain on them."
  "Thank you, Scotty. Keep a close watch
and let me know if our status changes."
  "Aye, sir. Engineering out."
  "Now then, Lieutenant Uhura, we're going
to contact our closed-mouthed alien-human friend again."
The firmness in his tone indicated that this time silence
wouldn't be accepted. "We need some answers, and a
universe-sized explanation. That pilot is the
only one around who can provide them for us."
  "Captain Kirk!"
  He spun, to see a wide-eyed Dr. April
gesturing with something in her hands.
  "I'm sure Captain Kirk has other
problems to consider at tbe moment besides the state of
your gift, dear," the commodore observed.
  "Then he'd better consider this new one, Bob.
Look at it. You too, Captain everyone."
  Somehow in the midst of the dire emergency it seemed
only proper to find herself staring at a flower. But
Dr. April's concern was well-founded
  "Before we entered this negative universe, extra
dimension or whatever this is, this bloom was on
the verge, of dying. Now look at it it's in full
bloom again!"
  Indeed, a glance was sufficient to show the
brilliant blossom bursting forth with apparently
new, waxy petals and glistening young stamen. It had
regained the
  STAR TREK L tilde SBVBN 31
  color it had when the Aprils had boarded the
Enterprise . . . and more.
  "It doesn't make sense," Kirk finally
commented, "which only makes sense here, I suppose.
If everything else is backward . . ."
  "It's more than a regeneration, Captain," she
went on. "It's almost as if it were growing younger again.
I can feel the regeneration as I'm holding it."
  "Feel it . . . you can see it," Sulu declared.
  Even as they watched the blossom began to shrink
again, the petals pulling in on themselves, as the flower
commenced its return toward the small, hard bud from
which it had originally sprung.
  "Captain," Spock put in, "I suspect
that Dr. April's flower is not the only thing on
board that is growing younger."
  "What do you mean, Mr. Spock?"
  "To start, Captain, you might note that the
ship's chronometers are running backward."
  Kirk stared down at his own wrist instrument. He
watched the second hand methodically tick off time in
a counterclockwise direction. As he watched, he
could see the minute hand slowly edging backward as
well.
  The full alienness of the situation in which they found
themselves was driven home more
  powerfully by this simple alteration of an everyday
event the measuring of time than by the view of black
stars spotted across white space.
  "Time as well as physics is apparently
reversed here, Captain," the first officer concluded.
  "One crisis at a time, Spock."
  Uhura called to him. "The alien ship is finally
responding to our call, Captain. I have visual
contact established, ready to put on the screen."
  "Please do so, Lieutenant."
  Once more the portrait of the alien pilot
appeared before them. Only this time, when she spoke, the
words sounding on the speakers matched her mouth
movements, and Kirk found he could understand her
perfectly.
  "Your actions almost cost me my life, and your own
  32 STAR TRB tilde Lo SBVBN
  as well." She was obviously still confused as to why
the Enterprise had interfered. "Why didn't you
release my ship as I asked?"
  "This poses an interesting physical and
semantic question, Captain," mused Spock. "Are
we
  understanding her speech because she is speaking backward
but our Bought processes are reversed?"
  "We can debate it later, Mr. Spock. At
the moment, the only thing I'm interested in reversing for
sure is our presence here."
  But the alien pilot had posed a question.
  "Y'm Captain James T. Kirk, commanding
the U.s.s. Enterprise. We tried to prevent
you from entering the Beta Niabe Nova because it has
been our experience in the past that vessels which enter
novas are never heard from again. We thought that you might
have been injured, or your ship's navigation helm
crippled. We had no reason to believe," he
continued drily, "that your vessel was equipped to withstand
such forces. For that matter, we didn't expect our
own ship could, either. We attempted to disengage our
tractor beam at the last minute, but were unable to do
so."
  "I see. Your gesture was gallant and
  well-meaning, but wholly unnecessary. I had
to return to my own universe, Captain Kirk.
In order to do so, it was necessary for my ship to pass through
the distortion fields and stress energies of what you
call the Beta Niobe Nova, in order to emerge
into my universe from the new star, Amphion."
  "New star? Mr. Spock, check our readings
aft."
  Spock looked up a moment later and nodded in
confirmation of the pilot's claim. "It seems to be
so, Captain. Instead of a nova, retracing our
course leads us back into what appears to be-a very
new, very black star."
  "Who are you," Kirk asked the flat, solemn
face on the screen, "and how did you come to be in our
universe in the first place?"
  "I am a solitary explorer Karla Five,
I am called. I was caught unawares when
Amphion, previously a dead star, abruptly
went nova and came to life. I was
  STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN 33
  pulled in by the explosively expanding
gravitational held. Instead of burning up, I
passed into a universe where everything operates of my
own."
  'tour universe," Kirk said.
  "I wandered helplessly for several months, but never
losing track of the place where I had emerged into your
universe," she continued. "Endless calculations led
me to a single conclusion: The only chance I had of
returning home was to pass back at maximum
acceleration through the exploding star, your nova. And then
at that last moment, you happened on a ship you thought was
in distress, and were drawn in with me. I am
sorry."
  "You mentioned your calculations," Spock reminded
her. 'what is your explanation for this transuniverse
effect?"
  ""Tentatlve, certainly," Karla Fve
explained "It would appear that the forces at the heart
of a nova generate sufficient spatial stress
to create a bridge between our hero universes. A
vessel moving toward this shifting bridge at a
sufficient speed will pass from universe to universe
rapidly enough to avoid the dangerous energies which exist
in such canters."
  Behind Kirk, Commodore April listened
to Karla Five's theory with astonishment and
admiration. "In her universe, then, a nova is
a dead star which comes to life, whereas in ours
it's one which is going through its death throes in a
violent manner. When these two differently defined
events take place at a particular point in
space, it is possible to travel between the two. This
discovery could revolutionise cosmology."
  "If we can get back to tell it to anyone,"
Kirk re- minded him. "And the way to do that seems
pretty obvious. We have to go back the way we
came, through the double nova."
  Karla Pive looked troubled. "Would that I could
be wire such a thing was possible, Captain Kirk.
Amphion was not a full-sized burning sun when I
was drawn into it. That has changed. I would not think it
possible to dive into the heart of a live sun and
survive."
  34 STAR TREK LOO SEVEN
  "tilde We'd think the same thing of a
full-sized nova, which is what Beta Niobe
is," Kirk
  countered.
  "True, Captain. Even so, the question of our
return is apparently not a simple matter of
retracing our steps. We must examine the
  alternatives more intensely."
  "What would you suggest, Mr. Spock?"
  "Some additional time to consider the physics of the
matter, and if possible to study the
  information produced by Karla Five's computer."
  "Naturally I'll give all the aid I can, as
will my people," the alien pilot told them. "I am now
proceeding to my home world of Arret, Captain
Kirk. I suggest you set a course to follow my
ship."
  "That shouldn't be difficult," Kirk replied,
"seeing as how we're still attached to you by our tractor
beam." She looked grim, shook her head.
  Of course, that undoubtedly constituted a friendly
gesture here, Kirk reminded himself. Unless she was
concerned about something else. Unless his own optic
nerves were also working in reverse, feeding him backward
information. Or . . .
  He shook his head. There were ramifications to their
present situation that could drive a man mad.
  "Mr. Sulu, plot a following course. And
keep trying to disengage that tractor beam.
Meanwhile call off the security detail no
point in destroying the tractor mechanism now."
  "Aye aye, sir."
  "Mr. Slack, get with your people in Life
Sciences and see if they can verify that
everyone on board is growing younger. Also the rate at
which such reverse aging is taking place if in fact
that's what's happening to us."
  It didn't take long for the efficient instruments
and technicians of the great cruiser to verify that that was
precisely what was happening
  Kirk considered the news calmly, finally
glancing up from his command position. "Well, there you have
it, everyone. I'm sure none of us minds growing
younger instead of older for a change."
  Silence.
  STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN 35
  "It pleases me anyway, Jim," April
finally said. "If we could remain in this universe
long enough, I'd no longer be at the mandatory
retirement age."
  "Let's not lose sight of our present
position, Commodore. We must return home.
I'm open to suggestions. Spock?"
  "There seems only one reasonably sure way,
Captain," he explained quietly. "We must
  reproduce, as exactly as possible, the
conditions which carried Karla Fives ship from her
universe into ours. Two novas must occupy the
same space in both universes in order
to create the proper gateway. The difficulty here
has already been pinpointed by Karla Five.
  "We must locate a star in the process of being
born, which must also coincide with a nova in our own
galaxy. As she has pointed out, Amphion is
now a raging furnace, a growing star. We cannot chance
returning via the same route."
  April was shaking his head. "The chances of our doing
that even if we had time to scan this whole negative
galaxy ... no, Mr. Spock, the odds are too
high to compute."
  "I must disagree with your evaluation of our chances,
Commodore. I have already computed the odds. They are
on the order of fifty-two million to One."
  Kirk grinned tightly . . . or did he
frown, and have it reversed here? No way of knowing
"At least we have a chance.
  Heated discussion followed, which included most of the
engineering officers and astrophysics technicians.
Various suggestions were made; one was to detach the
Enterpr tilde se's saucer and main living
quarters and use the warp-drive engines to overload,
thus generating a new star in this universe.
  Scott vetoed the idea, pointing out
vociferously that they were not in the business of
making stars, that the physics were doubtful, that there was
no way they could be certain of aligning their
artificially generated sun with an existing nova in the
positive universe and besides, without the warp drive
engines they might not
  36 STAR TREE
  get up enough speed to make the dangerous passage
in time to prevent total destruction.
  The suggestion, along with the others, was tabled. Most
were more fantastic than reasonable, requiring
gigantic amounts of energy beyond the Enterpr tilde
se's ability to produce.
  Nevertheless, discussions continued throughout the ship, even
as they entered orbit around Karla Pive's home
world of Arret.
  "Message coming in, Captain," Uhura
  announced. "Karla Five is asking if you're
prepared to beam down to her world."
  "Indicate that we'll be down shortly.
  Commodore April, Mr. Spock, and I will
  comprise the landing party."
  Kirk rose from his chair and headed for the
turbolift, April following. They arrived in the
Transporter Room to find Scott waiting for
them, prepared to handle the transporter
chores himself. But the chief engineer could not disguise a
worried frown.
  "Something the matter, Scotty? Karla Pive
has given us coordinates to beam down?"
  "Aye, sir, she has that."
  The three officers moved to the transporter
alcove. "Well," Kirk prompted, "why the
  hesitation, Scotty? I know when something's on
your mind."
  "It's just, Captain, that . . . well, she
identifies the location as her son's
laboratory."
  Kirk's forehead furrowed. He considered the
obvious youth of Karla Pive, his ship's
desperate situation, and understood the cause of
Scott's concern.
  "I see what you mean, Scotty. We don't
have time for kid games right now. But these people live in a
peculiar universe. Their sense of humor might be
somewhat backward, too. Anyhow, those are the
coordinates she gave. I suspect we're going
to need her help to get out of this. Let's not give
unnecessary offence.. Beam us down, Mr. Scott."
  "Aye, sir," Scott acknowledged, looking
unhappy. He moved the appropriate
levers and dials.
  STAR TRB tilde LOG SBVBN 37
  A high whine sounded in the chamber, shrill and
familiar. But the corresponding sensation of
molecular dissolution was absent. Kirk glanced
down, saw himself still standing, solid as ever, on the
transporter disk. He looked questioningly at the
transporter console, but Scott seemed equally
puzzled.
  "I dinna understand it, Captain. I'm running
through Me usual sequence. Everytfung checks out
operational,
  Spock interrupted. "The key word is
'usual," Mr. Scott. Reverse the
procedure. Beam us up from the provided
coordinates."
  "But you're already . . . ach, of course! I should
know by now."
  Reversing the standard transporter sequence
produced three properly glittering pillars of
light within the alcove.
  Ill
  Kirk, Spock, and Commodore April
  materialised on the steps of a two-story modern
structure. A short glance around indicated
that they were located on the outskirts of a fair-sized
metropolis.
  The buildings around them, and in the distant urban
area, were decidedly different. Not
unattractively so, Kirk noted approvingly.
They were clearly designed for normal-sized,
normally proportioned humanoids. Only the
aesthetic approach was different.
  Leaning back, Kirk squinted at the sky. It
was blue, but with an alien suggestion of bright green.
Somewhere above it, he knew, it faded into a white
canopy against which an orphaned
  Enterprise orbited forlornly.
  "Good evening, gentlemen."
  Karla Five was standing in the entrance to the building,
squinting at them and smiling. "I'm sorry you had
to arrive on Arret in the middle of the night."
  Kirk began to wonder if his mind was running in
circles now as well as in reverse. "Middle of the
night?" he echoed. "The sun is shining in our
faces."
  "I beg your pardon, Captain?" Karla Fve
looked amused. "What a funny thing to say. The
moon is quite visible. See?" And she indicated the
dark purple orb which dominated me sky.
  Kirk stared. "You'll have to excuse me, I'm still
not used to reversing everything. It takes some getting
used to."
  "No need to explain, Captain Kirk," she
replied. "I know exactly what you're going through.
At least you have the company of others to help you. When
I was thrown unexpectedly into your universe I
nearly went mad. Imagine seeing brightly colored
stars against black space. Horrible, unnatural
sight!
  "Anyway," she assured them, "the sun will come
up 38
  STAR TREK L tilde SBVBN 39
  soon and it will be dark again. Please come into my
son's laboratory. I've awakened him, and
he's already hard at work on your problem."
  The interior of the house was as pleasant as the
exterior, filled with many full-grown plants
undoubtedly growing younger. Karla Five led them to a
large, spacious chamber. The walls were lined with
starmaps all black on white, of course.
  They proceeded to a small, rectangular
  construct set in the far corner of the vast, domed
room. Closer inspection revealed its identity.
There was nothing mysterAous about it, and since it
was exactly what it appeared to be, Kirk thought it
utterly out of place in the extensively equipped
lab.
  It was a playpen, and it was occupied now by a
small child. The infant was surrounded by toys, a
plastic bottle of liquid, and numerous other
less readily identifiable items.
  At the moment the child was on its unsteady, stubby
legs, playing with a rattling attachment secured to the
side of the crib.
  Kirk noticed a man in his fifties working
nearby. He nodded on noticing Kirk's gaze,
then adjusted his lab coat and went back
to realigning the chart slides he was projecting on
a far section of wall.
  "With all respect," April commented, also
noticing the busy adult, "how can a woman as young
as you have a son old enough to be
  accomplished in the sciences?"
  Karla FI-VE'S surprise seemed genuine.
"I'm astonished that a young man like yourself would ask such
a question, Commodore April. Allow me
to introduce my son, Karl Pour."
  Kirk was beginning to wonder if he was
  expected to shake hands with the infant, when the
older man approached them.
  "I'm honored to meet you, gentlemen," he
began. "I've read my mother's tapes of her
encounter with you in the other universe, and how you come to be
here. I hope I can help."
  40 STAR TRBGG'C BE SBVBN
  Spock was explaining even as Kirk tried once
more to readjust his thinking
  "Eminently logical, you see. Since the flow
of time is reversed here, then it is natural for one
to be born at an advanced age and to die in
infancy. Your descendants," he said to Karl
Four, "are born before you, and your ancestors after.
I should like to see some local obstetrical his
  "Please, Mr. Spock," Kirk interrupted,
a mite desperately, "let's stick
to physics."
  "If this is your son," April inquired, "then
who is the chap in the playpen?"
  "Karl Six, of course," she explained
easily. "My father. He's led a long and healthy
life, made many contributions to our people in the
sciences."
  She shook her head happily? Sadly, Kirk
  corrected himself.
  "I'm afraid most of his knowledge is gone now. He
has entered senile infancy."
  "You mean he no longer has it?" wondered
Kirk.
  Karla Five made a gesture. "I mean our
society no longer has it. As our race
evolves, all knowledge is lost . . . the natural
order of things."
  "More and more fascinating," declared a thoroughly
enchanted Spock. "A race begins with an the knowledge it
win ever have, and as it evolves, the knowledge is
progressively lost. Progressive
regression."
  "We could remain eternally awed at the
  differences between our universes and
  civilisations," Kirk snapped briskly, "but
we have to find a method of returning to our own
  universe."
  "exactly what I've been devoting an my time
to since Karla Dive beamed me the details of your
difficulty," Karl Four told them. He
gestured. "If you'll direct your attention to the far
wall...."
  As they turned, he moved to a small panel and
adjusted the switches on it. The wad across
the chamber seemed to vanish. In its place was a
three-dimensional cube looking for an the world like a
gigantic block of glassy chocolate-chip ice
cream.
  "This is an in-depth map of our galaxy at
least, the
  STAR TREK tilde SEVEN 41
  portion of it we have explored," Karl Eour
explained. "Our home system, and Arret, is
here."
  As he spoke, one of the black flecks near the
cube's center brightened or was it darkened?
  "And you entered our universe through the new star, the
Amphion Nova ... here." A minuscule distance
away from the first, a second black fleck pulsed
noticeably.
  Kirk studied the exquisite detail of the map
carefully. "Somehow we have to coordinate this with our
own charts, match the location of known novas in our
universe to potential birthing stars here. Mr.
Spock?"
  "I foresee no difficulty, Captain. All
physical laws appear to operate uniformly here,
only in opposition to those we know. Therefore, distances
and speeds in this universe should conform to our own.
Karl Pour, if I could have a look at the workings of
your chart projector, and an
  explanation . . ."
  "At your service, sir," the Arretian
scientist responded.
  Several hours of study and numerous exchanges of
information with the Engineering Department brought results in
the form of several specially modified chartspools
beamed down from the orbiting starship.
  They should have functioned, according to Spock's design,
in the Arretian
  navigational-computer, but they did not. They
failed even to activate it.
  It was April who suggested the solution. "How
soon we forget. Try running your computer in
reverse, Karl Four. It should accept our
  information then."
  And so it was. Everything went smoothly after that.
  "Incredible, the degree of parallel," Karl
Pour murmured continually. "I wonder which universe
will meet its end first. Yours, which is aging, or ours,
which becomes progressively more youthful. I wonder
if the nova-nova bridge is the only physical
interrelation between our universes. I wonder," he
mused, "what the theological
  relationships might be?"
  "Maybe someday we'll have time to find out,"
ventured Kirk. "Right now, it's the nova-nova
bridge I'm interested in."
  42 STAR TRB tilde L tilde SBVBN
  "Assuming Beta Niobe and the Amphion sun
here do match up on the two charts, Mr.
Spock," wondered April aloud, "can we
locate similar potential occurrences in both
universes?"
  Spock replied thoughtfully. "I believe so,
Com- modore, provided the Arretian
navigational equipment will continue to process
Enterpnse information as efficiently as it has thus
far."
  Karl Four adjusted the chart projector once
again. Kirk started in spite of himself when the huge
map shifted suddenly to a black cube with colored
stars hung within. Nor could he fail to notice the
way Karl Four jumped at the
  appearance of the, to him, perverse sight one which
contradicted all his own laws of nature.
  "A direct match-up," said Spock,
indicating the second still-pulsing pinpoint. "Beta
Niobe ... Amphion on the
negative-universe chart. Plotting from there . . .
have you some kind of probe, sire"
  Karl Four hunted in a cabinet until he
  produced a long, Fin metal rod. He handed
it to Spock, who inserted it into dhe black cube,
moving it slowly forward through space and stars wldh
equal facility, until the tip stopped near a
small star.
  "This should be Vulcan."
  The Arretian pressed a switch, and the system
Spock had located glowed brightly. Again The
pointer moved, slightly.
  "And here, Barth."
  "Amazing," Karla Five said. She nodded to her
son, who switched back to the Arretian chart. "It
corresponds exactly to Arret." Back to The
color-on-black universe of the Federation. Kirk
found himself growing a little dizzy as They switched
universes by The minute.
  "A would like to visit my Vulcan analog,"
Spock declared, studying The glowing points within The
cube projection. "Perhaps someday it will be possible."
  "If we don't get out of here, Mr. Spock,
you'll have a chance to do more visiting than you want."
  "That anxious I am not, Captain." The
first officer turned his attention back to the chart,
gesturing with
  STAR TREK L tilde SEWN 43
  the long pointer for all the woddlike a
  schoolmaster lecturing a class of youngsters.
  "It is now possible to determine with reasonable
accuracy the position of simultaneous novas in the
two universes, with more ease than I thought would be the
case. If . . . ," and he looked back at
Karl Pour, "you can coordinate both maps at the
same time."
  The Arretian thought hard a moment, then shook his
head slowly. "Yes, I think the projector can
handle two spools at once. I won't vouch for
what it will look like, though."
  He worked at the controls. The result was a chart
that was neither black nor white, but a faded gray.
The density of the chart was
  tremendously increased, filled as it was with nearly
twice the number of stars and systems.
  "A touch here," Karl Four murmured, "and we
should see something interesting"
  Twenty-odd points on the chart turned red.
Spock studied them, then walked over and had a
brief, tense conversation wldh She
astronomer.
  "The red glows indicate where two stars occupy
She same spare in both universes," he
explained to the onlookers. "The difficulty is that
while several are novas in our universe, none is
sufficiencyy youthful to be birthing stars here.
  "The star material here which will birth soonest,
Karl Pour tells me, is dais point," and he
indicated one of She pulsing lights. "It will spring
to life in roughly dEree hundred fifty of our
years . . . give or take a decade or
two."
  "And we haven't got Hlree hundred fifty
years give or take anything," Kirk declared.
"Though it's not a question of age." His mouth twisted
slightHy. "We'd all have returned to infancy and
been long gone by then."
  Spock inhaled deeply. "Unfortunately
correct, Captain."
  ""There's the chance of keying one of these
potential new novas into life here, gentlemen.
Locate the best possible combination of swirling
gases and concurrent pressure, and ignite the first
thermonuclear reaction.
  44 STAR TRBR L tilde
SBVBN
  An overloaded ship engme could conceivably do
it," Karl Four said.
  "We thought of that," Kirk told him, "but we
can't use our warp drive engines that would leave us
relatively helpless, our speed curtailed
severely."
  "How about one of our vessels?" the Arretian
suggested.
  "If you think it might work. I don't see us
trying anything else."
  "There is one other problem." They turned to look
at Karla Five. "In order to avoid
destruction, I had to pass through the nova at
maximum velocity. I understand that your vessel,
Captain Kirk, is not capable of such speeds."
  "A good point, Captain," Spock agreed.
"To which I see no immediate solution."
  "Of course, you're welcome to use my ship,
Captain Kirk. It is the most advanced of its
type . . . we have no others capable of reaching such
speeds, either."
  "Then I'm afraid that won't do us much good,
Karla," Kirk replied sadly. ""Thanks
for the offer ... but I have a crew of four
hundred thirty, and your ship is suitable for only
a few people, at most."
  "Captain," Spock said, suddenly brightening,
"there is a chance Karla Pive's vessel could
solve all these problems. We require another,
powerful vessel to go to overload, to initiate the new
star. We can we hers both as an unmanned
projectile, to accomplish this, and as a tug to aid
w in achieving the necessary speed. We need merely
keep our tractor beam attached. We gained the
velocity required to pass into this universe in this
fashion. I do not see why we cannot we the same
method to pass out from it."
  "Spock, you may be right. You'd better be, because
I don't see that we've got another choice,"
he finished grimly.
  "Of course, any miscalculation . . ." He
paused meaningfully. "If the reaction isn't
sufficient to set off the new star in this universe,
we may run through a murderous field of superhot
plasma. Or if speed alone is enough to carry us
through, the proper distortion
  STAR TRBFFTLike tilde SBVBN 45
  may not be created. In that event, we could emerge
right in the heart of an unstressed nova."
  "In which case," April observed succinctly,
"we won't have time to consider our mistake . . .
having already ceased to exist."
  Preparations proceeded smoothly, thanks to the
aid of the sympathetic Arretians. Some of
Arret's top physicists reworked the mathematics,
to insure that everything would perform as required. Par
example, it was felt that merely overloading the
extremely advanced engines which powered Karla
Five's exploratory skiff would be insufficient
to spark the necessary thermonuclear reaction in the confer of the
star-to-be. So the Arretian military loaded the
smaller craft with compact but immensely powerful
fusion weaponry, to provide a proper catalyst.
  Linkages were established which would permit the
Enterpnse's helm to control Karla Five's
vessel as precisely as a living pilot could.
Eventually, the two ships left Arretian orbit
together, traveling at rapidly increasing speed and with the
best wishes of Arret's scientific community. The
prognosis was only slightly in favor of
success, but both sides concealed their true feelings
and concerns under a mask of empirical assurance.
  "Captain's log, Stardate 5536.6,"
Kirk was reciting, days later. "Time
continues to Bow backward for us We have set our
course for a dead star aborning in this universe which
corresponds to the nova Minerva in ours.
  "There appears to be a new, correlating
factor between the flow of time and our increasing speed, but
as yet this has presented no difficulty. We are
on course, and all instrumentation is operating at
maximum efficiency, including the devices linking
the Enterpnse to the Arretian scout ship."
  He concluded the entry and turned a gaze as yet
only mildly concerned toward the science station.
"Mr. Spock, any indication as to what the possible
effects of the accelerated time-flow might bet"
  "Theoretical only, thus far, Captain," his
first officer
  46 STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN
  replied. Then he added the obvious, "Anyhow,
we must -- proceed with the programmed course and
velocity regardless of all side effects. It is
our only chance."
  Kirk nodded, looking his shoulder, and smiled at
the pacing figure of Commodore April. He had
been walking his destinationless path ever since they had
left Arret.
  "You may as well relax, sir. As
Mr. Spock says, our course of action is
committed, unalterable. And that patch of brown in your
hair is very becoming."
  April stopped, grinned a lopsided grin at
Kirk. "Thank you, Captain. You're looking rather
on the youngish side yourself, lately. Don't let
my aimless meandering worry you ... I am
relaxing." The grin
  i vanished, and he looked disappointedly at the
deck.
  "I have mixed feelings about the remainder of our
journey, no matter what its outcome. Oh,
I'll be glad to get home, all right, but not
necessarily to Babel. That only means the
official end of my career. Of my useful
  ness....
  Kirk was spared the necessity of a reply as
Spock broke in with an announcement. "I have
visual contact with the region of the potential new
star, Captain."
  Kirk mentally thanked his first officer for the inter-
ruption the conversation was beginning to make him
uncomfortable. His tone turned businesslike.
  "Let's see what we're heading into, Mr.
Spock."
  The Enterpnse's forward sensors leaped ahead,
finally slowing to focus on still another rectangle of
this fantastic, cream-colored universe with its
black suns and feathery May nebulae.
  "I don't see anything, Mr. Spock."
  "A moment, Captain. We are headed
directly for it, but it is denser white matter in
white space. I will su- perimpose an outline."
  Adjustments at the science console produced a
rough black circle in the center of the screen.
  "If I didn't know better, Mr. Spock,
I'd suspect it was another white hole."
  "No, Captain, prelirni tilde ary sensor
readings indicate
  STAR TREK LOG SBVBN 87
  for help ourselves, but that would bring a Federation fleet
inffcontad with a Klingon force of possibly equal
size. Then we'd have a nice little interstellar war
on our hands."
  "I know, Bones. That's why we're going to have
to resolve this one alone, without help."
  "If we run into three or four Klingon
cruisers, it'll be resolved all right," McCoy
observed sardonically.
  "Captain," Spock began, "if I
may suggest the obvious . . . ?"
  Both men turned to look at him.
  "If we go to emergency power, we should be able
to get within phaser range."
  "All we need for that to work, Spock, is to have a
normal, belligerent, cocky commander on board the
Klingon ship. Instead, we have to contend with Kumara.
I tell you, Spock, we can't apply the usual
standards herel
  "If we go to emergency power, you know what will
happen? Kumara will laugh fit to split his collar.
He would love to see us burn out our nacelles
trying to get within phaser range; The moment we got
close enough to tickle his tail, he'd go on
emergency power and keep right on running until
overload. Then we'd both drift along on
impulse power with charred converters
  straight toward Shahkur Nine and the oncoming
Klingon relief force.
  "As much faith as I have in Scotty and his en-
gineers, I can't risk that." Kirk's brow
furrowed. "But Bones is right. We can't continue
on like this without trying something. Let me know, Mr.
Spock, how this sounds to you . . ."
  Vl
  There was quiet jubilation on the bridge of the
Klingon cruiser. Everyone on board knew that the
mission had been partly successful. And if the
presence of the peculiar human on board wasn't
proof enough, the presence of the trailing Federation
cruiser was.
  A certain amount of grumbling among the elder
officers followed the commander's refusal to turn and
engage their pursuer. Running away was alien to the
soul of any Klingon warrior. But the younger officers
barbered no such feelings, though they were as brave as
their superiors. They realized that Commander Kumara's
orders were best for the Empire, best for the ship and best
for themselves.
  So they contented themselves with the
  knowledge that their pursuer was traveling under the impetus of
mounting frustration.
  "Commander," the helmsman reported smartly, "the
Federation ship is remaining constant relative to our
position. Should we utilize emergency power
to increase the distance
  between us?"
  "I'm rather fond of our present distance,
Lieutenant Kritt, and see no reason to change
it. We will maintain our present speed
unless we are compelled to do otherwise, and we will
maintain it without straining our resources. Restrain
from public exhibition of your foolishness, and think."
  "I abase myself, Honored Commander," the
helmsman replied as he strove to comprehend
Kumara's point.
  For his part, the commander continued his idle study of the
viewscreen. His rear scanners showed the pursuing
Enterprise, only a distant, barely moving dot
against the blackness of space space which one day 88
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  STAR TREK L tilde SBVBN 49
  "if know, Captain," Scott replied, trying
not to sound as disappointed as he was. "Ah, but
wouldn't it be a darlin" surprise for our friends the
Klingonsl"
  It was hours later, when they had more than doubled their
speed, that Kirk noticed the at once marvelous,
ominous change creeping through the Enterprise.
  He had been so involved in last-minute course
calculations, in monitoring the status of the
Arretian scout, that he had failed to see the starding
alterations taking place all around him. In
fairness, though, so had everyone else. The
gradualness of the first changes and their uniformity were
responsible for the oversight.
  Metamorphosis was proceeding so rapidly now,
however, that it struck Kirk like a blow to the belly.
The subtle sensation that something was drastically different
was concretized when McCoy and Sarah April
reappeared on the bridge. The shift was most
apparent in their faces.
  The deep lines caused by too many patients lost
through the unavailability of the necessary drugs, too many
needless deaths incurred on hostile worlds, were missing
from McCoy's visage. He was noticeably
younger.
  As was Dr. Sarah April, paragon of
StarReet medical technology, who was now a very
  unvenerable fortyish beauty devoid of white
hair, lines around the eyes, and all other
indications of advanced age.
  Abruptly Kirk saw the bridge staff through
clear eyes and a clear mind. Sulu and Uhura,
he now noticed, had regained the appearance of
teenagers. Spock showed the least amount of change,
which was only natural as Vulcans aged more slowly
than humans. It was hardest to tell when he looked
at Arex, since adolescent Eldoans often
look exactly like their wizened elders.
  "Mr. Spock, I think we have passed the point
of needing theoretical opinions on the effects of the
increased time-flow."
  "I had noticed it before now, Captain," the first
officer said somberly, "but as we have no
alternative
  50 STAR TREK L tilde SHIN
  course of action, I saw no point in needlessly
dis- tressing anyone."
  Kirk wasn't sure he agreed with Spock's
reasoning, but he had no time to argue with it. He
wasn't sure how much time he had left, period.
  "I suppose the first crucial minute will be when
our youngest crew member returns to . . . to the
moment of birth," he ventured.
  Spock concurred. "That win take
place, taking into account a rapid increase in our
regression corresponding to our increasing speed, in
approximately eighteen minutes, thirty-five
seconds, Captain. However, that will not be the most
crucial time."
  "Explain, Mr. Spock."
  "Before that point is reached, we will all have
returned to infantilism. And," he concluded, "this
means we are losing our knowledge concomitant with our
years, and both at an alarming rate. It is
possible that we will be too young, mentally, to operate the
Enterprise at the crucial stage in our
interuniversal passage...."
  lv
  Kirk pondered the problem for long minutes, then
broke off when he found himself staring with a little too much
fascination at the
  sixteen-year-old boy sitting before the now
massive-looking helm console.
  "How's our present course, Mr. Sulu?"
  The youth started to reply, hesitated, and stared
blankly at the now bewildering array of
  instrumentation spread before him. "I . . . I'm not
sure," he finally confessed in a shockingly altered
tenor. "What am I doing here, anyway?
What are all these dials and gauges and lights?"
He turned and stared with rising confusion at Kirk.
  "And you . . . you're . . . his Who are you,
mister?"
  "He's too young, Captain," Spock
interrupted. "Far younger than he was when he entered
  Starfleet. Not only has he regressed beyond the
point of knowing how to operate Enterprise
instrumentation, his youthful mind is beginning to doubt its
far larger store of memories. Look at
Lieutenant Uhura."
  Kirk turned and saw a puzzled young girl
running her hands uncertainly over winking
telltales.
  "They are turning into children, Captain," Spock
concluded.
  "But they just can't lose all their acquired knowledge,
Mr. Spock. Our physical makeup isn't the
same as the Arreffans."
  "I suspect all the knowledge is still there, Captain,"
his first officer explained, "locked away deep within
their minds. But the mechanism for retrieving such
informaffon is degenerating as they grow younger."
  "We'll cope, somehow," countered Kirk
tffghtly. "Mr. Arex, take over helm
functions for Mr. Sulu. I want a full
status report from all sections, Lieutenant
Uhura. Lieutenant Uhura?"

  52 STAR TREK Ed SEVEN
  "I beg your pardon, mister?" she replied
dazedly.
  "Never mind. Spock, you can fill in for her
tem- porarily. Their replacements would only be as
young and ineffective as they. You and Mr. Arex are the
only longer-lived crew members on board."
  "True, Captain," admitted Spock. "We
will manage as long as we are able. But who will fill
in for you?"
  Kirk gave him a peculiar look. "What do
you mean, "fill in for me"?"
  Spock explained patiently something Kirk
knew but refused to believe. "You are a deal older
than Lieutenant Sulu or Uhura, but at what
age did you become a starship captain? How old
were you when you entered StarBeet Academy? When did
you take advanced navigation, or command
  mechanics?"
  Kirk chewed that over, then finally nodded
reluctant agreement. "We'll lose
control rapidly, all right. By the time we reach the
vicinity of the potential star, I'm not going to know
what we have to do, let alone how to do it."
  "As a Vulcan, I age the slowest, true,"
Spock commented. There was no hint of pride or
racial arrogance in that statement. It was merely
fact. Merely Spock. "I will be capable of
retaining my effectiveness longer than anyone
else.
  "But I fear even I will become too young to know
what to do at the crucial moment. It will be close .
.. very close." He glanced at his controls,
wondering idly at what moment they would
  become only glassed-in numbers for him. He
wished he could divorce himself from his body to study the
no doubt intriguing phenomenon at leisure.
  "Ten minutes, fourteen seconds," he
announced finally. "We may just make it,
Captain, according to the final computer projection. At
the
  appropriate moment it will be vital to activate
the weaponry on board the Arretian scout. That must
be handled by someone other than myself."
  Kirk blinked at the strange words. He saw
things plainly, but his thoughts were masked
by thicker and thicker layers of uncertainty. Nothing
related to any
  STAR TREK Lo 53
  thing else. He found he could describe but not
explain, see without understanding, perceive but not
evaluate.
  Children surrounded him, at the helm, at
Cccommunications. And at the navigation console,
even Arex was beginning to look decidedly cuddly.
  "Captain," a demanding voice said, "do you think
you will be able to handle the Arretian engine overload
functions?"
  "Overload . . . engine overload? How do we
do that, Mr. Spock?"
  The first officer inhaled deeply. In his
still-exacting mind, their chances dropped a few
percentage points. "I fear I must assume
control, Captain. You are no longer able to command the
Enterprise."
  Kirk retained enough maturity to readily agree.
"Whatever you say, Spock. What shall I do?"
  A new voice spoke up. Its master had just
now appeared on the bridge, had only taken stock
of the recent developments.
  He was tall, straight, supremely
confident. The voice was new and at the same time
familiar. A bit softer now, perhaps, its timbre
sharp and precise. Kirk thought he recognized it,
thought he recognized the stranger as well.
  "ltm sorry, Mr. Spock," the voice said
command- ingly. "As long as I'm aboard, I'm still
senior officer here. My subsequent appointment as
ambassador-atlarge does not supersede my
  Starfieet ranking, it only complements it. I
hate to pull rank, but I'd guess that in another
five minutes even you will become incapable of command,
much less of performing intricate oper- ations." He
checked his madly revolving watch, noting the speed
with which the hands were spinning in reverse.
  "That's not soon enough to execute the few but vital
maneuvers essential to our hope of return."
  Spock did not argue; there was no reason to.
The commodore's logic was unassailable. "You are
correct, of course, Commodore April. I had
forgotten all but regular crew under the stress of the
moment. I would be grateful if you would assume
command."
  54 STAR TREK L tilde SHIN
  "I hereby do so officially, Mr. Spock."
He sounded slightly bemused now. "But why
the "commodore"? It's Captain . . .
Captain April."
  "Who?" muttered Spock.
  "Bob . . . ?"
  The young commodore-captain turned.
  "We seem to be the only adults left on the
bridge," Sarah April observed. "They're
all children now, or teenaged."
  Her husband nodded. "Make sure they don't
hurt themselves, Sarah." He turned his attention to the
instruments at the helm. "If we're going to go
home, instead of to blazes, we have to ignite this star
at just the right moment. Mr. Spock, I realize
your reasoning powers are now impaired, but how are you
at still folIowing orders?"
  Spock strained visibly. "Information . . . is
vanishing rapidly, sir. For the moment ... yes,
I can function. The sensation is somewhat akin
to submitting to anesthesia."
  "Right. Assume me navigator's position."
The adolescent Vulcan proceeded to do so, gently
moving a squawking, feathered protester out of the chair.
  "Report, Mr. Spock," April said from the
helm.
  "The potential star is directly
ahead, Captain."
  The first offlcer's manner and inflection were steady as
ever. Only a close acquaintance would have noted the
lighter, slightly less serious tone in his speech.
"Bearing, mark," and he strenuously recited the
readings, unsure of Heir meaning. But observation
did not require as much knowledge as interpretation, and
another pair of eyes was what April needed now.
  "Activate the weaponry on board me
Arretian ship."
  That almost ... almost defeated Spock.
  Knowledge was draining from him like water from a cracked
pitcher. It took a long minute of painful thought
before he was able to key me relatively simple command
required to arm the awesome energies packed into the tiny
scout.
  "Activated, Captain," he finally
acknowledged.
  "Nine seconds to ignition," April recited,
staring at
  STAR TREK SBVBN SS
  the helm readouts. "Seven, six . . ." His
gaze rose to the main screen, as did Sarah
April's and Spock's.
  A black flower blossomed before them,
its stretching petals tinged with violet and royal
blue. The unnatural colors were startling against the
pure white background of space.
  April spared a split second for a survey
of the bridge. No longer did it resemble the hub of
one of the Federation's most storied, most efficient
ships. Instead it had taken on the appearance of an
undisciplined interspecies nursery.
  Children and in some cases infants now babbled and
struggled within the confines of baggy clothing grown
monstrously large for their tiny forms: Naturally, the
inorganic materials had not shrunk along with the
crew members. If anything, April noted with
alarm, the rate of reverse was accelerating.
Surely the first officer now fumbling confusedly at
me navigation console was no older than seven. He
was past following even simple commands.
  There was, however, still one other person on the
badge who could perform the remaining crucial
maneuvers. One whose ability matched if not
exceeded his own. He looked over his
  shoulder at the radiantly beautiful woman
watching him.
  "Sarah, do you remember any of your basic
navigation?"
  "Like it was yesterday, Bob." She moved to the
navigation console while the commodore-captain
assumed the command chair.
  "Keep us on course, whatever else happens,
whatever might happen to me," April told her.
She studied the instrumentation briefly, moved her
hands over the dials and switches. It seemed like
only yesterday she was tested on similar boards
to pass her basic command functions classes at the
Academy.
  A small adjustment was caned for here. The computer
identIiled the deviation and brought it to the attention of
its human masters. It could do no more. It needed an
organic mind to order the necessary shift in
  56 STAR TREE tilde SEWN
  course. Sarah April moved almost
automatically to provide that command.
  Satisfied, the navigation computer realigned the
En' terprise. Once more it was on the course
prescribed for ts eventual salvation . . . or
destruction.
  Tail first, the great cruiser plunged into the confer
of a rapidly heating mass of pressurized gases
and particles. The tremendous release of energy
produced by the volatized Arretian ship
had kindled strange react lions among the mass
of already unstable material.
  As a tremendous shaking suddenly gripped the Era
terprise, fusion began.
  Sarah Apfil felt like a pebble in a tin can as
she clung tightly to the navigation console. But
Com modore tilde aptain April locked himself
ditto the command chair and exulted in the glory
conveyed by the main vie tilde vscreen.
  For what seemed like hours, but was mere seconds,
they rode the shock wave of ruptured space.
  Abruptly, without warning, the buffeting ceased.
There was only the soft hum of monitors, the quiet
beeps and mutters of unstressed instruments.
  April became aware that he was still frozen to his
seat. Slowly he relaxed his muscles, let his
body slump. He became aware of something else:
His eyes were closed tight enough to hurt.
  He opened them slowly, and as usual his eyes
registered the view forward before his mind comprehended.
  Black space flecked with colored suns.
  They were home again.
  Sarah April left the navigation console and
moved slowly to his side. "The computer can hold us
steady here. I didn't have enough navigation
to be able to reprogram us from wherever we are, Bob.
That may be a problem."
  She nodded to where the seven-year-old Spock was
sitting near the navigation station, stanag back at
them with precocious, wide eyes.
  April's attention was still focused on the screen.
61 never thought pure blackness could look so
lovely." Finally he looked away, down, and
embraced her as hard
  STAR TREK Ed 57
  as he had the rocking command chair only
  moments before.
  "We did it. We're back in our own
universe again," he finally sighed, releasing her.
Now he could turn his attention to Spock and the rest
of the ship's youthful crew.
  "The reverse aging process seems to have stopped,
but I see no signs of rapid aging beginning. The
effect apparently operates only in the negative
universe."
  "Does that mean they're all going to remain children?"
Sarah asked.
  "No . . . no, that doesn't make sense,
either," he said thoughtfully. He gestured at
Spock, who amiably gestured back.
"I have no doubt that Spock, Captain Kirk,
and the others will return to their normal ages naturally
but at our
  universe's normal speed.
  "That would mean, for example, that Mr. Spock will
have to grow up all over again. Unless . . ."
  "The transporter records!" Dr. April
exclaimed. "It retains the records of their
original molecular structure. It could return
them to the age they were when they last transported."
  "It could," he agreed. "But the entire ship's
crew . . . it will take some time. We're going
to be busy for a while, my love."
  "You think it will work, too, Bob?" She appeared
uncertain now. "Hasn't it been tried before, and
found not to? I seem to recall experiments. If
it worked, everyone could have near immortality, simply
by having their youthful selves recorded for
transporting and then, upon aging, entering
transporters to be reintegrated according to their
preserved youthful records."
  "Yes to everything you said, Sarah," April con-
curred. "But one exception should has to make a
difference. Remember, the molecular structure of
everyone on board has been altered by
  unnatural, extrauniversal forces. Those
  fountain-of-youth experiments with transporters
weren't carried out on people who'd been
  exposed to the accelerated time-fiow and radia-
tions and who-knows-what of the negative
  universe.
  "It's those molecular changes that should be revers
  58 STAR TRBR Ed
  ible, Sarah. At least, the theory seems sound,
if I remember my transporter mechanics
correctly."
  He smiled. "As you say, it seems like
yesterday. But we don't have to use the transporter,
Sarah. We can rema tilde n young, live our
lives over again. To be able to do that, have a second
life it was worth the trip to the negative universe
and the difficulties of returning. We've found a
true fountain of youth, Sarah in mathematics and
spatial physics, instead of an obscure plot
of mythical topography."
  "And all anyone has to do to make use of it,"
she said sadly, "is to have a great amount of daring and a
ship that can travel at
  warp tilde thirty-five. I'm afraid that our
experience is going to prove unique."
  "I'm afraid you're right, Sarah. Actually,
we're not going to live our lives over again, are
we? We're going to live a second life. That's
good."
  He smiled, warm, loving, a
  together-understanding smile. "I wouldn't want to live
the other one over again. I don't see how we could
ever improve on what we've had already. No,
Sarah, we've been blessed beyond any other people, been
granted a special privilege. We musn't
abuse it."
  "We didn't abuse it the first time around, Bob.
I'm not at all worried about a repeat
  performance."
  April's theory about the action of
  negative-universe forces turned out to be
correct. They started with the bridge crew, and
breathed sighs of relief when the adult analogs
reappeared to take the place of the children who had entered
the transporter
  Each member of the crew exited from the alcove with a
splitting headache. This was the only noticeable
side effect headache, and a uniform sometimes badly
askew. Both ailments were easily treated.
  It was slow going at first, carefully
  reprogramming according to old records and then
reintegrating with equal care. But once the engineering
officers had been brought back to true maturity,
they were able to take over the task and proceed with greater
speed and effl- ciency.
  So it didn't take overlong for the Enterprise
to ret
  STAR TRBGG'C BEBVBN 59
  turn to normal strength, experientially as well
as in numbers.
  Kirk leaned back in the command chair and
reflected on his brief but profound reentry
into childhood. Everyone on board had reacted
  differently to the experience, and not a few were undergoing
psychiatric outpatient treatment for traumas
incurred as a result.
  "I don't think we have any serious cases,
Jim," McCoy had informed him. "But if you see
any of the younger ensigns walking around sucking their
thumbs, try not to be too harsh on mem."
  Once again it was McCoy whose easy humor had
shattered a tense, potentially nerve-racking
situation. Any lingering worries among the crew
vanished in laughter as the good doctor's comment
passed around the ship.
  Most of the experience had faded to the memory of a
distant dream for Kirk, but there was one resurrected
bit of personal history that had stuck with him.
  He had a picture of a small, feisty boy in
preschool, with the instructor hovering over his computer
terminal, bawling him out for running mock battles
with the math keys instead of practicing computation tables.
  "Jimmy Kirk, I've told you and told you,"
she scolded. "If you keep wasting your time with such
nonsense you'll never amount to anything!"
  "Something amusing, Captain Kirk?"
  "Hmmm . . . what7" Kirk started, then
glanced back and up at a youthful Robert
April. "No, Commodore, I was just thinking that
among your other numerous distinctions, you're now going
to be regarded as the youngest commodore in the fleet.
But of course, you're not. Let's see,
extrapolating from your present recorded age, as
opposed to your new actual one, I'd estimate that
you can probably retire at the natural age of
one hundred and thirty. That should give you over a
hundred years in the service, Commodore.
  "I'd give a lot to see what Starfleet
accounting's going to do with those figures! Either they'll have
to refigure the basis for computing pensions,
or else you can
  60 STAR TREK L tilde She
  retire tomorrow with a full commodore's pension and a
whole lifetime to enjoy it in."
  "There is a host of fascinating ramifications,
Captain," April agreed. "But as you can guess,
financial considerations are not foremost in my mind."
He looked downcast.
  "The Minerva Nova's not far from Babel. And
we'll be there shortly. I know that should make me
happy, Jim, but it doesn't any more. I don't
care much about money." He looked up, and his
sorrowful eyes bore tilde nttoh iKirdkis
own, the same light of deep space glo i
  "You, of all people, can understand what does."
  Under pressure of that pleading stare, Kirk
couldn't hold back any longer.
  "Well then, I might as well tell you that
we've been m contact with Starfleet ever since we
regained control of the Enterprise. Naturally, they
were most interested in the details of our journey into the
negative universe. All the details,
Commodore."
  April looked at him unsurely. There was
something n the captain's voice. "What do
you mean; Jim?"
  "Nothing . . . just that we received a reply from
Starfleet headquarters, relayed all the way to us,
which might cheer you up a bit. I'd intended waiting
to reveal its contents until we were in orbit around
Babel, but" he shrugged "I
  couldn't stand to see a young man cry.
  "Lieutenant Uhura, would you repeat the
message to Commodore and Dr. April?"
  Uhura nodded happily. Like everyone else on
board she had come to regard the Aprils as fellow
crew members rather than as distinguished passengers. So
it gave her pleasure equal to Kirk's own to be
able to read "In view of Commodore Robert
April's heroic actions aboard the U.s.s.
Enterprise this stardate, the senior command is
reviewing mandatory retirement regulations with
special regard to the unusual circumstances
surrounding Commodore April's present
physical
  "His earlier requests to remain in active
service win
  STAR TREKB tilde n 61
  be given priority reevaluation. End
communique."
  She looked back across the bridge and smiled.
  April said nothing, but Sarah's left hand slid
smoothly into his right. His palm enveloped hers as
naturally and reassuringly as a snowbank settles
around a sleeping sled-dog.
  And I have more time to continue my research was she
murmured his
  one Or two things ,Perhaps this time I can
accomplish
  "Well, bravo,"; April finally exclaimed
confidently Maybe now I can talk them into doing
away with that idiot mandatory retirement age
altogether."
  His voice rose with the zeal of renewed youth
  "Retirement shouldn't be a function of abstract
statist tilde cs. By God, the Pederation's got
to realize that a piefirson s ability isn't
automatically invalidated on a spe
  "I'll support you on that, Bob," Erk
agreed, "and would even if I didn't see myself
repeating your complaint a number of years from now."
  Insertion into Babel orbit in one hour fifteen
minutes, Captain," Sulu reported from the
helm. April looked resigned.
  "Sarah and I had better get our things
together, Jim.
  may have to have some emergency alterations performed on
my dress uniform."
  And I can't wait to perform some on mine," Dr.
  prfl added vivaciously.
  April half-whispered the next words, but Kirk
heard
  em clearly. And, Jim, even if it wasn't
too pleasant or the rest of you, thanks for the
opportunity to be a starship captain again."
  They turned to leave the bridge, and as they did so
  rk roUced a' S
  rev ved Capella flower pril was holding the
brilliant
  Bob always did say that the Enterprise had the
best crew m Starfleet. I see it's as true
today as it was thirty years ago. Thank you for
everything, Captain Erk."
  Doctor April," he acknowledged softly.
Then his tone brightened. "I always wanted to be a kid
again After having the chance, I can see I wasn't
missing
  62 STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN
  much." He gestured at the blossom. ""I
see your flower's bloomed again."
  She was staring up at the contented face of the
commodore, but she heard him. "Everything has,
Captain," she murmured
  Kirk watched them until they had left the
bridge. He turned and settled back into the
chair. There was still a little time left before he would have to go
through the rigorsofdonning a full-dress uniform and
making inane conversation with boring but important people.
  For now he could spend a number of pleasant
hours doing nothing but staring at the exhilarating, lush
blackness of the real universe.
  As they neared Babel, he noticed Spock
staring into apparent nothingness. Such abstract
  concentration was not unusual for the first officer, however.
Often his thoughts were his own best friend. But Kirk
detected a hint of a peculiar expression crossing
Spock's face from time to time.
  Idly, he asked, "What did you think of your
tem- porary return to the joys of childhood,
Spock? You didn't age down to a squalling
babe like most of us, so your memory of those minutes
is probably stronger."
  "Joys of childhood, Captain7" the first
officer echoed diffidently. He assumed a firm,
  no-nonsense tone. "Childhood is a
time of indiscipline, insecurity, and instability,
both emotional and logical. Prom a
physiological and informational point of view the
experience was somewhat intriguing, but it was otherwise
nonbeneficial. I would hardly call it a
"joy," and I surely have no special desire
to repeat it."
  "Naturally, of course," Kirk muttered,
taken a bit aback by his friend's logical
appraisal of what, for him, had been a warm if
confusing experience. "I suppose I agree with you.
After all, that's the only rational way to look at
it."
  "Q."
  "By the way, what were you thinking of just now?"
  "Captain?"
  "A moment ago. You were wandering."!
  STAR TRB tilde L tilde SBVBN 63
  "if was . . . analysing the experience in question and
culling its scientific values."
  Kirk seemed disappointed. "Of course, though it
almost appeared once that you might have been talking
to yourself."
  "A not impossible phenomenon, Captain. I
am not immune to subliminal
vocalisations. It is merely rare in Vulcans.
But I am interested. What did you think you heard?"
  "Nothing that made sense," the Captain replied,
repeating it slowly. "Ee-chiya that's all."
  "You are correct, Captain, nothing that makes
sense." He returned his attention to his
multitude of instruments, his readouts and gauges and
illumined lists of scientific minutiae.
  "It vaguely resembled an obscure Vulcan
scientific term, nothing more. Nothing more...."
  The astounding metamorphosis of the Aprils was the
highlight of the ambassadorial gathering at
Babel. Expecting to honor an aged,
  white-haired couple, the conferees were shocked when
the youthful pair presented themselves at function after
stunned function.
  All they met were shocked, stunned, and envious
Hopes did not fall even when inquiries into the
bans formation by friends old and new revealed the
methodology necessary to achieve the radical alteration.
None present regarded the dangers of diving into a
nova seriously old men have nothing to lose. It
made some of them bolder than the rawest recruit.
  The devolution of the Aprils would have one side
effect. It would speed, with the aid of the charts
provided by Arretian scientists, research into warp
drive technology.
  Now immortality had become a question of getting
rapidly from place to place, in order to get from time
to time . . .
  As it turned out, Kirk was spared the enervating
agony of attending endless speeches, parties, and
conferences. A Federation cruiser not on planned
layover could not be permitted to languish unengaged
at an idle port of call. Their job had been
to deliver Commodore April and his wife to the
conference. This done, it was only a matter of time before
new orders were received.
  - Kirk kept a reluctant smile on his
face as he took leave of various
representatives on Babel.
  "Emergency priority signal received aboard,
Cap- tain," Spock whispered to him. Kirk
frowned, then reapplied the reluctant smile he
had been artfully employing all afternoon.
  "Sorry to have to run, Ambassador Werthd,
Admiral M'aart, Dame M'arrt," he
explained hastily to the little group. "Duty runs
on its own timetable."
  "Arr, yes," the ample mate of the
Caitian admiral purred in remembrance. "How
clearrly I myself rre- memberr the time only a
few yearrs ago when his
  "Yes, well, you'll have to tell me all about it,
in full detail the next time we can get together,"
Kirk assured her, backing smoothly toward the
doorway. "Let's get out of here, Mr.
Spock," he said feelingly, "before this smile
cracks my face."
  "A physiological impossibility,
Captain, though the meaning is clear."
  With mixed feelings Kirk reentered the bridge:
relief at the return to comfortable surroundings (how that
admiral's wife could whine!), but apprehension at
what would prompt Starlleet to break in on a
diplomatic conference.
  "You're certain this was an emergency priority
call, Lieutenant?" he asked Uhura. 64
  STAR TREK L tilde SHIN 65
  "Yes, sir. I keyed the proper response
code the moment I heard that you and Mr. Spock were
back on board. The message should be coming through any
second.l"
  4"All right, Lieutenant." Tap, tap
click, tap ... He forced his fingers
to freeze on the command-chair armrest, forced himself
to listen to the quiet. "Mr. Spock, has the
science section noted anything out of the ordinary in this
region?"
  "Negative, Captain. I ran a standard
query through all subsections the moment I arrived
back on board. Everything in this sector reports
in normal and undisturbed."
  "Call coming through, Captain."
  "Um. Put it on the main screen,
Lieutenant."
  Kirk swiveled slightly as the screen cleared.
Crisp with power, it showed the slight form of an aged
Oriental seated behind a gleaming chrome desk
devoid of ornamentation. Long white
  shoulder-length hair was combed straight back, and the
creases in that youngold face seemed as fresh and as
neatly cut as the hoes of her uniform. Only the
eyes of polished hazel revealed an intensity
inspired by something other than age. They hinted at
heavy burdens borne by generations. Only in the last
few had those burdens changed from physical
to mental.
  A hand came up in casual, knowing wave.
Three stripes decorated the sleeve.
  "Greetings, Captain Kirk," a
surprisingly strong voice said over the speakers and
across parsecs.
  Kirk's reply was one of respectful
surprise. This he hadn't expected. "Hello,
Commodore Sen. How are things at Starfleet
Security?"
  The commodore smiled wi/lly. "Interesting, as
always, Captain Kirk. Interesting and perpetually
worrisome. And, as always, people rather than events cause
the most trouble. For example, how do the renames
Van and Char Delminnen strike you?"
  "At a vague angle, Commodore. Sorry,
but I his
  "Excuse me, Captain, but I believe I
am familiar with the persons in question. If memory
serves me his
  66 STAR TREK By SBVBN
  "Doesn't it always?" Uhura murmured.
Spock favored her with a mildly reproving glance.
  "If memory serves, Van Delminnen was a
  Fellow of the London Institute for
Theoretical Physics some years ago. A
research Fellow. His specialty lay on the
fringe of what was known about the specific
gravity of heavy elements.
  "Apparently his brilliance was exceeded only
by his unorthodox methodology, which was in turn
matched by the volatility of his temperament. He
withdrew from the institute amid a storm of accusations
and counteraccusations. Dropped from sight . . . I
recall the tape well."
  "Nothing heard of them since?"
  "The only information I have encountered, Captain, were
rumors that he and his sister were living on an
otherwise uninhabited moon in the Theta
Draconis sys" fem."
  "Your opinion of him . . . from the information you've
encountered?"
  The first officer paused thoughtfully for a moment.
"Arrogant and harmless . . . a crippled genius,
Captain, possibly mentally unstable."
  "You are partially correct, First Officer
Spock," the serious voice called from the screen.
"Brilliant decidedly. Unorthodox yes.
Mentally unstable ... perhaps. But we have reason
to doubt the "harmless."" She reached off-screen and
consulted several sheets of plastic. After a
cursory glance, she turned back to the visual
pickup.
  "Captain Kirk a prospecting vessel whose
specialty is searching out marginal deposits of
valuable metals passed through the limits of the Theta
Draconis system ten standard days ago. They were
returning to mine a small deposit of polonium
reported by the original drone survey of the system
as existing on a continent of the ninth planet." She
leaned forward.
  "Instead of the ninth world, they found a previously
unreported asteroid cluster of considerable mass.
A similar cluster had also taken the place of the
system's eighth planetary body. Simple
calculations by the ship's
  STAR TREK L tilde SHIN 67
  computer indicated what you must already have sus-
pected: The mass of the two asteroidal groupings very
nearly equated that of the two missing worlds.
  "As you might imagine, they left the system without
pursuing these unusual developments more closely,
straining their engines to their limits.
  "I am told," she continued, as the bridge
crew lis- tened in amazement, "that normal
spatial
  phenomena can in no way account for this dual disaster.
We must therefore assume that abnormal
forces are at work Combine this information with the detection of
highly unusual, very powerful radiation emanating from
the system's largest moon, which circles its Sfth
world well, I hardly think I need to draw you a
diagram, Captain Kirk.
  "You see, Mr. Spock, the rumors were
correct. The Del1ninnens have taken up
residence in the Theta Draconis system. They have
also seemingly taken to making small planetoids out
of big planets.
  "StarJleet is very worried. I am very
worried. And since the Enterprise is the Federation
ship nearest the Theta Draconis system, you too
should be worried, Captain Kirk.
  "You will proceed immediately to the system in question and
establish contact with the Delminnens. You will invite
Van Delminnen to return to Terra, where he is
to be granted a permanent appointment to Stardeet
Research at a generous annual stipend."
  "Suppose," Kirk ventured, "Delminnen
declines our invitation? He has no reason
to hold any love for Federation institutions."
  - "In that unfortunate event," the commodore
replied, "you are authorized to utilize whatever
means you deem necessary to entice him and his
sister aboard ship. Good luck, Captain
Kirk."
  The image vanished. "Transmission concluded,
Captain," Uhura reported. "Standard recording
procedures were in operation."
  "Thank you, Lieutenant. I want that
blanket authorization made part of the formal
record." He turned to his Srst officer.
"Mr. Spock . . . opinions?"
  68 STAR TREK [equals SEVEN
  "A device capable of producing the effect
described by the commodore seems beyond the capability
of modern technology, Captain. Total
annihilation of a planetary mass, yes.
Selective disintegration, no."
  "And yet it appears that Delminnen can do just that.
No wonder Starfleet is concerned." Kirk
turned to the helm. "Mr. Sulu, set course for
Theta Draconis Five. Warp-five. Mr.
Arex, sound yellow alert. All stations will remain
on same until the Delminnens are secured on
board."
  "You make those two sound like a dangerous weapon,
Captain," Sulu observed solemnly.
  "That's exactly how the commodore
described them, Lieutenant. And that's exactly
how we're going to treat them at least until we
find out what's been going on in the Draconis
system . . ."
  Great bands of orange, red, and yellow turned
Theta Draconis Five into a monstrous ball of
poisoned softness. Its hostile surface lay
swathed in a fuzzy cloak of ammonia and
methane, and it howled at the ether with wild,
undisciplined radiations.
  Records indicated that it was attended by seven
satellites, one of- which the Erzterprise was
currently orbiting It was not the largest or the
smallest, but it was surely unique, for it
possessed a breathable atmosphere.
  "dis . . and little else," Spock intoned, his
eyes fixed to the gooseneck viewer. "Other than
the livable atmosphere, there is nothing of interest on
the moon, nothing to make it attractive
to settlers. It has neither commercial nor military
value."
  "All of which makes it ideal for a would-be hermit
like Delminnen," Kirk observed as he stared at the
rust-colored globe and its startlingly white
miniature icecaps. He touched a
switch on the command-chair
  -
  arm.
  "Captain's log, Stardate 5536.8. We have
arrived at Theta Draconis and established orbit
around the habitable moon of the fifth planet, where we
are hoping to
  STAR TREK L tilde SEWN 69
  encounter the elusive Delminnens and their mysterious
weapon . . . if indeed it is a weapon, if it
indeed exists.
  "Personally, I am skeptical as to the existence
of said device. But Mr. Spock has verified the
appearance of two unreported asteroid clusters in
the positions formerly occupied by planets eight and
nine, so some immensely powerful force has been at
work in this system." The captain closed down the log
and looked to his left. "Initial report, Mr.
Spock?"
  The first officer looked across, his attention turned
from his readouts. "Mostly desert, tundra or
hot, with little free water. No indication of life more
developed than the lower invertebrates. It's
easy to see why the Delminnens selected this
particular satellite. It offers nothing of
interest to the most bored traveler."
  "Then perhaps they won't mind leaving it so much.
Lieutenant Uhura, see if you can raise the
Delminnens. Try near the edge of the north polar
cap that appears to be the most hospitable section of
this moon."
  "Aye, sir." She turned to her instrumentation and
responded after a surprisingly short pause.
"Captain, I have made some kind of
aural-visual contact already."
  "They must have some detection equipment, then,"
Kirk noted. "Very well, flash the image on the
main screen." He threw Spock a quick glance.
"Get a fix on the transmitter's location and
relay it to Transporter Control."
  Spock moved to comply as Uhura struggled with her
equipment. "The signal is weak but clear . . .
there."
  The figure that appeared was that of a
  shockingly young man: rail-thin, pale-skinned, with
too-large eyes bordering a shark-hook of a nose.
Straight sandy hair fell in hirsute drips
across his face, and he brushed constantly, nervously
at the strands.
  "Who the devil are you and what do you
want?"
  Spock had moved to stand next to the command chair.
"Sociable fellow, isn't he?" Kirk whispered
to him, before turning to the screen and assuming his most
pleasant tone.
  "Good day to you, Professor Delminnen. I am
James Kirk, Captain of the starship
Enterprise, currently in
  70 STAR TREK L tilde SHIN
  orbit around your charming worldlet. I come at the
urgent request of Starfleet Command."
  "I'll bet." Delminnen smirked, smiling at
some private joke.
  "I have been instructed to offer you, in the name of the
F'ederation, a permanent research position in
advanced physical theory at the Starfleet
Institute itself, with all the honors "hereunto
attached." He kept a straight face as he
added, "There has been considerable renewed interest in
some of your early theories, you see."
  And the later developments, Kirk added, but to himself
only.
  "May I have the pleasure of conveying your
acceptance to Starfleet headquarters?"
  "Just ... just a minute, Captain,"
Delminnen said. "I need a moment to consider."
  Those aboard the Enterprise waited while the
figure disappeared from the screen. The lift doors
slid apart, and Dr. McCoy entered the bridge;
He looked from the now blank screen to Kirk. The
captain put a finger to his lips as Delminnen
reappeared.
  "I have considered your words, Captain Kirk,"
he said, "and find I don't believe a one of
them."
  His voice rose angrily. "Why should those
scientific cretins at Starfleet suddenly have the
desire, or the sense, to request my services?
Why should they now wish to subject me to honor instead
of ridicule?"
  Kirk took a deep breath. "I think you know the
answer to that, Delminnen. Evidence of your . . .
experimentation in this system has reached command levels.
Naturally, everyone is anxious to admire the
development which his
  "I thought as much," Delminnen said. His smirk
turned into a wide, unfrly smile. "I just
wanted to hear it out loud. Admire pagh! They
want to steal my knowledge! They always take what they can't
understand." He all but snarled into the
pickup.
  "You can tell those mathematical morons what they
can do with their honors, Captain. And if you don't
leave me and my sister alone, you'll find yourself the
  STAR TREK SBVBN 71
  recipient of a demonstration of just how admirable
my work here is."
  Kirk stared quietly at the suddenly blank
screen. "So much, " he murmured softly, "for
diplomacy. What do you think of our reluctant
guest, Mr. Spock?"
  The first officer considered. "A difficult
specimen. I can understand how such a
  psychological type could produce peculiar
theories, but it eludes me completely as to how he
could translate those theories into anyth tilde ng
practical. Yet it seems he has. We must
handle him the same way one would store a photon
torpedo with a sensitive detonator forcefully but with
great care.
  "I concur. Order a security landing party to stand
by n the Main Transporter Room."
  "Armed, Captain?"
  Armed."
  Spock rose and turned to leave, adding,
"Then I think it best that I instruct those chosen
myself, so that everyone is fully cognizant of the
difficulties involved."
  As the lift doors closed behind the science
officer, Kirk turned to the still-silent McCoy.
"What's your professional opinion of Delminnen,
Bones?"
  You mean, does he appear sane?"
  Kirk gave a twisted smile. "Nothing so
obvious. What I want to know is . . . is he
sane enough? Or is he likely to go off the deep
end when we knock on his front door and ask him
to accompany us?"
  Well, he's arrogant, suspicious, and
possibly a borderline paranoid, but I don't
think he's homicidal, Jim. And his arrogance is
rather reassuring."
  Kirk frowned in puzzlement.
  "He's too certain of his own importance to be
suic tilde dal, McCoy explained.
  I hope you're right. In any case, you'll have
an opportunity to make a firsthand diagnosis any
minute. You re coming down with Spock and me."
  'Me? What for?"
  "Our orders say to utilize all necessary
means to bring Delminnen and his sister back with us.
If he becomes violent and we have to be less than
tactful with
  72 STAR TREK L tilde SEWN
  him, I want you along to pick up the pieces."
Kirk pushed against the arms of the chair and sighed
resignedly. "Let's get it over with."
  "Captain!"
  Kirk turned from the lift to look sharply back
at the helm. "What is it, Mr. Sulu?"
  The helmsman was working hastily with a bank of
instruments that had been silent the entire journey from
Babel. They were all suddenly active.
  - "Detectors indicate another vessel
emerging from the planet's shadow."
  Kirk rushed back to his seat.
"Identification?"
  "Not possible yet."
  "Mr. Arex, have you a fix on her?"
  "Yes, Captain," came the gentle, whistling
reply. "It is a capital ship, apparently
non-Federation in origin."
  "Full magnification on the forward scanners,
Mr. Sulu."
  The screen lit up, giving a view of the
slowly turning gas giant. Suddenly the intruder
seemed to leap forward, to show an irregular, though
clearly artificial, shape outlined against the
brilliant hues of the planet's dense
atmosphere.
  "That's a Klingon cruiser, Jim," McCoy
declared.
  "I can see that, Bones," Kirk muttered.
"Mr. Sulu, sound red alert. Mr. Arex,
align phasers to his
  "Receiving transmission from the Klingon ship, Cam
fain," Uhura interrupted.
  "Acknowledge their signal, Lieutenant." He
turned an expectant gaze to the viewscreen.
  The Klingon who appeared there was seated in his
counterpart of Kirk's command chair, but his height was
evident nonetheless. His attitude was one of relaxed
attention in fact, he very nearly slouched. Except
for the tight set of his lips and the churning one might
detect beneath unusually bushy brows, he appeared
almost friendly. And when the image had fully resolved
at both ends of the transmission, he even smiled.
  "Well, well . . . it is true what is said
about the false
  STAR TREK By SBVBN 73
  size of the universe. I have been expecting and
dreading such a meeting for many years.
  "How have you been, Jim?"
  A soft sigh of air on the bridge came as
several jaws dropped simultaneously.
  "He called you 'Jim,"" McCoy finally
whispered in astonishment. "You two know each others"
But Kirk continued to stare at the screen, ignoring the
question.
  "Hello, Kumara. It is you?"
  "It is indeed none other, old friend. A strange
place, after so many years, for a reunion, is it
not?"
  "Jim!" McCoy was fairly dancing with
curiosity.
  "Not now, Bones," Kirk replied firmly.
His voice rose as he addressed the attentive
figure on the screen. "Yes, it's a strange
place for a reunion, Commander . . . it is
"Commander" now, isn't it?"
  The figure smiled again and nodded.
  "In fact, it's such a strange place that I
wonder what you're doing here. This system is far off
Imperial patrol routes."
  The Klingon commander shifted in his seat.
"A reasonable question, Jim. One which I might
equally well ask of you. But since you inquired first
. . . I have been instructed by the Imperial
Resources Bureau to survey this system with regard
to locating salvageable resources. While I will
concede its greater proximity to the Federation sphere, you
will recognise that it has not been formally claimed
by your government. Therefore, we have as much right here as you.
  "You are welcome to whatever you may find, though.
Witch the slight exception of the sun-forsaken bit of
sand you now orbit, our explorations have proven
singularly unprofitable. There is practically nothing
here worthy of Imperial attention ... doubly
true when one considers the distance to the nearest
Imperial world.
  "But enough of business!" The smile widened. "It
is good to see you again, Jim. I invite you to share a
container of Gellian vita with me. Would you do me the
honor of joining me aboard, say, ten of your
  - tilde
  74 STAR TREK LOG SLOAN
  minutes from now? Or, if you prefer, I can come
aboard the Enterprise."
  Kirk smiled in return. "No, your ship will be
fine. The honor is mine, Kumara. I
accept."
  "I am gratified. Till then . . ."
  Kirk's smile held until the Klingon
commander's image had vanished. His expression
turned grim, and he snapped at the chair
pickup.
  "Transporter Room stand by to transport landing
party. Mr. Spock?"
  "Here, Captain," the reply came.
  "Red alert was sounded because there's a Klingon
cruiser in the area. AU personnel are
to transport down with one hand on their sidearms."
  "Very good, Captain."
  Kirk clicked off, and McCoy had to run
to reach the elevator with him. "Why the rush, Jim?
You can't possibly expect to get Delminnen and his
sister offmoon in time to make your
  appointment with this Kumara."
  Kirk's tone was low, curt. "Listen, Bones,
Kumara may just be the best starship commander the
Klingons have. You can bet your precision nerve
welder the Emperor didn't send him this far from
base to play prospector! I'll also bet that
hypothetical bottle of Gellian vitz he
mentioned that he's here because Klingon
intelligence got wind of that Federation
prospector's report. They're prospecting,
all right and if they get their hands on Delminnen,
they'll mine him for all he's worth and they won't
be too concerned about putting him back together when
they've finished with him."
  McCoy hesitated momentarily. "Jim, I
asked you if you knew this Kumara ... personally,
I meant. You waved me off. Where do you know each
  other from so well that you immediately call each other
by first names?"
  "Is it that important, Bones?"
  "WeUs, now, I don't know, Jim,"
McCoy said evenly. "When two enemy captains
display a certain degree of familiarity unheard
of in previous his
  "All right," Kirk broke in, turning to face
the doc
  STAR TREK L tilde SEWN 75
  for. "Yes, Kumara and I know each other on an
informal basis. Did you ever hear of the FEA,
Bones?"
  McCoy considered. "No . . . no, wait a
second. The Friendship Exchange Action, wasn't
it?"
  Kirk nodded. "Remember what it was about?"
  "Sure it was well documented in all the
psychology journals. Was set up during one of
those brief friendly periods between the
  Federation and the Klingon Empire. Some bright
medical theorist thought it might promote understanding between
peoples if academy cadets from both cultures
spent some time in close contact with one another. The
program was limited to command candidates, if I
remember right."
  "It was and you do," Kirk acknowledged as the lift
doors slid apart.
  "Do what?" Spock inquired politely, and
Kirk was forced to explain as he and McCoy entered
the Transporter Room.
  "Gentlemen, Kumara is one of the sharpest,
smartest individuals I've ever met, and we can be
thankful the Empire hasn't another dozen like him.
He's also the only Klingon I've encountered who
wasn't so puffed up with his own importance that he
ignored his opponent's capabilities. And he
expects us to believe he's here for casual
"explorationstl his
  "Begging your pardon, Captain," Spock
  commented, "but this still doesn't explain how
you come to address each other in so familiar a
fashion."
  "Oh, that. We were roommates, Mr.
Spock." He led them into the transporter
alcove.
  Five armed crew members were already there, each
standing at the ready on his respective disk. One
small, dark-skinned man saluted as the three
officers stepped up into the alcove
  "Ensign Gemas and landing party reporting ready,
sir."
  "Very good, Ensign." Kirk looked at the
waiting group. "We may have to move fast . . . be
prepared for anything"
  Short, confident nods; a few muffled
"ayes."
  Kirk turned to face the console. "Scatty,
I want you
  - tilde
  76 STAR TREK LOG SBVBN
  to stay with us at all times. Keep the
transporter energized. If I'm right about our
obliging visitor, we may have to come aboard in a
hurry."
  "No need to worry, Captain. I'm
not movie" until you're all back right where you are
now."
  "Good. Try to set us down about fifty meters from
the surface transmitter coordinates ...tilde
in some cover, if information is sufficient to permit
it."
  Scatty manipulated the instrumentation, and Kirk
saw him waver and disappear. He wondered if an
armed Klingon would replace the tense figure of his
chief engineer.
  The security-team members were already
  drawing their phasers as they materialised. They
landed lightfooted, owing to the weak gravity, breathing
short and fast in the thin air. A few stars shone through
the violet sky, and the immense globe of Theta
Draconis Five hung like a baleful candy eye
above the far horizon.
  A few scraggly, ground-hugging shreds of
greenishbrown resembling dying kelp shivered in the
lee of weDo-worn boulders, offering the only
defiance to the terribly-near sterility of naked
space.
  Sixteen eyes studied the unimpressive
  surroundings until they were satisfied as to its
harmlessness. McCoy pointed to the east.
  "There it is, Jim."
  A low, rambling group of single-story
  interconnecting building modules thrust out of the
sand nearby. They clustered near a huge metallic
bubble like termites around a bloated queen.
  Kirk sniffed at the odd, unsatisfying
  atmosphere. "Maybe I'm wrong," he
muttered. "I hope so." He took a step toward
the buildings.
  Displaced air let out a soprano scream as a
blue beam passed near his right shoulder. It struck
a boulder behind, sending rock splinters flying. One
crewman clutched at his shoulder as he spun to the
sand.
  "Take cover! Spread out and return fires"
Kirk yelled, even as he dove for the nearest
clump of rocks. Spock was at his side, his
phaser out and firing as
  STAR TRBR Ed SEVBM 77
  he hit me ground. McCoy had hold of the
injured crewman's legs and was pulling him
to shelter, analyz tilde ing the man's surface
wound at the same time.
  Kirk peered around the left side of a hunk of
basalt. The source of the beams was the near
bank of a dry streambed. Silhouettes of the
  beam-wielders were readily identifiable. Phaser
beams began to strike the edge of the bank, fusing sand
and gravel and sending rock fragments flying. The
Klingon landing party was well protected.
  "It would appear that your initial estimate of
Commander Kumara was correct, Captain," Spock
observed as his beam singed the hair of a too-anxious
Klingon.
  "Yes. Still, it's not like him to assume a formal
defensive position like this and slug it out. More
likely we surprised him just as his party set down.
Spock, if this fight goes against him, I don't
think he would hesitate to destroy the Delminnens
to keep them and their device from falling
into non-Imperial hands. I'm going to try to get
them clear of that complex before the Klingons decide
to blow it to bits. Give me all the covering fire
you can."
  There was a pause while the instructions were relayed
to the other members of the landing party. Then they unleashed
a furious burst of phaser firepower as Kirk
dashed for the nearest wall of the modular cluster.
  Something warm went by his right ear, humming like a
wasp. He dove, rolled, and came up
behind the wall of the outermost structure. A quick glance
around the edge revealed that the Klingons were fully
occupied with the rest of the Enterprise's landing party.
  Reaching up, Kirk felt his ear. A blister was
beginning to form, so near had the beam been. But he still
had all of him.
  Sliding along the wall in an attempt to remain
concealed from those inside as well as everyone outside,
he finally reached a thick window. It took a moment
to make the proper adjustment to his hand phaser.
Then, using it like a torch, he carefully melted
down the window plastic.
  78 STAR TREK LOG SBVBN
  A cautious peek showed the interior of a comfortable,
denlike room. It was dark and deserted. Resetting
his phaser on stun, he put one leg over the sin and
eased himself into the room. It was empty.
  Kirk took out his communicator and flipped it
open. Suddenly someone screamed.
  Sound, left; door, closed; reaction that which is
quickest rather than that which is planned.
  The door opened easily. At the far end of the
halflaboratory, half-living quarters, Kumara
was supporting an unconscious Van Delminnen
while wrestling with a struggling woman. Her
features were softer, less aquiline than
Delminnen's, but the resemblance wasunmistakable.
  Kumara was juggling his communicator along with the
two bodies. Looking up, he saw Kirk
framed in the doorway and froze.
  Thawing was rapid. "Up, fool," he shouted
into his communicator. "Beam us up or it's your
head! Beam was He was forced to drop his
  communicator in order to hold on to Char
  Delminnen.
  Kirk was running toward the trio as they began
to fade. "Scatty upl" was all he had time
to yell into his own communicator.
  On board the Enterprise, Scott heard the
brief command and spoke to his assistant. "Don't
stand there like you've seen Loch Nessie, man let's
get him upl" Sure hands commenced rapid
  manipulation of precision controls.
  The figure of Kirk began to scintillate at
the edges. At the same time, he threw himself, arms
outstretched toward the three figures. Confused
energies interacted in a brilliant display of
condensed high-power pyrotechmcs.
  The reaction on board the Enterprise was smaller
but no less spectacular. Lights that should
have remained dark flashed brightly on the transporter
console. Gauges which ought to have stayed quiescent
suddenly danced as if afflicted by a mechanical
Saint Vitus' dance. Sparks arched indecently from
switch to closed contact and back again.
  STAR TREK By SBVBN 79
  Scott's mind was in turmoil, but he held
himself steady as he adjusted, realigned, and
compensated, glancing nervously from the console to the
still-vacant transporter alcove.
  "Come on, Captain," he whispered tightly,
"come
  on.
  He shoved one switch forward another notch.
Four jumbled, indistinct shapes began to form within the
alcove. They flickered in and out like boat lights in
a fog.
  "Engineering," he called to the open directional
pickup, "Main Transporter Room, Chief
Scott speaking. I want all the power
transporter circuits will carry or you'll be
carryin' it with your hands next time!"
  He shoved the crucial control into the red. As he
did so, the four shapes grew more distinct, almost
materialized.
  The control hit the far end of the slot.
  Metal- ran like water, and intricate components
turned to blobs of expensive slag. Tiny popping
sounds came from within the console's base.
  Kirk and a young woman solidified.
  Simultaneously, the other two indistinct
images abruptly disappeared. Kirk wavered, his
leg muscles rippling uncontrollably; then he
collapsed to the floor, rolling out of the alcove The
woman fell on top of him.
  "Captain!" Waving at the acrid smoke which now
curled about the ruined console, Scott staggered around
itSo edge, moving to a wall intercom. "Sick
Bay ... corpsman to the Main Transporter
Room, on the double! Chief Kyle?"
  "Here, sir," came the reply.
  "Stand by second-level transporter . . .
we've still got a landing party on the surface."
  "Standing by, sir."
  Spock studied the ravine ahead, turned, and
called back to the rest of the team. "Cease firing
... they've transported clear." He turned his
attention toward the cluster of structures as a
figure wriggled up alongside him.
  80 -- STAR TREK L tilde
SEWN
  "You think they've given up the fight, Spock?"
wondered McCoy, his attention likewise riveted
on the buildings.
  "The fight . . . yes," commented Spock
unsurely. "The war . . . I don't know. I
wish I knew as much about this Klingon Kumara as the
captain seems to. He may already be back on
board . . . someone used a communicator a lithe
while ago."
  A tremendous explosion caused both men to bury
their heads in the sand. Bits of metal and plastic and
other nonmetallic debris, mixed with sand and
rock, rained down on them.
  They looked up. When the dust and smoke cleared,
they saw a small crater where the metal bubble and
its attendant structures had stood.
  McCoy looked questioningly at Spock. "If the
eaptain's not already on board . . ."
  Spock merely nodded, flipped open his
  communicator. "Spock to Enterprise . . .
beam us up. What" he stumbled over the words, an
  indication of how he felt "what word on the
captain?"
  "He's aboard and all right, Mr.
Spock," came the filtered burr of Chief
Engineer Scott, much to the relief of both men.
"But somethin" ... I dinna know what yet . . .
went wrong with the
  transporter. Nurse Chapel is treatin'
him. Stand by to beam up."
  They materialised in a room different from the one
they had left. Disorientation lasted only a moment;
then Spock addressed the security team. "Ensign
Gemas, dismiss your people. You," he said to the injured
crewman, "report to Sick Bay and have that shoulder
treated."
  "Tell whoever's on duty to use the
extractor, son," McCoy added. "You've still
got some stone shrapnel imbedded in the muscle."
The man nodded, wincing painfully.
  McCoy, divas the first to enter the rubble of the
stillsmoke-filled Transporter Room, saw the
two seated figures propped against the wall
flanking the alcove.
  "Jiml" He hurried over to the captain,
knelt, and looked at Nurse Chapel.
  STAR TREK L tilde SHIN 81
  "Nervous shock, Doctor," she explained in a
profesBional tone, complicated
by extended trauma of unknown origin."
  "Thank you, Chapel. I'll take over here.
Help her." He indicated the blank-eyed woman
slumped against the wall, and Chapel moved to do so.
Spock bent to study the woman also.
  McCoy examined Kirk hurriedly, pulled a
hypo from lcit Chapel had brought, and administered
it. While he waited for the drug to take effect,
he glanced curiously back toward the transporter
console, where Scott and his assistant were busily
examining its cauterised innards.
  "What happened, Mr. Scott?"
  The chief engineer stared a moment longer at the intr
tilde cate circuit board its fluid-state
switches a mass of thin goo, its hundreds of
microchips forming metal stalactites on its edge
and he shook his head dole*Illy.
  "I dinna know, Doctor. One minute there were
four figures beamin' in, then they'd fade almost
to nothing, then grow solid again. In an' out, in an'
out, no matter how fine we calibrated the
resolution or how much power we poured
into materialisation. I finally decided to pull "em
in with everythin" we had. The captain came-through all
right and so did the young lady, but the other
two, whoever they were, disappeared. Diane ask me
where to."
  McCoy would have pressed for details, but Kirk
was groaning and moving his head.
  "Doctor," Spock declared with concern, "this one
is not responding to stimuli." Chapd indicated
agree
  "Get a stretcher detail up here, Chapd, and
have her moved to Sick Bay."
  "Yes, Doctor." She moved to issue the necessary
order. Spock leaned close to Kirk and looked
up at
  "He's coming around. I don't know what
  happened to them when the transporter went crazy,
but the effects were just this side of overpowering."
  82 STAR TREK L tilde SBVBN
  A pair of medical techs appeared with a wheelab
between them, and McCoy watched as the woman was gently
placed on the mobile bed and rolled from the room.
  Kirk let out a loud moan, diverting their
attention.
  "Captain, can you reason?" inquired Spock
anx- iously. "Do you know where you are?"
  Kirk only groaned again.
  Spock looked worriedly at
McCoy. "What are the possible effects on
someone held in transport for too long,
Doctor?"
  McCoy shrugged slightly. "No one knows for
certain what happens to the mind in extended
transport, Spock. Transporters used under
normal conditions are foolproof. Under abnormal
  conditions, we just don't know enough about what actually
takes place. There are two known cases of people who
were in transport when there was an all-systems power
failure, backups included. They were finally brought
in, but in a coma from which they never emerged."
  He looked back to Kirk, just as the captain
opened his eyes and blinked. "Where are the others?"
  At the sound of Kirk's voice, Scott left
analysis of the ruined transporter console to his
assistant. "Thank the saints you're all right,
Captain."
  "Thank you, Scotty." Kirk stood up,
rubbing at his forehead. "You've heard of locking
someone in a water-filled, lightless tank so that they
experience near-total sensory deprivation,
Bones?"
  "I'm familiar with the therapy, Jim."
  "Well, I just experienced the
opposite extreme."
  He looked around the room. "Am I the only
one who came through?"
  "No, Captain," Scott informed him. "There was
a young lady as well. And there appeared to be at
least two other figures, but for some reason the
transporter malfunctioned and we couldn't hold
them." He looked at the deck. "I fear they've
gone to where no one can find them."
  "No, Scotty, and don't blame yourself. Your
transporter didn't fail. Our friend Kumara was
all set
  STAR TREK Em *83
  to have himself and the Delminnens beamed back to his ship
while we supposedly sat around and waited for the big
reunion. I inconveniently barged in on him as
he was preparing to do just that.
  "As soon as he saw me he ordered his techs
to beam himself and the Delminnens up. I didn't have
tinne to do anything but make the same request of you,
Scotty, and take a dive for the three of them,
hoping our transporter could overpower theirs. Looks
like it ended up a tie."
  He glanced over at Spock. "I see you got
back safely Spock. Casualties?"
  "One injured, Captain," the first officer
reported.
  Not seriously."
  "Good. Maintain red alert. Where's the girl .
. . Char Delminnen?"
  "In Sick Bay by now, Jim," McCoy
explained.
  She 8 suffering from shock also. I ran a quick
test on her, and I suppose your shock was induced
by the same thing Some of your blood got
  switched around in all the transporting
  confusion veins to arteries and vice versa. Your
shock was induced by temporary oxygen
  starvation." He shook his head. "Wait till they
read about that in the Starfleet Medical Journal."
  "Will she be all right?"
  "I expect so. She's probably coming out of it
even as we're talking."
  "Captain . . . ?" Scott looked pensive.
  "Yes, what is it, Scotty?"
  "You'll pardon me for sayin' so, but you took the
devil of a chance intersectin' transporter fields
like that. No wonder everythin' went overload. You
could've had a lot more than your
  hemoglobin switched around."
  "I know, Scotty," Kirk replied
solemnly. "I knew it at the time But there was
nothing else to do. At least Char Delm tilde
nnen's safe."
  "Wonderful for her," McCoy noted bitterly,
"but the one we came for is either dead or, more
likely, on board the Klingon cruiser."
  "A situation we're going to have to rectify,
Bones."
  "Message from the bridge, sir," came a
call from an
  84 STAR TRBIC LOG SBVBN
  ensign standing by the wall intercom. Kirk hurried
to take his position.
  "Transporter Room, Kirk here."
  Sulu's voice was excited, tense.
"Captain, the Klingon cruiser appears to be
picking up speed. Indications are she's retracing
her original approach."
  "Lay in a tracking course, Mr. Sulu.
Don't let her slow speed fool you Kumara's
trying to get into the shadow of the gas giant. If he
can do that, he'll move to maximum speed immediately,
before we can get a fix on him. Don't let him out
of detector range."
  "Yes, sirs,,
  Kirk moved to rejoin McCoy and Spock.
  "What is it, Jim?"
  "Van Delminnen's on board the Klingon ship
all right. Kumara's now trying to sneak out of the
system and run for cover. We're going after him,
Bones."
  "Was that indicated in the orders, Captain?"
wondered Spock.
  Kirk threw his first officer a hard look. "The
orders were to bring back the Delminnens, Mr.
Spock, utilizing whatever methods were
  necessary."
  "A blanket authorisation with regard to the
persons of the Delminnens, Captain," Spock
persisted, "but does that justify pursuit of an
enemy ship?"
  "They can quibble over the semantics later,
Mr. Spock," Kirk declared. "After Van
Delminnen is safely delivered to the nearest
Starfleet base." He stalked toward the lift.
  A sudden surge rocked them as the lift opened
onto the bridge. Kirk moved immediately to his command
position while Spock took his place at the
science station. McCoy hovered nearby,
feeling helpless as usual, despite the benefits
his presence always brought to a tense bridge.
  "Report, Mr. Sulu."
  "Captain, as soon as we started to move, they
increased their speed slightly. I adjusted our own
to match, at which point they accelerated again. Thanks
to your warning, Mr. Arex and I
  anticipated it and matched velocity once more.
We are still within detec
  STAR TREK Ed 85
  for range, traveling at warp-six." He
checked a readout. "But we are not making up any
distance on them."
  "I didn't expect we would be, Mr.
Sulu," replied Kirk. "They're certain to be
traveling at their max- imum safe speed . . .
for now. That's going to have to change. Mr. Spock?"
  "Yes, Captain?"
  "Did you discover anything in the Delminnen complex
which might have been the weapon?"
  "Unfortunately, we never had the opportunity
to look. Do not look alarmed, Captain neither did
the Klingons."
  Kirk relaxed visibly
  "The Delminnen residence,
laboratories, and any conceivable weapon were
completely
  destroyed by a timed device planted by the
Klingons soon after you entered the outer structure.
We were unable to prevent the
  destruction. Considering the manner in which the
Klingons departed, it seems reasonable to assume that
the device was intended to detonate with all of us
inside the complex. It seems rather wasteful. I am
surprised the Klingons did not attempt to recover
the device itself."
  "I'm not, Spock. Kumara never liked to take
chances. Having captured one major piece, he
opted to blow up the board. Obviously, he's
convinced Delminnen can be persuaded to give him the
plans for the device." He stared grimly at the
starfield displayed on the main screen. "The
Klingons can be most persuasive."
  He paused, mulling multiples of light over
in his mind. "Spock, what is the nearest Klingon
military base of importance in this region?"
  "A moment, Captain." Spock bent over the
library computer and reported quickly. "According to what
information we have, there is a naval base of considerable
size on Shahkur Nine."
  "Do we have coordinates for said world?"
  "Yes, Captain. They are imprecise,
however."
  - "Hmm." Kirk turned to the helm. "Mr.
Arex, as
  86 STAR TRB tilde E tilde SEVEN
  suming ShaLkur lies at the closest possible
point given by those imprecise stats, compute the time
we can expect to have before ships from that world could be
expected to rendezvous with Kumara and with the
Enterprise."
  Arex's triple hands worked busily at the
navigation console, extrapolating from a simple
yet crucial series of numbers. He expressed
no worry, no excitement over the results. That
was the Edoan way. Emotions were subdued, but not
supressed as they were among the inhabitants of
Vulcan.
  "Assuming both vessels maintain their current
velocity, Captain, I give us no more than
forty-eight standard hours."
  "Maximum?)"'
  "Given the restrictions of questionable coordinates for
ShaLkur ... yes. That figure is for vessels
of the Enterprise's class out from Shahkur.
Lesser classes would take longer, of course."
  "But we can't assume they'll send
lesser-class ships." He glanced back at
Spock. "This ShaLkur Nine is supposed to be
a major base, Mr. Spock?"
  "Yes, Captain."
  Kirk looked resigned. "Then we'd better
assume Kumara will meet additional- cruisers in
a couple of days. That gives us very little time
to rescue Delminnen."
  ""Or to kill him, Captain," reminded
Spock quietly
  Kirk's voice was flat. ""Or to kill
him."
  It was silent on the bridge for several of those
fortyeight hours. Silent, but far from inactive, as
Kirk and Spock considered the options open to them in
the shrinking time available.
  The stillness was too much for McCoy, finaUy.
He had checked half a dozen times on the
  condition of the injured security specialist and paid
an equal number of visits to Char
  Delminnen all a waste of time, as the
specialist's injury was minor and Nurse Chapel
had the woman under mild sedation.
  "Well, what are we going to do, Jim? We could
cad
  STAR TRBX tilde SB -- n 89
  would be a part of the Empire, as the Great Gods
intended it should be.
  "Lieutenant, there is a game humans play,
a game Vulcans play. It is called chess.
Ever hear of it?"
  Kritt turned from his console, confident that the
heathen Federation ship was still a safe distance behind, and
succeeded in looking earnestly puzzled.
  "A human game? Hardly, Commander. Why do you
ask?"
  "I suspected you had not. Pew of us have,
preferring to languish in contempt of anything not
Klingon; and that is much to be deplored. You might
look it up in the archives sometime. The knowledge would do you
good.
  "Were Captain Kirlf and I presently-
to be engaged in such a game, I would say I have him
dangerously in check, with the next move being his."
  "Ah," observed Kritt, brightening, "it is
something like bagap, then?"
  Kumara considered, then indicated approval
"There are similarities, yes, though
bagap is a much faster game. And chess is
played with little wooden idols on a plastic or
celluloid field, instead ofwith live slaves."
  "It sounds very dull."
  "Be assured, it is not." Kumara's manner
shifted abruptly from one of casual camaraderie and
introspection to that of the complete dictator. "Under
no circumstances are we to engage
  emergency power unless the Enterprise does so
firstl Make certain all concerned understand this
implicitly!"
  "At once, Commander," Kritt shot back,
relaxing now that his superior was once more the model of
Klingon leadership . . .
  "Kumara," Kirk explained to the attentive
Spock as McCoy listened in, "is difficult
to surprise, but there's no reason to suppose that his
subordinates are anything other than the usual
Klingon ratings. That means they'll be contemptuous,
secure in their present tactical position and
overconfident. I'm hoping that will also make them just
lazy enough."
  90 STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN
  "Lazy enough for what, Jim?" McCoy wondered.
  "You'll see. Mr. Spock, have the
  shuttlecraftreadied for departure."
  Spock's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "The
shut- tlecraft, Captain?"
  "That's right Make certain it's fully fueled."
  Spock moved to his library-science station and
directed his words to the intercom pickup. "first
Offlcer Spock to Shuttle Bay. Prepare
Shuttle One for immediate flight." He looked back
across at Kirk.
  "Pilot and course, Captain?"
  "There will be no pilot, Spock. The shuttle will
run on automatics which win be guided by the
Enterprise's battle computer."
  "Now I'm thoroughly confused, Jim,"
McCoy muttered.
  "With luck, the Klingons will be too, Bones.
Mr Arex, set a course for the shuttle: zero
degrees incline tion to plane of present
course." Then he recited a plot which even
McCoy was able to recognize
  "But . . . that's our present course, Jim his
  Kirk smiled back at him. "I'm not fooling
anyone, you see. The simplest device is often the
best. Everyone keeps an eye out for the least
obvious." He addressed the chair
pickup.
  "Engineering?"
  "engineering, Scott here. Are we gain"
to make a run at them Snally, Captain?"
  "After a fashion, Scotty. I'm going to want
every milligram of push you can coax out of those engines
in a few minutes. We're going to have to push them right
to the limit."
  "You'll have whatever you need, Captain."
  At the rear of the Enterprise, twin clamshell
doors slid back to reveal a high, well-lit
chamber the shuttlecraft hangar. Tiny wisps of
frozen air, missed by the recyclers, puffed out from the
crack which appeared between the doors.
  Spock listened for a moment, then turned
to report, "Shuttlecraft One ready for launch,
Captain." tilde
  Kirk took a deep, hopeful breath. "All
right. Ready, everyone. Mr. Sulu, I want
full emergency power."
  STAR TRBRCCE tilde SEVEN 91
  "Aye, sir." Sulu activated the necessary
controls. A steady, rarely heard whine began
to build on the bridge as the Enterprise's
immense engines labored to comply.
  On board the Klingon cruiser, Lieutenant
Kriff suddenly bent close over his console and
stared intently at the readouts from the rear-facing
scanners.
  "Commander, the Federation ship is closing on us!"
He paused to check the information with the helmsman.
"Reports confirmed they are
  increasing speed rapidly."
  Kumara frowned slightly, and peered at the growing
dot on the viewscreen. He searched his mind for
possibilities, but found nothing but groundless
conjecture
  "I had expected something more elaborate from
James Kirk. Even so, he is pressed for time.
He must know we will contact ShaLkur Base and
request reinforcement soon." He barked an order
at Kritt. "Prepare to go on emergency power."
  Sulu was busy studying the information his own
scanners were sending back to him. "We're gaining on
them, sir.
  "Speed, Mr. Sulu?"
  "Warp-seven ... coming up on war tilde eight,
max- imum speed."
  "Push her as far as she'll stand, Lieutenant."
  Zulu shoved down the final switch,
pressed the last button, and turned his attention to a
bank of small dials. All were creeping steadily
into the red at the end of each scale.
  "Definitely closing on the Klingon ship,
Captain," Arex reported with a touch of
  excitement.
  "Engine temperature rising rapidly,
Captain," Spock reported.
  On board the Klingon cruiser, Kumara
  examined the flow of information and muttered into a
pickup. "Stand by, Engineering. Not yet,
Kritt," he added, noticing one of the
navigator's hands hovering tensely over a
control. "Learn patience and attain permanence."
  92 STAR TREK LOG SBVBN
  "Converter temperature is nearing the melting
point, Captain," Spock reported, not looking
up from his instrumentation. "Coming up on phaser range.
Shall I prepare to fire?"
  "Negative, Mr. Spock." There was a beep
at his arm. "What is it, Scotty?"
  The chief engineer's worried voice sounded
distantly over the speaker, distorted by the now deafening
whine of the engines.
  "Captain, we canna keep this up much
longer without melting something critical!"
  "Hold steady a bit longer, Scotty."
  "A bit is all it'll be, Captain.
Engineerin' out."
  "Exalted Commander," a worried Kritt said,
looking anxiously from his console back at Kumara,
"they'll be within phaser range any minute."
  "Gently, Lieutenant, gently."
  Spock's tone never changed, only the
  information was modulated. "Engine temperature
nearing the critical point, Captain." He
turned and looked at Kirk, with an expression that
said more lucidly than words, Do now whatever you've
got a mind to do.
  Kirk hesitated no longer.
  "Launch shuttlecraftl"
  Spock gave the order and reported promptly,
"Shuttlecraft away and locked on course."
  "Cut emergency power ... reduce speed
to warpSiX.
  "Reducing speed," Sulu responded.
  "Engine temperature dropping rapidly,
  Captain," Spock announced. As he did so,
the temperature on the bridge also seemed to drop
noticeably.
  "Engineering, report," Kirk said into the
pickup. There was a long moment before Scott's
tired voice replied.
  "Engineerin' . . . We almost lost one of the
dilithium chambers. You cut it mighty near,
Captain."
  "Sorry, Scotty. Had to. Congratulate
everyone back there for me. For all of us."
  STAR TREK By SBVBN 93
  "I will, Captain ... as soon as they stop
tremblin'. Engineering out." Scott clicked off,
moved to the central console, and planted a wet
kiss of gratitude on a certain gauge which had
yet again moved him one minute nearer a
  comfortable retirement.
  "What now, Jim?" McCoy wondered aloud,
  staring at the viewscreen. Their quarry was no
longer a distant glowing pinpoint, but now a definite
inimical silhouette.
  "I'd estimate about five minutes, Bones."
Kirk chewed his lower lip and tried to see deeper
than the ship's scanners . . .
  On board the Klingon cruiser, Lieutenant
Kritt leaned back in his stiff, unyielding seat
and spoke with satisfaction. "'Commander,
the Federation ship's position is once again constant with
respect to ours. They are no longer closing
distance."
  If he expected his exalted superior to look
pleased, he was disappointed. Sometimes Kumara could be
as impassive as a Vulcan. The
  commander gave every sign of having expected the good
news.
  "I thought they couldn't maintain that speed much
longer, Lieutenant," he commented easily, before
turning his attention to the intercom. "Engineering, stand
down. Emergency power will not be required." He
looked back at the screen, murmuring half
to himself, "Nice bluff, James Kirk, but you should
know better than to try to panic me."
  "Pardons, Commander," Kritt wondered, "but
aren't we going to utilize emergency power to reopen
the distance between our ships? They are extremely
close now."
  "Extremely, but not dangerously so,
Lieutenant. Have you learned nothing? They could only
have hoped to prod us into straining our own
  resources something," he added smugly, "we will not
do. So long as we remain out of phaser range, they
might as well be a dozen system-units
behind, for all the harm they can do us. Nor do I
believe their vessel has the capacity to repeat that
maneuver again before we are con
  94 STAR TRBK By SB tilde n
  Acted by relief ships from ShaLkur Base."
He looked well pleased with himself.
  "Then there is the delicious irony of the
situation."
  Kntt looked confused. "Irony, Commander?"
  "Do you not see its Fahl I am assisted by blind
men. Not only has their attempt to pressure us
failed completely, Lieutenant, but now they must
bear the additional torment of following us at much
closer range. Close enough for their scanners to read
our registration numbers close enough for them to sense our
smiles, you see."
  Levitt turned back to his readouts and studied
them, his gaze shifting thoughtfully from the tiny
unemotional figures back to the main screen with its
portrait of the pursuing Enterprise. "I think I
do, Commander. I think
  . . .
  Spock noted the latest readings of separation and
reported, "The enemy vessel is maintaining
course and speed, Captain."
  "No evidence of increasing her speed?"
  "No, Captain. Apparently they are content
to remain at this distance."
  "Good. Mr. Spock, prepare for remote
  converter override of the shuttlecraft's engine.
Remove safeties and cancel fail-safes. Mr.
Sulu, now you can energize the forward phasers."
  Realization dawned on the helmsman's face, and
he bent to the task gleefully. The purpose was
slower in coming to McCoy; Spock had
  already guessed it.
  "An excellent idea, Captain," the first
officer commented approvingly. "It requires only
that the Klingons act as Klingons. Given that, the
possibilities for success are substantial."
  "So that's it!" McCoy declared. "You really think
it will change the status quo, Jim?"
  "I'm hopeful, Bones. A lot depends on
their in@.trumentation being so tied up with monitoring our
every sneeze that they'll overlook an object the
size of the shuttle. They know we're well out of
photon-torpedo
  - STAR TREK Em 95
  range but the shuttle's engine is capable of
covering a good deal more space
  "Of course, it would be a useless effort if
Kumara's ship was undertaking defensive
  maneuvers. But it's not. They're simply
cruising along an unwavering course."
  "Shuttle closing on enemy vessel, sir,"
Arex reported.
  Everyone on the bridge stared at the screen,
trying to spot the minute spark that would be the shuttle.
Detectors tracked it easily, though, where the
naked eye failed.
  At one end of the Klathas's bridge an officer
suddenly squinted, staring hard and uncertainly at an
unexpectedly active screen, noting a small but
potent tilde ally significant reading. It
might be nothing Probably was, in which case he
risked exposing himself to embarrassment and ridicule.
  On the other hand, if the instrumentation was doing its
job . . . and mechanicals were immune to insult
  "Commander?" he finally said, electing to tempt the
gods.
  "Yes? What is it, Korreg?"
  "Exalted One, I wish you would give your
opinion of this. It appears to be a very oddly formed
meteoric body which his
  Kumara barely had time to look startled
before dashing down to stare over the scanner-control
officer's shoulder. When he saw the activated
screen and matched it against the reading nearby, he
turned a light purple.
  "IDIOTI,"
  Korreg winced, not sure whether he'd exercised
the proper option
  Kumara didn't have time to enlighten him. That would
come soon enough . . . perhaps lethally.
  "Engineering!" he roared into the intercom. "Full
emergency power maximum thrust!"
  "But, Commander," a hesitant voice replied,
"you just said his
  "I want full emergency thrust immediately or
I'll personally pull your eyes from your head,
Kanudadl"
  96 STAR TREK L tilde SHIN
  "Ye yes, Commander! At once!"
  "Captain," Sulu cried, "the Klingon ship
is increasing her speed. They appear to be going on
emery his
  "Present shuttlecraft position,
Lieutenant!" Kirk barked, cutting the
helmsman off.
  "Shuttle is nearing critical
radius, Captain," Sulu reported, more in
control of himself now, though the tenseness remained in his
voice. "Wait ... distance is increasing. Klingon
cruiser beginning to pull his
  "Spock! Exercise engine override now!"
  The Srst officer touched a switch. Kilometers
of circuitry sent a single, brief signal to the
racing shuttle, still traveling ahead of the now slowed
Enterprise at her launch speed of warp-eight.
The on-board shuttlecraft computer was simple
compared to the massive machine mind on board the
starship, but it was fully capable of interpreting that
concise command.
  A few relays opened, protesting controls were
ignored, normal modifiers were shunted aside as
the shuttle obediently self-destructed. As it
did so, a stunning dash of white radiance
momentarily blinded the Enterprise's forward
scanners.
  The effects of that silent explosion on the
Klathas were somewhat more extreme.
  "Report, Mr. Sulu," Kirk demanded,
mentally crossing his Sngers. "Status of Klingon
cruiser?"
  The helmsman double-checked his
  instrumentation to be certain before announcing, "She's
losing speed, Captain . . . dropping below
warp-seven . . . below warship. We're moving
into phaser range."
  "It worked, Jim," McCoy observed, a note
of satisfaction and admiration in his voice.
  Kirk didn't sound enthusiastic. "We don't
know how well it worked, Bones. The range was
  extreme, and expanding even as I gave Spock
the order. We've obviously disabled her, damaged
her engines, but her offensive weaponry may still be
intact and fully operational Now comes the difficult
part."
  "You mean attacking?"
  "No. Trying to convince Kumara that he's got
to
  STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN 97
  surrender. Stand by forward phasers and torpedo
banks. Mr. Sulu."
  "Standing by, sir," replied the helmsman fir
my.
  Emergency ventilators were rapidly clearing the
Klathas's bridge of smoke and dangerous freed
gases. The sounds of coughing and the crew's gasps for
decent air provided an unnerving
accompaniment to Kumara's efforts to regain the command
seat. He had been ungently thrown from that position
when the shuttlecraft's engine exploded.
  Painfully, he hauled himself to a sitting position
in the chair, favoring the arm he had fallen on. A
careful yet rapid survey showed that the bridge was
still operational and casualties were minor.
  What it was like at the rear of the Klathas, the
place that had borne the brunt of the concussion caused
by superheated gases and vaporized solids, he could
well imagine.
  "Speed ., . speed is still faring, Commander," a
battered Kritt reported slowly, feeling his
bruised jaw with one hand. Kumara activated She
  intercom and was gratified to find that it worked
perfectly.
  "Engineering, damage report." Silence shouted
back at him from the stern of Nhe ship. He tried
again. "Engineering, this is your commander. Kanadad,
what's Uhe difficulty back Here? I need
Ulis ship back up to speed in ten aines or
I'll have you an fed to the converters!"
  A worn, rasping voice finaDy replied. It
was tinged wiah a vaguely insubordinate sarcasm.
"Kanndad here Captain. We've
sustained major damage to both engine naceDes.
This ship won't make good cruising speed for several
hundred aines, ff she damage is repairable at
all, and if most of my key personnel haven't
been too seriously injured. What happened?"
  "Never mind that now," Kumara told him
  irritably. He did not take-note of his
engineer's sarcastic response. He didn't have
time for such luxuries. "Other than the drive, what
is our power status?"
  98 STAR TREK Ed SEWN
  Kanudad turned silent again, apparently
consulting someone out of pickup range.
  - "Eighty percent, Commander," he finally
reported.
  Kumara took some comfort from that
  announcement.
  They were crippled but still armed.
  Kritt spoke into the nearly clear atmosphere.
"Fed- eration ship closing to battle range,
Commander." A pause; then, "They are
transmitting."
  Kumara could guess the nature of that
transmission. Well, if Kirk thought the
Klathas was drifting help- lessly, he
had an unpleasant surprise in store.
  "I can see that she's closing, offspring of a
worm's slave. As to the transmission, we'll
answer it all right. Arm all rearward
projectors and fire at will. And, Korreg, for
once in your misbegotten life, see if you can
hit something smaller than a blue star. Full power
to the defensive screens." He stared at the
viewscreen, which now clearly showed the ominous form of the
ap- proaching Enterprise.
  "It is just," he muttered, too softly for
anyone to hear, "that a ship of fools be commanded by a
fool."
  But if they survived the coming fight, he vowed,
Kirk would not fool him again . . .
  vll
  Sulu carefully noted the sliding dial which
indicated battle position relative to their
quarry. "Inside range, Captain."
  Kirk hesitated. He had no idea how
badly the Klathas was damaged or how many serious
  injuries her crew had already suffered. "Uhura,
any response to our transmission?"
  "Not yet, Captain. Possibly their
  own,-munications have been damaged."
  "Possibly. Or Kumara could he his
  A dull cramp sounded, and the brid tilde was
  rocked by a wave of energy. Lights flickered
momentarily before steadying
  "We've absorbed a full attack from the
  Klingons' rear projector banks,
Captain," Spock informed them. "Our screens are
holding tight."
  "Returning fire, Captain," said Sulu,
adjusting massive instruments of destruction with
delicate fingers.
  Kirk half smiled. "That's our answer. I
should have known Kumara would choose to open
  negotiations in his own way. What's their speed,
Lieutenant?"
  Sulu checked a different set of readouts.
"Holding at about warp-five, Captain.,"
  "We have to reduce their speed still further," Kirk
instructed everyone. "Otherwise, we'll simply
fight a running battle until the ships from
Shahkur meet up with Kumara. We have to
  weaken him significantly, weaken him to the point
where he'll have no choice but to
  surrender. We have slightly more mobility, Mr.
Sulu. Use it."
  "Doing my best, sir," the thoroughly occupied
helmsman responded. "We'll cut them down."
  That section of space was filled for the next hour
with a hellish display of barely controlled energies,

  1OO STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN
  beams of blue and red piercingly brilliant through
the stark blackness. Occasional eruptions of lambent
cloud appeared on the exterior of each vessel
whenever offensive probing beams
  contacted the argumentative energies of a defensive
screen.
  Sulu used the Enterprise's superior speed
carefully, teaming with the ship's battle computer
to confuse the Klingons" retaliatory efforts
while optimising the Enterprise's own attacks.
There was little the Klingons could do to compensate. If they
lowered their speed to throw off the Enterprise's
attacks, they conceded even more mobility to the
comFederation ship, gave her battle computer another
chip to play ... andi most important, lengthened the
time between themselves and the Shahkur rendezvous.
  At 62.24 minutes into the running battle, a
phaser beam partially penetrated a severely strained
defensive screen to strike one of the
Klatha's engine nacelles a glancing blow. That
glancing blow killed twenty technicians and wounded
as many others. The local damage was extreme.
  Kumara knew they had taken a considerable hit from
the wrench it communicated to the bridge. This time he
managed to hold his position.
  "Kanndad . . . Kanadadl" he yelled
into the intercom. It gave back only a threatening
crackle.
  "Communications to that part of the ship temporarily
out," Kritt reported. "Working to reestablish.
Secondary engineering reports left converter
potential critically damaged by phaser fire.
We're going to lose more than half our remaining
speed. Engineering reports that unless total engine
shutdown occurs within five du tilde nes,
to permit repairs, all light-multiple drive
capability will be lost."
  "When primary engineering communications are
reestablished, instruct Engineer Kanodad to do his
utmost, Lieutenant."
  "Yes, sir," a disgruntled Kritt
acknowledged. "Maintaming fire. Shifting
to compensate for weakened screen."
  Kumara heard the words, looked at the
faces of his immediate subordinates, and knew that unless
they ef
  STAR TUBE 1Ol
  fected a drastic reversal of the present
battle condit tilde ons, he would be forced
to surrender or ship-suicide.
  Undoubtedly, Kirk would be prepared for any
new tricks. Very well, then . . . he would try
an old one.
  "Attention, all stations."
  Harried, dispirited faces turned to look at him
as he activated general intership intercom, sending
his voice throughout the battle-weary vessel.
  "Attention. Burial details and all
  nonoffensive-action personnel You will begin a
complete canvass of the ship and gather all
nonessential items repeat, gather all
nonessential items. Strip your cabins, the
corridors, storage chambers of anything and everything
not integral to live support or ship operations."
His voice darkened.
  "I am being generous in not including certain
personnel in this classification. However, if this
order is not efficiently complied with, that may
change.
  "All items are to be collected and
transferred to the Auxiliary Landing Craft
Hangar. Life Support Station: You will prepare
to vent surplus atmosphere through surface vents in
conjunction with the ejection of surplus material via
the landingffaft hanger." He checked his wrist
chronometer, reading it through the scratches which now
covered its face.
  "Ejection of material and atmosphere is
to take place in . . . three-quarters drainer.
It win include any personnel remaining in the
lock, so I strongly suggest you move rapidly.
Your commander and officers salute you, warriors of
Klingon!"
  He switched off and turned, to see the bridge
complement hard at their stations, continuing the fight.
All but Kritt, who was eyeing him
  expectantly.
  "comWe cannot outrun them any more,
  Lieutenant," Kumara explained, "nor does
it appear we will be able to make contact with the relief
force in time. Therefore, everything on this vessel
except the crew is going to commit suicide. My
own private stock of Gellian vita included."
  Kritt almost asked, "To swat end,"
then decided that it would become evident. The
predatory gleam
  102 STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN
  in the commander's eyes, however, was more encourag- ing
than any words could have been.
  The time arrived. "Auxiliary Landing Craft
Hangar reporting," came a voice from one of the
bridge speak- ers. "Ejection of material
accomplished."
  "Surplus atmosphere discharged," came the word
from Life Support Control.
  "Now," Kumara said to the general intercom, "all
power to everything but minimal life-support systems
is to be shut down."
  "But, Commander," Korreg protested as the lights
on the bridge began to dim, "what about our
projectors, our defences?"
  "I said everything, Lieutenant." He turned his
gaze to the main screen. 'A only hope they
don't decide to take the easy way out. I am
depending on Captain Kirk to act like a human .
. ."
  Spock's eyebrows twitched once as the new
informa- tion appeared on his readouts. "Captain,
detectors indi- cate that the Klingons
are losing their internal power. Defensive screens
fading$7"
  "I'll say," said an exuberant Sulu. "That
last burst went right through her starboard-crew
section."
  "Cease fire, Mr. Sulul" Kirk ordered
quickly. "I'll not fire on a helpless ship . .
. not even a Klingon's."
  "It could be a trick, Jim," McCoy commented
cau- tiously. -
  "Yes, it could, Bones." Kirk studied the
small image of the Klathas thoughtfully. "But you
heard what Sulu just said ... apparently, we can
penetrate her weakened screens at will. Though I
wonder if his
  "Sir!" There was an undercurrent of excitement in
the helmsman's voice. "Detectors indicate
the Klathas -- a large amount of metallic and
plastic de
  "Confirmed, Captain," Spock announced.
"I have also noted a steady stream of frozen
atmosphere leaking from several locations on the
cruiser's exterior."
  - Elation reigned on the bridge, mingled with
excla
  STAR TREK BE SBVBN 103
  mations of satisfaction. Only Kirk and
Spock, naturally betrayed no sign of
pleasure.
  "Well, what are we hesitating for, Jim?"
McCoy finally asked. "They're in no condition
to argue surrender terms."
  Kirk shook his head slowly. "I don't like it,
Bones It's too sudden, too easy. One minute
they're fighting with everything they have, and the next, without
being struck a severe blow, they seem to be coming
apart."
  "We can't tell how much running damage
  they've suffered, Jim."
  "Maybe not, Bones." He made a decision.
"Lieu- tenant Uhura, try to raise the
Klingon bridge."
  Uhura moved to comply. She looked back and
shrugged slightly several moments later.
  "Negative, Captain. Their communications are
dead. I can't Snd evidence of any activity, not
even on-board closed transmissions, not a hand
communicator . . . nothing. That ship's as mute as
a coffin."
  Which it could very well be by now, Kirk
mused. But to be certain . . . how to be certain .
. .
  "The Klathas is losing speed rapidly,
Captain," Arex indicated. "Dropping below warp
five . . . warp-four . . . continuing to lose
speed, sir."
  "Stop looking so glum, Jim,"--McCoy
said. "They're the ones experiencing an the trouble, not
us."
  "It certainly looks that way, Bones." He
sighed. "All right. Take us in close, Mr.
Sulu. Keep your phasers trained on her
bridge and bring us in just outside of transporter
range."
  The Enterprise promptly cut her own speed
to match that of the rapidly slowing l tilde lathas.
The eyes studying this gradual shift were equally
intent on both sides, but the glint of eagerness lay
in those on board the Klingon cruiser.
  "That's right, Captain Kirk," Kumara was
murmurmg softly, watching as the dim screen showed
the Enterprise edging cautiously nearer, "come
close . . . a bit more, that's right. No need
to hurry. We'll have our reumon yet . . .
minus the vita, I fear."
  concctilde -
  104 STAR TREK L tilde SEWN
  Spock abruptly did something that he did only
on rare occasions: He raised his voice.
"Captain; preliminary analysis of the debris from
the Klingon ship."
  "Go ahead, Mr. Spock."
  The first officer paused to recheck his information. It
was nonspecific, general, but, for all that, of
dangerous significance. "Sensors indicate that the
detritus consists of personal possessions,
supplies, spare fabricating material, and
assorted other non-vital equipment."
  "So?" an uncomprehending McCoy blurted.
  Not only is there nothing of vital concern to ship
operations present, Doctor, but the drifting
material appears to be wholly intact and
  undamaged."
  Pact and reason formed critical mass in
Kirk's whirling mind. "Mr. Sulu, initiate
full evasive maneuvers, and fire at his
  Sulu's hand never reached the helm controls.
Something loud and unyielding threw him
  sideways, slam mmg him into Arex's station. The
Edoan navigator, thanks to triple
limbs, managed to remain in his seat. Pew of his
companions succeeded in doing likewise.
  Further explosions rocked the bridge, sending
unsecured reports flying and tumbling the crew about
like quicksilver on glass.
  Quite without warning, the awesome barrage ceased.
  Slowly, positions were regained. Reports
began to come in from various stations around the bridge.
They were not encouraging. The bridge illumination had
dimmed considerably.
  Other concerns were uppermost in Kirl tilde 's
mind, however. "Mr. Sulu, Mr. Spock,
report on disposition of enemy vessel."
  Sulu had to compensate for several no longer usable
instruments. Eventually he reported, "They have
conboued to drop speed, Captain. Apparently they
are moving to operate on
  impulse power alone. Indications are that
near-normal internal power has returned."
  "Odd. Comments, Mr. Spock?"
  "Sensors indicate that they have failed
to reestablish other than minimal defensive
screens, Captain. No sign of projector
activity. This would seem to indicate that
  STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN
1OS
  they have sustained major engine damage and have been
compelled to shut down their drive to effect rev
pairs. Our own speed is, however, dropping even
more rapidly than theirs."
  "At least they're not leaving us," Kirk
muttered. ""That's something, anyway. I concur with
your assessment of the damage they must have
  suffered, Spool Otherwise we wouldn't be here
talking about it now. Kumara must have
  exhausted his power reserves with that last
attack.""
  4'acxcuse me, sir," Uhura broke in.
""Damage reporb are beginning to come in from all
levels. Decks Four through Seven indicate
extensive though minor instrumentation damage.
  Pirecontrol reports heavy damage
to all-phaser banks and photon-torpedo banks.
Rear phasers are marginally operative, but the
firecontrol computer has sustained major
damage. Dr.
  McCoy reports . . ."
  Kirk looked around at that. He hadn't even
seen Bones leave the bridge.
  "... numerous minor injuries, mostly
abrasive and concussive in nature. Several
serious cases. He reports that he's preparing
to supervise surgery."
  "What about your own station, Lieutenant?"
  Uhura checked her telltales and finally declared,
"All deep-space Stardeet frequencies are
inoperative due to broadcast-antenna damage
combined with power loss. Local and on-board
communications systems functional . . . if we
don't get hit like that again."
  "I don't expect we will, Lieutenant," he
told her tightly, blinking as full illumination was
restored to the bridge. He turned to study the
battered shape of the" Klathas. It seemed as though
he could detect laughter drifting across the intervening
space, floating right through the screen. That was
impossible, of course. He told himself that as he
waited for the most important report of all, the
one which would determine their subsequent actions and
options . .. if indeed they had any of the latter
remaining.
  The laughter refused to go away.
  Even the beep of the chair intercom was a relief,
  106 STAR TREK L tilde SHIN
  though he knew he couldn't expect any
good news. He was right.
  "That you, Scotty?"
  "Aye, Captain." The chief engineer was
  standing at an auxiliary intercom station, watching
busy specialists wrestling with battered components.
His own previously sterile suit was laden with
grime and colored liquid from
  fluid-state switches that now conducted only his
disgust.
  "D'ye want it an at once, or in
installments?"
  "Let's have the worst of it, Scotty." Kirk
readied himself.
  "That last projector hit was the worst, sir.
Played hell withand damaged never mind the details.
1711 have a Ust of damaged components and material
and personnel transferred
  forward soon as I get the chance.
  "Simply put, we've got no war tilde
drive capability. Impulse power, yes, but we
canna go nowhere verra fast for sometime. That's a
minimum estimate. I hope you haven't got any
pressin' engagements, Captain."
  In spite of the grim report, Kirk managed
a smile. "I'll send my regrets where
necessary, Scotty. Do the best you can. If it's any
  consolation, the KU-NGONS are apparently as
badly damaged as we are. They're not going anywhere
either. How's ship power?"
  "Adequate for anythin' you want to try,
Captain," the chief engineer declared
  reassuringly. "I heard about what happened up
in Firecontrol. Too bad. The rear
phasers'd' work, if we had anythin' to work "em with
Cut up the KU-NGONS Uke veal on a
butcher's block."
  "We're not going to cut even that with those phasers
for a good while, Scotty," Kirk reminded him.
"Right now I'U settle for some mobility."
  "Give it to you as soon as we can, Captain."
  "I know you win, Scotty. Bridge out."
Kirk searched his thoughts for a course of action, aware
of the concerned glances the bridge personnel
surreptitiously threw him . . . and found nothing
  "Summary and suggestions, Mr. Spock?"
  The first officer replied smoothly, as though the
con
  STAR TREK Em SBVEN 107
  sequences of near annihilation were an everyday
event. "Engines dead, phasers inoperable,
life-support systems sufficient. We can't
run, we can't fight, but we are go- ing to continue
to exist . .. unless repairs to the Klathas
outstrip our own. Until then . . ."
  "Stalemate," Kirk decided, staring at the
viewscreen.
  On board the Klathas, Engineer Scott's
counterparts were working furiously to remove twisted
bits of metal, to cut away burned out components
and circuitry so that the arduous task of replacing
them could begin.
  Kumara was there himself, surveying the damage. He
moved easily among the destruction, accompanied
by Engineer Korreg and Lieutenant Kritt,
offering a word of encouragment here, a blistering insult
there whatever seemed appropriate to accelerate the
work.
  - He thought of Kirk, and worried as he fumed.
"It's
  not going fast enough, Korreg."
  "I abase myself, Exalted Commander. My head
is yours . . . but my technicians are working as
fast as they are able. There is much structural
damage. It must be removed, cut away, before
actual repair can begin."
  "I11 cut off some extremities if
replacement of dam- aged instrumentation doesn't
commence within a hundred aines, Engineer. Tell them
that. Perhaps it will stimulate their muscles, if not their
minds."
  "I will tell them, Commander," and Korreg
hastily departed from the vicinity of the commander.
  Kumara turned suddenly on the attentive
Lieutenant Kritt. Kritt cringed needlessly,
as it developed. The commander had started at a sudden
thought, not from any desire to heap abuse on his
subordinate.
  "Have the human Delminnen brought from the re-
straining chamber to the bridge. I'll tilde meet
you there."
  "At once, Commander." The lieutenant turned
to go, then hesitated. "It may take a few
moments to . . . ah . . . restore the human
to presentability."
  "So long as he's coherent and will remain so.
And for the Sequa's sake, tell those in charge of him
that this is no ordinary human. He is a valuable
property
  108 STAR TREK LOG SEVER
  and is to be treated as such ... or I will
match their living conditions and treatment on board with
his."
  "Yes, Commander." Kritt hurried down the
corridor while Kumara made his thoughtful way
back to the bridge.
  As it turned out, Van Delminnen appeared
well able to manipulate both body and mind, though
the former was not undamaged. But
  Kumara's warning had been delivered. The two
husky guards who half carried, half dragged the
slight human onto the bridge handled him with
appropriate care.
  Delminnen shook himself free of his captors, who
gladly let him go the feel of the soft human being
difficult to stomach. He glanced around the bridge,
his head moving rapidly, quickly, like a bird hunting
for an especially ripe bug in the bark of a tree.
His gaze settled contemptuously on Kumara, who
gazed back with interest.
  Kritt moved angrily from his station to stand next
to Delminnen. "Bow in the presence of the commander, weak
one!"
  Delminnen's head went back slightly,
  prompting Kritt to raise a furious fist.
  But Kumara waved the lieutenant off.
"No, no, no, Kritt! How many times must I
tell you to ptilize your head for something other than
shoulder ballast? Leave the poor creature alone.
In your justifiable anger you might accidentally
mortally damage it. Then how wound we obtain the
information we seek? One cannot coerce a corpse.
Return to your position and continue to monitor the
Enterprise. That is where my concern dies not with this
single human."
  "As you command, Exalted One," Kritt
  muttered disappointedly. "But the disrespect was
Throwing the imperturbable Delminnen a vicious
smile, he turned and stalked back to his station.
  Kumara waited until the lieutenant was seated.
Then he clasped his hands together around one knee,
leaned back slightly, and struggled to execute an
earnest grin which for a Klingon was no mean feat.
  "Now then, Van Delminnen ... It has come
to the
  STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN 1O9
  attention of the Empire that you have developed a
device based on new scientific principles which
seems capable of reducing normal worlds
to collections of tilde drifting debris. I
hardly need impress upon you that we would
regard the possession of such a device by a
government unfrly to ours as threatening in the
extreme."
  "Whereas," Delminnen countered sarcastically, "if
it were given into your protection, everyone could rest
assured that it would be used for the benefit of all."
  "Naturally."
  "You're a liar and worse, an unimaginative
one."
  There was a violent bang as of flesh on metal
and some loud murmurings behind Kumara at that
unpardonable insult. The commander turned and barked
sharply, "Officers of the Klathas, attend to your
duties!" Then he turned back to Delminnen and
continued to smile amiably.
  "Very well, since you doubt our motives . .
."
  "I don't doubt them one bit," Delminnen
sneered
  "dis . . Iet me rephrase the situation. You
must concede that the Federation would utilise your device
for similar purposes should they gain control of it.
They will offer you little in return. On the other hand, you
are my prisoner. Rather than be disagreeable, if you
turn over the plans for your device to us,
I will swear on my ancestors that you and your sister will
be safely his
  That promise brought a sign of concern from the
human, whose steel exterior showed the first indications
of cracking slightly.
  "Char . . . she's on board too?"
  "Why, certainly," Kumara admitted, with
commendable swiftness. "You don't think we'd
separate the two of you, did you?"
  Delminnen looked understandably suspicious.
"She wasn't with us when we materialised in your
transporter."
  "Naturally not," Kumara agreed, his mind working
as fast as only Kirk knew it could. "The
Enterprise tried to snatch both of you from us.
To compensate,
  1 lO STAR TRB tilde By SEVEN
  we had to use two transporters. Your sister
boarded the Klathas in the other one."
  "Then why haven't I seen her?"
  "She experienced some minor injuries when
materializing in an awkward position. At the
moment she is resting quietly and comfortably in our
infirmary chambers. My chief medical officer
informs me that she can have visitors in another
day.
  "Of course, I don't want to keep you apart
any longer than that, Van Delminnen. But if you
insist on being obstinate, you'll discover that I am a
master of obstinacy.
  "Should you decide, logically, to cooperate, you will
be provided with a luxurious and private abode in
an environment of your own choosing. You will have the
facilities of a fully equipped laboratory,
all the materials you require, and a free hand
to spend the rest of your lives carrying out any kind of
research you desire. Your privacy will be guarded and
assured, and within the limits of the Empire you can come
and go as you wish. Anything else you desire you have
only to re- quest." His voice rose in an
excellent imitation of hearty good fellowship.
  "Come, come, man . . . would your own
  government offer you as much? Or would they put you off
with a modest stipend and a warning to take care with what you
study? What say you?"
  Delminnen locked eyes with the commander. His reply
was jerky, nervous, as was all of his speech, but there was
a firmness to it
  nonetheless.
  "I say it's mighty peculiar for you
to be so accommodating and generous to the helpless
prisoner from a race you despise. And if you were as
confident of eventually obtaining the information you want,
by one means or another, you wouldn't be so anxious
to secure my
  agreement. I know the Enterprise has been
following your ship." He crossed his arms with an
air of finality. "I think I'll wait a bit
before agreeing to anything. There are developments yet
to be seen."
  That was too much for Kritt. Despite
Kumara's
  STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN 1 1 1
  order, he was out of his chair, all but snarling at
this infuriating example of a lower order.
  'Let me have him for a few ainesinthe
  persuasion chambers, Most Exalted. I'll show
him the folly of attempting to dictate to a Klingon
commander."
  "Please, Lieutenant." Kumara sighed
irritably. "I am conducting the interrogation.
While I might agree with your desires,
emotionally, your suggestion is premature. Have you not
studied this creature? I have done so, while he has
been babbling.
  "While possibly a veritable genius, he is
obviously, Ike so many of his kind, mentally
unstable. Torture might send him into a
catatonic state from which his mind and the secrets
locked therein mught never emerge.
  "In that case, I would find it necessary to have the questioner
yourself, for example comexecuted. I should prefer not
to. At times you have shown yourself to perform somewhat less
incompetently than your compatriots. Do return
to your station."
  Thoroughly disgusted both with the situation and with the
commander's attitude toward it, Kritt returned
once again to his position. He sat there fuming
quietly and thinking of what he would do to the human if
he were in Kumara's place.
  "Van Delminnen," Kumara said, "I cannot
understand your attitude. Even for a human, it is
exceptionally obtuse. Let us try this a
  communication between yourself and Captain Kirk which we
monitored earlier showed you emphatically refusing
him even permission to land. If you hate him and the
Pederation he stands for, which has so grievously and
wrongly mistreated you, why not spite them all
by turning your knowledge over to us?"
  . Delminnen drew himself up in a
self-conscious pose of pride and arrogance a very
Klingon thing to do, in fact. "My genius," he
informed Kumara, "is not for sale to the highest bidder.
You all desire my knowledge, yet none of you is
  sufficiently intelligent to know how to ask for it.
He smiled in a strange wayfftrange even for
him.
  112 STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN
  Kumara was mildly amused, but not by the smile.
"You have a novel way of rationalising your insanity,
Delminnen. Too novel for me. I haven't the
time to probe it just now. Rest assured that there win be
time for everything." He looked to the guard on the
scientist's left.
  "Convey him to Karau in Humanoid
  P-sychology perhaps they can figure this one out.
And tell them not to damage him beyond what is
absolutely necessary."
  "It shall be as you say, Commander," the guard
replied. The guards took hold of Delminnen,
despite his protests, and escorted him from the
bridge.
  Kumara turned thoughtfully back to the main
viewscreen. He hadn't really expected the
human to be sensible and agree to the
inevitable. The only time his demeanor had altered was
when his sibling had been mentioned. If she were on
board now, it would be a simple matter to use her as
a lever with which to topple Delminnen's
  stubbornness.
  But she wasn't on board. She was out there, somewhere
in the bowels of Kirk's ship, and Kumara did not
think Kirk would be so foolish as to permit him
access to her.
  Still, he had- Delminnen. It might take
longer, be a bit messier, but eventually they would
pry the information out of him provided they all weren't
vaporised first.
  With his mind he tried to bridge the gap between
ships, reach across to the tiny bump at the apex of the
cruiser's saucer which he knew housed the ship's
bridge. He reached out and tried to penetrate a
single mind therein.
  What are you thinking, acquaintance of my youth, he
mused to himself. How will you
  proceed? We are even with our guesswork now.
Whatever happens next could be decisive.
  Whence will it come, and when it does, will the gods
permit me to escape agalh?
  The trouble is, James Kirk, I know
you too well and you know me. How does one fool a
mirror . . . his
  "I wonder what Kumara's thinking now,
Bones."
  STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN 113
  Kirk's gaze remained fixed on the screen, which
still showed the image of the damaged Klingon cruiser.
  McCoy's reply was bitter: "Probably
laughing himself silly over the way he suckered us
into that last barrage. Sitting in his command chair,
watching us bleed and snickering to himself."
  "How are things in Sick Bay?" Kirk asked,
aware that the anger was directed more at the result of
Klingon bellicosity the casualties the ship had
suffered
  than at Kumara himself.
  "Better than we deserve, Jim. If the one
projector that did most of the engine damage had
struck at a broader angle instead of slant-on,
we could have suffered a blood bath back there. As it
is, there are half a dozen specialists and one
ensign who'll be lucky to pull through."
  "If they're not dead already, they never will be,
Bones. Not with you hovering over them."
  "I wish I had your confidence in me,
Jim." He glanced down at his wrist
chronometer. "She ought to be here by now. I told his
  "Captain . . . Dr. McCoy?" Both men
turned to face the elevator.
  Two people had just emerged. One was a
  medical specialist. The other was Char
  Delminnen. She looked pale but otherwise none
the worse for her wrestling match with transporter
energies. The resemblance to her brother, Kirk
noted, was amazing. A few slight changes m
bone structure here, a movement of skin, and they could
have been twins.
  She was looking with interest around the bridge.
Eventually her gaze settled on Kirk, and she
inspected him with the same thoroughness with which he had
regarded her.
  The specialist marched her over, saluted, and
waited for McCoy's instructions.
  "Report, Mendez."
  "All vital signs strong, body functions
normal. No evidence to indicate delayed-time
reactions. Mental condition stable."
  "All right, you can go, Mendez," McCoy told
him.
  114 STAR TREK LOG SEVEN
  "Tell Nurse Chapel to keep me posted if
any of the casualties on critical show signs of
  deterioration."
  "Yes, sir." The specialist saluted again and
left the bridge, leaving Kirk and McCoy free
to appraise Char Delminnen for the first time.
  And they were in for a hard time, Kirk
  reflected, if she was anything like her brother.
  "How do you feel, Ms. Delminnen?" McCoy
ventured. Her gaze rested briefly on the
doctor, then turned immediately to Kirk. He found
her voice unexpectedly light, almost musical.
But it was- as adamantine as her brother's.
  "Captain, where is Van?"
  Kirk glanced for approval to McCoy, who
nodded once. "She's as sound as I can make her,
Jim. You might as well tell her."
  Her attention shifted confusedly from McCoy
to K-irk and back again. "What is this . . . what
are you talking about? Isn't . . . isn't Van
on board this ship?"
  Kirk raised a placating hand and turned
to indicate the screen. "I'm afraid I have
to tell you he is not, Ms. Delminnen. Unless
we're much mistaken, he's on that one."
  They waited, McCoy watching her anxiously
while she stared silently at the disabled Klingon
cruiser. There was no scream, no violent
outburst, not the slightest hint of hysteria. But her
next words were whispered.
  "I see. The Klingons got Van and you got
me."
  She turned abruptly to look accusingly at
Kirk. "Have you been in contact with them? Do you know
if he's all right?"
  "We've been in contact all right," Kirk
explained patiently. "We've been fighting a
running battle with them for much too long. Both our
ship and the Klathas have been disabled. At the moment
it's a race to see who can repair their engines"
first.
  "As to your brother, we've had no word from the
Klingons. They haven't volunteered any information,
and we haven't had time to request any not that
  STAR TREK LOG SEVBN 115
  they'd be inclined to make comments about anything other
than our theoretical ancestry at the moment."
  Char Delminnen turned her eyes to the deck and
sighed. "Ever since our parents died and we were farmed
out to foster parents, Van and I have never
been separated for very long. We see things too much
the same, too well, to look elsewhere for
companionship." Her eyes turned up to him, and they
were haunted.
  "I don't know how he'll react if we're
kept apart very long. In many ways Van is still a
child. You've got to find a way to return him to me,
Captain Kirk!"
  The fury behind her request took both men
aback. Though he had no reason to be ashamed of
their efforts thus far, Kirk found himself squirming
under that demanding gaze.
  "We've been risking the ship and our lives to do
just that, Ms. Delminnen. I don't think you need
worry too much. Your brother's extremely
  important to the Klingons as well as to us. You can
bet they're being careful not to harm him."
  He did not think it would be diplomatic to discuss
the ultimate steps they were prepared to take to keep
Van Delminnen and his device from faring into the
Empire's hands.
  Char Delminnen relaxed physically at
Kirk's assurance, but her words, as she turned
away slightly, were still filled with fury . . . and
bitterness.
  "And all this has happened because of that stupid
discovery of his. I told him some interloper might
discover evidence of its use. I told him! But would
he listen?" She shook her head slowly. "That child the
universe is his playpen." Her head snapped
around, and Kirk found himself confronted by that accusing
stare again.
  "That's the only reason you're interested in us,
isn't it? You're no better than the Klingons."
  Kirk bridled. "I think we, and the
  Federation your Federation, Ms. Delminnen, whether
you like it or not are entitled to better than that. As for
personal concern, comparing us with the Klingons is akin
to his
  116, STAR TREK EM SEVEN
  "Yes, that is the reason," Spock interrupted.
Kirk threw his first officer a look of reproach.
  "Thank you, Mr.... Spock, isn't it? I
appreciate your honesty. At least I'm sure of
where I stand."
  "We could express more concern for yogi," Spock
continued, looking up from the library computer console,
"but you and your brother make it exceedingly difficult
for anyone else to be interested in anything but your
work."
  Kirk's look of reproach vanished, and he
saw that Char Delminnen had no reply to Spock's
accusation. All she could do was shrug.
  "So Van and I are jealous of our privacy.
We didn't ask for visitors. We didn't
inflict ourselves on you. It was the other way around."
  "So it was," Kirk agreed firmly, "but you
invited this visitation whether you'll admit it or not.
Yes, our primary concern is the device and why
shouldn't it be? Do you realize what the Klingons will
do, what they'll be able to demand, if they gain
possession of a weapon so destructive that his
  "Oh, for heaven's sake, don't you understand?"
  Kirk and McCoy looked at her askance.
"What do you mean?"
  "The device . . . it's not a weapon."
  V111
  Clearly, there were those on the bridge whose attention
was not focused solely on their tasks of the moment,
for the general shock this comment produced spread beyond
Kirk and McCoy.
  "Wait . . . I think I understand you," Kirk
finally began, speaking in a soothing, calming manner.
"It's all a matter of semantics. Very
possibly your brother did not regard his
invention as a weapon. You must see, however, that to an
outsider any device which is capable of
  obliterating an entire world . . ."
  "Yes, yes . . . but you have to know, Captain
Kirk, it was never conceived as a weapon. For all his
intransigence, Van could no more develop a weapon
of destruction than he could moderate a
diplomatic conference."
  "If destroying planets isn't an offensive
gesture," wondered McCoy, "then what was this
machine's intended purpose?"
  "You know that this system is exceptionally poor in
usable metals? That was a major reason why it was
never colonised, not even outposted."
  McCoy looked blank. "So?"
  "Van got the idea for a device which would enable
orbiting vessels to mine such metals at depths
previously thought impossible, and from great distances.
It involved the calculus of stress in ways I
don't pretend to understand I'm not sure anyone but
Van could understand them.
  "It sounded like a grandiose absurdity at first, but
Van became obsessed with the thought. He neglected
all our other projects, threw himself wholly into this
one. You have no idea,
  gentlemen, what Van becomes when he is
  obsessed with an idea."
  "I can imagine," ventured McCoy. 117
  118 STAR TRBGG'C LOG SBVBN
  "He doesn't eat, he doesn't sleep he
exists to work. He exists on work. And eventually
he produced the concepts needed to make the device
a reality." Her grim visage lightened in
remembrance. "How excited he was, how
thrilled, how expectant! This was the discovery which was
going to refute his critics. This was to bring him the
recognition forever denied by petty, less talented
men." She slumped.
  "What else is there to say? You saw the
results for yourselves. We tried the finished machine out
on kilom- eters-deep nickel-iron deposits
in the mantle of the ninth planet. The result was
destructive beyond all imagining. Van was
appalled, then furious . . . at the machine and at
himself. He reworked, recalculated ev- erything.
He found no mistake. By his calculations, the
machine should have worked as it was.
  "I tried to dissuade him from making another test."
  tilde She laughed disconsolately. ""Try
to extinguish a sun.
  i So we aimed the machine at iridium
deposits on the
  eighth world . . . with identical results.
  "Do you wonder, Captain Kirk, Dr.
McCoy, at the manner in which he greeted you? It
was his failure in- furiating him, not your presence.
The latter he could stand, but not the first. That's why he
refused to coop- erate.
  "But you've got to believe than Van intended no
harm to anyone. He's no world-smashing monster. He
wanted to produce something that would vindicate him,
yes, but also to create something which would benefit Federation
peoples." Abruptly the hard shell splintered and
she was pleading.
  "Get him back, Captain Kirk, please
get him backl Without me he's no danger
to anyone, except himself."
  "Ms. Delminnen, while it may come as a shock
to you, we are concerned about you and your brother in ways
other than mercenary. As Federation citizens, and as
individuals, it's our duty to protect you. Even
if your brother had produced nothing of value, the
mere fact that he's a Federation citizen would
probably have impelled us along the same course of
action we're following now."
  STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN 119
  "And after you've got him back, assuming you can do
that . . . ?" she asked, in control of herself again.
  "That will have to be decided by the Federation Council.
I'm only a starship captain, you know not the
all-powerful manipulator of others' lives you
seem to think I am."
  She stared at him a moment longer. "Though I have
absolutely no reason to do- so, I find myself
believing you, Captain Kirk. I realize,
however, that you'll be forced to destroy the Klingon ship
and my brother
  if you fail to recapture him." -- -
  Kirk looked surprised he thought he had
avoided the need to mention that final, fatal
possibility alto- gether. He hadn't counted on
this woman's percep- tiveness it was almost as if
she'd read his mind.
  "We don't intend-. . ." he started
to mumbleea.and then decided to be as forthright as she was.
"You un- derstand, then, that we simply cannot . .. cannot
per- mit the Dingons to rebuild your brother's
device."
  Char Delminnen's reaction was unexpected. She
was momentarily speechless with shock. "Oh,
but don't you see . . . didn't you know?" she
finally explained. "They can't."
  Now it was Kirk's turn to be shocked. The rest
of the bridge was equally stunned. "Maybe you ought
to elaborate," he said slowly.
  She began to pace excitedly back and forth,
waving one hand animatedly as she spoke. "I thought
you had done your research, studied us thoroughly. It
seems in your haste and anxiety to recover the
weapon, both you and the Dingons neglected to trouble
yourselves much with its creators. Yes," she half
shouted, fore- stalling McCoy's unvoiced comment,
"I said creators. You've no idea how Van
worked, do you?"
  Kirk glanced over at Spock, who looked
blank and shook his head negatively, once. Char
Dehninnen turned smug.
  "Van couldn't build a toy truck, let
alone anything as complicated as that machine. I told
you how close we are. We always work together. Don't
you remember me telling you that he was neglecting our
projects?
  120 STAR TREK L tilde SEWN
  Oursl Van gets an idea into his head;
spins it around, clarifies the theory and then
I draw the diagrams and execute the finished
product. He conceives, I construct. It has always
been like that.
  "After all, I'm the one with the degree in
practical engineering."
  "Mr. Spock?" Kirk eyed his first officer
expectantly, but Spock was already working at the
library computer. Shortly he turned and spoke
softly.
  "Historical records confirm the body of
Delminnen's report."
  "I see." He turned his attention back to the
still-pacing woman. "What you' equals saying, then,
is that your brother is incapable of duplicating the
machine?"
  "Duplicating! They couldn't construct a
primitive crystal set from Van's instructional
I'm the only one who can understand his verbal and
mathematical shorthand. The two of us make one
genius, Captain. Separated, we're merely
two competent technicians."
  Kirk turned thoughtfully to the viewscreen and
studied the still- driveless Klatggza". Soon he
began to chuckle. The sound rose, concurrent with
Spock's eyebrows, became a chortle,
then a laugh.
  "Jiml" McCoy stared at his friend. Spock was
equally puzzled.
  "Really, Captain. I hardly consider the
information the young lady has recently imparted of such a
nature as to his
  "I'm . .. sorry, Spock . . . Bones."
He regained control of himself. "Forgive me, Ms.
Delminnen. I wasn't laughing at your brother's
plight, or at your concern. It's just so ... so ..
. I can't help but visualize Commander Kumara's
expression when he pulls what you've just told us out
of your brother, when he discovers that in all this haste
and confusion, he's the one who should be chasing use'
  The situation they were now in suddenly dawned on
McCoy. He too chuckled. Spock
  reguarded this display of emotion coolly.
  Almost as coolly as did Char Delminnen:
"I'll be in the cabin Dr. McCoy assigned
to me, Captain. If and
  STAR TREK LOG SEWN
  when you have additional questions, or have rescued my
brother, you'll find I'm available."
  She turned and marched pompously to the elevator.
Kirk turned to McCoy.
  "You're going to leave her to herself, Bones7"
  "She's as healthy as I can make her, Jim.
She and her brother may both need treatment, but not
of a physical variety." He shook his head
slowly. "What a family ... so much talent
enveloped in so many neuroses."
  Kirk turned and saw the rest of the bridge crew
('istening attentively. "What are you all staring
at? Don't you have stations to man? In case some of you
aren't aware of it, this ship is on red alert and in the
midst of an ongoing battle. Or perhaps there are some
among you who . . ."
  The level of activity on the bridge rose
rapidly.
  "Mr. Spock, your estimation of how soon
repairs to the Klathas win be completed?" The first
officer bent to his console. He looked up
calmly several moments later.
  "It is difficult to evaluate the damage to the
enemy vessel with much accuracy, Captain.
Judging from the information available through the library,
combined with that obtained by our sensors, however, I should
say that they will complete minimally necessary repairs to their
engines well ahead of us."
  Kirk double-checked with Engineering and found
that Scott confirmed Spock's analysis.
  "All right, Scotty, do what you can. Kirk
out."
  The captain sat back and considered their situation.
If the Rlathw were allowed to run under warp drive for
even a short time while the Enterprise remained
comparatively immobile, they would lose contact with
her completely. There had to be some way to prevent
that. Phasers and photon-torpedo banks were
inoperable owing to the damaged firecontrol computer;
impulse power would be useless .. . they had to stick
with the Rlathas somehow.
  Stick with . . .
  "My. Arex."
  122 STAR TREK LOO SEVEN
  "Yes Captain?" The Edoan navigator
responded promptly.
  "I need a report on the status of the tractor
beams."
  "Just a moment, sir." Arex checked his console,
tried a few switches, and found they responded as
programmed. "Instruments indicate that all
tractor units are intact and capable of full
function, sir. Power leads to Engineering are
undamaged, and all other subsidiary
instrumentation appears functional."
  "Thank you, Mr. Arex." Down went the
  intercom button. "Scotty. . ."
  "Aye, Captain, what now?" the chief engineer
wondered. "If it's about the drive . . ."
  "Not this time, Scotty. How would it affect your
repair work back there if I had to request
maximum, sustained power to the tractor beams?"
  "The tractors?" Scott hesitated only
long enough to mentally retrace one diagram out of
several thousand locked and Sled securely in the
manual of his mind. "Not at all, Captain.
That's an independent power link I can give you all
the attractive force you want."
  "1'aa hold you to that, Scotty," Kirk told
him thankfully. "We may need it all." He
clicked off and snapped an order to the helm.
"Mr. Sulul Prepare to engage the Rlathas with
all forward tractors. Use near full power, one
unit below maximum."
  "Aye, sir," Sulu responded. "Should I
attempt to close the distance between us?"
  "Negative, Mr. Sulu. Maintain present
  disposition. We're close enough for effective
tractor work. I don't want to move in
to where Kumara can use portable weaponry against us.
Since we can't go anywhere until Mr. Scott's
people have repaired the drive, I just want to make
sure the Klingons can't go anywhere
  without
  us."
  "Prepared to lock onto enemy vessel,
Captain," Sulu reported. "All forward
tractors powered and standing by."
  "Engage, Mr. Sulu."
  The helmsman gave the necessary electronic
order.
  STAR TREK 123
  There was the briefest pause before a slight quiver
was felt on the bridge.
  A jolt was felt on the bridge of the Klathas.
Kumara looked up as Kritt reported,
  "Commander, sensors indicate that the Pederation
vessel has his
  "Locked onto us with her tractor beams,"
Kumara finished for him. "I don't require
mechanicals to confirm that for me. It was an obvious
desperation move." He eyed the drifting
Enterprise. "I only wonder why it took them so
long."
  Five aides passed before Kumara's chair
intercom buzzed for attention. "Report yourself," he
said to the pickup,
  "Engineering here, Exalted Commander." There was a
touch of exultation in Korreg's exhausted voice.
"A am pleased to report that we have restored
partial drive capability."
  A shrill battle cry broke out on the
bridge at these words. For once Kumara decided
to ignore the breach of discipline. The men could do with a
little enthusiasm.
  "Remember, Commander, we have only partial
capability. Our speed and maneuverability are still
severely limited."
  "I understand, Korreg It will be enough, I think.
My commendation to you and your personnel. At the
successful completion of this mission there will be honors
for all. I salute you."
  He turned from the intercom to an uncertain
Kritt. "But, like)'bbxalted One, there is still the
problem of the Enterprise's tractors."
  "Must I constantly be afflicted with reminders of the
obvious?" Kumara moaned. "Am I forever to be
oppressed by relentless idiocy? Worm's
offspring, product of a misaligned
mating, can you see no solution to anything save what
is written already? Prepare to get under way!"
  "At once, Commander!" a rejuvenated Kritt
re- 6ponded. The rest of the bridge crew bent
to their own
  124 STAR TREKBVBN
  tasks happily, secure in the confidence
expressed by their commander's renewed good mood.
  Sulu's attention was caught by the sudden activation
of long tilde quiescent readouts. "Captain,"
he announced anxiously, "the Klathas appears
to be increasing speed."
  "Confirmed, Captain," Spock declared evenly.
"They are approaching velocity beyond the ability of
impulse power. It would seem that they have their war
tilde drive working again."
  "Mr. Sulu," Kirk inquired, "report on
the status of all tractor linkages."
  The helmsman hurriedly checked the
  appropriate telltales and reported
steadily, "Tractors all holding firm, sir.
No sign of weakening, and all instrumentation operating
efficiently."."
  "Mr. Spock, compute energy output of the
Rlatha tilde and compare with her rate of
  acceleration." Spock did the necessary figuring and
announced a figure. Kirk relaxed a little.
"They've regained only partial use of their
drive, Spock. By the time they can complete their
repairs, according to your estimates of the damage they've
suffered, Mr. Scott should have restored our own
engines back to equal
  operation. That means full use of our weapons
systems as well, since the firecontrol computer
is expected to be fixed at the same time." He
looked satisfied.
  "Then we can restart this argument on an equal
basis again . . ."
  Lieutenant Kritt looked up from his console,
some of his initial enthusiasm at the return of
drive capability now dampened by what his readouts
told him.
  "We are approaching warp tilde speed,
  Commander, but we cannot exceed it by much until further
repairs have been completed by Engineering. We do not have
enough power to break the Enterprise's tractor lock
on
  us."
  Kumara remained relaxed, confident. "Not with
sheer speed we do not, Lieutenant."
  "Your pardon, Exalted One?"
  STAR TRER L tilde SHIN 125
  "Pay attention, Kritt." Kumara's voice
rose to reach every attentive ear on the bridge.
"Pay attention, ad of you. We win execute the
following course changes, and execute them with
utmost precision. And in so doing, we win finish this
absurd contest once and for all . . ."
  There was no panic on the Enterprise's bridge
when evidence of the initial Klingon maneuver was
reported by her detectors.
  "Captain," Sulu declared promptly, "the
Klingons are shifting strongly to starboard, running
at a considerable angle now to their previous
course."
  I wonder what Kumara is up to, Kirk
thought.
  "It seems strange, Captain," Spock
announced, obviously puzzled. "They have the
benefit, however temporary, of war tilde drive
capability. I should think their proper course of
action would be to make as much distance toward their base
at ShaLkur as possible before we regain use of
our own drive and weapons."
  "I agree, Spock. That's my thought
too. Possibly Kumara is trying to trick us
again, trying to convince w there's Klingon aid closer
but in a different direction." He began to be
concerned. It wasn't like Kumara to try anything so
transparent.
  "Mr. Spock, you're certain the Klingons have
no military facilities nearer than
ShaLkur?"
  Spock utilized the library briefly.
"Absolutely noth tilde ng, Captain.
ShaLkur is at the extreme fringe of the
EL-MPIRE And the Klingons do not normally patrol
this region in force, so I think it extremely
unlikely they have contacted another ship."
  "He's up to something," Kirk muttered.
  At that moment a slight quiver ran through the
bridge. "Kla tilde has has executed
another radical course change, Captain,"
Sulu reported.
  "Approximately fortyfive degrees to port
of their new course."
  "Tractor status?"
  "Still holding tight, Captain," Arex announced
quietly. "We're staying with them. No change in
disposition. His
  126 STAR TREK SBVBN
  Another quiver rattled the bridge. It was
slightly stronger this time.
  Sulu's voice rose slightly. "Now they're
shifting to starboard again." His
  On the screen Kirk saw the Klathas nearly
vanish to the right before scanner compensators realigned
her in the center of the screen. Simultaneously, a
strong jolt rocked the bridge so hard that Uhura
had to grab the arms of her chair to keep from being thrown
free.
  "Shifting again, Captain!"
  "Steady, Mr. Sulu." He was on the intercom
in- stantly. Now it was obvious what Kumara was
up to. The question was . . . could they do anything about it?
  "Scatty, have you restored any drive
capability yet? Anything at all?"
  "No, Captain," the chief engineer replied.
"And" his voice was momentarily drowned out as the next
shock rocked the Enterprise and forced Kirk
to brace himself against the arm of the chair "we're not
gain" to have any if this infernal shakin' gets any
worse. What the devil's gain' on up there?"
  "It's the Klingon ship. Kumara knows he
hasn't regained enough power to break free of
our tractors, so he's playing crack-the-whip .
. . with us on the snapping end."
  "The colloquial identification is obscure,
Captain," Spock firmly declared, "but the
physical theory cannot be quarreled with. If this
  continues, the centripetal force will soon be
sufficient to overpower our tractor beams and break
the Klathas free."
  Kirk didn't have to cut the intercom the next
shock did that. This one was severe enough to send sparks
flying from several consoles and knock two momentarily
unbraced specialists to the deck.
  McCoy stumbled over to the command chair and grabbed
the back for support. "Jim, we can't go on like
this. If it gets any worse, it won't matter
whether the Klingons break free or not. I'm receiving
injury reports already, from all over the ship."
Another jolt sent him spinning to the door,
despite his hold on the chair
  back. to 
  STAR TREK TeaoGo SEWN 127
  "Captain, I must concur with the doctor,"
Spock ins tilde sted, struggling to retain his own
position. "Calculations indicate that much additional
stress will begin to affect the ship's hull.
Even the strongest seams cannot take his
  "All right, Spockl" Kirk's mind churned
furiously. There was no time for careful
  consideration of possible alternatives, no time
to judge possible reciprocal effects of his idea
  Besides, it was his only idea. The trouble was, it
could affect them as severely as it did the Klingons.
  Another shock struck as the Klathas slammed
over to a new heading once more. The tractors still
held, a credit to their designers.
  Unfortunately, human beings were not nearly so
solidly constructed
  Kirk climbed painfully back into the command
chair, every millimeter of his body bruised and
strained. Only Arex, with his triple limbs, had
succeeded in retaining his position during that last
shock, but even he appeared shake).
  Lights flickered momentarily, then came on
strong. The next time they might not. "Mr.
Spock, I want a half-second countdown to the
Klathas's next projected course change. They
have to maintain a set pattern of changes for
maximum effectiveness."
  "fifteen, fifteen, fourteen, fourteen . . ."
Spock recited in a monotone, not questioning
the reasoning bebind the command.
  "Mr. Arex, on command you will disengage tractor
beams for the minimum amount of time possible, then
reengage. Do you understands"
  "No, sir . . . but standing ready." One finger
hovered over the button in question, stiDo with inhuman
control.
  "... Nine, nine, eight, eight ..." The first
officer continued to count, his voice never wavering.
  "Stress on the exterior plates is nearing the
danger point, sir," the ensign at the engineering
station reported tensely. Kirk ignored him, his
gaze locked on the screen, where the Klathas was
sliding rapidly to starboard again, his attention
focused on Spock's count to the exclusion of all
else.
  128 STAR TREK L tilde SHIN
  "dis . . Four, four, three, three, two, two
. . ."
  "Whatever you're going to do, Jim, do it!" yelled
McCoy.
  "dis . . One, 0 his
  "Now, Arexl"
  The Edoan's finger descended, firmly
depressed the switch controlling the forward
tractors, allowed it to rise, then depressed it
again. The action was almost too fast for a human eye
to follow.
  Several things happened at once. A tiny dial
on Arex's console barely quivered. A
tremendous force wrenched at the Enterprise. It
sounded as though every bit of metal every plate, beam,
wire, down to the fillings in Scott's back teeth
vibrated in protest. This time the lights stayed out.
The only illumination on the bridge was provided
by the brilliant display of sparks which arced from one
outraged console to another.
  Transparent facings on gauges and dials
shattered, and everyone, including Arex, was thrown
heavily to the deck.
  Kirk had only a glimpse of the screen as he
was thrown clear of the command chair. It dimmed but --
didn't wink out entirely. It showed the Klathas
whipping around like a top, to stop facing the Enterprise
bow-on.
  The lights came back on slowly, but with none
of the usual crispness of emergency backups
snapping in. Groans and mild curses,
indicative of pain incurred formed a slowly rising
murmur on the bridge.
  Kirk had to pull himself bodily back into his
chair. "Mr. Arex, report," he said, wincing and
clutching at his right shoulder. "Report on the
status of the Klingon vessel. Disposition and speed
relative to our own."
  There was a long pause. This time not even Arex had
escaped the pounding, and it took a few minutes for the
Edoan's jarred mind to settle enough so that he could
make sense of what his instruments were telling him those
that were still operative.
  "Instruments show . . . instruments show . . ."
  His soulful eyes widened slightly in
surprise. "Sir, all en
  STAR TREK Em 129
  gine activity, including impulse power, has
ceased aboard the KlathasJust"
  "Mr. Spock, confirmation." Please, he added
silently.
  "Correct, Captain," the first officer
reported. "The Klathas shows no evidence of
internal power beyond what is required to maintain
vital life-support systems. She shows no
signs of drive activity."
  "And what about ourselves?"
  Spock studied his instrumentation a moment
longer "We have apparently sustained additional
damage as well, Captain. We are in little
better shape than the Klathas."
  "Damage reports starting to come in,
Captain," Chum announced. Her left cheek was
swollen and badly discolored, but her voice was as
crisp and precise as ever.
  "Make note of them, Lieutenant," Kirk
  responded, "and I'll review them at first
opportunity. Meanwhile, get me Engineering."
  Uhura worked her console, then explained,
"Sorry, sir . . . that portion of intership
communications is presently inoperative.
  Lieutenant M'ress has checked in to say that
she is working on the breakdown with communications
personnel and Engineering Maintenance."
  "It may be just as welt Jim," McCoy
suggested. "I'm not sure Ed care to listen
to Scotty just now not after what that last shock must have
done to his halffinished repairs. What did
happen, anyway?"
  "It worked is what happened, Bones, although it
worked on both of us on the Enterprise as well as
on the Lathes." He tried to slip into a comfortable
posibon, discovered that his battered body
found no posibon comfortable, and bled to take his mind
off the throb in his shoulder by explaining
  "Did you ever play crack-the-whip when you were a
kid, Bones? On any kind of skates?"
  "Sure." He grimaced. "I always seemed
to end up on the outside end."
  "What would happen if that outside end
  suddenly grabbed hold of something immovable, like a
fixed post
  130 STAR TREK L tilde SHIN
  or other solid object, and held on even if
only for a second?"
  McCoy's brows drew together in thought. Then he
smiled and nodded slowly. "Of course ... The
shock would be transmitted all the way down the
line, to the inner end. If it were done to a line of
skating kids, the ones at the other end would be shaken
off . . . although everyone would
  expedience the shock to some degree." His eyes
suddenly moved to the screen. "So that's what happened
to the Kl tilde thas." He gestured at the now
completely immobile alien ship. ""It spun
them completely around. And I thought we'd taken the
worst of it."
  "Jubilation is pleasant but only
temporary, Doctor," Spock suggested
unexcitedly,
  calmly rationally. He turned his gaze to Kirk.
"What do we do now, Cap
  "Now?" Kirk spread his upturned palms in
an ageold gesture. "I'm afraid I didn't
have much time to think about that, Mr. Spock. We had
to cope somehow, and it seems we have. Do now?" He
looked up at the screen.
  "We wait to see who can repair his engines or
phasers first. Until then, both vessels will
continue to drift along exactly as we arc eye
to eye, nose to nose calling each other bad
  names."
  "A most unprofitable apportionment of mental
resources, Captain," the first officer observed
disapprovingly.
  "What was that, Spock?"
  "Pay no attention, Jim," McCoy advised
hhn. "Spock's just jealous because Vulcans are
culture- conditioned against swearing."
  "Word inebriation," Spock countered, slightly
miffed. But that was the end of it . . .
  lx
  "Captain's log, supplemental."
Kirk paused, took a long breath, and regarded the
Klathas.its position had not changed since
Kumara's ploy to break free of the Enterprise's
tractors had been so joltingly countered. It still
faced the Enterprise nose-on, the lights on its
bridge glaring at the starship's scanners.
  "We have been drifting below warp-speed together with the
Klathas for several standard days now. Events have
devolved into a race between the engineering complements of
both vessels, to see which can be the first to effect
repairs to their respective drives and
  offens tilde ve-weapons systems.
  "Since phaser instrumentation requires
  considerably more time and effort, we are concentrating
our efforts on repairing the warp-drive, with
reasonable assurance that the Klingons are doing the
same ... or so Mr. Spock assures me,
based on evidence of detectable ac- tivity on
board the Imperial cruiser." He paused.
  "My only consolation in all of this," he finally
concluded, "is the knowledge that Commander Kumara of the
Klathas is probably more
  frustrated than I . . ."
  He finished the log entry and switched the
recorder off, then took the moment of
relative quiet to survey the bridge. Spock
was engaged in some esoteric research of his own, his
instruments set to alert him to any hint of unusual
activity on board the Klingon ship. Zulu was
replaying a game of trifence on an auxiliary
monitor, his own telltales quiet. Uhura was
half asleep at her console.
  Only Arex appeared alert and absorbed. Come
to think of it, the navigator had remained attentive
to something for several hours now.
  "What do you find so interesting, Mr. Arex?"
Kirk asked.

  132 STAR TREK BE SBVBN
  "Hmmm?" The delicate head with its jutting
bony ridges turned, limpid eyes gazed back
at Kirk. "I have been engrossed in the approach
of an impossibility, Captain."
  Spock showed that he wasn't all that buried in
research by turning to listen curiously.
"Elucidate, Lieutenant."
  "I have been debating whether to do precisely that,
sir," Arex replied. "I wished to be certain of
my findings first. It grows more extraordinary as we
near. Even so, because of the uncertain situation
with regard to the enemy vessel, I have hesitated before
mentioning
  "Before mentioning what, Mr. Arex?" wondered
Kirk in puzzlement.
  "Captain, my instruments indicate that we are
approaching an object of planetary mass.
  Furthermore
  and this is most exciting it appears to possess
free water in oceanic quantities and a breathable
atmosphere. His
  Slowly the rest of the bridge began to stir from
somnolence, began to utilize long-inactive
instrumentation.
  "Spock, the charts for this area his
  "Show it as an empty region, Captain. No
stars, most certainly no planets." He bent
to his gooseneck viewer, adjusted controls,
made demands on exterior scanners and sensors.
"Yet I must confirm Mr. Arex's observations."
He looked up again, his eyes glowing with the fervor of a
scientist who has just made a discovery as
spectacular as it was unexpected.
  was "Extraordinary" is an understatement,
Captain. It is unique."
  "What's unique?" McCoy asked,
strolling from the elevator. He had just concluded his
tour of all the patients remaining in Sick Bay
and satisfied himself as to their condition.
  Kirk's voice was hushed with wonder. "We're
apparently going to encounter a habitable world,
Bones."
  McCoy's gaze went to the viewscreen. It still
showed only the Klathas, floating against a
background of thinly
  STAR TREK L tilde SHIN 133
  sprinkled stars. And since the war tilde drive
was still out . . .
  "A world ... where, Jim? If we're
approaching a sun, the scanners seem to be
ignoring it."
  "That's just it, Bones. There is no sun.
We're going to meet a wanderer$'g
  McCoy was properly startled. "A wanderer? An
inhabitable wanderer? I thought such a thing was
impossible, Jim."
  "So did I, Bones. Any reasonable
astronomer will tell you that the odds of encountering a
planet which has broken free of its parent sun are
... well, astronomi tilde like. I know of only
two such encounters in Pederation history, and
both are well
  documented. This is a new discovery.
  "But the chances of finding a wandering world with a breathable
atmosphere, and free water on the surface
  . . .
  "Are beyond computation, Captain," Spock con-
curred. "I would not have believed it possible."
  "To spot a non-system object of less than
solar mass in free space, Bones, a ship has
to be traveling below wardrobe, on impulse power
or less. No one travels like that . . . unless
they've had an accident. Even then, with such incredible
odds ... Bones, this discovery is pearly as
important as freeing Delminnen from the
  Klingons.
  "I'm not sure Char Delminnen would agree with
you, Jim," McCoy murmured softly.
  Days passed. The Enterprise and the Klathas,
locked together in mutual impotence, drifted closer
to the wanderer. It grew from a statistic in Arex's
computer to a bale then to a globe, and finally to a
massive, real world with continents and oceans and
clouds.
  Those clouds were the key to its habitability, for
they were just thick enough to retain the heat the
planet appeared to produce, yet not thick enough
to produce a radical, suffocating greenhouse
effect.
  "According to sensors, the wanderer is about the same size
as [Barth," Spock was reporting, studying his
  134 STAR TREK SHIN
  readouts, "though its gravity is slightly
stronger. Both the Klathas and the Enterprise have already
been drawn into orbit around it."
  "It's rich in heavy metals and
radioactives, too," Kirk mused. "We already
know it produces
  energy. At least we'll have the chance to inspect a
unique spatial phenomenon at close range."
  "And be carried a little bit farther from the Klingon
base at Shahkur Nine while we're
  inspecting," McCoy pointed out with
satisfaction.
  "There's . . There's something else, Captain,"
Spock reported. There was an odd note in the first
offlcer's voice that made Kirk turn quickly.
  "What is it, Mr. Spock?"
  "Incredible as it may seem," he informed the
bridge, his expression as close to stunned
amazement as it was possible for it to be, "this
wanderer appears to be not merely habitable, but
inhabited."
  Spock's astonishment was instantly transmitted
to everyone on the bridge.
  "Spock . . . you're certain?" Kirk finally
managed to mumble.
  "I don't think there is any question of it,
Captain. There is too much evidence for it to be
denied, despite the uncertainty of high-resolution
sensors. Roads, population density . . . all
appear present, though in very limited fashion. It
suggests a well-populated world, though a
technologically impoverished one. Actual
surface survey may reveal otherwise, of
course."
  McCoy was staring at the brilliant, glistening
cloud layer against which the P[lathas was outlined.
"What must they be like, Jim, a people who have developed
never knowing a sun or a moon never even knowing the
stars? If Spock's assessment of their progress
is correct, they can't possibly have telescopes
capable of piercing their protective cloud layer."
  "I can't imagine a civilisation maturing under
these conditions, Bones. And yet" Kirk gestured
at the screen "we're confronted with the
  actuality. What," he wondered, "should we
call it?"
  STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN 135
  "That's easy, Jim. There's only one name for it
Gypsy.,
  Par a change, Spock and the doctor were in
perfect agreement.
  Detailed charting of the wanderer began, under the
auspice' of Spock's. science staff. At no
time did anyone forget that a battle for survival
could erupt with the Klathas at any moment, but Kirt
could see no reason why nonessential personnel
should not take the opportunity to make a thorough
study of the wanderer, at least until hostilities
resumed. Undoubtedly, the Klingons science
section was occupied by similar activities.
  "Final estimates show gravity as one point
fourteen Earth normal, atmosphere point
  ninety-six Earth-Vulcan normal at the
surface, temperature in the temperate zones
varying between one hundred eighty and two hundred
five degrees K."
  "Why would it vary?" McCoy asked. "There's
no sun to warm any part of the globe more than
another."
  The atmosphere is slightly heavier at the
planet's equator, thinner at its poles,"
Spock explained, "although nowhere as extreme
  climatically as on EarEh. There are no ice
caps, for example. Other than that," the first officer
finished, "this world is a near duplicate of Earth
or Vulcan."
  "What about light?" McCoy persisted. "How
could any civilization develop in the total absence
of light?"
  I could make a case for several such
  civilisations, Doctor, but for this remarkable world
it is unnecessary. The dense atmosphere contains an
extremely high proport tilde on of ionized
gases and natural fluorescents, which are excited
by the abundance of radioactives in the surface.
If anything, these people must be afflicted with perpetual
illumination, and not darkness."
  "I see." McCoy nodded. "They live under the
granddaddy of all auroras."
  "As to what the inhabitants are like, Doctor,"
Spock continued, "there is evidence evidence which can
be confirmed only by on-surface inspection that they
are at least roughly humanoid in appearance and
build. We've sent down a few drone
probes for close-in study.
  136 STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN
  Superficially, at least, the resemblance to the
normal Vulcan-human pattern is astounding."
  "Absolutely no chance of their being advanced enough
to help in repairing the Enterprise, or in countering
the Klingons?" a hopeful Kirk
  queried.
  "I'm afraid not, Captain," Spock
replied drily. "First impressions have only just
been confirmed by the probes. There are no confers of
  population larger than a good-sized town.
Settlement appears to be primarily rural, with
even villages isolated and scattered. I would
say they are in the process of emerging from a
medieval era into one of primitive middle-class
capitalism. I'd place their level of
technology no higher than fifteenth-century
Earth or fifth-epoch Vulcan."
  "Then we're not likely to encounter warp drive
technicians awaiting our call for assistance,"
Kirk observed "Even so, the fact that they've
achieved any kind of civilisation at all the very
fact of their existence is incredible. What a pity that
we're too busy fighting the Klingons
to remain to study them."
  Spock agreed sadly. "Most unfortunate,
  Captain. We can plot this world's position and a
probable trajectory for it, but it will still be
extremely difficult to locate again."
  "Excuse me, Captain." Kirk turned his
attention to Uhura. "We're being beamed from the
  Klathas."
  "They've got their communications working again, then.
Put it on the screen, Lieutenant."
  Surprisingly, Kirk found he felt no
particular animosity toward the figure who
appeared. There were signs of strain on the man's
face: indications of fatigue induced by too much
worry and too little sleep.
  Kirk wondered if he looked as bad.
  "Good day to you, James Kirk," Kumara began
pleasantly. "I trust you are feeling well?"
  "I'm getting by, Kumara. Yourself?"
  The Klingon commander frowned, appeared petulant.
"I've been rather restless lately, I'm afraid.
For one thing, I am still rearranging my quarters. That
little trick of yours in cutting your tractors and then
  STAR TREK EM SEVEN 137
  reestablishing contact after we had changed
our course drastically realigned that section of the
Klathas."
  "Sorry to hear it," Kirk replied, in a tone
which indicated he wasn't sorry at all. "I'll
bet that's not the only thing that's had to be
rearranged." For some reason, Kirk found this
falsely jovial atmosphere quite irritating.
Maybe it was the memory of the faces he had seen in
Sick Bay these past days.
  "All right, Kumara, you didn't break bathe
silence for the first time in days to apprise me of the state
of your bedroom. What do you want?"
  Kumara's outward demeanor wasn't shaken.
He remained unruffled. "You are quite correct,
Jim. You see, a new development has caused
me to reconsider our position.
  "I have only just discovered that the man Delminnen
is utterly incapable of building, designing, or
instructing my technicians in how to duplicate his
awesome device. It appears only his female
sibling can do that."
  "You damned torturer!" McCoy exploded.
"How did you pry that out of him, Kumara7 I know
the Klingons are noted for their inventiveness with his
  Kumara waved him to silence. "Please,
ah," he peered harder at his own screen
"Doctor, I believe. Am I a barbarian,
to resort to the primitive physical intimidation of
helpless prisoners? Besides, I would not risk losing
forever the knowledge held in the human Delminnen's mind.
  "No, to be quite truthful, the human bragged about it
all over the Klathas as soon as he became
convinced his sibling was not on board. It was hardly
necessary to pry anything out of him." The Ktingon commander's
expression twisted.
  "Needless to say, I viewed his revelation with
considerable dismay."
  Kirk was growing impatient. "All this
unnatural courtesy and politeness must be
upsetting your liver, Kumara. Why did you beam
me? What is it you want?"
  Kumara looked back at Kirk with exaggerated
surprise. "Why, the same thing you do, Jim. An
end to all
  138 STAR TREK LOG SBVBN
  this suspense and a final disposition of our . . .
um . .. mutual interests."
  "We'll settle that as soon as my chief
engineer informs me our drive is repaired which should be
any minute now."
  "Perhaps," Kumara admitted, smiling easily.
"Then again, it may be some time yet before the damage
to either of our ships is rectified. I have thought of
another way."
  "Careful, Jim," McCoy whispered.
  "What other way, Kumara?"
  'ally propose a contest."
  "A contest?" Kirk echoed warily. "What kind
of contest?"
  "One that is simple and effective." Kumara
leaned forward. "It should appeal to you, Jim."
  "Go on."
  "It's simple, really. You wish the man
  Delminnen returned to you. I need his sibling.
Separately, they are useless to both of us."
  'I disagree," countered Kirk. "They're both
still alive ... something they probably wouldn't be if
you had both of them for very long."
  "You question my morality, too, but never mind,"
Kumara continued. "Here is what I
  propose. I am sure you have been studying the
extraordinary world below us intensively these past
days. Each of us will assume the attire of the
inhabitants. We will take one officer with us from our
respective crews. You will also take the
girl with you, while I shall bring the man. His
  "We will take nothing but these clothes, our
communicators, and some local means of
  exchange, and we will beam down to the planet. There
are methods of insuring that each side descends with the
correct number of people, the right people, and nothing in the
way of modern weapons. Neither side can attempt
to unex- pectedly beam the other aboard his ship,
since we will both have transporters locked on us
at all times. And you will recall what interlocking
transporter fields did the last time."
  STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN 139
  "Jim, he's crazy," McCoy whispered
anxiously. "You can't possibly be thinking of his
  "Go on, Kumara," Kirk said slowly.
  "Each group of three will beam down at
opposite ends of the largest town on the main
continent, the one bordering the central sea where the two
rivers meet. We will then allow ourselves three time
periods under the local conditions to . . . ah . .
. effect a determination of our conflict, one way
or the other. If -- at the conclusion of that period a
solution has not been achieved, each party will beam
back up to its ship and we will try something else.
  "Even if my group proves
successful, it may still be that your ship will regain its
drive and weapons capabilities inst. Then my
success will have been for naught. Naturally the
reverse may occur. So in any case this may not
necessarily be the resolution of our situation.
  "What do you think?"
  McCoy was stunned, for it seemed that Kirk was
actually seriously considering the Klingon's
proposal. "Jim, you're not thinking of going along
with this madness, are you? Don't you see what he's
up to? It's you he's worried about, not the
Enterprise. He's thought up this entire bizarre
scheme as a way of eliminating you."
  "Quiet, Bones" was all Kirk said.
To Kumara he explained, "I agree that we can
insure through various means that no advanced weapons
are transported down, that the number of personnel
is limited to a single assisting officer, and so on.
But even the best of such guarantees can be
  circumvented. I want something more."
  Kumara looked like a man forced to play his last
ace instead of holding it in reserve. "Very well."
He rose from his command chair and lifted both arms in
a peculiar salute that was half military, half
religious in origin.
  "I swear as commander of a warship of the Imperial
Fleet, as a Klingon lord, by the sacred warrior's
soul of his Imperial Majesty Emperor
Karhammur the Forti
  140 STAR TREK L tilde SHIN
  eth, and-by the God of Gods, Great
Kinkuthanza, to abide by the terms of the contest I have
just set before us and before witnesses."
  He lowered his arms and resumed his seat.
"Furthermore, I agree to exchange ships'
nadas. They will be able to oversee the actual
  transporting of each group to the surface, besides
acting as hostages."
  Kirk considered, ignoring McCoy's silent
entreaties. The stalemate was unnerving. Should the
Klingons finish their repairs first, he would be at a
decided disadvantage. He looked across at
Spock and saw his first officer waiting patiently.
  "What's your opinion, Mr. Spock?"
  "I am not qualified to offer an opinion where a
superior officer's life is at stake,
Captain. However, I believe the commander's
suggestion could be turned to our advantage."
  Kirk nodded. "My thoughts exactly,
Spock."
  McCoy looked angrily over at the first
officer. "You're crazy too, Spock! What
makes you think a Klingon's going to adhere to any
kind of rules?"
  "Two things, Bones. First of all, Spock, can
you recall any instance of a Klingon officer's
breaking an oath sworn on the Emperor's soul and
on Kinkuthanza?"
  "Never, Captain. To do so would be comthe
equivalent of murdering one's honor, and the honor
of one's line back to the first generation. It is one of the
few things I can think of which would be binding on a
Klingon."
  "Kumara," Kirk said tilde curtly, turning
back to the screen, "I accept your proposal."
  "Excellent! I will beam down with one assisting
officer to the eastern end of the town, the sector known
to the inhabitants as "Grey Shadow," in one
hour, your time, from the cessation of this conversation. You were
always first in classes at the FEA in Adaptive
Ecology, Jim. You will be a challenge. Rest
assured the human Delminnen will be with me." His
arms came up and crossed again in that peculiar
fashion.
  "Good hunting, Jim."
  The screen blanked. "Transmission ended,
Captain," Uhura reported.
  backslash
  backslash
  STAR TREK Em SEVEN 141
  Kirk activated the intercom. "Alien
Leology and Soeiology, attention. This is the
captain speaking. I will require in forty minutes
suitable attire for myself, Science Lieutenant
Bresica Celli, and Ms Char Delminnen for a
stay on the surface of Gypsy. Nothing fancy you
should aim for
  clothing appropriate for members of the lower noble
classes. Also an ample supply of the local
medium of exchange. Simulations must be
  accurate enough to fool the locals."
  As he broke off and rose from the chair,
McCoy stepped between Kirk and the elevator.
"You're not going through with this, Jim. There are more
sensible ways to get yourself killed!"
  "What makes you think I'm the one who's going
to get killed, Bones? I'm afraid I've got
to take the risk. Kumara s gambling too. This
may be our only chance to rescue Van Delminnen.
If we finish engine and weapons repairs
first, you know they're going to kill him rather than risk the
Pederation's obtaining the device. But if we
conclude our repairs first and have both
  Degg'minnens safely on board ... no, I
can't pass up that chance."
  McCoy looked desperately over at the
science station. Spock, you reason with himl"
  Spook left his position and confronted Kirk,
who looked back at him in surprise. "I fear
the doctor is correct, Captain. I must
object. As it stands now, this scheme is
inadvisable, highly dangerous, and illogical."
  "There, you see?" McCoy looked satisfied.
  "What's the matter, Spoek?" a puzzled
Kirk wondered. "A moment ago you declared the
  contest could be to our advantage. What's made you
change your mind?"
  "He's seen reason, that's all, Jim."
  Spock's brows arched as he glanced at
McCoy. "I always see reason, Doetor."
Spock turned to face Ark. "It is your present
choice of personnel, Captain, which prompts my
objection."
  Kirk frowned. The frown turned into a grin, and
he walked back to the command chair and
activated the intercom. "Sciences? Inform
Lieutenant Celli his serv
  142 STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN
  ices win not be required on this expedition. The
second set of native clothing should conform to the
uniform specifications of First Officer Spock."
  He cut off and smiled back over his shoulder.
  "My. Spock?"'9
  Not a sign of a smile cracked that stolid
visage, not a hint of a chuckle modulat'ed the
reply, but Kirk sensed both nonetheless.
  "I withdraw my objection, Captain.
Subsequent modifications now indicate that
participation in the contest is logical."
  ""Spockl"
  The first officer turned a reproving gaze on
McCoy. "As the captain is determined to go,
Doctor, it is only sensible that the
best-qualified support accompany him. I am
the best-qualified support. Therefore, I am going
too. Ready, you complicate things
unnecessarily."
  Spock brushed by a dazed McCoy, following
Kirk into the elevator.
  Alien Sociology was in constant
communication with the engineers in Nonmetallic
Pabrication, with the result that Kirk had hardly
entered his cabin when a specialist, laden with an
armload of clothing, buzzed for admittance.
  Kirk accepted the bundle, dismissed the man, and
set about examining all the camouflage he would have on
the strange world below. Sciences had assured him that,
with a few minor changes, he, Spock, and Char
Delminnen would be
  indistinguishable from the "Gypsie6" they would
600n move among.
  The clothes were unremarkable, that being remarkable in
itself. To look closely at them one would have guessed
that they had been produced on a primitive hand
loom instead of in the bowels of a matrix
synthesizer. Kirk tried on the boots, the
simple long pants and 1006e upper garment, the
fur vest, and he finished by closely inspecting the
carefully "aged" necklace with its concealed
universal translator, The matching earpiece would
appear to an uncertain observer as nothing more than a
minor deformity nothing sufficient to arouse anyone's
interest.
  STAR TREK Em SEWN 143
  Local currency was concealed in a sort
of pouch-belt and consisted of a collection of small,
heavy metal squares. Fortunately, the native
coins were dull and poorly stamped. There were limits
even to the Enterprise's ultra-high-powered
sensors.
  Another buzz sounded insistently at the door.
  "Come," Kirk said, for the door's benefit as much
as that of his visitor. Responding to his verbal
command, the single wedge slid aside.
  Kirk examined himself in his mirror and turned
to greet McCoy. "Well, Bones, do I look
like a native?"
  "You look dike a fool," McCoy shot
back tautly, "which I suppose is
appropriate, since you're going on a fool s
errand."
  Kirk didn't reply, but waited for the doctor
to finish.
  You don t mean to go through with this, Jim. This sn't
a game being played with plastic pieces on some
rec-room board. Kumara wants only two things
out of this Char Delminnen alive and you dead." He
looked across at his friend, expression and voice
straining for comprehension. "How can you possibly trust
that that his very concepts of right and wrong are
alien to oursl"
  "Bones," Kirk began softly, "A knew
Kumara when both of us were green, unspaced
cadets. I know that was a long time ago, but from what
I've seen these past days, he hasn't changed, and
I don't think I have. He might steal you blind at
the first opportunity, stab you in the back if he
thought he could get away with it, lie,
  cheat anything for an advantage."
  McCoy was nodding knowingly. "Sounds dike a
Klingon gentleman all right."
  But he won't go back on that oath. He'll
abide because he set the guidelines, Bones, not
me. Yes, he'd do all those other things, given the
chance, but he won't go back on that oath. And you're
right that is ahen to us." Carefully he smoothed the
pouch-belt around his waist, so that no tempting
bulges would
  "Besides, there's no way he could go back on his
word after we've exchanged nadas."
  144 STAR TREK LOG SBVBN
  McCoy momentarily forget his anger in
  puzzlement. "Exchange nadas? Didn't that have
something to do with the hostage exchange you two were talking
about?"
  "That's right," confirmed the captain. "Another
alien tradition, and another of the very few agreements
binding on a Klingon. I hope you'll be comfortable
during your visit to the Klathas, Bones."
  It took much less than a minute for McCoy
to digest the import of that statement. "Me? I'm
going to the Klathas? But why me, Jim?"
  "Because you're our resident servant and high
priest of Nadir, the Klingon god-patron of
medicine. There have been reports of Klingons entering
a hospital on board ship or on-planet and
massacring the patients ... but they have never touched a
physician. It's part of their
  warrior-tainted cultural pattern. Your
status on the Klathas win be that of a saint,
Bones."
  "Saint to a bunch of Klingons I can't think of a
less welcome honor."
  "'allyou'd better be grateful for it. It
guarantees your immunity . . . and for that reason
you're the only one I can trust the Klingons not
to massacre if the contest goes against them.
Naturally, while you're on board the Klathas,
your Klingon counterpart will be here on the Enterpnse."
  "But it's all unnecessary, Jim,"
McCoy objected one last time. "Kumara's set
the whole thing up. He's called the rules, the
place, everything And another thing . . . How can you
risk something as potentially dangerous as the
Delminnen device on a two-man expedition?"
  Kirk sighed. "I told you, Bones, it's our
best chance for rescuing Van Delminnen." He
started for the door.
  McCoy put a restraining hand on his shoulder, still
angry and still unconvinced. When he spoke again, his
tone was low and almost accusing.
  "Blast it, Jim, are you sure you're going through
with this because you believe that or because you're as vain about your
ability to outmaneuver Kumara on a strange world
as he thinks you are?"
  STAR TREK Em SEVEN Iblede
  Kirk glared at the doctor, and for a long moment
what passed between them was as
  eloquent as it was unspoken. Finally: "You think
Kumara's appealing to my vanity, then?"
  "Is he, Jim?"
  "I . . . I don't know. Maybe he is,
Bones. Maybe he has already outmaneuvered me
before the game's even started. But I do know this . .
." His voice rose.
  "Besides keeping the weapon from the Klingons, there's
also Char Delminnen to think of. It's our duty
to save her brother, because he's a
  Federation citizen, because he's a human being. If
I pass up a chance to do that to protect my own
neck, Bones, then my commission's worthless
  "In addition, I'm going crazy waiting around
while our engineering section races theirs to see who can
fix their engines first. Don't you think Kumara's
nervous? He s so nervous, he's the one who's
proposed something to resolve part of our problem,
given us the chance to do something besides sit around and wait
for our fingernails to dissolve in our mouths.
  "By all that's worth salvaging in this bizarre
galaxy, Bones, I'm going to make the most of that
opportunity."
  Neither man moved until McCoy seemed
to slump in on himself a little. He looked away.
"All right. If I can t talk you out of it, at
least I can accompany you to the transporter room."
  "Sure you don't want to take anything with you,
Bones," Kirk wondered, "to make your visit on
the Klathas more bearable?"
  "The only thing that could do that would be a Class
Four phaser," the doctor grunted,
"suitable for performmg large scale surgery on
massed Klingon bodies.

  "Captain's log, supplemental," Kirk
recited, ad- dressing She wall intercom in dhe
Transporter Room. It was keyed by verbal command
to the ship's log.
  "Char Delminnen, Mr. Spock, and myself are
preparing to beam down to the wandering world we have named
Gypsy to commence a contest with our Klingon counterparts.
We hope this contest will favorably resolve She
stalemate in which we presently find ourselves wid1
regard to her brother and Uhe Imperial cruiser
Klathas.
  "In consequence of this, an exchange of ships"
chief physicians has been effected, Uhus
forcing a solemn bind upon the Klingons not to deviate
from Uhe rules set down for the competition . . .
wiah appropriate sensors and scanners also
monitoring Uhe terms of Ule contest.
  "Doctor McCoy is now aboard she
Klathas, and his Klingon doppelganger,
Surgeon-in-BatHe Kattrun dek Prenn,
has arrived aboard she Enterprise." He paused
for a second, finally adding, "I only
hope Uhat my evaluation of the incipient action
turns out to be more accurate than Dr.
McCoy's."
  The entry ended, Kirk turned and walked past the
transporter console to join a waiting Spock and
Char Delminnen in Uhe activated alcove.
Briefly he noted She disposition of their native
garb, Uhe quality and detail of their facial
makeup, and found everything satisfactory, if not
visually pleasing.
  "Ready, Mr. Spock?"
  "Quite ready, Captain." He rubbed at dhe
thick cap pulled low on his head. "Though Ulis
wig and attendant headgear are more than a lithe
  irritating."
  "You'll get used to them, Spock. They're
neces- sary our Gypsies don't have acute
hearing organs."

  STAR TREK roll 147
  "An unfortunate evolutionary defect," the first
officer commented drily.
  Kirk smiled, then turned a more solemn,
appraising gaze on the stiff figure at his right.
"And you, Ms. Delniinnen, are you sure
you want to go through with this? Our success hinges on you,
you know. I can't order you to participate."
  Her reply was impatient. "I've already consented
to it, Captain, as has my brother. The sooner we
stop brooding about possible consequences and get on with
it, the sooner Van and I will be reunited. Isn't
that right?"
  "That is very right." Convinced that the slight,
hypertense woman would be an asset rather than a
burden, Kirk turned to face back into the room.
After a quick check of the chronometer disguised as a
ring, he said pleasantly, "Energize when ready,
Mr. Scott."
  "Aye, Captain."
  The chief engineer adjusted the necessary instrumentation, and
in a moment the ship's population decreased by a
three. At the same time, two beings of differing
temperament and physical makeup lay in
unfamiliar surroundings and began counting the minutes.
There were a great many to pass until the end of three
days, and none could say whether Dr. Leonard
McCoy or SIB Kattrun dek Prenn
counted harder . . .
  A good deal of planning and examination of
longrange sensor reports had gone
into
  determining exactly where the party from the Enterprise
should set down. Ideally, the place should offer
temporary concealment without being too isolated, and
without immediately exposing the strangers to the new world or
the new world to the strangers before either had a chance to be
acclimated.
  So the three ministers in multi materialised in
the middle of a deserted alleyway. Faint people
noises could be heard nearby, just loud enough for all
three to properly adjust their necklace
translators.
  Even more than the damp alleyway with its
claustrophobic high stone walls, even more than the
always
  148 STAR TREK LOO SEVEN
  mind-tingling sound of a new tongue, Kirk was
drawn to the sky overhead. The light was dimmer than
was usual on Earth, but more spectacular Ghan the
meteorologists had predicted.
  No one color dominated a sky that was aflame
wi
  auroral blaze: Reds, greens, blues and
golds and violent purple shifted and writhed in an
  atmosphere of perpetual excitation.
Whenever a particularly brilliant display
occurred, they would acquire a new phenomenon a
shadow. And the shadows changed constancy, according to Uhe
varying intensity of the sky. To look at one's own
shadow was to be subject to a stroboscopic display
of peculiarly personal dimensions.
  A final check insured that no one had
  observed their unorthodox medhod of arrival.
"Everyone all right?" Kirk whispered. His words
sounded strange and tickled his brain, voiced as They
were through The translator in The local tongue and then
retranslated back through The tiny device
implanted in his left ear.
  "Quite, Captain . . . ," "Yes, Captain .
. . ," came tile replies.
  "Okay, our first step is to obtain some local
weapons. I don't expect Kumara to waste any
time in local sightseeing,-so we'd better not either."
He turned to face the open end of the alley. "If
Scotty dropped us where The
  cartographers indicated he should, we ought to be
next to a fair-sized marketplace."
  The group moved cautiously down the alleyway
and out into a strange new world of noise and movement
and-colon The alley fronted on an
extensive bazaar. One old woman saw Hem
  emerge from Uhe alley. If she found it
  extraordinary, she chose not to publicise the
discovery. Kirk already suspected from The
sociologists' preliminary reports that axis was
a world where one minded one's own business.
  They began to stroll down The long lanes between
stalls. The bazaar was a weird
  combination of old Earth Arabian and medieval
Edoan.
  One doing that was never in doubt from The moment they
appeared was Heaence efficacy of their disguises.
They were immediately besieged by hawkers and vendors
  STAR TREK Em 149
  offering wares and goods and services as colorful as
they were enigmatic. There were many offered which even
Spock could make no sense of, and others which seemed
to convict with laws natural and otherwise.
  Their objectives now were too practical to be
disguised by alien rhetoric, however. Kirk
adopted what he hoped was just the right degree of
imperious indifference, ignoring bargains and
luxuries alike.
  "Something about this an strikes me as very strange,
Captain," Spock commented, his gaze
moving from one stag to the next.
  "That's hardly surprising, Mr. Spock,"
replied Kirk, fending off a proffered armload of
aromatic meat "This whole world is very strange, from
its very exis fence on down."
  "Captain Kirk." He turned his attention to the
booth Char Delminnen was pointing at.
  It was a tightly sealed, smallish shop, its
narrow tables replete with lethal-looking
medieval-style weaponry, some faintly familiar,
some less so. None was beyond utilisation by the new
arrivals. There are only so many ways to change the
appearance of metal dedgned to penetrate another
person without impairing its efficiency..
  Hands clasped over a wetst-cultivated
paunch, the proprietor stood staring pensively at
the entrance to his stall.
  Kirk said, "louse me, we need to buy some
weapons." The translator, bearing in mind
Kirk's assumed social station on this world,
translated it as:
  "Bestir thyself, o lazy onel We would purchase
arms from your pitiful stock."
  The stall owner started and nearly fed over his own
legs in his haste to get to his feet. His
eyes glittered nearly as much as the false jewels
in Kirk's necklace.
  "Ten thousand genuflections, noble sirl The
gods' blessings on you and your offspring, may they be
many. You desire weapons? Rest content you have come
to the finest armory in the city. My most
magnificent steels and swords, knives and
daggers, are unmatched and available especially to you,
my lords
  150 STAR TREK SEWN
  and lady, at prices so modest as to make one
blush the color of her cheeks. were you to search a
thousand years through a hundred his
  "Enough, grandfather of loquacity! You have convinced
us," Kirk declared, the translator once again
having embellished his simple reply. He made
a pretense of inspecting the stock. "We shall
require two swords of your best metal and
temper sabers, not rapiers. And two dirks,
short and tough enough to penetrate leather without turning."
He hesitated. "And your most delicately honed
stiletto for the lady."
  Char Delminnen eyed him with satisfaction.
  The owner was bowing and abasing himself to the point of
embarrassing both Kirk and Spock, though
it was more to conceal the mercenary gleam in his eyes than
to honor his customers.
  "At once, noble lords! You shall have the finest
only. I do not keep the very best here exposed to the
sky, and to thieves. Pray grant me a moment."
  Still bowing obsequiously, he backed into the depths
of the stall.
  Spock's attention had remained focused on the
constantly moving, surrounding crowd. The first officer
had been quite content to leave the purchasing to Kirk, who
now turned to him, whispering.
  "Any sign of Kumara or anyone who might be
his accompanying officer?"
  Spock shook his head. "If they are in our immediate
vicinity, Captain, they are too well disguised for
me to discover. I think we are still reasonably
safe. Even at a fast run, it is still a fair
distance to the other side of this town."
  - They separated as the owner, puffing heavily,
appeared with the five weapons.
  "As you requested, lords," he beamed, setting them
out carefully on red velvet. "The apex of my
humble craft. Notice the color in the metal, the
superb honing!" He rambled on as Kirk and
Spock hefted the swords, removing them
from their matching scabbards. They made a few
practice passes at each other with them, keeping the
movements simple. Modern fencing
  STAR TREK LOG SEVEN 151
  might very well be an eye-catching anomaly here,
and one thing they didn't desire was suspicious
attention from the locals.
  "I suppose they'll do," Kirk agreed, the
words coming out in a bored and slightly petulant
tone. He slid his saber into the scabbard, which
attached easily to his pouch-belt. The thick,
triangular dirks went through a belt loop on the
opposite side from the sword. Char Delminnen
found a secretive place for the narrow stiletto.
  "if loom you will be pleased, noble lords." His
eyes narrowed and he leaned forward, lowering his voice.
"It is plain you are not of Ghuncha Town, and are
strangers here. Might I make so bold as
to inquire his
  "As to the cost, which can be excessive for those who are
too curious," Spock interrupted. His brows
rose slightly at the way the translator
interpreted his prosaic sentence.
  "Certainly, yes," the proprietor babbled
hastily. 'if did not mean to pry, I
did not . . . fifty paids, noble sirs, will be more
than sufficient."
  "Since it is more than sufficient, it is
doubtless more than we should pay," Kirk rumbled,
reaching into the lining of his pouch-belt. "However, I have
no time to haggle." He brought out a handful of brown
metal squares. The shopkeeper's eyes nearly
joined an unsold sword on the red velvet as
Kirk counted out five of the largest squares and handed
them to the man.
  "Thank you, noble lords . .. blessings forever upon
you," he called as they turned and began walking
away. "Blessings a thousand timesl"
  'Ed trade a thousand blessings for a place to rest,
Captain Kirk," Delminnen ventured many hours
later. "Isn't it time to stop? There's no real
night here, so well have to decide on our own."
  "lnakeeping must be a round-the-clock business on
Gypsy, Captain," Spock added. "We should have
no difficulty in locating a busy one. Ms.
Delminnen is correct. We must pace ourselves
carefully or risk exhaustion at a crucial
moment. The slightly greater
  152 STAR TUBE L tilde SBVBN
  gravity here does tend to weary one
rapidly. I could we a meal myself."
  "All right," Kirk agreed, wiping his forehead.
The strain of trying to locate a Klingon under every
curious face was beginning to tire him also. At would
be a good idea to establish some kind of local base
of operations while we still have time for such things. Any
sign of a likely prospect, Mr. Spock?"
  The first officer was standing on-tiptoe, staring ahead
and slightly to their left. "I have already addressed
myself to the problem, Captain. There appears to be an
inn of some sort directly ahead of will."
  A short walk brought them to the front of the
establishment. They couldn't read the lettering on its
front, but a quick, unobtrusive survey of the
structure's exterior and the clientele carefully
moving in and out through the oddly hinged multiple swinging
or was it folding doors seemed to confirm Spock's
initial appraisal. Furthermore, the appearance
of those entering and leaving suggested a moderately
high-class business.
  That was enough for Kirk. They would have enough trouble remaining
incognito without inviting conflict with the less savvy
elements of the native population. After watching the
operation of the strange doors long enough to insure they
wouldn't get pinched by them, he led Spock
and Delminnen inside.
  A system of mirrors and high windows admitted
plenty of light. The interior wasn't much dimmer
than the alley they had materialised in. To their
left was a series of low tables at which some
natives, mostly male, reclined while drinking and
eating. To the right was a circular desk.
  Between the two a long, paved walkway ran
slightly above floor level until it met a
branching stairway at the far end of the big room.
This led up to a series of interior balconies before
terminating in a large skylight three stories up.
  A few patrons looked up, casually
inspected the newcomers, and returned to their meals.
Kirk noted the relative cleanliness of the place
with satisfaction and
  STAR TREK t tilde SEVEN 153
  moved to address the single opening in the high
circular desk
  There was no one behind it. A small gong hung under
a curved support to one side. Kirk lifted the
tiny metal stick and hit the gong once, twice.
  A tale aged, cadaverous native appeared from
an unsuspected doorway at the back of the concealed
area. He wore an interesting
  arrangement of bloomers and overlapping vests,
together with what would pass on Earth for a mournful
expression. He looked more like a mortician than
a concierge . . . a fact which led Kirk to wonder
about the perhaps deceptive peacefulness of the inn.
  Nevertheless, they were here, and it was unlikely they would
encounter any place better
  "What," the native asked tiredly, "do my
lords require?"
  "food and lodging for this night and maybe several
more. Your best room, on the second floor, one
entrance only."
  The native glanced at Char DeLninnen, then
back at Kirk. "One room, my lord, for the three
of you?"
  The translator turned Kirk's mild
impatience into anger. "Yes, one room! Are you
deaf or do you wish to be? There must be sufficient
  individual bedding for all. You will see to it
personally that suitable arrangements are made."
  lither this native was made of stronger stuff than
the weapons seller or he simply didn't care.
"Whatever my lords require. I shall see to it."
  Kirk turned as if to leave, then hesitated.
"There is one more thing, innkeeper."
  "My lord?"
  "Have you yourself seen, or heard tell of, two men
... strangers like ourselves, with strong jaws and
exceptional arrogance? They have a slightly
foppish, tremendously arrogant younger man with
them?" Kirk noticed Char Del tilde ninnen
bridle at that description of her brother, but, if
anything, the translators would only enlarge on his
characterisation of Van Delminnen's natural
obstinacy.
  154 STAR TREK L tilde SBVBN
  The innkeeper paused thoughtfully. his
  'Arrogance" is a strange word to use in
identifying a man, my lord. I am sorry, but I
am not in any way familiar with the persons you
describe."
  "I see," replied a disappointed Kirk.
"Should yew hear tell of such a group, inform us at
once."
  He jiggled his pouch-belt significantly, so
that the native could hear the clink of currency within.
  The innkeeper merely bowed politely. "y shall
do so, my lords." He gestured at the double
stairway at the far end of the room. "Stairway on
your right, second floor, third door
down." A peculiarly shaped key was handed over.
"Rest well. The room is already prepared as you
desire."
  Kirk frowned momentarily but then, why
  shouldn't such a room be readily available? He
took the key, and they started for the stairs.
  It was fortunate that the natives directions had
been so explicit, since the carved squiggles on
each door meant nothing to any of them. Kirk tried
the door and found it unlocked, and they entered.
  The room was spacious but dim, despite the
large window. Spock moved to inspect it. He
noted with a mutter of gratification that it was a sheer
drop So the street below, and that the building facing them
had no window directly opposite. They would have
nothing to worry about from that quarter.
  From there he moved to the door. Fishing into his own
pouch-belt, he produced a tiny, simple lock.
It looked like a local native handicraft, but was
far stronger and more subtle than any lock on this
world. He began to install it on the door.
  "Spock and I are going to make one last sweep
of our immediate area," Kirk was explaining to the
exhausted Char Delminnen, "to make certain
Kumara and your-brother aren't close at
hand. You may as well get some rest in the meantime."
  He nodded toward the door. "The lock Mr.
Spock is installing is coded to respond only
to our three voices."
  "I'd like to go with you, Captain, but . . . I am
tired. All right, I'll wait for you here. Wake
me when you re
  STAR TREK SHIN 155
  tam. Then I can keep a watch while you and
Mr. Spock take some rest."
  "Sounds good, Ms. Delminnen. We'll try not
to be too long." He reached out to pat her
  reassuringly on the shoulder and froze as she
leaned forward, up . . . and kissed him.
  "Ready, Captain?" a blank-faced Spock
asked from the half-open doorway.
  Kirk gazed back at her uncertainly, finding
her expression more unreadable than that of any other
woman he'd ever seen. Whether there was affection, or
curiosity, or something utterly incomprehensible in
her stare he couldn't say.
  "Coming, Mr. Spock."
  The incident wasn't mentioned, and Spock gave
every indication of having consigned it to the part of his mind
reserved for filing inexplicable human
actions. Kirk knew Spock had forgotten nothing,
but he was grateful for his first offlcer's efforts
to give the appearance of having done so.
  Gradually it slipped from his mind too as they
moved about the shops and homes and stalls, ques
toning the natives with increasing ease and the assurance
that, while they were undeniably strangers, no one
suspected how strange they actually were
  The questioning process became an exercise in
consistent futility. No matter how detailed, how
graphic, they made their descriptions of Kumara
and Van Delm tilde nnen, they were greeted with the
same negative response.
  "No, noble lords, I have seen no one fitting such
a description . . ." "Pardon, noble sirs,
never have we heard tell of men with eyes such as you
claim ..." "No, I have not heard of them, or
set sight of them myself ..." "I have not ..."
"No ..."
  "Not I ..." Never . . .
  By the time they returned to the inn, Kirk was too
tired to care if Kumara was in this section of the town,
or still at the opposite end, or back on the
Klathas.
  "I'd feel a lot better," he
told Spock as they started
  156 STAR TREK SEVEN
  up the stone stairway, "if I knew Kumara's
intentions That's more important than his location."
  A scream sounded from upstairs. It was slightly
muffed, but still audible enough for both men to know nstantly it
did not come from a native throat.
  "A believe we are about to obtain a partial
answer to both questions, Captain."
  The transporter could have gotten them upstairs
faster but not much faster. Kirk had a hand out, reaching
for the door handle, when it opened from within. He found
himself face to face with a short, stocky native. This
individual, whose countenance screamed "thug," had one
arm wrapped tightly around a weakly struggling Char
Delminnen.
  They stared at each other in momentary
  paralysis. The native saw Spock standing behind
Kirk, computed the odds, and let go of
  Delminnen. Turning, he made a
  "run for the open window as fast as his bandy,
muscular legs could carry him.
  Kirk brushed past the dazed Delminnen and
tackled the native just before he could reach the rope
dangling outside the window. Both men
crashed to the floor, and Kirk discovered that he was
grappling with a python. Gravity-stressed muscles
shoved him onto his back, and he saw the glint of
light on metal as the native raised the knife.
  A hand came down on the native's shoulder,
fingers moved quickly and skillfully, and the native
collapsed. Panting heavily from the exertion under the
strong gravity, Kirk slid out from under the
unconscious form and climbed to his feet. Another
figure drew him over to the far bed.
  Char Delminnen was sitting there, shivering
noticeably but otherwise apparently in control of
herself. Kirk moved to touch her, hesitated, and
drew back.
  "He came in through the window?"
  She nodded weakly.
  "The rope is suspended from the roof, Captain,"
Spock reported. Holding on to the sill with one
hand, he was leaning out over the street and peering
upward. Now he came back inside and closed the
window be
  STAR TREK SEVEN 157
  hind him. "I apologise, Ms. Delminnen.
I was negligent in my analysts of this room's
defensive potential. At the time it did
not occur to me that one could as easily come down to this
room as up to it. Curious oversight."
  "forget it, Spock," ordered Kirk. "I
didn't think of it either. We're not used to acting like
cat-burglars."
  was 'Cat-burglars," Captain? The reference
his
  "Has nothing to do with stealing cats," Kirk has-
tened to explain. That brought a hesitant grin from
Char Delminnen. She stopped shaking and gestured.
  "I think my visitor is coming around,
Captain."
  Indeed, the native was emitting bubbling sounds
indicative of rising consciousness. Spock helped
him to his feet and steadied the man's staggers with one
hand on his shoulder and the other holding an arm tightly
behind his back.
  The native looked fearfully from Char
  Delminnen to Kirk. He tried to break free
... but only once. Then his gaze dropped to the
wooden floor, and he muttered sullenly, "What
will you do to me ... noble lords." The last was uttered in
a fashion clearly indicating that their nobility was in
considerable question.
  "nothing ... if you answer a few
questions," Kirk told him honestly. "Who sent you
to kidnap the woman?"
  The native remained silent. Spock moved his
fingers on the man's shoulder in a certain way, and the
man winced.
  "Was it a tall man," Kirk continued
evenly, "with very small pupils and dry-looking
skin? Who moved quickly and with sharp gestures?"
  The native's face twisted bizarrely as
Spock applied further pressure. Finally:
"Yes, yes . . . now let me go, sirs!" As
Spock's hand relaxed, so did the native's
expression. "I'll ted you what you wish."
  The first officer let go and took a couple of quick
steps back, remaining between the native and the now
closed window. Sighing in a very humanlike
fashion, the native rubbed his neck and shook his
freed arm to
  158 STAR TREK BE SBVBN
  get the blood (or whatever served for bodily
fluid here) moving again.
  "Where did you meet this man?" Kirk continued.
  "At the Inn of the Six Rains. He offered me
three hundred pahds if I would bring him a
woman he described to me." The native
indicated the attentive Delminnen. "That woman."
  "Was he alone?"
  "No." The native looked thoughtful. "There were
two other lords with him. One was very much like the first, but the
third was different. He was smaller and quiet . .
. in fact, he said nothing while I was present."
  "Under orders from Kumara, no doubt,
  Captain," commented Spock.
  "This other lord," Char Delminnen broke in,
"who did not speak. Did he look well to you?"
  The native eyed her curiously. "As well as
the others . . . though I confess I paid little
notice to him. It was the largest of *ence three lords
I was concerned with."
  "The one who offered you the money," Kirk de-
clared pointedly. "This lord he told you where to find the
woman?"
  "No."
  Kirk relaxed considerably at that. That meant
Kumara was probably not waiting for them
  downstairs, or rigging the stairway or preparing
similar deviltry nearby.
  "I found her myself, from the information the lord gave
to me . . . gave to all of us."
  "All of you?" Spock echoed. "There
are more than one?"
  "Aye. There were many present to hear the lord's
offer."
  "Why are you telling US this?"
  The native made an indecipherable gesture.
"Why should I help some other cajjy get rich?"
  "It sounds like the sort of thing Kumara would do,"
mused Kirk sardonically. "Find himself a nice,
peaceful room in a comfortable inn near his beam-down
point, and then hire half the
  small-time cutthroats in town to do his dirty work
for him, so he doesn't have to risk
  STAR TRBK [equals SOWN I59
  his own precious skin. Kumara's an atypical
Klingon, Spock, but he's still a Klingon."
  "I had not intended to dispute that, Captain," the
first officer essayed easily. "I do wish to point
out a significant new fact, however."
  "What? What new fact, Spock?"
  Captain, we now have a distinct advantage.
Kumara is Ignorant as to our whereabouts, but we now
know where he is based."
  They exchanged glances. While they do so, the
native showed that his body was more alert than his
express tilde on. He darted around a
  not-quite-fast-enough Spock, dove for the rope through the
closed window, and missed.
  All three rushed to the window. No crowd gathered
below to inspect the body. On the contrary, there was a
detect absence of curiosity on the part of the
populace.
  "One native dead ... one too many." Kirk
looked over at his friend and second-in-command. "I
think it's time we paid a visit to the Inn of the Six
Rains, Mr.
  "I agree, Captain."
  They turned to leave. Char Delminnen was waiting
by the door. She eyed Kirk expectantly.
  I can t leave you here and risk having another of
  umara s hired thugs finding you. Do you think
you're up to coming with us, or should we hunt for another
inn and wait a while longer?"
  By way of answering she showed the stiletto, which her
attacker had given her no opportunity to use,
then skipped it back inside her blouse.
  "Let's find my brother, Captain Kirk."
  This time, she gave his shoulder a reassuring
squeeze.
  For a worried moment, Kirk was concerned that they
might get no closer to the Inn of the Six
Rains than the front door of their own inn. The
dour manager was waiting for them by his
  enclosed moat of a desk, with two towering
locals. The newcomers wore identical clothing.
Kirk didn't think it was because they
  160 STAR TREK LOG
  were relatives; he had been on enough worlds
to recognize a uniform when he saw one.
  "Captain," Spock whispered as the innkeeper
gestured to them, "tilde we could use the rope
outside our room, ascend to the roof . . ."
  "Easy, Spock. Surely other residents
heard the scream. They can testify in our favor."
  "There is trouble, my lords," the innkeeper ex-
plained sorrowfully.
  "I can explain," Kirk began, addressing himself
to the two giants instead of the speaker. "We had no
intention of killing his
  The giant on the left interrupted. "Our concern
is not with your intentions, or the question of killings, noble
lord. But it is evident you are strangers here." He
indicated the innkeeper, who looked embarrassed.
"There is the matter of a shattered window."
  It took a minute for the giant's words
to penetrate. Once they had, Kirk
settled the matter quickly. Spock chided him later
for risking his cover by sinfully overpaying, but Kirk
paid his first officer lithe heed. He was too glad
to be free of local justice.
  One thing was certain: They had encountered an ideal
world on which to engage in Kumara's contest.
  Local in-town transportation was nonexistent,
they discovered the next day, but they had no
difficulty in locating the Inn of the Six Rains
once they had crossed the town's canter. It
seemed that everyone knew everything about the town, a
consequence of having to walk everywhere.
  The inn itself was nearly a duplicate of the one they
had left, even to the fortresslike inokeeper's
desk and the dining area opposite it. It had the same
raised walkway in between, leading this time to a single
stair-con way at its end. They did have the
advantage of two things their old inn did not:
booths and a noisy crowd.
  Kirk found the atmosphere much more
  saloonlike than that of their own abode. Drinking
was going on in earnest around them, and the air was filled
with short,
  STAR TREK
  intriguing native laughter, shouting, and
pungent smoke.
  The innkeeper had assured the gentlemen that the
three they searched for were indeed domiciled there. No,
they were away at present. Perhaps they would return
soon, to greet their friends from the country. In the
meantime, why not sit and have good drink and pass tall
stories around?
  Kirk glanced across the busy tables at the inn-
keeper's station.. He had watched the native
carefully when they'd inquired after Kumara. Neither
he nor Spock could detect any uncertainty at
their questions, any sign of nervousness. The natffve had
acted open instead of devious, and there was little they could
do to test him further without arousing suspicions that
seemed not to exist.
  The three of them sat deep in a high-backed
booth, playing at drinking thick wooden mugs of
native brew while they carefully scruffnized the
swinging doorway.
  "Do you really think they'll return here,
Captain Kirk?" Char Delminnen wondered
uncertainly. Kirk touched the frothy mug to his
lips and let a little slide down his throat. It was
heady stuff, thick and spicy.
  "They've no reason not to. That
unfortunate native whose abduction we spoiled
indicated that all of Kumara's hirelings are working
alone. In fact, he exhibited a downright distaste
for working with anyone else. So there's no way for
Kumara to know that we've discovered his hiding place."
  "That is a certainty, Captain," said Spock
with convicffon, gesturing toward the entrance.
  Three figures came through the swinging doors
leading into the inn from the street. Kirk had to blink, so
thorough was the Klingon facial makeup. Nevertheless,
he could recognise Kumara in the lead, followed
by a disgusted-looking Van Delminrien, with another
Klingon bringing up the rear of the little party.
  Kirk had visions of watching them head straight
up to their room, waiting until the Klingons were
asleep, then stealing quietly upstairs to knock out
any local guards and make off with De1minnen.
This fantasy
  1 62 STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN
  lasted until Char Delminnen jumped up and let
out a joyful "Van it's me, Van!"
  About the only thing Kirk could salvage now was the
memory of the startled surprise that appeared on
Kumara's face.
  "Come on, Spock!" Drawing their
swords, they rushed toward Kumara.
  Kirk engaged the Klingon commander, while Spock
took on his assistant. It had been some time since
he had worked with a saber, but certain things, once
learned, are never forgotten. Not by the mind, and not by the
body.
  So while Kumara pressed him desperately
hard at first, Kirk found himself gaining strength and
confidence with each successful parry, each near cut.
Char and Van Delminnen were clasping each other
happily, chatting away as though neither one's fate
and perhaps life was hanging in the balance.
  The destruction engendered by the battle, which the other
patrons were watching with stoic silence, was enough to bring a
pleading, agonized innkeeper out from behind his desk.
  "My lords ... Please, I beg you, my lords!
Take your quarrels out in the street. Have pity on
me, pity my house, my lords!"
  Otherwise occupied, the four combatants utterly
ignored him.
  Finally the innkeeper turned and whispered something to a
solemn little boy, who nodded in comprehension and rushed
out. That left the florid proprietor standing before his
  disintegrating dining area, watching the battle,
tight-lipped and silent.
  "How did you find us Jim?" Kumara
  wondered, his wrist twisting and turning steadily,
precisely.
  Kirk caught an overhead brow on the flat of
his blade, causing it to slide off harmlessly to his
left, and countered with a cut of his own to the waist. He
spaced his reply carefully between breaths.
  "You should hire a better class of assassin
Kumara. The one who found us was willing to talk.
  STAR TRBXB tilde SBVBN 163
  Money never inspires much in the way of
  loyalty. Pity for you."
  "A pity for you, Jim," countered the Klingon
commander, his own sword making half circles in the
air. "For now, much as I dislike the
  thought I am compelled to kill you."
  He turned the blade and lunged with the point, forcing
Kirk backward.
  Spock was pressing his opponent much more
seriously. That engagement had begun with the other
attacking furiously, wildly, drunk with
self-confidence. Spock had blocked, retreated,
parried every cut and thrust.
  Gradually confidence gave way to rage, while
Spock continued methodically to defend
himself, content to let his opponent wear himself
  out which was precisely what was happening. Now it was
the Enterprise's first officer who was pressing the
attack, with equal precision, never giving his
increasingly desperate counterpart a chance to rest.
  An especially hard blow from his saber sent his
assailant reeling Panic showed in the Klingonjs
face. He backed, parrying wildly. Spock
followed close then suddenly his feet were gone from under
him. He had slipped in a pool of stagnant
drink, and abruptly found himself flat on his back.
  Smiling triumphantly, his opponent jumped
forward, his sword swinging high over his shoulder, ready
to chop down heavily and slice flesh from bone.
  Spock flipped his saber in his hand, caught it
by the flat of the blade, and threw. The talkative
armorer's claims had not been understated, and that
possibly saved Spock's life.
  The saber struck bone, but instead of snapping, it
slid off. Its momentum carried it on through, its
point coming out the back of the Klingon's shirt. A
surprised, puzzled expression came over his
face. His arm came down, and the sword flew from his
hand. Spock was able to dodge but not completely. The
blade struck his forehead at an angle.
  164 STAR TREK L tilde SBVBN
  A hand came up, and then, blood welling froth
the wound, Spock fell back unconscious.
  The Klingon officer's gaze turned slowly,
slowly downward. It settled on me hurtful thing
which penetrated him from front to back. Then his eyes
closed, and he toppled onto a deserted table.
  All the while, the crowd watched silently.
  Kirk didn't see what had happened
to Spock. He had no time. Kumara lunged again,
forcing the captain back a little farther, and then made a
peculiar thrust with his sword that no human could have
duplicated. His blade came under Kirk's at the
pommel, shoved and twisted and Kirk's saber flew
halfway across the room.
  Grinning, Kumara lunged again, as Kirk
  grabbed a chair and swept it up before him
desperately. The Klingon commander's sword pierced
the wood and snapped cleanly in half as Kirk
continued his swing with the chair.
  Cursing, Kumara pulled and threw his knife, which
Kirk caught on the chair's backswing. The
captain threw the chair at Kumara, drew his own
dirk, and followed the projectile. Kumara's hand
came up frantically to catch Kirk's
wrist, and then the two men were tumbling over and over
each other through the sticky, food-filled gaps between the
tables.
  Both arms swung out and around to strike one
unyielding chair leg. Kirk's wrist suddenly
became numb, and the knife dew five meters. The
  combatants continued to roll about, arms and legs
thrashing violently.
  None of the onlookers attempted to interfere. They
continued to watch dispassionately as the two strangers
were reduced to swinging weakly at each other, each
barely able to fend off the attacks of the other.
  "Con cede." Kumara gasped in pain, his head
bobbing loose on his neck as though springs and not
ligaments kept it joined to his head.
  Kirk shook his head slowly, lacking the strength
for a verbal reply and even that action nearly caused
him to collapse.
  STAR TREK BE SBVBN 165
  Several giants entered the room, ducking their
heads to pass through the entrance. The largest looked at
the room, his gaze traveling slowly from left to right
to take in the two Delminnens, now also watching the
battle on the door, the two barely erect
combatants weaving in its center, the dead one
on the Boor, and the injured one Iying nearby.
  He shook his head slowly from side to side, and the
gesture was echoed by many in the silent crowd.
  Xl
  A hand moved lazily, drawing delicate
designs in the dust. Kumara considered what he had
wrought, then obliterated it with a wave of his palm.
His sole real complaint about the cell was that there was
nothing to lean against save the chill stone walls.
  Otherwise, it was the absence of certain devices
which made it far more pleasurable a place to idle than
its Klingon counterpart. He forced himself to sit away
from the wall as he looked across the straw-and-dirt
floor at his companions.
  Kirk gazed bacletter quietly. Several hours
ago he and Kumara had tried their best to kill each
other. Now they sat unbelligerently in the same
room, in the same fix, and wished devoutly that their
captors would put off doing anything until the
contest's time limit had elapsed, at which time their
respective transporters would pull them back
to the safety of the two cruisers.
  If not, Kirk mused, Scotty was liable to beam
several corpses aboard the Enterprise. One area
which the sociologists had not researched was
Gypsian penology.
  His eyes left Kumara and traveled around the
windowless cell. Spock was busy rewinding the
bandage around his forehead. The Delminnens sat off in
a corner by themselves, still engrossed in each other and no
doubt cursing Kirk,
  Kumara, and all the others who'd meddled in their
lives.
  "I must compliment you, Mr. Spock," Kumara
said into the low drone formed by the
  Delminnens. "I happened to observe you at the
moment when you dispatched Lieutenant Kritt. That was
an admirable bit of quick thinking and reaction, which
Kritt ought to have anticipated."
  The commander's mouth twisted into an
  unreadable expression. "Kritt always was an
over- confident fool."

  STAR TREK SIN 167
  "It was," Spock replied, his voice
absolutely flat, "the only logical thing left
to do. I had hoped merely to disarm him, not to kill."
  "I might have supposed you would say
  something like that," Kumara declared. Spock did not
reply, so the commander turned his gaze
heavenward.
  "Ah, Gods, what a way for a Klingon officer
to die. Here I sit, helpless among my enemies
me, the commander of one of the most powerful instruments in the
galaxy. Doomed I am to die via some no doubt
unimaginative method concocted by a council of
superstitious barbarians."
  "Quite a performance, Kumara," Kirk
  commented when the commander's plaint had ended, "but you
always did make a specialty of substituting show
for substance. I'm surprised at your resignation.
If we can stall things for another day and a half, or
if our captors remain inactive, our
transporters will pluck us safe and free. And
remember, it was your idea that we descend without
modern weapons."
  "Advanced weaponry could have stimulated latent
cowardice," Kumara shot back.
  Kirk started to move toward the Klingon, but
Spock reached out to restrain him. "Easy,
Captain, there is nothing to be gained by fighting now.
The opportunity to escape may eventually present
itself . . . though I am not optimistic." He
looked up. "This cell is well designed with an
eye toward preventing any such occurrence."
His gaze dropped to Kumara. "Even if it was
constructed by mere superstitious barbarians, who are
advanced enough to confiscate our
  communicators."
  The Klingon commander had no comment.
  "Suppose we did escape?" Kirk turned
to look over at Char Delminnen, as did Kumara.
  "Wouldn't you two have to begin again with Van and me?"
There was bitterness in her voice.
  Surprisingly, it was Kumara who replied.
"Young female, if allowing you and your sibling to depart
peacefully homeward would do anything to alleviate
our present difficulties, I would be the first to see
you safely on your way. Unfortunately, I fear
that circum
  168 STAR TREK SBVBN
  stances have long since been in control of all our
destinies, so that, while possibly accurate, your
accusations will never be put to the test. I suspect that
we are all to be tried together if the concept of a
trial exists on this orphaned world."
  "Whatever they have planned for us can't be any
worse than Klingon justice," commented Kirk with a
vicious smile. Now it was an angry Kumara's
turn to start forward.
  Spock forestalled further hostilities
by assuming a pose of attention and announcing, "Not
now, gentlemen. Several people are approaching."
  All five hurried to scramble to their feet. A
small party of armed men appeared outside their
cell. Among them Kirk recognised the jailer,
who had brought them food and water, and the leader of the
group of giants that had brought them here from the Inn of the
Six Rains.
  The jailer worked on the crude (but efficient)
lock while the rest of the party warily eyed those on the
other side of the cementwork.
  "You are to be given the privilege of pleading your
case before the Justice Council.
  Come tilde along ... and mind your words and
  manner. The Council is not to be trifled
witb."
  Guarded beyond any chance of making a run, they were
convoyed up stairs, down corridors, and around
bends. The room they finally arrived in was modest in
size and decor. At one end was a high bench with a
single high podium at its center. This was backed
by five empty seats. Auroral blaze lit the
room, shafting down through a higb-domed glass
ceiling.
  Several tiered benches formed concentric
semicircles at the opposite end of the room, and
scattered, somewhat bored natives occupied these.
They seemed to perk up a little when the captives
entered, though.
  Kirk and the others were conducted to a long padded bench
which faced the higher bench and podium at the near end
of the room. Their guards directed them to sit, then
moved to join other guards at the two doors.
  A single short, elderly native clad in
dress of the ut
  STAR TREK Em 169
  most simplicity appeared. The grating, off-key
tune he played was as weird and unnerving as the
trumpetlilce instrument he performed it on. At this
signal, a hidden door opened behind the podium and
five natives two men and three women appeared.
They assumed the five seats before the captives.
Kirk noted with interest that they were also clad in plain
dress, including the old man who took the podium
seat. There was nothing to distinguish their office, nothing
to differentiate them from the poorest beggar in the
streets. Cleanliness, perhaps, but then, even the
beggars Kiri had seen in the marketplace had been
fairly clean.
  They were all solemn and stern-faced, however.
"Self-righteous-looking bunch, aren't they?" Kirk
found himself whispering to a frozen Kumara.
  The Klingon commander let out a derisive snort
"Trial indeed! I will sell you my chance of being
found innocent for two pals and a good killing
joke."...ment
  Spock tapped Kirk on the arm and gestured to the
far door at a fat, smug-looking native.
"There's the local who called for official help."
  Kirk studied the man, who smiled back at him
strangely.
  "Looks content" doesn't he?" Kirk commented
finally, though he was still uncertain of the other's
expression. What was behind that peculiar grin? He
chalked it up to the simple fact that the innkeeper was
by the door while he, Spock, and the others were
relative parsecs from that freedom.
  Kirk turned his attention back to the judges, for
such they had to be. They had an assumed their seats and
proceeded to lapse into various postures of
indifference. All were incredibly old. One, Kirk
noted, was nearly asleep already. Another was
deeply engrossed in inspecting her fingernails.
  Only the occupant of the podium chair
  appeared reasonably alert. A portly,
grave-visaged native, he took three handfuls
of sand from a box on his left and ceremoniously
transfered them to a box on his right, all while
steadily muttering some whispered alien incantation.
  170 STAR ORBS tilde tilde SBVBN
  The trial got under way when this formidable- looking
individual followed the sand ritual by leaning forward
and glaring down at them.
  "Well?" he said gruffly.
  "Well what?" countered Spock evenly. Kirk
eyed his first officer uncertainly.
  "How do you plead?" asked the judge
irritably.
  "I would like to know what we are expected to plead
for," Spock continued. "To do that, we must know what
we are accused of."
  The judge looked further irritated. "Oh, very
well, if you must." He peered down at something
hidden from below. "You are all accused of disturbing the
peace, letting blood on a forbidden day,
destruction of private property, contributing
to unnatural death, obfuscation of a legitimate
business . . ."
  While the list grew, Kumara leaned
over and whispered worriedly to Kirk, "Did we do
all that, Jim?"
  "If he says so," Kirk murmured back,
"y guess we did." tilde
  was ... and being a public nuisance," the venerable
praetor concluded eventually. He looked back
down at them and coughed. "Have you anything to say in your
own defence?"
  That said, he leaned back, crossed his hands in
front of him, and appeared to lapse into sleep.
  There was a pause from below . . . and then Kumara was
on his feet, gesticulating wildly for attention.
'I can explain it all, Your Greatness!" Kirk
stared at the commander open-mouthed.
  "It is all so simple," Kumara said, talking
very fast. "My companion and I were preparing to enter
our lodging when, without cause or warning, these two
ruffianstbeside me assaulted us." He took
on a grieving tone. "Attacked us and murdered my
best friend!"
  The paralysis finally left Kirk, and he was
practically nside Kumara's shirtfront. 'ationow
just a minute!"
  "Your pardon, sir," said Spock. The judge
cocked an eye at the first officer, then
looked back at Kirk
  STAR TREK SEVEN 171
  and Kumara, who were ready to start in on each other
again.
  "You two sit down and behave yourselves. You,
sir," he said to Spock, "may speak."
  Kirk and Kumara resumed their seats as Spock
rose. "This man and his companion had taken by force
another man" he indicated Van
  Delminnen "whom we were trying to rescue, in
order to return him to his sister, whom you see
seated next to him. As the abductors were unwilling
to return him peacefully, we were compelled to resort
to force."
  "That's a lie!" shouted Kumara, leaping to his
feet again. "If they had merely turned the woman
over to us, none of this would have happened."
  "Is this true, sir?" the judge asked
Spock.
  "Your Greatness, it may be that the single death of the
man I killed in self-defence could have been
avoided, but in the long run many his
  "But it could have been avoided?" the judge
persisted. "In fact, the entire fight could have been
avoided?"
  "Strictly from a logical point of view,
yes," Spock, admitted looking rather unhappy,
"but one must consider the long view, and when one does
that it is immediately apparent that his
  "That's very interesting, thank you," the judge said,
cutting the first officer off.
  Kumara looked as though he had won a victory
of sorts. "Besides, it is well known that all
Vulcans are congenital liars," the commander added.
  Kirk looked at his enemy in shock. "Kumara!
Do you realize what you're saying?"
  The judge looked interested. "And what, pray
tell, is a Vulcan?"
  Kumara pointed, his anger and frustration having
driven him past all rationality now. "That is a
Vulcan, your greatness! An alien in your midst,
an interloper, a monster with a computer for a mind and a
machine's sense of ethics! An insipid,
unimaginative, soulless automation who his
  Spock bore the steady stream of insults and
impreca
  172 STAR TREK LOG SEWN
  lions stolidly. The judge, looking bored,
finally cut Kumara off in mid-insult.
  "Your claim that you are innocent will be
taken under advisement," he told him tiredly.
He looked at Spock. "Do you, whatever or
whoever you are, acknowledge the truth of any part of this
person's claims?"
  "Of course not," Spock said, looking straight
at Kumara. The Klingon commander threw up his hands
and sat down hard on the bench.
  "Thank you, sirs." The judge yawned. "That
... that will do. I win now consult with my
  colleagues." He slid down from his chair and
began poking and prodding the other ancients
to wakefulness. Once active, an five retired
behind the podium. Kirk could hear the tantalizing
buzz of their conversation rise and fall, always just
outside the range of decipherability.
  "You fool!" Kumara whispered angrily at
Spock. "Couldn't you see what I was attempting
to do? With even one of us free, he might be able
to hire help to rescue those reimprisoned!"
  Spock's eyebrows rose alarmingly, though his
voice remained unchanged. "And you said that
Vulcans were congenital liars."
  Kumara had a properly sarcastic retort
  prepared, but the reappearance of the five judges
forestalled it. He turned as anxiously as
the others while the ancients resumed their seats.
AU seemed almost awake now, as though it were necessary
to bestir themselves at least for pronouncement of sentence.
  "I see that your bickering has ceased," the high
judge observed, with evident satisfaction. "That
is wed, as we have deliberated and reached a
decision." He yawned again.
  "Before you make your decision known, Your Greatness,
I would like the answers to several questions. You can hardUy
deny them if you are prepared to execute or
imprison us." Spock waited resolutely for a
reply.
  The high judge considered, and finally grumbled,
  STAR TRBRL tilde SBVBN 173
  "Oh, if you must. But make them interesting, lest
we lose interest quickly."
  "I believe you will find them interesting enough,"
Spock declared. He began to pace back and forth beneath
the high bench, asking his questions as he walked. Kirk
and Kumara watched him with equal curiosity.
  "Why is it," the Enterprise's first officer
wondered, "that, despite the large number of resting
places, and a perpetual daylight that would seem
to preclude any regular resting time, we have never
seen a single one of your even appear
drowsy? Why have we not seen a single live
animal, despite an abundance of fresh-killed
meat in the marketplace?
  "Why the total absence of even simple
vehicles, and the lack of interest in our battle to the
death at the inn? Such a crowd would seem to be the
type most interested in such conflicts, yet they
Offered hardly a sound throughout the fighting.
  "Then there is the very existence of this world, which defies
so many natural laws. Despite this, we find
ourselves confronted with a c tilde vilization and race
that, excepting trivial differences, could be a
duplicate of an earlier terrestrial or Klingon
culture. That implies a coincidence of evolution
under radically different conditions a coincidence we have
until now had no choice but to accept."
  "Spock, what are you gaffing at?" Kirk
asked.
  His first officer turned to him, the conviction in his
voice growing with each succeeding sentence. "Have the
events of the past weeks not struclc you as rushed,
Captam? Do you accept the existence of the world you see
around you here, regardless of the fact that our en
  tirepObs s.dballyip tf"...SeaeaCientific knowledge
declares it a flagrant
  "Your first officer is mad, Captain Kirk,"
declared Kumara, watching Spock warily. "He
denies the evidence of his own senses."
  "Senses can be fooled," Spock went on,
turning to the Klingon commander, "but a rational mind cannot.
It has taken until now for the weight of
successive in
  I 74 STAR TREK- EM SEVEN
  congruities to point out the greater one. I am
beginning to believe my mind, not my eyes." He
turned back to Kirk.
  "Do you accept the existence of this world as you see it,
Captain? Because I do not."
  Kirk felt the hard wood of the bench beneath him,
looked around and saw the eyes of judges, guards,
inkeeper, and spectators on him, breathed deeply
of the air, studied the iridescent sky through the glass
dome, and replied, "Have I a choice, Mr.
Spock?"
  Spock sighed heavily. "Think, Captain.
We have in the past few weeks encountered two near
duplicates of Terran ecology and humanoid
civilisation. In both cases the natives could, with
very slight alterations, pass for human, Vulcan,
or Klingon with relative ease Both the
world of Arret, in the negative universe, and this
wandering planet support such civilisations in
heretofore unsuspected astronomical
  environments. A mere coincidence? It boggles
the mind."
  Spock turned to face the judges, and Kirk
noted with surprise that all five were now wide
awake, more attentive than they had appeared at
any earlier time.
  "Whatever the explanation, you must confess, Your
Greatness, whoever you are, that these coincidences leave a
great deal unexplained."
  'ally would say that is putting it mildly, Mr.
Spock."
  All eyes turned to the source of that voice.
Kirk's thoughts turned upside down, as his whole
universe had during the course of Spock's
speech.
  "Karla Fivel"
  The woman walking toward them from the
  near door was none other than their pied piper into the
negative universe bridged by the Beta Niobe
Nova.
  "I don't," Kirk muttered plaintively,
"understand."
  'ationor do I, Captain, but I have suspected.
The very unlikeliness of Arret and this world suggested a
possible tie, though I am still ignorant as to what
it might be."
  "Never mind, Mr. Spock," Karla Five
said reassuringly, 'lit was your willingness to voice
what your mind suspected which has decided the trial
in your favor.
  STAR ORBS BE SBVBN 175
  You were beginning to disappoint us." She turned to the
judge's bench.
  "I believe the time has come to end the
masquerade, colleagues." She waved her right arm
slowly, expansively.
  The courtroom vanished. So did the town.
Kirk, Spock, and Kumara found themselves standing
alone on a rolling, grassy plain which ran
unbroken to every horizon.
  Well, not exactly alone . . .
  Kirk squinted and held his hands in front of his
face to shield himself. Where the judges had sat
moments before were now suspended five
  meter-wide globes of radiant energy, each
glowing like a miniature sun. Another globe
occupied the position held a moment before
by Karla Flve.
  Perhaps the biggest surprise was the presence of the
last two globes, which drifted and swirled about each
other in the places occupied only seconds ago
by Van and Char Delminnen.
  Kirk felt sanity" slipping away, dike
water down a drain, and screamed inside himself for
  something solid, something real, to hold on to. It
was provided by his own mind, which could find no room
for panic amid an the curiosity.
  "Who . . . what are you?"
  The energy thing that had been Karla Pive expounded
in a deep non-voice. "We are the Wanderers Who
Play," the not-words elucidated. "We are Those
Who Meddle. We are the ones who long ago so
long ago that your terminology is not great enough
to encompass it deserted our final corporeal
bodies for the configurations of pure energy which you now
see."
  "You said you play," Kirk said, eyes tightly
slitted against the wonderful glare. "What do you
play at?"
  "Existence," the second judge murmured.
  "To what purpose?" This typical expression of
practicality came, naturally, from
Spock.
  "Amusement and edification," explained the judge
of judges. "At regular intervals we conduct a
tour of various galaxies which remain of interest to us.
This we
  176 STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN
  do to record the progress and development of the
Iocal space-traversing dominants. In this
case, yourselves, gentlemen. Our attention is
magnified when several dominant forms expand far enough
to come inffconvict with one another.
  "For reasons of convenience, and a certain amount of
what you would term nostalgia, we have utilized this world
as the vehicle for transporting us through space. It
is our original home world. We are attached to it.
And, while it serves no real purpose but one, that
is sufficient to trouble taking it with us."
  "That single purpose is information storage,
gentlemen," continued the light that had been Karla
Five. "We need a fair-sized solid for that.
Our world serves us admirably. We have, of
course, no need for the warmth and light which our
exceptional atmosphere, as Mr. Spock calls
it, provides.
  "However, we still enjoy the presence of
living things around us. We have the time and patience necessary
to luxuriate in the contemplative thought patterns of
growing plants."
  "You have been undergoing a test," the judge of
judges told them, "a test which is now concluded."
  "The humanoid civilisation?" Kirk asked,
gesturing at the open expanse of prairie around
them. "The city, its people . . . it was a laboratory
experiment, in which we were guinea pigs?"
  "Restrain your bitterness, Captain Kirk,"
said Karla Five. "We mean you neither ill nor
good. Allow us this harmless academic pleasantry."
  "Lieutenant Kritt didn't find it very
harmless," Kurnara muttered. Karla Pive's
reply was filled with reproof.
  "That was of your own choice and doing, Com- mander
Kumara. We did not interfere. We only
studied. When you and Captain Kirk persisted in your
futile battle at the inn instead of attempting
to work out a peaceful settlement of your differences, we
were most disappointed. Most."
  "Terribly sorry," Kumara countered
  sarcastically. "The experimental animals offer
their apologies. Per
  STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN 1
tilde
  haps you didn't bait the maze sufficiently
to produce the reactions you wanted."
  "Speaking of differences and bait and mazes,"
Kirk said, "what of that negative universe?"
  "It did not exist, not in the form you believed you
saw it in," Karla Five told him. "Even we
cannot accomplish a passage into something which does not
exist. It was created as the Srst part of your test, from
a play theory one of us had generated."
  "Mine," said the fifth judge, with a touch of
pride. It was rather a good theory. Pity it does not
exist."
  "Even if it did," Karla Five went on,
"a less likely method of interdimensional
travel than diving into a raging nova would be
difficult to imagine.
  - "You accept too readily the evidence of your
senses instead of your mind, Captain Kirk,
Commander Kumara comeven you, Mr. Spock. Think
again on the people of Arret would a race which appeared- with
all the knowledge it would ever have be able to exist, once its
devolution was a known fact? No, it would go mad
with the knowledge. Would an Arretian child be born in a
grave, as a senile adult form, only
to die within a living mother? Por that matter, by what
process would a new Arreban come into existence?
  "I am surprised at you all for not seeing through that
first fabrication. But then it was necessary to bring you together,
to see if you would react more sensibly than you did
apart. As you know, you have not."
  Kirk looked over at Kumara, and found the
comrnander staring back at hire. "Negative
universe you too, Kumara?"
  The commander nodded slowly. "A mere two tilde
comaines ago. We did not think we would survive.
The negative world-which aided us was a near
duplicate of Khogon. In fact, its name was his
  "Nognilk," put in Spock.
  "The very same," admitted the tired commander. The
inconsistencies ... Why did we not sense them
  "And the Delminnens?" Kirk asked
  Somehow the judge of judges managed to convey the
  178 STAR ORBS L tilde SBVBN
  impression of indicating the two globes which
swirled and darted about each other.
  "These two Wanderers were given the task of playing
at being human, at being the humans Delminnen. The
message from your Starfleet base, Captain
Kirk and your Imperial Sector
headquarters, Commander Kumara was an
  artifice of ours, designed to bring you hastily
to the system designed. We followed your foolishly
primitive attempts to unite the human couple
through violence with considerable sadness.
  "In the end, it seemed that total destruction of
one vessel or the other must result. Hence our
appearance here at the crucial moment, to prevent that.
It was we, Commander Kumara, who planted the
suggestion of a contest in your mind."
  Kumara looked shaken.
  Spock broke in: "But the Delminnens are
real people."
  "So they are, Mr. Spock," admitted Karla
Pive. "They continue their hermitage on the far
side of their moon from where you set down, quite unaware
that anything out of the ordinary has taken place.
Incidentally, they are as harmless as your records
indicated. Should you return to their system, you will find
planets Eight and Nine orbiting their sun
unchanged their "destruction" merely being another of
our engineered iOns."
  "World-maker or not," Kumara whispered to Kirk,
"I'd hit it if I could be sure of contacting
something."
  "We must leave you now, gentlemen," Karla
Five continued. "There are many among us who have
profited from your actions of the past seconds seconds
only to us, of course, weeks to you. We are sorry
at the laggard pace of your development."
  tilde "What do you intend to do with us?" Kirk
asked hesitantly.
  "You will all be returned to your respective
ships and permitted to return home. But carry with you
this warning, which we make most regretfully.
  "If your races have not made substantial
improvement over your present degree of
  maturity, or rather
  STAR TREK L tilde SBVBN 179
  lack of it, by the time of our next visit to this
portion of this galaxy, we will be compelled to regard you
as degenerates incapable of proper development.
Consequently, you will be eliminated from the cycle of
advance.
  "Good-bye, Commander Kumara." Karla Five
glowed bluely, and the Klingon commander was gone.
  "Back to his vessel, and McCoy to yours," the
globe explained. "And now his
  "Wait!" Kirk shouted. "Why do you care? Why
this concern with our development, this need for
elaborate interference?"'"
  There was a pause; then: "We strive constantly
to upgrade the maturity of those races we encounter,
Captain Kirk, in the faint hope that one day one
or dism of them will reach our own level. It is very
lonely to exist at the apex of creation, for an apex
is surrounded always only by emptiness."
  "How much longer do we have ... before you re- turn
again?" the captain asked hurriedly.
  "Not long, I fear," confessed the judge of
judges. No more than another twelve of your
millennia. Now go . . ."
  And they were gone.
  Sulu was studying standard readouts from the world below.
He burned to inform Uhura of one especially
interesting discovery and nearly fell from his chair as the
captain rematerialized in his. Uhura had
started to turn at Sulu"'8 call, only
to pause and gasp as the science station was once again
occupied by its usual tenant.
  Although he stood between the two
  materialisations, Dr. McCoy was too pleased
to see both men return alive to be shocked. That
would come later.
  "Jim . . . Spockl How did I
. . . How what hap- pened down there?"
  Kirk felt the comforting solidness of the command chair.
That, at least, was real . . . wasn't it? At
least it was as real as the mystifying globe sitting
alone in the viewscreen. Amazing how one could
overlook the obvious when confronted by the impossible.
  1 80 STAR TREK L tilde SHIN
  "Mr. Sulu?"
  "Yes, sir?"
  "What is the mass of the world below us7"
  Sulu looked puzzled, while at Kirk's right
McCoy was barely able to hold himself in check. "The
mass, Captain? But we already measured his
  "Compute it again, Lieutenant."
  Sulu proceeded to carry out the puzzling order,
bent closer over his instrumentation, and finally looked
back in total confusion.
  "I don't understand it, sir. There's a new
reading, but it's impossible."
  "What is it?"
  "According to the latest readings, the mass of Gypsy
is only point six four that of Earth. But the
gravity reading remains constant. That's
impossible."
  "Not this time, Mr. Sulu. The gravity
is correct, and no doubt artificially enhanced.
While the mass his
  was is undoubtedly correct," Spock finished
for him, "Yor a mobile filing cabinet of such
size."
  McCoy looked askance from one to the other.
"Jim, what is all this . . . this talk of filing
cabinets and artificial gravity? How did you
get back here, anyway?"
  "Twelve thousand years," Kirk murmured, not
hearing.
  "What . . . what's that?"
  "Captain," Arex reported, "the Klathas is
picking up speed. She's moving out of the area on
impulse power."
  Kirk moved to the intercom. "Engineering . . .
This is the captain speaking. Scotty, are you there?"
  "Aye, Captain."
  "Do we have enough power to get under way?"
  "Aye, but barely. I think we can manage war
tilde two, but not much more."
  "It'll do. Thank you, Scotty." He
clicked off, then turned back to face the helm
once more. "Mr. Sulu, set course for Babel.
I have a story that's going to interest
Commodore April. It seems he and Sarah owe
their unexpected
  rejuvenation to a dream ... unless that's an
illusion too."
  STAR TREK L tilde SEVEN 181
  'I think not, Captain," declared Spock
  thoughtfully. "It was the Aprils who pulled us through
the first part of the Wanderers" test. Clearly they were
impressed The Aprils' new life strikes me
as a realistic reward for . . . for a maze well
run."
  "excuse sir," Sulu wondered, "but we have
su- perior speed now. Aren't we going after the
Klingons?"
  "No, Mr. Sulu . . . and they are no longer
concerned with us. Kumara has too much else to think
about now."
  "In heaven's name, Jim," an exasperated
McCoy blurted out, "what happened? Why are we
suddenly running from the Klathas . . . and it from us?
And by the way, where's Char
  Delminnen?"
  "Twelve thousand years," Kirk whispered again
Then, louder: "Home is where the heart is, Bones
if the mind concurs. Rest easy that the
Delminnens are perfectly safe."
  McCoy turned in frustration to Spock, who was
busy as usual at his library computer console.
"Spock, you tell me. What's Jim mumbling
about? What does he mean?"
  "What he means, Doctor, is that we had all
best learn to be good little boys and girls or we're
liable to get spanked."
  McCoy, now unable even to voice his questions,
gawked at the first officer.. Spock turned
casually to Kirk. "There is one more thing which worries
me, Captain."
  "What's that, Mr. Spock?"
  "The negative universe of Arret was an
illusion. The worldeaof Gypsy was an illusion. Both
were part of a test originated by the Wanderers. Yet we
have only their word for their own existence . . . the word of
illusion creators. What concerns me, Captain,
is .
  might not the Wanderers be only part of some greater
illusion, some greater test?
  "For that matter, how much of our universe is real
and how much an illusion, created by forces unimaginable
merely to test us?"
  182 STAR TREK EM SEVEN
  "Mr. Spock," murmured Uhura, "that almost
sounds religious."
  Spock started to reply, hesitated, and finally
said, "It may be interpreted variously,
Lieutenant Uhura, but recent experiences tend
to make one pause before disregarding anything. What do
you think, Captain?"
  Kirk looked at the viewscreen, which showed the
globe of Gypsy receding into a vast, star-speckled
blackness. "I think, Mr. Spock, that we'd
better make the best we can of this universe it's the
only illusion we've got, and it's not a bad
one."
  He leaned back in the command chair and prepared
to record the final log entry to the strange
episode, then paused, reflective.
  Was all life lived only in an illusion, or
was his reality someone else's fantasy? Finally, he
shrugged and activated the log. The entry he was about
to make, detailing the journey to Arret and the
subsequent encounter with the Wanderers, would be real enough
to him, would form a real record from which someone else would
have to make the final judgments. He smiled.
  Anyone who read those log entries couldn't
possibly dismiss them as illusion . . .
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