Triangle

by Sondra Marshak

  But the Kirlian aura analysis—he still preferred the old Earth term for it—had shown that the female's aura was supercharged with conflict and with insupportable physiological overload. If she were not forced to choose soon, she might well be burned out or destroyed.

  Soljenov pressed a button to open a portal in the cliff-face.

  The three turned to it. "'Won't you come into my parlor?'" Kirk quoted. "Let's go."

  * * *

  Kirk hung back as they came to a fork in the corridor. "Check that branch," he ordered, and Spock and Sola moved in ahead of him.

  At the last second he took the other fork, moved down it swiftly and silently, passing a couple of side corridors, then taking one. He found a space behind some installation of machinery where he could conceal himself.

  In a moment he heard them looking for him. Heard? He could virtually sense directly their consternation and an undertone of anger. He didn't blame them. It was true that the three had their best strength together. But neither of the other two would permit him to do what he had to do.

  He held his breath, but he was almost certain that the mate-hunt sense by which Sola had tracked him was disrupted by Spock's presence. And whatever sense Spock had used to track them both must have led to Sola, and must be further distracted by her. Or so Kirk hoped.

  They passed him by and stopped within earshot. For one of the rare times he heard a Vulcan oath-word, and he saw that the Zaran agreed entirely.

  "Random search is useless," Sola said. "I have lost the mate-trace and cannot recapture it in your presence or vicinity."

  "We must separate."

  She made a small sound, not quite a laugh. "There is not sufficient distance, Mr. Spock. Perhaps not in the galaxy."

  For a moment they looked at each other.

  Then she said, "There is only one place he can ultimately go: to Soljenov. And we must find him there. But first I must do what I thought I would have to go to Zaran to do. Since Soljenov has made this the battlefield, I will do it here. Come."

  "What is that?" Spock asked.

  She looked up at him. "Earth has a story, of a strong man shorn of his strength by a trick, who regained it to pull a temple down on the heads of his enemies—and himself. If I am right, Spock, I am about to repeat the Samson maneuver—while attempting to avoid the same fate."

  She turned and Spock followed her down the hall.

  It took whatever Kirk had not to go after them. Whatever stunt she was about to pull was guaranteed to be dangerous to the point of foolhardiness. She was taking on a mental force which included millions of minds—and a physical force which could annihilate her in a moment. Spock might be of some assistance, against both, but even the Vulcan was not an army. And she could not be counted on not to ditch Spock at some point for his protection and go it alone.

  She was going up against the impossible—

  Kirk bit down on the impulse to go after them and turned the other way. It did not occur to him that the same could be said of him. . . .

  McCoy arrived with Dobius and Gailbraith at the foot of the sheer face of the immense crater. The geo-thermal units looked like some immense sculpture in iridium, a gleaming metal god-child construction carelessly attached to the carved crater-face.

  McCoy saw the face of Mr. Dobius. "If they can do this," the Tanian said, "maybe they have something."

  McCoy nodded. "They had, among other things, you, Mr. Dobius, or half of you, anyway. And they have, by now, very likely your Captain and First Officer. Can you find a way in?"

  Dobius winced. "I shall endeavor, Doctor." He appeared to consult some dim inner sense. His face altered to a pattern of strain McCoy had seen in him once or twice since the takeover. He shifted his phaser within reach of his right hand, and McCoy knew that his left brain was dominant. It was the half which had shown the Totality pattern.

  McCoy dropped back beside Gailbraith. "Can you take control back when we need it?"

  Gailbraith shrugged. "It remains to be seen. We are at the focal point of an immense Totality—at the point of a cone of mental force having its base on Zaran—tens of millions of minds. My Oneness is a small core of present minds and a tenuous scattering of chosen minds stretching back to the heart-worlds of the Federation. It is my hypothesis that a Choice-Oneness is stronger than a Oneness based partly on force. But that may merely be a hypothesis about the nature of virtue. Such hypotheses may have no basis in fact."

  "You mean," McCoy said, "the universe is not necessarily on the side of the good guys?"

  "Precisely, Doctor. Worse, the universe, and even the participants, sometimes have some difficulty determining who are the forces of good—or at least who are the future. Virtue has triumphed—on occasion. So, for a time at least, has evil. And sometimes it is difficult to determine whether the new is wrong—or merely different."

  McCoy grunted. "I'll grant you that for your newness, Ambassador. As far as I know, up to the beginning of this fight you hadn't recruited anybody by force. And I suppose you've been resisting the Totality since. But I won't grant mere 'difference' to the Totality. Force is force."

  "What force do you suppose welded together the first successful multicelled animal, Doctor? What if the Totality, right or wrong, is the only catalyst which can bring Oneness to the galaxy?"

  "Then it had better not be brought," McCoy said. "It used to be 'my country, right or wrong,' then 'my planet,' 'my empire'—whatever. 'My Totality' doesn't make it any more right—or any less wrong."

  Gailbraith turned to him for a moment and bowed fractionally. "My compliments, Doctor. I see now why you are the Captain's friend as well as his ship's surgeon."

  McCoy grimaced. "Gailbraith, you'd better get him—all of them—back for me, or you haven't seen anything yet."

  They followed Dobius around an outcrop of machinery and came to an open door in the cliff-face.

  "Looks like an engraved invitation," McCoy said.

  Gailbraith looked interested. "The question is, Doctor: to what?"

  "Or—to whom?" McCoy asked. He crouched down to the ground. In the fine volcanic ash which settled under their feet were three sets of footprints—one in soft boots, one of long and narrow feet in Starfleet boots, one in tattered slippers.

  McCoy straightened. "To all of us, apparently." He stepped firmly through the door …

  Soljenov watched the progress of the three with some satisfaction. They were essentially on schedule.

  The involvement of the Vulcan with the woman on the level which had been observed had not been predicted. But once seen, it had the quality of the inevitable.

  One therefore adjusted the stress test to the metal to be tested—or to the mettle …

  Kirk moved through the corridors until he saw what he thought would be a monitor pickup. "Soljenov," he said to it, "I have something you want. I'll deal with you one-on-one."

  It took only a moment for Soljenov to answer—confirming Kirk's hypothesis that he would have been watching them from the beginning. "That is rather more like one-on-Oneness, Captain. Scarcely an equal contest."

  "I'll risk it. Let them go."

  Soljenov laughed. "That would be what the final price might pay for—not an opening subject for negotiation. My parlor is available, Captain. Come in."

  Soljenov touched a transporter button and the Captain of the Enterprise dissolved to re-form before him, facing him in jungle-tattered rags.

  It was given to few men to look impressive in such circumstances. It was given to this one.

  "So," Soljenov said, "you are her chosen."

  "No. No choice has been made."

  "It would have been but for accident of interruption." Soljenov saw the knowledge sink in of what power of observation that must imply. But the Captain merely set his jaw.

  "If you know that much, then you know that it was not an unforced choice but a matter of life or death. I do not know that it would have led to bonding, even so. We have our reasons for resistance. We do not take e
asily to being pawns in your game."

  Soljenov laughed. "No. Indeed. Two knights—and one queen. Your pointed-eared 'reason' is rather interesting, by the way."

  The man merely looked at him impatiently. "You have my ship. I want her back. And my friend. And Sola—free."

  "So—you have come to me alone. To make an offer?"

  "At least to talk sense. You cannot have left Earth when you did without learning the horror of forced conquest. Yet you turned to impose it on Zaran, and now on the galaxy. Why?"

  "I do not explain my reasons to an amoeba."

  Kirk shook his head. "You intend to explain something to this one, or you would not have brought me here."

  "Why, no, Captain. I merely intend to take you. Your offer is gallant, but unnecessary. I have the power."

  Once again the man merely looked at him with that impressive courage. "That may be," he said, "and I knew that coming in. But I do not think that I would be easy to absorb—or digest. I submit that you do need some terms with me."

  Soljenov shrugged. "No. But for a purpose of my own, I will answer your question. I once rebelled against the force I saw used in the old empires of Earth. For that rebellion it became necessary for us to flee Earth. Myself, a friend, a small party. After the long sleep we came to Zaran, and it welcomed us. We brought a physical technology, Zaran already had a high psycho-psionic and ecologic technology. For a time a perfect marriage. Then we discovered the possibility of true Oneness, Totality, belonging. Ultimately, that is the only answer to the horrors we have seen engulfing entire populations—conquest, war, concentration camps, genocide."

  Kirk looked at him without belief. "You argue the conquest of the Totality as an answer to conquest?"

  "Captain, I assure you, it is the only answer. There is an occasional brief mental resistance before some of the more stubborn join the Totality. Once joined, most accept its pleasures and powers. It is a long-term answer to loneliness, isolation, powerlessness, and to sickness, old age—even death."

  "At the price of individuality, greatness, genius, passion, love."

  Soljenov smiled. "Does it destroy passion, Captain—or even love? You will not know until you are One. Has it not occurred to you that that would be the solution to your particular immediate problem? In Totality, Captain, none of you would have to sacrifice or lose."

  Kirk did not answer. Then he said, "Very well. Even that has occurred to me. But it would not and will not work. Sola and Spock are to go free. So is my ship."

  "You see, Captain, that thought will occur, even to you. Eventually it will occur to the galaxy. You tasted Gailbraith's Oneness—and only your Vulcan friend was able to pull you back. Do you doubt, then, the power of Oneness? Or that the Totality will, shortly, sweep the galaxy? Bringing, finally, peace? That, Captain, is worth a little initial discomfort for amoebas—or tarnish of soul, if that is what it is, for me."

  "Then you do believe it tarnishes your soul."

  "If so, I will bear it."

  "No," Kirk said. "That kind of peace, even if it could exist, would not be worth it. And that argument—that you have to break eggs to make an omelette, or amoebas to make a Oneness—has been the argument of every dictator, every totalitarian from Hitler and Stalin to the ones you fought, to Colonel Green and all the others. But intelligent beings are not eggs—nor amoebas—and when they break, the irreplaceable is lost, and the unforgivable is done. Soljenov, don't you see that you have bought the argument of your old enemies?"

  "They had no reality of Oneness. I have."

  "Yes. And it is, for some people, as powerful and as attractive as you say. Perhaps it is for almost anyone at the right time, in the right way. Yes, I felt the attraction. But those who will join you willingly, you may have. No one contests that. Let Gailbraith's Oneness exist, and yours, and uncounted others—and add to the welcome diversity of the galaxy. But let the unwilling go."

  Soljenov shook his head. "You do not understand, Captain. That was my first thought, also. But the singletons find Oneness an intolerable threat, and will turn to destroy it in its infancy, if permitted. And a plurality of Onenesses may turn out to be even more dangerous than a plurality of singletons. Do you suppose that my will and Gailbraith's would never lock at cross-purposes? It has begun to do so already. Over you and your ship. What about over a galaxy? No. There must be one answer—and one Oneness. The Totality. All else is chaos. Captain, I have had enough of chaos."

  "You will have no end of chaos until you abandon force."

  Soljenov cut him short. "I am not here to be instructed by an amoeba. State your offer."

  "My ship, Sola, Spock, Gailbraith's Oneness, and the Zaran resistance to go free. I will come into the Totality—and you and I will have this out—for as long as it takes."

  Soljenov laughed. "Everything? For your single person? You do not underestimate yourself, Captain."

  Kirk shrugged. "You have set this up, through Gailbraith, to bring me here. I do not fully know why. Perhaps I am your antithesis, your test case, your symbol. In any case, you have set a value on me, and I have made an offer on the only terms that are possible for me."

  "I will consider it, Captain. Later."

  "Later it may not be open."

  "Later I may have all three of you."

  "Gailbraith said you were setting up a trial," Kirk said. "Why? A trial implies that you have something to learn."

  "That is perceptive, Captain. I do. My belief in the necessity of Oneness does not compel the universe to agree. My purpose requires Sola. She is the climax of the line of Zaran females which can widen the scope of total unity far beyond Zaran. If I prove that it is possible, it is a means which the chosen Onenesses have not found. Gailbraith's kind remains limited in scope. If I have abolished the limits, he will concede the validity of the method and join me. Then nothing can stop Totality."

  "Sola will not join you."

  Soljenov smiled. "You mistake the point, Captain. It was always possible to control Sola, if she would bond. However, she was, at various times, offered all that Zaran, or even certain other species, could offer, to no avail."

  Kirk frowned. "All Zaran could offer? Did that include you?"

  Soljenov was silent for a moment. "Yes, Captain, it did."

  "Did you—love her?"

  "Captain, I will not discuss that with you. Let us say that I needed her—for my purpose."

  "And she could not be moved."

  There was another moment's silence. "She could be, eventually, Captain. I searched the galaxy for the lever, and found not one, but two."

  "Mr. Spock is not a tool for your use, Soljenov. And he is a refutation of your theory. You did not expect him—not that Sola would love him, nor he her. If your theory is wrong, you must let them go."

  "On the contrary, Captain. I think it likely that the pull of the duality will unleash Sola's powers as no single love could. And perhaps when it becomes impossible for her …" Soljenov turned away. "It is rather hard on you and your Vulcan friend, Captain. I express regret, but I cannot spare you. The next phase of the trial is about to begin."

  "That's right," Kirk said softly, and moved to bring a chopping hand down on Soljenov's shoulder.

  It was as if the edge of his hand had impacted on the entire Totality.

  Soljenov merely turned to look at him. Then for one moment Kirk saw something in the big man's eyes which he knew was lethal: the knowledge that Soljenov had taken some turning by which he, with all his power, could not evoke in Sola what one particular amoeba could evoke. In fact, what two particular amoebas could call forth, including a Vulcan who was not supposed to know the meaning of love.

  Then Soljenov's hands clamped down on Kirk with a grip which also seemed to have the power of all of the Totality, or perhaps only of the man's own strength …

  Chapter 29

  At a psi-marked junction in a corridor Sola stopped Spock. "This is as far as you can go."

  "Indeed?" the Vulcan said, and she saw the
stubbornness of all Vulcan settle into his face. "On what do you base that conclusion?"

  "This is a Focal Center of the Totality," she said. "Beyond this point there is no functioning as a semi-independent unit. Here the powers of Zaran females are focused on some physical-psionic device to give total control over all who enter. By mind-to-mind contact the smallest intention to act outside the demands of Totality is known and is met by instant punishment. Obedience is rewarded. Reward and punishment are transmitted directly to the brain's pain and pleasure centers, psionically. It is as if an electrical signal stimulated direct pain and direct pleasure."

  Spock's mouth was tight. "That has been done by direct electrical stimulation—long before Soljenov left Earth, in the twentieth century. Rats would press a lever for direct pleasure, ignoring food, sleep, sex, until they starved to death."

  Sola nodded. "No one has broken the control of a Focal Center. They are used wherever total security or total obedience is required. On ships. In critical installations. In battle. Men will march into the jaws of death rather than face direct pain. And direct pleasure is, if anything, more insidious.

  "Mr. Spock, picture the Enterprise controlled by an obscenity of this kind. Picture its Captain, also controlled. You might conceivably die before being absorbed. He would not. And perhaps you would not, either, knowing whom you would leave to what fate." She leveled her shoulders. "This must stop here, Spock, and I must stop it. If I can break the psionic control, then some of those who see me do it may be able to do the same. Zaran females may break free. Some Zaran may put his hand with mine to smash this place."

  "May," Spock said. "Until that point, every man's hand will be against you—and every mind of the Totality."

  She nodded. "Spock, it is a method of control developed and tested on rats. There is a flaw in that theory."

  He raised an inquiring eyebrow.