“Roger, get us in.”
Sunn stepped back and watched as Roger trained his rifle on the middle of the door and fired until the door basically turned red, then vanished in a sour-smelling smoke.
The inside was pitch dark, the light from the street only penetrating a few feet inside the room. Sunn pulled out a flashlight and with it in one hand, and his other hand on the phaser at his hip, he moved in.
The main ground-floor area was large. Huge, actually. So big it swallowed the beam of his light into the distance. Large enough to serve as a hangar for their ship, that much was for sure. And the contents of the room were very different from what they had seen in the street. In here debris was everywhere. Much of it smashed and piled. It took him a moment to realize that this must have been some large store.
And the smell was one of old and rot. A dry smell that seemed to cling to everything. Not at all the fresh smell of the streets and meadows.
“What happened in here?” Roger asked, moving in behind Sunn and panning his beam over the huge space.
“Looks like a riot took place,” Dar said.
“Spread out,” Sunn said, “and let’s see if we can find an answer to that question.”
Sunn went straight ahead, Roger to the right, Dar to the left. Slowly Sunn picked his way through what had clearly been a path from the main door through the head-high piles of debris and furniture. He couldn’t imagine a culture that could build such beautiful cities having such debris-filled interior rooms. Clearly something or someone had moved all this around. But who? And why?
Smaller trails led off through the piles in both directions. For the moment he was going to stay on the main path that led across the room.
“Captain,” Roger shouted out, his voice echoing. “I think you need to see this.”
Sunn could barely see across the room where Roger was waving his flashlight beam to show his location. Sunn glanced in the other direction. Dar wasn’t that far from him. “Dar, join us.”
“On my way,” Dar said.
Quickly Sunn went back down the main path through the piles of debris toward the bright light of the door, then turned and headed toward where Roger was signaling.
It was clear that Roger had taken one of the side paths and was now standing almost inside one of the piles of debris. He stepped back as Sunn approached and pointed to an opening in the pile.
Sunn bent down and for the first time came face-to-face with the skeletal remains of one of the planet’s past residents. It shocked him and he almost jumped back. But he’d seen hundreds of skeletons and this one was no different. Clearly humanoid, double rows of teeth, wider forehead than a human’s, short body. Rags of some sort of cloth covered most of the bones, but Sunn couldn’t tell if the person had been female or male from the dress.
Sunn poked his head farther into the hole and saw two other bodies sprawled together farther in. Clearly they had been living in here, in the remains of this store.
He stepped back and let Dar look inside as he shined his light over the vast space and the hundreds, maybe even thousands of piles of furniture and debris that filled the vast space.
“What would cause a culture that was clearly advanced, that could build buildings like these, to die like this?” Sunn asked.
“Not a clue,” Roger said.
“They were afraid,” Dar said, backing out of the small entrance. Dar pointed around the room. “Inside, nothing at all outside. These people were afraid of something outside. I’m betting we’ll find scenes like this in most of the buildings.”
“Are you saying these people retreated into this and died?” Roger asked.
“Makes sense,” Dar said. “I’ll bet they died from lack of supplies. Too afraid to go outside and get them. I didn’t see any remains of food around those bones.”
“You’re right,” Roger said. “If it had been disease that killed them, they wouldn’t have bunched up together like this. They would have run from the cities and the roads would have been jammed solid with debris.”
Sunn had a hunch they were right. Everything outside was neat and clean. Something had driven this advanced civilization indoors to die. But what? And would it be dangerous to the Belle Terre colonists?
“Let’s look at some more buildings,” Sunn said, turning toward the door. “We need more facts.”
After looking in five more buildings, he knew their theory was right. This entire culture seemed to have retreated indoors and died there. They had solved the question of where the residents went. Now they just had to know why before they reported back to Kirk.
What had these people been afraid of?
Countdown: 5 Days, 13 Hours
“Two hours until Gamma Night,” Kirk said. “Come on, people, we need to find something that will work.”
Kirk paced back and forth in front of his chair. For five hours his crew and three of the other Starfleet ships had searched this system and outside this system, looking for any object large enough to smash into the Quake Moon, yet small enough for them to move. It was turning out not to be such an easy task. Every solar system was full of millions of asteroids, small moons, and comets. Leftover junk from the forming of the system. This one was proving to have even more than normal, but most of it too small.
It had been five hours of “almosts” and “false alarms.” Five very long hours.
Spock had worked out the exact details of what needed to be done. And the exact size of the asteroid or moon needed to smash into the Quake Moon to get the best results. They had found two objects that were close to the perfect size. One was a large asteroid outside the system just beyond the sixteenth planet. The other was a small moon in orbit around the gas-giant eleventh planet. The asteroid was slightly too small, the moon slightly too big.
So, after finding each one, Kirk had ordered them to keep looking. But if they didn’t find another possible item in the next few minutes, he was going to settle on the moon. They were running out of time with Gamma Night coming on.
Spock said a slightly larger object would be better than smaller by at least two percentage points. To Spock that was a significant difference, so the moon it would be.
Kirk forced himself to stop pacing and sit down just as McCoy entered from the lift. The doctor had convinced Kirk to take a break and get some food two hours ago, and was coming back from doing the same thing.
“I can tell the luck is continuing to be bad,” McCoy said. “Just from the look on your faces.”
“Luck has nothing to do with it, Doctor,” Spock said. “The search continues in a systematic fashion.”
Kirk turned to his science officer. “Spock, have you done all the calculations on getting that moon from the eleventh planet into position to hit the Quake Moon?”
“I have,” Spock said. “It will be a complex series of events requiring a great deal of force.”
“Are you sure it can be done?” Kirk asked. He needed his science officer to be exact. It was what he trusted about him. When Spock said something was possible, it was.
“It can be done,” Spock said. “But not easily. We must be in position to begin in six hours, seven minutes, and forty seconds. If everything goes as necessary, the moon would hit the desired location on the Quake Moon exactly sixty-four minutes before the explosion.”
“What?” McCoy asked. “You mean to say we’re going to be trying to shove a moon out of orbit during Gamma Night?”
“Yes, Doctor,” Spock said.
“It’s a small moon,” Sulu said, smiling at the doctor.
Kirk smiled, but McCoy clearly wasn’t amused. The problems with sensors and communications during Gamma Night had plagued them since they got within range of the neutron star that was causing it. They were just going to have to deal with it again.
“Spock, will we be able to do what is necessary during the Gamma Night interference?”
“Yes,” Spock said flatly.
Kirk wanted one more question answered before he gave the o
rder to try this. Since this was the only attempt they would get at stopping the Quake Moon from exploding, he wanted to make sure everything was thought of.
“What is the largest problem you foresee in moving the moon into position?” Kirk asked, trying to be as exact with his questions as he wanted his first officer to be with his answers.
Spock nodded at the question. “It will take the combined force of several ships, in exact positions, to get the moon moving and out of orbit around the gas giant.”
“Understood,” Kirk said.
“We will then need the extra force of further colony ships to get the moon to a correct velocity and on the intended line toward Belle Terre and the Quake Moon.”
“How many of the colony ships?”
“For the acceleration stages, at least ten of the larger ships,” Spock said. “Twelve would be more desirable. However, for slowing and turning the moon into the needed angle and speed to hit the Quake Moon with the desired results, it will take the combined force of every ship.”
For a moment there was silence on the bridge. Then McCoy asked, “You’re kidding, right?”
“Vulcans do not ‘kid,’ ” Spock said.
“Those ships will be full of all the colonists,” McCoy said. “Sixty-two thousand people.”
“Possibly,” Spock said. “Unless they elect to stay on the far side of the planet.”
“And be killed if we fail,” McCoy said.
“If we follow this course and the moon explodes instead of ruptures, Doctor,” Spock said, “most of the ships involved will be destroyed, including the Enterprise. There will not be sufficient time to get out of the danger zone.”
The silence on the bridge was the loudest Kirk had ever heard it.
Sulu, Chekov, Uhura, and McCoy all stared at Spock. It seemed that they had not realized this attempt at stopping the Quake Moon from exploding was so risky. There was no doubt it was going to be. The Enterprise was going to be connected to the ramming small moon almost right up to the point of impact. If the Quake Moon only ruptured as they hoped, the Enterprise would have time to get out of the way. But if it exploded, no ship still inside the inner solar system would survive.
Kirk didn’t mind risking the Enterprise. And risking the other Starfleet ships. It was part of the duty they all agreed to perform. But he didn’t have the right to put the lives of all sixty-two thousand men, women, and children on the line. Only they had that right. It was their colony. And they would have to be told of the risks and the reward to make that choice. That was going to be up to the governor to do. There was time for that.
Kirk glanced around at McCoy, who seemed half stunned at the idea of risking all the colonists. Then Kirk turned to his first officer. “Can it be done?”
“It can, Captain,” Spock said.
“That’s all I need,” Kirk said.
And it was. Right now it was the only option they had, and they had to get it started or even that option was going to pass them by.
He turned to Uhura. “Have all the other Starfleet ships meet us at the eleventh planet at once. Spock will relay details.”
“Captain, the Impeller has not reported in,” she said. “Those children are still lost.”
Kirk glanced at Spock. The Vulcan nodded.
“The Impeller too,” Kirk said. “Find the governor and tell him I will be joining him in two minutes. Emergency.”
“Yes, sir,” Uhura said.
Kirk stood and headed for the door. “Spock, you’re with me. We’ve got a governor to inform about what we are doing.”
“Mind if I join you?” McCoy asked.
Kirk glanced at his friend. McCoy had come to love these colonists more than any of the rest of them. It might be a good idea to have him in on this discussion.
“More than welcome,” Kirk said. “Mr. Sulu, you have the bridge. Just make sure we’re back on board before the Gamma Night sets in.”
Countdown: 5 Days, 12 Hours
The transporter beam took Kirk, Spock, and McCoy back to the Enterprise, leaving Governor Pardonnet standing alone on the edge of the forest, in the shade of the pine trees.
He felt stunned, almost as if he were sleepwalking, after the conversation with the three men. Kirk had an idea to save Belle Terre. There was a price to pay, and there were high risks, but at least it was an idea that both Kirk and Spock thought might work. But the plan left him with a decision he couldn’t shoulder alone.
He took a deep breath of the warm afternoon air, trying to clear his head. There were so many things that needed to be done in the next five days before leaving. So many thousands of details to focus on, yet since last night he’d only been able to focus on the safety of six children. They’d been missing now for over fifteen hours. Adding the Impeller’s sensors did not help as much as they’d hoped, as the starship reported that many of the hills around the colony were laced with Kelbonite, which sensors could not penetrate. Those areas could only be searched on foot.
But they had searched the hills. Repeatedly. And there was still no sign of the children.
What could have happened to them?
He stared back up through the trees, then shook his head. He had to focus on all of the colonists, not just six. He had been excited when Kirk had first proposed the idea of crashing a small moon into the Quake Moon to rupture the moon and release the pressure. It was a solution.
Then Spock had outlined the results of the rupture. This entire continent would be leveled, massive floods and winds, extreme radiation over this half of the planet. Nothing would survive on this half of the planet and it would be decades before the weather on this continent would settle down to what it was now.
Pardonnet had been shocked, but knew that half a planet was better than no planet. They could survive on the island chains on the other side of the planet long enough to get a foothold back on the main continent. They had come to this planet for the long term. Ultimately, if the planet survived, the weather and replanting would be a short-term problem.
Then Spock had explained what would be needed of the colonist ships.
And McCoy outlined the chances that the moon might explode instead of rupture, giving the colonist ships no time to get out of range.
It had become clear right at that moment that to save this colony, every man, woman, and child would have to agree to risk their lives.
“It’s a big decision,” McCoy had said.
“It’s not my decision to make,” Pardonnet had replied. And it wasn’t his decision. It was everyone’s decision.
But before they could make it, they would have to understand it. The Enterprise and the other Starfleet ships were going to set the moon in motion during the Gamma Night. He needed to call all the leaders of the different areas of the colony together for a meeting before the Gamma Night set in. Then afterward they’d present the idea to everyone and see which way the decision went.
He opened his communicator and told his ship to tell all the area leaders and top scientists to meet him in the town hall in two hours. “Tell them it is a critical meeting. Tell them there is a new idea on how to save Belle Terre.”
He flipped the communicator closed. That would get them there. Now the question was, where were the six children?
Around him the forest, and one of the last beautiful afternoons of Belle Terre, kept silent.
Part Three
NO TIME
Chapter Eleven
Countdown: 5 Days, 11 Hours
ROGER GOT to the top, looked around the large room, then shouted back down the incline to Sunn. “Found it!”
Sunn, with Dar right behind him, ran up the wide incline that led from the lower floor of this building to the next level. It seemed that not only had this culture shunned wheels on things, it had shunned stairs, preferring instead to build wide, gently sloping ramps that twisted and wound their way through every large building like snakes. Actually, such construction was brilliant in that it allowed for plumbing, electrical, and heat
ing ducts to be built into the ramps, instead of having huge utility cores in the center of every structure. There was no doubt these people were master builders.
What Sunn had been looking for was a communications building of some sort. Basically a news room, where there might be some sort of indication as to what had happened in the end to these people. Some sort of clue as to what had scared them so badly that they had retreated indoors to die.
Sunn, Dar, and Roger had ducked in and out of buildings for the last hour until finally they found this room. And Sunn could see why Roger thought they had found what they were looking for. The room was a mess, as every interior of every building was. The only skeleton here was one slumped over what looked to be a desk in the back. The rest of the room was cluttered with equipment. Massive amounts of equipment on and around all the desks. But the key was the false-looking setlike areas with garish writing and maps of the local area on the wall.
Light was coming in through the dirty windows. It seemed that every ground floor had no windows, but from the second floor upward, every building was mostly windows. Sunn guessed that was why every skeleton they had found had been in the dark, lower levels, since these aliens had clearly been afraid of something outside. This planet had hosted some strange people, Sunn was starting to decide. Especially at the end of their lives, when they chose to live it in the dark.
Sunn moved through the clutter to the skeleton. The entity had clearly been working on something, writing in a type of ink that had long since faded. Sunn pointed to the tabletlike item the entity had been writing on. “Take that back with us. Maybe we can recover enough of it to read.”
“Sorry, old friend,” Dar said, pushing the skeleton gently aside and putting the tablet in a pouch. The bones held together and a slight dust drifted from the body.
Roger was already bent over one of the machines on the dead alien’s desk. “It’s a computer, like others we’ve found. Completely powerless.”
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