“Come on, Bob. Hurry!” Rationality told Kirk that Wesley could not hear him, but he couldn’t help the panic he was beginning to feel.
Finally, Wesley pulled the cloaking device free from its control station. Holding it under one arm, he reached into a pocket of the centurion uniform for his communicator. A flick of his wrist opened the antenna grid, and he was greeted by the familiar chirp signaling the unit’s activation.
“Wesley to Enterprise.”
Before the reply came, the door to the corridor suddenly snapped open and Romulan centurions flooded into the room. Immediately, Wesley dove for the small side door.
“Enterprise, this is Wesley! Beam me back, now!” Kirk could only watch helplessly as the guards poured through the hatch after the captain. The next seconds seemed to drag on into centuries.
He could hear the comforting whine of a transporter field forming. At that moment, the first centurion raised his [70] disruptor and fired. A writhing green bullet of energy leapt from the weapon, the accompanying sound of the discharge echoing in the narrow confines of the room. In scarcely the blink of an eye, the disrupter bolt took Wesley full in the chest. Kirk could see the instantaneous damage it caused as it ripped through the all-too-meager material of the Romulan uniform and continued on into Wesley’s body. Skin ruptured and parted as the energy salvo penetrated the captain’s chest. He fell to the floor just as the transporter beam flared into existence and claimed him.
“Oh my God,” was all Kirk could get out before the breath tightened in his chest.
Then they were in the Enterprise transporter room as a horrified Lieutenant Kyle watched the form of Captain Wesley materialize on the transporter platform.
Slamming the intercom button, he yelled, “Medical emergency in the transporter room!” Then he raced to the inert form of his captain, aghast at the ugly wound in Wesley’s chest.
“Does he live?” Kirk wanted to know.
Ayelborne merely watched, stone-faced, as McCoy and a trauma unit entered the transporter room at a full run, followed by Scotty. The doctor wasted no time opening his med-kit and inspecting the captain’s wound.
Scotty picked up the cloaking device that lay on the platform next to the captain, then asked, “Doctor, is there anything I can do?”
McCoy shook his head. “I don’t even know if there’s anything that I can do.”
The engineer looked sadly at his captain before duty was remembered.
[71] “I need to figure out how to install this beastie, or we’re all dead.” Turning to Kyle, he asked, “Have ye got a lock on Mr. Spock, lad?”
The transporter chief nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Well then, when I give ye the word, bring him back.” With that, he was out into the corridor and headed for engineering.
As Kirk and Ayelborne continued to watch, several of the indicators on McCoy’s medical tricorder went from a steady blink to a constant light. Finally, the doctor shut the device off.
“It’s too late, he’s dead.”
With that, Kirk noticed that all sound in the room faded until nothing could be heard, except the voice of Ayelborne.
“Captain Wesley died obtaining the device, which Mr. Scott was able to install on the Enterprise. They retrieved Mr. Spock and escaped from the Romulan ships.”
Jim had barely heard any of the Organian’s words. He stood transfixed as McCoy and his orderlies hoisted the body of Robert Wesley onto a stretcher and covered it with a sheet.
“That’s enough. I don’t want to see any more of this.”
Ayelborne shook his head sadly. “I am sorry, James, but we are not finished.”
The light ...
STARDATE 8128.7
“Admiral, scanning an energy source on Reliant. It’s a pattern I’ve never seen before.”
Kirk and Ayelborne now stood in front of the main viewscreen of the Enterprise bridge. They watched as [72] Admiral Harrison Morrow and David Marcus moved to stand behind Captain Spock, who was still intently studying his sensor displays. Kirk immediately recognized where and when they were. After all, David had visited the Enterprise only once.
After a few seconds, David spoke. “It’s the Genesis Wave! He’s on a buildup to detonation!”
“How soon?” Morrow asked.
David replied, “We encoded four minutes.” Kirk found himself studying the younger man, his son, intently. The scene, fabricated as it was, nevertheless succeeded in calling forth a whole new wave of emotions. Images of a life that might have been flashed in his vision momentarily. He wanted to call out, to warn David of the dangers that lay ahead for him.
Stay away from Genesis, David! Go home to your mother! Wait for me! I so much wanted to know my son, and they stole you from me before I could get the chance.
Kirk forced the thoughts away.
The admiral straightened, deep in thought. Finally he said, “We can beam aboard and stop it.”
David held him back by the arm, shaking his head. “You can’t.”
Kirk stood stone-faced as yet another memory from his past was dredged up, distorted, and played out before him. He watched as Admiral Morrow moved to the center seat, thumbing the chair’s intercom switch.
“Morrow to engineering. Mr. Scott, it is vital that you bring the warp engines back on-line immediately.”
When there was no response from the engine room, Morrow turned to face Spock again.
[73] But the Vulcan wasn’t there.
“He’s gone to repair the engines,” Jim remembered soberly. “He sacrificed himself to save the ship.” It had been a painful experience, watching his closest friend die while he stood by, powerless to help.
Then they were in engineering, looking on as Scotty and McCoy stood and watched the radiation-scarred Vulcan on the other side of the transparent wall surrounding the warp core. Spock’s skin had been badly burned and had begun to peel from his face. Green blood flowed from dozens of wounds, some of it already darkening as it dried on the already-stained material of his uniform jacket. He was dying, again.
Only this time, Kirk wasn’t there in his friend’s last moments. Standing beside Ayelborne, his mind had already begun racing ahead in these series of events.
“What happens to Spock’s katra?”
The Organian waved an arm to indicate McCoy. “He succeeds in transferring his katra to your friend. Dr. McCoy begins to suffer the same symptoms of insanity that you remember. Only this time, there is no one to return to the Genesis Planet and retrieve Spock’s body so that it and his soul can be rejoined. When Genesis self-destructs, Spock’s body is lost.”
“And McCoy?”
“Sarek takes him to Vulcan, and Spock’s katra is removed from his mind and placed in the Hall of Ancient Thought. The doctor suffers no lasting ill effects from the incident, but he retires from active service. Shortly thereafter, the Enterprise is decommissioned, and her crew is reassigned.”
[74] Kirk watched as Spock slowly sank to the floor of the sealed compartment, the last breath of life leaving his body. The memory of Spock’s death was still very clear in the captain’s mind, even though the miracle of the Genesis Planet would eventually aid in the restoration of the Vulcan. At the time that Kirk had launched his plan to take the Enterprise and retrieve Spock’s body, he had no idea his friend would be reborn by the awesome powers unleashed by the Genesis Device. That had merely been what Kirk considered to be a gesture of mercy from a benevolent deity.
But not this time. This time, there would be no Admiral Kirk to lead his command crew to hijack the Enterprise and set out on the mission to retrieve Spock’s body from the Genesis Planet. There would be no second chance at life for the Vulcan, which made watching him die a second time even more painful than the first.
“So, that’s it,” Kirk said simply, finally.
“No. I’m afraid not.”
Once more, the light.
STARDATE 8391.4
“This is the president of the United Federation of Plan
ets. Do not approach Earth.”
They stood amidst the chaos that enveloped the Central Command Center at Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco. Alarms were flashing. Readouts were displaying jumbled arrays of data. Repair technicians were fastening shoring struts to the large bay windows. Outside, rain and lightning dominated the view.
The Probe, Kirk realized.
[75] The council president had positioned himself in front of a subspace communications terminal. His message was being broadcast to every ship and planet in the Federation. Kirk could see the strain in the older man’s eyes as he relayed the imminent destruction of Earth to the rest of the Federation, not to mention anyone in the galaxy who could pick up the signal.
“The transmissions of an orbiting Probe are causing critical damage to this planet. It has almost totally ionized our atmosphere. All power sources have failed. All Earth-orbiting starships are powerless. The probe is vaporizing our oceans.”
Kirk remembered when he had heard this message the first time, aboard the Klingon scoutship, returning to Earth to stand trial.
“We cannot survive unless a way can be found to respond to the Probe,” the president continued. “Further communications may not be possible. Save your energy, save yourselves. Avoid the planet Earth at all costs. Farewell.”
He severed the connection and rose from his chair. Jim and Ayelborne watched as he joined Admiral Cartwright and Ambassador Sarek. The Klingon ambassador, Kamarag, was also present with his entourage.
These were events that Kirk had not directly witnessed when they’d occurred originally. He and his crew had been on their way to Earth aboard their captured Klingon vessel to stand trial for the daring actions that had resulted in the retrieval and rebirth of Captain Spock. It was only while in flight from Vulcan that they had learned of Earth’s plight. They had then concocted their seemingly insane plan to travel back in time to Earth’s twentieth century in order to [76] find two humpback whales in a desperate attempt to rescue their home planet.
Things were different in this reality, however. Here, Kirk and his crew would not stand trial. There was no Klingon bird-of-prey on its way to Earth. There was no Spock to deduce the Probe’s intent and develop a course of action. There would be no humpback whales from the twentieth century.
There was no way to stop the Probe.
Earth would die.
“No,” was all Kirk could say, his voice nothing more than a horrified whisper.
At that moment, a horrendous shriek of rending metal assaulted his ears. The support struts holding the windows caved in under the massive pressure of water and wind. Glass shards were strewn everywhere.
The personnel manning the Command Center fought to keep their positions, as water and debris were hurled across the massive room. Computer displays throughout the chamber exploded, starting fires which were instantly quelled by the incoming water. As all this happened, more alarms were added to the din. Unaffected by it all, Kirk watched and listened to the screams.
Sarek pointed to the window. “Look!”
Beyond the windows, far out past the shoreline, a massive wave was gathering strength and headed for shore. Hundreds of feet high, it blocked out what little light remained. There was no time to evacuate. Frantically, people began hunting for purchase against the imminent assault
Then the wave hit, and the Command Center was almost instantly underwater. There were no bulkheads to shun the [77] water away. There was no power to the emergency force fields designed for just such an incident. Powerless to help, Kirk was forced to watch as, one by one, the Command Center staff drowned. Though the chamber was completely underwater, he and Ayelborne were dry.
Of course, we’re not really here, are we?
Ayelborne looked on, his expression pained from witnessing the destruction and death.
“The Probe will continue its assault on Earth’s atmosphere, rendering the planet sterile,” the Organian offered. “It will then create an entirely new ecosystem to its own specifications. The Federation Council and Starfleet Command will eventually be relocated to Vulcan, where they will begin anew.”
Kirk now saw the Earth from space. He watched as the Probe, orbiting the planet, manipulated the clouds and oceans of his homeworld, cleansing it of all life. Suspended from the underside of the Probe, the glowing, pulsing orb glowed brighter, turning more rapidly. Time seemed to accelerate, the whirls of water covering almost the entire surface of the Earth moving faster and faster.
Then, it stopped. Gradually, the oceans subsided. The planet calmed.
A dead planet.
“STOP IT!” Kirk couldn’t stand to watch any longer. His plea went unheeded as the rotating, glowing sphere retracted into the body of the probe. Then it drifted out of orbit, headed for the far reaches of the galaxy from which it had come. It faded from his view.
Then, so did everything else.
* * *
[78] No stars, no Earth, nothing. Simply ... black.
Except for Ayelborne. The Organian stood silent, studying the captain for a few moments. Jim was shaking his head.
“All this, because of me?”
Again the simple smile as Ayelborne replied, “Well, not entirely because of you. The universe is a rather large place, James. You cannot be expected to shoulder the entire blame. However, because you were not present during key moments in the years following your resignation from Starfleet, things that you remember occurring did not. Events that would not have occurred did indeed happen. Whether or not this is proper is not ours to decide.”
Kirk was puzzled by this. “I don’t understand.”
“I do not know whether or not the history as you remember it is the correct one. I am not in a position to render such a judgment. I merely showed you one possible way history might have progressed, had you elected to leave Starfleet.”
Jim could feel anger rising. “Well, I’ve decided that the history I was just watching isn’t right—at least, not for me. I want it back the way it was.”
Ayelborne’s expression was solemn as he replied, “My friend, nothing has changed. We are not capable of actually altering the past or the future.”
It suddenly struck him. “Wait. You mean, I still ... ?”
The Organian nodded solemnly. “Oh, yes, I am afraid so, James. As our friend Claymare told you before, we are actually ‘between’ moments in time. We cannot necessarily change the timestream, but we can choose the manner in which we occupy it.”
As Ayelborne spoke, color began to seep slowly into their surroundings. The colors took on shapes, gathering [79] substance. Kirk and Ayelborne were returning to the council chambers of the Organians. Kirk turned to see Claymare and Trefayne, still seated in the same chairs as before. Both men sported their trademark slight smiles.
It was Claymare who spoke first. “We apologize if you were upset by what you saw, Captain Kirk. It was necessary in order to prove to you that the sacrifices you have made throughout your career did indeed make a difference.” Jim approached the table separating him from the other Organians and placed his palms on it.
“What difference? There will always be people like Soran, or the Romulans, or whoever else that wants to take a shot. There will always be war with someone. I once told someone that though we are barbarians, we didn’t have to fight. We could tell ourselves that we won’t fight today. But it’s a lie. There will always be someone who wants nothing more than to kill and destroy. When will we learn? What will it cost us?”
Trefayne rose to pace the room. “Do you remember when we told you the Federation and Klingons would work through their differences and eventually become allies? In the time period that Captain Picard knows, a Klingon is his chief of security aboard the Enterprise. Change is inevitable, Captain. Though the Federation’s conflict with the Klingons is not quite over, the seeds of change have been planted and have begun to bear fruit. Difficulties lie ahead, yes, but peace lies not far beyond them.”
“How long will this take? What
will happen after that?” Kirk was pleased to know that the events and his experiences that led to the beginnings of peace at Khitomer had not been futile.
[80] Ayelborne spoke again. “James, we are only at the beginning. Through mutual cooperation, the Federation and the Klingons have formed what will eventually be a lasting alliance. Galactic exploration will continue on a grand scale. There will be new and exciting worlds to discover, new friends to be made, and new enemies to confront. However, all of this will be undertaken together.”
Kirk took some comfort in that. “It’s too bad I won’t be able to see it.”
The Organian placed a hand on his shoulder. “Do not dwell on that, James. Your life and your contributions will have a lasting effect on all that is to come. Your name and exploits will become legendary. Many great leaders, some as yet unborn, others long dead, will be compared to James Tiberius Kirk. You have much to be proud of, my friend.”
The three men moved to stand side by side. Now, it was Claymare who spoke again.
“It is time to bid you farewell, Captain Kirk. You will be returned to Veridian III, at the same instant that you left. Time will continue to stand still until you feel you are ready.”
“Ready? Ready for what?”
There was no reply from any of the Organians. Instead, Kirk watched as their human shapes began to dissipate. They gradually lost all substance and returned to their forms of pure energy, finally disappearing from view altogether. The room itself had also begun to drain of color and solidity. The furnishings faded away, followed by the room itself.
Blackness returned, for a moment.
Then, the barren surface of Veridian III gradually faded into view. The first sensation Kirk experienced was the [81] feeling of hard rock beneath his back. Next, a heavy weight pressed down upon his chest, though Jim realized it wasn’t uncomfortable. He could also hear the faint whisper of the desert wind through the canyons surrounding Soran’s launch site. Color washed over Kirk’s surroundings, and the landscape came into focus around him.
He was lying on the ground, pinned beneath the gnarled, twisted remains of the bridge. He looked up into the face of Picard, the other man’s body and face frozen in time, devoid of life. It was as though Kirk were studying a statue.
STAR TREK: Strange New Worlds I Page 7