by Star Trek
by the time you are ready to leave."
"Thank you, Ensign," said Kirk as he observed various crewmen
briskly walking through the corridors. "How much damage did you
sustain passing through the concussion wave?"
"Minimal, Sir. We shut down sensors before we neared the
system, per your instructions. The initial force had time to
diminish and the asteroids had spread out enough to permit safe
passage. Though how you made it through must have been a miracle."
"Very likely," smiled the Captain. He was proud of the
performance of his crew. Always beating the odds. As crews went, he
believed he had the best, but sometimes he could not help but
think that it had to be more than human effort and chance that they
had been so fortunate in their many times of trouble.
"In here, Sirs." The door opened to a conference room. Jim
and Spock entered, trailed by the ensign. They were greeted by a
short and stocky man. Troy Hamill was his name, Captain of the USS
Javelin.
"Welcome aboard, Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock. I'll make the
introductions, then take my leave." Behind Captain Hamill,
standing next to a broad table of rare black Diri wood, stood two
men. The first, a tall silver-haired man with strong chiseled
features, wearing Commodore's braids and insignia. Jim recognized
this man as Commodore Stormcloud. Captain Hamill introduced him.
He saluted in rigid military fashion. Jim and Spock responded
accordingly. The second man was unknown to Jim. He was introduced
as Lieutenant Reudolpho Grensk. Grensk was slightly shorter than
the Commodore, but equally as formal in his military dress and
mannerisms.
Jim knew, on the spot, that the proceedings would adhere to
stiff military form. Little or no informal pleasantries.
Something told him that further-reaching ramifications had occurred
PAGE 30
than just the loss of Elba II.
"I'll be on the bridge, Commodore, gentlemen." he saluted
then exited the room, followed by the ensign who had been escort to
Kirk and Spock.
"Captain Kirk, Commander Spock, be seated," ordered Commodore
Stormcloud. He glanced down to the ebony table and spoke to the
console embedded in it. "Computer on," he said, as both he and the
lieutenant sat. "Recorder on," he added.
"Recorder on," spoke the computer, whose digitized voice
reminded Jim of the Enterprise's head nurse.
"Let the record show that I, Nathanial P. Stormcloud,
security clearance Alpha-Alpha-Beta, open this inquiry and
temporarily extend the aforementioned clearance to all in this
room. Proceed with scan verification."
The center of the table showed no seam; it looked as if it had
always been a single sheet of dark wood. A moment later a split
appeared in the center, revealing a set of doors. The doors parted
and out came a scanning armature that rose up to the Commodore's
eye level. A beam of low intensity laser light emitted from the
scanner, and began recording the retina pattern of his right eye,
cross-referencing and verifying that it was indeed, Commodore
Nathanial P. Stormcloud who issued the command.
"Verification complete. 99.8 percent accuracy," it stated.
The armature then scanned the entire room, noting only three other
officers present. It followed the same procedures as before. Each
officer stated his name and received the proper verification.
"Security clearances altered according to command," it stated,
then folded itself up and closed the doors behind it, becoming a
seamless tabletop once again.
"Captain Kirk," began Stormcloud, "recount for the record, the
events from first receiving the distress signal, to our arrival.
Include a summary of all communications to and from the USS
Enterprise."
Jim sighed to himself. This was the part of being the Captain
of a Starship that he liked the least.
Stormcloud stared at the Captain with a firm gaze throughout
the entire debriefing, only looking down at his monitor to confirm
the given times of messages passed and received. Spock noted his
lack of emotion, as the Captain spoke, and inwardly paid his
respects to the man.
One hour and ten minutes later the Captain ended with, as
requested, the arrival of Javelin. He was relieved to reach the
end of the tale, not liking to speak for extended periods of time,
and weary from consciously trying to omit unnecessary information,
to expedite the monologue.
PAGE 31
"Is there anything you wish to add, Captain Kirk?" asked
Stormcloud.
"Yes, an observation if I may." There was no response from
the Commodore, so Jim took it as permission given. "By certain
appearances, this incident would seem to go deeper than just a
'Grade 4' disaster, which by the evidence, a 4 is all it warrants."
"Continue, Captain. Except for tight beam transmissions
directly to you, you have been 'incommunicado' due to the
disturbances caused by the disaster. What impresses you to think
that it is more serious than your data states."
"You do, Sir," spoke the Captain rather boldly. "You are the
highest ranking intelligence officer in the fleet. Since our
'theft' of the Romulan Cloaking Device, Starfleet has been gearing
up for imminent invasion. 'Taskforce Rihanshu', headed by you, if
I remember correctly, is priority one."
"I assume that your point is 'why wouldn't I send someone else
in my place if this situation was less than a grade one priority.'"
A nod from Jim and a raised eyebrow from Spock spoke the
affirmative in place of words. Even the computer recorded it as a
'yes'.
"Perhaps you consider me to be of more importance than, in
reality, I am," Stormcloud offered the Captain.
"Commodore Stormcloud," Spock entered the conversation, "you
are next in line for the Admiralty. I estimate the odds are above
90 percent that you will attain that rank within the next six
months."
"Thank you for the vote of confidence, Mister Spock. You are
probably correct, as are you, Captain." His tough Military facade
lessened a bit. "Gentlemen, I intended for you to see this a
little later, however, you are now cleared and your suspicions are
well founded." He pressed a button on the console in front of him.
The lights dimmed. "Computer, run tape 7773T on wall viewer."
"Waiting," spoke the feminine voice of the computer.
"Now, blast it!", responded the Commodore.
"Password accepted; vocoder verified." Then the computer was
silent.
"Regular passwords can be forgotten and are less satisfying,"
Stormcloud commented as the viewer came to life displaying a
tranquil starscape. Chronometer readings, spatial coordinates and
ship's heading were computer superimposed in the lower left hand
corner and the Starfleet insignia, bearing the ship's name
'Schwarzkopf' at the lower right. The blackness of space, speckled
with white transformed instantly, completely, to a brillia
nt white,
then faded slowly back to its original view. Then the star scene
PAGE 32
began to shake violently, as if a cameraman had been taking
pictures of the stars while riding a bucking bronco.
"What you see is not a recording error gentlemen." The
Commodore pressed the pause button on his console. "It is an
explosion of like magnitude as the one that destroyed Elba II.
This one took place nearly 5 standard hours later than Elba's, on
the border of the Klingon Neutral Zone. The vessel that fired the
weapon destroyed the outpost that was attempting to prevent it's
crossover."
"About the weapon," Jim began, "did it give the same energy
readings as the ones we picked up?"
"The very same, and I'll bet you have already deciphered the
energy pattern and recognize its signature."
"The Garth Explosive," Jim responded. "We determined that it
was the cause, but we thought it had all been destroyed in the
initial explosion. Was there any more of the substance at another
location where it could have been stolen?"
"With the exception of a few grams, it was stored in it's
entirety on Elba, in Cory's vaults. The smallest of grains
removed from the planet has been accounted for and it certainly was
not common knowledge that the substance even existed."
"If I may, Sir," Spock interposed, "espionage is the most
effective weapon in any 'cold' war. It is illogical to assume any
secret is completely secure."
"Quite correct, Mr. Spock. It is highly possible that the
Federation's security has been compromised and that our enemies are
'in the know'. But Elba was the only place where any significant
quantity could be obtained. Although the components of the
explosive had been determined, the proportional formula was never
ascertained due to its complexity and instability. Two of our top
scientists died in the first of attempts to replicate it. They
were painstakingly careful in every stage of their work, but when
they only had two thirds of the components in the mixture, it
exploded, killing them both, destroying their notes."
Stormcloud cleared his throat and continued. "In the second
series of tests, remote transporters were used in hopes that a 'pad
to pad' beam would give us the formula breakdown in the computer
transit control. However, upon beaming, the substance's unstable
properties caused a core skip in the first transporter pad. Thus
after successfully transmitting the particle, the pad tried to beam
itself, which it naturally could not quite do. It did manage to
begin the beaming process, causing its own molecules to drift,
unravel and most of it finally turned to dust. The second pad, in
trying to reassemble the particle, simply shorted out and never
gave us any information, other than to stop using transporters in
the research."
Jim refrained from smiling, though with some effort. He
PAGE 33
momentarily thought of how Bones would enjoy seeing a transporter
destroy itself without endangering human lives. "The hostile
vessel headed into the neutral zone then?" he asked, letting the
gravity of the situation sink back in.
"Schwarzkopf's scanners could not penetrate the energy wave to
confirm it, but we are certain that it did. Our sources have
informed us of heavy Klingon activity across the border,
immediately after the incident, and it is reported by our
operatives across the 'zone' that the Klingonese Emperor and his
royal armada are leaving Klinzhai for a quadrant very near the
zone. I for one do not believe in coincidences. What I do believe
is that the Klingons are preparing for a major offensive strike.
There is one question that remains a complete mystery to us."
"I, Sir, can think of several," Spock interjected. "Not the
least of which is 'If there was Klingon involvement in these
incidents of destruction, why has Organia remained silent?'"
"Why indeed, Mr. Spock. Considering that it was they who
forced both our Federation and the Klingon Empire to cease any form
of aggression, or risk their unwanted intervention." The
Commodore's voice intensified, making his feelings about the
Organians plain. "We are now restricted by them from rightfully
deploying a great amount of our defensive weaponry. We are barred
from any first strike capability or retaliatory engagement. In
short, we are at the mercy of a race of beings whom we know nothing
about!" His anger toward the Organians took Kirk by surprise.
"Commodore," the Captain spoke in defense of them, "mercy
seems to be the very reason for their intervention. As you know,
Sir, I was there when it happened." The Captain placed both hands
on the table and rose, never breaking his eye contact with his
superior. "If you remember, we were at war. It was our fault that
Organia was stuck in the middle of it." Jim easily remembered the
circumstances of their 'first contact' with the aliens in question.
"For all the Federation's good intentions, we brought our conflict."
Jim momentarily reflected, "I brought our conflict with the
Klingons to their innocent planet, which would have been destroyed,
along with countless other civilizations, and possibly brought the
downfall of both Empire and Federation." The Commodore's brow
furrowed in anger, but Jim did not let that stop him. "Had not the
Organians proven their benevolence by the use of their power, we
might not be alive to debate their intentions."
"We are not here to debate their intentions Captain, and
though you had been the first in the Federation to make official
contact with them, I hardly see how you qualify as an expert on
the subject of what motivates them and why!" the Commodore fumed.
"With all due respect," spoke the Enterprise's only Vulcan,
"the Captain is quite correct when pointing out the nobility
evidenced by the Organians. Their act was one of complete
impartiality. Their goal was peace." Spock bridged the tips of
his fingers together. "In discerning the nature of anyone's
motives, one must weigh the words spoken with the deeds performed,
PAGE 34
and consider what is to be gained by the one being scrutinized.
Their words were complemented by their actions and the only thing
gained was an end to the conflict. The gain was ours."
"Wrong, Mr. Spock," the large man narrowed his eyes at the
science officer. "Control, not peace was achieved. Since the
incident we have heard 'Peace!', 'Peace!', when there is no peace.
We do not coexist with the Klingons by any mutual agreement of our
own wishes. This peace you speak of is nothing of the kind. We
and the Klingons are under control, by a race of beings whose power
is thrust upon us, against our will!" he said, spitefully, to the
Vulcan. "We do know this fact, Mr. Spock, that when the Klingons
appeared on Organia, the inhabitants were quick to abide by all
laws imposed on them and assured the enemy of complete cooperation.
You and your Captain ev
en tried to persuade them to resist Klingon
rule and they ignored you. I do not hold with your opinion of
their benevolence nor impartiality. I believe they merely used
their power to postpone our conflict until it suited their
purposes."
Jim Kirk understood the Commodore's point of view. It was a
valid argument in part, yet made no room for the gratitude that
was due to Organia for preventing the largest war this galaxy had
ever faced. His attention shifted from his superior, to the silent
Lieutenant Grensk. Something about the lieutenant made Kirk
uneasy. 'His eyes', Jim thought. His eyes remained open,
unblinking for much longer than Jim would feel comfortable. Then
a slower than normal blink, and open once again. If Grensk's
attention was not constantly shifting from Spock and himself, he'd
swear the man had been heavily sedated.
"I submit that the argument is moot, Commodore," Spock stated
evenly. "Regardless of Organia's rationale, there is nothing the
Federation and Klingon Empire can do to alter the situation. As
long as Organia enforces the treaty, we are able to do nothing but
adhere to it."
"Then why, Mr. Spock," Stormcloud's voice, still bitter, "does
the Klingon Empire violate the treaty without Organian Reprisal?
We have been lulled to sleep with words of peace, only to find, and
possibly too late, the treacherous intentions of these so-called
'Angels of Mercy'!"
"There is no conclusive evidence of that, and every one of us
here knows it," cut in Kirk, trying to take the heat off his First
Officer. "There are many possibilities. You above all should know