by Star Trek
and remove their hand from stopping the war."
"I trust that you have dealt with this bomb. But regardless of
that fact, I do not believe that the Organians will be able to
prevent the war." Kang recalled the recorded speech of the
'Emperor's' plans. He would let the two hear it if necessary.
"That's what the Organians told us! How did you know?"
"I believe that I may be able to provide you with an answer,
Captain." Spock stated confidently. "With the initiation of the
Klingon Empire to the United Federation of Planets, the treaty
would be annulled by the unification of both document signers. If
war was to break out, it would be a 'civil war', a police action,
as Ayelborne pointed out. It would therefore fall under the heading
of internal affairs," Spock concluded.
"Garth had all the angles figured from the start, while we
have been wasting our time chasing our tails!" Jim was enraged at
himself, that it had taken so much time to see this truth, precious
time that may cost the universe dearly.
"Not all the angles, Captain," Spock responded. "He did not
foresee the three of us. We now have the knowledge that he has
tried to keep secret. There is still time to act."
"Not without a plan, Spock, and boy, do we need a good one.
Garth has certainly prepared for this. We haven't." He looked at
his long-time friend. "The time that we do have is precious little."
"Precious little," Kang agreed. "This Garth is already headed
for your home planet, Kirk. He has a head start and certainly will
not be an easy target, and he now has both Federation and Klingon
protection." Kang warned. "The war may start immediately after the
treaty is signed."
"Then we must make sure that he does not sign," Spock stated,
as if it were a solution within itself. "Captain Kang, the
Enterprise is presently unable to transmit on subspace frequencies.
If we were to use your equipment, we might be able to send enough
information to Starfleet Headquarters, apprising them of the
situation and perhaps persuading them to take action."
"If we transmit anything in subspace, my government will know
that it came from this ship. We will be hunted down and killed by
our own countrymen." Kang stated with a surety. "I will, of
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course, accept that fate, but only if you can guarantee that the war
will be halted and leadership of my government returns to its
rightful Emperor."
Jim looked down to his own hands on the table, the hands of a
Starship Captain, too often powerless, too often chained. "I
can't guarantee anything, Kang. I have been told by the Organians
that there will be war." Jim said. "It may not be preventable, but
it might be able to be stopped before it escalates to the point of
no return."
"That is not good enough, Kirk." Kang sat forward in his
chair. "The throne of the Klingon Empire must be restored. This
Garth must be destroyed. Nothing short of that will turn my Empire
from the 'Glory' they have been promised by him."
"I believe that Kang is correct," Spock said to his captain.
"If we are to stop Garth, we will need Garth himself as evidence of
the deception. Our proof of his involvement is largely based on
conjecture. It may be enough to persuade some, but not all. If we
transmit what facts we do have, we will, in essence, 'tip our hand'
to the enemy."
"Then we've got to get to Earth. We must try to stop him
there." Jim said with resolve.
"Captain, with the damage to our ship, warp 4 is our maximum
emergency speed. Garth could be back to the Klingon side of the
Neutral Zone long before we could reach Earth," Spock pointed out
the fact.
"My ship has been strained, but is undamaged. It might be able
to reach your Earth on time," Kang offered as a ray of hope to the
dim future before them. "It could at least give them a good race."
"Kang, until the treaty is signed, your ship would not be
allowed to cross our side of the Zone by the Organians. It would
still be a violation of the Treaty." Jim paused in thought.
"...Unless you were to surrender your vessel to me."
Kang was shocked at the mere mention of such a thing. He knew
that the suggestion was not a surrender under threat of fire, and
it was more of a formality than anything, but it had never been an
option in the past. It was their code to die rather than surrender.
"My crew would never accept it, Kirk. I find it difficult to
stomach, myself."
"If we are worthy of your trust, is not your crew also?"
stated Spock as though it were not a question.
"My crew would not be as easily swayed to deny their loyalty
to the Emperor. We would be hard-pressed to convince them all."
Spock was aware that loyalty would be a difficult hurdle but
knew the attempt must be made. "We have some proof of the deception
that could be made available to them. We have files on Garth,
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explaining his condition, his explosive and his metamorphosis
capabilities. You could present these facts and lead them to the
truthful conclusion." Spock stood from his chair. "I could have
the information compiled and copied in a short amount of time."
"Well, Kang, what do you say?" Jim asked. "All or nothing,
seems to be the 'order of the day'."
Kang became silent. He thought long about all that had
transpired since the day the Fringe Ranger crossed over the Neutral
Zone. He had to do something to stop the flames that were consuming
the very throne of Klinzhai. He could think of no other options
than to fall in with his enemy, to trust Captain James T. Kirk with
the future of the Empire. "I see no alternative. I will take your
evidence and present it to my crew, but it will be their decision
whether or not to mutiny and kill their Commander."
"I'll be there to help." Kirk extended his hand in friendship.
"Let me collect some things of mine and I will return to make the
journey with you."
Kang took his hand and shook it in the 'Earther's' tradition.
He pressed a button and summoned Mara and Gor. "These must be the
first to know the truth. May they assist your First Officer in
gathering the information?"
The two Klingon officers stood before Kang, not having the
vaguest idea as to what their Captain proposed. They could tell,
whatever it was, it was of great import to him.
"They will be welcome," Jim said as he pulled out his
communicator. "Kirk to Enterprise. Four to beam up."
"Keep our trust, Captain. That is all I have left." Kang said
as they were caught by the field wave of the transporter and
disappeared.
* * *
Captain Kirk returned to his cabin aboard the Enterprise.
Time was less a friend than his Klingon counterpart. Jim sat on
his bed and faced the half-wall next to it. There, imbedded
within, was his personal safe. He pressed the proper sequence of
buttons to allow admittance into the small cubbyhole safe. He
had
not been in it for weeks and it looked, well, different to him.
The contents seemed to have been altered upon his first glance.
Then he noticed, there in the back, something new to the private
locker.
There was a vellum manuscript, some 40 pages thick, on top of
his medallion case. He removed it carefully, knowing the age-worn
volume was delicate. Gingerly, he opened the cover and saw the
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Latin words on the animal-skin page. Unnoticed by Jim as it fell
to the floor, was a note written in English to the Captain. Jim
looked at the Roman style type on the manuscript, examining the
impressions of each letter with the tips of his fingers. Though
his knowledge of the language was rusty, he recognized the passages
that were before him. He turned it over in his hand, amazed at
what he found. 'Time for this mystery later,' he thought to himself,
and with care, he placed the pages back into his safe.
He removed what he had come in for in the first place. He
looked at the phaser, now in his hand. Remembering the setup of the
Federation Auditorium, he knew there were many stationary weapons
detectors maintaining the Council Member's security. He would
have to modify his phaser setting for an invisible beam, and
'illegally' place his weapon on silent discharge. His aim needed
to be extremely accurate to hit the weapons detectors from a
greater distance than their detection range. At least he would be
granted access to the Council Room by his rank, and then would be
within range of Garth. It was his intention not to be seen by the
man, but merely hit him with a heavy stun beam and let the audience
see who wore the 'Emperor's New Clothes'. When unconscious, as
Spock had proven months ago, Garth would revert back to his own
form.
The chime to his cabin rang. Before he could say 'come in,'
Bones barged into the room.
"Jim, what the heck do you think you are doing!" he said to
'Jim Kirk', his friend, not to 'Captain James T. Kirk'.
"Let me guess," Kirk said, knowing he would be having this
argument with the Doctor sooner or later. "You badgered Spock into
telling you what I had already planned to tell you later?"
"So what if I did? You're about to do one of the most
foolhardy things I can think of in recent history. What makes you
think Kang won't kill you in your sleep, or take you hostage and
hide you somewhere in the Empire?" The Doctor spoke with deep
concern and anger at the very idea.
"Because he needs me, Bones, as much as we need him. If we
don't try this, we will be at war with the Klingons and the
Romulans in a matter of weeks, maybe days." Jim looked at McCoy,
knowing his friend was deeply worried for his sake. "If Garth isn't
stopped now, Bones, we may never get a second chance."
Doctor McCoy looked at him hard and set his jaw. "Why does it
always have to be us who has the weight of the Federation on our
shoulders?" The Doctor asked bitterly. "Why is it always James T.
Kirk who has to put his life on the line for an enemy who would
just as soon kill you as look at you?"
Jim looked at the Doctor, with a compassion that did not
diminish his resolve. "The same reason a Starship's doctor would
risk his own life to save the wife and unborn child of the High
Teer of Capella, or take the place of his friends, allowing himself
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to be tortured by the Vians on Minara. Because, Bones, deep down
we both know that there is nothing in this universe worth living
for... if it is not also worth dying for."
McCoy knew he was as guilty as his Captain when it came to
putting his life on the line. The knowledge didn't help much.
Klingons were too dangerous and untrustworthy to safely deal with
from across the Neutral Zone, not to mention, while among them.
"Jim, you know full well..."
"I'm going Bones," Captain Kirk said. "If you don't have
anything that will help me, then just wish me luck."
Dr. McCoy knew at that moment that he would not be able to
change his friend's mind. He was fairly certain before, but that
did not stop him from trying. McCoy removed the tri-corder from
around his neck and set it on Jim's desk. He also removed a medi-
scanner from his bag, and set it next to the tri-corder.
"I've found something that might help," he stated, somewhat
dejectedly.
"What is it, Bones?"
"I was helping Spock gather his information on Garth for
those... those Klingons," he said with disdain. "While I was, I
discovered something that I hadn't noticed before. Garth has a very
small 'spinal anomaly' for lack of a better word for it. It was
on file in his medical records from Elba II. It was thought to be
a piece of vertebral cartilage that had been fractionated from its
host, during his accident on Antos IV."
"Ok, Bones, I'll take your word for it," the Captain said.
"What about it?"
"The very first time Garth altered his shape to that of
Governor Cory, the guard and attending Doctor who found him in his
cell let him out. The Doctor scanned him for injuries and released
him, thinking it was the Governor. After he was found out to be
Garth in disguise, he was returned to his cell but the medical
record of the doctor's scan was placed in the Governor's file, not
Garth's."
"I'm with you so far. Go on."
"In addition to Garth's file, I have a file on everyone who
was on Elba II, including Governor Cory. While Spock was
concentrating on Garth's file, I was killing time and browsed through
Cory's file. They all appeared to be normal, with the exception of
one entry, where his medical record showed that he had the exact same
'spinal anomaly' as Garth." McCoy looked at Jim, who was trying to
piece the information together. "Jim, Garth can alter his shape,
internally and externally, even his clothing. But this little anomaly
never changes, no matter who he looks like."
"You mean we can trace him by scanning for this 'anomaly,'
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if we need to?"
"Yes, Jim. With this medical scanner, if you are close enough.
You can see the reading on the tri-corder and be able to identify
him if he changes shape to hide or get away."
"That is helpful, Bones. What is the range on this thing?" Jim
asked.
"Without the tri-corder, about one meter. But with it, I have
been able to stretch the sensor output to 15 meters with accuracy,"
the doctor said with a small amount of pride.
"Very good. I just hope I get a chance to be that close to
him."
"That's not all, Jim," the Doctor said. "I believe what the
other doctor's thought was cartilage on Garth's spine, is really
the 'organ' that allows Garth to change shape. If it is, then once
Garth is captive the organ can be removed."
"There are a lot of if's, Doctor, but if things work out, I'll
make sure the attending physician is aware of that fact," Jim said,
placi
ng the phaser to his hip. "It's about time to go," he
announced, none too eagerly.
"Jim," the Doctor said as the Captain picked up the medical
equipment. "For God's sake, be careful."
"For my own sake as well, Bones. I'll see you in two weeks or
so," he said to his friend. And they both left the cabin, each
heading in the opposite direction, down the corridor.
Spock met Jim in the transporter room with the two Klingon
guests. They had their hands full of information that would, with
any luck, prove to the crew of the Fury that their Emperor was not
from the Klingon Realm.
"They are ready, Captain," Spock stated. "Both are now
convinced, themselves, and ready for the task at hand."
"It will not be easy," Jim said to the two, "but now you
realize the cost of failure."
They both looked at the Captain with all seriousness. The
gravity of the situation had been instilled within them and they
seemed to be prepared to face the day.
"Captain," Spock began, "I request that I take your place
aboard the Klingon vessel. I am quite capable of carrying out the
mission, and am not indispensable. Logically the Captain should not
be displaced from his ship for any prolonged length of time, and
certainly not placed at such risk."
"I will neither order, nor allow any Officer to take part in,
what we both agree is a 'treasonous activity' when I am perfectly
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