The Latter Fire

by James Swallow

  “Tormid’s work,” said Kaleo, by way of explanation. She had met him on the command deck when Kirk had beamed aboard with Xuur, worry lining her usually smooth features.

  This time, the envoy had insisted that no other Enterprise crew members come with them, and the captain had reluctantly agreed. Even so, it had taken some argument from Kaleo to make it happen, and Tormid had openly snubbed them by refusing to meet their arrival.

  “He’s on the launch tier with Gatag,” Kaleo went on. “Giving the ranger pilots a briefing. A speech,” she corrected.

  In his hand, Kirk held a tricorder loaded with Uhura’s data. Before leaving the Enterprise under Spock’s command, the captain had ordered the communications officer to render the ominous message from the leviathan into a simulation of the Syhaari native language, so that Tormid and the others could hear it without any obfuscation. Now he met Kaleo’s questioning gaze and felt a different kind of regret building in him. “I’m sorry,” he said, the words escaping from his lips, “for what’s going to happen.”

  Kaleo gave him a wary look. “Kirk, what do you mean?”

  “Tell her,” said Xuur. “Her support could be of use to us.”

  He took a breath, momentarily angry at the diplomat, even as he knew she was right. “Uhura found something,” he began.

  * * *

  Kaleo did not speak again until after they had presented themselves to Tormid, and then her words were clipped and severe. “You need to hear this,” she told him.

  Tormid glared at her with open hostility, clearly irritated at her interruption. They had found him in The Light of Strength’s wide docking bay, where a flight of armed ranger ships were gathered like waiting raptors. More visible weapons pods hung from their stubby winglets, and loose knots of space-suited Syhaari crew waited impatiently at the foot of each craft’s boarding ramp. Tormid had been in the process of going from crew to crew with Gatag by his side, giving each of them the same stirring homily on fortitude and dedication.

  Now he stood in cold, stony silence as Envoy Xuur repeated what Spock and Uhura had said in the briefing room. Kirk watched him for any kind of reaction, for some sort of indicator of shock or surprise. There was none, only a gradual hardening of the scientist-explorer’s flinty gaze. It was only when Xuur asked Kirk to run the playback through the tricorder that he showed any emotion—and it was anger.

  Tormid turned to Gatag, whose flesh had paled at the alien utterance of the word war. “You are a witness to this, learned elder. You have heard all the offworlders have said to me.”

  Gatag nodded woodenly. “This is most troubling. If the object is a tool of invaders.” He swallowed hard. “Wh-what if there are more on their way?”

  “All the more reason to strike now,” Tormid replied. “Nothing has changed. Our enemies have revealed themselves. A grave error on their part.”

  “You cannot go through with military action,” Kirk insisted, looking to Gatag for some kind of support and finding nothing. “Let me be blunt. Your weapons are simply not powerful enough to make a dent in that creature’s hide. There has to be another way.”

  Tormid made a spitting sound, and Kirk saw the crews of the rangers react. At his side, Xuur tensed, reading the same spread of antagonism through the assembled Syhaari.

  “There is a blood cost to be paid, human!” snapped Tormid. “The old ways speak of this, of the conduct of warriors and the need for strength!” He reached out with a long arm and prodded Kirk in the chest. “Those who strike without cause are not to be given passage! They do not deserve our restraint! They must answer!”

  “He quotes words from one of our ancient texts,” said Kaleo sadly. “From the ages before plenty.” She advanced on Tormid. “Those edicts were written in a different time! We are facing a new threat now! One we cannot defeat!”

  “So they say!” Tormid shouted, waving his hand at Kirk and Xuur. “The great Starship Enterprise was humbled by this monster, so of course it follows that the primitives of Syhaar would stand no chance against it!” He spat again. “I tire of this disparagement. There is not a soul here who would not fight for the future of their species! And we will!”

  Kirk’s temper broke. “Then you’ll be killed. That is, if you have the courage to lead from the front instead of sending your rangers in first.”

  “Captain!” Xuur tried to silence him, but the words had already been spoken.

  “You doubt my will?” Tormid’s reply was low and dangerous. He advanced, and Kirk tensed, well aware that the simianoid’s rangy arms and lengthy fingers concealed great strength. If he struck, Kirk would be hard-pressed to fight the muscular Syhaari. “You call me coward?”

  “I doubt you,” Kirk replied, holding his ground. “I question your inflexibility. Gatag told me the Syhaari were an evolved people who grew beyond tribal warfare and self-destructive acts, just as my species did. But now you’re rushing headlong into a conflict that could lead to the death of thousands, even millions! Why?” He mirrored Tormid’s earlier action and prodded him in the chest. “What are you afraid of?”

  And there it was again, that momentary flash of doubt that made Kirk certain Tormid had something to hide.

  “Let us try to make contact with these entities,” Xuur insisted. “Let us attempt to open a line of communication. We may be able to reason with them—”

  “You will try? You will attempt?” Tormid barked the words back at her. “You throw around vague possibilities and expect us to accept them? These are our worlds at stake, alien! Our brothers and sisters who are dead!” He brought up his hands and made clawing gestures, as if making ready to attack. “I will confess a truth now! I knew your Federation’s involvement in our affairs was a mistake, but I allowed my interest in your advanced technology to silence those concerns. Kaleo wanted you to come here, it was her voice that carried the vote in the Assembly!”

  “These people are our allies,” Kaleo told him. “They helped us!”

  “Helped you!” Tormid retorted harshly. “Because of your mistakes, you made us beholden to them!” He shook his head. “You brought us this debt!”

  “There is no obligation here,” Kirk insisted. “Kaleo, none of you owe us for what we did. We didn’t come here to collect from you. We came as friends. As—”

  “Do not say equals, Kirk!” Tormid glared at him. “You think little of us. That has been clear from the start.” The Syhaari puffed out his chest, and when he spoke again, he was performing so that everyone within earshot would hear his words. “The presence of the Federation was foisted on us. It is unwanted, it is a distraction at best. At worst . . .” He turned a cold glower on Kirk and Xuur. “It may be the reason behind these attacks on our worlds and our ships.”

  “You think we would do such a thing?” Xuur was appalled by the accusation. “What possible gain could there be?”

  Kirk met Tormid’s gaze and held it. Does he ­really believe we somehow caused this attack, thought the captain, or is he just playing to the crowd, trying to turn them against us? More than ever, Kirk was certain that Tormid knew something he was keeping from everyone else, but if the captain said as much now, it would trip off a reaction that would only end badly for all of them. At length, he took a breath and spoke again. “You’ve made your position clear, sir. Now let me do the same. It is my mission and that of my ship to serve the cause of peace, and we will. Even if that means going in harm’s way, right to the very face of that leviathan out there.”

  Tormid snorted. “Your Enterprise barely escaped whole last time. Approach the creature again, and it will obliterate you.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe we’ll find a way to reason with whoever sent that message—”

  “I forbid it!” Tormid spoke over him.

  “You have no right,” Xuur countered.

  “Stop!” The shout came from Kaleo. “All of you, stop!” She stepped forward, directly to
ward Gatag. The elder had watched the argument build in silence, but now he found all eyes on him and the other explorer captain. “I petition the Learned Assembly,” she said. “I will join Captain Kirk in his effort, as a representative of the Syhaari Gathering. And together, we will put ourselves in the line of fire between these alien invaders and our homeworld, before any more damage can be done! We must take the risk!”

  “At the very least,” Kirk offered, “we’ll buy you some time to prepare your defenses and evacuate your people.”

  “So confident of yourself,” Tormid rumbled, and Kirk was uncertain if the words referred to him or to Kaleo. “Why should I—”

  “It is agreed,” said Gatag suddenly, silencing Tormid, much to the other commander’s surprise. “On the authority of the Assembly, I grant approval of this.”

  Tormid was silent for a long moment; then he turned and leaned close to Kaleo, muttering something into her ear. The Syhaari stalked away, and Gatag followed after him.

  Kaleo’s expression was troubled. “What did he say to you?” said Kirk.

  She glanced at him. “He told me that if I wished for death to take me, I should have allowed myself to perish when The Explorer Beyond was lost.”

  “No one else is going to die. Not if we can do anything about it.” Kirk pulled his communicator from its belt clip and flipped it open. “Enterprise. Three to beam up.”

  * * *

  McCoy turned the corner and found Spock approaching along the corridor. The first officer threw him a cursory nod. “Doctor.”

  “Are you getting as tired of this as I am?” he asked, falling in step with the Vulcan.

  “I am well rested,” Spock replied.

  “You know what I mean. So far this mission has been nothing but meetings, and every time Jim calls me in to one, the situation is worse than it was last time.”

  Spock glanced at him as they walked, moving deeper into the Enterprise’s senior officers’ deck. “Would you prefer that the captain not seek your counsel at such junctures?”

  McCoy grimaced. “Oh, I’m sure you’d like that, Spock. You don’t get rid of me that easily.” He shook his head. “The logical position doesn’t always carry the day, you know. Sometimes you need an illogical, emotional, human perspective on a crisis!”

  “Perhaps so. You are certainly one of the most emotional beings aboard this ship,” Spock noted as they approached the door to the captain’s cabin.

  “That’s a real talent you’ve got there, Spock,” said the doctor, after a moment.

  “I have many talents,” he replied. “Can you be more specific?”

  McCoy reached for the door chime. “The ability to say something in a way that I can’t tell if you’re complimenting me or insulting me.” He tapped the button and a tone sounded inside the room.

  “I will attempt to be clearer about such matters in the future,” said Spock.

  “Come,” called Kirk, and the door hissed open.

  The captain sat at the desk in the day-room half of his cabin, in the process of loading data discs into the memory carousel of a tricorder. He beckoned them in. “Take a seat,” he told them.

  Spock, as ever, elected to stand ramrod straight, with his hands folded behind his back. McCoy took the offered chair, though, dropping into it to give Kirk a measuring look. “I take it the Syhaari didn’t react well to the new information?”

  “Tormid did not,” said the captain. “I don’t know, Bones. I wanted to believe he was all empty bluster and bravado, but now I’m not so sure. This is past the point of reason, and still he wouldn’t step back from military action.”

  “We know he has not been completely open with us,” Spock offered. “Mister Scott’s scans of the warp drive systems and the uncertainties they raised have yet to be resolved.”

  “How do starship engines connect to an alien invasion?” said McCoy.

  “That’s an interesting question.” Kirk paused, frowning. “But not our primary one at this moment.” He drew himself up. “I asked you both here because I’m giving you new standing orders. Spock, you’ll take command of the Enterprise. Bones, I know you’ll give him your full support.”

  “Wait.” McCoy held up a hand. “Jim, what are you saying?”

  “The captain intends to join the diplomatic mission,” said Spock.

  “In what galaxy is that a good idea?” said McCoy. “Last I heard, that sortie was for volunteers only.”

  “It is,” Kirk replied. “And I’m volunteering to take part. Kaleo will be with me, acting as a representative of the Syhaari Gathering, Mister Arex has offered his services as pilot . . .”

  “Lieutenant Uhura has also made a very cogent argument for her assignment to the mission,” added Spock. “I could find no reason to disagree with her.”

  “So there we have it,” concluded Kirk. “Scotty’s preparing the shuttlecraft Icarus for departure as we speak.”

  “You’re going out there in a shuttle?” McCoy’s eyes widened. “Why don’t you all put on life-support belts and go for a spacewalk? It’d be just about as safe!”

  “Bones.” Kirk gave him a wry smile. “The decision’s been made. I’m leading the mission. Kaleo is risking her life, and I can’t let her go it alone.”

  “Is this some kind of Captains Courageous thing?” All McCoy could think about was his commander and friend putting his head in the mouth of a lion—a giant beast that had already bitten down a few times already.

  “It’s what needs to be done,” Kirk went on. “We came here to show the Syhaari we can be allies, partners for the future. I can’t delegate that now. I won’t.”

  “I know you won’t,” said McCoy. “But it’s my job to remind you.”

  Spock took a breath. “Jim. The doctor makes a fair point. You are putting yourself in danger. Let me take your place on the Icarus.”

  “You have your orders, Commander,” Kirk said firmly.

  “Aye, aye, sir,” Spock replied, at length.

  But even though he could see Kirk wasn’t about to budge, McCoy couldn’t let it go just yet. “All right. Let’s suppose for a second that living planetoid out there actually lets you get close to it, without ripping open the shuttle like a food packet. And let’s assume you manage to make some kind of contact with whatever alien entities are spouting off threats of war and tormenting that thing into violence. What are you going to say to them? ‘Would you mind awfully backing off a little?’ ”

  “Something like that, yes.”

  McCoy leaned in. “What happens if they say no?”

  When Kirk replied, his tone was grave. “Then I imagine I won’t get to hear you say ‘I told you so.’ ” He rose slowly from his chair, and McCoy found himself doing the same. “If we can’t stop the leviathan in its tracks through diplomatic means, then we are out of options. And I will not stand by, treaty or no treaty, and allow Gadmuur and Syhaar Prime to go the same way as Hokaar. Kaleo’s people may not be members of the Federation, but they’re not to be ignored either.” He tapped the top of the monitor on his desk. “I’ve recorded a log containing my orders to you and my intentions for the mission. If, at some future point, someone wants to drag in the Prime Directive and say we violated the spirit of it, I’ll take all responsibility for that personally. But right now, we move forward. We protect these people, even if Tormid doesn’t want us to.”

  Spock hadn’t moved all the time they had been in the cabin, but now he did, turning to glance at McCoy and then Kirk. “Captain. If the Icarus mission is not a success, Enterprise and the sum of the Syhaari fleet does not have enough firepower to stop the leviathan.”

  “I know.” Kirk laid a hand on Spock’s shoulder, and a chill ran through McCoy as he realized what would have to be done. “You are ordered to halt the advance of the planetoid creature and the invaders at any cost, Commander. Even if that means sacrificing the Ente
rprise to do so.”

  Eight

  Kirk watched as the Icarus—technically, the Icarus II, as it was the second Enterprise shuttle to bear that name—rotated lazily on a turntable to present its sloped prow to the clamshell doors at the end of the hangar deck. He glanced up at the control pod on the high wall of the bay, and threw the sketch of a salute to the red-shirted engineering officer up there. In return, lights flashed and the distinctive sound of the prelaunch alert echoed around him.

  At his side, Lieutenant Uhura gathered up the equipment pack she had brought with her, and Kaleo shifted uncomfortably as she eyed the small auxiliary vessel.

  “The size of it,” began the Syhaari. “It is little larger than one of our cargo crawlers. Yet you say this shuttle­craft is capable of warp factor speeds?”

  “For short periods,” he clarified as the shuttle’s door slid open. “They’re good workhorses. Rugged and adaptable. And most importantly for this mission, unarmed.”

  “You believe the leviathan, or its alien masters, will ignore a craft that carries no weapons,” Kaleo noted. “What are you basing that on, Kirk? Other than hope?”

  “This entire mission is based on that, Captain,” said Uhura, offering her own opinion. “Hope for a peaceful resolution.”

  “I want to share your certainty,” Kaleo told her. “But after seeing Duchad and his ships, then what happened at Hokaar . . .” She trailed off.

  “You have doubts,” Kirk said quietly as Uhura set off across the deck to the Icarus. “So do I. But we have to put them aside for now.”

  “I know,” she said wearily. “But you are the only person I can confess this to, James Kirk. To say it before my peers would see me diminished in their eyes.” Kaleo snorted disdainfully. “Tormid would never let me forget such an utterance, if he heard it. He already thinks of me as weak.”