The Latter Fire
Page 28
Dwarfing both ships, cruising slowly beyond them both at a speed just below one-quarter impulse power, the great sphere of the leviathan moved with stately ease. A glow that reminded Arex of a winter sunset on Triex marbled the surface of the living planetoid, the honey-gold ember color brightening and fading over and over in a steady heartbeat pulse. Looking at it now, it was hard to imagine the massive creature had ever been the harbinger of destruction that loomed large over Syhaar Prime and Gadmuur, or that those worlds—and that this ship and Arex too—had come so very near to obliteration because of it. It seemed like that had happened a lifetime ago, even though it had only been a few days since the reconciliation meeting.
The leviathan was passive and quiet now, cruising through the inner range of the Great Veil, consuming quantities of stellar dust, ice, and free gases from the thick Oort cloud to replenish itself as it went. Commander Spock had reported that his attempts at another telepathic probe had sensed only docile intent from the creature and determined that now that it was nourished anew, the leviathan would depart the Sya system and migrate back to its place of origin in the protostar nursery. Arex had helped the science officer to supervise the launch of a series of noninvasive Class-2 probes that would move with the creature over the next few months and transmit telemetry about its life cycle back to Starfleet. No doubt there would be dozens of Federation exobiologists eager to learn more about it.
Arex sighed as he considered this, placing his right and central hands on the cool transparent aluminum of the viewport, while his third rubbed at his hairless head.
“Penny for your thoughts, Lieutenant?” said a voice behind him.
He saw Sulu’s reflection in the port as the helmsman approached, and Arex’s brow furrowed. “I am afraid I do not understand your vernacular. You are offering to pay me a fee for my knowledge?”
Sulu smiled, joining him at his vantage. “It’s a human idiom. I meant, what’s on your mind? You seem distracted.”
“That would be a correct assumption,” Arex replied, and he inclined his head toward a nearby table. Abandoned there was a writing stylus and a data padd with no more than a few words sketched upon its surface. “I have been attempting to collate my thoughts about the last few days into a coherent structure, for a subspace message I intend to transmit to our mutual friend Pavel Chekov. But it does not come easily.”
Sulu gave him an odd look. “You and Pavel are pen pals?”
Arex nodded. “That idiom I am familiar with. Yes, we correspond, we have done so since we became friends at the Academy. He left me a welcome note when I came aboard Enterprise. I feel it only right I reply to him, now that I have completed my first mission in what was his post.”
“What’s the problem?”
“You have been aboard this ship since the start of her five-year mission,” Arex told him. “Respectfully, I would say you may be used to it.”
“What do you mean?” said Sulu.
Arex sighed again. “When Pavel would send me a message discussing his most recent experiences aboard this ship, I must confess that I thought his descriptions to be somewhat embellished by the enthusiasm of youth. The stories of your encounters with the new and unknown were quite uncommon.”
“You are not wrong,” Sulu agreed with a chuckle.
“But now, after crossing paths with that . . .” Arex pointed out at the leviathan. “If anything, I wonder if Pavel’s descriptions might have been understated.”
“We have had more than our fair share of the amazing, some might say,” allowed the helmsman. “It can be overwhelming, especially if you’ve been planetside or on starbase duty for a long time.” Sulu studied the gigantic alien life-form. “We’re at the frontier, not just in terms of maps, but also figuratively.” He grinned. “It’s a challenge, isn’t it?”
“You are not wrong,” Arex repeated. “Is this truly how every assignment plays out aboard the Enterprise?”
“Oh no,” said Sulu, his tone turning wry as he wandered away. “Most missions aren’t as easy as this one.”
* * *
Kirk leaned forward in his command chair, never taking his eyes off the object on the bridge’s main viewscreen. The silent, majestic leviathan turned slowly as it moved through the haze of the gray dust clouds. “‘And far away into the sickly light,’” he said to himself, “‘from many a wondrous and secret cell . . .’”
“‘The kraken sleepeth,’” said Kaleo as she stepped down from conferring with Spock at the science station. “Your first officer told me of your poet Tennyson and his work. I see now why those words came to your memory when we encountered the giant for the first time.”
“Indeed.” He called out an order to the crewman before him. “Helm, steady as she goes.”
“Steady, aye, sir,” replied Lieutenant Leslie.
“Leviathan’s solar departure course is stable and unchanged.” At Leslie’s side, Ron Erikson pored over his navigation plots. The junior officer had insisted on being allowed to return to duty, and after a grudging dismissal by Doctor McCoy, he was back at his station. “Internal energy levels remain constant. It’s humming like a bumblebee, Captain.”
“Good to know.” Kirk gave a nod. “We’ve seen more than enough of its sting for one lifetime.” He glanced back at Kaleo. “Do you have what you need?”
She nodded back at him, her attempt at the human mannerism slightly halting. “Yes. Mister Spock has completed a full transmission of all data from his sensor readings of the leviathan to the Friendship, along with Lieutenant Uhura’s subspace scans. It will take us years just to begin to understand that creature, but it will be worth the effort.” She paused, thinking. “It’s important we comprehend its nature. In time, that will help to heal the wounds it left behind.”
“Agreed. I hope the alliance with the Breg’Hel will hold.”
Kaleo frowned. “We will make it work. My species have always relished trials of strength and character. And perhaps it is long past the time that we ceased showy displays of prowess and concentrated on a more direct path.” Her hand drifted toward her belly. “I want that for my daughter.”
“Daughter?” Kirk repeated. “I didn’t know you knew—”
“She’ll grow up strong,” said Kaleo. “We’ll give her the precious gift we preserved here . . . a new future. And perhaps I’ll take a lesson from the Breg’Hel and make my crew her extended family.”
“Families on board starships? Maybe there’s something to that.” The Enterprise’s captain considered the possibility. “It won’t be easy for you. But we’ll do what we can to help you find your way.”
She placed her hand on his forearm. “Thank you, Captain. You have proven yourself a strong ally and a good friend. That there are those like you and your kind out here”—the Syhaari gestured toward the viewscreen and the stars beyond—“it gives me hope.”
“You took the words right out of my mouth. We’re out here because of people like the Syhaari and the Breg’Hel, because of amazing things like the leviathan. If we can find new knowledge and new friends along the way, all the better.” He smiled and stood up. “Captain Kaleo, it has been our honor and my privilege to sail with you.”
The other captain bowed. “My ship calls,” she said. “And I’ve been too long from my own bridge, but I’ll return there having learned something from your Federation, I think, and with more than just this data.” Kaleo held up a data storage cube and cast around. “Enterprise has inspired me. I hope one day I can command a ship like this and range as far as you have.”
“You will,” he told her, and he meant every word. “The universe is vast and full of wonders, just waiting for an explorer.”
She stepped past him toward the turbolift, bowing once more as she went. “We’ll see you out there, Kirk. You can count on that.”
The doors hissed open, and McCoy stepped out as Kaleo entered, the two of them e
xchanging a nod of farewell.
The doctor crossed to Kirk as Spock joined them. “So, we’re back on an even keel,” McCoy said. “Last injured man cleared sickbay five minutes ago. I’m hoping, Captain, sir, that I can keep the beds empty for a little while before you decide to put us in harm’s way again.”
“Trouble finds us, Bones, not the other way around.” Kirk looked to his first officer for support. “Don’t you agree, Spock?”
The first officer seemed to weigh the question, as if considering it with mathematical precision. “Statistically, Captain, this vessel does encounter a higher-than-average incidence of hazardous scenarios.”
“Reason?”
Spock paused. “It would require further study to give a definitive answer.”
McCoy snorted. “Meaning, Spock doesn’t want to say our captain likes taking risks.”
Kirk shook his head. “I’ll never put this ship and this crew in a situation they can’t handle. Our people know their jobs. They know why we’re out here.” He nodded toward the screen. “Because of things like that.”
McCoy nodded. “I admit, it is a sight to see.”
“Our ongoing mission opens up into unexplored space beyond this sector,” Spock noted. “I imagine we will see more ‘sights’ that will challenge us as we proceed.”
“Then let’s not waste any time.” The captain settled back into his chair and looked out across the bridge as the last remnants of the Veil parted and the infinity of the starscape filled the screen.
“Set a new course,” said Kirk, “and take us there.”
Acknowledgments
My thanks to Lou Scheimer and Hal Sutherland, Franz Joseph, Larry Nemecek, Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda, Debbie Mirek, Eileen Palestine, and Geoffrey Mandel for their works of reference and of fiction; Alec Peters and the Axanar crew for flying the flag; and forever with much love to Mandy Mills.
About the Author
James Swallow, a New York Times bestselling author and BAFTA nominee, is proud to be the only British writer to have worked on a Star Trek television series, creating the original story concepts for the Star Trek: Voyager episodes “One” and “Memorial.” His other Star Trek writing includes the novels Sight Unseen, The Poisoned Chalice, Cast No Shadow, Synthesis, and the Scribe Award winner Day of the Vipers; the novellas The Stuff of Dreams and Myriad Universes: Seeds of Dissent; the short stories “The Slow Knife,” “The Black Flag,” “Ordinary Days,” and “Closure” for the anthologies Seven Deadly Sins, Shards and Shadows, The Sky’s the Limit, and Distant Shores; scripting the videogame Star Trek: Invasion; and over four hundred articles in thirteen different Star Trek magazines around the world.
As well as the nonfiction book Dark Eye: The Films of David Fincher, James also wrote the Sundowners series of original steampunk westerns; Jade Dragon; The Butterfly Effect; and novels in the worlds of 24 (Deadline), Doctor Who (Peacemaker), Warhammer 40,000 (Fear to Tread, Hammer & Anvil, Nemesis, Black Tide, Red Fury, The Flight of the Eisenstein, Faith & Fire, Deus Encarmine, and Deus Sanguinius), Stargate (Halcyon, Relativity, Nightfall, and Air), and 2000 AD (Eclipse, Whiteout, and Blood Relative). His other credits feature scripts for videogames and audio dramas, including Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Disney Infinity 3.0, Fable: The Journey, Battlestar Galactica, Blake’s 7, and Space 1889.
James Swallow lives in London and is currently at work on his next book.
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR: Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/James-Swallow
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