by Gene DeWeese
"Thank you, Mr. Spock," Kirk said, and then, after a moment's silence, he turned and stepped from the command chair toward the communications station. "Lieutenant Uhura, open a channel to Starfleet Headquarters again. Perhaps this latest development will change their minds."
By the time another orderly and a stretcher had arrived to help McCoy transport Chekov to sickbay, Admiral Wellons of Starfleet Headquarters was on a voice link with the Enterprise.
"Admiral Noguchi is not available, Captain," Wellons said stiffly. "But I see no reason to countermand his orders. That map you say you have may be invaluable."
"Agreed, Admiral, but it won't be of any use to anyone at Starfleet Headquarters. The map tells nothing of how the gate operates, only where it goes. The only chance we have to learn something useful, something that can help us put a stop to this outbreak of new gates, something that can help us find a way to fight whatever it is that's coming through those gates, is to reenter the gate. In addition, the danger of infecting the Federation with this entity which has apparently attached itself to the Enterprise is greater than ever."
Irritably, Kirk began to outline what had happened in the last few minutes, but before he had more than begun, Admiral Wellons cut him off.
"Kirk!" Wellons snapped. "I have had just about enough arguments for one day! Your reputation as a loose cannon on Starfleet's deck is well known to me. Out of respect for your family, Admiral Noguchi has often been more than lenient with you, but I will tolerate no more of it! No more! If you are incapable of obeying a simple command without wasting valuable time debating it like a rebellious Academy freshman, I will relieve you and turn the Enterprise over to someone who can! Is that understood?"
"Understood," Kirk said, his voice brittle.
"Very well. Now, if there is no more—"
"I beg your pardon, Admiral," Spock broke in. "This is Lieutenant Commander Spock, and I must agree with the captain. Our own computer has already completed an analysis of the map which I am confident is as thorough as anything Starfleet computers could accomplish. Unless you possess information you are deliberately withholding from us, I would submit that our making systematic use of that map is the only logical course open to us. And finally, the captain has not exaggerated the danger of infection."
"You are both inviting court-martial! Are you planning to force me to have the Devlin escort you back to Starfleet headquarters? I will if you make it necessary."
"We understand, Admiral," Spock said, his voice as level as always. "We would, however, like to speak with Admiral Noguchi."
"The orders will be the same, no matter who you speak to! Others, however, may not be as tolerant as I have been!"
"Nonetheless—"
"You will return! Under arrest, the lot of you, if that is the only way!"
Spock did not respond for several seconds. Instead, he stood silently, as if listening to the subspace hiss that was all that came from the speakers. Kirk frowned but remained silent, knowing that Spock never acted irrationally, never acted without a reason. And to act—to interfere—as he had in the last two minutes, he must have a very powerful reason indeed.
"Do you hear me?" Wellons demanded, now sounding not only angry but distracted as well.
"We do hear you, Admiral," Spock said, a slight shift in tone apparently indicating capitulation. "We are currently under way to Starfleet Headquarters at warp factor six. If we maintain that speed, we will arrive in approximately eleven point three nine standard days. Will that be satisfactory, sir?"
Another pause, and then, "Yes, that will be satisfactory. Captain Kirk, does your first officer speak for you as well?"
"Of course, Admiral," Kirk said quickly.
"Very well, Captain. You seem to have come to your senses. We will, however, alert the Devlin to your misgivings."
And the link was broken.
"Mr. Spock," Kirk said. "You have a reason—a logical reason—for everything you do, so I can only assume you have one for what you did just now. Including the way you worded your supposed compliance with Wellons's orders. 'If we maintain that speed,' I believe you said."
"Yes, Captain, those were my words."
"All right. Why? Are you suggesting that, logically, we could ignore a direct order from Starfleet Headquarters?"
"I am, Captain. It is, I believe, our responsibility—our duty—under the circumstances."
"Circumstances? What circumstances?"
"It is my opinion, Captain, that our investigation of the gate is more vital than ever. Indeed, it could conceivably hold the only chance the Federation has for survival. Starfleet Headquarters, I fear, has already been infected."
Chapter Thirteen
SPOCK'S ANNOUNCEMENT BROUGHT total silence to the bridge.
"Very well, Mr. Spock," Kirk said finally. "Convince me."
"Lieutenant Uhura," Spock said, turning to the communications officer. "I assume you have a complete record of the exchange with Starfleet."
"Of course, Mr. Spock."
"Please play back the twelve point five seconds between Admiral Wellons's threat to have us arrested and his asking if we had heard him."
"But there was nothing said during that time."
"Nonetheless, Lieutenant, play it back."
With a puzzled glance toward Kirk, she complied. Spock, as he had before, listened silently. Then he tapped a code into the computer.
"I will now have the computer produce an enhanced version of that same period. The background of subspace noise will be suppressed, and all other sounds will be increased in volume and clarity."
"Your Vulcan hearing picked up something we humans missed, Mr. Spock?" Kirk asked.
"I believe it did, Captain. Listen."
Again, silence fell on the bridge.
And there was a voice. Even with computer enhancement, it was so faint as to be barply audible above the remaining background sounds—Wellons's rapid breathing, the rustle of his clothes as he moved restlessly, muffled footsteps on the plush carpets of a Starfleet office.
But the voice was there, and after a few moments a second voice and possibly a third broke in, all speaking at once. No words could be made out in the jumble, but the emotions were plain—a mixture of anger and fear.
And then, even fainter, the distinctive whine of a phaser and the sound of something striking the floor. An instant later, Wellons's voice, amplified to deafening proportions, returned and drowned out everything else.
"It is possible that further processing could bring out some of the words, Captain," Spock said. "But I believe this is enough to support my supposition. Though I cannot be positive, I believe that one of the voices in the background belonged to Admiral Noguchi."
"He's right, Kirk," Ansfield said. "My memory for voices is almost as good as my memory for star patterns. That was Noguchi all right."
"Let's hear it again," Kirk said quietly.
Wordlessly, Spock obeyed.
When the dozen seconds had passed again, Kirk was silent for another dozen.
"And the source of this infection?" he asked finally. "The massive gate that Admiral Noguchi said had appeared within a parsec of Starfleet Headquarters?"
"That is my assumption, Captain, although it is possible that other gates, even closer to Starfleet Headquarters, have appeared but have gone undetected."
"And the entity that you say has attached itself to us, Mr. Spock—considering everything that's happened, considering your belief that Starfleet Headquarters itself has been infected by something very much like it—doesn't it strike you as suspicious that it seems to want us to return to the gate? Perhaps it wants to keep us away from the Federation, so that the other infection will have sufficient time to spread"
"Even if we increased our speed to warp eight, Captain, it would take us six standard days to reach Starfleet Headquarters. If the infection is indeed going to spread, that would give it more than sufficient time. Also, it must be taken into account that, as of this moment, we possess n
o knowledge or weapons with which to combat that spread."
"You're saying, then, that we should accede to its desire to return to the gate?"
Spock nodded. "I believe we should—though it would be more accurate to say that what we tentatively perceive as its desire coincides, for the moment, with what we tentatively perceive as our own best interests and those of the Federation."
"And the likelihood that we will find something in the gate system that will allow us to fight the infection?"
"I cannot say—but I estimate the odds for success to be significantly greater than those that would prevail if we were to return to Starfleet Headquarters at this time. I strongly suspect that there is little new knowledge to be gained there, whether the infection has spread drastically or not. Within the system of gates, however, from which this entity presumably has sprung, there is the potential for great gains in knowledge. And knowledge, not force, is obviously the Federation's only hope in the present circumstances."
Kirk pulled in a deep breath. Disobeying a Starfleet command, no matter what the reason, was not easy, would never be easy.
But Spock was right. Against whatever had come through those gates, force was obviously worse than useless. As it had been for the Aragos, and who knew how many others in how many other distant parts of the universe in the past ninety thousand years, force was literally suicidal.
"Very well, Mr. Spock," Kirk said. "The logic of the situation is inescapable. Mr. Sulu, reverse course. We're going back."
Captain Sherbourne, darker than Uhura, taller than Spock, glowered at Kirk from the Enterprise main viewscreen, his deep-set eyes pointedly avoiding Dr. McCoy's disgusted scowl. Around him, a small section of the bridge of the Devlin mirrored that of the Enterprise.
"I repeat, Captain Kirk, lower your deflectors!" his bass voice rumbled. "I have my orders, directly from Starfleet Headquarters. You are hereby relieved of command. My first officer, Commander Bontreger, will beam over and take command of the Enterprise for the purpose of returning it to Federation territory. You, Captain Kirk, will surrender and be confined to quarters."
"I'm sorry, Captain Sherbourne, but that's out of the question," Kirk reiterated, keeping his voice as level as he could. "We have explained our position. We have given you the evidence. You have heard the tape of what was going on in the background during our exchange with Admiral Wellons."
"Which you could have faked with ease, I'm sure. And even if it's genuine, it proves nothing."
Kirk sighed angrily, giving up the pretense of calmness, and continued. "We have even offered to transmit the map to your own computer so that you can analyze it and take it back to Starfleet yourself."
"At this point, getting the map to Starfleet Headquarters is of secondary importance! Of primary importance is your obeying orders and not reentering that gate!"
"Blast it, Sherbourne." McCoy, who had been grimacing silently throughout the exchange, broke in. "Can't you see what's at stake here?"
"Better than you, apparently, Dr. McCoy," Sherbourne said stiffly.
"Bones—" Kirk started to caution McCoy, but the doctor wasn't in the mood for caution.
"Your own ship's sensors showed you what happened on the Aragos planet!" he grated. "That whole civilization was literally wiped out! Ninety percent of its people were slaughtered! And it's already starting to happen to the Federation! You're just too blind to see it! Or too stubborn to accept it!"
"Dr. McCoy," Sherbourne said coldly. "You have a reputation for rampant emotionalism. At the present time, however, you would be well advised to restrain yourself—before you find yourself sharing the precarious position in which your captain has unwisely placed himself."
"I'm already sharing it! If you think—"
"Captain Sherbourne," Kirk broke in sharply. "Arguing is pointless. As my officers and I see the situation, I have no choice in this matter."
"As I see it, Captain Kirk," Sherbourne said stiffly, "the streak of rashness you displayed during your Academy days has obviously become more pronounced over the years, until it has overwhelmed your rationality and your sense of duty. Whether you are simply misguided in this particular instance or were affected by whatever happened inside that gate, I have no way of knowing. All I know is, I did not come here at maximum warp just to disobey Starfleet orders myself and let you pass. You are not reentering the gate. Now, I order you for the last time, lower your deflectors."
"Unless you plan to fire on another Federation ship—"
"If you force the decision upon me, I will, Captain Kirk, believe me. Unlike you, I truly have no choice in this situation."
Glancing at the chronometer, out of Sherbourne's view, Kirk saw that less than three minutes remained until they reached the point in the gate's cycle that they had selected. If they didn't enter the gate then, it would be more than four hours until the next destination for which the map listed a series of secondary destinations would come around, and by then a second ship would have arrived to back up the Devlin.
Kirk had risked warp eight in an effort to reach the gate before the Devlin, but Sherbourne, after an emergency call from Starfleet, had done the same. Sherbourne had also risked approaching the gate to within less than twenty million kilometers, and there he had waited, certain that the Enterprise couldn't slip by undetected.
And it hadn't.
The Devlin, all deflectors up, had put itself directly in the Enterprise's path, and there it had remained while Sherbourne obstinately refused to budge despite the evidence Kirk and the others had presented.
"Captain Sherbourne," Kirk said. "For the sake of the Federation, I must take this chance. I would prefer entering the gate with my ship in peak operating condition, but entering it in any condition is preferable to remaining here or returning to Starfleet at this point, with nothing gained, with no hope to offer the Federation."
Sherbourne set his jaw firmly. "That doesn't alter what I have to do, Captain."
Kirk glanced again at the chronometer. "Mr. Sulu," he said. "No sudden moves, but take us ahead, impulse power. Scotty, put everything you can spare into the deflectors."
"Aye, Captain." Scott's voice came from the engineering deck.
"Damn it, Kirk!" Sherbourne half shouted over Scott's reply. "I don't want to fire on you, but I will! Believe me, I will!"
"I believe you, Captain Sherbourne. That's one reason we're maintaining our deflectors at maximum strength."
"Mr. Spock!" Sherbourne called. "I haven't heard from you yet. Certainly you can't be going along with this insanity! It just isn't logical to risk everything—"
"But it is quite logical, Captain Sherbourne," Spock said. "Based on what we have experienced—what the captain has told and shown you—it would be illogical for us to do otherwise."
"The way things are going," Ansfield added from her offscreen position next to Spock, "we're probably the only chance the Federation has!"
"I'm warning you," Sherbourne said, raising his voice and shaking his head angrily. "I'm warning everyone who can hear me on the Enterprise. You will be fired upon! Even with full power to your deflectors, phasers and photon torpedoes can—"
Sherbourne broke off as the Devlin helmsman spoke. "All systems locked on, Captain. Ready to fire at your command."
"You heard that, Kirk! Spock! Ansfield! All of you!"
"We heard, Captain Sherbourne," Kirk acknowledged tersely. "Mr. Sulu, ready for evasive maneuvers."
"Aye-aye, Captain. Ready."
"Captain Sherbourne," Kirk said. "We will not return fire, but—"
"Mr. Sulu," Spock said abruptly. "All stop."
"Spock!" Kirk turned toward the science station with a scowl. "What the devil—"
On the Devlin, Captain Sherbourne breathed a huge sigh of relief. "I knew a Vulcan couldn't be a part of this insanity, Spock," he said.
Ignoring Sherbourne, Spock stiffened, his eyes half closing for a moment. Kirk, his own eyes darting from Spock to Sherbourne and back, signaled to Sulu to fol
low Spock's lead. McCoy scowled at Spock but held his silence.
The Enterprise hung motionless less than a thousand kilometers from the Devlin.
"Be ready, Mr. Sulu," Spock said, his voice filled with the same stiffness it had displayed when the entity had attempted to take him over earlier. "Something is about to happen."
"Now what the blazes—" McCoy began, but he was cut off by a scream.
A scream from the Devlin.
"Full impulse power, Mr. Sulu. Now," Spock ordered, "while the Devlin's bridge is distracted."
As Sulu's fingers touched the controls, the Enterprise surged ahead. On the screen, Sherbourne was leaping from the command chair toward the helm. Just visible at the bottom of the screen, the helmsman's face appeared, twisted in a mask of terror as he leaped up from his station into range of the viewscreen.
In that moment, the Enterprise shot past the Devlin.
Ahead, the gate loomed large to the special sensors.
On the screen, the bridge of the Devlin was chaos. The helmsman had already collapsed, and the navigator started to scream. An instant later, the navigator fell, and then Sherbourne himself, now reaching past the fallen helmsman for the controls, stiffened as if paralyzed.
Just as Kirk himself had stiffened when the entity had descended on him.
"Spock!" Kirk snapped. "You knew this was going to happen!"
"I knew only that something was going to happen, Captain."
"But what's that thing doing?"
"Apparently, much the same as it was doing on the Enterprise bridge earlier, Captain."
"But why—"
"Captain," Sulu broke in sharply. "Entering gate in twenty seconds."
On the screen, still linked to that of the Devlin, Captain Sherbourne lurched forward, staggering, as if suddenly released from a set of invisible chains. An instant later, the helmsman and the navigator were struggling to their feet. For a moment, Sherbourne's deep-set eyes were blank, but then they focused abruptly on the screen.
Continuing his interrupted lunge toward the helm, Sherbourne slammed past the helmsman. "Damn you, Kirk!" he shouted as his fingers punched at the controls, bringing the Devlin around at a dangerous rate. "I knew you'd made a deal with that—that thing!"