Star Trek - Blish, James - 10

by 10(lit)

  The Vian stared at him. "We will not leave our friend," Kirk said.

  Lal took the bar. Turning, the two Enterprise officers strode back to McCoy.

  At the table, Kirk faced around. "You are frauds," he said. "You have lost the capacity to feel the very emotions you brought Gem here to experience! You don't know the meaning of life. Compassionate love is dead in you! All you are is arid intellect!"

  Lal's face went rigid with shock. Thann began to trem-ble. Their very bodies seemed to dwindle as Kirk's words struck home. They looked at each other, lost, the values of their lifetime dissolving. Lal was the first to move. Thann followed him to the table. They stood there a long moment, looking down at McCoy. Then Lal passed the T-bar over him. McCoy sat up, whole.

  Nobody spoke. The Vians went to Gem. They lifted her in their arms. With her head on his shoulder, Lal turned, the first glint of warmth in his aged face. "The one emotion left to us is gratitude," he said. "We are thankful that we can express it to you. Farewell."

  They chose to vanish slowly, changing into mist. Gem, looking back at the Enterprise trio, was the last to disap-pear.

  The bridge viewing screen held the images of the im-mortal stars. Kirk turned away from it. Among them was a mortal star about to die.

  "Strange..." he said.

  Beside him, Spock said, "What puzzles you, Captain?"

  "Puzzled isn't the word, Mr. Spock. I think I am awed."

  "I'm with you, Jim," McCoy said. "She awed me."

  "I wasn't thinking of Gem," Kirk said. He looked back at the viewing screen. "I was thinking of the fantastic element of chance that out in limitless space we should have come together with the savior of a planet."

  Spock said, "The element of chance, Captain, can virtually be eliminated by a civilization as advanced as the Vians'."

  Scott spoke from his station. "Not to dispute your com-puter, Mr. Spock-but from the little you have told me, I would say she was a pearl of great price."

  "What, Scotty?"

  "You know the story of the merchant... that mer-chant 'who when he found one pearl of great price, went and sold all he had and bought it.' "

  "She was that all right, Scotty," Kirk said. "And whether the Vians bought her or found her, I am glad for her and the planet she will save."

  "Personally," McCoy said, "I find it fascinating that with all their scientific knowledge and advances, it was good old-fashioned human emotion they valued the most."

  "Perhaps the Vulcans should hear about this," said Scott.

  "Mr. Spock, could you be prevailed upon to give them the news?"

  Spock looked at them blandly. "Possibly, Captain. I shall certainly give the thought its due consideration."

  "I am sure you will, Mr. Spock." Kirk turned to Sulu. "Helmsman, take us out of orbit. Warp factor two."

  At high speed the Enterprise left the area of the dying star.

  THE GALILEO SEVEN

  (Simon Wincelberg & Oliver Crawford)

  The USS Enterprise operated under a standing order to investigate all quasar and quasarlike phenomena wherever and whenever it encountered them. To Kirk, it seemed to have met up with one. A sinister formation had appeared on the bridge's main viewing screen-a bluish mass, threaded, with red streaks of radiant energy. It dominated the sky ahead.

  Kirk, eyeing the screen, pushed a button, only too con-scious of the critical presence of his passenger, High Commissioner Ferris. "Captain to shuttlecraft Galileo," he said. "Stand by, Mr. Spock."

  Ferris voiced his disapproval. "I remind you, Captain, that I am entirely opposed to this delay. Your mission is to get those medical supplies to Makus III in time for their transfer to the New Paris colonies."

  "And I must remind you of our standing order, sir. There will be no problem. It's only three days to Makus III. And the transfer doesn't take place for five."

  Ferris was fretful. "I don't like to take chances. With the plague out of control on New Paris, we must get those drugs there in time."

  "We will." Kirk turned back to his console. "Captain to Galileo. All systems clear for your take-off."

  "Power up, Captain. All instruments activated. All readings normal. All go."

  Spock's voice... reassuring. As Science Officer, he was commanding the investigating team selected from the Enterprise crew for research into the space curiosity charted under the name of Murasaki 312. Now he sat, strapped, in the shuttlecraft's pilot seat, the others behind him- McCoy, Scott, Yeoman Mears, a fresh-faced girl, Boma, the Negro astrophysicist, radiation specialist Gaetano, navigator Latimer. All together, seven: the Galileo's seven.

  "Launch shuttlecraft," Kirk said.

  On the huge flight deck the heavy hangar doors swung open. The shuttlecraft taxied toward them and moved out into the emptiness of space.

  Spock spoke over his shoulder. "Position."

  "Three point seven... no, no, sir," Latimer said. "Four point-"

  "Make up your mind," Spock said.

  "My indicator's gone crazy," Latimer said.

  Boma spoke quickly. "To be expected, Mr. Spock. Quasars are extremely disruptive. Just how much, we don't know... "

  Spock, eyes on his panel, said dryly, "Considerably, Mr. Boma."

  Gaetano made his discouraging contribution. "My ra-diation reading is increasing rapidly, Mr. Spock!"

  "Stop forward momentum!"

  Latimer pushed switches. "I can't stop it, sir! Nothing happens!" McCoy leaned over to glance at his instru-ments. "Spock, we're being drawn right into the thing!"

  Struggling with his own controls, Spock said, "Full power astern!"

  But there was no power to reverse the onward plunge of the Galileo. "What's happening?" McCoy cried.

  Boma said, "We underestimated the strength of the nucleonic attraction."

  Spock reached for his speaker. "Galileo to Enterprise. "We're out of control, Captain! Being pulled directly into the heart of Murasaki 312. Receiving violent radiation on outer... "

  A blast of static drowned Spock's voice. Kirk rushed over to Uhura's station. "Can't you get anything at all, Lieutenant?"

  "Nothing clear, sir. Not on any frequency. Just those couple of words about being pulled off course."

  Kirk wheeled. "Mr. Sulu, get me a fix on the Galileo!"

  Sulu turned a bewildered face. "Our scanners are blocked, Captain. We're getting a mess of readings I've never seen before. Nothing makes sense!"

  Kirk strode to the library computer. He got a hum, a click-and the flat, metallic computer voice. "Negative ionic concentration 1.64 by 102 meter. Radiation wave-length 370 angstroms, harmonics upwards along entire spectrum."

  Kirk turned, appalled. Staring at him, Ferris said, "What is it, Captain?"

  "That thing out there has completely ionized this en-tire sector!"

  He glared at the screen. "At least four complete solar systems in this vicinity-and somewhere out there is a twenty-four-foot shuttlecraft out of control, off its course. Finding a needle in a haystack would be child's play com-pared to finding..."

  Coiling, hungry, the bluish mass on the screen glared back at him, a blight on the face of space.

  But the controls of the shuttlecraft weren't the only vic-tims of Murasaki 312. It had rendered useless the normal searching systems of the Enterprise. Without them, the Starship was drifting, blind, almost as helpless as the Galileo,

  Ferris could not resist his I-told-you-so compulsion. "I was opposed to this from the beginning," he said to Kirk. "Our flight to Makus III had the very highest priority."

  Kirk, his mind straining to contingencies that con-fronted the Galileo's crew of seven, said, "I am aware of that, Commissioner. At the same time I have certain scien-tific duties-and exploring the Murasaki Effect is one of them."

  "But you have lost your crew," Ferris said.

  If there were people who couldn't resist an "I told you so," there were just as many who enjoyed making the painfully obvious more painful. Kirk held on to his temper. "We have two days to
find them," he said.

  Ferris pointed to the screen. "In all that? Two days?"

  Kirk lost his temper. "Are you suggesting that I just turn around and leave them in it?"

  "You shouldn't have sent them out in the first place!" Ferris paused. "You are concerned with only seven people. I am thinking of the millions in the New Paris colonies who will die if we don't get these medicines to them. It's your obstinate insistence on carrying out these inconsequential investigations that...."

  A bureaucrat is a bureaucrat is a bureaucrat, Kirk thought. They could function with paper. But remove them from paper into the sphere of decisive action and they turned into moralizing futilities. Scorn restored his composure. "We will make our scheduled rendezvous, Commissioner," he said evenly. "You have my word."

  Uhura spoke. "Captain, there is one planet in this vicin-ity capable of sustaining human life. Type M, oxygen-nitrogen. Listed as Taurus II." The sympathy in her voice was cool water to a thirsty man. Kirk went to her. She looked up at him. "It is very nearly dead center of the Murasaki Effect, as closely as we can make out with our equipment malfunctions."

  "Thank you, Lieutenant," Kirk said. "Mr. Sulu?"

  "Yes, sir?"

  "Set course for Taurus II."

  "Course laid in, sir."

  "Aren't you shooting in the dark?" Ferris said. "As-suming that they are there?"

  "If they aren't there, Commissioner, they are all dead by now. We will search Taurus II because there is no sense in searching any place else."

  "You said something about a needle in a haystack. Useless."

  "Not if you want your needle back."

  Strangely enough, the needle had fallen upon soft hay. However, soft was the best you could say about the spongily ugly surface of Taurus II. It had cushioned the impact of the Galileo's crash landing in a roughly circular crater. Rock walls reared up toward a sky of a repellently bilious shade of green. It was not a prepossessing planet. The craft, canted over, had banged people and things around inside. Spock was bleeding green from a cut on his head. McCoy attended to it and then made his way to Yeoman Mears.

  "Are you all right?"

  "I... think so, Doctor."

  Boma said, "That is what I call a ride."

  "What happened?" Latimer asked him.

  "I can't be sure... but I'd say that the magnetic poten-tial of the Murasaki Effect was such that it was multiplied geometrically as we gathered speed. We were simply shot into the center of the Effect like a projectile. What do you think, Mr. Spock?"

  "Your evaluation seems reasonable."

  Scott, holding an aching head, joined Spock in check-ing the instruments and control panel. "What a mess!" he said.

  Spock stood up. "Picturesque descriptions won't mend broken circuits, Mr. Scott. I think you'll find your work cut out for you." He threw a switch on the communicator.

  "Galileo to Enterprise. Do you read me?"

  "You don't really expect an answer, do you?" Scott said.

  "I expect nothing. It is simply logical to try every al-ternative. A reading on the atmosphere, please, Doctor McCoy."

  "As soon as I finish checking the crew..."

  "If anyone had been injured, I assume you would have been so informed by now. The reading, Doctor."

  There was irritation in the glance Spock received from McCoy. After a moment the Medical Officer picked up his kit and moved to an instrument panel. "Partial pressure of oxygen is 70 millimeters of mercury. Nitrogen, 140. Breathable, if you're not running in competition."

  "The facts, please," Spock said.

  "Traces of argon, neon, krypton, all in acceptable quan-tities. But I wouldn't recommend this place for a summer resort."

  "Your opinion will be noted. You are recording this, Yeoman?"

  "Of course, Mr. Spock."

  "Very good. Mr. Scott, if you will immediately conduct a damage survey."

  Scott said, "Naturally."

  Spock ignored the tone of the comment. He said, "I suggest we move outside to give Mr. Scott room to work. Mr. Latimer, Mr. Gaetano, please arm yourselves and scout out the immediate area. Stay in visual contact with the ship."

  "Aye, aye, sir," Gaetano said.

  The two were removing phaser pistols from a locker as McCoy turned to Spock. "What do you think our chances are of communicating with the Enterprise?"

  "Under current conditions, extremely poor."

  "But they'll be looking for us!"

  "If the ionization effect is as widespread as I believe it is, they'll be looking for us without instruments. By visual contact only. On those terms, it is a very large solar system."

  "Then you don't think they'll find us."

  "Not so long as we are grounded."

  McCoy exploded. "I've never been able to stand your confoundedly eternal cheerfulness, Spock!"

  "Better make an effort to, Doctor." The suggestion was mildly made. "We may be here for a long time."

  Kirk himself had small cause for cheer. The Enterprise scanners had gone completely on strike. "Mr. Sulu, have you tried tying in with the auxiliary power units?"

  "Yes, sir. No change."

  Scowling, Kirk hit a button. "Transporter Room. This is the Captain. Are the Transporters beaming yet?"

  The technician sounded apologetic. "Not one hundred percent, sir. We beamed down some inert material but it came back in a dissociated condition. We wouldn't dare try it with people."

  "Thank you." He pushed another button. "Captain to Flight Deck. Prepare shuttlecraft Columbus for immediate search of planet surface. Correlate coordinates with Mr. Sulu. Lieutenant Uhura?"

  "Yes, sir?

  "Anything at all?"

  "All wavelengths dominated by ionization effect, Cap-tain. Transmissions blocked, reception impossible."

  To add to his joy in life, Ferris appeared beside Kirk's command chair. "Well, Captain?"

  Kirk said, "We have until 2823.8 to continue our search, Commissioner."

  "You don't really think you'll have any luck, do you?"

  Kirk drew a hand down his cheek. "Those people out there happen to be friends and shipmates of mine. I intend to continue this ship's search for them until the last possible moment."

  "Very well, Captain. But not a second beyond that limit. Is that clear? If it is not, I refer you to Book 19, Section 433, Paragraph 12."

  "I am familiar with the regulations, Commissioner. And I know all about your authority."

  Tight-faced, he struck a button on his console.

  "Launch shuttlecraft Columbus!"

  Outside the Galileo, Spock was examining the nearest section of the wall encircling the crater. Rescue was indeed a remote possibility. Even if the Enterprise's searching equipment had remained unaffected by Murasaki 312, Taurus II was just one planet among many in the quadrant's solar systems. Hidden like this in the hollow made by the crater's rocky wall, the Galileo would be vir-tually invisible,

  McCoy, joining him, looked up at the wall. "I can't say much for our circumstances," he said, "but at least it's your big chance."

  "My big chance for what, Doctor?"

  "Command," McCoy said. "I know you, Spock. You've never voiced it, but you've always thought logic was the best basis on which to build command. Am I right?"

  "I am a logical man," Spock said.

  "It'll take more than logic to get us out of this."

  "Perhaps, Doctor... but I can't think of a better place to start trying. I recognize that command has fascinations, even under such circumstances as these. But I neither en-joy the idea of command nor am I frightened by it. It simply exists. And I shall do what logically needs to be done."

  They clambered back into the craft, and Scott lifted a grim face from the control panel. "We've lost a great deal of fuel, Mr. Spock. We have no chance at all to reach es-cape velocity. And even if we hope to make orbit, we'll have to lighten our load by at least five hundred pounds."

  "The weight of three grown men," Spock said.

  Scott glanc
ed at him, startled. "Why, yes... I guess you could put it that way."

  McCoy was openly outraged. "Or the equivalent weight in equipment," he said.

  Spock faced him. "Doctor McCoy, with few exceptions we will use virtually every piece of equipment in attaining orbit. There is very little surplus weight except among our passengers."

  Boma, with Yeoman Mears, had been taking tricorder readings near the hatch. Now he stopped. "You mean three of us will have to stay behind?"