Final Frontier

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Final Frontier Page 27

by Carey, Diane


  Drawing up short, t’Cael stared in puzzlement, as though he wasn’t sure whether he’d been insulted or not. April ignored it and grasped the cylinder for extra support, trying to control his breathing after the jog through the ship. “The warp drive?”

  “Yeah,” Brownell said with a nod. “We’ve been looking for something wrong with the warp engines.”

  “And?”

  “And it’s a waste of time. There’s nothing wrong with ’em.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “It’s in the computer master system. The warp drive program is gone.”

  April gasped. “What?”

  Brownell shrugged his thin shoulders. “Gone. The program itself. No trace of it. Not a hint that it was ever programmed into the system at all. The warp engines are fine. There’s nothing to tell the ship how to use them.”

  “But how can that be?”

  “Somebody must’ve fed in a predator program.”

  As though stricken, April gripped the rim of the cylinder. “What’s a predator program?”

  Even George was a little surprised when it was he who answered instead of Brownell. “It’s a program that eats the previous program. One of the hardest things to track with conventional security procedures.”

  Brownell nodded. “And it’s impossible to run warp engines manually.”

  “But this is unthinkable!” April choked out. “When was this done?”

  “Could’ve been months ago. Could’ve been yesterday. A program like that is designed to be dormant until it’s triggered.”

  “What could trigger it?” George asked.

  Brownell glared at him. “Hell, almost anything! Use your imagination. At a guess, I’d say it was the ion effect on the outer hull. That must’ve been the trip switch. The drive was keyed to overload when it came in contact with the ion storm, and that caused the warp jump and dinked around with the gravitational matrix. Since we’re not dead, there must’ve been an abort mode too. Soon as the predator program ran out, the whole drive system was crashed. And here we are. But I’d say it was put into the system before we left.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, pepperhead, there are only two drive-computer masters on board now, that’s why. Me and Woody.”

  April collected himself. “How do we turn it back on?”

  Brownell turned to him and pursed his lips. “August, you are the luckiest bastard this side of hell. Under normal circumstances, there’d be no chance in hell of fixing it.”

  Two hells and a bastard. April assumed that was a good sign. “But . . .”

  “But because the ship is unfinished, some of the warp drive computer ordnance is still on board. Excess baggage, usually.”

  “And we can reprogram the computer with it?”

  “I said you were a lucky son of a bitch, didn’t I? Under usual circumstances, I wouldn’t even be here. You’d be hanging out here like a choked duck.”

  George pulled April around abruptly. “This is no fluke, Robert. Being a security grunt for eight years has its advantages. My sixth sense is screaming. We’re here by design. Somebody’s doing this.”

  For the first time, a glimmer of agreement appeared in the captain’s eyes. April had to agree. A predator program? It even sounded horrid. After a moment, he looked at t’Cael.

  “Not my design,” the Romulan said. “If this was a plan arranged by my government, I wasn’t apprised of it.”

  April paced slowly across the deck, with all the promise and beauty of engineering sprawled out around him. When he spoke, it was with a solemnity that struck the others silent.

  “If we fail,” he said, “we’ll have died . . . the Rosenberg dies . . . Federation expansion dies . . . and the starship falls into hostile hands. Those are high stakes, I know. The future of the known galaxy seems to hinge upon what we do next.”

  George broke in on April before the captain talked himself into doing nothing. “Can’t we just get out of here, Robert? Do we have to rewrite the Light Brigade?”

  April looked up. “You’re the one who’s convinced me there’s subterfuge going on, George. Now you want me to ignore it and just get out of here? Certainly we’ll get out if we can, but you don’t seem to understand what you’ve been saying all along. My God . . . if there’s been sabotage, then someone—one of our most highly screened personnel, a member of our elite science team—is in collusion with a hostile government. I can hardly believe it.” He touched his forehead in an effort to fathom his own words, and paced again. “God, I almost hope the saboteur is still on board. I’d hate to think he’s roaming around freely on the spacedock or back at Federation Central. That would be unbelievably dangerous.”

  In a single step George reached him and pulled him around. “We’ll find that traitor, Robert—but listen to me. I’m beginning to see things your way. There has to be more than just being born, living, and dying. We have to aspire to something better. Now that I know that, I want to be part of the reach for something better. But first, we have to survive. It’d be nice if everyone could be like you. But everyone isn’t. They’re not.”

  April held out a single hand in entreaty and asked, “What do you want from me, George?”

  George straightened. “I want to do what Cael says,” he said bluntly. “I want fighting capacity.”

  There was no real echo in the acoustically stressed engineering deck, but those words seemed to come again and again as they all awaited his answer. At that moment, Robert April was a man divided between unsavory choices, and responsibilities he dearly wished belonged to someone else. His personal philosophy didn’t seem to work, didn’t carry him this time, as it always had before. This was a time for drastic actions, and he would have to decide whether the preservation of his own philosophy was worth other lives—even those of the enemy.

  His lips parted. “I think—”

  The shipwide intercom suddenly blared, overlaid by the whoop of the alert klaxon.

  “Red Alert! Red Alert! Captain April to the bridge! Emergency!”

  April dodged for the nearest wall com. “This is April. What is it, Carlos?”

  “Captain, we’ve got company! Five more of those ships just came up at us out of nowhere!”

  April felt his spine tingle as the voice of the tall alien commander spoke from his side.

  “The Swarm.”

  Part IV

  To Boldly Go

  Chapter Eighteen

  THE CHICKENS IN the barnyard flinched and cackled at the chirp of the communicator grid from the loft above. Since they were eating chickens and not laying chickens, they didn’t have much contact with technology. In fact, they didn’t get eaten all that often. Some of them were several years old, more pets than farm animals. Stupid pets, but pets.

  Being stupid, they quickly forgot about the funny sound that beeped from the loft high over their heads and settled down.

  “Kirk to bridge.”

  “Bridge. Uhura here.”

  “Lieutenant, locate Admiral Ron Oliver at Starfleet Command and patch him through to me down here.”

  “Yes, sir. That may take a few minutes, Captain. Several members of the Admiralty are currently involved in a review board at the moment, and I think he might be one of them.”

  “I realize that. Patch me through as soon as you find him.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  At the side of the loft, McCoy sat back and didn’t say anything. He watched the captain, who was standing now, though not exactly pacing. He was . . . moving. The way he did when he had something to think about that he didn’t like having to think. Small steps, each one involving a slight turn. His shoulders were stiff, his eyes tightened, and when his eyes moved it was with the small and sharp movements of a hawk’s eyes. McCoy had seen this many times, but usually on the bridge, and usually in moments of crisis, when the captain was steeling himself to fight whatever space was throwing at him.

  “I don’t feel good about this,” McCoy finally said. Oh, that was
bright. Say something even more illuminating. “Jim . . . are you clear on your motivations? Do you really want to release your command? Or do you just think you should?”

  Jim Kirk gave him one of those hard flicks of his eyes. After a moment, the gaze mellowed. He breathed deeply, and didn’t answer.

  McCoy shifted his legs. “You can’t go back to 1930. Edith can’t come here. The best you can do is find some way to commemorate her in our time.”

  A thoughtful smile tugged at the captain’s lips. “I’d like that,” he said. “But it isn’t just Edith, Bones. It’s my life. I’ve been selfish,” he added. “I’ve wallowed in the outer glory of command.”

  “How do you figure selfish?” McCoy pressed. “After all you’ve done for the ship and everyone on board her—”

  “What’ve I done for them?” Kirk squinted out over the quiet Iowa landscape. The sunlight lay like bright powder across his face, and made his sandy hair glitter with a touch of cinnamon. Now he looked squarely at McCoy and was absolutely sure of what he was saying. “Spock should be making his own history, commanding his own starship. For that matter, so should Sulu. Uhura turned down a very rare teaching position at Starfleet Academy. And who knows where a man like Scotty might be by now, instead of shoveling coal into my locomotive. They’ve all stayed longer than they should have, and it’s all out of some misguided loyalty to Jim Kirk and his gluttony for glory.”

  “And that’s how you see it?” McCoy shot back.

  “Of course that’s how I see it. That’s how it is. The whole starship is plugged in to me. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t rather be thigh-deep in medical research in some quiet laboratory, surrounded by trees and good music.”

  “Jim, we’re a team. You know how we all feel.”

  “Yes, that’s my point. The team feeling. No one wants to be the first to rupture the bond, even in his own interest. It’s my responsibility to set the pace.”

  McCoy opened his mouth, but before he could speak the communicator in Kirk’s hand chirped again.

  The captain snapped the instrument open. “Kirk here.”

  “Uhura, sir. A channel is open to Starfleet Headquarters. Admiral Oliver standing by.”

  “Thank you. Patch us through.”

  “Relaying. Go ahead, Admiral.”

  “Jim, this is Oliver. Going to take me up on that weekend in the mountains finally?”

  “No, at least not yet. I’m going to take you up on something else.”

  “Uh-oh.”

  “I want that reassignment you offered last month.”

  “You do?”

  The captain paused. “Yes.”

  Now there was a pause from the other end. “Jim, I only offered you that because I was obliged to. I didn’t think you’d—”

  “I’d consider it a personal favor if you’d smooth things out for my first officer to take my place in command of the ship.”

  “Jim, slow down, will you? Spock’s a fine officer. He’ll make a prime captain. But he won’t be you.”

  “That’s the idea.”

  “Jim—listen. Why don’t you extend your leave. Take some time to make the decision.”

  “I’d rather not. It’s the kind of decision that only gets more painful if it’s stalled.”

  “For good reason, with a man like you.”

  “Put the orders through. I’ll notify my seniors.”

  “I’ll send a wreath.”

  The captain smiled, as though relieved of a burden far heavier than simple command status. “Thank you, Admiral. Kirk out.” It was an abrupt end to a strained conversation. He would apologize to Oliver later. For now, he just wanted to break the ties.

  “Well,” the doctor blustered, “guess that’s it, isn’t it? The end of an era. Just wipe it away. Another name goes down in the history books. Another tombstone goes up. May I be the first of the crew to say thank you, Captain. Thank you for giving us back our lives. Devil only knows what we’re going to do with them.” When he realized his sarcasm wasn’t helping, he leaned forward and glared from under his flared brows. “Did you ever give any consideration to the fact that maybe, just maybe all this might have something to do with the ship? Maybe there’s something special about her that we don’t want to leave behind? I think it’s pretty damned pompous of you to take all the responsibility for where we are and where we want to be.” McCoy’s mist-blue eyes widened as he bobbed his head in a so-there nod. “I, for one, am a grown-up, and I can make my own decisions.”

  Kirk leaned against the rim of the loft hatch. “Says you.”

  McCoy refused to back down. “I want to ask one question and I want you to think about it.” He pointed at Kirk’s hand, at the letter the captain held, then at the other letters in a small pile at the captain’s feet. “Is this what you’re getting out of your father’s letters, Jim? No—don’t answer that. I’m going to rephrase it. Is this what you think your father wanted you to get out of those letters? Would a man like your father ever have written them if he thought they’d bring you to this?”

  The smile faded from the captain’s face. He gazed at the old letter in his hand, the pile from which it came below him, and wondered why he had been the one who saved them. Of his brother and himself, Sam was the more sentimental. With a twinge of sadness he realized that he never knew his father well enough to really be sure what the letters meant. When his father came home, he was just visiting. He wasn’t coming home.

  “I want a home, Bones,” he said solemnly, his brows drawing together as he sought the right words. “I want you and the others to be able to make homes for yourselves, and not just visit Earth from time to time without any real anchors in your lives. Look at us. Not one of us has a family. For all the affection and loyalty we share between us, we haven’t really rooted those feelings anywhere.”

  McCoy’s hand sliced the air between them. He got to his feet abruptly. “Jim . . . stop. I don’t want to hear any more.” He moved closer, and let his voice fall. “Jim, a human being can do worse than be part of a team like ours. Maybe we’re not built for family life. Our calling is different. We’ve all loved and lost . . . or walked away. The one thing we’ve always had is the ship. Who knows? Maybe we’ve walked away on purpose.” He paused, took a step closer, and when he spoke again the depth of his belief was undeniable. “Maybe it’s because we’re the kind of people who stare into the sun.”

  On a statement for which there was no postscript, the two men merely gazed at each other, trying to read the subtle emotions that years of friendship had taught them to see in each other.

  Without moving or even blinking, McCoy spoke. “Don’t take away the sun.”

  It was the captain’s turn to have nothing to say. There had been many moments of conflict, of trenchance, of decision in their years together, but few so poignant. Seldom did the feelings require a voice, yet when they did, he could always count on McCoy to make sure the voice was there. If he failed to find the words on his own, McCoy would prod and poke and annoy and vex until someone else found the words and the courage to speak them.

  A faint scratching on the loft ladder drew their attention.

  As they watched, Spock pulled himself up against the edge of the loft and stopped when he got one elbow onto the hay-scattered ledge. He blinked at them and asked tonelessly, “Am I interrupting?”

  Kirk and McCoy looked at each other, then looked squarely back at him and chimed, “Yes!”

  Spock remained unfazed. “Your mother informed me of your whereabouts, Captain.”

  “Have you forgotten how to use a communicator?” McCoy demanded.

  “Not at all,” Spock responded, pulling himself onto the loft and straightening to his full height. “I merely deemed it more gracious to appear in person. The captain is, after all, officially on shore leave. I hoped to make ship’s business more palatable by coming in person.”

  The captain stepped to the center of the loft and asked, “You have a report for me, Spock?”

 
Spock brushed bits of hay from his uniform and said, “The ship is fully overhauled and restocked. Maintenance engineers have pronounced her spaceworthy and we are now awaiting clearance to leave Starbase One as soon as the crew reports back from leave. However, the starship Kongo has pulled in with damage and requires immediate repair, thus Starbase Control has requested that we vacate the maintenance drydock. With your permission, we’ll move to external dock at the spaceport until we resume patrol.”

  The captain nodded. “Of course. Inform Captain Toroyan that we’ll free the dockspace within the hour, and convey my greetings. I want a meeting with all senior officers and department heads as soon as they report in. And I want to speak privately to Scotty.”

  “Very well, sir. Mr. Scott is on board now. I’ll make the appropriate notifications.”

  Satisfied, the captain turned to glance at McCoy. “We’d better get back to the ship before the ship shows up here.” He stepped past Spock toward the ladder.

  “Captain, if I may . . .” Spock began.

  Kirk turned. “Yes?”

  Spock’s brow furrowed slightly. Before speaking again, he clasped his hands behind his back, gazed down at the hay, and moved a little closer to his commander. “Sir, I . . . overheard your communication to Admiral Oliver.”

  “You overheard?” Kirk repeated.

  Spock nodded self-consciously. “I eavesdropped.”

  Leaning against the loft wall, McCoy folded his arms and grumbled, “What’re friends for?”

  Kirk rewarded him with the hawk glare again, “Interesting that I’ve gotten so predictable.” He stepped toward the ladder, and grasped the top of it, realizing what it took to drive a man like Spock to fracture the protocol of private communiqués. Maybe he hadn’t hidden his despair as well as he’d thought. “I’m going to say goodbye to my mother. I’ll meet you both back on board.”

  “Captain—” The Vulcan officer closed the space between them with an unwanted urgency. He poised his own hand on the other upright of the ladder.

  “Yes, Spock?” Kirk bridged quietly, straightening again.

 

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