Suddenly Kirk's communicator beeped for attention. Kor's did not this time . The Enterprise still existed, but did this mean the battle cruiser did not?
Kirk flipped open his communicator. "Kirk here. "
"Captain," Spock said, "nine of the small attack ships have returned. Five are unaccounted for. "
"MR. Suru accounted for those five, Mr. Spock. How's the Enterprise? "
"We sustained heavy damage on seven decks. Mr. Scott has returned the screens to eighty percent. All weapons are now back on-line."
"Good," Kirk said, feeling very relieved that the Enterprise had made it through the fight. "The other
ships?"
"The Farragut sustained heavy damage and casualties. Their warp, weapons systems, and screens are off-line, but Mr. Projeff, their chief engineer, informs me that the screens should be back up within two minutes. Weapons may take a little longer. Captain Bogle was injured. He is unconscious but alive." Kirk didn't like the sound of his friend Bogle being injured, but there was nothing he could do for him at the moment. "The battle cruiser?"
"Also heavily damaged but still weapons-and-warp-capable. One of the enemy ships was completely destroyed, another heavily damaged. The remaining alien ships are holding a position between the Enterprise and the planet, keeping us out of transporter range. "
"Good work, Spock," Kirk said. "Hold your position and keep me informed. Kirk out. "
Kirk flipped his communicator closed and let out a deep sigh. For the moment, at least, the attack was over. Now it was time to give the all clear.
He looked around at the blackened structures and the fields beyond. Somehow this colony still survived, holding on and fighting back.
Now it was time to see if McCoy and Rathbone had made it through the attack.
Crouched on the floor beside the Klingon cot, McCoy did his best to protect his face and the face of his unconscious patient as the second attack smashed into the colony dome, shaking it and sending waves of intense heat swirling inside.
During the first attack the dome had shaken and a blast of burning air had filled the room, twisting the interior around like a Kansas tornado had been turned loose inside the building. McCoy had felt the heat burning his face and hands and other areas of unprotected skin. He had managed to bury his face quickly against his shirtsleeve. Most likely he'd only have a sunburn level burn from this attack.
Rathbone, with the Klingon baby in her arms, had managed to protect both her face and the baby by bending over the child and pushing her face into its blanket. Between attacks the child cried, but McCoy could tell it was a healthy cry.
Ensign Adaro had managed to hide his face and arms under the blanket near the woman's feet as he sat on the floor.
The family who lived in this dome had built a protective fort of furniture near one wall, and the young boy and the family were all in there. Only McCoy, Rathbone, Ensign Adaro, the sick Klingon woman, and the baby remained in the main room.
When the second attack rocked the dome, McCoy managed to protect both his face against his shirt and the unconscious mother's face and arms with a blanket held tight over her. The last thing she needed was more heat damage .
After a few short seconds the heat eased, and McCoy quickly scanned the mother. She was still alive, still breathing, but under these attack conditions, she wouldn't be for long. Outside three explosions echoed between the colony domes.
"Let's hope that's Jim," McCoy said to Rathbone.
She nodded, then swallowed, not saying a word. Her face was red and covered with sweat. Her eyes had the look of a person nearing shock. McCoy had seen that same look a number of times in crewmen inexperienced in sudden violence. There was no doubt Dr. Rathbone had never experienced this sort of thing before. She'd have had no reason to. Considering that, combined with her finding Ensign Chop's body, she was doing better than could be expected. But now he needed to get her moving, doing something.
He glanced around. The two colonists who had carried the woman into the hut were emerging from a pile of furniture. Inside the pile McCoy could hear a child sobbing softly.
"Everyone all right in there?" McCoy asked the colonist.
"We live," he said.
"Good. Everyone needs to drink," McCoy ordered, putting as much force behind his voice as he could manage. "Now. Before the next attack. Rathbone, drink some water and then get some into that baby. "
She looked at him with a blank stare for a moment, then her eyes cleared and she nodded and turned for the water.
McCoy pointed to Adaro. "Ensign, help me move this woman under this cot. We've got to keep her protected from the damn heat as much as we can."
McCoy stood, pulled out his medical scanner, and checked her again. As he was doing so, she took one large shuddering breath and died.
She j ust died. Before they could move her. And there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop it.
Nothing.
"Damn, damn, damn," he said softly. He did another scan of the large woman hoping to see anything he might do to revive her. Nothing. Besides the heat, he didn't even know why she died. He didn't know enough about Klingon physiology. He knew they could die, but they were so strong that he thought it would take a lot to kill them.
She had gone through a lot, though.
In all his years he had never felt this helpless.
Adaro stood over the woman, waiting for McCoy's instructions to move her.
"Never mind," McCoy said, softly, so the children hiding in the pile of furniture wouldn't hear. "She's dead. "
Ensign Adaro stared at her for a moment, then turned his back. It was clear to McCoy that the kid hadn't seen much death, either.
"Oh, no," Rathbone said. She looked down at the baby in her arms, then back up at McCoy, a questioning look on her face. What would become of the woman's children?
He didn't know what to do. It was a Klingon baby. What could he do?
The Klingon man who owned the dome came calmly around the cot and took the baby gently from Dr. Rathbone . "We will take care of the children," he said.
Without another word he took the child to the shelter of furniture and ducked inside. The other child of the dead woman was already in there.
McCoy was impressed. He'd always heard that family was very important to the Klingons, but the man's actions, as if it were expected, made McCoy feel good for the future of the woman's children. Assuming, of course, that they all survived the rest of the day.
"We need to get ready for the next attack," McCoy said. He pulled Dr. Rathbone gently by the sleeve into the area near the head of the dead woman, and they both sat down on the floor, getting ready to shelter their faces and hands at the first rumble of the coming attack.
"Ensign," McCoy ordered. "Get down and cover your head and arms."
The ensign nodded, sat down on the floor, and put his head down.
Three minutes later they heard Kerdoch outside the dome calling the all clear.
McCoy didn't even look at the woman's body as he stood and pulled Rathbone to her feet. "Come," he said to her and the ensign. "We need to get some water and then get back to the Captain."
He gently shoved her toward the door of the dome. It felt like he was pushing a zombie . They emerged into the cooler temperatures of the evening air.
Ensign Adaro followed slowly behind.
They had survived another attack.
Barely.
Chapter Tweelve
BRIGHT WHITE LIGHT flooded through his closed eyelids. Captain Bogle ached. He didn't open his eyes. The light was too bright. Where was he? He couldn't remember. He felt as if he should remember, but he couldn't. The inside of his head felt as if a dozen pins were being stuck into it at the same moment. All he could hear was a faint buzzing, and he wasn't sure if the buzzing was inside or outside his head.
Blue, orange, and red sparkling stars floated in the bright white light in front of his eyes. As they swirled around and around he began to remember: the attack
on the alien ships, trying to stop the attack on the colony.
His shields failing.
The ship lurching as everything around him seemed to explode.
Maybe this was what it was like being dead.
The thought crossed his mind and he forced his eyes open.
The pain of the bright overhead light snapped them closed again. But one glimpse had been enough. Sick bay. He was in the Faraggut's sick bay. He could feel the relief flooding through his system.
Holding his head very still, he cleared his throat. "Is the ship still in one piece?"
Dr. Grayhawk his cheif medical officer, laughed, the sound coming from off to Bogle's right. He forced his eyes open again as the rugged face of Grayhawk blocked the light over him.
"It is," Grayhawk said in his thick, deep voice,
"thanks to Commander Lee and Commander Spock. From what I understand, after you were knocked out all our shields failed."
"As I was knocked out," Bogle said, managing to get the words out between the waves of pain surging through his head. "I remember."
Above him Grayhawk laughed again, his voice deep and full, as it always was. Grayhawk was the kind of man who could find humor in j ust about any situation. He always seemed to be laughing at something. Yet when shoved, the man was as hard as a desert rock and one of the best doctors in the Federation.
"Good. Either way, the shields got knocked out," Grayhawk said. "That Vulcan managed to get the Enterprise and her screens between the enemy craft and our ship. " Grayhawk continued scanning Bogle's head as he talked, and Bogle could feel the pain ease by a degree or two. "And Commander Lee, with almost no power, somehow kept the Farragut in the narrow protected area behind the Enterprise during the last few minutes of the fight. It was an amazing show of control, if you want my opinion. "
So after the rush to come help the Enterprise, it's Kirk's ship that ended up saving the Farragut. It figured it would end up that way.
"I need to get back to the bridge," Bogle said, moving to sit up.
Stupid idea.
The sharp pains in his head suddenly became major bolts of lightning, and he slumped backwards, the blackness easing in around the edges of his vision.
"You'll go back to the bridge when I say so," Grayhawk said, his voice very serious. No sign of laughter at all. "You ever heard of an aneurysm? Don't nod; just say yes or no."
"Yes," Bogle said softly, being very careful to not move his head at all. The blackness was slowly moving back away from the spinning stars and Grayhawk's face , but Bogle had no desire to test it again.
"That blow you suffered to the top of your head," Grayhawk said, again scanning Bogle's hairline, "caused a single blood vessel to explode. Basically you had a stroke. I fixed the damage, but only a few hours will tell if you'll have more problems. Even one more stroke, if it happened in the wrong place, or the wrong time, could be fatal, or so bad that I wouldn't be able to repair the cells. So no movement. Understand? Don't even nod. "
"Yes, Doctor," Bogle said. "But could you do me a favor?"
"I won't call First Officer Lee down here, if that's what you want. He and Projeffare doing their best to get the ship back up and running, and they don't need to be bothered running in and out of here. "
"No," Bogle said, "not that. "
"Then what?" Grayhawk asked.
"Could you turn off that damn light?"
Now Grayhawk really laughed. And a moment later the light vanished, leaving Captain Bogle with pain swirling in his head along with the stars as he wondered just how much damage one stroke had caused.
He knew one thing. He didn't want a second.
Kerdoch finished giving the all clear around the colony, then checked on his wife and children. Again they had made it through the shortened attack. He made sure they had water, then told them to stay prepared and went back to the well in the center courtyard. There he drank his fill, refilled a bottle his wife had given him, and turned to head back for the disrupter cannon.
In front of him was the human doctor, the young human, and the human woman moving slowly toward the well. The doctor seemed almost to be supporting the woman.
"Your captain worried over your welfare," Kerdoch said.
McCoy nodded. "Good. I always worry about his. Help me get her some water. "
McCoy steered the slowly walking woman toward the well as Kerdoch went around to her other side. He carefully grasped her arm and held her. She was walking, but she did not seem to be well. Neither did the other.
"Was she injured?" he asked.
"In a way," McCoy said, holding her on the edge of the pool and trying to lift handfuls of water to her mouth.
"Use this," Kerdoch said, handing the doctor his bottle. "I filled it a moment ago."
McCoy looked at Kerdoch as if seeing him for the first time, then nodded. "Thank you."
Kerdoch understood the look the doctor had just given him. He had always thought of the humans as enemies, but today with Kirk and Sulu he had discovered they had honor, just like Klingons. He had given
Kirk the same look for the first time that McCoy had just given him. As with any day ofbattle, it was also a day of learning. For both Klingons and humans .
After a few long drinks of water the human woman's eyes seemed to clear. Kerdoch watched as the doctor used a scanning instrument to check her.
"Can you walk?" McCoy asked her as he snapped the instrument closed.
"I think so," she said.
McCoy nodded and gave her another drink from Kerdoch's bottle. Then he took a very long drink himself, refilled the bottle from the well, and handed it back to Kerdoch with a nod of thanks.
Kerdoch put the bottle in his belt and helped the human woman to her feet, steadying her on her left while the doctor stayed on her right.
"Ensign," the human doctor asked the younger man, "can you make it?"
"I can, sir," he said.
"Good," the human doctor said. They all slowly started toward the disrupter
cannon.
"How much light do we have?" the doctor asked after a few steps, glancing at the suns low in the sky.
"One hour," Kerdoch said. "It will get very cold then. "
McCoy nodded. "I was afraid of that. We're going to need fires, but I doubt there's much left to burn. "
Kerdoch agreed. Almost everything was already burned. Only the fuel stored inside the surviving domes would be usable. Kerdoch looked ahead at the shelter over the disrupter cannon.
The doctor was correct. It would be a long, cold night.
Kirk was kneeling in the dim light of the bunker beside Kor. Kahaq was on the commander's other side, and Kirk could tell he was as worried as Kirk was. Kor seemed to be sleeping, but it clearly wasn't a healthy sleep.
"Captain," Sulu called out from above the bunker.
"Stay with Kor," Kirk said softly to Kahaq. "I hope the doctor will be back shortly. "
Kahaq nodded, saying nothing.
Kirk scooted quickly on his hands and knees out of the bunker and then stood. The evening air was cooler now as the suns neared the horizon. Sulu had kept his shirt on while working to secure the shelter over the gun.
Sulu pointed toward the colony's center. McCoy, Dr. Rathbone, Ensign Adaro, and Kerdoch were walking toward him. It seemed that McCoy and Kerdoch were helping Rathbone along.
He moved out to meet them. "Are you all right, Doctor?" he asked Rathbone, glancing at McCoy.
"I'm fine ," she said. "Just a little weak and dizzy is all."
"She's in a mild shock," McCoy said, "but she'll be fine in a few hours. "
Kirk nodded. "There's room in the bunker with Kor for her to lie down."
McCoy and Kerdoch helped Rathbone up and into the bunker as Kirk watched. Then Kerdoch turned and came back the few paces to Kirk, his firm steps kicking up small clouds of black ash and dust.
"Captain Kirk," Kerdoch said. "The night will be cold. We need to prepare."
Kirk nodded. He was afra
id that might be the case in this area of the planet. Long, hot, dry days with fairly short but intensely cold nights. After all the heat punishment they had withstood today, the night would seem even colder.
"Do you have suggestions?" Kirk asked Kerdoch.
The Klingon pointed to one colony dome that still stood about fifty steps from the gun. "There is a heating unit inside with enough emergency fuel for one night, maybe two. "
"Can we bring the unit out here?" Kirk asked.
"No," Kerdoch said. "It is too heavy. But the building is now empty. The owner was killed during the first attack."
Kirk stared at the dome and the distance between it and the disrupter cannon. There would be more than enough time to get back to the gun if Spock warned them, but if they only had their tricorders to warn them of a coming attack, it would be close. But close was better than freezing to death out in the open. He and Mr. Sulu could take turns standing guard on the gun j ust in case.
"Would you prepare the dome?" Kirk asked. "Water, heat, and any food you might be able to find. Well move Kor and Rathbone at sunset. "
"I will inform you when the dome is heated and ready," Kerdoch said.
He turned and strode off.
Kirk watched him go. This time there was no question from the Klingon that Kirk was in command. He wasn't sure what had changed, but something had.
Kirk flipped open his communicator. "Kirk to Enterprise. "
"Spock here. "
"What's going on up there, Mr. Spock?"
"Mr. Scott has the ship fully operational, Captain. The enemy ships are still holding their positions. The Farragut has restored full shields, phasers, and impulse power. Their engineer reports they will have full warp power within an hour. "
"And the Klingons?"
"The Klingon battle cruiser is also making repairs," Spock said. "They claim to be ready to fight again."
"They'd make that claim with the ship exploding around them. "
"I understand that, sir," Spock said.
"I'm sure you do," Kirk said. Then he asked the question he was afraid to hear the answer to. "And Captain Bogle?"
"Still in the Farragut sick bay. First Officer Lee reports he is out of immediate danger."
Day of Honor - Treaty's Law Page 10