Day of Honor - Treaty's Law

by Dean Wesley Smith

  "Terraforming," she said.

  Sulu nodded.

  "What?" McCoy asked, glancing at her.

  She took a deep breath. "Captain, remember when we told you the planet's plant life had been genetically changed at some time in the past."

  "Very clearly," he said. "Now you know what I'm thinking. The Narr made the changes."

  "It's possible," she said. "We've never had an explanation for that change." Her stomach told her this was the right answer. An answer to a question that had bothered her for almost five years. Everything fit. The Narr had changed the planet for their own use, j ust as the humans and Klingons had been doing.

  "I assumed that was the problem," the captain said. "It would explain why they're so angry at the Klingons. "

  "And why they're destroying only Klingon crops," Sulu said.

  "And why they attacked in the first place," McCoy said.

  "Good point," she said, glancing at the blackened fields. "Obviously they don't like what the Klingons planted. "

  "Or they never bothered even to test it," Sulu said.

  "So what do we do now?" McCoy asked.

  Kirk took another drink of water, then glanced up at McCoy. "Doctor, if I knew that, I wouldn't still be sitting here."

  "Think the Klingons will just give the planet back to them?" she asked.

  The captain laughed. "Would you, ifthe Federation colony had won and the Narr were attacking your home?"

  "Probably not," she said slowly. She hated to admit that, but it was how she felt. It was always easy to tell others to give up their homes, but she hadbeen told to leave this planet, which had once been her home. She knew how it felt. She didn't like it.

  The captain took another long drink, then sighed. "People, at the moment our plan is to help the Klingons defend this colony from the coming attack at sunset. "

  "Until a better plan comes along?" McCoy asked.

  Kirk smiled. "Until a better plan comes along."

  Spock stood on the bridge and listened as the captain finished relaying the conversation he'd had with the Narr to him and Captain Bogle on the Farragut.

  "It is logical," Spock said, staring at the image of the planet on the main viewscreen.

  "What's logical, Mr. Spock?" the captain asked.

  "The Narr claim to this planet. They are obviously telling the truth . "

  "Do you have clear evidence of that, Mr. Spock?" Captain Bogle asked.

  "Give me a moment, sir," Spock said. "I will run a molecular scan of the derelict Narr ship, then compare it to the data I have on the structure ofthe native planetary growth. "

  "Good idea, Spock," Kirk said. "We'll wait. "

  Spock moved to his science station and keyed in the commands for running a scan of the Narr ship.

  "Computer," he said. "Compare molecular structure of the Narr ships with the structure of the plant samples I have selected. "

  "Comparison complete ," the computer voice said after only a second.

  Again staring at the planet and the Narr ships on the main viewscreen, Spock asked, "Is there a statistical possibility that the plant and the scanned metal came from the same planetary system?"

  "Yes," the computer said.

  "What is that percentage?" he asked.

  "Eighty-six percent," the computer said.

  "Well," Captain Kirk said, his voice filling the bridge almost as if he were there , "that settles that. "

  "I guess it does," Captain Bogle said.

  "It would seem that way," Spock said.

  "So, Mr. Spock," the captain said, "how do we convince the Klingons that they really don't own this planet?"

  "How is a Klingon convinced of anything?" Bogle asked.

  "By fighting," Spock said calmly.

  There was a moment of silence on the bridge.

  Finally Captain Kirk's voice again filled the bridge. "Mr. Spock, relay this information to the Klingon ships."

  "I shall do so immediately, Captain," Spock said.

  "Then, gentlemen, I hope you can find at way to get us off this oven of a planet before the fighting starts. "

  "We'll do our best, Jim," Bogle said.

  "I know you will. Thanks. Kirk out. "

  Mr. Spock turned to Lieutenant Uhura. "Relay the molecular information and comparisons to the three Klingon battle cruisers. Include a transcript of what the captain said occurred in his conversation with the Narr. "

  "Yes, sir," Uhura said.

  Spock moved back to his science station. The first half of the captain's order had been carried out. It was the second half that would pose more of a problem. Much more.

  Chapter Nineteen

  KIRK SAT in the relative coolness of the dome , sipping water and watching McCoy work on Kor. It had been two hours since Kirk had talked to the Narr, and he was finally starting to regain some strength. It was lucky the Narr had showed up when they did.

  At the moment Sulu stood guard at the disrupter cannon, but Kirk knew it was pointless duty. The Narr would come at sundown and not one minute sooner.

  Kerdoch stood near the door while Kahaq, the only surviving member of Kor's landing party sat beside his commander.

  Rathbone stood at McCoy's shoulder. Her brown hair was matted back on her head, and as with all of them, her face was badly sunburned and very dirty.

  Kor moaned and moved his head slightly.

  Both Kerdoch and Kirk moved quickly to the Commander's side.

  "Can you wake him, Bones?" Kirk asked.

  Bones nodded. "I think he's finally stabilized. And his ribs are mostly healed. Damned if I know if I did anything to help anything else, but I think I can wake himup."

  "Do it," Kirk said. He needed Kor awake and in command of the Klingons when the colonists were told the news about the Narr claim on the planet. There was no guarantee that Kor would react in any positive way, but at least it would be one reaction instead of six different options with the leaderless colonists.

  McCoy injected Kor and then sat back as the Klingon commander moaned again, then slowly opened his eyes and looked at McCoy.

  "I am having a nightmare," he said and closed his eyes again.

  Kirk laughed and Bones gave him a frozen look, which made Kirk laugh even more, and after a moment Rathbone joined in.

  "The next time you need sunburn spray, remember that you thought this was funny," McCoy threatened.

  Kirk laughed, nudged McCoy aside, and knelt near the commander. "Kor, we need to talk."

  The Klingon commander slowly opened his eyes again. "This is not a nightmare, then?"

  "Oh, it's a nightmare all right," Kirk said. "But I'm afraid it's a real one."

  Kor groaned and tried to sit up.

  "Not yet," McCoy said.

  Kirk put a hand on the Klingon's chest and held him on his back. "You were seriously injured. Give yourself a little more time to recover. "

  Kor looked from Kirk to McCoy. McCoy nodded to confirm Kirk's words.

  "I would like water," Kor said. It was as close as a Klingon came to asking for help.

  Rathbone handed the commander a bottle and he drank deeply, then sighed and seemed to relax a little.

  "Are you able to talk?" Kirk asked.

  Kor nodded. "What has happened?"

  Kirk spent the next few minutes bringing the Klingon commander up to date on their situation, right to the moment he had talked to the Narr.

  Kor took a long drink, finished the bottle Rathbone had given him, then looked Kirk in the eye. "You do not like what the Narr told you," he said. "I can tell."

  Kirk nodded. "They claim to own the planet. "

  Kor laughed. "How can that be? The planet was awarded to the Klingon Empire by the Organians."

  "I know," Kirk said. "But ask your colonists about how eight or nine hundred years ago the natural plants on this planet were biologically altered."

  "Is this true ?" Kor asked Kerdoch. The colonist stepped forward. "It is true," he said.

  "We found no expl
anation for the alteration and assumed it had been caused by a natural event. " Kor nodded. "So the Narr claim they were forming the planet to their needs."

  "They did not claim it exactly," Kirk said. "But they did say they had been preparing it."

  "And you expect us to j ust give up the planet on that basis?"

  Kirk shook his head. He had expected, and hoped, the conversation would get to this point.

  "Kor, tests run on both the altered plants here and the materials in the Narr ships show a biological match. The natural plants on this planet were combined with Narr plants hundreds of years ago. The data has been given to your ship. "

  Kirk watched as Kor kept his expression blank. There was no way to tell what the commander was thinking. Finally he said, "Captain Kirk, do you have a solution to this standoff?"

  Kirk did not expect that question. "I do not."

  Kor nodded and closed his eyes. "How much time until the suns set?" His voice was weak and tired.

  "Six hours," Kirk said.

  "Then I have time to rest before I must fight," Kor said. He let out a deep sigh and seemed to fall asleep.

  McCoy did a quick medical scan of Kor, then nodded to Kirk that the commander would be all right after a little rest.

  "We all need the rest," Kirk said. He stood and moved back over to the table where he sat down.

  No one, including Kerdoch, said a word as they settled into positions scattered around the dome. It would be a long, hot afternoon waiting to fight, and waiting, most likely, to die.

  Unless Kirk could come up with some way of stoPPing the fight.

  "Mr. Spock," Captain Bogle said to the Vulcan on the main Farragut screen in front of him, "have you gone crazy?"

  "I assure you, Captain," Spock said, his expression never changing. "I am quite sane. I simply offer a possible means of rescuing Captain Kirk and the landing party. "

  "Have you checked with Kirk?" Bogle asked.

  "I have not," Spock said.

  Bogle shook his head. "Give me a moment to consider your plan. "

  "Certainly," Spock said and cut the transmission.

  Immediately the Narr ships returned to the main screen, orbiting seemingly peacefully over the bluegreen planet.

  Bogle dropped down into his chair and stared at the screen, thinking about Commander Spock's plan. Actually, the idea was tupically logical. There were seven working Narr ships facing two Federation and three Klingon ships. All ships on both sides seemed to be fairly matched, although with the shield modulations against Narr weapons, Bogle would now give the Faarragut and the Enterprise a slight advantage. But not a two ship advantage.

  Spock's idea was for the Farragut and the Enterprise to simultaneously launch unmanned shuttles in high orbits over the planet, in opposite directions. Each shuttle, logically, would draw one Narr ship into pursuit, temporarily pulling it away from the main blockade, leveling the odds. At that moment the Federation and Klingon ships would attack, with the two Federation ships working to get into a position within transporter range long enough to drop shields and get the landing party off the planet.

  Bogle shook his head. It was a logical, but fool-hardy plan. It risked the lives of all the members of the Farragut crew, as well as all the members of the Enterprise crew in an attempt to save four other crew members. And that was not logical in any fashion.

  Spock should know better than to use an entire crew to rescue a handful of people.

  But he was Kirk's first officer, working on assumptions Kirk would make. Perhaps when Spock had his own starship, he would act differently. But now, he had to second-guess his creative captain.

  He seemed to do it pretty well.

  It sounded like a Kirk plan.

  Bogle sighed. And because of that, it might work.

  Ifthe shields on the shuttles could be modulated to withstand the Narr phasers for at least a minute, that would be long enough.

  Another idea popped into his head. The shuttles could be programmed to land near the colony if they survived long enough to get into the atmosphere; that would give the landing party yet another chance.

  Then still another idea struck him: they could use Spock's same idea, only not endanger the crews ofthe starships.

  He quickly punched his ship intercom button on the arm ofhis captain's chair.

  "Projeff?"

  "Yes, Captain," Projeff answered at once.

  "Can both shuttles' shields be modified to withstand the Narr weapons long enough to get to the atmosphere?"

  There was a pause, then Projeff said slowly, "They can be modified, sir. But I wouldn't wager a man's life that they would hold under full Narr attack all the way to the atmosphere."

  "But is there a chance that one, or maybe both, would make it?"

  "There is a chance, sir," Projeff said. "With the modifications Mr. Scott and I have come up with, it would take a full Narr attack lasting twenty-six seconds for the shields to fail. "

  "Thanks, Projeff," Bogle said. "Stand by. "

  He clicked offthe intercom, then turned to Lieutenant Sandy. "Hail the Enterprise, and make sure the transmission is scrambled. Then raise Captain Kirk and patch him into the conversation. "

  "Yes, sir," Sandy said.

  Bogle stood and faced the screen as Mr. Spock's image appeared.

  "Captain Bogle," the Vulcan said, nodding slightly.

  "Kirk here. "

  At the sound of Kirk's voice Spock raised one eyebrow, but did not change his expression.

  "Kirk," Bogle said, "your first officer has come up with an idea of using shuttlecraft to decoy away a few Narr ships long enough for us to get you out of there. "

  There was a pause, then Kirk said, "At this point I'll listen to anything. "

  Bogle laughed. In Kirk's situation he'd have said the same thing. He quickly explained to Kirk Mr. Spock's idea. "Did I get that right, Mr. Spock?" he asked after he finished.

  "That is a correct outline of what I proposed," Spock said.

  "Good," Bogle said, "because I like your idea, Mr. Spock. But I don't like endangering the entire crews of the Enterprise and Farragut to rescue four crew members. Do you agree, Captain?"

  "I do," Kirk said. "The numbers would be even for only a short time, then would turn bad again as the other Narr ships returned. I'm not sure it would work. "

  Spock said nothing.

  "Hold on a moment, Jim," Bogle said. "I think Mr. Spock's idea can be modified slightly to help the landing party escape on its own. "

  Again one of Mr. Spock's eyebrows lifted, but no other expression crossed his face. "That would be interesting," Spock said. "Please continue, Captain Bogle."

  "You got my attention, Kelly," Kirk said.

  "Instead of sending out two shuttles as decoys, then trying to fight our way into position to beam out the landing party, we send out four unmanned shuttles, in four different directions, all programmed to land at the edge of the colony. "

  "Do you think the Narr would chase four shuttles?" Kirk asked.

  "I honestly don't know," Bogle said. "If they did, it would then be three of them against five of us, for at least a minute. We can do a lot in one minute with those odds. "

  "And if they don't," Kirk said, "you don't attack and we have at least one or more shuttles here to help us defend the colony, and maybe get off the planet."

  "Exactly," Bogle said.

  "Great idea, Kelly," Kirk said. "I think it just might work. "

  "Thanks," Bogle said, "but it was Mr. Spock's idea. I just modified it."

  "To a much better plan, sir," Spock said.

  Bogle nodded to Spock. "Thank you."

  "I have two modifications of my own," Kirk said.

  "Kelly, Spock, I'm sending up the data from Mr. Sulu's tricorder, as well as my scans of the Narr armor. Let Scott and Mr. Projeff see if they can come up with a weapon that will slow that armor down. Or better yet short out its antigravity units."

  "We'll come up with something," Bogle said. "And we
'll put it and other weapons in every shuttle."

  "Great," Kirk said.

  "Captain," Spock said, "you said you had two modifications."

  "Thank you, Mr. Spock. I was just getting to the other one. " He almost sounded as if he were smiling.

  "Second," Kirk said, "we need to get the Klingons involved in this. I know their battle cruisers carry at least one shuttle-sized craft. Have them launch at the same time , with weapons enclosed. That will pretty much guarantee that some of the shuttles make it down here. Ifyou have trouble convincing them, have them talk to Kor."

  "Good thinking on both counts," Bogle said. For the first time since this entire mission started, he was starting to feel there was a possibility of coming out alive.

  "You gentlemen sure know how to make a fella feel wanted," Kirk said. "Let me know when you're ready to launch. "

  "My pleasure," Bogle said, laughing.

  Spock remained expressionless as Bogle cut the connection.

  "I can't do it," Scotty said. He was sitting at his console, talking to Spock, who was on the bridge. "You want me to modify the shuttle shields and come up with a weapon to short-circuit an antigravity unit I haven't even seen, all within the space ofa few hours. You're asking the impossible, Mr. Spock."

  "Mr. Scott," Spock said calmly. "I have heard you make this protestation before and still you have done what you call 'the impossible.' I believe this is merely a ruse to make it seem as if your talents are greater than they truly are."

  "Do you, Mr. Spock?" Scotty felt heat rush to his cheeks. At times he did exaggerate, but usually it worked: he would get extra time from the captain. "A ruse , you say?"

  "Yes, Mr. Scott, a ruse. "

  "You're a hard-nosed Vulcan, Mr. Spock. It's not logical to give a man an impossible order and then tell him that he lies when he protests."

  "I simply mean, Mr. Scott, that to paraphrase your William Shakespeare, methinks you doth protest too much . "

  "Ah, you thinks, do you?" Scotty said.

  "If you would like," Spock said with infinite calm,

  "I will see if I can assist you. "

  That offended Scotty even more . "You have your own job on the bridge, Mr. Spock. I don't need your