single-handed is pretty foolhardy ... even for me." He shook his head,
as if wondering at himself. "I can't expect anyone to join me on such a
harebrained mission."
"You can expect your friends, Jim," said a new voice, and Spock turned
to see Leonard McCoy framed in the doorway behind him. "You know better
than to think Spock and I would let you go off to tackle a whole planet
of Klingons by yourselfl"
Kirk grinned ruefully. "I guess I do," he said finally, gazing at his
friends and shaking his head. "After all, three stand a much better
chance than just one, against a whole planet ... right?"
"You got it," McCoy said. "Right, Spock?"
"Right, Doctor," the Vulcan said, firmly.
Kirk spread his hands in a gesture of defeat. "All right, then ... next
stop, Qo'nos. I'll meet you on the shuttlecraft deck in an hour."
"Approaching Qo'nos, Captain," Spock reported. "ETA to orbit, twelve
point two minutes."
Kirk, who was piloting the shuttlecraft Kepler, nodded in acknowledgment
of the Vulcan's words. "Anything within sensor range?"
"I detect no military craft, just freighters."
The captain checked his screens, wishing he had some idea of where on
Qo'nos Kamarag's ancestral home lay.
Northern or southern hemisphere? Eastern or western continent?
"Spock," he said, "what are our chances of tapping into the Klingon data
banks and accessing some information?"
"I may be able to do so, Captain," the Vulcan said, turning away from
his sensor array. Like Kirk and McCoy, Spock wore a black jumpsuit
designed for night raids.
"What information do you wish me to access?"
"Kamarag's home address," Kirk said, dryly.
"I will attempt to access its location, Captain," Spock said, turning
back to his instruments.
"Y'know, Jim, this will be the first time we've actually seen Qo'nos,"
McCoy pointed out. The doctor was sitting in the passenger seat behind
the captain. "Last time we were there, we were shut up like mice in a
shoebox, and shuttled around in closed vehicles."
Kirk nodded. "We didn't even see the planet from orbit." Spock regarded
his console intently. "I have Qo'nos on-screen." Intently, Kirk watched
as the tiny dot grew until, with magnification on maximum, they could
see their destination.
"Look at that," Kirk whispered, after a moment. "I didn't realize it had
a ring!"
"That ring is much of what remains of Praxis," Spock said. "There are
several large chunks of the moon still orbiting Qo'nos, and
corresponding gaps in the ring. This ring is ..." He consulted his
sensors." ... approximately two thousand kilometers across, and it
orbits Qo'nos's equator at a mean distance of eleven thousand, five
hundred seventy-one kilometers." Kirk glanced at his own sensors.
"There's also a lot of asteroidal material in the system," he said.
"Correct. A large number of asteroids will impact the planet in
approximately fifty years." Kirk stared at the planet that was growing
in their viewscreens. "Now all we have to do is avoid detection by the
Klingons while we locate Peter." He gave McCoy a lopsided grin. "Sure
you don't want to change your mind about coming, Bones?"
"Too late for that, Jim," he pointed out, smiling back at his friend.
Spock cleared his throat. "Piloting the shuttlecraft across the plane of
that ring will be difficult, Captain. The Kepler's shielding is
limited."
"Why go near the ring at all?" McCoy asked. "You can surely plot a
course that will keep us away from it." Kirk glanced at the ringed
world, watching it grow steadily in their viewscreen. "If we go in
directly, bold as brass, the Klingon sensors will be bound to pick us
up, and we'll have unwelcome surface-to-air company in no time," he
explained. "I think what Spock is planning"--he slanted an inquiring
look at the Vulcan--"is to use the ring as a ver."
"Precisely," said Spoek. "As I mentioned before, sensors indicate that
the ring has several gaps, caused by large chunks of Praxis acting as
ring shepherds. Their gravitational force clears a small gap around
them. I recommend that we traverse the ring plane through one of the
larger gaps.
Matching orbit with the ring. we can use it as a shield while we locate
Peter."
"How are you going to find him?" McCoy asked, staring mesmerized at the
ringed planet. "It's a big world."
"I did manage to locate Kamarag's aneostral compound in the Klingon data
banks," Spock said. "Thus we have an approximate idea of where to
search. Mr. Scott and I modified the sensors to detect any human life
readings. If Peter is the only human in that compound, we should be able
to trace him."
"It's a good plan," Kirk said, "but crossing the plane of the ring, even
through the longest gap, will require some tricky piloting."
"It is fortunate for us that the presence of the ring, and all the
attendant meteor showers since the demise of Praxis, has evidently
forced the Klingons to abandon whatever early-warning defense system
their planet boasted," Spock said, studying his instrument readouts.
"They probably still have a lot of meteor showers," Kirk said, eyeing
the ring. They were now close enough to it that, under the highest
magnification, the ring was revealed to be made of millions of chunks of
rock, ranging from pieces no bigger than a marble to huge boulders
larger than the Kepler.
Minutes later, the shuttlecraft was approaching the gap in the ring.
Kirk sent the little vessel skimming along its edge, matching its speed;
then he boosted the Kepler's velocity slightly, aiming for the break,
which was now clearly visible.
Qo'nos was an awesome sight below them the planet turned, brown and
greenish blue, its continents separated by shallow azure seas speckled
with atolls. The three largest landmasses were edged by volcanic
mountain chains, and it was evidently a far more seismically active
planet than Earth.
From this distance, signs of civilization, at least on the
daylight side, appeared minimal. Only a few angular blotches on the
western side of the continent below them betrayed the presence of large
cities.
But even the world turning below him could not hold the captain's
attention for long. As they sped along, Qo'nos's ring dominated their
view, spreading out before them like a golden plain studded with nuggets
of all sizes. The ring was nearly two thousand kilometers wide at this
point--and yet, it was far from solid. Glimpses of the surface beyond it
came and went, depending on its density. Kirk's eyes widened as he
studied the vista.
"Shields at maximum, Captain," Spock said. "Ready for crossover."
"It's a good thing we'll be crossing over on the dayside of the planet,"
Kirk said. "Otherwise, dust vaporizing against our shields would
spotlight us from the surface, if we tried this on the nightside."
"Will the shields hold?" McCoy asked tensely.
"Long enough to get us through," Kirk said, hoping he wasn't be
ing
overly optimistic. He kept his eyes glued to the last-minute course
corrections flashing up at him. "Barring any major collisions, of
course," he added.
"Even though the gap is relatively free of large rocks, it still
contains quantities of dust and small particles. The shuttlecraft's
shields were not designed for continuous bombardment, Captain," Spock
warned. "They may burn out." Moments later, the ring gap lay directly
below them.
Kirk's fingers skipped nimbly across the controls as he delicately
jockeyed the shuttlecraft into position. With a short blast of the
maneuvering thrusters, the captain began the crossover.
Even here, in this relatively "clear" portion of the ring, they were
buffeted by debris. The little craft bucked as the shields absorbed the
impacts of direct hits from gravel-sized rocks--one, two, three ... a
dozen--Kirk lost count. All the while his hands moved, keeping them on
course, heading them down and through the sparsest portion of the gap.
He was aware, peripherally, of Spock backing him from the copilot's
seat, making tiny adjustments that helped stabilize the Kepler.
"Shields are weakening," the Vulcan reported matter-of-factly.
And then, a second later, he added, with a touch of excitement,
"Captain, I am picking up Peter's readings ... " Where? Kirk said.
"Can you plo t a course to bring us down near him?"
"Affirmative," Spock replied, and, only a few seconds later, the heading
the Vulcan had computed appeared on Kirk's screen. Quickly, the captain
laid it in.
"Shields are down by eighty percent," Spock cautioned.
"We're almost out of it," Kirk said tight/y, fighting the controls of
the bucketing Kepler. "Ten more seconds, and we're home free!"
"Shields are weakening ... weakening ..." Spock said.
Then the Vulcan added, matter-of-factly, "Shields are burned out,
Captain."
"We're okay," Kirk said, his throat raw with tension.
"We're out of it. Now all we have to do There was a sharp crack of sound
as something struck the Kepler, rocking the shuttle violently; then Kirk
heard the high, thin shriek of escaping air pressure. "Bones, check the
air pressure! Spock, take over!" he ordered, moving to locate the impact
and exit points of the tiny rock that had struck them. Moments later,
the captain saw with satisfaction that Kepler's automatic sealant system
was working as it was designed to, covering the tiny holes. The whine of
escaping air lessened, then stopped. Jim returned to his board.
Moments later, he knew they were in trouble. The shuttlecrafi's
directional controls now responded sluggishly to his exploratory
commands. "Damn it," Kirk said, feeling the Kepler yaw. "Piloting this
thing down through atmosphere won't be easy."
"You going' to be able to land this crate, Jim?" McCoy asked, his voice
carefully casual.
"We're sure going to try," Kirk said. Grimly, he fought the controls,
struggling to keep the shuttlecraft on course. It wouldn't help them to
land safely in one of Qo'nos's oceans,
and he certainly didn't want to find himself setting down thousands of
kilometers from Peter.
It was a bumpy ride, nursing the crippled shuttle down through Qo'nos's
turbulent upper atmosphere, fighting to keep the little craft stable and
on course.
Finally, they were approaching their destination. Red sunlight from
Qo'nos's setting sun splashed them as they headed down. Kirk wished for
Sulu as he struggled to keep the Kepler's landing skids parallel to the
ground. It had been a long time since he'd landed anything in these
conditions.
Glancing at his course readouts, he realized that they were about six
kilometers from his intended destination, and thought, Close enough. I
don't mind walking ...
Glimpsing a gap in the tree cover below, the captain sent the craft down
into it, and suddenly they were engulfed by huge trees with strange,
feathery leaves and giant red seedpods.
"Come on," he whispered to the little ship. "You can make it ... almost
there ..." He made a last-minute adjustment, saw the ground rushing up
toward them. Too fast!
"Brace for crash landing!" Kirk managed to shout, even as Kepler's nose
plunged downward.
The shuttlecraft hit, bounced wildly, struck again, bounced again, then,
finally, stopped. Kirk pushed himself upright in his seat, looking
around dazedly as he unsnapped his safety harness. "We made it," he
said, disbelievingly. He turned to regard his companions, who were both
sitting up, their expressions somewhat dazed.
"Captain," Spock said, "we should leave the vicinity quickly. Our
erratic approach may have been sighted."
"We obviously can't escape in the Kepler," Kirk said, gazing ruefully at
the damaged shuttle as they prepared to abandon ship. "Can you tell if
there are any spaceports nearby?"
Spock held up his trioorder, nodded. "Fifteen and a half kilometers due
west," he said, "lies the port called Tengchah Jav." He slung the
instrument over his shoulder.
Working quickly, the Vulcan opened the weapons locker, extracted three
small phasers, checked their settings and power packs, then distributed
one to each of them.
"I'm going to set the shuttle to self-destruct," Kirk said, his fingers
moving over the controls.
"Be sure you give us time to get out of range, Jim," McCoy admonished,
scrambling hastily out of the craft.
After setting up the self-destruct sequence, Kirk, with Spock and McCoy
behind him, walked away from the doomed Kepler. Jim gave the little
craft a valedictory pat as he left, wishing there were some way to
salvage the ship.
The three set off, walking quickly into the forest, picking their way
over rocks and fallen logs, as the night gathered around them.
Once you step upon this path, Valdyr warned herself, your life as a
Klingon will be over. There would be no place for her anywhere in
Klingon society, not on Qo'nos, not on her colonies, not anywhere. She
would be outcast, scorned and marked for death. She closed her eyes,
struggling not to let the magnitude of her plan stay her hand. This is
the path before you, she reminded herself. For you, it is the road of
honor, whether any other Klingon anywhere in the universe ever realizes
that.
For the final time, she checked her weapons. Under her sleeve, against
her forearm sat her small, wicked, three-pronged dagger, where a sudden
jerk of her wrist would release it. At her right hip hung the small,
silent crossbow that had been her favorite weapon since childhood. While
it was best used in close conditions, it did not have the hum and whine
of modern weapons, and would not reveal a concealed shooter. Under her
breastplate sat two hand disrupters, their battery packs fully charged.
She touched the weapons one final time. Then she took the key to Peter's
cell. He was still her prisoner.
Straightening her armor and tunic, she left her room and headed for her
uncle's priva
te quarters. Du'hurgh, Kama-rag's ancient family estate,
was a massive, old fortress, with dozens of rooms and numerous
passageways and staircases.
Taking an obscure route, she came to her uncle's quarters stealthily,
concerned that Karg might have guards posted, but there were none. And
why should there be? After all, who would dare enter Kamarag's private
quarters in the ambassador's own home? His simpleminded, weak niece?
And even if she did, what could she do there?
Moving silently, Valdyr slipped into her uncle's favorite study. Once
inside, she stood perfectly still, waiting, listening, but there was no
one, not even a serving woman.
Valdyr was nearly overcome by memories once she stood inside the
cavernous chamber. Every kind of ancient armament hung from its walls,
as well as paintings and tapestries of the finest warriors of their
family's lines. Her father had brought his children here every summer,
and the compound and this place, in particular, called up vivid memories
of him. Valdyr stared at the images of long-dead heroes and remembered
her father's thrilling tales of their exploits.
How she'd longed to be like them! Her gaze fixed on the portrait of a
woman, her many times great-grandmother who had fought at her husband's
side in so many decisive battles hundreds of years ago. That image had
Star Trek - Sarek Page 35