Myriad Universes_ Echoes And Refractions Part 7

"Oh, come now, Thelin," Darvin said. "No one died except a few thousand of those miserable furry little beasts. If anything, I did the people on that station a favor."

"You're very lucky that I discovered the tribbles had been poisoned," Thelin said. "If that grain had reached Sherman's Planet and been fed to the colonists, thousands of people could have died."

"Oh, yes, of course, I'm very lucky," Darvin said as he raised his gla.s.s to his lips again while rolling his eyes. "Please, keep reminding me to express my eternal grat.i.tude. I tend to forget such things."

Thelin shook his head. "And now here you are...an errand boy for intragalactic outlaws."

"What would you have me do?" Darvin's affable facade had begun to crumble away. "Did you think I could return to Qo'noS? I am without a house, without honor...a pariah within the Klingon Empire. Where would you have me go, Thelin of Andoria???"

Thelin had no answer. He casually looked about, but Darvin's fit of pique didn't seem to be attracting any unwelcome attention.

"That's what I thought," Darvin continued. "You pampered Federation types are so accustomed to your lives of ease, everything provided for you. I'm just looking to secure my next meal. So spare me your plat.i.tudes."

Thelin sighed, and took a long sip of his drink. He wasn't particularly interested in debating the wisdom of Arne Darvin's career choices. "So...would you mind explaining why we are here?"

Darvin's face visibly brightened. "Surely you learned all the pertinent details from my message?"

"If they were so pertinent," Thelin replied, "perhaps you should have been less cryptic. 'Prometheus in bindings for the sins of the father. A new Genesis must dawn. Tell no one.' Along with the current stardate and coordinates of this place."

"I know!" Darvin grinned. "Clever, isn't it?"

"Many things seem clever to an imbecile."

"Oh, come now, Thelin, it's ancient Earth mythology! I thought someone with your gifts would at least have a clue." He leaned in closer, and raised his eyebrows inscrutably. "It's David Marcus, Kirk's son. He's alive."

Thelin's antennae quivered, then lay back nearly p.r.o.ne against his skull. His eyes widened, and his hand gripped his gla.s.s tightly enough that it was on the verge of shattering. "What are you talking about?" he hissed.

"It's true," Darvin said, leaning back and smiling smugly. "He and some half-breed Vulcan girl are in the care of a Klingon commander by the name of Kruge. Oh, don't try to contact him through any diplomatic channels. He's a rogue; the Klingon High Council would surely deny knowing anything."

"I'm sure they would," Thelin said through clenched teeth. "What does he want?"

"Ah! See, that's the best part," he said, maintaining his friendly pretense. "It's really not much at all...Not for the life of a Starfleet admiral's son, anyway..."

Thelin angrily pounded the tabletop with both fists. "What does he want?!"

"He just wants Genesis, my friend!" Darvin said brightly, spreading his palms outward. "That's all. Just a little friendly sharing of technology. After all, I hear it's just used for harmless terraforming...that's the story, anyway. I'm sure it couldn't possibly be just a front for a secret new Starfleet defense program."

Thelin looked away, fearing that the mere sight of the weasel seated before him would soon lead to an explosive loss of self-control. "What makes you think that either Kirk or I have any access to the project?"

"Don't play games with me, Thelin," Darvin said, a bit of seriousness creeping into his voice. "Kirk has been close to the project ever since the incident in the Mutara Nebula. That much we know. It won't be difficult for a Starfleet admiral to a.s.semble and deliver all of the scientific data regarding the Genesis program."

"Is that all?" Thelin asked glibly.

"Just that," Darvin replied, "plus a working prototype of the Genesis Device."

The Andorian snarled with rage. "Are you kidding? You want us to just hand over a weapon like that to the Klingons?!"

"A weapon? I never said anything about a weapon!" He let out a gasp, feigning shock with ridiculous insincerity. "Are you saying that Genesis is a weapon?"

In a blur of motion Thelin jumped to his feet and lunged across the table, knocking both gla.s.ses to the floor. In an instant he held Darvin by the throat. At the surrounding tables, a few heads turned in mild interest, but no one seemed to find the outburst at all remarkable. "I should snap your neck right now, you miserable shax," Thelin growled.

Darvin smiled widely, showing off his perfect surgically altered human teeth. "I know you should, Thelin." Then the corners of his mouth began to curl upward in a confrontational sneer, his eyes narrowed, and he whispered, "What you don't know is that I would love to see you try."

"I am a Starfleet captain," Thelin whispered back. "If I say that I killed you in self-defense, no one will question it."

"Yes, of course," Darvin replied, returning to his maddening congenial tone. "But unfortunately, Kruge is expecting my call within the next two hours. If he doesn't hear back with your acceptance of his terms, I'm afraid that poor David won't be coming home...alive."

Thelin felt his pulse pounding through all of his limbs. He vividly imagined Darvin's self-satisfied face with an ushaan-tor blade embedded in his forehead. But clearly the exiled Klingon was holding all the cards. If David's life was truly at stake, there was no choice but to accept these terms. Thelin unclasped his hands and sat back in his chair as Darvin calmly worked to straighten his collar. "When do we make the exchange?" Thelin asked resignedly.

"Ah! I knew you'd listen to reason." Darvin jumped to his feet and pushed in his chair. "I'll be in touch. Expect a message with the stardate and coordinates to rendezvous with Kruge's s.h.i.+p. If we all just cooperate, this can be nice and painless, right? Anyway, I truly enjoyed seeing you again."

With a wave, he turned and began maneuvering his way back through the crowd.

Thelin remained seated at the table for a very long time. He knew that Kirk had barely been able to cope with the knowledge that his son was dead. He wondered how Kirk would possibly cope now with the knowledge that he was alive.

4.

One by one, the images were downloaded via subs.p.a.ce transmission and appeared on Kirk's screen: blueprints, specifications, and technical doc.u.mentation on the Klingon B'rel-cla.s.s bird-of-prey. As he browsed through them, his demeanor visibly brightened. The last few days had been a nightmarish emotional roller coaster, driving Kirk into headstrong action without any second thought. His focus was solely upon David's welfare; the manner of the young man's liberation was an afterthought. But this new information would certainly put them in a much stronger position to accomplish that goal.

He reached out and pressed a few keys on his desktop terminal, bringing the video communication back onto the main screen. The face of a young Romulan woman reappeared, smiling, her long dark hair wrapped tightly into a tall pillar. "I hope you will find the information useful, Admiral," she said.

"Amba.s.sador Dar," Kirk said. "I cannot begin to express my deepest grat.i.tude. Hopefully this will help us to resolve the matter without creating an intragalactic incident."

"No grat.i.tude is necessary, Admiral," Caithlin Dar said from her office on Nimbus III. "When you informed me of Saavik's capture, my responsibility was clear. Please bring her and your son back safely."

"From your lips, Amba.s.sador."

"Jolan'tru."

The image was replaced by the Federation emblem, and Kirk quickly tapped a few additional b.u.t.tons, then waited for his new transmission to work its way through the subs.p.a.ce communications network. He sat back in his chair and slowly glanced around at the barren walls of his quarters aboard the Enterprise. He had cleared out all his personal possessions weeks ago, when the official announcement was made about the s.h.i.+p's decommissioning. Granted, he hadn't officially had quarters on the s.h.i.+p for years, ever since Thelin took over the captaincy. But he still felt at home there-a reflection of the fact that, in his heart, he had never truly given her up.

But now, his only personal effect in the room was a photograph of David.

After a few moments, the graceful features of Nyota Uhura's face appeared on the terminal viewscreen. "Commander!" Kirk warmly acknowledged her. "Is this channel secure?"

"Yes, Admiral," Uhura responded. "In fact, I'm piggybacking onto the control signals from several sensor buoys in your area. Starfleet won't be able to trace it; don't worry. What's your status?"

Kirk smiled. Uhura's communications skills were still held in high esteem, and he was lucky to have served with her so many years. "Steady as she goes, I guess. We should be nearing the DMZ around Klingon s.p.a.ce in a few hours. Are you going to be able to lie low until this blows over?"

"As a matter of fact, I'm now officially taking my leave, and unless they're on their way to arrest me, I plan to head out of San Francisco within the hour."

Kirk hoped she was joking. "I can't imagine they've discovered your involvement already. But...how is the buzz back at headquarters?"

"Rather interesting! After all, it's not every day that a decorated Starfleet admiral steals a stars.h.i.+p." Then her brow furrowed slightly. "But as it happens, they seem to have their hands full with some other crisis right now...Some sort of unidentified probe slowly approaching the Sol sector, and it's been disabling all outposts and stars.h.i.+ps in its path."

Kirk wondered at this odd news, but under the circ.u.mstances he had more pressing matters at hand. "Well, we'll keep this channel open. Please keep me informed. I..." He paused. His fragile emotional state was strained to the point of breaking; he merely wanted to express his grat.i.tude, but felt he could lose his composure at any moment. "I wanted to thank you again for your a.s.sistance. I wish there had been another way, but we couldn't bring Starfleet into this. The danger was too great."

"Admiral, your family is our family. I wouldn't have it any other way. The consequences are the least of my concerns."

Kirk averted his gaze. "Well...nonetheless, I'm grateful. And...very lucky to have such friends."

"G.o.dspeed, Jim. Uhura out."

"We are approaching the designated coordinates," Thelin announced from the science station. "Scans reveal no s.h.i.+ps in the vicinity."

Kirk fidgeted nervously in the captain's chair, and the rest of the skeleton crew on the Enterprise bridge seemed unusually apprehensive as well. This was no ordinary mission. Each of them had made a decision to risk his career in Starfleet so that Kirk's son might be saved-Thelin at the science station, Sulu and Chekov at the helm, and Scotty running a makes.h.i.+ft automation center from the operations consoles-and failure was not an option with so much at stake.

"No, they won't show up on scans," Kirk said. "Even the Klingons can't detect their own cloaked s.h.i.+ps. See if you can discover an ion plasma trail. If they're in the vicinity, the impulse engines will leave a signature."

"A needle in a haystack," grumbled Doctor McCoy, the final member of the tiny crew, seated at one of the rear tactical stations with a characteristically dour expression. Normally he would be in the sickbay, preparing for the worst possible consequences, but given that the rest of the s.h.i.+p was deserted, it was only natural that he would choose to remain on the bridge. "Coming out here to meet a s.h.i.+p we can't even see? We might as well have painted a bull's-eye on the hull."

"We know they can't fire on us while cloaked," Kirk a.s.sured him. "If we stay vigilant, we can still have a tactical advantage."

Thelin silently agreed, but acknowledged to himself the caveat that a stars.h.i.+p with just a fraction of its intended crew complement was in no condition to engage in battle. He reinitiated his scan with the new parameters. The data they had received on the new Klingon birds-of-prey had already proven useful. He only hoped it would be sufficient.

"We've reached the rendezvous point, Admiral," Chekov declared from the navigation station.

"Full stop, Mister Sulu," Kirk said.

"Aye, sir," Sulu replied. The hum of the impulse engines died away to a barely audible whirr.

A flas.h.i.+ng indicator on Thelin's console grabbed his attention. "I've got something," he announced. "It might just be some ionized gas, but it's at bearing twenty-four mark two-oh-one."

"On screen," Kirk said.

The starfield adjusted its position on the viewscreen. At the center of the image, a rippling distortion effect was visible among the solid points of light. Kirk stood up and walked toward the helm, pointing at the display. "There!" he said. "That s.h.i.+mmering area. Do you see it?"

"Yes, sir," Sulu responded. "I think it's an energy form."

"Enough energy to hide a s.h.i.+p, perhaps?" Kirk asked.

"The cloaking device!" Sulu answered.

"s.h.i.+elds up," Kirk commanded. "If nothing else, they aren't going to have the element of surprise."

The distortion upon the viewscreen grew more p.r.o.nounced until, within moments, it resolved into the image of a Klingon bird-of-prey. Thelin moved over to the communications console and read from the flas.h.i.+ng indicators on the display. "We are being hailed," he called out. "Audio only."

"Put it on speakers," Kirk said.

The s.h.i.+p's intercom crackled to life. "Stars.h.i.+p Enterprise," a voice, presumably that of Commander Kruge, rang out across the bridge. "How kind of you to drop by. I trust that we have a business transaction to conduct."

"Open a channel," Kirk coldly growled.

"Channel open," Thelin replied.

"Klingon commander!" Kirk shouted. "This is Admiral James Kirk of the Federation Stars.h.i.+p Enterprise. We are here to retrieve two Federation citizens who you have illegally kidnapped, and are holding in violation of the terms of the Organian Peace Treaty."

"Do not speak to me of treaty violations, Kirk!" Kruge shouted back. "The Federation showed its willingness to compromise the terms of the treaty when you created the Genesis weapon. We act only to protect our race."

"You are mistaken," Kirk replied. "The Genesis technology is entirely peaceful. Its sole purpose is for climate modification and to prepare uninhabitable planets for colonization."

"Excellent," Kruge said. "In that case, you should have no problem sharing this technology as a token of intragalactic goodwill. You know my terms. You will turn over all data on Genesis, and you will supply a working prototype of the Genesis torpedo. When we are convinced that you have acted in good faith to preserve galactic peace, we will release the prisoners to you."

"I want to speak to them," Kirk said firmly. "I want a.s.surances that they're all right."

"Stand by," Kruge said with annoyance. "Brig! Patch your communicators into subs.p.a.ce channel one. Let the prisoners speak."

They waited a few anxious moments while treated to the sounds of forcefields being released and bodies being shuffled about. Finally a Klingon voice, presumably one of the guards, was heard. "Speak!"

A pause. Then a voice was heard-shaking, hollow, sounding as if any pretense of hope had long since been abandoned. "Uh...this is Doctor David Marcus of the Federation."

Kirk slowly stood. He stared ahead at nothing, as if trying to envision the face of his son. "David? It's Jim Kirk."

"Oh, hey," David replied. "So they sent out the top bra.s.s, huh?"

"David...I would never leave you behind. I came as soon as I knew. Have they...have they treated you well?"

"I'm okay...We've spent most of the last two months on Praxis, the Klingon moon. Not really my first choice for a vacation...The food kinda sucks."

Kirk grinned weakly. Further sounds of movement were heard over the speakers, and then the guard spoke again. "Speak!"

"Admiral, this is Saavik of Vulcan."

"Saavik," Kirk said. "How are you holding up?"

"I am fine, sir. And David's injuries are healing, though some posttraumatic stress remains in evidence."

"Injuries?!" Kirk exclaimed. "What injuries? What did they do?"

"Enough talking," Kruge interrupted. "If you want the hostages released, you will agree to my terms."

"What the h.e.l.l did you do to my son, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d?!" Kirk shouted.

"You will transmit your files on Genesis within the next thirty seconds. If you do not comply, I will kill one of the hostages."

"All right, dammit, just hold on." Kirk made a cutting motion across his neck with his hand, and Thelin, understanding the signal, interrupted the communication. "Thelin, you know what to do. Begin transmitting."

"Aye, sir," the Andorian responded. He flipped a switch, and the file transfer began. At the same time, interleaved on the same frequency, he initiated a bio-scan for life signs on the Klingon vessel. The surrept.i.tious nature of the scan meant that it would not be detected unless their adversaries were specifically monitoring for such a ploy.

Within seconds he had his results. "I have them, Admiral. Two life signs in the brig on the lower deck-one human, one Vulcan. I'm feeding the precise coordinates to Mister Scott's screen. As soon as the Klingons drop their s.h.i.+elds for us to transport the torpedo, he can transport the hostages out of there."

"Good work, Thelin," Kirk said excitedly.