Strange New Worlds VIII Page 5

  Chekov whooped in excitement. “Nice move, Sulu!”

  “Prepare to go to warp on my order, Sulu,” Kirk ordered. “We—”

  “Captain,” Chekov cut in, eyes wide, “look at the Klingon vessel!”

  Kirk watched in stunned silence as the cruiser, struck by the energy of three photon torpedoes, slowly emerged from the fading explosions—totally unscathed.

  “Spock,” Kirk asked, “why the hell wasn’t that ship destroyed?”

  The Vulcan wore his usual mask of nonemotion, but Kirk could tell he was taken aback. “Unknown, Captain. Besides being undetectable to our sensors, it appears to possess superior shielding.”

  “Sulu.” Kirk turned back to his helmsman. “Get us out of here, maximum warp, before all four ships regroup and come at us again.”

  “Fascinating,” Spock stated calmly as he stared into his viewer. “Captain, the second group of Klingon cruisers is ignoring us,”—he looked at Kirk—“and they are continuing to fire on the first vessel.”

  “Belay that last order, Sulu.” Kirk turned and watched the battle raging between the four cruisers. What the hell are they doing? he wondered. “Sulu, put some distance between us and the Klingons. I want to see what they’re up to out there.”

  “Aye, sir,” answered the helmsman as the ship moved off.

  Resting his chin on his right knuckles, Kirk studied the main viewer. “Looks like we weren’t the target in the first place. Apparently they were aiming at the other battle cruiser and we were just in the way.”

  Spock stepped down onto the command level and stood next to the captain’s chair. “It would appear so.”

  “But . . . why fire on their own ship?” Kirk mused. “Could the original vessel be a deserter? What would make a Klingon vessel risk entering Federation space?”

  “Or, more pertinent,” added Spock, “what would compel three more Klingon vessels to enter Federation territory to intercept the first one?”

  Kirk turned to Uhura. “Lieutenant, contact Starfleet and inform them of our situation. Request reinforcements, and tell them we’re staying put to determine what we’re facing.” He then turned back to the main screen. “All right, Spock, as you are so fond of saying, without hard facts our sitting here and guessing is just a waste of time. Right?”

  Spock cocked his left eyebrow. “Not exactly how I would phrase it, Captain, but essentially that is correct.”

  “Well, let’s see what we can do about acquiring some hard facts. Uhura, hail the other Klingon vessels. Let’s see if one of them is willing to talk.”

  “Channel open, Captain.”

  Taking a breath, Kirk began. “Attention, Klingon vessels, this is Captain James T. Kir—”

  “Federation vessel!” A deep, growling voice suddenly erupted from the com. “This is no concern of yours! Do not interfere!”

  Both Kirk and Spock raised their eyebrows that time. The captain began to reply; then the channel went dead.

  “Well . . . that was rude,” commented Uhura.

  “And very interesting,” added Kirk. “They’re totally focused on that other cruiser and ignoring us. What the hell is on that ship?”

  “Fascinating.” Spock pointed toward the screen. “Captain, the three cruisers are all suffering substantial damage, yet the original vessel is still unharmed.”

  Kirk watched the group of Klingon cruisers circle the first vessel, continuously firing disruptors and torpedoes. Spock was right. The first vessel continued to move forward without so much as a scratch. He must have been correct about the advanced level of their shielding.

  Then Kirk noticed something else odd. “Spock, most of their shots are missing entirely.”

  “I noticed that, too, Captain. It appears the vessel may be invisible to their sensors as well.”

  “Their targeting computers can’t lock on,” Kirk said as he realized it, “which means they’re aiming weapons manually. The way those ships are circling wildly, it’s amazing they’re hitting anything at all.”

  He was about to comment on the fact that the first cruiser had yet to retaliate when it suddenly opened fire on the other ships. Yet, rather than standard Klingon-issue weaponry, it launched what looked like glowing cerulean spheres of energy—and they were having no problem at all finding their targets.

  “What . . . is . . . that?” asked Sulu.

  A sphere struck one of the attacking cruisers head-on. Its shields held, but judging by the violent way the ship vibrated, Kirk imagined it must have suffered considerable internal damage.

  “Unknown,” Spock answered after returning to his station. “Sensors cannot detect the weaponry either.”

  Chekov turned to them. “Could this be some kind of test run for a Klingon prototype vessel?”

  “Not likely,” replied Spock. “I do not think even the Klingons would destroy three of their own cruisers for the sake of a test.”

  Kirk nodded. “They also wouldn’t be testing in Federation space. It could still be a prototype, though. Stolen by someone else, perhaps? A defector . . . or an ally of the Federation attempting to deliver the ship to us.”

  Spock arched his eyebrow as he considered the suggestion. “Perhaps. It is logical the Klingons would prefer to destroy the ship rather than let Starfleet take possession of it.”

  Chekov suddenly adjusted his sensors. “Captain, one of the attacking vessels has lost its shields!”

  All eyes turned to the screen as a Klingon cruiser veered away from the battle, arches of energy cascading from its nacelles.

  “They have just lost their warp-containment field,” warned Spock. “A warp-core explosion is imminent.”

  “Back us off, Sulu!” ordered Kirk. “Full impul—”

  A blinding flash of white light filled the main viewer. Kirk covered his eyes until the screen dimmed automatically to compensate for the sudden brightness.

  “The cruiser has exploded,” announced Spock, “and it has destroyed the other two Klingon vessels as well.”

  “Shock wave approaching, Captain!” Chekov warned as he grabbed the edges of his console.

  Kirk slammed his fist against his armrest console, activating intraship communications. “All hands! Brace for impact—”

  Then it hit.

  Like a monstrous hand slamming against the hull, the shockwave literally pushed the Enterprise sideways. Everyone, including Spock, was thrown to the deck. Sparks erupted from various points around the bridge as the ship’s systems overloaded. Immediately the automatic fire-containment system kicked in and extinguished any flames. The bridge lights suddenly dimmed, then brightened again as emergency systems took over.

  Finally, everyone managed to climb back into their seats. A moment later, Spock reported that the shockwave was dissipating.

  “Damage report,” called Kirk.

  Before anyone could reply, Chekov cried out, “Captain, the Klingon vessel has fired on us!”

  Kirk watched as another powerful sphere of energy sped toward them. In the milliseconds it took Kirk to formulate an order, it had already filled half the screen.

  Surrounded by the red handrail, Kirk sometimes felt like the center of the universe. At that moment, he felt like the center of a target. “Evasive, Mister Sulu!”

  But the sphere hit faster than Sulu could react—and it was worse than the shockwave. Once again, everyone on the bridge fell to the deck.

  “All right,” said Kirk, climbing into his chair, “that answers the question of whether or not they’re allies. Sulu, fire phasers. Best guess on targeting.”

  Twin shafts of phased energy cut across space toward the Klingon vessel—and missed. Immediately, Sulu fired again. That time he struck the ship, but the beams merely deflected off the hull.

  “Arm photon torpedoes,” ordered Kirk. “Fire!”

  The moment the torpedoes left the ship, Chekov called out, “Vessel is firing again!”

  Kirk watched as another deadly sphere shot from of the cruiser. It enveloped and dest
royed the photon torpedoes, then struck the Enterprise head-on. Chaos erupted as sparks flew from several consoles.

  “Shields at nineteen percent, Captain,” reported Spock. “One more hit and we will lose them.”

  As if on cue, the Klingon vessel fired again. The cruiser had managed to move closer to the Enterprise, so the weapon struck before the crew could prepare itself.

  This time Kirk was thrown over his left armrest, and he let out a grunt as his head struck the deck. Ignoring the pain, he pulled himself to his feet.

  Spock, somehow still in his seat, turned to Kirk. “Shields are down, Captain.”

  Suddenly, the science station went wild as the computer beeped and lights flashed at an incredible rate.

  “What’s happening?” asked Kirk, moving to his first officer’s side.

  Spock quickly entered several commands. “Someone has accessed the main computer.”

  “Who? And how?”

  “Unknown. They are attempting to take control of it. If they do—”

  “—they’ll have total command of the ship!” finished Kirk. “Shut them out!”

  “I am attempting to do so,” replied Spock, “But, I am not—”

  “Captain!”

  Kirk turned at the urgent sound of Sulu’s voice.

  “Impulse engines have just shut down. We’re drifting.”

  Jumping down to his chair, Kirk punched the com button. “Kirk to engineering . . . ”

  This time Chekov interrupted. “Captain, the Klingon cruiser is still moving forward, and we are directly in its path! If we do not move—”

  “Scotty!” Kirk yelled as he watched the vulture-like vessel on screen looming closer. “What happened to the impulse engines? We need power up here—NOW!”

  “Captain,” Scott’s burly voice boomed from the com, “everything’s gone to hell down here! Nothing’s responding to our commands! It’s as if the ship is acting on her own!”

  “Can you get shields back up?”

  “I can’t do anything until computers are back online.”

  “Keep working on it, Scotty. Kirk out.” With a single step Kirk moved next to Chekov. “Can we fire torpedoes?”

  The young Russian lifted his hands in frustration. “No, sir. I can’t arm phasers or torpedoes.”

  Kirk straightened and watched the cruiser as it drew even closer. Another few seconds and they would be nothing but tiny pieces of debris floating in space. “Well, if anyone has any suggestions, now would be the time to—”

  The bridge suddenly shuddered as a sphere of cerulean energy shot forth. Not from the Klingon ship—but from the Enterprise herself.

  “Did that just come from us?” Kirk exclaimed.

  Seconds later it struck the Klingon vessel—and the battle cruiser exploded. The explosion blossomed outward toward Enterprise.

  “Brace for impact!” Kirk warned. But rather than with another bone-jarring collision, the shockwave hit with barely a tremble. Confused, the captain looked at Spock.

  What he saw was the science console explode—or rather, a swirling tendril of cerulean energy as thick as a man’s arm suddenly erupt out of the panel and envelop Spock.

  Immediately, Kirk ran toward his first officer but was forced to stop a few feet away, held back by the heat emanating from the energy. He stared in horror at Spock, who was surrounded by a cocoon of electrical energy. It was the same type of energy launched by the Klingon ship.

  “Spock!” Kirk yelled.

  Spock couldn’t answer. His entire body spasmed violently, his face a mask of sheer pain. Barely a minute passed, when the Vulcan was thrown over the handrail and across the bridge. With a sickening thud, he hit the deck to the right of navigation.

  Chekov and Sulu, already on their feet, quickly bent down to help. A moment later Kirk was there, as well. Behind him he heard Uhura say, “Bridge to sickbay! Medical emergency!”

  The captain knelt by Spock’s body. He was shocked to see his eyes were open. Spock was alive. Barely, but still alive. His face and clothes were burned. Kirk could tell he was still in severe pain, but true to the Vulcan way, he refused to show it.

  “Captain . . . ” Spock gasped, his voice hollow.

  “Save your strength. Help is on the way.”

  “No . . . time . . . ” the Vulcan insisted, his left hand grabbing Kirk’s right arm. “Listen . . . to me. The energy . . . that struck the ship . . . is a . . . living . . . being.”

  “Living? How do you know, Spock?”

  “I . . . felt it . . . in my . . . mind. It is . . . sentient . . . but hostile. . . . It craves only . . . death and . . . destruction.” Spock erupted into a fit of hacking coughs. Drops of green blood spewed from his mouth and speckled the front of Kirk’s gold tunic. “The . . . entity . . . has taken control . . . of . . . ship . . . .”

  “Why?”

  “It needs . . . warp engines . . . . Klingon cruiser was . . . damaged. . . . No warp . . . . Entity . . . needs . . . starship . . . with warp to travel . . . vast distances.”

  Kirk understood what was happening. “So it left the Klingon vessel and entered the Enterprise.”

  Spock seemed to nod in confirmation, but Kirk wasn’t sure if it was a nod or a shudder. “Now . . . it has . . . warp . . . and . . . access to our . . . database . . . and . . . the location . . . of . . . ”

  Eyes widening, Kirk whispered in alarm, “Earth . . . and other planets in the Federation. With its power it could tear a path through the galaxy. Is there anything we can do to stop it?”

  Spock shook his head. “It is . . . too powerful . . . .” More coughing. Then his eyes widened slightly and looked off. Staring, yet not seeing.

  “Spock, what is this thing?” Kirk asked. “What has control of my ship?”

  Leaning closer, the captain heard his friend utter one final word: “Veqlargh . . . ”

  Then with a subtle gasp, Spock slumped in his arms. Kirk stared at him in shock. “Spock?”

  Seconds later the turbolift doors whisked open and McCoy rushed out, followed by a medical team.

  “My . . . God,” McCoy whispered when he saw Spock’s torn, beaten body. Kneeling, he waved his medical tricorder over him, but it was too late. He was dead.

  Sighing deeply, he lowered his head in a moment of respect and loss. Then he gently placed his hand on Kirk’s shoulder. “Jim . . . what happened?”

  Kirk lowered Spock’s body onto the deck. “We’ve been invaded by something from that Klingon vessel. It attacked Spock . . . and killed him.” He slowly rose and stared down at his friend. “Take good care of him, Bones.”

  “You know I will, Jim.”

  The captain took a deep breath and stepped away as the medical team carried Spock toward the turbolift. Once the doors slid shut, he squared his shoulders and cleared his throat. “I know Mister Spock meant a great deal to everyone here, just as he did to me. But we still have a job to do. Everyone . . . back to your stations.”

  Sulu and Chekov, eyes hollow, sat at their consoles. Uhura seemed to have a harder time holding back her grief, but soon regained her composure.

  Kirk walked over to the communications station. “Uhura, Spock said something . . . a word I’ve never heard before. ‘Veqlargh.’ Is that Vulcan?”

  “I’ve heard it before, sir. It isn’t Vulcan. It’s Klingon. Roughly translated it means . . . demon.”

  “Demon?” Kirk repeated, then shook his head. “Sorry, that damn thing is no demon. It’s probably just a term it heard from the Klingons when it took over their ship.”

  “Captain!” cried Sulu. “We’ve changed course—and we’ve just increased our warp speed!”

  Rushing to his chair, Kirk saw the stars streaking past onscreen. “Heading?”

  Chekov looked toward Kirk, eyes wide. “Earth.”

  Nodding gravely, the captain reached to press his com button, then stopped when it whistled. He punched it. “Kirk here.”

  “Captain.” It was Scotty’s angered voice. “Some
kind of . . . force appeared in engineering a moment ago and blocked us from our consoles. A few seconds later we jumped to warp.”

  “I know, Scotty. We’ve been boarded by a hostile alien entity. We’re no longer in control of the Enterprise. It’s set course for Earth, but we can’t let it get there. Is there any way you can shut down the warp engines?”

  “Shut them down?” Scotty cried out, his brogue more pronounced than usual. “Sir, we can’t even get near them! Two of my men were killed trying to access the computers!”

  Kirk gritted his teeth. More deaths. “All right, you and your men get out of there. I’ll get back to you.” He clicked the com button. “Chekov, how long until we reach Earth?”

  “Twenty-point-five hours, sir.”

  “Uhura, can we still send subspace messages?”

  “No, sir. All outgoing communications are down.”

  Damn, Kirk thought. No helm, no weapons, and now no communications. That means we’ll hit Earth without any warning. And no telling what kind of damage the alien can do once it gets there. It’s powerful, invisible to sensors, and indestructible.

  “Sir, last reports stated that the Kennedy and the Potemkin are docked at Earth,” said Uhura. “When Jupiter Station sensors pick us up, they’ll send a standard greeting. If we don’t answer, they’ll know something is wrong and intercept us long before we reach Earth. Can’t they stop us?”

  “You saw what the entity did to the Klingon cruisers, Lieutenant. I don’t imagine it would have much trouble fending off Starfleet vessels as well. Or worse. What if it possesses them like it did Enterprise? It would have three starships under its control.”

  “Captain,” said Sulu, “we don’t know if it can possess more than one ship at a time.”

  “And we don’t know that it can’t,” Kirk replied. “We don’t know anything about it . . . except for what Mister Spock told us.” He paused, fighting the urge to glance at the destroyed science station. “So, it’s up to us to stop it before it reaches Earth.”

  “But how, sir?” asked Chekov.