Before Destruction! Page 6

  by the time you are ready to leave."

  "Thank you, Ensign," said Kirk as he observed various crewmen

  briskly walking through the corridors. "How much damage did you

  sustain passing through the concussion wave?"

  "Minimal, Sir. We shut down sensors before we neared the

  system, per your instructions. The initial force had time to

  diminish and the asteroids had spread out enough to permit safe

  passage. Though how you made it through must have been a miracle."

  "Very likely," smiled the Captain. He was proud of the

  performance of his crew. Always beating the odds. As crews went, he

  believed he had the best, but sometimes he could not help but

  think that it had to be more than human effort and chance that they

  had been so fortunate in their many times of trouble.

  "In here, Sirs." The door opened to a conference room. Jim

  and Spock entered, trailed by the ensign. They were greeted by a

  short and stocky man. Troy Hamill was his name, Captain of the USS

  Javelin.

  "Welcome aboard, Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock. I'll make the

  introductions, then take my leave." Behind Captain Hamill,

  standing next to a broad table of rare black Diri wood, stood two

  men. The first, a tall silver-haired man with strong chiseled

  features, wearing Commodore's braids and insignia. Jim recognized

  this man as Commodore Stormcloud. Captain Hamill introduced him.

  He saluted in rigid military fashion. Jim and Spock responded

  accordingly. The second man was unknown to Jim. He was introduced

  as Lieutenant Reudolpho Grensk. Grensk was slightly shorter than

  the Commodore, but equally as formal in his military dress and

  mannerisms.

  Jim knew, on the spot, that the proceedings would adhere to

  stiff military form. Little or no informal pleasantries.

  Something told him that further-reaching ramifications had occurred

  PAGE 30

  than just the loss of Elba II.

  "I'll be on the bridge, Commodore, gentlemen." he saluted

  then exited the room, followed by the ensign who had been escort to

  Kirk and Spock.

  "Captain Kirk, Commander Spock, be seated," ordered Commodore

  Stormcloud. He glanced down to the ebony table and spoke to the

  console embedded in it. "Computer on," he said, as both he and the

  lieutenant sat. "Recorder on," he added.

  "Recorder on," spoke the computer, whose digitized voice

  reminded Jim of the Enterprise's head nurse.

  "Let the record show that I, Nathanial P. Stormcloud,

  security clearance Alpha-Alpha-Beta, open this inquiry and

  temporarily extend the aforementioned clearance to all in this

  room. Proceed with scan verification."

  The center of the table showed no seam; it looked as if it had

  always been a single sheet of dark wood. A moment later a split

  appeared in the center, revealing a set of doors. The doors parted

  and out came a scanning armature that rose up to the Commodore's

  eye level. A beam of low intensity laser light emitted from the

  scanner, and began recording the retina pattern of his right eye,

  cross-referencing and verifying that it was indeed, Commodore

  Nathanial P. Stormcloud who issued the command.

  "Verification complete. 99.8 percent accuracy," it stated.

  The armature then scanned the entire room, noting only three other

  officers present. It followed the same procedures as before. Each

  officer stated his name and received the proper verification.

  "Security clearances altered according to command," it stated,

  then folded itself up and closed the doors behind it, becoming a

  seamless tabletop once again.

  "Captain Kirk," began Stormcloud, "recount for the record, the

  events from first receiving the distress signal, to our arrival.

  Include a summary of all communications to and from the USS

  Enterprise."

  Jim sighed to himself. This was the part of being the Captain

  of a Starship that he liked the least.

  Stormcloud stared at the Captain with a firm gaze throughout

  the entire debriefing, only looking down at his monitor to confirm

  the given times of messages passed and received. Spock noted his

  lack of emotion, as the Captain spoke, and inwardly paid his

  respects to the man.

  One hour and ten minutes later the Captain ended with, as

  requested, the arrival of Javelin. He was relieved to reach the

  end of the tale, not liking to speak for extended periods of time,

  and weary from consciously trying to omit unnecessary information,

  to expedite the monologue.

  PAGE 31

  "Is there anything you wish to add, Captain Kirk?" asked

  Stormcloud.

  "Yes, an observation if I may." There was no response from

  the Commodore, so Jim took it as permission given. "By certain

  appearances, this incident would seem to go deeper than just a

  'Grade 4' disaster, which by the evidence, a 4 is all it warrants."

  "Continue, Captain. Except for tight beam transmissions

  directly to you, you have been 'incommunicado' due to the

  disturbances caused by the disaster. What impresses you to think

  that it is more serious than your data states."

  "You do, Sir," spoke the Captain rather boldly. "You are the

  highest ranking intelligence officer in the fleet. Since our

  'theft' of the Romulan Cloaking Device, Starfleet has been gearing

  up for imminent invasion. 'Taskforce Rihanshu', headed by you, if

  I remember correctly, is priority one."

  "I assume that your point is 'why wouldn't I send someone else

  in my place if this situation was less than a grade one priority.'"

  A nod from Jim and a raised eyebrow from Spock spoke the

  affirmative in place of words. Even the computer recorded it as a

  'yes'.

  "Perhaps you consider me to be of more importance than, in

  reality, I am," Stormcloud offered the Captain.

  "Commodore Stormcloud," Spock entered the conversation, "you

  are next in line for the Admiralty. I estimate the odds are above

  90 percent that you will attain that rank within the next six

  months."

  "Thank you for the vote of confidence, Mister Spock. You are

  probably correct, as are you, Captain." His tough Military facade

  lessened a bit. "Gentlemen, I intended for you to see this a

  little later, however, you are now cleared and your suspicions are

  well founded." He pressed a button on the console in front of him.

  The lights dimmed. "Computer, run tape 7773T on wall viewer."

  "Waiting," spoke the feminine voice of the computer.

  "Now, blast it!", responded the Commodore.

  "Password accepted; vocoder verified." Then the computer was

  silent.

  "Regular passwords can be forgotten and are less satisfying,"

  Stormcloud commented as the viewer came to life displaying a

  tranquil starscape. Chronometer readings, spatial coordinates and

  ship's heading were computer superimposed in the lower left hand

  corner and the Starfleet insignia, bearing the ship's name

  'Schwarzkopf' at the lower right. The blackness of space, speckled

  with white transformed instantly, completely, to a brillia
nt white,

  then faded slowly back to its original view. Then the star scene

  PAGE 32

  began to shake violently, as if a cameraman had been taking

  pictures of the stars while riding a bucking bronco.

  "What you see is not a recording error gentlemen." The

  Commodore pressed the pause button on his console. "It is an

  explosion of like magnitude as the one that destroyed Elba II.

  This one took place nearly 5 standard hours later than Elba's, on

  the border of the Klingon Neutral Zone. The vessel that fired the

  weapon destroyed the outpost that was attempting to prevent it's

  crossover."

  "About the weapon," Jim began, "did it give the same energy

  readings as the ones we picked up?"

  "The very same, and I'll bet you have already deciphered the

  energy pattern and recognize its signature."

  "The Garth Explosive," Jim responded. "We determined that it

  was the cause, but we thought it had all been destroyed in the

  initial explosion. Was there any more of the substance at another

  location where it could have been stolen?"

  "With the exception of a few grams, it was stored in it's

  entirety on Elba, in Cory's vaults. The smallest of grains

  removed from the planet has been accounted for and it certainly was

  not common knowledge that the substance even existed."

  "If I may, Sir," Spock interposed, "espionage is the most

  effective weapon in any 'cold' war. It is illogical to assume any

  secret is completely secure."

  "Quite correct, Mr. Spock. It is highly possible that the

  Federation's security has been compromised and that our enemies are

  'in the know'. But Elba was the only place where any significant

  quantity could be obtained. Although the components of the

  explosive had been determined, the proportional formula was never

  ascertained due to its complexity and instability. Two of our top

  scientists died in the first of attempts to replicate it. They

  were painstakingly careful in every stage of their work, but when

  they only had two thirds of the components in the mixture, it

  exploded, killing them both, destroying their notes."

  Stormcloud cleared his throat and continued. "In the second

  series of tests, remote transporters were used in hopes that a 'pad

  to pad' beam would give us the formula breakdown in the computer

  transit control. However, upon beaming, the substance's unstable

  properties caused a core skip in the first transporter pad. Thus

  after successfully transmitting the particle, the pad tried to beam

  itself, which it naturally could not quite do. It did manage to

  begin the beaming process, causing its own molecules to drift,

  unravel and most of it finally turned to dust. The second pad, in

  trying to reassemble the particle, simply shorted out and never

  gave us any information, other than to stop using transporters in

  the research."

  Jim refrained from smiling, though with some effort. He

  PAGE 33

  momentarily thought of how Bones would enjoy seeing a transporter

  destroy itself without endangering human lives. "The hostile

  vessel headed into the neutral zone then?" he asked, letting the

  gravity of the situation sink back in.

  "Schwarzkopf's scanners could not penetrate the energy wave to

  confirm it, but we are certain that it did. Our sources have

  informed us of heavy Klingon activity across the border,

  immediately after the incident, and it is reported by our

  operatives across the 'zone' that the Klingonese Emperor and his

  royal armada are leaving Klinzhai for a quadrant very near the

  zone. I for one do not believe in coincidences. What I do believe

  is that the Klingons are preparing for a major offensive strike.

  There is one question that remains a complete mystery to us."

  "I, Sir, can think of several," Spock interjected. "Not the

  least of which is 'If there was Klingon involvement in these

  incidents of destruction, why has Organia remained silent?'"

  "Why indeed, Mr. Spock. Considering that it was they who

  forced both our Federation and the Klingon Empire to cease any form

  of aggression, or risk their unwanted intervention." The

  Commodore's voice intensified, making his feelings about the

  Organians plain. "We are now restricted by them from rightfully

  deploying a great amount of our defensive weaponry. We are barred

  from any first strike capability or retaliatory engagement. In

  short, we are at the mercy of a race of beings whom we know nothing

  about!" His anger toward the Organians took Kirk by surprise.

  "Commodore," the Captain spoke in defense of them, "mercy

  seems to be the very reason for their intervention. As you know,

  Sir, I was there when it happened." The Captain placed both hands

  on the table and rose, never breaking his eye contact with his

  superior. "If you remember, we were at war. It was our fault that

  Organia was stuck in the middle of it." Jim easily remembered the

  circumstances of their 'first contact' with the aliens in question.

  "For all the Federation's good intentions, we brought our conflict."

  Jim momentarily reflected, "I brought our conflict with the

  Klingons to their innocent planet, which would have been destroyed,

  along with countless other civilizations, and possibly brought the

  downfall of both Empire and Federation." The Commodore's brow

  furrowed in anger, but Jim did not let that stop him. "Had not the

  Organians proven their benevolence by the use of their power, we

  might not be alive to debate their intentions."

  "We are not here to debate their intentions Captain, and

  though you had been the first in the Federation to make official

  contact with them, I hardly see how you qualify as an expert on

  the subject of what motivates them and why!" the Commodore fumed.

  "With all due respect," spoke the Enterprise's only Vulcan,

  "the Captain is quite correct when pointing out the nobility

  evidenced by the Organians. Their act was one of complete

  impartiality. Their goal was peace." Spock bridged the tips of

  his fingers together. "In discerning the nature of anyone's

  motives, one must weigh the words spoken with the deeds performed,

  PAGE 34

  and consider what is to be gained by the one being scrutinized.

  Their words were complemented by their actions and the only thing

  gained was an end to the conflict. The gain was ours."

  "Wrong, Mr. Spock," the large man narrowed his eyes at the

  science officer. "Control, not peace was achieved. Since the

  incident we have heard 'Peace!', 'Peace!', when there is no peace.

  We do not coexist with the Klingons by any mutual agreement of our

  own wishes. This peace you speak of is nothing of the kind. We

  and the Klingons are under control, by a race of beings whose power

  is thrust upon us, against our will!" he said, spitefully, to the

  Vulcan. "We do know this fact, Mr. Spock, that when the Klingons

  appeared on Organia, the inhabitants were quick to abide by all

  laws imposed on them and assured the enemy of complete cooperation.

  You and your Captain ev
en tried to persuade them to resist Klingon

  rule and they ignored you. I do not hold with your opinion of

  their benevolence nor impartiality. I believe they merely used

  their power to postpone our conflict until it suited their

  purposes."

  Jim Kirk understood the Commodore's point of view. It was a

  valid argument in part, yet made no room for the gratitude that

  was due to Organia for preventing the largest war this galaxy had

  ever faced. His attention shifted from his superior, to the silent

  Lieutenant Grensk. Something about the lieutenant made Kirk

  uneasy. 'His eyes', Jim thought. His eyes remained open,

  unblinking for much longer than Jim would feel comfortable. Then

  a slower than normal blink, and open once again. If Grensk's

  attention was not constantly shifting from Spock and himself, he'd

  swear the man had been heavily sedated.

  "I submit that the argument is moot, Commodore," Spock stated

  evenly. "Regardless of Organia's rationale, there is nothing the

  Federation and Klingon Empire can do to alter the situation. As

  long as Organia enforces the treaty, we are able to do nothing but

  adhere to it."

  "Then why, Mr. Spock," Stormcloud's voice, still bitter, "does

  the Klingon Empire violate the treaty without Organian Reprisal?

  We have been lulled to sleep with words of peace, only to find, and

  possibly too late, the treacherous intentions of these so-called

  'Angels of Mercy'!"

  "There is no conclusive evidence of that, and every one of us

  here knows it," cut in Kirk, trying to take the heat off his First

  Officer. "There are many possibilities. You above all should know