Work Text:
Captain's Log, Stardate 6323.2 We are entering a new sector, one which I would just as soon avoid. The continuing quarrel between the Klingons and the Orions has apparently escalated into a war on the planet Trandor. Although our current patrolling assignment on the fringes of Federation space brings us near Trandor, we are planning to give the planet a wide berth.
"Almost a shame ve von't get a chance to wisit the local hot spot, sir," said Chekov wistfully.
Kirk smiled at the impetuous junior officer. "Once you've been in a few real battles, Chekov, you'll learn to appreciate the quiet life."
"Captain," said Lieutenant Uhura, "I'm receiving a long-distance transmission. It's Trandor, sir!"
"Put it on audio, Lieutenant."
"Attention, attention. Any neutral vessel, please respond. This is a joint message from the Klingon and Orion forces on Trandor. We have an emergency situation. Severe magnetic storms have damaged both our ships. A temporary truce has been arranged on the planet's surface. Request assistance and mediation. Neutral vessel, please respond. Repeat, neutral vessel, please respond."
Uhura switched off the sound. "The message repeats, Captain."
Kirk nodded. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Opinions, everyone?"
"'Neutral wessel', indeed," scoffed Chekov. "They know ve are out here."
Uhura nodded. "It wasn't a tight-beam transmission, but it was aimed in our direction."
"Yeah, but maybe they really need help," argued Sulu. "We know they're both suffering heavy losses."
"Then let's leave them alone," suggested Chekov. "They kill each other off and ve have no more problems with either of them!"
"A singularly cold-blooded attitude, Mr. Chekov," said Spock. "It is illogical to refuse to advance peace in the galaxy."
"Then you think we should respond, Mr. Spock?" asked Kirk.
"That is my recommendation. However, I suggest we proceed with caution."
"Agreed," said Kirk. "Thank you all for your input. Chekov, plot in a course for Trandor. Uhura, continue to monitor all frequencies, but maintain radio silence. And call the senior officers to the briefing room."
"Aye aye, Captain."
The debate in the briefing room was intense, but Spock's last point was the most telling. "One fact which we are ignoring, gentlemen," said Spock, "is the fact that this planet is not an island. At present, we are fortunate that the hostilities have been confined to Trandor, but this situation is not likely to continue. If there is a clear victor, the side that wins is likely to use the planet as a base for further incursions. In the event of a stalemate, the war is likely to spill over into neighboring systems. I too fear the possibility of duplicity, but their vulnerability gives us a rare opportunity to prevent a major catastrophe at the source."
Captain's Log, Stardate 6323.8 We are now approaching Trandor, site of the Klingon-Orion hostilities. At present there is one Orion ship and one Klingon ship in orbit around the planet, and there appear to be a large number of ground troops on the planet. We have decided to respond to the joint request for mediation, and have agreed to beam down to a neutral spot.
McCoy was grumbling as they entered the transporter room. "This is a job for an Ambassador or a Commissioner. I don't see what we're doing here."
"Both the Klingons and the Orions exhibit a marked disdain for such officials, Doctor," Spock remarked. "Moreover, both sides respect us as honorable adversaries and prefer our presence to that of an embassy."
"I'm a doctor, not a diplomat!"
Kirk chuckled. "Considering some of the diplomats we've had to deal with, Bones, I'd say that's a good thing!" They mounted the transporter platform. "Energize."
They materialized in a large gray chamber dominated by a meeting table. But only Klingons were seated there. One rose as the Enterprise group materialized. "Welcome to the Klingon Empire, Captain Kirk." Kirk looked around to see armed Klingon guards all around them. He and his men had walked into a trap.
"You really don't think you can get away with this--" Kirk began angrily.
The Klingon continued as if Kirk had not spoken. "I am Commander Kesh, military governor of this planet. I must say that our little ruse has worked better than I expected. Three top officers from the Enterprise!" He rubbed his hands together and grinned wolfishly.
"Are the Orions also in on this ruse, Commander?" asked Spock.
"In a manner of speaking. We--you might say--collaborated for a time. It was actually their idea. The damage to the ships is quite real. But as you can see, our ground forces are more than adequate. We went along with the Orions' little game long enough to develop some modifications to our weaponry; when we had refined the sonic disruptor to penetrate the Orion personal force-shields we dissolved the temporary alliance." He smiled faintly. "As well as a few Orion emissaries."
"My, aren't we satisfied with ourselves!" McCoy commented.
"Shut up, Bones. Kesh, you must know that the Federation will be down on you like nobody's business when they find out we've been kidnapped."
"Oh, I know that, Captain. In fact, I'm counting on it! We'll give the Enterprise every assistance in recovering you from your Orion captors, in exchange for Federation assistance against them." He motioned to a couple of guards who came and stood on either side of the men from the Enterprise. Kirk noticed that these two guards were armed with Orion blasters, not Klingon disruptors. "What a pity that we'll only be able to supply them with your dead bodies."
"Indeed," said Spock politely.
"Of course it will be a while before all this must happen. In the meantime, let me offer you our hospitality. If you'll come this way?" Kesh stepped toward the door, and the guards pointed their disruptors.
"Shall we, gentlemen?" Kirk gestured to his men to come along, and they followed Kesh out into the hallway. Kirk noted that only the two guards followed them; the sparse guard belied Kesh's boasting of impressive forces. "Three on three," he thought. "We'll have to make a break for it now. And Kesh is mine."
The building they were in looked like a town hall hastily converted to a military stronghold. They passed a series of large blasted-out windows overlooking the Klingon barracks. Kesh could not resist stopping to boast.
"You see that our troops make up a city in themselves, Captain Kirk! Our presence on Trandor is most keenly felt here. You see the troops' barracks, the arsenals, the shielding mechanism. . . ."
"Where?" Kirk asked, leaning out the window as Kesh gestured. He leaned a little too far and almost fell, and Kesh put out an arm to stop him. That was all Kirk needed, and a moment later the Klingon was pinned and disarmed. Spock and McCoy quickly overcame the startled guards.
"Out the window, you two," Kirk gestured with his head. "I'll follow in a minute."
"But Captain--"
"That was an order, Spock. Off you go." The windows were just above ground level and Kirk saw the two jump and reach the ground safely, ducking behind some equipment. He turned his attention back to Kesh. "Now as for you--"
The cold nose of a disruptor suddenly pressed against the back of his neck. Without turning his head he moved his eyes to see a Klingon guard just behind him.
"You were saying, Captain?" Kesh purred as Kirk released him. Kesh gestured to the guards. "The others escaped through that window. After them!"
Spock and McCoy were waiting for him, Kirk knew, though he could no longer see them. "Spock, Bones! Run! Get back to the ship!" A hand was clapped over his mouth.
McCoy and Spock crouched behind a stack of equipment. Spock frowned and flipped shut the communicator. "We must still be within the penumbra of the Klingon communications shield."
"You mean it doesn't work."
"I believe I said that, Doctor." Then they both heard Kirk's voice.
They looked at each other. "Come, Doctor."
"We can't just leave him there!"
"Nor can we disobey his direct order." Spock saw the doctor's frustration and added, "We must return to the Enterprise. It is our only hope of saving the Captain." McCoy nodded reluctantly and they set off, just as the Klingons came bursting through the windows behind them. They ran, ducking and weaving through the streets formed by the rows of barracks. The guards were slowly gaining on them.
"Down!" Spock shouted suddenly, swerving to knock McCoy off his feet. A disruptor beam sizzled over their heads. They scrambled around the corner of a building and Spock flipped open his communicator again. "Spock to Enterprise. Two to beam up. Repeat. Emergency, two to beam up." The sound of running feet came closer. . . . McCoy heaved a sigh of relief as he felt the transporter beam take effect. Then the Klingon rounded the corner and fired.
Everything happened at once. Spock was sparkling with the dematerialization when the disruptor beam struck him square on. The hum of the transporter altered in pitch, rising higher and higher, and as they faded out McCoy felt more dizzied and disoriented than usual, and the transition seemed to last a long, long time.
Then abruptly it ended, and he was standing on a strange transporter platform, Spock collapsing beside him. He caught the Vulcan, lowering him gently to the floor, and opened his medikit. Spock was unconscious, very pale and trembling slightly, possibly going into the Vulcan equivalent of shock. A loud "ahem" caught his attention and he looked up impatiently toward the unfamiliar transporter console. An Orion stood at the controls, a light green-skinned humanoid wearing the dark green half-mask of command. He spoke in accented but clear Federation Standard. "Greetings, human. Welcome aboard our vessel, the Krator. I am Captain T'li. You are prisoners of the Orion Empire."
Ignoring him, McCoy knelt beside Spock and took out his scanner. "This man is injured. I'll need a stretcher party and--"
"Perhaps you misheard me." T'li was still smiling. "You are my prisoners, not my guests."
"But he'll die without immediate attention!"
"So?"
McCoy faced the Orion. "He was hit by a disruptor."
"So?"
McCoy's temper flared, his concern for Spock getting the better of his caution. "Would you stop saying that? This man is alive! No one has ever survived the new Klingon disruptor! I think the transporter must have had something to do with it."
"You think you can save him?" T'li looked dubiously at Spock.
"I don't know," McCoy confessed. "But if I can, maybe you can figure out how he survived. Adapt the effect for your own purposes."
The Orion captain considered. "Very well. I will allow you to use our medical facilities. But you will be under constant guard and you will report any findings immediately. Is that understood?"
McCoy nodded. T'li turned to a comm unit. "Stretcher party to the transporter room."
An Orion team arrived almost immediately: two young men wearing blue armbands and carrying what looked like medical supplies; two larger fellows with bronze armbands carrying weapons. One of the medics helped McCoy lift Spock onto a wheeled gurney. No anti-gravs, he noted; wonder what else they don't have? He barely noticed details of the ship as they moved rapidly through the corridors; he got the impression that they were narrower, darker and more crowded than the Enterprise's.
The Orion sickbay was something of a relief. He didn't recognize most of the instruments hanging on the walls, but they were hanging neatly, and the place was clean. They passed through a large open area with several beds and diagnostic machines and into a smaller cubicle. Spock was placed on the single bed and McCoy dragged over a chair. The medics watched him as he pulled out his tricorder and he looked up. "You can go," he said gruffly. "I'll call you if I need anything." They nodded and left. The guards went as far as the door of the private room, where they took up watch.
Kirk was herded into Kesh's office. "A valiant effort, Captain," said the Klingon smoothly. "But all in vain, I fear. Our men will destroy your officers before they can escape."
"Not if their competence matches your honor," said Kirk angrily. There was a knock on the door before the Klingon could respond to the barb.
"Come," said Kesh.
A Klingon lieutenant strode quickly in and stood at attention. "Sir!"
"You may speak."
"The two Federation officers have been beamed back to the Enterprise." Kirk shot a triumphant glance at Kesh. The lieutenant continued. "We shot one of them as he was dematerializing. The one with pointed ears, sir. We believe him to be dead, sir."
Kesh's intonation was sarcastic. "You believe. I hope your faith is justified. Even if it is, one of them escaped alive."
"I apologize, my lord Commander."
"I will consider your punishment. In the meantime, you are relieved of duty. Dismissed!" The lieutenant turned on his heel and left. When the door had closed, Kesh leaned back in his chair and laughed. "Have no fear, Captain, your Vulcan friend is surely dead. As you well know, no one has ever survived a Klingon disruptor."
"So this is the man who survived the disruptor?" McCoy glanced up. Another damn Orion. Must be an officer, since the guard saluted.
"Yes. He's just settled into a healing trance and I'd appreciate a little quiet around here."
The Orion frowned, but lowered his voice. "So why did he survive?"
"I don't know. You'll have to ask him when he wakes up."
"That's not good enough."
McCoy sighed. "Look, I don't know how these things go, but I've patched up enough disruptor injuries to know that the damn thing works by tearing people apart. Transporter works by putting people together. For some reason the transporter won this time."
"The situation has occurred before," the Orion admitted. "But the transporter did not win."
"Maybe it was our transporter effect. You intercepted us, remember?"
"Our transporter is more powerful than yours. Why should yours be more effective against the disruptor?"
McCoy sat in silence for a minute. "Because your transporter is big and strong and stupid. Ours is more efficient, it works on a more subtle. . . wavelength, or whatever you call it. Like I said, ask him when he wakes up." He gestured at Spock.
"Our spies tell us you don't like your own transporter, Doctor," said the Orion. "Now you praise it?"
"Don't have to like something to know it's good. Look, I don't like Orions either, but you can tell your C.M.O. he runs a tight sickbay."
"You just did." The Orion medical officer sketched an ironic salute to McCoy and left.
The medical officer was reporting to the Orion captain on the progress of the anti-disruptor shield. "The transporter idea should work in theory, but is proving difficult to put into practice. My human colleague believes the Vulcan will be able to help us when he recovers." The intercom beeped.
"Captain, this is Dra in the Sickbay. One of the prisoners is striking the other, and he insists that it is medically necessary!"
The captain cocked his head inquiringly at his medical officer and the doctor nodded. "We don't know much about Vulcan physiology," he said, "but I find the human doctor trustworthy."
T'li spoke into the intercom. "Permit the prisoner whatever he says is necessary, Dra. But be wary that neither of them strikes anyone else."
"Understood, sir. Dra out."
"Enough," said Spock, suddenly opening his eyes and catching the doctor's wrist. McCoy stood perfectly still and Spock released him. Rubbing his wrist, McCoy asked, "How do you feel, Spock?"
Spock sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "Adequate. I believe I can function well enough for the task at hand. Can you explain our present situation, doctor?"
McCoy recounted his conversation with the Orion medical officer, concluding, "They're pretty eager to get your help on this. I don't know if we can trust them but I don't think we've got any choice."
"A restriction of options seems to compel our confidence."
"I believe I just said that, Mr. Spock."
Spock's discovery that the protective effect had been the result of neither transporter alone, but the interaction of the two, greatly advanced the work on the shield. The precise interference pattern, with its specific cancellations and reinforcements, had been duplicated.
"As I see it," Spock said to the head technician, "the phase synchronization discrepancy has been virtually eliminated, but the difficulty of miniaturizing the components remains to be solved."
"As I see it," McCoy said to the Orion captain, "their success in making the doodad is a foregone conclusion. The real problem is testing them in combat."
"What would you suggest, Doctor?" asked T'li a shade too casually. "No--let me guess. You want us to rescue your Captain."
"Uh--yes."
"And you probably had a series of elaborate appeals to vengeance and honor prepared, after which your Mr. Spock would present an irrefutable argument in syllogistic form demonstrating the logic of such a mission." Mccoy nodded. "Well, you can save your breath. My mind is already made up." He paused briefly. "We're going to rescue your Captain."
McCoy's relief was compounded by curiosity. "Is this decision based on honor, vengeance, or logic?"
"None. Enlightened self-interest. The rescue in itself will embarrass the Klingons and lower their morale. Further, in our present situation I see no harm in winning favor from the Federation.
"The practical difficulty for us," he continued, "will be gaining access to the Klingon stronghold. And when I say us, I mean Orions only. We gain no points with your Starfleet if we rescue one of their officers only to lose two more in the attempt."
"But--"
"Excuse me," Spock interrupted, turning from his consultation with the technicians, "but our participation is necessary to the effort."
"What do you mean?" asked the Orion.
"Don't look now but here comes the syllogism," said McCoy under his breath.
"You need a stratagem to get into the compound. Only Dr. McCoy and I can provide such a stratagem. Ergo, you will need us to get into the compound."
"And just what is this stratagem?"
"It is the only obvious, logical move," said Spock drily. "You pretend to hand McCoy and me over to the Klingons."
T'li considered. "Indeed. The Klingons will believe we are desperate to talk terms; they know our ship's damage was more severe and that we lost more men, so it will seem a plausible approach to offer them something of value in exchange for a new truce. . . . Very well. But what's to keep me from really handing you over to the Klingons?"
"Nothing," said Spock, "if you truly cherish the favor of Klingons and the enmity of Starfleet."
Enterprise log, Chief Engineer Scott recording, Stardate 6325.1. I am deeply concerned about our landing party. Shortly after they beamed down, Mr. Spock requested an emergency beam-up for two. Our transporter beam was overridden, however, by a more powerful beam from the Orion ship. Attempts to contact the Orions and the Klingons have met with silence. My orders are explicit--the Enterprise is to take no hostile action unless she is fired upon. But I can't help--
"Sir," Uhura interrupted, "I'm picking up a message from the Orions to the Klingons."
"Can ye decipher it?"
Uhura shook her head. "I'm running it through all the language and logic banks now, but we don't know enough about how the Orions think to make any sense of it. The Universal Translator normally interprets thought patterns, and in this case it has nothing to go on."
Sulu grinned wryly. "Orions don't think like anyone else we've ever met--even Klingons!"
"That's it!" said Uhura. "If the Orions are talking to the Klingons they must be using a code the Klingons can understand!" She pushed some more buttons and cocked her head, listening as the meaningless squeal in the transceiver gradually became intelligible. "It's not very clear, Mr. Scott," she finally reported, "but they want some kind of meeting and I think they are proposing to beam down."
"Are the Klingons accepting?" asked Scott.
Uhura listened for another moment. "Yes," she said.
"Then now's our chance!" said Scott. "They'll have to lower their shields to let the Orions beam down. We'll have a split second to locate any humans there and beam them up. If the Orions have two, there should still be one down there."
"Sir," said Sulu diffidently, "we may not have enough time to scan the whole complex."
"Then we'll just have do our best, laddie, we'll just have to do our best."
Kirk gazed dismally around his cell. It was essentially a featureless gray box. There was a ventilation shaft, but it was much too small for a person to get into. There was a bunk of sorts, a slab built into the wall - no handy bedsprings to pull out. There was a plain table and a chair, and the simplest of washing facilities in one corner. At least the lights didn't flicker. The Federation used diffused lighting panels which cast a soft, even glow; the Klingons used something vaguely akin to old-fashioned fluorescent lights, which jumped and flickered like mad when they were running down, which was most of the time. He'd mentioned it once to a captor, in another Klingon stronghold, asking if it was some sort of tactic to wear him down. The man had looked puzzled; apparently Klingons didn't even notice that sort of thing.
The door opened abruptly and the Klingon commander swaggered in. "You'll have some company soon, Captain," he sneered. "You won't have to die alone after all. The Orions are sending back your friends--what's left of them."
Sitting on his bunk, Kirk did not raise his head. "How nice," he mumbled. "When may I expect this reunion?"
"Don't hope that it will delay your execution, Captain," said the Klingon. "The beamdown will take place in exactly five minutes." He chuckled. "We'll soon be at your disposal." He left, still laughing.
"Five minutes," Kirk thought to himself. If only he could attract the Enterprise scanners while the shields were down. The beamdown instructions had specified no transponders, and the cell seemed barren of electronic equipment. He lay back and stared at the ceiling, trying to think. The lighting tubes stared steadily back down at him. The Enterprise could locate a lighted match on the surface of a planet if it needed to, but only if there was just one match, and the sensors were looking for it. The sensors couldn't read fast enough to pick out one human from a group of Klingons in the short time it would take for the beamover. What would the scanners see when the shields were down? They'd pick up a lot of common energy fields, the generator, power plant, any number of common machines. What would stand out from that busy, orderly background? The answer came almost immediately. What he needed was something irregular.
Kirk got up and climbed up on top of the table. He could just reach the light fixture, and he studied the connections. There must be some way to short-circuit the arrangement, something that would send a sputtering, crackling surge of power through the fixture. . . .
"The shields are down!" cried Chekov from the sensor station. "I'm reading a number of regular energy patterns. Nothing unusual - wait! Sir, there's an irregular energy pulse being generated in one of the smaller rooms, with one person in it -"
There was no time to debate what the curious reading might mean. "Beam him up," snapped Scott.
"Do you think it's the Captain, sir?" asked Sulu.
"That I do," said Scott. "Knowin' the Captain, he's likely to use whatever's at hand to try to get our attention."
Just then the intercom beeped. "We got the captain, sir!" Kyle reported jubilantly as Kirk materialized in the transporter room. "Just in time," he added, as his panel showed that the shield was back in place.
"Is he all right?" Kirk heard Scott's anxious voice and stepped to the intercom.
He reached over Kyle to punch the intercom. "I'm fine, Scotty, and on my way to the bridge."
Kesh frowned as the Orion contingent materialized in the meeting room. There were four Orions, not two, as they had specified; all appeared armed, wearing curious weapons belts; and both Federation prisoners were alive and well--and unbound.
He pulled out his disruptor. "What is the meaning of this, Orion?" he growled. "You violate the conditions of our meeting."
T'li was amused. "Dra, our good friend Kesh is not being hospitable. Relieve him of his weapon, would you?"
Kesh fired as Dra stepped forward. The beam diffused a few inches away from him, spreading out to define a spherical shape around him. Dra took the disruptor from Kesh's startled hands and aimed it at him.
Klingon guards all around the room more or less simultaneously drew their weapons and fired on the Orion party. The shields turned back every shot. The Orions casually fired a few bursts and several Klingons dropped. "It should be obvious," said the Orion Captain to Kesh, "that your weapons are powerless against us. You have two choices--surrender or annihilation."
Kesh was reasonable, as Klingons go, and within minutes the Orions had immobilized the Klingon headquarters. Dra located the shield control and lowered it again, and squads of Orions were quickly beamed down to strategic points in the area.
The Orion Captain rubbed his hands together in a satisfied gesture. "I believe it is time to rescue your Captain, my good friends," he told Spock and McCoy. At that moment a voice was heard.
"This is Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise calling Commander Kesh." snapped the transmission over the Klingon loudspeaker system.
McCoy nudged Spock. "He's gone and rescued himself!"
Spock nodded. "How presumptuous."
The Orion captain moved to the communications console. "This is Captain T'li of the Orion starship Krator."
Kirk, on the bridge of the Enterprise, listened in puzzlement. "I am now in command of planet Trandor," the Orion voice continued. "I have some excess baggage here I would like to transfer to your vessel."
A more familiar voice interrupted. "What he means, Captain," said Spock, "is 'two to beam up.'"
The Orion glared at him. "I believe I said that."
"Spock!" Kirk said in surprise. "You're alive! The Klingons were sure--"
"I regret," said Mr. Spock, "that I was forced to disappoint them."
Captain's Log, Stardate 6326.4. Negotiations between Klingons and Orions will resume with a qualified Federation mediation team now on their way. Notice will be taken of the Orions' good faith in returning two Federation officers whom they captured from the Klingons. Although the strategic position of the Orions, in terms of manpower and ship damage, is weaker than the Klingons, they have an advantage in the form of a shield against the Klingon disruptor. Both sides now appear to have a motive for peace.
Relaxing later over a drink in Kirk's quarters, Spock politely ignoring his drink as usual, Spock and McCoy filled Kirk in on their adventures with the Orions. He in turn explained his escape, concluding with the question, "So, Orions have a different approach to medicine than Klingons?"
McCoy nodded. "Entirely. If we're ever genuinely at peace with the Orions, I'd like to study their methods; I didn't get to see much of them. Klingons' whole idea of medicine is that it's just to patch people back together after they've done their damnedest to tear themselves apart."
"As opposed to yours, doctor, which is to shake your beads and rattles at every conceivable opportunity."
"Hey, if I hadn't shaken those rattles at the Orions you'd have been dead in their brig instead of alive in their sickbay. Took a while to convince T'li you were worth saving."
Spock looked at him with some surprise. "You questioned the command of an Orion ship's Captain, doctor? Your odds of surviving such a conversation are extremely low."
Kirk joined in. "That simply isn't done, Bones."
McCoy was about to sputter an indignant response when he realized he was being half-teased, half-complimented. He slouched back in his chair and said serenely, "The loss of our ship's First Officer--whatever I may think of his abilities--"
"You've already admitted he's the best First Officer in the Fleet, Bones," Kirk stage-whispered.
"Shut up, Jim. As I was sayin', such a loss would severely impede the efficiency of our crew, which is my responsibility."
Kirk gave him a look that said "You're not fooling anyone, Bones," and Spock said, "One does not thank logic, Dr. McCoy, but that will not prevent me from thanking you."
"You're welcome. Anyway, Spock, you saved my life down on the planet." He cocked a challenging eyebrow at Spock.
Spock shrugged. "Even a Vulcan," he said, "is permitted an occasional lapse of judgment." He lifted his untouched glass, with an expression very close to a smile. "Your health, doctor."