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As usual, Kirk came onto the Bridge like a force of nature. Even without looking, everyone knew when he stepped out of the turbolift. It was like the atmosphere on the Bridge shifted.
"Uhura, I want a secure line. Contact Emperor Karhammur."
If Uhura seemed surprised by that request, she hid it well. Instead she seemed to revel in being able to make use of her Klingon dialect as she worked on making the desired connection.
One thing Pike had said to Kirk once was that a Klingon weakness was curiosity. If you did something they didn't expect, you caught their attention. Apparently there was at least a little truth to that. The request for contact went through much faster than expected. Uhura wasn't sure whether to feel shock or pride as she turned to Kirk.
"Emperor Karhammur is ready, Captain."
"Open the channels, Lieutenant."
As the Klingon Emperor's face appeared on the main screen, Kirk called out.
"Attention!"
The Academy training showed as every crewman on the Bridge leapt to their feet. The Emperor took in the sight and then nodded slowly.
"You may release your people, Captain. Introduce yourself."
Kirk kept his eyes fixed on the screen as he spoke.
"Everyone return to your duties. Imperial Majesty, I am James Tiberius Kirk, son of George Kirk and Captain of the ISS Enterprise."
"We have heard reports of both yourself and your sire. Why have you chosen to contact us?"
Choosing his words carefully, Kirk answered.
"Imperial Majesty, my crew and I have come across a plot to strip both your people and mine of our manhoods. They desire that warriors should be no longer be among us and wish to lead us around like children."
The expression on the Emperor's face darkened.
"Tell us more. Who are these you speak of?"
McCoy held his breath for a moment as he glanced at Kirk. He knew that expression too. Kirk was about to lie his ass off to the Klingon Emperor. He only hoped that Spock wouldn't do something incredibly stupid and muck it up.
For his part, Kirk was gambling that a war that only involved Earth that had been distant history by the time of the first Klingon/Terran encounter wouldn't have been picked up on by the Klingons.
"What their actual race is? That is unknown to us, Imperial Majesty. They resemble my race greatly, but are more different from us than Vulcans are from Romulans. If you encounter one, your own physicians will see the differences themselves. It is the superficial resemblance that they seek to use to drive a wedge between your Empire and ours. If the plans we have come across are to be believed, agents of that group are even now making their way to Praxis with the intent of staging an attack from your moon. They mean to first cause a distraction by means of more of their people on Qo'noS to draw your soldiers to that world and thus leave Praxis vulnerable."
"And they mean for us to take that as a declaration of war. Their plans seem straightforward enough. Before we give our decision, we would hear what actions you would suggest."
"My suggestion would be to foul their plot by simple cooperation between our two peoples, Imperial Majesty. Find and capture those who would attack Praxis and give myself and my crew leave to capture those of the plotters that are there."
Steeling himself, Kirk didn't allow either his gaze or his stance to waver as the Emperor studied him silently. Finally he spoke.
"Have you ever heard of a Batlh choq, Captain?"
The way Kirk stiffened at the question was not a good sign and everyone on the Bridge held their breath - Uhura more than anyone else as she knew what the question meant.
"I know the term, Imperial Majesty. Take your choice."
"The man to your left. Our flagship will meet you in ten of your minutes. Once the transfer has taken place, you have our leave to access Qo'noS and remove any non-Klingon you may find there."
Kirk called out again.
"Attention!"
After everyone was once more on their feet, Kirk spoke again.
"As Your Imperial Majesty wishes, it shall be done."
The Klingon gave a nod of approval and the connection ended without another word. The man to Kirk's left - McCoy - gave his Captain a long look.
"What did I just get volunteered for and will I live through it?"
"The Emperor asked me for a sign that we will keep honor with him. To strip all the fancy language off of it, it means you're going to be a hostage to ensure our behavior while in Klingon space."
To Spock's surprise, the doctor didn't yell, rant or rave about the situation. McCoy simply turned to Uhura.
"Anything you can teach me in ten minutes that might be useful?"
With a small smirk, Uhura motioned McCoy over and the two of them began a quiet conversation as Kirk considered what needed to be done next. The window of opportunity was about to open to capture Khan and they weren't going to flub it. There was, of course, a chance that his hypothesis on what the group was going to attempt was wrong - and if so, McCoy would likely pay the price. But Kirk discounted that thought. It felt too right.
When the Klingon flagship came into view, Kirk accompanied McCoy down to the Transporter Room.
"I realize that Klingons generally come pre-irritated, but try not to insult anyone you don't have to."
"I try to make it a rule not to burn a house I'm standing in, Jim."
Kirk chuckled and nothing more was said between them until it was time for McCoy to get onto the pad.
"If nothing else, it hasn't been dull, Jim."
"You'll be back, Bones. I'm right. I know I'm right."
Scott gave McCoy a nod.
"When you return, we'll split a bottle."
"Make it two."
Chuckling, Scott double checked the coordinates sent over by the flagship and activated the controls. The last Kirk saw of McCoy, he was closing his eyes. Once the image had faded, Kirk turned to Scott.
"We have a big planet to search, Scotty, , , what's so funny?"
"Remember the portable device I removed from the wreckage, sir? I was able to get her running and guess what I found?"
A smile started to form on Kirk's face.
"You have his pattern?"
"Aye, that I do, sir. We'll find that needle in a haystack if he's not been removed by another ship before now."
"Good man. Feed that information up to Chekov so he can fine tune the search parameters."
"Consider it done, sir."
As he left the Transporter Room, Kirk was surprised to find Spock waiting for him in the corridor. Surprised and a bit annoyed.
"Something you wanted, Mister Spock?"
"I will admit that I did not believe that you would give in to the Klingon Emperor's demand for Doctor McCoy to become a hostage."
"I can't see where my decision is any concern of yours, Mister Spock, but since we want to play in his backyard, we play by his rules. Besides, I would think, given your attitude toward the doctor, that his absence would win your approval."
Spock clasped his hands behind his back at that observation, but didn't deny it. Instead, he moved the conversation to another subject.
"I am uncertain why you have chosen to search the Klingon homeworld of Qo'noS, Captain."
"Because we know that's where Khan teleported to after the attack on Starfleet Headquarters. Getting there was one thing, but in order for him to leave, a ship would have to have gotten close enough for the Klingons to detect."
"You are certain of this?"
"I am."
Saying nothing more, Kirk continued back toward the Bridge with Spock following. Once back on the Bridge, he looked to his youngest officer.
"Have you gotten the information from Scotty factored in, Mister Chekov?"
"I have it ready on your command, sir."
"Then let's find that son of a bitch."
On the Klingon flagship, McCoy found the coordinates had teleported him straight into a holding cell of some sort. Not altogether surprising, but still somewhat annoying. Even more so when a few of the Klingons began coming by and taking a look at him like he was an exhibit in a traveling zoo.
Finally one of them spoke to him in rough, but understandable Terran.
"Are you mute, human?"
Kirk's advice went straight out the window as McCoy met the man's eyes even as he made the guess that the Klingon easily outweighed him by 45 kilograms.
"I didn't want to speak and possibly frighten you."
That got an immediately glower from the Klingon.
"Are you saying that we fear you?"
McCoy gestured at his surroundings.
"I simply figured if the mere sight of a human was so terrifying that you had to protect yourselves from me, the sound of my voice might have caused a panic."
The Klingon continued to stare into McCoy's eyes for a minute longer, then broke out laughing.
"You have qa', little one. What sort of warrior are you?"
As he formed his answer in his mind, McCoy hoped he'd get the pronunciation right on one of the words that Uhura tried to teach him.
"I am not a warrior. I am Qel."
The Klingon seemed insulted by that.
"Your Captain chose to send us you and not a warrior?"
McCoy took a step closer to the barrier between them, glaring right back.
"Your Emperor chose me as the one he wanted sent. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you take it up with him."
That got another bark of laughter and the barrier was gone without warning.
"You are more like our Qel than I thought a human would be. Come, little one."
"The name is McCoy."
"McCoy then. I am Ka'ar. Come."
Seeing no reason not to, McCoy followed along - though the saying 'out of the frying pan and into the fire' popping into his head wasn't exactly comforting.
On the Bridge, Kirk was leaning slightly forward, his hands on his knees with barely restrained impatience as the sensors sweeps slowly covered the planet sector by sector. From his position at the Science station, Spock watched the young Captain as he considered his own relationship to both the Captain and their absent CMO.
It would be less than truthful of him to say that McCoy wasn't an effective CMO despite being young for that position himself. It was normally doctors nearing the ends of their careers that held such a spot, but seeing a younger man in the office had shown Spock that perhaps Starfleet had the wrong of it. Puri had been an excellent doctor, but he hadn't had the drive and determination that seemed to fuel McCoy.
Spock reluctantly conceded that Kirk's influence over McCoy was likely the difference. McCoy was a leader in his own right as Kirk was. The nursing staff were not just the nurses - they were 'his' nurses. He treated them as more than another piece of medical equipment and the nurses had responded to that. That was a fact. What was less clear was why McCoy grated on his nerves so badly.
The comment Pike made about them being too similar was not so quickly dismissed this time. Very few humans had the nerve to stand up to him. Fewer still would challenge him. Challenge.
Spock's posture stiffened again as he replayed that word in his mind. Pike had been correct that the two of them were nearly the same level intellectually. Was he subconsciously viewing McCoy as a rival instead of a colleague? Brows coming together slightly, he again conceded to himself that might indeed be the case. He would have to meditate on it later.
Any other musings were pushed firmly to the side in Spock's brain when Chekov spoke up.
"I have him, Captain. At least, I have the general area that he is in. There is too much interference in the area to get a lock on his exact location."
"I suppose we'll get have to take the direct approach to capturing him. Any volunteers?"
Uhura, Sulu and Chekov volunteering didn't surprise Kirk. Spock volunteering did.
"Chekov, I need you here to keep a sharp eye on those readings. If there is an opening in the interference, lock onto Khan and teleport him out - you will have the conn. Uhura, call in replacements for yourself, Sulu and Spock. As soon as you turn over your stations, meet me in the Transporter room."
"Aye, sir."
As he continued to follow Ka'ar, McCoy quietly studied the interior of the ship. It was the first Klingon vessel he'd ever been on and he had to admit to himself that it was far more advanced looking than he would have given them credit for. If it weren't for the color scheme, he could almost imagine he was back on the Enterprise.
Cursing up ahead drew McCoy's attention from his musings and he hurried his pace to keep up when Ka'ar sped up. They entered into a larger room and McCoy's smile grew somewhat vicious. The Klingons were having a bit of trouble with a man and woman that had to have been Augments.
Ka'ar led McCoy straight to a Klingon who was studying the struggling pair closely.
"This is Thopok - our Qel. Thopok, this is McCoy, a Terran Qel."
For his part, Ka'ar was highly amused by the way the two doctors locked gazes as would two warriors before a fight. There was an old saying that brought to his mind that said among the great warriors, the war between gazes determined the victor before first blood was drawn. With that in his mind, he was surprised to see their Qel avert his gaze first as he turned and gestured to the pair. The voice from him was mechanical - Klingon altered to Terran common by a translation device.
"Your Captain spoke truly. The other five lay dead, but these two we took alive from Praxis. They do not appear different to your race, McCoy."
McCoy let his gaze rest on the pair as well.
"Appear different? No, they do not, Thopok, but have you encountered Terrans before?"
"I have."
"Have you encountered Terrans with strength such as these have before?"
"I have not."
Pulling back to mind what Kirk had said to the Emperor, McCoy continued.
"If you have any experience with Terran anatomy, you will find this race has larger hearts, great lung capacity and thicker skin among other things. As my Captain stated, there are more differences between their race and mine than there are between Vulcan and Romulan."
Thopok nodded at that thoughtfully, then looked back at McCoy with an appraising eye.
"While I once had the opportunity to operate on a Terran, I have never seen a Terran Qel operate."
The gaze was returned measure for measure.
"Funny coincidence that. I've never seen a Klingon Qel operate either."
"Then we should not waste this chance that has been laid before us."
"Agreed. Lead on."
Ka'ar was fascinated as the two doctors moved off together, the guards bringing the two prisoners behind them. He had been right - the expressions on the faces of the two Qel were nearly identical.
Once Kirk arrived in the Transporter Room, he ordered four phaser rifles to be brought to him. That done, he discussed with Scott the best way for them to handle getting themselves and Khan back to the Enterprise. They were still discussing it when the other three officers joined them.
"Alright, for those that haven't heard Bones talking about these Augments, they are resistant to energy weapons. Put your weapons on the highest level of stun and don't hesitate to use them. They are approximately five times normal human strength. Do not let him get his hands on you. If the Klingons don't find any Augments on Praxis, we are likely to lose our welcome very quickly, so let's make this quick. Scotty has a lock on each of our gear so that he should be able to beam us up even with the interference. Any questions?"
Sulu looked over the phaser rifles.
"What if even the heavy stun isn't enough to take him down?"
Kirk handed each of them one of the weapons.
"If two hits at heavy stun don't take him down, change your setting to kill. The Emperor left whether he lives or dies to my discretion. I'd prefer alive to get some answers, but dead works too."
Moving to the pads, Kirk took his position and the other three followed silently. Once they were all in place, Kirk gave Scott a nod.
"Energize."