"Based upon these readings, a few photon torpedoes here can knock out the warp core, taking the planet out of warp," says Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu.
"Thank you," replies Captain James Kirk, looking at the monitor screen inside the conference room showing the presentation.
"Are we really doing this?" asks the helmsman.
"All options are on the table, Sulu."
"They've done nothing wrong. They started their course thirty years ago. That station probably wasn't even there yet. They couldn't have known at the time."
"Have you ever been ordered to do what you did not want to do?"
"Ever since my first day as a cadet, sir."
"Sulu, I don't want to do this. But being captain, I had to do things I didn't like on my own initiative, not just because I got an order from headquarters .Now I face this dilemma. Do I allow up to billions of Husnock die, or do I let a whole world die?"
"I am beginning to wish I never heard that hail," says Sulu. "We should have continued to Delta Rana as we planned."
"From what I heard, the Husnock had a colony there on the fourth planet," says Kirk. "That's where the plague started. Maybe if we went there, we would have landed there, caught the disease, and then killed all of us here, or even worse, brought it back to Earth."
"We still have four days to figure this out. If I may suggest, let's just concentrate on how things are now, sir."
Ooooooooo
Spock and Scotty take a breather. There is a recreational room inside the complex. Several of the Zathori are known to play hard,. Some run on treadmills, others lift weights, others spin balls around and release them, and others use a paddle to hit a ball against a wall, sort of like tennis.
"I need to start a serious workout," says Scotty.
"Now that our minds our cleared, we should get to work," says Spock.
They walk into a small room that serves as Glue's office.
"Any insights?" thinkasks the Zathori. "I ran several different scenarios."
"Why are we trying to go to this particular star system?" asks Spock. "Can we not divert to another star system and achieve a similar orbit?"
"Our scientists spent decades figuring out the best star system."
"They may have overlooked one, laddie," says Scotty.
"Let's get to work." Glue turns on a desktop computer.
Ooooooooo
Dr. McCoy is back on Hope station, as most of the research data is located there. With him is Dr. Carol Marcus, with Director Kasel overseeing the Starfleet officers.
"If we can not recreate the cure exactly, maybe we could do some end run around it," says the doctor. "The pure stuff is not the cure; it is simply an ingredient. If we can find out how the cure cures…"
"Let us do it," says Kasel.
Oooooooooo
"Not again," says Glue, looking at the monitor screen of its computer. "Every time we plot a course to another star to orbit at the right distance, the turn from our present course is so shapr it shatters the planet."
"Let's try again' says Scotty.
Oooooooooooo
"We did it!" yells Marcus in excitement. She looks around at the Husnock research staff. "It suppresses the disease, allowing the Husbnock immune system to take over."
"Excellent work, Dr. Marcus," says McCoy.
"Let us see other effect," says Kasel.
Ooooooooo
"Here is a trajectory leading us to an empty system that won't break the planet," thinksays Glue.
"And?"
"It is one hundred fifty light years away, and we will run out of food."
"So increase the warp factor," suggests Scotty.
"We can not risk it. Warp One is the fastest safe speed."
Oooooooo
"There is side effect," says one of the researchers. "Other cure also destroy immune system. Husnock get sick from everything."
Damn, thinks McCoy.
ooooooooo
"So you're willing to wage war?" asks Kirk.
"Millions of my people sick and die," says the Husnock Primarch, dressed in regal attire. "If they destroy my people's hope, we will attack them. They die if they go surface. We make them stay under."
"Your station was not even there when we began," protests the Zathori Lord.
"You should have change course."
"And you should not have brought that disease from that planet. You brought it upon yourselves! Your suffering could have been avoided!"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," says Kirk. "We have two days left."
"And you Federation people fail in past four days."
"I agree with the Primarch here," says the Zathori ruler. "You could have saved yourself trouble by avoiding us."
Ooooooooooo
Captain's log. Work continues on both ends, but to no avail. Simulations on trying to increase the warp factor results in the Zathori planet being destroyed. Steering the planet to another star system is predicted to do the same thing. On the cure itself, using chemical substitutes for the asteroid mineral does not work. The cure either comes out wrong, or it degrades, or it poisons the Husnock, or does all three. The only know way to make the cure involves the mineral found only in those asteroids. And there is no time to find an alternate source.
Both teams express frustration, like a riddle whose meaning does not make sense. Exceopt that a failure to answer can be devastating.
In the meantime, the Husnock transports arrived to bring a workforce of miners to mine as much as they can and bring home before the planet arrives the next day.
Oooooo
"I can see they are busy," says Dr. Carol Marcus, looking out through a window.
Through an observation window, she can see miners in spacesuits among the space rocks. Runabouts move about, transporting the rocks. The stations transports hum.
"If Spock and Scotty can't divert the planet, we leave in eighteen hours," says Dr. Leonard McCoy, looking at his watch.
They walk into the lab where Kasel and the other white-clad researchers work.
"At least you can cure as many of your people as possible," says Marcus.
"No, Carol Marcus," replies Kasel. Based on speed of work, we only heal three thousand. Two billion still die. No time to get enough cure to heal all.
Marcus can feel Kasel's despair. She had dedicated her life to healing. To feel so powerless…
Ooooooooooo
Spock, Scotty, and Glue also feel this sense of powerlessness.
"No matter what we do, we keep destroyin' the planet," says Scotty, exasperated over running so many scenarios.
"I do feel the frustration, Commander Scott," says the Vulcan.
"Perhaps working the muscles will refresh your mind," says Glue.
The Vulcan, the human, and the Zathori walk along the corridor to the rec room. Spock gets on a treadmill, not even bothering to get into workout clothes. Scotty walks to a rack with rubber balls tied to ropes. After seeing another Zathiori fling it towards the wall, he follows suit, taking one of the ropes and rotating the ball in a clockwise direction.
"it is better if you rotate it the other way," says Glue.
"Oh thank ye, laddie," says Scotty as he rotates the ball counterclockwise.
Then an idea comes to him.
"Eureka!" yells the engineer. "We gotta get to yer office. We need to try somethin'!"
Spock sees Scotty run off. He runs off after him.
"What are we doing?" asks Glue. "Can you plot a course to a habitable zone in another star system without tearing the planet apart?"
"We're actually going to the same star system you've been headin' to," says Scotty. "Just ina different direction!"
"Explain, Mr. Scott," says Spock.
"In yer original trajectory, ye rotate clockwise, just like the asteroid field," says Scotty. "The wake of yer droppin' our of warp drags the asteroids in the same direction as the planet, givin;' enough force to blast it outa the star system. But if ye go in the opposite direction…"
"Let me try the simulation," says Glue. It enters new figures into the computer. Images on the monitor screen move and wavy symbols in the corner rapidly change. "You are right, Scotty! The asteroids will stay in the system,. It will get rough, but the asteroids will still be there."
"So we should inform your leaders of this solution," says Spock. "Have others double check it to make sure."
"No time," thinksays Glue. "Our window of opportunity is short. We have five minutes."
"Ye got to be kid..," starts Scotty. "Let's hurry!"
Minutes later, Glue bursts into the planetary warp master navigational room. The operators looks at him.
"Sir?" one of them asks.
"Let me take over."
Glue presses buttons and flips switches on the main control console. An image of the trajectory appears on the screen. The current trajectory shows the planet entering into a clockwise orbit. Seconds later, the trajectory is altered, with the planet rotating counterclockwise around the star, but at the same distance.
The room shakes as the warp field changes. Everyone in the room hopes that the room- and the plan et- stays in one piece. The shaking gets hard, and everyone inside gets nervous. Unsecure objects fall on the floor.
And then the shaking stops.
"Course has changed," thinksays an operator. "We are at our new trajctory ariund the target star."
"And it is the same distance as the original trajectory," thinksays another operator.
"Thnak you, Montgomery Scott," thinksays Glue. "But it is not over."
"What?" asks Scotty.
"The asteroid filed will not be destroyed, but the station and the nearby ships are still in danger. There are two hours left to get everyone clear."
Ooooooooo
Upon receipt of the message from the approaching planet, the station is evacuated. Workers are transported onto the Husnock ships. The precious ore is beamed into the cargo holds of the giant cargo carriers.
Kasel stays inside a control room.
"Ma'am, we have to go," a researcher says to her.
"Not until the others left," replies the lead researcher.
"There is still ore left in storage," says a worker.
"Any cargo ships available?" asks Kasel. The station starts shaking, she figures the planet is approaching its final destination.
"This is the Enterprise," says Captain Kirk. "We are beaming the ore aboard."
Seconds later, Kasel is beamed aboard. The Husnock looks and sees the transporter room, with humans welcoming her.
"Let's take you to safety, ma'am," says a crewman.
Ob board the bridge, red alert is on.
"Sulu, get us out of here now!" yells the captain.
"On our way, sir!" yells Lieutenant Sulu just as he pushes a lever.
Ooooooooo
The planet drops out of warp, in counterclockwise orbit around the yellow star, emitting massive gravitational radiation. Some of it reaches the asteroid field and the asteroid collide with each other, breaking off pieces. A large piece of rock directly strikes the asteroid base, reducing it to a twisted pile of metal alloy. Further away, some of the waves hit the Enterprise, knocking it and its passengers, crew, and cargo about. Various alarms blare inside the starship. After a few seconds, it achieves stable orbit.
"Engineering, damage report," says Kirk.
"We're a little shaken, but the engines are okay," says an engineering officer.
Ooooooooo
Captain's log. The Zathori planet arrived in orbit at the desired distance from its target planet, just in the opposite direction. While the climate has yet to be assessed, the Zathori can now go to the surface and survive without spacesuits.
The Husnock Hope Station was lost, but all personnel were successfully evacuated. The asteroids were knocked into an orbit that would cause them to spiral into the star- in about four hundred fifty years- giving them enough time to resume and finish mining operations.
In the meantime, we retrieved some of the ore used for the cure and we traveled to the Husnock homeworld to drop it off. And there was one more thing we did while we were in orbit.
"We are ready," says Lieutenant Uhura.
"Connect them," says Captain Kirk.
The Husnock Primarch appears on the left side of the bridge viewscreen.
On the right is the Federation President.
"On behalf of Husnock, I, the Primarch, thank you and your Federation," says the Husnock Primarch. "You might save billions of my people. We wish to start intercourse with your people."
The eyes of everyone on the bridge widen.
"Understood," says the Federation President, understanding what his Husnock counterpart meant.
"From now on, the Federation ships of stars may travel in peace through our realm," says the Husnock Primarch. "And I say to Captain James Kirk and the crew, in one hundred years, the hatchlings of our hatchlings will still know Enterprise and what it did for our people. May we aspire to be hero like your crew.
