The next day, Sulu and Scotty boarded the ship with Solan and Mac. "Please be careful," Uhura said.
"We will," Sulu replied. "And we'll contact you on the Enterprise whenever we can."
"We'll be waiting."
Sulu walked on up the ramp behind Scotty. "What are the Klingons going to say about you bringing Mac along?" Sulu asked as he and Scotty sat down in the passenger seats behind the pilot seats.
"They won't know he's there either," Solan replied. "He's going with you guys when you go after your friends."
"So, how will we get to the prison?"
"Don't worry. I'll distract the Klingons and you can steal a transport. You certainly can't walk ten miles across that mud ball."
"Are you sure you can distract all of them? That seems a little overconfident."
"Oh, don't worry. I brought along some stuff that they can't resist. Chech'tluth."
Scotty's mouth dropped open. "So we're gonna have a bunch of drunken Klingons on our hands?" he asked.
"Nah. They might never even know you were there until they discover that your friends are gone. The trouble is finding them."
"Do you know anything about the inside of the prison?" Sulu asked.
"I know that the barracks, if that's what you want to call it, are in one long, low building, and all they have is a cot each to sleep on. When I come there, they usually don't have any of the prisoners in the mine. They don't want to watch after them so they can enjoy the liquor and the cards. They'll be locked up tight in the barracks. I'm sure the prisoners won't mind that. They get at least two days off while the Klingons play."
Sulu scowled at that. He hoped this guy knew what he was talking about. He looked at Mac. "So, what are you here for?" he asked.
"I'm here to help you," Mac replied. "Besides that, my brother is in there."
"Your brother?"
"Yeah. I intend to get him out of there too, and anyone else I can rescue."
"We never said anything about getting anyone else out besides our captain and our crewmen."
"Well, you get your captain and your crewmen, and I'm going to get my brother."
Sulu looked at Scotty. "This could create problems," he said.
"If my brother was in there, I would want to get him out too," Scotty replied. "Wouldn't you?"
"Of course, but we can't free the whole place. We already talked about that."
"One more isn't going to hurt."
"I'm just wondering how we're going to get in and out of that place without incident. What about the other prisoners?"
"Are you having second thoughts about our plan?"
"Scotty, all the prisoners are kept in the same building. How can we go in and get a few out and nothing happens?"
"Don't start worrying now," Mac said. "We can handle this."
"I hope you're right or we could end up prisoners ourselves."
"How do you guys ever get anywhere being so cautious?"
"Caution is a necessity when you're responsible for a ship full of people."
"Well, I've been in this prison before with Solan there. I know where I'm going so relax."
"You didn't say you had been in the prison before."
"You didn't ask."
Sulu shook his head. "I suppose we have to trust you now," he said. "We don't have much choice."
"I think everything is going to go fine," Scotty said. "Let's try to have a little faith, Mister Sulu."
"I'm trying. I just can't believe the Klingons can be so distracted."
Solan looked at him. "They can," he said. "I've done it before. How do you think Mac got in? He familiarized himself with the place. The Klingons never knew he was there. Besides, they have a fight as well. They take two prisoners and pit them against each other for their entertainment after they get good and liquored up."
"Two prisoners?" Sulu asked. He hoped they did not choose the captain or anyone.
"Yeah. Whichever one wins gets to fight one of the Klingons."
"That's got to be an unfair fight."
"Oh, they wait till the next day. That's why the prisoners get days off. They even get to watch the fights."
"If they choose the captain to fight…you should have told us all this before."
"They can choose anyone. Your captain would not be a likely candidate. They will probably choose people who have been there a long time. They're tough and don't care to kill."
Sulu frowned. "I hope you're right."
Scotty thought he was starting to get a little nervous about this mission now. He knew what Mister Sulu was thinking about. It would not be as easy as Mac and Solan seemed to want to make it. Besides that, they did not really know the two. Maybe they were risk takers. What if they even intended to hand them over to the Klingons? No. He was sure that was not the case. Maybe they did know what they were talking about, but they had to be cautious. There was a ship full of people expecting them to return with their captain, their doctor, and their first officer.
Jim paced back and forth in the prison. "Jim, you should sit down," Bones said. "Save your strength. You don't get much to eat."
Jim sat down on the hay. "I hate being locked up in here," he said.
"After more than three years in space, it seems very small."
"Three years?" Zander asked. "You guys have been in space more than three years?"
"Yeah, a five year mission," Jim said.
"Just exploring space, huh? And you explored to the wrong place."
"Definitely. We didn't think they had any technology. There was nothing picked up on the scanners. They knew we were there though."
"Strange, isn't it?"
"I'm of a great mind to go back to that planet and find out how they knew we were there. We won't go unprepared this time."
"You figured out who that woman is yet?" Bones asked.
"No."
"Badoran, right?" Zander asked.
"Yes. Queen Marilla."
"Never heard of her. I have heard of Badoran though. A bunch of telepaths."
"Except her, and many of her guards. I don't know how she has become the queen of that place. She has no telepathic powers."
"That's strange. Why would they make her their queen?"
"It is likely that she convinced them that she has some sort of magic powers," Spock said. "Although she is not a telepath, she most likely arrived there on a star ship or some other miraculous way that they had never seen. She must have her technology hidden so that it is not detectable by star ships but she is aware when one comes near the planet. She most likely knew that we beamed down to the planet."
"Maybe she somehow found out the name of the ship and she knew who the captain was," Bones said. "But how could she hide technology like that? If she could detect us, it looks like we could detect it."
"Not if it's cloaked in some way," Jim said. "Remember, she had the Klingons there pretty fast to arrest us."
"They aren't far from Klingon space."
"What could she have to do with the Klingons?"
"Too many questions, Jim. I never thought anyone could be in league with the Klingons, but I guess I was wrong."
"I didn't think the Klingons would be accepting of anyone else."
"They're intelligent," Zander said. "They are certainly capable of learning. Maybe they're learning that they can't just stay all to themselves anymore."
"That might be a good thing."
Jim went over to the door of the prison cell and looked at the lock. "We could probably pick this lock if we had something metal," he said.
Spock came over and looked at the lock. "I think they have made sure we have nothing that would work to pick a lock," he said.
"I wish I could get this shackle cuff off my ankle. I hate dragging that chain around."
"How did you break the chain anyway?"
"Zander chopped it with his pick ax."
"It is good to make friends."
Just then, they heard someone coming. Jim and Spock moved away from the door of the cell as three Klingon guards came in. Jim thought the Klingons did not need anything else besides their look to terrorize someone, with those stark blue eyes and ridged head…plus, they were very tall.
The three Klingons came into the cell. One of them grabbed Jim while the other two held weapons on Spock and the others. He threw Jim to the floor. Jim could do nothing as the Klingon put his knee down into his back and attached a ball and chain to both of his ankles. "You will remain here for three days, and it will be even longer if you try anything else!" the Klingon said. He drew out a long, curved knife. "I would kill you where you stand."
Jim swallowed hard as he did not dare move. "You are afraid," the Klingon said with a sneer.
Jim tried not to let his fear show, but he thought he was doing a lousy job. "You must have a little fear yourself," he said. "You're so afraid I will escape, you keep me on a ball and chain…and now it's two. What are you afraid of?"
Bones could not believe Jim was talking to the Klingon like that. "Jim!" he said in almost a whisper, but one of the other Klingons took a step toward him.
The Klingon grabbed Jim by the jaw and shoved him against the wall. He figured he was showing plenty of fear now as the Klingon held that big blade up in front of his face.
Another Klingon came into the prison. "Do not kill him," he said. He was even taller than the others. "If he thinks he is so brave and so skilled, he will be an opponent."
"An opponent in what?" Bones asked.
"You will see."
The one holding Jim glared at him and then released him. The Klingons left the prison block then. Jim just stood there a moment trying to calm his nerves down. Bones and Spock looked at Zander. "What kind of opponent is he talking about?" Bones asked. "You must know!"
"The Klingons take two prisoners and make them fight in a cage," Zander said. "The winner fights a Klingon champion the next day."
"They can't make him fight anyone! He even has a broken rib."
"They don't care."
"Have you ever had to fight?"
"No. If I had, I would not be here if I did not win both fights."
Bones looked at Spock. "What are we going to do?" he asked.
"I am certain I do not know, Doctor," Spock replied.
They walked over to Jim who had sat down now. "I have a really big mouth," he said.
"You sure do," Bones agreed. "What are you gonna do?"
Jim looked at the balls and chains now attached to his ankles. "I don't see any choice I have but to fight."
"Unless we attack them when they come to get you," Zander said. "If we're ready for them when they come, we can defeat them."
The others just looked at him. "And how can we do that?" Spock asked.
Jim smiled slightly. "The way we always do," he said. "By pure grit."
"We have to have some sort of distraction so that they will all come into the cell," Zander said. "They know we don't have any weapons so they won't be afraid to come in. We'll have to take them by surprise some way."
"How long do you think it will be before they come after me?"
"Could be sometime today, or it could be tomorrow. We need to make up our plan now so we will all know what to do."
Bones shook his head. "If I get out of this alive, I don't think I'm ever going on another away mission," he said.
"Aw, come on, Bones," Jim said. "Just think of all the fun you would miss."
"Fun, my eye. More like, are we gonna die today or tomorrow? And how excruciating will it be?"
They all sat down around Jim. "What are we going to do when we escape?" Jim asked. "We already tried to escape once and there's no way out of here."
"Yes there is," Zander said. "About ten miles from this prison, there's a spaceport. There's a ship that comes and delivers stuff. That's probably what they're expecting. There's always two or three days that they leave the prisoners alone, there's no mining, and they have a big party. After that, they're more brutal than ever…but it's no picnic in those barracks when everyone is locked up in there."
"How do we get to the spaceport?" Jim asked.
"You have to know the way. I don't know it."
"Ten miles, huh?"
"Yeah, and raining the whole way."
"Why would anyone want to do anything on this planet?" Bones asked.
"Because it's rich in dilithium," Zander said.
"How do the Klingons get from here to there?" Spock asked. "They must have a way."
"They do. I'm sure they have transports hidden somewhere."
"Then the thing we have to do is find them," Jim said. "They have to be hidden somewhere out of that rain and mud."
"Perhaps they are hidden somewhere in the building where we eat," Spock said. "It is the place that the prisoners visit the least."
"So how do we find out? We sure can't get a Klingon on our side." Jim remembered the old Klingon who was imprisoned with him. "There was an old Klingon in the prison where I was. He tried to help me once. I didn't see him anymore after that day. Zander was there after that."
"I didn't see him," Zander said. "If he tried to help you, he may be dead now."
"If we can't escape, what will they do if I win both fights?"
"Jim, you can't fight that Klingon!" Bones declared.
"It wouldn't be the first time I fought a Klingon, Bones."
"Yeah, and you remember the condition you were in when you got back to the ship too."
"I never intended to get in a fight with those Klingons that time. That just happened. I'll be expecting it this time."
"If our past encounters with the Klingons are any indication, it is that they are always able to perform the unexpected," Spock said. "We cannot presume that you would be able to survive in a fight with a Klingon."
"If we can't escape, I'll have to."
"If we attempt to escape and fail, one or more of us may be dead."
"We have to pay attention to what's going on around us. There's going to be some time that they take a transport to go over to the spaceport. Maybe we'll be able to see it from here. That would tell us where the hangar is."
"Still, we must make our escape plan."
"That's just what we're about to do."
"It's time for you guys to get in the back," Solan said as the ship was approaching the Klingon center. "Get into the storage compartment and they won't be able to detect you if they do a scan."
Mac, Sulu, and Scotty hurried to the back of the ship and climbed down into a storage compartment. Mac closed the top and they crouched down in the bottom of the storage compartment. All they could do now was wait.
Solan came out of warp in the Klingon system and soon met up with three warbirds. He was not surprised when a Klingon appeared on the viewscreen. "Well, hello, Trog," he said.
"Solan, you old scoundrel," Trog replied. "What have you brought us today?"
"Something you're going to love…Chech'tluth."
The Klingon rared back with a hearty laugh. "You know where to land."
"I'll be down to that old ball of mud momentarily."
The transmission ended. Solan knew he was not exaggerating when he called it a ball of mud. He did not like being on Rura Penthe, but this time there was more purpose. He supposed this would be his last time there since the Klingons were not likely to forgive him for bringing stowaways to this prison world to break prisoners out. He was sure it would be known too.
Soon, Solan entered the atmosphere of Rura Penthe. It was like it always was when he finally broke through the thick clouds… rain. He was glad the viewports had automatic cleaners. He could see the lights of the spaceport below even through the rain and darkness. There was no turning back now.
