8.
Author's NOTE: I keep writing about this mission of Lt. Kirk "twelve years ago". I'm not sure about the timeline. If anyone can help me out, I'd be grateful - I'd like to get things right. Also, Spock says in Chapter 1 that the Andarans left Kos "three million and four hundred thousand years ago". That is obviously somewhat exaggerated – myself, not Spock, is to blame. I am changing it to seventy-thousand years ago. Lastly, if anyone wants more on Spock on Andaras, I could possibly oblige. Let me know.
Spock hoped his hosts had not noticed his struggle with the sudden surge of panic. It had taken him far too long to extricate himself from the demanding situation room and to commandeer a small room, a closet, really, where he could contact the ship in private. Straight away Uhura discreetly informed him that the Captain was in Sick Bay. This only confirmed the feeling of horror that had grabbed him in mid-sentence over an hour ago.
"Patch me through to Sick Bay, Lieutenant," he ordered, careful to keep his voice under control.
"McCoy here."
"Is the Captain alright, Doctor?"
"Spock! Yes! It was damn close, but he pulled through. How on earth-"
Alone in the room, Spock closed his eyes in relief.
"Thank you, Doctor."
There was a small silence.
"Well, don't thank me, Spock," said McCoy, gruff but obviously happy. "It was the Queen. Turns out Kosian women have a gift of healing. If she hadn't been here we'd be having a different conversation. But how are things on your end? I'm sure Jim'll want to know the moment he regains consciousness."
"As we surmised, the explosion was an act of terrorism. The Andarans are quite efficient in their investigations. They have an extensive intelligence network. And if ever the Federation looks into their membership, the issue of universal rights should be first on the agenda. But I believe we will come to the truth soon enough. Please tell the Captain that Probend Obk has been cooperating with the investigations, at some risk to his political future. But I believe the Council of Elders on Kos supports him, and the voices that speak against his policies in this matter are few."
"And who do you think did it, Spock," asked McCoy.
Had Spock been human, he would have rolled his eyes. As it was, he settled for raising an eyebrow.
"We do not yet have all the facts, Doctor. The Kosian situation seems pretty straightforward. They are one bloc held together by the tradition embodied in the Council of Elders. They are also a peaceloving people. Still, it is not inconceivable that some Kosian defector perpetrated this crime. The Andaran state of affairs is much more fragmented, and volatile, and I have yet to see my way clear. So, I must refrain from speculating on your question of 'who did it,' Doctor."
"Agh, Spo-ock!" moaned McCoy, and Spock almost cracked a smile, so great was his relief about Jim.
Still, he continued as coolly as he could. "I will send a more detailed report on an encoded channel soon." The Doctor had given him good news, it was only fitting that Spock humor him.
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With thumb and index finger McCoy rubbed his sore eyes. It was three hours since the Captain's crisis. Jim was out of the woods, miraculously – there was no other word for it. The Queen was still at his side. She had insisted to the Doctor that she needed neither rest nor sleep, but that he did. So he had retired to his office, where he instantly recalled the report on Lieutenant James T. Kirk's reconnaissance mission to Kos/Andaras, twelve years ago.
The way he was composing it now was how he imagined retelling it to Spock when he checked back in –soon enough, he suspected.
Jim was one of a team of four sent to respond to the call of Kos. The team was led by Dr. Hildebrand, an expert on first encounters and the author of the report. Their contact with Kos was favorable from the outset. The Kosians were peaceful and forward looking. Communication and assessment were simplified by the fact that there was only that one united and authoritative body to deal with, the Council of Elders, which spoke through their Queen, and her consort, the King. This was the old King, Isha's now deceased husband.
Kirk and his team learned that this King, who had taken the name Kosilian the Fifth, was ninety Earth years old and had been ailing for over forty years now. This was surprising, since they determined that his affliction was, in any known, humanoid race in the universe, deadly and quick. The Kosians made no claim to a cure, but refrained from giving an explanation of the King's long life.
It wasn't long before Hildebrand and Kirk realized that something about the female population of Kos. As Kirk had mentioned, the women aged very slowly after they finished puberty. A seventy-year-old woman would still look like a twenty-year-old girl. Once they did start aging, however, the process seemed almost instant, for the only other female age group consisted of extremely old women.
These Elders ran the country, were revered by all, apparently without exception. Hildebrand reported they saw the twenty-five women of the Council only once, upon their arrival, they he learned from interviews that the number of their group varied as some of them passed away and others entered. And how did a woman enter the Council of Elders? In other words, how did they reach that state of aging? Again the Kosians respectfully declined to clarify.
There were many more discoveries and speculations in the long report, most of which McCoy skipped. Doctor Hildebrand proved to deserve his academic title in both verboseness and rather whimsical conjecture. Jim, on the other hand, seemed to have had other motivations for his interest in Kos.
The Queen, who was the effective spokesperson while her husband faded, had taken a liking to the young Lieutenant, and he to her. They spent as much time together as their duties permitted. Dr. Hildebrand seemed divided about this development. He valued the opportunity for research that such an intimate acquaintance provided. But he also expressed misgivings about the objectivity of said research and about possible breaches of protocol, as Isha and Kirk's friendship began to border on the romantic . McCoy deplored, however, that no details were forthcoming from the good Doctor. True, Kosian Queens took several consorts, but outworlders were something altogether different.
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Things took a bad turn when a shuttle ride to the outer reaches of the Kingdom went terribly amiss. On board were the Queen, Kirk, a Federation anthropologist named Silas, and one of the Queen's attendants. The shuttle controls failed, and it was all Kirk could do to get it to land without injuries, but on Andaran territory.
The Federation presence on the planet had never been a secret and the Andaran governing body had expressed an interest in meeting them. A conference had been arranged for later that month, so it came as a surprise to Kirk when he found their welcoming committee to be all but friendly.
Kirk knew, of course, that the Kosians and the Andarans were locked in a cold war. Kosians in general regarded Andarans as barbarians. Andarans saw Kosians as weak and pampered. Moreover, they held a grudge against them for exiling their ancestors seventy-thousand years ago, and for having withheld their technology in the more recent centuries. No matter how friendly and open their first encounter with Kos had turned out – to everyone's delight - it was always understood that the grounds for their presence was the Andaran situation.
Indeed, it was this core aspect of the mission that had necessitated the inclusion in the anthropological group of a tactical officer. Luckily, that officer had done his homework and was on board the shuttle when it crashed. It was Jim Kirk.
In the resulting skirmish the anthropologist was killed, and the rest was taken prisoner. It was the first casualty under Kirk's direct, if impromptu command, and the report mentioned the Lieutenant's excessive feelings of guilt over Silas' death. But at the moment of crisis Kirk kept his head. It was thanks to his clear-headedness that no more incidents took place while they were being transported to the capital.
The prisoners soon learned that their unannounced arrival was being interpreted as an invasion. This was laughable, of course, but the political situation made the situation grave enough. Indeed, they learned that their timing had been terrible. The leaders who had extended the Andaran invitation to the Federation had just been overthrown in a bloody coup by an Andaran General named Far-Ahn. It was before this ruthless usurper that they were now being led.
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Kirk read the situation instantly. Apparently it was only a few hours into Far-Ahn's new rule, but already the General was dealing with a crisis of his own. The military still held large factions that sided with the previous leaders, for a variety of reasons, and these were now mounting a counterattack. Far-Ahn was condescending to meet his unexpected prisoners at this critical time only because he might get some advantage out of them.
As the situation seemed unsalvageable – Far-Ahn becoming increasingly indignant in the face of the Kosian Queen's dignity – Kirk's trained eye spotted something out of place. With his usual bravado (McCoy thought), Kirk yelled a warning, broke free of his guard, and threw himself upon one of Far-Ahn's officers, disarming him of a bomb that would have blown the entire building to kingdom come.
At this point the report raised all manner of considerations of the Prime Directive. McCoy skipped to the end, finding the Lieutenant absolved of any breach. Obviously this incident had done nothing to harm young Kirk's already stellar career.
Being, in his own manner, a man of honor, Far-Ahn thanked Kirk for saving his life. Kirk was honest enough to point out what everyone knew, that it was his own life and that of the Queen that he had wanted to save. Far-Ahn roared with laughter, then expressed his respect for Kirk's honesty. Kirk could ask anything of him. Of course the request was the immediate release of his party.
Far-Ahn was a man of his word. However, he explained that their release, especially of the Kosian Queen and her attendant, should in no way be construed as a thawing of Andaran relations with Kos. If anything, Far-Ahn was more hostile toward Kos – and their friends, the Federation – than his predecessors had been.
In the report Kirk speculated that Far-Ahn's hostility might have been dictated by the political circumstances. Most of Andaras was opposed to anything Kos. Far -Ahn himself had taken advantage of the popular indignation at his predecessors' invitation of the Federation party to overthrow them. The more recent events, McCoy now thought, proved him right.
Kirk, the Queen and her attendant were returned to Kos, unharmed. But Andaras cut off all communication. Kos too fell back into its isolationist tendencies, both with regard to Andaras as to the Federation. Now that it was clear that the core mission was a failure, Starfleet ordered Kirk and his team to pull out.
McCoy wondered what kind of goodbyes were said between the Kosian Queen and the Federation Lieutenant. Unfortunately, the report left a lot of his questions about the nature of their relationship unanswered.
Not that Spock would ask, of course.
Author's NOTE: This is as far as I got with the bare bones of the story when I started to publish. So I may take somewhat longer to post more chapters. The story is mostly writing itself, but do join me in keeping fingers crossed for a speedy delivery.
