Star Trek XIV – Tomorrow is Now

Chapter Seven

After they docked on the Outpost 7, near the border with the Romulan Neutral Zone, Dr McCoy and his team transported every bedridden patient, sixty-four of them, from the Enterprise's sickbay to their much larger and better equipped medical facility. Dr Marcus, as Kirk had predicted, refused the transfer for as long as she could and the Captain only managed to persuade her when he told her that at the outpost they had just installed the latest model of an osteogenic regenerator and with that machine, according to Dr McCoy, her convalescence would be significantly reduced.

'You'll be back on your feet real soon, you'll see,' Kirk had promised as they were taking her away.

While they were there, the Captain asked the Commodore who managed the station to relay two separate messages; one addressed to the President's office, the other was sent to Admiral Komack himself.

A week after that, the Enterprise found itself right where everything had started: orbiting around Nimbus III, waiting for the Romulans, the Klingons or the Federation. Whoever came first.

'Is the beacon for the Romulans still active?' Kirk asked speaking from his chair at the bridge.

'Yes, sir,' Uhura replied, 'we're broadcasting it through all channels, all frequencies in all three of their dialects.'

'What about the message in Klingon?' he asked.

'It's also being sent at regular intervals,' she confirmed, 'I've double-checked with the computer records to make sure my translation of the traditional Klingon fight challenge was accurate.'

'Just out of curiosity,' Da Silva asked her, 'what are we telling them exactly?'

'We're saying,' Uhura replied, 'with respect, come out and show your honour.'

'Straight to the point,' Chekov commented, 'I like it.'

'Let's hope they like it too,' Kirk said with a tight smile.

'Captain,' Sulu announced, 'I'm detecting an incoming ship. I…I don't recognise its registry.'

'It's the Admiral,' Kirk said sounding eerily calm, 'shields up, red alert, Mr Sulu.'

'Aye, Captain,' the helmsman replied.

'So it begins,' Da Silva commented from his tactical station.

Nobody on the bridge paid much attention to him for they were all too busy trying to fulfill their roles as efficiently as possible but when the unknown Federation vessel showed up, they all realised that, for all their precaution, nothing would have prepared them for what appeared in front of their eyes.

'That's impossible!' a stunned Sulu exclaimed.

Kirk found himself swallowing hard as he watched a near replica of the USS Vengeance dropping out of warp right next to the Enterprise, dwarfing her just as her predecessor had done before.

The sight made the Captain wonder how very badly monitored the Federation's resources were to allow for a group of lunatics to embezzle enough credits to finance the construction of, not one, but two dreadnaught class vessels. To say nothing of the vast workforce they had managed to enroll in the task somehow.

'Captain…' he managed to hear Spock's warning tone.

'I know,' Kirk replied taking an involuntary intake of air.

'W-we're being hailed,' Uhura said her usually steady voice trembling a little.

'On screen,' the Captain ordered her.

The entire bridge crew had an odd sense of déjà-vu when they saw the Admiral presiding over a dark coloured bridge, the design of which was identical to the one Admiral Marcus had commanded from.

'Kirk,' was all Komack said as a way of greeting.

'Admiral,' he bravely replied.

'You sure have guts,' the older man said but his tone did not show any admiration, 'but your bravery is only outclassed by your stupidity. Did you really think you could summon me here and get away with it?'

'I had to try,' Kirk said instilling as much nonchalance in his words as he could.

'Your good luck is truly legendary,' Komack taunted him, 'however, it ends now: arm cannons!'

Kirk barely had time to register that the transmission had been terminated when he saw the two protruding superstructures slowly charging up, getting ready to blow the Enterprise into smithereens. Scotty had performed one of his usual miracles in order to transfer all available energy to the ship's defensive mechanisms but…would that be enough?

'Sir!' Sulu shouted, 'I'm getting two more readings!'

'Klingons?' Kirk asked doing his best to remain calm.

'No Captain,' he replied sounding rather pleased, 'they're ours: it's the USS Intrepid and…oh no way…'

He ran out of time to explain himself when two Federation ships dropped out of warp simultaneously, aligning themselves in between the Enterprise and the huge, unnamed vessel. At their left, the Republic-class Intrepid, at their right, a sight which provoked a surprised gasp among some of the Enterprise's bridge crew.

'How is that even possible?' a shocked Da Silva asked to himself.

'Sir,' Uhura said offering one of her brilliant smiles, 'the USS Hope is haling us.'

'Get them on screen,' Kirk replied returning the grin.

'Hello?' a young Andorian female said from the Captain's chair.

'Hello there,' Kirk replied feeling too pleased to reprimand the junior officer for her lack of formality.

'Lieutenant Talas!' Commander Da Silva said stepping out of his station.

'Commander!' she exclaimed happily, her blue skin becoming a little paler probably due to the surprise, 'we thought you were dead! We lost your signal and then…'

'We thought you were destroyed,' Kirk intervened, sensing this chat would waste time they did not have.

'We were badly damaged, sir,' the officer replied, 'our communications were fried and we had to repair the warp core, it's taken us this long to be able to pick up any readings, yours was the first one we did.'

'Lucky for us,' the Captain said.

'They're ready to fire,' Sulu announced.

'They will not do that,' Talas promised, her eyes showing the fighting spirit her kind was so famous for.

'How can be so sure?' Da Silva asked her.

'Because the President is onboard the Intrepid, sir,' the Andorian replied shaking both of her antennas.

'The President?' Kirk asked, 'you mean our President?'

'Affirmative, Captain,' Talas replied, 'they hailed us while we were on route here and, after we were briefed by His Excellency regarding the events on Nimbus III, he promised he would help us rescue you.'

Kirk was too grateful to let his pride be wounded. Instead, he turned his gaze to the portion of the viewscreen that showed what was going on outside. With a start, he saw the unknown Federation vessel attempting to go into warp but was forced to abort her escape by the sudden arrival of a massive Romulan fleet. From his chair, the Captain saw Komack's ship executing an evasive maneuver in order to avoid a direct collision with at least six enemy vessels, one of them Kirk recognised as Captain Decius'.

Soon, the Admiral's ship was surrounded by Romulan birds-of-prey, all looking ready to strike.

'Captain,' Da Silva requested, 'with your permission, I'd like to beam back to the USS Hope.'

'Yeah,' Kirk said, 'it's now or never.'

'Thank you,' the Commander said speaking as fast as he could, 'it's been an honour serving you.'

'The honour was all mine,' Kirk replied with a quick smile.

Riccardo Da Silva squared himself and, offering a quick salute, he rushed out of the bridge and to the transporter from where he ordered Talas to lower the Hope's shields just for as long as it took for him to get onboard their ship. A moment later, he stepped on the bridge, replacing Talas as her Acting Captain.

'Captain,' the very busy Uhura said, 'we're…'

'On screen,' Kirk said not even letting her finish.

For the third time, they saw the interior of yet another bridge only that, this time, it was the very unfamiliar layout of a Romulan warbird. Sitting on a high chair, flanked by two warriors who seemed more like bodyguards than actual bridge officers, they saw a distinguished looking Romulan.

'Greetings,' he said sounding almost pleasant, 'I am Commander Keras, from the ChR Gal Gath'thong. You are, I assume, the human known as James T. Kirk from the USS Enterprise.'

'That is correct,' Kirk confirmed threading cautiously.

'We have received your missive,' Commander Keras said, 'and as the oldest member of my House, I am allowed to parlay on behalf of our leadership. With that said, I would like you to name your terms.'

'It's fairly simple,' Kirk replied, 'all the Federation wants is peace, if you grant us that, you have my solemn word that I will give you the information I have regarding the future of your home planet.'

'You mentioned Romulus is in grave danger,' Keras asked him neutrally.

'It is,' Kirk replied, 'I know for a fact that in the not too faraway future, Romulus will be destroyed by a force of nature. The information only we have will allow you sufficient time to prepare yourselves.'

'I see,' the Commander said pensively, 'I would like to ask for some time while I meditate on the matter.'

'Of course,' Kirk said still trying to keep a cool expression, 'take as much time as you need but, while you do so, I respectfully request you consider the fact that a full scale war would not benefit either of us.'

'I shall consider that,' Keras said fractionally bowing his head.

The transmission ended right there but, very soon, another one interrupted the sepulchral silence which had fallen upon the bridge. Kirk was about to ask Uhura what was happening now when Sulu exclaimed:

'Klingon warbird incoming at mark 2!'

'You have got to be kidding me,' Kirk exclaimed sighing his frustration.

'Just one?' Spock asked ignoring his Captain's remark.

'Yes, sir,' Sulu confirmed.

'Oh no…' a horrified looking Uhura said.

'What is it, Lieutenant?' Kirk asked her.

'They're not speaking Klingon,' she replied, 'what I'm picking up it's…it's…ancient Urdu, sir.'

'Urdu?' Kirk asked.

'It is a language still spoken in parts of India and Pakistan,' Spock supplied not very helpfully.

'Thanks,' Kirk deadpanned, 'who would…' he stopped speaking as his brain finally made the connection.

'It's Khan, isn't it?' Chekov asked from his seat, voicing everyone's worst fears.

'Yes,' Uhura replied.

'Well,' Kirk said sounding resigned, 'let's think positive: we'll deal with our troubles all at once.'

'Captain,' Spock commented flatly, 'oftentimes I find your optimism difficult to understand.'

Kirk just smirked at him before returning his attention to the deadly calm that reigned outside his ship: like on a chessboard, each piece had been laid out: the Romulan warbirds had spread out like a fan keeping Komack's ship on check, making it impossible for him to go anywhere while the Hope and the Intrepid remained static not far from the Enterprise as if they were two knights protecting their king.

'Sir,' Uhura said, 'the President just sent word: he will, as you requested, not reveal his presence to the Romulans until you advise him to do so.'

'Good,' Kirk replied, 'the last thing we need now is for the Romulans to think we're tricking them,' he commented, 'Mr Sulu,' he said, 'what's the status on the Klingon warbird?'

'It should be here any minute now,' Sulu replied.

Any minute now, Kirk repeated the words in his head, any minute now and they would be faced, yet again, with the most dangerous enemy they'd ever faced. If Kor and his fleet joined the party now…

'Better not tempt fate,' Kirk muttered under his breath.

'What is that, Captain?' but of course Spock's annoyingly sensitive ears would pick it up.

'Nothing,' he replied.

As he said that, a huge D7-class Bird-of-Prey dropped out of warp right in front of them, so close that it forced the USS Hope to rush out of the way. Unlike the other previous arrivals, this time there was no chit-chat, instead, the warbird launched an authentic onslaught of torpedoes, firing their phasers and pretty much every single weapon the ship possessed.

'Evasive manouvres!' Kirk shouted at Sulu, 'fire everything we've got!' he ordered Chekov.

'AYE CAPTAIN!' both of them replied at the same time.

As his ship engaged in a deadly dogfight with the Klingon warbird, Kirk knew it was crucial to keep its attention focused on the Enterprise for as long as possible. No matter what Talas said, he knew the USS Hope was far from being fully functional and, as per letting Khan fire upon the USS Intrepid…

That would be unacceptable.

'Our shields are down to 60%,' Sulu announced, 'we can't keep this up for much longer, Captain.'

'I know,' Kirk replied.

He was racking his brain trying to come up with a counter attack when Chekov announced:

'Captain, I'm…'

The Russian never finished whatever it is he was going to say because they all saw it with their own eyes: for some happy reason, the Klingon warbird simply imploded, with Khan and his crew onboard.

'What the…'

'Captain,' an awed Uhura said, 'it's the Romulans, they're hailing us again.'

'On screen,' Kirk could barely bring himself to mutter.

The image of the crippled Klingon ship falling prey of Nimbus III strong gravity field was replaced by Keras' pleasant expression. For a fleeting moment, Kirk felt like he could actually like this Romulan.

'Captain Kirk,' the Commander said, 'my apologies for the wait and, for…that trouble,' the Captain was incapable of speech so he let the Romulan continue, 'the Klingons are simple creatures,' he said without a single trace of malice, 'thus, it was easy to trick them into install our devices aboard their ships.'

'Commander,' Kirk finally found his voice, 'forgive me but, I cannot understand.'

'The device had two functions,' Keras explained in an almost scholarly way, 'one was to conceal the ship it was installed on, the other, we saw it as an insurance, in case the Klingon would…act up, like they just have. But let's move on,' the Commander said as if blowing up a Klingon warbird was something inconsequential, 'I have meditated and I would like to give you my answer.'

Kirk was only brave enough to say:

'Please.'

'Unlike Captain Decius, I feel a war is unnecessary for both our peoples,' Keras said, 'I have lived through many a conflict and I have learned that the best move to achieve victory, is to not take part in them at all. It is for this reason that I will advise our leadership to pursue a long term peace treaty, providing, of course, that you fulfill your terms.'

'We will,' Kirk promised.

'As per the Klingons,' Keras continued, 'let us deal with them. I daresay that after we reveal the true nature of their cloaking device, it won't be too difficult to persuade them to leave you in peace.'

'Commander,' Kirk said, 'all due respect but I feel you're over optimistic: the Klingons will never surrender, they'll just remove the device and…'

'I would very much like to see them try,' the Romulan said looking vaguely amused.

'What happens if they do?' Kirk asked curiously.

'The device is designed to protect itself from any tampering,' Keras supplied.

'A self-destruct mechanism,' Spock said making Kirk realise the Vulcan had got up from his chair.

'That is correct,' the Romulan confirmed, 'it is a good insurance policy, is it not?'

'Indeed,' Spock replied.

The Captain noticed just a hint of admiration in his First Officer's voice and he was surprised to acknowledge that he too thought the Romulan tactic was an excellent one. He'd just finished the thought when, out of the blue, a whole fleet of Klingon warbirds chose to reveal themselves.

'My apologies, Captain,' Keras said, 'it appears I have another, somewhat unexpected, appointment.'

Kirk could only grin imagining the Klingons' reaction after their "appointment" with Commander Keras.

To be continued…