Chapter 11

Double agony exploded in Kirk's mind and blotted out all other thought, at least for the moment.

Konti watched Rishon stagger and almost fall, but recover himself without losing contact with Kirk. Kirk's body went completely rigid, he stopped breathing, his mouth opened in a silent scream. There was no change for over a minute. Then Kirk gasped for air and began shaking violently.

Jesus! Help!

Kirk heard the words but didn't know who said them - must be Spock. As thought returned, he felt Rishon pressing against Spock's shield.

*You're wasting your time.*

*What!? How can you be coherent?*

*The grace of God. Before you leave, there is one thing I want to tell you.*

*What's that?*

*When the violence starts, defend yourselves, but don't get drawn in.*

*What are you talking about?*

*There are several factions of Klingons here, all with different goals.*

Kirk felt Koh's hypos.

*You better get out of here while you can.*

Rishon did not reply.

Kirk felt darkness closing in almost immediately. He fought it with everything in him. He thought he heard a voice.

*Come here, Jim.*

It sounded like Spock, but he couldn't be sure. And it was calling him into the darkness. He continued to fight it.

*Jim! Let me help you! Stop fighting me!*

Kirk let Spock draw him into the darkness. He'd been trusting that voice for years; now was no time to stop.

*Where are we?*

*You are unconscious. Had you continued to fight it, you might now be dead. I could have done this for you before. Even now, Rishon will know what I have done.*

Konti saw Kirk go limp.

"Koh! Turn it off! Is he dead?"

Koh hit the power switch and came over with the scanner.

"No, he's alive, just barely."

Rishon withdrew and stood erect. "Spock is protecting him, and I cannot penetrate the shield."

*How long do we stay here?*

*It would be logical for them to have turned it off.*

*Yes, and they'll turn it back on as soon as I wake up. Over and over again, til my body acquires sufficient tolerance. We've done this a lot.*

*Jim, it is not a question of your body's tolerance. This is a battle of the mind.*

*I understand that. So how do we win it?*

*I believe that Rishon is the weak link. He thinks you are the weak link. We must make it impossible for him to continue, while keeping you alive.*

*You call the shots, Spock.*

"Konti, he's conscious."

"Wait for Rishon, then turn it back on."

The pain was immediately worse than absolutely awful, and Kirk fought the darkness with all of his strength, until Spock called him.

*Jim-*

Kirk slipped into unconsciousness.

*I don't like running to hide.*

*I know, but dying is not yet an unavoidable necessity. As long as you come immediately when I call, I can push it much closer to the edge.*

*I trust you, Spock.*

After two more repetitions, Rishon spoke to Konti.

"Spock is playing with Kirk's life. He leaves him uncovered until Kirk almost dies, before offering the protection of unconsciousness."

"Why?"

"He hopes that I cannot tolerate the pain either."

"What about the shield?"

"As impenetrable as ever. Given the power of Spock's mind, as long as they remain in unity, the shield remains secure against me. The moment Kirk rebels against what Spock is doing to him, the shield will crack. No one can tolerate this level of pain."

"Can you?"

"Longer than he can. I must."

The fight went on for over two hours. At first, each round only lasted a few minutes. As Kirk got used to it, however, he could tolerate longer periods of agony. And he never stayed unconscious more than a few minutes, just long enough to recover from being on the brink of death.

Kirk did not speak to Rishon, but took to making eye contact before each round. He and Spock did not speak much either. An occasional word of encouragement to let Spock know he was fine. They both devoted their energy to the task at hand. Words were, for the most part, unnecessary. When Kirk was up to twenty-minute rounds, he noticed Rishon was becoming reluctant to engage.

*Don't stop now, Spock. We've got him on the run.*

The last round was thirty minutes.

*I'm almost ready to tolerate this without breaks.*

*Perhaps it won't be necessary.*

Kirk opened his eyes, but Rishon did not appear. Instead Konti came into view. Kirk just barely resisted grinning at him, but the warmth of love shown clearly in his eyes for a moment before he covered it, not wanting Konti to lose control.

Konti gazed at him in silence, his face unreadable.

"Koh, take off these restraints."

As Koh complied, Konti glanced around to confirm that all the delegates were there. They were. It had been an intense couple of hours, as they watched the fight between Kirk and Rishon. Konti turned back to Kirk.

"Stand up."

Kirk complied, albeit rather slowly. His muscles were protesting all the tension of the past hours.

"You wanted to talk. The delegates are all here. If you can retain your feet and talk coherently, while Koh turns it on and off at random, then we will listen."

"Lord Jesus, help me!"

It sounded completely impossible to Kirk. But he had wanted a demonstration of the impossible. He chuckled.

"This experience of the impossible far exceeds my expectations. I want you all to know that if I succeed in doing this, it will be through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ working in me. I myself do not have the ability, not even with Spock's help."

The pain hit him like a ton of bricks. He was on the floor before he knew what hit him. As he realized where he was, Kirk began struggling to his feet. He made it to his knees, sternly telling his body that it didn't matter what this felt like, he could do this. From there to his feet was another matter. It took him ten minutes, and he fell three times. Finally, he grabbed the line attached to his collar, and used it to pull himself to his feet. Swaying erratically, he clutched the line with both hands.

This won't do, he told himself. Jesus, if you want me to talk to these people, I need a miracle.

He planted his feet, took a deep breath, and let go of the line with his left hand. He was visibly shaking, but he did not go down. He wound the line around his right arm for an anchor, and looked at the delegates. He spoke slowly but clearly.

"You are looking at a miracle. If you don't believe me, ask Spock whether I can do this."

"If it's a miracle," called out one of the Romulans, "then let go of the line."

Kirk slowly unwound his arm and let go, lowering his right arm to his side. The shaking did not abate, but neither did he fall over. Kirk kept his attention focused on the delegates.

"I want to tell you Who this person is that can provide things like the miracle you're looking at. I met Him roughly two years ago. My senior officers and I were being held prisoner..."

Without giving away who exactly held them prisoner, Kirk shared the story of his conversion. He followed that with a clear presentation of the Gospel and basic Christian doctrine. He held them spellbound for almost three hours. The story was compelling enough, but his response to the pain had them staring in awe.

Koh turned it off and on repeatedly, and the only difference in Kirk was that the shaking stopped. When he turned it back on, the shaking resumed, with hardly a pause in his narrative. At one point, someone interrupted with an accusation that the pain must have abated. Koh declared that it had not, but they didn't believe him.

"You desire further proof. Rishon could get it for you," Kirk offered.

"I am not fully recovered from my previous encounters," Rishon admitted.

"Be healed, in the name of Jesus," Kirk prayed.

Rishon immediately fell over backwards, holding his head, and laughing. The other delegates were alarmed.

"What did you do to him?!"

"Relax; he'll be fine. But it'll take him awhile to recover, so Rishon's not available to provide your proof. I can ask the Lord to lift the anointing briefly, and you can watch me fall apart. Koh, turn it off for a minute." The shaking stopped. "Now, when he turns it back on, you'll see what happens without the Lord's power."

Kirk stood calmly waiting. The pain washed over him like a tidal wave and left him gasping for air, flat on his back, rigid with tension. The idea of standing up and talking seemed again incredibly impossible. But he tried anyway. Forcing his body to obey him, he rolled over and got his hands under him. It took him three tries to get to his knees. But he couldn't get to his feet. Every time he tried, he fell over. After fifteen minutes, Koh turned it off. Kirk took a deep breath and got up.

"Now, where were we?" And he resumed his story as if uninterrupted. When Koh turned it back on, the shaking began again, but that was all. And Kirk effectively ignored the shaking. An hour and a half later, he was still talking.

"Now you may wonder what all that has to do with you and this conference. I came here for the express purpose of telling you about Jesus and showing you His power. I did not come here to be a pawn in the struggle for power between governments. It should be evident by now that as a source of Federation secrets, I am of no value to you.

"The purpose of this conference was to establish an alliance between Klingons and Romulans in order to defeat the Federation. I am opposed to such an alliance, but not for the obvious reason. I hate war because innocent people get hurt. Killing people does not fix problems or resolve conflicts. If established, this alliance would give you the confidence to start a war. Many would die, Klingons and Romulans, as well as people of the Federation.

"Without this alliance, neither of you feel strong enough to start a war, especially one that might have to be waged on two fronts. At least that is the majority opinion in your governments. How do I know? Simple: you haven't started a war. But there are always individuals who want war for personal reasons, usually because the only route to fame, glory, and power is through the exploits of war.

"I am a warrior. I can wage war when it is necessary. Some of you may have had occasion to know how well. But I avoid it if at all possible. I don't need war to get me what I want. I don't have to kill somebody to feel that I have truly lived. I don't need an enemy to keep me sharp and not careless. I don't need to conquer anyone to give me a sense of power. Love is greater than hate. It's more powerful than the forces of war.

"Rishon, you looked recovered. I have a few questions. Had you any personal contact with me before today?"

"No."

"Did you consider me friend, enemy, or neither?"

"Enemy, of course."

"Other than denying you access to secrets, have I treated you as an enemy?"

"No," Rishon admitted.

"One last question: do you consider this experience with the power of Jesus positive or negative?"

"Positive," was the reluctant admission.

"I would like for all of you to know Jesus and experience His power. But He will not force you, nor shall I. I do not consider any of you my enemies, regardless of how much you choose to believe of what I have said. I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you individually. Thank you for listening."

Kirk immediately collapsed to the floor, again overcome by the pain. Konti ignored him and turned to the delegation.

"Well?"

A brief silence was followed by everyone talking at once. As Konti sorted out the responses, it was clear that a majority still wanted to break Kirk. And they did not understand most of what he'd said. Was this the time to declare himself? No, it would only lose him what advantage he had. The situation was still much too volatile. He turned to Koh.

"Start increasing the Vulcan's pain."

Koh looked appalled, but complied without protest. Konti gazed again at Kirk. He had said love was more powerful, but Konti had no illusions that Kirk could still love him after this, if he even survived it.

xxxx

It had taken about an hour for things to return to normal. Chuck had interviewed the prisoner, but learned nothing useful. Maybe Spock could do better, assuming he was still alive. They were about an hour away from the rendezvous, and Young had called a senior officers' briefing.

"Please be seated." They sat. "Scotty, your report first."

"She's holdin' together, sir. Wi' all th' damage, she'll need some time at a starbase when this's over."

"Indeed. Thank you. Chuck?"

"Interrogation of the prisoner has not produced any useful answers. But at least we shouldn't have any more sabotage."

"You think he was working alone then?"

"It's still an assumption, and I don't even know whether he's the agent of some organized force, or on a personal vendetta of some kind. Maybe Spock could get answers out of him."

"We can hope that will be an option. Which brings us to the matter at hand. We are over six hours late, but we'll be there in less than an hour. The message said six vessels. Any ideas on how we deal with six to one odds?"

The general opinion was that it would be suicide to engage a battle with that many hostiles. There was some talk of trying to get them to battle each other. But the prevailing opinion was that talk was the best solution. It could be hoped that their very presence would intimidate the alliance-makers. After a brief prayer, they returned to the Bridge.

"ETA ten minutes, sir," reported Sulu.

"Long range sensors show six vessels in orbit, Captain," volunteered Lt. Martin.

"Chekov, compute me an orbit that puts us right in the middle of them."

"Aye, Keptin. That will put us directly over the planetary installation, sir."

"So much the better."

"Course laid in, sir," Chekov reported.

"Implement."

"Yes, sir," Sulu acknowledged.

Tense silence as they all wondered if Captain Kirk and Spock were still alive. Even McCoy said nothing. Chuck stood to the right of Young's chair, and felt privileged to be there. Kirk had challenged him to know these people as friends, and he did. They had accepted him as one of them, just as they had with Young.

"Dropping out of warp now, sir." Sulu's hands were steady on the controls.

"Both factions are hailing us, Captain. Demanding ID codes."

"No reply, Uhura."

"Vessels are raising shields, sir," Martin reported from the Science station.

"Orbit in two minutes," Sulu added.

"Weapons powering up, sir."

"Hold steady."

It was a long two minutes.

"Synchronized orbit achieved, sir."

"Open a channel, Uhura. Wide band."

"Go ahead, sir."

"This is Joshua Young, Captain of the USS Enterprise. I wish to speak to whoever's in charge of this conference."

xxxx

When Konti gave the order, Koh set the pain generator to automatically increase. But he set the rate of increase fractionally small, hoping Kirk could adjust before it killed him. Spock's tolerance was not yet in question. For over an hour, Kirk lay on the floor in obvious agony. Finally he retreated into unconsciousness. Koh guessed that Spock had insisted.

Since Spock was also unconscious, Koh paused the accelerator, holding the pain level steady. But he did not turn it off. The shock of zero to max was much harder to take. As long as the delegates weren't peering over his shoulder asking questions, he would make this as easy as possible. Not that he saw any way out for Kirk, but he would delay the inevitable as long as he could.

A few minutes later, they woke up, and Koh turned the accelerator back on. Five minutes later, they were unconscious again. For the next hour, they went back and forth every few minutes. Koh was certain Spock was controlling it, because the periods of unconsciousness were so precisely timed. He marveled that Kirk would let himself be so thoroughly controlled by another.

Suddenly Koh's attention was distracted, and he neglected to turn on the accelerator as they woke up. A guard had entered and was in obviously agitated conversation with Konti.

Spock's sensitive hearing picked up the entire exchange.

"I am sorry to interrupt, sir."

"You'd better be," Konti growled.

"The subcommander said you had turned your communicator off, sir."

"So? Get to the point!"

"A Federation vessel, sir! Says it's the Enterprise!"

"Where?!"

"In orbit, sir, directly overhead. Her captain has demanded to speak with you, sir."

"Her captain?! Does this captain have a name?"

"Yes, sir. Captain Joshua Young, I think he said."

"This is Kadat's fault. Get him down here, heavily escorted. I want to talk to him. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir. And about the Enterprise, sir?"

"Put the call through. I'll talk to him."

Konti would have preferred to talk to Young in private, but he didn't dare leave the room. All hell could break loose at any time. He looked over at Kirk, still writhing in agony. Not possible that Kirk hadn't known the Enterprise was coming. Why had he implied she wasn't?

Spock didn't understand Klingon, but Kirk did.

*Enterprise is here. Konti's going to blame it on Kadat.*

*Unwise to bring Kadat into this room?*

*Better to know where he is. Anyway, I wish the Enterprise had stayed home.*

*The Admiral would not have let you come alone.*

*I know.*

xxxx

"I have Commander Konti, sir. Audio only."

"Put him on speakers, Uhura."

"Konti is Captain Kirk's -um, owner, sir," she volunteered.

"I recognize the name, thanks."

"This is Commander Konti of the Klingon Imperial High Command. Who are you and what are you doing here?!"

"Joshua Young, Captain, USS Enterprise. I have reason to believe you are holding two Federation Starfleet officers."

"There is no one here in a Federation uniform. And if there were, it is presumed that you know the treatment that spies receive. All of which does not explain what you are doing here."

"I am here to retrieve those officers you say you don't have. But it might interest you to note that if any of the six vessels up here fire on us, I will immediately fire on your planetary installation. How long can you sustain phaser fire in your present position?"

"I do not personally command all those vessels."

"Then talk to whoever does, and get back to me. Young out."

Uhura cut the connection.

"Sir," it was Martin. "Sensors indicate 26 life-forms on the planet: 18 Klingon, 7 Romulan, and one human."

"Could one of those Romulans be Vulcan?"

"Possibly."

"Could we beam all 26 out of there?"

"Not all at once."

"How many are in the same room as Kirk?"

"Twenty - all but six of the Klingons."

"Kirk and Spock are in a room with six Romulans and twelve Klingons?"

"Yes, sir, but five of the Klingons beamed down after we got here."

"Could we take Kirk, Spock, and all six Romulans?"

"Might be able to take Spock and the Romulans, but not Kirk at the same time. But it's pretty crowded in there. The transporter may not be able to isolate the signals. More likely they could isolate Kirk's signal, but not if he's closely surrounded."

"Keptin, if you take all the Romulans, those wessels may decide to fire on us, having nothing to lose."

"Point taken, Chekov. All right, beaming them out doesn't sound practical. Other suggestions?"

"I'll take a landing party down - take them out by force," Chuck volunteered.

"Captain," Uhura put in, "I don't think Captain Kirk and Spock wanted to be rescued. They came here to disrupt the alliance. Removing them from the scene may not be what the Captain needs right now."

"And the only way to find out what is needed is to get down there. Chuck-"

"Captain, Konti is on the line."

"Put him on."

"Captain Young, the vessels surrounding you demand some assurance from you before they will stand down from weapons readiness. They require that you and your First Officer beam down and join us on the planet. Only then will they believe that you will not fire on the planet, whether or not they fire on you first."

"And what assurance do I have that you will not seize us as prisoners?"

"None, Captain. I didn't invite you here."

"Very well. Send us the coordinates. We'll be there in five minutes."

xxxx

Konti pocketed his communicator and walked over to Kadat.

"What do you know about this Captain Young?"

"Nothing."

"You told me Kirk was Captain of the Enterprise, and Spock his First Officer."

"He is."

"A ship cannot have two captains."

"He was on the Enterprise, wearing a captain's uniform."

Konti turned away in disgust. He should probably kill Kadat here and now, but he didn't want to. Doubtless, he would regret putting it off. He walked over to Koh.

"Do we have any way to restrain additional prisoners in here?"

"Not really. I could take the line attaching Kirk to the ceiling, and cut it into lengths for tying wrists."

"Leaving Kirk unrestrained?"

"Does anybody really think Kirk's capable of going anywhere?"

"Certainly doesn't look like it. Can he hear what's going on? Would he hear if I questioned him?"

"I don't know if his mind can focus on it, but he's conscious at the moment."

"Does this key do what I think it does?" Konti's voice was pitched low, as he picked up the key.

"Yes, sir," was Koh's non-committal response.

Konti stepped around Spock and approached Kirk.

"Kirk! Can you hear me?" Konti was careful not to get too close.

Kirk did not respond.

"Who is the Captain of the Enterprise?"

Still no response. Konti turned away.

*What was that all about?*

*I am uncertain of his purpose. It is unlikely that he wishes to gloat.*

*Unless he's performing, which is quite likely. What was that about a key?*

*I believe he picked up the key he referred to, and kept it.*

*Hmm - I wonder...*

*Quite possibly.*