5
Chapter Twelve: "Stop the Fur Trade!"
K'Eihdan and Kabrech managed to track down Ranger Katrina Van Zandt and ask her for directions to Terra City, where the Conference on Interstellar Peace and Cooperation was being held. K'Eihdan was certain their friends were being taken to the conference by Kel in order to "disrupt" whatever the Triarian Ambassador Gyalaar was planning to do there.
"There's a shuttle going to Terra City from the Rangers' office," Van Zandt told them, "If you follow me, I'll take you to it."
After a brisk hike down the mountain, Van Zandt escorted the two Klingons onto a hover-shuttle full of tourists and would-be conference-goers. The group of Humans and Vulcans appeared fascinated by the two Klingons, but no one was bold enough to begin a conversation with them. From K'Eihdan's point of view, it was just as well. He did not want to answer a lot of silly questions right now.
"How can you be sure Kel is taking them to the city?" Kabrech asked his brother quietly in Klingon, "Would it not make more sense for them to stay away from crowds?"
"No, brother, Kel himself said he wanted us to help him disrupt Gyalaar's attempts to discredit the fur trade," K'Eihdan explained, "That means, I believe, that he will try to kill the Triarian ambassador."
K'Eihdan's attention turned suddenly from explaining his reasoning to reading a placard that one of the Humans was carrying. It said in bold, black letters:
"Stop the Fur Trade in Sentient Beings! Stop the criminal misuse of All Beings!"
"Where are you demonstrating?" K'Eihdan asked the woman who was holding the sign.
The woman looked somewhat taken aback, but she recovered sufficiently to respond, "We're demonstrating at the Peace Conference, in support of Ambassador Gyalaar's initiative. He's leading a protest about the fur trade, which will be initiated when he gives a presentation on the trade and how it affects the furred beings in the galaxy. He hopes to get the Federation to adopt a series of interplanetary laws that will help us to end the fur trade in sentient beings...for good."
There was an uncomfortable silence, as no one wanted to ask the Klingons which side they were on.
"Why in the name of Kahless did Kel take off without us?" Kabrech wondered aloud in the Klingon mountain dialect, "Surely, with his lack of courage and stamina, he would need the aid of two Klingon warriors for his intended act of violence?"
"Maybe he thought that we would attract too much attention," K'Eihdan suggested, "or maybe he saw the Ranger and mistook her for a security officer."
Kabrech shook his head, unconvinced by those explanations. K'Eihdan gestured to him to be quiet as the hover-shuttle arrived at its destination. They followed the group of people who were carrying signs, as they were the most likely ones to lead them to Gyalaar.
"We need to try to find K'Var," Kabrech whispered, "He will not want us to act on our own."
"Shut up, Kabrech!" K'Eihdan growled, "If we run off looking for our Commander, we'll lose the opportunity to stop Kel before he acts. Besides, Jorry is our commander for now. Our duty is with him."
Kabrech grunted doubtfully, but continued to obey his older brother's orders. K'Eihdan knew his plan was far from certain, but at the moment it was their best option.
As they neared the crowd, they heard a voice speaking about the fur trade, and realized that this was indeed Gyalaar. K'Eihdan could not see the Triarian diplomat, but he spoke in a very deep and distinctive tone that was not difficult to recognize. The sound system was projecting Gyalaar's voice in such a way that it sounded as if he was right beside them. There were also holographic projections of the ambassador which were appearing at strategic locations throughout the crowd. The people with the signs stopped at the foot of one of the projections in order to listen more attentively, but the two Klingons did not have time to listen to a lecture. The difficulty was that the holographic images were so life-like that it was impossible to tell where the "real" Gyalaar was. K'Eihdan supposed that it was a security precaution, but at the moment it was stopping them from getting to Jorry and his family.
"Where is the actual Gyalaar speaking?" K'Eihdan asked the woman that he had spoken to earlier on the shuttle, "We would like to demonstrate nearer to where he is."
The woman regarded K'Eihdan suspiciously.
"That is not necessary," she rebuked him, "Unless of course you have something on your mind other than protesting."
"I assure you we don't," K'Eihdan told her, realizing that his answer hardly reassured her.
K'Eihdan led Kabrech away from the protest, hoping that the woman would not alert the authorities. Evidently, the common people knew about the assassination attempt on Gyalaar's life, and believed that it might involve Klingons. He felt angry about being judged merely on the basis of his species, but there was little that they could do about it except to appear as non-threatening as possible.
Before long their progress was thwarted by a security officer, who stopped them and pulled them aside.
"Excuse me, gentlemen," a young man with a dark complexion said to them politely but firmly, "I'm Officer Morris Arkin of the Crime Investigations Unit. Can I see some identification, please?"
"Of course," K'Eihdan said to him, reaching into his jacket pocket and then realizing that he was wearing no jacket.
"By the Black Fleet of Sto'Vo'Kor!" he exclaimed, "I left my jacket back in the woods to serve as a berry basket. Kabrech, do you..."
Kabrech shook his head, glowering at K'Eihdan.
"By the rats of Gre'thor, K'Eihdan!" Kabrech swore in frustration, "You were the one who was carrying my I.D., because I am less than eighteen years of age! Stupid laws..."
"I'm sorry, guys," Officer Arkin told them apologetically, "but I'm going to have to take you in for questioning. The idea of Klingons who go berry-picking is not exactly resonating with me right now."
"We don't have time for questioning, Morris Arkin," K'Eihdan blurted out, "There is an Andorian out there who plans to kill the Triarian ambassador."
Arkin stared at them in shock. K'Eihdan realized that he had been foolish to tell the man, but their options were growing fewer by the minute. Kel had promised to kill Jorry if any of them alerted the authorities, and he had no doubt that Kel was dishonorable enough to perform such a sordid deed in front of the elderly Human's daughter and granddaughter.
Arkin brought out his phaser, leaving the pair little choice but to go with him to the nearest Crime Investigations Office.
"Why don't you go around arresting all the Andorians?" K'Eihdan asked, "You would have a better chance of stopping Kel that way than by arresting us."
"I'm not arresting you yet," Officer Arkin told them, "I'm just taking you into custody. The Chief will want to ask you some further questions. If you answer them honestly and there is no further evidence against you, you'll be free to leave."
"And by then, the Ambassador will be dead," K'Eihdan grumbled, "Listen to me, Human: the Chief has already questioned us extensively, and he told us to let him know if anyone approached us about the fur trade. Well, someone did, and his full name is An'Kel Th'Zaak, or simply Kel. He is Andorian, and he mistook my friends and I for the fur traders...but he told us that he will kill our Human friends if we speak to the authorities, so Jorry Kettsen and his family may be in trouble while we are wasting our time..."
"Tell it to the Chief," Arkin interrupted him, "I can't just go around arresting every Andorian at the conference."
"But you can go around arresting every Klingon," Kabrech grumbled.
On their way to the Crime Investigations Office, they were obliged to walk across a court-yard lined with trees. There were few people here, and K'Eihdan could tell by the look on Kabrech's face that he wanted to jump Arkin and escape so that they could continue their quest to find Kel. K'Eihdan knew, however, that if they did that they would be instantly implicated and arrested before they could do anything. It would be better at this point in time to make allies of the Earth's security forces than to turn them into enemies.
Before they had traveled half-way down the path which led through the court-yard, however, they were suddenly accosted by a couple of burly Klingons. The two of them were exceedingly well-dressed, as in the manner of Humans; but K'Eihdan knew instinctively that the "civilized" apparel was nothing but a ruse.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" Officer Arkin asked, keeping his phaser ready.
K'Eihdan could sense the attack coming, and he pushed Arkin out of the way as one of the Klingons shot at him with his own phaser. The beam flashed past Arkin but caught his arm slightly as the Human hit the ground.
"R-r-r-rarrrrrgh!" Kabrech shouted, kicking the phaser out of the first Klingon's hand while the second one rushed at K'Eihdan.
K'Eihdan bared his teeth and brought out his claws, quickly causing a number of deep gashes in his opponent's face. This Klingon was very well-manicured and therefore had little defense against K'Eihdan's sharp "rugbah claws" which were often used for hunting in the mountains back on Qo'nos. The wealthier people had less need for the claws and frequently clipped them, a practice which was quite unfortunate for them if they happened to be fighting with poor people. K'Eihdan managed to overpower his well-manicured foe and threw him to the ground, howling in victory.
The first Klingon had, however, succeeded in wrestling Kabrech to the ground as well. He stood up and slammed his boot into the boy's stomach, temporarily winding him.
"Take that, Mountain P'takh," he snarled.
He then charged K'Eihdan with his teeth bared, catching hold of his neck with his mouth. K'Eihdan turned to the side slightly to protect his vulnerable throat area but not quickly enough. He felt his airway closing as his enemy's upper teeth sunk into his thick neck-skin and his lower jaw closed around K'Eihdan's throat, seeking to pierce his jugular vein. He brought his claws up to the man's throat, desperately seeking to grab hold of it but he could feel himself losing the battle.
The attacking Klingon's body suddenly seized up violently as a phaser blast hit him from behind. His jaw dropped from K'Eihdan's throat and he fell to the ground.
K'Eihdan looked past the man to see K'Var, Wohl, and the Human Chief of Security running towards them.
