Chapter Thirteen – Collateral
Kirk gasped as he was roughly manhandled to the ground. The wind was knocked out of his lungs, the searing pain in his chest flaring up again and it took all his will power not to curl up in a ball.
"So, Captain Kirk," a low malicious voice said. "We finally meet. I've been looking forward to it. I was almost relieved when Thelev screwed up."
The young starship captain squinted at the row of bright light bulbs hanging loosely from the ceiling of the mine and finally spotted a small man with a greenish tinged skin as he walked toward him.
"Who are you?" Kirk demanded with authority.
The man smiled faintly. "All in time, captain. Right now, we're taking care of immediate problems, like you."
Kirk chuckled, his eyes twinkling, not looking the least defeated and broken as he lay on the ground with an Orion on one side and a Klingon on the other, holding him at gunpoint. He was breathing harshly due to exertion while perspiration mixed with dust covered his forehead and upper lip. His command shirt was torn in various places and blood was flowing freely from where a stone had connected with his temple not that long ago.
"So, what is this? Your base of operations?" the captain guessed.
"I don't carry out any operations, as you call it," the green man in the leader robe returned as he took another step forward, closer to Kirk, so that he blocked out the light above, hiding his face in darkness while the bulb created a halo around his head.
"You'll never get away with this," Kirk wheezed and struggled to get up on one of his elbows.
"That's where you are wrong Kirk, I already have," he said enigmatically.
The guards unsecured their guns and aimed straight at him causing amusement to their leader as he waved lazily at them. "Leave him," he commanded. "In his condition he won't get very far."
Kirk frowned, getting a very bad feeling, certainly not liking where the conversation was going.
The man turned to him again, his teeth blotted, their whiteness contrasting the pale green tinge of his skin. He seemed pleased with himself, like he'd won. He carefully knelt next to the captain and reached out to grab his cheeks, forcing Kirk to look at him. The man smiled again as he had the captain's undivided attention and reached out with his other hand to trail the trickle of blood on the side of Kirk's face.
"Look at you," he chastised. "Starfleet's brightest and finest captain."
The mockery directed at him made his blood boil and the captain couldn't resist struggling to get free. However, that only got him locked in a tighter grip.
"Coridan will never be committed into the Federation. I have the votes in favor," he reasoned.
"So, you've bribed them?" Kirk guessed angrily. "You'll never get away with it."
"I have strong allies. Besides you have no proof that anything illegal ever took place here. When I am done there will be nothing left to find," he returned nonchalantly, his eyes cold as he locked them with the captain's. "Don't make the mistake of underestimating me."
"The Federation will-" Kirk began but was rudely interrupted.
"The Federation, Kirk," he huffed. "They will be blamed for all this. In approximately one hour Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan will be missing, never to be found again. The diplomatic zone on Babel will lay in ruins, Starfleet will be accused of neglect as the media-" he caught himself, eyed Kirk amusedly and then chuckled as he let go and got up.
"Goodbye Kirk," he said smartly and nodded at the guards.
The captain gasped as the rifle butt connected to his head, stars swimming before him and exhausted he let go of consciousness, his head lolling to the side.
OOOOOO
Sulu flung himself to the ground to avoid another blast as Chekov crunched low behind a monument of peace that graced the square in front of the Babel conference tower.
"What's happening?" Chekov shouted over the noise.
Ignoring his friend and colleague's question, Sulu flipped his communicator open and ignored the praxis of communication. "Sulu to Enterprise!" he shouted, willing for the ship to respond. He was met by a burst of static only and grimaced. Giving it another shot he began to fine-tune the frequency. "Enterprise, come in Enterprise!"
"What about the Pegasus?" Chekov offered as he glanced around the chaos before them. Smoke poured from the hotel building, automatic phaser fire could be heard in the distance and frantic shouts of innocent bystanders becoming collateral damage.
Sulu made a silent prayer as he adjusted the communicator, unsure of what band Pegasus would be tuned in to. Then again, the ship had the capability to filter the noise in subspace and pick up almost any transmission provided the signal was strong enough. "Lieutenant Sulu calling USS Pegaus!" he called urgently. "Pegasus, come in!"
Chekov swallowed and glanced over at his comrade in worry at the lack of response. "Something is wrong. Something is very wrong," he mumbled.
The Russian ensign was about to say something more when a concentrated beam of phaser fire cut through the ground and into the Research Centre with a whooshing sound that was followed by a horrid cry that made the hairs stand out at the back of his neck.
OOOOOO
Chancellor G'ahetti' expression was grim and his usual jovial demeanor erased as he walked up to the conference table and nodded at the present members. The cameras however were not present this time, nor were the holoimages of the media and public seated elsewhere. The room filled with delegates, ambassadors and military personnel was located deep underground beneath a low storage building and included only Starfleet, the ambassadors from earth, the Imperial Guard and the minister from Andoria and the members of the Vulcan High Council. The light that cascaded from the soft glow of the light above their heads was red and flashing but the alarm had been shut down.
The President of the United Federation of Planets returned the dark look and straightened in the chair. "Ladies and gentlemen," he began in a low and serious voice. "That is an expression used by the people of earth for many centuries. An expression most of you are familiar with. It stands for a sort of respect for each other, for empathy and cooperation. During the years it has come to mean so much more as it includes everyone in this room and every member of the Federation."
He paused for a second as he let his eyes roam over the room and made eye contact with the various members around the table. "Today the meaning of the expression has been assaulted, we have been assaulted, peace has been broken," he said darkly. "I don't take this lightly. The consequences of war will be casualties of proportions I don't even want to begin to speculate in. It must be avoided in any way possible."
Carter steeled himself as he leaned forward in his chair and placed his elbows in front of him and locked his fingers casually. "We have a leak somewhere, Mr. President," he began carefully.
"If you, by we, mean Starfleet-" the Andorian ambassador interrupted fiercely, his short fuse used up.
"No," T'Ling said in a calm voice devoid of emotion. "As Ambassador Sarek mentioned, before he was indisposed earlier, not everyone here are allies."
The Andorian turned to her, narrowing his eyes. "What are you insinuating?" he demanded through clenched teeth.
She cocked an eyebrow at his outburst. "If you approached the problem we're facing logically instead of emotionally then perhaps you'd see the pattern that is slowly forming before you," she suggested. "This was planned, a well-executed plan by an, at the moment unknown, fraction. They placed an intruder onboard the Enterprise to create chaos onboard the ship. They tried to destabilize trust between people long before the Babel conference was even planned."
The Andorian huffed. "This is not about Starfleet, and it's not about the Orion Syndicate in general," T'Ling continued. "We're dealing with a complex coalition among the members within the Federation and with people on the outside."
"Mr. President," Rear Admiral Nogura called. "I believe it' time to put all the cards on the table."
"Starfleet is investigating the Coridan government and the affairs that has taken place between Coridan and various members of the Federation-" the President began only to be interrupted by the Andorian minister once again.
"You should investigate the Orion Syndicate instead of-"
"We're investigating several things," Carter assured him. "This is a problem presented to Starfleet as our organization has been contracted to protect the members of the Federation."
"Which is why, the enemy has concentrated on trying to put the blame on Starfleet in order to try and discredit its good reputation," T'Ling reasoned.
"Unfortunately, they're doing a fairly good job at that," G'ahetti said. "The media still thinks Doctor McCoy has something to do with the disappearance of Thelev's body. Ambassador Sarek's guard detail of highly skilled members of the Vulcan security force have all been killed in such a way Starfleet recommends in hand to hand battle. People on the ground that are now quarantined awaiting the investigation demand to know how this could happen with two of Starfleet's finest vessels orbiting the planet and why they did nothing to stop it."
"Communications have yet to be restored," Carter said. "At the moment I don't know what's happened up there. Just that it appears the Pegasus was the ship that fire upon us."
The President sighed and reached up with his hands to rub his forehead, willing for the headache to go away. "There is no time for disagreements or pride for that matter in this case. This has to be solved with common efforts and that fast before a war is no longer stoppable," he reasoned. "It's not about Coridan anymore. It's about right and wrong and the reputation of both UFP and SFC. If we can't put a lid on this the future of the Federation and the Coalition of Planets that we've created and fought so hard for in the past is threatened."
OOOOOO
"Pardon my late arrival captain but I was temporarily distracted," Spock said as appeared at his side and slid an arm around his middle. The usually contrite Vulcan wasting no time to try and assess his captain's injuries.
The movement brought Kirk to his senses as renewed pain assaulted his senses. "Easy Spock," he wheezed as he felt himself being maneuvered into a standing position.
"Captain, I must agree with Doctor McCoy you do appear to have a suicidal streak," he said stated. "They intend to blow this place up, therefore I recommend that we hurry. I've neutralized the guards that went after me, but I estimate that those who grabbed you and the leader of the group are still nearby."
"By all means, Mr. Spock," Kirk managed to clenched teeth, a touch of sarcasm evident in his voice. "Lead the way."
The two officers half ran half walked over the uneven ground. To Kirk it felt like miles before they came out in a spacious chamber in which there were several choices of directions to choose from.
"Logic or gut feeling?" Kirk asked, panting as he placed his hands on his thighs as Spock glanced around the room and brought out his scanner.
"Spock?" he called out again as the Vulcan remained silent.
"One moment," he returned and then glanced straight ahead. "This way, captain."
The tunnel ahead of them was marked every kilometer with a yellow line, indicating it was some kind of loading bay ahead. When they'd passed three of them a large rumble was heard in the distance.
Kirk felt Spock's hands on his back, giving him a push forward. "It is imperative that we move faster, Jim," he said and even though Vulcan's never showed emotion Kirk could hear the urge in his voice, the uncanny feeling of dread.
Kirk stumbled and would have fallen had not Spock reached out to steady him. He grimaced as he twisted his ankle but pressed on, trying to ignore the protests from his unhealed lung. He cursed as he couldn't get enough air, a piping sound coming from his trachea. Spock heard it too he was certain of it. However, whatever McCoy would throw at him was better than to be buried alive in a cave system on Coridan.
The explosions came closer, hunting them from behind, each of them shaking the ground and upsetting the beams and columns preventing the walls to cave in. Fine dust in the air made Kirk gag but Spock pushed on. Then when the captain felt he couldn't go on a faint light streamed in before them. It gave Kirk a spark of renewed energy, a push in the right direction, he clamped his mouth shut, set his jaw and practically moved on will power only those last meters until they got clear of the underground system.
Kirk collapsed in a heap, chipping for breath, his eyes closing while Spock fell to his knees next to him. The last series of explosions went off behind them, taking out the last of the tunnel. An eerie silence settled over the area as the nightfall crept over them displaying a tranquil and starlit sky above.
"A change in scenery," Kirk whispered amusedly with a faint but wicked grin. "Just what I needed."
OOOOOO
To be continued