From the quiet of the second floor concourse, Josh heard the same commotion below; the appearance of the Enterprise officers, their frantic attempts to save the President, the shouting and confusion from all the delegates below

From the quiet of the second floor concourse, Josh heard the same commotion below; the appearance of the Enterprise officers, their frantic attempts to save the President, the shouting and confusion from all the delegates below.

Josh could see and hear Kalor pull the knife from its sheath. It's now or never, Josh realized.

Shouting the most fearsome whoop he could summon, Josh charged across the hallway, suddenly coming into the startled Kalor's view. Breaking down into a classic tackling stance, Josh charged into his adversary at full speed and slammed the Klingon down to the floor.

Josh could hear a surprised "Wugh!" from the Klingon general as he hit the ground solidly. Any human would have been stunned by the massive, unexpected blow.

But Kalor was not human; he was Klingon. And Klingons were substantially stronger and just plain old tougher than humans. Catching a glimpse of Josh's face, he snarled, "You!" Pushing with incredible strength with one arm, Kalor freed the other to deliver a powerful blow to Josh's chin.

Momentarily stunned, Josh involuntarily rolled off the Klingon, allowing Kalor the freedom to crawl towards his knife. Reacting quickly, Josh swiped at the knife, which skittered away down the corridor.

Kalor snarled something unintelligible and then pulled himself up, grabbing Josh roughly in the process. Holding the smaller Starfleet officer by the chest with one hand, the Klingon delivered a series of punishing blows into Josh's abdomen, knocking the wind out of the Starfleet captain. Reeling backwards, Josh gasped desperately for air, his mind swimming in pain from the vicious beating.

Stopping to gloat, Kalor grabbed Josh by the chest with both hands and growled, "I don't need that knife to kill you, human. I can snap your frail body in two with my bare hands!"

The general's moment of bravado cost him dearly. Moving with deceptive, unexpected speed, Josh delivered a crippling blow with his knee into the Klingon's midsection. Josh thought he could hear a distinct cracking sound as his knee drove into the general's ribs, forcing the Klingon back for a split second.

Josh knew he could not last much longer against Kalor, who was both stronger and more skilled at hand-to-hand combat than Josh. Gloating and giving Josh time to collect his wits had been a mistake, one Josh knew Kalor was unlikely to make again. This was his chance; he would not get another.

Pulling out a hypospray similar to the one Julie had equipped herself with, Josh leapt towards the Klingon and drove the 'spray into Kalor's body. Kalor moaned and howled, and for a moment Josh's heart was in his throat. What if the damn hypospray doesn't work? he thought…and then Kalor fell heavily to the floor. The fight felt like years, but had taken seconds.

Just then, Montgomery Scott came charging up the stairs, phaser pistol in hand.

He spotted Josh and the unconscious Kalor. "What the hell?" he asked rhetorically.

Josh didn't want to get into a conversation. "The assassin – he's in that room!" Josh pointed out. "Go!" he ordered.

Scotty stopped and glared at Josh. Josh suddenly realized that though he was accustomed to giving orders as a captain, to the living legend Captain Montgomery Scott he appeared as nothing more than an anonymous Lieutenant Commander. Clearly, Scotty was not used to being addressed in such a manner by a mere mid-ranking officer.

"Uh, sir," Josh added quickly.

His honor satisfied, Scotty charged off, kicking in the door dramatically. There was the sound of one phaser blast, then another, then the crashing of glass and a brief scream preceding the sound of a body hitting the floor below.

Having done his part, Josh slipped off out of sight, not wanting to risk the inevitable questions from Captain Scott.