Arriaka-Four: hot, rocky, dry, desolate.
Arriaka was an outlying Cardassian colony, one of the first to fall to the Klingon invasion force. Very little liquid water existed on the surface of the planet; most of it was either underground or at the planet's poles.
Sunlight from the planet's star beat down on the surface with an intensity thirty percent greater than on Earth, and the planet's gravitational pull was slightly higher than on Earth. For a human, just walking around on this arid hell was an ordeal, and Arriaka was at the extreme of what could be considered "habitable" for humankind.
In other words, it was the kind of planet Cardassians thrived on.
Josh squinted as he examined the bleak, sun-drenched landscape. He was standing on a high, rocky plateau that extended in every direction for as far as the eye could see. Here and there, some pitiful scrub vegetation fought for life, and small reptilian life-forms could occasionally be observed skittering about on their way from here to there. Wiping his forearm across his sweat-drenched brow, he continued to trudge along in the direction of his objective. T'Katha and Julie Kramer followed behind him. The planet's thick atmosphere made the experience even more uncomfortable; the thick blanket of air pushed down on the trio oppressively, and even the slightest breeze pushed against them noticeably, giving the air an almost plastic quality.
"Well," Julie gasped, "at least it's a dry heat." She was sweating profusely; her uniform was visibly soaked despite the fact any moisture evaporated rapidly in the heat.
They had come to this planet through the Guardian's portal because it was the only place that Josh knew for certain he would be able to find Kalor. Kalor had led the Klingon attack on the colony just prior to setting out for Pemra-Three.
This was important. They couldn't go back to any of the other places they knew Kalor would be – the Khitomer conference, for example – because doing so would merely perpetuate the paradox. The final encounter had to be someplace as yet not visited by the time and space-hopping adversaries by utilizing the Guardian. For that same reason, it could also not take place on the surface of Pemra. Given all this and the information at hand, the available option was Arriaka-Four.
One way or another, Josh knew, it would end here. Here, on this harsh, arid world that no one but a Cardassian would want to call home.
Objectively, it was about a day before Constitution would set out from Starbase 313 for the Pemra system. The Klingons had just launched their massive invasion of Cardassian space, and Arriaka was one of the first outlying colonies to be swept away before the Klingon tide.
Josh now felt very fortunate that he had paid attention to the Starfleet Intelligence reports on the invasion's progress. Because of this, he knew that the colonists in one of Arriaka's smaller cities had put up unexpectedly dogged resistance, so much so that General Kalor himself had beamed down to the planet's surface to lead the final Klingon assault against the recalcitrant Cardassian city. Josh knew that Kalor's presence was unnecessary to secure the city; most likely, Kalor simply didn't want to miss a good fight. But whatever his motivations, he would be here, on the planet's surface, and that was all that mattered to Josh.
That small city was now the objective towards which the trio of Starfleet officers trudged. Because they did not want to materialize in the middle of a war zone, they had requested that the Guardian transport them to the planet some distance from the city. This was an inexact science; all Josh could hope for was that they weren't too far away from the city!
As things had turned out, they had arrived on the planet about five kilometers from the city. Ordinarily, this would be nothing more than a short stroll for the well-conditioned Starfleet officers, but the heat – well above forty-five degrees Celsius – the air pressure, and the higher gravity combined to make the short hike an agonizing excursion.
"How much further?" Josh asked between breaths.
"Two point seven kilometers," T'Katha rasped, glancing at her tricorder. Even she was having trouble coping with the harsh environment. Though she was well able to deal with the heat and the stronger gravity, the smothering air pressure was clearly taking its toll on the Vulcan woman.
"We should rest," she suggested.
"No," Josh responded. "We have to be in position when Kalor beams down to the city. We won't have much time to get in position, so we've got make every minute count."
"I must disagree, Joshua. If we exhaust ourselves physically before reaching General Kalor, if will not matter if we are 'in position' or not."
Julie put in, "I've got to agree with T'Katha, Captain. In this climate heat exhaustion is a real danger. We should rest, even if just for a minute or two. Won't do us any good to get there if we fall over from heat stroke just after we arrive."
T'Katha gave Kramer an arched eyebrow. "Doctor, I believe you just admitted that I am correct regarding a medically-related matter."
For a moment Julie was stunned to realize that the Vulcan was being sarcastic, then she remembered that somewhere, deep down, there was a human part of T'Katha just trying to get out.
"Well," she shot back, grinning, "the sun's gotta shine on every dog's ass once in a while, right?"
Josh groaned and panted for breath. "If I agree to stop and rest for a few moments, will you two knock it off?'
"Agreed," replied T'Katha, apparently somewhat taken aback by Kramer's comeback.
"Motion seconded," added Kramer, who had already flopped down on the ground and closed her eyes.
T'Katha sat down next to Josh, uncomfortably close for his liking. "Joshua," she asked, "I assume you have a plan of some sort. Once we arrive at the city, how do you propose to deal with General Kalor?'
Josh nodded thoughtfully. "Um. I've been thinking about that. I don't want to try and…deal with him in the city itself. There's too many Klingons around, too many things that can go wrong."
"Then what do you propose?"
"We take one of these," Josh held out a Starfleet communicator in his open hand, "and we slap it on him. At the same time, we'll use the city's transporter facility to beam the four of us to an isolated location where he won't have a few hundred Klingons to back him up."
"An isolated area? Where?" T'Katha asked.
Josh pointed to a distant mountain range on the horizon. "Up there," he answered.
T'Katha understood immediately. "The air will be thinner and cooler there. You will not be at such a disadvantage facing General Kalor at a higher altitude."
"Right," Josh said.
Julie Kramer sat up from her quick catnap. "Captain, if you're going to go through the trouble of transporting General Kalor, why not just lose his pattern once you've got him in the transporter? Wouldn't that be a lot easier?"
T'Katha looked at Josh meaningfully. Clearly, she had been thinking the same thing.
Josh looked away for a moment, then said, "Yes, I suppose that would be so. But…I don't want to kill him outright. Not right away."
T'Katha gave Josh a stern look. "Joshua, the Guardian was very clear on this point. General Kalor and you are the focal points in time sustaining the temporal paradox. In order to destroy the paradox and restore normalcy to the space-time continuum, one of you must die at a point in the timeline before you encountered the Guardian, before the timeline became twisted in upon itself."
"And preferably, you shouldn't be the one to die," Kramer added unnecessarily.
Ignoring the interruption, T'Katha continued, "There is no logical purpose in attempting to reason with General Kalor. He has not proven open to reason in any of our previous conversations."
Josh sighed heavily and nodded, conceding the point. "I know, I know. But this is what I'm thinking. First of all, the Guardian has said that one of us has to die. But we don't know that the Guardian is perfect or all-knowing. So the way I see it, what's the harm in trying?"
He paused for a moment to gauge the reaction of the two women, then continued. "Second, we don't know for sure that Kalor can't be reasoned with. How much have we really talked to him? How well do we really know him? We've got to get him and us away from the city, from the battle, the other Klingons. That's the only way we'll know for sure. Does any of this make sense to you two?"
"To be honest, sir, I'm kind of relieved. I mean, I know we were responsible for the deaths of some Klingons when we destroyed the Bird-of-Prey a few days ago, but this, well, this is different, somehow," Kramer said. "I'm a doctor, and I have sworn an oath not to do harm, or take life. I'm more than willing to give this a shot, if you are."
"You were the one who suggested destroying General Kalor's transporter pattern, Doctor," T'Katha reminded her.
"I didn't say I thought it was a good idea," Kramer snapped. "I was just asking why, if we absolutely had to kill General Kalor, we didn't do it in the easiest and most efficient way possible, that's all. But I like the captain's idea a lot better."
"I believe it is an inefficient, illogical waste of time. You should consider the transporter solution," T'Katha advised.
"Aren't you the one who refuses to take a life, either yourself or through direct participation?" Josh asked.
"I have sworn an oath," T'Katha replied.
"Then how can you suggest that I should do something that you yourself are not willing to do?" Josh inquired.
"There can only be one outcome to this, Joshua. Either you or Kalor must die. Obviously given this unpalatable choice you must endeavor to see that it is Kalor who dies and not you. Since we know he will not die unless we intervene, the only question is how to bring about his death. To ensure our safety as well as the success of the mission, the method chosen should be as rapid and error-proof as possible. By transporting the general to the top of the mountain and then attempting to reason with him, you are introducing an element of risk and danger that would not otherwise be present. Successfully transporting Kalor will be difficult enough without intentionally adding unnecessary complications."
"But you're not willing to do any of this yourself?" Josh repeated.
"I have sworn an oath."
"And you don't see any contradiction in what you're saying?"
"No. Of course not. Perhaps you misunderstand what I have said."
Exasperated, Josh thought, Vulcans.
Kramer snorted and got up. "C'mon, I think it's time to get going."
"Good idea," Josh agreed. "And no, T'Katha, I didn't misunderstand what you said. I just don't agree with it. We're going to try this my way."
"Very well, Joshua," T'Katha replied mildly.