Josh took a deep breath and looked around.
They had materialized on a small, rocky ledge of a mountain that afforded them an excellent panoramic view of the landscape, several hundred meters down. The ledge jutted was not wide; it jutted out no more than twenty meters from the mountain in any direction. A sheer drop, at least two hundred meters down, would greet anyone who stepped off the ledge.
Although it was still rather warm – Josh estimated the temperature at about 25C – after spending a few hours in the daytime inferno down below, the air felt positively cool and crisp. Inhaling a deep breath, he savored the moment, his last before he would have to confront General Kalor.
Glancing over at Kramer, he asked, "How long until Kalor materializes?"
The doctor seemed distracted by something. "I programmed a three minute delay from the time we materialized. Best I could do," she replied dully.
"Are you all right?" Josh asked, suddenly concerned. The young doctor's normally cheerful personality was entirely absent; she seemed listless and disinterested. It wasn't like the Julie Kramer he had come to know at all.
"I'm okay, sir," she replied. "I just had a little trouble after you left, that's all."
Josh considered this for a moment, but didn't have time to follow up.
"Listen carefully," he began, talking to both Kramer and T'Katha. "I'm going to try and find some other way out of this. But if that doesn't work, then…"
"We know," T'Katha finished.
"Good. Now, I want to make something clear. If things go wrong, and I don't make it, I want you two to get out of here the moment the Guardian's portal re-appears. Got it?"
Kramer nodded but did not reply.
"Got it?" Josh repeated, looking directly at the doctor.
"I understand," Julie confirmed.
"Good. When you get back, if things are the way they should be, I want you to get back aboard Constitution as quickly as possible. Tell Commander Zhukov or whoever is in command to fire a full spread of torpedoes at the ruins on Pemra-3."
"You want to destroy them?" Julie asked.
"That's right. Even if we successfully stop Kalor here, once we evacuate the Pemra system there will be nothing to prevent the Klingons from trying a stunt like this again. We can't allow the Guardian to fall into enemy hands."
"Joshua," T'Katha protested, "The Guardian is a living entity. Perhaps not life as we understand it, but a living entity nonetheless. We cannot simply destroy it merely because we cannot control it."
"I know," Josh replied. "But I have an idea on how to get around that."
Very quickly, he described his idea to T'Katha who nodded and replied, "It could work."
"Try it. If it doesn't work, you'll have to think of something that does. I don't want something like this happening again," Josh emphasized.
"Understood. Joshua," T'Katha warned, "General Kalor is re-materializing."
There was a brief flash of orange light, as if to verify T'Katha's claim. Within seconds, General Kalor appeared in front of them, less than ten meters away. Their backs were to the wall of the mountain; his to the ledge.
For once, Josh thought, something had gone in their favor.
Kalor looked at them angrily. "Who are you? Why have you brought me here? I warn you, I am a powerful man! If you do not produce a satisfactory explanation within the next minute I promise you will regret it!"
"We'll see about that," Kramer snapped. Josh silenced her with an angry look. What the hell was wrong with her?
Addressing the Klingon, Josh said, "My name is Josh Travis. I'm captain of the Federation starship Constitution." He eyed the Klingon general warily; Josh noticed that Kalor was fingering a disrupter pistol on his belt.
"Joshua…" T'Katha warned, seeing the pistol as well.
"I see it," he replied calmly.
Kalor growled, then said, "You have not answered my question, Captain Travis. Why have you brought me here? Why have you interfered with a Klingon military operation?"
Josh licked his lips. Everything depended on what he said next. "General, we know that your next destination is the Pemra-3 colony," he began. "We also know that you're aware of the existence of a Guardian of Forever in the ancient ruins on the surface."
Kalor eyed Josh. "I don't know what you're talking about," he lied.
"Yes you do. We know you intend to use the Guardian to move through time, to try and derail the Khitomer peace conference before it happens. We know you intend to change history, let the assassinations take place."
Infuriated, Kalor dropped the pretense of ignorance. "How do you know that?" he demanded.
"It's not important," Josh replied.
"I think it is," Kalor countered.
Ignoring the general's demands, Josh continued, "General, listen to me. The information you got was from a Romulan source. They're using you to change the timeline in their favor."
Kalor laughed. "Romulans! If you're going to lie to me, Captain, you could at least make up something plausible!" He continued to finger the disrupter pistol, and Josh knew his time was running short.
"Believe it," Josh continued, circling slowly to keep his distance from the Klingon. "The moment you step through that portal, you'll destroy the timeline for all of us – Federation and Klingon alike. At best, an alternate reality will be created where the Romulans exterminate humanity and the Klingon Empire. At worst, no timeline will exist at all."
"What do you mean?" Kalor asked skeptically.
"Your actions will help bring into being a temporal paradox. We'll end up chasing each other through all eternity, no one else will even exist. Everything that you know will be gone."
Josh could tell by Kalor's expression that he wasn't buying it. "Lies!" he spat. "Do you want to know what I think, Captain? I think you're here to stop me because you're afraid. Afraid that you and your Federation will lose your Klingon lapdogs. That we will no longer be your pathetic sidekicks, there only to do the bidding of the Federation!"
Kalor growled again, then continued, "We've been very useful to the Federation, haven't we, Captain? So long as you have the Klingon Empire to do your dirty work, Starfleet does not have to deal with the bothersome task of containing the Romulans."
"The Federation asked for much from us when we were allies, and yet, what did we get in return? Nothing!" Kalor ranted. "At every turn, our rightful place in the galaxy was frustrated by Federation politics, Federation law, Federation diplomacy. And all the while, the Federation grew vast while the Empire stagnated!"
"And now you come here and tell me I should be content with this history. I say, what has the Klingon Empire to lose? If I change history and we die, at least we will die fighting. Anything is better than living on our knees, begging for scraps from the Federation's table! I say no! It ends here!" the general finished with a flourish. Snarling, he lifted his disrupter and pointed it directly at Josh.
"You don't know how right you are about that part," Josh replied calmly. "T'Katha, Doctor, find cover. Now," he ordered.
"Joshua…" T'Katha began.
"Do it!" Josh repeated.
Reluctantly, T'Katha sprinted behind a large boulder near the mountain's wall. Kramer, however, did not move.
"Doctor…"Josh began, then winced as Kalor pulled the trigger on the disrupter. Reflexively, Josh closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable.
Nothing happened.
Opening his eyes, Josh saw Kalor gaping at the weapon in flabbergasted frustration. Shaking it violently, he re-aimed at Josh and pulled the trigger again.
Still nothing.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that the transporter was set to disarm all weapons?" Kramer asked nonchalantly.
"I think you did neglect to mention that detail, come to think of it," Josh replied.
"Oops," said Julie with exaggerated innocence. Underneath her innocent tone, there was a hint of malice that Josh found chilling.
The Klingon glared daggers at the Starfleet officers, then hurled the useless pistol at Kramer in disgust. Shrieking in frustration, he charged like a bull straight for Josh.
"Julie, get out of here," Josh ordered hurriedly. He didn't want her or T'Katha to help him. As he had explained to them, he needed at least one of them to return safely to the Constitution and ensure the ruins were destroyed, so the Guardian would not fall into Klingon hands.
Julie dashed behind the same boulder as T'Katha just as Kalor closed into hand-to-hand range with Josh. Swinging wildly, the Klingon missed his mark and stumbled sideways, pulled by the sheer force of his own momentum.
Spinning around behind the Klingon, Josh brought both fists down as hard as he could on the back of Kalor's neck. With a primitive grunt, the Klingon lost his balance and fell face-first to the ground.
Taking advantage of his enemy's momentary weakness, Josh leapt on the Klingon's back and drove his fist into the back of the general's skull. Instantly, white-hot darts of pain ran up his hand as it connected with a rock-hard ridge. Wincing in pain, Josh drew back involuntarily, allowing Kalor the leverage he needed to throw Josh clear and stand back up.
Tumbling awkwardly from the rough throw, Josh scrambled to get up even as the Klingon was upon him with inhuman speed. Grabbing Josh by the collarbone, he easily lifted the smaller Starfleet officer up and threw him like a rag-doll toward the wall of the mountain. Josh could hear a sickening crunch from his midsection as he collided roughly with the solid rock. Gasping, he floundered on the ground in pain, desperately attempting to catch his breath.
"Is that…the best you can do, you Klingon piece of garbage?" Josh taunted.
Kalor laughed but didn't answer, preferring to let a vicious kick to Josh's abdomen do the talking for him.
Josh's eyes bulged as he reeled in pain, every nerve in his body felt like it was on fire. His vision was spinning, and was having extreme trouble breathing. A hacking cough spat blood on to the sandy soil.
Apparently satisfied that Josh was not presently a threat, Kalor ignored him and turned his attention to the two women.
No! Josh thought. This had to remain between him and Kalor. With a superhuman effort, Josh dragged himself to his feet and propped himself up against the rock wall. Gritting his teeth, he did his best to ignore the searing pain burning in every fiber of his body.
"Where…do you think…you're going…you filthy coward?" he called out.
That got Kalor's attention! Spinning around violently, the general spewed out a stream of foul insults in Klingon, most of which Josh didn't understand. But there could be no mistaking the murderous intent in Kalor's eyes.
Moving with a speed that was astonishing for such a big man, Kalor leapt back towards Josh and was on top of the Starfleet officer in the blink of an eye. Balling his fist, he delivered a crushing blow into Josh's sternum, causing the captain to stagger backwards agony. Regaining his balance, Josh forced his aching body to respond to the general's attack with a flurry of punches of his own. Evading the general's attacks as best he could, Josh jabbed the Klingon repeatedly in the face, doing little real damage but succeeding in enraging the Klingon warrior to the point where he forgot everything around him except the infuriating Starfleet captain who dared to punch him in the nose.
That was what Josh wanted. It had to end here. And it would end here. It was just too bad that Josh wouldn't live to see the outcome.
T'Katha's words rang through his mind: Either Joshua or General Kalor will die.
Josh wanted to live. He had overcome his moral qualms about killing Kalor; for the good of the timeline it had to be done. He didn't want to die.
But the greater concern – the only concern – was that the timeline would be restored. To achieve that end, he was prepared to sacrifice anything.
Even his life.
Josh didn't have a death wish. He didn't want to be a martyr. He was only forty-four years old, and in the 24th century a healthy human could look forward to a productive life span of three times that. He had always hoped that he would die old and content, in bed at home in the austere, windswept beauty of his native South Dakota.
But now he knew that was not to be. He was going to die here, today, very soon.
Every Starfleet officer knew that life in Starfleet carried with it certain risks. One either accepted those risks, or one found something else to do with their lives. It was a cliché but it was no less true for it.
Besides, he had packed more living in those forty-four years than many people did in a full lifetime. If he could not say he was satisfied, he could certainly say he was content.
Out of one eye, his blurry vision caught a glimpse of T'Katha staring at him, a puzzled expression on her face. No doubt, she was trying to understand what appeared on the surface to be suicidal behavior. But if he could have explained his plan to her, even she would have had to admit that it was logical.
He had hoped against hope he could reason with Kalor, find another way out. That was why he had taken the risk to transport them to the isolated mountaintop. But the Guardian was apparently right; there was just no other way out of this situation.
So either he or Kalor had to die. And he could not guarantee he could kill Kalor. Never mind the ethical qualms he felt; it was doubtful that he possessed the physical skill to kill the general in hand-to-hand combat.
There was only one sure-fire solution: he could guarantee that Kalor would kill him.
That was why he kept fighting, kept taunting the Klingon. He had to enrage the Klingon to the point that nothing else mattered besides killing Josh. With his attention solely on Josh, T'Katha and Julie would be able to escape the moment Josh died and the Guardian's portal reappeared. They would be able to return to the Constitution and make sure the ruins were destroyed, preventing any further disastrous Klingon incursions into the past.
It wasn't a perfect plan. Kalor would live where Josh would die. The Klingon was a psychopathic monster without whom the universe would be better off. He would live to inflict more pain and suffering on the innocent and unsuspecting. But, in the end, the universe would survive him.
He was only one man.
Just as Josh was only one man. The flow of time would be restored. The universe would go on.
Josh could accept that.
All of this flashed though Josh's mind in a fraction of a second. Time itself seemed to slow down; everyone appeared to be moving in slow motion. He could see T'Katha, still staring at him with the vexed expression on her face.
Tired of sparring, Kalor charged towards him, murderous hatred in his eyes, his hand balled in a massive fist. From somewhere outside his field of vision, he could hear Kramer screaming, warning him to get out of the way.
Every moment seemed to be an eternity. Even as Kalor slowly lifted his arm to deliver a devastating blow, Josh closed his eyes, no longer even bothering with the pretense of resisting.
Just then, he felt something brush against his cheek. It was a breeze, surprisingly cool and refreshing, as if even the planet itself was trying to comfort him at this, his last moment. Josh smiled.
Then, there was an explosion inside his head, and everything went black.