CHAPTER TEN
Disaster Near Qo'noS
Chancellor Gorkon and his daughter Azetbur were walking the streets of Qo'noS. It was a wonderful day, as a cool breeze came suddenly. It had been roughly five days since either had seen General Chang. Gorkon knew that war with the Federation would be costly on both sides, practically the Federation. He found a place to sit down as Azetbur looked around at the busy city district.
"Worried about the General, daughter?" Gorkon asked.
Azetbur looked to her father, slightly surprised at his question. "A little," she replied. "Though it is not the General I fear. It is his student, Torlek. I received a message from him saying that he, the General and Commander Thok Mak were leaving Rura Penthe for the Federation border."
"I received the same message," Gorkon replied. "It seems that a lone Federation starship entered the Archer system without authorization."
"They responded to a distress call from another Federation ship, but now--"
"Now, we have successfully captured the Federation ship, unloaded its crew at Rura Penthe, and as of right now, we are at war with the Federation." Gorkon stood up now and walked to where his daughter was.
"Where are we going, father?"
"To witness history." As Gorkon said that, there was a loud commotion nearing them. It was the sound of Klingons shouting angrily, trying to find someone. One of them ran and bumped into Azetbur.
"Forgive me, I'm trying to find the chancellor. It's important!"
"You've found him," Azetbur said, helpng the Klingon to his feet.
"Chancellor, we have to get you and your daughter safe. We have traitors among us."
"What are you talking about?"
"Praxis. There's some sort of thermal ionozation bomb somewhere on the moon."
"Call the Qo'noS Fleet back at once. We need them here to find the ship that managed to slip behind our defenses and do this."
On the Uejquv Ghop, General Chang and his attack squadron as well as Commander Thok Mak's attack squadron were engaged in battle with the Fourth Fleet. It was bloody scurmish, especially this close to the Klingon border. Chang's ship and Thok Mak's ship banked port and starboard, confusing the enemy, while their squadron engaged the light cruisers and cruiser wing from the Federation. Five Birds-of-Prey were destroyed quickly, but ten Insurrection class destroyers filled in the gaps just like that.
Two Akula destroyers engaged three QuD destroyers. The Federation phasers found their mark on the Klingon ships, but the shields of the Klingon ships held. The destroyers cloaked as the Akulas fired their phasers at nothing. Two K'Tinga followed after the Federation ships as the QuD squadron decloaked and found other prey.
A voDleH battlecruiser unleashed a photon torpedo with pin-point accuracy toward an Excelsior class ship, whose defenses were collapsing greatly. The Federation ship was engaged in a deadly phaser fight while flanked by an Avenger class cruiser. The smaller craft broke formation too late, leaving the bigger ship vulnerable to the incoming torpedo.
The Uejquv Ghop and the DraQ'Du now loomed closer to their goal. The satelite network was a diversion, leaving the true prize in this system unguarded, save for the attack shuttles and Oberth science vessels orbiting the starbase. Chang rose his hand at Torlek, gesturing for him to fire at the starbase. As the photon torpedoes and disruptors found their mark, the starbases shields instinctively came online. The craft surrounding the starbase quickly engaged the Klingon ships, but were destroyed rather quickly.
The starbase unleashed a volley of phaser banks that laced out toward the Klingon ships that were attacking. Several ships broke off their attack from the Federation ships and joined the battleship & command cruiser in their attack on the starbase.
"General!" the communications officer cried out. "I am a receiving a communique from Chancellor Gorkon himself!"
Blast, Chang thought to himself. He knows about the bomb on Praxis. But he doesn't know who placed it there. Chang wiped the smug on his face and looked to the view screen. "On viewer."
On the view screen, Chancellor Gorkon's image was shown as well as Azetbur, dressed elegantly once again. "Fellow warriors. Disaster has struck the very core of our beloved Empire. A bomb of unknown origin has somehow been detected on Praxis. I am calling a temporary cease fire so that our entire fleet will try and defuse the bomb. All Klingon ships, cease all attack on the Federation, and return to Qo'noS."
The communication ended and the screen returned to the battlefield. Hundreds of Federation ships and their hulls were littered over space. The starbase's shields were failing and this system was so close to falling to the Klingons. "We should leave the system, sir," the helmsman reported. "If we don't obey the chancellor, he will have our heads."
"Is all of the Lexington crew exiled on Rura Penthe?"
"Yes, sir."
Chang nodded. "At least one of our battles will do wonders," he said. "Plot a course for Qo'noS, maximum warp."
"Course laid in, sir."
"Execute."
The Uejquv Ghop and the DraQ'Du with their attack squadrons banked hard to port, the Federation fleet destroyed save for the starbase. The massive Klingon ships warp engines hummed to life and then the ships engaged their warp drives. They were gone in the blink of an eye.
"Sir," Lieutenant Lojur called from his station.
"What is it, Lieutenant?" Sulu asked.
"The Klingon ships have broken off their attacks. They received a message from Kronos, but I'm unable to decifier it."
Sulu nodded and rubbed his jaw. "Don't worry about it," he said. He looked to the view screen, which showed the wreckage of various Federation ships. He hoped that the Enterprise was not among the ships in this portion of space.
"We're being hailed by the Enterprise," Rand said from communications.
"On screen." The view screen showed the image of Captain Kirk and the Enterprise bridge. "Captain, I trust you heard about the cease fire."
"I have," Kirk replied, nodding. "I trust your ship wasn't attacked?"
"Not even scratched," Sulu commented with a soft laugh. "I had no idea the Excelsior was so powerful, let alone powerful with me as her captain."
"A former helmsman of mine will do justice to a fine ship like Excelsior. I'm sure you'll make a hell of a captain."
"As do I, Jim." He smiled, but he did not wish to say goodbye to his former captain. But he had to. James T. Kirk was more than his former commanding officer, he was also his friend. Sulu had so many friends on the Enterprise, especially Pavel Chekov, Uhura, and Montgomery Scott.
"Captain Sulu," Rand interrupted. "Excuse me, sir, but we have a communique from Starfleet. We're to patrol the Beta Quadrant for gaseous anomalies."
Sulu nodded, though he was not that eager to catalogue anomalies in this Quadrant. But he did have his orders. He knew that Kirk also had his orders and the two would be underway soon. "Well, I must start with my mission in the Beta Quadrant. I've been ordered to catalogue gaseous anomalies in the quadrant."
Kirk nodded. "Till we meet again, Captain Sulu."
"Until then, Captain Kirk." Sulu nodded and the view screen showed the vastness of the unexplored Beta Quadrant. There were some worlds in that Quadrant loyal to the Klingon Empire, while others were still unexplored. Fortunately for Captain Sulu and the Excelsior, they were far from the reaches of Klingon territory.
Little did he know that Praxis, a moon of Qo'noS, was in this system as well.
