Chapter Sixteen - Rendezvous
One kilometer off the bow of the U.S.S. Excelsior, a cloaked vessel drifted. Had it been visible, the crew of the Starfleet vessel may have panicked and fired on the green, hawk-like ship. But they did not know yet that the ship was even there at all.
Kirk stood on the cramped bridge of the Bird-Of-Prey and ordered, "Open a hailing frequency."
"Channel open," Kaithlin Dar acknowledged, and Kirk was hit with a moment of sadness. Kaithlin sounded so much like Uhura when she did that...but Uhura was dead, and he had a job to do.
"This is Admiral James T. Kirk, commanding Klingon vessel. Excelsior, please acknowledge," he said.
There was a moment of silence, and then the comm clicked on. "Klingon vessel, this is Captain Styles of the Excelsior. Jim, what in the name of Kahless are you doing here? And in that cloaked rust bucket, too?"
"It's a long story, Captain Styles. We're going to de-cloak. Do not fire." Kirk nodded to Sybok, who then disengaged the cloaking device.
On the viewscreen of the Excelsior, an area of space shimmered and was replaced by a menacing jade spaceship of Klingon design. Captain Styles signaled for visual communication, and the view of the stars and ship transformed into the image of a very young Admiral Kirk, sitting in a Klingon command chair.
Captain Styles stood up rather abruptly, shocked at Kirk's appearance. "Admiral Kirk..." he began, then couldn't figure out what else to say. Ah well, so much for the subtle approach. "Where is the Enterprise? And why do you look so...young?"
Kirk frowned. He had forgotten; Starfleet had been keeping his reverse aging under wraps. No need to broadcast it to the entire galaxy, right? "We...had an accident. I'd prefer not to discuss it on an open channel. May we beam aboard?"
"Certainly, Admiral. How may will be coming aboard?"
Kirk turned slightly to look at his crew. Korrd looking like he'd rather jump out an airlock than meet Styles, Sulu would rather stay and take care of the ship, and Kaithlin and Talbot obviously had no plans to leave. "There will be four of us, thank you," Kirk said, turning back to Styles. "We'll beam right over. Stand by." He signaled for Kaithlin to cut transmission, and stood up. "Sulu, you take charge while we're gone. Sybok, Spock, Bones; you're with me. Korrd, would you care to transport us over?"
Korrd grinned. "I believe the appropriate response is, 'It would be an honor.'" And then he cracked up laughing, for reasons no one quite understood. Kirk shook his head. It's gotta be a Klingon thing...
~~~~~~~
Captain Styles was standing near the transport console as two Terrans and a pair of Vulcans materialized on the platform. Styles recognized Admiral Kirk, Spock, and Doctor McCoy, but the second Vulcan was unknown to him. He studied him closely. Graying hair, a thick beard, and odd eyes that seemed to see everything. And a faint smile.
The Vulcan noticed Styles watching, but said nothing. He met the captain's gaze until Kirk broke the momentary silence. "Captain Styles, may I introduce Sybok?"
"A pleasure, Sybok," Styles said, not sure if he was being truthful with himself.
"I'm sure," Sybok replied in the same manner. He kept staring at Styles, and the captain shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. And then the Vulcan glanced over at Kirk, breaking the spell.
"Admiral, I believe you were going to explain your current situation," Styles reminded Kirk, turning away from the odd Vulcan and shaking off that odd feeling of fear.
"The Enterprise was destroyed in orbit around Nimbus III by Klingons," Kirk said, his voice hardening. "We took their ship in return, and got rid of the Klingons. Well, all but one. General Korrd has remained onboard as translator and advisor."
"You're trusting your life to a KLINGON?" His voice was laced with disbelief.
"And a Romulan," Kirk added, just to see Styles nearly freak out. He hid a grin as he watched Styles' jaw drop for several seconds. The captain shook his head, incredulous.
"Anyway, getting back to the subject...why do you look so...er, young?" Styles asked. He couldn't think of a way to ask without it sounding stupid.
Kirk looked directly at him and said, "I died." Styles looked at him like he was crazy, so he continued. "I was exposed to the energy field of a new device called Genesis. It...reanimated me, so to speak, at a younger age." He held out his hands in a there-you-have-it gesture.
Styles still didn't look inclined to believe the tale, but he didn't comment. "Why did you schedule rendezvous with the Excelsior, rather than flying to Earth? I would think that after such an ordeal, you would want to-"
"Didn't you also receive the distress call?" Sybok interrupted. When Styles shook his head no, the Vulcan continued. "All life on Earth was annihilated approximately two hours ago. The entire Sol system is not suitable for any spaceflight, and will remain so for quite some time."
Styles glanced over at Kirk, silently begging for a more detailed explanation.
"If you'll show us to your Briefing Room, I could give you all the details of our current situation," Kirk offered.
"This way," Styles responded, and led the four out of the transporter room.
~~~~~~~
Later that evening, after a lengthy meeting with Styles and his command crew, Kirk and 'his men' transferred back to their captured Klingon Bird-Of-Prey, which they had begun to call Aehallh (A Rihannsu word meaning a monster-ghost whose appearance misleads). The green-hulled ship was parked in the Excelsior's Hangar Deck; it was a rather tight fit, but after all the shuttles were moved there was more than enough room.
Aehallh's crew had all agreed that it would be better to disguise themselves and the ship as a Rihannsu warship and crew, rather than a Klingon battle cruiser. The Klingons and Romulans both would assume that Aehallh was just another warship, donated to the Rihannsu by their Klingon allies. And if the ship was ever boarded, or if visual communication was required, it would be an easier bluff than pretending to be Klingons.
Korrd helped Kaithlin Dar scrape off the old Klingon ID markings, and then the Romulan woman etched their ship's name in the square Rihanha script where the harsh, angled Klingon glyphs had previously been.
Along with the outward appearance, the small crew had refitted the inside of the Klingon warship with Romulan equipment, and each Terran member of the ship underwent surgical alteration to appear as Rihannsu as possible. The pointed ears were nothing new to Kirk; he'd done the exact same thing before. Sybok and Spock presented no problems, since they both looked like Romulans already. Korrd would have to remain a Klingon; there was no way to disguise the forehead ridges, and he would rather die than cut his long hair. His presence could be excused as an interpreter, or possibly an advisor, and he would present no problems.
Kirk sat in the Klingon command chair, and absently reached up to touch his newly-pointed right ear again. He shifted in the chair, glad that he'd been able to synthesize some padding, and watched Kaithlin program a language speed-learning device for Rihanha. To convince a Klingon cruiser or a Romulan warbird would require that each "Romulan" on board would need to speak their "native" language.
"Jim, I still say this is a terrible idea," McCoy grumbled, standing behind Kirk's chair. Kirk turned around and suppressed a smile; McCoy would no longer be able to make any 'pointy ear' jokes without offending nearly everyone on board, including himself. "Those speed-learning techniques'll give you a headache for three days, and they ain't guaranteed to work, either."
"Would you rather get fried by the first Romulan ship we come across?" Kirk countered. "After all, with the Federation in pieces, the Neutral Zone is going to become nonexistant. Romulans and Klingons everywhere, probably killing any human they find. I think we have a much better chance this way."
"As long as none of us Terrans get cut, is that it? I haven't learned how to bleed green at will quite yet."
"Go see the Excelsior's CMO," Kirk suggested cheerfully. "She can fix that."
McCoy stared in disbelief. Kirk grinned and held up a green-tinged hand. "I've already been done," he declared. "The only thing seperating me from human and Romulan is the fact that my heart's still in the human position. Well, that and my current inability to speak Rihanha."
"You mean you actually got your blood REPLACED?" McCoy sputtered. "By that green, copper ice water?" He shook his head. "You, Jim-boy, are crazy." A sudden thought hit him. "Wait a minute, Jim...you aren't planning on having your HEART moved, are you?"
Kirk laughed. "Not as of yet, Bones. The green blood's just a precaution, just like the ears and eyebrows. A precaution I think you should take."
"Me? Never!"
~~~~~~~
"Jim, when I get outta here, you're gonna be stuck in Sickbay for a week!" McCoy hollered after Kirk, as the younger man left him practically tied to a biobed and in the hands of Excelsior's Chief Medical Officer.
"Think you can handle him?" Kirk asked jokingly.
"If I have to, I'll call Security to restrain him," Doctor LoBrutto replied in the same light manner, her eyes twinkling with mirth.
"Bye, Bones. Have fun!"
"DAMMIT JIM, GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"
"And now, I have a ship to attend to. Au revoir!"
~~~~~~~
When McCoy finally finished exchanging red human blood for green Romulan blood, he made a mad dash for the Aehallh, intending to vent some frustration on Kirk. However, when he got to the bridge, Kirk was nowhere to be seen.
McCoy tapped Sulu on the shoulder. "Hey Hikaru, where's Jim?"
"He's back in his quarters," the Oriental helmsman replied. "Kaithlin finished the speed-learning device, and he decided to go first." Sulu glanced down at the chronometer. "He should be done in about an hour."
"I still don't know why we all have to trust that thing to cram an entire language database into our skulls that quickly," McCoy grumbled. "Who knows what odd quirks it may have?"
"Actually, there is one thing that will happen as a side effect of that thing," Sulu added. "Whoever uses it will forget Federation Standard for a while, and speak in nothing but Rihanha."
"Oh, that's just GREAT!" This is just one damn thing after another, ain't it? McCoy thought to himself. "How long does this 'memory loss' last?"
Sulu shrugged. "I don't know. Kaithlin said it should be a day or two, but she can't be sure."
"Lovely," McCoy growled sarcastically. "He went through all that trouble to get my blood changed, and then when I come back, I can't even chew him out!"
Sulu chuckled. "You want to use the speed-learner next?"
McCoy only had to think for a minute. "No chance in Hell that I WON'T!"