Act Two: "The Return to New Kelva"
It's been Twenty Earth years since that fateful adventure and Rojan was more than happy that it had occurred. With a robotic envoy safely on its way back to Kelva with a Federation proposal, Rojan was enjoying his time here on what had been deemed New Kelva – the planet where their attempted incursion upon the Enterprise started.
Human forms were nice, especially when it came to affection. And there was no one he quite liked sharing affection with rather than Kalinda.
While most of his fellow Kelvans had chosen to remain in their natural state and stay inside the main complex, Rojan had ordered them to spent at least one hour as a human. If their people were going to live in a galaxy where most of its people were humanoids, then a humanoid perspective was needed.
It's ironic, he thought as he held Kalinda in their bed, that a humanoid form would become one so comfortable to him and Kalinda. It was the affection that made it so special. Though this was as well just as special as it was in their natural form, the humanoid form was one that made it really special.
He grinned and remembered that day their ship intercepted their probe. It was nearly seventy years ago, almost fifty years before their endeavor against the Enterprise occurred. His father was in command and Rojan was near in taking his place. They were both appalled by the humanoid figure. Four limbs? So much space spent for waste? Even their neural pathways were . . . cluttered.
The humans that encountered that probe were smart, though, and were able to destroy it's main components. The Probe ship's emergency data unit had luckily survived the ship's destruction.
Rojan grinned even more. He had to owe to Kirk and his crew. Without their guidance, there would never have been an understanding between the Kelvans and the Federation. But now . . . there was a chance to go through this without bloodshed.
This wasn't set in stone though. Of course he and many other members of his people put their personal accounts and recommendations into the envoy as well as the Federation proposal. But what were the odds of the Kelvan high command agreeing to this treaty?
He hoped the odds were high enough. But he knew he would never see the end of this plan. Never. He would be dead and only his descendants would see this to its end.
Rojan suddenly felt a rustle as Kalinda awoke. She looked up at him, then stood.
"Well done."
"Thank you. What are you going to do now?"
"I believe I will spent some time in my natural form."
Rojan nodded. "I shall too."
"Would you care to go first."
"Why don't you go ahead? I am to meet Tomar in a few moments."
She looked back at him. "Of course, Rojan. But you know how he feels about you and your interest in humanoid form?"
"I know. But that is something he will be forced to deal with. It is none of his concern and I am his superior officer. If we are to live with humanoids, we must be like them."
She nodded, then walked off into another room. Rojan pulled some clothes on and moved on to meet with Tomar.
Stepping through many large corridors, he finally entered an even larger room where Tomar was, in his natural form. His body was large and quite disturbing to the human eye. His entire body was covered in long, large tentacles and they all joined into circular section of the body, where neck and head rested. The head was large and tall, with eight eyes and twenty tentacles flowing from the sides.
"What is it you wanted?" asked Rojan.
Tomar scuffed at him. "I WANTED to speak to Rojan, not a fleshbagged version of him."
Rojan squinted at his officer. "I showed you the studies, Tomar. The more time we frequent between our forms (humanoid and natural), the longer our life-span becomes. And, as I have stated, it gives us a stronger feeling of who we are dealing with."
Tomar longed sharply at him. "'Dealing with?' You make it sound like we are at war with these people, as we should be! But, no, you have strayed from the mission. You demand peace! You demand to be diluted!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH, TOMAR!" shouted Rojan, slamming his foot onto the marble flooring.
Tomar looked both angry and hurt, then turned back to his large computer.
"This is not the end of the argument."
"I wish it were. It has been all I have heard these past Twenty years. Now, what is it you have to show me?"
Tomar flipped a few switches as he spoke. "I have discovered a way that will benefit our plan."
"And how is that?"
"If we can use a large amount of energy to boost the signal, we shorten the time it takes to contact Kelva."
"By how much?"
"Two weeks. And beyond that, I have found a similar way of adapting our engines to shorten the distance between these two worlds."
Rojan perked an eyebrow. "And how is that?"
"By using an energy beam to rupture sub-space and are actually able to travel within it, we can use our Warp engines to get us there in less than a week."
"Impossible!"
"You do not believe me? I have had over a dozen officers look at these schematics and equations. It works. See for yourself."
Rojan stepped over and looked for himself. He was shocked to find that they really, truly worked. He looked over at Tomar. There was more. He knew it.
"Have you tried this yet?"
"No. Not yet."
"Good. Don't use it without my permission. Is that understood?"
Tomar didn't answer sheerly out of pride. He just flipped off the screen and moved across the room.
Rojan knew something was up. Although the silence had answered 'yes', Tomar himself registered a 'no.' And Rojan had to check it out. But he needed help.
It was no secret that a lot of Kelvans here disliked being forced into peace with the Federation and taking humanoid form. Quite frankly, Rojan feared coup.
And if Tomar had sent a message to their fellow Kelvans along with the engine plans, an invasion fleet could arrive and death would surely come to Rojan and whoever followed him. The casualties would be high for the interstellar empires of this galaxy. And Rojan knew he could not be held responsible for letting those deaths happen.
After going into his natural form, he checked the computer logs. While most of Tomar's logs seemed accurate, there was one missing from two days ago. It was all the evidence Rojan needed to decide to call for help.
And there was only one person he knew that could help him.
"Captain James T. Kirk."
Jim Kirk startled awake and looked at the blinking light coming from a computer across the room. The computer had awoken him, informing him of a message coming in.
"Okay, okay," he said, getting out of bed. "What is it?"
The screen flicked on, showing briefly the United Federation of Planets emblem, then an admiral. Jim hadn't met him when he held that same rank. He must have been new.
"Captain Kirk, my apologies on waking you, but we have a situation developing."
"Situation? Where?"
"The planet called New Kelva. It seems a transmission was sent to Kelvan space."
Jim sighed and sat down. "With all due respect, Admiral, Kelvan space is quite a while a way."
"I understand that. But from what we can gather, this transmission is stronger and faster than anything we've ever seen."
"Hmmm. And? Aren't we at peace with the Kelvans?"
"Only the ones in this galaxy, Captain. The others in the Andromeda Galaxy don't know that we've achieved peace."
"And what do you think this transmission was . . . ?"
"We don't know," replied to Admiral. "In fact, we know nothing about this situation. It could have been an explanation of peace or it could be a battle plan."
"Battle plan?"
"Yes. There are unconfirmed reports of unrest among the Kelvans here in our galaxy. Some want the invasion, some don't. Nonetheless, you are to investigate this situation immediately and report back to Starfleet Command at once."
Captain Kirk sighed. "Alright. Kirk out."
Kirk closed the channel and stood up. The Enterprise-A was fast enough to get them to New Kelva, but the questioned remained . . . what was going on on that world?
It's been Twenty Earth years since that fateful adventure and Rojan was more than happy that it had occurred. With a robotic envoy safely on its way back to Kelva with a Federation proposal, Rojan was enjoying his time here on what had been deemed New Kelva – the planet where their attempted incursion upon the Enterprise started.
Human forms were nice, especially when it came to affection. And there was no one he quite liked sharing affection with rather than Kalinda.
While most of his fellow Kelvans had chosen to remain in their natural state and stay inside the main complex, Rojan had ordered them to spent at least one hour as a human. If their people were going to live in a galaxy where most of its people were humanoids, then a humanoid perspective was needed.
It's ironic, he thought as he held Kalinda in their bed, that a humanoid form would become one so comfortable to him and Kalinda. It was the affection that made it so special. Though this was as well just as special as it was in their natural form, the humanoid form was one that made it really special.
He grinned and remembered that day their ship intercepted their probe. It was nearly seventy years ago, almost fifty years before their endeavor against the Enterprise occurred. His father was in command and Rojan was near in taking his place. They were both appalled by the humanoid figure. Four limbs? So much space spent for waste? Even their neural pathways were . . . cluttered.
The humans that encountered that probe were smart, though, and were able to destroy it's main components. The Probe ship's emergency data unit had luckily survived the ship's destruction.
Rojan grinned even more. He had to owe to Kirk and his crew. Without their guidance, there would never have been an understanding between the Kelvans and the Federation. But now . . . there was a chance to go through this without bloodshed.
This wasn't set in stone though. Of course he and many other members of his people put their personal accounts and recommendations into the envoy as well as the Federation proposal. But what were the odds of the Kelvan high command agreeing to this treaty?
He hoped the odds were high enough. But he knew he would never see the end of this plan. Never. He would be dead and only his descendants would see this to its end.
Rojan suddenly felt a rustle as Kalinda awoke. She looked up at him, then stood.
"Well done."
"Thank you. What are you going to do now?"
"I believe I will spent some time in my natural form."
Rojan nodded. "I shall too."
"Would you care to go first."
"Why don't you go ahead? I am to meet Tomar in a few moments."
She looked back at him. "Of course, Rojan. But you know how he feels about you and your interest in humanoid form?"
"I know. But that is something he will be forced to deal with. It is none of his concern and I am his superior officer. If we are to live with humanoids, we must be like them."
She nodded, then walked off into another room. Rojan pulled some clothes on and moved on to meet with Tomar.
Stepping through many large corridors, he finally entered an even larger room where Tomar was, in his natural form. His body was large and quite disturbing to the human eye. His entire body was covered in long, large tentacles and they all joined into circular section of the body, where neck and head rested. The head was large and tall, with eight eyes and twenty tentacles flowing from the sides.
"What is it you wanted?" asked Rojan.
Tomar scuffed at him. "I WANTED to speak to Rojan, not a fleshbagged version of him."
Rojan squinted at his officer. "I showed you the studies, Tomar. The more time we frequent between our forms (humanoid and natural), the longer our life-span becomes. And, as I have stated, it gives us a stronger feeling of who we are dealing with."
Tomar longed sharply at him. "'Dealing with?' You make it sound like we are at war with these people, as we should be! But, no, you have strayed from the mission. You demand peace! You demand to be diluted!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH, TOMAR!" shouted Rojan, slamming his foot onto the marble flooring.
Tomar looked both angry and hurt, then turned back to his large computer.
"This is not the end of the argument."
"I wish it were. It has been all I have heard these past Twenty years. Now, what is it you have to show me?"
Tomar flipped a few switches as he spoke. "I have discovered a way that will benefit our plan."
"And how is that?"
"If we can use a large amount of energy to boost the signal, we shorten the time it takes to contact Kelva."
"By how much?"
"Two weeks. And beyond that, I have found a similar way of adapting our engines to shorten the distance between these two worlds."
Rojan perked an eyebrow. "And how is that?"
"By using an energy beam to rupture sub-space and are actually able to travel within it, we can use our Warp engines to get us there in less than a week."
"Impossible!"
"You do not believe me? I have had over a dozen officers look at these schematics and equations. It works. See for yourself."
Rojan stepped over and looked for himself. He was shocked to find that they really, truly worked. He looked over at Tomar. There was more. He knew it.
"Have you tried this yet?"
"No. Not yet."
"Good. Don't use it without my permission. Is that understood?"
Tomar didn't answer sheerly out of pride. He just flipped off the screen and moved across the room.
Rojan knew something was up. Although the silence had answered 'yes', Tomar himself registered a 'no.' And Rojan had to check it out. But he needed help.
It was no secret that a lot of Kelvans here disliked being forced into peace with the Federation and taking humanoid form. Quite frankly, Rojan feared coup.
And if Tomar had sent a message to their fellow Kelvans along with the engine plans, an invasion fleet could arrive and death would surely come to Rojan and whoever followed him. The casualties would be high for the interstellar empires of this galaxy. And Rojan knew he could not be held responsible for letting those deaths happen.
After going into his natural form, he checked the computer logs. While most of Tomar's logs seemed accurate, there was one missing from two days ago. It was all the evidence Rojan needed to decide to call for help.
And there was only one person he knew that could help him.
"Captain James T. Kirk."
Jim Kirk startled awake and looked at the blinking light coming from a computer across the room. The computer had awoken him, informing him of a message coming in.
"Okay, okay," he said, getting out of bed. "What is it?"
The screen flicked on, showing briefly the United Federation of Planets emblem, then an admiral. Jim hadn't met him when he held that same rank. He must have been new.
"Captain Kirk, my apologies on waking you, but we have a situation developing."
"Situation? Where?"
"The planet called New Kelva. It seems a transmission was sent to Kelvan space."
Jim sighed and sat down. "With all due respect, Admiral, Kelvan space is quite a while a way."
"I understand that. But from what we can gather, this transmission is stronger and faster than anything we've ever seen."
"Hmmm. And? Aren't we at peace with the Kelvans?"
"Only the ones in this galaxy, Captain. The others in the Andromeda Galaxy don't know that we've achieved peace."
"And what do you think this transmission was . . . ?"
"We don't know," replied to Admiral. "In fact, we know nothing about this situation. It could have been an explanation of peace or it could be a battle plan."
"Battle plan?"
"Yes. There are unconfirmed reports of unrest among the Kelvans here in our galaxy. Some want the invasion, some don't. Nonetheless, you are to investigate this situation immediately and report back to Starfleet Command at once."
Captain Kirk sighed. "Alright. Kirk out."
Kirk closed the channel and stood up. The Enterprise-A was fast enough to get them to New Kelva, but the questioned remained . . . what was going on on that world?