Disclaimer: It's not mine. You know that.
Closing in on the end, folks! But I've said that before, so I'll just let you get to this unusually long chapter without further ado. Does anyone know what "ado" means anyway? Yeah…
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
The situation was grim, and Kirk knew it. Knew it as he studied the Orion ships, knew it as he sat down in the command chair and went on studying, focus narrowing down to nothing but the problem to be solved.
The rest of the bridge crew completely failed to match Kirk's intensity of thought. But then, they didn't know as much about the Orions.
"Why do you think they're here?" Uhura asked.
Kirk's eyes never left the viewscreen. "I know why they're here. It's Charlie again, damn him. He sent out the word before, and the Syndicate has picked it up. They want the ship."
"They cannot have her," Chekov said definitively.
Motionless as stone, chin in his hand, eyes on the screen, thoughts running at warp speed, the only response from Kirk was a murmur, more or less in affirmative.
"I mean, ve can fight them," Chekov pressed on.
"They're very good," Kirk said.
"But ve have a starship."
"But they have heavy shields and heavy weaponry. And they outnumber us three to one."
"But ve can take them in a fight." Chekov wouldn't let it be a question.
Kirk answered it as a question regardless. "No," he said slowly, "I don't think we can."
Every head on the bridge turned and everyone stared at Kirk, disbelief written plainly across every face but Spock's. Still sunk deep in thought, Kirk never noticed.
"So…what are we going to do?" Uhura asked him.
"I don't know," Kirk said simply, turning the situation over in his mind once more.
It was then that the Starfleet crew really began to worry. A tense silence fell over the bridge. When Uhura's board sounded, everyone but Kirk and Spock jumped.
Uhura checked her readings. "The Orions are hailing us."
Kirk nodded slowly. "They want to negotiate for buying the Enterprise."
Sulu frowned. "But if they can take us in a fight…"
"They don't want to damage the ship."
"But ve vill not sell to them, right?" Chekov said.
Lost in thought, Kirk didn't answer.
"Right?" Chekov pressed, a note of urgency entering his voice.
Kirk finally looked up. "Hmm? Oh…right," he said vaguely, mind still on the problem.
Chekov turned slowly back to his board, frowning as though it was what was bothering him.
"Shall I respond to the hail?" Uhura asked.
Kirk straightened suddenly. "Yes," he said firmly. "Put them on."
Kirk's thoughts had arrived at a conclusion. He had a plan. A complicated, risky, possibly foolhardy plan, but nevertheless a plan. He made no move to tell this plan to anyone. He'd been relying solely on himself for too long, and now, by habit as much as by temperament, he didn't stop to explain anything at all to the Starfleet crew.
Kirk squared his shoulders, lifted his chin, and, in all respects, settled into the role of confident leader. And then the Orion commander appeared on screen.
The Orion commander, unlike the Romulan commander, bore no resemblance whatsoever to the Vulcans. For one thing, the Vulcans had a slight green tint to their skin. The Orions, however, were as green as the little green men of twentieth-century UFO propaganda. This particular Orion could hardly be described as little though. Large in every direction and particularly around the middle, he gave no impression so strongly as that he was overflowing his chair.
"Mr. Kirk!" he rumbled enthusiastically in strongly accented Standard. "It is good to see you!"
Kirk smiled politely. "Do I know you?"
"We have never met, so very unfortunate. Your reputation though, I know well."
"Ah," Kirk said. "And is this a good reputation, or a bad one?"
The Orion's small, dark eyes glinted, a dangerous glint at odds with his jovial attitude. "On Rigel, they say you are the best pirate leader out of Earth since Blackbeard."
Kirk grinned. "That's not bad."
"They say also you are smart. So maybe, you already know why we are here."
Kirk nodded. "I already know why you're here," he said pleasantly, "but why don't you tell me anyway and then we'll all know?"
The Orion complied. "We want the ship," he said simply.
"Somehow I thought you might."
"We'll give you fifty million for it."
It wasn't what the Romulans had offered. But it wasn't bad. Split among the 25-odd Sharks, that was around two million each. Which would be enough to satisfy even Harry. Everyone on the bridge could figure that out.
"Interesting offer," Kirk said carefully. "If I did sell the ship to you, what would you do with her?"
The Orion seemed faintly surprised. "We would make her part of our fleet, of course. The things we could steal with a starship! She is a very powerful ship, oh yes."
"Yes. She is," Kirk agreed.
"What is he doing?" McCoy muttered to Spock.
"I do not know," was the blandly given answer.
These were sentiments shared by all the bridge crew, who watched the continuing conversation with puzzlement and growing consternation.
"So then?" the Orion asked. "A bargain, yes?"
"Not yet, no," Kirk said easily. "I have another question first."
"What question?" the Orion rumbled, clear irritation creeping into his voice for the first time.
"What happens to the crew of the Enterprise?"
"I give you an extra million for all," the Orion said generously, reclaiming his good cheer.
"Nice of you, but no thanks. I've got another idea. There's a Class-M planet within two hours at warp six. We could drop them there with a long-range comm unit."
The Orion agreed almost too readily. "You think it is better, we do it. Now, a bargain?"
To the bridge crew, that moment between the Orion's question and Kirk's answer seemed very long. In actual fact, Kirk never even hesitated.
"Yes," Kirk said. "We do."
The Orion's grin stretched almost literally from ear to ear, revealing a row of broken yellow teeth. "Excellent. She is a beautiful ship."
Kirk smiled. "I know."
"How do we handle the transfer, you think?"
"I've thought of that," Kirk said at once. "My ship is docked here. My gang will board our ship, dock with you, pick up our payment, and…" He shrugged. "The ship is yours."
The Orion commander's eyes glinted. "Agreed."
"Good. We'll be along as soon as I can settle things here. Enterprise out."
Uhura flipped a switch on her board with a vicious swipe, and the Orion vanished from the screen.
Kirk rubbed his hands together. "All right, lots to do, little time, I need to…" He stopped. Looked around. With the single exception of Spock, every face had an identical expression of hostility. Spock had no expression. "What?"
"You just sold our ship," Chekov said tightly, the tightness in his voice speaking of both anger and betrayal.
"No, I didn't," Kirk said at once.
"What part of 'the ship is yours' isn't very clear?" Sulu snapped.
Kirk stared at him. "You don't think I meant that, do you?"
The hostility didn't lift. Apparently everyone thought precisely that.
"Wait a minute, let me explain," Kirk said hurriedly. "See, we can't take them in a fight on our own. I'm good, but even I'm not that good, not against three Orion ships. But the Sharks' ship, it could tip the balance. With two ships working together, I think we could beat the Orions, or at least discourage them into leaving. It's our best chance anyway. I only said I'd sell the ship so I'd have a reason to bring the other ship out and near the Orions without arousing their suspicions. You see?"
They didn't see. And he could see that he wasn't convincing them. Whatever relationships he had built between himself and Starfleet in the last week, they weren't going to be enough. However much the bridge crew had seen of his best side, it wasn't going to do it. He'd made a bad mistake by not explaining things beforehand. Believing that he was selling the Enterprise had had an effect Kirk hadn't anticipated and couldn't compensate for now. The Starfleet crew had been jolted directly back to their earliest impressions of Kirk and their earliest suspicions, his earliest treachery and earliest threats. With all that at the front of their minds, rather than yesterday's Romulans and this morning's breakfast, they were less willing to listen to explanations now. And excuses after the fact always sound far more flimsy than explanations beforehand.
"That is somewhat far-fetched," Spock observed.
Kirk tried hard to recapture the comradeship of the last day or so. "Oh come on, Spock," he said lightly, "you played chess with me, give me a chance here."
"Chess is irrelevant," Spock said crisply. "What is relevant is that I cannot accept your plan, as an acceptance of that plan would put this ship in grave danger if you are not telling us the truth."
"But I am telling you the truth," Kirk said, no longer lightly. He stood up from his chair to face the science console, and Spock. What Spock decided, the rest of the bridge crew would follow, Kirk could see that. "Spock, this ship and her crew are in a lot more danger if you don't listen to me. My plan's the only way; I know that, and I think you do too. And it's only going to work if you believe me. I can't be in two places at once, I can't do everything, and the Sharks won't help me. I need someone to direct the Enterprise, and I need help on the other ship."
"You will not find help here," Spock said coldly, "because I do not believe you."
"Why not?" Kirk asked, frustrated.
"Why should I?"
"Why shouldn't you?" Kirk countered.
And Spock had the answer. With his brilliant, maddening, ever-ready Vulcan logic, Spock had the answer. "You did not sell to the Romulans, which left you with a very valuable ship but no buyer. The Orions fulfill that position, providing you with a much needed way to come out of this situation with a great deal of wealth."
"If it was about the money, I would have sold to the Romulans to begin with," Kirk pointed out.
"As I understand the situation, you did not sell to the Romulans because they were going to dismantle the ship. The Orions will not."
"I didn't sell because I didn't want to sell, and I don't want to sell now either."
"But now you are in a position where you must sell the Enterprise. It is commonly known that you have lost the confidence of your men. You have yourself commented on the likelihood of their shooting you in the back. A profitable bargain with the Orions would regain the confidence of the Sharks and secure your position. In every way I can perceive," Spock concluded, "selling to the Orions is in your best interest. Fighting the Orions is not."
"Selling to the Romulans was in my best interest too," Kirk pointed out, "and I didn't do that."
"But your specific reasons for not wishing to sell to the Romulans are no longer an issue. I can see absolutely no reason for you to refuse to sell to the Orions."
"Except that he didn't mean any more of that conversation than I did. He's not going to any Class-M planets, and he'll shoot me on sight before he hands me fifty million credits. If I actually went with what I told the Orions, I'd be dead and you'd all be in slavery. Which is where we'll end up anyway if you don't listen to me."
"I do not know any of that to be true."
"Would I lie to you?" Kirk demanded.
Spock looked him straight in the eye. "Yes."
Kirk frowned. "All right, maybe I would. But the point is, I'm not lying, not about this."
"The point is, you must sell the Enterprise, as there is nothing else you can do with her. Starfleet would never stand for your keeping her."
"Which is why I was going to give her back to you. That's what my plan was, Spock, I was going to give you the codes in exchange for a blind eye when I ran."
Spock's eyebrow rose. "Why would you want to do this?"
"Because she's not a pirate ship," Kirk said quietly. "She's a starship, and I can't make her anything else. No matter how much I might want to."
"I find it intriguing that you are mentioning this now, rather than at breakfast, which would have been the logical time to pursue the deal you are describing."
"I didn't know the Orions were coming, and I wasn't exactly in a hurry to leave."
"Or you invented this deal within the last two minutes."
"Damn it, Spock, I'm telling you the truth! About everything!" Kirk looked around the bridge. "I mean it, I mean all of it. But…all your arguments are perfectly logical, Spock, and it probably is in my best interest to sell to the Orions, if they'd keep their end of the bargain. But they won't keep their end, and I'm not keeping mine. It's illogical, and it's probably stupid too, but I'd rather fight the Orion Syndicate then sell to them. But I need your help."
No one responded. No one volunteered.
"You worked with me fighting the other pirates!" Kirk said in frustration. "Why is this different?"
Sulu answered that, and in answering summed up the core of the problem for everyone. "Before…it was all very straightforward, very clear. Our best interests and your best interest coincided. And anything that happened to us, happened to you. But with this plan…it's just too easy for you to stab us in the back. And there's too much reason for you to do it."
"But I won't," Kirk said simply.
No one responded. Kirk looked around the bridge once more, and drew a breath. And then he changed in a way even Spock could feel. Almost like slipping on a coat, Kirk slid back into the role of the cocky, self-assured, ruthless pirate leader he had been when he had first stepped into the docking bay, and their lives, a mere seven days before.
"All right, then, fine. Have it your way," Kirk said calmly. "You're not giving me a choice. I can't give you one. Computer, lock bridge controls, authorization Cortez1518."
The perfectly modulated tones of the computer's voice program sounded on the bridge. "Access to bridge controls has been locked."
"This makes little material difference," Spock noted, "as we were not intending to use our respective controls.
Kirk locked gazes with Spock. "Computer…Archer2150," he said evenly.
"Commencing self-destruct sequence in: ten minutes," the computer said calmly.
The bridge crew was silent and unmoving, uninvolved witnesses to the scene playing out between Kirk and Spock.
Spock gave every appearance of unconcern. His hands were clasped behind him, his posture perfect.
"I'm not bluffing, Spock," Kirk said quietly. "I'll blow her up and kill everyone aboard. It's better than being captured by the Orions. You don't have any choice. It's checkmate."
"On the contrary." Spock looked him in the eye. "Cabot1497."
Kirk's eyes widened.
"Cochrane2063." Spock said deliberately. "Diaz1487. Gama1498. Hudson1609. Izar2241."
Kirk flinched. "Belay—"
He was too late. The computer spoke over his words. "Bridge controls unlocked."
"Damn it, Spock, don't do this!"
Spock was relentless. "James1631. Joliet1673. Lancaster1591. Lindbergh1929. Magellan1521." Receiving no response, he paused for a moment. Considered. "Pike. 2254."
"No!"
"Self-destruct sequence terminated," the computer said crisply.
"I believe that is the last of your leverage, Mr. Kirk," Spock said calmly. "Checkmate."
Kirk stared at him, momentarily at a loss for words. The ruthless, cocky pirate leader was gone, gone for good. Kirk, with an effort, pulled himself together. "Do you know what you've done?"
"Removed your position of power and prevented the carrying out of your plan."
"The only plan that could have saved this ship!"
"Or doomed it," Spock countered.
Kirk had remained reasonably calm before. Certainly he had been frustrated and a bit irritated. But he had never panicked or given way to desperation. But before, he had had an ace in his sleeve, in the form of his codes. That was gone now. "All right, you stopped me from selling the ship, which I wasn't going to do anyway. So now the Orions will take her, and everyone aboard. My plan is still the only way!"
"I do not agree."
"But it is! What are you going to do, talk to them?"
"The fact that I am a Vulcan may help me to establish a dialogue."
Kirk stared at Spock, and in his hazel eyes there was a new emotion. Fear. "Spock, you can't talk to the Orions, believe me on that at least. You've got to listen to me. You can't talk to them, you can't fight them, you have to listen to me because it's the only way any of us will walk away from this alive and free."
"There are many possibilities," Spock said impassively.
In the face of that impassivity, Kirk began to despair. And in despair, desperation took hold, entering his thoughts and his voice. "No, there aren't! I know what I'm talking about, I know how the Orions work! You try to talk to them, and you're all going to end up dead or sold on the black market. Please, Spock, give me a chance, I can see the only way out of this!"
Spock ignored him. "Lieutenant Uhura, call security please."
"Yes, sir," she murmured, hands moving over her board.
Spock turned away from Kirk, walked past him and towards the center chair. Kirk, in his mounting desperation, went so far as to grab Spock's shoulder. "Please, Spock, if you'd just listen to me—"
"The matter is closed," Spock said frostily. "And please remove your hand."
Kirk wouldn't let it be closed. There was too much at stake. And there was only one thing left to try. "Look, I get it, I know I'm not Starfleet, I know I'm just a two-bit pirate, but…I'm asking you to trust me."
Silence.
From another man, the words might have been mocking, or scornful, or contemptuous. From Spock, it was delivered absolutely flat, without so much as an eyebrow quirk, and somehow that only made it worse. "You cannot be trusted. You are a pirate. You prey on defenseless merchant ships. You told me the first time you betrayed my trust, and I have not forgotten, Mr. Kirk. I would not trust you as far as I can throw you."
The bridge was silent. Kirk just stared at him, swallowed hard, and nodded. "Okay. Maybe I did have that one coming," he said quietly. "But please believe me, I'm not the same as I was when I said that, and if you listen to me now, I won't betray you."
Spock was unmoved, and neither was anyone else. Kirk looked around, and knew that he wasn't convincing anyone.
The Sharks were turned against him. His codes had been deciphered. Any friendship he had thought he had made with the Starfleet crew clearly wasn't enough in this crisis. He was thrown on nothing but his own resources. He drew his phase pistol, backing up against the consoles, a movement that served only to increase the impression of a cornered animal making his last stand. A stand that would not be effective.
"Put it down."
Eyes turned to the navigator's station, where Chekov had stood up. "Put it down," he said again. In his hand was a phaser, leveled at Kirk.
Kirk was more surprised than anything else. "Where did you get that?"
"It vas Carl's. Now put your phaser down."
Kirk hesitated. The turbolift doors opened and let Gray and three security guards out. Even with a phaser, Kirk didn't stand a chance, and he knew it. Kirk opened his hand, and let his phaser drop to rest on the soft carpet of the bridge.
Spock nodded to the security guards. "Take him to the brig."
Kirk wasn't going to go without a final appeal. His eyes swept the bridge and landed on one person who had been uncharacteristically quiet, wrapped in his own thoughts.
"Bones, you know! You know what I'm like, you know I'm not all bad, Bones!"
McCoy wouldn't meet his eyes, and right now he had about as much expression as Spock. "It's McCoy," he said quietly. "Dr. McCoy."
A defeated expression crossed Kirk's face, and he slumped. He revived when the guards laid hold of him and started moving towards the turbolift. Kirk struggled against them, with little to no effect. "No, wait…I know, I'm a rat, I'm a pirate, I'm a…Cossack! But can't any of you believe me, I'm trying to help you!"
The turbolift doors closed on his shouts.
No one on the bridge moved immediately.
"Are you…are you sure we did the right thing, Spock?" McCoy asked, fighting his doubts.
"Yes," Spock said firmly. Almost too firmly. Almost as though McCoy wasn't the only one who needed convincing. "Mr. Kirk may be likeable but he is not trustworthy. Nothing in his history or our personal experience of him suggests that we can trust him to act against his own best advantage. So yes, we did the right thing."
"I hope so," McCoy said softly, eyes still on the turbolift doors. "I really hope so."
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PearlGirl: Well, I suppose it's not very nice of Kirk to abandon the Sharks to Starfleet, but, believe me, they deserve it, and anyway, they aren't exactly willing to listen to him anymore. The Last Roundup, I've read it. The ending was sad…I'd almost forgotten there were Orions in there but there were, weren't they?
Mzsnaz: I was trying for more normal Spock-McCoy interaction in that scene…and this universe or another, Kirk's very good at getting to the heart of Spock and McCoy's arguments. : )
ScifiMimi: Yes, more pirates. And happy b-day!
Alania: As for Kirk abandoning the Sharks, see note to PearlGirl above. Funny, I do kind of like to end chapters with red alerts…though I HATE it when other people do. Odd.
Crazy Elleth: Come to think of it, they did declare something of a truce to argue with Kirk about why they argue. I hadn't thought of it that way. Amusing.
AliciaF: Yeah, I don't think, at this point, anybody cares too much about the pirates. And just to make it perfectly clear, I'd never mean anything other than platonic with Kirk and McCoy, but, well, other people write other stories and I thought perhaps I ought to clarify that. 'nuff said.
Gurney Halleck: I just realized you're Wedge. You pulled a Whatshername. Oh well, glad to see you're still around.
MySchemingMind: That was long…that's okay though! 31: Y'know, that was a good call on McCoy…he has confidence in Kirk's abilities, but he isn't always quite sure about his integrity. With Harry, I'm trying once again to separate him out from the other pirates a little because, well, I'm kinda fond of Harry. As for Kirk not having any ideas…he was a little lost that evening, but by morning he was back on top of things. Which isn't too long, right? 32: I think Kirk did know why he didn't sell the Enterprise, but it was kind of this innate knowledge he couldn't verbalize or explain even to himself. That bit about two men seeing the same lover, that is a fascinating analogy. I hadn't quite thought of it that way, but it works. The probability factor I roughly tried to figure out. We were studying probability in math last month. It's not that hard a problem, really, just the number of possible four-digit numbers multiplied by the number of possible names. 33: I don't think the Romulans would contact the Federation. I mean, they don't want Starfleet to know they were considering a deal with Kirk. And besides, while they don't like Kirk they really don't like the Federation, and I think they'd kind of enjoy a pirate hijacking a Starfleet ship and getting away with it, for a while at least. Meanwhile, I'm still enjoying your analysis of the Kirk-McCoy relationship. And as for that solution, it's coming up quite soon now…
Unrealistic: Hehe, had to have another Spock-McCoy argument, with Kirk as referee. I hate cliffhangers too. But you're actually fortunate, considering you reviewed this only the day before I'm posting again!
That's all. And by the way, because I forgot to mention it last chapter, that bit Kirk concluded about McCoy making Spock a better Vulcan was borrowed/inspired by a conversation in "Locked Box" by Blynneda, available on this website and recommended. And that's all.