USS Enterprise NCC1701, 1994
Beam up? What did that mean? Chrissie never had a chance to ask the question. The air seemed to shimmer and she found herself surrounded by a thick impenetrable fog. There was a faint sensation of dizziness and then the fog cleared and she was… elsewhere. The magnolia walls, wooden floor and slightly shabby curtains of the church hall gone, she found herself standing on a platform in some sort of circular chamber that opened out into a room where she could see a man in a red uniform working on a very advanced looking computer console.
Her immediate reaction was wonder. "Captain, did we just… teleport?"
"You did," Kirk confirmed, grinning at the identical expressions of amazement on the faces of both women.
We're really on a spaceship?" Sarah asked, not quite believing it. Being told and experiencing it for herself were completely different things.
The look on her friend's face would have made Chrissie laugh if it weren't for the fact that it was very likely mirrored on her own.
"It is a starship," the one called Spock answered, "but essentially, yes. You are on board a ship in space."
Kirk stepped down from the transporter pad, gesturing to his guests to follow him. "Welcome on board the USS Enterprise."
The name of the ship felt like a kick in the gut to Sarah and her initial awe was replaced by grief. "Enterprise? My husband served on Enterprise. He was lost when…" She couldn't finish.
"The aircraft carrier Enterprise?" Kirk asked, his tone soft and respectful as he guessed at what she had left unsaid – that the Klingons had sunk the ship. Its loss was heart-breaking, but oddly appropriate. No ship called Enterprise would ever surrender to the enemy. "I am sorry for your loss."
Sarah put a hand up to wipe the unshed tears from her eyes. She'd thought she was over the worst of her grief, had in fact been quietly falling in love with her friend's brother – not that David appeared to have noticed. The ship's name though, had caught her by surprise and brought back memories.
Chrissie reached out and took her friend's hand, squeezing it sympathetically and in return, Sarah offered her a slightly shaky smile of gratitude. She'd been angry with Chrissie earlier and for good reason – and she still did not want Chrissie anywhere near the resistance - but they had been friends for far too long to let one argument cause a rift between them and they'd had far worse fights back in their student days.
Not letting go of Sarah's hand, Chrissie looked around her again, taking in all the details. And then it hit her… the one missing detail. "The children!" she said, suddenly frantic. "Captain, please… My children were in the church garden. I need to go back and get them. They are too young to be left alone."
The Court of Justice, Qo'noS, 2375
Chrissie stopped again, taking another sip of the water she had been given. Nobody else had been given any and she hadn't wanted to accept it, worrying that to do so would make her look weak. But the judge had insisted and in the end, realising that fainting from heat exhaustion and dehydration would do neither her nor Krang any good, she had capitulated. Right now, she was thankful for his thoughtfulness.
The crewman on transporter duty had been unable to find any sign of human life in the area of the church and going to assist him, Scotty had shaken his head regretfully confirming the bad news.
"I am not ashamed to admit that I was hysterical at that point," Chrissie told the court. "They tried to calm me down, but I was so frightened that I completely fell apart. The Vulcan, the one called Spock, did something to me… he touched the base of my neck where it joined my shoulders. I remember a faint tingling pressure on the nerves and then nothing. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in some sort of hospital room with a strange man wearing what looked like medical scrubs standing over me. His name was Dr McCoy, he told me and I was in Enterprise's sickbay. He had something in his hand – he showed me it and said that with my permission, he wanted to inject me with something – some sort of mild tranquiliser, I think. I was feeling so scared and panicky and I figured it couldn't do any harm because I needed to be calm if I was going to be any use to my children. So I agreed and he touched that thing to my neck. There was a sort of hissing sound and it tingled where it touched. I remember being surprised that it didn't hurt and whatever the drug was, it worked. When he was sure I was feeling better, he helped me get up and after a few checks, he took me back to where Sarah was talking with the senior officers.
After a command level meeting, it had been decided that Chrissie was to beam down to a spot close to the church and that she must report the children missing in accordance with current legal procedures. It would look strange if she did not, and there was no point in arousing the Klingons' suspicions if it could possibly be avoided.
Meanwhile, Sarah was also to beam down and use her contacts to try to discover where the medics were being held prisoner. They were running out of time to find them. The regional commander was known to be brutal and word on the street was that the prisoners were to be executed.
Kirk gave Sarah a communicator, explaining how they worked and warning her not to let the Klingons discover it. He had offered Chrissie one as well, but she refused, considering it to be too dangerous. "If I get arrested or even searched, they'll find it," she said, "It's not worth the risk." She turned to her friend, continuing, "Whatever you do, don't hide that in the flat. If this goes wrong, they will probably search it looking for evidence. Equally, you can't tell me your plans, it's too dangerous. The less I can tell them, the better."
Sarah nodded grimly. That was a good point. "Be careful, Chrissie. Don't take any risks."
"I won't," Chrissie promised. "And… Sarah, I'm sorry. I said some horrible things to you. I didn't mean them."
"I know you didn't," her friend assured her. "Now listen… when you go in there, tell them the story we agreed. Stay as close to the truth as you can. Don't be frightened to talk about what you saw – you can't hurt the resistance. The important thing is that Enterprise stays secret. Everything depends on that."
"Understood," Chrissie said.
"Good," Sarah acknowledged. "I'll meet you back at the flat tonight." She glanced at the communicator in her hand. "Captain, we will call you as soon as we have news and it is safe to do so."
"We will be awaiting your call," Kirk told them. "Both of you be very careful and take no unnecessary risks. Good luck, both of you."
Klingon Headquarters, London, 1994
The bored Klingon on duty at the reception desk in the Klingon Police Headquarters took little notice of the Terragnan woman who came in through the main door. When she asked to see the person in charge, he growled that the chief was not to be disturbed. That would normally be Colonel Karg and interrupting him was bad enough, the soldier thought, but the big boss had just turned up and disrupted everything. Like most Defence Force soldiers, he had no liking for those who wore the black uniform of Imperial Intelligence – respect, yes… even fear, not that he'd admit it. Having the security captain on site was nerve-wracking and from the look of things, he'd be staying a few days. No, he decided, he wasn't going to disturb the boss, just to please some Terragnan woman.
Chrissie however was not willing to be fobbed off. Inside, she was scared silly, but she hid it as best she could. Not only did the safety of her children depend on this, but potentially, so did the chance to rid her world of these invaders once and for all. In allowing her to come here and ask the Klingons for help, both Kirk and Sarah were taking a massive risk and she was determined to be worthy of their trust.
Klingons appreciated strength, Chrissie had learned. There were no meaningless social niceties in their conversation, no 'please' or 'thank you'. There was no 'hello, how are you? I'm fine thanks, how are you?' Just a straightforward 'What do you want?' That was something Chrissie could respect. People asked the question but didn't want an honest answer, didn't want to hear the 'Well actually, it's been a really bad day and…' The only acceptable reply was 'Fine, thanks.' So, what was the point? No, the Klingon way of doing things had at least some validity and right now, she could work with it.
Chrissie frowned at the guard's refusal. Strength, she reminded herself. Show no weakness. "I need to see the person in charge," she insisted, doing her best to project confidence and authority and hoping her voice did not betray the nervousness she really felt. "If he is not available then I will wait here until he is."
The guard was surprised when the woman insisted; it was his experience that Terragnanpu were weak and easily intimidated. Finally he snarled at her to wait and went through a door into the chief's office. Whatever the chief said to him, when he came back, his tone seemed a little politer. "The security captain will see you now." And he pointed the way towards the office door.
Krang's office, London Headquarters, 1994
London had never been one of Krang's favourite cities and certainly not at this time of year. It was a cold, grey, depressing place with heavy pollution, uninspiring architecture and an antiquated transport system and he tried to spend as little time there as possible.
He had not been scheduled to visit London for at least another week but, not completely satisfied with his second in command's reports, he'd decided to carry out a full inspection. Karg was in his opinion, heavy handed and overly brutal in his dealings with the conquered population. While that was a technique that worked on some subject worlds, with the Terrans it seemed to inspire rather than prevent rebellion. The Terrans were not behaving in the way that most conquered populations did and Krang suspected they would never stop fighting. If this planet were to become a productive, useful member of the Klingon Empire, a more subtle approach was needed.
The thought made him sigh. He had more than once wondered why he had been chosen for this mission. He was an intelligence officer, not a planetary governor or some ham-fisted Defence Force butcher. It was no doubt, that need for a subtle approach that had led to his being assigned here. Whatever the reason, he was fed up. He'd had enough of Earth and just wanted to go home. The two years that he had agreed to were almost up. Just four more months, he told himself and then he could return to Qo'noS, go back to his real work and Earth would be someone else's problem. As far as he was concerned, those four months could not pass quickly enough.
While he was here in London, Krang decided as he settled down to get some work done, he might as well deal with the prisoners who had been arrested after the incident at the hospital. Karg was a competent officer and knew how to do his job, but in this case, he'd over-stepped himself. Having the entire medical team on the ward arrested and interrogated was in Krang's professional opinion, going too far. Admittedly, the interrogators had got good results with one of the nurses quickly confessing. Oddly, the woman appeared to have acted of her own volition and consistently denied having any contact with the resistance. The doctor in charge and the rest of the medical team had been proven to be completely innocent. Enemy or not, they had in fact fought hard to save the lives of their patients. At some point in the next few days, Krang would need to talk to the prisoners and decide what to do with them. The woman would have to be executed. Three Klingons were dead because of her actions, two soldiers and one officer, but he saw no reason why the rest of them could not be eventually released.
For no good reason - other than his own instincts - Krang was beginning to distrust his deputy. Imperial Intelligence had never allowed promotion via assassination – there was too big a risk of vital knowledge being lost – but Krang reminded himself that the Defence Force had no such limitation and Karg was ambitious. Somehow, he did not think that when the time came, Karg would challenge him openly, face to face, blade against blade. That was not his style. No, it would be a knife in the back, or maybe a convenient accident. Krang growled at the thought. There was no honour in advancing in such a way. Well, he would be on his guard and if… when… Karg made a move, he would not live long enough to regret it.
All these things were weighing on Krang's mind, leaving the security captain in a bad mood and when the bekk came barging into his office without even bothering to knock first, his already uncertain temper frayed. With a sharp reprimand and a warning to watch his attitude, he instructed the unfortunate bekk to admit the Terran woman and then sent him back to his duties.