USS Enterprise, NCC-1701

Saturday 5th February 1994

It could have been worse. That was what Captain Kirk told his senior staff when they asked how the meeting had gone. He would be the first to admit that they had been lucky – they'd got out of it not only alive and in one piece, but with what they wanted. Kirk could still not quite believe that the Klingon governor had agreed so easily, especially after Sarah's appalling rudeness and unprofessional behaviour.

Actually, in many ways, it had been interesting. He'd never thought there would come a day where he'd be sitting having dinner with a Klingon, eating their food and having a civilised conversation. At Chrissie's recommendation, he'd tried the brown, seaweed-like gladst and found it to have quite a pleasant flavour. The gagh on the other hand, had been disgusting, and when he'd realised that he was going to have to bite into it rather than quickly swallowing it whole, he'd almost spat it out. At least, he supposed wryly, the Klingon had warned him instead of letting him find out the hard way. Bones would not have been impressed if he'd come back with intestinal parasites.

Yes, it could have been worse. It could also have been better. Kirk's thoughts turned to Sarah. He'd been very unimpressed by her behaviour on the ground and after spending much of the night thinking about what to do, had reluctantly come to the conclusion that he needed to give her a severe dressing down. The decision made, he activated the comm. system and summoned her to his office.

Within minutes she was standing in front of his desk. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Your conduct at the restaurant last night, Sarah, was unacceptable." Kirk began, trying not to be annoyed by the smug, self-satisfied expression on her face. Did she really think he'd called her here to congratulate her on a job well done? "What the hell were you playing at?"

"I was doing my job," she said defensively, shocked by his obvious anger. "And I did it pretty well considering the circumstances."

"Deliberately insulting our hosts and almost getting us killed is your idea of doing a good job?" Kirk asked with biting sarcasm. "There is not a man out there, human, Klingon or any other species for that matter, who is going to sit there calmly while you call his loved one a whore."

"Love?" Sarah scoffed. "Seriously? He's a murdering Klingon and besides, he barely knows her. He's only been sleeping with her for a couple of weeks. It's hardly love!"

"If he were the murderer you accuse him of being," Kirk snapped, shaking his head in disgust, "every name on that list would be dead now."

Anger flared in Sarah's eyes. The Klingons killed my husband. They killed hers as well, but she doesn't seem to care about that. She's supposed to be my friend but she went over to the enemy for what? Money? Sex? There's no excuse for what she's done."

"I don't know what her reasons are," Kirk admitted, "and nor do you. That's my point. But friendship is a two-way thing. What sort of friend are you when you condemn her without ever stopping to listen to anything she has to say?"

There was a time he might have agreed with her assessment, and he could not quite believe he was defending the Klingon, but Krang had not been anything like he'd expected. If anything, the man had been intelligent, thoughtful, willing to listen… and very obviously deeply in love with the human woman sitting by his side. "Must I also point out…" he continued, ruthlessly shutting her down when she tried to speak, "… that it is thanks to Chrissie that he is even talking to us, let alone agreeing to this withdrawal? Do you really think he's doing it because you demanded it?"

She shrugged sulkily. "I got us what we wanted."

"Chrissie got us what we wanted," Kirk corrected, starting to get angry at her recalcitrance. "Your bad attitude put this ship and my entire crew at risk. I suggest you think very carefully about what you want in the future. I will not have someone on my crew who cannot be trusted to put the mission before their personal feelings and nor will any other captain. If you were serious about wanting to go with Enterprise, then you should think very carefully about your priorities."

"My priority was, and still is, to free Earth," she said coldly. "That is the only thing that matters."

Kirk shook his head. He was not seeing even the slightest sign of repentance He wasn't getting through to her and it was putting him in a difficult position. Starfleet had strict standing orders in place that as a result of any mission or situation involving time travel, whether deliberate or inadvertent, nobody with knowledge of the future was to be left behind. That left Kirk with two choices – either to bring Sarah into the future or, if it proved necessary to leave her in her own time, to wipe her memory. Sarah had previously indicated that she very much wanted to go into space and maybe join Starfleet one day but unless she changed her tune, he did not feel able to sign off on the recommendation. Bones had suggested that she might be suffering from PTSD and that she was in need of extensive psychiatric support. Kirk had known enough combat veterans and trauma victims to think that Bones was right.

He had a similar dilemma with regard to David although Kirk suspected that given the choice, the surgeon would decide to remain in twentieth century London. That did not, Kirk thought, bode well for the couple's relationship. As for Chrissie, she was under the protection of the Klingons and hence her fate was out of his control.

His musings were disturbed by a chirp from the comm. system. "Kirk here."

"Captain, we have received a transmission from the Vesaya." The voice was Uhura's. "Shall I put it through or will you take it on the bridge?"

"One moment, Uhura." Putting her on hold, he turned his attention back to Sarah. "I suggest that you return to your quarters and think seriously about what I have said. Dismissed."

Kirk watched as she retreated and as the door slid shut behind her, he had the distinct impression she would have liked to slam it. He sighed and then re-opened the channel to the bridge. "Put it through now, would you Uhura?"

"Message is audio only," Uhura's voice said crisply. "Transmitting now."

Klingon Headquarters, London

Saturday 5th February 1994

Exhaling heavily, Krang picked up a padd, keyed up the required data and handed it to Koreth. "These are my orders. I believe your instructions are to offer me your full cooperation."

Warily, Koreth accepted the padd and began to read it. "Is this a joke?" he said after a moment. "Because if it is, then it's not funny."

"No, Koreth. It's no joke. I wish it were." Just for a moment, Krang's voice sounded tired and defeated. "Those are the orders I received from the High Council a few days ago."

Koreth's eyes went from the padd to Krang and back again, not quite believing what he was reading. He read it again but the text remained stubbornly unchanged. "This is…" he stopped and started again. "Do you intend to carry out these orders?"

"What do you think?" Krang turned the question back on the brigadier. "More to the point, what will you do about it? If I say yes, what will you do? Are you going to assist me in the execution…" and he gave that word a bitter emphasis "… of my orders?"? And if I refuse, will you challenge me and then carry them out yourself?"

Koreth was silent. He was a professional soldier; he'd killed many times, almost always in battle (or at least in a fair fight or duel), although he'd been called on more than once to carry out executions. But not like this. What Krang was talking about was nothing more than wholesale murder. The choice Krang had just given him, the choice that Krang himself was facing, was no choice at all… carry out dishonourable orders or declare himself a traitor, and the presence of James T. Kirk in the restaurant last night told him what decision Krang had made.

Coming to a decision of his own, Koreth touched the screen of the padd, logging into his own account and pulling up his messages. Swiftly scrolling through them, he found the one he wanted and opened it, before handing the padd back to Krang. "I already told you that my orders are to assist you in every way possible. Karg's instructions – and you should note that they come from the same source as my own – were very different. I think you should read them."

Accepting the padd that Koreth was returning to him, Krang did so. The words on the screen leapt out, stark and uncompromising, burning themselves into his mind.

…to assassinate the security captain and take control of the planet…

On one level, Krang was shocked speechless by them. On another level, though, he found that while he was angry, he was not actually surprised. Selfish ambition, corruption and back-stabbing were common in the High Council. That someone was attempting to use him for their own gain was not completely unexpected even if it was unwelcome. "These orders," the security captain said slowly, "are addressed to Karg as the 'Senior Defence Force Officer present on the planet.' They now apply to you."

Koreth gave a curt nod. "I am aware of that. And before you ask, had I intended to obey them, I would have done so by now."

"The same is true of my orders," Krang said grimly. "None of this makes sense. We are being manipulated, played for fools. Koreth, there is something going on here and it stinks."

Koreth could only agree with that assessment. He remembered also, Marla's lecture on time travel in which she had explained all too clearly why it was not a good idea. Slowly, things began to resolve themselves in his mind. "It was James T. Kirk last night, wasn't it?"

This time Krang did not deny it. "Yes."

Koreth continued to work things out in his mind. "And I suppose then, that the Enterprise is hiding somewhere nearby. That would explain the phaser residue found at the prison."

At Krang's nod, he continued, "And you don't want to carry out your orders, so you're talking to them… looking for a solution from outside." He remembered a tiny fragment of conversation he'd heard the previous night, which at the time had not made any sense to him. Just two words, hissed by that human woman who was supposedly Chrissie's best friend. "Leave Earth. That's what she said. What in Gre'thor are you thinking, Krang? Tell me I am wrong. You can't seriously be expecting to get away with that?"

Padd still in one hand, Krang's free hand had instinctively dropped to the handle of his knife, ready to defend himself. He could not blame Koreth for the challenge he knew was coming, but nor could he allow himself to be defeated. This mission could not… must not… fail. "No, you're not wrong," he admitted. "As for getting away with it…" He shrugged. "I do what I must. And you… I have admitted to treason and it is your clear duty to challenge me now."

On the other side of the desk, Koreth stood in a very similar pose, hand on knife in readiness to fight. He knew his duty, knew what was expected of him. It was the impossible choice, the no-win scenario as the Starfleeters called it. The Kobayashi Maru. He knew of their little test, but this was real life, not a game or a simulation and more lives than just his own depended on his decisions here today. Slowly but inexorably, the conflict in Koreth's heart began to resolve itself into cold certainty. It was not only the followers of Kahless who believed in honour and where his orders conflicted with that honour, he could do nothing else but follow the dictates of his conscience.

There was, he realised, no decision to be made. Taking a deep breath he released it heavily, at the same time allowing his hand to fall away from his knife.

"It's not you that needs challenging," Koreth growled. Moving round the desk, he pulled up a chair and settled himself on it. "It's just a shame that those responsible for this travesty will never pay for it. Now… what needs doing?" At Krang's surprised look, he grinned. "Not to belabour a point but I did say several times that my orders were to assist you.

Pleased by the unexpected outcome, and at the same time wondering what he had done to deserve the support of one of the finest and most honourable men he'd met in a long time, Krang shook himself and settled into his own chair. "Then you had better obey them," he said dryly.

His heart surprisingly light now that the matter was settled, Koreth laughed. "Well, let's get on with it then. If we are to pull off whatever you have planned, then we have work to do."

The usual big thank you to Solasnagreine, JDC0 and RobertBruceScott. JDC0 has just released a brilliant story by the way, I strongly suggest you go and read it.