Kirk turned the small obelisk over in his hand. He, Spock, Giotto, and Thompson were in a shuttlecraft, following an improvised telepathic map sent from a bird to Spock, looking for the missing project director.
"So, this is writing from the hand of Surak?" Kirk handed the piece back to Spock, who wrapped it in a cloth and laid it in a box, closimg the lid.
"Seven versions were known to exist, outside of the Kir'Shara recovered by Captain Archer and T'Pau fifteen point eight years ago. This one is older than the Kir'Shara. It is not as elaborate. A mate to this one was discovered recently in a state collection on Romulas. It is possible, though improbable, Jasso does not realize the importance of this particular piece, but pre-Reform artifacts have been traced in the black market, with the sales proceeds eventually landing in the coffeurs of several highly placed diplomats and politicians from within the Federation and outside. It is a widespread conspiracy. And the scope of the participants is not yet known. I cannot tell you more, except to say Vulcan takes this very seriously, it is a matter of peace and safety for our people, and others."
Thompson let out a low whistle. "All this time we were looking to bust a drug cartel while apparently an antiquities black narket was thriving right beneath our noses. And Jasso wasn't even on our radar as anything more than a mid level project manager."
Giotto leaned forward. "Are you certain he is even involved? It seems hard to believe he had the ball...the nerve...to risk black market dealing. Those people are nasty, any interaction with them is risky and perilious. My impression of Jasso is that of a coward. Quick to bluster and then back down."
"At this point, the evidence is circumstantial," Spock answered. "He has withheld information, is not where he should be, and had possession of a priceless artifact of known pedigree. Piasa/Third Son thought of Jasso as a Dark Salortog, and stated plainly that he was hiding activity at our destination site. Although we have yet to ascertain what role he may have taken in the pirating of these items, I trust the bird's assessment of his character. Jasso must have a partner who makes contact with the both buyers and transporters, assuming he does not handle every aspect himself."
"And," Kirk added, "cowards can play a mean game when they decide the reward outweighs the risk. My guess is Jasso was tired of being a low man, was presented with an opportunity, and made a grab. I doubt he's the master-mind behind it. I think his partner tried to poison him, to keep him silent or take all the profit for himself."
"Whatever he is doing, we will arrive in two point four minutes." said Spock, as he turned his chair to the pilot's position and prepared to land.
O o O o
They exited the shuttle just out of sight of the entrance to a natural cave. A rock overhang shielded the site from eyes above. Jasso's flyer sat directly in front of the narrow opening. Giotto looked inside, the flyer was empty, the doors locked. They entered the cave with drawn phasers, advancing through the opening in single file. The space widened at about a hundred feet into the cave. Around a turn ahead, there was a faint trace of light from artificial illumination. Giotto and Thompson flanked the opening, entering cautiously.
The room was a little wider, lit by bare bulbs, lined with boxes of items, some wrapped in cloth, others in the open. In the back were several large shipping containers. The area was deserted. There was a narrow fissure where the cave continued its depths. Giotto shined a beam into the darkness, but the opening was too small for any of them to get through.
Spock lifted an object from a random box, inspecting it carefully before returning it, then picked up another.
"Do you recognize them?" Kirk asked. "Are they Vulcan?"
Spock shook his head. "No. Captain. The motif is unfamiliar to me." He reached for another. "This one I believe to be very early Tellarite. There are only a few examples in existance. The Tellarites destroyed many of their historical artifacts themselves eons ago."
"There could be things here from anywhere." Kirk looked around at the many boxes, awed by the possibilities.
"Captain!" called Giotto. "It's Jasso. I think he's dead."
Jasso was inside a shipping container. They pulled him out onto the cave floor. His body was still warm. Spock scanned him with his tricorder.
"He is dead," Spock confirmed. "He was choked, his trachea crushed." He pointed to the marks around Jasso's neck.
"The murderer has to be here. He could not have gotten by without being seen. There are only two ways out." Kirk's eyes darted to the fissure.
Thompson thrust his arm and shoulder through the narrow hole, but could not squeeze in. "Maybe a child could get through," he said.
"No child did that," Kirk said.
"The flyer key is not on Jasso's person." Spock was still kneeling beside the body. "But I am reading traces of an unknown substance. I am preparing a comparitive anylsis now."
"Let's go." Kirk jerked his head toward the exit. They began to file out, Spock bringing up the rear.
Spock's tricorder beeped as they reached the midpoint of the narrow passage leading to the outside. He glanced down at the readout, and reacted immediately.
"Run!" he shouted. "Get out of here, there may be explosives ready to detonate."
They sprinted the last remaining feet to the outside. All four cleared the entrance and were moving toward the shuttle when they were brought up short by a sibilant hiss. A slight blue figure stood atop the opposite rock face. It was Kelan. He had a disruptor trained on them. Jasso's flyer had been moved in readiness for takeoff.
"You seem to be in a hurry, Kirk."
Kirk took a step toward the Andorian.
"We thought it might be time to go."
"I wouldn't hear of it."
"We have your partner in custody, along with the others. You cannot escape. There's nowhere for you to go."
"My partner?" Kelan laughed. "Vartheb is an imbecile. He was only interested in that drug. He thought he could control a planets population if he had a stronger derivative. That was his addiction leading him, destroying his brain, bending his ambition."
"The antiquities, that is what you were after all along. How did you know they were here?"
Kirk had no reason to think Kelan would answer, but he was surprisingly forthcoming.
"I was part of the Andorian mission that re-discovered this planet. The trove that is here was easy enough to forget to add to the list. I knew Jasso from an earlier job, years ago. He was responsive until the new assistant arrived. He was becoming a problem. I returned here to eliminate that problem."
"So you and Vartheb killed the real scientists and stole their identities?"
Kelan's antennae quivered with irritation. "I am the real Kelan. Vartheb is a fake."
"The Vulcans found two dead Andorians."
Kelan waved a hand. "It is no matter, the second was an unfortunate aide who would not be missed." His antenna drooped. "My mistake was working with the imposter Vartheb. I had not taken into consideration his addiction and the role it would play. He kidnapped McCoy, thus insuring the Enterprise would get involved. Jasso was frightened of both Starfleet and McCoy. When your doctor was taken, he thought it was over."
Kelan's antennae stood straight as he took a deep breath. "Enough of talk," he said. I have places to be, and so do you. Your group must have a tragic accident, an unfortunate cave-in."
"I think not." Spock said firmly. He held up in his hand a small device. "I found your receiver. I believe it is too far away to set off an explosion."
"What?" Kelan snarled, his face dark with rage. "Impossible! Return it now." He swung the rifle toward Kirk.
Thompson shouted, pointing into the sky. "Look, the birds are coming!"
Everything happened at once. Kelan swung his head upward, Giotto pushed Kirk to the ground, covering him, and Spock fired his phaser at Kelan. The Andorian went down, then the explosion detonated. A huge whump seemed to steal their air, and debris came flying out through the cave opening. Kelan was standing directly across. He was pummeled by rocks and dirt, and the overhang partially collapsed, sending him to the ground. When it stopped, only dust was coming from the fissure. They could see the disruptor laying a few feet from Kelan's hand. Most of his body was covered in rock.
The explosion had thrown Spock to the ground. He assessed his condition, he was bruised but not significantly injured. He helped Giotto up. Both he and Kirk were bloody from superficial wounds. Kirk had a bleeding gash across his forehead, Giotto a large contusion on his head, already forming a lump. He waved Spock away, and helped Kirk to his feet.
Thompson got up slowly, holding his wrist, but with a fierce expression.
"Is everyone all right?" Kirk wiped at his forehead, wincing a bit. "What happened? Spock, you had the detonater?"
"I did not. I counted on Kelan having the poor eyesight common with his people. I was holding my phaser one. And Agent Thompson made the necessary diversion. I had not counted on the explosion, however. He must have had the detonator in his hand when he fell. It was a risky plan."
Kirk smiled grimly. "But it worked. Let's go see how Kelan fared."
They scrambled over the loose rubble, moving a couple of large rocks off him. Spock took his pulse, looking at Kirk. "He is still alive."
Kelan opened one eye, the other was lost in a shred of flesh that included one antenna. The other was broken. Neither was moving.
"Not for long," he gasped. A frothy bubble appeared at the corner of his mouth. He looked at Spock.
"You lied, of course."
"It was not my intention to kill you."
"Doesn't matter now. Kirk, you win."
"No one wins. All those artifacts are buried. Who were you selling them to? Who benefitted from the money?"
Kelan smiled, then the life disappeared from his eyes and his face grew slack.
Kirk sighed and climbed to his feet slowly. "Let's have a quick look at the damage and get out of here."
The damage was fissure was solidly blocked. When they boarded the shuttle, they saw a sizeable crater where the cave had completely collapsed.
"Buried under tons of rock," Kirk said sadly.
"Five million, nine hundred twenty eight thousand, one hundred four point eight eight metric tons," said Spock. "Assuming the stone weighs an average of one thousand, six hundred two metric tons per cubic meter, and an area of approximately three acre feet."
Thompson stared at Spock, Giotto and Kirk smiled a bit. Kirk sank back in his seat.
"Take us home, Mister Spock."
