Chapter Twenty-two
Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott leaned forward in the command chair on the bridge of the USS Enterprise, the better to interpret the information being relayed to him from Communications officer, Lieutenant Uhura.
"Are ye tellin' me you have a direct communication from Admiral Benjamin Caton aboard the Klingon ship, lassie?"
"Affirmative, Mister Scott." Uhura answered, slightly irritated by the Chief Engineer's mode of address. He was possibly the only person on the ship who could get away with addressing her in such a fashion, but even so, the bridge was no place for informality. Uhura was a senior officer.
Mr Scott leaned back in his chair, impervious to Uhura's sarcasm. "Put him on the viewscreen." He said. Encountering the battlecruiser on their approach to Skara had not been entirely unexpected, after their last visit to the planet. It always paid to be prepared for the unexpected. Still, the presence of a Federation Admiral aboard a Klingon ship was cause for alarm. And Admiral Ben Caton was no ordinary Starfleet dignitary; he was about as senior as it was possible to get.
Wavering lines on the viewscreen preceded the Admiral's face and shoulders swimming into view, and tested Scotty's nerves.
"Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott in temporary command of the USS Enterprise. Admiral, may I ask if you are alright?"
"Quite alright, Mr Scott. I am being treated well by my Klingon hosts, but my presence here is, as I'm sure you have already surmised, not voluntary. The view shifted momentarily to show Caton's hands, bound before him, and the Klingon commander, Kaathos levelling a disruptor at his chest. It was a sight that had Scotty leaning forward again, in shock, whilst Uhura swivelled round in her chair, mouth agape.
"This is outrageous, Admiral. What are these Klingon devils holding you for?" At this, the view swept dizzyingly from Caton to Commander Kaathos, none too pleased at Scott's choice of words.
"Mr Scott. Standby to hear our terms." The screen went blank.
"What in the name of…" Scott was out of his seat now, looking to Uhura for an explanation for the communcation breakdown.
"Sir. The Klingons have broken off the communication. I don't understand…Wait…I'm receiving a new transmission." The viewscreen crackled and flickered back on to show Caton, his arm around Kaathos' neck. There was a brief tussle before the Klingon commander dropped to the deck, Caton holding a disruptor to his neck, to deter challengers.
"Mr Scott. Are you receiving this?" Caton yelled. "Lock on to these coordinates – and hurry – I don't have much time."
An astonished Scott contacted the transporter room and barked out the coordinates and within seconds Admiral Caton's form was dissolving before the eyes of the bridge crew as he beamed aboard the Enterprise.
Minutes later, Caton was on the bridge asking for an update on their position. "There's been no response from the Klingon ship." Scott filled him in, "Did you kill commander , Admiral?"
"No, just put him out of action for a bit."
"I don't understand how ye managed to turn a situation like that around. I just don't know how ye managed it. Those Klingons are mighty strong."
"An old trick I learned as an ensign." Caton smiled. "Mr Scott. I understand you are acting captain of this ship but I am now the ranking officer. You are relieved." Scott stared at the Admiral in disbelief. There was no question that Caton outranked him; to oppose his order would be tantamount to insubordination, but it was with great reluctance that he gave up the captain's chair.
"Admiral, I think you owe me an explanation."
"All in good time, Mr Scott. We have a situation to deal with here. Please resume your duties in engineering." Under normal circumstances, Scott would be happy to return to the part of the ship where he felt most at home, but there was something about this whole scenario that did not add up.
"With respect, Admiral. Captain Kirk, Commander Spock and the Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer are down there on Skara. My orders were to rendezvous with them and offer assistance."
"You have your orders, Mr Scott. Or are you questioning my authority?"
"Admiral Caton." Uhura interrupted, "The Klingon commander is attempting to make contact." Scott remained behind Caton's chair. Kaathos' image rippled across the screen.
"Is everything in order?" He asked Caton, to puzzled looks from the Enterprise's bridge crew. Caton flipped a switch on the console on his command chair, "Report from engineering." He said. "Has the deck been secured?" A voice that Scott did not recognise as any member of his staff replied in the affirmative. Next, Caton contacted security and another unfamiliar voice confirmed that all decks had been secured. Caton turned to Scott.
"This ship is now in the control of the Klingon Empire." As he spoke, the doors to the bridge swished open and three armed Klingon soldiers stepped onto the bridge. Instinctively Scott, Uhura, Chekov, Sulu and others present on the bridge, reached to their belts – but of course, they were unarmed.
"Take them to deck five" Caton ordered. Speaking into a communicator on his console, he issued a further order, "Commence round up of the crew. Use whatever force is necessary. Detain them and await further orders."
It had all happened impossibly fast. As they were ushered down the corridors to deck five. Scotty and his companions saw their fellow crew being rounded up by black and gold clad Klingons, brandishing disruptors, but the Klingons were not alone. Assisting them were tall, slender beings with silver skin and long, sleek iridescent hair, a race totally unfamiliar to the Enterprise crew.
"What now, Mr Scott?" Uhura asked after they had been locked down in the brig's most secure holding cell with the other officers.
"I don't know, lass." He looked around. No one knew the ship's schematics better than its Chief Engineer. If there were a way out of there, Scotty would find it.