Demands of Honor (9 page)

Karel entered the training area and was surprised to see it empty, except for Koloth, who was standing in the center of the room. This time of day there should have been at least twenty Klingons perfecting their skills and testing themselves against one another. Something was going on and Karel was immediately alert.

He noted that Koloth was wearing his uniform, not the white
Mok'bara
clothing both he and Karel wore when they trained together. Finally, he saw that his commander was not pleased. Karel stepped toward him, glancing down to see if Koloth was holding a weapon. He was not, but an accomplished warrior did not need a weapon to kill, and Koloth was an accomplished warrior.

“Captain,” Karel said, looking into his commander's eyes. He saw murder there.

With lightning speed, Koloth's hand shot out, the back of it making contact with Karel's face. It was a single blow, not hard enough to injure him. Koloth did not attempt another one.

Still, the insult was there and Karel would have to answer it. “Strike me again and I will kill you,” he said, keeping his voice even.

“Why wait for my blow? That is your intention, to kill me. Though it is early for you to make a challenge. You have been first officer for mere weeks,” Koloth said.

This didn't make any sense, yet he saw the deadly purpose in Koloth's eyes. “I intend no challenge at the moment, honorable or otherwise,” Karel said.

The captain studied Karel, looking at his eyes. Koloth seemed surprised by what he saw there: the truth.

“Then it seems we have a different problem. You have been a good first officer and I owe my life, in part, to you, but I will answer treachery as strongly as a challenge.”

“Treachery? Captain, I do not know what is going on here,” Karel said, not even trying to hide his confusion.

Koloth studied him. “One week ago there was a malfunction in the surveillance system in the computer room when you were alone inside it. Logs outside the room show High Councillor Duras coming and going, yet there is no record of what passed between you. What happened in that room, First Officer Karel?”

“Duras offered to help me make a challenge against you, in return for cooperation with whatever he has planned when we arrive at System 7348.” Karel paused for a moment. “I declined his offer.”

Karel realized he had erred by not telling Koloth about the encounter. But of course, he could not have had that discussion with his captain. There would be no way to hide from Koloth's sharp eyes that Karel knew
more about System 7348 than he could tell his commander. He knew that the Orion mine there had been funded by someone in the High Council.

Koloth saw the conflict on Karel's face. “Why did you not tell me immediately that this had happened?”

Deceit is a twisted path,
Karel thought, recalling Kahless's words. Before Karel could respond, Koloth asked, “Does it have to do with the encoded message you received today? Don't bother to answer, your face responds for you. Now, will you tell
me
what is going on?”

Or will we fight until one of us is dead?
Karel thought. It was an important question, and for a moment Karel was not sure which path to take. Koloth was an honorable commander who was justifiably concerned about the secrets his first officer was keeping from him.

On the other hand, if Karel told Koloth the truth, his quest for revenge for his brother's death as well as his effort to restore whatever honor he could to the empire could end right here. Though Koloth was a follower of Kahless's path to honor, Karel could not expect him to agree with or join him on his mission.

Two followers of Kahless, two practitioners of the
Mok'bara
fighting art. Karel had no doubt they were nearly evenly matched. It would be an interesting battle …

“First Officer Karel, I have a ship to run—or whichever one of us survives this encounter has a ship to run.”

In the end, Karel found his decision was simple. “Captain, there are a number of things I wish to tell you.”

Koloth seemed surprised by Karel's decision and perhaps pleased. “No wish for a command of your own today?”

“Not today,” Karel answered honestly.

“Why?” Koloth asked with interest.

“Because though I may be able to best you in combat, your experience makes you the best possible captain of this ship. And at the moment, the empire needs good, honorable warriors.”

That touched something in Koloth. “Yes, we face dark times. And not all dangers are from without. What do you wish to tell me?”

Karel told his captain about the infiltrator program that had sent his brother on a dishonorable mission. He told Koloth about his brother's decisions to stand with the humans and his final, honorable path to
Sto-Vo-Kor.
When that portion of the tale was told, he watched Koloth carefully for a reaction and found nothing but calm interest on his captain's face. Deciding that he had come this far, he told the rest of the tale and described the empire's involvement in the dilithium mine on System 7348, and its later effort to destroy the mine and the planet. Finally, he described the contents of the message he had received earlier informing him that the same member of the High Council was responsible for both the infiltrator program and the near destruction of an entire world full of people of their own blood.

When the tale was told, Koloth simply nodded. “What do you intend to do about all of this?”

“I intend to kill the bloodless coward responsible for my brother's death.”

“Even if he is a member of the High Council?”

“I will follow my path to vengeance wherever it leads. My brother's spirit demands it.”

Koloth gave Karel a grim smile. “I see that you have
ambitions beyond even command of your own ship.”

“Both the honor and future of the empire require action.”

“True. We have all seen deceit and dishonor at work in Kahless's empire. There is much work to be done to set it right. I will do what I can to help you in your personal battle, but your allegiance to this ship must remain strong. We will be at System 7348 shortly, and I suspect that Duras is leading us into a slime devil's nest. I will need your full attention on this mission.”

“I will do my duty to you and this ship, Captain.”

Koloth nodded. “Then, we will see about saving the empire.”

U.S.S. ENTERPRISE

FEDERATION-KLINGON BORDER

F
ULLER HAD DONE THIS
many times before. No, not just
many.
He had done this exactly twenty-nine times before, and he had sworn he would never do it again.

Michael Fuller entered the security office to meet his new squad. The team he had been training with was all there, with the addition of Ensign Jawer, a young man who had served on Sam's last squad. Acknowledging them with a nod, he said, “You are all here, so I assume that you all received the message from Commander Giotto.” They nodded. “We all know about Lieutenant Parrish's pregnancy—and we had all hoped that she would be with us a bit longer—but a mission has come up. Our team got the call and it will be too dangerous for the lieutenant in her current condition.” Gesturing to
Jawer, he said, “Before I tell you what I know about this mission, I would like to welcome Ensign Jawer to the squad. He has served this ship with distinction, earning him a number of decorations and citations for both bravery and creative thinking.” Turning to Jawer, Fuller said, “We're lucky to have you, Ensign.”

Jawer immediately blushed at the attention.
Damn but they are young,
Fuller thought.

“Now, you all know me from training, and you may know something about my career in Starfleet before I reenlisted. I was a section chief for more than twenty years. I'm telling you that now because I know there can sometimes be resentment in a squad when one member is promoted quickly and assumes command of the team. If any of you have concerns, let's get them out in the open.” Fuller paused, waiting for a response from the people in front of him.

“Sir,” Ensign Parmet said. “We all know who you are, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we are lucky to have you as our commanding officer.” There were nods from most of the others, especially from Jawer.

One face, however, remained skeptical, and Ensign McCalmon stepped forward. “Yes, we all know who you are. No one has any doubts about your experience or your leadership skills—the fact is that you were in Starfleet longer than any of us has been alive. However,
I
am concerned about your age. Again,
you were in Starfleet longer than we have been alive.
I am also concerned about the fact that up until a few weeks ago, you had been out of the service for more than two years. Whatever the mission is, it's obviously dangerous. I, for one, would like to know that you are up to it.” Her tone was even, with the
slightest challenge in it. Fuller knew that Ensign McCalmon was from the Guana province of Earth. She had received high marks in virtually all areas of her training.

Parmet and Jawer seemed mortified. “Sir—” Parmet began, but Fuller silenced him with a wave.

“It's a fair question. And we have to settle any issues quickly because we will be leaving in a few hours. By way of an answer, I will release my recertification and fitness scores to you. Will that satisfy you, Ensign?”

She gave him a thin smile. “Well, I haven't seen the scores yet.”

“Fair enough. In the meantime, I can't tell you much about our mission, but I can tell you this much right now: it's a rescue operation of Federation citizens held prisoner in Klingon space.”

There was a collective gasp from the group. “We're really going into Klingon space?”

“Yes, a small group of civilians are being held captive by Klingon cargo haulers. Our job is to go in and get them out.”

“Is that all, sir?” McCalmon asked wryly.

“That's all for today,” Fuller replied. He could see the questions on their faces and held up his hand. “And that's all I can tell you for now, but I wanted you to know that much to prepare yourselves mentally for what we're going to have to do. We'll be leaving soon, but we're still working out the particulars of the mission.”

The group nodded and seemed satisfied with his explanation, which was something. It was even true, to a point. They
were
leaving in a few hours and there
were
still details to work out. The problem was that
all
the details still had to be worked out. They didn't even
have the beginning of a plan to accomplish the mission.

Fuller had an idea, but he didn't think the captain was going to like it. No, correction, he knew that Captain Kirk was going to hate it.

“I'm going to meet with the captain and Commander Giotto now. I will see you all in the mission briefing in thirty minutes. Dismissed,” Fuller said, and the squad headed for the door. As they left, he watched their faces. They were nervous. Hell, they would be fools if they weren't—but they were looking at him with confidence, especially Parmet and Jawer. But instead of buoying Fuller, those looks cut at him.

They would be depending on him to get them through, but the odds on this sort of mission were damned high. The chances were excellent that they wouldn't all make it back, even if they succeeded in their primary objective.

Of course, first things first. Right now, he had a plan to sell to the captain.

When the captain entered the briefing room with Spock, McCoy, Giotto, and Scott, Fuller was already there. They sat quickly, and Kirk turned to Giotto and said, “Does security have a proposal?”

“Yes, sir. It's Mister Fuller's. I'll let him explain it,” Giotto said, gesturing to Fuller, who immediately stood.

“The first and most important suggestion is that my team take care of this situation, without having the
Enterprise
cross the Klingon-Federation border.”

“What?” the doctor said, expressing the surprise that registered on all the faces but Spock's.

“For a number of reasons, including the very serious
possibility that this may be a trap designed to catch the
Enterprise
or another starship on the Klingon side of the border.” Fuller waited for a moment for that to sink in. Of course, everyone at the table knew that the Klingons had set a trap twenty-five years ago at Donatu V. They had destroyed Fuller's ship, and only through courage, ingenuity, and a series of devised miracles was Fuller even standing in this room.

“It is a real possibility,” Giotto said.

“You're proposing to complete this mission with a shuttle?” Kirk said. The idea made the captain uneasy. The book said that the smart thing to do would be to use the
Enterprise
's overwhelming firepower to disable the cargo ship and then board with a small team. The team would still face significant dangers on the Klingon ship, but that course would at least ensure that they reached the target.

“It does increase the risk to our squad, but seriously minimizes the risk to the ship,” Fuller said.

“Tell me what you have in mind, Michael,” the captain said, knowing that he would not like the answer.

“I propose we outfit a shuttle with external phaser banks.” Fuller saw nods from the men there. Shuttles didn't normally carry weapons, but phasers were a relatively simple retrofit.

“Will shuttle-based phasers be enough to disable the Klingon freighter?” Kirk said.

“Hard to say for sure.” Then Fuller leaned down near Spock's station and hit a button. Immediately the image of a Klingon merchant vessel appeared on the briefing-room viewscreen. “We don't know the exact model of the ship we will be facing, but this is one of the most
common types known to operate in that sector of space. Generally speaking, Klingon haulers are much more heavily armed and shielded than analogous Federation vessels.”