The Rings of Tautee (21 page)

Between the four ships, we managed to rescue over two thousand survivors. Most of those beamed up to the Enterprise were wounded. Several more were injured in the impact with the final subspace wave. It should be noted that Dr. Leonard McCoy and his staff have done an outstanding job over the last forty-eight hours.

Working in primitive conditions, with limited resources, McCoy and his team saved almost every life in their care. I recommend that a special commendation be attached to McCoy's file.

Prescott, the leader of one group of Tauteean survivors, was instrumental in helping us close the rift in space. She and the remaining Tautee survivors 234 THE RINGS OF TAUTEE will be treated on Starbase 11 and then will be sent with supplies and Eederation personnel to settle a new world. I expect in a few hundred years the Tauteeans will be full and proud members of the Federation.

"Captain." Uhura's voice broke through Kirk's concentration on his log. He punched the Off button and turned to her.

She sat in her usual position, hand to her ear, legs tucked behind her chair. Her eyes were wide, as if the message had startled her. "KerDaq is hailing you."

"Put it on screen," Kirk said. He swiveled his chair so that he faced the screen directly.

KerDaq sat in his own command chair, arms crossed, steel bracelets glinting in the odd green light. "Kirk, I see you have found a way to survive yet again."

Kirk laughed. "I do my best." Then he let the smile ease off his face. He had to handle this next carefully. But he had to say it, even if he did not know the Klingon way. "I am glad that you returned to help us. Thank you."

KerDaq spit in disgust on the floor. "You saved my crew when the subspace wave destroyed our ship. I did not return out of kindness. I owed you, Kirk. Now the debt is paid." He smiled "Besides, I would not give you the honor of dying to save thousands. Only a Klingon deserves such honor."

"Understood," Kirk said, smiling.

KerDaq smiled, too.

Dean Wesiey Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch Prescott stepped forward beside Kirk and looked up for permission to speak. He glanced at her and nodded.

"KerDaq," Prescott said, "my people thank you, too."

KerDaq leaned forward until his face filled the screen. "You are sentimental fools. You will fit well with the Federation. It too is full of sentimental fools."

Then the screen went dark.

"He cut off communication, sir," Uhura said.

"I gathered that, Lieutenant."

The screen flickered back to life to show the two Klingon cruisers turning and jumping to warp.

"What did I say wrong?" Prescott said.

"I hope I didn't[*thorn]" Kirk laughed and touched her thin, frail shoulder.

"You did nothing wrong. It was just the Klingon way of saying, "You're welcome."" Prescott shook her head. "This is a strange universe we live in. It will take some getting used to it."

"Yes," Kirk said, dropping down into his chair. "Yes, it will."

Epilogue THE CARGO HOLD would never be the same for McCoy and he half wished he'd never have to return to it. The Tauteean survivors had been off the Enterprise now for three days and the ship had been undergoing repairs at Starbase Eleven. And he had been spending most of the last three days working on the Starbase with the medical staff, tending to what seemed to be thousands of wounded survivors. He hadn't realised he could be so tired and still move. Somehow his body wasn't quite ready to rest yet.

As he approached the cargo bay he could hear laughing. The last time he'd been in this corridor it had been littered with the injured survivors. He tried to force that picture out of his mind, but didn't have much luck.

That picture would be with him for a long, long time.

Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch The door to the cargo bay were locked open in front of him and he stepped inside. Since the survivors had left, the bay had been cleaned and he couldn't even tell it had been used for a huge sickbay just a few short days before. There was no blood and no smell of rotting flesh.

No injured bodies.

No ruined legs.

No gangrene.

The cargo bay as it had been before McCoy had even heard of Tautee.

A large monitor was in place between two huge machines again and an ensign wore the helmet.

Scatty had his projectors working again. And it looked as if, even with all the time spent getting the Enterprise back in shape, he'd also managed to find the time to get his projectors working right. How that man did it, McCoy would never know.

"Come in, Doctor," Kirk yelled from across the bay, smiling and motioning for McCoy to join the party.

"We're celebrating a mission wellcompleted."

"Actually, Captain," Spock said from a position halfway between Kirk and McCoy, "there are still many items of business that must be attended to."

Kirk waved Spock's statement away.

"Mister Spock, there must always be a point where a mission is declared finished."

Spock frowned, obviously from the illogic of Kirk's statement and McCoy found his spirits suddenly starting to lift. Anything that would annoy Mister Spock and break through that stone-like exterior was fine by him.

THE RINGS OF TAUTEE About twenty people filled the area where the cargo deck left off end Scotty's huge machines took up. Sulu and Chekov were laughing about something with two women ensigns from the starbase. Scatty was complaining about a table someone had set too close to one of his machines. On the table sat a large cake and a vast supply of wine. Someone had spared no expense for this party, that was for sure.

Kirk was standing near the table. He laughed at Spock's reaction, then turned back to a discussion he had obviously been having with Captain Bogle of the Farragut. McCoy was amazed Bogle was even speaking to Kirk after Kirk dumped all those extra survivors on him. Kirk and Bogle had exchanged harsh words about gambling with lives and being too caught up in rules. But Admiral Hoffman had pointed out that both sides were important.

And had to work together.

Then she had settled it all by siding with Kirk on the Prime Directive issue, but giving Bogle a commendation for staying within Starfleet guidelines.

So both men shook hands, buried the hatchet and participated in all other cliches. Then they had played an all-night game of poker, with Kirk bluffing and Bogle playing strictly by the rules.

Then, from what McCoy understood, Bogle had gone in the next day and asked to be assigned to the vacant seat on Starileet's Plans and Policy commission. If his transfer was accepted, McCoy knew Bogle would work hard to tighten up the Prime 239 Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch Directive. In fact, McCoy bet that after this incident, it would be Bogle's main focus.

Who knew how tight the rule would be in eighty or so years.

But, for the moment, Kirk and Bogle seemed to be friends again. As much as those two very different men could be friends.

McCoy had heard all of this while he had been working with the survivors. If he never saw an infected wound again he would be extremely happy.

He was glad that the starbaseshad more medical personnel than a starship, or else he would never have gotten any sleep.

But the most important thing was that the Tauteean race survived with enough people to start over on a new planet.

McCoy took a drink offered by the science officer of the Farragut, Mister Lee.

"Mister Spock," Scotty said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "How would you like to be the very first to try my new course?"

"Golf is not a logical game, Mister Scott," Spock said.

"It is if you're from Scotland, laddy," Scott said and everyone laughed.

For a moment the buzz of conversation filled the cargo deck. McCoy moved over to where Chief Engineer Scott stood beside one of his machines like a father watching over a young child.

"Doctor," Scotty said. "What do ya think now?" He waved his hand at the beautiful green showing on the monitor. There were even a few white clouds floating in the deep blue sky.

THE RINGS OF TAUTEE "Wonderful," McCoy said, really meaning it.

"But how'd you get it to work?"

Scotty pointed to a brown-haired man standing twenty feet away beside the other projector. "Mister Projeff Ellis, the chief engineer of the Farragut, helped me. With him on one machine and me on the other, we got the lassies to finally balance. And ya know, he agrees that someday this might be possible without a helmet."

"Great," McCoy said, staring at the monitor full of an expanse of green grass and trees and blue sky. Maybe Scotty had a point. Maybe this new invention would be good to have around.

As long as people didn't take it too seriously.

"And you know, Doctor," Scott went on.

"Projeff loves golf as much as I do.

Says he plays every time he gets a chance. He must have Scotsman in his blood."

"That he must, Scotty," McCoy said.

"All right, everyone," Kirk's voice drowned out the background buzz of talking and laughing. "It's time for a toast." He held up his glass and waited until everyone found one and was quiet.

Lieutenant Uhura handed McCoy a fresh glass of wine and McCoy held it aloft, waiting for the toast.

"To Captain Bogle and his fine crew," Kirk said, his voice ringing through the room. "To my wonderful crew. To the Klingons for helping. And most of all to the Tauteean survivors. May they flourish in their new home."

With that he and Captain Bogle touched glasses and drank.

Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch "Hear! Hear!" the crowd shouted, raising their glasses together in toast.

With that sip of smooth-tasting wine, McCoy could feel the ghosts of the injured and dead survivors being pushed back into the past where they belonged. He could feel his body relaxing and the exhaustion creeping up. Billions of lives had been lost in the Tautee system, but somehow, he found a sense of fulfillment in the fact that the Enterprise, the Farragut, and the Klingon ships had saved enough lives for the Tautee race to continue. He felt good that he was a part of such a rescue.

But it was now time to do as Scotty had done with the cargo bay. McCoy had to clear the decks and move on. Besides, he had a medical experiment he needed to finish. Right after he took a very long nap.

McCoy glanced out over at the golf course on the monitor between the machines. What a peaceful place it seemed. He felt as if he wanted to just walk out there and keep walking. Maybe, when he took his next leave, he'd play a round of golf.

"Now," Kirk said, his voice carrying over the talking. "I expect this party to last all night."

Spock gave the captain a sour look and McCoy laughed. The longer it lasted, the better.

That sounded perfect. Even Spock's doleful expression was perfect.

Especially Spock's doleful expression.

McCoy grinned. This was the best party he could remember attending in a long, long time.