Episode #37:

The Klingons

and

The Deep Blue Sea

(Stardate 49378)

By

Jay P. Hailey

And

Dennnis Washburn

Alien cuisine really isn't my thing. I like history, languages and literature from other races, but food? No. I am a picky eater.

General Kalak had his yeoman place a nice full bowl of gahk in front of me. They are sometimes called serpent worms. They are eaten alive. Some Human xenophiles take great pride in enjoying gahk and other disgusting alien dishes. I tried gahk once before when I was younger and it made me want to gag.

"Enjoy." Kalak said. Far from being stingy or greedy with his supplies and wealth, Kalak was often extravagant and generous. It was part of the Klingon mindset. What good was fighting, bleeding and struggling to win these things if you didn't share them with everyone after? He was being sincere.

I wasn't. "Ah. Nice." I picked up a bit of gahk and slurped it down. Then I sternly ordered my stomach to shut up and stand to.

"You are near the end of your journey across the Klingon Empire, Captain Hailey." He said.

"Uh huh." I fought with my stomach.

"There is great danger ahead of us." Kalak grinned.

I had to get up and use the General's rest room. Klingon rest rooms are durable and basic. I could see my green complexion in the shiny metal. When I returned, the gahk was gone. There was some strange meat with a delicious smelling sauce. My nausea disappeared.

"Um, I'm sorry." I said bashfully. I didn't know if I had committed some offense against the General's honor.

"Nothing wrong with fighting a battle and losing. This food should be more to your taste." He said.

"Thank you. What danger lies ahead of us?" I asked.

"The last starbase in Klingon space." Kalak said. "It is owned by a family that is essentially hostile."

"Hostile to what? Humans?"

"Yes. Humans, Gowron, certain concepts of honor." He thought for a few moments. "Everything."

"Hmmm..." I thought. "Will he fire on us? Will we have to fight our way through?"

"If we give him an excuse and he feels he can get away with it, you may count on a battle." Kalak said. Seeing my expression he continued. "Gowron spent a certain amount of what you Humans would call his political capital to arrange our safe passage through House Takon's territory."

"That means he knows that Gowron's backing the Discovery's mission through the Empire." I said unhappily. "Gowron's secret is out."

"It has been for some time. Remind your crew that at Takon's base they will face prejudiced Klingons. They will be spoiling for a fight. Get your leave rotation set up and let me know in advance. I will have crews from my ship and our escorts on leave there at the same time." Kalak said. "We'll try to avoid any fatal mistakes."

"Yes, Sir." I said.

"There are many ships operating out of Takon's base." Kalak said. "Mostly they are the poor houses, the out of favor houses and younger sons who do not stand to inherit great wealth from their house. They all hope to find glorious battles and rich spoils. In this way they can enhance the fortunes of a ruined or mismanaged house, or perhaps even begin a new house of their own."

"That's the Klingon way." I said.

"Indeed. Nevertheless, your starship represents advanced technology and weaponry that any young Klingon could make his fortune with. You are a fat prize. Remember that." Kalak warned.

"We are a fat prize armed with advanced weapons and technology." I said. "I believe we can discourage fortune hunters."

"Perhaps you can, but beware the knife in your back. It may strike before you are ready."

"Yes, Sir." I said. I dug into the delicious smelling food. It was wonderful. I couldn't resist the question. "What is this? It's good!"

"It's Cashew Chicken. Very popular in the Empire." Kalak dug in too.

Then the spices hit me. It was hotter than antimatter. My eyes teared up and I could feel my face flush. "Yummy!" I managed.

-*-

We arrived at the Starbase owned by House Takon. It was a large sturdy ball with various pods and modules sticking out of it. Power systems, weapons and life support would be inside the ball. Cargo, science instruments and anything else deemed secondary would be mounted outside.

The were many Klingon ships at the starbase. They moved singly and in groups. I noticed many K'Vort class battle cruisers and quite a few K't'inga class ships. There were only two Vor'Cha class attack cruisers. One belonged to general Kalak. The other was doubtless the flagship of Takon himself.

I even noticed a couple of ships whose identity beacons proclaimed them members of house Duras. I didn't understand that. House Duras had been destroyed in the Klingon civil war. They were discredited when it was revealed that they fought the war with Romulan backing. Then the Enterprise had blown up the last two heirs to the house over Veridian Three. If there had ever been a lost cause in the Empire, House Duras was about it.

The starbase itself was even farther out into the frontier than the Klingons had been two years ago when I traveled through with the Harrier. They were only ninety light years away from the Zantree Alliance. The Klingons seemed to be launching a large expansion effort into the area.

We slid onto a parking orbit at the starbase. General Kalak's escort covered us. Several of the other Klingon ships took up a position conveniently near our formation.

Along with sizable portions of Kalak's crew a few officers from the Discovery started their shore leave rotations.

Like many others on the Discovery, I wasn't going to visit the Klingon starbase. It seemed like a larger risk than I felt comfortable taking.

Then Takon invited General Kalak and me to a formal dinner. It still seemed like a large risk, except now I didn't have any choice.

-*-

General Takon was a large Klingon. He was not quite as tall as Kalak, but he was wider. A lot of it was fat, but enough of it was muscle to make the Klingon General appear very threatening.

He only sat Kalak and I for the dinner. He served traditional Klingon dishes. I did my best to sample them and keep my stomach under control.

"Has your expansion into this sector been met with resistance?" Kalak asked.

"Not much. A few planets on the edge of space travel were subdued with little problem." Takon said.

"Those must have been worthy battles." Kalak said. Now that I knew him better, I could hear the subtle undertone of derision in his voice. General Kalak thought picking on defenseless targets beneath a Klingon's dignity.

"They died by the hundreds of thousands. You should have heard their wails over real space channels. 'You are you?' They cried. 'We only wish peace!' They didn't last long against real warriors." Takon snickered at his glorious victories.

I felt sick. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the gahk. General Kalak looked sick, too.

"Well, Captain Hailey. You are pretty brave to sail through the Klingon Empire. Tell me why I should let you live." He said it like it was routine dinner conversation.

I opened my mouth to reply but General Kalak beat me to it. "Because I tell you to. Because Gowron tells you to. Because if you do attack the Discovery, then you'll find out what a real battle is all about." Kalak's eyes flashed with the challenge

Takon held the gaze for a long while. "Well, if you're hiding behind Gowron's apron strings, then I suppose I have no choice but to let you pass and bid you good journey."

"I'm glad you're willing to be reasonable." I said.

"Oh, I'm always reasonable, Captain." Takon said sweetly.

"That's very nice to hear." I said.

Takon switched tracks. "I heard your address to Kahless two years ago."

"Really?" I tried to sound blase. I had ad-libbed my way through a meeting with a clone of the greatest Klingon ever. I wasn't happy that other people had seen my speech there.

"Yes. ' The unknown is our enemy.' Well said." Takon was baiting a trap. I could feel it.

"Thank you." I said.

"You are wrong of course." Takon said. "The unknown is not your enemy. We are. The Klingon race will feast upon the bones of yours."

"Perhaps." I said. "Maybe you're wrong."

"Not at all. In fact..." Takon turned and bellowed a summons. "I have all the proof I need right here."

The General's Yeoman brought in an animal. She cowered appropriately for a tame primate. The yeoman handed the General the leash around her neck. He hauled his pet in close and made her sit docilely by the dinner table.

She looked about twelve years old. She might have been a human being at one time. She had blue eyes and matted hair. She was filthy.

"You see? We know how to treat humans around here." General Takon grinned a hearty grin.

The worst part of it was that there was nothing I could to about it. General Takon knew this and was rubbing it in.

The girl tried to sneak a bite of food off the General's plate. He caught her at it and back handed her to the ground. She fell in a heap and whimpered. He gestured and she tried to scramble away tugging at the collar.

"She is like all of your people. She is weak. She knows strength, though." Takon said. "She knows her place."

I could feel my head throb. I stood up.

"Leaving so soon? Could it be something I said?" Sneered Takon.

As I walked out of the room, I could hear General Kalak say "We will speak of this later."

-*-

I recalled the crew of the Discovery off the Klingon starbase. Then I sat by myself in my quarters and cried for a while.

"You did the right thing." Kalak said as we left Takon's chamber. "A fight just now will only serve Takon's purposes."

I didn't feel right. I felt useless and weak.

-*-

I could report to Starfleet Command now. Now that the Anti-Humanist faction among the Klingons knew that I was there, there was no reason to hide. I compressed all log entries and scientific data acquired, and coded them in a high level code. The existence of the human colony inside the Empire as well as a couple of other things that had happened on the trip out were not for outside ears.

Then I added one more log entry:

The I added the most recent logs to the file and triggered the Discovery's communications system.

The Discovery sent the huge file by subspace to the starbase where it would be routed through the empire to The Federation.

As it finished transmitting, yellow alert was declared. "Bridge this is the Captain. What's the reason for the alert?"

Stephanie Anderson, my Chief of Security answered. "Captain, there has been a security breach. We're trying to localize it and track it down."

"I'll be right there." I hurried up to the bridge.

-*-

"Report." Stephanie ordered.

"This is section seven. No contact at airlock twelve. It's been cycled recently, though."

"Damn. Identify who's been through there." Stephanie said.

I said. "Computer list all members of Discovery crew who are not aboard.

"Three Crewmen are not aboard." The Computer informed me. "Lt. Kamaline Darvon Ahk. Lt. Arthur Hendrickson. Communications Technician Edward Brown."

"Where are they?" I asked.

"Lt. Kamaline Darvon Ahk beamed to the Klothos at sixteen hundred hours. Lt. Arthur Hendrickson beamed to the Starbase at sixteen thirty hours. Communications Technician Edward Brown exited airlock twelve at twenty two thirty seven hours."

I looked at the chronometer. That was less than five minutes ago. "Scan the exterior of the Discovery. Notify of any life forms."

The Computer replied "Scanning. Two hundred fifteen life forms noted at five thousand three hundred and seven meters. All Klingon. Two hundred and thirty..."

"Exclude any Klingon ships." I said.

"Excluding Klingon ships and units, no life forms noted exterior to the USS Discovery." The Computer said.

"Damn!" I said. "Get to work on the computer. I want to know what was taken and what might have been left. Hail General Kalak."

Kalak appeared with Kamaline in the picture with him. I told General Kalak of the security breach. When that happy discussion was finished, I got the report on what had been taken.

"Your message and the codes for it." Stephanie said. "Who ever took it now has access to high level Starfleet strategic codes."

"Damn!" I shouted.

-*-

In a couple of hours a body floated by. It was Edward Brown. We recovered his body only to find that he was Klingon surgically altered to appear human. Stephanie was upset, Dr. Burlington was upset and I was especially upset.

I ordered the Discovery to move away from the Klingon Starbase. Then we began heating up the subspace cannon. This was our long-range communications system. We harnessed the entire power of the ship through the navigational deflector. It spit out a beam that could carry data ten thousand light years. We'd report the security breach direct to Starfleet Command. The powerful subspace carrier wave would probably cause interference for several hundred light years, but I wasn't too worried about causing the Klingons problems at that point.

I recorded a second new log entry that detailed the security breach and then sent the file directly by subspace cannon to Starfleet.

I almost wondered what else could go wrong at the Klingon Starbase, but I found that I really didn't want to know.

-*-

"Security Alert!" The call came over the intercom. "Captain to the Bridge! All Security teams get ready for action! This is not a drill!" Then the alert siren went off. I looked for my cat. She was one of a batch of kittens born to the colonists. She was a cute little black and white long hair with big green eyes. I figured that she had me wrapped around her paw, but I didn't figure it would hurt anything. Now I discovered differently.

I was on the Holodeck under a simulated tree. It was a simulated warm summer's day, with a small stream, a grassy field and a copse of trees to explore. The kitten loved the program, and I found it very relaxing to read my reports there under the shady tree. Of course the kitten resented it when I focused my attention anywhere but on her, so we spent more time fighting over the PADD than doing anything useful.

Now I looked for my little roommate only to find that she had an appropriate reaction to an alert. She hid. I couldn't find her and I had to get to the bridge. I left the Holodeck program running and ran to the bridge.

-*-

"There's some sort of riot happening on the Klingon Starbase, Captain." Stephanie Anderson reported.

"Why does that mean an alert for us?" I asked.

Stephanie cued up a communications broadcast from the Klingon base and put it on the main screen. I could see dozens of Klingons engaged in fierce hand to hand combat. There were swords, knives and Bat'leth flying all over the place. The decks were nearly awash in pink Klingon blood.

"Oh Ghod." I said as the carnage came through. Then I saw the cause for the alert. In the middle of the fighting there were the Starfleet Marines that were assigned to the Discovery. They had their bayonets on their rifles and were laying about with all the skill and enthusiasm of any Klingon.

"Can we lock onto the Marines and beam them out of there?" I asked Stephanie.

"No Sir. One of Kalak's ships blanketed the base in a tetryon field, and then the base put it's shields up. Between the interference and the shields we can't beam them back." Stephanie sounded upset.

A tetryon field? That would have a bad effect on most powered equipment inside the base. Phasers and disruptors would misfire. That explained the hand to hand combat.

"Hail the Klothos! Get me Admiral Kalak!" I yelled.

"Hailing." Stephanie said.

Kalak's second in command came on the screen. "This is Lagos. Go ahead."

"Commander Lagos, where's General Kalak?" I asked.

"He is taking part in the honorable combat on the station. By our count your Marines are doing well." Lagos said. He sounded excited and happy.

"What about General Takon? Is he going to start shooting at us?"

Lagos blinked. He hadn't really thought about it. "If he does, then we all get to take part in the battle."

"Can we get those people out of there?"

"Why would you want to?"

I squeezed the bridge of my nose. "What started this?"

"Just a moment. We recorded it. I think you will be proud, Captain." Lagos said gravely.

My head was pounding as the recorded playback came through. I kept the main battle on the forward view screen, while I watched it start on my own smaller command screen.

General Takon was walking along his base's promenade with a crowd of retainers. Then I recognized some of the crowd milling around in the background. They were crewmen from General Kalak's flotilla. General Takon either didn't notice that he was walking into a hostile crowd or he didn't care.

Then four Starfleet Marines came out of the crowd. They approached General Takon. Sergeant Powell spoke directly to the General. The crowd encircled them. I couldn't hear what they were saying. The General took out his Bat'leth and flipped a casual pattern in the air.

Sergeant Powell unslung his weapon and the attached his bayonet. They two combatants struck a ready position. It looked like standard Klingon honor duel. Just as the two men looked ready to complete a pass one of General Takon's supporters whipped out a disruptor and shot Sergeant Powell in the back.

I was just thinking of how I was going to punish Sergeant Powell for the breach in discipline. I leaned forward and must have said something. Several other people reacted, too. I wasn't the only person watching the start of the battle. Takon and his crew laughed derisively at the foolish human who thought that he might be worth an honor duel.

Then the rest of the Marines beamed in with General Kalak and several Klingons. Something didn't look quite right, but I didn't get a chance to figure out what it was before bloody combat broke out all over the Klingon's promenade.

"Several Klingon ships are maneuvering for position, Sir." Stephanie reported.

"Shields and weapons on stand by." I said. I wanted them ready for action on a moment's notice. "Sound yellow alert."

"Aye, Sir." Stephanie said.

"Would you look at that?" Lucas McCoy said.

We looked at the main view screen to see General Kalak and General Takon locked in combat. They were being screened by marines and Klingon warriors who prevented any of Takon's retainers from coming to his aid.

Kalak made fairly short work of Takon after that.

"House Takon is now House Kalak!" Kalak shouted, stepping up on Takon's twitching body as he said it.

The fighting ended quickly. Many Klingons simply turned and fled. Others stood their ground and proclaimed themselves for General Kalak.

"The Klingon Starbase has dropped their shields. Transporter activity noted." Lucas said.

"Some of Takon's ship are assuming firing positions on the starbase." Stephanie noted.

"Raise shields." I said.

Commander Lagos appeared on my screen. "Takon's remaining loyal ships will fire on the starbase to deny it to Kalak. We will move into a protective position around the base."

I thought about it quickly. "Discovery declares for Kalak!" I said. I could hear several other ships answer the same way. "Arm weapon and move into the base." I ordered

The Discovery joined Kalak's fleet in securing the base. There was some shooting, but no one shot at the Discovery. The base was soon solidly in Kalak's hands.

-*-

We lost four of ten Marines in the battle. I didn't say anything to them. Not only was I too upset to trust myself, but I figured that losing marines in combat like that was enough of a consequence.

I was going to have a long talk with Sergeant Major Hendricks my Marine commander, but I didn't get the chance. Too much was happening.

Eventually I was able to rescue my kitten. I shut off the holodeck program and there she was, wet and lonely and miserable in the holodeck. Squeaking fearfully, she climbed me and begged me not to leave her alone again. After I got her back into our quarters she got mad and deliberately ignored me for the whole rest of the day. That's a long time for a kitten.

The switch of the starbase into Kalak's hands altered the balance of power in the Klingon Empire. There was an interstellar incident, and a threatened civil war.

The recording of Takon laughing while his arms man back shot a human was played widely and polarized the situation badly.

-*-

"I'm sorry to see you go, Captain Hailey. Traveling with you and the Discovery is very entertaining." General Kalak said.

The Discovery was at the edge of what the Klingons were calling their territory that day. We were within real time communications with Kalak's new starbase and he was seeing us out of Klingon territory.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be able to come up with entertainment of your own, Sir." I said.

"Bwaaa haa haaa! If I can't, it won't be because Takon's people aren't willing to help! Well, enjoy the rest of your trip. I hope you find glory out there. Kalak out."

"Thank you, Sir. See you on the way back." I said. "Hailey out."

The channel closed and the Discovery was on her own.

"Commander Mendez, take us to Zantree Territory. Best speed." I said.

"Aye, Sir." Mendez said, and we were on our way.

A couple of Klingon ships decloaked and tried to fire on us as we passed, but the Discovery was equipped with the newest Federation engines. We were three times as fast as any Klingons ships of that time. We were able to just go around them.

-*-

Two weeks later I was again reading on the holodeck with my kitten. I couldn't use the shady tree program any more. The Kitten would just try to hide under me and beg me not to run off again.

So we went to a beach or to an old Victorian mansion or other places designed to amuse a kitten.

We were walking off the holodeck when I heard a commotion down the corridor. Kitten in hand I went to see what it was.

Several Security people were there. They were seemed to be milling about someone's quarters. I thought about just where I was in the ship. It was easily possible to get lost if you didn't pay attention. I was on deck twelve, near the section the Marines inhabited.

"What's going on?" I asked a random passerby. It was Snoopy. He turned, saw me and looked shocked.

"Oh, Ah, CAPTAIN!" He yelled. Many of the people milling around in the corridor turned and snapped to attention. A few moved as if trying to screen me off from the corridor.

"What's going on here?" I said more sternly. What could be happening that my crew felt it necessary to keep me from? I handed my kitten to Snoopy. He took my roommate in hand reluctantly.

"Well, it's really nothing, Captain, you see..." Snoopy tried to head me off. "Everything's under control.

I pushed through the crowd and towards the open quarters. They were Marine quarters, with the bunks stacked three deep. Several people made very passable attempts to distract me from the quarters, but by now I wasn't going to be delayed.

"Attention!" I barked. Everyone snapped to attention and I walked into the quarters.

There were two Marines at attention. One of them had a wicked cut down his left arm. There was a little girl. She wasn't at attention. She was piling into a plate of replicated gahk and waving a Marine issue bayonet threateningly.

"What's the meaning of this?!" I yelled. I didn't recognize the girl. She was blonde haired and had blue eyes. She looked wild.

"Ahm, well, Ah Sir, if you please..." One of the Marines said.

The other Marine didn't say anything. He looked pale and was bleeding freely.

"Corporal, take the Marine to sick bay." I ordered. "MacNeil, call Lt. Commander Anderson and tell her I said to place these Marines in custody."

They began to move. I turned to the girl. "Are you all right? Did they hurt you?"

"[The food is mine!]" The girl hissed in Klingonese.

With a shock I recognized her. She was General Takon's pet.

"[What is your name?]" I said. An angry, demanding tone wasn't too difficult.

"[I am Marda! This food machine is mine! This room is mine! If you try to take it away, I'll cut you to pieces and go to bed with a full belly!]" Marda yelled. Her Klingon was very good.

I held up my hands. How had the Marines managed to convince her to bathe? "[No one wants to hurt you here. You are among your own people, now. We only wish what is good for you.]" A calm, reassuring tone was difficult to put into Klingon.

"[Weirdo. Just leave me alone.]" Marda growled.

"[You can't have this room. It belongs to the Marines. I'll get you a better room.]" I said.

"[Liar.]" Marda was matter of factly derisive.

I took a deep breath. Marda was thinking more like a Klingon than a human. How should I play it? I took a deep breath, drew myself up to my full height and bellowed "[I hope you didn't just insult my HONOR!]"

Marda cringed and ducked a little and then looked at me with big eyes. For her to insult my honor implied that she was a person rather than an animal. People can give insult, animals only act from instinct. There is no honor there.

"[I...I meant no offense, Honored Sir.]" Marda had to grope for the proper form.

"[I am the Captain of this ship! My word is law here. Do you understand!?]" I bellowed.

Marda dropped here eyes to the floor. That wasn't the reaction I wanted. "[You can either be cargo, or you can be one of my crew.]" I said.

Marda looked at me in shock "[You want me to be one of your people?]" She used the form that implied a member of our community. A real person, not a pet or property.

"[You already are. I simply want to know if you intend to act like it.]" I said gruffly.

Marda thought about it. "[Why me?]" She asked suspiciously.

"[Feel your forehead.]" I said. I rubbed mine at her. "[We're the same kind of people. When you're on a spaceship you help other people in trouble. That's just the way it's done. Next time it might be you.]"

Marda rubbed her forehead thoughtfully.

"[Come.]" I said. I lead the girl out into the hallway where the crowd was watching us.

"Lieutenant Hendrickson." I growled. English can work well for growling, too. "I expect a complete report about how this girl got on my ship. Come with me."

My kitten made a complaining noise. Why wasn't I carrying her? I retrieved her and asked the computer. "Computer, please specify the open single quarters nearest to the Captain's quarter's." The computer told me where they were and I allocated them to Marda.

When we got there I led the way. Single quarters were a single room divided into two parts. One side was a sort of sleeping nook and the other was a sort of general purpose nook. The room was done over in the usual Starfleet pastel neutral scheme.

"[This is now your room.]" I told Marda. "[The food machine is yours, all the furniture and the things are yours until I say different. Do you understand?]"

Marda looked around wonderingly. She nodded.

"[Good. My room is right over there.]" I pointed to my quarters. "[Now give me the knife.]"

Several expressions raced across Marda's face in an instant. She was scared, then shocked, then angry, then stubborn. She snarled. "[No. Come and take it.]"

I turned to the replicator. "Computer, give me a d'k'tagh."

"Specify family crest design." The computer said.

"None." I said.

The knife sparkled into existence. I took it and showed it to Marda. She was across the room in a crouch. "[That knife isn't yours. If you take it, you will be a thief. This knife can be yours if you want it. Then you will have a knife of your own.]"

Marda looked shocked again. The d'k'tagh was a mark of honor among Klingons. To give her one was a physical sign that she was a free person and not a slave. Worse, it marked her as a person who was on her way to being a warrior. Marda came up to me and offered to trade. I took the unfortunate Marine's bayonet and held out the d'k'tagh.

When she reached for it I moved it slightly away. "[Will you be worthy of this?]" I asked.

Marda actually stopped and thought about it. Klingon honor could be a demanding discipline and a major breach would get her dishonored and killed in short order. Marda realized that she was taking a risk, but decided to go ahead anyway. She took her d'k'tagh and held it up. "[I am a KLINGON!]" She screeched.

"You sure are, aren't you?" I said. "[Make yourself comfortable. I'll be right back.]"

I stepped outside Marda's room and summoned the Discovery's Counselor. Then I turned to Snoopy.

"Report." I told him.

"General Takon tried to rub everyone's nose in the fact that he had Marda as his pet, Sir. I spoke with General Kalak and with the Marines we came up with the plan to stage the honor combat between Sergeant Powell and General Takon, in order to distract him when we rescued Marda." Snoopy said quietly.

That was what had been out of place during the beam in. Not all the Marines were present. "Sergeant Powell was killed trying to distract Takon." I growled.

"Yes, Sir. General Kalak warned us that we might be killed. We went ahead anyway." Snoopy sounded wistful.

"Why didn't you discuss it with me?" I asked. "Arthur I'm responsible for this. Shouldn't you have let me in on it?"

"Sir, if we had, would you have allowed it? Maybe you would have, but then you would have insisted on taking part in it. No offense, Sir, but you're too valuable to risk that way." Snoopy said.

"So you went ahead on you own? There's a word for that, Lieutenant. It's called insubordination. I could have you brigged for this." I said. I felt tired.

"Well Sir. We did have General Kalak's written authorization to complete the operation and not tell you until later." Arthur said.

My head throbbed. "General Kalak gave you PERMISSION to end run me?"

"Yes, Sir." Arthur said.

I just stared at Snoopy. He looked sheepish and sad. He didn't look remotely sorry or afraid.

"Lieutenant Hendrickson, attention to orders. You will not conduct this sort of operation again with directly informing me and getting my permission, is that clear?" I said.

"Yes, Sir." Snoopy snapped to attention.

"Good. Note the order, date and time in your log. I'll counter sign it."

Mr. Whump-Wuist-Woo-Woo approached. "I see the cows have come home to roost, Arthur." He smelled of oranges with a subtle undertone of strawberries.

"You knew about this?" I demanded.

"I had some inkling, Sir." The Rhondan officer allowed.

"Well, all right. Come with me." I said. My kitten had been riding patiently in my arms the entire time. Now she struggled to get closer to Whump-Wuist-Woo-Woo and smell him. He must have smelled fascinating to her.

We entered Marda's quarters and found her in her bathtub. She was happily splashing around and washing her outer layer of skin off. She noticed us and splashed at us. "[I have a bath tub of my own in here!]" She yelled.

"Oops!" I said "[Sorry. Get dressed and come here for a moment. There's someone I'd like you to meet.]" We quickly left the girl's quarters.

"Maybe we should ring the door bell next time, Sir." Snoopy pointed out. I shot him a dirty look.

In a few moments Marda came out of her quarters. She was dressed in her standard civilian coverall and was soaking wet. She did not intend to delay her bath any more than necessary. She spotted the Discovery's Counselor and her knife appeared in her hand.

"[A demon!]" She squeaked.

"[No. This is Whump-Wuist-Woo-Woo. He is uh... our wise spirit.]" I improvised. In some Klingon children's tales wise spirits would sometime appear to guide the hero.

"Wise spirit?" Whump-Wuist-Woo-Woo's vocorder sounded bland, but he smelled strongly of strawberries.

"[Whump-who-what?-what?]" Marda guessed.

"[I have asked him to teach you things.]" I said. "[I want you to learn what he has to teach you well.]"

"[What sort of things?]" Marda hedged.

"[WHO IS THE CAPTAIN!?]" I bellowed.

Marda cringed and then remembered that she was real people now. "[You are, Sir.]"

"Sir, do you wish me to teach Marda in the Klingon way or in the Earth-Human way?" The Rhondan asked.

"Basics first. How not to kill herself or other people on the ship. Then reading, writing and math. Then she can decide for herself just who she wants to be." I said.

"Yes, Sir." Whump-Wuist-Woo-Woo said. "[Marda, we will start tomorrow. Until then, if you need me. Call for me. The Computer will carry your words to me.]"

Marda nodded. Then she slipped back into her room. A large warm bath was waiting in there for her.

-*-

Later I was able to circulate the orders that no more "Captain free" operations were to take place on the Discovery. Many of the senior officers had been out of the loop and the idea that the junior officers and crewmen would undertake such an action was a big surprise for us.

We resolved to act so that it wouldn't happen again. Commander Mendez was especially tough on this.

-*-

Four weeks after bidding good-bye to General Kalak and the Klingon Empire, we crossed into the Zantree Exploration Zone. We spotted marker buoys that delineated Zantree territory. That was interesting. The Zantree Alliance had never explored this side of their Exploration Zone. Since the war with the Kliges'chee, they didn't have enough ships to spare. If they had enough ships to put warning buoys around their territory that meant that the war with the Kliges'chee was going well enough for some spare ships to become available. On the other hand, maybe it had become desperately necessary.

I had the Discovery stop at the border and let the buoys scan us. They scanned and sent a very powerful burst of subspace traffic to a point about a sector away.

Then we waited to see if the Zantree Alliance would hail us.

-*-

The next day we spotted three ships heading for us, shielded by primitive cloaking devices. They seemed to have been waiting for us. They slid up to the Zantree side of the border and hailed us.

It was voice only hail. "Federation starship, who is your commander?"

"I am Captain Jay P. Hailey of the Federation starship Discovery. We are on a peaceful mission." I said.

"If you're Captain Hailey, then tell me the names of the three Free Kliges'chee who returned to the Federation with you." The voice demanded.

"There was only one. He preferred to be called Mike." I replied.

The screen lit up to show Poong, the representative of one of the worlds that formed the Zantree Alliance. "A pleasure to see you again, Captain." he smiled.

"You, too Representative Poong." I lied. His appearance told me how the war was going for the Zantree and that wasn't well. He looked tired and his hair was shot through with gray. "The Discovery is on an exploration mission and we'd like to meet with your leadership and update them on the progress of your delegates to the Federation." I said.

"We have been warned to expect you. We will escort you back to base, Discovery." Poong said.

On his order the Zantree Alliance ships decloaked. They were Federation starships.

"What the...? Scan them, please." I said. There were three of them. A museum piece Constitution class cruiser and two Miranda class light cruisers.

"The hulls appear to be consistent with Federation ship designs, but the power systems and the weaponry are not the same. " Lt. Darvon Ahk reported.

"Hmmm..." I said. "Stephanie, please invite representative Poong over to the Discovery for dinner tonight."

"Aye, Sir." Stephanie relayed the message.

-*-

Our dinner was a reasonably formal affair. We put on dress uniforms. I commandeered a briefing room and had it decked out for the meal. Lt. Commander McCoy dictated the menu and I was pleased by it.

"You would make someone a wonderful maitre'd, Lucas." I said.

"Maybe if I'd stayed in New Orleans a little longer, Captain." He grinned. "This isn't a patch on them."

"Really?" My mouth watered at the thought.

"Here's something to make you really homesick. Most of the restaurants down there won't use replicators. They buy their material fresh grown from the area." He had a far away look in his eyes.

"We'll have to make the trip when we get back." I said. "It sounds like Heaven."

-*-

Poong ate the cuisine heartily. He seemed to enjoy himself. His Officers didn't seem too happy with it. I quickly summoned one of our service crewmen and had him send back to Poong's task group for copies of their own replicator patterns. After this we were able to serve the Zantree a decent approximation of their own dishes.

"Mr. Representative, I couldn't help but notice how closely the ships in your squadron resemble Federation starships." I said.

"Those ships belong to us, Captain. We paid dearly for them." Poong said. He sounded defensive.

"Poong, you know that Starfleet is an exploration service, don't you?" I asked quietly.

Poong nodded slowly, unsure of where I was going with this.

"We send ships out into unknown space all the time and sometimes those ships simply never come back." I said.

"We have suffered heavy losses in our war against the Kliges'chee. I understand how you feel..." Poong said.

"Well, the whole point and purpose in going out here where no one from the Federation has ever been is to discover what is out there. If I must die, then I assumed that risk when I put on this uniform and got into the ship. That's okay. What would really bother me would be if my death meant nothing. If the Federation gained nothing from it. The crews of those ships went out and probably something happened to them, but we don't know what. Their fates are a complete mystery to us. By telling me what you know of these ships, you can transform a mystery into a very precious thing. Knowledge that was probably bought with someone's life. The Federation might have some objection to the way you got those ships, but now that you have them I don't think that you have anything to worry about from the Federation." I said.

Poong thought about it for a minute and then said. "We bought these hulls from a race of greedy trolls. They were despicable, but we needed all the ships we could get."

"The Ferengi?" I asked.

"Yes. That is what they called themselves, the little bastards."

I sighed. "All right. May I have your permission to examine the hulls? There might be some clues left over about their crews."

Poong snorted. "I doubt it. The Ferengi stripped the hulls thoroughly before they sold them to us. Anything of possible use or profit was gone when we took possession of them."

"Please. I think we can see a way clear to give you complete technical data on these ships once our examination is complete." I said.

Poong grinned ruefully. "I should wait and see what else you'll offer, but I have already decided to give you permission to search."

I chuckled. "You've been around the Ferengi for too long."

-*-

Federation starships have black boxes that record sensor readings just in case the ship is too badly damaged for the crew or the computers to report what happened. Nothing could withstand a warp core breach intact, but for anything short of that we tried to make sure that some data would survive.

Hidden in random places in the hull there were molecular recorders. They etched a digital record into the very fabric of the starship. A subtle twist in each molecule represented binary data bits. Few people knew of them. They were considered sensitive. Many pirates and raiders had been caught by information left in the shattered hulk of a ship they swore would never bear witness against them. My away teams were able to find and download the records of these from all three ships. The fact that the hulls were intact enough to be a salable commodity meant that the black boxes would survive, too. I read the recordings from each ship.

The USS Essex was eighty years old. Her hull was in good shape for all that. She had been doing a deep space exploration mission when she spotted an alien artifact. They did everything by the book, running scans and hailing to find if anyone was home. Then they approached the artifact. It was a featureless 60-meter cylinder. It was radiating odd energy patterns. I recognized the Rishan energy signature.

Then when they were good and close, artifacts energy signature spiked with a huge power surge.

The Essex recorded her entire crew vanishing in a blaze of light. The artifact vanished at the same time also. The sensor signature looked like the Rishan long-range transporter. They didn't come back.

Then the starship obeyed her programming, shutting down and waiting patiently for the search parties to arrive.

No body did for seven and a half decades. Space is huge and starships are tiny. Then the Essex recorded the cautious approach of a Ferengi raider vessel. As the Ferengi latched on the ship with a tractor beam, the black box recording abruptly stopped. The Ferengi knew to jam the molecular black box recorders, damn them.

The crew of the USS Cathedral caught a nasty virus and died. Their Captain tried to self-destruct his ship during his last few moments of life. His log said that he couldn't let the virus loose on an unsuspecting galaxy. He died one word too soon to complete the self-destruct sequence. The Cathedral became a death ship, adrift. Until the Ferengi came aboard. Several of them died, but not before telling their ship what was killing them. The Ferengi Daimon bombarded the Cathedral with baryon particles destroying anything left alive on the ship. Then he took the sterilized hulk and neutralized the black box.

The USS Jupiter sterilized herself. A faulty drive plate gave way and the crew was instantly killed by a storm of hard radiation. They degraded into little white piles of ash whereever they fell.

We had to do some work to clean up the recording. It was also damaged by the radiation. The Ferengi had fun sweeping up the remains of the crew and trying to decontaminate the hull before they sold it. The hull was still a little radioactive when we went aboard her. Not enough to harm anyone, but enough to mark the passing of her last Federation crew.

We turned over the complete technical manuals to the ships as they had last been seen. Much of the technology was obsolete by Federation standards, but understanding the purpose of the various fittings inside the hulls helped the Zantree engineers hang their own devices a little better inside the hulls.

Then in a big ceremonial way, I declared the hulls official property of the Zantree and proof of our tight friendship. Poong let me get away with it. I had to have something saving face for the politicians back home.

Then we proceeded along to the Zantree starbase.

-*-

The Zantree star base was a temporary structure. It was simply a set of pre-fabricated modules hanging together in space.

It was less than twenty light years away from the border. It had been hurriedly packed out into the Zantree frontier and set up. Poong as it turned out was no longer an elected official of his home world he was now the starbase commander of the impromptu base.

While the Discovery was docked to the station, Commodore Poong gave me a strategic update.

"It is thanks to you and the Harrier that we are here at all." Poong said. "The Kliges'chee ship you defeated in the Exploration Zone was a scout on the vanguard of a large Kliges'chee fleet that was trying to outflank us."

"Oh no." I said.

"We were able to turn them back, but at a very high cost." Poong said. "We lost the core worlds of the Alliance about eight months ago."

I grimaced. The core worlds were the five worlds that founded the Zantree Alliance. With them out of the picture, things looked grim indeed for the Zantree Alliance.

"Is there anything we can do to help you, Poong?' I said. I knew it was insufficient as I said it, but what else could I do?

"You have already done much for us. The photon torpedo and launcher specifications you gave us helped turn the tide of battle. I'm told that the technical manuals for the old Federation ships also have a wealth of new treasures for us." Poong said.

"You will have to contact the Klingons now. They are your only hope." I said.

"This matter has been discussed..." Poong said. His tone implied things that I didn't want to hear.

"What do you mean discussed? This is the survival of your nation, possibly your species, what could out weigh that?" I said.

"The point of discussion centered around whether it was better to die on our

feet as a free people or to submit to Klingon slavery." Poong said mildly.

"I don't think that the Klingons are that bad..." I said.

"There was a world called Elean. We had one contact with them. They were a nice, peaceful people. They were technologically primitive, just on the edge of starflight. We hoped that possibly we could shield them from the Kliges'chee. When we sent another scout there, we saw their cities destroyed and a Klingon occupation force ruling over them. And you tell me the Klingons aren't that bad?" Poong was coldly angry.

"That was General Takon. General Kalak is in charge of the starbase nearest the border now." I pointed out.

"And who will undo Kalak and put himself in charge there?" Poong asked. "One way or another if we go to the Klingons for help, we feel that it will be tantamount to submitting to Klingon domination."

"But you have a treaty with the Federation, now. We can use our influence to ensure that the Klingons treat you fairly." I said.

"We don't think the Federation can wield that much influence over the Klingons. Don't get me wrong. We are happy with our relationship with the Federation, but you are still a distant power. All due respect Captain, this discussion has already been resolved and you do not have the power to change it."

"I'm sorry if I spoke out of turn, Poong. It's just that I'd hate to see the end of the Zantree Alliance." I said miserably

"You and I both." Poong admitted.

-*-

The shore leave at the Starbase was fun. The Zantree starship crews and soldiers were partying like there was no tomorrow. For them there wasn't. It had a sort of exciting anything-might-happen air. It was classic. When the end came either they'd break and fall apart or they'd fight like no one had ever seen.

I didn't intend to be there for it. I had a large number of civilians that I had to get out of the war zone. I decided that we wouldn't take any of their material, although they offered it freely. We conducted some maintenance, but soon we were ready to pull out.

Poong called me. "Captain Hailey, I have some bad news."

"What is it, Commodore?"

"We have gotten word that a force of Kliges'chee ships has broken through our screen. They'll be here in a couple of hours." Poong said it matter of factly. The weather was due to turn bad momentarily.

"How bad do you think it'll be?" I asked.

"We're out numbered slightly. We expect to take some damage. I wanted to give

the Discovery time to get away before the shooting starts." Poong reported.

I thought about it. "What does it look like if we join your defense?" I asked.

Poong peered at me carefully. "Somewhat better."

"Then I'll get the Discovery ready to fight, sir."

-*-

The Discovery was a Galaxy class starship. She could separate into two different sections. The Saucer section was where most of the living quarters, science labs and support equipment was. In our case it also held a colonization mission. The second part was called the Battle section. It was simply a large battle cruiser. Put the two together and you have a powerful ship with long range and great exploring capability.

The Battle section alone represented less of a risk than taking our passengers into battle.

The Battle Bridge of the Discovery was a small module, no bigger than the bridge of my old ship, the Harrier. It looked angry to me. The structure was thicker and everyone had a thickly padded seat.

We separated the Saucer section and left it docked to the Zantree base. Then we moved out to join the ships that would defend against the Kliges'chee.

I didn't know what to expect really. It was my first set piece battle as a Captain. I was staring holes in my main view screen trying like mad to think through every variation and possibility. I was as scared as hell. I never did very well in the battle simulations in Command school, but this time it was for real. Lives depended on me winning the upcoming contest.

"May I offer a word of advice Captain?" Mendez asked. I was grateful to have him beside me as my second in command. Carlos Mendez had once been a noted starship Captain in his own right.

"Feel free, Carlos." I said.

"Relax. You have a good ship, and good crew. You won't be able to think of everything before hand. Just take a deep breath and stay loose." He said.

I nodded bleakly and tried to relax.

"Contact." Stephanie said. "Bearing 345 mark 270. The Kliges'chee are using their stealth suites. It's hard to pin point how many of them there are."

"Red alert." I said. "Weapons and shields to stand by. Kamaline, step up scanning. See if you can locate those Kliges'chee."

"Working, Captain." Kamaline said.

"Enemy range now 120,000 kilometers." Stephanie reported. "The Zantree fleet is moving to intercept."

"Hail the Kliges'chee." I ordered. "Tell them to stand down and withdraw or we will fire upon them."

Stephanie sent the message and then listened to the reply. "The Kliges'chee offer to make our deaths painless if we surrender now, Captain. They say any attempt to defend the Zantree base will result in our painful destruction."

"Here we go." I breathed.

The Discovery was slightly behind the defending fleet. We would rush to support any Zantree units that got into serious trouble. We would also provide long-range fire support.

"The Kliges'chee are attempting to jam sensors and communications. They are not succeeding." Spaat reported.

"Got 'em!" Kamaline called. "Correcting our tactical display now."

"Send the corrections to the rest of the fleet." I said. " Raise shields and arm all weapons."

The Discovery hummed as her weaponry came on line. On our corrected display I could see the Kliges'chee approaching in two waves. The first wave was slightly smaller than the defending fleet. So was the second wave. I could see that if the first wave tied up the defenders, then the starbase itself would be vulnerable to the second wave.

Stephanie, Ensign Zuma and I all agreed that this was a likely Kliges'chee action.

The leading elements of the first wave and the defending fleet began to merge.

"Target a Kliges'chee ship in that first wave and fire all photon torpedoes at it." I ordered.

The Discovery spat torpedoes. Our ship was an explorer, but she was also a major Starfleet vessel and potentially a flagship for a fleet. If she was to fight, then Starfleet wanted the battle to be seriously unbalanced in our favor.

The Discovery's photon torpedo tubes were an expression of this thought process. They could fire a volley of ten photon torpedoes. Ten photon torpedoes were plenty for nearly any enemy.

Our torpedoes separated from the ship and then took a hand off of energy from our warp drives. Warp two isn't terribly fast when discussing interstellar travel, but it's very quick indeed when the subject is sub-light combat within a few hundred thousand kilometers.

Our torpedoes zipped up to the Zantree fleet, picked their way through the fleet and then slammed into a Kliges'chee ship. It just exploded. There was no shuddering or spinning or outgassing, it simply detonated.

"Ready another salvo." I said. I was hoping to thin out the first wave enough to give the Zantree defenders a decisive victory. When the torpedoes were ready we fired again. Ensign Zuma took the liberty of allowing the torpedoes to seek another target if their primary had already been destroyed.

The Zantree were firing photon torpedoes of their own, now. They were not as powerful, fast or intelligent as our torpedoes. However, they did the trick all right. Kliges'chee ships had minor success trying to shoot the torpedoes down with their small disruptor banks, but not enough.

The second wave came in and instead of pressing the attack on the base, they tried to flank the defending fleet and catch it between the two.

We turned to face the new attackers. "Arm the shield disruptor." I said. It had worked like a charm the only time previously that I had faced a Kliges'chee ship in battle. The Discovery's hum took on a slightly different tone and a coruscating blue globe appeared on the nose of our ship.

"Target the lead ship, take down his shields and then hit him with a couple of torpedoes." I said.

Stephanie acknowledged and programmed the firing sequence. The blue globe leapt off the front of the Discovery and sped towards its target. In a couple of breaths it struck a dead center blow. Three photon torpedoes raced after it and detonated against the intact shields of the Kliges'chee.

"They have shield defenders active, Captain." Kamaline reported. "I'm sorry I couldn't recognize the signature until it was used."

"Oh, well, I guess we do this the old fashioned way. Arm more photon torpedoes." I said. Then I noticed a loner. One Kliges'chee was hanging back from the rest of the battle. I thought it might contain a comptroller. The comptrollers were the telepathic rulers of the Kliges'chee. They supplied all intelligence, motivation and direction to the common Kliges'chee. They were the mental overlords of the race.

If we could destroy the comptroller who directed this battle, then it would be an easy win for the Zantree.

"Target that ship. Set course to intercept, full impulse!" I said. As the Discovery raced out after the lone Kliges'chee I explained my reasoning to Mendez.

Just moments before we got into photon torpedo range of the loner, he jumped to warp and tried to flee.

That was a mistake. The Discovery had better engines and more power to stuff into them. The Kliges'chee ship was smaller and probably more maneuverable on impulse drives. He had given up his main advantage and was playing to ours.

It did take a while to overhaul the Kliges'chee. He had over strained his engines badly and was irradiating his ship in an effort to stay ahead of us.

"Fire torpedoes." I said. At warp speed hitting anything is mostly luck. We didn't need that much luck. The nearby detonation of a photon torpedo will disrupt a warp field and force a starship to go sub-light. Then you can fight for real.

The Kliges'chee ship started leaking radiation and went sub-light quickly.

The Discovery roared into the area hot on his heels. He began to twist and dodge to the limit of his ship's structure and a little beyond. There was no way for us to catch him or stay close. Fortunately, we didn't have to. The Kliges'chee could have out run the Discovery all day, but he couldn't out run a set of torpedoes. He died in a blinding flash. It was almost like it wasn't real. Our sensors revealed that seventy five aliens were dead. We couldn't tell if any of them was materially different from his fellows.

After killing what I hoped was the comptroller, we turned and sped back to the base.

At the base we found them moping up the remaining Kliges'chee ships. They hadn't stopped fighting when we destroyed the loner.

"An interesting idea, Captain, but I could have told you." Poong said. "The Comptrollers never expose themselves to danger in this way. They are far from the front in hidden ships that never see combat."

"I'm sorry. If I had asked instead of running off like that maybe I could have helped more." I said. They were doing repairs on the base. A couple of Kliges'chee ships had gotten close enough to strafe it before being destroyed.

The Saucer section of the Discovery was even damaged. No one was hurt, but one of the landing crafts that would carry the colony to the surface was crippled. I was embarrassed. The tough Battle Section did not have a scratch on it.

-*-

Once repairs were completed, the Discovery was reunited and we prepared to head out on the rest of our mission.

"Good luck, Poong." I said. They were taking down the temporary base and preparing to move it to another position. Zantree ships, including the ex-Federation ships were towing the modules away.

"Thank you, Captain Hailey. Luck to you, too." Poong said.

We cut the channel and the Discovery set course out of Zantree territory and away from the war.

-end-

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Trek. I claim original characters and situations in this story for me.