ENT - 012 - Kobayashi Maru

TWENTY-SIX

Sunday, July 20, 2155 Qam-Chee, the First City, QonoS

A RCHER PUSHEDthe blade through the air awkwardly, watching as his opponent jumped back.

He might have felt a bit better doing the move if his opponent hadnt been Corporal OMalley, one of the two unarmed MACO troopers who shared the “preparation room with him. The three of them had already had a perfunctory discussion about how little a Klingon “preparation room differed from a jail cell on Earth. But since Archer had actually become very closely acquainted with a Klingon jail cell not so very long ago, he felt he could discuss the special nuances of difference with real authority. For one thing, during his current stay the Klingons had given him the use of one of their curved, arm-long swords; it was a wickedly sharp, two-sided, four-pointed blade known as a batleth.

Archer had seen Klingons carrying these weapons, both here on QonoS and three years ago at the deuterium-mining colony on Yeq, where he and some of his crew helped a group of beleaguered miners repel a raid by Klingon marauders. However, seeing the half-moon-shaped weapon strapped to a mans back or mounted on a wall was a quite different experience from actually handling oneor depending upon the odd-shaped blade in a life-or-death battle.

He regarded the batleththat rested in his hands for a long moment, staring down at its double blades. He couldnt quite wrap his mind around the purpose of the secondary pair of blades, the one whose edges lay closest to the weapons central handgrip. On top of that, the whole damned thing seemed a lot more cumbersome than a straight long sword, given that the batlethseemed to require a two-handed grip, making it much more a close-quarters weapon than a straight sword of comparable length.

I guess it could be worse,he thought, imagining having to fight off the ravening, batleth-twirling Krell using the short Andorian Ushaan-Torblades, another weapon he had never used but was forced to wield against Shran in a ritual duel.

A mans deep voice spoke from behind him. “I never thought Id say this to a Terangan,but its good to see you.

Archer turned to face the speaker, but it took him a moment to recognize the aged-looking Klingon who had evidently just entered the room. The man was missing an eye and part of one foot, and had lost a significant amount of weight, but after some initial doubt, Archer recognized him as the Klingon legal advocate who had defended him when hed stood trial for allegedly dishonoring Duras, the former captain of the I.K.S. Bortas. For his efforts, the advocate had been exiled to Rura Penthe for a year alongside Archer, who had been fortunate enough to escape confinement, unlike his hapless Klingon defender.

“Kolos? Archer handed the batlethto Corporal Ryan and rushed over to the older Klingon. “I didnt expectI didnt think

“You didnt think Id survive an entire year on Rura Penthe, did you? Kolos said, interrupting.

Archer returned the other mans wry smile. “I dont think Iwould have survived that.

Kolos smiled back, his sharpened teeth now showing dull edges. “I told you then that I had a very good reason to survive, Captain. Even if I am but one voice, I am still one voice that can call for honor to be restored to our people through justice rather than violence.

Archer motioned to a nearby bench, where he perched beside Kolos as the frail-looking Klingon sat. “Not to put a fine point on it, Kolos, but I sure could use that call for honor today.

Shaking his head, Kolos looked at Archer with his one good eye. “Chancellor MRek is under heavy political fire from those who seek to take his position; your timing couldhave been worse, but not by much. I think that he truly means you no ill will, nor does heor the Council intendto go to war against the Coalition. But he and his High Council allies see the message you delivered today as an affront. And that cannot go unchallenged.

“But why was it an affront to them? Archer asked. “If theyre telling the truth, there isnt any harm in proving to us that somebody else was responsible for the attack on Draylax.

Kolos smiled. “Do you have children, Captain?

“Not yet, Archer said.

“Well, I have fathered many. And one thing I can tell you that I suspect is true of all culturesKlingon, Terangan,Andorianis that when a child is embarrassed about something, he will fight all the harder to protect himself than if he is outright lying. Governments are not so different from children, Captain.

Archer shook his head. “What does MRek have to be embarrassed about? Is it that the Romulans have found a way to commandeer their ships?

Kolos did a double take. “Why would you think that?

“We found one survivor in the wreckage of one of the three battle cruisers destroyed at Draylax. She all but said that the Klingons were being controlled by the Romulans. But she didnt know how, and she didnt survive long enough to give us any more than that.

His expression grave, Kolos nodded. “I dont know that to be true, but if it were,that would be something that the military would not want exposed.

“So theyd rather go to war against the Coalition than admit they were vulnerable to the Romulans?

Kolos shrugged, opening his hands, palms pointed upward.

“Unbelievable, Archer said, sighing heavily. Now he felt even more defeated.

“If that is the case, then you must defeat Krell decisively, Kolos said. “And you must kill him.

Archer stared at the older alien, incredulously. Gesturing toward Corporal Ryan, he said, “I dont even know how to use that weapon properly.

“We have nearly three of your hours before the combat is to begin, Kolos said, standing up. “Let us use the time to find ways for you to use the blade that Krell wont anticipate.

He lowered his voice slightly, moving closer to Archer in order to speak at a volume intended only for the captains ears. “And let us hope that Krells strength isnt what it once was because of the changes the metagenic virus has wrought.

Archers breath was already growing ragged and labored, and it was still fairly early in the match. The gladiatorial chamber that he and Krell were in was un-godly hot; even stripped to the waist, he was sweating profusely. Probably gonna lose ten pounds in a hell of a hurry,he thought. Unless I lose my head first, that is.

The two of them had been led into the arena ten minutes earlier, wearing only their pants and boots, and carrying only their batleths. The chamber was part of a vast, torch-lit underground cavern that had apparently been excavated and enlarged for the sole purpose of conducting combat-to-the-death rituals such as this one. Rising from the ground all around were irregularly shaped stalagmites precipitated out of some hardened mineral that Archer couldnt quite identify; even in the dusky light of the wall-ensconced torches, he could see that many of them were stained a dark purplish-black that was probably the residue of Klingon blood.

About twenty feet up, ringed around the caverns outer walls, was a secondary level surrounded by waist-high railings, behind which stood the assembled members of the Klingon High Council, various uniformed military luminaries, and a large cheering section comprised of growling, snarling Klingon civilians that might well have included his prospective undertaker and burial florist for all Archer knew.

Krell had barely said ten words since seeing Archer again in the combat chamber, and four of them had not been translatable. Archer knew he couldnt hope to reason with the soldier, but he also knew that even if he somehow managed to prevail, he couldnt find it in himself to kill him, either. I sure as hell cant afford to letyou know that, though,he thought as he regarded his opponent in much the same way he might a Cape buffalo getting ready to make a lethal charge.

Koloss accelerated training had been helpful enough to allow Archer to survive this long without injury, though mostly he had been defending himself rather than striking any blows of his own. As Kolos had explained and demonstrated various techniques for handling a batleth,Archer began to understand that some of the principles were not significantly different from certain types of terrestrial sword fighting, blended with a bit of quarterstaff or bōstick combat. Kolos had also provided some guidance in the use of the batleths secondary blades and their multiple serrations; they were used mostly to trap the points of an opponents weapon. Executed properly, such a trapping maneuver could not only effectively block an otherwise lethal blow, it might also disarm a foe with little more than a simple twist and a yank.

With a roar, Krell attacked again, pulling Archers focus into laser sharpness. The Klingons blade swung around in an arc, coming up from below, the tip whistling as it cleaved the air; Archer could tell the move was meant to chop his hands out from under the handgrip. Feeling a stalagmite at his back, he couldnt duck to the side, so he moved his own blade to counter, swiveling his batlethfrom an upward-curving angle to a down-turned position.

Krells blow and Archers parry brought the two blades together hard enough to strike sparks, and Archer felt the shock reverberate through his wrists as the Klingons momentum and greater weight rammed his blade upward. Pain lanced his arms, and as Krell attacked again, Archer scrabbled to retreat behind another stalagmite. He ducked, barely evading a horizontal slice that had come uncomfortably close to cleanly decapitating him; instead of Archer losing his head, one of the upturned rocky deposits lost its conical end, shattering into a gray-brown powder as the baakonite blade tore through it with all the force of Krells offended sense of honor.

As Krells arms followed through with the blow, Archer charged from his defensive crouch, stabbing the pointed end of his weapon toward his foes midsection. Krell sidestepped in time to avoid being impaled right through the gut, but not quickly enough to prevent Archers blade from inflicting a superficial flesh wound that announced its presence with a small spray of lavender Klingon blood.

Even as Archer continued moving forward, his boot caught on something he couldnt see on the uneven floor, and he suddenly felt himself falling. In the quarter second or so it took his momentum to carry him to the caverns rocky floor, he willed his arms to move the batlethout from in front of him.

NotgonnastabmyselftodeathbeforeKrelldoes,he thought, his mind racing.

Even as he rolled to the side in an effort to get his feet back under him, he felt a sharp pain in his mid-chest area, then felt the breath whoosh from his lungs as agony struck him in earnest. He realized in a horrified rush that Krells batlethhad pierced him at the ribs, and even now, before the red blood had dripped from its tip, Krell was standing above him, a look of rage commingled with triumph flushing his hard features.

Through his pain, Archer wanted to laugh, as in an instant he realized that he was about to die trying to prevent his world and its allies from going to war against the wrong enemy, all while the Romulans were setting Earth up for conquest. Given how little his sacrifice was evidently destined to mean, he hoped that hed at least leave a good-looking corpse behind for posteritys sake.

Krell brought the batlethdown in a lethal arc straight toward Archers face, and the captain knew that his final wish would not be granted.