ENT - 012 - Kobayashi Maru

THIRTY-TWO

Tuesday, July 22, 2155 Qam-Chee, the First City, QonoS

T O A RCHERit felt as though only hours had passed since he had last entered the Klingon High Councils main assembly chamber, though he knew he had little grasp of time as it was reckoned on alien planets. QonoS, like countless other worlds, had its own calendar based upon the unique motions of the planet and its satellites, none of which corresponded neatly to United Earth Standard. Combined with his time in the arena and in the medical facility afterward, Archer wasnt at all certain exactly what time it was when Krell began presenting the evidence that MRek had promised would exculpate the Klingon Empire over the attack on Draylax.

With his doctor husband looking annoyed nearby, Admiral Krell moved slowly but restlessly about the front of the otherwise nearly empty chamber, using a crutch tucked under his good arm to support his considerable weight. Although Krell once again had two armsa hard cast held the reattached limb immobile against the admirals sideit was clear that his every movement was causing him excruciating pain. Though he had emerged from the duel in slightly better shape than Krell had, Archer felt grateful for the hard bench on which his weary weight rested at the moment; with the wound in his side still smarting even as it was healing under Phloxs ministrations, he certainly wouldnt want to have to stand for any length of time, despite his own restive desire to get back to work protecting Earth and the Coalition. This guy obviously doesnt deal with enforced idleness any better than I do,Archer thought, feeling a surge of sympathy for a kindred spirit as he watched Krells unconscious fidgeting.

Mounted on the wall beside Krell was a giant flat screen, not unlike the central viewer that adorned the forward wall of Enterprises bridge. Standing sentry at the door were several armed Klingon warriors, all of them evidently carrying enough rank and privilege to be allowed to witness the admirals presentation; because of the sensitive nature of Krells briefing, Chancellor MRek had insisted that Archers MACO escorts wait outside the chamber, and Archer had nearly had to fight another duel to convince the chancellor to overrule Krells initial refusal to allow Phlox to stay.

Using his one functional hand, Krell gestured toward the screen, which had shifted to an oblique overhead starboard view of the busy bridge of a Klingon battle cruiser. “As you can see, the captain and crew of the I.K.S. KajDeelwere taken completely unawares by the total loss of instrumentation control on their bridge, the admiral said.

“Why is the system still generating an audiovisual record if all the other bridge systems have failed? Archer asked. Beside him, Phlox moved his medical scanner over the captains shoulder area, and Archer turned his head just enough to see the doctor frowning at the results. Though Phloxs reaction certainly piqued his curiosity, he had no time to pursue the matter at the moment.

“A secondary crew happened to be aboard the KajDeelat the time, recording these images for instructional and training purposes, Krell said. “Their equipment was not tied in to the ships systems.

On the screen, Klingon personnel rushed around, shouting at one another in evident anger and frustration. Several even pounded their fists ineffectually at the consoles in front of them.

Then, in a scene inset within another, the Klingon battle cruisers bridge viewer changed images; instead of displaying a neutral star field, it now showed a dark emerald Romulan bird-of-prey. The orientation of the warship didnt permit Archer to see its ventral underbelly, which the captain knew from experience usually carried a garish, predatory bird design; nevertheless, there could be no mistaking the horseshoe-crab configuration of this vessel as anything but Romulan.

The image on the screen-within-the-screen changed again, backing off to a longer view, even as the agitation of the KajDeels crew ratcheted even higher. The audio quality of the recording played havoc with the language matrix of Archers translation device, enabling him to parse only every fourth or fifth word at best. But he was absolutely certain he understood whythe Klingons on the screen were so excited.

The KajDeels viewer showed a second Klingon vessel, this one apparently a fuel tanker, of the same class that the Klingons had used to carry deuterium fuel when Enterprisehad aided the pirate-besieged deuterium miners of the settlement on Yeq three years ago.

“What are they saying? Archer asked.

“They were shouting that most of the ships systems had gone offline, Krell said. “Life support and communications were among the first to fall. The weapons systems were apparently still functioning at this point, though the weapons control interfaces were not. Therefore the KajDeelcould neither call out for help nor warn the freighter PeD NIHwIthat their weapons systems had targeted the vessel, all on their own.

“Was the freighter similarly affected? Archer said, scowling. Phlox had begun scanning him again, and he waved his arm in mild annoyance to encourage the doctor to back away.

Behind him, MRek spoke up, apparently having grown irritated by Phloxs kibitzing as well. “DenobuluSngan!Is it necessaryfor you to coddle your captain during a classified briefing? A pair of Klingon soldiers began to advance toward Phlox, evidently taking a hint from the chancellors stern tone and Krells decision to pause his audiovisual presentation.

Phlox nodded toward the otherwise empty Council bench where the chancellor sat, and showed no sign of even having noticed the Klingon officers who now flanked him. “Chancellor MRek, despite his victory today, Captain Archer could still face grave complications because of the injuries he has sustained. I fear that his tertiary lungmight have suffered an undetected laceration, and that he is developing a severe penile-craniotomological distension.

What the hell?Archer bit his tongue slightly. Clearly Phlox was up to something, but he wasnt about to inquire into it at the moment. Turning to MRek, he said, “My apologies, Chancellor. I will instruct my physician to be a bit less obtrusive. But he is right to point out that humans react differently to trauma than Klingons do.

MRek scowled, but said nothing further, pointing instead toward the viewscreen on the wall. Archer saw the two soldiers back away from Phlox as Krell depressed a small switch on a hand-held device, allowing the images and sounds to begin playing again.

On the KajDeels screen, blue-green weapons-blasts suddenly became visible, arcing forward toward the relatively defenseless fuel freighter. Moments later, the tanker exploded in a series of brilliant plasma bursts, sending an expanding cloud of metallic debris and superheated gases roiling into the void of space.

Krell paused the images again. “If it was not clear, Captain, that salvo came from the KajDeel,not from the RomuluSnganship. Those treacherous gharghhave found a means of turning our own weapons against us. He turned back toward the screen, allowing the images to resume.

On the Klingon warships viewscreen, the Romulan vessel reappeared, and then all hell seemed to break loose. A loud gonging sound and random shouts rose to a frantic crescendo almost instantaneously as the picture begin to waver and shake. Archer surmised that whoever had been capturing the images was no longer entirely in control of his equipment, or of much of anything else.

Which, Archer realized, was exactlythe case.

“As you can see, the artificial gravity of the KajDeelwas then compromised along with the rest of the basic life-support functions, Krell said. The images on the screen gradually became a bit more coherent as whoever was holding the recorder seemed to acclimate himself or herself to the null-gravity environment. “The failure of the life-support systems eventually forced the crew into a barely conscious state.

“Any external sensor scan would have revealed that most of the crew were still alive, even days later, Krell said.

“But there would be no way anyone outside could know that the crew was utterly unable to access or control any of the ships systems, Archer said, a resigned frustration creeping into his voice. He willfully ignored Phlox, who had continued quietly scanning him from a meter or so away.

Krell nodded. “From this evidence, gleaned from the emergency log buoys of both ships and transmissions relayed directly from the recording equipment used on the KajDeel, the Klingon Defense Force has concluded that the RomuluSnganship somehow gained remote access to, and control over, not only the KajDeel, but the PeD NIHwIas well.

On the screen, Archer saw a familiar face float past the weightless cameras eye for a moment. “Freeze that, he shouted, mindful a millisecond later that shouting commands at Krell was probably poor protocol, to say the least.

After casting Archer a cold glare that could have made a snowman shiver, Krell stopped the recording. The face that Archer had recognized was still on display, nearly dead center, trapped in place like a fly in amber.

Archer turned toward MRek, though he gestured back toward the screen. “That is the Klingon woman we found in the wreckage at Draylax. The only survivor we came across.

“The one who died so swiftly under the tender mercies of your chief medical officer? Krell said. Archer turned his head in time to see him cast a withering stare directly at Phlox.

“The woman was too far gone for anyone to save, Admiral, Archer said. “My doctor did everything possible for her, even if all he could do in the end was make her journey to the afterlife as smooth as possible. She fought death until the end, and died with honor, at least as far as Im concerned.

“Her family will be pleased to hear that, MRek said. “She will have a place in Sto-Vo-Koramong the honored dead. Of course, you will return her body to us immediately so that we may verifythe honorable nature of her death.

Archer nodded toward the chancellor. “Of course. Just as soon as I am back in touch with my ship. He turned back toward Krell. “If she was aboard the KajDeel,that means your hijacked battle cruiser was among the ships that attacked Draylax.

Krell nodded as he allowed the images to resume, though with muted sound. “Yes. Before they died, the officers running the independent imaging equipment managed to transmit images of that attack to one of our remote outposts. The data then reached the Klingon High Command via the outposts subspace relay station.

The images on the screen moved through a quick progression of shots of the KajDeels unconscious bridge crew, views of exploding Draylaxian vessels, and NX-class starships taking heavy fire from Klingon battle cruisers, and finally ended just as a trio of heavily armed, undamaged Klingon battle cruisers opened fire. The final image was a flash of an apparently dead Klingon male, his hair floating around his head as he drifted upside down in the KajDeels microgravity environment.

“Had we received word of it sooner, Krell said, sounding wistful at the prospect of such wasteful, honorless killing, “we might have prevented entirely what happened at Draylax.

“If it hadnt been for that camera crew, you might not have gotten there at all, Archer said. Addressing MRek, he said, “Chancellor, I believe it would be in everyonesbest interests if you were to authorize me to show these images to the representatives of the Coalition of Planets. It proves that the Romulans have developed some kind of remote-control weapon capable of seizing control of the space vessels of other species. If they take what Admiral Krell has just shown me at face value, they will have to absolve the Klingon Empire of any responsibility for what happened at Draylax

“No, Captain, MRek said, standing. “That the RomuluSnganhave made us pawns in their cowardly ambushes is bad enough, but for you to make the Klingon Empire appear so vulnerablein the eyes of your worlds leaders, and those of the Coalition of PlanetsThe shame and dishonor is simply more than can be borne.

Krell spoke up, the rising timbre of his voice showing very clearly that he was still in great pain from his exertions. “There are security considerations as well, Captain Archer. These recordings show the bridge and instrumentation of a Klingon battle cruiser with great clarity and in considerable detail. I doubt that Starfleet or any of its allies would hesitate for an instant to begin reverse engineering our command-and-control architecture and other related technologies based on what they find in these images.

Archer rose from the bench where hed been seated, noticing only then that Phlox had finally quit scanning and was putting his medical scanner away. “Chancellor MRek, for the leader of a warrior society, you seem to have some fairly ridiculous fears.

MRek bristled, leaning forward to grasp the railing in front of his bench with both hands. “You dare?

A still, small voice somewhere deep within Archer counseled caution, but at the moment he felt too angry to listen to it. “Youre damned rightI dare, he said, jabbing an accusing finger into the air. “You would allow your people to become embroiled in a dishonorable war against the Coalition of Planets instead of going after the realauthors of the conflict? Youd let the Romulans get away with doing this to you, just to save yourself some embarrassment?

“We act to spare the Klingon Empire from dishonor, Terangan,MRek said, his voice pitched in a dangerous tone that seemed to provoke his soldiers to hair-trigger readiness.

But Archer knew he couldnt afford to back down now. “Even if that aversion to dishonor could mean the difference between a war with the Coalition and a war against our common enemy?

MRek sneered. “Do not presume to lecture meon the subject of honor, Captain. If you fear war against us, then you must find your ownway to convince your leaders that the Klingon Empire will not take the blame for the attack upon Draylax. Persuading them will be yourresponsibility.

Im getting awfully damned tired of playing errand boy for one side against the other,Archer thought, his fighting instincts rising even as his diplomatic side struggled to maintain control of a very bad situation.

But, unless he had badly misjudged that situation, he knew he would leave QonoS with far more information than the Klingons realized.