The Eight - Chapter 4, by Calcaneous

The Eight

by Calcaneous

Rated: PG
Genre: None at the moment

Disclaimer: Star Trek situations, characters, and name are all owned by Paramount.

~~~~~

Chapter 4

“Commander, there is a subspace distress call coming from an orbit of the Klingon moon Karon.” Snapped sub-commander Creta to an attention. “It’s coming from a Klingon bird of prey but…”, she hesitated, “it has a Vulcan signature.”

“A Vulcan signature from a Klingon bird of prey?”

Shran was an alert and intelligent Andorian who, though as aggressive as the rest of Andoria’s population, was also a visionary. He proved his talents when he was in charge of negotiations of the new peace treaty between Andoria and Vulcan. He was not very trusting person, which, in the end was an asset. And his curious distrust of all around him has paid off because now he was in charge of several military operations. One of them was to monitor Klingon activities.

Generally, his opinion of Vulcans was that they were the most annoying race in the known universe. Their snobbish customs, their patronizing attitude, their hypocrisy were unbelievable. There were only a handful of Vulcans he learnt to tolerate. On the other hand, if there was someone he couldn’t stand more than Vulcans, it was definitely the Klingons. He knew first hand how brutal they were and saw what they did to the beings unfortunate enough to blink or breath in their presence. He looked over his trophy wall and counted 15 bat’leths so far. His face hardened with silent triumph. Klingons were always prone to underestimate different species when it came down to brute force. He was only 14 kulach tall but Andoria bred the finest warriors. His upper body strength and dogged determination proved to be a deadly combination for fifteen Klingons. And as his eyes were gleaming, he hoped that soon that number would be higher.

He barked: “Put it through!”

~~~~

Ko’Hout was “interviewing” Soval.

Soval decided that the Klingon Commander methods were predictable. Inefficient, however on a time line long enough, possibly effective. Soval was breathing heavy at this point, watching his blood slowly drip from his face on the floor. Curiously, he noticed an interesting pattern created by the slight angling of the deck. He determined that so far, he has suffered a laceration that ran parallel to his right jaw line and two of his abdominal ribs were fractured.

He would have been near perfect health has it not been for the Klingon dagger stuck three inches deep in his stomach. He wasn’t in much discomfort, but the blade’s interference with his muscle tissue was offering serious difficulties in respiratory management. Luckily, he hadn’t lost as much blood as it may appear. He made a conscious effort to suppress his heart rate and respiration to prevent more blood loss.

“Where is the next destination, you lying dog?!” Ko’Hout’s voice was coarse from shouting and Soval came to a sudden realization that Ms. Cole’s assessment of Ko’Hout as ‘melodramatic’ was, although premature at the time, correct nevertheless.

“As you may well be aware, Commander…Vulcans do not lie. I have already told you…26 times, to be exact, that I have no information as to, or ability to determine the location you are seeking.” He spoke with icy calm but there was a slight hint of impatience.

Ko’Hout moved and Soval gasped as the knife was twisted.

In the last two hours he had evaluated and, in a way, appreciated the differences between species. In the past, he hasn’t had sufficient time or a concrete logical reason to ponder these differences on such…a level. He was searching for a word to best describe his thoughts, and primal was the most fitting.

In essence, he allowed, the Vulcans, Humans or Klingons, for that matter, were very similar. There were several differences between them. One of such differences lay in the way they chose to approach life, challenge the obstacles it presented, exercise inner discipline and practice spirituality. The Klingons, for example, took pride in acts that were considered unacceptable by Vulcans and to a certain degree, by Humans as well. Personally, although he understood the concept of honor and values, his logic dictated it was the needs of the many that outweighed the needs of the few that granted the right to end one’s life prematurely. Humans, on the other hand, were unpredictable in their…acts of selflessness. Most of Soval’s annoyance with humans stemmed from the fact their actions were completely unpredictable.

Soval decided to finish pondering the Humans for a while. He could feel his inner balance was off camber by having to concentrate on pain suppression. His system was slightly compromised and he was aware that his response to Ko’Hout was not…very logical. He was exploring the effects of stress and allowed himself to listen to his primal side. What were his deepest instincts? Vulcans rarely ventured into self-probing. He suppressed the sudden urge to rip the Klingon who was tormenting him to pieces, while he wondered how much did Ko’Hout enjoy this. He must know by now that the only possible way he can find the next piece is to arrive at the current coordinates. The coordinates he already received from Ms. Cole. She had no alternative but to provide the information - based on the threat from Ko’Hout to cut his throat. Soval was not afraid of death, however his instinct of self-preservation was…grateful. His breathing began to calm down again.

“Take him back, we’ll finish this later…” snarled Ko’Hout.

________________________________________

Shran has decided.

The message was confirmed five times now. There was no doubt that it came from the Klingon bird of pray Ko’Lac, which was orbiting one of the Klingon moons. The message contained the exact coordinates and a request for escort to Earth and possibly to Andoria Prime.

The request came from the Vulcan Ambassador Soval.

“Soval…” whispered Shran while he silently stood in front of the window knowing he would undergo this…insanity…in order to repay his debt. With a little luck, he should be able to beam him and the pink skin, cloak and leave before the Klingons realized what happened. Shran owed not just his life, but also the life of his entire crew to the…sarcastic old Vulcan. Soval risked his reputation, his position and his life to pull Polon and it’s crew of 600 from the system that was going supernova. He did it to save the fragile peace talks, but Shran took it personally and upon himself to repay the debt. Soval had attempted to rid him off the self-imposed obligation, but Shran stubbornly refused. And now, although this mission would not be easy…he would succeed in getting even.

He was clearing the imperial cruiser Polon for action. His crew trusted and respected him. Shran was preparing for the worst because he learned to be wise enough to admit that perhaps there weren’t as many differences between the Andorians and the Klingons where the war was concerned. The difference lay in the reasons for fighting. The Klingons were obsessed with honor and often their actions were childlike – the Klingons never thought their actions through. They never expected to live to see the results. The Andorians were quite the opposite - never the ones to refuse a challenge, but rarely the ones to start it.

And Shran was convinced that this might grant his mission a success.

________________________________________

Soval was meditating. His face was smooth and disinterested though deeply withdrawn. By looking at his face, one would hardly be able to tell that his hands were tied behind his back and his stomach was slowly bleeding. He knew that neither of his injuries was critical but he also knew that he was suffering from a blood loss that was becoming severe.

The door hissed open and Tina walked in. He looked up and watched her face undergo several changes. Going from the disarming happiness, through the stunned realization to the angry resolution. She turned and faced one of the Klingons.

In this very moment, it became clear to him why he remained on Earth for so long passing other opportunities. He was fond of the unrestrained reactions that humans so openly and unconditionally offered.

He fought this thought – obviously, he must have lost more blood then he realized. But the raw realization was growing inside him. The humans were reflecting his deepest, most suppressed feelings and desires. He felt freedom around them – he felt corrupted. He felt corrupted in the same way as he did with his wife and children. The intensity of parental love was impossible to suppress. And it was the only emotion generally tolerated on Vulcan. Vulcans were able to touch their children in public and it was acceptable to show kindness and benevolence. His life on Earth was a…form of psychological symbiosis. He didn’t have to concentrate on suppressing his primal fears, desires, and emotions on Earth. He didn’t have to because through humans he experienced those without compromising his Vulcan heritage.

________________________________________

“Oh my god”, she said and looked up at the Klingon, “what have you done to him? Where is Ko’Hout. I want to speak with him right now.”

The Klingon was staring her down and barred his upper teeth.

Tina raised her eyebrows then narrowed her eyes and said: “Do me a favor, go and LOOK STUPID somewhere else!”

She didn’t wait for his reply and turned her attention back to Soval. She watched him quietly sitting there with his eyes half closed. Tina wasn’t as worried about his face, though it looked like someone used it for a punching bag. What she was worried about was the large stain that covered his entire stomach. He was bleeding too fast even for a Vulcan. She frowned and walked over to him. She glanced back to the door and roared: “Get me some water and a dressing…”

The Klingon pressed a communication link on his chest and spoke to someone on the other side. The decision came instantly:

“Do as she asks.”

The Klingon disappeared and Tina untied Soval’s hands. His erratic breathing settled down slightly.

“Jesus Christ”, she said, “who did this to you?”

She lifted his robe and saw the bleeding hole. She sighed: “You don’t mind if I help you?”

She felt his eyes on her as she was checking his wrists and rubbing his hands to get the blood flowing. She looked up, tilted her head and said:

“I did some reading while we were on our way to Vulcan. I know how to stop the bleeding.”

“I assure you, Ms. Cole, that I am in perfect hea….” He didn’t finish the sentence and turned a greenish pale color in his face.

“Sure you are. Let me check anyway…please.” She has been to too many EMS calls while on Earth to take his word for it. She was visualizing the Vulcan anatomy that she checked out during the time she was reading about their mating rituals. The Vulcans shared several organs and also the consistency of blood with the humans. They didn’t have hemoglobin in their blood, but senosan that served the same purpose – carry oxygen – but had substantially higher counts of brown blood cells and platelets. She knew that controlling the bleeding wouldn’t be as much of a problem as replacing the lost volume. She was just hoping that no internal organs were damaged and that the blood loss wasn’t as severe as it looked.

~~~~

She put his head down, lifted his feet up on two pillows and undid the buttons on his robe. Tina could tell that it relieved the stress of the labored breathing but he was beginning to tremble. Tina looked at him and saw he was pale and sweating just a little. She was stunned to notice that this was the first time she saw him break a sweat. She checked his pulse, that was racing at 40 per minute, felt his head, neck and torso. Nothing broken, so far so good, she thought. She moved down to his abdomen, moved the soaked clothes and palpated a tender spot, no, two on his left side. Oh yes, she remembered. Their ribs go all the way down. She remembered the shock when she found out about the muscle/ligament tissue that looked just like ribs. She glanced over the wound and quickly finished with his legs and arms.

“You will notice some slight loss of blood, Ms. Cole.” Said Soval flatly.

“Not so slight, I’m afraid,” replied Tina. “Just be still, ok? Don’t move, relax – it will just take a minute and you will be as new. You will be fine.”

She put pressure on his wound with a dressing she made from her sleeve and wondered where the heck is the Klingon with her water and bandages. The door opened and the Klingon shoved the bucket of steaming hot water and a pile of dressing through. There was also a tray with a self-dispersing sterile tape. She loved it. She first saw it in Phlox’s sickbay – what a great and painless alternative to the needle. The bleeding finally stopped. Tina finished cleaning the wound up, sterilized it as best as she could and taped it off.

“Listen”, she said, “can you hear me? HEY!” she snapped her fingers and his eyes finally opened but he was disoriented.

“It’s done, you can rest now. I will stay with you for a while. Don’t worry about a thing.” She smiled because she was pretty sure that he was going to be alright unless some secondary complication came up. She would stay up with him probably for at least a part of the night, then she would get some sleep herself.

“Ms. Cole,” he said, “there is an…” he was obviously lightheaded, “an Andorian…” and his eyes closed again.

“I guess you will tell me later.” She smiled and covered him up with a blanket. Then she sat down in the only chair in the room.

~~~~

The Polon was cloaked and quietly she sneaked up on the bird of prey undetected. Shran’s was prepared, but honored the request from the Ambassador not to act until the energy flux from the moon’s surface was complete. The message was specific as to that. Exercise restraint until the reaction is complete. That would mean he will have to wait another three hours. He was ready.

~~~~

Tina was sitting in the Klingon mess hall and she was watching the Klingons “play.” Ko’Hout was sitting next to her drinking his blood wine looking at his crew. He dragged her here so she could see what she will eventually be part of. She was trying to see the beauty in this, but couldn’t.

“You know…I never really got the whole Klingon attitude. Why are you always so eager to die? I mean, why isn’t it a good day to live?” she asked looking at him.

“There is no honor in living without victory.” said Ko’Hout.

“Yes – I know. But where does this come from? Didn’t we all start from the same square gzillion of years ago?” she reached over for her mug and took a long drink of water. She was still completely outraged at Ko’Hout, but she knew that it didn’t matter. He didn’t see his actions as breaking the oath. He just had a little – fun, he called it. It was all beginning to make sense to her.

The principal question was: Could people breed compassion and common sense out of their gene pool? Ko’Hout was a standing proof that it, indeed, was not only possible, but also done. She thought about the WWII. Well, we weren’t that far from the same thing. Anarchy runs rampant and values and priorities change. If you see enough destruction and death, won’t it move your boundaries of what is a-ok and what is not?

All he wanted was the weapon…god, how do people get so obsessed?? Ko’Hout reached over his head and passed her another mug. She waved her hand to let him know she has had enough.

Drinking with Klingons – well, that’s a highlight, eh? There were nine in the mess hall. Six of them were women. Well, they didn’t LOOK like women, but that was the only conclusion she could come up with. They were all at least six feet tall and all looked like they spent the whole day benching 300 lbs. And they drank like sponges. This was some party – the Klingons must have been the absolutely loudest aliens she has seen so far.

She was completely disgusted by the smell or them, the way the behaved. But she couldn’t help it but smile. Despite the fact they’ve kidnapped them and Ko’Hout will “have the weapon and glory” – GAWD, that man is a testicle with legs – there was the ease of belonging. She never had that during her life. Every once in a while, maybe, but not like them. She thought about it and realized that it was like watching children play – grossly overgrown and deadly children, but children nevertheless. They needed supervision, and badly. It was hard to resist smile when you watch them play. She closed her eyes, stretched her leg and sighed.

She woke up with a jerk. She heard Soval talk about about somebody called Shran. She still heard him whispering even as she was looking around the mess hall filled with Klingons.

She looked directly at Ko’Hout and icily said:

“You know, you may not be around long enough to see what the weapon or whatever it is can do. I will give you this advice even though you haven’t earned it. If I were you, I would find a way to reconcile with the ones close to you.”

Ko’Hout snorted in contempt but felt a shiver of fear slowly travel down his double spine.

~~~~

Soval’s mind was floating. But the two hours of sleep were beneficial. He could feel a major improvement, although the slightest move produced a wave of nausea that he did not tempt to overcome – yet. He knew that Shran was waiting. And despite that, Soval closed his weary eyes and fell asleep again.

~~~~

Shran had the full report on a pad. Everything was ready and according to Soval they should be beginning the attack in 7 minutes. Shran sought clearance of this action with the Imperial Guard Council and was surprised – as many of his crew – that the Council agreed.

There has been so much bad blood between the Vulcan and Andoria that Shran never truly believed a real peace could be achieved. As he discussed the plan of actions with Onter, the Council’s head, he realized there was more to it than met an eye. Onter didn’t attempt to hide the fact the VHC and the Imperial Guard were cooperating on this one. He pointed out to Shran that this was an unofficial joint military mission and that he considered it an utmost priority mission. Onter didn’t answer a direct question about why was the mission so important. He only said, that both…or more planets will benefit if the mission is success.

Shran’s antennae were aiming forward as he was checking the systems readiness on Polon. He would make sure that the Vulcan and a pink skin would be on his cruiser in just a few minutes. He realized, he hasn’t had a clash with Klingons in almost six months. His crew felt the energy and Shran was counting minutes.

He found himself thrilled with the prospect that he might be hanging more bat’leths soon. Or better yet, adding another piece to his collection of space debris. The debris that came from ships he destroyed.

~~~~

The group of 8 energized on the surface of the moon – directly in front of the plasma volcano. Tina looked around and saw the drill towers not so different from the ones that suck up oil on Earth. She sniffed and thought that some things just never change. She mused that if something is right, it’s right everywhere. And vice versa. Well…after all, there is only one right way to do things.

Tina knew exactly where to go this time. She could feel it and it was forceful. The Klingons were standing behind her and one of them pushed her. She tripped and landed on her knees. She started to stand up when the red glowing plasma exploded from the top of the volcano with a loud crackling noise.

It was an amazing sight – she had seen some volcano activities on Earth. She went to Mexico City when the ancient volcano woke up…when was it again? 1999 maybe 2000? She just couldn’t remember, but this was different. When the plasma reached the top of an explosion, it just hung in the air for a fraction of a second before the whole mass began to drop back to the gaping crater. She watched it slowly fall down and wondered when was the next ‘episode’ going to start.

~~~~

Soval’s eyes opened. He knew the time had come and he needed to get ready to leave. However, he admitted to himself, that it might not be as easy as it seemed. He tried to sit up, but his stomach refused to support his decision. He was resting on his elbows and through sheer willpower sat up. The bandage held in place. His body was aching as he reached over for his stained robe. With exertion he put it around his shoulders and slowly stood up. By then, his body was sweating again and he had a headache. He wondered if Ko’Hout used cerebral meds in addition to the physical discomfort. His signs and symptoms were of blood loss but he was uncertain why everything around him was spinning. He closed his eyes and waited. In thirty seconds, he materialized on the deck of Polon.

Shran and his senior officers were ready to welcome Ambassador Soval on board but they did not expect him to arrive in this condition. Shran had personally seen a few Vulcans before that took a serious beating, and seeing Soval just barely standing with his hand over his stomach reminded Shran of those times. The Vulcan’s face had deep dark green contusions around his eye and lower jaw. The stain on his clothing made Shran wonder how he was still alive. But it was the expression on his face that was most alarming. He knew Soval fairly well – not on the personal level, but he sat with this man in the same room for several weeks while the negotiations were under way.

He was a good observer and he was certain that Soval’s state didn’t result just from physical abuse. There was something else as well. He glanced over to his ship’s doctor and bent his head toward Soval. The medic moved and put Soval’s arm around his neck to support him while heading out for the medical.

“Thank you for your prompt attention to the message, Commander.” Soval drew a breath. “I was growing…tired of the hospitality the Klingons were extending to me…”

“I am glad to finally repay my debt to you. Rest assured we will take good care of the Klingons - soon. We still have to get the pink skin from the moon’s surface but it shouldn’t take much longer…the energy level readings you provided have begun 2 minutes ago.”

“After Ms. Cole is on board be prepared to leave the orbit immediately.” Said Soval.

________________________________________

Without warning, the ground in front of her opened up and a line of red went straight through and wrapped around her like an angry snake. This was frightening. She tried to relax and let go but she just couldn’t do it…the burning was intense and she thought her head and eyes were going to explode. Her feet were off the ground. There were sounds coming from the volcano that made Klingons take a few steps back. Their eyes were wide and their hands were resting on their disrupters.

She felt the moon starting to tremble, the air around her was beginning to get dense and dark with smoke and she felt a hint of an incredible energy that began to make its way up – up toward her.

________________________________________

Sraan was looking at the screen in a silent horror. The moon’s integrity was down to 80%, no 75%….62%. He looked at Soval and roared at his officer:

“Beam her up and as soon as she is here, leave the orbit or the explosion is going to destroy us all!”

He glanced down at the screen that read 44.5%…..37.1%…25%…7% and heard the transporter humming. They could see her materializing in front of them. He involuntarily took a step back, she was enveloped in a blaze of plasma from the volcano. The plasma was zapping across the whole room, melting the energizer pads and pulsating on her body. She was covering her face with her hands.

His heart was racing. The plasma slowly receded, the noises stopped and then it was only her loud breathing and some words that were barely audible. Her head was hanging down and her face was still covered with her hands. He heard her saying:

“Why did you…it’s not all done..”

Soval spoke first: “Ms. Cole, Ms. Cole…you are on board of the Imperial Cruiser Polon.”

Shran looked around at the pale blue faces looking at him and slowly moved closer. Her hands dropped and her head rose. She opened her eyes. Shran had seen many things in his life, but what happened next sent shivers down his spine.

Her eyes were glowing bright red, like the plasma from volcano. And on the screen, in a giant red expanding ball of fire and debris, the Karon was obliterated into space along with the bird of prey. He watched her blink as her eyes turned blue and she looked around with a questioning look on her face.

“You had me worried there for a while, Ambassador.” She glanced curiously at Shran: “Who’s the blue guy?”

Few moments went by, and as no one responded: “Riiiight…” she smiled nervously and looked uncertainly at Soval. “Did I miss something?”

Shran said: “It looks like…you destroyed the moon – and the bird of prey with it.”

The smile on her face froze and she said: “What are you talking about? What do you mean…destroyed the moon?”

But she already knew, it was coming back to her quickly. She remembered the energy filling up her body but then they pulled her away from there and she couldn’t finish the merging without an energy leak.
Oh god, what have I done…she stepped closer to the screen and watched the debris that used to be Karon floating in the space.

She turned around and her voice was skipping with anger: “I couldn’t have done this…no way.” And then: “Was anyone else on the moon?” she looked at Soval and Shran. Neiher answered, only the muscles on their faces tightened up.

________________________________________

Suddenly, she pointed her finger at Soval in a raging disbelief and said:

“You KNEW this was going to happen. I don’t know how, but you knew and didn’t tell me, you pointy eared, green blooded…” she said.

Shran looked around the transporter room and snapped his head toward the exit. Everyone left and he let Soval lean on his arm.

She had a strong sense of what she was talking about, “I don’t know why am I not surprised to know this but…you knew it before we even left Earth, you just weren’t hundred percent certain. You knew that I could NEVER go back but that wasn’t important because of that needs of the many crap sandwich.” She started to move towards Soval in a menacing way:

“Well, I got news for you – it’s not ok to presume that I would agree. It’s over, you hear? OVER!”

Soval just said: “Your logic is flawed, Ms. Cole. Your body is under a stress, and you do not have all the information. Upon our return I will provide you with the translation.”

Shran looked from Soval to her but stayed out of the conversation.

Soval offered: “Ms. Cole…you are upset. Commander Shran had your quarters prepared. We will discuss this…at a later time.”

“Upset? Me? You can’t be serious.” But she held back her outburst. “You haven’t seen me upset.” She added: “There is nothing to discuss, it’s done.” And she started to walk out. As she passed Soval, she reached out and touched his chest softly. She looked at Shran and said:

“Oh goody, now I can ‘feel’ this too…WHAT’S NEXT!” she said sarcastically, “There is mitracamine in his blood, that’s why his balance is off. It’s harder to detect, but it shouldn’t be hard to flush it out of his system. Have your doctor give him stotacine and make sure they replace the fluids. He will be fine in a day or two.”

“Good bye…Ambassador.” She looked at Soval and walked out.

Continue to Chapter 5

Return to Chapter 3