"Here Be Dragons"

[Mr. Atoz]

HERE BE DRAGONS >>

Captain's log, Stardate 52581.4: Following a sudden wave of minor conflicts with the Gorn in sector 20574 , the Federation has responded by opening negotiations over the disputed area. The Odysseus has been assigned the task of transporting the Federation ambassador to the talks.

It wasn't so much a nebula as it was a vast, translucent cloud of elemental hydrogen and helium, material left over from the formation of this star system. The starship Odysseus came knifing through it like a dolphin at warp factor three, the mist gracefully parting just ahead of its deflector bow wave. And once clear of the cloud, there was the marker buoy right on schedule.

"I'm picking up an automatic warning message from the beacon, Captain," said Ensign Penner at communications, grimacing as she hastily tugged out her ear pod. "It's Gorn, all right."

"Full stop, Mr. Caeli," said Captain Atoz.

The helmsman touched a series of buttons on his control panel, and starship instantly halted in place with a flash of displaced tachyons. "Answering full stop, sir," he confirmed.

"Mister Rosh, is there anything on sensors?"

The Eminian security chief glanced over his station and shook his head. "All clear, Captain."

"Captain Atosss," said a hissing voice from beside the thingypit railing, and Atoz swiveled his chair politely to face it. The visitor stood only about five feet tall, but this did not include the slender tail which extended at least four feet beyond his dark blue robe. His smooth, scaly epidermis was predominately black, with red bands across the forehead and along the jawline. He had a dark, very disconcerting stare, mainly because he had no eyelids. "Our mission has been arranged by subspace radio. It is urgent that this dispute be resolved without delay."

"So I understood, Ambassador Sinav-E," Atoz replied. "I'm only concerned that there's no escort waiting for us."

"Purely an oversight, I am sure. This star system was suggested by the Gorn because it is within their territory and yet has not been colonized. It would be of no strategic loss to them if we proved to be less than trustworthy."

Atoz still hesitated. The Odysseus was primarily a science vessel, not a warship. His understanding was that he had only been assigned this mission because he had attended the coronation of Galinga as Queen of the Gorn Hegemony last year. Supposedly this meant that he was regarded by the Gorn with a certain amount of consideration, if not trust. If this wasn't the case, then as far as he was concerned, the entire rationale for sending him and his ship was in question. "Very well, Mr. Ambassador. Mister Caeli, resume course for the fifth planet in this system. Warp factor three."

"Warp three, sir."

As the starship went into warp once more, Sinav-E retreated to the Captain's ready room. The helmsman watched him go out the corner of his eye. "Did they have to pick a Lampropian?" he said quietly.

Atoz leaned forward. "Starfleet believes that the Gorn would be more comfortable with a reptilian negotiator."

"I understand that, sir. But there are six major reptilian species in the Federation. And I really don't like snakes."

"I get the impression that the feeling is mutual. But Sinav-E is a high ranking ambassador. It would be ill manners to pass over him in favor of, say, a Canopian."

"An iguana I could stand..."

"Captain," said Penner suddenly, "I'm getting activity on subspace channel C! I think it's..."

Quite abruptly, there was a flash from just ahead of the port bow. As the automatic proximity alarms began to shriek, triggering the Odysseus' deflector screens, an unidentified object streaked across the starship's flank with astonishing agility. Caeli immediately took evasive action, swerving to starboard as the object materialized on the sensors as a sleek, wedge-shaped spacecraft, slightly smaller than the Odysseus. The tension was quickly broken by Rosh's voice. "The vessel is a Gorn Ha'smelk class cruiser, Captain. Weapons do not appear to be armed or targeted."

Thank you, Mr. Rosh," Atoz replied, stirring uncomfortably in his chair as the ship took station astern. "Reduce speed to Warp One, Mr. Caeli. Ensign Penner, hailing frequencies please."

The main view screen changed to show the bridge of the Gorn ship, its female captain staring back with unconcealed smugness. "My apologies," she hissed, with a sneer showing a long snout full of sharp teeth. "I am Captain Bailars. I hope I did not alarm you." Like all Gorn, her body shape was similar to an upright tailless crocodile, although she lacked the prominent optical ridges of her male counterparts.

"Your appearance was rather sudden, captain," said Atoz, figuring that it was pointless to pretend otherwise. "My name is Atoz. I am carrying Federation Ambassador Sinav-E to the conference on Goruhgrak V."

"Our ambassador is already waiting, captain," said the Gorn, who then made an expansive gesture towards the screen. "After you."

Atoz had already had some small experience with Gorn psychology. Following behind him would place Bailars in a position of sexual dominance. He considered asking for the ambassador's judgment, but then he decided that it wouldn't hurt to do a little asserting of his own right from the beginning. "Oh no, captain. I insist that you lead the way. This is your home territory, after all. We wouldn't want to run into any more surprises."

Bailars scowled, but then gave a single curt nod. As the screen went blank, the Gorn vessel accelerated to warp three. Atoz allowed himself a relieved sigh. "Resume previous course and speed, Mr. Caeli."

[Mr. Atoz]

Four shafts of coherent energy shimmered into existence on the planet's surface, materializing on a thermocrete pad surrounded on all sides by steamy tropical forest. Atoz took a quick head count and tapped his comm badge. "Atoz to Odysseus. Successful transport acknowledged. There doesn't appear to be anyone to welcome us."

The gruff voice of Fawkes, his First Officer, came through over the communications line. "Wish I could say the same, Captain. The Gorn ship is hovering over us like an Illyrian devil vulture. I don't like the idea of you being down there unarmed."

"I'm not exactly thrilled myself, Commander. Maintain Yellow Alert. We'll check in every half hour. Atoz out."

"It is protocol, Captain," said Sinav-E. "The Gorn will not have weapons, either." The ambassador had changed into a lighter-weight garment, which revealed his two pairs of short legs, a pair of arms, and a fourth pair of appendages folded against his slender body, not readily recognizable as either arms or legs.

Atoz nodded. It was Gorn custom, apparently to guard against treachery. Each side was allowed an ambassador and an aide, along with the captain of the ship which had brought them. However, to offset the superior size and strength of Gorn, they had generously allowed the Federation side an additional aide. At six foot five, Security Petty Officer Kurtz was the tallest Human on the ship, but Atoz had to wonder how much difference the extra body would make if the Gorn really did get angry.

"The atmosphere is 33% oxygen," said Ensign Penner, opening up her tricorder. "Relative humidity 90%. Temperature right now is 37 degrees Celsius. It's beautiful," she added, kneeling in her gold and black miniskirt uniform next to a cluster of dark green fern-like plants with delicate red and yellow flowers. She had the good sense to stop short of touching them, but Atoz couldn't help feeling a little uneasy. They had the Gorn's assurance that there were no "dangerous" plants or animals in the vicinity, but he had to wonder what the Gorn considered dangerous.

"There's a building through there, Captain," said Kurtz suddenly. Atoz wiped sweat out of his eyes as he looked around. There was a path leading off in the direction of a square white roof, some distance up the hillside.

The four of them moved into a green tunnel of overarching trees leading towards the building, which turned out to be a temporary but oddly beautiful prefab structure, not unlike a Japanese pagoda. Waiting for them near the entrance was Captain Bailars, along with two male Gorn. She was impressive in person, standing every inch as tall as Kurtz. "I see that you have not suffered death in the course of your journey," she said by way of greeting. "I present to you Ambassador Kehree H'sek and his aide, Hasrug."

Atoz introduced his own party, fighting down a smile at the idea of a Gorn ambassador named Cary. In even the most alien language, surprising phonetic combinations could be expected to turn up without warning. The two ambassadors exchanged formal greetings, and they all prepared to move inside.

Penner was distracted by the view to the right of the pagoda, which overlooked a grassy river valley. Among a cluster of trees less than a hundred feet off, one of the trunks stood out as being strangely bare of leaves. A moment later, she realized the reason for it. "That tree!" she gushed. "It's alive!"

Atoz followed her gaze. Sure enough, the "tree" was actually the long, gently curving neck of an enormous animal. The thirty-foot neck lowered slightly from the treetops, bringing its head into view as the creature turned to stare at them. What he had taken for a brownish hill was actually the creature's back. It was a dinosaur!

"Plant eaters," said Bailars dismissively. "Nothing to be alarmed about, captain."

***

Commander Fawkes looked nervously at the chronometer. The Captain and his party had been gone three hours. B shift had come on duty twenty minutes ago, Lt. Capek taking the helm, Blackadar at Security, Fusco at Ops. The only blue/black uniform on the bridge was that of Ensign de Jager, sitting by the Sciences station writing a report on his data padd. Science Officer Weir was down in the manual monitor on Deck 11 performing some routine adjustment to the secondary sensor array. Fawkes gripped the armrests of the command chair, preparing to stand. There was no telling how long the diplomatic business would take. It could be hours or days. Common sense told him he should get some rest while he had the chance...

Just then the bosun's whistle of the comm system sounded. "Engineering to Bridge," said the voice of Chief Engineer Vespis as her face appeared on the viewscreen. "Is Fawkes there?"

"I was just about to get some dinner," the First Officer said. "Want to join me?"

"Main Mess Hall in five minutes?" the Andorian replied. "While I've got you here, one of my engineers noted a slight imbalance in the mag influx sensors. Normally I wouldn't even bother to report it, but we are on Yellow Alert, so..."

"Doesn't sound too serious. What would cause it?"

Vespis shrugged. "I'm no astrophysicist, but I expect some kind of exotic particles are just screwing up the sensors. It's no big deal since we're not even at warp..."

"Mister de Jager, make a quick sensor sweep."

The sciences officer put down his padd and turned to the sensor station. "I don't see anything unusual, sir. There is a higher than normal psi-muon count for a type K star, but it could be normal for this particular region of the galaxy. I'd have to do a detailed probe to be sure."

Fawkes made a wry face. Ambassador Sinav-E had asked them as a courtesy not to probe the system in detail, since the Gorn would interpret it as an aggressive move. Still, if Vespis wasn't worried, there was probably nothing to it. "Okay, Mr. Capek," he sighed, rising from the chair. "I'm going off watch. You have the con."

***

"The Kulaggada See sector is clearly part of the Gorn domain," Ambassador Kehree insisted, glaring across the conference table. "And we do not tolerate Federation intrusion in our space!"

"The Federation has no designs on colonization," Sinav-E replied quietly. "However we have four science outposts in that region. We would desire that our supply ships pass unmolested..."

"Supply ships?" Kehree hissed. "Science outposts? Spies! What of this space telescope the Federation recently constructed in system 307? Did you think we would not notice? What could possibly be of such scientific interest?"

Atoz saw a chance to speak up. "Actually quite a bit. Not being a science officer, sir, you may not realize that the system you mention is an ideal spot for observing the galactic center."

Sinav-E cast a short glance at Atoz, not exactly disapproving of the interjection but indicating that he would prefer to do all the talking. "And of course the Tholians," he added. "It is to our mutual advantage--"

All three of the Gorn blinked rapidly in agitation. "Tholiansss?" Kehree hissed. "Do not speak of the Crystal Beings! They stay out of our way, and we stay out of theirs! It is the Humans who continually press us!"

Atoz stirred uncomfortably in his seat. There had been an incident only three weeks ago, in which a Federation cruiser had pursued a Gorn ship into a star's corona. Both ships had been badly damaged, with considerable loss of life on both sides. It had all been due to an unfortunate failure of communication between the two ships. Atoz cleared his throat to speak, but Sinav-E forestalled him. "They only push back when they themselves are pushed. What do you expect them to do, turn their bellies upward like subservient krulaqs?"

"I expect them to respect the ways of the Gorn," Kehree countered. "Even if they are fruit eaters..." The sneer on his lip made it quite clear that the term was not intended as a compliment.

Before either of the Federation representatives could reply, the overhead light panels flickered once and then went off completely. This was immediately followed by a deafening howl from outside, a screaming onslaught of tornado force winds, powerful enough to shake the entire building. Some of the inner wall panels collapsed, showering debris around the conference room. Atoz, barely able to keep his feet, pushed Sinav-E under the table as part of the ceiling rained plastic shards over them. He noted that Penner had taken refuge in the doorway frame, while the three Gorn merely stood bewildered as they braced themselves.

"What is it? An earthquake?" Sinav-E shouted.

"Impossible!" Bailars replied, snatching a communications device from her belt. "The planet is geologically stable! It must be a Federation attack!"

"I assure you, captain..." Atoz began, trying to keep his balance as the building swayed.

"I am unable to contact my vessel!" the Gorn hissed, tossing aside her comm link. "How do you explain that, Human? I should have expected this kind of treachery from a retaetish!" Lacking any other weapon, she launched herself towards the Federation captain, her clawed hands latching around his throat!

[Mr. Atoz]

"Have you ever been to Hulowia?" Vespis casually asked, as she and Fawkes strolled into The Leading Edge, the lounge at the prow of the Odysseus. With the ship on Yellow Alert, the room was deserted, and it felt cold and empty. "We'll be passing through that sector next month. It's an Andorian resort. Thov took me there once, when we were..."

Fawkes had been scanning the big glass steel portholes seeking the Gorn ship, but this new topic made him snap his head around. The Chief Engineer usually didn't speak of her former husband, and he suddenly felt an irrational stab of jealousy at whatever had made her think of him. But at the same time, he knew that saying so would only make it worse. "Is this a subtle hint, lieutenant commander?" he said, grinning.

"I don't know about you," she said, grinning back as her arms slid around his shoulders, "but I have some shore leave accumulated, and I intend to use it. What you intend to do..."

"Well, I'd have to check my schedule," Fawkes said, as he cautiously slipped his hands around her waist. The slight chill in the room would be enough to account for her playful mood. Vespis liked it cold, habitually keeping her quarters at about seven degrees Celsius. For that reason he didn't even think about suggesting Risa instead...

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light from just outside the portholes. The lighting strips in the lounge flicked off as the entire ship lurched violently. For a second, it seemed as if the artificial gravity had failed too, and then Fawkes slammed against the bulkhead, bracing himself with his arms as Vespis in turn slammed into him. He expected the Red Alert siren to begin, and was alarmed even more when it didn't. "First Officer to Bridge," he said, slapping his comm badge. "What's happening?"

There was no answer. "Comm system is down," Vespis said as the emergency lights came on. "Race you to Engineering." And she started running down the corridor without waiting for a reply. Fawkes followed. If the turbolifts were also out of order, Engineering was closer. A hundred and fifty meters away, almost the whole length of the ship, but it was on the same level, quicker than trying to make his way upwards five decks to the Bridge.

When they arrived, Assistant Engineer Anya Gorsky was working like a fury at the main console. "Everything just went dead, commander," she grumbled. "Even antimatter containment. I just managed to get the emergency backups running, or the engines would have exploded."

"There was an impact just before," said Fawkes, scowling at the uninformative monitors. "Some kind of missile. Is there any way to contact the Bridge? I've got to know what's going on!" Frustrated by his inability to do anything, he nearly punched the console with his fist.

"Chill out, darkskin," said Vespis, her antennae quivering with shock as her eyes ran over the readouts. "If this panel can be believed, they're no better off than we are. Everything is out. Main power, auxiliaries, weapons, shields..." "What about the main computer?"

Gorsky answered from her station. "The core itself should be protected, but unfortunately a lot of the interconnecting relays are down. What in Lenin's name could have taken down all these systems at once?"

"Ask our friends the Gorn," Fawkes replied darkly.

***
Diane Weir sat up, wincing at the bruise on her forehead. The tiny monitor room was dark except for the reflected light from the planet shining through the porthole, which was very disconcerting. Even with the light strips off, the control console itself should be visible. The Science Officer struggled to orient herself. If the porthole was that way, the emergency panel should be... She felt around, managed to find her toolkit. With her flashlight, she was able to find and manually start the backup power systems. "Arachne, what happened?" she asked as she worked, and was surprised that there was no answer. "Arachne?" she repeated.

After a moment, the wavering image of an attractive girl wearing a Greek gown appeared in mid air. "Yes, Diane?" the computer responded. The image flickered on and off precariously.

"What happened? Are you all right?"

"My core functions are operating within normal parameters, thank you. But a number of peripheral processors are not responding. Would you like me to list them?"

"Not just now," the Science Officer replied quickly. "What happened?"

The AI's simulated eyes saccaded rapidly back and forth. "There is extensive damage to the ship's isolinear electronics systems. Sensors and related recording systems are not functioning. However a general diagnostic indicates a 97.7 % probability that the ship was exposed to an nucleonic subspace pulse of approximately magnitude three."

"Can you think of any natural phenomenon which would account for that?" Weir asked, already suspecting the answer.

Arachne's pause was just noticeable. "My database contains no natural phenomenon which would simulate a pulse of this magnitude." Weir shivered. The logical conclusion was obvious. They had been attacked!

***

Atoz heard Penner shout a warning, felt the rough leathery hands of the Gorn grab his throat and begin to squeeze. Gasping for breath, his own hands clutched at her claw-like fingers, trying to pry her loose. His vision started to go black... And the next thing he knew, Penner was jumping onto the Gorn's back, throwing her arms around Bailars' throat and pounding her in either side with her boots. Miraculously Bailars' grip loosened, probably more from surprise than anything else. Pulling free, Atoz drove his knee upwards into her relatively soft underbelly.

"This is pointless," Sinav-E insisted, slithering out from his refuge. "There is nothing to be gained by fighting among ourselves!"

"Krakhakk!" Ambassador Kehree bristled. "You attack us first and you say stop fighting!"

"The Federation did not attack," the Lampropian argued. "There must be another explanation."

"Such as what?" Bailars hissed, panting heavily as she struggled. Atoz and Penner between them managed to pin her arms and subdue her until the flush of her anger had passed and she saw the futility in continuing. After a long moment, the Gorn captain nodded her assent and they released her.

As he straightened, Atoz tapped his comm badge. "Atoz to Odysseus. Come in Odysseus." But there was nothing. No static, no interference, no carrier signal. He looked around the conference room, noticing that the lights were still out and the ventilation had ceased.

"Captain, I think the comms are just dead," said Penner. "Even my tricorder doesn't work."

Atoz walked out of the conference room and immediately noticed a heavy pall of dark smoke. Several meters to the right was the suite of rooms set aside for the Federation party. The holoscreen in the entryway had exploded. Seconds later, he found the cause of the smoke. The fuel cell which powered the building had overloaded and literally blown itself apart. Kurtz was lying on the floor in front of it, his body badly burned. Penner let out a gasp of dismay at the sight. Atoz dropped heavily to his knee beside the security man, but there was nothing that could be done.

Bailars was more concerned about the power cell than a dead Human. She examined the wreckage, frowning as Ambassador Kehree exclaimed, "How do you explain this, Lampropian? Clearly sabotage!"

While Atoz looked over the charred remains, trying to puzzle out what had happened, to his surprise Bailars came to their defense. "No, ambassador," she said grimly. "This was clearly caused by a powerful electromagnetic pulse. It could not have been done by anything they brought with them!"

"Even so, it could have been--"

"Will you hold your tongue still?" the Gorn captain snapped. "Yes, it could have been in a missile fired from orbit. But think! Would even fruit eaters be stupid enough to kill themselves in order to strike at us? We have no power! That means the security fence is also down!"

"The what?"

"The security fence which keeps the indigenous lifeforms at a safe distance!"

The ambassador scoffed. "Inconsequential. The building itself will hold them off until we re-establish communications with the ships."

Bailars snorted. "Ambassador, I don't think you realize--"

Without warning, part of the exterior polycarbon wall came crashing down. In the opening stood the head and shoulders of an enormous reptile larger than a water buffalo, its thick hide covered in hard plates like a rhinoceros but brownish in color. The dinosaur's skull was large and bony, sprouting a ring of six or seven knobby horns. It was evidently a plant eater, judging by the dark green frond which it was chewing on. It swung its head back and forth, huffing impatiently as its beady eyes tried to focus on them all.

Hasrug took a step forward, waving his arms at the animal. "Hakk! Get out, krulaq!"

"Be quiet!" Atoz whispered, spreading his arms to figuratively hold the others back. During his career in Starfleet, he had participated in enough planetary biology surveys to know firsthand how aggressive some ruminant species could be in certain situations. "Don't provoke it!" Ensign Penner, with no experience at all of wildlife let alone anything this big, silently nodded her agreement, edging closer to her captain.

"It's only a herbivore," the aide grunted, taking a few more incautious steps forward. The dinosaur tossed its head and charged at the only moving target. With surprising speed it lumbered through the hole in the wall, shrugging off the debris as it collapsed on its back. Hasrug realized his danger too late. The two ton creature caught him before he could back away, ramming the Gorn in the lower abdomen and tossing him to the floor where it could trample him.

Penner screamed as blood and intestines erupted from the Gorn's body like a fountain, but Atoz took advantage of the animal's distraction to throw his arm around her shoulders and turn her away. "RUN!!"

The prefab building clearly offered no safe haven. Atoz heard the crunch of polycarbon as another dinosaur joined the first in tearing through the wall, but he didn't spare any of his attention looking behind him. Surrounded on all sides by jungle, there was really no place to go but down the path leading to the landing pad. Keeping Ensign Penner in view in front of him, he quickly lost sight of the others as he sprinted, ducking under and over the green fronds and tree trunks which had been blown across the trail by the windstorm. When he finally got to the thermocrete pad, he collapsed to the ground, lungs burning from the adrenalin rush of running in this dense, hot atmosphere.

Penner was crouched nearby, her skin streaming with sweat, her eyes wide with concern. "Are you okay, sir?" she panted.

He could only spare the energy for a quick nod as he gulped in the thick, humid air. A second later he noticed that the two of them were alone. "Where... are...?"

The comm officer shook her head, gesturing vaguely. "I don't know, sir. I lost sight of the others right after we left the building."

A sudden movement brought them both scrambling upright in alarm once more. It was Bailars, pushing her way lightly and comfortably through the thick jungle shrubbery as if were her own living room. "The Diyakk take all bureaucrats! I think both of our ambassadors are lost, Captain Atoz."

[Mr. Atoz]

"Partial systems restored," said Gorsky, as the Red Alert siren began its raucous chorus. Vespis, looking up from the impulse subsystems console, irritably snapped the mute button, letting the indicator continue to flash silently. "We should have comms back in a second."

"Any idea yet what happened?" Fawkes asked.

"A lot of systems are still down," Vespis answered from the other console. "It's looking like a nucleonic pulse of some kind. It crashed through our defense screens and scrambled our transtator electronics. It should be possible to either reset most of it or reroute around the damage given time."

"If this was an attack by the Gorn," he replied, working on the internal communications panel, "we may not have much time." Finally the indicators on the console lit up, allowing him to raise the Bridge. "Mister Capek, this is the First Officer. Report your status."

"It's good to hear from you, Commander," the duty officer responded, his precise Czech accent sounding relieved. "All weapons, shields, and propulsion are dead. We have managed to get partial sensors and thruster control back. Life support and Agrav both holding steady. Turbo-elevators are inoperative, and the emergency bulkheads have sealed off at Decks three, seven, and nine. I haven't heard from Sickbay."

Fawkes frowned. "You have sensors? Can you tell me what the Gorn ship is doing?"

Blackadar's smooth Scottish lilt cut in from the tactical station. "Just holding there, sir," she said. "Three thousand meters off our starboard bow."

"Do they have weapons locked on us?"

"Sensors aren't that precise yet, sir. I'll work on that and get back to ye."

While they had been talking, the comm board had lit up like a Christmas tree as various stations all over the ship tried to report their condition and request orders. Scanning the waiting messages, Fawkes tried to prioritize. "Mister Rosh? Are you at your emergency station on Deck 6?"

"Yes, Commander. Caeli is with me. Shall we report to the Bridge?"

"Negative. Get up to Phaser Control on Deck 5. We need weapons and shields back as soon as possible. Vespis says the transtators are scrambled and need to be reset. Send Caeli to take command of the Auxiliary Bridge. I'll join him there as soon as I can."

"We are on it, Commander. Rosh out."

Another call was vying for his attention. "Fawkes? This is Pierce. Sixteen injuries reported, so far nothing serious. I'm more worried about the away team. Have you heard from Seven or Amelia?"

"Nothing, doctor," the First Officer replied. "It's possible communications is just out of order. But until we get power back to the ship, there's not a thing we can do to help them."

"I was afraid you'd say that," Pierce sighed. "Okay, I'll get out of your hair. With the turbolifts down, I've got a few house calls to make."

The bosun's whistle sounded. "Blackadar here, Commander. The Gorn ship has disruptor weapons charged. No target lock yet, but they are closing with our position."

Fawkes paused for a deep breath while he considered what to do. "Take what evasive action you can. I'll see what I can do from the Auxiliary Bridge." As acting captain, his place was on the Bridge, but if there was no engine power, what good could he do there? "Vespis, how soon until the engines are up and running?"

"That's not going to be easy," the Andorian replied shortly. "My best people are busy just keeping the antimatter containment grid in place so the warp drive doesn't go kaboom!"

"I'd settle for impulse," Fawkes said.

"Settle is about all you'd do, darkskin. The fusion reactors have cycled down. It's going to be at least twenty minutes to re-start them." Fawkes had just opened his mouth when she continued, "Kind of like men. Once they've shot their wads, you have to wait forever before they're ready for action again."

The First Officer expelled a frustrated sigh. "Vespis, can you save your abuse until the ship is out of danger?"

"I can multi-task, Commander," she replied coolly as he started for the door. "I can abuse you and save the ship at the same time."

***

A loud, oddly musical squawking sound echoed through the jungle, even more frightening because its source could not be seen through the thick foliage. Penner jumped. "What was that?" she whispered, her eyes bulging with fear. Even Bailars looked around nervously, her nostrils flaring.

The sounds reminded Atoz of the communication calls he had heard used by pack hunting reptiles on Heimdall IV. "You know this planet better than we do, Captain Bailars," he said quietly. "Is there anyplace we can go for shelter? Anyplace at all?"

The Gorn shook her head. "The planet is sometimes used for shore leave, but there are no permanent structures."

"Captain, what about the Ambassador?" Penner's voice quavered.

"I haven't forgotten about him, ensign," he replied, wiping sweat from his brow. "We just need to--"

A medium-sized reptile suddenly broke noisily through the foliage. It stood about two and a half feet tall on a pair of powerful legs built for running, its forearms folded back against its body. Its head had a little crest of feathers, and its snout ended in a horny, six-inch beak, hooked like a pickax.

The creature took one look around the clearing and charged straight at Bailars. The Gorn hissed in alarm as a dozen more followed it, aggressively encircling her and taking nips at her legs. Her tough, scaly hide seemed to be giving them trouble, but they were persistent.

Atoz snapped a long branch off one of the nearby trees, intending to help the Gorn, but five or six of the ax-beaks were already moving in his direction. Swinging his makeshift club, he managed to keep the first wave off, but then it dawned on him that, with her bare legs, Penner was the most vulnerable of them all. And their chances of outrunning these creatures was slim. Quickly he turned his back on them. "Ensign, get up into this tree, fast!"

"But Captain--"

"Don't argue with me, ensign!" As she tried awkwardly to scramble up the rough bark of the tree, he reached down and cupped both hands underneath her right boot, hoisting her upwards. At that same time, he felt a sharp beak sink into the calf of his leg like a knife. Nnnnn! The pants leg of his uniform had absorbed a lot of the damage, but it still hurt like the thingyens. There was another bite and another as the vicious creatures kept up their attack.

But Penner had finally swung herself up into a cleft between two stout branches, using the purchase to climb still higher. Atoz turned, snatching up his club again and flailing around him in all directions. He caught one of the creatures with a solid blow, and the rest scattered. "Bailars!" he shouted, but the female Gorn was on the ground, her face and neck running with blood from three or four wounds. She saw Atoz and gave a bellow of rage. Then, still swatting at her attackers, she turned and ran into the jungle.

Atoz took another swing with his club and leaped into the tree, but not before one of the ax-beaks managed to bite straight through the fabric of his uniform and clamp onto the back of his thigh. He kicked at it, but the reptile held on like a terrier. Finally the thing tore itself loose and fell, giving Atoz the chance to pull himself out of reach. Daggers of pain were shooting through his leg, nearly making him black out.

Four or five of the creatures waited on the ground, snapping at the air impatiently, but they made no attempt to climb the tree. Penner, a few feet above him, awkwardly reached down to help Atoz climb higher, slipped and almost fell.

"I'm sorry, Captain," she gasped, her eyes still wide with terror as she clutched at his arm. "I r-really don't like heights. Growing up on Luna, I didn't have a lot of experience with them."

"Oh? Right," he replied slowly, breathing heavily. "Focus on me, then. Don't look down. Just pretend..." Atoz bit his lip, grimacing in pain as he tried to ease himself into a more comfortable position on the branch. His wounded leg couldn't seem to move at all without agony.

"Captain, you're hurt!" Penner cried, noticing the blood on his uniform. On the ground below them, the ax-beaks chattered with excitement as they smelled it.

"I'm afraid so," Atoz grunted, closing his eyes as he lay back on his left side. "How are you... at first aid?"

"Um... I took the basic course at the Academy," the comm officer said, not too confidently. Now that she had found a secure position, she really didn't want to risk moving again, but the Captain needed her. Gritting her teeth, she moved closer to him. He was lying on his side along the thick main limb of the tree, his arms wrapped around a sturdy bough. Carefully she tore away some of his pants leg so that she could see the wound. There was a huge gash in the inside of his thigh which was oozing blood like a fountain. Penner realized with a tremor of nausea that the bite was pretty close to where a major artery was. The reptile had also left a lot of sticky saliva in it that smelled terrible. "Er... it doesn't look too bad, sir," she said, trying to reassure him.


She heard a ripping sound, and a second later Atoz was handing her a long strip from his uniform sleeve. "Try to... bind it with that." His voice sounded tired, almost sleepy.

"Captain?" Penner's heart was thumping in her chest as she desperately tried a compress to stop the bleeding. "Please don't die on me, Captain. Please don't."

***

"Status, Mr. Caeli," said Fawkes, sliding into the center seat of the auxiliary bridge. "What have we got?"

"Not much, Commander," the helmsman replied from the tactical console. "Main engines are still out. Impulse reactor number one is back online, so I can give you quarter speed. The forward phaser battery is charged and ready, but at only 30% power. Still no shields."

"How about sensors? Can you scan for our away team?"

Lieutenant j.g. T'Pana was at the Operations station. "The Gorn vessel is moving towards our position, Commander. Twenty three hundred meters and closing. Its disruptor banks are charged and locked."

"So much for that idea," Fawkes muttered. "Reverse engines, Mr. Caeli. Try to get some distance between us and the Gorn. Break orbit if you have to."

"The Gorn vessel is in full pursuit. Twenty two hundred meters."

"Steady on," said Fawkes, activating the view screen. They could now see the wedge shaped alien ship chasing after them as Caeli did his best to evade. A disruptor beam fired, lancing across the intervening space and narrowly missing the Odysseus.

"Twenty one hundred," said T'Pana. "Two thousand..."

"They want to play hard ball?" said Fawkes grimly. "Is there any chance of our phasers penetrating their shields?"

The Vulcan raised one eyebrow as she checked her console. "Sensors do not show any shields powered on the Gorn vessel at all, Commander."

Fawkes came to a sudden decision. "I'm taking the helm, Mr. Caeli. Stand by with the phasers on my command." His fingers danced over the console as he reversed engines and lay the ship over onto a new course. At the same time, he flicked a button that gave him the intra-ship intercom. "Attention all decks, this is the First Officer! Evacuate sections A, B, C and D! Move to the rear of the ship!"

Caeli, busy with the phaser tracking controls, almost bit his tongue when he saw that Fawkes had put them on a collision course with the oncoming Gorn ship!

[Mr. Atoz]

"Diane, Commander Fawkes has transferred command to the auxiliary bridge."

"Thank you, Arachne," Weir said, nodding absently while she worked. If the damage to the ship was as extensive as she thought, that was a logical step. She could tell by the movement of the stars outside the porthole that the ship was maneuvering pretty strenuously, but since the communications node on the deck above her was still out, she had no idea what was happening. For a second she wondered if she should try to join Fawkes, but dismissed the idea. If the emergency bulkheads on deck 9 were still in place, she couldn't physically reach the auxiliary bridge from where she was anyway. She could probably do more to help by remaining here at the sensor station.

Her eyes narrowed as she finally managed to access the record of the sensor logs. "That's odd," she said aloud. "Someone did a basic sensor sweep just before the explosion. The only thing out of the ordinary is a higher than normal psi muon count. What could cause that?"

Arachne closed her simulated eyes for a second and a half. "There are eight possible causes. In descending order of likelihood, the presence of a Morrison's Rift, a concentration of triolic energy, a microtessel shift in the local galactic magnetic field, a--"

"Wait a second. Triolic energy?" Looking closer at the recording of the sensor scan, the science officer could see the telltale signs confirming that hypothesis. But that didn't make any sense. Triolic energy itself was deadly to nearly all forms of organic life. Why would the Gorn build a missile powered by something so dangerous to handle?

***

"Distance steadily decreasing," T'Pana reported without a speck of irony. "Eighteen hundred, fifteen, ten..."

Caeli felt himself sweating as he kept his eyes glued to the view screen, keeping the phaser lock on target as the Gorn ship loomed closer and closer. The hostile ship fired another disruptor bolt, which slammed into the leading edge of the Odysseus' hull. The ship trembled, but plowed on. Swallowing hard, Caeli risked a glance at Commander Fawkes, anxious for the order to fire. The First Officer's face might have been carved in brown stone, betraying not the slightest particle of uncertainty as he held the Odysseus unwaveringly on course, aimed straight at the prow of the Gorn vessel.

"Eight hundred, five hundred, two hundred..." The Gorn ship frantically tried to swerve to starboard.

"Fire phasers, Mr. Caeli."

Caeli hit the button. As the Odysseus rolled smoothly over to pass underneath the Gorn vessel, phaser beams lanced out, raking its ventral surface and chewing into its hull. Explosions blossomed along its underside. The Gorn ship tumbled out of control as its engines failed.

Fawkes put the Odysseus into a steep turn, doubling back to target the enemy vessel again. After a sneak attack, Starfleet's rules of engagement gave him the right to make certain that the attacker was completely disabled...

The comm system bosun's whistle sounded. "Mister Fawkes!" said Diane Weir's voice. "Hold your fire!"

"I don't think so," said the First Officer, frowning as he brought the ship into optimal firing weapons range. "The Gorn launched a nucleonic torpedo at us, then attacked us while our shields were down. They obviously can't be trusted--"

"No, they didn't!" the Science Officer insisted. "It was... but it would save a lot of questions if I showed you. Can you hail the Gorn ship?"

"Hail them?" Fawkes repeated suspiciously. But something in the tone of her voice made him shelve his anger for the moment and listen to her. He nodded to Lt. T'Pana. "Make it so."

"Hailing frequencies open," the Vulcan said. Seconds seemed to tick by sluggishly like molasses. "The Second Officer of the Gorn ship is responding..."

The Gorn officer appeared on the view screen, his face flushed bright orange with anger. "Dishonorable retaetish! If you expect our surrender, go and eat dung! The children of H'nakria will avenge this outrage with the blood of ten thousand--"

"Please, sir," Weir interrupted. "It's not what you think! We didn't attack you! Have your scientific officer look at this..." The screen abruptly displayed an enhanced video image, apparently taken from the primary sensor array of the Odysseus just prior to the explosion. The picture showed open space separating the Federation vessel from the Gorn vessel, and behind it the arc of the planet's surface. As they watched, the image zoomed in on a small object which had appeared in the frame. It seemed to be a small satellite of some kind.

"This is not Federation technology," said Weir's voice. "Nor is it Gorn technology. It's Tholian!"

The Gorn officer cursed fluently in his native language, which the Universal Translator did not attempt to interpret. "The Crystal Beings?" he said, once he had gotten control of his anger. "Why would they do this?"

Fawkes let out a deep sigh. "To keep the Federation and the Gorn in a state of mistrust. And it almost worked, didn't it?"

The Gorn was still doubtful. "Why should I trust what you say, Earther?"

Suspicion. Once you got in the habit of it, trusting was hard. There was a long silence. "Take the phasers off line, Mr. Caeli," Fawkes said out loud. "Stand down from Red Alert." With his own hands, he put the engines on standby, leaving the thrusters on automatic to keep station with the drifting Gorn ship. Then he stood up out of his chair, offering his open hands to the view screen. "You still have disruptors, don't you? I can't do anything more to convince you. You either believe me or you don't. What'll it be?"

***

The sleeve Captain Atoz had given Penner to use as a bandage was soaked through, but at least the bleeding had finally stopped. "Captain? Are you all right?"

He had stopped talking several minutes ago. Penner hoped he was just tired, because he had lost an awful lot of blood. But she didn't want to shake him, terrified that if she did his lifeless hands would let go of the bough and his body would fall to the ground where the ax-beaks would eat him alive. She couldn't face that. Carefully she tried to clean some of the gunk out of his wound, talking to drown out the sounds of the chattering ax-beaks.

"Do you know why I enlisted in Starfleet? I was the only one in my class back on Luna. Everyone else was dying to get into the University of Mars, or the Face Corps. Miss Vanderhaven tutored me. She said Starfleet was a good way to see the galaxy. Visit strange new worlds." She paused thoughtfully. "Pretty funny isn't it, Captain? Captain? Please say something..." She had never in her life felt so horribly alone.

The silence was ominous. Penner noticed that even the ax-beaks on the ground had fallen silent. She didn't want to look down, but the difference in their behavior frightened her. There were five of the reptiles left, and they were standing quite still and staring at the jungle, as if they were listening for something. Suddenly they all turned and ran away.

"What made them do that?" she asked aloud. Captain Atoz raised his head, listening.

Now Penner could hear the thud of very heavy footsteps approaching through the trees. "I think something's coming," she whispered. "Something big..."

Something big was an understatement. The tree was actually shaking slightly as the dinosaur strode briskly into view and stopped only a few meters away, sniffing at the air. Atoz and Penner were five or six meters above the ground, safe enough from the ax-beaks, but the carnosaur's massive square head towered at least another meter over them. Penner made a sound somewhere between a squeak and a groan. Atoz feebly tried to move closer to the trunk, but he felt too weak to do so without falling.

Even that slight movement drew the animal's attention. Its boxlike head swung around, the beady, reptile eye on this side swiveling as it tried to focus on them. Its maw gaped open, exposing row after row of teeth like swords, but it didn't roar. The hot breath of the dinosaur rolled over them, carrying with it a terrific stench, but the only sound from the creature was a huffing grunt, like a steam locomotive slowly gathering speed.

The carnosaur lowered its head and nudged the tree trunk. The branch Atoz was lying on swayed, nearly dislodging him. As he hung on for dear life, he could see the animal's nostrils dilating at it smelled the blood from his wound. Penner screamed.

The dinosaur opened its mouth and roared.

And just then, the shimmering effect of the transporter beam caught the two of them and took them away.

***

When Atoz opened his eyes, he recognized the ceiling of the Sickbay convalescent ward at once. He had a vivid memory of the doctor sedating him as soon as he had arrived in the transporter room. Looking down, he realized he was wearing a patient's smock.

Lieutenant Commander Weir and Ensign Penner were lingering nearby, watching him anxiously. As he gave them both a reassuring smile, something else moved into view which was totally unexpected – Captain Bailars! He blinked up at her as if he couldn't believe it. "I see you did not suffer death in the course of your journey," he said wryly.

The Gorn smiled. "I did the obvious thing... jumped into the river! The little krulaqs fled like sand hens!"

Atoz tried to sit up in bed and felt a nasty, throbbing twinge all down his leg. "Ah-ah-ah!" said a scolding voice, as Dr. Pierce hurried over to push him back down. "Stay right where you are, Seven. You'll be pleased to know that your femoral artery somehow survived your little excursion without rupturing, but there was a lot of nerve damage I had to repair. You're going to have to take it easy a few days while the axions reknit."

"What about the Ambassador?"

"He's fine, sir," said Weir, stepping forward on Bailars' other side. "Both the ambassadors are fine. They found a cave next to the riverbank, and they held out there together until they could be rescued."

Atoz let out a sigh of relief. "I guess this means we'll have to reschedule the conference."

"Not at all!" said Bailars, beaming. "The agreement has already been signed. The Federation gets full access to sector 20574 for science, as long as it doesn't try to colonize."

Atoz shook his head in disbelief. "How did they come to an agreement so quickly?"

The Gorn clicked her claws on the nearby bulkhead. "They were in that cave for four hours, surrounded, with nothing to do but talk. You'd be surprised how being hunted by dragons clarifies your perception of the other person's point of view."

>>>>> The End >>>>>