Star Trek: The Original Series: The Shocks of Adversity (8 page)

Spock added, “My own father is a high-ranking Federation diplomat, who has spent his
career strengthening the ties between Vulcan and the other member worlds, and even
he was opposed to my joining Starfleet.”

“How interesting,” Laspas said, leaning forward on his elbows. “The Domain and the
Defense Corps have always believed our greatest strength has come from bringing as
many different and diverse peoples together as possible in working toward the common
good. Take the Liruq,” he said, gesturing
to N’Mi. “For years, we were at war with them. A stupid, bloody, and pointless war
that cost tens of millions of lives, including N’Mi’s own family. But Lir was eventually
brought into the Domain, and that young war orphan has grown up to be the highest
ranking Liruq in all of the Defense Corps.”

“A most noteworthy distinction,” Spock said, nodding his head to the chief, who had
her own chin modestly tucked to her chest.

“Indeed it is,” Kirk agreed. “And I believe that people like Spock—and I assume, like
Chief N’Mi as well—can serve as examples and as inspiration to others of their kind.”

“But being the only one of your kind on a ship that’s commanded by a human,” N’Mi
said, looking to Spock, “with an overwhelmingly human crew . . . don’t you find that
makes it difficult to command the respect due to you?”

“On occasion,” he answered.

“What?” McCoy blurted.

Spock slowly turned to face the doctor, just as an expression of embarrassment came
across his face. The Vulcan held his gaze for a second or two longer than necessary
before saying, “I believe you remember Lieutenant Stiles, Doctor.” Seventeen months
earlier, while the
Enterprise
was engaged alternately in the pursuit of, and evasion from, a Romulan bird-of-prey,
the former
Enterprise
navigator had accused Spock of being an enemy
collaborator due to his nonhuman heritage. “However, on the rare occasion when I’ve
had to deal with illogical, prejudicially-based attitudes,” Spock continued, turning
back to N’Mi, “I have always managed to negate the biases of those individuals, and
prove myself worthy of their regard.”

“I suppose there are always such difficulties where beings from different worlds come
in contact,” Laspas said.

“But the rewards for working through those difficulties are, I believe, more than
worth the effort,” Kirk said.

“Hear, hear,” McCoy immediately interjected, though he avoided looking at either Spock
or Kirk as he spoke.

Before the captain could continue, he was interrupted by the whistling signal from
his communicator. “I beg your pardon,” Kirk said to Laspas as he stood up and moved
away from the table to answer. “Kirk here,” he said once he had pulled the device
out and opened it.

“Scott here, Captain,”
Kirk heard the distinctive burr of the chief engineer from his communicator.
“I apologize for interrupting your meal . . .”

“But I’m sure you wouldn’t do so if it wasn’t something serious.”

“Aye, and it is serious, sir,”
Scott said.
“We’re not going to have a functional warp drive for at least six weeks, sir.”

“Six weeks?” The captain turned his face briefly toward Spock, awash with emotion.
“That is not acceptable, Mister Scott.”

“Believe me, sir, I don’t want to accept it, either. But the pylon supporting the
starboard warp nacelle took critical damage during the Taarpi’s attack. If we were
to attempt to go to warp in our current state, the nacelle would be sheared right
off.”
Were that to happen, the uncontrolled warp field collapse would rip the
Enterprise
’s hull to pieces.

Kirk drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Scotty . . . when you say six weeks . . .”

“I mean six weeks, sir,”
Scott affirmed.
“If we were at a starbase, with a dedicated crew of specialists working round-the-clock
shifts, we might be back in shape in two, two and a half weeks. But we’re talking
about multiple EVAs to work on the exterior of the ship, of the kind we’re really
not equipped for. Out here, left to our own devices with no other support . . .”

Kirk’s face turned ashen as Scott trailed off, and Spock understood the reason for
the physiological response. Even in the best of circumstances, extravehicular activity
carried extreme risks. And although every person aboard the
Enterprise
had undergone Starfleet’s required micro-
g
training and its basic engineering courses, only a very limited number of crew members
could reasonably be expected to perform such critical exterior repairs with
any level of proficiency. In Spock’s judgment, Scott’s estimate of six weeks, rather
than being overstated as was often the chief engineer’s wont, may have in fact been
overly optimistic.

“Understood, Mister Scott,” Kirk finally said. “When we return to the ship, Mister
Spock and I will stop by engineering to go over the details. Kirk out.” The communicator’s
hinged antenna clacked shut, and for several seconds, Kirk stood stock-still and silent,
his eyes unfocused and unseeing, lost deep in thought.

That silence filled the dining hall as all eyes fixed on Kirk. Finally, McCoy broke
the wordless lull with a low, concerned “Captain?”

That was all it took to spur Kirk, causing him to rein back his emotional reaction
to Scott’s report. “I’m sorry, Commander Laspas.” Kirk gestured to Spock and McCoy.
They both stood, and the Domain officers did so as well. “I appreciate your having
invited us here this evening, but we really need to get back to our ship.”

“I understand,” Laspas said. “Is there anything we can do to help? Perhaps N’Mi or
her staff could assist in some way?”

“Begging the commander’s pardon,” Satrav interrupted, “but we have our mission. We
cannot spend weeks in this system for these aliens.” He then turned to Kirk and added,
“I don’t wish to seem unsympathetic . . .”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Kirk told him. “And while I appreciate the offer, I
wouldn’t wish to strain our new friendship. You have your duties, just as we have
ours.” Kirk then put on one of his characteristic smiles, though Spock could clearly
see how forced it was. “We’re a resourceful lot. I’m sure we’ll manage to work these
matters out.”

They left the dining hall, and from there a waiting guard led them back the way they
had come. “If I may, Captain,” Spock asked as they followed behind their escort, “how
certain are you that we can successfully effect these repairs in our current situation?”

Kirk gave him a glum look. “Let’s just say, I wish I were more certain.”

“Damn,” McCoy said, “I was afraid you’d say that.”

*   *   *

Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott plugged the last of his data cards into the
slot on the bridge engineering station and called up the damage assessment overview.
On the monitor screen overhead, a green wire-frame diagram of the
Enterprise
’s exterior appeared, with five of the component polygons highlighted in red, like
the angry wounds they were. Scott stood up from his seat and turned to Kirk and Spock,
who had been standing behind him. “Here are the areas of significant damage.
The most serious of them is this one here,” he said, pointing to the base of the starboard
warp nacelle pylon, where it met the main hull of the engineering section. He reached
over and pressed a button, and the image switched to a closer view of that area. “The
blow we took there had enough force to send the whole structure vibrating, riddling
it with microfractures.”

Kirk frowned as he looked from the schematic to Scott. “But we will be able to make
the necessary repairs, yes?”

Scott involuntarily grimaced as he said, “To a degree, yes, sir.”

“To what ‘degree’?” the captain asked.

“Any repairs our crew would be able to make would only be temporary ones, at best.
We just don’t have the equipment or matériel to do more than that on our own.”

“So, these six weeks of repair you describe,” said Kirk, frustration coloring his
tone, “they would only be so that we could get back to Federation space, in order
to get more repairs.”

“I’m afraid so, sir. And, I’m afraid there’s more.”

Kirk pressed his fingertips to his temple. “Do I want to know?” he asked.

The engineer wished he could answer “no,” but of course the captain needed to know
the full extent of their situation. “Because of the nature of the temporary repairs,
we’d be limited to the low end of the
warp scale. The higher our velocity, the greater the risk to the ship.”

“How long would it then take to get to the nearest Starfleet facility?” the captain
asked.

“We would be able to reach Starbase 43 in approximately ten weeks.”

“Four months lost,” the captain fumed. “Plus however long we need to be in drydock.”
For several seconds, no one on the bridge said anything. The
Enterprise
had only recently passed the halfway point of their five-year mission, and no one
liked the idea of being out of commission for any more of their diminishing time than
necessary.

Then Spock asked, “What will you require in order to meet your six-week repair estimate,
Mister Scott?”

“I’d like to have every crew member aboard with the appropriate engineering cross-training
to give me three shifts a week,” Scott told him. “Also, I think we need to change
the protocol for environmental suit use.”

Spock said, “You wish to have all the environmental suits in use at once, with none
kept in reserve in case of emergency.” Scotty nodded; the first officer, naturally,
had anticipated his request. “I would recommend against this, Captain. Should a situation
arise where one of those emergency suits is needed . . .”

“With all due respect, sir,” Scott interrupted,
“we’re in an unexplored and dangerous part of space, with our closest help nearly
a hundred light-years away. I don’t think we can afford to be that cautious.”

To the engineer’s surprise, Spock did not automatically contradict him or dismiss
his argument as illogical or emotionally charged. Scott had actually been hoping the
first officer would propose a better plan, or otherwise offer hope that the situation
was not as dire as he’d believed. Scotty looked from Spock to Kirk, and judging from
the expression on the captain’s face, he also had been disappointed that the Vulcan
didn’t have a better solution.

Lieutenant Uhura broke into the discussion. “Captain? The commander of the Goeg ship
is hailing us.”

Seemingly grateful for the temporary distraction, Kirk told Uhura, “Put him on the
main viewscreen,” and stepped down into the command well in front of the astrogation
console. The forward viewer switched to a close-up image of the alien captain’s lion-like
face. “Commander Laspas.”

Laspas dipped his muzzle slightly.
“Captain Kirk, has there been any change in your engineer’s repair estimates?”
he asked.

“Unfortunately not. Why do you ask?”

“Because, if you still require the services of a repair facility, there is one nearby.”

Scott perked up at hearing that, as did everyone else on the bridge. “There is?” Kirk
asked, a bright note of cautious optimism in his voice.

“Yes,”
Laspas said.
“At Wezonvu, twenty-two light-years from here.”

And the hope that had risen up in Scotty’s chest just as quickly crashed. “Unfortunately,
without an operational warp drive, twenty-two light-years is still an impossible distance
for my ship,” Kirk told the other commander, visibly deflated.

“Yes, understood, but . . . what if we were to help?”

Kirk took a step closer to the viewer. “What do you mean?”

“N’Mi,”
Laspas said, turning to his side to address his subordinate, just off camera.
“Explain.”

Chief N’Mi stepped forward into view, blinking rapidly as she said,
“Captain Kirk. I’ve studied your vessel’s exterior and have taken note of the damage
done. Am I correct in assuming that it’s the damage to your nacelle support structure
that has crippled your ship, and that the matter/antimatter reactor is still operational?”

Kirk turned to Scotty, who took a step forward and answered, “Aye, the warp core is
running just fine.”

“Then I suggest that, if we were to reroute the warp plasma generated by your more
powerful reactor to our spacewarp generators, we could create
a sufficient subspace drive field to encompass both ships, and achieve a warp velocity
high enough to get your vessel to Wezonvu in ten days.”

“Rerouting our warp plasma to your ship?” Scotty asked. “Then you’re talking about
hard-docking both of our ships together, linking the two warp systems into one, and
keeping them linked for the entire journey?”

The other engineer nodded.
“Yes, precisely.”

Scotty realized that Kirk, as well as the rest of the bridge crew, were looking his
way in expectation. “What even makes you think our systems would be compatible enough
to pull off such a thing?” he asked N’Mi.

“To be honest, I have no idea if they are or they aren’t.”

“But, if there is a chance it could work,”
Laspas said,
“it would be worth investigating, wouldn’t it?”

As Scotty considered the feasibility of N’Mi’s idea, he began to feel the bubble of
hope rise in his chest again. “Well, it would be a challenge, that’s for certain,”
he said. But, simply getting the
Enterprise
out of this system and away from the threat of further nystromite damage, whether
accidental or malicious, would definitely make it worth the effort.

If the captain was as encouraged by the Domain crew’s offer of help as Scotty was,
he hid it quite well. “Perhaps if you were to send a set of your ship’s full schematics
for my chief engineer to
review, so we can decide on the feasibility of such a plan.”