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FOR THE SECOND TIME in under two hours Kerdoch felt the effects of a transporter. Only this time he knew exactly where he was being beamed to: the center of the colony. Back to his home. Beside him stood Commander Kor and four warriors. Kerdoch had never felt so powerful before. Pride filled his heart and made his blood surge through his veins. He had been given many honors over his years as a colonist, but never one that pleased him as this did. As the transporter released them in the open center courtyard of the colony, a shout went up from those nearby. "Kerdoch has returned," one yelled. "With help!" a woman's voice added. Kerdoch stood proudly beside Kor as his neighbors and friends rushed toward them. The colony had suffered even more damage than Kerdoch had remembered. Beside him Kerdoch noticed that Kor frowned as he surveyed the remains of a once proud Klingon farming community. He must have been shocked at the destruction. Kerdoch waited for a moment until his wife reached his side, and he hugged her. Then he held up his hands and waited for the crowd to calm. "This is Kor," he said, "commander of the mighty battle cruiser Klothos of the Imperial Fleet." At his mention of Kor's name there were several swift intakes of breath and one gasp. Suddenly everyone was again talking as the relief of having warriors and a battle cruiser here to help defend the colony grew thick in the air, and warriors led by a respected and much honored commander such as Kor. Kerdoch's wife squeezed him, as if he were the hero responsible for bringing Kor. Kerdoch, however, felt a distinct unease, as if the winds had shifted and things were not as right as the others might think. He looked over the smiling faces of his neighbors, but saw nothing. So he turned to Kor. "Sir," Kerdoch said, "we must prepare." Kor slapped Kerdoch on the back. "You are right, my friend. We must." In front of them the air shimmered. Weapons came up and were trained on the spot as the Federation captain and several other humans appeared. Around him Kerdoch could sense the tension returning like a thick fur blanket tossed over the crowd. Only Kor's men lowered their weapons. The colonists did not. There were five humans with the Federation captain. One was a woman. The human captain strode up to Kerdoch and Kor. "Do you have wounded?" Kerdoch nodded. "Many." "Can someone lead the doctor to them?" The human captain indicated a thin man with a bag over his shoulder who stood off to his left. Kerdoch turned to his wife and indicated that she should help the doctor. "This way," she said, with only a questioning glance at her husband. The human captain turned to his people. "Commander Rathbone, you and Lieutenant Sulu scout the surrounding fields, see if you can discover what was done to the crops, with what kind of weapon, and why. Ensign Chop, Ensign Adaro, you two stay with me." The human captain then turned to Kor. "We are here to help defend your colony. What needs to be done to get ready for another attack?" Kor laughed at the Federation captain. "Kirk, you are still the fool. But for the moment we will gladly take advantage of your foolishness." Kor turned to Kerdoch, who stood straight under the commander's gaze. "Do you have disrupter cannons?" "Two are working," Kerdoch said "They are on the southwest and northeast perimeters." "Good," Kor said. "Two are better than none. Kirk have one of your men join one of mine and one colonist at each gun." One of the colonists put a hand on Kor's arm. "Do you think the humans can be trusted?" Kor looked down at the offending hand. The colonist removed it quickly. "Are you questioning my judgment?" "No, Commander," the colonist said. "It is just that when we had humans on this planet, we were instructed to keep them away from our weapons and our technology." "That is normally a good rule," Kor said, "but I think I can handle Kirk." The human captain rolled his eyes, but said nothing. He turned to the two humans in red shirts. "Ensign Chop, you take the southwest cannon. Ensign Adaro, take the other." Kor turned again and faced Kerdoch. "From which direction did the ships make their attack runs?" Kerdoch glanced around at his neighbors, who were watching. "Most came directly from the west," Katacq said, and others around him nodded. "Then we will set up a defensive position on the western edge of the colony," Kor said. The human captain nodded his agreement, and without hesitation the two captains turned and moved toward the west, matching each other stride for stride. After a moment Kerdoch realized that he and the other colonists should follow. Dr. Vivian Rathbone forced herself to take a deep breath as she followed Lieutenant Sulu around a few of the damaged colony domes and out into the burnt fields. Above them both suns kept the air thick and extremely hot, almost choking with the drifting smoke and black ash. The sky was the same pale blue and pink she remembered, but until now she'd forgotten how really hot it could get on Signi Beta. And how miserable. A person forgot such matters when five years of work got tossed away. They moved a few hundred steps into the closest field and then stopped. She was having a very hard time believing she was in a landing party with Captain Kirk. And even a harder time making sense of the fact she was back on Signi Beta. It didn't smell like Signi Beta. The smoke filled her eyes with tears. Such destruction. And of crops. She had read about such things when she was studying history; she knew that sometimes war parties attacked supplies. But she had never seen it. It looked as if a fire had made a selective rampage through the crops. The destruction looked all the more terrible since she knew it was deliberate. Sulu crouched and used his scanner on the remains of the crops while she stood staring across the distant smoking fields, trying to take in what she was seeing. She'd visited the Klingon colony twice during her years on this planet. Both times she had been struck by the beauty of the waves of blue-green crops, lush and supple even at the hottest time of day. Now those crops had been reduced to black ash. A crime.
Copyright © 1997 by Paramount Pictures
