One Small Step Read online

  “I am not attempting to repair the system, Doctor. Please activate the subspace beacons so the nanites can be traced.”

  McCoy glanced up. “Whatever you say, Spock. But you know these things don’t go very fast. It could take hours for them to get anywhere.”

  “Depending on how far away the energy source is from this location, I estimate it will take up to five days, four hours and twenty-two minutes.”

  “Well!” Kirk exclaimed, smacking his hands together. “It looks like you have this under control, gentlemen. Carry on, Spock. Bones, do you need help moving into one of the science labs?”

  “Sure, Jim,” McCoy agreed, distracted from Spock’s work. Spock didn’t pay much attention as the doctor began enthusing to the captain over the Kalandan labs. Kirk picked up the medical diagnostic unit and carried it toward the corridor, while McCoy followed with some trays of his growing samples.

  Spock was satisfied, preferring to work with the node alone in this chamber.

  Then a call came from the corridor. “Captain! Captain Kirk!”

  Sulu appeared in the darkened doorway leading from the entrance to the main chamber. “Captain, come look! I think we found something.”

  Chapter Four

  “WE FOUND A ROOM with a command chair,” Sulu told him.

  Kirk hoped this was the break they’d been looking for. “Lead on, Mr. Sulu,” he ordered. “Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, you’re with us.”

  “It’s about time!” McCoy exclaimed. Kirk was well aware that the doctor didn’t like being stranded from the Enterprise. This mission had lasted far longer than any of them had anticipated.

  Sulu briskly led the way down the long corridor lined by the open doors to the botany labs. In the oval chamber beyond, an open doorway had appeared in the left-hand side. Kirk noted that the smooth, curved ceiling continued as the door led to another corridor. It was a bit wider than the ones on board the Enterprise. It slanted like the first corridor, taking them farther underground.

  McCoy had one brow raised. “The Kalandans liked to keep it simple, didn’t they?”

  As he walked, Spock’s eyes were fastened on the screen of his tricorder, analyzing the environment. “Far from simple, Doctor. The complex alloy of diburnium and osmium is impervious to our phasers.”

  Sulu glanced over his shoulder nervously. “They weren’t fooling around when they made this station, were they?”

  “No,” Kirk agreed grimly. “The Kalandans must have had some pretty ferocious enemies.”

  “We didn’t touch the command chair,” Sulu assured him. He shuddered slightly at the thought of what could happen next.

  McCoy was blinking faster, obviously rethinking his desire to accompany them.

  “Anything else?” Kirk asked Spock.

  “My tricorder is reading unusual energy vibrations within the alloy. I am unable to pinpoint the source.” Spock seemed more interested in his tricorder than the relentlessly white corridor.

  When Kirk touched the wall, the upper plasticized osmium layer didn’t even smudge. It was dry, and left no residue on his finger. When he looked back, the hallway curved up out of sight. It was a very long and empty corridor.

  “Here it is,” Sulu announced as they went through another doorway.

  Reinhart was waiting in the chamber. It was about six meters across and perfectly round. In the center of the smooth arch of the ceiling was another computer cube. This cube was pulsing rapidly with colored light.

  Reinhart had his phaser out and was aiming it warily at the computer cube. His back was against a wall, and he kept glancing around as if expecting one of the Losira replicas to suddenly appear. When they arrived instead, Reinhart breathed a sigh of relief. Sulu also seemed to have had his doubts that Reinhart would still be here when he returned.

  Kirk was determined not to run scared from a computer replica. He walked directly into the chamber.

  Spock followed, aiming his tricorder at the computer node. “This computer node is in a standby phase.” The others relaxed somewhat at that.

  The only thing in the room was a white molded chair directly underneath the cube. It seemed to be part of the floor, as if the plasticized covering had been draped over a chair while it was soft. The arms gleamed whitely with no sign of buttons or screens.

  “Look, Jim!” McCoy pointed at the faint gray circle around the chair. “What do you think that is?”

  Spock aimed his tricorder down. “There is a magnetic-powered mechanism concealed beneath the chair.”

  Kirk traced his finger on the line. “What does it do?”

  “Unknown, Captain,” Spock replied.

  The ominous never-ending pulsing of the computer cube accompanied his approach to the front of the chair.

  “You’re not going to sit down!” McCoy protested. “What if it drops you into a black hole or something?”

  “Do you have a better idea, Doctor?” Kirk waited, but no one offered anything. “Mr. Spock, once that computer is activated, get whatever readings you can from it. Reinhart, fire at the computer node only on my order.”

  “Aye, sir!” Reinhart replied as Spock readied his tricorder. “Ready, Captain.”

  Kirk knew anything could happen when he sat down in the chair. But that was just one of the benefits of being captain of the Enterprise.

  Kirk slid into the chair. It was dry, yet slippery; he almost had to hold himself on the seat.

  The chair started shaking along with the floor, throwing his men off balance. Kirk braced himself, but the tremor didn’t reach the heaving pitch it had the first time, when the Enterprise was flung one thousand light-years away. It was more like the minor seismic aftershocks they had experienced while the landing party was trapped on the surface.

  For a moment nothing happened. Then a thin horizontal line appeared in front of him. It expanded to reveal the Losira replica.

  “Captain! Watch out!” Sulu shouted, pulling his phaser from his belt.

  Reinhart raised his own phaser, shifting it from Losira to focus on the cube over Kirk’s head.

  “Don’t shoot!” Kirk ordered. Spock’s tricorder was whirring as the shimmering cube leaped and danced with colors. There appeared to be an increase in the flashing lights overhead, but Kirk was not about to look away from the Losira replica.

  There was a breathless moment as everyone waited for those deadly words from her lovely mouth — “I am for you, James T. Kirk!”

  But she said nothing. She merely stood there, expectant and waiting.

  “Spock, are you reading anything?” Kirk asked.

  “The computer appears to have engaged an interactive node, Captain. I am unable to access a database.”

  Kirk kept watching Losira. Her purple uniform was the same, with the short bodice that revealed her midriff above the wide-legged pants. Her dreamy smile was also the same, yet now there was a difference in her demeanor. Her sadness was gone. She seemed relaxed, almost happy, waiting for him to speak. Her hands were lightly clasped together in front of her instead of shaking as they strained to try to touch him.

  “Losira?” Kirk asked cautiously.

  “Yes, I am Commander Losira’s replica.” She was perfectly poised, no longer tormented inwardly, as the other replicas had been. “I am here to assist you.”

  “Assist us?” McCoy muttered. “Then how about giving us a way to get rid of this deadly organism?”

  Spock commented, “Doctor, if the Kalandans had possessed the antidote, they would have undoubtedly used it themselves.”

  Losira appeared not to have heard the exchange. Her eyes were fixed on Kirk’s. So he asked, “What do you know about the deadly organism that’s on board this station?”

  Now Losira’s expression became downcast. “Our scientists have been unable to find a way to eliminate the deadly organism from our bodies.”

  “Where did it come from?”

  “We believe it was inadvertently bio-engineered during the terraforming of the planetary surface. As p
art of our scientific research, our advance force gathers plant samples from the worlds we visit. Some of these new samples are bio-engineered, and the organism most likely emerged from one of these experiments.”

  Losira turned and gestured.

  One section of the wall disappeared, making Sulu gasp out loud. It felt as if they were standing on top of a towering gray rock, looking over the surface of the planetoid. Kirk recognized the purplish sky and the looming rocks, but the flora was astonishingly different. Blues and yellows dominated, with a diverse array of climbing vines and flowers. The golden grasses were taller than their heads, topped by a feathery plume of neon-blue seeds. Most impressive were the slender tree-ferns that towered above the rocks.

  “Is that what the surface used to look like?” McCoy blurted out.

  The Losira replica didn’t answer, so Kirk said, “It’s changed a bit.”

  “This image was ordered taken on cycle 18903,” Losira confirmed. “It is currently cycle 22567.”

  Spock noted the dates down with interest. “Fascinating.”

  “How did you create an atmosphere for this planet?” Kirk asked.

  “The atmosphere and ambient light is maintained by the magnetic field of this planetoid.”

  “But there is no magnetic field around this planet,” Kirk protested. That was one of the peculiarities that had prompted the landing party investigation.

  Losira smiled. “The magnetic field is inverted and channeled within the planetoid to power the station.”

  Spock was nodding thoughtfully. “Captain, that would explain the magnetic sweep in power readings whenever the computer is activated.”

  Kirk leaned forward. This replica was a font of knowledge. “Where are the engines that convert the magnetic power into energy?”

  “That information is controlled by the defense computer,” Losira smilingly demurred.

  “Well, let me talk to this defense computer.”

  Losira gazed past him, as if thinking hard about something. As she blinked, the pink and green stripes on her eyelids seemed to flash. After a few moments, she replied, “The defense computer is currently malfunctioning.”

  Kirk glanced at Spock. “Perhaps when we damaged the computer node, that affected the defense computer.”

  “It is possible, Captain.”

  “Good!” Dr. McCoy said emphatically. Sulu and Reinhart shifted uneasily, probably in agreement with McCoy.

  “There must be some way . . . ” Kirk asked Losira. “Tell me more about your interstellar transporter. How can you transport an entire starship one thousand light-years away?”

  Spock murmured, “Nine-hundred-and-ninety point seven light-years, to be exact, Captain.”

  Losira replied again with a slight smile. “That information is controlled by the defense computer.”

  “How about a map of the station?” McCoy suggested. “Then we could find the transporter ourselves.”

  Kirk impatiently repeated McCoy’s request for a map of the station.

  “That information is controlled —” Losira started to answer.

  “Don’t tell me,” Kirk interrupted. “By the defense computer. So what can you tell me?”

  “I maintain the command center for this station,” Losira replied.

  Spock commented, “An evasive response, Captain.”

  “Yes, I see,” Kirk agreed. “What functions take place in this chamber?”

  Losira’s smile deepened, as if glad that he had finally hit on something she could answer. “A variety of functions can be commanded from this point.”

  Kirk suddenly felt his chair move. He gripped the armrests, noticing that the landing party instantly took defensive postures. Reinhart’s phaser swung wildly upward toward the computer cube.

  Kirk held one hand out to warn him to desist. Reinhart maintained his alert status.

  The chair finished swiveling smoothly, facing Kirk toward a startled Sulu and Dr. McCoy. Behind them, a pie-shaped segment of the wall seemed to melt into a wide screen with a flow of symbols streaming across. It was perhaps two meters wide, while the wall remained smooth and white on either side. Below the screen appeared a narrow counter containing a grid and more symbols.

  Spock went closer while Sulu and McCoy warily backed off. His tricorder moved toward the screen until the front end seemed to slide through. It appeared unaffected by the contact. “A hologram, Captain. Much like the Losira replica.”

  “But the replicas were solid.” Kirk remembered how soft Losira’s arms had felt when he had touched the replica sent to kill Sulu.

  “This one is not.” As if to prove it, Mr. Spock walked toward Losira. She acted as if she couldn’t see Spock while he stepped right through her.

  “Perhaps the other replicas needed to be solid in order to administer the cellular disruption,” McCoy suggested.

  “No!” Kirk exclaimed. “There’s something different about this replica. Bones, look at her hand.”

  McCoy stepped forward. “I don’t see anything.”

  “Exactly. But the other replicas wore a ring.”

  “Yes . . .” McCoy agreed. “It was a bulky, square thing.”

  “With a knob on top!” Sulu added. “It was on the hand that touched me.”

  Kirk nodded slowly. “It was on her right hand, the one she always reached out. That’s why I remembered the ring. But this replica doesn’t have one.”

  “So maybe that ring is the cellular disrupter,” McCoy said.

  “Perhaps, Bones.”

  Kirk turned his attention back to the image of the screen and control panel. Obviously they couldn’t operate it manually if it couldn’t be touched.

  “What does this screen do?” he asked Losira.

  “This is the station’s environmental control,” she said, moving closer to the control panel.

  “What is the status of the environment?” Kirk requested.

  Losira tapped lightly on two of the squares of the grid. “The station is currently on standby status, with environmental controls for the interior and exterior of the station on minimum maintenance power.”

  McCoy said, “Maybe that explains what happened to the plants that used to be on the surface.”

  “Environmental control,” Kirk repeated. “That’s not going to help us much.”

  Losira’s expression became reproachful. Truly she was an interactive hologram. “Environmental control regulates internal gravity, atmospheric maintenance, water, lighting, heat, and waste management.”

  McCoy snorted outright. “Maybe we can take over the station through waste management.”

  Kirk ignored the doctor. “What else is controlled from this chamber?”

  Losira stepped back as the environmental control section faded to white. The pie-shaped segment next to it began to dissolve. “This is the station’s communications, both internal and external. Currently it is holding on minimum maintenance power.”

  “Can you put communications back on full power?” Kirk asked. It would be useful to have an alternative form of communication with the Enterprise.

  Losira got that faraway dreamy look again. For a few moments nothing happened, then she shook her head regretfully. “The station is currently in top-level defense mode. Access to full power must be routed through the defense computer.”

  A sudden shifting among the landing party indicated their frustration. But Kirk knew they were on the right track.

  Losira stepped away as the communications control panel slowly melted back into the blank white wall. One by one she showed Kirk the control panels for deflector shields, sensors, navigation, and one called science diagnostics. There was also a panel for “molecular resolution” and another for “instrumented probes.” Kirk was referred once again to the defunct defense computer, and could get little information from Losira on their specific functions. None of the panels would allow him to upgrade their status above minimum maintenance mode.

  “The Kalandans were quite good at security,” Kirk d
ecided.

  “Affirmative,” Spock agreed. “I have been unable to access any data from this interactive node.”

  Kirk narrowed his eyes. “So there’s no panel for power systems or propulsion.”

  “Nor for weapons or tactics,” Spock added.

  “Those functions must be controlled by the defense computer.” Kirk considered their options, eyeing the impassive Losira replica. “It appears this is going to take more time than I thought. I’m going to keep asking our friend, Losira, some more questions. Bones, you get back to work on that organism. If I find out anything else, I’ll let you know.”

  McCoy looked more eager than he had for days. “I’ll have to rerun the tests. Now that we know the organism started out as a plant hybrid . . . well, that could make all the difference.”

  “Good,” Kirk said. “Reinhart, continue the search for other doorways. We’ll be trying to access the defense computer, so stay on guard.”

  Reinhart nodded sharply and turned to leave as Spock spoke up. “Captain, I would like to investigate the replica’s assertions that this station is powered by an inverted magnetic field.”

  “Go, then.” Kirk gave a dismissive wave. Only Sulu stayed in the control chamber with him.

  As the other men left, Kirk thoughtfully turned back to Losira. What an intriguing combination — so sensuous and beautiful, yet impenetrable. “Are you up for a round of twenty questions, Mr. Sulu?”

  “Twenty questions?” Sulu asked, puzzled.

  “An old Earth game,” Kirk explained. “We played it when I was a boy. You get twenty questions to try to find out what someone is thinking about.”

  “Sounds fun,” Sulu said doubtfully.

  “It’s tedious,” Kirk replied. “But very useful in some situations.”

  He rubbed his hands together, ready to start. After all, Losira was just waiting there, like the ancient Sphinx, concealing the information he needed. If he found the key to unlock those curved lips, then their mission would be completed. “Losira, let’s go back to navigation, shall we?”