Twelve
SULU HAD AGREED to share his assigned section in the botany lab with Aernath and now he was showing him around. Aernath was astounded at the size and scope of the Enterprise’s botany section. It was nearly as well outfitted as the Imperial Experiment Station on Tahrn. These humans took their science very seriously. Having completed his orientation, Sulu was now rummaging around in the supply bin. “Look’s like I’m out of nitrogen supplement. Oh well, you can pick some up in central supply. I’d go with you but I’m due on the bridge now. If they give you any hassle just tell them it’s for me.” Hurriedly the helmsman gave him the directions to central supply, then dashed off for bridge duty. As Aernath watched the slim dark-haired human leave, he reflected on how much had happened in the two or three weeks he had been aboard.
McCoy had certainly been right about Aethelnor’s appeal. Ensign Tamura had no lack of volunteers to help her look after him. After sticking with him every moment for the first week, Aernath had been convinced that while some humans regarded him with suspicion, no one evinced any hostility toward the boy. It took a while longer for the petite security guard to convince him that her assignment was to protect Aethelnor rather than keep Aernath under surveillance and that he was in fact free to move around in the non-restricted areas of the ship at will. Now he was content to relinquish Aethelnor to Keiko and her friends several hours a day. The boy was getting ample exposure to humans!—no problem meeting that expectation of Mara’s.
Aernath also rigorously maintained several hours a day of lessons. In conjunction with this he had, out of curiosity, checked the Enterprise computer file on Klingons. He could not get any military information more recent than the battle of Donatu V which occurred nearly thirty years ago. Recent military information, Klingon or otherwise, was one of the areas Mr. Spock had blocked from his use. Other information on Klingons was available to him. He found it amazingly deficient and shockingly inaccurate. Some of the best of it, when he checked reference sources, was recent material added by Spock himself. Clearly the computer would be no aid in his teaching. When Kang and Mara did turn up, he would have to get some tapes from them.
He could do other things. That was how he met Sulu. Early in the first week, the helmsman had stopped by the gym when Aernath was drilling Aethelnor. At the conclusion of practice, Sulu had invited him to fence a bit. Now it had become a daily habit.
Aernath left the lab and took a turbolift in the direction of central supply. It still seemed a little strange to wander freely on a Federation ship unescorted. He never doubted for a moment that he was under surveillance, but they were very subtle about it. And that was fine with him because he had no intention of doing anything that might jeopardize his mission. Sometimes he walked a full circumference of the saucer section just for the exercise and fun of it; but one could get lost, too. In that case, however, there was always the turbolift to get you back. The doors opened and he stepped out looking about to get his bearings. Probably off this way—it looked like Supply. After wandering a couple of minutes, he decided that he wasn’t going to find it with Sulu’s directions alone. Time to ask directions. A crewman had entered a door just up ahead of him. He’d try there. It was certainly some sort of supply area … “Excuse me, could you tell me where—”
The crewman turned, box in hand, and gave him a wild startled look. “Klingons!” he yelled, hurling the box at Aernath. He slammed a button on the wall with his fist and then threw himself at the startled Klingon. Klaxons sounded and by the time Aernath fought himself to the top of his assailant he found himself facing the business end of six lethal looking phasers.
“Wait a minute, he attacked me,” Aernath protested.
“You bet he did, Mister. What in blazes did you think he’d do—shake your hand?” One security guard pulled him roughly to his feet. The smell of hostility hung heavily around him.
“I was lost. I wanted directions to Central Supply.”
“In a restricted area? A likely story. Come on you—move.”
Aernath found himself rapidly escorted to Security. Even on a Federation ship he had no trouble recognizing it, and it bore little resemblance to his quarters.
“Sit there, Klingon.”
He sat trying to puzzle out what had happened. The guard had said something about a restricted area. Had Sulu deliberately sent him into a restricted area? No one had warned him in the corridors. He had seen no warnings posted. Was this an elaborate trap to get him out of the way? He knew many people in Security regarded him with suspicion. If anything happened to him, what would become of Aethelnor? His anxiety grew. A stern looking gray-haired man of medium height entered. His expression grew grim when he saw Aernath.
“All right, Johnson. What is it?”
“We picked him up in the dilithium storage tank room, Chief. He just walked right in and tackled the yeoman there.”
“No I didn’t,” Aernath protested firmly. “I was lost. I went in to ask directions.” Inwardly his heart flip-flopped. Dilithium storage. An inescapable trap. If it wasn’t a trap why in the name of space hadn’t they posted it?
“Into a restricted area? You expect us to believe a cock-eyed story like that?” Johnson retorted.
“It wasn’t posted. I didn’t know it was a restricted area!” Aernath maintained.
“Why you filthy Klingon liar! It was as plain as the nose on your face.” The guard nearest him suddenly struck him across the mouth.
“Easy, Sanders, we’ll handle this by the book.” This came from Security Chief Giotto.
But Aernath tasted his own blood in his mouth and felt the trigger release of fury that smell produces rising in him. He fought desperately to control that reflex: No, not here … it’s suicidal … remember duty … Aethelnor … He failed. It took six men to pry them apart: two for Sanders and four for him.
Now, shackled to the chair, breathing heavily, Aernath struggled to dissipate the orange haze in front of his eyes and regain control of his emotions. Dimly, in the background, he heard Giotto talking.
“Captain Kirk? Sorry to bother you, sir, but we have a little problem. Could you come down for a few minutes? A couple of my men just picked up your Klingon in the dilithium storage area.”
The Captain appeared promptly, accompanied by Mr. Spock. Under their observation, Security Chief Giotto himself repeated the questioning. Aernath stuck to his story.
“How can you say you didn’t know you were in a restricted area? It was posted in big black letters. Can’t you read?”
“I didn’t see any sign, sir.”
Giotto threw up his hands. Kirk looked at a crewman seated to one side. “Readings, Ensign?” The man pushed a button for computer playback.
“Erratic readings. Subject exhibits marked anxiety and stress reactions. Sixty-five percent probability story is truth as subject sees it.”
“Well, Giotto, where does that leave us?” Kirk demanded with exasperation.
“Excuse me, Captain,” said Spock, “I have an idea. Perhaps I can clear this up.”
Kirk turned to his first officer. “Of course, Mr. Spock. Please go ahead.”
The Vulcan approached Aernath and stood in front of him, hands clasped in his usual manner behind his back. “I know you better than any of the crew and I don’t believe you knowingly entered that restricted area.”
Aernath relaxed a trifle. Having Spock on your side was a tremendous asset. “Thank you, Mr. Spock.”
“You know, of course, what dilithium is?”
“Of course. Dilithium crystals are an essential component of the warp drive.”
“Is their storage area a restricted section of a Klingon cruiser?
“Absolutely. Very few people are authorized to enter it.”
“What would happen to a human, say someone like Jean Czerny, if she were found in such an area?”
“She’d have been shot on sight,” Aernath replied grily. He wondered what Speck was getting at. This certainly didn’t seem to be helping his case any.
“Would you expect the same to be true of a Federation ship?”
“You’d be fools not to. I don’t take humans for fools.”
“Of course not. Would you expect the dilithium storage to be guarded?”
“Absolutely.”
“Thank you. Now, would you mind describing my uniform, please?”
Aernath stared at the Vulcan wondering if he’d heard correctly. “Describe your uniform?” Spock nodded. Completely baffled, Aernath replied, “Ankle top black boots, black trousers, blue shirt with two gold stripes on the sleeves and science section insignia on the left breast, black collar.”
“Correct. Now please describe Captain Kirk’s uniform.”
“Same boots and trousers, dark yellow shirt, commander’s stripes on the sleeves, command section insignia, black collar.”
“And Lieutenant Commander Giotto’s?”
“That’s easy. All black with support services insignia and two gold stripes on the sleeves.”
“What?” This came from the man called Sanders.
From the looks on their faces, he’d said something wrong; but he didn’t know what. Spock was speaking again.
“What color is the chair you are sitting in?”
“Well, sort of a pale, um, I’d say yellow-green.”
Giotto looked very dubious. “It may be a bit dingy, but it’s not far enough off white to be called green”.
Spock turned to Kirk. “With your permission, Captain, I’d like to have Dr. McCoy examine him in sick bay. I think we can demonstrate that Aernath is telling the truth. His intrusion was inadvertent.”
“By all means. If you don’t mind I think I’ll get back to the bridge. Let me know when you and Bones and Giotto get it all sorted out.”
Flanked by two security men, Aernath followed Spock to sick bay. McCoy, at the bedside of an acute post-op patient, greeted the entourage with a belligerent cock of his eyebrow. “Now what in the world is this all about?”
“If you don’t mind, Doctor, I’d like to use you visual testing apparatus on Aernath.”
McCoy gave a quick wave of his hand. “Sure, sure, Spock—go ahead. You know how to run the machine. I’ll be with you in a few minutes, as soon as I’m finished here.”
Spock directed Aernath to an apparatus on a small table in one corner of the sick bay. A small boxlike portion of the machine. fitted snugly over the top of his face excluding all exterior light. “Now, Aernath, I’m going to start running spectral wavelengths. I want you to report to me what you see.”
For some minutes there was no sound except the quiet one of his own voice reporting the colors as he saw them. Then Dr. McCoy came and leaned over Spock’s shoulder. “Well, what are you … Jehosophat, Spock! What are you doing? Do you want to give him a retinal burn?” Aernath recoiled from the box at the vehemence in McCoy’s voice.
Spock was unperturbed as usual. “Not at all. Doctor. Observe what we have so far.”
The doctor bent over Spock’s sheet. “You started at ten-thousand Angstroms and he came in here?”
“That’s correct.”
“Did the colors all match standard?”
“Yes.”
“And you were still going?”
“Yes.” Spock was very patient.
“Hmmm. Mind if I check it? At least let’s turn down the gain a bit.” McCoy slid into the seat Spock had vacated for him. “Now, Aernath, if you don’t mind let’s just run through this again.”
Dutifully Aernath reported as soon as the deep, orange glow appeared on the screen. He continued on down the spectrum.
“What do you see now?”
“Blue-violet.”
“Fine, we’ll keep going.” McCoy encouraged. “What now?”
“Violet.”
“And now?”
“Violet-amarklor.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a very deep violet,” Aernath said.
“All right. Now?”
“Amarklor.” For some reason the room seemed strangely quiet now.
“Now?”
“Amarklor-kalish.”
“I see.” The doctor sounded rather excited. “And now?”
“Pure kalish.”
“How about now?”
“Black, there’s nothing visible beyond kalish, Doctor.”
“Nothing visible beyond kalish, he says. Spock, he cut out at thirty-two hundred Angstroms!” McCoy looked at the security guards. “What’d he do anyway?”
“Walked into the dilithium storage area to ask directions. “Spock turned to the watching security detail. “Ensign, go find Ensign Tamura and the boy. Take them down to the storage area and ask the boy what color the door is. Also ask him if he sees anything on the door.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Spock.”
Dr. McCoy was gazing at Aernath with a speculative look. “To borrow your phrase, Mr. Spock, fascinating. I’d like to take a closer look at this. There’s a piece of equipment in zoology I think will be just the ticket. Come on.”
In zoology Aernath reacted with some alarm as they wheeled out a rather vicious looking machine and proceeded to immobilize his head in it. “What are you going to do, Doctor?”
“I’m going to put a couple kinds of drops in your eyes, to dilate your pupils and paralyze ocular muscle movement temporarily. Then I’m going to run retinal absorption spectra on your eyes under a couple different conditions.”
“‘Will it hurt?”
“The drops sting a little. There’s no danger to your eyes. Hold still now.”
The drops did sting. Then they left him for a few minutes while they retreated to a computer console at the far end of the lab and carried on a murmuring conversation. It was dark in the lab but Aernath could tell his vision was getting blurred and his eyes wouldn’t move. In spite of Dr. McCoy’s reassurance, he noted his fear scent rising steadily. What if the doctor was wrong or miscalculated? At this moment Spock’s rescue seemed almost worse than whatever fate had awaited him in security.
Finally the two science officers came back. “He’s dark-adapted by now. Let’s try and see what we get with low intensity light.” That was McCoy.
“Start with fifty-two hundred Angstroms.” That was Spock.
It went on and on. Aernath had no idea how long. However, McCoy was right about the fact that it didn’t hurt. Gradually he relaxed. Obviously Klingon eyes didn’t function exactly like human or Vulcan eyes and something they were pursuing had them really absorbed. Even Spock sounded enthusiastic. Maybe this hadn’t been a trap after all. Finally McCoy snapped off the instrument light and released him. “Here, put these on It’s going to take a while for your eyes to recover from the drops.” He handed Aernath a pair of dark glasses. “We’ll help you back to sick bay; then I’ll keep you there until it sworn off.”
When they got back to sick bay, Ensign Tamura, Aethelnor, Giotto, and Kirk were waiting for them. “The kid doesn’t see it either,” Giotto informed them. “Says the whole door is black.”
“Exactly, just as it appeared to Aernath,” Spock replied.
“What color is it to you?” Aernath ventured to ask.
“Deep red with bold, black letters saying KEEP OUT, RESTRICTED AREA, AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY,” Spock informed him.
“Are you trying to tell me that Klingons can’t tell the difference between black and red?” Giotto demanded.
“Precisely. We have just demonstrated that conclusively,” Spock answered.
“I never heard of such a thing. And how come he called a white chair, green?” Giotto wanted to know. “Is he some kind of color-blind or something?”
“I think you better explain it to us all,” Kirk encouraged.
“First, let me get Aernath in a bed. Here, up you go.” McCoy gave him a hand. This bed was just as soft as the one in his quarters.
“You are familiar with the primary spectral colors,” Spock was saying.
“Of course,” Kirk replied, “red, green, and blue.”
“Wait a minute,” Giotto objected, “I thought the three primary colors were red, yellow, and blue.”
“That refers to pigments. Spock and the captain are referring to light wavelengths,” McCoy picked up. “But do you know why those three wavelengths are considered primary?”
“Oh, sure. Because by mixing them together you can get any color of the rainbow and if you put them all together you get white,” Giotto answered.
“To the normal human eye, yes. And do you know why?”
Giotto shook his head. Kirk interposed, “But if a person is color-blind, then they can’t distinguish blue and green. Yet Aernath can recognize blue, can’t he?”
“You’re referring to a deuteranope, a green blind person,” McCoy explained. “On the other hand, if Aernath were a protanope, a red blind person, in the usual human sense, he would be able to distinguish blue and green but all reds, yellows, and oranges would appear green to him.”
“But he sees my shirt as yellow,” Kirk pointed out.
“Exactly,” said Spock, “which brings us back to the question of why red, green, and blue are called the primary spectral colors.”
Kirk grinned. “O.K. Spock, you tell us. Why are they the primary colors?”
“Because they correspond to the wavelengths of maximal absorption of the three visual pigments of the human eye: erythrolabe, chlorolabe, and rhodopsin. All sensations of color are mediated by the varying stimulation of one or more of these pigments in the human retina. Klingons don’t have erythrolabe. At least Aernath doesn’t,” Spock explained.
“Well, that doesn’t explain how he can see yellow then,” Kirk pursued.
“Exactly,” McCoy pounced. “And that’s what is so remarkable. Aernath can’t see red, but he can see orange. His visual light range runs from about sixty-four hundred Angstroms clear down into the ultraviolet range to about thirty-two hundred Angstroms.”
“He can see ultraviolet?” Kirk questioned.
“You bet your boots he can,” McCoy responded enthusiastically.
“What does it look like?”
“Amarklor and kalish,” McCoy assured him solemnly.
“What?” Kirk asked.
“Klingons have names for two major colors in the ultraviolet range.”
“Oh. Well, how do they do it? See, I mean,” Kirk persisted.
“That is what is so fascinating.” Spock picked up the thread of explanation. “According to the retinal absorption spectra and the spectral sensitivity curves we have just done on him, Aernath possesses four retinal pigments: chlorolabe and rhodopsin, or their analogs, plus one with maximal absorption in the orange range and one in the ultraviolet range. He has a double Purkinje shift with maximum scotopic vision occurring in both the yellow and the blue-violet ranges.”
“Oh.” Kirk looked helplessly at McCoy. “Bones, in plain English, what does that mean?”
“It means he sees green and blue by the same mechanism we do but has two pigments we don’t have: one that lets him see from orange to green and one that lets him see from blue to kalish. At night or in dim light he sees best with either yellow or blue light whereas we humans do best with blue light.”
“So he was telling the truth when he said he got into dilithium storage by accident?” Giotto wanted to know.
Spock nodded. “Yes. Unfortunately for him the black and red on that door are of the same intensity so there was no contrast. To his eyes it appears uniformly black.”
“Well, in that case, I think I’ll get back to work.” Giotto left.
“I still don’t understand the chair.” Kirk was a stickler for nailing down loose details.
“Something painted white appears white to us because it absorbs none of the wavelengths in our visible spectrum. They are all reflected back to us,” Spock explained.
“I see.” Kirk went on, “And for a Klingon to see white, the object must also reflect back ultraviolet rays as well. Our chair didn’t.”
“That’s right,” McCoy put in. “With the deep violet end of his spectrum subtracted by absorption he was a sort of yellow-green. To a Klingon we are color blind, in a sense, so we see white when he wouldn’t. It’s like a human who is color blind to green. If you mix red and blue light for him it will be white but we would see it as purple.”
Kirk threw up his hands. “Well, if you and Spock agree on it, it must be true. I’ll take your word for it. It’s been a long time since I saw you two work on a project together without arguing about it. Spock, what made you suspect it in the first place?”
“Something I noticed through mind-touch with him on Tsorn. When I met him he was wearing gray, but I saw that to his eyes it appeared to have color. I had intended to explore that with him once we came aboard but hadn’t the opportunity until now.”
“Dr. McCoy?” Aernath saw a fuzzy figure approach the periphery of his field of vision in response t his call.
“Yes, Aernath?”
“What does red look like to you anyway?”
“Well now, Aernath, how would you explain the difference between amarklor and kalish to someone who can’t see beyond purple?”
Aernath paused for a moment trying to grasp that idea. The two were really quite different … “I see what you mean. They are as different from each other and from purple as orange and yellow and green.” He went on regretfully, “It’s a pity you can’t appreciate them. But I suppose you would say the same about red.”
“It’s a warm exciting color,” the doctor admitted. “I’d hate to do without it. But I guess it’s what you’re used to. Mr. Spock here says he finds a lot of aesthetic satisfaction in the patterns of magnetic force that he sees. I think it would be disconcerting to always see those wiggly little lines everywhere I went.”
“On the contrary, Doctor …” What might have been a classic Spock-McCoy interchange was interrupted by the intercom.
“Captain Kirk, Sulu here. We’ve just picked up Klingon cruisers on our sensors.” There was a heavy pause. “Five of them, sir.” Sulu sounded awed.
“Red Alert, Sulu. We’re on our way.” Kirk and Spock left on the run. Tamura left to take Aethelnor to a safe spot and sick bay personnel began swift preparation for possible combat casualties.
In the excitement, Sulu forgot to close the connection. Thus sick bay continued to monitor the bridge. Aernath listened intently. A full hand of cruisers! The Imperial Fleet rarely deployed even a formation of three cruisers. Five was unprecedented unless … What had happened within the Empire the past few weeks? Had the ‘Confront and Annihilate’ faction won an upper hand somehow? Aernath cursed silently at his temporary blindness, not realizing that sick bay was getting only audio, not video. He heard Spock and Kirk arrive on the bridge.
“Status, Suliu?”
“Full battle readiness, Captain. Deflector shields up.”
“Chekov?”
“The five cruisers are coming in from Klingon space on a very oblique course to ours, Captain. Calculations show interception just this side of Sherman’s planet. There has been no change in their course since first sighting.”
“Thank you. All right, Mr. Sulu, let’s see them—top mag on the viewer.”
The listeners in sick bay heard only silence for a long moment, then. Captain Kirk’s voice. “Any identification, Mr. Spock?”.
“The lead cruiser is the Klolode Two, commander of last report, Kang of Tahrn. Next two are the Kahless, last known Commander was Ekthorn; and the Devisor, Commander Koloth’s ship. The other two are not listed in our computer banks.”
Kirk gave a low whistle. “So that’s Kang, is it? Lieutenant Uhura, I want you to transmit a full report to Starfleet Command, bearings, calculated courses, identification, the works. On an open channel—use Code Two—and also alert the U.S.S. Hood and U.S.S. Lexington as if they were standing by. Indicate no reply expected.”
“Yes, sir,” Uhura replied.
Ekthorn’s with him! Aernath thought exultantly. That’s the first payoff from Klairos already. Ekthorn carried a lot of weight in the Fleet, and he had a younger brother high in the Klairosian Council. Koloth was to be expected; his sector after all, but an uncertainty in the long haul. One of the others had to be Kasob. His uncle was highly placed in the Peneli court. The other: several possibilities. The bridge conversation continued.
“Well, Mr. Spock, it looks like either Commander Kang is very serious about negotiating or this sector of space is about to be treated to the biggest fireworks display since the Battle of Donatu Five. Care to give us the odds before we place our bets?”
“I fail to see any value in placing a wager on an outcome if one is not around to collect, Captain. However, I do have another item of information which you might find interesting. Specialist Czerny is definitely aboard one of those cruisers.”
“Interesting. I would say that adds some weight to the odds for negotiating, wouldn’t you, Spock?”
“A logical conclusion.”
Jean! Aernath sat up with a brief exclamation which brought McCoy to his side. “What is it, Aernath? Got a problem?”
She’s alive! Jean made it! sang jubilantly through his mind. All he said rather stiffly was, “I’m surprised but pleased to hear that your Miss Czerny survived.” Then to cover his feelings he went on, “It’s important that Captain Kirk understand that those five cruisers are not just a show of force to impress the Federation. It also gives you a measure of Kang’s current influence in the Fleet. Ekthorn’s presence is especially significant.” He clenched his fist helplessly. “I wish I could see. Maybe I could tell you who the others are.”
“I’ll see that Captain Kirk gets the message.” The doctor touched his shoulder lightly. “We are all very pleased to hear that Czerny made it. She is very special, isn’t she?” If Aernath could have seen the doctor’s face, he would have realized that McCoy had not been at all misled by his diversionary stratagem. He probably wouldn’t have realized that it didn’t matter either.
“Transmission to Starfleet completed, Captain,” Uhura’s well-modulated voice reported.
“Fine. Open a channel to Commander Kang.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Captain Kirk.” Chedov sounded excited. “The Klingon cruisers are breaking formation!”
From the conversation on the bridge it became apparent that the cruisers were peeling off one by one from Kang’s lead cruiser and assuming stationary positions well within undisputed Klingon space but in easy striking distance of Sherman’s planet.
“Lieutenant Uhura, any acknowledgement of our signal from Kang?”
“No sir … wait, I’m getting something now.”
“Put it on audio. Sulu, keep wide-angle projection of those five cruisers on front screen. I want to keep track of them.” Kirk punched an arm console button. “Klolode Two. This is Captain Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Acknowledge please.”
There was a crackle of static, then the cool crisp voice of Kang. “Commander Kang of Klolode Two speaking. It is our understanding that the Federation wishes to rectify some previous errors. As representative of the emperor, I am willing to listen to your proposals. We come in peace.”
“In a pig’s eye! More like several belligerent pieces if you ask me,” McCoy muttered under his breath. But Aernath did not pick up much scent of hostility. These humans could be so misleading. Which sense did they rely on when such conflicting signals were given out? He strained to hear Kirk’s reply.
“I’m glad to hear that, Commander. It’s not immediately obvious to the casual observer.”
“Changing the bait is not the same as removing the trap. Only by vigilance does one survive to hunt another day, Captain Kirk. You suggested Sherman’s planet as a ‘neutral’ meeting place. How do you propose to guarantee that?”
“It’s the one planet in the galaxy where we each have a settlement. You have your base of operations. We have ours. We can use the new conference hall at our agricultural station or alternate with your settlement as you prefer, Commander,” Kirk replied evenly.
Kang’s dry chuckle came through clearly. “So, you weren’t able to wipe out my colony after all. Interesting.”
“We didn’t try,” came Kirk’s terse reply. “Our party did try to communicate with them but we got nowhere. You will have to make your own arrangements with them.”
“Of course,” Kang responded noncommitally. “We will take up standard orbit about the planet. I suggest you parallel us, Captain. Notify your subordinates on the planet to stand by to receive my envoy who will handle arrangements. This time, no tricks, Captain Kirk, or I assure you you will live just long enough to regret it.”
“No tricks, Commander Kang. Kirk, out.” The exchange terminated with the abrupt snap of a switch.
“Why that arrogant, overbearing son-of-a-Saurian-sea-sow!” Scott exploded. “Just who does he think he is, talking to a Starfleet captain like that!”
“An emissary of the Empire with his back against a particularly nasty wall, I’d say, Mr. Scott. At least he didn’t lead with his photon torpedoes. If we want him to negotiate, we need to give him a little maneuvering room. I think we’re big enough to do that.” But Kirk’s voice held rather more sympathy than reproof for the engineer.
“Aye, that we are, Cap’n,” Scotty grumbled, “but I don’t mind saying it ‘ud be a pleasure to take him down a peg or two.” The Scotsman’s anger was slow to kindle but long to smolder once ignited. He had never quite forgiven Kang for the rape of his engineering room at the hands of Kang’s Klingons some years earlier.
“I’m sure it would, Mr. Scott, but that’s not what we’re here for at the moment. Mr. Sulu, take us down to Yellow Alert and maintain status until further notice.”
McCoy snapped off the intercom and crossed to Aernath’s bed once more. “Well, how are the eyes coming?” He pulled off the dark glasses and turned Aernath’s face toward him.
Aernath looked up at the blurred image in front of him. “I still can’t move my eyes or see anything clearly. How much longer will this last?”
“Oh, the worst will be gone in a few hours. The light may bother you for a couple days.” McCoy replaced the glasses. “Now that we seem to be past the risk of immediate fireworks, I think I’ll just deliver your message to the Captain myself.” With that, McCoy exited leaving Aernath alone to sort out his own reactions.